Kabbalah, Seasons and Sight

A trip away from home can really open our eyes. Since coming to live in Tzfat we have become accustomed to seeing the men and boys around us all dressed in stark black. Yesterday we took a trip to Jerusalem, we traveled on the bus down the mountain, across verdant green fields, begging to bloom with the myriad blossoms of spring. The trip was such a pleasure since we have been trapped in the clutches of winter now for several weeks and the day turned beautiful and warm for us, giving us the blessing of nice weather and bright sun making everything seem fresh and new!

This afternoon I sat down and studied for a while in my Kabbalah the letter for the day which is Ayin ע

which is the symbol for various types of sight, including insight, foresight and the perspective of how we view life. I was reminded how Torah teaches us that in the ancient of days each village or tribe had a seer, someone who was revered by the rest of the people as the person who was able to keep alive in the community the ability to know right from wrong, to avert disaster, to foretell further events and direct people concerning many other things. In a book that I read long ago the seer of the village was the only person who never wore anything black in color. In fact, the mystics of ancient Israel used to wear crimson, gold, turquoise,white and fuschia because they believed that darker colors indicated a total absence of light and thus interfered with their ability to connect to 'the light' of schechenah!

I hadn't realized how used to seeing black I have gotten until yesterday! The city was full of colors, women and men in wonderful, glorious color everywhere one looked. So the Ayin today brought me to thinking, what is it that makes someone in the color black appear so stern, and sterile? Why is it that even the youngsters who are dressed in black look hard?

Isn't the absence of light, black? I begin to meditate on this in my silence with the Ayin before me and suddenly realized that indeed black shuts out light, light can neither reflect from nor be absorbed by black. Somewhere in my studies I also learned that a black lens can distort the light in your picture in such a way as to create a semblance of evil!

Ayin has of course a number, 70, it is the number of men that Abraham choose to work with him in the priesthood and its various duties. Reflecting on the instructions for the clothing of these men we learn that they were all assigned colors to reflect what position they held! Colors, not black! The mystics of almost every religion are people who loved color, they wore it, painted their faces with it, used it on their totems, flew flags rich in splendid flower hues and even adorned their homes with it!

Ayin speaks to us of being open, of using our eyes, both physical and spiritual to see TRUTH, to be aware of all that is around us, it begs us to seek out the tiniest of flowers hidden by the springs green grace and to note the deep rich colors of the earth as the seasons change. Ayin also asks us to search ourselves to see where our own true colors lie, if we are indeed made in the image of the Eternal than we must be truly beautiful, like a diamond with it's light spread out for all to see! We must become aware of how we look, not just outside but also inside. We must open up the chasm of our soul and let the reflection of the light pour through us.

Ayin asks us to bring into being the essence of light, color. Doesn't it make your feel good when you put on your first new spring outfit? Think of it! I'll bet that most of us love to buy the pastel hues of the spring season, and that we feel different when we wear them! I saw on the net the wonderful art in Central park, the color was glorious, I was particularly taken by one photo that was shot from a helicopter and showed the spirals of bright crimson floating against the sea of green that is the beloved park of New York! It spoke volume's about how one can use colors to bring new light and life into something which is otherwise so familiar that we take it for granted. Ayin asks all of us to do what the artist did in New York! Put some color into our lives! We are after all the reflection of creation in all its wonder, and we have all experienced times in our lives when everything seemed black, but when we come out of those times we seek light and color again as they symbolize the ability of life to survive!

Ayin,

the letter of sight, of seeing, the awakener of our sense of sight, the ruler of our eyes both spiritual and physical. We should all work on being filled with light, with the colors of the spectrum that is reflected from our souls center. Spring is a time of new beginnings, of new life reaching out of the old, it reminds all of us how we can become so used to seeing only black that our lives become mired in the quag and mud until no light can get in. Perhaps you don't have a whole day to go out and enjoy the budding spring, but maybe when you drive home this evening from work you could stop for a few moments at a park, or a flower shop, or if you walk home window shop at the glitziest store on the block, sense the color, let it pour into your soul the energy that is reflected there.

Simply put, Ayin tells us that we must stop once in a while and take in the beauty that is around us, and more specifically the beauty from within us, so that we can begin to reflect who we truly are!