Chasidut para sa Deuteronomio 10:17

All prayer and Divine service come before God by way of the name YHVH, which is the secret of the Sefirah of Tiferet, which includes all of the revealed attributes. And all of the praises of God arranged in the first three blessings of the Amidah³⁵⁴The Amidah is the silent standing prayer, and is the centerpiece of the three daily prayers in Orthodox Jewish practice. also allow man to recognize God’s His revealed attributes. Notwithstanding that God is exalted above all attributes, yet still, in prayer, man should not praise God in a way that he does not know Him. This is referred to in the Gemara (Megilah, 25a): A certain man went to lead the prayer service in the presence of Rabbi Hanina and said, “The great, the mighty, the awesome, the majestic, the strong, the powerful God.” Rabbi Hanina said to him: Have you finished the praises of your Master? Even the first three terms of praise³⁵⁵The Amidah prayer begins: “Blessed are You, our G-d and G-d of our forefathers… the great, mighty and awesome G-d,” based upon Moshe’s words in Devarim 10:17. could not be recited, had not Moshe wrote them in the Torah (Devarim, 10:17) and the Men of the Great Assembly came and ordained them (see Nehemia, 9:32), we could not say them. And you say all this! It is as if a man had billions of gold coins and people praised his wealth by saying that he had a thousand. Wouldn’t that insult him? In this episode, the prayer leader actually related to God through these lofty appellations, as is explained by the Rambam.³⁵⁶See Guide for the Perplexed, section One, chapter 59. Rabbi Hanina was saying to him, how can you praise God based upon your perception at this moment? In another moment God may illuminate to you an understanding of awesome heights thoroughly beyond your present perception, as incomparable as gold is to silver. Thus, Rabbi Hanina said to him, “Even the first three terms of praise could not be recited, had not Moshe wrote them in the Torah.” Meaning, that which is written in the Torah contains the entire creation. This is akin to what we quoted from the Zohar as an introduction (see section 4, Zohar Yitro). “And the Men of the Great Assembly came and established them in the prayer,” which means that they clarified the fact that these three attributes³⁵⁷“Great, mighty, and Awesome” or Hesed, Gevurah and Tiferet. These sefirot are the essential qualities of Zeir Anpin, which the author mentions below. are graspable by all Israel. This is as it is said in the Gemara (Yoma, 69b), “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, why were they called men of the Great assembly? It is because they restored the crown to its former glory. Moshe had come and said, The great God, the mighty, and the awesome. Then Yirmiyahu and omitted the attribute, ‘Awesome.’³⁵⁸See Yermiyahu 32:18, “…You are the great and mighty God.” Daniel omitted the word ‘Mighty.’³⁵⁹Daniel 9:4, “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God.” But they returned the crown of Divine attributes to its ancient completeness.”³⁶⁰By opening the Amidah prayer with all three attributes mentioned by Moshe. They made it clear that these were truly His attributes of might, and these were truly His attributes of Awe. That is to say, every Jew can always recognize these attributes.³⁶¹The three attributes of Therefore, all prayers to God are arranged in praise via His recognizable, revealed attributes. They are all included in the attribute of Zeir Anpin, also called Tiferet Yisrael (the splendor of Israel). Even though there are attributes far loftier than these, yet prayer can only be directed to the place where man’s mind can reach. This is why Yermiyahu and Daniel omitted certain attributes. Since they knew that G-d was true, they mentioned only the attributes that God revealed to them in their prophetic experience.³⁶²According to the Talmud, they removed these terms of praise after witnessing the destruction of Jerusalem. At that point, they could no longer perceive G-d’s might and awesomeness. However, in the time of the members of the Great Assembly, who had already seen God’s great salvations in the Purim miracle, they identified that these were indeed God’s mighty actions, and these where truly God’s awesome deeds. In this way they restored the crown of God’s attributes to the way it was first perceived by Moshe. Indeed, from this we see that the act of prayer is the mystery of Zeir Anpin, since all of God’s attributes are rooted in God’s great name YHVH, which is the same as the Sefirah of Tiferet³⁶³Tiferet refers to a single sefirah; Zeir Anpin refers to the entire six-sefirah unit from Hesed to Yesod. Since these function as a unit, they are considered here synonymous with Tiferet itself, beings its central focus. and the partsuf of Zeir Anpin.³⁶⁴The ten sefirot each correspond to a different Name of G-d, as derived from the Torah. The sefirah of Tiferet corresponds to the Tetragrammaton, the YHVH, or G-d’s “essential” Name. All of God’s names are included in His great name YHVH. We learn from the Zohar (Vayikra, 10b): All is built from Yud Hei… He is the King to whom all Peace is His, in the mystery of Tiferet. And further in the Zohar (ibid. 11a): Rabbi Elazar said, “All of the ten names of God are written, and we have taught, the name EHYH³⁶⁵G-d’s name as revealed to Moshe at the burning bush (Shemot 3:14), “I will be that which I will be.” is the supernal concealment … Yud Hei, because the Hei comes out of Hokhmah (represented by the Yud).”³⁶⁶The letter yud, of the Tetragrammaton, corresponds to the sefirah of Hokhmah. The first letter hei corresponds to the sefirah of Binah. The letter vav corresponds to the next six sefirot (Zeir Anpin/Tiferet). And the final letter hei corresponds to Malkhut. This passage in the Zohar goes on to say that every name of God finds its root in the name YHVH: The sixth name YHVH is compassion. It is the completion of all, the main point of all, the connection of emunah (faith). It unites all sides (all Sefirot) this is “Tiferet Yisrael” (the splendor of Israel). That is to say, the name YHVH is both the root of Tiferet and its very name.

In the holy Zohar, Beshalach 28:376: That food that is subtler in quality emanated from the place of Judgment, and it was the food which was eaten by the Israelites when they left Egypt, etc. And then afterward (Zohar, Beshalach 28:378-380): And the real answer is this. First, there is the food, etc. and that is food for the body. Then there is the food that is higher, etc. which resides in the place of Judgment, and that is the food of the poor, etc. A more supernal food than these, etc. is the one of the sick people. That is at it is written, The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing (Psalms 41:4), etc. Behold, that which the holy Zohar compares the food of the sick to the eating of manna, since the sick person is also nourished by spiritual food from the heavens, as it is stated, The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. However, that it compares the food of the poor to the eating of matzah [needs explanation]. Do we not recite the blessing, "who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded," over the eating of matzah? And even the seven days when it is optional, we have already said that it is [nevertheless] a commandment. However, compared to an obligation, a commandment is called optional. So what is this comparison to the eating of the poor? And it can be explained based on that which they said (Berakhot 20b), "It is written [about God], [...] who favors no one and takes no bribe (Deuteronomy 10:17), yet it is written, The Lord shall show favor to you (Numbers 6:26). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'And how can I not show favor to Israel, as they are exacting with themselves [to recite Grace after Meals even if they have eaten as much as] an olive-bulk or an egg-bulk,' etc." And in Aggadot Maharsha, [the author explains] that it is measure for measure since they show favor to the Holy One, blessed be He, and are exacting with the commandments. However, it is still difficult: Why did they grab hold of this more than [any] other stringency of the commandments? And it can be explained based on that which they said (Chagigah 14a), "One who is favored above, such as Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. One who is favored below, such as Rabbi Abbahu in the house of the emperor." And they explained in Tosafot [that it was because the former] was a man of good deeds, such that his merit was great. And the essence of the matter is based on that which they said (Berakhot 17b), "Rav said, 'Every day a Divine Voice emerges from Mount Horeb: The entire world is sustained because of Chanina, my son, and for Chanina, my son, a [small measure] of carobs is sufficient from one Shabbat eve to the next Shabbat eve.'" Behold, this statement of Rav was later than the days of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, who was in the time of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. So how would a voice emerge every day that the entire world is sustained because of Chanina? (And see Rashi on Chullin 86a.) And also, what is this that in every place it teaches to conclude from this statement that for Chanina, my son, a [small measure] of carobs is sufficient? However, the idea is that the name Chanina is borrowed for any person who is lowly in his own eyes and conducts himself with the trait of sufficing, and who recognizes that all the food that he is provided with from Heaven — even the small measure that is given to him from Heaven — is from the angle of grace [chanina], as he is not even worthy of this from his own merit. This is like Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa in his days, who was like this in his very soul and did not find it in himself to request plentiful food in order to appease his wife's feelings (as they said, Taanit 25a). And there are souls like this in every generation, for whom God, may He be blessed, favors the whole world to provide food for all of His creatures according to their need. And that which they said, that they are exacting with themselves to recite the blessing over an olive-bulk or an egg-bulk, and not just with speech but truly truly giving thanks and praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, for [his] food that He provided for him, even over an olive-bulk or an egg-bulk, is only from the side of His grace, may His name be blessed. So the food of a poor person like that is similar in its essence to the eating of matza as bread. As it is the bread of poverty and the food of captives, yet we suffice ourselves spiritually with the eating of this bread all the days of the holiday and give praise and thanks to His name, may He be blessed, all of the holiday, as it is said, "the holidays are for happiness."And because of this, we merit the influx of blessing and food for all of the year. And it is as they said (Rosh Hashanah 16b), "Because Passover is the time of the produce, etc. so that the produce of the fields be blessed for you."