Ancient Secrets

Levi Meier

Description

Learn to Apply the Timeless Lessons of Jewish Wisdom Writings to Improve Your Daily Life.

Drawing on a broad range of Jewish wisdom writings, distinguished rabbi and psychologist Levi Meier takes a thoughtful, wise and fresh approach to showing us how to apply the stories of the Bible to our everyday lives and let them work their inspirational magic. The courage of Abraham, who left his early life behind and chose a new, more difficult and more rewarding path; the ability of Joseph to forgive his brothers—the quests and conflicts of the Bible are still relevant, and still have the power to inform and change our lives.

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Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Judaism
• Religion
• Abraham

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 05 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580237444
• Langue: English

Extrait

ANCIENT SECRETS

U sing the S tories of the B ible to I mprove O ur E veryday L ives
RABBI LEVI MEIER
J EWISH L IGHTS P UBLISHING
Woodstock, Vermont
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With love and blessings to our children ,
Chana, Yosef Asher, Malka Mindel, and Yitzchak Shlomo
Turn it over and over again- for everything is contained within it.
-Ethics of the Fathers
Acknowledgments
From my childhood on, some special people have helped guide me along my journey, and I would like to express my gratitude to them.
The greatest influences on me during my formative years were my parents, Alfred Meier of blessed memory, and Frieda Meier; my grandfather who lived with us, Julius Meier; and my teachers. I would like to single out three of my early teachers: my dear brother, Rabbi Menahem Meier; my study partner, Rabbi Solomon Polachek; and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, of blessed memory.
During my young adult years, my Jungian analyst, Dr. James Kirsch, was a powerful influence in my life and assisted me in the development of my unconscious. Much of what is written in this book comes from that place, from that source.
During my professional life, I have learned from my students, private clients, and hospital patients, who have shared with me the most intimate details and struggles of their lives. They have all become my teachers. I would like, however, to single out one patient, Dr. Erwin Altman. I was privileged to be his rabbi for the last few years of his life. During that time, he and his younger brother, Dr. Manfred Altman of London, England, who took care of him during those years, became my inspiring guides and friends. Manfred continues to be of significant importance to me.
I would like to acknowledge the tremendous assistance of Paula Van Gelder, who has assisted me in all my writings since my arrival on the West Coast in the early 1970s. Her expertise in writing is matched only by her kindness.
I want to express my deep gratitude to Uriela Obst, who played a pivotal role in the development of this work. Her creative artistry was invaluable in helping me weave together factual material and anecdotes in a cohesive, engaging manner.
I would also like to thank friends and colleagues who have read and improved upon the manuscript, including Kenneth M. Chasen, Julie R. Korenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Lillian Lasker, Kenneth Leeds, M.D., Sharon Mars, Maureen Mercury, Janet Offel, and Fred Rosner, M.D.
I want to express my gratitude to my literary agent, Alan Nevins at Renaissance, who has become a treasured friend and colleague.
I want to thank David Rosenthal, president and publisher of Villard Books, and Annik La Farge, vice president and associate publisher at Villard, for their pioneering vision and personal encouragement. I would also like to extend my deep thanks to the dedicated staff at Villard: Lynn Anderson, Benjamin Dreyer, Ruth Fecych, Deborah Foley, Brian McLendon, Melissa Milsten, Adam Rothberg, E. Beth Thomas, and Jennifer Webb.
Together with my wife, Marcie Joy, I have dedicated this book to our children. This dedication is symbolic of our love and blessings for them.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
P ART I
1. As in the Beginning, So Now
2. The Union of Opposites
3. The Voice Within
4. Talking Back to God
5. Truth or Consequences
6. The Lonely Journey
7. The Favorite Son
8. Fate Versus Destiny
9. Angels
10. The Art of Dying
P ART II
11. The Birth of a Hero
12. A New Moon Rising
13. Remembering
14. The Ten Commandments
15. A Day of Rest
16. You Are What You Eat
17. Sanctuary
P ART III
18. Coming Closer
19. Intention
20. Sex
21. Love
22. Loving Truth, Loving Lies
P ART IV
23. Blessing
24. The Enemy Called Fear
25. The Goal Is the Journey
26. The Wounded Healer
27. Home Is Where the Heart Is
28. Cities of Refuse
P ART V
29. Listening and Hearing
30. Choices
31. Never Alone
32. Secrets
33. Transformation

Conclusion
Bibliography of English Translations of the Hebrew Bible
Biblical References

About the Author
Copyright
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Introduction
Once upon a time and far, far away
About 3,200 years ago-which is to say, ages before the glory of Greece or the grandeur of Rome, about a millennium before the rise of Christianity and nearly two millennia before Islam, and so long ago that neither the Babylonian nor the Persian empire had yet made its mark-a young man who held a high position in the court of the Egyptian pharaoh abandoned his wealth and his position in response to a call from a divine voice.
This unusual man climbed a mountain in the desert. We will never know exactly what happened to him there, but when he came back down, he told the people who were with him that God had spoken to him and given him the answer to every question about life that he had, that they had, and that their descendants would ever have. And the people were awed.
Then he recorded the basics of what he had been told on the mountain, writing on animal skins that were rolled up into scrolls. When he was finished, he called his people around him and began to explain to them what he had written. He told them that if they listened carefully and did what he taught them, they would understand the meaning of life.
Does this sound like the opening of a novel, a sequel perhaps to a recent fiction best-seller about ancient parchments found in the mountains of Peru?
It isn t.
This story is true.
I am talking about Moses and the origins of the Bible-the Five Books of Moses.
Herein lies the foundation of three of the world s great religions.
Herein lie the stories of creation, of Adam and Eve, of Cain and Abel, of humanity s first struggles on earth, of the destruction by flood and the salvation of Noah, of Abraham s first pact with the one God and the dream of Jacob s ladder. Herein lies the monumental story of the slavery in Egypt, the escape, the covenant at Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments-the codification of the laws by which humankind was to live-the wanderings through the desert, and Moses s farewell to his people as they set off for the Promised Land.
For Jews, the Five Books of Moses are the Torah-the teachings conceptually similar to the U.S. Constitution-with which all new thought and new prescriptions must agree or they are not constitutional.
Christians regard the Books of Moses as part of their Bible. Muslims also revere many precepts found in these teachings. So it is a most important book to a very large segment of humanity.
But how many of us have really read the Five Books of Moses? And if we have read them, how many of us can say we really understand them?
No wonder: Moses was writing in a kind of shorthand, recording what was most important. He explained the rest orally, and we are taught that the obligation rested on the prophets and sages who followed him to continue to explain how the original teachings applied to new situations in the world. Thus the original writings have now generated thousands of volumes of explanations.
But how can one wade through all that has been written and find what he or she needs to know in order to answer the questions of daily life? Can it be done? Where does one begin?
I suggest we approach the original text with an open heart and mind, allowing it to work its inspirational magic, and see what happens. I have written this book to illustrate how we can draw on these ancient writings and find in them the answers to the problems of our daily lives. Today. In the modern world. The examples you will find here come from my own experiences as a Jungian psychologist, teacher, hospital chaplain, and rabbi, and from the lives of my clients, my patients, and members of my Bible study groups. I hope that through these examples you will see how it is possible to make use today of something that was written more than 3,000 years ago. But most of all, I hope that you will begin to see this ageless source as approachable and that you will begin to make your own very personal connection with it. This is essential.
Nowhere in this book do I mean to imply that I, or the people whose stories I tell here, have found all the answers. Your answers will be your own; they must be.
Too many of us make the mistake of relying on someone else s simplification or generalization, as if one size could fit all. It never does. There are no shortcuts. Those who think they ve found them end up frustrated and depressed, stuck in blind alleys.
This book is for people who are tired of blind alleys, who are drawn to finding a truer path, who innately feel that the answers lie at the source but don t know how to unlock its ancient mysteries. They feel the Bible s magnetic pull because instinctively they sense its power. But it seems such an overwhelming task to really delve into it. It s not called the Big Book for nothing.
Yet the core of the Bible, the Five Books of Moses, is really quite small, containing only about 350 pages.
Unfortunately, the English translations generally available contain numerous inaccuracies. These texts have traveled from Hebrew to Greek to Latin before finally making it into English. In some respects, the errors can be excus