It is difficult for us to understand the issue of sacrifice because it goes straight into the ego and into the story of being victimized. It has the same ecosystem, but this is actually the power.

If we study it correctly, the sacrifice has nothing to do with being a victim, but it has to do with a possibility of atonement, meaning recognition of what I need and where I am, of the truth. It is a wonderful and great opportunity of coming closer.

 For a very devoted spiritual person all over the world, through all religions, being sacrificed, in unison with the higher, is that which he wants the most. I am not speaking for those that play in spirituality, but those who have a genuine will. Their highest wish is to be united with the higher.

What does it mean to be united with the higher? Being swallowed by it, and that our existence will disappear.

The Torah is saying, “...and you choose life.” What does it mean? Everyone who reads it will say, of course I will choose life. No, dear, when you are in spirituality, you will not choose life naturally, and then the Torah will say to you, “choose life.” It is more important that you will do your work while existing than be in communion with the higher and disappear there.

 So choose life, being here and in communion, not disappearing from existence in order to be in communion. This is how we understand sacrifice. The Kabbalah is saying, when you are spiritual and you want to disappear into the hug of the higher, choose life, and choose here.

 This is a totally different understanding of sacrifice. The need is that there will be an unwavering connection between life and existence, meaning the higher and the lower. Therefore, choose life, do not disappear into the higher.

 This speaks about when you have the yearning for a communion, the peak of the longing of a spiritual person to disappear into the higher is forbidden. It is said, no, you stay here, and be the connection part for all spirits because this is your salary, not your personal meaning or enlightenment.

Music and the ability to sing were not given to humanity in vain. They can elevate the state of mind and give emotion an outlet. Yet the verses of song that prepare for prayer serve a different purpose. Pesukei DeZimra, the verses of song that prepare for prayer, are meant to cut away what separates. When singing leaves a person empty or in despair, it has not been harnessed to its right purpose. The work is to place singing in the context of what it is meant to awaken.

The purpose of singing before prayer is to awaken longing and a clearer identity of the praying vessel within oneself. The praying vessel can feel the state it is in and what it stands before. Singing is about awakening the wonder that has been forgotten. It prepares a person for prayer by removing what separates and bringing awareness of the state in which one stands. This can begin alone, with verses of song that prepare for prayer, most of them from Psalms. A person can work with them and see whether they leave one hopeful and elevated rather than desolate. Singing can also be shared with others who want to understand its meaning within Kabbalah, so that it does not leave a person in despair.

Study should not be stopped merely because it is still for the will to receive for oneself. Curiosity and the wish to become acquainted with the language and the way can be admitted honestly. This is like charity: a person does not stop doing something good for another, or supporting someone in need and their children, merely because self interest is involved. The act is done in spite of that recognition. The will to receive for oneself can make a person stop doing what ought to be done because it is concerned with its self image. That is worse than doing the deed even when it is still for oneself.

Managing in Chaos: Challenges and the Potential to Evolve into a Reformed Reality

In this thought-provoking conversation, Rabbah Saphir Noyman Eyal, founder of Mishkan Hakavana, engages in dialogue with Amy Elizabeth Fox and Nicholas Janni the co-authors of Leading in Chaos, to explore how humanity can navigate today’s chaotic reality—and the possibility of evolving toward a reformed one.

Amy Elizabeth Fox, Co-Founder and CEO of Mobius Executive Leadership, contributes her expertise in vertical development, transformational change, and trauma-informed consulting. Since 2005, she has led immersive executive leadership programs worldwide and is recognized as a pioneer in integrating healing into the field of organizational development.

Nicholas Janni, author of the award-winning book Leader as Healer (Business Book Award, 2023), offers a contemporary leadership perspective for the 21st century. He argues that today’s leaders must be empathic and embodied, grounded and intuitive, present and awake, in order to meet the scale and complexity of our global challenges.

Drawing on the Zohar and contemporary Kabbalistic scriptures, Rabbah Saphir Noyman Eyal, founder of Mishkan Hakavana  brings a spiritual and Kabbalistic framework rooted in the teachings of Rav Ashlag (Baal HaSulam). For over twenty-five years, she has been leading Kabbalah studies that view chaos not only as a crisis, but as a necessary stage in humanity’s preparation for a new reality—one in which the human spirit reconnects with the plan of the Creator.

Together, this conversation bridges ancient wisdom and modern leadership, exploring how managing in chaos may open the door to personal, organizational, and collective transformation.

The holiday of Sukkot is emphasized as the most universal, a time of inviting the higher into our lives. It is the only holiday where joy, or “gladness of heart,” is a direct precept. Through a process of gratitude, one can reach a true state of joy. This commandment is mentioned about seven times, highlighting that all the processes converge into this state of joy.

Hoshana Rabba is connected with the completion of the Torah reading cycle. In ancient times, this cycle of reading the Torah was completed every seven or three years, and at the end of the "shmitah year," the king would gather the people and read the Torah. This represents the readiness of the vessel to receive the Torah, bringing joy-- the joy of light, the joy of the Creator, and the joy of being able to make oneself a dwelling place for divine intention.