The Festival of Sukkot, Black Don't Crack, and Lots of Love

The Festival of Sukkot

We are now celebrating the Festival of Booths, a.k.a Sukkot.  This is when the Jewish people around the world build little huts and dwell in them for a period of time.  This is also the time when we do these interesting rituals of gathering a lulav (palm branch), an etrog (type of lemon), a myrtle branch and a branch from a willow tree.

All four "species" are held together and shaken in every direction while inside the sukkah.

The sukkah must be at least with three walls -- two and a half really.  The roof must be something natural -- either branch leaves, many use palm branch leaves, bamboo sticks, or wood.  And the sky shouldn't be completely covered -- you should be able to see some stars.

If the walls are made of soft materials such as sheets, then it must not bellow in the wind.

Inside the sukkah is filled with beautiful decorations.  It used to be that most of the decorations were various fake fruits dangling down a green leafy vine.  But someone got the bright idea of introducing (recycling?) Christmas decorations and selling it in Israel as Sukkah decorations.  So we have that now, lol.

These four species have many significant meaning.  The one that I want to focus on is the one which teaches that:

• The etrog represents both tzaddik and scholar, the righteous individual who does good deeds and so has an aroma (doesn't smell "fishy" but in fact smells goodly) and studies Torah diligently and so is edible (nutritious).
• The lulav represents those who only study Torah but not much good deeds; it is edible, but doesn't have a fragrance.  I.e. someone with wisdom, but not the commandments.
• The myrtle is the one who had good deeds but doesn't have the capacity to study Torah.
•  And the willow represents the one who has neither Torah learning nor good deeds.

The Lulav & Black folks

The lulav makes me think of Black folks, Native American Indians, all those "earthy" people who possess wisdom.  There are stories in the Talmud representing the wisdom in Africa.  To read some check out the women story, the story of Africa, and the judge's story.

History also bears out this truth with the introduction of mathematics by the Pheonicians, the universities of Mali, the Egyptians' creation of the pyramids, pyramids found in Sudan, the Dagon people and their knowledge of astrology.  The list goes on and on.

They have the wisdom.  But many do not have the commandments.  I remember riding in my car once and there was a lady, Black American, who was waiting for the red light.  But she wasn't waiting to cross the street.  When the light turned red, she went from car to car asking for charity.

I called her over and gave her whatever I had on the dashboard.  She looked surprise and I asked her what was so surprising.  She answer," Most times Black folks don't give me charity."

I was kind of crushed.  I do remember walking with friends and if we saw a poor on the street they would make comments like, "why give him money?  He'll just spend it on booze."  And with that the thought of giving charity was dismissed.

And with the constant propaganda at work by mainstream media, the riff between black folks is only increasing.

Being influenced by the depravity that is around them, many black communities have to deal with lots of theft, baby mama drama, murder, etc.

These commandments are pleasant.  They anchors a person to this world.  They tell/remind us how to handle property, how to deal with other people, honor one's mother and father, do not steal, do not murder,  It anchors us to present world -- our world.

Black folks are brilliant and their wisdom precedes them.  However, something didn't anchor them to the world and they succumbed when they encountered the "spirit of folly" -- the evil one -- the storm wind.  Evil ran circles around them because evil is not logical.  It attempts to make itself seem logical, but if you try to understand it, you'd simply go crazy.

Black Don't Crack

All these things come to mind and I feel crushed.  Why are all the goodly people in such lowly positions?  Why do innocent countries get taken by wicked European countries and left in forever civil wars while the wicked take over the resources and take over the education process thereby ruining the next generation?  Why can't African-Americans come together and hold steadily and strong against the storm winds?

"That which Wisdom made a crown for her head, Humility made a heel for her sandal"

The Wisdom alone is not enough to fight this evil.

The height of wisdom is only the beginning of humility, of being humble.

Although it seems incredible to think that the humble one can be more powerful than the wise one, it is true!

What is so special about the humble one?  He goes on his path.  He does what he knows and doesn't sway neither to the right nor to the left.  He is consistent and continuous.  We have listened to the storm wind.  It constantly tells us how bad we are and tries to back it up with history, science, whatever else would make a good tool. It doesn't matter of one contradicts the other.  As long as at the present it is in a constant state of trying to get into our heads.

Haters have certain weapons that they use against us:

• Lies
• Distractions

These weapons can be easily defeated by truth (and therefore by wisdom).  But the problem is the consistency of the message.  We are bombarded daily with lies and distractions and propaganda telling us we should be thugs, we are thugs, we are not smart, and so on.  With the humble person, neither of these tools work.  The humble person only does what he knows.  He's not searching and so won't find the distractions.

Black folks tend to be truthful, keeping it real.  This could be why we don't see a lie coming? (Of course, it doesn't mean black folks never lie.  They would lie if they wanted to save face, etc.)

But with all the constant effort of haters trying to lie, trying to distract, trying to take over, trying to destroy, etc.  They are zooming themselves farther and farther from real time (or at least our time), making us and them look farther and farther apart.

Like totally different time zones!

As they speed away in their destructive direction, I suppose they see time very differently than we do.  And we see it differently than they do.  At the rate they're going - and as we look at life through their lens, black ain't neva gon crack! lol

This is all good and well, but the other problem that they are destroying the world as they move and that needs to stop.  We must stop it.

We must stop it.

Conclusion

So what could possibly have gotten us into this mess?  We have wisdom, but wisdom and truth can't fight crazy.  So how do we get out from under their crazy and evil oppression?  With wisdom and with good deeds/commandments from humble, Torah true teachers/teachings.  When can this happen?  Now!

The sukkah represents the world around us. We don't want the walls of our world, our house being swayed by the storm wind.  The roof something natural like the sky and we can see the stars.  We shake all the species and then draw their energy toward us in all the directions.  As we draw them toward us -- like a receptive woman, let us be humble with the knowledge that we gain from this and go in Gd's guiding voice.

I got lots of love for you all and am rooting for you!!  (for the sake of goodness, for the sake of humanity.)

Post script:  I don't know if it has to be good deeds that stem from Torah itself.  Torah is very baseline.  But perhaps even African Spirituality will have good deeds -- like libation,  festive dancing, etc.  Things that will anchor the individual to a time and place and thereby anchoring a person to the world.

Passing Through the Fire

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There is much treasures and goods awaiting people. Many need to pass through the fire first. The fire of pride, that is. Allow me to explain. If I may, I'd like to compare knowledge to an orange.

It has a peel. Then there's the real meat of the orange. And there's the inbetween white-ish looking peel part.

Just like an orange,  knowledge can have a peel.

Let's say, Karen thought she was beautiful. She was not entirely sure, but based on many things she's read, many things people have told her, and reason of deduction, she concluded that surely she must be beautiful.

At this moment, that knowledge is only in her head. Her body may not necessarily show this knowledge, meaning it may not necessarily radiate through her actions, but for now, its just in her head. (Karen, unbeknownst to her, has attached herself to the peel of this knowledge).

 Okay. So she has a bit of wisdom.  This wisdom will give her PRIDE.  This pride if left to fester for too long -i.e. no growth- can lead to arrogance, boastfulness and bragging.   Eventually, it may rot and no longer exist.  But that should not be the goal. This knowledge has to go deeper. It has to go to a higher part of her.  After a while, she becomes at ease with this knowledge.  She is beautiful and there is nothing more to say on the matter. As this knowledge sinks in, her actions begin to show it. Her whole body says, "I'm beautiful!" She 's radiating beauty now!! You could say that the knowledge has penetrated into her heart; or you could say, she "grew up" and is "beyond" all that. (Karen is getting closer to the meat of it all).

At this point, Karen has gained humility about her beauty. She is at peace, the knowledge is safely in her heart and she doesn't feel she needs to shout out to the world, "I am somebody!" She knows deep down that she is somebody. Pride gives way to CONFIDENCE.

But how to get to that point? What is it that brings the knowledge deeper, higher? In the religious world, the answer is the fear of God. This knowledge brings Karen to question her shouting. "I know I am all that and a bag of chips, " Karen thinks, "but, how can I shout this out before God? On the one hand I'm not worthless, but God is greater and He blessed me with this good." This expanding thought to God then retracting back to personal, then back to Godly thinking --this running and returning- helps us to grow.

But it should not end there!

There is a deeper and higher level still that we must grow into, that knowledge must penetrate to.

"1 And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain," (Genesis 4:1)

There is a connection with knowledge and this intimate act. And knowledge needs to be brought to that level.

If we can rise pass where our emotions and intellect and spirit are all in tuned to this knowledge, we can even transfer this knowledge to the next generation. Confidences brings actuality, new realities. (There is the essence. The new beginning. The meat of the orange!).

There is where we want all the good and positive messages that we select and accept from BWE blogs and various other sources to go. Deep deep within us and out to the next generation.

[Note: this is a very deep process codified in the Kabbalah of the Ari (master Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Luria of  the16th cen.)!  Basically, as any reality, say, one's consciousness, grows, what's really happening is that higher and higher levels of reality are revealed and join together with what existed already. 
The highest level or head of any reality is called its mohin, or mental faculties.  The middle level (paralleling the heart, torso, and arms) basically takes the input of the mohin and works on actualization; the bottom part (paralleling the legs and reproductive system) is the actualization itself.  So, at stage 1 it's all in the head.  At stage two, it gets integrated into the heart (the middle).  But what really happened?  The Ari speaks about how when consciousness grows, the mohin are "pushed down" into the middle.  But on a deeper level what happened is that a new level came in, and the "head" of the old level is on the same level as the heart of the old level.  So, when the Ari says the mohin were pushed down, it means that a new level was revealed, integrated with the old, and the mohin of the old level are now on the level of the heart.  But nothing moved!
Then, at Stage 3, an even higher level gets revealed, and that which was mohin at Stage 1 is now in the lowest part.  This is the stage of complete integration and growth, because the knowledge becomes "second nature".  So, as Karen grows, the knowledge "moves down".  It all happens as two aspects of the same process. -Note by Mr. Blackfirewhitefire]

Who Are You? Ms. Humility or Ms. Wisdom?

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I guess it depends on what the topic is.

Please scroll down for the story. Or click here to jump down.

And here's a story for the story:

Jane Bookmark grew up in a very healthy black family. The parents taught Jane to appreciate herself and to understand that she has good traits as well as some not so good traits that needs work. And so, she lives her live happy because this understanding that she is a pretty good person has sunk into her heart.

Sally Pagemark grew up in a broken home. Her family called her all sorts of names and did not love her and made her feel like her black skin was a problem. Many negative messages were fed to her as she grew up. Consequently, she had a very negative image of herself and thought herself trashy.

One day, Sally meets Jane.

They begin an interesting dialogue where Jane reveals how wonderful she feels and how there is nothing inherently wrong with being black or wanting to achieve or whatever else. At this moment Sally, sets her mind to live differently. She hears the messages that Jane is giving and wants to internalize them. Right now, however, those new and good messages are only in Sally's brain, her mind. She is now Ms. Wisdom. She can potentially become very proud now and scream out to the world, "I am somebody!!!"

Slowly, slowly, she becomes at ease with Jane's message and it sinks deeper (higher)in her, into her heart. Now, she is no longer proud of this, she is simply a confident woman. She has ascended to Ms. Humility. As she walks around and lives her life confidently, she meets Misty Notepad. Misty is in baaaaad shape.

Until she has a dialogue with Sally, Ms. Humility. and the cycle continues...

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African America vs Caribean vs African:Showdown

Showdown at the black OKay coral? lol! Nothing doing!

I think the whole premise may be WRONG.

There are many great things to be grateful for by each group. Africans have avoided a lot of the psychological oppression going on in America. African Americans are benefiting from being in a country rich in accessible resource and a stable superpower, Caribbeans are enjoying independence and self defining in a new land.

These things are there. All groups fight every day to keep and enhance their resources. If anything we should all be humbled with gratitude for where we are and make the best of it.

The minute pride sets its foot into the conversation, Godliness is gone. The arrogant and God can not dwell in the same place. And once that is gone, all H*** breaks loose ! lol And that's probably why a decent conversation about this topic can never be had.

Putting pride aside, does not mean having a broken and bent back and accepting nothing. True humility means realizing the faults that one has, but also KNOWING and understanding well the assets that one has!

Thus if this conversation must ever if ever be had, let us approach it with humility and a will to uplift the other one.

A short story...
There was once a man who had a family. He also had a farm and would gather wheat during the time of harvest, for his family. This man had a brother who was single. The brother also had a farm --a small one-- which he worked and harvested wheat as well.

One day, during harvest time, the man gathered his grains. Thinking about his brother he thought, perhaps the brother should have some extra grain. After all, he's all alone and could maybe use the money to buy better clothes, find a wife, etc etc. And so he decided that night to sneak some of his grains into the brother's lot.

Meanwhile, the brother, who had gathered his grain, thought about the man. He wondered, "but how can he feed his family with so little grain? Behold, I am alone and can do with little!" And with that, he decided that night to sneak some of his grains into his brother's lot.

Night. As each one tarried and carried their sacks of grain up the hill, they both met each other at the top of the hill. Realizing with the other had intended, they fell into each others arm, hugging in tears!

Jewish lore has it that this is where the Holy Temple was built. My friends, maybe an African has something, a Caribbean has something else, and an African American yet another thing. Let's us care for one another enough to forget about pride. Let us also build a "Holy Temple" with our love.