It never ceases to amaze me how reactive people are! Especially when those people are me! You would think that after studying, teaching and attempting to live a “Kabbalah lifestyle” for well over twenty years I should now be a paragon of tranquility, proactive consciousness and sublime spirituality. My exquisite wife will assure you that that is not always the case. But we are not here to just talk about me (even though I’m a Leo) so let’s discuss those other people.
For instance, this morning I entered my apartment building lobby to find the concierge, porters and doormen all arguing with each other! Vernon, one of the doormen, had slipped on the ice and hit his head on the sidewalk while attempting to help one of the residents with their packages. Everyone was busy pointing fingers at each other:
“You should have known there wasn’t enough salt on the ground!”
“Shhh…”
“Let me finish what I am saying…!”
“Shhh…” This time with the index finger raised.
“It’s your responsibility to make sure!”
“You were here, too!”
And so on… Poor Vernon looked like he was about to pass out and was left alone to tend to his bruised head, because everyone was too busy shouting at each other!
One of the things that I have learned over the years is it’s not just the big, dramatic arguments and fights in life that bring us so much chaos, but rather the accumulation of all of those little arguments, petty rivalries and cheap jealousies that we bunch together like sour grapes. We squeeze them into really bad tasting wine and wonder why we keep on drinking that terrible stuff! Imagine the scene in my building lobby multiplied millions of times and happening all over the world all of the time. It’s not hard to understand why things are the way they are.
Kabbalah teaches that if we don’t decide and commit to transform, we will never succeed. And even if you actually decide and commit to make a change, don’t expect everything to be served to you on a silver platter!
Rav Berg taught that the purpose of studying Kabbalah is not to ask for an easy life. The real reason to learn Kabbalah is to not let the chaos of life stop you from becoming who you need to be!
The image that Rav Berg related was of a battleship sailing through stormy seas. The waves keep coming, but the ship sails straight and true. Our destiny as a human race is happiness and fulfillment. The question is why do we let the “waves” – especially the small ones – get in our way and, more importantly, what can we do to be more like that battleship?
The Zohar teaches that the Torah portion of Yitro (Jethro) contains the answers to our questions. The defining feature of this portion is the famous revelation of the “Ten Commandments” at Mount Sinai. When I used to think of the Ten Commandments, I imagined Cecil B. DeMille’s voice (another Leo) in the old Charlton Heston movie, “The Ten Commandments,” bellowing out: “Thou shalt not place any other God before me…”
Rav Berg explained that the Ten Commandments are really a cosmic code. The actual translation from biblical Hebrew is “Ten Utterances” or “Ten Instruments.” They represent the ten dimensions or instruments of the Light Force of the Creator. The Zohar reveals that the revelation at Mount Sinai represents nothing less than the complete emancipation of mankind from the forces of chaos and suffering! It was the first time in history that hundreds of thousands of individuals achieved what we all pray and hope for: freedom from pain, illness and even death!
The question that all of the commentators ask is why is this very important (perhaps the most important) portion named after Yitro, a seemingly minor biblical character? On the surface, his main claim to fame stemmed from being the father-in-law of Moses. Yet Yitro is invited by Moses to become the spiritual “eyes of the Israelite nation”. Moses even accepts Yitro’s help to create the template for a rudimentary judicial system that is still in use today! Moses, the great visionary, and the righteous sages couldn’t figure it out on their own?
The Zohar explains that Yitro was originally one of the chief advisors to Pharaoh. He fled Egypt and their ancient system of selfishness and greed, and succeeded in transforming himself using the spiritual tools that Moses taught the Israelites! He actually did it! That is also why Moses needed Yitro’s help to create the “legal system” (which is a code for how energy is transmitted from teacher to student). Moses wanted Yitro’s consciousness of transformation involved in the process. Yitro had internalized the lessons that Moses taught. It didn’t simply remain superficial information. Yitro became that battleship that Rav Berg spoke of because he used the tools!
Which tools you might ask? The 72 Names of God and the consciousness of certainty in the Light Force of the Creator.
The portion begins with the words, “And Yitro heard.” What did he hear? How the Light saved the Israelites by splitting the Red Sea (literally Yam Suf – the “Sea of End”, it represents any barrier in our lives that we think is unchangeable) and defeating Amalek (a code for doubt and uncertainty). The revelation at Mount Sinai couldn’t have happened without the Israelites first using the tools of Kabbalah: The 72 Names of God and certainty in the Creator. Rav Berg explained that the eyes of the entire world were watching Yitro to see how he would respond to the miraculous exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their defeat of Amalek. In fact, Yitro symbolizes the consciousness of the world. He embodies the desire of mankind to transform as a homogenous whole! Freedom from chaos and suffering is meant for everyone, not a select few.
Yitro sent a message to the world:
Kabbalah is meant for everyone! The tools are available for all to use! If I can do it, so can you!
The secret to overcoming all of the nagging little complaints, the internal anger and dark moments we all struggle with is concealed within the tools of Kabbalah. The most important portion in the Torah is named after a retired and transformed Egyptian High Priest to show all of us that if we truly desire spiritual elevation—we have the tools at our disposal: the Zohar, the 72 Names of God, the classes and the teachings of Rav and Karen Berg.
