Shaar HaEmunah Ve'Yesod HaChassidut

שער ×”××ž×•× ×” ויסוד החסידות

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-The Introduction to the Beit Yaakov, Translated and Annotated by Betzalel
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Shaar HaEmunah Ve'Yesod HaChassidut

Introduction to Beit Yaakov

Chapter 1

The Principle of Service is based on Knowledge In this first chapter, R.

Gershon Henokh discusses the centrality of knowledge in the path of serving
God. This knowledge, however, has several aspects. On the one hand, it
means exoteric knowledge: the knowledge of the Torah and its
commandments, which enables a person to live a committed Jewish life and
worship God according to the Codes of Jewish Law. On a deeper level, R.
Gershon Henokh equates knowledge with faith; for the knowledge of
God’s unity provides faith in times of adversity. 1 In the sense that
knowing that all of life’s occurances – both bad and good – comes
from the single source of God’s unity and love. Finally, in keeping with
hasidic tradition, knowledge – da’at – also means an inner
enlightenment, a direct awareness of Divinity. 2 The reader should notice how
the author moves seamlessly between these different approaches, apparently
seeing them as part of a single type of knowledge. Thus, he refers to
hasidism’s great principle: “In all your ways, know Him.â€ This is not
merely the knowledge of how to serve God in all of life’s details – as
defined by the Codes – but how to actually unite with His eternal presence,
even as it manifests itself amidst the mundane aspects of reality. The goal of
acquiring this knowledge reflects another important aspect of R. Gershon
Henokh’s approach; that is, the descent of Divinity from the highest
realms to the lowest, and the role of man and Torah study for investing the
lowest levels with supernal wisdom, thus spreading the knowledge of God on
earth.
I thank God with all my heart, 3 This opening is based on the verse in Tehillim
(111:1). In the counsel 4 “Sod,â€ in Hebrew, means both counsel and
mystery. “In the counsel of those who remain,â€ “ b’sod
hanisharim â€ in Hebrew, is a play on the words of Psalm 111, “
b’sod yesharim,â€ “in the mystery of the upright of heart.â€ This
leads us to the simple principle that the unknown becomes known through
proper counsel, which is the aim of this treatise. It is also an allusion to the
four major works penned by this author, collectively called Sod Yesharim, as
mentioned in the introduction. As is often the case regarding the titles of
Hasidic works, the numerical equivalent of the phrase, “ sod yesharim,â€
is “Gershon Henokh.â€ (=630) It may be that this equation is the least
significant of the mysteries contained in the pages of this book. of those who
remain 5 “Those who remain and those who love,â€ refers to members
of each generation who yearn for Divine truth. It is as though, at this point in
the opening of the work, the author is inviting the souls of the great Torah
masters of the past; for he is entering into a battle of the spirit, and not going
alone. His polemic is not only armed and positioned with a regiment of
prophetic spirits, but with the prophets themselves and the One who speaks
to them. All God fearing men who enter into a dialogue with the soul and the
“penimiyut,â€ or internal aspect of the Torah are a part of the counsel,
and all who revere the message and morals of prophets and kabbalists and
are worthy of the mystery. and those who love, 6 cf. Megilla 6b,
“×והבי שרידי× יושבי רקתâ€.
According to Rashi, “lovers of Israel.â€ Those who thirst for God’s
word, Those love His Torah with truth and wholeness. They do not learn the
Torah as a woodsman sharpens his axe, in order to earn a living. 7 See Pirkei
Avot, 4:5, Nedarim 62a, where the Sages speak sharply against those who
use the Torah in order to gain honor or riches. Nor do they adorn themselves
in it like a fur coat. 8 ×›×דרת שער, cf. Bereshit 25:25, “And the
first came out all red, like a hairy garment.â€ Esav, the hunter, the man of
the field, would put on the act of righteous to win his father, Yitzhak’s
favor. Those who, “adorn themselves in the Torah as one wears a fancy
coat,â€ were religious men whose saintliness was more an expression of
self-aggrandizment than inner dedication. The author was known as a bold
fighter, and not afraid to compare many of the self-styled scholars and holy
men of his generation to Eisav. Yet they bend their ears to hear the words of
the sages. Their hearts yearn to know the truth.
They are shamed and disgraced due to [their love of Torah]. Yet, those who
shame them will be put to shame, and those who scorn them shall be
scorned! And as for us, we are shamed daily, by the voice of the reviler and
the insulter, the enemy and the vengeful. 9 It is not clear whom R. Gershon
Henokh is refering to here. Who were his revilers? It should be noted that R.
Gershon Henokh was imprisoned for twelve days by the Russian government,
perhaps for what they considered insedious activities. However, even the
leaders of contemporary Izhbitzer Hasidism do not know the true reason for
his imprisonment. Yet, regardless of all we suffer from them, we have not
forgotten the Torah, for it is the covenant that God has forged with us.
Even though their envy of the Torah has consumed us, and the humiliation of
those who blaspheme her have fallen upon us, and they mock us, by saying,
“What will you gain, and what will your study of the Torah add for you?
You will gain more if you reduce your efforts, for is not God’s Torah
already perfect?â€
All of these descend upon us, and not only from our enemies. We are insulted
even by our brothers, masters of the Talmud. 10 Perhaps this refers to the
Gerer Hasidim, from whom he suffered attacks (as mentioned in the
introduction), and whom were known as outstanding Torah scholars. Even if
his words do not refer to that specific group, from the context, we can discern
that they are individuals who rejected the study of sod, who studied Torah in
an abstract way (an approach he rejects much later in the introduction), who
failed to bring their learning down to the level of observance, and who clearly
had a personal vendetta against him. They too sully our name, saying,
“What business do you have digging to the depths of the Torah? The plain
meaning is enough! Why should we contemplate and seek to understand that
which is hidden?â€ 11 There have been many opponents throughout Jewish
History to the way of Kabbalah and the Hasidic movement, established by
Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov. The Gemara recounts incidents of great and holy
mystics who damaged their souls in their quest for God’s mysteries (see
Talmud, Chagiga, 14b). Among those closest in time to R. Gershon Henokh
generation was Sabbatai Tsvi, who was initially accepted by his generation as
the Messiah (as to what extent, see Sholem’s biography entitled Sabbatai
Tsvi ); yet whose converstion to Islam caused great anguish among the Jewish
World. Aside from his already unstable psyche, his use and misuse of
Kabbalah was undoubtably a significant influence on his failure. It was the
debacle caused by this incident that led the Ashkenazic Rabbis who lived just
after that time to impose greater limitations on the study of Kabbalah, such
as restricting it to those forty years of age and older. (See Moshe Idel, …â€
Find source in Shulchan Aruch) Later, in Chapter 30, R. Gershon Henokh
argues that such restrictions no longer apply. The author regarded this
reactionary movement against Kabbalah – expressed not only by secular
enlightenment rationalists, but also from the Lithuanian yeshiva world of his
day – as a self-inflicted wound to the Jewish soul, based on a
misunderstanding of Kabbalah’s real meaning. (See Maggid, Hasidism on
the Margin, ch. 2) In contemplating the claim of “those who sully our
name,â€ it is fair to say that not all opponents of Kabbalah studies denied
outright the deeper meanings of the Torah; it is just that they felt that most
people are not worthy of its sublime, and potentially dangerous, knowledge.
[I’m pretty sure this is the claim of Alan Nadler, The Faith of the
Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture (Johns Hopkins Jewish
Studies) if you want to quote an academic source) Later, the author himself
will agree that not everyone can penetrate to the Torah’s depth. Yet, in
that he sees the entire thrust of Jewish history as the bringing down of
supernal knowledge to the lowest level, he sets this as the goal of all true
Torah scholars – a goal that was eminently achieved by his grandfather,
Rav Mordechai Yosef, founder of the Izhbitzer hasidic dynasty, and the
latter’s successors.
They pay no attention to that which the Torah admonishes us (Devarim,
4:39), “You shall know this day and take unto your heart that Hashem is
Elo-him, 12 This famous verse expresses the deepest mystery of life, and is
among the central tenets of the Hasidic movement. Although this verse was
taught by Moshe on the very last day of his physical life, to the Hasidic
master, the words are eternally relevant: “know this day.â€ This
knowledge is not merely of the fact of revelation, but the very ongoing act of
revelation. Thus, the knowledge is not merely intellectual, but mystical. It is
the awareness that the Transcendant God is also immanent, and that the All-
Powerful has the capability to reveal something of Himself through the
vessels of finite creation. For R. Gershon Henokh, this verse is also the source
of faith, which, to the Hasidic masters, was a trans-cognitive faculty that
enabled one to breech the opposites of God and reality, infinity and finitude.
As R. Gershon Henokh will explain below, faith is the realization God’s
mercy and compassion, represented by the ineffable name YHVH is itself E-
lohim, representing God’s judgment. God’s Judgment is God’s
Mercy. Faith in God’s Goodness in the midst of adversity is the sign of a
truly believing person. For God to ask man to know that Hashem is E-lohim
requires man to know that there is a spiritual wisdom beneath or beyond the
surface of the hard facts of life. This depth of belief opens up the ability to
know mysteries of God and the Torah. The notion that God’s judgment is
God’s mercy is termed in the Zohar as, “the mystery of faith,â€ as
will be more fully discussed in chapters seven and eight. in the heavens
above and on the earth below, there is no other. And you shall guard his
statutes …â€ 13 In other words, knowledge of God’s unity, in heaven
and earth, in good and bad, leads one to guard His statutes.
So too, are we cautioned (Devarim, 32:47), “And he said to them, take to
your hearts all that I testify to you today, that you shall command your
children to guard all the words of this Torah in order to do them. It is not an
empty thing for you, for it is your life. 14 The verse tells us that the Torah is
not an empty thing. To R. Gershon Henokh, studying the simple meaning of
the Torah, without also delving into its esoteric dimension, makes the Torah
“an empty thingâ€ – a body without a soul. It is interesting to note a
comment of Rabbi Elyahu, the Gaon of Vilna, on Proverbs (2:9): “When
one understands the secret clearly, he will understand everything clearly –
including the simple meaning, the hint, and the allegory. Yet all the while he
does not know the secret, he can not yet understand even the simple
meaning with total clarity.â€ R. Gershon Henokh would clearly concur with
this opinion. And in this you may increase your days …â€
This is as David HaMelech said to his son, Shlomo HaMelech (Divrei HaYamim
1, 28:9), “And you, Shlomo my son, know the God of your fathers and
serve him with a whole heart and a willing soul. For all hearts seek God, and
all intellects understand (this principle). If you seek Him, you shall find.â€ 15
The Reshit Chochmah, the classic work of Kabbalistic piety by Elijah DeVidas,
a student of the Arizal, uses this same verse – “Know the God of your
father and serve himâ€ – to explain the prerequisite of attaining
knowledge for divine service. The Dor Yesharim, the official family history of
the Isbitza-Radzin dynasty, records that Rabbi Gershon Hanokh Lainer always
kept a copy of the Reshit Chochmah on his bedside table, and his grandson,
the author of the family history, writes that his grandfather would learn the
Reshit Chochmah by candlelight when he would wake in the middle of the
night.
Indeed, the essense of serving G-d depends upon the level of one’s
knowledge. 16 Knowledge precedes all other accomplishments. According to
R. Gershon Henokh, service, love, and fear only exist when one
“knows.â€ Prayer is called “the service of the heart,â€ as the
Gemara (Ta’anit 2a) asks on the verse (Devarim, 11:13), “If you heed
My mitzvot … to serve Him with all your heart.â€ “What is considered
the service of the heart? This is prayer.â€ For in order to serve God, one
needs two qualities – the love of God and the fear of God, 17
“יר×ת הש×â€ ( yirat Hashem ), translates as the “fear of
God.â€ It can similarly be understood as awe, reverence, or awareness of
God’s presence, which to varying degrees, affects one’s behavior and
concern for the proper adherence to God’s laws. as it states in the Zohar
(Shlach, 165a), “One who serves God with joy fulfills the verse (Tehillim,
100:2), ‘Serve God with joy,’ and one who serves God with fear fulfills
the verse (ibid, 2:11), ‘Serve God with fear.’â€ Clearly it is impossible
for a person to serve, fear, and love something that he does not know. 18 The
author argues that one needs knowledge in order to begin to serve God. It is
clear from the above mentioned teaching in the Talmud that prayer is one of
the main forms of the service of God – “service of the heart.â€ Prayer
obviously requires belief. A person cannot pray full-heartedly unless he
believes that God is listening to him. But the author is saying more. Even an
animal will obey its master only if it has some fear of punishment for
disobedience, or show dedication in its actions if it feels love for his master.
How much more so, a human being. The deeper man’s fear and love is for
God, so does he strengthen his dedication to fulfilling God’s will. Do
develop these feelings, he needs to put his mind and heart on the nature of
God and the intimite role God plays in his life at all moments. All the good
man receives, whether it is health, children, knowledge, honor, wealth, or
wellbeing, is bestowed upon him by God. And all suffering – no matter how
small – can be considered some form of Divine chastisement. The more
man strives to know God in all of his walks of life, the more God will respond
in kind and reveal Himself on a deeper level. We find in the introduction to
the Tikunei Zohar (5b): The tenth level 19 The Zohar describes two levels of
fear of God: a lower and a higher, depending upon their correspondances in
the sefirotic tree. That is, classic Kabbalah views reality in terms of a gradual
ten-step descent from the infinite Godhead to the physical world. Each step,
or sefirah, dims and colors the Divine Light, until it can be perceived in our
world. These ten stages are further divided into four worlds, known as Atzilut
(Emanation), Beriyah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation) and Asiyah (Action).
Furthermore, these correspond to the Tetragrammaton – the four letter
Name of God –.×™ – ×” – ו – ×” The “tenth levelâ€
discussed here is the sefirah of Malkhut (Sovereignity). Being the lowest and
furthest step from the Godhead, it is also the sefirah of greatest concealment
and constriction. On this level – as it corresponds to the human psyche –
fear is the product of a lack of true knowledge, and means simply “fear of
punishmentâ€ for transgressing Divine law. Such an attitude reflects a
distance from God, and a relationship to Torah’s laws as external,
imposing commandments. in the fear of God is as follows. There is fear, and
there is fear. Not all expressions of fear are the same. One person’s fear
of God may be largely motivated by the fear of Divine punishment. Of this it
is taught ( Pirkei Avot 2:5), “An unlearned person cannot fear sin.â€ 20 In
other words, a person ignorant of the Torah does not have the basic
information to know what to fear. A higher level of fears derives from the
Torah itself, which is Tiferet, 21 Tiferet (Beauty) is the sefirah of harmony and
balance. In the center of the Sefirot ic tree, it connects all points on the map:
above and below, right and left. Kabbalistically, Tiferet corresponds to the
Torah, which also connects and harmonizes all levels – man and God, man
and his fellow, man and himself. Knowledge of Torah brings one into
connection with the sefirah of Tiferet, which results in a higher type of fear:
not the fear of punishment, but an awe and recognition of God’s glory,
which automatically causes a person to cling to and fulfill the
commandments. called the “middle column,â€ 22 The ten Sefirot are
organized in three columns, right, left, and middle. The middle column joins
the right and the left together. It is closely related to Tiferet (see previous
note.) which is the name Havay’ah (the Tetragramaton,י-ה-ו-ה).
Because of this, the authors of the Mishnah taught, “Great is the Torah in
that it brings a person to action.â€ 23 The Torah is the middle column,
whose action essentially joins all of the ten Sefirot together and enables
communication between them, and hence, generates action. In the same
way, true fear of God is the first impetus for all Divine service. If a person
does not know the Torah, or the reward for keeping its commandments and
the punishment for transgressing its commandments, nor is he aware of the
One who created the Torah and gives it to Israel, how can he fear God and
guard His commandments? For this reason David said to his son Shlomo,
“Know the God of your fathers and serve him.â€ For if one does not know
the one who gave him the Torah and commanded him to guard it, how then
can he fear Him and fulfill its commandments?
Similarly, we find in the Midrash Sochar Tov: “How may a young man
make his path pure? By serving according to Your wordâ€ (Tehillim 119),
Shlomo said, “In all your ways know Him.â€ If you know and are
conscious of God in all that you do, He will straighten the paths before you.
Thus, it is said (Tehillim, 16), “Make the path of life known to me.â€ So
too, Moshe said to God (Shemot, 33), “Now, if I have found favor in your
sight, let me know Your ways.â€ And also (Tehillim, 25), “Lead me in Your
truth, and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.â€ And (Tehillim,
86), “God, teach me Your way.â€ And it is written (Yermiyahu, 6),
“Stand on the roads and see, and ask about the ways of the world, and
see which is the good way. Then walk in it, and find rest for your soul.â€
Look at the path that Avraham took, and look at the path that Nimrod took,
and see who succeeded. So too did David say, “And you, Shlomo my son,
know the God of your fathers, and serve him.â€
The following passages of the Zohar express the central principle that
knowledge is the prerequisite to any true Divine service. Everyone who goes
to the next world without knowledge will be thrown out of each and every
gate of that world, even though he has many good actions to his credit.
(Zohar Chadash, Shir HaShirim, 77a) If a person is in this world, and does not
strive to know Him, it would have been better had he never been created. For
this reason, be seen before the Holy King, in order to know Him in this world.
Strive to serve God in the mystery of faith, as it is written (Devarim 4),
“You have been shown in order to know that Hashem is Elo-him, there is
none besides Him.â€ God brought man into this world precisely in order to
know that God is Elo-him. This is the principle of every secret of faith in the
entire Torah. 24 Notice how this passage of the Zohar equates knowledge
with faith – two concepts usually considered to be opposites. To R. Gershon
Henokh, however, true knowledge means the realization that the
compassionate and loving God, referred to by the name Hashem (Y-H-V-H)
and the God that brings upon human beings trials and adversity (E-lohim),
are really one, and that even life’s afflictions are an expression of
God’s love and compassion. He will return to this theme later, in chapters
six and seven. On a related note, the Mei HaShiloach explains that human
beings suffer, due to a lack of knowledge. That is to say, if a person truly
understood the meaning behind the fulfillment of the commandments, then
there would be no suffering whatsoever in the service of God. (Terumah,
161b)

Chapter 2

The Purpose of Knowledge Having established the centrality of knowledge in

the service of God, R. Gershon Henokh now adds another element: True
knowledge includes an understanding that God created the world in order to
bestow goodness upon man, and that God desires that we make our own
efforts in order to receive this goodness. The opposite approach – receiving
God’s goodness as an unearned gift – would engender feelings of
shame in the receiver. Thus, God gives man a path of action – mitzvot and
good deeds – which allow him to deserve His bounty. However, since the
greatest gift we can receive from God is further knowledge – which means,
in this case, a direct, mystical experience of Divinity – so a circle is formed:
intellectual knowledge of God’s Torah and an understanding of His plan
for creation leads us on the path to its fulfillment, which ultimately results in
a deeper, direct spiritual knowledge of the Giver of the Torah Himself.
It is written in the Zohar (Zohar Chadash, Shir haShirim, 77a): “What kind
of wisdom does man need? One kind is the wisdom to know and look into the
mystery of his Master. One kind is the wisdom man needs to know himself, to
know who he is, how he was created, from where he came and to where he is
going, the nature of the rectification of his body, and how in the future he will
have to stand in judgment before the Master of all. One kind of wisdom is the
ability to know and look into the mysteries of the soul … and after this, the
supernal secrets of the upper world, in order to know his Master. Man can see
all of these in the secrets of the Torah.â€ A person needs to know his Creator
and his Creator’s attributes. Furthermore, whatever we are permitted to
know about Him must be used to serve Him. For any knowledge of Him that
does not add to His service is considered “too wondrousâ€ for us to
know. 25 The author is connecting the knowledge of G-d with the worship of
Him, and by this, dismissing purely abstract knowledge of the Divinity. There
are many sources in the Torah that speak about levels of knowledge and
awareness that are above human cognition, and are thus forbidden to delve
into. Here, the author defines those levels as those that cannot enrich a
person’s religious practice. This is as the Gemara says (Chagiga, 13a),
“Do not seek that which is too wondrous for you, and that which is hidden
from you do not investigate.â€ 26 Following the sages of the Talmud
(Hagiga, 13a), Rav Gershon Henokh sees a danger in delving into the outer
realms of God’s mysteries. Yehezkel saw, “A form over the heads of
the angels, a firmament like the awesome ice.â€ And the sages warned,
“You are permited to speak up until this point. Beyond this point you are
not permitted to speak. Thus it is written in the book of Ben Sira, ‘Do not
seek that which is too wondrous for you. Do not investigate that which is
concealed from you. Contemplate only what you are permitted to
contemplate, for you have no business in hidden things.’ “ Rashi
explains, “That which is too wondrous for you are matters that are divided
and separated from you. God did not want to reveal these matters to you.â€
However, we are permitted to contemplate matters that lead to the
knowledge of God’s existence and attributes. We may meditate upon how
He created and arranged the creation to its final ends. How He created good
and evil, and gave man the power to choose good and life. For this one needs
to contemplate the nature of good and how God desires to bestow
benevolence upon His creatures, as it is written (Tehillim, 89:3), “I said,
the world shall be established on benevolence.â€ This is God’s intention
for His creation, which we are permitted to contemplate. The intention from
the very first moment of creation came forth from His simple will, as
primordial as God Himself, with no initiative from the side of the creation at
all, for nothing had yet been created that could bring about such an
awakening.
From the moment of creation and onward God desires that man receive his
reward based on his own efforts
Indeed, from the moment of creation and onward, God desired that man
receive reward based upon his own efforts and (what the psalmist calls)
“the work of his hands.â€ This is as it is said in the Midrash, 27 Midrash
Kohelet, 4:6, on the verse, “Better a handful of quietness, than two fistfuls
of labor and striving after the wind.â€ “Man’s efforts are called
striving – and then eating.â€ For this reason man was given free choice.
This is as it is written in the Tikunei Zohar (70, page 137b): When the Torah
says, “let us make a man,â€ it means that man needs to fulfill the
commandments of the Torah, and exert himself in the Torah, “to work it
and to guard it.â€ From this he will be rewarded and gain mastery over the
angels. This is (Yeshayahu, 60), “the bud of My planting, the work of My
hands in which to glory.â€ We find that although the supernal angels are
mighty in strength and perform God’s word, still they are not mighty in
the service of the Holy One, blessed be He. This is because they are forced to
serve Him, and face no obstacles like the physical body or the evil
inclination.... For this reason it is said, “let us make a man (who
overcomes these obstacles by using his power of choice, to serve God out of
his own volition).â€ For this reason man will rule over the angels.
God desires that man receive his reward based on his own efforts. Then it will
be called (Tehillim, 128:2), “You will eat based on the work of your own
hands, fortunate are you, and it will be good for you.â€ This is as the
Jerusalem Talmud states (Orlah, 1:3), “Someone who receives his food
from another is ashamed to look his benefactor in the face.â€ One who
receives a free gift cannot receive it face to face. This is as it is said in the
Gemara (Pesachim 118a), “What did David have in mind when he said,
‘His mercy endures forever’ twenty-six times? 28 In Psalm 136. They
correspond to the twenty-six generations from the creation of Adam until the
giving of the Torah, which were all sustained purely on God’s
benevolence.â€ 29 In other words, until the generation that the Torah was
finally given (the 26th from the creation of Adam), human beings were
sustained through G-d’s benevelence, and not in response to their own
deeds. This state, however, does not fulfill G-d’s intention for the world,
and were the Torah not given, the world would not have been able to
continue.
For this reason we find that up until the time that Avraham served God
through active performance in deed, namely the covenant of circumcision, he
could not look face to face at the Shekhina, the Divine presence, as is
mentioned in the Midrash Tanchuma (Lech, 20). 30 On a simple level, R.
Gershon Henokh means that Avraham could not behold the Shekhina until he
performed some act of commandment: in this case, the ritual of circumcision,
which gave him the merit to behold G-d. On a deeper level, the idea is that
the removal of the foreskin corresponds to a “spiritual circumcisionâ€ of
the consciousness, allowing the mind to perceive the previously hidden God,
and gain a deeper connection to the Almigthy. In this way, brit milah is a
paradigm for all forms of religious devotion. R. Gershon Henokh will make this
point below, in chapter 4. See, also, the Chasidic work Ma’or VaShemesh,
Vayera. This is why the Torah was given to the community of Yaakov, in order
to bestow upon, for by serving God through the power of free choice and
running after the knowledge of God through the Torah, they merit knowing
God, which is in itself the reward. Then, they will be worthy of eternal life,
eating of the fruit of their own efforts and receiving God’s light face to
face. 31 Rav Gershon Henokh is providing the reader with a way to reveal
God’s presence in the world and God’s hand in human events. To
fulfill a command, one must first defer to a higher wisdom, and then exert
one’s own efforts to behave in a way that this wisdom deems worthy. In
this way, one then looks at this wisdom, “face to face,â€ in a sort of
“meeting of the minds,â€ between man and God. Looking at God
“face to faceâ€ means having some knowledge of the Divine order and
concern. In this way, efforts to fulfill God’s commandments, based on an
appreciation of God’s wisdom and benevolence, is the key element in
fostering a close relationship with the Almighty. As will be stated later, the
ability to see God’s goodness, hidden even in the darkest of places, is the
mystery of faith.

Chapter 3

The Service of God Prior to Sinai As the author explained, knowledge of God
is necessary to serve Him, which, in turn, allows us to receive His goodness,
which is the very reason for creation. The question now arises: how did
individuals serve God before the Torah was given, when the knowledge of His
service had not yet entered the world. R. Gershon Henokh explains that from
the time of Adam, there were books and mystery schools in which this
knowledge was studied.
God began to shine the words of Torah to man from the very day he was
created. This is because the God created the world with the Torah. 32
Referring to the famous statement in the Zohar and the Midrash, that
“God looked into the Torah, and created the world.â€ Since man was
created through the vehicle of the very letters of the Torah, he was
illuminated with the very knowledge with which he was created, and which
consitutes the root of his life. Consider the following passages in the Zohar:
33 The following passages all relate that from the very creation of Adam, God
gave man a book of rules and meditations through which he could live a just
life and come to a knowledge of his Creator. And Rabbi Abba said, “We
know that a book descended to Adam HaRishon, and through it he knew and
understood the supernal wisdom. This book reached the, ‘bnei Elohim,’
34 See Bereshit, 6:2. who were the sages of the generation, and whoever
else was worthy of looking into it. In this way they arrived at the knowledge
of supernal wisdom … Similarly, it is taught that Hanokh had a book, and
this book was from the place of the book of the Generations of Man.â€ 35
See Bereshit, 5:1. (Zohar, Bereshit, 37b): We have already explained that
when Adam was in the Garden of Eden God sent him a book through Raziel,
the holy angel in charge of the mysteries of the holy supernal ones. Supernal
impressions were imprinted in this book, holy wisdom, and seventy-two kinds
of wisdom were explained in three hundred and seventy engravings of
supernal mysteries. He left this book to his son Shet and all his descendants
until it reached Avraham. By means of it, Avraham knew how to gaze upon
the Glory of his Master. This has been explained. Similarly, Adam gave a book
to his son Hanokh, from which he looked upon the supernal Glory.â€(Zohar,
Bereshit, 55b) Come and see! From his childhood, Noah saw the actions of
man and how they sinned against the Holy One, blessed be He. So he hid
himself, and occupied himself with the service of his Master … If you ask,
what book did he use to contemplate Divine service? He studied the book of
Adam and the book of Hanokh in order to know how to serve his Master.
(Zohar, Bereshit, 58b) Rabbi Shimon said, if I had been alive at the time when
the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the book to Hanokh and to Adam, I would
have made great efforts that they not become accessible to people. (Zohar,
Noah, 78b)
Rabbi Shimon said, “I raise my hands in prayer to He who created the
world (see Bereshit, 14:22). Even though our predecessors have revealed
hidden supernal knowledge in this verse, one would do well to look into and
contemplate the secrets of the book of Adam, because this is the source of
the hidden book of Shlomo HaMelech.â€ (Zohar, Yitro, 70a) Thus we find
that Shem and Eiver 36 Whom tradition identifies as pre-Sinaitic Torah
scholars, living from the time of Noach until the days of Yaakov. had a house
of study. When Rivkah was pregnant and the twins were fighting in her womb,
it says (Bereshit, 25:22), “She went to ask of God.â€ The Midrash Rabbah
(Bereshit, 63) notes that she went to the house of study of Shem and Aiver.
The Gemara teaches us that Yaakov hid himself from Eisav in the house of
Aiver (Megillah, 17a).
Similarly, we find that the generations of the Bible produced several oral
traditions of the mysteries of the Torah that were received as valid by our
sages. It is accepted that one of the classic Kabbalistic texts, “Raziel
HaMalakhâ€ is the same as the book of Adam HaRishon and the book of
Hanokh. But clearly, when we look at the version of the book, “Raziel
HaMalakh,â€ that exists today, we see many additions from later sages –
from the, “letters of Rabbi Akiva,â€ to the “Chapters of Rabbi
Eliezar,â€ to the manuscripts of the Geonim. 37 Geonim (coming from the
phrase [Tehillim, 47:5], “ ge’on Ya’akov,’ meaning, ‘the
pride of Ya’akov’) were the Torah leaders who lived in Babylon
immediately after the end of the Talmudic period, from roughly 700 C.E. To
1000 C.E.. Additional material was added by each of the sages of the
following generations who possessed this text. This was true with many
ancient texts. Each one who had the book would add to it, both the great and
the small, according to their levels. Certainly we no longer know the identity
of many of the contributors to these books. We attribute the Sefer Yetzirah
(the Book of Formation) to Avraham. It contains five chapters. The Magen
Avot of R. Shimon bar Tzemach zâ€l, the “Tashbetz,â€ mentions this in
reference to the statement in the Gemara (Avoda Zara, 14b), “The text of
Avraham Avinu’s version of the tractate of Avoda Zara contained of four-
hundred chapters, and ours contains only five.â€ That is, what remains is
our Sefer Yetzirah. He counts five chapters, because the sixth is contained in
the fifth. 38 That is, the version of the Sefer Yetzirah in our hands contains six
chapters. The “Tashbetzâ€ explains that all of these (missing chapters)
dealt with the removal any concept of physicality from the supernal forces,
which are ultimately only created entities. This was so that human beings not
be deceived into thinking these forces to be godly. That which remains (of the
missing chapters) in our possession is the Sefer Yetzirah. This is the
knowledge that man needs in order to serve God, which entails separating
the holy way of serving G-d from the Divine service from the invalid ways.
This is as it is written in the Sefer Yetzirah (Chapter One), “Understand
with wisdom, and be wise with understanding, and establish the matter with
clarity, and return the Creator to His base.â€

Chapter 4

The Torah of Avraham Even though an esoteric knowledge was passed down
the generations from the time of Adam, with the arrival of Avraham, a new
stage in this process occurred. Prior to Avraham, the knowledge of God was
attained primarily through mystical contemplation. Man ascended to God by
transcending this mundane world. Furthermore, esoteric knowledge was the
privilege or mission of a select few righteous individuals, and not the property
of humanity at large. A further point, which the author mentions later, is that
pre-Sinaitic man was ruled by his mazal, or fate. At Sinai, God freed man from
his fate – provided that he serves the Almighty through the way of the
Torah. Avraham introduced a new paradigm in serving G-d, and thus initiates
what the Talmud calls the “two thousand years of Torahâ€ (despite the
fact that the Torah was not actually given at Sinai until five hundred years
later.) Avraham revealed how God’s presence could be found on earth,
and could be perceived even through the contemplation on one’s very
physicality. In this way, Avraham’s efforts resembled the goal of the
Torah, which is to bring a revelation of God down from heaven to earth, from
the abstract to the tangible. This was a considerably higher level of
realization that what had preceded it, and was passed on to Avraham’s
descendents – the Jewish people – and the generation that received the
Torah at Mount Sinai.
From the days of Avraham began the, “two thousand years of Torah.â€
This is as it says in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 97a), “Two thousand years of
chaos, and two thousand years of Torah.â€ The Ramban comments on the
verse in Bereshit, “and God blessed the seventh day,â€ that the two
thousand years of Torah began with Avraham. Likewise, we find in the
Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah, 2), “‘And the earth was chaos and formless,
and darkness on the face of the void’ – these are the first generations.
‘And God said, let there be light’ – this is Avraham.â€ Avraham
began to illuminate the world with the understanding that God does not exist
only in heaven, but also on earth. Noah’s son Shem is identified as Malki
Tzedek, the king of Shalem. (See Bereshit 14:18) Malki Tzedek addressed God
as El Elyon, “the supernal God.â€ The verses identify him as, “a
priest to El Elyon,â€ and he himself said, “blessed is Avraham to the El
Elyon, and blessed is El Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your
hands.â€ Elyon – Supernal – represents that which is above man’s
comprehension. Before the giving of the Torah, the acts of studying Torah and
serving God were accompolished through tremendous self-nullification, trials,
and suffering. This led them to an understanding of G-d’s existence, and
the knowledge of the One who rules His world in the aspect of, “the
Supernal God.â€
Avraham, however, understood that God, “fills the whole world with His
glory.â€ He removed the orlah, 39 Orlah means “foreskin.â€ The author
is stating that Avraham’s removal of concealment of G-d paralleled his
own act of circumcision. This idea is found in the Zohar, and many Kabbalistic
and hasidic writings. the force of concealment, which divided God’s light
from man’s understanding. Thus we find after he was given the
commandment of circumcision ( milah ) it is said (Bereshit, 21:33), “And
he called in the name of Hashem, the God of the world.â€ This means that
God’s existence became apparent in all aspects of the creation, as the
Midrash Rabbah (Vayera, 48) states, on the verse (Iyov, 19:26), “‘From
my flesh I shall see God’ – Were it not for the act of circumcision, how
could God have been revealed to me?â€ That is, he saw God’s light in
every detail of creation. When Avraham said, “I raise my hands to the
Supernal God,â€ it was before the circumcision. 40 See the Beit Yaakov in
parshat Lech Lecha, 33. Similarly, we find that the Patriarchs taught the Torah
to their sons. The Midrash 41 Midrash Tankhuma, Vayigash 11; Midrash
Rabbah, Vayigash 95; Midrash Rabbah, Shemot 5. tells us that while Israel
was in Egypt they possessed scrolls with which they would delight in each
Shabbat.

Chapter 5

Knowledge of the Mystery at Sinai and Beyond Prior to the giving of the Torah
at Sinai, there was no all-inclusive compendium that could be used by every
individual to serve God. The pre-Sinaitic esoteric works where accessible only
to a select few. With the giving of the Torah, two things changed: (1) God
descended into creation. That is, no longer did the relationship with God
require a human being to transcend the physical world (as in the case of
Malkei Tzedek, mentioned above), and (2) a means was now provided for
even the lowest individual to enter into a relationship with God. Thus, R.
Gershon Henokh interprets the “voicesâ€ heard at Mount Sinai as the
voice of Jewish people’s own, inner revelation. Meaning to say, with the
Giving of the Torah, Divinity became accessible to each and every person.
The author further explains that while the Torah does not expect a person to
do more than he is able – for God does not make His commandments
impossible to fulfill – nonetheless, the obligation to learn the entire Torah
still applies to every person, since only then can he fully incorporate the
Divine Presence in his life.
It is said of the giving of the Torah (Shemot, 19) that, “God descended on
Mount Sinai.â€ This is as it is said in the Zohar (Yitro, 82a): We have learned
that at the time God revealed himself at Mount Sinai, all of Israel saw as one
would see with a lantern, and in this light, each one saw even that which the
prophet Yehezkel did not see. What is the reason? It is because these
supernal voices were revealed as one, according to our explanation of the
verse in the account of the giving of the Torah, “all of the people saw the
voices.â€
This “voiceâ€ is the inner voice. It was then revealed to Israel that the
entire world is filled with God’s glory, and that He gives life and being to
everything, at every moment. Consider the following passages in the Zohar:
Rabbi Shimon said, come and see! The voice of the shofar is the place of the
voice. To explain this, consider the verse, “for on all that comes out of
God’s mouth does man live.â€ What is, “that which comes out of
God’s mouth?â€ It is the voice of the shofar.
(Yitro, 81b) And according to them David mentioned seven “voicesâ€ in
Psalm 29, “Ascribe unto God, ye sons of the mighty,â€ and of these
seven it is said, “not on bread alone does man live, but on all that comes
out of God’s mouth does man live.â€ (Tikun 69, page 117b) Why is the
Torah called “Torah?â€ 42 The root of the word for “Torahâ€ is
related to both the word for teaching – hora’ah – and the word for
light – ohr. Thus, the Torah’s teachings are like a light that reveals the
mysteries hidden in the darkness of creation. Because it teaches and reveals
that which was hidden and not known. (Metzorah, 53b)
Therefore, from the moment the Torah was given, the world is no longer
solely sustained by God’s benevolence. At the giving of the Torah, God
showed even greater kindness, which is called, “eating from the effort of
your handsâ€ (Tehillim, 128:2). 43 That is, human beings were not in a give-
and-take relationship with God, and the life and vitality that He bestowed
upon creation was an expression of His gratuitous love. However, with the
giving of the Torah, mankind could now earn God’s goodness through
fulfilling the Torah – “the effort of your hands.â€ This allows for an
even greater degree of closeness. Even though everything still comes from
God’s benevolence, it was God’s desire that with the giving of the
Torah man should perform actions which enable him to be conscious of
God’s light and the knowledge of God’s existence in this world. This is
called, “the effort of man’s hands.â€ The Torah is the sum-total of all
of the creation. With the Torah, every person capable of arriving at the entire
level of understanding that God allotted for his creation. This is as it is said in
the Zohar (Yitro, 83b): All of the later generations were summoned there, and
they all received the Torah at Mount Sinai, each one as befit him. Everything
in the Torah is applicable to every individual person. This is as the Zohar says
(ibid.): “And God spoke all of these words, saying…â€ (Shemot, 20:1,
directly before the Ten Commandments). “Spoke all of these words,â€
means – all of these meanings, all of these secrets, all of these mysteries,
decrees and punishments. “Sayingâ€ – means in order for it to be a
uninversal inheritance, as it is written (Devarim, 33) “Moshe commanded
the Torah to us as an inheritance.â€ A story is told in the Midrash Rabbah
(Vayikra, 9:3), “Rabbi Yannai saw a man who was finely dressed in the
manner of a scholar. He invited him home, and in the course of the
conversation discovered that he had no Torah knowledge whatsoever, not in
the Gemara, Mishnah, or the Chumash. When the man wanted to lead the
Grace following a meal, as is the custom for a guest, Rabbi Yannai said,
‘You may do so by saying these words: “A dog at Yannai’s
bread.’â€ The man seized Rabbi Yannai by the collar and said, ‘You
are withholding my inheritance!’ 44 That is, “you are denying me a
relationship to the Torah.â€ Rabbi Yannai said, ‘What is your inheritance?
’ The man said, ‘Once I was walking past a school, and I heard the
children saying, “Moshe commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the
community of Yaakov.â€ The Torah does not say, “An inheritance of the
community of Yannai,â€ but rather, “An inheritance of the community of
Yaakov.â€’â€ 45 The continuation of the story: “Rabbi Yannai then
wanted to know in what merit this man was eating at his table. The man said,
‘In my entire life, I always kept silent upon receiving an insult, and I never
saw two people arguing and did not make peace between them.’
Embarrassed, Rabbi Yannai said in shame, ‘You possess such good
behavior, and I called you a dog.’â€

Even though not everyone can fathom everything with a complete

understanding, nonetheless, everyone can understand according to his level
even the secrets of the Torah. As it is summed up in the Zohar (Yitro, 83b): If
you were to contend: it reveals mysteries that are not relevant to everyone,
to this it is written, ‘ Anochi – I am Hashem you God.’ Just as I am
hidden and concealed, so too will these words be hidden and concealed in
you hearts. Hinted in the Torah is God’s divine conduct of all generations
down to the end of all generations. Everything that is gleaned from the Torah
is advice designed for every person. It is written in the Zohar
(Beha’alotcha, 152a): Rabbi Shimon said, “Woe is the man who says
that the Torah is just a collection of stories and mundane information. The
story of the Torah is the garment of the Torah. To the one who says that the
garment is the actual Torah, I say, may he breath his last! He has no share in
the world-to-come. For this, David said (Tehillim, 119), ‘open my eyes, that
I may behold the wonders of Your Torah.’ Meaning, may I see that which is
beneath the garment.â€ A person needs to contemplate the Torah in its
entirety, for it is the life of the world and the life of every man. The entire
Torah is essential for everyone in order to serve God, may He be blessed. A
person needs to consider how every story found in the Torah teaches a path
in the service of God.
We find written in the Midrash on Mishlei (end of section 10): Rabbi Yishmael
said, come and see how difficult is the Day of Judgment! In the future, the
Holy One, blessed be He, will judge the whole world in the valley of
Yehoshephat. When a Torah scholar comes before Him, God will ask him,
“Did you study the Torah?â€ He will answer, “Yes.â€ God will then
say, “If this is as you say, tell me what you have learned.â€ For one who
has learned the Five Books of Moshe but has not learned the Mishnah, God
will turn His face away from him. Then the forces of persecution will surround
him like a pack of wild hounds and take him off to Gehinom. When one who
has studied two or three orders of the Mishnah comes before Him, God will
say to him, “My son, why did you not learn the laws by heart?â€ When
one who has learned the laws comes before the heavenly court, God will say
to him, “My son, why have you not learned the Torat Cohanim (halachic
Midrash on the book of Leviticus)?â€ When one comes before Him who has
learned the Torat Cohanim, God shall to him, “Why have you not learned
the five books of Moses?â€ If one comes before Him who has learned the
five books of Moses, and God will say to him, “Why have you not learned
aggadah (legends of the Torah)? For at the time when a rabbi sits before his
students and teaches the aggadot, I forgive and atone for all the sins of
Israel!â€ If a soul comes before God who has learned the aggadot, God will
ask him, “Why have you not learned the Talmud? For it is said (Kohelet, 1),
“All the rivers run into the sea, and the sea is not full,â€ referring to the
Talmud. When another one comes before God who has learned the Talmud,
and God will ask him, “Why have you not glimpsed at the Holy Merkava of
Divine Mysteries? For I experience no pleasure in My world like the time when
the sages sit in the study of the Torah, and glimpse, look, see, contemplate
the great Talmud of Divine Mysteries, knowing how My Divine throne of glory
stands!â€

Even with Ma’aseh Merkava, (the knowledge of the Mysteries of the

Torah), one needs to learn with the goal of doing. This is as it is said in the
Tractate Chagiga (14b), after Rabbi Elazar ben Arach had just cause the trees
and mountains to sing, from his teachings of the Divine mysteries, “Rabbi
Yochanan ben Zakkai said of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, Blessed is the God of
Israel who gave a son to Avraham Avinu who knows how to understand and
teach the Ma’aseh Merkava. There are those who are good at explaining
but cannot do. Then there are those who know how to do, but cannot explain.
Fortunate are you, Avraham Avinu, that Rebbi Elazar ben Arach descended
from you, who knows both how to teach and how to do!â€ From this we see
that even with Ma’aseh Merkava one needs not only to know, but needs
to perform and uphold. In the case where one knows how to do, but does not
know how to learn, every soul of Israel who performs the Mitzvot in all their
details is intending the very depths of God’s will. Then God considers it as
if he has fulfilled all of the mystical intentions ( kavonnot ). So too, one who
prays with the utmost simplicity and a pure heart, and knows nothing of the
kavannot of the Kabbalists, also intends to fulfill the depths of God’s will,
and God considers this as if he has prayed with the most lofty of kavanot. It is
written in the Zohar (Vayehi, 243b): Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Hizkiya asked
Rabbi Shimon, ‘We are taught that one should begin by praising God, and
then make his request. What about someone who wants to pray but his heart
ill at ease, and is so disturbed that he can not properly praise God before
asking for his needs?’ Rabbi Shimon answered them, ‘His prayer is no
less, even if he cannot enter into the optimal frame of mind in order to praise
God. He should make his praises even in his current state of mind. Then he
should go ahead and ask. … However, a person who has the ability and the
proper frame of mind to properly praise God before praying, yet does not, of
him is it said (Yeshayahu, 1), ‘Though he pray much, I will not heed
him.’ But for one who simply cannot collect his mind and achieve
devekut, 46 Devekut means intense cleaving to God. God nevertheless
accepts his prayer and his divine service. The Zohar says that this is (Tehillim,
17:1), “Hear the right, O God, attend to my cry, hear my prayer.â€ This is
an example of, “one who knows how to do, but does not know how to
explain.â€
One needs to know and understand that every letter of the Torah that God
gave to Israel is all that is needed in order to serve the Almighty, may He be
blessed. Every one of Israel needs the entire Torah. Man needs to know how
to understand and investigate the Glory of his Creator, to know the meaning
of loving and fearing the Almighty, to know how God’s glory is found in
every detail of action, to know to whom he is praying, and whose
commandments he is fulfilling, and how God’s light and providence exists
in every detail.

Chapter 6

The Purpose of the Mystery of Faith Having established that true knowledge is
the knowledge of God’s revelation on earth, the author now shows how
this to be the meaning of the Shema Yisrael prayer: “Hashem Elo-heinu,
Hashem Echod.â€ That is, Hashem, the Transcendent God, is also Elo-heinu,
the imminent God. In R. Gershon Henokh’s eyes, this defines the mystery
of faith, for true faith is the ability to perceive God’s light and providence
in each detail of creation. In the chapter following this one, R. Gershon
Henokh refers to this knowledge as Ma’aseh HaMerkava, “the
Workings of the Chariot.â€ 47 In Hebrew, merkava is related to the word
markiv, meaning “to join or assemble.â€ Thus, the “Work of the
Chariotâ€ means a perception of the union of God and creation. This was a
term coined by the Sages of the Talmud in references to Yehezkel’s vision
of a supernal throne, carried by angels, on which sat an image of the Divine.
Talmudic mystics, who delved into the depths of this topic were known as
“Descenders of the Chariot.â€ However, R. Gershon Henokh defines
Ma’aseh HaMerkava in a novel way. 48 In keeping with other teachings
from the school of Izhitz. The merkava is not the chariot in Yehezkel’s, but
the entirety of creation, which, when viewed through the lens of faith,
becomes a dwelling place for the revelation of God in the world. Concerning
the meaning of the Shema Yisrael the Zohar writes (Terumah, 160b): The two
words Shema Yisrael (Hear O Israel) express a unification of three sides,
which are the three words Hashem Elo-heinu Hashem (Hashem is our God,
Hashem), since it is all one. Further in the Zohar, it is written (Terumah,
161a): Rabbi Hiya spoke after him and said (Devarim 4:35), “It was shown
to you, so you may know that Hashem is God, there is none other besides
Himâ€; (Devarim 4:39) “And you shall know this day, and take into your
heart, that Hashem is God, in the heavens above and on the earth below,
there is none other.â€ The entire mystery of faith depends on these words.
From this one can know the secret of all secrets, the most hidden of all
mysteries, which is that “ Hashem Elo-him,â€ is one full name, and it is
all one. And in the Zohar (Pekudei, 260a): One who knows how to combine
similar things ( min b’mino ) – to make connections, connecting
chamber to chamber, level to level 49 Meaning, he possesses the wisdom
necessary to unite the effect with its cause. In this way, he unifies this world
with the upper worlds. – has a share in the world-to-come, as we have
established. Therefore, it is the completeness of all. And when the levels are
completed, one joined to the other, then it is all one action, and the
completeness that comes out of this combination ( min b’mino ) is called
Ma’aseh Merkava, 50 The root of the word, “to assemble, to
combineâ€ (הרכבה)and the word for chariot (מרכבה) is the
same. the workings of the Divine Chariot. This is the secret of (Bereshit, 2:7),
“and Hashem Elo-him formed man.â€ “Hashem Elo-himâ€ is one
complete name, and the resulting action of combining the two names into
one is the formation of man. In this way we say, “Hashem is Elo-him.â€
This is as the Zohar states above, that the mystery of fatih is found in the
commandment: “And you shall know this day, and take into your heart,
that Hashem is God (which is the same as saying Hashem is Elo-him), in the
heavens above and on the earth below, there is none other.â€

Chapter 7

The Mystery of Faith is the Secret of the Divine Chariot Through the mystery
of faith, one sees how God’s unity extends down to the lowest aspects of
creation – even to the kelipot (the “impure shellsâ€), which are those
forces of negativity that conceal or deny God’s all-encompassing
presence. These are alluded to in Yehezkel’s vision as “storm wind,
cloud, and fire.â€
There are many details necessary to understand the mystery of faith. The
basic idea is to see how God’s light and providence exists in every detail
of His creation. All of the details of creation are hinted at in the name,
“Elo-him,â€ 51 The name of God, “Elo-him,â€ is numerically
equivalent to the word for nature, “הטבעâ€. as it is said in the
Zohar (Mishpatim 108b), whereas the source of God’s light comes from
the name “Havayeâ€ (the Tetragrammaton). One needs to unite the light
in the details with the light from the Source, so that both are united in
man’s heart and understanding. The more one succeeds in understanding
and internalizing, the more he will see how God’s light reaches even the
furthermost “garments,â€ 52 A term commonly used in Izhbitzer
chasidism (particularly, the writings of the Beit Yaakov ). It refers to those
aspects of reality that conceal the Divine Presence. the places that seem
most distant from Godliness. Even these distant places express the Glory of
God, as He created them for his Glory. It is written in the Sefer HaBahir (v.
“Rav Rahumai’s students asked himâ€): When discussing God, why
do we use the expression, “it ascended in His thought,â€ and not, “it
descended?â€ This is as we say, “one who glimpses the Merkava (the
Chariot of Divine mysteries) first descends, and then ascends.â€ What is,
“ Ma’aseh Merkava,â€ or the study of the secret of God’s conduct
of the creation? It is the ability to see how God created everything for His
glory, even those “garmentsâ€ which appear the furthest away from
Godliness. This relates to the Zohar’s statement (Shemot, 15b): Rabbi
Akiva said to him, what is the meaning of the verse (Shir HaShirim, 7:11),
“I descended to the egoz (nut) garden to see the fruits of the brookâ€?
Why does this verse say, “I descendedâ€? It is just like the way we say,
“he descended to the Merkava.â€ (When our sages describe one who is
involved with Ma’aseh Merkava 53 Or, one who speaking in a prophetic
experience (רוח הקודש) (Rav Moshe Cordevero). they refer to it
as “descending.â€ This Zohar compares the Merkava to a nut in a
number of ways, one of which is that they both have a kelipa (outer shell or
peel). The chariot of Yehezkel was surrounded by the kelipot of the storm
wind, cloud, and fire. 54 Yehezkel described the Divine chariot as being
surrounded by concentric circles. The outer layers correspond to the four
“kelipot,â€ or “forces of evil.â€ Three of them – the storm wind,
cloud, and fire – are pure evil and can not be rehabilitated for the good.
One of them, however, called nogah (or, “brilliant light,â€) has the
capability of being rehabilitated. Within these four circles of kelipah, are holy,
divine entities - the angels. In the center, God Himself resides in His hidden
Glory. The meaning is, when one descends, and sees God’s glory even in
the lowest of places, this it Ma’aseh Merkava. In this there are different
levels. The knowledge one receives the garden of Torah knowledge depends
on his ability to receive. Concerning the knowledge that is beyond man’s
ability to receive, the Talmud says (Chagiga, 13a), “Do not seek that
which is too wondrous for you, and that which is hidden from you do not
investigate. These mysteries are not for you,â€ and other verses that imply
his knowledge of lack.

Chapter 8

Knowing Evil The mystery of faith is the true secret of God’s unity. With
the mystery of faith, one can understand how God runs the world with loving-
kindness, even when one sees the righteous suffering and the wicked
prospering, for the mystery of faith allows us to look beyond the garments of
this world. One of the central, and most controversial, tenets of Izhbitzer
Hasidism is the idea that God’s unity can be found even in its extreme
opposite – in sin and evil itself. Thus, in R. Gershon Henokh’s terms, the
greatest mystery of faith is that God can even be found where He ostensibly
is not. In this chapter, R. Gershon Henokh cites several sources that allude to
this mystery. Understanding this truth was the goal of many great figures in
the past. For instance, the Talmud states that during the reign of King
Solomon, the moon was always full. In this case, the “moonâ€ is a
metaphor for this world, which receives its light from God (like the moon
receives light from the sun). Shlomo desired to reveal God presence in all
aspects of life. Thus, the “full moonâ€ is a metaphor for complete
revelation, without any dark or “diminishedâ€ aspect. Thus, Shlomo
declared in Shir HaShirim: “I descended to the egozâ€ – into the
kelipot or “impure shellsâ€ of negativity – to seek God there, as well.
It is written in the Zohar (Yayehi, 223b): Since Shlomo HaMelech inherited the
moon in its state of completeness, he needed to inherit it in its state of
deficiency. He strove to understand spirits and demons (i.e. the forces of evil)
in order to inherit the moon in all its aspects. For this reason, in the days of
Shlomo HaMelech the moon shone in all its aspects. And in the Tikkunei
Zohar (Tikkun 26, p. 71b): Clearly The Holy One, blessed be He, and His
Shekhina have not changed. Yet from an outside perspective, they do change.
That is to say, (in this world) they are concealed in layers of garments and
shells. This is why Shlomo HaMelech said (Shir HaShirim, 7:11), “I
descended to the egoz 55 Egoz means “nut,â€ in Hebrew. garden.â€ He
had a complete knowledge of the kelipot (impure shells), which gave him a
thorough knowledge of all forms of sorcery. The faithful shepherd 56 The
faithful shepherd, here, is the Messiah. The Zohar also refers to Moshe
Rabeynu as Raya Mehemna which means, “the Faithful Shepherd.â€ One
of the books that is included in the Zohar corpus is also called the “ Raya
Mehemna.â€ will break all of the kelipot, bringing forth the essence which
the shell conceals, meaning the Tetragrammaton (YHVH).â€ And in the
Zohar (Ta’azria, 47b): “And I saw the superiority of wisdom from
folly.â€ (Kohelet, 2:13) From folly itself emerges something of benefit to
wisdom. If it were not for the existence of folly, wisdom and all its extensions
would not be known. We have learned that together with wisdom, it is
incumbent upon man to learn something of folly, for in knowing it, it serves to
benefit his wisdom. In fact, the knowledge of folly or evil is a component of
none other than the mystery of faith. It is written in the Zohar (Bo, 34a): It is
proper for man to know good and to know evil, and to return himself to the
good. 57 Here the Zohar is speaking about King Shlomo, whose great wisdom
certainly allowed him to know the good. But how did he “know evil?â€
Referring to a king, the Torah commands (Devarim, 17:17), “he shall not
have too many wives, and his heart shall not turn away.â€ Yet, of King
Solomon, the verse states: “…â€ The queens of King Solomon
encouraged him to study and practice idolatry. When King Shlomo wrote,
“I descended into the nut garden,â€ he was telling us how he had
become intimately acquainted with the force of evil in the world. This is the
mystery of faith. The more one can find the good hidden in evil, the more he
will understand how, “God created one over against the other.â€
(Kohelet, 7:14) 58 The verse reads, “On a good day, be in the good, and
on a bad day, see that also God made one over against the other.â€ The
Biblical commentor, Rashi, explains: “This is the good and its reward,
versus the evil and its punishment.â€ The commentary Metsudat David
explains, “Know that the evil itself was sent from God. The degree of evil
has a corresponding punishment.â€ In Kabbalistic writings, the verse
generally means that for every force of good, God created a parallel force in
the realm of evil. In view of the quote from the Zohar, Parshat Bo, “seeâ€
could mean to recognize the evil, but realize that “God made one over
against the otherâ€ – that we must choose the good in response. Hasidic
teachings take an even further, unified approach. They seek to find the good
within the evil itself. This is the Baal Shem Tov’s idea that evil actually
provides a setting, or “throne,â€ for the good (רע כס×
לטוב). For without a knowledge of evil, it would be impossible to
recognize the good. Thus, evil actually plays a role in revealing God’s
goodness, and is thus a part of the Divine unity itself. “See that also God
made one over against the other,â€ would mean to see the good within the
evil itself. This is as it said in the Zohar (Shemot, 15b): Rabbi Akiva said, why
did Shlomo HaMelech say, ‘I descended to the egoz garden.’? This is
just as we say, “he descended to the Merkava (Divine chariot).’ Rabbi
Akiva asked, what does the dirt that is found in the shell of the egoz
represent?â€
And the Zohar answers (Pekudei, 233b): “Just as the nut has a shell which
surrounds the fruit (the inner essence), so it is with everything possessing
kedusha, where the kedusha is inside and the force of evil surrounds from the
outside.â€

Chapter 9

The Difference Between Yeshayahu and Yehezkel Yehezkel’s vision of the

chariot was one of several, similar prophetic visions, recorded in Scripture;
the others being Yeshayahu’s vision of God sitting upon a throne
(Yeshayahu 1), and Eliyahu’s encounter with God’s “still, small
voiceâ€ that followed a vision of a storm wind, cloud, and fire (I Kings 19). Of
all of them, Yehezkel’s vision is the most detailed. R. Gershon Henokh
explains this to have been due to the needs of his time. The First Temple had
just been destroyed, and the Jewish people were going into exile as slaves. At
that moment, God suspended the decree that prophecy could only occur
within the land of Israel, and allowed Yehezekel to reveal to them the
meaning of suffering. Yehezkel’s vision of the Merkava – that is, the
revelation of God upon earth – would provide support for Israel in the
Diaspora, and grant them the faith that God was with them even in all the
hardships they were sure to encounter. 59 The vision of the Merkava, and the
mystery of faith, were not only relevant to the generation of the exile. The
idea will be discussed in greater depth at the end of the book, when R.
Gershon Henokh describes how the soul accepts upon itself all trials and
hardships it will face upon entering the world, since it knows that the Divine
is greatly elevated through the suffering of the souls of Israel.
It is written in the Zohar (Shemot, 2b): We must ask, if Yehezkel was a faithful
prophet, then why did he reveal all that he saw in his prophetic vision? If the
king invites someone into his private chamber, is it proper for that person to
divulge all he saw there to the press? Yet it is clear that Yehezkel was a
faithful prophet. He had permission from God to reveal all that he did.
Furthermore, everything he revealed was necessary. The Zohar concludes
that all that Yehezkel revealed was necessary for the people of Israel to know
in order to survive the ensuing exile. They were accustomed to great delights
while living in the land of Israel, and the Babylonian exile was going to be
harsh. Therefore they needed to receive the knowledge of Ma’aseh
Merkava dressed in this form, as the Gemara says (Hagiga, 13b),
“Yeshayahu was like a townsman who saw the king, while Yehezkel was
like a country person who saw the king.â€
How would the knowledge of Ma’aseh Merkava help the Jews to survive in
exile? Yehezkel saw how the furthermost garments and most external and
distant realms are also concealing God’s light and are under God’s
providence. 60 Yehezkel was the only prophet besides Moshe to receive
prophecy outside of the land of Israel. Because of the incredible suffering of
the Babylonian exiles, it was crucial to reveal to them these awesome
mysteries, in order for them to find meaning in their pain. This is the essence
of Ma’aseh Merkava, as explained above. It is hinted to in Yehezkel’s
vision of “a storm wind coming from the north, a great cloud, a burning
fire, and the light of nogah surrounding it.â€ Though these are the kelipot,
he taught us that God conducts the world through them, as wellas it says
(Tehillim, 148:8), “the storm wind performs God’s word.â€
Of the storm wind, the Zohar says (Pinchas, 127b), “This is the wind which
agitates man’s body. Eliyahu managed to subdue the storm wind, as it is
written (Melachim 2, 2:2), “And Eliyahu ascended to heaven in a storm
wind.â€ In the Liqutei Torah of Rabbi Chayyim Vital, on the 38th chapter of
Iyov, he mentions that God showed Iyov how He, may He be blessed, rules
over the serpent, 61 Symbolizing the forces of evil. and how the storm wind
performs His word.
This matter is hinted at in the Zohar (Bamidbar, 118b) on the verse
(Bamidbar, 2:2), “every man shall make his camp by his flag.â€ It says:
Yet it is so, that within the holy supernal tree God sealed them with His seal,
as we have established earlier. It is written (Yehezkel, 1:1), “and the form
of their faces was the face of the man, and the face of the lion to the right,
etc.â€ That is to say, the face of man was included in all four faces on the
chariot. Their faces faced the four directions, each face different from the
others, yet all included the face of man. Mikhael to the right, Gavriel to the
left, Uriel to the front, Rafael to the back, and the Shekhina upon them.
Hinted at in this passage from the Zohar on the Merkava is the entire matter
of Israel’s connection to God, God’s providence through His
management of the world, and the order behind His dispensation of effluence
and life. Eventually it describes how God conducts the world through the
outer garments. There the Zohar concludes (119a): Rabbi Yehuda said,
“with Israel this is certainly so. But why do I also see this among the other
nations?â€ He said to him, “Certainly you spoke well.â€ He opened his
discourse with the verse (Bamidbar, 23:8), “What shall I curse that God
has not cursed? Shall I send my wrath on that which God has not sent His?
â€ “Come and see! The way things are above, so are they below. Above,
there is right and there is left. Below, there is Israel and the nations. Israel
holds onto the right, in the sanctity of the Holy King. The idolatrous nations
hold on to the left, the side of impurity. They are all below, from all the levels
of the left. All levels hold one to each other, until we see that they are all
connected to the head. And wherever the head moves, the tail follows. Why is
this? It is because the tail is holding on to the head. Thus, it is similar with the
idolatrous nations who operate on the side of impurity. … Bilaam used all of
the lower levels. He would look at the lower level, which is the tail, and is
necessarily led by the head. This is why he said, “What can I curse that
God has not cursed?â€ I cannot go against God! The supernal head was not
giving out harsh judgments on those days.â€ … Rabbi Elazar cried and
opened, saying, “Her sound is like that of a snake on the move.â€
(Yirmiyahu, 46:22) For now that Israel is in exile, surely the Shekhina moves
like a snake. When the snake puts his head in the dust, his tail goes up and
bites all that comes before him. It is the same way in the exile. The head is
down in the dust, and the tail rules. Who causes the tail to go up, rule, and
attack? It is the head, bent down below in the dust! Still, who is it that leads
the tail, deciding which way it will go in its travels? The head! Though it is
down in the dust, it leads the movements and wanderings of the tail. This is
why it is said, “Her sound is like that of a snake on the move.â€ …
Rabbi Yitzchak came and kissed his hands, and said, “If I had never
learned anything save the answer to this question, it would be enough! Now I
know how God leads the nations.â€ Here Rabbi Yitzchak understood how
God conducts the world through the concealment of His presence, which is all
hinted at in Yehezkel’s chariot. The description of the chariot mentions
the storm wind, the great cloud, and the fire, which are all expressions of the
concealment of God’s light. Yet none of these are mentioned in
Yeshayahu’s vision of the chariot, for it was unnecessary at the time, as
we explained above. One who understands allusions will realize why Yehezkel
was compelled to reveal matters that Yeshayahu was not. The only things
that the Torah reveals are matters which man needs to know in order to serve
God, and to strengthen his trust and faith in God. 62 In summary, the
mystery of faith is simple simple to express in words, yet difficult to obtain
and live by. It means knowing that God’s judgment is really a vehicle for
His mercy, in that it furthers His desire to bestow, and His overall plan for
creation. God wisdom understands and decrees the ultimate good for His
creation. The secret of the Merkava is the ability to see God’s light even
in the outermost “garmentsâ€ of creation, and in the realms furthest
away from Divinity. In this way, the two mysteries – of faith and the
Merkava – go hand in hand. The real secret is that the Divine Chariot is not
some vision in the sky only beheld by a biblical prophet. The Chariot is in the
world around us, both in times of redemption, and in exile. While this may not
make the suffering any easier to bear on a day to day basis, it does mean
that if a person looks upon the world with enlightened eyes – with the
mystery of faith and the Merkava – he can, at least, find overall meaning in
his suffering. This consciousness, passed from generation to generation,
witnessed in the visions of the prophets and guarded in the wisdom of the
sages. The transmission of sod – the Torah’s mystical dimension – is
the subject of the next several chapters of this work.

Chapter 10

The Transmission of the Sod through the Time of the Prophets and up to Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochai After discussing the centrality of knowledge in religious life
and the mystery of faith, the author now turns to the history and means by
which this knowledge was transmitted through the generations. At first,
esoteric and exoteric knowledge were taught together. However, as time
passed, as the holiness and wisdom of the generations declined, the people
were less able and less fit to receive the secrets of the Torah. This also
accounts for differences in the nature of prophetic revelation, as well as
discrepancies between scriptural passages of similar nature. By the era of the
Talmud, the Sages chose to conceal the deepest secrets of Torah in stories
and parables, rather than teach them outright.
At the time when the Torah was given to Israel, the pshat (simple meaning)
and the sod (secret) were given together. Each person understood the pshat
and the sod according to his particular level. This is as it is written in the
Zohar (Yitro, 83b): All of the various meanings, secrets, mysteries, decrees,
and punishments, were all given as an inheritance to all of Israel. This is
learned from the words preceding the Ten Commandments (Shemot 20:1),
“and God spoke all of these words,â€ (meaning the pshat and the sod,
for the specific purpose,) “ to say â€ (meaning in order to be said and
given as an inheritance to all of Israel). The knowledge of the Torah increased
in the generation of the desert, for we call this generation the, “ dor
de’ah â€ meaning, the generation of knowledge, or the generation of
the consciousness of the Torah. With the death of Moshe Rabeynu, the light of
the written Torah receded, as it is written in the Zohar (Terumah, 156a),
“At the time Moshe died, the sun was darkened in the midst of the day,
and the written Torah, which is the aspaclaria d’meira (illuminating
mirror), 63 ×ספקלרי× דמ×ירה – “A clear lensâ€
means a perfectly lucid source of illumination, a level of clarity unique to the
prophecy of Moshe Rabeynu, as the verse says (Shemot 33:11): “And God
spoke to Moshe face to face.â€ This is contrasted with the
×ספקלרי× ד××™× ×” מ×ירה – an unclear lens, or
imperfect source of illumination, which is the level of all subsequent prophets,
who received their prophecies in visions and dreams, and expressed them
using metaphors. Nor were they consciously aware of their own prophecy, as
was Moshe. was sealed and locked.â€ The sanctity of the prophets is inferior
to the sanctity of the Torah. This was the beginning of the illumination of the
Torah She’ba’al Peh (oral tradition). The Torah She’ba’al Peh is
compared to the moon which receives its light from the sun. As long as the
sun is shining, we do not see the light of the moon. When the sun sets, then
the light of the moon is revealed. The prophets illuminated the light of the
Torah She’ba’al Peh. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Kedoshim,
82b): There is a difference between receiving from one’s master, and
receiving from the messenger of one’s master. What is the difference? It
is written in the beginning of the Pirkei Avot, “Moshe received the Torah at
mount Sinai and delivered it over to Yehoshua.â€ He received it, and then
afterwards, transmitted it to everyone. When one receives from another, it is
like the reception of the moon from the sun. The light of the moon is entirely
a received illumination of the light of the sun.

We find in the progression of generations, where there is a synaptic linkage

from the one who bestows knowledge to the one who receives, that each
generation is of a lesser stature than the former. This is as it is said in the
Gemara (Shabbat, 112b), “If the earlier generations are the sons of
angels, then we are the sons of men. And if the earlier generations are the
sons of men, then we are as donkeys, but not like the donkey of Rabbi
Pinchas ben Yair or the donkey of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa!â€ 64 The donkey
of Rav Pinchas ben Yair would not eat fodder that was not properly tithed. It
was the same way with the chain of reception from Yehoshua to the elders,
from the elders to the prophets, from the prophets to the rishonim, 65 Early
generation of scholars, from roughly 1000 CE to 1500. and from the rishonim
to the aharonim. 66 Later generations of scholars of the past 500 years.
There was a similar reduction in quality with the law court of David HaMelech,
who included within him the sanctity of the prophets and the sanctity of the
writings. That is to say, that even though the Sefer Tehillim is included in the
writings, which have a lesser sanctity than the prophets, still, David HaMelech
is included in the category of prophets. His words are on the level of
prophecy. This is as is mentioned in Shmuel 2 (chapter 23), “These are the
last words of David.â€

The shira (poetry) written in Shmuel 2 (ch. 23), a book of the Prophets, is
different from the same poem as it appears in Sefer Tehillim (ch. 18), because
Sefer Tehillim possesses the sanctity of the Writings. 67 For example, Shmuel,
verse 51 reads, “מיגדול ישועות מלכו - He is
a tower of the king’s salvations.â€ In the book of Psalms, the same verse
reads, “מגדיל ישועות מלכו – He magnifies
the king’s salvations.â€ So too do we find differences in the words of
David and Shlomo as they appear in the books of Shmuel and Melachim, and
as they appear in Divrei HaYamim (Writings). This is because there is a
difference in the sanctity of the prophets and the sanctity of the writings. It is
said in the Zohar (Vayehi, 215b): “Whenever David HaMelech did not
speak from under the wings of the Shekhina, but rather prophesized of things
to come, it is called zot.â€ 68 As it is written (Devarim 4:44): “And this
– v’zot - is the Torah.â€ The feminine form of the pronoun “thisâ€
- ×–×ת -- implies that the prophetic spirit was initiated from below (through
David’s prayers or meditations). When the masculine form of “thisâ€
is used – זה – it means that the prophecy descended spontaneously
from above. There is a distinction between prophecy and the ruach hakodesh
(prophetic spirit) which was used to compose the sacred writings. It is said in
the Zohar (Terumah, 156a): When David HaMelech died, the moon gathered
in its light, and the Torah SheBaal Peh (oral tradition) gathered in its light.
From that time on, the light of the Torah was hidden. Argument in the
Mishnah and disagreement among the sages became widespread. The brave
of heart were enveloped in confusion.

Thus was the order of the reception of the inner nature of the Torah. The word
Kabbalah means reception, or more precisely, the reception of the penimiut
– inner secret nature – of the words of Torah. This is the way it is said in
the Tikkunei Zohar (Ch. 12, page 58a): When you go to it ( Holekh ) to receive
it, it is called Halakha (the law). When you receive from it ( Mekablah ), it is
called Kabbalah. This is to say, the inner point of Knesset Yisrael (the Divine
presence which dwells with those who guard the Torah) follows this pattern.
Before the light of God’s effluence is received, and exists only under the
covering of garments, it is called Halakha, or the law. The law is the garments
of the words of Torah. When you receive the inner light and understand the
penimiyut, it is called Kabbalah. Kabbalah is more closely related to the
written Torah (the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Writings) than the garments of
the words of Torah (the Oral Torah). Kabbalah comes to explain how the Oral
law is found within the Written Torah. This is why the Zohar introduces an
explanation with the words, ta hazi – “Come and See!â€ whereas the
Talmud introduces an explanation with the words, ta shma – “Come and
Hear!â€ 69 The author draws a distinction between the esoteric dimension
of Torah (the Kabbalah), and the exoteric dimension ( Halakha ). The exoteric
dimension serves as a covering and concealment over the inner dimension. In
other words, under the surface of Judaism’s revealed aspects – the
laws, the Talmud – lies a vast mystical dimension. The Zohar invites the
reader into its discussion of mystical secrets with the words “Come and
see,â€ because seeing represents a direct, non-intellectual grasp of the
material. The Talmud, however (which is the root of Halakha ), begins its
arguments with “Come and hear.â€ This is because hearing is a more
linear way of processing information (one word after another) and requires a
degree of constructive thinking. Accordingly, the Written Torah is actually
closer in nature to esoteric wisdom, since it is a product of a direct revelation
of God to man, and not the result of deductive reasoning, as is the Oral Torah.
All who stood in the line of the tranmission of the Torah aslo received its
esoteric teachings (as is explained in the introduction to Brit Menuha, which
traces the order of transmission of the secrets of Torah, that is, Divine Names,
from Adam HaRishon to Shimon Bar Yohai. Even the Geonim 70 The Torah
Scholars and leaders from soon after the closing of the Talmudic period: 800
CE to 1000 CE. delved deeply into the secrets of God, according to their
wisdom, as is written there). In this way, the order of reception reached the
members of the Great Assembly. 71 The first of whom was Ezra (c. 500 BCE).
The Great Assembly included the last of the Prophets – Haggai Zecharia
Malakhi, and Daniel – and lasted until the time of Shimon HaTsaddik (300-
270 BCE). See introduction to the Mishne Torah of Maimonides. They
understood the knowledge of the mysteries hinted at in the names of God,
and would teach their students the simple meaning together with the secret.
Each one understood the mysteries of the Torah according to his level and
ability. Yet when the spiritual level of the people fell, and they no longer gave
honor to the Torah, when sin became widespread (as mentioned in Kiddushin
71a), the sages found it necessary to conceal the secrets of the Torah, as is
mentioned there. We find it recorded in the Zohar (Lech L’cha, 86b) that
Rabbi Abba once revealed one of the secrets of the Torah. Rabbi Shimon said
to him: I decree that the one you revealed this secret to will be exiled
together with this teaching among our fellowship in Babylon. Rabbi Shimon
said to him, God forbid that they are to be punished! Yet since the mysteries
are so greatly revealed among us, thus he should be exiled among our
fellowship, and learn their ways, and the secrets shall be concealed among
us. In this way, the mysteries will be revealed only among us, as God has
agreed. This means that in Babylon, they knew how to hide the mysteries in
garments, as the Zohar states (Vayehi, 224b): Rabbi Shimon said, “When I
am among our fellowship in Babylon, they all gather around me, and learn
these things openly. After the mysteries are revealed, they take them and
lock them in an iron box, concealed from all sides.â€ This is the nature of
the Babylonian Talmud. It is said in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 24a), “It is
written in the scroll of Eicha (3:6), ‘He has placed me in darkness like the
eternally dead.’ This is the Babylonian Talmud.â€ For in Babylon, the
Torah was hidden beneath garments. They seem on the outside like simple
matters, simple garments, yet they are all in order to hide the mysteries of
the Torah in garments of this world. Then the mysteries were transmitted only
to the masters of sod (secret).

Chapter 11

The Transmission of the Mystery through Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai In the
following two chapters, R. Gershon Henokh discusses the origins of Kabbalah,
as we know it, and the change that occurred in the transmission of the
Torah’s secrets. According to the Zohar, R. Shimon perception of God was
akin to Moshe Rabbenu; that is, he perceived the Divine through a clear lens.
Thus, the Zohar (traditionally ascribed to R. Shimon) has the status of the
Torah itself, and not the later books of the prophets, which were written
metaphorically. To prove this point, the author discusses the use of the word
shamayim – “heavenâ€ – as a valid appellate for God. Whereas
certain Talmudic sages allowed its use, R. Shimon forbid it. To one on the level
of Moshe, who perceives through a clear lens, there is no place for metaphors
in describing the Divine – only Divine Names, which themselves were
revealed in the Torah.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was the unique figure who attained the knowledge
of all the mysteries of the Torah. He was on such a level that Eliyahu HaNavi
visited him during his years of hiding in the cave, and revealed to him the
secret knowledge. This is recorded in the Zohar Hadash (Ki Tavo, 65a) and the
introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar. The Zohar (Ahari Mot, 61a) says that he
merited the level of Moshe Rabeynu, of whom it is written, “I will speak to
him mouth to mouth, I appear to him in clear prophecy and not in puzzling
visions.â€ Anyone who ascends to the level of knowing the secrets of the
Torah does so only through the secrets revealed by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai.
As it is written in the Zohar (ibid.): Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai governs in the
realm of wisdom over all mankind. Anyone who goes up to his level does so
only to reconcile with his knowledge. This passage in the Zohar concludes
(Ahari Mot, 61a): From the day the world was created, Rabbi Shimon was
standing ready before the Holy One, Blessed be He. God would call him by
name. The nature of the revelation of Torah that was revealed to Rabbi
Shimon was on the level of Torah SheBichtav (The Written Torah). And there is
nothing in the world that exists outside of the Torah, for all comes from the
Torah. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Ha’azinu, 187a): Rabbi Yehuda
said, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is called, “Shamayim â€ (Heaven).
Since He is called “ Shamayim,â€ when all of the firmaments that are
included in this name join together as one, they are called “ Shamayim
â€ and are called the name of God. What are these firmaments that we
speak of? We are taught that there are seven kinds, such as vilon (veil),
rakiya (firmament), Shehakim (skies), etc. 72 The names of the seven
firmaments are וילון, רקיע, שחקי×, זבול,
מעון, מכון, וערבות. We learned this in the aggatada of
Rabbi Hamnuna Saba. The teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna are numerous in this
manner. 73 The Baal HaSulam notes that they speak of physical things as
allusions to higher realities, such as the seven firmaments, which allude to
the seven divine spheres of Zeir Anpin and Malkhut. Rabbi Shimon said that
these teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna contain the following. Over against the
seventy crowns (Sefirot) of the king, we find the seven firmaments and the
seven planets that run and go forth. 74 Or, that orbit. Even though they are
all hidden in the firmament, still they are called by the name of the physical
planets. 75 That is, the names of the physical planets teach about the
spiritual planes. The seven planets are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus,
Mercury, and the Moon. These (seven Sefirot) are used to receive the names
of these seven planets, and this is in order to cover the matter (of the
spiritual planes). This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 47:13), “let them
stand up and save you, O astrologers and star diviners.â€ These names are
only an external covering. We use these names even though they are not in
the way of Torah. Yet the path we take is the path of the Torah. This is as it is
written (Bereshit, 26), “He called them in the names that his father had
called them.â€ We proceed according to the way God speaks. We go with
Him, as it is written (Devarim, 28:9), “You shall go in His ways.â€ Rabbi
Yehuda called God, Shamayim, or Heavens, because the entirety of the
firmaments is called Shamayim. This is a name of God, may He be blessed.
Then Rabbi Yitzhak mentioned the teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna which say
that entire expanse of the cosmos, the hosts of galaxies and the like, all
contain seventy crowns (Sefirot), seven firmaments, the constellations, and
all their servants.

Chapter 12

The Correct Names of God and His Powers In this somewhat lengthy
discussion, the author demonstrates that R. Shimon rejected the use of the
word Shamayim as an appellate for God (and thus, corrected R. Yehuda’s
statement, above). Several instances in which the word does seem to apply
to God are explained and dismissed. Ultimately, only those Names which
reveal the absolute light of God, without even the subtlest materialization,
may be used; for only these reflect the absolutely clear perception of R.
Shimon Bar Yohai.
Though it is true that God runs the world through the medium of the planets
and stars, as we say in the Sabbath prayers, “He gave them power and
strength to exert their rule over the earth,â€ yet still, their names are not
mentioned in the Torah. Therefore, they are not even considered terms (or
metaphors) for God. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Shevuot, 35a),
“If one says, ‘I swear to you on the heavens and the earth,’ then his
vow is disqualified.â€ The Gemara goes on to explain that if one swears in
the name of “The Merciful,â€ or, “The Compassionate,â€ his vow is
valid even though these are names that one may erase without penalty.
Surely he is swearing in the name of God who is called “the Merciful,â€
or, “The Compassionate.â€ It is unlikely that he means anything other
than God who is the source of mercy or compassion. However, when he
swears in the name of the heaven and the earth, he could easily mean the
physical heaven and earth, and not the Creator of heaven and earth. 76 And
thus, his oath is invalid. So to is it written in the Bereshit Rabbah (parsha 1),
“If the first verse in the Torah had been phrased differently and had said,
‘בר×שית בר× ה’ שמי× ו×רץ, In the
beginning God Heaven and Earth created,’ it would have implied that the
heaven and the earth were gods, creating just as God does. 77 The
grammatical function of the direct object ×ת ( et ) is to signify the object of
the verb. The absence of the ×ת creates an ambiguity, where the verse
could mean either, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth,â€ or, “In the beginning God, the Heavens and the Earth,
created.â€ Therefore the verse reads, בר×שית בר× ה’
×ת השמי× ו×ת ×”×רץâ€ – “In the beginning, God
created the Heaven and Earth.â€ It says in the Sefer HaBahir (at the section
which begins, “Rabbi Berachia explained the verse, “take for Me and
offering.â€), “From were do we know that the word ‘Heavens’
signifies God? Shlomo HaMelech said (Melakhim 1, 8:32), ‘and may You, O
Heavens, hear.’ Clearly Shlomo is not asking the physical heavens to hear
his prayer, yet he his praying to God who is called in the name of the
Heavens.â€ It says in the Zohar (Midrash Ne’elam, Bereshit, 11): ‘And
You, O Heavens, hear!’ Sholdn’t the verse say, ‘May You hear from
the heavens’? Rabbi Yohanan said that the verse is implying something
not expressed. There is a spiritual firmament Shamayim (Heavens) is a kind
of half way station that receives the prayers before the Holy One. In the
Zohar, (Ha’azinu 287a) Rabbi Shimon concluded the discussion in this
way: Rabbi Shimon said, ‘I raise my hand in prayer to the Supernal
Holiness, and ask that my words be clear and revealed in the Upper world,
just as they are revealed in my heart. We do not go in the way of other
teachings 78 Pre-Sinaitic teachings discussed sefirot and divine knowledge
using the metaphors of the stars. Yet we learn only from the names revealed
in the Torah, as the transmission of the pre-Sinaitic teachings, though initially
correct, was corrupted and ended up leading to idol worship.. We go in the
ways of the Torah!’ Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘We don’t find anyone with
wisdom greater that David HaMelech or his son Shlomo HaMelech, and these
“other teaching of the ways of Torahâ€ use the crown on these two great
kings (meaning their language). David HaMelech called righteousness
“the moon,â€ for it possessed righteousness. This is as it is written,
“Open for me the gates of Righteousness, I will go there and thank
God.â€ Shlomo HaMelech did this also. The moon was called righteousness,
and these teachings called the sun both “Brit (covenant),â€ and
“Justice.â€ Rabbi Shimon said, ‘For how long will my fellowship use
these words? For us, we go after the Holy One, blessed be He! We know these
things. And we possess knowledge that was not revealed to the generations
before us!’

Rabbi Shimon admits the awesome sanctity of the teachings which preceded
him, such as the Sefer Yetzira, the Sefer haMalbush, and the Sefer of Hanokh.
Rabbi Shimon was expert in them and quoted them many times in the Zohar.
In the Zohar (Pinhas, 217a) Rabbi Shimon mentions the holy covenant called,
“Shemesh (sun).â€ Elsewhere in the Zohar it says (Shemot, 3b), “Sun
and shield (from Tehillim, 84:12) is a holy covenant.â€ So too, the Zohar
calls the attribute of Malkhut (Divine Sovereignty), “Tsedek
(righteousness).â€ “‘He met righteousness wherever he set his
foot,’ (Yeshayahu, 41:2) this is the lower firmament. (Lech Lcha, 86a)â€
See also the Zohar, Parshat Nasso (145b), “The word v’Zot (and this)
is called righteousness.â€ In all of these instances, when the Zohar uses
these expressions for God, it is doing so only in the context of a homily, or to
hint at something. In the early teachings, however, they were expressions for
God. Before the giving of the Torah, God’s names were not yet revealed.
At this time, God would reveal his name according to the level of the
particular generation. This is as it is said (Shemot, Ch. 6), “And I appeared
to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov as ‘E-l Shaddai (the Almighty).’ “
This is because the appearance of Avraham in the world heralded in what our
sages call, “the two thousand years of Torah.â€ Truly, there are many
discourses in the Tikkunei Zohar on why God is called, “Shamayim
(Heavens),â€ and it is learned from this very verse, “And I appeared.â€
Yet in these discourses, no active Godly force is ascribed to the name,
“Shamayim.â€ Notwithstanding, we know that God’s name is hidden
in every force. Yet for something to be called a name of God, meaning a
name which expresses the force of God, the light must be totally revealed
and seen clearly as separate from any created force. That is to say, God’s
name represents a direct expression flowing from God’s essence.
Anything that hides God’s light, and could be considered as a separate
force cannot be termed as a Godly force or a name of God. 79 This chapter is
essentially clarifying the difference between Monotheism and idolatry. Idolary
is defined as identifying any created force as the source of power or object of
veneration. The author taking great care in this passage as a
misunderstanding of verses like, “Your God is a sun and a shield,â€ could
be problematic if not properly understood. This is why the Talmud only
mentions the term, “Shamayim,â€ referring to God in a context where it
does not want, for some reason, to mention God’s name directly. When
the Talmud discusses the transgression of mentioning God’s name in vain,
or for no good reason, it calls it, “mentioning the name of Heaven
(Shamayim) in vain.â€ Here the Talmud does not say God’s name out of
respect. From this, it is well for one to admonish those who are accustomed to
saying, “Heaven help me.â€ In a situation where one is simply
mentioning God, it is fitting to say, “Heaven.â€ Yet it is forbidden to call
God, “the Heavens,â€ in a context where one is evoking God’s force
of power and influence, because the Heavens are not Godly. One could
instead say, “may He be merciful from the Heavens.â€ “From the
Heavens,â€ is referring to God who dwells in the Heavens, and not to the
Heavens themselves. It seems that there is an error in understanding the
above mentioned Zohar where Rabbi Yehuda says that the Holy One, blessed
be He, is called, “The Heavens.â€ Yet it must be clear that when Rabbi
Shimon concludes, “we are not following these early teachings, we are
following the way of the Torah,â€ he was correcting the statement of Rabbi
Yehuda.

Chapter 13

The Angels and the Stars The following chapter builds upon the theme of the
previous two: that R. Shimon saw God through a clear lens, which led him to
receive effluence directly from the Holy One, and not through any
intermediaries. R. Shimon saw and revealed how all the entire creation –
both physical and spiritual – can be found in the Torah, and it is through the
Torah that God effuses all creation with vitality. Knowing this literally elevates
a person above the angels and mazalot – the supernal forces that fix
man’s fate in the world. Then, a person receives goodness and blessing
directly from God.
“ Anan orcha d’oraita naktinan - We are following the way of the
Torah.â€ This is exactly how Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said it. Rabbi Shimon
revealed how all mysteries are within the Torah. God enlightened him to the
knowledge that the Torah contains all Divine names and chambers. The Torah
contains the order of the concatenation of the spiritual worlds. All Sefirot,
holy names, and names of angels are derived from its verses. It is clearly
stated in the Tikunei Zohar (Tikkun 57, page 91b), “every angel has a
verse in the Torah.â€ The mysteries of the pre-Sianitic teachings are not
based on the verses of the Torah, for the Torah had not yet been given. 80
However, all pre-Sinaitic teachings are hinted at in the Torah, as the Torah
includes everything, as will soon be explained. From the days of Rabbi
Shimon, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed the knowledge that it is all in
the Torah. Therefore it is said in the Zohar (Aharai, 61a), “All who aspire to
ascend levels into the realm of mysteries, do so only in order to complete
themselves in the knowledge of Rabbi Shimon.â€ Even that which was
taught in the book of Adam HaRishon was again reviewed and taught to
Moshe in the Torah. Concerning this, it is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 70a),
“Rabbi Shimon said, I raise my hand in prayer 81 Referring to what
Avraham said to the king of Sodom in Bereshit 14:22. to the One who created
the world. Even though our forbears revealed great mysteries in this verse, it
is well for us to delve deeply into the secrets of the book of Adam HaRishon,
for this knowledge found itself in the hidden book of Shlomo HaMelech. This
book reveals the secrets of man’s generations. It is a tree which reveals
the generations of man and bears the fruits which bring them into the world.
This is the book of the knowledge of hidden and profound wisdom, which was
delivered to the physical Adam HaRishon. This same wisdom was given to
Shlomo HaMelech, who recorded it in a book. We have learned that Moshe
has great difficulty learning these matters, until the Shekhina came and
taught it to him … Then Moshe learned this wisdom, and internalized it.â€
From here we see that Adam HaRishon had the book of the knowledge of
mysteries, and God later imparted this knowledge to Moshe. This is hinted at
in Parshat Tetsave (Shemot, 27:20). It is also hinted at in the realms of
Ma’aseh Bereshit (The mystery of Creation) and Ma’aseh Merkava
(The mystery of the Chariot). “And God created man in His image, in the
image of Elo-him,â€ These are two good points – which are male and
female. (Zohar, Nasso, 122b) Just as there is a good spiritual form on the
Tsaddik, which leads him in the proper behavior whereby he merits the world-
to-come, so too is there an evil form on the head of the wicked, which leads
him in his evil behavior, whereby he inherits hell. 82 This “formâ€ (heb.
tselem ) is the medium through which the good or wicked individual receives
his power to act. Come and see! The actions of man are a testament to that
individual’s spiritual form, and is revealed on his face, as it is written
(Yeshayahu, 3:9), ‘the form of their faces witnesses against them.’ The
form of a man’s face reveals the nature of the angel which accompanies
him; whether it is the lion, or the ox, or the eagle, or the man of the chariot of
the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhina. … Or perhaps it is from the
chariot of the four elements of the earth … This is the secret of (Bereshit, 1),
‘Let the earth bring forth particular species of living creatures. 83 The word
for living creature, חיה, is the same as the word for angel. ‘ …
Come and see! Each of the six days of creation had a specific spiritual
countenance 84 Or “Faceâ€ – Partsuf, in Aramaic. which would lead it.
(Zohar, Nasso, 123a) 85 Evidently, Rav Gershon Henokh is quoting this
passage in the Zohar as an example of the Rabbi Shimon’s reception and
revelation of the wisdom of the Book of Adam. The Zohar refined the
knowledge of the book of Adam in a way that could be accessed by later
generations.

So too, all of the heavenly chambers, Sefirot, and names of angels that are
mentioned in the teachings that preceded the giving of the Torah were then
placed and installed in the verses of the Torah. As it is written in the Tikkunei
Zohar (Tikkun 57, page 91b): Every angel has its principle and foundation in
the Sefirot. And every Sefirah has a specific name 86 Such as Keter,
Hokhmah, Binah, and so forth. and formulation of the Tetragrammaton 87
Each Sefirah is expressed by the four letters of God’s name, Yud Hei Vav
Hei, vocalized with a particular vowel. Keter is YHVH with each letter taking a
Kamatz (the “aahâ€ sound). Hokhmah is YHVH vocalized with Patach,
etc. associated with it. And each name has there its principle and foundation.
Understand the following precept. The name of every angel is rooted in a
particular Sefirah, and the name of each angel is based on a corresponding
verse in the Torah. Each one receives from a certain verse in the Torah. It is
through the Torah that God effuses the angel its energy. This is because the
entire creation was done through the Torah. Yet it was only with the giving of
the Torah that it was revealed how everything in the creation is fixed in the
Torah. The Zohar discusses in many places how God looked into the Torah and
created the world. We find that from the very moment that God gave the
Torah to Israel, everything was already included in the Torah. This
necessitates that all the study of Israel needs to be in the Torah of Moshe, as
it is said in the Zohar (Yitro, 86b), “ ‘And this is the Torah that Moshe
placed before the children of Israel,’ we speak of the Torah which Moshe
placed, and not of a Torah which Moshe did not place.â€

This is as it is said in the Zohar (Pinchas, 216b), “Before the giving of the
Torah to Israel, the entire creation was dependant upon the specific
constellation that ruled over it. This was true even concerning children, life,
and sustenance. 88 It is written in the Gemara (Moed Katan, 28b),
“One’s portion in receiving children, life, and sustenance depends not
on merit, but on fate (mazal).â€ But after the Torah was given to Israel, they
were no longer subject to the influence of the stars … For this reason,
whosoever is involved in the study of Torah is free of the influence of the
stars.â€ Before the giving of the Torah, all the effluence of God’s Divine
conduct came into the world through an organized system of cause and
effect. Each level would receive from the level above it, and effuse to the
level below. The final recipient of this concatenation of effluence was man.
Thus man received God’s effluence by way of the stars and
constellations. Whether man received good or the opposite was subject to the
nature and governance of his star. This was the way in which the entire
creation received its effluence. However, when Israel received the Torah, they
were raised above the stars and constellations. This was because they were
now in possession of the Torah, and the world was created through the Torah.
89 The Rashba notes (Teshuvot, 19) that one who observes the Torah is free
from the dominance of the stars, yet one who does not observe the Torah is
subject to the dominance of the stars. This is hinted at in the Zohar (ibid):
“We learn this from Avraham, since his children would later receive the
letter Hei 90 Hei - ה - is the number five. in Avraham’s name, which
represents the Five Books of Moses. This was hinted at even in the creation of
the world, when it was said, ‘these are the generations of the heavens and
the earth as they were created (Be Hi baram) 91 (Bereshit, 2:4) In the word,
as they were created – בהבר×× – the letter Hei is traditionally
written smaller than the normal size. The sages took this as hinting at many
things, among them that God put a condition of the creation of the world that
the Children of Israel would accept the Five Books of Moses., which is the
same letters as the phrase, ‘He created them with the letter Hei (be Hei -
baram). God said to Avraham, since this Hei was added to your name 92 See
Bereshit, 17:5. so will the heavens be placed below you. All of the stars and
constellations are illuminated by the Hei.â€ As it is explained in the Midrash
Rabbah (Lech, 44), “and He brought him outside and said, ‘look
heavenward ‘. (Bereshit, 15:5) This means the God raised Avraham above
the dome of the firmament so that all the goodness he receives will come
directly from God.â€

Chapter 14

The Sod Goes Underground – The Transmission after the passing of Rabbi
Shimon Despite the supreme level reached by R. Shimon, which he sought to
convey through the teachings of the Zohar, with his parting, the depths of his
wisdom was hidden. Albeit there were “masters of mysteriesâ€ in every
generation, they concealed their knowledge and shared it only with great
trepidation. The author mentions several sages, and historical periods, in
which the Torah’s esoteric teachings were far more concealed than
revealed.
From the moment Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai passed on, the wellsprings of
wisdom were closed. As it says in the Zohar (Vayehi, 217a), “From the
death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, wisdom departed from the land.â€ It was
even known during the Rashbâ€i’s 93 RaShBI is the common acronym
for Rabbi Shimon Bar Yokhai. life that the wellsprings of wisdom would close
from the time of his passing. As it says (Terumah, 149a), “In the
generation in which Rabbi Shimon lived, God’s desired to reveal the
hidden knowledge of the Torah through him … Woe to the generation in
which he departs! The wise will be few, and wisdom will be forgotten from the
land.â€ Elsewhere in the Zohar it is stated (Vayakhel, 201a): “Woe is the
generation when the lower light departs and joins the upper light!â€ This is
said in several places in the Zohar. So too do we find several statements in
the Gemara telling us that the mysteries are hidden among the select few of
the generation. Granted that all of the sages of the Gemara possessed
knowledge of the mysteries of the Torah, yet each one knew according to his
own level. It is said in the Gemara (Hagiga, 13a), “Rabbi Ami said, the
secrets of the Torah are only imparted to an individual who possesses five
qualities, ‘The captain of the fifty, the honorable man, the counselor, the
cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.’ (Yeshayahu, 3:3)â€ We find
that the masters of the Talmud would teach the Torah’s mysteries only
with great trepidation. On this same page of Gemara it the following story is
related: “Rabbi Yohanan said to Rabbi Elazar, ‘come and I will teach you
the mysteries of the Divine chariot.’ Rabbi Elazar replied, ‘I am not yet
old enough’ 94 To learn the mysteries of the Torah one’s mind must
be settled, fully matured. When he felt he was ready, Rabbi Yohanan had
already passed away. Later, Rabbi Assi said to Rabbi Elazar, ‘come and I
will teach you the mysteries of the Divine chariot.’ He replied, ‘If I had
been worthy, I would have learned this from your master Rabbi Yohanan!’
“ Truly, it was said of Rabbi Elazar that he was love-sick for the knowledge
of the Torah! For one the Gemara (Eruvin, 54b) honors with the title, “
Mara D’Ara D’Yisrael – the master of the land of Israel,â€ it is
inconceivable that he did not know the secrets of the Torah. Yet there are
different levels in the knowledge of the mysteries. As it is said in the Zohar
(Bo, 34b): Rabbi Shimon said, “there are many in our fellowship who know
Ma’aseh Bereshit, the mysteries of creation. Yet there are very few who
understand the hints of the mystery of the Tanin HaGadol – the great Sea
Creature.â€ 95 See Bereshit, 1:21. Variously classified as whales, dragons,
or the Leviathan and its mate. It is mentioned in the Pri Etz Hayyim
(Sha’ar Kriyat Shema) that the Arizal wanted to explain to his students
the mystery of the recitation of the Shema according to the mystery of the
Kav HaMidda (the measuring line), 96 See Zohar, Parshat Pekudei, 233a. The
“measuring lineâ€ refers to the way God measures His infinite effluence
into the finite vessels of creation. yet they were not worthy to receive this
knowledge from him. The Zohar Hadash (Parshat Va’etchanan) lays down
the fundamental that there are various “facesâ€ of interpretation in the
mysteries of the Torah. With the passage of time until the end of the Talmudic
era, the knowledge of the mysteries declined, until at the end it was reserved
for the select few of the generation and sealed with an iron seal.

With the sealing of the Talmud, the knowledge was left in the hands of the
select few among the Savorayim and Geonim, as we find in their writings. We
find the Geonim expounding on some of the holy names, 97 The seventy-two
letter name, and the forty-two letter name. and we have the Sefer haIyyun of
Rav Hamai Gaon. Still, their knowledge remained quite hidden. Many of the
Geonim taught the subject of inquiring into the knowledge of the Divine, yet
they were careful to hide the depth of their intentions in the sublime style of
their writing. Among them there must have been some who knew the secrets
of the Torah. Yet still, their knowledge was concealed within their enigmatic
style. This period also produced new books on Kabbalah which were all
written in a very hidden way. Among them, the commentaries on the Sefer
Yetsira of the R’i Albegaloni and the Ra’avad, the Sefer HaKanei. The
generations which followed produced books that possessed an authentic
tradition of the mysteries, yet still, they hid their knowledge in the language
of philosophy. They are reliable in the places where they had an authentic
tradition, yet in places where their tradition was not authentic, their words
are mere stammering.

Chapter 15

Maimonides – a Spy in the Brothel of the Philosophers With the passing of
R. Shimon Bar Yohai, the esoteric dimension of Torah went underground,
leading the Sages of subsequent generations to convey their knowledge in
riddles and parables. Even subsequent Kabbalistic texts were written
enigmatically. Yet, within these texts lies a genuine esoteric tradition. As if to
prove his words, R. Gershon Henokh devotes the next eight chapters to a
discussion of esoteric truths found in the writings of Maimonides, and shows
how they correspond to teachings in the Zohar. His claim is that Maimonides
was heir to a true (though perhaps partial) mystical tradition, and dressed it
in the garments of Aristotelian philosophy for the sake of the intelligencia of
his time, who were steeped in Greek and Arab medieval philosophy.
According to R. Gershon Henokh, those who imagine Maimonides to have
been a strict rationalist and anti-mystic have only a superficial understanding
of his philosophy; 98 R. Gershon Henokh may well have had in mind the
nineteenth century Maskilim – Jewish “enlightened thinkers,â€ who
were trying to claim Maimonides as one of their own, and as a prime of
example of one who considered Kabbalah an irrational and irrelevant path.
Thus, the following chapters are a battle in the messianic wars fought with
the goal of destroying these erroneous notions, and preserving the path of
Moshe and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. for Maimonides himself writes that he
intentionally hid and scattered the truth piecemeal throughout his writings,
and that one needs a comprehensive view of the texts in order to discern his
true intentions – something that R. Gershon Henokh seeks to convey to the
reader in the following chapters.
Truly, the source of Kabbalah is a complete inquiry into the nature of the
Divine, in all its facets. It is a thoroughly refined study, like finely sifted flour.
Kabbalah comes from the source of all, and if one has knowledge of the
source, he can know of all that branches out from it. For the most part, in
philosophy, the extraneous is prevalent over the essential. This is because
philosophy uses empirical proofs and comparisons to reach conclusions on
the nature of the transcendent. Yet philosophers cannot draw conclusions
other than on what they perceive. Still, they want to follow the way back from
the effect to the cause. 99 Hence they are missing many elements
concerning the true nature of the metaphysical, which only the Torah can
provide us, being a Divinely revealed document. Therefore, most philosophy
is a muddle. It is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 69b), “In a lot of chaff you
find one grain of wheat.â€ Indeed, when the true tradition of the hidden
knowledge of the Torah is expressed in the language of philosophy, its
language is at a loss to explain it with clarity. Most of such explanations lack
the source of the intention simply because the language of philosophy is not
sufficient to convey its content. Philosophy is verbose, using a great deal of
explanation to convey what the Kabbalah does in a few words. This would
include passages in the Guide to the Perplexed that dwell at great length to
explain the doctrine of eschewing the physical or concerning the names of
God, which the Zohar manages to explain in a few concise words.

It is evident from the Rambam’s work, the Guide for the Perplexed, that
he had received a Kabbalistic tradition from the prophets and the sages of
the Talmud. 100 The author is asserting here that the Rambam knew
Kabbalah. I will not explain here if his tradition was complete or partial, yet it
is clear from how the Rambam hints at various matters that his tradition was
authoritative. Most of his opponents were aware of this, and could not
outright reject his philosophical writings, for he himself wrote (in his letters),
“a thousand will be lost where one will come to the true meaning.â€
Because of this, many who opposed the Guide still studied it for the sake of
that which they accepted.

Below I will present several details in the writings of the Rambam which prove
that he had received an authoritative tradition. The Rambam wrote the Guide
in the language of philosophers, and quoted the opinion of the classical
philosophers. Several sages after the Rambam, such as the Akeidat Yitzchak
and Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel, followed suit. They did not do this in order to
somehow arrive at a proof of the existence of God as a result of their
philosophical analysis, for their faith in God was far more central to them
than their discursive investigation. Their goal was only to instruct the
perplexed in the proper understanding of the Torah, and they quoted the
philosophers in order to serve this goal. If they had not included the opinions
of the philosophers, then the intelligencia of their day would not have found
their books sufficiently interesting to spend time reading. In their day, the
vision of consciousness was greatly hidden. Anyone who wanted to
investigate and understand matters of faith, spirituality, and providence,
would turn to works of philosophy. This is noted in the Responsa of the
RaShbâ€A (siman 414), who was compelled to make a legal decree
forbidding the study of secular philosophy. There the RaShbâ€A tells us that
the “searchingâ€ public would put their trust in Aristotle the way one
trusts his local baker. Therefore, The Rambam and his spiritual descendants
quoted the philosophers as a kind of “baitâ€ to lure the reader in, only to
disprove their theories and then enlighten them to the understanding of
Torah. 101 Cf, the story of Rebbe Nachman, “the Master of Prayer.â€

Indeed we find an authoritative tradition in their words. We have seen how

they are infuriated over the Guide as it has erred in matters of Divine
providence. They claim his words are meaningless in that he does not believe
that God watches over all details of creation, but rather has a general
providence over the creation as a whole. The source of their erroneous
understanding is their hasty reading of the Rambam. In their intellectual
arrogance they would see one passage, and then smugly proclaimed it a focal
point for their attack. Yet they took no notice of the letter that the Rambam
wrote to his student Rav Yosef Shatz ben Rav Yehuda Ibn ‘Aqnin, where the
Rambam states that the Guide is made up of several different matters, and
can not be understood from a reading of just one of them. Only when you
study a number of different passages can you then put them together and
understand the meaning. We see this in chapter 73 of the first section of the
Guide, sixth introduction, where he disproves the notion of those who say
that throughout the entire creation and Divine governance thereof, that
substance exists, and God continually creates, destroys, and recreates
accidents. Similarly he confronts the belief of the Mu’tazilah that there is
no natural existing force of any other agency (but that everything is being
newly created at all times.). The Rambam disproves such assertions. Truly,
from God’s point of view, He constantly renews the work of creation at all
times. Yet concerning the ability God gave man to perceive and understand
the creation, here He created definite laws and durations which are
immutable. Yet from God’s point of view, both existing forces in nature
and the constant renewal of accidents are actually one and the same. That is
to say, God’s will for fixed natural laws and His will in the constant
renewal of creation are all clearly revealed before Him.

Chapter 16

Maimonides and the Zohar on Providence– Great Souls think Alike One of
the central teachings of the Baal Shem Tov – and by inference, of all Jewish
esoteric thought – is the idea that God’s providence extends to the
smallest details of creation. A leaf does not fall in the forest that is not under
God’s complete will and control. However, on the face of it, this was not
the position of Maimonides, who seemed to claim that God ran the natural
world with a general, overall providence. God did not oversee the life and
death of creatures in the natural world. Divine providence only applies to
human beings, who are endowed with intellect, and to the degree that a
human being develops his intellect, he merits receiving a greater portion of
Divine providence. In the following section, R. Gershon Henokh tries to
reconcile the two approaches: he cites passages from the Zohar that also
state that God’s providence is greater upon a person who clings to Him
spiritually. At the same time, for the sake of this person, God oversees even
the smallest details of creation.
We need not dwell at length on this subject in order to show that the
Rambam’s opponents did not understand his intentions. In the third
section of the Guide (Ch. 17) he provides the five prevailing views on the
subject of Divine providence. The fifth is the view of the Torah. There he says
that he does not believe that a leaf falls from a tree under the watch of
God’s providence, or that when the spider catches a fly in its web it is a
result of the Divine decree. When these statements are read in haste it
seems that the Rambam does not believe in individual Divine providence. Yet
in that which he says after these statements the Rambam provides us with a
hint at the nature of Divine providence. There he continues, “In my
opinion, and according to what I see, Divine providence is drawn after Divine
effluence, and the same beings that are benefited to the latter so as to
become intellectual, and to comprehend things comprehensible to rational
beings, are also under the control of Divine providence, which examines all
their deeds in order to reward or punish them.â€ 102 This statement is from
M. Friedlander’s translation of the Guide. In these words he hints at his
conclusions in Chapter 52 of the third section, where he reveals his true views
on the subject of Divine providence. There he writes, “I have arrived at an
understanding of Divine providence that will remove all doubts concerning
the subject, and reveal the Godly secrets. This is as we have explained in the
Chapters on Divine providence (mentioned above), that God’s meets out
His providence according to the intellectual level of the individual. For one
who possesses a perfect understanding and does not remove his
consciousness from God, God’s providence will be with him continually.
The man of perfect understanding who occasionally turns his mind away from
God, will experience God’s providence only when his mind is
concentrated on God. Yet when he is occupied with other things, the
providence will depart from him. Yet it will not depart from him in the same
way as one who has no intellectual ability to contemplate God whatsoever. It
will only be decreased from the intensity of the providence he had previously
attained when he was actively concentrating on God.â€ In this way he
explains the entire subject. The Rambam’s words are suited to the words
of the Zohar (Vayeira, 103b): “Yet certainly, ‘her husband is known in
the gates.’ (Mishlei 31:23) ‘Her husband,’ is the Holy One, blessed
be He. He is ‘known’ and connected to every one according to how
much a person estimates God in his heart. (The word for ‘gate –
sha’ar ’ is the same letters as the word for estimation – sha’er.)
God is known in a man’s heart in direct correspondence to how much he
cleaves himself to God in the spirit of wisdom.â€ This will be explained later
in our introduction. There it will be explained that everything happens
according to Divine providence only based on the extent to which one
believes in and serves God, and this includes the leaf which falls from the
tree. The Rambam himself expresses this view in his introduction to the
Mishnah (Seder Zera’im, part six). There he describes a man who pays
some builders to build a stone wall on a certain piece of land that will last
many years. He knows, of course, that if the same foundation and wall were
to be made of straw, it would not last very long. Is there any nonsense
greater than this (building something that will not last)? … He commands his
builders to make him a beautiful palace, and to plant a substantial vineyard
beside it. … Later, in the end of days, long after the man had died and his
palace left empty, a righteous man passed by during a storm, and took
refuge in the building, whereby saving his life. Another time, another man
passed by the vineyard and prepared a medicine from the wine to save the
life of another honest and whole individual. … The point is, the whole
purpose of this building lasting so many years, with God’s Providence
watching over it all the while, was for the benefit of God’s beloved friend
in years to come. So too, the whole purpose of God directing His providence
over the vineyard was for the specific purpose of saving the honest fellow
when the time would come.â€ In this way, it is written in the Gemara (Avoda
Zara, 40b), “Rabbi suffered from gastroenteritis. He then found a flask of
apple wine aged seventy years in the deep delved earth. He drank it and
recovered. Whereupon he exclaimed, ‘Blessed is God who entrusts his
world to watchers!’ “God’s Providence was upon this wine from
the moment it the apple tree sprouted, and through the entire span of its
preparation and aging. It was God’s Providence that its owners did not
drink it all those years, considering that after seventy years it was no longer
in the possession of its original owners. It was all a result of God’s
individual providence.

Truly, from God’s point of view, everything in His creation exists under
God’s individual providence. It is only from the point of view of the
creation where the nature of God’s providence corresponds to the quality
of the vessel of reception. Yet from God’s point of view there is no
difference. As the Rambam explains in the Guide (Part Three, Ch. 17),
“Even according to this view, I am not obliged to ask why God’s
providence extends to humans and not to animals. One who has this question
must ask himself why God gave the intellect to man and not to other
animals? The answer must be, because God wanted it this way, or because it
was thus decided according to God’s blessed wisdom. These are the
answers to his question. I do not believe that anything is hidden from God, or
that God has any weakness 103 Weakness, meaning that there would be any
limitation on God’s providence where He could not watch over any
element of His creation.. Yet I do believe that God’s providence is in
accordance with the level of intellect, and cleaves to such an intellect.â€
The idea that for the individual who has achieved spiritual wholeness, yet at
times turns his mind away from God, the Divine providence will only be upon
him when he concentrates on God, is also found written in the Zohar
(Shemot, 17b): Once Rabbi Yossi was quietly musing over worldly matters
[instead of studying Torah]. With him was Rabbi Aha, who was contemplating
the Torah. Suddenly Rabbi Yossi saw a dangerous snake running after him.
104 Not a physical snake, but a spiritual force coming to punish him. As Rabbi
Yossei possessed a high level of sanctity, God was more exacting with him for
turning his mind away from the Torah. He said to Rabbi Aha, “Did you see
that big snake that was running after me?â€ Rabbi Aha said, “I didn’t
see it.â€ Rabbi Yossi bolted, the snake running after him. He fell, and when
he got up blood was dripping from his nose. He heard that they were saying
(Amos, 3:2), “Only you have I known among all the families of the earth,
and therefore I will be exacting with you for your sins.â€ Rabbi Yossi said,
“If I was punished in this way for because of one moment, imagine the
punishment for those who give up completely!â€ Rabbi Yossi opened and
with the verses, “For God has blessed you in all the work of your hands,
He knows how you went into the great wilderness these forty years, God has
been with you all the while, you have lacked nothing. (Devarim, 2:7)â€
“He leads you into the terrible wilderness, a place of venomous snakes
and scorpions…â€ He explained, “Why does the verse say,
‘venomous snakes’? This was to exact punishment from Israel for any
time that they separate from the Tree of Life, as it is written (Devarim, 30:20),
‘For (the Torah) is your very life and the length of your days.’ “

Chapter 17

The Kabbalah of Maimonides – Taamei HaMitzvot (1) After demonstrating

that the Rambam and the Kabbalah are in fact in agreement, as exemplified
by the case of divine providence, the author goes on to defend the
Rambam’s explanation of various commandments, which were accused
by latter scholars as being superficial. Yet, here as well, R. Gershon Henokh
finds great mystical depth in the Rambam’s writings, for, as he stated
earlier, in true Kabbalah, the literal and mystical meaning are always united.
There are those who criticize the Rambam for his commentary on the
Ta’amei HaMitzvot (the meaning of the commandments), for at first
glance it seems to give weak explanations. They dwell at length with such
accusations. Besides that which is known to anyone possessing
understanding, that the Rambam would conceal the depth of his intentions in
the beauty of his language, and the depth of meaning is far more than what it
seems to be in its external form, yet in addition to this, there is nothing
irregular or strange about his words even at their face value. We have a
principle, that all teachings on the Torah and mitzvot are dressed in the
meager garments of this world. Who do we have who is greater than the
RaDbaZ (Rabbi David ben Zimra, 1480-1573), who was both a master of the
Talmud and a tremendous kabbalist, a leader of his generation? And in his
work on the Ta’amei HaMiszvot, he introduces each commandment by
quoting the Rambam’s explanation of its meaning as the basis from which
to begin understanding. Then, for most of the mitzvot, the RaDbaZ explains
the meaning provided by the Rambam according to the true inner meaning in
the Kabbalah. Anyone who possesses understanding will clearly know that
simple revealed meaning and the inner mystery are one, and join together as
one. Anyone who asserts that the inner mystery is something other that the
pshat, 105 פשט - Simple revealed meaning. of him it is said (Bereshit,
49:6), “let my soul not come into their council.â€ Even in a place where
the RaDbaZ differed in his explanation from the Rambam, still he did not
reject the Rambam’s words. Rather, he said that in this place the
Rambam did not say enough, and it must be explained according to the sod.
106 סוד – the secret, or inner mystery. God willing, we will go on to
explain how the simple revealed meaning is itself the inner meaning
according to the mysteries of the Torah.

Among the Rambam’s discussion of Ta’amei HaMitzvot, he provides

the deeper meanings behind all of the commandments performed in the Holy
Temple. However, when he arrives at the table and the Showbreads, he says,
“yet as for the table and the Showbreads that were constantly upon it, to
this day I do not know what meaning to ascribe to it.â€ The RaDbaZ in the
Metsudat David found this surprising. There he asks why the Rambam did not
say that the commandment of the Showbreads is rooted in the source of
Divine effluence which sustains us through the life giving energy in food? This
is further surprising, because on the surface it seems that the Rambam is
content to provide concise meanings for all of the Mitzvot, so why did he not
give such a brief explanation for the Showbreads? The commentaries on the
Rambam did explain meanings for this. That the Rambam refrained to explain
this meaning is itself proof that all his explanations of the Mitzvot are given
according to the mysteries, yet with the table and the Showbreads he wholly
and unashamedly admitted that he did not know the meaning. It is
interesting to note that the Arizal himself, the master Kabbalist of all time,
wrote in his poem for the Friday night Shabbat meal, “God shall reveal to
us the meaning of the twelve loaves of the Showbreads.â€

Chapter 18

The Kabbalah of Maimonides – Ma’aseh Merkava Here, the author

defends the Rambam against another attack – his claim that Yehezkel’s
vision of the Divine chariot was an astronomical description of the heavens.
However, by citing other statements of the Rambam, R. Gershon Henokh
reveals his true understanding, which corresponds to Kabbalistic teachings on
the nature of reality. In this case, the “Workings of the Chariotâ€ is a
description of all reality, from the spiritual to the physical. (See chap. …
above). Furthermore, the Rambam’s depiction of the world as being
composed of coincentric spheres corresponds well with the Arizal’s
teachings of essence, vessels and garments. The Kabbalistic meaning of
several other teachings of the Rambam are also discussed.
There is vociferous opposition to the Rambam’s assertion that
Ma’aseh Merkava, or the mystery of the Divine Chariot as described in the
vision of Yehezkel is no more than the workings of the solar system. Many
angry words of derision were heaped on the Rambam for this statement. One
who reads the Rambam carefully will see that he writes explicitly in the
beginning of the third section of the Guide that it is entirely possible that he
is wrong, and is giving no definitive word on the subject. It could also be that
he didn’t reveal his true intentions. He claims that he is explaining the
Divine Chariot according to what he has learned from Scripture and the
explanations of the sages, as well as his own philosophical principles.
However, if we were to believe that his intention is to say that his explanation
ends with the simple meaning of the verses, this would lead to the
contradictions with the root principles provided by the Rambam. Don Yitzhak
Abarbanel, in his commentary on the Guide (end of the third section), notes
that if we were to say that Yehezkel’s understanding was limited to the
plain meaning of the verses, it would closely resemble the understanding of
the astronomers, so why then were the sages so intent on keeping its
meaning hidden? The Rambam himself warned anyone who understood the
meaning of the Chariot to take pains to keep its meaning hidden, and he
himself published works on astronomy. Furthermore, the Rambam reveals
much in the field of astronomy in his explanation of the sanctification of the
new month, as well as in chapters 8-11 in the second section of the Guide,
where he provides much information about that which he had warned to keep
hidden. Many took the Rambam to task for this, and many other difficulties in
his commentary on the Chariot of Yehezkel.

Indeed, all who sincerely and carefully study the words of the Rambam will
see that the conduct of the world, from the beginning of effluence at the
Source of Life down to the depths in the lowly physical world, are all included
in the workings of the Divine Chariot. The true imprint of the Merkava is
apparent in all of existence. This idea was expressed by the holy Arizal in the
seventh section of the Ez Hayyim ( heichal ABIâ€YA ) in introduction to the
sha’ar tsiyur ha’olamot (gate of the picture of the worlds). He says,
“We now find that this lowly planet earth, which contains people and
animals, and all the vessels of the physical world, is the most external of all
the worlds. The aspect of the “inner direct lightâ€ ( ohr yosher pnimi ).
107 Visualize the universe (including all the spiritual worlds) a series of
concentric circles, with a radial line cutting through them. (See next
footnote.) The innermost point would be the physical world, and each circle
representing a higher spiritual realm, with the Eyn Sof – the God’s
infinite light – surrounding them all. Afterwards, the earth is surrounded by
the heavens and the firmament (the “cosmosâ€), which is the aspect of
the ohr makif d’yosher d’asiya – the surrounding direct light of the
physical world. This level is surrounded by different, spiritual
“heavens,â€ which are the ohr makif iggulei d’asiya, 108 Iggulim –
ten Sefirot in concentric circles on the level of nefesh (the lowest level of
soul), representing general providence. Yosher – ten Sefirot divided into
three columns, right, left, and middle, or upper, middle and lower triads – is
the level of ruach, a higher level of soul, representing individual providence.
The Lurianic cosmology describes the entire existence is an alternation of
levels of Iggulim and Yosher. However, when the Zohar discusses sefirot, or
how God sends his power down and communicates with mankind, it mostly
refers to the three column “humanâ€ arrangement of the ten sefirot
called, “ yosher.â€ Simply put, the author regards the Rambam’s
understanding of the Divine Charriot and Arizal’s order and flow of Divine
effluence as one in the same. which translates as the encompassing light of
the iggulim (“concentric circle arangementâ€) of the physical universe.
(And the Infinite Eyn Sof surrounds everything.)â€ (This was found earlier in
the Tikkunei Zohar (introduction, page 3b), “and above all, He illuminates
in the ten Sefirot of the word of emanation ( atzilut ), and (then, after in) the
ten Sefirot of the world of creation ( beriyah ), and in the ten groups of angels
in the world of formation ( yetzirah ), and in the ten spherical firmaments if
the physical world ( asiyah ). In every place, He does not change.â€) In the
Etz Hayyim it is explained that the “garmentsâ€ are the aspect of
vessels. The essence ( atzmut ) is dressed within the vessels. 109 The author
now refers to an alternative depiction of reality. Rather than thinking of God
as surrounding reality from without (with physicality being the densest,
center point), we can also think of God as within; that is, at the heart of
creation, with successively dense layers of creation “coveringâ€ and
concealing Him from without. Both models are true, depending upon
one’s perspective. There it is also explained that in each of the worlds,
the essence is divided into the five levels of soul (in order from lowest to
highest), nefesh, ruah, neshama, haya, yehida. Each garment covers an inner
soul. Yet each garment is also the inner soul for that which clothes it from the
outside. Here we find it stated explicitly that the planets of the solar system
are themselves the vessels in the World of Assiya. It is further explained that
the Divine Chariot is found in all of the worlds, vessels, essence, and soul-
levels of nefesh, ruah, neshama, haya, and yehida. Though we find it said in
the Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar Klipat Nogah, Ch. 2) that the Divine Chariot is in
the World of Formation ( yetzirah ), yet this means that it is perceived from
nogah 110 A spiritual level even lower than the World of Assiyah. Again, the
point here is to dispel any notion that the Rambam understood the Holy
Chariot as mere astronomy. More likely, the Rambam was hiding the true,
hidden meaning from the unworthy, for the workings of astronomy hint at the
deeper reality. A person of great spiritual sensitivity can look at astronomy
and see how it is actually a garment for the spiritual realms of Godliness,
which are constantly sustaining the physical world. This world is just a
parable waiting to be solved by “the moral of the story,â€ according to
true wisdom. in the World of Assiyah until its root in the World of Yetzirah.
This is clearly explained in all of the chapters mentioned. We explained above
that because of the Babylonian exile, it was necessary to reveal the mysteries
of the Divine Merkava to Yehezkel, in order to show him that God’s
sovereignty is in all governing forces. (See Tehillim, 103:19) Therefore,
Yehezkel saw from the very source of understanding until the place where he
needed to see, namely the place which is the source of the power of Divine
concealment, meaning until the world of formation ( yetzirah ). It is explained
in the Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar haKlipah, Ch. 3) that in the world of emanation
( astiloot, the highest of the four worlds) in the realm of holiness, good is
prevalent over evil. This is also true in the world of creation ( beriyah, second
highest world). Below, in the world of formation (yetsira), the amount of good
and evil are equal. This is why the power of the concealment of God’s
presence begins in the world of formation. Thus it was necessary to show the
prophet Yehezkel that the source of the power of concealment is in the hands
of God, as mentioned in the Zohar quoted above (Shemot, 2b, Bamidbar,
118b.)

There were many who attacked the Rambam for his way of explaining certain
matters in a very worldly manner, explaining matters that his accusers saw
as quite lofty in the lowest garments of the physical world. Notwithstanding
his decision to explain matters through the lowest of garments, still, he hints
at matters which express a true reception of the mysteries of the Torah.
These true matters are merely hidden in the beauty of his language.

When the Rambam explains the visions of the Divine Chariot, in the sixth
chapter of the third section of the Guide, he explains why Yehezkel revealed
more details about his vision of the Divine than did Yeshayahu. There he
quotes the Talmud (Hagiga, 13b), “Yeshayahu saw all that had been seen
by Yehezkel. Yeshayahu is like a townsman who sees the king, Yehezkel is like
a countryman who sees the king.â€ 111 There it is written: “The
townsman, seeing that his neighbors know well how the king rides, simply
tells them that he saw the king. But the villager, wishing to tell his friends
that which they do not know, relates in detail how the king was riding,
describes his followers, and the officers who execute his order and
command.â€ The Rambam writes, “The generation of Yeshayahu did not
require the detailed description. It was enough for him to say, ‘I saw
God.’ The generation of the Babylonian exile needed to hear all of the
details.â€ This is exactly according to the words of the Zohar (Shemot, 2b)
quoted above. 112 See chapter 9 on the difference between the visions of
Yehezkel and the visions of Yeshayahu. So if all the verses describing the
Divine Chariot are only explaining the workings of astronomy, for what reason
could Yehezkel have possibly had in thinking that knowledge of astronomy
was more useful or of more interest to the exiles in Babylon? From this it
clearly follows that the Rambam had possession of a true tradition of the
mysteries of the Torah. Here is not the place to dwell on this point. Yet suffice
to say that all who study this matter with a clear mind will know that he
possessed a true tradition of Kabbalah. The Rambam claimed that there are
four planets. The Abarbanel responds to this in saying that everyone knows
that there are nine planets. How, the Abarbanel asks, could the prophet
Yehezkel have made such a great error? One who studys the Eytz Hayim, in
the introduction to the shaar tsiyoor haolamot, shows how the ten are divided
into four sections. This is in line with the view of the Rambam. Further, the
Guide (Section Two, Ch. 10) hints at the meaning of counting four planets.
There you can find an answer to the query of the Abarbanel. Also, in the
Pirkei Hatslaha printed in the responsa of the Rambam called, Pe’er
haDor, he wrote to his student Rav Yosef Aknin, he explains how the Cherubs
on each side of the Ark of the Covenant spread their wings. There he wrote,
“just as breath is essential to the life of the heart … so do the Cherubs
that jointly spread their wings over the Ark of the Covenant are really two.
And know that the sanctuary of your heart is the Ark which holds within it the
two Tablets of the Testament.â€ This exact idea is explained in the Zohar in
the section of the Raya Mehemna (Zohar, Pinchas, 235a): For the heart is the
seat of judgment, and the four Hayot who are its messengers are the two
lungs and the two kidneys. The lungs are the secret of (Yehezkel, 1:11,
“and their faces and wings were divided upwards,â€ reaching up to
receive the king … … and the breath of air descends into the heart to cool
off its heat, so it does not burn up the body. And when the breath descends, it
descends in several directions, like a king and his soldiers. And the lungs
receive the breath, which is king over it. This is as it is written (Yehezkel,
1:11), “and their faces and wings were divided upward,â€ (Shemot,
25:20), “and the wings of the Cherubs shall spread upward.â€ And in the
Tikkunei Zohar (third additional chapter at the end, 140b): Of the lungs it is
written (Shemot, 25:20), “and the wings of the Cherubs shall spread
upwards, overspreading the covering (of the Ark) with their wings,â€ this is
the covering of the heart.

It seems quite clear from several places that the Rambam had possession of
a clear tradition of the mysteries of the Torah. Another example is the
following. He wrote in the Guide in chapter 45 of the second section, that the
eleventh level of prophecy involves, “seeing an angel speaking to one in a
vision, as experienced by Avraham Avinu during the binding of Yitzhak. In my
opinion this is the highest of the degrees of the prophets – with the
exception if Moshe Rabeynu - whose states are attested by the prophetic
books, provided he has, as reason demands, his rational faculties fully
developed.â€ In this the Rambam is saying that the level of prophecy
experienced by Avraham is the highest degree of prophecy. It follows that the
prophecy (of Avraham) recorded in the Torah is of the highest degree known
to mankind, save that of Moshe himself, who possessed the absolute highest
prophetic perceptions ever. This is what is meant when God describes Moshe
by saying (Bamidbar, 12:8), “I will speak to him mouth to mouth,â€
which attests to the fitness and worthiness of Moshe’s soul. The Mishnah
Torah further explains the difference between the prophecy of Moshe and all
other prophets. 113 See Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (7:6), which
spells out the difference between Moshe and other prophets. According to the
Rambam, the difference lay in the degree to which the imaginative faculty
played a role. When other prophets experienced God speaking to them, they
did so through the power of the imagination. Moshe, however, had a direct,
intellectual perception of the Divine, without the intermediary of the
imaginative faculty, as the verse implies: “And God spoke to Moshe face
to face…â€ (Shemot 33:11) When studying the passages of the Torah
concerning prophecy, it is understood that the highest level of prophecy is
that which is emanates from the supreme source of prophecy. This is in line
with the following passage in the Zohar (Idrat Nasso, 130a), “We have
leaned that the name of Atika (the Ancient Holy One) 114 Atika is one of the
highest of the Divine Partsufim (modes of God’s governance) representing
absolute and total compassion, beyond the distinctions of good and evil. is
hidden above all the rest. It is nowhere explained in the Torah save one place.
This is in God’s promise to Avraham (Bereshit, 22:17), where the Lord
says, ‘I swear on Myself, saith the Lord.’ Myself is Atika, meaning
Ze’ir Anpin 115 Ze’ir Anpin is the lower more accessible of the Divine
Partsufim. It is a level where God’s concealment is broken only through
the performance of Mitsvot, prayer, and ethical behavior. swore on Atika.â€
This is explained in the Beit Yaakov (haKollel, parshat Vayeira, sec. 57).

Chapter 19

the Kabbalah of Maimonides on Ta’amei HaMitzvot (2) In this chapter, the

author provides further examples of the Rambam’s knowledge of
Kabbalah, which underlie his explanation of several other mitzvot, and shows
how even the simple meaning of the commandment, offered by Rambam,
actually expresses the deeper Kabbalistic meaning, albeit in a simpler,
concealed way.
The Rambam writes in the Sefer HaMitzvot (Third Shoresh ), in the
enumeration of the mitzvot (positive commandment 34), and in the Mishnah
Torah ( hilchot klei hamikdash, 2:12) that the Cohanim shall carry the Ark of
the Covenant upon their shoulders. In the Sefer HaMitzvot the Rambam
exerts himself to justify why this is a mitzvah for the Cohanim, since the Torah
only mentions this mitzvah as being performed by the Levites. Commentaries
on this statement of the Rambam bend over backwards to explain his
reasoning. The truth is, the Rambam knew the deeper meaning, yet found it
necessary to hide it in the beauty of his literary style. The careful student of
the Rambam will clearly see that the Rambam knew the true meaning of this
mitzvah, which we find in the Zohar (Vayeitse, 148b): It is written (Tehillim,
132:9), ‘Your Cohanim shall dress in righteousness, and your pious ones
shall sing.’ Technically, the verse should say, ‘Levites shall dress in
righteousness and sing,’ for the Levites are the ones in charge of bringing
pleasure to the King! Here David decided that the Cohanim and pious ones
shall be in charge of the King’s pleasure. From here we learn the
following. One who is in his own house enjoys the privilege of arranging his
own affairs according to his own mind. Yet if he is invited elsewhere he will
acquiesce to the will of his host, and accept the way the host arranges things
for him. When David HaMelech removed the Levites from this function, and
put Cohanim in their stead, God fulfilled the matter according to David’s
mind. Likewise, many took the Rambam to task for his explanation in the
Guide of the meaning of the incense offering (section 3, Ch. 45). There he
says that because so many animals were slaughtered in the Temple for the
sacrifices, there would have been the undesirable effect of a bad odor. The
pleasant scent of the incense offering 116 The Talmud says that the incense
offering produced such a powerful and pleasing scent that it could be smelled
as far away as the twon of Jericho – some twenty miles away from
Jerusalem. The archeologist Wendell Jones claims that he found a jar
containing some of the incense from the Temple. Upon treating it in a
laboratory, the incense emitted such a powerful fragrance that its scent filed
the entire block where the laboratory was situated, and its scent was
absorbed in the clothing of everyone in the building for days to come. in the
place of the slaughtering was in order to rectify this situation. Yet this
statement of the Rambam fit perfectly with the words of the Arizal in the Pri
Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar haKarbanot, Ch. 5) where he says that the incense is
in order to nullify the force of evil. 117 There is an etymological connection
between the word ריח (reyakh) – smell, and רוח (ruakh) –
spirit. The source of the Arizal’s statement is in the Zohar (Vayikra, 118b-
119a) 118 The Zohar says (Vayikra, 219a), “Why is the incense so beloved
of the Holy One, blessed be He? Because the incense has the power to
remove any contamination and purify the Tabernacle, so that it is all
illuminated, cleansed, and connected. By reading the verses of the incense
offering before the prayer every day, one can remove contamination from the
entire world. This is why God loves the incense.â€. It is clear that the
Rambam knew this, and by seizing on the “simple garment,â€ of this
mitzvah, he was touching its very source. This is particularly accurate
especially in light of the statement in the Zohar (Balak, 186b), “all filth
and mire goes to the force of evil.â€ Further, the Zohar in parshat Pekudei
(242b) states that there is a component of the sacrifices which is given over
to the side of evil, and in Parshat Bo (33a) we learn that the side of evil has
control over flesh. In order to counteract all of this, so as not to channel
power to the side of evil in the very physical act of offering animal sacrifices,
we have the incense offering which removes the contamination in the very
physical act of making a good scent.

Chapter 20

Maimonides on the Impossible The author offers further examples of how the
Rambam can be read as a mystic; though it requires, at times, a complex,
inter-textual reading.
The Rambam makes the following claim in the Guide, “The impossible has
a stable nature, one whose stability is constant and not made by a maker; it
is impossible to change in any way. Hence the power over the maker of the
impossible is not attributed to the Deity.â€ 119 Maimonides offers several
examples of impossibilities that God Himself can not change. In the field of
geometric impossibilities, for instance, he mentions the impossibility of a
square having a diagonal that is equal to the length of one of its sides, or an
triangle that contains three right angles. In the realm of theology, he
mentions limitations on God’s power of creation, namely that God cannot
create a being equal to Himself, or annihilate Himself, or become a body.
There are different opinions among philosophers as to whether God can
create an accident which exists alone. Concerning this statement, Rav
Abonnot Avraham responded in his letter printed in the responsa of the
RaShbâ€A (418) that in the future it will be clear that this view of the
Rambam’s is not consistent with the view of the sages. Indeed, these
kinds of statements are misleading for those who seize them in their outer
form. Yet for one who looks into their inner meaning will see that the Rambam
in his inimitable style has already hinted at this idea a number of times.
Remember that he wrote in a letter to his student that his complete view is
found in several different places, and the reader cannot understand his view
from reading just one place. The careful student of the Rambam who
remembers where he previously hinted at this idea and joins it to the above
statement will see that there is nothing corrupt or faulty in his view. The
introduction to the Guide also mentions that his view is only understood from
a complete reading. When the Rambam says, “the impossible has a stable
nature, one whose stability is constant,â€ he also hints in these words that
there are other places where one has to dig for its meaning, as he found it
necessary there not to reveal it outright. In chapter 27 of the second section
he writes that the entire order of nature was created. In chapter 28 he writes
that it is God’s will that nature should not change, save for the occurrence
of miracles. In chapter 29 he explains that our sages viewed miracles as
something built into nature at the time of creation, and waiting to occur at
the proper time. In this way, a miracle is not really a change in nature. Then
in chapter 20 of the third section the Rambam really shows his hand on the
whole matter. There he says that all that was written in the above mentioned
chapters is only true according to human knowledge, or from the perspective
of created beings. However, the Creator’s knowledge cannot be
compared whatsoever to man’s knowledge. There he writes that
“God’s knowledge is His essence, and His essence is His knowledge
… for the selfsame incapacity that prevents our intellects from
apprehending His essence also prevents us from apprehending His knowledge
of things as they are. For this knowledge is not of the same species as ours so
that we can draw an analogy with regard to it, but rather a totally different
thing.â€ It follows from this that all he had written with regarding to how the
Deity had no power over the impossible is true only according within the
limitations of human knowledge. God, however, from His perspective, is not
obliged by the human intellects definitions of the possible and the impossible.
This is further explained in the Beit Yaakov itself. 120 Beit Yaakov (HaKollel),
Parshat Vayeira, section 57.

Chapter 21
Maimonides on Miracles
In the second section of the Guide, chapter 35, he discusses miracles. There
he says that the greatest of all miracles was the splitting of the Sea of Reeds.
The level of God’s revelation experienced with the splitting of the Sea of
Reeds was unparalleled. With this tremendous miracle, God’s presence
was totally apparent to those who loved Him and those who hated Him, to
God’s supporters and detractors alike. The miracles that happened to all
other prophets were not as revealed as the splitting of the sea, which was
attested to by God’s revilers as much as by God’s beloved. That is to
say, they were both included in the miracle as one. This goes well with the
view of the Zohar (Teruma, 170b): For this reason, 121 From the aspect of
God’s justice it was difficult for God to save the Jews, since, according to
strict justice, the children of Israel had no merit in which to be redeemed, and
were nearly indistinguishable from the Egyptians in their worship of idols. we
say that the splitting of the sea of reeds was difficult before Him. In a similar
fashion we say that bringing a husband and wife together in marriage is as
difficult for Holy One, blessed be He, 122 The Zohar mentions the case of of a
widow whose second husband may be wicked. The Zohar stresses that it is a
great secret, and occurs following God’s true justice. as the splitting of
the sea of reeds, which saves these on this side, and kills these on the other
side. The essence of the miracle was how in one place and with one agenda
there were two opposite effects – the saving of the Israelites and the killing
of the Egyptians. This will be explained below in the body of the introduction
to the Beit Yaakov on the subject of miracles.

Chapter 22

Maimonidean Kabbalah on the Names of Angels The author concludes his

discussion of the Rambam by showing how the latter’s division of
angels’ corresponds to that of the Zohar, and how, in one place in his
writings, he refers almost explicitly to a teaching from that Kabbalistic work.
In the Mishnah Torah, in the second chapter of Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, the
Rambam writes that there are ten different names of angels, corresponding
to ten different levels of angels. His words are well suited to the view of the
Zohar on this matter, (Bo, 43a), with the exception that he replaces Elim with
Keruvim. A study of the Zohar in Parshat Pinchas (235a-b) will show that it is
really the same thing. And in the Zohar Hadash (Bereshit, 6b), the
enumeration of the order of angels is precisely as is found in the Rambam,
mentioning Keruvim in the place of Elim. That which he wrote concerning the
tenth and lowest level of angels called Ishim, 123 Ish, in Hebrew, means man.
who speak to the prophets for their stature is close to the status of man’s
consciousness, is also the view of the Zohar (Lekh, 81a): (The Zohar is
discussing how the new soul is drawn into the desire at the time of
intercourse.) Through the desire, and together with the soul ( nefesh ) that is
drawn there, another force is also drawn below. This force comes from the
level of angels called Eeshim, and all enters from the drawing of the seed.
The body of the newborn is built from them. This is the first and most primal
level of soul, called nefesh. The Zohar Hadash (Bereshit, Midrash
haNe’elam, 6b) enumerates the ten classes of angels from below to
above. Here the Zohar Hadash also says that the lowest of the ten level is
Eeshim. Rav Tordos haLevi, the author of the Otsar haKavod, argues against
the Rambam on his treatment of the angels. However, he admits that the
Rambam had true intentions in general, yet wonders how he could have said
this. 124 The author is saying that the Rambam was correct in putting Ishim
last, which is the view of the Zohar Khadash, and that the Otsar haKavod did
not know this. Also we find many other places in the Rambam that hint both
in particular and in general that he possessed a true tradition of the
mysteries of the Torah. In the tenth chapter of section two of the Guide, the
Rambam makes reference to the special usage of the words brass
( nehoshet ) with regard to the angels; in Zecharia (6:1), “and the four
chariots came out from between the two mountains, which mountains were
mountains of brass.â€ And in Yehezkel (1:7), “burnished brass ( nehoshet
kalal ).â€ There is no explanation of these phrases in pshat (the plain
meaning). Here the Rambam is making an explicit reference to the treatment
of this phrase in the Zohar (Teruma, 139a), “In the book of Shlomo
HaMelech there are lofty secrets surrounding the brass altar. With the altar,
we find it said, ‘make me an altar of earth.’ This secret is well and
good. Yet brass is mentioned when other mountains rule, and she (malkhut)
must nourish them. This is when she colors herself in the color of brass in
order to sustain them, and she is called the mountains of brass.â€ 125 See
the Hadrat Melech of R. Shalom Buzaglo (1700-1780) for an extensive
explanation of this passage in the Zohar according to the teachings of the
Arizal. There are many other examples such as which attest to the
Rambam’s knowledge of Kabbalah which I do not have time to add. 126
The question of whether or not the Rambam was a recipient of the Kabbalistic
tradition was not just a concern for Rav Gershon Henokh, but one that has
concerned many scholars. The scholarship of Rav David Fink has revealed
seven examples of laws taught in the Code of Maimonides the source of
which can only be found in the Zohar, and these are they: Mishnah Torah, Hil.
Mezzuzah, 5:4 (the Kesef Mishnah cites the source in the Zohar. See Sefer Bar
Yochai Shaar 6 Mishnah 130 for other examples); Hil. Shechita 1:9 based on
Zohar Chadash Bereshit, Hil. Shevuot 11:1 based on Zohar Raya Mehemna,
Yitro 91b; Hil. Tefillah 7:17, based on Zohar Vayikra 200b; Hil. Succah 6:12,
based on Zohar, Raya Mehemna Emor 140b; Hil. Matanot Evyonim, 7:13
based on Zohar Balak 200a.

The Rambam wrote in the eighth chapter of the laws of Teshuva that in the
world-to-come there is no body and no corporeality. Note how the Ra’avad
disagrees with this view. 127 One of the Ra’avad’s proofs is from BT
Sanhedrin, 92, which states, “The Righteous will not return to the dust,
but shall stand in their bodies. â€ Many took the Rambam to task for his
view, and for that which he wrote in the fourth halacha of chapter eight,
“when the sages mentioned this feast, they were speaking allegorically
about the good reserved for the righteous in the world-to-come.â€ This view
of the Rambam’s is precisely the view of the Zohar in Parshat Toldot
(Midrash HaNe’elam, 136a), where it is phrased in almost the same
language that the Rambam used in one of his letters. 128 The Zohar (Parshat
Toldot, Midrash HaNe’elam, 136a) reads, “At the time the soul returns
to the body, the only desire of the soul is to enjoy the Divine light of the
Shekhina, and be sustained by this light. This is as it is written ( Shir HaShirim
1:2), ‘May he ksiss me with the kisses of his mouth.’â€ Whoever
believes in the Zohar is obliged to explain the words of the Rambam exactly
as the view of the Zohar.

If I have dwelt at length on this subject is has only been in the honor of our
master the Rambam of blessed memory. However, it must be clearly
understood that the Rambam is not closer to my heart than those who had
serious questions about his views, for they are all holy. Even though I feel a
kinship with the Rambam in that we both have suffered intellectual
persecution spurned on by groundless hatred, it is not for this reason that am
so concerned with defending the Rambam against his detractors. The pure
reason is that I feel that his detractors simply did not understand what the
Rambam truly intended in his teachings. I have come only to defend the
righteous and close the mouths of those who speak derisively and arrogantly
against the tsaddik. I have come to expose the lies they speak. Even in our
generation we find scholars who possess mistaken traditions which
erroneously explain various matters of Torah. And still they feel a duty to
come down harshly on him with their derision. May they be utterly ashamed,
put their feet in their mouths, and be seen by the world mumbling, “we
have sinned.â€ This is all due to the great limitations of their understanding.
All who feel drawn to return to the Zohar do so because their souls are
connected to its teachings. Yet one who has no soul connection to the Zohar
and tries to learn it will only see its external form and not its inner content.
Similarly, one who looks into the Guide for the Perplexed and does not do so
with a willingness to accept its ethical teachings out of fear that he may
rebel, is actually prone to be stubborn and rebellious with any holy Torah
writing. Take the following word of encouragement. If you learn the Torah with
strong faith, you shall not be ashamed before any man nor fall off the path.
All who seek truth will find it. Therefore, if you yearn for the truth, put your
mind on the Zohar as you would behold the brilliance of the firmament. 129
This is also a play on words. Zohar means “brilliant lightâ€ – taken
from the verse in Daniel (12:3), “And they who are wise shall shine like
the brightness of the firmament.â€ The intelligent person who is confident in
his direction, will see that the Guide both quenches thirst and points the way.
130 This is a play on words. Guide is “ Moreh.â€ “Quenches thirstâ€
is “ Marveh.â€ Pointing the way (literally instructing) is “ Yoreh.â€ In
the generation of the Rambam, anyone privileged to know the mystery of
God was careful to keep it greatly hidden.

It is evinced from the language of many of the Ba’alei Tosafot that they
had knowledge of the secrets of the Torah, but in the practice kept from
ancient times saw fit to conceal this knowledge, only alluding to it in hints.
The Ramban (Nachmanides) lived in the generation after the Ba’alei
Tosafot. He too would only hint at the mysteries, wrapping them in his holy
words. In the introduction to his commentary on the Torah, he admits to this.
The Ari’zal confirmed that the Ramban possessed a clear and
authoritative tradition of the Torah’s mysteries, yet took great care to
conceal this tradition in his writing. The Ramban had many students, and
surely he imparted to many of them this tradition. 131 The Ramban was the
recipient of a chain of transmission from master to student all the way back
to Rav Nehunia ben Hakana, the first century kabbalist and author of the
Bahir. The Arizal taught us, however, that all Torah scholars after the Ramban
did not possess this authoritative tradition of mysteries, even though they are
unquestionably great and holy masters of the Torah and quoted in the
writings of the Arizal on many occasions. The Arizal taught us not to attempt
to gain Kabalistic knowledge from any of the books of the sages written after
the Ramban. This is said in no way to cast aspersions upon them. Rather, the
roots of their words are included in the teachings of the Arizal, which are all
organized with holy additions of the Torah knowledge that was revealed in his
generation. Therefore, it is proper to learn these matters from the principle

Chapter 23

The Arizal After discussing the hidden Kabbalistic teachings in the Rambam,
the explicit Kabbalah of the Ramban, the author now jumps to sixteenth
century Safed, to discuss the accomplishments of R. Yitzchak Luria, the Arizal;
unquestionably the most influential Kabbalist since the time of R. Shimon Bar
Yohai. In the following chapter, he discusses the centrality of the Arizal, the
difficulty in understanding his teachings, which are rife with intentional
contradictions, and how the Ari’s teaching spread through Europe. He
concludes by stating that none of those studying the Ari’s teaching truly
understood its message. This will pave the way for his claim, in chap. 29, that
the truest interpretation can be found in Izhbitzer Hasidism.
The Arizal (Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, 1534-1572) was known for his awesome
holiness, virtue, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Ari means lion. 132
That is, the acronym for the name “the Godly R. Yitzhackâ€ is Ari
(×לו-×”×™ ר’ יצחק), or “Lion.â€ The Midrash tells us
that when the generation was worthy, a heavenly lion would descend and
receive the sacrifice offered on the altar in the Holy Temple. Similarly did the
Arizal descend into this world from heaven, as a holy angel, to reveal to us
the mysteries of the Torah, to teach man wisdom and understanding. He was
the chosen of God who looked into the hidden light and saw from one end of
the world to the other. Through his teachings, he elucidated the words of
Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai. It is recorded in the book Shivhei Ha-Ari that his
great understanding was derived from the Zohar, and God granted the Arizal
the most accurate and clearest explanation of its teachings. In this way did
the Arizal sustain those weary for want of God’s word. His principle
student was Rabbi Hayyim Vital (the MaRaHu), and it was through him that
the rest of the Arizal’s students received his teachings. The RaHu
cautioned against studying the words of other students of the Arizal as each
one understood only according to his particular level, but without a complete
understanding. The RaHu wrote eight books, called the Shemoneh
She’arim ( Eight Gates ). From them evolved his main books, the Etz
Hayyim and the Pri Etz Hayyim. Several books preceded the Shemonehh
She’arim, namely the Adam Yashar, Arba Meot Shekel Kesef, and the
Artsot haHayyim. They contain many teachings not discussed in the
Shemoneh She’arim. The eight works composing the Shemoneh
She’arim are the equivalent to the Shulhan Arukh (the Code of Jewish
Law) for the mysteries of the Torah. They are the basic companion for the
soul who yearns to understand the ancient mysteries of the Torah, and are all
that that soul needs to access them.

The language of the Arizal as it appears in writing was only truly understood
by his own students, as most of his teachings are delivered in short. Truly, the
Arizal only spent a short time on this planet teaching his students. He only
taught in public when he lived in Tsfat, and he was in Tsfat for a total of one
year and seven months. Notwithstanding, he managed to deliver the basic
ideas of all of the mysteries to his student Rabbi Hayyim Vital, as described in
the story of the Arizal in Shivhei HaAri. Due to the brevity of their time
together, the RaHu received the teachings in a telescoped form. There are
two reasons for this. The first is that in order for the Arizal to describe any
one idea to its full extent in a way that could be understood by all it would
have taken much more time than they had together. And the second is that
the generation had not yet come where anyone could open the writings of
the Arizal and understand them. Rabbi Hayyim Vital records that the Arizal
had told him that only in the generations immediately preceding the final
redemption would his teachings be truly revealed and accessible to the
masses. Therefore, all who are truly involved in the holy study of the
teachings of the Arizal with a whole and willing heart, wanting to build a
structure on the foundation of his words, will indeed find it very difficult. This
is because each one concept is expressed by several names, and one who
sees the names without understanding the inner foundation of the idea will
come up against many contradictions. All the more so if the student wishes to
create novel concepts based on the Arizal’s foundations, and the novel
interpretations are put up to the scrutiny of in-depth analysis, he will then
find himself tangled in contradictions. Then if the student wishes to take his
new understandings as a basis for teaching his fellow who possess
intelligence in this area, his fellow will no doubt point out numerous
contradictions and inconsistencies in the former. This all stems from a greatly
limited understanding of the Arizal’s holy words. For example, if one is
studying the idea of the sanctity of the Shabbat, and based on this wishes to
discourse on the idea delights of Shabbat, he will invariably find terms
appropriate to his subject like love and benevolence (Hesed). Then when he
figure the actual commandments of Shabbat, including all of the prohibitions
of different kinds of work which are in effect on Shabbat, he will find that they
are all related to attributes like fear, dread, and strength. If he truly prepares
his heart, he will find all of the attributes 133 The word he uses is midot
(מדות), meaning the seven lower divine emanations or attributes:
Benevolence, strength, Beauty, etc. included in the mitzvot of the day of
Shabbat. 134 And thus come against real contradictions. In this way he will
not find any clear path in which to deliver his discourse or make his point.
The Zohar (Vayakhel, 204a) writes that all of the attributes are included in
Shabbat. The teachings of the Arizal have been explained in many different
countries, each one in own language and according to its own logic. In Italy
the teachings of the Arizal have been reprocessed into the language of
philosophy, as was done by Rav Avraham Herrera in his books Beit Avraham
and Shaar HaShamayim. These have even been translated into Italian. Rav
Ya’akov Abuhav translated them back into Hebrew. In Germany the
explanation of the Arizal’s Kabbalah have taken a different direction.
There the scholars introduced additional terminology, gates, and discourses
based on those gates. In Yemen and the land of Israel the scholars have kept
to the language of the Arizal. Due to the approach in Germany, many angry
accusations have been exchanged between scholars, each one accusing the
other of heresy. The funny thing is, none of them have even made it to the
entrance to the garden. It must be know that none of these attempts have
been successful.

Chapter 24

Rabbi Yisrael - The Baal Shem Tov The author now arrives at the next,
important stage in the unfolding of Kabbalistic wisdom: the Baal Shem Tov,
founder of the Hasidic movement, and spiritual forefather of Rav Mordechai
Yosef of Isbitza. According to R. Gershon Henokh, the Baal Shem Tov may not
have been intrinsically greater than any of the previous patriarchs, prophets,
and sages presented above; yet his relevance is indeed greater, in that he
had the ability to strip previous Kabbalistic teachings of their abstruseness,
and make make the deepest teachings of Torah accessible to every person.
He explained the words of the Zohar in clear and unambiguous language;
thus opening the gate to the study of supernal mysteries to all. From his time
onward, gate to the garden of esoteric wisdom was opened, and all were
invited to enter. 135 Rav Tvi Hirsch of Zhidichov, who lived between the lives
of the Baal Shem Tov and Rav Mordechai Yosef, provided a great parable to
explain the significance of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings: There was once
a traveler who came to a land and told them a tale about a wonderful
creature with the head of a man, the wings of an eagle, and the body of a
lion. The people of this land were enthralled by the story, but no one had ever
seen it and they were dying to know more about this fantastic creature. Then
one bold explorer took a trip to the land that the creature was reputed to live
in. He returned and told his countrymen that he had in fact seen the creature,
and described it in all of its wonderful detail. Later, another explorer made a
similar trip to find the creature. Many months later, he returned, but not
alone. He had succeeded in bringing the wondrous creature back to his
country for all to see for themselves. The first traveler was Rabbi Shimon bar
Yochai, who had described the mystery of God to the people of Israel. The
second was the Arizal, who unveiled the mystery to a greater extent. But it
was only the Baal Shem Tov and his students who actually removed the veil
and brought the mysteries to the people.
In God’s great mercies, He established Torah scholars in every generation
to seek the knowledge of God, and open the gates of Torah knowledge
according to the needs of the times. The Zohar (Bo, 2b) quoted above makes
mention of this idea, how the prophecy of Yehezkel was suited to the needs of
his generation. In the same way God sent a redeemer to Israel, whose
splendor was as the Holy One of Israel, 136 This is a play on words, the Baal
Shem Tov, whose name was Israel, was a redeemer for the nation of Israel.
our master and teacher, whose name pleasant and whose pleasantness fit his
name, Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov. God opened the gates of wisdom,
understanding, and consciousness for the Baal Shem Tov. He sought out the
knowledge of God’s perfect Torah, and prepared his heart to explicate and
discourse on the hidden realms of wisdom. In his days, he managed to bring
the sublime secrets of wisdom down into the boundaries of human
understanding. He succeeded in making the Torah accessible to the masses
of Israel. For the Torah was not given to God’s holy angels, but to the seed
of Yaakov whom God had chosen, 137 This is referring to the famous story in
the Talmud that relates and angel’s complaint, when God gave the Torah
to Israel. In defence of God’s decision, Moshe asked the angels, “What
is written in the Torah? ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of
Egypt.’ Did you go down to Egypt? Were you enslaved to Pharaoh? Do you
worship idols, kill or steal? Why then should the Torah be yours?â€ From
here, concludes the Midrash, we see that the Torah is meant for man, not for
angels. In R. Gershon Henokh use of the image, he means to say that even
the highest realms of Torah – the secrets of Kabbalah – is meant for the
masses, and not merely elite scholars. and it is essential for every soul of
Israel to reach everything that is written in the Torah and bring it within the
boundaries of his mind’s grasp and knowledge. And even for our
generation, a generation of lowly status and little knowledge, did God send
him with the perfect language necessary to teach, understand, and come
close to even the most sublime of the Torah’s mysteries. The Baal Shem
Tov opened up an inner gate that had been closed until his days. He opened it
before the entire community of Yaakov, for the Torah is not in Heaven, 138
See Devarim 30:12. BT Bava Meziah 29b. but the birthright and fiancée 139
See BT Berachot, 57a: “If one dreams he has intercourse with a betrothed
maiden, he may expect to obtain knowledge of Torah, since it says (Devarim
33:4): “Moses commanded us a law [Torah], an inheritance of the
congregation of Jacob. Read not morashah [inheritance], but me’orasah
[betrothed].â€ of every Jew. Everyone who seeks God with a full heart will
find in the Baal Shem Tov’s words the way of understanding and clear
path for the upright in order to understand, discern, hear, learn, teach, guard,
perform, and uphold all the words of the Torah. 140 Weekday morning liturgy,
blessing preceding the recitation of the Shema Yisrael. All of the Divine
attributes and Sefirot, whether mentioned or hidden, contain the whole order
of God’s governance of everything, from the highest heights of the
spiritual world down to lowliest of levels, and man is capable of receiving
them within the limits of his mind. And all of the events recounted in the
Torah are experienced by every one of Israel in every generation, in general
and in particular. The Torah is the essential teaching for every Jew to enable
him to conduct all his affairs justly. 141 See Tehillim 112:5. The Baal Shem Tov
opened a gate in the brilliant light of the firmament, the holy teachings of the
Zohar and the writings of the Arizal, explaining all their words in clear and
straightforward language, the language of wisdom. In this way the Divine
abundance of the mysteries may drip into the heart of man, so that he may
behold God from his very flesh. 142 See Iyov 19:26. From the days of the Baal
Shem Tov and onward, the gate to the garden of God and the paradise of
wisdom had been opened, inviting man to enter. From his days, the spring
has begun to flow from the House of God, 143 See Yoel 4:18. and with the
passage of time, it only grows stronger and stronger. The Baal Shem Tov
established many students, all geniuses and holy servants of God.

Chapter 25
Spreading the Way of the Baal Shem Tov The author now traces the
transmission of the Hasidic movement, from the Baal Shem Tov to the Maggid
of Mezritch, and from the students of the Magid to the great early masters
who spread Hasidism throughout Eastern Europe. He mentions the unique
contributions to Hasidic though by these various figures, ultimately giving
particular attention to the line of Polish Hasidism that led to his grandfather,
R. Mordehai Yosef Leiner, the Mei HaShiloah.
The greatest student of the Baal Shem Tov was the Great Maggid, 144 Maggid
was a title for an itinerant preacher, who would travel from town to town and
give inspiring sermons to light the fire of the souls of Israel. The wandering
maggid was generally welcomed and honored by the community hosting him.
Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezeritch. After the passing of the Baal Shem Tov in 5520
(1760), his students accepted the Great Maggid as his successor, and
continued to learn the paths of Divine service from his teachings. Among the
greatest of the students of Rabbi Dov Baer were Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk,
145 The Vitebsker, as he was called, succeeded in moving to the holy land
with a number of his Hassidim, and found his final resting place in Tiberias.
He is the author of the Pri HaAretz. (After the passing of the Great Maggid,
Rabbi Shner Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad dynasty, became his
student) Rav Elimelekh and his brother, Rav Zushia, Rav Levi Yithak of
Berdichev, Rav Yaakov Yithak, the Seer of Lublin, Rav Yisrael of Koshnitz, Rav
Shner Zalman of Liadi, Rav Hayyim Haiike of Amdur, and the famous brothers
Rav Shmuel Shemlke of Nicholsburg and Rav Pinhas, the Baal HaFla’ah.
There were also a number of other holy tzaddikim, may their merits protect
us and all of Israel, amen.
We were only worthy of receiving a small amount of their teachings, as they
are scattered about in various books, and not in any one authoritative
volume. None of the words of the Baal Shem Tov were ever committed to
writing in his lifetime. All of his teachings were passed on to us in the writings
of his students and student’s students in the generations after his death.
Why didn’t the students of the Baal Shem Tov write down his teachings in
his lifetime? All of his students were holy geniuses, and when each one would
hear his Rebbe’s words, he would expand upon it from his own
knowledge. In this way each one operated, according to the qualities of his
own soul and spirit. Due to each student’s great sanctity and driven
persistence in his Torah study and Divine service, they could not find the time
to properly commit the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings to writing. The few
teachings that we have today are like a lone sheaf of wheat gathered from
the words of his students, and it bears the crown of the good name. 146 See
Mishha Pirkei Avot, 4:13. Even the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov’s
students are few, scattered hear and there in holy books, and these teachings
are the portal through which we can enter into the chambers of kedusha
(sanctity). Similarly, most of the teachings of the Great Maggid were not
written down, even though most of the students of the Baal Shem Tov learned
with the Rabbi Dov Baer. The Great Maggid also raised many new students in
his tenure as leader of the Hassidic movement, yet this tenure only lasted for
a few years. He was already at an advanced age when he first became a
disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, and so little of his teachings, sublime and lofty,
dividing the flames of fire, 147 See Psalms 29:7, “The voice of God divides
the flames of fire.â€ and so deep - who may fathom them! 148 See Kohelet
7:24. - were actually put in writing.

The students of the Great Maggid spread out to many different locations and
were known as seekers of the knowledge of God. They were all masters of the
mysteries, and all holy. Each one taught a path in the service of God
according to his own particular qualities, using this path as the central
method in his students. Among the Baal Shem Tov’s students, there were
those who taught a way of Divine service based on great fervor in the
fulfillment of the Torah, together with the nullification of worldly existence
and the unification with the mysterium tremendum during prayer. There
where others who emphasized the centrality of the love and unification of all
of Israel, in order to draw Divine effluence and blessings down to the Jewish
people. Their great love gave them strength in order to unite the hearts of
Israel, inspiring them with words that drew their students to follow in the path
of God. There were still others who taught a mystical form of exegesis, with
discourses full of hints, numerical equivalents, acronyms, revealing holy
names in the words of the Torah. There were even those who taught the Torah
in an enigmatic language, even though they were disciples of masters whose
entire aim was to explain and elucidate the Torah, bringing it within the
borders of man’s intellect. Those who saw fit to hide their language did so
due to the root of their souls and their particular locations, in seeing so many
students and wary of the real possibility of misunderstanding, took care not
to explain their teachings in a revealed language. Even though they spent
much time in this holy and protective manner, there was a great lack of
understanding on the part of their listeners. Such is the case when the
mystery is wrapped in the enigma and expressed in a hidden language. Due
to this, their opponents would incorrectly interpret their words. These
students of the Baal Shem Tov were using all of their powers to instill the faith
in the hearts of Israel to know that God fills the whole world with His glory,
using the perfect words of Torah such as those found in the Zohar, which
shows us how God fills all the worlds and surrounds all the worlds. 149 See
Zohar, Parshat Pinchas, 225a. So their opponents found a dark and narrow
place in which to explain his words as the same as one of the foreign
concepts in the belief in God’s providence that the Rambam quotes in the
Guide (Section 1, Ch. 73) as, “the view of some of the Mutazilites.â€
They believed that existence and the absence of existence are accidents
newly created at every moment. However, anyone seriously studying this
matter in the Guide would see how at the end of the sixth argument of that
same chapter the Rambam refutes their view, a belief that would do away
with any need for Divine service or prayer. So of course neither the Rambam
nor the disciple of the Maggid under discussion ever intended to claim that
this foreign view is in agreement with the view of the Torah. This is not the
direction any Torah leader such as the Rambam would take. Just as the
Rambam, the disciple of the Maggid confronted these foreign ideas as a
result of being exiled in a place of evil waters, 150 The Zohar compares the
study of secular philosophy to drinking “bitter and cursing waters,â€ as
described in the section of the Torah that deals with the suspected
adulteress. (Numbers 5:5) where the denizens of which would drink and
swallow 151 See Ovadia, 1:16. from their local well. The attacks of their
opponents are really as trivial as the drool dripping from a dreamer’s
mouth. In their attacks they claim that the servant of God need not think that
God fills all of the worlds, but only needs to know that God surrounds all of
the worlds. 152 R. Gershon Henokh alludes here to a major theological
debate between the Hasidim and their opponents. To the Hasidim, God’s
present not only “surroundsâ€ the worlds (that is, creates it and directs it
from above), but actually “fillsâ€ the worlds; meaning, the entire world is
filled with Divinity, one only needs to remove the veils that conceal it. To the
opponents of Hasidism, since God is exalted above creation (as it were), one
can only serve Him by transcending the mundane, and choosing those paths
and practices given specifically by God to man to this end – the Torah and
mitzvot. However, to the Hasidim, God’s presence was immanent in
creation; thus, He could be served even through mundane acts, such as
eating, drinking, singing, and dancing. But in making such a misguided
comment he is in fact voicing the view of the idolaters mentioned in the
Talmud Menahot, 110a), “They call God, ‘god of the gods.’ “
This view is contrary to the view of the Torah, for our Torah says, “know
that I am God who makes you holy. 153 Shemot 31:13. “ Yet do not cast
aspersions on these opponents. Their attacks are just a result of an inferior
understanding of the fundamentals of these matters. They merely dressed
their language in ill-fitting garments, totally unsuited for the one wearing
them. Their attacks were a result of a musing of the heart which they were
not able to adequately able to pronounce.

Our master Rabbi Yaakov Yitzhak Horowitz, the Seer of Lublin, studied under
Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezeritch. He subsequently studied under Rabbi Elimelech
of Lijensk, and then began his tenure as a Rabbi in Lublin. He established
many students, all high holy and famous souls. One of his chief disciples was,
“The Holy Yehudi,â€ of Prshisha. The Holy Yehudi departed from this
world during the lifetime of his master, being summoned to the heavenly
Yeshiva before the Seer of Lublin.
The main disciple to emerge from the house of study of the Seer of Lublin
was Rabbi Simha Bunem of Prshisha. He was fiercely brilliant, great in Torah
and the fear of God. He was “the man raised up on high,â€ 154 See
Shmuel 2, 23:1. raising the yoke of Torah. 155 BT Avoda Zara 5a, “R.
Shmuel ben Nakhmani said in the name of R. Yonatan: What is the meaning
of the verse, ‘The saying of David the son of Yishai, and the saying of the
man raised on high.’ It means, the saying of David the son of Yishai, the
man who elevated the yoke of repentance.â€ This is a play on words, for the
word for “on highâ€ – ‘ol – is the same as the word for
“yoke.â€ In his youth he studied under the pre-eminent Talmudic and
Halachic authorities of his day, and from them he received rabbinic
ordination. 156 It is reported that he was very close to Rabbi Akiva Eiger,
recognized as one of the greatest Talmudic scholars of history. Then he
discovered the Hassidic masters of his generation. He drew close to such
masters as Rabbi Moshe Arye Leib of Sassov, the Maggid of Kozhnitz, Rabbi
Dovid of Lelov, and the Holy Yehudi of Prshisha. However, his main teacher
and master was the Seer of Lublin. He loved him greatly and became one of
his private students. In particular, the Seer imparted unto him the secrets of
the Torah. From all these masters he learned the way and conduct of the
Hassidic master, raising many holy students, all seekers who thirsted for the
knowledge of God, who constantly learned and reviewed his teachings.
Almost all of his holy students were sanctified with the blessings of the Torah,
among them those who went out and delivered the Torah’s message to
the masses. We were not privileged to hear a great amount of the knowledge
he had to offer, and what we do have is but a drop from the ocean. 157 R.
Simkha Bunem’s Torah commentary is called the Kol Simkha. There was
no one, not even among his greatest students, who properly arranged and
published his teachings, and sadly, most of them were forgotten. This is the
sad truth about most of the great Hassidic masters. Though we live from the
words of their mouths, we did not merit any clear all-inclusive volumes that
express the things, “that man shall do and live by them.â€ (Vayikra,
18:5)

Chapter 26

Rabbi Mordechai Yosef of Izbitza The author now turns to the greatness of his
grandfather, the first Izhbitzer Rebbe, and his own role in disemmenating the
Rebbe’s teachings.
The greatest of the Rabbi Simcha Bunem’s disciples was my grandfather,
the holy Rav Mordechai Yosef, may his merit protect us and all of Israel,
amen. He was the shining star among the fellowship of Rabbi Simha Bunem,
a fellowship of holy sacrificial lambs dedicating every fiber of their being to
the holy Torah. His fellowship of students was on the level of the fellowship of
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai. Rabbi Mordechai Yosef abandoned all worldly affairs,
selling his house and family inheritance, even all property his holy father the
great Rav Yaakov left him, in order to dedicate himself to the Torah. 158 See
BT Berachot, 35b, which brings opposing views among the sages towards
working for a living. He lived on meager bread, fulfilling the advice of the
Mishnah (Avot, 6:4), “eat bread with salt, drink water, and sleep on the
floor, for this is the way of the Torah.â€ He spent nine years living in the
study house of Rabbi Simha Bunem of Prshisha, only going back home for a
few weeks a year, such as the week Passover. Though he was a weak
physically, often ill, suffering from bronchitis, he never took care of his
physical well-being. He suffered from cold winters due to a lack of proper
clothing, even though he had been pampered as the child of a well-to-do
family. His family traced their lineage to Rashi, who connects him with the
line of King David, the Messiah of Israel.
I heard from Rabbi Mordechai Yosef’s own mouth that when he decided to
travel to study with Rabbi Simha Bunem, he prepared his heart and soul in
order to be truly worthy of receiving the true secrets of the Torah. To do this,
he immersed himself with all the books of Kabbalah in his local house of
study, until he was thoroughly versed in their teachings. He was imbibed with
God’s Torah, full with the Bible, Mishnah, Gemara, Halacha, Midrash, and
the holy Zohar. He knew the entire Mishnah by heart. When he first met Rabbi
Simha Bunem, he said to Rabbi Mordechai Yosef jokingly, “come let us
stand back to back and see who is taller.â€. Then Rabbi Simha Bunem laid
his hands upon him and said, “at present, I am bigger than you. Yet you
are still young, and with the yoke of years, you will grow.â€ And of course,
he was not talking about physical size. It is known that Rabbi Simha Bunem
was a great strapping man, both in size and in Torah knowledge, and Rabbi
Mordechai Yosef, though great in Torah, was of a small, slight physique. I
heard this story from his holy mouth. My grandfather also told how Rabbi
Simha Bunem compared him to the Mei HaShiloach, the spring of Shiloah
which flows from under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem down into the City of
David. “Flowing slowly,â€ (Yeshayahu, 8:6) yet reaching down to the
greatest depths. This is why his Torah commentary is called the, “Mei
HaShiloach.â€

He began to reveal the meaning of the Torah using the language of the Torah,
and to explain the Torah in an accurate and organized fashion. In this way his
holy and pure wellsprings rushed forth, established on foundations of truth
and faith, teaching this knowledge to the students who listened to his voice.
He removed their confusion and clarified their uncertainties which required
explanation. His teachings were like finely sifted flour, explaining the words of
our sages which were dressed in garments that concealed their light. He
taught all the fundamentals in the thought of the sages, in the mountains of
sanctity, spreading the knowledge of Torah to the many, until they were
capable of understanding the teachings of the Rashâ€bi and the Arizaâ€l
as one understands simple laws. Notwithstanding, his teachings were never
written down in his lifetime, and had we attempted this in his lifetime, there
would not have been enough ink and paper to contain all his teachings. And
still, his teachings were instilled so deeply in the hearts of his students so
much that the little that could be collected after his passing was contained in
the book, the Mei HaShiloach. It includes ta’amei haMitzvot, biblical
exegesis, explanations of the Talmud, both of the revealed and secret
aspects, explanations of the festivals, and the path of ethical Torah behavior
signified by love and fear of the Creator. And yet, since it is written in a highly
concise manner, presenting the main ideas without references and lengthy
explanations, the book manages to present most of his teachings. These are
a distillation of the actual discourses that he delivered. His actual discourses
brought the knowledge from the Source of Life in its original pristine form.
That is to say, he gave functional explanations of all of his ideas. However,
when I collected these teachings, my hair still dripped with the dew of youth,
and I only felt confident to write down the teachings exactly as they were
transmitted from those who had heard them. A minority of the teachings are
those which I had actually heard from the Rebbe, and those are adequately
explained. However, the majority of the teachings in the Mei HaShilaoch were
transmitted from several of his students who had not completed their studies,
and remembered only the outline of the teachings. Therefore they are not
written in a complete way, and many passages are not clear to one who was
not accustomed to his way of speaking. I have in my possession many
manuscripts of teachings transmitted by the Rebbe, and will publish them,
God willing, along with a more detailed explanation of the more obscure
passages in the Mei HaShilaoch. From there you will see and understand the
depth of his holy words, matters that are clear and lofty. May God allow me to
publish them in the merit of my holy forefathers. Rabbeynu Mordechai Yosef
himself told me many times to learn how to write, because only I could write
down his innovative Torah concepts. He also instructed me to develop my
own innovations on his teachings.
Chapter 27

Masters and Disciples – Remaining Faithful to the Transmission The author
concludes the previous chapter by mentioning how his grandfather, R.
Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz, encouraged him to record his own original
thoughts, based upon Izhbitzer teachings. In the history of Hasidism, Izhbitz is
certainly one of the most original schools of thought, with the writings of R.
Gershon Henokh among the most radical. Nonetheless, in this chapter, he
explains the importance of standing in an interpretive tradition, and the need
to base all of one’s original thoughts firmly on what one has received
from his teachers; for to do otherwise would be akin to making a graven
image.
I heard directly from the Admor (the Isbitzer Rebbe), that he noticed scholars
of his own generation who had believed that they had devised an original
Torah innovation, and were later disappointed to find that it had already been
written down somewhere in the tradition. I myself will not let a word of Torah
pass my lips until I have seen its source in writing. The Zohar states
(Vayeitse, 163a): Rabbi Elazar opened and said (Mishlei 9:12), “If you are
wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you have scorned, you alone shall bear
your sin.â€ “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,â€ woe is to the
wicked of the world, who do not know and do not see the words of the Torah!
And when they look into it, since they have no sense, it seems to them as if
the words of Torah are empty and of no use. This is all because such people
are devoid of consciousness and understanding … every word written in the
Torah is mare precious than pearls, there is nothing in the world equal in
value to a single word of the Torah! And when the closed-hearted fools see
the words of the Torah, it is not enough that they do not know, but they say
that the words are blemished and useless. Woe to them, when the time
comes for the Holy One, blessed be He, to render judgment for the disgrace
of the Torah, and meets out punishment for those who rebelled against their
Master. We find that the Torah says, “it is not an empty thing for you,â€
and if it is empty, the emptiness comes from you. For the Torah is filled with
all manner of precious gems and pearls … and how could one say that it is
empty? King Shlomo said, “If you are wise, then you are wise for
yourself,â€ because if one has been clever in the Torah, the fact remains
that it is still impossible to add so much as one letter to the Torah. “And if
you have scorned, you shall bear your sin,â€ because the honor and praise
of the Torah has not been reduced whatsoever, the scorn is only upon the
scoffer, and remains with him to cause him to disinherit this world and the
next. It is clear from the Zohar that the two matters are one. One who boasts
to himself and claims that he can add words of Torah that he did not receive
as a tradition, is equated as one who derides the Torah, for he does not take
the Torah seriously. [This does not include one who gives an insightful
explanation into the words of the sages, if he received it from his Rav then it
is accepted as being authentic. We assume that his Rav received an authentic
tradition and trusted source. This is as we find in the Zohar (Vayeishev,
192a), “One who looks into that which he learned from his Rav, and looks
at it with this wisdom, can then further add to it in the same spirit.â€ The
point being, only when he looks into the words of his Rav. Similarly, the Zohar
says of Eliyahu and Elisha (Vayeitse, 154a), “from here we learn that
through the revealed, man arrives at the hidden.â€ This means, that if he
understands the revealed matters deeply he will then see the hidden
knowledge concealed within. And still it is improper to invent teachings that
lack a trusted source and strong foundation.]
The Zohar makes several mentions of statements that lack a foundation or
accepted tradition from one’s Rav. (Yithro, 87a): Rabbi Yitzchak opened
(Kohelet, 5:5), “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin.â€ How
greatly does man need to be careful not to err in the words of Torah, and not
to derive explanations of the Torah that he did not receive from his Rav. He
who says a word of Torah that he did not know or receive from his Rav, of him
it is written, “Do not make an idol or any image.â€ The Holy One,
blessed be He, will exact punishment from him in the world-to-come. At the
time when his soul wants to ascend to its place, it will be pushed outside, and
will be destroyed from the binds of eternal life of all other souls. The Zohar
then compares illegitimate innovations to fathering a bastard. As it is taught
(in the continuation of Kohelet 5:5), “Why should God be angry at your
voice.â€ “Voice,â€ is man’s soul. Rabbi Chiyya said, therefore it is
written, “Hashem your God is a jealous God.â€ For what reason? It is
because He is jealous for His name’s sake in everything. If it is because of
the form of the face, (of the bastard) He is jealous for His name, since it is
lying in His name. And the same is true for the Torah, (when one teaches that
which he does not know and did not receive from his Rav.)â€
This hints at what is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Nasso, 9), “Rabbi
Abbahu told a parable about a painter who was painting the image of a king.
159 When he was at the point of finishing the painting, they told him that the
king had died, and another king was ruling in his place. When the painter
heard this, he became despondent and said, “What shall I do with these
drawings? Should I finish the painting in the form of the first king or of the
second? In this way he was he uncertain. Thus it is when a man has marital
relations with his wife, the Holy One, blessed be He, fashions the embryo in
the visage of his father. But when the adulterer comes upon her, all the fluids
are mixed. This is as it is written (Hosea 4:2), ‘There is swearing, and lying,
and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break all bounds, and
blood leads to blood.’ What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He went
back, so to speak, and changed the form of the embryo from the father to the
adulterer. This was to fulfill what is written (Iyov 24:15), “(the adulterer)
hides his face.â€ (That is, God “hidesâ€ the face of the adulterer in the
embryo.) This is as we have said (Devarim 32:18), ‘you were unmindful of
the Rock that bore you, and you forgot God who gave birth to you.’ “
The passage of the Zohar that we are dealing with finishes: If it is because of
the Torah (that is, he is giving inauthentic interpretations to the Torah), it is
taught that the entire Torah is a name of the Holy One, blessed be He. There
is not a word in the Torah that is not included in the Holy Name. For this
reason it is imperative to exercise extreme caution so as to not err with
regards to the Holy Name … Rabbi Abba said, it is written, “do not make
a carved image ( pesel - idol).â€ In another place it is written, “ p’sol
- carve for yourself two tablets of stone.â€ “Do not make a carved
imageâ€ means do not transmit another Torah that you did not know, and
that your Rav did not tell you. What is the reason? “I am Hashem your
God, a jealous God,â€ I am the One who will exact punishment from you in
the world-to-come, at the time when the soul desires to go up before Me,
there are some souls that are destined to deceive, and be cast into hell.â€

It is written in the Zohar (Introduction to Bereshit, 5a): Come and see! For one
whose way is not in the mysteries of the Torah, and innovates words whose
true true meaning he does not fully understand, the word ascends, and the
“man of reversals, the tongue of liesâ€ 160 Mishle 2:12. goes out to
meet it from the nukva d’tehoma rabba (chasm of the great abyss),
leaping five hundred miles to receive the word. It takes itI to its mate, and
makes him into a false firmament … and once this false firmament exists,
the wife of whoredom 161 cf. Hoshea 1:2 immediately comes and joins it.
From there she goes forth and kills several thousands and myriads. 162
Simply put, when a person reveals secrets of Torah that he himself does not
fully understand, the forces of evil attach themselves to his words, which can
then be misunderstood by many others, causing them to die spiritual deaths.
From this we see clearly that one who does not believe in the words of the
sages, and them makes original interpretations of their words, owing to his
difficulty in believing them or because he thinks that their words are far-
fetched, or because the words of the sages do not please him as they are
written, of him it is written, “If you have scoffed, you alone will bear the
sin.â€ This is as we find in the Zohar (Vayeitse, 163a), “All the closed-
hearted fools, when they see the words of the Torah, it is not enough that
they do not know, but they go on to say that the words are blemished!â€

Chapter 28

The Principles of Interpretation Returning to the theme of authentic Torah

transmission, the author now rejects those who proffer false and misguided
interpretations of the Torah, both individuals of his time and of previous
generations. Whereas humankind has been given a free hand to interpret the
Torah, there remain limitations as to how far this freedom can go. The author
rails against those deny the truth of the statements of the sages, or who draw
conclusions that would lead to the abrogation of halachah. Most likely, his
attack was directed against the maskilim and Jewish reformers of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, who sought to remodel Judaism into
something other than the traditional path of the Written and Oral traditions,
and who were particular opposed to the more fantastical elements of
Rabbinic lore and Kabbalistic tradition. On another level, however, the author
may be defending his own interpretive line, as well. The teachings of his
grandfather, R. Mordekhai Yosef, were very controversial in their time,
particularly his claim that “all is in the hands of heaven, including the fear
of heavenâ€; meaning, that Divine providence rules over every aspect of
human life – including sin and transgression. Such an antinomian approach
could easily be misused to justify sinning as a fulfillment of God’s will. R.
Gershon Henokh may well be saying that despite the radical nature of
Izhbitzer thought, it never actively preaches the abrogation of halachah or
Jewish tradition.
In the middle ages there were scholars whose far-fetched interpretations
were tantamount to building altars to their own intellects. They reversed to
intention of the writings, giving false interpretations of words and combining
verses in ways not following their meanings. It became easy for such scholars
to build their ideas into structures according to the winds of their fantasies.
So too did they find it easy to coin terms and values based on loose
associations and similarities. Of this it said in the [Talmud] Yerushalmi
(Ma’asrot, ch. 3 Mishnah 4) that Rabbi Zeira lambasted those who
incorrectly explained the aggadot (legends of the Talmud), calling them
tellers of fairy tales. Concerning these medieval scholars, it reached such an
extent that they were making the sacred profane and the profane sacred,
turning the pure into impure and the reverse. Even concerning holy names,
they mixed up the sacred and the profane, and did not even refrain from
offering interpretations contrary to the halacha. It is true that the Torah is
given to interpretation, and even for one who is not intending to reach the
depth of the Torah’s mysteries. Yet with one ventures into the hints and
hermeneutic interpretations, it is crucial that he not miss the target whether
in secrets or in halacha. And if he does not err, all is given to interpretation
and the innovator is worthy of reward. This is as it is said in the Yerushalmi
(end of Berachot), “all talk is idle, and the words of Torah are good.â€
163 Meaning the only meaningful words are the words of Torah. Why? As it is
said in the Midrash and the Zohar numerous times, “there are seventy
faces to the Torah.â€ Yet still, each face, each interpretation, must coincide
with halacha, and not, God forbid, contradict halacha.

I have seen those with expressions of consternation coming before me, and in
their interpretations turn the sacred into profane to such an extent that they
explain the names of idols as holy. I refer you to what the Shaar Efraim writes
in his responsa (siman 64-65) concerning those who interpret the sacred as
profane, and all the more so those who interpret the profane as sacred, that it
is tantamount to brining idols into the Holy Temple God forbid. We even find
in the Talmud (Chaggigah, 14a) that in response to his interpretation, Rabbi
Yossi haGalili says to Rabbi Akiva, “Akiva! For how long will you make the
Shekhina profane!â€ It is written in the Zohar (Pinchas, 234b), “Since
there are elohim acherim (false gods) on this it is said (Shemot, 22:19), ‘he
who offers sacrifices to any god, save Hashem alone, will be utterly
destroyed.’ This is in order not to mix up Elohim Chayiim (The living God)
with elohim acherim (false gods).â€ It is said in the Talmud (Sanhedrin, 38b),
“(Shemot, 24:21) al tamer bo (do not provoke Him), and read this as, ‘
al tamireini bo (do not exchange Me for him.).â€ On this it is written in the
Sefer Chasisdim (siman 936), “Do not change the Name into something
mundane, for we are taught that you may not make an exact scale replica of
the any part of the Hoy Temple.â€ The legal authorities discuss the law if a
ritual scribe errs, and while writing, inadvertently sanctifies a mundane name.
They equate this with dedicating a blemished animal to the altar. In the
Midrash Tanchuma (Terumah, 3), we find Turnusrufus asking Rabbi Akiva why
he called his dogs in the name of Turnusrufus and his wife. Rabbi Akiva
answered, “What is the difference between you and my dogs? You take
sticks and stones and call them by the name of the Holy One, blessed be
He.â€ This blunder is a result of not adequately receiving the knowledge of
our Rabbis, and to such an extent that they have built altars to themselves
and their forms, for they assume that their own ideas represent the teachings
of the Torah.
The Rishonim (the Torah sages from the 10th to the 15th century) were adept
at interpreting the Torah. However, when more recent interpreters confronted
the words of the early and later sages of the Gemara, their fondness for their
own intellects led them far afield in their understanding, and they departed
from the proper explanation of the Torah. It was an, “every man for
himselfâ€ kind of interpretation. Then it became easy for them to say
whatever suited their minds when they simply did not understand the words
of the sages. They said things that the sages would never have said, and
interpreted in ways that are, God forbid, not arriving at the truth of their
words. See how we are sitting in the dust before His pride and calling His
Great Name, He upon whom all honor depends! A sycophant cannot come
before God, and does not even take interest in the words of the Tanaim and
Amoraim. All of his admirers agree to his words and proclaim his holiness,
and feel they are justified in their agreement. For a sycophant cannot come
before Him, and will not even take note of awesome wisdom of the early
sages, not even realizing that the sages were speaking against him. Do we
not find the halacha instructing us that even concerning one’s Rabbi,
even if he is not greater than him but whom he simply learned from, that
when he sees the Rabbi transgressing a rabbinical commandment it is
forbidden for him to say that the action is forbidden, but should rather say,
“I learned it this way, Rabeynu.â€ This is as is codified in the Tur (Yorah
Deah, 246), where if his Rabbi made a clear mistake, even concerning a
verse, you should simply say, “this is the way the verse goes in the
Torah.â€ So too have we found it said several times in the Gemara, (rather
than contradicting him), “read to him this verse,â€ since he does not
want to correct him overtly. How much more so when later generations are
confronting earlier generations. We find a great difference between each
generation – the Acharonim are far from the Rishonim, as are the Rishonim
from the Amoraim and the Amoraim from the Tanaim. But all together they
build the corpus of the Talmud. Concerning this difference it is written (Yoma,
9b), “a fingernail of the early sages is worth more than the belly of the
later sages.â€ So too is it said (Shabbat, 112b), “If the early generation
of sages are sons of angels, then we are sons of men. And if you say that he
early sages are men, then we are as donkeys, but still inferior to the donkey
of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair! (who, though he was a donkey, was careful to
refrain from eating untithed fodder.)â€ And how much more so in our own
generation, what is our life, what is our power? We are as ivy on the walls. We
are like a mosquito before Seraphim! It is only in the light of the Rishonim
that we see light! And in a place where we do not understand their words it is
incumbent upon us to know that the deficiency lies within us and the great
limitations of our minds. The deficiency and guilt is upon us.

The Reshit Chochma dwelt on this point at length ( shaar hakedusha, ch. 12).
These are his holy words. “Just as we are required to believe in the whole
Torah of Moshe, so are we required to believe in the words of the later
halachic authorities ( divrei sofrim ), and in what they explained concerning
the legends of the Torah ( agadot ). And even if one thinks that it is
impossible, we are to ascribe the deficiency on our own understanding and
not on their words. Anyone who derides any of their words shall be punished.
This is as is written in the Gemara (Eruvin, 21b), ‘Rav Papa said in the
name of Raba bar Ula, whosoever derides the words of the sages shall be
sentenced to a hell of boiling dung.’ So too do we find in told in Gittin
(57a) that a student of Rabbi Yochanan was punished for scoffing at Rabbi
Yochanan for saying that in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring
precious gems thirty by thirty cubits in size.â€ In mentioning this Gemara,
the Be’r haGolah (be’r 6, Rosh HaShanna, ch. 15) said, “how many
piles of bones were made of this scoffer, in punishment for all that he did not
believe.â€ When a man finds the words of the sages strange, he may then
go on to assert that they are inventions. If a student were to ascend from
level to level until God showed him the supernal angels, he would certainly
believe in the words of the sages and their explanations. Yet he did not even
believe in the simple meaning of their homilies. He rather turned them
around in his mind to fit a certain intention, so Rabbi Yochanan gazed upon
him and reduced him to a pile of bones. It would be well to see the
Maharâ€shal’s explanation of this story, who said that this man who did
not believe was a heretic until he saw the angels. And so, a man must believe
that even the simple explanations of the words of the sages are true. This is
as the Ramban wrote in his Sefer Emuna V’Bitachon (ch. 9), “When
the sages said that any given verse does not depart from the simple
meaning, this does not mean that it can only be interpreted according to its
simple meaning. We have leaned that though there are seventy “facesâ€
to the Torah, not one of them may contradict the simple meaning.â€ This is
just as the Ramban explained in his Hasagot on the Sefer HaMitzvot, that all
that is written in the Torah, its explanations and the explications of its
explanations which flow from a faithful source, are all expressing the truth of
the Torah at all levels of truth. And our entire hold on the tradition of the
Torah requires that we grasp the hem of the mantle of the Rishonim. For if we
know and recognize that the Rishonim were like angels, then we are like men.
And if we are to contend that the Rishonim were merely men like us, and
therefore we can give our own critique and opinion of the validity of their
teachings, then we are like donkeys, but not as the donkey of Rabbi Pinchas
ben Yair.

Consider the way our Torah predecessors gave great honor to the unique
among them, even though they were all holy individuals. We find a certain
agadata in the Talmud (see Megilla, 15b) is interpreted in nine different ways,
and Eliyahu haNavi agrees that all of them are true. “Raban Shimon ben
Gamliel said, ‘still, we need the Moda’ii.’ “ Though the
interpretation of Elazar HaModa’ii was different from the rest, he still
found it essential to honor him and include his words. This being so, how
could anyone in our generation have the audacity to do away with the
opinion of Rabbi Elazar haModa’ii? I will give the order to punish those
guilty of this rebellion and trespass. They do not know the great implications
of their sin. Suffice that the heavens shall reveal it, and the earth below will
rise up against them. It is a grave offence. He is like one who waits to ambush
others, but in the end he will afflict his soul with pennitentiary fasting until his
teeth turn black. We find this in the Gemara (Chagiga, 22b), where Rabbi
Yehoshua once claimed that he was ashamed that a certain opinion of Beit
Shammai concerning the laws of purity had ever been stated, claiming that it
did not make sense. After Beit Shammai’s opinion was properly explained,
Rabbi Yehoshua threw himself on the graves of Beit Shammai to beg
forgiveness, and it was said that in the coming years his teeth turned black
from penitential fasts he endured for this incident. In another passage
concerning the laws of purity Rabbi Akiva taught that coming into contact
with two halves of a revi’it of blood from two separate dead bodies
imparts ritual impurity. The Sages disagreed with this opinion, claiming that
only a complete revi’it of blood from one body departs impurity. Rebbi
taught in the name of Bar Kapara, “do not count the ruling about the
revi’it of blood among the rulings that Rabbi Akiva retracted.â€ Rabbi
Shimon then jeered at this by saying, “as long as he was alive he ruled
that it makes one impure, but whether or not he retracted it after he died, I
am not sure.â€ The Gemara says that eventually Rabbi Shimon’s teeth
turned black from fasting, and that he would fill his eyes with clods of earth
from the floor of Rabbi Akiva’s house of study. [However, when the
Gemara says (Chullin 24a), “even if Yehoshua bin Nun had said it, I would
not have accepted it,â€ – it is a case where the law had been accepted a
certain way, and no opposition can change it. This is how the law is
established in the Shulchan Aruch (Yore Deah, 242:36), “One who says of
his fellow, I would not accept the law from him even if he was like Yehoshua
bin Nun, is worthy of niddui (excommunication, shunning). This is not so when
he says this of an opinion contrary to a law that is universally accepted.â€
(The Rambam explains this his introduction to seder Zeraim, part 2.)] The
disregard for the words of any of the sages is a result of a limited
understanding and an insufficient tenure in the house of study. This is as the
Zohar say (Balak, 193b), “When one praises himself, it is a sign that he
does not know anything.â€ Such misguided people err in the very method of
the sages of the Gemara. They are mistaken in that they believe that each
sage would explain as he saw fit and however his spirit moved him. They do
not know that our holy predecessors did not say anything from their own
minds, but only taught that which they had received in the tradition from a
faithful source. Who would have the audacity to offer his own opinion in a
place where he does not understand their words? “For I am more boorish
than a man, and I do not have the understanding of a man. I have not learned
wisdom,â€ and I do not have the understanding of the holy. (Mishlei 30:2)
Furthermore, the words of Rabbi Elazar HaModa’ii are also found in
Targum Yonatan (one of the Aramaic translations of the Torah), and the
Targum claims that when one thinks he is doing a great service to explain
difficult passages with contrived solutions not based on tradition he is only
making them more incomprehensible.

Chapter 29

Rav Mordechai Yosef of Isbitzer – Bringing Divine Wisdom into the Borders
of the Mind The author now returns to a discussion of the greatness of his
grandfather, Rabbi Mordekhai Yosef Leiner, founder of Izhbitzer hasidism.
Citing a Zoharic text that applies the date of the Great Deluge to the year
5600 (1740), he notes that it was in this very the year that his grandfather
became a Hasidic Rebbe in his own right, thus fulfilling the prophecy that
“gates of wisdom will be opened above, and the wellsprings of wisdom
belowâ€ – to flood the world with spiritual knowledge Furthermore, R.
Gershon Henokh finds messianic significance to this event, as well, in that the
Izbhitzer Rebbe brought the deepest secrets of Kabbalah down to the lowest
level, making them understandable even to children. This is part of the
Messianice enterprise of continuing the downward flow of Torah and
revelation from the highest realms to the lowest.
Rabbi Mordechai Yosef was a central figure among the followers of Rabbi
Simcha Bunem of Pshiske. He was a dedicated servant, and did not depart
from the tent of Torah. After the passing of Rabbi Simcha Bunem, Rabbi
Mordechai Yosef suffered thirteen years of hiding in the “cave of
Addulam.â€ 164 A reference to Micha, 1:16, “The glory of Israel will
reach Addulam,â€ meaning that the light was greatly concealed, and all that
remained was that which was necessary to maintain life. See an explanation
of this in the Beit Yaakov, parshat Vayeishev, MB. He felt that the time had
not yet come to teach the Torah in public. Yet for the few that came to him,
he taught the wisdom of the Torah in a discreet and modest way. Then, in the
year 5600, the word of God came to him, 165 See Tehillim 105:19, where
Yosef was in prison until the word of God came and refined him, calling him to
his mission as a leader. and he was Divinely inspired. This was the time
hinted at in the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Zohar (Vayeira
116b), “when the the sixth millennium arrives, which is the secret of the
letter Vav (ו) (six).â€ The Zohar continues (117a), “In the six
hundredth year of the sixth millennium, the gates of wisdom will be opened
above, and the wellsprings of wisdom below … then the rainbow will be seen
in its brilliant colors.â€ And further in the Zohar (118a), “Rabbi Shimon
said to them, God does not desire to greatly reveal himself in this world. Yet
when the days of the Mashiach come close, even little children will reveal the
secrets of Torah wisdom.â€ This means that man will finally attain a clear
apprehension of the Torah’s wisdom, through the understanding that all
matters of Torah are necessary for each individual of Israel in order to serve
God. It is said in the Gemara (Chagiga, 14b), “even concerning
Ma’aseh Merkava, the mysteries of the Torah, there are those who are
adept at explaining, and those who are adept at performing.â€ That is to
say, man will understand that in order to serve God through the words of
Torah, the foundation of his soul needs the most precious and sublime Torah
knowledge. This being so, God will send His salvation from the heavens, His
steadfast love and truth. 166 See Tehillim, 57:4 When we see the fulfillment
of Rabbi Shimon’s prophetic vision that the, “wellsprings of wisdom
will be opened below,â€ do not be wary of the many warnings in the Zohar
against revealing secrets to those who are not worthy of their power, for then
the times themselves will demand such a revelation. Rabbi Elazar ben Arach
hinted at this in the Midrash Ne’elam (Zohar, Toldot, 140a), “Who will
be worthy of this time? Who will remain and uphold the law during this time?
â€ Rabbi Elazar ben Arach understood the redemption would start in the
year 6000. Yet based on his understanding of Bereshit ch. 23 (the children of
Cheit) he ascertained that the resurrection of the dead would not be
complete until the year 6408. Rebbi Yehoshua resolved this contradiction
saying that the perfectly righteous would be resurrected in the beginning of
the ingathering of the exiles, at the fortieth year of the sixth millennium.
However, the less perfect, depending on their level, would be resurrected in
the ensuing years up to 6408. Rebbi Elazar ben Arach was troubled that many
may slip into degradation in those years, and forsake the Torah.

Chapter 30

Kabbalah – No Longer a Danger As for those who criticize the Hasidic
movement for revealing Kabbalistic secrets that had been concealed for
millennium, R. Gershon Henokh now explains that the need to conceal
esoteric truths is over. Nor is there a reason to conceal these truths in
philosophical language (as did the Rambam); for those who choose to turn
away from Torah now do so unabashedly, without excuse. For this same
reason, there is no fear that this secret body of knowledge will be
misappropriated and used as an excuse to justify sin. Those who do believe,
however, are admonished to cling to the Righteous in their generation, who
will lead them in the way of God.
In ancient times, the majority of Israelites were strong in their faith. Anyone
who wanted to transgress the Torah felt greatly ashamed before his
community, and had to justify his transgression through the study of
philosophy. That is, he needed an unresolved philosophical conundrum to
provide him with an opening to act against the Torah. This is clear from the
books that were written in those days, as they made great efforts to confront
and rebuke ideas foreign to the Torah. This is as it is said (Hoseha, 14:10),
“the righteous will walk in them, and the sinners shall stumble in
them.â€ Therefore the sages of Kabbalah found it necessary to include in
their mystical teachings proofs and philosophical foundations so those
learning their words would do so in the way of faith. Thus they presented
their ideas on philosophical foundations, so their words gained popular
renown. 167 In other words, the writings of great medieval Rabbis would not
have been read by philosophers, had they been written in a philosophical
style. And as great Rabbis, their words can be relied upon regardless of such
a style. We have previously discussed how the Tsadikim also took the
foundations of philosophy as the foundations of their study. This required
them to be extremely careful with their words so as not to lead their readers
astray. This is why the secrets of the Torah are greatly hidden in their
writings.

Indeed now in our own generation, after we have undergone centuries of

suffering, for one to transgress the Torah he need not resort to philosophy.
The shameful will simply turn away and the insolent will rise up. This is as we
find in the Gemara (Sotah, 49b), “in the end of days, insolence ( chutzpa )
will be prevalent.â€ One who wants to disregard all but his own desires need
not find a proof from the Torah, for who is able to tell him what to do? Just as
it is a mitzvah to speak words that will be listened to, so too it is a mitzvah
not to speak when you will not be heeded. Similarly, the scant remnant,
“one of a city and two of a family,â€ 168 Yirmiyahu, 3:14 who believe in
God, in His Torah, and all its explanations, need no foundations or proofs of
the existence of God from the teachings of philosophy.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai had our generation in mind when he said the
following in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 69, page 111b), “‘My friends!
’ said Rabbi Shimon, ‘certainly God agrees with us, in the upper realms
and the lower realms, to be in this fellowship. Fortunate it the future
generation who will be worthy of revealing our secret wisdom. Our teachings
will be revealed by Moshe in the end of days, in fulfillment of the verse
(Kohelet, 1:9), “what has passed is what shall be,â€ 169 The first letters
of the verse spell “Mosheâ€ : מַה שּ×ֶהָיָה
הוּ× ש×ֶיִּהְיֶה and in it (Tehillim 33:14),
“He watches from His dwelling place.â€ 170 The first letters also spell,
“Mosheâ€ : מִמְּכוֹן ש×ִבְתּוֹ ×”Ö
´×©×Ö°×’Ö¼Ö´×™×— The first letters of the words (in Tehillim 144:15),
“fortunate is the people for whom it is like this!â€ is the numerical
equivalent of “Moshe.â€ 171 In the verse, ×ַש×ְרֵי ×”Ö¸×
¢Ö¸× ש×ֶכָּכָה לּוֹ, the word
ש×ֶכָּכָה is the numerical equivalent of משה, or 345.
The same verse continues, “Fortunate is the people for whom Hashem is
their God,â€ and on this it is said (Kohellet 1:4), “a generation comes,
and a generation goes,â€ and there is no generation with less than sixty
myriad (600,000). On this it is said, “He commanded His word for a
thousand generations,â€ meaning that that Moshe’s influence is present
in the Tsadikim and Torah scholars of every generation, whose efforts in the
Torah reaches the level of, “sixty myriad.â€ 172 The Talmud states that
the soul of Moshe Rabeynu was equal to the 600,000 male Israelites who left
Egypt during the redemption. The influence of these scholars, bearers of the
soul of Moshe, fixes the blemish on the rest of the generation. And in the
sixth Tikkun (Tikkunei Zohar, 23b): How many people will derive their spiritual
sustenance from the teachings of the Zohar when it is revealed below in the
end of days! So in this generation, there is no great worry about revealing the
secrets of Kabbalah. In the first place, the Zohar itself predicts its eventual
revelation in the sixth millennium. And second, there is no fear that the
secret knowledge will be misappropriated and used as an excuse to justify
sin. In our days, if one wants to sin, he does not present a proof from Torah
ideas to justify his actions. For these reasons, the time has come to seek out
the work of God and delve into the secrets of the Torah. In truth, the remnant
of the faithful are small in numbers, and many do not feel worthy or confident
to study the mysteries of the Torah. Still they may assuage their fears by
connecting to the true scholars and recipients of the secret knowledge, those
proven in their righteousness, who walk in the straight and honest way.

Chapter 31

The Beit Yaakov – Continuing the Revelation of Rav Mordechai Yosef Here
the author defines Rav Mordekhai Yosef’s unique contribution to the
unfolding revelation of Torah; for he taught how all teachings of the
Torah’s mysteries – even those which seem beyond man’s
understanding – are eternally relevant and apply to each and every soul.
Following that, he praises the vast knowledge of his father, R. Yaakov Lainer,
son and scion of the Izhbitzer Rebbe, 173 It should be noted that R. Yaakov
Leiner was only one of the inheritors of Izhbitzer Hasidism, the other being R.
Leibel Eiger (grandson of the famous Talmudist, R. Akiva Eiger). After the
death of R. Eiger, R. Zaddok HaKohen of Lublin took over that branch of the
hasidut. describing him as a Torah scholar of the first order, with a profound
grasp of the tradition, and an extremely clear understanding of both halacha
and Kabbalah. 174 Unfortunately, most of his extensive writings on both
esoteric and exoteric texts were lost during the second world war. He
concludes with his family lineage, which traces itself back to King David.
Rav Mordechai Yosef was the first one to open the gate, and establish the
fundamentals of the true tradition of the Torah’s mysteries. He taught
how all teachings of the Torah’s mysteries, even those which seem
beyond the reach of man’s understanding, are all relevant and apply to
every soul. His teachings are like plantings whose roots are below, and bear
fruit in the realms above. This fruit is known, revealed, and seen in our own
exposition of his words, expressed in the verse (Devarim, 28:10), “and all
the peoples of the world shall see that the name of God is called upon –
“ us, the lovers of God and his Torah, constantly involved with the Torah,
honoring the Torah, guarding its commandments, surrounding them with
protective fences. He was a recipient of the true tradition of the Torah’s
mysteries, founded on the belief in God, may He be blessed, established on
the faith of the holy shepherds of Hasidism. This will all be explained in the
second section, the introduction to the Beit Yaakov. There we will present and
explain the received tradition of the Torah’s secrets, and that which
cannot be overtly exposed will be alluded to in subtle hints. Furthermore, I
will give over words that have only been transmitted from mouth to the ear of
the mekubalim of our fellowship, each one according to his level.

Rabbeynu Mordechai Yosef lived a life of suffering. For a mere thirteen years
he was publicly known as a Rebbe, of frail health the entire duration, scarcely
seeing good fortune without several troubles closing in on him from all sides.
He passed away on the seventh of Tevet, 5614 (1854) and found his final
resting place in the town of Isbitza. Blessed is God who has not forsaken us,
and a Tsaddik does not pass out of the world without God leaving a Tsaddik in
his place! His son, Rabeynu Yaakov of Isbitza, took on the role of leadership
after him, and all of the followers of R. Mordechai Yosef who desired the true
teachings of the mysteries of the Torah continued to follow R. Yaakov. The
small opening which R. Mordechai Yosef began was greatly expanded upon by
his son R. Yaakov. He was possessed a tremendous intellect, expert in the
Halacha, Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Sifrei, Sifra, and writings of the holy
Arizaâ€l, R. Yitzchak Luria. He explained them all in a clear fashion, to the
extent where while under his guidance, all these areas of Torah were open
books to all who entered their gates. The incisiveness of his intellect in the
area of Halacha was an awesome wonder to behold. With every law, he
revealed its inner depths, and its clear connection to the source in the
Talmud. I saw how whenever a student came to him who did not understand
the nature or source of a law, R. Yaakov did not hesitate for a split second, but
revealed its exact meaning and its source in the Talmud Bavli, Yerushalmi,
Sifri, or Sifra on the spot. I never again witnessed a mind with such a
tremendous hold on the meaning of the law and its way of learning. So many
matters that he explained are recorded, yet not one of his numerous Torah
innovations, and there are so many Torah matters included in his innovations.
He was an ever flowing spring of Torah, each day increasing more wisdom
and knowledge, both in the revealed and hidden studies. All who saw him
witnessed this. He provided numerous clear expositions of the mysteries of
the Torah, as to clarify the deepest depths and open the most closed of
secrets. His teaching were a veritable highway for all who wanted ride on the
way of truth in the hidden mysteries. Among them are many annotations on
the obscure passages of the Zohar and the writings of the Arizaâ€l, all
explained with wondrous understanding and wisdom, as all who look into this
book will clearly see.

We possess many complete compilations of R. Yaakov of Isbitza’s writings.

They are: * ta’amei hamitzvot on almost all of the 613 commandments.
*commentary on all of the daily prayers. *a commentary on the Shabbat and
festival prayers, Rosh Chodesh, fast days. This includes an exposition of their
sources from the Sages of the Talmud and the Zohar. *commentaries on all
the writings of the Arizal, - the tree, the fruit and the branches – they are
life for those who find them, fully explained for all who enter their gates. 175
Most of these writings were lost during the Second World War. R. Yaakov of
Isbitza passed away in the year 5638 (1878) on the 15th of the month of Av.
He left the world when traveling to the town of Drozganik for health reasons.
His grave is in the town of Ratnitza.
Most of his Torah output was not written in an organized fashion, for he did
not write down his teachings. The very little that was written down properly
was that which he instructed me to write. In the first years he did not want to
disturb my study of Halacha by asking me to transcribe his teachings. He
once told me, “if I were to explain to you the true inner meaning of any
matter in Torah, you would no longer want to learn Halacha. At that point in
your studies, if I reveal the mysteries of the Torah, you will then be
prematurely illuminated, only wanting to dwell in the realm of the mysteries
and no longer study the revealed Torah. This is because you will see that the
simple meaning of the Torah’s teachings are just a garment, and the inner
essence is the neshama (soul). First occupy yourself with Halacha, and
eventually you will understand that within the revealed Halacha are all of the
inner mysteries. Then you will take joy in learning both aspects of the
Torah.â€ At the end of his life I transcribed his commentary on the Eyts
CHayyim of the Arizal. I managed to write more than two hundred pages on a
few chapters. Also, I have hundreds of pages of his teachings on various
disparate matters, including his commentary on the Torah.

The first book of my fathers that I published was the Beit Yaakov HaKollel, a
concise and comprehensive explanation of the holy Torah. It will open the
gate that was closed by our predecessors, whose words were difficult to
understand. The knowledge found in this book brings the words of the Torah
into the grasp of man’s understanding, offering the consciousness
necessary to reveal the depths of the Torah’s mysteries and the path of
faith, free of doubt concerning God’s governance and providence over His
creation. It contains moral instruction to refine the hearts of Israel, with
advice on proper conduct. The book also explains the prayers and festivals,
the fundamentals of the inner meaning of mitzvot, and a commentary on the
Tanaâ€ch and selections from the Talmud, all explained according to the
“Pardes.â€ 176 Literaly “orchardâ€ – an acronym for Pshat,
Remez, Drash, Sod, referring to the four levels of Biblical exegesis, from the
simple meaning to the allegorical to the mystical. Its goal is to show how all
matters of Torah are relevant for all people, and how the events recounted in
the Torah are experiences common to everyone. One may learn from this
book how to serve God and truly fulfill that which He asks from us at any
point in one’s life – from the first moment he decides to conduct his life
according to the wellsprings of Torah which flow from the house of God, to the
time he draws the waters of salvation to heal the source of his soul. Through
this knowledge one may even fix the deficiency he bears from the day of his
birth, “for he is called an offender from his birth.â€ (Yeshayahu, 48:8) He
will be, “like a tree planted by streams of water, who spreads out its roots
by the river.â€ (see Tehillim 1:3 and Yirmiya, 17:8) He will see with faith how
to strengthen his heart and proceed with courage. He will have hope and
resolve, knowing how to take his soul in his hands and pray the God, trusting
in Him forever.
Blessed is God who gave me the merit of writing down the holy words of
Adoneinu Moreinu and Rabeynu (our master, teacher and rabbi), the holy
Gaon (genious), may his memory be for a blessing in this world and the
world-to-come! And may God allow me to complete the publication of all the
teachings of my holy forefathers. May their merit be my stronghold, and
stand strong for my children and children’s children for all generations.
Gershon Hanokh Heinech, son of the holy rav and genius, Moreynu Rabbi
Yaakov zllhâ€h 177 31 After each name the author puts the abbreviation
ZLLHâ€H which means, “May his memory be for a blessing in this world
and the world-to-come.â€ The use of the acronym zâ€l, here, is an
abbreviated form of more or less the same meaning., son of the holy rav and
genius, Moreynu veRabeynu Mordechai Yosef zllhâ€h, son of the brilliant
tsaddik and Hasid, Moreynu veRabeynu Yaakov zllhâ€h of Tomashov, son of
Moreynu veRabeynu Mordechai zâ€l of Sokol, son of the famous Moreynu
veRabeynu Yitzchak zllhâ€h of Lublin, called, “Yitzchak the miracle
worker,â€ son of the genious Rav Moreynu veRabeynu Yehoshua Heschel the
great, who was the head of the court in Tarnipol, Son of the genious Rav
Moreynu veRabeynu Tsvi Hirsh zllhâ€h, who was the head of the court in
Lvov, son of the genius Rav Moreynu veRabeynu Zechariya Mendel, who was
called, “Zechariya the Prophet,â€ son of the genius Ra Moreynu
veRabeynu Moshe zâ€l, head of the court in Chelm, son of the great genius
Rav Moreynu veRabeynu Meir zâ€l, head of the court in Brisk, son of the
genius and holy angel, Moreynu veRabeynu Shaul Vohle zâ€l, son of the
genius Rav Maharaâ€m Padua zâ€l. The Maharshal (Moreynu haRav
Shlomo Luria) and the Rema (Rav Moshe Issrelis) are also my anscestors. Our
family descends from Rashi, whose lineage goes back to the Tanna (one of
the sages mentioned in the Talmud) Rabbi Yochanan haSandlar and Rabban
Gamliel haZaken, who are descendents of King David.
I called this book, Beit Yaakov (The House of Jacob) based on what is
mentioned in the Talmud (Pesachim, 88b), “Said Rabbi Elazar, what is the
meaning of the verse (Isaiah, 2:3), ‘And many people shall go and say,
Come, let us ascend the mountain of God, to the house of the God of Yaakov,
and He will teach us his ways…’ The verse says, ‘the house of
Yaakov,’ but not the house of Avraham or the house of Yitzchak. That is to
say, not like Avraham, who is associated with a mountain, as it is said
(Bereshit, 22), ‘as it is said to this day, God is seen on the mountain.’
And not like Yitzchak, who is associated with the field, as it is said (Bereshit,
24), ‘and Yitzchak went to meditate in the field.’ Yet as Yaakov, who is
called a house, as it is said (Bereshit, 28), ‘and he called the name of the
place, Beit El, the house of God.’ “
In introducing the Beit Yaakov, the foundation of the faith in God, I will say
that it is the finest of sifted flour in God’s portion, the culmination of the
divine service of our masters and teachers. It contains the teachings and
fundamentals established by the shepherds of Hasidism, whose faith and fear
of sin preceded their wisdom and understanding. Their teachings contain
knowledge clarified from all manner of impurity, wholly refined, and what
remains is akin to the service vessels of the Holy Temple. “They shall
come into the treasury of God,â€ (Yehoshua, 6:19), and they are a treasure
house of the fear of God. In conclusion, R. Gershon Henokh has traced the
history of Jewish esoteric wisdom from the very creation of man until his own
day – a roller-coaster ride of revelation and concealment, of faith and
intellect. Underlying all is the movement from above to below, from a
transcendent vision of Divinity to its God’s immanent manifestation on
earth. This is the messianic process, which strives for the day when “the
earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as waters cover the seaâ€
(Isaiah 11:9). It was the goal of the Baal Shem Tov and all his followers, who
sought to invest quotidian existence with an awareness of God, and it was
realized, above all, in the line of Izhbitzer Hasidism, whose founder and
disciples explained the most recondite Kabbalah concepts in a way that was
universally understandable and applicable. All this is preparation for Part 2 of
the book, in which the author discusses the Izhbiter understanding of the
fundamental questions of religious life: faith, providence, love and fear of
God, mystical awareness, the commandments, and much more.

Entrance to the Gate of Beit Yaakov

Chapter 1

Preparing the Vessels - Fear and Faith In this first chapter, R. Gershon Henokh
discusses the interrelationship of faith, fear of God, and the Torah. Faith, he
explains, underlies the fear of God, while the fear of God provides a setting
for one’s faith. On the simplest level, this means that the belief in God
leads one to fear him, which motivates a person to observe the Torah’s
commandments. Seen from a different perspective, fear of God delineates a
person’s actions, and helps him express his faith. However, the fear that
the author posits here is not mere fear of Divine punishment or retribution,
whether in this world or the next, which the Zohar defines as a lower type of
fear. Rather, it is a fear born out of an awareness of God’s absolute
transcendence. Thus, it would more accurately be called an
“awarenessâ€ or “aweâ€ of Divinity. The Zohar identifies this as the
“higherâ€ fear. This awareness is the first step toward the higher goal of
enlightenment.
“The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.â€ ( Tehillim 111:10) The
consciousness called the fear of God is the vessel a person needs to receive
the Torah, 178 On a simple level, “receiving the Torah,â€ means
“observing the commandmentsâ€; on a deeper level, it means
perceiving the very root of the Torah, which is a revelation of God. as it is
written ( Yeshayahu 33:6), “The fear of God is His storehouse,â€ 179
That is, the fear of God holds and stores something; in this case, the Torah.
and, as the first part of this verse says, “He shall be the stability ( emunah
) of your times.â€ 180 The entire verse reads: “He shall be the stability
of your times, a store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge, the fear of God is
His storehouseâ€ (Yeshayahu, 33:6). The Talmud (BT Shabbat 31a) regards
each of the attributes as hinting to another order of the Mishnah:
“Stability-Faithâ€ - Zera’im  (Seeds); “Your timesâ€ – Moed
 (Festival); “Strengthâ€ – Nashim  (Women); “Salvationâ€ –
Nezikin  (Damages); “Wisdomâ€ – Kodoshim  (Holy Things) and
“knowledgeâ€ – Tehorot  (Purities). The order of Zera’im deals
with the laws of planting, harvesting, tithes, etc. It is alluded to by the word
“ emunah â€ (meaning both faith and stability) because a person with
faith in God will plant. (See, Tosefot, ibid., who cites the Jerusalem Talmud.)
There is a deeper relationship between these two uses of the word, as well. In
Judaism, in general, faith is not necessarily an abstract feeling or concept, but
a level of stability and unwavering commitment, in the sense of
“faithfulness.â€ “Nevertheless,â€ says the Talmud, “without the
fear of God as a storehouse, one has nothing.â€ 181 The last statement,
“The fear of God is His storehouse,â€ does not hint at a particular body
of knowledge or tract, but rather to the key ingredient needed in order to
preserve the knowledge of all the preceding categories. Without the fear of
God, or the intense awareness of God’s conduct of the world, joined with
an understanding that God both rewards and punishes, the treasures will be
lost. In other words, without the fear of God one cannot truly fulfill the Torah.
The first consideration is faith, 182 The verse from Yeshayahu begins with a
reference to emunah (stability, faith) and ends with a reference to fear of God
(the storehouse). This alludes to the author’s statement above, that faith
precedes fear, while fear gives context to faith. which is the root of the fear of
God, whereas the fear of God is the vessel which holds faith. But what kind of
faith are we talking about? It is the kind in which a person believes that God
is all-powerful and exalted. On this, the Zohar writes: 183 Introduction, 11b.
“In the beginning God created…â€ This is the very first commandment,
which is called, “Fear of God.â€ The fear of God is called, “the
beginning,â€ as it is written, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of
God,â€ and ( Mishlei 1:7), “The fear of God is the beginning of
knowledge.â€ It is the gate one must enter in order to arrive at faith. 184
The reader may notice a contradiction here. Above, R. Gershon Henokh
stated that faith preceeds fear of God; here, the Zohar states that fear of God
precedes faith. As will become clear below, there are two types of faith: a
deep, inner certainty in God’s existence, which leads to fear andn awe of
Him, and a higher type of faith, which actually transcends the limited intellect
and the duality of this world, which is the result of this type of fear. In this
way, the whole world depends on this commandment. There are three
aspects to the fear of God. The first two lack a correct foundation, which the
third one has. The first kind is when a person fears God in order that He not
bring harm upon his children, 185 In retribution for the father’s own sins.
or in order not to personally suffer physical retribution or financial loss. 186
Such as on account of his transgressions. He fears God constantly for these
reasons, yet his fear lacks a foundation. The second kind is when person fears
God in order not to suffer punishment in the world-to-come or in Hell. 187
Gehinom, more accurately translated as purgatory. These two kinds of fear
are not true expressions of the fear of God. The third and true expression is
when person fears God solely because He is the Great and Sovereign Ruler of
the universe, the root and source of all the worlds, and that everything is
considered as nothing before Him, as it is written (Daniel 4:32), “All the
inhabitants of the world are considered as naught before Him.â€ One should
place all of his desire on this place which is called “fear.â€ 188 Notice
how the author, using this passage from the Zohar, has changed the
definition of fear. It is no longer centered upon the human being and his
concerns, reducing God’s greatness in the process; rather, it opens a
person to the absolute transcendence of God and takes him beyond his petty
concerns – ultimately into a Divine realm that transcends logic and duality,
as we will see below.

This passage from the Zohar discusses the highest level of the fear of God,
which is the third form mentioned above. 189 To fear God purely because He
is the Great and Sovereign Ruler of the universe, knowing that all is in His
hands, etc. But it also says that the fear of God is the beginning and the
gateway. For one who does not attain this fundamental level of the fear of
God must still make supreme efforts in the development of [lower levels of]
fear, until he attains it; for the highest level can only be attained after earnest
inner work and striving. The Tikkunei Zohar (5b) also enumerates the levels
of the fear of God from below to above. In the Zohar’s discussion of the
tenth level, it says: 190 The following passage appeared in the first part of
the introduction (chap. 1), and was explained at length there. There is fear,
and there is [a higher] fear. Not all expressions of fear are equal. One
person’s fear of God may largely be motivated by the fear of Divine
punishment. Of this it is taught ( Pirkei Avot 2:5), “An unlearned person
cannot fear sin.â€ A person ignorant of the Torah does not have the basic
information to know what to fear. A higher level is one who fears God based
upon his knowledge of the Torah, which is Tiferet. 191 The central sefirah on
the Kabbalistic “Tree of Life,â€ corresponding to the Torah and the
Tetragrammaton. This kind of fear is equal to the Torah itself. For this reason,
not all forms of the fear of God are the same. Thus, fear of the Lord is
God’s own sovereignty and contains within it all of the commandments of
the Torah, since it actually comes from the Torah itself, which is called the,
“Middle Column,â€ which is the name, Havay’ah (the Tetragramaton,
י-ה-ו-ה). Because of this, the authors of the Mishnah taught us,
“Great is the Torah in that it brings man to action.â€ If man does not
know the Torah, or the reward and punishment for keeping or transgressing
its commandments, or the One who created the Torah and gives it to Israel,
how then can he fear God and guard His commandments? For this reason
David said to his son Shlomo, “Know the God of your fathers and serve
Him.â€ For if one does not know the One who gave him the Torah and
commanded him to guard it, how then can he fear Him and fulfill its
commandments? 192 Here, we see fear as motivating the observance of the
commandments (as noted in the preface to Part 2, chapter 1, above). Later,
though, R. Gershon Henokh will explain that it is precisely through the
practical observance of the commandments that one can access a type of
emunah that transcends the limitations of the intellect, and brings one into
an incounter with God above the limitations of this world.

Chapter 2

Human Deficiency and Human Perfection After discussing the necessity of

fear in one’s relationship with God, and the various types of fear – from
lower to higher – the author now discusses genuine versus false fear.
Whereas genuine fear (awe) frees a person from his limitations and brings
him into a direct encounter with God in an act of faith, false fear is born of
personal limitations and is the underlying cause of idolatry. According to Rav
Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz, fear is always related to a sense of lack. 193
Simply put, one who lacks funds will fear the tax collector; one who lacks self-
confidence, will fear public speaking. Psychologically speaking, human beings
tend to set as personal goals or absolute truths one particular trait or
approach to life. 194 For instance, a strong person, who unbendingly believes
in the use of force to solve disputes, will fear conflict resolution through
peaceful means. A person who sets compassion as an absolute value will fear
the use of cruelty – even when correct and necessary. (R. Gershon Henokh
will offer this example below.) Yet this attitude invariably causes an individual
to be deficient in alternative approaches, and he subsequently fears and
represses their manifestation in his life, lest they disrupt his self-image and
perfection. Idolatry results when this fear of deficiency is projected outwards,
onto the figure of the idol, whom the individual then fears. 195 In other
words, according to the Izhbitzer Rebbe, idolatry does not begin with the
objectification of one’s values and beliefs, in the case, for instance, of
making an idol out of money, but in the projection of one’s fears and
deficiencies, since the whole purpose of an idol is to be saved from them. The
idolater does this in the hopes that the idol will alleviate his fear – even
though it is powerless to do so. Thus, the idolater’s faith in and fear of his
idol begins with the projection of his own imperfection. The opposite
approach is embodied by the Jewish people. The faith that R. Gershon Henokh
spoke of in chapter one is really the affirmation of God’s absolute
transcendence. Even though human beings are lacking, they need not fear
that lack. Rather, they can use their own sense of deficiency to realize, by
implication, the absolute perfection of God. In other words, our lack opens us
to God’s completeness. This is the fear and faith that allows for the
acceptance of the Torah, mentioned above, which brings a person into a state
of balance, and frees him from the fear that leads to idolatry.
The true foundation of the fear of God is faith. Only by understanding and
consciously believing in the supreme lofty heights of God, and then actively
fearing Him, does fear become complete. Man’s normal experience of
fear usually stems from an awareness of his own deficiencies. Of this it is said
(Yeshayahu, 44:17), “He makes himself an idol and bows down to it.â€
196 In other words, he makes of himself an idol, which he bows down to. This
kind of fear is called by the Zohar (Vaeira, 29a), “ their fear.â€ 197 That
is, their own personal fears, which they project outward, upon the idol. Since
idolaters are deficient, they believe that by prostrating themselves to an idol
and expressing their fear, stemming from a recognition of their own
deficiency, the idol will emit a flow of energy to fill their lacks. 198 Using the
example in note 177, above, we can say that a strong person fears being
weak. He therefore prays to an idol to save him from weakness, although all
he his really doing is projecting his own inner fears outward, and fearfully
worshipping them. And even though the idol is actually powerless to do so,
the idolater still believes that by projecting his fear outward, he himself will
become complete. Ultimately, he is only worshiping the very deficiency that
he fears. This is called, “bowing down to his idol.â€ 199 In other words,
to the particular trait or idea that he has idolized. The word for idol in Hebrew,
“ pesel,â€ is connected to the word for pasul, which means
“invalidâ€ or “deficient.â€ Further in the Beit Yaakov it will be
explained that the fear of the idolater, expressed in a place where he knows
he is lacking, takes on two forms. The idolater will either erect a form of the
lack itself, or a form of the fulfillment of that lack. A weak person will worship
either the image of a hero, or the image a weakling. This will all be explained.
The service of Israel, however, is different. For we recognize the awesome
heights of God precisely through our own deficiencies, 200 This is opposite
the process that leads to idolatry. Here, the awareness of one’s own
deficiencies leads to an awareness of God’s grandeur and exaltedness,
engendering a fear of God’s own greatness – not the projection of
one’s own deficiencies onto an idol. as it is written (Iyov, 19:26),
“From my flesh (meaning my limitations and deficiencies) I shall see
God.â€ It is written in the Zohar (Emor, 90b): “I will dwell among the
downtrodden and low of spirit.â€ (Yeshayahu, 57:15) This is the place of the
greatest wholeness. When one brings himself low so that the awesome pride
of the Supernal One, the Pride of all, may rest upon him, this is a place of
wholeness. 201 One’s personal sense of lowliness brings about a
revelation of Supernal Pride; that is, lowliness itself engenders a sense of a
wholeness in that it connects one to God. This is mentioned in the
introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar (5b): The seventh level in the fear of God is
one who lacks nothing, 202 Note the subtle shift of approach the author
makes with this passage of the Zohar, as well the following one. Previously, R.
Gershon Henokh juxtaposed the fear of idolators, which is born out of their
sense of personal lack, to the rectified fear of Israel, in which a sense of lack
produces an appreciation of God’s completeness. Now, the author begins
to discuss a type of fear that is the result of completeness. Based upon this
and other Izhbitzer texts (see Tzidkat HaTzaddik 212), he seems to mean the
following: Because of Israel’s belief ( emunah ) in God’s utter
transcendence, the sense of lack they feel does not result in idolatry –
which is the transference of personal lack onto the divinity. Rather,
Israel’s lack proves the very opposite – that God is wholely complete
and transcendent, as R. Gershon Hanokh interprets the verse, “From my
flesh, I see Godâ€ – “from my limitations, I deduce the Divine.â€ In
other words – ironically – the idolaters desire for wholeness only
exacerbates his weakness, whereas Israel’s acceptance of their weakness
allows them to partake of the Divine wholeness. The author further explains
that the correct means by which to assuage one’s sense of lack is Torah
study. For Torah study frees a person from being fixated on a singular value or
truth; thus he does not experience the fear resulting from a sense of personal
deficiency in its loss. What is left is a sense of Divine transcendence, which
engenders awe. (See note 195.) as it is written (Tehillim, 34:10), “Fear
God, His holy ones, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him.â€ He
is not one of those of whom it is said (Mishlei, 11:24), “Another withholds
unduly, but only comes to lack.â€ If he is a Torah scholar, he shall not be
lacking in Torah, for without Torah, there is no fear of God. This is as it is said
(Pirkei Avot, 2:5), “An unlearned person does not fear sin.â€ Just as there
is no Torah without the fear of God, similarly, there is no fear of God without
the Torah.

The Zohar writes concerning the goal of human completeness (Yitro 78b-
79a): “You shall see the work of God that I shall do, it is awesome.â€
(Shemot, 34:10) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is the completion of everything.â€
… “It is awesome,â€ refers to Yaakov, 203 In the first of the eighteen
benedictions we say, “God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, the Great,
the Mighty, and the Awesome God.â€ “Awesomeâ€ ( norah ) signifies
the main quality of the patriarch Yaakov, who thus represents a complete fear
of the awesome power of God. It was Yaakov, after his dream of the ladder,
who said, “how awesome ( norah ) is this place!â€ (Bereshit, 28:17) the
ish tam, the man complete in all his attributes. 204 Generally, in the Zohar,
Yaakov Avinu represents the Torah, or the sefirah of Tiferet, which is beauty,
balance, and pride. Yaakov and Tiferet also represent completeness. See
Bereshit, 25:27, “Yaakov was an ish tam (wholehearted, simple,
complete), dwelling in tents.â€ Yaakov further represents completeness, in
that all of his children were completely righteous, as opposed to Avraham
who begat Yishmael and Yitskhak who begat Eisav. Wherever you find
completeness, it is called “awesome.â€ … The fear of God rests only in
a place of completeness. 205 “A place of completenessâ€ – see note
185. And in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (51b): “You have established
equityâ€ (Tehillim, 99:4). This is the “middle barâ€ (Shemot, 26:28),
206 This was inserted in the midst of the boards comprising the walls of the
tabernacle. signifying the Holy One, blessed be He. 207 In the Zohar, the
term “the Holy One,â€ refers to the sefirah of Tiferet, which corresponds
to Yaakov, the Torah, and the trait of “completeness.â€ Rabbi Yitzhak
said, “This is Yaakov.â€ It is really all the same matter. If the king is
complete in all aspects, clearly his knowledge is complete in all aspects.
What is the way of this king? He shines continually as the sun, for he is
complete. When he judges, he judges for the good and for the bad. When a
wise person sees the king’s face shining, he says, “Certainly the king
is complete in all aspects; his knowledge is complete and his completeness is
above all others. In this shining light of his face I see that he is judging more
than I see, yet it is covered.â€ … So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, is
ever complete … For this reason, one must take great care to guard himself
from Him. 208 Meaning to honor God and adhere to His commandments. Fear
that is not rooted in the Torah can fall to the low level of the fear of
deficiency, as mentioned above. This is as the Tikkunei Zohar, above,
explained the verse, “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to
lack.â€ However, the true fear of God, rooted in the Torah and based on
faith, is called, “the completion of holy faith.â€ This is as it is written in
the Zohar (Yitro, 79a): What is the meaning of the verse (Bereshit, 28:17),
“And Yaakov feared, and said, how awesome ( norah ) is this place!â€
What did Yaakov see that he could only describe as dreadful and awe-
inspiring ( norah )? He saw the absolute completion of holy faith which
existed in that place, just as it is above in the upper worlds. Every place that
is at such a level of perfection is called, “awesome ( norah ).â€ 209 That
is, perfect faith results in an exalted type of fear, more correctly known as
“awe.â€ The Torah is the straight path, and is called the “book of
yashar,â€ 210 Yashar means straight, direct, even. as it is written (Shmuel
2, 1:18), “Is it not written in the book of yashar?â€ The Torah comes from
the middle column, 211 There are three columns in the array of the ten
Sefirot – right, left, and middle. The middle column joins and synthesizes
the opposing forces of right and left,. and is whole, for one who grasps onto
the Torah lacks nothing. This is because it straightens and balances a
person’s attributes so that he is not steeped in any one extremity, which
is what brings him to deficiency. If a person is subjugated to any one of his
attributes, and thereby lacks the strength of mind to balance its power and
prevent it from becoming extreme, then the attribute is deficient, even if it is
a good trait that could otherwise be the source of good behavior. If this
attribute is taken to its extremity, and then becomes an involuntary mode of
behavior, without any reckoning or deliberation, then the attribute, albeit
good, will be used in the wrong way. 212 This relates to the teaching of the
Izhbitzer that there are no bad attributes, only bad applications of good
attributes. For example, as R. Gershon Henokh explains here, kindness is
neither an inherently good nor evil trait. Used correctly, it is good, but used
improperly, as in the case of one who shows kindness to evil-doers, the trait
becomes a sin. (This explains the Izhbitzer’s vindication of the sins of
various biblical characters. According to him, they never intentionally sinned,
but only mistimed the use of certain attributes.) The goal of the Torah is to
produce perfected and balanced human beings (symbolized by Yaakov,
Tiferet), who always know how to use their character traits in the right way,
according to the needs of the situation. An imbalanced person, on the other
hand, becomes stuck in a certain mode of behavior, and is unable to deviate
from it, even when the situation calls for an alternative approach. This person
is deficient in the other traits – a lack that engenders within him a fear of
situations in which his innate character trait cannot apply. (See note 177,
above.) According to Rav Mordechai Yosef, this person may objectify his lack
in the form of an idol, which he will fear, though what he is actually fearing is
his own, innate deficiency (his “dark sideâ€). Thus, in praying to the idol
to be saved from that which he fears, he is really only praying to his own fear
and deficiency. This approach is most likely a Hasidic interpretation of the
Kabbalistic concept of the death of the seven Edomite kings (based upon
Genesis 36). Each king symbolizes a different trait, or sefirah, used by God to
create the world. Nonetheless, these traits were flawed, inasmuch as each
one sought to be an exclusive conduit for God’s creative energy: be it
Hesed (Love), Gevurah (Severity), or Tiferet (Mercy). This led to the
“breaking of the vessels,â€ and the current, fallen nature of reality,
which demands repair. Each “kingâ€ said, “I, and only I, will rule.â€
However, the verses in Genesis do not record the death of the eighth king,
Hadar, and they also mention that he had a wife (Meheitavel). In other words,
he was the only one who made room for another perspective; thus he did not
“dieâ€ (i.e. the trait did not shatter), and represents the attribute of
“tikkun,â€ or rectification. This led to the new emanation of the sefirot in
which each one contains all ten: love contains wisdom; understanding
contains balance, and so forth. In this way, by adapting and being flexible,
the vessels could contain God’s light and the world could survive. In the
psychological terms used by R. Gershon Henokh, a person on the level of the
seven kings will exhibit an inflexible commitment to one particular character
trait, and lack the ability to negotiate situations that are not suited to that
attribute; whereas the rectified approach means using the whole variety of
shades of love, fear, etc, and adapting and relating to the plethora of stimuli
one encounters in the world. Take, for example, the trait of kindness, which is
clearly a good attribute. However, when it is used indiscriminately and
bestowed generously upon cruel people, it becomes destructive; for there is
no greater evil than acting kindly toward the cruel. 213 This is based on the
aphorisim of the Midrash ( Kohelet Rabbah 7:16): “One who is kind to the
cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind.â€ One who errs in this way upholds
and even strengthens destructive forces in the world. Clearly, every attribute
must be used with clear and conscious deliberation, at the proper time and in
the proper place. In this way, he may “establish equityâ€ 214 As in the
verse from Tehillim, 99:4, cited above. in every aspect of his behavior,
according to the approach of the Torah. Then, he will be complete and lack
nothing. 215 Lacking nothing, he will be free from the lower level of fear. His
actions will all be balanced and in line with God’s will. His fear of God will
be like that of Yaakov – norah – an expression of awe and faith. Above
all, the greatest deficiency a person can have is a lack of emunah (faith). On
this it is written in the Zohar (Vayikra, 16b): “And it shall be, because he
has sinned and is guilty…â€ (Vayikra, 5:23). Because of this, God
withdraws from everything; then God, so to speak, does not exist in creation,
and Knesset Yisrael 216 Knesset Yisrael means the “Congregation of the
people of Israel,â€ and is synonymous with the Shechinah, the sefirah of
Malchut, the attribute of faith, and the Divine presence which rests upon the
Israelite nation. One could say, “God/the Shechinah /faith is hidden from
that place.â€ has left her place. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 7:28),
“ Emunah has perished.â€ That means that Knesset Yisrael has perished.
217 Meaning, separated from her place. Of this it is said (Tehillim 92:3),
“To speak of Your emunah in the nights.â€ 218 “Speaking of your
faith at night,â€ means that if one has true faith, then even after the sin,
when man sits in darkness, so to speak, he can still amend his ways and
return to God.

Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Borders of Knowledge after Creation When God initially
desired to create the world, His hidden wisdom understood and decreed all
that would exist and transpire, from the highest worlds to the lowest
creatures. To this end, He emanated a vast array of forces – worlds, sefirot
and Divine Names – through which He created, sustains and directs the
very fabric of the universe and all that it contains. Without these intermediary
forces, God’s light would be too intense for creation to bear. Furthermore,
these forces are not something external to man, but are part of the makeup
of his very consciousness, and by means of them, he can perceive something
of the Divine Being – prophecy being the highest level of perception.
Nonetheless, if human cognition is also a created entity, it means that it is
subject to the same level of impermanence as the rest of creation; being
contingent upon God’s ongoing will to create. 219 See Part One, chapter
twenty, in which the author seeks to show that even logical impossibilities
– such as mathematical truths – are not immutable. The upshot of this is
this man ultimately lives in a world of doubt, with no unbending certainties or
immutable truths. 220 One might argue that the Torah is the one, unbending
truth in creation, given by God at Sinai to provide His creatures with a single,
immutable path. However, it is one of the central principles of Izbhitz
Hasidism that even the mitzvot of the Torah can be abrogated, if God so wills
it. One frequently given example is the sacrifices offered by Eliyahu, the
prophet, on Mount Carmel, in his contest with the priests of Baal. Such
sacrifices – offered when the Temple was standing in Jerusalem – were
technically prohibitted by the Torah; however, because God decreed them at
that time, they were as valid as any commandment. In line with the previous
chapter, the belief that such truths exist is the root of idolatry. The correct
response is to live a life of faith, which, as the author previous explained, is
the existential realization of one’s own lacks, and the subsequent
recognition of God’s perfection and transcendence.
It is written in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (166a): "Rabbi Shimon opened the
discussion and said, “Better is the man who is lightly esteemed and has a
servant than one who primps himself and lacks bread.â€ (Mishlei, 12:9) One
who lacks bread, lacks faith, as it is written (Vayikra, 21:22), ‘the bread of
God.’â€" 221 Interestingly enough, this verse is mentioned in the
Torah’s discussion of the blemished Cohen, who, though he may not offer
sacrifices in the Temple, may nevertheless eat of the sacrifices, the
“bread of God.â€ Deficiency does not prevent man from the connection
of faith, to the contrary, it can strengthen it. If a person is whole in his
emunah, then his fear and love of God are also whole. 222 We explained
above that one who fears God becomes whole in his character traits. Here,
we see the reverse: wholeness of faith leads to wholeness of fear. On the
other hand, a deficiency in faith would lead to fallen fear, or idolatry. On the
other hand, deficiency in emunah is called “heartless.â€ Of this, the
Zohar writes (Kedoshim, 80a): "What is “heartless?â€ It is one who lacks
faith. One who does not learn the Torah has no faith and is thoroughly
blemished." Shlomo HaMelech had this in mind when he asked (Mishlei,
17:16), “What is the value of wisdom in the hands of a fool, seeing as he
lacks a heart?â€ Emunah contains the fear of God. When a man has emunah
that God is the source and root of all, he then possesses the knowledge that
was expressed by the members of the Great Assembly in the prayer, “You,
God, existed before the world was created, and You exist after the world was
created.â€ 223 This prayer is found in the introduction to the morning
service, in the Adon Olam prayer. That is, from God’s point of view there
is no difference between before the world was created and afterward. 224
That is, faith is that which transcends the limited vessels with which God
created the world, as discussed above.

The root of faith,which leads to the fear of God, is for man to wholeheartedly
believe that God brought forth the entire creation ex nihilo, out of absolute
non-existence. 225 The proper expression of faith leads one to believe in the
absolutely autonomous power of God to create the world. One who lacks this
faith will see only inflexible, natural laws of an eternal universe. As the author
explained above, this approach will ultimately lead to idolatry, which is a fear
born of deficiency; that is, the fear of losing one’s own absolute truths. He
carved the laws of the universe, established all its systems, and arranged all
of its orders. He meted out knowledge and wisdom to every aspect of His
creation, with everything received its proper amount. He gave every creature
the amount of wisdom perfectly suited to its attributes, and gave mankind
the ability to know and comprehend, each person according to his own
measure. All was emenated, created, formed, and made 226 These four
terms parallel the basic concept of the Kaballah of the four worlds, atzilut,
beriyah, yetsirah, and asiyah. See Yeshayahu, 43:7. out of nothing.
Everything was established only in order to create the appearance of
separate entities in the world, with each being acting on its own accord,
based upon the consciousness that God has granted us. Still, we need to
know and believe that our own human knowledge does not come close to the
root of God’s knowledge. We may only contemplate that which we are
permitted to know. Even the prophet’s knowledge is limited by the way
God created him and the power of comprehension granted unto him. His
prophecy is only according to his knowledge, as it is written (Hoshea, 12:11),
“I have multiplied their visions, and I shall use images through the
prophets.â€ This idea is found in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 19, page 40a).
When God wants to draw prophecy into the world, then all of the Sefirot are
included in a man, and he is called a prophet. The Sefirah of Malkhut
(sovereignty) is a representation of all of the Sefirot. This is as it is written,
“I shall use images through the prophets.â€ And as it is written (Hoshea,
12), “I have spoken to the prophets,â€ where Malkhut is like a mirror in
which you can see all of the various faces. 227 The sefirah of Malkhut is the
lowest in the arrangement of the sefirot. Thus, Malkhut serves as a sort of
catch-basin, or mirror, that receives and reflects the potencies of the upper
sefirot that descend into it. The prophet attains this consciousness, and is
therefore able to receive God’s word, as it filters down through all the
upper worlds and spheres. Similarly, all of the Sefirot show their power and
forms to the prophet according to his ability to perceive the upper realms. In
the same way it is enclothed below in the Throne of Glory, in all of the angels,
the Ofanim, the holy Hayot, in all of their firmaments and thrones, and in all
of the angels that are dependent on them. There are many levels of angels,
one above the other, as it is written (Kohelet, 5:7), “For there is a higher
one who watches over him that is high, and there are yet higher ones over
them.â€ So too, with every Cherub and mazal (astrological force), as it is
written (Tehillim, 145), “His sovereignty (Malchus) is in every
dominion.â€ This is, “I shall use images through the prophets.â€ Each
one sees the images (from the beyond) according to his power, which is his
soul. It is said in the Midrash (Rabbah, Ta’azria, 15), “Even when Ruah
haKodesh rests upon the prophets, it does so only according to a defined
measure.â€ “To make a scale for the wind (spirit)â€ (Iyov, 28:25). This
is all to say that the understanding of the prophets is also a force created by
God and allocated to each prophet and sage according to God’s wisdom.
His prophecies all follow the specific power of understanding granted at the
root of his soul. All of man’s ability to understand is a force that God
created and distributed to mankind. 228 The point here is that human
wisdom – even the highest, prophetic wisdom – is a creation of God,
which God emanates in accordance with the level of the prophet’s soul.
That being the case, one must realize that there is something higher than all
comprehension, whether knowledge is prophetic or intellectual.

Various places in our tradition use the phrase, “before the world was
created.â€ 229 Having posited that all human comprehension – including
prophecy – exists only in the limited, post-emanation stage, and that we
can have no comprehensive grasp of that which precedes creation, the
author now explains various midrashic references to a period that existed
before the creation of the world (which would seem to contradict his
previously explanation). However, even here, the references are to stages
after the initial steps of creation, and not God in Himself. See next note for
more. It is written in the Midrash HaNe’elam of the Zohar Hadash
(Bereshit, p. 3), “Before the world was created it was only He and His
Name.â€ There are a number of matters attributed to the time before God
created the world. The Midrash tells us that the Torah was hidden for two
thousand years before the creation of the world. All of this occurred after the
desire to create arose in God’s primordial will, whose antiquity is as old as
the border of the existence of creation. 230 The world mentioned here refers
to metaphyisical existence before the creation of matter. The creation of the
“worldâ€ happened through the first contraction ( tzimtzum ) of the Ayn
Sof (the “Without Endâ€), in which God withdrew His light from around a
single in the endless light, creating an empty space in the center of His being.
Creation ex nihilo is tantamout to the withdrawl of the light and the creation
of this empty space. (See Etz Chayim, Chapter 1; Talmud Eser Sefiros,
Introduction, “ lifnai shenivrau hanivraim â€). At this moment, time was
created. This is called, “two thousand yearsâ€ – a thousand of
wisdom, a thousand of understanding. It is called the order of time. This is as
it is said in Bereshit Rabbah (3), “This teaches us that the order of time
preceded the creation.â€ In the place and within the borders that were
established for the order of time – that is, with the creation of time – the
borders and order of Divine conduct were established. 231 Time was created
before matter. The idea of a time period “before the world was
created,â€ refers to the metaphysical realms that God created prior to the
material world. However, as there is an order and sequence to these worlds
– the emergence of sefirot, the arrangements of Adam Kadmon (Primordial
Man), the breaking and repair of the vessels – we may say that they exist
in some form of time. Knowledge of the forms that existed prior to the
creation of matter is received tradition from the Prophets, sages, and
Kabbalists. The progression of metaphysical creation is described in great
detail by the Arizal, in the Etz Chayim, his magnum opus on Kabbalah. This is
as it is written in the second introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar (17a): "You
are the one who brought forth ten rectifications, and called them ten Sefirot,
for the purpose of conducting worlds that are hidden and not revealed, and
for conducting worlds that are revealed." Thus the entire order of the Divine
conduct of the world was established within the boundaries set for the order
of time for the express purpose of running the worlds, both hidden and
revealed. This is as this passage in the Zohar concludes: "You have no known
name, or any known place, but rather, You make Your strength and influence
known to mankind."
Perceiving God’s light through His Names, Sefirot, and Attributes In the
previous chapter, the author makes a distinction between the limited creation
and the infinite, undefinable state of pure Divinity that precedes all acts of
manifestation – even the pre-creation existence of time. Our intellect, itself
a created entity, can only grasp other created entities. It cannot penetrate to
the pre-existent dimension of God. In this sense, the “boundariesâ€ of
the intellect and the “boundariesâ€ of creation correspond. Yet, if God
Himself is ungraspable, what is the function of the numerous names of
Divinity found in Scripture? In the following chapter, R. Gershon Henoch
explains that God Himself has no name, and that all the names found in the
Torah are merely attributes that God uses to run the world and relate to
humankind; for without them, God’s light would be too intense for
creation to bear. Finally, the author explains that since everything in creation
is emanated freely and autonomously by God, it is contingent upon God’s
will, and therefore lacks ultimate permanence. There are no inviolable
principles in creation, including those formulate by the human mind. The
consequence of this is that the world is a place of doubt, where it is
impossible to posit any absolute truths; for doing so leads to idolatry, as
explained above. One must rely only upon faith, which is the recognition of
God’s absolute transcendence.
In Parshat Pinhas (257b) the Zohar discusses the meaning and function of
God’s names and attributes: In this way, The Master of the World (was
called by various names and appellations) even before He created His
creations, who would eventually call Him “the Merciful One,â€ or,
“the Judge.â€ All of God’s names are intended for His creation, in
order that creation should have a way to call Him and relate to Him.
Therefore, when the people of the generation are worthy, they call Him,
“YHVH,â€ which is the name of mercy. And when the people of the
generation are unworthy, they call Him, “A-donai,â€ which is the name of
strict judgment. Each generation and each individual relates to God according
to his particular qualities, yet it is clear that God Himself has no attribute or
known name. 232 That is, on the highest level, God transcends names and
letters. This is similar to the Sefirot, where each Sefirah has a known name;
an attribute, measurement, and border. God ventures into these names and
rules in them. He is called through them, concealed by them, and dwells in
them, as the soul dwells in the limbs of the body. And later in this passage
(158a): When God was alone before He created the world, why was it
necessary for Him to be called by these name and appellations like, “the
Merciful and Compassionate One,â€ “the Long Suffering,â€ or, “the
Powerful Judgeâ€? 233 There was not yet anyone to call God by name, so
why did He have a name? There are many more such names, and they are all
called in reference to the supernal worlds which existed prior to the existence
of the physical world. 234 Even though names and appellations are born out
of the relationship between God and man, they also serve a function in the
emanation of the world, and thus, like the supernal Sefirot, they existed prior
to the physical world. In reference to the “ten rectifications (Sefirot),â€ it
is said in the second introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar, page 17a ( Patach
Eliyahu ):You are the one who brought forth ten rectifications, and called
them ten Sefirot, for the purpose of conducting worlds that are hidden and
not revealed, and for conducting worlds that are revealed. This was all in
order for the creation to be able to receive God’s light. This is mentioned
in the Idra Rabbah Kadisha section of the Zohar (135b): When it arose in the
desire of the Reisha Chivara 235 Literally, the “White Head,â€ referring
to one of highest levels of creation. Kabbalistically, the image of the
“headâ€ is used to refer to sublime spiritual forces in the very
beginnings of creation. The “hairâ€ represents channels that allow the
flow of of transcendent light emanating from the Godhead. Light flows
through the “eyes,â€ or other facial orifices, representing divine energy
(described with the terms “ shefa,â€ abundance) flowing from the source
of absolute will and compassion. The “beardâ€ conveys the thirteen
attributes of compassion, etc. to make the glory of all glories, it established
and prepared … This is why all of the rectifications 236 Processes by which
God’s infinite light is limited into vessels, so that the creation may be able
to perceive it without being nullified by its power. are mentioned in the
central section of the Zohar called the Idra Rabbah. Simply put, God’s
light was clothed in garments, which enabled the creation to perceive the
light. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Balak, 204b): The primordial light which
God created shined with such intensity that the worlds could not withstand its
power until the Holy One, blessed be He, created a light for this light (to be
enclothed in a kind of luminous vessel), so one could dress within the other,
and similarly with all of the lights, so that the worlds could stand in their
place and endure it. The second introduction to the Zohar, quoted above,
continues: You established garments for them, and from these garments souls
fly down to mankind. … None of them know You at all, and besides You,
there is no Oneness in the upper and lower realms. … You have no known
name, for You fill all names, and You are the completion of everything. And
when You withdraw from them, they all remain as a body without a soul. You
are wise but not with a known wisdom. 237 Though the source of all wisdom,
and everything for that matter, comes from God, for “there is none
besides Him,â€ still, God told us through Yeshayahu, “My thoughts are
not like your thoughts.â€ In other words, there is a revealed wisdom and
also a transcendent wisdom. You understand but not with a known
understanding. You have no known place, but rather You make your strength
and power know to mankind, namely, how the world is managed through
judgment and mercy … Yet it is not a known form of righteousness, which is
din (judgment), nor is it a known form of justice, which is rahamim (mercy),
nor with any of these attributes. 238 Though we call God, “the
Compassionate,â€ the essence of compassion or any such attribute is
beyond human understanding. Here it is perfectly clear that all of these
names and attributes (Sefirot) exist only for the purpose of the creation, and
that they are also created forces essential to the creation.

Just as the entire order of Divine governance is included in the attributes, so

too do they include all of the ability of all creatures to understand, 239 In
other words, just as God creates and guides the world through the system of
Divine attributes, so does He create and guide every aspect of human sense
and cognition. Thus, just as the physical creation existence is contingent
upon God’s will alone, and lacks ultimate constancy, so the most logical
processes of the mind have merely contingent existence, and can change
according to the Divine will. As a result, nothing is certain but faith, which
transcends logic. their consciousness, knowledge, and the order of times, the
senses, the sensed, the discerning and the discerned, the power of feeling
and the felt, all causes and all effects, all measurement and all number, the
forms and spirit of all creation, 240 חומר וצורה from the
lowliest of the creations to the most lofty, from inanimate matter, to plants,
animals, and people, and time, to the supernal angels, the Sefirot and the
names of God – it is all newly created, from the very first awakening of
God’s primordial desire when it came into action, in measured borders,
when He arranged everything in its place and at its time, until the lowliest of
worlds, which is the world of doubt, where nothing is certain, and man lacks
discernment, whereupon God created and arranged for man the power of
thought, and that which is conceived in the faculty of thought, and the power
of intellect with which man can discern, and also the discerned, meaning that
he may discern these things with the power of his mind, and through the
power of his mind he makes comparisons and distinctions, and all the senses
and the sensed, in whatever form it senses and in whatever form it is sensed.
So too, in the whole order of creation, when man understands how something
is required, or impossible, or possible, it is really all created and arranged in
God’s will, and can always change. Man’s mind can also change,
where something he just thought was impossible he now knows is possible or
even requisite.

According to this it is clear that all that was mentioned in the above quote in
the Zohar, Parshat Pinhas – that all of the names, appellations, and
attributes, were all created for the purpose of directing the creation – falls
within the realm of [God’s] desire to emanate the creation and everything
that that includes, 241 Note that the author now applies the concept of a
contingent creation not merely to some past occurrence – the Genesis
story of the Bible – but to an ongoing, constantly recurring state; meaning
to say, just as God originally created the world and everything in it –
including human cognition – so He continually creates and renews the
world, so that their continued existence is also, at every moment, contingent
and mutable. but not above this. For above this, there is no garment or
attribute at all. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Parshat Bo, 42a): “To
whom shall you liken me, that I shall be his equal, said the Holy One.â€
(Yeshayahu, 40:25) All of the holy Hayot (angels) are called in the letters of
the holy name. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 43:6), “All that is called
in My name, I have created for My glory.â€ Everything in the creation was
created with the letters of God’s name, and there is no creation that does
not have God’s name inscribed in it, in order that one may know who
created it. For this reason it is written, “To whom shall you liken Me, that I
shall be his equal, said the Holy One.â€ No creature shall be My equal. Even
though I created it in the form of My letters, still, I can erase its form and re-
create it as many times as I want, and there is no god above Me that can
erase My “form.â€ Here it is clear that all created beings, even the holy
Hayot (angels) and all the supernal powers, even the root of their spiritual
forms are only arranged and ordered in holy likenesses, and renewed
according to God’s desire. It is in the power of God’s desire to change
these likenesses into different forms; for according to the changing of the
supernal forms, so will the order of God’s governance change, from the
loftiest of heights to the lowliest of levels. This is true even for the nature
order of the physical world. There the Zohar concluded (Bo, 42b): If one were
to propose a difficulty by quoting the verse (Devarim, 32), “for you saw no
image,â€ 242 The verse says, “you saw no image,â€ not the letter yud,
nor the letter vav, or any other letter. How, then, could one say,
“Everything in the creation was created with the letters of God’s
name, and there is not creation that does not have God’s name inscribed
in itâ€? he will give the answer, “This image I did see, for it is written
(Bamidbar, 12:8), “He shall see the vision of God.â€ “The vision of
God,â€ but not any other vision that He created and formed out of letters.
243 That is, you see only the vision of the letters of creation, but no other
vision. For this reason it is written (Yeshayahu, 40:25), “To whom shall you
liken me, that I shall be his equal.â€ To whom can God be compared? What
form could you possibly ascribe to Him? Even this “formâ€ of God that is
accessed by created beings through the letters of creation does not exist in
God’s own place, but comes into being when He descends to reign over
his creation. Then the vision spreads over the creation, and each one sees it
according to his specific ability to perceive. This is as it is written (Hoshea,
12:11), “I have used images through the prophets.â€ For this reason,
God will say to them that even though He appears to them in a vision that
they can comprehend, still, “to whom can I be compared,â€ because
before God created any image or formed any form in the world, God was
alone without any form or semblance. We have mentioned how all names and
appellations of God are created entities, and that before the creation, there
was no name or form from the holy forms. This is as it is written Zohar (Bo,
42b): One who receives information about the state of existence before the
creation 244 Despite the limited nature of human cognition, it can receive
information about states of existence prior to creation; that is, beyond
cognition. However, since that information pertains to unconstricted aspects
of Divinity, it is forbidden to make an formal, limited likeness, even in terms
of letters, Divine names or other abstract forms. – before there was any
form of God’s being that was at all discernable to mankind – is
forbidden to make any formal representation of that information, not with the
letter Hei nor with the letter Yud. One cannot use a holy name, or even so
much as a letter or point to describe this knowledge. This is as the Torah says
(Devarim, 4:15), “You did not see any form.â€ You did not see anything
which engenders a likeness or form. However, after God made the form of the
holy merkava (chariot) of the supernal man, then God descended there, and
He is called in the name of the Tetragrammaton ( Yud Hei Vav Hei ). This is in
order that God may be comprehended through His attributes, 245 Seven
lower Sefirot from Chesed to Malkhut, the supernal source of emotions such
as love, fear, pride, and so forth. and perceived through each of His
attributes.

Chapter 4
Knowledge as a Created Entity The author reiterates the idea that the human
intellect is a created entity, and thus, completely contingent upon the Divine
will. Were God to so desire it, he could restructure the intellect to function in
a radically different way than it does today, such as with the ability to grasp
logical impossibilities. However, God maintains the structure of the mind in
order that to provide human beings with the free will to serve Him – even
though free will is itself a contingent creation, with the potential to be
annulled.
Therefore, a person must believe with perfect faith, and fix in his heart and
soul the unalterable belief that all of his knowledge is a created
consciousness: his intellect is a created intellect, his apprehension is a
created understanding, and God runs the world at every moment, managing
His creation with individual Divine providence every second of creation’s
existence. It is God who gives life and existence to all of the worlds and to all
of forces that are emanated, created, formed and made. 246 He uses four
terms for creation, paralleling the kabbalistic concept of the four worlds,
Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetsirah, Asiyah. This is a way of saying that God runs all of
the worlds, from the most sublime spiritual realm down to the lowly physical
world. Not only this, but so too does He gives life and existence in this world
to man’s mind, including this very understanding. God’s desire is that
we take our knowledge and power of understanding and then go on to serve
Him with our free will, which we are required to exercise. This is as it is
written in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 70, page 137a): “Let us make a
manâ€ (Bereshit, 1:26). Man is required to perform the mitzvot of the Torah.
He must devote his efforts to the Torah in order to work at it and guard it. 247
Based upon Bereshit 1:15. In this way he will have a good reward, and
dominance over you (the angels). 248 According to the Sages, when God said
in the plural, “Let us make a man,â€ He was consulting with His angels.
The Zohar adds to this rest of the verse: “and they shall rule over the fish
of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven,â€ which includes the angels
themselves. Although they aided in man’s creation, his free will ultimately
enables him to rule over them as well. This is why Israel is called (Yeshayahu,
60:21), “the branch of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will be
glorified.â€ For even though the supernal angels are great in strength and
always fulfill God’s word, still, their service is not ranked as truly mighty
since they are programmed to serve and obey Him. They have no evil
inclination that they may conquer, and do not have a body to contend with in
order to serve God. For this reason, “let us make a man,â€ and he will
rule over you. From this understanding and from this power of the intellect
comes man’s power of choice, for it is God’s desire that man serve
Him with his free will.

Indeed, a human being is enjoined to believe with perfect faith that God can
change his understanding and power of intellect to a completely different
one, including one’s overall intellect, that is, the entire order and
structure of his mind. This could mean that man’s power of free choice
could become completely nullified, or it could mean that only his
understanding and power of intellect is changed, yet his free choice remains
intact. It could be that God gives man a completely new way of
understanding totally different from that which he now knows. This is as it is
said in the Gemara (Tamid, 28a), “Which is the right way that man should
choose? Let him have abundant faithfulness, as it is written (Tehillim, 101:6),
‘My eyes are upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell with
Me.’â€ This means to believe with perfect faith that nothing is
impossible for the Creator, and similarly, man’s mind is in God’s
hands. For example, just as it we now understand with clarity of intellect that
it is impossible that two opposites could be true on any one subject, it is in
God’s power to grant us a perfectly clear understanding that two
opposites could be true in one situation. This is as it is written in the Zohar
(Bo, 42b), quoted above: I can erase its form and re-create it as many times
as I want, and there is no god above Me that can erase My “form.â€ As
was mentioned previously, since human knowledge and understanding is a
created entity, ordered, arranged, and granted to us according to God’s
will and desire, it could be God’s will and desire to change it to its very
opposite. Just as we know now with perfect clarity that two is more than one,
so too is it possible that God can have us believe with complete clarity that
one is more than two.

Chapter 5

On the Possible and the Impossible Based upon the discussion above – that
the intellect itself is created, and thus, ultimately mutable – the author
argues against the philosophical viewpoint that certain miracles are beyond
even God’s capability, such as the simultaneous occurrence of
contradictory events, or logical impossibilities (1 + 1 = 3, for instance). For,
according to R. Gershon Hanokh, God could easily restructure the human
mind to grasp that which now seems illogical. An examples for this, he cites
several miracles that occurred in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. At the
moment the miracle occurred, reality – and the human mind – became
open to the possibility of opposite phenomena occurring simultaneously.
However, he does offer a caveat. This shift in perception only occurs from
human perspective. From God’s point of view, there is no distinction
between the miraculous and the natural, between the state before and the
state after creation, or between finitude and infinity; creation is and always
has been nullified within God. The various Divine names used to relate to
God, as well as the permanent and logical appearance of creation, exist only
from our perspective, to provide us with the means with which to serve God.
Only to human perception is there a “beforeâ€ and “afterâ€ to
creation, a shift from potential to actual. A view of how the world is managed
by God, “from above to below,â€ is by and large hidden from man’s
understanding. Only the rare and sensitive prophetic soul among us can have
a vision of this magnitude.
The understanding that God can make the impossible possible goes against
the view mentioned in the responsa of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (known as
the Rashba, Spain, 1235-1310) §1255:448. 249 In 1305, the Rashba took a
stand on the issue of secular studies by issuing a ban on the study of
philosophy for those under the age of 25; although he specifically excluded
the works of the Rambam from the ban. The philosopher R. Yedaya Ben
Avraham asked the Rashba to instruct the secular philosophers of Provence.
There the philosopher wrote that one must divide the belief of God’s
ability to do the impossible into two sections. One is the belief that God can
temporarily change nature through miracles such as the splitting of the Sea
of Reeds. Yet after a period of time, God will restore nature back to its
previous state. God gave nature an enduring existence, yet God is above
nature and has the ability to change it. The second section concerns the
impossible. Here we must understand the nature of its impossibility even in
terms of God’s own conduct, 250 “×פילו בחוק ×”â€
and we should not ascribe to God the ability to change it. This is because
nature is a part of [God’s] existence, to a certain degree. He further
wrote, and this concept is well known, concerning the impossibility of two
opposites existing in one subject at the same time. This is all the more
apparent with two contradictions, for the contradictions themselves provide a
clear illustration of the impossibility that anything could be happening and
not happening at the same time. For example, if we say that Reuven is riding
on a horse and not riding on a horse at one time and place. Or if we say that
he is writing and simultaneously not writing. Contradictory events cannot
happen at one time and in one place. In this way truth and falsehood will
always be clearly divided. The example of opposites in the realm of number
would be saying that a number is both odd and even. In the realm of time, it
would be saying that a point in time is both past and future. How could it be,
since the past is entirely lost, and the future has not yet begun. How could
you have the same exact day which is simultaneously called yesterday and
tomorrow? This is clearly a contradictory statement, and illustrates how the
impossible remains impossible and can never be the possible. 251 Meaning,
even for God. Such is the contention of the philosopher, that it is impossible
for two opposites to be simultaneously true; yet, this is opposite the view of
the Torah.

The Talmud records (Megillah, 10b) the tradition received from our forefathers
that it was impossible to measure the space in the Holy of Holies, as from the
measurements given, the Holy Ark would not have taken up any space. 252
The passage in the Gemara (Megillah, 10b) reads: Rabbi Levi further said: We
have a tradition from our ancestors that the ark took up no space. It has been
taught to the same effect: “The ark which Moshe made had around it an
empty space of ten cubits on every side.â€ Now, it is written (Melakhim,
6:20), “And in front of the Sanctuary was twenty cubits in length and
twenty cubits in breadth,â€ and it is also written after that (verses 24-25)
that the wing of the one cherub was ten cubits and the wing of the other
cherub was ten cubits. Where then was the ark itself? We must therefore
conclude that it stood by a miracle without occupying any space. In other
words, if the wings of the golden cherubs, positioned to the right and left of
the ark, each took up ten cubits, then, theoretically, there was no place left
for the ark to stand between them. Similarly, the Mishnah records that,
“on the Day of Atonement the crowd in Holy Temple was so packed
together that it would normally have been impossible to move, yet when it
came time to fall prostrate on the ground, everyone had enough room.â€
253 When the High Priest would pronounce God’s ineffable name in the
Holy of Holies of the Temple on Yom Kippur, the crowd, which had been
standing so tightly packed that people could barely move, would fall down on
their faces, hands and feet spread out on the ground; yet not one of the
worshipers touched any other surrounding him. This is a physical
impossibility. One body cannot enter the space of anther body without one of
them being negated. 254 Since the area of the Temple courtyard did not
expand, as mentioned below, the people on the ground had to be occupying
each others space, normally considered impossible. Yet indeed, for one who
believes in God and believes that even understanding and the power of the
intellect are also created entities that God can renew and arrange according
to His desire, then there is no problem in understanding and believing the
words of the Sages as they are written. Of the place of the Holy Temple it is
written (Divrei HaYamim 2, 7:16), “My eyes and heart shall be there at all
times.â€ God illuminated the place of the Holy Temple with an illumination
that is above all orders of the natural world, and above the ability of the
human mind to comprehend. All who entered the Holy Temple in a holy and
pure state would perceive this even through human eyes. He would
understand with his mind and intellectual power on a level which is beyond
the capacity of perception for someone anywhere else in the world. The Holy
Temple was a place where God revealed miracles and made them perceptible
to the mortal mind. When the Israelites fell prostrate in the Holy Temple,
which was the moment when they heard the Name of God being pronounced
by the High Priest in a state of sanctity and purity, God sent them an
awesome illumination, and they understood on a level beyond all orders of
creation and the capacity of human understanding. At this moment they
understood that there is no contradiction between standing jam-packed in a
crowd unable to move anywhere, and being able to freely fall to the ground
with arms and legs spread out, yet not coming into contact with the people
around you. 255 In other words, not only did a miracle occur in the Temple,
when the congregation prostrated themselves on the ground, the
consciousness of the people there itself expanded, so that they were able to
cognitively grasp why such a thing is possible. The space of the courtyard of
the Holy Temple was not miraculously expanded, for we have many sources
in the Talmud 256 The author lists BT Eruvin, 154a, Chulin 83b, and Berachot
17b as sources, though those folios do not seem to relate to this discussion.
which teach us that it was not permitted to expand the area of the Azara. This
is based on the verse (Divrei HaYamim 1, 28:19), “And this, said David, is
written by the hand of God who instructed me, even all the works of this
pattern.â€ With this miracle, where two contradictory opposites could join
together in one place without negating each other, two opposites could truly
join together in one subject. At the moment when they fell prostrate, they
knew this with complete and certain knowledge. Just as we understand
according to normative human knowledge that two contradictory opposites
cannot exist at the same time, so did they understand at that moment that
they were not opposites at all.

There is a hint as to the secret of the Shem haMefurash (the Explicit Name)
257 God’s ineffable name, the Tetragrammaton, was audibly pronounced
in the Temple only on specific occasions, such as Yom Kippur. as mentioned in
the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma, Chapter 3, Halakha 7), “The High Priest
would pronounce the name ten times during the course of the day of
Atonement. Those who were close would fall on their faces, and those who
were far would say, ‘ Baruch Shem Kavod Malkhuto Leolam Va’ed,’
– ‘Blessed is the name of His glorious Sovereignty forever and ever.’
Both the High Priest and the people would not move from their places until it
was hidden from them.â€ At the moment when the people heard the Shem
haMefurash, they possessed a knowledge and understanding that is beyond
time, space, and the laws of nature, as explained in the previous chapter.
Then, when the name was hidden from them, this level of consciousness was
also hidden from them, and they returned to the normal level of human
understanding, based upon the laws of nature. However, a residue of the
experience remained, as they remembered how they once understood. This is
akin to the way the Torah says, after the experience of receiving the Torah at
Mount Sinai, “now everyone shall go back to their tents.â€ 258 Meaning,
after the prophetic experience of receiving the Torah at Sinai, where the
people, “saw the voicesâ€ (Shemot 20:15) and surpassed the limits of
human perception and consciousness, they had to “return to their
tentsâ€; that is, return back to normal human perception. Similarly, when
the High Priest on the Day of Atonement would enter into the Holy of Holies,
in a state of sanctity and purity, and with preparation of the heart, he would
clearly understand how the Holy Ark did not take up any space. He would
perceive this through human eyes. Since his very body reached such a level
of purity, he could clearly see and understand that there is no logical
contradiction in that the Holy Ark existed and yet did not take up any physical
space. The Midrash and the Yalkut both interpret the verse (Vayikra, 16:17),
“And no man shall be in the Tent of Appointed Meeting when he shall go in
to the holy place to make atonement,â€ as meaning that a man did not go
into the Holy of Holies, but rather an angel of the Lord of Hosts. 259 The
Midrash inteprets the words of the verse, “no man shall be in the Tent of
Appointed Meeting,â€ as including to the High Priest himself; yet it was he
alone who was commanded to enter the sanctuary! The implication is that
when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, he was no longer a man, no
longer a human being. The revelation of Divinity was so powerful that he was
transformed into an angelic being. But this was precisly what allowed him to
perceive the paradoxical nature of the ark of the covenant, which existed, yet
took up no space. It was said of Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon HaKohen,
that when the Holy Spirit would rest upon him, his face appeared to be
burning in flames. It is recorded in the Zohar Hadash (Midrash Ne’elam,
page 18), “When the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies… It is
taught, Rabbi Abba said in the name of Rabbi in the name of Rav, the
innermost chamber (the Holy of Holies) is just like the Garden of Eden, and
when the Cohen would enter, he would enter with his soul and not with his
body.â€ This explains the passage in the Zohar (Parshat Pinhas, 117b-118a),
which says that when God was called by his various names and attributes
before the world was created, He was called with a view to the future and for
the sake of the creation that was yet to be created. For with the creation of
the world, the will of created beings would be limited, as explained above.

Indeed, all of the renewal, names, and appellations exist only from the
perspective of the creation, yet from God’s point of view there is no
difference between before creation and after creation. This is according to the
blessing composed by the members of the Great Assembly, 260 This blessing
is printed just before the sacrificial section in the beginning of the morning
(Shaharit) service. The Great Assembly began with Ezra, with the return of
the exiles from Babylon (c. 500 BCE), and included the last of the Prophets
– Haggai, Zekharia, Malakhi, and Daniel. It lasted until the time of Shimon
HaTzaddik (300-270 BCE). See introduction to the Mishneh Torah of
Maimonides. “You are the Lord our God before You created the world, and
You are the Lord our God after You created the world.â€ Yet we must add
that since God created the nature of our understanding and its inability to
perceive anything from the period before the world’s creation, how can
we say, “God was this way before He created the world?â€ It must be
clear to us that there is a difference. Before the world was created everything
was in potential. After the world was created, this potential came into being.
However, the distinction between that which is in potential and that which is
in actuality exists only from our own perspective as created beings that have
been set into action. God has programmed us, by and large, to see reality in
this way. God created an order to the world. He made an arrangement
whereby whenever anyone wants to do something in the world, that is, bring
some potential into actuality, must do so through action, and must
necessarily pass through the boundaries of time and space. Indeed,
concerning the nature of man’s actions, the Talmud teaches us
(Kiddushin, 62a), “Anything that a person is capable of doing is
considered as if it is already done.â€ This is true even though we see that
the action is not yet done, and is clearly incomplete. Since it is within his
power to do, it is as if it is already complete. Yet this idea, which we apply to
human beings, can in no way be transferred to God. 261 Meaning, human
beings must see things in terms of cause and effect, the movement from
potential to actual. This applies equally to our understanding of God’s
emanating the creation: we assume that there is a before and after. However,
such an understanding is itself a created entity. From God’s perspective,
there is no such a thing as before and after creation, of movement from
potential to actual. The capabilities of man and their reality can in no way be
compared to the capabilities of God and their reality. Therefore, from the
point of view of the creation, it seems that if it was God’s wish to be King,
then the only way He could have achieved this goal was to create a world
over which He would rule, for there is no king without a people. Yet, this very
notion is a created understanding. From the point of view of God’s
Sovereignty, there really is a King without a people, who can reign before any
of the creation was formed, since God is all-powerful.

Chapter 6

Ben Zoma Gazing between the Upper and Lower Waters In the previous
chapters, the author discussed the difference between two perspectives –
ours and G-d’s, or Above and below, the miraculous and the mundane.
The difference between these viewpoints is alluded to the Torah’s verses
concerning the division of the upper and lower waters at the outset of
creation. These verses are referred to in the next chapter, in which the author
discusses the failed mystical experience of the Talmudic sage, Ben Zoma, and
its relationship to Adam’s sin in the Garden, as well as the nature of the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and Korah’s rebellion against Moses.
Both Ben Zoma and Adam posited an unbridgeable gap between heaven and
earth. While R. Gershon Hanokh admits that a gap does exist – in order to
allow human beings free will to serve G-d – it is a only temporary measure,
and it is certainly not unbridgeable. In the future, when human perception will
be redeemed and transformed, we will see that there never was a gap in
creation, and that the Divine Unity pervades and pervaded all.
It is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Bereshit, 4): “And God made the
firmament in the midst of the watersâ€ (Bereshit 1:7). This is one of the
verses where Ben Zoma’s 262 Ben Zoma was considered to be one of the
greatest interpreters of the Torah of his day (2nd century, CE). He was one of
the four sages who “entered the Orchardâ€ of mystical experience. The
other three being Ben Azzai, Elisha ben Abuya, and R. Akiva. Due to the
intense nature of the experience, Ben Zoma went mad, Ben Azzai died, and
Elisha ben Abuya became a heretic and was subsquently known as Acher –
“Other.â€ Only R. Akiva entered and departed in peace. explanation
shook the world and perplexed the sages. 263 The following passage from
the tractate Hagiga (15a) describes the incident: Our Rabbis taught: Once
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiya was standing on a step on the Temple Mount,
and Ben Zoma saw him and did not stand up before him. So Rabbi Yehoshua
said to him, “What are you contemplating, Ben Zoma?â€ He replied,
“I was gazing between the upper and the lower waters, and there is only
three fingerbreadths between them, for it is said (Bereshit 1:6), And the spirit
of God hovered over the face of the waters - like a dove which hovers over
her young without touching them.â€ Thereupon Rabbi Yehoshua said to his
students, “Ben Zoma is still outside.â€ See now, when was it that ‘the
spirit of God hovered over the face of the water? It was on the first day of
Creation. But the division took place on the second day, for it is written: And
let it divide the waters from the waters!’ And what is the size of the
division? Rabbi Akha ben Yaakov said, “a hair’s breadth.â€ According
to R. Gershon Hanokh, Ben Zoma was attributing the division between G-d
and creation to the very roots of reality – to the first day of creation.
However, as Rabbi Yehoshua pointed out, the division between G-d and
creation only occurred on the second day, with the creation of the firmament.
And even in those terms, Ben Zoma was still wrong, as he perceived a
significant division between the upper and lower worlds (three
fingerbreadths), whereas the division is no more than a hair; meaning to say,
the division between G-d and creation is extremely slight, and exists only
from the human perspective, as explained above. For further discussion of
this see Living Waters: The Mei HaShiloach, (Tr. Betzalel Edwards), Parshat
Emor, on the verse, “and you shall not do so in your land.â€ Wasn’t
the creation of the firmament already included in the statement (Tehillim,
33:6), “The heavens were created with God’s word, and the spirit of
His breath all their hostsâ€? 264 Verse six in the first chapter of Genesis
says, “And God said, let there be a firmament.â€ Verse seven says,
“And God made the firmament.â€ Yet the psalm teaches us, “The
heavens were created with God’s word,â€ meaning, God’s word
created the universe immediately. Thus, if the firmament was already created
in verse six, why in verse seven does it say, “God made the
firmamentâ€? To Ben Zoma, this implied a division between G-d and His
actions. Rashi explains to us that Ben Zoma perplexed the sages by saying
that he gazed and saw that the distance between the upper and lower waters
was three fingerbreadths. The Midrash goes on to say that it was not long
after this that he died. Concerning the creation of the firmament and the
division of the waters, the Ramban asked why in verse 6 the Torah says,
“Let there be a firmament in the waters,â€ and then again in verse 7 it
says, “And God made the firmament.â€ Wasn’t the firmament
already made in verse 6? 265 According to Ramban, this is the exact problem
that bothered Ben Zoma. It was not only on account of the word, “He
madeâ€ since on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days it also says, “He
made.â€ Rather, Ben Zoma’s problem was that on other days,
immediately after God’s utterance (“let there beâ€), it is written,
“and it was so.â€ This implies that it came into being immediately after
the utterance. Yet on the second day, after it says, “and God said, let
there be a firmament,â€ it goes on to say, “and He made.â€ (before it
says, “and it was so.â€) The Ramban suggests that Ben Zoma had some
secret interpretation of the verse that he did not want to reveal. (See the
Ramban for his own reconciliation of this problem.) Truly, both explanations
are true and one. The mistake of Ben Zoma was that he posited too great a
distance between the upper and the lower waters. This is the meaning of the
statement, “Ben Zoma glimpsed and died.â€ 266 According to the
Babylonian Talmud, Ben Zoma went mad, but Ben Azzai died. According to
Palestinian Tamud, Ben Zoma died, and Ben Azzai went mad. The Mei
HaShiloach gives a brief explanation of this. The Gemara (Hagiga, 15b)
records Ben Zoma saying, “I was gazing between the upper and the lower
waters, and there is only three fingerbreadths between them.â€ Upon
hearing this, Rabbi Yehoshua said to his students, “Ben Zoma is still on
the outside.â€ 267 Simply explained, this means after his mystical
experience, Ben Zoma’s perception became damaged, and the sages of
his day felt that they could no longer rely upon him. On a deeper level, R.
Yehoshua may have been saying that Ben Zoma perception was outside the
realm of unity. What was the actual distance between the upper and lower
waters? “Rabbi Aha ben Yaakov said a hairbreadth. And the Rabbis said
the space between the boards of a narrow bridge. Mar Zutra (or maybe Rav
Assi) said as the space between two garments spread one over the other; and
others say, the space between two cups fitted one over the other.â€ The
subject of the space between the upper waters and the lower waters is hinted
at in the matter of the firmament, which alludes to the separation between
the upper and lower worlds. The creation of the firmament made a division
between the upper and lower worlds, as it is written in the Zohar (Bereshit,
17a): “And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the
waters.â€ (Bereshit, 1:6) This is the secret of the rectification, specifically of
the separation between the upper and lower waters, in the secret of the
left… A conflict that is arrayed as above, 268 D. Matt’s translation was
partially used in this passage. which rises and does descend, 269 Meaning, a
conflict exists in this world, similar to the conflict above – i.e. the division
between heaven and earth; that is the Talmudic debate between Shammai
and Hillel, which was a “ makhloket l’shem shamayim â€ – a
dispute for the sake of Heaven, and ultimately reconciled ( Pirkei Avot, 5:17),
just as the division between heaven and earth will ultimately be reconciled.
The opposite is the conflict of Korah, which was a a “ makhloket sh’lo
l’shem shamayim â€ – not for the sake of heaven, and thus will not
endure. It is similar to the false division perceived by Ben Zoma. and which
exists on a straight path, is the dispute of Shammai and Hillel. There God
separated between the two and reconciled them. Since this was a conflict for
the sake of Heaven, the Heavens mediated the conflict, and because of this it
endures. 270 Matt renders, “and upon this conflict the world was
established,â€ based on another version. This is akin to the creation of the
world. Korah (in his dispute with Moshe) went against the work of creation. He
was in dispute with the heavens. He wanted to contradict the words of Torah.
In his dispute he was certainly cleaving to hell, and hell clove to him. This
secret is written in the book of Adam. The reason for the separation between
the upper and lower realms is in order give man the ability to serve God. The
division creates darkness and a concealment of the Divine Presence. Man can
then serve God through the power of his own free choice. This is as was
mentioned above in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 70) and is mentioned in the
Zohar (Tetsave, 184a): Man only serves God from amidst darkness… 271 G-
d’s worship is not complete until it arises out of man’s free will. But in
order for many to have free will, he cannot be aware of G-d’s presence. A
level of darkness, concealment, or “divisionâ€ between the upper and
lower worlds must exist. Therefore God created the “Tree of Doubtâ€
which is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 272 The Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the consciousness that perceives a
separation between heaven and earth. When it is used to bring man closer to
G-d, it is called a “controversy (i.e. division) for the sake of heaven.â€
However, when the dualistic perception is taken to its most negative extreme,
it posits an unbridgeable gap, which is the root of all irreconcilable
controversies, that are “not for the sake of heaven.â€ In this way man
can serve God out of this very uncertainty. This is as it is said (ibid.): Light is
only that which comes out of darkness. When this side is subdued, the Holy
One, blessed be He, ascends above, and His Glory is magnified. 273 The only
true service of God is that which arises from a situation of doubt and
confusion. Indeed, from the downward evolutions and concatenations of the
branches of the Tree of Doubt, there eventually arises the phenomenon of the
dispute which is not for the sake of Heaven, like the dispute of Korah. 274 The
Radziner is presenting a tremendously novel concept, namely that the root of
all earthly conflicts lie in the contradiction between God’s omnipresence
and His concealment. Though He is everywhere, as the Torah states,
“there is none else besides Him,â€ yet our normal human perceptions
contradict this. Similarly, though God directs everything in the world, we still
have free choice to do as we please. Yet, it is the concealment of the Divine
that provides us with the ability to freely serve Him. When the Zohar says,
“The Heavens mediated this conflict, and thus it endures,â€ it means
that only through God’s illumination can the human mind grasp the
reconciliation of these paradoxes. This is because the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil also contains separate evil. This is included in the divine
utterance of creation, “Let there be a firmament,â€ – which is
separate – and creates a division between the upper and lower realms.

Chapter 7

The Sin of Adam and that which Separates us from God The author now seeks
to explain how Adam’s sin in the Garden was an antecedent to Ben
Zoma’s similar mistake. As explained above, the division between G-d
and creation allows for human free will, and the ability to freely and
autonimously accept G-d’s dominion. More specifically, the creation of the
six sefirot (character traits, days of the week) from Hesed to Yesod, all allow
for the existence of Malkhut (free will, Shabbat), though only when they are
actively invested with the higher sefirot of Hokhmah, Binah, and Da’at.
(the intellectual faculties). That is, when one’s actions and emotions are
balanced by the intellect. Adam sinned by assuming that this process
occurred within him automatically, which meant that his desire to eat from
the Tree of Knowledge was actually G-d’s will. By following on his desire,
he separated Malkhut (G-d’s explicit commandment and his own free will
to heed it) from the upper sefirot.
It is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Kohelet, Parsha 1), “‘I wounded,
and I will heal.’ (Devarim, 32:39) … Rabbi Yohanan said, ‘I struck’
is not written, but rather ‘I wounded.’ I created a wound 275 The word
for wound – mahatsti – is similar to the word mehitsah, “divider.â€
in that I made a division between the upper and lower realms whereby the
upper realms exist forever, and the lower realms are subject to death. Yet in
the time to come, there will no longer be death, as it is written (Yeshayahu,
25:8), ‘He will destroy death forever.’ Rabbi Abba said, furthermore, in
the time to come I will return and heal the wound. It is precisely through the
division that I bring healing.â€ The matter of division hints at the positive
aspect of separation, which necessitates the existence of free choice, as
mentioned above. The result of choosing the good, despite the concealment
of God’s presence, is the revelation of the God’s glory in the world.
This is as the Gemara says (Rosh Hashanah, 31a), “[What psalm did the
Levites recite] on the second day of the week? ‘God is great and greatly
praised,’ (Tehillim, 145:3) because He divided His works and ruled over
them.â€ The division of God’s attributes led to the birth of the attribute
of Malkhut – G-d’s Kingship – by means of human beings using their
power of choice. Before the division, God could not be called, “King.â€
276 Before the division of heaven and earth, God ruled alone. R. Gershon
Hanokh uses the term moshel - – a ruler – to define G-d’s reign at
that stage. This is unlike a king, who rules through the consent of the people.
Thus, it was only on the second day, after the division in creation was formed
and something “otherâ€ than G-d existed, could the creation willfully
crown Him as its King. Thus, on the first day of the week [the Levites recited];
“The earth is God’s and the fullness thereofâ€ (Tehillim, 24:1). 277
The song that the Levites sung each day of the week corresponded to the six
primordial days in which G-d created the world. Since, on the first day of
creation, there was not yet a division between heaven and earth, nor was
there an independent creation to coronate G-d as King, so, the Levites, on
Sunday, sang “The earth is God’s and the fullness thereof.â€ At that
point, the creation belonged solely to G-d. It was then that He acquired, gave
over acquisition, and ruled in His world. What does it mean that God,
“ruled,â€ on the first day? He ruled against the will of the creation,
without having His sovereignty built upon the free choice of the creation. But
since concealment is a prerequisite for choice, it also leads to absence,
darkness, and the need for healing. This is hinted at in the Zohar (Bo, 35a),
with the secret of the great sea creature: 278 See Bereshit, 1:21 Then, when
the light was hidden above from the gardener, 279 The Zohar is revealing the
secrets of the mystery of creation, which begins on the first day, where God
“divided between the light and the darkness.â€ Before this passage, the
Zohar introduced the concept of the Tsaddik (Holy Man, also, alluding to the
sefirah of Yesod ) who is described as a gardener, who tends, cultivates, and
facilitates growth. It also represents Divine providence, which
“cultivates,â€ humankind in particular and the creation as a whole. as
mentioned, the first darkness emerged, hitting [the sea creature] on the hole
that had been made in its head. And a single thread emerged from between
the light that had been hidden and the emerging darkness. This is as it is
written, “And God divided between the light and the darkness.â€ This
sea creature, 280 The sea creature is the Leviathan (see Bereshit 1),
representing the highest levels of Hokhmah - Wisdom (ChaBaD of Hokhmah),
which are the concealed forces in the upper waters. The Midrash teaches us
that there were two Leviathans, the largest creatures of the sea, a male and a
female. The female was killed after being created, and its meat was salted
and preserved for the Righteous in the time to come. with the separation of
the thread, was then divided into the rivers that flow within the darkness. 281
The thread of light that that the Zohar tells us is emerging from the darkness
provides the power of choice and the ability for man in the lower world to
choose the good, thereby revealing God’s glory in the world. God created
the lower world purely out of His kindness. This is as it is written (Tehillim,
89:3), “For I have said, the world will be built on kindness.â€ God divided
space into six directions. 282 North, south, east, west, up, down. Each
direction representing one of the six lower attributes ( Sefirot ), and from the
division of these six attributes comes the power of choice, which brings forth
the seventh and final attribute of Malkhut – Kingship. 283 Malkhut is the
ability to receive God’s light and thereby crown Him as King of the world.
This is related to the statement in the Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer, that Kingship
only comes about through choice and will. Now, the attributes are divided
into Hesed - Lovingkindness, Gevurah - Strength, Tiferet - Beauty, etc. 284
The revelation of God’s sovereignty is achieved through man actively
choosing through which of the six lower attributes that Sovereignty will be
revealed. To reveal the aspect of Sovereignty in any one of the attributes, one
must draw the light of ChaBaD into that attribute. We have mentioned above
that each of the attributes on its own is not intrinsically good. Thus, when any
one of the attributes is used without Da’at – Consciousness 285
Da’at, or Divine consciousness, originates in the intellect, or the upper
three sefirot, and is ideally drawn down and infused into the lower revealed
sefirot, the attributes of action. The drawing of divine consciousness allows
for spiritual growth, much as water and nutrients that flows through the tree
allows for the tree to grow. one could make grave blunders, such as showing
mercy to cruel people. 286 This would be a misuse of the trait of Hesed -
lovingkindness. See above, Part 2, chapter 2, for a discussion of the misuse or
“unclarifiedâ€ used of the attributes. However, when the six lower
attributes 287 The six lower “revealedâ€ Sefirot are Hesed –
Lovingkindness, Gevurah – Strength, Tiferet – Beauty, Netzah
–Eternity, Hod – Majesty, and Yesod – Foundation. Each of these
corresponds, as well, to elements of the human personality. are illuminated
with the light of HaBaD, 288 HaBaD is the initials of the three upper
“intellectualâ€ or “hiddenâ€ Sefirot, Hokhmah – Wisdom, Binah
– Understanding, and Da’at – Consciousness. HaBaD is the spiritual
root of man’s intellectual faculties. and as a result, the sum total of the
attributes are used in their proper time and place, then the structure is
complete. Then the attribute of Malkhut comes forth as the true completion
and perfection of all the attributes, and the light of the Kingship of Heaven
shines in its full completeness. Indeed, when a man reaches the point where
he is drawing HaBaD into the lower attributes, which is possible only through
his concerted efforts in Divine service and striving to know God, it must occur
in the same way that Shabbat follows the six days of the week. 289 The six
work days correspond to the six attributes (sefirot), from Hesed to Yesod, with
Shabbat corresponding to the Sefirah of Malkhut. Just as free will needs the
engagement of all six of these attributes (without which, a person would be
emotionally imbalanced, and fall into idolatry, as explained above), which
leads to the creation of Malkhut – the willing acceptance of G-d’s
kingship – so too, does Shabbat follow the six days of the week. Similarly,
with man, this is only possible through efforts at the service of God, crowning
God over him as his King, and accepting upon himself the yoke of the
Kingship of Heaven. In the world, this idea is hinted at in the place of the Holy
Temple, which is a place of lucid Divine service, for it is at that place that God
shines His light in its fullness.

The sin of Adam was the failure to achieve what was spelled out in the
previous section. This is explained in the Etz Hayyim and the Liqutei Torah
(Bereshit) of the Arizal. 290 Namely, failing to draw Da’at –
Consciousness into the lower attributes, and the mistake of creating a
separation between Malchut – Kingship – and the upper attributes.
Adam’s sin was that he wanted to magnify the size of the crown (Keter) of
Zeir Anpin (which contains the six attributes) before its time, and did not
draw light into it. 291 The crown needs to receive the proper intensity of light
in order to be adequately illuminated. Increasing the size of the vessel of the
crown without increasing the intensity of the light only reduces the
illumination. An analogy in this world would be a person opening a charity
organization without having the funds to distribute. Similarly he sinned with
regards to the Nukva (female) of Zeir Anpin, in that he turned the female
away from the male. This is not the place to explain this complex Kabbalistic
idea in full, and God willing, we will return to it in its place. The root of
Adam’s sin is mentioned in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 69, page 117a):
The central principle of the four letters and the ten letters 292 The “four
lettersâ€ refers to the Tetragrammaton, spelled Yud Hei Vav Hei. The ten
letters are the expansion of the name, with each letter spelled in full - Yud
Vav Dalet, Hei Aleph, Vav Aleph Vav, Hei Aleph. is Malkhut – Sovereignty.
Malkhut is comprised of ten Sefirot, and all must be included within Malkhut.
Anyone who takes the nine upper Sefirot without Malkhut is, “cutting the
plantingsâ€ (committing heresy). And similarly, in the Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun
19: Rabbi Shimon said to Rabbi Elazar, “Elazar my son, they sinned in
them all: in their thoughts, and in their hidden thought. The word “etâ€
293 This whole passage requires kabbalistic knowledge. The Zohar refers to
the commandment to send away the mother bird (Devarim 22:7): “
v’et habanim tikach lach – and take the chicks.â€ The chicks
represents Kingship-Malkhut. Meaning to say, always take Malkhut together
with the upper sefirot. In R. Gershon Hanokh’s terms, a person must
exercise his free will in a balanced way – by allowing the light of the
intellect to shine into the attributes. Adam’s sin lay in his eating
impulsively from the Tree of Knowledge, rather than carefully examining his
motivations, in light of G-d’s commandment. As R. Gershon Hanokh will
explain, Adam did this because he assumed that his innate desires were G-d-
given, and thus always accurate. In the verse from Devarim, the direct object
“ et â€ is understood to be referring to the Shechina, which went into
exile when the Israelites sinned. is said in order to include the lower
Shekhina. Meaning to say, within the totality of the six attributes can be
found the trait of the Malkhut, which completes them all. This is said in
several places in the Zohar and the Tikkunei Zohar. The three upper Sefirot
are also found in the six lower attributes, as is said in the Raya Mehemna
(section of the Zohar), Parshat Pinhas (257a): The seventh is only from the
side of the letter Yud ( ×™ ), the crown on his head, Supernal Wisdom is a
sign, 294 “Ot,â€ as in a sign of the covenant, like Shabbat or Brit Milah.
Lower Wisdom is a sign … 295 See Shemot 31:13, “The Sabbath is a sign
– ot hi – beween you and Me.â€ The pronoun hi is spelled with the
letter yud (×”×™×), which represents Hokhmah – supernal Wisdom. The
seventh sefirah - Malkhut, Kingship – is considered to be derived from the
sefirah of Hokhmah (×ב× יסד ברת×). The point on the top of
the letter Yud represents the connection between the infinite and the lower
finite world (“the crown on his headâ€). The implication is that the
connection to the infinite is hidden within the world. When Malchut, which is
the Shechina or the presence of God dwelling in the community of Israel, is
revealed as, “the crown on His head,â€ meaning, when God’s
sovereignty that was hitherto hidden among Israel is seen as connected to
the Infinite and revealed in the supernal world and as a vehicle for the
effluence of supernal wisdom, then malchut – G-d’s sovereignty – is
complete. The author’s commentary on the Torah, the Sod Yesharim
(Noah, beginning with the words “et kashtiâ€), also heavily based on the
Zohar, explains Adam’s sin in the following way: The Arizal writes that the
sin of Adam was in attempting to enlarge the crown of Zeir Anpin before its
proper time. This means that Adam wanted to draw Hokhmah – Wisdom
– into the rest of his body in order for all of his actions would be a direct
expression of God’s own will. In this way Adam seized Malkhut, meaning
he held onto the power of nature disconnected from the nine upper Sefirot. If
he had seized Malkhut through the nine Sefirot, he would have thus built the
Kingdom of Heaven in a state of completeness together with the Keter-Crown
of Zeir Anpin. In other words, then a permanent reverence for God would
have been fixed in his being and in the being of all of creation. Then it would
have followed automatically that the Keter of Zeir Anpin would have also
been instilled with such awesome reverance. There would have been a
complete state of consciousness ( da’at shleima ) in all one’s powers
so that man would know where it was forbidden to enter, because that place
would separate man from his roots and he would not see the presence of his
Creator. So too, he would see where he was permitted to enter … However,
since Adam took it before its time, rushing in with the desire to elevate the
matters of this world at the outset, he fell into a state of concealed
consciousness and forgetting, remaining in the physical aspect of the world.
This is the meaning of, “taking Malkhut without the upper nine Sefirot.â€
Adam HaRishon reasoned in this way. Since a force from the root of HaBaD
exists also in the revealed attributes, and since he was created by God, God
thus desired to be called King also in the lower realm of creation (the physical
world). As a result of all of this, Adam’s desire was stimulated, and it
occurred to him that his desire was in fact God’s own desire. 296 The
author writes in his commentary on the Zohar, Tiferet Ha-Hanokhi, (Parshat
Lekh, on Zohar 83, section beginning, “ve’loâ€): The Tikkunei Zohar
states that the sin of Adam lay in his taking the ten Sefirot without Malkhut.
Consider the following explanation. Adam did not sufficiently establish
God’s Sovereignty, to crown God over all of His creation. Truly, even in
the final garment [of creation], that is, the place that seems the furthest and
most hidden from God, what we loosely call “evil,â€ also in this place,
man must see himself and conduct himself as a slave. Adam’s sin was in
that it seemed to him that as the very handiwork of God, all his feelings of
desire and yearning [to eat from the Tree of Knowledge] must also be coming
directly from God. However, the essential quality of Malkhut is to serve God
through one’s own choice, by limiting one’s behavior in order to
increase Godliness in the world, and to accept upon himself the responsibility
for sin. [Thus, Adam should not have eaten it, even if he was correct.] In
understanding that everything that he felt like doing was the expression of
the Divine will, 297 Thus, he desire to eat from the Tree of Knowledge must
also have been a manifestation of G-d’s will. the necessity for active
service through Adam’s power of choice became void. And it follows, that
since all of the revealed attributes ( sefirot ) were innately within him, 298 In
must be stressed here that the six revealed Sefirot are all the ways we serve
God in the world, with love - Hesed, with fear - Gevura, with splendour -
Tifferet, etc. then everything he would do would automatically express
God’s glory in the world. This is a brief synopsis of the Arizal’s
understanding of Adam’s sin.

Chapter 8

Ben Zoma’s Replay of Adam’s Sin The author, based upon the Arizal,
now explains Ben Zoma’s mistake and its similarity to Adam’s sin.
Like Adam, Ben Zoma posited an essential division between G-d and the
creation (here, defined as a division between Hokhma and the six attributes).
This explains Ben Zoma’s radical claim that a space of two fingerbreadth
exists between the upper and lower waters (i.e. between heaven and earth),
whereas, in reality, there is almost no division at all. And as for the little that
exists, G-d is constantly repairing it, to bring the creation back into a state of
unity with Him. This is called the “healing of the lower waters,â€ and
their reintegration into the upper waters. The Arizal explained Ben
Zoma’s mistake in the same way. Ben Zoma thought that if his Divine
service reached the level of Binah – Understanding, that is within Hokhmah
– Wisdom, 299 Each Sefirah is comprised of all ten Sefirot. Therefore, the
Sefirah of Hokhmah – Wisdom – contains a “centerâ€ of Hokhmah
and a “centerâ€ of Binah – Understanding. he would reach an
apprehension that the root of the attributes are fixed in the place of Binah
– Understanding. This would then be sufficient in order to illuminate all the
details of the other attributes. 300 The ten Sefirot above, and the various
attributes that constitute the human personality below. It would be revealed
that in this place, all of the attributes are unified. However, (in Binah), the
attributes are still defined as separate, it is just that they are not in
opposition to each other. 301 Hokhmah, Wisdom is a level above Binah,
Understanding. The world of Hokhmah is entirely good. The lower world of
Binah contains the roots of separate good and evil, though at this sublime
level, evil is unlike that of the physical world; i.e. destruction and hatred, but
rather exists as a spiritual or intellectual potential for negativity. The
“evilâ€ in Binah is not in opposition to the good, as it still accords with
God’s plan for the total amelioration of his creation. This is all explained
in its place in the Etz Hayyim. 302 This may refer to the author’s own
commentary on the Ez Hayyim, which was lost during the Holocaust, or to a
source in the Lurianic writings. The complete explanation of both the sin of
Adam and the four who entered the “Pardesâ€ is found in the Liqutei
Torah of the Arizal, Parshat Bereshit. Truly, man’s Divine service must
reach the root of the attributes as they are found in Hokhmah – Wisdom.
This is because complete and total Hesed–Lovinkingness is found in the
Sefirah of Hokhmah –Wisdom. This is as it is said in the Tikkunei Zohar
(Tikkun 69, page 107a), “Hesed is Hokhmah.â€ If you study deeply
various places in the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, you will see that when the
attributes are found in Hokhmah – Wisdom, they are not even called
attributes. It is only when they descend below and dress themselves in the
lower realms that they are called by the name, “attributes.â€ 303 The
level of Hokhmah – Wisdom – is beyond good. On the personal level, it
means a level of knowing so deeply that everything in one’s life is for the
good that one cannot really work out its details in the mind. The details and
concrete ideas, like the blueprint of a house or a detailed buisness plan, is the
act of revealing Hokhmah in Binah. Once we get to the details of an idea or
project, we begin to separate the good from the bad. You say to yourself,
“This possibility is good, and the other possibility is not so good.â€ So it
is in the upper realms of Divinity, that Hokhmah – Wisdom is all good, and
the genesis of the separation of good and evil starts in the sefirah below
Hokhmah, which is Binah – Understanding.
Let us examine the situation in terms of the words of Ben Zoma. He said,
“I looked between the upper and lower waters, and I saw that between
them there was a difference of two or three finger breadths.â€ This is the
version of his words in the Midrash. 304 Bereshit Rabbah, 1:6 In the version
of the Gemara, he says, “a difference of three finger breadths.â€ The
expression, “two or three finger breadths,â€ is a kind of code word for
the hidden attributes (HaBaD). By saying, “two,â€ according to the
Arizal, Ben Zoma was saying that his Divine service reached the level of
Binah, which is the second Sefirah from above to below. 305 Keter is not
included, therefore the highest Sefirah is Hokhmah, followed by Binah, which
is counted as “two.â€ Upon reaching Binah, Ben Zoma asserted that his
knowledge of all the attributes 306 The lower seven sefirot, or
“Attributes.â€ Ben Zoma was mistaken in that he could effectively use
all of the sefirot in his Divine service as a way to reveal God’s glory in the
world. was complete. In this way he shook the whole world in asking how the
Torah could say, ‘and God made the firmament,â€ while the Tehillim says,
“and with the word of His mouth were the heavens made (meaning
already made).â€ This teaches of division and separation ( havdala ). Thus,
in Ben Zoma’s understanding, there was a certain distance between the
attributes and Hokhmah at the root. He thought that it was impossible for
man to truly unify them through his Divine service. As long as the attributes
are not unified with their source, 307 In Hokhmah – Wisdom. they have no
complete unity, as is explained in the Tikkunei Zohar quoted above.

Truly, one must know and understand, that from God’s point of view, it is
all one, whereas the concealment of God’s presence and separation exist
only from man’s point of view. God gave man the power to serve the
Divine with his power of choice in order to unify all of the attributes and
connect them to their source. Once this is done, he will see that they are, in
reality, not even called attributes. This is how Ben Zoma shook the entire
world in asserting, “Is it not written that that the Heavens were made by
the word of God? And here, after God said, let there be a firmament, it is said,
and God made the firmament. Thus, in this place, there is a difference
between God saying, and God doing.â€ The conclusion in the Talmud, after
reviewing this statement, was that, “Ben Zoma is still on the outside. But
what is the actual distance between the upper and lower waters? Like the
space between two garments spread one over the other; or as the space two
cups fitted over one another.â€ That is to say, there is no separation
whatsoever. 308 Likewise, there is no actual separation between God saying
and doing. The separation is only an appearance in order to enable man’s
ability to serve the Divine. A veil must conceal the source from its effects in
the world we live in, for if the source were revealed there would be no
impetus from the side of man to perform Divine service. Therefore, in Tehillim
148:4, which describes how all the elements of creation give praise to God, it
does not say, “Halleluiah, all of the waters which are below the
heavens,â€ but it says specifically, “all of the waters which are above
the heavens,â€ 309 The full verses are: “Praise Him, you highest
heavens and you waters above the heavens... Praise G-d from the earth, the
great sea creatures and all the depths.â€ The “depthsâ€ are mentioned
here (תהמות) but not the waters themselves. for the depth below is no
more than a vessel, 310 The depth below refers to the world of concealment
in which man lives and exercises his free choice. and not the waters. If the
waters are praising the Creator, then, by definition, they are called,
“upper waters,â€ for at such a time of proclaiming God’s praises the
lower waters have ascended and are in a state of complete unity with the
upper waters. God is constantly occupied with healing the veil of separation,
as was mentioned above, in Chapter Seven, with the Midrash Kohellet on the
verse, “I have wounded, and will heal.â€ This is also hinted at in the
Zohar (Vayigash, 207a): “God established the heavens with
understanding.â€ (Mishlei, 3:19) What does the word, “establish,â€
mean? Rather, God establishes each day, never ceasing. He does not fix the
world once, but rather fixes the world each and every day. God established
that from the creation’s point of view a separation exists, and all that
descends from the source in the upper realms to enclothe itself in the lower
world takes on the appearance separation. This is as it is written in the Zohar
(Bereshit, 22b): All of Rabbi Shimon’s fellowship stood up and said,
“Rabbi, Rabbi, is there a separation between Abba and Imma, 311 The
supernal personae ( partsufim ) expressing the Divine conduct of Wisdom
(represented by the partsuf of Abba- Father) and Understanding (representing
the partsuf of Imma- Mother) for Abba is in the path of atzilut (the World of
Emanation), and the side of Imma in the world of beriya (Creation)?â€ Rabbi
Shimon answered, “My friends, my friends, it is not like this. The Adam
312 Meaning the partsufim (see previous note). of atzilut is male and female,
from the side of Abba and Imma. 313 The two are cleaving together as one,
equal to each other. This is as it is said, ‘Let there be light, and there was
light.’ ‘Let there be light,’ comes from the side of Abba, ‘and
there was light,’ from the side of Imma. 314 This follows the principle in
the kabbalah whereby Abba represents speech and Imma represents action.
This is the meaning of the teaching that Adam was initially created with two
faces, one male and one female. 315 See Bereshit, 1:27 However, the Adam
of beriya has no image ( tselem ) or likeness ( d’mut ) 316 See Bereshit,
1:26, “let us make a man in our image and after our likeness.â€ from
Abba and Imma. Rather, the supernal Imma was called by the name whose
numerical equivalent is Elo-him (86). This name is, ‘light and
darkness.’ As a result of the darkness existing in this name, father said
that Adam of beriya would sin in the future.â€ It is apparent from the Zohar
in parshat Kedoshim (page 83a) and in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 67, page
98b) that sin cannot touch atzilut whatsoever.

Chapter 9

Tackling the Arguments against Creation out of Nothing In the following

chapter, R. Gershon Hanokh attacks the opinions of Greek and medieval
philosophers, who raised questions about the concept of creatio ex nihilo, G-
d’s spontaneous creation of matter from nothing 317 As opposed to
creatio ex materia, creation out of some pre-existent, eternal matter, or
creatio ex deo, creation out of the being of God. – a principle axiomatic to
Judaism. In line with his theory of miracles, the author sees an essential flaw
in the philosophers’ reasoning, in that it is based upon human logic.
However, since logic itself is a created entity, emerging into existence after
the separation of the world from G-d, any questions about the nature of
reality and its relationship to the Divine are a product of our restricted
consciousness. Since the fundamental nature of the world’s existence is
based upon a paradox, which cannot be presently grasped, human beings
can only rely upon faith to grasp the true nature of reality.
Our subject is explained by the Holy Ra’avad 318 Twelfth century
talmudist and kabbalist, Rabbi Avraham ben David of Posquieres. in his
introduction to the Sefer Yetsira 319 Hayim Vital (Introduction, Ets Hayim)
states that this work was not actually written by the Ra’avad, but by
another sage. Nonetheless, it is an authentic and trustworthy work of
Kabbalah. where he explains the concept of the Fifty Gates of Binah. He says,
“It is the contention of the philosophers that substance cannot come into
being from nothing, but rather can only be created from a similar substance.
It is our view, and the view of the Torah, that the world was created ex-nihilo.
Based on this, the heretics ask us their impudent questions, for the world
must now be understood in one of two ways. Either there was some
primordial substance out of which God created the world (a view hinted at in
Bereshit Rabbah, Chapter One, that God is a “Painter,â€ who found
lovely paints, namely “chaos and void and darkness 320 See the second
verse in the Torah. “), or that there was no material at all before the
world’s creation, only the Cause of all Causes, God Himself. Now, the
assertion that there was something that existed eternally, other than God, is
a purely heretical notion. Yet, if we say that nothing existed – that God
created His world out of His own essence – it means that His essence took
on a physical form. 321 This is an equally heretical statement. Concerning
this mystery, God responds by saying (Iyov, 38:4), ‘Where were you when I
laid the foundations of the world? Tell me, if you possess understanding!’
Meaning, the world came into existence through the power of Hokhmah –
Wisdom, and the power of Binah – Understanding. One can further ask,
‘Why was the world created with this exact measurement, no more or less?
’ And, ‘How did a finite world consisting of substances with specific
dimensions come forth from a power that is immeasurable by definition?’
Concerning these questions, God answers (Iyov, 38:5), ‘Who determined
its measurements, do you know? Or who has stretched the line upon it?’
The inquirer can further raise the question, ‘Can the basic qualities of
creation become opposite of their nature, or not? And if you say that it is
possible, 322 The Ra’avad does not address the opposite possibility, that
the basic qualities of creation cannot become opposite of their nature.
Perhaps to do so would attribute to them a degree of necessary existence,
which contradicts the principle of creation ex nihilo. then we may ask, seeing
as there are four qualities – hot, wet, cold, and dry – from whence were
they created? If they were created out of the very first Cause of all Causes,
then how could this Primal Cause contain these opposite qualities? And if you
say that the Primal Cause is a simple unity, then from were are these
qualities and their opposites derived?’ In response to this, God says (Iyov,
38:6), “Upon what ( mah ) are its foundations fastened?â€ (Referring to
the elementary materials of nature, which are garments for the foundation of
Divine Sovereignty – Malkhut Shamayim.) The verse uses the words,
“Upon what,â€ as a coded way of saying, “Upon Hokhmah –
Wisdom, which is called ‘ mah.’â€ 323 The sefirah of Hokhmah refers
to a level of reality in which the entire creation exists as a single point of
potential, before it unfolds in a downward process of expansion and
formation. This is alluded to by very word Hokhmah, which can be divided
into two words: ko’ah mah (×›×— מה) – the “potentialâ€ for
“what is.â€ Nature’s foundations are fastened upon God’s
Wisdom, which can contain all of these contradictory qualities, just as the
Hiyuli 324 The Hiyuli is the primordial, formless substance of creation, which
preceded the physical elements. The Ramban writes, “The heavens and
all that is within them is one substance. And the earth and all that is within it
is one substance. God created both of them out of non-existence. Only these
two were created, and everything was made out of them. This substance is
called the Hiyuli. In Hebrew it is called tohu – ‘formless matter.’â€
can contain the simple elements of creation. The heretics believe that it is
impossible for material ( homer ) to exist without retaining some sort of form
( tsura ), or homer without tsura. Yet according to the Torah “Hokhma –
Wisdom comes forth from nothing (Iyov, 28:12),â€ 325 Literally, the verse
reads, “Wisdom, from whence is it found?â€ Interpreted Kabbalistically,
however, the word “from whenceâ€ – m’ayin – is understood to
refer to the highest sefirah of Keter, also called Ayin, “nothingnessâ€;
that is, the Divine “No-thingnessâ€ that precedes the creation. It is from
here that the sefirah of Hokhmah emerges – m’ayin. In terms of the
author’s discussion, Hokhmah is understand to be the pure, formless
potential for creation, emanating out of Keter. Thus, it has the potential to
hold all opposites, for it is only in Binah that reality attains a level of form and
division. (Recall the discussion in the previous chapter, the Ben Zoma
perceived the supernal traits only in their root in Binah, where they still
maintained their independent forms, and not in Hokhmah, where they were
united and absorbed in their root.â€) and Binah – Understanding is its
form. This is the matter explained above, through which one can well
understand the teaching of the Ra’avad. For according to man’s
limited understanding, there is neither matter without form, nor form without
matter. Either the creation can not exist, or it exists through one of the two,
erroneous conjectures provided by the philosopher, quoted by the
Ra’avad. However, the man of perfect faith knows that his own intellect
and knowledge are entities created by God, and he sees that his own
intellectual conception of that which is possible and that which is impossible
is only a veil of the limited human consciousness, which was created in order
to establish a separation between the lower, human realm and the upper,
Godly realm. God is one simple and absolute unity. All perception of division
is only a product of the veil of creation.
It is written in the Zohar (Idra Rabbah, 128b): And the appearance of the dew
326 A kabbalistic concept of the energy descending from the higher spiritual
spaces. is white, like the white appearance of crystal in which all the colors of
the spectrum are seen. The Zohar does not say here that it includes all
colors, but that all colors are seen within it. That occurs by means of the veil
of separation. For example, when light is pass through a filter, then the form
of the filter will determine man’s perception of the light that he sees. If a
different filter is moved before the light, the form seen will change in
accordance with the color of the new filter. The different appearance only
depends on the differences in the veil of separation, yet at the source of the
light, there is no change whatsoever. The light is exactly the same. It is
further written in the Zohar (Bereshit, 52a): The ocean 327 Again, this is a
kabbalistic notion of the source of all emanating from the Infinite. is one. It is
the supernal ocean which contains all of the seven days. These seven
supernal lights enter into the ocean, striking it, and producing seven sides.
Each side divides into seven streams, as it is written (Yeshayahu, 11),
“and it struck it, forming seven streams.â€ Meaning, from the
perspective of the ocean, all of the divisions are really one, and only from the
division of the streams do we perceive a division in the resulting lights. This
passage in the Zohar continues: They emerged from the supernal unity. Just
as the ocean receives, so does are the waters divided into these days and
lights. All of man’s perceptions and understanding are lower 328 That is,
lower, in the unfolding sequence of worlds. than the division of attributes.
Therefore, our understanding is only according to what was allocated from
above, as previously explained. So the logical notion that there is neither
form without matter nor matter without form is merely a created
understanding. Yet above, before the division, whether in time, or in terms of
cause and effect, the form is abstract. The division, which is below, receives
from the form which is undivided wisdom. It is within the division resulting
from the veil that form is changed from a total abstraction to one dressed in
garments. 329 That is, human understanding, which “clothesâ€ and
conceals the divine realm of Hokhmah, thus perceiving it in its own, relative
terms.

Chapter 10

The Veil of Separation and Beyond – The Argument Against Empiricism The
author continues his attack on the philosophers, who claim to be able to
intellectually understand G-d. However, as explained previously, all human
knowledge originates from after the division between G-d and creation,
between the upper and lower waters. Thus, human cognition can in no way
grasp that which intrinsically transcends it. Furthermore, as the author
proves, 330 R. Gershon Hanokh was self-educated in numerous scientific
fields, such as medicine, biology, chemistry and engineering. there are many
occurrances even in this world that the mind can not grasp. How then can it
imagine to grasp G-d?
It is written in the Zohar (Terumah, 165b): “Exalt the One who rides the
heavens, in His name Y-ah!â€ (Tehillim, 68) “Exalt,â€ means bringing
honor and exalting the One who rides the heavens, for He is Joy and brings
joy to all. He is the firmament above the Chayot. Certainly, “His name is Y-
ah,â€ for God’s name Y-ah is included in this place. (The psalm
continues) “Rejoice before Him,â€ … Rabbi Elazar explained this verse
in the following way. “Exalt in the One who rides the heavens, in His name
Y-ah!â€ It would have been enough to say, “in His name.â€ So why
does the verse say, “In Y-ah?â€ This verse is about the Hidden of all
hidden things, the Ancient of all the ancients. The verse tells us that the One
who is not revealed and not known whatsoever rides the heavens. And if you
were to assert that He comes and rides in the name Y-ah, then even though
He is hidden, in this place He stands to be revealed. However, “Exalt the
One who rides the heavens,â€ He is the Ancient of all the ancients, the
Hidden of all the hidden, who is not known. On what does He ride? On the
Heavens, in Y-ah, which is the first mystery to emerge before Him, out of the
realm that is hidden and unknown. Not that this is Him, yet this is Him 331 In
other words, this is how we perceive Him. only because of the veil that was
spread and emerged before Him. This veil is His name. It is His chariot. It is
not known whatsoever. This is His great name. When we refer to God’s
name, even to His Great and Exalted name, we are only referring to a veil and
dividing entity, beyond which, there is no name or description. The concept of
a name can only exist once there is division; for then, the boundaries and
orders in time and space come into existence. Then we find distances,
senses, things to be sensed, intellect, and things to be discerned, causes and
effects, the necessary, the possible, and the impossible. Yet above the veil,
there is no relationship whatsoever between our knowledge and that of the
Creator. With this, we may dismiss the whining assertions of the philosophers,
for no matter what they say, it is all questions and answers confined within
the borders of the human intellect and their own created knowledge. Since
the Cause itself is unknowable, one cannot bring a proof about the nature of
the Cause from one of its effects. All of our knowledge is in a place far below
the Cause, and the chasm cannot be bridged. The Ra’avad explained this
in a similar way, as quoted above.

All philosophical speculation seeks to compare the intangible to the tangible,

and the infinite to the finite. Yet, even the tangible world requires various
explanations, proofs, and conjectures. 332 In other words, our senses cannot
even fully understand the physical world before us; all the more so, the
spiritual world beyond the veil of creation. There are many facets of the
physical world that our senses experience, whose natures are explained in
greatly divergent ways. If they were not perceived by our senses, none of the
theories about their nature would ever have been proposed. The Rambam
has much to say about this in the Guide.
Truly, one can be misled by his senses. For instance, if you add certain
seaweeds to a bitter food, it will taste sweet. If there is damage to the optic
nerve or the retina, one sees a double image, a bent image, or a different
color. Some people cannot tell the difference between two shades of green.
There are those who have an altered sense of smell, and will perceive the
sweetest perfume as the foulest stench. Nerve damage can change a
person’s sense of touch. When the skin is folded and cleaves to another
spot of skin, an itch on the lower part of skin will be felt above the fold and
not below, and a person will have no relief from scratching the spot where he
feels the itch. Yet if he scratches in the place where the skin is cleaving, he
will relieve the itch. Similarly, if one crosses two fingers, and rolls a marble
over them, he will feel as if he is rolling two marbles. Someone suffering from
a high fever may experience hallucinations. There are people who have
dreams, in which their imaginations alter their very perception of reality, to
the point that they grasp diametrical opposites as existing together. When
they return to their normal consciousness, they will remember that in their
dreams, such a state did not seem to them illogical at all. But since the
senses can be so misleading, how can any proof be based on them? The
philosophers are in error, for though they believe and admit that everything
comes from God, yet their hearts have deceived them. Even though they
claim that they believe that God has created everything, from the most
sublime of angels to the lowest of worms, they can not bring themselves to
admit that man’s knowledge, intellect, and senses are also created
entities. Nor can they admit to the total lack of similarity, common ground, or
meeting point between man’s knowledge and Divine knowledge. They
have convinced themselves that their knowledge and awareness is arranged
and conjoined with that of the Creator, 333 Da’at Borei and therefore find
it hard to believe in all we have stated. Yet, one who believes and knows that
all existing powers were created by God, that even the human intellect and
knowledge was created by God and allocated to man within a limited system,
will not find it difficult to accept the idea that something could be created out
of nothing, or any of the ideas presented by the Ra’avad.

Chapter 11
Miracles – Can God Change His Mind? R. Gershon Hanokh returns to the
theme of miracles. A miracle is a temporary suspension of the laws of nature,
which were themselves set in motion by G-d from the very onset of the
creation. Most often, it is in response to an event in the world, such as in
order to affect a deliverance (e.g. the splitting of the sea, the sun standing in
the sky over Gibon). This sudden shift in G-d’s providential direction
suggests that a change occurred in G-d’s will for creation – a
spontaneous decision to abrogate one structure of reality for another.
However, such a shift raises an important question: was a corresponding
change in G-d’s will – a concept axiomatically refuted by the Torah? The
author offers an answer, based upon the famous medieval philosopher, the
Maharal. His own conclusion, however, is that the very question is faulty, and
based only upon our limited, dualistic consciousness. In truth, G-d can both
initiate new and miraculous events without altering His eternal and
unchanging will at all. Regarding various miraculous events of the past, many
Rishonim 334 Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. have questioned how such
miracles fit into God’s overall plan.
In the Midrash Rabbah (Beshalach) we find the statement, “When God
created the world, He made a condition with the sea that it would split when
the children of Israel would leave Egypt.â€ If so, how is this considered a
miracle, if it was instilled in the nature of creation? Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezar
(chap. 18) gives numerous examples of miracles that were programmed into
the creation from its outset. 335 Such as the manna in the desert, the
miraculous rock that gave water, the hole in the earth that swallowed Korach
and his cohorts. See, also, Pirkei Avot 5:6. For, if it were said that they were
not preprogrammed into nature, one could claim that God changed His will.
336 That is, G-d’s deciding to change the order of nature, which He
established with the very creation of the world, implies a change in His will or
intention in response to events in this world. Yet, G-d’s immutability is an
axiom of Jewish faith. The Maharal of Prague discusses this at length in the
introduction to his book, Gevurot Hashem, and provides many opinions on
this subject. After presenting these opinions, he explains that there are two
forms of Divine governance: a natural governance, and a miraculous
governance. Both are worked into the general order of Divine governance.
The difference is that natural governance is always happening, while
miraculous governance is revealed only at the time of the miracle.
Furthermore, the order can be changed in response to the recipient. For
instance, if the Egyptians had repented, the sea would not have split, even
though its splitting was set as a condition in the very fabric of creation. This is
because the natural order follows the attribute of God’s judgment, and
the miraculous order follows the attribute of God’s mercy. 337 Again, the
contradiction is, “If God made a condition with the Red Sea that He would
create it only if it would split before the Children of Israel at the time of the
exodus, then how could the Sages teach us that if the Egyptians had
repented at the time, it would not have split?â€ This is resolved by seeing
the splitting as a part of “natural governance,â€ or God’s judgment,
and the revelation of the miracle as part of “miraculous governance,â€
flowing from God’s mercy. Ironically, the splitting of the sea was not a
miracle, since it was preprogrammed in the creation. The miracle would have
occurred had the Egyptian soldiers repented, and the sea not split. Because
of this, the mode of governance can change according to the status of the
receiver. This does not imply any change whatsoever in God’s essence,
for no actions can affect any change in His essence. 338 As the verse states:
“For I am G-d, I do not changeâ€ (Malakhi 3:6) Changes in the Divine
governance of the world do not indicate a change in God’s essence. In the
same passage, the Maharal explains the miracle of the sun standing still for
Yehoshua (Yehoshua 10); for the sun was moving and standing still at the
same time. 339 That is, the sun stood still in the sky for the Israelites, until
they defeated their enemies in battle, while for the rest of the world, it moved
through the sky normally. According the natural governance, the sun was
moving as usual, and according to “miraculous governance’, it stood
still. Two opposites existed in the same event. This is a synopsis of his words,
which are correct, and (Mishlei, 24:26) “every man shall kiss the lips of
one who gives a true answer.â€ There are many proofs and real wonders, for
with miracles, two opposites can exist simultaneously.

However, even though all of the Maharal’s words are true. Yet, all of his
arguments were proffered only in order to show how there is no change in
God’s will when a miracle occurs. One could still assert that God’s
knowledge can change, from which it follows that His will also changes. When
God arranged the work of creation, it was His will that certain miracles would
happen at a definite time in the future. If this plan is delayed in any way, then
the primordial will must have changed. Since God programmed into the
creation the condition that the sea would split with the Exodus, therefore He
knew that it would split, which it eventually did. If so, how could we be taught
that the Egyptians could have repented prior to the sea’s splitting, which
would have cancelled the order for the sea to split. With this in mind, we also
find it difficult to understand the statement of the Talmud (Berachot, 4a,
Sotah, 36a), “At the time of Ezra, 340 And the nation’s return from the
Babylonian exile. the nation of Israel was worthy of experiencing a miracle of
the same magnitude that happened in the days of Yehoshua, 341 The miracle
would have been their entering the land of Israel with a high hand, just as
they left Egypt. Rashi. but the prevalence of sin prevented it.â€ 342 Instead,
they could only return from Babylon by the permission of Cyrus. Rashi. The
Gemara explains the verse in the Song of the Sea (Shemot 15:16), “until
Your people shall pass over, O God, until they shall pass over...â€ is alluding
to two “passing oversâ€ into the Land – the first in the time of
Yehushua, and the second in the time of Ezra. All this leads to conclusion that
a miracle was supposed to happen at the time of Ezra, yet God’s will
changed. R. Eliyahu Mizrahi, in his commentary on Rashi (Parshat Vayishlach),
examines the situation of Yaakov Avinu returning to Israel, and confronting his
brother Eisav and his army of four hundred men. The last Yaakov heard from
Eisav was that he wanted to kill him, and he assumed, now twenty years
later, that this was still true. Thus, the verse says, “and Yaakov was
afraid,â€ on which Rashi comments, “He was afraid that he would be
killed.â€ (The Lechem Mishnah, at the end of the fifth chapter of the Hilchot
Yesodei HaTorah, also addresses this issue.) Yaakov was afraid that his own
sins may have nullified God’s promise to protect him. 343 That is, G-
d’s promise, made in Bereshit 28:15: “Behold, I am with you and will
protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not
abandon you until I have done that which I have promised you." Furthermore,
we have the statement of the sages in the Gemara (Shabbat, 55a), “Rav
Acha son of Chanina said: God never once broke His promise of bestowing
good, and brought calamity in its stead.â€ We would have to bend over
backwards with forced arguments in order to reconcile this contradiction.
Based on the words of the sages, one would seem obliged to concede that
God’s will can change. Yet based on all we have explained above, that all
human knowledge is a created entity, and the whole order of existence is a
created and arranged order, then we can also see that the borders and limits
of what may change is also something that was arranged with the creation as
an expression of God’s will. It is impossible that it could be only a change
of will, for that very conception is no more than a created idea that can only
be understood from our own greatly limited human perspective. At the time
of the revelation of the miracle, it will be revealed that the miracle could
occur even without any change in God’s will. It is the function of the
Divine service of the Jew to arrive at this faith and to fix it permanently in his
heart. Purely out of faith, man can reach a place above all orders of
governance. Then it will be readily apparent that there is no difference
between nature and miracles even from the perspective of created beings.

Chapter 12

The Connection of Faith, the Secret of Prayer R. Gershon Hanokh now returns
to the topic of faith, which he understand to be a mode of relationship with G-
d that transcends perception and the intellect. 344 This is in line with the
Baal Shem Tov’s statement that faith is a level of direct connection with
G-d (devekut). Before fully addressing that point, however, he discusses the
extent and limitations of our relationship with G-d within the bounds of
cognition. Human beings can only perceive G-d through His revealed
attributes – the post-emanational world of the sefirot or Divine Names
(exemplified here by the Sefirah of Tiferet); they cannot perceive him
cognitively above that level. This lower, perceptual level is the basis of all our
prayers and acts of worship, and it can be understood by all who live on the
mundane level, even Pharaoh. The author bases his discussion on the
Kabbalistic idea that the Sefirah of Tiferet (also known as Zeir Anpin ) lies at
the root of Israel’s service of God. It is not, however, the highest level,
which can only be accessed via faith (discussed later as being the level of
Atika Kadisha. 345 See the end of Part 1, chapter 18, for a discussion of the
levels of Zeir Anpin and Atika. )
On the subject of the connection of faith, the Zohar writes (Beshalach, 52b):
Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak, Pharaoh was smarter than
all the sorcerers of his day. He looked into all of the crowns (Sefirot) and all of
the knowledge, and didn’t see any sign of the Israel’s redemption. He
did not see that the redemption was hinged on any of these crowns.
However, though he looked into all the ways that Israel was connected to
God, he failed to see the other connection – the connection of faith, which
rules over all. For this reason his heart was hardened. Pharaoh knew that
there was no place in the realm of Divine service 346 That is, within the
created world, everything “under heaven,â€ as opposed to the level
prior to creation, which he could not perceive. where Israel could overpower
him. From this, he understood that he was given the authority to rule over
them, enslaving Israel in their bodies and souls, and subjugating them to
harsh labor. It is explained how he gradually accustomed the Israelites to
ever greater levels of slavery, until they were thoroughly entrenched in
bondage. This is as it is written in the Midrash (Mechilta Yitro 1), “No slave
could ever escape from Egypt, because Egypt was filled with all the most
powerful of worldly delights, to the point where it was more comfortable to be
a slave in Egypt than a lord in another country.â€ In this way, he ruled over
their minds and intellect. 347 It may be implied by this that even the
Israelites themselves could not that escape from Egypt was possible, or even
desirable – their minds and hearts having been so thoroughly enslaved.
What they, and Pharaoh, did not realize is that Israel is connect to G-d on a
level that transcends the intellect and the natural order - that is the
dimension of faith and miracles. For this reason, he asserted that there was
no way they could arouse the root of their souls in order to pray to God for
deliverance, and as a result, God’s compassion would not be aroused to
redeem them. To this, the Zohar responds, “He did not see the other
connection – the connection of faith, which rules over all. â€ All of the
connection between Israel and God is through prayer and Divine service. 348
The author refers here to the revealed connection between Israel and G-d;
not that of faith, which is concealed to the intellect. And all Divine service and
prayer that is within man’s conscious grasp is only within the inclusion
and unification of God’s revealed attributes (sefirot), as King David listed
them when he said (Divrei HaYamim 1, 29), “Unto You, God, is the
greatness, the strength, the splendor, the victory, and the majesty. For all
that is in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, G-d, is the kingdom; and You are
exalted over all.â€ 349 In this verse, King David alludes to the seven lower
sefirot, from hesed to yesod: Greatness - hesed; strength - gevurah;, splendor
- tiferet; victory - netzah; majesty - Hod; all - Yesod; kingdom - Malkhut. This
is explained in the Sifri, on the verse (Devarim, 11), “If you keep all these
commandments that I command you to do, to love the Lord, your God, to
walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him.â€ Is it possible for man to cleave
to God? asks the Sifri? Is it not written that God is a consuming fire? But the
answer is: You should cleave to God’s attributes. Just as God is merciful,
so you should be merciful (and in this way you cleave to Him). 350 The
author is relying upon an implicit connection between the Divine attributes of
loving-kindness, compassion, etc, their human parallels, and the sefirot. The
seven lower sefirot are “revealedâ€ – that is, their influence can be
felt in the world. When man serves G-d by actualizing these potencies within
himself (loving-kindness, mercy), so he clings to the supernal manifestation
of these attributes. However, there are worlds far higher than these
attributes, to which a human being cannot consciously connect to. Due to
man’s limited knowledge, his Divine service only reaches these revealed
attributes, which are included under the aegis of Tiferet (splendor), the
Sefirah which contains the six lower attributes, which is also called Zeir Anpin
(the microprosopus, or the “small faceâ€). This attribute is Israel’s
connection, 351 Tiferet is in the center of the middle column and connects to
all of the six lower Sefirot: Hesed is to its upper right; Gevurah, its upper left;
Nezah, at the lower right, Hod, at the lower left, and Yesod directly below, on
the middle column. for through Tiferet, Israel is called, “my firstborn son
Israelâ€ (Shemot, 4:). As it is written in the Zohar (Balak, 191b): The secret
of the matter is the secret above, “What is his name and what is his
son’s name that I should know him?â€ (Mishlei, 30:4). His name is
known, and it is Hashem Tziva’ot (the Lord of Hosts). His son’s name
is Israel, as it is written, “My firstborn son Israel.â€ All of the keys of faith
depend on Israel, who takes pride in this and says (Tehillim, 2), “God said
to me, you are My son.â€ It is certainly like this, in that Abba and Imma 352
“Father and Motherâ€ – the supernal constellations of sefirot that
correspond to Hokhmah and Binah. crowned their son and blessed him with
many blessings, telling him and commanding him for everything. They kissed
their son’s hand, as it were, and gave him dominion over all, that all
should serve him. It is also written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a), And how does the
verse end? “What is his name and what is his son’s name that I should
know him?â€ He told him the secret of this matter. It is written, “My
firstborn son Israel,â€ and it is written (Yeshayahu), “Israel, I shall pride
Myself in you.â€ His name is Hokhmah (wisdom), and His son’s name is
Tiferet (Adornment, Pride). 353 Here, the Zohar links the supernal persona of
Israel to the sefirah of Tiferet, which is connected to Hokhmah, a higher
sefirah, representing the Divine.

All prayer and Divine service come before God by way of the name YHVH,
which is the secret of the Sefirah of Tiferet, which includes all of the revealed
attributes. And all of the praises of God arranged in the first three blessings
of the Amidah 354 The Amidah is the silent standing prayer, and is the
centerpiece of the three daily prayers in Orthodox Jewish practice. also allow
man to recognize God’s His revealed attributes. Notwithstanding that God
is exalted above all attributes, yet still, in prayer, man should not praise God
in a way that he does not know Him. This is referred to in the Gemara
(Megilah, 25a): A certain man went to lead the prayer service in the presence
of Rabbi Hanina and said, “The great, the mighty, the awesome, the
majestic, the strong, the powerful God.â€ Rabbi Hanina said to him: Have
you finished the praises of your Master? Even the first three terms of praise
355 The Amidah prayer begins: “Blessed are You, our G-d and G-d of our
forefathers… the great, mighty and awesome G-d,â€ based upon
Moshe’s words in Devarim 10:17. could not be recited, had not Moshe
wrote them in the Torah (Devarim, 10:17) and the Men of the Great Assembly
came and ordained them (see Nehemia, 9:32), we could not say them. And
you say all this! It is as if a man had billions of gold coins and people praised
his wealth by saying that he had a thousand. Wouldn’t that insult him? In
this episode, the prayer leader actually related to God through these lofty
appellations, as is explained by the Rambam. 356 See Guide for the
Perplexed, section One, chapter 59. Rabbi Hanina was saying to him, how can
you praise God based upon your perception at this moment? In another
moment God may illuminate to you an understanding of awesome heights
thoroughly beyond your present perception, as incomparable as gold is to
silver. Thus, Rabbi Hanina said to him, “Even the first three terms of
praise could not be recited, had not Moshe wrote them in the Torah.â€
Meaning, that which is written in the Torah contains the entire creation. This
is akin to what we quoted from the Zohar as an introduction (see section 4,
Zohar Yitro). “And the Men of the Great Assembly came and established
them in the prayer,â€ which means that they clarified the fact that these
three attributes 357 “Great, mighty, and Awesomeâ€ or Hesed, Gevurah
and Tiferet. These sefirot are the essential qualities of Zeir Anpin, which the
author mentions below. are graspable by all Israel. This is as it is said in the
Gemara (Yoma, 69b), “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, why were they
called men of the Great assembly? It is because they restored the crown to its
former glory. Moshe had come and said, The great God, the mighty, and the
awesome. Then Yirmiyahu and omitted the attribute, ‘Awesome.’ 358
See Yermiyahu 32:18, “…You are the great and mighty God.â€ Daniel
omitted the word ‘Mighty.’ 359 Daniel 9:4, “O Lord, you are a great
and awesome God.â€ But they returned the crown of Divine attributes to its
ancient completeness.â€ 360 By opening the Amidah prayer with all three
attributes mentioned by Moshe. They made it clear that these were truly His
attributes of might, and these were truly His attributes of Awe. That is to say,
every Jew can always recognize these attributes. 361 The three attributes of
Therefore, all prayers to God are arranged in praise via His recognizable,
revealed attributes. They are all included in the attribute of Zeir Anpin, also
called Tiferet Yisrael (the splendor of Israel). Even though there are attributes
far loftier than these, yet prayer can only be directed to the place where
man’s mind can reach. This is why Yermiyahu and Daniel omitted certain
attributes. Since they knew that G-d was true, they mentioned only the
attributes that God revealed to them in their prophetic experience. 362
According to the Talmud, they removed these terms of praise after witnessing
the destruction of Jerusalem. At that point, they could no longer perceive G-
d’s might and awesomeness. However, in the time of the members of the
Great Assembly, who had already seen God’s great salvations in the
Purim miracle, they identified that these were indeed God’s mighty
actions, and these where truly God’s awesome deeds. In this way they
restored the crown of God’s attributes to the way it was first perceived by
Moshe. Indeed, from this we see that the act of prayer is the mystery of Zeir
Anpin, since all of God’s attributes are rooted in God’s great name
YHVH, which is the same as the Sefirah of Tiferet 363 Tiferet refers to a single
sefirah; Zeir Anpin refers to the entire six-sefirah unit from Hesed to Yesod.
Since these function as a unit, they are considered here synonymous with
Tiferet itself, beings its central focus. and the partsuf of Zeir Anpin. 364 The
ten sefirot each correspond to a different Name of G-d, as derived from the
Torah. The sefirah of Tiferet corresponds to the Tetragrammaton, the YHVH, or
G-d’s “essentialâ€ Name. All of God’s names are included in His
great name YHVH. We learn from the Zohar (Vayikra, 10b): All is built from
Yud Hei… He is the King to whom all Peace is His, in the mystery of Tiferet.
And further in the Zohar (ibid. 11a): Rabbi Elazar said, “All of the ten
names of God are written, and we have taught, the name EHYH 365 G-d’s
name as revealed to Moshe at the burning bush (Shemot 3:14), “I will be
that which I will be.â€ is the supernal concealment … Yud Hei, because the
Hei comes out of Hokhmah (represented by the Yud).â€ 366 The letter yud,
of the Tetragrammaton, corresponds to the sefirah of Hokhmah. The first
letter hei corresponds to the sefirah of Binah. The letter vav corresponds to
the next six sefirot (Zeir Anpin/Tiferet). And the final letter hei corresponds to
Malkhut. This passage in the Zohar goes on to say that every name of God
finds its root in the name YHVH: The sixth name YHVH is compassion. It is the
completion of all, the main point of all, the connection of emunah (faith). It
unites all sides (all Sefirot) this is “Tiferet Yisraelâ€ (the splendor of
Israel). That is to say, the name YHVH is both the root of Tiferet and its very
name.

Chapter 13

Praying for Miracles Since the human mind is limited, it cannot relate to that
which transcends cognition altogether. Accordingly, a person should not pray
for a miracle to occur, since miracles transcend nature, and also originate in
that place which is beyond human cognition. To pray for a miracle is to
“burden G-d,â€ who must acquiesce to change the very laws of nature
that He himself put into effect. However, this all applies only to a person
whose perception is itself limited to the natural world. For someone with
perfect faith in G-d’s all-embracing providence, there is no difference
between a natural occurrence and a transcendent one. Thus he can pray for a
miracle, since, in his eyes, even the most mundane actions are under G-
d’s total providence, and no less miraculous.
When one prays to God in the mystery of Zeir Anpin (Tiferet), one is not
praying to any particular Divine attribute, but only to God in His essence, as
the root of all of His attributes. For even though the name YHVH is the root of
all of God’s attributes, their garments are other names of God. In Tiferet,
however, both the inner aspect and the outer garment are the name YHVH.
367 Meaning to say, the Tetragrammaton – YHVH – is considered to be
the Divine Name closest to G-d’s essence, as it’s meaning is
“constant and eternal being.â€ Being essential, it lies at the heart of all
other Divine names, like the soul rests within the body. Other Names of G-d
represent various aspects of Divine manifestation, though not essence itself.
Each Divine Name is associated with a different sefirah, with the
Tetragrammaton being associated with the sefirah of Tiferet. Thus the author
writes: “In Tiferet… the root (YHVH) and the garment (the Name YHVH)
are one.â€ However, as he continues to explain, even this manifestation of
G-d’s essence still only follows human perception. The essence of G-d
transcends all mortal cognition, and thus manifests itself in the miraculous.
The root and the garment are one in the mystery of Zeir Anpin. Thus, all
prayer is directed to the spiritual place where the Holy One, blessed be He, is
called Zeir Anpin and the name YHVH. However, man cannot comprehend the
levels of Divine providence and governance above Tiferet Yisrael. 368 The
sefirah of Tiferet/Zeir Anpin. For this reason we do not pray for miracles, for
the source of miracles is in a place beyond man’s ability to comprehend.
369 As in the previous chapter, in which it was explained that one can only
praise G-d using those epithets instituted by Moshe (such as, “the great,
mighty and awesome G-dâ€), since only these are truly graspable to the
consciousness. Since man is a part of nature and the natural order of things,
and cannot see how the salvation could come from the place beyond his
ability to perceive, he is not supposed to direct his prayer to this place.
Directing prayer to the source of miracles is considered a “burden for
Heaven.â€ This is as it is said in the Gemara (Ta’anit, 24b), “Who
dares to be such a burden on Heaven,â€ 370 Once a certain man was
sentenced to death by the court of Rava, for having had intercourse with a
gentile woman. The punishment was carried out, and the man died. The
matter reached the ears of King Shapur (CE 309-379), who sought to punish
Rava. Whereupon Ifra Hormuzd, the king’s mother, said to her son,
“Do not interfere with the Jews, because whatever they ask of their God
He grants them.â€ The king asked her for an example. She said that when
they pray for rain, it falls. He answered that this is not unusual because the
prayers for rain are recited in the rainy season. Rather, he said, let them pray
for rain in summer. She sent a message to Rava: “Concentrate and pray
for rain.â€ He prayed, but it did nor rain. He then exclaimed: “Master of
the Universe, ‘we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us; a
work You did in their days, in the days of old’ (Tehillim 40:2) But as for us,
we have not seen it with our eyes.â€ Whereupon there followed such a
heavy rain that the gutters of Mahuza emptied their waters into the Tigris.
Rava’s father then appeared unto him in a dream and said to him, “Is
there anyone who dares to be such a burden on Heaven? Change the place
where you sleep.â€ (It is the belief that if one changes his place, his fortunes
will also change) He changed his place and next morning discovered that his
bed had been cut with knives. referring to the story of Rava, who prayed for
rain in the dry season. Yet still, we find the story of Rav Hanina be Dosa who
prayed for miracles (Ta’anit, 25a), and indeed there are several instances
where sages in the Talmud prayed for miracles and miraculous changes in
nature. As Antoninus said to Rabi (Rav Yehuda HaNasi, Avoda Zara, 10b),
“I know that even the least among the Jews can revive the dead.â€ 371
Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, second century sage and redactor of the Mishnah,
was personal friends with the Roman Emperor, Antoninus, and the two held
regular, private study sessions. At every such meeting, Antoninus would kill
the slave who accompanied him, so that his friendship with Rabbi Yehudah
would remain a secret. On one occasion, R. Haninah b. Hama was present
when Antoninus arrived, and was asked to leave the room. Outside, he
unexpectedly found the slave dead on the floor. Not knowing how to react, he
prayed that the man return to life, which happened. When Antoninus saw
this, he remarked: “I know that even the smallest among you can revive
the dead.â€ The difference is that the miracle of Rava occurred in public.â€
372 And, furthermore he was in a dangerous situation. Now I will explain why
this is exceptional.

Praying for a miracle is only a burden for God when it is done publicly, in front
of someone who lacks faith. From God’s perspective, there really is no
difference between natural and miraculous governance. God constantly rules
over nature, and recreates the world each and every day. It is just that God
concealed His governance in nature in order that one would not see how the
glory of His sovereignty rules over it. In the language of the Zohar, this
attribute is called, “having no eyesâ€ (Mishpatim, 95a). The Gemara
explains this by means of a parable (Avoda Zara, 54b): “Suppose a man
stole a measure of wheat and sowed it in the ground; it is right that it should
not grow; 373 Since it was acquired illegally, one would not expect G-d to
help it grow, yet G-d does; thus, giving priority to the natural world over
miraculous intervention. See Rashi on Bereshis 7:4, who states that the
people of Noah’s time “burdened G-dâ€ by making Him form fetuses
that were conceived through adulterous relationships. See next note.
however, the world pursues its natural course and as for the fools who act
wrongly, they will have to render an account before God.â€ Study this
matter carefully. 374 Our Rabbis taught: Philosophers asked the elder Sages
in Rome, “If your God has no desire for idolatry, why does He not abolish
it?â€ They replied, “If people worshipped something that the world did
not need, He would abolish it. However, people worship the sun, moon, stars
and planets. Should He destroy the universe on account of fools! The world
follows its natural course, and as for the fools who act wrongly, they will have
to render an account [on the Day of Judgment]. Another illustration: Suppose
a man stole a measure of wheat and sowed it in the ground; it is right that it
should not grow, but the world pursues its natural course and as for the fools
who act wrongly, they will have to render an account. Another illustration:
Suppose a man has intercourse with his neighbor’s wife; it is right that
she should not conceive, but the world pursues its natural course and as for
the fools who act wrongly, they will have to render an account.â€ This is
similar to what R. Simeon b. Lakish said, “The Holy One, blessed be He,
declared, It is not enough that the wicked put My coinage to vulgar use, but
they also trouble Me and compel Me to set My seal upon it!â€ The whole
purpose of letting the world run according to its natural course and not
subverting nature every time someone violates the Divine order of justice is
to give man the choice to serve God, for serving God in the darkness, out of
his own free will, is all the more valuable. This is as it is written in the Zohar
(Tetsave, 184a): “Man only serves God through the darkness.â€ For this
reason, G-d concealed His governance so that man cannot see how He rules
the world. If God’s governance were totally revealed, man’s free
choice would be nullified. Therefore, a person who believes, with perfect faith
in God, that nature also runs according to God’s governance, and fixes
this faith permanently in his heart, believing and knowing that when a fire is
lit it only happens according to specific Divine providence, such a person
presents no burden before God whatsoever. (And, as we explained in the
introduction, a person with complete faith in God’s providence
experiences this providence in everything that happens.) This is as it Rav
Hanina ben Dosa said, “The One who causes oil to burn can make vinegar
burn.â€ 375 One Friday eve, Rav Chanina ben Dosa noticed that his
daughter was sad and asked her why. She answered, “My oilcan got mixed
up with my vinegar can and I kindled of it the Shabbat light.â€ He said to
her, “My daughter, why should this trouble you? He who had commanded
the oil to burn will also command the vinegar to burn.â€ Tradition has it that
the light burned the entire day, until they took from it flame for havdalah
(Saturday night). Rav Hanina ben Dosa could say this, and experience the
miracle of the vinegar burning for the whole Shabbat, without placing a
burden upon Heaven.

When it is said in the Gemara (Avoda Zara, 10b), “Antoninus said to Rabbi
Yehuda HaNasi, I know that even the smallest among the Jews can revive the
dead,â€ he meant that for men of perfect faith, such miracles are no burden
before God. But for a miracle to be shown to the general public, like the story
about Rava praying for rain in Ta’anit 24b, including those who have not
fixed perfect faith in their hearts and who look at nature as running according
to its own order, then miraculous governance is indeed a burden before God.
376 For G-d must change the natural order, which He originally put into place
in order to grant human beings free will. Thus, it is forbidden to pray for a
change in nature, as this requires a revelation of supernal governance which
is above man’s intellectual grasp. On this, the Zohar of the miracle that
happened in Egypt 377 The Zohar here specifically discusses the splitting of
the Red Sea. (Terumah, 170b): “It was difficult for God.â€ Why was it
difficult? Because the miracle in Egypt happened before both believers and
nonbelievers alike. It was good for the believers and bad for the nonbelievers,
as was explained in the introduction to the subject of miracles. There was a
revelation of the level of God’s governance beyond man’s intellectual
grasp. Pharaoh did not know of the connection between God and Israel, from
which Divine salvation can be aroused, as it exists beyond the grasp of the
mortal mind. This is mentioned above, in chapter 12 (Zohar Beshalach 52b),
“Pharaoh didn’t see that there was another connection, the
connection of faith, which rules over all.â€ The Zohar calls this kind of
connection, “the connection of faith,â€ because the main kind of
connection between Israel and God is through emunah (faith) which reaches
beyond the grasp of the human mind. Emunah is the inner aspect, even
though it is not dressed in a garment. In the merit of emunah, Israel is worthy
of receiving God’s salvation, even though they have no clear good deeds
on record. The clear statement of this is written in the Torah where it says
(Shemot, 4:32), “And the people believed and they heard.â€ 378 This is
a foreshadowing of the famous statement of the Jewish people before the
giving of the Torah (Shemot 24:7), “We will do, and we will hear
(understand)â€; meaning to say, the children of Israel had so much faith in
God that they accepted the laws of the Torah even before understanding their
meaning.

Chapter 14

A Deeper Look at the Nature of Miracles The author continues his discussion
of faith and miracles. Not only does a person with faith in G-d’s
providence see beyond the veil of the empirical world, his faith can actually
bring about miracles. In other words, his rectified perception of the world –
that everything follows the Divine command – can actual cause an
alteration in the laws of nature. Thus, the faith of the Jewish people in
actually caused the sea to split after they left Egypt. In addition, the greater a
person’s faith and the clearer his perception, the more radical the
miracles can be. Moshe, for instance, performed miracles that totally
uprooted the laws of nature. Prophets with lesser vision, such as Elisha, could
only alter nature’s laws for their benefit.
With the splitting of the Red Sea, it is written, “and [the people] believed
in God and in Moshe, His servant.â€ This is as it is written in the Zohar
(Beshalach, 53b): It is written, “and they believed in God and in Moshe,
His servant.â€ Did they not believe in God until now? We find that when
Moshe first told of the redemption to the children of Israel, the verse says
(Shemot, 4:21), “And the people believed; and when they heard that the
God had remembered the people of Israel… they bowed their heads and
prayed.â€ Furthermore, they must have believed after witnessing all of the
mighty acts God did in Egypt. If so, what does it mean when the Red Sea split
that the Torah says, “and they believed?â€ [The difference is that here]
God told them (Shemot, 14:13), “Do not fear, stand still, and see the
salvation of the God which He will show to you today.â€ … Rabbi Yeisa
asked, “It is written (ibid, 14:13), ‘Do not fear, stand still… for the
Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall not see again forever ( ad
olam ),’ and it is also written (ibid. 14:30), ‘And Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the seashore.’â€ 379 In other words, there is a
contradiction in the verses. In verse 14:13, Moshe promises the Jewish people
that they will never see the Egyptians again, yet verse 14:30 states that they
did see them again, albeit dead on the shore. (In the original Zohar passage,
verse 30 is cited before verse 13. The order is reversed here for greater
clarity.) Rabbi Yossi said, “In the second verse, they saw them dead.â€
Rabbi Yeisa said, “If so, the verse should have said, ‘you shall not see
them again alive.’â€ Rabbi Abba said, “You have asked a good
question, but come and see. It is written (Divrei HaYamim 1, 16:36),
“Blessed is God forever and ever’ – ‘ min ha-olam ve’ad ha-
olam,’ which could also mean, ‘from the world to the world.’ On
this we are taught, there is a world above, and a world below. ‘The world
above,’ is the place from which the candle is first lit. ‘The world
below,’ is the completion, which includes everything. 380 The “world
belowâ€ refers to the sefirah of Malkhut (“Sovereigntyâ€), which is the
last of the ten sefirot. Positioned directly above our material world, Malkhut
receives all the spiritual light and energy from the upper worlds, and
transmits it to us. From ‘the world below,’ God’s mighty acts wake
up for the denizens of the lower realm. 381 Malkhut, being feminine, is also a
world of dinim – strict judgments. In this lower world, God does wonders for
Israel, bringing about a miracle. When this [lower] world is aroused to
perform miracles, it had the effect of drowning all of the Egyptians, and
produced a miracle for Israel with the splitting of the Red Sea. For this reason
it is said, you shall not see them again forever– ad olam. That is to say,
“until the world which is below is aroused’ 382 Thus, Rabbi Abba
interprets the verse’s use of the word “foreverâ€ as an allusion to
the upper words, reading ad olam – (“foreverâ€) as ad d’itar hahu
olam – “until that world (Malkhut) is arousedâ€ to destroy the
Egyptians. and they are delivered into the hands of its judgment. And since
they are given over to it to be judged, it is written, ‘And Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the sea shore’ as it is written “ min ha-olam
v’ad ha-olam â€ – from the time the lower world is awoken. This is the
meaning of, ‘And they believed in God and in Moshe, his servant.’â€
The children of Israel believed, in the beginning of Moshe mission, as it is
written, “and the people believed.â€ 383 Even though the statement
“and they believedâ€ refers to the Israelites immediately after the
splitting of the sea, that Zohar also applies it retroactively to the belief of the
Israelites after meeting Moses and learning of G-d’s intention to redeem
them from Egypt (Mtok M’dvash). The faith was fixed in their hearts, and
through their faith they connected to God. Their faith aroused God’s
salvation in a place beyond all human understanding. This is the meaning of
the statement in Parshat Beshalach, at the splitting of the Red Sea, “and
they believed in God and in Moshe, His servant.â€ 384 This is an ironic
rereading of the verses. The straightforward meaning is that the Jewish
people believed more in G-d after they passed through the sea. According to
R. Gershon Hanokh, it was their faith in G-d that actually caused the sea to
split, as faith reaches a level above the laws of nature. This is as it is written
in the passage in the Zohar above, that they clearly saw the revelation of the
supernal light. 385 During the splitting of the sea. It was from this place that
miracles happened for the Jews and defeat for the Egyptians, to the point
where their entire redemption was miraculous. This is because miracles are
the revelation of the Supernal light far above any revealed governance. 386
That is, the way G-d runs the world through the revealed elements of
creation. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Beshalach, 54a): “Then
Moshe and the children of Israel sang this song to God.â€ Rabbi Abba
opened and said: I looked into all of the praises sung to God and saw that
they all started with, “ az (then).â€ “ Az – Then Israel sang.â€
(Bamidbar, 21); “ Az – Then Yehoshua spokeâ€ (Yehoshua 10); “ Az
– Then Shlomo saidâ€ (Melachim 1, 8). Why is this? It is taught that with
all of the miracles and mighty actions are performed for Israel, when the light
of Atika Kadisha 387 Atika, or Atikia Kaddisha (the “Holy, Ancient Oneâ€)
is one of the highest levels of reality, in the order of the supernal worlds. It
lies at the interface between creation and transcendent Divinity. It is reflected
in the consciousness by that which transcends all cognitive perception. When
the light of Atika breaks into reality, it breaks the bonds of nature, causing
miracles, and illuminates human consciousness with the ability to grasp that
which is paradoxical and impossible. illuminated in its crowns, they are
carved and inscribed with “ Az – Then.â€ With aleph, and then aleph
with zayin, pierces the darkness and illuminates all sides. When the two
letters are joined, the illumination of the aleph reaches the zayin, … this is
how miracles and mighty actions happen. When we say that miracles happen
from a place that is above man’s ability to comprehend, we call this the
light of “ Atika Kadisha.â€ When this light illuminates and breaks through
the border of man’s understanding and enclothes itself in a lower
garment, then the governance of the supernal light is revealed in the world,
and we can clearly see miracles.

Truly, from God’s perspective, natural governance is actually miraculous

governance, in that God’s providence and governance extends to every
detail of creation. The recognition of this governance is from man’s
understanding, so that he sees only how the world runs according to nature.
However, God relates to the man of perfect faith with individual providence.
According to this, if one believes that all of creation runs miraculously, then
hidden miracles will be revealed before him, for he views even nature’s
law as miraculous. Whereas for a person who does not believe, the miracles
will remain hidden. With this in mind, we can see that it was easy for Rabbi
Hanina ben Dosa to pray, “May the One who makes the oil burn make the
vinegar burn.â€ He saw how the natural phenomenon of the combustion of
oil only happens due to God’s command, and for this reason his prayer
was effective. Through faith, man can even arouse the supernal governance
to reveal itself in this world. This is as the Zohar states, 388 I n the previous
quote from Parshat Beshalach. that since Israel believed in God, they
managed to awaken revealed miracles before the Egyptians. When a person
witnesses such miracles, he then sees how two complete opposites can
happen at once, as was explained previously. When man is confronted with
the impossibility of the simultaneous occurrence of opposites, it is due to the
concealment of nature. In fact, God established creation’s normative
perception to be through natural governance. However, God fixed permanent
faith within the innermost heart of Knesset Yisrael – the Community of
Israel – so by means of this faith they may connect to God even above
natural governance. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Tikkun 21, 57b):
“He is her nurse ( oman ), and she is His faith ( emunah ).â€ 389
×ומן, artist, is the same letters as ××ž×•× ×”, faith. This is
explained in the Mei HaShiloach, Parshat Bereshit, on the passage in the
Midrash Rabbah: Rabbi Hoshayah began and said (Mishlei, 8:30), “I was a
nurse ( amon ) for him, and I was his delight every day.â€ Amon means a
teacher, amon means covered, amon means hidden. There are those who
say, amon means the capitol, amon means artist. According to Rav Mordechai
Yosef, this Midrash tells of the development of man’s form from its very
first root, hidden in God’s essence, until its revelation in a complete and
mature state, signified by man’s ability to reproduce and bring forth a
new generation. This process precisely follows the way God created the
world. The world was initially hidden in God’s essence, and then emerged
in a revealed form where the supernal light breaks forth in every new being.
The Zohar says (Terumah, 170b), “This is why man finding a mate is as
difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea.â€ Both cases entail the simultaneous
occurrence of opposites. 390 In both cases the miraculous governance is
happening within the natural order. All this occurs at the root of faith, for from
God’s perspective, He is the “nurseâ€ of creation, yet from the side
of Knesset Yisrael, the matter depends upon faith. A nurse must provide for
everything the child needs at all times. For the nurse, everything must be
ready, even though the child, with his limited knowledge, does not really
know what he will need. For this reason, he must always have faith that the
nurse will provide him with whatever he will need. This kind of faith is the
connection between the nurse and the infant. For the infant, it is a kind of
connection above his ability to comprehend. In this way, we see that emunah
in the heart can reach beyond man’s intellectual comprehension and
awaken God’s will to open the supernal light, which is beyond time or any
border in nature. This relates to the teaching that the redemption from Egypt
happened before its proscribed time. God, so to speak, caused His power of
redemption act, even though the Children of Israel were not yet ready, as it is
written (Shir HaShirim 2:8), “The voice of my beloved! Behold, He comes,
leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills.â€ 391 Meaning to say,
the redemption “skippedâ€ over the natural unfolding of events, which
would have demanded the Jewish people to stay slaves in Egypt for two
centuries more. The Zohar (Parshat Noah, 61b) also says that the redemption
from Egypt happened before its time. So too, the wars fought by Israel in the
days of Yehoshafat were also miraculously before their time. We find that the
miracle in Egypt was brought about by a cry from the depth of the heart. The
Zohar (Shemot, 20b) says that the when the Hebrew word “ za’aka
– cryâ€ is used, it means that it is coming directly from the heart, as it
says in Eicha (2:18), “Their hearts cried out to God.â€ Such cries are
closer to God than prayers. Purely by means of emunah in the heart, as
explained above, a person can come before God through the heart’s
cries, even though he cannot offer any intelligible prayer. He cannot dress the
sorrow of his heart in the letters and words of the prayer, as he cannot find
the strength to pray. In this way he can wake up God’s highest will, solely
through faith flowing from the depth of his heart. We find it written of
Yehoshafat (Divrei HaYamim 2, 20:3), “And Yehoshafat was afraid, and he
went to ask God, and called upon all the inhabitants of Yehuda to fast.â€ He
said to God, “we have no power before this great multitude which has set
upon us, we do not know what to do, our eyes are only upon You.â€ And
indeed, he was answered by Yahaziel’s prophecy (ibid 20:15), “Do not
be afraid of this great multitude, for this battle is not yours, but God’s.
You shall not need to fight this battle. Stand still, and witness the salvation of
God with you.â€ And after this, “Yehoshafat stood and said, Hear me,
inhabitants of Yehuda and Jerusalem, Believe in Hashem your God. So shall
you be established. Believe in His prophets and you shall prosper.â€ Here
we see that the miracle happened due to a great overpowering of emunah. It
was then that they saw above nature, as the story continues, “And the
people of Yehuda went to the lookout over the desert and turned to the
multitude of their enemies, and behold, their carcasses were falling to the
ground and they had none to rescue them.â€ When man prepares faith in
his heart, he can effect miracles through his service of God, for the power to
make miracles comes from a great surge of service in the depths of the heart.
This is as it is said in the Gemara (Megillah, 27a), “All of the wonders that
Elisha accomplished, were done through prayer.â€ 392 Note that earlier, in
chapter 13, the author said that it is forbidden to pray for miracles, inasmuch
as prayer can only reach the dimension that we can grasp, whereas miracles
originate from a higher place. Perhaps he means here that it was not the
prayers themselves that produced the miracle, but the faith in G-d underlying
the prayers; for faith, emunah, transcends the borders of our limited
perception. Alternatively (as we will shortly see), Elisha’s prayers did not
effect a total transformation of nature, since his perception of G-d was not as
clear as that of Moshe or certain other prophets. Thus, G-d performed
miracles for him through the nature order, and not above it.

Indeed, we find various distinctions and levels in the miracles performed by

various prophets and their awakenings, based upon the level to which they
prepared their souls. The miracles performed by Moshe could actually
transform things to their very opposite, as the Midrash teaches us
(Beshalach), “‘And God showed him a tree’ (Shemot, 15:25). It was
a bitter branch, and the bitter sweetened the bitter.â€ 393 Shortly after
passing through the sea, the Children of Israel camped at an oasis called
Marah – named so because its waters were bitter and undrinkable. G-d told
Moshe to throw a tree into the waters, to sweeten them. According to the
Midrash, this tree was itself bitter. So too with the brass serpent, which
healed the snakebites. 394 In Numbers 21, the Children of Israel complain
unnecessarily about the hardship of their travels. G-d is angered, and sends
poisonous serpents to bite them. The people repent, and G-d commands
Moses to forge a snake made of brass, and place it atop a pole. Whoever was
bitten by a snake, yet looked upon the brass snake, would be healed. Again,
that which kills and that which heals is the same. Also with the splitting of the
Red Sea, where the waters congealed against the laws of nature, where
(Shemot 15:8), “the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.â€ This,
too, also an example of opposites, because water usually begins to freeze at
the surface, and here it began in the middle of the sea, which, according to
nature, would be the last place to freeze. The miracle of the splitting of the
sea happened in the exact opposite way nature would have had it. Thus, with
all of Moshe’s miracles, things were changed to their complete opposite.
Moshe’s level of prophecy was greater than all of the other prophets, for
he would see the Divine form at once. This is written in the Midrash Tanhuma
(Hayei Sara) and in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 18, 32a). 395 God has no
form. However, prophets receive their prophecy through a vision of the Divine
body. All of the other prophets would behold a vision of a part of the Divine
body. Moshe differed, in that he could see the King in His entirety. Therefore
the miracles associated with him would change a thing over to its complete
opposite. Similarly, with Yeshayahu, we find a miracle within a miracle, and
the transformation of one thing to its complete opposite. As he said (38:21),
“Take a lump of figs, and smear it on the boil, and he shall recover.â€
The Midrash tells us that it is the nature of figs to cause the wound to rot.
Yeshayahu knew that this would have the opposite effect. This is because
Yeshayahu’s prophecy had an aspect of Moshe’s prophecy. It is said in
the Midrash on Tehillim (90), “Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rav Yossi
ben Zimra, all of the prophets would prophesize, and not be conscious of their
prophecy. This was not so for Moshe and Yeshayahu. Moshe said (Devarim,
32), ‘My doctrine shall drop as the rain.’ And Yeshayahu said
(Yeshayahu, 8:18), ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given me are
for signs and tokens in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells in mount
Zion.’ Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yossi, even Shmuel, the
master of prophets, would speak prophecy, and not know what prophecy he
was speaking. This is as it is said (Shmuel 1, 12), ‘And God sent you
Yeruval and Badan and Yiftah and Shmuel.’ 396 He was speaking to the
people, and as he was not aware of what he was saying, he said,
“Shmuel,â€ instead of “me.â€ This is because he was not aware
that he was speaking.â€ On the other hand, the miracles performed by
Elisha occurred mostly through an awakening of salvation through prayer.
That is, his miracles were answers to his prayer. Most of them were effected
through hints contained in his prayer to heal the waters of Yericho, as he said
(Melachim 2, 2), “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.â€ As it is said in
the tractate Berachot, “Just as salt will sweeten meat, so will it sweeten
water.â€ Elisha also said (Melachim 2, 4), “Take flour and put it in the
bowl.â€ He was praying, “God who said flour will be man’s food, so
shall He say that these fields will bring forth food.â€ And also (Melachim 2,
6), when one of the sons of the prophets lost his axe in the river, Elisha cut
down a branch and threw it in the river. His prayer was, “The one who said
wood floats can also tell the iron to float.â€ For Elisha to perform various
miracles at various times, he had to prepare his heart for each situation. In
this way, he was showing how God’s miraculous governance is hidden
within nature. 397 The implication is that because Elisha’s prophecy was
on a lesser, more concealed level than Moshe’s, his prayers did not
achieve a total uprooting of nature, but merely an extension of natural laws.
There are many other miracles that happened through natural governance.
The Tikkunei Zohar cites the Purim miracle as one of these. When a miracle
happens through nature, it is hidden in the Divine Sefirot of Netzah (Victory)
and Hod (Majesty). 398 Netzah and Hod, toward the bottom of the sefirotic
chart, represents the last stages through which the Divine effluence passes
before it is brought into the world below, through the union of Yesod and
Malkhut. It is said that prophets draw their prophecy from these sefirot. The
entire Purim story happens within the confines of the natural order. The
execution of Vashti, Ester’s rise to power, Ester’s notifying the king of
the assassination plot – all these are events which happened in the realm
of nature, as we normally see it. Yet after one considers the course of all of
these events as they lead into each other, it all becomes one great miracle. In
retrospect, one sees how God’s directed each event and it all was a part
of his miraculous plan. While each event was happening, the miracle was
hidden, yet at the end, the miracle was revealed. This is as it is said in the
Talmud (Megillah, 11a), “When do we see the realization of the words of
the psalm (98:3), ‘All of the corners of the earth have seen God’s
salvation?’ We see it in the days of Mordekhai and Ester.â€ In this case,
we must consider all of the events afterward, in order to behold God’s
miracle. After all is over, we see how God directed all of the nations, even
beyond their comprehension. However, in the middle of it all, everything
appears to be happening according to the natural order.

Chapter 15

The Binding of Isaac – Tying the Knot of Faith The ability to penetrate into
the world above nature – the world of faith and miracles – is deeply
rooted in the Jewish soul. From the moment that Avraham sought to offer his
son, Yitzhak, as a sacrifice, and the latter agreed, the transcendent light of
faith was planted in the hearts of the Jewish people. Thus, they are forever
ready to pray for things that are beyond mortal grasp.
The Zohar in Parshat Nasso (130a) speaks of the revelation of the supernal
light called Atika Kadisha, which is alluded to in the Torah but once. The
Zohar says: The name of Atika, the Ancient One, is hidden from all, and only
mentioned in the Torah once. At the end of the Akeida (the binding of
Yitzhak ), we find that the Divine persona of Zeir Anpin makes an oath to
Avraham, where it says, “ Bi nishba’ati, n’oom Hashem – I swear
on Me, says God.â€ 399 The Zohar always reads the various names of G-d
as referring to different spiritual worlds, such as sefirot and partzufim. The
name Hashem – the Tetragrammaton – is understood to refer to the
partzuf of Zeir Anpin, where as the word bi – “I swear on Me,â€ refers
to Atika Kadisha. Here, Zeir Anpin is swearing on the higher partsuf of Atika
Kadisha. The revelation of the light of Atika is explained in the Zoharic
explanation of the Akeida in Parshat Vayeira, on this verse. God had told
Avraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. However, it was a vague statement,
which could have been interpreted either as “slaughter him,â€ or simply,
“bind him on an altar like a sacrifice, but do not kill him.â€ Up until the
point where the angel tells Avraham, “do not stretch forth your hand
against the boy,â€ the command to offer Yitzhak as a sacrifice meant to
slaughter him. At the very moment the angel said, “do not stretch forth
your hand,â€ there occurred a revelation of the Supernal light, reaching
from a place beyond all borders. 400 The author seems to be suggesting that
the change in G-d’s commandment to Avraham – from slaughtering
Yitzchak to merely offering him – was in the nature ofa miracle, in that it
resulted from the emanation of a light that transcended the intellect. Other
chasidic thinkers have pointed out that the entire test of the Akeida
transcended the intellect. G-d had earlier promised Avraham “through
Yitzchak, your descendants will carry on your name. (Bereshis, 21:12). Yet
now, G-d commands to kill him. The test, for Avraham, was believing that
somehow both could be true. This light then remained permanently with
Yitzhak and his descendents. Truly Yitzhak is an “ olah temima (a wholly
offered and unblemished sacrifice).â€ This happened after he and Avraham
wholeheartedly decided to sacrifice him as an olah. All of Yitzhak’s life is
contained in the Divine utterance spoken to Avraham, “Do not stretch
forth your hand against the boy.â€ From this moment on, it was permanently
established that his progeny would all be ready and willing to receive this
light at any moment that they need it. This is discussed at length in the
Zoharic explanation of the Akeida. This is possible when man actively fixes
emunah in his heart, and it is through this emunah that he may connect to
God in a place beyond his comprehension. This being so, it follows that such
a heart will have the power to pray, even when those prayers defy nature.
From the Akeida on, the seed of Yitzhak contains a willingness to be drawn
after God’s will on the level of being an olah temima. Because of this, he
can awake God’s will to clearly show him and let him understand realms
and levels beyond his ability to see or comprehend.

Chapter 16

A Summary on the Subject of Miracles In summary, there are two ways of

looking at the world: from a rational perspective, that views the worl as an
autonomous entity, bound by the laws of nature; or through the lens of faith,
which actually draws a higher reality down into existence, which allows for
the transcendence of the natural order; i.e. a miracle. Logical contradictions
exist only in the former instance, whereas with the revelation of a miracle, it
becomes clear that even strict opposites can exist simultaneously. An
example of this was the dedication of the Holy Temple, when the laws of
nature were suspended, and two things occupied the same space, at the
same time.
It was explained above that miracles have been programmed into nature
from the creation of the world. Now, you may ask, “How can a person
arrive at a place above the natural order revealed in the world?â€ It all
depends upon one’s service of God and upon one’s faith. If one’s
service and faith are strong, he can ascend to a place above the system of
governance, and draw down a transcendent light that can be fixed within the
mind’s grasp. 401 Similar to the revelation that occurred at Akeidat
Yitzchak, discussed in the preceding chapter. If he makes the absolute most
of his Divine service and faith, then the supernal light will be revealed and
fixed within the system of revealed governance. 402 According to this (and as
explained previously), faith changes the very nature of a person’s
perception of reality (a phenomenological shift), so that even the mundane is
perceived as miraculous. This, in turn, allows for actual (ontological) changes
in the nature of reality itself; i.e. the occurrence of an actual miracle. Then it
will be explicitly revealed that this was the way God had originally conceived
it. 403 “Ala be’makhsavaâ€ – literally, “ascended in His
thought.â€ Meaning, the person will see that the miraculous occurrence did
not entail a change in the natural order, but was always part of G-d’s
primordial plan for the world. However, if a person does not prepare his heart,
he will remain under the influence of the revealed order of nature. This is the
meaning of the Gemara’s statement (Sotah, 36a), “The Jews in the
days of Ezra were worthy of witnessing miracles the magnitude of those seen
in the days of Yehoshua, yet their sins prevented it.â€ Instead of revealed
miracles, they experienced hidden miracles. That is to say, miracles that
occurred through natural processes and a series of everyday events: The Jews
found favor in the eyes of King Korash (Cyrus), and he commanded them to
build the Holy Temple. However, had they not sinned, they would have
witnessed revealed miracles instead. So too, with all miracles, they depend
upon the worthiness of the one receiving them, and to that same degree is
the miracle proclaimed in the world. We explained this in our introduction to
miracles, with the discussion of the splitting of the Red Sea. Similarly, the
miracles performed for the Tanaim and Amoraim. 404 Early and later sages in
the Talmud. Some were worthy of experiencing only private miracles;
however, the more the miracle worker prepared his heart, the more the
miracle was experienced and revealed in the world at large. 405 This seems
to be a contradiction to what the author said earlier, that one cannot reveal
miracles before an unenlightened public. This is as Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai
said in the Idra Zuta (289b), “By God’s knowledge the depths were
splitâ€ (Mishlei 3:20), and filled all of the chambers and passageways of the
body, as it is written (Mishlei 24:4), “And by knowledge shall the
chambers be filled.â€ These lights shine from the supernal hidden brain,
which illuminates the mazal ( Atika Kadisha ), and they all depend on each
other, and connect to one another, until it is known that they are all one.
They are all Atika, the Ancient, and are not at all separate from him. 406 This
means that everything is seen from the perspective of Atika, which
transcends nature.

From all of this we derive that the essence of all miracles is a revelation –
within this world – of the supernal governance, that itself transcends time,
human intellect and consciousness. Then, it is clear that there are no
contradictions or opposites, and even things which seem contradictory only
appear to be so because we have been apportioned a limited intellect, based
upon the lower level of governance. Yet, when the supernal governance is
revealed, all who witness the miracle understand that there is no change in
God’s will to allow for the miracle, for that which appears to us to be a
change in God’s will is only due to the created knowledge which is
allocated to us, and subservient to the boundaries of time and place. But in
the place where the past, future, and present unite, one cannot say that there
is a change in God’s will, because in that place there is no before and
after, and no concept of spatial borders. When this light is revealed, all who
see it will know, at the time of revelation, that there are no opposites.
This is exemplified by the miracle that occurred when King Shlomo brought
the Holy Ark into the Temple. It is written in the Midrash Tanhuma (Vaera, 7)
on the verse, “Raise, O gates, your heads, and be lift up, you everlasting
doors!â€ (Tehillim, 24) that Shlomo said these words when he sought to
bring the Ark into the Holy of Holies. He had made an ark of ten cubits in size,
placed the original Ark of Moshe inside of it, and carried it to the Temple.
When he arrived at the entrance, he saw that it was also ten cubits wide;
however, ten cubits cannot enter into ten cubits. 407 For a space to contain
something, it must always be slightly bigger than that which it is supposed to
contain. (Eitz Yosef) Furthermore, there was not enough space to
accommodate those who were carrying the Ark. They could not bring the Ark
through the gate. Shlomo stood, ashamed, not knowing what to do. He began
to pray to God. Our sages teach us that he brought the casket of his father
David, and said (Divrei HaYamim 2, 6:42), “Hashem Elo-him! Do not turn
away the face of Your anointed.â€ “Master of the world!â€ he said.
“Do it in the merit of this one. Remember the kindnesses of Your servant
David.â€ Whereupon he was immediately answered. 408 And was able to
bring in the Ark. My father, master and teacher, the holy Rav, explained that
the essence of the miracle was a revelation of the supernal light of Atika
Kadisha in this lower world. If the size of the gate was miraculously widened
to make enough space for the Ark, or if the Ark had become smaller, it would
not have been such a great miracle. The Gemara (Ta’anit, 25a) tells of
how the prayers of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa caused the beams of a house to
lengthen. 409 Once a woman, who lived near Rabbi Hanina, built a house, but
the beams would not reach the walls. She came to him and said, “I have
built a house but the beams will not reach the walls.â€ He asked her,
“What is your name? “Aiku.â€ she replied. He then exclaimed,
“Aiku, may your beams reach the walls!â€ A Tanna taught, they
extended one cubit on both sides. Some say that new pieces miraculously
joined themselves to the beams. Polemo said, “I saw the house, and its
beams extended one cubit on both sides. People told me, ‘This is the
house which Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa covered with beams through his
prayer.’â€ However, in the Holy Temple, the measurements of the gates,
the Ark, or anything else could not be changed, as it is written (Divrei
HaYamim 1:28:19), “All this, said David, is written by the hand of God who
instructed me, even all the works of this blueprint.â€ The Gemara (Berachot,
17a) understands this to mean that Temple and all of its vessels had to be
built according to the exact measurements that King David received in his
prophetic understanding and taught to Shlomo. The miracle here was that
matter entered into matter, and two different entities occupied the identical
place and time, in defiance of natural governance. If man believes in this with
perfect faith, and absolute sincerity, his heart will not go astray after strange
logic or the philosophical speculations of those of limited consciousness. In
his faith he will find all he needs to allay all the doubts and confusions
resulting from all such doubts and inquiries.

Chapter 17

Omniscience and Free Will – resolving the conflict Based upon the above,
the author now offers a resolution to the classic contradiction between G-
d’s omniscience and human free will – a topic addressed by numerous,
medieval Jewish philosophers. To R. Gershon Hanokh, the answers previously
offered were all lacking, inasmuch as they sought a logical resolution (or no
resolution, in Maimonides’ case). Rather, as he explains, the contradiction
is an illusion, existing only from our limited perception, which operates within
the framework of time and space. From G-d’s perception, there is no
contradiction. This corresponds with R. Gershon Hanokh’s earlier
statement concernings miracles. It is only from our linear, rational
perspective that a miracle implies a change in the Divine plan. In G-d’s
mind, both the natural and the miraculous exist simultaneously, without
contradiction. It is our perception that determines which will manifest itself in
reality. 410 Perhaps the closest we can understand this is by way of a
principle in quantum physics known as “Schrödinger's cat.â€ According
to this theory, a single subatomic particle can actually exist in multiple
locations simultaneously, but only until it is observed. It is the perception of
the observer that actually collapses the indeterminacy, and fixes the particle
in one place, as opposed to another.
The goal we have outlined holds true for even the greatest philosophical
inquires of Maimonides. In the Code ( Mishnah Torah, Laws of Teshuvah, Ch. 5,
Halacha 5) Maimonides discusses how the contradiction between God’s
knowledge and man’s free choice can be reconciled. How can the
righteous be rewarded and the wicked be punished if the all-knowing God
already knows how a man will turn out? And if you say that G-d knows that a
man will be righteous, but that it is still possible for him to be wicked, then G-
d does not know the matter clearly. 411 Which stands in contradiction to G-
d’s omniscience – the tenth of Maimonides Thirteen Principles of Faith.
In his emendations on this part of the Code, the Ra’avad takes
Maimonides to task for not following the method of the sages, accusing him
of starting an inquiry [into the nature of free will] without reaching a
conclusion. In this case Maimonides proposed a difficult question, and instead
of providing a possible answer, left it up to faith. The Ra’avad says that it
would have been better to have not raised the question, leaving the matter
up to the “naiveté of the simple,â€ and not to lead the reader in a
direction where he could become lost spiritually, and question the Torah. The
Ra’avad’s own possible solution, based on astrology and the ability of
the intellect to surpass the binds of the zodiac, is rather contrived. Actually,
the Rambam was not the first one to ask this question. This question had
already been raised by Rav Sa’adia Gaon a few centuries earlier in his
book, Ha’Emunot ve’Hadeot ( Beliefs and Knowledge ), in the fourth
chapter entitled, “Divine Service and Rebellion.â€ There he writes,
“Perhaps you would further say that since God knows what will happen
before it happens, He therefore already knows that a man is destined to rebel
against Him. Thus it would be impossible for man not to rebel, as he must
complete God’s knowledge, which is perfect.â€ Rav Sa’adia
Gaon’s solution to this conundrum is similar to that of the Ra’avad.
Rav Sa’adia goes on to say that God’s knowledge of events does not
cause them to happen, meaning that God’s knowledge does not force
man into any particular action. Man is free to choose the good according to
his own will. A similar view was held by the Rivash in his responsa.
Really, all of these conjectures are insufficient. In the final analysis, if it is
totally within man’s power to choose the good, then it is within his power
to change God’s knowledge, and if it is not within man’s power to
change God’s knowledge, then he has no power to choose. There is much
discussion of this topic among both medieval Jewish philosophers and later
Kabbalists. According what I have already outlined, both man’s
knowledge and intelligence are created entities. Man, however, is convinced
that the Divine order and man’s knowledge are irreconcilable. Therefore,
from man’s perspective, when something is predestined to happen, yet
the outcome is different than originally planned, it is considered a change in
the order of things. However, the past is also under God’s control, and for
God, nothing is impossible. The distinction between past, present, and future
is merely a reality that God created and programmed into the perception of
the creation. Distinctions in time are only relevant to the creation. God has
the power to change our perception, and to grant us additional
understanding, until we understand that even the past can be changed. God
left this up to man’s choice, for if man chooses the good, he will see how
it was God’s will from the very outset for man’s benefit, and so too
with the opposite. 412 This is a classic Izhbitzer teaching, which asserts that
our repentance does not so much change things for the better, but reveals
that things were actually different from the start, if only we had been able to
realize it.

This is as the Talmud says, as we have already mentioned (Berachot 4), that
Yaakov was afraid that his sins changed his relationship with God, and he
would no longer be worthy of Divine protection. Yaakov was afraid, even
though God had made him a promise. It must be stressed that God’s
speech is not like human’s speech. When a word goes forth from
man’s mouth, it is gone and he cannot change it. If he wants to say
something different, he has to say something different. With God, just as
there is no change in His will, as was explained, so too, his words living and
enduring. According to man’s actions, so will he see a response in
God’s words. That is to say, if he acts properly and walks on the right
path, he will see that God’s words are for his amelioration, and vice versa.
The Zohar (Vayishlah, 169a) writes that “all of Your words are on
condition.â€ In the source of God’s will there is no change. All of
man’s power of choice is based upon the limitations of his perception.
And all of his attainment of goodness, wholeness, or bliss, which depends
upon his power of choice, is only that which he acquires for himself within the
confines of the borders of his awareness and understanding. God’s will
even directs those who transgress against His will. Even though they
themselves think that they are transgressing His will, God still directs them,
in a way that transcends their own perception.

Chapter 18

Rebelling against G-d – truth or illusion In the previous chapter, the author
wrote that when a sinner relates to God haphazardly; that is, he denies the
totality of Divine providence, then God actually acts toward him haphazardly,
and he is subject to the vagaries of existence. However, as the author
explains here, this is only from the sinners perspective. In reality, even in
their rebellion, they are secretly being directed by G-d for purposes beyond
their comprehension. Nonetheless, inasmuch as they consciously rebel, they
will not receive any benefit nor eternal reward for the good that ultimately
derives from their evil deeds. On the other hand, as the author states at the
end of the chapter, when an individual firmly believes that God directs all
reality, then reality itself tends to his favor, in both subtle and miraculous
ways.
The Psalmist said (Tehillim, 140:9), “Do not further his evil plan, lest he go
and laud himself because of this.â€ This is as it is written in the Midrash
Rabbah (Tavo), “One who learns Torah and does not fulfill it receives a
greater punishment than one who did not learn it at all. From where do we
derive this? It is written (Yeshayahu, 26:10), ‘Favor will be shown to the
wicked, who did not learn righteousness.’ 413 The Midrash is freely
interpreting this verse. The literal reading is: “Even if an evil person is
shown favor, he will still not learn righteousness..â€ Whereas, if he learned
the Torah and does not fulfill its commandments, he is not shown favor.â€ It
may be asked, “Perhaps a person is wicked because he did not learn the
path of righteousness?â€ This question is addressed in the Talmud (Megillah,
6a): Rav Yitzhak also said: What is the meaning of the verse, “Favor will
be shown to the wicked, who did not learn righteousnessâ€? Yitzhak Avinu
said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the Universe, show mercy
upon Esav.â€ God replied. “He is wicked.â€ Yitzhak said to Him, “He
did not learned righteousness!â€ 414 Meaning, Esav did not learn Torah, and
thus should not be requited for his evil deeds. God replied (with the
continuation of the verse), “Even in a land of uprightness ( nekhochut ),
they continue doing evil.â€ Yitzhak said, “If so, ‘let him not behold the
majesty of God.’â€ When Yitzhak said, “He has not learnt
righteousness,â€ he sought to judge Esav favorably. He argued that
Esav’s actions were determined by the limits of his understanding. God
answered Yitzhak, “Even in the land of the nekhochut
(“uprightness,â€ or “presenceâ€) he will continue doing evil.â€
That is to say, even if Esav were in the presence of God, he would still not act
righteously, but use his elevated consciousness to deliberately and knowingly
sin. This being the case, Yitzhak said, “Let him not behold the majesty of
the God.â€ 415 Yitzhak asks G-d to show compassion on his brother, Esav,
the sinner. He argues that Esav is unaware of the greater context of his
actions. Like one who sins withough having learned Torah (Torah, here, being
synonymous with an awareness of G-d’s plan.) Esav’s sins are only in
terms of his own, constricted consciousness. From G-d’s perspective,
even in sinning, he is fulfilling G-d’s will. However, G-d responds that even
if Esav saw things from the higher perspective, he would still intent to rebel
against G-d. If so, Yitzchak replies, then do not let him see Your Glory; that is,
do not let him see how he is fulfilling Your will through his sins. What does it
mean to not see the majesty of God? It means that even though God uses his
entire creation, including the wicked, for His own purposes and to achieve His
desired ends, nonetheless, the wicked cannot see how God is using them as
an agent of His design. This is, “he shall not see the majesty of God,â€
even when it is actualized through him. Similarly, we find that the glory of
God was revealed through Pharaoh. The Mekhilta (Ch. 8) has Pharaoh saying,
“Who is like You among the powers O God!â€ (Shemot, 15:11) This was
also true with Haman in the days of Purim. The Talmud says (Megillah, 10b),
“‘And it shall be to God for a name’ (Yeshayahu, 55:13) 416 Just
before this the verse said, “and from under the brier shall sprout the
myrtle tree (Hadas, in Hebrew.) The point is that Hadas is another name for
Queen Ester. – this refers to the days of Purim. (The verse continues)
‘For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off’ – this refers to the
reading of the Megillah.â€ Though Pharaoh and Haman were used as
God’s agents to perform miracles and reveal the Glory of Heaven in the
world, they themselves had no portion whatsoever in that sanctification of
God’s name that came about through them. This is as it is written in the
Talmud (Megillah, 6a), “What is the meaning of the verse (Tehillim, 140:9),
‘O God, do not grant the desires of the wicked, do not further his evil plan,
lest he go and laud himself because of this?’ Yaakov said before the Holy
One, blessed be He, ‘Master of the Universe, Do not grant the evil Esav the
desire of his heart.’ ‘Do not further his evil plan,’ this refers to
Germamia of Edom (an evil king that would descend from Esav).â€ Study
this passage in greater depth, and see how God confounded them. 417 This
passage in the Talmud continues, “this refers to Germamia of Edom, for
should they but go forth they would destroy the whole world. Rav Khama ben
Khanina said, ‘There are three hundred crowned heads in Germamia of
Edom and three hundred and sixty-five chieftains in Rome. Every day one
goes forth to meet the other, one of them is killed, and they have all the
trouble of appointing a new king.â€ The words, “lest they praise
themselves ( pen yaroomu ),â€ could also mean, “they shall be raised
above.â€ 418 The verse from Tehillim would then read: “Do not further
his evil plan, for [Your hidden purposes] are far above him [above his
comprehension].â€ This means that God leads them in a place far above
their ability to comprehend, and they themselves take no credit from the
Glory of God which is magnified through them.

In the twentieth chapter of the book of Iyov, Zofar the Naamite says, “Do
you know this from old, since man was placed on earth, that the triumph of
the wicked is short, and that the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment? …
He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again.â€ That is
to say, no remnant remains within the wicked. It was necessary at the
moment for him to “swallow riches,â€ meaning that God willed that
something in the world had to come about through the power and wealth of a
certain sinner. However, this wasn’t the sinner’s intention.
Unknowingly, he was being used as an actor in God’s play. Therefore, no
remnant remains with the sinner, 419 That is, no merit or reward for having
fulfilled G-d’s will. “he will vomit it, and God shall cast it out of his
belly.â€ This is as Zophar the Naamite continues, “He shall not see the
rivers, the floods, the streams of honey and butter.â€ Honey and butter
represent the good reward God has in store for His servants and those who
follow after His will. Yet the wrongdoer has no intention or desire to fulfill
God’s will. It happens through him, not by him. Therefore he will not see
any reward that is stored away for those who actively intend to magnify
God’s glory in the world. Truly, all of his rebellion and destruction exists
only within the scope of his limited perception and understanding. He only
damages himself, for God’s will is fulfilled even through him. It is only in
his limited estimation that he carries out a rebellion. This is as it is written in
the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar (2a): From their own perspective, the
slave and the maidservant think that they are ruling the world. God’s
management of the world is not actually disturbed by the sinner. It is only
from his own perspective that he wreaks destruction. Meaning, within the
scope of his own understanding he sees that he is destroying the world. This
is as it is written (Devarim, Parshat Ha’azinu, 32:5), “Do they destroy
Him? No! The blemish is on His children.â€ The Aramaic translation of
Onkelos reads, “They destroy their own, not His.â€

It is written in the Zohar (Bo, 33a): “[G-d said to the Accuser, "Have you
considered My servant Iyov? There is none like him on earth, a sincere and
upright man, God-fearing and shunning evil. And he still maintains his
integrity,] though you incite Me to him, to destroy him without causeâ€
(Iyov, 2:3) If, as God says, there is no reason to afflict Iyov, then the
punishment was unjust; the sole reason being the incitement of the Accuser,
who wants him to falter. Yet, in reality, it is all according to justice. This is as
Elihu said to Iyov (34:11), “For according to the work of a man shall God
pay him back, and things happen to man according to his ways.â€ And so it
was. Just as Pharaoh had decreed upon Israel, so did God decree upon him.
As for that which God said, “though you incite Me to him, to destroy him
without cause,â€ notice that the verse does not say, “you incite Me to
destroy him,â€ but rather, “you incite Me to him, to destroy him.â€
That is, to him, to his own mind, it seems that “you incite Me against
me.â€ This is like Iyov said, “[Is it good that You should oppress, despise
the work of Your hands,] and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?â€ In a
similar vein it says (Tehillim, 78:36), “They seduced Him with their mouths
and lied to Him with their tongues.â€ For this reason it is not written,
“They seduce Him and lie to Him.â€ But it says, “They seduce Him in
their mouths,â€ 420 “B’fihem,â€ in Hebrew, could either mean with
their mouths or in their mouths. to show us that their seduction and lies
exists only in their mouths (i.e., in their minds, whereas God knows all). 421
The point being, here, that the rebelliousness of the wicked is only from their
perspective, but not from G-d’s. On the other hand, just as man fixes the
faith in God in his soul, so does God deal with him. This is as it is written in
the Zohar (Vayikra, 103b): “Her husband is known in the gates.â€
(Mishlei 31:23) “Her husband,â€ is the Holy One, blessed be He. He is
“knownâ€ and connected to every one according to how much a person
estimates God in his heart. 422 The word for “gateâ€ – sha’ar is
the same letters as the word for estimation – sha’er. Directly
corresponding to how much one can cleave himself to God in the spirit of
wisdom, so is God known to him. As we have written in the introduction,
God’s providence is according to man’s faith. This is as it is written in
Torat Kohanim (on Vayikra, 26:21), “‘If you go with me haphazardly,
423 B’keri also, “by chance.â€ Rashi translates this as “in
opposition.â€ That is, they harden their hearts to prevent themselves from
coming close to God. The meaning here, however, is “by chanceâ€; that
is, if a person imagines that the world runs haphazardly, without supernal
direction, then G-d indeed allows the world to run that way for a person, and
he lacks divine providence. then I too will only go with you haphazardly.’ If
you consider Me to be impermanent in the world, then I will make you
impermanent in the world.â€ That is, if a person believes that the world runs
by chance, then God relates to him according to his faith, and his life is
subject to chance. However, when one believes that God’s providence
extends to every detail of creation, then, from His side, God’s providence
extends to every detail of creation for the person’s benefit. This is as it is
written in the Talmud (Yevamot, 63a, and Midrash Rabbah on Lekh Lekha
39:11), “Even barrels of impure wine 424 Yayin nesech – wine used for
idolatrous rituals. being brought from Gaul to Spain were blessed in the merit
of Avraham Avinu.â€ You may ask how this could be as they were barrels of
impure wine (and thus not worthy of being blessed). The answer is that even
vinegar brings down the price of wine. 425 That is, even good quality vinegar
drives down the price of wine – all the more so, wine itself (even if it is non-
kosher). In other words, God blesses the efforts of idolatrous wine merchants
coming from distant lands, all in order that Avraham receive benefit from the
lower prices that result. Here we see that in the merit of Avraham, whom G-d
wanted to benefit, He directed the events of even distant places, so that
Avraham might derive even a minute benefit, even through a very distant
connection, or a lengthy series of causes and effects. In this way, with
regards to Avraham, the entire creation and all of its minutiae were intimately
led by God’s providence, even though each of those details themselves
were only led by general providence. However, to the man of faith, all the
minutiae of creation are led by an intimate, individual providence. We find
that each person has his own frame of reference, and within the boundaries
of his frame, he is led according to his level of preparedness and faith, with
no person on the level of any other. 426 The disbeliever, though led by
general providence, could be used for the benefit of the believer, and at this
time be influenced by the individual providence of the believer. Thus from the
perspective of the believer he is led by individual providence.

Chapter 19

Inescapable Providence – Case Studies. The contradiction between G-

d’s omniscience and human free will is deep and far-reaching. R. Gershon
Hanokh illustrates the problem with several examples. Afterward, he
reconciles the contradiction, based upon his own position, discussed above
– that the answer lies in human perception. Only from our perception does
the paradox exist. From G-d’s perspective, A person is not free to act, but
they are free in their choices that lead up to that act In other words, a person
must always chose to do the good and God’s commandment. If God still
wants him to do it – for reason’s known only to God, since the act
abrogates revealed law – then God will somehow bring the person to do it,
either by direct command, or via some other means.
The Thief It would seem that there are many contradictory aspects to this
matter, such as those pointed out by Rav Sa’adia Gaon in his book,
Emunot ve’Deot (Section 4, “Service and Rebellionâ€). There he
proposes the case a thief who robs another’s money. Did it happen by
Divine decree? Was the thief merely an agent of the Almighty Judge who
wanted to punish or test the victim? Rav Sa’adia’s answer is that
when one loses something, it is an act of God. However, when one is robbed,
it is an act of man. If wisdom has it that the thing will be lost, if it is not stolen
by the thief, it will be lost in some other way. This was how Shamaya and his
brothers answered some of the Kings of Edom, “If we are indeed guilty of
death by the Heavenly court, then if you don’t kill us, God has no
shortage of ready executioners.â€ R. Sa’adia dwelt on these matters at
length. Yet truly, his solutions are insufficient, such as when the thief himself
rationalizes the theft, saying that if it was meant to be, and he doesn’t do
it, then it will be lost in some other way. This implies a deficiency in God’s
knowledge, since it implies that God doesn’t know exactly how His justice
will be done. Furthermore, Rav Sa’adia contradicts the Talmud (Ketubot,
30b), which says, “Damage caused by lions or thieves is in the hands of
Heaven, by the cold or heat is in the hands of man (as a person is able to
take care of himself).â€ Here we see that man does bring upon himself
damage. Yet, how can one say that damage or loss is in man’s hands? On
the other hand, “Theft is brought about by heaven,â€ implies that it was
God’s plan that this particular thief came and robbed him.

The Case of Shimshon Indeed, according to what has been explained, every
person has their own frame of reference, 427 Gevul hekefo – alternatively,
“a border of perception.â€ Meaning, an entire world view, in which his
faith and rational function in a particular balance, and which determines both
the effects of Divine providence on him and his surroundings, as well as his
liability for freely made decisions. within which operates the entire order of
their personal and Divine governance. No one touches another
individual’s domain. For the man of perfect faith, everything happens
through God’s individual providence, even that which is seemingly based
on his own free choice. The wrongdoer, however, has choice, yet it is only
within the border of his perception. So too, his sins are only within the
borders of his personal realm. The Talmud (Sotah, 9b) teaches that Shimshon
followed after his eyes, as the text says, “Shimshon said to his father, Get
her for me, because she is pleasing in my eyes.â€ (Shoftim, 14:3). As
punishment, his eyes were eventually gouged out by the Philistines. Yet, the
Talmud asks, “Was this really punishment for his own sin? Isn’t is
written (ibid 14:4), “But his father and his mother did not know that it was
from Godâ€ The Talmud resolves this by saying, “When he went to
choose a wife, he nevertheless followed his own inclinations.â€ This really
needs to be explained, because you can say, “What could Shimshon have
done? The whole situation was a decreed by God!â€ Indeed, from here, the
Talmud (Moed Katan, 18b) deduces that God Himself brings a husband and
wife together. 428 The text reads, “Forty days before the embryo is
formed a voice goes forth in Heaven and announces the name of the man
and woman who are destined to be married.â€ What, then, could he have
done? He would have no choice but to marry her.

The Case of Hosea It has been established that man’s choice exists only
within the borders of the scope of his perception. Man can choose to serve
God within this sphere of personal influence. Therefore Shimshon did indeed
sin within the realm of his own perception and understanding. If Shimshon
had followed the correct path in not desiring the Philistine woman, then God
would certainly have told him in a clear communication to go ahead and
marry her. Then it would have been similar to the case of Hoshea (1:2), where
God said to him directly, “Go take a whore for a wife.â€ God further said
to Hoshea (3:1), “Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend and an
adulteress….â€ 429 The prophet is a barometer of the soul of Israel.
Hoshea went after a whore in order to show the people of Israel that they
were whoring after idols. In this way Hoshea was obeying God’s
command. This does not mean that God actually turned the sin into
something permitted, rather God wanted him to sin. Hoshea himself
didn’t desire to be in this situation. Because he was not doing the act to
fulfill his personal desire, for he only desired to fulfill God’s command, we
see that God made the Divine desire clear by commanding Hoshea. It is
similar with the thief. The thief’s victim had to suffer a loss at this
particular time and by this particular thief. However, if the thief had decided
to be good, then either it would have taken a Divine command for him to go
ahead and steal, or God would have orchestrated a situation where the
money would have come into his possession legally. From the point of view of
the victim, the loss was God’s decision, and from the point of view of the
thief, the theft was man’s decision to do evil. Thus the thief is a rebel and
worthy of punishment. In this way, man’s power of choice is only effective
within the scope of his own understanding, and can thus choose to do good
or its opposite.

The Case of Yonah. It is written in the Zohar (Terumah, 170b): “And Yonah
rose up to flee to Tarshish, from before the presence of Godâ€ (Yonah, 1:3);
“For the men knew that he was fleeing from before the presence of
Godâ€ (1:10). Why did Yonah decide to run away? Can one flee from the
presence of God? Yonah wanted to go outside the borders of the Holy Land,
because the Divine Presence only rests in the land of Israel. Yonah thought
that in this way the Divine Presence would not rest upon him (and he would
not have to prophesize for the detriment of Israel...) Notice that the verse
reads, “ milifnei - from before,â€ and not, “ lifnei - before.â€ Yet the
point is precisely, “ milifnei - from before,â€ because the spirit of
prophecy does not come from the Shekhina, 430 Shekhina: the Divine
Presence; the sefirah of Malkhut – alluded to by the word lifnai. but rather
from before the Shekhina. Whether the prophecy is, “before,â€ or,
“from before,â€ are two distinct levels of prophets that rest upon the
Shekhina. 431 This passage is part of a larger discussion in the Zohar as to
the significance of the word milifnei. The Zohar states that it alludes to the
sefirah of Binah. However, from the verses in Yonah, it seems to allude to the
sefirot of Netzach and Hod. According to the Zohar, the word lifnei
(“beforeâ€) alludes to the sefirah of Malkhut. Therefore, the word milifnei
– “from beforeâ€ – alludes to the sefirot that precede that of
Malkhut; i.e. Netzach and Hod. In Kabbalah, these two sefirot are considered
the source of prophecy. Thus, the Zohar reads the verse: “And Yonah rose
up to flee to Tarshish, from before the presence of Godâ€ – that is, from
before the source of his prophecy, which are Netzach and Hod. The author
will relate to this idea in the following chapter. At present, his point is to show
that Yonah sought to flee from G-d’s prophecy by confusing his own mind;
that is, by detaching his mind from G-d, he consciousness fell to a lower level,
and thus, he no longer experienced prophecy. This is in line with the chapters
discussion of two parallel levels of awareness – the Divine and the human
Yonah was afraid to be on this level in the Holy Land. Therefore, about Yonah
it says, “ milifnei – he was fleeing from before the presence of God,â€
since Yonah knew that prophecy only comes, “from before.â€
The Zohar asks a good question. How can one run away from the omniscient,
omnipresent God? And even more so, how can a prophet of this God say that
he is running away from His presence? Yonah only sought the welfare of all of
Israel. He thought that it was in the best interests of Israel that he not
experience prophecy. This is as it is written in the Mekhilta (beginning of
Parshat Bo), “Yonah sought the honor of the son and did not seek the
honor of the Father.“ For this reason, Yonah deliberately brought his mind
to a state of chaos, in such a way that he would not receive prophecy. Both
the Mekhilta and the Midrash Tanhuma (end of Parshat Vayikra) have Yonah
saying, “I am fleeing from before Him to a place where His Glory is not.
But where shall I go? If I ascend to Heaven, ‘His Glory is upon the
Heavens.’ (Tehillim, 112) If I wander the whole earth, ‘the whole earth
is filled with His Glory’ (Yeshayahu, 6). Therefore, I must run to the sea
where there is no mention of His Glory.â€ Why does it say that the sea is not
a place that reveals God’s Glory? Because the sea is a place where
man’s mind is ill at ease. It is written in the Talmud (Tamid, 32a),
“When one goes out to sea, his mind is ill at ease until he returns to dry
land.â€ For a person to experience prophecy, he must possess wisdom, and
his mind must be settled and secure. Therefore, Yonah deliberately brought
his mind into a state of turmoil, in order to prevent his prophetic faculty. This
is what the Zohar means by saying, “ milifnei - from before,â€ and not,
“ lifnei - before.â€ That is to say, it is not within man’s power to hide
himself from God. The best he can do is disturb his own perception. Such
mental turmoil only takes effect within the borders of his own scope of
understanding. This is the meaning of, “‘ milifnei - from before’
means two distinct levels of prophets.â€ This is also as the Tikkunei Zohar
(Tikkun 21, page 49a) says, “Prophets come from Binah - Understanding,
and they are Netzah – Eternity, and Hod – Majesty.â€

Chapter 20

Preparing the Heart of the Prophet – Yonah Enlightened The following is a
more detailed explanation of the process by which Yonah sought to divest
himself of prophecy. According to Kabbalah, prophetic outflow begins in the
upper sefirah of Binah, symbolized in the Zohar by the “seaâ€ (in that it
collects and holds the illumination of Hokhmah, the “springâ€). This
energy flows down the Sefirotic Tree until it reaches Netzach and Hod, which
are the final stages before it is manifest in tangible reality. The opposing
nature of these two lower Sefirot – one manifesting G-d’s grace and the
other, His reprimand – must be resolved in the heart of the prophet, who
sees G-d’s love even within His stern judgment. Yonah failed to do this,
and instead, sought to flee the Divine presence by seeking to disturb his own
mind, making it unfit for prophecy. His efforts, however, were ultimately
futile.
The meaning of this is as follows. The source of prophecy is the place of
understanding, called the Sefirah of Binah. However, the effluence of
prophecy descends to the lower Sefirot of Netzah - Eternity 432 Netzach is
also called Victory. In the arrangement of the Sefirot, Netzach is the lowest
Sefirah of the right column, and Hod is the lowest Sefirah of the left column.
They are synthesized in Yesod – Foundation, the second lowest Sefirah of
the middle column. and Hod - Majesty. This is as it is written in the Raya
Mehemna section of the Zohar (Parshat Teitse), “The upper Imma (Mother,
Binah) spreads down to Hod.â€ Netzah and Hod are two branches that
separate at the end of the promulgation of Divine effluence, which reunite in
the attribute of Yesod – “Foundationâ€ – in order to manifest
God’s governance in the world. This is as it is written in the Tikkunei
Zohar (Tikkun 18, page 34b): "These are the branches. They separate at
Netzach and Hod … They are the two legs, YHVH to the right (the side of
Netzach) and Adonai to the left (the side of Hod.)" The prophet is a channel
for the Divine word necessary to effect Divine governance in the world. Every
prophet, save Moshe, needed to prepare himself in order to receive prophecy.
The required preparation involved ascending in order to receive from the
source by means of the two attributes of Netzah and Hod. The Zohar
describes these two attributes as two halves of the same body. In this way,
they are akin to identical twins. 433 Zohar, Raya Mehemna, Parshat Pinchas,
page 236b. In their root, these two attributes are really one. When Hesed –
Loving-kindness on the right, and Gevurah – Strength on the left, unite in
Tiferet – Beauty in the center, they then branch out below and come into
action as Netzach and Hod. 434 Hesed, Gevurah, and Tiferet are the middle
triad of the ten Sefirot. Netzach, Hod and Yesod are the lower triad. Indeed, at
their root, Hesed and Gevurah are also one. 435 Zohar, Parshat Vayikra. With
the downward evolution of Divine effluence through the Sefirot, the upper
Sefirot represent abstract potential, and the further down you go, this energy
engenders tangible reality and physical actions. Thus, with the lower Sefirot
of Netzach and Hod, we arrive at the stage just before the completion of the
action ready to emerge in the world. Lower down, with the emergence of the
completed action, the Divine effluence looks like opposites. Therefore the
source of prophecy comes from the two Sefirot of Netzach and Hod, when
God shows how the contradictory attributes unite together as one. This
follows the Tikkunei Zohar quoted above, where it says that these two
attributes unite in Tzaddik (the righteous, or Yesod –Foundation) in the
form of the two names YHVH (God’s ineffable name, representing mercy)
and Adonai (God’s spoken name, representing judgment). They are
visualized as intertwined in the following way: יהוה ××“× ×™
×™××”×“×•× ×”×™ This is the unification of God. Even though the name
Adonai seems to govern the principle of God’s concealment and
judgment, nonetheless it is in a complete state of unity with YHVH,
representing revelation and mercy. This is the true preparation of the heart of
the prophet. 436 Meaning to say, that even when G-d’s message to the
prophet seems harsh – as in the prophecies of Yermiyahu – or
detrimental to Israel – as in the prophecy of Yonah, they are really
expressions of G-d’s love.

Yonah’s intention in trying to flee “ milifnei - from beforeâ€ God was
in order to prevent the supernal light from appearing to him. However, there
is the other level of “ lifnei,â€ which means, “directly before.â€ This
is the Sovereignty of Heaven – the attribute of Malkhut which receives from
and thereby completes all of the other attributes. 437 The Sefirot are
considered to be the attributes of G-d. It is impossible to escape from the
Sovereignty of Heaven, as the Divine Presence is everywhere. So when Yonah
fled from before God out to the sea, is really means that went to a place
where he was unable to prepare his heart to receive prophecy. However, this
was only in his mind. He only cloistered himself within the borders of his own
scope of understanding, yet not from the presence of God. This is as the
Zohar explains (Hayei Sarah, 121a): "Though the sea became tempestuous
for Yonah, the earth did not quake. Why? Since Yonah was running away so
that the Shekhina would not rest upon him, why then did the sea seize him
when he went? Rather, we see that everything happened according to plan.
Of the sea we are taught, “The color of the sea is similar to the color of
the sky, and the color of the sky is similar to the Throne of Glory.â€ For this
reason the sea seized Yonah when he went upon her, receiving him within
her. When he ran away from the sea, she threw her arms to his place." The
essence of the sea is the place of Binah. This is as the Zohar tells us (42b):
"Afterwards, God made a great vessel, as if He dug a great pit and filled it
with the [supernal] sea which flows from the spring. This vessel is called the
sea." There (in Binah), is the greatest place of clarity, in which all of the
opposite forces unite as one. Yet, when it is expressed in this world (manifest
as the sea), it is perceived as the opposite, for in this world it is clothed in a
garment that is the opposite of the upper world. This is as it is written in the
Zohar (Shlah, 169a): "This world is the opposite of the world-to-come."
Therefore the sea is a place of turmoil, and we do not find any verses telling
us that the sea expresses God’s glory, since at sea, man is in a state of
turmoil and cannot crown God as Sovereign, in unite Him perfectly. Yet from
God’s viewpoint, the sea is also a place of His Glory. This is evinced in
how the sea became stormy when it saw that Yonah wanted to deliberately
disturb his prophetic ability. In contemplating this, Yonah understood that
even though his intention was for the good of Israel, nonetheless, it is
impossible to hide from God even within the borders of the scope of one’s
own understanding, when this is not God’s will. It is the ultimate human
folly that man should consider himself smarter than God. God showed Yonah
how he made the blunder in thinking that he loved Israel more than God
Himself.

Chapter 21

The Meaning of Suffering From the present chapter until the end of the book,
the author addresses the topic of human suffering. Whereas previously, he
explained how faith can lift a person above the laws of nature, bringing him
to the higher level of divine guidance, in the following chapters, he discusses
how faith can bring a person to an inner realization that everything that
happens to them is from G-d and for his own good. As in the discussion
above, faith results in a shift in perception, from the human to the Divine.
Whereas a human being, in this world, may suffer to the point that he
questions the very point of his existence, in the root of his soul, he
understands how it is all for his good, and before he was born, even agreed to
experience it. Faith can restore a person to this primeval awareness of the
intrinsic goodness of life
The person who believes in God with perfect faith will not find all his suffering
unbearable, for whatever he experiences, he knows that it is for his best. This
is because all of person’s suffering is really for his own good, and his soul
even agreed to it before he was created. This is as it is written in the Talmud
(Rosh Hashanah, 11a), “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, all creatures were
created in their full stature, by their own agreement, and with full knowledge
of their form and character.â€ Rashi and the Tosafot explain that before
anything comes into the world, it is asked if it wants to be created, and it says
yes. Tosafot explains, “in their full form and character,â€ to mean, “in
the beauty of their growth.â€ Rashi also notes (Hulin, 60a) that “with full
knowledge of their form and character,â€ means, with the form that this
particular creation chose for itself. Even though the Talmud (Eruvin, 13a)
writes that it would have been easier for man to never have been created,
notice that it does not say, “it would have been better,â€ but rather,
“it would have been easier.â€ When man realizes that this world is a
place in which he must accept total responsibility, and that the danger [of
failing] is constant, then certainly, from the perspective of this world, it would
have been easier were he never created. Yet, in his root, the place where his
soul is attached, he agreed that it was in his better interest to be created
than not, for behold, he was created in his full form and character. He knew
and accepted all the risks and responsibilities. 438 Even though the author
speaks of this knowledge being present to the soul before birth, the
implication is that it is still available to a person, when they can still access
this awareness, if they see creation through the eyes of faith, which entails a
cognitive shift in apprehending reality. From God’s point of view, every
soul will ultimately be refined for the good. Even after he has sinned a lot,
God thinks of ways to insure that he will not be irrecoverably pushed away
from Him, as it is written in the Zohar (Saba d’Mishpatim, 106a): We are
taught that nothing in the world stands in the way of repentance ( teshuva ),
and that God certainly accepts everyone. If a person returns to God, then the
path of life is open before him. Even if he is blemished by sin, it is all fixed,
and it all returns to its pristine state of existence. Even if God had vowed to
punish someone who transgressed a major sin, repentance corrects this, as it
is written (Yeshayahu, 14:24), “The Lord of Hosts has advised, who shall
annul it?â€ This mystery is greatly hidden.
Even when a person suffers great ordeals and afflictions, God can make
amends and console him, to the point that he is appeased and consoled over
everything he has gone through. Our passage in the Zohar continues:
Concerning this, David HaMelech said (Tehillim, 119), “Your mercies are
great, O God, give me life according to Your law.â€ If God is merciful with the
wicked, then all the more so with the righteous. Who needs the greatest
healing? The ones who are in pain. Who is in pain? The wicked. They need
God’s mercy and healing, so as not to be left abandoned… Come and
see! It is written (Yeshayahu, 57:17), “He went rebelliously in the way of
his heart.â€ Afterward, it says, “I have seen his ways, and I will heal him,
and I will lead him, and I will console to make him and his mourners
whole.â€ “He went rebelliously,â€ that is to say, even though the
wicked do all kinds of intentional sins, pursuing their desires, with others
warning them time and again, and the wicked not heeding them,
nonetheless, upon returning to the path of God in penance, they will find the
healing ready for them to receive. Here we see that God can comfort them
over all their suffering. He can return everything to the good, and look
forward for the good. This is as our passage in the Zohar concludes: Now that
it has come back to him, we clearly see consolation on all sides. Now he is
certainly alive – alive in all aspects, grasping onto the Tree of Life. By virtue
of grasping onto the Tree of Life, he is called a Master of Repentance ( Baal
Teshuva ). For indeed, Knesset Yisrael 439 Literally, the entire community of
Israel. Symbolically, the Shekhina, and the sefirah of Malkhut. is called
teshuva. And he is the “Master of Teshuva.â€ The ancients said, “[he
is] an actual master of Teshuva.â€ For this reason the sages said, “A
perfectly righteous man cannot even stand in the place of greatness where
the Baal Teshuva stands.â€ Even an inkling thought of repentance is not lost
from God, as the Zohar says (Terumah, 150b): No good intention is ever lost
from before the Holy King. For this reason, fortunate is the man who
entertains good thoughts for the sake of his Master! For even if he cannot
bring his them to fruition, God considers his intentions as if they had actually
been accomplished. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Mishpatim, 99b):
Everything in the world, no matter how small, has a place where it can stand
and hide, a refuge to enter into and never be lost … These are the great
powers of the Holy Supernal King, and nothing is lost. Even a fleeting breath
has a place, and the God does with it that which He will. Even man’s
slightest word is not in vain, for everything has a place. Even all of the pain
that man suffers will not be ignored by God. God will comfort every soul that
suffers. Since God knows the final purpose of everything, and that it is better
for the creation to have been created than not. He shows this understanding
to a person’s soul while he is still in potential, before he enters the world.
Then the soul agrees that it is better for him to be created, as it is written in
the Zohar (Vayehi, 233b): But come and see! Before they descend into the
world, all the souls that exist from the very first day of creation stand before
God, in the very form that they will take on after they come into the world.
They stand above in a body that looks just like the body they will enter. When
the time comes for this soul to descend into the world, the soul stands before
the Holy One, blessed be He, in the exact form it will take on when it enters
the world. At this time, God has the soul swear that it will keep the
commandments of the Torah, and not transgress the statutes of the Torah.
From where do we derive that the soul stands in this way before God? As it is
written (Melachim 1, 17:1), “I swear by the Living God, whom I stood
before…â€ God shows the soul its entire structure, his characteristics,
abilities, and even its physical attributes. The soul agrees to it all, down to
the last detail. From man’s point of view, it is difficult to understand how
the soul could agree to all of the pain it will have to endure in this world.
Before the soul descends into this world it has not yet sinned, so why
doesn’t it stay safely where it is, before it has to incur punishment? Why
would it intentionally enter a world where it has no choice but to suffer?

It is explained in the Zohar (Vayeishev, 181a): Rabbi Shimon opened and

said. “He shall not go to the veil or come near the altar.â€ (Vayikra,
21:23, in reference to a blemished Cohen.) At the time when the river runs
forth, 440 The Soncino Zohar translates, “At the time when the perennial
stream releases human souls.â€ it brings all souls to the female. The female
becomes pregnant. They are all within her, in a room within a room whose
walls are covered with tapestries. The souls themselves are pure and holy. Yet
since they emerged at the time when the moon is blemished from the
influence of the Serpent, then wherever the souls reach they are broken and
blemished with various pains and afflictions. God wants these souls in all of
their sadness and all of their brokenness. This is the secret. They exist below
as they are above; the body is blemished, and the soul within is just as it is
above, one according to the other. Because this is so, they need to be
renewed with the renewal of the moon. On this it is written (Yeshayahu, 66),
“On each new moon and each new Sabbath, all flesh shall come to
worship Me, says the Lord.â€
Here Rabbi Shimon explains the nature of the cries and tears of the
downtrodden. The Cohen who is disqualified from serving in the Holy Temple
due to one of the blemishes mentioned in the Torah has grievances against
God for being cast away from being included in the service of G-d, for he is
forbidden to serve in the Temple. It is impossible to say that he is blemished
from birth at the core of his soul, for then he he would be forbidden from
eating from tithes and sacrifices. 441 Vayikra 21:22. It is only a Halal – a
Cohen who married a divorcee – who is forbidden from eating of the
sacrifices, and whose offspring no longer have the status of Cohanim. Yet a
blemished Cohen is allowed to eat tithes and sacrifices, and his children are
full-fledged Cohanim. It is only that he is forbidden from entering into the
Temple and performing the holy service.
What is the meaning of eating “ kodesh â€ – the meat of the Temple
sacrifices? It means that a person eats a holy substance that is absorbed in
his body. When he serves G-d with the energy he gained from that food, the
food itself is elevated. One could argue that for a person who is blemished at
the core of his soul, the prohibition of eating kodesh should be greater than
for entering the Temple grounds. Eating the kodesh will cause greater
destruction than treading on holy ground, since the food is absorbed in his
body, and he can use its energy to do whatever he wants, whether good or
evil. If he decides to use the power of the kodesh to do something evil, he
drags the holy power of the food down to the lowest of levels. In the case of a
blemished individual entering the Temple, the holiness surrounds him, and he
cannot damage the force of holiness to such a great extent. The essence of
Rabbi Shimon’s solution is that blemished Cohen is not at all blemished at
the core of his soul. Rather, out of his great love for God, he willingly
accepted this blemished state even before he was created – to undergo a
process of purification and to endure suffering. 442 Rav Menahem Nahum of
Chernobyl (1730-1798) teaches a similar idea in his work, Meor Eynaim, at
the beginning of Parshat Vaeira. God’s hidden wisdom knows exactly how
to run the world, and exactly which level of effluence is needed to sustain
every particular time, place, and soul. God knows the proper attribute or
Sefirah through which this effluence must be revealed. When one experiences
success, it is because God’s wisdom knows that that is the precise level of
Divine effluence needed for that person. When one endures some kind of
suffering or failure, then God had discerned in his impenetrable wisdom this
is exactly what is needed for this person in this time and place. No matter
what attribute one experiences, it is absolutely essential, and there is really
no need for jealousy, because one is just as essential as the other. This is the
secret of the verse in the Shema, “You shall love God with all your
abundance,â€ as the Talmud says (Berakhot, 54b), “in whichever
attribute God deals with you, thank Him greatly.â€ According to R. Gershon
Hanokh, the soul of the blemished priest – and of every individual who
suffers in life – is privy to this knowledge before birth, and willingly accepts
G-d’s judgment in his coming into this world. This is as the Zohar says,
“God wants these souls in all of their sadness and all of their
brokenness.â€ That is to say, the suffering soul wants to be pushed out to
the furthermost place, to be clothed in a garment that is furthest from the
Divine source, and to suffer greatly, for by serving God in the dark, concealed
place, he magnifies and sanctifies the Glory of Heaven. This passage in the
Zohar concludes: “From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to
Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lordâ€
(Yeshayahu, 66:23) “All flesh,â€ precisely. They will be completely
rejuvenated, and need to be renewed in the renewal of the moon. 443 The
Zohar uses the moon as a symbol for the Shekhina, which is presently
blemished and in exile – corresponding to the moon’s own waxing and
waning. This deficiency in the Shekhina is the source of all the pains and
suffering of humankind. In the Messianic era, when the Shekhina will be
redeemed and fully united with G-d, the “moonâ€ will be full, and human
suffering will come to an end. They are in a constant partnership with the
moon, sharing her blemish. For this reason, she dwells constantly within
them, never leaving them. This is as it is said (Yeshayahu, 57:15), “I dwell
with the downtrodden and broken of spirit.â€ And it is written (Tehillim,
34:19), “God is close to the broken hearted.â€ Since they suffer the
same blemish as the moon, they are always close to her. Therefore, in order
to bring new life to the broken hearted, they will have a portion of that life
that will be renewed. The ones that suffer together with her shall be renewed
together with her. This is called the suffering of love. This suffering is born of
the soul’s love, and not from the man himself. It is out of love, for the
light of the small love is blemished and pushed away from great love. 444
The Mikdash Melech reads, “‘The small love’ – Malkhut. ‘From
the great love,’ Zeir (Anpin), for Malkhut is built out of the Hasadim
(forces of loving-kindness coming through Zeir Anpin), which is called,
‘love.’â€

Chapter 22

The Blemish of the Moon. Continuing with the image of the moon, as
symbolizing creation in its current, deficient state, the author recalls themes
that he discussed much earlier in the work – that G-d is best served from a
place of lack and deficiency, as he stated previously: “There is no light but
that which emerges from darkness.â€ The soul, like the moon, willingly
limits itself to enter this dark world, yet only from here, can it truly shine.
With this, R. Gershon Hanokh begins to close his argument: the world of
darkness and concealment is not an absolutely negative state. It is the
setting out of which revelation emerges. As such, it is an indispensable step
to revelation. Seeing through the eyes of faith not only means seeing the
good in the darkness, but seeing how the darkness itself is part of the larger
plan. This redeeming vision is at present hidden from our eyes (and thus, the
need for faith), but will be revealed in the world-to-come.
The blemish of the moon reflects the deficiency that God programmed into
the very fabric of creation. God saw the necessity for such a deficiency in
order to give man the possibility of serving Him. This is as it is written in the
Zohar (Tetsave, 184a): Man only serves God from amidst darkness… This is
as it is written (Yeshayahu, 48), “You are called a criminal from the
womb.â€ God concealed the good that results from this type of service until
the final redemption, to that special day known only to Him. This is as it is
written in the Talmud (Shevuot, 9a) concerning the goat offered of the new
moon (Bamidbar, 28:15), “‘And one goat for a sin offering for God.’
Why does the verse here say, ‘for God,’ which is not said after other
offerings? It is as if God is saying, ‘Bring a sacrifice for Me, in order to
atone for My own sin of diminishing the moon!’â€ 445 Chulin, 60b: Rav
Shimon ben Pazzi pointed out a contradiction between two verses. One verse
says, “And God made the two great lights,â€ and immediately the verse
continues, “The greater light. .. and the lesser light.â€ [In other words,
are they both great, or are they great and small?] The moon said unto the
Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the Universe! Is it possible for two
kings to wear one crown?â€ [I.e. can there be two great lights?] God
answered, “So go and make yourself smaller.â€ The moon cried,
“Master of the Universe! Since I have suggested that which is proper, I
have to make myself smaller?â€ He replied: “Then you will go and rule
by day and by night.â€ [I.e. the moon can be see both at night and by day.]
“What is the value of this?â€ cried the moon; “What is the use of a
lamp in broad daylight?â€ God answered, “Go. By you will Israel
calculate the days and the years.â€ “But it is impossible to calculate the
seasons without the sun!â€ said the moon, “as it is written, And let them
be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.â€ “Go, for the
righteous shall be named after you, as we find, Yaakov the Small, Shmuel the
Small, David the Small.â€ On seeing that the moon would not be consoled,
the Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Bring an atonement for Me for making
the moon smaller.â€ This is what Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish meant when he
said, “Why is it that the he-goat offered on the new moon is phrased
differently in that after it, it is said, ‘a sin offering for G-d’? Because the
Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘Let this he-goat be an atonement for Me
for making the moon smaller.’â€ It is hinted at here that a person should
not complain angrily to God, but rather, should accept everything with love.
This is what the Zohar meant when it quoted the verse, ““from new
moon to new moon… all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the
Lord.â€ The word, “flesh,â€ hints at the deficiency which exists in the
very nature of the creation, as the Talmud states (Sotah, 5a), “the word,
‘flesh – basar,’ is an acronym for ‘ busha – shame,’ ‘
sruha – stench,’ ‘ rima –worm.’â€ Thus, “fleshâ€ is the
root of all deficiencies. Yet, the future renewal will be built from this
deficiency and raised up out of this shame. This is as our passage in the
Zohar continues (Tetsave, 184a): He opened and said (Yeshayahu, 52:13),
“Behold, My servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and
he shall be very high.â€ 446 This is a prophecy concerning the righteous in
the messianic era. Fortunate is the portion of the righteous to whom the Holy
One, blessed be He, reveals the way of the Torah and how to live by it! Come
and see how this verse is a sublime mystery. “My servant shall
prosper,â€ has been explained. Yet come and see! When God created the
world, He created the moon, and then made her light smaller. In this way, she
would not have any light of her own. Since she made herself smaller, she only
reflects the light she receives from the sun and the power of the supernal
luminaries. In the days of the Holy Temple, Israel was assiduous in bringing
sacrifices together with all the other services performed by the Cohanim,
Levi’im, and Israelites. Their service wove bonds of union and caused an
intense illumination. After the Temple was destroyed, the lights were
darkened, and the moon no longer shined from the light of the sun. Ever
since the sun withdrew from her, the days are fraught with curses, affliction,
and pain. 447 This is a metaphor for creation in its present, exilic state, in
which the light of the son (G-d) no longer shines upon the moon (our world).
Thus, it is a period of suffering and pain. But of the time when the moon will
shine with her original light, it is said of her, “Behold, my servant shall
prosper.â€ This is the mystery of emunah (faith). At that time, there will be
an awakening in the upper realms, like someone who, upon catching a sweet
scent, wakes up and looks out at the world. “He shall be exalted,â€ from
the side of the most exalted of luminaries. And as in the verse (Yeshayahu,
30:18), “And He will be exalted that He may have mercy upon you.â€
“Lifted up,â€ is from the side of Avraham. “He shall be (very)
high,â€ is from the side of Yitzhak. Whereas “veryâ€ is from the side of
Yaakov. in the mystery of wisdom. At that time the Holy One, blessed be He,
will cause an awakening on high in order to allow the moon to shine in her full
splendor, as it is written (Yeshayahu, 30:26), “Moreover the light of the
moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be
sevenfold, as the light of the seven days.â€ For this reason, an exalted spirit
will be added to the moon which will rouse the dead who sleep in the dust.
This is the meaning of “My servant,â€ who has the key of the Master in
his hand.

The blemish of the moon represents the point of Divine Sovereignty that
wanted to descend to the lowest of levels, so that there is the potential for
serving G-d through concealment and free choice. This is hinted when the
Talmud says (Hullin, 60b), “The Holy One told her: Go and make yourself
smaller,â€ and not that “God made the moon smaller.â€ God only gave
the moon a piece of good advice, telling her that she would benefit from
making herself smaller. This reduction follows the desire of the creation,
which wanted this state of concealment in order to later be worthy of a very
great illumination, as is explained in the passage of the Zohar quoted above.
An intensely precious light hides in this point of concealment, since the end
of the attributes is wedged in the beginning and chief of all attributes. 448
The Sefer Yetzirah says, “The end is wedged in the beginningâ€;
meaning, the lowest spiritual world (Malkhut) is included in the highest
(Keter). Or, in other words, the final product of creation exists in potential in
the original intention of creation. And even when it descends to manifest
itself in reality, it still exists, simultaneously, at the highest level. Therefore
the moon displayed incredibly brazenness, 449 “Tekifutâ€ – a kind of
brazen, holy strength. It is the mode of operation man employs when he
knows that God is acting through him, and his will is just a vessel for
God’s will. In this state, man is beyond choice. This is one of the key
concepts in the Mei HaShiloach. See the Mei HaShiloach, Sefer Bereshit,
Parshat Vayeira, under the verse, “and Sarah laughed.â€ It must be
noted that this concept can be easily misunderstood and even corrupted, as
the Mei HaShiloach notes in his discussion of Amalek. in order to say at first
that she did not want to enter into a state of concealment, but rather receive
light directly from the source without any diminution of the light by means of
a system of filtration in the upper worlds. The act of receiving the light of the
sun teaches how man receives light through Divine service and constriction
( tzimtzum ). 450 Tzimzum is the act of God constricting his infinite light
through numerous filters so that it can be contained in the weak vessels of
this world without breaking them. Performing a commandment is a way of
receiving the light of the Infinite through tzimtzum. The Zohar explains that
the only way that man can completely connect to God is if he receives the
Infinite light through the Divine service. We see this in the moon. When the
moon is in the time of the, “ingatheringâ€ (the new moon), she stands
facing the sun, 451 Actually, at the time of the new moon, what we consider
the moon’s back is facing the sun. receiving light from nearby. At this
time, when she is closest to the sun, she does not illuminate the world. At the
time of, “oppositionâ€ (the full moon), she is at the farthest position from
the sun, and only receives the light over a great distance. Yet, she shines a
full illumination to the world.

The Zohar (Emor, 100b) teaches us that the completion of the Divine service
on Rosh Hashanah comes fifteen days later with the festival of Succot. On
Rosh Hashanah, which falls on the new moon, the light of the moon is
covered. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, the moon is not yet full. This means
that on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the moon is still close to the sun,
receiving her light at points closer to the source. This is as it is said (Ibid.):
Rabbi Abba sent a question to Rabbi Shimon asking, “When is the union of
Knesset Yisrael (the Shekhina ) with the Holy King?â€ He sent back to him,
“(As Avraham said of Sarah:) Indeed she is my sister, the daughter of my
father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.â€
(Bereshit, 20:12) This is explained: “On the covering of the day of our
festival.â€ 452 This refers to Rosh Hashanah, when the new moon is still
hidden (i.e. “covered.â€) (Tehillim, 81:4) On this day the moon is
covered… And it illuminates everything with the light of repentance…
Come and See! On this day the moon is covered, and does not shine until the
tenth of the month, on Yom Kippurim… Why is the name of the day of
Atonement voiced in the plural (Kippurim – Atonements )? It is because on
this day, two lights shine as one. The upper luminary shines to the lower
luminary. And on this day the upper luminary shines, and not from the light of
the sun. God established the service for Israel according to the seasons, each
time according to its system. Therefore, by Yom Kippur the Divine service has
not yet been completed, to unite God’s will with the service of Israel.
Since on the tenth of the month the moon is not yet full, therefore the Divine
service cannot yet be totally complete. For this reason, the Divine service
performed by Israel on Yom Kippur is through restraint and afflictions. 453
The five afflictions one must perform on Yom Kippur: not eating, not drinking,
not washing, not anointing, and not engaging in marital relations. This is
evinced in how the moon does not yet fully receive the light of the sun, since
it still too close to the source. On Succot, however, when the moon is full, the
Divine service is fulfilled through active service, through the joy of the festival
and all of its delights. 454 On Succot there are active commandments such as
sitting in the succah, waving the four species, and rejoicing in the feasts of
the festival. In the days of the Temple there was also the joyous ritual of
water libations. Then the Divine service is truly complete. This is as it is
written in the Midrash (Kohellet, 4), “Man’s desire is to work and
receive the fruits of his labors.â€ When man receives, he wants to have
earned his reward by his own efforts. In this way he doesn’t suffer the
shame of receiving an undeserved gift. 455 In other words, on Succot, the
moon is the furthest from the sun. Yet precisely for that reason, it shines the
brightest. In our terms, it is precisely when a person is furthest from G-d that
he has the ability to serve him. And as a result of that service, comes the joy
of receiving a hard-earned reward – the opposite of the shame a person
feels when he receives a gift that he does not deserve.

Look closely into the following Zohar (Balak, 197a): Because of her great
faithfulness, which is without blemish, she receives without hindrance
whatsoever. After all that she has gathered has come to her, she stops,
containing the effluence, delaying it, so it only descends and shines like the
dew. And so, the root of creation was content in reducing itself. And even
though it possesses a great strength, as its source is in a very high place, it is
even more pleased to receive the Divine effluence through a filter, which is
the service that Israel performs when God’s presence is concealed. This is
as it is written (Zohar Hadash, Midrash Ne’elam, Bereshit, 15b): Rabbi
Yossi son of Rabbi Shimon ben Laqunya went to see his son in law, Rabbi
Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon. Upon arriving, his daughter took Rabbi Yossi’s
hands to kiss them. He said to her, “Go and make yourself small unto your
husband, as he is holy.â€ 456 Using the phrase that God said to the moon
quoted above from the Talmud, Hulin, 60b. Rabbi Elazar exclaimed, “Now I
remember a precious word of Torah concerning the moon!â€ 457 Rabbi
Elazar had suffered a brief memory lapse. Now that Rabbi Yossei mentioned
the words God said to the moon, “go and make yourself small,â€ it
jogged Rabbi Elazar’s memory and he remembered a teaching. He said,
“We have learned that God said to the moon, ‘Go and make yourself
small,’ because the moon had thought that God had given her the power
to rule.â€ His father in law said, “I too have heard this. And so it is
arranged in my heart, in order that I do not transgress the opinion of my
companions.â€ This is the ultimate parable about the diminishment of the
moon. Even though a woman’s home is prestigious, and she is able to
exert power 458 “Tekifut,â€ as above: brazen strength. based upon her
background, from the source of her own family. She could have asked for and
received anything she needed from her home. Yet, she was well advised to
conceal this strength, and to submit to her husband. 459 Like the moon, in
the parable above. For even though she could receive great bounty from her
own source, it is only through her husband that she can give birth and bring
renewal into the world.
So it is, with all of the levels until the highest of all heights. 460 That no
matter what level a soul is on, it can only attain a higher level by means of
constriction (tzimtzum). Though the angels are great and lofty, ever gazing
into the light of the face of the King, still they are called, “standing,â€ as
it is written (Zekharia, 3:7), “Then I will give you a place to walk among
these (angels) that stand.â€ Angels are called, “standing,â€ because
they always stand on one level. And the people of Israel are called,
“walking,â€ because they always proceed from level to level. Therefore
the creation was content in receiving the light through a filter, despite the
inevitability that this will lead to suffering.

Chapter 23

Life’s a Dream – Facing Suffering. The author now heartens those who
experience poverty and suffering in this world, reminding them of the great
benefit it accrues them in the world-to-come. For while no one would willingly
accept suffering while in this life, each person did indeed accept it as his lot
before entering the world. From the soul’s perspective, life in this world is
as fleeting as a dream, and sometimes, as awful as a nightmare. Yet, its
duration is always brief, and it is worth bearing, if one has faith in the
benefits he will receive upon awakening in the world-to-come – a reality
totally different than our present one.
A person should not find the idea difficult that he was created with his own
consent, and that he should accept upon himself suffering. Indeed, the world
holds the opposite view, and people prefer immediate physical gratification
over patience and constraint – even when they know that they will be
rewarded for the latter in the world-to-come.
However, although the above idea is true, after the soul descends into the
darkness of this world, it begins to desire everything, as one’s inner
drives make a person feel lacking and empty. A person becomes jealous upon
seeing that his fellow is blessed with abundance, while he remains unsated.
And he experiences great shame before the wealthy, whose words are
heeded solely because they prosper, while no one cares what he thinks or
feels. He does not see, however, the anger and pain that prosperity brings
the wealthy. Really, the roar and tumult of the world is a terrible thing, for it
does not allow a person the peace of mind necessary to think about life. If
only a person were given the choice to be sent to a faraway place, where no
one knows him and he would not be ashamed of his poverty. If he were given
the power to choose the right path for his life, he would then see things
clearly, and not feel the dismay and distractions experienced by those who
are spoiled by ephemeral abundance. How much pain and hardship comes
from all of this good! How much terror does one reap from all of these
matters! A person afflicted with abundance lacks the peace of mind to build
him home, and pitch his tent with surety. He misses the mark of his true
purpose in the world. This could be from the pain of others jealousy saddled
upon him, causing him to hate his fellow man, leading to anger and agony. It
could be from the strife of the spirit he feels by never being satisfied and
never feeling that he truly has enough. He is infected by one-usmanship, and
compelled to surpass his betters. This is as the famous saying of the Talmud,
“A man never dies with the feeling that he has attained even half of his
desires.â€ If he has made a million dollars, he wants two million. And the
desire for two million is nothing compared to the cancerous desire for a
billion. This harrowing desire brings on madness, his mind is lost in the vortex
of wanting more and more. It is incomparable to the disturbance felt by one
who desires something minute.
And therefore, if you were to show a person both situations before he
descends into the darkness, while his mind is still clear and has not yet been
clouded by worldly harassment, then the choice is obvious. He will choose to
make do with little, as it will afford him peace of mind and soul, and he will
reject the wanton desire for wealth, as it will bring him pain and stress. For it
is indeed so, that if only man were to chose to live by his faith and make do
with little, as opposed to dedicating his life to seeking pleasure, then he will
not possess a hint of arrogance. All the more so if he is sure that his state of
deprivation is only temporary, and that he will soon return to the source from
whence he was hewn, to eternal calm and never-ending delight.

Therefore, even if one is beset by great pains and agonies (may God save all
of His people Israel from them and give them only good, salvation, and
comfort!), even to the extent where it is said in the Talmud (Eruvin, 41) that
suffering can make a person go mad and break ways with God, still, this
should not contradict the teaching of the Sages in the Talmud (Rosh
Hashanah, 11a) that all creatures were created by their own agreement, and
with full knowledge of their form and character. For what is the whole life of
this world, “seventy years of hard labor and sorrow,â€ 461 Tehillim,
90:10 in comparison to the eternal life of the world-to-come? It is truly like a
dream before waking reality. Yet even this comparison is made just in order to
present an analogy that can be easily understood. For there is no way to
compare this world and the eternal world-to-come. Though there is a great
difference between a dream and conscious reality, still, dreams exist in time.
And even though dreams are for a brief moment in comparison to the
passage of time in conscious reality, still, they do occupy a portion of time.
This is not so with the ephemeral world in comparison to the eternal world-to-
come. One cannot be compared to the other whatsoever, and they have no
way of being joined together in any way or part. This is because that which is
limited cannot be joined to that which is limitless.

In order to make this clear, consider the comparison of dreaming to being

awake. For a short moment while a man is asleep, he may dream of the
seventy years of his life. In the dream his life is filled with great pains and
hardships. Throughout the dream, he has the overall feeling of regret that he
was created to undergo such suffering. Clearly, he thinks, it would have been
much easier if he were never created. But consider the following modification
of his dream. If in his dream he manages to overcome his feelings of regret,
and refrains from angrily criticizing God treatment of him, but rather, accepts
all that he experiences with love, then, when he wakes from his sleep, will
attaing great good, wondrous bliss, and immeasurable success. Yet if he feels
wronged in his dream, and does not accept the suffering with love, then
besides the suffering he feels in the dream, when he wakes, he will suffer
punishment and pain from so much hardship.Now we see how there are
different approaches according to one’s individual character. One man is
content to endure great suffering and misfortune in the dream. He considers
it a good choice, and accepts it all with love and a willing heart. He girds his
soul so as to not fall off the good path. He willingly and bravely puts himself
in the peril of suffering in order to achieve the awesome good at the time of
awakening. Yet another man doesn’t want to take the risk and the
responsibility it entails, and would rather be satisfied with the lesser good
during the dream, with no promise of future reward. He chooses this over the
promise of awesome good.
Now we can understand with complete clarity the words of the sages, “All
creatures were created with their complete agreement, and with full
knowledge of their form and character.â€ This is the way it is with souls
before they descend into this world. Certain great and precious souls, when
all of the future suffering and pain that they will endure for the Glory of
Heaven is spelled out for them, accept it all out of their love for God. This is
as it is said in the Talmud (Shabbat, 88b), “Our Rabbis taught, those who
are insulted but do not insult, hear themselves reviled without responding,
act through love and rejoice in suffering, of them it is written (Shoftim, 5:31),
‘Those who love Him are as the sun when He goes forth in His
might.’â€ And it is said further in the Zohar (Vayakhel, 198a): It is
written (Tehillim, 146:5), “His hope ( sivro ) is in the Hashem his God.â€
It does not say tikvato (the normal word for hope.) And it does not say,
“his trustâ€ ( bitchuno ). But rather, “ sivro.â€ The tzaddik would
rather break himself ( shivro ) time after time, over Hashem his God. There
are yet other souls who will not accept suffering and pain. And are thus
created in a way that they will not suffer in the world, but rather, live lives of
comfort, free from strife.

All that has been said is really just a way to begin to understand, because in
reality you cannot compare the difference between ephemeral existence in
this world and the eternal life in the world-to-come to the difference between
dreaming and being awake. Yet according to the crude glimmer of
understanding that comes with this analogy, the man of perfect faith will not
be daunted by all the suffering and pain he experiences, and will certainly not
condemn God for his treatment. Yet still, in this garment, in his state of being
in the world, he will feel that it would have been easier if he were never to
have been created. Yet if he searches his heart and strengthens his faith, he
will know that all his feelings of regret at his very creation were quite clear to
him and accepted before he was created. He was told that he would regret
having descended into the world in this way, and it would be easier for him
never to have been created, and still he chose to go ahead and enter the
world despite the suffering. All the more so, the man of perfect faith knows
and trusts that God constantly takes care of His creations, and God’s plan
insures that no soul would every be pushed irrecoverably into exile. In this he
knows that it is truly better to have been created than not to have been
created, and that all he suffers is for his own good. He knows that God will
comfort him from all his agony. Even if it seems to him that there are things
so terrible that God could not console him over them, he reaches to a greater
depth in his faith, and knows that God can illuminate him with a mind so clear
as to see how he can be completely consoled and comforted for everything,
and all tribulations will turn into consolations. Such a man cannot condemn
God’s handling of his life, and will even laud the highest of praises over
his Creator, knowing that God created him in order to witness the power of
His greatness and wonders in everything he experiences in his life, at every
moment. This is as the saying of the sages, “Let the entire soul ( neshama
) praise God (Tehillim, 150:6) He shall praise God over each and every breath
( neshima ).â€

Chapter 24

Transforming Consciousness – Teshuvah and the Way of Torah In the

previous chapter, the author explained the ultimate benefit derived from
suffering. Here, the author explains that such a position is primarily important
to one who has already experience hardship in life. However, suffering can be
avoided through prayer and repentance. Similar to the author’s
discussion of miracles (chap. …, above), in which he explains how faith in
the higher order of reality can actually draw that level into the world, in the
form of a miracle, so too, deep faith in G-d, expressed through prayer and
repentance, not only change a person’s understanding that everything
that happens is for the best, but can actually influence reality, drawing G-
d’s beneficent will down into the world, so that the person only
experiences G-d’s loving-kindness. In Kabbalistic terms, repentance
uplifts a person with the Sefirah of Binah, which leads a person to the next
highest Sefirah of Hokhmah – the knowledge that everything is for the
best, and from there to Keter, which is G-d’s transcendent will that
everything should actually be for the best. He ends the chapter by explaining
how the simple performance of the Torah’s commandments can initiate
this entire process, even for one who does not necessarily believe deeply in
the Torah.
All that we have said until now pertains only that which has passed. Whereas
concerning the future, God has given us the good approach of repentance
and prayer. He has made it possible for every person to return to Him and
receive His mercy, and to be blessed with all kinds of goodness, even in this
world. Through the power of repentance and prayer, even harsh decrees that
are upon him will be transformed into good. This is because complete
repentance and prayer, born out of one’s earnest faith, enables a person
to cleave to the source of life, which is a place above all revealed attributes,
and is a place of total compassion. 462 In other words, prayer and
repentance lift a person up above the relative, empirical world, to the
transcendent world that the author discussed in most of the chapters
preceding this one. From this place, a person receives all salvation and
blessings. As our Rabbis have explained, and as the Baal Shem Tov said, if
man can find the heart to believe that the greatest good is clothed within the
suffering, then the evil itself will be transformed into good. It is also written in
the Zohar (Nasso, Idra Rabbah Kadisha, 143b): “There is no judgment that
does not contain mercy.â€ This is because at the source, God directs
everything for the good, and governs all with done loving-kindness. 463 G-
d’s will, while still in its supernal source, is completely good. It is only
upon descending into this world that it takes on the appearance of evil. One,
who through faith, can ascend to the very root of G-d’s will can draw
down revealed goodness – “good loving-kindnesses.â€ This is as it is
written (Tehillim, 52:3), “God’s loving-kindness is at every
moment,â€ 464 “Kol hayom,â€ literally, the whole day, meaning,
God’s love is forever. because every moment is conducted through
God’s love. If a person does not see this, it is only because his heart is far
from God’s light, as it is written (Yeshayahu, 17), “Listen to me, you
stone-hearted, far from righteousness.â€ If his heart is closed to God’s
light, then God’s kindnesses are unattainably above him. Therefore we
pray, “ Tigmleynu hasadim tovim – Bestow good loving-kindnesses
upon us.â€ 465 In the first blessing of the Amidah prayer. For even though
God conducts everything with loving-kindness, we don’t always realize
this. Therefore, in order to know clearly how all of God’s actions manifest
loving-kindness, we don’t just pray for “loving-kindness,â€ but for
“ good loving-kindness.â€ Meaning, we pray to clearly see how it is all
good. For when a person comes close to God with complete faith, he reaches
the source of love, where he cleaves to God to the point that Divine mercies
will never leave him, and will draw him near even in this world.

It is written in the Midrash Rabbah (Esther, 4:1), “‘Then the king said to
the wise men, who know the times’ (Esther, 1:13). Who are these wise
men? Rabbi Simon said, ‘These were the tribe of Yissachar, as it says
(Divrei HaYamim 1, 11:33), “And of the children of Yissachar, men that
understood the times.â€ This means that they know how to heal the
past.’â€ (This is the correct version of the Midrash, as opposed to the
reading, “Who know how to heal the kiros – a skin disease). 466 Kiros
– קירוס, a skin disease, is visually similar to the word קוד×
– the past. “Kiras,â€ also means a season or opportunity. Even
according to the version which reads, “ kiros,â€ the intention is the
same, because, “ kiros,â€ also means, “the season,â€ and would
thus mean, “they know how to heal the time.â€ The overall meaning is
that by means of complete teshuva, a person reaches the place of Binah –
Understanding. 467 The Sefirah of Binah – Understanding – is also
known as the source of teshuva. Two sources in the Tikkunei Zohar teach us
that Binah – Understanding – is the source of the faith of Israel. In the
Introduction, page 2, it says: The supernal Hokhmah – Wisdom is the father
of emunah (faith), which is Binah – Understanding. And later (Tikkun 21,
page 62a) it writes: Fortunate is the man who can guard this emunah (faith)
in his heart and in his mouth, for surely it is the emunah of Israel and the
unification of the Holy One, blessed be He! In this way, through teshuva, man
reaches a place beyond time – to Binah, where the present, past, and
future are equal, and so, he will automatically heal the past. The Zohar
(Vayakhel, 207b) tells us that one who fasts on Shabbat 468 Jewish law allows
one who is disturbed by a bad dream to fast on Shabbat as a remedy. Some
say that this remedy only works on the day he has the bad dream, so to fast
on Shabbat he would have to have had the dream on Friday. He would then
have to fast an additional day during the week in order to atone for the
transgression of causing himself suffering on Shabbat, which is a day of joy.
However, in our days, we are not accustomed to fasting on Shabbat, even
due to a bad dream. See Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayim, §288:4-6. is acquitted
from a sentence of seventy years of suffering. According to Kabbalah, the
entire order of governance goes through the seven Sefirot of the world’s
construction, from Hesed – Loving-kindness, to Malkhut – Sovereignty.
But when one fasts on Shabbat he reaches the light which is higher than the
order of the world’s construction. This is as it is written in the Zohar
(Terumah, 165b): Fortunate is the man who sheds tears before the Holy One,
blessed be He, in his prayer. Similar to this, for the one who fasts on Shabbat
out of his pain and sorrow, since Shabbat is governed by a lofty plane of
existence which is pure joy and brings joy to all. Then he comes under its
influence, and is released from any harsh decrees that are upon him. The
entire world is governed through the Sefirot. The Zohar (Bereshit, 22b) says,
“I bring death and life. (Devarim, 32:39) – through the Sefirot.â€ The
source of the light which governs on Shabbat is higher than the Sefirot.
This is as it is said in the Tikkunei Zohar (21, page 62a): Fortunate is the man
who can guard this emunah (faith) in his heart and in his mouth!

Even though it seems that a person follows his wisdom, understanding, and
knowledge, still, it is the will within the attributes that truly leads man, and
the heart that directs the brain. 469 By heart, he seems to mean the
innermost will of a person, and not just the emotions. A person’s will
directs his opinion. This is clearly seen in the way that a person inner
character traits influence his opinion and the way he thinks. This will also
determine how he teaches his children and all those he seeks to help.
Whereas, a person with evil qualities will instill these negative characteristics
in his children, since in his mind, this is the correct path to follow. The Zohar
puts it this way (Raya Mehamna, Parshat Tsav, 28b): It is written (Bereshit,
2:6), “And a mist went up from the earth,â€ and immediately afterward
it says, “and it watered the entire face of the earth.â€ In this way, fumes
wake up in Binah – Understanding – which is the heart, as we have
learned, “The heart understands.â€ Then the ascends to Hokhmah –
Wisdom, which is in the brain. Therefore, when one instills emunah in his
heart, the heart then awakens the mind and its thoughts to understand even
that which is above its perception. 470 The Sefirah of Keter transcends the
“intellectualâ€ Sefirot of Hokhmah, Binah, and Da’at. As such, it is
trans-rational, and is connected to the much deeper inclinations of Will and
Desire, which arise in a person’s mind spontaneously, from a deep,
subterranean level that the conscious mind cannot always identify. This itself
is the level of faith, since, in Hasidic terms, faith means the connection and
affirmation of a reality that is beyond the mind’s grasp and
rationalization. One should not say, “How can I establish faith in my heart,
believing in that which transcends my mind, since the human mind can only
understand that which the senses perceive, and that which is not based on
empirical perception, the mind cannot understand.â€
Yet, this is not so. For the intentions of a person’s heart can reach the
place where he understands and knows even that which is beyond the scope
of his senses. 471 This is the place of faith, discussed in numerous chapters
above. It is a type of awareness that transcends the logical, discursive
knowledge of this world. Consider the following dispute in the Talmud
(Megillah, 24b) between Rabbi Yehuda and the Sages, about whether a
congenitally blind person can recite the blessing before the Shema,
“Blessed is God, who fashioned the luminaries.â€ 472 Jewish Law
requires the recitation of theâ€Shema,â€ “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our
God, the Lord is One,â€ every morning and evening. The liturgy surrounds
the Shema with four blessings. In the morning, the first blessing is over the
One who fashioned light and created darkness, who illuminates the whole
earth with his Glory, etc.. Rabbi Yehuda said that the blind person should not
say the blessing (as he never saw light), whereas the sages responded that
many people envisioned the Divine Chariot well enough to expound upon it,
though they never actually saw it with the physical eye. Rabbi Yehuda
answered that knowledge of the Divine Chariot depends upon the heart’s
understanding, as a person can meditate upon it and come to know it. But
the blessing over light is said over the benefit derived from actually seeing
light. This teaches affirms that the meditations of the heart can bring a
person to perceive that which his senses cannot grasp. Gazing upon the
Divine Chariot is compared to the sight of the blind. Just as the blind person
does not have the sense of sight, so too, man does not have the sense of
understanding needed to glimpse the Divine Chariot. Nonetheless, the
Talmud says, “It depends on the heart’s understanding, as a person
can meditate upon it and come to know it,â€ even though it lies beyond his
ability to grasp. So too, with the blind; if the issue did not revolve around the
benefit he derived from light light, he would also be permitted to say the
blessing over it, because he too can grasp the sense of sight through the
meditations of the heart. Rav Saadia Gaon wrote in the introduction to
Emunot Ve’Deot, that through the mind, one can perceive that which lies
beyond his senses. Indeed, through the meditations of the heart one can
know that which is beyond the power of his senses. Therefore, each person
can instill the pure faith in God in his heart, and reach that which is above his
grasp.

The Torah and its laws are advice that enable a person to firmly set faith in
his heart. The Zohar (Yitro, 82b) calls the 613 commandments, “613
pieces of advice.â€ What exactly do the commandments advise? For the
love and fear of God, faith and trust in Him, and His oneness are already
present in the torah. Rather, they are called “adviceâ€ because through
the general fulfillment of the Torah and its commandments, a person can
permanently fix the faith in God in his heart, which will never falter. A person
should not ask, “How can I even start, for I do not even believe in the
Torah or its laws?â€ For this reason, God gave the Torah and the positive and
negative commandments to Israel, so that by simply fulfilling them, with all
the “garmentsâ€ of the laws, 473 Apparently, he means “all the
outward details and observances of the laws,â€ without their deeper
meanings. he will set faith in his heart, and will see with perfect clarity that
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe, whose providence extends to
the minutest details of creation. 474 Before accepting the Torah at Sinai, the
nation of Israel declared as one, “We will do, and we will hear.â€ The
Torah view is that one should fulfill the mitzvot even before “hearingâ€;
that is, understanding their rational. And the more a person accepts and
builds fences 475 The sages of the Talmud enacted many laws that serve to
distance a person from transgressing or failing to fulfill the Torah’s
commandments. These are called “fencesâ€ (“gedarimâ€ or
“siyagimâ€), for just as a fence protects a house or garden, so do
Rabbinic injunctions protect the Divinely ordained laws of the Torah. One
simple example is the prohibition of eating meat immediately after milk, or
even together, if they are uncooked. The Torah prohibits only meat and milk
that has been cooked together. However, the Rabbis instituted further
strictures, so that people should not come to stumble in the Torah’s law
itself. around the law, out of his growing love for the Torah and its mitzvot,
the more the light that is in it will refine his heart and illuminate his eyes to
the inner nature of the Torah, as the Zohar says (Vayeitse, 154b): From this
we learn how through the revealed Torah, one arrives at the hidden mysteries
of the Torah. The more one increases in his knowledge of the inner mysteries
of the Torah, the more his faith will be strengthened in every detail of his
Torah observance.

Chapter 25

Conclusion The author concludes his work with words of hope and a blessing.
Based on all that we have seen, “We now know how to run after the
knowledge of God, for His presence is prepared as the morning.â€ 476
Hoshea, 6:3. Here the Malbim notes that since the absolute knowledge of God
is impossible, for at the pinnacle of knowledge one knows that he really
doesn’t know (God being infinite), what remains is to find a way to
increase one’s knowledge, for then, the more a person knows, the more
he will be inspired to pursue further knowledge of God. And for this
declaration, God answers us, saying, “for Israel, I shall be as the dew. She
shall bloom as the rose, and cast her roots as the great trees of Lebanon.â€
477 Hoshea, 14:6. All of this is “the beginning of wisdom, which is the fear
of God,â€ 478 Tehillim, 111:10. leading all who fulfill the Torah to good
understanding and to sing God’s praises, which stand forever.
Blessed is God who has helped me to complete my father’s work, the
“Beit Yaakov on Sefer Bereshit,â€ with my introduction, “The Gate to
the House of Jacob,â€ today, the first day of the week, the third day of the
month of Adar, the very day that the Second Temple was completed. This is
the day that the words of the Torah were made clear to Israel, in direct letters
(“ ktav yosher â€), which is the ashuritic script (“ ktav ashurit â€)
and the holy Hebrew tongue. 479 The Ashuritic script is the form of the
Hebrew letters still used today in Torah scrolls. The author is hinting that just
as the Torah was revealed with utmost clarity in the days of Ezra with the
building of the Second Temple, one the exact same day, he completed his
introduction to his father’s work, Beit Yaakov, which is the final revelation
in the long chain of Kabbalah that started with Moshe at Sinai.
[It is written in the Talmud (Sanhedrin, 22b), “Mar Zutra, and some say
Mar Ukva, said, the Torah was originally given to Israel in the Hebrew script
and the holy Hebrew tongue, and it was again given to them in the days of
Ezra in the Ashuritic script and in the Aramaic language. The Israelites finally
chose to write the Torah in the holy Hebrew tongue and in the Ashuritic
script.â€ It is clear from the verse in Ezra, chapter 6, that this choice was
made on the third day of the month of Adar, for the book of Ezra is written in
Aramaic up until chapter 6, verse 7, where it mentions that the Second
Temple was completed on that very day, and then immediately from then on
it continues only in Hebrew, except for fifteen verses in chapter 7. 480 These
verses are the Aramaic text of the letter that king Aratakhshasta (Artaxerxes)
gave to Ezra the Scribe (Ch. 7:11-26). ]
And now, for the sake of our brothers and friends, who tremble at the word of
God, seeking the Torah and loving its wisdom, I will now say, “Peace unto
the lovers of God’s Torah!â€ Come, House of Yaakov, and you will walk in
the light of God, 481 Yeshayahu, 2:5. may God be with us as He was with our
forefathers, He shall not forsake us and He shall not forget us. 482 Melachim
1, 8:57 He shall forever lead us by peaceful waters, our rest shall be in our
very progression from strength to strength, to ascend the ladder fixed in the
ground which rises to Heaven! As for our revilers, who ask why we bother to
invest so much contemplation into the Torah until our strength is exhausted?
Who claim that the simple explanations of the written and oral Torah is
enough. To them, I will offer noble words 483 See Mishlei, 8:6. which draw the
heart of man. Come and consider, see and behold! Taste and see that God is
good 484 Tehillim, 34:9 to those who yearn for their souls to be restored by
His perfect Torah. 485 See Tehillim, 19:8. Those who contemplate it in the
depths of their hearts will see and understand that those who taste its depths
will merit life. These are the things that man will do and through them he
shall live for eternity. Do you not see now that the house of Yaakov is faithful
and the house of Yosef is your provider? 486 Bereshit, 42:6. From the time the
house was established, he has been faithful to sustain Israel with every word
that comes out of the mouth of God upon which man lives. 487 “…he
would make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but rather by
all that comes forth from the mouth of G-dâ€ (Devarim, 8:3). Interpreted in
hasidic terms, this means that it is not physical sustenance that gives life, but
the Divine essence within the food that enlivens. So, too, the author rails
against those who neglect or deny the deeper meaning of the Torah, which is
like being concerned only with the body and not the soul. On a more personal
level, he seems to be attacking those who deny the validity of the unique
(and controversial) interpretative approach of his grandfather, R. Mordechai
Yosef of Izhbitz, and of his father, R. Yaakov. Those who reject it have “no
portion in Yaakov and no inheritance in the house of Yosef.â€ This shall cast
away those who say that they have no portion in Yaakov and no inheritance in
the house of Yosef. Their ways are crooked 488 Mishlei, 2:15 and they pervert
the explanations of the Torah, hanging their misunderstandings like a lyre,
preaching all of their logic which has no basis in God’s Torah, not in the
words of the Tanaaim and Amoraim of the oral law, and all that they imagine
they hang on a great tree 489 That is, claim that they can based their false
interpretation on valid, earlier sources. Here, too, the author may be
critiquing those who claim that Maimonides was a rationalist, who did not
deal with the secrets of the Torah. The author proved that claim wrong in the
first half of this work. asserting, “This is the meaning of the Torah.â€ For
these, the House of Yaakov will be a fire and the House of Yosef like a flame!
490 Ovadia, 1:18. They will see and learn. They will see how to reveal the
Torah of God from the plain meaning of the words, for are not His words like
fire, 491 Yirmiyahu, 23:29. and all who desire its light with truth and faith can
come and warm themselves? And likewise, as a flame it will burn all those
who learn Torah in order to vex the scholars of the mysteries, and who wear it
as a crown and wield it as an axe. 492 See the Talmud, Pirke Avot, 4:5 And
now, House of Yaakov, walk in the light of God and come home. See and
understand that all the words of the Torah written in this book are needed for
every man of Israel, in every place and every time. And how all of the events
recorded in the Torah can illuminate every soul and instruct him how to
sustain his life and all that he goes through with justice. 493 Tehillim 112:5.
For the words of the Torah are living and enduring for all eternity. All who
contemplate the Torah grasp onto the tree of life, and it is life for those who
hold onto it. 494 Mishlei, 3:18. May God illuminate our eyes to His Torah, and
place His love and fear in our hearts, in order to do His will, and to serve Him
with a whole heart. 495 From the liturgy of the morning prayer, in the
blessing before the reading of the Shema Yisrael.
Just has God has given me the merit to finish this volume on Sefer Bereshit
and bring it to light, I pray that he give me the merit to begin and complete
all the teachings that I have received from my holy fathers and masters, and
may I be able to help all who enter into this precious study to know the living
God and in this way succeed in all of their endeavors. May we be given the
right to magnify the Torah and show its honor, 496 Yeshayahu, 42:21. and
may we merit seeing our children and our children’s children engaged in
the Torah and it’s mitzvot, peace upon all of Israel! May God be with us as
he was with our forefathers, never leaving us and never forgetting us, Amen!
497 Melachim 1, 8:57.
Today, the first day of the week, the third day of the month of Adar, in the
year 5650 (1890), in the city of Warsaw.

An exposition of the idea of Divine Providence

(From the Tiferet Ha-Hanokhi of Rabbi Gershon Henoch of Radzin, Parshat

Vayeira.)
The views of God’s providence on creation are well known.
1.) As the Rambam teaches us in the Guide (third section, chapter 17), the
most incorrect view in this matter is that of the heretics who claim that God
exercises no providence whatsoever over existence, but rather, the world
runs purely by chance, and all that happens is merely accidental. This view is
rooted in the Primordial Serpent (in the Garden), which brings darkness and
obscurity to the world. In the Beit Yaakov on Parshat Bereshit (64-65), the
holy Rav explains that throughout the verses of creation in the beginning of
the Torah, the name YHVH (the Tetragrammaton) is not mentioned until the
creation of man. Prior to this, only the name Elo-him is used. However, the
beginning of the Serpent’s incitement lay in concealing the name YHVH,
for when he began to speak to Eve, he said, “Did Elo-him say that you
shall not eat from every tree in the garden?â€ This is because the name Elo-
him alludes the governance of nature, as we are taught in the writings of the
Arizal, that the name Elo-him is the numerical equivalent of word, “nature
( hateva ).â€ It is written in the Zohar (Parshat Mishpatim, 108b), “For
now, the name Elo-him is not connected to the sacrifice, for if it was, how
many elohim aherim (false gods) would sprout ears and join there!â€
Meaning to say, the Serpent concealed the name YHVH, because it alludes to
God’s presence that shines through every garment. 498 That is, every
seemingly "external" aspect of creation that “coversâ€ the Divine
Presence. This light was concealed through the Serpent’s incitement, and
from then on, it looked as if the world was run by chance. It is written in the
Zohar (Pekudei, 244b), “The sixth level is called, ‘the foreskin.’ 499
The Zohar here lists six levels, or spiritual forces, that conceal Divinity. The
number six always corresponds to the Sefirah of Yesod, which anatomically
corresponds to the male member. This and all levels below it are all called,
‘foreskin,’ because they draw their power from this aspect. This is
within the secret of the bar-like serpent, ( nahash bariah, 500 See Yeshayahu
27:1, and Iyov, 26:13. referring to the masculine force of evil), which nurses
the crooked serpent ( nahash alkalaton – its female).’â€
This is akin to the foreskin which covers the brit milah, which conceals the
light. 501 In other words, just as the foreskin covers the glans, so God’s
revelation is concealed by this particular force of evil. The root of the Serpent
includes the three klipot (husks, forces of evil) seen in the prophet
Yehezkel’s vision of the Chariot, the storm wind ( ruah sa’arah ), the
great cloud ( anan ), and the burning fire ( eish mitlakahat ). The final letters
of these three kelipot ( anaN, ruaH, eiSH ) spell the word snake ( nahash ).
This is because every kelipah that contains a great power of concealment
touches the source of the Serpent.
2.) The second view is that of the Moslem sect of the Asha’riah, who claim
that everything is God’s will, and that nothing created has any volition
whatsoever, that everything that happens is only a result of God’s decree.
They assert that wisdom is totally hidden from man. Within this view there
are different opinions. Some of them will say that even a lack of action is also
created by individual providence at every moment. At the root of their view is
that nothing in the world has anything to do with the action it produces, the
writer is not writing, the pen is not a writing instrument, nothing physical ever
acts. The final force in everything is God. They claim that there is no action
that produces a result. Every minute detail is constantly coming from God,
and everyone’s abilities and actions are constantly being created.
Just as every motion is created at every instant, so is the absence of action
created. Thus death is not the absence of life and darkness is not the
absence of light (since absence is itself a creation.) For a living being, life is
newly created at every moment, and for the dead, God also creates the state
of death at every instance. The present is not the present, but it is constantly
being renewed. All is a result of God’s initial decree. For instance, the
blackness of the color black is constantly being recreated every millisecond,
as is the whiteness of white, or any color. The view adopted by the
Asha’ariah is that the entire creation is a result of God’s initial will
without any reason. See more on this in the Guide (Section Three, Chapter
17, and Section One, Chapter 73).
The Zohar, Bereshit 22b, calls this position the governance of the “ Eelat
al kol ha’eelot,â€ or the “Cause of all causes.â€ See also the
Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 67 (Page 98b) which says, “In the place of Atzilut
(the World of Emanation) there is no sin and no death.â€ 502 In other words,
the position that everything is under G-d’s constant control does have its
roots in Judaism. Indeed, Izhbitz hasidism is famous for asserting this rule.
The author, however, attributes this reality to the highest spiritual world –
the World of Atzilut – and not necessarily to our human perception in this
mundane world. The idea that there are two perspectives on reality: a human
one, in which free will exists, and a supernal one in which only Divine
providence exists, is found throughout Izhbitzer writings. (See, for instance,
Tzidkat HaTzaddik §40.) This dichotomy of perception is one of the central
themes of the Introduction to the Beit Yaakov, found above..
3.) According to the other branch of Asha’ariah philosophy, created
beings have a limited ability to act and have power in their actions. God is all-
knowing, and man can effect actions. It seems that according to their view,
every action is really coming from God, it is just that man can use the power
of resistance to constrain the action. This idea is found in the Talmud
(Sanhedrin, 94b) when it discusses Sancherib, king of Assyria. 503 The
Talmud (Sanhedrin, 94b) writes, “ ‘After these things, and the truth
thereof, Sancherib, king of Assyria, came and entered into the land of Yehuda,
and encamped against the walled cities, and thought to win them for
himself’ (Divrei HaYamim 2, 32:1). Is such a reward fit for such a gift? (For
in the previous verse says that Hizkiya, king of Yehuda, did that which was
good and true before God, serving God and the Torah with all his heart, and
prospered.) Why does the verse say, ‘After these things and the truth
thereof’? Ravina said: After God had hurried and made an oath (to bring
Sancherib; the word, “true,â€ in the verse refers to God’s oath.) God
reasoned it as follows. If I say to Hizkiya, ‘I will bring Sancherib and deliver
him into your hands’, he will reply, ‘I want neither the ultimate victory
over him nor the preceding terror!’ Therefore the Holy One, blessed be
He, circumvented his objection by swearing that He would bring him.â€ The
implication here is that although God willed for Sancherib to come, Hizkiya
could have refused and prevented it. Thus, G-d had to make an unbreakable
oath first, to avoid this situation. This view of providence is the root of the
kelipah of Assyria. This is why those who adhere to this philosophy are called
Asha’ariah, as it comes from the kelipah of Assyria. According to the
Talmud, Sancherib thought that his victory was absolutely ordained by God.
Yet indeed man has the ability to limit or prevent the action. It follows, then,
that man can increase the length of his life and coerce the power of action as
he wishes. This philosophy contains aspects of the Asha’ariah, and
aspects of the Mu’tazilites. This philosophy contends that man has no
power to serve God, and that there is no place for the service of God.
Similarly, according to this view, there is no punishment for going against
God’s will.
This view is similar to that of the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah, 19), where the
Serpent incites man to sin by claiming that all later created beings rule over
all earlier created ones. Since man was created last, he rules over all.
According to this, absence, which is the opposite of existence, is in man’s
control. Therefore, when man eats (the fruit), he will impose a limit so that
nothing else will be created.
4.) It is the view of the Mu’tazilites that man has a limited power to act as
he chooses, yet everything that happens are not the result of man’s
actions. It is only God who knows what will happen, and all acts of God are a
result of His wisdom. This depth of God’s wisdom, however, is hidden
from man, and we have no way of knowing it. Still, everything is for the good.
This view contains many contradictions which are pointed out in the Guide
(Section Three, Chapter 17, and Section One, Chapter 73).
Some of the Mu’tazilites say that there is no absence unto itself in any
situation. They would say that darkness is not the absence of light, but is
itself a special creation. So too, the lack of immobility is itself created and is
not the absence of motion. However, they contend that there are forms of
absence that do not exist, 504 That is, they are not created entities, but
result from the lack of something else. like weariness, which is the absence of
strength, or stupidity, which is the absence of wisdom. Also according to this
philosophy, everything is drawn from God’s hidden wisdom.
5.) Aristotle’s view is that certain things in the world are controlled by
Divine providence, arranged and led by a guiding force, whereas other things
are left up to chance. Divine providence extends to and ends with the sphere
of the moon. 505 This follows the ancient cosmological idea that the heavens
are arranged in concentric circles, with the earth at the center. To Aristotle, G-
d’s providence ruled over and directed all of these spheres, down to that
of the moon, which is just above that of the earth. This is part of his theory of
the eternity of the universe, and that the world has necessary existence, just
as a man must have a shadow. It is the nature of God’s relationship with
his creation that His providence extends to the roots of things but not to their
particulars.
In the third section of the Guide, chapter 23, the Rambam ascribes these
views to Iyov and his friends. Iyov held Aristotle’s view, Eliphaz that of our
Holy Torah, Bildad was like the Mu’tazilites and Tsofar like the
Asha’riah.
The Rambam says that Elihu’s words were similar to the other speakers,
except his claim that an angel can occasionally intercede to pray for man and
thus help him, as it is written, “If there be an angel with him, an
interpreter, among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness.â€ (Iyov,
33:29) A reading of the book of Iyov will show all of the above-mentioned
views.
Indeed we find it written in the Zohar (176b), “We learn from this that one
who is going to console a mourner needs to prepare his words in order that
they will bring consolation. Iyov’s friends spoke words of truth, but said
nothing to console him.â€ The Zohar says that they all spoke the truth, so
we cannot say that these views on Divine providence are all philosophies
totally foreign to the Torah. Indeed the Zohar proves also that Eliphaz’s
view was not completely in harmony with the Torah, either. Elihu, however,
did offer a solution to the problem of theodicy called “ Tzaddik vetov lo,
tzaddik verah lo – a righteous person who prospers, and a righteous person
who suffers.â€ 506 The Talmud (Berachot, 7a) offers several solutions to the
problem of theodicy; that is, the seemingly unjust suffering of the righteous.
It states that “When a righteous person prospers, it means that he himself
is righteous and is the son of a righteous father. A righteous person who
suffers is himself righteous, though his father was wicked.â€ The Talmud
questions the validity of this answer, since another verse states, “…sons
shall not be put to death because of fathers; each man shall be put to death
for his own transgressionâ€ (Devarim 24:16). In other words, a righteous
person should not suffer on account of his father’s actions. The Talmud
clarifies its view by stating, “When the righteous prospers, it means that
he is perfectly righteous, but when the righteous suffers, it means that he is
not perfectly righteous.â€ This is as the Zohar says (Pinchas, 116b),
“Iyov was the son of a levirate marrage.â€ 507 See Devarim, 25:5. If a
man dies without fathering children, his brother is required to marry his
widow to keep his name alive. Stating that Iyov was the son of levirate
marriage implies that though he was righteous, his father probably was not,
inasmuch as the whole process of leveritic marriage is understood as a kind
of Divine punishment. According to R. Gershon Hanokh, Elihu apparently
understood the Talmud’s first position (see previous note), inasmuch as
Iyov was “a righteous person whose father was wicked.â€ Elihu’s
words enlightened Iyov to the depth of God’s governance of the world, as
tte Zohar 508 Perhaps referring to the Zohar on Parshat Mishpatim which
discusses yibum. teaches, that the root and depth of God’s governance is
hidden from man, yet from there, everything can be redeemed. 509 The
author writes in his book, the Sod Yesharim, Parshat Mishpatim, that the
whole state of being born out of yibum is a rectification for someone who only
thought to serve God but never actually brought this thought into action. All
of the negative energy within him join together in this good thought and
comes to fruition after he dies in his son born through the yavam and the
yavama (his widow and brother). This soul brings all the light of salvation and
revelation of Godliness into the world that he could not. In this way the
darkness holds the greatest light. From a straightforward understanding of
the statements of Iyov’s friends, we do not see that they deny the idea of
Divine reward and punishment. They only say that the depth of God’s
wisdom is hidden. Their belief in Divine providence is that it exists in the root
of the creation and the essence of existence, but still in these foreign views
there is no necessity for reward and punishment. The centrality of reward and
punishment is only in the Torah’s view.
The Zohar explains that with all of their words, none of Iyov’s friends
managed to console him, and therefore, he did not accept what they said. It
was only Elihu who managed to say something correctly, and therefore, his
words were accepted. Iyov immediately attained a level of prophecy in which
God answered him.
The erroneous beliefs are rooted in the powers that God dispensed to the
nations. Each one holds grasps onto the external manifestation 510 Literally,
“the garmentâ€ of these forces. of these forces, when he sees that it
contains a certain power unto itself. This is idolatry, as explained above. (See
more on this in the Zohar, Parshat Mishpatim, page 108b.)
Israel’s portion and belief is summed up in the verse (Yermiyahu, 10:16),
“The portion of Yaakov is not like them, for He forms all things, and Israel
is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of Hosts is His name.â€ Israel
believes in God, even though He appears to run the world in numerous
contradictory ways. For example, sometimes God shows His supernal
governance, where He awakens the initial benevolence of the creation of the
world, which occurred without any initiatory gesture on the part of the
creation, as it is written (Tehillim, 25:6), “Remember Your mercies and
loving kindness, O God, for they have been as of old (from the very creation
of the world).â€ 511 Meaning to say, the world currently functions in terms
of cause and effect. Human beings act – for good or for bad – and G-d
responds in kind, bestowing blessing or curses. However, the creation of the
world occurred before there were any beings below to awaken the flow of
blessing from above. Thus, it was an act of pure, Divine kindness. There are
times, even now, when G-d relates to creation in this way, bestowing blessing
and goodness gratuitously, and not in accordance with the deeds of His
creatures. Indeed, in the beginning there was nothing yet created that could
wake up and inspire God’s response, so He created the world out of His
pure will.
At other times God conducts the world through revealed governance, and
there is a correspondence between the suffering endured and the reward.
Sometimes it seems as if man has the power of choice, and at other times it
is seen that the power of choice is taken away from him. This is as it is said in
the Talmud (Pirkei Avot, 3:15), “Everything is foreseen, yet permission is
given (for man to make his own choices).â€
God’s justice decides when one form of governance or another takes
effect in the world. Yet all derives from a single source, and no mode of
governance contradicts another. God sees from the very beginning to the
very end. He rules in totality and in every detail.