20. Tazria 5779: Beyond The Shame -Accepting The Depths Of Our Divinity

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLighthouseProjectMiami/videos/2029219534040028/i9 Notes: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wuc5zxcz6p1ic29/20.%20Tazriah-Hachoidesh%205779%20-Beyond%20the%20Shame%20--Accepting%20the%20Depths%20of%20Our%20Divinity.pdf?dl=0 Almost any Torah teaching can be absorbed on the level of, “The cup is half full,” or on the level of, “The cup is half empty.” In general, the difference between the approach of Mussar and the approach of Chassidus is that Musar focuses on having us accept the gall, arrogance and self-centeredness of our body and its drives, while Chassidus on having us accept the divinity of our souls, and the preciousness of our bodies1 in the eyes of G-d. Nevertheless, even the teachings of Chassidus can be perceived through the eyes of the non-Chasssidic pessimism. For example, one of the greatest focuses of Chassidus is on Bittul -Self-nullification, internalizing the depths of the teaching (-Talmud, Sotah 5a) “Rav Ḥisda says, and some say that Mar Ukva: Concerning any person who has arrogance within him, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: He and I cannot dwell [together] in the world, as it is stated (Psalms 101:5–6): ‘He who slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I destroy; he who is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer [oto lo ukhal].’ These verses should be understood as follows: Do not read the verse as:2 ‘Oto lo ukhal;’ rather, read it as: ‘Itto lo ukhal,’ meaning, with him, I cannot bear to dwell.” 1. "We have absolutely no conception how precious to G-d is the body of a Jew." (-HaYom Yom, Elul 29) 2. In Hebrew letters the words oto and itto are the same, and the difference lies in the vowels. With this, we are taught (-Zohar, Volume I, 23b; Zohar, Volume II, 201b; Torah Ohr, Page 42) that even our services to G-d is too gross to ascend before G-d, and thus, all our words of prayer must first be, hugged and kissed by angels in order to be cleansed from human fingerprints of ego and self-seeking, before they can ascend to heaven, and appear before the Throne of Glory. These teachings, for a generation that struggles with self-worth, self-identity, and struggles to not numb the inner-emptiness of shame, guilt, and worthlessness, through chemicals and unhealthy behaviors, can be horrifically damaging, and even lethal. In this lecture, we will get beyond the first dimension of these teachings, and full embrace the power that G-d has placed within us humans alone, to be the center of the universe and in the ultimate control room of all existence, because of how precious and loved we are by G-d. This lecture is based on a maamor the Rebbe delivered in 1965, exploring the Torah secrets of how parents give birth to either a boy or a girl.