In One Moment
Photo by Jason Leung
The Hebrew word teshuvah is typically translated as ‘repentance’, but it literally means ‘return.’ Return to what?
SPOILER ALERT.
We never left! That’s right. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we return to our home ‘in the Most High’s shelter’.¹ This is because we’ve never left—nor could we ever leave—except by our habit of seeing it that way.
Rabbi Jonah C. Steinberg calls this habit,
the delusion of separateness.²
We have several accounts tonight which illustrate our eternal at-one-ment. The purpose of sharing them is to help us see two things more and more clearly:
#1 God’s nature and
#2 our own divine identity.
First here’s the account of a 19-year-old Israeli soldier and his buddy who were stationed in 1997 in the northernmost tip of the Lebanese Security Zone.
Before he left for war, his father laminated a verse from Torah and told him to always carry it and to repeat it whenever his life was in danger.
The verse? From Deuteronomy, Torah declares a statement of God’s Allness. It says,
Hashem is God; there is nothing besides Him.³
You may be interested to know that our metaphysical Sufi cousins—as well as Sankara—say it this way:
There is no being but Being.⁴
One day the young soldier and his buddy were being shot at by Hezbollah terrorists positioned above them on a nearby mountain. Suddenly he saw an anti-tank missile speeding directly toward him.
He thought, "For sure I'm dead." Then, as he quickly recited the verse, "Hashem is God; there is nothing besides Him," the thought came that "Whatever God wants will happen. If He doesn't want it to happen, it won't."
Suddenly, a few meters in front of them, the missile changed course in midair, as if it had struck an invisible force field. In full view of him, his buddy, and eight other soldiers stationed on adjoining hilltops, the missile veered upwards, against gravity, and flew 20 meters straight up; it then made an arc over his head and landed behind their outpost.
The force of the explosion knocked him and his buddy off their feet, but the only injuries they sustained were some shrapnel in the back of their knees.⁵
It’s important to note that it was not the words the young soldier recited that deflected the missile, but his acknowledgement of the Allness of God that had been deeply instilled in him by his religious upbringing. In that instant he acknowledged from the depth of his heart that the missile had no existence independent of God. That God is All. All means All.
The Hebrew word Shechinah is the feminine aspect of God. It refers to the presence of God we experience in our daily living. However,
Shechinah’s presence in the world
depends upon our recognition of its presence.⁶
— Ezra Bick
We’re here during these High Holy Days to acknowledge our eternal Oneness with the Divine. To be clear: we have no existence independent of God, nor does anything else—except as the habitual concept we call belief.
God is not a presence, not a power, and not a consciousness. Rather, divine Allness means that God is presence, is power, is consciousness.
There is nothing but God.⁷
We must be certain of this!
The Zohar teaches that,
Certainty is the power
that draws [your conscious awareness]
of Light into your life…
The Light of the Creator
becomes [tangible] in our lives
to the degree
that we have certainty of its presence.⁸
— Michael Berg
The devout French philosopher and writer Simone Weil puts it this way:
In what concerns divine things,
belief is not appropriate. Only certainty will do.
Anything less than certainty is unworthy of God.⁹
— Simone Weil
Actually, God does not ‘do’ anything. God is. What’s required to engage the Law of God is our acknowledgement of our eternal at-one-ment. The Baal Shem Tov makes clear that,
If a person grasps a ‘part’ of unity he grasps the whole,
and the opposite is also true.¹⁰
— Keter Shem Tov
In a book entitled, The Kabbalistic Mirror of Genesis, scholar David Chaim Smith says,
Unity is more than a mere gathering of parts.
It is wholeness itself,
in which all aspects express
a common essential nature.
In this sense,
there are really no such things as ‘parts,’
nor is there even such a thing as a ‘whole.’¹¹
— David Chaim Smith
This is because God/divine creation is now—always has been and ever will be—one, never two. Smith says,
Since no defined thing
has real autonomous independence,
all that is left to rely upon
is the purity of Ain Sof.¹²
— David Chaim Smith
Ain [Ein] Sof is our ‘sustaining infinite.’ It means ‘without end.’ Ein Sof can be described as infinite, eternal, immortal, unbounded pure consciousness.
So when Smith says the ‘only thing’ we have ‘to rely on is the purity of Ein Sof,’ it’s quite an understatement!
In our tradition, saints are known as “great tzaddikim.”
The great tzaddikim
who have realized
the mind’s nature hold…only to unity...
Ordinary human thinking
defines itself and everything else
by the division implied...¹³
— David Chaim Smith
We are each called upon to be great tzaddikim, that is to hold steadfastly to Unity. We have no existence independent of God—except as a concept.
Our next account illustrates this. It’s about a teenager, sometime in the early 90’s, living in the US.
This boy was riding his motorcycle on a beautiful sunny day headed to the shop for repairs. Two friends were following him in a car to pick him up. He, in turn, was following a large truck.
When the truck appeared to be turning left, he started passing it on the right. But! The truck turned right, not left, and he hit the side of it, falling under the truck. The back wheels rolled over his motorcycle, and also lengthwise over his entire body.
He recounts that the truck was loaded with 10 tons of paper products which crushed him and his motorcycle. When he recalls his experience, he says, “I was apparently unconscious, although I was fully aware of my own thinking. I just couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything external.
“And what came to me clearly was: I had a choice at that moment. I could either accept what my eyes had just told me happened, and die on the spot, or I could reject what just happened to me and know that I was fine.”
The reason he could claim to be fine was that it had been instilled in him from an early age in his Sunday School that God made him in His image and likeness. That is: spiritual, perfect, whole, complete. As it declares in Genesis chapter 1.
God saw all that He had made
and, behold, it was very good!¹⁴
He says, “As I was lying there, I remembered my Dad telling me to pray every time I got on that motorcycle, and to know that God was in control, and not the laws of nature or physics, not laws of statistics, but God’s law of caring for all of his children.
“And he also told me that as long as I knew that God made me, and that God was in control, no disaster could ever touch me. I even had a small sticker attached to the mirror on the bike which said, ‘God is in control.’
“And that’s what I was thinking while I was unconscious. I was absolutely certain that God made me perfect, whole, and complete…
“After several minutes I came to and there was a large crowd around me. My two friends were beside me, and at that moment, I physically heard and felt my bones snap into position.” He says, “it was really weird.
”And when I stood up, we had to tear the helmet off my head…Then I walked over to the bike which was an unrecognizable heap of twisted metal, and dragged it off the road.
“A police car came and I was allowed to sit quietly in the back away from the crowd. And my friends joined me and we praised God and cried with joy.
“[At some point] the policeman said I was very lucky not to have been run over by the truck, as I would surely be dead, no question about it. Then I told him I had been run over by the truck. He didn’t believe me, even though I had tire tracks on my clothes and what was left of my helmet.”¹⁵
There were no after effects. He walked fine and even ran track all four years of college.
Our tradition says a holy person’s work of teshuvah—of return—is carried out step-by-step, gradually climbing from one level to the next. But our tradition also embraces another kind of return called baal teshuvah. Usually it refers to a non-observant Jew who suddenly becomes observant.
However, because baal teshuvah means ‘a master of return to God,’ Chabad uses this term to describe one who makes their turnaround instantaneously, reaching the highest levels in one moment.
In fact, the Lubavitcher Rebbe often uses the phrase, “In one hour and in one moment...” to describe Moshiach’s imminent arrival.
Since the coming of Moshiach depends on our teshuvah—and teshuvah can be done in one instant— the Rebbe says, Moshiach can come anytime…!¹⁶
The bottomline? We find the presence of God personal and tangible in our daily lives to the extent we acknowledge divine Allness and perfection.
This, in turn, comes down to our identity. How do we see ourselves? Who are we being? Are we being our conceptual small self, or are we—consciously being—our one true, infinite, eternal, divine Self, made in God’s image?
If this seems like an impossibility, take note of this next account.
A woman and a friend travelled cross-country some 8 hours while listening to spiritual lectures and an audible book by Dr. Tony Nader entitled One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness: Simple Answers to the Big Questions in Life. They listened, paused the audio, discussed key points, and the passenger made notes for their later study.
One thing they discovered is that Dr Nader’s book takes way more than 8 hours of listening!
In any case, by the time they arrived at their destination, the woman was quite spiritually uplifted, being confident that,
The ultimate Reality
is one unbounded ocean
of Consciousness in motion.¹⁷
Still, she had her feet on the ground, so to speak, and set forth to make an easy pasta meal in the kitchen where they were staying.
She was chatting with her friend when it came time to drain the pasta. No strainer was available so she chose a colander that was essentially a metal bowl with a handle and some large holes pierced in it. But the colander did not perform as expected like the fine mesh strainer she used at home.
In fact, as she stood at the sink holding the colander with one hand and pouring with the other, the large holes were immediately plugged by the pasta and the boiling water gushed out all over her hand. Instantly the skin on her hand turned bright red. Then in the blink of an eye, it was as normal and white as her other hand.
She was in awe of this holy moment.
The Allness of God—and our acknowledgment of it—means,
Regardless of what comes up,
we have everything at our ‘fingertips’
to deal with it.
And it begins with acknowledgement.¹⁸
— Betty Albee
This is because when we acknowledge the nature of Ein Sof and our true identity as the emanation of Ein Sof, we consciously experience Totality, the Law of God, Good, the Law of Harmony.
When we get lured by the appearance of anything un-Godlike such as something unloving or inharmonious—regardless of how it appears, we can acknowledge divinity present. Right here. Right now. As pure consciousness. Remember, God is All, and God is in control.
Rabbis Arthur Green and Barry Holtz, have collected writings from the Hasidic Masters and published them in a book entitled Your Word Is Fire. My gratitude to Rabbi Alan Green who gifted it to me many, many years ago. While the selections relate to prayer, they surely apply to any activity, whether our eyes are open or closed.
In conclusion, here’s one of these instructions from the Hasidic Masters:
When you speak,
[acknowledge] that the World of Speech
is at work within you,
for without that presence,
you would not be able to speak at all.
Similarly, you would not think at all
were it not for the World of Thought within you.
A person is like a ram’s horn;
the only sound you make
is that which is blown through you.
Were there no one blowing into the horn,
there would be no sound at all.¹⁹
Shana Tova!
Waves of the Ocean
[1] Psalms 91:1 Robert Alter Translation
[2] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beyond-the-delusion-of-se_b_13219428 08.01.2022
[3] Deuteronomy 4:35 • Ein od Milvado, 02.24.2013
https://einodmilvado1.blogspot.com/2013/02/god-there-is-nothing-else-besides-him.html • 09.29.2022
[4] Khalifa Abdul Hakim, The Metaphysics of Rumi: A Critical and Historical Sketch, (Lahore: Institute of Islamic Culture, 1959), p. 144 • Reference found in Lim, Kevjn, A Comparative Primer of Ibn 'Arabi's and Ahmad Sirhindi's Ontologies, (Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 51, 2012), p. 58 • see also: Jules Monchanin (1895-1957) as Seen from East and West,(Cambridge Press, 2001), p. 88 AX 8129 AX 8130
[5] Sara Rigler, The God Factor Part 2 • https://aish.com/48908832/ • 03.07.2022
[6] Rav Ezra Bick, Shiur #2: “Hashem, Hashem”, The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, https://torah.etzion.org.il/en/shiur-2-%E2%80%9Chashem-hashem%E2%80%9D • 09.15.2022
[7] inspired by Deuteronomy 4:35 • Ein od Milvado, 02.24.2013
https://einodmilvado1.blogspot.com/2013/02/god-there-is-nothing-else-besides-him.html • 09.29.2022
[8] Michael Berg, Secrets of the Zohar, (The Kabbalah Center, 2007), p. 77 AX 7053
[9] Deepak Chopra, How to Know God: The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries, (Three Rivers Press, 2000), p. 26
[10] Smith, David Chaim. The Kabbalistic Mirror of Genesis: Commentary on the First Three Chapters, (Inner Traditions, 2010), p. 6
[11] Ibid., p. 5-6
[12] Ibid., p. 21
[13] Smith, David Chaim. The Kabbalistic Mirror of Genesis: Commentary on the First Three Chapters, (Inner Traditions, 2010), p. 28
[14] Genesis 1:31 JPS
[15] https://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/sentinel-radio-edition/1994/understanding-spiritual-identity • 10.05.2021
[16] Expressions of Redemption II, A Chassidisher Derher IYAR 5778, p. 41 • https://derher.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Derher-Iyar-5778.pdf
[17] Dr. Tony Nader, One unbounded ocean of consciousness: simple answers to the big questions in life, (Aguilar), p. 115
[18] Institute of Metaphysical Science, Livestream with Betty Albee - Expanding your sense of Self, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjmTlckDDAE&t=36s • 09.21.2022
[19] Arthur Green & Barry W. Holtz, Your Word Is Fire: The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer, (Jewish Lights Publishing, 1977), p. 63
This post includes edited excerpts from d’var Torah,
Erev Rosh Hashanah, 5783
September 25, 2022
Congregation Beth Shalom, Fairfield, Iowa
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