By Racheli Reckles
Over the past several years, my spiritual evolution has exposed me to teachings of Judaism and in this article I would like to share with you the wisdom that I have found in Judaism.
The Jewish ‘bible’ called the Torah is a historical document that describes major events in history, from the origins of our universe to the birth of man.
To begin to see the spiritual aspect within Judaism we must first get to know Abraham our Forefather. What made him special? In a time and culture where everyone was practicing idol worship, Abraham was the first person to question and ultimately condemn such a practice.
Going To The Source
Abraham’s father, Terach, was a big idol dealer, probably the biggest in town. Abraham used his quick wits to talk anyone who came into the store out of purchasing an idol. Why did he go against the idol movement? Instead of worshiping wooden statues he decided to connect to the source of all creation, which is the Creator.
This is the first big spiritual concept in Judaism. Everything in existence is created by the Creator.
A person who acknowledges everything is created by the Creator realizes that there is a source to all that he sees and experiences in the world, and if there is a source then there must also be a purpose.
Purpose
Many of us question whether life has an ultimate meaning or purpose. The Torah clearly tells us that there is a purpose to life. This is a big spiritual concept in Judaism. There is a deep meaning and purpose to life, and each person has his own individual role to play in life.
Jewish sages say, “It is better that a person were never born than if he lived his life with no consciousness.” In my belief this statement is telling us that we should always realize that our actions carry consequences and therefore why not create more positive energy in the world?
Some people argue that religion is devoid of consciousness. I would like to add that each Judaic law is based on Divine Wisdom, and we can understand each law on our own spiritual level.
Fortunately, in these times, Kabbalah, the deep esoteric and mystical aspect of the Torah, is being taught in layman’s terms by all types of Jewish organizations. They teach it in a practical way that helps us understand the spiritual dimensions of our lives and how to use the Torah to improve our lives on all levels. You do not have to be religious to study Torah. You simply need to have the desire to improve your life.
Reincarnation
Another important concept in Judaism is reincarnation. The Torah and other Jewish texts such as the Holy Zohar are full of references to reincarnation. Judaism is the original proponent of reincarnation and provides countless examples as proof that it is a fact of life. Since the explanation for such examples are too complex for me to review in this article, I will present to you a thought-provoking point. Have you ever met someone with whom you instantly felt a connection?
Some of the stories in the Torah point to this idea of reincarnation.
For example, Iyov, or Job, was a perfectly righteous man, yet his life was extremely harsh and difficult. Why would God let such a good man suffer so much? It turns out that in a past life Iyov was actually Terach, who was the IKEA of idol dealers.
Many times our limited five senses will convince us that we are undeserving of a particularly tough situation that may have occured right after we have done something truly sharing. We wonder why we are being punished after we have done something so great?
I believe life is not linear. We live our lives expecting that we will see the effects of our actions all in one lifetime, and we wonder why “bad” things happen to us undeservedly. For me each lifetime is like one chapter in the book of our complete lives. We don’t know what happened last chapter or what stage of the book we’re in.
Karma And Free Will
As for the concept of reward and punishment, this simply does not exist in spiritual Judaism. What the Torah is really stating is actually the spiritual laws of cause and effect. God loves us just the same no matter what we do. There is a famous saying, “Even the most sinful Jew is full of mitzvahs like a pomegranate.” The last Lubavitcher Rebbe put an insightful twist on this concept and stated, “If a Jew is full of mitzvahs like a pomegranate, how can he even be called a sinner?”
I believe that God is so full of love for us. And you may respond to this idea by asking why do good people suffer? Why is this world so full of tough challenges? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that we also have free will. We can choose a life of love or fear, we can choose to be greater than our challenges.