다니엘 4:35의 Chasidut
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
“The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.” (Tehillim 111:10) The consciousness called the fear of God is the vessel a person needs to receive the Torah,178On a simple level, “receiving the Torah,” means “observing the commandments”; on a deeper level, it means perceiving the very root of the Torah, which is a revelation of God. as it is written (Yeshayahu 33:6), “The fear of God is His storehouse,”179That is, the fear of God holds and stores something; in this case, the Torah. and, as the first part of this verse says, “He shall be the stability (emunah) of your times.”180The entire verse reads: “He shall be the stability of your times, a store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge, the fear of God is His storehouse” (Yeshayahu, 33:6). The Talmud (BT Shabbat 31a) regards each of the attributes as hinting to another order of the Mishnah: “Stability-Faith” - Zera’im (Seeds); “Your times” – Moed (Festival); “Strength” – Nashim (Women); “Salvation” – Nezikin (Damages); “Wisdom” – Kodoshim (Holy Things) and “knowledge” –Tehorot (Purities). The order of Zera’im deals with the laws of planting, harvesting, tithes, etc. It is alluded to by the word “emunah” (meaning both faith and stability) because a person with faith in God will plant. (See, Tosefot, ibid., who cites the Jerusalem Talmud.) There is a deeper relationship between these two uses of the word, as well. In Judaism, in general, faith is not necessarily an abstract feeling or concept, but a level of stability and unwavering commitment, in the sense of “faithfulness.” “Nevertheless,” says the Talmud, “without the fear of God as a storehouse, one has nothing.”181The last statement, “The fear of God is His storehouse,” does not hint at a particular body of knowledge or tract, but rather to the key ingredient needed in order to preserve the knowledge of all the preceding categories. Without the fear of God, or the intense awareness of God’s conduct of the world, joined with an understanding that God both rewards and punishes, the treasures will be lost. In other words, without the fear of God one cannot truly fulfill the Torah. The first consideration is faith,182The verse from Yeshayahu begins with a reference to emunah (stability, faith) and ends with a reference to fear of God (the storehouse). This alludes to the author’s statement above, that faith precedes fear, while fear gives context to faith. which is the root of the fear of God, whereas the fear of God is the vessel which holds faith. But what kind of faith are we talking about? It is the kind in which a person believes that God is all-powerful and exalted. On this, the Zohar writes:183Introduction, 11b.“In the beginning God created…” This is the very first commandment, which is called, “Fear of God.” The fear of God is called, “the beginning,” as it is written, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God,” and (Mishlei 1:7), “The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.” It is the gate one must enter in order to arrive at faith.184The reader may notice a contradiction here. Above, R. Gershon Henokh stated that faith preceeds fear of God; here, the Zohar states that fear of God precedes faith. As will become clear below, there are two types of faith: a deep, inner certainty in God’s existence, which leads to fear andn awe of Him, and a higher type of faith, which actually transcends the limited intellect and the duality of this world, which is the result of this type of fear. In this way, the whole world depends on this commandment. There are three aspects to the fear of God. The first two lack a correct foundation, which the third one has. The first kind is when a person fears God in order that He not bring harm upon his children,185In retribution for the father’s own sins. or in order not to personally suffer physical retribution or financial loss.186Such as on account of his transgressions. He fears God constantly for these reasons, yet his fear lacks a foundation. The second kind is when person fears God in order not to suffer punishment in the world-to-come or in Hell.187Gehinom, more accurately translated as purgatory. These two kinds of fear are not true expressions of the fear of God. The third and true expression is when person fears God solely because He is the Great and Sovereign Ruler of the universe, the root and source of all the worlds, and that everything is considered as nothing before Him, as it is written (Daniel 4:32), “All the inhabitants of the world are considered as naught before Him.” One should place all of his desire on this place which is called “fear.”188Notice how the author, using this passage from the Zohar, has changed the definition of fear. It is no longer centered upon the human being and his concerns, reducing God’s greatness in the process; rather, it opens a person to the absolute transcendence of God and takes him beyond his petty concerns – ultimately into a Divine realm that transcends logic and duality, as we will see below.
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Kedushat Levi
Having said all this, we are faced with the question why according to Rashi, (Genesis 7,7) Noach was of a category described by our sages as קטני אמונה, “lacking in adequate faith.” How could a man be described as perfectly righteous, צדיק תמים, and at the same time display a lack of faith in the Lord? Another question we must ask is why Noach, if he did not feel that rebuking his peers would help, did not at least pray for his fellow human beings prior to the deluge?
We must refer once more to the distinction between the two categories of righteous people. One category has earned the title “tzaddik” because he serves only the one and only true G’d, the Creator, and believes that this Creator is all powerful and guides the universe in accordance with His wishes.
Noach, though aware of the many sexual perversions practiced by the people around him, and being steadfast in not copying their behaviour, is attested to by the Torah describing him as תמים היה בדורותיו, “he was perfect in his time.” Nonetheless, his loyalty to the Creator certainly did not endear him to his peers, hence “he walked with G’d”, as there was no one else “with whom to walk.” Sadly, only G’d appreciated his self-restraint, his righteousness.
Having said all this, we are faced with the question why according to Rashi, (Genesis 7,7) Noach was of a category described by our sages as קטני אמונה, “lacking in adequate faith.” How could a man be described as perfectly righteous, צדיק תמים, and at the same time display a lack of faith in the Lord? Another question we must ask is why Noach, if he did not feel that rebuking his peers would help, did not at least pray for his fellow human beings prior to the deluge?
We must refer once more to the distinction between the two categories of righteous people. One category has earned the title “tzaddik” because he serves only the one and only true G’d, the Creator, and believes that this Creator is all powerful and guides the universe in accordance with His wishes.
Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmeni in Moed Katan 16 commenting on Samuel II 23,1 where the prophet introduces King David’s last utterances, (actually a “hymn,”) with the words: נאום דוד בן ישי ונאום הגבר הוקם על, ”words of David son of Yishai, and of the strong man who has been elevated and anointed by G’d, etc.” He continues there in verse 3: אמר אלוקי ישראל לי דבר צור ישראל מושל באדם צדיק מושל יראת אלוקים, “Israel’s G’d said concerning me: ‘be ruler over mankind, be ruler over awe of G’d.’” According to Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmeni, the somewhat enigmatic verse must be understood as follows: David, who had raised high the banner of repentance (when he said to the prophet Natan in response to his rebuke that he had been guilty of without ifs or buts in the matter of Bat Sheva) “G’d rules man, whereas the righteous rules G’d.” What is meant by “the righteous rules G’d?” Initially G’d decrees what man’s fate will be; however, the intercession of a tzaddik’s prayer” may result in G’d’s decree being cancelled.” The Talmud suggests that when a tzaddik is not only concerned with his own salvation but endeavours to bring sinners closer to G’d, his prayer can influence G’d to the extent that He will cancel a decree of death already promulgated in heaven against certain individuals or groups of people. Noach, alas, did not engage in active attempts to influence people by rebuking them.
[No doubt, whenever Noach was asked during the 120 years that he built the ark why he did so, he told his peers that G’d had instructed him to do this in order to escape the deluge that would occur. Ed.]
One of the reasons that he did not pray for his fellow man may have been that he felt inadequate to be able to cancel a decree that G’d had told him He had issued. He may have been motivated by considerations we encounter in connection with Neuchadnezzar (Sanhedrin 92). We are told there that when throwing Chananyah, Michael and Azaryah into a fiery furnace from which all three were saved, G’d also commanded Ezekiel to revive the dead bones of the Jews that had been killed by Nevuchadnezzar when he destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple. One of the newly revived was instructed to touch Nevuchadnezzar on his forehead and to identify himself as one of the many thousands who had been resurrected. Nevuchadnezzar was so impressed that he began to compose songs of praise extolling the Almighty. Thereupon an angel shut Nevuchadnezzar’s mouth to prevent him from continuing. Had the angel not done so, all the hymns composed by King David would have lost in value when compared to the songs composed by Nevuchadnezzar.
The word used by the Talmud to describe what would have occurred is לגנות, “to denigrate, or defame.” When reminding ourselves of the tzaddik’s ability, under certain conditions to reverse a decree that originated from the Attribute of Justice, and to cause it to become a beneficial decree, we can understand why Nevuchadnezzar had begun to sing the Lord’s praises; [after all he had deliberately destroyed G’d’s Temple on earth. Ed.] When he noticed that Ezekiel’s prayers had resulted in an army of people being resurrected, he became afraid that another prayer by the same person, or persons like him, would result in his life’s work, the destruction of the Temple, being reversed also. In order to pre-empt any prayer by any tzaddik being able to achieve this, he tried to pre-empt anyone from offering such a prayer and being granted his request, by extolling G’d’s greatness in even more glowing terms than David had done in the Book of Psalms.
Noach, far from being a boastful individual, proclaiming himself as a major deity, was the very opposite, a humble person, to whom it would not have occurred that a prayer of his would influence G’d to reverse a decree which He had certainly not arrived at without first having agonized over it. [He even told Noach that He would delay execution of this decree for up to 120 years, this is why He told Noach when he was 480 years old to start building the ark. Ed.] It was because he did not consider himself as especially righteous, that he reasoned that just as he would be saved, so there must be numerous other people of similar stature who would also be saved. When G’d noticed this, He told Noach (Genesis 6,13) that He would have to proceed with His intention to destroy the human race as there was no one who had tried to intercede on their behalf. Nonetheless, He made plain to Noach, that although he had not interceded on behalf of his fellow humans, He would maintain the existing covenant between G’d and mankind through Noach and his family. (Genesis 6,18).
We must refer once more to the distinction between the two categories of righteous people. One category has earned the title “tzaddik” because he serves only the one and only true G’d, the Creator, and believes that this Creator is all powerful and guides the universe in accordance with His wishes.
Noach, though aware of the many sexual perversions practiced by the people around him, and being steadfast in not copying their behaviour, is attested to by the Torah describing him as תמים היה בדורותיו, “he was perfect in his time.” Nonetheless, his loyalty to the Creator certainly did not endear him to his peers, hence “he walked with G’d”, as there was no one else “with whom to walk.” Sadly, only G’d appreciated his self-restraint, his righteousness.
Having said all this, we are faced with the question why according to Rashi, (Genesis 7,7) Noach was of a category described by our sages as קטני אמונה, “lacking in adequate faith.” How could a man be described as perfectly righteous, צדיק תמים, and at the same time display a lack of faith in the Lord? Another question we must ask is why Noach, if he did not feel that rebuking his peers would help, did not at least pray for his fellow human beings prior to the deluge?
We must refer once more to the distinction between the two categories of righteous people. One category has earned the title “tzaddik” because he serves only the one and only true G’d, the Creator, and believes that this Creator is all powerful and guides the universe in accordance with His wishes.
Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmeni in Moed Katan 16 commenting on Samuel II 23,1 where the prophet introduces King David’s last utterances, (actually a “hymn,”) with the words: נאום דוד בן ישי ונאום הגבר הוקם על, ”words of David son of Yishai, and of the strong man who has been elevated and anointed by G’d, etc.” He continues there in verse 3: אמר אלוקי ישראל לי דבר צור ישראל מושל באדם צדיק מושל יראת אלוקים, “Israel’s G’d said concerning me: ‘be ruler over mankind, be ruler over awe of G’d.’” According to Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmeni, the somewhat enigmatic verse must be understood as follows: David, who had raised high the banner of repentance (when he said to the prophet Natan in response to his rebuke that he had been guilty of without ifs or buts in the matter of Bat Sheva) “G’d rules man, whereas the righteous rules G’d.” What is meant by “the righteous rules G’d?” Initially G’d decrees what man’s fate will be; however, the intercession of a tzaddik’s prayer” may result in G’d’s decree being cancelled.” The Talmud suggests that when a tzaddik is not only concerned with his own salvation but endeavours to bring sinners closer to G’d, his prayer can influence G’d to the extent that He will cancel a decree of death already promulgated in heaven against certain individuals or groups of people. Noach, alas, did not engage in active attempts to influence people by rebuking them.
[No doubt, whenever Noach was asked during the 120 years that he built the ark why he did so, he told his peers that G’d had instructed him to do this in order to escape the deluge that would occur. Ed.]
One of the reasons that he did not pray for his fellow man may have been that he felt inadequate to be able to cancel a decree that G’d had told him He had issued. He may have been motivated by considerations we encounter in connection with Neuchadnezzar (Sanhedrin 92). We are told there that when throwing Chananyah, Michael and Azaryah into a fiery furnace from which all three were saved, G’d also commanded Ezekiel to revive the dead bones of the Jews that had been killed by Nevuchadnezzar when he destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple. One of the newly revived was instructed to touch Nevuchadnezzar on his forehead and to identify himself as one of the many thousands who had been resurrected. Nevuchadnezzar was so impressed that he began to compose songs of praise extolling the Almighty. Thereupon an angel shut Nevuchadnezzar’s mouth to prevent him from continuing. Had the angel not done so, all the hymns composed by King David would have lost in value when compared to the songs composed by Nevuchadnezzar.
The word used by the Talmud to describe what would have occurred is לגנות, “to denigrate, or defame.” When reminding ourselves of the tzaddik’s ability, under certain conditions to reverse a decree that originated from the Attribute of Justice, and to cause it to become a beneficial decree, we can understand why Nevuchadnezzar had begun to sing the Lord’s praises; [after all he had deliberately destroyed G’d’s Temple on earth. Ed.] When he noticed that Ezekiel’s prayers had resulted in an army of people being resurrected, he became afraid that another prayer by the same person, or persons like him, would result in his life’s work, the destruction of the Temple, being reversed also. In order to pre-empt any prayer by any tzaddik being able to achieve this, he tried to pre-empt anyone from offering such a prayer and being granted his request, by extolling G’d’s greatness in even more glowing terms than David had done in the Book of Psalms.
Noach, far from being a boastful individual, proclaiming himself as a major deity, was the very opposite, a humble person, to whom it would not have occurred that a prayer of his would influence G’d to reverse a decree which He had certainly not arrived at without first having agonized over it. [He even told Noach that He would delay execution of this decree for up to 120 years, this is why He told Noach when he was 480 years old to start building the ark. Ed.] It was because he did not consider himself as especially righteous, that he reasoned that just as he would be saved, so there must be numerous other people of similar stature who would also be saved. When G’d noticed this, He told Noach (Genesis 6,13) that He would have to proceed with His intention to destroy the human race as there was no one who had tried to intercede on their behalf. Nonetheless, He made plain to Noach, that although he had not interceded on behalf of his fellow humans, He would maintain the existing covenant between G’d and mankind through Noach and his family. (Genesis 6,18).
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Kedushat Levi
Numbers 6,25. “may the Lord shine His face upon you and grant you grace.”
When a person enjoys grace he certainly feels elevated, promoted. On the other hand, how is it possible for a mere creature, a human being to entertain feelings of pride or glory when facing his Creator?
Did not Daniel 4,32 already state that “all the inhabitants of the earth are of no account,” i.e. ודירי ארעא כלא חשיבין.
By contrast, our verse confirms that G’d Himself bestowed glory on His people Israel. He did so in order that they find grace in His eyes.
When a person enjoys grace he certainly feels elevated, promoted. On the other hand, how is it possible for a mere creature, a human being to entertain feelings of pride or glory when facing his Creator?
Did not Daniel 4,32 already state that “all the inhabitants of the earth are of no account,” i.e. ודירי ארעא כלא חשיבין.
By contrast, our verse confirms that G’d Himself bestowed glory on His people Israel. He did so in order that they find grace in His eyes.
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Mevo HaShearim
As is well known, as the Besht wrote in a letter to the Toldot Yaakov Yosef: “Behold, I have received your letter and see...that your honor says that he is nearly compelled to engage in fasting. My innards trembled on account of this statement, and I add with angelic decree,528See Daniel 4:14. and joining with the Blessed Holy One and His Shekhinah, that he not enter himself into this danger, God forbid. For this is an act of black bitterness and depression, and the Shekhinah does not resides in depression...but rather in the joy of the commandments…”
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 49,19. “Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at their heels.” We can best understand this blessing by referring to the Talmud shabbat 151 where we are told that when human beings demonstrate that they are merciful to G’d’s creatures, G’d in turn will have mercy on them.” Man’s actions trigger responses in heaven; in this instance, positive responses. What possible example of Gad’s having preformed acts of mercy do we know of? We have learned on folio 104 of the tractate Shabbat that the very sequence of the letters ג and ד which make up Gad’s name are an acronym meaning גומל דלים, “relating with loving kindness to the poor.” When a person deals charitably with the poor and he expects that G’d will in turn reward him for this by causing him to forget about the impending reward at the time the charitable deed is performed, so that this person has attained an even higher spiritual level thereby. Yaakov alludes to this when saying words which at first glance sound as if he is repeating himself, whereas actually he hints that certain actions inspired by one consideration may prove to be even more profitable (spiritually) when carried out altogether altruistically. The word עקב in our verse may be understood as in Deut. 7,12 והיה עקב תשמעון, “it will be as a result (automatic) of your hearkening to G’ds laws, etc.” In that verse G’d promises that He will honour the terms of His covenant with the Jewish people. The word גוד may be related to Daniel 4,11 (Aramaic) גודו אילנא, “cut down the tree,” i.e. when the Jewish people perform deeds of loving kindness their enemies will be cut down by G’d. According to Targum Onkelos on Deut.7,12 who renders עקב תשמעון as חלף תקבלון, “what you will receive in exchange,” this is what is meant in our verse as יגוד, “as reward for forgetting about any reward”.
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Keter Shem Tov
"The one who walks alone on a path and studies and makes a break from their study..." (Pirkei Avot 3:4 [in Sefaria's version, Avot 3:7]). A problem: "and makes a break from their study" alone would tell us that they were studying [i.e. and we don't need "and studies"]. A further problem: "the verse is applied to them... [as though they were liable for death]" (ibid.) -- and it doesn't explain which verse! And it's possible to explain as follows: "the one who walks on a straight path" -- and even if they are alone, which is to say that they are not fused to the Name may it be Blessed -- "and studies and makes a break in their study", here the text wants to say "makes a break" [between] the person themself and the Name may it be blessed. They do this by means of their study, since greatness and glory come to them by means of their study, and they think that they own their study. "They say 'how beautiful is this tree'" (ibid.) -- and regarding themself they say the same in their heart, as it is written "for is a man a tree of the field" (Deuteronomy 20:19). And they further say that "this tree [that you saw] grow and become mighty" (Daniel 4:17) [c.f. use of the verse in Zohar 3:53b in reference to tree of life/Torah]. "How beautiful is this newly ploughed field" (Avot 3:7) -- as it is written "Break up your fallow ground" (Jeremiah 4:3). Meaning, that they say they are preparing for themself a portion in the world to come by means of their study. "The verse is applied to them" (Avot 3:7) -- meaning, the verse "You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 18:13) -- meaning, even when you are engaged with Torah! As it says of Torah, "the Torah of God is whole" (Psalms 19:8) -- and that which it says "You shall be wholehearted" -- even in engagement with Torah, "you should be with the Lord your God." And do not say "Isn't the Torah itself called 'Torah of God'?" [and that this suffices for one's relationship with God]. And that is what it says this "verse is applied to them" -- that it includes all the Torah, "as though they were liable for death."
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