This Past Sabbath /Shabbat

As usual, it was wonderful! After I've lit my many candles, I enjoy just soaking up the atmosphere of the home. I wish I could convey in words what makes it so wonderful. Some background: Its a time when we don't do certain "work" such as sewing, grinding, etc (basically, anything that looks like the building of the Holy Temple even in small scale. Like sewing curtain for it, nailing wood, etc).

Its also a time of family. For some families, this is the only time in the week that everyone actually sit together at the table and eat. Its made more fun when there are guests... even funner when the guests are young hungry men (lol).... even more funner when those young hungry men are the type that loves to sing (zemirot)!!!

Well, we had one guest this Shabbat and he loved to sing. That was nice. I just wanted to highlight some fun parts of the day...

Jews read parts of the first five books of Moses bit by bit so that by the end of the year, we have read the whole thing. Right now we are at Leviticus (Parashat Tazria) the part that talks about Tzaraat (a skin disease in which parts the skin turns white if someone speaks evil speech, bad mouth, slander, etc about another- like remember Miriam in the Moses story?).

After helping the kids do their morning prayers, we then sit together and read the Parashah /portion of the week. I try to find parts that they can understand -they're only three and under.

Ok, that was fine. But they wanted more. So I backtracked and read the Parashah before (Shemini) that talks about what animals are kosher to eat and what aren't.

Me: Cows are kosher, and ducks are kosher...

child1: Cows?! That's an animal! We can't eat animals!

Me: But we do eat animals. Cow is beef and a chicken is chicken.

Child2: Cows belong in the zoo!!

Child1: Animals belong in the forest!!!

**mutiny**

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We had a wonderful guest. Yep, a young hungry guy -my favorite type of guest. lol. And he loved to sing and sang away. Hubby joined in and made the Friday night meal a dream!

He also gave some interesting dvrei Torah /words of Torah. He said, according to Rebbe Nachman, there are three parts of the intellect. chochma, bina, and daat. (I'll best briefly describe it as: chochma = unbound knowledge; bina = structure, or pipelines in which to channel all that unbound knowledge; daat = knowledge as we know on this earth. Example chochma =say, all infinite numbers. Bina = say, figuring out a variabled one. Daat = algebra)

Anyway, the outermost part of those intellects is the imagination. The thoughts and ideas that we have come out in its "relaxed" form, via our imagination.

As everything is related, he also related this to the human body. the Bone correspond to the innermost part of the intellect, the chochma; the sinews and flesh -bina and daat. And the imagination corresponds to the skin!

This is why Tefilin (phylacteries?) must be written on ritually clean animal skin. To maintain purity. To encourage purity of both the imagination as the animal skin is pure.

But this made me think of something else.

THE BLACK QUESTION

In addition to forever asking the Jewish question, there is always a part of me that asks the "black" question. What does that mean for those dealing with racism due to skin color?

From Rebbe Nachman's teachings, faith is in the realm of imagination. When there is no true knowledge, we fall back on faith. Thus, the importance of purifying the images in our minds brings us to true faith.

This means that if we can filter out falsehood, immoral images (such as filthy talk shows, raunchy music and videos, etc), negative messages of hurt -basically, purify the skin /imagination, our faith would increase.

In other words, when we see another person's skin, we think all we're seeing is skin, but really our souls are recalling all the images we subconsciously associate with it. If the images that we're seeing spiritually come from a pure place (thoughts of compassion, love, charity, family, etc) then we react accordingly; but when we see -through our spiritual eyes- that a person's images that are reflected on his skin are coming from an impure place (lewd thoughts, theft, greed, lust) we instinctively react accordingly as well.

When we see these images within our own selves (pure or impure) this will also cause a reaction. We may either love ourselves more, because we seem to embody so much virtue and that will consequently increase our own faith in ourselves and in God. Or, if the images are negative, we may feel a tinge of guilt, cover it up with anger, feel frustrated or discouraged and lose more faith in ourselves and in God.

When I see the sad state that many African Americans are in...one hating the other. Speaking so hurtfully to and about each other.. video vixens abound, and with no end in site (yet.heheh)... statistical studies that seem bent on creating more negative images to us, it just makes me really wonder.

Is that what makes us hate each other? What makes others look down on us? When we see each of us, with that same skin, i.e. with those same poisonous images,
associations, and correlations put into our heads, could that be why so many black on black crimes exist? So much disrespect?

If there is a chance that this is correct, I pray, beseech, plead with anyone I can reach to please close off these things from your lives. Remove this filth. Maybe, just maybe, life we be much more clearer, fresher, sharper and more loving.