Man searches for meaning. Sometimes he finds it in some kind of numinous value [some religious value]. Sometimes he finds it in politics or global warming, or some kind of vendetta he or she has towards someone. I have seen all kinds of varieties. The existentialists borrowing from Thomas Aquinas thought existence comes before essence. That left them free to find their own values or to deny the existence of value.
Liberal Arts colleges are to some degree appealing to this aspect. They are hoping to find meaning in Shakespeare or more modern novels.
During the Middle Ages it value was for Jews in Torah [the Oral and Written Law--not in Jewish identity nor in Jewish nationalism.] For Christians it was in the church.
The Rambam in the Middle Ages and Saadia Gaon in the early Middle Ages wanted to expand the area of numinosity in Torah to include Physics and Metaphysics or Aristotle.
I think there is such a thing as bad numinous value; the Sitra Achra. The Dark Side. And I think all good values receive their values from Torah. But all good values can be subverted into the Sitra Achra. The point is how to avoid that difficulty? And how to detect if a group that is on the face of it supporting Torah values but in fact has become tool of the Sitra Achra?
True holy numinous value is deeply hidden in everything ---even in the Sitra Achra. הסתרה שבתוך הסתרה. He brings that from a verse in Deuteronomy ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא That is where God says to the Jews that after they will turn from him he will hide his face. But in the Hebrew you have the infinitive and then the verb. That means He is saying he will hide the hiding. That means people will be so far from God that they will not even know that he is hidden.
Then what can one do in such a case?
My advice is to talk with God as you talk with your father and mother . That is not just to pray to God, but to talk with Him in an informal way. Prayer tends to be formal. And when prayer is formal, then it loses its energy. It is best to find time with God alone. The best place is a forest, but any place will do as long as there are no people around. Even your own room before you go to sleep at night. Under your covers is a good place to talk with God.
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I would suggest other things, but almost anything I would suggest could be subverted into a tool of the Sitra Achra. Learning Torah, Kabalah. Nothing is immune. But if you talk with God sincerely and ask to be saved from the Dark Side, I think nothing can subvert a sincere prayer.
In fact, it is a rule that what ever organisation claims to be able to save one from the Sitra Achra is itself a tool of the Sitra Achra. That is money in the bank. You can count on this.
Liberal Arts colleges are to some degree appealing to this aspect. They are hoping to find meaning in Shakespeare or more modern novels.
During the Middle Ages it value was for Jews in Torah [the Oral and Written Law--not in Jewish identity nor in Jewish nationalism.] For Christians it was in the church.
The Rambam in the Middle Ages and Saadia Gaon in the early Middle Ages wanted to expand the area of numinosity in Torah to include Physics and Metaphysics or Aristotle.
I think there is such a thing as bad numinous value; the Sitra Achra. The Dark Side. And I think all good values receive their values from Torah. But all good values can be subverted into the Sitra Achra. The point is how to avoid that difficulty? And how to detect if a group that is on the face of it supporting Torah values but in fact has become tool of the Sitra Achra?
True holy numinous value is deeply hidden in everything ---even in the Sitra Achra. הסתרה שבתוך הסתרה. He brings that from a verse in Deuteronomy ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא That is where God says to the Jews that after they will turn from him he will hide his face. But in the Hebrew you have the infinitive and then the verb. That means He is saying he will hide the hiding. That means people will be so far from God that they will not even know that he is hidden.
Then what can one do in such a case?
My advice is to talk with God as you talk with your father and mother . That is not just to pray to God, but to talk with Him in an informal way. Prayer tends to be formal. And when prayer is formal, then it loses its energy. It is best to find time with God alone. The best place is a forest, but any place will do as long as there are no people around. Even your own room before you go to sleep at night. Under your covers is a good place to talk with God.
\
I would suggest other things, but almost anything I would suggest could be subverted into a tool of the Sitra Achra. Learning Torah, Kabalah. Nothing is immune. But if you talk with God sincerely and ask to be saved from the Dark Side, I think nothing can subvert a sincere prayer.
In fact, it is a rule that what ever organisation claims to be able to save one from the Sitra Achra is itself a tool of the Sitra Achra. That is money in the bank. You can count on this.
