Parashat Mishpatim: Heart-Core Meditation

For part of my life, I was in such a rational environment that I didn’t know much about intuition and making decisions from the heart.  

According to the Zohar on this week’s Parashat Mishpatim (116a -117b), it says the heart is the center of our emotions and that through our emotional intuition, we can perceive things beyond the physical. The Zohar goes as far as to say that someone who can do this is better than the prophet can see through ordinary senses. Such a surprising statement by the Zohar is even more interesting given that the parasha itself doesn’t even use the word “heart” at all (not even alluding to the mind, as it often does in the Tanakh). Perhaps this is similar to how in the Megillah, there isn’t a single explicit mention of Gd, but according to some, this fact is supposed to be making a point about Gd’s all-encompassing, but hidden, presence in the story. 

Parashat Mishpatim seems to instruct us in laws that help us recognize the underlying Gdliness in others. Maybe the parasha, as a whole, reflects the Israelites’ heart at the time. Their ability to “see” with their hearts was weakened by their experience with the Egyptians, which could be why Gd had to put on a show for their physical senses. He revealed Himself to them at Sinai, but now He wants them not only to encounter the divine via their hearts, but to encounter the divine within each other through their hearts. 

Now, some of these laws may be jarring with today’s ethics and values, but we have to remember at the time this was an improvement over what other societies were doing. Maybe Gd wisely realized that there was only so much ethical improvement He could bring to humanity at a time. 

The passage that at first seems the least emotional is perhaps, in a way, actually one of the most. In Exodus 23:19, it says to bring one’s ripened first fruits to the “house of the Lord”. One’s first fruits are not necessarily the best fruit (contrary to misconceptions I have heard), but are simply actions of bitachon (trust) that there will be more fruit from one’s harvest. In the same way, when we wake up in the morning, we traditionally give our first action, our first moments of consciousness to Gd through ritual actions and/or blessings, trusting that we will have more than enough time and energy in the day for everything we need to do.

Going back to the beginning of the parasha, we find it has a lot to say about the slave-master relationship, and according to the Zohar (115b), it alludes to our relationship as a servant to Gd. The Torah says that a male slave serves his master six years and goes free in the seventh. The Zohar teaches that the six years the slave serves the master are representative of both the six orders of the Mishnah and the first and last three blessings of the Amidah. The first three blessings are of praise: recalling the commitment between Gd and our patriarchs, acknowledging His power, and sanctifying His name. The last three blessings are of gratitude: for the restoration of the Temple service, for the good things from God, and requesting peace and blessings. On weekdays, the parts in the middle are petitions for our needs, but actually, most of our “prayerbook” is not about petitioning, but simply revealing more and more of the beautiful truth we feel in the present moment. We learn that harmonious beauty is synonymous with truth by exploring the kabbalistic concept of Tiferet. 

Every sefirah is also mapped to a part of the body, and Tiferet, which is right in the center of the sefirotic tree, happens to be the heart! You can say that when we are focused on what Gd gives us in the present, our heart is centered on what matters, and we are in a state where we serve Gd and the divine element in other people. 

The Zohar (117a) discusses whether a prophet or one with “heart-vision” perceives more.  Even the greatest prophet of all time cannot see Gd with just the physical limitations of his physical body. Additionally, the visions a prophet has are when Gd chooses to bestow them. But the Zohar says that through the heart, anyone can perceive Gd. This reminds me also of what one of today’s most respected physicists, Federico Faggin, said recently in line with Judaism. He postulates with other physicists that consciousness is everywhere and communicates to us through feelings.  

But what does this mean to us practically?

I will give you one example through a story about a recent client of mine. I will omit the private details, but she told me over the phone that she was looking to change jobs. She knew the position she wanted, but couldn’t find the right fit and felt a bit apprehensive.

I encouraged her to do a simple meditation that I came up with and designed for her needs. I found that it was actually easier to teach her remotely because she could meditate in her own space. I told her to just reflect on the one strongest, most peaceful feeling she felt at the moment – about anything, even if it was not related to her job, and to simply meditate on that. The idea was to let her entire essence be in that one positive feeling. 

This is best understood in connection with how towards the end of this week’s Torah portion (24:12), Gd doesn’t just say to Moses to come up to Him the mountain, but he adds “and be there.” A popular teaching attributed to the Kotzker Rebbe is that this indicated the need to act mindfully, and the importance of putting one’s full heart into what one does.(1) We read in the Shema “with all your heart” once in singular and once in the plural (actually the your is plural, but still one heart!). This reminds us that prayer is a service of the entire heart because we connect with Gd when we are wholeheartedly present. Interestingly, if there’s one prayer where people stop and put more effort into focusing, it’s the Shema (at least the first verse). The challenge is to extend that wholeheartedness beyond that.

So with this woman I was helping, I told her she could meditate, on anything: it could be whatever her heart inspired her to see as the celestial realm, such as colors and shapes, or it could be by finding a phrase that best evoked the specific peaceful feeling she had and repeating it. She needed to do whatever allowed her to imagine in a flexible and endless way. She told me that she couldn’t keep her focus on the present, and what she kept thinking about was the past and the future. This can also be a good thing. In fact, towards the end of the parasha, Moses takes a group of leaders to come into the presence of Gd, and their vision is described as having a “sapphire” floor (24:10). The Jerusalem Talmud (Sukkah 4:3) suggests that what they saw was connected to the fruit of their hard labor in Egypt, both involving a form of bricks. This also linked their past with their present and an ideal future in which we all dwell in the presence of Gd.

The woman told me that she still wasn’t sure what to focus on. I told her to start simple, and to begin in the same way that we enter the chambers of Gd to approach the King in the Amidah – with gratitude. That she should peacefully meditate on what she felt gratitude to Gd for, in whatever way felt most natural to her, but also be aware of when her heart felt inspired for new words. Something that always helps me is to also find a passage of the Torah that resonates with the particular positive peaceful feeling that is most prevalent in her heart at the moment, to meditate on.

She told me that her mind was still wandering, though, and I responded that that could also be good sometimes – that she shouldn’t resist the thoughts, but instead gently explore them while trying to stay focused on her one strongest peaceful feeling. 

Afterwards, she couldn’t remember any of her intrusive negative feelings she was exploring, as had happened to me in this state as well. Without me having to ask her any personal questions she discovered something deeper and more specific about what she truly desired from the job position. It was so specific to her, and the knowledge naturally gave her a feeling of complete bliss and endless energy. She knew that it was her truth, and felt inspired as to what to do next. 

I also explore this technique through my book: Better Than You Wished For with the hope that people will be able to have such an experience through poems that slowly bring you to that state and help you to improve the vision of your heart. 

I want to dedicate this week’s d’var Torah to the elevation of the souls of several friends’ parents who recently passed away, as well as the hostages that we recently found out perished in Gaza. With the help of Gd, may those who have suffered a loss  feel their loved ones’ presence and love more than ever. 

(1) Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any original source, but a lot of people attribute it to him. Perhaps it was passed on by word of mouth.