(sad) Things
THE BIG IDEA
The moon of Av is the time to strengthen your ability to listen deep within. For those that struggle to hear an inner voice, and feel pained by your inability to stay connected to your highest self, now is a good time to actually cry about it. According to the spiritual cycle, culminating next Wednesday night (Tisha b’av), this is an appropriate time to reach deep within and feel the sad state of divine disconnection in your life, in the state of Israel, and in the world.
Divides are growing, the economy is wavering, the planet is heating, and intelligence is celebrated in its most artificial forms. But most painful of all, it is almost impossible to know for certain that a singular indivisible creator exists. Without a temple, divine presence remains a theoretical concept held by a faith that requires extreme dedication.
This week’s Torah Omens bring us additional sadness with the book of Devarim, the speeches of Moses as he stands at the edge of the Jordan river, ready to die. Immerse yourself in Moses’ personal recounting of the biblical events and notice the emphasis he places on the difficult nature of the people, the sin of the spies, and the lack of faith in God, and lack of appreciation for the absolute power of divine presence that actually fights and wins all battles.
And so if you feel any sadness, this coming Wednesday night is the one night of the year it is advisable to drop in and feel it all. Let all your sadness out. Refrain from all materiality… from eating, drinking, and anything that gives your pleasure. Sit yourself directly on the earth and cry about it all.
And do your best in this dark state to beg, along with Jewish practitioners worldwide, for the return of presence to Jerusalem, to Israel, to the world, and most importantly to your own life.
Tisha B’av Mediation
On Wednesday night, the Jewish people abstain from eating, and drinking.
We take off our shoes, sit on the floor and refrain from any material or physical pleasures for 25 hours. It is a day of collective mourning for the loss of two temples, and our spiritual potential. And while it is hard for many to relate to that which we have never known (life with active spiritual temples) - it isn’t hard to sense the lack of presence in the world and our own lives.
And so, if you have sadness for any lack of anything in your life or the world, this is the day for you.
Drop into it. Allow the sadness. Let the tears come, let it all out. This is the appropriate day to actually feel and process the suffering in your life and the world. And as you drop lower and lower, know you aren’t alone. Thousands of people around the world are crying with you. Each of us in our own world of pain, each of us in a collective world of suffering.
But don’t stop there.
The point is not the cry of pain and suffering, but to take that spiritual energy of lack and cry out for change. Feel the sad state of our reality, and use those tears to cry out for redemption. Cry out for the messanic era, the time of growth through joy. Cry out for peace within and in the world around. Cry out for revealed divine presence and a better life for all.
Torah is not the practice of suffering, even though we suffer. Torah is the practice of faith that divine presence can reveal a world of joy, and love, and abundance and good for all.