Understanding Creative Zionism 2, or, Buckle up, Rivky, Crown Heights is going bye-bye
BS”D
The previous blogpost mentioned that the Sulam, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag, zy’a, revealed two conditions for a person to be worthy of Geulah, the Final Redemption.
Condition # 1: To be worthy of Geulah, one may have no master other than G-d Himself, as it says in Isaiah 30:20, “And your Teacher will no longer be concealed from you, and your eyes shall see your Teacher.”
In Geulah, G-d is revealed as a sensei, strict and demanding, but a snow-capped mountain of kindness and gentleness, as it says (Psalm 133:3), “As the dew of Mount Hermon that descends upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, Eternal Life.”
Condition #2: To be worthy of Geulah, one’s Torah must be as simple as matzoth on Pesach.
Passover matzoth contain nothing but flour and water, kneaded into dough, rolled thin, and baked. If a leavening agent is in the dough, it attaches itself to every particle of flour, causing the dough to sour and rise, and become chometz, and chometz is forbidden on Pesach, the holiday of our redemption, the holiday of our freedom.
Just like the bread of redemption must be simple with nothing added, so must the Torah of redemption be simple with nothing added. Truth is the essence of simplicity. If it is complex, it may contain the truth, but not without an admixture of evil.
Wisdom says, “I would not give a fig for simplicity that comes before complexity, but I would lay down my life for simplicity that comes after complexity.”
How simple can a person make his Torah? Saadia Gaon taught that all 613 mitzvoth of the Torah are included in the Ten Commandments, and all Ten Commandments are included in the first two commandments, “I am the Lord your G-d,” and, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” And, “I am the Lord” and, “You shall have no other gods before Me,” are included in the first word of the Ten Commandments – Anochi, I am. And Anochi is included in its first letter, Alef. And in a Torah scroll, the letter Alef is written with a Yud above and a Yud below and a Vav between them, forming the Name of G-d. Therefore, by meditating on the Alef, and chanting the Alef, and writing the Alef, one can come to fulfill the entire Torah, which is the Name of G-d.
The complexity of the Torah is called “a small thing.” The simplicity of the Torah is called “a great thing.” The Babylonian Talmud with all of its commentaries cannot compare with the essence of a single letter Alef, as it says (Eccles. 7:24), “What once was, is far off; deep, deep, who can find it?”
Judaism vs. Zionism. The Torah of Galut and the Torah of Geulah, the two are the same and yet entirely different. Simplicity and complexity can occupy the same place at the same time, because in the spiritual world, when a new form appears, the old form does not depart. New and old exist in the same place at the same time because in Olam Ha-Elyon, the Higher World, there is neither time nor space. Therefore, the only way a person can leave Galut and enter Geulah is by just doing it. At that point, the big Sensei takes over. From then on, it all boils down to one thing – trust in G-d unto Eternal Life. And the key to this portal is the observance of Shabbat. Do not let the witches and demons of the west talk you out of Shabbat. Your Eternal Life depends on it. Shabbat shalom. Your Sensei loves you.