Chasidut sobre Jeremias 2:40

"These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, etc." For it is known that Torah is the names of the Holy Blessed One. The Name of the The Blessed One is, "Was, Is, and Will Be - Eternal, Alive, Everlasting for Eternity." And Torah is also this. So what does it mean that this was the time that the Tabernacle was made and what does it teach us about the path today? The Torah should be read in order to teach us to way we should go. Surely at every time and season the Torah is clothed for the needs of that particular time and season. There are those who say: God created the world for the sake of the Torah which is called (Proverbs 8:22) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) way”, and for the sake of Israel who are called (Jeremiah 2:3) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) increase’." This is explained by way of a parable: A King who has wise children, capable of running the kingdom bring the King more satisfaction and joy than if he were to run the kingdom himself. We are the children of the Ever-Present, and this explains the phrase "No good comes to the world except through Israel." (Israel) makes a path to bring down the abundant flow to the lower realms. This is "Ascribe might to God, whose majesty is over Israel" (Psalm 68:35) Israel adds strength to the Entourage of Above, and the Angels do not sing praises above until Israel is singing them below. "When the morning stars sang together and all the divine beings shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). Israel is likened to the stars, and thus aroused all of the Heavenly beings there. This is the intention of the Creator that created all that is found because of Torah and because of Israel. The content of this intention of the Holy Blessed One was that each person of Israel would be a "Tabernacle" of the Holy Blessed One. As it is written (Exodus 25:8) "Make for me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within them. Within "it" is not written, rather, I will dwell within the children of Israel. "The Temple of the Lord, the temple of Lord are these. (Jeremiah 7:4). But isn't it impossible for a person to be a Tabernacle of Hashem while the Evil Inclination is within a person? "The couch is too short for stretching out" (Isaiah 28:20). )(Rabbi Yonatan) said: This bed is too short for two counterparts. (Yoma 9b) Thus it is said "Turn from evil" (Psalm 34:15) That a person should burn the evil from within him and thus it could be that Hashem Baruch Hu who is called, "The Lord is good to all" (Psalm 145:9) will reside inside of the person. This happens after a person fulfills "Turn from evil" and thus makes the repair that the "Good of the Lord" will be within you. “All the end-times have passed, and the matter [now] depends only on teshuvah” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 97b). And what is teshuvah? For when a person was in his mother’s belly, God’s “candle burned over his head, and he saw from one end of the world to the other… and they taught him the entire Torah” (Niddah 30b); for he was a dwelling-place [mishkan] for Blessed God, and this is [the meaning of] the candle that was over his head. But after he came out of his mother’s belly sin crouches at the door (Gen. 4:7), and an angel comes and slaps him on the mouth and makes him forget so that he will have free will, so he will have reward and punishment. And a person must do teshuvah to bring God back to him as at the beginning. And this is [the meaning of] Then the LORD your God will turn back to your captives (Deut. 30:3) – it does not say “return,” but rather “turn back to,” meaning that after the teshuvah Blessed God will return to dwell [lishkone] within the person. Now, the essence of teshuvah is abandoning sin with a full heart and regret. For what is written in the Books, that fasts correct sin, is because it is impossible for him truly to abandon the sin and truly regret until after he has afflicted himself; and then his uncircumcised heart will surrender and he will be able to regret and abandon the sin truly. And the root of the matter lies in the human’s being created by God’s Word. And he is called “engraving” on account of his being surely hewn in supernal holiness. Now, when a person sins he is made into a corpse; for on account of the sin, Blessed God’s life-force left him. But after verbal confession, along the lines of (incomplete)*

In the verse (Lev. 23:43), "In order that [your future generations] may learn that I made [the Israelites] live in sukkot," and the verse (Jer. 2:2), "I remembered to your favor the lovingkindness [hesed] of your youth [... How you followed Me in the wilderness]," the general idea of the matter is that in Nisan Hashem brought us out of Egypt, and it was through Hashem's lovingkindness alone, as it is written (Ezek. 16:7), "And you were naked and bare." However, Hashem wanted that this lovingkindness be through the merit of good deeds of the Israelites, so that it would endure forever. And so it is written (Ps. 62:13), "The lovingkindness is yours, Lord, for You will repay each person according to his deeds." The meaning is that the Holy One, blessed be He, engineers through His lovingkindness that the person merits this lovingkindness on his own, through his or her own deeds, for everything is ultimately attributable to the Cause of all causes. And this happened afterwards in that the Israelites traveled into the wilderness and merited the clouds of glory. The meaning is that the fact that they merited this through their own deeds removes the Accuser from B'nai Yisrael; "One who eats what is not his, feels ashamed [to look in the face of his benefactor]" (Yerushalmi, Orlah 1:3), but one who merits through his own deeds is honored. And see what I have said below [in another piece from Sukkot the same year]. And this matter appears every year. At Pesah there is the exodus from Egypt through Hashem's lovingkindness. And afterwards, at Rosh Hashana, a person is judged with regard to whether he has repaired his deeds the lovingkindness. For all of Hashem's lovingkindness is so that a person will repair his deeds by means of the lovingkindness. And when he merits by right, the lovingkindness winds up being repaid, even according to the criterion of justice [midat hadin]. And this is the lovingkindness of the holiday of Sukkot -- the lovingkindness that comes by right. All of this happened to our ancestors, and this is why it says, "I remembered to your favor the lovingkindness of your youth [... How you followed Me in the wilderness]" The meaning is that the Holy One, blessed be He, caused the lovingkindness to be remembered throughout the generations in that it was on account of Israel's own good deeds, and the remembering is by right. The meaning is that lovingkindness is just for a moment, except that, for one who merits that lovingkindness by right, it endures forever. (And this is "[I will make with you an everlasting covenant,] The enduring lovingkindness promised to David.") And this why it says, "I made [the Israelites] live in sukkot," for even the sukkot are a reminder of the exodus from Egypt, but they are a reminder of the lovingkindness that was done through the merit of B'nai Yisrael, etc. And in this way the question of the Tur [why Sukkot is observed in the Fall rather than in Nisan] is resolved.

Not a man in the midst of a cheshbon nefesh should do it in a rushed, off handed way. He should feel as if he is standing trial before the court. That is to say, he needs to reach a real awareness that his body, desires, and very soul²⁹²Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama, deepening levels of soul. are all standing in judgment. They are not being judged by the Heavenly Court, but by man himself. The more honest he is in his introspection, and according to the degree to which he bows his head before the Almighty whose life is in His hands, the more the One who sits in Judgment will be lenient in His ruling. This is an explanation of what God meant when He said, “Behold I will bring you to judgment for saying, I have not sinned.”²⁹³Yirmiyahu, 2:35 Simply put, when there is judgment below, (and man is honest with himself and his relationship to God’s Law), then there is no judgment above, (for He will suspend the sentence.) ²⁹⁴In my ignorance of Divine court procedure, I ask myself, “could the sentence sometimes be suspended conditionally, and at other times unconditionally?” But regardless of Divine calculations that are hidden from us, it seems that God said to Yirmiyahu that if we claim our innocence, He will then not only have to punish us for negligent actions, but also for lying – to God and to ourselves. However, if we judge ourselves honesty, for better or worse, we know what is incumbent upon us to do, then the Merciful Judge will suspend judgment and give us time to make amends.
The man is taking a candid look at himself and asking himself certain questions. The proceedings of his own evaluation require that he first confronts and accepts his true feelings so as to gain a clear view of his merits and mistakes. He asks himself where he is standing with God. “I know we all accepted the Torah, and continue to do so in every generation, but what about me? Have God and I really come to an agreement concerning … ?” And if he feels he is at all negligent, then he needs humility and bravery. He needs the humility to bow his head before the Almighty One who gives him life and the bravery to take it upon himself to mend his ways.
If you consider the historical context, you can clearly see why the Rebbe was writing this book with such passion. It was and still is in order to save us from punishment.

An alternative explanation of the line: ‎ויעבור ה' על פניו ‏ויקרא וגו'‏‎, “Hashem passed before him and proclaimed, ‎etc.;” also based on the statement in Rosh Hashanah 17 that ‎G’d wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl similar to the one worn by ‎the reader leading the congregation in prayer.‎
G’d is advising Moses that if, when praying for forgiveness, ‎the Jewish people will emulate the example set for them by ‎‎Hashem, He will forgive their sins and they will have ‎atonement. We need to understand this statement of the Talmud ‎on a less simplistic level, of course. The Talmud Avodah ‎Zarah 3 provides the key to a more mature understanding of ‎this statement in the Talmud. The Talmud there explains that G’d ‎does not deal with the Jewish people in the manner that a despot ‎deals with his subjects when they have been guilty of violating his ‎decrees. The reason for this is that after all, the Jewish people ‎were the principal reason why G’d created the universe in the ‎first place as stated explicitly in Yalkut Shimoni 1,2 that the ‎world was created on account of Israel which is called ‎ראשית‎ ‎‎(Jeremiah 2,3). If G’d were to apply the yardstick to Israel that ‎befits its lofty standing in the celestial regions, it would not have ‎a chance to survive for a single hour as the burden imposed upon ‎them of having to serve as a model for other creatures would ‎have been too overwhelming.
‎[Compare when Moses said to Aaron that his sons died ‎not because they were so undeserving to live, objectively, but on ‎account of the principle of ‎בקרובי אקדש ‏‎, that G’d is especially ‎strict with people who have become intimates of His, so that He ‎would not be accused of favoritism. (Leviticus 10,3) Ed.]‎
G’d is aware that not withstanding the fact that since man’s ‎source of life is rooted in the holy and Divine root of the Creator ‎Himself, and he could therefore be expected to emulate his ‎Creator and be almost equally pure and holy, the fact remains, as ‎our sages have stated: ‎אין צדיק ולא יחטא‎, “there has not yet been a ‎righteous human being who has not committed a sin on at least ‎one occasion.” While it is true that a king’s son is expected to lead ‎a life that reflects his aristocratic background, nonetheless the ‎king will not disown his son if now and again he stepped out of ‎line. The Jewish people too, are called G’d’s Children, so G’d will ‎not turn His back on them because they have sometimes sinned, ‎inadvertently, in most cases. G’d promises Moses in our verse that ‎He will adopt the less stringent yardsticks for judging man, a ‎yardstick that is compatible with conditions on earth, an ‎environment that is fraught with a multitude of temptations. ‎When a rich man, comes face to face with a poor man, he is ‎aware that only by the grace of G’d does he enjoy so much more ‎material wealth than his less fortunate peer, and reflecting on ‎this fact he will supply the poor man with what he needs to ‎augment his livelihood.

To understand this matter we will begin with the verse, they have forsaken me, the source of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13). Its meaning is that Blessed God is the source from whom comes the flow of life-force to all living things in all manners, there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35); and anyone who is attached to [God] is attached to the root of life-force whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11) – but only so long as there is no blockage from his side. For if, God forbid, on account of his sins he blocks himself from the source, his life-force will become absent; but from Blessed [God’s] side there is no blockage as the verse says, but your iniquities have made a separation [between you and your God] (Isaiah 59:2). But one whose life-force is from the Other Side, who are called broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13) since they are gathered waters into which fell sparks of life-force at the moment of breaking, and for this reason they are called broken cisterns – such a person is blocked from his Upper Root and is called separator of close friends (Proverbs 16:28, 17:9). And therefore the Ancestors of the World, who opened the pipelines of intelligence in the world and taught awareness to all people, how to dig himself into the aspect of a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), to be attached to the source from which comes the root of his life-force. And [the Ancestors’] disciples are called by the name “servants,” as the verse says, Isaac’s servants (Gen. 26:32), since their service of the Blessed Creator came by way of the Ancestors.

The worst of evils is self-justification, such that one be righteous in his own eyes. And it is like the verse states (Jeremiah 2:35), "I will hereby judge you for your saying, 'I have not sinned.'" Its cause is a lack of introspection, such that a man not introspect about himself. And even worse than this is when he does not expect greatness from himself, and praises himself in his heart, saying, "I have already introspected, and not found any weighty sins in myself; and that is enough for me." But do you not want to at least be a simple Jew? Do you not need to fulfill the stipulation of the Holy One, blessed be He, which He made with us when we received the Torah - that we can only be Israel in this way. You must demand the greatness and holiness of essential Jewishness from yourself; so do not be righteous in your own eyes. Look for and condemn your shortcoming. Gird your loins and elevate yourself (and see Chapter 3 about this).

And now I must give awareness, education, and understanding regarding the matter of the three wells and their names, for the Ancestors looked through their great mind’s eye to the end of all the generations, with the tribulations that would befall them. It is known that during the time that the Temple stood there was an expansion of true awareness, how to draw close to the boundary in order to attach themselves to the aspect of a well of living water, more and more than in a time of exile; and even the Nations of the World would recognize a slight recognition, and would bring sacrifices as is written in the prayer of King Solomon, peace be upon him, And when the foreigner shall come etc. (1 Kings 8:41), and as we find that even just before the Destruction the Caesar sent them a sacrifice, as is known (cf. Gittin 55b-56a). However, even in the time of the Temple the aspect of Good and Evil was still in the world, until on account of Israel’s sins Evil overpowered [Good] and the Temple was destroyed. And therefore the aspect of the well was called Esek. And afterward they dug another well (Gen. 26:21), which is the Second Temple of Ezra’s days, when this awareness again expanded until they knew how to dig to the aspect of “well.” And they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21) on account of the Satan’s accusation, for the power of materiality had overcome the awareness until he moved from there (Gen. 26:22) in the aspect of the passage of time, which is the lengthy exile, and dug another well (Gen. 26:22), which is the coming of our Righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, when there will be no Evil accusation at all as is written, I will remove from the land … the spirit of uncleanness (Zechariah 13:2), for then the world will be entirely Good. So he called its name Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22), for then will be expansion of awareness as the verse says, for the earth shall be full of awareness of the LORD (Isaiah 11:9). And we will merit to attach to the light of Blessed Infinity, to comprehend Blessed [God’s] Nature and to attach to Blessed God with eternal attachment. And that is [the meaning of] what is written after this, From there he went up to Beersheba (Gen. 26:23); for the Shekhinah is called “Beersheba,” we will merit to be on a high level, and understand this. However, every person must strengthen himself even in the times when Evil obstructs him and does not allow him to rise up to the aspect of “well;” nevertheless he should see through his mind’s eye that even in that place is a contraction of Blessed [God’s] Divinity, as we have said in a different place. And he should look at the obstruction and understand from it what is the root of his life-force, from which characteristic it is, whether from the aspect of Mercy [hesed] or Strength [gevurah]. And he should see to bring it to its root, for through this characteristic, which he arouses to bring it close, through it he begins to serve the Blessed Creator, whether in thought or in word or in deed; for these characteristics are Divinity, but they fell from their place in the breaking. And then Good will be made out of them as well. And similarly, if obstructions come to him from the side of judgments – coming to him from his root Above, the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], which is the characteristic of Isaac – he should understand through his awareness that these judgments are from the Upper Holy Place, except that they fell through the descent of the levels to the place of judgments, which is the place of broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). And he should hold to the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], to revere Blessed God and to serve Blessed God immediately through this [characteristic], and to bring them to their roots and sweeten the judgments. For this is the secret: the judgments can only be sweetened at their roots, which is the characteristic of Isaac. For immediately when, through these judgments that came on account of his sins, he strengthens himself and serves with them at the root of their hold until they arrive at their root; for in that place is only absolute Divinity, the judgments are nullified and sweetened.

So says the Lord, I have remembered for your sake the chesed of your youth, [it is] the ahavah, “love,” of your marriage (Jer. 2:2).