Cytowanie Komentarza do Psalmów 104:29

Another intention of the Torah for using the expression הן קרבו, may be as follows: "The days which are yours have approached; these days are the ones on which parts of your soul are approaching." This is the mystical dimension of Psalms 104,29: תוסף רוחם יגועון, "when You take away their breath they will perish." In my commentary of the Ari Zal on this verse on page 391 of my commentary on Jacob's impending death, I have explained all this in detail. The approach of the different parts of the soul making up the composite of one's soul, spell the imminence of physical death. The verse in Psalms then has to be translated as: "when all the parts of their spirit come together their bodies will die."

A GREAT VOICE, ‘V’LO YASAF.’ “We render this [in the Targum Onkelos] as ‘and He did not pause.’ Because it is the nature of human beings that they cannot say all their words in one breath, but the nature of the Holy One, blessed be He, is different; He did not pause. And since He did not pause [in uttering the Ten Commandments] He did not have to resume, for His voice is strong and eternally enduring. [Thus, the words v’lo yasaf which literally mean ‘did not resume’ or ‘did not continue’ are translated by Onkelos as ‘did not pause,’ because, had He paused, He would have had to continue after the pause. Since G-d can say all the words in one breath, there was no need for a pause followed by a resumption.] Another interpretation of lo yasaf: He ‘never again’ revealed Himself in such a public manifestation.” This is Rashi’s language. But the verse states, And the voice of the horn waxed louder and louder!¹⁷⁷Exodus 19:19. This indicates that the voice was not even in pitch and in volume, thus contradicting Rashi’s opinion that the sound was constant in volume from beginning to end. And the Rabbis also said:¹⁷⁸Tanchuma, Yithro 13. This text also shows that the sound was not constant. “And why was it [i.e., the voice of the horn] soft at first [growing gradually stronger]? In order to accustom the ear with [a sound] it was able to hear.”¹⁷⁹In other words, so that the ear should not be unduly taxed at first, the sound began at a low volume and gradually increased in order that the ear should adjust to the change. — Thus, this text of the Rabbis likewise affirms that the voice was not even, in contradiction to the comment of Rashi. Perhaps this was so with respect to the voice of the horn, but the voice of G-d throughout the Ten Commandments was even. The correct interpretation is that of the Sage who says that [the meaning of v’lo yasaf is] “He did not pause,” thus deriving the translation of yasaf from the expressions: ‘v’ne’esfah’ gladness and joy,¹⁸⁰Jeremiah 48:33. ‘toseif’ their breath, they perish¹⁸¹Psalms 104:29. which signify, in his opinion, the act of taking something away. The verse here thus states that His greatness and power were “not withdrawn” until He finished all the commandments. Similarly it says, and they prophesied ‘v’lo yasafu’¹⁸²Numbers 11:25. [which Onkelos renders, “and they did not cease”]. And in line with the plain meaning of Scripture v’lo yasaf means that “there will never again be so great [a voice].” And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala,] the verse is stating that they heard all these words [proclaimed by] the voice of the Great One,¹⁸³This is alluded to in the beginning of the verse: These words the Eternal spoke. and He did not add anything [perceivable] to all your assembly, except for this one voice, for it was only that voice that they grasped. There I have already explained this subject as well as the whole section.¹⁸⁴Exodus 19:20. See Vol. II, pp. 283-284. In other words, only in the first two commandments did they hear the voice and understand the words, while in the other eight commandments “He did not add anything to all your assembly except that one voice,” meaning that they heard the voice but Moses explained to them the words (Abusaula). See my Hebrew commentary, p. 369.

“He looked at the day of death and recited a song.” One may ask that regarding death he should have recited a lament, and furthermore it ought to have said that he looked at death, not at the day of death. It seems to me, with Heaven’s help, based on what our sages said that the righteous are greater in their death than in their life. Our master the Ari, of blessed memory, explained that this means that during a person’s lifetime he can only effect a supernal union through Torah and mitzvot in the place of the root of his soul alone, but at the moment of departing this world his soul’s ascent causes a union of greatness in Tiferet and Malkhut, which are Zeir Anpin and Nukva, in relation to all the worlds, and all receive bounty from this union. See Shaar Ruach HaKodesh. King David looked at this exalted attainment which he would achieve on the day of death, something he could not accomplish in life, and he recited a song. This also resolves a very strong textual difficulty, for the Talmud cites in this context the verse ‘You gather their spirit, they perish’ (Psalms 104:29), yet that verse is number twenty nine while ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul’ is the first verse, and between them are many verses about the wonders of God. Why did the Talmud join verse one to verse twenty nine. According to this it is correct, for the first verse describes the kindness for which he sings, which is that ‘You are greatly exalted,’ referring to the union of greatness in which ‘majesty and splendor You don,’ all of which is accomplished by man. The Talmud asks how we know that this refers to the union of greatness accomplished on the day of death, and not another day either before or after, and it answers based on the verse ‘You hide Your face, they are frightened; You gather their spirit, they perish and return to dust,’ which certainly refers to the day of death. But if ‘You gather’ is interpreted as gathering from the world as Rashi and Radak write, then it is redundant with ‘they perish,’ therefore it must mean increase and addition, and Scripture hints that on the day they perish their spirit is increased so that their nefesh, ruach, and neshamah can create a universal supernal union which they could not make in life. According to this, Scripture explicitly states that on the day of death there is increase and addition for a person. In another way it seems to me, with Heaven’s help, that it said he looked at the day of death rather than at death itself, based on what our sages said in Shabbat that David prayed, ‘Let me know my end,’ and God replied that it is decreed not to reveal a person’s end. David then asked to be told the day of the week and was told he would die on Shabbat. David thus knew in his lifetime that he would die on Shabbat and knew through the Holy Spirit the spiritual advantage of Shabbat, for as our master the Ari wrote regarding the three verses of Tzidkatecha said at Shabbat mincha, one is for Joseph, one for Moses, and one for David, for all three died on Shabbat, and a great rectification is performed at Shabbat mincha which we can only achieve through the joining of the souls of those three righteous men. Thus David had great benefit from dying on Shabbat which continues every Shabbat for all generations. This is why it says he looked at the day of death, meaning he looked with the Holy Spirit at the benefit he would receive from the day of death which was Shabbat at the time of mincha and sang. Or similarly according to Sefer HaLikkutim on the verse ‘King David was old’ that his death came on the seventh day and he ascended above seventy to the level of Binah, for God granted him rest from all his enemies and he reached the sanctity of Shabbat and passed on to Binah. Therefore it says he contemplated the day of death which is Shabbat through which he would attain a great elevation. The verse ‘You gather their spirit’ is well explained about the death of the righteous who die by the divine kiss, meaning through beholding the light of the Divine Presence their soul leaves them to cleave to that light like iron drawn to a magnet. This is ‘You gather their spirit,’ that he is granted the additional privilege of seeing the light of the Presence, ‘they perish,’ meaning they do not truly die but expire, and regarding their body Scripture says ‘they return to their dust,’ meaning to their own dust specifically, for in their righteousness they acquired heaven and earth, and their bodies were made from the dust of Adam which is their rightful portion, so they return to their own dust. Think deeply on this.