A New Oracle of Kabbalah by Richard Seidman

Author:Richard Seidman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781935952831
Publisher: White Cloud Press
Published: 2015-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

Application

Yud carries us fast, on a powerful wave of transformation, into the future, into the world to come. One writer describes Yud as “a cosmic messenger bringing movement and change into our lives.”1 The word for “exodus,” , yetziyah, begins with this letter. When Yud thrusts its way into our lives, we are being propelled, maybe willy-nilly, into a new level of experience. An exodus can be scary, exciting, tragic, promising. Yud shows that no matter how an exodus feels to us, it’s impossible to hold on to the past. Life continually propels us into the unknown.

The powerful energy of Yud is concentrated in its small form. This letter, not much more than a point itself, encourages us to come to the point, to concentrate. How can we best focus our energies in order to ride Yud’s wave of transformation as gracefully as possible and arrive safely at a new location? That’s little Yud’s big question. We may be called upon to prioritize, to let go of what is no longer needed, to become clear about what we truly want to carry with us into the future.

Yud is a letter of great force, yet, being so small, Yud is also the sign of humility. Yud is certainly not inflated, puffed up, ostentatious. Its power is contained, almost hidden. Yud is easy to underestimate. Moses, made shy by a speech impediment, and described in Torah as “very humble,”2 nonetheless led a whole nation on an exodus out of slavery to freedom. Mount Sinai, where this modest man spoke directly with God and received Torah, was a relatively small, unimposing-looking mountain. Even the Hebrews were (and are) a small tribe. The Torah describes them as “among the smallest of all the nations.”3

Smallness and humbleness don’t impede greatness, however. The Zohar says, “Whoever humbles himself, God raises.”4 Yud calls us to humble ourselves, to loosen attachment to ego, but at the same time not to underestimate our tremendous power and potential for creativity and love and liberation.

Micah gives a prescription for acting in accord with Yud’s energy: “Do justly, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.”5 Moving through the world with this type of attitude is an exodus out of narrow egoism to expansive freedom.

A poem by the Sufi poet Rumi expresses the paradox embodied by Yud:

I am so small I can barely be seen.

How can this great love be inside of me?

Look at your eyes. They are small,

but they see enormous things.6

Having humility is more easily said than done, of course. Once, two wealthy businessmen were competing to show who was the most devout. After the lengthy synagogue services were over and everyone else had left, each remained in his place, continuing to pray. There they stayed, while the temple shamash, or custodian, swept and straightened up around them. Finally, one of the businessmen stood up and loudly proclaimed, “In the eyes of God, I am nothing!” and sat down.

Soon, the second businessman stood up and shouted, “In the eyes of God, I am nothing!” Then, he sat down.

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