Every aspiring עבד ה' appreciates the significance of the adage “קנה לך חבר”, and the terribly painful loneliness of או חברותא או מתותא. For years, I have desired to form a chaburah of individuals whose attempt to guide their life at achieve both יראת שמים and קרבת אלוקים. As members of such a chaburah, I hoped that together we could develop profound thoughts concerning avodas Hashem, both its theoretical as well as its practical elements. We would assist each other in developing the unique ideas and approaches of each member.

Over the years and in different stages of my life, I was fortunate enough to meet such individuals. With current technology, we are attempting to form this chaburah, despite the geographical distance that may separate us. We would like to invite others with whom our ideas may resonate to join us by reading, commenting, and ultimately sharing your thoughts with us. קנה לך חבר, says the Arizal, means that your pen (קנה) should be your friend – as you write, your thoughts become clearer.

The exact parameters of this blog will be defined as we develop our ideas. All entries are guided by five principles:

a) יראת שמים

b) desire for קרבת אלוקים and becoming a better עבד ה'

c) strict adherence to Halacha, including הלכות לשון הרע

d) belief in גדלות האדם, both in oneself and all other people

e) intellectual rigor
Anyone who does not feel passionately about these five principles is asked not to comment, since any comment that does not meet the above-mentioned criteria will not be posted.

About the name of the blog. “השגה” represents the intellectual grasp of any given idea, while “הויה” represents the incorporation of that idea into the person’s weltanschauung. Our goal is to merely discuss theoretical ideas and then return to our daily lives. We want to transform the ideas of the Torah into a living Torah, a תורת חיים.

-BilvaviNer

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Development of Personal Thoughts:
Part 3 – Missed Opportunities

In Chadarav, Rav Kook speaks about missed opportunities of developing one’s ideas. A tree blossoms, but before the flowers can bud and grow fruit, a powerful torrent blows off all of the flowers. An opportunity is missed and no fruit will grow. So too, explains Rav Kook, the turbulence of life sometimes pushes us into a tizzy of life’s engagements. Now the budding thoughts that could have turned into profound ideas will forever remain undeveloped. We must seize the right moment, that moment of inspiration, the moment of koved harosh, in order to bring into the world the unique truths to which only we have the access. Chovos Halevavos and Orot Hatshuvah in their introductions speak about the fear of publishing Torah thoughts that even capable individuals experience, and the importance of vanquishing that fear.
לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים
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