The Gate of Unity and Faith

This is the second part of my Tanya study guide, covering a second part of the classic Chassidic work of philosophy, The Gate of Unity of Unity and Faith.  It is dedicated to the rapid and complete healing of my mother, Gail bat Adele.  

Chap 1 the world is made of g'ds ten utterances.

Chap 2 the universe is sustained by these continuing utterances and without them would revert to void.  Human creation is transformation of what already exists, while Divine creation is creating existence itself.

Chap 3.  Sunbeams appear like they have their own identity but at their source, the sun itself, they are subsumed.  So too the material world is an illusion which we only perceive because its divine source is obscured.

Chap 4

The aspects of the divine associated with אלוקים׳  , vessels, הגבר protect the world from an over abundance of divine light while the aspect associated with light, יקוק  and הגדול provide the constant renewal of creation. Both aspects have their source in the highest level of the divine.

Chap 5

Divine mercy is embodied in our world through saintly people and through the miracles recounted in the Torah.  There are levels of comprehension of the universe that are beyond what even Moses perceived.  Such understanding will nourish the souls of Torah scholars when they enter the Garden of Eden after they die.

Chap 6

The divine tendency to expand and influence provides life.  The divine tendency to conceal allows life to continue.  The two tendencies are one at their source.

Chap 7 - Direction and time are the structure of our revealed world; these dimensions are not pertinent to G'd but he is one with them.

Chap 8

Consider how a person's speech is derived from thought.  Thought in turn is derived from aspects of personality, which in turn are derived from a person's wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  The speech, thought, personality aspects, and wisdom knowledge and understanding are all one.  So too the universe, with all its multiplicity of parts and complexity, is one.

Chap 9

Wisdom is the highest level of this world, but there are levels of the divine that are above and beyond wisdom.

Chap 10

One can understand the first three days of creation as follows:  Day One, with the creation of luminaries, is the revelation of light, divine kindness and extension. Day Two, with the separation of heaven and earth, is the revelation of boundaries and limits.  Day Three, the revelation of dry land, is the unveiling of space maintained through the tension between divine boundary and divine extension.  This 'dry land' is the space within which we can exist and serve G'd.

Chap 11 and 12

The Rabbis called the process of divine creation 'utterances' because the manifestation of divine will in this world is similar to the translation of thought into speech.  The revealed world is analogous to divine speech while the concealed world is analogous to divine thought.

The 22 Hebrew letter are analogous to 22 kinds of emanation of divine influence.  Every distinct created thing comes from a unique permutation of these letter-forces.  A thing's name reflects the 'letters' from which it is created.

Tanya Cheat Sheet

I've spent the last several months working on a cheat sheet for the 'Tanya' or 'Sefer Benoni,' one of the key works of Chabad Chassidut.

The Tanya is written in very rich Hebrew, full of allusions to other Rabbinic texts.  This makes the book a pleasure and a challenge:  it is easy to loose track of the 'forest' of a chapter, let alone the entire book.  My cheat sheet is meant to help the reader gain a broader perspective than is easily acquired by simply reading a chapter or the book through.  It is by no means meant to be a substitute for reading the Tanya, but rather as a study aid.

Finally, note this is a work in progress, where I expect to come back and refine it.  It is dedicated to the complete healing of my mother, Gail bat Adele.

Sefer HaBenoni

Chapter 1: Jews have two souls.  One soul is from material called Klipa Noga, with the positive and negative material attributes.

Chapter 2:  Jews also have a soul that is a literal part of the Divine.

Chapter 3: Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah are parts of the Divine soul, and they come from the divine emanations named Chochmah, Binah, and Da’at. 

Chapter 4: The Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah become material in thoughts, words, and deeds of the commandments and Torah, which are G’d himself.

Chapter 5: When you learn Torah the learning becomes a garment for your holy soul

Chapter 6: When you get involved in work other than divine service, it is rooted in your other soul.

Chapter 7, 8: Klipa noga has the potential for good or evil – it depends on whether you use it for the sake of heaven or not.  When you get involved in it for other reasons, or with the other klipot whatever the reason, you need some kind of purification, like rotting in the grave or time in Gehenom.

Chapter 9: The animal soul lives in the blood-filled left chamber of the heart, while the divine soul lives in the mochim in the brain.  They are two kings at war with each other, striving to make the entire self submit.

Chapter 10:  There are five modes of existence: The saint who lives well, the saint who lives badly, the wicked one who lives well, the wicked one who lives badly, and the ‘Benoni.’ A ‘saint who lives well’ has transformed his animal soul into pure divinity, and regards pleasures of this world with disgust.  A ‘saint who lives badly’ doesn’t hate pleasures of this world, and still hasn’t transformed his animal soul. 

Chapter 11: The ‘wicked person who lives badly’ sins, and has thoughts of regret and penitence.  The ‘wicked person who lives badly’ never has such thoughts.

Chapter 12:  The Benoni never sins, but hasn’t transformed his animal soul.  He has sinful thoughts but pushes them away immediately.

Chap 13 In the Benoni the evil desire is incapacitated during periods of love like prayer and Torah study.  Otherwise it is awake.  

Chap 14: Anyone can be a Benoni, constantly turning away from bad for it divides you from G’d.  The requirement for being saintly is to hate bad itself.  

Chap 15: There are two kinds of Benoni.  One is engaged in continuous war with the evil desire.  The other has a truce, due to the desires not being so strong or constant.  

Chap 16: The task for the Benoni is to meditate on G’ds greatness, which leads to a love and awe that births self-transformation.  Such love and awe are on the level of nature but G’d raise it to an even higher level. 

Chap 17: The wicked are ruled by their heart.  Repentance will shatter the dominion of the heart.

Chap 18: Even fools that can't contemplate G’d’s greatness can also achieve a level of holiness, for great holiness is within them.  They also have the merit of the Patriarchs.

Chap 19: The holy soul aspires to rise up to G’d like a candle's flame.  When people do evil this impulse to arise towards the divine is hidden, but moments of public sanctification allow it to break free.

Chap 20: G’d is one and unchanging.  The universe relative to Him is as unsubstantial as words are relative to one who utters them.

Chap 21: G’d is not separate from his 'words;' the appearance of separation is due to concealment.

Chap 22: Evil is the ultimate concealment of the divine.

Chap 23: Doing mitzvot, especially learning Torah, literally manifests the divine in this world.  

Chap 24: Transgressing the negative mitzvot makes you worse than the lowest creatures, and distances you as far as possible from holiness.

Chap 25: It's our duty to constantly awaken our love for G’d and thus out passion to serve him.

Chap 26: Strength for combat with the evil inclination comes from true joy.  True joy emerges from true sorrow for ones sins, accompanied by reflection on G’ds mercy and greatness.

Chap 27: Just as culinary delicacies can be sweet or spicy, combat with the evil inclination comes in two flavors. A saint sweetens it, turning it to good.  The Benoni doesn't transform the evil inclination but rather lives a spicy constant struggle of pushing aside thoughts and inclinations.  When one feels such thoughts or desires during most periods of life, the right response is to rejoice in the opportunity to push them aside.

Chap 28: If one encounters evil thoughts or desires during prayer or study, don't try to raise them up or confront them.  Just concentrate on the prayer or study.

Chap 29: One’s life’s circumstances help determine the character of one’s spiritual struggle.  Thus we should not judge others, for we are ignorant of their circumstances. 

Chap 30: Sometimes a person gets depressed or numb and can't pray properly.  To avoid this set times to humble yourself by reflecting on the bad things you've done. Evil only has power lent to it for the sake of giving us the ability to overcome it.

Chap 31: After such reflection on one's distance from G’d, the process of return brings the highest joy.

Chap 32: The reduction of ego from such reflection permits the true love of one's fellow and true love of G’d

Chap 33: Awareness on the level of the divine influence in this world is annulled in the presence of awareness of G’d, like any source of light is annulled before the sun.  Awareness of G’ds unity and closeness is the highest joy, and such awareness creates a home for G’d in this world.

Chap 34: The Patriarchs could live in perpetual awareness of G’ds unity.  We can't - thus the Tabernacle and Temples were home for His unity.  Since their destruction, a home is provided in Halacha, especially daily Torah study and charity.

Chap 35: Good deeds are like a wick that causes the light of the divine presence to dwell over ones head, or like an open window that lets the light in.

Chap 36: The lower worlds are ever-intensified forms of veils of G’ds unity.  These veils were lifted temporarily at Sinai, and will be lifted forever when the dead are resurrected.

Chap 37: Doing a mitzvah draws divine light into this world.  The physical things, even the energy, used to do mitzvot, become holy and reclaimed from the profane world.  Charity is particularly powerful as money represents all our physical needs and desires.  Torah study is especially powerful since it represents holiness conquering the highest parts of the profane world.

Chap 38: Saintly people's souls rise to a higher world (beriah) than even most angels (who only dwell in yetzirah).  This is because having choice and turning away from evil, as saintly people do, is a higher level than doing good by nature, as angels do. 

Chap 39: Most people's souls only rise up to the level of beriah on Shabbat and Rosh Hades.  Even for saints it is only the highest part of the soul that rises so high.  Rare Saints' divine service rises to the level of atzelut.  When people do good deeds or learn Torah merely out of habit it gets stored up and soars above when someone does something with proper intent.  Even when one does something with the wrong intent, the good deed or learning can soar after the person repents of their bad intent.

Chap 40: Upper world accept more light than lower worlds, and accept it with less concealment. Torah and mitzvot are like the body of a bird; love of G’d and fear of G’d are like the wings that allow the bird to soar.

Chap 41: Awe and love of G’d are like two wings.  Learning and good deeds need both to soar. The proper intention behind such deeds is to give pleasure to G’d

Chap 42: We are commanded to know G’d.  This is knowledge that leads to connection. It comes through effort expended in stimulating both mind and body towards exertion in divine service.

Chap 43: Lesser awe is from simple restraint.  Greater awe comes from appreciation of G’ds greatness. Similarly lesser love comes from pleasure and greater love comes from understanding G’d's greatness.

Chap 44: Two levels of love, Abundant Love and Eternal Love, are hidden within each of us as an inheritance from our ancestors.  It's our job to reveal these loves.

Chap 45: Jacob provides a model of divine mercy that can reveal this love.

Chap 46 and 47:  We can awaken this love by reflecting how, when we learn Torah and do mitzvot, we are locked in an embrace of G’d who created the world, chose us, and freed us from Egypt.

Chap 48: G’d is infinite and each world, even the Garden of Eden, exists only through G’ds self concealment.  This is similar to the way that infinity must be concealed to perceive finite numbers.  While G’d can't be seen in the worlds, he surrounds and encompasses each one.

Elevated Vision: The Netivot Shalom on Elul

I’m going to share some thoughts from one of my favorite commentators, the Netivot Shalom.  Before I start, here’s a brief introduction to him.  He was the Rebbe of the Slonim Chassidim.  He was born in 1911 in modern-day Belarus, and was a Rosh Yeshiva by 1941 in Israel.  He died in 2000.  For anyone interested in Chassidic thought, he is one of the most accessible writers out there, with a beautiful focus on the spiritual meaning of the Torah, and its application to our personal journey.

We are in the middle of a forty-day journey starting with Rosh Hodesh Elul and ending at Yom Kippur.  While the holidays keep going… and going… and going… for most of us the mood changes suddenly after Yom Kippur.  The themes up to then are reflection, awe, and vulnerability.  Afterwards the focus is on physicality in the building of the sukkah, and joy, perhaps enhanced by some l’chaims in the sukkah.  The Netivot Shalom connects the length of forty days to the Noam Elimelich’s idea that it takes forty days to create lasting change in ourselves. 

What do we have to change?  To answer this question, the Netivot Shalom brings a parable from Duties of the Heart, a work by the Spanish Jewish philosopher Ibn Pakuda.  Suppose a person was born in a king’s prison, and never left.  All of the person’s needs, food and water, were provided in the prison.  After many days, the prisoner begins to praise the king, for all of the prison and everything within it belongs to the king.  The king’s servants, hearing this, mock the prisoner, for its silly to praise a king who has dominion over so many wonderful things for a cell and some basic provisions.  Our role in the parable, of course, is that of the prisoner.  We are often guilty of having a narrowness of vision.  Even when we put aside our own concerns and praise G’d, we often praise him for minor things, things that are almost beneath the dignity of the creator of the Universe. 

The Netivot Shalom connects this idea to the verse from Isaiah Chapter 40:  ‘Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?’  He re-reads the verse as speaking, not of literally looking upwards, but rather elevating our vision.  We should look at creation in an inspired, broad manner.  Rambam famously says that, through science and the wonders of nature we can come to an appreciation of G-d’s greatness.  The Slominer takes a similar but distinct path, suggesting we meditate on G’ds infiniteness and our own infinite smallness relative to G-d. 

Psalm 24, which most congregations say often during the period between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, states: “Who will ascend G’d’s mountain and arise to his holy place?  One of clean hands and a pure heart.”  Clean hands means that we have good deeds, and a pure heart is holy thoughts.  We can get there through another verse in that Psalm, “Raise up your heads, gates!  Arise, infinite doorways!  Let the King of Glory enter!”  Our eyes and heart are the gates and entrances to ourselves.  When we raise up these parts of ourselves, and focus on the infinite greatness, the Netivot Shalom says we can more easily shake away those things that cause separation between us and G-d, material temptations and pleasures that, perhaps in the short run are satisfying, but in the long run narrow our vision and leave us trapped.  May we merit a vision that helps bring the King of Glory into our lives.

Ki Tetze

This week we read about one of the most troubling commandments in the Bible.  The first paragraph talks about when a Jewish warrior encounters a beautiful female during the conquest of an enemy city.  What follows is a kind of extended, ritualized rape.  The warrior must take the woman into his house, where she has thirty days to mourn.  Afterwards he can have his way with her.

It’s one of the tougher sections to read in our central holy text.  Some responses, like the midrashic commentary Sifre, retreat into pilpul, perhaps with the motivation of limiting the application of the law. The Sifre asks, what if the captive is ugly, rather than beautiful, as the Torah specifies?  Do the laws still apply?  It’s a question that only the Rabbis would have thought to ask. 

Classic apologetic responses note that rape is often an inevitable part of war, and the ritual as dictated by the Torah slows down the process to offer some protection to the woman.  She has to change her clothes and let her fingernails grow, measures to reduce her attractiveness and perhaps make consummation less likely.  The passage of time might also reduce the likelihood of actions that seem inevitable in the heat of battle.  I don’t find this a productive effort.  Underneath all the details, rape is inescapably ugly, and it is hard to accept it as an inescapable part of human conduct.  Why does the Torah seem to condone it, even with reluctance and perhaps with an attempt to indirectly legislate it out of existence?  Also, I’m certain that the Israeli military Rabbinut today would not permit anyone to actually do this, which leaves us with seemingly useless sections of the Torah.  If every word of the Torah is precious and divine, what do we do with that, other than groan and skip over it?

Being mystically inclined, I try to read this section as a lesson for moral growth with our individual struggles to become better people.  I wander far away from the literal meaning of the text on this journey, but have plenty of company in doing this among our people’s sages. 

In the world we see, it is often too easy to forget our sins.  We can do damage of one sort or another, and then just walk away from it.  The spiritual world, according to Jewish tradition, is completely different.  Rabbi Chaim Vital, as quoted by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, talks about how every bad deed creates a malevolent spirit, called a ‘Mazik’ or ‘damager’ in Hebrew.  These Mazikim are tied to their creator, and follow the creator around.  Each of us has an unseen entourage of such creatures, who are restrained from fulfilling their intended harm to us only by G-‘d’s kindness. 

I find this image terrifying.  I love the images of mercy that are present in the upcoming holidays, and the implied access to forgiveness and a new clean slate in the New Year.  This is the opposite, a trail of blemishes that can’t be erased or escaped. While I hesitate to take the image of Mazikim literally, the idea has helped me put off doing one or two things that I wouldn’t be proud of.

I think the laws of the captive woman are a parable-like message, like this concept of the mazikim, that we need to consider the effects of our actions.  On the battlefield, it would be all too simple for a warrior to see a captive woman as an object of plunder.  Her nation, perhaps even her extended family, was just trying to kill you, and maybe killed some of your comrades.  While I’ve never been in combat myself, I’ve hated people enough to want to hurt them, and it is so easy to write off their subjectivity, their perspective and feelings. 

Taking the woman into the house, and giving her time to mourn, opens up a possibility of change.  How can you ignore someone who is in the depths of grief and loss?  It creates a doubtlessly awkward and painful relationship with the warrior, a reminder of the captive’s humanity.  On the battlefield, a warrior could satisfy a momentary urge and, in his eyes, be done with it.  Having brought her into the house makes the warrior confront the magnitude and lasting impact of his action.  It’s similar to the idea of Mazikim being created by sin.  If you have a continuing, even permanent, relationship with your bad deeds, it makes those deeds less appealing.  Hopefully, incorporating such awareness into our lives can make us better people.

I bless us that, in the coming weeks and New Year, we have the wisdom to, as Ethics of the Fathers says, ‘envision the result’ of our actions in all its fullness.  May such expanded vision help us to do things that heal whatever damage we do, and focus on things that heal the world. 

Love and Awe: Tanya Chapter 39

Rabbi Steinstaltz states in his commentary on the premier work of Chabad Chassidut, the Tanya:

Love and awe are wings that make a mitzvah 'fly' and raise it up from this world.  Just as a bird cannot fly without wings, so too it cannot fly with only one wing.  A person needs love and awe together in order for his or her service of G'd to rise up to heaven.  In truth, it is impossible for there to be true love without awe; when love is serious it is accompanied by awe, a worry that loss of the love will occur.

Sfat Emet on Hanukah

We say over Hanukah candles each night, “We are only allowed to look at the candles, and are forbidden from making any other use of them.”  Thus we are commanded to look at the candles.  The meaning of the commandment to look at the candles is because the candles illuminate every Jewish soul, and allow us to look deeply into ourselves in the way that every person should. 

This commandment of looking deeply is related to the statement in Ethics of the Fathers, “Look deeply into these three things and you will not come into the power of sin.”   Behind the miracle of the candles is illuminating the eyes of those whose vision has dimmed.  It says in the Gemara with reference to searching for leavened stuff the night before Passover, ‘The light of a candle is beautiful for checking.’  Proverbs 20 also says, “G’d’s candle is a person’s soul; He searches every chamber of our insides.” 

We can understand ‘checking the chamber of our insides’ as a search for the point of life from G’d that is within every soul, as it is written of the creation of Adam in Genesis 2, “G’d breathed a living soul into his nostrils, and Adam became a living creature.”  We search with a candle and feather in a person’s soul; perhaps we will find a space where this divine soul can spread out further and shine.  Such a process of spreading out the divine soul is literally like that of a candle, which seeks oil from the wick. 

In the Midrash we interpret the word ‘Seeking’ or חיפש like the word for freedom, חופש… because the divine point of life banishes concealment.  Even if a person is completely enslaved to his negative desires and can’t sense the truth, that person can with the candle’s help search within himself for the divine… 

The Gemara teaches that the mezuzah should be on the right side of the door, and the Hanukah candles on the left side.  Proverbs 3 teaches, “A full life is in G’d’s right hand, and riches and honor are in G’d’s left hand.”  The Mezuzah, which speaks of a full life coming from obedience to G’d, represents one who clings completely to the source of life, and is already connected to the world that is all light.  A Hanukah light, on the left side and connected to worldly honor and riches, is for even the one who has no connection to G’d and is saturated with darkness.  For even such a person, the Hanukah candles provide illumination… The candles on the left side help reveal the truth to such a person, and give him strength to return home.

How do we Light Chanukah Candles? Mei Shiloach on Ma'asechet Shabat

The dispute between the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel regarding the manner in which G'd's will be clarified is the same as their dispute as to how we light Chanukah candles, as the manner of lighting hints at the revelation of G'd's will.

• The School of Shammai thinks that we should start with eight candles and reduce the number each day, as we do with the number of cows sacrificed on Sukkot.    So too is clarification of G'd's will; one should reduce non-holy things so that they shrink until holiness is revealed.  
• The School of Hillel things we should start with one candle and increase each night.  This is because they believe that the essential matter is to spread holiness at all times and non-holy things will automatically be annulled.  

Drash - Parshat Vayishalach

I've led lots of text studies, but it has been a while since I've given a more formal 'drash'  or sermon.  Here's an advance copy of one I will give this coming Sabbath.  

Jacob, for some mysterious reason, decided to be alone after supervising the transportation of all of his goods across a river.  Once he is alone, Jacob has a famous struggle with a man or ‘Aish’  in Hebrew.  This ‘aish’ is generally thought to be an angel, as it states after a stalemate that Jacob has struggled with both people and divine creatures, changes Jacob’s name to Israel, and refuses to divulge his name. 

Why did Jacob decide to be alone at that moment?  I looked at the classical commentators, and found some answers that aren’t terribly compelling.  Rashi, for example, says that Jacob decided to cross the river alone because he left some small bottles behind.  Jacob was a wealthy man – surely a servant could have done that for him!  There must have been a more important reason. 

Why did Jacob wrestle with an angel?  Radak says the purpose of the struggle with the angel was to give Jacob a boost of confidence for his encounter with Esau.  A stalemate that left Jacob slightly crippled doesn’t seem like a compelling way to make someone optimistic. 

Rather than rely on the commentators, I’m going to share some of my own thoughts on these questions. 

Jacob had an awful life.  His father wasn’t so into him, his brother wanted to kill him, his wives tricked him (imagine marrying someone who conspired to get you to marry someone else!).  His sons tried to kill each other.  He wasn’t a passive victim, though.  When he summarized his life before Pharoah, he said  “Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojurns.”  This is probably one of the most eloquent kvetches in the history of our people.  He was also far from a passive victim – his trickery with his father, brother-in-law, and brother shows that he gave as good as he could get. 

I think that he took some time alone because he is feeling doubt.  Imagine the feelings evoked by a new, uncertain chapter in such a life journey.  Perhaps, rather than confront his estranged brother that he so feared, he was tempted to run away to some other land.  Maybe he even thought about ditching his wife and children, and going it alone.  Elsewhere he would be anonymous rather than immediately hated.  He was also probably anxious about confronting the consequences of his first trickery, deceiving his father and taking his brother’s birthright.  Perhaps he had not explained what he had done to anyone else before; imagine the shame and guilt he might have experienced.  Of course, had he gone elsewhere, our people’s history would be very different.  Perhaps we would have inherited some of those oil fields, for example!  At the same time, Jacob knew that his destiny lay in the land of Israel, down the path of continued trouble and strife.  What should he do?

In such a bind, an angel appears!  I propose that the angel gave Jacob more than just an ego boost for an upcoming confrontation.  Rather it provided him with a greater breadth of vision .  I’m going to support my argument with a couple of remarks about angels, and then conclude.

Angels have a special role in Judaism.  I would argue that they are, among other things, a symbol of the ability to transcend our reality when we feel trapped, and especially when our future seems foreclosed.  Hagar encounters angels twice, both times when it seems her chance to have descendents is threatened.  An angle interrupts the Akeda’s bloody conclusion.  During Israel’s domination by the Phillistines, our liberator Samson’s conception is announced by angel.

Beyond the Chumash, angels in Jewish mysticism are thought of as messengers who live in higher planes of existence.  The world we live in, according to the Zohar, is where G’d is most obscured.  As we travel closer to the divine, where angels live, the infinite becomes more visible; language, divisions, boundaries fade and we approach the ‘Ain Sof’, the characteristic of G’d that is without limit and beyond understanding.  In the Zohar’s Idra Zuta Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on his deathbed described the highest parts of these worlds as ‘Uncountable, beyond general categories or calculation, and only captured by the heart’s unspoken desire.’  Angels allow us to transcend the world as we see it. 

I think Jacob’s struggle with the angel represents his own struggle with his journey.  His world, were he to continue on the path to Eretz Israel, seemed bound to continue to be confrontation and pain.  Contact with an angel allowed him to see beyond the narrowness of this vision of the future.  There was something to his journey, probably beyond his immediate understanding, which had to continue.  As far as he could tell, his life was all about deceit, limits, and betrayal.  The angel showed him the greater possibilities and perhaps even our people’s difficult but miraculous and glorious history that would emerge from his continuing this journey.  As the psalmist said, “I called to you from a narrow place, and G-d answered me with wide open spaces.”

I bless us that, when we feel trapped by life’s circumstances, we have the courage to refuse to be hemmed in.  We should remember that, in a world perhaps beyond what we see, these limits can fade away and we can triumph.  We should have the strength to remember that, even as darkness increases, our connection to the divine gives us access to infinite light. 

Shabat shalom!

Netivot Shalom on Shemini Atzeret

“On the eighth day you will have an assembly/Atzeret.”  Behold, our sages of blessed memory taught (Rosh HaShanah 4b), “The eighth day is a holiday on it’s own.”  We have to explain why, if this is so, everywhere in the Torah only three pilgrimage holidays are mentioned, rather than four.  Also we must explain why the Torah does not provide  a reason for Shemini Atzeret, like it does for the other pilgrimage holidays:  Passover for the exodus from Egypt, Shavuot because of the first fruits, and Sukkot so that “Your generations will know that I made the children of Israel live in Sukkot.” 

Behold, we find in the substance of the holy holiday of Shemini Atzeret three special characteristics:

It is a day of clinging to G’d with special intensity, as our sages of blessed memory said (Succah 55b), “It has an aspect of ‘make me a little meal that I may enjoy time with you.’”  In the Zohar it is written, “From here onwards you and I will enjoy a day together.”  The day also has an aspect of “One who sits with the king will be given whatever he wants.” 

It is a day of completing the sealing of judgment for the New Year, as is written in the Zohar and the Arizal. 

We also find the Jewish custom of Simchat Torah, where we finish the torah with song and dancing.  As it is said in the Zohar, ‘Israel had a custom of rejoicing with her, and it was called Simchat Torah, and they crowned Simchat Torah with her crown.”

One can say with regard to all of this that we the level of this holy festival has an aspect of eight, which hints that the day is above the seven days of building, as the Maharal explains, “Eight is above all other aspects and natural things, for the number seven encompasses all natural things.  For all maters of natural things are included in seven days of construction, and eight is above nature and the world.  Eight includes all matters that are above nature.”  Our master R.  Avraham  teaches that “On the eighth day” means that we completely awaken from all matters of this world.  Thus we have written in the Torah with regard to the number eight,

“On the eighth day” the Tabernacle was completed.  Our sages of blessed memory say that on that day ten crowns were taken, that is that such intense glory was revealed that the Tabernacle was filled with G’d’s glory, a matter surely above nature.

“On the eighth day [the boy’s] foreskin will be circumcised.’  On that day, the child awakens from the state of ‘I was created in sin and in sin my mother bore me.’  Only after the eighth day is the child ready to cross over the border into holiness and to pull down for himself a holy soul through brit mila.  We have a hint of the matter of eight in that such a change is only possible on the eighth day, when there is an awakening from all matters of this world.

Thus we have too the matter of ‘On the eight day you will have an assembly/Atzeret.’  For the holidays of Passover and Sukkot are each seven days, which are limited to this world… while Shemini Atzeret has no relationship to this world.  It is a hint of future redemption when there will be the final repair of the world, in the world to come, as it is written “Then your L-rd will rejoice about you like a groom rejoices about his bride.” 

…. There are three holidays that have the aspect of eight.  Shavuot is after the counting of seven weeks.  Yom Kippur also has the aspect of eight because the High Priest, during the service Temple, splattered bloods one time above and seven times below, with the one splatter above hinting at eight.  They would count the splattering as ‘One and one, one and two” for when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies the entire process was above nature and thus needed this aspect of eight.  We also find this is the reason why the high priest was isolated for seven days before Yom Kippur…  Yom Kippur is distinct from Shemini Atzeret in that Yom Kippur one achieves nullification of the ego through prayer, self-affliction, and penitence while on Shemini Atzeret nullification is done through joy and dancing, through which one completely nullifies themselves before G’d.

One can further understand the holidays of Shavuot, Yom Kippur, and Shemini Atzeret through our holy teacher Avraham’s statement that there are holidays that are ‘Bind me as a seal on your arm’ and others that are ‘Bind me as a seal upon your heart.’  There are three holidays that are have positive, physical commandments.  On Passover we eat matzoh, on Rosh HaShanah we sound the Shofar, and on Sukkot we sit in the Sukkah and shake the four species.  These are all holidays with the aspect of ‘bind me as a seal on your arm.’  However, the holidays with this aspect of eight have no positive physical commandments associated with them, and are on the level of ‘a seal on one’s heart.’  These latter three holidays are on the level of ‘Love is as fierce as death.’  Thus on Shemini Atzeret we finish and begin the Torah, whose first and last letters are  בֹ and ל, which spell לב (heart), ‘A seal on your heart.’  We can explain these two kinds of holidays through a parable of our holy teacher Avraham, of a groom and bride who, due to their love and desire to come closer to each other send each other gifts, and adorn themselves, and only afterwards approach each other from the depth of their hearts.  So to we come closer to G’d through positive commandments, but Shemini Atzeret has the aspect of upper, transcendent unification, ‘A seal upon your heart.’  

Tanya Chap 39: Hope for All

Rabbi Steinsaltz, in his commentary on the Chabad classic the Tanya, has the following statement.

The category of someone who is 'incompletely righteous' includes within it one who isn't completely righteous yet because they haven't' finished what they can and must do.  With this understanding, all Jews, even the simplest among the simple, carries within him the life force to complete this work.  However, not everyone has sufficient life conditions to finish this work.l  The matter depends on place and education; it depends on the garments of one's body and soul.  It depends on the long sequence of potential challenges.  However, all in all this possibility is found within everyone.  At special times, it is possible to break open this potential, to ascend to the heights of the upper Garden of Eden, where not even angels may travel.

Samson and Sex: Sotah 9b, 10a

Here are two stories related to Samson's sexuality.

Judges 13:24: "[Samson] the youth grew and G'd blessed him."  How was he blessed?  Samson's penis was blessed.  His penis was like a grown man's, and the seed poured out like a flowing river.

Delilah, after a long effort, convinces Samson to tell her the secret of his strength.  

Judges 16:16: "Finally, after Delilah nagged him and pressed him constantly, he was wearied, and confided everything in her."  Why does scripture say 'He was wearied?'  Rabbi Issac teaches in the name of Rabbi Ami:  At the moment of orgasm, she pulled  away from him [and asked him again].

Exile by Stages: Rosh HaShanah 31a

This section describes how the Divine Presence slowly, by stages, left its home in the First Temple.  It is a beautiful but sad idea.  I think that it kept moving slowly away hoping that people would notice and change for the better, reversing the process.

The Divine Presence made ten journeys: From the ark covering to one cherub, from one cherub to the other cherub, from the second cherub to the threshold of the Holy of Holies, from the threshold to the Temple courtyard, from the courtyard to the outer altar, from the outer altar to the Temple roof, from the Temple roof to the exterior wall, from the exterior wall into the city of Jerusalem, from the city of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, from the Mount of Olives to the wilderness, and from the wilderness back to its place.

Making Trouble: Rosh HaShannah 16B

Rabbi Issac said: Three things cause a person's sins to be remembered in Heaven: [Walking under] an unbalanced wall [i.e. going to dangerous places] careful intention in prayer [where one is sure one's prayer's will be answered], and invoking divine judgment upon one's neighbor.

Our Personal Lights: Mei Shiloach on Hanukah

It's written in Psalms (119:105) "Your words are a candle for my feet and a light for my path."  "A candle for my feet," for G-d directed words of Torah that are in every particular detail of creation as a sign that G-d's kingdom is above all.  "A light for my path," for also in every dimension G-d chose a special part as a reminder that dominion belongs to G-d.  A candle is something particular, while light is a generality.  G-d created the world in general and included in it the three dimensions of world, time, and soul.  It's written (Psalms, 199:16) "G-d formed days and one of the days belongs to Him."  Thus, from each dimension G-d selected a choice part that would illuminate with a revelation of personal light and cause recognition of G-d's kingdom.
*G-d created the world and chose the land of Israel, and from Israel He sanctified Jerusalem, and from there he sanctified the Temple.  G-d commanded that the menorah should be lit in the Temple, to shine its individual light in that place.
*In time, G-d chose the sabbath, and we also find the commandment of sabbath lights.
*Among souls, G-d chose his nation Israel, and for the time being, before the Total Clarification, G-d chose the tribe of Levi, and from among Levi G-d chose the Cohanim, and from the Cohanim G-d chose the High Priest, and gave the High Priest the duty of lighting the Menorah.

In the days of the Hasmoneans, G-d showed a spark of the future light, that in the Time to Come the High Priest will merit to be king, as will be revealed in the future by the Messiah, son of David.  At the time of Total Clarification, the choice part of Israel will be the tribe of Judah.  Then, just as the Hasmoneans merited extra dominion, so to in the Time to Come each individual Jew will shine a line recognizing G-d's kingship.

Thus, from the miracle that occurred with the Temple Menorah, our sages established an personal candle, for each and every person to shine their individual light for the choicest part of their soul.  Thus King David peace upon him said (Psalms 7:6) "G-d will count the nations in writing, and G-d will say to Zion a person and a person were born in Her."  We interpret "G-d will count the nations in writing" as that G-d guides the nations just for the sake of perpetuation of the species, like the rest of creation.  "G-d will say to Zion a person and a person were born in Her, and he prepares Her above," that is each Jew when they are born has a recognition that they were born chosen, from a new soul, and this is why each and every individual must light their own candle on Hanukah.

The schools of Shammai and Hillel disagreed about how to light Hanukah candles.  The school of Shammai taught we start with eight candles on the first night and end with one candle on the last night, while the school of Hillel taught that we start with one candle on the first night and end with eight candles on the last night.  This disagreement reflects their disagreement about how to achieve spiritual perfection, the Total Clarification.  The school of Shammai things that we start with eight and end with one, because the process involves destruction of imperfections, until only the choice holiness remains.  The school of Hillel things that we start with one candle and add on, because the essential part of the process in their eyes is that holiness should spread out at all times, and imperfections with automatically be annulled.

Rabbinic Ecology: The Mei Shiloach on Creation

And G-d said ‘Let us make Man in Our image.’

The Holy One created all creatures other than people first.  The other creatures recognized and understood their shortcoming; they had nobody who could connect their existence to the Holy One.  For only by means of people can things of this world connect themselves to G-d.  People elevate  everything, as is known.   Earth and water’s strength give their strength to plants, plants to animals, and animals to people.  People, by means of serving the Holy One, elevate all of the strength that they receive from this world, even the strength of water and earth.  When other creatures saw they lacked this connection, they prayed for the creation of people.  Thus G-d said, ‘Let us make Man…’  That is to say, G-d said to all other creatures, ‘You will give your strength and partner in the creation of people.’  This gives people a share in all of you, and if people need something, all of the other creatures will arise to help them.   When people are bad, it’s bad for all creatures, as in the generation of the Flood, and when it’s good for people, it’s good for all creatures.