Originally posted by hyssop
If you haven't read Ellis Rivikin's book, "Hidden Revolution: The Pharisee's Search for the Kingdom Within," then I suggest you do so. Yeshua was not the only person preaching the "Kingdom of Heaven Within."
For the plebeian proto-rabbinic Separatists (Pharisees), who were practicle men seeking practicle solutions to the problems their fellow countrymen faced, the "Kingdom of Heaven" (Malkut Shamayim) meant the "Rulership of YHVH" in one's daily life. For these plebeian sages the Kingdom of Heaven was not:
1. Pie-in-the-sky.
2. A little log cabin over in Glory Land.
3. Some futuristic utopia.
4. An earthly kingdom some Zealot-Messiah would win by force of arms.
For the plebeian sages, the "Kingdom of Heaven" was a present reality in the "here-and-now." It had only to be actualized via the activation of one's Good Impulse and via the subjugation of one's Evil Impulse.
What these plebeian sages wanted to obtain was a state of "yichud" (oneness; union; unification) with the Divine. For them, that could be accomplished via the internalization and actualization of the Torah, while giving special attention to positive ethical values (musarim), acts of loving kindness (gemilut hasidim) and charity (tzedekah). In this way, they sought to bind the sectarian wounds of the Nation and avert (or substantially lessen the impact of) the "wrath to come" and thereby usher in the Messianic Era.
This was JUDAISM 101 for the plebeian sages living before, during and after Yeshua's day and age!
The concept of yichud (union) in Yeshua's time alluded to the union experienced in the marital relationship, specifically the thought sharing (intimate communication) a husband and wife engage in and the mutual responsibilities marital partners shared in building a proper environment in which to raise their offspring. Yichud (oneness) has more to do with a unification of purpose and effort in the marital relationship than it does with "knocking boots" (copulation).
So, the plebeian sages, saw in the marital relationship an allegory for their own relationship with the Divine, which is why the concept of yichud dovetails so nicely with the concept that mankind is to be a shituf (co-working partner) of YHVH in the Creation.
Essentially, mankind was originally charged to be the steward (Grk. oikonomos) or servant (Heb. oved) of YHVH in the Earth. However, the concept of shituf (co-working partner) takes this notion a step further.
We are not merely former slaves that have bound ourselves to a house (Exd. 21:5-6); working as stewards. Rather we are called to work in cooperation and partnership (shituf) with the Divine, because the Earth is the Patrimony we've inherited via the "spirit of adoption" (Rom. 8:15).
Reb Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi wrote, "David sings in the Psalms as having heard the Voice proclaim: 'You are my child. Today I have begotten you'.... When a person 'hears' this, birthing has begun. But to stop the process at this point would leave the soul in infancy. Being born again is not enough; you have to grow up, too."*
So what does it mean to be born again? To be continued....
* = "First Steps to a New Jewish Spirit," pp. 91-93.
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