First there was G-d.
And nothing else.
All of reality was filled with the Divine Presence.
Purely and Wholly.
Then, with a burst of Creative Energy, everything changed.
In the beginning…….the simple Oneness, the unbroken Serenity, was eclipsed by complexity, diversity and multiplicity.
Welcome to our world.
G-d is no longer the only Face of reality.
The world is a jumble of competing and seemingly disconnected forces. So many distractions, so much static.
On its face, our world shouts that global Oneness can't really exist; the implied message: "Just look out for 'Number One', and the world will take care of itself".
Reality was turned upside down; from Oneness to Multiplicity, from Wholeness to Fracture.
But beneath the façade, the Oneness reality has never changed; it has simply receded, waiting to return to prominence.
We, conscious human beings, can re-activate the Oneness reality. That is our destiny. Our privilege. And our duty.
When we look to the Torah and lead meaningful lives, we bring a clear and palpable Oneness to the world; we show harmony within the multiplicity.
In a way, the world and its many objects are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The Torah is like the box top, showing us a picture of how a harmonious, connected world should look.
Every object I engage is another puzzle-piece. When I pick up that piece, I need to find its proper place in my life and in my world; I need to ascertain the meaning to be found in its existence, and give it the correct context.
That’s how the world becomes one meaningful whole. Again.
‘Wholeness’ is a clear Torah objective; in Maimonides’ words: The entire Torah was given to bring peace (wholeness) to the world.
The first Torah portion - which we read tomorrow - launches the Torah with lessons about the union of Adam and Eve, the need for sibling loyalty and critical nature of community cooperation.
Connectedness.
Since Yom Kippur, we’ve been pursuing greater community-connectedness. Please let us know about your choice of a community-related Mitzvah.
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The private, verbal feedback has been great. Let's bring it to the larger community. We can do it.
Ann wrote...
Does this mean we believe in 'dualism' of sorts?
The Oneness of G-d on one side and the confusion which seeks to obstruct the Oness?
Mendy wrote...
Judaism certainly rejects dualism; we're proud to be Montheists.
But G-d did create our reality, and it isn't a mirage.
Think about this in terms of a teacher who articulates a metaphor to help students understand a deep concept.
The metaphor may be about baseball, while the conveyed message is actually about G-d.
As the teacher lays out the metaphor, her understanding of the Divine concept has not changed. After all: Why should it?
The students, however, need to grapple with the baseball metaphor, and can't yet see the deeper message. Their reality is the metaphor, and that's what they need to address.
However, once they're successful in grasping the metaphor, they can begin to see things from the teacher's perspective.
G-d is the teacher and we are the student.
G-d experiences Oneness now as before. However, He has laid out this metaphor we call life.
We have no choice but to work with the metaphor, because that's our reality. But eventually, when we master the metaphor (with the coming of Moshiach), we'll be able to see things in greater context and appreciate the Oneness which has always existed.
XRumerTest wrote...