Friday, December 28, 2018

Weekly MMM - Parsha Vaera, Heart of Flesh



This week’s MMM will follow Parsha Vaera, and the theme I’ve chosen is Heart of Flesh.  That’s basically a prophetic, messianic term that describes how the human race will change from having a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

I chose this topic because in this Parsha there are a number of allusions to a heart of flesh. One example is when G-d refers to Pharoah as having a “hardened heart,” partially self-inflicted and partially done intentionally by Hashem.  The hearts of leaders are, to a certain extent, guided by Hashem and the story of Pharoah is just one of them.

The times we are living in now seem to be days when people’s hearts are hardened and could benefit from being softened toward other people. So, I’d like to explore this topic, meaning how to develop a heart of flesh.

I have explored this topic a bit in the past, talking about how to achieve and live from a mind state of heart of flesh. Here are a few of the tools I use to get into this mind state:

1.  Speak from the heart when you’re talking with other people, and do so in more of a feeling than an intellectual way.

2. Know that G-d wants to hear from us this way, too – from the heart more than the brain.

3. Understand that as the heart is the central pumping unit that keeps all the circulation in the body going, and keeps us healthy, it is also what keeps our feelings such as love and compassion going in our lives and relationships. Our heart will help Divine Providence flow and circulate through us as well as our life’s blood.

4. Feel other people’s hearts and their situations, preferably from a place of empathy or sympathy, by putting myself in their place, instead of a place of judgment from my own perspective. A heart of flesh can fill the gap between us when I can truly understand what another person needs and what they are saying. That’s what a heart of flesh can accomplish.

5. Share love with another person by just being there with them, even if you don’t have any solutions to offer them. They will know you are there with them and that you are putting yourself in their place and making room for them, for their feelings. This is also a heart-sharing experience.

6. The heart has a wisdom, an understanding we can get by listening to our internal, still small voice.  This is something that resonates with our heart and allows us to become a little more passionate as our hearts fill up for the right reasons.

7. A heart of flesh is useful in our art and creativity as well. When a song, a poem or a painting is coming from a place of heart it’s a whole different thing than what comes from our intellect.

8. If we can learn the language of heart-speak we can begin to speak in it, in a whole, new language in our lives. Our sages tell us the things that come from the heart will go into other people’s hearts. That’s the acid test. Are we really speaking from the heart? If so, we will know our expressions will enter other people’s hearts.

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