Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Rabbi Ashlag’s Unique Contribution

Drawn to the study of Kabbalah from a very early age, Rabbi Ashlag understood the Kabbalah’s unique integrating function of heart and mind, of feeling and thought, of faith and of service to God.  He penetrated the technicalities of the Torah of the Ari, showing that the Sephirot and their pathways are simply the pathways of love between God and ourselves. Kabbalah is a part of the oral tradition, the Torah shel baal peh , and was always a part of the whole Torah. Thus our greatest sages were also Kabbalists. Rabbi Ashlag was one such a great sage his work in opening up Kabbalah was welcomed by the other great sages of his generation: Rabbi Avraham Yizhak HaCohen Kook, the Sage of Gur, Rabbi Dessler, and others. Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag (1886-1954) lived in an age in which the Kabbalah had become forgotten or frowned upon in the Ashkenazi Jewish world, and furthermore he saw that the increasing materialism and secularisation in the world did not pass Jews by and many were being lost to assimilation. Receiving permission from his teachers and with an inner knowing that the time was right, he opened up Kabbalah to those who wish to study it, bringing a new flowering and vitality to his generation and to ours… the generation for whom the redemption is very close. Rabbi Ashlag’s Yahrzeit falls on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. It is in this 66th year since he died that three new books have been translated of his work into English, so in this podcast I have tried to express something of what I feel his great contribution to Jewish thought and practice of our time has been. For me, it is his demonstration that at the core of Judaism lies the love between the Creator and ourselves and the love we are able to give back to the Creator and to each other. This podcast is dedicated in loving memory and for the ilui Nishmat of Feigi Bat Rivka z”l and Aharon Kotler z”l and Sara Kotlerz”l, May their memories be a blessing for us . Note: In this talk, the importance of the connection between the practice of Torah and mitzvot and the study of the Kabbalah is emphasized. I would like to add that if we are secular or not Jewish this still applies to us: The seven mitzvot of the children of Noah apply to everyone and we can all work on “Love your neighbor as yourself”. May you all be blessed with a sweet New Year and a perfect sealing in the Book of Life. Yedidah

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Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Rabbi Ashlag’s Unique Contribution is an episode from Nehora School presents the Kabbalah of Rabbi Ashlag by Yedidah Cohen.

This episode is 17:25 long.

This episode was published on Sep 27, 2020.

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