KabbalaOnline.org Yitro 5783 Chasidic Masters Insights on the Torah Reading
KabbalaOnline.org Yitro 5783 Chasidic Masters Insights on the Torah Reading
A Sight to Behold
Chasidic Masters
From
the writings & talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch
"And
all the people saw the thunder and the lightning, the sound of
the shofar and the smoking mountain." (Ex.
20:15)
These
words describe the tremendous revelation of G‑d's essence and the supernal
joy experienced at the Torah's giving - as well as the delight of the
Jewish nation at these revelations. Why did the Torah use sight to
describe this exceptionally spiritual event? In addition, since Torah learning
is primarily an intellectual endeavor, wouldn't terms describing mental perceptions
have been more appropriate?
The
Jews saw four things: 1) thunder, 2) lightning, 3) the sound of the shofar,
and 4) the smoking mountain. The first three are revelations from Above. The fourth (see Ohr HaChayim on
the verse) alludes to an initiative from below, since the mountain's
interior was aflame, producing smoke that ascended upwards.
The
smoke rising from the mountain - an ascent from below to above - alludes to the
innovation of the giving of the Torah. Until the Torah was given, all divine
revelations to the world were gratis. As the Talmud indicates (Pesachim 118a),
until this historic event, the world was sustained by G‑d's
virtue of kindness, and not through any merit of its own. Even our Patriarchs,
despite their greatness, did not merit by dint of their service, all the
awesome revelations from G‑d, because whatever good acts they performed
affected principally the spiritual realm. Also, the mitzvot which
the Patriarchs performed using physical objects did not actually sanctify or
elevate those items. By fulfilling a mitzvah, they elicited an
exclusively spiritual reaction without transforming the physical object into a
holy one.
[Author's
note: In Kabbalistic terms, the Patriarchs could not elevate the feminine
waters ("Mayim Nukvin"). This could only be accomplished
through the efforts and initiatives of their progeny, the Jewish people, in
transforming the material world (via Itaruta d'letata).]
The
intent of the Torah was that there should be an arousal from below. Mitzvot are
performed with, and intended to transform, physical objects.
For example tzitzit are made of physical wool
and tefillin are made of physical parchment - each transforming these
mundane objects into holy ones. Even "service of the heart" is
intended to affect our bodies; i.e. one's heart should actually feel love and
awe of G‑d.
So,
too, with loving a fellow Jew, the love should be physically felt in one's
heart. The heart should feel joy at another Jew's good fortune, and pain at
someone's sorrow, being compelled to help others - whether in physical or
spiritual matters. Likewise, we are commanded to grasp, with our physical
brain, the reality of G‑d. Torah learning itself must be performed aloud, using
the mouth, as it says, "...and you should speak of them" (from
the Shema prayer). In general, the Torah's commandments
require us to interact with, and thus elevate, the material world.
Torah
and mitzvot are enclothed in physicality so that we elevate
our bodies, natural inclinations, and the material world to holiness. For this
reason, the Torah was not given to the heavenly angels, although they had
petitioned G‑d for it. Angels do not possess evil inclinations that require
purification. Additionally, G‑d chose to give the Torah to the Jews here on
earth, as opposed to raising us up to the heavens and giving us the Torah
there, to stress the Torah's place in this world. Similarly, G‑d
gave the Torah on a mountain and not on a plain - since a mountain represents
earth, i.e. physicality, which gets elevated.
Service with Joy
Our
service to G‑d must be with joy, as it says, "Serve G‑d
with joy" (Psalms
100:2). Even those times when we are instructed to serve with awe, our joy
is only hidden. Regarding service that is devoid of joy, it is written,
"For you did not serve the Lord, your G‑d with joy and a good heart, and
you will serve your enemies" (Deut.
28:47, 48). Why is happiness so crucial? Isn't the divine service itself
the main purpose, and the joy only auxiliary? And even if happiness is
important, why does its absence precipitate such a severe punishment?
Every
created being has its source in the loftiest planes, as the Sages teach,
"There is no blade of grass in the world below that does not have a
spiritual life-force above striking it and telling it to grow" (Bereishit Rabba 10:7.
Cf. Zohar I:251a, Zohar Chadash 4b).
Even the minutest details of botanical life - taste, smell, appearance, etc. -
are rooted in the qualities of their spiritual life-force. For example, the
sweetness the palate experiences in tasting an apple derives from the sweetness
in the spiritual life-force.
To
understand the relationship between spiritual sweetness and the physical
sweetness of an apple, imagine another, loftier "sweetness" that we
enjoy. Someone with the gift of "sweet words" can speak eloquently and
expressively, and not necessarily even about intellectual topics.
"Sweetness of hearing" both the spoken or sung word, can awaken or
beckon the spirit.
There
is also the "sweetness of sight" as when one gazes at a beautiful
picture. A person can be so captivated by the image that he becomes oblivious
to himself, and to his environment. He simply does not want to leave. Even when
he does pull himself away from the picture, he finds it difficult to focus even
on trivial things, let alone on intellectual subjects. The reason is that he is
still connected to the "sweetness" of the lovely picture, so that
even as time passes, its memory remains vivid as ever, and he can still feel
that same sweetness as when he stood gazing upon it.
There
is also "sweetness of character", "sweetness of intellect",
and "sweetness of will and pleasure", these being successively higher
and higher levels of sweetness, and incomparably loftier than the sweetness of
the apple's taste. As lofty as all these levels of sweetness may be, they still
cannot compare to the wholly spiritual sweetness of the
spiritual life-force. Yet the physical apple is sweet because of the sweetness
extant in its spiritual life-force. Understand, though, that the inner
spirituality of the apple comes from materializing the
spiritual life-force's spiritual aspect.
From
the above example, we can understand the process of bringing to existence the
finite from the G‑dly, i.e. the lower worlds [Beriya, Yetzira, Asiya]
from the higher world [Atzilut]. Each aspect of each world, is actually
only a diluted derivative of the previous, higher world. Our
patriarch Abraham, the embodiment of the spiritual attribute of kindness
and love, referred to himself as "dust and ashes". The Alter
Rebbe explains that just as there is no similarity between ash and a
piece of wood, even though ash is the essence of the wood, so too, there is no
similarity between Abraham's kindness and the level of kindness in the world
of Atzilut,
which is Abraham's activating force (Iggeret HaKodesh, epistle
15). Likewise, everything in this world has its source above - yet it is only
an approximate model compared with the lowest level of
that source.
Supremacy of the Senses
The
soul's light and vivifying life-force are enclothed in the different parts of
the body and are expressed in two ways: 1) the faculties of the soul, 2) the
senses of the soul. The soul's senses, such as vision, hearing, smell, and
speech, enable us to relate to world at large - beyond ourselves. In
Kabbalistic terms, these senses are known as "vanities" whose
life-force is greatly condensed (Etz Chaim, Shaar 4).
In
terms of life-force from the soul, the senses receive less than the limbs and
organs of the body. The senses receive only a mere illumination of the
life-force, as opposed to the limbs, which receive the essence of the
life-force. Nevertheless, the senses possess a certain supremacy in the delight [in
the Hebrew original, "oneg", which also can be translated as
pleasure] which they experience.
The
faculties and senses of the soul, like the body itself, have a deliberate
vertical order, with certain ones located above, and others beneath. For
example, the mind, the body's loftiest organ, is also located highest in the
body. So too, the body's finest faculties and senses are located in the upper
part of the body. However, in terms of experiencing pleasure, this vertical
order of importance does not apply, especially in regards to the senses of the
soul.
For
example, the pleasure experienced upon seeing a beautiful picture is much
greater than that upon contemplating an intellectual concept. Even if someone
really enjoys grasping a deep idea, this does not compare to the enjoyment of
losing oneself in a beautiful sight. The supremacy of physical vision will
become fully apparent during the Messianic Era, as the verse says, "And
the glory of G‑d will be revealed, and all [beings of] flesh will see together
that from G‑d's mouth it was spoken". The pleasure of sight will be so
great that the souls of the righteous will be enclothed in bodies in order to
experience it.
The
pleasure experienced through sight is wondrous for the essence of delight is
found in the core of the mind and the inwardness of the heart. Since delight and will are
the soul's encompassing powers, they are not limited to specific parts of the
body. Nonetheless, delight and will are still
linked to the physical body, since even the soul's essence is connected to the
body. The mind is the primary seat of delight [and the heart
the primary seat of will], however, only the external aspects
of delight are experienced by the intellect. The inner aspects
of delight are drawn into the senses, such as vision, so that
one can "lose himself" in a certain sight.
Similarly,
one can become so overwhelmed by sounds that one becomes "senseless".
Smell can "calm the soul", meaning that scent affects a level of the
soul that is higher than the life-force infusing the body parts. Speech, as
when discussing an intellectual concept, can be more enjoyable than pondering
the concept to oneself. From all this we see that although the senses receive
far less life-force than the various limbs and organs of the body, the senses,
in terms of experiencing pleasure, are superior to even the highest faculties
of the soul.
G‑d's "Senses" and Pleasure
In
man, the faculties of the soul become enclothed in the body, intellect in the
brain, emotions in the heart, sight in the eye, hearing in the ear, ambulation
in the feet, etc. - so that all 613 of the soul's powers are enclothed in their
corresponding physical limbs. Likewise, in Atzilut, spiritual
lights are enclothed in vessels. And in Atzilut, there are
also spiritual "senses" - sight, hearing, smell and speech. Similar
to man, the vessels in Atzilut receive the essence of the
life-force, whereas the senses - the "vanities" - only receive an
illumination of that life-force. Furthermore, the vessels of Atzilut do
not receive the essence of delight; it is received by the senses
of Atzilut.
For
this reason, in describing lofty and awesome revelations that are very near [to
the recipients], the metaphor of sight is employed. G‑d's sight, for example,
indicates His closeness to the Land of Israel, "...the eyes of
the L-rd your G‑d are upon her [the Land] from the beginning of the year to the
end of the year" (Deut.
11:12). It is written of the Temple, "And My eyes and
heart were there all of the days" (Kings
I 9:3). As is known, G‑d's essence was revealed in the Temple, where the
finite and infinite co-existed. On the one hand, everything there had a
specific [finite] time and place [i.e. the sacrifices had to brought in a
certain sequence, at specific times of the day, and performed in certain parts
of the Temple, and the vessels used had exact measurements].
On
the other hand, that which was in the Temple transcended time and space. The
alacrity of the priests defied the norms of time; the worshippers, who stood
crowded together, still had enough room to bow down, thus defying the
strictures of space. The altar had finite dimensions, but the space it occupied
in the Holy of Holies could not be measured.
All
this happened, since G‑d revealed His essence in the Temple; therefore, the
finite and infinite existed as one, since G‑d's inner light and delight were
revealed. It is specifically the "sense" of sight that is used to
describe G‑d's relationship with the Temple, "And My eyes...were
there" (Kings, ibid.). Sight is also used to depict G‑d's bond with
the righteous, G‑d's eyes are on the righteous (Psalms
34:16), and G‑d's eye is on those who fear him (Psalms
33:18).
Sight
is used also to describe our attraction to G‑d, a powerful attraction
engendered by our gazing at the majesty of the King (Zohar I, 199a; Tanya,
ch. 9, 50) and deriving intense delight. This is a level much higher than
what we can reach through intellectual endeavors and meditation, or by arousing
love and fear of G‑d. This reaching for G‑d's essence is described by using
terms of sight and sound, "Show me your appearance; let
me hear your voice for it is a pleasant
voice" (Songs 2:14). Here, "voice" refers to the sounds of
Torah learning and prayer. It is written that the aroma of the sacrifices
offered in the Temple were "a scent for the satisfaction
of G‑d" (Lev.
1:13, et al) reaching the level of G‑d's essence (Zohar II
239:1).
Pleasure in Giving the Torah
This
is what is alluded to by the words, And all the people saw the thunder
and the lightning, the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain (Ex.
20:15). As mentioned earlier, the first three phenomena were revelations
from Above. The fourth, the smoking mountain - the world below rising upward -
was the great innovation of the Giving of the Torah. Through the physical
performance of Torah and mitzvot, we can purify the physical world.
The
giving of the Torah was a moment of tremendous revelations and caused great
supernal joy and delight. For this reason, the Torah uses sight, the primary
sense through which we experience delight, to describe the event.
[Adapted
by Dinka Kumer]
From
the writings & talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch
Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson (12 Tammuz 1880–10 Shevat 1950), known as the Rebbe
Rayatz, son of R. Shalom DovBer Schneerson, and the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe
from 1920 to 1950. He established a network of Jewish educational institutions
and chassidim that was the single most significant factor in the preservation
of Judaism during the dread reign of the Communists. In 1940 he moved to the
USA, established Chabad worldwide headquarters in Brooklyn, and launched the
global campaign to renew and spread Judaism in all languages and in every
corner of the world, the campaign continued and expanded so remarkably
successfully by his son-in-law and successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Mrs.
Nechama Dina (Dinka) Kumer, originally from Nashville, Tennessee, is the former
executive secretary of Ascent of Safed.
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