Dov Baer of Mezritch

“When you gaze at an object, you bring blessing to it.” I thought that this was very interesting. I had never thought about it that way before, but it’s true. When you see something or someone, you acknowledge it’s existence and bless it with importance. When you are not aware that something or someone exists, it is of no meaning to you. It is in essence, nothing until you are aware of it and have drawn divinity towards it.

The second part of the reading was interesting as well. “The moment you begin to hear what you yourself are saying, you must stop.” I took this section as meaning that we must listen for what God is telling us and showing us within ourselves and stop talking. We can’t hear what we are supposed to hear if all we are doing is talking and not listening for the message we need to receive.

“The creation of heaven and earth is the unfolding of something out of nothing, the descent from above to below…They change the something back into the nothing.” I interpreted this as the idea that what is most important is to know God and listen to what God is saying and not to worry about the material processions in our lives because they really are nothing. We can’t take our television with us when we die, but we can take what God has taught us. Earth did not always exist and it will not always exist just as we did not always exist and will not always exist. God is then what we need to concern ourselves with because he will always exist. I liked how this ended. “Greater than the first miracle is the last.” I’m partial to anything coming from the Talmud, so I love that quote. I think it’s very thoughtful and beautiful and goes perfectly with the ideas that were being conveyed. Yes, the first miracle was great, but the last miracle will be the greatest.