Secrets of the Cycle of Time

Book excerpt: Time marches forever forward! Does it? One experience of time is that it does indeed forever march forward, but this is not the only way to experience the dimension of time.Time can also be experienced as a cycle, movement that constantly returns to the past, and brings it into the present and future. This cycle does not simply bring back memories of a long ago past that most have forgotten. The cycle of time is a constant present reviving in our minds archetypal lessons of universal values that are as old as time itself, and as immortal as is the human soul.When seen through the eyes of Torah, time becomes living and vibrant. The holidays and commemorations that fill the Jewish calendar are far from being mere rituals of religion. They are instead alive, conscious, and sentient, even as we are ourselves.When we embrace a Torah observance and a Jewish holiday, we are living it anew. It is no longer past; it is here, now! Torah reveals to us the secrets of the cycles of time, and shows us how, as the Sefer Yetzirah reveals to us, space, time, and consciousness are all one!As a practitioner and teacher of the Prophetic Kabbalah system, Rabbi Tzadok opens up for us the world of Living Time as seen through the eyes of Living Torah.Included in this book are essays of in-depth Kabbalah, meditative kavanot, archetypal psychology, alongside essays of practical down-to-earth wisdom about the fundamental truths by which we live.Also included are a number of Halakhic essays about ritual observance of the Shabat, and how Kabbalah plays a role in even the most Orthodox of Jewish Halakha.Secrets of the Cycles of Time thus has something for everyone, at all levels of learning. It is a book that you will read and reread from year to year, always finding new insights and treasures therein.