Chasidut zu Jechezkiel 1:14
וְהַחַיּ֖וֹת רָצ֣וֹא וָשׁ֑וֹב כְּמַרְאֵ֖ה הַבָּזָֽק׃
Und die Lebewesen rannten und kehrten wie ein Blitz zurück.
Kedushat Levi
The first thing G’d embarked on when creating the material universe was to create heaven and earth.”
It is an axiom, general principle, that G’d created the entire universe, and having done so, never withdraws from the universe for even a single moment, [unlike sculptors or painters who, once they have completed a sculpture or painting, move on to something else, having “finished” with their previous “creation.” Ed.] This axiom is true both of what He created in the heavens and what He created in the material, three-dimensional part of the universe. We pay tribute to this in our daily prayers when we say יוצר אור ובורא חושך, “He creates and fashions (present tense) light, and He creates darkness.” When speaking of any accomplishments of G’d’s creatures however, we speak of them in the past tense, i.e.יצר כסא, “he shaped a chair,” or עשה מזרון, “he made a mattress.” G’d’s creative activity is never completed, as the Torah testified in Genesis 2,3 אשר ברא אלוקים לעשות, “which the Lord has created in order to complete it.” This means that G’d is part of every creature He ever created, and once man realizes that he is nothing without G’d Who has created him and Who provides him with all the strength and creative stimuli that he possesses, he will be able to relate to Hashem as an ongoing creative Force in His universe. This is reflected every morning when we get up [after having used the washroom] and we refer to G’d with the words אשר יצר את האדם בחכמה, “Who has fashioned man with חכמה,” the word חכמה meaning the opposite of אין, “nothing.” It is appropriate therefore that in that prayer we refer to the creation of man in the past tense, as opposed to the line we quoted earlier, seeing that we refer to something or somebody who already exists, i.e. יש. This explains why the Ari z’al , Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, said that when we refer to G’d as ה' מלך, usually translated as “Hashem is King,” the reference is to the אין, “nothing,” i.e. G’d at any given moment gives us life, -by not withdrawing it from us.- The implied meaning of the expression is that man is “nothing” unless he continues to exist as part of G’d’s creative activity. The so-called אין, “nothing,” in terms of metaphysical beings, rules supreme in the regions beyond those that are part of the physical universe, the one that we conveniently refer to as “nature.” This so-called אין, is not really a “nothing,” in terms of the universe, its “nothingness” is such only vis a vis the physical part of the universe; in the celestial regions this “אין” rules supreme. [as opposed to the חכמה in our part of the universe. Ed. Although יש and אין are popularly perceived as absolute opposites, not having anything in common, this perception is built on a fallacy; the linkage between יש and אין are the mitzvot, Torah commandments, performed by the Jewish people. The commandments are performed in the section of the universe known as יש, as a result of which close contact is maintained between the aforementioned two domains of the universe. Ezekiel 1:14 refers to the “mitzvot” in their capacity as providing the link between the terrestrial and the celestial part of the universe with the words והחיות רצוא ושוב, “and the chayot ran to and fro”. According to the Zohar II 288, the mitzvot and the Torah respectively, are viewed as related to one another like the “hidden” is related to the “revealed,” both being part of the same whole. Torah and mitzvot provide the link between these two domains, so that each domain is not completely divorced from the other. This concept is contained in the letters of the word מצוה when we divide it up into מצ and וה. The letters מצ when we read the alphabet backwards, starting with the letter ת are equivalent to the letters יה, symbolising the totally abstract Divinity, whereas the letters וה symbolize the hidden parts of the universe, יש. The first half of the word מצוה being read with the two letters used in reverse order of the aleph bet, alludes to the “hidden” part of the universe, the domain exclusive to Divine, abstract forces. Let us explain something about what precisely is “hidden” and what is “revealed,” when it comes to the מצוה, “Torah commandment.” When we perform a מצוה, we cause G’d to become pleased with having created man, the choicest of His creatures. When we comply with requests made to us by a fellow human being, we can immediately gauge whether he is pleased by our actions or not, either by his face indicating this, or by words of approval, something that is not the case when we comply with G’d’s requests from us. Since He is invisible, and does not speak to us as He did to Moses, “mouth to mouth”, we have no way of knowing if our efforts to please Him have been successful. When we try to perform deeds that are for our (immediate) personal benefit, we are able to determine if our efforts have succeeded. This then is the “hidden” element present whenever we perform any of G’d’s commandments, מצות. This is what the Torah had in mind when it wrote (Deuteronomy 29,28) הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “the hidden aspects of mitzvah performance are reserved for the Lord our G’d;” on the other hand, והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, “the benefits which the performance of the Torah confers upon us will be revealed forever.” This is also the meaning of the words בראשית ברא אלוקים, (addressed to us) “at the beginning of G’d’s creative activity G’d created the יש, a physical domain of the universe.” Through His creating יש, i.e. ראשית, a beginning, the creation of heaven and earth came into being, for prior to that there was only the אין, the abstract universe. This is the meaning of Targum Yerushalmi who renders this verse as 'בראשית בחוכמא ברא ה', “at the beginning G’d created by means of using intelligence found in the domain of the abstract regions.” חכמה, as we pointed out earlier, is a quality inherent in the terrestrial domain.
It is an axiom, general principle, that G’d created the entire universe, and having done so, never withdraws from the universe for even a single moment, [unlike sculptors or painters who, once they have completed a sculpture or painting, move on to something else, having “finished” with their previous “creation.” Ed.] This axiom is true both of what He created in the heavens and what He created in the material, three-dimensional part of the universe. We pay tribute to this in our daily prayers when we say יוצר אור ובורא חושך, “He creates and fashions (present tense) light, and He creates darkness.” When speaking of any accomplishments of G’d’s creatures however, we speak of them in the past tense, i.e.יצר כסא, “he shaped a chair,” or עשה מזרון, “he made a mattress.” G’d’s creative activity is never completed, as the Torah testified in Genesis 2,3 אשר ברא אלוקים לעשות, “which the Lord has created in order to complete it.” This means that G’d is part of every creature He ever created, and once man realizes that he is nothing without G’d Who has created him and Who provides him with all the strength and creative stimuli that he possesses, he will be able to relate to Hashem as an ongoing creative Force in His universe. This is reflected every morning when we get up [after having used the washroom] and we refer to G’d with the words אשר יצר את האדם בחכמה, “Who has fashioned man with חכמה,” the word חכמה meaning the opposite of אין, “nothing.” It is appropriate therefore that in that prayer we refer to the creation of man in the past tense, as opposed to the line we quoted earlier, seeing that we refer to something or somebody who already exists, i.e. יש. This explains why the Ari z’al , Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, said that when we refer to G’d as ה' מלך, usually translated as “Hashem is King,” the reference is to the אין, “nothing,” i.e. G’d at any given moment gives us life, -by not withdrawing it from us.- The implied meaning of the expression is that man is “nothing” unless he continues to exist as part of G’d’s creative activity. The so-called אין, “nothing,” in terms of metaphysical beings, rules supreme in the regions beyond those that are part of the physical universe, the one that we conveniently refer to as “nature.” This so-called אין, is not really a “nothing,” in terms of the universe, its “nothingness” is such only vis a vis the physical part of the universe; in the celestial regions this “אין” rules supreme. [as opposed to the חכמה in our part of the universe. Ed. Although יש and אין are popularly perceived as absolute opposites, not having anything in common, this perception is built on a fallacy; the linkage between יש and אין are the mitzvot, Torah commandments, performed by the Jewish people. The commandments are performed in the section of the universe known as יש, as a result of which close contact is maintained between the aforementioned two domains of the universe. Ezekiel 1:14 refers to the “mitzvot” in their capacity as providing the link between the terrestrial and the celestial part of the universe with the words והחיות רצוא ושוב, “and the chayot ran to and fro”. According to the Zohar II 288, the mitzvot and the Torah respectively, are viewed as related to one another like the “hidden” is related to the “revealed,” both being part of the same whole. Torah and mitzvot provide the link between these two domains, so that each domain is not completely divorced from the other. This concept is contained in the letters of the word מצוה when we divide it up into מצ and וה. The letters מצ when we read the alphabet backwards, starting with the letter ת are equivalent to the letters יה, symbolising the totally abstract Divinity, whereas the letters וה symbolize the hidden parts of the universe, יש. The first half of the word מצוה being read with the two letters used in reverse order of the aleph bet, alludes to the “hidden” part of the universe, the domain exclusive to Divine, abstract forces. Let us explain something about what precisely is “hidden” and what is “revealed,” when it comes to the מצוה, “Torah commandment.” When we perform a מצוה, we cause G’d to become pleased with having created man, the choicest of His creatures. When we comply with requests made to us by a fellow human being, we can immediately gauge whether he is pleased by our actions or not, either by his face indicating this, or by words of approval, something that is not the case when we comply with G’d’s requests from us. Since He is invisible, and does not speak to us as He did to Moses, “mouth to mouth”, we have no way of knowing if our efforts to please Him have been successful. When we try to perform deeds that are for our (immediate) personal benefit, we are able to determine if our efforts have succeeded. This then is the “hidden” element present whenever we perform any of G’d’s commandments, מצות. This is what the Torah had in mind when it wrote (Deuteronomy 29,28) הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “the hidden aspects of mitzvah performance are reserved for the Lord our G’d;” on the other hand, והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, “the benefits which the performance of the Torah confers upon us will be revealed forever.” This is also the meaning of the words בראשית ברא אלוקים, (addressed to us) “at the beginning of G’d’s creative activity G’d created the יש, a physical domain of the universe.” Through His creating יש, i.e. ראשית, a beginning, the creation of heaven and earth came into being, for prior to that there was only the אין, the abstract universe. This is the meaning of Targum Yerushalmi who renders this verse as 'בראשית בחוכמא ברא ה', “at the beginning G’d created by means of using intelligence found in the domain of the abstract regions.” חכמה, as we pointed out earlier, is a quality inherent in the terrestrial domain.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 24,10. “and beneath His feet there was something resembling a brick made from sapphire.” There is an ironclad rule that every “spark”, limb, movement, in this physical universe as well as the activity of every angel, i.e. disembodied creature of G’d, needs to be an instrument used in the service of the Lord. Seeing that He is unique and solitary and eternal, anyone serving Him will experience satisfaction and pleasure of a kind that no creature could attain by its own efforts.
It is axiomatic that when speaking of the אין סוף, the essence of the Creator, concepts such as time, space and quantity, do not apply, seeing that these concepts define limitations, and the Creator, by definition, is “unlimited” i.e. does not suffer from the constraints imposed upon His creatures by time, space and quantity. These concepts become applicable only when the Creator, in order not to destroy His universe and the creatures in it, must impose restraints upon Himself, known as צמצום. These restraints that the Creator imposes upon Himself vary with the parts of the universe in which He desires to become manifest at different times. Concepts such as time, space, quantity, are useful in measuring the degree of such constraints G’d imposes upon Himself at different “times,” and in different “spaces.”
All living creatures are required to “gaze upon,” i.e. to relate to the אין from within the parts of the universe that is their habitat, to their roots, the cause from which all their חיות, life-force, draws its animation or vitality. In other words, speaking allegorically, man must keep in contact with its Creator, much like an unborn baby must remain in contact through its navel with its life-giving mother. By maintaining such contact, the life force of the creature keeps being renewed. This “process,” though assuming different forms, is common to all creatures whether mobile, inert, free-willed or “programmed” by its Creator. The means by which these various creatures maintain this contact with their origins are the אותיות, “identifying letters,” for want of a better word, which represent the individuality of the various kinds of creatures. In the celestial regions there are “outlets,” marked as appropriate for each type of creature to connect to. When each one “concentrates,” i.e. sees with its mind’s eye this outlet whence they “recharge” their “batteries,” they thus ensure their continued existence and function in the parts of the universe that has been allocated to them.
It is important for these creatures to establish a system whereby their contact with their origin remains unbroken, so that their continued existence is not endangered.
According to the Kabbalists, this method or system is known as קמץ, like the vowel in the Hebrew alphabet. This method is discussed in the Tikkuney Hazohar. According to what is explained there, the אין סוף, infinite essence of G’d, is also known as קמץ. This אין סוף, seeing that it has no colour, is considered in the category of “white,” as “white” forms the basis of all other colours. Any other colour may be perceived as having been superimposed on the original white.
It is axiomatic that when speaking of the אין סוף, the essence of the Creator, concepts such as time, space and quantity, do not apply, seeing that these concepts define limitations, and the Creator, by definition, is “unlimited” i.e. does not suffer from the constraints imposed upon His creatures by time, space and quantity. These concepts become applicable only when the Creator, in order not to destroy His universe and the creatures in it, must impose restraints upon Himself, known as צמצום. These restraints that the Creator imposes upon Himself vary with the parts of the universe in which He desires to become manifest at different times. Concepts such as time, space, quantity, are useful in measuring the degree of such constraints G’d imposes upon Himself at different “times,” and in different “spaces.”
All living creatures are required to “gaze upon,” i.e. to relate to the אין from within the parts of the universe that is their habitat, to their roots, the cause from which all their חיות, life-force, draws its animation or vitality. In other words, speaking allegorically, man must keep in contact with its Creator, much like an unborn baby must remain in contact through its navel with its life-giving mother. By maintaining such contact, the life force of the creature keeps being renewed. This “process,” though assuming different forms, is common to all creatures whether mobile, inert, free-willed or “programmed” by its Creator. The means by which these various creatures maintain this contact with their origins are the אותיות, “identifying letters,” for want of a better word, which represent the individuality of the various kinds of creatures. In the celestial regions there are “outlets,” marked as appropriate for each type of creature to connect to. When each one “concentrates,” i.e. sees with its mind’s eye this outlet whence they “recharge” their “batteries,” they thus ensure their continued existence and function in the parts of the universe that has been allocated to them.
It is important for these creatures to establish a system whereby their contact with their origin remains unbroken, so that their continued existence is not endangered.
According to the Kabbalists, this method or system is known as קמץ, like the vowel in the Hebrew alphabet. This method is discussed in the Tikkuney Hazohar. According to what is explained there, the אין סוף, infinite essence of G’d, is also known as קמץ. This אין סוף, seeing that it has no colour, is considered in the category of “white,” as “white” forms the basis of all other colours. Any other colour may be perceived as having been superimposed on the original white.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
The verses describing the births of Peretz and Zerach are meant to illustrate how such attempted reaching for that which was not completed represented a lost opportunity, so that the second of the twins wound up being the firstborn [in the physiological and halachic sense, similar to Esau. Ed.]
We have a statement in Chagigah 15, according to which there is a heavenly voice calling out once on each day emanating from Mount Sinai calling on sinners to do penitence, excluding only Elisha ben Avuya. The Talmud there illustrates that there exists an opportunity for each one of us to cement our relations with our Creator. All that is needed is to demonstrate one’s sincerity through performance of one of the mitzvot that are basic to Judaism, such as giving charity or Torah study. The reference to שיח, a word having several meanings, may be to warn us that we are not to waste our time on earth in idle conversation, if we aspire to establish a firm bond with our Creator. There is no need to add that if one employs the gift of speech to indulge in defamation of others, etc., that this instead of strengthening the bond with our Creator, drives a wedge between Him and us.
Such abuse of the power of speech is forbidden even when we find ourselves in the part of the universe that has either not yet emerged from the primeval state of חושך, darkness, or is on the verge of descending back into that sorry condition. Our author refers to the mental state of a person yearning for the closeness with the Creator that he describes as a state of התעוררות היראה, “an awakening to a feeling of awe of the Creator.” He has explained this phenomenon in connection with a statement in B’rachot 64 according to which the very existence of Torah scholars contributes to harmony, peace in the lower universe. [As I have not found where the author’s explanation on that statement in the Talmud has appeared in print, I will try and explain how I understand his thoughts. Ed.]
We have a statement in Chagigah 15, according to which there is a heavenly voice calling out once on each day emanating from Mount Sinai calling on sinners to do penitence, excluding only Elisha ben Avuya. The Talmud there illustrates that there exists an opportunity for each one of us to cement our relations with our Creator. All that is needed is to demonstrate one’s sincerity through performance of one of the mitzvot that are basic to Judaism, such as giving charity or Torah study. The reference to שיח, a word having several meanings, may be to warn us that we are not to waste our time on earth in idle conversation, if we aspire to establish a firm bond with our Creator. There is no need to add that if one employs the gift of speech to indulge in defamation of others, etc., that this instead of strengthening the bond with our Creator, drives a wedge between Him and us.
Such abuse of the power of speech is forbidden even when we find ourselves in the part of the universe that has either not yet emerged from the primeval state of חושך, darkness, or is on the verge of descending back into that sorry condition. Our author refers to the mental state of a person yearning for the closeness with the Creator that he describes as a state of התעוררות היראה, “an awakening to a feeling of awe of the Creator.” He has explained this phenomenon in connection with a statement in B’rachot 64 according to which the very existence of Torah scholars contributes to harmony, peace in the lower universe. [As I have not found where the author’s explanation on that statement in the Talmud has appeared in print, I will try and explain how I understand his thoughts. Ed.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy