Chasidut su Proverbi 11:32
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
The true foundation of the fear of God is faith. Only by understanding and consciously believing in the supreme lofty heights of God, and then actively fearing Him, does fear become complete. Man’s normal experience of fear usually stems from an awareness of his own deficiencies. Of this it is said (Yeshayahu, 44:17), “He makes himself an idol and bows down to it.”196In other words, he makes of himself an idol, which he bows down to. This kind of fear is called by the Zohar (Vaeira, 29a), “their fear.”197That is, their own personal fears, which they project outward, upon the idol. Since idolaters are deficient, they believe that by prostrating themselves to an idol and expressing their fear, stemming from a recognition of their own deficiency, the idol will emit a flow of energy to fill their lacks.198Using the example in note 177, above, we can say that a strong person fears being weak. He therefore prays to an idol to save him from weakness, although all he his really doing is projecting his own inner fears outward, and fearfully worshipping them. And even though the idol is actually powerless to do so, the idolater still believes that by projecting his fear outward, he himself will become complete. Ultimately, he is only worshiping the very deficiency that he fears. This is called, “bowing down to his idol.”199In other words, to the particular trait or idea that he has idolized. The word for idol in Hebrew, “pesel,” is connected to the word for pasul, which means “invalid” or “deficient.” Further in the Beit Yaakov it will be explained that the fear of the idolater, expressed in a place where he knows he is lacking, takes on two forms. The idolater will either erect a form of the lack itself, or a form of the fulfillment of that lack. A weak person will worship either the image of a hero, or the image a weakling. This will all be explained. The service of Israel, however, is different. For we recognize the awesome heights of God precisely through our own deficiencies,200This is opposite the process that leads to idolatry. Here, the awareness of one’s own deficiencies leads to an awareness of God’s grandeur and exaltedness, engendering a fear of God’s own greatness – not the projection of one’s own deficiencies onto an idol. as it is written (Iyov, 19:26), “From my flesh (meaning my limitations and deficiencies) I shall see God.” It is written in the Zohar (Emor, 90b): “I will dwell among the downtrodden and low of spirit.” (Yeshayahu, 57:15) This is the place of the greatest wholeness. When one brings himself low so that the awesome pride of the Supernal One, the Pride of all, may rest upon him, this is a place of wholeness.201One’s personal sense of lowliness brings about a revelation of Supernal Pride; that is, lowliness itself engenders a sense of a wholeness in that it connects one to God. This is mentioned in the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar (5b): The seventh level in the fear of God is one who lacks nothing,202Note the subtle shift of approach the author makes with this passage of the Zohar, as well the following one. Previously, R. Gershon Henokh juxtaposed the fear of idolators, which is born out of their sense of personal lack, to the rectified fear of Israel, in which a sense of lack produces an appreciation of God’s completeness. Now, the author begins to discuss a type of fear that is the result of completeness. Based upon this and other Izhbitzer texts (see Tzidkat HaTzaddik 212), he seems to mean the following: Because of Israel’s belief (emunah) in God’s utter transcendence, the sense of lack they feel does not result in idolatry – which is the transference of personal lack onto the divinity. Rather, Israel’s lack proves the very opposite – that God is wholely complete and transcendent, as R. Gershon Hanokh interprets the verse, “From my flesh, I see God” – “from my limitations, I deduce the Divine.” In other words – ironically – the idolaters desire for wholeness only exacerbates his weakness, whereas Israel’s acceptance of their weakness allows them to partake of the Divine wholeness. The author further explains that the correct means by which to assuage one’s sense of lack is Torah study. For Torah study frees a person from being fixated on a singular value or truth; thus he does not experience the fear resulting from a sense of personal deficiency in its loss. What is left is a sense of Divine transcendence, which engenders awe. (See note 195.) as it is written (Tehillim, 34:10), “Fear God, His holy ones, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him.” He is not one of those of whom it is said (Mishlei, 11:24), “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” If he is a Torah scholar, he shall not be lacking in Torah, for without Torah, there is no fear of God. This is as it is said (Pirkei Avot, 2:5), “An unlearned person does not fear sin.” Just as there is no Torah without the fear of God, similarly, there is no fear of God without the Torah.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations.Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?”;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations.
When Esau, at this point questions his father if he has only ברכה אתת, he asks whether his father cannot dispense a blessing for people whose origin is not in the holy section of the emanations, the section known as אחת. He feels, that surely seeing that he is his father’s son, his father must also be able to have reserved a blessing for him! By asking this question he contradicted the words of his father who had told him that the blessing he had already bestowed on Yaakov that made him senior to his older brother, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך, made this impossible. If he were to give Esau a similar blessing he would in effect deprive Yaakov of the blessing he had just given him. When Yitzchok heard what Esau demanded of him, seeing that he had told him that in his blessing he had made Yaakov the senior of the two, he realized the full extent of Esau’s wickedness, and that is why he added, now, without reservation, גם ברוך יהיה, “he shall also remain blessed!” Up until that moment Yitzchok had not realized that Esau was a product of the סטרא אחרא, the “left side” of the scheme of emanations. Having found that out, he now gave Esau a blessing that was in keeping with the “blessings” perceived as such by souls that originate in that realm, i.e. על חרבך תחיה, “seeing that you are loyal to the principle that might is right,” the principle espoused by people whose souls originate in the left side of the emanations, people who believe in the survival of the fittest, Yitzchok could only bless his son Esau by wishing him “success” (death) when he would be involved in such lethal encounters. He meant it in the sense that “until you pay the price with your physical life you will not be able to secure for yourself any life in the hereafter”. When such people lose their lives when engaged in what they perceive as a “holy” war, they may redeem themselves and secure life in the hereafter. [This editor has often wondered it the concept of our sages of a Mashiach ben Yoseph, a messiah who will die in battle before the advent of the Mashiach ben David, the ultimate redeemer, may not originate among the gentiles and earn his right to his hereafter in the manner just described. Ed.]
Genesis 27,40. Let us turn now to the next part of Yitzchok’s “blessing” to Easu, the words והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “but when you humble yourself you will be able to remove the his yoke from around your neck.”
According to Or Hachayim on our verse the word והיה in the above verse is to be interpreted as a form of joy, שמחה. Contrary to the accepted translation of this line, Rashi understands the word תריד, as “when you will suffer pain.” According to Proverbs 11,10 באבוד רשעים רנה “when the wicked perish there is jubilation.” Isaiah 1,3 speaks about the ox recognizing his owner. The fact is that when the ox wears a yoke he does not recognize (in the sense of welcoming) his master voluntarily, but only because he is forced to wear a yoke. When the yoke is removed he will honour his master by still respecting and welcoming him. Something parallel occurs in history about the Israel/Esau relationship. As long as the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the gentile nations paid reluctant respect to the Jewish people. Nowadays, when there is no longer a Temple in Jerusalem, the yoke which had restrained the Gentiles has been lifted from them, although their obligation, as a free willed creature created in the image of G’d to respect G’d’s people has not been lessened. G’d, after all, created this universe only for the sake of His people, the Jewish people. According to Isaiah 40,17 כל האומות כעין נגדו מאפס ותוהו נחשבו לו, “All nations are as naught in His sight; He accounts them as less than nothing.” This is in essence what Yitzchok told Esau when he said ופרקתו עולו מעל צווארך, “even when you will divest yourself of the yoke of Yaakov, in times when the Jewish people are in exile, as Rashi explains, you will only remove this yoke from your neck, i.e. temporarily during the time Israel is in exile, but inherently, your duty toward G’d, whose representative on earth the Jewish people are, will continue, just as an ox knows his master regardless if he is restrained by a physical yoke or not.” Upon hearing this, Esau raised his voice and wept, feeling frustrated that his father would not give him a blessing that would neutralize the one he had given to Yaakov. He had fully understood all the implications of the few words Yitzchok had said to him.
When Esau, at this point questions his father if he has only ברכה אתת, he asks whether his father cannot dispense a blessing for people whose origin is not in the holy section of the emanations, the section known as אחת. He feels, that surely seeing that he is his father’s son, his father must also be able to have reserved a blessing for him! By asking this question he contradicted the words of his father who had told him that the blessing he had already bestowed on Yaakov that made him senior to his older brother, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך, made this impossible. If he were to give Esau a similar blessing he would in effect deprive Yaakov of the blessing he had just given him. When Yitzchok heard what Esau demanded of him, seeing that he had told him that in his blessing he had made Yaakov the senior of the two, he realized the full extent of Esau’s wickedness, and that is why he added, now, without reservation, גם ברוך יהיה, “he shall also remain blessed!” Up until that moment Yitzchok had not realized that Esau was a product of the סטרא אחרא, the “left side” of the scheme of emanations. Having found that out, he now gave Esau a blessing that was in keeping with the “blessings” perceived as such by souls that originate in that realm, i.e. על חרבך תחיה, “seeing that you are loyal to the principle that might is right,” the principle espoused by people whose souls originate in the left side of the emanations, people who believe in the survival of the fittest, Yitzchok could only bless his son Esau by wishing him “success” (death) when he would be involved in such lethal encounters. He meant it in the sense that “until you pay the price with your physical life you will not be able to secure for yourself any life in the hereafter”. When such people lose their lives when engaged in what they perceive as a “holy” war, they may redeem themselves and secure life in the hereafter. [This editor has often wondered it the concept of our sages of a Mashiach ben Yoseph, a messiah who will die in battle before the advent of the Mashiach ben David, the ultimate redeemer, may not originate among the gentiles and earn his right to his hereafter in the manner just described. Ed.]
Genesis 27,40. Let us turn now to the next part of Yitzchok’s “blessing” to Easu, the words והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “but when you humble yourself you will be able to remove the his yoke from around your neck.”
According to Or Hachayim on our verse the word והיה in the above verse is to be interpreted as a form of joy, שמחה. Contrary to the accepted translation of this line, Rashi understands the word תריד, as “when you will suffer pain.” According to Proverbs 11,10 באבוד רשעים רנה “when the wicked perish there is jubilation.” Isaiah 1,3 speaks about the ox recognizing his owner. The fact is that when the ox wears a yoke he does not recognize (in the sense of welcoming) his master voluntarily, but only because he is forced to wear a yoke. When the yoke is removed he will honour his master by still respecting and welcoming him. Something parallel occurs in history about the Israel/Esau relationship. As long as the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the gentile nations paid reluctant respect to the Jewish people. Nowadays, when there is no longer a Temple in Jerusalem, the yoke which had restrained the Gentiles has been lifted from them, although their obligation, as a free willed creature created in the image of G’d to respect G’d’s people has not been lessened. G’d, after all, created this universe only for the sake of His people, the Jewish people. According to Isaiah 40,17 כל האומות כעין נגדו מאפס ותוהו נחשבו לו, “All nations are as naught in His sight; He accounts them as less than nothing.” This is in essence what Yitzchok told Esau when he said ופרקתו עולו מעל צווארך, “even when you will divest yourself of the yoke of Yaakov, in times when the Jewish people are in exile, as Rashi explains, you will only remove this yoke from your neck, i.e. temporarily during the time Israel is in exile, but inherently, your duty toward G’d, whose representative on earth the Jewish people are, will continue, just as an ox knows his master regardless if he is restrained by a physical yoke or not.” Upon hearing this, Esau raised his voice and wept, feeling frustrated that his father would not give him a blessing that would neutralize the one he had given to Yaakov. He had fully understood all the implications of the few words Yitzchok had said to him.
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