Еврейская мысль к Тегилим 103:1

The Talmud Berachot 10 quotes a line from the famous chapter of eyshet chayil, the woman of valor, from Proverbs Chapter 31. It says there, "She opened her mouth with wisdom, and the Torah of loving kindness was on her tongue." Is there then a Torah that is NOT loving kindness? This refers to Solomon's father David, who dwelled in five worlds and recited shirah, hymns of praise. He dwelled in the womb of his mother and said shirah since it is written in Psalms 103,1, "My soul, bless the Lord and all my insides proclaim His holiness!" When he saw the light of the world, the stars etc. he proclaimed a hymn of praise saying, "Blessed be the Lord and all His hosts." When he suckled at his mother's breast, he composed a hymn saying, "May my soul bless the Lord and not forget to thank Him for all His kindness" (Psalms 103,2). He referred to the placing of the teats near the source of binah, understanding- the heart. Rabbi Abahu says this means that a woman's teats are not near the genitals, like those of the animals, and that therefore there is no need to look at the genitals when being nursed. Rabbi Yehudah says that the meaning is that the teats are not near the source of human excrement. When David saw the downfall of the wicked, he said shirah as we read "May all sinners perish from the earth" (Psalms 104,35). When he beheld the day of death, he said shirah as it says, "May my soul bless the Lord, You are very great" (Psalms 104,1).

Sunlight is a gift bestowed on everyone, yet, unless one is equipped to receive it through normal channels, one may not benefit from it. Anyone whose eyes are defective, may fail to benefit from the rays of the sun and remain blind. Torah, i.e. spiritual light, is provided for man, but it too requires channels that are primed to receive it, understand it and make use of it. Ner mitzvah, the commandment being a lamp, refers to the local illumination achieved through performance of an individual mitzvah, whereas Torah or, the Torah is Light itself, refers to the spiritual illumination provided by Torah in its entirety, since it has the ability to bathe the whole human personality in its spiritual light. Priming one's antenna, however is necessary, else the impact of all that spiritual light goes to waste. When we are told that the unborn infant is exposed to the total teachings of Torah, only to forget same the moment he is born, this means that while as yet unborn, man's potential is unimpeded by negative influences, and he can absorb all the spiritual light offered. Entry into our world however, poses a formidable screen, nullifying at least temporarily the lessons previously absorbed. Only application by man can restore the former ease for receiving Divinely inspired teachings. The infant is sworn to become a tzaddik and not a rasha. Whatever is acquired by man's intellect, is no more than the recollection of what he had learned while still in the womb of his mother. When one tells a wealthy man that he is rich, this does not prevent him from trying to amass still greater wealth. Similarly, when a person is told that he is a tzaddik, righteous person, he must continue to view himself as being almost a rasha, and keep up his efforts to become even more perfect spiritually. Our sages advise that one should strive for refinement of one's character traits with the same energy that one applies to the effort to acquire transient values. The soul has five characteristics that liken it to the Almighty. (Berachot 10) David praised G'd in respect of these five characteristics of the soul in Psalms 103 and 104. 1) G'd sees without being seen; similarly, the soul sees without being seen. 2) Just as G'd fills the universe, so the soul fills the body. 3) Just as G'd feeds the universe, so the soul feeds the body it inhabits. 4) Just as G'd is pure, so the soul is pure. 5) Just as G'd resides in the innermost chamber, so does the soul. May he who possesses the above five characteristics come and bless Him who possesses these five characteristics. We are commanded in Deut. 4,15, "take good care of yourselves, for you have seen no manner of form on the day the Lord spoke with you at Chorev out of the fire." This means that we are to kindle His light, the invisible one, to perfect it, so that G'd in turn who holds our life in His hands (your light) will preserve it. Concerning the soul sustaining the body, compare Psalms 146,4, "when his spirit departs, he returns to his soil." G'd is called the chay olamim, the "eternally living," in the words of Maimonides, since He is to the world what the soul is to the body. The essential difference between Jewish philosophy and that of other religions is that we believe that the soul starts out by being pure, and needs to be kept that way by means of observing G'ds commandments. This is facilitated by reverence for G'd, belief in His existence, His power etc. Other religions believe that man is equipped with a tainted soul, (due to the sin of original man) and has to be cleansed and purified. The order of the ten commandments supports the view of Solomon in Kohelet 12,13, "fear the Lord, and observe His commandments." First there has to be a fundamental reverence for the Lord, only afterwards can the observance of His commandments become meaningful. For that reason, the decalogue starts with the statements "I am the Lord your G'd," and "you must not have any other deities."

(2) There is Teshuvah which is directed to counteract a particular sin or many sins. A person puts their sin before their face, regrets it and suffers over having been ensnared in the trap of sin. One's soul climbs and ascends until one becomes free from the enslavement to sin and feels within oneself the holy freedom which is so pleasant to the soul and aura that one becomes increasingly healed. The rays of the light of the sun of Hesed, Supernal Compassion, send out their beams, and a person becomes increasingly happy, and increasingly filled with internal pleasure and delight. This is along with heartbrokenness and a soul swimming in sadness, since even this feeling is beneficial for the person in accord with their situation and can add more internal spiritual pleasure and true wholeness. A person feels themself drawing closer to the Source of Life, to the Living G-d in a way that has not been the case before when they were so far away from G-d. The person's longing soul remembers with heartfelt joy the internal suffering of before and is filled with feelings of gratitude, with thanksgiving and song the soul raises her voice saying " Bless GOD, O my soul, all my being, that holy name. Bless the ETERNAL One, O my soul, and do not forget all God’s bounties. All your sins are forgiven, all your diseases healed. Your life is redeemed from the Pit." You are surrounded with steadfast love and mercy. You are satisfied with good things in the prime of life, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. GOD executes righteous acts and judgments for all who are wronged" (Psalm 103:1-6).