Blog of Rabbi Yitzchak Schwartz
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Teaching seminars and other events by Rabbi Yitzchak Schwartz
Weekly MMM – The Land
Since it’s Israel’s Independence Day this week, also known as Remembrance Day, my MMM will be about the Land. The land of Israel is called, “the Land,” because it is THE, unique land, a microcosmic representation of all the lands in the world.
I want to talk about the Land. , it’s“above-nature” aspect , and how we have to synchronize ourselves to that aspect when we live in Israel.There are a lot of above-nature aspects in the Land, which you don’t find in other places, other than the Land of Israel.
1) Our Sages teach us from a verse in Torah that G-d has his eyes on every person in every land. But here, in Israel, it’s different. In other lands, there’s more of an indirect connection with G-d, but in the Land it’s more direct. We can feel G-d watching us.
2) The Land is considered to be the Sephirah of Malchut, which means it has nothing of its own. It only has what G-d gives to it, and to its people. The Land is, therefore, extremely humble, subdued and lowly. It is in a position to receive. To live properly in the Land, we, the residents, must have the same qualities, to match up with it.
3) It’s said that Torah, the Divine wisdom of the Land, is unlike any other land. I know people who learn Torah outside of the Land, and when they come to the Land, their progress speeds up twenty-fold. There is wisdom in the Land itself. In terms of Kabbalah and in terms of the world, it’s on a higher level.
4) The Land is considered to be located in a higher world. Other countries are located in the spiritual world of Asiyah, and the Land is located in the spiritual world of Yetzirah, which puts it closer to G-d. Just to be in the Land puts you closer to G-d.
5) The Land is considered to have a unique persona. Like each human being, the Land has a personality because it’s the place where the Shechinah dwells. And the Land relates to you like another person, like a close relative. You treat the Land right and it will treat you right.
6) The Land is considered to be the center of the world and the soul of the world. The closer you get to Jerusalem, and once in Jerusalem, the closer you get to the Holy of Holies, the more you feel you’re experiencing the soul of the world. All the souls in the world are deriving their life force from this land. You can feel it’s the center of all.
7) It’s a land that is acquired with suffering. Our Sages tell us three things are acquired with suffering: 1) Torah, 2) the World to Come, and 3) the Land. A line from the popular song about New York, “… if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere…” is very applicable to the Land of Israel, too. It can be very tough to make it here. But if you have faith, you can make it, no matter what.
8) The Land is so holy that every new step you take is considered to be a mitzvah. It’s a whole new connection to G-d, only possible in the Land itself.
9) The Land was acquired by the Israelites from the Canaanites. In Hebrew, the root word of Canaan means “submissive.” You need a submissive mindset here, meaning submissive to G-d and to the Land.
10) There’s a direct connection between the physical and the spiritual in the Land. So, the way you act affects what the Land gives back to you. Spiritually, you are adept, humble and holy. The Land will reflect those qualities back to you and double them.
11) There’s a direct connection between the higher worlds and the lower worlds. We feel as though we’re walking in parallel worlds, with G-d’s hand involved in every move we make.
Spiritually Protecting Ourselves – Go Into Your Noah’s Ark Now
Dear Friends,
We are in the midst of a deluge, a flood, a metaphysical and very real plague-like flood here in the streets of Israel. And it seems, by the way things are possibly going, that in a short time the streets of the world as well, people want to kill Jews simply because we exist, for no other reason at all.
Don’t buy all that other propaganda about territorial disputes, including the Temple Mount, or any of that other stuff. It’s all just to play upon the diplomatic sensibilities of the world.
It’s simply that we are Jewish. That’s our cry. That’s why they want to kill us, and the same thing is true for Christians. It’s the Christian’s cry as well.
We’re at a time now where we have to pay attention to what the Torah, the Bible is telling us in this parasha of Noach or Noah. The energy of the parasha of Noah is to our advantage right now because as we all know, it’s about a flood Noah’s Ark was destined to save that seedling of humans and animals from being completely wiped-out by a worldwide flood at that time.
The parallels are strikingly clear right now, in Israel and in other countries around us, and all over the world, including Europe and America, everywhere. Right now, we ALL have to get ourselves into the Ark.
In the past, Noah’s Ark was a place of safety, a shelter from the storm, from the flood threatening to wipe out everyone and everything that wasn’t inside the Ark.
So, we need to figure out how to build our Ark and how to get inside it, to save our lives and to be protected from the flood. So, what I’d like to share with you now is a list of what I believe to be ways we can create Arks in our own lives, to save us from the flood. The Ark is the antidote to the dire danger these current floods are creating.
- We need to jump into the Ark of being constructive, as opposed to the flood, which is destructive. We need to build ourselves an Ark which is celebrating LIFE, as opposed to the flood, which celebrates death and murder. We need to get ourselves into the Ark of G-d’s real, true Word, as opposed to murder in the name of G-d.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of being in-sync with our Holy Land here, as opposed to being out-of-sync with it, which is the flood we have threatening us as well.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of Shabbat, and realize that everything that’s happening in our lives is coming from above, as opposed to the flood of thinking that the strength of our hands is really going to save us.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of Prayer, saying to G-d, “I cannot, Hashem… I can only do it if you help me.” We need to save ourselves from the flood of saying we are the ones who determine what will happen with our own fate.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of having true pleasure in the service of G-d, and in the life force of Torah and mitzvoth, as opposed to the robotic, mechanical service in the world of the flood.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of understanding, “I am a wealthy person, an immense treasure chest, full of spiritual gifts I have amassed over the last few weeks of holidays, as opposed to thinking now it’s just the same-old, same-old schedule of the past.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of knowing we are a member of an eternal, invincible people, as opposed to the mindset, the flood-type thinking that we are vulnerable to everyone’s whims and horrible designs against us.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of knowing that every little bit of goodness and overcoming of evil we do in our lives moves worlds and elicits the support of millions and billions of people rooting for us, as opposed to falling into the flood of despair.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of radical belief, 24/7, that G-d is running our lives, no matter what we think is the cause of everything that’s going on, and that it’s coming from us, as opposed to thinking everything is by chance.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of knowing that every minute of our lives is precious, as opposed to the flood of wanting to kill time.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of trust in G-d, and knowing that G-d will come through for me, just as he has endless numbers of times before, as opposed to thinking that it’s all happenstance.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of knowing, “I am a soul and I have control of all the animal parts inside of me,” just like the animals in Noah’s Ark, as opposed to thinking, “I am a human animal who can only succeed with the laws of the jungle.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of encouragement and love for everybody we see and connect with in our lives, as opposed to the flood of hate and depression.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of seeing others with the eyes of G-d, with compassion and with vision of who they can be, as opposed to seeing others as infidels, not worthy of life.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of what G-d said to Noah, “Come into the Ark and make that light shine, meaning the teva, the holy words of Torah and prayer. We must make that shine by going deeply into it, as opposed to the flood of thinking that everything is purposeless and lifeless, recital without any meaning.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of seeing goodness into being, as opposed to the opposite, which is seeing evil manifest.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of unifying with all the good, as opposed to the opposite.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of the good inclination inside ourselves, prompted by the spice of Torah, to counteract that flood of evil inclination, the Yetzer Hara.
- We need to get ourselves into the Ark of the mikvah, of purifying ourselves, to counteract the flood of impurity.
- We need to get ourselves into the act of being givers, to save ourselves from the flood of takers.
- We need to get ourselves into the act of 40 days of shelter, of going into a process and sticking with it until it gets done, just like the 40 days of the flood, as opposed to being exposed to whatever may happen in our lives and not completing them.
- We need to get into the Ark of seeing the good in people, even if it’s one little, tiny piece of good that will outshine all the bad inside of them, as opposed to the flood of the opposite.
- We need to get into the Ark of making sacred space of who we are, when we are, how we are, with whom we are, as opposed to seeing the exact opposite.
- We need to get into the Ark of talking soul and heart talk to other people, as opposed to talking hate talk, talking senseless externalities.
- We need to get into the Ark of seeing people as souls, as opposed to seeing them as enemies and something to be killed.
- We need to get into the Ark of the house of study and the house of prayer, as opposed to the flood of the opposite.
- We need to get into the Ark of modesty, as opposed to the flood of flagrancy.
- We need to get into the Ark of knowing that there is nothing else in the world, except for G-d.
2010 USA TEACHING TOUR SCHEDULE
Contact Info:
email : yitzchakschwartz@msn.com
cell #: in the US 347 225 2214
in Israel 011 972 [0] 54 846 9522
Tuesday June 1st till Motzei Shabbat June 5th [Cleveland]
MY HOSTESS;
Ruthy Wolfson
1ST CLASS—Tuesday June 1st 7-9 pm
At Shari and Michael Goldberg’s home
2nd Class
on Wednesday June 2nd 2010
at the home of
Ruthy Wolfson
for a lunch and learn [around 11;30 till 2pm] please RSVP
“BEING IN A CONSTANT STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS”
3RD Class
Seudah Shlishit/ Melave Malke
Stay in touch for details for all other classes
and 1 on 1 sessions
Sunday June 6th till Motzei Shabbat June 12th [Maui, Hawaii]
SEMINAR_FLYER
REGISTER
Kabbalah Maui
Sunday June 13th till Wed. June 23rd [New York City]
See the Facebook page ;
Kabbalah in New York , for a detailed description of my classes
Or be in touch with my USA phone 347 225 2214 or email yitzchakschwartz@msn.com
and for more info about my upcoming trip, see the following
Facebook Pages
The Presence Series #6 – In a constant state of Kabbalah
12 years
In a constant state of kabbalah
SEEING THROUGH THE EYES OF A JEWISH MYSTIC
[The Presence Series]
‘’…The mystical quest….penetrates to the depth of all thought, all feelings, all tendencies, all aspirations and all worlds from beginning to end….everything is important….there is no lost gesture….all is interdependent, organically related….the mystical vision is the soul of religion …of torah….it’s far reaching unity embraces all creatures…all expressions of life…all objectives and ideals….’’
[R. Avraham Tzvi Kook ‘’the Lights of Holiness’’]
Let’s explore four dimensions that a true Kabbalist[ the real one and the one inside of yourself]sees and experiences constantly;
The InfiniteDimension
The Creator is Infinite…….
The Creator’s whole design of the Creation was to hide His infinity from us , until we could discover how to reveal once again that all is infinity…..
One of the essential points of all Kabbalistic teachings, is to reinfintize the finite—thus;
a. the goal of the Tzimtzum [ the creation process of contracting Hashem’s infinite prescence to allow for a creation to exist] creation process is to ultimately reinfinitize it all
b. the goal of the light/vessil evolution process seeking the maximal synchronization between the lights and the vessils that contain them, is to produce a setup of vessils that can contain infinity
c. the goal of the Mitzvot [according to the Kabbalistic consciousness perspective] is to infinitize [and thus liberate] the ACTIONS of reality that we take/do
d. the goal of Mystical Consciousness is to infinitize [and thus, liberate ] THOUGHT
e. the goal of Ratzon [a Kabbalistic state of fusing our WilL with Hashem’s Will ] is to infinitize [and thus liberate] our WILL and our calling in life and our capacities to be the right arm extensions of G-d’s Tikun Olam process
f. the goal of the Divine bridge traits referred to as the Sefirot, are to infinitize all processes and all structures , [including those of our own persona]
g. the goal of the Tikun [rectification] of cosmic brokenness, is to transform reality into a conduit and conductor and environment for infinity
h. the goal of all upper and lower world interpersonal relationships is to tap into each other’s infinite wellsprings and thereby unify with each other, and thereby reproduce infinite shefa[ abundance for all of the world to be nurtured from
i. ”the [goal and] innate desire of the soul, is to reunify with the infinite…this is the root of every wanting; noother object, idea or love can satisfy it’s desire. It’s not only what the soul wants, but what all of existence wants.” [Alan Afterman in his work, ‘[Kabbalah and Consciousness]
j. Humanity’s goal of returning to the Garden of Eden’s Paradise state, as well as the Messianic state, is to arrive at a consciousness and a reality , where all that which was lacking, will be complete—and all that which was finite will be infinite
The Unseen Dimension
Kabbalah is referred to as Chochmat HaNistar [The wisdom of the Hidden or Unseen]
See the vastness of what there is to see[that are normally not seen]
See the vastness of the normally overlooked gifts that people give you
See the vastness of wisdom accessible to you that you normally overlook
See the vastness of coping tools that you constantly create
See the vastness of salvations that Hashem sends you all the time
See the vastness of guidance that G-d constantly sends to you
See the vastness of love that you have in your heart [usually unexpressed]
See the vastness of experiences and life lessons that you have experienced
See the vastness of esoteric energies, angels, soul stirrings calling to you
See the vastness of as yet untapped influences that you can send out
The Unified Dimension
Kabbalah is referred to as the Wisdom of Correspondences—all corresponds to all else so profoundly, that everything comes together in a profound state of unity
1.SEE HOW ALL IS INTER-INCLUDED See how everything is inter-included in everything else—what’s outside of you is also inside of you—what is needed to realize this, is to plug in and feel and resonate and recall—try to feel and resonate inside of yourself, with things that are outside of yourself —whether they be outside of yourself in space or in time—Experiment, keep on pushing the buttons of resonation, until you can truly identify that which is outside of yourself , inside of yourself—until you can feel what a person, a place, a historical happening ….etc…feels like…
2. SEE HOW ALL IS INTERDEPENDENT See how everything is dependent on everything else—- how actions are dependent on words, and how words are dependent on feelings, and how feelings are dependent on thoughts, and how thoughts are dependent on will, and how will is dependent on HIS Will… See how one person’s will, thoughts, feelings, actions and words are dependent on other people’s same faculties, and other’s on them and many people’s on one central person’s, and this one central person’s faculties is dependent on their teachers and their parents and their teacher’s teachers and parent’s parents faculties going back and back to the beginning… See how the animal and plant and mineral kingdoms are dependent upon each other….See how large parts of the world’s people are dependent upon a small part….See how large parts of history are dependent on one specific part….See how all these independent entities are all significant—are all necessary parts of the whole…
3. SEE HOW ALL IS SIGNIFICANT See how the interinclusion and the interdependency of all things, makes everything significant—because everything, in it’s own way and time and place, is absolutely necessary for the needs of everything else—-the body is significant for the soul, the physical is significant for the spiritual, the small is significant for the big, the dark for the light…etc…etc…All is important, all is valuable, all is complimentary to all else…
4. SEE THE RAMIFICATION[S] OF THIS UNITY See what is learned from this mystical unity –this interincluded, interdependent unity —–See how this unity penetrates to the depths of all dimensions–all thought , all aspirations, all perfection—for when everything fits in, when everything harmonizes, when there is a special place reserved for all things—then there is peace, and there is oneness, and there is goodness, and there is clarity, and there is meaning and the soul of reality is revealed and in control –and then everyone will know and see with the supernal hidden light that all is One and that all is connected together and connected to the Divine source of all life …
The Receptive Dimension
Kabbalah is referred to as the Wisdom of Receiving – a received tradition dating back to Sinai, as well as a way of engaging reality—through the power and openness of receptivity
1.Be open to receive the totality of LIFE EXPERIENCES that come your way now and in the past
2.Be open to receive the ability to choose the positive, goodly and G-dly CHOICES in life
3.Be open to receive the wisdom to know how to select and redeem your lost soul SPARKS
4.Be open to receive the discernment to focus on the ESSENCE of everything
5.Be open to receive the sensitivity to feel deeply what others are FEELING and respond properly and lovingly
6.Be open to receive the knowledge needed to hear and act upon your SOUL’S VOICE
7.Be open to receive the understanding that’s required to see how the SMOOTHNESS or lack of it in your life is directing you what to rectify and how
8.Be open to receive the foresight to guide others [and yourself] towards their LIFE CALLING
9.Be open to receive the compassion needed to reach out and help HEAL others
10.Be open to receive all the consciousness that is BEYOND your present level
Blessings ,
Yitzchak
By the way
IT’S MUSHROOMING TIME DEAR FRIENDS,
Specifically in the communication realm and as a result of my upcoming trip-
—- june 1-5 Cleveland, june 6-13 Maui, june 13-23 NYC ;
so check out the following if you please;
1. facebook page kaballah maui[advertising my upcoming trip]
2. the facebook page kaballah on maui[my upcoming trip in a more focused way]
3. the facebook page kaballah in new york [my upcoming New York trip]
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