What do Black Monday, the current economic crisis, the Divine Name, giving, and receiving have in common? I found out today while reading and participating in a dialogue on a list serve to which I subscribe. It all began with a post by someone who shared information about a man in Jerusalem who five years ago accurately predicted the present economic crisis and ties it into this weeks Torah portion, Parshat Noah (the Story of Noah found in Genesis 6:9-11:32). I don’t normally discuss Torah portions; I’m not a Torah scholar, although I have my own opinions on some of what the Torah has to say. I’m not big on negative predictions about the future either, and I have some thoughts on that as well.
However, a discussion ensued on the list serve where I read this information, and I did have something to say about the comments posted there. In fact, I offered my thoughts as they related to the subject of giving and receiving, something about which I often write and teach. So, I thought I’d share a bit of both what I read in the other people’s posts in a consolidated form and what I posted as well. It seems pertinent since we begin reading Parshat Noah this Saturday, and because I believe that to create the necessary change in our world, as well as in our economic system, we need to learn how to receive for the sake of giving, or sharing, unconditionally.
(I have not included the names of those who posted to the list serve, or the name of the list serve, since I have not asked permission. Instead, I have paraphrased the information offered freely there.)
According to this first source, in October 1929, the stock market had a big fall on the Friday before Shabbat Parashat Noah, the Saturday, or Sabbath, when the story of Noah is read. The following Monday became known as “Black Monday” when the stock market collapsed.
Fifty-eight years later, in October 1987, the stock market had a big fall on the Friday before Shabbat Parashat Noah. The following Monday also was called Black Monday.
In Hebrew, letters represent numbers. Thus, no actual numbers exist. Therefore, Aleph is 1, Bet is 2, etc. The letter Nun is 50 and het is 8. These two letters make up the name Noah, because Hebrew also does not use vowels. So, Noah is how we write 58.
Not only were there 58 years between those two Black Mondays, on the second one, the Dow Jones fell 508 points; since zero has no value and equates to nothing in Hebrew, this number becomes 58 as well. And both represent Noah, or vice versa.
This Shabbat again is Parashat Noah; however, it comes just 21 years after the last Black Monday. So, what is the significance of this number? Another person on the list serve shared the following:
Twenty-one constitutes the sum of the letters of the Divine Name (Yud Hey Vav Hey) minus the last “hey.” This last letter represents the actualization of the Divine flow, called shefa, into this world from all the higher worlds. When this letter is missing, a blockage exists in the “pipeline” that prevents the Divine flow into this world. You could see the “hey” as the valve that opens and closes the pipe and allows the water to flow.
We need to return that “hey,” or install it like a plumber, to be able to turn the valve to “on” and restore the Divine flow. Someone else pointed out that is our work in the world, “to restore the ‘hey.’”
What does this have to do with the stock market and the current economic condition? Money serves as a major indicator of Divine flow. When the money supply dries up, this indicates that the pipeline is out of order. The “hey” is missing. The valve is missing or stuck.
(My home is on a well; our well and pump seem to by synchronized with what goes on with our finances. When our finances are drying up, the flow of water in the well tends to do the same or the pump goes on the fritz. Interesting, no?)
What does this have to do with the Divine name? The final “hey” of the Divine name has a value is 5 and often is equated with the 5 fingers of the hand. The hand literally represents our willingness to give and take. On the positive side, if the “hey” represents a hand; this indicates our ability to give unconditionally. On the negative side, it indicates greed, a desire to take more than we need and to not be willing to share what we have. This, said the person who posted this information, “seems to be at the core of this crisis and probably the ones before it.”
She also pointed out that the traditional cure for greed is tzedakah, often translated as charity but more accurately unconditional giving or acting in a just manner. In other words, we can right the situation by doing the right thing — giving. The letter tzaddik, which begins the word tzedakah, has a value of 90; mayim, the word for water has the same value. The Jewish mystics, or Kabbalists, believed that two words with the same numerical value must be related in some way. If we think about the two words, the author of the post concludes, “When the hand is closed and greed rules, the flood comes and wipes everything out (just like in the story of Noah). When the hand is open and justice for all rules, then the shefa (Divine flow) rains sustenance upon us all.” She suggests we open our hands and give so the Divine waters can flow down in just the right amount and protect us from financial calamity.
I thought about these postings in light of the teaching and writing I do (Check out my booklet, The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation, How to Mystically Manifest Your Physical and Spiritual Desires.),which are all related to the teachings of Rabbi Ashlag. And I decided to reply to the list serve. Here’s what I posted:
With all the worry about money and getting what we need and want, we (meaning society at large) forget that we were placed here, created, as beings whose purpose it is to receive. God wanted to give and we were created to receive that flow of goodness. We are receivers. God is a Giver. Obviously, when we don’t receive, something has gone awry. The flow of goodness is being blocked; God wouldn’t turn it off. To turn on the “water,” to allow ourselves to tap into that flow of goodness, we have to try and be a bit more like God — we have to be givers ourselves. By doing so we connect with the Ultimate Giver and achieve some sense of Unity. And that is whey when we give we access the Divine flow of goodness…we restore the “hey,” open the tap, so goodness can flow into the world and into our lives.
Someone then challenged what I said, by replying:
Good as far as it goes. The whole point of Rabbi Ashlag’s teaching is that we should aim to move from receiving for ourselves alone, through the stage of giving in order to receive (where most of us are holding), to receiving in order to give, a level that can only be reached through God’s mercy.
To which I responded:
I agree with you wholeheartedly. That is my understanding, too, although I believe that we have to at least begin to give to move in that direction. I don’t advocate giving in order to get, but sometimes this is the first stage. We just don’t want to get stuck there. We want to give in order to get so we can give some more. That’s the flow…the giving and receiving and giving and receiving. Does it only come with God’s mercy? Of that, I’m not convinced. I think when we learn to receive for the sake of giving we allow the tap to open. Each time we give when we feel like we don’t have enough, we inch the valve open a bit more. We trust that more will flow into our lives. And when it does, if we share it with others, we turn the valve a bit more. Before we know it, the goodness is flowing abundantly. Is that God’s mercy? Maybe. Or is it just the way things are supposed to work if we allow them to? I think so. After all, we were created as receivers. God wanted to give us all the goodness He/She had to give.
So why doesn’t this happen? Why don’t we receive or allow ourselves to receive. That’s the question we began with. We are stuck in the giving to get. We need to return the “hey.” We need to explore the reasons why we don’t fulfill our purpose.
The nice and very knowledgeable man who responded to my posting, who I happen to know, suggested I read a book that happens to be my main source when I write about Rabbi Ashlag and the subject of giving and receiving. I’ll share it with you here: In the Shadow of the Ladder: Introduction to Kabbalah by Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag, translated from the Hebrew with additional explanatory chapters by Mark Cohen (z”l) and Yedidah Cohen (Nehora Press).
My understanding of Rabbi Ashlag’s teachings is, of course, my own. I encourage you to read the book and form your own opinions. And, by all means, purchase my booklet, The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation, How to Mystically Manifest Your Physical and Spiritual Desires. I’ve said a lot on the topic there, and I’d love your feedback, if you want to offer it.
In the meantime, may we all do our part to restore the flow of abundant goodness into the world, and may Monday come and be bright and sunny and full of light. And may we continue to create a world full of shefa with our attempts to receive not for the self alone but for the sake of giving unconditionally to others.
