The article for this part of the week was previously published in 2018.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." These are the first words of the most popular book in the world: the Bible. The Bible that managed to spread around the world being translated into thousands of languages and it is estimated that it has been printed over 6 billion times. It is by far the best selling and distributed book in the world. But what is this ancient text about? Kabbalists tell the story of the student who asked his teacher to summarize the entire Bible in the time it takes to stand on one leg. The teacher told the student that the Bible is simply learning to love your neighbor as yourself and the rest is just commentary. Is this ancient text simply about love? Does love have the power to create this great movement that has swept the world for so long? I know you do. I know that love has the power to do that and more. I believe that the Bible, at its core, is all about love. It is the world's first account of the Creator's power and the love that ceaselessly emanates from Him. The Torah, the first five books of the Bible, is the center of Kabbalistic study, providing us with a blueprint and instruction manual for living. It is said that the Creator used the Torah itself to create the world. The Torah is the water and fuel of our spirit. It is where we find the beginning of love and all its splendor. It is where we can connect with the Creator's Light of love and therefore provide us with the energy we need to fulfill our purpose in life. This week,love was bornLove is born in the cosmos and renews and recharges us. It is this love of the Creator that is at the core of our being, the genesis behind all action and the yearning of our souls. We are at the beginning of our story and the beginning of love.
"True love is selfless."
Our model and cosmic map this week is none other than the beginning of the Bible, the chapter called Bereshit.Bereshitmeans "in the beginning". It heads the first book of the Torah, known as Genesis..We read Bereshit at the beginning of the year and the cycle of our weekly Bible portions begins. Shrouded in mystery and a myriad of interpretations, we find in Bereshit the story of the creation of our world. Every day outlined and described. Day One: The Creation of Night and Light. Day Two: The Creation of the Heavens. Day three: The creation of the land and seas. Day four: The creation of the stars, moon and sun. Day five: The creation of the animals of the air and sea. Sixth day: The creation of living beings on earth and of man himself. Finally, day seven: The creation of a sacred time in which the Creator rested from His work. In these opening paragraphs of the Bible, we are given the greatest strength and power of creation that ever existed. It is an inexhaustible reserve of energy that pales even to the power of the sun. It is in these opening prayers that we begin to learn and feel the Light and immense love of the Creator. Because the world was born out of the Love that the Creator has for each one of us, his precious children.
"This is our story".
Kabbalah teaches that the world was created for our enjoyment. We were created to be happy and experience joy. The earth is a great gift from the Creator. Before the creation of our world, we were One with the Creator in a utopia where there was no scarcity, sadness, pain, depression or problems. We receive infinite energy and infinite blessings. Like a small child in his father's arms, our every need and want was met. But, as life shows us, a child will eventually grow up, and this process hints at what happened so many thousands of years ago. As we begin to mature with the Creator in our utopian world, we feel dissatisfied, because although we received everything from the Creator, there was one thing we did not receive: we did not receive the satisfaction of being a giver and a sustainer.ourselves. And so, the Creator, out of pure Love, gave us this world so that we can develop the spark of Light that resides in each one of us. Like the pain any parent feels when a child leaves home, the Creator felt that pain even more, but he granted us the gift of free will, knowing that it was the only way to achieve the satisfaction we were looking for. The love that frees the other to mature and grow is the purest and most disinterested of all loves. Because true love has no agenda, no attachment, no control. It's a love without an agenda. A love that sets you free. This is the love that is born this week, an authentic love that is cultivated, once again, in our hearts.
Many times, we may think that we love someone else when, in reality, we only love ourselves. We can love what the person does for us or how they make us feel. This is calleddark loveand it's aboutwhat weto needout of the relationship. We are thinking mostly of ourselves. But if we say that we love someone, how is it that we don't always know when that person is hurting or suffering?True love is selfless.It's understanding that sometimes loving someone means you have to let them go. Sometimes loving someone means you can't give them what they might want. Sometimes loving someone is allowing the other person to love the other person. True love is allowing it to be released. This is exactly what the Creator, our Heavenly Father, did for us. He has set us free and created this whole world and playing field so that we can develop and mature spiritually. The story of Bereshit, the story of Creation, is the story of love.it's our story. Here on earth, we can learn to open our hearts more, give more, share more, and most importantly, ignite the spark of the Creator within us into a bright flame.
"This is the seed of love."
This week, in your meditations, take yourself to a beautiful field, a beautiful open field where the possibilities of the future are as wide as the sky above you. As you walk the land, breathe in the fresh air and let it into your lungs. It is the Breath of Life and it supports you. Now kneel down on the ground and gently place a seed in the ground. This seed represents your heart's most sincere desires and yearnings for the coming year. You bury it in the ground knowing that it will sleep through the winter months, but in the spring it will grow and bloom.This is the seed of love.We plant that seed every time we smile at a friend, reach out to someone in need, allow people to live their own lives, and even let go of those who want to leave us. We ourselves become creators whenever we do for others what we would like them to do for us.
When we plant seeds of love, we activate the very powers of Creation itself. Love will always be the result. Because when we start with love, love will always be waiting for us in the end.