Jasidut sobre Isaías 58:14

And to understand: what kind of Da’at draws into the world of delight? It is known from what the prophet said (Isaiah 58:14): "For the mouth of God has spoken"—that everyone who speaks words of Torah or prayer, after entering the gate of fear and accepting upon himself the yoke of His fear, must know and believe that his own mouth speaking the words is truly the mouth of God, which is a portion of God Himself—the Divine Name of Adnut (Master), which dwells within every complete Jew, is what speaks these words with the power of the Divine portion. As it is said (Psalms 51:17): "My Master, open my lips," which refers to the world of speech compressed into the human mouth, as explained elsewhere. And once he knows this with complete faith, then immediately a great delight comes upon him—for this knowledge is the complete Da’at, which brings him to spiritual delight and his intellect becomes expanded, and he unites through that Da’at the fear he accepted earlier into the world of delight. Through this, he exits the Meitzar Yam—as Da’at increases and exits from the narrowness and smallness, and through this unification, all harsh judgments (dinim) are sweetened, because judgments reside in constriction and smallness—like in Egypt, where the Da’at was in Meitzar and Katnut (constriction and smallness) and so there was exile, which is judgment. Through an increase of Da’at, they exited poverty in general. And so it is with every person and at all times. That is what they meant when they said, "In every generation a person is obligated to see himself as if he exited Egypt"—in particular, when a person casts himself and his Da’at into Meitzar Yam and smallness, he is in a place of judgment. When he accepts upon himself fear—the gate, which is the place of judgment—and through Da’at, as mentioned, he believes that the mouth of God speaks through him, then he comes to the supreme delight, the world of delight, the world of freedom, which is the world of Binah (understanding)—from which judgments are aroused. Then he connects fear into the world of delight, and judgments are sweetened at their root, for judgments can only be sweetened at their root, as is known. And this is the meaning of "in the place of joy, there shall be trembling"—that trembling, which is fear, must be in the place of joy, connecting it into the world of delight through the above-mentioned Da’at, and lifting it to a place where there is no effect of judgment. Because even though from Binah judgments are aroused, nonetheless, it is compassionate, since it is the world of joy, and in the place of joy, there are no judgments. And this is the saying of our Sages on the verse (II Samuel 23:3): "A righteous one rules in the fear of God." And our Sages said: "Who rules over Me? The righteous person— for the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees a decree, and he (the righteous) nullifies it." The Zohar asked: Can there be an accuser (kitruga) of the Master Himself, that would change the will of the Creator, as it were? But according to what was said above, the truth is that everything is by the Holy One, blessed be He, because the wicked, whose Da’at has not come out of Egypt, cast the world into smallness and narrowness, which is the place of judgments, because their service is not in delight, which is the expansion of Da’at. But the righteous connects the world and unifies himself with all creations, as Onkelos translated (I Chronicles 29:11): "For all is in the heavens and the earth"—meaning, he who is unified in the heavens and the earth, for the righteous connects the lower levels upward, and serves with abundant Da’at and broad delight, and raises the world of fear into the world of delight, which is the heritage without boundaries, where there are no judgments. And all this is through the Da’at, through which he knows with faithful knowledge that "the mouth of God speaks in him", and through this he raises the world of speech and fear above, and removes the world from judgments. And it turns out that it is by Him, blessed be He, for truly, He is the One who acts through the divine portion within the righteous, which speaks the words, and through this, the decree is nullified, for the righteous believes that the mouth of God speaks through him, and through this, he elevates the world of speech and fear, as explained. Understand this.

Delightful Love, as stated, is only experienced as a gift bestowed from above. This level is identified with Shabbos, a day which is associated with the lofty spiritual level of “delight” or “pleasure” (ta’anug in Hebrew), as in the verses (Isaiah 58: 14 and 13), “[if you observe Shabbos…] then you will delight yourself in G-d,” and “you will call Shabbos a delight.” However, as the Talmud remarks (Avoda Zara 3a), “One who toils on the eve of Shabbos will eat on Shabbos,” that is, prior preparation is necessary to experience Shabbos properly. In our context, too, in order to experience the level of Delightful Love that is revealed on Shabbos, one must spend one’s week in sincere worship of G-d and toil in the effort to bring out both prerequisite levels, ahavas olam and ahava rabba.

And the Torah scholars who have Da’at always, due to their great level, are therefore called “Shabbat” constantly, as is known. But the holiness of Shabbat extends to everyone, allowing each person to attain Da’at, even to the point that our Sages said: “Even an unlearned person has fear of Shabbat,” to the extent that he is afraid to lie on Shabbat. And therefore, “whoever delights in the Shabbat is given a heritage without boundaries,” because he comes out from Egypt, which is the place of judgments, to a heritage without boundaries, which is the world of delight, as mentioned. As it is said (Isaiah 58:14): “And I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the earth,” meaning the elevation of Da’at upward, “and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father”—this refers to the secret of Da’at. And what is this Da’at? It is that “the mouth of the Lord has spoken it”, as mentioned earlier—when one possesses this knowledge and faith, that “the mouth of the Lord spoke through him.” Therefore, it is written regarding Shabbat (Numbers 28:10): “The burnt offering of Shabbat on its Shabbat, in addition to the continual offering,” because the elevation of Shabbat on its Shabbat is beyond the elevation of the regular weekday burnt offering, for in truth, all the Da’at one has during the weekdays is influenced by the Shabbat during the six weekdays, as is known. And were it not for Shabbat, Israel would not be able to exist among the nations even for a short time, due to the overpowering of judgments, which would prevail since they would not know or attain the broad Da’at, and would serve with small-mindedness, which brings about judgments, God forbid. And this is what our Sages meant when they said: “Rebbi wanted to abolish the fast of the Ninth of Av when it falls on Shabbat,” because Shabbat sweetens the judgments, and through that, the redemption is brought closer. And therefore Scripture says (Malachi 3:20): “And the sun of righteousness shall shine for you who fear My Name, and healing will be in its wings,” and our Sages interpreted “The sun” refers to Shabbat, and “righteousness” to charity for the poor, etc. Because the sun is the light of Da’at, hidden in the mouth of the King, as mentioned. And through Shabbat, the shining of the sun is elevated, meaning Da’at is drawn forth, and it reaches even those who were in smallness and narrowness, those who are like “poor in Da’at.” And this is the meaning of: “And it shall shine for you who fear My Name,” meaning those who have awe, which is the gateway, as previously stated. Through that awe, the hidden light—the sun of righteousness—will shine for you. This is righteousness for the poor, who were in spiritual poverty, in lowly levels, until they come to broad Da’at, and exit the narrowness and the judgments, and enter and unite with the world of delight. And a unification is made between awe and delight. “And healing in its wings”—because through the sweetening of the judgments at their root, from the great holiness and delight of Shabbat, which is the world of delight, healing comes. As it is written: “Shabbat is a time not to cry out, and healing is close to come,” because when the judgments are sweetened, healing is near. And our Sages said: “It can cause mercy”—this too relates to this concept: that through entering the world of delight, mercy is aroused, unlike when one is in small-minded Da’at, where the judgments reside. And also through Torah, the judgments are sweetened, and Da’at is expanded, as it says (Proverbs 8:14): “I am understanding; strength is mine”—for through Torah, the attribute of Gevurah (strength) is united with Binah (understanding), which is the world of delight, through the Da’at drawn down from the Torah. And therefore, at the giving of the Torah, it was a freedom from the nations’ kingship, and from subjugation of foreign kingdoms, because of the abundance of Da’at, as mentioned above, which is the hidden light in the Torah, as it says: “Hidden in the mouth of the King”—meaning it is the speech of the Creator, as is known.