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Life After Death
Life After Death
Poetic notes on the Parashat Achrei Mot and Kedoshim 5783*
Poetic notes on the Parashat Achrei Mot and Kedoshim 5783*
Kedosh, kedosh, kedosh,
holy eternal life after a holy death…
Like the afterglow of lightning,
like the flashing light of angels in the firmament,
was the existential glow of the priest of God in the Tabernacle
"Be holy as I, your God, am holy!" Says Hashem
Be separate from the wastes of time
Be separate from the ashes of space
Be separate from the deep depths
of the finite granuals of corruption’s dust
and from the fleeting colours of the dreams of sin
Be more than technically human
When the cohen spoke,
his voice was like a thunder of fear and love!
The words of the cohen of Hashem's Torah
were like a thundering thought,
like the light of insight,
a glimmer into Hashem’s ancient hidden truth,
the food of our souls being revealed!
Can an Adam made from dust and ashes
invade the heaven of light above all worlds?
Can a swollen Adam,
leavened with an ill-begotten pride,
enter the sanctum of the Selfless One?
The Selfless One is resting in pure love,
waiting for the pure to come to him
The priests were heard by the people
like a thunder of hope penetrating the ears of the dead
Only a learner can become an eternal human being
Only a learner can be more than merely technically human
Who truly is a learner?
One who learns from the error of their ways
One who learns the grace of obedience to their Maker
Enter in fear through the gate of Moshe’s prayer,
when he prayed for unmerited mercy for the tribes of Israel
Moshe yoked himself together with the firstborn
of the tribes of Hashem redeemed from Egypt
Enter through Moshe’s gate into intimate life with your God!
Enter through the gate of the redeemed redeemer
into the Eternal’ arms of infinite love!
Hear the thunderous prophecy of the stone of time closing,
like a revelation of the chariot of heaven landing
The spiritual thunder and lightning
of the voice of the Levitical priesthood
is like the iridescent appearance of the rainbow
in the midst of the cloud of God’s Presence
And when the cohen spoke words of Torah service,
the timber of his voice was like a song of every wave crashing
The sound was becoming light,
filling the home of God’s little children with a glorious vision,
like the vision of the number of all the stars of creation
This is the vision of redemption!
Who can see the vision and resist the life-giving voice?
The cohen’s voice was like a melody of agreement
between divided disciples praying,
being reconciled with obedient love
How like a candle more luminous than the the sun or stars
was the Cohen HaGadol
as he came out of the Holy of Holies in peace!
His voice of atonement sounded to his family like a shofar of love:
Listen to the sound of the conquering of the world!
But the mourners in Zion came forward
The sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
took it upon themselves in their error
to celebrate their nearness to God,
and the black sorrow fell on Israel
But to the mourners in Zion, God said,
“All Israel shall be called the priests of Hashem!”
For, Nadab and Abihu took it into their own mind
to create a beautification for the pattern of service
Therefore tears of fire fell
from the eyes of God upon them
Moses said to his brother, Aaron,
This is what Hashem spoke,
'I will be sanctified through those near to Me,
and before all the people I will be glorified.'
When will Elijah come and walk beside us?
The slavers harvest souls with impunity in the night
When will Elijah come to overturn the violence
of the kidnappers of souls
Elijah will come, and our souls snared by predators within our hearts
and newborn souls orphaned from their homes
will hear the voice of Elijah crying in the wilderness
Among those unclean, Elijah will pronounce many clean
And among the clean will be found the unclean
But if your ears have already healed a little
and your heart can arise a little from the dust
Arise and shine!
For the dispute of the serpent has been settled!
For God called Abraham from the land of the East
One who sets out in truth to repent,
sets out in truth to learn an entirely new behaviour,
like the youth who sets out on their longed for lifetime career
They hope to recognize the antidote to that residue of poison
that sin left in their heart and in the heart of the very creation
Their hope will not prove false
How satanic are the fangs of rebellion!
Who can mend the void?
Who can remove the poison of sin left in the rocks and waves
of creation itself?
How grievous is the arrogance of sin!
Would you cover your face in the holy way of prayer?
Would you turn again to the commandment of eternal life?
Would you mount up with the wings of eagles?
You cannot without those who are feeble
You cannot without those whose prayers are weak,
not without the poorest member…
A little child will lead them
God said, "Then Israel will know that I am Hashem"
And he said, "Then Egypt will know that I am Hashem"
For it is the dead who will stand alive in his presence
Let Adam be reconciled with his child
Let freewill be redeemed in Israel
The root of teshuvah is the resurrection of the dead
And the root of resurrection is
the Holy One's incomprehensible kindness
Hashem will look upon them
through tears of holiness and unlimited joy
The Holy Blessed One will sing an eternal melody
and all of his weak and breathless children will be strong
Hashem’s grace and humility
have formed wings over Jerusalem!
Ascend forever in holiness without end!
Next year the new creation begins in Jerusalem!
But we cannot ascend unless we first descend to stand and rest,
a quorum of the righteous and the repentant,
leaning to the left and to the right upon the everlasting arms,
leaning together as one
upon the divine wings that lift Jerusalem
The one who brought you out of Egypt
and freed you from the soul slaver
is Hashem your God
If Israel is to travel in light to the nations,
unencumbered by shadow or sound of fear,
if the Land of Israel is to be the witness stand
in the hour of world judgment,
the students of Israel’s rabbis with special needs
and the students of Israel’s prophets with special needs
must play their music together
The thunder of their testimony must be in perfect harmony
*Attributions:
*Attributions:
*Being a meditation on a Torah classes on parashot Achrei Mot / Kedoshim delivered in 5871 and 5873, and on seperate Torah classes on Achrei Mot and Kedoshim delivered in 5872,by Rabbi Baitelman of ChaBaD Richmond, B.C., based on the series, Torah Studies, by Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Neither Rabbi Baitelman nor the JLI have reviewed or approved of the content of this post. Also, these poetic notes are based on other sources for 5872, including the Machzor of Yom Kippur, as in the version of 5781. Together with these sources, these poetic notes are based upon Tikkunei Zohar, Tikun 20. They are also based on the following essay:
An Essay on Parshat Acharei Mot
By Rabbi Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz)
Excerpts from this essay:
Excerpts from this essay:
"The cause of the sin was overfamiliarity with G‑d and His service. The problem of overfamiliarity is a constant problem for those who stand before G‑d and especially for the Priests in their role as G‑d’s servants."
"A non-Jewish scholar writes in a work on Tanach that Psalm 145 is one of the most beautiful verses that he has ever seen. Now, one who recites this psalm three times a day or more will find it very difficult to appreciate its beauty in this way... What is the source of this limited appreciation? It is not because he does not know it by heart, but precisely because he knows it by heart. The Kotzker Rebbe reportedly explained the words of the piyut, 'Beauty and eternity pertain to the One who lives forever,' that when a person looks at something beautiful a hundred times, it stops being special in his eyes."
“'Moses said to Aaron: This is what G‑d meant when He said, I will be sanctified through those near to Me; thus I will be honored before the entire people.' G‑d is essentially saying that Nadav and Avihu are members of His household; they are children who grew up in His yard. Even if it would seem that they do not deserve such a punishment, 'He puts no trust even in His holy ones.' The Talmud states that G‑d calls those who are close to Him to a strict accounting even for matters as slight as a hairbreadth. Because of their closeness, they in particular must be held to a strict accounting, because even a hairbreadth can lead them off the straight path."
"Every person, in one respect or another, draws close to G‑d, and one must always remember that even though he may know what goes on behind the scenes, he must not lose the feeling of respect and awesome reverence... To what degree can one stand very close and yet remain in a state of awe and reverence, dread and trembling?"
"To straddle both sides simultaneously is nearly impossible; it is certainly one of the most difficult things that a person can do – yet that is what is required of a Jew. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov comments that in order to achieve this, one must be simultaneously extremely old and yet, in a sense, completely infantile. This requirement is against human nature, but nevertheless, as Jews we are called upon to do just this."
"There is a tradition that it is a mitzvah to weep when speaking of the deaths of Aaron’s sons. Indeed, one should keep this in mind, for it is truly worth crying over...."
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