Cleaving To G-d Though the Letters

One cleaves to Him, may He be blessed, through the letters of Torah [study] and prayer, by cleaving one's thoughts and inner [being] to the inner spirituality within the letters. [This is the hidden meaning] in the secret, "May He kiss me from the kisses of His mouth," (Shir HaShirim 1:2) a cleaving of spirit to spirit. And this is as I heard (from my teacher [Achiyah the Shilonite]) [regarding the verse (Tehillim 68:14)] "If they will dwell between the lips[....]"
~ Keser Shem Tov, sec. 44a

The letters are vessels for the Divine Light. It is explained in Sha'ar HaYichud that the 22 letters of the Alef-Beis correspond to the 22 different effluxes of life-force through which the universe was and is created. However, their light is hidden, since one is not instantly overwhelmed upon perceiving the G‑dly energy within them. To reveal that light, one must bind one's thought to the letters, rising from level to level, world to world, and height upon height until the Highest of heights.

The letters of Torah and prayer, though certainly holy and revelatory, also conceal an infinite depth of Light hidden behind veils without number. But if so, what of the simple Jews who don't know of these mystical intentions? How can they cleave to the Eternal King?

When embracing a king, it doesn't matter whether he is robed in many garments or few. Even if he is covered by many garments, by embracing the garments, one is also embracing the king who is wearing them (Tanya, end of ch. 4). By cleaving to the letters of Torah and prayer, one cleaves to Hashem Himself.

It Started as One, and Will Be One Again

Art by Jester 

A long time ago, the universe was full of light. But the light was so concentrated and intense that it was invisible, and nothing else could exist. The universe itself could not contain the light, and so it shattered into many sparks. These sparks broke apart further into many more, smaller sparks, which fell through time and space. These are fragments of the original light.

Dust and ashes

This is a very nice video comparing the sizes of different planets and stars. But I had a problem with the last line.

Post by Soheila Sharegh.

Actually, the center of any finite volume is an infinitesimally small point. And there are many centers you could choose: geometric center, center of mass, center of mass-energy, or... the center of the observable universe. Considering the concept of a light cone, and that the speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant, the center of the observable universe is, in fact, always you.

In Torah, we see both: "I am but dust and ashes," (Bereishis 18:27) and "For my sake was the Universe created." (Sanhedrin 37a, end) The Rebbe Reb Simcha Bunim of Pshischa was famous for uniting the two concepts. He taught: Everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that he or she can reach into the one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket, and, there, find the words: "For my sake was the Universe created."

But when feeling high and mighty one should reach into the left pocket, and find the words: "I am but dust and ashes."

How Tefillin Work and Heisech HaDaas

Chassidus on Tefillin paraphrased from the Rebbe Maharid (a branch of Chabad that merged into Lubavitch):

The tefillin for the hand and the head are two separate mitzvos. Each has a distinct effect on the revelation of G-dliness in the world.

The tefilah shel yad brings down light from the the G-dly Emotive sefiros in Atzilus to the lower worlds of BiY"A.

Oseh Ha-Shalom: Returning the Hei

Why do we say עושה השלום "oseh ha-shalom" instead of עושה שלום "oseh shalom" during the Yomim Nora'im?

In plain translation, the significance of the change is difficult to understand, since the only difference is the addition of the word "the":

	English	Hebrew
Regular	He Who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace...	עשה שלום במרומיו, הוא יעשה שלום...
Yomim Nora'im	He Who makes the peace in His heights, may He make peace...	עשה השלום במרומיו, הוא יעשה שלום...

What meaning does the insertion add? To understand this, we need to preface the idea of teshuvah.

Teshuvah: Returning

Teshuvah תשובה is often imprecisely translated as "repentance," but the richness contained in the Hebrew is lost in this rendition. In Hebrew, the word is derived from the word shuv שוב, which means "return." So, teshuvah is more precisely translated as "returning."

What returning? To what? Somewhat unusually, Judaism holds that in its essence, the soul is holy and pure. It is not predisposed to sin. Teshuvah is a return to the soul's essential, pristine state. Sin is an external shell that covers the soul's light and inherent connection to the Divine; the internal reality of a human being is that s/he is a creature of light, made in G‑d's image.

Tiferes ShebeHod: Harmony of Acknowledgement

Tonight is the 31st day of the omer (count it here), which corresponds to sefirah-permutation of Tiferes ShebeHod, Harmony of Acknowledgement, or Compassion of Humility.

Tiferes is the Harmony between the opposites of kindness and severity, which usually manifests as Compassion. There is an awareness that there is darkness, but the reaction is to feel pity and compassion for the divine soul that it must endure such exile and be trapped in such a coarse physical body. This bitterness leads one to strive to rise from the dust to cleave to our Father the King, with fiery longing, with all one's heart, even to the point of expiry of the soul.