שלהבות של אמונה כ״גFlames of Faith 23
א׳
1FROM TEN PLAGUES TO TEN COMMANDMENTS
ב׳
2The Ten Tests of Abraham
ג׳
3The concept of Sephiros is the meaning of all the tens in the Jewish tradition.419Pri Tzaddik to Parashas Noach, Lesson 1. Creation occurred through ten statements.420Ethics of the Fathers 5:1. These ten commands were the ten Sephiros in a physical, almost tangible, form as the roots of the material universe.421Sfas Emes to Parashas Yisro (5632). There were ten generations from Adam to Noah,422Ethics of the Fathers 5:2. at which time the entire physical world was decimated with a deluge of water. The reason for this time span was that mankind’s mission was to fully refine the ten Godly forces within themselves and to reveal how the ten key elements that underlie the world are from God.423Pri Tzaddik to Parashas Noach. However, they failed. Instead of disclosure, humanity covered the ten expressions of Divinity with thick veils. They cloaked their personalities with sensuous character traits, and as a result, civilization was destroyed in a flood.
ד׳
4After the flood, the descendants of Noah were given another chance to accomplish their task. Again, the human race received ten generations.424Ethics of the Fathers 5:3. Once more they did not succeed. In the ten generations from Noah until Abraham, humans covered the ten Heavenly roots with yet another shell. The process of hiding the true nature of the Divine’s relationship with the created world culminated in the generation of dispersion.425Genesis 11.
ה׳
5The dor haflagah, “generation of dispersion,” sought to wage war against God. They attempted to build a giant monument in testament to the supposedly infinite power of man. They were arrogant and assumed that they were disconnected from a Creator. They embodied many of the traits that lead to evil behaviors.426See Lessons Fifteen and Sixteen for a description of the realm of evil. In punishment for that generation’s misdeeds the human race was eternally divided into factions and nations.
ו׳
6Abraham was tested with ten trials.427Ethics of the Fathers 5:4. He passed all of them, main- taining his belief despite the ten challenges. The ten challenges forced Abraham to acknowledge God in each of the ten statements of creation. Thus, he was the purpose of the universe, for he began the process which was man’s original task for life: finding God in each of the ten basic elements. His discovering God, despite the barriers earlier generations had constructed, caused him to receive all the reward that those earlier generations could have accrued.
ז׳
7The Ten Plagues
ח׳
8The Jewish nation was tested in Egypt, its first exile. Despite enormous difficulty, we maintained the commitment to our heritage and refused to change our Hebrew names, our mode of dress, and our unique language. In reward for maintaining this residual faith in the Almighty, we were redeemed from Egypt. How did God redeem the Jews? With ten plagues. Why ten? Because the ten plagues revealed that God was the source of the ten statements of creation and the Authority who controlled the entire physical dimension.
ט׳
9According to the Ari, the ten plagues correspond to the ten Sephiros in inverse order. The last plague, death of all Egyptian firstborn, was a revelation of the first Sephirah, Keser. Keser is the initial point within the human mind, will. In the ten statements of creation it is represented with the word Bereishis, “In the beginning,” a level before language. When God killed the Egyptian firstborn He proved that He is the Authority who controls all beginnings, all firsts.
י׳
10When talking of this plague the Torah spells the word for firstborn without the vav, b-ch-r-s. These same letters rearranged can spell b-k-s-r, literally, “with keser.” Perhaps the Torah chose to spell the word without the vav to hint that this plague rectified misconceptions in the realm of keser.
י״א
11The second statement of creation was, “Let there be light,” which corresponds to the Sephirah of chochmah428According to some commentators, the light referred to in the verse is really the Torah, the ultimate and most perfect wisdom (Rav Wolfson). Fur-thermore, even in English light is connected with the concept of wisdom as evidenced by the word, “enlightenment.”—intuition or wisdom. The ninth plague was darkness. This punishment blackened the light for all Egyptians while allowing light for the Jews. It demonstrated that God is sovereign over illumination and darkness.
י״ב
12The third statement of creation was, “Let there be a firmament.” This Godly barrier divided heavens from the earth. The eighth plague was locusts. Their swarms covered the sky and hid the earth from the Heavens, thus demonstrating that God is the Authority who decides if, when, and how, heaven is linked with earth.
י״ג
13The Heavenly firmament separated physical water from its spiritual root and thus corresponds to binah, the ability to discern details within a principle. The key phrase for binah is, meivin davar mitoch davar, “Comprehending one matter from another.” Once one begins to acknowledge details latent within a rule, many thoughts come to mind. One detail leads to another, which leads to yet another. The locusts were many creatures, and they increased in a most prodigal manner, just as understanding begets many thoughts.429Heard from the Stitchiner Rebbe.
י״ד
14How to calibrate the other plagues with the seven lower Sephiros is a matter of dispute.
ט״ו
15Some say that the first seven plagues corresponded to the first seven Sephiros in the regular order. This view argues that the first plague, blood, in which water was affected, demonstrated God’s authority over the world of chesed, since water emerged from the Sephirah of chesed. According to this view, the seventh plague, barad—hail stones that contained fire—corresponded to malchus—kingship.
ט״ז
16In the context of the plague of hail stones, the Torah makes reference to the Egyptians who feared God. According to Rashi430Rashi on Exod. 9:10 s.v. ba-adam. the plague of pestilence also demonstrated that some Egyptians feared God, yet the Torah makes no explicit mention of them. Perhaps the reason for this discrepancy between hail and pestilence is the correlation between hail and malchus. Since the plague of hail corresponded to malchus during the downpour of physical stones, there was also a spiritual flow from on High of yiras shamayim—fear of Heaven. Due to the special appearance of a Divine spirit that caused all to accept His rule, the Torah writes that even Egyptians had true fear of Heaven. Numerology confirms this thesis. The gematria of the word ha-barad, “the hail,” is 211, which equals the value of the word yarei, “one who fears,” which is the first word in the phrase, ha-yarei devar Hashem, “One who fears the word of God” (Exod. 9:20).
י״ז
17The Midrash Tanchuma431Exod. 9:32. teaches that at the time of the great war of Gog and Magog, which will precipitate the Messianic era, the rest of the hail stones from Egypt will fall. Tzaddikim have revealed that the war of Gog and Magog is primarily a spiritual battle to maintain faith and commitment to God despite cultural beliefs that reject God and His authority. Since the hail brought with it a flow of malchus, obedience to God, it will also fall in the times of Gog and Magog, when man will need God’s help to maintain faith and observance.432Emunas Etecha, Parashas Vaera, pgs. 193-196.
י״ח
18Others argue that blood relates to malchus,433Perhaps they link the first plague to kingship because blood’s red color is related to tzimtzum, strict withdrawal (gevurah). Malchus is a force that has within it much gevurah, much harshness. while hail corresponds to chesed.434See further Bnei Yissachar about Passover, and Zohar 2:36a. The Stitch-iner Rebbe explained this view in the following manner: Blood corresponded to malchus because the plague of blood punished the Nile River. The Nile was the real king of Egypt. It provided the water that allowed for life in Egypt. In fact, the Nile was a supreme authority to many Egyptians, and they viewed it as a god. When malchus of holiness appeared, the kingship of evil was stricken. The plague of frogs corresponded to yesod because it entailed excess procreation. Yesod of holiness means that one displays an unbridled passion for Mitzvos. The practitioner of a holy yesod has an ever increasing, vigorous commitment to God. Yesod is called a river of blessings, for a river symbolizes constantly replenishing waters, and blessings symbolize a state of eternal growth and receipt of new gifts. In holiness yesod entails constantly increasing the amount of good deeds an individual is performing; in the realm of the unholy it was expressed as an ever increasing scourge.
The plague of lice corresponded to hod. Hod is the root of the word hodaah, “admitting.” During the plague of lice the Egyptian sorcerers admitted that the plagues were the handiwork of God and not the product of black magic and sorcery.
The plague of wild animals causing damage to humans corresponded to netzach. Netzach is the fourth Sephirah of the lower seven Godly lights. The Mishnah, the record of conversations that serve as the foundation for the Oral Law, is divided into six orders. Rabbi Isaac Luriah taught that the orders correspond to the Sephiros. The first order, Zeraim, which contains agricultural laws, corresponds to chesed, and Mo’ed, the order of holiday law, corresponds to gevurah. The fourth order is Nezikin, tort law. This order details how observant Jews are obligated to safeguard the property of others and ensure that no damage occurs to others from one’s ox or flames. Nezikin corresponds to netzach. Since in holiness, netzach is expressed as ensuring that one’s animals not damage others, when the force of netzach was revealed in the world, it caused animals to damage the property and persons of the realm of evil.
The plague of pestilence was a plague of death and it corresponded to tiferes. Tiferes entails balance and harmony, and it is also called rachamim, “compas-sion,” and emes, “truth.” Truth requires a balance. A man of truth will sometimes display chesed, and at other times he must display gevurah. Truth is eternal and everlasting. The hallmark of falsehood is its transient nature. Our forefather Jacob, the paradigm of tiferes, was a man of truth. According to our sages, our forefather Jacob never died. Since pestilence corresponded to tiferes it caused death in the realm of evil.
The plague of boils corresponded to gevurah. Fire is a display of gevurah. The plague of boils caused the Egyptians to feel heat on their skin. The hail stones that affected water corresponded to chesed. The first night of Passover and the Seder meal recall the ten plagues in Egypt. The ten plagues revealed the ten Sephiros. The Seder plate also represents these forces. The three matzos correspond to the first three Sephiros. Atop the plate we arrange six food items that parallel generosity, restraint, harmony, dominance, submissiveness, and procreation (foundation). The plate itself is a vessel, thus a parallel to malchus.
The plague of lice corresponded to hod. Hod is the root of the word hodaah, “admitting.” During the plague of lice the Egyptian sorcerers admitted that the plagues were the handiwork of God and not the product of black magic and sorcery.
The plague of wild animals causing damage to humans corresponded to netzach. Netzach is the fourth Sephirah of the lower seven Godly lights. The Mishnah, the record of conversations that serve as the foundation for the Oral Law, is divided into six orders. Rabbi Isaac Luriah taught that the orders correspond to the Sephiros. The first order, Zeraim, which contains agricultural laws, corresponds to chesed, and Mo’ed, the order of holiday law, corresponds to gevurah. The fourth order is Nezikin, tort law. This order details how observant Jews are obligated to safeguard the property of others and ensure that no damage occurs to others from one’s ox or flames. Nezikin corresponds to netzach. Since in holiness, netzach is expressed as ensuring that one’s animals not damage others, when the force of netzach was revealed in the world, it caused animals to damage the property and persons of the realm of evil.
The plague of pestilence was a plague of death and it corresponded to tiferes. Tiferes entails balance and harmony, and it is also called rachamim, “compas-sion,” and emes, “truth.” Truth requires a balance. A man of truth will sometimes display chesed, and at other times he must display gevurah. Truth is eternal and everlasting. The hallmark of falsehood is its transient nature. Our forefather Jacob, the paradigm of tiferes, was a man of truth. According to our sages, our forefather Jacob never died. Since pestilence corresponded to tiferes it caused death in the realm of evil.
The plague of boils corresponded to gevurah. Fire is a display of gevurah. The plague of boils caused the Egyptians to feel heat on their skin. The hail stones that affected water corresponded to chesed. The first night of Passover and the Seder meal recall the ten plagues in Egypt. The ten plagues revealed the ten Sephiros. The Seder plate also represents these forces. The three matzos correspond to the first three Sephiros. Atop the plate we arrange six food items that parallel generosity, restraint, harmony, dominance, submissiveness, and procreation (foundation). The plate itself is a vessel, thus a parallel to malchus.
י״ט
19To further impress upon the Jews that God is the Sovereign of the world’s roots, the ten plagues of Egypt were repeated at the Red Sea.435Ethics of the Fathers 5. After these displays, the Jews fully accepted the power of the Divine in all the forces that emerged from the ten Sephiros. In reward for this dedication of the heart the Jews merited to receive the Ten Commandments.
כ׳
20The Ten Commandments
כ״א
21The Ten Commandments (Hebrew, Aseres Ha-Dibros) revealed the Sephiros in the realm of Torah thought and service to God.
כ״ב
22The first Commandment, “I am God your Lord,” corresponds to the first Sephirah—keser (innate will)—and the last plague, death of the firstborn. Keser is the foundation of personality, and the first Commandment, faith in God, is the foundation of Judaism. This Commandment is not stated as an obligation that Jews must fulfill. God did not say, “Believe in Me.” Instead, the first Commandment is phrased as a statement of fact, “I am God your Lord.”436See Sfas Emes, Parashas Yisro (5635) s.v. u-ma’amar anochi. The first statement of creation, Bereishis, “In the beginning,” is missing the introductory phrase, “And God said….” It is presented as a self-evident truth and not a decree. A Jew has no choice whether or not to believe in God. Faith is innate, and it is harbored with the soul-part yechidah from birth.437See Lesson Fourteen.
כ״ג
23A Jew can ignore this inner voice of belief. He has choice as to whether to listen to the voice of yechidah, but he has no choice as to the possession of the innate advocate of faith. Just as yechidah is a reality, the first Commandment, which represents keser, is phrased as a statement of the way things are.438See Rav Wolfson’s book, Wellsprings of Faith.
כ״ד
24The plague of darkness corresponds to the second Commandment, “Do not have any other gods before me.” The plague of locusts cor- responds to “Do not bear God’s name in vain.” The fourth commandment, “Keep the Sabbath,” corresponds to the plague of hail.
כ״ה
25Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, and it is the day when malchus, the seventh middah, is revealed. On the Sabbath we demonstrate that God is King. We show complete subservience through cessation of creative work. On Sabbath, we are to empty our minds of the inflated ego that stems from material accomplishment. On Sabbath, the liturgy proclaims, Yismichu be-malchuscha shomrei Shabbos, “Those who observe the Sabbath will rejoice in your kingship [malchus].” Among the plagues, the seventh one, hail stones, corresponds to the Sephirah of malchus.439As with the plagues, there are other ways of linking the commandments with the Sephiros.
כ״ו
26From Statements to Commandments
כ״ז
27The ten statements were very close to the physical realm and were quickly hidden by shells that men constructed. The Ten Commandments displayed Godliness in a transcendent manner.440According to Jewish tradition, when God would relay a commandment, the souls of the listeners would leap out of their bodies. Thus, the revelation at Sinai was an experience in which souls left the physical world and then were miraculously restored to their bodies. It took 2448 years to progress from the ten statements of creation and arrive at the Ten Commandments, the ultimate purpose of life.441See further Rashi on Gen. 1:31, who says that had Israel not accepted the Ten Commandments at Sinai God would have reversed the creation and destroyed the world. Da’as Tefillah suggests that the ten statements of Creation are a chochmah-like element. They are the raw building blocks. The Ten Commandments are the binah, the understanding, the inner meaning and purpose of the ten statements. In the human realm, this lesson is a source of comfort.
כ״ח
28Do not feel bad if you are still a person who is physically inclined and spiritually distant. The entire world began on an exclusively material plane. Only after millennia of fitful progress did spiritual heights, the Ten Commandments, appear. Within each personal history as well, man is initially born as a physical creature with an inclination primarily for evil.442The yetzer tov, the desire for holiness, only fully enters at age thirteen. It takes a great deal of time to reach a spiritual elevation.
כ״ט
29Never be frustrated and upset by spiritual setbacks and failures. How many times did the universe fail before it reached the radiance of Sinai? Each of the twenty generations from Adam until Abraham443Twenty generation from Adam until Abraham. After Abraham, it still took six generation until Moses, and then the Jewish nation experienced Sinai. failed to reach any spiritual light. So do not despair that man, a spiritually weak being, might endure several decades of setbacks. Just as eventually the great universe merited the Ten Commandments, if one perseveres, one will see his personal small universe,444See Lesson Nine for an analysis of the parallel between the universe and the human soul. the human body and soul, reach the realm where every part of body and soul reflect the holiness of the ethereal Ten Commandments.