Journeys of the Soul
One of the salient features of Kabbalah is its unified view of everything. When one looks at the world from the outside, one sees a multiplicity of objects, phenomena and ideas. When one views the world from within, however, one sees a unified and cohesive picture of everything. With the perspective of Kabbalah, then, we come to appreciate the unity of G-d that pervades all of existence.
It is not to say that the view from within blurs the distinctions and individualistic nature of all that is. On the contrary, by seeing the unity that permeates all of existence, we can see more clearly how each aspect of life contributes a hue and nuance that makes the overall picture much more dazzling.
If this is true about the world in general, then it is equally true about the direction of the world.
When we view Judaism, as the rest of life from the external vantage point, we see a way of life that is multifaceted and divided by the diverse components of time.
Judaism, for example, is different on Sunday then it is on the Shabbat. That is why we make Havdalah at the conclusion of the Shabbat, to underscore that there is a division between the Shabbat and the weekdays, the holy and the profane. Even Monday is unlike Tuesday. There are different prayers, different Torah readings, and different focuses. According to Kabbalah, every day represents one of G-d’s different attributes. Even the hours are separated and distinguishable from one another by virtue of the different divine emanations that are dominant each hour.
And this is true about every moment of our lives as Jews. The Torah dictates a different message for each component of time. And that’s the way it should be.
When we view Judaism from the mystical and spiritual perspective, however, all of the diversity is channeled towards an inexorably goal. Kabbalah is the view from the inside out and it offers a unified view, in contradistinction to the fragmented view one gets from all other perspectives of life, which is from the outside looking in.
With this introduction in mind we should ask ourselves the question that forms the title of this chapter: Where are we going? This is another way of saying, what is the unified goal and objective of our lives? Around which goal does everything in existence, including all of our lives, revolve?
Jewish mysticism answers this question, ironically, in two ways. Since we are a composite of a soul and a body, Jewish mystical thought views the goal within the context of the soul as well as within the context of the body.
In this chapter we will dwell on the goal as it pertains to the soul. We will leave the discussion of the goal relative to the body for a subsequent chapter.
From the book Safe Kabbalah, Part Three: Journeys of the Soul by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
