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On unity, trance, and Israel

By David Komer
One of the fundamental tenets of Judaism is
that God is absolutely unique. Using words to
convey the essence of God is impossible because any
description is necessarily a limitation, and even
nonverbal thought cannot grasp that which is
absolutely transcendent. For example, His unity is
not like the unity of the human circulatory system
nor is it similar to a single blood cell unit.
However, manifestations of unity are expressed
by God in our world and can therefore teach us how
to live in peace with ourselves, our nation, our
world, and God. Furthermore, these four levels are
intimately linked and therefore inner peace has a
direct effect on global consciousness.
I will attempt to illuminate the above concept
through metaphor and explanation, starting with a
story from my own life. It begins at a
Trance/Nature party in the Israeli desert on Erev
Shabbat of Fall '99. At a naive first glance, the
event was perfect. A true autonomy where communal
will reflects individual desires. Jews and Arabs
dancing together and exchanging kind words. The
most sophisticated advances in Digital Signal
Processing being used purely to get the crowd
dancing. Almost perfect.
What then, you may ask, went wrong? What would
lead me back to Israel 5 years later to sanctify
our land by observing our sacred Torah? The answer
is incredibly simple. The beauty of the party is in
people truly coming together in unity, yet
completely maintaining their individuality.
Sometimes we lack the courage and insight to ask
what our soul is and how we can express it in this
world. For a long time, I was afraid to incorporate
the essential part of my answer.
The only problem with this party was that my
driving there was a violation of the holy Shabbat
laws, and this made my soul uncomfortable.
These four levels of unity mentioned above can
be seen in other examples as well. Keep in mind
that all of these examples apply superficially to
the specific level, but a deeper reading shows that
they are all analogies for each other.
On the individual level we can see this concept
in biology. In order for an individual person to
survive, they must have a unified circulatory
system. For the circulatory system to function
properly, the heart must maintain its rhythm and
identity as must the other differentiated
components.
On the national level, survival depends on the
proper training of judges, engineers, farmers, etc.
Equally as critical is the proper interaction
between them.
On the global level, the survival of Earth is
determined by the interactions of various
nations. Our nation, Israel, has known its purpose
for thousands of years. Through keeping the Torah
sacred by instituting the Torah law in our borders,
we will be able to live beside our neighbors with
mutual respect and then work together to make Earth
a sacred space.
With our relationship to God, who encompasses
and permeates all reality, the fact that we exist
is incredibly mysterious and even more paradoxical
is that the more we become aware of this, the
stronger our relationship to God becomes. By
meditating on the essence and relationships found
in and around each of us, we become more aware of
how space, time, and spirit relate to God. We
should all be blessed to have a relationship with
God that is filled with peace, love, unity, and
respect.

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