Netivat Sofrut: diary of a Soferet

Adventures of a female sofer learning to heal the world by doing Holy Work...writing a Sefer Torah

נחזיר את השכינה למקומה בצייון ובתבל כלה

"Let us restore the Divine In-Dwelling to Her Place in Zion & infuse Her spirit throughout the whole inhabited world."

So wherever we are, let us bring the Peace of G@d's Presence.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Vancouver/London, British Columbia/UK, Canada

SCRIBAL EVANGELIST As the only living certified Soferet (סופרת - female Jewish ritual scribe) & the first woman to practice sofrut (creation of sacred Hebrew texts) in over 200 years, I feel an obligation to blog about my experiences of The Work. I am also currently researching the foundation of a lost tradtion of women practicing this holy craft. For more on the services I provide, please see Soferet.com; Sofrut Nation. I am now available to engage with students, male or female, wishing to enter into the preliminary stage of learning sofrut. You are welcome to join me on this path. "Tzedeq, tzedeq tir'dof - Justice, justice you shall pursue." Devarim/Deuteronomy 16:20.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

THE MEZUZAH AFFIXED TO THE 33rd GATE OF WISDOM

בס"ד
18 Iyyar/LaG b'Omer!


The Dinover Rebbe, Rav Tzvi Elimelekh, taught much about this 33rd day of the Omer, this day we celebrate Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He said that the point of Lag b'Omer is not to do techinot (supplications), to speak from one's heart. LaG b'Omer is a time to be happy & not get into your neediness.

& he says there is no true wisdom that is not from the Torah.

He writes of the story where Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai says to his students: go out & find what is the Ultimate Good. The Good that includes all other good. Rabbi Elazar replied, "A good heart", & Rabban Yochanan accepted this.

LaG b'Omer is the special transition time between the leyv (heart) & the tov (good). Indeed, the gematria of "LaG b'Omer" is 49. There are 32 days of the Omer to count between the second day of Pesach & LaG b'Omer, then 17 days to count between LaG b'Omer & Shavu'ot. The gematria of "leyv" is 32 & that of "tov" is 17. This adds up to 49.

The first letter Tet in the Torah begins the first "tov" in Breyshit. If you see a Tet in your dream, then it's a good sign. So says the Talmud.

Lignoz ha-or refers to the hiding of the Supernal Light. the light that G@d separated from the darkness on the first day of Creation, long before the sun, mmon & stars were created on the fourth day.
"Geniza" means to put something away permanently, or to bury it, because it is not to be used.
Jastrow has this to say about the root Gimel-Nun-Zayin:
"...to cut off, set aside...to suppress or prohibit, to disappear, be hidden...cover up..."
G@d could see what we would ultimately do, so S/He hid that "First Light" from us.

The 32nd word in the Torah is "tov". Torah comes out of wisdom on 32 paths which are concealed & on the 33rd day the hidden is beginning to reveal itself. This is LaG b'Omer.

He says that if we patiently engage in the process of counting the Omer, step by step, that we will perceive this revealing. We will develop ha-ro'eh et ha-nolad, the ability to forsee consequences. Have an intution of what may come. & this is by that first, hidden light that you can see the mysteries of Creation. Adam could see the entire world by this light.

If we don't accomplish something by our own hands, it has no sustainability. We have to make it happen. We have to consciously engage with it to make the lights of Torah shine.

G@d willing, we can get to a point where our heart can submit & accept the leyv tov & that's when the light can be revealed & we can integrate it. The 32 paths really open up the light of the Torah if we are present in this process.

R' Shimon bar Yochai was called the Butzina Qadisha - Aramaic for "The Holy Lamp" - because he had access to that light. That's why his book is called the Zohar. Because one can see all of the everything by the Or Ha-Ganuz.

The function of this Torah is to leave behind a blessing of this hidden light which is the all-inclusive Primordial Good. May it keep us & our children until is revealed the light of the righteous Messiah. This is the light of the anointed King. By the merit of engagging in the light - Zohar - which R' Shimon bar Yochai left behind.

That's why we light lamps - & bonfires - on this day of LaG b'Omer.

You won't see the footsteps of the Messiah until you see the rainbow created by the light of the Zohar.

Yisachar was conceived as a result of the mandrake, the night before Shavu'ot, when we hold a Tiqun Leil. His tribe sat & learned Torah as a result. This is supported by Targum Yonatan.

These words all have the same gematria:
Ba-Torah = in Torah
Et ha-or = the light
TARYA"G = 613 commandments

I hope you all had a firey LaG b'Omer! May we count the next 17 days as steps to readying ourselves for receiving Torah.


Cross-posted at Radical Torah.


Technorati tags: , , , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , , .

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I keep returning to your blog and wonder if you'll address what I think needs to be addressed...MG

Your insights would be most appreciated.

7:30 p.m.  
Blogger Soferet said...

בס"ד
I'm not concerned about MG right now - the courts will take care of him. I'm concerned about those women he took advantage of. All of those women, both from 25 years ago & from last week who had the courage to step up & say "enough".

10:55 p.m.  

Post a Comment

<< Home

Hits Since March 2, 2005!
Free Counter by Pliner.Net
dating, lasik,

Google