Musar zu Bereschit 11:35

והיה עקב תשמעון . In the previous paragraph (7,7) the Torah explained that G–d's love for the Jewish people is not based on our superior numbers, seeing that we are "small," numerically speaking. The Talmud Chulin 89a states in the name of Rabbi Eliezer that the meaning of this verse is that G–d likes the Jewish people because even when they are riding high (economically) they still humble themselves, i.e. they behave as if they were מעט מכל העמים, the least significant of all nations. Abraham, for instance, described himself as: אנכי עפר ואפר, "I am but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18,27). Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16,7) said of themselves: ונחנו מה, "What do we amount to?" David described himself as: ואנכי תולעת ולא איש "I am only a worm, not a man" (Psalms 22,7). On the other hand, the "great" men among the Gentile nations did not react in this fashion to the greatness I (G–d) have bestowed upon them. I have given greatness to Nimrod; he responded by building a Tower in order to assert himself against Me. I gave greatness to Pharaoh; he responded by claiming "Who is the Lord that I should listen to Him?" (Exodus 5,2). I made Sancheriv a mighty ruler and he reacted by saying: "Who among the gods of all these lands has saved them from me that you should imagine that the Lord will save you from me?" (Kings II 18,35). Similar expressions of arrogance are recorded as having been used by Chirom the king of Tzor, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and others. Rava or Rabbi Yochanan are reported to have said that the continued existence of the universe would not have been permitted had it not been for Moses and Aaron and people of their caliber, all of whom said of themselves: "what do we amount to?" It is interesting that G–d is described in Job 26,7 as תולה ארץ על בלימה, "suspending earth over merely מה" (hardly something), a reference to Moses and Aaron who had described themselves as נחנו מה. Rabbi lla'i, also on folio 89 Chulin, suggests the meaning of the verse in Job to be that the earth will be allowed to survive for the sake of people who בולם את עצמם, "put the brakes on their ego" at times of strife. Rabbi Abahu, on the other hand, says that he who considers himself as if he did not exist is the "salt of the earth." He uses Deut. 3,27: ומתחת זרועות עולם, in the sense of "he who is trampled by the world is the real 'arms' supporting the universe." Rabbi Yitzchak derives this same message from Psalms 58,2: האמנם אלם צדק תדברון מישרים תשפטו בני אדם. He understands this verse to mean that maintaining a silent (אלם) profile and speaking out only in matters of צדק, i.e. Torah, is what keeps the world going.

Isaac slowed the expansion of the influence of the tree of knowledge by means of the birth of the twins Jacob and Esau. This was an indication that even evil can be rehabilitated. Our sages phrased it thus: Esau's head reposes within the lap of Isaac; such is the mystery of how evil can be rehabilitated. The secret of how this happens was alluded to by our sages' explanation that the reason the pig is called חזיר, (from the root חזר to return) is that in the future it will restore the crown to its Master, as we know from Ovadiah 1,21 ועלו מושיעין בהר ציון … והיתה לה' המלוכה, "For the saviours will march up Mount Zion… and the kingdom will be G–d's." (cf. details in Kohelet Rabbah end section 1). All of these events will occur at the time when G–d will "slaughter" the angel of death. This is the plain meaning of Isaiah 25,8 בלע המות לנצח, "He will destroy death forever." This angel of death will then remain as a regular angel, since all the negative forces we know as קליפות are after all an outgrowth of a holy source. This is what was alluded to in the quote that the head of Esau reposes in Isaac's lap. When the head expands it becomes a symbol of impurity. The very name סמ-אל Samael, (Satan) reflects the dual nature of evil. On the one hand the name א-ל, G–d, is part of that definition, on the other hand the word סם represents the סם המות, lethal poison. In such a future the סם aspect of Satan/ Samael will be abolished. We, the Jewish nation however, are called by the name of G–d. Our sages interpreted Genesis 33,20 ויקרא לו א-ל א-לוהי ישראל, "He (G–d) called him (Jacob) El the G–d of Israel" (Megillah 18a, proving that the word לו could not refer to the altar Jacob had built). We have an allusion to this in Genesis 11,10 אלה תולדת שם, suggesting that we, his descendants, are all a "full name," not half a name such as סמא-ל.

The second "day" followed later when G–d told Abraham to go to the land of Israel. This represented the fulfilment of the first part of G–d's promise. The extra letter ה in the description of יום הששי, refers to the day when Israel accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai.We are told in Avodah Zarah 9 that the two thousand years of "Torah" commence with the time that the Torah mentions Abraham and Sarah as having succeeded in converting people to monotheism, i.e. ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן (Genesis 12,5). [The foregoing is based on the tradition that mankind prior to the Messiah experiences three periods of 2000 years, the first period described as "Tohu," the second as "Torah," and the last as "days of the approach of the Messiah." Ed.] Abraham and Sarah respectively had proselytized, he the men and she the women. Abraham was 52 years old at that time.

We must therefore refer to the Zohar who explains on Genesis 11,31 (Sullam edition Lech Lecha page 11) in which the Torah reports Terach, Abraham, Lot and family as having left Ur Kasdim with the intention of moving to the land of Canaan, that the intention to move to Canaan sufficed for G–d to offer Abraham assistance. Up to that point Abraham's intellectual achievements in the field of philosophy had been unassisted. From this point on he received Divine guidance. The crucial factor in bringing about G–d's manifest involvement was that Abraham had made the first move. We learn from here that deeds in our world act as the catalyst that evokes heavenly responses. As soon as Abraham had demonstrated his intention to move to Canaan, G–d told him לך לך. We can apply the same to the ultimate redemption, i.e. until "black light" wakes up, "white light" will not be able to merge with it and suffuse it, i.e. restore the state of the world to what it had been prior to Adam's sin.. This is the message in Isaiah 62,6 that המזכירים את ה' אל דמי לכם, "when (you -the watchmen-) mention G–d, do not practice silence." The prophet cautions the watchmen that silent contemplation is not enough. Whenever man makes the first move towards Him G–d can be depended on to respond and lead man on to greater things. Thus far the Zohar.

[The author continues to see additional symbolisms in the juxtaposition of certain vowels in the words מגדול, מגדל. I have decided to omit those. According to these symbolisms it was David's task to rescue mankind from the effects of the Tower מגדל בבל, and this is why we have these various spellings of the word מגדל in the Book of Samuel. Ed.] The result of G–d's dispersing the people who had built the מגדל, Tower, in Genesis 11,5 was to create seventy nations. It will be the task of the Messiah, i.e. David reincarnate, to repair the damage caused at the time that Tower was built. He will conquer all those nations and he alone will rule. We find an allusion to this when the people of the generation of the Tower justified their action by saying: נעשה לנו שם, "Let us make a name for ourselves." We also find that it is said of David: ויעש דוד שם, "David made a name for himself" (Samuel II 8,13).

[The author continues to see additional symbolisms in the juxtaposition of certain vowels in the words מגדול, מגדל. I have decided to omit those. According to these symbolisms it was David's task to rescue mankind from the effects of the Tower מגדל בבל, and this is why we have these various spellings of the word מגדל in the Book of Samuel. Ed.] The result of G–d's dispersing the people who had built the מגדל, Tower, in Genesis 11,5 was to create seventy nations. It will be the task of the Messiah, i.e. David reincarnate, to repair the damage caused at the time that Tower was built. He will conquer all those nations and he alone will rule. We find an allusion to this when the people of the generation of the Tower justified their action by saying: נעשה לנו שם, "Let us make a name for ourselves." We also find that it is said of David: ויעש דוד שם, "David made a name for himself" (Samuel II 8,13).

Even when the generation of the Tower set out to build the Tower saying "we want to make a name for ourselves, they still meant to serve and respect G–d. That part of their intention was laudable. Their sin consisted in their wanting to isolate G–d's name, (which represented the attribute of מלכות, dominion), to the heavens. They wanted a clear separation of earthly and heavenly authority. The earth was supposed to be under human sovereignty only. All this is explained in detail by Nachmanides, Rekanati and the Tziyoni. When G–d dispersed those people all over the earth, He only practiced the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, measure for measure. Just as they had tried to separate G–d from themselves, so G–d separated them from each other.