Chasidut zu Tehillim 118:23
מֵאֵ֣ת יְ֭הוָה הָ֣יְתָה זֹּ֑את הִ֖יא נִפְלָ֣את בְּעֵינֵֽינוּ׃
Von dem Herrn ist dies geschehen, das in unseren Augen so wunderbar ist.
Kedushat Levi
Having said this we can also explain the Mishnah in Avot 2,1 where Rabbi postulated that the proper course for a man being to be successful is to perform deeds that reflect glory on those who perform it, inasmuch as he is a human being, i.e. מן האדם. If and when man in spite of having been provided with both a body and a soul, succeeds in sublimating his body to such a degree that it serves almost exclusively his wish to better serve the Lord and provide Him with pleasurable satisfaction, then he has attained a far higher spiritual rank than the angels in heaven. He has enabled G’d to “brag” about His decision to create man, and has stilled once and for all the opposition in heaven which had been voiced by some of the angels when His intention had become known.
This is all parallel to the explanation of psalms 118,23 מאת ה' היתה זאת היא נפלאת בעינו, “this has originated with Hashem, it is marvelous in our sight.,” by my revered teacher Rabbi Dov Baer of Meseritch. He zeroed in on the word זאת in this verse, understanding it as a reference to the female element [as opposed to the word זה in the verse immediately following, Ed.]; We explained earlier that the principal element in serving G’d is to provide Him with pleasurable satisfaction, i.e. making Him a recipient rather than an initiator, originator. Basically, the role of a recipient is that of woman who, when compared to man, is always viewed as a recipient. We have already explained repeatedly that this does not make woman “inferior,” as we described the אור חוזר, “the reflective light,” good deeds performed by man in response to G’d having blessed him with light that he had done nothing to deserve, as superior in moral ethical terms, to even the original light the , אור ישר.
This is all parallel to the explanation of psalms 118,23 מאת ה' היתה זאת היא נפלאת בעינו, “this has originated with Hashem, it is marvelous in our sight.,” by my revered teacher Rabbi Dov Baer of Meseritch. He zeroed in on the word זאת in this verse, understanding it as a reference to the female element [as opposed to the word זה in the verse immediately following, Ed.]; We explained earlier that the principal element in serving G’d is to provide Him with pleasurable satisfaction, i.e. making Him a recipient rather than an initiator, originator. Basically, the role of a recipient is that of woman who, when compared to man, is always viewed as a recipient. We have already explained repeatedly that this does not make woman “inferior,” as we described the אור חוזר, “the reflective light,” good deeds performed by man in response to G’d having blessed him with light that he had done nothing to deserve, as superior in moral ethical terms, to even the original light the , אור ישר.
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