“As the sons (Yaakov and Esav) grew up, Esav became a man who knows to hunt, a man of the field….and Yitzchak loved Esav.” -Breisheit / Genesis 25:28

What does the Torah mean when it says, “knows to hunt” instead of merely being a hunter? And why two separate things of being a hunter and also being a man of the field?

Rabbi Avraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (from Spain 1089-1164), the classic commentator and great clarifier of the Torah says that in order to succeed in hunting one needs to know how to manipulate and trick the prey. One cannot just kill an animal, but one needs to know how to trap the animal. So the Ibn Ezra is teaching us that the Torah is not merely giving us a historical accounting of Esav’s proffession – but on a deeper level is telling us what kind of person he was; and Esav knew how to trick, trap and manipulate.

The Medrash asks why does the Torah add “man of the field”? What is the Torah adding for us? The Medrash answers that Esav used to take women from their husbands out to the field, so no one could hear them scream – what a haunting description. Shocking, horrific – even graphic, but the Medrash is adding for us another level of understanding who Esav was: more than mere manipulation and trickery that he was capable of, Esav was cruel and destructive.

If this is the kind of man Esav is: a hunter, manipulator, deceiver, rapist and cruel – how is it that the Torah emphasizes, “& Yitzchak loved Esav”. How could Yitzchak, a prophet, a spiritual and utmost refined holy individual love this type of person – and why is the Torah going out of its way to emphasize this?

Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner, the Ishbitzer Rebbe (Poland, 1801-1854) says the following profound reality of the relationship of Yitzchak to Esav. If a person looks closely, the word in the Torah saying how Yitzchak loves Esav is actually in the active form. This means to say that it was not merely that Yitzchak happened to especially love Esav – he actively and consciously loved him, he went out of his way to love him.

As is known, Esav is the father of the western world, the non-Jewish western world to be precise. Esav was not Jewish nor was his progeny Jewish. However, as history developed and evolved, there came to be many great Jewish leaders who trace their lineage to Esav. Ovadia the prophet, Sh’maya & Avtalyon the famous sages in the Talmud, Rabbi Akiva and many others throughout Jewish history. How is it that all of these great leaders, sages and prophets specifically stem from Esav the hunter, rapist and deceiver? Is that our Jewish heritage? What is the meaning behind this?

The Ishbitzer Rebbe says the following deep secret of the Torah to answer.

Yitzchak did not inherently love Esav any more than he did Yaakov – why should he? Should he love Esav’s ways of deceit, manipulation, hunting animals and most horrific his treatment and abuse of women?

Rather, says the Ishbitzer Rebbe, as the Torah is telling us that Yitzchak actively and consciously loved Esav – he made the deep effort to. And from everytime Yitzchak looked upon Esav with favor, love, compassion and care there sparked the souls of future righteous generations within him. From the active loving of Esav, not only despite his evil ways but because of it, there generated within him and his progeny sparks of goodness to later be actualized in Ovadia, Rabbi Akiva and thousands more.

Judaism teaches us to “nullify your will for God’s, so that God will nullify others for yours” (Pirkei Avot 2:4). The Ishbitzer Rebbe says that this is what Yitzchak did for Esav – he nullified his own internal difficulty in loving Esav to love him which later resulted in God channelling the wills of Esav’s progeny towards Torah.

The secret here is that good does not happen by accident and good people do not appear out of the blue. The truth is that one has to create good by relating to everything in a positive, deeper way. This is the deeper meaning of Yitzchak loving Esav – Yitzchak loved that which is not good in order to make it good. Not with immediate results either, for it took many generations until Yitzchak’s vision came to be a reality in the leaders mentioned above.

This is really the essence of Judaism – to have a heart filled with deep love of everyone, and if it’s not there, to make it there.

The secret of this Parsha is that the first ingredient in Judaism, life and community is loving others – and only through that will there be later success, though often not at all immediate.

How in our lives is this practical? To enhance the love that we already have for people we adore and for people that we don’t. Are there people in our lives who we think of as “Esav”, who we think bring us down? Are there things or people who we might treat negatively, even a little bit? Are there people who would benefit from our being more patient, forgiving and compassionate? To all of the “Esav’s” in our lives, let us be like Yitzchak who consciously loves to generate the hidden good within.

Hearing, Yearning and Being Spiritually In-Tune

“If you will listen to the voice of God your God…”

– Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 28:15

Perhaps this statement in the Torah is talking directly to crazy people who hear voices. It clearly seems not to be talking to people who don’t hear voices – and yet this verse is found throughout the Torah! Either the Torah is specifically geared to people who hear voices or it is entirely irrelevent…or profoundly deep.

“The Torah contains within it everything that will ever happen in the Universe, from the biggest events to the smallest details…”

- The Vilna Gaon,
In the introduction to his commentary on the
Sifra D’tzniuta of the Zohar

How can the Torah contain within it the entire universe if it is merely a collection of stories that happened thousands of years ago? From the story of creation, Adam & Eve, the Jewish people in Egypt, etc. – where is there anything more than the mere stories? But rather, the Torah is the blueprint of creation and reality, and in order to uncover its depths and secrets one needs to know how to unlock the code, how to truly understand its meaning and infinite depth – which is why the Jewish people study and immerse themselves fully in the Torah day and night, taught by spiritual masters who have been taught its secrets.

The secret of listening to God’s voice is that deep inside everyone of us we are absolutely connected to God as we are part of God. “There is nothing other than God” (Dvarim 4:35) means that there is nothing in existence that is outside the realm of God, and everything in and of existence is God and is an expression of God.

“Rav Yehoshua Ben Levi said, everyday a voice from heaven calls out and says, woah to anyone who has not immersed themselves in the study of Torah – for a person is only free through the study of Torah…”

- Pirkei Avot, 6:2

The above teaching is a description of reality. The reality that anyone who is deeply and truly connected to the spiritual realm, to the real world, hears a voice of yearning, a voice calling upon the world to experience the soul and heart of life, to connect to their truest selves. A person who is in a place of yearning, of growth, of looking beyond the veil of this world to a deeper world, a world of oneness, a world of relationship with God – will hear this voice.

In truth, perhaps people who hear voices are on a higher level.

May we listen to the inner yearnings of our heart and of God’s calling out to us. The Hebrew month of Elul is a spiritually opportune time to listen to the yearning of our deeper selves, as expressed in the sounding of the Shofar throughout this month.

The Baal Shem Tov's Home in Medziboz

The movement that the Baal Shem Tov began became known as the “Chasidic” movement, from the Hebrew word “Chasid” meaning pious, righteous, invigorated and alive.

The time of the Baal Shem Tov’s birth and later revelation of his teachings came during a time to the Jewish people when the Jewish people were dejected from a false Messiah in Shabtai Tzvi, were beaten down with endless pogroms and attacks – but even more so from the lack of studying and experiencing the deeper realms of Judaism. The learned were few and even fewer were those who merited immersing themselves in the Kabbalah, inner dimension of Judaism, leaving the Jewish people as a whole missing out on the true experience, life and potential of Judaism – something that lingers especially today.

The Baal Shem Tov came in the early 1700s to spread the message that every Jew is not only royal and holy – but that every Jew is a small Messiah, and through their life they can bring about redemption. We must be in love with God, in love with the world and in love with Torah.

But how can a person come to to live this love? The Baal Shem Tov taught that inherently we are already in love, we just need to be in tune with that love. That comes about through passionate prayer and the study of the inner dimension of Torah, the Kabbalah and later Chasidic works.

Painting of the Baal Shem Tov and his followers going on one of countless mystical and magical tours

His teachings essentially were that every Jew is a master and every human being is deeply connected to God, they merely need to uncover it. Every Jew is a spiritual giant with an absolutely unique mission to spread their light to the world - and that we can tap into that hidden potential through powerful prayer with God and tasting the mystical secrets of Judaism.

Among the many stories about the Baal Shem Tov’s life are about his time spent in isolated prayer and communication with God in the Carpathian mountains. His later followers, and most especially his great grandson Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, said that going out to the woods and nature to speak to God in our own language is the secret to spiritual growth for every Jew and every human being.

The Carpathian Mountains, where hundreds of years ago the Baal Shem Tovwent out to speak with God

In Judaism there is a teaching that the day that a person dies and is born is a time where the person’s essence is revealed, and most especially their teachings to the world. Then may we tap into the Baal Shem Tov’s revolutionary teachings by going out today and everyday to a place of nature to speak to God, thanking God for having given us such a beautiful life, and asking to fully tap into our soul’s potential to reveal to the world that which we were meant to in this lifetime.

Bob Marley is known and respected not so much for his talent and music – but what he put into the music, and what it represented to him. When his album, “Exodus” was named the album of the century by Time magazine, Time said, “Every song is a classic, from the messages of love to the anthems of revolution. But more than that, the album is a political and cultural nexus…” More than mere entertainment, his music has a message and Bob Marley lived it. In the words of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame upon his being inducted, “His lyrics mixed religious mysticism with calls for political uprising, and Marley delivered them in a passionate, declamatory voice.” What made Bob Marley a legend was his soul, passion and vision that he infused into his music – that is what drew the people to him and his music, what made him an icon of idealism and wisdom. What people don’t know however is that those are the roots and soul of Judaism and the Jewish experience.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!” Is a quote of Bob Marley, but is based on the essential teaching of Judaism to immerse one’s intellect in the study of wisdom: “Freedom cannot be experienced without being immersed in the study of Torah”, is a quote from the Oral Teachings of the Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism). For Judaism and the Kabbalah teach that wherever the mind is, the person is – and so freedom can only be found in he / she who has a mind filled with Divine Intellect and wisdom. In fact, Bob Marley’s encouragement and the Rastafarian religious practice of cannabis use is based on the same premise. They say that in order to experience the mind one needs to use cannabis and that it brings a person to enlightenment and awareness; That idea is a Jewish ideal (without the cannabis), to live a higher life, to free our minds, to feel our soul and the soul of God, which is achieved and experienced through meditation, immersing oneself in Mikvah, being happy, loving the world, isolated soulful prayer, and deep study of the Torah.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches, “When a person intimately knows that all that happens in ones life is for the best, as everything that happens in ones life comes from God – this is an experience of the world to come” In that lesson, Rebbe Nachman teaches that we live a life of duality: good days and bad days, people we like and people we don’t, pain and pleasure, love and hate – but life is not intended to be lived in a duality. The “belief” in one God is horribly misunderstood – for in Judaism there is no such thing as belief, for belief is an idea. In Judaism we experience, we know, we live – we live the oneness of God that expands all boundaries and limitations of understanding – God is one means that there is only God – all that we do, know and experience is God – ONE, and that is something to experience. The pain of life, the bad days and hatred that we experience all stem from a lack of experiencing the oneness of God, the all encompassing reality of an intimate relationship with God. When a person works on this through meditation, study of these works and learns from true teachers – a person can live a redemptive, heavenly and expansive life of the “good days” where all is good. This is the soul of Jewish experience and the inner yearning of every one of us. Bob Marley just used different words.

Bob Marley sang his soul for people to leave “Babylon” and yearn to return to “Zion”. Babylon represents all things mundane, lacking soul, lacking intellect, negative, hatred, racism, abuse, sadness, etc – but especially people and nations who do not seek spiritual enlightenment. While Zion represents the redemption of all those lackings and exiles, all those stresses and evils to a life of good, peace, love, music and soul.

This has been the teachings of the Jewish people for eternity. The depth, mysticism, soul, music, yearning, striving, studying, praying and singing is the soul of Jewish experience – but we’re in exile, in Babylon; but even worse is that we don’t know it anymore. More Jewish people in North America than ever would associate Woody Allen with Judaism before Bob Marley; would associate boring services and sermons with Judaism before a soulful concert and would associate negative connotations and experiences before an uplifting, enlightening, incomparable and awesome experience when thinking of Judaism – because we are in exile.

Bob Marley spread the message of Judaism through the medium of music, but his listeners did more than listen: they thought about his message, they chewed it over and rethought about their lives. Writer Christopher Farley said the following regarding Marley’s song, “One Love”, “”One Love” is, of course, a Jamaican reggae song. But most listeners don’t see it as being part of any one region – it has been embraced around the globe as an anthem to the human spirit. The song’s title has also become a greeting – people the world over will say hello and goodbye with the words “One Love.” A few years ago, the BBC chose “One Love” as the song of the century.” The impact is not only universal, but even more so it was personal. The reason why his music, lyrics, energy, passion and vision had such an impact was because it was true, and truth hits the soul.

During my nine years of studying in Israel, one of the most powerful experiences for me was the realization of how the Jewish people today have not experienced what Judaism is and can be. When in Israel, we studied around the clock – staying up till 3 in the morning, waking up at 6 or 7, and going strong all day (some naps here and there!). The more one learns the more one experiences the infinite amount of material, wisdom and knowledge there is available and how finite we are. Davening was something that took hours and hours everyday as we felt the power of praying to God, talking to God, yearning for a greater reality and loving and appreciating the life we live. We danced and sang during daily minyan as the level of passion was only matched with the level of vision and how badly the Jewish people need Jewish souls to learn and experience what it means to be a Jew, to bring the Jews from “Babylon” to “Zion”, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Raz Hartman

Let us all forget everything we have ever learned, thought or experienced in Judaism to make way for a richer, truer experience. Let us listen to our inner yearning for a spirited, spiritual, deep, meaningful, lively, soulful, mindful, expansive and I-let-my-Jewish-soul-rock-out-with-God experience of Judaism. We have begun a number of gatherings, learning sessions, discussions, classes, Kabbalat Shabbat Guitar Services and more here in Halifax to strive to actualize the potential of the Jewish people, singing, “Let’s get together & feel alright”.

May all your Chagim be beyond your wildest dreams,

Ari Sherbill

Rabbi of the Beth Israel Synagogue,

Halifax, Nova Scotia

(An Article in The Shalom Magazine of Atlantic Canada, September ‘09)

1)       Dvarim 28:47 – Understanding the Outcome of a Life Without Joy

1. In the Torah’s description of cause and effect, the Torah defines the outcome of suffering “…because you did not serve God with true happiness and a joyous heart”.
2. The verse does imply however that the Jewish people were serving God. That service would include: Praying, praying with a community, giving charity, studying, teaching, keeping kosher, keeping Shabbat, etc.
3. What is this verse of the Torah (literally the guide, hor’aah, Torah) teaching us about the nature of being Jewish: Is it more important what we do, or how we do it?
4. What is the Torah teaching us about the nature of cause and effect on a deeper level?

2)       Psalms 97:11 – “There is a light sown for a Tzadik / righteous person, and joy for those with a straight heart”.

1. a.       Otzar Hamidrashim / Collection of Medrashim, the 32 Character Traits of the Medrash, p. 268 – One cannot say that there is a Tzadik / righteous person who does not have joy and a straight person who is not filled with light. Rather this is the teaching: The righteous are those with a straight heart and their light is the light of joy.
2. b.       What does the verse mean by saying a straight heart? How is this defining the ability to be joyous?

3)       Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Likutey Mohoran 4:5, 5:3 – A person is inherently happy, it is merely the confusion of the mind that results through mistakes of action and thought that confuse a person to be unhappy – for man’s natural state is of a “straightened heart of joy”…

4)       Proverbs 17:22 – “A joyous heart enhances one’s brilliance, and a broken spirit dries the bones”

1. Explination by Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki, Rashi- When a person is overjoyed with the life he has been given, his face shines with that joy.
2. What is Rashi adding that we didn’t know already? What is Rashi pinpointing?
3. Rashi is adding the element of, “the life one has been given” – which is being aware of the current abundant blessings in one’s life, appreciating, acknowledging the reality of all the good one has been given – not focusing on lack but realizing that there is no lack. When a person lives with the joy of the life he has – his face will shine with that joy.
4. What does the end of the verse teach us? What is the root of all “dry bones”, suffering, ailments, frustration, and difficulty?

5)       The Torah does not merely instruct, it rather defines reality and is the gauge of reality. What the first verse in Dvarim and the later teaching of Proverbs has defined for us is the following reality in the following quotes:

1. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Likutey Mohoran II, 24 – The essential means of being connected to God is only through being in a consistent state of absolute joy, and to strengthen oneself to fully distance sadness and depression with all of one’s strength. For all the sicknesses that come upon a person – all of them come because of a lack of joy (literally: destruction of joy).
2. Rav Shlomo Carlebach, quoting Rebbe Nachman in his own words – People think they’re unhappy because of all the difficult things in their lives, but really it’s just the opposite: Difficult things come upon a person who is unhappy….
3. Sefer HaMidot (Book of Character Traits), Joy – Success can only come to one who is filled with joy.

                                                               i.      One might think the opposite – that when I become successful I’ll be happy!

                                                              ii.      Rather being filled with joy is our natural inherent state that brings about health, success and a true ability to relate, and be open to God! Amen!

If the study of Torah can have such an impact – why should one study it during the dark and cold night? Wouldn’t it make more sense to study during the glorious sunny Summer day? And why should one increase their study specifically during the longer nights? Unless there must be some secret to the essence of the night and its relationship to studying Torah.

“Torah can truly be experienced only when studied with all of one’s soul…For Torah to truly be studied, it must be studied at night.

Therefore, someone who wants to merit the crown of Divine Wisdom should be conscience every night of their life to immerse themselves in the study of Torah and higher consciousness.”

- Rambam, Maimonides

The Path to Study Torah, 3:12,13

The study of Torah is to open one’s mind and soul to a higher reality, to experience and touch upon a deeper living. In order to fully access this, one must study it in the evening – for the evening represents darkness, concealment and confusion. Not to be perused or merely read – but “with all of one’s soul” in the darkness of night, in the climax of struggle. For that darkness of night has within it the glory of silence, the majesty of stillness and all the world is quiet. In that realm, the Torah is entirely alive and available to expand one’s mind, enliven one’s heart and settle our soul.

If a person might not know where first to look to study Torah, not knowing which books to look for, etc. I would be happy to help them find a book that most speaks to them and their unique personality.

B’chasdei Hashem we should all merit attaining the higher realms of thought, emotion and experience that God wishes to bless us with during the beginnings of these longer nights.

On Tisha B’av we immerse ourselves in the book of Eicha (Lamentations), the poetic expression of Yirmiyahu who experienced the destruction in Jerusalem thousands of years ago.

Destruction of Jerusalem

Eicha also literally means “ayeka” which means: where are you? This was the same word that Hashem used to ask Adam where he is after he ate from the tree.

On Tisha B’av, the book of Eicha is an expression of who we are and who we can be. The destruction of Tisha B’av is not a historic thing, but a current reality of the spiritual exile and confusion that exists in the world. The day of Tisha B’av is a day where we can be silent with our lives and see who we really are and who we can become. God is asking all of us, “ayeka” where are we? What are our lives about? Who are we?

“The Mashiach is born on Tisha B’av”

- Talmud Yerushalmi, 2:4

Gathering Together on Tisha B’av

Let this Tisha B’av be a day of clarity, sensing the deeper reality in which we exist and becoming our ultimate selves – for with destruction comes true redemption and realization.

- Code of Jewish Law, Orach Chaim 554:1

The words of Torah absolutely bring a person to a place of joy and settledness, giving clear consciousness, patience and understanding.

If so – so even on T’sha B’av we should learn Torah?

Because we might not experience that when we learn Torah, or even listen to words of Torah throughout the year – we might open up or hear words of Torah and that experience is not there for us.

So on T’sha B’av we should be in a completely different reality of solitude and quiet to listen to the lack of completeness in our lives, to experience the unsettled mind that one might have throughout the year. And to listen to how it is thirsting for Torah to gladden our hearts, settle our mind and expand our lives. For T’sha B’av is the day of vision for how to repair and fix all that needs perfection: first and foremost our hearts and minds.