This Shabbos we held a siyum to celebrate the completion of tractate Megillah. David Schlesinger led discussion. We began by studying the last part of the tractate. We learned that on Yom Kippur we should be in a hurry to get to shul, and to not be in a hurry to leave. We learned that the most important aliya on Shabbos, is that of wrapping up the Torah. We learned that we do not want to add words during the Torah reading, as it may be mistaken as coming from the Torah. However, we do have the exception for the blessing, which should be obvious as not coming from the Torah.
We had a discussion about our historical contact with Hashem. We began our history having direct contact with Hashem through our prophets. As we have gone through history, our contact has become more and more indirect, as Hashem has become more hidden. But even today, Hashem continues to communicate with us. An example of this we discussed is when we are given a solution to a problem we have been experiencing.
David brought up how his father would say if we are immersed in a problem it is helpful to get away from it for a while and it may seem as if the mind will actually keep working on it. When we come back to the problem, we are able to see a clear solution. Norm brought up an interesting story about the inventor of the sewing machine. He had a dream in which he came up with the solution of how to design this machine. The solution would be to have the hole in the needle on the other side of the needle.
This Shabbos we continued our study of Rav Yeager's commentaries. We discussed that there are 6 constant mitzvahs, with one of them being to love Hashem. We discussed how it could be that we could be commanded to love Hashem. We may be familiar with loving a human being, but how do we love Hashem and how can this be a commandment?
First we have to figure out what is the essence of Hashem, given that Hashem can not be sensed physically as can be a human being. We continued our discussion from last week concerning how it is that we can grasp this spiritual essence of Hashem. We discussed how this would be similar to someone who is blind perceiving the differences between colors.
We discussed how one of the things that we can do is study Hashem’s creations. We can study such subjects as science and biology. David brought up how his father would present the complexity, yet harmony of science and nature, as evidence of a creator. This evidence would include all the physical laws, and things like the behavior of molecules in a cell, being exactly what would be needed in order to support life, such as human-beings, that can think, and imagine, and be conscious of such things as a creator of everything.
One of the other things we can do is study the Torah. By studying the Torah we may be able to get a feel for Hashem. We discussed how there really is not a separation between science and Torah. We also discussed how the desire and willingness to study science and Torah are not just a means towards an ends, they are the ends themselves. The desire and willingness to study Hashem’s creations, be it science, or Torah, or biology, or anything else, is love for Hashem, or as a friend of mine would say "this IS the program".
Finally, we continued our discussion of exactly what “sparks of kidusha” means. It means that it is our mission to bring spirituality to the physical world, and that everything that is physical can be used in order to achieve this. There can be a bit of spirituality in everything. An example could be a table. When that table is used for a Shabbos meal, we are bringing spirituality to the physical table. Another example would be food and drink. We elevate the “sparks of kidusha” by saying the blessings, and benching after our meal.
We discussed how one of the things that we can do is study Hashem’s creations. We can study such subjects as science and biology. David brought up how his father would present the complexity, yet harmony of science and nature, as evidence of a creator. This evidence would include all the physical laws, and things like the behavior of molecules in a cell, being exactly what would be needed in order to support life, such as human-beings, that can think, and imagine, and be conscious of such things as a creator of everything.
One of the other things we can do is study the Torah. By studying the Torah we may be able to get a feel for Hashem. We discussed how there really is not a separation between science and Torah. We also discussed how the desire and willingness to study science and Torah are not just a means towards an ends, they are the ends themselves. The desire and willingness to study Hashem’s creations, be it science, or Torah, or biology, or anything else, is love for Hashem, or as a friend of mine would say "this IS the program".
Finally, we continued our discussion of exactly what “sparks of kidusha” means. It means that it is our mission to bring spirituality to the physical world, and that everything that is physical can be used in order to achieve this. There can be a bit of spirituality in everything. An example could be a table. When that table is used for a Shabbos meal, we are bringing spirituality to the physical table. Another example would be food and drink. We elevate the “sparks of kidusha” by saying the blessings, and benching after our meal.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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