BS”D

Today is Thanksgiving and also the birthday and Hilula of the Mitteler Rebbe, like the Hilula of the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochain on Lag Ba’Omer.

What is so special about today?  Thanksgiving comes from the sefirah of Hod, which is to give yourself over.  Today, however, something happens which only happens every seven years, according to the ‘Bris Menucha’.  The Bris Menucha is a Kabbalah sefer which is not known to most people.  In this sefer, it states that once in seven years, the ninth year (which this year is tav shin ayin, which spells the Hebrew word for the number nine, Teisah).

The ninth year and the ninth month, which is Kislev, and on the ninth day, which is today, which also happens to be the birthday and hilulah of the Mitteler Rebbe (the second Lubavitcher Rebbe) and on this day in the ninth hour, which happens in New York between 2:07 and 2:55 or something like that, is a very auspicious time for prayers and redemption.

We know the year 5770 is a special year for redemption, not just because of the cute thing that 770 happens to be symbol of Lubavitch and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach (and please don’t take that statement at face value!).  770 is also a very important structure in Kabbalah, which is epitomized by the sefirah of Hod.  This is why it’s so fitting that today is Thanksgiving, which is the non-Jewish term for Hod, the term for Thanksgiving and the beginning of Divine service to give thanks to Hashem for the good that He has bestowed upon us.

That emotional attribute of giving thanks and the humility that comes with that is the beginning of the revelation of the name YKVK, which is really the revelation of the Messianic redemption and the personal redemption of each person from all of their limitations that his life gives on him within time and space.

All of a sudden, there comes miraculous cures and sustenance in a way of rest and glory, which is all associated with G-d’s Holy name.  It’s the contraction and concealment of G-d’s Holy name that brings doubt and chaos and all of the negative things that we saw in the 2000 years of exile.

Why is this day such a special day for revelation?  To start off the answer, before we look at the sefirah of Hod, let’s take a look at the concept of 770.  It’s a very special number as we all know.  770 is the eighth century, and we started the eighth decade in this eighth century.  Why? Because we’re in the year 770, which is going up to 800, which means that we are in the eighth century of the sixth millennium, which corresponds to Yesod.  Within that eighth century, we started a new decade—the eighth decade.  In short, we are holding in the eighth of the eighth.

The eighth sefira, from the top down, starting from Keter, is Hod.  We are holding Hod of Hod.  This the sefirotic representation for this time period.  We’re teaching you a little bit of how to look at the cycles of time from a Kabbalistic perspective, which is a model of looking at creation within sequences.  We are looking at it as time representing sefirotic rectifications.  Within that, the year 770 represents the very beginning of a ten year process of the rectification of this attribute of Hod sheh b’Hod, the eighth sefira of the eighth sefira.

Besides the fact that the eighth year represents also the eighth generation, which is a very critical part of the seventh generation.   The Rebbe said that the 7^th generation would be the last generation of golos and the first generation of geula.  This eighth generation is alluded to in the maamar of Vayehi B’yom Hashmini of the year tav shin lamed zayin.  In the maamar, we will see that the Rebbe alludes to the seventh day, the day of Shabbos has in it an aspect, called  ‘Rivah D’Rivah’, which in Kabbalah is said to have come from ‘Mitzcha D’A.K.’, where this level within the seventh day is actually an eighth aspect, which is the inyan of Taanug (pleasure), which is the pnemius of Bina, which is the Pnemius of Atik.  The revelation of the days of Moshiach is a revelation specifically from that level, the essence.  That level of the eighth is the hamtakas hadin which comes through the pnemius of Torah.

The level of pnemius HhaTorah is epitomized by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of The Zohar.  His hilulah is Hod Sheh B’Hod.  This is why the number 770 represents the tikun of Hod Sheh B’Hod and Lag B’Omer, the gilui pnemius haTorah and gmar hatikun.  Gmar Hatikun is the time where in sefiras haomer, the dinim part of our avoda are finished, which is the avodas ha’birurim and the beginning of the avodas hayechudim, which is also in Bina.  It’s the Iyun, hisbonenus and pnemius of Imma.  Pnemius of Imma is misgaleh pnimius Atik, which is all of the giluim of this world, the day of the times of golos, which comes from the chitonius of Atik, as we know from many places in maamarim and Chassidus.

However, from pnemius of Atik, comes the days of moshiach, which is starting to be revealed in the year 770 and not just in 770 Eastern Parkway, where it has always been revealed from there.

Within 770, you have this concept of when within 770.  You have the month of Kislev, which is the revelation of the brachos from the month of Tishrei.  In Tishrei, you have Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the ten days of repentance, where you continue the blessing for the year.

The blessing, like a seed, has includes in it everything that is meant to be later for that entire year.  However, how it comes to be revealed after its three months of gestation, specifically on the tenth day of the third month.  This day is the inyan of pada b’shalom nafshi.  This is the gilui hayechida, which is the geula of yud and yud tes Kislev.  These inyanim are the successful completion of the personal avoda of geula pratis. This is talking specifically about now.

In actuality though, the right thing to do is to accept the yoke of Heaven and to realize that it is possible for all of us to have complete control over our middos and over our thought, speech and deed, which is the gilui of our middos and to be busy with ‘mochin d’tehara’ through being busy with studying the pnemius aspect of Torah and Chassidus, specifically the books of the Mitteler Rebbe and specifically being busy with the avoda of hisbonenus in seder hishtalshelus and the maamarim of Chassidus.

The Sha’ar Hayichud is a practical derech in avodas hisbonenus and explaining how to look at seder hishtalshelus.  However, the hisbonenus itself is found in a lot of maamarim and within other aspects of Chassidus, including the hemsechim from the Rebbe Rashab and the maamarim of the Rebbe.

This is the hisbonenus that we do, and this hisbonenus is teshuva ila’ah.  As the Rebbe brings in his sichos on Likutei Levi Yitzchak, Igeres Hateshua and Likutei Sichos, chelek lamed tes eight sichos on that ma’alah of teshuva ila’ah in a ‘matter of fact way’ that rectifies whatever teshuva is supposed to accomplish.  Again, this is limud pnemius haTorah, specifically as it’s found in the avodas hisbonenus from the Mitteler Rebbe on his birthday and hilulah, just like the Rashbi.

It’s a special day in the sense of that even regular people like us, by thinking about and asking for gilui hayechida then we will get gilui yeschida, which is the revelation of the ‘spark of moshiach’, which is in every one of us, which is are revelation of who we are supposed to be and that is the revelation of melech hamoshiach of Lubavitch.

Here is a video message about the auspicious time today for prayer and redemption:

What is so special about today?  Thanksgiving comes from the sefirah of Hod, which is to give yourself over.  Today, however, something happens which only happens every seven years, according to the ‘Bris Menucha’.  The Bris Menucha is a Kabbalah sefer which is not known to most people.  In this sefer, it states that once in seven years, the ninth year (which this year is tav shin ayin, which spells the Hebrew word for the number nine, Teisah).

The ninth year and the ninth month, which is Kislev, and on the ninth day, which is today, which also happens to be the birthday and hilulah of the Mitteler Rebbe (the second Lubavitcher Rebbe) and on this day in the ninth hour, which happens in New York between 2:07 and 2:55 or something like that, is a very auspicious time for prayers and redemption.

We know the year 5770 is a special year for redemption, not just because of the cute thing that 770 happens to be symbol of Lubavitch and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach (and please don’t take that statement at face value!).  770 is also a very important structure in Kabbalah, which is epitomized by the sefirah of Hod.  This is why it’s so fitting that today is Thanksgiving, which is the non-Jewish term for Hod, the term for Thanksgiving and the beginning of Divine service to give thanks to Hashem for the good that He has bestowed upon us.

That emotional attribute of giving thanks and the humility that comes with that is the beginning of the revelation of the name YKVK, which is really the revelation of the Messianic redemption and the personal redemption of each person from all of their limitations that his life gives on him within time and space.

All of a sudden, there comes miraculous cures and sustenance in a way of rest and glory, which is all associated with G-d’s Holy name.  It’s the contraction and concealment of G-d’s Holy name that brings doubt and chaos and all of the negative things that we saw in the 2000 years of exile.

Why is this day such a special day for revelation?  To start off the answer, before we look at the sefirah of Hod, let’s take a look at the concept of 770.  It’s a very special number as we all know.  770 is the eighth century, and we started the eighth decade in this eighth century.  Why? Because we’re in the year 770, which is going up to 800, which means that we are in the eighth century of the sixth millennium, which corresponds to Yesod.  Within that eighth century, we started a new decade—the eighth decade.  In short, we are holding in the eighth of the eighth.

The eighth sefira, from the top down, starting from Keter, is Hod.  We are holding Hod of Hod.  This the sefirotic representation for this time period.  We’re teaching you a little bit of how to look at the cycles of time from a Kabbalistic perspective, which is a model of looking at creation within sequences.  We are looking at it as time representing sefirotic rectifications.  Within that, the year 770 represents the very beginning of a ten year process of the rectification of this attribute of Hod sheh b’Hod, the eighth sefira of the eighth sefira.

Besides the fact that the eighth year represents also the eighth generation, which is a very critical part of the seventh generation.   The Rebbe said that the 7^th generation would be the last generation of golos and the first generation of geula.  This eighth generation is alluded to in the maamar of Vayehi B’yom Hashmini of the year tav shin lamed zayin.  In the maamar, we will see that the Rebbe alludes to the seventh day, the day of Shabbos has in it an aspect, called  ‘Rivah D’Rivah’, which in Kabbalah is said to have come from ‘Mitzcha D’A.K.’, where this level within the seventh day is actually an eighth aspect, which is the inyan of Taanug (pleasure), which is the pnemius of Bina, which is the Pnemius of Atik.  The revelation of the days of Moshiach is a revelation specifically from that level, the essence.  That level of the eighth is the hamtakas hadin which comes through the pnemius of Torah.

The level of pnemius HhaTorah is epitomized by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of The Zohar.  His hilulah is Hod Sheh B’Hod.  This is why the number 770 represents the tikun of Hod Sheh B’Hod and Lag B’Omer, the gilui pnemius haTorah and gmar hatikun.  Gmar Hatikun is the time where in sefiras haomer, the dinim part of our avoda are finished, which is the avodas ha’birurim and the beginning of the avodas hayechudim, which is also in Bina.  It’s the Iyun, hisbonenus and pnemius of Imma.  Pnemius of Imma is misgaleh pnimius Atik, which is all of the giluim of this world, the day of the times of golos, which comes from the chitonius of Atik, as we know from many places in maamarim and Chassidus.

However, from pnemius of Atik, comes the days of moshiach, which is starting to be revealed in the year 770 and not just in 770 Eastern Parkway, where it has always been revealed from there.

Within 770, you have this concept of when within 770.  You have the month of Kislev, which is the revelation of the brachos from the month of Tishrei.  In Tishrei, you have Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the ten days of repentance, where you continue the blessing for the year.

The blessing, like a seed, has includes in it everything that is meant to be later for that entire year.  However, how it comes to be revealed after its three months of gestation, specifically on the tenth day of the third month.  This day is the inyan of pada b’shalom nafshi.  This is the gilui hayechida, which is the geula of yud and yud tes Kislev.  These inyanim are the successful completion of the personal avoda of geula pratis. This is talking specifically about now.

In actuality though, the right thing to do is to accept the yoke of Heaven and to realize that it is possible for all of us to have complete control over our middos and over our thought, speech and deed, which is the gilui of our middos and to be busy with ‘mochin d’tehara’ through being busy with studying the pnemius aspect of Torah and Chassidus, specifically the books of the Mitteler Rebbe and specifically being busy with the avoda of hisbonenus in seder hishtalshelus and the maamarim of Chassidus.

The Sha’ar Hayichud is a practical derech in avodas hisbonenus and explaining how to look at seder hishtalshelus.  However, the hisbonenus itself is found in a lot of maamarim and within other aspects of Chassidus, including the hemsechim from the Rebbe Rashab and the maamarim of the Rebbe.

This is the hisbonenus that we do, and this hisbonenus is teshuva ila’ah.  As the Rebbe brings in his sichos on Likutei Levi Yitzchak, Igeres Hateshua and Likutei Sichos, chelek lamed tes eight sichos on that ma’alah of teshuva ila’ah in a ‘matter of fact way’ that rectifies whatever teshuva is supposed to accomplish.  Again, this is limud pnemius haTorah, specifically as it’s found in the avodas hisbonenus from the Mitteler Rebbe on his birthday and hilulah, just like the Rashbi.

It’s a special day in the sense of that even regular people like us, by thinking about and asking for gilui hayechida then we will get gilui yeschida, which is the revelation of the ‘spark of moshiach’, which is in every one of us, which is are revelation of who we are supposed to be and that is the revelation of melech hamoshiach of Lubavitch.

Finally, my last book for the Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009.  I made very good time despite adding two more books to the list.  But early as it is, I’ll have to wrap up as the Holidays draw near and my chances to read more books decrease as things are starting to get hectic.

I’ve wet my feet in breadmaking and I’m experimenting on perfecting scrumptious cinnamon rolls and ensaimadas (Filipino brioche) for gift-giving.    As I’ve never baked anything except for the occasional brownies, I forsee myself ambitiously wrestling with bread recipes, baking my day away, and snatching up my book only in between rising times.  So, let’s see how many more reviews I can dish out.

This book was a great finale to the challenge, albeit  a dark and brooding one.

Author :  Tobsha Learner

Publication Date :  January 2, 2007  (Mass Market Paperback)

Publisher :  Tor Books

ISBN-10: 0765350467

ISBN-13: 978-0765350466

No. of pages :  480

The Story :

Ruth bas Elazar Saul is daughter of the chief rabbi of the Jewish quarter of Cologne and a very good midwife with very unconventional methods.  Her  advanced  midwifery skills coupled with her studies in Kabbalah, taints Ruth’s reputation with suspicions of witchcraft in an era paranoid about heretics and devil worshippers.

She becomes the unfortunate target of the malevolent obsession of a Spanish friar and head of the Inquisition to Cologne.  Solitario takes his vengeance on an unknowing Ruth simply because she is the daughter of the woman who had jilted him and shredded his pride many years back.  Ruth is tried for witchcraft; but in the process gains the interest of the cleric, Detlef  von Tennen, cousin and close aide to the Archbishop of Cologne.

Detlef falls madly in love with Ruth and does everything in his power to avert her fate.  He succeeds and both start a love affair that in its time,  was unforgivable to both Jews and Catholics alike.  Amid this difficult union, Ruth and Detlef must struggle to live in a dangerous century at war with new philosophies threatening to overthrow its established beliefs, power and social structures.

The Review :

The book opens with “a woman writhing in labor”  which gave me the correct impression that I’d have a toe curling time with this one.

Learner is  an intense,  graphic writer who writes with a sensuality that is both raw and elegant.  Her torture scenes feel  horrendously realistic ; her descriptions of everyday life and her characterizations are rich and intimate, full of vivid details of seventeenth century Cologne, its lifestyle, its predominant psyche, and its prevailing social and religious atmosphere.

This novel is first and foremost a microcosmic representation of  a Europe inexorably marching toward the Age of Enlightenment, torn at one end by traditional society clinging tenaciously and fearfully to established institutions of power, thoughts, and morals and on the other, by radical philosophies and emerging new acceptances by free thinkers or the libertines of that time.

Solitario, the Spanish  Inquisitor, is the embodiment of the 17th century Roman Catholic Church, an institution reacting dangerously to threats to  its centuries-old European dominance by the emergence of new thoughts, values, mores and the new Protestant religion.  He is obsessed about bringing onto the Inquisition table  the Jewess, Ruth, and the breakaway cleric, Detlef, both of whom represent radical opposition to the faith which have begun to erode the Church’s right to absolute power.

Stories like these make me glad I was born in the 20th century, where we have education, modern conveniences, good medical knowledge and practices, and in most parts of the world, respect and freedom for all sorts of religions and ideas.  Imagine living in fear of torture and death because your ideas are heretically opposed to the prevailing beliefs of a Church which hold both  secular and spiritual domains in its grip.

It was also interesting for me to find out that Judaism has its own brand of occultism.  It has its own demons, grimoire, incantations, spells, and talismans.  The Kabbalah is practiced by a certain Jewish sect which does not find ready acceptance in the general Jewish populace; but nevertheless is a recognized albeit esoteric branch of the Jewish religion.

To Read Or Not To Read :

I have read reviews that slam this book for its love angle and gratuitous sex (which I didn’t find unwarranted at all).  The romance here is simply a support angle to the overall story of the book and is not the author’s point at all.  So if you are looking for a nice historical romance,  pass this up; this novel would be way out in left field.

However,  if you just want a well written story with a good historical background, The Witch of Cologne will be just the thing.  Although, be prepared for a very dark and somber tone (well matched with the era) throughout its entirety and for a substantial amount of graphic elements assiduously detailed in this book.

In A Nutshell :

Learner’s unconventional writing style marries quite well with her  objective of presenting a glimpse of medieval Europe in the cusp of social change, a dark and fearful transition for many,  when institutions of power, both political and religious, clawed desperately to maintain the status quo.  The story poses intelligent questions, some of which must have influenced how modern Europe evolved.

Don’t let the suggestive cover fool you into thinking this book is a shallow, sleazy read.  The book has the complexity and depth that makes it interesting and well worth your while — a perfect example  to heed the the adage:   “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

My Mark  :  Outstanding

]]> http://torathesed.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/sending-away-the-mother-bird/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:50:34 +0000 Hanoch Ne'eman http://torathesed.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/sending-away-the-mother-bird/

The Rav gave a whole class on the  mitza of sending away the mother bird, to take the young. It only applies to birds in a nest. The most interesting thing in the shiur for me was the explanation brought in the Zohar for this mitzva. According to the Zohar, the whole thing is sort of a provocation to enlist heavenly mercy for Am Yisrael.

It works likes this. When the mother bird is sent away, and its young are taken, it comes back and is heart-broken. When it cries out, this causes an agitation in Heaven. And then the angels grab an opportunity and plead before Hashem, “Your children, Am Yisrael, are in exile too, why don’t You have mercy on them and bring them home?”

I had the thought that perhaps that is why, as Rav Feuer pointed out, the nest is an integral part of the mitzva. Perhaps the nest represents Eretz Yisrael.

I also remember from Rav Kook, a reference to the “secret of the hovering over the nest.” I don’t know what the reference is to but it is something related to geula (redemption).

Los relatos de la Doctrina son sus vestiduras.

” El ignorante mira sólo el traje, esto, es el relato de la Doctrina; más alla nada ve.

El instruido entretanto no ve meramente la vestidura,sino lo que ésta encubre.”

ZOHAR

Conscious Relationships

“As the sons (Yaakov and Esav) grew up, Esav became a man who knows to hunt, a man of the field….and Yitzchak loved Esav.” -Breisheit / Genesis 25:28

What does the Torah mean when it says, “knows to hunt” instead of merely being a hunter? And why two separate things of being a hunter and also being a man of the field?

Rabbi Avraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (from Spain 1089-1164), the classic commentator and great clarifier of the Torah says that in order to succeed in hunting one needs to know how to manipulate and trick the prey. One cannot just kill an animal, but one needs to know how to trap the animal. So the Ibn Ezra is teaching us that the Torah is not merely giving us a historical accounting of Esav’s proffession – but on a deeper level is telling us what kind of person he was; and Esav knew how to trick, trap and manipulate.

The Medrash asks why does the Torah add “man of the field”? What is the Torah adding for us? The Medrash answers that Esav used to take women from their husbands out to the field, so no one could hear them scream – what a haunting description. Shocking, horrific – even graphic, but the Medrash is adding for us another level of understanding who Esav was: more than mere manipulation and trickery that he was capable of, Esav was cruel and destructive.

If this is the kind of man Esav is: a hunter, manipulator, deceiver, rapist and cruel – how is it that the Torah emphasizes, “& Yitzchak loved Esav”. How could Yitzchak, a prophet, a spiritual and utmost refined holy individual love this type of person – and why is the Torah going out of its way to emphasize this?

Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner, the Ishbitzer Rebbe (Poland, 1801-1854) says the following profound reality of the relationship of Yitzchak to Esav. If a person looks closely, the word in the Torah saying how Yitzchak loves Esav is actually in the active form. This means to say that it was not merely that Yitzchak happened to especially love Esav – he actively and consciously loved him, he went out of his way to love him.

As is known, Esav is the father of the western world, the non-Jewish western world to be precise. Esav was not Jewish nor was his progeny Jewish. However, as history developed and evolved, there came to be many great Jewish leaders who trace their lineage to Esav. Ovadia the prophet, Sh’maya & Avtalyon the famous sages in the Talmud, Rabbi Akiva and many others throughout Jewish history. How is it that all of these great leaders, sages and prophets specifically stem from Esav the hunter, rapist and deceiver? Is that our Jewish heritage? What is the meaning behind this?

The Ishbitzer Rebbe says the following deep secret of the Torah to answer.

Yitzchak did not inherently love Esav any more than he did Yaakov – why should he? Should he love Esav’s ways of deceit, manipulation, hunting animals and most horrific his treatment and abuse of women?

Rather, says the Ishbitzer Rebbe, as the Torah is telling us that Yitzchak actively and consciously loved Esav – he made the deep effort to. And from everytime Yitzchak looked upon Esav with favor, love, compassion and care there sparked the souls of future righteous generations within him. From the active loving of Esav, not only despite his evil ways but because of it, there generated within him and his progeny sparks of goodness to later be actualized in Ovadia, Rabbi Akiva and thousands more.

Judaism teaches us to “nullify your will for God’s, so that God will nullify others for yours” (Pirkei Avot 2:4). The Ishbitzer Rebbe says that this is what Yitzchak did for Esav – he nullified his own internal difficulty in loving Esav to love him which later resulted in God channelling the wills of Esav’s progeny towards Torah.

The secret here is that good does not happen by accident and good people do not appear out of the blue. The truth is that one has to create good by relating to everything in a positive, deeper way. This is the deeper meaning of Yitzchak loving Esav – Yitzchak loved that which is not good in order to make it good. Not with immediate results either, for it took many generations until Yitzchak’s vision came to be a reality in the leaders mentioned above.

This is really the essence of Judaism – to have a heart filled with deep love of everyone, and if it’s not there, to make it there.

The secret of this Parsha is that the first ingredient in Judaism, life and community is loving others – and only through that will there be later success, though often not at all immediate.

How in our lives is this practical? To enhance the love that we already have for people we adore and for people that we don’t. Are there people in our lives who we think of as “Esav”, who we think bring us down? Are there things or people who we might treat negatively, even a little bit? Are there people who would benefit from our being more patient, forgiving and compassionate? To all of the “Esav’s” in our lives, let us be like Yitzchak who consciously loves to generate the hidden good within.

Daniel Abrams, “The Invention of the Zohar as a Book” Kabbalah 19 (2009) 7-142

I just finished a very long (135 pages) rambling article by Daniel Abrams with many topics and looks to be the core of a forthcoming book. The article is a seminal one for Abram’s approach and the vast literature review of the field that it contains will make it required reading in the field.

The Zohar was neither written, nor edited, nor distributed as a book by the various figures who produced the various literary units which were later known by the name Zohar. (10)

The Zohar is not a Book – Nor does it have an author (105)

I have tried to express my theoretical discomfort, indeed a perceived dissonance, concerning published methodologies for evaluating the literary quality and forms of the texts known by the name Zohar. (127)

No satisfactory evidence has yet been offered in the relevant scholarship proving that the zoharic writings were intentionally composed, edited, or copied as a book. Not only can ‘the’ Book of the Zohar not be restored to its full form, but there was no single original moment that is recoverable amidst the disparate writings and unstable text(s). (142)

Abrams claims the  idea of the Zohar as a preexisting book was created in the 16^th century by the printers- before that point there were only various unconnected manuscripts of esotericism. The production of the Zohar as ideas, texts, and isolated units, has little to do with consumption of the product as a book. He notes that books of esotericism had continuous reworkings.  Then in  the 16th century there arose the idea of a single book, The Zohar.

He spends much of the article reviewing statements of what this work is, from the 1^3th century to the 16th century printers to 20^th century  and then all 20^th and 21^st century academic studies on what they thought about the nature of the Zohar as a book and whether they imagined that there was such an original lost book to be recovered

Abrams rejects Scholem’s theory of a single author and he rejects Yehuda Liebes’ theory of circle of Zohar authors- hug haZohar. The Zohar contains variety of styles and diverse literature, hence Abrams is sympathetic to Moshe Idel’s reclamation of the theory of Moses Gaster, who considered the work a collection of diverse sources.

He accepts parts of Ronit Meroz’s articles that claim that the texts of the Zohar originated between the  11-14^th centuries. But he demurs from her suggestion that there are 14^th century imitators of the Zohar’s style Abrams asks: Who says there was ever a fixed thing called the Zohar to imitate?And form criticism does not work if you do not know that the text existed as we have it in these earlier centuries.

With a bit of overkill, he cites Walter Benjamin that in an age of reproduction the book is different than in the era of production. (He does not know Stephen Greenblatt on how a printed book can have ever more aura). He uses Foucault’s “What is an Author” mentioning that author is a constructed idea. But he does not mention that in the middle ages philosophy was authorless while science had an author. Now, in the modern era, we treat science as authorless and give philosophy an author. Abrams does not state why he should think esotericsm should be different than philosophy. He might have been between off citing the shelf of books on authorship in medieval literature- Foucualt may not be proving his point. He has a nice use of Brian Stock on textual communities that have an interplay of textuality and orality.

Abrams suggests that the field needs to go back to manuscripts and first edoitions, and especially colophons  – every text must be treated in its context of production of the manuscript.

He notes:  Danny Matt is creating a synthetic text that does not correspond to any text out there.  Meroz is creating a synoptic edition but that already assumes a whole to be recreated or an original text to retrieve Abrams compares the Zohar to Rabbinic works. Zohar is like the tannaic collections that existed before the Bavli was edited.

He is glad to substantiate Meroz’s finding that some of the texts of the Zohar were originally circulating in Hebrew and then later editors translated them into Aramaic because they thought they were returning the text to its original language of Rashbi which was lost.

He is perturbed by the new book on the Zohar by Melila Heller-Eshed. There is no proof for a hevraya around the Rashbi nor is there any proof that the texts joined as the Zohar have anything in common in the original formation. Abrams is against the literary and thematic studies produced by the students of Yehudah Liebes. (I have a forthcoming review of Melila Heller-Eshed’s book)

Finally Abrams notes the phenomena of hyper-animation of the text where there is an assumed personal authorship. He notes that this started in the 16^th century with the poem to Bar Yohai and continues with Liebes’ poem to Rashbi and the invocationof the spirit of Rashbi By Heller-Eshed. He asks rhetorically why doesn’t anyone ask for the spirit of the author of Sefer Yetzirah to descend on them?

“The study of Torah”

Does not refer to a cerebral, academic approach to thousands of words on parchment.

This is not its end and purpose at all though intellect is a tool to “connect”

The Torah is understood as the medium through which the energy of The Creator is expressed in our physical dimension of existence.

The sinewy parchment, the coal black ink, and the primordial letters are all intricate components of a divine communication instrument serving one express purpose: to help willing students uproot all their character flaws, in order to attain similarity of nature and thus, closeness to the Light of The Creator.

The first Torah Scroll was shown to Moses by God ”Written in black fire over white fire”.

Moshe transcribed from that Torah of fire while God dictated the words. This very Torah was placed in the Holy Ark and twelve additional Torah Scrolls were gifted to each of the tribes.

From these original scrolls, additional Torahs were transcribed in precise detail. Even the letters were identical in appearance. Indeed each and every feature was prescribed by G-d. Thus the chain of Torah remained unbroken from the time it was given to us at Sinai.

Along the 3,516 years of Jewish history, not one of the Torah’s 304,805 letters has ever been changed and a Sefer Torah that exist in New York is exactly the same that exist in Japan. The words we read in synagogue today are exactly those recorded by Moses.

Come and behold: when the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to create the world, He did so with  the Torah. And he continues to do so at every moment.

And every act that the Holy One, blessed be He, used to create the world was done with and  according to the Torah. This is the meaning of: ”then I was by him, as a nursling: and I was daily his delight” (Proverbs 8:30). Do not pronounce it as ”a nursling,” (Heb. amon) but rather ’a Artist’ (Heb. oman), BECAUSE IT WAS A instrument of HIS Art.

It is more than a book

When He wanted to create man, the Torah said to him: ’If man is created, he will sin, and you will punish him. Would not Your handwork then be in vain? After all, he will not be able to endure the punishment.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: ’I created repentance before I created the world. IF HE WILL SIN, HE WILL BE ABLE TO REPENT AND BE FORGIVEN.’ In Hebrew Repentance is the word “Teshuva” It really means to “return” .

It refers to a aspect of Time travel. returning to a state before the damage was done

When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world and created Adam, He said to it: ’World, world, you and your nature are based solely upon the Torah, and for that reason I created man in you, to be occupied with the Torah. And if he does not Occupy with THE TORAH, I will return you to chaos.

It is the “energy” from the Torah that prevents this directing creation toward God’s desired goal. Yet there is also free will.

Everything is for man.’ This is the meaning of the verse: ”I have made the earth, and created man upon it” (Yeshayah 45:12). The Torah proclaims to men to be occupied with and endeavor in the study of the Torah, but no one lends an ear.

Come and behold: whoever studies the Torah sustains the world and properly sustains every act in the world. There is no part within man that does not have a counterpart  in the world.

So dont mess it all up by ruining your own life, as there are far reaching consequences .

Just as the body of man is composed of levels of parts that act together to form a unified body, so is the world. All the creatures in the world are hierarchical parts that act on and react with each other, so they will actually be as one body. Everything, WHETHER IT BE MAN OR THE WORLD, is part of the Torah,  the Torah is made of different parts and sections that support each other. When they are all correct, they will become as one body.

The whole world and all in it is as one Organic Body !

Each soul has a source in a letter of the Torah

“It has been said that each of the letters of the Torah has some corresponding soul.

La verdad sobre el 2012

Muchas películas y documentales alarmistas están tratando hacerte creer que el 2012 es el Apocalipsis o el fin de la humanidad, en primer lugar el único fin que se da es el fin de de la noche galáctica, y también de la era en la que nos encontramos la cual es la era de Piscis, ya que estamos entrando a la era de Acuario la cual es una era muy prometedora para la humanidad, las verdaderas profecías de muchas culturas son que en este nuevo ciclo al que entraremos al dia galactico y a la era de Acuario se dará el despertar de la conciencia, la iluminación, la evolución humana.

• Hopis Predicen un periodo de 25 años de purificación seguido por el Fin del Cuarto Mundo y el comienzo del Quinto
• Mayas Lo llaman el “fin de los días” o el fin del tiempo como lo conocemos
• Maoris Dicen que en cuando se disuelva el velo, se mergiran el mundo físico y espiritual
• Zulu Creen que el mundo será dado vuelta (así, “patas para arriba”)
• Hindus Kali Yuga (fin de los tiempos). La llegada de Kali y la llegada en masa de los iluminados
• Incas Le llaman ‘la Era de conocernos interiormente nuevamente’.
• Aztecas Lo llaman el tiempo del Sexto Sol. Un tiempo de transformación. Creación de una nueva raza
• Dogon Dicen que la nave de los visitantes, el Nommo, regresará en forma de una estrella azul
• Pueblo Reconocen la aparicion del Quinto Mundo
• Cherokee Su calendario termina exactamente el año 2012 exactamente como el calendario Maya
• Tibetanos Las enseñanzas Kalachakra son profecías dejadas por Buddha prediciendo la llegada de la Era Dorada
• Egipto De acuerdo a la Gran Pirámide (calendario de piedra), el ciclo del presente tiempo termina el año 2012.
• El libro sagrado del Zohar dice:”Todos los tesoros celestiales y los enigmas ocultos que durante generaciones no han sido resueltos se descubrirán en la Era de Acuario”

Pero para esto tenemos que ser concientes de la verdadera realidad, existen dos caminos uno es el despertar y la iluminación de la humanidad y otro es el de la destrucción mutua de la humanidad, nadie nos va a destruir, nos vamos a matar unos a otros a menos que cambiemos en el poco tiempo que nos queda:

Los mayas nos dicen que el período intermedio al traspaso, dura 20 años, y ellos lo llaman “El tiempo del No-Tiempo” (esto lo que estamos viviendo, el último katún, empezó en 1992), en donde ocurren grandes cambios. Es allí cuando debemos ser capaces de transformarnos, puesto que será nuestra decisión seguir como humanidad o perecer en nuestra autodestrucción. Esta transformación implica algo tan profundo como la elección de evolucionar. Energéticamente, concientemente, completamente. El final de este proceso, es el año 2012, cuando termina el “Tiempo del No-Tiempo”.

Así que mi única intención es que tomes conciencia y te armonices con todo y contigo mismo, sabes que existe la ley de atracción, la voluntad, la fuerza del pensamiento, trata de atraer cosas buenas a tu vida y a la vida de los demás seres que te rodean. Existen muchas elites malignas que controlan a esta humanidad consumista y quieren que el mundo siga siendo su basurero y su matadero están contaminado tu mente con miedo, con mentiras, con distracciones, para que no tomes conciencia de lo importante que es este tiempo que tenemos, ya que si te dejas llevar por los pensamientos de destrucción, Apocalipsis, muerte, y toda esa basura que te meten a diario con los medios controlados por ellos, el miedo masivo creara una obstrucción de la energía vitalizadota, suprema y cósmica que recibiremos en la era de Acuario, así que no te dejes influenciar por la  negatividad y su odio, se mas fuerte que el miedo y toma conciencia de ti y del universo.

Tantas culturas predicen esta era de Acuario como la era de la conciencia, la era del conocimiento, la era de el despertar, todos somos tan afortunados de existir en este tiempo, de nosotros depende nuestro futuro y el futuro de la  humanidad, si queremos que sea algo bueno para todos piensa cosas buenas y atrae cosas buenas, aun que sea en este corto tiempo trata de cambiar para bien para armonizarte con todo el universo, vamos a ser presentes de unos de los hechos cósmicos mas importantes de la galaxia.

Cada era dura 2100 años aproximadamente y nosotros vamos a contemplar el cambio de era además de un evento muy importante el de el de la alineación galáctica que sucederá el 21 de diciembre del 2012, esta cuenta empiezo en el año 3113 A.C. que fue la “Entrada al HAZ de Sincronización Galáctica” y terminará para el año 2012 con la “Sincronización Galáctica”. Este ciclo dura 5125 años, además lo mas importante estamos cerca del centro de la galaxia ahora estamos en el amanecer de la galaxia (en el tiempo del no tiempo), estamos saliendo de la noche y entrando al día a la mañana galáctica, cada noche y día en la galaxia duran 12.800 años. Somos tan afortunados de vivir en esta época en que tantas cosas maravillosas sucederán.

Así que no tengas miedo del 2012 si tu quieres será algo muy lindo para ti,  para la humanidad, para el planeta y para el universo, yo no soy religiosa pero respeto mucho las creencias de todos, así que de la religión que seas, de la creencia que tengas trata de armonizarte con todos y con todo a tu alrededor.

BS”D

The following is a draft introduction to a new eBook due out next month titled “Understanding the Messianic Redemption”.  The book is a collections of Jewish perspectives on the Messianic Redemption.  The inspiration to writing this book was the global consciousness of redemption and fears of apocalypse resulting from the media coverage of the popular End of Days prophecies for 2012.

Your comments are welcome…

December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan prophecies, the Hopi Indian prophecies, Chinese prophecies, and Nostradamus prophecies, is basically the end of the end.  There are people talking about 2012 having tsunamis, and all kinds of different proof of it being ‘the end of days’, like different codes, etc.

2012 will be a great revelation, but the revelation started already and is ongoing.  If anything, 2012 is the beginning of days, and even that is actually starting already now.  We will later go through different prophecies and timelines that are generally set in the Holy Zohar, where they specify a timeline very clearly, although they omit the century.  We see those prophecies being fulfilled in our century, and we will discuss the kabbalistic systems that governed these prophecies and see how it all fits together to one point, which is the fact that we are in the midst of the final messianic redemption.

With that said, we’re not looking for a meteor to hit earth, or great tsunamis.  Those events may or may not pan out.  It’s interesting to note that most of the analogies for wars that we see in the Holy writings often refer to the inner battle between good and evil that is waged in each and every one of us.  Sometimes this is manifested in actual battles and wars, but we don’t really know so much about these things so I personally rather not go into “the apocalyptic wars of the end of days.”

Since the Messianic redemption is a process that follows a timeline, there’s an order and sequence of events that play out, which we have been experiencing for the past twenty years already.

For a general and broad outline of the Messianic redemption, we look to Maimonides, or the Rambam, who was one of the foremost codifiers of Jewish Law.

The Rambam lays out a timeline for the Messianic redemption in four general stages:

1.    A king will rise from the house of David (a descendent of David).  He will be a Torah Jew who is dedicated to the Torah and its commandments, just like his great grandfather David was.
2.    He will fight the wars of G-d and win.
3.    He will build the Holy Temple in its place.
4.    He will gather the exile of the Jews to Israel.

It’s interesting to note that the Jews returning to Israel during the Messianic redemption happens after the rebuilding of the Temple, which means two things.

The Jews living in Israel today (the in gathering of the exiles as it’s happening today, meaning Jews moving to Israel) is not necessarily part of the Messianic redemption.  It’s just part of life.  The actual in gathering of the exiles is something that is accomplished through the King Messiah and after the rebuilding of the Temple.

It also means that you’ll have Jews sitting in the States watching the Temple being dedicated on CNN and he’s living in Connecticut and perfectly comfortable there.  That stage in the redemption we have not hit yet.  Will it be 2012? I hope so.  I hope it will be much sooner than that, but it probably won’t be too much later than that.

Some people say that we are holding at the stage of rebuilding the Temple.  What does that mean exactly?  It means that we are already playing out the timeline of redemption, and we are parts of it.  To do this, and to understand this, and to understand what is wanted from us as part of this, we need to understand who the King Messiah is, and the concept of the Messiah within the concept of Jewish Tradition.

The Messianic redemption has been the goal of Jews and Jewish life since its inception.  The reason we don’t know much about it beyond a general timeline is because a lot of this is dependent on our actions, like our righteousness or lack thereof.  How we act affects the specifics of how things will pan out, but the general guidelines are known.

I just gave you the steps in the Messianic redemption.  The Rambam also gives general divisions between this world and the world to come and stages within Messianic days, Messianic times.  Within Messianic times, we have different levels.

We have a time about which it is said there is no difference between these times and the Messianic times, except that Jews will be free from their exile and their enslavement to the rest of the nations and will live in Eretz Yisroel and rule the world (so to speak) through the power of Torah and Justice.
The second stage in Messianic days is when the very nature of the world changes.  This is where you’ll see the ‘lamb and the wolf lying together’, which means that the nature of killing and the predatory nature of animals will change.

We can’t imagine the second stage.  In the first stage, we have the actual ingathering of the exiles and rebuilding the Temple.  All of this happens through a revelation of Kabbalah, Chassidus and the esoteric aspects of the Torah.

There is news circulating that more nations are supporting the idea of sanctions against the Iranian government for their lack of openness regarding their nuclear program which is not supporting Iran’s claim that their nuclear program is for the purpose of developing an alternative energy source and reinforces Israel’s and other members of the international community’s reason to be very concerned about the direction Iran is going in. The latest country to indicate they may support sanctions is Russia. President Dmitri Medvedev, made it know to the United States while attending the United Nations Summit this week.

While sanctions may work to starve Iran’s nuclear program of funding and slow their progress, it may isolate the Iranian people  who already are demonstrating against the recent elections and help Iran’s propaganda and psychological warfare operation who is pushing the same image of the West as the late Ayatollah Khomeini who once said; “America is the “Great Satan”. Sanctions could help Iran put a tighter grip on the people by controlling humanitarian aid…  One  concern Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expressed back in April and May of this year during a Senate Arms Services Committee meeting is that any military actions could cause Iran’s nuclear weapons program to go underground which would make it difficult to confirm how much progress has been made in weaponizing uranium. The same could be true if we sanction Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still in the position of leadership and still has his support network intact…It is my own opinion that the best option is to work to change Iran from within and let those who want democracy thrive and enable them by whatever means necessary.