Just yesterday morning, the following comment was made by a participant during the Q&A at the end of Davvening with Reb Zalman.  (From the 5772 Shavuot retreat at Isabella Freedman with Reb Zalman and Eve, as overheard by Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor.):

“Reb Zalman, I was thirteen with a Bar Mitzvah and then I sort of dropped out of my Jewish stuff. 

Then, I was twenty-nine, and Bobbie Kennedy was killed, (I was working for him).  I went to Mexico.

(I think that [the assassination] might have had something to do with it) – I wrote you a letter. 

You started sending me tapes, songs and chassidic…, you were sending me cassettes of songs, Chassidic songs and stories.  And you kept reaching out. 

You opened the doors for me, (years later I worked with you), you opened the doors to this rich tradition.  It’s vast and full of love and joy and wisdom.

I’m so grateful to you. 

We’re all grateful to you.

I’m so glad, I’m so glad you’re alive and kicking and doing what you’re doing.  And keep on doing it for a long time, please.

AMEN (applause and shouts).”

This year, Yesod Sheb’Yesod falls on Sunday night, May 30th, 2011.

Schemuel writes: 

“I need to come up with a speech on 41st day of Omer, which is Yesod sheb’Yesod.  Could you give me some ideas/ thoughts for such a speech please?”

Gabbai Seth Fishman‘s reply:

The week of Yesod is associated with Yosef the tzadik and Tamar the tzadika.

Through Yesod, we funnel God’s kingdom into our plane.  It is about connecting the higher worlds to this one. 

Yesod is the last Sefirah of Ze’er Anpin ( זעיר אנפין)

 [NOTE:  Ze’er Anpin / little face, a shorthand for the Sefirot associated with the Vav of the divine name, viz. Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod.]

It is on the central pillar of Keter, Tiferet, Yesod, Malchut.  It is thus a vital connector for flows from above to below and below to above. 

Here’s a way to think about it:

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I was asked by Reb Zalman to send along a reminder to you for Hattarat Nedarim / The Release of Vows service, (best done before Rosh Hashanah which begins this year on Wednesday Night, September 8th, 2010).

My first thought was, “Dear Reb Zalman.  But I put this out there already!”  (cf., Hattarat Nedarim / The Release Of Vows,  https://www.jewishrenewalhasidus.org/?p=113).  

But then I thought:  This is not a thing to just read and file.  It matters not if we did this last year, or the year before, or we did not. 

What matters is that here we are again.  Rosh Hashanah will soon be here and we will be faced with the opportunity to do personal work as we enter Ha-Aseret Y’mei Teshuvah / the Ten Days of Repentance.  We will do the Hattarat Nedarim each year before Rosh HaShanah.  Then, in subsequent years, we will do it again, and again, (and God-willing, each time from a higher level). 

So what is involved?

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Dear Friends:

Please join Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Maggid Yitzhak Buxbaum in a FREE teleconference:

The Return of the Maggid
An Introduction to the Jewish Spirit Maggid Training Program 

Sunday, August 22, 2010 7 PM to 8 PM EDT
call in: (308) 344-6400, access code 441912#

Please RSVP Name, phone number to yitzhak@att.net

Here’s more:

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Thanks again to Chaplain Gloria Krasno for graciously sharing her poetic and artful meditations between Tisha B’av and erev Rosh Hashannah.  Many blessings to her for her spiritual soul and her generosity in sharing them.  Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor

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Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel, at the wonderful opening ceremony she hosted at this year’s Aleph Kallah said:  “When I first met Reb Zalman in 1972, he spoke about the unexplored Sefirah of Hod, the emanation of glory and beauty experienced through the senses.   He said, ‘That would be our work.’  Here’s Chaplain Gloria’s meditation for the week of Hod.  Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor. 

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Please join Chaplain Gloria Krasno as she continues to guide us upward toward Rosh Hashanna.  This week begins the ascent through the Sefirah of Yesod, beginning with Malchut sheb’Yesod and ending with Chesed sheb’Yesod.  Gabbai Seth Fishman, BLOG Editor

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