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 Podcast

What do Rebbe Nachman, the Wu-Tang Clan, the Abarbanel and Led Zeppelin have in common? Not much, but they all made their way into this week's dvar/article;)

So much of emunah (faith) and connectedness revolve around sleep and dreams, at least for me. In moments of faithlessness and doubt, I sometimes get overwhelmed with anxiety and find it hard to sleep-- thoughts are racing through my head, and I find it hard not to think of things from every angle. It’s a cycle that is sometimes tough to quiet, at least enough to slip into slumber. Dreams, too, however far out, are often connected to the state each of us are in at that time. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to oneirology (the scientific study of dreams) is that they are partially drawn from experiences and stimuli in the waking world. He says that dreams are our road map to the unconscious, reflecting our deepest desires and wishes.

It’s written in Peirush HaRokeach that a person’s spiritual stature can be recognized through their dreams; even when we are doing nothing [i.e. during sleep], our thoughts may still be that Hashem is standing over us. The way I see it, we can create sound sleep and healthy dreams by strengthening our emunah and bitachon (trust).

In this parashah we see Yakov having his famous dreams where Hashem is speaking to him and “standing over him”, at the top of a ladder that reaches the heavens, upon which angels are ascending and descending.

This is the month of Kislev, when we read of these famous dreams (Yakov, Yosef, Chief Butler and Baker in Egypt, Pharaoh...). Sefer Yetzirah associates the month of Kislev with sleep, as the nights start to feel longer. At night, one can be drawn to their yetzer hara and busy themselves with desires that take them further away from being connected to the Light of the Infinite. As is stated in The Zohar, "When the night is split (i.e. at midnight), then a call goes out, 'Like birds caught in a trap, so too are men caught.'"

But on the other end, there is an opportunity in the darkness to connect on a deeper level, to wake up from one's spiritual slumber. The Chatam Sofer teaches that the first day of the month of Kislev falls exactly forty days after Sukkot. He calls it a mini Yom Kippur, containing in it the power to help us change our negative habits.

Jump into the full dvar, where I dive deep into how humility brings blessings which we see throughout this week.

✨ READ THE FULL DVAR @ lightofinfinite.com/what-happ...

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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

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What Happens To A Dream Deferred? (Vayeitzei)[snippet]

We all have encountered Esavs in our lives, whether as a part of ourselves or manifested in various people we encounter. Yakov demonstrates through these parshiot the various ways to overcome Esav and the yetzer hara (evil inclination) he represents. In last week’s parashah, we see Yakov asking only for food and clothing. He’s a picture of the simple tzadik (ish tam, yoshev ohalim).

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’s parashah of Vayishlach, 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, sending “emissaries ahead of him to his brother Esav in the Land of Seir, to the fields of Edom.” 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, I’m no exception to that. It’s a struggle to be the better person with such people, but I have continuously tried. It’s only recently that I started to question why I’m trying so hard, and to consider that it might be time to match toxicity and negativity with just that. But then I realized that that would let that person win and change you for the worse, making you into what you don’t like about them. Rebbe 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, not in a way that is damaging to yourself, but putting your own self aside and figuring out a way to continue to be righteous and to connect to Hashem despite the obstacles, even if they are manifestations of the Sitra Achra in those moments. 

We have to overcome this world, materiality, our physical selves, the difficulties that come from them, but not by avoiding, but by elevating. It’s the connection between the physical world to the spiritual world that brings the blessings, otherwise the physical “blessing,” when it’s missing its spiritual counterpart, can become a curse. And so tapping into the light, renewal and a constant desire to unify the soul and body is our mission in this life, as seen through the journey from Yakov to Yisrael. 

✨ READ THE FULL DVAR @ lightofinfinite.com/where-soul-meets-body/


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Much love, Erez Safar

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Where Soul Meets Body (Vayishlach)

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 and 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 and loved in the way that they need. It’s similar in relationships between parents and children: the amount of love a parent feels for their child is indescribable, but it comes from a constant giving of one’s emotional and 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 and every parent wants to take on. But the connection could not be deeper and the love more profound because of those challenges on the journey. Through the hardships come the blessings. 

In this parahsah, Rashi says that “Yakov sought to dwell in tranquility”. But as soon as he did, immediately the troubles with Yosef and his brothers began, and 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 in Talmud Berachot, Chazal say the same in regards to tzadikim, “The righteous have no rest.” And Job wrote that “man was born to toil" Essentially, in this world, we have work to do, and we can’t hope to sit idly by as our unique gifts and talents grow stale. 

As we covered last week, we are all interlinked, especially on the spiritual level, and so, by fulfilling one’s mission, a righteous person is fulfilling and completing the missions of the righteous souls that preceded him. This comes into play with Yakov, as he “sought to dwell in tranquility.” But this tranquility only came into being after Yakov went through the hardship of Yosef’s descent into Egypt. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that this brought about complete bittul. Yakov’s relationship with the material was to dominate it but always remain above it, still elevating it to its source. But Yosef took this a step further when he was brought against his will down to Egypt as a slave. So, Yakov, ultimately finding himself in Egypt, was able to merit bringing the sparks of holiness that are found in the lowest levels of material existence. It was the very elevation to the highest level of the materiality and physicality found in the lowest level that allowed Yakov’s request of dwelling in tranquility (a taste of the World to Come) in this life to finally be answered. 

READ THE FULL DVAR @ lightofinfinite.com/the-three-sided-story/

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Much love, Erez Safar

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The Three Sided Story (Vayeishev)

I'm on a flight right now en route to Art Basel sharing this with you all. The story of Yosef's struggle and redemption is super inspiring, the audio below is something I shared about this week's parashah after my mom passed away last year, I hope it brings you some solace and light. Much Love and Shabbat Shalom!

We read of Pharaoh that “in the morning, his spirit was troubled. He sent for and summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men. Pharaoh told them his dream, but no one could interpret them to Pharaoh” 


Pharaoh’s wise men did interpret the dreams, but not in reference to him as a Pharaoh, instead as a king, so he was unsatisfied with their interpretations. Rashi explains their interpretations as such: Pharaoh would beget seven daughters and bury seven daughters. It was only Yosef that was able to not only interpret the dreams incorporating every aspect of the dreams that Pharaoh had shared, but was able to fill in the parts Pharaoh had left out and offer practical advice so as to keep Egypt in good standing, thus saving Pharaoh and his kingdom. Yosef saw the seven healthy cows in the dream as good and the scrawny cows as evil, something that always exists in the world, where the evil scrawny cows consume the healthy cows in a way that sometimes it seems that evil conquers good. But Reb Natan of Breslov explains that Yosef, a tzadik, is always able to overcome evil even if it has been “swallowed up” by evil. The Lubavitcher Rebbe reminds us that evil is transient while good always remains intact. The wise men told Pharaoh that Yosef’s interpretation didn’t make sense, that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of a famine, because the cows co-existed, so that would clearly not be correct. Yosef explained that they would have to put away food during the years of famine, taking advantage of the good days and storing them in the same way one should with good deeds in this world. And in this way, when the bad/evil befell them there was good to fall back on. So, too, we should store up good deeds, so the evil that exists will be met by good at the same time. 

* There is a ton of inspiration in this week's Dvar, so be sure to READ IT IN FULL @ www.lightofinfinite.com/karma-came-quickly/


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Much love, Erez Safar

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Karma Came Quickly (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 Thom Yorke sings on “Paranoid Android”: God loves his children, we need to do the same at all moments.


** Do a deep dive into our interconnection;

READ IN FULL @ lightofinfinite.com/back-to-you/

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every line that I’ve drawn that points back to you (Vayigash)

Carrie Fisher used to say, “take your broken heart, make it into art.” It’s incredible how we are able to turn tragedy into triumph & our own dark moments into light & hope for others. There’s nowhere we see our interconnectedness more than in art. The stories that are the most popular in films & literature play off the primary story arcs which include rises, falls… A few examples: “Rags to Riches”, “Riches to Rags”, “Cinderella” (rise then fall then rise), “Oedipus” (fall then rise then fall). Most stories that resonate play off of this - this is seen in the Torah, too, especially in the story of Yakov & Yosef. When we bump into a friend or a stranger, we never really know if at that moment they are feeling a fall or a rise, & so we each have to be as graceful as we can. As I have been writing these dvars, my own story has been facing ups & downs, & when I feel low & go through something difficult that so many of us have gone through, I actually think it has been happening to put me in a space to be able to relate & bring light to others, since I am actually going through it, too– we are all connected.

Yosef’s brothers are scared that because their father passed away, he will finally take revenge on them. They think, “… he will surely repay us & the evil that we did to him.” They told Yosef that one of their father’s wishes before he died was that he forgive their spiteful deeds. This means that for all their years, even though Yosef had shown time & again that he had forgiven them & met them with love, they lived with the fear that eventually he would take his revenge. It’s incredible how often this plays out in our own lives; the safek (doubt) & fear which plays on our minds as a personal Amalek, the nation (& notion) that the Torah commands us to eliminate from the world. The Hebrew words safek and amalek have the same gematria of 240. We are commanded to eliminate it because it is the force that makes us fall. It stands opposed to faith & is our strongest detractor of bitachon.

As we see in most everything in life, balance is instrumental in being in a space of goodness, as too much of one thing throws off the balance & alignment required for peace & blessings to flow. Mercy with each other & ourselves is the one thing we could attempt to overdose on & find that, even in those instances, it is often not enough.

I pray that we go into Shabbat (a taste of the world to come) and use the opportunity to strengthen our attributes of mercy, bringing it into the week and the world.

READ THE DVAR IN FULL @ www.lightofinfinite.com/take-your-broken-heart-make-it-into-art

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Much love, Erez Safar

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Take Your Broken Heart, Make It Into Art (Vayechi)

I wrote a bit about being a music director at WMUC and playing jazz clubs in NYC... But mostly this week I wrote about the connection between Moshe and the Moshiach.

Moshe felt and knew that he was not an Egyptian. Despite his upbringing and surroundings, he knew he was a Hebrew, an Israelite. Moshe had an attachment to Yocheved (his nursemaid) and her children. He later found out he was her son and that her children were his siblings. As the saying goes, the truth always comes out in the end. It was then that, “Moshe grew up, and he went out to his brethren and saw their suffering.” Later in the parashah it says of Moshe, “Hashem saw that he turned aside to see”; this is referring to Moshe’s leaving his own comforts to seeing the pain and suffering of others and acting on it. This is what made Moshe worthy of being the redeemer and leader of B’nei Yisrael. It is something we all need to continuously learn from: it is not enough to see and feel empathetic toward someone else’s suffering, but we must also act on it, and work to redeem the ones who are suffering.

We have to remember that to bring the redemptive state, we need to constantly refine our bitachon (trust), so that we truly believe, as we can only bring others to the truth when we are fully immersed in it ourselves. Truth in Hebrew is emet (אמת), which is the first, middle and last letter of the aleph bet (אלף־בית), which parallels what is written in Isaiah, “I am the First and I am the Last, and besides Me there is no god.” There is nothing but Hashem, the truth, Oneness, represented by aleph (א). To remove aleph from emet (אמת) is to be left with met (מת) which means “death.” The other side of truth is the Sitra Achra, which represents the opposite of life, the opposite of truth and opposes Hashem by concealing Oneness.

It may feel that our generation is at a lower level than the previous, but we are actually standing on the good deeds of those that came before us, connected to their souls and our ascents, and our final redemption comes from the previous hardships and the ascents that came from the descents. We are now in the time of the final redemption, closer than we have ever been. We need to tap into that reality, that truth, that Oneness, and reveal what has previously been concealed, because the revelation is becoming clearer than it’s ever been!

READ THE DVAR IN FULL @ lightofinfinite.com/rescue-th...

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Much love, Erez Safar

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Rescue The Needy (Shemot)

Hashem reminds Moshe that whatever impingement he feels he has, it cannot impede him from his destiny, nor the people from redemption. Once Moshe was able to rid himself of his doubt and submit to his destiny, he was able to perform miracles. And of course miracles happen every moment, disguised as nature, but if we cloud them with doubt or anxiety, we can’t see the miraculous good.

With Pharaoh, we see after each plague he agrees that Hashem is the Almighty. But then he forgets, doubts, becomes faithless and fooled again, thinking he is in control and can save himself. And when Moshe brings the next plague, he begs for it to stop and be reversed, he says that he will allow Moshe to take B’nei Yisrael out and serve Hashem. But the plague abates, Pharaoh’s compassion abates and he hardens his heart again. 

I once produced a short film for the Accidental Talmudist titled “The Parking Spot”, and one of my favorite actors, Stephen Tobolowsky, was the star. (You may know him as Ned from Groundhog Day or as Jack Barker (Action Jack) from Silicon Valley). The scene opens with his character who is in a rush to a big money meeting but unable to find a parking spot! We hear him on the phone pleading with his colleague to try to stall the meeting. Eventually, he prays, “Oh please, God, help me get a parking spot! If you help me get a parking spot, I’ll give 10% of this deal to charity! I’ll give 10% of every deal I make. And I’ll call my mother!” Right then a car pulls out, and he gets all excited and says, “Wow, never mind, God. I got it!!” 

When everything is running smoothly, when everything seems aligned, we sometimes think foolishly that it is because of our own doing and not that of Hashem. And it’s often in those times when we get shaken up and fall from on high, so that we can be humbled again. So we enter into a space of questioning and then can remember the fundamental answer that everything is from the hands of Hashem, and that all that we do have is meant to be connected back to Hashem, to spiritualize reality, not materialize it.

May we all rid ourselves of doubt, release the chains of our own struggles and the parts of our minds that enslave us, and manifest the Promised Land within ourselves.

READ THE DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/from-on-high/


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Much love, Erez Safar

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From on High (Va'eira)

This was an epic surprise (and a nice review of last week's Dvar) that I saw come up on Instagram yesterday, 
www.instagram.com/tv/CYpLfi4lrJX/?

Now for some thoughts on this week's Parashah of Beshalach! The lesson that keeps coming up is that the path to the Promised Land is fraught with obstacles, & we each must overcome our doubts & confusions & clarify our goals before meriting our ultimate goals. This happened with Avraham, having to go to Egypt first, & now we see it happening to the entire Jewish nation. Instead of leading B’nei Yisrael on a direct path, Hashem took them around. As @MacMiller sings on “Hurt Feelings” about being stuck in a rut: “I’ve been going through it, you just go around it.” It sometimes feels like the only way to power through something is to push directly through it, but sometimes a circular path instead of a direct one is more healing & conducive to holiness. It allows time for healing & clarity, & that is exactly how we as a nation pushed through the waters of the Red Sea & became free.

This parashah features the song that Moshe & the 3 million Jews of the Exodus burst into in unison after they were saved by the splitting of the Red Sea. Prior to taking their fateful step into the sea, they were surrounded on all sides– Pharaoh & the Egyptians pursuing them from behind, the sea in front of them, a forest on one side & impassable cliffs on the other.

Spiritual exile corresponds to Egypt, & we find ourselves spiritually stuck & often feeling trapped in our own lives, sometimes in indecision, other times by a series of obstacles that seem insurmountable. It’s each of our willingness to draw close to Hashem that represents our own exodus from impurity & indecision, to purity & clarity, from faithlessness to a life more faithfully balanced. Often, when we do feel trapped & feel that we have no viable options left, we are only left with crying out, speaking out, praying out to Hashem, & in those times we will see the waters open up & the beginning of a redemption will reveal itself.

The Kabbalah teaches us that the sea is a symbol of concealment, as it’s a place where everything is covered by water. The sea splitting is a symbol of revelation, when that which has been hidden becomes revealed.

Moshe & 3 million Jews are all singing In unison & for one moment, they all had the same vision as Moshe, tapping into Moshe’s illuminated state of da’at (higher perception) that was so powerful & unifying that they sang the song in unison “without any distinction or differentiation.”

Carlebach says that in order to sing one has to be free. The slaves from Africa used to sing to tell you that no matter how much you tried to enslave them, they were still free. Singing comes from the world of freedom. When you sing, you are telling evil, “You don’t have dominion over me.”

The Zohar says whoever sings Az Yashir (the Song of Deliverance) every day with kavanah (sincerity) will have their sins forgiven & will merit singing it together with Mashiach & all of Israel in the time of our ultimate redemption.

It’s not enough to ask for the redemption, as we already know it is coming; we must ask for it speedily at this very moment, & with that bask in the revealed Light of Infinite forever.✨

READ THE DVAR IN FULL @ lightofinfinite.com/the-song-of-the-sea/


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The Song of the Sea (Beshalach)

Seeing Sounds (Yitro)

“Terumah” is the parashah I began with when I started writing these “Light of the Infinite” divrei Torah a year ago, on the Yahrzeit of my kids’ bubbie, Yehudis Chava bat Yakov. I chose to begin this project– to write and share Torah– to try to inspire others in her memory/honor. Now that I have made it through the year to this same parashah, I will expand and dive a bit deeper.

Where we are now in the Torah, the Jews are coming out of everything being taken care of for them– being taken out of Egypt, through the split Sea, given food (manna) directly from heaven. It was as if we were children, because we were given everything. As we walked through the Red Sea, we came into our own as a nation. And now, in the act of giving terumah, the Parashah is telling us something very profound– giving confers dignity, receiving does not.

As we read this week, “Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion, from every person whose **heart so moves them ** shall take My portion.” 

As Miles Davis said, “Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.” Sometimes we get stuck in over-thinking or feeling we have to do so much that we don’t do it at all, when really we need to focus on doing even just one thing, but doing it with love, with a full heart, with a smile of sincerity.

Giving is not enough if, when you give, it feels as if it’s being taken from you by the person who is receiving. There is a Chassidic story in which a wealthy individual who was known for his miserliness had decided to give Reb Shlomo of Radomsk a good amount of money as a pidyon, but R’ Shlomo refused to accept. When he was asked why he didn’t accept it, since he certainly needed the money, he simply replied, “If you had seen with what glee he took the money back, you would not have asked why I didn’t want to receive it.” Just as important as the act of giving is the sincerity and love in which it is given. If our heart compels us to want to hold on and not let go, it is the act of giving and letting go that we must master.

The Arizal teaches that Creation came about because Hashem has a fundamental desire to give. Therefore, the natural state of being is one in which chesed, the bounteous and unlimited influx of Hashem’s kindness, flows freely into the world, unhampered by either sin or dinim (judgment). One of the major ways to sweeten judgment (hamtakat hadinim) is tzedakah, as it transforms dinim into chesed. We are tasked to emulate these qualities.

In Mishlei (Proverbs) it says, “There is one who gives generously yet ends with more.”

Focusing on what you don’t have over what you do often blocks the blessings you can get. Focusing on what you can give, you turn yourself into a vessel for receiving. The Zohar says that darkness isn’t an entity unto itself, it is the absence of light. And if darkness is the absence of light, then a little bit of light, a little bit of love, will illuminate a lot of darkness. Like The Beatles said, “the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

*** THIS WAS JUST A SNIPPET / READ THE DVAR/ARTICLE IN FULL @ lightofinfinite.com/the-love-you-take/


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The Love You Take Is Equal To The Love You Make (terumah)

This week has been a bit more challenging navigating the ups and downs that come with living in this life of exile… as Mark Ronson says, Nothing Breaks Like A Heart. I woke up today and it hit me that we’re all just scattered pieces of a broken soul trying to come together and make it whole.

This Parashah opens on the following verse:

וְאַתָּ֞ה תְּצַוֶּ֣ה ׀ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת זָ֛ךְ כָּתִ֖ית לַמָּא֑וֹר לְהַעֲלֹ֥ת נֵ֖ר תָּמִֽיד
And you will command the Children of Israel that they shall take for you clear olive oil, crushed, for illumination, to light a lamp continually.

What strikes me is that the action we are commanded to take is a physical action in a moment— it’s plucking an olive, squeezing, grinding and crushing it for its oil, in order to elevate it. And what’s to follow is illumination and a continual light. It is the same in life— only after self-sacrifice can we merit seeing purity illuminate our souls.

The Mishkan was built to rectify the sin of the Golden Calf, because sin obscures the light of Hashem and the light of emunah. Reb Natan of Breslov teaches that once B’nei Yisrael accomplished building the Mishkan, they aroused Divine Will instead of anger. By lighting the lamps, they expressed the desire that the light of Hashem should never be extinguished within them.

The stories leading up to this moment in the Torah continually show us a yeridah (descent) prior to the aliyah (ascent), because the height and light come from the falls and the darkness. And since everything physical is a reflection of its spiritual counterpart, there is no aliyah without a prior yeridah. So, we have to stay faithful and focus on the light or we get consumed by darkness. If we look at ourselves like the olives, going through life, feeling crushed at various stages, but remain hopeful that from the crushed moments comes the elevation – the light – we can stay faithful on our path towards our own ascension and redemption. At every moment in life, our decisions can be fueled by fear, constantly questioning, in a state of uncertainty. Alternatively, we can operate from a place of faith, realizing that whatever is meant to be will be. And when we put our trust in that process, if we are open to believing that what is meant for us will come to us, then the crushed parts of the path that we are on will illuminate the darkness, like a light shown in a dark room. The greater the darkness, the greater the light.

We need to instill this lesson of lessening the focus on the elements that leave us crushed, moving away from the place of fear and feeling stuck, and into the space of Emunah (faith) and *Bitachon (trust). And we will see that everything will be illuminated.

*** THIS WAS JUST A SNIPPET, I WROTE ABOUT SHAMANIC JUDAISM AND SO MUCH MORE, CZECH IT - >  @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-living-revelation-of-the-concealed/


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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite

The Living Revelation of the Concealed (yetzaveh)

It’s wild to me to think how some folks don’t know the true weekly epicness that is Shabbat. But like much in life, so much of its preciousness remains concealed until each person pushes through their own perceptions to reveal the truth that awaits. So, how do we elevate the sacred moments and tap into the beauty and joy that lies within? It’s always a mix of action and education– educating oneself on what the ritual entails and taking action to follow the rituals so that we can access the potent power of feeling that comes with being grounded and unified with oneself, with each other, and most importantly with our Source, Hashem. 
This week we are commanded to keep the Shabbat - there is no more elevated bridge between this world & the next; it’s the finite time & space where our soul feels tapped into the infinite. Its splendor is ineffable. Hashem created the world in six days, & on the seventh He rested. We spend our days emulating Hashem in creating, in trying to conquer nature, to mold it into our desires, but on the seventh, on Shabbat, we are told to stop, to take a break, to meditate on being created & abstain from creating. We take a pause from trying to rise above what is natural & meditate on nature itself, on receiving in full faith that Hashem provides & is fully in charge & that no matter how hard we work, in the end, it is all in the hands of Hashem. 
Shabbat, is a taste of the infinite, but it’s still bound in time & space. It’s a gift from God that we even get that taste, as it is stated in Talmud, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, I have a precious gift in My treasure house, & it is called the Shabbat.”
So much so that when I am in it, it is hard to let it go, feeling the anxiety of getting back to the regular week, of turning my phone & computer back on & what might await. Now more than ever, it seems essential to take this time to truly unplug once a week, to center oneself without the constant distraction of modernity, shifting focus to community, prayer, meditation & truly being present.
וְשָׁמְר֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֑ת לַעֲשׂ֧וֹת אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֛ת לְדֹרֹתָ֖ם בְּרִ֥ית עוֹלָֽם
The Jewish people must observe Shabbat, making it an eternal covenant throughout their generations
Rebbe Nachman writes that in this verse, LeDoRotam (throughout the generations), alludes to DiRah (dwelling), teaching that we have to draw Shabbat into our dwelling so that our physical spaces will feel the spiritual light that is Shabbat. The next verse we read the famous “For in the Six Days God made”  (‘כִּי־שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֗ים עָשָׂ֤ה הֹ). Rabbeinu teaches that it can also be read as “For God made Six Days,” meaning Hashem created time & the six days that concentrically encircle the inner focal point of creation which is Shabbat. Each day that is closer to Shabbat in time is also spiritually closer, which is also why human beings were created last, as we have the ability to elevate time & draw down the Infinite Light.
 As Ahad Ha’am said, “More than Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.” It’s the power of this commandment that it has preserved the people tasked to shine a perpetual light & elevate the fallen sparks in a world of darkness.

**** Photo of me at my Savta’s house in Ramat Gan at my Yemenite henna ceremony.

*** THIS WAS JUST A SNIPPET / READ THE DVAR/ARTICLE IN FULL @  https://lightofinfinite.com/meditate-on-being-created/ 

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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite

when to abstain from creating and meditate on being created (ki tisa)

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose - Some Torah thoughts for this week from Miami, hope your week has been great so far!

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 (the feeling of life and connection) that we all crave and that sustains us. 
I’m certainly no exception. Stories spin in my head when I feel uncertain, before I’m able to see things clearly. Anxiety is the feeling we experience when Emunah and Bitachon become 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 and even more so the Source, Hashem, and the bitachon that all is in the hands of Hashem and 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 from moment to moment. If we feel we are 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 emunah that it will all be alright, which will bring the feeling of “rightness” that much sooner.

If we are 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 and 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. 

Ben Zoma asks in Pirkei Avot, “Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot, as it is said: ‘You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors, you shall be happy and you shall prosper.”

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 all into this week’s Parashah;) @ lightofinfinite.com/clear-eyes-full-hearts-cant-lose/  



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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

** Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite 
*** Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose (Vayak'hel)

Last week, we discussed the notion that Exile is a state of disconnect, and redemption is the rectification of that state. In Likkutei Sichot, it’s written that the true meaning of redemption is the attainment of a state of transcendence above the boundaries and limitations of this material world. However, it’s essential to realize that the intent of this statement is not that the transcendent state should nullify the world and its limitations, but rather that there should be a fusion of the infinite and the finite. And that Godliness is meant to be revealed in our physical world in a Mishkan, a dwelling for Hashem established in the lower realms.

This week, we read about the mikvah and its purifying, status-altering power:   Bring Aharon and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and immerse them in a mikvah. Clothe Aharon with the sacred garments. Anoint him and sanctify him so that he may serve as a kohein [priest] to Me.

Many are familiar with the mikvah, knowing of the custom of married women’s immersion as part of the laws of Family Purity, and of course as part of the process of those who convert to Judaism. In the instance of Aharon and his sons, the immersion was more of a change of status than a purification, an elevation from one state to another. We see in the case of conversion to Judaism, it is not a matter of uncleanliness or purification, but rather a change in status. As it’s written, “as soon as [the convert] immerses and emerges, he is like a born Jew in every way.”

The mikvah process in this sense is like a rebirth, as it’s written in regards to the convert’s status change and renewal: the mivkah is like reentering the womb, as it’s written, “a convert who embraces Judaism is like a newborn child.” Just as the womb is a space devoid of Tomeh (uncleanliness/impurity), in which the baby cannot become impure in any way, the mikvah for men and women can also be looked at as a status change from Tomeh (unclean, or impure) to Tahor (clean, or pure). The Talmud teaches that all the water that flows through the world ultimately has its root in the river that flowed in the Garden of Eden, so our immersion in the flowing waters of a mikveh is a re-establishment of our connection with the Edenic state.

One of the most beautiful places in Israel is Massadah. Eighteen hundred plus years have passed since ancient Israel fought the Roman Empire. The excavations and discoveries on the top of Massadah have been fascinating. One in particular was finding two mikvahs— one likely was used for men and the other for women). The laws surrounding the building of a mikvah are very detailed and so two experts on the construction of mikvahs— Rabbi David Muntzberg and Rabbi Eliezer Alter— were brought in only to find that, in over eighteen hundred years, the construction and the importance of the Mikveh for Jews around the world has not changed. 

It’s said of those that are close to Hashem that they are like a tree planted by the water and will be rewarded with fresh leaves and Mayim Chayim (Living Waters) or forever-flowing water. Living water represents energy and health and chiyut (life) for the soul. Water represents truth and Torah, as we say, “ein mayim ela Torah,” which means, “the only water is that of Torah”. 

What we have to realize is that beyond being infused with a godly soul (a spark of the Divine within us), what connects us all is water. Our bodies are mostly water, and the brain and heart, in particular, are composed of 73% water. 

We tend to mirror each other’s inner belief systems, and 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, and learning to quell our ego, is essential to being in a blissful and connected state. 

Read in full @ www.lightofinfinite.com

The Grounding Elements (pekudei)

Spiritualize Reality (leviticus: vayikra)

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

Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite

Miracles & Revelation (purim)

This week’s parashah, Tzav, continues discussing the intricacies of the Temple sacrifices and touches on chametz (leavened bread). It’s the parsha before Pesach. Learning the parsha, we can draw connections between the weekly portion from Leviticus and the larger Jewish story of moving from spiritual constriction into spiritual freedom. From safek (doubt) into salvation. So when Tzav falls out such that we have a few weeks before Pesach to get into the mindset of Redemption, I see that as a blessing. As Rav Kook so eloquently asks of us all, “find delight in what is truly precious.” 

It’s only recently that I really began to delve into the meaning of Pesach. I’ve realized that the Seder is not just a historical retelling of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, but an actual manifestation, an opportunity for each of us to leave our own Egypts. Through this ritual, we’re meant to free ourselves, to ‘burn’ the chametz that holds us back from seeing and living in full truth, from being fully connected to the Infinite Light. As it’s written in the Zohar, “G-d does not dwell in… a fragmented place.”

In his notebook, Rav Kook writes: “The reality of Hashem’s providence is discernible when the world is seen in its totality. The Divine presence is not manifest in anything defective. Since HaShem does not abide where there is deficiency, how can HaShem abide where everything is lacking, where all we have is the weak and puny entity, only the particularity of the ego? This call to be committed always to the principle of universality to the divine ensemble, where all things have their being, is the essence of the soul of the righteous who walk before Hashem and whose delight is in the Divine.” 

We must remember through the story of our enslavement that we, too, were once slaves and that, as Dr. King reminds us, no one is free until we are all free. Redemption is when the light of universality shines. It’s our task to usher in that revelation. This starts within our own sanctuaries and shines out from there. Nullifying the ego so the screens of separation between us all begin to fall. Indeed, the Alter Rebbe teaches in the Tanya that the basis and root purpose of the entire Torah is to elevate and exalt the soul high above the body to [G-d], the source and root of all worlds, and to draw down the Ein Sof. And only when we place primary importance of our soul over our bodies can the walls that separate us come down and be replaced with love and unification. Since it’s our bodies that separate us from each other, while the soul binds us. When one focuses on the body, the separation between us becomes apparent, and only the love we create can bind us, but a created love can never equal a natural and innate love. So, love between people whose primary importance is focused on the physical, on the body over the soul, is based on external factors and endures only as long as those factors remain in play. Only when we shift our focus towards the soul over the body, of oneness over self, of the unifying and Infinite Light of the Creator of all creation, over the differences of the elements of creation, can Infinite Love exist in its purest state.

Matzah– the central symbol of Pesach– is the antithesis of chametz. It is known as lechem oni, the bread of poverty and affliction. Matzah signifies the humility that comes with poverty, and so the mitzvah (obligation) to eat matzah can only truly be fulfilled if it is eaten with humility. The matzah that the Israelites ate in Egypt was lechem oni, and so, too, the matzah that we eat over Pesach reminds us to be humble– to bitul hayesh, to negate and nullify all traces of ego and self-centeredness, to transcend the illusion of self.

read in full @ www.lightofinfinite.com

When the Screens of Separation Fall (leviticus: tzav)

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)

Light of Infinite PSA

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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