This week’s portion is the Portion of Shoftim, one that is always read in the beginning of the month of Elul (Virgo). The month of Elul is a moment in our spiritual process to judge our past actions in order to do repentance or make amends and to literally re-program our year to come in the days of Rosh Hashanah.
Shoftim literally means ‘judges’, so it is really no coincidence that we read it at this time of the year.
In this portion we find one of the most famous verses in the Bible: Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof, meaning ‘Justice, Justice we should chase or pursue’. The commentators of the Bible tell us that this verse explains that if we are not actively removing our own negativity, then we are actually attracting negativity/judgment upon our lives. If we chase or pursue justice – meaning we expose our own judgments and try to uncover negativity we have created – we can access the full Light of the Creator. However, if we don’t chase this justice, then it will chase us instead.
On the one hand, we learn in our study of Kabbalah not to judge, but on the other hand, the idea of judging is crucial to be able to remove blockages and to truly connect to the Light. We have to be able to look at our flaws, but we need to do it in a balanced way, judging with restriction for the sake of spiritual growth.
The idea is that any type of judgment that will allow us to grow has to use the three-column system. The Left Column energy, which allows us to look at the negative actions that we have done; the Right Column energy, which allows us to see the good; and the Central Column, which allows us to bring balance between the two and make a true observation in order to grow spiritually.
Once we chase justice and judge – with restriction – for the sake of spiritual growth, then we can take the following steps to make amends and to repent our negative actions. Through these steps we clean our slate on Rosh Hashanah and earn a new and better movie for the year to come.
Take the following steps and meditate on the combination below to make amends for negative actions:
4 Steps of Repentance
In order to transform any kind of negative energy you’ve created into Light, take the following steps:
1. Recognition – Recognize your negative action.
2. Feeling the Pain – Feel the pain you caused to yourself or someone else.
3. Replaying the Movie – Go back in time and visualize a new movie without the negativity.
4. Commitment for the future – Make a commitment to not repeat the same mistake.
Meditate on the first of the 72 Names of God to help you go back in time and correct the past.
Awaken remorse in your heart for prior misdeeds. Accept the frank spiritual truth that problems in your life are the result of past actions. Concentrating on this Name will now uproot the negative seeds you’ve already planted. In doing so, you transform your past, reshape the present, and assure yourself a future full of joy and fulfillment.
Good luck!
