Forum Replies Created
- Replies
1. Mishna, Berachot, 9:5
One must welcome the bad as much as one welcome’s the good, as was said, “And you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” “With all your heart,” with your two inclinations, with the good inclination and with the evil inclination. “And with all your soul,” even if He takes your soul. “And with all your might,” with all your money.
I chose this reading because it taught me more about what loving God really means. Many people have a “transactional” relationship with the Creator. “Creator, give me this and i will love you.” This reading helped open my eyes to how love of the Creator has to be complete, unconditional, and with total faith and trust.
Homework
To make myself a Rav, I must open my mouth like a baby. I must receive what I’m being taught with an open heart and open arms. Questioning the Rav and his teachings will only move me away from my goal of drawing closer to the Creator.
Watching the Rav in the clip “My Life Is Not My Own” makes it clear how he has submitted to the Creator. He is driven by the importance of the goal. He has a sense of obligation driven by gratitude. It’s like his love of the Creator of the path of Kabbalah has swept him up. The Rav has annulled before the Creator and even his students so that he can submit to the Creator’s role for him.
My motivation to persevere is my desire to be more connected to what’s real, important, and good. I’m starting to feel like life without a real connection to the Creator is a broken thing.
To show the Upper Force that I want to be in contact with it, I think I would have to try to be as much like it as possible. This is hard because it’s so hard to even sense it from where I am.
