tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8563166645221745880.post8999002232966968933..comments2023-08-21T05:54:52.081-04:00Comments on Raise it Up: Playing in the Symphony. Jewish Meditation, part 4Rabbi Rachel Gurevitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15774676663563296493noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8563166645221745880.post-3673378217658782132009-11-14T23:01:11.738-05:002009-11-14T23:01:11.738-05:00Thank you Rabbi Gurevitz for sharing the deep back...Thank you Rabbi Gurevitz for sharing the deep background to one of my favorite lines of Scripture.<br /><br />I like to take the "exercise" a bit further.<br /><br />Consider the unpronounceable Four-Letter Name of G!d: יהוה. Each of its letters is a "breathy" sound "y" "h" "w". Together they sound like wind emerging from deep in our chests.<br /><br /><br />The initial yod י can represent our bodies at the moment of exhalation.<br /><br />The first heh ה can represent an inhalation.<br /><br />The vav י can represent our bodies at the moment they are filled with breath.<br /><br />The final heh ה then represents another exhalation.<br /><br />The process never ends.<br /><br /><b>All living things breathe.</b><br /><br />We can read the line of the Psalm as a simple statement: "Every living thing praises God"<br /><br />(and of course the word Hallelujah means “Praise God!”)<br /><br /><br />So… with the appropriate awareness, every <b>breathing</b> thing continuously speaks (“meditates on/praises”) God’s name.<br /><br />Think of the entire universe as a living breathing entity.<br /><br />It also breathes, pulsates with an awareness of the divine.Mark Hurvitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09510299795481646177noreply@blogger.com