THE CABALA OF WALKING

A study found people with a slower walking speed in middle age were one-and-a-half times more likely to develop dementia compared to people with faster walking speed.

The difference between angels and souls is, angels are called Omdin/Standers while souls are called MaHalchim/Walkers. The meaning of this nomenclature is, like animals, angels are confined by their nature while the human being constantly changes and evolves into the future.

Rabbi Akiva, of great renown from two thousand years ago, was known as Rutzim/Runner; the Talmud-Book of Law describes Rabbi Akiva beginning prayer in one corner but finishing in another because of constant genuflecting and prostrations. Rabbi Akiva was in a hurry.

The Cabala defines life as that which moves; from the atom to the universe everything is alive. In the future, according to the Midrash-Book of Metaphor, the stones will speak and they will say, Do not walk upon me unless you are going somewhere to do the Will of God.

Where we walk is as important as how we walk; life is not about how long we live but rather the quality of life. Some run after the dollar and some run after sex; some seek position, but those who seek heaven need to know – the greatest pain in heaven is embarrassment.

Heel of the Soul

Humans are among the few animals that step first on the heel when walking. Most mammals walk and run on the balls of their feet. Ungulates like horses and deer run and walk on their tiptoes.

Our time is denoted by the phrase, Akev Moshicai/Heel of Moshiach because the first part of the body to hit the earth is the heel of the foot. The human being is designated as Mahalech/Walker as opposed to the animals who run to catch food–the human being walks to a destination.

The heel is considered the lowest and most insensitive part of the body; it is taught in the Cabala the heel of the soul is affixed in the brain responsible for the constant unabated thinking that goes on inside our heads. One could assume that the soul of the animal comes in toe first–thus the essential difference of our kind.

The Talmud-Book of Metaphor mentions a few people who went beyond walking and were called Rutzim/Runners. The great Rabbi Akiva was a runner as the Talmud explains if you put Rabbi Akiva in one corner of the room to pray he would eventually end up at the other end from repeated bows and prostrations.

Few human beings ascend to the level of Runner, only those with dogged determination who never stop.