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Sun, May 20, 2012

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Festival Guide

The Jewish calendar is jam-packed with important dates and festivals. Behind every one is a story — sometimes biblical, sometimes more modern. Each one is significant in its own individual way, accompanied by a variety of customs and traditions.

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Festival	2012 (5772-5773)	2013 (5773-5774)
Fast of Tevet	Thu Jan 5th 10 Tevet	Fri Dec 13th 10 Tevet
Tu Bishvat	Wed Feb 8th 15 Shevat	Sat Jan 26th 15 Shevat
Fast of Esther	Wed Mar 7th 13 AdarI	Thu Feb 21st 11 AdarI
Purim	Thu Mar 8th 14 AdarI	Sun Feb 24th 14 AdarI
Shushan Purim	Fri Mar 9th 15 AdarI	Mon Feb 25th 15 AdarI
Yom Ha'atzmaut	Thu Apr 26th 4 Iyyar	Mon Apr 15th 5 Iyyar
Fast of the Firstborn	Fri Apr 6th 14 Nisan	Mon Mar 25th 14 Nisan
Pesach	Sat Apr 7th - Sat Apr 14th 15 Nisan - 22 Nisan	Tue Mar 26th - Tue Apr 2nd 15 Nisan - 22 Nisan
Yom Hashoah	Thu Apr 19th 27 Nisan	Sun Apr 7th 27 Nisan
Yom Hazikaron	Thu Apr 26th 4 Iyyar	Sun Apr 14th 4 Iyyar
Lag B'Omer	Thu May 10th 18 Iyyar	Sun Apr 28th 18 Iyyar
Yom Yerushalayim	Sun May 20th 28 Iyyar	Wed May 8th 28 Iyyar
Shavuot	Sun May 27th - Mon May 28th 6 Sivan - 7 Sivan	Wed May 15th - Thu May 16th 6 Sivan - 7 Sivan
Fast of Tammuz	Sun Jul 8th 18 Tammuz	Tue Jun 25th 17 Tammuz
Tisha B'Av	Sun Jul 29th 10 Av	Tue Jul 16th 9 Av
Rosh Hashanah	Mon Sep 17th - Tue Sep 18th 1 Tishri - 2 Tishri	Thu Sep 5th - Fri Sep 6th 1 Tishri - 2 Tishri
Fast of Gedalliah	Wed Sep 19th 3 Tishri	Sat Sep 7th 3 Tishri
Yom Kippur	Wed Sep 26th 10 Tishri	Sat Sep 14th 10 Tishri
Succot	Mon Oct 1st - Sun Oct 7th 15 Tishri - 21 Tishri	Thu Sep 19th - Wed Sep 25th 15 Tishri - 21 Tishri
Hoshannah Rabbah	Sun Oct 7th 21 Tishri	Wed Sep 25th 21 Tishri
Shemini Atzeret	Mon Oct 8th 22 Tishri	Thu Sep 26th 22 Tishri
Simchat Torah	Tue Oct 9th 23 Tishri	Fri Sep 27th 23 Tishri
Chanukah	Sun Dec 9th - Sun Dec 16th 25 Kislev - 3 Tevet	Thu Nov 28th - Fri Dec 6th 25 Kislev - 3 Tevet

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Dear Rabbi I'm disturbed by the apparent Jewish attitude towards disabled people. I note from the Torah that a priest with a blemish is prohibited from doing service in the Temple. If Moses were alive today, he would be sued for discrimination. Where is the justice in a God who causes a person to be born with a blemish and then punishes them? I prefer not to believe in him. Dwight

Dear Dwight
While your question is fair, I would respect you more if your conclusion - disavowing God - was reached after extensive study and exploration, rather than making assumptions based on limited knowledge and understanding.
Let me quote from the sacred Zohar - the primary Kabbalistic text that gives us insight into the deeper dimensions of life beyond our superficial understanding.
"All souls that come into this world are born whole, although some may be blemished on the exterior. This is not some kind of punishment for the soul, as some suggest, rather because of a profound love God has toward that particular soul."
God is compared to the moon. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, sometimes its light is more manifest and evident in the world, while at other times far less so. So too God's presence is sometimes more obvious and shines brightly in our world while, at other times, far less so. Some souls emanate from God during those brighter moments. Such souls are born into strong and healthy bodies. Other souls emanate from God during the darkened moments. These souls are born into disabled bodies.
Why would God's presence experience darkened moments in our world? Because, as the expression goes, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." The highest emanations of God fall to the lowest and most darkened places. When the Talmud makes reference to the idea of the "exiled state of the Divine presence", it refers precisely to this loftier level of the Divine that is expressed in the lowliest levels on earth. It follows that those souls born into disabled bodies emanate from the highest levels of the Divine.
Why must the highest levels of the Divine occupy the lowliest levels on earth? Because the primary purpose of life is to elevate the crass materialism and physicality of our world onto a higher spiritual plateau. The lowlier the material, the higher the spiritual energy required. It is precisely the loftier souls that emanate from God's more darkened moments, i.e. the highest spiritual emanations, that are best equipped to combat the more prevailing darkness in our world.
You might think of this in context of an undercover agent. When a burly soldier steps behind enemy lines, it is obvious why he's there. When a soldier is camouflaged however, he can be so much more effective in ways unimaginable.
The greater souls emanating from the highest sources in the Divine are "conceived" when the Divine is in its darker stages, into weakened or disabled bodies, because such souls grapple with the most challenging parts of our world in ways not readily discernible.
Consider how once disabled people were typically confined to institutions and how society as a whole has now woken up to the reality of how they are human beings as well and can contribute to society in their own unique way. Torah has been advocating this approach since the beginning of time.
Such souls evoke compassion from people and generate a lot of benevolence around them as a result. Many schools today encourage the participation of disabled children which in turn has a dramatic positive effect on many of the other children around. It teaches them compassion, sensitivity and much else besides.
If we’re all foot soldiers in God's army, then such souls as contained within the disabled are, in fact, the elite. Hence, the Lubavitcher Rebbe once said, when addressing a group of disabled soldiers from the Israel Defence Force: "You are referred to as the nichai tzahal - 'disabled war veterans.' This is a mistake, because 'disabled' implies inferior. Really you ought to be called metzuyanai tzahal - 'the distinguished of the military' because clearly, on account of your disabilities, you have unique spiritual qualities and God has selected you to achieve great things in this world."
If the Kohen has a blemish, he is not being 'prohibited' from doing work in the Temple. He is 'exempt' from doing that work because he has a unique soul and for him there is a higher calling.
When Moshiach comes, elements of the Divine permeating the lowliest of places will shine brightest. Those special souls contained within more challenging bodies who will have achieved greater purpose on earth, will shine equally bright.
Maybe it's time for you to rethink God.

Hendon A 4 Raiders A 0

16/05/2012

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