The King's Letter

In a kingdom far away, there once lived a King and his beloved son, the prince. One day, it dawned on the king that there was a difficult, but necessary lesson his beloved son needed to learn. And that was, to understand the people of the kingdom. How could the prince ever be expected to one day rule a kingdom properly, if he had never met or spoken with those he would be governing?

So with bags packed, the prince tearfully but obediently left the palace, travelling to a very distant province of the kingdom. Dressed like a commoner and acting as such, the prince began to mingle with the people of the city. As time passed, he really began to understand the common people and their needs. But all the while, the prince longed for his home, and for his father - the king.

One day, a letter arrived, addressed to the prince's name. Excitedly he opened it, revealing a letter from his father, the king! Incredible!
The prince was so overjoyed he couldn't contain himself. He began to dance and sing with great emotion. But the beggars and commoners next to him looked at him like he was crazy! And understandably so. "How could they", thought the prince, "ever hope to understand how I feel right now? They could never dream of receiving such a letter!"

So the prince devised a plan: "I will be sponsoring a massive feast!" He shouted. "Everyone to the tavern!" As the masses swarmed to the tavern with joy, and food and drink were passed around, everyone began to dance and sing with reckless abandon, the prince included! But there was one major difference: The commoners celebrated because of the food and drink, while the prince was celebrating the letter he had received from his father, the king.
~~~
Food and drink, Challah & fine wine, fish and meat, are all major components of Jewish celebration of holy days.
"...And you call the Sabbath a delight." (Isaiah 58:13)
We sing and dance in joyful celebration of Shabbat and the holidays we were given by G-d, our King. But as we know, we are made up of 2 parts: A body, and a soul. On these holy days where a special G-dly Light Shines, our souls intrinsically sense this light, and desire to celebrate wholeheartedly! But alas, our souls were placed in physical bodies that only know of physical things. So what can the soul, the King's child, do to celebrate? It gives the body a pleasure that it can understand and relate to, much like the commoners of the town in the story. But while the body is celebrating the food and drink, the soul is celebrating the "letter from the king" - the holiness of the Shabbat or holiday. A letter of connection sent from G-d, our Father and King.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

The Struggler

"I wish I was better."


How often, when reflecting, do we wish we could be that better person?
The life of the average person who wants to improve his character, can often be a frustrating one. "How come whenever I feel a bit more refined than usual, more inspired and genuine, do I fall right back down into desiring things that aren't good for me? Why did G-d Make me with such strong negative impulses?"

In the year 1797, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi published a book of Jewish Mysticism, entitled "Tanya." In Tanya, Rabbi Shneur Zalman revolutionized the way we must view our struggles with our negative impulses. He explains: “Who said God Wants you to be a tzaddik (completely righteous person)? God Wants you to struggle! Humanity's hero is the Beinoni (the struggler), not the tzaddik."

There's an ancient story that might help illustrate this idea:
There was once an elderly Chinese woman, who everyday would walk with 2 buckets to the river to retrieve water. One bucket was whole, while the other was filled with holes. The bucket full of holes began to feel terrible. It cried to its master: “I’m such a failure! I’m such a loser! Every day when you return, I barely have a 1/3 of the water of a regular bucket!” The lady replied: “Tomorrow, I want you to look at your surroundings." So the next day, the lady ventures off to the river as usual with her 2 buckets. But this time, the bucket with holes looks around, and notices a vast array of beautiful flowers. “Wow! How nice are these flowers!” The lady turns to the bucket and says: “It's because of your holes, that they are watered.”
~~~
One mustn't view his or her imperfections, blemishes, negative impulses and desires, as a curse. Rather, they are God's challenges that one must struggle with & work to overcome, thereby bringing great light into the world - beautiful flowers.
As long as one only pays attention to his/herself, than it's easy to become despondent. “How come I can never be good, holy, perfect, living a life of serenity and tranquility!?
Why do I always have stuff to work on?”
The Answer is, life is not just about your bucket! It’s about what G-d Wants you to achieve in this world.
He Wanted you to have a negative side. And He Wants you to struggle with it, to work to refine this animalistic side you have. To struggle with our negative sides isn’t bad - it's heroic! What’s bad is when we don't care, and we allow ourselves to fall prey to our animalistic side and become selfish and destructive.
But if we're confronting it and dealing with our animal nature, than we're on the right track.
So let's keep struggling - and let's do it with a smile!

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

Connected & Moving

Ahh, the end of the year. The sun's coming out and the textbooks are beginning to close! Smiles abound in the spring season, widening with the knowledge that summer is almost here. Let's for a moment enjoy the spring season, before moving into the summer. The snow's melted, the birds are chirping. For the natural world, in the springtime we see life in action.

Everything in the world is moving. To be alive, means to be constantly moving. Our heartbeat must constantly move, our breath as well. One can marvel at the remarkable consistency of the waves of the ocean. EVEN minerals show a life force in action (extraction of fission energy). According to Torah, this movement occurs because all of creation is connected to its source, A Divine life force that is perpetually infusing everything with life. And life causes movement.
We see this by the fact that everything that's alive - moves.
Interestingly, the only being that stops moving at times is us human beings.

An animal stops at times because it's his built-in nature. You won't find a tiger, though, staying in for the day because he wants a "day off" to sleep in :) We humans, though, at times decidedly stop. We lie on the couch or stay glued to a TV or computer. Worse, we can fall into a despondent, depressive state.
How come we humans can stop moving; can stop appearing alive?

Kabbalah explains that this is because we are able to forget, to not feel & be in tune with, the fact that we are connected to our life force. When one realizes that at every moment (even when things are apparently going bad in one's life), that he or she is directly connected to their life force - G-d, one becomes joyous, happy. This is even many times expressed in movement; dancing or actively sharing this feeling with another. Because knowing that you are connected to your life force brings life,
vitality, and therefore movement.

Being happy isn't changing into something new. Rather, it's going to the natural state a creation in this physical world is supposed to be in. Alive, moving. You are connected - therefore alive, vibrant, and happy.

But feel free to laze around a bit too ;)

Shabbat Shalom and a happy Spring & Summer to you!

-Daniel

Harmonizing Colors

The days between Passover & the holiday of Shavuot (where we celebrate the giving of the Torah), are known as the days of "the counting of the Omer." After leaving Egypt, the Jewish people traveled through land and water (or splitting of waters) for 49 days, until finally camping at Mount Sinai, where they heard the 10 commandments and received the Divine Torah. In order to prepare for such a lofty occasion, we are told that the Jewish People worked on refining themselves during these 49 days. In commemoration of this, there is a mitzvah to count every day of these 49 days (see here). But beyond just commemoratively counting, we are enjoined to also try and work on refining ourselves during these days, just as our forefathers & mothers did when they left Egypt.

The Chassidic Masters & Kabbalists explain a very deep component of this "refinement" done during these 49 days. We are taught that each of us are made up of 10 sefirot (character traits/drives): 3 intellectual and 7 emotional. Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge. Kindness, discipline, beauty/harmony, endurance, humility, bonding, leadership. During the Omer, we focus solely on the emotional traits.
To complicate things, each of the traits we have contains all of the other traits within them. That's why we need 49 days - 7 emotive traits, that contain the other 7: 7X7=49. What does this mean?

Let's take an example with the 1st 2 emotive sefirot - Loving kindness & discipline. If a parent's child were to run into the middle of the street, that parent might feel the need to severely scold that child, so that he doesn't do it again and lives a safer life. That parent is acting outwardly with discpline, but is expressing his loving kindness through his discipline. His intention is a good one! But sometimes the only way to help someone is through severity.

In the bigger picture, let's look at these 2 emotive traits.
All of us know of (or have) parents who pretty much let their kids do anything they want. They like to be friends with their kids, and let them have a free, good time in life, with little discipline or severity. That is pure Loving Kindess. Then we see the parents who are overly tough disciplinarians. The child must be careful with his every step.
What's needed here is the 3rd sefirah, known as "Tiferet" - harmony, or beauty. Tiferet is the ability to blend the above 2 drives, kindness & discipline, in a healthy way. To give a bit, and to hold back a bit. To balance; to harmonize.
Oftentimes we think that true perfection and greatness lies in extremes. Extreme giving and kindness; extreme severity or discipline. Ultimately though, in our lives, we must work to exercise tiferet - harmony, in every aspect of our lives. Fascinatingly, this 3rd drive is described in Kabbalah as "Beauty." The Sages explain that just as one color alone is not as beautiful as numerous colors intertwined in a harmonious fashion, so too Severity and Loving Kindness must be channeled together to achieve a truly beautiful life.

You can count on it ;)

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel
{For some great short insights into these Sefirot & days, check here}