Um — wow. Much respect, but the visuals are quite interesting.
wnbc.com - News - Unusual Rap Duo Teams Up
Archive for July, 2004
I originally wrote this on Halloween 2003
Someone asked me what I was doing on Halloween, especially considering that it falls on Shabbat this year. Even though Halloween/Samhain isn’t really part of my spiritual practice, I became curious about what the Torah portion for this Shabbat is. It turns out that it is The Flood and The Tower of Babel. I was floored.
As I re-read the passages, I was struck by the layers of extra meaning & symbolism I found by linking the two stories together. Two stories of destruction brought on by the failings of humanity; two stories where not only humanity learns lessons from choices made, but also G-d. It is strange to think of G-d ‘learning,’ but if man is made in G-d’s image and can grow and learn - why not G-d.
So often we are presented with an image of G-d as immoveable and unchanging through-out all time, but a careful reading of the Torah presents us with many examples of G-d growing and changing over time.
At the end of the story of Noah, G-d promises never again to wreak destruction on the world to punish humanity. In the very next story instead of drowning the world or reducing it to ashes, G-d acts surgically and goes right after the human world. Animals don’t really care if we all speak different languages.
Over and over, G-d reacts in new and different ways. Here a whole city is destroyed. There – a single person is punished. In our quests to grow closer to the Divine we should look to learn and grow and not remain unchangeable and steadfast when new information presents itself.
I’ve just finished reading “God was in this place & I, i did not know” by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. I’m continually amazed by how incredible this man’s work is. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for the student of Jewish mysticism and spirituality. The book is a midrash on a passage from the Torah (Genesis 28:26) where Jacob sees the ladder and makes that statement.
By the time I finished this book I found myself willing to acknowledge that I am a Kabbalist at heart. I generally avoid calling myself that, since it has many preconceived notions for people. I do not mean to say I am a student of the Kabbalah Centre or that I agree with the teachings of every Kabbalistic Master. But my world and spiritual view are profoundly intertwined with Kabbalistic teachings.
I have not memorized the Sephirot and all the different meanings (although I know them), as this has never really struck a chord with me beyond the concept of “emanations” of the Divine. It is the actual life lessons that I learn from teachers like Rabbi Kushner that stay with me and affect my spiritual practice.
For the first time, reading this book, I found in writing someone who saw the story of Adam and Eve the same way I do. I’ve felt that there was no sin, but rather a natural process of children growing up. We have different rules as children then when we are adults, and as we grow we challenge the boundaries of those rules. Once we reach a certain level of maturity, in this case evidenced by eating the forbidden fruit, we must leave home and venture out into the wider world. Sometimes that world is harsh and daunting, but we must take that step, none-the-less, or stay children.
Another thought that resonated with me is the idea that everything we do matters. We never know what may be important to the history of the world. We never know how our actions may effect hundreds of other actions, so we should act as though everything matters. Don’t do or not do something because you believe it won’t matter in the greater scheme – you don’t know the greater scheme. There is a path we all walk down in life, and each choice is a crossroads. To reference my earlier thought, what if Eve had chosen not to eat the apple. Where would the story have gone from there?
There are two name of the Divine that are discussed at length in the book, Makom and Anochi. Makom is the Hebrew word for “place,” and Anochi is the Hebrew word meaning “I.” You can see how using these as names for God could be confusing and meaningful. It shows how much our understanding of Torah is based on translation. If these are used interchangeably, couldn’t the meanings be different than our current belief? This is the first place that I have seen Anochi referred to as a name of God, but what an interesting idea.
There are many other interesting ideas and revelations in the book, from the sound of YHWH being the sound a newborn makes, to idea of Jacob being the image of the human bearer of the Merkavah (Chariot Throne). Read the book for yourself and see the journey on which it takes you.
