Derek HaRuach
The way of the spirit, the path of the spirit, the walk of the spirit, the path the spirit walks or follows.
The Spirit:
This is a reference to …
The Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah and the Yechidah are the spiritual substances deposited in man. G-d created the body out of mundane earthly materials. When G-d created Adam he created his body from natural materials. Then He blew into man his spiritual substances for the sake of Divine interaction. These substances permeate the natural man and guide him towards being more G-dly. Thus, man has received the spiritual substance of…
- Spiritual (eternal) life
- Spiritual substances
- However, we cannot understand the “spirit” if we do not understand desire – ratzon
Ratzon (will, the will, desire)
The ideal level of spirituality is to capture the will and uses its forces to elevate the level of desire to the point of communing with G-d constantly. We seek to develop our relationship with G-d to the level of constantly loving Him, seeking to do His will and being incessantly in His presence.
Love for G-d: How did the forefathers see the love of G-d?
- The love of God as a passion that endures the entire time the person remains in their body and does not have an actual “outpouring of the soul.”
- Understood “love” as an act of the mind, of consciousness, of knowledge.
- This demand that the love of the Most High take in the entire person: his rava de-ravin (the highest form of passion, the desire of all desires), all of his particular desires, all of a person’s senses, the totality of one’s passion, all one’s lust for life, all thoughts, all words, all deeds!
- They saw this love in the words of the psalmist: “As the hart pants after streams of water, so does my heart pant for You, O God” … “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:2-3)… . “Who else do I have in heaven? I want none but You in the earth… . My flesh and heart wear away, O rock of my heart; God is my portion forever” (Ps. 73:2526).
Being a Divine Chariot
Desire to be consumed by divine fire while praying, will study Torah with an inner godly light, will seek and find everywhere the light of Torah and messianic light. In all his thoughts and deeds, he will strive only for true peace and unity.
He will be filled with love and compassion for every Jew and non-Jew, for every creature.
He will long raise up the form of the Shechinah in his sphere of influence and to spread messiah’s light through all the world.
He can become a seer, filled with.
In every moment he will desire to be a true “chariot” for the divine, a true servant of God, a faithful messenger.
Rules of Conduct
- Support yourself only from your own labor! Try as hard as you can to support yourself from simple physical labor and not from trade. (b. Yoma 69b)
If you are, brother, a worker, try to improve in your craft.
- Do not be preoccupied with great luxuries!
- Luxuries consume the mind and the strength of a person.
- Luxuries can drive one to acts of deceit. (2 See b. Ta’anit 16a.)
- Therefore, choose a life of modesty, simplicity, keeping yourself far away from excessive pleasures.
- Do not exploit others!
- If you support yourself solely by the work of your hands, and in so doing live a life of modesty, tranquility, and humility, abstaining from indulgence, luxury, and pleasure seeking, then it will be easy for you to fulfill the great and holy commandment of every pure ethical system: do not exploit anyone!
- Purify your family life.
- The family has always been a stronghold for the Jewish people. (b. Niddah 31a)
- Sanctify your sex life altogether!
- The preservation and sanctification of the covenant are the exalted bases of both interior and exterior holiness. 5 (m. Avot 2:2).
- Guard yourself from forbidden foods keep Kosher!
- “You will be defiled by them” (Lev. 11:43). Read this as, “You will be blocked by them.” Forbidden foods defile the 6 (Based on b. Yoma 39a). body and soul; forbidden foods create vile and impure blood in the human body.
- Sanctify your Shabbat!
- The Sabbath is not just an ordinary commandment, but the foundation. One who weakens the Sabbath, Heaven forbid, desecrates the God of Israel.
- Keep your home holy!
- Not only the synagogue, the house of learning, the prayer room, but also an ordinary Jewish house is a small scale sanctuary.
- Live always amid the whole Jewish people and live for the whole Jewish people.
- Don’t be concerned about yourself, but about all of Israel and your congregational brothers.
- Remove yourself from party politics.
- Remember and never forget the three loves!
- The Nazarite is bound to seek perfection in the religious sense: the avoidance of sin and the fulfillment of commandments in actual deeds. Above all, one should be especially imbued with an awareness of the three loves—the love of God, the love of Israel, and the love of Torah.
- Subdue pride!
Pride is the most profound and strongest idol. Pride is the “strange god” within one’s own body.
- Sanctify speech!
Speech is the expression of the soul. Guard the covenant of the tongue; the holiness of the tongue.
- Sanctify your inner life!
Do not let a day in life pass without taking stock of your soul. Learn or hear mussar [moral teachings] every day. Books like The Duties of the Hearts, The Path of the Upright, The Ways of the Righteous,
And at this same time, let there be a short silent prayer in your heart: “Sovereign of the world, set me on the right path, on the path of light.”