Description
There are things that we take so for granted but really shouldn’t. The truth is, we do that with almost everything and everyone, which gave rise to the expression, “familiarity breeds contempt.”
It can be something that just yesterday we dreamed of owning and, now that we do, we don’t care about it that much. It can be someone we pursued almost fanatically for a relationship, only to forget about them once we have it. It did not take long for the Jewish people to bad mouth God after just having heard Him speak at Mt. Sinai. It’s just human nature.
It’s human nature to be obsessive about something before we have it and forget about it once we have it do. It is human nature to turn someone we love into a mortal enemy at times. It is just human nature to get used to things and lose appreciation for them over time. You have to work to remain appreciative of something.
Like a keli, for example. A keli is Hebrew for vessel, like a glass, for example. Or even your body, which is a keli for your soul. It is the soul that provides life, but it is the keli that gives the soul the opportunity and means to do so. A person drives the car but, without the car, the person has nothing to drive and fewer places to go.
Creation is full of keilim. Creation itself is a keli. It’s hard to fully appreciate something that seems so commonplace, such an obvious part of everyday life. But that is only because we don’t appreciate how the very idea of a keli existing is absurd.
It’s like becoming wealthy. The journey to financial independence is difficult and tiring, with most steps along the way being planned and somewhat of a struggle. But once a person has succeeded, becoming rich stops being a big deal, and they stop thinking about it.
Likewise, getting to the point that keli could exist was a contradiction of the reality of God. But once that was overcome and keilim existed, we stopped thinking about it. Not because the discussion is no longer important, but because it’s human nature. But that’s a mistake, and realizing this is the first step to understanding what we’re doing here, and how to succeed at getting there.
Because, when you step back and look at all of it, it seems to be one of history’s best kept secrets, which is why so many people have come and gone and never quite gotten life right. That’s because as simple a concept as keli may be, the backstory is far from that. It’s even kabbalistic.
Kabbalistic, but not inaccessible, and that’s the reason for this book.
