Introduction

The Fifth Dimension

With regard to all five ascending levels of consciousness, each previous level becomes null (“as a candle at high noon”) when one rises to the succeeding level. This can be illustrated geometrically by the fact that a zero-dimensional point becomes null when incorporated within a one-dimensional line. That line, in turn, becomes null in a two-dimensional plane, which again loses its identity within a three-dimensional cube. In postulating the fourth dimension of time as being integrally bound to the three dimensions of space, Einstein posited that three-dimensional space alone is virtually null within four-dimensional space-time. Sefer Yetzirah speaks of yet a fifth dimension, an infinite coordinate of moral depth. Every additional dimension makes the previous state of reality appear to be null in relation to it.

A true vision of redemption depends on the ability of the individual to reveal new dimensions of spiritual attainment that until now had been hidden. However, there exists within this vision of redemption a basic existential paradox. No matter how hard we try to manifest a perfected future within an unrectified present, the fact remains that the present is not the future. The only way of reaching the future is by coming to grips with and repairing the present. Within this dilemma lies the importance of understanding vision as a process in progress, one that grows out of the present and ultimately gives birth to the future. At the same time, the vision of redemption—though ethereal and hard to always imagine—resonates as a deep truth within the soul.

In order to further understand this process it is important to grasp the intrinsic connection between vision and hod, the eighth of the ten sefirot, which exemplifies the faculty of acknowledgment in the soul.[1] One of the meanings derived from the root of the word hod, as noted in our introductory definition of leadership, is “thanksgiving.” If one lacks a rudimentary sense of gratitude and the ability to express it, one has no viable gateway to relate to God.

These two companion meanings of hod—acknowledgment and thanksgiving—when applied to a vision of redemption, relate to the future and the present respectively.

By acknowledging the promise of a glorious future, even though at times it may seem incomprehensible in terms of existing reality, we help to hasten its advent. By giving thanks and being joyous in the present moment we open our hearts and minds to experience higher dimensions of future consciousness already seeded in the present.

Another meaning of the root of hod is “confess.” In the Talmud[2] we find the expression ten todah, which can be translated as “give thanks” or as “confess.” Confessing one’s wrongdoing and relieving oneself of the burden of guilt is the first step in repentance. When the process of repentance and atonement is complete, one’s natural response is indeed a deep sense of thanks-giving.

The root of the word for “wrongdoing” or “sin” (averah) is the same as that of the word for “past” (avar). On a certain spiritual level, everything done in the past—even good deeds—is wrong in relation to the present or the future if it has lulled one into complacency, into not making an attempt to improve or strive harder each succeeding day. This confirms the spiritual principle that on the ladder of life if one is not ascending, one is descending.

Rabbi Saadia Gaon,[3] a great Torah scholar and community leader in Babylonia over a thousand years ago, wrote that everyone should “repent” for yesterday, no matter how good it was, for in relation to today it is already limited. In connection with this teaching, he related the following story.

Once he visited a city and was hosted most graciously by a perfect stranger who did not know the status of his guest. Soon after Rabbi Saadia Gaon left his house, the host found out that his guest had been the great sage. He ran after him in consternation and, upon finding him, begged for forgiveness. Rabbi Saadia Gaon was quite puzzled and reassured his host that the hospitality had been truly wonderful and had lacked nothing. The host replied: “Had I known who you were, I would have treated you a thousand times better.”

This incident, which had a great effect upon the sage, served in his writings as an example as to how we should grow in our consciousness of God from day to day. Our prayer to God, like the plea of the gracious host to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, should be: “Had I known You yesterday as I know You today, I would have tried a thousand times more to serve You as befits You.” The sense of confession and repentance for our lack of Divine consciousness, when considered in a positive light, becomes the fuel thrusting us forward in the present towards the future.

The three meanings of hod enumerated above—“thanks-giving,” “acknowledgment,” and “confession”—relate as well to the Ba’al Shem Tov’s three stages of spiritual growth: “submission, separation, and sweetening.”

The response of the soul to the past—involving confession and repentance—depends on the quality of “submission.” Gratitude to God for all the manifold blessings experienced in the present moment rests on one’s ability to achieve “separation” of the mind and heart from the anxiety of yesterday and the uncertainty of tomorrow, feeling instead God’s Presence and Divine assistance in the present moment. Acknowledging an infinitely better future represents the “sweetening” as it reveals glimpses of a changing reality even now in an unrectified world. Although the vision of redemption is but a means and a process, its reward is the experience of all future levels of spiritual attainment in some measure in the present.

The expression “coming into days”—from the verse which we examined in our discussion of the second dynamic of leadership: “And Abraham grew old, coming into days, and God blessed Abraham with all”—alludes to Abraham’s ability to draw ever higher dimensions of reality into his daily life. A visionary who walks before his generation, inventing, revealing, and initiating new insights is termed “ahead of his time.” He is, in fact, a bridge above time, drawing not only the future into the present but leading the past and the present into the future.

The Way to Pleasantness and Peace

The central prayer of Judaism, the Shema, includes the following declaration:

And it will be—if you vigilantly obey My commandments which I command you this day, to love God your God and serve Him with your entire hearts and with your entire souls—that I will give rain for your land in its proper time, the early rain and the late rain, and you will harvest your grain and your wine and your oil. And I will provide grass in your fields for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied. Beware lest your hearts be swayed and you turn astray, and you worship alien gods and bow to them. And God’s fury will blaze against you, and He will close off the heavens and there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce; and you will perish swiftly from the good land that God gives you…[1]

These words serve as a reminder that the amount of rain, and its subsequent blessings, depends ultimately on the actions of human beings. Nature and how it treats us is thus a reflection of our level of righteousness. Once the entire Jewish people return to God and His Torah, a resulting shift will occur in the balance of nature, causing it to “behave.” Likewise, one of the changes to be perceived on an inner personal level at the advent of the Messianic age will be the gradual disappearance of mental and emotional friction. At present, the inner world of mind and heart vibrates mostly with static and psychic disturbance. In the future, we will begin to tune in to more and more dimensions of reality, without the accustomed static interference. People will be simply content, and this transitional time will be marked by a lack of the suffering so much identified with worldly existence.

The purification of our inner spheres will cause a corresponding change in the physical atmosphere of nature itself, eventually leading to the second level of the Messianic age when nature assumes supernatural proportions, as in the prophecy of Isaiah:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid….

This innate peace between all the elements of creation[2] relates to all peoples coming to the truth of Torah, whose ways, in the words of the Proverbs, are “ways of pleasantness and all its pathways are peace.”[3]

Among the ten sefirot, the Divine wisdom of the Torah is synonymous with chochmah (“wisdom”) and the supernatural. Although in this world the Torah appears to mirror reality, only when we ascend to the second level of Messianic consciousness, when physical reality begins to transform, will we become aware that the truth is quite the opposite—nature is a reflection of the Torah, which is, in the deepest sense, a blueprint for all creation.[4] Though this is on occasion apparent within the confines of normative reality, it takes a clear mind, free of psychic disturbance, to perceive and appreciate this view.

The total metamorphosis of nature will occur at the third level—the resurrection of the dead. Nature and its inherent properties of entropy and death will be transformed and transcended by their antithesis—eternal life.[5] This phenomenon was revealed briefly to the Jews at Mt. Sinai, when all the souls left their bodies upon hearing each Divine utterance. The souls instantaneously returned through the “dew of resurrection.” Their incentive to give so completely to God emanated from an intuitive understanding that the soul is in essence “a part of God above.” When we reach that elevated level, we will tap into the Divine life force, the secret of the resurrection of the dead.

Although the vision of redemption is highly idealistic, it gives clarity to both the good and the seemingly less than good of the present moment. By setting a high standard, it spurs us not only to dream but to work to make our dreams come true.

A House in Order

The return of the Jews to their homeland after almost two thousand years of exile—and the subsequent rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in the State of Israel coming only a few short years after the Holocaust—has created a plethora of new opportunities as well as monumental problems for the Jewish people. Although there have been many shining examples of heroism and bravery, and even glimpses of authentic leadership during the formation and growth of the State of Israel, there is a growing awareness from all sides that classical Zionism and its vision of leadership is unprepared and inadequate to address the true challenges that face the Jewish people.

As the people of Israel grapple with their religious and cultural identity and the seemingly unresolvable political and military conflicts with their Arab neighbors, this feeling only increases.

Outside of Israel, Jewish communities are floundering as they try to deal with the staggering problems of assimilation. Bleak predictions speak of the steady erosion of Jewish population; indeed, the very existence of a Jewish Diaspora in the near future is in question.

And yet Isaiah, who formulated the first universal vision of mankind, saw the Jews as “a light unto the nations,” leaving one of the most powerful images engraved on the Jewish psyche. This image has aroused the ire of many nations who resent this Divine appointment. Nevertheless, it is a reality that both the Jewish people and the world need to understand in its proper context. The subject of leadership vis-à-vis the Jewish people is not just an issue for the individual or a narrow, national question, but ultimately touches the very purpose and relationship of Israel to the world.

In a classic example of existential, spiritual paradox, at present, Israel must maintain its separate and unique identity in preparation for the ultimate state of unity among peoples that will prevail in the Messianic era. Furthermore, it is the mission of the Jewish people to bring the world to the stage where it will be ready for such a spiritual reality.

Such a mission is a tremendous responsibility and it requires true humility. The role of Jewish leadership ultimately emanates from an internal consciousness of submission to God’s will and a concurrent awareness that one needs to put one’s own house in order before looking elsewhere. It is always easier to find fault with others than to face those same personal deficiencies within oneself.

The message is clear. Before Israel can assume the type of leadership that the world so desperately needs, it must first look inward and regain its natural and authentic identity. Only then will Israel manifest itself externally on the world stage in its true and destined role, thus allowing the “lower waters” of secular knowledge and the “upper waters” of Divine wisdom to flow together, creating the cleansing waters for all mankind.

Postscript

Throughout this book we have encouraged the reader to apply his or her own unique qualities in order to realize leadership potential in every realm of life. Every person can see his or her own individual experience of returning to God as an example of how the whole world can do the same. Each and every redemptive act of rectification in this world thereby becomes one more stone in the pathway to the Messianic age.

The general rule regarding prophecy is that negative prophecies do not have to take place if people mend their ways, while good prophecies are guaranteed to become manifest. Though many years have passed since the prophecies quoted in this book were first voiced by the prophets, their timeliness actually increases as exile nears its end and redemption begins.

In the days to come, the Mount of God’s House shall stand firm above the mountains and tower above the hills. And all the nations shall stream to it. And the many peoples shall go and say:

“Come, let us go up to the Mount of God, to the House of the God of Jacob—that He may instruct us in His ways, that we may walk in His paths.”

For from Zion shall come forth Torah, the word of God from Jerusalem…[1]

Endnotes

Introduction