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Mila Yomit 6
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Mila Yomit 6
MILA YOMIT 32: (VA'YOMER ELOHIM YEHEE) RAQIYAA
Breishit 1:6
TRANSLATION: (AND THE CREATOR SAID: "LET THERE BE) A FIRMAMENT
PREVIOUS WORDS:
VA'YOMER- and Said (see MILA 18)
ELOHIM-THE CREATOR (see MILA 3)
-seventh mention of the NAME
-second time in relation to verb -VA'YOMER-
-Sefer Yetzira explains that this corresponds to the the
unfolding of the Sephira:Power or Mode
of Bina:Understanding. As we discussed earlier, each of the
ten acts of 'speaking' in the
Creation relates to the unfolding of one of the Sephirot of
the Tree of Life.
In Yom Echad:Day One, "Va'Yomer Elohim: And the
Creator Said" denotes the manifestation of Chachma: Wisdom.
Now as the 'second day' is beginning
Bina:Understanding is brought in. This is where "division
exists, and where things are delineated and
defined as separate objects." (Yetzira, p. 12)
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YEHEE-Let There Be (see MILA !9)
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RAQIYAA-new word
OTIOT:LETTERS
REISH (R)-consciousness
KUF (Q)-redemption
YOD (Y)-Divine Spark
AYIN (AA)-eye, sight
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RELATED AND SIMILAR WORDS
RaQiYAA- is a masculine noun meaning 'firmament, heaven, expanse, canopy'.
It is related to 'RaQAA-to spread out, to stretch,to hammer out
ReQAA-means 'background, foundation'.
RoQAA- means 'ceiling'
Hirsch connects it to 'karkaa'(kuf,resh,kuf,ayin)- ground (trodden firm or
flat)
Mozeson connects it to the English- 'reach'-to extend out and the word
'rack' (Medieval stretching torture)
RaQ(reish, kuf) means 'only'. Backwards it is 'QaR'-cold.
Interestingly, backwards it is the word 'AAQaR'-(spelled, ayin, yod, kuf,
reish- or more often 'ayin,kuf,resh')
AaQaR- is a ver meaning to uproot, remove. As a masculine noun is means
barren or impotent.
EeQaR (ayin, kuf, resh) means root, essence, foundation, principle.
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CONTEXTUAL MEANING:
Rashi:" Let the expanses become fixed; for although the heavens were
created on the first day, they were still in fluid form, and they become
solidified only on the second day when the Divine said "Yehee Raqiyaa."
This is interesting in light of the scientific theory that the material
world began to form as the light-heat of the Big Bang explosion 'cooled
down'.
Ibn Ezra explains that RAQIYAA means somethings that is stretched out, and
that in this verse it refers specifically to the atmosphere..."when the
primal light intensified upon the earth and the (moisture laden) wind
evaporated, the primal flame changed and became the firmament." (Artscroll,
p.4
Hirsch explains that if RAQIYAA is related to 'raqaa'-as in spread out- than
it would be referring here to be "characterization of the air, as the
gaseous expansion in contrast to the denser water and earth...the atmosphere
which fills the space between the water below and the waters above...(it
also means) flattening out, stamping down...beating thin...According to that
'RAQIYAA' would means, as it were, the lower surface of the heaven which
appears to us a a dome over and about the earth." (Hirsch, p. 13)
Zohar: Let there be a gradual extension...
(("According to the teachings of Kabbala, reality is a composite of images
produced by the play of the light of Infinity. Both human consciousness and
the physical world result from the progressive screenings of 'enclothements'
of light into images. The purpose of such screenings is to allow the world
to manifest and not be obliterated. Rocks, trees, the human body -all
physical objects- are images or forms ('vessels') which themselves are made
of 'thickened' light: so opaque, however that the inner 'spark' of infinite
life is concealed.
...Just as Einstein has show that matter is only a form of energy, the light
of Infinity is both the life force or creative energy of the universe, and
its only substance. The inner essence of this light is God's love."
(Afterman, Z"L, Kabbalah and Consciousness, P. 5))
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VA'YOMER ELOHIM "YEHEE RAQIYAA"
The Light begins to form into matter. The Creator begins to 'subdivide'.
"Let the 'shamayim:heavens (see Mila 5) be stretched forth and solidify."
The background and foundation of space begins to be defined, delineated.
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"The Psalmist says" Forever, O God, Your word stands in the heavens".
(Psalms 119:89).
The Baal Shem Tov explains that "Your word" refers to the saying "God said,
"There shall be a firmament..."
(Genesis 1:6) The words and letters of this saying stand and remain forever
within the firmament of the heavens giving them existence. If they would be
removed, even for an instance, everything would revert to nothingness."
(Innerspace, p. 114)
May we enter deeply the light of the 'words and the letters',
for they are the foundation of this existence.
MILA YOMIT 33 : BE'TOCH (HAMAYIM, VA'YHEE MAVDIL BEN MAYIM LA'MAYIM)
Breishit !:6
TRANSLATION: IN THE MIDST (OF THE WATER, AND LET IT DIVIDE BETWEEN WATER AND
WATER)
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NEW WORD- BE'TOCH
OTIOT: LETTERS
BET (B)- preposition meaning 'in'- the letter Beit is the House 'in' which
existence take place. (See MILA !)
TAV(T) -last letter, Seal of Creation- soft Tav, literally pronounced 's'
(literally making the Mila pronounced 'be'soch')
VAV (V)- connection
KHAF Sofit (KH)-final Khaf, (mystically the final Khaf represents the first
attribute, "Keter:Crown of Supernal Will, extending down to connect the end
of creation with its very beginning, showing that everything reunites with
its root in the Will of G-d". (from manuscript on Ophanim: Yoga of the
Ancient Hebrews by Rabbi Daveed
El Harar, to be published this spring))
(It seems all the letters are 'vessel' type letters with the 'vav' of
connection running through them)
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RELATED WORDS OR MEANING
TOCH is a masculine word meaning 'middle, midst, centre, inside'. When used
in conjuction with time
it means 'within', or 'during'
TEVECH-(tav, vav, khaf sofit.) is a transitive verb meaning 'to mediate,'
divide in the middle, bisect, cut in
two halves'.
Mozeson explains that there is a pattern of 'vav' switching to 'r' in the
development of the languages and identifies the word 'through' as derived
from TOCH.
(Backwards can be read as 'kotev (khaf,vav, tav, bet)-which means 'write')
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-repeated words:
HA'MAYIM- THE WATERS,
VA'YEHEE-AND LET IT
MAVDIL-DIVIDE
BEIN-BETWEEN
MAYIM-WATER
LA'MAYIM- TO WATER
(verse 6 ends.)
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CONCEPTUAL MEANING:
On BETOCH: Rashi: In the 'exact' centre of he waters; because there is the
same distance between the upper waters and the firmament and the waters that
are upon the earth and the firmament.
Hirsch discusses the division of waters above and below which is the result
of the RAQIYAA firmament being placed BE'TOCH HAMAYIM: In the midst of the
water or waters.
"Before G-d separated the dry land from the water (to take place later in
the Creation), and thus remove the indispensable dissolving element of
mayim:water from the earth, the Creator raised water up above and arched the
vault of the heaven which we see, the 'raqiyaa:firmament" on all sides over
the earth. To this vault, henceforth the earth sends up its vapour which as
clouds from above absorb the water and give it back to the thirty earth and
its thirsty creatures." (Hirsch, Genesis, p. 12)
Divine Love watering life in the dome of creation.
. ------------------------
On YOM ECHAD: Day One , the 'pulsation of energy states' begins (AUR: LIght
and CHOSECH:Darkness)
and is followed by the creation and division of time (YOM:Day and LAYLA;
Night)
The next moment begins:
"VA'YOMER ELOHIM 'YEHEE RAQIYAA
BETOCH HA"MAYIM VA'YEHEE MAVDIL BEN MAYIM LE'MAYIM:
And the Creator Spoke: 'Let there be a firmamet in the midst of the water of
existence and let it divide the waters."
Verse 1:6 describes the Creator initiating expansion of space, and
designing a divider that offers the possibility of differentiation. The
experience of space requires a vastness and the experience of distance
within that vastness. And so the Divine Unfolding into matter continues as a
'here' and a 'there' are brought into being. Boundaries are being drawn.
Divisions made.
The 'raqiyaa:firmament' is being placed BETOCH HA'MAYIM : In the middle of
the water.
MAYIM (mem, yod, mem) :Water is a Mila that contains within it two Mems
(mem means water) and divided by the Yod.the Divine Spark within all
existence. Thus the YOD in the Mila MAYIM can perhaps be seen as the
firmament in the midst of the waters.
A multileveled reality is beginning to unfold.
"Creation must exist as an independent entity, and therefore cannot be
totally infused with the Divine Presence.'
---------------------
Let us look up and see the wondrous firmament that sorrounds, sustains and
supports us.
The Living Waters of the Creator filling all creation.
Be'Shalom
Itzchak
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Logistics: Just finished verse 6. Only had two new words. We are beginning
to experience the repetition of words more than the introduction of new
words.
Two interesting comments were shared with me today and I asked the person
inolved if I could share their teachings with the other participants on this
list and they were happy to do that.
During Chanukah, I invited people to see which the 25th word of the Torah
is. It is Aur:Light,
On this Marsha Fensin who recently joined this list commented:
"Thank you for the invitation to reply to the Chanukah question, which I
just
received. Since I am a cantor, let me give you a "cantorial" reply: The
25th
word, Ohr, light, has an etnachta under it. This is a trope which separates
one
thought of a pasook from another. It is one way to make you pause before
continuing the chanting. The trope tells us to pause and reflect on the
word
"light." The etnachta also looks like two legs standing on the ground and
is
below the word--all of which might be telling us that the light is for us
here
on the ground and that we must do something with it, rather than just
contemplate its beauty. A definite message for human beings to have to do
something with the light G-d has given us. What do you think ? Marsha
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Yesterday we were introduced to RAQIYAA:firmament.
Kabbalistic astrologer Joseph Mark Cohen commented:
"reb yehosafe of katan hay ( the little one of " b' heeebarramm" ) the
hay that denotes the turning from the involution of genesis to the
evolution of Ha'adam, this one considers the rakiyah to be a canopy of
breath, an atmospheric dome that kept us warm & toasty before the ice
ages arrived & atlantis went scuba diving ( on day five with the
dolphins from Sirius) , an exhalation given us like a kiss from the
realm of the elohim, a kiss of ruahhh kadoshhh condensed & potentized
thru the filter of the 10 spheres , then spread thin thru the seventy
languages of this earth & absorbed by adamah thru the roots of all the
trees that breath from the canopy of the rakiya. You can be a tree &
breath this breath thru each of the four worlds. Notice how it feels to
bring the rakiyah from olam yetzirah (the yod) to olam assiah (the
ayin). This brings the Infitite Light thru the 10 spheres of your tree
of life to the very roots of your breath at the place where you source
the letter ayin ( separdic pronounciation: aiyyyy yyinnnn , Pull in
that diaphragm! )
Shalom from mercaz rakiya !
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