Finding the Seed of Light Within

We are about to enter a very important month, the month of Av, or Leo. And unique to this month, unlike many of the other months, is that the first half of it is considered to be heavier, darker, and negative, while the second half is considered to be the most positive of all months. In fact, as we know, the 15th day of this month, known as Tu B'Av, offers us one of the highest levels of connections of the year. And conversely, the most negative day of the year, the 9th of Av, Tisha B'Av, also occurs in this moth. Therefore, it is a very unique dichotomy in this month of Leo, with the first half negative and the second half positive. This is a concept and understanding that really permeates all of our lives, and an important energy we can use to find the seed of positivity and reveal Light within negative situations not only throughout this month, but always.

The kabbalists teach that very often in order to get to the Light and fulfillment we seek, to get to the blessings we desire, we have to go through a difficult process. We have to transform our Desire to Receive for the Self Alone into a Desire to Share. That process and transformation is not always an easy one. But just as the beginning of the month includes within it the most negative day, that thenbrings us towards a day of positive high connection. Every great blessing and revelation that comes to us has a negative shell around it which needs to be removed in order to receive the Light within it. It is like the month of Leo itself - at first negative, and then, through transformation and removal of the klipa, becomes positive.

Before any revelation of Light, there is the shell, or klipa. And then the shell comes off and great Light is revealed. From this we learn that the ups and downs in life are not two separate situations; they are one and the same. And our consciousness, our appreciation of these situations, of the ups and downs, is what can change a negative situation into a positive one.

Therefore, one of the important lessons of this month isnot to push away those negative situations, not to run away from them, but to realize that within them, within the darkness, within the shell, there is great Light, and to find it within whatever difficult situation you are in, whether it is in this month, or any other month. Ask yourself - where is the seed in this seemingly negative situation that I can bring to a great revelation of Light? Because the reality is that there is no negative situation. Every difficulty is there for a reason, every darkness is there for a reason. It is there for us to find the seed of Light within it.