Our teacher Rav Berg would always tirelessly repeat, “It’s all about consciousness.”
Kabbalists have revealed that consciousness governs everything that happens in the world and in our lives. Science has, on the same vein, proven the fact that the way atoms behave depends upon the consciousness of the observer; the way things manifest in our lives and in the world and the experiences we have in life depend on the consciousness we have. We create our reality and we create what is contained in our consciousness.
The Torah portion of Tazria is known for its power to help women get pregnant and bring children into the world. This Shabbat, which is always read prior to the new moon of Aries, the Rosh Chodesh of Aries, is also referred to as Shabbat HaChodesh.
The month of Aries marks the beginning of the spring and also contains the Kabbalistic connection of Pesach, or Passover, which occurs in the full moon of the month.
Passover is traditionally known as the commemoration of the biblical story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Kabbalah tells us, however, that none of the connections we do in this holiday has anything to do with celebrating something that occurred in the past, but that rather it is a window of opportunity in which we can connect in our personal lives to the energy that caused that historical event in the first place. ‘Exodus’ means going out of bondage and attaining freedom.
The great kabbalist Rav Isaac Luria, who lived in the north of Israel in the 1500´s, explained that the Israelite exile of Egypt was an exile of consciousness. This is expressed in Hebrew by the word Galut HaDaat, which explains that the Israelites were not slaves in the literal meaning of the word. Rather, they were enslaved in their consciousness. The Israelites were unable to overcome their negative patterns and were servants of their own Ego consciousness.
When speaking of freedom, we mustn't fool ourselves. It does not imply liberty to do whatever we want when we want it. By freedom, the kabbalists mean not being controlled by our ego, pride, laziness, neediness, or what they refer to as the Opponent – the opposing force within us that manifests as a negative and limiting consciousness, emotion, and thought.
This week holds the gift to activate the power of our consciousness and to free us from any constricted, limited thinking. It allows us to leave behind the limited version of ourselves and to become the spiritual giants that we have come to this world to be.
