Reflexao

Depois de meses, fiquei olhando pro céu. Naquela vastidão, foi tão fácil ver o nada que sou, que me deu vontade de cantar.

No dia seguinte, fiquei olhando meus filhos brincando. Pensei que deve ser assim mesmo que Ele fica nos olhando, e me veio uma certa paz.

Talvez seja preciso só isso. Saber quando ser nada, quando ser tudo, e lembrar de se deixar ficar olhando...

Pesach Sheini (The Second Passover)

Pesach Sheini (The Second Passover)

I'm constantly haunted
By the overwhelming
Feeling that whatever

I'm doing is not enough,
That I'm not meeting
My most basic obligations

And that the day of reckoning
Will come and I will be
Forced to admit it.

So I admit it now.

What I give certainly
Does not compare with
What I take.

I do not deserve what I have,
And am still very far, relying
Completely on His mercy.

So now that I've gotten
All that off my chest
And set all pretensions aside

I can go back to work
Because it's never too late
To burn off the yeast and bring

The proper sacrifice
With humble bread and bitter herbs
In order, to be free.

The Two Levels of Love for G-d: Explaining Chassidic/Kabbalistic Concepts Based on the Writings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Continuing the Chassidic discourse (Ma'amar) for the 29th of Iyar, 5712, Shabat Mevarchim Sivan, Parashat Devarim: 

In love (Kesef), there are two levels: Ahavah Zutta (small love) and Ahavah Rabbah (great love). Ahavah Zuttah is a love that is based on reason, when a person reflects on the fact that G-dliness is something good, and through this such love is born in his/her heart. This kind of love is measured and limited, since the love is born from reason, and is therefore limited by intellect that brought it into existence. It is also based on the comprehension of G-dliness that is in this world, which itself is limited. This kind of love is not related to the concept of Kalut HaNefesh (giving up/nullification) of one's soul, which is above measurement and limits. Also, this lower level of love is related to the comprehension that G-dliness is good to the person (meaning it is still somewhat self-centered).

Ahavah Rabbah is a love that is above reason and above any limits or confines. It comes from above a person's own love, but rather comes down from the level of love that Hashem has for Israel, and is a hidden love, which can be found deep within every Jew. It comes after a person has completed his/her own service, and achieve what one could achieve based on one's own limited efforts. Within Ahavah Rabbah there are two levels: (1) a flaming fire (Ahavah K'Rishpei Esh), which is thirst for G-d, from below to above, and (2) Ahavah B'Ta'anugim, a love of delights, which is from above to below.

These two levels, Ahavah Zuttah and Ahavah Rabbah, are related to whether the love (Kesef) comes before (Meshicha - moving the object acquired, Ita'aruta deleTa'ata: arousal from below), or whether it comes afterwards. If it comes before, then it is Ahavah Zuttah, based on a person's own limited intellect. If it afterwards, as a consequence of everything a person was able to achieve on his/her own.

Yom Yerushalayim

Yom Yerushalayim

Chega o dia que cansa
Ser manso, pacato
Sensato, puxa saco
Chega a hora que explode
A força enforcada
Feroz e selvagem
Com garras, coragem
Jumento tornado
Tigre de fogo e carvão
Reconquista por fim
O próprio coração
Cidade da paz
E temor.

Forgetting Thee

Forgetting Thee

It's clear to me
I must return
And make a "kli"

And if I don't
Remind us now
Shabbat will come

To then refresh
Whatever's left
In memory.

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy. Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem." (Psalm 137. Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, is the 28th of Iyar).