In the Bible, Rosh Hashanah is referred to as the seventh month of the year. Then, the question here we are faced with is, how do we reconcile the day of the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) with its designation of occurring in the seventh month? To most of us, if not all of us, we are simply not accustomed to wishing each other happy New Year on any other day than January first. And yet the Biblical designation for the first month of the year is the Hebrew month of Nissan, or the month of Aries, not Tishrei (Libra) in which Rosh Hashanah occurs.
Furthermore, the Talmud and Zohar make it crystal clear that Rosh Hashanah includes all the people of the world. According to the Talmudand Zohar, on this first day of Tishrei, the month of Libra, the future of each individual in the entire human population will have been determined as to whether an additional year of life or part thereof, will be extended until the following year.
Let us first respond to the Biblical designation of Aries as the first month of the year. What this means kabbalistically is that the month of Aries incorporates an internal structure of Lightforce energy with which mankind can take control over the mandate given to the Satan or Murphy's Law to create confusion and devastation in the universe. The month of Nissan or Aries is the opportunity provided for mankind to remove the seed of Murphy's Law of chaos, the activity of the Desire to Receive for the Self Alone.
This is what Pesach is all about. With the software provided by the Torah and Kabbalah, all of mankind could now access the universal hardware of the Tree of Life Reality where chaos is nonexistent and is precisely the reason why Aries, or the month of Nissan, is considered the first month of the year - to attach the internal significance of its external energy force to provide a full year of life free from chaos and uncertainty. This is what time and real freedom are all about. This is why the Zohar interpreted freedom from bondage in Egypt as merely a metaphor. The entire narration concerning Egypt is a metaphor. The Torah was not concerned with the story of Egypt and the Israelites. Egypt was the seed of chaos and Murphy's Law. The entire narration concerning Egypt contained the hidden and concealed software for humankind to achieve real freedom at any future moment in time for all generations to come.
These concepts concerning the Bible and Mount Sinai had to wait until the twentieth century when, through Rav Ashlag, Kabbalah and the Zohar became accessible to humanity. Aries and Passover have become a truly meaningful experience. Once again we can take control over our lives rather than be a back seat driver led by Mr. Murphy with his army of perpetual chaos. In the month of Aries the battle over who will be in charge takes place. There is no doubt as to who has controlled the lanes of life's journey so far: Satan, with his distractions and commissions of chaos. Things have taken a turn. Kabbalah has now reached the layman.
However, Libra, or the Hebrew month of Tishrei, is the time when mankind is judged on past performance. If an individual's previous activity consists of mainly negative points, then this person is not entitled to a year of life without negativity, which comes as a direct result of that individual's actions. On the other hand, for the individual whose deeds add up on the positive side of the scales, the coming year will bring with it a life of positivity.
More importantly, if we fail to remove the presence of Murphy's Laws during the month of Aries, then the chances of positive activity will be diminished, and will probably result in the establishment, on Rosh Hashanah, of a year filled with chaos and disorder. The structure of one's year long journey, which is determined in Libra, conforms to the input of one's activity.
This scene is one of a Catch 22. The roads of mankind are strewn with the rubble of pain and suffering. There seems to be no way out of this madness. One may be financially rewarded with plenty, then the chaos of ill health or other type of chaos may set in. No man is free of this bondage. The pattern for the coming year has already been cut. The predominance of negativity is conspicuous in our society. We are influenced by the negative environment and subsequently are governed in our behavior by this prevailing influence. We become negative despite our efforts to do the right thing. There appears to be no opportunity to fight the stream of negative consciousness that has overtaken most of us.
So, on Rosh Hashanah, all of mankind will be subject to a new year of chaos, which in turn will bring about further negative actions on our part. And so on, and so on. What, if anything, is there for us to do about changing this cut of cloth? Must life forever continue as it has in the past with Satan looking on with glee and pleasure at our dilemma?
History certainly will bear witness that we have been unable to remove ourselves from this pattern, nor in any way alter the usual procedure of chaos and uncertainty. However, with the widespread distribution of kabbalistic knowledge and information, many of the misconceptions, corrupted interpretations, and half-truths about Mount Sinai and the kabbalistic holidays are coming to the surface. Slowly but surely, they are emerging for what they really are - accouterment to anesthetize our consciousness causing us to assume that we must take a leap of faith to restore the good life the Creator has promised us.
We, in this twentieth century, now have come to the realization that control over our destiny has been assigned to us. And in the event we fail to master our destiny, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We are the captains of our ship.
To achieve the outcome of our well-wishers on Rosh Hashanah, we have no choice but to become knowledgeable of the software which can ensure the coming year with the beneficence of the Lightforce, filled with certainty and order in our life's journey. No longer are we to accept the familiar expressions of our lives in terms of "lucky" or “unlucky".
We have the obligation and responsibility to make every effort to commit our consciousness to one of sharing. This task is for all people alike. Elul and Tishrei are all about pushing the software to its extreme and changing history and the direction of mankind.
Elul became associated with the constellation of Virgo by the Book of Formation authored by Abraham the Patriarch. Why did Abraham establish this connection? As I have stated repeatedly, the purpose of these designations by Abraham was intended solely for the benefit of mankind. Within the Genesis text, the Lightforce made every attempt to facilitate and enhance the lifestyle of mankind despite the evidence to the contrary.
However, the fault lies not within creation, but rather with the practitioners who have failed to avail themselves of the tools in combating the forces of chaos and disorder. When Abraham stated that the month of Elul consists of the sign of Virgo, he was providing the clues for the software which operates during this month.
Virgo is derived from the concept of virgin, signifying untouched or free from adulteration or corruption. There is a power in the month which can provide us opportunity to restore ourselves and remain free from the adulterated activity that we may have become engaged in during the past year. We have the chance to erase the past and clean our slate from the violations of the universal law and principles. In kabbalistic terminology, this is known as "back to the future."
Strangely enough, repentance is the procedure by which we can travel back in time to erase our negativity, and consequently select and establish our future free of chaos and misfortune. While much has been written concerning "back to the future," its origin and understanding remain very abstruse, if not a complete mystery. However, Kabbalah demystifies this new colloquialism by rendering a clear perspective of its implication. The Zohar, when treating the idea of repentance, examines the Hebrew DNA structure for this concept which is Teshuvah (repentance). The Zohar provides the mechanism by which repentance assumes a more significant place within our lives. The Hebrew letters which make up the word “Teshuvah,” literally meaning 'return the final Hei', is what repentance is all about, states the Zohar. The standard conventional view of "I'm sorry and will not do it again" simply distorts the underlying purpose of repentance.
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| Tetragrammaton |
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In general terms, the Zohar is referring to the final Hei of the Tetragrammaton, closely aligned with the Tree of Knowledge reality where confusion, chaos and the place where our violations and offenses occur. What the Zohar suggests is that the coming year is completely dependent upon our past performance. And if our past cassette is filled with negative consciousness activity, then we must seek out the route by which we can eliminate the negativity to ensure ourselves a healthy and happy New Year. We must return our negative state of consciousness (the final Hei where this activity takes place and is maintained) to the level of the Tree of Life reality which does not consist of flaws, chaos, confusion or negative consciousness, to return the final Hei to the Vav (the Tree of Life Reality) of the Tetragrammaton.
A wonderful New Year cannot be achieved by merely striking or pounding our hearts until we see blue. While this has been the conventional and traditional method of Teshuvah on the High Holy days, the results of this exercise have not brought about any material change in the way mankind experiences the coming of each New Year.
There is much to be desired. Neither the holidays of Libra nor the month of Elul have really achieved the results of our expectations with its service and worship. Something is seriously missing and it is not more pounding of the heart.
The never ending chaos in our lives year after year does not seem to become appreciably lessened. On the contrary, we seem to embrace more chaos than order in our lives. What the Zohar wishes to stress here concerning repentance and the resulting assurance for a better future in the coming year as opposed to the previous year, involves more than a promise that the violation will not be repeated again and remorse for it ever having taken place.
Every action, whether positive or negative, creates a comparable energy force as result of a corresponding consciousness. If our consciousness establishes something of a negative character, then it must be eliminated. Otherwise, this negative force becomes part of our future software which dictates and affects our daily lives. The insertion of violations into the routine of our lives will inevitably result in a life of pain and suffering. However, we are capable of erasing these flaws, and vaporizing their very existence so as not to leave any trace of their presence, then our future cassette will become one free from chaos and disorder.
How does one go about accomplishing this seemingly impossible feat of removing our previous negative activity? This is the power of the month of Elul. During this period, the cosmos infuses the constellation of Virgo with the ability to remove any adulterant or impurity that may have been established by violations that we commit. Hence the clue provided by Abraham the Patriarch, when he assigned the name of Virgo to the constellation preceding Rosh Hashanah or the Hebrew month of Tishrei (Libra).
The Creator provided this opportunity to return to the past and search out our negativity that could affect our future. This possibility arose during the month of Elul to access into the cosmic time tunnel that permits the phenomena of "back to the future." Without this opportunity we stand no chance of removing chaos, pain, and suffering from our life or our environment.
Remorse, and the commitment to refrain from polluting or violating the laws and principles of our universe, now permits the practitioner to board the time machine which is in continuous operation during the month of Elul/Virgo, and which will transport the practitioner to travel "back to the future. " This might be compared to the scientist who boards his time machine at 5:00 p.m. to travel back in time to 4:45 p.m., when the scientist sees himself rushing to board his time machine which is scheduled to take off at 5:00 p.m. The paradox of all this scientific phenomena (accepted by the scientific establishment) is that during the actual travel time, our clocks will register 5:01 p.m. if it takes only one minute to travel back to 4:45 p.m. So the scientist is traveling back or forward in time.
Be that as it may, with travel back to the future, we can change our destiny. The two celestial entities that assist mankind in the attempt to change our future are the planet Mercury and the Zodiac sign of Virgo. These two cosmic channels were designed for the express purpose of supporting humankind in our quest to change our chaotic environment.
The Israelites accepted the responsibility of fashioning a structured universe, to alter an existence from chaos to one of order, an environment of pain and suffering to one of bliss and beneficence. The methodology and software has once again become the property of the people. The knowledge of how to use this software continues to be revealed in our time, no less than the advanced technology that has taken giant strides.
The letters Reish and Yud, along with other Hebrew letters combined to form the cosmic DNA that created Mercury and Virgo, respectively. Meditation upon these two letters and their DNA sequences provide the needed control to achieve time travel towards back to the future, our only hope for salvation, and an improved New Year. The kabbalist has taken the initiative to change history. The Kabbalah Centres around the world are setting the stage for all of mankind to access into this universal Kabbalah teaching together with its software. The timing couldn't be more opportune. The groundswell of miracles and destiny has already demonstrated the importance and validity of this most significant breakthrough created by the widespread interest in the secrets of Kabbalah. All of mankind is coming together in their acceptance of this unique bonding agent known as Kabbalah. The entire world thirsts for the universal truths concerning our essence and existence. As mankind becomes knowledgeable of the universal laws and principles that govern mankind, a better tomorrow is in the forecast, beginning with a New Year filled with the beneficence of the Lightforce and goodwill towards our fellow man.
This article originally appeared in Kabbalah Magazine, Vol. 1 Issue 6, Sep. 1996
