I don’t think this teenage boy came to me because he wanted to hear how the Arizal explains the lights of chaos. And I don’t think Levi fills a concert hall because people came to hear a teaching from Likkutei Torah. But nevertheless, this is the potential. To introduce thousands to some holy concept that you yourself were inspired by.
Personal Journey
My favorite song from Levi’s EP last year is not Mighty Waters or Peasants in the Field, but a song called Headlights. In it he alludes to what are likely elements of his own personal journey… his own “circle of light” experience.
To quote from the first part:
Young man, Having trouble, Home, Life is a double, Faces, The mirror stares at him With eyes that tell him, Begin, A new life Search and you’ll come to find. No bags, No time, Just a heart and a hand to write Down, His soul’s thirst for water In an endless desert sky. The sun will rise, Gotta make it through the night, The sun will rise
The reason I was drawn in particular to this song is the reason I decided to write down this article (Just a heart and a hand to write Down…). While there are acts of creative expression that come from being inspired by holy teachings, there are others that result from overcoming trials and tests.
It is taught in Hasidism that the soul-aspect of yechidah–the highest of five soul levels–emerges through the service of being tested. Thus at this level it is actually truer to say that the person who writes down his test in the form of a story or the lyrics of a song is actually writing from the inside. Since he is writing from his or her yechidah, there is no more inner place than this.
This then is the message for readers of articles such as these or attendees to concerts such as Levi’s. That through overcoming challenges and obstacles in your own lives, through persevering in the service of God, you reach the highest of the high… or as another Hasidic musician would often say to the holy brothers and holy sisters in the audience, “the sweetest of the sweet…”
