[First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ekev-the-illusion-of-reality/]

Ibn Ezra Deuteronomy: Ekev

The Illusion of Reality

“Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.” -Lily Tomlin

One of the more insightful films of recent years was the popular “The Matrix” produced by the Wachowski Brothers. The writers imagined a reality that was a sophisticated illusion. Humanity it turned out was dormant, dreaming a collective dream as the machines fed upon human energy. However, the dream felt real. All of the senses were engaged. The brains of the trapped humans saw, felt, heard, smelled and tasted what they perceived as reality.

Only a select minority was free of The Matrix and saw reality for what it was. Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 8:3 alludes that our world may also be merely a façade for a deeper reality. He explains that the Children of Israel did not live on bread, but rather by the more divinely obvious Ma’an that descended from the heavens daily. He correlates the bread to the courser, more material, physical reality, while the Ma’an is much more representative of the deeper reality of God’s underlying power and will, which is what truly sustains our existence.

May we see through the illusions of our life to the profound truths of our universe.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the people on different sides of the planet who assisted us in many timely and stress-relieving ways in the reality of moving from one existence to an apparently different one. Though the strain may be a temporal illusion, the relief and friendship are real.