Ahron’s Heart – notes on the book by Shachter-Shalomi & Goelman

These are my own gleanings from a the book by Zalman Shachter-Shalomi & Yair Hillel Goelman (translated and edited), Ahron’s Heart: the prayers, teachings and letters of Ahrele Roth, a Hasidic reformer (2009, Ben Yehuda Press). I hope they encourage you to buy the book. I have paraphrased in order to clarify my own understanding, but there are also direct quotations from the book. The notes in square brackets are my own thoughts and responses, rather than ideas gleaned from the book itself.

Introduction

ix – “importance of reconnecting Jews to the sources of their own spirituality”
ix – “[Roth] saw faith in God as an essential and foundational aspect of one’s Jewish spiritual discipline. It was only through belief in God that a Jew could create a personal relationship with God that would be intimate, sustained, meaningful, and nourished.”
ix – goal to “repair and rebuild that state of simple belief among the Jewish people”
x – not ‘mind emptying’, but focusing on God’s presence in the world
xi – “all mitzvot … have elements of a physical action (assiyah), of speech (dibbur), and of mindfulness (machshavah).”
xi – “emunah—faith/belief—is an absolutely essential part of Jewish practice. Belief is a spiritual discipline that must be learned and practised. Every Jew, with hard work, is capable of learning and pracxtising the mitzvah of belief in God.”
xii – “consciousness and intention are themselves essential religious acts of a Jewish spiritual practice”
[Ahrele Roth 1894-1944]

1. The Life and Work of Ahrele Roth

2 “I always felt that there was in imprisoned fire in my heart to reveal the beauty of prayer … I saw that this was a major issue which upon the fixing of the world and the fixing of all souls depended.”
3 “commitment to connect all Jews to the deepest and most powerful forms of prayer”
4 the intensity of heart connection in the leader can enhance hasid’s prayer experience
4 depth of humility and broken-heartedness while leading prayer and ritual
5 true disciple see the teacher’s kavanah in mundane moments (e.g. making a unification when dipping spoon into soup)
5 be a moreh derekh, a teacher of the way, “someone who could guide and give encouragement to others on their spiritual paths”
6 Bluzhofer Rebbe said of Ahrele: “Heaven does not need your learning. I know that as soon as others see you, they will recognise you and rush to do repentance.”
8 [Find someone with whom you can speak about being with God.]
10 importance of ecstatic prayer
10 Berachot 53b “One who says amen to a blessing is more meritorious than the one who says the actual blessing.”
10 pray with intentionality, pray as a community, & affirm the prayers of the community
12 intentional eating
12 Torah study can be worship, not just scholarship

2. The Gate of Service (32 Mitzvot)

pp13-14

Belief – I believe in You.
One-ness – I know that You are One.
Mindfulness – I am ever mindful of You.
Greatness – I know that You are great.
Humility – I know that I am small before You.
Repentance – I return to You in repentance.
Bashfulness – I am bashful before You.
Awe – I am in awe of You.
Love – I love You.
Mitzvot – I accept Your mitzvot.
Joy – I am joyful with You.
Trust – I trust in You.
Rejection of False Gods – I reject negative thoughts and the false gods they serve.
Thankfulness – I thank You for everything.
Sanctification of Your Name – I sanctify Your Name with my life.
Jerusalem – I will always remember Jerusalem.
Souls – I know that You will free our souls.
Combatting Evil – I am committed to combatting evil.
Loving Others – I will love others as I love myself.
Cleaving to You – I will cleave to You in ultimate intimacy.
Walking with You – I will walk in Your ways.
A Holy Space – I will make a holy space for You to dwell within me.
Longing – I long for You.
Strength – I know that You give me strength to strengthen my heart.
Justice – I know that Your actions are just.
Redemption from Egypt – I remember that You redeemed us from Egypt.
Torah – I reject any thought that denies Your Torah.
Rejection of Arrogance – I will not be arrogant.
Rejection of Hatred – I will not hate Yisrael in my heart.
Imperfection – I know that I am not perfect.
Displeasure – I know that I have caused You displeasure.
To Never Forget – I will never forget You.

15 [Believe and cleave]
16 [What is belief? See p19ff]
16 Eccl. 12:14 “In the very end it is our Awe that will be heard in heaven.”
18 Sanctuary in my soul and body; communal sanctuary; personal sanctuary
19 God fills the world; nowhere where God is absent; God protects.
19 “it is God alone who provides the life-force to everything in Creation; that everything you can see and perceive—all of the wonders of Crewation—all his is from God alone. All thoughts that pass through our minds, all of these are also from the life-force created by God—even thoughts of impurity—for everything is ultimately from God.”
20 “by the arousing of love in your heart in every moment and in every hour, you are fulfilling the mitzvah of Loving God”
21 [Joy with God dissolves obstacles and negativity.]
21 [To worship with Joy and Awe feels like a koan—it pushes us to expand beyond ourselves.]
22 Sanctifying the Name is a soul-offering
22 When we bless God, God blesses us. [Whenever we bring blessing, we do experience and receive blessing.]
24 Cleave to someone who studies Torah for its own sake.
27 Prepare for shabbat so you can make the most of it when it comes [metaphor]
[‘Cleave to God in every moment.’ Is there any moment when we can confidently say, “it doesn’t matter if I’m not connected to God at this moment”? How would we decide and choose such a moment? How could any moment have a higher priority or value than cleaving to God? From this, it is clear that God is of ultimate concern in every moment, without exception.]
30 Ps 119:18 “Unveil my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things.” [Penetrate to deeper levels of Torah wisdom.]
35 God delights in ways we choose to do good.
35 Mending the soul depends on strengthening belief through overcoming trials.
35 “Simple faith is our inheritance.”
36 Belief began as a simple gift from God to Abraham.
37 Belief / emunah when we entered the wilderness.
37 We affirmed Belief at the Song of the Sea.
37 Shavuot, we accepted Belief again.

3. The Service of the Heart

43 [We, as Jews, have inherited the principle of Belief in one God.]
44 It is our sacred task to pass on Belief.
44 One-ness: Sh’ma
44 Mindfulness [God is in, behind everything; also outside, beyond, and more than, everything.]
45 [R. David Aaron: God of us / Eloheinu is in our personal unique world. God is God of all personal worlds.]
45 “There is no place that is absent of God’s creation and presence.”
47 Ahrele’s ‘Humility’: [This is the idea of ‘I am but dust and ashes.’ It’s not anavah as Alan Morinis describes it. This is self-attach and abasement! However, Ahrele’s concept can help us consider our negative traits. This is awareness of shortcomings, and actions through which we separate ourselves from God.]
48 Ahrele’s ‘Bashfulness’: [Shame & embarrassment for actions we’re not proud of.]
49 Awareness of impact through the worlds of our bad acts
50 Resolve to repair and return.
50 Awe – take on the yoke of God’s kingdom, and commitment to mitzvot.
51 Beware those things that distract us from Loving
52 Orientate towards Joy. Do mitzvot with Joy [not with a sense of burden or obligation]
52 Reject False Gods: evil thoughts, pride, arrogance, exaltation; boasting, jealousy, envy, hatred; dark thoughts of sadness, depression, worry, bitterness; thoughts of committing transgressions; thoughts of nonces, emptiness, lies.
53 Replace with Trust, and affirmation of God’s goodness: “Source of all that is good, the Source of loving-kindness, the Source of true compassion … of all that exists … all that comes to us continually, that benefits us and that repairs our souls”
53 Thank God continuously. [Deut. 8 God tested with hardships, teaching we don’t live solely through physical gifts.]
54 God is never-ending source of everything, including sorrows
[Precious that actions of every person matter to God.]
54 God brings good to the righteous and evil
55 [We make God holy and God makes us holy.]
56 Devote every aspect of ourselves to God.
56 Our hope – that total submission will result in atonement and pardon [but submission is the right move even without reward]
56 Hope that total submission contributes to repair in all worlds [the Four, and every person’s?]
57 [Think of Jerusalem as a metaphor of a physical realisation of wholeness, reconciliation & shalom – a visible place and situation where God’s presence is obvious, not hidden. And that this extends to all times and places. Such thought sensitises us to the pains and needs of the world, and, hopefully, stirs us to co-action with God in redeeming ourselves and others.]
58 [Combatting evil implies not doing something, so actively do good, and what is life- and God-affirming.]
58 AR echoes R. Akiva in accepting positive commandment of loving neighbour as self.
58 Abandon envy, divisiveness, hatred
[Strengthen ability to love by being in fellowship with devoted, God-oriented people.]
59 Attach yourself to the soul and essence of your spiritual mentor and guide
59 Pray for God’s compassion to arise, and flow into everywhere
[Whatever Love and Flow we receive, may we pass this on.]
59 Cleaving in closest possible intimacy.
60 Walking with God [Noah, Abraham, Moses, Micah]
60 Holy Space Within Me: be a dwelling place for God
62 Longing leads to closeness
[Strength is an attribute, but not a virtue unless it’s in the service of goodness.]
63 [God ‘protects’ is not a literal statement about the physical world. If I turn to God, all dangers and misfortunes can be experienced as if through God’s eyes.]
64 [Ahrele stretches the definition of Justice beyond what I can handle. Worldly injustices and suffering of innocents aren’t part of God’s mystical ‘justice’. That’s an unacceptable claim of Job’s ‘comforters’.]
64 Leaving Egypt = leaving ‘darkness and foolishness’
65 [It is the God-principle and cleaving to God that rescues us. The rescue can lead to hope and strengthening. But equally, hope and strength can rescue us. Perhaps that’s the interdependence.”
65 Strengthen others [especially those dependent on us. And being in that role can strengthen us. We mustn’t use others’ reliance on us for our own benefit; that’s exploitation. But helping another also can rescue the helper.]
65 Don’t let [the accumulation] of our sins separate us from God
66 Pray that any merits we may have will bring others to God
67 Pray that nobody connect to us is pulled down by our shortcomings.
67 Caution against: inflation, anger, being sever or exacting. Cultivate: reserve, consideration, humility, acting from place of true joy
[Can’t save people from directing negativity, but we can cultivate not receiving insults or wounds.]
68 [There’s no accounting method that can demonstrate we deserve God’s kindness, because there are many debts and penalties we have incurred. And we can’t know if any good we have done register as significant, or offset our ‘debts’. Any good we receive we can therefore understand purely as an unmerited gift from God. This is God’s chesed.]
69 [May I never drop God from my awareness.]
69 Pray that those who depend on us [or are around us or affected by us] may not waiver from God [and, indeed, come closer to God].

4. The Importance of Belief

71 Conscious decision and [ongoing] intention to be in holy relationship with God.
71 Zalman: “faithing”
72 Believing / faithing can change me and my environment
72 God faiths us into existence
73 [Each prayer is experienced deeply for its associations and implications.]
73 Modeh ani – feel the gulf between self and God, and the extraordinary Divine gift
73 Shabbat 119b: amen is an acronym for ani Melech ne’eman ‘God is the faithful Sovereign’; and ne’eman has letters of amen in it – ‘Russian doll’ effect
74 [What is the mechanism of sanctification? Does God make us holy? Is the Torah holy from the start? We sanctify God’s name. ‘… Who makes us holy through mitzvot’ means that the doing of the mitzvot, i.e. the inclusion of our agency is integral to the sanctification process.]
[The kedushah is a performative utterance, making something holy in the very act of describing it. Saying ‘You are holy’ is the means by which I make You holy.]
75 R Zalman describes emunah as a spiritual field we create and sustain [and I believe we bring benefit to the world by doing so]

14 statements of faith [paraphrased]

God is infinite
God emanated, created, formed and made all worlds
God emanated [etc] all divine servants …
God fills the whole world – no place empty of God
God brings benevolent providence to everything
God provides specific providence to each element of Creation
Torah is true
Moses is the first source of wisdom
All the words of original Torah, and subsequent wise teachers and commentators represent Torah
All wisdom that has come since the 5 books of the Torah can also be found in the original Torah [definitely my interpretation of Ahrele!]
The Messiah will come speedily.
God will restore souls who have died.
God is One – there is no other.
God does good on my behalf in every moment.

79 Pray that our unseen acts are also done with love and awe.
79 May everything I do please God.
80 [If there are infinite servants, then God is infinitely served.]
82 [Problem: if all God’s ways are just, then God must be cruel. Ahrele doesn’t address this problem.]
82 All actions—including ours—and effects come from God [so how can humans be held accountable for anything?!]
83 Belief that God will hold us accountable for good and bad acts. [How does this fit with the previous point?!]
83 [What does ‘true’ mean here? Perhaps Torah leads us to mythic truths, and insights into what is valuable.]
[Why is Moses singled out in the traditional Jewish mind? Led us from slavery; trusting God; receiving commandments; model of leadership and humility; instigated values-led community; supported the underdog; never waivered from God.]
[Give high value to studying our former leaders and teachers.]
84 [Ahrele’s prohibition against new ‘customs’ and innovations argues directly against R. Zalman’s work. Having said that, Zalman embedded everything he did in the lineage and ancient texts. He was a paradox: an originalist with an original and contemporary response.]
84 [We do receive goodness and miracles through every Other, if we can but see that. This is current reality, and not just a fantasy about the future.]
[There are Messiahs all around us.]
84 Defining what to reject and what to embrace.
86 [Given that God is Source of all, I pledge my whole self to only]
86 Full service to God.
86 Commitment to relationship with God
87 God provides for us in so many ways we cannot know.
87 Trust in God for our needs [and guidance]
87 At the core [non-dually], all arises from and serves God, so there is no reason to fear or be sad. “I have no intention to worry or become depressed about anything in the world. I will not be afraid of anything, for everything is in service to You and Your divine will.”
88 God gives to us regardless of our shortcomings.
88 I bind myself to God.
89 Plant yirah / awe within us. [Fear is not a medium- or long-term motivator. It either demotivates, creates resistance, or dulls vitality and creativity. Awe and reverence are better motivators.]
90 Keep us from lust and vices.
90 Save from pride, anger, deceit, gossip, envy.
90 Constant rejoicing in god.
91 “May no moment of our life … be empty of You.”

5. A Talk Before Prayer

93 Don’t attach to your self image
93 Don’t mislead others with a false image of yourself
[It’s exhausting trying to hide oneself from God.]
93 Be transparent so our true self is visible [and available].
93 Our ‘self’ must be strong to resist negativities inside and outside ourselves.
95 [Zeal – being proactive in finding ways to serve God.]
[We can serve God through each person we meet.]
96 Come to bittul (self effacement) through zeal
[Make oneself transparent so that God’s light shines through the person, rather than it being blocked.]
97 Study of Torah must be actioned through good deeds.
[Yirah-awe and anavah-humility are two sides of a coin.]
100 [‘Opening lips’ at Amidah – step aside, and then become a channel for God to provide the right words for the prayer at that time and place.]
[Some acts of apparent goodness are to inflate oneself or get reflected glory.]
101 Serve your ‘friend’, no matter who they are.
102 [A calling is to live not for ourselves, but for God, and to serve God through lifting up others.]
[Through lifting another, we lift God’s face as seen in the other, and that gives us peace. (Priestly Blessing)]
[In your mode of praying, don’t exalt yourself above others.]
102 Cultivate one point of awareness [of reverence?]
103 Imitation is not the way – we must each find our own path of bittul / self effacement.

6. The Letters of Ahrele Roth

108 ‘dry river’ – vision of spirituality falling apart
108 “And God said: ‘Take the spiritually impoverished and those with embittered hearts and bring them into your home to feed them from your own bread and clothe them with your own clothes.’ I raised my hand to my Father in Heaven and asked, ‘How can I deal with all this woundedness, for I myself have no bread or clothing?’ And this is how God responded to me, for all of this internal awareness was occurring within my own thought: ‘A person is never asked for something that is not in his hand to provide. He can only give that which he has, and he will give it with a full heart. That which you are lacking, your desires, will be provided for by your colleagues and friends.’”
109 inspire others to love God
109 spiritual insight can arise from mutually loving and supportive community
110 Feeling low, defeated, broken-hearted, sense of all efforts being in vain and wasted, and many obstacles
110 Remember the light one has brought, and seeds one has sown
[We can plant seeds that grow though we never return to see. Keep faith the seed planting is worth it.]
[It’s understandable that we are fortified to see our seed flourish. But remember, that all flourishing ultimately comes from God.]
111 Hear and feel the breathing of your friend
[Gather with those who serve God, or who are searching for God.]
112 Anywhere is holy, if we bring prayer and blessing there.
113 Maintain constant devotion.
113 Continue to practise even if it runs counter to your environment
114 beware getting caught by compliments and status afforded by others
115 Allow yourself to experience ‘bitterness’ [or negative emotion] once a week at most. Then focus on joy. [NB Negativity before shabbat is an interesting choice. Shabbat provides maximum joy as an antidote. That might even discourage us from even one moment of negativity.]
115 Avoid politics. [Politics never cleanly align with Torah, or following what is spiritually right in the moment.]
116 [We talk of what saddens, pains, angers, or delights God. That seems meaningful, and helps. And yet …. This anthopmorphises God, and suggests our tiny, insignificant lives can impact God. Is God vulnerable? If not, God is not relatable. All our intentional interactions, especially prayer, imply God is influenceable.]
117 Make oneself ‘lowly’, then God will reveal Godself, and the heart will be lifted.
117 The lowly must reach for God.
118 Have the chutzpah to enter Heaven.
119 God’s light is present everywhere, whether or not we see it. Story: blin prince is joyful, because he knows when he is in the king’s palace even though he can’t see it.
119 Times can be very dark – keep the faith.
121 [As long as we live for God, we can be content, whatever the length of our life.]
122 “the root of all roots is joy” [Focus more on joy, and help us do so.]
122 “The value of a group is very great.”
123 Begin all encounters with joy.
123 Bring joy to others
123 Maintain tradition of Torah learning
124 Ahrele didn’t seek followers who would become dependent
125 All depends on prayer [What does AR call ‘prayer’ then?]
126 “God’s way is to create healing before the wound.” [!!] Deut. 32:39 “I have wounded and I shall heal.”
127 Keep daily prayer going.
[No matter our practice or stage of personal evolution, we can have off-moments.]
[However dark the moment, we can still pray, thank God, serve God, cleave to God.]
128 Perennial mitzvot in relation to God: have faith; love God; hold God’s Oneness; remember God always; fear God; cleave to God; accept God’s rule
128 Give some time to sorrow, and focus mostly on joy, and helping others from sorrow to joy [Ps 30:11 turn sorrow into dancing]
129 Every small service to God is precious
[Keep the flame of our Jewish contribution alight.]
130 Clean mind, joyful heart
130 Joy is most necessary when we don’t feel like it.
[God owes us nothing, so don’t complain, and don’t live with a sense of entitlement. And yet … we are called the children of God, loved by God. Paradox. Koan.]
131 Break out of habits of sadness [or negativity]