Living Inspired

Everything always comes full circle beloved. I just hung up from talking to a dear friend, actually an even dearer friends son. So much history, so many journeys. I remember when we all first started studying Torah together, we would all finally call it a night, or should I say morning, reluctantly saying our goodbyes with still so much left to sort through. In those days I could not let the parsha go, there was just so much to take in, I would end up working through two and three parshas at a time. After about a year I realized it was ok, I didn't have to understand it all, G*D in His great mercy would let me go through it again next year.
It was Jeremy who was so excited about the teachings of Rabbi Akiva Tatz, we would listen into the night to his teachings. The Scriptures tell us that the children will lead. It is inspiring to see young people so on fire for the Word of G*D. It was Jeremy who lead us in a sprint each morning to the Kotel in Israel to say morning prayers and it is with great happiness that I got to hear that he will soon be leading his Kallah on an amazing new life journey.
I have been working through Rabbi Tatz's book Living Inspired during this time of Elul, some things never change, I am still finding it difficult to let some things go. As Rabbi Tatz says,living inspired follows a higher pattern, hard to grasp but worth the effort. He says, mystical truths can only be "talked around" until one "falls in". When one finally grasps the essence of something it is so clear and so simple, but it can only be grasped inwardly and can never truly be expressed.
That higher pattern has three distinct facets. The first being the point of beginning, the transition from nothing, to something. The second is the process itself. And the third is true joy, the resolution of doubt, the depth of emotion felt upon understanding why what seemed unjust or cruel was in fact kindness. The first phase is ecstasy, the second is one of pain, and the third transcendence. As we begin the new year may we all be inspired to live lives worthy of our calling. It is a life of joy, and with much struggle we can break free of the things that keep us from knowing G*D more deeply, those flashes of understanding may only last a moment, but what an amazing moment it is.

A healing meditation from Rabbi Jeff Roth:
Nafshi, holat, ahavahtecha ana elna refa na la
My soul yearns for your love, Yedid Nefesh, please G*D heal her *Moses prayer for Miriam.
Rav Kook, a 19th century chef Rabbi of Israel taught that our soul is always active, deep down, it is always praying, always struggling to live forward and in a good way.
If we could just create a stillness, if we could clear our mind of old thoughts, old knowledge and old emotions, then we can hear that subtle, small voice.
May we all be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life.
Elisheva Amaris