<p>The objective of all man's toil in this world is to reach higher than his own mind, higher than mind at all. Not to a place where the mind is ignored, but rather, to its essence, to the inner sense of beauty and wonder that guides it.</p>
<p>"A river went out from Eden to water the garden." The garden is
Mind, where all worlds begin. Eden is a place of delight beyond the garden, far beyond. Yet its river nurtures all that grows there. Adam is placed in the garden to discover the Eden flowing within.</p>
“And the world shall be filled with the awareness of G-d as the waters cover the ocean floor.”— Isaiah These are the Waters of Life To All Things. Now we live as creatures of the dry land, as though we were separate beings from our life source. Then we shall be as creatures of the sea that live absorbed within their source of life. We shall be in such oneness with the Source of All Life until there shall be nothing to distinguish between the created being and the Creator. —The Rebbe
Most of the Jewish people are so scattered and removed from each other that they hardly ever find a common language, or even any language that makes sense to them as Jews. This is what is called assimilation, which is basically the loss of their common heritage. We therefore have to try to reach some deeper levels of the soul, many of them bordering on the unconscious, to help us get back to talking together, to having some kind of a common language.
The emotion of love has been the subject of poets and romantics for centuries. We need not enter into any analysis of that topic, but, as it relates to loving a fellow Jew, some kind of specific definition is obviously necessary.
How long will the messianic epoch last? Will people live forever? Will there be a radical transformation in nature? Will the Messiah die? What will life be like? This essay offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of Moshiach according to Maimonides.
It may cause dismay and serve as somewhat of a disappointment that, in the opinion of Maimonides, the messianic era will not be all that miraculous. This does not in any way lessen the magnitude of change that will embrace the world at that time. On the contrary, the Maimonidean theory provides a highly probable scenario in which the messianic era can easily follow the extraordinary changes that are already part of modern-day society.
In our prayers, we ask for the coming of Mashiach and the
advent of the Redemption more than 100 times every day. But what are we asking
for? When Jews were persecuted, oppressed, and slaughtered, it was
understandable why they prayed for the Redemption. But today, why do we seek the Redemption? What will change?
The theme, in this week’s Torah portion,
the destruction of the wicked cities, Sodom and Gomorrah,
is simple enough: These two cities were destroyed due to
the exceptional cruelty of their citizens. The classical
story of corruption and its consequences.
But is this the entire
story?
Upon reading the elaborate
details of the narrative – the way G-d debates whether to reveal His plans
to Abraham; the Divine “descent” to confirm the wickedness of Sodom; dispatching
an angel to destroy the city; the extensive efforts exerted to save Lot, in
the merit of his uncle Abraham; Abraham’s intervention, pleading to save Sodom
– it is quite apparent that there is much more going on than just the demise
of another corrupt city.
And what exactly was Sodom’s terrible crime, causing an “outcry…so
great, and their sin so very grave,” that led to them being
singled out for such unprecedented destruction? Was there
no other corrupt city in history that deserved punishment?
There is an inexplicable
Midrash that only accentuates the mystery of Sodom: “It is written I found
my servant David. Where did God find him? In Sodom”!! (Bereishit Rabbah
41:4; 50:10).
Last week I read an article rated highly on digg.com. The article
contained a long list of important inventions that were scorned by
esteemed individuals, only for the product to become a raging success
within decades.
University of Chicago astronomer Dr. F. R.
Moulton said in 1932, “There is no hope for the fanciful idea of
reaching the Moon because of insurmountable barriers to escaping the
earth’s gravity.” A British mathematician
and physicist Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) declared “Heavier-than-air flying
machines are And here’s an internal memo from Western Union in 1878,
“This `telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered
as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no
value to us.” And here's one more jem from Pierre Pachet, rofessor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872, "Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
Amusing, no?
I anticipate that
when Moshiach comes similar articles will float around the World Wide
Web of G-dly knowledge updated with quotes of individuals who thought
Moshiach is impossible. Moshiach may sound more than a little bizarre
today, but we’ve already witnessed how drastically things can change.
In this age of egalitarian and liberal thinking, how can Jews still promote what is to many intellectuals a shameful and vainglorious sentiment of being the chosen nation? How can Jews preach to the world that they are better than everyone else?
We know from Biblical prophecies and from the Talmud that there are two possible scenarios for the Final Redemption. The difference between them lies in a fundamental question: will it be a revolutionary event, or an evolutionary one? The first redemption, the Exodus from Egypt, was a whirlwind of supernatural events, a total revolution. How will the final redemption unfold?
The 7 Laws of the Children of Noah I am intrigued by paragraph 12, and would like to know if this is an universal view or that of a portion of judaism only.
Moshiach: A King In Modern Times? Why should we want a dictatorial monarchy in the 21st century and regard that as utopia?
I say: it is not about what we want...