Musar zu Tehillim 49:78

And we find in Midrash Tehillim 49:2: "'To the chief musician, to the sons of Korach, a psalm.' This is as Scripture says (Koheleth 11:7): 'And sweet is the light, and good for the eyes.' How sweet is the light of the world to come. Happy is the man who has the good deeds to see that light, as it is written (Judges 5:31): 'And His lovers [will be] as the rising of the sun in his might.'" R. Abba said: "How sweet are those things which are compared to light. As it is written (Mishlei 6:23): 'For a mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah, light, etc.' Happy is the man who sees the Torah white as snow, for there is no end to its reward. When the Holy One Blessed be He will come to pay Israel the reward of the toilers in Torah and will bestow upon them of the secreted light in its merit — at that time they will say to the peoples of the world: 'We merited [this] because we occupied ourselves with Torah. And you used to say to us: "You are wearying yourselves for nothing." — See its reward!' As it is written (Psalms 49:2): 'Hear this [zoth] all you people.' And 'zoth' is the Torah.' (Psalms, Ibid.): 'Hear, all you dwellers of the earth [chaled]' — these are the men who raise rust [chaludah] in Gehinnom. And who are they? (Ibid. 3): 'Both the sons of "Adam" and the sons of "Ish."' "Adam" — this is Abraham, viz. (Joshua 14:15): 'the great man [Adam] among the giants.' Also the sons of Adam' — Yishmael and the sons of Ketura. 'Also the sons of Ish' — the sons of Noach, who was called ish tzaddik (Bereshith 6:9). Another interpretation: These are the idolators, who descend to Gehinnom. (Ibid.): "rich and poor together" — rich in Torah and poor in Torah. "rich" — Doeg and Achitophel. Even though they were heads of sanhedrin, they descended to Gehinnom. "and poor in Torah" — one who can learn but does not learn. Therefore, the sons of Korach said (Ibid. 4): 'My mouth shall speak wisdom' — the wisdom of Torah; 'and my heart shall meditate understanding' — the understanding of Torah. (Ibid. 5) 'I will incline my ear to a parable' — the parable of Torah." And this is the language of the holy Zohar, Parshath Vayeshev:"

But there are people that do not sense the matter of death, to make provisions for the road and to rectify their actions; and they do not pay attention to the day of their death until it comes. So they are compared to animals that do not sense the matter of death until the day of slaughter - as it is stated, (Psalms 49:15), "Sheeplike they head for the pit, with death as their shepherd; the upright shall rule over them in the morning, and their form - from above him - shall waste away in the pit." Its explanation is: They lead their souls to the pit, since they don't sense the matter of their death until its sudden arrival. "With death as their shepherd" - the death of evildoers is not like the death of animals; the death of animals is once, but the death of the evildoers will shepherd them every day. [That shepherd can be a verb in the continuous present is indicated] from the wording, "shepherd Bashan and Gilead" (Micah 7:14); and from the content of (Job 18:13), "death’s first-born consumes his tendons." For destruction and deterioration will cling to the soul of the evildoers at every instant, until it is destroyed, ends and is gone. "The upright shall rule over them in the morning" - it compared the time of the resurrection of the dead to the morning, when a man wakes up from his sleep; and like the matter that is stated (Daniel 12:2), "Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake." For then the righteous will rule over the evildoers, as it is written (Malachi 3:21), "And you shall trample the wicked to a pulp, for they shall be dust beneath your feet." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said about the matter of the day of judgement for the resurrection of the dead (Rosh Hashanah 17a), "After twelve months, their bodies end, and their souls are burnt and become ashes under the feet of the righteous - as is is stated, 'And you shall trample the wicked, etc.'" [And it is written (Psalms 49:15),] "And their form (tsuram) shall waste away in the pit" - tsuram is like tsuratam (the conventional way of writing, their form). Likewise, "idols, ketvunam" (Hosea 13:2), is understood as ketvunatam. And the soul is called the form of man. But there are some among those who speak about the soul that said, about the definition of the soul, that it is a (essential) [contingent] form. And the explanation of the matter is that the pit wears out the evildoer's soul. And it is "above (zevul) him" - for the soul is from the higher beings. [This is seen] from the wording (Isaiah 63:15), "from Your holy height (zevul)." And with his sins, the evildoer caused and brought about that his precious and elevated soul that is above him will be worn out by the pit below. And how difficult is death for the one who has not separated desires of the world from his soul until it is separated by death! And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said in Tractate Derekh Erets, "Is your will not to die? Die before you die." The explanation of the matter is [that] the one that wants that the day of his death be [a gateway] for him to eternal life should speak to his heart - since his end is to leave the ground and to leave the matters of the body, and in his end, he will despise them and abandon them; he should leave them when he is [still] alive, and only use the ground for service to the Creator, may He be blessed. And then the day of death will be [the beginning] of life without end for him.

And know that the soul of the evildoer whose entire desire while alive is for the things of the body - the desire of which is separated from service to the Creator and is removed from its roots - will in his death descend to the ground, to the place of its desire. And its destiny will be - like the nature of the ground - to descend and not to arise. However it will be brought up for justice and for trial and to see how it exchanged the above for the pit - like they bring up a stone to the hollow of a slingshot. But after they raise [the stone] up - by its nature - it comes down to the ground, when the stone comes back and falls down to the ground after [its] projection, as it is stated (I Samuel 25:29), "the life of my lord will be bound up in the bundle of life in the care of the Lord, your God; but He will fling away the lives of your enemies as from the hollow of a sling." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said in Midrash Mishlei (Kohelet Rabbah 3:27), "Both the souls of the righteous and the souls of the evildoers [rise above and are judged there: The souls of the righteous are triumphant in their trial and hidden under the Throne of Glory, but the souls of evildoers] are eaten away to the ground, as it is stated, 'but He will fling away the lives of your enemies, etc.'" And it is stated (Proverbs 11:7), "At death the hopes of a wicked man are lost." For there is no hope for the soul of an evildoer to leave from the darkness to the light, as it is stated (Psalms 49:20), "yet he must join the company of his ancestors, who will never see daylight again."

We find hints of such a future in the statement of Rabbi Yochanan in Tractate Pesachim 88a: "The day when the exiled will be gathered in is as great as the day on which heaven and earth were created, as described in Hosea 2,2: 'The people of Yehudah and the people of Israel will assemble together and appoint a single head [leader] for themselves; they shall rise from the ground, for marvelous shall be the day of Jezreel.'" It is also written: "It was evening it was morning, one day" (Genesis 1,5) [the day of Jezreel is a reference to the first day in Genesis]. When the true ingathering of the exiles takes place, at the time our righteous Messiah appears, Creation itself will renew itself; a new "light" will emerge. At that time body and soul will be able to fuse. Also the earth itself, though purely matter, will be full of knowledge; thus together with the perfection existing "down here," the full extent of G–d's blessings from "above" will be experienced, so that body and soul may live forever. At the time of creation man was described as אדם ביקר בל ילין, "unable to last the night despite his precious qualities." (Psalms 49,13). Man had corrupted his potential so that mortality was decreed upon him. G–d however, has given us the Torah by means of which we can acquire the merit we need to assure us of an everlasting future. He has given us commandments which teach us that this is indeed the case, for they provide the clue to the eventual immortality of the body, in addition to that of the soul. At the present time, the "eternity" of man's body is restricted to man as a species. דור הול ודור בא, "one generation goes and another comes in its place" (Kohelet 1,4). Man's soul, however, enjoys eternal life even in these times, for every individual soul survives the death of its body. Whereas nowadays the body's "life" is considered as incidental, its death is permanent; the soul's life is however, eternal, its "death" being merely incidental [apparent, seeing it can no longer function within the body. Ed.].

The two arms of man correspond to the emanations חסד and גבורה. The two legs correspond to the emanations נצח and הוד. The male reproductive organ within which all the forces of the body coalesce and form his seed and by means of which he unites with his wife, corresponds to the emanation מלכות. After the Torah had described the union of man and wife [i.e. man in the plural i.e. אותם, Ed.], it mentions that G–d blessed them (Genesis 1,28). He called their combined name אדם. Man had not become whole until joined by his wife as a separate entity. When this occurred Man's soul wore garments of distinction [i.e. the body. Ed.] Man's essence is his "interior," his body is merely his "clothing." This "clothing" was snow white, as if he were wearing clothing made of "light," i.e. כתנות אור. Man's body then could be described as illuminating both his soul and itself. This provided man with three different kinds of wholeness or "perfections." They are alluded to in the acronym מגן (usually understood as shield, protection). The three letters forming that acronym are the first letters of each of the words ממון, money, גוף, body, and נשמה, soul. This is what is meant when the beauty of Jacob is described by our sages as comparable to the beauty of Adam. The Torah refers to it when it describes the mental and physical state of Jacob/Israel shortly after his encounter with Samael. We read in Genesis 33,18: ויבא יעקב שלם, "Jacob arrived whole." We are told in Shabbat 33b, that the word "whole" comprised the three aspects we have mentioned as the perfection of Adam. The Talmud described one of the aspects in which Jacob was "whole,” שלם, as תורתו; this refers, of course, to the state of his נשמה, his soul, since it is Torah which illuminates our soul. Adam the whole was not deficient in any area that is part of life. He did not have any needs since he already found himself at home in גן עדן, in an ideal environment. His food was derived from the trees of גן עדן. He did not have to work for a living and was therefore free to directly devote all his time to the service of G–d. The Torah describes that Adam was placed in גן עדן in order לעבדה ולשמרו, was placed in such an undemanding environment in order to enable him to serve G–d without hindrance and impediment. Our sages interpret the word לעבדה as referring to the performance of positive commandments, whereas the word לשמרה refers to the care taken not to transgress negative commandments. Adam performed all six hundred and thirteen commandments in a theoretical, spiritual fashion. All of this is explained in Pardes Rimonim chapter הנשמה, and I have elaborated on this elsewhere (מסכת חולין item 104, new edition of של"ה השלם by Rabbi Meir Katz). Man unfortunately did not even manage to spend a single night in גן עדן before he sinned. (cf. Psalms 49,13). His "jewelry" was removed as a result of his seduction by the serpent. This brought in its wake that instead of wearing "garments" which illuminated his soul as well as his body, he had to wear garments made of the hide of flesh, i.e. animals which did not represent anything spiritual. Ever since, new generations of man are the product of the smelly drop of semen, i.e. semen which is polluted by the residual pollutant of the original serpent. Once Eve had become defiled through sexual union with the serpent, the defiled party had to leave the holy site, i.e. גן עדן, just as in the desert anyone who was ritually impure could not remain within the holy precincts of the מחנה שכינה, the camp hosting the Presence of G–d. The immediate result of this was the toil involved in securing his sustenance, his clothing and his shelter. This is what the Torah meant when it describes that G–d told Adam: "You will eat bread in the sweat of your brow" (Genesis 3,19). Because man was constructed from parts of nature, מטבע, he has a tendency to pursue money, matbei'a, as symbolized by the word מטבע. He uses this money, מטבע, to secure his needs.

Behold these are honorable reasons - strong as a mirror of cast metal. But there is another honorable reason above them all - and we hinted to it in the introduction to our words about the matters of the evil groups mentioned: As it is known that among the ways to sanctify His name, may He be blessed, is to make known - with every expression of the lips, with every hint of the eyes and with every practice and movement of the hands - that the foundation of man’s soul and his glorious adornment, and the good and the essence, and the purpose and the preciousness in it, is the service of God, may He be blessed, and fear of Him; as it is written (Ecclesiastes 12:13), “for this is all of man.” And this thing is the glory of God, may He be blessed. And the ones that spurn Torah scholars and fear of Him are nullifying this knowledge and showing the opposite with their behavior. And it is as if they are saying, the service of [God] is not the essence; and the root of the matter is found somewhere besides the service of God, may He be blessed. So they are profaning the Torah - therefore they shall be lost from among the congregation. And it will cease (vayikhlu) in their mouths. (It appears to me that it should say, vayiratsu with their mouths - like the usage [in Psalms 49:14], “the end of those pleased yirtsu with their mouths,” which according to some commentators is an expression of speaking. Or maybe it should say, “and they will be able to say [vayokhlu leimor] with their mouths” - meaning to say that they will be able to say, by way of an excuse) [On my opinion, it should say, express (vayibateu) with their mouths - Y. B.] As they are serving God without involvement in Torah study.
Is it not a well known thing that the service does not survive without those that study Torah, who meditate upon it day and night? For they instruct knowledge and bear understanding of the times, to know what the Israelites should do. And they hold up [the Torah] in Israel, so that it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their seed. And in a place where there is no one involved with Torah, the snares grow and there is no upright person. Therefore the servants of God, may He be blessed, honor the sages of the Torah for [the sake of] God’s honor; and to make known that only His service is the essence of existence.
And since it has been clarified that God, may He be blessed, created everything for His glory - a man is obligated to pay attention at all times, to honor God and sanctify Him with all of his words; to exult Him, to praise Him and to always bless Him, as it is stated (Psalms 34:2), “I bless the Lord at all times; praise of Him is ever in my mouth.” And whenever he stands among the people and speaks with his friends, he should reflect with understanding, be exacting and supervise everything that comes out of his mouth; to sanctify God with his words; to speak in praise of His service and in glorification of His fear; and to praise His (works) [servants] and those that fear Him. And through this, he will merit - with the meditation of his heart and with the expression of his lips, [and] without exertion or the actions of his hands - great merit [that reach] to the heavens. For this is from the essence of man’s creation. And it is stated, (Proverbs 27:21), “For silver, the crucible; for gold, the furnace; and a man is tested by his praise.” And its explanation is that the virtues of a man are according to what he praises: If he praises good deeds, the sages and the righteous ones - know that you have tested that he is a good man and the root of justice is found within him. For he would not find it in his heart to praise the good and good people with all of his words - and to detest sins and spurn their masters - without being disgusted by evil and choosing the good. And even if it is possible that he has some hidden iniquities in his hand, he is nevertheless among the lovers of justice. So his root is from [the right] choice and he is from the congregation of those that honor God. But one who praises detestable acts or praises evildoers is a complete evildoer and profanes the service of God.

The seventeenth—Souls are of three kinds, the highest, the lowliest, and those in the middle. The highest are the souls of the angels, the lowliest are the souls of the animals, and those in the middle are the souls of the children of man. Now, it is known that when two opposites join, a third power is produced from this union, which power is not like either of the two extremes, but it is made of them. For example, if you mix a measure of honey with a measure of wormwood, there will be a third taste which is neither bitter nor sweet. If you add a little bitterness to the mixture, it will incline to the taste of the wormwood, and if you add a little sweetness to the mixture, it will incline to the taste of honey. So it is with everything that is in the middle. When one of the two opposites gets stronger, that which is in the middle will incline towards it. Now, man is composed of two opposites, a soul which is lofty and a body which is animal. Out of their joining comes a third power, and if the powers of the body are stronger, then the man inclines downward, while if the powers of the soul grow stronger, he inclines upward. Now, this is proof of the immortality of the pious soul when it ascends upward. Even though the soul of man is a middle one, between the souls of the angels and the souls of animals, if he behaves beast-like, his soul will be like the soul of animals, and its reward will be like their reward. If he does the deeds of angels, his soul will be like their soul. Since we know that the angels are immortal, neither will a soul which is like theirs die. And of this King David, peace unto him, said (Psalms 49:13), “He is like the beasts that perish.” After this, he added that his soul would not die, when he said (ibid., 49:16), “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the netherworld.” By this he does not mean the death of his body, for he goes on to say that, “He shall receive me, selah.” But what he does want to say is this: that at the time when God takes me out of this world, He will redeem my soul from death, and it will not die like the soul of the wicked.

Always focus your attention on these matters and not on others, because all else is trivial. For man can salvage nothing from his labor to take with him (see Koheles 5:14), except two white garments (shrouds). Also (Tehillim 49), "A man will not redeem his brother...Fear not when a man grows rich...For when he dies, he shall carry nothing away...." Don't say, "I will leave a portion for my children" - who will tell you in the grave? The children of man are like grasses of the field, some blossom and some fade (Eruvin 54a). Everyone is born under his constellation and Divine Providence. They are glad when he dies and he goes into the nether world. [At his death] Resh Lakish left his children a kav of saffron, and he applied to himself the verse (Tehillim 49:11), "...and they leave their wealth to others" (Gittin 47a). Woe to all who plan on leaving [wealth] to their children! The only reward from sons and daughters is through their Torah and good deeds. Their sustenance is fixed for them. It is also known that women earn merit by making their children learn Torah etc. (Berachos 17a)

Always focus your attention on these matters and not on others, because all else is trivial. For man can salvage nothing from his labor to take with him (see Koheles 5:14), except two white garments (shrouds). Also (Tehillim 49), "A man will not redeem his brother...Fear not when a man grows rich...For when he dies, he shall carry nothing away...." Don't say, "I will leave a portion for my children" - who will tell you in the grave? The children of man are like grasses of the field, some blossom and some fade (Eruvin 54a). Everyone is born under his constellation and Divine Providence. They are glad when he dies and he goes into the nether world. [At his death] Resh Lakish left his children a kav of saffron, and he applied to himself the verse (Tehillim 49:11), "...and they leave their wealth to others" (Gittin 47a). Woe to all who plan on leaving [wealth] to their children! The only reward from sons and daughters is through their Torah and good deeds. Their sustenance is fixed for them. It is also known that women earn merit by making their children learn Torah etc. (Berachos 17a)

Everyday experience can testify on the truth of these things as such conduct is evident and widespread among the masses of people "whose ways are folly" (Tehilim 49:13). One who thinks on this matter will find the absolute truth and knowledge will come readily to the understanding person.

We will explain part of the mystical dimension of the concept of reincarnation, in order to clarify the concepts זווג ראשון and זווג שני which are mentioned in Sotah 2a. Once we understand these concepts we will also understand the deeper meaning of the יבום and חליצה legislation. The Zohar, commenting on the reason why the corpse of a person hung after execution (21,23) [and the same applies to anyone who dies from natural causes Ed.] must be buried within less than 24 hours, writes as follows: Rabbi Yehudah derives from this law that if a body were allowed to remain unburied for a period of 24 hours this would cause a deterioration in the שאברי המרכבה. [I believe the term refers to man's distinction as compared to the animal to serve as the carrier of the entourage of the Divine Presence, שכינה. Ed.] Non-burial would reduce man to the level of the animals as per Psalms 49,13 that "man must not be allowed to remain unburied overnight, lest he be like an animal." All of this is connected to the fact that man was created in G–d's image and form. Were this deterioration to occur it would on occasion prevent G–d from assigning the soul of that body to transmigrate to another body He had singled out for it. The soul of the departed must appear before the Heavenly Tribunal before it can be transferred to another body. Until the body that this soul inhabited has come to burial, the soul does not appear before the Heavenly Tribunal. The Rekanati connects the subject of transmigration to the mystical dimension of man's creation and hence his burial. He writes that one must not imagine that G–d sets out to create a human being and has great plans for such a human being only in order to forsake it. The very reason that G–d ordered the prompt burial of a human being is so that He need not delay carrying out His decrees. Transmigration of the soul of the departed to another body is impossible as long as burial has not taken place. The matter is similar to a husband whose wife has died and who would not remarry until his first wife had been interred. The urgency of the burial is determined by the possibility that G–d has another body on hand waiting to receive the soul of the person recently departed. Rekanati finds support for his theory in the fact that immediately after the passage requiring the burial of the corpse of a legally executed sinner the Torah legislates the concern that must be shown for an animal that has lost its way home (22,1). The passage has an allegorical meaning above and beyond the immediate legislation. If G–d is concerned with restoring lost animals or objects to their owner, it follows that G–d is at least as concerned in providing an opportunity for even a sinner who had to be executed to "find" his way back and cleave to G–d and His commandments. This can be accomplished by גלגול נשמות. The aforementioned helps us to understand the expression נדחים, "outcast," which the Torah uses in our verse, in contradistinction to the end of the passage (verse 3) where the Torah simply refers to אבדה, "a lost object." Rekanati concludes by referring to his own comment in this vein on the סוד העבור on Ruth 4,7.

We will explain part of the mystical dimension of the concept of reincarnation, in order to clarify the concepts זווג ראשון and זווג שני which are mentioned in Sotah 2a. Once we understand these concepts we will also understand the deeper meaning of the יבום and חליצה legislation. The Zohar, commenting on the reason why the corpse of a person hung after execution (21,23) [and the same applies to anyone who dies from natural causes Ed.] must be buried within less than 24 hours, writes as follows: Rabbi Yehudah derives from this law that if a body were allowed to remain unburied for a period of 24 hours this would cause a deterioration in the שאברי המרכבה. [I believe the term refers to man's distinction as compared to the animal to serve as the carrier of the entourage of the Divine Presence, שכינה. Ed.] Non-burial would reduce man to the level of the animals as per Psalms 49,13 that "man must not be allowed to remain unburied overnight, lest he be like an animal." All of this is connected to the fact that man was created in G–d's image and form. Were this deterioration to occur it would on occasion prevent G–d from assigning the soul of that body to transmigrate to another body He had singled out for it. The soul of the departed must appear before the Heavenly Tribunal before it can be transferred to another body. Until the body that this soul inhabited has come to burial, the soul does not appear before the Heavenly Tribunal. The Rekanati connects the subject of transmigration to the mystical dimension of man's creation and hence his burial. He writes that one must not imagine that G–d sets out to create a human being and has great plans for such a human being only in order to forsake it. The very reason that G–d ordered the prompt burial of a human being is so that He need not delay carrying out His decrees. Transmigration of the soul of the departed to another body is impossible as long as burial has not taken place. The matter is similar to a husband whose wife has died and who would not remarry until his first wife had been interred. The urgency of the burial is determined by the possibility that G–d has another body on hand waiting to receive the soul of the person recently departed. Rekanati finds support for his theory in the fact that immediately after the passage requiring the burial of the corpse of a legally executed sinner the Torah legislates the concern that must be shown for an animal that has lost its way home (22,1). The passage has an allegorical meaning above and beyond the immediate legislation. If G–d is concerned with restoring lost animals or objects to their owner, it follows that G–d is at least as concerned in providing an opportunity for even a sinner who had to be executed to "find" his way back and cleave to G–d and His commandments. This can be accomplished by גלגול נשמות. The aforementioned helps us to understand the expression נדחים, "outcast," which the Torah uses in our verse, in contradistinction to the end of the passage (verse 3) where the Torah simply refers to אבדה, "a lost object." Rekanati concludes by referring to his own comment in this vein on the סוד העבור on Ruth 4,7.

Fortunate, then, is the person who fulfills the commandments, causing one holy soul to cling to another, and he is crowned with a holy crown. But this is only true if he sets aside fixed times for study and engages in acts of lovingkindness and good deeds. But if he goes after his heart’s desire, pursuing gluttony and drunkenness, spending all his days in business and wasting all his time on the needs of the body rather than those of his soul, then his holy soul abandons him, since his nature is that of a beast. Concerning this was it written in Zohar Chadash (21b): Rabbi Yehudah said: Woe to the wicked who do not wish to cling to the partner of the Holy One Blessed is He. And who is this? Rabbi Yitzchak has said, “This is the soul that the Holy One Blessed is He has instilled in him.” But instead he clings to the behavior of the beasts. This is the meaning of the verse, “But man does not endure in his splendor; he is likened to the silenced animals” (Tehillim 49:13). (See also what I will write on this matter in Ch. 61).

How much more so if he squanders the wages of his toil for educating his children in the "new ways," teaching them foreign studies and removing them from the Torah of the L-rd. Is his toil not "not for him"? To the contrary, he must yet render judgment and accounting for having removed his children from the Torah of the L-rd. And, similarly, if he toils until old age in order to leave a blessing [i.e., an inheritance] for his sons after him, this, too, is not for him. As Resh Lakish, who left over for his sons a kav of saffron, said about himself (Psalms 99:11): "And they leave their wealth to others." (Gittin 47a).

The point of this analogy is this: If a person gives charity while he is alive it is said of him, “And your charity shall go before you.” Then he has nothing to fear from the “enemy,” for “the honor of Hashem will gather him in” without any opposition from any accuser. But if he does not give until after his death, who knows whether he will even receive credit for it since the dead are exempt from the commandments? Concerning the first group it is written, “And they leave their wealth to others” (Tehillim 49:11). And even if their own sons inherit their wealth, nevertheless they themselves may have no satisfaction from it even after death. For I have seen new attitudes afoot and the masses have become very casual towards the honor of deceased parents. They make for themselves black mourning garments of the finest quality, all in the latest gentile fashion, and then indulge themselves in feasting. Meanwhile they treat with disdain the honor of the parent whom they are meant to be eulogizing and mourning. This is entirely the father’s own fault, for when one casts a stick into the air it comes back down on one’s head (Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 53:15). Therefore there is no greater foolishness than this and no more need be said about the matter.

The sons of Aaron entered while intoxicated, took a look and died. The same happened to ben Azzai. Both of them illustrate the truth of Psalms 116,15, quoted earlier. Although normally death is perceived as the result of Man having failed to live up to G–d's demand, as we know from Psalms 49,13: "Man could not even remain sin-free for a single night before becoming mortal" [freely translated], in this case death was not due to sin, but was precious in the eyes of the Lord as it was the result of rapprochement to G–d.

When that time comes, the תיקון, "repair work" will have been completed and the world will be as good as at the time it was created when both body and soul were on an equally elevated level. It was said of Adam in Psalms 49, 13: אדם ביקר בל ילין; נמשל כבהמות נדמו, "Man does not even spend a single night on his pedestal; he is like the beasts that perish." This was the Psalmist's description of Adam's spiritual descent to the level of the ox. Our sages have said that the ox that Adam sacrificed had his horns protruding in front of his legs (Avodah Zarah 8). Had Adam not sinned, he could have lived up to the ideal described in Leviticus 1, 2: אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לשם, "when you Adam will offer yourself as an offering to G–d." Adam, endowed with everlasting life, would then have cleaved to G–d in the same manner as the righteous nowadays are described as doing after their death. We are told that the angel Michael, in his capacity as the High Priest in the Celestial Sanctuary, "sacrifices" the souls of the צדיקים. The repair-work was begun by the "ox" as an extension of Joseph whom the Torah describes as בכור שור, firstling ox (Deut. 33,19). The repair will be completed by the "lion," i.e. Yehudah. When that has been accomplished, Israel will be transported "on wings of eagles," in contrast to the time of the destruction, when the prophecy of Deut. 28,49: "G–d will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, etc.," was fulfilled. In the future the blessing of Deut. 32,11 in which G–d is described as taking Israel under His wing like an eagle, will come true. We observe that the different גלגולים, wanderings of the Jewish people, follow the pattern of the animals Ezekiel saw in his vision of the מעשה מרכבה, in Ezekiel 1, where the Chashmal is described as equipped with the features of man, ox, lion and eagle. At that time Israel will achieve an unparalleled degree of unity and not only the Lord will be One, but His name will be One. The last letters in the words אחד ושמו אחד combine to make the name דוד. When that has come to pass all the participants will have achieved ever-lasting life as had been intended by the Creator from the beginning.

When that time comes, the תיקון, "repair work" will have been completed and the world will be as good as at the time it was created when both body and soul were on an equally elevated level. It was said of Adam in Psalms 49, 13: אדם ביקר בל ילין; נמשל כבהמות נדמו, "Man does not even spend a single night on his pedestal; he is like the beasts that perish." This was the Psalmist's description of Adam's spiritual descent to the level of the ox. Our sages have said that the ox that Adam sacrificed had his horns protruding in front of his legs (Avodah Zarah 8). Had Adam not sinned, he could have lived up to the ideal described in Leviticus 1, 2: אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לשם, "when you Adam will offer yourself as an offering to G–d." Adam, endowed with everlasting life, would then have cleaved to G–d in the same manner as the righteous nowadays are described as doing after their death. We are told that the angel Michael, in his capacity as the High Priest in the Celestial Sanctuary, "sacrifices" the souls of the צדיקים. The repair-work was begun by the "ox" as an extension of Joseph whom the Torah describes as בכור שור, firstling ox (Deut. 33,19). The repair will be completed by the "lion," i.e. Yehudah. When that has been accomplished, Israel will be transported "on wings of eagles," in contrast to the time of the destruction, when the prophecy of Deut. 28,49: "G–d will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, etc.," was fulfilled. In the future the blessing of Deut. 32,11 in which G–d is described as taking Israel under His wing like an eagle, will come true. We observe that the different גלגולים, wanderings of the Jewish people, follow the pattern of the animals Ezekiel saw in his vision of the מעשה מרכבה, in Ezekiel 1, where the Chashmal is described as equipped with the features of man, ox, lion and eagle. At that time Israel will achieve an unparalleled degree of unity and not only the Lord will be One, but His name will be One. The last letters in the words אחד ושמו אחד combine to make the name דוד. When that has come to pass all the participants will have achieved ever-lasting life as had been intended by the Creator from the beginning.

The meaning behind this is that Adam was on a spiritual level that made him fit to wear garments of light, and even his heel radiated a light more brilliant than the sun. Had he not sinned, his facial skin would have radiated a blinding light. Light is also called קרן, as we know from Chabakuk 3,4: ונגה כאור תהיה, קרנים מידו לו, "It is a brilliant light which gives off rays on every side". When we look at the sun we observe that many lines emanate from it. These are what are called קרני החמה, the "horns," or rays, of the sun. Once Adam sinned and had to switch to leather garments, i.e. garments whose raw material came from the dust of the earth, he became clay, just like the clay in the hands of the potter. Adam's new status is best described in Lamentations 4,2, where the prophet Jeremiah speaks of המסולאים בפז, איכה נחשבו לנהבלי חרש מעשה ידי יוצר, "Those who used to be valued as fine gold are now accounted as earthen pots fashioned by a potter." Adam's decline is compared to the decline from being קרן-like, to becoming פך-like. The name אדם originally related to a superior kind of אדמה. Subsequently it related to the inferior material we know as אדמה, dust from the earth. From that latter material one constructs the cruses, clay פכים. As long as Adam was on his original spiritual level, he himself was the offering to G–d, as hinted in Leviticus 1,2, that in the first instance one should make an offering of oneself to G–d. At that time man was like the souls of the righteous; these are described as being offered to G–d by the angel Michael after they have departed this earth. When the Psalmist tells us that man did not even spend one single night in his original innocence and now has become likened to the beasts (Psalms 49,14), he thereby hints that man descended to the level of the ox. The deeper meaning of the Midrash which tells us that the ox sacrificed by Adam had only one קרן, horn, is proof that he retains a small vestige of the image of קרן, though on a much lower plane than before.

The meaning behind this is that Adam was on a spiritual level that made him fit to wear garments of light, and even his heel radiated a light more brilliant than the sun. Had he not sinned, his facial skin would have radiated a blinding light. Light is also called קרן, as we know from Chabakuk 3,4: ונגה כאור תהיה, קרנים מידו לו, "It is a brilliant light which gives off rays on every side". When we look at the sun we observe that many lines emanate from it. These are what are called קרני החמה, the "horns," or rays, of the sun. Once Adam sinned and had to switch to leather garments, i.e. garments whose raw material came from the dust of the earth, he became clay, just like the clay in the hands of the potter. Adam's new status is best described in Lamentations 4,2, where the prophet Jeremiah speaks of המסולאים בפז, איכה נחשבו לנהבלי חרש מעשה ידי יוצר, "Those who used to be valued as fine gold are now accounted as earthen pots fashioned by a potter." Adam's decline is compared to the decline from being קרן-like, to becoming פך-like. The name אדם originally related to a superior kind of אדמה. Subsequently it related to the inferior material we know as אדמה, dust from the earth. From that latter material one constructs the cruses, clay פכים. As long as Adam was on his original spiritual level, he himself was the offering to G–d, as hinted in Leviticus 1,2, that in the first instance one should make an offering of oneself to G–d. At that time man was like the souls of the righteous; these are described as being offered to G–d by the angel Michael after they have departed this earth. When the Psalmist tells us that man did not even spend one single night in his original innocence and now has become likened to the beasts (Psalms 49,14), he thereby hints that man descended to the level of the ox. The deeper meaning of the Midrash which tells us that the ox sacrificed by Adam had only one קרן, horn, is proof that he retains a small vestige of the image of קרן, though on a much lower plane than before.