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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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar

Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite  
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The Song of the Sea (Beshalach)

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.

The Song of the Sea (Beshalach)

light of infinite