Pensamiento judío sobre Deuteronómio 6:18

The animals supporting the throne of G-d in the vision of the prophet Yecheskel (1,3) have no idea of G-d’s appearance, nonetheless they praise Him at the appropriate times by saying "blessed be His glorious kingdom from wherever His place." However, the Israelites descending into the sea of reeds could proclaim "THIS is my Lord, I will glorify Him." Each one of them was able to point his finger at an image of G-d. In the future there will be a time when you will be able to say this twice, as we are told in Isaiah 25,9, "on that day he will say HERE is the Lord our G-d in whom we hoped that He would save us; THIS is the Lord we have placed our hope in, let us rejoice and be happy with His salvation." Man's position in the universe is between the sphere of the heavenly bodies and the lower creatures and inanimate matter on earth. Since he is composed of elements of either, these elements separate from one another when man dies. "Dust returns to the earth, and the spirit to the Lord." (Kohelet 12,7) Also, in nature there are gradations of animations such as corals, sponges etc. which are neither fully animate nor completely inanimate. Since we perceive that in all spheres of creation there are such gradations, the same is true also in the spiritual spheres. Everything is relative and measured against higher or lower levels of spirituality. The concept of tov, good, used in the Torah, such as when Moses demands from the people that they perform certain commandments, is always a relative "good" ("in order that you will be well of," for instance.) (Deut, 12,25) The "good" referred to is what it is possible for a human being to achieve within a certain framework. When Moses describes the task of a Jew as "what is it that the Lord your G-d asks of you, except to fear Him etc. (Deut, 10,12), he is telling us that we have been given the means to achieve a higher degree of spiritual perfection than other human beings, if we observe the laws of the Torah. It does not mean that this will make angels out of us, and remove us totally from any vestige of the animalistic within us. The mitzvot that are required of us, help us achieve our relative perfection. The same mitzvot are not required of the heavenly creatures, (angels) as they would not help them achieve their own relative perfection. "To be good for you,"- i.e. it is good for us, does not mean the same thing would be good for anybody else, (non humans.)- "to be good for us for all time." There are two kinds of "good" that apply to us. Acquisition of the "good" is divided into two categories, (a) activities, which while enhancing the self, the personality, have no impact on our environment, (b) activities which leave an imprint on our environment. Refinement of our intellectual faculties for instance, leaves the objects of our perceptions completely unchanged. If Job (Job 28,13) asks sarcastically about the value of true wisdom, which seems to him so ineffectual, the truth is, that what appears invisible is in reality the pure intellect. When Solomon states "that the advantage man enjoys over the animal is nil," he means to say that this very "nil," invisible intellect, is what separates man from the beasts. (Kohelet 3,19) Job, (28,12) asking "which is the site of understanding?" suggests that insight cannot be limited to spatial considerations, i.e. makom. "The deep said it is not to be found within me, and the ocean said it is not within me." This means that wisdom is not found in the physical part of the universe. Another distinction of the pure intellect, unencumbered by the physical, is the enduring nature of achievements of the pure spirit. Results of intellectual enquiry etc., are not subject to subsequent mutations through synthesis with something physical. The other accomplishments involving outside objects etc. are subject to whatever it is that happens to such material objects. Since material objects are subject to decay, accomplishments tied to matters material are similarly subject to decay and eventual disintegration. Actions by the Almighty fall into the aforementioned two categories. He is both an intellect, reigns supreme and is majestically separate; but there is also the “yad hachazakah” which while part of His intellect is what He employs when He wills happenings in this universe. By means of the latter, the yesh, is created from the ayin, the visible is created from the invisible, immaterial. The three worlds, the totally physical, the physical/spiritual, and the totally spiritual, abstract, are all part of this second part of intellect. Even the totally inanimate physical world that appears at first glance as everlasting, (planetary system, rocks etc.) is conceived already by our Torah and prophets as having a finite existence. (Isaiah 51,6) "Lift unto the heavens your eyes, and behold the earth; the heavens will melt like salt, the earth will rot like clothing. Similarly, its inhabitants will die were it not for My salvation that will last forever, as well as My righteousness which will not diminish." This and other examples teach us that all that is enduring is so only inasmuch as it uses the spiritual force it has been endowed with. Material things, even those of the most enduring kind, once devoid of spiritual stimulants- will ultimately disintegrate of their own accord. Our own concept of an enduring existence is based on hashgachah peratit, on G-d’s Personal attention to the creature or object in question. We do not hold that species as such are self perpetuating, independent of the specific will of the Creator. Despite the fact that we have described the purely intellectual as being superior to the physical, man's advance towards his relative perfection must proceed via the active, not merely the contemplative, since the latter is apt to lead to erroneous conclusions. This is why the Torah demands deeds, which through the system of reward and punishment, assure us of our nitzchiyut, perpetuity, or lack of it, G-d forbid. Aristotele is a prime example of the pure intellect arriving at faulty conclusions. Solomon says (Kohelet 7,16) "do not become too clever or you will be left desolate." The danger is that one may become a blasphemer, inadvertently. Our composition is such that we achieve our goal only through fulfilling the mitzvot. The prophet jeremiah sums it up when he says "let not the wise man boast of his wisdom...but let him who must boast, praise himself for knowing Me, for I do love kindness etc." (Jeremiah 9,23) G-d suggests that man imitate His attributes.

The difference between angel and man lies in the freedom of will possessed by man and the absence of such freedom of choice in angels. Man is able to rise or fall morally, ethically; angels remain forever on the same plateau. Rashi and Onkelos say what they say in addition to the peshat, the plain meaning of the verse. They do so to forestall the impression that G-d is described as talking to Himself or to any of His non existent partners. We find many instances when Onkelos translates elokim as "angels of G-d," such as Jacob saying "I have seen elokim face to face" (Genesis 32,31). In the case of the serpent using this term, seeing the serpent does not have encounters with angels, the term refers simply to elokim as the Creator and His power. Even the she-ass of Bileam did not see the angel as an angel (Numbers 22). It only saw him as a threatening obstruction. Had this not been so, she would not have said to Bileam, "Do I usually act in this fashion?" She would have said, "The angel of the Lord has prevented me."

“Rebbe Yermiyah was sitting before Rebbe Zeira and they were involved in their learning. The time for prayer was passing, and Rebbe Yermiyah hurried to get up. Rebbe Zeira called upon him, ‘One who turns away his ear from hearing Torah, his prayer too is an abomination.’ (Mishle 28:9)” [Shabbat 10a]
One turns, from the very nature of their soul, toward the holy emotions for which, in order to complete them and bring their potential from the depths their soul, they require prayer. However, one could make a fundamental mistake in this matter. Because just as one has spiritual inclinations, which are from the side of the soul’s discerning⁷⁰see Mishle 19:14. This is a one word description of the woman who guides the growth of the house described in the ‘woman of valor’ paean which closes out Mishle in 31:10-31 nature, so too one has a multitude of feelings for various appetites and physical desires. And this every person discerns – that in regard to the expansion of the tempestuous feelings in the heart toward physical matters and all that is related to them, there is nothing better than to guide them through the judgment of a Torah consciousness, which gives righteousness in all its paths and guides one on the good and straight way.⁷¹see Devarim 6:18, especially the Ramban’s definition of what this mitzvah is found on that verse If the soul is abandoned to its physical aspirations and all that is dependent on them, without the admonition of the Torah, it will surely fall - walking the way of annihilation and death. But in regard to the soul’s spiritual aspirations, whose entirety is love of G–d, delight in His goodness and the splendor of His glory, and in regard to the multitude of offshoots which branch from the depths of these feelings, one could think that there is no need at all to level for them a path of instruction; but rather that they can leave their soul to pursue her path and she will rise up in the love of the Eternal Rock (See Yehayahu 26:4) , yearn, long, sing (See Tehillim 51:16) out from the walls of the heart and pour out plaint, as much as her spirit, which rises ever upwards, lifts her. If so, one might think that there is no need of the Torah’s guidance for these spiritual feelings, which are the offshoots of prayer, and therefor when the time comes to pray one will hurry to abandon Torah learning in order to ready the offering of prayer. Not so, taught us the wisest of all men. Because in truth not only the physical aims of humanity, in which we are likened to an animal, require the Torah’s boundaries for restraint and order, but also our higher spiritual aspirations, which are among the foundation of prayer and its branches, require the bounding and ordering of Torah. Therefore, one who turns away their ear from Torah, not only will the multitude of their physical feelings turn to abomination, lacking a guide to conduct them on the path of life and light, but so too their prayer. Though it turns upward, nevertheless without the Godly discerning guidance to delimit it, it can become an obstacle and a distortion, and will not bear the good, desirable fruit. Their prayer is also an abomination.⁷²The term abomination, is obviously very strong and it is a bit of a mystery why the gemara would choose such language to characterize prayer, even when it comes without the guidance (or even at the expense) of Torah. One answer may be found in the discussion of the term between R’ Yehudah HaNasi and Bar Kapparah found in the gem. Nedarim 51a “You are straying through it [to’e ata bah].” In this sense, R’ Kook’s point about the critical role the Torah’s guidance is meant to play in giving form to our spiritual yearnings can be illustrated as follows. Imagine that you discover an all-powerful genie, who offers you one wish. In that moment you stand before a world of infinite potential, and incredible danger. You had better hope that you have total clarity on the truth of your inner desire, because if you do not and you wish for something other than what you truly want, you will live in the consequences for the rest of your life. In the same way, before we stand before the Master of the world and ask for our heart’s desire, involvement in the depths of Torah offers us to chance to clarify exactly what that is. Therefore, it is not fitting that one rush to abandon involvement with Torah in the face of prayer, in order to engrave on one’s heart that also the higher side which is within them, the side of the holy, lofty feeling of which prayer is an outgrowth, must draw its measures and boundaries from the wellsprings of the Torah, to know all of its reality and to set it straight on the path of the good life which leads upwards for the wise (see Mishle 15:24) .