Are We Still in The Garden? - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

so let's look at chapter 3 verse 9 and the lord called to adam and said to him where are you now did hashem not know where adam was of course he did he was just speaking to adam on his own terms he was addressing adam in his confused state only moments before adam experienced this oneness and unity of hashem with his creation and now he perceived this multiplicity and this fragmentation and this separateness we know what he saw then because that's the world that we see today and it is a it's a very very convincing illusion i often see the world and think well done hashem you're like a an expert hide and go seek master right which is why we have all of these commandments we walk into our house we kiss the mezuzah we have the strings from our seat seat which by the way if you're ever going to take out sheep do not let those strings be hanging out because they will eat your teeth seat but we're constantly constantly involved in these commandments because it takes that constant immersion to perpetually remember remember that hashem is behind everything so the real question we have to ask ourselves is whether on the deepest level anything really changed or it just changed in our perspective now there is actually room to really disagree with me about this and and to debate about this and i would love that but um but let me just throw throw it out there okay what what's what is the entire encyclopedia in my brain that i go through when i think about the garden of eden day to day so we know that everything is energy everything in the world is energy many people don't like to think about it because the implications are overwhelming even scientists don't know what to do with this knowledge but uh but starting with the theory of relativity and then progressing to just to scientific consensus there's no debate to the truth that the whole world all of matter is just energy we perceive matter as solid and concrete because of the frequency at which the particles are vibrating but in truth all the matter is just energy we've heard e equals m c squared right you've heard that equation albert einstein with his tongue out and his hair in the air right equals mc squared so it's the equation that led to the creation of the nuclear weapon and what those letter means e is energy equals matter times the speed of light squared in other words energy equals matter and that's what the nuclear weapon is the energy released from the conversion of matter back into its base energy so i'm not going to take up too much time on this i've already gone too far but why am i sharing it because the truth is that on the deepest level we are still creatures of light and we are still walking hand in hand with god through the garden and how is god speaking with us how is he expressing his love to us through everybody in our lives and everything in our lives yes everybody everybody even those we perceive as enemies even those we perceive as bad because if the greatest good in the world is to be close to god it's not comfort because if it's comfort games over but to be close to god to serve as a vessel to channel god's light and love into the world then it is dafta it's exactly those people those difficult people those painful situations that provide us with the greatest opportunity to illuminate the darkness with divine light i don't know if you've seen but it's just it's a phenomenon that i've seen since i've been in israel the parents whose children are murdered horrifically in terrorist attacks almost to each one of them they have some sort of memorial to them where they start an organization helping terror victims or or you know challenged children or whatever the organizations are something to bring light from all that darkness and so okay so here we are in the world and we're tasked with the mission of revealing god's presence in this world of hiddenness and darkness and confusion that's our job description to reveal god's presence isaiah says it in this week's half torah atem a die you are my witnesses we reveal god's unity and his goodness and his dominion um through our actions and and also through our faith and it's uh and this is something i really wanted to talk about it's not a complex and complicated faith i just talked about energy and science that's not relevant that's not important it doesn't need to be complex or complicated rebbi nachman he says that the highest level of faith is just simple pure faith simple and by cleaving to the torah as we as we're humbly seeking to do in this fellowship by grasping on to the tree of life and learning it together with god's help we're really able to at least to start to acquire the eyes to see that on some level we're still in the garden walking with god the the torah is the tree of life right the torah is a tree of life our tea back into the garden and by knowing it and immersing ourselves in it and internalizing it into our hearts we can have the eyes to see that the world is beautiful that life is beautiful and life is is just the greatest gift bestowed upon us by a god who loves us more than we can ever imagine and that's even during the times of pain and sadness and tears we can still hold that at the same time you know rabbi abraham joshua heschel he describes a religious person as someone who holds god and man in one thought at one time at all times who suffers harmed unto others whose greatest passion is compassion and whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair years ago i read that and i wrote it down and it's part of my mantra and the part that that is the with me the strongest is who holds god and man in one thought at one time that's the key because if we put on our garden of eden glasses we see that a spark of hashem lies in the heart of every man and hashem is communicating with us through every one and everything and everybody that we encounter the entire book of brexit by the way in my opinion is primarily a testimony to this truth as the masks are coming off and much of the world is turning not only against israel but yes against the jewish people if you feel different if your love for israel is growing deeper and stronger if you're thirsting to cleave to the nation of israel and to the god of israel if you're thirsting to learn authentic torah from jews in judea then the land of israel fellowship is for you hundreds of individuals and families from around the world come together on zoom every week in what can only be described as a fellowship of love friendship of learning and praying and belonging a fellowship really unlike any other it's more than just a movement it's a family to learn more about the land of israel fellowship click on www.thelandofisral.com backslash fellowship or send an email to fellowship at the land of israel.com love and blessings from judea