Understanding Jewish Nirvana
Let us begin by defining what Nirvana is.
(a) In Buddhism: a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.
(b) a state of perfect happiness; an ideal or idyllic place.
Jewish Nirvana, as we will learn, is different than the Nirvana of Buddhism, or even than the state of perfect happiness. That is why, according to the teachings of Kabbalah and Chassidism, Nirvana did not take place in the first Torah-portion of Bereishit, in which Adam, Eve and all of creation were perfectly created by G-d, and were in a state of Garden of Eden. It is precisely in the second Torah-portion of Noach, in which the entire world experienced the Flood that brought about Nirvana!
Thus, the Modern Issue that meets Judaism in this lecture is that of our generation’s struggle with a state of agitation and unhappiness, and our search for a state of Nirvana. What we will discover in this lecture is that the direction to Jewish Nirvana is quite different, and in a way quite the opposite, than the direction to conventional Nirvana.
Two Teachings from the Holy Zohar
Let us begin with introducing two mystical teachings from the Holy Zohar, and the mystical connection between them.
(a) ‘These are the offspring of Noach [Noach was a Tzadik –righteous man],’ (-Genesis 6:9) Opened Rabbi Chiya and said, ‘And your people, all of them righteous, -(the Zohar is defining that when the verse says that Noach was a Tzadik it is referring to every Jew)- shall inherit the land forever,’ (-Isaiah 60:21) come and see, all of Israel has a portion in the World to Come, -(as our sages teach upon this verse of Isaiah 60;20, ‘Shall inherit the land forever,’ that every Jew has a portion in the World to Come)- Why? Because they heed the covenant upon which the world exists… All who heed the covenant upon which the world stands is called a Tzadik. How do we know this? From Joseph, who heeded the covenant -(the Zohar here is referring to the covenant of the circumcision in a metaphoric way of sexual conduct, and the Zohar is referring to how Joseph overcame the temptation of the wife of his master Potiphar)- and therefore merited to be called a Tzadik. And for this [is the meaning of the verse in Isaiah] ‘And your people, all of them righteous, -(the Zohar is defining that when the verse says that Noach was a Tzadik it is referring to every Jew)- shall inherit the land forever.’
Right after this teaching the Zohar brings another teaching concerning the very first word of the verse, “These.”
b. Rabbi Eliezer said, wherever it says, ‘These [are the offspring of Noach],’ it comes to negate the prior. We learned, what does it say prior -(in the previous Torah-portion)- , ‘And a river came out of Eden to irrigate the garden, and from there it separated [into four fountainheads]…’ -(Thus, our Torah-portion of Noach beginning with, ‘These’ negate that of the, “River going out of Eden to irrigate the garden…”)-
Thus, we need to understand what these mystical teachings are saying, and what the connection between the two is.
It is through understanding this that we will find the broad highway to Jewish Nirvana.
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Here is a link to the written notes of this lecture, which will be available until November 15, 2016, after which you can email TheJewishMind@icloud.com to request them:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4614078/2.%20Noach%20Parsha%20Class%205777.pdf
