holy shabbat
Rest For the Soul
When Elohim rests on the seventh day (Gen 2:2-3), know that it holds perhaps the most profound secret of enlightenment in Jewish mysticism. Sabbath, or Shabbat, is the mystery of repose in and reintegration with the Holy One. The Hebrew letters spelling shabbat may rearrange to spell teshuvah—returning to God. To rest is to return: To return is to rest. To remember Shabbat (Exodus 20:8) is to prepare all week for a day set aside, devoted entirely to God; to keep it holy is with prayer, meditation, study of scripture, enjoying a fine meal, and gathering to discourse and worship with the good company of Tzaddik and one’s spiritual family.
Shabbat is the day we identify with our soul in God; we rest from problem-solving and our identity with the world. On Shabbat, there is nothing to do, fix, or finish, for on Shabbat, from its mystical perspective of the World-to-Come, all is already complete and wholly in God. Heaven and earth unite on Shabbat when Jewish spouses make love to each other in remembrance of the Holy One and his Shekinah: Their rest is the essence of the soul’s return to God.
Our Need For Rest
If contemplative, Jewish culture insisted on a full day of spiritual rest in the ancient world, how much more do we need spiritual rest in the postmodern world? Understand, if the world feels like it’s disintegrating, it must reflect people's failure week to week to reintegrate their lives with their origin. With no regular day of rest, life lived constantly from the surface becomes a trackless blur. With no memories of a regular day of rest in our life, our soul has nothing to hold onto in the tides of the afterlife. This is the mystical meaning of “death” and “exile” for those who profane Shabbat (Exodus 31:14). Yeshua added: If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father's) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father (Thomas, 27).
Our tradition insists on remembering and keeping a day of spiritual rest, not in religiosity, but with the same joy as a day off with one’s beloved. The Shabbat was made for the human one (Mark 2:27). To give time to ourselves in the Holy One integrates the past six days of our creation and prepares us for the next six days to come. This is how all of us who are active mystics with our partners, families, careers, and lifestyles can ground and embody an authentically spiritual life that will meet us in the afterlife.
Shabbat in Our Tradition
Sunday is our day of rest, the day we honor the Risen Yeshua appearing to Mary Magdalene. Everyone in their own homes will have already extended their personal continuum of spiritual practice and study before gathering online with Tzaddik for Zoom discourse. Following this discourse, we'll remain together online to integrate what we heard and felt during a question and answer session. Sharing together draws forth more light and power on behalf of all. At the end, we welcome testimonies of the Spirit moving in our and others' lives, as well as prayer requests. It has never been easier than in our current Shabbat offering every week online, to engage in a live transmission with this lineage. We freely offer an archive of these recordings on our YouTube channel. Praise God! The practice of remembering and keeping Shabbat over months into years and decades grounds real and lasting growth from the inside out in the lives of our companions. Feel for yourself the Spirit moving with us!
Learn More
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp0J5QoClnQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=R99n8jE3nqw&t=17s