Chasidut for Genesis 3:22
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ פֶּן־יִשְׁלַ֣ח יָד֗וֹ וְלָקַח֙ גַּ֚ם מֵעֵ֣ץ הַֽחַיִּ֔ים וְאָכַ֖ל וָחַ֥י לְעֹלָֽם׃
And the LORD God said: ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.’
Kedushat Levi
Let us first deal with a question raised by most commentators, i.e. the reason why Moses’ name has not been mentioned in this portion. In Proverbs 10,1 we read בן חכם ישמח אב, “a wise son brings joy to his father.” What precisely is this “wisdom” Solomon speaks of in that verse? Furthermore, what is the nature of “wisdom” that Job speaks of in Job 28,28 where we read הן יראת א-דוני היא חכמה, “here the awe of G’d is wisdom!”
We must remember that the Creator created all the phenomena in all the parts of His universe, and that when His creatures look at the world and realize that they themselves are totally powerless, they look at their own “lives” and are overcome by a feeling of awe for this Creator.
They also realize that the Creator in His wisdom has created phenomena that are direct opposites of one another such as fire and water, night and day, wind (air) and earth. When reflecting on this they realize that even these opposites possess a common denominator, they emerged into existence as an expression of the will of the One and only Creator. It follows that they should perceive themselves as being part of one great whole.
The word הן as explained by Rashi on Genesis 3,22 refers to man in the lower universe being as unique as G’d is unique in the higher universe. In Greek the word for “one, uniformity,” is also “hina” (compare ערוך). Unity in our world is the result of the recognition that we all share the same root. The fear inspired by this realization inspires unity, or at least should inspire unity, the common goal of all of G’d’s creatures being to serve the Creator. The well known verse, (Job 25,2):עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו וגו', “He who makes peace in His lofty heights may He also make peace among us, etc.;” alludes to the peace in the higher worlds being the result of the creatures in that world having realized that they are all part of the same root, something that alas, we on earth have so far failed to realize, or at least we have failed to let our actions reflect that realization.
Our sages (Bamidbar rabbah 12,7) when commenting on this verse says that the archangel Michael is made of snow whereas the archangel Gavriel is made of fire. In spite of this neither angel causes any harm to his colleague or celestial counterpart.
We must remember that the Creator created all the phenomena in all the parts of His universe, and that when His creatures look at the world and realize that they themselves are totally powerless, they look at their own “lives” and are overcome by a feeling of awe for this Creator.
They also realize that the Creator in His wisdom has created phenomena that are direct opposites of one another such as fire and water, night and day, wind (air) and earth. When reflecting on this they realize that even these opposites possess a common denominator, they emerged into existence as an expression of the will of the One and only Creator. It follows that they should perceive themselves as being part of one great whole.
The word הן as explained by Rashi on Genesis 3,22 refers to man in the lower universe being as unique as G’d is unique in the higher universe. In Greek the word for “one, uniformity,” is also “hina” (compare ערוך). Unity in our world is the result of the recognition that we all share the same root. The fear inspired by this realization inspires unity, or at least should inspire unity, the common goal of all of G’d’s creatures being to serve the Creator. The well known verse, (Job 25,2):עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו וגו', “He who makes peace in His lofty heights may He also make peace among us, etc.;” alludes to the peace in the higher worlds being the result of the creatures in that world having realized that they are all part of the same root, something that alas, we on earth have so far failed to realize, or at least we have failed to let our actions reflect that realization.
Our sages (Bamidbar rabbah 12,7) when commenting on this verse says that the archangel Michael is made of snow whereas the archangel Gavriel is made of fire. In spite of this neither angel causes any harm to his colleague or celestial counterpart.
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Likutei Halakhot
And this is the aspect of Hashem Yithbarakh's extolling Kenesseth Yisrael (Song 7), “Your navel is like a round goblet that lacks no mingled wine,” and our Rabbis z”l explained (Sanh. 37) regarding the seventy Sanhedrin who sat in a semicircle like the moon etc. “Your navel” is the aspect of the tefillin straps which descend from the head knot to the navel, which is drawn from the aspect of the kingship of David-Mashiach who is live and enduring, who is the aspect of the head knot as mentioned, as from there is drawn the strap unto the navel which is the aspect of “your navel like a round goblet,” the aspect of the seventy Sanhedrin who correspond to the seventy facets of the Torah, where David sat at the head, as our Rabbis z”l explained (brought in Rashi) on the verse, “Yoshev-Basheveth a Tachkemonite, head” etc. (2 Sam 23), for all the seventy Sanhedrin who are the aspect of the seventy faces of the Torah all receive from David-Mashiach, as all his vitality is from the aspect of the aforementioned elders, who are the aspect of Tiqunei Diqna Qadisha, the aspect of honoring the face, the aspect of Stories of Ancient Times, as all the seventy faces of the Torah are drawn from them, as explained in the Torah “Pathach R' Shim`on” (LM #60), see there; as thereby one can wake up from sleep, which is the absence of the brains. And by means of these elders, the aspect of the stories, are drawn all the seventy faces of the Torah and we wake up from sleep. Which, this is is the aspect of the seventy years that David a”h lived. And therefore he minimized sleep to the utmost, as our Rabbis z”l said (Sukkah 26), that David never slept sixty breaths, so as to not taste the taste of death. For sleep is one sixtieth of death, which is drawn from Adam haRishon's mistake, by eating from the Tree of Knowledge Good-and-Bad and blemishing the Tree of Life which is the aspect of the light of the tefillin, as is brought. For tefillin are the aspect of life, the aspect of the Tree of Life, of which is said (Gen. 3), “And he eat and live forever). And by causing this damage, death was decreed on him for generations. But actually, after the mistake, death and sleep are a great benefit, for had Adam not erred he would have attained true life which is everlasting life, long life, whilst still in the body, that is, in his body he would have been able to be included in the Ein Sof forever, running and returning, and live long life, that is, renewing his vitality forever, in the aspect of renewing life of the Highest Elder, who is the Blind One, who lived long life, as he is forever old and forever infantile etc. as mentioned. But after the mistake and having eaten from the Tree of Knowledge Good-and-Bad and being driven from Gan `Eden and the Serpent's filth taking grip on his body, the aspect of the “Serpent's bite,” it is impossible for him to live long life in his body forever. And it is impossible to attain everlasting life except by death, which is a great benefit, as written (Gen 1), “And behold, good me'od” — this is death (Ber. Rab. 9), for by means of death which is sleep, his brain is renewed. And then his body and life are renewed, and then he comes back to life in a body clean and pure that is entirely cleaned and purified of the Serpent's filth. And then he will attain receiving new brains in the aspect of tefillin, the Tree of Life, which are the aspect of long life he will attain then. That is, then he will attain living such life forever, as at all times life and brains will be added to him, until the older he gets, the more he will attain beginning anew. Which this is the aspect of the Blind Elder, which this is the essence of everlasting life that whoever attains will attain in the future to come. For constant delight is no delight and is not called true life, but rather when one attains living new life at all times, and this is the aspect of long life, everlasting life, that the tzaddikim will attain in the future after revival of the dead, that is, the aforementioned aspect, as they will attain renewing their life at all times, which this is the aspect of tefillin as mentioned.
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