![]() ![]() Silence has always been the ultimate response to unfathomable tragedy. We cannot grasp the mystery of human suffering. ![]() Life’s great challenge – as great and even greater than the “tzimtzum” itself – is to wake up and be aware: To open the curtains and reveal the underlying unity through living an integrated life. The great shroud masks our integral unity, and as a result we fell separate, to the point that we can actually harm each other, not recognizing that in doing so we harm ourselves as well. Since we are all one cohesive organism, how is it possible, ask the mystical students of unity, that we should be able to go our way, sleep and otherwise disregard the suffering of our brethren?! Can one part of a body be at peace when another part is ailing?īlindness is the answer. This “tzimtzum” is the startling root – both brilliant and horrific – of all human apathy, of every form of indifference and complacency that we are so capable of. It creates the narcissistic perception that the only thing that exists is you, in this moment and this space, with no inkling of your fundamental link with all other moments, spaces and people. The shroud is called the “grand tzimtzum” – a cosmic black hole that turns existence inside out, and allows us to think that we are alone and disconnected from everything else. A great “shroud” conceals our interconnectivity and interdependence. Yet, this integral web connection is hidden from our view. Indeed, all of time, space and spirit (man) are pieces of one seamless tapestry. The loss and pain of one component affects us all. We are all integrally connected and interconnected. ![]() All human beings – and for that matter, every fiber of existence – are part of one large organism each an indispensable musical note in the Divine symphony. The mystics see our responsibility for each other in a cosmic way. Not only were nations oblivious of each other they often were at war with one another, and natural calamities were simply exploited. You can’t help but wonder how countries behaved toward each other in centuries past when disaster struck their neighbors. Though hardly a consolation to the magnitude of today’s great tragedy, it is mildly comforting to witness nations having at least a semblance of awareness that we all are part of one human race, and we therefore share responsibility toward one another, something quite unprecedented in human history. Yet, it is important to acknowledge every positive gesture of help. Obviously much more can and should be done to address the people in crisis. That’s why it is admirable to see the outpouring of international aid – from nations and from individuals – to the stricken countries. When hundreds of thousands of lives are tragically and abruptly aborted due to a “natural” disaster, it must serve as a wake-up call to us all.Įven on a most basic level, it is nothing less than callous to be complacent if face of any catastrophe, especially one so sudden and so devastating, affecting so many lives, now and forever. To say that the calamity is merely a natural phenomenon and a chance occurrence is insensitive and cruel – Maimonides, Laws of Fasting 1:2-3 When a calamity strikes the public we must cry out, examine our lives and correct our ways. ![]()
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