Chanukah Day #3 | A Generation Searching for a G-d We Can Experience, Not Understand

[music] Some of us make the mistake of thinking that the Syrian Greeks wanted to abolish and obliterate all of Jewish thought, culture, religion, and practice. But that is not the case. You see, the Greeks were a highly sophisticated, cultured, educated, and enlightened people. They cherished reason, science, art, literature, athletics, beauty, human development, Olympics, and prowess. So they were not so perturbed by the brilliant intellectual gymnastics of Judaism, the [music] analysis, the scrutiny, the methodical thinking that were developed so beautifully in the Talmud and its commentaries. [music] Reason and methodology were something they respected. They appreciated it. Even the practicing of our rituals as part of a culture and tradition could be tolerated in their belt on Shaolong in their [music] worldview. What drove the Greeks mad about Jews and Judaism was its prophetic experience. The intimate embodied experience of the divine in one's [music] heart, nervous system and body. the personal love, the intimate relationship, [music] the liberty to surrender my ego and go into flow with the [music] divine consciousness because the essence of Judaism is not reason and rationality. [music] These are beautiful, amazing, and incredible tools to help us navigate [music] the experience of the spirit. The mind is like a map that tells you where everything is, but it [music] can't replace the gift of presence. I can't experience a visit to Italy or Greece or Melbourne or Moscow by studying their location on the map because the map is not the territory. [music] The Greeks crave to substitute reality with a map of reality. This became western thought. [music] For them, reality is that which can be measured by the mind and by rational thinking. But that's not reality. Reality is infinite. Reality is divine. Reality is cosmic oneness. Reality is limitless bliss and love. When we reduce reality to reason, we're severed [music] from the profit inside of us, from our inner divine soul, [music] which when cleared up can channel the infinite intelligence, consciousness, and love of the universe. In some ways, the Greeks were victorious. You see, for many of us, Judaism is an intellectually rich, engaging, and even inspiring mind experience. But can you feel the bliss [music] of intimacy with the divine in your heart and in your body? Can you feel the energy of oneness flowing through you? The very question seems [music] unJewish to many of us. This sadly is part of the [music] victory of the Greeks. And that's why we say in the Kaneka prayer of Alhanim that the Greeks attempted. They wanted to make us forget not the Torah but your Torah. They wanted to make us forget not the mitzvah. They weren't bothered by Torah and mitzvah. Your mitzvah, your desire. As long as Judaism is a cerebral religion, a rational encounter with reality, they can tolerate it. What they could not tolerate is the prophetic spirit of Judaism. The experience of God's oneness in my bones. [music] The bliss of complete fusion as my soul and nervous system become a channel for hashad for infinite [music] consciousness for infinite oneness. And that is why the sages at that time period [music] hid the secret energy of Torah and Judaism. At face value what everybody saw much of Torah seems to be cerebral. So many intellectual ideas and arguments and debates and questions and tedious rules and such a focus on technicalities. The sages, it seems, [music] did this intentionally. It allowed the essence of Judaism to be transmitted [music] under the radar of the Greeks and the Romans. But the one pure jug of [music] oil in the core of our soul and our nervous system remains unsoiled, uncontaminated. It's what our generation yearns to discover. for [music] the generation pre-red redemption is searching for the hidden oil of Judaism for the frequency of intimacy with the divine essence [music] a life of deep vulnerability safety trust fusion and [music] bliss. This is the wisdom articulated in Kabala and reflecting the frequency of infinite oneness. This is the jug of oil [music] that remains present in a hidden way. And every time I let go from my need to control and I lean into trust, surrender, faith, bliss, love, I reexperience the Kaneka miracle. Because the happiness you're looking for is on the other side of the control [music] you're not willing to give up. The life you're looking for is on the other side of the life you don't want to let go of. Happy Kanaga.