Shavuot - 6 Sivan

Tonight and tomorrow is the festival of Shavuot that will be of interest also to non-Jews since it is directly connected to the Project Mind theme. This would probably be a good time to point out that PM is not, exclusively, a Jewish endeavor and that insights supporting PM thinking are welcome at the Exoteric section of our website and "Mochin" mail list from all religions and traditions.

Shavuot, literally, "Weeks," also known as "Yom HaBikurim," "Atzeret," "Chag HaKatzir" and "Zman Matan Torateinu," is the festival that commemorates the giving of the Torah to the People of Israel. It is one of three pilgrimage (to the Temple in Jerusalem) festivals, including Pessach (Passover) and Succoth (Tabernacles). Shavuot falls on the 6th of Sivan, exactly 50 days counting from the second day of Pessach. These 50 days are seen as seven weeks (49 days) of "Omer" counted scrupulously, day by day, plus the crowning 50th day of Shavuot, itself. At the end of this "countup" (as opposed to a countdown), we are expected, in our epoch (just as we were in the epoch of the actual giving of the Torah) to incrementally purify ourselves, day after day, according to the quality assigned to each day, so as to be worthy of receiving the Torah, in its entirety, on the 50th day.

Each day has a unique quality said to be a reflection of the Creator's virtues that we are called upon to emulate. The spiritual meaning of each day can be gleaned from Kabbalah and Jewish cosmology that we are invited to study, contemplate and experience as best we can in this age of darkness and metaphysical blindness (Hester). So, this counting period is considered to be a time for self-examination and repentance. By tradition, during this period, an extra measure of sobriety is called for because, just then, 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students died of plague having failed to pay proper respect to one another. Many people are puzzled by the harshness of this decree given the high degree of scholarship and piety that these students had attained. In addition, the Jewish People, as always, were in dire need of such scholars.

On the very first Shavuot, in the Jewish year 2448 (counting from world Creation), just over 3300 years ago, the Creator revealed Himself to Israel, as a nation, in a mass epiphany that briefly welded the six hundred thousand Jewish souls into one united consciousness. Briefly, each soul was concerned only for the well-being of the other 599,999 with no thought for itself. To stress the unity of this experience, the Torah describes Israel in the singular "VaYachan Mul HaHar" and "it" (rather than "they") camped opposite the mountain. A beautiful, rabbinical expression for this inner disposition is, "K'Ish Echad, U'B'Lev Echad" (as one man with one heart). In this atmosphere of awe for the Creator and love for others, Israel accepted the Torah ( also known as the blueprint of Creation) and the commandments, therein, unconditionally ("Na'asseh V'Nishma"), as its eternal law.

One of the most important implications of having received the Torah as an absolute obligation is that, as far as obedience is concerned, it precludes initiative in the full sense of the word. While it is true that we can struggle to understand and interpret to our heart's content, we are not allowed to add or detract one iota from the Torah. As beings with free choice, we can (heaven forbid), choose to disobey the Torah's commandments but, in doing so, we would be contravening the Covenant made when Israel, spontaneously, accepted the Torah in its entirety.

In fact, the Ten Commandments are referred to, in Hebrew, as the "Tablets of the Covenant" (Luchot HaBrit). One Midrash goes as far as to suggest that Mt. Sinai was held over the heads of Israel as a threat, suggesting that our acceptance of the Torah was predestined and that our refusal would have resulted in the annihilation, not only of Israel but of all existence. As we shall see later, this is not as far-fetched as it might seem at first.

It is clear that the obedience inherent in accepting the Torah put Israel at the level of "servants" of the Creator. But beyond distinguishing the faithful servant from the partner or son who also serves but shows initiative and innovates as well, we should remember that, behind it all is the mission of Israel that requires both roles. The mission of the People of Israel is to complete the purpose of Creation as the Creator's partner and bride. Failing this mission is unthinkable as symbolized by the Mt. Sinai being held over our heads.

As already implied, beyond the 248 positive commandments and the 356 negative ones, all mandatory, there is a remaining existential domain known as "Reshut" (permission or optional). In this domain, initiative and innovation are not only possible but constitute a key indicator of maturity. Imagine raising a child who never ventured beyond obedience to rules and regulations. How tragically robotic!

The choice of one's profession fits into this category just as does the investigation of this world, including science. Science, in Torah, is neither recommended nor forbidden. In fact, although we are commanded to know the Creator and His Creation, science, as such, is not explicitly mentioned in Torah. This cannot be because Torah preceded science, since Torah spans all of existence.  

This is because to command anything in the domain of Reshut would be to preempt initiative and creativity and invalidate the status of Israel as a full partner with the Creator in Creation. It would be to revert to the level of obligation and obedience (Mitzvah, Chok and Mishpat). The notion of full partnership with the Creator seems quite impossible to most and even sacrilegious. And, yet, the fulfillment of the purpose of Creation is quite impossible without this partnership and the face-to-face communion of mankind with G-d that, once again, is considered by most, impossible and, by definition, sacrilegious.

It is a spiritual truism that the highest lights are revealed from the lowest place. From this perspective, science that explores the lowest and densest aspect of existence - the physical - is a spiritual pursuit of the highest order. But, sadly, scientists, for the most part, have still to grasp the spiritual nature of their vocation just as those of us with spiritual pretensions tend to forget that the pursuit of the mastery of matter represents the greatest of difficulties and thus requires of us the greatest of effort and virtue. In other words, the spiritualists tend to retreat from this harsh material world into the ethereal and the scientists tend to bury their existential angst in the illusory comfort of mechanicity inherent in materialism. Some, interestingly, even explore amalgams that provide some of the advantages of both. But who among us is willing to apply his full spiritual potential, risking sanity, life and limb to penetrate the deepest secrets of matter and free humanity from the holocaust of suffering that derives from our ignorance of matter?

The scientist typically contemplates his subject of interest until a new idea, that may have never occurred to any other human being in history, strikes him perhaps in a Eureka moment of inspiration. At this point, the spiritual component of his pursuit, the spark of insight has exhausted itself and he begins formulating hypotheses that could validate his insight. This also requires creative contemplation but, as a rule, far less so. Then comes the enormous cost of hypothesis testing in the laboratory that, in principle, could have, in part or even entirely, been tested in the mind had he been willing to allow the spark of inspiration, actually a spark of the sacred, to further elaborate itself within himself.

Little or no initiative is expected of servants or of those who are engulfed in a state of awe. Initiative is what a father hopes to observe in his sons. It involves emulating the father. Emulation, attempting to be like the father, (Hashva'at HaTsura), is defined, in Kabbalah, as love. In contradistinction to awe - an attitude of looking upwards to a higher authority - initiative involves looking downwards to Creation. It implies concerning oneself with living creatures, vegetation and the inanimate, all aspects of existence that are less privileged (and less conscious) than humans (Ahavat HaBriyot). When a son emulates his father in exercising initiative, he is no less in awe of the father than the servant since one does not emulate someone whom one does not admire and look up to. Rather, the state of love is a more highly evolved state of "Being" superimposed upon awe. This conforms to the spiritual law "Ein He'eder B'Ruchniyut" (new spiritual stages don't replace old ones but are added to them).

Thus it is enormously important to make this distinction between awe and love. The obligation that Torah represents is non-negotiable. It is a given. Torah and Mitzvot, (precepts) properly followed, condition Jewish life making it balanced, just, sacred and pure. Without this conditioning, we would lack the perspective and inner resources (especially courage) to exercise initiative and to innovate in a way that expresses true emulation of and partnership with the Creator. So without denigrating Torah and Mitzvot in the slightest, it is now possible to characterize the exoteric roles of Torah, as spiritual hygiene, world maintenance and cultural transmission that ensure the quality of life that can lead to sacred initiative and the creative fulfillment of our messianic destiny. In this spirit, we follow the indications of Beit Hillel that is moderate and forgiving in its Halachic (ritual) rulings consistent with the needs and weaknesses of a pre-messianic world. Beit Shamai, in all its rigor, will rule during the Messianic Millennium when keeping all the rules will be effortless and second nature to us. Yet nothing can lead us to initiative unless initiative becomes our purpose. Creative vision of a level and quality that  emulates the Creator is a conscious choice.

There are many phrases giving expression to Jewish purpose and mission and to the characteristics of the Jewish People meant to accomplish it. Expressions defining this mission include "Tikkun Olam B'Malchut Shaddai" (total world transformation), "Gilui Gadluto Yitbarach" (to reveal His greatness), "Makom Ladur BaTachtonim" (to make a dwelling for Him in the lower realms), "Timcheh Et Zeicher Amalek" (eradicate the doubt inherent in Amalek), "L'0r Goyim" (a light unto the nations), etc. For a discussion of Jewish purpose and how it is to be pursued, please see the essay, "Science as Applied Kabbalah," at our website: http://www.projectmind.org

The supernal energy quality (Sfira) most associated with Shavuot is Binah (understanding) and the watchword associated with Shavuot is "Bilah HaMavet LaNetzach" (may death be swallowed up forever). Torah is called "Etz Chayim" (the Tree of Life) and the concluding prayer we say, when we are called to the Torah, goes "V'Chayei Olam Natah B'Tocheinu" (and You planted eternal life within us). All this attempts to point us in the direction of the infinite. So while Shavuot puts the emphasis on our obligation towards Torah, just like Torah, it does not lack in hints as to where Torah should be taking us. The lesson we have yet to learn, as a maturing Israel, is that initiative and innovation, in the realm of Reshut (in parallel with our efforts to deepen our relationship with the obligations of Torah) are indispensable to a practical and operational relationship with the infinite and thus with the Creator.

Having said all this, one could conclude just the opposite from the Holy Zohar. The Zohar asserts that the final emendation (Gmar HaTikun) could have come at the revelation of Torah at Mt. Sinai, the original Shavuot when, collectively, we were in a total state of passive awe and receptivity. There is a logic to this assertion since had we, indeed, received the Torah in complete submission and purity, we would have achieved Hashva'at HaTsura (similarity of form) and been totally corrected and in harmony with the Creator. With the Image of the Creator fully realized within ourselves, the peoples of the world would have been instantly transformed through contact with the sacred image fully realized within each Jew. Existence, itself, would soon have been unified saving us from having to go through the painful remainder of history. Even the utopia of the Great Shabbat, the Sabbatical Millennium, in principle, would not have been necessary. Incredibly, the Zohar asserts that total and eternal communion with the Creator could have been achieved.

Unfortunately, during the great Sinai epiphany, impurities were present in the form of the "Mixed Multitude" (Erev Rav) that went out of Egypt with Israel. Powerful as our communion with the Creator was, we failed to reach absolute perfection and thus lost our ability to perfectly embody Torah and emulate the Creator. Our longing for this perfect state of awe of the Creator and the concomitant love for all of Israel, now both lost, soon found its expression in the sin of the Golden Calf. Incidentally, this was not unlike how we came to the sin of eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in Eden that some commentators explain as our attempt, inspired by the serpent, to prematurely achieve communion with the Creator.

So perhaps, now, we can have some added insight into the reason for the plague that took so many of Rabbi Akiva's students. It is said that the Creator is most exacting with those who are most righteous. By their great spiritual achievements, under the greatest Torah scholar of his time, these students were candidates for correcting the sin of the Golden Calf but the prerequisite was that their remarkable knowledge of Torah be a unifying source of awe and love. Instead, pride and competition created divisions among them at just the time of year when escalating and meticulous purity are called for.

According to the doctrine of the Fall of Man (Yeridat HaDorot) we are now trapped in metaphysical blindness (Hester Kaful) and no longer have the ability to purify ourselves to the required degree. In fact, it is widely acknowledged that we will have very little understanding of Torah before the advent of the Great Shabbat when one thousand years of Torah study and cosmic unification will begin under the tutelage of the messiah. Yet we can still prepare for Shabbat by completing the creative  work that has been assigned to us in the realm of Reshut and reveal the Creator's infinite bounty in this seemingly finite world such that all our slavish attachment to the physical will become psychologically and spiritually eliminated. In the Shabbat Kiddush (sanctification of the wine) the Creator exhorts us to complete ALL creative work (Kol Melachtecha) since otherwise, the Great Shabbat cannot begin.

Above, in making the distinction between love and awe, reference is made to the Shma Prayer ("Here Oh Israel....."), in which we are exhorted to love the Creator. But perhaps, just as important if not more, is the intensity called for ("B'Chol L'vavcha ....Meodecha,") meaning "With all your heart, soul and might." This clearly calls for the full use of our divine potential (made in the image of G-d) in order to fulfill our partnership Covenant. This intensity of effort, fully exploiting all levels of consciousness, has never been achieved and, perhaps not even seriously attempted. Rabbi Akiva, himself, is said to have discovered the meaning of loving G-d with all his soul only at the moment of his horrendous death at the hands of the Romans. It is time that we began applying ourselves to this end, without reservation. Project Mind provides an operational framework for achieving just this. Nothing less will allow us to penetrate the secrets of the cosmos and release mankind from illusion, suffering and death.

What we failed to achieve, directly,  through spiritual purity, we can still achieve through the perfecting of the physical through the total creative vision that encompasses all levels of  Creation (YKVK) of Torah (PaRDeS) and of our being (Mochin). This will bring about spiritual awakening from our subjective attachment to matter and trigger the beginning the Great Shabbat that, under the tutelage of the Mashiach, will unfailingly lead to Torah mastery and perfect union with the Creator. Then the secret and prophecy of Shavuot will be realized -- "Bilah HaMavet LaNetzach" -- may death be swallowed up forever!  

It would seem, to most, that the conquest of death, as a pre-requisite for the Sabbatical Millennium, would be the crowning glory of existence. They forget that Shabbat is a finite quantity, one day each week, in our mundane world and one thousand years of Sabbatical Millennium. They forget that the work of Sabbath - non-creative work - will involve one thousand years of Torah study and its application, as the blueprint of existence, to the unification of all of existence into once, coherent, sacred vessel worthy of face-to-face communion with the Creator. Only such frontal communion will allow for a unified Creation to receive ALL of the Creator's  light and, in this way, complete the purpose of Creation.  

The watchword of Shavuot - Bilah HaMavet LaNetzach - includes the word "LaNetzach" which means "forever." Thus Shavuoth not only points to the immortality to which we are destined, hinting at the Sabbatical Millennium, but also specifies "forever" hinting at the final destination, at the completion of this one thousand year utopia, when, face-to-face with the Creator (a condition that, in our present sate, would overwhelm us with death), we will receive all of His light and enjoy His ultimate gift to us - Eternal Ecstasy.  

Thus the epiphany described at the beginning of this essay, that momentarily welded all of Israel into one consciousness, was, in effect, a forerunner of the ultimate epiphany when all of existence will be "welded" into one sacred vessel capable of receiving all of the Creator's light and, thus, will be worthy of the Creator's greatest gift - Eternal Ecstasy.