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February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
By
Rabbi David Aaron
Keeping focused in This World
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The generations following the sin of Adam and Eve proceeded upon a path of moral degeneration. Cain, in a jealous rage, impulsively killed his brother Abel. In the next generation, Tuvel-Kain perfected the crime of Cain through manufacturing weapons. Then, Lemach boasted to his wives of committing pre-meditative murder. Idolatry flourished during the time of Enosh. Organized crime was established by a group of hoodlums called "The sons of El-ohim." Sexual perversion was rampant in Noah's generation.
Torah (Biblical) tradition teaches that there are three cardinal sins that a person should choose death rather than be forced to commit. They are: murder, idolatry, and sexual perversion. These offenses are the ultimate denial of G-d's love and the values that make life worth living. They are a complete violation of living within the context of G-d's oneness and love and therefore cut humanity off from the source and ground of life. In a span of just ten generations, humanity transgressed all three cardinal sins. This deterioration meant the destruction of the world. G-d decreed the Flood. "And G-d was saddened in His heart." What does this mean?
The Kabbalah teaches that G-d wants to give us the greatest pleasure His presence in our lives; to feel connected to Him. We are therefore, commanded, "To love the Lord your G-d, listen to His voice and bond to Him because He is your life (Deuteronomy 30:20)." In other words, you should love G-d because "G-d is your life": the very life force within every fiber of your being. Loving G-d is, therefore, synonymous with loving life. The Torah teaches, "You who are bonded with the Lord, your G-d, are alive, totally, today" (Deuteronomy, 4:4). The more connected we feel to G-d the more alive we feel. How can we know if we are truly bonding with G-d? It's when we feel totally alive; when our entire being is filled with a phenomenal vitality that we know we cannot honestly call our own or refer to as my life.
We feel G-d's presence when we realize that our willpower, wisdom, insights and love are really not ours but His and experience ourselves as merely serving to channel His powers into the world. In this state of connectivity we feel the joy of purposeful and meaningful living. We also experience G-d's presence when we encounter His mastery in the wonders of nature and see everything as a divine masterpiece a piece of the master. (For more on experiencing G-d's presence, read my book "Seeing G-d", linked below).
However, G-d cannot give us this great gift of His presence, unless we want Him in our lives. We must first know in our hearts that G-d's presence is, indeed, the greatest gift we could ever hope to receive; that it is pure ecstasy. We give G-d pleasure, so to speak, when we want to receive what He wants to give us.
Our problem is that we often get distracted from what's eternally real and pleasurable and pursue temporal things. Not only does this not give G-d pleasure, it causes Him, so to speak, much pain.
Just before the generation of the flood G-d was "saddened in His heart." The commentator Sforno explains that G-d is sad when we are not ready or interested in receiving the goodness He wants to gives us. G-d wants to give us a connection to Him and shower us with His loving presence. But we do not want it. Instead, we want money, property, clothing, sex, fame and power. This is similar to the sadness and pain a nursing mother feels when her baby does not want to suck. As the saying goes, "More than the baby wants to suck, the mother wants to nurse." When a baby does not want to nurse from its mother, the mother experiences intense emotional and physical pain.
A story is told about a Rebbe who hires a horseman to take him to a shtetl, village. On the way, they hit a storm. Sabbath is quickly approaching, so the Rebbe says to the horseman, "Please, I will give you a big portion in the World to Come if you get me to the shtetl on time."
The horseman agrees and drives his horse very hard. Unfortunately, the horse falls ill and dies. The horseman is so devastated by the death of his horse that he also dies. In heaven, G-d fulfills the Rebbe's decree and gives the horseman a huge portion in the World to Come. But the horseman is depressed; he misses his horse. G-d wants to give him the ultimate pleasure of closeness to Him in the World to Come, but the horseman only wants his horse. G-d sadly fulfills the horseman's wish and sets him off riding on his horse for eternity. G-d wanted to give the horseman the ultimate pleasure of divine presence, a joy that is simply out of this world and yet he only wanted a horse.
This story is true for many of us. We must arouse within us the desire to receive what is truly worth wanting; what G-d wants to give us. We give G-d great pleasure, when we hunger to receive His gift of presence and all the blessings it entails.
We then connect not only to G-d's presence but also to our true self because our true self, the soul, is only interested in G-d. This is how King David so eloquently expressed it, "Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire none on earth… As for me, G-d's nearness is my good" (Psalm 73:25-28); "My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You" (Psalms 63:2); "To G-d alone my soul waits silently, from Him comes my salvation." (Psalms 62:2). "Yes, I will bless You all my life, in Your name I lift my hands. It is as if my desire is sated with fat and abundance, when with joyous language my mouth gives praise" (Psalms 63:5-6). In other words, to praise G-d and recognize His glory satiated King David like abundant delicacies.
When we see a magnificent painting, we are not attracted to a canvas smeared with paint. Rather, we are attracted to the beauty of G-d that is channeled into the world through the painting. But we often get confused and think it is the painting. We see a gorgeous person and we feel drawn to him or her, not realizing that it is not the person who is gorgeous but rather G-d who is gorgeous. Beauty is an attribute of G-d, and this person is only the conduit for that that beauty.
The soul is not attracted to things, but rather to the presence of G-d manifest within them. The soul knows that its' ultimate pleasure and greatest gift in life is only to feel G-d's presence a joy simply divine!
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Rabbi David Aaron is the founder and dean of Isralight, an international organization with programming in Israel, New York South Florida, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Toronto. He has taught and inspired thousands of Jews who are seeking meaning in their lives and a positive connection to their Jewish roots.
He is the author of the newly released, The Secret Life of G-d, and Endless Light: The Ancient Path of Kabbalah to Love, Spiritual Growth and Personal Power , Seeing G-d and Love is my religion. (Click on links to purchase books. Sales help fund JWR.) He lives in the old City of Jerusalem with his wife and their seven children.
© 2005, Rabbi David Aaron
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