Light of the Infinite: Transformation in the Desert of Darkness

The Talmud teaches that a person is led down the path that he chooses to follow.1 If we believe everything is for the good, then reality becomes good for us, but if a person only sees “bad,” then they are treated accordingly with this lack of emunah (faith), resulting in “bad” manifesting more and more.

“A little bit is also good. The way to grow is to not worry about perfection—simply start moving a little bit beyond where you were a moment ago.”

The Zohar teaches: “By (the way one handles one’s) anger, one can recognize who one is. If a person guards their soul at a moment of anger and does not allow it (one’s soul) to be torn from its place… this is a person who is as they should be… This is a complete person.”

The Holy One created the twin pathways of תשובה/שבת (teshuvah/returning and Shabbat) before even creating the world.

the ups come from the downs, and learning that dance while staying hopeful and connected, even in despair, is the key to eventual redemption.

‘Shalom’ means peace, ‘shalem’ means complete, so we are only whole when we are at peace and peace only comes from mindful joy, which gives anger enough space that it can transform and send you back to the Source of All.

The rest of Shabbat is not about sleeping or lying around, but tending to your spirit, bringing stillness and peace to it.

Balancing judgment with mercy, finding the sweet spot of harmony in ourselves and others is the way we can tap into the ultimate good, the Hidden Light, and bring that light, bit by bit, into this world of concealment, being a force of revelation and helping to usher in the final redemption.

If the commandment is to love others as we love ourselves, and we feel that we don’t have enough love for ourselves, then the only way to keep this mitzvah is to increase the love we have for ourselves and decrease the self-doubt and self-hate. Because if we don’t show ourselves the proper love, how can we properly love others? And truly, the way w