Dedicated to Katherine and her holy work: The Scholar and the Onion Sellers Daughter One day the Baal Shem Tov, as he was wont to do, stopped for a visit in a small village market. He came upon an old woman. With one hand she begged from the crowd, w ...

Palga Gufa – The Divided Soul It is said that the students asked Israel Master of the Name, “When you pass on, will you ascend to heaven in flaming fire?” “No,” Israel answered sadly. “I had thought I would, but now that my holy wife ...

From Back to Back to Face to Face Let’s pull it together! We are born back to back, says Luria. This refers to the state before you become conscious. The goal is to leave your father and mother — that is, to become conscious of your father and mo ...

cont’d from yesterday – how do we recover the self we lost… Recognize the Archetype Second, we will look to recover our lost self through the archetype of our parent. When you meet a person who is similar to your father or your moth ...

picking up from yesterday… So let’s start with prerequisite for intimacy number one: Leaving your father and mother. No parent is perfect. No parent can fully meet all of their children’s needs. Children though are formed in the cauldrons o ...

In honor of KD To See the Imperfect Soul For me, this story that I shared yesterday from the tradition of the Baal Shem, incomplete and strange as it is, nevertheless captures at least one critical dimension of loving. The universe joins us with whom ...

A true story about the famous Kabbalist, Hayim of Sanz. A Room With a Mirror Hayim always stayed up studying into the depths of night. After everyone left the study hall he would sit at the window learning, all the while singing gentle harmonies. It ...

Running and Returning This movement — what the mystics called “running and returning” — is the core dance of the sexual. Here again, the sexual models the erotic. The cherubs hold each other. The passionately intertwined cherubs, symbols of t ...