Week 5: Response from
Rabbi Richard Yellin
At the the beginning of the SIDDUR - the daily prayer book - there is a beautiful prayer that to me is the essence of spirituality and returning to God from a Jewish perspective.

"My God, the essence of my being - NESHAMA - with which you created me, is pure, for You formed it and breathed it into me; You guard it within me, and in the future You will take it from me and then restore it to me in the after life, or every day when I wake up; every moment that my NESHAMA is within me, I acknowledge and am grateful to You, O LORD, my God and the God of my ancestors, GOVERNOR of all deeds and MASTER of all NESHAMAs. Praised are You who restores NESHAMAs to lifeless forms and bodies (which have no real existence in themselves.)"

My own personal interpretation of Rav Kook based on the above prayer means that if we are in tune to the NESHAMA we are in tune with the best of ourselves, the nation, the world and the beyond. Teshuvah means finding the qualities of existence, character, and human values that are at the core of all human existence. For me as a human being, becoming a MENSCH or a NESHAMA (a 'good soul' in Yiddish) means first using the filter of ISRAEL on its many different levels.

A. JACOB-ISRAEL who struggles with GOD (i.e., his obligations and responsibilities) and is weakened physically but becomes strengthened morally.

B. ANCESTORS-ISRAEL (Abraham Isaac and Jacob) who become a reservoir of character enrichment to be emulated.

C. AM YISRAEL-THE WHOLE PEOPLE amongst whom we have to find our place and our peace, a people that strives to be a "KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY
PEOPLE."

D. ERETZ YISRAEL-the Land of Israel and the meaning of undefined borders and boundaries that allows a moral history and a divine promise to prevail over a political reality.

E. MEDINAT YISRAEL-the State of Israel which is a political response to the JEWISH PROBLEM (Herzl). Living with the tension of making a political reality into a LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS.

F. ISRAEL-JEW or YISRAEL-YEHUDI, synonymous words that are stepping stones to a greater menschlichkeit (a way of being in harmony with God's desires for all humanity). If one calls oneself a Jew, Teshuvah means getting synchronized with what God desires for humanity by using the doorway or the filter of the YISRAEL-JEWISH ladder of ascent.

When Rav Kook speaks of a 'spiritual bolt of illumination', I often see this when a Jew visits the State of Israel for the first time; the most often heard response is: I've come home." His or her soul is amplified by the Jewish NESHAMA and the individual feels much more whole because of the onslaught of Jewish levels of feeling. I believe that Jews who have the six multidimensional levels of Jewish NESHAMA are on a menschlichkeitascent (aliyah in Hebrew) and are experiencing the meaning of TESHUVAH. The sheer energy of YISRAEL can provide a sudden spiritual bolt of illumination that changes one's entire life and priorities.

When Rav Kook speaks of the gradual type of TESHUVAH, I understand this from the point of view of TZEDAKAH-CHARITY-LOVE-JUSTICE, the world of philanthropy. To lose the self in the world of doing good deeds is the Jewish way of achieving a refinement of our NESHAMA. TZEDAKAH grows slowly and for the Jew it uses the filter of the many levels of the Jewish-Yisrael ascent. It is both personal and communal; it is refining and defining of character; it encourages "mentor"ing and leads others to emulate.

I have officiated at many funerals and the greatest souls, in my own humble opinion molded by Rav Kook's commentary, are those whose level of TZEDAKAH, whether in means, in kind, or deeds, shows a gradual progression of TESHUVAH, a coming back to the original essence of God's gift of that pure NESHAMA. We recognize it when we see it. It lifts us all and inspires us.

When I gather with families before a funeral I always ask the most difficult questions about the deceased. What were the deceased's philosophy of life, Jewish quotient and I.D., charitable instincts, good deeds, and what was the deceased's name (reputation)? Teshuvah means a gradual lifetime of refining menschlichkeit using all the Jewish filters. When the NESHAMA finally is taken from us in this life, we understand a lot more about returning to God and TESHUVAH.

Temple Emeth -- Delray Beach, Florida