Wednesday, September 16, 2015

This Explains It All

                                                                         בס"ד
I would like to give you some insight as to why the world is the way it is and even why history was so chaotic and full of turmoil. What I will be explaining is from Kabbalistic sources so I start off with a disclaimer: I can only give you the details as I learned them, and have no idea of the deep ramifications (it is beyond human comprehension). Am I off the hook?

Let us talk of the beginning of humankind. All my references to Adam are for all people, men and women, since Adam and Eve were created as a single being and were later separated into two distinct individuals. What is important for our purpose is that they did not start out as human beings as is familiar to us. They were at a very high spiritual level. When Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he did it for a very positive reason. He was very close to Hashem but wanted to be even closer. Even though he knew everything he needed to know about the world, he had a great desire to know more. Adam saw this tree as an opportunity to possibly be at the same level as Hashem. Once again, this was out of love for Hashem, since Adam was already at a very high spiritual level. What actually changed after he ate? In Hebrew there are two words that sound the same (unless you are Israeli and can hear the subtle difference) but have one letter difference, giving it a different meaning. The word is “ohr.” If spelled with the Hebrew letter alef, it means light. If spelled with an ayin it means skin. When Adam sinned his size was greatly reduced (he was a giant before and now was the size of a human being of today) and the covering of his body was changed from pure light to skin as we know it. In essence he went from being a spiritual being to a physical being. This is really when he became a human being to which we can relate. His knowledge was greatly changed since he was now aware of both good and evil. This is when he became aware of his lack of body covering as an example.

So far so good (I hope). Now we get into the spiritual change. The following explanation is an over simplification of a very difficult concept to understand (the part that is beyond our comprehension). Adam’s soul was actually the soul of all humankind. We were all part of Adam. When he sinned, the sparks of his soul were shattered like a broken vessel and scattered throughout the world. This is the reason that the people are throughout the world since the perfection of the world requires the gathering of these sparks to bring the soul of Adam together again. Of course, most of the souls were placed in Heaven, also known as the World of Souls. That occurred with the plan that the souls would come to Earth throughout history to effect the perfection of the Earth and the perfection of each individual soul. In other words, history was a gathering of the sparks to make whole the vessel again.

A side note of interest. Where we were located as individuals within Adam’s soul determined what part of the world mission for which we would be responsible. If we were the hands of Adam we would come to Earth as a skilled individual working with the hands. If we were part of his brain, we would be of high intelligence here. A soul from his heart might be a very righteous sensitive individual. I won’t cover the not so favorable parts of the body – use your imagination (that may explain why we have politicians – sorry about that). The point is we as the whole of society know why the world has the tremendous variety of skills and intelligence levels. It is interesting to ponder the individual location that you may have occupied in Adam.

What purpose is served by all this? Hashem is allowing very important and wonderful accomplishments by this scenario. One is that Adam (and all of us) had to be sent down to a very low spiritual level in order to gather the sparks. By doing this we are given the opportunity upon completion to surge upward almost like a slingshot affect to a spiritual level even higher than the level with which Adam started. When the redemption comes and the perfection is put into place, eventually we will experience a level that is close to Hashem beyond our comprehension. In essence, Adam’s desire to reach a much higher level will be accomplished.

There is another aspect of this plan that is not so obvious. Hashem is perfect. Within His perfection is all imperfection. Meaning, that Hashem is complete with everything. Hashem decided to demonstrate His wholeness by creating this world and us as imperfect beings. At the same time we are being brought to a level of perfection at the end, we have been the vehicle to show that all levels of imperfection exist within Hashem’s perfection. We can glean from all this some of the very difficult concepts that we questioned at the beginning. Why has history been so chaotic and full of turmoil? We can now see that the gathering of the sparks had to be done at all levels including the lowest level of our existence. The levels had to include the lowest of evil to the highest of goodness. The levels had to include all the imperfection that exists within the wholeness and perfection of Hashem. Hashem is everything, there is none else. As part of Hashem, we were the vehicle to demonstrate His wholeness. The good news is all the sparks have been gathered. The history used to demonstrate His wholeness is complete. This is another reason why I am convinced that the time of our redemption and the introducing of the Messiah are imminent. All is complete, the work is done – the future looks tremendous.

I didn’t say this was going to be simple to understand; but, my purpose in trying to explain this is to encourage everyone to gain the maximum place in the sun, so to speak. We now have the opportunity to obtain the highest spiritual level that Adam craved. It is available to each and every one of us. The last minute acts of rectification will change our eternity for the absolute best. Don’t waste the opportunity. Return to Hashem for everything. Know that everything that Hashem has done He has done for us and it is for the good. You and your loved ones will see a level of happiness and fulfillment that is beyond our human comprehension and that is the absolute truth. Accept it, live it and enjoy it.

Note: This was a chapter from my book “The Absolute Truth.” To get an electronic copy sent to your Email, click on the “Buy Now” button at the top of the column to the right – it is still $5. Or click on the book cover if you want the book or Kindle version from Amazon.com.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for all of your hard work. I have heard Rabbi Pinchas Winston also mention about the "sparks being used up" where is the source that "all the sparks have been gathered" How do we know that? I feel intuitively that this process is happening, but would like to know where you say this so definitively from? blessings, Devora

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    1. You were looking in the right area. Mekubalim have said it. I believe the first time I heard it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but I have heard it from others. The other thought is that we wouldn't be so close to the Geula and Moshiach if it weren't completed.

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  2. The sephirot correspond to the positioning of a person's soul within Adam's soul. Each person represents a sefira, and each sefira has very unique qualities and struggles. We know that Mashiach will come from the sefira of Malchut. While all the sephirot are important, only a person from Malchut is able to reach sublime levels of spiritual perfection - for now. A person from Malchut is already inherently selfless and humble. Keep in mind there are just as many people from Malchut as there are from the other sephirot. This brings up a very important issue.

    There is a strong emphasis being placed on traits such as humility and selflessness.
    We need to be very careful, and start spreading more awareness that although these are very important character traits, this is not necessarily for everyone (and really maybe only for people from one of the 9 sefirot), and is definitely not helping the people from the sefira of Malchut, who are already inherently these things. People from the sefira of Malchut must start being more present to themselves, and that means thinking more about themselves - not others!!

    This awareness needs to be spread in order for people from the sefira of Malchut to fully reach their full potentials to help grow and contribute to their communities and to help bring Mashiach faster.

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  3. Is there a message from R' Ben Arzi this week?

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    1. No, he did not give his usual drasha this week, and I miss it also.

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  4. Adam saw this tree as an opportunity to possibly be at the same level as Hashem....is what you said but most all the wrongdoings aren't done with it in mind to get closer to Hashem, can you say on what it relates to humans pls. Thank rabbi

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    1. I believe what you are saying is the basis for idolatry. We frail human beings have trouble worshiping something we can't see, so we started thousands of years ago, before the flood, to represent Hashem by His creations. It was Avraham that tried to set us straight when he saw his fathers idol shop as a heresy. We can pray directly to Hashem and have complete emunah that He hears our prayers. To pray to something, or someone else, is completely weakness, ignorance and is idolatry. That is one of the worst abominations to Hashem, since He knows that we have complete access to Him all the time -- no substitutes needed.

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