Judaism was Meant to be Experienced in the Body
If Sarah Is the Body, Why Did Hashem Tell Avraham to Listen to Everything Sarah Says?
Likkutei Sichos Chayei Sarah #1
- October 25, 2021
- |
- 19 Cheshvan 5782
Rabbi YY Jacobson
1998 views- Comment
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Dedicated by Shmuly and Tzirl Goldman in honor of the birthday of Malka Simon, Sarah Malka bas Chaya, for many long, happy, and healthy years.
Class Summary:
This class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Monday, Parshas Chayei Sarah, 19 Cheshvan, 5782, October 25, 2021, live from his home in Monsey, NY.
It is a text-based class on Likkutei Sichos Chayei Sarah volume 1, an address by the Lubavitcher Rebbe presented on Shabbos Chayei Sarah, 24 Cheshvan, 5711, November 4, 1950.
The Zohar teaches that Avraham and Sarah represent the soul and the body. How then does Hashem instruct Avraham to listen to all that Sarah tells him? Should the soul really take all its cues from the body?
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Likkutei Sichos Chayei Sarah #1
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- October 25, 2021
- |
- 19 Cheshvan 5782
- |
- 1998 views
Dedicated by Shmuly and Tzirl Goldman in honor of the birthday of Malka Simon, Sarah Malka bas Chaya, for many long, happy, and healthy years.
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Anonymous -2 years ago
where is the continuation of this sicha? was it given this past thursday but not posted on the website?
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Admin -2 years ago
Here it is: Likkutei Sichos Chayei Sarah #2
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Don -2 years ago
Sources
Please include the actual section of the Zohar that you quoted. I don'tfind it
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Lazer -2 years ago
When are we hearing the end of this sicha? You can't leave us stranded!!!!!
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Admin -2 years ago
This week, at the thursday morning class 7:30am ET, Rabbi YY will continue learning the sicha
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Anonymous -2 years ago
Rabbi YY this shiur is facinating...from a neuroscience perpective the Rebbe's rolling on the ground unable to fully speak is due to the limbic system, which is the most primordial part of the brain for survival. It is involved in the processing of emotions, memory and arousal. When this part of the brain is on line, the "thinking brain" so to speak goes off line. Survivors of trauma are often hijacked by the limbic system which can send them into states of extreme fear (fight/flight) or collapse (freeze) until they can begin to regulate this mechanism by lighting up the frontal lobes again. The Rebbe was..(is) a vessel, a channel of pure Torah/Yiddishkeit...and here through his body he transcends his body and yet in an embodied state of unity with his soul, he is in D'vekut with HaShem...so beautiful, poignant and hopeful to understand the body in this way...thank you !
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Lazer -2 years ago
I love how you understand the rebbes physical actions in terms of his body experiencing the intense awe he had of Hakodosh Baruch hu. It reminds me of stories of the previous Tosher Rebbe who would stumble and stutter over Hashem's name when he davened or said a bracha. He didn't stutter when he spoke regularly. This was a clear physical and mind union of his utter awe of Hashem. Thank you Hashem we have the tzadikim who show us the way ....the possibility of real devaikus in Hashem.
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mayan -2 years ago
I am a psychotherapist with a practice dedicated to working with survivors of trauma. I have advanced training in body-based treatments that have their roots in neuroscience and neurobiology. I also have an unrelenting longing to absorb Chassidut, which deeply informs me and my life.
Regarding your awesome shiur: in a nutshell HaShem has equipped all mammals with defensive reactions which occur in hierarchical processes and systems. These instinctive physical defenses are designed to protect us from threat. They are actually referred to as animal defenses.
Like animals in the wilderness, they utilize action>fight/flight/cry for help or defenses of immobility>freeze/feign death, like the donkey crouching down. We can not think our way out of an animal defense because the part of the brain that controls our animal defenses is not involved in the part of the brain that controls thoughts.
Because of this we must use the body to move out of these animal defenses. So when the thinking part of the brain goes down, we instinctively and somatically respond to external and internal threats. It seems for the Rebbe his body became flaccid, hypotonic which is an indication of an immobilization defense.
Sadly for traumatized individuals there is a myriad of repetitive and debilitating neurobiological responses not limited to these defenses which often contribute to chronic posttraumatic symptoms. This often results in a truncated sense of hope, self, and life as their bodies and minds are reliving the past as if it were the present.
There are also different levels of consciousness. These range from deep meditative, hypnotic to the traumatic end of the spectrum of depersonalization, derealization and dissociation. For better or for worse it is only through our body and mind that we enter these altered states of consciousness.
So innately and intrinsically we ultimately "must follow our bodies."
I can not even vaguely imagine the depths of devotion, love and the state of Bittul and D'vekut that the Rebbe reached. Or the felt sense of being near, or embodiment of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Thank you for another mind-blowing shiur !!!
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Isaac -2 years ago
When the Rebbe was struck by fear and immobilized -- we feel that was healthy and sacred and good? How do we distinguish that from debilitating fear which affects the limbic system negatively?
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mayan -2 years ago
Ah...that's the deepest work of healing...
Once we can manage and reduce the physical symptoms...then comes the work of releasing the negative emotions and cognitive distortions of ourselves. By transforming this old subjective sense of self (actually selves= dissociated child parts) we return to our essential self...which was never wounded or fragmented...as you know.
From here cultivating and nurturing trust and faith we can develop, expand and direct our consciousness, our thoughts, words, and actions and enter the mystery of and relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Jews are blessed with their collective history and legacy, their tzaddikim, the Torah and mitzvot, Chassidus and YOU to guide them and help them fuse their bodies and their souls.
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Sarah Goldberg -2 years ago
From birth to death
When a baby is born it's all about the body. Whatever the body of the baby wants. Food. Drink. Cuddling. Diapers. The body is the boss and the soul of the baby is very hidden. The body dominates.
At the other end of life, on the doorstep of death, especially for a refined person, it's all about the soul. Whatever the soul wants. The body at that point is irrelevant. The soul dominates at that time
So the journey of life, the life long battle described in the Tanya, is to transform a primarily body centered combination of body and soul into a soul centered combination.
When we are told to listen to Sarah, to the body, it's not the body of the newborn who is inherently selfish. Rather. We, the soul and Avraham, are commanded to listen to the refined transformed body of a Sarah who is no longer self centered and selfish.
Later on, Miriam the young developed body, the developed feminine, told her parents (and by extension all the yidden) what to do. And they listened to her as well. And BH for that.
I.e. we listen to the body, to the feminine, to Sarah, etc., when that body/feminine/Sarah has become refined and developed by a life of refinement.
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Sara -2 years ago
It's almost as if you might be saying...
that chassidus is saying that the soul is a guest in the body while a person is alive.
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Sarah Goldberg -2 years ago
Soul and body
There are various ways to describe the relationship between the soul and the body.
Note that the soul cannot do anything whatsoever in the world without the body as a tool.
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