The Rain Falls

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

The rain falls.
Its pebbles skate along the street.
Its white horses rear up,
Its red petals stream along the curb,
We are all in its cold, wet throat,
Lugging our book bags
In a newly painted morning.

Wrinkled clothes
Lie across the living room floor,
Also playing cards,
Also a camel stands at the window,
Watch out, he’s got a nasty temper.

Once, in heaven, I sat down on the park bench to rest,
The boats sailed across the pond,
That sailed upon the clouds,
That twisted into vertiginous distances,
Twisted strands of the Milky Way,

The wet nose of the wind
Vibrated, then, the larynx
Of the air,
The staircase rose
And the orange blossoms.

A Great Mountain of Fire

by R. Nosson of Nemirov

Once, Rabbi Nachman came into the house.

He said, "What can you do when there is a great mountain of fire right in front of you? On the other side of the mountain is a wonderful, precious treasure. But you can only get to that treasure by passing through the mountain of fire--and it is absolutely necessary that you get to that lovely, wonderful treasure."

A few days later, Rabbi Nachman spoke about this again. He laughed and said, "I already have learned what to do about this."
Sichot Haran #191

I Require Counsel

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I require counsel so that the joy and tranquility of the spirit that I experience when I am involved with my spiritual thoughts and with religious concepts and hidden matters will remain with me as well when I perform the mitvot of deed and prayer, and when I deal with the texts of the revealed Torah.

Chadarav, pp. 132-133

There is a Depression That Comes From Spiritual Wealth

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

There is a depression that comes from spiritual wealth, and there is a joy that comes from a poverty of mind.

How can that be?

[Spiritual] phenomena overwhelm me. Visions of visions come before my spiritual eyes. I gaze into books, into the holiest and most elevated books, and their wellsprings are alive and pour forth. They cause many wellsprings to flow with their primal power into my inner spirit.

And with each vision an inner commotion is born.

[I ask myself:] Where does all this come from? The beginning of the vision and its certainty—where is that drawn from?

And [with this self-questioning], my soul suffers in its sadness [as it contemplates] this joy of its wealth.

[But] this sadness [is good, for it] refines the spirit, sharpens the mind and moistens the richness of spiritual life. And knowledge that comes from the source, and from the source of the source, as well as a very precious ability to heed—[both of which] are great and broad—are born.

And they come with a certainty that is assured, and they raise the soul to a supernal place.

But in that supernal place the question returns anew regarding these new instances of certainty, which comprise a most supernal wealth. It at first makes its appearance with the diadem of its splendor, with the brilliance of its joy, but it is afterwards followed by the question: whose son is this youth? Is he fit to join the congregation?

And that inquiring thought is reawakened, it seeks paths—it seeks [them] and it finds [them]. [So then there comes a] new certainty [that] finds very deep roots in the soul, that comes to the power of deed.

A strong impulse to influence [the world] and to unify a broad circle of life comes and presents itself, until [there is] new ascent, as a result of which everything [before] is forgotten.

All of the previous wealth fades away, and images of a higher world come, a pure atmosphere, pure and fresh. Luminous bodies shine in a form that had never before been imagined. And there is no memory of the past; [there is only] the present and the future, heartwarming and pleasant. Creativity multiplies and certainty rises to its peak.

But [then] an inquiring spirit comes and inserts a new sadness. [But that is] in order to give birth to a supernal joy and the revelation of a rectified world.

“That which was not told to them they saw, and regarding that which they had not heard, they looked.”

Chadarav, p. 113

A Diadem of Mountains

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

I gave you silken rivers, rivulets of stars,
But you need a diadem of mountains.
You demand rocky terrain,
Brambles, peaks and horizons.

You seek a vertiginous dirt path,
A swinging rope bridge,
You need to hear the snow tiger
Growling outside your cabin upon the vast snow plains.

You require a troupe of men
Who will carry your bier into thick, uncharted jungles,
Where you will snap your fingers and bark out orders
In a strange, uncouth tongue
And dance your songs of triumph.

You must master the wisdom of the sailing ship
And set out into bronze mornings.
You must call out new islands and discover distant planets
From an uncharted tropical sea,
Where your loveliness is legendary amidst the island peoples.

Fierce, celebrated, all-powerful,
You must arrange great ceremonies
To which even giants will stride, from across the long, shadowed hills,
To pay you homage.

Rivulets of Stars

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

I threw out the baby with the bath water.
I was tired of drinking bath water.
And who needs babies anyway?

Move over.
We both need to sleep,
To snore away our lives.
Of course it gets quite crowded in this bed.
I keep having to kick away guitars, old sandwiches.
I find that friend’s doorbells are digging into my back.
I curl around bassoons and double basses
So that in the morning, in the warm, body-scented sheets
I have an enormous crick in my neck.

There is so much to discover in the world—
Everywhere I have dropped crumbs of meaning.
I have left drops of my soul with so many people
And barged into the house wielding an empty wheel barrow.

I came home one evening with a packet of stars
But they all melted into a puddle when I opened the sack.

Really, when stones are rolled onto the mouths of wells,
What good are stars?
What good is light when there is no water?
And water, water shines like rivulets of stars.

In the Beginning

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

And what is my constant yearning, or—better put—my set nature, the nature of my spirit and the flow of my thoughts? Only that of starting anew—“in the beginning.”

I always stand at the beginning.

There may be fragmented and confused particles of knowledge—but they will never put me at a remove from the primal point, upon which everything depends.

It is possible that there is something here of a weakness, that I am afraid of too much breadth.

But on the other hand, it is impossible to say that there isn’t a grain of hidden capability that is drawing me to delve into the beginning, into the start of everything, into the foundation of being, into the secret of existence, into the ideal of ideals, into that which is elevated and holy.

Chadarav, p. 126

Listen! Cries the Ocean

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

Listen! cries the ocean.
So listen.
The whole night it roars like a freight train,
It rises up and sizzles against the seawall.
For an hour you can be the ocean,
And contain within yourself swift color-shifting squid
And long trees of frond-waving kelp
Amidst which the fish wind their swift glissando bodies.
In the north your waves can rise and fall like mountains.
You can lie beneath the black night sky, covered by the sheet of ice and sleep
And at the same time glaze beneath a sun hot as yellow pepper,
You can swing back and forth drawn by your desire for the moon,
The fog can cover you for hundreds of miles
And conceal your cold thoughts.
You can have no thoughts,
You can be a shapeless god who does not live
But moves with the majesty of life.

A Person Who Is Constantly Pained

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

A person who is constantly pained because of his sins and the sins of the world must always pardon and forgive himself and the entire world.

And in this he draws forgiveness and lovingkindness onto all of existence, and he gives joy to God and joy to people.

First he must pardon himself. And then he draws a general pardon onto everything, starting with that which is closest to him: the extensions of his roots from the aspect of his soul, his family, his friends, his nation, his generation, his world, and all worlds.

And in this he is a “foundation of the world” on the highest level, on the level of the Holy Tongue. And “a soft tongue can break the bone”—the bone of a donkey, “a bone that is evil on the outside”—so that all of the hidden good is revealed in everything.

And then he attains to the blessing of Abraham, whose likeness appears in every generation.

Arp’lei Tohar, p. 54

Inside Your Blood Cells

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

Inside your blood cells children are talking to each other.
They race through the tunnels of your limbs.
They are so busy chatting that they do not notice
Whether they are in your toes or in your aorta.
That is as it should be.

I blanked out this morning
And found myself in a dream.
And it wasn’t about the past
But it wasn’t about the future either.
I had fallen into a giant computer
And was watching as it chatted to itself
And I woke up with a sense of wonder.

I woke up to find
Playing-cards arrayed in rows
Across the chairs and the floor,
And they marched across my eyes,
And everyone else was sleeping.

When Our Soul Sparkles

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

When our soul sparkles, every time we learn, we look for the universal soul with its lights, which brought those very topics that we are studying into being.

Then the spiritual radiance is revealed with its richness of hues, and a person clings with his spirit to this light, which is the light of a primal, Godly life.

Then blessing increases entirely--on this person’s soul and on everything.

And then this person ascends upon the rising path of those who learn Torah for its own sake, because he makes peace in the heavenly assembly (the angels) and in the earthly assembly (Israel).
Arpelei Tohar

In Conflict with the Entire World

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

If I must be a man who is in conflict with the entire world because of the tendency for truth that is deep in my spirit, which does not tolerate any tendency toward falsehood, I cannot be someone else.

I must bring out from the potential to the actual only the essential foundations of truth that are hidden in my spirit, without any concern for what the world thinks with all of its value judgments.

That is the maxim of the person who seeks truth, who awakens with his supernal might. That is the might of the world. That is an eternal might that is connected to the fate of the eternity of Israel, which is girded with might.

Chadarav, p. 146-147

Little Highways

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

The little highways of anger riddle your heart,
Mercury globules spill through the tunnels.
In a crowded restaurant you find it difficult to swallow,
You are eating your children alive.
The calendar on the wall is tattered,
The things you have to do
You should have done long ago,
And you never paid attention
To the messages you received.
Solid as iron are the molecules of oxygen
That spin before your eyes.
The road you walk upon
Of soft dark red
Extends darkly forward,
And the walls of the corridor pulse solemnly
As you walk to a small bright room
Where you will be allowed to meet your children
Again.

To Love All

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

How much does [my] heart sigh to love all: all creatures, all beings, all of creation, all the multitude of the things of the Maker of everything, the roots of things, life, power, the rising glory, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, beauty, eternity and beauty, the fundament and the monarchy.

How precious are Your friends, God, and how much does my heart desire to love all souls, and the beauty of the good things and finished things within them.

How pleasant and sweet are the refined spirits of those of uplifted heart, of those profound thinkers, of those with holy yearning, of those who grasp the Torah, mighty in faith, heroes of the spirit, those who create expression and poetry, those who dedicate the holy, those who beautify life and the world, how mighty are these leaders.

How beloved are the pious of the world, [whose] minds [are] filled with the emanation and beauty of holiness. How have I loved all of them together; how strong is my affection for each one of them. How glad am I for their goodness, for their honor, for their tranquility, for the delight and comfort that they find in their lives.

What is greater for me than to take part, aid, work and be active to increase the light of life, to broaden the settings [in which they are set] so that the loveliness and glory will be seen, the divine radiance of the pleasantness of love, of eternal love—which entwines its many branches, rises beyond all being and spreads out over all creation, brings into sharp relief the beloved faces, increases the knowledge, sharpens the feeling, strengthens life, strengthens the refinement and enflames the strength, fills all the breadths of the soul with a supernal might, with the might of God, with the energy of truth and light.

Chadarav, pp. 176-178

a True Inner Humility

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I hope for a true inner humility—which will not weaken [my] inner might with its spiritual joy, the development of its abilities and the increase of its light, but will in fact gird them.

“It is good to be of a lowly spirit with the humble” (Proverbs 16:19).
Chadarav, p. 152

Frothy Mold

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

Frothy mold was growing along the inside of my scalp.
It was used to going where it didn’t belong—
On worn stairs or tables where elbows had rested without fail
Or in the wrinkles in long-used books.
How do you know, for instance, right now,
That mold has not engulfed your car,
Your children, or your wife?
I ran wildly through the health food store,
Wildly leaving marks of my choppers
In the organic fruits, the raw oats, the flasks of goat milk.

That is the Question

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

How important it is for me to thoughtfully clarify my spiritual state!

[I have to consider] how much I am supposed to struggle against my feelings and the progression of my thoughts, which lead me constantly to the supernal aspect, to the elevated and the exalted, so as to gaze with holy elevation, with the foundations of supernal ethics, with the soulful breadths of the world of Emanation—whereas obligation pushes me to aspects of this-worldly action?

But to what degree can the obligation of this-worldly action push aside the august spirit? That is the question.

Chadarav, p. 128

The Light of Supernal Truth

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

By means of an inclusive methodology, I will attain everything, including all particulars—particular fields of knowledge, clear judgments in halachah and in determining cases, in Talmudic argument and homiletics.

But all of these are only parenthetical. The essential thing is that I seek the light of supernal truth in all of its manifestations.

“Then shall you take delight in Hashem, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth, and I will feed you the inheritance of Yaacov your father, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken.”

Chadarav, p. 128

Brass Tacks

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

There were brass tacks all over the floor
And brass words whizzing through the air
And the rush of the wind, or rocks, or what-have-you.
There was yesterday and there was tomorrow.
There was the rain that had been swallowed into the night
And left behind puddles in the street
Like the streaks of a giant snail.
There was love and there was breakfast.

I Cannot Deny My Inner Desire

by Rav Avraham Yizchak Kook

I cannot deny my inner desire, the essential desire of [my] soul, which is constantly revealed from the depths of my heart, which is a faithful desire, filled with trembling.

And this trembling is filled with the might of holiness, because I tremble for the word of Hashem.

The fear of heaven is my speech and my inner essential musing; all of my wellsprings are [immersed] in it.

Society, environment and a life of deeds lie on my path like stumbling stones that do not allow my holy yearning, filled with the holy light of the fear of Hashem, encompassed with an inner love, to emerge into continuous revelation, so as to be strengthened in all [of its] traits.

And behold I, whenever I come into contact with people, I come into confusion, and the concealment of the content of the fear [of God] grows very strong, to the point that I find myself abased and abandoned.

But my hope is in Hashem.

Chadarav, pp. 145-146

I Cannot Deny Within Myself the Spirit

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I cannot deny within myself the spirit that yearns to grasp the elevated service of raising the holy sparks [within] everything that comes into the circle of [my] activity—of all the physical necessities and all possessions that come into my contact with me and [that enter] into my boundary.

And that tranquility that comes to me, even [if only] because of a dim imagining of the holy form of this pure-hearted and holy work, fills me with strength and fortitude, [when I consider] that [these things] come to be rectified when the light of Torah and the worship [of God] are broadened in all aspects, as they branch outward.

“He makes Torah great and mighty.”

Chadarav, pp. 144-145

From My Nature

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

From my nature I am summoned to do everything for the sake of the deed [itself] and to speak of matters for their own sake.

For me, the variety of ulterior motives and blemishes of thought and desire are merely external things. And if I strengthen myself with great faith in the quality of the light of my soul, which is united with pure humility, I will conquer everything. Then the light of Hashem will shine on me clearly and broadly, and I will be able to speak words of truth, without any fear and without any desire to curry favor in the world.

Chadarav, p. 146

Random House

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

I was arranging my words
So that I could send them to Random House.
What a mistake!
There secretaries were flying out of the walls,
Abandoned IBM Selectric typewriters occasionally belched up
From the industrial carpet on the floor,
Colored salmon, charcoal gray, chartreuse,
The view outside the window shook, took off its clothes,
Put on some hard-edged skyscrapers, wiggled its sun,
Threw up a screen of clouds, of confused flamingos,
Of executives with hard-pack Pall Malls in their breast pockets.
It was all pell mell,
It was all going to hell,
Downstairs a bell cracked,
Freedom spilled out like shiny foil wrapped candies,
The hard kind with the soft taffy at the center.
My manila envelope spilled open, my words snaked across the corridor,
Past the water cooler,
Where a rhinoceros stood, shaking his heavy jaw.
I walked into the boardroom,
Where cab drivers, housewives, fast food deliverers, architectural students
And a variety of idealists
Were gazing into crooked mirrors, baring their teeth at each other.
Words were ejaculated, and small, misshapen moles scurried across the offices,
Blindly seeking the elevators, where they might descend to the basement
And find the cool tranquility of darkness.
Everyone was there in Random House,
And so I pressed into a crowded, noisy room
And held my manila envelope close to my breast
And watched the small black letters clamber out
And hurry to the morris dance.

It's Best to Talk

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

It’s best to talk to no one,
To the wind,
To God,
In the company of moths and trees
That are so patient they will sagely listen
All night long.

Somehow you have built a city
In which you reside, alone,
With your guitar
And the smell of yesterday.

Shake the dreams like a veil of silver coins.

I Must Know My Measure

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Being by nature a person of aggadah and of mysticism, I have no need to [look with] envy [upon] the portions of halachah and the revealed Torah.

Nevertheless, I am also summoned and obligated [learn] those areas [of the Torah], for it is not without cause that Hashem graced me with ability [to study] them as well.

But I must know my measure, so that I will grow depressed regarding the slightness of my portion in revealed matters (even though in aggadah and in the hidden I am [also] very poor and impoverished).

I must remain firm, because the cause of this imperfection of mine is that a multiplicity of areas constantly draws me in every direction, so it is my nature to taste a little of each matter. So if I am weak in the revealed Torah and halachot, that is caused by my inner attraction to aggadah and the hidden.

This phenomenon of my capacity is particularly apparent at a time of settled [but] unrehearsed speech with people who are qualified for [such discussion], as well as at every moment that [my] spirit is awakened. Then I find within myself a hidden treasure, which must be my consolation even in a time of concealment and great darkness.

“When I sit in darkness, Hashem is my light.”

Chadarav, pp. 103-104

Which Parts of the Torah are Particularly Necessary for Me

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

There is no doubt that I must pay attention to my inner sense of which parts of the Torah are particularly necessary for me and congruent with the needs of my soul. This is the case even though I shouldn’t [allow myself to] be drawn after [these parts] entirely, [since] it is sometimes necessary to battle with one’s feelings.

[Still, I have to know that] there is a reason that [my] inner spirit is roused to pull me to hidden, [kabbalistic] teachings—even matters beyond my level and degree.

Indeed, “the heart of a wise man knows a time and a judgment,” “to know how to sustain the tired person with words.”

Chadarav, p. 105

Here are All the Idols

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

Here are all the idols,
Bustling about,
Jostling each other on the way to the synagogue,
Speeding along in their little idol cars to idol destinations.
And death oozes out from all of the crevices,
From all of the spaces between bricks,
From between teeth.
But in the gaze between our eyes there is no space,
Nor in the heart that is filled with effortless light,
Nor in the joy that waters the morning grass,
Nor in the colors of the street beneath the moon that hangs like a silver fruit.

How Great is My Inner Struggle

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

How great is my inner struggle. My heart is filled with an exalted and broad spiritual yearning.

I want the divine felicity to constantly spread within my entire being—not because of the pleasure of that delight, but because this is how it should be, because this is the state of reality, because this is the substance of life.

And I am always sighing, roaring from my inner essence with a great voice: give me the light of God, the delight of the living God and His play, the great appearance of the visitation of the palace of the King of the world, God, the God of my father, to Whose love I am dedicated with all my heart, the fear of Whom elevates me.

My soul rises ever higher, it transcends all lowliness—the smallness and limitations that a life of nature, of the body, limited by environment and social mores, oppressed within manacles, completely put in chains.

But a flow of obligations [then] ensues: endless [exoteric Torah] studies [with all its details], confusions of ideas and the emergence of intricate arguments born of an exacting examination of letters and words. [This] comes and surrounds my soul, which is pure, free, light as a cherub, pure as the essence of heaven, flowing like a sea of light.

I am not yet able to gaze from beginning to end and thus understand the felicitous message [of such study], to feel the sweetness of each detailed insight, to look with light within the areas of darkness of the world.

And so I am filled with pains, and I hope for salvation and light, for supernal exaltation, for the appearance of knowledge and light, and for the flow of the dew of life even within those narrow conduits, from which I may draw sustenance and be sated, so as to delight in the felicity of Hashem, so as to recognize the pure, ideal Will, that which is elevated and hidden, the supernal might, which fills every letter and point of a letter, every halachic contention and complex argument.

“And I shall play in Your commandments that I have loved.” “And I shall speak of Your laws.”

Chadarav, p. 129

Go Eat Candles

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

Go eat candles, wicks, clay candle holders,
Menorahs, oil, spark, flames, dreidels.
Eat light, swallow gold,
See how the darkness of the hills, the wasteland, the unknown chaos
Awaits its crevices of golden lava shining
To flow into the river of your thoughts.

Even if I Feel a Taste of Spiritual Bitterness

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Even if I feel a taste of spiritual bitterness when I study the secrets of the Torah, my heart will not fear.

I will increase my constancy and clinging in thought, until the bitter waters become sweet, as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Chadarav, pp. 108-109

One May Not Withhold the Mystical Imagination

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

One may not withhold the mystical imagination, which is the secret of creation.

Mystical thought causes new souls to sprout, redeemed souls, souls that redeem, messianic souls.

Within [this] secret of secrets, the hiddden and the revealed unite. From the concealed source, the revealed and exposed are blessed; all of the cultures of society are blessed from the source of straightness hidden within the depths of the secrets.

And I—behold, I yearn for the blossoming from Hashem, for the light of salvation to appear. I will not turn back upon my path, even though many are my enemies, those who rise against me.

But more than all my enemies, I myself rise against myself. My smallness rises up against my greatness. The degradation of my spirit berates its glory.

But my glory will not bow its head in fear of the shadows of smallness. Although [those shadows] may stretch themselves out a great deal, they are only shadows. And where the sun shines its light, they will flee.

Chadarav, pp. 108-109

We Have Run Out of Roosters Who Know How to Tell Time

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

We have run out of roosters who know how to tell time.
They sleep through the morning,
Then one day, when we are in the middle of an important business meeting,
They hop up onto our head and start scratching.
We may be attempting to fix the car, as usual,
By throwing stones at it,
When it hops up onto the hood
And marches about imperiously.
It seems that wherever we look there is the rooster.
He appears when we turn down the blankets,
We had been hoping to spend some time with a good mystery,
Or in the orison of the chorus of the fall.
We try to run him off the road,
We shoo him away from the trash bin,
We wave our hands at him frantically
When he appears outside our window during breakfast.
He will no longer come again at dawn,
That was too easy for him.
Sometimes we wake up and go hunting for him through the dark streets
And see his shadow on top of a lamp post,
Or hear the silhouette of his invisible crowing in the vast black canvas of sky
And the shadow of wise foliage.

A Holy State of Consciousness

by R. Nachman of Breslov

With the mitzvah of the Hannukah flame, we draw onto ourselves a holy state of consciousness, which is the olive oil, the awareness: we are constantly aware of the world of spirituality—in general and [even] in detail.

Kitzur Likutei Moharan 54:16 (from V’hilchata k’nachmani)

May My Heart Not Fall

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

May my heart not fall even if my thoughts are considered fantastical. [Even then,] when such imagination turns to holiness and morals, it is useful and necessary. And who knows the real truth amongst human beings—whose thoughts are vanity?

Each one of us can only develop the ability of his spirit in the way of light, truth and goodness—every individual in accordance with the root of the tendency of his soul.

And since I feel my inner tendency in the content of my thoughts, which pour and well forth within me at every moment—and in particular at a time of speaking [with] and influencing [others]—behold, that is my portion and inheritance.

Although I must strengthen myself in the other parts of the Torah, and in particular in practical halachah, it is impossible and unnecessary to go against the nature of my spirit.

Chadarav, pp. 110-111

The Thick Artery of the Nile

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

The thick artery of the Nile
Pulsed through Egypt.
The Hidekel, meanwhile, meandered through the course
Of memory.
All the rivers were lit, lit within or
Sparks of rain showered onto their surfaces.
Lines of color coursed within the sinews of their currents.

Along their banks grew thick clusters of reeds,
Where the frogs sang the joy of their universe
And the dragonflies darted through the Eden
Of their dreams.

Delving into Details

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

How much does delving into details of halachah and subtle Talmudic thought at times cloud my spirit, which that yearns for great things and general principles.

Nevertheless, I must overcome [this] and properly prepare myself so as to be competent clarify halachah and, at times, engage in normative Talmudic disputation. This is because ultimately a person should not differ from the custom of his place. It is a restriction [that comes from] the proper “way of the land” not to be awake among those who are sleeping, nor asleep among those who are awake.

And when a person accepts some limitation due to this restriction of “the way of the land,” then spiritual breadth comes to his spirit from the aspect of the great concept stored in the totality of that trait of “the way of the land,” which [has the property of] rectifying the general culture of human beings.

Chadarav, p. 131

The Waves are Not Tired

by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

The waves are not tired of rolling into shore,
The moon is not tired of dipping across the sky,
The mountains are not tired of their steady faithfulness,
The clouds are not tired of their shiftless drifting,
The car lights are not tired of their silent speeding across roads across the valley,
The radiator steam is not tired of its morning hiss,
Nor is the coffee tired of its wisps of steam,
But I am tired.
I have climbed down into the crevices of my brain,
I have slept in the shadows of words,
I have awoken to find that the same sultry dull summer morning
Of dry, baked earth awaited my hoeing and watering,
I have brought my desiccated peas home,
I have yearned for hills and streams of water.
I did not know that the earth itself was burning my feet
And that I was drying of thirst,
And raised my face to a sprinkle of scant rain
That raised puffs of dust.
No wonder those who looked at my dilapidated plow,
My heavy-headed, stark-ribbed ox,
My broken barn
Didn’t see the soil where tongues of flame lapped up.
Good morning,
Said the traveler, watching himself wearily hold the plow pulled by a dragging ox,
Watching himself look up at the sun crawling like a clock across the bony sky.
And his first arrow burst into his chest
And he watched his blood flow down into the thirsty soil.
And he gazed down from the lip of the canyon,
Seeing himself below holding his bow,
Seeing himself below lying upon the cracked soil
And his eyes met his.
The thunder was not tired of rumbling across the sky,
Nor were the swift shifting rivulets tired of carving their soft names
Into the hard brown earth.

The Torah of the Future

by R. Nachman of Breslov

The Zohar teaches that in the future the Torah of the hidden Ancient One will be revealed.

The Torah is received principally through our mindfulness.

Our mindfulness is Moses. It is the messiah. It is “the wise man [who] has gone up with the city of mighty men” (Proverbs 21:22). A person who possesses this aspect of Moses, of the Messiah, is able to receive the Torah. He can draw forth the illumination of the Torah and teach it to others.

The revelation of the Torah comes from the union of [the two expressions of the Infinite One called] the Holy One, blessed be He, and the In-Dwelling. “Listen, my son, to the rebuke of your father, and do not reject the Torah of your mother” (Proverbs 1:88). “Your father” refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. “Your mother” refers to the Congregation of Israel [which is the In-Dwelling] (Zohar Yisro 85, Pinchas 213).

They are united when the spirits of Israel rise, like water rising.

And the wise man can take the souls and lift them, like water rising. “He who takes souls is a wise man” (Proverbs 11:30).

From this union, the Torah is born.

When the wise man rises with the souls, “with the city of strong man rises the wise man,” then “He brings down the strength of its security.”

Likutei Moharan 13

Inner Yearnings for the Goodness of Hashem

by Rav Avraham Yitchak Kook

When I am not engaged in Torah, it is not out of carelessness but out of inner yearnings for the goodness of Hashem in the secrets of the Torah, for a supernal connection. “My soul has desired in the shadow of Your hand to know every mystery of your secret.”

Many indeed are the obstacles that keep me from actualizing the depth of holiness in my soul, but I will not allow that to make me step off my path. It shall be called the path of holiness, and the supernal Torah is the source of my delights, and that will bring me the blessing of the Torah, and depth of piety, and the humility of the just, the light of strength and elevation.

And my heart will be opened to succeed in the truth of the light of Hashem, and pray on behalf of every individual who groans and is oppressed, for every individual who needs compassion, for the entire world, for the generation, for the rejected souls, for every sorrow and lack, and my eyes will be illumined to feel the suffering of the world, the suffering of God’s Presence, with a good consciousness, with an understanding of Hashem.

And I will rejoice in Hashem, I will be happy in the God of Israel, the God of my salvation, the God who girds me with might and makes my feet like [those of a] deer, to “conquer with my songs.”

And as to the fact that my thoughts are oppressed, that the desires and longings come to me out of sequence, higher than my level, there is no reason to fear that, for that is the complexion of the generation, and of myself in particular—for I must unite everything: all feelings, all knowledge, fields of study, images, speeches, facts, poems and rhetoric, stories and halachot, aggadot and parables. And my mind must turn to the nation and to each individual, and gaze upon supernal sights, and know the lowest depths in order to raise pearls from there, sapphire and emeralds.

Despite all my poverty and impoverishment, I must know that the stance of my soul is a wonder, and all the various factors in my state of being.

And for all of them I will thank Hashem and rejoice in the gift of my portion, and I will strengthen and invigorate myself to serve Him, for the sake of His name with love, with a great mindfulness, and with a tendency for ultimate truth, for the sake of a love of the holy, the elevated, the good and the straight, to bring from the potential into actuality precious qualities, to turn the masses away from sin, to increase the light of supernal lovingkindness on His nation and upon all of His creations.

Chadarav, p. 116