Man is a Tree of the Field - from Aryeh Kaplan / Chaim Vital

I read “Meditation and the Bible” by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan for the first time in October 2011, following a recommendation of a friend, in response to my value claim of the concept and practice of meditation that Buddhism brought to mankind.  Two years later, I came back to re-read the first third of that book, looking for a particular excerpt, that follows below, for my class on Teshuvah, the fifth blessing of Shemonei Esrei, and then continued to re-read the rest of that fascinating, unforgettable book. 

That special excerpt that I sought is not even by Aryeh Kaplan, but a quoted piece from “The Gates of Holiness” by Rabbi Chaim Vital (1543-1620), the disciple of the Ari, the master Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luriah (1534 – 1572).  It is chilling to think that Rabbi Kaplan himself had not lived much longer than the Ari, leaving a rich legacy that transformed lives of many people.

An excerpt from THE GATES OF HOLINESS

It is taught that there is a single Light, in the form of a Man, which radiates through all the four Universes, Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, reaching down to the physical elements.  This Light is bound to the Lights of the Supernal Man, which are called the Ten Sefirot.  These are clothed in this Light, which is called the “Light of the Quarry of Souls,” and in it are included all souls below. 

These souls descend to the physical world, clothing themselves in physical bodies.  Their roots, however, remain attached to their source, from which they were hewn, and only the branches of these roots descend.  They do so by reaching down and clothing themselves in physical bodies in the physical world.

The case resembles branches of a tree. The branches are attached to the trunk of a tree, but when they are bent over, they can touch the ground, even though they are still attached to the tree trunk. 

When a person commits a sin for which the punishment is being “cut off” (koreit), the branch is cut off from the body of the tree.  It then remains separated, and remains in the physical world like the spirit of any other animal.  This is the deeper meaning of the verse, “That soul shall be cut off …” (Numbers 15:31)

This is also the inner meaning of the verse, “Man is a tree of the field” (Deut. 20:19).  It is also the mystical reason why the names of some saints are doubled in the Bible, as “Abraham, Abraham” (Gen. 22:11), “Jacob, Jacob” (Gen. 46:2), and “Moses, Moses” (Ex. 3:4). The first name corresponds to the Root, that remains on high, attached to the Tree, [while the second name is the branch that rests in the physical world].

This Root is also referred to as a person’s Mazal (destiny).  The sages teach that Moses saw the Mazal of Rabbi Akiva, sitting and teaching.  The word Mazal comes from the root Nazal, meaning “to flow downward.”  This is because spiritual sustenance (Shefa) flows downward (from the Mazal) to the branch which has descended and clothed itself in a physical body.

This Root is very high, originating at the very top of the Universe of Atzilut.  The branch is very long, descending through all the universes until its lower end is clothed in the physical body. 

In each level, in every Universe, this branch leaves a root.  Therefore, there is no soul that does not have an infinite number of roots, one above the other.  Through a person’s deeds, he can be worthy of elevating them all.

(Meditation and the Bible, pp 47-48)

…..

The rest of the excerpt deals with the individual elevating himself via meditation through the higher and higher spiritual levels to reach the highest Universe, in order to attach himself to G-d and to attain prophecy. 

The vision of Ezekiel is called the “Workings of the Chariot” or Vehicle.  This is because each level is a vehicle for the next. 

At the beginning of this vision, “the heavens were opened” (Ez. 1:1). This refers to the gates of the firmaments, which are the Lights consisting of the substance and the vessels of that Universe.

From there the prophet entered the realm of the Husks (Klipot). Regarding this, he said, “I saw, and behold, a stormy wind came from the north, great cloud and flashing fire” (Ez. 1:4).

Ezekiel thus ascended to heaven, and it was there that he bound himself so as to be able to perceive, as it is written, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of G-d.” When he reached the level of the Husks, however, he found it very unpleasant, and did not bind himself there, but instead, rended them apart and passed through them.  Even though he did not bind himself to these evil forces, however, it was necessary that he see them. This is also the deeper meaning of Elijah’s experience: “the Lord was not in the wind… not in the earthquake was the Lord… not in the fire was the Lord, and after the fire a still small sound.” (I Kings 19:11-12) (Meditation and the Bible, pp 54-55)

 

 

 

 

Maimonides and Yom Kippur Jews

Have you ever felt ambivalent about your fellow Jew who only comes to synagogue on Yom Kippur?  So did Moses Maimonides nine centuries ago.   Thought his response was truly important to share. 

Yom Kippur vs Freud

True to my unredeemable split nature my learning choices of the day included philosophy tape about Freud to sweeten the monotony of the work commute, from the teaching company series "Power over People: Classic and Modern Political Theory", as befitting a sweet Jewish Mom  preoccupied with her children's nutrition, and a night shiur at the Blitstein Institute of HTC, aka TI, on the Justice and Judgment of Yom Kippur, presented by Mrs. Miriam Jaffe. The notes and reflection on both are humbly presented in this post. 

On Female Vulnerability

Shavua Tov - The week has started with a number of challenging questions from inquisitive bright minds: Why is it common and acceptable for a public figure to criticize men in front of a large audience, but is a no-no to criticize women?  Have you lately heard criticism of women in general in public?  Are not men overprotective of their women rights and freedoms?  For instance, in an orthodox synagogue most men are trying to be progressive and support women who protest against raising a mehitza (separation barrier between men and women sections of the room) so that not to  put down the women. I don’t always have quick answers to the big questions, but after a few days the batch process in my head brings up some sources worth quoting. 

Alone on Erev Shabbos?

Last Friday for the first time in many years I was lighting Shabbos candles by myself.  Usually one of two kids is around on erev Shabbos, and between March and October my husband would be there as well, and quite often there would be guests.  But this was January, Michael was still on the train home, Miriam was in Israel, Yoni stayed at school for Shabbaton, and later that night we were going to be guests at our neighbor’s Shabbos table.  

Alone on erev Shabbos?  No, not alone, but free! And what do I do when I am free?  So after lighting Shabbat candles and sending imaginary blessings to Miriam and Yoni I walked to shul for the Kabbalat Shabbat services.  The soft snow felt cozy after the dry bitter cold we endured for the last few days.   

The services were wonderful and uplifting, and the work week troubles were fading away with the sounds of favorite melodies – yedid nefesh, l’cha dodi, havu la’donai bnei eilim, and magen avot.  However it felt a bit awkward to be the only woman in the room. My kind neighbors offered to keep me company on the way back, but the men walked too slowly and I ran ahead to keep warm.  

I did not go to evening services after Shabbat, nor morning services on Sunday, figuring that the cold and snow is keeping other women indoors. However on Sunday afternoon, after spending a good part of the day with paperwork, paying bills and trying to somehow plan the family budget, I just had to come to the minchah/maariv service despite the worst driving condition of fresh sleet and ice.  I knew there will be no women and yet something pulled me in the direction of the shul.   

It turned out I came for a good reason.  Soon after Michael and Yoni came to the services too, and then, halfway through minchah a young girl, probably college age, walked into the room looking shy and kind of out of place.  We exchanged a few words and smiles.  She was from West Rogers Park, came to Northbrook with a friend who was looking for an afternoon minyan. And then I realized that it does not matter whether I am comfortable or not, I am a grown up, I’ll survive.  What matters is that when a girl walks into the shul there is a woman there to make her feel welcome. 

OnceWeWereBrothers - reflections on Holocaust

I rarely read books about the Holocaust.  My parents are child survivors of that war, and I heard stories every day, several times a day, about the bombings when the war started, the evacuation, life as refugees in cold wilderness of eastern Russia and Central Asia.  I heard more than enough tales of the misery, the misfortunate of being born Jewish, the divine injustice, the fear, hunger, cold, humiliation, the degrading struggle to survive, what’s new in that story.

I felt oversaturated with Holocaust, too much said and written about it, time to move on.   However, Hashem renews our souls every minute and every hour of every day, and the person who heard the same story yesterday is not the same who hears the story today, and every time we hear the story we have the same questions to the Almighty – why did this happen, where were You, where was I, who was I at that time, in that generation, what have I done that time to cause such terrible horrors, what could anyone possible have done to deserve this kind of punishment? 

Passover Preparation

A Passover in an observant Jewish family is a time of struggle, preceded by an excruciating period of obsessive cleaning of the house where no single corner is supposed to remain unturned.  Especially the kitchen, where I replace the shelf liners in every single shelf and drawer of the kitchen cabinets.  I have to admit that for the last three years I’ve been slacking and delegated this noble task to a succession of sweet cleaning ladies of Slavic east European descent due to variety of physical ailments – broken foot in 2009, surgery in 2011 and all sorts of headaches and general malaise in 2010.  This spring I had no excuses, my health miraculously recovered to the level before the Perestroika, so with the scissors in hand and my dear husband at my side I bravely attacked the tall pantry cabinet, stuffed with hametz from floor to ceiling. 

Sunrise

This poem may sound a bit narcissistic, but this is really about the struggle for freedom and purity.  During a morning jog I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the sunrise, so after bringing Miriam to school, I came into the office, sat down at the computer with the tea mug, and typed up this poem about the morning jog.  For women only, please:
http://shoesandperfume.blogspot.com/2012/03/sunrise.html

Jewish Pirates and the nature of galut

Rav Weinberger on Rav Kook in Chadarav: "[Man] wants only greatness and cannot tolerate anything less than that. But because he appears incapable of reaching greatness, rather than accepting a pedestrian existence, he sinks all the way down into the mud."

I wrote this last August before this blog was started.  One of my friends asked recently to clarify what do I mean by the word galut, does this have to do with the physical place or the spiritual state, and I showed her this piece, that hopefully somewhat clarified the concept.                

             In a remarkable coincidence the women’s book club at my shul was reviewing “The Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean” on Shabbat before the Tisha B’Av.  The narrative of the book starts with the exile from Spain in 1492 and the simultaneous departure of Columbus towards the new land.  The main narrative revolves around the history of the Jews who became famous pirates, dedicating their lives to revenge on the Spanish empire. This was a convergence of the deep dark galut with the flickering pre-dawn hope of geula, a singular point in time and space when crucial decisions in the lives of millions of people were made seemingly irrationally, based on passions and coincidental match of petty circumstance. 

                  How did the Jews become outlaws, criminals, how is it possible that nice Jewish boys rendered by loving, overprotective Jewish mothers dared to step on the path of crime?  This was the question asked during the last book club when we were discussing “The River Midnight”, looking at the lives of Jews in tsarist Russia, during the dark time of the pogroms, revolution and the first wave of emigration in early 1900s. 

Tefillin story

The car stopped at the designated address in West Rogers Park. I woke up, rolling out of the passenger seat with a yawn and suddenly shook up.  Are we back in Israel?  There was something stirring about a small house in front of us, the playground across the street, the sign on the house that said to use the side door to see the scribe.  The odd feeling in the chest grew stronger as we approached the side door that plainly announced the name of the sofer, the scribe. 

The man who opened the door has white hair, shiny black eyes, rather shy smile and pleasant voice.  We come down into the wood-paneled basement, where a Torah scroll lies unrolled on a long table, prayer shawls folded on a shelf in the corner, the work tables are filled with leather, wood and some tools. 

The sofer explains to my husband and our almost Bar Mitzvah son how the tefillin is made and what is the difference between simple and more expensive scrolls and boxes.  The tefilin is a small leather box that holds the words of Torah, one for the left, weaker, arm, another for the head, placed right over the prefrontal cortex, the seat of consciousness, the higher self.  The arm tefillin holds four excerpts from the Torah in one scroll.  The head tefillin is more elaborate, with four compartments, each for the separate small scroll with one of the same four excerpts that talk about the commandment to put on tefillin. 

Tefillin is a physical object made by the master scribe to hold the sacred words, tangible that contains the intangible.  Like the ark, aron kodesh, that held the tablets with engraved words of the law, the object of information whose value cannot be estimated in human currency, only by its power over minds and hearts.  Like the human body that contains a beautiful mind, or mother’s body that contains the living and growing embryo. 

The three line letter shin on one side, the four line shin on the opposite sign – what is the difference between the two, why is the same letter written in a different way?  Ah, glad you asked, the four-line shin is the outer wrapping for the inner three-line shin, see how the two lines on the edge wrap around the smaller shin, while the two lines in the middle fill the empty space within.  Outer and inner aspects of divinity - masculine and feminine, visible public and hidden private, mundane and holy. 

The tangible is not just a box.  If we think of the body and mind, the body feeds the mind, provides environment for the mind to function, to create.  A mother’s body supplies the living and growing embryo with nourishment.  The tangible, physical object is not passive, it interacts with the intangible, the sacred, the divine in more ways than we are given to understand.  The house, the basement itself is a box that contains the sacred space where the man creates objects of holiness.  Being in a place like this, listening to the sofer shocks me with the feeling of open-mouthed wonder that makes me loose appetite, starts at the hairline level, going down to form a lump in the throat, shutting down the amygdala driven digestive system.    

A few decades earlier and half the world over I would have been whipped for visiting such basement.  As for the basement owner, if he were discovered, it’s better not to even think about it.  What are they afraid of?  What danger could possibly pose the soft spoken sofer, the high minded rabbi, the beautiful singer, the Kabbalah artist? The power over the heart, the perceived manipulation, fear of irrational.  I may feel threatened by myself taking time out of busy schedule to type up this story, but if I don’t think and write about what Yoni’s tefillin means to me, then what is the meaning of its acquisition, is my purpose in this world only to write the check for it? What is the meaning of our labor under the sun and the hard earned money if we don’t care deeply about the things we spend it on? 

U’kshartam l’ot al yadeha – bind them as a sign upon your arm V’hayu l’totafot bein eineha – and let them be as frontlets between your eyes.  The tangible physical object, designed in holiness, that will connect the little man with the infinitely divine Master of the Universe. 

Family Story

I wrote this as a letter to a girl whose desperate story of financial loss and domestic chaos touched my heart.  She never replied, but I thought the story is worth sharing with others.

Dear girl, your plea leaves me speechless, your situation is so painfull and yet you go on, clinging to your faith. We never know why Hashem gives to one and takes from another, but let me tell you my mother's family story, where the hidden hand that took away wealth saved my mother and grandfather from a sure death. 

My great-grandfather was a wealthy merchant in Kishinev, Moldova, who donated a lot of money to tzedakah, including building a Jewish hospital and a synagogue. In 1939 his business partner cheated him and he lost all his money and shortly died of a heart attack, not able to survive the betrayal.  A year later Moldova was occupied by the Soviet troops and all people of wealth were either killed or exiled to Siberia, their property expropriated for the benefit of the working class.  But since my grandfather's family was poor by then, they were not impacted.  My grandfather got a job as an accountant at a Soviet factory and when the German troops arrived a year later his family, including my 4-year old mother, was evacuated with the factory to the relative safety of the Ural mountains in the east, on the shores of the Volga river.  The last and the most crucial battle of WWII, battle of Stalingrad, took place a few kilometers from where my mother's family lived as refugees.  The German troops were defeated and turned back, fleeing west like beaten dogs.  My grandmother Mariam did not survive the war, died of hunger and disease, but my mother lived to tell the story.

When my mother's family returned to Kishinev strangers were living in their home and they were allotted by the Soviet authorities a one room apartment, part of a former mansion that was expropriated from another family in 1940 and divided into 6 small apartments.  I grew up without indoor plumbing – close your mouth, I survived.  Whenever I feel down it only takes a hot shower to remind me how blessed I am.  I never in a million years would have thought that I'd live in one of the best neighborhoods in the U.S., among the most beautiful and generous people, and send my children to the best schools. Have faith and trust Hashem, that everything he does is for our benefit, or for the benefit of out children and grandchildren.  Please let us know if there is any way to help you. 

poor and destitute

Psalms 35:10

Who is like you, Hashem?  Mi chamoha?

Deliverer of the poor mazil ani

from one mightier than he, meihazak mimenu

the poor and the destitute v’ani v’evion

from the one who robs him migozlo

The poor and destitute is the pure soul, the white swan.

The mightier one is the evil inclination, the black swan,

who robs the soul of its most treasured possession –

the spirit of holiness,

the vision of the divine,

the love of God,

joy of feeling the divine presence descend upon the room

while the pure sound of the prayer reaches the heavenly Throne. 

While and black swans are joined at the hip and heart. 

The knight of faith cannot slay the black swan without destroying the white one. 

The fairy princess cannot be freed, she’ll die on her own. 

They are two sides of the same coin –

it is impossible to through away one without discarding the other.

Only the Holy One Above can help the soul escape the clutches of the evil nature. 
Only the eternal word of God can reach through the million years
and release the white bird from its cage. 

http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Trembling-Soren-Kierkegaard/dp/1461078415/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329101195&sr=1-1

Responsible One for Another

http://www.aish.com/atr/Responsible_One_for_Another.html?catid=909414

The Talmud says "Kol Yisrael areivim zeh la-zeh" – Every Jew is responsible one for another. Today there is a grave problem threatening the Jewish people: Assimilation. Every year, 50,000 young Jews are opting out of the Jewish people. Lost to us forever. So what are we going to do about it? Because one day, our own grandchildren are going to look at us and wonder...

On the other side

Beautiful song - from Jenny's blog:

http://jewishmom.com/2012/01/21/my-awesomest-birthday-present-of-all/
The Almighty generously overlooks our craziness and blesses us with another chance to return.