Scriptural literature describes many miraculous events such as staffs turning into snakes, water turning to blood, strange plagues, animals that speak, leprosy that comes instantly and departs just as quickly, the sun standing still, or being swallowed by a fish and regurgitated days later alive and whole. The Talmud has its share of miracles as well: killing with a glance, resurrecting the dead, battling with demons, invoking divine spirits, teleportation from one city to another in a matter of minutes, visiting heavenly or demonic realms while still alive, incredible healings, assuring pregnancy in previously barren women, and potions that cast spells. Miracles also play a role in the history of most holy days. The miracles of the splitting of the Red Sea and the ten plagues are associated with Passover. The appearance of God on Mt. Sinai is associated with Shavuot. The survival of the Jews from massive genocide is part of the Purim story.

Isaac Luria, the 16th century master of Kabbalah, said, "There is no sphere of existence including organic and inorganic nature, that is not full of holy sparks which are mixed in with the kelippot [husks] and need to be separated from them and lifted up." Imagine that you were an artisan with a fixed amount of liquid gold that was to be poured into a mold to make a perfect work of art. This work of art would cast a magical light that would permeate the world and produce the highest awareness possible in all creation. However, when you pour the gold into the mold, something terrible happens; the mold cracks and many flecks of gold leak out and float away. The only way the work of art can be completed is to gather all of the missing gold in one place so that the mold can be cast again. As the gold spreads, the flecks themselves split apart until untold numbers of gold atoms are scattered across creation, each one surrounded by a shell of dust that hides it. The gold drifts everywhere and the only way we can get the job done of casting our completed work of art is to employ the help of many others to collect the gold.

We all have priceless things in our lives. Have you ever stopped to consider what is the most precious thing you have in the world? What is the one thing you have, that if it were taken away, you would never be the same again? Think about it. Take a minute, close your eyes. You may answer that a particular relationship you have is the most precious thing in the world to you. You may answer that your health and the health of those around you is the most precious. Perhaps you have a different answer. In the end, though, when you consider this question very carefully, is there not something that takes priority over it all?

When someone in an observant Jewish family, one or more people in the immediate family will pray the mourner's kaddish three times daily for eleven months. This is based on the belief that the soul takes twelve months to pass from one level to another. Kaddish is viewed as a means to help a loved one through the transition to higher realms. The twelfth month is omitted because of the assumption that the deceased person has enough merit by this time to make it on his or her own. Saying the kaddish the last month would imply that the person did not have sufficient virtue, and this would be inappropriate.

WORKING WITH THOSE WHO ARE DYING Some people say that waiting for dying to begin is far worse than dying itself. Nursing homes are filled with people who anxiously await death's visit. This can last for years. Fear pervades day after day during this time. The fear becomes accentuated when empty chairs are inevitably noticed in the dining room. Every few weeks, another person disappears, evoking terror in one's heart. When is it going to be my chair? What is going to happen? Will it hurt? Where am I going? Will I know who I am? Will I ever return?

The admonition to remember and observe the Sabbath day is initially directed to the weekly Sabbath that in Judaism begins sundown Friday night and ends sundown Saturday night. But the idea of Sabbath also loosely refers to days that are referred to as yomim tovim (good days, or holy days), as the Jewish law applying to each of these days approximates, for the most part, similar restrictions as the Sabbath day itself. Thus all holy days have the feel of a Sabbath, with only minor differences. This means that in addition to the fifty-two official Sabbath days every year, there are quite a few other times that require special attention. In addition to these are many minor holidays that have fewer restrictions, but still are treated with special awareness. Here are the best known of the major and minor holy days in the calendar, with brief descriptions of the special energy that can be the contemplative focus of each respective day.

Not long ago I heard from a dear friend whose son had been the victim of a freak accident. He had been hit in the back of the head by a golf ball. His recovery was not going well, and a blood clot in his brain was causing pressure that potentially could paralyze him for life, or worse. The boy had been in intensive care in a semi-comatose state for ten days when his mother and I first spoke. For some reason, he did not improve and his prognosis was not good. High risk surgery with possible brain damage was a fast approaching option that everyone wanted to avoid.

Angels and demons are like the forces of a magnet; they are invisible metaphysical energy bundles. Energy bundles associated with the God realms are called angels, and those with the satanic realms are called demons. If we hold a magnet in one hand and iron filings in the other, we cannot see anything coming out of the magnet. But at the right distance, the iron filings literally seem to jump out of our hands towards the magnet. Lines of electro-magnetic force have always mystified scientists. We can measure them, we can approximate what they look like, we know there is something happening that has strength and attraction, but it is invisible and not even discernable unless we have the right tools. We can place our hands next to a very strong magnet and nothing happens. But if we have an iron bracelet strapped to our wrist, it could be pulled by the magnet so strongly that we could not move our hand away.

A number of sections of Torah refer to angels, one of the most famous of which is the portion dealing with Jacob. At one point, Jacob dreams of a ladder that reaches from earth to heaven.8 Angels go up and down the ladder, and God stands above it, talking to Jacob, promising to give him the land that surrounds him. Later, Jacob wrestles with and defeats an angel. In that event, he is renamed Israel. All biblical commentary attempts to resolve difficulties in text. In this instance, the problem that is of concern is why the Torah says that the angels first ascend the ladder and then descend. Logically, assuming angels start off somewhere other than earth, the text should say that the angels descended first and then ascended. So this turn of words is a hint that invites comment.