Inspiring Change by Michael Berg

This week’s portion is the first time we see someone, Jacob, living a physical life. Abraham did not. Isaac did not. Both of them, although they had some level of physicality in their life, were living mostly in the spiritual realms. Yet Jacob was able to make everything about his physical life - everything that he ate, every step that he took, everything that he listened to, every hug that he hugged, everything that he did - of the elevated consciousness.

We don’t read the Torah simply to gain spiritual lessons. We do it so that we can gain assistance from the many great souls whose stories we are studying. We do it so we can connect to the processes these great souls went through as a way to help us go through our own processes. In this week’s portion, we can receive the assistance of the soul of Jacob, and even of Esau, to go through the process of completely transforming our nature.

This week’s portion is called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah. By connecting to this Shabbat we can gain the energy to wake up each day with a certain consciousness – a consciousness that is able to elevate the entire world.

Something we speak about every year with this portion is the story of the Binding of Isaac.  However, this week’s portion holds within it many other teachings and stories.  One I’d like to share with you is a relatively simple idea that if we really use, can change everything.

This week’s portion is one of my favorites in the Torah. It is the first time in history that an individual, Abraham, came to a spiritual awakening all on his own. Of course prior to him there were others, but each one of them who went on a spiritual path before him received it, usually from their father. Abraham, we know, was not born to a very spiritual father; as a matter of fact, his father was known to be negative. Yet through his own understanding, through his own thinking, he came to a spiritual awakening – for the first time without family or teachers.

This week’s Parashah is, of course, the story of the generation of the flood. However, the Zohar explains that this portion also has within it the secrets to understanding the process our soul goes through the moment it leaves this world. Understanding this process gives us a greater understanding of how to direct and lead our lives.

In this month of Virgo you can awaken desire for what you really need on both the physical and the spiritual levels.

There is a tremendous opportunity for growth this month that involves the idea of feeling the pain of the world. The Zohar teaches that the feminine aspect of the Light of the Creator, the Shechinah, feels all the suffering in our world— and as we learn to feel that pain, we can bring greatness into our lives.

Strong emotions are part of the sign of Cancer. This month gives us the opportunity to learn how to harness the energy of our emotions to assist us in connecting to the Light. I will focus on one very powerful feeling - regret.

The word God means many different things to many people. Some think that there is a “being” in the heavens – most likely a male with emotions, desires, and anger who can act with vengeance. Based on these particular thoughts and teachings people either ascribe to a certain form of religion, or at times completely reject it.