Chasidut para sa Mga Awit 34:10

We find in the Talmud “From where do we know that a priest with a physical defect is invalid.? As it says ‘Behold I give him my covenant of peace (/SHaLOM/)’, when is he whole/complete (/SHaLeM/) therefore and not lacking. This is problematic however for SHaloM is written, with a VaV (and therefore does not have the meaning of complete/whole). But the Vav is severed (and therefore it may be read as having the meaning complete/whole). Elsewhere the Talmud explains the verse from Psalms “Pinchas stood in reckoning (VaYiPaLeL). VaYiTPaLeL (prayer) is not written, rather VaYiPaLeL (entreaty), to teach that he made a ׳reckoning׳ )(PeLiLaH) with his Creator.

The true foundation of the fear of God is faith. Only by understanding and consciously believing in the supreme lofty heights of God, and then actively fearing Him, does fear become complete. Man’s normal experience of fear usually stems from an awareness of his own deficiencies. Of this it is said (Yeshayahu, 44:17), “He makes himself an idol and bows down to it.”¹⁹⁶In other words, he makes of himself an idol, which he bows down to. This kind of fear is called by the Zohar (Vaeira, 29a), “their fear.”¹⁹⁷That is, their own personal fears, which they project outward, upon the idol. Since idolaters are deficient, they believe that by prostrating themselves to an idol and expressing their fear, stemming from a recognition of their own deficiency, the idol will emit a flow of energy to fill their lacks.¹⁹⁸Using the example in note 177, above, we can say that a strong person fears being weak. He therefore prays to an idol to save him from weakness, although all he his really doing is projecting his own inner fears outward, and fearfully worshipping them. And even though the idol is actually powerless to do so, the idolater still believes that by projecting his fear outward, he himself will become complete. Ultimately, he is only worshiping the very deficiency that he fears. This is called, “bowing down to his idol.”¹⁹⁹In other words, to the particular trait or idea that he has idolized. The word for idol in Hebrew, “pesel,” is connected to the word for pasul, which means “invalid” or “deficient.” Further in the Beit Yaakov it will be explained that the fear of the idolater, expressed in a place where he knows he is lacking, takes on two forms. The idolater will either erect a form of the lack itself, or a form of the fulfillment of that lack. A weak person will worship either the image of a hero, or the image a weakling. This will all be explained. The service of Israel, however, is different. For we recognize the awesome heights of God precisely through our own deficiencies,²⁰⁰This is opposite the process that leads to idolatry. Here, the awareness of one’s own deficiencies leads to an awareness of God’s grandeur and exaltedness, engendering a fear of God’s own greatness – not the projection of one’s own deficiencies onto an idol. as it is written (Iyov, 19:26), “From my flesh (meaning my limitations and deficiencies) I shall see God.” It is written in the Zohar (Emor, 90b): “I will dwell among the downtrodden and low of spirit.” (Yeshayahu, 57:15) This is the place of the greatest wholeness. When one brings himself low so that the awesome pride of the Supernal One, the Pride of all, may rest upon him, this is a place of wholeness.²⁰¹One’s personal sense of lowliness brings about a revelation of Supernal Pride; that is, lowliness itself engenders a sense of a wholeness in that it connects one to God. This is mentioned in the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar (5b): The seventh level in the fear of God is one who lacks nothing,²⁰²Note the subtle shift of approach the author makes with this passage of the Zohar, as well the following one. Previously, R. Gershon Henokh juxtaposed the fear of idolators, which is born out of their sense of personal lack, to the rectified fear of Israel, in which a sense of lack produces an appreciation of God’s completeness. Now, the author begins to discuss a type of fear that is the result of completeness. Based upon this and other Izhbitzer texts (see Tzidkat HaTzaddik 212), he seems to mean the following: Because of Israel’s belief (emunah) in God’s utter transcendence, the sense of lack they feel does not result in idolatry – which is the transference of personal lack onto the divinity. Rather, Israel’s lack proves the very opposite – that God is wholely complete and transcendent, as R. Gershon Hanokh interprets the verse, “From my flesh, I see God” – “from my limitations, I deduce the Divine.” In other words – ironically – the idolaters desire for wholeness only exacerbates his weakness, whereas Israel’s acceptance of their weakness allows them to partake of the Divine wholeness. The author further explains that the correct means by which to assuage one’s sense of lack is Torah study. For Torah study frees a person from being fixated on a singular value or truth; thus he does not experience the fear resulting from a sense of personal deficiency in its loss. What is left is a sense of Divine transcendence, which engenders awe. (See note 195.) as it is written (Tehillim, 34:10), “Fear God, His holy ones, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him.” He is not one of those of whom it is said (Mishlei, 11:24), “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” If he is a Torah scholar, he shall not be lacking in Torah, for without Torah, there is no fear of God. This is as it is said (Pirkei Avot, 2:5), “An unlearned person does not fear sin.” Just as there is no Torah without the fear of God, similarly, there is no fear of God without the Torah.

"Speak to Aaron" etc., "When you kindle" — in the Midrash: The verse "Fear the Lord, His holy ones" (Ps. 34:10) is expounded. You find that above, eleven tribes brought offerings, and the tribe of Ephraim brought [its offering]... but Aaron did not bring [an offering]... The Holy Blessed One said to him: "For something greater than this you are destined..." "But the lamps — forever, opposite the face of the Menorah they shall shine," and all the blessings are never annulled. (For since Ephraim also brought an offering, the twelve tribes corresponding to the legs of the Merkavah were now complete — and Aaron is called shoshbina d'Matronita, the companion of the Matron. And our sages taught concerning the firstborn and the tithe.) We have already written above that the lower Chokhmah is a vessel for the upper Chokhmah, and Aaron — the root of his soul is from the aspect of Abba — and he is the one who establishes the Community of Israel before Him, blessed be He. The Holy Blessed One commanded him that when he kindles the lamps — which is the Community of Israel before Him — he should raise her up as she was in the root of [divine] thought. This is why the flame should ascend of its own accord (me'eilehah) — reading this as mi-ma'al Yah, "from above, from Yah" — for ayin and alef are interchangeable, as we have written. The secret of the flame is like the bathing in hot water on Shabbat eve; her essential elevation and reception comes from Him, blessed be He, through the central pillar — that is, "opposite the face of the Menorah the seven lamps shall shine." For through the outer edges it is impossible to receive without the Chitzonim, God forbid, seizing hold, unlike the future time when the worlds will be in their correction, as it is written: "For you shall spread out to the right and to the left" (Is. 54:3), and there will be no fear from Esau and Ishmael, "for your seed shall inherit nations." This is what the Midrash means: the sacrifices belong to the time of the Temple, but the lamps are never annulled — which is puzzling at first glance, for where are the lamps in the present time? And if the intent is upon the Hanukkah lights, as some commentators explain — in the Babylonian exile there was not yet even the commandment of Hanukkah! But according to what I have written, it will be understood: this preparation was specifically for the days of destruction until the worlds will be in their repair, because the soul of Aaron is the vessel for this. And this is what they meant: "And all the blessings are never annulled," for the priestly blessing operates through the aspect of Abba, and for this reason the priestly blessing spoken by Aaron's mouth requires the one who blesses to be a merkavah, a vehicle for the mouth of Aaron. And the verse says: "And Aaron did so" — for there are righteous ones who inflame the souls of Israel for His service at the start, but afterward those individuals sometimes fail to maintain constancy in the service of God, God forbid. Not so Aaron, the holy one of God — he did not deviate from upholding the Community of Israel, which is the holy Matronita, before Him, all his days, being a vessel for the supreme thought, to illuminate them from the hidden light. This is what the Midrash says: "Great is the light of the Holy Blessed One — the sun and the moon illuminate the world, but from where do they receive their light? From sparks of fire above they draw, as it is said: 'By the light of Your arrows they go' (Hab. 3:11)." For ḥetz (arrow) has the numerical value of YHVH plus Chesed — and from there they receive the light. The word itself likewise points to this: ḥet is Chokhmah (Wisdom) flowing to Binah; tzadi is yod-nun, flowing to nun through the yod, and from there the flow comes to Israel through the Tzaddik — this is the yod of ḥitzeikha ("Your arrows"). At its root it is "the lightning flash of Your spear" (ibid.), which is like a flash — and understand this well. And it further states: "Greater still is the light from above, which was not given to creatures except in a measure of one in a hundred, as it is said: 'He knows what is in the darkness' (Dan. 2:22)" — for the name Mah (in full spelling with alef's) is related to the word for meah (hundred), and wherever you find this teaching, it means: the aspect of Mah is joined at its root to the root of all roots, called Efisah (nothingness), which the Kabbalists call by the name darkness — owing to its great hiddenness — and from there the sun and moon that are known receive their light. And it continues: "Opposite the face of the Menorah" — Rabbi Yehoshua bar Nehemiah said: Joy was withheld from the wicked and given to the righteous — meaning, by withholding joy from the wicked, that is, the outer forces, so they do not seize hold, God forbid, it is given to Israel. For the Holy Blessed One, as it were, had need of dwelling among flesh and blood by means of a lamp (ner), since the central pillar is called ben adam (mortal) on account of the 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments, as is known. Ner (lamp) is the union that ascends to the value of ner (250+5). And as it were, through the perfecting of their deeds, He, may His Name be blessed, clothes Himself in the aspect of Tiferet Yisrael and unites with them through three unifications that together rise to the value of ner.