Dancing While Doing Dishes
How does one attain and come to experience the highest levels of living? How would one be able to be in and of this world within the daily experiences of errands, responsibilities, obligations, eating, drinking, sleeping and so many things that might keep a person from living and being in a state of pure joy, calm, clarity of mind and enlightenment?
Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (1534-1572), known as the Arizal (an acronym which stands for HaEloki Rav Yitzchak Yitzchak “>Zichrono Livracha – The Godly Master Yitzchak, may his memory be for a blessing) was someone who more than almost anyone in Jewish history attained a level of enlightenment, holiness, purity and entirely embodied all of the divine qualities of goodness and truth.
To illustrate the level in which he was on, one day while studying Torah early in the morning his main student and disciple Rav Chaim Vital walked in. The Arizal was very much immersed in his study and he merely glanced at Rav Chaim for a moment as he entered the room. After glancing for a mere moment at Rav Chaim, the Arizal then went back to his learning and said, “Rav Chaim – why did you insult your wife last evening?” Rav Chaim was taken aback by the immediacy of the Arizal’s vision and asked how he knew that, how he saw that. The Arizal said, “It was written in the lines of your forehead”.
There is an entire book about the greatness of the Arizal called, “Shivchei Ha’Ari” (the praises of the Ari) in which there are brilliant, mind opening and boggling descriptions of who he was, what he saw and how he brought the reality of God to people’s minds and hearts.
The Arizal was once asked how he had attained such heights, such mastery, such perfection, such holiness. He answered, “It was through the dancing on Simchas Torah”.
Although the Arizal had mastered every aspect of Torah, prayed in isolation, meditated, studied and so worked on himself to attain and experience the level that he did – it somehow all came down to his dancing on Simchat Torah.
This would really deserve an entire book dedicated to delve into the depths involved and required to truly explore this – but nevertheless we can begin with something.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches in the 10th lesson of Likutey Mohoran that the experience of dancing is the synthesis and marriage of body and soul, of physical and spiritual (paraphrased). For when a person dances, they dance from the joy that they experience that brings their body to unleash its inner soul. The body is so infused by the soul’s happiness, excitement, vision and pure life force that it dances; where the body and soul become one. And therefore, to the extent of one’s connectedness and being in-tune with his soul will the body dance.
We dance on Simchat Torah after having gone through over a period of a year the entire Torah. Over the course of a year, the Jewish soul has tasted and experienced one teaching after another, week after week, day after day. With the vision of what the teachings of the Torah are, how they totally transformed his life, how they opened, expanded and infused infinite life to his heart, mind and soul – with that vision a person breaks out in dance. And if a person is seriously connected – the dancing will be an experience of infinity, of tapping into the oneness of creation and the marriage of body and soul.
With this potential of experience, the Arizal said that this is how he attained his lofty heights of living.
There are countless stories of many holy Jewish people who on Simchat Torah were seen dancing in a state of bliss and fiery energy alone in their homes. For if a person is hearing the music, he cannot stop dancing.
Whether we find ourselves in Shuls and communities that are having Simchat Torah or we find ourselves away from a larger community – may this Simchat Torah (Saturday night and Sunday morning outside of Israel, Shabbos in Israel) bring us to live our lives to the highest heights and truly develop a relationship with God.
Ultimately this vision, clarity and joy is to enlighten the way in which we walk in the world in our day to day living; enlighten our errands, careers, eating, sleeping and cleaning. So that we’ll be dancing while doing dishes…
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