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Our world, both politically and culturally, is in turmoil. Our value systems are being turned upside down. Freedom of speech in the West is no longer guaranteed. Our economic systems serve only a few with the majority suffering under huge burdens. And, in more than one country, democracy itself and the freedom of the individual are under attack. All this was true before, but now added to that are the Coronavirus crisis and the latest riots in the US and the world. Where are we heading?
Times of chaos are definitely uncomfortable for us: and we are the individuals who are destined to live through them. But such times also provide opportunities for us to reassess our values and to make new decisions in the directions that we, as individuals, as families, and as communities want to go in.
The truth that Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag, the great 20th century Kabbalist, pointed out in his writings is the fact that just as we need to obey the laws of gravity in this physical world, so there are natural spiritual laws that we also need to obey if we don’t wish to suffer the consequences. For the longest time, humanity has been heedlessly consuming satisfying its self- gratification with no or little thought for the ethical constraints we all need to take heed of. We have allowed our appetites for power, greed, and entertainment to take control of our political, cultural and economic systems until we no longer know how to put checks on them and they have turned into monsters controlling us.
Our basic nature, which is our will to receive pleasure comes to us from the Creator at the very act of creation. However, if we use this will to receive pleasure in its primal fashion we separate from God. o prevent that and to convert our limited vessels for selfish pleasure into unlimited channels of goodness for all humankind we are obliged to transform our desires to receive pleasure into the will to give unconditionally.
But since such a transformation goes against our basic nature it isn’t easy for us to see how we may do that. The Torah, the divine wisdom that God gave all humanity through the Jewish people, constitute just the wisdom we need. And indeed its wisdom was never needed more than at this time.
All the excerpts in this podcast from RabbiAshlag’s writings were taken from original translations of his texts as published in:
In the Shadow of the Ladder: the Introductions to Kabbalah by Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag, translated by Mark and Yedidah Cohen
A Tapestry for the Soul: The Introduction to the Zohar explained through excerpts collated from Rabbi Ashlag’s other writings, by Yedidah Cohen
The Master of the Ladder: The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag by Rabbi Avraham Mordecai Gottlieb, translated by Yedidah Cohen
This podcast is dedicated in loving memory and for the ilui Nishmat of Feigi Bat Rivka z”l and Aharon and Sara Kotler, May their memories be a blessing for us.
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