Newsletter number 11

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Ka Gold Jewelry 10th Newsletter

Dedicated to subject - "Love"
January 2009 Newsletter
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Greetings,

This newsletter is dedicated to Love. Valentine's Day, the holiday of Love in the Western tradition, is at our doorstep and offers us great opportunity to remember the most exalted of all spiritual states - Love. This newsletter will also deal with a seemingly opposite theme to Love, i.e. war, but I will show how the former can arise out of a transformation of the latter. To achieve this transformation I will speak briefly about the last War in Gaza and ask the question - who is the bravest amongst the brave?

In this issue

Making your enemy to your lover
Jewels of Love

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love and war

War in Gaza
As many of you know, I'm an Israeli and my work is done in Israel. Some people have asked me what I think of the War in Gaza. When trying to realize what I wish to say it suddenly struck me that the subject of this newsletter - "Love" is precisely what my work is about, and what I believe is the only possible answer to any warlike situation. I am not a political man and the only solution I have is to put my attention on love of all beings.
The next paragraph will sharpen this idea a little more.

"Who is the bravest amongst the brave? He who makes his enemy into his lover"

The Hero is a basic concept in Greek mythology and folklore and true heroism is characterized by the ability of human beings to transform even our greatest enemies into our lovers. The word 'brave' refers to the character of a man who is considered good in his deeds and noble or refined in culture. Readiness to sacrifice one's life for a greater purpose, as in the case of putting oneself in mortal danger to save the life of another, is the quality of a hero. A hero is a man who is held in the collective consciousness of society as having a brave heart. Certainly there are situations in which there is no choice other than to initiate an action of self defence, a basic human survival instinct. In these instances it is also considered bravery to confront one's enemy and fight for ones continues existence. However, the greatest desired outcome of such a situation, is if the enemy can be shown love and compassion and through acts of bravery and heroism to be transformed into our lover!

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Holiday of love in the Western tradition - Valentines Day
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Giving
To achieve the state of love we require opening our hearts and choosing actions of giving to others without expecting to receive in return. The experience of love, in contrast to any self-interested objective, grows when it is given to another. The more we give it, the more we experience it...

Acceptance
The second condition for achieving the state of love is acceptance. Accepting ourselves and accepting others just as they are. At times I found myself in conflict between the wish for things to be better and the non acceptance of persons or situations. It then became clear to me that the striving for a specific reality is like a vision that we commit ourselves to. In the present we need to accept what there is and let go of the fight for some desired outcome. The more we fight the more we get agitated and drawn away from the state of love.

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Jewels of Love

The ring of Love
When you give to your loved one "The ring of Love", you are declaring your love for your partner and at the same time, giving them a beautifully designed and lovingly crafted piece of Jewelry. Engraved on the ring is the passage from the bible -"Love your neighbour as yourself". Only when we truly love ourselves can we honestly give that same love to another.

I am beloved
"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." (Song of Song's 6:3) The Jewish People are analogous to a beloved friend or wife. God, the Holy one blessed be He, is the husband, the Jewish People the beloved one of God. The relationship between God and the Jewish people can be likened to that of the relationship between husband and wife. Experience gained through the ages shows that this is a reciprocal relationship, just as a man needs a wife and is incomplete without her, just as a man needs the support and help of his wife and cannot start or sustain life without her, so God also needs His companion, his partner - the Jewish People. The very existence of the world and it's development, is dependent upon the relation between God and the Jewish People.

I Love therefore I am
The "I Love therefore I am" ring is a paraphrase of the famous expression by the French philosopher, Descartes - "I think therefore I am" when he tried to prove, by using logic, the reality of his existence. We changed the sentence engraved on this ring to something that expresses the very essence of life, "I Love therefore I am" because the ages old quest for compassion and love is much more prevalent and universal than an attempt to prove by logic mans existence.