“In the sixth century of the sixth millennium, the gates of supernal [heavenly] wisdom will be opened, as will the wellsprings of earthly wisdom, preparing the world to be elevated in the seventh millennium.” The Zohar (a source text of Kabbalah)
TRY SAYING THESE WORDS TO YOURSELF:
Depressed, sad, afraid, guilty, alone, weak, fragmented, disconnected, weary, helpless, victimized, threatened, tired, drained, resentful, unappreciated, misunderstood, burdened, angry, hate, hard, not good enough, dreary, stupid, ugly, lonely, impossible, overwhelmed, isolated, too much for me, failure, I can’t, danger, panic, it’s too hard…
How do you feel? And, what happens to your goals when you feel this way? To your energy? To your willingness to take risks? To your belief in yourself and your dreams?
It’s not such a pretty picture.
NOW TRY THESE:
Happy, overjoyed, energized, strong, delighted, proud, empowered, flowing, intimate, ease, rested, fresh, possibility, connectedness, trust, openness, aliveness, love, awe, greatness, authenticity, harmony, success, safe, free, just right, excellence, beauty, pleasure, joy, power, creative, wholeness, shimmering, I have what it takes, I can do it, it’s a breeze….
Feel any better? Ready to get going again?
This simple but powerful exercise is designed to give you a tiny taste of the power of words. Words create! The words we use (whether in speech or thought) play a central role in generating our perspective and feelings. Our feelings generate actions and our actions generate results. It all starts with words.
WANT TO KNOW WHY IT WORKS THIS WAY?
G-d created the world with words. According to Kabbalah, words and letters are the actual building blocks – the raw material – of creation. Everything has a Hebrew name, and each letter of that name is a channel for a specific Divine energy. The energies of these letters and the way they are combined determines the particular unique characteristics of everything in existence.
Before the words of creation were spoken, everything existed only in a primordial state of Divine ‘nothingness’ – infinite undifferentiated potential.
But when G-d said, “Let there be light” (In Hebrew, ‘vayehi ohr’), these words became the creative force that brought into being what we know as light. The same thing applies to each and every detail of creation.
Creation, however, was not a onetime event. According to Kabbalah, the words of creation are being ‘spoken’ by G-d continuously. Therefore, the world is being brought into being anew out of the Divine ‘nothingness’ at every moment. In fact, the natural state of the universe is non-existence. If G-d were to stop ‘speaking’ the words of creation for even an instant, the whole universe would disappear as if it had never been!
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
As a human being, you have been invested with the power and the purpose to act as a partner in creation. And as such, you are invested with the same extraordinary Divine power to speak your world into existence! You have the ability to create with your words; to start to bring into being what you truly want out of the infinite potential of your own soul. Just as the creation of the universe began with words and is sustained with words, so too every creative process. The words you use actually bring things to life – and when you stop using those words, or change them, you will inevitably create something completely new.
Words of love create nurturing and connection. Words of praise inspire confidence and peace. Words of hope generate positive action. Words of encouragement bring courage into being. Words of vision cause the soul to come alive.
So choose your words with care – and let there be life!
*Since the Torah forbids the erasing of G-d’s name, it’s customary to avoid writing it out in full.
Wow. Loved this article. Just had a discussion with a friend on yesterday about how the world was created with words and the importance of language
Smiling
Truly felt the impact on my whole Being. Beautifully expressed Shifra, our words have a huge power indeed!
It takes consciousness and presence where one speaks from. When we know Who we are in truth and choose to speak from there, our words can be only elevating and uplifting the “others”. In truth there is only One here..Thank you and keep on shining!
Thanks, Shifra!!!
The clear simplicity of your writings go straight to the heart.
As a non Jew in physicality, I stand in awe of the Jewish Soul. Truly G-d’s Chosen Race, what a blessing to learn from the gifted ones.
It is pure joy to behold the beauty of the Hebrew Letters, and to know each letter has its own life, energy and multiple meanigs in the Spiritual World, – and yet there for us to grasp a tiny bit of what has been revealed of that unending Truth – leaves one in Awe and Gratitude to our Creator.
Love, Light and Blessings
Shifra, what a blessing to have found my way to your site and to your particular “sight.”
I so appreciate the reminder that Creation is not a onetime event, that our Source is continuously infusing creation with energy that comes through the vessels of words— and that we each, through our conscious use of words are co-creators of the beauty and generous flow that is life. There is a passage in the novel I have written (forthcoming this fall on the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov), which feels so relevant and reflective of what you have shared here. I hope it is all right to type in a short excerpt in which young Rifka is studying with her tanta Leya, a psalm in which they read, “the one who counts the stars and gives to each a name…..”
“Think of the night sky, Rifkalla,” Leya said when she next spoke. “Can you imagine counting its stars? Every single one—not one of them ignored?”
Rifka shook her head. She had started to count the stars many times but had never been able to finish. She could not imagine anyone able to count them all without falling asleep first.
“No woman or man is capable of such vast perspective. Only the One who created the stars can know each star. But what does it mean to count the stars? The Ayn Sof is not a person with a finger like you or me that points and counts. It is miraculous enough that each star is counted, but as the next words say: to each one is given a name—this is unfathomable! That all the stars are named reflects that each one is valued, that each has a purpose. If the Creator accounts directly for each star, then it must be true that each person and every aspect of creation is cherished.”
Rifka looked up, not surprised to see Leya’s eyes gleaming with tears.
“The daily prayer book says: In goodness, each day is renewed, continually. What this means to me is that the counting and naming did not happen just once in the remote past. The stars are counted and named each day.”
Leya leaned forward towards the open book. “I have recited this psalm countless times, Rifka, hearing its praise for the abundant goodness of the One who causes the rain to fall, the raven to cry, the wind to blow, and the rivers to flow. But right now, I am discovering something I never grasped.”
Leya’s excitement felt like heat.
“We read the stars were given a number. Then just a few lines below that, it says, To God’s understanding there is no number. And the psalm continues, More than the number of stars, are the ways God understands.”
The tears now overflowed her aunt’s wide eyes. “Oh, Rifkalla, this means that the ways we are understood are beyond counting; they are infinite. The Shechinah, the Sacred Presence of Love, blesses us with understanding more times each day than there are stars in the firmament. No matter what our failings, no matter how deep our sorrow, how gripping our anger or our sadness, we are counted. We are named and we are blessed.” Leya drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes again.”
Shifra, I look forward to spending much more time on your site! And how perfect to find it and you just before Passover! I am also very eager to hear your radio program! Much to savor here!
With gratitude, Ani Tuzman (the excerpt is from THE TREMBLE OF LOVE, A Novel of the Baal Shem Tov)
To me G-d is my heart and soul. I ask what would my life be without this heartfelt energy? I would not have a life that is full of love and heart from my soul.