Chasidut zu Kohelet 2:78

This is the aspect of washing the hands in the morning when you rise from sleep. Day and night correspond to Adam and Eve, to order and disorder. The light of the day corresponds to Adam, who represents Wisdom, for light corresponds to wisdom and knowledge, as Rabbeinu z"l says elsewhere (Likutei Moharan I 37), and as is written (Proverbs 2:13) "As thr advantage of light over darkness, so is the advantage of wisdom". Night corresponds to Eve-Malchut, as in "night to night יְחַוֶּה, will tell" as mentioned in the holy Zohar and brought in the laws of awakening Halachah 3. At night, the gates of the Garden of Eden are sealed, which is the aspect of the disappearance of knowledge, and the world is then ruled by the Matron, which is Malchut. Therefore, judgments are empowered during the night, as stated in the holy Zohar I 92b, for all judgments arise from disorder, which corresponds to judgments, the source of all suffering, G-d forbid, which is against human will, corresponding to disorder. And disorder is the aspect of the darkness of night, as a person walking in the dark will walk in a disorderly way, because he cannot find the right path, and he may stumble on a rock, or something similar. However, during the daylight, one sees the path and walks in order. Therefore day and night correspond to order and disorder, to Adam and Eve, etc. Therefore, at night, when disorder rules, and order, wisdom, the light of day have disappeared, then is the time to sleep, and sleep is the aspect of nullification. For when a person sees that his intellect is confused and his mind is not settled, judgments that are attached to disorder are empowered. For when holy knowledge is perfect, disorder comes into order, for 'Where there is masculine, the feminine is not mentioed'. But at night, when knowledge disappears, and disorder, to which judgments are attached, G-d forbid, is empowered, G-d forbid, one must relinquish one's knowledge altogether, as if one had no knowledge at all, and completely nullify oneself into sleep. We must sleep at night when knowledge is not perfect, for otherwise, disorder may overrule, G-d forbid. Therefore we sleep at night to completely banish our knowledge and nullify ourselves, showing that disorder, which corresponds to the body, has no sustenance at all other than via the intellect. Therefore, we completely relinquish the intellect and the body remains like an inanimate stone with only the bare minimum of life. During sleep, the intellect is refreshed and strengthened, so that when we wake from our sleep, renewed mental forces return to us and the body is also strengthened. This is because the body is sustained mainly by the soul and the soul and the body themselves correspond to order and disorder. The body and the soul represent a man and a woman, as is known, Adam and Eve, light and darkness, wisdom and foolishness as mentioned elsewhere in the lesson entitled "דִּרְשׁוּ ה' וְעֻזּוֹ" (Likutei Moharan I 37). The body has no sustenance at all other than the soul, so at night, when knowledge is not whole/perfect, we must completely relinquish knowledge and literally nullify ourselves in sleep, so that disorder will not overpower us.

And you give life to them all (Nehemiah 9:6), you contract, as if it were possible, down to the lowest levels; and a portion of Divinity from above is placed within the darkness of materiality. For the whole essence of the intention is so that the lowest levels can rise above and have the advantage of light over darkness (Ecclesiastes 2:13). And this is the meaning of Joseph’s descent to Egypt, the lowest levels, “the ocean strait;” for through this enjoyment is increased as is written, the advantage of light, that enjoyment advances when it is lifted over darkness, and therefore he is called Joseph, connoting addition [tosefet]. And that is [the meaning of the verse (Gen. 42:1)] when Jacob saw that there was grain [shever] — connoting breakage [shvirah], which are the degenerations of Heavenly Wisdom, Torah that has fallen and broken; all that descends from its level is called “broken.” In Egypt, in the ocean strait: for he saw there degenerations of Torah that fell there and needed to be clarified and elevated. And he said, Go down there (Gen. 42:2) to elevate and descend to bring [them] to the life-force of the root and the self. And that is the meaning of Joseph died (Gen. 50:26), for the fact that the Torah descended until the final level is called “death,” for whatever descends from its level is called “death” (Zohar 3:135b). And they embalmed him (Gen. 50:26): for the Torah is called “Tree of Life,” and with trees we go according to the ripening of fruit, which is to say even though he descended to the final level he bore fruit. And he was put in a coffin (Gen. 50:26), as in the statement [of our Sages] of Blessed Memory, “The Tablets and the Broken Tablets were placed in the ark” (Bava Batra 14b): even the degenerations have elevation to be in the ark just like the Tablets, which are the Torah itself. And we will return to the matter at hand: since in every thing it is the Torah that gives that thing life, one should not look at any thing in its materiality, only at the internality of the thing in the secret of The wise person has his eyes in his head (Ecclesiastes 2:14); and in the Zohar they said, “And where else should a person’s eyes be? Rather, a wise person gazes to see who stands above his head” (Zohar 3:187a), which is to say that in every thing he should gaze toward the beginning of that thing: from where it evolved and who is that thing’s root.

And our Sages of Blessed Memory said, “Anyone who learns not for its own sake, it would have been better for him if his placenta had been overturned” etc. (Kallah Rabbati 5.1); but another time they said, “A person should always engage in Torah and mitzvot, even if not for their own sake, since through [the performance of mitzvot] not for their own sake, [one] comes [to perform them] for their own sake” (Pesahim 50b). And we can understand this along these lines: for we can ask, how can you find the aspect of “not for its own sake” in the world, when the life-force of all things is the Torah — and who is it that gives life-force to the aspect of “not for its own sake?” But is it not the case that one learns not for its own sake on account of some evil characteristic, or because of human self-glorification or self-aggrandizement, or an account of desire for money and the like? And that is a characteristic of glorification that fell into brokenness; but its essence is glorification of the Creator and [God’s] desire. And this [person] took the glorification and desire for himself; but when he understands that this evolved from the Creator’s glorification, and from his love grasps onto the thing’s root and beginning — for The wise person has his eyes in his head as we have stated — we find that when he gathers the thought of desire and glorification into himself, he returns through it to its root, we find that he comes from the aspect of “not for its own sake” immediately to the aspect of “for its own sake.” And that means a person should always engage and teach himself that through “not for its own sake” he brings himself into “for its own sake.” But when he does not do this and remains in “not for its own sake” — that is when they said, “It would have been better for him” etc. Now, the Torah is called “light,” but the fool walks in darkness (Ecclesiastes 2:14), for he engages not for its own sake; but one who sites in darkness must kindle a light. And that is [the meaning of the verse], and darkness over the face of the deep, because he is immersed in worldliness and does not kindle the light of Torah; and on accont of this we find the aspect of “not for its own sake” in the world. Regarding this it says, And the Spirit of God hovers over the face of the waters, that through this one can return and bring oneself to the essential life-force and [God’s] Divinity as we have said.

But this is not true of the Nations of the World, who remain in smallness and materiality; and therefore our Sages of Blessed Memory said about Balaam, “He does not even know how to divine the mind of his animal!” (Berakhot 7a), and it is understood. A person is created small — in small mind — and yet the Holy Blessed One’s intention in creating humanity was to serve [God], so why did [God] create him initially without mind, without awareness to serve [God]? But this is also for the previously stated reason, for wisdom has the advantage over folly (Ecclesiastes 2:13), and darkness yearns to merge into light (Zohar 1:17a). For smallness is considered “feminine” with respect to greatness, Your desire shall be for your husband (Gen. 3:16). The feminine awakens longing in the groom; the person is initially in the aspect of smallness and afterward, when he comes into great mind, he attaches everything — even the smallness — to greatness and he has the aspect of “coupling.” And that is [the meaning of the verse], as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:5), and it will be clarified elsewhere. And it is impossible to come to the light of greatness immediately, therefore smallness comes first. And that is the second interpretation [of the question], “Why do goats [izzim],” which means a person’s arrogance [azzut], “walk in front.” That is to say, smallness comes to a person first; and the answer is “According to the creation of the world, which at first was dark” etc. as was stated. And that is [the meaning of the verse] And God called the light Day etc. — just as there is no day without night, just so there was evening, which is the smallness first, and afterward there was morning, the great mind that inspects his deeds. One day: they are made into a single unity. And this is the general order according to which every person should walk, that upon arriving at thirteen years awareness should enter him. “Awareness” connotes attachment from the lower level to the upper; and that is complete awareness along the lines of Return, wayward children (Jeremiah 3:22), which is to say things that have been made wayward as in he went wayward in the way of his heart (Isaiah 57:17), return and attach together. However, there are those who do not merit awareness even at thirteen years, and they are called “small.” And a person who has no awareness is seduced after his Inclination; and that is the meaning of the seduction that is written in the Torah, in the incident of Potiphar and Joseph. And one must save oneself as Joseph saved himself. And my Teacher, may he be remembered for life in the World to Come, commented on what [our Sages] of Blessed Memory said, that he saw a vision of his father’s image (Sotah 36b) and the clothes that she wore for him in the morning she did not wear for him in the evening (Yoma 35b): but Joseph gazed at the source of beauty and glorification — from where does it come? For the essence of glorification is God’s life-force, which is the characteristic of Jacob, Splendor. And that is [the meaning of] “a vision of his father’s image;” and we find that each person needs to do so.

It is written in the Zohar (Yayehi, 223b): Since Shlomo HaMelech inherited the moon in its state of completeness, he needed to inherit it in its state of deficiency. He strove to understand spirits and demons (i.e. the forces of evil) in order to inherit the moon in all its aspects. For this reason, in the days of Shlomo HaMelech the moon shone in all its aspects. And in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 26, p. 71b): Clearly The Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhina have not changed. Yet from an outside perspective, they do change. That is to say, (in this world) they are concealed in layers of garments and shells. This is why Shlomo HaMelech said (Shir HaShirim, 7:11), “I descended to the egoz⁵⁵Egoz means “nut,” in Hebrew. garden.” He had a complete knowledge of the kelipot (impure shells), which gave him a thorough knowledge of all forms of sorcery. The faithful shepherd⁵⁶The faithful shepherd, here, is the Messiah. The Zohar also refers to Moshe Rabeynu as Raya Mehemna which means, “the Faithful Shepherd.” One of the books that is included in the Zohar corpus is also called the “Raya Mehemna.” will break all of the kelipot, bringing forth the essence which the shell conceals, meaning the Tetragrammaton (YHVH).” And in the Zohar (Ta’azria, 47b): “And I saw the superiority of wisdom from folly.” (Kohelet, 2:13) From folly itself emerges something of benefit to wisdom. If it were not for the existence of folly, wisdom and all its extensions would not be known. We have learned that together with wisdom, it is incumbent upon man to learn something of folly, for in knowing it, it serves to benefit his wisdom. In fact, the knowledge of folly or evil is a component of none other than the mystery of faith. It is written in the Zohar (Bo, 34a): It is proper for man to know good and to know evil, and to return himself to the good.⁵⁷Here the Zohar is speaking about King Shlomo, whose great wisdom certainly allowed him to know the good. But how did he “know evil?” Referring to a king, the Torah commands (Devarim, 17:17), “he shall not have too many wives, and his heart shall not turn away.” Yet, of King Solomon, the verse states: “…” The queens of King Solomon encouraged him to study and practice idolatry. When King Shlomo wrote, “I descended into the nut garden,” he was telling us how he had become intimately acquainted with the force of evil in the world. This is the mystery of faith. The more one can find the good hidden in evil, the more he will understand how, “God created one over against the other.” (Kohelet, 7:14)⁵⁸The verse reads, “On a good day, be in the good, and on a bad day, see that also God made one over against the other.” The Biblical commentor, Rashi, explains: “This is the good and its reward, versus the evil and its punishment.” The commentary Metsudat David explains, “Know that the evil itself was sent from God. The degree of evil has a corresponding punishment.” In Kabbalistic writings, the verse generally means that for every force of good, God created a parallel force in the realm of evil. In view of the quote from the Zohar, Parshat Bo, “see” could mean to recognize the evil, but realize that “God made one over against the other” – that we must choose the good in response. Hasidic teachings take an even further, unified approach. They seek to find the good within the evil itself. This is the Baal Shem Tov’s idea that evil actually provides a setting, or “throne,” for the good (רע כסא לטוב). For without a knowledge of evil, it would be impossible to recognize the good. Thus, evil actually plays a role in revealing God’s goodness, and is thus a part of the Divine unity itself. “See that also God made one over against the other,” would mean to see the good within the evil itself. This is as it said in the Zohar (Shemot, 15b): Rabbi Akiva said, why did Shlomo HaMelech say, ‘I descended to the egoz garden.’? This is just as we say, “he descended to the Merkava (Divine chariot).’ Rabbi Akiva asked, what does the dirt that is found in the shell of the egoz represent?”

The matter is that when Israel was in Egypt, the iron furnace, they were so clarified that after fifty days they were able to receive the Torah because of their bodies’ clarification. And because of this the Sea of Reeds needed to split for them so they could walk through the sea; this needed to be the order so that they could clarify more and more to the point that afterward, at the Giving of the Torah, our Sages of Blessed Memory said that their impurity ceased (Shabbat 146a). And they continued clarifying in this way, that the materiality continually diminished to the point that after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds they had clarified so much to the extent that they could receive Upper Life-Force without any garment, because of the clarification of their physical materiality. For the abundance flows from above according to the thickness or thinness of the recipient. And the life-force that comes from above is drawn by way of the speech that is fixed in a person’s mouth, as is known. Therefore immediately after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the passage of manna is stated, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that each person received Upper Life-Force without any garment, just Man eating the bread of the angels (Psalm 78:25). And by way of what will it be drawn? A day's portion [davar] every day, which is to say by way of the words [dibburim] that they speak from day to day in words of Truth and Torah, until after they have returned to their materiality and their physicality has thickened – therefore the flow descends from above garbed in several garments according to the power of the recipients. And if so, even today in the present there is the aspect of “manna,” but it comes by way of garments; for each person, his life-force is garbed in a vessel, each person according to his aspect, meaning the thing from which his sustenance comes. And the wise person has his eyes in his head (Ecclesiastes 2:14) to understand that the Blessed Creator’s life-force is what is garbed in that thing, and [God] has contracted [God’s] self in that thing, and it is merely a vessel for the Upper Life-Force. Therefore Blessed God said to Moses, Take a jar, and put [an omer of manna in it,] and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations (Ex. 16:33), which is to say that since in the coming generations their physicality will thicken until they can only receive the life-force through a vessel – it needs to garb itself in the material vessel according to the recipients. And that is [the meaning of] Take a jar, which is to say a vessel, and put an omer of manna in it, which is to say manna, the life-force, is garbed within the vessel, which is the jar. And similarly today there is also the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, and afterward the manna comes; for every day we recite the Song of the Sea, and one must imagine in his awareness as if he is reciting the Song at the Sea as in that time. And then it will truly cause the aspect of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds above, as is known, when he recites it with whole intention as is stated regarding this in the Holy Zohar. And afterward he receives life-force as we have said, each according to his aspect. Therefore the Shulhan Arukh wrote, “It is good to recite the passage of Manna” each day (Orah Hayyim 1.5), so that he will know that his sustenance comes from Upper Supervision, and understand this.