Chasidut su Genesi 28:32
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28,10. “Yaakov left Beer Sheva, etc.;” [I presume the connection to Chanukah the author makes here is based on his having composed this commentary for a Shabbat Chanukah sermon. Ed.]
The reason why the miracle of Chanukah, actually the miracle of the cruse of oil, is popularly known as the “miracle of Chanukah,” is due to the word חנוכה, being a derivative of חנוך, “consecration.” We find in Exodus 29,33 in connection with the consecration of the priestly garments, that before the priests were allowed to perform their sacred service they had to be provided with suitable vessels to be used, i.e. priestly garments. Wearing these priestly garments was so important that if they performed their duties improperly dressed (even missing one of these garments) this was a cardinal sin. (Maimonides 10,4 hilchot kley hamikdash) The container in which certain offerings were presented, were as integral a part of the ritual as the ritual itself. The garments are the “container” in which the priestly body performs his sacred task. It or they, are viewed like a חנוך, educational tool, consecration, that must precede the actual ritual in order for the priest to be truly a priest.
[Possibly, the emphasis on this in connection with the priests especially, is due to the fact that the priest was born to his status, and it would have been most unseemly for him not to undergo preparations before fulfilling his sacred tasks. Rabbis might not need this, as they were not born to the Rabbinate but had to study and pass exams before being granted their titles, ordination. Ed.]
Children are trained to perform the commandments before becoming legally of age, i.e. בר מצוה or בת מצוה, as the case may be, before being ushered into adulthood and all that this entails.
Our patriarch Yaakov had contemplated the awesome fact of the Unity of G’d from the day he was able to think, and he realized that the foundation of all parts of the universe was the Jewish people, i.e. if there were to be no Jewish people, G’d’s work of creating the universe would have been in vain.
Zohar I,24 (and elsewhere) states that ישראל עלה במחשבה בראשית, “the eventual existence of the Jewish people was the first thought that G’d entertained when contemplating the creation of this universe.” Numerous scriptural verses are quoted in support of this statement, one of which that concerns us especially being that Israel was also known as אבן as in “foundation stone,” seeing that the entire universe emerged from that origin. The Jewish people therefore are not only the “root” of mankind, but also in no lesser degree the founders of the celestial regions. While still in the stage of being only a thought in G’d’s mind, they were called אבן, “rock” in the singular mode, as at that point the true unity of the Jewish people and what they represent could be found.
Our ancestor Yaakov attempted with all the intellectual and emotional powers at his disposal to unravel the secrets of these concepts in order to convert Israel’s potential into an actual. As per Genesis 49,24 he wanted משם רועה אבן ישראל, “to lay the foundation stone of Israel,” as the shepherd of a nation consisting of 12 tribes that parallel the 12 bisections of the 6 sides of the cube when the universe is portrayed as a cube, dividing it into 12 triangles (compare Sefer Yetzirah, “Book of creation”) by bisecting each side from corner to corner. Each of the tribes of the Jewish people represents one of these “triangles.” In order for the celestial merkavah, Divine chariot, to be complete it must be comprised of 600000 components, the number of Jewish male adults that were redeemed from bondage in Egypt. According to our sages, the Presence of the Shechinah will not manifest itself as resting above the Jewish people when they number less than these 600000. According to our author, when the Torah in Genesis 28,11 describes how Yaakov took “stones” in order to prepare to spend the night, and he put his head on of the stones to serve as his “pillow,” the Torah merely illustrates the kind of thoughts that preoccupied Yaakov at that time, and how during his “dream” of the ladder he experienced Divine insights that had never been revealed to him.
Nonetheless, in view of the sages having said that no verse in the Torah must be explained in a way that departs completely from the written text and its plain meaning, we must pay attention to this also. [I believe that in accordance with the above Yaakov/Yisrael’s role as רועה אבן ישראל, “shepherd of the nucleus of the people” of Israel began here. Ed.]
According to the plain text there is no question that Yaakov placed his head on real stones, as he had no softer pillow at hand. Nonetheless while lying with these rocks as his pillow, he thought of matters far beyond his immediate and pressing terrestrial concerns. Perhaps this very fact qualified him for experiencing the first of his many Divine visions, although this time he was not certain for 34 years that it had indeed been a divine vision. According to our sages, during this night Yaakov’s mind foresaw the ruins of two Temples and the great anger that the Jewish people, his descendants, would provoke in G’d’s mind on numerous occasions.
The reason why the miracle of Chanukah, actually the miracle of the cruse of oil, is popularly known as the “miracle of Chanukah,” is due to the word חנוכה, being a derivative of חנוך, “consecration.” We find in Exodus 29,33 in connection with the consecration of the priestly garments, that before the priests were allowed to perform their sacred service they had to be provided with suitable vessels to be used, i.e. priestly garments. Wearing these priestly garments was so important that if they performed their duties improperly dressed (even missing one of these garments) this was a cardinal sin. (Maimonides 10,4 hilchot kley hamikdash) The container in which certain offerings were presented, were as integral a part of the ritual as the ritual itself. The garments are the “container” in which the priestly body performs his sacred task. It or they, are viewed like a חנוך, educational tool, consecration, that must precede the actual ritual in order for the priest to be truly a priest.
[Possibly, the emphasis on this in connection with the priests especially, is due to the fact that the priest was born to his status, and it would have been most unseemly for him not to undergo preparations before fulfilling his sacred tasks. Rabbis might not need this, as they were not born to the Rabbinate but had to study and pass exams before being granted their titles, ordination. Ed.]
Children are trained to perform the commandments before becoming legally of age, i.e. בר מצוה or בת מצוה, as the case may be, before being ushered into adulthood and all that this entails.
Our patriarch Yaakov had contemplated the awesome fact of the Unity of G’d from the day he was able to think, and he realized that the foundation of all parts of the universe was the Jewish people, i.e. if there were to be no Jewish people, G’d’s work of creating the universe would have been in vain.
Zohar I,24 (and elsewhere) states that ישראל עלה במחשבה בראשית, “the eventual existence of the Jewish people was the first thought that G’d entertained when contemplating the creation of this universe.” Numerous scriptural verses are quoted in support of this statement, one of which that concerns us especially being that Israel was also known as אבן as in “foundation stone,” seeing that the entire universe emerged from that origin. The Jewish people therefore are not only the “root” of mankind, but also in no lesser degree the founders of the celestial regions. While still in the stage of being only a thought in G’d’s mind, they were called אבן, “rock” in the singular mode, as at that point the true unity of the Jewish people and what they represent could be found.
Our ancestor Yaakov attempted with all the intellectual and emotional powers at his disposal to unravel the secrets of these concepts in order to convert Israel’s potential into an actual. As per Genesis 49,24 he wanted משם רועה אבן ישראל, “to lay the foundation stone of Israel,” as the shepherd of a nation consisting of 12 tribes that parallel the 12 bisections of the 6 sides of the cube when the universe is portrayed as a cube, dividing it into 12 triangles (compare Sefer Yetzirah, “Book of creation”) by bisecting each side from corner to corner. Each of the tribes of the Jewish people represents one of these “triangles.” In order for the celestial merkavah, Divine chariot, to be complete it must be comprised of 600000 components, the number of Jewish male adults that were redeemed from bondage in Egypt. According to our sages, the Presence of the Shechinah will not manifest itself as resting above the Jewish people when they number less than these 600000. According to our author, when the Torah in Genesis 28,11 describes how Yaakov took “stones” in order to prepare to spend the night, and he put his head on of the stones to serve as his “pillow,” the Torah merely illustrates the kind of thoughts that preoccupied Yaakov at that time, and how during his “dream” of the ladder he experienced Divine insights that had never been revealed to him.
Nonetheless, in view of the sages having said that no verse in the Torah must be explained in a way that departs completely from the written text and its plain meaning, we must pay attention to this also. [I believe that in accordance with the above Yaakov/Yisrael’s role as רועה אבן ישראל, “shepherd of the nucleus of the people” of Israel began here. Ed.]
According to the plain text there is no question that Yaakov placed his head on real stones, as he had no softer pillow at hand. Nonetheless while lying with these rocks as his pillow, he thought of matters far beyond his immediate and pressing terrestrial concerns. Perhaps this very fact qualified him for experiencing the first of his many Divine visions, although this time he was not certain for 34 years that it had indeed been a divine vision. According to our sages, during this night Yaakov’s mind foresaw the ruins of two Temples and the great anger that the Jewish people, his descendants, would provoke in G’d’s mind on numerous occasions.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28,10. “Yaakov left Beer Sheva, etc.;” [I presume the connection to Chanukah the author makes here is based on his having composed this commentary for a Shabbat Chanukah sermon. Ed.]
The reason why the miracle of Chanukah, actually the miracle of the cruse of oil, is popularly known as the “miracle of Chanukah,” is due to the word חנוכה, being a derivative of חנוך, “consecration.” We find in Exodus 29,33 in connection with the consecration of the priestly garments, that before the priests were allowed to perform their sacred service they had to be provided with suitable vessels to be used, i.e. priestly garments. Wearing these priestly garments was so important that if they performed their duties improperly dressed (even missing one of these garments) this was a cardinal sin. (Maimonides 10,4 hilchot kley hamikdash) The container in which certain offerings were presented, were as integral a part of the ritual as the ritual itself. The garments are the “container” in which the priestly body performs his sacred task. It or they, are viewed like a חנוך, educational tool, consecration, that must precede the actual ritual in order for the priest to be truly a priest.
[Possibly, the emphasis on this in connection with the priests especially, is due to the fact that the priest was born to his status, and it would have been most unseemly for him not to undergo preparations before fulfilling his sacred tasks. Rabbis might not need this, as they were not born to the Rabbinate but had to study and pass exams before being granted their titles, ordination. Ed.]
Children are trained to perform the commandments before becoming legally of age, i.e. בר מצוה or בת מצוה, as the case may be, before being ushered into adulthood and all that this entails.
Our patriarch Yaakov had contemplated the awesome fact of the Unity of G’d from the day he was able to think, and he realized that the foundation of all parts of the universe was the Jewish people, i.e. if there were to be no Jewish people, G’d’s work of creating the universe would have been in vain.
Zohar I,24 (and elsewhere) states that ישראל עלה במחשבה בראשית, “the eventual existence of the Jewish people was the first thought that G’d entertained when contemplating the creation of this universe.” Numerous scriptural verses are quoted in support of this statement, one of which that concerns us especially being that Israel was also known as אבן as in “foundation stone,” seeing that the entire universe emerged from that origin. The Jewish people therefore are not only the “root” of mankind, but also in no lesser degree the founders of the celestial regions. While still in the stage of being only a thought in G’d’s mind, they were called אבן, “rock” in the singular mode, as at that point the true unity of the Jewish people and what they represent could be found.
Our ancestor Yaakov attempted with all the intellectual and emotional powers at his disposal to unravel the secrets of these concepts in order to convert Israel’s potential into an actual. As per Genesis 49,24 he wanted משם רועה אבן ישראל, “to lay the foundation stone of Israel,” as the shepherd of a nation consisting of 12 tribes that parallel the 12 bisections of the 6 sides of the cube when the universe is portrayed as a cube, dividing it into 12 triangles (compare Sefer Yetzirah, “Book of creation”) by bisecting each side from corner to corner. Each of the tribes of the Jewish people represents one of these “triangles.” In order for the celestial merkavah, Divine chariot, to be complete it must be comprised of 600000 components, the number of Jewish male adults that were redeemed from bondage in Egypt. According to our sages, the Presence of the Shechinah will not manifest itself as resting above the Jewish people when they number less than these 600000. According to our author, when the Torah in Genesis 28,11 describes how Yaakov took “stones” in order to prepare to spend the night, and he put his head on of the stones to serve as his “pillow,” the Torah merely illustrates the kind of thoughts that preoccupied Yaakov at that time, and how during his “dream” of the ladder he experienced Divine insights that had never been revealed to him.
Nonetheless, in view of the sages having said that no verse in the Torah must be explained in a way that departs completely from the written text and its plain meaning, we must pay attention to this also. [I believe that in accordance with the above Yaakov/Yisrael’s role as רועה אבן ישראל, “shepherd of the nucleus of the people” of Israel began here. Ed.]
According to the plain text there is no question that Yaakov placed his head on real stones, as he had no softer pillow at hand. Nonetheless while lying with these rocks as his pillow, he thought of matters far beyond his immediate and pressing terrestrial concerns. Perhaps this very fact qualified him for experiencing the first of his many Divine visions, although this time he was not certain for 34 years that it had indeed been a divine vision. According to our sages, during this night Yaakov’s mind foresaw the ruins of two Temples and the great anger that the Jewish people, his descendants, would provoke in G’d’s mind on numerous occasions.
The reason why the miracle of Chanukah, actually the miracle of the cruse of oil, is popularly known as the “miracle of Chanukah,” is due to the word חנוכה, being a derivative of חנוך, “consecration.” We find in Exodus 29,33 in connection with the consecration of the priestly garments, that before the priests were allowed to perform their sacred service they had to be provided with suitable vessels to be used, i.e. priestly garments. Wearing these priestly garments was so important that if they performed their duties improperly dressed (even missing one of these garments) this was a cardinal sin. (Maimonides 10,4 hilchot kley hamikdash) The container in which certain offerings were presented, were as integral a part of the ritual as the ritual itself. The garments are the “container” in which the priestly body performs his sacred task. It or they, are viewed like a חנוך, educational tool, consecration, that must precede the actual ritual in order for the priest to be truly a priest.
[Possibly, the emphasis on this in connection with the priests especially, is due to the fact that the priest was born to his status, and it would have been most unseemly for him not to undergo preparations before fulfilling his sacred tasks. Rabbis might not need this, as they were not born to the Rabbinate but had to study and pass exams before being granted their titles, ordination. Ed.]
Children are trained to perform the commandments before becoming legally of age, i.e. בר מצוה or בת מצוה, as the case may be, before being ushered into adulthood and all that this entails.
Our patriarch Yaakov had contemplated the awesome fact of the Unity of G’d from the day he was able to think, and he realized that the foundation of all parts of the universe was the Jewish people, i.e. if there were to be no Jewish people, G’d’s work of creating the universe would have been in vain.
Zohar I,24 (and elsewhere) states that ישראל עלה במחשבה בראשית, “the eventual existence of the Jewish people was the first thought that G’d entertained when contemplating the creation of this universe.” Numerous scriptural verses are quoted in support of this statement, one of which that concerns us especially being that Israel was also known as אבן as in “foundation stone,” seeing that the entire universe emerged from that origin. The Jewish people therefore are not only the “root” of mankind, but also in no lesser degree the founders of the celestial regions. While still in the stage of being only a thought in G’d’s mind, they were called אבן, “rock” in the singular mode, as at that point the true unity of the Jewish people and what they represent could be found.
Our ancestor Yaakov attempted with all the intellectual and emotional powers at his disposal to unravel the secrets of these concepts in order to convert Israel’s potential into an actual. As per Genesis 49,24 he wanted משם רועה אבן ישראל, “to lay the foundation stone of Israel,” as the shepherd of a nation consisting of 12 tribes that parallel the 12 bisections of the 6 sides of the cube when the universe is portrayed as a cube, dividing it into 12 triangles (compare Sefer Yetzirah, “Book of creation”) by bisecting each side from corner to corner. Each of the tribes of the Jewish people represents one of these “triangles.” In order for the celestial merkavah, Divine chariot, to be complete it must be comprised of 600000 components, the number of Jewish male adults that were redeemed from bondage in Egypt. According to our sages, the Presence of the Shechinah will not manifest itself as resting above the Jewish people when they number less than these 600000. According to our author, when the Torah in Genesis 28,11 describes how Yaakov took “stones” in order to prepare to spend the night, and he put his head on of the stones to serve as his “pillow,” the Torah merely illustrates the kind of thoughts that preoccupied Yaakov at that time, and how during his “dream” of the ladder he experienced Divine insights that had never been revealed to him.
Nonetheless, in view of the sages having said that no verse in the Torah must be explained in a way that departs completely from the written text and its plain meaning, we must pay attention to this also. [I believe that in accordance with the above Yaakov/Yisrael’s role as רועה אבן ישראל, “shepherd of the nucleus of the people” of Israel began here. Ed.]
According to the plain text there is no question that Yaakov placed his head on real stones, as he had no softer pillow at hand. Nonetheless while lying with these rocks as his pillow, he thought of matters far beyond his immediate and pressing terrestrial concerns. Perhaps this very fact qualified him for experiencing the first of his many Divine visions, although this time he was not certain for 34 years that it had indeed been a divine vision. According to our sages, during this night Yaakov’s mind foresaw the ruins of two Temples and the great anger that the Jewish people, his descendants, would provoke in G’d’s mind on numerous occasions.
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Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
The Zohar writes concerning the goal of human completeness (Yitro 78b-79a): “You shall see the work of God that I shall do, it is awesome.” (Shemot, 34:10) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is the completion of everything.” … “It is awesome,” refers to Yaakov,203In the first of the eighteen benedictions we say, “God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, the Great, the Mighty, and the Awesome God.” “Awesome” (norah) signifies the main quality of the patriarch Yaakov, who thus represents a complete fear of the awesome power of God. It was Yaakov, after his dream of the ladder, who said, “how awesome (norah) is this place!” (Bereshit, 28:17) the ish tam, the man complete in all his attributes.204Generally, in the Zohar, Yaakov Avinu represents the Torah, or the sefirah of Tiferet, which is beauty, balance, and pride. Yaakov and Tiferet also represent completeness. See Bereshit, 25:27, “Yaakov was an ish tam (wholehearted, simple, complete), dwelling in tents.” Yaakov further represents completeness, in that all of his children were completely righteous, as opposed to Avraham who begat Yishmael and Yitskhak who begat Eisav. Wherever you find completeness, it is called “awesome.” … The fear of God rests only in a place of completeness.205“A place of completeness” – see note 185. And in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (51b): “You have established equity” (Tehillim, 99:4). This is the “middle bar” (Shemot, 26:28),206This was inserted in the midst of the boards comprising the walls of the tabernacle. signifying the Holy One, blessed be He.207In the Zohar, the term “the Holy One,” refers to the sefirah of Tiferet, which corresponds to Yaakov, the Torah, and the trait of “completeness.” Rabbi Yitzhak said, “This is Yaakov.” It is really all the same matter. If the king is complete in all aspects, clearly his knowledge is complete in all aspects. What is the way of this king? He shines continually as the sun, for he is complete. When he judges, he judges for the good and for the bad. When a wise person sees the king’s face shining, he says, “Certainly the king is complete in all aspects; his knowledge is complete and his completeness is above all others. In this shining light of his face I see that he is judging more than I see, yet it is covered.” … So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, is ever complete … For this reason, one must take great care to guard himself from Him.208Meaning to honor God and adhere to His commandments. Fear that is not rooted in the Torah can fall to the low level of the fear of deficiency, as mentioned above. This is as the Tikkunei Zohar, above, explained the verse, “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” However, the true fear of God, rooted in the Torah and based on faith, is called, “the completion of holy faith.” This is as it is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a): What is the meaning of the verse (Bereshit, 28:17), “And Yaakov feared, and said, how awesome (norah) is this place!” What did Yaakov see that he could only describe as dreadful and awe-inspiring (norah)? He saw the absolute completion of holy faith which existed in that place, just as it is above in the upper worlds. Every place that is at such a level of perfection is called, “awesome (norah).”209That is, perfect faith results in an exalted type of fear, more correctly known as “awe.” The Torah is the straight path, and is called the “book of yashar,”210Yashar means straight, direct, even. as it is written (Shmuel 2, 1:18), “Is it not written in the book of yashar?” The Torah comes from the middle column,211There are three columns in the array of the ten Sefirot – right, left, and middle. The middle column joins and synthesizes the opposing forces of right and left, . and is whole, for one who grasps onto the Torah lacks nothing. This is because it straightens and balances a person’s attributes so that he is not steeped in any one extremity, which is what brings him to deficiency. If a person is subjugated to any one of his attributes, and thereby lacks the strength of mind to balance its power and prevent it from becoming extreme, then the attribute is deficient, even if it is a good trait that could otherwise be the source of good behavior. If this attribute is taken to its extremity, and then becomes an involuntary mode of behavior, without any reckoning or deliberation, then the attribute, albeit good, will be used in the wrong way.212This relates to the teaching of the Izhbitzer that there are no bad attributes, only bad applications of good attributes. For example, as R. Gershon Henokh explains here, kindness is neither an inherently good nor evil trait. Used correctly, it is good, but used improperly, as in the case of one who shows kindness to evil-doers, the trait becomes a sin. (This explains the Izhbitzer’s vindication of the sins of various biblical characters. According to him, they never intentionally sinned, but only mistimed the use of certain attributes.) The goal of the Torah is to produce perfected and balanced human beings (symbolized by Yaakov, Tiferet), who always know how to use their character traits in the right way, according to the needs of the situation. An imbalanced person, on the other hand, becomes stuck in a certain mode of behavior, and is unable to deviate from it, even when the situation calls for an alternative approach. This person is deficient in the other traits – a lack that engenders within him a fear of situations in which his innate character trait cannot apply. (See note 177, above.) According to Rav Mordechai Yosef, this person may objectify his lack in the form of an idol, which he will fear, though what he is actually fearing is his own, innate deficiency (his “dark side”). Thus, in praying to the idol to be saved from that which he fears, he is really only praying to his own fear and deficiency. This approach is most likely a Hasidic interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of the death of the seven Edomite kings (based upon Genesis 36). Each king symbolizes a different trait, or sefirah, used by God to create the world. Nonetheless, these traits were flawed, inasmuch as each one sought to be an exclusive conduit for God’s creative energy: be it Hesed (Love), Gevurah (Severity), or Tiferet (Mercy). This led to the “breaking of the vessels,” and the current, fallen nature of reality, which demands repair. Each “king” said, “I, and only I, will rule.” However, the verses in Genesis do not record the death of the eighth king, Hadar, and they also mention that he had a wife (Meheitavel). In other words, he was the only one who made room for another perspective; thus he did not “die” (i.e. the trait did not shatter), and represents the attribute of “tikkun,” or rectification. This led to the new emanation of the sefirot in which each one contains all ten: love contains wisdom; understanding contains balance, and so forth. In this way, by adapting and being flexible, the vessels could contain God’s light and the world could survive. In the psychological terms used by R. Gershon Henokh, a person on the level of the seven kings will exhibit an inflexible commitment to one particular character trait, and lack the ability to negotiate situations that are not suited to that attribute; whereas the rectified approach means using the whole variety of shades of love, fear, etc, and adapting and relating to the plethora of stimuli one encounters in the world. Take, for example, the trait of kindness, which is clearly a good attribute. However, when it is used indiscriminately and bestowed generously upon cruel people, it becomes destructive; for there is no greater evil than acting kindly toward the cruel.213This is based on the aphorisim of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 7:16): “One who is kind to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind.” One who errs in this way upholds and even strengthens destructive forces in the world. Clearly, every attribute must be used with clear and conscious deliberation, at the proper time and in the proper place. In this way, he may “establish equity”214As in the verse from Tehillim, 99:4, cited above. in every aspect of his behavior, according to the approach of the Torah. Then, he will be complete and lack nothing.215Lacking nothing, he will be free from the lower level of fear. His actions will all be balanced and in line with God’s will. His fear of God will be like that of Yaakov – norah – an expression of awe and faith. Above all, the greatest deficiency a person can have is a lack of emunah (faith). On this it is written in the Zohar (Vayikra, 16b): “And it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty…” (Vayikra, 5:23). Because of this, God withdraws from everything; then God, so to speak, does not exist in creation, and Knesset Yisrael216Knesset Yisrael means the “Congregation of the people of Israel,” and is synonymous with the Shechinah, the sefirah of Malchut, the attribute of faith, and the Divine presence which rests upon the Israelite nation. One could say, “God/the Shechinah/faith is hidden from that place.” has left her place. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 7:28), “Emunah has perished.” That means that Knesset Yisrael has perished.217Meaning, separated from her place. Of this it is said (Tehillim 92:3), “To speak of Your emunah in the nights.”218“Speaking of your faith at night,” means that if one has true faith, then even after the sin, when man sits in darkness, so to speak, he can still amend his ways and return to God.
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Flames of Faith
Shabbos contains within it the entirety of time; it encapsulates the other days and itself, while Jerusalem is a microcosm of the realm of place. Shabbos is the portal through which the Divine blessings for the coming six days shower down to earth. Similarly, Jerusalem was described by Jacob as “the Gate of Heaven” (Gen. 28:17). All of the earth’s blessings for the dimension of space flow to Jerusalem and from there emanate to the rest of the universe. Jerusalem is an international city. All nations desire a foothold within her walls, because spiritually all sources of life for all countries inhere within her streets.
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Kedushat Levi
The words: וילך חרנה, according to this method of interpretation allude to the future when G’d would become angry with His people. The words: ויצא יעקב, would contrast this with his leaving the domain from which G’d dispenses all His goodness for His creatures, especially the Jewish people. All this caused him great anguish and when the Torah describes his ויפגע במקום וילן שם כי בא השמש, “that he met hamakom and had to spend the night there as the sun had set,” this is a simile for Yaakov foreseeing how the fortunes of the Jewish people would turn from having enjoyed G’d’s bounty to not only becoming persecuted but also causing G’d to share the pain that He had been forced to inflict upon His people. The darkness alluded to in this verse describes that his vision became so clouded worrying about how G’d must suffer when His favorite people stray so far from the path of Torah that they must undergo harsh punishments in order to bring them back to the right path.
When the Torah describes Yaakov as ויקח מאבני המקום, “he took from the stones of hamakom,” this describes Yaakov’s sharing G’d’s pain and wishing to be able to compensate G’d for this in same way. (Alluded to by the word ויפגע). The words מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו, “from the stones of hamakom and he placed them under his head,” suggest how Yaakov tried to share G’d’s “pain” at what both He and His people would have to endure in exile. His whole thinking was preoccupied with how he could somehow if not forestall these happenings at least ensure that his descendants would survive these experiences. This is the key to his dream of the ladder that follows. It portrays that Yaakov had found a means to deal with the physical implications of exile and persecutions because of Whom He saw on the top of the ladder. This helped him console himself that all of these harsh experiences would be confined to Israel’s existence in the “lower” regions of the universe. The words: וראשו מגיע השמימה, “the ladder’s top reached into heaven,” reminds Yaakov that exile also touches the celestial spheres, so much so that its impact affects those regions negatively. Its most direct impact on the celestial regions is that it interferes with the dispensation of G’d’s largesse to mankind, and the forces of nature upon which man depends.
The line: והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and behold G’d’s angels were ascending and descending on that ladder,” is the message that even exile has its positive aspects, as it enables numerous “sparks” that had previously “fallen” from the tree that we perceive as the Shechinah, to find their way back to their holy origin. At the same time, regretfully, the descent of the Jewish people into exile brings with it a parallel descent of some other “sparks” from the Shechinah into the ritually contaminated part of the universe. In our verse these “sparks” are referred to as מלאכי אלוקים, “Angels of the Divine.” Presiding over all these happenings is G’d, והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and behold the Lord is standing above it;” this line also reassures Yaakov that wherever he may find himself he will not be alone, as G’d Himself accompanies him even in exile. Moses confirms this in psalms 91,15 when he says (quoting G’d) “I will be with him in distress.” Seeing that the Lord is with us, our real “pain” or sorrow is really G’d’s pain and sorrow.
As soon as G’d saw that Yaakov’s concern was with His pain and sorrow, and how all this would impact on the foundation of the Jewish people and its development, He reassured him that he was the same G’d Who had looked after Avraham and Yitzchok, his respective grandfather and father. He assured him that this same piece of earth on which he was lying at this time, i.e. that he is so worried about, He, the Lord will give to him and to his descendants and that his descendants will spread out to all the corners of the earth. He continues to reassure Yaakov that during all the vicissitudes of history that his descendants would endure, He would always keep a benevolent eye on them. They will, in due course, return from exile to a brighter future.
Genesis 28,16. “Yaakov awakened from his dream, etc;” the word משנתו, here is a reference to the mental state of depression under which Yaakov had laboured when contemplating the exile his descendants would experience in the future. When he says: אכן יש ה' במקום הזה ואנכי לא ידעתי, “indeed the Lord is even in this place and I did not know it,” is an acknowledgment that he had unnecessarily despaired of the future of his people thinking that G’d would forsake them in exile. Having realized now that he had been wrong, filled him with such gratitude that he determined to build a Temple on the site where this insight had been revealed to him. The words: בית אלוקים, as something already in place, allegorically speaking, refers to his realization that once there is a Jewish people G’d will never again withdraw from the lower regions of the universe as He had done previously when man’s conduct had become too offensive.[I believe the principal lesson Yaakov learned in this dream (as portrayed by the author) was that even when Moses speaks clearly in the Torah about G’d “hiding His face,” (Deut. 31,18) this does not refer to His withdrawing from our part of the world; it only means that we will be under the impression that He has done so as we see no evidence of His Presence overtly or covertly. Ed.] If this is the lesson of exile, exile itself becomes a truly positive experience.
At this stage Yaakov reverts to his original intention of taking the “stones” or “stone” i.e. the foundation stone of the Jewish people and converts it from a potential tool into an actual by consecrating it with oil. [The Jewish people no less than the Temple are perceived as “Temples,” the former as a living entity, the latter as an inert structure always on a sacred site. Ed.] [The significance of oil for consecration, and the miracle of Chanukah being the miracle of the cruse of holy oil as having been foreshadowed in Yaakov’s dream signaling the end of desecration of the Holy Temple, has thus been established. Although some of the words are mine, I trust that I have conveyed our author’s meaning. Ed.]
This is the first time in the Torah that “oil” is portrayed as possessing spiritually elevating potential. Normally, we are familiar with this only from when the priests who were anointed with oil, or when a King, first in a dynasty, was consecrated with it. Yaakov understood the mystical properties contained in such oil (holy oil) and used it here for the first time as such.
[One wonders at the fact that although Yaakov appears to have been stripped of all valuables prior to this night, he still had some such oil on his person; this makes the connection the author establishes between Chanukah and Yaakov’s dream of the ladder a great deal more plausible. Ed.]
Reshit Chochma, shaar ahavah section 5,39, שמן, oil, i.e. the resin found in trees, is a euphemism for wisdom originating in the celestial regions. By means of this wisdom G’d used a combination of this wisdom and sanctity to produce a unique product, the foundation stone of the Jewish people preparing from this an entire building containing many “rooms” one of which was reserved for G’d to manifest Himself therein to His people exclusively. When speaking of “His people,” we refer to the spiritualized concept of the Jewish people, described by our sages as כנסת ישראל, “the collective soul of the Jewish people.” This is what the Torah had in mind when it reports Yaakov as saying: ויקרא את שם המקום ההוא ביתאל, “he called the name of this site Betel;” the Torah adds that ואולם לוז שם העיר לראשונה, “originally the name of the town had been Looz.” (Verse 20) By mentioning this detail, the Torah wishes to inform the reader that even before Yaakov spent a night at this location all the basic ingredients for the site to be elevated to one of sanctity had already existed as a potential. This was so because the concept of a Jewish nation, as mentioned previously, was not new, in fact it had been in G’ds mind before He even began to create the universe. This concept did not only include the formation of a Jewish nation, but envisaged its history right to the point when the Messiah would redeem this people from its last exile. According to tradition (Bereshit Rabbah 69, discussed at length) the human body contains a bone known as לוז, which is indestructible, the angel of death having no power over it, and conversely, it is also the bone from which all other parts of the human body develop. [Not necessarily a “bone” as we understand it, but possibly what we call a stem cell in our time. Ed.] The “stem cell” לוז, is for man what the expression היולי is meant to convey when we speak of the origin of the universe, the primordial raw material. Yaakov’s contribution was to make out of a potential Jewish nation one that had materialized.
When the Torah describes Yaakov as ויקח מאבני המקום, “he took from the stones of hamakom,” this describes Yaakov’s sharing G’d’s pain and wishing to be able to compensate G’d for this in same way. (Alluded to by the word ויפגע). The words מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו, “from the stones of hamakom and he placed them under his head,” suggest how Yaakov tried to share G’d’s “pain” at what both He and His people would have to endure in exile. His whole thinking was preoccupied with how he could somehow if not forestall these happenings at least ensure that his descendants would survive these experiences. This is the key to his dream of the ladder that follows. It portrays that Yaakov had found a means to deal with the physical implications of exile and persecutions because of Whom He saw on the top of the ladder. This helped him console himself that all of these harsh experiences would be confined to Israel’s existence in the “lower” regions of the universe. The words: וראשו מגיע השמימה, “the ladder’s top reached into heaven,” reminds Yaakov that exile also touches the celestial spheres, so much so that its impact affects those regions negatively. Its most direct impact on the celestial regions is that it interferes with the dispensation of G’d’s largesse to mankind, and the forces of nature upon which man depends.
The line: והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and behold G’d’s angels were ascending and descending on that ladder,” is the message that even exile has its positive aspects, as it enables numerous “sparks” that had previously “fallen” from the tree that we perceive as the Shechinah, to find their way back to their holy origin. At the same time, regretfully, the descent of the Jewish people into exile brings with it a parallel descent of some other “sparks” from the Shechinah into the ritually contaminated part of the universe. In our verse these “sparks” are referred to as מלאכי אלוקים, “Angels of the Divine.” Presiding over all these happenings is G’d, והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and behold the Lord is standing above it;” this line also reassures Yaakov that wherever he may find himself he will not be alone, as G’d Himself accompanies him even in exile. Moses confirms this in psalms 91,15 when he says (quoting G’d) “I will be with him in distress.” Seeing that the Lord is with us, our real “pain” or sorrow is really G’d’s pain and sorrow.
As soon as G’d saw that Yaakov’s concern was with His pain and sorrow, and how all this would impact on the foundation of the Jewish people and its development, He reassured him that he was the same G’d Who had looked after Avraham and Yitzchok, his respective grandfather and father. He assured him that this same piece of earth on which he was lying at this time, i.e. that he is so worried about, He, the Lord will give to him and to his descendants and that his descendants will spread out to all the corners of the earth. He continues to reassure Yaakov that during all the vicissitudes of history that his descendants would endure, He would always keep a benevolent eye on them. They will, in due course, return from exile to a brighter future.
Genesis 28,16. “Yaakov awakened from his dream, etc;” the word משנתו, here is a reference to the mental state of depression under which Yaakov had laboured when contemplating the exile his descendants would experience in the future. When he says: אכן יש ה' במקום הזה ואנכי לא ידעתי, “indeed the Lord is even in this place and I did not know it,” is an acknowledgment that he had unnecessarily despaired of the future of his people thinking that G’d would forsake them in exile. Having realized now that he had been wrong, filled him with such gratitude that he determined to build a Temple on the site where this insight had been revealed to him. The words: בית אלוקים, as something already in place, allegorically speaking, refers to his realization that once there is a Jewish people G’d will never again withdraw from the lower regions of the universe as He had done previously when man’s conduct had become too offensive.[I believe the principal lesson Yaakov learned in this dream (as portrayed by the author) was that even when Moses speaks clearly in the Torah about G’d “hiding His face,” (Deut. 31,18) this does not refer to His withdrawing from our part of the world; it only means that we will be under the impression that He has done so as we see no evidence of His Presence overtly or covertly. Ed.] If this is the lesson of exile, exile itself becomes a truly positive experience.
At this stage Yaakov reverts to his original intention of taking the “stones” or “stone” i.e. the foundation stone of the Jewish people and converts it from a potential tool into an actual by consecrating it with oil. [The Jewish people no less than the Temple are perceived as “Temples,” the former as a living entity, the latter as an inert structure always on a sacred site. Ed.] [The significance of oil for consecration, and the miracle of Chanukah being the miracle of the cruse of holy oil as having been foreshadowed in Yaakov’s dream signaling the end of desecration of the Holy Temple, has thus been established. Although some of the words are mine, I trust that I have conveyed our author’s meaning. Ed.]
This is the first time in the Torah that “oil” is portrayed as possessing spiritually elevating potential. Normally, we are familiar with this only from when the priests who were anointed with oil, or when a King, first in a dynasty, was consecrated with it. Yaakov understood the mystical properties contained in such oil (holy oil) and used it here for the first time as such.
[One wonders at the fact that although Yaakov appears to have been stripped of all valuables prior to this night, he still had some such oil on his person; this makes the connection the author establishes between Chanukah and Yaakov’s dream of the ladder a great deal more plausible. Ed.]
Reshit Chochma, shaar ahavah section 5,39, שמן, oil, i.e. the resin found in trees, is a euphemism for wisdom originating in the celestial regions. By means of this wisdom G’d used a combination of this wisdom and sanctity to produce a unique product, the foundation stone of the Jewish people preparing from this an entire building containing many “rooms” one of which was reserved for G’d to manifest Himself therein to His people exclusively. When speaking of “His people,” we refer to the spiritualized concept of the Jewish people, described by our sages as כנסת ישראל, “the collective soul of the Jewish people.” This is what the Torah had in mind when it reports Yaakov as saying: ויקרא את שם המקום ההוא ביתאל, “he called the name of this site Betel;” the Torah adds that ואולם לוז שם העיר לראשונה, “originally the name of the town had been Looz.” (Verse 20) By mentioning this detail, the Torah wishes to inform the reader that even before Yaakov spent a night at this location all the basic ingredients for the site to be elevated to one of sanctity had already existed as a potential. This was so because the concept of a Jewish nation, as mentioned previously, was not new, in fact it had been in G’ds mind before He even began to create the universe. This concept did not only include the formation of a Jewish nation, but envisaged its history right to the point when the Messiah would redeem this people from its last exile. According to tradition (Bereshit Rabbah 69, discussed at length) the human body contains a bone known as לוז, which is indestructible, the angel of death having no power over it, and conversely, it is also the bone from which all other parts of the human body develop. [Not necessarily a “bone” as we understand it, but possibly what we call a stem cell in our time. Ed.] The “stem cell” לוז, is for man what the expression היולי is meant to convey when we speak of the origin of the universe, the primordial raw material. Yaakov’s contribution was to make out of a potential Jewish nation one that had materialized.
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Flames of Faith
Everything in nature seeks to return to its root. So as well is a child always attracted to his parental home. Home as the source of one’s life has the quality of a root, and branches are attracted to their roots. Consider the strength of the bond between father and child. The father is the source of the son, he is a root, and the son is an offshoot. Since the attraction to source is so powerful the son seeks to emulate his father and earn his father’s approval.102Tzion Ve-Arehah, pg. 31. Similarly every man is attracted to his wife, and when single he feels forlorn and incomplete. This too stems from the need to reconnect to one’s roots. Before birth each soul is a duality, with a male half and a female half. When we are born, only half of a soul enters the world at a time. There is another half, of the opposite gender, that is born into another family. The urge for marriage is a desire to return to the perfect state, the most natural form in which we were originally created. Marriage is not a union of disparate individuals; it is a reunion of the halves that were initially one soul.103See further Made in Heaven, pg. 1, note 1. The primordial unity of souls is hinted at in the verse hemmah me-hevel yachad, “They are together from mist.” Since the point of mere soul mist, male was together with female. Perhaps this concept can explain a difficulty that is found in Rabbinic sources about mar-riage. Legal authorities stress that marriage should be performed with symbolic omens of blessing. For instance, ideally one should marry at the beginning of the lunar month when the moon, the symbol of the Jewish nation, is growing in luster. Second, there is a widespread custom to place the wedding canopy under the stars, the artifact of God’s blessing to Abraham that Jews will be as plentiful as the celestial lights. Yet the Rabbis derived the laws of marriage from the purchase of the machpelah cave, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah are interred. Can a cemetery and death be a good omen? The answer is yes, the machpelah cave indicates the heights of union married individuals can reach. Marriage is not merely a partnership of bodies and lives, it is a reunion of souls. As a result it does not have to end. The body stops living at the point of death but the soul lives on and a marriage where husband and wife are fully connected to each other, continues after death. Even in the next world the two souls are fused. That is why our patriarchs and matriarchs were buried as couples in the same cave, to indicate that during their lifetimes they had fully fused their person-alities, and therefore the bond fully continued on a soulful level after death. Perhaps the name Chevron (where the machpelah cave is located) reflects this concept, since Chevron stems from the word chibbur, “connection.” Deriving the laws of marriage from the purchase of the machpelah cave is a wonderful omen, showing that in marriage an absolute unity can be achieved during the lifetime of the couple and that union can continue after physical death (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Vayetze, pg. 86).
Every nation’s root is their homeland; that is why Englishmen are loyal to England and Americans are loyal to America. The root of the Jewish nation is the Land of Israel. That is why Jews are innately attracted to the Land of Israel. In the realm of person, the roots of the Jewish people are our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God introduced Himself to each with commandments about the Land of Israel. God’s first words to Abraham were Lech lecha, “Leave your land, birthplace, and family and go to the Land that I will show you [Israel]” (Gen. 12:1). To Isaac, He said, “Do not go down to Egypt; reside in the land that I will command you to stay there. Stay in this land [Israel]” (Gen. 25:2-3). And Jacob’s first message was, “I am the God of Abraham…. The land that you are lying on will be given to you and your descendants” (Gen. 28:13). Since the land of Israel is the root of the nation in the dimension of space, in the dimension of people our roots first began their relationships with God through hearing of the bond to the land (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Lech Lecha 5759).
The ultimate redemption will return Jewry to their land and thus will return us to our root. Since marriage is also a return to the root, marriage is the symbol of the redemption. That is why in the blessings celebrating marriage the seventh blessing requests the ultimate redemption. At a time of return to a root it is fitting to pray for the ultimate return to the Source. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah promised, “Once again it will be heard in the cities of Judea and in the outskirts of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness, the sounds of groom and bride, the sounds of people declaring, let us thank God” (Jer. 33:10-11).
Every nation’s root is their homeland; that is why Englishmen are loyal to England and Americans are loyal to America. The root of the Jewish nation is the Land of Israel. That is why Jews are innately attracted to the Land of Israel. In the realm of person, the roots of the Jewish people are our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God introduced Himself to each with commandments about the Land of Israel. God’s first words to Abraham were Lech lecha, “Leave your land, birthplace, and family and go to the Land that I will show you [Israel]” (Gen. 12:1). To Isaac, He said, “Do not go down to Egypt; reside in the land that I will command you to stay there. Stay in this land [Israel]” (Gen. 25:2-3). And Jacob’s first message was, “I am the God of Abraham…. The land that you are lying on will be given to you and your descendants” (Gen. 28:13). Since the land of Israel is the root of the nation in the dimension of space, in the dimension of people our roots first began their relationships with God through hearing of the bond to the land (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Lech Lecha 5759).
The ultimate redemption will return Jewry to their land and thus will return us to our root. Since marriage is also a return to the root, marriage is the symbol of the redemption. That is why in the blessings celebrating marriage the seventh blessing requests the ultimate redemption. At a time of return to a root it is fitting to pray for the ultimate return to the Source. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah promised, “Once again it will be heard in the cities of Judea and in the outskirts of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness, the sounds of groom and bride, the sounds of people declaring, let us thank God” (Jer. 33:10-11).
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Kedushat Levi
An additional comment on the line: ויקח מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו וישכב במקום ההוא, “he took from the stones available at that site and used them as his pillow and lay down there.”
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Maor VaShemesh
And he dreamt, etc, and Yaakov woke up from his sleep and said 'Surely H' is present in this place, and I did not know it! etc This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.' (Gen. 28:16-17) And there is a midrash that Yaakov awoke from his mishnah (Bereishit Rabbah 69:7). And this is surprising, and it appears to me [that the explanation is] that it is known that the essence of the service of a person, to come to the objective of completeness in their service to the Holy One of Blessing, to attain the Blessed One's Godliness, happens through Torah and Tefilah, and one cannot exist without the other. This is because an Am Haaretz cannot be a Hasid (Pirkei Avot 2:5), and also, Torah alone will not complete one's soul, as the saying of the sages z"l "anyone who says he has nothing other than Torah, has no Torah" (Yevamot 109b:4), since obviously through doing Torah for its own sake one can come to a great holiness when one learns for its own sake, and clings to one's life-force [nefesh], spirit [ruach] and soul [neshamah] through the letters of the Torah. However, one cannot come to the essence of Awe and Love and Longing in one's service to the Holy One of Blessing , and to grasp Godliness [with Torah alone], rather, through Tefilah, with self-sacrifice and enthusiasm as it is know from the sacred books. And behold the saying of the sages z"l is known: "and he encountered the Place, meaning, he fixed the evening prayer" (Brachot 26b:7) - behold he didn't know until that moment the secret of Tefilah, how great it is, and we find that Yaakov hid in the study house of Shem and Ever (Megillah 17a:5) and learned Torah, and we see that he knew the secret of Torah, however he did not discover God's Godliness until this moment, when it was revealed for him after he stood at the secret of Tefilah. And this is the explanation for the midrash "and he awoke from his sleep - from his mishnah" - they wanted to say from his Torah, that was awaken through this Tefilah, and he understood that he had not reached complete understanding through Torah alone, and so he said 'behold, there is Hashem in this place', meaning, through this tefilah he was able to understand more deeply the revelation of Godliness than he had until that moment, which was through Torah alone. "And I didn't know" this secret "this is but the House of Elokim", meaning through Tefilah, self-awakening and enthusiasm a persn can come to Higher Awe, which is called in the language of our sages z"l 'pity on one who has no courtyard etc' (Shabbat 31b:1). "And this is the gate to heaven" that Tefilah is the essence of the gate to heaven, to come to an understanding of Godliness and awe of heaven, a good treasure, since "awe of Hashem is God's treasure" (Isaiah 33:6) and pay attention to this, because it is correct.
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Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 19,32. “you shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old, you shall fear your G’d.” Seeing that we have pointed out that the principal element in what is called “fear of the Lord,” is the awe with which we should relate to His sublimity and awesomeness, רוממות, a title which stems from the fact that He is the Originator of all the phenomena that we can perceive with our senses as well as the ones we cannot perceive, He deserves our utmost respect. When a human being has attained that level of insight he is called בן אהוב למקום, “a beloved son of G’d.” When a mortal father has a son whom he loves beyond all else in life, that son will be most careful not to cause his father any grief whatsoever. Conversely, this son will go out of his way to cause his father only pleasure and satisfaction. Paraphrasing this example, our sages in the Zohar III,7 state that Israel provides parnassah, sustenance, for the Almighty. This sustenance consists of their studying Torah, serving Him with prayers and by performing charitable deeds for their peers, as well as keeping the other commandments of the Torah. If they were, G’d forbid, to fail to do all this, our sages in Chagigah 15 lament, “what would become of the Shechinah”?
The wording in the Talmud describing the Shechinah’s reaction to Israel’s failing to serve the Lord and to observe His commandments, is קלני מראשי, “I feel that my head is confused, wobbly.” In other words, our misconduct causes G’d the equivalent of physical pain and confusion.
A tzaddik will worry all his life that he should not cause his father in heaven any grief or pain. He constantly endeavours to only be the cause of his Father in heaven feeling well and satisfied with His creatures.
The condition known as יראת שמים, when applied to the tzaddik, is his fear of the attribute of Mercy, i.e. that G’d would have to apply that attribute when judging him in order that he would not come to harm. [When Yaakov awoke from his dream of the ladder he vowed that if he would return to his father’s home safely, he would tithe all his acquisitions henceforth, and that he was henceforth ready to be judged by the attribute of Justice instead of having to hope for the attribute of Mercy dealing with his shortcomings. (Compare Genesis 28,21). Ed.] Ordinary people generally are afraid of the attribute of Justice dealing with their transgressions.
The tzaddik’s philosophy is not limited to his personal relationship with G’d, but he hopes that his meticulously observing G’d’s commandments without his looking for reward, will encourage G’d to increase the flow of His largesse to the Jewish people and that as a result these will benefit in all spheres of life from that largesse. He is aware that nothing pleases the Lord as much as having an excuse to direct an ever increasing flow of this largesse to His people. The termsזקן as well as שיבה, are synonyms for the attribute of mercy as we know from Pessikta Rabbah 21 where G’d is perceived as having appeared to the Jewish people at the revelation in the guise of a bearded old man, one who is full of compassion. Keeping this in mind, we can understand the commandment to treat the aged and old with deference and respect as an exhortation to relate to G’d with such feelings. The words: והדרת פני זקן, may therefore be understood as a command not to cause the Shechinah to call out in pain קלני מראשי, “my head is in turmoil.” Instead, we should ensure that the verse speaking of הוד והדר לפניו עוז וחדוה במקדשו, that “glory and majesty are before Him and strength and splendour in His Temple.” (Compare psalms 96,6)
The wording in the Talmud describing the Shechinah’s reaction to Israel’s failing to serve the Lord and to observe His commandments, is קלני מראשי, “I feel that my head is confused, wobbly.” In other words, our misconduct causes G’d the equivalent of physical pain and confusion.
A tzaddik will worry all his life that he should not cause his father in heaven any grief or pain. He constantly endeavours to only be the cause of his Father in heaven feeling well and satisfied with His creatures.
The condition known as יראת שמים, when applied to the tzaddik, is his fear of the attribute of Mercy, i.e. that G’d would have to apply that attribute when judging him in order that he would not come to harm. [When Yaakov awoke from his dream of the ladder he vowed that if he would return to his father’s home safely, he would tithe all his acquisitions henceforth, and that he was henceforth ready to be judged by the attribute of Justice instead of having to hope for the attribute of Mercy dealing with his shortcomings. (Compare Genesis 28,21). Ed.] Ordinary people generally are afraid of the attribute of Justice dealing with their transgressions.
The tzaddik’s philosophy is not limited to his personal relationship with G’d, but he hopes that his meticulously observing G’d’s commandments without his looking for reward, will encourage G’d to increase the flow of His largesse to the Jewish people and that as a result these will benefit in all spheres of life from that largesse. He is aware that nothing pleases the Lord as much as having an excuse to direct an ever increasing flow of this largesse to His people. The termsזקן as well as שיבה, are synonyms for the attribute of mercy as we know from Pessikta Rabbah 21 where G’d is perceived as having appeared to the Jewish people at the revelation in the guise of a bearded old man, one who is full of compassion. Keeping this in mind, we can understand the commandment to treat the aged and old with deference and respect as an exhortation to relate to G’d with such feelings. The words: והדרת פני זקן, may therefore be understood as a command not to cause the Shechinah to call out in pain קלני מראשי, “my head is in turmoil.” Instead, we should ensure that the verse speaking of הוד והדר לפניו עוז וחדוה במקדשו, that “glory and majesty are before Him and strength and splendour in His Temple.” (Compare psalms 96,6)
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Keter Shem Tov
From the BeSh"T. "There are three graces: the grace of a place on (in the eyes of) its inhabitants"... (Sotah 47a). This is explained in Chullin 91b, that [when Jacob slept] God "folded up all of the Land of Israel under him"; "the land which you lie upon, I will give it to you" (Genesis 28:13). Meaning, that you will not need to travel from place to place in order to clarify the land's sparks of holiness, for you will be able to clarify them in your place. "And Noah found grace..." (Genesis 6:8)
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Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
However, even though all of the Maharal’s words are true. Yet, all of his arguments were proffered only in order to show how there is no change in God’s will when a miracle occurs. One could still assert that God’s knowledge can change, from which it follows that His will also changes. When God arranged the work of creation, it was His will that certain miracles would happen at a definite time in the future. If this plan is delayed in any way, then the primordial will must have changed. Since God programmed into the creation the condition that the sea would split with the Exodus, therefore He knew that it would split, which it eventually did. If so, how could we be taught that the Egyptians could have repented prior to the sea’s splitting, which would have cancelled the order for the sea to split. With this in mind, we also find it difficult to understand the statement of the Talmud (Berachot, 4a, Sotah, 36a), “At the time of Ezra,340And the nation’s return from the Babylonian exile. the nation of Israel was worthy of experiencing a miracle of the same magnitude that happened in the days of Yehoshua,341The miracle would have been their entering the land of Israel with a high hand, just as they left Egypt. Rashi. but the prevalence of sin prevented it.”342Instead, they could only return from Babylon by the permission of Cyrus. Rashi. The Gemara explains the verse in the Song of the Sea (Shemot 15:16), “until Your people shall pass over, O God, until they shall pass over...” is alluding to two “passing overs” into the Land – the first in the time of Yehushua, and the second in the time of Ezra. All this leads to conclusion that a miracle was supposed to happen at the time of Ezra, yet God’s will changed. R. Eliyahu Mizrahi, in his commentary on Rashi (Parshat Vayishlach), examines the situation of Yaakov Avinu returning to Israel, and confronting his brother Eisav and his army of four hundred men. The last Yaakov heard from Eisav was that he wanted to kill him, and he assumed, now twenty years later, that this was still true. Thus, the verse says, “and Yaakov was afraid,” on which Rashi comments, “He was afraid that he would be killed.” (The Lechem Mishnah, at the end of the fifth chapter of the Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, also addresses this issue.) Yaakov was afraid that his own sins may have nullified God’s promise to protect him.343That is, G-d’s promise, made in Bereshit 28:15: “Behold, I am with you and will protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not abandon you until I have done that which I have promised you." Furthermore, we have the statement of the sages in the Gemara (Shabbat, 55a), “Rav Acha son of Chanina said: God never once broke His promise of bestowing good, and brought calamity in its stead.” We would have to bend over backwards with forced arguments in order to reconcile this contradiction. Based on the words of the sages, one would seem obliged to concede that God’s will can change. Yet based on all we have explained above, that all human knowledge is a created entity, and the whole order of existence is a created and arranged order, then we can also see that the borders and limits of what may change is also something that was arranged with the creation as an expression of God’s will. It is impossible that it could be only a change of will, for that very conception is no more than a created idea that can only be understood from our own greatly limited human perspective. At the time of the revelation of the miracle, it will be revealed that the miracle could occur even without any change in God’s will. It is the function of the Divine service of the Jew to arrive at this faith and to fix it permanently in his heart. Purely out of faith, man can reach a place above all orders of governance. Then it will be readily apparent that there is no difference between nature and miracles even from the perspective of created beings.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 29,12. “and he had a dream in which a ladder was featured, etc.;” when a young man begins his career (serving the Lord) he is very enthusiastic and believes that by means of his service he can spiritually elevate not only his immediate surroundings on earth, but even those in the celestial regions. This enthusiasm helps him to intensify his efforts at serving his Creator. When he feels that his serving the Lord has become a mainstay of his existence, he makes G’d the focus of all his thinking, and G’d in turn derives great satisfaction from him. Eventually, if he continues, he eventually qualifies to become one of the “carriers of the merkavah”, G’d’s chariot.
The word ויחלום, from the same root as ותחלימני והחייני (Isaiah 38,16) “You have restored me to health and revived me,” means to feel strengthened. In King Chiskiyah’s prayer recorded in the Book of Isaiah, it means that the King emerged from his sickness strengthened in his capacity as a servant of the Lord. He had needed strength as he had been on the point of dying. Yaakov, at this point in his life is also in need of חיזוק, strengthening, so that the word ויחלום, means that he became aware of being strengthened seeing he was at the beginning of his career as a servant of the Lord, eventually as a patriarch of the Jewish nation.
The word ויחלום, from the same root as ותחלימני והחייני (Isaiah 38,16) “You have restored me to health and revived me,” means to feel strengthened. In King Chiskiyah’s prayer recorded in the Book of Isaiah, it means that the King emerged from his sickness strengthened in his capacity as a servant of the Lord. He had needed strength as he had been on the point of dying. Yaakov, at this point in his life is also in need of חיזוק, strengthening, so that the word ויחלום, means that he became aware of being strengthened seeing he was at the beginning of his career as a servant of the Lord, eventually as a patriarch of the Jewish nation.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28:13 “and in his dream there was a ladder standing toward the earth;” the vision represented human beings who, though standing on earth, focus on the heavens, i.e. וראשו מגיע השמימה. Man’s understanding of the celestial regions and what they stand for is based on his service of the Lord.
Genesis 28:12 והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and here angels of G’d were ascending and descending on it.” The vision reflects the fact that man’s actions propel the movement of these “angels,” either heavenwards or earthwards. If man, G’d forbid, instead of serving His Creator, does the opposite, he is also having a negative impact on these angels in the celestial spheres, causing them to descend spiritually. This concept has been spelled out in Pessikta Rabbati 21,8 where we are told that ever since the destruction of the Temple, G’d reduced the number of angels constituting His entourage. However, once Yaakov had become firmly established as a servant of G’d, he was granted an additional vision, i.e. והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and here the Lord Himself was standing above the ladder.” This vision refers to the merkavah of G’d, His chariot.
Genesis 28:12 והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and here angels of G’d were ascending and descending on it.” The vision reflects the fact that man’s actions propel the movement of these “angels,” either heavenwards or earthwards. If man, G’d forbid, instead of serving His Creator, does the opposite, he is also having a negative impact on these angels in the celestial spheres, causing them to descend spiritually. This concept has been spelled out in Pessikta Rabbati 21,8 where we are told that ever since the destruction of the Temple, G’d reduced the number of angels constituting His entourage. However, once Yaakov had become firmly established as a servant of G’d, he was granted an additional vision, i.e. והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and here the Lord Himself was standing above the ladder.” This vision refers to the merkavah of G’d, His chariot.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28:13 “and in his dream there was a ladder standing toward the earth;” the vision represented human beings who, though standing on earth, focus on the heavens, i.e. וראשו מגיע השמימה. Man’s understanding of the celestial regions and what they stand for is based on his service of the Lord.
Genesis 28:12 והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and here angels of G’d were ascending and descending on it.” The vision reflects the fact that man’s actions propel the movement of these “angels,” either heavenwards or earthwards. If man, G’d forbid, instead of serving His Creator, does the opposite, he is also having a negative impact on these angels in the celestial spheres, causing them to descend spiritually. This concept has been spelled out in Pessikta Rabbati 21,8 where we are told that ever since the destruction of the Temple, G’d reduced the number of angels constituting His entourage. However, once Yaakov had become firmly established as a servant of G’d, he was granted an additional vision, i.e. והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and here the Lord Himself was standing above the ladder.” This vision refers to the merkavah of G’d, His chariot.
Genesis 28:12 והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים בו, “and here angels of G’d were ascending and descending on it.” The vision reflects the fact that man’s actions propel the movement of these “angels,” either heavenwards or earthwards. If man, G’d forbid, instead of serving His Creator, does the opposite, he is also having a negative impact on these angels in the celestial spheres, causing them to descend spiritually. This concept has been spelled out in Pessikta Rabbati 21,8 where we are told that ever since the destruction of the Temple, G’d reduced the number of angels constituting His entourage. However, once Yaakov had become firmly established as a servant of G’d, he was granted an additional vision, i.e. והנה ה' נצב עליו, “and here the Lord Himself was standing above the ladder.” This vision refers to the merkavah of G’d, His chariot.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28,19. “he now added to the name of this place the name Bet El”. We need to remember that all creatures G’d has created have been identified by means of one or more of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Some of these “letters” are incomplete without certain further “sub-titles” written in the form of dots, lines, etc. Some of these appear above the actual letter, others below it. These nuances reflect the fact that some creatures, though all mobile, move in certain ways, whereas others move in different ways. Yet other letters have a dot in the middle, neither above nor below. These “dots or lines” alert us to the how, i.e. by which motive the creature’s movements were prompted. When a creature’s motion is prompted by considerations resident in the celestial spheres, the “dot” accompanying the letters is found above the letter. When it originates from earthly considerations, the dot is found under the letter. When it is found in the middle of the letter, it reflects the fact that both lofty and less lofty considerations prompted the motion of the individual described by the respective letter. Seeing that Yaakov’s movements were prompted by lofty considerations, the word ויחלום has the dot on top of the letter ו. These lofty thoughts enabled him to sire a son combining so many fine attributes as did Joseph. The combinations of letters, i.e. attributes, are also reflected in the spelling of the word ביתאל as a single word, instead of, as we find it elsewhere בית אל.
Yaakov wished to express the thought that in the house of G’d to be built on that site in the future, the combination of the basic attributes required for successful service of the Lord by His creatures on earth be present at all times.
Yaakov wished to express the thought that in the house of G’d to be built on that site in the future, the combination of the basic attributes required for successful service of the Lord by His creatures on earth be present at all times.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28,20. “If G’d will be with me, etc.;” Nachmanides’ comment that seeing G’d had already promised Yaakov in verse 15 that He would be with him, why did Yaakov question this with the word: אם, “if?” is well known. The answer given by Nachmanides is that Yaakov was afraid that G’d’s promise would be invalid if he became guilty of a sin before it could be carried out. (compare Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 that promises made to tzaddikim concerning happenings in this life are never absolute.) [If they were they would tie G’d’s hands if the tzaddik were to become a rasha. Ed.]
The answers given by the Midrash or quoted as such by the commentators, appear to contradict the specific promise for events in this life made to Yaakov in verse 15. I quote: (translation) “Remember, I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Surely, after such a promise, how could Yaakov have had any doubt that what G’d had promised would occur in this lifetime on earth? Part of this promise implies that G’d the good, Who only does good, will assist the recipient of this promise to conduct himself in a manner that will ensure that G’d will feel obliged to honour His promise.
However, we must remember two points. 1) The Torah had reported G’d’s promise as being part of a dream,” i.e. ויחלום. The Torah did not preface the dream as a vision, i.e. וירא אליו ה'; Yaakov was not at all sure that what appears here as a solid promise was not a figment of his imagination. 2) We have discussed once before the fact that G’d wishes us to pray to Him for our needs, (that is why Rivkah did not become pregnant till after 20 years of marriage when both her husband and she prayed for this). Seeing that Yaakov is not on record as having actively asked G’d to assist him in what was a pretty desperate situation, G’d, by spelling out this promise, wished to provoke Yaakov into finally praying to Him for His help. (Compare also Bereshit Rabbah 45, Sarah being angry at Avraham for not having including her in his prayer when he said to G’d, (complainingly) “here I walk on this earth childless.” (Genesis 15,2) G’d dispenses largesse without waiting to be asked, to those of His creatures whom He has not equipped with a mouth to articulate their requests. Man, who has been so equipped is expected to use his powers to address his Creator in prayer.
According to B’rachot 17 the reason why our matriarchs were originally barren is summed up in Isaiah 46,12 שמעו אלי אבירי לב הרחוקים מצדקה! “Listen to Me, you who have lost heart, who are far from righteousness.” According to one interpretation of the above verse in the Talmud, some people are granted their livelihood because they use their intelligence to ask G’d for it. Others believe in their own strength, זרוע, their ability to work for a living, and secure it through this means. The people who are devoid of intelligence will be provided for by G’d, as they are too dim witted or physically unable look out for themselves. This is the meaning of שומר פתאים ה', “the Lord looks after the fools.” (psalms 116,6) Examples of such people are children having to eat at their father’s table. When the father of such children sees that they have become capable of fending for themselves, he no longer supports them. The same holds true of our Father in heaven, when He sees that we could fend for ourselves but prefer to have Him provide for us. The righteous are supposed to support themselves by using their arms, (to do work) not violence. Those who possess intelligence and do not use it to appeal to their Creator are not supported by G’d’s charity, צדקה.
The answers given by the Midrash or quoted as such by the commentators, appear to contradict the specific promise for events in this life made to Yaakov in verse 15. I quote: (translation) “Remember, I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Surely, after such a promise, how could Yaakov have had any doubt that what G’d had promised would occur in this lifetime on earth? Part of this promise implies that G’d the good, Who only does good, will assist the recipient of this promise to conduct himself in a manner that will ensure that G’d will feel obliged to honour His promise.
However, we must remember two points. 1) The Torah had reported G’d’s promise as being part of a dream,” i.e. ויחלום. The Torah did not preface the dream as a vision, i.e. וירא אליו ה'; Yaakov was not at all sure that what appears here as a solid promise was not a figment of his imagination. 2) We have discussed once before the fact that G’d wishes us to pray to Him for our needs, (that is why Rivkah did not become pregnant till after 20 years of marriage when both her husband and she prayed for this). Seeing that Yaakov is not on record as having actively asked G’d to assist him in what was a pretty desperate situation, G’d, by spelling out this promise, wished to provoke Yaakov into finally praying to Him for His help. (Compare also Bereshit Rabbah 45, Sarah being angry at Avraham for not having including her in his prayer when he said to G’d, (complainingly) “here I walk on this earth childless.” (Genesis 15,2) G’d dispenses largesse without waiting to be asked, to those of His creatures whom He has not equipped with a mouth to articulate their requests. Man, who has been so equipped is expected to use his powers to address his Creator in prayer.
According to B’rachot 17 the reason why our matriarchs were originally barren is summed up in Isaiah 46,12 שמעו אלי אבירי לב הרחוקים מצדקה! “Listen to Me, you who have lost heart, who are far from righteousness.” According to one interpretation of the above verse in the Talmud, some people are granted their livelihood because they use their intelligence to ask G’d for it. Others believe in their own strength, זרוע, their ability to work for a living, and secure it through this means. The people who are devoid of intelligence will be provided for by G’d, as they are too dim witted or physically unable look out for themselves. This is the meaning of שומר פתאים ה', “the Lord looks after the fools.” (psalms 116,6) Examples of such people are children having to eat at their father’s table. When the father of such children sees that they have become capable of fending for themselves, he no longer supports them. The same holds true of our Father in heaven, when He sees that we could fend for ourselves but prefer to have Him provide for us. The righteous are supposed to support themselves by using their arms, (to do work) not violence. Those who possess intelligence and do not use it to appeal to their Creator are not supported by G’d’s charity, צדקה.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 28,21. “then Hashem (the attribute of Mercy) will be my G’d,;” (may deal with me on the basis of the attribute of Justice). Many commentators already have dealt with this phrase and the difficulties it presents when one reads it superficially. Firstly, why would Yaakov feel the need to make a vow when G’d had already promised him all that he is asking. We trust we are correct in answering that Yaakov here asked for a detail that G’d had not included in the promise He had made to him. We have mentioned already that at the beginning of a “career” as a servant of G’d, everyone needs an assist from G’d. Yaakov therefore asked for this initial assistance, so that eventually he would be able to stand on his own two feet not only economically but also spiritually. When he spoke about G’d being with him, he meant “immediately,” not only at some time in the future. He also wished for G’d’s continued assistance even after he would have returned safely to his homeland and the house of his father. G’d’s initial promise had been limited to the time when Yaakov would return to Eretz Yisrael.
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Kedushat Levi
A third nuance gleaned from the words: החודש הזה לכם ראש חדשים, ראשון הוא לכם; it is generally agreed that at the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, G’d employed His attribute of גבורה, “might,” against the Egyptians while at the same time employing His attribute of חסד, “loving kindness, “ toward the Israelites. This is based on כל בכוריהם הרגת ובכורך גאלת, “While You killed all their firstborn You redeemed Your firstborn.” (quote from the prayer עזרת אבותינו, recited every morning after the kriyat sh’ma. (The phenomenon described here is known to Kabbalists asגבורה שבחסד , “might as a byproduct of kindness.”) The catalyst that triggered G’d to display His might was the loving kindness He felt impelled to show His people. We find that G’d employed two opposing attributes at one and the same time. To the question which of the two attributes G’d gives preference to, the answer is surely: “to the loving kindness,” as we have it on the authority of Micah 7,18 כי חפץ חסד הוא, “for He desires loving kindness.” The expression חפץ חסד הוא, implies that even when G’d is compelled to display the attribute of Justice, another aspect of the term גבורה, He does so only because otherwise His attribute of loving kindness, חסד could not prevail under the existing conditions. By applying the attribute of Justice to the enemies of His people, He can show His people that He deals with them by means of the attribute of loving kindness, חסד. When the Torah speaks in our verse of ראשון הוא לכם, “it is first for you,” G’d informs the Jewish people that as far as they are concerned the “new” element in G’d’s relationship with different parts of mankind is that seeing that they are from now on His people, He will deal with them first and foremost on the basis of the attribute of loving kindness. [The patriarchs did not require this “concession;” in fact Yaakov had volunteered after the dream with the ladder to be henceforth dealt with on the basis of the attribute of justice, and this is why he said “והיה ה' לי לאלוקים, “and Hashem will henceforth be my elokim, Judge." )Genesis 28,21)]
G’d applying the attribute of חסד to the Jewish people in the first instance is reflected in the first verse of the Decalogue, where he introduces Himself with the words: אנכי השם אלוקיך, He is the attribute of Justice only subsequent to being the attribute of Mercy, kindness.
G’d applying the attribute of חסד to the Jewish people in the first instance is reflected in the first verse of the Decalogue, where he introduces Himself with the words: אנכי השם אלוקיך, He is the attribute of Justice only subsequent to being the attribute of Mercy, kindness.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 27,30 “it was that as soon as Yitzchok had concluded blessing Yaakov, etc.;” we need to understand why Yitzchok had not wanted to bestow a blessing on Yaakov, originally. Nachmanides writes: (not found in Torah commentary) that Yitzchok preferred Yaakov to remain unaware of the blessings bestowed upon him. [Perhaps he felt that way seeing that his own father, Avraham, also had not bestowed a blessing upon him, and left it for G’d to do so after he had died. Compare. Genesis 28,4 where Yitzchok makes it plain to Yaakov that he had not received this blessing from his own father. Ed.] This seems difficult to understand. Perhaps we may understand it better in conjunction with what the Talmud B’rachot 45 states that the person translating the public Torah reading must not raise his voice to be louder than the voice of the person reading the Torah from the original scroll. The reader represents G’d, Who has given us the Torah, whereas the translator only represents the reader. The Talmud cites Exodus 19,19 as the source for this ruling. Anyone reading that verse will be astounded, as it sounds as if G‘d, responding to Moses spoke louder than Moses, when repeating what Moses had told Him. (Compare Tossaphot on that folio) However, the point is, as we learned in B’rachot 12, that any benediction that does not contain a reference to G’d as King, is not considered a benediction in the full meaning of the word. Similarly, any benediction which follows immediately after another benediction also does not rank as a (separate) benediction in the full sense of the word so that it does not need to include another reference to G’d as “King”.
It appears that Avraham had a “claim” on the word א-ל as a name of G’d, as G’d uses this name when bestowing acts of loving kindness on His creatures. Yitzchok, on the other hand, had a similar claim on the word אלוקים for G’d, as this name represents Justice or judgment. This is why his son Yaakov in Genesis 31,42 speaks of פחד יצחק “He Who Yitzchok was in awe of and Who assisted me,” when describing Yitzchoks’ G’d.” Yaakov, had a “claim” on the tetragram, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה, the name of G’d representing primarily the attribute of Mercy. In order for the attribute of Justice to be “sweetened” somewhat, it needs to be applied in conjunction with the other two attributes we mentioned.
The Ari z’al said that the word אתה when used in the beginning of each benediction is an allusion to the attribute א-ל, so that when one commences the benediction with the words ברוך אתה י-ה-ו-ה, the word ברוך signifying continuation, or conduit, meaning that G’d continuously dispensing loving kindness by means of both His names אתה א-ל י-ה-ו-ה. Through His continuing to do so, G’d automatically “sweetens,” i.e. softens the impact of the attribute of Justice, the one referred to as אלוקינו in every benediction we pronounce. It follows that when one benediction follows on the heels of another benediction, there having been no prayer or psalm interrupting the two, that there is no need to acknowledge G’d once more as being King, as the full impact of the attribute of Justice has already been softened so that we do not need to appeal to G’d as a benevolent ruler, i.e. King, to soften the attribute of Justice once more.
It appears that Avraham had a “claim” on the word א-ל as a name of G’d, as G’d uses this name when bestowing acts of loving kindness on His creatures. Yitzchok, on the other hand, had a similar claim on the word אלוקים for G’d, as this name represents Justice or judgment. This is why his son Yaakov in Genesis 31,42 speaks of פחד יצחק “He Who Yitzchok was in awe of and Who assisted me,” when describing Yitzchoks’ G’d.” Yaakov, had a “claim” on the tetragram, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה, the name of G’d representing primarily the attribute of Mercy. In order for the attribute of Justice to be “sweetened” somewhat, it needs to be applied in conjunction with the other two attributes we mentioned.
The Ari z’al said that the word אתה when used in the beginning of each benediction is an allusion to the attribute א-ל, so that when one commences the benediction with the words ברוך אתה י-ה-ו-ה, the word ברוך signifying continuation, or conduit, meaning that G’d continuously dispensing loving kindness by means of both His names אתה א-ל י-ה-ו-ה. Through His continuing to do so, G’d automatically “sweetens,” i.e. softens the impact of the attribute of Justice, the one referred to as אלוקינו in every benediction we pronounce. It follows that when one benediction follows on the heels of another benediction, there having been no prayer or psalm interrupting the two, that there is no need to acknowledge G’d once more as being King, as the full impact of the attribute of Justice has already been softened so that we do not need to appeal to G’d as a benevolent ruler, i.e. King, to soften the attribute of Justice once more.
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Me'or Einayim
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran (Gen. 28:10). Rashi explained, “When he arrived in Haran he resolved to go back; immediately the land contracted for him, which is And he came to a certain place (Gen. 28:11).”
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Me'or Einayim
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran (Gen. 28:10). Rashi explained, “When he arrived in Haran he resolved to go back; immediately the land contracted for him, which is And he came to a certain place (Gen. 28:11).”
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Kedushat Levi
An alternate approach to the paragraph commencing with: וירא והנה באר בשדה, “he looked, and here there was a well in the field, etc.;” The Talmud Pessachim 88 draws attention to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov each using a different simile when trying to condense their concept of G’d. Avraham saw G’d in terms of a הר, “mountain,” i.e. something far above our level towering above man. Yitzchok perceived him as שדה, a field, covering huge expanses of earth, but sharing earth with man. Yaakov perceived Him as בית, i.e. an intimate term, viewing G’d as if He were at home with human beings. A major difference between Yaakov’s concept of G’d and that of his forefathers, is that the former did not view G’d as being “at home” permanently on earth, whereas Yaakov did perceive Him as constantly accompanying man, much as a house is the symbol of a permanent presence. [The scriptural verses this is based on are: Genesis 22,14 בהר ה' יראה, “on the Mountain of Hashem, He may be seen.” Genesis 24,63 ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, “Yitzchok went out into the field to meditate.” In Genesis 28,19 the Torah quotes Yaakov as naming the site ביתאל, “house of the Lord”. Yaakov felt that the time had come when G’d could have a permanent home on earth. However, this had been a vision brought about by his dream/prophetic insight. After awakening he realized that down on earth, where greed, envy and jealousy were still prevalent, to wit the huge rock making the water of the well inaccessible accept when all the interested parties were assembled simultaneously, that the time was not yet ripe for G’d to feel at home in such an environment. By removing the rock, Yaakov wanted to demonstrate to the shepherds that a better future could be in store for mankind. I have reworded the thought expressed by the author somewhat, and have omitted the comparison to the portion of קן צפור in Deut. 22,6. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 29,5., “He said: ‘do you know Lavan son of Nachor, etc.?’” If we wish to read an allegorical meaning into Yaakov’s question to the shepherds: “where are you from, my brothers,” and their reply: “we are from Charan,” we must refer to the Zohar I 147, as well as the last Rashi on Parshat Noach where Rashi refers to an inverted letter נ at the end of the word חרן, [something that at the time of Minchas Shay, (Rabbi Yedidyah Shlomoh Rafael Minortzi of Mantua) was apparently still found in the Torah scrolls, Ed.] [The common denominator of both commentaries appears to be that the word חרן is an allusion to the attribute of Justice, suggesting that in that place such concepts as רחמים, mercy, something beyond strict justice was unheard of. Ed.]
Rashi there quotes an opinion according to which G’d related to mankind primarily with the attribute of Justice until the time of Avraham and his benevolent activities on earth. Yaakov enquired from the shepherds (who had demonstrated strict Justice by not trusting anyone not to take more than his fair share of water from the well unless he had been watched over by his colleagues) if they had not heard that there are also other yardsticks by which mankind could be judged, i.e. the attribute of Mercy. The reply of the shepherds appeared to have been in the negative when they emphasized that their home was חרן. Yaakov persisted in asking how it could be possible to live like that. The word (name) לבן, is perceived as the opposite of חרן, so that Yaakov’s question השלום לו, “is he well?” had a double entendre, referring also to his spiritual well being. According to this the shepherds replied: שלום לו, “he is physically and spiritually well.” The shepherds used the reference to his daughter Rachel as proof or rather as the cause that he was spiritually at peace, i.e. that his daughter Rachel was a major factor in this. They may have hinted without being aware of this, at Rachel’s future role near the throne of G’d as an advocate on behalf of her people in exile. (According to the Sefer Chassidim, Rachel’s spirit intervenes with G’d whenever the Jewish people face special problems. She possessed this power thanks to her good deeds while alive on earth).
Rashi there quotes an opinion according to which G’d related to mankind primarily with the attribute of Justice until the time of Avraham and his benevolent activities on earth. Yaakov enquired from the shepherds (who had demonstrated strict Justice by not trusting anyone not to take more than his fair share of water from the well unless he had been watched over by his colleagues) if they had not heard that there are also other yardsticks by which mankind could be judged, i.e. the attribute of Mercy. The reply of the shepherds appeared to have been in the negative when they emphasized that their home was חרן. Yaakov persisted in asking how it could be possible to live like that. The word (name) לבן, is perceived as the opposite of חרן, so that Yaakov’s question השלום לו, “is he well?” had a double entendre, referring also to his spiritual well being. According to this the shepherds replied: שלום לו, “he is physically and spiritually well.” The shepherds used the reference to his daughter Rachel as proof or rather as the cause that he was spiritually at peace, i.e. that his daughter Rachel was a major factor in this. They may have hinted without being aware of this, at Rachel’s future role near the throne of G’d as an advocate on behalf of her people in exile. (According to the Sefer Chassidim, Rachel’s spirit intervenes with G’d whenever the Jewish people face special problems. She possessed this power thanks to her good deeds while alive on earth).
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 29,10. “it was when Yaakov saw Rachel, etc.;” [the following has to be understood against the background of Yaakov, until that moment, not having felt capable of removing the stone from the top of the well. Ed.]
This verse is an allusion to the joy experienced by bride and groom, which is also compared to the joy of the Jewish people making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the festivals, as we know from Ezekiel 11,19 where the prophet describes the reaction of the returning exiles being the feeling that a heavy stone has been lifted from their hearts. The “stone” there describes the weight of the left side of the emanations, the seat of the forces of Satan, the crushing weight of which prevented the Jewish people from experiencing prophetic insights while in exile. Our author cites psalms 90,12 ונביא לבב חכמה, “so that we may obtain a wise heart,” as a heart capable of receiving prophetic insights. Yaakov’s being able to remove the rock from the well once he set eyes on Rachel, means that obstacles to serving the Lord were removed by his vision of Rachel.
This verse is an allusion to the joy experienced by bride and groom, which is also compared to the joy of the Jewish people making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the festivals, as we know from Ezekiel 11,19 where the prophet describes the reaction of the returning exiles being the feeling that a heavy stone has been lifted from their hearts. The “stone” there describes the weight of the left side of the emanations, the seat of the forces of Satan, the crushing weight of which prevented the Jewish people from experiencing prophetic insights while in exile. Our author cites psalms 90,12 ונביא לבב חכמה, “so that we may obtain a wise heart,” as a heart capable of receiving prophetic insights. Yaakov’s being able to remove the rock from the well once he set eyes on Rachel, means that obstacles to serving the Lord were removed by his vision of Rachel.
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Kedushat Levi
[There follows a paragraph that I have not been able to follow completely, so that I am not able to translate into English without possibly misrepresenting the author’s meaning. Ed.]
An alternate approach to the verse: “Yitzchok went for a stroll in the field close to evening, when he raised his eyes and beheld camels approaching” The Talmud (B’rachot 26), when commenting on this line says that Avraham, (compare Genesis 19,26) composed the daily morning prayer, the word ויעמוד “he stood,” meaning that he stood engaged in prayer, whereas Yitzchok composed the daily afternoon prayer, מנחה. According to the Talmud, the word שיחה when used in the Torah always refers to prayer, תפלה. [It does not occur again in the Torah, although it does occur in psalms 102,1.Ed.] Yaakov, the third of the patriarchs, introduced the evening prayer, מעריב. This is based on Genesis 28,11 ויפגע במקום וילן שם כי בא השמש, “he met G’d there as the sun was about to set and spent the night there.” [The word המקום, meaning G’d, is not unusual. Ed.] We need to examine why a prayer is called מנחה, “gift.” The morning prayer being called שחרית, is easy to understand as the word שחר means morning, when the sun begins to shine. Calling the evening prayer מעריב is also easy to understand as it is offered in the evening, ערב. But naming the afternoon prayer מנחה appears somewhat difficult. Tossaphot Yom Tov, already recognized this anomaly and answers it by referring to the period when it is recited as מנוחת השמש, “when the sun rests.”
I propose a different explanation. I believe the root of the word מנחה is simply “gift,” not “rest.” This prayer is presented at a time, when man does not think that he has to either thank the Lord for having awoken well from his sleep, or after having completed the day’s chores without problems and entrusting our soul to G’d once more when we lie down, confident that He will restore it to us in the morning. Neither of these considerations motivates us to devote time to prayer in the middle of our daily activities. If we take time out to pray during the day nonetheless, G’d may consider this as a gift from us to Him.
An alternate approach to the verse: “Yitzchok went for a stroll in the field close to evening, when he raised his eyes and beheld camels approaching” The Talmud (B’rachot 26), when commenting on this line says that Avraham, (compare Genesis 19,26) composed the daily morning prayer, the word ויעמוד “he stood,” meaning that he stood engaged in prayer, whereas Yitzchok composed the daily afternoon prayer, מנחה. According to the Talmud, the word שיחה when used in the Torah always refers to prayer, תפלה. [It does not occur again in the Torah, although it does occur in psalms 102,1.Ed.] Yaakov, the third of the patriarchs, introduced the evening prayer, מעריב. This is based on Genesis 28,11 ויפגע במקום וילן שם כי בא השמש, “he met G’d there as the sun was about to set and spent the night there.” [The word המקום, meaning G’d, is not unusual. Ed.] We need to examine why a prayer is called מנחה, “gift.” The morning prayer being called שחרית, is easy to understand as the word שחר means morning, when the sun begins to shine. Calling the evening prayer מעריב is also easy to understand as it is offered in the evening, ערב. But naming the afternoon prayer מנחה appears somewhat difficult. Tossaphot Yom Tov, already recognized this anomaly and answers it by referring to the period when it is recited as מנוחת השמש, “when the sun rests.”
I propose a different explanation. I believe the root of the word מנחה is simply “gift,” not “rest.” This prayer is presented at a time, when man does not think that he has to either thank the Lord for having awoken well from his sleep, or after having completed the day’s chores without problems and entrusting our soul to G’d once more when we lie down, confident that He will restore it to us in the morning. Neither of these considerations motivates us to devote time to prayer in the middle of our daily activities. If we take time out to pray during the day nonetheless, G’d may consider this as a gift from us to Him.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 31,13. “I am the G’d of Betel to Whom you have vowed, etc.” The spelling of the word ביתאל both here and in 35,1 suggests that a house may serve more than one function. It may serve a person to dwell in, just as clothing serves the body as a “house” to surround him with a feeling of security and familiarity. When you see the clothes a person wears, this serves as a preparation to making the acquaintance of the personality behind these clothes. When you see the house a person lives in, you get an initial impression of what kind of a person lives in such a house.
When a person prepares to “meet” his Creator, in prayer, etc., he also has to prepare himself for what to expect, by performing certain commandments that serve his soul, much as his clothing serves his body. One of the most appropriate “introductions” prior to addressing G’d is to do so in a house designated for this purpose, i.e. a synagogue. The type of “preparations” used, depend on the importance of the “interview” one expects to have with one’s Creator. Issues involving life and death, obviously deserve a more careful preparation.
In psalms 84,2 and 84,3 respectively, the authors (sons of Korach) describe their yearning for entering either the dwellings of G’d on earth, or at least to be allowed to enter the courtyards of these dwellings. They speak of both their body (flesh) and their “heart,” (spirit) yearning for this. They hope that admission to these sites will enable them to shout for joy to the living G’d. Their yearnings reflect the fact that they are in exile, and they pray that they not be treated worse than birds that always can return to their nest. They are aware that in order to really come close to G’d, they must first make the appropriate preparations, i.e. build a Temple with the courtyards surrounding it. The psalmist clearly suggests, at the end of verse 3, that only after these preparations have been made can his heart and body rejoice having come closer to His Creator. He can then approach G’d being certain that he, on his part, has made the appropriate preparations.
Our author sees in the word נכספה at the beginning of verse 3 an additional spiritual plus of the psalmist, as he made plain that he had made the necessary preparations that would entitle him to have the desired “interview” with Hashem, but he emphasizes, that contrary to performing such a commandment as putting on phylacteries, an act that does not involve pleasurable sensations of his body, what he did when building a courtyard and temple for G’d involved him emotionally on the highest level. He was literally yearning for the spiritual experience no less than the body on occasion yearns for satiating physical urges.
On folio 40 in Kidushin 40, where the Talmud deals with the relative moral/ethical value of appropriate intentions when compared to performance, but not necessarily with appropriate intentions, we are told that if someone planned sincerely to perform a certain commandment but was prevented from carrying out his intention by forces beyond his control, he is credited with having performed the commandment. In emphasizing the value of a constructive attitude, the Talmud adds that planning to commit a transgression, and carrying it out, brings in its wake a penalty only for the execution, not for the planning that preceded carrying out the foul deed. [The planning of idolatry is the only exception to this rule. ibid. Ed.]
This is also the meaning of Deuteronomy 6,6: והיו הדברים האלה אשר אני מצוך היום על לבבך, “these matters that I command you this day shall be on your heart.” Even commandments that are not capable of being fulfilled in exile should remain part of our constant consciousness through discussion between father and son, pupil and teacher, so that we are not deprived of receiving a reward for them as if we had actually performed them. The desire to be able to perform the respective commandments in reality is the principal criterion used by G’d to judge our mitzvah performance. Even King David in Chronicles I 22,14 already referred to this when he said (concerning his desire to build a Temple) והנה בעניי הכינותי לבית ה' זהב ככרים מאה אלף כסף וגו', “and here through denying myself, I have set aside for the house of the Lord one hundred thousands talents of gold, and one million talents of silver, etc;” what David meant was that the commandment of charity cannot only be fulfilled by the actual handing out of sums of money, but can also be carried out by preparing such monies to be ready when the need arises. David adds that even while he was not able to hand out sums that were needed because he was temporarily short of even bare essentials for himself, i.e. בעניי, his sincere desire to be of help would be accounted for him as if he had actually carried out his desire, as we know from psalms 119,106 נשבעתי ואקימה לשמור משפטי צדקך, “I have sworn to keep Your just rules.” [As soon as the opportunity will arise. Ed.] Yaakov had similar thoughts when he vowed that if G’d would be with him and grant him even minimal comforts he would turn what is now merely a stone into a building designed to serve G’d. G’d reminds him (31,13) of this vow by describing Himself as אנכי הא-ל ביתאל, saying that His presence will not only be with him in his heart, but that he can now carry out his desire to convert the stone he had anointed into a house of G’d.
When a person prepares to “meet” his Creator, in prayer, etc., he also has to prepare himself for what to expect, by performing certain commandments that serve his soul, much as his clothing serves his body. One of the most appropriate “introductions” prior to addressing G’d is to do so in a house designated for this purpose, i.e. a synagogue. The type of “preparations” used, depend on the importance of the “interview” one expects to have with one’s Creator. Issues involving life and death, obviously deserve a more careful preparation.
In psalms 84,2 and 84,3 respectively, the authors (sons of Korach) describe their yearning for entering either the dwellings of G’d on earth, or at least to be allowed to enter the courtyards of these dwellings. They speak of both their body (flesh) and their “heart,” (spirit) yearning for this. They hope that admission to these sites will enable them to shout for joy to the living G’d. Their yearnings reflect the fact that they are in exile, and they pray that they not be treated worse than birds that always can return to their nest. They are aware that in order to really come close to G’d, they must first make the appropriate preparations, i.e. build a Temple with the courtyards surrounding it. The psalmist clearly suggests, at the end of verse 3, that only after these preparations have been made can his heart and body rejoice having come closer to His Creator. He can then approach G’d being certain that he, on his part, has made the appropriate preparations.
Our author sees in the word נכספה at the beginning of verse 3 an additional spiritual plus of the psalmist, as he made plain that he had made the necessary preparations that would entitle him to have the desired “interview” with Hashem, but he emphasizes, that contrary to performing such a commandment as putting on phylacteries, an act that does not involve pleasurable sensations of his body, what he did when building a courtyard and temple for G’d involved him emotionally on the highest level. He was literally yearning for the spiritual experience no less than the body on occasion yearns for satiating physical urges.
On folio 40 in Kidushin 40, where the Talmud deals with the relative moral/ethical value of appropriate intentions when compared to performance, but not necessarily with appropriate intentions, we are told that if someone planned sincerely to perform a certain commandment but was prevented from carrying out his intention by forces beyond his control, he is credited with having performed the commandment. In emphasizing the value of a constructive attitude, the Talmud adds that planning to commit a transgression, and carrying it out, brings in its wake a penalty only for the execution, not for the planning that preceded carrying out the foul deed. [The planning of idolatry is the only exception to this rule. ibid. Ed.]
This is also the meaning of Deuteronomy 6,6: והיו הדברים האלה אשר אני מצוך היום על לבבך, “these matters that I command you this day shall be on your heart.” Even commandments that are not capable of being fulfilled in exile should remain part of our constant consciousness through discussion between father and son, pupil and teacher, so that we are not deprived of receiving a reward for them as if we had actually performed them. The desire to be able to perform the respective commandments in reality is the principal criterion used by G’d to judge our mitzvah performance. Even King David in Chronicles I 22,14 already referred to this when he said (concerning his desire to build a Temple) והנה בעניי הכינותי לבית ה' זהב ככרים מאה אלף כסף וגו', “and here through denying myself, I have set aside for the house of the Lord one hundred thousands talents of gold, and one million talents of silver, etc;” what David meant was that the commandment of charity cannot only be fulfilled by the actual handing out of sums of money, but can also be carried out by preparing such monies to be ready when the need arises. David adds that even while he was not able to hand out sums that were needed because he was temporarily short of even bare essentials for himself, i.e. בעניי, his sincere desire to be of help would be accounted for him as if he had actually carried out his desire, as we know from psalms 119,106 נשבעתי ואקימה לשמור משפטי צדקך, “I have sworn to keep Your just rules.” [As soon as the opportunity will arise. Ed.] Yaakov had similar thoughts when he vowed that if G’d would be with him and grant him even minimal comforts he would turn what is now merely a stone into a building designed to serve G’d. G’d reminds him (31,13) of this vow by describing Himself as אנכי הא-ל ביתאל, saying that His presence will not only be with him in his heart, but that he can now carry out his desire to convert the stone he had anointed into a house of G’d.
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