Tag Archives: faith

Have No Tunnel Fear

The entire world—all of life—is a very, very narrow bridge, Rebbe Nachman teaches (Likutey Moharan II, Lesson #48). And, he says, the main thing is to not get frightened.

A tunnel built by those who want to kill you is not a bridge. And apparently, those built by Hamas frighten many, many people. I would like to make a humble suggestion that may help remove, or at least ease, the fear for some us.

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh (of inner.org fame) has what he calls, a “Divine space” meditation. Our bodies are, obviously, located in space. There are six directions: in front of us and behind us; right and left; above and below. Each direction relates to one of the six constant mitzvahs, i.e., the mitzvahs a person can do any time, any place.

The six mitzvahs are:

  1. To believe in God’s existence
  2. To believe that there is no god, power or force independent of God
  3. To believe in God’s Oneness and Uniqueness
  4. To love God
  5. To fear God
  6. To not stray after one’s heart or eyes

Rabbi Ginsburgh relates each mitzvah to a direction and to a pasuk (verse) of the Torah. For our purpose, we will relate just the two that are immediately relevant.

To believe in God’s existence is the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am the Lord your God (Exodus 20:2). Think of this mitzvah as being above you, “over your head,” as you sit, stand, walk or ride. I encourage people to think of this as being the Ultimate Iron Dome.

The second of the Ten Commandments—and what inspired this piece—is the mitzvah to believe that there is no god other than God Himself, “You will have no other gods before Me” (ibid. V.3). This mitzvah is “below,” it is the bedrock of our security. It is the ground we walk on.

Where we stand, where we stride, no force can touch us. We Jews have nothing to fear as long we are rock-certain that no one and nothing can do us harm, unless God wills it.

Don’t be afraid of tunnels or those that build them, who think they can hide their evil deeds from God. “Blessed are You, Hashem, Who protects His people Yisrael, forever.”

© Copyright 2014 148west.com/O. Bergman

 

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Inexplicable Desire

I saw this today and I was just so impressed—blown away, actually—that I felt that I had to share it. Rabbi Yosef Albo writes:

“The love that God has for the Jewish people is called cheshek, as it is written (Deuteronomy 7:7), ‘God chashak loved you and chose you’. Cheshek conveys a love which is beyond logic and reason … as when a man loves has cheshek for a woman. He will desire her even if he finds someone who is more beautiful.  Similarly, God loves the Jewish people with a cheshek-love which goes beyond all understanding.   All of Shir HaShirim (Ecclesiastes) is based upon this cheshek-love between God and the Jewish people ….

“The verse says: ‘God chose you to be His chosen nation from among all the nations upon earth ….’ The love is a segulah (supra-rational). God did not choose the Jewish nation because of its large population, as it is written, ‘It is not because of your multitudes did God desire (chashak) you’, nor because of their qualities, as it is written (Deuteronomy 9:6), ‘Know that it is not because of your righteousness … because you are a stiff-necked nation’. Rather, the love is an inexplicable desire. The love is entirely dependent upon the will of the lover [and not the actions, beauty or qualities of the beloved].

“A lover considers the small amount that he receives from his beloved, to be sweeter and more precious than greater quantities he receives from others.  Similarly, God considers the few good deeds that He obtains from the Jewish nation to be more precious than many acts of worship that He obtains from another nation, or from all other nations together” (Sefer HaIkarim 37:3).

What impresses me? It’s inexplicable. (Yes, I know what Rebbe Nachman says in Tzaddik #407, but I came across this passage while doing work-related research.)

© Copyright 2013 O. Bergman

 

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