Blessed By The Ancestors

א' אייר תשס"ט
Annwn 2

In follow-up to my commentary (Karet - Cursed By The Ancestors) on this week's Torah portion, in contradistinction to the curse of the Ancestors is the blessing of the Ancestors. The curse is brought upon an individual and upon the individual's "collective folksoul" through failure to be true to and to actualize one's uniqueness in sacrifice to the group. The blessing is brought upon an individual and upon an individual's "collective folksoul" through active fidelity to one's uniqueness within the group and through active resistance to the tendency to move toward a group norm (which ultimately is corrosive to the evolving development of the "collective folksoul").

Two Half-Shekels - Arousing The Collective Folksoul

In Celtic Witchcraft, the blessing of the Ancestors is called hywl - "in Welsh the word more often refers to a complex and intangible quality of passion and sense of belonging that isn’t easy to translate but which has been said to sum up Welshness in a word."

In Jewish Kabbalah, the blessing of the Ancestors is called achdut - "in Hebrew the word more often refers to a complex and intangible quality of passion and sense of belonging that isn’t easy to translate but which has been said to sum up Jewishness in a word."