Summer 2010- Ahavas Yisrael suggestion to balance and build spiritually
The influence of the "me" generation has taken its toll and led us to expand into our gashmius/egotistical side and it could be the cause of much of our danger now, for perhaps it has allowed sinas chinum to reign unchecked and divisiveness to flourish. At the time of this writing, the oil from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico is pouring barrels of oil out into the ocean - spewing darkness into a world of light. Metaphorically, the darkness of hatred is pouring into this world, and the "hole" it is coming through is, in my view, gashmius/egotism and the divisiveness generates.The good news is that, unlike the oil spewing uncontrollably, people have the ability to control over the spewing of baseless hatred and the responsibility to do so.
Many Gedolim agree that Ahavas Yisrael is the glue to stick Klal Yisrael back together. Recently Rabbi Nivin gave a shiur based on the teachings of Rabbi Shapira, where he shared that to grasp onto cosmic energy – to Hashem - we need to have unified will on the same level as if we are going to die!!! A backdrop of Iran and nuclear threat provides this motivation – it is an opportunity for us to back up from having expanded into our egos, our individual differences, our fractured groupings to our collective behira point of being the chosen people. What do we, with all our diversity, choose to do – serve Hashem and do His will or continue to pursue our various agendas, conflicts and disagreements?
We need to be Klal Yisrael in order for the promises of the Torah to come. Hashem needs Klal Yisrael to attach to! Diverse and separate, WE, through our divisiveness keep the Shechina from being able to attach, because the Shechina needs to attach to klal yisrael and right now, with all the divisiveness, klal yisrael is not a unit.
During these summer months, when we are all ready to relax, enjoy barbeques and late evenings at the beach, pool, or playing outside (expanding into our lower, relaxed summer-fun loving selves, into our earthly bodily side), we need to balance by setting a focus on making our soul our taskmaster – the body is the servant and the mind is the relay station to make it happen. (Rabbi Weinberg in “What the Angel Taught Me” pages 130 to 134 describes this relationship between body, mind and soul)
Rabbi Shapira teaches us that people have unlimited will that taps into unlimited energy. With our lives on the line, it is the mind that has to back up to the behira point and re-choose to go in the direction of soul. He suggests we create a feeling of lack [the Maharal teaches us how the Yetzer Hara utilizes lack to its advantage, Rabbi Nivin shares the psychology of lack as generating will to do something. Thus Rabbi Shapira’s suggestion utilizes our “wiring” for good when he suggests the following]
The Jewish person [should] contemplate deeply (in spontaneous conversation also known as hisbodidus – Rabbi Rietti has an 8 CD series on how hisbodidus is what has built every tzaddik) on this:
Somewhere there is the Infinite Source…the root of all that is happy and pure…greater than creation, a light of absolute truth…the Source of true life beyond limitation….Why am I so distant from this Source?
This will generate will and arouse within us a passion to energize our bodies and hopefully our minds toward emulating Hashem’s attributes of mercy (see Tomer Devorah) and through our choices become united, to do what is needed to become Klal Yisrael.
Ahavas Yisrael is the glue that can help to stick us back together! It is the antidote to sinas chinum. As a way of remaining focused on these important issues and of placing our soul values at our behira every day, we ask that you take on Ahavas Yisrael through Tisha B’Av and beyond, to rebuild Klal Yisrael, to help you as an individual to connect to Hashem and to all other Jews.
Categories: G-d Consciousness, Ahavas Yisrael, Sinas chinum
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