Chasidut zu Schemot 10:38
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 10,1. “G’d said to Moses: ‘come to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart, etc.;’” It is appropriate to examine why in this case G’d tells Moses to בא אל פרעה, “come to Pharaoh,” whereas elsewhere He told him; לך אל פרעה, ”go to Pharaoh.” Another change in nuance which has caught our attention is that in conjunction with the plague of locusts G’d describes Himself as “I have hardened the heart of Pharaoh.” In order to account for these expressions, we need to remember that there are two classes of miracles. One reason for G’d having to perform miracles is in order to punish those who have been persecuting His people, and to persuade them to refrain from doing that. The second class of miracles is intended to bring about a complete change of heart among those who persecute us, and to encourage them to deal kindly with us instead.
When we examine the Purim story we are struck by the fact that whereas Haman was punished, Achashverosh was not punished, but that G’d caused his heart to undergo a revolutionary change and he became friendly to the Jews. According to Sh’mot Rabbah 9,12, we find an allusion to this in the Torah where we are told that each of the plagues [except the killing of the firstborn, of course, Ed.] lasted for a month of 31 days including one week after the warning which gave the people a chance to repent. The plague of the killing of the firstborn occurred in the middle of the month of Nissan, so that the plague of hail occurred in the first half of the month of Sh’vat, a month before Purim. This is alluded to in the words כי אני הכבדתי את לבו, i.e. that “Achashverosh’s heart had become captive to Me.” According to the Talmud Sotah 11, based on the previous Mishnah, G’d repays sinners in a manner that corresponds to their sins, whereas He rewards people who have done something good in a measure that even exceeds merits earned for the good they have done. If Achasheverosh had been dealing kindly with the Jewish people, then G’d, as an act of compensation would also cause his ministers and servants to display a positive attitude towards the Jews. Since Jews are in the habit of studying the commandments and rules pertaining to the proper observance of the Passover festival for 30 days prior to the festival itself, (Pessachim 6) G’d will compensate them for this generously. If G’d could turn a stubborn King’s heart, He could do so more easily with the hearts of his servants and ministers.
When we examine the Purim story we are struck by the fact that whereas Haman was punished, Achashverosh was not punished, but that G’d caused his heart to undergo a revolutionary change and he became friendly to the Jews. According to Sh’mot Rabbah 9,12, we find an allusion to this in the Torah where we are told that each of the plagues [except the killing of the firstborn, of course, Ed.] lasted for a month of 31 days including one week after the warning which gave the people a chance to repent. The plague of the killing of the firstborn occurred in the middle of the month of Nissan, so that the plague of hail occurred in the first half of the month of Sh’vat, a month before Purim. This is alluded to in the words כי אני הכבדתי את לבו, i.e. that “Achashverosh’s heart had become captive to Me.” According to the Talmud Sotah 11, based on the previous Mishnah, G’d repays sinners in a manner that corresponds to their sins, whereas He rewards people who have done something good in a measure that even exceeds merits earned for the good they have done. If Achasheverosh had been dealing kindly with the Jewish people, then G’d, as an act of compensation would also cause his ministers and servants to display a positive attitude towards the Jews. Since Jews are in the habit of studying the commandments and rules pertaining to the proper observance of the Passover festival for 30 days prior to the festival itself, (Pessachim 6) G’d will compensate them for this generously. If G’d could turn a stubborn King’s heart, He could do so more easily with the hearts of his servants and ministers.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 10,1. “G’d said to Moses: ‘come to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart, etc.;’” It is appropriate to examine why in this case G’d tells Moses to בא אל פרעה, “come to Pharaoh,” whereas elsewhere He told him; לך אל פרעה, ”go to Pharaoh.” Another change in nuance which has caught our attention is that in conjunction with the plague of locusts G’d describes Himself as “I have hardened the heart of Pharaoh.” In order to account for these expressions, we need to remember that there are two classes of miracles. One reason for G’d having to perform miracles is in order to punish those who have been persecuting His people, and to persuade them to refrain from doing that. The second class of miracles is intended to bring about a complete change of heart among those who persecute us, and to encourage them to deal kindly with us instead.
When we examine the Purim story we are struck by the fact that whereas Haman was punished, Achashverosh was not punished, but that G’d caused his heart to undergo a revolutionary change and he became friendly to the Jews. According to Sh’mot Rabbah 9,12, we find an allusion to this in the Torah where we are told that each of the plagues [except the killing of the firstborn, of course, Ed.] lasted for a month of 31 days including one week after the warning which gave the people a chance to repent. The plague of the killing of the firstborn occurred in the middle of the month of Nissan, so that the plague of hail occurred in the first half of the month of Sh’vat, a month before Purim. This is alluded to in the words כי אני הכבדתי את לבו, i.e. that “Achashverosh’s heart had become captive to Me.” According to the Talmud Sotah 11, based on the previous Mishnah, G’d repays sinners in a manner that corresponds to their sins, whereas He rewards people who have done something good in a measure that even exceeds merits earned for the good they have done. If Achasheverosh had been dealing kindly with the Jewish people, then G’d, as an act of compensation would also cause his ministers and servants to display a positive attitude towards the Jews. Since Jews are in the habit of studying the commandments and rules pertaining to the proper observance of the Passover festival for 30 days prior to the festival itself, (Pessachim 6) G’d will compensate them for this generously. If G’d could turn a stubborn King’s heart, He could do so more easily with the hearts of his servants and ministers.
When we examine the Purim story we are struck by the fact that whereas Haman was punished, Achashverosh was not punished, but that G’d caused his heart to undergo a revolutionary change and he became friendly to the Jews. According to Sh’mot Rabbah 9,12, we find an allusion to this in the Torah where we are told that each of the plagues [except the killing of the firstborn, of course, Ed.] lasted for a month of 31 days including one week after the warning which gave the people a chance to repent. The plague of the killing of the firstborn occurred in the middle of the month of Nissan, so that the plague of hail occurred in the first half of the month of Sh’vat, a month before Purim. This is alluded to in the words כי אני הכבדתי את לבו, i.e. that “Achashverosh’s heart had become captive to Me.” According to the Talmud Sotah 11, based on the previous Mishnah, G’d repays sinners in a manner that corresponds to their sins, whereas He rewards people who have done something good in a measure that even exceeds merits earned for the good they have done. If Achasheverosh had been dealing kindly with the Jewish people, then G’d, as an act of compensation would also cause his ministers and servants to display a positive attitude towards the Jews. Since Jews are in the habit of studying the commandments and rules pertaining to the proper observance of the Passover festival for 30 days prior to the festival itself, (Pessachim 6) G’d will compensate them for this generously. If G’d could turn a stubborn King’s heart, He could do so more easily with the hearts of his servants and ministers.
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Me'or Einayim
Indeed, regarding what is explained in the Talmud, “A person does not commit a sin unless a spirit of nonsense has entered him” (Sotah 3a), relates to another matter. For is it not known what is stated in the verse, the tzaddik shall live through his faith (Habakuk 2:4)? For sometimes a person falls from Awareness, and it is by way of a trial from the Blessed Creator, by taking from him the Awareness in order to see if he will stand by God’s ways. Nevertheless the righteous holds to his way through his faith; and even though they take the Awareness from him, nevertheless he walks and strengthens himself in God’s ways. But this is not true if he does not have the faith; then when he falls from Awareness and “a spirit of nonsense enters him” he might commit a sin, God forbid. And this is what our Sages of Blessed Memory intended in their saying, “A person does not commit a sin unless a spirit of nonsense has entered him,” which is to say that he fell from Awareness by way of a trial. But in the Egyptian exile they did not have Awareness at all, and then there was no relevance for Choice as we have stated. And that is because the Awareness was in smallness, which is to say that they were in Awareness like a minor who has no [legal] awareness; and therefore it was stated in the Talmud, “A minor has no [legal] intention” (Hullin 13a). And that is [the meaning of] the verse’s further statement, that you may tell … how I have toyed [hit’allalti] with the Egyptians (Ex. 10:2), from the idiom of child [ollel] and infant (Jeremiah 44:7) – as if [God was saying] “Like I have made myself small in Egypt,” which is to say that the Awareness was in smallness in Egypt. And after this it says that you may know that I am the LORD (Ex. 10:2), which is to say that they will have the whole Awareness in their Exodus from Egypt, to know God with Awareness.
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Me'or Einayim
[Regarding] the statement in the Holy Zohar, “Come to Pharaoh (Ex. 10:1) – it should have said ‘go to Pharaoh!’” (cf. Zohar Bo, 2:34a), as well as the question posed by the commentators, which I wrote above – the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt was that the Awareness was in exile with wicked Pharaoh in Egypt; and therefore Israel was exiled there to bring the Awareness from there. And the difficulty of the servitude made it whole, as is stated in Tikkunei Zohar: “And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve… in mortar [be-homer] (Ex. 1:13-14), that is [the logical argument of] ‘…and certainly…’ [kal ve-homer]; and in brick [oo-vil’venim] (Ex. 1:14), that is the heating [libbun] of halakhah; and in all manner of service in the field (Ex. 1:14), that is the external sources; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor [b’farekh] (Ex. 1:14), that is argumentation [pirkha]” (Tikkun 9, Supplement 147a), which is to say that all of this was in exile in Egypt. And through their servitude they took the Awareness, which is the Torah, out of the exile. When they served in mortar they brought [the logical argument of] “…and certainly…” out of the exile, and so on for all the other servitudes as we have stated. And therefore when Moses our Teacher, peace be upon him, said, Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me [ – How then shall Pharaoh listen to me] (Ex. 6:12), and Rashi explained, “This is one of ten ‘…and certainly…’ [arguments] in the Torah,” that is to say that when [Moses] said this “…and certainly…” [argument] he brought the “…and certainly…” [argument] in the Torah out of the exile. For the all of the Torah was in the Egyptian exile, since the Awareness was in exile; and the Awareness is the Torah. Now, the Torah begins with [the letter] bet, In the beginning [God] created etc. (Gen. 1:1); but why didn’t the Torah begin with aleph, which is the first of all the letters? Because [if that were the case] the world would not be able to exist for even one hour, and would be nullified from existence because of the letter aleph’s great brightness, since it alludes to the Champion [aluf] of the World, who is Blessed God in [God’s] Glory and [God’s] Essence, as if it were possible. But because the LORD God is a sun and shield (Psalm 84:12) – which is to say just like one can not look at the sun because of its great brightness, only by way of a shade or a shield can one look at the sun’s light – so too, as if it were possible, with a thousand thousands of thousands of distinctions without end or boundary, would it be impossible to exist because of the letter aleph’s great brightness, since it is the Champion of the World. Only by way of a shade or a shield, which is the letter bet – [only] through it does it become possible to constrain the letter aleph so that it can also be in the Torah. For after the letter bet in bereshit we find several alephs, in the word bereshit and in the words bara elohim, once it was constrained by the letter bet. And that is [the meaning of] Come [בא] to Pharaoh, which is to say through the bet the aleph will be in the Torah. And since now the Torah is in exile, therefore I have hardened his heart and [the heart of his servants] (Ex. 10:1) so that Israel will serve in mortar and in brick (Ex. 1:14) to bring the Torah out of exile. And as is stated in Tikkunei Zohar, “… in mortar [be-homer] (Ex. 1:13-14), that is [the logical argument of] ‘…and certainly…’ [kal ve-homer],” as we said above – through this they brought [the argument of] “…and certainly…” out of the exile, and so on for the other servitudes. And that is [the meaning of] that I may show these signs [otot] of mine among them (Ex. 10:1), that the letters [otiot], which belong to the Torah, must be taken out of exile. And the verse concludes, that you may tell … how I have toyed (Ex. 10:2), which is to say that I made Myself small since the Awareness was in smallness. And now you may know (Ex. 10:2), as was stated above.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus10,2 “and in order that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your grandson, etc.” “how I have made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I have displayed My signs among them., in order that you may know that I am Hashem.” We need to analyse not only the peculiar phraseology in this paragraph but also why G’d addresses the words: וידעתם כי אני ה', “you will know that I am Hashem to the Israelites instead of to the Egyptians, by writing: “:וידעו כי אני ה' “so that they will know that I am Hashem.”
It appears that the gentile nations do not have access to G’d through His regular activities, i.e. nature, but only though supernatural events, miracles within the framework of known natural events which have been upset. The plagues that occurred in Egypt were of that category. Matters that are altogether beyond nature are not accessible to the gentile nations. This explains why the Talmud in Sanhedrin 58 states that when a gentile observes the Sabbath Day as does a Jew, i.e. the day on which G’d rested, and is to be emulated as such, he not only does not earn credits for this, but is guilty of the death penalty as he breached the command to earn his livelihood by the sweat of his brow, (without break). G’d’s message to the Jewish people, in the verses above, is a hint at the different nature of the gentile nations, even at the time when the Sabbath as basic legislation for the Jewish people had not yet been legally formulated. [The reader is reminded of the Midrashim that credit Moses with having secured the Sabbath as a day of rest from labour by Pharaoh, not for religious reasons, but to enable the Jews to perform better work for the Egyptians by recharging their physical batteries on that day.” Ed.]
It appears that the gentile nations do not have access to G’d through His regular activities, i.e. nature, but only though supernatural events, miracles within the framework of known natural events which have been upset. The plagues that occurred in Egypt were of that category. Matters that are altogether beyond nature are not accessible to the gentile nations. This explains why the Talmud in Sanhedrin 58 states that when a gentile observes the Sabbath Day as does a Jew, i.e. the day on which G’d rested, and is to be emulated as such, he not only does not earn credits for this, but is guilty of the death penalty as he breached the command to earn his livelihood by the sweat of his brow, (without break). G’d’s message to the Jewish people, in the verses above, is a hint at the different nature of the gentile nations, even at the time when the Sabbath as basic legislation for the Jewish people had not yet been legally formulated. [The reader is reminded of the Midrashim that credit Moses with having secured the Sabbath as a day of rest from labour by Pharaoh, not for religious reasons, but to enable the Jews to perform better work for the Egyptians by recharging their physical batteries on that day.” Ed.]
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Me'or Einayim
[Regarding] the statement in the Holy Zohar, “Come to Pharaoh (Ex. 10:1) – it should have said ‘go to Pharaoh!’” (cf. Zohar Bo, 2:34a), as well as the question posed by the commentators, which I wrote above – the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt was that the Awareness was in exile with wicked Pharaoh in Egypt; and therefore Israel was exiled there to bring the Awareness from there. And the difficulty of the servitude made it whole, as is stated in Tikkunei Zohar: “And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve… in mortar [be-homer] (Ex. 1:13-14), that is [the logical argument of] ‘…and certainly…’ [kal ve-homer]; and in brick [oo-vil’venim] (Ex. 1:14), that is the heating [libbun] of halakhah; and in all manner of service in the field (Ex. 1:14), that is the external sources; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor [b’farekh] (Ex. 1:14), that is argumentation [pirkha]” (Tikkun 9, Supplement 147a), which is to say that all of this was in exile in Egypt. And through their servitude they took the Awareness, which is the Torah, out of the exile. When they served in mortar they brought [the logical argument of] “…and certainly…” out of the exile, and so on for all the other servitudes as we have stated. And therefore when Moses our Teacher, peace be upon him, said, Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me [ – How then shall Pharaoh listen to me] (Ex. 6:12), and Rashi explained, “This is one of ten ‘…and certainly…’ [arguments] in the Torah,” that is to say that when [Moses] said this “…and certainly…” [argument] he brought the “…and certainly…” [argument] in the Torah out of the exile. For the all of the Torah was in the Egyptian exile, since the Awareness was in exile; and the Awareness is the Torah. Now, the Torah begins with [the letter] bet, In the beginning [God] created etc. (Gen. 1:1); but why didn’t the Torah begin with aleph, which is the first of all the letters? Because [if that were the case] the world would not be able to exist for even one hour, and would be nullified from existence because of the letter aleph’s great brightness, since it alludes to the Champion [aluf] of the World, who is Blessed God in [God’s] Glory and [God’s] Essence, as if it were possible. But because the LORD God is a sun and shield (Psalm 84:12) – which is to say just like one can not look at the sun because of its great brightness, only by way of a shade or a shield can one look at the sun’s light – so too, as if it were possible, with a thousand thousands of thousands of distinctions without end or boundary, would it be impossible to exist because of the letter aleph’s great brightness, since it is the Champion of the World. Only by way of a shade or a shield, which is the letter bet – [only] through it does it become possible to constrain the letter aleph so that it can also be in the Torah. For after the letter bet in bereshit we find several alephs, in the word bereshit and in the words bara elohim, once it was constrained by the letter bet. And that is [the meaning of] Come [בא] to Pharaoh, which is to say through the bet the aleph will be in the Torah. And since now the Torah is in exile, therefore I have hardened his heart and [the heart of his servants] (Ex. 10:1) so that Israel will serve in mortar and in brick (Ex. 1:14) to bring the Torah out of exile. And as is stated in Tikkunei Zohar, “… in mortar [be-homer] (Ex. 1:13-14), that is [the logical argument of] ‘…and certainly…’ [kal ve-homer],” as we said above – through this they brought [the argument of] “…and certainly…” out of the exile, and so on for the other servitudes. And that is [the meaning of] that I may show these signs [otot] of mine among them (Ex. 10:1), that the letters [otiot], which belong to the Torah, must be taken out of exile. And the verse concludes, that you may tell … how I have toyed (Ex. 10:2), which is to say that I made Myself small since the Awareness was in smallness. And now you may know (Ex. 10:2), as was stated above.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 10,21. “stretch out your hand in the direction of the sky and there will be darkness in the land of Egypt; Moses did so, and there was palpable darkness in Egypt, whereas in all the dwellings of the Israelites there was light.” Rashi already concentrates on the meaning of the words וימש חושך, “the darkness was tangible,” we also need to examine why the Torah emphasized that all the dwellings of the Israelites continued to enjoy normal daylight. Why did the Torah not merely write that the Israelites were not struck by darkness?
The phraseology used by the Torah may become clear when we read Sh’mot Rabbah 14,2 where the Midrash examines whence this darkness originated. Rabbi Yehudah there claims that the “darkness” originated in the celestial regions, quoting psalms 18,12 as proof that such a phenomenon exists. The psalmist says there (referring to G’d) ישת חשך סתרו סביבותיו, “He makes darkness be His screen.” We need to understand why the darkness decreed in Egypt had to be of the kind mentioned in psalms. This “darkness” is an allusion to a hidden kind of light. We must now understand the concept underlying this “concealed light.” The Talmud in Shabbat 34 deals with an incident when a great Talmudic scholar killed an outstanding student for having violated a basic rule of not revealing discussions that had occurred within the walls of academy. The method of killing that student is described as “he set his eye upon him and he turned into a heap of bones.”
What precisely does the Talmud mean when it refers to נתן עיניו בו, “He set his eyes on him?” Moreover, in light of Proverbs 17,26 גם ענוש לצדיק לא טוב, “also it is not good to punish the righteous,” [meaning that when a judge takes an especially harsh line with a person reputed to be a tzaddik, as he should have served as a model for the community, this, in Solomon’s view is not an appropriate approach. Ed.], how could the teacher of the student in Shabbat 34 have been so harsh
In order to understand all this we must remember that the brightness surrounding the Creator was so overpowering that in order to create a universe in which the creatures could live without dying from exposure to so much light, He had to impose limitations not only on Himself, but also on the brightness surrounding Him. This “light” had to be adjusted in accordance with the ability of the creatures in the universe to tolerate it without coming to harm thereby. Various regions of the universe therefore were provided with light of differing degrees of intensity, tolerable for beasts, inert objects, etc., so that even in the regions populated by angels the light that was the norm there was not of the intensity of the light that had surrounded the Almighty prior to His creating the universe. Different categories of angels lived in different celestial regions, each of which was illuminated in a manner that corresponded to their ability to tolerate that light’s intensity. These angels have not been allowed to glimpse “higher” regions in the celestial spheres than those inhabited by them, so as not to blind them through exposure to overpowering brightness. Similarly, they were not allowed to look into regions that were less brightly illuminated. These details of what goes on in the celestial regions have been referred to in Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah 6,2) where the prophet describes the angels as using two of their six wings to cover their faces with the words: בשתים יכסה פניו ובשתים יכסה רגליו יעופף “and with two he would cover his feet, and with two he would fly.” [Covering his feet, presumably is an allusion to not looking into lower regions beneath his habitat. Ed.] Israelites, as distinct from the angels, due to having been given the Torah and the commandments it contains, are able to use these very commandments as protective “clothing” so that they can be at home in different regions, exposed to different intensities of light.
The phraseology used by the Torah may become clear when we read Sh’mot Rabbah 14,2 where the Midrash examines whence this darkness originated. Rabbi Yehudah there claims that the “darkness” originated in the celestial regions, quoting psalms 18,12 as proof that such a phenomenon exists. The psalmist says there (referring to G’d) ישת חשך סתרו סביבותיו, “He makes darkness be His screen.” We need to understand why the darkness decreed in Egypt had to be of the kind mentioned in psalms. This “darkness” is an allusion to a hidden kind of light. We must now understand the concept underlying this “concealed light.” The Talmud in Shabbat 34 deals with an incident when a great Talmudic scholar killed an outstanding student for having violated a basic rule of not revealing discussions that had occurred within the walls of academy. The method of killing that student is described as “he set his eye upon him and he turned into a heap of bones.”
What precisely does the Talmud mean when it refers to נתן עיניו בו, “He set his eyes on him?” Moreover, in light of Proverbs 17,26 גם ענוש לצדיק לא טוב, “also it is not good to punish the righteous,” [meaning that when a judge takes an especially harsh line with a person reputed to be a tzaddik, as he should have served as a model for the community, this, in Solomon’s view is not an appropriate approach. Ed.], how could the teacher of the student in Shabbat 34 have been so harsh
In order to understand all this we must remember that the brightness surrounding the Creator was so overpowering that in order to create a universe in which the creatures could live without dying from exposure to so much light, He had to impose limitations not only on Himself, but also on the brightness surrounding Him. This “light” had to be adjusted in accordance with the ability of the creatures in the universe to tolerate it without coming to harm thereby. Various regions of the universe therefore were provided with light of differing degrees of intensity, tolerable for beasts, inert objects, etc., so that even in the regions populated by angels the light that was the norm there was not of the intensity of the light that had surrounded the Almighty prior to His creating the universe. Different categories of angels lived in different celestial regions, each of which was illuminated in a manner that corresponded to their ability to tolerate that light’s intensity. These angels have not been allowed to glimpse “higher” regions in the celestial spheres than those inhabited by them, so as not to blind them through exposure to overpowering brightness. Similarly, they were not allowed to look into regions that were less brightly illuminated. These details of what goes on in the celestial regions have been referred to in Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah 6,2) where the prophet describes the angels as using two of their six wings to cover their faces with the words: בשתים יכסה פניו ובשתים יכסה רגליו יעופף “and with two he would cover his feet, and with two he would fly.” [Covering his feet, presumably is an allusion to not looking into lower regions beneath his habitat. Ed.] Israelites, as distinct from the angels, due to having been given the Torah and the commandments it contains, are able to use these very commandments as protective “clothing” so that they can be at home in different regions, exposed to different intensities of light.
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Mevo HaShearim
Chapter 9522In Chapter 9, R. Shapiro articulates the nature of the hasidic path, which meets the need to transform the entire person – intentions, desires, and actions alike –and directs them all towards holiness. This is a high rung on the ladder of divine service and hasidism (again, the student has progressed since prior works), and requires training. It is such training that is the goal of the intended work which Mevo haShearim introduces.
And now we come to our primary intent in this work which we desire to compose, should the good and forgiving God merit us. Behold, as we have said, hasidism constitutes a drawing forth, which reveals light in even the vessels themselves, even in this world--”and the whole earth is full of His glory” —, even in earthiness and in the physicality of the vessels. Therefore, [hasidic] avodah is not only performed via rejection of the physical but rather also with the physical, serving God and raising up physical traits, to love God and fear Him with them. Further, we do so not only with the faculties deriving from the spirit [ruakh], but also with the soul [nefesh] and indeed with one’s physical force. These too, we need not afflict and cast aside but rather incorporate them in holiness and service of God. In the holy books, this notion is sourced in a scriptural hint523Remez, or allegorical interpretations; one of the four traditional levels of interpretation. found in the verse ‘for from these we shall take to serve God,’524Exodus 10:26.which Moses our Rabbi said to Pharaoh regarding the animals, indicating that these too would come with them [i.e. the Israelites, when they left Egypt]. This means that they would ‘take from them as well,’ that is, from their own animalistic natures, to serve God.
And now we come to our primary intent in this work which we desire to compose, should the good and forgiving God merit us. Behold, as we have said, hasidism constitutes a drawing forth, which reveals light in even the vessels themselves, even in this world--”and the whole earth is full of His glory” —, even in earthiness and in the physicality of the vessels. Therefore, [hasidic] avodah is not only performed via rejection of the physical but rather also with the physical, serving God and raising up physical traits, to love God and fear Him with them. Further, we do so not only with the faculties deriving from the spirit [ruakh], but also with the soul [nefesh] and indeed with one’s physical force. These too, we need not afflict and cast aside but rather incorporate them in holiness and service of God. In the holy books, this notion is sourced in a scriptural hint523Remez, or allegorical interpretations; one of the four traditional levels of interpretation. found in the verse ‘for from these we shall take to serve God,’524Exodus 10:26.which Moses our Rabbi said to Pharaoh regarding the animals, indicating that these too would come with them [i.e. the Israelites, when they left Egypt]. This means that they would ‘take from them as well,’ that is, from their own animalistic natures, to serve God.
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Hakhsharat HaAvrekhim
It is not only the second variety of hisragshus (where nothing external sets off this emotion, it is just a feeling that has not yet dressed in anything physical) that you can use for avodas Hashem, to intensify your feelings for Hashem, but even the hisragshus of the third variety (where you already feel desire and hisragshus for something physical) can be used to augment your love and fear of God. We have already quoted holy sefarim that tell us how for the Israelite, even the animal soul, the source of all worldly desires, is a holy entity, as it is rooted in the face of the ox on God’s chariot. It is only that it is dressed in low garments, and thus desires low things. Man’s job is to remove it from its evil garment and dress it in a garment of kedushah. When a man is aroused to such desires, it contains two elements. The first element is the hisragshus of the nefesh that we search after with so much effort. And the second element is the evil garment that covers the illumination of the nefesh and its feelings. If only man felt it as two distinct elements, that which was being dressed, and the garment dressing it; the hisragshus by itself, and also the vile, polluted rubbish by itself. If so we would not need to be so wary of dangers in the course of our avodah. The trouble is precisely that we feel them together as one, as if they were not two things but one thing - one low feeling for something or other. The masters of Chassidus have taught us that it is not enough for man to refrain from his evil lusts, but he is under obligation to transform every desire for evil into a desire for kedushah. The purpose of avodah is to reach the point where that very same animal desire that seeks evil has now been transformed and now only seeks the good and the holy. As was mentioned earlier, the Torah hints at this when Moshe tells Pharaoh that he will be taking even the animals of the Egyptians in order to sacrifice them in the desert. “We must take it to serve God,”192Shemos, 10:26 which tells us, we will also transform the evil portion of the animal soul and use it to serve God.
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