Found A World So New (genesis: noach)

This week’s Torah portion is the story of Noah and the flood, we also read the word #Hamas twice, “And the earth had become corrupt before G-d, and the earth had become full of HAMAS. and God saw the earth, and behold it was corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth….The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth has become full of HAMAS because of them, and behold I am about to destroy them from the earth.” (Genesis 6:11-13) The entire generation had fallen to the sitra achra and Hashem (God) calls Noah righteous and perfect. Noah built an ark and rain fell for 40 days. Hundreds of days later, after a dove was sent out and returned with an olive branch in its mouth, Noah knew redemption had come and it …

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Just Keep Me Where The Light Is (genesis: genesis)

We’re back in the Torah portion of Bereishit (Genesis), which contains almost all of the mind-blowing kabbalistic concepts of the Light of the Infinite. When Hashem (God) said, ‘Let There Be Light…. And It Was Good,’ it clues us into the purpose of Creation– to reveal light and goodness in this world. We need this now more than ever. I’m praying we can meditate and manifest this redemptive consciousness, rather than G-d forbid the opposite like we are seeing being done to the Children of Israel. King David says in Tehillim/Psalms, “The world was built with chesed (loving-kindness).” Our sages teach that “The light that was created on the first day shone from one end of Creation to the other.” In Kabbalah we learn that this was the light of chesed— “an infinite, uncompounded light that filled all of Creation.” …

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And Never Become That Which Is Not God (deuteronomy: v​’​zot haberachah)

It’s only by finding one’s purpose and living in alignment that we find our true happiness. For this week, I dove into my middle name which is the same as the mountain Moshe ascended and I touched on some of the secrets of creation, & a bit about what I learned the other week at a Brittany Howard concert! Creation involves concealment. The word olam (universe) is semantically linked to the word neelam (hidden.) “To give mankind some of His own creative powers – the use of language to think, communicate, understand, imagine alternative futures and choose between them – God must do more than create homo sapiens. He must efface Himself (tzimtzum) to create space for human action. No single act more profoundly indicates the love and generosity implicit in creation. God as we encounter Him in the Torah …

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The Secret To Being In Harmony With Each Other & The Universe (deuteronomy: ha’azinu)

For this week, I wrote about the secrets to being in harmony with each other and the world, bringing in wisdom by Pharrell, Rebbe Nachman, David Sacks and the Ramban. Meanwhile, around this time (Yom Kippur) marked the last day I was to say Kaddish for my mom who passed away almost three years ago. In some ways, it was a relief to not have to say it. As her only son, having this sole responsibility weighs heavy, but, at the same time, it makes the ritual that much more meaningful, and so the connection, born of the ultimate need, is one that is very transformative. As I have said Kaddish leading up to this week, it always ends in the same way, just as the Shemona Esrei ends, Oseh Shalom Bimromav (“He who makes peace in His high places”). …

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The Song That Saved My Life (deuteronomy: vayelech)

Music has been such an important healing tool for me over the years. Feeling good comes in waves, so if you hit a funk, it’s important to have ways to get yourself out. For some it’s being in nature, seeing the grand grace and epic beauty of creation, for others it’s exercising, and for others it’s staying connected to loved ones. For me, staying happy and connected is certainly tied to maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but also an important and key part is music. Music transcends current moods and creates universes to jump into; it’s a powerful way to shift perspective and feelings. Bon Iver‘s self-titled album does it for me everytime– if I ever feel down and I listen to it, I feel that darkness can’t coexist with the light and beauty that those songs exude, and it …

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Greener Where You Water It (deuteronomy: nitzavim)

As we touched on in the “Don’t Hate, Foster The People” chapter in my latest book, “Emanations of Illumination.” Another way to think about our collective Oneness is through water. We know that water is fundamental to all life; our bodies are mostly water, and the brain and heart, in particular, are composed of 73% water. That means we have 73% in common with every person in the world. This gives new meaning to the saying, “the grass is greener where you water it”. On top of that, people mirror each other’s inner belief systems, so if we aren’t “watering” ourselves and those around us in connectedness and positivity, then individually and collectively we can’t grow. Continually giving yourself and others life force is essential to being in a blissful and connected state. It takes work because on the other …

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First Fruit (deuteronomy: ki tavo)

First fruits, blessings and our Promised Land. I dive into it all via The Rebbe, Jay-Z, Mark Twain, The Arizal and a memory of my Savta from Addis Ababa and Yemen in this week’s Parashah, Ki Tavo! Here are the first couple paragraphs with some memories of my time in Israel. My family is originally from Yemen, where my ancestors lived for close to 2,000 years. Nearly 100 years ago, in 1933, my grandmother’s side of the family decided to move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then to Israel. Once I graduated high school, I went to Yeshiva in Israel for a year in Bayit VeGan, a nice neighborhood in Jerusalem. Every memory I have of Israel feels like a dream, there is just something surreal, spectacular, and ineffable about the land. After that year immersed in ancient Jewish texts, …

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Don​’​t Hate, Foster The People (deuteronomy: ki teitzei)

In this week’s Torah portion we learn how to not perpetuate hatred, bringing in wisdom by Rav Kook, Rebbe Nachman, Dr. David Hawkins, MLK, and more. I set it off writing about my favorite minyan. I was at the minyan I’m almost always at on Shabbat, my friend Lorenzo’s minyan, inspired by and under the instruction of the Ostrova-Biala Rebbe. The minyan is in his backyard, and the group of men and women couldn’t be a more elevated group. You know the feeling you get when you walk into a room full of family members that you adore or best friends from school, and all the jokes you had for all those years come rushing back, and you know you are about to be surrounded by love? It may sound cheesy, but it’s the feeling of being in a community …

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…And Justice For All (deuteronomy: shoftim)

So much anxiety is brought on by thinking one won’t receive what is just. Of course, everyone’s view of their own justice looks different. But the idea of not receiving what you think you deserve, whether from a person or the universe creates a division and distancing in one’s relationships to others, to oneself, and even to life itself. Justice brings peace, but only when judgment/gevurah is balanced with the proper amount of mercy/chesed. When this is done right, it creates harmony/tiferet. Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s last book is titled, ‘Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue’, aptly pulling the words from this week’s parsha, Judges. One lesson to be learned from Ginsberg through her relationship with her Supreme Court colleague, Scalia, is how they exemplified putting aside their egos, building a personal relationship based on humane compassion, even when they disagreed vehemently …

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Mo Money Mo Problems, Mo Charity Mo Peace (deuteronomy: re’eh)

Even though it sounds like a contradiction, the reality is that our possessions are only ours to the extent that we give them away. With this article/dvar titled, “Mo Money Mo Problems, Mo Charity Mo Peace”, I dive into the kabbalistic powers of charity, a lesson from the Middle Ages of a Sultan and a great Torah Sage, and share a story of a royal family that ruled a small kingdom (in what is now Iraq), and ultimately converted to Judaism. The son of this period, King Munbaz, became the king of Adiabene at the end of the Second Temple period. At some point in life, we all learn that money comes and goes; you can be up one day and down the next. It’s all in the hands of Hashem. So the deeper way to conceive of money in …

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