.
It
takes a
colossus to squeeze
himself small enough to
allow another’s dreams to come
true,
in a
world grown wild .
some choose to step
forward, to set one's life
aside,
in order
to stand for
the Greater Good, and
becoming merely a speck, so
truth
rises up,
carrying a force
so much Bigger than
days or years, to grow
infinitesimally,
to Master
the art of
Con-trac-tion, to shrink
smaller,
so a
dream might grow
stronger, perhaps kinder, perhaps
even Godly, the energy burning
embers
beneath folded
dreams, filling empty
cracks and crevices with hope
shrinking, shrinking smaller and smaller.
צמצום
Greetings from the middle of the page where I am writing so to give space to the dot and the poem above. Although the Parsha is named for the death of Sarah, Chayei Sarah focuses on Avraham's wishes for an heir for Yitzhak in order to continue the line of the covenant. Avraham, old now, sends his faithful and trusted servant to find a suitable wife for his son and perhaps even to be a suitable leader as Yitzhak appears as a quiet and passive individual. The servant is never named, although the Rabbis, through textual analysis, give him the name Eliezer.
Eliezer is the most devoted of servants. He plans, travels, sets guidelines and tests that the future bride must pass in order to become Isaac's bride. It seems that he worries that he will not succeed on his errand, yet he never veers from the role of the faithful servant and perhaps his name is never mentioned because it is as if he is an extension of Avraham and Avraham's desires.
In Kabbalistic thought the concept of tzimtzum* is when Gd makes Gdself small so that humanity can themselves be creators. This is epitomized by Eliezer, the ever devoted servant, making himself smaller, so that the larger story can progress. He is content to be the understudy, the person who is not given the credit, but gets the work done nevertheless.
My inspiration this week came from a podcast, The Pardes from Jerusalem Parsha podcast, where the hosts focus on those special individuals who are able to be the supporting actors in someone else's play. They spoke about people in the world who become part of a larger story, despite discomfort and attending to their own needs and about soldiers fighting in the current war in Israel, who have served long tours of duty to the detriment of their jobs and living with their families. In particular they spoke passionately about a soldier who was killed last month, Rav Avi Goldberg, who was a beloved teacher in Jerusalem and the father of eight. Rav Goldberg volunteered to serve, despite being old enough not to have to serve.
He gave his life to be part of the ongoing story of The Covenant.
This post is written in memory of those who give up so much so as to allow other's stories to grow. In particular, it is in memory of Rav Avi Goldberg. May his neshama have an aliyah.
A diagram of the worlds created after the first Tzimtzum, one of the versions of the diagram created by Haim Vital. from a manuscript by Menahem Lonzano, "drushim" about Haim Vital and the ARI.
Taken from the Wikemedia free images.
_____________________________________________
Other Posts From Words Have Wings on Parshat Chayei Sarah
*Learn more about the concept of Tzimtzum.
צמצום
Comments