Unsettled mind of protagonist and antagonist

Date: Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 11:07 PM

Subject: Unsettled mind of protagonist and antagonist

everything boils down to two. We can’t see One. We experience the fragments; and the most basic elements are two, that are really One.

The Bible, all of human experience is framed in the inbetween of 1 and 2; termed Good and Evil; Truth and Lies, Cain and Abel; Issac and Yismael; Esau and Jacob; Moses and Korach; G-d and Man; G-d and the Jewish People; framed as a relationship; as in the beginning when Man itself was created as One with male/female that had to separated. We were alone with ourselves, male and female, yet alone. Even with passages that state that there are twelve tribes, the basic foundations of the stories revolve around Two that is One. Even our shabbot has echos of the Protagonist and Antagonist. Two angels accompany you home Friday night and we sing to them. In the nusach Sefard there is a kabbalistic tephilla about the merging of the Queen and coming into the wholeness, unity of Shabbot. Shabbot was one and seven; it was the last and first; we count towards and away from it. We separate from it and try to bring her into the week with us. Shabbot is our Queen, we are it’s Groom. We are married to Hashem in Jewish theology yet always separated by the Lattaces — she looks threw the veils; the world is a Mask is the metaphor; and everything must be explained using a metaphor, a story to help understand the concept; everything is a secret that must be revealed. It is revealed and concealed; the world was created by concealments; contractions; the vessels broke into pieces; the pieces are the scattering of Two that we constantly strive to bring back – elevate to the Holiness. But we don’t separate from the world; we elevate the world we are told. The Shchina is in Exile with us we are told; G-d it Hiding Its Face; yet; we seek the Face of the Divine. The best mystery is not knowing who is the protagonist or the antagonist; and just when you think you’ve figured out that Korach was the "bad guy" you find that we sing songs written by his sons; and he is called a Tzaddik, for don’t you know that ultimately he was a tzaddik? Esau the bad guy who didn’t care about his blessings; even he gets his head in Hebron. Yismael the unwanted discarded son, does "tshuva" and is judged for who he is now, not what he will become — we never give up hope, down to the last breath that the Protagonist will be revealed; every day we daven for the Protagonist to come, he will come on a white donkey and show us all the parts we didn’t understand, he will answer all our unanswered questions and we’ll finally know when to know for sure that the Antagonist is actually the Protagonist and not the first way we saw things. The first way we saw things was Two. We struggle with Two our whole lives; our inner turmoil is even described as the Yetsar Haraa and Yetser Tov; or the Id and Ego; but which is it Freud? Which one is in control? The Proletariat rises up in the Marxist vision and becomes the ruling class and everything is shared in the post era amongst brothers; yet; we never saw it. We saw the Axis of Evil and The West vs the East. because we need it simplified down to Two; we can’t cope with complex reality; that is why we search for simplicity; we all received the Word of G-d on Mt Sinai; so, why do we need just you Moshe? Why can’t we all understand the Word equally? Put down the camera and open your hearts; Open your hearts to Messiah. The Messiah will fix all our problems; he’ll be able to smell the problems. even the letters on this screen are a manifestation of the contractions of the Light; and the breaking of the vessels; the black is framed by the white; but which is the Protagonist and the Antagonist in a space for words? The Torah was written twice; which one is the One?

Which is the Protagonist and the Antagonist? It’s a Tree of Life; Keep choosing from a choice that seems obvious. If was and is obvious than why isn’t everyone choosing it? Because not everyone is supposed to follow the exact same path; there are 70 Faces; 70 Nations; 70 Languages; 4 Levels of Understanding the Torah; there are …. the antagonist and the protagonist. Struggle is figuring out which one to root for. It seems always obvious who the good guy is right? but then the story wouldn’t be interesting. We wouldn’t read on if we knew exactly the good guy was or is. We read on because we find out that the entire time we were completely wrong; or is it completely wrong? Is it so "black and white" Isn’t there room for in the story of the Messiah’s alleyway for the Messiah to be coming down the steps? or is he always climbing up the steps to be greeted by Savta Yochevet and her coffee? Why is always climbing up the steps in the tour guides stories? Besides; the alley is only narrow because two buildings were built to squeeze it in; or is it like the metaphor of leaving Mitzraim… which means "from the straights" from the narrow path we are lead out; Who is the Protagonist and Antagonist? Why Moshe is the Protagonist and Pharaoh is the Antagonist; it’s "so obvious" Then why is Pharaoh spared in the Midrash to be able to be the King of Ninveh in the story of Jonah? Ah; you have to keep reading. Even when the Messiah comes, the world does not end, Rambam clearly writes that the Lion lying down with the sheep is a metaphor…. but he’s a rationalist; and if he had Kabbalah; he would of thought differently. Who is the Antagonist and Protagonist in this little debate?

You need to have the chassidim and the misnagnim. Otherwise, we would have stopped reading, Don’t we want to know who is the good guy? Or are we secretly rooting for the bad guy to become good? Which makes a better ending? The twist at the end? Isn’t Yaakov wearing Esau’s clothing? Is Issac really "blind’? What’s the clothing for? If he’s blind Yaakov didn’t need the clothes, he could have disguised his voice, or some other means; but no, he had to "cover" himself as Esau. Yaakov who Judaism calls the person of Truth had to deceive! What a story! Dozens perhaps of interpretations; but they always tell you the one that they like the most or makes the story easier to swallow; kind of exactly the quick swallow that Esau did with the pot of Lintal beans; because he was in a hurry. If he had taken his time, he would have Olam Habba and Olam Hazeh. WOW. So, who is the good guy again?

Or the end that lets us know that the story is continuing; the "cliff hanger" It’s so obvious who the bad guys are in the middle east, everyone knows who is at fault. Ask 1,000,000 people and they’ll all tell you the same thing. It’s someone fault, never mine. I am the tzaddik and he’s the rasha. ever read the tanya about the tzaddik? Read the Tanya about the Tzaddik and come back to me in 20 years and tell me if you can clearly tell who is a tzaddik and who is rasha. According to the Talmud, Rabbah, who never stopped learning — so much so that the Angel of Death had no power over him, called himself a "benoni" the middle guy. But then the entire Tanya is set about to discover what that really really really — no — really really really means. But don’t think you’ve got it, because if it was that easy to understand, you would never read it in the first place. There are 5 types of people. There are 4 types of damages; There are 10 levels of sepherot; and then there is the sitra achra; as everything has a counterpart; everything has an Antagonist. Except, the Protagonist.

or is it the other way around? That’s why savta yochevet put the coffee out everyday. Because she was never sure, never really sure which one was which. But she kept on reading, and her story is always being told.

Best regards,

Daniel Rosenthal