THE ESSENTIAL POINT OF TSHUVAH AND YOM KIPPUR ****for tonights 7-9 pm MMM session Shalom and Blessings ORIENTATION 1. G-d, [please] create for me a new heart & renew in me the proper spirit [Psalms 51]. Lets get oriented. Were in the midst of an annual renewal process. We talked previously about a Kabbalistic dynamic thats presently taking place in the spiritual world; The Divine Male and Female Partzufim [personas] are in a 10 day process of separating from a back to back connection. We translated that separation-metaphor to mean that G-d is granting us the free willed independent insight to introspect and see who we really are. G-d ,as well, temporarily free of us hanging on to His coat-tail [so to speak] ie...a low-level inertia-fueled relationship, is introspecting also. He chooses to start the Creation and world rectification process again---and this time around, He takes a real close look at each of our past, present and future essences and how we can contribute to the re-creation and rectification of the world. Thats the judgement dynamic of Rosh Hashonah. THE SIMPLE EXPLANATION 2. Where are we at now, right before Yom Kippur? The answer on a simple level is that this separation\independence\introspective process continues and deepens. it is known as the 10 days of Tshuvah.We examine deeply who we are---where did we miss the mark and lose our ability to be in sync with ourselves, G-d and life in general---How can we resynchronize, dedicate and partnerize our unique selves with Hashems new Tikun Olam plan?! This intense process culminates on Yom Kippur---A day of Divine pardon and a sealing of our annual fate! Most of us have experienced these High--Holidays and even know a thing or two about this spiritual process. Unfortunately, many of us havent felt the process to be relevant enough to our lives to jump out of bed in the morning in order to take advantage of the incredible Divine gifts of spiritual growth and purification that this period offers us [and for that matter, once we truly understand the power of Tshuva, any period is relevant]. In light of that, lets explore a bit deeper; THE FEAR FACTOR 3. The Kabbalists teach us that this month of Holidays enable us to rectify the Sefirah called Gvurah. Gvurah is the trait of withholding or saying no [ie...setting boundaries]. The inner motivation of Gvurah is FEAR!! In regard to the present Days of Awe, the fear is awakened by becoming hyper-aware of myself. [ the letters for the Hebrew word for fear, Yira, can be rearranged to spell Reiya--seeing or awareness]. Im aware of who I am and Im aware that G-d is aware of who I am and is watching me and judging me. This hyper-awareness drives me to clearly recognize my potential and actual strengths and weaknesses. This recognition naturally opens up a deep feeling of fear inside of me---a fear of losing that which I have or potentially have. This includes my connection with the Divine both inside and outside of myself. Im also afraid of losing the ability to live a quality life; a life filled with gusto, purpose, power and directed by a drive to actualize my calling. all of this fear serves as a natural springboard to take action to protect all of the abundance that I may stand to lose if Im not careful. Im driven to make a better living-recipe that will enable me to hold on to what is precious. Our Sages teach us that this type of fear is an even greater way to insure that we reach self- perfection than love [of G-d and of our soul] is. However both fear and love are neccessary. When the two of them are working together as our inner motivators, they are referred to as the wings to fly in spiritual ascent and in doing Mitzvahs. Fear without love is like a body without a soul and results in an empty and habitual way of living. Love without fear, like a soul without a body, wont allow my mundane life to be channeled to a level of expressing and experiencing the Infinite. WHAT IS TSHUVAH 4. Now that we more or less have a clear understanding of the fear factor, we can now begin to understand what Tshuvah [PENITENCE] is [and what it isnt]. First, by contrast, lets try to understand why the concept of Tshuvah shuts a lot of people down. A Baal Tshuva [ a penitent] conjures up the image of a cult-crazed, brainwashed, moralizing, guilt-ridden, Divine punishment-obsessed, emotionally-crushed,depressive, colorless robot! Thats sure not a good reason to jump out of bed in the morning during the 10 days of Tshuvah or on Yom Kippur! So lets try to describe the real experience of one involved in Tshuvah; First of all, I pick up on the hyper-awareness that we are discussing, along with its accompanying sensitivity that what I have is precious and therefore Im afraid to lose any of it. That leads to deeper introspection about how I live my life. I dont want to lose all that is potentially available to me in conscientious living. I dont want to live a lie or to be a walking self contradiction. I dont want to be trapped in a state of personal exile, self betrayal, futility and meaninglessness where Im so out of touch with myself that my words and actions never properly bespeak the true desires of my soul, intellect and emotions. Im relentlessly driven to be true to myself---all of myself---my Divine self within me and my receptive self to the Divine thats without me. Im yearning to live life to the fullest--with gusto, meaning, purpose, in sync with my callig in life. These are some of the inner motivations of a Baal Tshuva [ literally a master of return or response [to myself}]. Tshuvah is something that a Baal Tshuvah seeks out constantly 365\24\7---its a drive. When the Baal Tshuvah recites the Viduyim [ confessions] with shame for where they went off the track and commitment to change [these are the basic Halachic components of the Tshuvah process], theyre doing so, because theyre driven to return to their true authentic self! WHAT IS YOM KIPPUR 5. Ill be brief [hopefully]. The Kabbalah teaches that G-d raises us up on Yom Kippur to a higher consciousnes, an elevated space. They call it Bina. Its a place that transcends evil. Its a place of happiness, freedom, redemption, ultimate clarity and the source of where are souls come from. Its the place where we can truly declare to Hashem that whenever we veered from synchronizing our will with His Will, it wasnt really us. It was only externalities; the environment, our confusion, our constricted consciousness, our ignorance...etc. But here in this Holy Yom Kippur space, were truly with Hashem....and you know what else, were truly with ourselves too! And the way we get to this place on Yom Kippur is through Tshuvah---real open hearted Tshuvah---the culmination of all of our spiritual work on these Days of Awe. And G-ds response----Atonement--- thusly He expresses to us His love, and we rediscover ours for Him---therefore He signs and seals our annual fate in the best way possible for us and for His Universe! TOOLS FOR TSHUVAH AND YOM KIPPUR 6. Heres a few tools to help us along; a. TSHUVAH-- BEING TRUE TO MYSELF 1. To reach the inner truth factor, journalize where Im off and inauthentic. Ask myself when I speak or act, if I am really representing who I am, my desires, my feelings, my understandings, my gifts, my powers, my abundance, my interests, my true life-calling and inner Divine voice 2. Allow my unbearable inner-exile and lack of true self-expression to fire me up to create a new recipe of living that will truly represent who I am! b. CONFESSIONS----Take an existing list of confessions in any Yom Kippur prayer book [or create my own], and match my lackings that I came up with in [a] above with the confessions list. Use this list as an anchor on Yom Kippur [or anytime] to do the inner work thats needed. C. THE YOM KIPPUR POINT----In a Prayer or discussion with G-d, declare that all that I have done which isnt in line with His Will, isnt really me!! Its only externalities,...etc..[see above]. D. THE SIGNING AND SEALING POINT----Towards the end of the day of Yom Kippur in the Neila service [ the time of the closing or locking of the gates], commit to live from now on from the vantage point of the newly discovered me! May we all have the greatest year possible! Yitzchak
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 06:42:00 +0000
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