אין הקדוש ברוך הוא גוזר על האדם להיות צדיק או רשע,
,רק שהכול תלוי בבחירתו
ועל זה נאמר: ראה נתתי לפניך את החיים ואת הטוב.
“The Holy One, blessed be He, does not decree upon a person to be righteous or wicked;
rather, everything depends on one’s choice. This is what is meant by: ‘See, I have set before you life and good.’”
“Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
“Love is the active concern for the life and the growth of that which we love.
Where this active concern is lacking, there is no love.
Love is a union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality.
It is a dynamic process, not a static condition; it is an activity, not a passive affect.
In the act of loving, of giving myself, I experience myself as rich, as alive.”
Designed to help learners articulate meaning, challenge assumptions, and relate mystical ideas to their own lives.
1. If God makes space for human freedom by “withdrawing,” what might it mean for me to make space for another person’s autonomy in my relationships, especially when I may want closeness and commitment?
2. Frankl describes a space between stimulus and response; Hasidic thought describes a space created by divine contraction, how do I experience this “space” in moments of conflict or fear, and what choices do I habitually make within it?
3. Fromm asserts that love requires preserving individuality rather than dissolving it, in which relationships is it easier to preserve my individuality? In which relationships is it harder?
4. If a relationship is only real when the other is truly free, how does this challenge my understanding of relationships to those I care most about?
Because transformation happens through practice, each activity invites personal and communal action.
Sara Yehudit Schneider teaches us that God values relationships enough to withdraw His all-knowingness and have us exist as an ‘other’ so that we can experience the ‘actualized relationship.’ Consider a relationship that is important to you in your life. Is there a way in which you show up as “all knowing?” Consider the next time you interact with this person, allow yourself to be surprised by the outcome of the conversation or interaction.
הַזֹּרְעִים בְּדִמְעָה בְּרִנָּה יִקְצֹרוּ׃
הָלוֹךְ יֵלֵךְ וּבָכֹה נֹשֵׂא מֶשֶׁךְ־הַזָּרַע בֹּא־יָבוֹא בְּרִנָּה נֹשֵׂא אֲלֻמֹּתָיו
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joy. He who goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall surely come back with joy, carrying his sheaves.”
“עִקַּר הַשִּׂמְחָה הוּא מֵהַיְּגִיעָה וְהַטִּרְחָה שֶׁקּוֹדֶמֶת לָהּ”
“The essence of joy comes from the exertion and toil that precede it.”
| Is it indeed… Is it indeed that days will yet come in forgiveness and in kindness, and you will walk in the field, and you will walk in it like the innocent walker, and the exposure of the sole of your foot will be caressed by the leaves of the clover, or the sheaths of the ears of grain will prick you, and their pricking will grow sweet. Or rain will overtake you with the company of its pounding drops upon your shoulders, your chest, your neck, and your refreshed head. And you will walk in the wet field, and the quiet will widen within you like light at the edge of the cloud. And you will breathe the scent of the furrow, breathing and calm, and you will see the sun in the mirror of the golden puddle. And the things will be simple and alive, and it will be permitted to touch them, and it will be permitted, and it will be permitted to love. You will walk in the field. Alone. Not scorched by the heat of the fires on the roads that bristled from terror and from blood. And in straightness of heart you will again be humble and submissive, like one of the grasses, like one human being. Leah Goldberg | האמנם הַאֻמְנָם עוֹד יָבוֹאוּ יָמִים בִּסְלִיחָה וּבְחֶסֶד, וְתֵלְכִי בַּשָּׂדֶה, וְתֵלְכִי בּוֹ כַּהֵלֶךְ הַתָּם, וּמַחְשׂוֹף כַּף רַגְלֵךְ יִלָּטֵף בַּעֲלֵי הָאַסְפֶּסֶת, אוֹ שִׁלְפֵי שִׁבֳּלִים יִדְקְרוּךְ וְתִמְתַּק דְּקִירָתָם. אוֹ מָטָר יַשִּׂיגֵךְ בַּעֲדַת טִפּוֹתָיו הַדּוֹפֶקֶת עַל כְּתֵפַיִךְ חָזֵךְ צַוָּארֵךְ וְרֹאשֵׁךְ רַעֲנָן. וְתֵלְכִי בַּשָּׂדֶה הָרָטֹב וְיִרְחַב בָּךְ הַשֶּׁקֶט כָּאוֹר בְּשׁוּלֵי הֶעָנָן. וְנָשַׁמְתְּ אֶת רֵיחוֹ שֶׁל הַתֶּלֶם נָשׁוֹם וְרָגוֹעַ, וְרָאִית אֶת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בִּרְאִי הַשְּׁלוּלִית הַזָּהֹב, וּפְשׁוּטִים הַדְּבָרִים וְחַיִּים וּמֻתָּר בָּם לִנְגֹּעַ, וּמֻתָּר וּמֻתָּר לֶאֱהֹב. אַתְּ תֵּלְכִי בַּשָּׂדֶה. לְבַדֵּךְ. לֹא נִצְרֶבֶת בְּלַהַט הַשְּׂרֵפוֹת בַּדְּרָכִים שֶׁסָּמְרוּ מֵאֵימָה וּמִדָּם. וּבְיֹשֶׁר-לֵבָב שׁוּב תִּהְיִי עֲנָוָה וְנִכְנַעַת כְּאַחַד הַדְּשָׁאִים כְּאַחַד הָאָדָם.–לאה גולדברג |
Designed to help learners articulate meaning, challenge assumptions, and relate mystical ideas to their own lives.
1. What is the faith that is needed in our days, that “what we sow in tears we will reap in joy”? Have you had an experience in which times were hard, and in retrospect, you grew from that experience?
2. What is the relationship between effort and joy according to Rebbe Nachman?
3. Leah Goldberg offers another take on what redemption may look like. If Sarah Yehudit’s understanding of messianic days is, “growth through joy” what is Leah Goldberg’s?
Because transformation happens through practice, each activity invites personal and communal action.
Create an opportunity for a ‘celebration circle’. This may be at a communal meal, or as an activity as a part of class or a group of friends. Ask participants to share a past struggle they overcame and name one way in which they grew from it. Offer a “l’chayim!” - a toast - at the end of each share. The group solidarity and encouragement born out of sharing journeys of struggle can be uplifting. While it is not ‘growth through joy’ it can come close.
Joey Rosenfeld speaks about redemptive qualities that are experienced in the establishment of the modern State of Israel. Here are two texts that point to additional redemptive qualities.
Our father in Shamayim (Heaven),
Rock-fortress and redeemer of Yisra’el —
bless the State of Israel,
the initial sprouting of our redemption.
Shield her beneath the wings of your lovingkindness;
spread over her your Sukkah of peace;[1]
send your light and your truth
to its leaders, officers, and counselors,
and correct them with your good counsel.
Strengthen the defenders of our Holy Land;
grant them, our elo’ah, salvation,
and crown them with victory.
Establish peace in the land,
and everlasting joy for her inhabitants.
“The establishment of the State of Israel must not be regarded as a messianic event. It imposes upon us not redemption but responsibility.”
Martin Buber, Israel and the World: Essays in a Time of Crisis (Translated by Maurice Friedman) Schocken Books, New York, 1963
Designed to help learners articulate meaning, challenge assumptions, and relate mystical ideas to their own lives.
1. Joey Rosenfeld named the redemptive qualities of the modern state of Israel including, What are other redemptive qualities that you could name? (e.g. prayer, chesed, tzedakah).
2. When you “zoom out” and consider your experience with the history of the State of Israel today, what are parts of history that you would name as redemptive?
3. When Buber adds “responsibility” as the demand of a modern Jewish state, what do you think we are responsible for?
Because transformation happens through practice, each activity invites personal and communal action.
Consider two lenses through which you can understand the modern state of Israel - one may be about redemption and the second may be about responsibility. The next time you listen to the news, write a post, speak to a friend about Israel or travel to the land, notice the ways that you are engaging with the redemptive (miraculous, unity, sense of ‘home’) and in which ways you are feeling responsible for it (by contributing to a cause you believe in, or taking responsibility in some other way.)
וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
“But you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
If there were to be no Jewish people, God’s work of creating the universe would have been in vain… Zohar 1, 24 states that the eventual existence of the Jewish people was the first thought that God entertained when contemplating the creation of this universe.
Designed to help learners articulate meaning, challenge assumptions, and relate mystical ideas to their own lives.
1. How does the idea that Jews are the ‘guardians of limitation’ help to keep striving, in the day-to-day, even if it means that we will never ultimately reach our destination?
2. How do these three texts together describe the mission of the Jewish people, from being a “kingdom of priests”, to being central to creation itself, to serving as “guardians of limitation” who live with the gap between the finite and Infinite?
3. Which idea of Jewish purpose resonates most with you?
4. If the Jewish mission involves holiness, responsibility, and humility, what is one practical way we could express or live out this sense of purpose in our daily lives?
Because transformation happens through practice, each activity invites personal and communal action.
Find a person in your social or family circle who is a different generation from you, preferably older. Ask them what they see as the purpose of the Jewish people and what role faith plays in fulfilling that role. Oftentimes older people can offer us a perspective that we cannot see. Share that perspective with your class, group or family.
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is a Japanese art form and philosophy in which broken pottery is repaired using lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Instead of hiding cracks, kintsugi highlights them, transforming breakage into part of the object’s beauty and story.
Designed to help learners articulate meaning, challenge assumptions, and relate mystical ideas to their own lives.
1. Where in your own life has the “surface” cracked, and how did that moment invite you either to look deeper or to turn away?
2. What expectations of perfection, about yourself, others, or spiritual life, might you need to loosen in order to let more light in?
3. If your own cracks told a story, what part of your history or identity might deserve to be highlighted rather than hidden?
4. How might embracing your own “cracks” change the way you understand growth and the role of spirituality in your life?
Because transformation happens through practice, each activity invites personal and communal action.
Shabbat is often a time to stop the busyness of life, and pause. It can also be an invitation to look beyond the surface and consider the deeper meaning of your life. This Shabbat take some time to reflect on your life in a deeper way. Name one area that is moving in the direction you are happy about and one area in which there are ‘cracks.’ Share that honestly with a friend or someone else you care about.