THE
SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE SM ADVISOR
A newsletter bringing you great ideas for spiritual development and
practical success!
Published by Yaacov J. Kravitz, Ed.D., www.spiritutalintelligence.com,
September 23, 2004,
**************************************************************************
You will also find this Newsletter at
http://www.spiritualintelligence.com/Newsletter14teshuvah.htm
It is best viewed using Internet Explorer. Enjoy. Yaacov.
**************************************************************************
Shalom, We are very excited
about our newest workshop coming up on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2004. Click on Spiritual
Intelligence - One Day Intensive Workshop
for more information.
A New Year's Message.
We are now in the time between the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement, a
time referred to as the Aseret ymei teshuvah the Ten Days of Turning (or
as often translated, the Ten Days of Repentance). The message of this time is a
universal one. We are bidden again and again to turn to God. But, which
way to turn? Often, my compass seems to be broken. One minute my
compass points towards the God of my Ancestors, then the next towards the
"Power That Makes for Salvation," or the "Collective
Consciousness of the Jewish People" or the "Force behind the Big
Bang." The face of God changes from Redeemer, to Healer, to Life Giver.
Then, there are times when my compass is spinning around because money, power,
profession, TV or any of those things that we crave, exert a powerful
spiritual/magnetic deflector field.
To get my compass to work right, I have to stop all that outside interference. I
have to meditate or sing or study, quiet my mind and listen to my soul. My soul
points me to God in a way the brain/mind can't.
Teshuvah/turning/repentance is ultimately about reconnection to God, to
others, and to what is of ultimate concern. Those thoughts and feelings
that we have about unhealthy and unethical things sometimes cause us to miss the
mark, to sin. Sin creates interference between Man and God. Sin is about having
a moral compass that doesnt work right all the time. Sin also scrambles the
energy between people. So teshuvah/turning is ultimately about
eliminating interference and refocusing our energy.
In the soul-powered experience that we call teshuvah we reconnect with
God and in this reconnection we are reassured that God loves us. We are
reassured because in connecting with God and our fellow creatures we overcome
the greatest problem of human existence, the problem of our own separateness and
mortality. Thus, we see that the power of teshuvah/turning involves
moving from a state of estrangement, through acts of atonement to a place of
unity and harmony with God and humanity.
Our job, here in the world and through these ten days of repentance especially,
is to bring this sense of teshuvah, this sense of love and reconnection
into our lives and into our moment-to-moment awareness. And how do we do
that? With tefillah (prayer), and tzedakah (justice and
charity). Because, what is tefillah (prayer), other than a way to answer
the question of Where am I in relationship to the ones I wish to love and be
loved by? And what is tzedakah (justice and charity) other than the
answer to the question of "What am I doing to show my love towards God,
family, friends and community?" When we understand this it easy to
see that Teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah really do avert the evil
decree. Because when we do teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah we are
again reconnected with G-d and with each other.
So, my dear friends let me close with this blessing:
May you be blessed in your coming in together,
And may you be blessed in your going out.
May you be blessed in the love that you find and
May you be blessed even more greatly in the love that you give.
May you all merit to study and celebrate, to forgive and reconnect, and to love
and rejoice in all the blessings of this New Year.