Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's blog
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 29th, 2011
An important Talmudic rule says, “‘We didn’t see it’ is no proof [that it doesn't exist or that it didn't happen]“. In Hebrew, “sight” (רְאִיָה) and “proof” (רְאָיָה) – both from the root “to see” (ראה) – are spelled the same but vocalized differently. When two qualified (kosher) witnesses see an event and testify to [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 25th, 2011
Both the mind and the heart possess an “inner eye.” On Shabbat the inner eye of the mind opens to see Godliness in contemplative meditation. In the Temple the inner eye of the heart opens to see Godliness in heartfelt prayer. The verse says, “And they shall make for Me a sanctuary and I shall [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 23rd, 2011
“Keep My days of Shabbat and stand in awe of My Temple.” What do Shabbat and the Temple have in common? Both relate to the sense of sight. The verse “Keep My days of Shabbat and stand in awe of My Temple, I am God” (‘את שבתתי תשמרו ומקדשי תיראו אני הוי) appears identically twice [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 22nd, 2011
Shabbat in relation to the weekdays is as sight to hearing. Throughout the week Divine vibrations fill my heart. On Shabbat I see Godliness. In the Zohar we learn that the word Shabbat (שבת) depicts the secret of the eye. The three branches of its first letter, shin (ש), allude to the three Patriarchs and to [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 21st, 2011
“Good in bad” (טוב ברע) = “bad in good” (רע בטוב) equals 289 = “good” (טוב ,17) squared. The phrases “good in bad” (טוב ברע) and “bad in good” (רע בטוב) appear only once in the Bible, juxtaposed in the same verse – “good in bad or bad in good” (Leviticus 27:10). In the context of [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 16th, 2011
The Torah lists by name the non-kosher birds. One of them is the ra’ah, literally “the seer.” The sages explain: It stands in Babylonia and sees a corpse in the Land of Israel. Babylonia (בבל) means “confusion” (בלבול). There God confused the tongues of the builders of the Tower of Babel. The Ba’al Shem Tov explains that [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 3rd, 2011
Each month of the year is associated with a sense. The sense of the month of Tamuz is sight. The month of Tamuz is the time of the year to rectify our sense of sight. The rectification of sight (on the spiritual plane, which manifests on the physical plane as good eyesight) entails two complementary [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 24th, 2011
In this world we can reach deeper into the soul by hearing than by seeing. But good sight is also important. We see beauty and hear truth. In Hebrew, beauty, yofi = 100 = 10 squared. Truth, emet = 441 = 21 squared. Together they equal 541, a prime number, the gematria of Israel. Jacob [...]