Parshas Ekev English

7/31/2019 Parshas Ekev English

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Dei Chochmah LNafshechah Parshas Ekev

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Shalosh Seudos1ofParshas Ekev 5766

"' -

-".

If only you listen to these laws and safeguard them to keep them, Hashem your G-

d will guard the covenant and lovingkindness that He swore to your forefathers.2

The Five Levels of the Torah

It is well known that the five books of the TorahBereishis, Shemos, Vayikra,

Bamidbar, Devarimparallel the five elements of the Divine Name HaVaYaHthe

apex of the Yud, the Yuditself, theHei, the Vav, and the finalHei. These five elements,

in turn, parallel the five partzufim of the world ofAtzilusArich Anpin, Abba, Imma,

Zeir Anpin, and Nukvah.3

And they are likewise associated with the five levels of the

soul: nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, andyechidah.

4

This means that when one learnseach respective book of the Torah, one can gain access to each ascending level of the

soul. The idea follows the reasoning of the Sulam5 that lights are inversely relational

with vesselsthe greater spiritual light is revealed in the lowliest [or least evolved]

vessel. For this reason, it is within the book ofDevarim, the least of the five books of

the Torah which parallels the [lowest] partzuf ofNukvah, that the highest light of

1The lesson was delivered at the third meal of Shabbos.

2Devarim 7:12

3 Thepartzufim (Faces) are a personified representation of the sefiros:Arich Anpin (the Long

Face) parallels Kesser;Abba (Father) parallels Chochmah;Imma (Mother) parallelsBinah;Zeir Anpin (the Small Face) parallels the six sefiros from Chessedthrough Yesod; andNukvah

(Feminine) parallelsMalchus. When we speak of thepartzufim, the images of elements of

family, so to speak, help us to grasp more of the inter-relational and active nature of the sefiros.4

The five levels are listed in ascending order, and they are translated respectively as: life-force,

spirit, soul, Divine vitality, and the unique and unified aspect. [See Ramchal in Klalei Milchemes

Moshe.]5

The Sulam is a more contemporary and popular commentary on theZohar, written by Rav

Yehudah Ashlag, ztl.


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yechidah is revealed. And when one completes the study of all of the five books, one

draws down all of the lights of the five levels of soul.

This is the concept of "" If only [ekev literally means, the heel,

in the sense of a consequence that comes on the heels of some action] you listen

When one arrives at the aspect of the heel, the lowest of all levels [as Devarim is the

last and least of the books of the Torah], one completes the process of drawing down

all of the lights. One merits to safeguard and keep them.

Living in Both Worlds

"'

" [If you do this,] you and your children will long endure on the land that

Hashem swore to your ancestors, [promising that] He would give it to them as long as

the heavens are above the earth [literally, as the days of the heavens upon the earth].

The Belzer Rebbe ztl explained that, just as it is possible for a tzaddikto both live in

this world and also sojourn in the upper worlds, so too is it possible for the tzaddikim

who have already ascended to the upper worlds to live here in this world. [This is the

concept of days of the heavens upon the earth.]

Rav Pinchas of Koretz said that ascending to perform unifications in the upper

worlds is not of the more challenging spiritual endeavorsit all depends on the degree

of a persons self-nullification before Hashem. For example, when a number of people

travel to a certain place, they all see the same sights in that place. This is likewise true of

a person who nullifies himself before Hashem by following after the model of a

particular tzaddik; he then merits to enjoy the same vision as that tzaddikand access the

spiritual attainments that the tzaddikdoes, since both of them are in the same place.

The Five Degrees of Self-Nullification

There are five degrees of self-nullification before Hashem: the first is in the

aspect ofMalchus /nefesh, and to come to it one must accept upon himself the yoke of

the kingdom of heaven [in the sense of fulfilling his duties toward G-d]; the second is in


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the aspect ofZeir Anpin /ruach, and it involves experiencing love and fear/awe of the

Creator; the third is in the aspect ofImma/neshamah, and it requires the nullification of

ego before Hashem to serve Him and observe His commandments [without personal

consideration]; the fourth is in the aspect ofAbba / chayah where one comes to a

nullification of reality, where one recognizes fully that nothing exists aside from

Hashem [but still there is some semblance of self that experiences this independent

recognition and an experience of reality which one knows to be something of an optical

illusion]; the fifth is in the aspect ofArich Anpin /yechidah, which is a state of completenullification, where there is no reality at all experienced beyond the reality of I am

Hashem your G-dboth absolute nothingness and the true Self. [ = / The

letters that express nothingness can be rearranged as I.]

This was always the way of the true tzaddikim in every generation, to ascend to

the upper worlds like a flame that rises and then returns. The tzaddikim ascended from

world to world through the power of these five degrees of self-nullification, and it was

through such efforts that they were considered the true and faithful servants of Hashem.

Every single person has some mission to fulfill in this world, and it is theconsciousness of his uniqueness and his particular part to play in the greater scheme of

thing which tends to prevent him from really nullifying himself before Hashem. Since

the person feels a drive to manifest the full potential of himself, his / I, he feels it

necessary to assert his self rather than transcend it. And although the assertion of the

unique mission of the self is not inherently wrong, people tend to go about it in the

wrong way. At its essence, the true self is a reflection of the Divine Self, and it is only

after a person goes through the process of the five degrees of nullification described

above that he can really come to reveal the unique nature of himself [his yechidah orhighest self] in a holy way. It is only after he has been through this process that he can

manifest the unique beauty of his true selfits reflection of the Divine Selfby

proving that he really is a faithful servant of his Master, a pure emissary of the Divine


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will. Then, as a matter of course, he will come to fulfill his true and unique mission in

the world without the negative admixture of ego.

This then is the concept of "" If only you listen When one

arrives at the aspect of the heel, one has already passed through all of the five books

of the Torah, has built the five spiritual vessels that they parallel, and drawn down into

them the five spiritual lights that culminate in absolute self-nullification. At this highest

level ofArich Anpin /Kesser, there is no sense of reality aside from the reality of the

Creator. Even though there is total unity between the self and the Source at the fourthlevel of self-nullification, at the fifth level of Kesserone no longer experiences a sense

of independent self at all. All of ones reality is the ultimate Source. When a person

reaches that point, he can be considered a true and faithful servant of his Masterthere

is no division between themand the servant begins to reveal Hashems glory

throughout the world. Then, Hashem your G-d will guard the covenant and

lovingkindness that He swore to your forefathers.

The Path to the Holy Land

Hashem longs to bring every single Jew to Eretz Yisrael, which is the this-

worldly representation of the fifth level of absolute nothingness/Self associated with the

sefirah ofMalchus. Every Jew has an aspect ofMalchus and a unique mission in this

world which is the unique beauty of his holy self. However, before he can reach this

state he needs to pass through the five degrees of nullification mentioned earlier: to

accept upon himself Hashems Kingship, to experience love and fear/awe of Him, to

nullify himself and his selfish interests entirely, to unify himself and everything with

Hashems unity as expressed in the Shema, and finally to experience the absolute reality

of Hashems uniqueness which is the aspect ofKesser.

This progress can be charted through the Divine service of the tzaddikwho rises

and enters into heavenly chamber after heavenly chamber until he is able to enter the

innermost sanctum. The tzaddik feels that by nullifying himself before Hashem, his

entire body and self becomes a vehicle to manifest Hashems mighty Presence. He feels


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that when Hashems light shines upon him he merits the fulfillment of the promise:

Hashem your G-d will guard the covenant and lovingkindness that He swore to your

forefathers. He recognizes Hashems lovingkindness, His chessed; that Hashem wants

to bestow on each and every one of us all of His good, bring us to the holy land, and

place the crown of kingship upon our heads so that we will be able to reveal His

presence in the lower worlds. For this is His desireto have a dwelling place in the

lower worlds. Every single Jew must prepare for Him just such an abode, and by doing

this he will come to fulfill his unique mission in the world.When a person feels bad that he hasnt yet merited to bring his own unique

mission to fruition, his feelings are justified. For every Jew is a prophet and messenger

of G-d to reveal His presence in the lower worldsbut he is not able to really fulfill his

mission unless he is fully incorporated into his Source and Sender.6

Whenever a person

wishes to accomplish some goal in this world independent of Hashems will, his actions

are counterproductive. He cannot achieve his desire unless he has already passed

through the five degrees of self-nullification which will result in the full incorporation of

his self into the Divine Self and will.

The Gift of Service

The Baal Shem Tov taught that every single letter of Torah and prayer

encompasses all of the worlds. From moment to moment, all of the five worlds ofAdam

Kadmon,Atzilus,Beriyah, Yetzirah, andAsiyah are revealed anew. The Toras Chochom

writes that every instant and every mitzvah are a new reality through which one must

ascend via the five degrees mentioned earlier. Even if a person hasnt yet merited to

bear this in mind when fulfilling mitzvos, it is nevertheless a fundamental principle of

Kabbalah that we are constantly in a state of rising from level to level and world to

world, and at each stage it is possible to repair all of the worlds below the one upon

which we are at the present moment. When a person resolves, from now on, to

concentrate fully on these five degrees during his fulfillment ofmitzvos, he can rectify

6SeeLikutei Halachos,Hilchos Shluchin 2


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all of his past observance that was incomplete. The main thing is to fulfill the principle

of the days of the heavens upon the earththat one must ascend from level to level

until he is encompassed within the light of the Kings countenance.

At first, such concepts appear to be so lofty and abstract that they have no

practical application. However, we find in the Tikkunei Zohar: There is a holy spirit,

about which it is said, My holy spirit that hovers over the waters of Torah 7 [This is

a variant on the beginning ofBereishis, where the spirit of G-d hovered over the

waters.] The tzaddikim left a holy spirit in their works, and even though they arebeyond our grasp, nevertheless they are bestowed with a spirit from above [which

permits us to bring these concepts into reality despite the fact that they are so far above

us]. This spirit is expressed in the verse, This is the gift of service that I have given

you as your priesthood8

Even though the acts of Divine service described above

definitely are part of a persons duties, nevertheless they are a kind of gift from the

Creator. The priesthood is associated with the sefirah of Chochmah / Wisdom, with

attaining a vision of the upper worlds. All genuine self-nullification is through the path

ofChochmah, the path of the priesthood, the gift of service I have given you as yourpriesthood. [Although it is something that is infinitely lofty, nevertheless it is given as

a giftwhich means that we have the ability to make use of it, each of us on his own

level.]

The Veil of Moshe Rabbeinu

And [Moshe] placed a veil [ ] over his face9 The word veil / is

a conjunction of two separate elements: " and " . The first term, " , alludes to self-

nullification and submission [the word itself means what], as in, And what are we

[that you should complain against us]?10 The second term, " , refers to the Divine

7Tikkunei Zohar120b

8Bamidbar18:7

9Shemos 34:33

10Ibid. 16:7


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Name HaVaYaHwhen it is vowelized with a cholem, tzeirei, komatz, tzeirei.11

[This

vowelization is referred to as " .] The numerical value of this vowelization totals 66,

the numerical value of " . [Each vowel point equals ten, and the komatz is like a

joining of a vav and ayud, which yields 16. Cholem is a single point (10), tzeirei is two

points (20), komatz (16), and the final tzeirei is two points (20) = 66.]

How does the conjunction of what ( " ) and the 66 ( " ) that form the word

veil relate to Moshe Rabbeinu? Moshe taught the Jewish people that when we want to

see and feel Hashems light, the main thing is to come to the state of and what areweof complete humility. The prime articulation of the Divine Name HaVaYaHhas a

numerical value of 45 = " .12 [ "+"+"+" = 45] This is meant to teach us

that spiritual growth [the revelation of the Divine Name] depends on the degree of a

persons self-nullification [ " ]. As the Maggid of Mezritch taught in the name of the

Baal Shem Tov, Hashems light only rests upon a place that is nullified before Him. In

proportion to his self-nullification and the degree to which he has transformed his body

into a vehicle for the Divine Presence does a person experience Hashems Shechinah.

However, after having come to this level of and what are we, one must attain the levelof the Divine Name in its " expression. The gematria of " is the same as the

numerical value of the NameADNIwith the addition of the kollel number [ " = 65 +

1 = 66] This is meant to teach us that the inner vitality of the five degrees of self-

nullification is the expression of the Divine which we callADNI. The vowelization of a

Divine Name always alludes to its inner essence. When one plumbs the depths of the

nature of the prime articulation of the Name [which comes to 45, as explained above],

one sees the NameADNI[because the " and the " go together].

This teaches us that the path through which the tzaddikim are able to embark ontheir journey of the five degrees of nullification is laid down by their vision of the

11The cholem is a long o sound; tzeirei is a long a sound; komatz is a diphthong which is a

cross between oh and aw.12

As explained in the Kabbalistic essay Psach Eliyahu from the Tikunei Zohar, which is a part

of the liturgy in some communities.


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beauty of the Shechinah and the revelation of Hashems Malchus in the world. [The

NameADNIalludes toMalchus.] It is always challenging for a created being to nullify

itself because of its sense of self and the aspect ofMalchus which is unique to it.

However, the true tzaddikwho realizes that the inner essence of the sense of self is the

aspect of the Divine Self that enlivens it is able to completely nullify himself before

Hashem in all five ways. By traveling the path of and what are we, he comes to

experience the inner essence and vitality of the Divine Name. And from experiencing

this vitality, he is further empowered to pass through all five degrees of self-nullificationand truly become absorbed by the Creator.

It is this humble consciousness of Hashems absolute presence that is expressed

in the injunction, I place Hashem before me always.13

This was the veil that Moshe

had upon his face at all times, and every tzaddikwho constantly nullifies himself before

Hashem reaches this level as well. He, like Moshe Rabbeinu, is a trustworthy servant

whose independent will is entirely subsumed by the will of his Master. There is no

division between the Sender and the emissary.

Every micro-element of the Torah, the details of its mitzvos, is encompassedwithin the Divine NameHaVaYaH[which comprises the five letter-elements that allude

to the five degrees of self-nullification]. The true tzaddikthat knows these pathways of

humility is therefore able to connect with the essence of the Torah and its manifold

mitzvos at all times, because they are all manifestations of Hashems Name in the world.

This is the inner meaning of the verse, What [ " ] does Hashem your G-d ask of you

but to fear Hashem your G-d14 What does Hashem ask of us? To attain this aspect of

and what are we. Then, as a matter of course, we will come to be encompassed by the

overwhelming reality of Hashems Self. When we reach such a point, we can fulfill the

entirety of the Torah every instant, with every experience and action, since we are fully

cognizant that every micro-element of the Torah and creation is only a veil that

conceals Hashems presence.

13Tehillim 16:8; See the opening segment ofShulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim

14Devarim 10:12


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This is what Rav Yaakov Yosef of Polonoye meant when he said of the Baal

Shem Tov: He fulfills the entirety of the Torah more completely with every puff of his

pipe than I have done throughout my entire life. This is echoed by the statement of the

Vilna Gaon, that a Jew can fulfill the entirety of the Torah through praying the morning

service a single time [properly]. He didnt mean to say this of the morning service

specifically; he meant to teach us that one can fulfill all 613 mitzvos from instant to

instant.

Pure Eyes

What [ " ] does Hashem your G-d ask of you but to fear Hashem your G-d

Our sages asked, Is fearing Him such a minor matter? Yet, for Moshe Rabbeinu, it is a

small matter15

When a person binds himself to Moshe the faithful shepherd and to

the holy works upon which the spirit of G-d hovers, he can come to fulfill the teaching

of living, as the days of the heavens upon the earth. He can come to fulfill, If only

[ekev] you will listenall of the five lights will be drawn down into the heels, the

lowliest of the vessels. The light ofyechidah will come to illuminate the lowest level of

Malchus.

Now that we see we are living in the time of, Why are the nations in an uproar?

And why do the peoples mutter in vain?16 [We are entering a period of international

conflict with the Jewish people at is focal point.] We must realize that the main

obstructing force of the non-Jewish nations is found in their ability to occlude the eyes

of holinessthe spiritual vision. My eye, my eye, drips water [tears over the

destruction of theBeis HaMikdash]17 This is all because the Jewish people have yet

to merit this aspect of holy eyes. When the eyes are pure and perfected, they are

referred to as grapes, and they parallel the sefiros ofNetzach and HodwithinBinah

that descend into the partzufofZeir Anpin where they assume the spiritual aspect of

15Berachos 33a

16Tehillim 2:1

17Eichah 1:16


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eyes. [One way to explain this very deep idea is that although the level ofNetzach and

Hod ofBinah is considered low on its original plane, when those two aspects drop

down, they manifest as a very lofty faculty of spiritual vision. There is a world of

difference between grapes and eyes, but their similarity of form is a symbol that what is

material on an upper plane is spiritual on a lower plane.] These grapes are the

aspect ofekev / the heel, since both words have the same numerical value.18

[ " =

" = 172]

This is the meaning of the verse, If only you will listen [literally, and it will bein consequence of your listening] If only [ekev] you will do the Divine service of

the heels and rectify your eyes. If you will rise to each degree of nullification, then

Hashem will safeguard the covenant and the lovingkindness that He promised your

ancestors. The beginning of it all is with the acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of

heaven, that one should feel incredible spiritual vitality from this acceptance of

Hashems yoke. This is really the most challenging thing for a person, to accept upon

himself Hashems yoke, because he doesnt realize the extent to which the Shechinah

rests upon a place of submission to Hashems will. And even if the person is still in asense in the outer courtyard of theBeis HaMikdash, the Shechinah dwells there too. Not

only that, but this lowest of levels actually includes the highest level within it in a

hidden way, as long as a person really does fully accept upon himself the yoke of the

kingdom of heaven. Then his eyes are opened, and he is able to see the Divine light that

is revealed there.

Afterward, the person must ascend from level to level, and each of them is an

evolving process of experiencing Hashems presence and feeling that He is drawing the

person closer and closer. He receives a new visionthis is the aspect of the grapesthat are the levels ofNetzach andHodwithinBinah that descend to assume the aspect of

eyes withinZeir Anpin. When a person is gifted with this new vision, he can truly be

said to have come to the level of, And it will be, if only [ekev] you will listen The

18Shaar HaPesukim, Vayeitzei


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phrase and it will be always indicates cause for joy [something to which we look

forward]. If only you will listen, there will be joy throughout all the upper worlds,

and Hashem your G-d will safeguard the covenant and the lovingkindness that He swore

to your forefathers.

True Love

We must be aware that until we come to nullify ourselves completely before

Hashem, we will not be able to rectify the sin of baseless hatred for which we were

exiled from our land. Without letting go of the self, it is impossible to really love ones

fellow Jew in the way that Hashem wants from us. He wants us to literally love one

another as we do ourselves, and to honor one another. The rebuilding of the Beis

HaMikdash depends on thisthat our love for one another should be as complete and

unconditional as was the love between David and Yonasan. The highest rectification of

all the worlds depends on this, and it is the foundation of the mitzvah, And you shall

cleave to Him19

The sages interpreted that verse to mean that one should cleave to His

attributes.20 Hashem Himself is like a burning fire; it is impossible to cleave to Him

literally. Yet when one follows His ways by developing fine and straight attributes, he

binds himself to Hashem. However, it is impossible to really do this until one has

subjugated his egoand that is only possible through passing through the five degrees

of self-nullification described earlier. When a persons process of divestiture of his ego

finally culminates in an experience of Hashems ultimate Self, he can begin to act

properly and nullify himself before his fellow Jews.

Anyone who wishes to serve Hashem must take a moral inventory every day

with regards to his interpersonal relations. If he finds a flaw, it is a sure sign that he is

still far from true connection with his Creator. Proper character traits and interpersonal

behavior only really take root in a person who can honestly say, like Dovid HaMelech,

19Devarim 10:20

20Bamidbar Rabbah 22:1


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I am a worm and no man, a reproach of man and despised of the people.21

[This is the

paradigm of abject humility.] The sages said of Dovid HaMelech that he so fully

honored every single Torah scholar he came across that he would kiss each of them

wholeheartedly. This is Hashems will, that we should honor one another, and it is really

something we can all achieve. The Baal HaTanya expounded on the verse, For this

thing [the Torah] is very close to you, in your mouth and your heart to do it.22 How can

the Torah say that it is an easy thing to accomplish? The Baal HaTanya explains that as

soon as a person attains the state ofbittul, of self-nullification, fulfilling the Torah anddeveloping good attributes becomes very easy. Good middos, character attributes, are

the foundation of the entire Torah, and when those are in place, fulfilling the Torahs

commands is not difficult.

The Baal HaTanya interprets an aggadata with a similar theme: Rabbi

Yochanan ben Zakai said [on his deathbed] that there are two paths before him, one to

paradise and the other to hell, and he does not know upon which he is being led23

Until a person develops good middos, it is possible that all of his Divine service is not

producing the end result that he assumes it will. After he finishes his time in this worldand is judged by the heavenly court, he will be filled with shame when he finally sees

that he never got around to repairing the roots of his own nefesh.

For this reason it is imperative that anyone who really wants to find favor in the

eyes of G-d and man should work on constantly fulfilling the mitzvah to place Hashem

before him always. He must ascend through the five degrees of self-nullification and

maintain a constant humble awareness of Hashems overwhelming and absolute reality.

Then he will have entered the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu, for whom fear of G-d really is

a minor matter that develops as a matter of course. He will let go of his self-absorbed

desire to accomplish his unique mission in the world, and in so doing he will rise to the

level of the faithful servant who accomplishes that same mission as the pure emissary of

21Tehillim 22:7

22Devarim 30:14

23Berachos 28b


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his Creators will. By revealing Hashem in the world, he magnifies His Kingship and

honor throughout all the lower worlds.

War of the Worlds

This is all the more necessary during the times in which we find ourselves,

when the nations are in an uproar and the forces of impurity abound. We must realize

that all of the wars and conflicts in the world are only outward expressions of our

inward battles. A person is microcosm that comprises every element in the universe, and

the seventy nations are the outward manifestations of the human tendency to strive for

self-aggrandizement and independent authority. Every person longs to attain an

absolutely independent existence and exert his influence and rulership in the world. This

is why the process of self-nullification before Hashem is so challenging, and why we

find it so difficult to subjugate ourselves before our fellow Jews.

The remedy for this is found in the continuation of the verse, Let us break their

bonds asunder, let us throw off their cords. He that sits in heaven laughs; Hashem has

them in derision24 The main remedy is holy laughterto realize that all of this

human self-absorption is nothing more than a joke. There is no reality at all other than

Hashem. By following the path of self-nullification, we will ascend to the highest levels

and merit to fulfill the entirety of the Torah and return to Hashem wholeheartedly. This

is the path of the truly wise: Chochmah / Wisdom is a conjunction of the terms "

" the power of whatthe spiritual vision that comes from attaining true humility.

Let Your Soul Know Wisdom

This is the meaning of: "" Let your soul

(nefesh) know (dei) wisdom (Chochmah)25

Lead the lowest aspect of your nefesh

ascend the degrees of self-nullification which is the path ofChochmah. And it will

be a crown (Kesser) for your headyou will come to the level of Kesser, which is

24Tehillim 2:3-4

25From the Shabbos zemerDror Yikrah, based onMishlei 24:14.


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what Hashem wants for all of us. He wants to uplift us. He wants each and every one of

us to connect with Him absolutely so that we can wear the crown of projecting His

Kingship throughout all the worlds.

This is alluded to in the verse, You shall remember all of the way that Hashem

your G-d led you these forty years in the wilderness26 Forty is the numerical value of

the word goel, the redeemer, [ " = 40] and it alludes to the holy and rectified self.

[We find that all spiritual gestational processes relate to forty: forty days of rain to

renew the world, forty days on Sinai to receive the Torah, forty years in the wilderness,forty days of initial gestation of the human embryo.] The truth is that Hashem wants to

reveal the unique aspect of self of the Jewish people. The word Yisrael itself is a

conjunction of the terms " and " existence and the 231 gates of the Torah. This

is why each and every Jew does have a unique sense of self. [He has a unique aspect of

Torah to reveal.] However, that self is rooted in the Ultimate Self, and so it is our task to

ensure that every revelation of our self is for the purpose of revealing Hashem in the

world. Through self-nullification, we come to truly unite and be encompassed within

our Source. Our middos, which are the true balance-scales for all of creation, are thenrectified and we are able to fulfill Hashems ultimate desire: that we love one another.

And you shall love your fellow Jew as yourself, I am G-d.27

Hashems presence rests

wherever true mutual love abides.

This is why the force of the sitra achra, the side of impurity, is mainly focused

on generating ill will among JewsWhy are the nations in an uproar? Our retaliatory

power lies, however, in our connection with holy laughterthe simple joy of

connecting with the single Source of all. Then it is no great challenge to act uprightly

and love our fellow Jews, and we then merit to sanctify His great Name in public.When a person acts properly, what do people say of him? Fortunate [literally, ashrei /

happy] is his father who taught him Torah, fortunate is his rebbi who taught him

26Devarim 8:2

27Vayikra 19:18


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Torah.28

Ashrei alludes to Kesserto having achieved the highest level ofbittul which

leads naturally to the sanctification of the Divine Name.

May Hashem make us worthy of sanctifying His great Name at all times, in all

places, and may we be graced with every good attribute. May we be cleansed of all of

the negative influences, traits, and desires of the seventy nations of the world. Then we

will, as a matter of course, merit to guard Your holy mitzvos as we should, illuminated

by Your light which is an aspect of, guarding Your holy Shabbos. May our eyes see

Your Kingship, with the coming of the righteous redeemer, speedily and in our days.Amen.

Translated and Adapted by Rav Micha Golshevsky.

28Yoma 86a


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Explorations in Tanya Chapter VI

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Sefer Tanya

Chapter VI

The Almighty has created one thing opposite the other The purpose

of human existence is to clarify the good from the bad within creation and uplift it to a

state of unity with Hashem. For this reason, Hashem created both good and evil, the

state of concealment and the necessity of spiritual labor. It is only by doing the work set

before us that it is possible for the complete light ofyichudto be revealed.

Just as the G-dly soul consists of ten holysefiros and is clothed in three

holy garments The holiness of the soul is the aspect ofAtzilus, and its three

garments of thought, speech and action parallel the worlds ofBeriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah.

So does the soul which is derived from the sitra achra of the klippas nogah,

which is clothed in mans blood... The seat of this soulthe lower nefeshis in the

liver, which is all blood; the seat of the ruach is in the right chamber of heart, while the

left chamber (also filled with blood) descends to the liver. [Note: These descriptions of

the organs make use of them as physical parables for inner states. The truth is that the

body is only a materialized mashal of the spirit in any case, but most people have a

difficult time grasping this concept.] Upon it is the garment of the animal soul derived

from the klippas nogah which is the root of all of the middos and the tendencies of the

nefesh.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains that when a person is hit with an

extraneous thought that he is unable to subduesuch as if he saw, against his will, the

form of a cross while he was in the middle of his prayer, G-d forbidhe should

disregard it completely and just keep on praying as if nothing had happened. The deeper

meaning of his statement is that sometimes a persons thoughts are not under his own

control, because thought, speech and action are the garments of the nefeshthey are not

rooted in the essence of the nefesh itself. But if the Atzilus aspectthe essence of the


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nefeshis itself not in a state of purity, then the garments are also not going to be so

refined. If the blood in the left chamber of the heart or the liver is not so pure, then the

klippas nogah that is enclothed upon it is certainly going to be full of impurities, and it

will instill all kinds of thoughts that are impure within the persons mind. For example,

if a person is not careful enough about the kashrus of his food, he will find his mind

beset by heretical thoughts, G-d forbid. And even when he is careful about kashrus,

there is still a mitzvah to sanctify ourselves within the bounds of that which is permitted;

each person must strive to sanctify himself in accordance with his own level.Consist of ten crowns of impurity. These are the seven negativemiddos

which stem from the four negative elements mentioned above, and the intellect that

gives rise to them which is subdivided into three: wisdom, understanding and

knowledge, the source of themiddos, for themiddos are according to the quality of

the intellect. A child desires and loves petty things of inferior worth, for his

intellect is too immature and deficient to appreciate things that are much more

precious. He is similarly provoked to anger and vexation over trivial things. This is

also true of boasting and othermiddosThere are ten sefiros of the sitra achra that are the inverse parallel of the ten

holy sefiros; Amalek is the opposite ofDaas, and the seven middos are the opposites of

the seven Canaanite nations. The truth is that, within a Jew, even the seven lower

middos are not entirely negative; it is only that they come from the klippas nogah

[which is an admixture of good and evil and requires a great deal of refinement]. If a

Jew falls into sin, G-d forbid, he lowers the middos into complete evil, but he also has

the ability to uplift them to holiness. For example, he can transform the trait of anger by

using its passion to infuse his prayers with fervor, and so on. This subject will be

discussed at length in the next chapter ofSefer Tanya.

Now these ten unclean aspects, when a person meditates in them or

speaks them, or acts by them, his thoughtwhich is in his brain; and his speech

which is in his mouth; and the power of actionwhich is in his hands, together


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with his other limbsall these are called the impure garments of these ten

unclean aspects in which the latter are clothed at the time of the action, speech or

thought

The G-dly soul enclothes itself in holy garmentsthe Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah

aspectsby engaging the powers of thought, speech and action for Torah study and its

fulfillment. In this way, Beriyah-Yetzira-Asiyah are uplifted to Atzilus. Similarly, the

animal soul which parallels Malchus dAtzilus is also garbed in thought, speech and

action when it descends to the worlds ofBYA. This parallels the teaching of the Arizal,that when the Shechinahi.e.Malchusis in exile it descends to the worlds ofBYA.

When a persons thoughts, words and deeds are not lshem shomayim, he enclothes his

nefesh with a garment from the aspect ofklippas nogah, which will need to be repaired

later on. If it is not repaired, the klippos will be able to draw energy from it.

It is these that constitute all the deeds that are done under the sun,

which are all vanity and striving after the wind, as interpreted in theZohar,

Parshas Beshalach, in the sense of a, ruination of the spirit [ruach]. So, too, are all

utterances and thoughts which are not directed towards G-d and His will andservice. For this is the meaning ofsitra achrathe other side, i.e. not the side of

holiness. For the holy side is nothing but the indwelling and extension of the

holiness of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He dwells only on such a thing that

abnegates itself completely to Him. It is either actual bitul, as in the case of the

angels above, or potentially, as in the case of every Jew down below, having the

capacity to abnegate himself completely to the Holy One, blessed be He, through

mesirus nefesh for the sanctification of G-d

The Baal HaTanya writes that he was taught by the Maggid of Mezeritzch that

Hashem bestows His Shechinah by way of the sefirah ofChochmahthe ""

which is bitul, the power of what/nothing. [As in, What are we?] If a

person is not able to nullify his ego before Hashem, then the Creator does not bestow

His presence upon the person in a revealed manner. Holiness is proportionate to the


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degree ofbitul, and the extent ofbitul is what allows us to know whether what we are

seeing is from the side of holiness or not.

[The Torah says of Bilaam, Falling and with eyes open The Vilna Gaon

explains that Bilaam had prophetic insight by way of the klippah called

he was only able to achieve the open eyes of prophecy by falling. Even in his impurity

and klippah, he could only see after having fallen to the smallness ofbitul. There is no

hashraah, no bestowal of any spiritual influence for good or ill, without the recipient

abnegating himself.]All the while that a person is at the level of the acceptance of the Divine yoke

he is struggling to fight against the lower impulses of his body and is learning and

praying beyond what his body is really capable ofhe is receiving an infusion of

energy from above. This is the level of the world ofAsiyah. The angels exist in the

world ofYetzirah where bitul is actual, and that is the world where love and fear of G-d

are revealed. Each persons level is contingent on the degree ofbitul that he is able to

achieve, fired by his self-sacrifice for G-ds service.

The essence of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov is that all of the secrets ofthe Arizal are active within the individual soul. On the personal level, all concealment of

the Divine presence and tzimtzum is known as, gilui hayeishthe assertion of the

ego. Holiness, on the other hand, is Chochmahayin and bitul, when the individual

nullifies his ego before Hashem. The Arizal discusses the downward-development of all

of the worlds, and on the personal level these are stages of assertion of the individual

ego. The purpose of existence is to return and uplift everything to its source, and reveal

again the point of origin, which is ayinto reveal that all of creation and the individual

is naught, and there is only the light of Hashemsyichud.

Yet if the purpose is the return to ayin, why was it necessary for Hashem to

create all that exists, theyeish? It is only because the revelation of Hashemsyichudis

greater when it comes from within the creation. This is what is known in the Avodas

Hakodesh as, the lofty purpose [ ]that all individuated creation is


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ultimately to be nullified within the absolute unity of G-d, to a greater extent than could

have been possible prior to creation.

This was the purpose of the tzimtzum. There is a revelation of G-dliness until the

end ofAtzilus where the light ofyichudshines. In the lower three worlds ofBeriyah-

Yetzirah-Asiyah, independentyeish begins to assert itself, and so there is not a revelation

of G-dliness. Through Torah and mitzvos, it is possible to reveal G-dliness and unify

BYA with Atzilus. The effect of this is the demonstration that even when G-dliness is

concealed inBYA it is still there, otherwise it would not have been possible to unite itwithAtzilus. Torah and mitzvos reveal that the Divine light is here as well, even in this

place where material existence appears to be independent from G-dliness.

It is to this dichotomy of concealed and revealed that the Gemara refers when it

teaches that, in this world, we recite one blessing over the good and another on the bad,

but in the future world we will only recite, He Who is good and does good. The nature

of the future is the revelation that all evil and concealment and yeish was only a failure

to see the truth: that G-d was always good and was always doing good, even in the

depths of our exile.The Baal HaTanya reveals here a teaching of the Maggid, from the Baal Shem

Tov, that Elokus is only revealed in the place of bitul, which is Chochmah. This

parallels the world ofAtzilus; even though there are created vessels in that world, they

are nullified to the Divine light that fills them, and so it is considered entirely Elokus.

In the lower three worlds ofBYA, the vessels assert themselves more and more and

appear to have independent existence, and they block out all of the revelation of G-

dliness. Where there is more yeish, ayin cannot be seen. This is embodied within the

animal soul of the person; it feels itself in any number of wayswhether it is

intellectual self-assertion [CHaBaD dklippah] or emotional and physical self-

absorption [the lower middos]and all of this needs to be refined and uplifted to its

source.


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Just as the flaws are varied, so too are the rectifications of those flaws. One

begins by exerting great effort in his Divine service, and also expending mental and

emotional force in hisbonenus, in contemplating G-ds presence in reality. This is the

force ofBinah. At that level, however, there is still an I who is exerting all this effort,

and so the pitfall is pride. Later, one comes to a degree of bitul and this is the level of

Chochmah. Nevertheless, because it is not constant, the ayin of Chochmah is always

falling to the yeish of self-awareness. As a person persists, he eventually comes to the

place of Kesser,, where his personal yeish and all the yeish he experiences does notblock the revelation ofElokus and ayin; quite the contrary, it helps to bring about an

even more powerful revelation of the Creators I.

That is why our sages have said that, Even when a single individual sits

and engages in the Torah, the Shechinah rests upon him, and, On each [gathering

of] ten Jews the Shechinah rests, always

This is true of a full quorum of ten even if they are not learning Torah, because

the very gathering of a minimum community of Jews is fit to receive the Shechinah.

Together, they embody the entire structure of the ten sefiros. There is a revelation ofElokus whenever a mitzvah is performed, but the Maggid said that when ten Jews come

together, not even an angel can withstand the power of the holiness that inheres there.

However, that which does not nullify itself to G-d, but is a separate

thing by itselfi.e. because it has not yet clarified the klippas nogah that enclothes

the nefeshdoes not receive its vitality from the holiness of the Holy One,

blessed be He; that is, from the very inner essence and substance of the holiness

itself, but from behind its back, as it were, descending degree by degree, through

myriads of degrees with the lowering of the worlds, by way of cause and effect, and

innumerable contractions, until the Light and Life is so diminished through

repeated diminutions, that it can be compressed and incorporated, in a state of

exile as it were, within that separated thing, giving it vitality and existence ex nihilo


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[ ], so that it does not revert to nothingness and non-existence as it was

before it was created

When we see people speaking empty words and busy with empty pursuits in this

world, it is the Holy One that provides them with the life-force that sustains them; He

vitalizes absolutely everything, including them. However, this spiritual vitality only

reaches them by way of the enclothing of the Shechinah within klippas nogah.

And He drove the man outThe Holy One drove Adam out of Gan Eden

into this world. When a person forgets about Hashem, he is in a state of geirushinexile and divorce from the Divine presence. When he begins to think about the Creator,

he again ascends back to the aspect of Gan Eden. But guarding the way back to Gan

Eden is the flash of the revolving sword; this is the spiritual force within the human

mind that prevents a person from being able to focus his thoughts on Hashem for any

real length of time. Every Jew needs to really hold himself firm in order to maintain

dveikus against the confusing effects of that obstacle.

Consequently, this world, with all its contents, is called the world of

klippos andsitra achra. And this is why all mundane affairs are severe and stronglynegative, and wicked men prevail, as explained inEitz Chaim, Shaar 42, end of

Chapter 4

There are those who use phrases like, The sitra achra did this and that, and it

is very important to clarify that the sitra achra does not do anything that was not done

by Hashem Himselfthere is nothing but Hashem, no other force at all. What we call

the sitra achra is the back sideis Hashems way of conducting everything that

exists in a concealed manner. Only in Atzilus is G-dliness revealed fully; when the

downward descent of vessels and further revelations ofyeish come to the point called

the other side, His influence appears to be coming through a completely independent

side. This is an illusion, an effect of the great concealment at those levels.

Even so, it is our duty to make distinctions between good and evil; we cannot

blithely say that everything is good and everything is from Him, because when


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distinctions are not made a person can fall into terrible sins and errors. Havdalah is

therefore the primary avodah; one must know that there is holiness, and there is its

opposite. Rav Tzaddok HaKohen and others explain that the blurring of distinctions is

what leads both great and lesser people to sin. Those who take up the study of Kabbalah

are at risk, regardless of their spiritual level, of focusing on the concept of ein od

milvado in an improper way that does not acknowledge the concealment that does exist

at this point. The knowledge that there is nothing but Hashem cannot serve as an excuse

for abandoning the avodah ofhavdalah, of making necessary distinctions between goodand evil. The sanctity of the Torah is rooted in this havdalahright and wrong, pure

and impure, kosher andpasul.

The innermost mystery of the Torah is certainly yichud, and this is where the

temptation lies. There is a serpent that lies in wait to draw vitality from the mistakes that

people make in their grasp of this yichud and their failure to make the necessary

havadalah. The blurring of the lines is how even great people can fall into the most

grievous of sins. The klippah of Bilaam and all sorcery draws its energy from this

failure. This is why the Baal Shem Tov taught that havdalah must be accomplishedbefore one can do the work of hamtakah [sweetening or tempering of negative into

positive]one must first subdue the evil and only afterward perform the work ofyichud

and the pursuit of feeling true kedushah. It is a corruption of kedushah when a person

mouths that, everything is Elokus, while gorging himself because he hasnt yet done

the avodah of uprooting his tendency to gluttony.

[Note: To be sure, there are contained in it (this world) the ten sefiros of

the world of Asiyah of the side of holiness, as is written in Etz Chaim, Shaar 43.

Within these ten sefiros of Asiyah are the ten sefiros of Yetzirah, and in them the ten

sefiros of Beriyah, and in them the ten sefiros of Atzilus, in which abides the light of

the blessed Ein Sof. In this way, the light of the blessed Ein Sof pervades this lower

world through being clothed in the ten sefiros of the Four Worlds, namely those of


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Atzilus, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, as explained in Eitz Chaim, Shaar 47, Chapter

2, and in Sefer Hagilgulim, Chapter 20.]

This means that the light of the Creator really does exist even in this world, and

nothing could exist without receiving a constant infusion of vitality from Hashem. The

distinction is that His light is concealed by this world.

However, theklippos are subdivided into two grades, one lower than the

other. The lower grade consists of the threeklippos which are altogether unclean

and evil, containing no good whatever. In the chariot of[the prophet] Yechezkelthey are called whirlwind, great cloud, and so on

The whirlwind is what a Jew encounters when he wants to begin to serve

Hashem. All of the sins that he did in the past then come like a whirlwind to confuse

him; its as though a tornado is going through his mind and he cannot think about

Hashem or learn or pray. He feels sucked into his past sins completely; it is only when

he manages to really repent his deeds that his mind starts to clear.

Even then, another klippah is still upon himthe great cloud. He might be

thinking about Hashem and have started to serve Him, but he is still covered by a darkcloud. He is like a person stumbling in the dark, and he is not illuminated by G-ds light

and vitality. And above that is yet another barrierthe flashing fire. This is the stage

when a person is filled with fiery enthusiasm for avodas Hashem and it seems to him as

though he is already completely clean and devoted to Hashems service. The truth is,

however, that he is still filled with other kinds of fire as wellhis anger bursts out at

times on others, and he is constantly furious.

When he continues to do further teshuvah, he eventually reaches the klippas

nogah, which will be more fully examined in the coming chapter. Even though he hasnt

yet become worthy of complete holiness, nevertheless he has left behind his really

severe sins. It is only that his mind is not yet always focused on serving Hashem. As he

progresses in his teshuvah his thoughts and speech and actions become more refined and

focused on G-d. This is why even great tzaddikim worried that they were in klippas


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nogahthere really is a great light there and a degree of holiness. Even if ones prayers

are inspired and his Torah study is infused with spiritual vitality, he can still be in the

state of nogah. The one way to know if he is free from nogah is by examining his

relationships with other Jews; if he really loves his fellow Jews and has no complaints

against anyone, and if he is surrendered when relating to others, it is a good indicator

that he has moved on from nogah.

Eretz Yisrael is particularly suited for helping a person leave the klippas nogah

and feel Hashems light, and the holiness of Eretz Yisrael exists perpetually, even now.It is, the land upon which the eyes of Hashem your G-d are, from the beginning of the

year until the end of the year. A Jew living in Eretz Yisrael has the potential to reach

profound levels ofyirah, so that he really feels as though he is standing before the King.

All areas outside of Eretz Yisrael are called, the lands of the nationsthere is an

impurity upon them that makes a person forget Hashem. Even so, it is possible for a

person to purify the areas outside the land by thinking constantly about Hashem, and

this paves the way spiritually for Eretz Yisrael to spread outward throughout the world

in the ultimate future. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov states that just as one must never losehis focus on his tefillin, so too must a Jew constantly keep his mind focused on the

holiness of Eretz Yisrael.

From them flow and derive the souls of all the nations of the world, and

the existence of their bodies, and also the souls of all living creatures that are

unclean and unfit for consumption, and the existence of their bodies, as well as the

existence and vitality of all forbidden food in the vegetable kingdom, such asorlah

and kilayim [mixed agricultural species] of the vineyard, and so on, as explained in

Eitz Chaim, Shaar 49, Chapter 6. [It is also the derivation of] the existence and

vitality of all actions, utterances, and thoughts pertaining to the 365 prohibitions

and their offshoots, as is explained there [inEitz Chaim]at the end of Chapter 5.

If a person eats forbidden foods, he clothes himself with the three completely

impure klippos, G-d forbid. The Rambam writes in his letters that when you see large


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numbers of Jews abandoning the Torah path, G-d forbid, it is because they have been

tainted by forbidden foods. [Note: This is because forbidden foods have a spiritually

coarsening effect on Jews, which make them less receptive to holiness.]

We similarly find that there are two basic stages to bris milah: the cutting and

the turning back of the foreskin. The cutting parallels the excision of the three

completely impure klippos; the milah itself provides the baby with the power so that

when it grows it will be able to overcome the three klippos. Theperiyah, however, is the

rending of the finer membrane [by retraction of the skin to expose the corona], and thisparallels the klippas nogah, which is far finer than the first three klippos. The periyah

provides the baby with the power to overcome the klippah force within those things that

are permitted [so that he will not be a naval breshus haTorah]. This parallels the life

of a fruit-bearing tree; during its first three years, the fruit cannot be eaten at allit is

under the influence of the first three klippos. The first three cannot be transformed; they

can only be avoided, or cut away. During the fourth year, the fruits are entirely holy

they are to be brought up to Yerushalayim where they fuel the praise and thanksgiving

that is offered to Hashem. That fourth year parallels nogah, because the klippah can becorrected by uplifting the fruits to holiness, which is the aspect of Eretz Yisrael and

Yerushalayim.

Translated and Adapted by Rav Micha Golshevsky.

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