If You Want To View Paradise, Simply Look Around And View It
Shabbos Mevarchim Cheshvan | Parshat Bereishit - "In The Beginning"
וְנָהָר֙ יֹצֵ֣א מֵעֵ֔דֶן לְהַשְׁק֖וֹת אֶת־הַגָּ֑ן וּמִשָּׁם֙ יִפָּרֵ֔ד וְהָיָ֖ה לְאַרְבָּעָ֥ה רָאשִֽׁים׃
A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches:
—
Our streams of consciousness issue from Eden to water our worlds, four rivulets at a time.
Like the four rows of jewels on the High Priest’s breastplate.
The UMass Amherst Alumni Association hosts frequent online events. I highly recommend taking a peek at their past event recordings and upcoming events. In August, they interviewed David Allen, the world’s leading expert on stress-free productivity. Allen mentioned a study that sought to answer the question: “how many things can we think about at once?”
The study by Nelson Cowan, finds that:
Working memory is organized into two embedded levels. The first consists of long-term memory representations that are activated. There can be many of these—there is theoretically no limit to the activation of representations in long-term memory. The second level is called the focus of attention. The focus is regarded as having a limited capacity and holds up to four of the activated representations. [17]
If there are updates to the findings of this study, please let me know. This is an useful piece of knowledge to carry with you and remind yourself of when you’re juggling bunches of tasks, to be productive without being stressed, try to trim the number of items on your to-do list and in your mind to just four.
…שִׁוִּ֬יתִי יְהֹוָ֣ה לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד
(8) I am ever mindful of Hashem’s presence…
יְ-הֹ-וָ֣-ה Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey (4 letters in Hashem’s name).
For Aharon Razel’s beautiful song to these words
Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 1:1
(1) Rem"a: "I have set the four letters of God’s name before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah…1
Taanit 10a:8
(8) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The entire world drinks from the runoff of the Garden of Eden, as it is stated: “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden” (Genesis 2:10).
.ח׳)אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי כׇּל הָעוֹלָם כּוּלּוֹ מִתַּמְצִית גַּן עֵדֶן הוּא שׁוֹתֶה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְנָהָר יֹצֵא מֵעֵדֶן
“If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it.”
-Gene Wilder, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971
There’s no better time to simply look around and view paradise than on Shabbat. Shabbos is the Eden from which all bracha, all blessing, flows, into the gardens we each work, each week. (Finally a full week ahead!) Sit, and wait for Shabbos, enter Shabbat with the beautiful tune of Rabbi Aharon of Karlin, ‘Yah Echsof, God, I long for the sweetness of Shabbat’, played here by Andy Statman, while reading a portion of the words from the song below. The zemer in its entirety can be found here and here.
Make Your compassion embracing
Make Your mercy overflow for Your holy nation,
To water those thirsting for Your kindness
From the river that issues from Eden
To crown Israel with glory
Who beautify You through Your Shabbos Kodesh:
וְיִהְיוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ מִתְגּוֹלְלִים עַל עַם קָדְשֶׁךָ
לְהַשְׁקוֹת צְמֵאֵי חַסְדֶּךָ מִנָּהָר הַיּוֹצֵא מֵעֵדֶן
לְעַטֵּר אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתִפְאֶרֶת
:הַמְפָאֲרִים אוֹתְךָ עַל יְדֵי שַׁבַּת קָדְשֶׁךָ
Amherst Bucket List: Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Garden (Student Rec! Thanks, D!)
Shabbos and Upcoming Week
6:00p Yedid Nefesh all together in the tent outside Hillel
6:12 Lighting
6:30 Orthodox Services at Hillel
7:30 Friday Night Dinner at Franklin Dining Commons
9:30a Learning with Raffi
9:43 Sof Zman Kryiat Shema
10:00 Shacharit
12:30p Shabbat Lunch at Hillel
5:00 Learning at Hillel with Raffi
5:30 Mincha at Hillel
6:00 Third Meal at the Leicht’s
7:11 Earliest Maariv and Havdalah
10:00-11:00a Sunday Bagel Breakfast
7:00a Monday Morning Minyan at Hillel with Donuts and Coffee
8:00p Beis Hillel: Thursday Night Chabura Learning and Niggunim at Hillel
…and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. For a person's way of sitting, their movements and dealings while they are alone in their house are not like their way of sitting, their movements and dealings when they are before great royalty; nor is their speech and free expression as much as they want when they are with their household members and relatives like their speech when in a royal audience. All the more so when one takes to heart that the Great, Holy Blessed One, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing with them and by their actions, as it is stated: "'Will a person hide in concealment and I will not see them?' - the word of God" (Jeremiah 23:24) (Maimonidies, Guide for the Perplexed III 52). And one should not be ashamed because of people who mock them in their service of God, and should also go modestly. And when they lie on their bed they should know before Whom they lie, and as soon as they wake up from sleep they should rise eagerly to the service of their Creator (Tur).
הגה: שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד הוא כלל גדול בתורה ובמעלות הצדיקים אשר הולכים לפני האלהים כי אין ישיבת האדם ותנועותיו ועסקיו והוא לבדו בביתו ישיבתו ותנועותיו ועסקיו והוא לפני מלך גדול ולא דיבורו והרחבת פיו כרצונו והוא עם אנשי ביתו וקרוביו כדבורו במושב המלך כ"ש כשישים האדם אל לבו שהמלך הגדול הקב"ה אשר מלא כל הארץ כבודו עומד עליו ורואה במעשיו כמו שנאמר אם יסתר איש במסתרים ואני לא אראנו נאום ה' (מורה נבוכים ח"ג פ' כ"ב) ולא יתבייש מפני בני אדם המלעיגים עליו בעבודת הש"י גם בהצנע לכת ובשכבו על משכבו ידע לפני מי הוא שוכב מיד כשיעור משנתו יקום בזריזות לעבודת בוראו