Loving is giving– it’s literally the root of the Hebrew word – אהבה/Ahava – hav’means ‘to give’. The basis of Jewish faith is action/giving of oneself, and it’s through the mitzvot that clarity, unification & love manifest themselves.This is the love we look for in partners and often feel lacking without one. But we often forget that all of reality is an opportunity for a nurturing relationship with Hashem, the source of everything. Ahava has the same gematria (13) as the word Echad (One) and so to reach oneness/love, we have to be in tune with the Source & when we connect love to its source, 13 + 13 = 26 (Hashem’s four-letter name.)
As I read the verse na’aseh v’nishma/we will do and we will hear, I realized it’s contained in Exodus 24:7 and we can live this mindset of Exodus and Redemption literally 24/7. It’s in this space that we are in unconditional obedience and enthusiasm to fulfill mitzvot, regardless of if we understand them rationally.
Hashem offered the Torah, instead of asking, What is written there? we replied, Na’aseh v’nishma. It may seem odd to agree to something before fully understanding it, but intellectual knowledge of the Divine can’t be a precondition of living within the guidelines set forth by Hashem. It seems that we are all in various states of Divine disconnect. We attempt to heal, but often feels impossible. When we attempt to heal our physical selves, it’s in much the same way of doing, then understanding– when a doctor prescribes the medication we need to heal ourselves, we take it in good faith; we don’t first go to medical school, researching every element of it and only take the medication afterward. If that were the case, we would remain sick, no doubt getting worse. We take it in faith, because it benefits our physical selves and isn’t contingent on our knowledge of its inner workings. In fact by taking it we can start to see clearer, feel better, and get a better understanding of how the medicine helped.
It’s the same with our spiritual selves– the more we are in the space of na’aseh v’nishma with the mitzvot, the more elevated our spirit, and by virtue of that our physical selves will be.
Thanks for reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
– Erez // @erezsafar
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