courtesy of 1yen

It is that season again when people start thinking seriously about their plans for the holidays of Tishri. Rosh HaShannah is the first sign. Whenever people shop for food, cloths and debate where to do the holiday it means that the holidays are near.

There are still more than two weeks but planning a big meal takes time, shopping and planiing so I can already feel the excitement in the air.

I would probably write more about Rosh HaShannah in the coming weeks but I thought it can be a good opportunity to join Cosmic X in his wishes to see Polard free. It has been too long already so it is time to forgive and allow for a fresh start.

Read a wise post on Kabbalah Thought:

Is the reason that important? Can one always understand it? Perhaps it is better to consider that from this minute on we will “charge ahead” and not be so absorbed in the past, in search of the reasons for the current situation. Such a search indicates that we live at the expense of our past attainments, in, debt, and afraid of the task we have been assigned to do, afraid to stay alone with ourselves

I thought that just before Sabbath it can be a right time to search my soul and release all the unnecessary attachment to the past and leave it behind so I can enter the Sabbath much lighter with my face to the future.

courtesy of blind_donkey

I have a lot of knowledge to share and as the blog is not really a comprehensive course but rather a place to discuss this or that aspect or question I always recommend getting your foundations straight.

There are many courses, books and even free online courses such as this one that can really help those who want to know more to get the basis in such a manner that it would support future growth.

I never took organized courses I rather started in a very eclectic way to build my knowledge and wisdom. I’ve read a lot not just books about kabbalah but the texts themselves I’ve bought an edition of the Zohar that had just the original text in Aramaic and in the next column the same text in Hebrew. Not the interpretations that can be found in many laguages but the original text.

If you want to attempt reading on your own and getting in touch with the text directly I can only offer you one advice do it slowly.

Reading more than a paragraph or two a day can create such a flow of energy that you might lose your balance, try and find out what is the right amount of light you can absorb and never ask for something that you are not ready for.

I remember when I first started reading the Zohar I couldn’t see how a certain sentence could possibly lead to the interpretation that appears in the Zohar. One day I’ve asked to see how this plain sentence was the basis for this complex interpretation.

That night I saw a simple sentence written if front of my and it dissolved into few separate words as each letter belonged to a different word and the word that I saw was just the initials of the real sentence.

It is needless to say I’ve never questioned it again but what I saw scared my so much that I asked not see it ever again.

Again you might want to read by yourself and it can be really good but go slow and don’t ask for anything that you can’t cope with.

I found a fascinating post by Rabbi Micha Golshevsky here. The discussion is revolving around ten ways - for the ten midos/sefiros - to have Torah Nefulah, fallen Torah.

It is really very interesting and reading the post I couldn’t help thinking how hard it is for a person to be really pure in his intentions and in his actions (thinking, speaking and acting) all the time.

Everyone has something that is close to his heart, some aspiration that is not necessarily a bad thing but one that he or she holds too or is attached too to such an extent that he starts to distort the truth so as to satisfy his or hers attachment.

Some of the examples that are brought on the post are of so called “positive aspirations” the problem is just that the attachment was too strong and that led to twisting the truth or interpreting it in a way that is supportive of the desire.

Can we really be constantly aware that our desires and preferences are not causing us to distort the Torah by stressing an interpretation that we like or in the way we do our studies.

It is natural to be human but this is exactly the reason that self inspection should go hand in hand with the learning of the Torah the more precious the knowledge the more work we should do on ourselves to make sure we let is influence us and not the other way around.

Today is a very special day. The 9th day of the month of Av is the day of the destruction of both the first temple and the second temple, and it is dedicated for fasting a prayer.

I’ve read at here that

the Lighting at the Kotel (Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem) will be dimmed Saturday night, for Tisha B’Av - the fast day marking the Jewish nation’s mourning over the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragic events in its history.

I wish that this day of fasting and mourning would help us all connect to the process of creating the third temple in our life time.