Dear Friends:

Reb Zalman:  “I would love it if someone were to write these themes into a symphony in seven movements that we could use for the Simchat Torah dances.”   (From “Simchat Torah Processions”.)

The themes Reb Zalman references in this quote are those associated with each of the seven days of Sukkot and also with the seven processions of Simchas torah.  Each day and procession are associated with one of the seven sefirot / divine attributes:  Chesed / LovingKindness, Gevurah / Strict Justice and Discernment, Tiferet / Balance, Mercy and Harmony, Netzach / Persistence, Focus, Hod / Beauty and Aesthetics, Yesod / Foundation, Malchut / Kingship, Shechinah / divine in-dwelling, tikkun / repair and a healed planet.

When I first read Reb Zalman’s statement, I envisioned a ballet with seven movements based upon the composition.  Halevay / God-willing such a piece and such a production will come to fruition so we can all hear and see it!

Zalman has sometimes spoken of particular pieces of music that evoke associations in us of specific sefirot.  In this post, I have put together various recordings of classical music with such associations.  I brainstormed the list based upon my own understanding of Sefirot;  the list is a current snapshot of a subjective understanding and association with each Sefirah.

I hope you will find this useful in your connections to Sefirot and God.   Enjoy (click a composer’s name below to hear the music)!  Please place suggestions for music that you associate with Sefirot in the comments section, below.  Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor

Music for Sefirot, 5769

Chesed:  Ravel: Pavanne, Barber: Adagio for strings, Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6, mvt 2, Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (please ff to section from 5:34 to 7:42), Dvorak:  Symphony 5, Wolf:  “Schlafendes Jesuskind“, Massenet: Meditation from Thais, Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6, mvt 1 (please ff to section from 8:27 to end), Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis, Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves, Brahms: “Wiegenlied“, Wolf: “der Genesene an die Hoffnung“.

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Dear Friends:

Oy!  The joy of Simchas Torah as we did it at P’nai Or!  

It was 1992, led by Rabbi Jeff Roth and held in Saxe Lodge in Saugerties, NY.   The attendees included a sprinkling of Musicians and Choreographers among the sixty or so attendees.  We were to create a Simchas Torah / rejoicing in the torah service reflecting Reb Zalman’s innovative work in which the kahal / community moves to each Sefirah / Divine Attribute in succession; we were to explore and create the sacred ritual dances of Simchat Torah. 

I was assigned, (along with a dozen others, including Tsurah August and Efraim Eisen), to the Sefirah of Tiferet / Harmony.  Five other groups were assigned to the other Sefirot from Chesed / Lovingkindness to Yesod / Foundation. 

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A message from Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor:

Shalom, U’vracha:

Reb Zalman wrote:

“People who have worked on their awareness have pointed out that there are 49 days from the end of Tish’ah b-Av / the fast of the 9th of Av, to the day before Rosh HaShannah.  In counting S’feerah between Pesach and Shavu’ot, we make our way downward from Chesed of Chesed to Malchut of Malchut.  During the Elul  season, we make our way upward from Malchut of Malchut to Chesed of Chesed.”  (A Guide for Starting Your New Incarnation, 2001, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, p. 1)

So here’s a suggestion for how to do the counting at this time of year, (for example, as I write this it is Motzei Shabbat, 16 Av, 5768 / August 16, 2008):

Ribbono shel Olam:  I hereby prepare myself for Sefiras HaBinyan / a counting for building God’s realm during the  time between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh HaShannah. 

Today there are 43 days left until erev Rosh HaShannah, which is 1 day and 6 weeks, Chesed Sheb’Malchut. 

Dear God: Please let me be a vessel for Your light and help to align me with Your will.  May this period of Sefirat HaBinyan and the New Year be for good, for peace and for blessing for all of Israel [Substitute here your particular identification] and let us say Amen.

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From Reb Zalman’s 1994 Elat Chayim shiur, “The Next Rung,” Reb Zalman discusses the Patah Eliyahu which you will find below along with Reb Zalman’s translation. Happy Lag B’Omer! Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor.

“The Patah Eliyahu is taken from the Tikuney Zohar and is the first point in that book which references the ten S’firot. The Sefer Y’tzirah talks of ten S’firot, but they are a different set than the one here in Patah Eliyahu. So this is the first source of the ten S’firot to which Kabbalah makes reference.

“The author of the Zohar has heard the secrets from the prophet Elijah of how God emanated ten S’firot. The implication is that if one hears it from the prophet then it is a transmission of truth. 

“In any Siddur which has been influenced by Kabbalah, the Patah Eliyahu may be found in a T’filah Kodem Hat’filah / a preparation for prayer in the beginning of the book, and/or before the Minha service on Friday afternoon.

“Once the S’firot are seen in the body, one understands them. As an idea alone, there’s no understanding. In the body, it becomes clear how a thing is held.”
 

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I found the following piece by Reb Zalman in 49 Gates of Light: Kabbalistic Meditation for Counting the Omer, by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom.  Rabbi Gershom reprinted this from the B’nai Or Newsletter 1983 issue. 

I affirm the power of positive affirmations.
I affirm that the Shekhinnah surrounds me and blesses me.
I affirm the lightbeings in G-d’s service who support and guide me.
I affirm the blessings of Abraham and Sarah in my life.
I affirm the sacrifice of Isaac and G-d’s power over my life and death.
I affirm G-d’s holiness and my growth toward it.

I place my Self under the protection of the Sephirah of Keter which will shield me from all harm and neutralise it.
I invoke the flash of Hokhmah to align my intellect to clarity and purposefulness, to inspiration and realisation.
I invoke the care of Binah to lead me to G-d’s heart.
I invoke the abundance of Hesed to bring me to atonement.
I invoke the power of Gevurah to see me through trouble and lead me to redemption.
I place my Self at the compassionate heart of G-d’s Tif’eret and affirm the healing, balancing and integrative centering light within me.
I support my Self on the pillar of Nezah channelling to me all manner of blessing and prosperity, and place it at the disposal of the redeeming Messiah, unfolding to witness the Shekhinnah‘s residing in Zion.
I support my Self on the pillar of Hod, making order in my life, gathering all the forces from dispersion and settling them in the blessed Jerusalem where I offer my thanks to G-d’s glory.
I base my Self on the foundation of Yesod to act righteously and justly, to assist all righteous effort in the world and to become peace-full to work for peace.
I affirm that Malkhut, the Shekhinnah, is the one offering these affirmations in me and is attracting the flow of blessing to suffuse my life.

The following excerpt explains why it’s so important to make the Sefirot / Divine attributes real for you.  As you count the Omer this year, keep this teaching in mind.  The excerpt is from Reb Zalman’s 2003 Shiur “Inner Space” given at Elat Chayyim, and available on the  DVD Set called “The Space Within,” which you can obtain from Aleph.  Gabbai Seth Fishman (BLOG Editor)

There’s a special thing we have as Jews and that’s the notion of covenant  …  The torah tells us that we are children of God.   It says, in effect, our dna matches that of the Ribono shel olam / God [lit. Master of the World].  We are also asked to enter into a covenant with God.  A covenant must have two sides to it, i.e., our commitments to God and God’s commitments to us.  

We chant on Rosh Hashonna and Yom Kippur:  Ki anu amecha v’ata malkenu / We are Your people, You are our ruler.  There is a relationship between us and God.   We’re connected.  A kind of relationship comes out in the liturgy because underlying this is a root metaphor that we have. 

Watch this expression, “Root Metaphor.”  It’s an important one.   It means a metaphor somehow deeper than our ways of thinking, and also deeper than our ways of feeling.  The root metaphor was established in us and it included a kind of relationship with God, a covenant, and that business of relationship is what is so essential to defining our Judaism. 

In the Jew-God relationship, there is this chutzpadike moment, infinite arrogance almost, when we say that we can make a deal with God. 

And I like the way it says in the book of Devarim, “ani heemarti … atem heemartem” / I have bespoken you …  You have bespoken Me (Deut 26:18, ff.)  You get the idea:  Bespoken, i.e. addressing, one to another.  And the Latin translation of the Hebrew really helps out here, because it shows me something still deeper about the root metaphor which goes like this:  What’s the Latin root for speaking?  diction.  And what’s the Latin root for speaking to, addressing, bespeaking someone:  ad diction. 

So the chumash is telling us, that God is saying, “I’ve become addicted to you; you’ve become addicted to Me.” That’s a sense that I like, davka, about addiction. 

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This is Tiferet week  in our counting of the Omer (CLICK HERE for an overview from Reb Zalman on the counting).  The following notes from Zalman’s 1994 Elat Chayyim class, “The Next Rung,” will help you with ways to connect to Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferet.  Gabbai Seth Fishman (BLOG Editor)

The word “Tiferet” is generally understood in terms of Rachamim / Mercy, because it doesn’t have an attitude-association otherwise.  So we need to make it more concrete and we further explain it as being associated with Rachamim.

From the morning Torah service, we sing, L-cha Hashem hagedulah v’hagevurah v’hatiferet v’hanetzach v’hahod / Yours, God, is the greatness, the strength, the splendor, the triumph and the glory (I Chronicles 29:11).  It gives the impression God is a big-shot. 

HaGedulah / largesse, from the word gadol [is associated with Chesed].   

HaGevurah / mighty, from the word gibor.  What kind of strength is gevurah?  The gibor is the one who is able to contain himself; the one who is really able to exercise control over himself, whether through policy or law.

HaTiferet, we understand as rachamim / mercy.  Chesed is often pointed to by ahavah / Love, Gevurah by pachad / fear, as in Pachad Yitzchak / fear of Isaac, [a common appelation for God in the siddur, which connects Yitzchak with Gevurah], and Tiferet by Rachamim / mercy. Tiferet is a balance between Chesed and Gevurah and we can think of Rachamim / mercy in this way too.

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The Passover Seder celebrates our being freed from slavery.  Yet, we are sometimes enslaved by rigid notions of how the Seder must be run.  Please consider Reb Zalman’s suggestions as you plan your Seders during the next few weeks.  I wish you all a suessen Pesach!  Gabbai Seth Fishman (BLOG Editor)

TOWARD FREEING THE SEDER

By Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Ph.D.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Rechatz / Hand Washing
Die Vier Kashes / The Four Questions
Avadim Hayinu / We Were Slaves
Enslavement to Dualities
Freedom and Mishpocha
Two Seders
Esser Makot / 10 Plagues
The Fast in the Feast
Sheloshah Devorim / The Three Things
Pesach / Passover Lamb
Baking Your Own Matzah
Matzah: The First Taste
Three Matzahs: Three Sets of Jews
Breaking the Middle Matzah
Three Matzahs: Chochmah, Binah, Da-at
Maror
Maror: Bitter Work
Maror: Somatic Connections
Shulchan, Nirtzah / Meal, Acceptance

Introduction

I am here to free you from the Maxwell House Haggadah, to free you in your Pesach celebration! 

One thing that’s wrong with widely-used Haggadahs is archaic English like “vouchsafe,” or “bestow.”  This kind of language makes it hard for us to understand even the of-this-plane plagues of the Egyptians, e.g. what is “murrain?”  And the instructions are wooden.

Why? Because at the time when these Haggadahs were edited, people wanted specific directions, a definite, “Amy Vanderbilt” description of precisely how one was to do it.  They weren’t interested in being free to play, to elaborate.

But you are not just free to use better Haggadahs, (the ones with good translations and more openness), you are also free to use the material as a jumping-off point for playing, for elaboration.   Like the Siddur, the Haggadah is a kind of a cookbook filled with recipes.  You can’t eat a cookbook, even ones with the tastiest, the most nourishing recipes.  You must do the cooking to turn recipes to dishes.  And it’s similar with the Haggadah:  You make the words three-dimensional, four-dimensional.  Every Seder you have is a different way to bring the words off the page with different “spices,” different life-conditions.  Here are some notes toward freeing your Seders:

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Regarding Kabbalah / Jewish Mysticism, Reb Zalman says:

“All blessings to you in your studies.  As you hear these ideas from time to time, and as you allow yourself to be receptive to the images that they stir up in you, I hope that the words of the Kabbalah will be transparent to you, and that you begin to understand, feel and know depths that you couldn’t previously.”

Many thanks go to Rabbi Marcia Prager for her permission to include drawings from her Siddur called, “A Siddur for Shabbat Morning.” Gabbai Seth Fishman (BLOG Editor)

SO YOU WANT TO LEARN KABBALAH

By Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Table of Contents:

Being Receptive
The Universes
Divine Names
Simultaneity
B’Tselem Elokim / In God’s image
Ten Sefirot
Looking Inside
A Blessing
As Below, So Above
Reformatting Hierarchical Into Humanistic
Sayings of the Hasidic Masters
Mystery of the Shechinah
Movement and Prayer
When One Must Reprove
Beyond Mind

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Reb Zalman says:

“I’ve worked on the design of a computer program for problem-solving, or planning, using the tradition of the sefirot / divine attributes as a methodology.  If the software is ever produced, it can be called, the ten-planner.  Here is a description of what it would look like:

“The program would systematically divide a problem into activities using the sefirot as a guide.  It would allocate intervals of time of differing duration for each activity and would do this through asking a series of questions. 

“First, it would ask keter / vision questions:  Keter questions help one to structure the time allocation for the subsequent phases to define where to spend the time.  Keter will create a balanced tree.

“Chochmah / Brainstorming would ask:  ‘What do you want?’  The person would say, ‘I want x.’

“Binah / Planning would say:  ‘Let’s figure out what x is.  What are all its dimensions?  What are its inputs?  What kind of planning goes into it?  What sort of a budget is needed?’  And Binah‘s answers would lead to computations and allocations.

“Da’at / Awareness would sneak in as quality control:  ‘How will we know we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve?  I, Da’at, am the feed-back loop.  When it doesn’t hit these indicators, I’ll tell you you’ve missed the mark.’

“Chesed / Lovingkindness:  ‘What are my resources?  What’s available for spending in terms of time, space, energy, money, etc.?’

“Gevurah / Discipline:  ‘What limits must I consider for time, space, energy, money, etc.?’

“Tiferet / Balance:  ‘Who’s going to participate?’  (Tiferet has the social dimension.)

“Netzach / Effectiveness, Efficiency:  ‘What kind of technology do I need to make it happen.  Who do I need with what expertise?’  (There’s a discussion between netzach and gevurah.  Gevurah says, ‘Don’t forget your budget,’ while netzach wants to spend through the nose, so it will be super-duper good with insurance and everything built in.  Gevurah sends down a budget message, saying, ‘We can’t afford everything you want, netzach.’)

“Hod / Impact:  ‘How am I going to get this idea to find space in peoples’ hearts?  How shall I market it?  How shall I package it?’

“Yesod / reproducibility:  ‘How can I produce it so that today and tomorrow it can keep going and be nurtured.  I need a sustainable way.’

“Malchut / Operations:  ‘Release the plan.  It has to function by itself, without being connected to the system which produced it.’

“The above, illustrates one way that we might try to apply the functions of the Sefirot in the world of Assiyah.”

Please share the ways in which you have integrated sefirot into your life.  Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor.