The Foundation of the Torah
CONTEXT: Why does the Torah begin with an account of creation? This question has been asked since rabbinic times. After all, the existence of the universe is a given which everyone must acknowledge, so why should the Torah take up time and space with describing its origins!
'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.'
Genesis 1:1
You should definitely realize, O inquirer, that the belief in the creation (chiddush) of the universe and its emergence from absolute nothingness (he'der muchlat) into existence at the will of the Blessed God is the keystone and cornerstone, the glory and foundation of the entire Torah of Moses, GOD's servant. And one who denies this belief denies the entire Torah of our blessed and exalted God. But realize [also] that there is no decisive intellectual proof for this opinion, that is, the creation of the universe ex nihilo, as our sages of blessed memory have taught: 'by our [sense of] smell [do we know] that the universe had a beginning' [source?]
Menachem Ziyyoni (late 14th-early 15th century), Sefer Ziyyoni (Lvov, 1882; reprinted Jerusalem, 1964), preface.
COMMENT: People come to religion for many reasons, perhaps for as many reasons as there are religious people. For some, who are born into religious families, making a religious commitment is simply a normal part of who one is. For others, whose background is non-religious, various factors may at work, most of them very personal indeed. But one approach that appeals to many is to ask: why does anything exist at all? The universe as we have come to know it through modern physics is such a contingent place; its laws might have been very different, and if they had been even slightly different, we would probably not be here to study them. In that case, how could the universe have come about with just these laws? To most religious minds, the answer must be God.
If this is foundation of religion in general, for Menachem Ziyyoni, it is the foundation of the Torah, i.e. of Judaism, in particular. Without the acceptance of the unverifiable belief that the universe was created by God, the entire structure of the Torah, its stories and its laws, would fall. That is why the Torah begins with an account of creation.
* * *
Hidden Light
CONTEXT: According to the Creation narrative that opens this first book of the Torah, the universe is voice activated! God simply speaks, and various things come into existence. And the first of these, on Day One, is light. But, there is a problem in the Torah text, because the heavenly bodies, the natural sources of light in our universe, have not yet been created. They only come into existence on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19).
'And God said: "Let there be light"--and there was light.'
Genesis 1:3
In a midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 2:3 & 3:7) [it says]: '"Light"--this [refers to] the deeds of the righteous...' Explanation: For wise people may eat many good things and [enjoy] other pleasures, and yet be able to afflict themselves with them. Similarly, one may see wherever one wishes, but not look outside the 'four cubits' [of Jewish law], by always seeing the four-letter [divine] name in everything, as mystically [indicated by the verse]: 'I set GOD (YHVH) before me always...' (Psalm 16:8). And, as our rabbis of blessed memory have said: 'Do not look at the vessel but at what is inside it' (Mishnah, Pirke 'Avot 4:20), for the essential element of everything in the world is the spirituality within it, which comes from God--may God be blessed--who gives it meaning and sustains it.
Similarly in speech, one may even speak vain words at times but still be attached (davuk) to God--may God be blessed. So too with prayer, one may perform the service of prayer to God--may God be blessed--without that service being obvious to any human being at all, by not making any movement with the limbs, but simply with the internal aspect of one's spirit (neshamah) burning within the heart. One may cry out in a whisper, by virtue of [one's] enthusiasm (hitlahavut), for one's internal service is much greater than the service that can be seen in the limbs.
'Imre Tzaddikim, quoted in Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezritch (d. 1772), Torat HaMaggid (edited by Israel Klepholtz) (Tel Aviv: Pe'er HaSefer, 1969), v.1, pp.36-37.
COMMENT: This passage starts with a midrashic interpretation that allows the Maggid of Mezritch to discuss what righteous people, in his view, can do. The midrash itself is an answer to the problem in the Genesis text that we pointed out above. If there are still no sun, moon or stars on Day One, what is this light? Clearly, in the view of this midrash, it is not physical light, photons, but the moral/spiritual light ('enlightenment') shed in the world by the righteous yet to come. How they shed this light is the subject of the Maggid's comments.
In Hasidic parlance, tzaddik is a term that is applied to the leader who is not only righteous, but in fact goes beyond that by being totally devoted to God. The Maggid then proceeds to give a series of examples of situations in which one thing appears to be going on at the surface (eating, going about one's normal business, engaging in ordinary conversation, etc.), but something else is happening at the spiritual level (self-affliction, as if one were fasting; concentrating on the name of God; being attached to God). And these things are possible because all things contain within them some spiritual element.
The same concept of deeper levels of meaning to ordinary acts applies to prayer: one does not need to be extravagant in one's behaviour in a service to pray. One need only be sincere and internally committed. It is through our sincerest devotion that we become righteous and shed moral and spiritual light in the world.
* * *
All Together
CONTEXT: The first human beings were vegetarians. They were allowed to eat the fruit of any of the trees in the Garden of Eden, except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This text considers the esoteric meaning of that prohibition.
'From all the trees in the garden you may surely eat'
Genesis 2:16
--that is to say, all of them together, for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David are the 'legs' of the Chariot. Anyone may eat of all the fruit of the Garden of Eden and their teeth will not be blunted if they eat them all together. However, this tree is the tree in which death dwells. Whoever takes it['s] fruit on its own dies, for he has taken poison. Hence, 'on the day that you eat of it, you will surely die...' (Genesis 2:17), that is to say that the warning was only that he should not eat of it on its own, lest he 'pull up the shoots.'
A 'midrash' in Reuben Hoeschke (ed.), Yalqut Re'uveni (Warsaw, 1883), pt.1, p.65.
COMMENT: Although labeled a 'midrash', this piece has a decidedly kabbalistic flavour. The trees of the garden of Eden and the three patriarchs, plus David, are all symbols of sefirot, the divine aspects or energies, specifically, the sefirot of Hesed (Lovingkindness = Abraham), Gevurah (Might = Isaac), Tif'eret (Beauty = Jacob) and Malchut (Sovereignty = David). The phrase 'pull up the shoots' is a famous one from the Talmud (Hagigah 14b) where it is used as a metaphor or euphemism for 'become a heretic'. The text is telling us that concentration on any one quality, whether in God or in ourselves, is dangerous psychologically, spiritually and theologically. What is needed is balance.
But at a deeper level, the prohibited tree is, of course, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, as opposed to the Tree of Life. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a symbol of opposites, of division and separation, whereas the Tree of Life symbolises unity and harmony. Thus the Tree of Knowledge is the tree of death.
However, the 'midrash' suggests that the knowledge of good and evil can be repaired and made part of a unitary world-view, if it can be integrated with it. In other words, our ability to analyse and dissect the world can be destructive, if allowed to exist in a vacuum, but it can also be constructive, if it is seen as a tool that can help us recognise the oneness and essential unity of all that is.
* * *
Death Enters Human Life
CONTEXT: In studying the Garden of Eden story, it is important to bear in mind that the 'name' Adam actually means 'man' or 'person' and often appears in the Hebrew text as ha'adam, 'the person'. I believe this was intended to invite us to identify ourselves with Adam and his trial. Adam is Everyman. But there is something strange about God's warning in this verse. It appears to be an empty threat, for when Adam and Eve do eat the fruit, they do not die on that day, but continue to live long, productive lives..
'But from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for on the day that you eat of it, you will surely die'.
Genesis 2:17
Know and consider that God--may God be blessed--did not warn the first Adam/person not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life [together], and did not refuse him [permission to do so]. Would that he had eaten from both! But [God] refused permission to eat of the Tree of Knowledge because many external 'shells' (kelipot) were attached to it, and so [Adam] caused uprooting and separation. However, the Tree of Life was not withheld from the first Adam/person, so he 'uprooted the shoots' and caused separation of 'alef, One. He was not given [permission] to approach the Tree of Life, because it was internal, and the Tree of Life can only be approached through the Tree of Knowledge, for the Tree of Knowledge is the gateway through which [people] may enter the Tree of Life. This is the secret of what is said: 'Behold, the person is like one of us, knowing good and evil. So, now, lest he put out his hand and take of the Tree of Life and eat and live forever...' (Genesis 3:22). Therefore, 'GOD sent him out of the Garden of Eden...' (Genesis 3:23). Through Adam's transgression death was decreed upon him and upon David, as is well known from the verse 'you will surely die' (Genesis 2:17). Its meaning is that David was the re-incarnation of Adam ('aDaM), along the lines of 'Adam-David-Messiah. And David sinned with regard to sex, the shedding of blood and idolatry, as the first Adam/person sinned.
'You shall surely die' (Genesis 2:17). Within the human being are the ruach, nefesh, and neshamah, and the neshamah is the highest of them all. If a person sins, the neshamah is transformed and departs, leaving only the person's nefesh and ruach still alive. Hence Rabbi Levi ben Gershon wrote: '"My God, the soul (neshamah) You have given me is pure"--but is it not so that every person is not worthy of a pure neshamah?' And he answered: 'At the time the neshamah is put into a person it is pure, but when a person sins the neshamah departs from him, while the ruach and nefesh remain. And he also has a life-force within these two; therefore, it says: 'you shall surely die' (mot tamut). At first, when Adam sinned, the neshamah began to leave him, and afterwards, tamut, 'you shall die', there is a second [type of] death.
Menachem 'Azariah da Fano (1548-1620), 'Asarah Ma'amarot in Reuben Hoeschke (ed.), Yalqut Re'uveni (Warsaw, 1883), pt.1, p.66.
COMMENT: Da Fano puts forward the idea that God only prohibited Adam from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and not from it and the Tree of Life as well. The Tree of Knowledge was prohibited, according to him, because there are evil forces connected with it, and Adam had to be protected. But in fact, [the Tree of] Knowledge is a stage on the way to [the Tree of] Life, that is, to spiritual fulfilment. Had Adam eaten of both, he would have been spiritually exalted. By consuming Knowledge alone, he cut himself off from Life; his approach to Life became purely selfish, and da Fano introduces the medieval kabbalistic doctrine of re-incarnation to bolster his case. Knowledge must be used with the correct attitude if it is not to be destructive. Knowledge must be for Life.
Next, da Fano tackles the question of why Adam did not die after eating the fruit, as God had threatened. One answer is that it was only at this point that death entered into human life (see Nachmanides on this verse), but da Fano's answer is different. He suggests that when we sin it means that something spiritual within us dies, bringing physical death that little bit closer.
* * *
Judgment & Hope
CONTEXT: It has been suggested that Cain and Abel are archetypes of the pastoral shepherd and the sedentary farmer, and that their story represents a dramatisation of the conflict between nomads and settled peoples that are still a feature of life in the Middle East (though nomads are being forced to settle down throughout the region). But, there is also a problem of justice here. If Abel is the morally superior brother, the one whose sacrifice is pleasing to God, why is he allowed to be the world's first murder victim? When will justice be done?
['Abel was a keeper of sheep']
Genesis 4:2
You should know for certain that the inclination towards good and the inclination towards evil are spread throughout the world, and that Cain and Abel correspond to them. But do not ask me about the order of their birth, for by rights Abel should have been born first, for according to the pattern [we would expect], mercy (Rachamim) [=Hesed] comes first, above [judgment, Din, =Gevurah, in the process of the emanation of the ten Sefirot]. One must reply that this era (shmittah) is one of fear (Pachad), [=Gevurah], therefore the first-born was given over to it.
But you should note and understand that Abel was [also] from Netzach [which is just below and derived from Hesed], and it [was through Netzach] that Torah was given to Israel. Hence, it says: 'And Moses was a keeper of sheep' (Exodus 3:1), that is, had already been one. [Moses is often seen as the reincarnation of Abel.]
Anon., Sefer HaQanah (Koretz, 1784), p.99b. (Probably written between 1350 & 1390).
COMMENT: The author of Sefer HaQanah enlists the aid of kabbalistic symbolism (Cain & Abel = Rachamim & Din), plus the popular medieval doctrines of shemittot (epochs; the word originally meant 'sabbatical years') and re-incarnation. His point is that although life seems to be governed primarily by judgment and might, Moses and the Torah he brought us represent God's lovingkindness in our lives. There is always hope.
* * *
Raising Sin
CONTEXT: After Cain has killed his brother Abel, God reproaches him with the enormity of what he has done, and Cain realises how great is his sin.
'Then Cain said to GOD: My sin is too great to bear (miNSo').'
Genesis 4:13
There is a great principle that within everything in the universe there are holy 'sparks' and that nothing is empty of sparks, even wood and stones. Even within everything that a person does, even within the sins that a person commits, there are sparks of the 'breaking [of the vessels].' And what are the sparks of the breaking [of the vessels]? Repentance. When one repents for a transgression, one raises the sparks that were in it to the upper world. Hence the text says: 'Forgiving iniquity (NoSay' 'avon)' (Exodus 34:7), meaning 'lifting' (NoSay' ) and raising the transgression upwards. Hence, 'My sin is too great to bear (miNSo')', that is, [too great] for me to elevate and raise to the upper world.
Israel ben Eliezer, the Ba'al Shem Tov (1700-1760), Zva'at HaRibash (Brooklyn: Kehot Publishing Society, 1975), §141, p.54. (=Sefer Ba'al Shem Tov, p.103.)
COMMENT: Since Biblical times, the Hebrew root NS', usually meaning 'to lift' or 'to raise', has also meant 'bear or forgive sin' (perhaps, 'lift the burden of sin'). The Ba'al Shem Tov here plays on these two meanings, utilizing the Lurianic doctrine of the divine sparks. In the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, a crisis occurred in the process of the emanation of the divine light (energy) prior to Creation; some of the vessels that had been prepared to receive it broke and some of the divine light descended into this world where they were encased in the shards of the broken vessels. Originally, there were a limited number of these divine sparks in the world, which it was the duty of the pious individual to liberate, but in Hasidism, which emphasised divine immanence over transcendence, such sparks are to be found in all things that exist, including, as here, sinful acts. This view can obviously have disastrous moral consequences if carried to extremes, as in the Sabbatian heresy, but here the Besht avoids this by stating that the sparks in sin are the inherent possibility of repentance that each sin contains. One should repent for the sin, thus liberating the divine spark held within. Cain's error consisted in his inability to recognise that this is possible.
* * *
The Enoch Enigma
CONTEXT: Chapter 5 of Genesis is filled primarily with a rather dry genealogical list, in which the very broad outlines of the lives of various individuals from Adam to Noah are described, usually concluding in each case with an explicit mention of their deaths. But Enoch stands out as an exception. Of him it is said, somewhat laconically: 'And Enoch walked with God and then he was not, because God had taken him' (Genesis 5:24). One is left with the feeling that much more might have been said about Enoch that we are not being told here.
'And Enoch walked with God.'
Genesis 5:22 & 24
Our rabbis--may their memories be a blessing--say that Enoch was a shoemaker, and that with each and every stitch he would unify the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah. See there [in Yalqut Re'uveni]. I heard in the name of my teacher [the Ba'al Shem Tov] the explanation of the verse: 'Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your strength, for there is no work or thought or knowledge in She'ol [to which you are going]' (Ecclesiastes 9:10). For the subject of Metatron, that he united the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah with every stitch..., [is explained by the fact that] thought is called infinite, [symbolized by the four-letter name] YHVH while action is [symbolized by the divine name] 'Adonai. When one joins together action and thought, as one does an action, it is called the union of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah. Hence [the text] says: 'Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your strength'--that is to say, thought is [identical with] wisdom (HoChMaH), 'the power of what' (KoaH MaH). So, do the action with all your strength, that is, your thought, by joining together the two things, which [represent] the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah...
Shim'on Menachem Mendel of Govarchov (ed.), Sefer Ba'al Shem Tov (Jerusalem, n.d.), v.1, pp.107-109. (cf. Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye (died c.1782), Toldot Ya'akov Yosef (Jerusalem, 1973), v.1, p.62a.)
COMMENT: Although the classical sources of rabbinic Judaism hardly mention Enoch, a small body of literature arose that attempted to answer the question of the meaning of the strange phrases the Torah uses about Enoch. This literature that may be found today partly in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (non-canonical works based on the Bible or in Biblical style) and partly in obscure works of the Jewish mystical school known as the Yordei Merkavah, the Riders of the Chariot. According to some of these texts, Enoch was a great mystic who ascended to heaven, into the very presence of God, where he was rewarding by being transformed into the archangel Metatron, second only to God in the running of the universe.
At some point (as mentioned in the late medieval compilation, Yalqut Re'uveni), the story became current that Enoch used to meditate while doing his work as a shoemaker, uniting upper and lower worlds as he stitched together the uppers and the soles. Originally, the meaning would have been that Enoch engaged in kabbalistic meditations uniting the various sefirot, as symbolized by the two divine names, the unspoken YHVH and the vocal 'Adonai. But the Ba'al Shem Tov has completely turned this on its head.
Now, the two divine names stand for thought and action, respectively, and the Ba'al Shem Tov's interpretation (with the help of a verse from Proverbs and a pun on Hochmah, wisdom, so that it refers to action as well as thought) is that spiritual benefit can be obtained from even the most mundane task, if one thoughts are totally given over to what one is doing.
Two Spirits
CONTEXT: The last sidra, Bereshit, ends with the words 'And Noah found favour in God's sight' (Genesis 6:8). Parashat Noach begins by telling us why this was the case: 'This is the history of Noah: Noah was a righteous man...' (Genesis 6:9). But, the name Noah appears twice in succession here, apparently unnecessarily.
'Noah, Noah.'
Genesis 6:9
Why [does it say] 'Noah, Noah' twice? Because every righteous person (tzaddik) that is in the world has two spirits (ruchin): One spirit in this world and one spirit in the world-that-is-coming.
Zohar, Tosefta, I, 59b.
For every righteous person (tzaddik) has two spirits: One on the earth below and one in heaven above.
As quoted in Hayyim Vital (1542-1620), Sha'ar HaGilgulim (Jerusalem: Research Center of Kabbalah, 1978), fol.87a.
COMMENT: It is my view that very few of us are absolutely wicked, and perhaps just as few of us are totally righteous. Most of us are in-between, but, I believe, essentially righteous, that is, most of us would like to do the right thing most of the time, but that all kinds of factors, some external but most internal, like our own selfishness and fear, sometimes prevent us from doing it.
These two texts are clearly variations of each other, with the second version probably from a variant manuscript, or simply quoted from memory. But the message of both is the same: We are made up of two contradictory aspects, one causes us to focus on the physical side of ourselves, and the other on the spiritual. Life consists in creating a proper balance between these, so that we are neither neglecting our spirituality nor our bodies, but giving due respect to both.
* * *
Light From Words
CONTEXT: God gives Noah his instructions for building the Ark. But, some of the words used here are obscure or capable of bearing more than one meaning.
'Make a tzohar ('roof, window, skylight?') for the ark (teivah), and you shall complete it a cubit ('amah) above... Make it with a lower, second and third decks.'
Genesis 6:16
Rabbi Israel Ba'al Shem--peace be upon him--said: 'Make a tzohar ('roof, window, skylight?') for the ark (teivah)'--for the word (teivah) should shed light (matzhir) in every direction.
Within every letter there are worlds, souls and divinity, and they ascend, are bound and united together with Divinity. Then they are united and bound together with [other] letters and a word is made, and true unifications are formed in Divinity. A person must include the soul within each and every aspect [of the letters and words]. Then all the worlds are united as one, ascend, and produce joy and great pleasure beyond measure.
Hence [the phrase]: 'lower, second and third', i.e. worlds, souls, and divinity. 'There are three worlds...' (Zohar III, 159a). One must listen to each word one says, for the Shechinah, the world of speech, speaks, provided there is 'brightness' (tzohar). Then it goes forth clearly, producing pleasure for one's Creator. One must have great faith in this, for the Shechinah is [itself] called 'deep faith' ('emunah 'omen, Isaiah 25:1). And without faith, one is called 'a whisperer who makes a division in the One ('aluf, usually "friend[s]" but here probably connected with the letter 'alef)' (Proverbs 16:28).
'And you shall complete it a cubit ('amah) above'--i.e. awe ('eima). Or one might say, after a word has left one's mouth it is not necessary to mention it below, for the fact is that one does not see that it has gone to a higher place, just as, for example, one cannot look at the sun. Hence, 'and you shall complete it above'. And one should act in the same way. Let yourself and your whole body enter into the word.
Israel ben Eliezer, Ba'al Shem Tov (1700-1760), Zva'at HaRibash (Brooklyn: Kehot Publishing Society, 1975), no.75, pp.23-24.
COMMENT: In Jewish mystical thought, the human word has great power, analogous to the divine word that brought about Creation. The Ba'al Shem Tov plays on the fact that the word teivah can mean 'ark, chest' as in the Noah story, or 'word' and that the somewhat obscure tzohar has connotations of brightness. Words should be spoken with great care, shedding 'light' as they are spoken. When spoken in this way, they ascend and are bound together with the Godhead, and positive spiritual energies are released throughout the universe, having beneficial effects even on God, as it were. All this is matter of the deepest faith; believing this strongly will prevent us from being careless with our speech, keeping us from speaking hurtful words. And because 'amah, a cubit, sounds like 'ayma, awe, we should be in awe of the spiritual processes that our words set off, even though we cannot see what those are. They are 'completed above', beyond our ken. The deepest sincerity is to be cultivated.
* * *
Blotted Out
CONTEXT: The flood reaches its climax. Everything on earth has been destroyed. Only Noah, his family, and the animals they brought into the Ark survive.
'[God blotted out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground--human beings, animals, creeping things and birds of the sky. They were blotted out from the earth....]
Genesis 7:23
The sin of the generation of the Flood is not hidden from you according to the Esoteric Way: Know that they 'cut down the shoots' and 'when they behaved arrogantly' (Exodus 18:11) they were judged, for they made a barren land equal to a good and spacious one and the honour of the servant to that of the Master. This is what our sages of blessed memory meant [when they taught that] 'they were blotted out' in this world and 'they were blotted out' in the world-to-come [Rabbi Akiva in Talmud, Sanhedrin 108a].
Menachem Ziyyoni (late 14th-early 15th century), Sefer Ziyyoni (Lvov, 1882; reprinted Jerusalem, 1964), p.8a.
COMMENT: The 'Esoteric Way' in medieval mystical texts means Kabbalah, the mystical tradition. 'Cutting down the shoots' is a Talmudic term for mystical heresy, i.e. incorrect theological conclusions drawn from mystical experience. (Elisha ben Avuyah, known as Acher, 'The Other One,' is accused of cutting down the shoots in Talmud, Chagigah 14b & 15a.) Ziyyoni censures the generation of the flood for upsetting the natural balance of good and barren land, turning the one into the other. He avers, they also upset the social order by giving the honour due to the master to the servant. Or, he may mean that they have overturned the proper relationship between humanity and God, substituting human arrogance for humility before the Creator. (I have indicated this second possibility, which I prefer, by writing Master with an upper case 'm'.)
Ziyyoni's choice of words may strike us as obscure, but his point is one that still applies in our world as much as it did in his or in the time of the Flood. Arrogance in regard to the natural order of life, an arrogance which goes hand in hand with a failure to appreciate our dependence on an often beneficent universe and its Creator, is still rife today. Many large corporations and governments seem to go about their business with a total disregard for the environment, unless there are profits or votes in being concerned. Even many so-called religious people act as if they had forgotten Who really owns this earth, and us. And like the Generation of the Flood, 21st century humanity may be heading for self-destruction in this (natural) world as well as in the spiritual world that we ignore at our peril. But each of us, like Noah in his day, can contribute to the process of healing the earth and the human spirit.
* * *
Under Duress
CONTEXT: As the flood rains cease, Noah checks for dry land, without which he cannot bring the Ark to rest. With the wrold covered in water, his line of sight is limited by the horizon, so he hits upon the idea of sending out birds, a raven and later a dove, to increase the search area. Doves can be tamed and domesticated, but why would he chose a raven?
'And [Noah] sent out the raven...'
Genesis 8:7
R. Hiyya said, 'Why did he send out the raven? As an indication that God who is merciful had become cruel like a raven.' R. Yose said, 'But it is written [of Noah that he was a] "righteous, perfect man" (Genesis 6:9), so how could he address such an accusation against God?' R. Hiyya said, 'Because of his great distress [at seeing the world in ruins], since we have learnt that a person is not judged [for words spoken] in distress.'
Zohar, Midrash Ne'elam, quoted in Reuben Hoeschke (ed.), (17th century), Yalqut Re'uveni (Warsaw, 1883), pt.1, p.134.
COMMENT: [Although Reuben Hoeschke says this passage is found in a portion of the Zoharic literature, I have been unable to locate the original in the printed editions of those works.]
The raven, as a carrion-eating bird, has a very poor reputation in Jewish texts, but here it is taken as a symbol of Noah's anger at the state of the post-deluvian world. From this text we should learn that when others speak out in anger and distress, saying things they may regret later, we ought not to judge them too harshly for this. It can happen to anyone, as it apparently happened to Noah, and we must even learn to forgive ourselves when we do it too.
* * *
Righteous Business
CONTEXT: A second comment on Noah's choice of the raven for his reconnaissance mission.
'And [Noah] sent out the raven...'
Genesis 8:7
Explanation: The text is measuring and counting the level of the righteous whom God has created in the world, and the explanation of vayishlach 'And he sent...' is that [God] sends a righteous person into the world, et ha'orev '[with] the raven'--this hints at those people whom God created to be occupied with business matters in a trustworthy way, to sustain one's children and the members of one's household. Such people are called by the name of raven, just as it says in the Gemara (cf. Ketubbot 49b) about people who do not want to sustain their children that they decree about them: 'The raven looks after its children, but this man does not.' The word 'oReV, raven, also relates to sweetness ('aReV), for it is pleasant and sweet in the eyes of the blessed God, and in the eyes of [other] human beings, when one is occupied with business in a trustworthy way. Hence, 'And he sent out the raven...' refers to the previously mentioned righteous people who are called by the name of 'raven,' as has been explained.
'And it went out to and fro,' yatzo' vashov. Explanation: A person of this type must immediately, upon going out to business, do teshuvah; that is, one should test that one's intention is for the sake of heaven, and restore one's intention to the blessed God.
'Until the land is dry', for this path will be like this until our righteous messiah comes, [may it be] soon.
Elimelech of Lyzhansk (1717-1787), No'am 'Elimelech (ed. Gedalyah Nigal) (Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1978), v.1, p.21.
COMMENT: For the Hasidic rebbe of Lyzhansk, these verses are an extended metaphor for the righteous person engaging in business affairs without diminishing attachment to God and holiness. The purpose of business is sustaining oneself and one's family, not self-aggrandisement. Teshuvah, repentance, does not have its usual meaning here of turning away from evil, but its deeper sense of turning one's whole self back to God. The raven has here become a symbol for the righteous person who seeks the divine in all things, even the most mundane. This is an eternal, messianic task that God sets before everyone.
* * *
Misuse of Technology
CONTEXT: The flood has passed into history, and generations have come and gone. Noah's descendants share a common language, as well as a common ancestry, but apply their unity to the building of a great tower, the Tower of Babel. The story is already a satirical tale of human pride made nought by divine intervention, and the point would have been even more forcibly audible to ancient listeners because Babel/Bavel is the Hebrew for Babylon, famous for its ziqqurats, towers crowned by temples.
'They said: Come, let us build a city [and a tower that reaches to the sky] for ourselves; [and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the surface of the earth].'
Genesis 11:4
The Generation of the Dispersion were all the wisest and most understanding people among those who are wise [and] knowledgeable in the most secret truths. They spoke as follows: 'If we sin, we will die, like the Generation of the Flood, but what can we do? Let us fulfil our desires in this world and arrange powers and matters in such a way that the supernal beings may not be able to make war against us.' They decided to make a tower built by daubing it in such a way that it would not fall due to excess water, fire could not overcome it, and weapons of war could not seize it, so that they could kill anyone who approached to destroy it. And they desired to make an image within it made with the power of the [divine] name, as it is said: 'Let us make a name for ourselves' ( or, 'Let us use a Name for our own sake'; Genesis 11:4). This image would tell to them what would happen [in the future], and it would say to them: 'Do this!' or 'Don't do this!' They wanted to make that image wings to cover the entire city, so that even the fire that comes down from heaven, and rain, would not be able to fall on that city and its environs, and thus the angels of destruction would not be able to overpower it. And whatever they did, they did out of fear of [a recurrence of] the Flood. But the fools did not realize that GOD is an all-knowing God...
Anon., Brit Menuchah (14th century), quoted in Reuben Hoeschke (ed.), (17th century), Yalqut Re'uveni (Warsaw, 1883), pt.1, p.73a.
COMMENT:The Brit Menuchah is merely making the original Biblical satire even more explicit, adding numerous magical elements to the story. To me, the Brit Menuchah version almost reads like an allegory of modern technology, which western man has created in a vain attempt prevent the forces of nature, disease, famine, earthquake, etc. from 'making war upon us.' (The image that the people consulted in this fantasy made me think of the technique of computer modelling, which is often used to predict the outcome of certain courses of action on, for instance, global warming.) And although a very great deal has been achieved, and never sniffed at, it does sometimes appear that advances are sometimes cancelled out by new setbacks. Thus, for example, the extensive, even over-zealous use, of antibiotics is now producing more and more resistant strains of bacteria, while pollution from industrial and agricultural processes proceed apace.
Now, no one is suggesting that we abandon modern technology. But Brit Menuchah seems to be saying that perhaps we need to apply our technology with more respect for God and the delicate balance of God's creation.
'Go for Yourself'
CONTEXT: Although we are introduced to Abram/Abraham at the end of the last sidra, it is only here that God speaks to him for the first time, setting him off on a fateful journey. The phrase 'for yourself' gives added emphasis to the command 'God' in Hebrew, though it is superfluous in English.
'Go (for yourself) from your land and from your birth-place and from your father's house to the land that I will show you.'
Genesis 12:1
The holy rabbi of blessed memory [Rabbi Hanoch] of Alexander (1798-1870) spoke as follows: The rebbe, Rabbi Simchah Bunam of Pshische (1765-1827) said: There is yet another New Year [apart from the four enumerated in the Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah 1:1] which is called the hidden Rosh Hashanah, while the first Rosh Hashanah [meaning, the first of Tishri] is the revealed Rosh Hashanah. He added: It is because of this: [Sidra] Bereshit [represents] Malchut as is well known, [which is related to the term Malchuyyot, one of the three central parts of the Rosh Hashanah musaf service]; Noach [represents the second of the three parts known as] the Zichronot [because it says]: 'And God remembered (vayizkor) Noah' (Genesis 8:1); [and] Vayera' is [the third part] the Shofarot [because it includes the] binding of Isaac [with its reference to the ram's horn]. Then he--may his memory be a blessing--said: Today [Shabbat Lech Lecha] is [the anniversary of] the creation of the universe, for it is written: '[These are the generations of heaven and earth] when they were created (beHiBaR'aM)' (Genesis 2:4)--this is 'aBRaHaM (Bereshit Rabbah 12:9). And when was he called Abraham? After his circumcision [in Genesis 17].
Later, he said: Look, in the holy Zohar (II, 89b) the question is raised, Why is it written 'six days did God make [the heavens and the earth]' (Exodus 20:11, 31:17), and why was it not written 'in six days...' Then he said this: Because 'six' [represents] the six attributes [from Hesed to Yesod]. With these six attributes one must serve Holy Blessed One. For example, if a person loves something (or, someone), [an emotion that corresponds to Hesed], what is required? That one settle one's mind. [Love, like all the emotions, disturbs the mind's composure, so] it would be better to give this love to the service of the blessed Creator, and not to flesh [that will one day] rot. The same applies to strength (Gevurah), beauty (Tif'eret) and the remainder of the attributes: One must give all this to the service of the blessed Creator, as it is said: 'To You belong the greatness, [and the strength]...' (I Chronicles 29:11).
He said: Perhaps every person desires [to do] this, but has a great battle [to fight to achieve this]. So, one cries out to fight, and then does battle with inclination towards evil on all weekdays. But when Shabbat comes, one has no battle [to fight] at all, because this has been nullified. This is the intention of our sages of blessed memory: 'Whoever takes trouble on the eve of Shabbat, will eat on Shabbat' (Talmud, Avodah Zarah 3a). The meaning is: If one takes the trouble to fight on all weekdays, then one can 'eat' on Shabbat without having any battle at all.
This was the intention of the Ari [Isaac Luria, (1534-1572)] of blessed memory [when he wrote]: 'Cries, even troubles, [are annihilated and cease; only new faces, spirits (ruchin), as well as souls (nafshin)]' [from his poem 'Azamer bishvachin for Shabbat evenings]. The meaning is: Throughout the weekdays a person is [caught up] in an outcry between one's two inclinations, meaning, this one pulls on one side and the other cries out on the other side, but on Shabbat they 'are annihilated and cease' completely, for there is no battle at all. This is due to 'only new faces,' [i.e.] because one has an 'extra soul.' In that case, one should try to live with one's entire spirit (ruach) and soul (nefesh). But in truth, one who is on a low level--may God preserve us--may not be able to feel [anything] and have closed eyes even on Shabbat, because of their filthy mood. However, (God forbid) perhaps everyone wants [this depression]? Certainly [not]! Then perhaps [such a person] is fighting against his inclination [towards evil] in order to defeat it? But one should know that this is simply 'masculine waters' (m-d) that [God] has given. And the proof is that Abraham our father--peace be upon him--was a great sage and had wanted to come to serve [God] with his wisdom. But the Holy Blessed One said to him: 'Go from your land and from your birth-place' (Genesis 12:1), meaning 'Go from your wisdom and then I will show you the way of GOD, for with your wisdom [alone] it is not possible to serve God.'
Later he said: 'Go' (lech-lecha, literally, 'Go for yourself') [actually means] 'for yourself.' The meaning [is] that each person should test themselves to see if their ways may be improved. Furthermore, there is another intention in this verse, which is well known to those with understanding: Its meaning is that a person must sense for oneself what level one is on and [whether] one needs to do anything.
Yo'etz Qayyam Qadish Rokotz (ed.), Siach Sarfei Qodesh (n.p., n.d.), pt.1, p.20.
COMMENT: An extended piece that makes a number of different, but interrelated points, it is not at all clear where the teachings of Simchah Bunam of Pshische end and those of his disciple Hanoch of Alexander begin.
The first paragraph begins with reference to the mishnaic doctrine (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) that there are four new years in the Jewish calendar:
The first of Nisan is the new year for kings and for festivals; the first of Ellul is the new year for the tithe on animals...; the first of Tishri is the new year for years... and the first of Shevat is the new year for trees...but the School of Hillel says, the fifteenth.
Of these, the third, 1 Tishri is traditionally known simply as Rosh Hashanah, the New Year. As a result of the coincidence of certain themes from the Additional Service for Rosh Hashanah and the first, second and fourth sidrot in the cycle of the Torah readings, the suggestion is made that the third Shabbat, on which Lech Lecha is read, is also a new year of sorts, for it is in this sidra that the story of Abraham properly begins, and given the midrash quoted, Abraham represents creation, and therefore the 'hidden Rosh Hashanah', just as 1 Tishri, the 'revealed Rosh Hashanah' is also said to be the anniversary of Creation. Abraham, the archetypal righteous person, contains all aspects of reality within himself.
(The reference to circumcision is explained by the fact that this ritual is performed on that part of the male anatomy that corresponds to the sefirah of Yesod, also known as Tzaddik, the Righteous, as well as by the fact that this is the point in the story where Abram becomes Abraham.)
This leads on to the next section, in which the divine attributes, sefirot, are related to human psychology. (As is frequently the case in the Zohar, the term 'days' is taken as a symbol for the sefirot; and the connection between beHiBaR'aM and 'aVRaHaM, on the one hand, and the six days of creation, is already made there, cf. Zohar I, 247a and elsewhere.) Righteous people, containing all aspects of the divine sefirot, attain to exalted levels when all of their attributes are devoted to the One with Whom they share them.
Our author then proceeds to relate this back to the Sabbath, suggesting that the struggle against the evil within oneself that takes place throughout the working week will cease once the seventh day has arrived, provided that one has really engaged in the battle. And enlisting the aid of a poem by the Ari, he argues that the battle ceases on Shabbat because the forces of good have become stronger through the addition of the 'extra soul' that is said to enter each Jew when the Sabbath arrives on Friday evening. But one has to be on a higher spiritual level to achieve this; if one is not, then depression may set in. Yet even this may have its positive value, as 'masculine waters', as energies from God, if one can only recognize them as such. For this one must 'Go for oneself', that is, leave behind one's conventional wisdom, and seek help from God.
Another interpretation of this verse is then given: 'Go for yourself' now means 'Examine your spiritual state and do what is needful to improve it.'
* * *
Going About for Wisdom
CONTEXT: A conflict has arisen between Abram's men and those employed by his nephew Lot, and as a result, the two men decide to separate from each other. God now speaks to Abram, offering him words of encouragement to counteract any feeling of loss he may be experiencing at his nephew's departure. God promises that one day the land through which Abram is travelling will belong to his descendants, but one should note that the verbal form 'hithalech' ('go about') is rare in the Hebrew Bible.
'Arise, go about (hithalech) through the land, [its length and breadth, for I will give it to you].'
Genesis 13:17
According to the plain meaning (peshat), the Holy Blessed One wanted Abraham to take possession of the holy land which [God] was to give him and his descendants from this point. [God] told him to go about through its length and breadth like a person who is giving a friend a gift of land and shows him its boundaries, saying that he should take possession of it.
But according to intelligence (sechel), the word 'go about' is mentioned with respect to wisdom, as it is written: 'When you go about, it shall lead you' (Proverbs 6:22), and it is written: 'Surely, a person goes about with an image' (Psalms 39:7). This is the form of the intellectual soul (nefesh hasichlit), which is only mentioned in relation to singular righteous people from among those who seek wisdom, like Noah, Enoch, Abraham, and the like. [The hitpa'el form of the verb halach appears in relation to all three; cf. Genesis 5:22, 6:9, 17:1.]
Because Abraham shifted his consciousness (sichlo) from one level to the next in his search for wisdom, and helped his intellectual soul to go back and forth in the attainment of that which the 'south' (negbah) [cf. Genesis 13:2ff.; negev = Hesed] contains; God – may God be blessed – said: 'Arise, go about the land', as it to say: 'Let the form of your intelligence (sechel) move about in seeking those things that exist in the land,' for we do not find that Abraham [actually] went about the length and breadth of the land, but we do find that he 'dwelt' and [did] not 'go', [as] it is written: 'Abram took down his tent (vaye'ehal), went and dwelt [in the plain of Mamre]' (Genesis 13:18). Thus, this 'going' was a movement of the intellectual soul, accompanied by the quietness of the body. Hence, [the term] vaye'eHaL, from the expression 'dweller in tents ('oHaLim)' (Genesis 25:27), for the seeking of wisdom requires movement of the intellectual soul and quietness of the body; this is the opposite of the needs of the body, which require movement of the body but quietness of the soul. So [God] said: 'I will give it to you' [meaning] 'I will give you knowledge and wisdom so that you may know the essence of [all] that exists. In a similar vein, it is written: 'And GOD gave wisdom to Solomon' (I Kings 5:9).
Rabbenu Bachya ben Asher ben Chlava (13th century), Perush 'Al HaTorah (Midrash Rabbenu Bachya) (Jerusalem: Blum, 1988), pt.1, p.78.
COMMENT: 'Our teacher' Bachya offers us two interpretations of this verse: one is the plain, straightforward meaning, the peshat, and the other, 'according to intelligence', is an allegorical meaning. Abraham is one of a select band of individuals, as denoted by the unusual form of the verbal root HLK, who are characterised by their relentless search for wisdom, and in fact, Abraham represents them, even as he represents Hesed in the divine scheme of the sefirot.
And Rabbenu Bachya goes on to interpret the next verse allegorically to show that such an intellectual search should be accompanied by a physical and emotional stillness.
* * *
Whose Righteousness?
CONTEXT: In Genesis 15 we find Abram complaining to God that he has been promised descendants, but that so far he has no children, and someone else (Eliezer Damasek) is his only heir. God offers reassurance, and urges him to try to count the stars, for that is how many descendants Abram will have. In verse 6, we read that Abram believed this promise, but there is some ambiguity in the Hebrew text. Who deemed this to be righteousness (or charity) on whose part? Does this mean that God set great store by Abram's trust, or that Abram saw God's promise as an act of charity?
'Now he [Abram] trusted GOD, and [God] deemed it righteousness (tzedakah) on his part.'
Genesis 15:6
Ruler of the Universe, You said to Jonah: 'You are concerned about the gourd, for which you did not labour and which you did not grow; that came into being in a night and was destroyed in a night. So, should I not be concerned with Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and much cattle' (Jonah 4:10-11). Why do You not have a broad concern for us, who do have human knowledge? It is said of our ancestor Abraham: 'Now he [Abram] trusted GOD, and [God] deemed it righteousness on his part' (Genesis 15:6). Now, many times [set] for [messianic] redemption have passed, but we still trust [in You].
Israel ben Eliezer, Ba'al Shem Tov (1700-1760), Keter Shem Tov (Brooklyn: Kehot Publication Society, 1972), §339, fol.50a.
COMMENT: If, as we are told in Jonah, God is concerned with the fate of cattle and the ignorant people of Nineveh, how much the more so should God be concerned with those who, like the Jews, are more spiritually enlightened. Like Abraham, our spiritual ancestor, we too must trust in God's concern, even though we may have been disappointed in the past.
'Now he [Abram] trusted GOD, and [Abram] deemed it righteousness (tzedakah) [on his [God's] part].'
Genesis 15:6
One may say that the point of this [verse] is that our ancestor Abraham considered it as charity that the Holy Blessed One had put the trust and unity of [God] into his heart, so that he could trust in GOD. He did not consider that he had done this out of his own heart and knowledge, but had only recognised with total clarity that everything comes from [God].
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859), 'Ohel Torah MeHaRabbi MiKotzk (Lublin, 1909), p.8.
COMMENT: In this second passage on Genesis 15:6, the unstated subject of the second part of the verse, usually understood as God, is now taken as Abraham. For the Kotzker, the point is that even one's trust in God is itself a gift from God, and we have to be thankful for all our gifts. This is very much in line with the radical stance of the Kotzker's disciple, Rabbi Mordecai Joseph Leiner of Izbica, who explicitly contradicted the Talmudic teaching: 'All things are in the hands of Heaven, except the fear of Heaven' (Berachot 33b) when he taught: 'All things are in the hands of Heaven, even the fear of Heaven' (Mei HaShiloach (Bnei Brak, 1995), v.1, p.27). In our times, when so many people seem to live their lives without the benefit of spiritual insight, we who have found our way to a religious life must be humbly grateful.
Self-Assessment
CONTEXT: God's appearance to Abraham at Mamre is connected with the arrival of three strangers. Ever hospitable, Abraham invites the men into his tent and organise a meal for them. One of them renews God's promise that Abraham and Sarah will have a son, before the strangers make their way to Sodom.
'And GOD appeared to him [Abraham] at the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent, in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes, and saw, and look, there were three men standing beside him; he looked and ran from the entrance to his tent to meet them...'
Genesis 18:1
...Righteous people (tzaddik) always thinks that they are not serving God at all, and as a result are worthy of a high level; that is, 'He lifted up his eyes and saw', meaning: 'by virtue of the fact that one is continually looking at and examining oneself...one becomes very worthy.'
'And look, there were three men standing near him' – this alludes to the three levels with which a righteous person must serve [God], namely: fear (yir'ah), love ('ahavah) and beauty (tif'eret), that is, one should 'beautify' (mefa'er) God through [one's own] deeds, [and the contemplation of] the Blessed One's exalted state and greatness.
Elimelech of Lyzhansk (1717-1787), No'am 'Elimelech (ed. Gedalyah Nigal) (Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1978), v.1, p.43.
COMMENT: Self-examination and personal assessment are important slogans in the world of business today. Rebbe Elimelech reminds us that such terms have their origins in spiritual practices, and have to do with our spiritual growth, something quite different from the development of management skills. When Abraham raised his eyes, it is symbolic of spiritual self-assessment, but this is an on-going, infinite process, and the enlightened person (tzaddik, here) realises that one can never reach perfection, that, on the contrary, one always has so much farther to go. Nevertheless, the very act of examining oneself shows that one has reached a degree of spiritual enlightenment.
Then one should realize that one has to serve God with all the aspects of one's self, symbolized here in two sets of symbols: first the three men Abraham saw, and secondly, the moral and kabbalistic attributes of fear (also = Gevurah, in terms of the sefirot), love (also = Hesed) and beauty (=Tif'eret). This in turn leads to the 'beautification' of one's deeds and the contemplation of God.
* * *
Ishmael & Islam I
CONTEXT: Finally, Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. The divine promise has been fulfilled. But what about Abraham's other 'woman,' the Egyptian handmaid Hagar and her son Ishmael? Sarah wants them out of the family, Abraham reluctantly agrees, but what does God have in mind?
'And also the son [of the maidservant will I make into a nation.]'
Genesis 21:13
[Scripture] hints at the revelation of (the religion of) Islam, (the religion of) those who believe in the unity of the Creator, (who came forth) from him [Ishmael]. How great is the wisdom of the Exalted One's saying 'will I make'! [For Islam arose] ultimately, after the revelation of the religion of Israel, and at a time when they had experienced great darkness as a result of their sins. [Thus, God] 'tells the end from the beginning' (Isaiah 46:10).
Abraham ben HaRaMBaM (1186-1237), Perush 'al HaTorah (translation from Arabic by E. Wiesenberg) (Jerusalem, 1984), pt.1, p.19.
COMMENT: The son of the famous rabbi, philosopher and physician Maimonides (RaMBaM) had a positive appreciation of Islam, and in particular, was a great admirer of Sufi teachers, whom he said had preserved certain mystical techniques used by the prophets in Biblical times. This is one of several affirmative statements he makes about Ishmael and the religion of his descendants. See his comments below on Genesis 25:17.
In the years since the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran, there has been a tendency in our society to demonise Islam and its adherents. This passage reminds us that the fanatics may not be truly representative of the faith they claim to represent and that we should try to judge other religions by the best of what they offer, not the worst.
* * *
Raising Our Needs
CONTEXT: After the departure of Hagar and Ishmael, Abraham is visited by a powerful local ruler Avimelech and his general Phichol, and comes to a peace agreement with them. Afterwards, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of God, Ruler of the Universe, perhaps as a way of giving thanks for the peace he had achieved.
'And he [Abraham] planted a tamarisk ('eiSHeL) at Be'er Sheva'.'
Genesis 21:33
Our rabbis of blessed memory have expounded [the word] 'eiSHeL as [an acronym of] 'Achilah SHtiyah Levayah, eating, drinking, escorting (Talmud, Sotah 10a).
[This] may be explained by way of a hint, for it says in the holy Zohar: 'Come, see! Adam sinned in relation to the Tree of Knowledge and Abraham repaired [it] with the Tree of Life, and made known the secret of faith.' See there (Zohar I, 102b, but not an exact quotation). The matter is [as follows]: It is well known that Abraham our ancestor – peace be upon him – was the repair for the first Adam, that Adam had sinned in relation to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and that Abraham overturned the evil and made it good, as it is written: 'Turn away from evil and do good' (Psalm 34:15, 37:27). As is mentioned above, one should see that one has to turn aside from evil and do good. For example, if some lascivious thought comes down into one's mind – God forbid – one should realize that this is due to [the fact] that it has come down from the aspect of lovingkindness (Hesed), but had no one to uplift it. Therefore, 'one should be as strong as a lion' (cf. Pirke 'Avot 5:23) to perform some lovingkindness with respect to the Shechinah, as it were, through charity, acts of kindness, or other things. Hence [the saying]: 'Who is a pious person (hasid)? One who acts kindly (mithased) towards one's Creator' (Zohar III, 222b). And the same is true of all the aspects of all the sefirot, as is well known.
In the name of my master, my grandfather [the Ba'al Shem Tov] – may his soul be in Eden – may the memory of the righteous be a blessing for the world-to-come – [who taught] that of Adam it is written: 'Lest he stretch out his hand and take from the Tree of Life as well...' (Genesis 3:22). For, since he had sinned with respect to the Tree of Knowledge, he was not permitted to touch the Tree of Life, but Abraham, who repaired the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge, merited the Tree of Life. This, one has to say, is explicit in the verse: 'Then GOD appeared to him at the oaks of Mamre' (Genesis 18:1) – i.e. at the very same tree with which the first Adam had sinned. [For the word] Mamre [comes] from the expression 'stubborn and rebellious (moreh)' (Deuteronomy 21:18, etc.). Abraham our ancestor repaired that tree, and so God was revealed to him there. And thus he was a pious man who acted kindly towards his Creator, as described above. Therefore, 'eLoNneY ('oaks of,' 1+30+50+10=91) (Genesis 18:1) has the numerical value as the single expression YHVH-'aDoNaI [(10+5+6+5)+(1+4+50+10)=91], for one who acts kindly towards one's Creator brings about a unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah [represented by YHVH and 'aDoNaI, respectively]. After he had repaired the Tree of Knowledge, he was worthy of the Tree of Life, and hence: 'And he [Abraham] planted a tamarisk ('eiSHeL)' (Genesis 21:33).
It says in the Zohar [source?] that this was the Tree of Life, and hence [represents] 'Achilah SHtiyah Levayah, eating, drinking, escorting, all of which are for the purpose of unification, like the bread one eats [should be]. Drinking also refers to unification, as in [the expression] 'A person should not drink from another's cup.' [So too is] escorting, as in [the expression] 'the proportion of each one and wreaths (loyot)' (I Kings 7:36), that is, that he was worthy of uniting the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah in all aspects. And this is what our sages of blessed memory hinted at [when they said]: 'Abraham our ancestor ate non-sacrificial food (chullin) while ritually clean' (Talmud, Bava Metzia 87a). Understand.
Moses Hayyim Ephraim of Sudlykov (d.1800), Degel Mahane Ephraim (Jerusalem, 1963), p.25.
COMMENT: In a rather involved discussion, the Degel (as the author called from the name of his book) is primarily concerned with the notion that the physical things we require are not just intended for the sustenance of our bodies, but that they have spiritual ramifications. He begins by building on the Talmudic notarikon (acronym) of 'eshel as indicative of eating, drinking, and escorting, that is, providing food and drink and accompanying one's guests as they resume their journey, the three main duties of a gracious host. And in a style typical of sermons from the midrash onwards, he then leaves this issue, intending to resume it later, at the end of his discourse.
He turns instead to two trees that stood in the Garden of Eden. Drawing upon the Zoharic interpretation which sees eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as the source of our dualistic thinking and the Tree of Life as offering a holistic view of existence, he perceives Abraham, 'beloved of God', as the figure who repaired the damage caused by Adam. This is then offered as a model for us to emulate: thoughts that relate to our lower, physical selves in reality have their source in higher realms. We can avoid giving in to those thoughts, and instead, direct them back to their source, and thus, mystically speaking, act kindly towards the Presence of God, the Shechinah. (Perhaps we might wish to think of this as encouraging the spiritual within ourselves and in the world around us.)
He then brings a teaching from his grandfather which tends in the same direction, connecting Abraham with the repairing of the damage caused by Adam, by means of a pun on the name Mamre and a gematria (number-letter equation) on the Hebrew word for 'oaks' and the two most important divine names, which in turn symbolize two of the ten sefirot of kabbalistic thought, Tif'eret, also known as the Holy One blessed be He, and Malchut, also known as the Shechinah – the first being the focal point for the energies of the upper sefirot and the masculine principle, and the second being the 'interface' between the divine realms and this world. When these two are in union, divine energies can flow into our universe. Abraham, having repaired the Tree of Knowledge with the Tree of Life, the duality of our thinking with the unity that comes of spiritual insight, has also effected this union, since the trees also represent Malchut and Tif'eret respectively.
Now, finally, our author returns to the verse and Talmudic interpretation with which he began. Eating, drinking and escorting (socializing), all physical pleasures, are also means to achieving that unity, if directed in our thoughts to their supernal Source. And once again, Abraham, albeit in rabbinic guise, is our model. Just as he could eat non-sacrificial food in a state of ritual cleanliness, so too we can indulge in physical pleasures while directing our thoughts to spiritual realms.
* * *
Accepting Responsibility
CONTEXT: In chapter 22, we come to the story of the Akedah, the binding and near-sacrifice of Isaac. Will God's promise of descendants come to nothing? The chapter begins with God's call to Abraham, and the patriarch's response.
Then [Abraham] replied to [God] [and said: 'Here I am'].
Genesis 22:1
Understand from the secret of the reply [of Abraham] – peace be upon him – of 'Here I am' that he was fully prepared at the moment that [God] called him; [this] relates to the awareness that was within him prior to the call. Then he attained the [level of the] imagination, that is the prophetic awareness linked to the awareness that was within him previously. But these matters are hidden and mysterious, so that we can perceive only a tiny bit of them. And how great is the difference between [Abraham's] statement 'Here I am' and his ancestor Adam's 'I was afraid because I was naked, and so I hid' (Genesis 3:10)!
Abraham ben HaRaMBaM (1186-1237), Perush 'Al HaTorah (translation from Arabic by E. Wiesenberg) (Jerusalem, 1984), pt.1, p.21.
COMMENT: Maimonides' son refers us back to the teachings of his father who, in his Guide to the Perplexed (II,32), states what he considers to be the Torah's view of a prophet; namely, that although a prophet needs to be trained to attain intellectual perfection, God is still free to choose that person to be a prophet, or not. In his comment, the son is positing the view that Abraham was indeed prepared for God's call in this chapter, that he had developed within his consciousness an awareness of the presence of God, so, when the call came, he could reply, with full readiness, 'Here I am'. Adam, on the other hand, was not ready for the divine call. His consciousness was clouded by the sin he had committed, and the resultant guilt.
Through prayer and meditation, through repentance and atonement for our sins, we can strive to emulate Abraham, rather than Adam.
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The Tools for the Job
CONTEXT: Further along in the Akedah-narrative, we find father and son on the road to what seems likely to be a terrible crime. Isaac realises that all is not well, and verse 7 presents a brief exchange between them, before the son asks a straight-forward, childlike question: 'Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?'
'Then Isaac said to Abraham his father and he said: "My father" and he said: "Here I am, my son."...'
Genesis 22:7
[Rabbi Hanoch of Alexander (1798-1870) said the following] on the verse: 'Then Isaac said to Abraham his father...and he said: "Here I am, my son."...' (Genesis 22:7): Apparently this is not intelligible. Why is the text as it is, without stating what Isaac said to his father [the first time]? And [Rabbi Hanoch] – of blessed memory said that Abraham our ancestor – peace be upon him – [represents] the quality of lovingkindness (Hesed), while Isaac [represents] the quality of might (Gevurah), and this is the intention of the verse 'Then Isaac said to Abraham his father and he said: "My father"' – the meaning is: 'Don't you [embody] the quality of lovingkindness? So, how can you slaughter me?' Abraham replies: '"Here: I am my son"', meaning, 'Now your quality, namely might, is within me.' Understand!
Yo'etz Qayyam Qadish Rokotz (ed.), Siach Sarfei Qodesh (n.p., n.d.), pt.1, p.21.
COMMENT: The kabbalistic system is about balance, dynamic balances achieved through the ebb and flow of divine energies, and many kabbalistic teachers, most notably among the Hasidim, have applied this same principle to human psychology. Abraham normally represents Hesed ('Lovingkindness') and Isaac Gevurah ('Might') in the kabbalistic scheme of symbols, yet here, in the Akedah-story, we find Abraham engaged on an act which is clearly within the province of Gevurah, which implies restriction. By carrying out God's command to sacrifice his son, he is restricting his chances of having progeny to carry on God's covenant. Rabbi Hanoch suggests that this was because he took on the quality embodied by his son Isaac, namely the quality of Gevurah that he needed to fulfil his task.
The implication of this is clear. Though we may aspire to be gentle, loving and kind, that is, to embody the quality of Hesed within us, there are times when Gevurah is necessary, and Hesed may actually be a hindrance to carrying out our tasks in life.
Inner Beauty
CONTEXT: Immediately after the Binding of Isaac, we are told of the death of Sarah, Abraham's devoted wife and Isaac's mother, but this account opens with a curiously phrased expression of her age. After all, the verse need only have said: Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years old.
'Sarah's life was [one hundred years, and twenty years and seven years].'
Genesis 23:1
Rashi explains: 'At one hundred she was like a woman of twenty [regarding sin...], and at twenty, she was a beautiful as she was at seven' [based on Bereshit Rabbah 58:1]. But how did it come about that she was as beautiful as she was at seven? It seems that Rashi, of blessed memory, intended to allude to two levels which a person is obliged to practice all the days of one's life, namely: one, to be exceedingly careful and vigilant of any sin or transgression, lest one violate any positive or negative commandment – God forbid, and the second level is that even with permitted things, like eating, drinking, dress, and the like, one has to bring everything into holiness, by directing [one's heart] through them towards Heaven.
For example, if people dress themselves and adorn themselves with fine clothes and adornments, their intention should be to adorn the 'image of the Sovereign,' as explained in the Gemara [cf. Talmud, Shabbat 50b].
Similarly with everything, one's intention should be towards Heaven, and when one behaves in this way, everything one has, whether money or clothing, satisfies, and one rejoices in them. And one's life is one's own.
However, if one's intention in everything mentioned above is not towards Heaven, then one is continually lacking [something], and one never has enough or sufficient. Thus, one's life is not [really] life and one's life is not one's own.
And this is alluded to simply [in Rashi's comment]: 'At one hundred she was like a woman of twenty' – for she had no sin within her against [any] positive or negative commandment, 'and at twenty she was as beautiful as she was at seven.' And the second level: Just as a toddler who adorns herself, without [really] knowing [how] to beautify herself or fasten [things so as] to adorn herself with a precious adornment. That is the way Sarah was when she was twenty, for that was the essence of a person's overcoming of the desire for one's own beauty, the wearing of adornments, or any other matters pertaining to this world, and [as for] her, her entire intention in all her adornments and making up was towards Heaven alone.
Elimelech of Lyzhansk (1717-1787), No'am 'Elimelech (ed. Gedalyah Nigal) (Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1978), v.1, p.52.
COMMENT: Rashi, basing himself on an ancient midrash, takes the unusual way in which Sarah's age is expressed to mean that she retained both the beauty and the innocence of her youth to her dying day. In this regard, she showed that she was especially blessed. (It is interesting to note that we would probably have been more likely to see seven as the age of innocence of sin and twenty as the age of physical beauty.)
The No'am Elimelech, in turn, sees this as representing two levels of dealing with the things of this material world. The first level, to which traditionally all Jews should aspire, is that of the observance of the commandments and laws of Judaism, the positive and negative commandments of the Torah. This is symbolized by Sarah's innocence of sin as a woman of twenty.
The second level, represented by Sarah at age seven, is the distancing oneself mentally from even the permitted physical pleasures of this world. This is traditionally the level of the Hasid, or pious person. Sarah, Elimelech suggests, was essentially unconcerned about whether or not she adorned herself properly, like a small girl who simply wants to look grown up, like Mummy, but doesn't quite know how to.
In effect, Rabbi Elimelech is answering the question: What is true beauty? His answer is that it is inner quality of being 'innocent' of the lure of material things, and concentrating instead on higher, more spiritual matters.
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Solitude
CONTEXT: This chapter of Genesis tells the tale of Abraham's servant's mission to find a wife for his master's son Isaac. In the event, he finds Rebecca, who is not only a member of the family, but is also a woman of considerable kindness. Having agreed arrangements with her and her family, the servant then takes her back to meet her intended. As they draw near their destination, we are told that Isaac was out in the field in the late afternoon, but what exactly does the strange word 'lasuach' mean?
'Now Isaac had come from the entrance [to Be'er-lachai-ro'i, and was settled in the Negev. Isaac went out to walk(?) (lasuach) in the field towards evening...]'
Genesis 24:62-63
There is no doubt that there is a great distance between Be'er-lachai-ro'i and the place where Abraham and Isaac were camped, and that Isaac – peace be upon him – (was returning to Be'er-lachai-ro'i that very day because he had) the practice of separating himself from his dwelling-place and going into the wilderness, to the well (be'er) mentioned [here], out of his adherence to worship. It was his desire to seek solitude, as the righteous and the prophets do, as I have explained in the book 'All That is Necessary for Those Who Serve God' in the chapter on solitude. He would remain there a short time and then return to his dwelling-place...
Abraham ben HaRaMBaM (1186-1237), Perush 'al HaTorah (translation from Arabic by E. Wiesenberg) (Jerusalem, 1984), pt.1, p.25.
COMMENT: At the heart of the interpretation offered here, as well as the next passage by Levi Isaac of Berditchev, is the fact that the Hebrew word lasuach used here is a puzzle, with many differing suggestions as to how it is to be solved. Abraham ben HaRaMBaM has probably been influenced by the view that the word is to be connected with the noun siach, meaning 'conversation' and that therefore, Isaac had turned aside to pray (cf. e.g. Talmud, Berachot 26a, where this is said to be the origin of the Afternoon Prayer).
However, Rabbi Abraham is actually discussing the practice of meditation, that is, thought and concentration without a scripted text. As he says, he discusses this is some detail in another book. Suffice it to say, the meditation has been a part of Judaism for a very long time, and may be an important supplement for those who wish to explore spiritual paths beyond those of a standard synagogue service. If so, they may take inspiration from our ancestor Isaac.
'Isaac went out to walk (lasuach) in the field [toward evening. He raised his eyes and saw camels approaching].'
Genesis 24:63
The general principle is [that] submission produces depression, for one does not have it in one's power to do one's own will or desire, because one has submitted to someone else. However, when a person serves the Holy Blessed One, and [thus] submits to the Blessed Creator, one attaches oneself to the source of joy. Then, immediately, happiness and joy dwell with a person. Hence the text says: 'Isaac went out to walk/talk/meditate (lasuach) in the field'; that is to say: When does joy go forth? Yitzchak ('Isaac') is an expression of 'joy' [actually, 'laughter', cf. Genesis 17:19] while suach/shuach [=to bend, bow] is an expression of submission. [Answer:] 'In the field', that is to say, 'field' refers to holiness. So, when one submits to holiness, happiness and joy come forth.
Furthermore, 'Isaac went out to walk (lasuach) in the field toward evening' may be explained in another way, in accordance with the teaching of our sages of blessed memory: 'Look! The ways of the Holy Blessed One are not like the ways of human beings. When [a human being] is defeated, one is sad. But when the Holy Blessed One is defeated, [God] is happy.' (Talmud, Pesachim 119a.) This is [in accordance with] the saying of our sages of blessed memory: 'The Holy Blessed One decrees and the righteous annul it' (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo' 1). When the Holy Blessed One, as it were, directs the world according to the divine will, God, as it were, does it for God's sake. But when the Holy Blessed One directs the world according to the will of the righteous, the Holy Blessed One inclines towards the righteous. Our sages of blessed memory refer to this [in the phrase]: 'The Shechinah in the lower realms' (cf. Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 19:7 and elsewhere). Hence it says: 'GOD descended upon Mount Sinai' (Exodus 19:20), i.e. [God] descends to do the will of the righteous, and this is the pleasure [God] has defeated by the righteous. And this is [the meaning of the verse]: 'Isaac went out to walk (lasuach) in the field.' Yitzchak is a expression of joy, that is, joy before the Blessed One; suach/shuach (=to bend, bow) is an expression of downward descent; and 'in the field' refers to the will of the righteous, who are called 'the field of apples'.... [and] 'toward evening', because from this comes the annihilation of the forces of judgment, which are called 'erev ('evening').
In the name of my master, teacher and rabbi, Rabbi Dov Baer [the Maggid of Mezritch (d. 1772)] – may the memory of the righteous be a blessing – I heard concerning this verse when a person speaks words even with other human beings and thinks holy thoughts in the midst of those words, by this means one raises 'sparks' [of holiness]. And there is joy before the Blessed One due to the raising of the sparks. Hence, 'Isaac went out' – [i.e.] joy went forth; 'to walk (lasuach) in the field' – even if one is conversing (suach) in the field, [i.e.] in matters of physicality. Hence, 'toward evening' – it is the raising of sparks. This is the end of what he said.
Levi Isaac of Berditchev (1740-1809), Qedushat Levi HaShalem (Munkacs, 1829), pp.13b-14a.
COMMENT: Several interpretations are offered by the rabbi of Berditchev here. Like the previous passage, they all hinge on the meaning of the curious word lasuach. In the first paragraph, he reads shuach, to bend or bow down, which in vowelless Hebrew would look exactly the same as 'suach', and suggests that the verse is a recipe for achieving joy in life through submission to God. If, as the psychologists tell us, depression is a result of submission and unexpressed anger, then, he asks, why doesn't submission to God produce depression? In fact, many of the Jewish teachers of Levi Isaac's day did preach that sadness in exile was the proper state for the Jew. Hasidic teaching is different: submission to God produces joy, because God is the ultimate source of all joy.
The second interpretation concerns the way the tzaddikim, the righteous, behave. Levi Isaac seems to be suggesting that if one serves God with joy, God will 'descend', as it were, to do one's will and dispel the forces of that bring negative judgment. Approaching the tasks of life with joy is itself a spiritual experience.
The third interpretation stems from Levi Isaac's teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch. This one is based on the linguistic connection between lasuach and siach, a conversation, but instead of connecting this with prayer, as in the Talmud (Berachot 36a), it remains conversation in the ordinary sense, except that for the Maggid, joy is produced when one converses about ordinary matters while, simultaneously, 'raising the sparks of divine light', that is, recognising the spiritual elements that exist within them.
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