Yesod Blocks: Foundational Torah

Halakha can be technical, but it's strikingly simple to find the depth and layering underneath technical halakhot. The brakhot of Torah are examples of this truth, as they have technical aspects, while underneath, the layers and themes are profound.

A brand new series from Yesod Blocks, Embodied Torah is a collaboration between Zev Bannett (the founder of Yesod Blocks) and Ariella Anouchi, a licensed and practicing Yoga therapist and Jewish educator. Join us as we explore how to embody and fully live out the profound Torah concepts discussed at Yesod Blocks. New episodes will be released weekly and will be available at yesodblocks.com. To learn more about Ariella, check her out at yogawithariella.com. Join us today and start fully living and loving this profound Torah life.

Little details of Halakha contain mountains of underlying truths and concepts. Accessing these truths and then embodying them is the goal of this whole process.

How much distance from Melakha do we need in order to pull ourselves into the higher, fuller state of consciousness called "neshama yeteira?"

Reality is real, but it's not always what we want. Torah and reality are one. Torah and reality can become what you want, when you learn to see the distortions in your own perceptual landscape.

Melakha has three parts. It requires the application of our consciousness (neshama) to the material world. It requires that the application of consciousness leads to higher order organization in the material world. Lastly, it requires that the higher order state is permanent. We begin to explore the world of Melakha more deeply in this Erev Shabbos episode.

Simple halakhot on the surface... There is a mountain of underlying thought hidden beneath the waves.

Halacha is the outer shell, the practical expression of the inner world of who you truly are. It is 5% of Torah, and the other 95% is the map of your internal "becoming."

In Torah, thanking someone means "admitting" - developing a deeper awareness that we are each a fragment, a powerful, individual part of a larger network of self. We each have the power to create, but we also rely on each other, and the Self of all Selves, to actualize the power within us.

Our bodies are an integral part of the totality of our being. Perceiving this in a careful, truthful, balanced way has been difficult throughout history. The Torah is the key to achieving this balance.