God was in this place and I, i did not know.

Posted by on Jul 06, 2004 in Reading List, Spiritual Practices | Comments Off on God was in this place and I, i did not know.

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.


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