Monday, May 12, 2014

Chapter 10 Divine Relativity

And this is what the Sages meant, "why do Israel pray and are not answered - since they do not know to contemplate the Name (appropriate to their prayer). The Name refers to the essence of G-d as He garments himself in the appropriate divine attribute.

G-d wants to give us what we're asking but we usually want it much quicker. In our kaddish prayer we say in "our lives, in our days...", we're certain the redemption will come but we don't want it to come in 500 years. In general the Torah speaks in a subtle form. The Torah warns us that if we do not follow the Law then we will swiftly be lost from the land and the Talmud tells us that in actuality this took 850 years so this is considered "swiftly" in G-dly- terms. There is a certain style of understatement in the Torah. Like the Torah describes birth pains, probably the greatest pain that a human can experience, as "sorrow". So also when it commands us to love G-d with all our hear and all our soul, how much more so must we feel this love. To hasten our answer we must burst through limitations. This is connected with our intentions when we call out to G-d with the appropriate Name.

Our main concern is to have our prayers answered in real-time. But to draw down a miraculously speedy solution to our challenges and issues requires special intentionality. To intentionalize the Name means to have the proper appreciation for the special opportunity we have in saying the Name in conjunction with a particular blessing. The intentionality encompasses two important realizations:1) that G-d's very essence concerns Himself with my personal well-being 2)That he must garment Himself in particular garments - contract Himself into a more worldly interface to address my requests

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