The following three entries were thoughts from Shabbos, 9 Elul 5759 Treasure A king once summoned a trusted and beloved servant to him. He showed him a huge treasure house and handed the servant slip of paper with some writing on it. "A combination. The key to the treasurehouse. Whoever has it may take for himself what he will. However you may never give, show or describe the detail of the key to any other person. " The servant thought about how to share his good fortune with his whole village. He carefully considered the king's word and remained faithful to it. Very soon each villager was able to enter the treasurehouse. The king was both pleased with the wisdom of his servant, and more than happy to share his limitless riches. How did it happen? The servant described in detail, not the combination, but the lock. Knowing the construction and intricacies of how the lock worked each villager was able to "reverse engineer" the combination. If three Names and three segulos are the key, what is the lock? The Shape of Our Souls To ascend from one spiritual level to another one must pass through "doors", taking a quantum leap, a change from one framework of reality to the next. Yet the door seems closed for most of us. It appears as a wall, blocking our way. First we need to recognize that it is a door, not a wall. Then we need to know how to pass through. What is the key to the door? We are. It is unlocked by our transforming our own self, moulding our souls through Torah and mitzvvot, shaping our inner selves to pass through. The Experience of Reality I was walking to shul I saw the trees. But did I? I wondered... The shape the color, the size, the texture: These are my experience of the tree. At another level the tree is cells, molecules, atoms -- at a deeper level it is a result of letters - of the spiritual forces which animate it. My experience of the tree is real,but it is not the tree. I see my hand, snap my fingers. I experience the feel, sight and sound of the process. Yet even when it is a part of me, my experience is NOT my hand. Like the tree, it too, is ultimately being constantly created and invested with life by the Creator. Everything is. Not just things, but the space and time in which things exist. The world is full of G-d's creative force. Every centimeter, every second, every action, every word, every thought. Filling us. Surrounding us. If I close my eyes I no longer am able to experience the colors of the tree. Remove my hand from its surface, and I become unaware of the the textures and temperatures, cover my ears and cannot sense the rustling of the wind through its leaves. To experience existence we need the appropriate vessels to receive the experience. And what is the vessel through which I can perceive the underlying G-dly forces which causes existence to exist? And how many spiritual senses are there? What is the experience and how does it affect the one who experiences it? Most important, how do we develop these vessels within ourselves. There have been those who have known. It is our task to learn from them. Shoshana's Page