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Orchard of Delights                                                      Chayei Sarah


 demarcation line in the ancient world. Thus he was known as one who   more. This process continues ad infinitum; as the intellect achieves
 had “crossed over.” In a more spiritual sense, the Midrash describes   ever greater clarity, the power of  imagination increases in tandem
 the entire world standing on one side while Abraham crossed the   and time is increasingly nullified. For this reason, one who masters
 boundaries of accepted thought and action by choosing to believe in   time can accomplish in a relatively brief  period what it would take
 one God (Bereishit Rabbah 42:13). Undeterred by physical hardship   others much longer to accomplish, if  they even succeeded at all.
 or the emotional difficulty of standing alone, Abraham was unafraid   Rebbe Nachman in fact  translates the term “World to  Come”
 of crossing both physical and spiritual borders. As mentioned in the   as “the world that is always coming.” By expanding consciousness
 previous section, God took this one step further by urging Abraham   and connecting to a more Divine experience of  time and cycles we
 to go “outside,” leaving behind the strictures of the natural world   increasingly free ourselves from the tyranny of  time and learn to
 altogether.
            employ its inherent Divine power to transcend a strict and limiting
 The letters in Abraham’s name even allude to his standing alone, as   linear conception of  time and employ it to our advantage.
 only one letter – the letter alef (א) – distinguishes the root of Abraham’s   This explains why the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as
 Hebrew name Avram (םרבא) from the root of the word “ivri” (ירבע),   a nation was to mark time, to construct a uniquely Jewish calendar
 which instead contains the letter ayin (ע). Both letters sound similar,   (Exodus 12:1-2).  Coming  as  the Jewish people left Egypt,  this
 and in Kabbalah they are often exchanged in order to reveal a deeper   instruction was particularly apt as the word for “Egypt” in Hebrew
 hidden meaning of a word. In this case, the numerical values of the   connotes “constriction”  or  “a  narrow place.” Mastering  time is
 letters tell the story. The letter alef equals one and the letter ayin   the primary quality needed to go from constriction to expansion;
 equals seventy. Seventy is the number of offspring from Noah’s sons   from slavery to freedom; from finite borders to a state of  eternity.
 who repopulated the world after the Flood. The Sages taught that   Abraham, and by heredity, all his descendants, have the ability to
 these seventy souls represent the world’s seventy archetypal nations.   master time and to extract the most from each moment.
 This numerical code is the key to understanding the deeper meaning
 of  the aforementioned Midrash: Abraham crossed over and stood
 alone because of his belief in one God (represented by the alef in his
 name) while all the other nations (the seventy nations represented
                                  £Jewish MeditationJewish MeditationJewish Meditation
 by the ayin in the word “Hebrew”) were on the other side!  Jewish Meditation
                                  £
                                  ££Jewish MeditationJewish Meditation£
 Some critics of the Jewish people have claimed that Abraham’s
 decision to cross over and leave the rest of the world on the other
 side indicates his disregard for the rest of the world. This is not the   “And  Isaac  went  out  to  converse  in  the  fields  towards  evening
 case. When Abraham is commanded by God to leave his land, his   time” (Genesis 24:63). This verse contains one of  many references
 birthplace, and his father’s house and come to Israel he is promised by   to meditation in the Jewish tradition. From the patriarchs to the
 God that “in you will all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis   prophets, from the kings to the Sages, from Kabbalists to Chassidic
 12:4). God promises that Abraham’s separateness will actually be a   rebbes, meditation has played an important part in Judaism’s
 source of blessing for the entire world. Abraham’s decision to cross   spiritual side. (For a fuller explanation, see Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s
 over actually demonstrates how much he cares for the entire world.  classic work, Meditation and the Bible).
 Indeed,  Isaiah  memorably  defined  the  eternal  Jewish  national   The Sages deduce from the aforementioned verse that Isaac initiated
 mission as being “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). Abraham   the Afternoon Prayer. The fact that the same verse addresses both


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