Chasidut su Salmi 103:78

So behold, the main intent of the above words, for practical application, is what I saw and heard from the mouth of Rabbeinu z"l himself, many times, that he lived new life all the time; like I heard from him many times saying, “I lived life today, such life as I had never experienced” etc. And also I heard him other times speaking a great deal about life, that the world calls everything life etc., and even regarding painful life there are many differences etc., see there in the Sichoth [CM #400], but actually the essence of life is True Longevity, which is the aspect of the Long Life of the blind one, who really lives long life, for he boasts that he is utterly old and yet utterly a suckling babe and still has not begun to live at all. For this is the essence of life: when one starts serving Hashem anew all the time, as if he has still not started serving him at all, as written (Deut. 6), “Asher anochi metzawekha hayom/Which I enjoin you today.” And our Rabbis z”l (Sifri there), commented, “Every day let them be new in your eyes;” and (ibid. 27) “Hasket ush'ma` Yisrael, hayom hazeh nihyeytha le`am laShem Eloheikha/Pay attention and listen, Yisrael: this day you are become a people to Hashem your God,” and our Rabbis z"l explained (brought in Rashi): every day let them be in your eyes as if today you have entered the covenant with him. And like I saw from Rabbeinu z"l innumerable times, that even though he had previously boasted of big and wondrous things, and revealed wondrous Torah never before heard, as he usually did — and then afterwards we saw him in great pain, and many times he laid out his pain and conversation before us from the depth of his heart, that he is extremely afflicted over how to attain being a Jew, like someone who never before smelled the spirit of serving Hashem. And whoever did not see this, it is impossible to describe it to him in writing, but a little about this is already explained in this Shevachim that are printed, and every time he would say that now he knows nothing at all, nothing nothing at all etc., even though earlier he had revealed what he revealed and boasted that he attained what he attained that is impossible to reveal; nevertheless immediately after he would say that he knows nothing at all. So the rule was that he never stood on one level, but just always quickly went from level to level in the apex of uppermost and loftiest levels, and even when he reached what he reached etc., his mind still did not grow cool to this etc. But here is not the place to prolong discussion of this, but it will be explained elsewhere. And this is truly the essence of life, when one attains always beginning anew in serving Hashem, which is truly the essence of life, as written (Deut. 30:20), “Ki hu chayeykha/It is precisely your life.” And the essence of serving Hashem is to always perform one's service anew, and to not fall into old age of the Sitra Achra; that his service not become old for him, God forbid, as Rabbeinu z"l warned us against and said it is forbidden to be old; not an old tzaddik and not an old chasid, old is not good etc., as explained in his holy Sichoth appended to Sipurei Ma`asiyoth, namely, one needs to always begin anew. And this is the essence of the long life of the holy elder who is the blind one, for he was most old and most yanik [infantile, lit. suckling], that is, the more he grew and became subsumed into holy elderliness which is the aspect of `Atik de`Atikin, the more yanik he became. For, each time he perceived that he is utterly far from Hashem Yithbarakh, for “there is no probing His greatness,” therefore the more he was subsumed into holy elderliness, the more he saw and perceived that he still has not begun living at all, until he attained the aforementioned Long Life where elderliness and infancy and united, which is totally impossible to comprehend. And this is the aspect of tefillin which are drawn from the aforementioned Elder, who is the root of the tefillin, brains, as mentioned., which are the aspect of life, as mentioned., the aspect (ibid 4), “We'atem hadeveqim baShem Eloheikhem chayim kulkhem hayom/And you that cleave to Hashem your God, all of you are live this day,” which is said of tefillin, as is known, for this is the essence of tefillin-brains, in order to attain, through the mitzwah of tefillin, living new life of holiness, to renew his days like an eagle, to begin serving Hashem Yithbarakh anew all the time, and not fall into the oldness of the Sitra Achra, to not view his devotion be as old; on the contrary, tangibly new, as if he had never ever began. For in truth, even one who is a very great tzaddiq and has labored and toiled many years in His Blessed devotion, nevertheless in accord with the Every Day Renewal of Creation, he still has not begun at all, for Hashem Yithbarakh does new things all the time, as written, “and in His goodness renews every day constantly the work of creation,” and no day is like another, and no time is like another, and each and every moment there are changes in the rising of the worlds and their order and position and conduct, in unfathomably wondrous and awesome changes. And all their vitality derives from the devotion of the man in this world, on which it all depends, from the head up to the Ein Sof. Therefore one must always serve Hashem Yithbarakh anew, in accord with the renewal of the work of creation in all the worlds needed now, and in accord with the revelation of the greatness of the Blessed Creator that needs to be revealed now. For, “Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” [Ps. 19], as every day, every night, every time and every moment, His Blessed Greatness is revealed in a new consciousness and awareness that never before existed. Therefore one needs to begin in His service new every time, in the aspect of, “Let them be like new in your eyes every day,” and this is the essence of vitality, this aforementioned aspect of long life, and as explained in Rabbeinu z"l's words, that the essence of longevity, the aspect of long life, is to see to it, every next coming day, to extend the day with additional sanctity and consciousness. For, the day, at its beginning when it comes to a man, is very narrow, and one needs to see to it to widen and lengthen it with additional sanctity all the time. And so every day one needs to see to it that each day be longer than the other, with additional sanctity and purity etc. (as explained in the Torah Pathach R' Shim`on in LM #60). And this is the essence of length of days, the aspect of long days, namely all the time beginning new in new service, with great addition. For, all the service he has performed until now, he needs to forget entirely, and now begin new, as mentioned. And by tefillin we attain this, as mentioned. And this is the essence of the mitzwah of tefillin that we lay every day, in order to attain life, the aspect of “You who cleave” as mentioned, that is, to attain the aforementioned long life, to renew is life of holiness at all times, beginning new all the time, and this is the essence of brains and life that originate are drawn from the aforementioned Most Supernal Elder, where the source of tefillin is, as mentioned, as he lives the aforementioned long life, as there, elderliness and infancy are united together, which this is the aspect of (Ps. 103), “That your youth be renewed as an eagle,” as our Rabbis z"l said (brought in Rashi there), “This eagle, the older it gets...”, that is, the older it gets, the more it renews its vitality and begins new, all the time beginning new life. And therefore he had concurrence from the Great Eagle specifically, for such vitality is the aspect of “Being renewed as an eagle” as mentioned. And the aspect of tefillin, which are the aspect of this life, is from there, as mentioned.

The Talmud Ketuvot 110 states that anyone residing in ‎the Holy Land is comparable to someone who has a G’d. The ‎meaning of that statement is that everyone who physically lives ‎in the land of Israel views himself as serving the Lord by his very ‎presence in the Holy Land, a land of substance. On the other ‎hand, anyone residing outside the Holy Land, seeing that he lives ‎in a land lacking substance, views himself as if he did not have a ‎G’d. This means that such a person has not even begun to serve ‎the Lord, (even if he thinks he has). This is also the meaning of ‎Isaiah 40,31 ‎וקווי ה' יחליפו כח‎, “but those who trust in the Lord ‎will renew their strength (constantly);” the prophet assures the ‎servants of the Lord, that seeing that their service of the Lord ‎leads them to new insights on a daily basis, they will never stand ‎still, (spiritually speaking). This is why the prophet adds that ‎they will not experience fatigue, i.e. ‎לא ייעפו‎. The word ‎עף‎, which ‎primarily means “flying,” is used by the prophet here to indicate ‎that the true servant of the Lord does not view himself as “flying ‎high” spiritually, but the opposite, ‎לא ייגעו‎, they view themselves ‎as not yet having arrived at the first way station on the way to ‎their destination. This is also the meaning of psalms 103,5 ‎תתחדש ‏כנשר נעוריכי‎, “your youth will be renewed like that of the eagles.”

Exodus 19,8“Moses brought back the people’s response to ‎G’d.” A look at the Or Hachayim will show that the ‎author did not understand this verse to mean that Moses brought ‎G’d the people’s “answer,” as G’d was aware of this answer and did ‎not need Moses to report this to Him. Moses “told” G’d of the ‎people’s response in order to make them more beloved in His ‎eyes. He emphasizes especially that the people had not said: ‎נשמע ‏ונעשה‎, “we will listen to G’d’s commandments and then perform ‎them,” implying that they would listen conditionally, but that ‎they had said: ‎נעשה ונשמע‎, “of course we will carry out the ‎commandments, only let us hear them, so that we will know what ‎to do.”‎
Another aspect of this verse is that Moses in reflecting on the ‎people’s response, realized that this response must have been ‎forthcoming as the result of Divine inspiration as there are simply ‎no normal people who would write such a “blank cheque”, not ‎knowing the amount that would be filled in. This thought is also ‎expressed in the Talmud Shabbat 88 where the Talmud ‎reports that at the moment when the Jewish people said: ‎נעשה ‏ונשמע‎, a heavenly voice was heard asking: ‘who told these people ‎the secret of this formula that is reserved for the angels?’ ‎‎(compare psalms 103,20) where the psalmist quotes them saying ‎‎“Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His servants who do His will; etc.” In ‎that verse too the angels are described as doing G’d’s “word”, ‎עושי ‏דברו‎, before having heard G’d issue the command, ‎לשמוע בקול ‏דברו‎. The reason the angels did so was that they wanted to ‎parallel, to equal what the Israelites had done. Moses realized ‎upon reflecting on this that if the Israelites had responded with a ‎similar reaction to the message Moses had brought them from the ‎celestial regions, that they must have had a heavenly assist, i.e. ‎have been inspired by G’d to do so. The verse describing Moses as ‎‎“bringing the people’s response to G’d,” meant that he told G’d ‎that he knew that the people had been inspired by Him to ‎respond in the manner that they did. Expressed differently, Moses ‎told G’d that he was aware that it had been G’d’s wish that they ‎respond in the manner that they did.‎

Indeed, all who sincerely and carefully study the words of the Rambam will see that the conduct of the world, from the beginning of effluence at the Source of Life down to the depths in the lowly physical world, are all included in the workings of the Divine Chariot. The true imprint of the Merkava is apparent in all of existence. This idea was expressed by the holy Arizal in the seventh section of the Ez Hayyim (heichal ABI”YA) in introduction to the sha’ar tsiyur ha’olamot (gate of the picture of the worlds). He says, “We now find that this lowly planet earth, which contains people and animals, and all the vessels of the physical world, is the most external of all the worlds. The aspect of the “inner direct light” (ohr yosher pnimi).¹⁰⁷Visualize the universe (including all the spiritual worlds) a series of concentric circles, with a radial line cutting through them. (See next footnote.) The innermost point would be the physical world, and each circle representing a higher spiritual realm, with the Eyn Sof – the God’s infinite light – surrounding them all. Afterwards, the earth is surrounded by the heavens and the firmament (the “cosmos”), which is the aspect of the ohr makif d’yosher d’asiya – the surrounding direct light of the physical world. This level is surrounded by different, spiritual “heavens,” which are the ohr makif iggulei d’asiya, ¹⁰⁸Iggulim – ten Sefirot in concentric circles on the level of nefesh (the lowest level of soul), representing general providence. Yosher – ten Sefirot divided into three columns, right, left, and middle, or upper, middle and lower triads – is the level of ruach, a higher level of soul, representing individual providence. The Lurianic cosmology describes the entire existence is an alternation of levels of Iggulim and Yosher. However, when the Zohar discusses sefirot, or how God sends his power down and communicates with mankind, it mostly refers to the three column “human” arrangement of the ten sefirot called, “yosher.” Simply put, the author regards the Rambam’s understanding of the Divine Charriot and Arizal’s order and flow of Divine effluence as one in the same. which translates as the encompassing light of the iggulim (“concentric circle arangement”) of the physical universe. (And the Infinite Eyn Sof surrounds everything.)” (This was found earlier in the Tikkunei Zohar (introduction, page 3b), “and above all, He illuminates in the ten Sefirot of the word of emanation (atzilut), and (then, after in) the ten Sefirot of the world of creation (beriyah), and in the ten groups of angels in the world of formation (yetzirah), and in the ten spherical firmaments if the physical world (asiyah). In every place, He does not change.”) In the Etz Hayyim it is explained that the “garments” are the aspect of vessels. The essence (atzmut) is dressed within the vessels.¹⁰⁹The author now refers to an alternative depiction of reality. Rather than thinking of God as surrounding reality from without (with physicality being the densest, center point), we can also think of God as within; that is, at the heart of creation, with successively dense layers of creation “covering” and concealing Him from without. Both models are true, depending upon one’s perspective. There it is also explained that in each of the worlds, the essence is divided into the five levels of soul (in order from lowest to highest), nefesh, ruah, neshama, haya, yehida. Each garment covers an inner soul. Yet each garment is also the inner soul for that which clothes it from the outside. Here we find it stated explicitly that the planets of the solar system are themselves the vessels in the World of Assiya. It is further explained that the Divine Chariot is found in all of the worlds, vessels, essence, and soul-levels of nefesh, ruah, neshama, haya, and yehida. Though we find it said in the Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar Klipat Nogah, Ch. 2) that the Divine Chariot is in the World of Formation (yetzirah), yet this means that it is perceived from nogah¹¹⁰A spiritual level even lower than the World of Assiyah. Again, the point here is to dispel any notion that the Rambam understood the Holy Chariot as mere astronomy. More likely, the Rambam was hiding the true, hidden meaning from the unworthy, for the workings of astronomy hint at the deeper reality. A person of great spiritual sensitivity can look at astronomy and see how it is actually a garment for the spiritual realms of Godliness, which are constantly sustaining the physical world. This world is just a parable waiting to be solved by “the moral of the story,” according to true wisdom. in the World of Assiyah until its root in the World of Yetzirah. This is clearly explained in all of the chapters mentioned. We explained above that because of the Babylonian exile, it was necessary to reveal the mysteries of the Divine Merkava to Yehezkel, in order to show him that God’s sovereignty is in all governing forces. (See Tehillim, 103:19) Therefore, Yehezkel saw from the very source of understanding until the place where he needed to see, namely the place which is the source of the power of Divine concealment, meaning until the world of formation (yetzirah). It is explained in the Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar haKlipah, Ch. 3) that in the world of emanation (astiloot, the highest of the four worlds) in the realm of holiness, good is prevalent over evil. This is also true in the world of creation (beriyah, second highest world). Below, in the world of formation (yetsira), the amount of good and evil are equal. This is why the power of the concealment of God’s presence begins in the world of formation. Thus it was necessary to show the prophet Yehezkel that the source of the power of concealment is in the hands of God, as mentioned in the Zohar quoted above (Shemot, 2b, Bamidbar, 118b.)

There is no speech without thought, for you think before you speak. Therefore, when you think before prayer about what and to whom you are about to speak, certainly awe and shame will fall upon you, until speech itself seems an awesome thing. When you contemplate on the fact that the world of speech is actually the holy Shechina speaking through you, and unites all the aspects: fear, love, pride, and so on -- when you contemplate this, how can you not feel awe and shame, knowing that you are arousing the Shechina, as it were, and all these aspects. This is the meaning of (Psalms 103:20) "Those who do God's word-" that they turn speech into action.