The scene of writing, the pen emptying its ink onto the blank surface. What was once empty and void is now endowed with substance, markings on the page create meaningful statements. This creative act moves from nothing towards something, from empty to full.

Cities, towns, homes, rooms. As beings we seek the safety and comfort of shelter. We live within the walls that have been erected, the roof that shields us from the chaotic outside.

In a somewhat subversive statement, the Sages (Tb. Rosh Hashana 21b) have described the reach of Moses’ wisdom while simultaneously delimiting its boundaries. “Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world, and all were given over to Moses lacking one.”

On the one hand it is a time of joy, a time of wholeness and simplicity. (Re)entering the natural world prior to the abasement and framing of nature. The Sukkah- the potential space in which the newly emergent subject exits the womb of teshuvah to find itself embraced, held and nurtured…

Addiction is a mode of being wherein the addict is wholly given over to that which can never arrive. Hurt and broken, or more importantly aware of the pain and brokenness, the addict hopes, seeks, craves, devours that which promises a momentary lapse from the harrowing outside.

I seek out in darkness In the silent moments. What I seek I cannot name. I walk with the thoughts of a thousand eyes…

At first we seek transcendence, something that is removed and beyond. Then, we come to foreclose on the the dreams and faith of our youth. The moment we come to realize that stars are nothing but dead, residual lights…

There is a paradox at play within the matzah experience. On the one hand, it must be eaten in a state of hunger, symbolic of the destitute spirit yearning for that which it lacks.

Originally, the water(s) were unified. Only after they were separated did they realize that they were different. Whether their original unity or their actual division was their essential state doesn’t matter much. What matters is that they are now separate.

When the world gets dark, the lightness of being retreats inside. The doorway- the threshold between the outside and the inside- beckons us, calls us inwards. The cold, the noise, it stops at the doorway.

There is a story told. Reb Baruch of Mezibuz had a a pupil who approached his study through the darkness of night. Ashen faced, the young pupil raised his weary, tear stained eyes upwards, towards his master…

Furthermore, see the commentary of the Eifah Shleimah on Otzros Chaim (3c) who brings down in the name the Yeso”d that it is clear from the writings of the Arizal that when it comes to the sefirah of yesod…

The great value in studying Kabbalah by way of pnimiyus, through the path of our master and teacher, the light of the seven days of creation, the holy Baal Shem Tov, is already well known. Like R’ Aharon HaLevi of Strasolye brings in the introduction and preface to his Sefer Shaarei HaYichud v’HaEmunah…

Had R. Nachman, the teacher who traded intellectualism for fantasy; the tormented soul who outlawed sadness; the youthful spirit who challenged the old, had he given up hope? Skeptical at first, doubt turns to certitude as this ancient soul paskens: “this-world does not exist at all”.

‘Regarding the common act of giving a blessing (b’r’ch’h) to the one who brings  strong drink for the guests…following the words of the Zohar (II:242a) describing numerous things that are carried and carry (nissaim v’nossim)…

Faced with the task of helping individuals stuck in the depths of their addiction, those souls given-over (addiction from the latin root addictus: to be given over) to that which they cannot control; Bill Wilson moved beyond the well trodden path…

Everything lacks. Everyone lacks. Not everyone recognizes, or senses their particular lack. The addict feels the lack. For innumerable reasons the addicted subject is forced to acknowledge the lack.