All Together Now

Tonight we are going to say in Kabbalas Shabbos “Shamor Vzachor Bdibbur Echad.” When G-d commanded us regarding Shabbos, He told us to remember it and keep it at the same time. Now that’s pretty damn hard to do right? I have heard some cool Tibetan monks sing 2 tones at the same time, but to say 2 words at the same time is quite impossible. We obviously have to ask why G-d did this.

So lets look at these 2 words. Shamor means to guard or keep Shabbos and is explained by our holy Rabbis as the obligation to refrain from working (doing Melacha) on Shabbos. Zachor means to remember Shabbos and is a positive commandment, obligating us to remember Shabbos during the week and commanding us to say Kiddush on Shabbos itself.

Now lets get Kabbalisic. According to Kabbalah, Shamor represents the quality (sefirah) of Gevura or withholding. The only way to teach your child to ride a bicycle is by letting go of the bike and allowing him to ride it himself. Sometimes we have a burning desire to do an aveira, and yet we hold ourselves back, sacrificing ourselves to G-d. Gevura means the strength to say no. The opposite of that quality is Zachor or the strength to say yes (chesed). Yes I am going to help this person with his problems and yes I am going to actively serve G-d and do his Mitzvos. We “see” G-d acting with chesed when a great blessing from heaven is bestowed upon us and perceive His Gevura when we are “punished” for our sins. We constantly live our lives going back and forth between these two characteristics and the truth is that it’s so hard to know when to yes and when to say no. This dialectical construct is even found in nature itself, there is day and night, men and women, Yin and Yang, republican and democrat, westerner and easterner, Chasid and Misnagid and the list really goes on forever. Life is so confusing because we see the world as a rolled up ball of Machloket.

Hashem is so great to us. He tells us that Shabbos gives us a chance to realize that that Shamor and Zachor are really 1 and not 2 distinct conflicting worlds. Shabbos comes from a place that existed before there were these differences between people. Chevra, in the higher worlds the Jewish people exist as one unit called Knesset Yisrael. It happens to be that in this lower world we come down as separate physical beings, but on that spiritual plain we are one. If we look with Shabbos eyes we could see that we are all one. Do you remember when you were a child playing with your friend before he/she disappointed you and then went on separate paths? Do you remember when you could talk to G-d so simply before you did that aveira. The Torah calls the Garden of Eden “Gan Eden Mikedem.” The word Mikedem means the east but it also means from before. Before there was 2 there was just this simple place of oneness. Shabbos is Mein Olam Haba, a taste of that world which is the deeper reality. G-d tells us that Shabbos is our chance to see G-d not as Hashem the merciful or as Hashem the strong one but just as Hashem who is one with his people that are one and with a world that is working for one purpose. This why it’s so important to get together with friends and family on Shabbos (Shkoyach to Roz) because it allows us to see and experience each other in a much deeper way.

A few weeks ago the Times published an article stating that people are lonelier now than ever before. It’s hard to believe that with cell phones, AIM and Facebook people still feel lonely. The article didn’t say it but in my perception, it seems that so many more are depressed and have given up hope in themselves, in G-d and in life. We need to fight this darkness with all our strength with simple Simcha. I want to thank Roz for always bringing together Jews and even more so for Shabboses like this one in the Hamptons for no other reason except for us to be together and be Bsimcha. Thank you Roz for bringing more light to the world because when Jews come together, there is more revelation of G-d and when Jews are together on Shabbos, that’s just one big explosion light.

Good Shabbos and lets deeply feel that oneness of Shamor vZachor

Jerry's Yahrzeit

Besides it being holy TuB'av, it's also Jerry's Yahrzeit. The Grateful Dead means a lot of different things to people. Personally, the Dead evoke certain emotions in me that no other music can. We all know that if you are having a tough day, the easiest way to chill out is by putting on your favorite dead set and at the same time, if you are looking for a spiritual thrill you know you can listen to on an inspiring Terrapin Station or Warf Rat. Sometimes I think I was on tour for a few years or at least at some their acid tests in another gilgul. Who knows.

Summer of Love

Chevra, TuB'av is deep and I can only explain a little taste. Forgive me if it’s a little too gushy.

What the heck is Tu B'av? It says in the Gemara that the happiest days of the year were Yom Kippur and Tu B'av where single Jewish women would don beautifully simple white dresses and dance in circles, asking the men to choose their soul mates. You may be thinking how could this be done on Yom Kippur when we are supposed to be in shul praying to save our necks? The truth is that Yom Kippur is really a day of extreme closeness between us and G-d. On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol, who represents the Jewish people, goes into the Holy of Holies or the Yichud room of the great wedding hall of the Beit Hamikdash. At the moment we scream Hashem Hu HaElokim at neila on Yom Kippur, no matter what we have done, we feel that all we want is to be one with Him and nothing else matters. It’s the same intense image of the Kohen Gadol with Hashem in that holy room, all alone. See chevra, Halacha is the same word as Hakala or the bride, because the reason we do the mitzvos and keep halacha is in order to make ourselves beautiful for G-d and to be unified with Him. If a Bride walks down the aisle and winks at her old boyfriend, we know it’s not a good shidduch because she has to be whole heartedly in love with her husband. We are totally dedicated and in love with G-d deep down, we just have to reveal that and shake away all our “spring flings” which only left us brokenhearted. So the great day where you go into the "Yichud room" with G-d, is the same day that you find your soul mate because the intense yearning and desire for oneness you feel for the person you truly love is the same longing to be alone with just the One above. The truth is, only when we get married, can we know what it means to go into the holy of holies on Yom Kippur. This is very deep. BTW, now that we are a little older and less immature, we must stop asking why do we do this and why do we have to do that but, how is this halacha allowing me to be one with G-d and bring his light into the world (its a whole different perception of things).

So chevra, why do we get married on Tu B'Av? Let me tell you a secret from the Bnei Yissascher. The Gemara tells us that 40 days before a child is created in his mother’s womb, a voice screams out in heaven declaring who will be his soul mate. In a few weeks, we will commemorate the first day of the creation of the world on the 25th day of Elul and 40 days before this is, that’s right, Tu, B'av! This was the day that G-d decided that he would create the world in order to be "soul mates" with the Jewish people. What’s really amazing about this is that we didn’t even exist yet, nor do anything to earn His love, but it was an ahava shlo teluya badavar, a love that depends on nothing. G-d saw our essence and loved us for that and in the same way on Tu B’av the women would go out all dressed in the same simple white because we were on such a high level that we would see past the exterior into our zivug’s essence and just know. What a simcha. After the separation we felt from G-d on Tisha B’av, Hashem reminds us of the unbreakable love He has for us on Tu Ba’v. Ya know chevra, its hard to talk about these things because growing up and watching TV really gave me such a diluted and shallow view of what it means to really love someone and for sure what it means love G-d. We really have to work hard to unbrainwash ourselves from all the 90210's and Dawsons Creeks etc, to think and feel deeply about what it means to be one with another. Bezrat Hashem.
Mazel Tov!

Ehran Elisha At the Tonic

Ehran Elisha was rockin last night at his 40th birthday concert at the Tonic in the Lower East Side. Only Mr. E has the power to take so many clashing sights and sounds and bring them together in perfect harmony and rhythm. Gluck and I got totally lost on our way downtown and ended up crossing the Williamsburg Bridge but with G-ds help, we somehow found our way to the show (it was probably in the zechus of Eidz). There were many old school Yeshivas Rav Moshe Zevulun alumni and all were a pleasure to see.

Tu B'av is Wednesday. We gotta get ready.

Nachamu Nachamu Ami

On Shabbos Nachamu, G-d comforts us for all the calamities we have collectively been through and mourned these past few weeks. G-d says “Nachamu Nachamu Ami Yomar Hashem Elokeichem.” The verse is simply translated as “Be comforted, be comforted My nation, says Hashem your G-d.” The question is how are we comforted? I still see a mosque on top of the holiest place in the world and our brothers in the north are still being attacked. With what is G-d comforting us? The Rebbe of Radomsk, the Tiferet Shlomo, explains that G-d is saying, be comforted, be comforted and through what? Through the fact that Hashem says that I am your G-d (put the comma after Hashem in the pasuk). In all situations Hashem says that He is our G-d as it says in Tehilim, Emo Anochi Btsara, I am with you in your pain. In our fight against evil, whether it be some Islamic fundamentalists or confronting our own dark inclinations, we tend to feel that we are fighting alone, struggling to exist. G-d screams right back and says that He is right there with us. We are not alone. That’s the nechama.

This reminds me of a similar idea I learned with Avraham Chaim a few weeks ago on Shabbos at Judah B’s from the B’er Mayim Chayim in his Sidduro Shel Shabbos. The Rebbe says that when we need mercy from above we say “Shma Koleinu Hashem Elokeynu, Chus V’Racheim Aleinu,” “Hear our voice Hashem our G-d and have mercy on us.” Why should Hashem have mercy on us? The Rebbe explains because we say listen Hashem, you are our G-d, (put the comma after Hashem) and have mercy on us just for the fact that you are our G-d, our precious Father in heaven. This simple relationship between us and Hashem is the really the most powerful thing. The Rebbe says that a child in trouble calling out to his father “daddy,” causes the greatest feelings of compassion to be aroused in his father. The same is true with our relationship with G-d. Alll we need to do is say Hashem, you are our G-d, we rely on you and need your help and then the compassion will be awakened from above.

Oy Good Shabbos

Give Me The Power!

Wow what a day, what a day. Kinos at Aish were really meaningful this morning. To my pleasant surprise, I turned around in the middle of the davening and bumped into my good friend from Bat Ayin, Aryeh Zehavi (he is also a teacher at Machon Gold). So we sat and said kinnos and listened to the Rebbe talk about Tisha B'av. The one thing that sticks out in my mind was when the Rebbe mentioned the idea that in our present state in the diaspora, we have forgotten who we are. We listen to the news and hear so many condemnations from the nations of the world and we feel very much on the defense. All the more so, the way Jews have been treated throughout the ages in many ways with less respect then animals (I don’t think I have to elaborate OY!). The truth though, is that we are the princes and princesses of the King. We were chosen to be His representatives and are empowered with bringing His light to the world. We are not some small little nothing to be pushed around. We are Bnei Melachim. I will never forget when I was learning with Rav Yoel Likkutei Moharan where Reb Nachman(RABEINU!! YEEHAAW!) says that a Jew needs to have the strength to rule over the angels. I asked Rav Yoel, Rebbi, how is that possible? We would need to have so much strength? Rav Yoel explained to me that the problem is that most people don’t really know what a Jew is and what strength we have. Our souls come from mamish the highest places yet we still look down upon ourselves. If we realize who we are and where we come from we could conquer the Angels.

Looks like I will be in the Dale for Shabbos. BTW, anyone who wants to be a contributor to the site, please email me and I will sign you up. Don’t worry, you don’t have to write divrey Torah, you can post whatever you like. Ruchniyos, music, movies, what you ate for breakfast and beyond...

The Rebbe is Speaking Tonight

Rav Weinberger will be speaking tonight at Aish Kodesh after Maariv at 8:45. He is very, very inspiring and I would highly recommend attending if you want to feel what Tisha B'av is all about.

Rav Pinchas Korotzer explains that we really don’t appreciate the feelings we have for someone we love until we part from them. When we are with the ones we love, we take them for granted and are blinded to how much we depend and live just for them. Tisha B’av is that day when, (kvyachol) we parted with Hashem. Everyone has been through times in their lives when they felt spiritually on fire, totally connected and actually at peace with themselves. Then one day, we look at ourselves and ask what happened to me? Where have I been? Where am I now? I want to be back in that place of clarity and closeness! Tisha B’av is so holy because it reveals the utter yearning between G-d and his people to be back together once again. This is our chance.

Hashiveinu Hashem Eleicha V'nashuva, Chadesh Yameinu K'Kedem

We Will Return to Gush Katif

On Tisha Bav, the evil Titus came into the most holy place in the world and desecrated it. That place which represented the Jewish people’s one focus and purpose was ransacked and stripped of its truth. Its hard to comprehend this but after watching this short film, I began to understand… just a little.

Back From the Holy Land

Holy Chevra! There are so many yidden out there who are longing for the deepest of the deep. In Israel, we found all those yidden who were like us coming out of every corner. The highest Shabboses with the greatest people in the most beautiful places in the world and now we are back in America. Do people sing niggunim here? Do people do hisbodadus here? Had enough of dry Americanized ruchniyus? This blog is the opportunity for us to find each other and share our experiences being the best yidden we can be in America (for now).