Genesis: A non-literal Creation story Creation: the beginning of the Torah. A great time to reflect on how we read. Also, on what we may find when we read thoughtfully! For example, the creation story is supposed to provide a religious foundation. But when we read it carefully, we may question those very foundations. We…
Category: Kabbalah
Infinity: God in My Soul
Infinity: A perfect topic for my interview on this innovative podcast. It’s called PTR: Philosophy, Theology, and Religious studies. Or, if you prefer, “Poststructuralist Tent Revival.” PTR is hosted by Jacob Given, a doctoral student at Villanova University. Here we discuss ideas from my book The Infinity Inside: infinity, kabbalah, God’s existence, dreams, and mystical…
Journeys: Where is Your Spirit Headed?
Journeys. Narrative, interpretive, and spiritual. That’s the theme of this week’s Torah reading. In Biblical Hebrew, the word for journeys is masei. Parshat Masei maps the journeys of the Israelites (Num. 33:1-36:13). From Egypt to the shores of the River Jordan, the Israelites wander the wilderness. Travelling for forty years, they make forty-two specific stops.…
Afterlife: Wisdom Hidden in Plain Sight
The Afterlife: Hidden Wisdom The afterlife. That’s what I’ve been researching for the past month. “How can you research the afterlife?” you’re wondering. “Only dead people have firsthand experience.” Turns out, though, a lot of data is available. Accounts of the afterlife in key Jewish texts. Great literature reviews of those texts by Simcha Paull…
Yah Ribon: The Mystical Prayer that Isn't
Yah Ribon Alam: Ineffable Breath of Life, Master of Time and Space. So begins a most famous Aramaic piyyut (liturgical poem). Author Israel Najara studied Kabbalah in 16th century Safed. Aramaic words recall famous phrases from the Zohar, book of Jewish mysticism. Tradition assigns the song to Shabbat, day of spiritual elevation. But is Yah Ribon…
Teshuvah: Can it Change the Timeline of Your Past?
Can teshuvah – repentance, renewal, and return to God – change the past? In Parshat Haazinu (Deut. 32:1-32:52) Moses speaks to his spiritual community. You have lived a full life. You have seen God at work. Seen God challenge you, answer you, comfort you, sustain you. And you know a miracle when you see one. But…
Does the Ana Bekoach prayer reveal the secret 42-letter name of God?
The secret 42-letter name of God is hidden in plain sight. Clues are everywhere. Pay attention. Even to Google ads. Especially the insistent ones. Like the ad for the Ana Bekoach Spinning Ring. Ana Bekoach is a Hebrew prayer for protection. Economical in language. Please. Bless. Purify. Empathize. Redeem with righteousness. Always. Deliberate in structure.…
Kabbalah: Hidden in plain sight behind prison walls
I’m so tired of being a teacher. Of philosophy, bible, kabbalah. I’m too intellectual, impractical, elitist. A weak vessel for activism. So, I volunteer to accompany a federal prison chaplain on her rounds. To do something meaningful. Just for a day. We visit a medium security men’s prison. We sign in, go through metal detectors and chain-link…
Psychic Energy Valve: Netzach
Netzach (endurance), Hod (glory), Yesod(foundation). When the sephirot are arrayed in the form of a human body, netzach and hod are its hips; yesod is its pelvis. They make forward motion possible, turning ideas into actions. Medieval Kabbalist Azriel of Gerona (1160-1238) described netzach-hod-yesod as an integrated mechanical system. Netzach is a simple check valve, allowing…
Beyond Opposites: Tiferet
Don’t contradict yourself. It’s either A or not A. The law of the excluded middle. A thing is itself, and not its opposite. A = A. It’s the identity principle. But these logical rules don’t operate in Kabbalah. Or in human psychology. Kabbalists teach that the Divine Itself violates this rule. God is Eyn Sof …