by Fayga Marks @ Mystical Paths

I’m angry.  I’m frustrated.  I’m fuming.  How can holy Jewish women see this and even have the slightest thought that it’s not kosher?

It’s called Yoga.  Yoga is a Hindu religious practice.  And Hinduism is, according to Jewish religious definition, clear avodah zarah.  This is not in question or debatable.  What people try to debate and disassociate is yoga from Hinduism, to say that positioning your body in Hindu worship stretching worship positions is “just exercise”.  “Just exercise” that "just so happens” to always include very particular positions, particular meditative thinking (that “just happens” to be literally the opposite of the goals of Jewish meditation), and particular patterned breathing.

But I’m told yoga is ok because “my rabbi said as long as there is not an actual idol in the room, it’s not avodah zarah”.  (Has this rabbi ever read tractate avodah zarah?  Or investigated yoga’s background, goals and leading practitioners?)

So how does a Hindu religious practice slip it’s way into Jewish religious neighborhoods?  It’s Tumas Hagar!  (Tumah means spiritual impurity.)  Berashis 21:9  Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian…become depraved (worshipping idols)… 21:14  He sent her away.  and Berashis 25:1.

The names of the Hindu gods are the names of the decedents of Yishmael!  And the name of top Hindu cast is derived from Abraham – Brahmins!  (See Berashis 25:1, and Rashi states that Ketura is Hagar.)   Hinduism is literally the tumah that Sarah had sent away!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIt’s back! 

Holy Jewish women have always literally been the foundation of Am Yisroel.  This is not some silly thing about tznius or being dedicated to raising a family.  This is literally women standing strong on their moral values and being focused on the value of a stable family being the literal foundation, strength and stability of Jewish society.  Without it the Torah world crumbles.

This is a simple matter of incompatibility.  You can’t take a mikvah with a bug in your hand.  You can’t be tznius and hot.  You can’t be flirty and modest. 

Devarim 32:16 They provided His jealousy with alien practices.  You can’t kasher pork.  And you can’t remove the prohibition from the practices of idol worship.

This is the other side trying to destroy the family from the inside, from the foundation.  Quietly and silently eating away and the moral basis of yiddishkeit.

One way to tell when something’s inappropriate is in how strong people defend it (when it’s a minor activity like exercise).  Why would people go crazy over a particular exercise practice?  What’s the big deal about substituting one stretching exercise for another?  Why are so many female yoga practitioners so INTENSE about it?  Why do many people literally call yoga addictive?  (The vast vast majority women.)

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

They’re out to get me.  I’m an American Jew, an American Charedi Jew if you will.  I sympathize with some of their goals.  I see the trends, some things HAVE to change – and we don’t rely on miracles.  But they speak with forked tongue (Americanism for THEY’RE LYING). 

- They state they want people to work, but then scream about continuing to support a law making it ILLEGAL to work before age 31. 

- They state they want people to qualify for good high tech jobs, but (in a massive case of direct discrimination) fund our schools at 25% less than their schools WHEN THEY TEACH THE SAME SUBJECTS.

- They state they’re worried about army fighting ability and manpower, but then force our soldiers to attend female rock concerts (what’s that got to do with fighting ability?) and openly state they don’t want to increase the size of charedi battalions as it will prevent cultural assimilation.

-They state and demand all should share the burden, but suddenly drop any requirements for participation by Israeli Arab or Israeli Christian citizens.

Their logical arguments bear true concerns for the future of Israel.  BUT THEIR ACTIONS SHOW THEM UNABLE TO CONTROL THEIR HATRED FOR ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS.  And then this arrives in my mailbox and the mailbox of everyone on my side of town… (delivered in hebrew and english, hebrew version at the end of this article)

1, 2, 3, 4, let’s start a culture war...  Because that’s exactly what we need while lined up for a possible war from Syria with Russian support. 

Here’s the deal.  In ultra-orthodox neighborhoods a number of businesses (not all, not even the majority) provide gender segregation OPTIONS, because their clientele prefer it.  For example, a grocery store offers a “men only” checkout lane, so the religious men aren’t crushed in with all the ladies doing their shopping in a space limited checkout area.  Similarly, one of the local health services offers a “men’s only office” with male doctors with a matching “women’s only office” with female doctors.  Nothing discriminatory, options provided for those who prefer it.

But no, this organization thinks they’re going to force the Jewish religious community to what?  Cuddle up together in public?

This is an evil disgusting attempt to demonize and destroy a segment of society.  They think some good is going to come from this?  “Hi, we want you to be good participatory economic and defense citizens, but we’re going to kick you in the head every time we see you because we disagee with being religious.  We’re going to fine you, insult you, prevent you from working, discriminate against you, and then declare you discriminatory because you won’t cuddle in public while holding parades trampling on tallasim in Tel Aviv.”

This is directly the results of Tzipi Livni, the current inJustice Minister, and Prime Minister do-anything-to-stay-in-power Netanyahu. 

You want us to participate and engage, yet you come at us like this???

…Erev Rav.  Straight up, straight out Erev Rav. 

Ultra-orthodox Jewish religious society in Israel is out of balance.  And their response to the changing political and cultural situation has been immature and even inappropriate to their status as representatives of Torah.

But what’s being done…straight out culture war.  Attack to damage if not destroy.  AND ONLY OUR ENEMIES WIN WHEN WE’RE FIGHTING OURSELVES.  And since they’re trying to KILL US, somebody might want to get their priorities straight.

Note they don’t even have the GUTS to identify who they are!

via Lma’an Yishme’u

The Torah urges us to remember the past and learn from it, and to learn from the older generation on how to conduct oneself.  (האזינו לב,ז)

The Frierdiker Rebbe (the 6th Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch) wrote: The avoda (the divine service or path) of learning from the ways of talmidei chachomim (the learned Torah scholars) is accomplished at chassidishe farbrengens (chassidic soul gatherings), where eltere (old) chassidim relate sippurim (stories and recollections) about tzaddikim (the righteous) and chassidim (those who go beyond the letter of the religious law). They discuss the lesson to be learnt and arouse their listeners appropriately, ensuring that the arousal be translated into action. Telling sippurim was (and is) therefore cherished by our Rebbeim and by other great tzaddikim of Chassidus.

On one occasion the Frierdiker Rebbe said: Remembering 'the days of old' was always precious to chassidim. Homes used to be saturated with middos tovos (good deeds) and ahavas HaShem (love of G-d), ahavas haTorah (love of Torah) and ahavas Yisroel (love of your fellow), and no matter whether people were rich or poor, their doors were always open for chachomim (to the learned and wise).

In the past, he added, eltere chassidim would speak on their own without being asked. This was not mere storytelling; rather, a way of life was shared.

(אג"ק מוהריי"צ ח"ו ע' עה, לקוטי דיבורים ח"א ע' 234)

by Reb Gutman Locks on Mystical Paths

A Blog Moderator wrote:

     I have been reading your blog for a couple of years and enjoy it very much.

     About a year ago I became a moderator on a blog, after joining it I was saddened/shocked to find so many young people my age and younger who were anti-Semitic or misinformed.

     This blog has a large following and I felt it was a good way to reach out and dispel some of the rumors and lies about Israel and Judaism.

     I am concerned and need some advice on how to approach them, what to say or if I should say anything at all. Is this something I should be worried about? Is this trend normal? As a pro Israel blogger I felt an obligation to say something.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, D

My response:

Shalom D,

     It is so good that you are concerned. Of course you should do something, but the problem is that they will most likely not listen, and the public might even come to dislike you for defending the truth, but still, you have to help.

    You should submit articles showing the truth, and warning against following articles/videos/pictures without verifying that they are true. So many times the hateful videos are later proven to be total frauds!

    You should publicize everything that you can find that sheds positive light on Israel. For instance, it is a known fact (and you should find a good non-Jewish source other than quoting me), that;

      The arabs who live here live longer than in any of the surrounding arab countries.

     The arabs in Jerusalem prefer to become Israelis than to give up their citizenship and be Palestinians

       The president of the arabs here (abbas) announced that when they have a Palestinian country no Jews will be allowed to live there. If we would say such a thing the world would scream apartheid, and condemn us.

     And on and on.

     Avoid answering their charges as they are almost always lies, and even if they are factual, they throw them at us only to deflect the charges against them. They want to keep us on the defensive instead of letting the truth be known.

     Maybe it would be best to publish these facts one at a time, and then repeat them from time to time, especially when they put out a ridiculous video showing Jews to be foolish. Site sources other than Jewish sources when you post them.

     Let your readers know that the problem in Israel with the arabs is not a Jewish/Arab problem. It is a Muslim problem. One out of five people in the world is Muslim, yet four out of five wars in the world are Muslim. Not just this war here in Israel, but in Boston, Canada, Spain, China, India, Turkey, and on and on and on. Ask why is it that twelve percent of the population in France is Muslim, but seventy percent of the jail population is Muslim? Let them know such things as the current list of “FBI Most Wanted Terrorists” contains 32 people. 30 of them are Muslims and two are left-wing liberals.

    Here are a few facts that your readers have to hear, and they will have to hear them over and over again. Remember, America forgot 9/11 in just a few years!

The Bible and the Koran both state that Israel is the Land that G-d has given to the Jewish people;

For instance; Koran Suras 5:21 "O my people [Children of Israel], enter the holy land that G-D has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers."

Suras 17:104 “And we said to the Children of Israel afterwards, ‘Go live into this land. When the final prophecy comes to pass, we will summon you all in one group. We shall bring you altogether as mixed crowd.’” (gathered out of various nations).

Hamas Minister Tathi Hammad, March 23, 2012 said, “Who are Palestinians? Palestinians don’t come from Palestine…Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis.”

“When Jordan attacked Israel in the 6 Day War and lost, they forfeited the land. This has been a historical truth in all wars throughout time. Nowhere in history, has a nefarious act of war and murder been rewarded by returning lost land so that they may try again. Any fool who thinks warmongers should be rewarded is motivated by something evil.”

   Good for you D

   Hashem bless you to be able to help.

   Let me know how things go.

News of a random attack with a meat cleaver on a London street.  Sadly the victim just randomly was a British soldier (in uniform).  The (alleged with blood dripping from his hands and bloody weapon in hand) attacker randomly mentioned something that sounded like an Muslim religious based reason for his actions – but everyone is sure they misheard because discrimination is illegal.

“Holding a BLOODY meat cleaver in his BLOODY hand following an attack with many witnesses and captured on CCTV video monitors against a uniformed British soldier, the attacker told passers by he carried out his attack ‘because Muslims are dying daily.”

Our condolences to the family of the brutally murdered soldier.  Our further condolences to the British people for a government and culture that can’t recognize their enemies yet demonizes those who would be friends are share similar civilized values.

by Reb Gutman Locks on Mystical Paths

A Blogger asked:

     A few months ago we discovered that a few converts are leaning towards becoming anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. They follow another convert like groupies. I am concerned and need some advice on how to approach them, what to say or if I should say anything at all. Is this something I should be worried about? Is this trend normal? As a pro Israel blogger I felt an obligation to say something.

Gutman’s response:

     One of the reasons why the Torah commands us more than once to love the convert as much as a home born Jew, is that they do not have a share in the Land.

     When the Jewish people are fully returned to our land we will dwell in our inherited portion of the land. The land is divided by tribe, and which tribe we belong to depends upon our father’s tribe. The convert does not have a Jewish father, so he will not inherit a share in the land. He, like the kohenim (Jewish priests who also do not have a portion of the land) will live in the cities.

     The convert, feeling this loss might feel inferior or neglected. To prevent this, the Torah reminds us that we too were once strangers in a land that was not ours, and that we should be sensitive to their feelings. Having said that, still, any Jew who is “anti-Israel” or “anti-Zionist” simply does not understand the nature of the Land of Israel.

     You have to remind your readers just how unique the Land of Israel is. Remember, we did not choose this Land. G-d did. He gave it to our forefathers and to us as their descendants. No one can ever give it away!

Here are a few facts that they should know.

The Jewish people and the Land of Israel are one. So precious is this land to us.

The Torah tells us, “You shall inherit the land and dwell within it for I have given you the Land to possess it.”[i]

When a Jew acquires a home in the land he acquires a share in the World to Come.

In fact, any Jew who even walks four steps in our holy land gains a share in the World to Come.

There are laws that limit a Jew from leaving the land, or from even moving away from Jerusalem.

There are many Torah laws that are affected by the Land, such as the laws of tithing. 

     There are so many wonderful things about this special land, but at the very least, let your readers know that a Jew who does not live in the Land is severely limiting his spiritual opportunity. No one and certainly no Jew should ever say anything negative about Jews returning to our land. Jews coming home to Israel is a sign that the Redemption is happening.

---

[i] Numbers 33:53

at the Western Wall with Reb Gutman Locks on Mystical Paths

Meir wrote this complaint to me. I abbreviated it since it was so very long.

Hey Gutman,

     On Rosh Chodesh I pray at sunrise at the Kotel. This week, I noticed hundreds, if not thousands of chareidim form angry mobs and protest in the most terrible way I have ever seen.

     First of all, I feel that the Women of the Wall are doing a beautiful thing. They are connecting to Rosh Chodesh in their most beautiful way. They come to pray and praise Hashem. Yes, this may not be according to Jewish Law, but who here is perverting the Torah. I can't believe that this is happening right in front of the holiest place in this world. I'm heartbroken and torn to watch this. Why are they treating these women like this?

    As I made my exit from the Kotel, I had to walk through thousands of chareidim, screaming and kicking and spitting. And it was at anybody wearing a colored shirt. They started to kick me and push. I asked them where is the love, and they laughed in my face and said terrible things about these women. This cannot go on.

     Please tell me how you feel how this situation. I understand that the women of the wall are backwards too, but there's no Law which says a woman can't put on tefillin or a prayer shawl. How can we stop this hatred going on right in front of the Kotel? The chareidim don't deserve control over the Kotel if this is how they act!! They are supposed to be role models, not kicking and cursing and spitting on their fellow Jews. Something needs to be done!!!

Thanks, Meir

Gutman’s response:

Shalom Meir,

     I certainly share your feelings toward the men who acted in such a disgraceful manner. To act that way anywhere would be a terrible cheapening of G-d’s Name, but at the Kotel, it was even more disgraceful.

     However, I totally disagree with your opinion of the women who brought all this about. Surely those men are responsible for their actions, however it was those women who caused all this desecration of G-d’s Name. They did not come to the Kotel to pray. They came there to protest.

     I am not against them having their own area where they can do whatever they want, but I am against them trying to shove their extreme opinions upon all of us who pray at this Holy Place. It is forbidden for religious men to hear women singing, and these women know this, so when they sing out loud as they purposely do they are forcing all the religious Jewish men to either leave, or to fight back. This is aggressive!

     They certainly could have obtained their goals in a civilized way, as the recent Supreme Court decision has shown. The entire disgrace was brought about for their political objectives, not their religious objectives.

     As to the men’s horrible behavior, since the women tried to force their opinions upon the chareidim, the chareidim tried to force their opinions upon you. Had those women chose to be loving and kind as you appreciate so much, those men would not have been there to act as they did.

      There is room for all of us as long as we do not try to force our own ways on others.

Be well.

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

I few moments ago I followed a Jewish blogger’s “link dump” (list of interesting articles or links) to a Jewish religious blog I had not read before.  The article was ok, about issues of appropriately modest women’s clothing.  Not an unusual topic within the religious Jewish community, though one of considerable and constant argument – as every group has different standards.  Laxity in this area is not uncommon, but being an extremist is even less uncommon!

However what caught my attention was at the end of the article…

(Bamidbar 12:3), “Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth.”

(Tehilim 22:7 – King David), “I am a worm and not a man.”

Jewish modesty is not ONLY about how one dresses, it’s also about how one ACTS.  Being haughty and arrogant, going around as if you’re special or better than others is the ANTITHESES (the opposite) of Judaism.  And true Torah leaders tend to be exceedingly humble men (and among the women influencers of religious Jewish communities, and yes there are plenty of such women, are equally as humble and modest).

Jewish religious Bloggers come from all types and all stripes.  BUT if you’re going to represent yourself as a Jewish religious blogger on a religious topic such as modesty, having your blog configured modestly is a reasonable prerequisite.

Feel free to comment and tell me how right I am below.

by Baruch Sternman, republished with permission.

Night after night the pauper Eizik of Cracow dreams of a treasure waiting for him underneath a bridge in far-away Prague. So begins the famous Hasidic tale attributed to Reb Simcha Bunim of Pshiskhe and retold by Elie Wiesel in his book "Souls on Fire." When Eizik finally decides to make the long trek to Prague, he is taunted at the entrance of the city by the captain of the guards who mocks him for believing in silly dreams.

"You Jews are even more stupid than I thought! Now look at me, such as you see me here, if I were as stupid as you, if I too listened to voices, do you know where I would be at this very minute? In Cracow! Yes, you heard me correctly. Imagine that for weeks and weeks, there was that voice at night telling me: 'There is a treasure waiting for you at the house of a Cracow Jew named Eizik, son of Yekel! Yes, under the stove!'

Of course, Eizik returns to Cracow and finds the treasure beneath his own stove, buried there all along. The story's message, that there is no need to search for truth and meaning in far off, distant places, that, to paraphrase Dorothy at the end of "The Wizard of Oz," if you're looking for your heart's desire you never have to seek any further than your own back yard, is one that resonated deeply with the Hasidim of Pshiskhe.

I recently had the privilege of discussing the world of Hasidism in general, and particularly the school of Pshiskhe, with Prof. Wiesel when I presented him with a tallit tied with strings of authentic biblical bluetekhelet. The secret of that blue color, lost to the world for more than 1,300 years and only recently rediscovered, is a topic that I have been researching for more than 20 years. My wife and I wrote a book on the subject, "The Rarest Blue," which I also presented to Prof. Wiesel.

One of the great masters to emerge from the Pshiskhe line was Gershon Henokh Leiner, the Rebbe of Radzyn, who devoted his life to the rediscovery of the lost tekhelet. Gershon Henokh's grandfather, Mordechai Yosef of Ishbitz, famously broke away from his Rebbe, Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, perhaps precipitating the Kotzker Rebbe's breakdown and 20-year seclusion. These personalities and their stories are fascinating; Professor Wiesel wrote about them, and in one chapter of our book we briefly traced the history of Radzyn over the five generations from Mordechai Yosef through the last of the descendants, Reb Shloimele, who was murdered by the Nazis.

Those of the Pshiskhe School were revolutionaries, challenging the regnant Hasidic belief that only the great and holy Rebbe could bring salvation. They maintained that while a Rebbe can offer important guidance and direction, true spiritual growth does not come from anywhere else but only from deep down inside yourself, from "your own back yard." This was a biting critique of the establishment, of the founders of the great dynasties of Hasidic culture.

I remarked to Prof. Wiesel that those "rebels" were exceptional people. He looked toward me, but his thoughts were in another place and another time. "Yes, they all were great men. The rebels were remarkable -- as were the Rebbes of the establishment."

The notion that truth, significance, purpose and redemption were to be found and achieved only by profound heart searching was the hallmark ideology of Pshiskhe. But each of the Rebbes of that school of thought took this core principle to radically divergent places. Menachem Mendel of Kotzk believed in rigorously disciplined introspection; he was a purist, scathing, harsh, cynical and relentless in his demand for self-analysis and absolute rejection of affectation and posturing. When the Hasidim in Kotzk prayed, they did not move. Any external sign of piety was deemed pretentious, the slightest outwardly directed gesture, deplorable. All efforts toward spirituality were directed inwards. The story is told of the great student of Kotzk, the Hidushei HaRim, who after one prayer session -- though someone observing from the side would not even have noticed that he was praying -- was bathed in sweat and had actually cracked two of his teeth.

The Rebbes of Ishbitz/Radzyn -- Mordechai Yosef, the Bais Yaakov, Reb Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin, Gershon Henokh -- cast the ideas of Pshiskhe in a different light. The notion that redemption is to be found only within was seen not as constricting but as liberating, invigorating, a testament to the greatness and importance of each individual. Every person is unique, with his own talents and experiences, and each has a specific part to play, large or small, in God's great plan. At every turn of events, at every crossroad, man is offered a singular opportunity to follow his path towards his destiny. In order to fulfill that destiny, he must look deep inside to understand his true self, to try to discover his role in the world, and to focus all of his actions on that mission.

Prof. Wiesel looked at me, then at the prayer shawl, and then back at me with penetrating eyes: "And so, Reb Baruch, is this your mission?" I hesitated, never having actually framed such thoughts along those lines. In that brief, time-contracted moment, I reviewed my life, my accomplishments, my aspirations, my priorities. "Yes," I replied, surprising myself somewhat, "I believe that it is." Prof. Wiesel smiled gently and returned his gaze downwards, contemplating the sky blue of the tekhelet strings wrapped around his fingers.

In the book that I presented to him, I inscribed the famous passage from the Shema prayer referring to the thread of tekhelet, "And you shall see it, and remember all of God's commandments, and you shall do them." To see -- to bear witness; to remember -- to never allow anyone to forget; to act -- to work tirelessly in the service of mankind. It struck me as I stood there that perhaps this was Elie Wiesel's mission.

We are pleased to offer Eye to the Infinite, a Torah Guide to Jewish Meditations for Divine Awareness, in a weekly serialized form.

Eye to the Infinite – A Torah Guide to Jewish Meditations to Increase Divine Awareness. Copyright © 2013 by Aharon Rubin – serialized on the Mystical Paths blog with permission.

The soul has four distinct levels of awareness: [1]

1. Prophetic awareness: aware­ness of and communion with the spiritual realms;

2. Intellec­tual awareness: soul awareness through the medium of pure intellect;

3. In­tui­tive or emo­tional awareness: an intuitive, emotional level of soul awareness, without the in­put of the intellect;

4. Physical awareness: the soul’s consciousness of being, existing apart from the rest of the world, gained through the interaction of the five physical senses with the world.

These four levels are mirrored in four levels of hu­man experi­ence: aspiration, thought, speech and ac­tion, which re­late to spe­cific Di­vine mani­festa­tions or “worlds,” the soul en­counters in its jour­ney of in­car­na­tion from its emanation in G-d until its ar­ri­val at its physi­cal abode (see fig. 1).

The source of all aspiration, will and distinctive am­bi­tion is the soul’s thirst for its Di­vine ori­gin; the natu­ral, sub­conscious de­sire to reat­tach to G-d, to ex­perience the pro­phetic state, to re-attain the per­fection of the Al-mighty, even the uniquely human fac­ulty of crav­ing,[2] are all a re­sult of the soul’s es­sence, the “AYiN”, the “nothing­ness” of self[3] longing to be re­united with its Source, the Ulti­mate AYiN.[4] Liter­ally “Noth­ingness”, AYiN is the pri­mary level of G-d’s revela­tion vis-à-vis His crea­tion: it is the ulti­mate self-sacrifice, the removal of self (see Chapter 2). Conse­quently, any­thing less than the purely al­truistic Di­vine, anything re­motely physi­cal or ego­is­tic, will not and can­not truly satisfy this need.

As the highest manifestation of per­sonal expres­sion, it is spe­cifi­cally in this will and determination that constitutes the drive of mankind, that G-d can be most in­tensely experi­enced – consciously so if that will is in harmony with its Source. Through medita­tion and mind­ful ac­tion, this longing ex­peri­ence can be drawn into the physi­cal awareness of self, the ulti­mate abode of the Shechinoh (Di­vine Pres­ence), creating a singu­larly sub­lime state of spiritual unity and congru­ence, a state called שלום SHoLOM (peace). [5]

The second level of human expression – thought, based on a combi­nation of intellect and emotion – is the first lan­guage of the soul. Basic thought-patterns, or arche­typal imagery, re­flect the com­mon source of the soul, while their myr­iad subtle permutations, a tongue of tones and nuances, echo the infinite spec­trum of Di­vin­ity as it meta­mor­phoses and in­car­nates. Thought is the penultimate vi­bration to the soul’s source; it is here that the soul’s individu­al­ity, source and purpose can be expressed and ap­pre­ciated. [6]

Sound, speech[7] and various forms of en­ergy vibra­tion relate to the an­gelic sphere, angels be­ing the ar­ticula­tion of G‑dly thought.[8] Speech in this sphere has the spiritual effect and final­ity of ac­tion vis-à-vis thought. Physical ac­tion is the tan­gible mani­fes­tation of this en­ergy vi­bra­tion, presenting the material world as we know it. These four categories corre­spond to four spiritual worlds,[9] key lev­els in Di­vine en­ergy. They are: the G-dly, the Soul realm, the An­gelic sphere and the mate­rial world, otherwise known as the worlds of Ema­na­tion, Crea­tion [ex nihilo], Forma­tion and Ac­tion, in Hebrew, Atsiluth, Brioh, Yetsi­roh and Assiyoh.

The correlation between hu­man ex­pres­sion and lev­els in spiri­tual en­ergy can be observed in what is known as the law of sym­pa­thetic reso­nance. This law states that ob­jects at­tuned to the same fre­quency will auto­mati­cally trans­fer their vibra­tion from one to the other.[10] Thought can interact with thought, speech “energy” with speech energy. On the meta­physical level, this takes on dra­matic over­tones. Everyone is con­stantly in­ter­acting with cosmic lev­els reso­nant to their own spiri­tual vi­bra­tions.[11] Everyone is af­fected by the spiri­tual en­ergy that reso­nates with his own,[12] and every act cre­ates reso­nance in the spheres pe­culiar to the spiritual frequency of that act. This has vi­tal conse­quences in the practice of To­rah, the per­form­ance of the Mits­vos, and Jew­ish medi­ta­tion.

---

[1] Zohar, Vol. II, 262b. See though three categories in Zohar, Vol. I, 99b, 161a. These four categories correspond to four distinct levels of soul, namely, ‘chayoh’, ‘neshomoh’, ‘ruach’ and ‘nefesh’, respectively, ‘Life’, ‘Soul’, Breath’ and ‘Spirit’ [see diagram below]. These levels of soul correspond to the four worlds enu­merated in fig. 1.

1.	Chayoh	Life	Transcendental Soul
2.	Neshomoh	Soul	Intellectual Soul
3.	Ruach	Breath	Emotional Soul
4.	Nefesh	Spirit	Physical Soul

[2] This is as opposed to the animalistic drive. The spiritual drive was finally recognised as a behavioural force by early 20^th cen­tury pioneers in psychology but needs to be appre­ciated as a tre­mendous catalyst towards a holistic, per­sonal ad­vancement at a core level, a key aspect of the psyche, driving thought, emotion, speech and action. See though note 51.

[3] See Job 26:7 “תולה ארץ על בלימה” - He “suspends” the world on “the absence of any­thing.” This is the “AYiN” (nothing­ness) - the absence of anything the mind can grasp, the nihilo of creation.

[4] Carl Jung quoted Psalms 41:2 - “As the hart longs for brooks of water, so my soul longs for you, O G-d” - as the real and only reason for addictions. (See Alcoholics Anonymous p.26, and G-d Of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addic­tion by Rabbi Shais Taub - Ktav Publishing, pp. 13-19 for a facsimile of Jung’s letter.)

[5] See Chapter 8. The word שלום (Sholom) is related to שלם (sholaym) per­fect and שלוה (shalvoh) seren­ity. As such, sholom suggests a status-quo, where one party accepts the rule of the other, rather than the modern nota­tion of peace.

[6] כשם שאין פרצופותיהן דומין זה לזה כך אין דעתן שווין זה לזה – Just as people’s faces differ, so do their thought-patterns (Bamidbor Rabboh 21:2. See also Sanhedrin 38a).

[7] Talmud Shabbos 58b implies that speech and matter are con­nected.

[8] Psalms 103:20-21. See also Chagigoh 14a: “Every word that G-d utters creates an an­gel”. This in­cludes not only words ‘said’ by G-d but also ‘G-dly words’ uttered by man (bearing in mind that man with his G-dly soul acts as an extension of G-d). Words create and in­teract with angels. This is an important concept. Hence we find that whereas G-d hears all thought, angels only hear speech; therefore, speaking aloud, or pray­ing ver­bally, interacts with the angelic realm, creating spiritual entities or angelic spiritual en­er­gies. Shemoneh Es­reh is thus said quietly because it in­teracts with the pure G-dly Realm (At­siluth), whereas the rest of prayer ought to be said audibly. See Zohar Vol. II, 210b.

[9] See Sha’ar HaQedushah (Gates of Holiness) Gate 3; Nefesh HaChaim, Gate 1.

[10] “If you pluck the low E-string on a guitar, you’ll see the high E-string vibrate along with it, thrumming as if it had been plucked by a phantom finger. This happens be­cause the specific vibration rate of the high E (660 Hz) is an even multiple of the E two octaves lower (165 Hz). The same thing happens if you place a tuning fork next to a piano and strike the key for A above middle C; the tuning fork will vibrate too. This is called reso­nance, a word that literally means ‘sounds again.’ When the vibrations of two different phenomena have a similar shape or frequency, we say “they resonate with each other.’” (Code to Joy by George Pratt.)

Scientists are now saying that the entire universe is based on this law of resonance, an idea expressed in the Zohar over two thousand years ago. This law underscores the im­por­tance of praying, or performing any spiritual exer­cise, together with other people. The spiritual effect of any activity is ex­ponentially increased in a quo­rum of ten, or even in a group of three (Ohr HaChaim Deut. 33:2).

[11] See also Talmud Bavli, Krisus 6a, and Shnei Luchos HaBris (Meseches Rosh HaShonoh ad loc.) quot­ing RaMaQ HaQodosh. As we shall see later, a person’s soul spans many, many spheres and levels, so the cause and effects of actions, etc, are not localised and are much, much more expan­sive than one might realise.

[12] Some people may actu­ally be aware­ of this. However, as we shall see later, awareness does not presume focus. Those who wish to de­velop spiritu­ally must aspire to the high­est vibration, always aiming to be in harmony with the soul’s Source; anything less is a trav­esty of the soul’s true nature and calling. Hence, the Torah warns against psy­chic or mediumistic prac­tices. These seemingly inno­cent practices are the antithesis of true spiritual growth, focusing on the per­son’s ‘ener­gies’, thus leading in the opposite direc­tion to coming close to HaShem, the True Name.

by Reb Gutman Locks @ Mystical Paths

     Jews have been given a double portion. First of all, we are to be a nation of priests. This means that we should live our lives as if we were priests who served in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Obviously, we cannot go up onto the Temple Mount and offer sacrifices, but we can offer our sacrifices on a spiritual level. For instance; we turn our Shabbos tables into holy altars by lovingly sharing our kosher food with others, and our charity and our other good deeds can substitute for the incense offering that the priests burned in the Temple.

     The second service that Hashem allocated to the Jewish people is that we are to be a light unto the Nations. This means that we must teach the Nations of the world (the non-Jews) how they can serve G-d so they can earn a share in the World to Come.

     With this in mind, I decided to make a video for them, but to do it right I wanted to do it with a non Jew who kept the Seven Commandments of Noah. I thought this would be a great way to present these laws to the public. But where was I going to find one of these righteous non Jews in Jerusalem?

     I prayed for a few days that Hashem would send me such a person. No one showed up. I kept praying, but still no one showed up. Then a couple of Fridays ago I went out to go to the mikvah before Shabbos, but I found myself leaving 20 minutes early. This was very unusual. I said to myself, “Why are you going out so early? The mikvah isn’t open yet. You are going to have to stand there 20 minutes waiting!”

     But still I went out. I was trying to figure out why I was going so early when a tall, non Jewish man stopped me on the street. He said. “Do I know you? Yeah, we met at the Western Wall a few months ago. Do you remember me? I am a B’nei Noah?”

     I said, “You are an angel! G-d sent you to me for a good reason.” I told him about the video and he liked the idea. We arranged to meet early in the week to shoot it. Here is the link to our conversation.

      If you share it with others, you too, will be fulfilling your mitzvah of being a light unto the Nations. The more you share it, the more light there will be.

by Reb Gutman Locks @ Mystical Paths

     I was explaining to my Shabbos guests that the Torah does not come to give us a burden, but to take a burden away. Mitzvahs should be joyful and elevating, and not merely obligations that are difficult to fulfill. One guest, a young lady, asked, “Then what about a married girl having to cover her hair? How is that not a burden?”

     I explained that a woman’s hair is a crown to her physical beauty. Women spend more money on hair care than on any other cosmetics. A recent study in Britain showed that the average woman spends a staggering $50,000 on her hair care over her lifetime!

     Women want to look attractive, and this is fine. In fact, we want the Jewish young woman to be attractive for their prospective husbands. But after they are married we do not want that beauty to be displayed on the street. It has become a very personal part of her life that she reserves for her intimate family. When she covers her hair in public she is openly stating that modesty is more important to her than attracting glances on the street.

     When she covers her hair in public, the cloth or wig that she uses has become a regal crown to her modesty. That crown verifies her internal desire to maintain family purity. Have you ever heard of a queen of any nation who considered her crown to be a burden?

     The beauty that modesty bestows is much more glorious than physical beauty, and it doesn’t get wrinkles as she gets older. Its glow even increases with age.

     “A good wife, who can find? Her value far exceeds that of gems. … Strength and dignity are her garb”[i]

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[i] Proverbs 31:25

via Lma’an Yishme’u

One day, while walking along Eastern Parkway toward 770, an elderly man carrying two heavy suitcases approached the (Lubavticher) Rebbe and said, "Can you please help me with one of my suitcases?"

The Rebbe gladly took the suitcase, and they continued walking together. Hearing the man sigh heavily, the Rebbe asked the man what was wrong, and the man responded, "This suitcase is also too heavy for me." Immediately, the Rebbe took the second suitcase as well.

A passing chossid who witnessed the scene approached the elderly man and whispered to him that the person carrying his suitcases was none other than the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The man was shocked; he stopped in his tracks and cried, "Gevald! What have I done?!" and began apologizing profusely to the Rebbe. The Rebbe responded, "What's with the mitzva of helping another? Was that mitzva only given to others and not to me?!"

(ראש בני ישראל ע' 142)

On another occasion, a worker in 770 was carrying a ladder, when he suddenly felt it become lighter. Turning around, he saw the Rebbe holding the other end. He asked the Rebbe to let go of it, but the Rebbe replied, "Does [here the Rebbe said his own name] not have to fulfill the mitzva of helping another?!"

(בית חיינו ע' 229)

by Reb Aharon Rubin, author of Eye to the Infinite, on Mystical Paths

After seven weeks of ‘counting the Omer’, we arrive at the Yom Tov of Shovuos. Like the Yom Tov of Shemini Atseres that comes after seven days of Succos, this Yom Tov has, essentially, only one day (in the Diaspora another day is added). It is the culmination, the peak, the summit of the mountain, reached after an arduous seven-week climb.

Or is it? Can I really say in all honesty that I’ve worked every day of the Omer, concentrated adequately on the counting of the Sephiroh, even aspired to correct myself as each day represents another aspect of the soul and psyche? Have I, personally, reached the summit?

The wonderful thing about Shovuos – indeed about every Yom Tov but especially about Shovuos - is that we come before G-d as one people: He gave the Torah to Israel as a whole unit - כאיש אחד. Whereas on Pesach each person has to eat Matsoh, each person has to be wary about Chomets and on Sukkos each person has to sit in the Sukkoh, etc, on Shovuos, the Torah is given to Yisroel as a unit. That’s why it’s called זמן מתן תורתינו - the time of the giving of the Torah, not זמן קבלת תורתינו – not ‘the time of receiving the Torah’.

The receiving of the Torah depends on our daily choices and can be renewed every day [see Rashi on אשר אנכי מצוך היום'’ in Krias Shema and in Parshas Yisro ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני - every day, we ‘receive’ the Torah anew]. It is not the receiving of the Torah that we celebrate on Shovuos, rather Shovuos is a time when we bind together and stand as a people before G-d, as He gives His Word to His people. We take part in that giving.

Though I may be far from what I should be, I can be present and take part in the giving of the Torah, taking my place within the unity of the people, because – I am one of them. Yisroel, as a unit, have counted the Omer. They have aspired to purify themselves. Each good deed, each thought or word, comes together to create a shining edifice of Knesses Yisroel. We are all part of that. We are the ‘collective bride’ and can all take part in G-d’s giving of the Torah.

What does that entail?

Shovuos is the culmination of fifty days after going out of Egypt. We find that fifty is a number associated with travelling. [See Zohar and Rabbeinu Bachye on וחמושים עלו בני ישראל מארץ מצרים.]  The letters that surround and divide the two pesukim that speak of the travelling and encamping of the Oron - ויהי בנסוע הארון and ובנחה יאמר - from the rest of the Torah [see Shabbos 116a] are nuns. Nun is gematria fifty. Yet, fifty also represents that which is removed from time or spatiality. The Gemoro [ibid.] says the inverted nuns indicate that these pesukim [- ויהי בנסוע הארון and ובנחה יאמר -]are not in their right place and עתיד – ‘in the future’ they we will be placed correctly. Yet we know that this Torah will never be changed! It’s almost as if these pesukim are in limbo, they have no place because they are ‘travelling’ pesukim, above space and time. This is the reason behind the two nuns that encircle them - to show that they are, as it were, עולם הבא pesukim. Fifty is often associated with Olom HaBo. This is what the Gemoro meant by עתיד – ‘in the future’ – a phrase that is often used to denote Olom HaBo. Olom Habo is above space and time; it is there that these pesukim have a ‘place’.

These two pesukim comprise an entire sefer of the Torah [ibid.][1] and speak primarily of the ארון ORON – the holy Ark. It did not take up any space (in the Kodesh HaKodoshim). ארון is made up of the letters אור ן' – i.e. the light of Nun.[2] It too represents that which transcends time and space – it is the ‘light of transcendence’.[3] And it is this Ohr Nun that is Shovuos at the culmination of the Sefiroh.

Thus we find that Shovuos is not defined by a specific date. It too is in limbo. It stands on a spiritual structure - of fifty days separated and sanctified individually and collectively through the Mitsvoh of Sefiroh that we have counted and thus created. It lies, as it were, above the normal cycle of time. It is here that G-d meets us. It is the manifestation of ‘לעולם לא ירדה שכינה למטה מעשרה טפחים’ – “The Shechinoh has never come down [revealed Itself] beneath ten handbreadths!”[4] On Shovuos we meet that Shechinoh that stands above ten tefochim. The same Shechinoh that spoke to Moshe from above the Oron, spoke – and speaks[5] - to all of us on Mt. Sinai.

¬¬¬

Based on the writings of the Arizal, the Shaarei Teshuvoh says that during the last ten days of the Omer [not just on Shovuos, as is the prevalent custom], it is good to eat milk products. The reason lies in the metaphysical changes that are going on within the newly born people of Israel. Every year we go through a rebirth, starting with Yetsias Mitsrayim.

The seven weeks of the Omer counting correspond to various levels in the development of Bnei Yisroel: they are seen as the preparation of the bride [Israel] for its Groom [G-d], as the final ‘birth’ of Israel as a nation of G-d, and as the conclusion of seven cycles or ‘years’ of maturity, either from the ‘child’s birth or his Bar- Mitsvoh.

When the mother gives birth, the production of Prolactin causes her alveoli to take nutrients from her blood supply and turn them into milk, a process termed by Chazal as דם נעכר ונעשה חלב. This corresponds to the time of Matan Torah, of Shovuos, and the ten preceding days.

(Approximately ten days before Matan Torah, Israel asked היש ד' בקרבנו אם אין – “Is G-d in our midst or not?” The Zohar sees this as a critical time in Israel’s maturation. This was the חבלי לידה - the ‘birth-pangs’ - before the giving of the Torah. לידה is gematriah 49 – the birth takes place at the culmination of counting the 49 days. [The root of] חבלי has the same letters as חלב [milk]. Thus, during the last ten days, the time of חבלי לידה of the giving of the Torah, when the mother starts producing milk, the Ari says it is good to eat milk products.)

At birth, the child drinks his mother’s milk. This is (one mystically oriented explanation of) the common custom to eat milchigs on Shovuos, the spiritual birth of Yisroel as they became the עם סגולה, entering into the covenant of the Torah.

The Zohar and the Arizal say, that at the time of a Bris, a child gets his Nefesh Yisroel. Then follows 7 years of maturing, during which he starts to get greater ‘moichin’ culminating in the Bar-Mitsvoh, when he receives the level of Ruach. Then follow another 7 years of maturing, at the end of which, if he is untainted by sin, he will receive the level of Neshomoh. After that come even higher levels (Chayoh and Yechidoh). All this is hinted at when we wish a father who brings his son into the covenant of Avrohom Ovinu: כשם שנכנס לברית, כן יכנס לתורה ולחופה ולמעשים טובים. Bris is the first level, that of Nefesh. Afterwards is Bar-Mitsvoh where the boy accepts upon himself the yolk of the Torah and receives the Ruach: this is LeTorah. Then comes LeChupoh, where, hopefully he merits the stage of Neshomoh. And finally, Maasim Tovim, corresponding to higher levels still.

The Sefer Yetsiroh says all levels are repeated in עולם שנה נפש. Thus these stages are also played out through our Yomim Tovim. Pesach is the time of entering the covenant, the level of Nefesh Yisroel. That is why Pesach always has to be at the time of spring, signifying the beginning of life. The level of Nefesh is the primary level of entering into a covenant of Emunoh [faithfulness] to G-d. The seven weeks that follow signify the seven cycles or levels of maturation. At its culmination, we enter the level of Torah: this is Ruach.

After Shovuos, a purification process takes place, through which we enter ‘LeChupoh’ – this is the ‘canopy’ of the Sukkoh on Sukos, the level of Neshomoh. And finally, the level of מעשים טובים, on שמיני עצרת and שמחת תורה.

Shovuos then is when we collectively become Bar Mitsvoh. At this Bar Mitsvoh, as Israel becomes a man, G-d bestows upon us a gift that binds heaven to earth; that gift is Ruach, the level of Torah.

May we all merit to fulfill the Mitsvoh of Shovuos, have a fulfilling Shovuos through joy and may G-d bless each and every one of us with all our spiritual and physical needs. Omein.

Chag Samayach (Happy Holiday).

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[1] See Rabbi Yitchok Isaaac Chover quoting the Gra that these pesukim represent the מדת יסוד of the Torah. See also פ' בהעלותך זרע קודש that they represent the whole Torah.

[2] זרע קודש ibid.

[3] The fact that it transcended time is indicated by the posuk at the end of Behalosecho - ובבא משה אל אהל מועד לדבר אתו וישמע את הקול מדבר אליו וכו'. The word Midaber indicates a constant talking. The talking was above time and revealed itself within time.

[4] See Succoh 5a that this refers to both the Shechinoh that was above the Oron and the Revelation on Mt Sinai.

[5] See פרקי אבות 6:2.

from the Beis Medrash by Rabbi Mordechai Lipskier

Uzbekistan 1944

My grandfather, Rabbi Yisroel Noach Belinitzky, was one of many who fled to Samarkand, Uzbekistan to escape the horrors of the holocaust.

At a Lubavitch Youth Organization convention in Crown Heights in 1958, R' Yisroel Leibov obm- chairman of the Lubavitch (Chassidic) Youth Organization in Israel, related:

When I was in Samarkand with R' Yisroel Noach in 1944, on one occasion he asked me to go to the market place and purchase a few tables. This was part of a large operation he was orchestrating. Since food was scarce, he had arranged small chadorim (Hebrew day schools) in people's homes. Every home received one of these table around which the children sat and learnt. Each child who attended was given a good lunch. Food was a worthy incentive, and many children from non-religious homes came to learn.

This was before shlichus (reaching out to non-affiliated Jews) became commonplace, and I was taken aback by the whole idea. "I don't understand," I said to R' Yisroel Noach. "What is gained by teaching these children Torah? As soon as they leave, they're going back to non-religious homes and eating non-kosher food. Shouldn't we concentrate on the children from religious homes who are certain to have bright futures in the Torah world?"

R' Yisroel Noach answered with a story. The fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, R' Sholom Dov Ber, was traveling on a train and used the time to read an original chassidic manuscript. An older woman sat down next to him and peered over his shoulder, trying to read along. After a few minutes the Rebbe moved to a different seat, but the woman followed him and said, "I'd like to see what you're reading." The Rebbe showed her the manuscript, which was handwritten. "I can't read most of it," the woman explained, "but I can read the one verse that's in print. Hashem melech, hashem malach, hashem yimloch le'olam vaed...Hashem is King, Hashem was King, and Hashem will be Kind forever and ever." When the Rebbe returned home, he told the chassidim what had transpired on the train. "We must cherish any words of Torah or tefillah a Jew utters," he said. 

R' Yisroel Noach concluded, "We don't know where these children will end up, but we do know that when they're with us they're constantly saying words of Torah. We cannot underestimate the value of that learning. It's our job to teach as many Jewish children as we can."

Not too long ago I was on a bus in Israel when an Israeli soldier sat down next to me. After glancing at me several times he asked if I remembered him. I admitted that I didn't, and he reminded me, "We were in Samarkand together. I was one of the non-religious boys who came to the cheder! Today, I'm proud to say I keep a kosher home with my family." In fact, it turned out that many of the children who learned around R' Yisroel Noach's tables grew up to become not only G-d fearing Jews, but even Roshei Yeshiva and community leaders!

We received a Holy Alert, to send to ALL RELIGIOUS JEWS AROUND THE WORLD.  It’s an emergency… all mitzvot have failed, we have all been corrupted.  Not to worry, though yes worry, be afraid because terrible things are happening.  However, the author has spotted the problem and is ready with the solution.

There was a time when G-d sent holy prophets to warn the people.  Sadly, it didn’t always work or help, and eventually we no longer merited such direct messages from G-d – and our nature and the order of society meant we were no longer open to such direct messages.  There was a later time when preachers giving mussar, men who went around with a holy message tried to awaken people to Yirat Shamayim, fear of heaven, to improve their deeds and the moral character of society.  Yet over time this became ineffective and only fostered depression among the people – and was similarly given up as ineffective.

The negative message rarely works.  Oh, it has it’s place.  A touch of the negative message mixed in with positive reinforcement has tremendous effect.

But forget all that, we’re all sinners and we’re all going to heck…  I’m feeling inspired to change my ways already…

…The U.S. is the last place in the world where Torah will flourish before Moshiach's arrival. This (warning) must be said because the U.S. is the example for all other frum communities of the world…and has exported her style of our Holy Torah to all other kehillos (Jewish communities) all over the world.

I must say how much I weep every day and worry and beg that Hashem have pity on all of us. But as much as
He is warning us, the U.S frum society, we are not listening.  The tragedies lately, go far beyond the norm, and the Jews that are dying daily, young, middle-aged, and old, are far beyond the numbers that would normally be.
Still we do not listen.

[Terrible things do happen, G-d should help, but the live expectancy and health level of every American community continues to increase.  The worst “tragedy” that I can think of was the beach front Jewish community being seriously damaged, with no loss of life, during the last hurricane in New York – no loss of life is pretty amazing.  Where’s the statistics or evidence of “tragedies going far beyond the norm”???]

I am crying out in order to save disillusioned yiden (Jews) from destruction, in order to bring to yeshuah (redemption) with as few korbanos (losses) as possible. We are going into total darkness.  Only those who truly wait and want the yeshuah, only those who truly trust and love Hashem, will survive.

[The world is looking pretty scary right now, and economics are rough for many.  Yet I’ve been hearing these kinds of warnings every year for the past 20 years.  Kind of gets repetitive.]

Why does tragedy not make them change? [Umm, because there’s more shul’s, more yeshiva’s, more learning, more children and grandchildren, thank G-d?]  The reason is that we have become cooled off. We are not
feeling the fiery love of Hashem. We do not cry over our Bais Hamikdash (Holy Temple) because our hearts have been cooled off. The gashmius (materialism) has cooled us off and we have ceased to have a true yiddishe (Jewish) heart.  [Because poverty is good?  Less synagogues, less yeshivas and more hungry children make us…closer to G-d?????  Huh?]

When a yungerman (young married man) goes into kollel (study group) with a cell phone or allows his wife to
wear a human hair sheitel (wig) or allows his wife to work in an office with men or goes to see a movie or eats
questionable food or goes to Disneyland or any one of the hundreds of things people do that are not even considered against Yiddishkeit, this person can not really learn or give over Torah.

When leaders, Rosh Yeshivahs, Rosh Kollels feel obligated to gevirim (the wealthy) that support them and must lower their standards of yiddishkeit because of this, then their Torah can not be Torah. When Am Yisroel is tolerant of one another because each one wants to keep his little aveiros (sins) without criticism, then the Torah can not be Torah.

Well there you have it.  The standard confused zealous STUPIDITY.  I do not say stupidity because zealotry is innately bad or prohibited (though it usually is).  Rather because this person is woefully UNINFORMED and IGNORANT…

- The current standards of modesty within the Jewish religious world are at the highest level in the last 150 years!  Yes you heard that right, the chumrot (additional stringencies) commonly applied right now are far beyond any that existed for previous generations.

- Cell phones are innately evil?  As with any tool, they can be used for good (Torah phone on the way, sharing a word of Torah with a friend, making calls for chesed {good deeds} or business {to support one’s family and community and synagogue}) or, G-d forbid, for negative purposes (sharing gossip).  NO gadol Torah (Torah leader) has prohibited cell phones or regular phones.  (They have prohibited phones with Internet access where not required for business purposes and with proper filtering.)  What a blessing a cell phone is for a husband and wife when the wife is pregnant and waiting to deliver!

- Wigs are innately evil?  This is a completely NEW stringency!  Frankly, the majority of religious women, yes even in the ultra orthodox communities, DID NOT EVEN COVER their hair in the 50’s.  Yes, there are some gedolim (Torah leaders) who have stated for THEIR communities a wig is not an appropriate hair covering (others, such as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, specifically said the opposite long before this new stringency).  But by ANY standard a wig is an UPGRADE of modesty from 3 or 4 generations ago.

- Questionable food???  Kosher food standards today are FAR ABOVE the levels even 1 and 2 generations ago.  You can barely purchase non-mehadrin or non-glatt meat, if it’s kosher it’s glatt kosher.  Chalav Yisroel (special standard milk) products are available in almost every Jewish community of any size (this was not true 1 generation ago).  Pas Yisroel (special standard baked goods), even Yoshon (special standard wheat products), readily available if not the absolute majority in every orthodox Jewish community. 

Shtuss, it’s all shtuss.  There are plenty of wonderful improvements the Jewish religious community can make.  But this person is looking for heaven on earth and fails to give credit to the incredible IMPROVEMENT of standards over the last 3 generations!

- And worst of all, he allows his wife to work!  And Rosh Yeshivot feel obligated to wealthy men who support (the yeshivas and kollels).

OH MY, you complain about materialism, about working, about the wealthy, and then complain that the wealthy support Torah institutions!  The horror, having wonderful kind considerate generation wealthy who support the synagogue, kollel, yeshiva, and the poor of the community, allowing you to learn Torah (because they’re paying the kollel to cover your stipend) and only send your wife to work.  Thank G-d the Jewish communities have such wonderful successful and generous members!!!  What a blessing they are to all of us, materially and spiritually!

But finally we come to the core of this person’s position…

“When Am Yisroel is tolerant of one another”

The absolute horror, being tolerant and having Ahavas Yisroel, love of your fellow. 

My dear brother so concerned about his fellow, for faults go look in the mirror.  For merits, go out on the street and look at your brothers and sisters among the Jewish people.  That’s Torah!  Yours is the path of the Yezter, the other side.

We are pleased to offer Eye to the Infinite, a Torah Guide to Jewish Meditations for Divine Awareness, in a weekly serialized form.

Eye to the Infinite – A Torah Guide to Jewish Meditations to Increase Divine Awareness. Copyright © 2013 by Aharon Rubin – serialized on the Mystical Paths blog with permission.

G-d cre­ated every form and type of life, from the high­est spiri­tual intelligence to the gross physical and inanimate, and He tran­scen­ds each stage of crea­tion[1]. What might seem initially as counter-intuitive is then a priori: since He is tran­scendent, He is just as present in the mate­rial as in the spiritual; He fills the Earth as He does the Heav­ens. Albeit less ap­parent, G-d is in matter as in spirit.

Scriptures takes G-d’s omnipresence a step further. In Deuter­on­omy, Moses says, “G-d, He is L-rd[2], in the Heavens above and on Earth be­low, there is nothing else[3]” (Deut. 4:39). Moses is saying that G-d is more than ‘just’ om­ni­pres­ent, He is more even than the root of all ex­is­tence. There is nothing else be­sides Him[4]. He is. Period.

There are three distinct ways of viewing the world. The first is that nothing else exists save G-d; this is the concept of the verse ‘there is nothing else’ (ibid.). However, though this statement pre­sents the ultimate reality, this reality is vir­tually unlive­able[5]. Similar to say­ing the world is just en­ergy, it is not something we ex­peri­ence on a day-to-day basis or can properly in­ternalise [just yet], thus this truth is not intended for humanity to live their lives by.

The second worldview sees crea­tion as a gradual diffusion of the Di­vine Essence, from the G-dhead, through various stages of in­telligence and spirit, until eventu­ally manifesting in the physical. Although essentially eve­rything is G-d, or G-d’s Light, that Light (ap­parently) becomes progressively more ‘ma­terial’ and less visible as it ex­tends away from Source through the void that consti­tutes creation. This is a reality we tend to live, al­beit for the most part un­aware of the spiritual worlds that tower above our physical world.

The third paradigm is perhaps the ultimate paradox. Though crea­tion involves the dissipa­tion of Divine Light until the apparent manifestation of separate reality, the physical world, at the same time, transcendent, Hidden G-d, fills, and is the only reality of, all ex­istence.[6] A combination of the first two ideas, this paradigm is fun­damentally different in that it asks for the subjective par­ticipa­tion of man for it to become a working reality, as the in­ten­sity and type of G-d mani­fes­tation, His Pres­ence creat­ing and per­vad­ing the various uni­verses[7], the Shechinoh, and its degree of revelation, is de­pendent upon the individual’s sub­jec­tive aware­ness, an aware­ness that per­ceives[8] creation as sepa­rate from G-d, a rela­tive real­ity that has more to do with de­gree and per­spective than actu­ality.

Subjectivity is an essential and inescapable component of the human condition and the world is based on this subjectivity. On a macrocosmic and microcosmic level, thought, understanding, and focus lie at the centre of all experience. As the Baal Shem Tov stated, a person' is where their thoughts are. (We will be examining this concept later.) It is these thoughts and the level of subjectivity that stand at the crux of the causes and effects of our world.

Maimonides explains[9] that a prophet merits the Holy Spirit through so perfecting his human desires that his subjectivity be­comes, on some level, one with the objective reality of G-d’s truth. This is the perfec­tion of human awareness, the third paradigm merging with the first. The subjec­tivity of the perfected in­dividual, the Talmid Chochom [Torah sage], blends with the ultimate perfec­tion of pure objectivity, approaching the state of Adam and Eve be­fore their sin.

Thus, mind, influenced by character, becomes master of ex­peri­enced reality[10]. Perhaps though more importantly, mind influ­enced by charac­ter, is master of the spiritual evolution within crea­tion. This is because the effects of perception are not re­stricted to the indi­vid­ual per­ceiver but have eternal affects. One per­son’s deeds and un­der­standing has enor­mous re­per­cus­sions, changing Provi­dence and Reve­la­tion at all planes and in all uni­verses, physi­cal and spiritual, not just in the person’s own per­sonal arena, nor even for all man­kind, but in every sphere of existence[11]. This is a quan­tum leap in understanding and ap­pre­cia­t­ing man’s place and pur­pose in the cos­mic plan and therein lies the secret of his soul.

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[1] See Isaiah 6:3, Targum Yonoson, “He is holy [i.e. transcendent] in the highest heav­ens, the place of His Abode, He is holy on Earth, the work of His might”, etc.

[2] In the verse, the holy Name Elokim is used, denoting complete control and power.

[3] The Hebrew words אין עוד are generally taken to mean there is no other power be­sides G-d [the word elohim means powers]; however, the sources explain that this phrase must mean even more than the omniscience of G-d; see next note.

[4] Shnei Luchos HaBris, Toras Odom. See also Zohar Vol. I, 11b, Vol. III, 225a. (This is not ‘pantheism’ or ‘panenthe­ism’. This is a reality where only G-d exists, per­haps ech­oed in Ein­stein’s unifying theory of E = mc², where mass and energy are inter­change­able as mass is a form of energy.)

[5] This is perhaps a subject of dispute between two schools of thought, that espoused by the holy Baal Shem Tov and subsequent Chassidic thought, and the teachings of HeChos­sid HaGra (Rabbi Eliyohu of Vilna) as recorded in Nefesh HaChaim by his disciple, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.

[6] See Sefer Habohir, 1. These three states are expressed in the three statements of the Qedushoh prayer. The first statement, a direct quotation from Isaiah’s vision (6:3), “Holy, holy, holy, the L-rd of Hosts: His Glory fills the world”, parallels the first view. The second statement, from Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 3:12), “Blessed is G-d’s Glory from His Place”, speaks of G-d’s Glory emanating and dis­seminating from His Place; this is depicted in the second para­digm. The third, “The L-rd shall reign forever, your G-d O Zion, for generation after gen­eration” (Psalms 146:10), hints at the third worldview, the com­plete realisation of the unification of transcendent G-d within the immanence of His created world.

[7] Nefesh HaChaim, Gate 3.

[8] Which connects with the Shechinoh. See also Liqutei Amorim Tanya (Rabbi Shneur Zal­man of Liadi, 1745-1812), Sha’ar Yi­chud VehoE­munah, chapter 3.

[9] Moreh Nevuchim – Guide for the Per­plexed - Chap. 26

[10] Subjective perception is not limited to the mysterious, metaphysical work­ings of our uni­verse; it influences how others behave and is present in the Torah and its hal­lachic ap­plication. Halacha is decided according to subjective observance, which brings to mind the Schroder’s cat phenomenon or Niels Bohr’s ‘Observer Effect’. (For example: if some­thing is removed from a mixture before it becomes known that the mixture contains a forbidden item, it is permitted because we assume it is from the majority; however, once it becomes known that the mixture contains an important thing that cannot be nullified, the removed item is forbidden.) Rabbi Berel Wein, his­torian and author, writes (in his essay on the Metsorah - a person afflicted with tsora’as impurity), “Though the Torah describes methods of diag­nosis, it ultimately leaves the decision to the kohein. The kohein, so to speak, creates the impurity within the person afflicted - not the disease. It is the kohein’s declaration that de­cides the issue and that declaration emanating from human lips, like all human decisions, is of necessity a subjective one. This is a remark­able, necessary insight into the mystery of tzora’as particularly and Halacha generally.” (Decision Making Process of the Kohein. B. Wein)

[11] A physical parallel can be seen in the ‘butterfly effect’ (Lorenz, Edward N. [March 1963] "Deterministic Non-periodic Flow", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 20 (2): 130–141; also Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods, Peres, A. (1995)), but whereas a butterfly’s movement is distinguished for its apparent insignificance, man’s action or thought is anything but inconsequential.

Several years ago a few Jewish charities I was involved in were interested in opening “Friends of (Jewish Charity operating in Israel)” organizations in the U.S.  We were advised by our financial professionals and others who had been doing such things that it was a bad idea at this time, because the IRS (U.S. tax authority) was doing “intense scrutiny” of any Jewish organization operating in Israel and denying most such applications.

To me it sounded like a conspiracy theory, but we were not going to chance the investment necessary (money and time) when the professionals were saying it would probably be a loss.  (Note this was a loss of charity assistance to the needy in Israel AND a loss of jobs in the U.S. – as we would have set up a local office with staff and banking).

Today’s headline news…

(National Review) Along with targeting tea-party groups, the IRS may also have given extra-special attention to the tax-exempt status of some Jewish groups for political reasons.

From the Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,” its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny.  This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy review of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel.  Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”

So, if you were a Jewish charity out to help needy Jews in Israel, your cause could and would be denied because of it’s religious beliefs (believing, as is written directly in the Torah aka Bible aka Old Testament, that Israel is the Holy Land and G-d’s gift to the Jewish people).

Direct U.S. government discrimination, and dare I say it, persecution.

Note there are no such reports from Islamic religious groups out to help poor Muslims in Pakistan, Indonesia or Islamic charitable religious support for Saudi Arabia.

Hmm…