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Orchard of Delights
Furthermore, the Jew longs for spiritual content and those
teachings that will connect him or her to God and the essence of
the soul. Human beings seek purpose, relevance, and direction, and
when it is not found close to home, they either seek it elsewhere or
give up the search altogether. Even those raised religiously can be
turned off with a rote, uninspired presentation of the Torah.
The Hebrew word Rashi uses to denote the Torah’s “reasons” is
ta’amei, which also means “taste.” Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach teaches
that the Torah has to be transmitted and lived in a manner that
leaves a good taste in peoples’ mouths. The Torah refers to the Land
of Israel as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” The Torah is
truly sweet when served on a table that is set, ready for dining; it
becomes a veritable feast for the soul, an Orchard of Delights. Rabbi
Carlebach explains that we do not eat anything after the afikoman
(the last piece of matzah) at the seder on Pesach, in order that the
sweet “taste” of the seder will accompany us throughout the year.
We are taught that Mashaich will teach the Jewish people and,
ultimately, the entire world, ta’amei Torah (the Torah’s rationale),
the sod, the spiritual depths of the Torah. We are now witnessing a
worldwide fascination with Kabbalah and Jewish mystical teachings.
As we come closer to the Messianic age the longing of Jews and non-
Jews for what the inner dimensions of the Torah reveal will become
increasingly pronounced. May we merit witnessing the time when
the secrets of the Torah will be revealed to the entire world, ushering
in a real “new age” of world peace and the true revelation of God’s
light.
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Bo
This understanding of the Divine experience of time is truly
revealing, for the ability to become a master of time entails connecting
to the aspect of Godliness where time and all creation is renewed at
every moment. By connecting to a more transcendent experience of
time, human beings are able to create the mental and psychological
vessels needed to be masters of time, truly free people. (This theme
8 was also discussed above in “Coming into Days – Becoming a Master
of Time.”)
££Time and the Secrets
£Time and the Secrets Time and the Secrets
of Renewal and Innovation
of Renewal and Innovation
of Renewal and Innovation
When reflecting further on the first mitzvah the Jewish people
received as a nation in preparation for leaving Egypt (as discussed in
the previous section), we notice that the Hebrew word for “month”
(chodesh) shares the same root with the word for “new” (chadash).
The Jewish calendar is fundamentally a lunar calendar, but it takes
the solar cycle into account as well. Each month follows the cycle
of the moon, from its inception at the beginning of the month to
when it becomes full in the middle, and from its subsequent waning
to when it is renewed once again. Consequently the mystery of
time is intrinsically bound up with the concepts of renewal and
rejuvenation.
Kabbalah and Chassidut put great emphasis on hitchadshut, the
ability to renew one’s self and to experience time and life as new
at every moment. In the Psalms, David writes of God telling him:
“Today I have given birth to you” (Psalms 2:7). The experience
of every moment as truly new, the sense of being reborn anew at
every moment, is a sign of true Messianic consciousness. David, from
whom Mashiach descends, was according to tradition, not allotted
any time in this world. The Midrash relates that Adam who was
given a preview of the future saw this and “donated” seventy years
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