Itroductions to Kabbalah and Jewish Meditation in English
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1 ITRODUCTIONS TO KABBALAH AND JEWISH MEDITATION in English "Mikdash" - Kabalistic Jewish Meditation “Ways of Peace" Publishing 2 © 2018 Mikdash "Mikdash" - Kabalistic Jewish Meditation “Ways of Peace" מיקד"ש - מדיטציה יהודית קבלית "דרכי שלום" All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permision of the Auther or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Angency. Introductions and Kabalistic Meditations by: Rabbi Yakov Shepherd Translations by: Rabbi Yosef Sod, Rabbi Shmuel Gruen, Rabbi Peretz Aurbach, Rabbi Dovid Schwartz, Rabbi Yonatan Payson, Yosef Angarita, Ahdee Shepherd Type Setting by: Ahdee Shepherd Cover Design by: Batsheva Jacobs Distributed by: "Yeshivas Hamekubalim Nefesh HaChaim" Israeli Non Profit Organization580628527 972-(0)58-3208890 kingdavidkabbalah.com We will be happy to recieve comments and feed back so that the next edition will be more exact and user frienly for the bennifit of Klal Israel Rabbi Yakov A Shepherd [email protected] From The Tomb of King Dovid, Mount Zion - Jerusalem 3 Intorduction to Kabbalah Volume 1 4 rerequisites P For Successful Kabbalah Learning 5 3 Conditions of the Rashash for Effective Kavanot ar Shalom Sharabi was born in Jewish Sharab, SYemen. He moved to Palestine, then under Ottoman rule, after an unpleasent event that happened while selling jewlery in Yemen, he would go door to door to sell jewlery and once he nocked on the door of a gentil woman, she showed interest in what he was selling she requested that he come in and unfortunatly he understood her intentions were not pure, not having aother choice he jumped out of her window and knew that she may take revenge on him because he insulted her that he did not want to coperate, so he left Yemen, to Israel, he went strait to Jerusalem. He went to the kabalist Yeshiva "Bet El" and asked if he could clean the yeshiva in eschange for sleeping there. As the days went by he would sweep the floor and with out anyone knowing listen to the classes. Everyonce and a while they learned they would come to a point were they could not figure out the answer, the next morning the answer would be written on apaper inside the book they were learning from. This happened again and again. no one had a clue were the answers were coming from. One night the rosh yeshivas daughter said she would find out and when she told her father the secret that the boy cleaning the yeshiva was leaving the answer he was 6 shocked. Soon it came that the Rashash (Rav Shalom Sharabi) was the new rosh yeshiva of the famos Bet El Kabalistic Yeshiva. is Siddur was known as the "Siddur Ha- HKavvanot," and is used today by Kabbalists in prayer, meditation and study. It has extensive Kabbalistic meditations. His books include "Emet va-Shalom", "Rehovot Hanahar", "Derech Shalom" and "Nahar Shalom", in which he answers questions of the Hahamim of Tunis, who were among the leading Sephardic authorities in the 18th century. He alsowrote on the customs of the Yemenite Jews in volumes called "Minhagei Rashash". He is one of the main comentairies on the AriZ"l, and some say the reincarnation of the AriZ"l. 1. Perfecting Ones Character In order to advance to the depths of Torah and Kabbalah it is an important to work on ridding oneself of bad character traits. In Kabbalah, these traits are referred to as “Kutnot Ouhr- a garment of skin”, and one must work to cloth himself with the cloak of the “613 limbs of good character”; referred to as “Kutnot Ohr- a garment of light”. This Idea is Divided into Three Aspects; 7 . Shedding the Kutnot Ohr: As long as we are Astill clothed with the “garment of skin”--negative character traits, we will be distanced from fulfilling the Torah and its Commandments. Even if we will prevail, it will be with much hardship and not for Heaven’s sake. The Torah refers to this person’s Torah and Mitzvot as a “golden ornament in a pig’s nose”. The Gemara states, “when one merits, the Torah becomes a potion of life. When he doesn’t merit it becomes a poison”. Strengthen Self to Fight the Yezter Hara: If a Bperson will strengthen himself like a lion to fight his Yetzer Hara and cleanse himself from his negative character; and then fulfills the Torah and Mitzvot, he is called a complete Tzaddik. Additionally he is someone who fears Heaven, is considered a man of strength because he who controls his Yetzer Hara. Continual Refinement: If one continues to Cconquer his bad character traits and acquires good character traits--until it becomes second nature to him--and he nullifies all desire for bad as is hinted in the verse “remove your shoes from your feet”, then his garment of “Kutnot Ohr- a garment of skin” will transform into “Kutnot Ohr- a garment of light”. 8 With this, his NRNCH”Y (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshahma, Chaya, and Yechida), Mochin and his Tzelem, will illuminate in his Kutnot Ohr- garment of light. He will then be clothed in the name of YHV”H and become a receptacle for Hashem’s presence as the Avot who were considered Hashem’s Chariot. He will then be complete in all realms. He will be called a Chassid, loved, loves Hashem, and worships Him with love. 2. Be Married received from my Rabbis that one embarking I on the road to the study of Kabbalah has to be married and have domestic harmony. The major reason is that as man grows spiritually and refines himself; he needs protection against falling, especially with Kabbalah and Kavanot. The Sages said, “one who lives without a woman, lives without a wall of protection”. The Sod of spiritual protection comes to a person when he marries. urthermore, if man has marital strife, Heaven Fforbid, there is a weaknesses in his wall. Once in our yeshiva, someone wanted to employ a certain custom of the Ari”ZL, but at home there 9 was opposition to this, creating problems of peace. Therefore, our Rabbis told him that it is better to keep peace and not fulfill that custom of the Ari”ZL. Only after peace was reestablished in the house, would the Rabbis allow him to return to the customs. 3. Immersing in the Mikvah he Arizal wrote that the most important thing to Tattaining a spiritual high is being spiritually pure at all times. This is achieved by immersing in the mikvah. Therefore, one should be very meticulous about Tvilat Ezra- immersing when emitting seed. Also, because there are other times one is susceptible to impurity, such as at midnight and when the Morning-Star emerges, if possible, one should immerse in a mikvah daily. Prerequisites Concerning Using Kavanot Warning Against Avodah Zarah (Idol Worship) he main focus of prayer is knowing that one is Tstanding in front of the Throne of Glory and 10 praying to the essence of the singular Master, the Ein Sof Who includes all powers. It is forbidden to have intention to pray to any specific power and particular Sefirah (attribute). Thus, when it is written for a blessing to have a specific Kavanot of a particular Sefirah or a Heavenly Aspect (ZA, ABA, EMA, etc,) it is not to the Sefirah itself--Heaven Forbid. As it is stated, doing so would be considered 'cutting the branches away from the root'…. Meaning, for reasons known only to Hashem, He binds His will to action through certain Sefirot and forces that are aspect of the chained order of realms fixed by Him. Therefore, each Sefirah is set to accomplish a specific matter in the Worlds. Once again our whole intention in all blessings and prayer must be solely directed to the essence of the blessed Infinite One, from the aspect of Him attaching His will to the Worlds – from which comes all the facets of changing titles and names that act to direct light and flow of holiness from His essence. And that works according to the arousal which comes to them from action below (the proper thoughts, intentions, prayers, acts, etc) by each person of the Chosen Nation--whether in kindness (Chesed), in judgment (Din/Gevurah), or charity 11 (Tzedakah) and mercy (Rachamim)--not matter how little or how much. In a basic sense, the arousal from below creates a potential channel tp impact our World (Malchut) with an influx of Divine Blessing (Shefa). The effectiveness of this channel--how much energy can flow through and the type of energy that flows-- depends on the particular action below. And this is determined by the effort and purity of the devotion. Stipulate to Have Intention Only to Fix t is known from the Holy Writings that by using IKavanot and Kabbalistic Meditation if done improperly, Heaven forbid, a person may damage the Worlds he wished to activate instead of fix. Thus, prior to using Kavanot or Kabbalistic Meditation it is done with this condition: If it is done properly it should be accepted favorably, but if is lacking or adding something unfitting it should be like learning and the meditation should not activate the Worlds. Once one says this condition he need not be concerned. Hashem knows and understands who 12 we are and deals with us accordingly. Therefore, we should strive to accomplish all we can to the best of our ability.