In her hands, a piece of art.
With great excitement she ran like a hart.
“Tatty, wanna see what I just made”?
“Absolutely” with great attention I paid,
To her eager voice, the likes of a serenade.
“I just painted this!” she exclaimed!
“What does this mean to you, Mushka?”
“Well, everyone has light inside that’s always there. It’s just sometimes not on. So HaShem wants us to go around and help people who need to turn on their light so it can be on even on the outside” .... sang forth from her wise young tongue.
I can’t believe this happened last night because below is the annual daily teaching for today from "Hayom Yom".
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It is written: They shall make Me a sanctuary and I shall dwell within them (Exodus 25:8).
“Within them” that the Torah is speaking of, means within every one of our people Israel. For within every one of us, the core point of the heart’s inner essence is a sanctuary for His dwelling (may He be blessed).
The site of the sanctuary remains sacred, even in times of exile and desolation. In Midrash Sh’mot Raba Chapter 2, R. Acha says: “The Shechina (Divine Presence) never departs from the Western Wall.” For the desolation is limited to the physical buildings and structures only.
So, too, is the case with the personal sanctuary within each of our people Israel; the foundation is whole, clear and pure, as it is written, I am asleep but my heart is awake (Song of songs, 5:2)
Midrash Raba comments on the verse: “I am asleep for mitzvot, but my heart is awake for acts of kindness; I am asleep for charities, but my heart is awake to perform them.”
Every form of (spiritual) desolation (may G‑d rescue us from such) found in our people Israel, is only in those aspects of the people analagous to buildings above the foundation.
The foundation of our individual sanctuaries, however, remains in its holy state.
Always.
Our community's women's' book club is currently doing "Positivity Bias" by Mendel Kalmenson.
After reading the above article, Fraidy showed me the following from Chapter three:
".....The difference between their views lies in their respective diagnoses of what ultimately is at the root of our psyche—what comprises our most essential self.
Freud taught that at our core we each possess what he called the “id,” which is a completely unconscious and impulsive portion of the psyche that operates based on the “pleasure principle” and is the source of basic appetites and drives, always seeking immediate pleasure and gratification.
Dr. Frankl disagreed. He felt that Freud and his colleagues reduced the human being to a mere mechanical creature, depriving him of his true essence.
He believed that people are primarily driven by a “striving to find meaning in one’s life.” Hence the title of his best-selling book—Man’s Search for Meaning.
This fundamental difference of opinion between Freud and Frankl concerning what lies at the root of the human psyche is beautifully encapsulated in a conversation between the Rebbe and a well-known professor who complained to the Rebbe about the twisted nature of people:
“From my encounters in life, I have noticed that people might seem nice and charming at the outset. They may express concern for you, show interest in your life, and even openly admit that they love you! But if one digs just a little deeper than the outer surface—some require more digging than others—at their core, everyone is exactly the same—selfish, arrogant, and egotistical. Why is this the nature of mankind?”
The Rebbe responded with a parable:
“When one walks on the street, things often look so elegant and appealing—tall flowery trees, fancy houses, paved roads, and expensive cars. But if one takes a shovel and begins digging beneath the surface, he discovers dirt and mud, nothing like the beautiful but ‘deceptive’ world above ground.”
At this point the professor was nodding his head in agreement.
“But—if he weren’t to give up,” the Rebbe concluded, “and would continue digging deeper, he would eventually encounter precious minerals and diamonds.”
The Rebbe acknowledged the fact that beneath the surface of people’s outward personalities, there often lies a much less flattering psychic reality. However, the Rebbe further stressed that beneath all the “dirt and mud” there is something deeper, something beautiful and holy: There is a soul....
Read the full chapter here.