Some quick thoughts on Purim! Soon we’ll be reading the Megillat Esther, which is also Le’galot Ha’ester (meaning “to reveal what’s concealed”). The word Esther is related to the Hebrew word, “I will hide,” which is said in Devarim when Hashem says, “I will surely hide my face.” The Megillah is one of the only books in Scripture not to mention Hashem’s name at all. It’s a story that took place in the Persian Empire long after the Biblical stories in which the miracles and revelations took place.

Purim, like the present, is a time in which Hashem, Melech Ha’olam (King of the Universe), has hidden himself in the universe (Olam / עולם). The root of ‘Olam’ is also something that is unseen, hidden or disappeared (Ne’elam / נעלם). Hashem has hidden himself in the universe so that our actions are of our own free will, but when we create space for Him, we can peel back a bit of the concealment and see Him guiding and blessing us.

During Passover, we retell the story of Egypt to relive it as if we too are being freed and to remember that we too were once strangers in a strange land. With Purim it is said, “If one reads the Megillah in the wrong order (‘literally, ‘backwards’), he has not fulfilled his obligation.” The Baal Shem Tov explains that this refers to a person who reads the Megillah believing that the story it tells occurred only in the past (as a retrospective account) and that the miracle does not endure into the present. With that mindset, the person hasn’t fulfilled their obligation, because the purpose of reading the Megillah every year is for each person to learn how a Jew should behave in the present. Purim is the living revelation of the concealed.

As we go into Purim, we need to continue to tap into the energy of the month of Adar, known as a month of celebration and joy. Adar was the last month that B’nei Yisrael were in Egypt before the Exodus, the time right before things became clear and Redemption revealed itself. We learn in the Talmud that “when the month of Adar arrives, we increase in joy,” welcoming this time of miracles. I pray that we are able to celebrate and focus on joy, illuminating ourselves and each other, sharing and shining light to dispel all the darkness of concealment so that we can revel in the Light of the Infinite with the coming of the Moshaich and the final redemption, speedily!


Direct link to this article - lightofinfinite.com/miracles-and-revelation/ ✨


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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

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Miracles & Revelation (purim)

When I can’t sleep, I often free verse / wax poetic about whatever’s on my mind. It’s always interesting reading it the next morning. Here’s one from the other night:  
—-
The world is full of enough dissonance 

produce melody perform alchemy

sift the good notes from the bad the serene from the siren song 

step in rhythm grow in concert

we are all notes in this divine orchestra of existence 

—-

It seems we all want to be one with our natural state and the spaces we are in — content, fulfilled, thriving. That would seem to be enough, but the truth is we want more than that— we want to transcend this natural state, to not be bound by the limitations and constrictions of this world, a world where the good is always intertwined with a bit of “bad”. Only in the next world is good 100% and bad is not even a concept. When I was a kid, and even today, when I walk out of the theater after seeing a superhero movie, I feel like I have those powers, if only for a little bit. The allure of these comic books turned movies is the thought of breaking free of one’s limitations, of ridding oneself of reality, of turning what is natural into supernatural. 

In these past parshiot, we have been reading about the Mishkan (the tabernacle) and how Hashem commanded Aharon, the high priest, and his sons to bring special sacrifices for seven days to prepare themselves for their service in the Mishkan. Every seven days, Moshe would take the Mishkan apart and put it back together, as the Jews wandered through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. In this week’s parashah, Shemini, Hebrew for “eight” (referring to the eighth day following the seven days of the inauguration of the Tabernacle), we learn that the service of the Mishkan actually begins on the “eighth” day.  As we read, “And it was on the eighth day . . . and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people . . . And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fats upon the altar, and all the people saw, sang praises, and fell upon their faces.”  The Kli Yakar, a preeminent Medieval Torah scholar, asks why it’s called the “eighth day.” The Jewish week is seven days, and the consecration of the Mishkan was limited to seven days, as it is written, “And you shall not go out of the door of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration be fulfilled, for He shall consecrate you seven days.” The Kli Yakar answers his own question, stating that related to the eighth day it is written, “Today the Lord appears to you.” Hashem doesn’t appear in the Mishkan during the seven days of consecration but on and because of the eighth day, a day beyond the natural order of things.
Seven is a recurring number in the Torah representing the natural order: seven days of the week; the month of the festivals is Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar; and we have seven-year cycles, culminating in Shemittah (the Sabbatical year). As we learn, seven in Judaism always represents completeness of the natural world, the finite world; so eight, of course, is that one step beyond nature, something more than human, more than finititude– something holy. Shabbat, the seventh day of our week, is a taste of the infinite, but it’s still bound in time and space. It’s a gift from Hashem that we even get that taste, as it is stated in Talmud Shabbat, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, I have a precious gift in My treasure house, and it is called the Shabbat.” The eighth day represents a taste beyond this world. 
I can’t put all that I wrote in this little taste of the Dvar, you’ll have to read it at the link below, but the biggest takeaway from this parashah for me is that when we elevate our soul above our body, aligning our physical selves to our spiritual selves we can transform our natural space into a supernatural setting. 
 

READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/step-in-rhythm-grow-in-concert/

Step in Rhythm, Grow in Concert (leviticus: shemini)

This audio is a bit of a Public Service Announcement from Erez Safar of the Light of Infinite to you🤍🕊

As physical creatures, we can’t fully defeat the forces of fate; we’re constricted by time and space. But our souls-- the parts of us that are infinite-- can reach beyond these constrictions. It’s only when we choose with our souls to surpass our limitations that we can connect to the true, everlasting, joyful freedom that can only be found in the Light of the Infinite. 


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Much love, Erez Safar

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Light of Infinite PSA

In this week we enter a new section of Vayikra dealing with the laws of man. The previous parshiot dealt with the laws pertaining to animals. This follows the order of creation; man was created last. It’s simpler to understand the sanctification of the animal world. It’s natural for us to make important distinctions between the clean & unclean, purity & impurity, in the animal world. Man’s struggle with himself, however, & the work we have to do to sanctify ourselves, is far more complex. The Zohar compares man to animals in the regards of the korban (sacrifice), deducing from the verse “and the eighth day the skin of the orlah should be circumcised” being amidst the verses that deal with purity & impurity of the woman giving birth. What we see in these readings in their proximity & importance is the sanctification of time (Shabbat) of man (brit milah) & of place (korban). Hashem is kadosh (holy) as it says, “for I am Kadosh.”

We, on the other hand, have the constant struggle to attain kedushah. All of this comes to teach us how to free ourselves from our slavery to that which is not holy & to take actions towards holiness, freedom, spirituality & oneness. 
Reaching exalted levels of the soul is not enough when we are tasked to use the body here on earth elevating it, this is how we bring about the future redemption.

Kabbalah teaches that the world was created as a broken vessel; Hashem constricted himself & hid His good in the brokenness of the world. Reb Natan says that our highest task is to choose to see His Light, to choose to let in & partner with Hashem, even when he is hidden. Our laws & customs, in ways so mysterious & in ways very obvious– literally turning our physical bodies into ritual spiritual objects– are the most powerful reminders we have to keep making that choice to strive for something higher. To not let ourselves believe that we are only creatures, that we are only animals, driven only by physical instincts. 

Man is but dust of the earth, Adamah, but through the struggle & fight to spiritualize reality we become Adameh la-Elyon, a semblance of God. 

** THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET OF THE DVAR, READ IT IN FULL - > @ www.lightofinfinite.com 

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Much love, Erez Safar

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Become a Semblance of God (leviticus: tazria)

I was asked to write for the Jewish Journal's "Table for Five: Rosh Hashanah Edition." They chose 5 writers/teachers/rabbi's to write 250 words about the following verses:
 Behold, I stand here, impoverished in good deeds, perturbed and frightened in fear [of Him,] Who is enthroned upon the praises of Yisrael. I have come to stand and to plead before You in behalf of Your people, Yisrael, who have appointed me their messenger, even though I am not worthy or qualified for the task.
 - Hineni, From The Rosh Hashanah prayers
 Here's what'll hit newsstands on Thursday:

When Leonard Cohen released what he knew would be his last album, he titled the song to begin his parting opus, “You Want It Darker.” On it, he sings “Hineni, hineni, I'm ready, my Lord.” Rosh Hashanah is a moment in time where we all stand as Leonard Cohen once did  – knowing it is time, we too stand as creations before our Creator, unsure as to our fate based on a string of moments where we may have felt faithless. Just as we admit to God in the Hineni prayer how we are “impoverished in good deeds, perturbed and frightened in fear,” Cohen sings, “There's a lover in the story, But the story's still the same, There's a lullaby for suffering, And a paradox to blame, But it's written in the scriptures.” We all stand in life just like this – a lover in life, caught in a paradox, seemingly set in the scene to fail. But it is Rosh Hashanah, a powerful time of teshuvah. All we have to do is remember that everything is in the Divine’s hands. We are meant to spiritualize material reality through this process of teshuva or returning, which is re-turning, to once again turn towards our innermost selves and the One who made us. As we read many times in Torah, “Whoever is generous of heart shall bring the offering of Hashem.” This is the time more than any other that we stand before our Creator, with a full heart and a desire to return and align with the Light of the infinite. It is this heartfelt prayer that mirrors the offerings we once brought in the Holy Temples that redeem us all. As our Sages taught, “God desires the heart.”
 - Erez Safar


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Much love, Erez Safar

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God Desires The Heart (Rosh Hashanah)

The Rashbam says the entire book of Devarim is called שירה, “Song,” We see this week that Torah is synonymous with Song. For this week, I wrote about how a song saved my life. 

Music has been such an important healing tool for me over the years. Feeling good comes in waves, so if you hit a funk, it’s important to have ways to get yourself out. For some it’s being in nature, seeing the grand grace and epic beauty of creation, for others it’s exercising, and for others it’s staying connected to loved ones. For me, staying happy and connected is certainly tied to maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but also an important and key part is music. Music transcends current moods and creates universes to jump into; it’s a powerful way to shift perspective and feelings. @BonIver‘s self-titled album does it for me every time– if I ever feel down and I listen to it, I feel that darkness can’t coexist with the light and beauty that those songs exude, and it snaps me out of it. Of course, on an even more connected level are the songs from Jewish singers that blend our rich tradition into their own styles (@IshayRibo_official, @Eviatar.Banai, @Akiva.official, Erez Yechial etc.) 

Song is at the center of all our rituals, and singing is the unifying element of communal prayer. King David used a harp to compose the Psalms. The Talmud teaches that the harp hung above King David’s bed, and at midnight a northern ruach (wind) would blow on the five strings, raising him from his sleep to study Torah until day break. The Zohar teaches that the five strings parallel the five books of Torah and are the instruments with which he composed much of Tehillim….

When you listen to music, you can feel some of what the artist is feeling when he sings. In the Talmud it teaches, “Words that emanate from the heart – enter the heart.” Kabbalists explain that music helps banish extraneous thoughts and clear the mind, cutting away impure thoughts that envelop the soul, allowing a person to connect to the Light of the Infinite. Music is also something that can be played in circles infinitely, in fact that is often how the prophets would reach their state of nevuah. It would be a repetitive riff being played until the riff would act as a mantra, a meditation, and prophecy would be reached.

Shana Tova Umetukah!

-- DIVE FULLY IN & READ FULL ARTICLE/DVAR @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-song-that-saved-my-life/


---------------------- 

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Much love, Erez Safar

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The Song That Saved My Life (deuteronomy: vayelech)

It is only by finding one’s purpose and living in alignment that we find our true happiness. For this week, I dove into my middle name which is the same as the mountain Moshe ascended and I touched on some of the secrets of creation, and a bit about what I learned the other week at a Brittany Howard concert!

Creation involves concealment. The word olam, universe, is semantically linked to the word neelam, “hidden”. To give mankind some of His own creative powers – the use of language to think, communicate, understand, imagine alternative futures and choose between them – God must do more than create homo sapiens. He must efface Himself (what the kabbalists called tzimtzum) to create space for human action. No single act more profoundly indicates the love and generosity implicit in creation. God as we encounter Him in the Torah is like a parent who knows He must hold back, let go, refrain from intervening, if his children are to become responsible and mature. 

I went to the Hollywood Bowl one weekend to see one of my fav artists, the brilliant Brittany Howard. As she started to close her set, the band started playing in a free jazz style and she  commanded her voice in a speaking orator style, sounding almost like Rev Martin Luther King jr. as she proclaimed: 

"I promise to think before I speak
To be wary of who I give my energy to
Because it is needed for a greater cause
Greater than my own pride
And that cause is to spread the enlightenment" 

And that is what it is all about – the lesson is to spiritualize reality and never become that which is not God. Because it and we are needed for a greater cause, greater than our own pride and physicality, and that cause is to spread enlightenment, to those who are not touched by its light. We need to realize we are all made in the image of God and all have a piece of his infinite light in us. We are all brothers and sisters. 

We need to tap into the energy and the mission of Moshe, which was advocating for us at any cost and spreading the Light of the Infinite – revealing the concealed truth in a hidden world, in order to bring the full redemption where all is truth, all is revealed good and peace, and blessings are fully realized. 
As we say at the end of reading this book of Devarim and indeed the final chapter in the the five books of the Torah, Chazak Chazak V’nitzchazek-- Be Strong, Be Strong, Let Us Be Strengthened. 
Much love, Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez

** Listen to the Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/ 
 *** Get your copy of the book 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! - https://amzn.to/3ShxLvn  
& OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/and-never-become-that-which-is-not-god/ 



---------------------- 

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Much love, Erez Safar

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And Never Become That Which Is Not God (deuteronomy: v'zot harerachah)

This week with Jim Morrision & Annie Hall, & of course Rebbe Nachman, Rashi, & The Rebbe. 

It seems that in almost every moment of our lives we are caught between two choices: the easier or more selfish choice & something a bit harder, a selfless choice. Sometimes safek blurs the lines between the two, but often, if we tap into emunah & our gut, we know which is the one for us. Every action affects every other action. The fact that it takes so long to break a habit shows that every single action has ramifications beyond it. That’s why it says in Pirkei Avot, the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, because if doing good begets doing good, one can take action to stay in perpetual goodness, or God forbid, struggle steeped in the opposite. 

The story of Yakov & Esav puts one side far to one corner & the other far to the other, but since one represents the yetzer tov (good and spirituality) & the other the yetzer hara (evil and materialism), & because both exist within us, it makes it that much tougher to see them clearly. Even with Yitzchak, their father, we see that he wanted to give the blessings to Esav, because when something is so close to you, it’s hard to see it clearly. 

Even in my own life, I struggle to decipher what is best at any moment. Do I continue to learn Torah, exist in the space of spirituality, & write insights/dvars? Or do I put some more of my time into materialism, & work, since that is a reality of the physical world we exist in? Do I say yes to everything someone asks of me, or do I set a boundary so I can help as much as I can, but not at the expense of things I need to take care of for myself/my kids? Do I take more time to heal a broken heart, or jump back into risking a break once again?

There’s a Native American parable, Tsalagi Tale, that teaches that everyone has two wolves within us - a good & a bad wolf. The question is which wolf is stronger.. & the answer is, the one that we feed.

* Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/

** Get your copy of the book: 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we start reading in less than two weeks!! - - https://amzn.to/3ShxLvn *** Save the date: Dec 7th will be the next global Light of Infinite Festival & the release of book # 2 (The Exodus of Darkness)

!**** & OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/your-other-side/  ️

Thanks for reading! Much love & Shabbat Shalom! - Erez

The Other Side (genesis: toldot)

Karma Came Quickly (genesis: mikeitz)

It seems that each of our lives is a string of struggles to feel aligned in the most elevated ways. Finding our purpose is certainly the first step to being able to tap into the elevated space, but because of how hard it is to maintain being in that space, we fall, we question, sometimes we rebel against the truth because of it’s seemingly transient feeling. What we don’t seem to tap into enough is our interconnectedness, & the fact that we are all part of the same being, elements of a whole Soul connected on high. 

We read; 
כּל־הַנֶּ֧פֶשׁ לְבֵֽית־יַעֲקֹ֛ב הַבָּ֥אָה מִצְרַ֖יְמָה שִׁבְעִֽים
“The entire soul (nefesh) of Yakov’s household who entered Egypt was seventy.”

Rashi teaches that the entire household of seventy people are referred to in singular, as nefesh, one soul. And, as we know, Yakov (Yisrael) & his sons, the 12 tribes, are who the nation of Israel stem from, as it’s stated in Talmud Shavuot, “All of Israel are responsible for one another.” It says this because each of us has a portion of each other in ourselves, & so we learn that when a person sins, they harm not only themselves but the portion of everyone’s soul included within them. & it is because of this shared soul that we are responsible one for another, as we are like one flesh. As R’ Cordovero teaches, it is essential that each person seeks the benefit of their fellow, be pleased with their success & let their honor be as dear to themselves as if it were their own honor, since they are in fact one & the same.

Rabbi Meir compared the flip side of this interconnectedness & love as someone who takes revenge - painting a picture of how fruitless the act is: imagine someone holding a knife in their right hand & accidentally cutting their left hand. What purpose would it serve for his right hand to take the knife & cut their left hand back in vengeance? We only harm ourselves in these acts; in truth, we cannot disconnect from each other, no matter how great of a facade we are able to construct. 
As @ThomYorke sings on “Paranoid Android”: God loves his children, we need to do the same at all moments.

Thanks for reading! Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🤍🕊

- Erez


* 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/

** 📚 Get your copy of my first book, 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT'. The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we are reading now!! And in time for Shmot/Exodus, you can order 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE EXODUS OF DARKNESS'. Both are now available as Prime on Amazon! - - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw 


 **** 🪬 & DO A DEEP DIVE INTO OUR INTERCONNECTION BY READING THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/back-to-you/  📝⚡️

every line that I’ve drawn that points back to you  (genesis: vayigash)

When Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked Rabbi Everett Gendler to help in Albany, GA., Gendler replied, “Even though my furniture had not yet arrived, I felt the need to respond to Rev. King’s prophetic appeal to conscience.”

He walked hand in hand with MLK and the Torah in Selma joined by one of my favorite Theologian/Poet/Philosopher, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. When Heschel was asked upon his return from the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march with Dr. Martin Luther King, “Did you find time to pray?” he famously answered, “I prayed with my feet.”

Some of Heschel’s most famous philosophical works charge human beings to sanctify time and space and to rediscover the power of wonder. Heschel's famous expression “radical amazement” embodies his gift for highlighting spiritual curiosity and grandeur. His writings are filled with moments of transcendence. I think that is why Dr. King loved him so much, they had reverence for G-d and the hope that placing faith in Him provides.

As Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks pointed out; On 3 April 1968, Martin Luther King delivered a sermon in a church in Memphis, Tennessee. At the end of his address, he turned to the last day of Moses’ life, when the man who had led his people to freedom was taken by God to a mountain-top from which he could see in the distance the land he was not destined to enter. That, said King, was how he felt that night:

I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

That night was the last of his life. The next day he was assassinated. At the end, the still young Christian preacher – he was not yet forty – who had led the civil rights movement in the United States, identified not with a Christian figure but with Moses.

Years later Gendler was asked, “What do you see as some of today’s most formidable challenges?”

And he answered, “One of the challenges is to find the inspiration to rise above our smaller, personal issues and try to include all of us in a common struggle for justice.

We must engage politically and use our influence, but we need to do it in a way that moves all of us forward.

We need to feel again that sense of deep kinship, mutual love and admiration exemplified by the relationship of Reverend King and Rabbi Heschel. Knowing that we are coworkers with the Divine in these marvelous, redemptive activities elevates and empowers us all in ways difficult to describe.”

****   DIVE IN DEEPER @ https://lightofinfinite.com/mlk-and-paving-the-way/  ️ 


** Get your copy of my latest book, 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE EXODUS OF DARKNESS'. The book parallels the parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Shmot/Exodus, which we are reading now!! The book is mindfulness, Kabbalah and Chassidut brought down in a way that speaks to our generation and is now available as Prime on Amazon!
- - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

****   DIVE IN DEEPER @ https://lightofinfinite.com/mlk-and-paving-the-way/  ️

MLK and Paving the Way

From on High (exodus: va'eira)

Loving is giving– it’s literally the root of the Hebrew word – אהבה/Ahava – hav’means ‘to give’. The basis of Jewish faith is action/giving of oneself, and it’s through the mitzvot that clarity, unification & love manifest themselves.This is the love we look for in partners and often feel lacking without one. But we often forget that all of reality is an opportunity for a nurturing relationship with Hashem, the source of everything. Ahava has the same gematria (13) as the word Echad (One) and so to reach oneness/love, we have to be in tune with the Source & when we connect love to its source, 13 + 13 = 26 (Hashem's four-letter name.)
As I read the verse na’aseh v’nishma/we will do and we will hear, I realized it's contained in Exodus 24:7 and we can live this mindset of Exodus and Redemption literally 24/7. It's in this space that we are in unconditional obedience and enthusiasm to fulfill mitzvot, regardless of if we understand them rationally.
Hashem offered the Torah, instead of asking, What is written there? we replied, Na’aseh v’nishma. It may seem odd to agree to something before fully understanding it, but intellectual knowledge of the Divine can’t be a precondition of living within the guidelines set forth by Hashem. It seems that we are all in various states of Divine disconnect. We attempt to heal, but often feels impossible. When we attempt to heal our physical selves, it’s in much the same way of doing, then understanding– when a doctor prescribes the medication we need to heal ourselves, we take it in good faith; we don’t first go to medical school, researching every element of it and only take the medication afterward. If that were the case, we would remain sick, no doubt getting worse. We take it in faith, because it benefits our physical selves and isn’t contingent on our knowledge of its inner workings. In fact by taking it we can start to see clearer, feel better, and get a better understanding of how the medicine helped.
It's the same with our spiritual selves– the more we are in the space of na’aseh v’nishma with the mitzvot, the more elevated our spirit, and by virtue of that our physical selves will be.
Thanks for reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom! 
- Erez // @erezsafar


* Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/

** Get your copy of my latest book, 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE EXODUS OF DARKNESS'. The book parallels the parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Shemot/Exodus, which we are reading now!! The book is mindfulness, Kabbalah and Chassidut brought down in a way that speaks to our generation and is now available as Prime on Amazon!
- - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

 **** YOU CAN DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THIS WEEK'S DVAR TORAH BY READING IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/hear-and-grow/   ️

Hear & Grow (exodus: mishpatim)

The love you take is equal to the love you make (exodus: terumah)

So many of us feel disconnected so much of the time. Exile is a state of disconnect; redemption is the rectification of that state. We spin stories in our heads, filling in the blanks of desolation that often feels like desperation, because it’s chiyut (life and connection) that we all crave and that sustains us. 

Anxiety is the feeling we experience when faith becomes distant. For interpersonal relationships, there are solutions to lessen the anxiety: communication can deconstruct the stories we build in our heads which are a mix of emotion, judgment, projection and worry. But in some circumstances, when we can’t speak to the other person or perhaps doing so wouldn’t offer much solace, we need to tap into ourselves & even more so the Source, Hashem, and the trust that all is in the hands of Hashem & that all will be for the best. We have to trust the process and the path towards a perfected state that we can align with at any point. Just as Hashem sustains and recreates the world at every moment, we too are creating the reality of our own journey at every moment. If we feel we’re going in the wrong direction, we could turn it all around at that moment. It may take a while to feel aligned again, but we can be sure of being on a path towards alignment. Looking ahead in the right direction will allow some calm in the feeling of a storm and tapping into the faith that it will all be alright.

If we're able to sustain and create our own happiness, and ensure the base of happiness is within ourselves, then we stop looking toward others to fulfill the feeling that only we are able to give ourselves. The foundation of fulfillment & happiness must be there in our relationship to ourselves for there to be healthy relationships with others. This allows our default setting to be happy and secure, rather than feeling sad, lacking and insecure when things with another person feel misaligned. 

A feeling of richness and happiness comes from focusing on the positives and celebrating the moment. A feeling of sadness and poverty comes when the focus shifts to the opposite perspective and validation of such feelings is focused outward. 

See how I tie this into this week’s Parashah @ www.lightofinfinite.com


Thanks for listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!﻿
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- Erez // @erezsafar

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﻿ Get your copy of my latest book, 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE EXODUS OF DARKNESS'. The book parallels the parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Shemot/Exodus, which we are reading now!! The book is mindfulness, Kabbalah and Chassidut brought down in a way that speaks to our generation and is now available as Prime on Amazon! - - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

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﻿ YOU CAN DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THIS WEEK'S DVAR TORAH BY READING IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/clear-eyes-full-hearts-cant-lose/  ﻿
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Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose (exodus: vayak'hel)

When I can’t sleep, I often free-verse about whatever’s on my mind. It’s always interesting reading it the next morning. From the other night:

The world
is full
of enough
dissonance

produce
melody
perform
alchemy

sift the good notes
from the bad
the serene
from the siren song

step in rhythm
grow in concert

we are all notes
in this
divine
orchestra
of existence

It seems we all want to be one with our natural state — content, fulfilled, thriving, but the truth is we want more than that— we want to transcend this natural state, to not be bound by the constrictions of this world, where the good is always intertwined with a bit of “bad”. Only in the next world is good 100% and bad is not even a concept. As a kid, and even today, when I walk out of the theater after a superhero movie, I feel like I have those powers, if only for a little bit. The allure of these comic books turned movies is the thought of breaking free of one’s limitations, of ridding oneself of reality, of turning what is natural into supernatural.

We’ve been reading about the Mishkan and how Hashem commanded Aharon and his sons to bring special sacrifices for 7 days to prepare themselves for their service in the Mishkan. Every 7 days, Moshe would take the Mishkan apart and put it back together, as the Jews wandered through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. This week in Shemini (eight), we learn that the service of the Mishkan actually begins on the “eighth” day. As we read, “And it was on the eighth day . . . and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people . . . “The Kli Yakar asks why it’s called the “eighth day.” The week and consecration of the Mishkan is 7 days.. he answers his own question, that related to the eighth day it’s written, “Today the Lord appears to you.” Hashem appears on and because of the eighth day, a day beyond the natural order of things. I can’t put all that I wrote in this little taste of the Dvar, but the biggest takeaway for me is that when we elevate our soul above our body, aligning our physical selves to our spiritual selves we can transform our natural space into a supernatural setting.


Thanks for listening/reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🤍🕊
- Erez // @erezsafar

* 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast

** 📚 Get your copy of my latest book, 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE SOUND OF ILLUMINATION'. The book parallels the parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Vayikra/Leviticus, which we are reading now!! The book is mindfulness, Kabbalah and Chassidut brought down in a way that speaks to our generation and is now available as Prime on Amazon! - - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

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 **** 🪬 YOU CAN DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THIS WEEK'S DVAR TORAH BY READING IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/step-in-rhythm-grow-in-concert/  📝⚡️

In this week we enter a new section of Vayikra dealing with the laws of man. The previous parshiot dealt with the laws pertaining to animals. This follows the order of creation; man was created last. It’s simpler to understand the sanctification of the animal world. It’s natural for us to make important distinctions between the clean and unclean, purity and impurity, in the animal world. Man’s struggle with himself, however, and the work we have to do to sanctify ourselves, is far more complex. The Zohar compares man to animals in the regards of the korban (sacrifice), deducing from the verse “and the eighth day the skin of the orlah should be circumcised” being amidst the verses that deal with purity and impurity of the woman giving birth. What we see in these readings in their proximity and importance is the sanctification of time (Shabbat) of man (brit milah) and of place (korban). Hashem is kadosh (holy) as it says, “for I am Kadosh.”

We, on the other hand, have the constant struggle to attain kedushah. All of this comes to teach us how to free ourselves from our slavery to that which is not holy and to take actions towards holiness, freedom, spirituality and oneness.

Reaching exalted levels of the soul is not enough when we are tasked to use the body here on earth elevating it, this is how we bring about the future redemption.

Kabbalah teaches that the world was created as a broken vessel; Hashem constricted himself and hid His good in the brokenness of the world. Reb Natan says that our highest task is to choose to see His Light, to choose to let in and partner with Hashem, even when he is hidden. Our laws and customs, in ways so mysterious and in ways very obvious– literally turning our physical bodies into ritual spiritual objects– are the most powerful reminders we have to keep making that choice to strive for something higher. To not let ourselves believe that we are only creatures, that we are only animals, driven only by physical instincts.

Man is but dust of the earth, Adamah, but through the struggle and fight to spiritualize reality we become Adameh la-Elyon, a semblance of God.

** THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET OF THE DVAR, READ IT IN FULL - > @ www.lightofinfinite.com/becoming-a-semblance-of-god/ 

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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar

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Becoming a Semblance of God (leviticus: tazria)

Staying tapped into hashgacha prati/Divine providence, requires proactive alignment. There's that feeling inside, an elevating feeling when one feels tapped into one’s purpose and Creator, and the opposite feeling when we feel trapped and one’s actions are disconnected from the positive, from purpose, from our Creator. In the Beit HaMikdash, sitting on top of the holy ark, were the two Keruvim. When we as a people were in alignment with our Source, the Keruvim would face each other, but when we were not, they would face away from each other.

The opposing forces manifest as the yetzer hara or kelipot. In the world, it’s the outer coverings or “shells” that conceal Godly light. In ourselves, it is the negativity or egocentricity that keeps us from connecting to our true selves as creations with a Divine purpose, which connects us to the Divine light. This negativity or ego is like the shell of a fruit; it does serve to protect the fruit, just as there are times it is useful for our own self-preservation, but it, too, must be removed to get to the sweetness. We have to remove our layers of ego and negativity to get to the root of our being and purpose.

One important principle of manifesting good and subduing the bad is by being protective over one’s speech. This parsha teaches how to atone for lashon hara (negative speech), we read in the Talmud, Evil gossip kills three: the one who says it, the one who listens, and the subject of the gossip.

R’ Kotler says that to be wholehearted with Hashem means not to live a life of contradictions and that someone who speaks lashon hara lives a life of contradictions. It’s not easy, as it's something that often comes naturally, sharing an experience involving another person, but the more we are careful to only uplift each other through speech, the more we're aligned with positivity and light. This incredible pianist asked me yesterday what I think the purpose of life is, I said that it’s to reveal Hashem’s light in this world, that is how we shine our own light, which brings forth everyone’s light, which is the only way for us to bring awareness to the Light of the Infinite.

* THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET, READ IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/birds-in-a-trap/ 

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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar

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Birds in a Trap (leviticus: metzora)

Cheat Codes to Holiness (leviticus: kedoshim)

We all have a Nefesh Elokit (part of God) in us, we just need to transcend the layers of doubt and unlock the powerful truth and redemption that awaits. It’s written in a Mishnah, “Every human being is unique, and every human being is a copy of the prototype human being (Adam)…therefore, every human being must say, ‘For my sake the world was created.’” The same Mishnah teaches, “that every life is like an entire universe.”

It’s when our soul enters our body that this becomes true. A body without a soul is similar to any other, but when the awareness of the soul as part of the body is recognized by an individual, we can begin to live out our purpose – our potential to be an entire universe becomes apparent. To use the body, the finite, to spiritualize reality and to fulfill the Light of the Infinite, that is when the body is a vessel for the soul. That realization can take a person from a physical and spiritual desert (midbar) to a spiritual and physical promised land (Israel). 

We're described as ish echad b’lev echad (1 person, 1 heart). We can’t view ourselves as separate entities. We are all essential in the wholeness of ourselves as a people viewed as 1 body. When 1 of us is hurting, we’re all hurting, just as when 1 part of our own body hurts, the entire body is affected. We can only be shalem (whole/complete) when we’re all redeemed, when none of us is hurting.

My dad was a Rabbi in the Navy, and traveled all over, and on occasion would bump into Carlebach - who would tell him about the word “Shalom” saying, “How can you say Shalom when you first meet someone and the same word when you say goodbye? Shalom comes from shalem — completeness. I was incomplete until I met you, but now that I met you, I am more complete than before. But, now that you are leaving, you are taking something away from me, and I say ‘shalom’ in the hope that someday you will come back & make me more complete again.” We're all made in the image of Hashem, and with each positive interaction, we see another piece of Hashem, and we feel more complete. 


Thanks for reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🤍🕊
- Erez // @erezsafar


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The Colour of Humility (numbers: bamidbar)

I remember learning the power of the Shema (שְׁמַע) as a little kid. It felt like I was in the world of Harry Potter and someone had clued me into the Patronus charm, so if I put myself into a deep enough spiritual space, I would be able to conjure up protective power. The Shema was a way to channel Hashem’s oneness into this world; I could say it and manifest magic in my own life. It was a pathway from the natural world I was in as a kid to the supernatural world that my kid mind dreamt up. 

Growing up as a Yemenite Jew, I learned to form my hand into a shin (שְׁ), the first letter of the Shema, by placing my thumb and pinky together, leaving my index, middle and ring fingers upright. Once I had this formation, I would close my eyes and place my pinky on my left eye and my thumb on my right. As I got to the last word of the Shema, ‘echad’ (אֶחָֽד/’one’), I would bring all the fingers together, forming one unit and a sort of daled (ד), the last letter of ‘echad’. Then I would kiss my fingers and raise them to the heavens. It was a powerful ritual, one of connection and transcendence. 

The Shema (שְׁמַע) is the climactic praise, prayer, and mantra that centers us in the morning and evening prayer. It’s been at the center of Judaism and the lives of Jews since Moshe said the words to the Children of Israel in the desert thousands of years ago. It took on new levels of meaning when formal tefillah replaced the sacrifices, after the second Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. It is the climax of the final Neilah prayer on Yom Kippur, and oftentimes it’s a person’s last words on earth.
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.
I do a deep dive into this concept in "The Secret To Oneness (and the Shema)” chapter where I explore mindfulness, transcendence, and connecting to the Light of the Infinite! Check it out in my latest 'Light of the Infinite' book, 'Emanations of Illumination,' available on @Amazon. 


 ---------------------- 

Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar

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The Secret To Oneness (and the Shema) [deuteronomy: va'etchanan]

In this week's Torah portion we learn how to not perpetuate hatred, bringing in wisdom by Rav Kook, Rebbe Nachman, Dr. David Hawkins, MLK, and more. I set it off writing about my favorite minyan. 

I was at the minyan I’m almost always at on Shabbat, my friend Lorenzo’s minyan, inspired by and under the instruction of the Ostrova-Biala Rebbe. The minyan is in his backyard, and the group of men and women couldn’t be a more elevated group. You know the feeling you get when you walk into a room full of family members that you adore or best friends from school, and all the jokes you had for all those years come rushing back, and you know you are about to be surrounded by love? It may sound cheesy, but it’s the feeling of being in a community that truly feels aligned. And I’ve found it in this minyan, with this group of friends in the life, light, and love that lives in the space that we all create. 

 After we pray, we move the tables around so that we can drink and eat together, and one by one people start to get up and speak words of Torah, spirituality, and what inspired or moved them the previous week. I was caught off guard and sort of in disbelief when someone got up this past Shabbos and said, “I wanted to share a little something based on Erez’s dvar Torah, and it’s that anger and hatred only harm the person who holds onto them. I had gotten screwed out of a deal at work, and I was literally cursing the person in my head, praying that no blessings would come to them, and then reading Erez’s words around the parashah (Torah portion) of how to let go of anger, I realized that the person wouldn’t even know I was cursing him, and it was only hurting me, as I couldn’t sleep because I was just too upset. I knew I had to let it go, take whatever lesson awaited, and be open to the next blessing that is meant for me.”

I started writing these books when my ex-wife’s mother (Yehudis Chava bat Yakov) passed away. It was her one year yahrzeit (passing), and I never thought that I would write dvar Torahs weekly let alone a book series, but as I continued and started to hear things like this or receive messages about how it keeps people going and positive throughout their week, I was motivated to keep going. I’m only sharing this because, as I thought of this, I saw the love that could be created by community, sharing positivity and inspiration, starting in your community and pushing outside of that. It’s just so important to push away from being focused on oneself and from existing in negativity, anger, and hatred.

Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, '𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.' Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/dont-hate-foster-the-people/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!﻿
﻿﻿
﻿﻿
﻿
- Erez // @erezsafar


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﻿
Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast

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Don’t Hate, Foster The People (deuteronomy: ki teitzei)

First fruits, blessings and our Promised Land. I dive into it all via The Rebbe, Jay-Z, Mark Twain, The Arizal and a memory of my Savta from Addis Ababa and Yemen in this week’s Parashah, Ki Tavo! 

Here are the first couple paragraphs with some memories of my time in Israel. 

My family is originally from Yemen, where my ancestors lived for close to 2,000 years. Nearly 100 years ago, in 1933, my grandmother’s side of the family decided to move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then to Israel. Once I graduated high school, I went to Yeshiva in Israel for a year in Bayit VeGan, a nice neighborhood in Jerusalem. Every memory I have of Israel feels like a dream, there is just something surreal, spectacular, and ineffable about the land. After that year immersed in ancient Jewish texts, I went to University of Maryland for a couple years and felt drawn to go back to Jerusalem to study more, so I went back to Yeshiva, this time right outside of the Old City. Walking into the Old City on Friday night, you’d feel Shabbat like you never had before, realizing you are walking through history, through what’s left of the two Batei Hamikdash (Holy Temples), seeing the stones that surround the Promised Land of an eternal people.

Some Shabbatot I would take my friends from yeshiva to my Savta’s in Ramat Gan (they all called her G-ma;). I remember her waking up at 5 am every day, covering her head and saying the morning tefillah. She would cook Yemenite food and Moroccan salads, and my friends and I would sing Shabbat songs in Hebrew, as she sat on the couch crying from happiness. It’s incredible to realize all the time that she and her family were exiled in Yemen and Ethiopia and that they were able to come back to Israel and that she could see her grandson living in Yerushalayim, singing the songs that have been sung throughout history every Shabbat since the Jews left Egypt and entered Israel. She had made it, we had made it — the yearning for home and the unification of a people with its ancestral homeland had been realized in her lifetime. 

In this chapter, I dive into how the same way we need to conquer and settle the physical promised land, we need to do that in our own struggle within our spiritual selves, making sure that we don’t doubt ourselves to the point of blocking our own blessings.

As Jay-Z says on "Welcome to the Jungle:"

Where did I go?
I’m losing myself,
I’m stuck in the moment
I look in the mirror,
my only opponent.

Our own promised lands are in our own control. Sometimes it feels like it takes a miracle before we would see it or feel at ease and unified to the point that it would manifest as a feeling of peace or enlightenment, but we have to enter into the process within ourselves, conquer our own doubts and parts of us that act as enemies towards our own selves. When we can settle ourselves to a space of peace, then we can reach a feeling of our own Promised Land.

** Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, '𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.' Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/first-fruit/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!﻿
﻿﻿
﻿﻿
﻿
- Erez // @erezsafar


* ﻿
﻿
Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast

** ﻿
﻿
  BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

*** ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events

First Fruit  (deuteronomy: ki tavo)

As we touched on in the "Don’t Hate, Foster The People" chapter in my latest book, "Emanations of Illumination." Another way to think about our collective Oneness is through water. We know that water is fundamental to all life; our bodies are mostly water, and the brain and heart, in particular, are composed of 73% water. That means we have 73% in common with every person in the world.

This gives new meaning to the saying, “the grass is greener where you water it”. On top of that, people mirror each other’s inner belief systems, so if we aren’t “watering” ourselves and those around us in connectedness and positivity, then individually and collectively we can’t grow. Continually giving yourself and others life force is essential to being in a blissful and connected state. It takes work because on the other end of it is being unhappy, which is a vicious cycle and can lead to worry, anxiety, anger, and depression. Anger is toxic to your body and soul, often triggering one’s ‘fight or flight’ response, which floods the body with stress hormones, health issues & digestive problems.

The cure for all this is easier said than done, but it begins with a healthy perspective, with trust and faith that all is for the good and that everything will work out. This is part of the grass being greener where you water it. In life, there will always be two ways to look at everything coming your way, as a blessing or as a curse. The Torah last week and this week articulates this to a great degree. Showing time and again that it is ultimately up to us if we focus and manifest good & blessings, or if we bring about the opposite. So if our heads are filled with something negative, we need to remove the negativity and replace it with the positive.

** Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.’ Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/greener-where-you-water-it/

Thanks for reading/listening!

Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
- Erez // @erezsafar


* 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast

** 📚  BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

*** ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events 🪬🤍🕊

Greener Where You Water It (deuteronomy: nitzavim)

Music has been such an important healing tool for me over the years. Feeling good comes in waves, so if you hit a funk, it’s important to have ways to get yourself out. For some it’s being in nature, seeing the grand grace and epic beauty of creation, for others it’s exercising, and for others it’s staying connected to loved ones. For me, staying happy and connected is certainly tied to maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but also an important and key part is music. Music transcends current moods and creates universes to jump into; it’s a powerful way to shift perspective and feelings. Bon Iver‘s self-titled album does it for me everytime– if I ever feel down and I listen to it, I feel that darkness can’t coexist with the light and beauty that those songs exude, and it snaps me out of it. Of course, on an even more connected level are the songs from Jewish singers that blend our rich tradition into their own styles (Ishay Ribo, Eviatar Banai, Akiva, Erez Yechial etc.)

Song is at the center of all our rituals, and singing is the unifying element of communal prayer. King David used a harp to compose the Psalms. The Talmud teaches that the harp hung above King David’s bed, and at midnight a northern ruach (wind) would blow on the five strings, raising him from his sleep to study Torah until day break. The Zohar teaches that the five strings parallel the five books of Torah and are the instruments with which he composed much of Tehillim….

 When you listen to music, you can feel some of what the artist is feeling when he sings. In the Talmud it teaches, “Words that emanate from the heart – enter the heart.” Kabbalists explain that music helps banish extraneous thoughts and clear the mind, cutting away impure thoughts that envelop the soul, allowing a person to connect to the Light of the Infinite. Music is also something that can be played in circles infinitely, in fact that is often how the prophets would reach their state of nevuah. It would be a repetitive riff being played until the riff would act as a mantra, a meditation, and prophecy would be reached.

** Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.’ Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-song-that-saved-my-life/ 

Thanks for reading/listening!

Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
- Erez // @erezsafar


* 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast

** 📚  BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

*** ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events 🪬🤍🕊

For this week, I wrote about the secrets to being in harmony with each other and the world, bringing in wisdom by Pharrell, Rebbe Nachman, David Sacks and the Ramban.

Meanwhile, around this time (Yom Kippur) marked the last day I was to say Kaddish for my mom who passed away almost three years ago. In some ways, it was a relief to not have to say it. As her only son, having this sole responsibility weighs heavy, but, at the same time, it makes the ritual that much more meaningful, and so the connection, born of the ultimate need, is one that is very transformative.

 As I have said Kaddish leading up to this week, it always ends in the same way, just as the Shemona Esrei ends, Oseh Shalom Bimromav (“He who makes peace in His high places”). This year I was thinking about those words more than ever, discovering how Shalom (peace) is where blessings exist. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks shared a powerful moment when someone asked Rabbi Shmuel Salant, a rabbi who spent a lot of time resolving family disputes, how he would make peace in conflicts between people. Rabbi Salant looked at the person and asked him, “What do you do when you say the words ‘Oseh Shalom’?” The person replied, “I take three steps back.” Rabbi Salant said, “That!” and went on, “is how peace is made. Each party has to take three steps backward.” To make peace we must compromise, we have to sacrifice some of what we want for the sake of what someone else wants. Without the ability to take steps back, the ability for peace is paused.

I go into a lot of epic wisdom by a lot of my favorite humans in this week's chapter. Read it in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.’ Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ www.lightofinfinite.com/the-secret-to-being-in-harmony 


Thanks for reading/listening!

Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
- Erez // _@erezsafar_

** 📚  BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

*** ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events 🪬🤍🕊

The Secret To Being In Harmony With Each Other & The Universe (deuteronomy: ha'azinu)

We're back in the Torah portion of Bereishit (Genesis), which contains almost all of the mind-blowing kabbalistic concepts of the Light of the Infinite. When Hashem (God) said, 'Let There Be Light…. And It Was Good,' it clues us into the purpose of Creation– to reveal light and goodness in this world.  We need this now more than ever. I'm praying we can meditate and manifest this redemptive consciousness, rather than G-d forbid the opposite like we are seeing being done to the Children of Israel.

King David says in Tehillim/Psalms, “The world was built with chesed (loving-kindness).” Our sages teach that “The light that was created on the first day shone from one end of Creation to the other.” In Kabbalah we learn that this was the light of chesed— “an infinite, uncompounded light that filled all of Creation.” The light of Chesed is at the heart of everything. Chesed and giving are at the root of creation and at the root of joy. Spreading light is done by giving joyfully, just as when light from your own flame is shared with another flame, your flame doesn’t become smaller, only the other person’s flame is now ignited.

I can’t help but hear @JohnMayer singing, “just keep me where the light is,” a reminder that we all share this desire to give and receive love and light. The secret to life is rooted in giving– giving to yourself what you may need– love of yourself, belief in yourself– and giving to others, which creates love and community, something every person needs to feel alive. The Hebrew word for love, is אהבה/‘ahava’, the root of the word is related to the Aramaic word ‘hav’ which means “to give”. Real love is something you only receive through giving love. As Snoop Lion sings on the opening of his album, Reincarnated, “the only way to get love is to give love.”

We see this through the Hebrew language and its numerical value. Blessings come from love and Ahava (the Hebrew word for ‘love’).

Ahava has the same gematria (numerical value), 13, as the word Echad (‘one’). As many of us know, 26 is the numerical value of Hashem’s four-letter name (the Tetragrammaton), the ultimate Divine Infinite Light. So, if we share our love and our oneness— 13 + 13— then we manifest that Divine Light.

Dive deeper in my '𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞' book, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝" https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw


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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar


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Just Keep Me Where The Light Is (genesis: genesis)

Light Of Infinite - Found A World So New (genesis- Noach)

In the Torah this week, we learn that on Avraham’s journey toward Israel that he finds himself in a famine and is forced to go down to Egypt, as it’s written, “And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt.”

This seems like an odd turn of events, after he is tasked with the journey and given blessings of greatness. But we see in Avraham’s journeys, the history of B’nei Yisrael (Children of Israel) was rehearsed and actualized: just as he went down to Egypt, we did the same through the Egyptian Exile, but also just as Avraham went up out of Egypt, we too were brought to Israel, to redemption, and just as Avraham left, “weighed down with cattle, silver and gold,” we did the same, leaving Egypt, “with greater wealth.”

And so the descent to Egypt was for its departure, which was “weighed down with cattle, silver, and gold,” a phrase that was used for Avraham and all of Israel’s ascent, transforming the most secular to the most high in service of Hashem (God) through sacrifices in the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple). We see that Avraham’s descent to Egypt wasn’t counter to his ascent to Israel, to Jerusalem, to the Promised Land; it was integral, because out of darkness, comes the greatest light. As my brother, @Matisyahu, sings on his single, “Jerusalem (Out of Darkness Comes Light)”;

Ain’t no one gonna break my stride
Ain’t no one gonna pull me down
Oh, no, I got to keep on moving...

So it is with us, with all that seem like unending descents, hardships, and ways to break our stride, we can’t let it pull us down, we have to keep moving, keeping our soul’s essence and the ultimate purpose of spiritualizing reality until our own redemption, both prati (personal) and klali (communal) become actualized into the final redemption.

And so each of us is tasked with not only upholding the covenant of Avraham, but of doing right with all the blessings that come from it – going inward to elevate ourselves to the most high, and spiritualizing reality which inspires all those around us to do the same.


*** dive deeper in my ‘𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞’ book, “𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.” Get your copy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw), or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/go-to-yourself/


Stay Safe, & Shabbat Shalom!
- @ErezSafar 🪬🤍🧿🕊️

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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar


* Follow the Light: Facebook: www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite
Instagram: @lightofinfiniteBooks of Light: https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw

Go To Yourself (genesis: lech-lecha)

Greetings From The Edge Of The World (genesis: vayeira)

The Future Is Female The Talmud teaches that “In the merit of righteous women, our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt”. Redemption is intrinsically related to women, malchut (sovereignty), and the Divine feminine dimension.

God’s Infinite Light originates at a level that is beyond this world, physically inaccessible to us, but it is filtered down through the Sefirot until it reaches the Malchut (sovereignty), out of which it shines onto us in our finite world.

Infused in our tefilot (prayers) is the concept of moshiach and the final redemption, and redemption is intrinsically related to women. Kabbalistically, the sefirah of malchut renews all of existence and reflects the feminine dimension. We are now in exile, so malchut is in a state of descent and does not receive direct influence from the other sefirot. One can look at it like a woman in a state of separation from her husband. But in the redemptive state, the highest source of malchut reveals itself and the bonds between the various sefirot are reestablished, manifesting the Infinite Light.

As we covered previously, the actions of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs are prophetic indicators of what is to come for future generations. The Arizal explains that the future redemption will follow the pattern of our redemption and Exodus from Egypt. In the prophecy of Micah, alluding to the final redemption, it is written, “As in the days of your exodus from Egypt, I will show you wonders.” And since our ultimate and final redemption will, in some ways, be a reincarnation of the redemptive state from Egypt, it just the same will be by the merit of the righteous women of our generation, the generation of Mashiach.

King Solomon in Kohelet writes, “One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found”. Rabbeinu Bachya comments that Solomon was referring to the Golden Calf and that among all those who sinned there was not one woman. Yet women played a major role in contributing to and helping to build the Mishkan, even though they had no sin to atone for. Chazal state, “Hashem gave women greater understanding than He gave men.” This is seen in their righteousness in being first to contribute to the Mishkan, despite their not needing to atone for the Golden Calf. Solomon states in Mishlei, “The wisdom of women builds her house”. The Mishkan is the home that we are tasked to build as a dwelling place for the revelation of the concealed. We must all learn from women how to build a temple of generosity within and around us.


* Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/

** Get your copy of the book: 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we start reading in less than two weeks!! - - https://amzn.to/3ShxLvn 

*** Save the date: Dec 7th will be the next global Light of Infinite Festival & the release of book # 2 (The Exodus of Darkness)!**** & OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-future-is-female/  ️


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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

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The Future is Female (genesis: chayei sarah)

The Other Side (genesis  Toldot)

What Happens To A Dream Deferred? (genesis: vayeitzei)

We all have encountered Esavs in our lives, whether as a part of ourselves or manifested in various people we encounter. Yakov demonstrates the various ways to overcome Esav and the yetzer hara he represents. Last week we saw Yakov asking only for food and clothing. He’s a picture of the simple tzadik. At this stage of his life, he was fearful of Lavan and Esav and would flee and run from his troubles. But in this week, we see a more mature Yakov: he has accumulated material wealth because he knows how to spiritualize it, and he approaches Esav instead of fleeing, because he knows the way in which he and all of us must face adversity. Rashi points out the way in which Yakov faced his challenge head on; he didn’t rely on his righteousness or for Hashem to take care of it. He sent gifts, he prayed, and at the same time, he prepared for battle, and separated his camp into two. In difficult situations it’s important to go in with a positive attitude that everything will work out, but we can’t always control how the situation will unfold and how the other person will react and so we have to prepare and protect ourselves at any cost.

We have all had to overcome Esavs in our lives, people that are toxic and try to push your positivity into negativity. Sometimes it’s different people at different times. It’s a struggle to be the better person with such people. It’s only recently that I started to question why I’m trying so hard, and considered that it might be time to match toxicity and negativity with just that. But then I realized that that would let that person change you for the worse, making you into what you don’t like about them. R' Nachman teaches that even with the most evil person one has to find the good point in them, and that could elevate them to a place of merit. Focus on the good, and eventually it will be good. So we have to approach it like Yakov and Esav. Yakov came to Esav and sent gifts and said “My Lord,” humbling himself, so that the ascent of good would result in the descent of bad. Part of bittul is self-transcendence - putting your own self aside and figuring out a way to continue to be righteous and to connect to Hashem despite the obstacles.

Thanks for reading! Much love & Shabbat Shalom! 
- Erez

* Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/

** Get your copy of the book: 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we are reading now!! - - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw 

**** & OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/where-soul-meets-body/   ️

The Bay Area is quickly becoming the antisemitic capitol of America.

For this week, I do a deep dive into the damaging effects of lashon hara (speaking negatively). 

Blessings don’t come easily in this world. Everything of great value comes through hardship. Even peace itself comes from being diligent in bittul (self-transcendence), choosing how to navigate our reactions.
The deeper & more meaningful a relationship is the better the chances are of having difficult elements to work through. If you want to go deep in a relationship, there will be work to get through so that each person feels that they are being heard & loved in the way that they need. It’s similar in relationships between parents & children: the amount of love a parent feels for their child is indescribable, but it comes from a constant giving of one’s emotional & physical faculties. In the newborn stage, it’s waking up every couple hours to feed, hold or change the baby, when we just want to have one solid night’s sleep. When they are older, it’s a series of challenges that any human goes through & every parent wants to take on. But the connection could not be deeper & the love more profound because of those challenges on the journey. Through the hardships come the blessings. 

Rashi says that “Yakov sought to dwell in tranquility”. But as soon as he did, immediately the troubles with Yosef & his brothers began, & instead of peace, Yakov ended up mourning Yosef, thinking he was dead for twenty years, only reuniting with him in his old age. It’s said that when a tzadik wishes to live at ease, Hashem says to them: “Are not the righteous satisfied with what is stored up for them in the world to come that they wish to live at ease in this world too! 

There’s a song by Cage The Elephant that I remixed for my Bonnaroo album called “Ain't No Rest for the Wicked.” It’s a play off the verse from Isaiah, “There is no peace for the wicked.” But Chazal say the same in regards to tzadikim, “The righteous have no rest.” & Job wrote that “man was born to toil" Essentially, in this world, we have work to do, & we can’t hope to sit idly by as our unique gifts & talents grow stale.

Thanks for reading! Much love & Shabbat Shalom! 
- Erez

* Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/

** Get your copy of the book: 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we are reading now!! - - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw 

**** & OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-three-sided-story/ ️

The Three Sided Story (genesis: vayeishev)

Light of Infinite is a blog, a podcast, a festival and a soon to be released book series, where Erez Safar acts as Your Spiritual DJ, curating insights into the weekly Torah portion and the infinite light of Kabbalah.

The project began on the Yartzeit (yearly memorial) of my ex wife’s mother’s passing, and it’s inspired by both her (Yehudis Chava bat Yakov Dov) and my mother (Frida Levona bat Shalom), who passed the same year. When I think of these women, I think of tzedaka and chesed, words that are hard to translate because they capture the real depths of words like ‘generous’, ‘giving’, ‘loving’, and ‘kindness’. These two women embodied and exemplified these qualities to an angelic degree: so full of life, love, warmth, and light, at every turn, every single moment. Being around them inspired me to be more loving, more giving, more full of a zest for each moment in life.

My goal with this ongoing project is to spread that inspiration and Light that I received and still receive from them. Using each week’s Torah portion, delving deep into the text, the commentaries, and the Kabbalah connected to it, I’ll share insights that bring that inspiration and Light to life for me, and will hopefully do the same for you.

As DJ Shadow sampled on his seminal record, Entroducing, “It’s not me that’s coming through– the music’s coming through me”. With that said, I do not take any recognition for any part of the material except the writing style. The recognition is meant for the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and the Giants of Torah that reveal the the Light of Infinite in a way that only they can. So, I would like to give thanks to some of the Chassidic Masters and Rabbis that I draw the most inspiration from, whose wisdom I’m attempting to bring down and make accessible. These include Reb Nachman & Reb Nosson Mi’Breslov, The Arizal, The Ba’al Shem Tov, R’Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the Rebbe), Carlebach, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and so many others.

I hope that these words inspire you to delve deeper into the Torah and kabbalisitc texts, and, as Chaim Vital says, “One can go deeper and deeper, as far as the human mind can delve, and it will always yield new treasures.”

Light of Infinite is an upcoming book series where I act as your spiritual DJ, curating insights into the weekly Torah portion and the infinite light of Kabbalah. The sefer (book) will include newly edited, and in some cases, expanded text on the weekly parashah. There will also be a section on key concepts of Kabbalah as well as a section that includes stories and info on some of my favorite Rebbe’s.

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