Simple Light by Karen Berg

There is a story about a great kabbalist named the Baal Shem Tov. Each time he walked into the place of prayer, he’d go over to a group of people there and greet them with a special greeting, one that was used to address someone who had been away for three or more days.

After weeks and weeks of hearing this unique salutation, one of the men asked, “Teacher, I haven’t left the city. I see you every day. Why is it that every time you see me, you always greet me like this?”

There is a kabbalist named the Ben Ish Chai who said that our purpose is not only to correct our negativity, but also to check our positive attributes and make sure we are using them for the common good. Let’s say, for example, that someone is a good salesperson; he’s good at making a profit for himself. The point for him would be perhaps to find a way to use his selling skills to explain a concept that can help others. Each and every one of us has specific strengths and talents. The question is: What are we doing with them?

Kabbalah teaches how each month of the year has a unique energy, and the influence of the month pertains to each of us regardless of our birth sign. Learn about the opportunities and challenges of the month of Taurus with this special message from Karen Berg, spiritual leader of The Kabbalah Centre.

The Bible tells us a story about a man named Naaman, the chief military officer to a king who was stricken with leprosy. Naaman was advised to go and see a prophet named Elisha who would tell him the cure. When Naaman went to meet Elisha, he was greeted not by the prophet himself, but rather by one of Elisha's messengers who told him the simple remedy: Connect to the power of water and submerge in the Jordan River.

There is a story about a man who had a son-in-law, an incredible scholar of spirituality whom people revered as a high soul and a righteous human being.

One weekend, this scholar was staying at his father-in-law’s house with his wife and little baby boy. In the middle of the night, the baby began to cry at the top of his lungs and the father-in-law rushed downstairs to be with the child. As the older man walked to the baby’s room, he passed his son-in-law who seemed completely oblivious to the infant’s wails.

There is a kabbalistic story about a righteous person who had many students. One day, one of the students came to this teacher and said, “I don’t think I can be here anymore. I have so many questions, so many things that I don’t understand. I simply can’t follow this path any longer. I want to give up.”

Calmly and simply, the kabbalist responded, “Did these questions come to you before or after you decided this wasn’t your path?”

This week, we enter the month of Aries, the first month in the astrological calendar and according to the kabbalists, a month in which we use the strong and fiery energy that is available to create miracles.

What do I mean by "miracles”?

By definition, a miracle means something that goes beyond the confines of nature. This means that if we want something in our life to change and we want things to be different, then we need to go beyond our nature.

According to the kabbalists, everything written in the Bible has a deeper spiritual meaning beyond the physical story or description. Therefore, when we read that the Creator asks Moses to direct the people to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, we are reading about the construction not only of a physical structure, but also of a metaphysical space through which we can connect with the Light.

This week, we have the holiday of Purim when we can awaken the understanding that the energy of the Light is always present in our lives, both in our darkest hour and in our brightest times. As sure as the sun rises every morning, the Light of the Creator is absolutely there for us and will be there for us until eternity. If we forget this, then we slip into a state of doubt, and when we have these doubts, we can never receive the miracles or the joy that we are looking for in our lives.

There is a story about a coup d’état that took place in small kingdom. When the soldiers came looking for the king to kill him, he fled into the city and hid in a tailor shop. Immediately recognizing his important guest, the tailor, without so much as a question, shoved him under a large pile of clothing.