Chasidut su Deuteronomio 32:39

It is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Kohelet, Parsha 1), “‘I wounded, and I will heal.’ (Devarim, 32:39) … Rabbi Yohanan said, ‘I struck’ is not written, but rather ‘I wounded.’ I created a wound²⁷⁵The word for wound – mahatsti – is similar to the word mehitsah, “divider.” in that I made a division between the upper and lower realms whereby the upper realms exist forever, and the lower realms are subject to death. Yet in the time to come, there will no longer be death, as it is written (Yeshayahu, 25:8), ‘He will destroy death forever.’ Rabbi Abba said, furthermore, in the time to come I will return and heal the wound. It is precisely through the division that I bring healing.” The matter of division hints at the positive aspect of separation, which necessitates the existence of free choice, as mentioned above. The result of choosing the good, despite the concealment of God’s presence, is the revelation of the God’s glory in the world. This is as the Gemara says (Rosh Hashanah, 31a), “[What psalm did the Levites recite] on the second day of the week? ‘God is great and greatly praised,’ (Tehillim, 145:3) because He divided His works and ruled over them.” The division of God’s attributes led to the birth of the attribute of Malkhut – G-d’s Kingship – by means of human beings using their power of choice. Before the division, God could not be called, “King.”²⁷⁶Before the division of heaven and earth, God ruled alone. R. Gershon Hanokh uses the term moshel - – a ruler – to define G-d’s reign at that stage. This is unlike a king, who rules through the consent of the people. Thus, it was only on the second day, after the division in creation was formed and something “other” than G-d existed, could the creation willfully crown Him as its King. Thus, on the first day of the week [the Levites recited]; “The earth is God’s and the fullness thereof” (Tehillim, 24:1).²⁷⁷The song that the Levites sung each day of the week corresponded to the six primordial days in which G-d created the world. Since, on the first day of creation, there was not yet a division between heaven and earth, nor was there an independent creation to coronate G-d as King, so, the Levites, on Sunday, sang “The earth is God’s and the fullness thereof.” At that point, the creation belonged solely to G-d. It was then that He acquired, gave over acquisition, and ruled in His world. What does it mean that God, “ruled,” on the first day? He ruled against the will of the creation, without having His sovereignty built upon the free choice of the creation. But since concealment is a prerequisite for choice, it also leads to absence, darkness, and the need for healing. This is hinted at in the Zohar (Bo, 35a), with the secret of the great sea creature:²⁷⁸See Bereshit, 1:21 Then, when the light was hidden above from the gardener,²⁷⁹The Zohar is revealing the secrets of the mystery of creation, which begins on the first day, where God “divided between the light and the darkness.” Before this passage, the Zohar introduced the concept of the Tsaddik (Holy Man, also, alluding to the sefirah of Yesod) who is described as a gardener, who tends, cultivates, and facilitates growth. It also represents Divine providence, which “cultivates,” humankind in particular and the creation as a whole. as mentioned, the first darkness emerged, hitting [the sea creature] on the hole that had been made in its head. And a single thread emerged from between the light that had been hidden and the emerging darkness. This is as it is written, “And God divided between the light and the darkness.” This sea creature,²⁸⁰The sea creature is the Leviathan (see Bereshit 1), representing the highest levels of Hokhmah - Wisdom (ChaBaD of Hokhmah), which are the concealed forces in the upper waters. The Midrash teaches us that there were two Leviathans, the largest creatures of the sea, a male and a female. The female was killed after being created, and its meat was salted and preserved for the Righteous in the time to come. with the separation of the thread, was then divided into the rivers that flow within the darkness.²⁸¹The thread of light that that the Zohar tells us is emerging from the darkness provides the power of choice and the ability for man in the lower world to choose the good, thereby revealing God’s glory in the world. God created the lower world purely out of His kindness. This is as it is written (Tehillim, 89:3), “For I have said, the world will be built on kindness.” God divided space into six directions.²⁸²North, south, east, west, up, down. Each direction representing one of the six lower attributes (Sefirot), and from the division of these six attributes comes the power of choice, which brings forth the seventh and final attribute of Malkhut – Kingship.²⁸³Malkhut is the ability to receive God’s light and thereby crown Him as King of the world. This is related to the statement in the Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer, that Kingship only comes about through choice and will. Now, the attributes are divided into Hesed - Lovingkindness, Gevurah - Strength, Tiferet - Beauty, etc.²⁸⁴The revelation of God’s sovereignty is achieved through man actively choosing through which of the six lower attributes that Sovereignty will be revealed. To reveal the aspect of Sovereignty in any one of the attributes, one must draw the light of ChaBaD into that attribute. We have mentioned above that each of the attributes on its own is not intrinsically good. Thus, when any one of the attributes is used without Da’at – Consciousness²⁸⁵Da’at, or Divine consciousness, originates in the intellect, or the upper three sefirot, and is ideally drawn down and infused into the lower revealed sefirot, the attributes of action. The drawing of divine consciousness allows for spiritual growth, much as water and nutrients that flows through the tree allows for the tree to grow. one could make grave blunders, such as showing mercy to cruel people.²⁸⁶This would be a misuse of the trait of Hesed - lovingkindness. See above, Part 2, chapter 2, for a discussion of the misuse or “unclarified” used of the attributes. However, when the six lower attributes²⁸⁷The six lower “revealed” Sefirot are Hesed – Lovingkindness, Gevurah – Strength, Tiferet – Beauty, Netzah –Eternity, Hod – Majesty, and Yesod – Foundation. Each of these corresponds, as well, to elements of the human personality. are illuminated with the light of HaBaD,²⁸⁸HaBaD is the initials of the three upper “intellectual” or “hidden” Sefirot, Hokhmah – Wisdom, Binah – Understanding, and Da’at – Consciousness. HaBaD is the spiritual root of man’s intellectual faculties. and as a result, the sum total of the attributes are used in their proper time and place, then the structure is complete. Then the attribute of Malkhut comes forth as the true completion and perfection of all the attributes, and the light of the Kingship of Heaven shines in its full completeness. Indeed, when a man reaches the point where he is drawing HaBaD into the lower attributes, which is possible only through his concerted efforts in Divine service and striving to know God, it must occur in the same way that Shabbat follows the six days of the week.²⁸⁹The six work days correspond to the six attributes (sefirot), from Hesed to Yesod, with Shabbat corresponding to the Sefirah of Malkhut. Just as free will needs the engagement of all six of these attributes (without which, a person would be emotionally imbalanced, and fall into idolatry, as explained above), which leads to the creation of Malkhut – the willing acceptance of G-d’s kingship – so too, does Shabbat follow the six days of the week. Similarly, with man, this is only possible through efforts at the service of God, crowning God over him as his King, and accepting upon himself the yoke of the Kingship of Heaven. In the world, this idea is hinted at in the place of the Holy Temple, which is a place of lucid Divine service, for it is at that place that God shines His light in its fullness.

This is a good opportunity to explain the question of Eliezer, ‎Avraham’s foremost servant, and the answer he received from ‎Avraham. Prior to the battle against the mightiest kings of the ‎Orient and Occident undertaken in order to rescue Avraham’s ‎nephew Lot from captivity, the sages quote Eliezer as having been ‎asked how he killed the soldiers of all these kings. He told the ‎questioners that Avraham told him to take clods of earth and to ‎throw them in their direction. If he would do this, the earth clods ‎would turn into arrows. [While the story in Bereshit ‎rabbah 43,3 is similar, the common feature is that earth would ‎turn into either swords or arrows. Ed.]‎
The question we must ask is why this miracle had to be ‎performed by means of clods of earth. Why could some other ‎vehicle in nature not have served G’d for the same purpose? We ‎hope to explain this by referring to how David conquered the ‎nations against whom he went to war.‎
Let us remember that when David found himself in need of ‎vanquishing his enemies, he himself was attached closely to the ‎attribute known as ‎אין‎, [the eyn sof, essence of G’d. ‎Ed.] He was conscious of the fact that all parts of his life, ‎including his body, i.e. the ability of the living to move at will, ‎were a part of Divinity. [Compare Tikkuney Hazohar ‎Tikkun 1) This means that there is no single spot in the ‎universe that is not permeated by some aspect of Divinity. In ‎fact, if one were to find any part of the universe devoid of a spark ‎of Divinity, such a part would be totally devoid of “Life.” be it ‎human, animal vegetable or even the kind of life with which inert ‎bodies such as the planets are equipped. Ed.] The author ‎refers to his commentary on Deuteronomy 32,39 on the words ‎כי ‏אני אני הוא‎, “that I, I am He,” where G’d makes the point that ‎neither man nor any of the various categories of angels, such as ‎שרפים, חיות, אופנים‎ are able to say of themselves that ‎אני הוא‎, “it is ‎I,” when speaking to one another.‎
The word ‎אני‎, when used by a person, suggests that he is a ‎person of substance, [in the sense of a physical presence, ‎an independent personality, Ed.] In other words, by using ‎that word when referring to himself, the speaker invites the ‎person whom he addresses to regard him as someone of ‎substance, of importance.‎
When we consider such a statement and reflect upon it, we ‎realize that such a person wishes to convey to those opposite him ‎that his very existence, ‎חיות‎, his being alive, is something that he ‎is in control of. What greater lie could he possibly convey than ‎this false impression, seeing that not only does he not control ‎other people’s lives, but he is not even in control of the next ‎minute of his own life! Seeing that his own life is in the hands of ‎his Creator, how could he arrogate to himself the right to speak ‎of himself in terms of being an ‎אני‎? We now understand why ‎Moses quoted G’d in Deuteronomy 32,39 as saying ‎ראו עתה כי אני ‏אני הוא ואין אלוקים עמדי‎, “See then that I, I am He; there is no god ‎beside Me.” What G’d is saying there is nothing other than that ‎no-one but He is entitled to refer to himself as ‎אני‎ “I.” If a human ‎being were (mistakenly) to describe himself as ‎אני‎, he would in ‎fact credit a “nothing” with such a grandiose title.‎
When we described this word as alluding to the Divine ‎attribute of ‎אין‎, the absolute disembodied essence of G’d, we also ‎refer indirectly to the essentially disembodied nature of our real ‎self, i.e. our immortal soul. The soul is immortal precisely because ‎it can function without our bodies. This very fact is testimony to ‎the fact that it is part of the Creator Himself, as He is the only ‎Existence in the universe that functions without a body.‎
When we now consider the statement of our sages in ‎‎Avot 6,12 [last Mishnah, Ed.] that ‎everything the Creator created He created only for the sake of His ‎greater glory, it is easy to understand that when one or more of ‎His creatures no longer contribute to the purpose for which he or ‎they have been given “life,” they have forfeited their claim to ‎existence and deserve to die. Considering this basic truth, when ‎David had to secure victory over his various enemies, he first had ‎to “garb” himself with this attribute‏ אין ‏i.e. [‎אני‎, spelled in ‎a manner that avoided that he really compared himself to his ‎Creator. Ed.] When he would be confronted by ‎uncircumcised pagans, he therefore felt entitled to put an end to ‎their lives.‎
When Avraham confronted the four kings, symbolizing the ‎anti-god from all four corners of the globe, who had taken Lot, ‎who also shared that attribute, captive, he acted on behalf of G’d ‎‎[although he had not consulted Him. Ed.]‎
When Avraham confronted the four kings, symbolizing the ‎anti-god from all four corners of the globe, who had taken Lot, ‎who also shared that attribute, captive, he acted on behalf of G’d ‎‎[although he had not consulted Him. Ed.]‎
‎[This editor is troubled by the fact that at that time ‎Avraham himself had not been circumcised, had not even been ‎told that circumcision was an essential part of becoming Jewish. I ‎am also troubled by the fact that Lot’s eventual escape from ‎Sodom is not credited to his merit, but to G’d’s “pity” (Genesis ‎‎19,16. Ed.]‎
It is well known that the attribute ‎אין‎ also occurs in ‎connection with Moses, at the time when he and Aaron were the ‎victims of the Israelites’ complaints for their suffering from ‎thirst. (Exodus 16,7) They replied with the words: ‎ונחמו מה‎, “and ‎what do we amount to?” [The reader will notice that ‎Moses and Aaron spelled the word ‎אנחנו‎ without the letter ‎א‎ ‎signifying the pronoun “I.” We also find David referring to ‎himself in such derogatory fashion when he said: ‎ואנכי תולעה‎ “and ‎all that I amount to is worms.” (Psalms 22,7) Avraham referred to ‎himself as dust and ashes when he said: ‎אנכי עפר ואפר‎. (Genesis ‎‎18,27) This is what the sages in the Midrash had in mind ‎when they spoke about Avraham killing the mightiest armies in ‎the world at that time by means of “earth, or dust.” By allying ‎oneself with the Divine attribute of ‎אין‎, Avraham was able to turn ‎these pagans back into the raw-material they had been made of, ‎i.e.‎עפר‎, as when G’d had said to Adam after his sin in Genesis 3,19, ‎עפר אתה ואל עפר אתה תשוב‎, “you are dust and to dust you will ‎have to return.” Seeing that Avraham was aware of his entire ‎‎“life” being dependent on the ‎אין סוף‎, “never ending (nor ‎beginning) Creator,” so that the essential part of what he ‎perceived as his “life” was bound up with this source of eternal ‎life, he could function as the messenger that would terminate ‎useless lives, lives that had not and would not contribute to the ‎glory of the Creator on earth.Ed.]‎

It is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Esther, 4:1), “‘Then the king said to the wise men, who know the times’ (Esther, 1:13). Who are these wise men? Rabbi Simon said, ‘These were the tribe of Yissachar, as it says (Divrei HaYamim 1, 11:33), “And of the children of Yissachar, men that understood the times.” This means that they know how to heal the past.’” (This is the correct version of the Midrash, as opposed to the reading, “Who know how to heal the kiros – a skin disease).⁴⁶⁶Kiros – קירוס, a skin disease, is visually similar to the word קודם – the past. “Kiras,” also means a season or opportunity. Even according to the version which reads, “kiros,” the intention is the same, because, “kiros,” also means, “the season,” and would thus mean, “they know how to heal the time.” The overall meaning is that by means of complete teshuva, a person reaches the place of Binah – Understanding.⁴⁶⁷The Sefirah of Binah – Understanding – is also known as the source of teshuva. Two sources in the Tikkunei Zohar teach us that Binah – Understanding – is the source of the faith of Israel. In the Introduction, page 2, it says: The supernal Hokhmah – Wisdom is the father of emunah (faith), which is Binah – Understanding. And later (Tikkun 21, page 62a) it writes: Fortunate is the man who can guard this emunah (faith) in his heart and in his mouth, for surely it is the emunah of Israel and the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He! In this way, through teshuva, man reaches a place beyond time – to Binah, where the present, past, and future are equal, and so, he will automatically heal the past. The Zohar (Vayakhel, 207b) tells us that one who fasts on Shabbat⁴⁶⁸Jewish law allows one who is disturbed by a bad dream to fast on Shabbat as a remedy. Some say that this remedy only works on the day he has the bad dream, so to fast on Shabbat he would have to have had the dream on Friday. He would then have to fast an additional day during the week in order to atone for the transgression of causing himself suffering on Shabbat, which is a day of joy. However, in our days, we are not accustomed to fasting on Shabbat, even due to a bad dream. See Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayim, §288:4-6. is acquitted from a sentence of seventy years of suffering. According to Kabbalah, the entire order of governance goes through the seven Sefirot of the world’s construction, from Hesed – Loving-kindness, to Malkhut – Sovereignty. But when one fasts on Shabbat he reaches the light which is higher than the order of the world’s construction. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Terumah, 165b): Fortunate is the man who sheds tears before the Holy One, blessed be He, in his prayer. Similar to this, for the one who fasts on Shabbat out of his pain and sorrow, since Shabbat is governed by a lofty plane of existence which is pure joy and brings joy to all. Then he comes under its influence, and is released from any harsh decrees that are upon him. The entire world is governed through the Sefirot. The Zohar (Bereshit, 22b) says, “I bring death and life. (Devarim, 32:39) – through the Sefirot.” The source of the light which governs on Shabbat is higher than the Sefirot.