שלהבות של אמונה כ״הFlames of Faith 25
א׳
1LESSONS FROM THE SEPHIROS PATTERN
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2Earlier lessons taught that within the statements of creation there is a difference between the first three and the latter seven. The primordial trio speaks of other-worldly concepts, while the lower seven speak of the dimensions of Godliness that appear in the physical realm. Within the human these two classes are represented as the intellects and the emotions and behaviors.
ג׳
3The ten plagues are also divided in a similar fashion. The first seven plagues are discussed in the Torah portion of Vaera. The last three plagues (locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn) parallel the first three Sephiros and are discussed in the Torah portion of Bo.
ד׳
4Prior to celebrating the receipt of the Torah, on the holiday of Shavuos, Jews first count the days of seven weeks. This ritual is called sefiras ha- omer—the omer count. The omer’s seven weeks are dedicated to the perfection of emotions and behaviors, the seven lower forces within man. After perfecting all seven emotions, we commemorate Torah’s revelation at Sinai. The Torah perfects the three intellects: intuition, understanding, and internalization.
ה׳
5Ideally, each Jew should focus each week during the counting period on refining one of his emotional tendencies. To help in this endeavor there are special parts of Torah that are learned during the Shabboses of these weeks. On the first Shabbos (which is during the holiday of Passover) we publicly read the Song of Songs. This text teaches what Heavenly love is supposed to be. Love is an aspect of the Sephirah of chesed. Learning the Song of Songs is meant to inspire the reader to increase his love of God and correct his use of chesed.
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6On every subsequent Shabbos of the omer count, we study a different chapter from Avos (Ethics of the Fathers). The first chapter details the order of mesorah—the exact and precise transmission of Jewish oral law. To transmit precise instructions, much harsh gevurah is needed. Those passages teach that we must perfect our attribute of gevurah—restraint and precision. On the third Shabbos, the chapter begins with the lesson of R. Judah the Prince:
ז׳
7Aizo hi derech yesharah she-yavor lo ha-adam, “What is the straight path man should choose?” Kol she-hi tiferes le-oseha ve-siferes lo min ha-adam, “Any paththatis tiferes, [aharmoniousblendthatproduces glory], for those who perform it and for those who see the act.”
ח׳
8This chapter seeks to inculcate sensitivity to perfection of tiferes. Each subsequent chapter corresponds to the specific emotion that should be perfected during that week. After perfecting the emotions we celebrate Shavuos. Shavuos recalls the receipt of the Torah. Torah insight and knowledge help perfect man’s three intellectual components.
ט׳
9The order of the statements of creation was first the three Higher statements and then the seven earthly statements. This organization conveys a lesson. The ideal arrangement is when the first three forces, the intellects, proceed before the seven emotions. Throughout history, if an experience occurs and God first reveals His three Heavenly Sephiros and only later the lower seven abilities, then it is an ideal experience.460Consider the Ten Commandments. God first presented the commandment, “I am God Your Lord.” This commandment paralleled keser—innate will—the highest of the three intellects. The revelation at Sinai was an ideal experience. At Sinai there was a partial recreation of the Garden of Eden experience (see Shabbos 146a). As a result, the manifestations of the primordial three proceeded before the expressions of the lower seven. Within man, this pattern teaches that the intellects should always come first. A holy individual has his mind control his feelings and emotions. He does not react in an instinctual and emotional manner.
י׳
10Rabbi David Yungreis, of blessed memory, a teacher in Yeshivas Ohel Moshe in Jerusalem, used to relate the following story:
י״א
11Jerusalem was once a town that survived on handouts. In those days, residents of the holy city needed the support of the Jews from their homelands to make ends meet. The help would arrive during the holiday season. For example, Jerusalemites who were descendants of Lithuanian Jews would receive holiday stipends from a fund called the Vilna Kollel. This Kollel was financed by the donations of the observant Jews of Lithuania.
י״ב
12Rav Yeshaya Bardaky, a well known righteous man, was the financial secretary of such a Kollel. A bitter individual once entered R. Yeshaya’s office and asked for some financial help. “I know that now is not the time of chalukah,” when resources were usually distributed, he said, “but I need the help desperately, so I am asking for an emergency loan.”
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13R. Yeshaya checked his safe and found that it was empty. “I am sorry,” he said, “I cannot give you anything for I have no funds left to disburse.”
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14The fellow was incensed. He lifted his hand and slapped R. Yeshaya across the cheek.
ט״ו
15R. Yeshaya did not slap him back. Instead he immediately apologized. “I am so sorry,” he told the insolent individual. “I had no idea that your financial situation was so dire. Please wait here for a moment.”
ט״ז
16R. Yeshaya then ran upstairs to his residence and borrowed money from his wife and several neighbors. Once he had a respectable sum in hand he ran downstairs, gave the money to the man, and again apologized for not having appreciated how difficult the situation was. Had he realized, he would have immediately found a way to help out.461Leket Amarim, Volume 1, pg. 66. The Talmud in Chullin 89a states, “Rabbi Illai taught: The world exists in the merit of the individual who restrains him-self and does not respond during disputes.” Rabbi Yeshaya was a holy individual. His intellects controlled his feelings and behaviors. Faced with a sudden attack he did not let his emotional impulses, his lower seven forces, rule him. He asserted the supremacy of the three intellects. He immediately realized the pain the poor man was in and he overcame his natural urge of anger to perform an act of kindness.
י״ז
17The tzaddik acts like R. Yeshaya. When faced with a conflict between reason and feeling, his logic wins out. Furthermore, he uses his mind to trigger his emotions. His feelings are born from his intellectual analysis and decisions.
י״ח
18This is the meaning of the passage462Temurah 16a, s.v. amar Rav Yehudah amar Rav be-sha’ah she-niftar Mosheh Rabbeinu. which teaches that after Moses died, the Jews forgot three hundred laws and were in doubt about seven hundred others. The three hundred forgotten laws are a loss in the realm of the three intellects. The seven hundred doubts correspond to the seven emotions, the source for all actions. Loss of intellectual capabilities caused seven hundred practical ambiguities, for the mind had been siring the feelings and behaviors.
י״ט
19The Chasidim of Lubavitch advocate this ideal. They feel that the best type of love of God is one that is the product of chochmah, binah, and da’as. Love of God that emerges from a soulful song might not be real. Song is an emotional arousal. Emotions are by definition ephemeral. Lubavitch thought advocates use of the mind as a means to love of God. Love that emerges from the intellects is long lasting and thus real. Even when the full measure of its passion passes, residual benefit remains eternally.
כ׳
20The following meditation is one that has the mind arouse and direct the heart:
כ״א
21Consider the grandeur of the universe. Think about how large it is. Picture all of the stars, microscopic creatures, animals, plants, and other forms of life that fill the spheres of existence. They are yours. God has given man the entire world as a gift to enjoy. If you delve into the details of this gift, and focus with great concentration on how much God has done to benefit man, love for Holiness will burst forth from the heart.
כ״ב
22Since they emphasized the use of the mind, the Rebbes of Lubavitch delivered lengthy, intricate, discourses that delved into the details of hidden universes, such as atzilus. They felt that such mind stretching exercises perfect logical thought and lead the mind to spark the heart. As a mark of their commitment to intellectualism, Lubavitch Chasidim call their movement Chabad, an acronym for chochmah, binah, and da’as, the three intellects.
כ״ג
23Emotions First
כ״ד
24The ten statements of creation were a display of an ideal pattern of the Sephirah array. The ten plagues also revealed the ten Sephiros. During the ten plagues, however, it was the lower seven first, and then the three Heavenly Intellects appeared. In the weeks prior to Shavuos, as well, Jews first focus on emotional rectification, and only after complete character refinement do we focus on our intellect as we reaccept the Torah. The reason for the dissonance between the statements of Creation and the pattern of plagues is that during the exodus from Egypt we confronted the non-ideal world.
כ״ה
25Egypt tainted the Jewish nation. After 210 years of slavery, the Jews were not ready for the high levels of spiritual energy contained in flashes of holy intuition (chochmah), understanding (binah), and internalization (da’as). In the corrupted world of Egypt there first had to be a revelation of the lower seven forces; only then could the higher forms, the first three Sephiros, appear. When our forefathers left Egypt they were still on a low spiritual level. They could not appreciate the Divine lights of intuition, understanding, and internalization. They first had to perfect their seven emotions. After the seven weeks of character refinement they were able to appreciate the three intellects when they appeared at Sinai. Since we relive their experience on a yearly basis, we too first refine the seven emotions during the omer count that follows Passover, and then we receive the three intellects on Shavuos.
כ״ו
26Many Chasidic groups, other than Chabad, feel that we should focus on emotions first, even those that do not emerge from the intellects. They believe that the average human mind was not created with the ability to truly comprehend the details of the Heavenly worlds that the mystics reveal. These groups emphasize Chagat Nehim (the seven emotions and behaviors). They might emphasize the glory and beauty of Judaism (tiferes), or love for all Jews (chesed), or the importance of precise observance of Mitzvos (gevurah).
כ״ז
27Both approaches, Chabad and Chagat Nehim, are necessary. Different Jews are drawn to varied approaches of serving God. Each Jewish soul is rooted in a unique point in Heaven. The path of service a Jew will find most appealing is the one that corresponds to his root in Heaven. Some souls are rooted in mochin. These individuals are great intellectuals who can comprehend abstract concepts and Chabad is the approach they should follow. Other souls are rooted in the emotional areas of Heaven and they will find that the approaches of Chasidic groups that emphasize Chagat Nehim are best for them.463In truth, each Jewish soul is rooted in a letter in the Torah. There are 600,000 letters to the Torah and 600,000 primary Jewish souls. The Jews rooted in the intellectual parts of the Torah are primarily intellectual while the Jews rooted in the emotional parts are primarily reached through the heart.
כ״ח
28Our Generation
כ״ט
29We are presently on a low spiritual level. Since we are on a lower spiritual plane every act of holiness is treasured by our Father in Heaven. Perhaps, due to the weak nature of our generation, even an imperfect love of God, one that stems from the heart and not the mind, is of great value.
ל׳
30Rabbi Isaac Luriah revealed that our lowly world affects the value of deeds:
ל״א
31Rabbi Chaim Vital once asked his teacher the Ari, “How could you tell us that you have an exalted soul? Even the simple Jews in the generations of the Tannaim and Amoraim [the Sages of the Mishnah and the Talmud] accomplished more than you in their prayers and devotions!” The Ari answered, “They did not live in my era. In my era, when observance is difficult, when sin and lust fill the air, to continue to observe anything displays greatness.”
ל״ב
32If the Ari, who lived in the holy atmosphere of Safed in the Sixteenth Century, felt that any level of observance was a mark of distinction, how much more so is that true today. We live in a secular society that is filled with temptations. Our era is filled with denial of God and disbelief in His providence. We are a mere two generations from the horrors of World War II and Holocaust, which ravaged our nation. If today, one is willing to call himself a Jew, that is already a mark of awesome greatness. As a result of all the difficulty entailed in observance, the Almighty loves our deeds a great deal. Perhaps they are worth more than the accomplishments of earlier generations.464Heard from Rav Wolfson. 465The lowly nature of our generation affects the attribute of yesod as well. We have learned that the seven days of the week correspond to the seven lower Sephiros. In light of such a parallel, Sunday is the day of chesed, and Friday would be the day of yesod. According to Jewish law the day begins with the night before, thus, the sixth day starts with Thursday night. Yesod is concentrated in the organ of procreation. Chasidim used to have the custom that on Thursday night they would stay awake all night studying Torah as a rectification of any possible misdeed in the realm of yesod. On Friday Chasidim used to, and still do, go to the mikveh (ritual bath) to further purify whatever misdeeds they might have in the realm of yesod. Our generation is a weak one. If we would stay awake all of Thursday night, we might not feel the pleasure on Shabbos.
We should therefore find other ways to fix yesod. Perhaps one should dedicate a small part of Thursday night studies to review of one’s Torah learning for the week and to write down all the novel Torah ideas, the intellectual children, which were spawned that week. Due to our meager level such activities are very meaningful in the eyes of God (Rav Wolfson).
We should therefore find other ways to fix yesod. Perhaps one should dedicate a small part of Thursday night studies to review of one’s Torah learning for the week and to write down all the novel Torah ideas, the intellectual children, which were spawned that week. Due to our meager level such activities are very meaningful in the eyes of God (Rav Wolfson).