The Soul is a Candle - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

so rabbi jacobson shares this insight into exactly these spiritual laws which he learned from the laboratory and i'll try to keep this tight because we have a lot to cover and it's a little bit mystical but i think when you hear it you'll you'll agree that it's self-evidently true so he explains that there are two forces which allow for the animation of the physical body by the soul and these forces allow for these two seemingly antithetically opposite elements right the divine soul which is a peace of god himself so to say and the body which is made of dirt so these forces allow for the harmonious coexistence of these opposite forces to inhabit the body at the very same time and these two forces within the soul are called ratso the shove rats over coming from the idea of like rats of striving of seeking of yearning and shove is the opposite right the the return the grounding the settling it's sort of like um what's the word it's like pulsating up and down it's going up it's like um you know it's almost like the idea uh to me is of breathing right inhaling and exhaling that force of ratso is the part of the soul that is always striving higher it is seeking to connect to the creator and is constantly yearning to merge with hashem it's constantly pulled upwards like a magnetic force and the shove is the force that wants to stay alive in this world to actualize the potential that's acquired right after the ratso brings us higher and closer and we bring that back down and we can actualize it it wants to stay in the body and to elevate the body so if you followed what i described here and i wouldn't blame you if you didn't but if you did it could forever change the way that you read the verse in proverbs that begins with the words ner hashem nishmat right what does that mean ner hashem nish matadam the candle of god is the soul of man so visualize a candle right the wick as long as it remains lit it's like locked in this in this dance right on the one hand it's striving upwards as it it's like drawn to the source above while at the same time at the time it's flickering down as well it's cleaving to the wick for dear life and drinking the oil that sustains its very existence that allows it to exist as a differentiated unique flame and it's the tension between those two impulses to ascend yet to exist it's the tension between the retso and the shove that produces that light and so that's the same with the soul of man the yearning to ascend and come close to god but at the same time to remain connected to the body to remain alive uh to remain alive that's that's the balance and at that moment of nuclear spiritual forces at play the ratso within the souls of nadav and avihu the part of them which so yearned to transcend and cleave to hashem and cleave to their maker that yearning of their so was so great that they just they just gave into it and by surrendering to that impulse it created an imbalance and there are so simply overpowered their shove and their souls were literally just pulled like up and out out of their bodies like like the flame of a candle that's being sucked up and extinguished by a vacuum 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.thelandofisrail.com backslash fellowship or send an email to fellowship at the land of israel.com love and blessings from judea