출애굽기 16:37의 Chasidut
Likutei Halakhot
2. Now the general rule for our subject is: there are aspects that are in order and not in order, which are the aspect of (Psalms 139:5), "you have formed me backward and forward”, the aspect of Adam and Eve, Aleph Bet and Tav-Shin-Resh-Kuf. Adam corresponds to YHVH spelled out with Alephs , which is numerically equivalent to 45, which is the aspect of order, corresponding to “before”, to Aleph Bet in a forward sequence. Eve is the aspect of speech, the aspect of “night to night will tell” (Psalms 19:3), the aspect of Malchut Peh, etc., the aspect of Tav-Shin-Kuf-Resh in a backward sequence, to, ”backward”, etc. This is as we see, that a person sometimes goes along not in order. This comes about from the aspect of 'not in order', as seen above, by the person having severed disorder from order. This blemish is caused mainly by haughtiness, as (one says) "I will rule", for in this way a person takes Eve-Malchut for himself and severs it from Hashem, and then it is not in its whole perfect state. This is because its main sustenance is from the Divine Name of מ"ה, which is the intellect, which is in the aspect of order. The perfection of all things is only when they are united and bound with Hashem, when they receive perfect sustenance from Him. Wholeness comes from the mind, etc., the aspect of Wisdom, כ"ח מ"ה (the power of Mah), as in "Wisdom sustains life" (Kohelet 7:12) and as in "What is our life, what is our strength, etc" (morning prayers), and מ"ה is (numerically) equivalent to Adam. Then, it contains wholeness, etc. This is, "G-d's is the earth and its bounty" (Ps. 24:1), and then, everything is in order for a person, since, "Wherever there is the masculine, the feminine is not mentioned". Zohar III, Chukat, 183b. Therefore Eve, disorder, becomes submerged and nullified into Adam, order. And the aspect of order is called Yud and Malchut is called Dalet - דלי"ת לֵית לָהּ מִגַּרְמָהּ כְּלוּם, which has nothing of its own. Zohar I 170a. Hashem draws the sustenance of Wisdom, represented by the Yud, into the Malchut, represented by Yud-Vav-Dalet. This is "You formed me backwards and forwards and placed your Kaf upon me"; Kaf not meaning hand, but the letter Kaf, which is the Yud-Vav-Dalet (the letter Yud spelled out), which in Gematria equals Kaf (20). When a person separates the Dalet for himself and draws sustenance from it, his life then becomes disordered, and things do not go for him "in order", for he is now being sustained by "disorder", by the Malchut-Eve, tav-shin-resh-kuf. And therefore when one sees that things are not going 'in order', you should know that you have become haughty and you feel 'I shall rule'. What should you do? Repent, humble yourself and return to the category of מ"ה, as is written, "We are Mah (nothing) (Ex. 16:7). Then Eve is restored to the aspect of Adam, to the aspect of Mah, and things are restored to order. The main time for this repentence is during the month of Elul. Study all of this there well.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 16,1 “after the death of two of Aaron’s son when they came (too) near to the Presence of Hashem and died (as a result).”
There is a disagreement between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua concerning the precise meaning of our verse. Rabbi Eliezer holds that these two sons of Aaron were guilty of giving halachic rulings in the presence of their teachers, i.e. pre-empting them. Rabbi Joshua holds that their sin consisted in entering sacred precincts in a state of drunkenness. (Compare Vayikra Rabbah 20,7 and 9 respectively) We need to understand how Rabbi Eliezer deduced that the sons of Aaron issued a halachic ruling without consulting their teachers from the words: בקרבתם לפני ה' וימותו. If the reason they died was that they had not asked permission from Moses or Aaron to enter the sacred grounds, why did the Torah omit mentioning the most important reason for their death? Rabbi Joshua’s claim that they were drunk is also apparently unsupported by the text.
In order to better understand the opinion that these sons of Aaron were guilty of bypassing their teachers in not asking permission to enter the holy precincts of the Tabernacle, we must first understand why a sin described as failing to ask permission from their teachers should carry the death penalty at the hands of G’d. After all, they had not given an erroneous ruling, so that their sin would seem to have been only “bad manners.”
We must understand that when G’d created the world He also created boundaries between different domains both on earth and in the celestial regions. Any angel that enters a domain that is not his without express permission to do so, is immediately burned up. The chain of the domains in the universe begins (top) with the domain of the angels known as Seraphim, the domain containing G’d’s throne. The next lower domain is the domain of the angels known as chayot. The next lower level in the celestial domains is that known as ophanim. Starting with the next “lower” domain we enter the world of tzimtzum, described in the Kabbalistic texts as the 10 emanations, ספירות. If any angel enters a domain above the level he has been assigned, he simply disappears into nothingness.
There is a similar system of varying domains among the Jewish people. G’d had first condensed His brilliance so that Moses could bear it. Moses in turn had to condense it further for the protection of his brother Aaron when he spoke to him. This process continued with Aaron’s sons followed by the elders, followed again by the prophets, and thence eventually comprised all the Israelites. We know this on the authority of the Talmud in Eyruvin 54 in the paragraph commencing with the words: כיצד סדר משנה?, “what was the order in which the Torah was taught to the Israelite people originally?” The problem with Aaron’s sons was that they wanted to skip a rank to a higher level than that which had been assigned to them. They had not bothered to ask either Moses or Aaron who belonged to a higher domain permission to do so. They simply “presented themselves” before G’d without having obtained the credentials that would have made them welcome. As a result they were removed from earth. What happened to them could equally have happened to any other Israelite on a lower level who had presumed to “promote” himself without the blessing of his spiritual mentors. The principle known in the Talmud as המורה הלכה בפני רבו, “teaching halachic rulings in the presence of one’s teachers” i.e. trying to jumpstart closer relations to Hashem without their mentors’ approval is a severe enough sin to warrant the death penalty at the hands of G’d.
[When Pinchas, almost 40 years later did something, which on the face of it appeared as similar, this was not only not punishable but deserved reward as he was fully aware that he risked his life by doing so, but he did not do so from a feeling of superiority to his mentors but to save the lives of many thousands of Israelites who were already becoming victims of a plague that raged in the camp. (Numbers 25,6-8) Ed.]
After this tragic occurrence, the Torah, in order to make this point clear once and for all, legislates that even the High Priest Aaron, an intimate of G’d, allowed to pronounce the holy name of G’d, should know that even he could not arbitrarily choose when to invoke this intimacy and that he could enter the holy of Holies in the Tabernacle only when invited to do so, or when the ritual prescribed by the Torah for certain days in the calendar made this an annual event. (Compare 15,2)
There is a disagreement between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua concerning the precise meaning of our verse. Rabbi Eliezer holds that these two sons of Aaron were guilty of giving halachic rulings in the presence of their teachers, i.e. pre-empting them. Rabbi Joshua holds that their sin consisted in entering sacred precincts in a state of drunkenness. (Compare Vayikra Rabbah 20,7 and 9 respectively) We need to understand how Rabbi Eliezer deduced that the sons of Aaron issued a halachic ruling without consulting their teachers from the words: בקרבתם לפני ה' וימותו. If the reason they died was that they had not asked permission from Moses or Aaron to enter the sacred grounds, why did the Torah omit mentioning the most important reason for their death? Rabbi Joshua’s claim that they were drunk is also apparently unsupported by the text.
In order to better understand the opinion that these sons of Aaron were guilty of bypassing their teachers in not asking permission to enter the holy precincts of the Tabernacle, we must first understand why a sin described as failing to ask permission from their teachers should carry the death penalty at the hands of G’d. After all, they had not given an erroneous ruling, so that their sin would seem to have been only “bad manners.”
We must understand that when G’d created the world He also created boundaries between different domains both on earth and in the celestial regions. Any angel that enters a domain that is not his without express permission to do so, is immediately burned up. The chain of the domains in the universe begins (top) with the domain of the angels known as Seraphim, the domain containing G’d’s throne. The next lower domain is the domain of the angels known as chayot. The next lower level in the celestial domains is that known as ophanim. Starting with the next “lower” domain we enter the world of tzimtzum, described in the Kabbalistic texts as the 10 emanations, ספירות. If any angel enters a domain above the level he has been assigned, he simply disappears into nothingness.
There is a similar system of varying domains among the Jewish people. G’d had first condensed His brilliance so that Moses could bear it. Moses in turn had to condense it further for the protection of his brother Aaron when he spoke to him. This process continued with Aaron’s sons followed by the elders, followed again by the prophets, and thence eventually comprised all the Israelites. We know this on the authority of the Talmud in Eyruvin 54 in the paragraph commencing with the words: כיצד סדר משנה?, “what was the order in which the Torah was taught to the Israelite people originally?” The problem with Aaron’s sons was that they wanted to skip a rank to a higher level than that which had been assigned to them. They had not bothered to ask either Moses or Aaron who belonged to a higher domain permission to do so. They simply “presented themselves” before G’d without having obtained the credentials that would have made them welcome. As a result they were removed from earth. What happened to them could equally have happened to any other Israelite on a lower level who had presumed to “promote” himself without the blessing of his spiritual mentors. The principle known in the Talmud as המורה הלכה בפני רבו, “teaching halachic rulings in the presence of one’s teachers” i.e. trying to jumpstart closer relations to Hashem without their mentors’ approval is a severe enough sin to warrant the death penalty at the hands of G’d.
[When Pinchas, almost 40 years later did something, which on the face of it appeared as similar, this was not only not punishable but deserved reward as he was fully aware that he risked his life by doing so, but he did not do so from a feeling of superiority to his mentors but to save the lives of many thousands of Israelites who were already becoming victims of a plague that raged in the camp. (Numbers 25,6-8) Ed.]
After this tragic occurrence, the Torah, in order to make this point clear once and for all, legislates that even the High Priest Aaron, an intimate of G’d, allowed to pronounce the holy name of G’d, should know that even he could not arbitrarily choose when to invoke this intimacy and that he could enter the holy of Holies in the Tabernacle only when invited to do so, or when the ritual prescribed by the Torah for certain days in the calendar made this an annual event. (Compare 15,2)
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Noam Elimelech
And after that one needs to rise to a more complete level, that is “a third for Mishnah”, meaning, that a person needs to intend for one’s learning to the higher worlds for the sake of unification, as it is known. And this is the expression “Mishnah” that is, double, as “and it was double [mishneh] of what they gathered etc” (Exodus 16:5) and this is “the sages taught in the language of the Mishnah” that is to say that they taught in this language that is double as we explained, that is, they learned for the lower, but their intention was for Above, so to unify. And this is “whoever repeats (shoneh) laws every day is assured a place in the world to come” (Niddah 73a) - which is obviously understood, as we explained.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 31,12. “Hashem said to Moses, to say: but you are to observe My Sabbath days for the Sabbath is a sign between Me and you, etc;” our sages in the Talmud Beytzah 16 learned from this verse that when one gives a gift to one’s fellow man one needs to inform him of this fact; they quote the fact that G’d gave the Jewish people the gift of the Sabbath, but made a point of informing them beforehand. In the parlance of our sages, G’d told the people that He had kept a valuable gift hidden in His treasure chamber, a gift called Sabbath. What did G’d mean by referring to the Sabbath as a valuable gift? He referred to the light and the holiness that emanates from the celestial regions and supplies people with something we loosely refer to as רוח הקודש, holy spirit, also known as ערבות, a name for pleasurable sensations as experienced in the celestial regions.
Actually, we are meant to be looking forward to the special gifts experienced on the Sabbath throughout the six working days, and therefore we should concern ourselves with the preparations for the Sabbath not only on the Sabbath but every day. The degree in which we experience the gift of holy spirit just described on the Sabbath reflects the efforts we have made during the week to welcome the Sabbath when it comes.
When we read in Exodus 16,5 –concerning the first Sabbath the Israelites experienced in the desert when the manna did not fall but they received an extra portion of the preceding day- והכינו את אשר יביאו, ”they are to prepare what they are going to bring home on that day,” this is an instruction to prepare oneself for the Sabbath on the weekday. Our sages have coined a famous phrase when they said מי שאינו טרח בערב שבת מהיכן יאכל בשבת?, “if someone did not make the necessary effort on the Sabbath eve, how he is going to have something to eat on the Sabbath?”
In spite of the fact that we human beings made an effort to provide for our needs, the Sabbath is still considered a valuable gift. The reason is that all man’s efforts notwithstanding, he is not entitled to an automatic gift of holiness nor is he entitled to be the recipient of outpourings of G’d’s largesse. If G’d’s gift of the Sabbath is entirely gratuitous, why do we need to put in so much effort into preparing for the Sabbath? The reason is that G’d’s gift of the Sabbath is in danger of being wasted unless the recipient has provided a receptacle that ensures that it can be put to good use. [If someone receives a bouquet of flowers but does not have a vase to put these flowers in to fill it with water to preserve them, the gift is wasted. Ed.]
Observance of the Sabbath consists of two separate aspects, called by the Torah: זכור ושמור “to remember,” and “to keep,” in the two versions of the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 respectively) In kabbalistic parlance the זכור aspect refers to the masculine side of the table of emanations, whereas the שמור aspect belongs to the feminine side. [The “masculine” aspect refers to the spiritual aspect, whereas the “feminine” aspect refers to the materialistic aspect. Ed.] Some people observe the Sabbath primarily on account of the physical pleasures it affords, i.e. a rest from back-breaking labour in the field during the weekdays, consuming more and tastier food, spending “quality” time with one’s family, etc. Others view the Sabbath as a day that affords them an opportunity to provide their Creator with pleasure and satisfaction for having created him.
The most revealing comment about the value of honouring the Sabbath by sanctifying it through reciting Kiddush and not violating any of its negative commandments, is found in the Talmud (Shabbat 118) where the sages say that anyone doing this will have all his previous sins forgiven even if he had been the type of idolater that was current in the generation of Enosh (Adam’s grandson). The reason why observance of the Sabbath is such a powerful means of man rehabilitating himself in the eyes of the Lord through observing its laws, is that each transgression he commits, is an act of distancing himself from his holy origins, his roots, leaving a stain on his soul. Observing the laws of the Sabbath is an act of returning to one’s roots thereby removing stains on his soul. The additional spiritual light that G’d bestows on us on the Sabbath also acts as therapy for a soul that has been injured. This then is the מתנה טובה, “the valuable gift” G’d bestows upon us every Sabbath. If someone observes the Sabbath exclusively in order to take advantage of the “window” for immediate forgiveness for his sins this is “good,” but it is a far cry from observing the Sabbath optimally. Hence his observance is called “observing the feminine aspect of the Sabbath.”
Clearly, when someone observes the Sabbath for such considerations it is a good thing, but even if he observes the Sabbath for the sake of receiving spiritual rewards this is not yet the “optimal” manner in which to observe the Sabbath, it is still part of the aspect of the Sabbath we have called the “feminine” aspect. We have mentioned a number of times that serving G’d, i.e. including through Sabbath observance, that the highest level of such service must always revolve around his “giving” something to His Creator not around his “receiving” something from Him. This “giving” must not be confused with presenting sacrifices on the altar. It need not be a tangible gift; in fact it cannot be a tangible gift seeing that G’d has no use for tangible gifts, seeing everything in the universe is His by definition? Sabbath observance, just as any other form of service, including prayer, must be designed to please the Lord and give Him satisfaction in order to qualify as keeping the “masculine, זכור aspect of the Sabbath.” When David said in psalms 68,35 תנו עוז לאלוקים, “give might to G’d!,” he emphasized the need for man to give something to G’d that will confirm and reinforce His power as being actual not only potential through His creatures responding to Him and seeking His nearness. This may be done through performance of commandments physically.
Actually, we are meant to be looking forward to the special gifts experienced on the Sabbath throughout the six working days, and therefore we should concern ourselves with the preparations for the Sabbath not only on the Sabbath but every day. The degree in which we experience the gift of holy spirit just described on the Sabbath reflects the efforts we have made during the week to welcome the Sabbath when it comes.
When we read in Exodus 16,5 –concerning the first Sabbath the Israelites experienced in the desert when the manna did not fall but they received an extra portion of the preceding day- והכינו את אשר יביאו, ”they are to prepare what they are going to bring home on that day,” this is an instruction to prepare oneself for the Sabbath on the weekday. Our sages have coined a famous phrase when they said מי שאינו טרח בערב שבת מהיכן יאכל בשבת?, “if someone did not make the necessary effort on the Sabbath eve, how he is going to have something to eat on the Sabbath?”
In spite of the fact that we human beings made an effort to provide for our needs, the Sabbath is still considered a valuable gift. The reason is that all man’s efforts notwithstanding, he is not entitled to an automatic gift of holiness nor is he entitled to be the recipient of outpourings of G’d’s largesse. If G’d’s gift of the Sabbath is entirely gratuitous, why do we need to put in so much effort into preparing for the Sabbath? The reason is that G’d’s gift of the Sabbath is in danger of being wasted unless the recipient has provided a receptacle that ensures that it can be put to good use. [If someone receives a bouquet of flowers but does not have a vase to put these flowers in to fill it with water to preserve them, the gift is wasted. Ed.]
Observance of the Sabbath consists of two separate aspects, called by the Torah: זכור ושמור “to remember,” and “to keep,” in the two versions of the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 respectively) In kabbalistic parlance the זכור aspect refers to the masculine side of the table of emanations, whereas the שמור aspect belongs to the feminine side. [The “masculine” aspect refers to the spiritual aspect, whereas the “feminine” aspect refers to the materialistic aspect. Ed.] Some people observe the Sabbath primarily on account of the physical pleasures it affords, i.e. a rest from back-breaking labour in the field during the weekdays, consuming more and tastier food, spending “quality” time with one’s family, etc. Others view the Sabbath as a day that affords them an opportunity to provide their Creator with pleasure and satisfaction for having created him.
The most revealing comment about the value of honouring the Sabbath by sanctifying it through reciting Kiddush and not violating any of its negative commandments, is found in the Talmud (Shabbat 118) where the sages say that anyone doing this will have all his previous sins forgiven even if he had been the type of idolater that was current in the generation of Enosh (Adam’s grandson). The reason why observance of the Sabbath is such a powerful means of man rehabilitating himself in the eyes of the Lord through observing its laws, is that each transgression he commits, is an act of distancing himself from his holy origins, his roots, leaving a stain on his soul. Observing the laws of the Sabbath is an act of returning to one’s roots thereby removing stains on his soul. The additional spiritual light that G’d bestows on us on the Sabbath also acts as therapy for a soul that has been injured. This then is the מתנה טובה, “the valuable gift” G’d bestows upon us every Sabbath. If someone observes the Sabbath exclusively in order to take advantage of the “window” for immediate forgiveness for his sins this is “good,” but it is a far cry from observing the Sabbath optimally. Hence his observance is called “observing the feminine aspect of the Sabbath.”
Clearly, when someone observes the Sabbath for such considerations it is a good thing, but even if he observes the Sabbath for the sake of receiving spiritual rewards this is not yet the “optimal” manner in which to observe the Sabbath, it is still part of the aspect of the Sabbath we have called the “feminine” aspect. We have mentioned a number of times that serving G’d, i.e. including through Sabbath observance, that the highest level of such service must always revolve around his “giving” something to His Creator not around his “receiving” something from Him. This “giving” must not be confused with presenting sacrifices on the altar. It need not be a tangible gift; in fact it cannot be a tangible gift seeing that G’d has no use for tangible gifts, seeing everything in the universe is His by definition? Sabbath observance, just as any other form of service, including prayer, must be designed to please the Lord and give Him satisfaction in order to qualify as keeping the “masculine, זכור aspect of the Sabbath.” When David said in psalms 68,35 תנו עוז לאלוקים, “give might to G’d!,” he emphasized the need for man to give something to G’d that will confirm and reinforce His power as being actual not only potential through His creatures responding to Him and seeking His nearness. This may be done through performance of commandments physically.
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Kedushat Levi
Numbers 13,17. “ascend from here in the south and climb the mountain from which you will be able judge the nature of the land.”
The rule is that when engaging in the attempt to elevate “sparks”, i.e. spiritually fallen people, one must first attach oneself firmly to G’d’s attribute of חסד, loving kindness. The location of that attribute traditionally is the south, דרום, another word for נגב, south, means חסד, i.e. breaking the hold of the evil urge over one’s various תאוות, lust and cravings. We have already explained this elsewhere in connection with psalms 119,98 מאויבי תחכימני מצותיך כי לעולם היא, “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, they always stand by me.” The “enemy” in this verse is the evil urge, Satan, a force that G’d employs to test man’s ability to resist temptation. Man’s basic error in relating to the satisfying of his cravings is that he imagines that by indulging his cravings he attains true satisfaction, well being without more cravings. He does not realize that the only craving that will result in such satisfaction is his desire to provide pleasure for his Creator. This is what the psalmist means when he describes the fulfillment of his craving for the service of the Lord as one that is enduring.
This idea is also alluded to when Moses said to the men “touring” the land of Canaan ועליתם את ההר, “you will ascend the Mountain,” the “mountain” being the evil urge.
We have a statement in Sukkah 52 in which the evil urge is referred to as הר, “mountain.” The Talmud there refers to the post-messianic era during which G’d is presented as “slaughtering” the evil urge in the presence of both the righteous and the wicked. The evil urge in that story appears to the righteous as a mountain, whereas to the wicked he appears as a thin hair. Both the righteous and the wicked weep when looking at the evil urge. The wicked weep as they cannot believe that they had been unable to overcome such a weak adversary, whereas the righteous weep as in retrospect they marvel at having conquered such a high mountain. According to the report in the Talmud, G’d agrees with the wicked having reason to berate themselves for failing to have conquered their cravings. The righteous’ amazement was due to their realizing that they had used the very efforts by Satan to indulge their material cravings as a tool to serve the Lord with the kind of overpowering desire that had enabled them to completely dehumanize, i.e. turning the ego, אני into an אין, a creature devoid of material desires, by concentrating on the source from which all the divine souls originate. There is an additional allusion to this subject when Moses added that the “tourists” are also to evaluate the cities in the land of Canaan i.e. ומה הערים? In the words of the Talmud in Pessachim 88, when discussing the difference between Moses and Avraham, the Talmud distinguishes between an early stage in serving the Lord, when to Avraham G’d appeared to have His residence on top of the mountain, i.e. (Isaiah 2,3) whereas to Yaakov He had already appeared as a “house-guest” (in the same verse). Moses had attained a level where he could completely divest himself of ego, as when he said of both himself and his brother Aaron: ונחנו מה, “what do we as personalities amount to?,” making sure that he omitted the letter א in the wordאנחנו , when referring to himself and Aaron. (Exodus 16,7-8). When the tzaddik is aware of all the three nuances in serving the Lord, he will succeed in elevating the “sparks” together with him and as a result subject Satan to a humbling experience.
The rule is that when engaging in the attempt to elevate “sparks”, i.e. spiritually fallen people, one must first attach oneself firmly to G’d’s attribute of חסד, loving kindness. The location of that attribute traditionally is the south, דרום, another word for נגב, south, means חסד, i.e. breaking the hold of the evil urge over one’s various תאוות, lust and cravings. We have already explained this elsewhere in connection with psalms 119,98 מאויבי תחכימני מצותיך כי לעולם היא, “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, they always stand by me.” The “enemy” in this verse is the evil urge, Satan, a force that G’d employs to test man’s ability to resist temptation. Man’s basic error in relating to the satisfying of his cravings is that he imagines that by indulging his cravings he attains true satisfaction, well being without more cravings. He does not realize that the only craving that will result in such satisfaction is his desire to provide pleasure for his Creator. This is what the psalmist means when he describes the fulfillment of his craving for the service of the Lord as one that is enduring.
This idea is also alluded to when Moses said to the men “touring” the land of Canaan ועליתם את ההר, “you will ascend the Mountain,” the “mountain” being the evil urge.
We have a statement in Sukkah 52 in which the evil urge is referred to as הר, “mountain.” The Talmud there refers to the post-messianic era during which G’d is presented as “slaughtering” the evil urge in the presence of both the righteous and the wicked. The evil urge in that story appears to the righteous as a mountain, whereas to the wicked he appears as a thin hair. Both the righteous and the wicked weep when looking at the evil urge. The wicked weep as they cannot believe that they had been unable to overcome such a weak adversary, whereas the righteous weep as in retrospect they marvel at having conquered such a high mountain. According to the report in the Talmud, G’d agrees with the wicked having reason to berate themselves for failing to have conquered their cravings. The righteous’ amazement was due to their realizing that they had used the very efforts by Satan to indulge their material cravings as a tool to serve the Lord with the kind of overpowering desire that had enabled them to completely dehumanize, i.e. turning the ego, אני into an אין, a creature devoid of material desires, by concentrating on the source from which all the divine souls originate. There is an additional allusion to this subject when Moses added that the “tourists” are also to evaluate the cities in the land of Canaan i.e. ומה הערים? In the words of the Talmud in Pessachim 88, when discussing the difference between Moses and Avraham, the Talmud distinguishes between an early stage in serving the Lord, when to Avraham G’d appeared to have His residence on top of the mountain, i.e. (Isaiah 2,3) whereas to Yaakov He had already appeared as a “house-guest” (in the same verse). Moses had attained a level where he could completely divest himself of ego, as when he said of both himself and his brother Aaron: ונחנו מה, “what do we as personalities amount to?,” making sure that he omitted the letter א in the wordאנחנו , when referring to himself and Aaron. (Exodus 16,7-8). When the tzaddik is aware of all the three nuances in serving the Lord, he will succeed in elevating the “sparks” together with him and as a result subject Satan to a humbling experience.
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Me'or Einayim
Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, [and the people shall go out] and gather a day's portion every day (Ex. 16:4). Now, the Torah is eternal since “Torah and the Holy Blessed One are one” (Zohar 1:24a), and it needs to be limitless in past, present, and future; but how is this relevant to every person and every time?
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Kedushat Levi
Deuteronomy 10,12. “and now, Israel, what dos the Lord your G’d ask of you other than to revere and be in awe?”
It is a well known rule in Judaism that we must each endeavour to be modest, humble, in all our aspirations as well as in all our undertakings. In the event that someone were to misinterpret this rule as extending also to the manner in which we relate to serving the Lord, this would be a gross error; on the contrary we must constantly remember that our deeds in terms of serving the Lord are of the utmost importance to Him, and we must therefore try to excel in that realm of our activities. Seeing that our “service” provides Him with pleasure it is logical that we must strive to provide Him with as much “pleasure” as it is possible for us to do. If we were to extend the principle of modesty and humility to the way in which we serve the Lord, and present it as part of our modesty, this would in fact be akin to blasphemy.
Our sages have alluded to this subject in Sotah 5 where the Talmud says that among people excommunicated there are some that are haughty and others that are not. The Talmud had previously recommended that Torah scholars must possess a minimum of visible self respect known as sh’minit be’shminit, (smallest unit of measuring devices) as otherwise ordinary people, instead of revering them, would belittle them, and if that were to happen they would in fact belittle the Torah knowledge that such scholars represent. According to our author, the very fact that we must provide G’d with “pleasure” through our service implies that we ourselves will have some satisfaction of having been the vehicle to cause G’d such “pleasure.” If we were to be too modest, how could we feel privileged to have been this vehicle of G’d’s “pleasure?”
Our sages in Chagigah 7 are on record that the Israelites provide G’d with His sustenance. Receiving one’s sustenance certainly results in the recipient “enjoying” some pleasure from the experience. This is what Moses had in mind when he asked the rhetorical question: “what does the Lord your G’d ask of you? The virtue of יראת השם, “reverence for the Lord,” is none other than the virtue of humility. Our sages in Chulin 89 dwell on the relative humility and modesty of Avraham and Moses, quoting various verses on the subject. They conclude that when Moses said of himself and his brother Aaron: ונחנו מה, “and what do we amount to?” [omitting even the letter א from the word אנחנו for “we,” Ed.] that this is the level of humility that G’d expects of each of us. In other words, whereas concerning all other attributes, humility must accompany them in order for the owner to practice them optimally, when it comes to reverence for the Lord, such considerations are counterproductive; fear/reverence/awe of the Lord must be maximized so as to provide the Lord with a maximal amount of “pleasure.”
It is a well known rule in Judaism that we must each endeavour to be modest, humble, in all our aspirations as well as in all our undertakings. In the event that someone were to misinterpret this rule as extending also to the manner in which we relate to serving the Lord, this would be a gross error; on the contrary we must constantly remember that our deeds in terms of serving the Lord are of the utmost importance to Him, and we must therefore try to excel in that realm of our activities. Seeing that our “service” provides Him with pleasure it is logical that we must strive to provide Him with as much “pleasure” as it is possible for us to do. If we were to extend the principle of modesty and humility to the way in which we serve the Lord, and present it as part of our modesty, this would in fact be akin to blasphemy.
Our sages have alluded to this subject in Sotah 5 where the Talmud says that among people excommunicated there are some that are haughty and others that are not. The Talmud had previously recommended that Torah scholars must possess a minimum of visible self respect known as sh’minit be’shminit, (smallest unit of measuring devices) as otherwise ordinary people, instead of revering them, would belittle them, and if that were to happen they would in fact belittle the Torah knowledge that such scholars represent. According to our author, the very fact that we must provide G’d with “pleasure” through our service implies that we ourselves will have some satisfaction of having been the vehicle to cause G’d such “pleasure.” If we were to be too modest, how could we feel privileged to have been this vehicle of G’d’s “pleasure?”
Our sages in Chagigah 7 are on record that the Israelites provide G’d with His sustenance. Receiving one’s sustenance certainly results in the recipient “enjoying” some pleasure from the experience. This is what Moses had in mind when he asked the rhetorical question: “what does the Lord your G’d ask of you? The virtue of יראת השם, “reverence for the Lord,” is none other than the virtue of humility. Our sages in Chulin 89 dwell on the relative humility and modesty of Avraham and Moses, quoting various verses on the subject. They conclude that when Moses said of himself and his brother Aaron: ונחנו מה, “and what do we amount to?” [omitting even the letter א from the word אנחנו for “we,” Ed.] that this is the level of humility that G’d expects of each of us. In other words, whereas concerning all other attributes, humility must accompany them in order for the owner to practice them optimally, when it comes to reverence for the Lord, such considerations are counterproductive; fear/reverence/awe of the Lord must be maximized so as to provide the Lord with a maximal amount of “pleasure.”
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Me'or Einayim
The matter is that when Israel was in Egypt, the iron furnace, they were so clarified that after fifty days they were able to receive the Torah because of their bodies’ clarification. And because of this the Sea of Reeds needed to split for them so they could walk through the sea; this needed to be the order so that they could clarify more and more to the point that afterward, at the Giving of the Torah, our Sages of Blessed Memory said that their impurity ceased (Shabbat 146a). And they continued clarifying in this way, that the materiality continually diminished to the point that after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds they had clarified so much to the extent that they could receive Upper Life-Force without any garment, because of the clarification of their physical materiality. For the abundance flows from above according to the thickness or thinness of the recipient. And the life-force that comes from above is drawn by way of the speech that is fixed in a person’s mouth, as is known. Therefore immediately after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the passage of manna is stated, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that each person received Upper Life-Force without any garment, just Man eating the bread of the angels (Psalm 78:25). And by way of what will it be drawn? A day's portion [davar] every day, which is to say by way of the words [dibburim] that they speak from day to day in words of Truth and Torah, until after they have returned to their materiality and their physicality has thickened – therefore the flow descends from above garbed in several garments according to the power of the recipients. And if so, even today in the present there is the aspect of “manna,” but it comes by way of garments; for each person, his life-force is garbed in a vessel, each person according to his aspect, meaning the thing from which his sustenance comes. And the wise person has his eyes in his head (Ecclesiastes 2:14) to understand that the Blessed Creator’s life-force is what is garbed in that thing, and [God] has contracted [God’s] self in that thing, and it is merely a vessel for the Upper Life-Force. Therefore Blessed God said to Moses, Take a jar, and put [an omer of manna in it,] and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations (Ex. 16:33), which is to say that since in the coming generations their physicality will thicken until they can only receive the life-force through a vessel – it needs to garb itself in the material vessel according to the recipients. And that is [the meaning of] Take a jar, which is to say a vessel, and put an omer of manna in it, which is to say manna, the life-force, is garbed within the vessel, which is the jar. And similarly today there is also the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, and afterward the manna comes; for every day we recite the Song of the Sea, and one must imagine in his awareness as if he is reciting the Song at the Sea as in that time. And then it will truly cause the aspect of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds above, as is known, when he recites it with whole intention as is stated regarding this in the Holy Zohar. And afterward he receives life-force as we have said, each according to his aspect. Therefore the Shulhan Arukh wrote, “It is good to recite the passage of Manna” each day (Orah Hayyim 1.5), so that he will know that his sustenance comes from Upper Supervision, and understand this.
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Likutei Halakhot
This corresponds to the immersing of vessels: a vessel that is purchased from a non-Jew must be immersed in the ritual bath so that a Jew will be able to eat with it. (Yoreh Deah 120:1). When a vessel is in the possession of a non-Jew, who corresponds to nature, to the essence of impurity, the vessel cannot leave it to enter into the possession of a Jew, into holiness, other than by immersion in a ritual bath, corresponding to providence, to knowledge, as in (Isaiah 11:9) "for the earth will be filled with knowledge as the sea". This is because the food of a Jew must be very holy, and food is sanctified mainly by knowledge, which is a revelation of providence. This corresponds to eating matzo on Passover, because we reveal providence specifically by eating matzo. Adam caused a blemish when he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which corresponds to natural sciences, which are comprised of good and evil. This knowledge is of the realm of evil, a blemish of holy knowledge. This blemish was caused mainly by eating, for the main rectification of eating is specifically through faith, as in "remain faithful" (Psalms 37:3) as mentioned elsewhere. LM I 62. When a person does not eat with sanctity, knowledge, which corresponds to Providence, is blemished and the person falls into the mistaken belief of natural science, as written, (Deuteronomy 8:12) "lest you eat, be satiated and your heart becomes haughty and you forget G-d your Lord and you say in your heart my power and the might of my hand have accomplished this for me". In other words, the person attributes it to nature, as if his sustenance comes from his own power in the mind of his hand and he does not acknowledge Providence. This is the meaning of 'my power and the might of my hand', a blemish in the hands, in the 28 phalanges of the hands, in the 28 letters of creation. This is the meaning of (Deuteronomy 8:18) "remember G-d your Lord for He gives you power". Indeed, everything is the providence of G-d, who created everything with the 28 letters of creation, who oversees everything at all times, and who gives power, for G-d oversees and sustains the world through the 28 letters of creation. Therefore the Jewish people must greatly sanctify their food and eating. This is represented by many Commandments connected with eating and drinking, for the revelation of providence is mainly dependent upon the sanctity of foods. Thus, 'and be satiated and blessed G-d your Lord over the good land': bless G-d after eating, through knowing that everything is from His providence. And over the good land, for the land of Israel corresponds to Providence, as written (Deuteronomy 11:12) "the eyes of G-d your Lord are always upon it". This corresponds to the eating of the manna, as in (Exodus 16:4), "I will rain down for you bread from heaven", for it came down slowly through Providence each and every day, besides other miracles connected with it. Believing that sustenance comes only from G-d, solely in His providence, without any natural causes at all, for He gives power - this is eating manna, as in, the Torah was only given to those who eat manna. Mekhilta B’Shalach 17:17. Therefore when the Israelites first came near to their Father in heaven during Passover of the Exodus from Egypt, they had to eat matzoh, which represents the mind, knowledge, corresponding to manna for by eating matzoh on Passover great knowledge is evoked and we come to know that everything is only providence. This is the essential closeness of the Jewish people to their Father in heaven. And therefore a vessel that has been in the possession of a non-Jew, who represents the realm of impurity, for they attribute things to nature, which is from where judgments and the forces of evil draw their main power, that vessel is unusable for a Jewish meal unless it has been immersed in a ritual bath. In this way, the vessel leaves the realm of nature and enters the realm of knowledge, of providence, of the world of the future, represented by the ritual bath, as explained above. This corresponds to the purification of vessels (Numbers 31:23) "whatever passes through fire you shall pass through fire, for they emerged from fire and fire will consume them". Since forbidden food, which is impure, has been absorbed into the vessel, corresponding to nature, for all impurities and forbidden things are drawn from heresies, that vessel has no purification other than by fire, which is the source of nature, as said, for they have emerged from fire. But as long as forbidden food has not been absorbed into the vessel but has only left the possession of a non-Jew, thereby also leaving his knowledge, for a person's greatest possession is his knowledge, with which he aquires all of his belongings, as in "if you have acquired knowledge what do you lack"? (Nedarim 41a), therefore when the vessel leaves the possession, the knowledge, of a non-Jew, representing the realm of nature, then immersion in a ritual bath is sufficient. A ritual bath represents the world of the future, from where providence is drawn to break and eliminate the realm of nature, through which we move from impurity to purity, from the possession of a non-Jew to the possession of a Jew, who is above nature.
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Flames of Faith
Amalek: An ancient nation that sought to destroy the Jews (see Exod. 16:8-16). They attacked the weakest members of Israel, the elderly and infirm, before the Jewish nation arrived at Sinai to receive the Torah. Haman was a member of this nation (see Esth. 3:1), and he tried to annihilate world Jewry during the reign of Achashveirosh.
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Kedushat Levi
This is a good opportunity to explain the question of Eliezer, Avraham’s foremost servant, and the answer he received from Avraham. Prior to the battle against the mightiest kings of the Orient and Occident undertaken in order to rescue Avraham’s nephew Lot from captivity, the sages quote Eliezer as having been asked how he killed the soldiers of all these kings. He told the questioners that Avraham told him to take clods of earth and to throw them in their direction. If he would do this, the earth clods would turn into arrows. [While the story in Bereshit rabbah 43,3 is similar, the common feature is that earth would turn into either swords or arrows. Ed.]
The question we must ask is why this miracle had to be performed by means of clods of earth. Why could some other vehicle in nature not have served G’d for the same purpose? We hope to explain this by referring to how David conquered the nations against whom he went to war.
Let us remember that when David found himself in need of vanquishing his enemies, he himself was attached closely to the attribute known as אין, [the eyn sof, essence of G’d. Ed.] He was conscious of the fact that all parts of his life, including his body, i.e. the ability of the living to move at will, were a part of Divinity. [Compare Tikkuney Hazohar Tikkun 1) This means that there is no single spot in the universe that is not permeated by some aspect of Divinity. In fact, if one were to find any part of the universe devoid of a spark of Divinity, such a part would be totally devoid of “Life.” be it human, animal vegetable or even the kind of life with which inert bodies such as the planets are equipped. Ed.] The author refers to his commentary on Deuteronomy 32,39 on the words כי אני אני הוא, “that I, I am He,” where G’d makes the point that neither man nor any of the various categories of angels, such as שרפים, חיות, אופנים are able to say of themselves that אני הוא, “it is I,” when speaking to one another.
The word אני, when used by a person, suggests that he is a person of substance, [in the sense of a physical presence, an independent personality, Ed.] In other words, by using that word when referring to himself, the speaker invites the person whom he addresses to regard him as someone of substance, of importance.
When we consider such a statement and reflect upon it, we realize that such a person wishes to convey to those opposite him that his very existence, חיות, his being alive, is something that he is in control of. What greater lie could he possibly convey than this false impression, seeing that not only does he not control other people’s lives, but he is not even in control of the next minute of his own life! Seeing that his own life is in the hands of his Creator, how could he arrogate to himself the right to speak of himself in terms of being an אני? We now understand why Moses quoted G’d in Deuteronomy 32,39 as saying ראו עתה כי אני אני הוא ואין אלוקים עמדי, “See then that I, I am He; there is no god beside Me.” What G’d is saying there is nothing other than that no-one but He is entitled to refer to himself as אני “I.” If a human being were (mistakenly) to describe himself as אני, he would in fact credit a “nothing” with such a grandiose title.
When we described this word as alluding to the Divine attribute of אין, the absolute disembodied essence of G’d, we also refer indirectly to the essentially disembodied nature of our real self, i.e. our immortal soul. The soul is immortal precisely because it can function without our bodies. This very fact is testimony to the fact that it is part of the Creator Himself, as He is the only Existence in the universe that functions without a body.
When we now consider the statement of our sages in Avot 6,12 [last Mishnah, Ed.] that everything the Creator created He created only for the sake of His greater glory, it is easy to understand that when one or more of His creatures no longer contribute to the purpose for which he or they have been given “life,” they have forfeited their claim to existence and deserve to die. Considering this basic truth, when David had to secure victory over his various enemies, he first had to “garb” himself with this attribute אין i.e. [אני, spelled in a manner that avoided that he really compared himself to his Creator. Ed.] When he would be confronted by uncircumcised pagans, he therefore felt entitled to put an end to their lives.
When Avraham confronted the four kings, symbolizing the anti-god from all four corners of the globe, who had taken Lot, who also shared that attribute, captive, he acted on behalf of G’d [although he had not consulted Him. Ed.]
When Avraham confronted the four kings, symbolizing the anti-god from all four corners of the globe, who had taken Lot, who also shared that attribute, captive, he acted on behalf of G’d [although he had not consulted Him. Ed.]
[This editor is troubled by the fact that at that time Avraham himself had not been circumcised, had not even been told that circumcision was an essential part of becoming Jewish. I am also troubled by the fact that Lot’s eventual escape from Sodom is not credited to his merit, but to G’d’s “pity” (Genesis 19,16. Ed.]
It is well known that the attribute אין also occurs in connection with Moses, at the time when he and Aaron were the victims of the Israelites’ complaints for their suffering from thirst. (Exodus 16,7) They replied with the words: ונחמו מה, “and what do we amount to?” [The reader will notice that Moses and Aaron spelled the word אנחנו without the letter א signifying the pronoun “I.” We also find David referring to himself in such derogatory fashion when he said: ואנכי תולעה “and all that I amount to is worms.” (Psalms 22,7) Avraham referred to himself as dust and ashes when he said: אנכי עפר ואפר. (Genesis 18,27) This is what the sages in the Midrash had in mind when they spoke about Avraham killing the mightiest armies in the world at that time by means of “earth, or dust.” By allying oneself with the Divine attribute of אין, Avraham was able to turn these pagans back into the raw-material they had been made of, i.e.עפר, as when G’d had said to Adam after his sin in Genesis 3,19, עפר אתה ואל עפר אתה תשוב, “you are dust and to dust you will have to return.” Seeing that Avraham was aware of his entire “life” being dependent on the אין סוף, “never ending (nor beginning) Creator,” so that the essential part of what he perceived as his “life” was bound up with this source of eternal life, he could function as the messenger that would terminate useless lives, lives that had not and would not contribute to the glory of the Creator on earth.Ed.]
The question we must ask is why this miracle had to be performed by means of clods of earth. Why could some other vehicle in nature not have served G’d for the same purpose? We hope to explain this by referring to how David conquered the nations against whom he went to war.
Let us remember that when David found himself in need of vanquishing his enemies, he himself was attached closely to the attribute known as אין, [the eyn sof, essence of G’d. Ed.] He was conscious of the fact that all parts of his life, including his body, i.e. the ability of the living to move at will, were a part of Divinity. [Compare Tikkuney Hazohar Tikkun 1) This means that there is no single spot in the universe that is not permeated by some aspect of Divinity. In fact, if one were to find any part of the universe devoid of a spark of Divinity, such a part would be totally devoid of “Life.” be it human, animal vegetable or even the kind of life with which inert bodies such as the planets are equipped. Ed.] The author refers to his commentary on Deuteronomy 32,39 on the words כי אני אני הוא, “that I, I am He,” where G’d makes the point that neither man nor any of the various categories of angels, such as שרפים, חיות, אופנים are able to say of themselves that אני הוא, “it is I,” when speaking to one another.
The word אני, when used by a person, suggests that he is a person of substance, [in the sense of a physical presence, an independent personality, Ed.] In other words, by using that word when referring to himself, the speaker invites the person whom he addresses to regard him as someone of substance, of importance.
When we consider such a statement and reflect upon it, we realize that such a person wishes to convey to those opposite him that his very existence, חיות, his being alive, is something that he is in control of. What greater lie could he possibly convey than this false impression, seeing that not only does he not control other people’s lives, but he is not even in control of the next minute of his own life! Seeing that his own life is in the hands of his Creator, how could he arrogate to himself the right to speak of himself in terms of being an אני? We now understand why Moses quoted G’d in Deuteronomy 32,39 as saying ראו עתה כי אני אני הוא ואין אלוקים עמדי, “See then that I, I am He; there is no god beside Me.” What G’d is saying there is nothing other than that no-one but He is entitled to refer to himself as אני “I.” If a human being were (mistakenly) to describe himself as אני, he would in fact credit a “nothing” with such a grandiose title.
When we described this word as alluding to the Divine attribute of אין, the absolute disembodied essence of G’d, we also refer indirectly to the essentially disembodied nature of our real self, i.e. our immortal soul. The soul is immortal precisely because it can function without our bodies. This very fact is testimony to the fact that it is part of the Creator Himself, as He is the only Existence in the universe that functions without a body.
When we now consider the statement of our sages in Avot 6,12 [last Mishnah, Ed.] that everything the Creator created He created only for the sake of His greater glory, it is easy to understand that when one or more of His creatures no longer contribute to the purpose for which he or they have been given “life,” they have forfeited their claim to existence and deserve to die. Considering this basic truth, when David had to secure victory over his various enemies, he first had to “garb” himself with this attribute אין i.e. [אני, spelled in a manner that avoided that he really compared himself to his Creator. Ed.] When he would be confronted by uncircumcised pagans, he therefore felt entitled to put an end to their lives.
When Avraham confronted the four kings, symbolizing the anti-god from all four corners of the globe, who had taken Lot, who also shared that attribute, captive, he acted on behalf of G’d [although he had not consulted Him. Ed.]
When Avraham confronted the four kings, symbolizing the anti-god from all four corners of the globe, who had taken Lot, who also shared that attribute, captive, he acted on behalf of G’d [although he had not consulted Him. Ed.]
[This editor is troubled by the fact that at that time Avraham himself had not been circumcised, had not even been told that circumcision was an essential part of becoming Jewish. I am also troubled by the fact that Lot’s eventual escape from Sodom is not credited to his merit, but to G’d’s “pity” (Genesis 19,16. Ed.]
It is well known that the attribute אין also occurs in connection with Moses, at the time when he and Aaron were the victims of the Israelites’ complaints for their suffering from thirst. (Exodus 16,7) They replied with the words: ונחמו מה, “and what do we amount to?” [The reader will notice that Moses and Aaron spelled the word אנחנו without the letter א signifying the pronoun “I.” We also find David referring to himself in such derogatory fashion when he said: ואנכי תולעה “and all that I amount to is worms.” (Psalms 22,7) Avraham referred to himself as dust and ashes when he said: אנכי עפר ואפר. (Genesis 18,27) This is what the sages in the Midrash had in mind when they spoke about Avraham killing the mightiest armies in the world at that time by means of “earth, or dust.” By allying oneself with the Divine attribute of אין, Avraham was able to turn these pagans back into the raw-material they had been made of, i.e.עפר, as when G’d had said to Adam after his sin in Genesis 3,19, עפר אתה ואל עפר אתה תשוב, “you are dust and to dust you will have to return.” Seeing that Avraham was aware of his entire “life” being dependent on the אין סוף, “never ending (nor beginning) Creator,” so that the essential part of what he perceived as his “life” was bound up with this source of eternal life, he could function as the messenger that would terminate useless lives, lives that had not and would not contribute to the glory of the Creator on earth.Ed.]
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Flames of Faith
Chochmah was the flash of inspiration, the feeling of intuition, when the student sensed that he knew the answer. When the student pulled out of his initial illumination the components that explained the resolution it was binah, “understanding.” The word chochmah spells two words: koach mah, “the force of something.” However, the word mah can also mean, “nothing.”361For example, Moses said, Va-nachnu mah ki talinu aleinu, “We are noth-ing, so why do you complain about us?” (Exod. 16:7). Thus it is initial existence with a connection to the force of nothingness. First thoughts, that are not yet defined, seem to come out of nowhere. The next level of the intellect, binah, reveals details and implications. Binah recalls the phrase, meivin davar mitoch davar, “Comprehending one matter from another,” and the word binyan, “building.” Understanding builds upon the inspiration of intuition and develops a complete system of thought.
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Flames of Faith
The manna in the desert required little effort to attain. It was the bread of kindness, imbued with the light of chesed. This is why Moses states that manna’s starkest characteristic was its white color (see Exod. 16:31).
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 16:1 “He flung horse and its rider high into the sea.” We need to understand why Moses described the “tossing” of the Egyptian cavalry into the sea by using a word referring to an upward motion of G’d’s arm, instead of simply writing הפיל בים, “He dropped them into the sea.” Besides, seeing that in verse 4 Moses describes Hashem as מרכבות פרעה וחילו ירה בים, “G’d threw (same word as “he shot,”) the chariots of Pharaoh and his army into the sea,” why did Moses choose the word רמה in verse 1? Since the only kind of shooting in those days was the shooting of arrows, it was mandatory that the trajectory first involve the rising of the arrow before it could descend and hit its target, so that there was no reason for Moses not to have used the customary word for “shooting.”
Our sages in the Mishnah Sanhedrin 6,4 describe the platform or the “house,” בית הסקילה, from which the penalty of stoning to death was carried out as being two stories (the height of two average sized persons) high. From that platform the criminal or sinner convicted to death by stoning would be pushed down. The “stoning” would commence after the fall if it had not been fatal. The wording in the Torah is: סקול יסקל או ירה יירה, “he will surely be stoned or shot,” (Exodus 19,13). The word ירה alone therefore might have been misleading.
Another expression which poses a difficulty in our verse is: ומבחר שלישיו טבעו בים, “and the choicest of his officers drowned in the sea.” It would have sufficed to state that “his officers drowned;” that would have included both the junior and the senior officers.
The answer to these questions may be gleaned from the words of the Midrash (Yalkut Reuveni, B’shalach) where the protective angel, שר, of the Egyptians is quoted as having complained that seeing that both the Israelites and the Egyptians had been idol worshippers, why would the Egyptians be singled out for such harsh punishment.
We further need to understand why G’d resorted to the stratagem of encouraging the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites through commanding the Israelites to turn back at Baal Tzefon (Exodus 14,2), after they had already left Egypt and both politically and economically, the Super Power Egypt had suffered a lethal blow. Had G’d not found an excuse that misled the Egyptians to believe that their deity had frightened the Israelites, the entire pursuit of the Israelites and the resultant drowning of the Egyptian army would never have taken place. We must therefore conclude that G’d paid heed to the complaint of the protective angel of the Egyptians, and had to show him that his protégées were totally wicked, having reneged on their not only having released the Israelites but having expelled them. (Exodus 12,33 and 39). The words רמה בים, may be understood as a reference to the illusion that the Egyptians harboured that they might succeed due to favourable astrological constellations at the sea where they had failed on land. Secondly, the word מבחר, instead of being a reference to the choicest of the Egyptian officers, is an allusion to the freedom of choice, בחירה, that G’d gave the Egyptians at that time, i.e. they had brought their death upon themselves by having made the wrong choice in pursuing the Israelites, even after witnessing that the G’d of the Israelites had split the sea for them. After having seen this, even the protective angel of the Egyptians no longer had any complaint against G’d.
Our sages in the Mishnah Sanhedrin 6,4 describe the platform or the “house,” בית הסקילה, from which the penalty of stoning to death was carried out as being two stories (the height of two average sized persons) high. From that platform the criminal or sinner convicted to death by stoning would be pushed down. The “stoning” would commence after the fall if it had not been fatal. The wording in the Torah is: סקול יסקל או ירה יירה, “he will surely be stoned or shot,” (Exodus 19,13). The word ירה alone therefore might have been misleading.
Another expression which poses a difficulty in our verse is: ומבחר שלישיו טבעו בים, “and the choicest of his officers drowned in the sea.” It would have sufficed to state that “his officers drowned;” that would have included both the junior and the senior officers.
The answer to these questions may be gleaned from the words of the Midrash (Yalkut Reuveni, B’shalach) where the protective angel, שר, of the Egyptians is quoted as having complained that seeing that both the Israelites and the Egyptians had been idol worshippers, why would the Egyptians be singled out for such harsh punishment.
We further need to understand why G’d resorted to the stratagem of encouraging the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites through commanding the Israelites to turn back at Baal Tzefon (Exodus 14,2), after they had already left Egypt and both politically and economically, the Super Power Egypt had suffered a lethal blow. Had G’d not found an excuse that misled the Egyptians to believe that their deity had frightened the Israelites, the entire pursuit of the Israelites and the resultant drowning of the Egyptian army would never have taken place. We must therefore conclude that G’d paid heed to the complaint of the protective angel of the Egyptians, and had to show him that his protégées were totally wicked, having reneged on their not only having released the Israelites but having expelled them. (Exodus 12,33 and 39). The words רמה בים, may be understood as a reference to the illusion that the Egyptians harboured that they might succeed due to favourable astrological constellations at the sea where they had failed on land. Secondly, the word מבחר, instead of being a reference to the choicest of the Egyptian officers, is an allusion to the freedom of choice, בחירה, that G’d gave the Egyptians at that time, i.e. they had brought their death upon themselves by having made the wrong choice in pursuing the Israelites, even after witnessing that the G’d of the Israelites had split the sea for them. After having seen this, even the protective angel of the Egyptians no longer had any complaint against G’d.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 16,25. “eat it this day for this day is the Sabbath for G’d; this day you will not find any of it in the field.” With these words we can answer the question raised by Rabbi Moshe Alshich why the manna did not descend on the Sabbath, whereas G’d did not interfere with the continued growing and developing of crops that originate in the earth. The fact that the manna did not descend on the Sabbath is a reminder that whereas normal crops originate from indirect largesse of G’d, i.e. His largesse making a detour via the bowels of the earth and requiring the “help” of rainfall, and the many steps a farmer must invest before he finally has a loaf of bread to show for his toil. The Sabbath is a symbol of G’d’s direct largesse, the ready made “bread” having been sent to earth already on the eve of the Sabbath, so that the spiritual dimension of the Sabbath does not need to be diminished, desecrated. This concept has been alluded to in the Talmud Shabbat 118 where we are told: כל המענג את השבת נותנים לו משאלות לבו, “whoever will gladden the Sabbath will have his heart’s desires fulfilled.” The scholar making that statement supports it with a verse from psalms 37,4 והתענג על ה' ויתן לך משאלות לבך, “endeavour to provide pleasure for the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart.” Apparently, according to the Talmud, the principal enjoyment G’d derives from the Sabbath is the very existence of that day as such. Rav Yehudah, the author of the above quoted statement, considers the principal pleasure to be derived from the Sabbath not the additional food and drink and its superior quality, but the appreciation that G’d created such a day, a day that enables us to reflect on the fact that the purpose of our existence is not exhausted by our being able to provide for our material needs, but to enable us to intensify our link to the celestial domain in which the Creator resides. When the sages composed the central prayer of the Sabbath service that commences with the words: תכנת שבת, “You have established the Sabbath, etc,” they arranged for the words to commence with the letters of the alphabet beginning with the last letter and concluding with the first letter. In other words, the message of the Sabbath is to take us back from a material world to the totally spiritual world that existed before G’d commenced with creating the light. We have dwelled on the idea that a human being who is spiritually successful will “bounce back” the light that G’d created and used to illuminate the physical universe. Our author, at that time, described this “bouncing back” of “light rays” to G’d by human beings as the highest accolade we are capable of, as it proves that His light inspired us spiritually. At that time our author explained that the light created on the first day of creation is perceived as אור ישר, “direct light,” whereas the “light” bounced back by us is perceived as אור חוזר, “reflected light.” The sages’ arrangement of the prayer תכנת שבת, reflects all this. Once we appreciate this we understand why it was natural for no manna to descend to earth on the Sabbath. The very descent of manna from heaven is an example of “direct light,” i.e. largesse descending from heaven to the material world directly, whereas the Sabbath is reserved for grateful man to “kick back” some of that light after he has “garbed” it with spiritual input of his own.
The reason why normal crops continue to grow without interruption on the Sabbath is because the whole universe has been created for the benefit of the Jewish people, and all the crops that grow are meant to serve the needs of the Jewish people, first and foremost. When the Jew eats and drinks, partaking of G’d’s largesse, he does not do so in order to indulge himself but in order to help him to better serve his Creator. The ripe crops therefore can be viewed as a microcosm of the concept of the Sabbath, i.e. they serve to refine the human being and to help him become the ideal man G’d had envisioned when He set out to create him. Ingestion of the food grown by the earth by Torah observant Israelites, not only enhances the spiritual development of the Israelite consuming it, but converts the food itself into part of the spiritually advancing Israelite himself. The very process of the crops growing even on the Sabbath are only a stage in this “kickback” by the Israelite, or ideal man, of the now spiritually enhanced light that originally came forth when G’d created אור ישר, “direct light.”
The phenomenon of the splitting of the sea may be understood in a similar manner. When the ocean was first created, this was parallel to the creation of light, i.e. an emanation of what had previously been something spiritual, i.e. something “travelling” downwards from a higher celestial domain. When the sea was split, it travelled in the opposite direction, emanation in reverse. Since it did so by fulfilling its Creator’s directive, it made a positive contribution, just as did a human being who ingests food in order to serve his Creator. This was a strictly temporary situation, so that when it returned לאיתנו, “to its original condition,” it resumed its normal function. This is the mystical dimension of the three verses of 72 letters each, which alternately have to be read in opposite directions to enable us to read the 72-lettered name of G’d. (14,19-21) The first verse is read from right to left, the second from left to right, and the third again from right to left. The three verses are written above one another.
The reason why normal crops continue to grow without interruption on the Sabbath is because the whole universe has been created for the benefit of the Jewish people, and all the crops that grow are meant to serve the needs of the Jewish people, first and foremost. When the Jew eats and drinks, partaking of G’d’s largesse, he does not do so in order to indulge himself but in order to help him to better serve his Creator. The ripe crops therefore can be viewed as a microcosm of the concept of the Sabbath, i.e. they serve to refine the human being and to help him become the ideal man G’d had envisioned when He set out to create him. Ingestion of the food grown by the earth by Torah observant Israelites, not only enhances the spiritual development of the Israelite consuming it, but converts the food itself into part of the spiritually advancing Israelite himself. The very process of the crops growing even on the Sabbath are only a stage in this “kickback” by the Israelite, or ideal man, of the now spiritually enhanced light that originally came forth when G’d created אור ישר, “direct light.”
The phenomenon of the splitting of the sea may be understood in a similar manner. When the ocean was first created, this was parallel to the creation of light, i.e. an emanation of what had previously been something spiritual, i.e. something “travelling” downwards from a higher celestial domain. When the sea was split, it travelled in the opposite direction, emanation in reverse. Since it did so by fulfilling its Creator’s directive, it made a positive contribution, just as did a human being who ingests food in order to serve his Creator. This was a strictly temporary situation, so that when it returned לאיתנו, “to its original condition,” it resumed its normal function. This is the mystical dimension of the three verses of 72 letters each, which alternately have to be read in opposite directions to enable us to read the 72-lettered name of G’d. (14,19-21) The first verse is read from right to left, the second from left to right, and the third again from right to left. The three verses are written above one another.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 16,28.G’d said to Moses: “‘how long will you refuse to observe My commandments and My teachings?”
Pertaining to this verse [which sounds as if G’d accuses Moses, personally, of not observing His commandments, Ed.] Rashi,; says (based on the Talmud in Baba Kamma 92) that sometimes when a farmer wishes to uproot a weed growing too close to a cabbage, he inadvertently uproots the cabbage at the same time. What the Talmud has in mind is that sometimes keeping company with the wicked will result in the innocent becoming afflicted with the fallout of the afflictions that the wicked will be struck with.
In order to understand how our sages dared to explain this verse by attributing to G’d that He would hold Moses responsible for keeping company with the wicked when Moses had been appointed as the leader of the Israelites against his will, and only after arguing about his being unsuitable for such a task for seven days, we may have to refer to another comment by Rashi on 16,22: ויבאו כל נשיאי העדה ויגידו למשה, “the princes of the entire congregation came to tell Moses.” [the fact that a double portion of manna had descended on the camp on the eve of the Sabbath. Ed.] On this verse Rashi writes that the fact that the princes had been taken by surprise is proof that Moses had not told anyone of G’d’s command that this would occur on the Sabbath eve. G’d had told Moses about this already in verse 5 of our chapter, but Moses had withheld this information, part of which was that the people should prepare their food for the Sabbath. Rashi says there that Moses was punished in our verse for withholding this information from the people, so that he is lumped together with them as guilty of not observing G’d’s commandments. In other words, Moses was punished for not warning the people in good time how to prepare for the Sabbath, seeing that there were numerous tasks that could not be performed on the Sabbath, including cooking, baking, etc.
It is clear then that Moses was punished for not telling the people immediately about the Sabbath at the end of the week. Nonetheless, we need to understand how this failure to tell the people about the Sabbath and there being no manna on that day was such a serious act of omission that it warranted such a punishment. Would the fact that the people had known about the absence of manna a few days earlier have made such a difference that all of them would have stayed in their tents without testing if indeed there was no manna on that day?
We have read in a book called sefer yereyim, the book for the truly reverent Jews, that every commandment requires preparation before it can be performed properly, i.e. at the best possible level. One needs to purify oneself in thought and deed before setting out to perform the commandment. The reason is that by preparing oneself for the performance of the commandment one demonstrates that one is happy to have the opportunity to perform this commandment. It shows G’d that one looks forward to the opportunity to perform the mitzvah. Having prepared oneself for performing the commandment ensures that one will do so meticulously. One’s heart and soul will be part of the act of performance.
Pertaining to this verse [which sounds as if G’d accuses Moses, personally, of not observing His commandments, Ed.] Rashi,; says (based on the Talmud in Baba Kamma 92) that sometimes when a farmer wishes to uproot a weed growing too close to a cabbage, he inadvertently uproots the cabbage at the same time. What the Talmud has in mind is that sometimes keeping company with the wicked will result in the innocent becoming afflicted with the fallout of the afflictions that the wicked will be struck with.
In order to understand how our sages dared to explain this verse by attributing to G’d that He would hold Moses responsible for keeping company with the wicked when Moses had been appointed as the leader of the Israelites against his will, and only after arguing about his being unsuitable for such a task for seven days, we may have to refer to another comment by Rashi on 16,22: ויבאו כל נשיאי העדה ויגידו למשה, “the princes of the entire congregation came to tell Moses.” [the fact that a double portion of manna had descended on the camp on the eve of the Sabbath. Ed.] On this verse Rashi writes that the fact that the princes had been taken by surprise is proof that Moses had not told anyone of G’d’s command that this would occur on the Sabbath eve. G’d had told Moses about this already in verse 5 of our chapter, but Moses had withheld this information, part of which was that the people should prepare their food for the Sabbath. Rashi says there that Moses was punished in our verse for withholding this information from the people, so that he is lumped together with them as guilty of not observing G’d’s commandments. In other words, Moses was punished for not warning the people in good time how to prepare for the Sabbath, seeing that there were numerous tasks that could not be performed on the Sabbath, including cooking, baking, etc.
It is clear then that Moses was punished for not telling the people immediately about the Sabbath at the end of the week. Nonetheless, we need to understand how this failure to tell the people about the Sabbath and there being no manna on that day was such a serious act of omission that it warranted such a punishment. Would the fact that the people had known about the absence of manna a few days earlier have made such a difference that all of them would have stayed in their tents without testing if indeed there was no manna on that day?
We have read in a book called sefer yereyim, the book for the truly reverent Jews, that every commandment requires preparation before it can be performed properly, i.e. at the best possible level. One needs to purify oneself in thought and deed before setting out to perform the commandment. The reason is that by preparing oneself for the performance of the commandment one demonstrates that one is happy to have the opportunity to perform this commandment. It shows G’d that one looks forward to the opportunity to perform the mitzvah. Having prepared oneself for performing the commandment ensures that one will do so meticulously. One’s heart and soul will be part of the act of performance.
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