(for a free weekly email subscription, click here)

Part of effective Jewish living is training ourselves to look at every challenge as an opportunity. With the knowledge that G-d only does good for His creations, the question is not Why is G-d doing this to ME? but rather, WHY is G-d doing this to me? What does G-d want me to do in this situation, what does He want to teach me? And just as we can train ourselves to find meaning in situations, we can also find meaning in objects. For instance, we can train ourselves to see the higher purpose in a pen—which can be used as an instrument to communicate G-dly ideas. Whether one uses an object to achieve a higher end, or overlooks that purpose and uses it for ill, is up to each person.

Along these lines of thought, let’s consider a specific example: the airplane. What is the point (from a spiritual perspective) of an airplane? If it is for faster travel, what is the spiritual advantage, what is holier, about getting some place sooner? In fact, one of the principles of G-d’s world is, “according to the effort is the reward” (Avot 5:26)—i.e., the more effort we invest in something, the more rewarding that activity is. And so, there might even be a disadvantage in arriving at one’s destination faster; perhaps something essential is lost in the effortlessness of our meetings and communications. Think of an email or a Tweet versus the impact of a letter.

I heard one theory about the purpose of airplanes from Rabbi Manis Friedman. The Land of Israel, Rabbi Shimon explains in the Zohar (Devarim) is the physical counterpart of a spiritual Land of Israel from where the physical land draws its vitality. Conversely, the spiritual Land of Israel gets its energy from all the Jews in the world. So for those people whose mission in life still needs to be accomplished outside of Israel, by visiting Israel, they can tap into the combined consciousness of millions and millions of Jews. Visiting Israel makes us spiritually stronger. The Talmud says it another way: “The air of Israel makes a person smarter” (Baba Basra 158b). And so, one perspective on airplanes is that, in these last days of the exile, those Jews who must live far from their homeland can visit Israel quickly, and thereby immerse themselves in a higher Jewish consciousness easily.

But what happens once we leave the atmosphere of Israel? Do the effects simply disappear? The Bostoner Rebbe says that when we look at this week’s Torah portion, in the story of the spies, we see that we can indeed keep the spirit of Israel with us wherever we are. When the spies returned with their tragically negative spin on their mission, the verse says that “Moshe and Aharon put their heads down” (14:5) to pray that the spies, actually great leaders of the tribes, would repent from their evil behavior. Moshe and Aharon’s response was in contrast to that of the two spies, Yehoshua and Caleb, who did not go along with the negative spin of the other spies, maintaining their moral mission. The verse says, “Yehoshua and Caleb, from those who spied the land, tore their clothes” (14:6). They reacted to the other spies’ report with a sign of mourning. What is the difference between the two behaviors? Moshe and Aharon thought there was still a chance to rectify the evil report. Yehoshua and Caleb knew the situation was hopeless. We see as the story unfolds that they were right.

How could Yehoshua and Caleb, students of Moshe and Aharon, have deeper insight into what was going on than their teachers?

The Torah itself actually tells us how they achieved this deeper insight in the verse above: “Yehoshua and Caleb, from those who spied the land.” The verse repeats what we already know from several verses earlier—that Yehoshua and Caleb were among the spies; they had toured Israel, and they saw its spiritual strength. By again emphasizing that these two spies had been in the land, the verse is teaching us that even when they left Israel, they were still affected by it; they took its spirit with them. This shows us that the wisdom that is acquired when visiting Israel can indeed stay with a person even after he or she leaves.

The Baal Shem Tov said that until Mashiach comes, we have to make Israel wherever we are. One way to do this is by adding holiness in our day to day lives, thereby transforming the atmosphere around us into a holy, Israel-like place. Another way is by visiting the Land. When you are in Israel, and absorb the extra levels of consciousness available here, you take it back with you, making your environment on your return a little like the Land of Israel. Shabbat Shalom, Shaul

(for a free weekly email subscription, click here)
For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.

____________________________________________

This week's story from Yerachmiel Tilles, managing editor of ascentofsafed.com and kabbalaonline.org

Specifically, for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,
click to Shelach

one sample:

Mystical Classics
By the Sweat of Your Brow

From Shenei Luchot HaBrit by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz

"Man does not live by bread alone, rather on all that emanates from the mouth of G-d."

The Ari explains that the intake of food enables the soul to remain attached to the body, although the soul, by definition, does not need to eat for food is something both physical as well as spiritual. The soul can benefit from those spiritual ingredients in food, just as the body derives strength from the foods' nutrients.

To continue reading, click here

For a free email subscription to our weekly anthology, click here.

For another taste of recommended Kabbalah articles on a variety of subjects,
click on the icon to go to the our weekly Kabbalah magazine: