Jasidut sobre I Reyes 17:1

1. The matter of the commandment of being fruitful and multiplying - See, our sages say (Niddah 31) “There are three partners in a person: the father provides seed and from him comes the whiteness – bones, sinews, nails, and the brain in his head, and the whiteness of the eye. The mother gives “seed” from which [comes] the redness - skin, flesh, etc… and The Holy One Blessed be He gives him ruach-spirit and neshama-soul.” Now, it is known based on that which is written on the verse (Yeshaya 57:16) “and the souls I made” that a person has two souls: an animalistic soul that is enclothed within the blood of a person to give it life, and also it gives a person intelligence to comprehend all manner of wisdom in the world, and it draws [its spiritual root] from above from the spiritual forces, which is the quality of the “face of the ox” on the Godly Chariot - and from the “face of a man” [on the Chariot] is drawn the animalistic souls of the Jews - and the second soul within Jews is an actual part of God, as it’s written “God is a portion of His people,” because it is a spark of actual Godliness and it is drawn from the quality of “the likeness of a man upon the throne,” which is the likeness of the form of the glory of God. (see Ezekiel 1:26, 28) And this is [the meaning of] that which is written (Genesis 9:6) “in the image of God He made Man.” Because the essential quality of the ten sefiros (emanations) of zeer anpin correspond to the form of a human structure by way of analogy, and like that which is written also the neshama-soul which is drawn from it is in the form of a human with 248 spiritual “limbs” and 365 spiritual “sinews,” and like that which is written in the Etz Chaim that all the souls put together are like one human enclothed in the human [structure/form] of the sefiros, and the godly soul is enclothed in the animalistic soul, which is also according to the form of a human with 248 limbs and 365 sinews, and is enclothed in the actual physical limbs of a person, which are actually aligned [with the soul’s structure] in form and likeness and the structure of the “limbs” and “sinews” of the spiritual soul, as is found in the Zohar (I 38a) – “the lower world is parallel the upper world.” And now, to understand all this, and the matter of the effects [resulting from] the time of a person's cohabitation in drawing down a soul, it is necessary to preface first the matter of the descent of the soul to this world, why it [is necessary]. Since it is known that the soul, before its descent into the body stands on a very lofty level and derives pleasure from the radiance of the Shechina (Divine Presence of Immanence), as it's written regarding Elijah, "As Hashem lives, before whom I stood" (Kings I 17:1), according to its place and level in Atzilus, Briyah, Yetzira, or Asiyah, and why it descends multitudes [of levels] into a physical body that conceals the light of holiness of God, which it is drawn from, and [the body] runs after physical pleasures of this world by its nature, in that they are its foundation and nature and cause the concealment of godliness. And also, since in truth, all the pleasures and comforts of this world are as nothing, even if one was able to live a thousand years in peace and tranquility and security and be a king of kings, such that you didn't lack anything in the world of all its pleasures, it is still impossible, in truth, to compare them with one hour of the spiritual pleasure, even the lowest of the low levels in the spiritual worlds. For that which is written, (Avos 4:17) "Better is one hour of spiritual satisfaction in the World to Come than all the life of this world." And how much more so [the spiritual pleasure of] the upper Garden of Eden, which cannot be compared at all to the lower Garden of Eden, so much so that when a soul ascends from the lower garden to the upper garden, it needs to "immerse" in the River Dinor to "forget" all the pleasures of the lower Garden of Eden so that it will not be confused in the upper garden - the same way that a soul ascending from this world to the lower garden needs at first to "forget" its {vision?} (translation uncertain) of this world, as is known in the Zohar, since it is actually like a foreign thought that confuses...etc. If so, any understanding person can grasp the matter to picture the awesome power of the pleasures of the upper garden, and there are many more levels above that that are not even mentioned in books, only these two levels [are], but in truth, it is known to us from the holy authors to which the paths of heaven are revealed to them, that there are levels ad infinitum, and each one is greater than the essence of the one below it, like that which is written by our sages (Chagigah 13a) "the feet of the chayos [angels] are corresponding to all." And to this our sages had in mind in their statement (Brachos 64a) "Torah scholars have no rest in the World to Come" - they go from strength to strength according to the concept of ascending to higher and higher worlds to take pleasure in God. Furthermore, the magnitude of the soul's descent can be understood - how it goes from "a high roof to a low pit" - through another matter, namely, that which our sages stated (Chagigah 15b) [about "acher," (the heretic Elisha ben Avuyah)] that "better he be judged properly [by the heavenly court] and then go into the World to Come" - this means to say that even the lower Garden of Eden. Now the judgement and suffering of Gehenom are very great and strong, as it's written in Iggeres Hateshuva (chapter 12) in the name of the Ramban, that even the suffering of Job for seventy years is not comparable to even one hour in Gehenom, and the judgement of the wicked in Gehenom is twelve months (Eiduyos 2:10) and they are more than eight, closer to nine thousand hours, and from the time that Acher died in the lifetime of R' Meir (who was before R' Shimon b' Yochai as is written in the Rambam's introduction to the Mishnah and in the [Tosfos Yom Tov?] in the first chapter of Shevuos (mishnah 4) that he was the teacher of Rebbe who was the teacher of R' Yochanan, who lived a long life) and when he died, the smoke stopped ascended from Acher's grave [a sign that his time in Gehenom had ceased]. And all this is relevant to the lower Garden of Eden, how much more so many multitudes and multitudes more is the level of the lower Garden of Eden of which it is worth to bear much suffering just for it alone, something that isn't true for the pleasures of this world [that one wouldn't] bear [even] minor suffering to earn it ... ויאמרו לו הן וכו' [translation uncertain] ... Rather, in truth there is no comparison between the pleasure of the body to the spiritual pleasures and even between the pleasures of the lower Garden of Eden, and how much more so the spiritual worlds of which the lower Garden of Eden compared to the higher Garden of Eden is like the difference between physical pleasures and the spiritual pleasures of the lower Garden of Eden, so too in this, higher and higher the levels go with no end, so that when an understanding person puts his heart to contemplate this matter he'll be shocked into silence by the wondrous and extremely lofty levels that the soul had to descend from down into this world of physicality. However, in truth, blessed is our God, blessed be He, the Good and the one who does good, and in His simple will desired to do good to His people, the Jews, and this descent is for the purpose of an ascent - to raise them up further higher and higher beyond any limit or end, from their original status and place, so that this ascent is specifically through their descent into this world first, and this is [the idea of] what our Sages say: "Better is one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World To Come." (Avos 4:17) And they say "than all the life of the World To Come" since all the lofty and refined levels that are found in the spiritual worlds - the place of the soul's {enjoyment?} where they benefit from the radiance of the Shechinah higher and higher as is known to those who enter the "gates" (ie: works) of the Ari z"l - they are all as nothing compared to one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world. That is because the revelation of godliness that is drawn through any mitzvah in this world is higher than all of them and more preferable beyond any limit, measurement, or end than all the pleasures of the life of the World To Come as stated earlier, and upon that which was stated earlier about how the satisfaction of the World To Come is better than the life of this world of materialism, and so much more than that without end is the difference between, as it's written "Of every finite thing I have seen the end; your commandments are very broad." (Tehillim 119:96) Meaning, for all the dissolution of the soul and the pleasures of the souls from their understanding of godliness in the Garden of Eden there is an end and a limit, that a soul can only understand so much and not more, but the "width" (ie: capacity) of a mitzvah to receive in it the revelation of godliness in the manner of the Infinite (Ain Sof) and without end, for that is the meaning of the word "me'od-very" [in the verse from Tehillim], which implies something without limit or measure, (as in Iggeres Hakodesh 17).

Another way of understanding this line is: “who was it that ‎called Yaakov “El”, i.e. someone equipped with the power to ‎overturn Divine decrees,?” Answer: None other than the G’d of ‎Israel Himself. The emphasis is on the limitation of the ‎‎tzaddik’s power to nullify Divine decrees. If such a decree ‎emanated directly from Hashem, a tzaddik may be able ‎to overturn it. If the decree in question originated in the mind of ‎a tzaddik or even an accredited prophet without the person ‎having been commanded by G’d to relate this decree to the ‎people, another tzaddik is not empowered to cancel it. ‎‎[When Elijah decreed famine for the population of the ‎land of Israel, seeing that G’d had not authorized him to do this, ‎no other prophet could have cancelled this decree. (Kings I 17,1) ‎Ed.]‎

Even when a person suffers great ordeals and afflictions, God can make amends and console him, to the point that he is appeased and consoled over everything he has gone through. Our passage in the Zohar continues: Concerning this, David HaMelech said (Tehillim, 119), “Your mercies are great, O God, give me life according to Your law.” If God is merciful with the wicked, then all the more so with the righteous. Who needs the greatest healing? The ones who are in pain. Who is in pain? The wicked. They need God’s mercy and healing, so as not to be left abandoned… Come and see! It is written (Yeshayahu, 57:17), “He went rebelliously in the way of his heart.” Afterward, it says, “I have seen his ways, and I will heal him, and I will lead him, and I will console to make him and his mourners whole.” “He went rebelliously,” that is to say, even though the wicked do all kinds of intentional sins, pursuing their desires, with others warning them time and again, and the wicked not heeding them, nonetheless, upon returning to the path of God in penance, they will find the healing ready for them to receive. Here we see that God can comfort them over all their suffering. He can return everything to the good, and look forward for the good. This is as our passage in the Zohar concludes: Now that it has come back to him, we clearly see consolation on all sides. Now he is certainly alive – alive in all aspects, grasping onto the Tree of Life. By virtue of grasping onto the Tree of Life, he is called a Master of Repentance (Baal Teshuva). For indeed, Knesset Yisrael⁴³⁹Literally, the entire community of Israel. Symbolically, the Shekhina, and the sefirah of Malkhut. is called teshuva. And he is the “Master of Teshuva.” The ancients said, “[he is] an actual master of Teshuva.” For this reason the sages said, “A perfectly righteous man cannot even stand in the place of greatness where the Baal Teshuva stands.” Even an inkling thought of repentance is not lost from God, as the Zohar says (Terumah, 150b): No good intention is ever lost from before the Holy King. For this reason, fortunate is the man who entertains good thoughts for the sake of his Master! For even if he cannot bring his them to fruition, God considers his intentions as if they had actually been accomplished. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Mishpatim, 99b): Everything in the world, no matter how small, has a place where it can stand and hide, a refuge to enter into and never be lost … These are the great powers of the Holy Supernal King, and nothing is lost. Even a fleeting breath has a place, and the God does with it that which He will. Even man’s slightest word is not in vain, for everything has a place. Even all of the pain that man suffers will not be ignored by God. God will comfort every soul that suffers. Since God knows the final purpose of everything, and that it is better for the creation to have been created than not. He shows this understanding to a person’s soul while he is still in potential, before he enters the world. Then the soul agrees that it is better for him to be created, as it is written in the Zohar (Vayehi, 233b): But come and see! Before they descend into the world, all the souls that exist from the very first day of creation stand before God, in the very form that they will take on after they come into the world. They stand above in a body that looks just like the body they will enter. When the time comes for this soul to descend into the world, the soul stands before the Holy One, blessed be He, in the exact form it will take on when it enters the world. At this time, God has the soul swear that it will keep the commandments of the Torah, and not transgress the statutes of the Torah. From where do we derive that the soul stands in this way before God? As it is written (Melachim 1, 17:1), “I swear by the Living God, whom I stood before…” God shows the soul its entire structure, his characteristics, abilities, and even its physical attributes. The soul agrees to it all, down to the last detail. From man’s point of view, it is difficult to understand how the soul could agree to all of the pain it will have to endure in this world. Before the soul descends into this world it has not yet sinned, so why doesn’t it stay safely where it is, before it has to incur punishment? Why would it intentionally enter a world where it has no choice but to suffer?