A HIDDEN GEM
I returned from Israel a few days ago. When I am asked what I like most about Israel, my answer is: PRAYING THERE. It’s 6:00 p.m. and I’m in the Old City. In a discreet corner, five minutes from the Western Wall, behind a heavily decorated heavy silver door (see picture), hides my favorite synagogue: Beth-El. Actually, more than a synagogue, Bet-El is a Yeshiba, a house of Torah studies. But this is not just another Yeshiba… Bet-El is “the” Yeshiba of the mequbbalim or Kabbalists. Israel’s most prominent knowledgeable Jewish mystics study here, with Rabbi Israel Abichai, Shelita. This Yeshiba is one of the oldest in the country. It was founded in 1737 (See this) and since then, the transmission of the teachings of the Ari z”l from teachers to students has been uninterrupted.
KABBALA FOR ALL?
I believe that in Bet-El are the “true” Kabbalists. Why do I think this way? In the first place, because these scholars are unpretentious and discreet. They go unnoticed. They are not on YouTube, because the number one principle of Kabbala is that “you study behind closed doors.” They are not charlatans or opportunists. They are reserved, and remain “undercover”, honoring the golden rule: “If you know it you don’t say it, if you say it you don’t know it”. They live with a simplicity that borders on austerity. Because the closer one gets to God, the less one should care about his material life.
MINCHA AT BET-EL
For the record: I know nothing about Kabbala. When I go to Bet-El, I have a mission in mind: Praying Mincha with Kavana. At 6:15pm the students prepare themselves for Mincha. Everyone wears a Talit and special Tefillin. They all use a special Siddur of the Rashash, that for me, because of Kabbala is indecipherable. I pray with them, but I follow the conventional Siddur. The Amida begins. This is the main prayer. It is said standing, in absolute silence and directing the heart to God. Why am I here? First, because I’m surrounded by people who take Kavana (concentration at the time of prayer) very seriously. Here I find what is more difficult to find in the Kotel on a weekday at this time of the afternoon: sublime and inspiring silence. I’m here, mainly, because I usually spend five or six minutes to recite the Amida, but here at Bet-El the Amida lasts for about 40 minutes! In this unique environment, I have the most important meeting of my life: 40 undisturbed minutes alone with The Creator! I close my eyes and begin to silently recite the Amida. Very slowly. Once I say a word, I stop. And before moving on to the next one, I think about it, I chew it. I let the word reach my heart and hopefully impact my soul.
AN EXAMPLE
There is a little word in the Amida that I take especially seriously, because it helps me to reset my mind, and rethink my place in the universe. It is the word “ATTA”. The meaning of ATTA is very simple. ATTA means “You”. As in “BARUKH ATTA” (Blessed are You…God…). But when you have 40 minutes to delve on what you are saying, you can go deeper than that. So this is more or less how I do it. “When I say ATTA I am addressing GOD directly. I am no longer thinking of God in the third person. Now, I’m talking directly to Him! I have to convince myself that He is here, present, in front of me. To address God, I must do my best to feel His presence but at the same time avoid visualizing Him, so as not to fall into anthropomorphism, which is a form of idolatry. I then realize that it is also wrong to think that “God is in front of me”, because that would be putting myself in the center. I have to remove myself from the middle. I’m in front of Him. The more imposing His presence becomes in the center of my attention, the less difficult it is to remove myself to the periphery. In fact: it happens automatically. And the more I retain the “ATTA” in my mind, the smaller the “ANI” (i.e.: me) feels. And when that happens, almost without realizing it, I’m less concerned about asking God to solve my problems, because they have become smaller, and trivial. From my new perspective –which is the real one– I guess that instead of asking God to meet my needs, my relationship with Him should be based on gratitude. On recognizing that ATTA, “YOU” is the origin, the source of everything I have. The more the ATTA grows in my mind, the more I am amazed that He is interested in me. That He pays attention to me. That for Him, I exist. Actually, my significance might depend on being someone that would deserve to be an “atta” in the eyes of God. Becoming more aware of the immediacy of HaShem should be the most important mission in life. Minimizing the ego, and relocating the Divine Presence in the center, and clinging to Him is the secret of this life and the key to the immortality of the soul. I want to stay here. But it’s time to move on to the next word…”
THE ROYAL PALACE
Israel is the Palace where the King resides. Jerusalem, His Chambers. Our sages say that the Shekhina —Divine Presence— never left this place. Praying here, at a distance from the Inner Royal Chamber that is measured in meters, and not in thousands of kilometers, is a unique and very intense experience. This is the territory where you can feel that the “ATTA” is in the center, with all His majesty and splendor.
