i pick up papers and books

setting them about the room

in some display of elegance

some class i believe is mine

but who sees or cares

the print of both is black?

these children of the mind

companions of the noble thought

are heroes to the learner

pals to those with wit

touch them with reverence

place them as sacraments for the brain

take them into tender hands

hold them like crystal glass  

*The purpose of the mitzvot [commandments] is to engender a union with God. The very word mitzvah is from the root of the word "to join".  Furthermore, Judaism does not consider the mitzvot as merely expedient means of reaching the goal of enlightenment, they are themselves considered the ultimate expression of God's will, and Kabbalah speaks of their mystical nature as conduits for divine influx. The practice of mitzvot refines the being and opens it to movements of the spirit. Commitment to their observance, regardless of repetition and boredom, is what ultimately reveals the inner light. Slowly, a window is opened to the soul, so that it can begin to shine in all the corners of ones life.

-Eliezer Shore

*This same process is reflected in every discipline, be it art, religion, or craft.  No great artist ever mastered his field without first being mastered by it.   And nothing new was ever created that did not build upon the achievements of the past.  Only commitment to the exterior form of the craft, in spite of the tediousness of the process, allows the inner source of creativity to reveal itself.  Ultimately, a person touches the core of life, which then flows out and fills the precious static forms with new meaning.  When, through ritual, one reaches the point of infinity of the soul, the ritual itself becomes the setting for the revelation of infinite content.  "A person who  studies Torah selflessly, " says the Talmud, "becomes like an ever increasing spring."  In the mystical consciousness, every detail of creation has the potential for infinite meaning, because the presence of the Infinite God is beneath the surface waiting to be revealed.

-Eliezer Shore