Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020

0:02

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Okay, so first of all, let me greet everyone who's joining us for this Monday night session. Thank you to Gemma who's making it happen. Gemma, I can see people are logged on to my screen, but are the other feeds operating? Can I just proceed? Because my screen doesn't say that it's streaming anywhere else. Is that okay?

0:29

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let me greet those of you who I can see. Let me just point out to you again that if you're watching on the JLE feed, then I can see you. But if you are watching through some other medium, then I can't see your chat questions. So let me at least greet the ones I can see. I can't greet everybody. Please forgive me. But Caroline and Tarzana, great to see you. Bye, Shoshana.

0:57

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Text. I'm not using a text for this particular session. Paul. Okay, fine. Dr. Avram in LA. Howard, nice to see you again. Okay, Laurie. Judy. Okay, greetings. Ellie and my French men. Good to have you with us. Alan, good to have you.

1:24

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Okay, forgive me if I don't greet you personally. Daniel, nice to see you. Daniel B. Okay, that's a welcome guest. I'll have to try extra hard. Okay, so thank you for joining me on this pre-Lagbomer session. And with your permission, I'd like to change track just a little bit. What we normally do is, Mondays we've been dedicating to a deep insight into mitzvahs. That is the classic work, based on the classic work of the Tzemach Tzedek.

1:58

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

which is called Derach Mitzvay Secha, which we've had three or four sessions discussing. And on Wednesdays we discuss the deeper ideas. We've called this Actions of the Soul, and that session we've called Thoughts of the Soul. But since we are just entering Lagba Omer, I'd like to have your permission to discuss Lagba Omer just a little bit. This is not related directly to Mitzvah, but I'd like to just detour or sidetrack just in honor of this great day.

2:27

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

which is a very perplexing and mysterious occasion. Hard to define exactly what it means. Very mystical. So mystical, in fact, that its meaning is completely hidden. You know that the mystical wisdom is called the sod, which means hidden wisdom. So let me ask you for permission to take a slight detour for those who just joined. Welcome. We are talking tonight.

2:57

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

about Lagbo Omer. So first give me in my chat box a quick yes if you agree to talk about Lagbo Omer. Okay, so far I've only got yeses. No noes. All right, so I'll take that as permission. So let's... Nikki, greetings from Croatia. Okay, let us try to discuss this very difficult and mysterious

3:27

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

question of Lagba Omer. And I hope this will give us an insight into a deep aspect of character, personality, spiritual work in the world, based on the concept of the Omer that we are counting now. You know, Lagba Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer. By the way, many of us, certainly in England, we have not yet counted the Omer. Right? Only just getting dark now. So, we haven't yet counted the Omer. And therefore,

3:57

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

If I mention the date that it's Lag B'Amer, we are not intending to fulfill our mitzvah of counting. Okay? We wouldn't want to do that. We want to make a bracha. So we will fulfill the mitzvah a little bit later. But in America, you're still on the verge eve of Lag B'Amer. Those who are listening from Australia have entered it. So let's talk about...

4:21

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

the question of the day, which is Lagbo Yomer. You know that, for those who are not familiar, it is the 33rd day of the Omer. As you know, Omer is a 49-day count. In fact, we did discuss the meaning of counting the Omer. For deeper insight into what we are discussing in this session, I suggest that you go back and download or stream the discussion on counting the Omer. We chose that as the mitzvah. I think that was the first mitzvah we looked at. So, you'll need that background.

4:50

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

to give meaning fully to this discussion. But just to remind you, the counting of the Omer is the 49 days that we count from Pesach to Schwurz.

5:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

to Shavuot, 49-step journey that leads to a transcendence which is called Torah. I remind you that in that session we mentioned that although the Torah commands us to count 50 days, we only count 49. We only count 49. The Torah says explicitly, count 50 days, we only count 49. And the main idea we tried to fathom at that time was the idea that

5:27

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

49 is the number of the material world. Seven elements in seven layers. The 50th is transcendent. The 50th is beyond. On the way down into the dark side, the 50th means the place of no return. Beyond the system. Completely disintegrated. On the way up, it's outside the system. That's called Torah. Meeting Hashem. Meeting God. Talk about outside the system. On that day, which was a Shabbos, of course. Of course it was Shabbos. You know that the Torah calls Pesach a Shabbat.

5:57

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And seven times seven weeks later, ultimate Shabbat, we enter Shavuot, which means weeks, means weeks. The festival means weeks. All it is is a counting of the weeks. And we try to explain the concept of going beyond time and beyond number. The way we count the 50th day is by not counting it. We say it's not just another number. It is beyond number. The analogy I tried to set up then, if you remember, was music.

6:23

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

You play all the notes, seven notes if you like, in the seven note scale. The music happens. Music is not another note. You'd be insulting it to call it one more note. The music is not one more note. The music is the totality of the notes. It's the effect. When you have words in a poem, I try to refer to a poem that I recommend that you read during this session.

6:45

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

When you read the words in a poem, each word is meaningless. Meaningless, isolated word. When you put them together, if they're masterfully constructed, something happens, which is the effect. I pointed out that a love relationship should be like that. A real marriage, whether it's a friendship, a male-female marriage, the marriage within the mind of the male and female components of intellect and imagination.

7:15

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

should be something that leads to a total that is greater than the sum of the parts. A love is not simply a string of events, a history that is shared. Each event in that relationship builds something deeper, a music that is inexpressible. One's own intellectual development should be like that. You understand? A new idea, a new connection between ideas, a new matter connection. And as that progresses through the years, you should amount to something greater.

7:44

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

than a mere collection of details. Your wisdom should be transcendent. Your wisdom needs to amount to a certain depth of intuition that knows things beyond the details that you have learned. A wisdom that can fathom situations and people, the meaning of things, beyond what can be analyzed. It can only be done through the details, only the hard work. A performer, an athletic performer, an intellectual performer, a musical performer, reaches a level beyond intuition.

8:14

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Reaches a level, you know, when a great musician, Daniel, I'm sure you'll confirm this, when a musician is playing, if the musician plays correctly, the music and the musician become one. The Pasuk says, And when the music, the simple translation is, and when the musician began playing, the Prophet needed inspiration, he called for music. Music can take him to the higher world. He called for music to inspire him.

8:46

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

simple translation, when the musician began playing. The deep translation is when the musician became the music, when the music was like the musician. If you're not doing it that way, not playing music. When the notes come together to form something that transcends the notes, that's what life is meant to be. The only way you will ever see God is through the details of the world. That's what the Omer is, the counting of the Omer.

9:13

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Omer means to pile up. To put these pieces together. And when you get to the end of the Omer, what do you have? Weeks. That's all. But the weeks are details. Seven within seven that amount to something that is utterly beyond count. Amazing paradox. Each day is a finite count. One step and another step and another step. Pitifully small in its meaningless existence. And yet it reaches something that is so far beyond count and cannot be given a number. And that's called Torah.

9:41

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Okay, that's the idea. Now, let's take the next step. This count is broken into two steps, two stages. Like Ba'omer, the 33rd day of the Omer. What's significant about that? 32 days of the Omer, and then there's the 33rd. And then 17 left.

10:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

get to 49. 32 and 17. What is the key to remember these? Lev Tov, a good heart. Lev Tov, a good heart. Lev is 32 and Tov is 17, a good heart. What does this mean? Stay with me. This is a little complex, perhaps a little deeper than we're used to thinking about. But you know, since Lagbo Amir is the festival of Kabbalah, the festival of the deeper wisdom, where the fire is lit,

10:29

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Perhaps we'll make an effort to delve a little bit into these deep ideas. With your permission, I'm not going to waste my words and waste my breath if you're interested in simple practicalities. So give me a confirmation. Give me a yes if you're prepared to make the effort to go a little bit deeper. Okay, I've got a few takers at least. A few hesitant takers, I think. One person says 110%. Okay, okay. For those of you...

11:01

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

who were 110 percenters. Let's try to do that. Let's try to go a little bit beneath the surface. What is 32 and 17? What is the meaning of this? Let's ask a few questions about the Omer. Stay with me carefully. Here's a few questions. First question. What is the meaning of 32 and 17? What is that? What is Lev Tov? Why do we break it at that point?

11:26

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Why is the Omer broken into two phases? 32 in one phase and 17 in another. Completely different. You know, the essential idea of the Omer is 32 days of sadness and mourning, and then the mourning is over. Yes, according to the great Arizal, many people, he himself, the Kabbalistic master, he used to count all the days. He wouldn't have a haircut, for example, or celebrate. By the way, even according to the Arizal, even according to the opinion,

11:55

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

that avoids haircuts and the prohibitions, that observes the counting of the Omer for all 49 days. Even according to them, the 33rd day, Lagma Omer is a day of celebration. There are some who don't have weddings on that day, but most do. So that even if you count all the days of sadness, there's something special about the 33rd. And the most prevalent custom is to observe 33 days.

12:19

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

32 days and a 33rd day, whether it's the first 33, whether it's from Rosh Chodesh till three days before Shabbat, however you count it. But it's 32, the 33rd the fire is lit, and then the 17 are days of goodness. What does that mean? Why 32 tense days, fraught with mourning and difficulty, and then 17 days where the fire is lit, and it's a time of moving positively towards the joy of Torah? What is this division? Next question. The historical answer.

12:49

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

to this question, which only raises a much more difficult question. The historical answer is, the reason we mourn for 32 days is because for the first 32 days of the Omer, Rabbi Akiva's students died.

13:01

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

24,000 students, 12,000 pairs of students who could have illuminated the world, did illuminate the world. They were His Torah going forward. Rabbi Akiva was the Grand Master of Torah Shabal Pah, the Oral Law. He was the Moses, if you like, of the Oral Law. Moshe Rabbeinu gives us the Written Law. Rabbi Akiva gives us the Oral Law. As the Gemma says, It all goes according to Him. He is the Moses of the Oral Law. Just like Moshe Rabbeinu lived 120 years, he lived 120.

13:30

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Moshe comes from the inside. He comes from the outside. He's a descendant of converts. Moshe comes from Yaakov. He's descended from Esav. Exact parallel. He's the great hunter, which is what the oral law is. There's a lot to say here. But Rebbe Kiv had 24,000 students who carried his legacy forward. And tragically they died. He had a stall all over again. Took five students in his old age. Amazing lesson in that, by the way. Amazing lesson. The luminary of the generation.

14:01

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

ignites 24,000 students who must have been cosmic in their greatness. They die. In 32-day period, some sort of an epidemic, plague, some sort of pandemic, epidemic, they died. And amazingly, he re-establishes Torah through five students, and the Torah we have today is not from the 24,000, it's from those five. Yes, it's true, the 24 were reincarnations of the 24,000 who died in the desert. That's true. But nevertheless, that was the tragedy.

14:30

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The question is, why did they die? You know, the wrong view is that Judaism celebrates history. That's the wrong view. On the contrary, the correct view is that history celebrates Judaism. The non-Jewish world thinks an event happened, so we celebrate it. There was a tragedy, 32 days, they died. Then they stopped dying, the tragedy was over. We can relax and celebrate. That's completely wrong. The event is not the reason that we observe this. The reason that the event happened is because

15:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

observe. There's a meaning to those 32 days, and that's why they died then. It's very important to know that. The secular view is, 32 days, that's when the epidemic took place, that's when they suffered the plague and they died. So why do we celebrate, why do we count 32 days? To commemorate that. Why was it 32 days? It just happened. There's a meaning to the 32 days. Lamed Beis, the Leif, the Heart, Lamed Bet, the Heart. And then there's 17, that is,

15:27

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

It's exactly then that they died. That had to be the way. What does that mean? Next question, the difficult question. The historical reason, when you look in our sources, the reason we celebrate on the 33rd day of the Omer is because that's when the students of Rebbe Kiva stopped dying. Stay with me, please, because this is a very hard question. The students of Rebbe Kiva, 24,000 students, died over that period of time. And on the 32nd day, that's when they,

16:04

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

finished dying. What kind of reason is it to celebrate? You know why they stopped dying? Because they were all dead. What sort of celebration is that? Again, let's get this clear. It's not like he had a million students and they were dying and dying and dying and eventually the plague stopped and the others were saved. That's a reason to celebrate. A grim celebration, but that's not the way it was. He had 24,000 students. They all died in 32 days.

16:29

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

When they all finish dying, that's a time to celebrate. Why? You know why they stopped dying? Because there was no one left. That's a reason for ultimate mourning. When you find it, you get to that point. 32 days have gone by and there's no more people dying because they've all died. That's a time for the most intense mourning. No, we start celebrating. We light the fires. We dance around the bonfire. That day of great celebration, weddings and... What is going on? That sounds completely perverse.

16:58

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And in case you think it's a mistake, what other historical event is celebrated on Lagba Omer? What's the classical historical event that everyone knows or should know that happened on Lagba Omer? You tell me, please. You tell me. The death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the great Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, revealer of the mystical wisdom of the Zohar, he died on that day. That's a reason to celebrate? Again, what is this? We're talking about a death?

17:29

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Right? And that's worth celebrating. 24,000 deaths. And they come to an end. We celebrate the fact that they've come to an end? Because no one left. And that day we go to his grave and we have a major celebration. What is this? Somebody's born, we should have a celebration. Not when they die. This is very mysterious. Very, very mysterious. So let me try...

17:57

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Let me try. See, I'm getting objections, people arguing with me. He did die that day. He didn't die that day. We're delving for the ideas here. We want to reach beneath the surface. Stay with me, please. We're not looking to argue. We're looking to develop new ears, new ears, new ears. If all you want to do is argue, I'm sure there are better things you can do. By the way, we have no source that he died that day. We have no source for anything about leg bomber.

18:26

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

No source for anything. You know, the Hassan Sofa says he did not move to Israel because he didn't want to go to a country where he would have to ignore a custom that everybody does because he doesn't agree with it. There's no source for this at all, he says. No source for Lugboman. Everybody goes to Meron and they have this big celebration. He'd feel very awkward being in a country going against the custom and he couldn't join it either because there's no source for this. Hassan Sofa, yes, he talks about it. He talks about other events that happen on this day, makes calculations.

18:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

But there's no source for any of this. Very, very interesting. What is this thing that we celebrate in Jewish history that has no official source? It's not a festival that is registered. And yet we do it. And when you go into the reason we do it, all the students at Rebbe Kiv have died. And they had all died. Shimon Bar Yochai dies on this day. I think you can see the peculiarity here. Let's try to analyze. What is the meaning of 32?

19:26

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

and 17. Lave, Laman base. So I'd like to suggest to you, let me save the idea if I can, and then spend some time working hard to try to dissect it. This is going to be difficult, and the best we can hope to achieve together is a rough pointing out of some markers along the way, and then each one has to put it together in their own consciousness, let's say. It cannot be spoken out fully.

19:56

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

So the words will be clumsy, I must warn you, I apologize.

20:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

I'll do my best. Let me say the idea first, and then I'll try to explain it. The first level is inner work. The 32 is work that is within. That's the lev, the heart. Once the heart has been built, once the heart is correct, then there's just a question of revealing. That's the goodness. Lev, tov. First something must be built in the heart. 32 is the inner dimension of construction. We'll try and explain why. Once the heart is built,

20:30

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Then it's a question only of giving it careful revelation on the outside. You know, let's go one step beyond this. When a tree, let's take a tree as an example. The tree forms a seed. That's critical. That's critical. The eternal existence of this tree will depend on the seed being constructed in a correct and viable fashion. The tree will do whatever it has to. Absorb its nutrients, go through its oral metabolism until the seed is constructed.

20:57

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Once the seed is on the tree, constructed perfectly, with all its heritable material constructed correctly, that's a moment of great celebration. Nothing's happened yet. The seed hasn't fallen off the tree and germinated, and even that will be a sad process. It will detach from the parent with no source of life, fall into the earth, begin to disintegrate and decompose.

21:20

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

But once the seed has been built correctly, that's when new life will begin to take place. There are two stages in formation of another tree from a parent tree. There's the phase of formation of the seed, which is absolutely critical. If something goes wrong there with the genetics, with the heritability, it could spell the end of that line. Once the seed has been constructed, even though you see nothing, you see a tiny, meaningless, undefined, undifferentiated seed. But that's a moment of great spiritual rejoicing.

21:49

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Because all that has to happen is the seed has to have an opportunity to reveal itself. It needs to fall off the tree, be buried in the earth, receive its moisture, and then, but whatever was built into it, as its inheritance, will be revealed. If what's built in as a source of revelation, the source of inheritance, today we call it genetics, if that's gone wrong, the process is a disaster. You don't see it yet, but it will be a disaster when it reveals itself. But if that's been carefully built,

22:18

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

if the heart is built correctly, if you're inwardly constructed, if you're healthy inwardly, you're a well-adjusted, healthy individual inwardly, then it's only a question of revealing it appropriately. But again, if the inner work has not been done, if there's a fracture inwardly, the process will be completely fractured. What comes out will be distorted. And if what comes out is good, it's dishonest. There's inner work and then revelation. The inner work is secret and hidden, but it's critical.

22:50

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That's the genetic material, that's the seed. And then it can come out. Let's talk about that. Again, we're building the idea slowly, one piece at a time. The inner work. The inner work is hidden. The first 32 days of the Omi, which is the inner work, 32 is kavod in Hebrew. Kavod. Kavod is 32. Khafbeis, Vavdalet. 22 and 10. Why 22 and 10? We'll have to explain. Kavod means dignity. Honor. Dignity.

23:23

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Dignity is always an inner quality, which is minimally revealed. There's a quality of the inside, and it needs to be revealed. The quality of dignity, which we call kavod, dignity, honor, probably the English word dignity, comes as close as we can to doing justice to this term, kavod. By the way, this phase that we're going through now, this concept of kavod, has got nothing to do, nothing to do.

23:52

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

with COVID. If anybody dares type me that word, or suggest that these two are going together, I'll see deep shades of red. Nothing to do with that. And I'm only saying this because one needs a very careful correlation between superficiality and meaning. You want to use these things as placeholders, as suggestions? Fine. But not to take them too seriously. Kavod. The inner aspect.

24:31

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Dignity is always deep inner essence, full integrity, carefully revealed. Let's try to grasp that idea. When a person is internally constructed, deep, with full integrity, and there's no revelation at all, that's not kavod, that's just secrecy. And if everything that is internal is revealed, that's not dignity either. That is brash, it is ego, it is cheapness and superficiality.

25:00

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

when we talked about silence. One of the past weeks we talked about silence. And we explained that for everything that is revealed, there must be a silent heart that is deeper than what can be revealed. For everything that can be revealed on the outside, there must be something more that cannot be revealed. If you tell somebody all about yourself in 20 minutes, that's all you are. Detached from your root. Real dignity is having an integrated, full, rich,

25:33

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Bottomless well of constructed depth, only some of which is revealed. How much? Just enough. Just enough. Too little revealed? It's not a dignity, it's just being hidden. Too much revealed? Vulgarity. Think about it for a moment. What is dignity? It's a person. Dignity is an external revelation in the world. Dignity is always a manifestation in the world.

25:58

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Dignity is not simply an inequality. It's an inequality that's revealed appropriately. And the paradox of dignified revelation is that it's minimally revealed. It's revealed in a limited fashion. What is a dignified person? A person you see has a certain bearing and a certain self-respect that shines through, which is not overdone. If it's overdone, it's vulgarity. Again, it's very clumsy to put this into words, and there's no measure for this, but you know it when you see it. Kavod.

26:32

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

which is the inner work of the heart, is always a balance between two opposite characteristics, the hidden and the revealed. Or in Kabbalistic terms, the left hand and the right hand. The right hand is the inner essence. The left hand is the organized, limited construction, the rules and the borderlines of revelation. The right hand side is the male side, infinite in its extent. The left hand side is the female. She gives it borders, defines the reality. The man is producing seed by the billion.

27:01

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

All hopelessly beyond what can be revealed. But potent beyond measure. The female is giving it limited revelation. She brings into birth just one child. All the billions that could have been are sacrificed. Nekevai in Hebrew means to make specific. To limit. To give borders. The ones who are fixed by name. To give a boundary. Kavot, dignity. Which defines who you are in the world. Not your inner being. That's another quality.

27:33

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And not your outer revelation. That's another quality. But how much of the inner is revealed on the outside is your dignity? And it's a very subtle and sensitive thing. I'm not talking about rights and left brain, Howard. I'm talking about something much more fundamental. I mentioned poetry. There's a Nobel Prize winning Jewish poet who wrote a song called Dignity. Worth looking at the lyrics. Maybe they'll sensitize. Maybe they have the capacity to sensitize you.

28:16

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

to some of the tragedy of lack of dignity in our world. Look up the lyrics. It's called Dignity. You can listen to the song. It's like, wow, man, you can hear music. Good song. Different versions, by the way. Bootleg versions. Unreleased versions. It's worth going through them. But let's get back to the essence. How does this work in terms of 32 and 17? 32 is always the building. Yeah, Daniel, that's him. That's him.

28:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Worth reading those lyrics. Worth the Nobel Prize. But let's go through this. 32 is always the inner work. Why 32? Let's have a quick attempt to understand that. You know, I'm sure, that the world is built in seven layers. Seven times seven, of course. Each of the seven has seven components, of course. If every element in the world, if the world is built of seven elements, then obviously every element must have seven elements.

29:25

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And of course that refraction continues. So we count them. By the way, that's why we count the weeks and the days. Not just count the days, 49 days. We're also counting weeks. That's another layer of reality. So how do we do this? So the weeks go like this. Each week has a meaning. Without laboring the details. The first week is called Chesed. Chesed means kindness. It's the right hand. The outflow of all movement. Unlimited, like we said. The male quality. That's called Chesed.

30:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That's called Chesed. That's the right-hand side. The second week is called Din, or Gvore. That's the left-hand side. That is a set of limitations. The right-hand side is Avraham, whose ultimate kindness in the world begins the whole process. It's always a beginning. The derivative quality is the left-hand side. That's Yitzchak, the one who gives boundaries and borders. What's the most famous incident in Yitzchak's life? Akebist Yitzchak. Being bound. That's the quality of Din. It's the tying in, the locking in, the holding in.

30:29

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

We don't refer to the sacrifice of Isaac. We refer to the binding. That's the essence of the left-hand side. Of course, it's subservient to the right. One's a father, one's a son. But those are two opposite qualities in the world. They cannot coexist. Complete paradoxical opposites. One is unlimited giving, and one is total limitation. So you need a third. The third quality, which the first two give rise to, that's the grandchild. That's called Tiferis, that's Yaakov, that's in the center. There's the right pulling one way, extreme.

30:59

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Extreme expression. Extreme flow. Potency. There's the left which gives it borders and boundaries. That's the female. How do these two come together? The harmonizing element in the middle. That's called Tiferis. The harmonizing element is the one that binds the two together, giving exact expression. Necessary. When the rain falls, that's a Chesed. That's an outflow of life and bounty. But if it keeps falling, it's a flood. It destroys just as much as if there's no rain.

31:28

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

So you need the limitations. It's a derivative quality. It's a quality that is necessary to bound the chesed. It bounds it and stops the rain. But if it stops too soon, things die as well. If it stops too late, it's a flood. So hear this well. When does the discipline step in? How much boundaries does it give the infinite energy? Exactly the right amount. That's called Tiferis. That's the balance point in the middle. Just enough expression, just enough withholding.

31:58

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

When you raise a child, how much should you say yes and how much should you say no? If you say yes to the child and give him 13 helpings of ice cream, you harm him just as much as giving him none. So if you give him too much, that's unhealthy. Bad parenting, very unhealthy. If you give him none, that's starvation, that's pure cruelty. How much does he need? That's a question of balance. Just the right amount. Where the limitation is put on the bounty so that the bounty remains a bounty. When you say no to a child, that's an act of love because you're limiting it at exactly the right moment.

32:29

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

So that is fully expressed love in exactly the right vessel. That's the third. Now, stay with me. What are the fourth and fifth? What are the fourth and fifth? Once you've built the three, which is the central level of the being, that's in the chest. Chest is heart and lungs, moment-to-moment existence. That's who I am. That's the heartbeat and the breathing. That's my immediate existence. Then we move below the diaphragm.

33:01

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

We move from the world of existence into the world of reproduction. Below the diaphragm is the dimension that takes me into the future. Heart and lungs is where I live now. Below the diaphragm, digestion, reproduction, that which takes me into tomorrow. Eating, the food goes in. In the heart and lungs, it's minute to minute. Heartbeat, minute to minute. Stops for a few seconds, you're in trouble. Breathing, stops for a few seconds, you're in trouble.

33:25

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Below the diaphragm, long term. Digestion takes me from today into tomorrow. Reproduction takes me from this generation to the next. Internally, it's organs of reproduction. Externally, it's the legs. The legs take me from one place to the next. Children take you from one dimension to the next. That's why in Torah terminology, children are called legs. The son is the foot of his father. The baby is the thigh of the mother. So here comes the secret. One, the right hand side. Essential giving.

33:56

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Two, the left-hand side limitation. Three, the harmony between the two of them. Four, the right-hand side below the diaphragm. The outpouring that begins to form the seed, where the essence of the parent, all three of them, is absorbed into a seed. What is the fourth dimension called in Kabbalah? Chesed, Gvoret, Tiferis. Right kidney is called... No, you tell me, please. What is the seed of eternity?

34:21

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The seed that will carry the parent into the future, which will have his own seeds, which will make a new generation, which will make netzach. Netzach. Why is the right kidney called netzach? Netzach has many meanings, but one of the meanings is eternity. What is a seed? It's a compressed essence of eternity. A seed is an amazing thing. It contains the total memory of what was before, enough to reproduce it so it happens again, with the ability to make it happen again.

34:49

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

When you hold a seed, you understand this, when you hold a little acorn in your head. Think of this acorn, it's a seed. You're holding an explosion of eternity in your head. That little seed has a whole...

35:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

tree locked into it. But not just a tree, a tree that has acorns, which can make other trees, which can keep going to eternity. It's an unbelievable thing. The biologists have made us so dull. The evolutionists have made us so unthinking, so dull. Circumstance happened, accident of a few thousand years. Talking about potential of infinity. But that's only the beginning of the seed.

35:25

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That's where the seed begins to be formed, but it must come to limitation. It must be given its limited boundary so that it's a finite seed. That's called hod. That's the left-hand side, the left kidney. Stay with me carefully. We've got five steps. I'm not going to go into the full seven, but let's go into the five steps. The first step, essential giving. The second, giving it form. The third, harmonizing those two. Now you've got the essence, but it will die. It needs a continuity. Where's the time dimension? Where will this essence?

35:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

move to. What will ensure the continuation of the heartbeat and the breathing? Netzach. Where a seed is formed, seed is the secret of continuity. That's called Netzach. But that's only the beginning of a seed. The seed must be fully formed, have its own limitation, have its skin and its boundary and its finite size. That's called Hod. That's the left-hand side, which of course means glory. Glory. Beginning of building of dignity here. Because the thing is now ready to be revealed. And that's the secret.

36:22

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Listen well to this. The fifth week of the Omer. The fifth day of the fifth week of the Omer. Lagba Omer. Fifth day of the fifth week. First week, building the essence. Second week, giving it form and limitation. Third week, Tiferis, getting that harmony right. Now we have the essence of the thing. Will it live? Fourth week, Netzach. Right? That was last week. Fourth week, Netzach. Moves into the dimension of the future eternity. But it has to be formed as a seed. The fifth day of the fifth week.

36:53

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The fifth week is the week in which Hod is formed, where the seed comes to fulfillment. And which day is the critical day of that week? The fifth day. Hod of Hod. Lagbomer. Lagbomer is the seed is fully formed. It's a seed. It's internal. No one's seen it yet. But the fire can be lit now. Once the heart has been built, once the heart is right, now the problem is only how to reveal it. Will you find the right person to give your heart to? Will you be able to give it to them correctly? Will they draw out of you? Will you resonate with them so that the heart can be revealed correctly?

37:23

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Daniel, will you find the right violin to play it on? Once you've made that composition, you've heard it in the mind's ear. Will you find that Ray Stradivarius to play it on? Will you find the right hands, the right instrument? That's a problem, but it's formed. It's inside. Yekheel, I'm glad you enjoyed this. I'm glad you enjoyed this, Yekheel. Makes it worth it. So the inner dimension...

37:51

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The inner dimension, the fifth day of the fifth week, is a tremendous celebration. Tremendous celebration. The tense time is over now. The deaths have ended. If Shimon Bar Yochai can leave the world, he's revealed the inner wisdom. What does Rav Shimon Bar Yochai bring to the world? He brings the inner wisdom to the world. Bar Yochai. He brings the Kabbalistic wisdom. That's the inner wisdom of Torah. Now it's a question of revealing it in the external dimensions of Torah. The external dimensions of Halakha, external Ashkafe.

38:21

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Mitzvahs, which will apply themselves in the practical world. But it's just a problem of translation into action. Again, again, the first thing you need in a person who will be your life partner, your devoted friend, or you yourself, is a good heart. The heart, the inner dimension needs to be pure and with total integrity. No fractures and no dissonance. Once that's happened, the fire can be lit. Now it's a question of the fire burning and revealing itself, making light in the world. That's called Tov. It has to happen in a good way.

38:53

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

So Lag Ba Amr, the 33rd day, the first 32 are the critical days, and that's why 32 is always the border. 32 is always the border between what's inside, in true essence, and what can begin to be revealed on the outside. You've reached Hod Sheba Hod. You've reached that moment when the seed is fully formed. Now you need good soil. You'll have to detach from the parent, get water in good soil, and grow to reveal itself fully. There's tense moments there too, but the work has been done.

39:21

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Let's take a few examples of 32 to illustrate this. Can you see where kavod comes from? Kavod means the inner dimension has been built fully. You cannot be a dignified individual unless there's total integrity inwardly. Either you're not showing anything or you're lying. Real dignity is a person who has an immense amount to reveal and reveals only as much as is necessary in the world. But what is being revealed, everything that he said is a revelation of essence. Dignified speech, dignified conduct in the world, dignified bearing in the world.

39:54

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

is a revelation of a genuine content, genuine content.

40:00

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

If a person has content and no revelation in the world, there's no dignity. And if a person has no content and reveals dignity in the world. There was a great songwriter, another songwriter, another songwriter, still around these days. He wrote a song which is a parody of false dignity. How did he put it? He said, I think you're so fine the way you dress, but a monkey in silk is a monkey no less. Very interesting, interesting. A songwriter with a very interesting story.

40:43

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Very interesting story. Sugar man. Anyway, that's for those of you who can only think in pop terms. You think you're so fine the way you dress, but a monkey in silk is a monkey no less. No dignity, unless there's genuine inner content. So let's take a look at some 32s to get this clear. 32 teeth. Dr. Avram, you in LA, in the morning.

41:14

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Afternoon, just wherever you're holding at the moment. Why their 32 teeth? Teeth is the junctional zone between outside and inside. Halakhically, an injury external to the teeth, not life-threatening. You don't break Shabbat for that. Any injury from the teeth in, internal injury, potentially life-threatening. Why 32 teeth? Why do 32 teeth emerge only when you have wisdom? They call them wisdom teeth. Where did that come from, if not from a Kabbalistic depth? Where did they get that from?

41:40

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Because then wisdom comes in gradually. What's called the moichin are coming in, the heads coming in. 32. The leif, the heart is 32. 32 is always. Take an aleph. Aleph is the conjunction between spiritual and physical worlds. What is an aleph? It's a first letter.

41:58

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The first letter of the alphabet means where the spiritual wisdom comes down unexpressed. The first letter that begins to give expression, of course it's silent. The first letter hasn't made a noise yet. It's only the connection between the silent and the revealed. Exactly the point of dignity. What is an Aleph? Let's understand. It's so important to understand these things. What is an Aleph? An Aleph is the root of revelation in the world. It's a letter, but it's silent. From then on the letters will be spoken. Even an Ayin is a guttural letter. There's only one silent letter. That's Aleph.

42:27

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

So Aleph is the point of conjunction between the unrevealed and the revealed. Before the Aleph is silent, nothing revealed. After the Aleph is heard. The Aleph is the letter that puts silence together with sound. It's a letter, can be seen and revealed in the world, but does not make a sound yet. It's the point of conjunction. Aleph is the same word as Pele. The same letters as Pele. Miraculous conjunction of opposites. Maflila says, you do amazingly that you put a soul which is infinite in a body that is finite.

42:55

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And what is an Aleph? Two Yuds and a Vav. Two Yuds and a Vav. Look at an Aleph. There's a Yud, the ten spiritual emanations coming down from the higher world, reflected as they always are in this world. That's two tens, joined by the letter Vav, which is six, which is 26, which is Hashem's name. But, if you spell it out fully, it's two tens and two Vavs. Because in Hebrew, Vav is Vav. Two Vavs, that's how you spell Vav. Thirty-two.

43:24

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Two tens and two sixes. 32. The Aleph is 32. It's the root of revelation in the world. The Sefi Yetzirah says these 32 things are called the Lamas Beis Nesivas Pleas Chachma. The 32 incredible pathways of wisdom on which the world is built. What are these 32 pathways of wisdom? Kavot Chach Beis. What does it? 22 and 10. What are the 22 and 10? The 10 mystical emanations, right? As we said, the three.

43:53

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

the three below, the three in the head, the crown, the final one, which is the totality, the ten qualities, the ten, the Eitzchayim, as it's called, the life of, the tree of life of its ten, and how many lines join those ten points? Twenty-two. Twenty-two lines that join them. Look at one of the, look up the diagram, all right? Do I have one here to show you? Maybe I do. Maybe I do. Maybe I can show you.

44:29

S… Speaker 3 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

This is a diagram I must thank Rabbi Hirsch found for me once in an old edition. The Toaster's Yontif, very, very amazing. And he managed to nab it for me. Here you see, there's a diagram of the 10. This is the Toaster's Yontif diagram of the 10 spheres. You see the 10 spheres. And you see the 22 lines that join them. Each line is a different letter of the Aleph base. Someone took the trouble to print this out nicely in modern...

45:04

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Modern print, very nice and clear. On this diagram, the letters have not been filled in. Can you see me? Something happened to my computer. Wow, you see it. Somebody didn't want me to show this to you, but I'm going to do it anyway. You see the ten points? Twenty-two letters. Three mother letters. Aleph.

45:25

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Mem, and Shin. Three mother letters. Okay? Then you see the verticals and the diagonals. Namely, seven and twelve. Right? Seven and twelve. Those are the twenty-two letters. Seven doubled letters, which in Hebrew we call Beget Kaporet. Right? The letters that have two forms in Hebrew. Soft and hard. With and without a dot. Twelve Shutes. The twelve simple letters. Seven and twelve. And three. The three mother letters. Aleph, Mem, and Shin. This is another time to go into them fully.

45:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

But each letter in Hebrew is a connection between spirits. Aleph, for example, when the male, ultimate male chesed, gives to the ultimate female chesed, female din, that's an aleph. Every letter in Hebrew is a chemical element when you take a Hebrew word. Not a convention like in other languages. A, B, C, D. What does that mean? In Hebrew, aleph based gimel.

46:15

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

When you take a letter in Hebrew, you're looking at an energy, a chemical relationship between two elements, and when they get together, they form a compound, which is different, deeply different than the elements, something greater than the sum of the parts. So every letter in Hebrew is a conjunction between spheres, and those are the 32 elements that build the world, all in the Aleph, the two tens joined by the...

46:40

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Two vavs. Vav in Hebrew means conjunction, means and. In Hebrew, vav with two vavs means a hook, something that joins. The conjunction between the higher and the lower worlds, how does it take place? The ten spheres that build the spiritual world, with the 22 letters that link them all together, each letter. Yes, understand. The ten points in the world are anatomy.

47:03

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The 22 letters of physiology, the working of those parts of the body together, how they interact, and that gives you the 32 pathways of wisdom on which the entire world is built. So that's the lev. When the first 32 days of the Omer have gone by, all the elements are there. Hasn't been revealed yet. Hasn't been revealed. But the kavod has been built. Why did the Talmudim, why did the students of Rebbe Kiva die in these days? Because they did not give enough? Why did they not give enough to each other? Enough kavod.

47:36

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That's the critical work of these 32 days. Building the inner content. These were the foundational elements, these 24,000 students. They were the foundational elements of the oral law. Their work was to build kavod in the world. To build genuine inner content of Torah. And they failed at the level, at their level, their supernal level. The work of these 32 days, 32 kavod, is to build the heart.

48:03

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

of the world that will be revealed externally, the heart of Torah, which we are marching towards. And therefore, and therefore, on that day when this all comes to fruition, when the inner world is built, or needs to be built perfectly, and they fail to give, to achieve the work of these days, which is Kabur, then their lives will forfeit, right? What's the happiness? What's the happiness? Is when that phase is over,

48:31

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Reb Shimon Bar Yochai can die that day. His work in the world is to reveal the deeper meaning in the world. Reb Kivas Talmidim is also to reveal Torah Shabalpeh, the inner workings. Bar Shimon Bar Yochai, his work is to reveal the Zohar, which is the inner depth, the Kabbalistic and spiritual depth, the heart of Torah. Now it's up to us to reveal it in the external world. What does the word Zohar mean, by the way? Where's my Bogan family? What does Zohar mean? What does Zohar mean? The word Zohar means?

49:03

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Glowing light. That's right. That's what it means. The Zohar is the opportunity, the place, in which the light has been ignited, can now be revealed in the world. And this is the work of the sphere of the counting of the whole moon. And so, let's look at some of the questions we asked. This is the construction of a human being.

49:28

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

You are in the world to reveal your COVID. You're in the world to reveal your dignity in the world. How do you do that? By building incredible inner content and revealing only as much as is appropriate. How much should you reveal in a relationship? As much as necessary. Much as necessary. Too little, there's no relationship. Too much, vulgar. Vulgarity. How much of the body needs to be revealed? As much as shows its dignity. Less than that, it is covered up. Not showing who you are. There's no elegance in that.

49:57

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And revealing everything is ultimate vulgarity.

50:00

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

What is dignity? It's revealing the right amount. Dignity doesn't mean revealing nothing. That's not dignified. That's just hiding. But it's exactly the right amount. Garments are dignity. Why are garments, why are clothing the dignity of a person? Rabbi Yechonan used to call his garments his dignity. Because my garments are my dignity. Because the clothing is the vessel. That which reveals you. How does the garment reveal you in a dignified fashion? By covering you, and yet by revealing you.

50:35

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

I'm glad you see that, Elliot. I'm glad you see the connection with what we said a few weeks ago. I said that. We spoke about silence. And this is the revelation of that. I'm glad you see the connection. A king's garments. What do they do? The royal robe of the king hides the king. It covers him, but it shows you that he's a king. That's the dignity of the king. If the king is appearing in a completely enclosed sack, that's not the dignity of royalty. If the king appears naked, that's a terrible vulgarity and a great humiliation.

51:06

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

The clothes are essential. They're not artificial external layer. They are in an ideal world. In the original world, the skin was enough of a clothing. Adam and Eve were revealed, their bodies were revealed, and it was the ultimate dignity. There was no shame. There was no shame. However, after a fallen world, we need a thicker vessel. Now we have the clothing. This is the depth of the mitzvah of sneers, what we call sneers, modesty, which comes to the fore in a woman's world.

51:38

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Because woman is the locus of beauty. Too little revealed is not elegance or dignity. It's just nothing. Too much revealed is ultimate vulgarity. There needs to be a certain amount of revelation in certain situations. Each situation and circumstance calls forth a different amount of revelation. That's dignity. That is the... There was a classic English work written on this for those of you who have a literary interest. Those who have a literary interest.

52:06

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

There's an old book by Thomas Carlyle, we're going back a long time, that's called Sartor Risartis. Sartor Risartis. A Latin name. What is a sartor? Who speaks Latin? What's sartor? No, tell me please. Sartor is? What is sartorial elegance? No, you Englishman. What is sartorial elegance? Taylor. Indeed, indeed. And that's an American giving you the word. You should be ashamed, an American has to teach you Latin.

52:37

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Sartor is a tailor. Sartor resartus means the tailor redressed. There's a copy somewhere. Maybe I can show it to you. Maybe I can show you a copy. Here's an old copy. Thomas Carlyle. Sartor resartus. Those of you who studied anatomy will know. Those of you who studied anatomy will know that the muscle, there's a muscle in the leg. This muscle here. Muscle that runs down the inner side of the thigh. What muscle is that? That's called the sartorius muscle.

53:15

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Dr. Avram, you're a dentist. You never studied this stuff. You don't need this. That's called the sartorius muscle. Why? Tailor's muscle. It's the muscle that enables you to cross your legs. The old tailors are to sit on their desk with their legs crossed. So that's the sartorius muscle. It's a place to understand Latin. Anyway, the emperor's clothes, Judy. Well put. Indeed, indeed, the emperor's clothes. I'll show you that he's the emperor.

53:41

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

A woman's elegance is when she's presented correctly. That's a beauty. That's a real dignity and a beauty. A woman's beauty doesn't mean she hides herself completely. Some women think that sneers means making themselves look ugly. Some ladies think that real sneers is when you make yourself look like something the cat dragged in. That's religious. That's not religious. That's ugly. Sneers means revealing correctly. Who's the poet who wrote the poem Dignity? He was a recent Nobel Prize winner, Ben.

54:13

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

If you don't know, I'm not telling you. And who is the poet who wrote the song about... Who is the songwriter who wrote the song about being dressed in silk? Also, you don't. If you don't know, you don't need to know. But those who are into rock music will know. Be that as it may. So, Jonathan Zohar means light. So here is the red string. Yes, yes, indeed. Indeed, that's true as well.

54:45

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Indeed, indeed. Yes, Paul, yes, yes, yes, I know you. I know why you know that. Okay, so what have we studied in this session? We see that the counting of the Omer is the construction from the animal to the human.

55:00

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Pesach is the animal level. The offering is barley. The barley food is given to animals. Shuis is the two fine, refined flour breads that are frozen offering. That's human food. On the journey from animal to human, from the child to the adult, the birth, conception in Egypt, the birth at the splitting of the sea, the waters breaking in birth, the Jewish people born at the sea, is a progression from childhood to adulthood, where the moichin come in.

55:27

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

And how did the Mohan come in? The wisdom that knows that most important first is to build an inner reality. The heart must be right. The heart pumping the lifeblood must be correct. Total inner integrity. Complete self-sufficiency. The first thing you notice about Torah personalities, that the whole self-contained, inner constructed world, you get the feeling when you're speaking to them, you're just bothering them. Just interrupting them.

55:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

No such thing as boredom. There's a fully constructed inner world. They're living with Hashem. They're living with Torah. Rich inner world. Then there's a problem of expression. Then there's the problem of expression. The great composers could hear it perfectly in their minds. Perfectly. Then there's the expression. Can the fingers play it? Can the instrument reflect it? That's another problem. Which instrument? What arrangement? How best to give it expression? Which is the right woman for the right man? How does she form that child?

56:26

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That's a separate issue. That's in the next 17 days. That's called Tov. Lev Tov. That's the process of the Amen. First of all, the Lev needs to be built, the 32, going past the junction into the inner world. The Lev, the 32 elements, the 10 and 22 connections between them. We live in a world that only values external revelation. Who cares about what's inside? Not important. We live in a world...

56:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

of total vulgarity. All that they care about is external revelation. The more, the better. The more words, the more of the body, the more that's shown on the outside, the better. Howard, I would like to correct you. I think Greek culture in ideal, the ideal of Greek culture was a beautiful mind and a beautiful body. Howard, at a very deep level, what Greece taught, what they were reaching for, was a beautiful mind and a beautiful body. The correct philosophy in the mind and the beauty of the body.

57:22

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Yes, it's true. Compared to us, it's all external. Because the Greeks never went far enough in the internal world. They only went into the internal world as far as the human mind can reach. You're right about that. But at least at one level, today you don't have a beautiful mind and a beautiful body. Who needs a beautiful mind today? As long as the body is beautiful, as long as the externality is beautiful. That's ultimate ugliness. When the body is revealed and it has nothing, when there's outer speech with nothing to reveal, where the words are meaningless. And all that counts is the sound of the words.

57:52

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Real beauty in the world and real dignity in the world is totally constructed inner content, perfectly revealed in the world. The world can never reveal all that there is. And that is the work of achieving Kavod. Let me leave you with one final thought. One final thought. You're asking me, Selin, I don't know what your question means, I'm afraid. I don't understand your question. Mensa and corpora sana, yes, indeed, indeed. I'm glad to hear another Latin expression. Paul.

58:24

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Discrepancy in the dignity of the righteous and the one who does neither believe nor fear. I don't understand what that question means, I'm sorry. But I'll leave you with a thought that might answer it. Perhaps this is what you're trying to say. The correct mode of expression, the mode of being and expression in the world is the correct soul with correct revelation. And what's the purpose of doing that? It's to reveal Kvachamayim, Hashem's glory in the world. That His content should be revealed correctly in the world.

58:54

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That's what you're here for, is to become a perfect reflection for that. That's what we say. What are we waiting for the time when Hashem is revealed? That's what He is. What are we praying when we say, Hashem, we want you to reveal yourself? Hashem revealed Himself in Egypt. In His glory and in His essence. What is that? Poetry? No.

59:21

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

That what He is, is revealed appropriately in the world. That you see Him in the world. Through the world you see Him. That's your work in the world, is Kvot Shomayim. How do you reveal Kvot Shomayim in the world? By your own dignity. 12 Yatsar Kavad Lishma. Beautiful, Orion. Exactly. Your work in the world is to become a vehicle for Kvot Shomayim. Somebody looking at you, you look at a great Torah personality, you see an endless world of Torah depth. An unbelievable, beautiful reflection in the world.

59:50

S… Speaker 2 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Chairman, thank you very much for this opportunity. We only scratched the surface, but at least we began. We looked at the inner depth and a little bit of its...

1:00:01

S… Speaker 1 (Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020)

Outer revelation, Lagbo Amir, the time of celebration of the Kabbalistic wisdom, the inner wisdom of Torah, that can light the fire, the secret fire. And the rest is a revelation on the outside, giving authentic expression to a genuine inner depth. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful Lagbo Amir.

Lag BaOmer Day of Dignity May 11, 2020

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