Be Positive

 

The world becomes more interesting by the day. After thousands of years of trying to make sense of this world, modern man has made tremendous headway. However, it has not always been about replacing old ideas with new ones. It has also been about, to the surprise of the many, giving scientific credence to ancient beliefs and practices.

 

This is no surprise to the Kabbalist. There will never be any knowledge more sophisticated than Divine wisdom, and the deeper that wisdom goes, the more sophisticated it is. This is why the more intellectually advanced man becomes in his understanding of Creation, the more he approaches what Torah knowledge has always known. After all, Torah is the “blueprint” for Creation.

Thus, the Talmud states that even though Torah may not exist amongst the gentile nations, wisdom does (Eichah Rabbotai 2:13). This is because Torah is a way of life given to the Jewish people by God Himself, not something, unlike wisdom, that can be arrived at through experimentation and observation.

 

However, the Vilna Gaon points out that a Jew can benefit from such wisdom if and when it can be used to deepen his understanding of Torah (Kol HaTor, Ch. 5). This is the case today with the knowledge that is emerging from so many areas of Western thought.

 

Historically, the fact that some areas of modern knowledge are Kabbalistic in their conclusions represents an important development in a process that goes back to the beginning of history itself. According to Kabbalistic tradition, at some point close to the end of history, the Aitz HaDa’at Tov v’Rah — the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil — and the Aitz HaChaim — the Tree of Life — will merge into a single tree, symbolic of the merging of all knowledge into Torah.

 

Torah stands on its own and does not require outside verification from the world of science. Its basic tenets and principles are a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation ever since Moshe Rabbeinu received them from God at Mt. Sinai, an emunah — a faith — received from our ancestors. Nevertheless, this does not mean that new information cannot shed light on old information, allowing us to gain an even deeper appreciation of ideas and accounts that we have learned many times before, but in a different way.

 

Sources with which we may already be quite familiar take on a new life when seen in a different light, thanks to a new understanding of how God’s world works. Often, that new insight can provide an important vista to higher levels of spiritual growth, and a far closer relationship with God.

 

More importantly, as this book will make clear, the new insights empower us, specifically making us better qualified to make the appropriate free-will decisions in life to fulfill the mandate of Creation: to become a partner with God. That’s what our ancestors did, and that is why they are attributed with so much success.

 

Likewise, we are here to participate in the completion of Creation, which translates into helping the world arrive at Yemot HaMoshiach with the least amount of spiritual and physical casualties, while at the same time working on ourselves to achieve more of our potential. To do this, we have to know what we are capable of achieving, the tools that are available to us, and what we can expect God to contribute along the way.

 

For this reason, it is important to understand that “Be Positive” really is more than a blood type, that it really is the way of life. More importantly, it is the way to success, not just according to Western standards, but according to Torah as well.

 

 

(Author, lecturer, and scholar Rabbi Pinchas Winston is the director of ThirtySix.org. His book Be Positive is available for purchase online).