In the body
Look for the flow of life that exists now, without denying physical reality.
About this page. This is an editorial synthesis based on the complete English captions and the reviewed Portuguese translation of Michael Berg's class for the Shabbat of Ki Tavo. It is not a full transcript.
The secret of Hayom hazeh
The Torah repeats a simple expression: hayom hazeh, “this day.” Michael Berg begins with Rashi's commentary, based on the Midrash, that our spiritual connection should appear before us every day as something new.
This does not mean pretending that a body, relationship, or project has no history. It means recognizing that history does not exhaust what exists today. Our experience grows old. Beneath it, a new flow of Light is arriving at this moment.
You and I have the power to renew everything.Michael Berg · Ki Tavo class
The flow that never stops
Renewal does not mean creating something from nothing. The Creator's Light already flows through and renews all things. The problem begins when layers of habit, fear, and memory hide that movement, and we live only what appears old.
In relationships
Meet the person before you today, rather than only the image built yesterday.
In connection
Leave autopilot behind and enter the practice as if hearing it for the first time.
In ideas
Do not confuse familiarity with the absence of possibility.
Certainty beyond logic
Michael Berg brings a teaching from Rav Ashlag about day and night. Day is when life appears to make sense. Night is when lack, fear, and circumstances we cannot change arise. The purpose of spiritual work is not to force the night to disappear.
The central prayer is to ask for strength to develop certainty beyond logic. The external fact may not have changed yet, but experience begins to change when we recognize that everything comes from the Light and contains a possibility for good that we cannot yet see.
More important than changing what is happening is experiencing the goodness within what is happening.Michael Berg · class synthesis
The work of Elul
During Elul, we do teshuvah: we look back over the year, recognize what must change, ask forgiveness, and create a small opening. That effort matters, but Michael Berg insists that it does not accomplish the whole transformation by itself.
An opening the size of the eye of a needle allows the Light to do the greater work. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy represent channels through which help can flow, producing corrections that the mind and personal effort cannot reach alone.
A renewal practice
- Choose one area that feels old. It may be a relationship, habit, the body, or spiritual connection.
- Name the old image. What conclusion about this area do you repeat without noticing?
- Look for today's flow. Ask what is alive, available, or different at this moment.
- Ask for certainty beyond logic. Do not ask only for the situation to change. Ask for strength to find goodness while the path is still unclear.
- Make your small opening. Choose one concrete action and allow the Light to complete what you cannot complete alone.