Chasidut su Salmi 90:78
Kedushat Levi
In the Shemone Esre we say "and regarding all Your miracles that are every day with us" - with us, precisely, in that we act through our actions that You will make miracles with us. "And for Your wonders and Your goodness that are every moment, evening, morning and midday" and "with us" is not mentioned, because we do not cause [them] rather that [God] makes them flow due to God's lovingkindness, as it were, without any arousing from below. And I will explain to you, with help from Heaven, that the miracles from the Exodus from Egypt were made by the Holy Blessed One through God's great lovingkindness without any Lower Arousing, which is not the case with Hanukkah. Those miracles were a little bit also due to the lower ones, since the Hashmonai and his sons were fighting with valor the evil Antiochus, may his name be erased. Therefore we say in Hanukkah "May the favor of the Lord, our God, be upon us. let the work of our hands prosper, prosper the work of our hands!" (Ps. 90:17) - to hint that the miracle of Hanukkah was brought a bit by the works of our hands, in the war, despite the fact that the Blessed Name prospered the work of our hands, that the Holy Blessed One made us successful through the works of our hands, that we won the war.
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Kedushat Levi
Numbers 23,19. “G’d is not man that He should lie, nor mortal that He should repent;” Our sages in Taanit 23, commenting on Job 22,28 ותגזור אומר ויקם לך ועל דרכיך נגה אור commonly translated as “You will decree and it will be fulfilled; and light will shine on Your affairs,” divide this verse into two halves, the first half referring to what man decrees on earth, and the second to what G’d fulfils in heaven. This is a way of explaining how it is that the tzaddik can “reverse G’d’s decree.” [The problem is that if so, how can Bileam say that the difference between man and G’d is that the latter does not “lie,” i.e. that His decrees cannot be upset by forces other than Him? The subject has to be studied in the Talmud where the sages debated the right of Choni ham’agel to pray insistently for rain, when apparently G’d had decree a drought. Ed.]
Our author tries to explain these apparent contradictions in a variety of ways. When Moses is referred to as איש האלוקים, in psalms 90,1 the reason is that he tried to be like G’d through invoking repeal of G’d’s harsh decrees against His people. We find something analogous in psalms 106,23 where the psalmist credits Moses with reversing G’d’s decree to annihilate the Jewish people. Our author views the use of the word אלוקים when applied to man as G’d “dressing up” in human garb and then complying with the requests made in the tzaddik’s prayerThis “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This is also the meaning of the words: ה' איש מלחמה ה' שמו, “the Lord is a ‘man’ of war, his name is Hashem.” (Exodus15,3) Moses extols G’d’s “dressing up” in human garb when He destroys the mortal enemies of the Jewish people. He will perform what the tzaddik requests of Him when avenging the wrongs committed by the gentile nations against His chosen people. He will do so, since in the process His name will become sanctified and glorified.
While at first glance it may appear strange that G’d will assume the role of a “warrior” at the behest of one of His tzaddikim when this results in the destruction of His creatures, [something He is so loath to do this that His angels are not allowed to applaud it by singing a song, Ed.], the fact remains that the destruction of the wicked at the hands of G’d represents a major sanctification of G’d’s name, and this is why in the victory song of Moses in Exodus 15, He is described not as אלוקים, the attribute of Justice, but as Hashem, the attribute of Mercy, as the merits of this sanctification of His Name accrue to the “victims”, though not knowingly, seeing that at least their death has resulted in the sanctification of G’d’s Name. He thus performed an act of loving kindness for His enemies even while depriving their bodies of their lives.
Our author tries to explain these apparent contradictions in a variety of ways. When Moses is referred to as איש האלוקים, in psalms 90,1 the reason is that he tried to be like G’d through invoking repeal of G’d’s harsh decrees against His people. We find something analogous in psalms 106,23 where the psalmist credits Moses with reversing G’d’s decree to annihilate the Jewish people. Our author views the use of the word אלוקים when applied to man as G’d “dressing up” in human garb and then complying with the requests made in the tzaddik’s prayerThis “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This is also the meaning of the words: ה' איש מלחמה ה' שמו, “the Lord is a ‘man’ of war, his name is Hashem.” (Exodus15,3) Moses extols G’d’s “dressing up” in human garb when He destroys the mortal enemies of the Jewish people. He will perform what the tzaddik requests of Him when avenging the wrongs committed by the gentile nations against His chosen people. He will do so, since in the process His name will become sanctified and glorified.
While at first glance it may appear strange that G’d will assume the role of a “warrior” at the behest of one of His tzaddikim when this results in the destruction of His creatures, [something He is so loath to do this that His angels are not allowed to applaud it by singing a song, Ed.], the fact remains that the destruction of the wicked at the hands of G’d represents a major sanctification of G’d’s name, and this is why in the victory song of Moses in Exodus 15, He is described not as אלוקים, the attribute of Justice, but as Hashem, the attribute of Mercy, as the merits of this sanctification of His Name accrue to the “victims”, though not knowingly, seeing that at least their death has resulted in the sanctification of G’d’s Name. He thus performed an act of loving kindness for His enemies even while depriving their bodies of their lives.
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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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Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
Therefore, even if one is beset by great pains and agonies (may God save all of His people Israel from them and give them only good, salvation, and comfort!), even to the extent where it is said in the Talmud (Eruvin, 41) that suffering can make a person go mad and break ways with God, still, this should not contradict the teaching of the Sages in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah, 11a) that all creatures were created by their own agreement, and with full knowledge of their form and character. For what is the whole life of this world, “seventy years of hard labor and sorrow,” 461Tehillim, 90:10 in comparison to the eternal life of the world-to-come? It is truly like a dream before waking reality. Yet even this comparison is made just in order to present an analogy that can be easily understood. For there is no way to compare this world and the eternal world-to-come. Though there is a great difference between a dream and conscious reality, still, dreams exist in time. And even though dreams are for a brief moment in comparison to the passage of time in conscious reality, still, they do occupy a portion of time. This is not so with the ephemeral world in comparison to the eternal world-to-come. One cannot be compared to the other whatsoever, and they have no way of being joined together in any way or part. This is because that which is limited cannot be joined to that which is limitless.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 15,3.“The Lord is a man of war, nonetheless His name is Hashem, i.e. the Merciful One.” The author refers to a commentary of his on psalms 90,1 תפלה למשה איש האלוקים, “a prayer by Moses, the man of G’d.” He repeats a theme he has dwelled on repeatedly, that it is the primary effort of the righteous during all of their lives to make their contribution to G’d dispensing the maximum amount of His largesse for His creature. The prayers of the righteous are not concerned with asking for their personal well being, but with asking for the well being of the community within which they live. We perceive of G’d as “garbing” Himself in the mantle woven by the prayers of the righteous. This explains why Moses referred to G’d as איש, “man.” A righteous person in our time is comparable to Moses in his time. The Talmud in Shabbat 101 confirms this by saying that every righteous person in our time may be called “Moses,” hence the commencement of psalm 90 with the words תפלה למשה, do not refer only to the original Moses. The message of the psalm is that the prayers of the righteous in our generation are as effective in their effect on G’d as the prayers of Moses in his time. G’d garbing Himself with the prayers of the righteous is something that is the case only when the result (G’d’s largesse) is to become manifest immediately as beneficial. When G’d responds negatively to our prayers He is never referred to as איש. Hence the meaning of Bileam’s blessing in Numbers 23,19 לא איש א-ל ויכזב, “G’s is not like man who deceives,” teaches that the negative virtue of deceiving is called כזב. We never find the term איש applied to G’d when He is active in His attribute of Justice, decreeing punishment on His people. This remains true even if in answer to the prayers of the righteous He decrees judgment on our adversaries. In such instances He may be referred to as גבור, Warrior, or some other name depicting His attribute of Justice. [This is the difference between G’d as איש מלחמה and elsewhere as גבור מלחמה, (Isaiah 3,2; psalms 24,8) To make the distinction clear, Moses, repeats ה' שמו, His name, predominantly is Hashem, the Merciful One].
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