The first mitzvah/commandment given is to sanctify the New Moon. Rashi explains that Moshe wasn’t able to fully understand the mystery of the New Moon until Hashem showed him the exact moment of the moon’s renewal - and the deeper reason for the moon’s waxing & waning, one of the mysteries behind Creation, similar to the process of Tzimtzum – the contraction of God’s light – which led to the co-existence of light & darkness, revelation & concealment.
The Jewish people & calendar revolve around the moon & its many phases, the holidays follow suit. To give some perspective, we are now in the year 5784 according to the Jewish lunar calendar. Each month, the new Moon first appears in the sky & has no more than a small point of light. R’ Natan of Breslov explains that sanctifying even just a tiny bit of the moon’s light elevates it. It’s said that when the moon was created, it was created with a blemish. But our ritual of Rosh Chodesh spiritually rectifies & restores it to its original intended glory. When we rejoice over just a mere speck of that light — that good point that we merit to find, despite it being infinitesimally small & concealed in darkness – we ourselves are rectified & genuinely become deserving of God’s seeing & revealing light in us.
The expanding and contracting of the moon is just our perception, as the moon actually remains whole. It’s just our perception that changes, and in our own lives so much of the “bad” and good are our own perceptions and reactions to what is around us and within ourselves. We remain whole, even when we feel broken.
And so, just like the moon that waxes & wanes, we can choose when we are stuck & feel constricted to contract, or we could choose to expand. Instead of fear, anger & hatred, we could choose to open ourselves up to seeing all sides, to judging favorably, ourselves & each other, to becoming more aware, more compassionate, more loving & more empathetic toward ourselves & toward each other. That is the only way to bring the clarity & freedom that we all crave, because spirituality is synonymous with light, & light will soon fully dispel the darkness.
Video - 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗 - https://youtu.be/NNMUGBa_xMA
Video - Story Time - https://youtu.be/M5Pw645IS44
** Dive in deeper in my 2nd 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 book, ' 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚡𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜.'
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar
What is Light of Infinite?
Fall in love with life, through weekly bursts of ancient Jewish mystic inspiration!
Light of Infinite is a blog, a podcast, a festival and a soon to be released book series, where Erez Safar acts as Your Spiritual DJ, curating insights into the weekly Torah portion and the infinite light of Kabbalah.