Jerry Green with Panelists Rabbis Jonathan Seidel & Lavey Derby

In the 1980's and 90's the works of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan generated new practices in the Jewish world, that are still in use today. “Looking at the entire field of meditation from a historical viewpoint, we find that the closer one gets to the present, the less dangerous and more universal the methods become.” Rabbi Kaplan suggests working with the Sh'ma as a meditative focus, and elaborates this theme in greater detail discussing the Mother Letters in his translation and commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, teachings attributed to Abraham.

The commonly accepted translation of Sh'ma Yisrael is “Hear O Israel, God is One.” But the “ is” is only implied; if we translate the phrase, “Listen, Yisrael, to God’s Oneness” or “to your Oneness with God,” where might the sounds of sh'ma lead? Neshama… Hashem…Hashamayim... Shalem… Shalom….Shhh… Hmmm…. Aleph = Silence/One….Manishmah? Might this help us to know God's Oneness? In this presentation and panel discussion with Rabbi Jonathan Seidel and others, we will study verses from Sefer Yezirah and also practice a Sh'ma meditation.

The red Shin ש represents Fire אש (aiSh) in Hebrew, thus, it rises up like fire; the blue Mem מ represents Water מים (MahyiM) in Hebrew, thus, it flows downward like water. The sounds of these 2 Letters are also opposites - the outward hissing of Shhh.... and the inward humming of Mmmm… The yellow between them also surrounds them both. It represents the first Hebrew letter Aleph א - which represents a Breath of Air אויר (Aveer) in Hebrew. I made Aleph yellow because it also represents Light אור (Ohr). Both words start with Aleph and are almost identical. This can be experience as a meditation. Take a Breath of Air (Aleph) and with the first out-breath make the sound of Shin - Shhh... Take another Breath of Air and make the sound of Mem - Mmmm... Continue this as long as you are comfortable. www.kosmic-kabbalah.com/product/primary-sounds

“3 Mothers ש מ א Shin, Mem, and Aleph in the Soul dimension are the head, the belly, and the chest. The head is created from Fire, the belly is created from Water and in the chest is the Breath of Air that is between them." (Sefer Yetzirah 3:6)The 3 Mothers can also hint at the 3 primary shapes in Geometry - the triangle, the circle, and the rectangle. ש Shin is Gematria 300, or in Simple Gematria, 3. Geometric shapes are Numbers in Space. We see these with our eyes, and you can see that 3 is a triangle which has 3 angles and 3 sides. Musical rhythms are Numbers in Time. We hear these with our ears, and you can hear that the rhythm 1-2-3 1-2-3... of jigs and waltzes is ‘in 3’. מ ם Mem is Gematria 40 - or simply 4. As a Geometric shape, you can see that 4 is a rectangle which has 4 angles, and 4 sides. And you can hear that the Musical rhythm 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4... (the most common rhythm heard in Music) is ‘in 4’. א Aleph, is Gematria 1. As a Geometric shape, I present this as a circle, which has no beginning and no end, and an infinite number of sides. In Music, this is the space in between the notes, and the rests that allow it to breathe, to ‘come alive’ and move our bodies, our hearts, and our Souls.