THE KABBALAH OF TIME: The Jewish Calendar is the master key to unlock the hidden rationale behind the formal structure of ancient sacred texts, as well as to understand and experience the most profound mystical concepts, which reveal the spiritual energy of each week, serving as a practical guide for self-analysis and development.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Monday, September 16, 2024
The Shulchan Aruch (+ Chofetz Chaim/Shmirat HaLashon) and the Year
B”H
There are 1705 chapters of Shulchan Aruch + 115 sections in the Sefer Chofetz Chaim and the Sefer Shmirat HaLashon combined. 5 chapters/sections a day.
Today is the 13th of Elul, Yom Hilula of the Ben Ish Chai, and we begin the first five sections of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim.
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Reflections
B”H
We are entering the month of Elul this Tuesday, and I wanted to take the idea of Cheshbon HaNefesh to the next level. Hopefully a daily reflection, starting today:
Last night I had a dream about an interview someone who was not honest in business (in the interview, the person kept fixing his hair, which was red and in a weird sort of wavy style). He was treated very lightly by the interviewer. No one, especially the person himself, seemed to think it was a very big deal. There was a sound in the house, and I was brought back to reality im such a way that I felt had descended many levels to get back to my bed.
As I was waking up, I felt a strong urge to study Rav Kook (his yahrzeit is this week). As soon as I could, I stacked up all the books I had of him that I could find and started perusing them. I was struck by the spirituality and universality of the works, which I seemed to only vaguely remember. I was taken by his passion, his description of mystical experiences, his longing for a new prophetic era. It was so beautiful and so real. I longed myself to be again in that mystical mode and defined my return to observant Judaism.
Every Elul, when the King is in the field, I seem to connect back to the liberating ideas of Rav Kook. He is like the missing link that brings everything else together and also helps me share my journey with others. This year, I hope to not forget this again.
[The day this was originally posted was the 28th of Av, the Yahrzeit of the Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin for close to forty years. The Netziv once said that if the Volozhin Yeshiva had been created just to to have a student such as Rav Kook, it would have been worth it.]
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