Torah

Michelangelo was once asked, “How is it that you create such wondrous sculptures and works of art? How can something so innovative and ingenious emanate from mere mortal hands?” Without skipping a beat, Michelangelo responded, “Before I even begin my work, the sculpture is already complete within the marble block. My job is simply to discover it and then chisel away the superfluous material.”

We all long to merit Olam Haba and attain the even greater level of becoming a Ben Olam Haba while still living in this world. The Gemara in Berachos teaches us that one who says Ashrei three times a day is assured to be a Ben Olam Haba. This clearly cannot mean mere recitation. Chazal are telling us that this reward is reserved for one who thinks deeply about what the pesukim in Ashrei are teaching us, and as a result, strengthens his emunah in Hashem.

Part 3

Emes is the root, the starting point and anchor of everything, but our connection and relationship with it is often fleeting. Emes is like a flash of lightning, a spark of inspiration. A powerful speech, an inspiring moment, or a profound idea can change our whole perspective on life. Suddenly, we see everything so clearly, we realign our goals, and everything falls into place. However, the very next day, we often find ourselves right back where we were before, as if nothing ever happened. What happened to the clarity of that emes, the power of that vision?

The final eight pesukim in the Torah discuss Moshe Rabbeinu’s death.

We are often told of the importance of having emunah in Hashem, but what exactly is emunah? Emunah is often translated as “faith”; the dictionary defines faith as a “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Faith is generally viewed as a “personal opinion,” a “subjective belief,” an “emotional decision,” or a “blind leap.”

All of Jewish life appears to be a system of cycles and circles. We celebrate the same holidays every year, as we pass through the same twelve months, as we go through the same cycle of reading the Torah. However, as we have explained thus far, the ideal is not to transcend this circular system, but to uplift it, to transform the circle into a spiral, and to find deeper ways of creating newness within the circular system.