Inspiring Change by Michael Berg

There is an interesting article in Newsweek regarding the idea of resurrection. Lisa Miller writes:

"Now a small group of orthodox Christian and Jewish scholars are trying to force the issue. They argue that from the beginning, Jews and Christians have understood resurrection as a physical transformation—a literal reversal of death.

It always inspires me when I hear how the lessons I share influence others. So, consider this an open call to share with me your experiences using Kabbalah in your life. Also, let me know some of the issues you are currently facing in your lives so I can provide kabbalistic insights to help in those areas.

You can simply post your messages in the "comments" section of this posting. I will post and answer as many as possible.

Thank You,
Michael

When we look at our lives, we usually assess them in weeks, months, and years, but yet, in truth, we are meant to focus on days.

Kabbalists teach that a person is given an exact amount of days to live. Within each day there is a spark of Light that one is meant to perfect. The totality of all the work that is done in any given day, from restricting anger to sharing, goes into the perfection of the spark of Light of that day.

In the Bible, people lived for hundreds of years, but then life expectancy dropped. The kabbalists explain this with a parable.

The Zohar explains that the only way we can help others is by taking upon ourselves a little bit of their pain and difficulty. Very often we have a true desire to help our children, friends, spouses, and students, and so we teach them, or advise them, or give to them in some form.

In an earlier post I mentioned the work of researcher Dr. Gottman and his insights into personal relationships after having studied thousands of married couples for the past 35 years. This is another excerpt from an interview he gave in the Harvard Business Review which I find to be very true and very enlightening:

"...one test we’ve used for years is the “paper tower task.” We give couples a bunch of materials, such as newspaper, scissors, Scotch tape, and string.

For those of us on a spiritual path, despite the fact that we've been studying and making our connections, we believe there are just some things we cannot change. We all have a wall, a barrier we cannot push beyond. And yet the truth is, as Rav Ashlag often said, our spiritual work is not to push ourselves to the limit of our abilities. It is to push beyond our abilities.

Beyond our abilities. How do we achieve that? How do we do what we can’t do and draw what we don’t deserve? There is a way.

For anybody who is a parent, this video by Jeff Sher will awaken all kinds of memories and emotions. I can completely relate to his feelings when he writes:

"What continues to amaze me about parenting is how it simultaneously expands and condenses time. The days can seem long, but the months fly by. The kids seem to get older in spurts.

What is love? Most of us feel it – or have felt it – and yet, what we think of as love and what is true love might not be the same thing. In fact, they may even be complete opposites.

At its core, when we refer to love, it is often rooted in self-love. This can be clarified with a parable. A man walks into a restaurant.

I came across this interesting interview in Harvard Business Review with the psychologist, John M. Gottman:

"Few people can tell us more about how to maintain good personal relationships than John M. Gottman, the executive director of the Relationship Research Institute. At the institute’s Family Research Laboratory—known as the Love Lab—Gottman has been studying marriage and divorce for the past 35 years.

The Bible writes that man was created in the image of the Creator. This is a powerful lesson, which unfortunately is misunderstood by many, and therefore its many lessons and ramifications are lost as well.

If we truly understand, internalize and live the meaning of this verse our lives will be completely transformed.