Where to find the hidden light
The Hidden Light: It seems an oxymoron. Light shines and reveals what is hidden. How can a light be hidden, and where might we find it again? (more…)
As the Sea fills a Cave
Rabbi Joshua of Sachnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi, “To what should we compare the Tent of Meeting [that Moses set up in the desert]? To a cave on the seashore. When the tide rises and the sea floods the cave, the sea is not diminished. Thus the Tent of Meeting was filled with the Shechinah (the Divine Presence).”
ר’ יהושע דסכנין בשם ר’ לוי למה היה אוהל מועד דומה למערה שהיא נתונה על שפת הים ועלהים והציף המערה נתמלאת מן הים והים לא חסר כך אוהל מועד נתמלא מזיו השכינה
–MIdrash, Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, 1b
Enter the Darkness to Greet the Dawn
Can we face the darkness of our own depths? Individuals and societies who can’t face their own shadow side will often project it on others.
The Miracle of Light: Hidden in Plain Sight
I heard the following Midrash repeatedly from my teacher, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi:
Two Seas: Giving and Receiving
There is an old parable about two seas in Israel, one fresh and one very salty.
The Holy Spirit: Ruach Ha-Kodesh
Peak Experiences in Our Lives (Plus a Midrash)
“Peak Experience” is a term coined by Psychologist Abraham Maslow to describe the times of emotional transcendence in human life.
Musar: Ethical Development as an Ascent
Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair says, “Heedfulness leads to cleanliness, cleanliness leads to purity, purity leads to separation, separation leads to holiness, holiness leads to modesty, modesty leads to fear of sin, fear of sin leads to piety, piety leads to the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit leads to the resurrection of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead comes from Elijah, blessed be his memory, Amen
A Midrash: Wellsprings as Source of Divine Inspiration
The Midrash takes the biblical story of Jacob meeting Rachel at the well, and “runs with it,” insisting that the scene, with its evocative well, three (mystical number) flocks, and stone (gateway to the well) holds many symbolic allusions to future Jewish history. In particular, the water of the well is a symbol of the Holy Spirit,Ruach Ha-Kodesh, Divine Inspiration:
Miriam’s Well
Many women of the bible make their entrances by a well, and many commentators have noted the well as a feminine, womb-like symbol, a hidden source of life. The most famous well in Jewish lore is the Well of Miriam, the sister of Moses.
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