“I believe that all human beings, whatever their backgrounds, whatever generation they belong to, are all created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, in each of us there is a spark of the divine.”

Larry Parsons - youth work and the spark of the divine.

Larry talks of ‘fanning the flame’ and then protecting it. He talks about “inspiring leadership within the peer group as essential to rejuvenating the community”. He talks about “helping young people who are perhaps unemployed, apathetic and drifting, to dream dreams, to discover that spark within them and to rise up from the ground, and in their turn inspire others, and to show them that they have the power to make life worth living”.  

Source

Confronted with the grief of a student over the distress that has befallen him, the student asked him “why teacher, doesn’t the love of God protect us from harm?”

The teacher looked in the distance and answered “As his word teaches everything in life returns to us, so that should direct our ways. In life everything that befalls us is an opportunity to learn and I needed still a lot to learn about the essence of life as in His love He gave me many opportunities to learn. Sometimes a lesson is painful and only that occupies our mind. If we widen our view the necessity to learn presents itself.
We are never alone in our times of distress. The field of trouble is also a door of hope as long as we allow His light to penetrate our darkness.”

From a work in progress based on Psalm 119, 54
- working title “Songs from the wilderness”", H. Blum 

Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Rom 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

Jesse is an anglicanized form of Yishay/Isai meaning my substance. Yesh being, existence, essence, substance. Yud as a suffix indicates first person singular possessive; av (father) becomes avi (my father).  So I do not agree with the general translation as “I possess”; “wealthy” only when used in reference to the underlying Hebrew root.  

Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star.

I read in the past about a letter of Michelangelo in which he tried to describe to one of his supporters the immanent nature of God in  creation by the following analogy:

Place a candle between two mirrors, how many reflections do you see?

I am still looking for the original source of that analogy. Help is appreciated. 

“Teacher” said the pupil, “Why is there a difference between a spiritual man and those that are not?”

Son, is there such a thing as a non-spiritual man? In this world there are man who have fallen in love with the gift so much that they have forgotten to seek the face of the giver. Others seek his face constantly. Both bring a smile to the face of the giver.
The misuse of his gift will sadden him.

He gave us of His essence, that we may manifest His essence for He loves us so much that he gave his own that we may find life.

In our darkness and to blinded to see we choose to put out the light and remain in darkness.

Can a woman with a loving and faithful husband remain ignorant of his lovingkindness? Knowing that if she accepts and returns his love that will make her the most revered bride?
Praise the faithful husband that in his lovingkindness he still sees the beauty of his bride even though her missteps in his severity cause his face to turn away. 
Praise the husband that he is a faithful husband!

From a work in progress based on Psalm 119, 54 - working title Songs from the wilderness, H. Blum 

“Teacher” said the pupil “Why is it that the most zealous in the search for God’s Kingdom are capable of the most horrific extremes and rigid legalism?”

That, my son, is like this pond; what do you see when you look into it?”

“I see myself, teacher”  

 Now what do you see if you hit the water with your stick?

“then, teacher, I only see troubled water!”

That my son is the problem with the mirror of the soul.

From a work in progress based on Psalm 119, 54 - working title Songs from the wilderness, H. Blum 

Ketubbah le-Shavuot by poet Israel Majara (c.1550-c.1625)

the day appointed by the Lord for the revelation of the Torah to His beloved people…. The Invisible One came forth from Sinai, shone from Seit and appeared from Mount Paran unto all the kings of the earth, in the year 2448 since the creation of the world, the era by which we are accustomed to reckon in this land whose foundations were upheld by God….

The Bridegroom [God], Ruler of rulers, Prince of princes, Distinguished among the select, Whose mouth is pleasing and all of Whom is delightful, said unto the pious, lovely and virtuous maiden [the people of Israel] who won His favor above all women, who is beautiful as the moon, radiant as the sun, awesome as bannered hosts: Many days wilt thou be Mine and I will be thy Redeemer. Behold, I have sent thee golden precepts through the lawgiver Jekuthiel [Moses]. Be thou My mate according to the law of Moses and Israel, and I will honor, support, and maintain thee and be thy shelter and refuge in everlasting mercy. And I will set aside for thee, in lieu of thy virginal faithfulness, the life-giving Torah by which thou and thy children will live in health and tranquility. This bride [Israel] consented and became His spouse. Thus an eternal covenant, binding them forever, was established between them.

The Bridegroom then agreed to add to the above all future expositions of Scripture, including Sifra, Sifre, Aggadah, and Tosefta. He established the primacy of the 248 positive commandments which are incumbent upon all…. and added to them the 365 negative commandments. The dowry that this bride brought from the house of her father consists of a heart that understands, ears that hearken, and eyes that see. Thus the sum total of the contract and the dowry, with the addition of the positive and negative commandments, amounts to the following: “Revere God and observe His commandments; this applies to all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12.13). The Bridegroom, desiring to confer privileges upon His people Israel and to transmit these valuable assets to them, took upon Himself the responsibility of this marriage contract, to be paid from the best portions of His property….

All these conditions are valid and established forever and ever. The Bridegroom has given His oath to carry them out in favor of His people and to enable those that love Him to inherit substance. Thus the Lord has given His oath. The Bridegroom has followed the legal formality of symbolic delivery of this document, which is bigger than the earth and broader than the seas. Everything, then, is firm, clear, and established… I invoke heaven and earth as reliable witnesses. May the Bridegroom rejoice with the bride whom He has taken as His lot and may the bride rejoice with the Husband of her youth while uttering words of praise.

Shavuot (or Shavuos, in Ashkenazi usage; lit. “Festival of Weeks”) is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer and the day the Torah was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. It is one of the shalosh regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals.

The date of Shavuot is directly linked to that of Passover. The Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover and immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the Giving of the Torah. On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they accepted the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.

Shavuot has many aspects and as a consequence is called by several names in the Torah. These include Festival of Weeks, Hag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping, Hag ha-Katsir, Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits, Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26). The Mishnah and Talmud refer to Shavuot as Atzeret (a solemn assembly), as it provides closure for the festival activities during and following the holiday of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Christians gave it the name Pentecost (”fiftieth day”). Wikipedia

This is considered a time for self-examination and repentance, during which one avoids exuberance. On the very first Shavuot, the Creator revealed Himself to Israel as a nation, in a mass epiphany, that briefly welded the six hundred three thousand+ souls of Israel into one united consciousness, where each soul was concerned only for the others, with no thought for itself. To stress the unity of this experience, the Torah describes Israel in the singular “VaYachan Mul HaHar” (and IT) [rather than they] camped opposite the mount. A beautiful, rabbinical expression for this inner disposition is, “K’ish Echad, U’B'lev Echad” (as one man and with one heart). In this atmosphere of awe of the Creator,
and love for others, Israel accepted the Torah (the blueprint of Creation) and the commandments therein, unconditionally (Na’asseh V’Nishma), as its eternal law. One of the most important implications of having received the Torah as an absolute obligation is that, as far as obedience is concerned, it precludes initiative. While we can struggle to understand and interpret to our hearts contents, we are not allowed to add to Torah, or detract one jot from it.

In many Sephardic congregations, prior to the Torah reading on the first day of Shavuot, a ketubbah le-Shavuot (marriage certificate for Shavuot) is read, as a symbolic betrothal of God and His people Israel. The terminology of this piyyut (medieval poem), in its various versions, strongly recalls that of the traditional prenuptial document (specifying the conditions agreed upon between the two parties; known as tena’im) or the marriage certificate given by the bridegroom to the bride at the wedding ceremony, known as ketubbah).

The hymns which compose this ketubbah le-Shavuot are based on the verses: “I will betroth you unto Me forever; I will betroth you unto Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in compassion. And I will betroth you unto Me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord” (Hosea 2:21-22); and “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:31).

Some texts describe the marriage as being solemnized symbolically between the Torah (the bride) and the people of Israel (the bridegroom). God, as the bride’s father, gives as dowry the 613 commandments, the Bible, Talmud, and other sacred writings. Moses presents as dowry to his son (the people of Israel) the prayer shawl and phylacteries, the Sabbath and festivals. The contracts are witnessed by God and His servant Moses.

In other versions the “Prince of princes and the Ruler of rulers” presents the Torah to the bride as dowry and in His love He gives her the Oral Law as an added portion. The bride responds affectionately,”We shall do and we shall hearken.” The contract is dated the sixth day of the month of Sivan, in the year 2448 from the creation — according to tradition the day on which the torah was given. The Mishnah¹ comments that the wedding day of King Solomon (Song of Songs 3:11) refers to the day of the giving of the Torah. The heavens and the earth witness the marriage certificate.

The most widely used text of a ketubbah le-Shavuot is that of the prolific Safed mystic and poet Israel Majara (c.1550-c.1625). Many of his piyyutim are founded in the liturgy of oriental Jews. This hymn is included in the Sephardic prayerbook for Shavuot.

¹ Taanit 4:8

From: The Shavuot Anthology, ed. Philip Goodman (Jewish Publication Society of America, 1974, 1992).Translated by Solomon Feffer. 

Jewish Heritage Online Magazine - calandar

A psalm by David the ‘ebed/servant of YHWH

Psa 36:9 For with thee [is] the fountain [maqowr] of life: in thy light [owr] shall we see light [owr].

maqowr, spring, fountain

a) spring

- of source of life, joy, purification (fig.)

b) of the eye (fig.)

c) source (of menstruous blood)

d) flow (of blood after child birth)

from quwr, dig, to cause to flow

Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain [maqowr] of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns [bo’r], broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

bo’r , cistern, pit, well from ba’ar, to declare, to engrave letters on a tablet, to make plain

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Now light is owr as in:

Isaiah 49, 6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant [‘ebed] to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light [owr] to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 

7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, [and] the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; 

Owr a feminine noun from the verb ‘owr beginning with an Alef.

1) to be or become light, shine

     a) (Qal)

          1) to become light (day)

          2) to shine (of the sun)

          3) to become bright

     b) (Niphal)

          1) to be illuminated

          2) to become lighted up

     c) (Hiphil)

          1) to give light, shine (of sun, moon, and stars)

          2) to illumine, light up, cause to shine, shine

          3) to kindle, light (candle, wood)

          4) lighten (of the eyes, his law, etc)

          5) to make shine (of the face)

Exo 34, 29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin [uwr with ayin] of his face [paniym] shone [qaran] while he talked with him. 

Hebrew ‘uwr, skin beginning with an ayin [well, eye] from the verb ‘uwr, to to be exposed, be bared, be laid bare, revealed.

Hebrew qaran, to shine

1) (Qal) to send out rays

2) (Hiphil) to display or grow horns, be horned

Rev 5, 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

In the Bible qeren, horn is also used for the leaders of a people, those who are exhalted, exhalt themselves as in Rev 13 and 17.

Interesting in this respect is also the use of the aramaic ‘iyr in Daniel 4 for watchers in combination with the Holy Ones.

 ’iyr, waking, watchful, waking one, watcher from ‘uwr, to awake, awaken rather identical with ‘uwr to be exposed, be bared through the idea of opening the eyes.

Dan 12, 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Phil 2, 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

There is a Water that flows down from Heaven
To cleanse the world of sin by grace Divine.
At last, its whole stock spent, its virtue gone.
Dark with pollution not its own, it speeds
Back to the Fountain of all purities;
Whence, freshly bathed, earthward it sweeps again,
Trailing a robe of glory bright and pure.

This Water is the Spirit of the Saints,
Which ever sheds, until itself is beggared,
God’s balm on the sick soul; and then returns
To Him who made the purest light of Heaven.

poem by Rumi

R. A. Nicholson

‘Persian Poems‘, an Anthology of verse translations
edited by A.J. Arberry, Everyman’s Library, 1972