בְּֽכָל־צָרָתָ֣ם ׀ לא [ל֣וֹ] צָ֗ר וּמַלְאַ֤ךְ פָּנָיו֙ הֽוֹשִׁיעָ֔ם בְּאַהֲבָת֥וֹ וּבְחֶמְלָת֖וֹ ה֣וּא גְאָלָ֑ם וַֽיְנַטְּלֵ֥ם וַֽיְנַשְּׂאֵ֖ם כָּל־יְמֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם׃
אין אַל זײער לײַד האָט ער געליטן, און דער מלאך פֿון זײַן פּנים האָט זײ געהאָלפֿן; אין זײַן ליבשאַפֿט און אין זײַן דערבאַרימונגהאָט ער זײ אױסגעלײזט, און זײ געהױבן און זײ געטראָגןאַלע טעג פֿון פֿאַרצײַטן.
Kedushat Levi
Another approach to the verse above, which appears to be a prelude to Yaakov experiencing painful experiences apparently linked to his settlement on holy soil.
We have a rule, (Avot 6,10) that all of G’d’s creations were designed only for His honour, from which it follows that all of man’s activities must be aimed at pleasing his Father in heaven. In order to illustrate what the author of the statement in the Mishnah had in mind when he said that whatever G’d created was designed to enhance His honour, consider that even when we sit down to perform a necessary activity such as eating in order to keep our bodies healthy, we must at the same time have in mind that by remaining healthy we can better serve our Creator. [If we do this consciously, every meal we eat is a סעודת מצוה, a meal that has been sublimated from being merely a mundane activity to performance of a sacred duty. Ed.] Such hallowing of what appear on the surface to be secular activities, also enables us to help the “sparks” of the “Shechinah” which had been condemned to enter our domain, to return to their origin having proved to their Creator that they had put their sojourn on earth to good use. (Compare our comments in square brackets on page 21). These “sparks” from the Shechinah, though in “exile,” on earth, had preserved the lower universe’s inhabitants’ ability to eventually find their way back to the innocence, the ideal state in which man had been created, before he had committed a capital sin. The “sparks” that had separated from the Shechinah at the time had become an almost integral part of the physical universe, having some presence in everything that serves man to continue to live on earth, so that all organic matter that serves man as food also contains parts of these “sparks.” When man sublimates this “food” by consuming it with the intention of enhancing his service of the Lord, he has “opened” a path for such a “spark,” or part of it, to return to the celestial regions from which it originated.
The deeper meaning of the halachah requiring us to wash our hands and to recite a benediction over this, i.e. something we do not do when we wash our hands in order to cleanse them from dirt, is also connected to the hopefully sublime nature of the food that we are about to consume. The prophet Isaiah 63,9 refers to this נטילת ידים, “washing one’s hands,” as a religious rite,” with the words: וינטלם וינשאם כל ימי עולם, “He washed them and exalted them, for ever.” According to the kabbalistic interpretation of that verse, the words יד הגדולה in that verse in Isaiah refers to “three types of hands,” when G’d uses His יד הגדולה, when performing redemption, the letter ג in the word הגדולה, alludes to three different levels of elevating, sublimating something that was mundane, secular. The benediction which ends with the words המוציא לחם מן הארץ, is accordingly understood as the raising of something that was merely earthly, bread, to a progressively higher status through the thoughts that will course through our hearts and minds while we eat the bread, i.e. the meal. The deeper meaning of the benediction is that although it is apparently pronounced over the most basic material component of the physical earth, bread, the staff of life, it contains within it, through being sublimated, the potential to enable one of the exiled sparks from heaven to begin its journey homeward, to its roots in the celestial spheres.
We have a rule, (Avot 6,10) that all of G’d’s creations were designed only for His honour, from which it follows that all of man’s activities must be aimed at pleasing his Father in heaven. In order to illustrate what the author of the statement in the Mishnah had in mind when he said that whatever G’d created was designed to enhance His honour, consider that even when we sit down to perform a necessary activity such as eating in order to keep our bodies healthy, we must at the same time have in mind that by remaining healthy we can better serve our Creator. [If we do this consciously, every meal we eat is a סעודת מצוה, a meal that has been sublimated from being merely a mundane activity to performance of a sacred duty. Ed.] Such hallowing of what appear on the surface to be secular activities, also enables us to help the “sparks” of the “Shechinah” which had been condemned to enter our domain, to return to their origin having proved to their Creator that they had put their sojourn on earth to good use. (Compare our comments in square brackets on page 21). These “sparks” from the Shechinah, though in “exile,” on earth, had preserved the lower universe’s inhabitants’ ability to eventually find their way back to the innocence, the ideal state in which man had been created, before he had committed a capital sin. The “sparks” that had separated from the Shechinah at the time had become an almost integral part of the physical universe, having some presence in everything that serves man to continue to live on earth, so that all organic matter that serves man as food also contains parts of these “sparks.” When man sublimates this “food” by consuming it with the intention of enhancing his service of the Lord, he has “opened” a path for such a “spark,” or part of it, to return to the celestial regions from which it originated.
The deeper meaning of the halachah requiring us to wash our hands and to recite a benediction over this, i.e. something we do not do when we wash our hands in order to cleanse them from dirt, is also connected to the hopefully sublime nature of the food that we are about to consume. The prophet Isaiah 63,9 refers to this נטילת ידים, “washing one’s hands,” as a religious rite,” with the words: וינטלם וינשאם כל ימי עולם, “He washed them and exalted them, for ever.” According to the kabbalistic interpretation of that verse, the words יד הגדולה in that verse in Isaiah refers to “three types of hands,” when G’d uses His יד הגדולה, when performing redemption, the letter ג in the word הגדולה, alludes to three different levels of elevating, sublimating something that was mundane, secular. The benediction which ends with the words המוציא לחם מן הארץ, is accordingly understood as the raising of something that was merely earthly, bread, to a progressively higher status through the thoughts that will course through our hearts and minds while we eat the bread, i.e. the meal. The deeper meaning of the benediction is that although it is apparently pronounced over the most basic material component of the physical earth, bread, the staff of life, it contains within it, through being sublimated, the potential to enable one of the exiled sparks from heaven to begin its journey homeward, to its roots in the celestial spheres.
Be'er Mayim Chaim
And to understand the might of God here by way of a parable: A thorn penetrated very deep into the hand of a man's young son, and he knows that if the thorn remains in his hand, a great pain will spread from there and no medication will be effective afterward. So he wants to remove it from there but is unable to do so without piercing deep and with great strength, since it is very difficult for him to remove it. What does he do? He takes a sharp and pointy knife and cuts into the hand of his son with great might and cruelty. So the infant yells out, and his voice reaches the heavens. But he pays no attention and cuts deeply until the place that he is able to reach and takes out the thorn from his son's hand. And behold the heart of everyone who understands will understand how very great the pain and the consternation is for the father at the time that he cuts his son's hand, as it is truly hard for him to endure it. However, out of his great love for his son, he turns his heart into a heart of stone and becomes cruel to his beloved son; he girds himself with great might and suppresses his mercy and kindness towards his son. So he does not hear the voice of his crying out and does what he needs to because of his love for his son. It is exactly like this when the Jewish people sinned with great and severe sins: Then thorns and brambles from all the aspects of the husks and the external forces penetrated their spirits in such a way that if He would leave them there, God forbid, their pain would spread more and more, and there would, God forbid, not be any getting up after their fall. And that is why He sent enemies against them, to afflict them with all types of afflictions and to weaken their strength with all types of punishments — with pestilence, the sword, famine, captivity, and destruction — to the point that it reaches the neck. So that, in this way, the thorns and brambles around them will be removed from them and they will, God willing, get up at the end of days. And the greatness of the very great pain and duress, as it were, to Him, blessed be He, from the troubles of the Jewish people with all of this is certainly beyond belief and is beyond being recounted in a book written by a man with ink. And this is like their statement, may their memory be blessed (Sanhedrin 46a:15), "When a man suffers, what does the divine presence say? 'I am distressed about My head'"; and like its stating, In all their troubles He was troubled, etc. (Isaiah 63:9), as it were. And [this is the case,] particularly when His great name was profaned by the enemies with the destruction of the temple, when they said, Where is their God, the rock on which they relied for shelter (Deuteronomy 32:37), whereas it was certainly in God's power to wipe them out in an instant. However, His love for the Jewish people had become so great, to the point that He suppressed His mercy with very very great might in seeing what the nations did to His children and to tolerate all of the curses and blasphemies and remain still towards them. But all of it is in order that good will come from this to the Jewish people.
The Gate of Unity
May HaShem-יהו"ה uplift the horn of Israel and enlighten their eyes with the light of HaShem-יהו"ה, the eternal light, with grace, kindness, and mercy. May He bless them with spiritual and physical life and may He always support and uplift them2Isaiah 63:9 until the coming of the redeemer.