Musar sobre Deuteronómio 4:4

We know from Deut. 4,4: ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כולכם היום, "And you who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d are all alive this day," that G–d has chosen us from all other nations and elevated us beyond all other languages, i.e. He brought us close to His great Name, something which is the innermost secret of Torah. This is the true meaning of תורת ה' תמימה, that G–d's Torah is perfect. Our attachment, דבקות, to G–d finds its expression in our performance of the commandments contained in the Torah. When we fulfil Torah precepts we serve as G–d's throne, we honour Him. Due to our sins, unfortunately, we have been exiled and the name of G–d is no longer "whole," as our sages have told us.

Come and see the greatness of the eminence of one who upholds the Torah, and benefits a Torah scholar with his possessions and draws close to him, Scripture considering it as if he [thereby] cleaved to the Shechinah. As Chazal (Kethuvoth 111a) say on the verse (Deuteronomy 4:9): "And you that did cleave to the L-rd your G-d are all alive this day." Now is it possible for a man to cleave to the Shechinah? Is it not written (Ibid. 24): "For the L-rd your G-d is a consuming fire!" The intent is, rather, if one weds his daughter to a Torah scholar, or does business for a Torah scholar, or benefits a Torah scholar with his possessions, it is accounted to him as if he cleaved to the Shechinah." And they stated further (Ibid. 10b): "All who lodge Torah scholars in their homes and offer them of their fare are regarded by Scripture as presenters of daily ['continual'] sacrifices." And (Ibid. 63b): "R. Nechemiah opened [his discourse] in honor of the host, expounding (I Samuel 15:6): 'And Saul said to the Keni: Go, depart, go down from the midst of Amalek, lest I destroy you with him — and you have done lovingkindness with all the children of Israel': Now does this not follow a fortiori? If Yithro, who befriended Moses only for his own honor had this accorded [to his descendants, the Keni], then one who is host to a Torah scholar, and feeds him, and gives him to drink, and treats him of his possessions, how much more so!'… R. Elazar b. R. Yossi Haglili opened [his discourse] in honor of the host, expounding (II Samuel 6:11): 'And the L-rd blessed the house of Oved-Edom… because of the ark of G-d' [which he kept in his house]. Now does this not follow a fortiori? If the ark, which did not eat and did not drink — because they swept and sprinkled before it, thus [were they rewarded], then one who is host to a Torah scholar, and feeds him, and gives him to drink, and treats him of his possessions, how much more so!'"

This being so, let the foresighted reflect that if a person grows used to speaking with his mouth other than what is in his heart his children will undoubtedly stray and eventually deny the Torah, measure for measure. Moreover, he alienates himself from the holiness emanating from above and forfeits that distinction that is ascribed to Israel in the verse, “And as for you who cling to Hashem your God, you are all alive this day” (Devarim 4:4). To understand the significance of this verse consider that when a man tightens his belt until it clings tightly to his waste, not even dust can penetrate between the belt and the garment. So too, when Israel cling to Hashem through their meritorious ways and deeds, no accuser can intervene between them and their Heavenly Father. Take a look at what the Zohar (Parashas Pekudei 225a) writes on this topic:

A person should also recite this prayer: “May it be Your will to save me this day from an evil person, from evil happenstance and from an evil companion.” This is in order that he will not join with the wicked or with sinners or with groups of the treacherous, who gather to engage in bickering and quarreling. Their mouths are sharp swords and their curses, insults and blasphemies are like hot coals. The fire of Gehinnom burns within them enflaming their quarrels and contentions. Their thoughts are entirely for evil, even when they are in shul. They are filled with deceit, inventing pretexts against the upright who adhere to Hashem’s ways, in order to do them harm. Woe to them and woe to their souls! For the day will come suddenly when the wheel will turn against them and Heaven’s judgements will overwhelm them, stripping them of all their possessions. They will become objects of contempt and disgrace but no one will have pity upon them because of Heaven’s harsh decree. Let those who fear Hashem and who tremble at His word distance themselves from such people and from their gatherings and their tumult. Let the upright not heed their advice nor accompany them and certainly not join with them. Instead let them cling to love of Hashem and to the God-fearing and to those who tremble at His word. From such individuals they can learn the path of life. Concerning this was it written, “And as for you who cling to Hashem your God, you are all alive this day” (Devarim 4:4).

Although we have stated that all generations subsequent to Adam contain some element of his, the link to Adam is only via the patriarchs who serve as the go-between. The only people who are named אבות, patriarchs, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same applies to the matriarchs. Only Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel and Leah are considered אמהות, matriarchs. We are all considered their children seeing that they are the roots and we are the branches. This whole process commenced ultimately with Adam and Eve, both of whom together are called אדם. How does this process work? Abraham and Sarah are the תיקון, reformation of Adam and Eve ensuring their continuity. Isaac and Rebeccah are the קלסתר פנים, the visible image of Abraham and Sarah, whereas the existence of the universe as we know it is due to Jacob. The "beauty" of Jacob is described as equivalent to the "beauty" of Adam (Baba Metzia 84a). Jacob is considered as attached to the tree of life because Adam had severed this attachment when he ate from the tree of knowledge. The patriarchs are important because it was they who started to repair the damage Adam had caused. Abraham may be considered as the root of the tree of knowledge, Isaac as its trunk, the area whence knowledge of good and evil is gained; Jacob represents the substance or content of "the tree of life in the midst of the garden," seeing that all his children remained loyal to his teachings. G–d Himself said about the Jewish people (Jacob) ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כלכם היום, "and you who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d are all alive this day" (Deut. 4,4). This means that all of Israel is basically in a position to live eternally [life of the soul after death of the body Ed.].

The objective of these commandments is to refine body and soul, and the purpose of that refinement is to establish, or better re-establish a close relationship with one's roots, ראשית. Since we have traversed many stages, ספירות, from the original roots, ראשית, this is a difficult task. Nonetheless as the Torah testifies in Deut. 4,4, it can be done, and it confers a superior quality of life on one. דבקות can be defined as the return of the branch to the stem, to the root. However far removed one has been from the source, the Torah exhorts us never to forget our roots, i.e.: וזכרת כי ה' אלוקיך הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. "You shall remember that it is the Lord your G–d who gives you strength to do valiantly." (Deut. 8,18). The fact that the מצוה of ציצית also features the exhortation וזכרתם, "you shall remember," demonstrates that a similar purpose underlies that commandment. When we follow accepted methods of exegesis, we have both the similar sounding words, i.e. גזרה שוה, present in those two מצות, as well as the references to לדורותיכם, "throughout your generations," which, when applied to former generations, is similar in meaning to ראשית, beginning, or root. The thrust of all this is to remind us that ultimately all our capabilities are rooted in G–d.

The same is true of the essential holiness of the L-rd which hovers over His people, Israel, through which they will merit to endure forever, as it is written (Devarim 4:4): "And you who cleave to the L-rd your G-d are all alive today, etc.", concerning which Chazal have said that this is only through the agency of Torah. And when men separate themselves from Torah, so long as the "moistness" of Torah is still upon them they still occupy themselves somewhat with its mitzvoth, to which they were accustomed in the past. But with the passage of time, as the moistness begins to dry, they also begin to forsake mitzvoth, and who knows to what this can lead. And, in truth, this is the intent of the verses in Parshath Bechukothai (Vaykira 26:14-15): "And if you do not hearken to Me (to toil in Torah, etc., as Rashi explains there), and you do not do all these mitzvoth (If you do not learn, you will not do), and if (as a result of not doing) you despise (the doers of) My statutes, and if your souls repel (the exemplifiers of) My ordinances, (the sages), not to do (i.e., preventing others from doing) all of My mitzvoth (i.e., if you deny that they are 'My' mitzvoth) to break My covenant" (i.e., to deny Me — seven transgressions, the first leading to the second, etc., all this as explained by Rashi according to Torath Cohanim.)

ותדבק נפשו בדינה . We find a statement in Bereshit Rabbah 80,7, that three expressions are used to describe G–d's love or attachment for Israel. The expressions are: דביקה, חשיקה, and חפיצה. The first expression is used in Deut. 4,4; the second expression is used in Deut. 7,7; the last expression is used in Malachi 3,12. The Midrash continues that we learn this lesson from this wicked person Shechem, of whom all these three kinds of feelings for Dinah are reported in 34,3-19 [actually the expression ויאהב is also used for his feelings.] Shechem's attachment to Dinah was of a terrestrial nature, designed to gratify his cravings in this world, and he wanted to achieve realization by means of these three kinds of "love."

As a result of these considerations, you will find that what is described as the עבודת הקודש (7,9), performed by the Levites is in reality service performed while under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This is why the Torah almost immediately afterwards commands that the spirit of טומאה must be removed from the camp (5,2). There are three different degrees of impurity; those infected by it must be removed from all or some of the three camps. Someone affected only by the spirit of impurity caused through contact with the dead, must leave only the מחנה שכינה. A זב, a person suffering from regular seminal discharge, needs to leave the מחנה לויה also, whereas a person afflicted with the visible skin eczema צרעת must also leave the camp of the Israelites. A person who has incurred טומאת מת has not really been guilty of anything. He suffers from the fact that since as the ideal human being he should have lived forever, the mere contact with death should remind him of the mortality not only of the departed but also of himself. Had man cleaved to G–d who is eternal, the decree of death would not have been issued, as the Torah reminds us when it says ואתך הדבקים בה', חיים כולכם היום, "You who have cleaved to G–d, are all alive as of this day" (Deut 4,4). Anyone who is in the מחנה שכינה is in an area which is the source of the blessing G–d had commanded, and which makes eternal life possible. Now, due to the sin of "Adam," when the body became totally physical, death itself has become טוב מאד, "very good," meaning that by means of "death," which is something precious in the eyes of G–d, man's soul can be salvaged for Eternal Life. The reference is to Psalms 116,15, where the death of the pious is described as "precious" in the eyes of G–d; death is the gateway to Eternal Life. Even thus there is a brief interval when body and soul part, the transition of even a perfectly pious individual is interrupted. This is why anyone who has been in some kind of touch with the dead has to leave the מחנה שכינה until he is purified.

Isaac erred by loving Esau and not paying attention to the separation between the holy and the profane, and the Gentile nations respectively, as outlined above, i.e. the sanctity of time as represented by the Sabbath. Jacob was למעלה מן הזמן, "above the limitations imposed by time." His stature is symbolized by: ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים. Jacob was replete with all kinds of sanctities; he represented the root of the tree that is Israel. All of these concepts are alluded to in this portion.

How excellent is the quality of repentance. Last night this one was separated from the Lord, the God of Israel, Blessed be He. As it is said, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Is. 59:2). He cried and he was not answered, as it is said, "Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" (Is. 1:15). And he fulfilled precepts and they were torn up before his face, as it is said, "Who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts" (Is. 1:12), and, "Oh that there were even one among you that would shut the doors" Mal. 1:10), and, "Hold your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat ye flesh" (Jer. 7:21). Yet today he is closely attached to the Divine Presence, as it is said, "But you, who hold fast to the Lord your God" (Deut. 4:4). He cries out and is answered at once, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer" (Is. 65:24). He fulfills the commandments and they are received with pleasure and with joy, as it is said, "For the Lord hath already accepted thy works" (Eccl. 9:7). Moreover, his commandments are desired, as it is said, "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in days of old and in ancient years" (Mal. 3:4).

ועל כל קרבנך תקריב מלח . Salt represents the Covenant with your G–d, for salt is water which has become solid through being heated by fire. It alludes to the emanation מלכות. Although אסתר המלכה, Queen Esther, [a symbol of the emanation מלכות Ed.] had the חוט של חסד, thread of loving kindness (from the emanation חסד which represents the "upper” waters) extended to her, the fact remains that דינא דמלכותא דינא, that the preponderant emanation she was subject to was the emanation of דין, justice. The waters of this emanation are "salted" due to the power of the fire which has "burned" those waters. Salt as a symbol of the Covenant is the mystical dimension based on the emanation יסוד, which is in itself the אות הברית, symbol of the Covenant, as is well known to Kabbalists. שאור ודבש, yeast and honey, represent the כחות חיצוניות, negative forces in the universe, because yeast causes fermentation, whereas honey "sweetens” the חימוץ, i.e. strengthens the negative forces [because it makes sin appear palatable, enjoyable. Ed.]. Inasmuch as these two ingredients represent rebellion against G–d's commandments, they must not form part of any offering dedicated to G–d. The purpose of קרבן is to bring about a rapprochement between man and G–d. Yeast and honey are instruments which help to estrange man from G–d. It is clear that they cannot be part of any offering.

כי בי-ה ה' צור עולמים . This means that the universe, i.e. the עולם הבא, was created with the letter י, whereas the עולם הזה, the material world, was created with the letter ה. The Mishnah in Avot 5,1 already told us that G–d created the universe with ten מאמרות, directives. The first of these was אחדות, Unity, as we will explain later. The term דביקות, attachment, refers to something that is ongoing, everlasting, as we know from Deut.4,4, ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם, חיים כולכם היום, "you who have been cleaving to the Lord your G–d are all alive this day." The material world was created by five מאמרות, i.e. the letter ה. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 21b, say that 50 שערי בינה, "gates of understanding," were created, and that Moses was given all of them except one. We know this because it says of Moses "ותחסרהו מעט מאלוקים," that You have made him only a little less than divine" (Psalms 8,6). In the introduction on his commentary on the Torah Nachmanides (Chavell edition page 3) describes this statement as meaning that all parts of creation such as the minerals, the various categories of vegetation, animal life and even human life, each required a special שער בינה by means of which they were brought into existence. This process continued until possession of an advanced שער בינה would enable a person to understand the psyche of fellow human beings, enable him to divine if his counterpart was a thief, an adulterer, etc. and even enable him to know if someone else who was suspected of disobeying the laws of ritual impurity concerning sexual relations with a menstruant woman was in fact guilty of such misconduct. Beyond that, a still higher שער בינה would give such a person access to knowledge about the motions and functions of the stars and planets. The total number of such שערי בינה is fifty, the fiftieth being reserved for the Creator alone, who had not revealed that potential to any creature. The wording in the Talmud, נבראו, "they have been created," suggesting that they had not remained only in the realm of G–d Himself, need not be understood literally, as the Talmud was concerned with describing what happened to the majority of these שערי בינה. So far Nachmanides. I personally, feel that the 50th שער בינה, an all embracing potential called hiyuli, primordial is the creative potential which has been withheld from any human being. Nachmanides possibly has this in mind when he refers to the verse in Psalms 33,9: “הוא אמר ויהי,” He said and it came into being."

[The author connects four questions raised in Chulin 139 concerning where the Torah had alluded to future events as corresponding in some way to the four expressions used in Esther 8,16. He also draws parallels with the expressions used in the Torah for G–d's relationship with the Jewish people such as חשק, חפץ, דבק, i.e. different levels of liking for the Jewish people. The expression דבקות is used as applying to the Israel/G–d relationship in a reciprocal manner, thus creating a fourth expression of G–d's relationship with Israel. Those who are interested in studying these allusions in greater detail are referred to the original text. The author uses statements in the Talmud such as that we have an allusion to Mordechai in the Torah because the Torah says in Exodus 30,23 מר דרור, as his justification for finding similar allusions to the Purim i.e. Amalek episode in our portion. I will continue quoting his commentary concerning such allusions. Ed.]

Concerning this inseparable bond, the Torah says in Exodus 19,5 prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai: והייתם לי סגלה, "You will be My treasured possession." The means by which Israel becomes G–d's most treasured possession is the Torah. The word, i.e. vowel, סגל is comprised of three sounds, i.e. three times the letter י. Between them they represent the ten emanations, the ten commandments and the ten directives by means of which G–d created our universe. The Zohar at the end of Parshat Nasso where the offerings of the princes are described, comments that the verse עשרה עשרה הכף, (Numbers 7,86) "ten, ten the כף" which at first glance seems superfluous, for who does not know that twice ten equals twenty, means that the first ten represent מעשה בראשית, whereas the second ten represent the Ten Commandments when the Torah was given. The Torah wishes to tell us that the creation of the universe was justified only when Torah was revealed and accepted by the Jewish people. Together these "twenty" formed a unit, seeing that when one spells the letter י ten, as a word i.e. יוד, the numerical value is 20, i.e. כ. The inseparable relationship between G–d, Israel and Torah is thus amply documented. Israel is attached to these "twenty," as is mentioned in Deut. 4,4: ואתם הדבקים בה', "as for you who cleave to the Lord etc." The congregation of Israel, עדת ישראל, are ten (i.e. the minimum number of a quorum amongst which a part of the Presence of G–d can be found is ten). This number applies both to the spiritual part of the people, נשמה, as well as to their bodies, since the Talmud Nidah 31 tells us that there are three partners in the creation of a human being, G–d, father and mother. G–d's input is described as comprising ten parts, the soul and its various potentials. Father and mother between them also contribute ten components, the body and the materials it is formed of. This makes man a partner of G–d in the Creation of the universe in a manner of speaking Just as the purely spiritual world, עולם האצילות, had been "born," so now the אדם תחתון, man of the lower world was "born" in order to get to know G–d. This is what is meant by the Talmud Shabbat 119 saying that whoever says his prayers on the Sabbath Eve including the recital of Genesis 2,1-3, becomes a partner of G–d in His work of Creation. It is well known that this is the night our sages especially recommend for man and his wife to cohabit and fulfill the commandment to procreate.

The significance of the number seventy is the number of Jacob's offspring that went down to Egypt which corresponded to the seventy spiritual representatives of the Gentile nations in the Heavenly Regions. The reason that the seventy souls went to Egypt and into exile was to enable them to be refined there in what our sages have called "the crucible of Egypt." The Kabbalists tell us that of the seventy שרים, representatives at the Celestial Court we have mentioned, thirty five are perceived as lining up on the "right" side of the diagram of the ספירות, emanations, whereas the other thirty five are found on the "left" side. Israel has a סנהדרין, Supreme Court, of seventy judges corresponding to those שרים of the Gentile nations. All of these judges are from the root of קדושה. This is why the Torah warns us not to turn either right or left from what these judges (elders) tell us (Deut. 17,11). Rashi and other commentators interpret this to mean that even if the Sanhedrin tells you that "right" is "left," and that "left" is "right," we must abide by their ruling (Jerusalem Talmud Horayot 1,5). A Jewish Court of Law composed of expert scholars who have received the ordination called סמיכה, is called אלו-הים. It is the nature of this ordination that there is a continuous chain of authority going back all the way to G–d Himself via the scholars in each generation, including Moses who was ordained by G–d Himself. The very word used to describe this ordination, סמוכים, "adjoining, next to one another,” hints at the nature of the ordination, that it is valid only because it represents an unbroken chain of tradition. This idea is expressed in the Torah in Deut. 4,4 ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כלכם היום, "You who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d, are all alive this day." The 70 שרים of the Gentile nations are called אלהים אחרים, "deities of the others," because they look up to them as their gods. This idea is alluded to when the angel, (Esau's celestial counterpart), justifies Jacob being called Israel by saying כי שרית עם אלה-ים, you have fought with the 70 deities of the Gentile nations.

G–d looked upon Abraham as the innkeeper of the Sanctuary, so to speak. When we read in Genesis 17,22: "G–d rose from above Abraham," this is a clear indication that Abraham served as the מרכבה, the carrier of the שכינה. I have explained already that the letters in the name אברהם are an allusion to the various מרכבות. Abraham had personally fulfilled the injunction of the Torah אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לה' when he offered up his only beloved son Isaac. This amounted to אדם התחתון, man in the lower regions, establishing a close affinity with אדם העליון, man in the Celestial Regions in the mystical dimension of ואת הדבקים בה'. Isaac was the perfect עולה offering for G–d.

When the Midrash quotes Deut 14,1 "You are sons of the Lord your G–d," this is a reference to the crown of priesthood, the gift of the land of Israel, the air breathed by the righteous in the World to Come, seeing that the soul is part of the Divine. Souls are "born," as a result of the merging of the emanation תפארת with the emanation מלכות. G–d may therefore quite properly be perceived as the father of the Jewish people and we as His real children. Simple logic tells us that if there is a biological father-son relationship although the bodies of father and son respectively have been totally separate at all times, then there certainly exists such a relationship between souls and their Divine origin from which they have never been totally separated. Our attachment to G–d through our souls is documented in the Torah by the words: ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כולכם היום, "You who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d are all alive this day" (Deut. 4,4). Nowadays, during the ongoing period of exile, when the only souls released into this world are גלגולים souls needing transmigration, the Midrash bemoans a state of exile from the table of our Father. Yet, because He, G–d, remains our Father, there will come a time when we will again be allowed to sit at His table.

Afterwards one of the children began a discourse, “It is taught: ‘Whoever offers his son as a sacrifice [i.e., through circumcision] is credited as if he offered up all the sacrifices in the world to the Holy One Blessed is He.’ For this reason one must prepare an altar in a vessel filled with dirt in order to perform the circumcision beside it. This is reckoned by the Holy One Blessed is He as if he offered upon it a burnt sacrifice and it gave off a savory smell… “For this reason, fortunate is the lot of one who makes this offering in joy before the Holy One Blessed is He. Let him rejoice that entire day.” Rabbi Aba said, “Fortunate are you in this world and the next. Concerning you was it stated, ‘And as for you who cling to Hashem your God, all of you are alive this day’ (Devarim 4:4).” So they rejoiced that entire day a rejoicing of good deeds and Torah.

Therefore, a man must be careful to rise at midnight to serve his Creator and to engage in prayer and study, each according to his understanding. And let him make study his regular occupation and business a sideline. And if he merits a son let him conduct himself as I have written above. For it is no small matter to save a Jewish soul and to connect Israel with the Shechinah, as it is stated, “And as for you who cling to Hashem your God, you are all alive this day!” (Devarim 4:4). Then their righteousness will endure forever, Amein.

This is the mystical aspect of what the sages in Avot 4,2 described as שכר מצוה מצוה, that the reward of fulfilling a commandment is a commandment." The fulfilling of a commandment will bring about a deeper understanding of all the spiritual values associated with its performance; this in turn will will deepen one's attachment to G–d and Torah. This is truly what Solomon meant when he described the Torah as אור, "spiritual enlightenment of the highest order" (Proverbs 6,23). I have already outlined that when the Torah said החודש הזה לכם, Israel was granted sanctity, whereas when the Sabbath was given to them the sanctity of G–d in His aspect of the Ineffable Name was granted to them. In the future there would be an attachment between G–d and Israel as described in Deut. 4,4; "You who are deeply attached to G–d are all alive this day." This dual concept of אחת דיבר ושתים שמענו, is also present in connection with Israel's counting according to the lunar calendar.