The Fundamental Components of Existence

The Fundamental Components of Existence:
Kedushah and Kelipah

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

All physical beings draw their vitality from one of two fundamental spiritual energies: Kedushah, holiness, or Kelipah, unholiness.

Kedushah is a spiritual energy that is in a state of bittul, submission to Hashem,[1] while Kelipah is a spiritual energy in a state of yeshus, a sense of ego that arrogantly declares “I exist” and denies the absolute reality of Hashem.

Although the Kelipah typically admits that Hashem exists, and even obeys His will in practice,[2] it feels itself independent from Hashem, and so it denies that He is the only true reality.[3]

Thus, the word Kelipah literally means “shell,” for the essence of this force is that it conceals the reality of Hashem just as a peel hides the fruit within it.[4]

Within the Kelipah itself, there are two general categories:

• The higher level of Kelipah, known as Kelipas Nogah, which constitutes a mixture of good and evil.[6] This is the source of the spiritual sustenance of all objects in the world that the Halacha (Jewish law) permits one to use.

• The lower level of Kelipah, known by the collective title of Shalosh Kelipos HaTemei’os, literally, “The Three Impure Kelipos.” Aside from a minute spark of holiness hidden very deep down, this level constitutes total evil and selfishness, without any positive aspect. This is the source of the spiritual sustenance of all forbidden objects.

The Nefesh HoElokis, the Divine Soul, stems from Kedushah, while the Nefesh HaSichlis, the Intellectual Soul, and the Nefesh HaBehamis, the Bestial Soul, stem from Kelipas Nogah.[5]

More particularly, the Nefesh HaSichlis stems from a higher level of Kelipas Nogah, while the Nefesh HaBehamis stems from a lower level of Kelipas Nogah.[6]

Kelipas Nogah also acts as the intermediary between Sholosh Kelipos HaTemei’os and Kedushah.[7]

(For an earlier article on this topic, see here.)

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[1] Tanya ch. 6: “The side of holiness is nothing but the indwelling and extension of the holiness of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He dwells only upon a thing that nullifies itself to Him.”
[2] Ibid. ch. 24: “[The forces of Kelipah] are completely unable to contravene Hashem’s will, for they know and apprehend that He is their life and sustenance, since they nurture from the ‘hinder-most part’ of the blessed Supreme Will that encompasses them.”
[3] Ibid. ch. 22.
[4] Torah Ohr 61d. Sefer HaMa’amarim 5648, p. 220.
[5] Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Kelipas Nogah ch. 3. Tanya ch. 1, end; ch. 7. In some sources it is explained that the Nefesh HaSichlis and Nefesh HaBehamis are in fact one soul consisting of two components, the former being the higher component, and the latter, the lower component (Sefer Kitzurim, p. 81, cited in Tanya Betziruf Marei Mekomos, Likkutei Pirushim, Shinuyei Nuscha’os, chs. 1-28, p. 37). See also Likkutei Torah, Tetzei 37d, which states that “human intellect” comes from the Nefesh HaBehamis.

[6] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5700, p. 93.
[7] Tanya ch. 37.

This post was dedicated by ovi mori, Reb Kasriel Oliver and family in honor of the yohrtzeit of Yehudis bas Dov Ber on 3 Adar.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Modeh Ani: Inviolate and ineffable

Modeh Ani: Inviolate and ineffable

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

As mentioned in a previous article, in Modeh Ani, the Neshamah’s essence—“ani”—becomes manifest. This is the soul-level of Yechidah, the Pinteleh Yid, the essential Jewishness within every Jew (for more on the Yechidah, see here). This level of the Neshamah is so pure and transcendent that it cannot ever become blemished or defiled, G–d forbid.

This also explains why Modeh Ani is said before we wash our hands with neggel vasser, when they are still ritually impure, for as the Previous Rebbe stated, “All the impurities in the world cannot contaminate the Modeh Ani of a Jew. He may be lacking in one area or another, but his Modeh Ani remains whole.”[1]

In the recital of Modeh Ani, the Yechidah is manifest, elevating the Jew above all the world’s temptations, sorrows, and impurities.

This[2] is the reason that no divine names are mentioned in Modeh Ani. It is not because Modeh Ani is less than other prayers, as one might have thought. On the contrary, in Modeh Ani we acknowledge and connect with Hashem’s very Essence, which is so sublime that it utterly transcends all limitations and cannot be “grasped” and revealed to us through any name.[3]

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[1] Sefer HaSichos 5703, p. 7. Hayom Yom, 11 Shevat.
[2] See Kuntres Inyanah Shel Toras HaChassidus, sec. 11, fn. 78.
[3] Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 80b. Cf. Zohar 3:257b.



Dedicated by Shmuel and Sara Rochel Markel in honor of the birth of their daughter, Yehudis bas Shmuel Leib. Yegadluha leTorah, lechuppah, ulemaasim tovim mitoch harchavah!

Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Chava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).




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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Balance in Chinuch

Balance in Chinuch

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Our sages say: “Avraham—Yishma’el emerged from him; Yitzchak—Esav emerged from him; Yaakov—his bed was complete.”[1] 

Chassidus explains that although Avraham’s avodah (divine service) was chessed, kindness,[2] and it was a pure and holy chessed, it lacked the balance that only gevurah, strictness, can create, and so it was susceptible to being overcome by its evil counterpart—unholy chessed. Likewise, the avodah of Yitzchak, pure and holy gevurah,[3] lacked the balance that only chessed can create, and so it was susceptible to being overcome by its evil counterpart—unholy gevurah (for more on the way attributes can exist in both a holy and unholy form, see here).

This is the reason that Avraham’s avodah was incomplete, and therefore Yishma’el, who personified evil chessed, emerged from Avraham. Likewise, Yitzchak’s avodah was incomplete, and therefore Esav, who personified evil gevurah, emerged from Yitzchak. Only Yaakov, whose avodah was tiferes, “harmony,” which combines and balances chessed and gevurah, begot children who were all righteous—“his bed was complete.”[4]

Chinuch (education)—and any relationship, for that matter—requires the unconditional love and permissiveness of chessed and the rigorous, harsh discipline of gevurah. But as valuable as each of these approaches is, adopting either one to the exclusion of the other is unhealthy. Although following the opposite approaches of chessed and gevurah simultaneously may be challenging, they must be both be incorporated—and carefully balanced.

Most people are naturally inclined to be lopsided in their approach—some incline to excessive chessed, others to excessive gevurah. We can learn from Avraham and Yitzchak that when one follows one’s nature and goes to extremes in either approach, failing to practice chessed when gevurah is necessary, and vice versa,[5] and failing to create the proper balance between these two approaches, it may well lead, despite all one’s worthy intentions, to a most tragic outcome, may G–d save us.

The parent and educator are faced with the task of going against their nature, and when necessary, practicing chessed despite their natural inclination to gevurah, or vice versa. Ultimately, they must strike a balance between chessed and gevurah, and in a way that is tailor-made for each individual child, and this is the key to their success in the chinuch of their offspring and students.

(Of course, all the above constitutes a very general statement. In any given chinuch situation one must assess how to strike this balance correctly, based on the general guidelines laid out in Torah, and the advice and guidance of rabbonim and mashpi'im, and that is a separate discussion.)

Adapted from the Alter Rebbe’s Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5a. Cf. Torah Ohr, Toldos 20c.

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[1] See Toras Kohanim on Vayikra 26:42.
[2] Avraham is associated with love and kindness, as it is written, “Avraham, who loves Me” (Yeshayah 41:9). Moreover, “The divine attribute of kindness said before the Holy One: ‘Master of the Universe, since the days of Avraham, I have not needed to perform my job, for Avraham serves in my stead’” (Sefer HaBahir 191, cited in Pardes 22:4).

[3] The Torah associates Yitzchak with holy strictness and fear, referring to Hashem as “the fear of Yitzchak” (Bereshis 31:42). 
[4] For more on this topic, see Zohar 3:179b; Torah Ohr, Bereshis 17c.
[5] See a teaching on this matter from the Previous Rebbe in Sichos Kodesh 5741, Vol. 2, p. 805.



Dedicated by Shmuel and Sara Rochel Markel in honor of the birth of their daughter, Yehudis bas Shmuel Leib. Yegadluha leTorah, lechuppah, ulemaasim tovim mitoch harchavah!

Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Chava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Yechidah: Suprarational stubbornness

Yechidah: Suprarational stubbornness

Rabbi Y. Oliver

The Jew’s bond with Hashem at the soul-level of Yechidah transcends intellect completely, even the intellect of the Divine Soul.

The Yechidah is also known as the “eisan of the soul.”[1] The word eisan means firm, for this level is firm and unyielding to any force that might separate the Jew from Hashem, G–d forbid. Of this stubbornness to obey Hashem the Jewish people are called “a stiff-necked nation”[2] in the positive sense.[3]

In the Hoshanos liturgy,[4] it is written: “It embraces and is attached to You, it carries Your yoke, the Yechidah to unite You.” This alludes to the qualities of the soul-level of Yechidah:

• “It embraces and is attached to You”: The core of every Jew, no matter who he may be, is connected to Hashem’s very Essence. This expresses itself in the Jewish custom to constantly thank and otherwise refer to Hashem, such as by saying “boruch Hashem.”[5]

• “It carries Your yoke”: Regardless of his external behavior, the Jew’s Yechidah naturally submits to and “carries” the yoke of observance of Torah and Mitzvos.

• “The Yechidah to unite with You”: On this level, the bond with Hashem is so deep that the Jew is even willing to give up his life rather than sin.[6] Of this the Alter Rebbe taught: “A Jew neither desires, nor is able, to sever himself from G–dliness.”[7] 

(For one way to reveal the Yechidah, see here.)

Based on the Previous Rebbe’s Ma’amar Hachodesh hazeh lachem 5685, pp. 16-17.

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[1] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5703, p. 73 ff. Igros Kodesh Admur HaRayatz, Vol. 3, p. 335.

[2] Shemos 34:9.

[3] Shemos Rabbah 42:9, cited in Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 123b.

[4] As recited on the third day of Sukkos.

[5] “Shem Shomayim shagur befi kol.” Cf. Ma’amarei Admur HaZaken 5565, Vol. 1, p. 12. Sha’arei Teshuvah, Vol. 1 8b.

[6] Tanya chs. 18, 19, 24.

[7] Hayom Yom p. 73.

Dedicated by Reb Shmuel Leib and Sara Rochel Markel in honor of the birth of their daughter, Yehudis bas Shmuel Leib. Yegadluha leTorah, lechuppah, ulemaasim tovim mitoch harchavah!

Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Jacob Ostreicher (Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

The Evil Inclination vs. the Bestial Soul

The Evil Inclination vs. the Bestial Soul

(Based on a maamar of the Alter Rebbe,

in honor of 19 Kislev)

Rabbi Y. Oliver

The Bestial Soul is also referred to as the Evil Inclination. In fact, in classical Torah sources, this soul is referred to as the Evil Inclination, and only at a later point did it also come to be known by the appellation of Bestial Soul.

An analogy for the place of the Evil Inclination in the Bestial Soul can be drawn from burning wood. Wood consists of a combination of the four elements of fire, air, water, and earth. Now, everything consists of a combination of two parts: chomer, the raw matter, and tzurah, the particular form that it assumes.

The primary chomer of a thing is the component that comes from the element of earth within it. This is the deeper meaning of the verse, “Everything came to exist from earth.”[1] In contrast, the tzurah stems primarily from the specific combination of three other elements—fire, air, and water.

In the wood, the chomer is the element of earth within it, while its tzurah is shaped by the specific combination of the other three elements. Since burning destroys the tzurah of a thing, when the wood is burned, the other three elements are separated from the wood, and only ashes—which come from the element of earth, which is the chomer—are left behind.

The distinction between chomer and tzurah also exists spiritually, and this sheds light on the nature of the Evil Inclination. This name is precise—the Evil Inclination, for this title refers specifically to the emotional expression and inclination toward selfish and even sinful desires, which, unless one exercises self-control, naturally culminates in the thought, speech, and action that consummate these desires.

In contrast, the essence of the Bestial Soul is beyond any inclination; it is not inclined to any particular, defined emotion, for by definition, an essence transcends particularities.[2] Rather, at the Bestial Soul’s essence lies the ko’ach hamis’aveh, the “faculty that desires,” which consists of an intense, primal, selfish desire as it exists in potential form—raw, simple, uncomplicated, and unformed.

Now, although an actual desire for the physical is unworthy, its core, the ko’ach hamis’aveh, is not fundamentally evil, for just as it was directed to physical pleasures, so can it be redirected to desire that which is good and holy—to yearn to connect with Hashem, as it is written, “My soul yearns for You.”[3]

This[4] is also the meaning of the verse, “You shall love Hashem bechol levavcha—with all your heart.”[5] Although normally translated in the singular, the literal meaning of bechol levavcha is “with all your hearts,” in the plural. What is the significance of this unusual expression?

Our sages explain[6] that this alludes to the two inclinations within—the good inclination and the evil inclination. The Jew should come to love Hashem not only with the good inclination—the Divine Soul, but even with the evil inclination—the Bestial Soul.

However,[7] in order to reach this love, one must first uproot the “filthy garments”—the selfish, indulgent desires for physical pleasure, permitted and forbidden, along with the thought, speech, and action to which they led. This is accomplished through genuine Teshuvah—sincere regret for one’s past behavior, and a firm resolution to change in the future. Teshuvah uproots one’s desires from materialism and redirects them to yearn for the realm of purity and holiness instead.

Based on Likkutei Torah, Chukas 56c-d.

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[1] Koheles 3:20.

[2] Cf. Imrei Binah, Shaar HaKerias Shema, ch. 8. Toras Chaim, Vayeshev 68a.

[3] Yeshayah 26:9. Cf. Tanya, Chinuch Katan.

[4] Cf. Sefer HaMa’amarim 5717-5718-5719, p. 389.

[5] Devarim 6:5.

[6] Berachos 26a-b.

[7] Cf. Sefer HaMa’amarim ibid., p. 388.



Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Jacob Ostreicher (Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Chassidus: A Philosophy and a Lifestyle

Chassidus: A philosophy and a lifestyle

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The derech of Chassidus consists of both a philosophy—“the study of Chassidus” and a lifestyle—“the ways of Chassidus” (see here). The two are more than necessary, complementary aspects of a Chassidic lifestyle—they are interdependent and inextricable.

The teachings of Chassidus inherently necessitate that one follow a Chassidic lifestyle, and so the lifestyle is the fulfillment of those teachings. Conversely, one who follows the lifestyle but neglects to study the teachings—of course, each person according to his or her individual level—will in one way or another be lacking in the lifestyle as well.

To explain, the core of Chassidus is to promote a pure belief in the unity of Hashem. Now, belief in divine unity is by no means a novelty of Chassidus. However, before Chassidus was revealed, divine unity meant that His existence is simple, a unity that transcends all parts. Moreover, Hashem is the only Creator—He doesn’t share His control over the universe with any other force, nor does He have any helpers, and therefore one’s prayers should be directed to Him alone.

Yet according to this worldview, the world exists. True, it exists because Hashem created it, but now that the deed is done, the world is in fact real. But Chassidus takes divine unity further, teaching that not only is Hashem the one and only deity, but He is the only being in existence. In reality, “ein od milvado”—nothing beside Him exists.

(This statement raises many questions, naturally, such as 1. How can Chassidus declare that the world doesn’t exist if the Torah says that Hashem created the world? 2. How can I reconcile the belief that only Hashem exists with my tangible observation of the vast array of multiplicity in the world? 3. Doesn’t the Torah itself recognize the world’s existence by requiring that we keep Mitzvos with physical objects according to certain physical specifications? And so on.

Suffice it to say that these and many other questions on this matter are discussed in Chassidus, and the one who truly seeks Hashem will not suffice with reading almost glib, “standing-on-one-foot” summaries of this incredibly profound concept, for after all, the entire corpus of the literature of Chassidus Chabad comes to explain this teaching, and so the serious student will fulfill his duty to learn. In any case, addressing these questions is beyond the scope of this article.)

One who learns and understands to a significant degree that only Hashem exists reaches a certain inner awareness of this fundamental truth, and this spurs him to desire to live a very different kind of lifestyle from one who lacks this sensitivity. When one realizes that only Hashem exists, and this is in fact the core of the entire Torah, then an onus lies on the person to live a lifestyle that reflects that belief.

According to Chassidus, this is the meaning of the Torah’s mandate,[1] “All your actions should be for the sake of Heaven”: Bring consciousness of Hashem and the devotion to serve Him to permeate every single aspect of your life—without exception. Thus, the Jewish people are called “one nation on the earth,”[2] for our mission is to bring consciousness of Hashem’s oneness down into the mundane world, and into every aspect of it.[3] Then Hashem is not only one in theory, but also in practice.

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[1] Avos 2:12.
[2] Shmuel II 7:23.
[3] Cf. Tanya 114a.


Dedicated in honor of the wedding of Shmuel Aaron ben Liba and Malka Aida bas Devorah Forshner on 8 Elul, 5772.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel (Jacob Ostreicher), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Iskafya: Ploughing the inner soil

Iskafya: Ploughing the inner soil

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

(For earlier articles on this topic, see here,  here, here, and here.)


(In this recent article, we discussed how tremendous effort is required to go from love for the physical to love for Hashem. This article develops that theme.)


What is Iskafya? Iskafya means that when your heart craves a material pleasure, you tell yourself “no.” You restrain yourself, and you don’t do it.


G–d forbid, there is no emotionally unhealthy, masochistic desire here to bring oneself to suffer for the sake of suffering. (If there is, such a person shouldn’t be engaging in Iskafya.) On the contrary, a Jew should serve Hashem with joy, and Chassidus rejects the approach of bringing afflictions (“siggufim”) upon oneself as an atonement for one’s sins.[1]


Rather, true Iskafya stems from a profound desire to bond with G–dliness, and the knowledge that in order to reach this goal, one must give up worldly pleasures to a significant degree.


The Torah instructs us, “All your actions should be for the sake of Heaven.”[2] This means that when a Jew engages in the material world, he shouldn’t do so in order to satisfy his physical desires, or even to provide for his basic needs and survive (although it is indeed necessary). Rather, he should do so for the sake of serving Hashem—e.g., he eats and drinks in order to have strength to study Torah and davven; he pursues a livelihood in order to provide his children with a pure Torah education, give charity to the poor, support Torah study, and so on.


Now, when one craves something physical, that means that he wants it for himself, for his own egotistical enjoyment and pleasure, and not for the sake of Hashem. And so giving into this desire will strengthen his ego, and make him that much less receptive to G–dliness. Conversely, by engaging in Iskafya and restraining oneself from indulgence, the Jew makes himself that much more receptive to G–dliness.


We can understand this from an analogy. In order for plants to grow, a farmer must plough the soil. This softens it so that the seeds deposited on the soil can germinate and grow into a plant. In contrast, a seed sown on hard soil cannot grow. The more the soil is ploughed, the softer it becomes, and the more easily the seed can take root, thrive, and produce fruit.


So, too, hidden in the heart of every Jew lies a priceless treasure: The ahavah mesuteres, a natural love for Hashem that stems from the Neshamah, which is “literally a part of Hashem above.”[3] But in most of us, it is deeply hidden by the negative spiritual forces of Kelipah, of concealment of the divine, and to be more specific, by the coarseness of the Bestial Soul within the person, which stems from Kelipah.


How do we break through this coarseness, this spiritual blockage, and enable the Neshamah to emerge? By working on the avodah of Iskafya. Each time we practice Iskafya, we weaken the Bestial Soul. Just as ploughing loosens the soil and enables the seeds to grow, so does Iskafya weaken the Bestial Soul so that the ahavah mesuteres can come to the fore. (On the topic of eliminating coarseness and removing spiritual blockages, see here. As for the way to approach Iskafya in practice, and which areas it is preferable to focus on, see here.)


However, Iskafya itself does not reveal the ahavah mesuteres. Rather, it humbles the person and prepares one’s heart so that during Tefillah, the heart will be truly receptive to the various steps in the process of Tefillah (see here), until one reaches love of Hashem.


To be sure, the Jew who engages in Iskafya probably already feels love for Hashem to a significant extent, for it was this desire to connect to G–dliness that motivated him to engage in Iskafya in the first place. However, by engaging in Iskafya and actually davvening with that extra sensitivity, with Hashem’s help, he will reach a far more sublime level of love for Hashem.

Adapted from Likkutei Torah, Masei 96d. 

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[1] Tanya, Igeres HaTeshuvah ch. 1. Cf. Hayom Yom 28 Shevat.
[2] Avos 2:12.
[3] Tanya ch. 2, beg.



Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


Dedicated by avi mori, Reb Kasriel Oliver and family, as a merit for imi morosi, Chana Feigeh bas Reizel (aka "Zippi"), on the occasion of her 60th birthday, tzu langeh, gezunteh, zisseh yorn, filled with material and spiritual success and prosperity.




Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Avodah: A Tough Job

Avodah: A Tough Job

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The purpose of a Jew’s life is avodas Hashem. The word avodah has multiple meanings. The most basic meaning is sheirus, to serve Hashem like a servant serves and prepares things for his master, similar to the expression, “I was created to serve my Maker.”[1] Thus, the word avodah means service.[2]

However,[3] the Hebrew word avodah also has a different but related connotation. It is etymologically related to the word ibud, “processing.” This involves taking a coarse, unusable substance, and treating it in various ways until it is refined and usable.

The classic example of this is taking a smelly, foul hide of an animal, and investing the tremendous effort necessary to treat it using many and various treatments until it is converted into leather. Then not only can it be used for constructive mundane purposes, it can even be used for holy purposes, such as parchment for Tefillin and the like.

Likewise, the Jew must engage in avodah in the sense of processing a coarse substance—taking the gashmiyus and the chumriyus (see here) of his body, his Bestial Soul, and the world around him, and fighting and struggling with herculean strength, even in the face of tremendous adversity, to reject the chumriyus and refine and transform the gashmiyus into a vessel for spirituality and G–dliness.[4]

The[5] extent and nature of the effort required to accomplish this transformation varies greatly, depending upon the person’s individual level and life circumstances.

Just[6] as processing hides involves transforming a substance from one extreme to another, so are we to transform the Bestial Soul from a desire for worldly pleasures to the other extreme—love of Hashem.[7]

Furthermore,[8] the hide resists being changed into leather, because one wants to change it into a state completely different from its natural state. So, too, the Bestial Soul naturally resist one’s efforts to transform it, and this necessitates avodah—tremendous effort to go against one’s nature.[9] And yet this resistance is in fact positive, because otherwise we would not need avodah—toil to change the Bestial Soul, and Hashem wants this task to require effort.

This[10] analogy, which emphasizes the need for toil, also implies that it is insufficient to serve Hashem out of fear alone; fear of Hashem does not necessarily require toil, for some people possess a natural fear of Hashem.[11] In contrast, love of Hashem always requires effort to evoke;[12] thus, true self-refinement requires developing both fear and love of Hashem.

Moreover, the hide is hard, and so processing it involves crushing it in order to soften it, and then it can become leather. Likewise, a Jew should engage in Iskafya, lit. “subduing”—going against his nature and crushing it.[13] This softens his personality, fulfilling the directive of our sages, “One should always be soft like a reed, and not hard like cedar.”[14]

This[15] analogy also expresses to the emotional difficulty involved, for the task of processing hides is degrading. Thus, we find that “One may not appoint a king or a high priest who was a tanner [one who processes hides]; since this task is degrading, the people will deride them.”[16] Likewise, the task of transforming the body, the Bestial Soul, and the outside world, will involve enduring unpleasantness and degradation.

A[17] Jew who struggles to overcome his nature is called an oved Elokim, a servant of Hashem. The use of the word oved in present tense implies that this expression refers to one engaged in a constant, lifelong battle with the evil inclination.

Why[18] is the specific name of Elokim used in this context? Because Elokim, which has the numerical value of hateva, nature,[19] is the divine name that creates the natural order. And when a Jew toils to change his own nature within, this has an impact upon the cosmos in general, such that he “processes” and refines the natural order as a whole, which stems from the divine name of Elokim.[20]

Moreover,[21] ultimately, investing the tremendous effort required to refine the physical elevates the Jew to a state of bittul bimetzius, complete submission to Hashem. This means that not only the Neshamah, but even the Bestial Soul and the body reach a state of bittul bimetzius, such that their entire being exists only to fulfill Hashem’s will. May we all merit to reach this level!


_______________________________________________________
[1] Kiddushin 82b.
[2] Hemshech Mayim Rabim 5636, p. 91.
[3] Torah Ohr, Bereshis 5b; ibid., Mishpatim 76a. Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2d.
[4] Hayom Yom, 17 Sivan.
[5] Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, p. 39.
[6] Ma’amarei Admur HaTzemach Tzedek, 5615, p. 266.
[7] Cf. Tanya ch. 17.
[8] Toras Menachem 5711, Vol. 3, p. 152.
[9] Tanya 118a.
[10] Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 4, p. 329.
[11] Kuntres HoAvodah, chs. 1-3.
[12] Of course, some may have to exert more effort than others—cf. Tanya ch. 42.
[13] Ma’amarim Melukatim, Vol. 2, p. 361.
[14] Ta’anis 20a.
[15] Sefer HaSichos 5751, Vol. 1, p. 158.
[16] Kiddushin 82a. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 1:6.
[17] Tanya ch. 15.
[18] Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 5, p. 138.
[19] Ramak, Pardes 12:2. Reishis Chochmah, Sha’ar HaTeshuvah, ch. 6, s.v. vehamargil.
[20] Cf. Likkutei Torah, Balak 73d.
[21] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5733, p. 377.



Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).




Dedicated by the Weinberger family in honor of the yahrtzeit of Melech ben Sara Masha a"h on 19 Tammuz.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Meraglim: Breaking Through the Resistance

Meraglim: Breaking Through the Resistance

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

“We cannot ascend to that people,” the spies declared, “for it is more powerful than us [mimenu].”[1] The Gemara states[2] that mimenu can also be translated “than He”—than Hashem.

The spies were not just delivering their conclusion from their intelligence report, and pronouncing that the land was too difficult to conquer in a natural fashion, through warfare. They were denying Hashem’s very ability to employ supernatural means to enable the Jewish people to conquer the Land. Even if He were to leave His vessels there, He would be unable to retrieve them,[3] the Gemara explains. They were uttering heresy.

Now, the spies were no fools. On the contrary, each one was the leader of his respective tribe, a personage of the utmost distinction and stature. Moreover, from all the Jewish people, they had been personally selected by Moshe Rabeinu for this mission, which required keen perception and shrewdness. So if they rejected Hashem’s ability to conquer the Land, they must, it would seem, have had what in their minds was a very compelling justification for such a dramatic statement.[4]

Yet the Torah relates that Hashem’s response was to castigate them, “How long will this wicked assembly provoke complaints against Me?!”[5] Hashem instructed Moshe to convey His rebuke and curse that on account of their spies’ sin, they and all the Jews who believed them would die out in the desert.

Moshe Rabeinu was not told to respond to the spies’ claim by discussing fine points of philosophy with them, and rationally disproving their misconceptions about Hashem’s powers. Moshe did nothing but scream at them and curse them, along with the entire Jewish people (besides the women and the tribe of Levi).

And yet the Torah relates that the next morning, the spies (and all the Jewish people) awoke early, and recanted their heresy,[6] repenting and confessing their guilt, “We are ready; we will rise up to the place of which Hashem has spoken, for we have sinned!”[7] Now, if they had believed that it was simply impossible to enter the Land, even through the greatest of miracles, why would the threat of death have changed their minds? After all, they had been so convinced that the attempt to conquer the thirty-one kings in the Land was foolishly suicidal that they had proclaimed their desire to ... return to Egypt, with everything that that entailed, rather than travel onward toward the Land!

The answer is that a Jew is more than his mind, known as the Nefesh HaSichlis—the Intellectual Soul. A Jew possesses a Neshamah, which is “a part of Hashem from Above,”[8] and this is his true, inner self, and the source of his faith in Hashem. Thus, the Jew’s faith is not external and additional to his being, a result of intellectual proofs; it is fundamental to his very being (see here and here). Jews are “believers, the children of believers”[9]—a Jew is born with a natural, inherent faith in the reality of Hashem and Torah.[10] Of course, a proper chinuch (education) is necessary, but this merely reveals his inherent connection with Hashem.

So what is the origin of the doubts that sometimes fall into a Jew’s mind? They stem from the coarseness[11] within the Bestial Soul. This soul stems from Kelipah, which is a negative spiritual energy that conceals G–dliness.

In a spiritually healthy Jew, the Bestial Soul willingly submits to the Neshamah’s influence, and thereby becomes elevated to serve Hashem enthusiastically. However, sometimes Hashem tests the Jew by granting the Bestial Soul the strength to challenge the Neshamah in order to conceal its powerful G–dly light. It can do this in many ways, but one of its tricks is to cast into the Jew’s mind doubts in his or her faith. “Maybe it’s not really true ... ” If such a thought enters one’s mind, one must expel it immediately, “with two hands.”[12]

If one sins and continues entertaining the doubt after it fell into his mind, then even if he doesn’t lose faith completely, G–d forbid, the doubt weakens his devotion and prevents him from serving Hashem with joy, for joy depends upon certainty, as the saying goes, “There is no joy like the removal of doubts.”[13]

Now, on its own, Kelipah cannot exist and sustain anything. Its only power to do so stems from the energy that it receives from holiness. And so in reality, nothing that receives its life from Kelipah has true substance.

Likewise, since these doubts emerge from the coarseness of the Bestial Soul, they too have no substance. Although they may vest themselves in apparently rational arguments, in reality they are nothing but the evil inclination in the clever guise of the philosopher of supposedly superior intelligence. Hashem tests every person on his or her level, and for some—and especially for the more intellectually inclined—the test of faith when it seems that reason dictates otherwise, is very difficult.

Chassidus provides the solution for these struggles. Be aware that not only is the Bestial Soul merely Hashem’s messenger to test the person, but it knows very well that Hashem is true; it harbors no doubts in faith at all. Rather, it is acting like a salesman trying to sell a gullible consumer a product that the salesman knows very well is faulty. No matter how convincing the salesman may sound, once you find out that it’s just a scam, you will ignore the salesman’s pitch, and tell him to take a hike. Likewise, Chassidus tips us off that the doubts we may have are not real, for every Jew believes in Hashem; rather, the doubts are nothing but a test from Above.

The Zohar[14] compares this (this was discussed in an earlier post here) to a king who has spent years inculcating his son with proper morals, and wants to test him in order to ascertain whether he had truly absorbed the king’s values. So the king sends a harlot to seduce the prince, and instructs her to “give it everything she’s got.”

On the one hand, she must faithfully perform her mission—to use her every wile to seduce the prince. However, inside she knows that in reality the king wants her to fail, and that only then will her mission have met with success. If, however, the prince succumbs to temptation, then the harlot has failed.

This answers the question concerning the spies. The spies’ doubts only seemed intellectual, but in reality these thoughts were nothing but the unrefined coarseness of the spies’ Bestial Souls seeking to topple them. And so Moshe Rabeinu rebuked the spies harshly, thereby breaking through the coarseness of the Kelipah, and revealing the spies’ Neshamos, which radiated the inner faith that had lain dormant all along, unaffected. No religious debates were necessary, nor would they have succeeded.[15]

So the proper response to doubts is not to address them head-on. Rather, do something tangible to purge the inner coarseness that is giving rise to the doubts.

Likewise, we find that (unlike the approach of many other well-meaning outreach workers) the Rebbe’s general approach to spreading Yiddishkeit is to avoid entering into debates and giving logical proofs. Instead, simply encourage a Jew to perform a Mitzvah. Every Mitzvah he performs breaks through his inner resistance, especially since it requires much inner effort for him to do so, and allows his Neshamah to emerge more and more. Then “One Mitzvah brings another in its wake,”[16] until the resistance is completely removed, and the Jew’s Neshamah comes into full blossom, with the Jew enthusiastically undertaking full observance of Torah and Mitzvos.

I will end with a story that illustrates the above lesson: The Rebbe once related that the Alter Rebbe once came into a shul in Shklov where many Jews had assembled to hear him, including several young Torah scholars who were skeptical about the teachings of Chassidus, and had prepared Talmudic questions to ask him. The Alter Rebbe sang a soul-stirring niggun (melody), and all the questions in the listener’s minds were answered. They ran toward the Alter Rebbe in their eagerness to become his disciples.

Adapted from Tanya ch. 29.

________________________________________________________
[1] Bamidbar 13:31.
[2] Sotah 35a.
[3] Bamidbar ibid., Rashi.
[4] The commentaries discuss what this explanation may have been, but in this article we will not focus on that point.
[5] Ibid. 14:27.
[6] According to the Alter Rebbe in Mei’ah She’arim 26a, at that point the spies had not yet died, and they took part in this collective renunciation.
[7] Bamidbar 14:40.
[8] Tanya, beg. ch. 2.
[9] Shabbos 97a.
[10] This is in contrast to even the most devout of non-Jews, and even one who qualifies as a “pious gentile” because he accepts Torah and follows the Noahide laws (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 8:11). Yet his or her belief in Hashem is not an inborn phenomenon, but a learned and acquired understanding (Kuntres Uma’ayan, p. 130) that is a function of his or her Intellectual Soul.
[11] In the Hebrew, “chumriyus”—see here.
[12] Tanya ch. 12. It is a sin to dwell upon a thought of idolatry or heresy: “Do not turn astray to go after ... your heart—this refers to heresy” (Sifri on Bamidbar 15:39).
[13] Quoted in Hemshech Mayim Rabim, 5636, beg. Cf. Metzudas Dovid on Mishlei 15:30. Toras Ha’Olah 1:6.
[14] Zohar 2:163a. Cf. Kesser Shem Tov #115.
[15] Our response to the wicked son on the Seder night is also harsh, and doesn’t actually address his question; this appears to be the explanation for this approach.
[16] Avos 4:2.



Dedicated by Tzvi and Yehudis Rona and family, as a merit for the yahrtzeit of Golda Ruth bas Moishe Tzvi Halevi on 22 Tammuz.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Shabbos: Utterly transcending the world

Shabbos: Transcending the world

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Our sages say, “He who toils before Shabbos, will eat on Shabbos.”[1] On the simple level, this means that in order to eat a ready meal on Shabbos, one should toil to prepare the food before Shabbos. But on the deeper level, this alludes to the relationship between the divine service of the weekdays and of Shabbos. During the week we prepare ourselves spiritually for Shabbos, and so the more one toils to accomplish the divine service required during the week, the higher the level of the Shabbos experience that follows it.


The main theme of Shabbos is menuchah, rest, as our sages say, “What was the world lacking [after the completion of the six days of creation]? Menuchah. When Shabbos came, menuchah came.”[2] Thus, the verse tells us, “And Hashem completed [His work of creating the world] on the seventh day.”[3] But didn’t He complete the creation on the sixth day, as it states concerning the sixth day in the previous verse, “And He completed the heavens, the earth, and all their hosts”? No, for in a sense, Hashem did create something on Shabbos—menuchah.


This is related to the intense divine revelation on Shabbos, for Hashem is called menuchah.[4]


To explain, everything in the world is in a state of constant movement, for it is fundamentally bound by the limitations of time and space. Time is constantly changing—the future is becoming the present, and the present is becoming the past.[5] And space too, which is fundamentally intertwined with time, also involves movement.[6]


Hashem, however, is infinite, and so He completely transcends space—He does not move from one place to another—and He transcends time, a construct that He created. Thus, Hashem is called menuchah, for in His Essence, He is utterly unchanging—the epitome of true menuchah.


We mentioned the verse, “And He completed [“vayechulu”] the heavens, the earth, and all their hosts.” Vayechulu can also imply kilayon, yearning,[7] for after He finished creating the world, on the first Shabbos, Hashem revealed the level of menuchah associated with His Essence, and this inspired all His creations with a yearning to rise up and reach this level of menuchah.


This also explains the deeper meaning of the weekly cycle.[8] In the daily Shacharis liturgy, we speak of Sunday as being the “first day.”[9] Since everything in Torah is precise, if so much time has passed since the first day of Creation, why don’t we count by the number of days since creation, or use some other more precise phrase when counting?


The answer is that since on Shabbos the level of Hashem’s very Essence shines, this elevates the world completely beyond its mundane state. Thus, on the following Sunday, the mundane world is indeed new, both in space and time, and so we start the count anew.


Likewise, on every Shabbos, the Jew who keeps Shabbos as is required is given the privilege to “eat on Shabbos”—to personally experience a special revelation from Atzmus, Hashem’s very Essence. This comes as a reward for his or her divine service during the week—“He who toils before Shabbos,” and renews and invigorates him physically and spiritually in preparation for the coming week.

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim 5722, s.v. Basi LeGani, pp. 132-133. 

______________________________________________________________________
[1] Avoda Zara 3a.
[2] Bereshis 2:2, Rashi.
[3] Bereshis ibid.
[4] Kesser Shem Tov §400-401. Likewise, Hashem is called Shabbos (Zohar 2:88b).
[5] Sha’ar HaYichud VehaEmunah ch. 7. Likkutei Torah, Berachah 98a.
[6] This is all the more so according to modern science, which teaches that nothing is truly stationary; everything in the universe is moving. Likewise, all matter consists of atoms and molecules that are in constant motion.
[7] Ohr HaTorah Bereshis 42b ff.
[8] Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 25a. Ohr HaTorah, Berachah, p. 1891. ibid., p. 1897 ff.
[9] “Hayom yom rishon laShabbos.”






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Matan Torah: Compelling Love

Matan Torah: Compelling Love

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The Divine Presence rests only in a place that is in a state of bittul, submission and self-nullification, to Hashem.[1]

This is true of any divine revelation, and so it applies all the more to the Giving of the Torah, which was the greatest divine revelation in history. In order to receive the Torah, the Jewish people had to be in a state of total bittul to Hashem.

Now, on one level, this bittul was accomplished through the suffering that the Jewish people underwent in the Egyptian exile, for suffering crushes a person’s ego, making him a vessel for Hashem’s infinite light.[2]

Likewise, we find that immediately before receiving the Torah, the Jewish people cried out collectively, “we will do.”[3] With this they dedicated themselves to Hashem from the very core of their beings, committing to obey Him regardless of what He might command (which they did not yet know, for He had not yet issued the Ten Commandments). They rose to a level of devotion and love for Hashem so intense and sublime that it was as if they had no wish of their own, for their only wish became to fulfill Hashem’s wish.

This is the level of bittul expressed in the analogy to an eved, a servant, who has no independent existence; his entire existence is devoted to obeying everything that his master commands him.[4]

After they reached the level of “we will do,” they merited “we will hear”—to “hear” and absorb the revelation of Hashem’s infinite light.

But how were the Jewish people able to attain such a lofty level of love for Hashem? Had they not only recently been delivered from Egypt, where they had in many respects assimilated with the Egyptians, and sunken to appalling depths of impurity? Indeed, the Zohar states[5] that they had sunken to the forty-ninth gate of impurity, and that when they were redeemed, they were on the brink of falling to the fiftieth and lowest gate of impurity, at which point they would have been irredeemable. At this point they were at the lowest level of divine service, and in a very spiritually immature state (see here concerning “mochin dekatnus”). How could they then “jump” spiritually from such depravity to such heights?

Moreover, how does the above explanation of “we will do” as meaning that the Jewish people received the Torah with total, unreserved eagerness fit with the Talmud’s statement that Hashem “forced the mountain upon their heads like a tub” and insisted that they accept the Torah?[6]

Chassidus reveals that although Hashem “forced” the Jewish people to receive the Torah, they did so not out of fear, but out of love.

Human nature is that “as water reflects a face to a face, so is one’s heart reflected back to him by another.”[7] The way feelings work is that we naturally reciprocate a feeling expressed to us.

Now, the more intense the feeling expressed, the harder it is to express a contrary feeling in return. This explains why an intense expression of love is usually reciprocated. However, at times one may express profound, heartfelt love to another, but still finds that it is rejected, or not sufficiently reciprocated. The reason for this is that for whatever reason, a certain part of the giver, and thus also of the recipient, was not involved in the love. However, if the expression of love is total and uncompromising, then it will be so powerful that it will “compel” the recipient to accept it, for it encompasses the recipient so utterly that he or she “cannot” reject it.

This might also be observed physically, when the one expressing love is overwhelmed with emotion to the point that he hugs his loved one so tightly that his entire back is embraced, and so the recipient of the hug is pinned in place, unable to move and turn his or her back to the lover.

This is the deeper meaning of the Talmud’s statement that Hashem “forced” the Jewish people to receive the Torah. Thus, of the Giving of the Torah it is written, “his right hand embraces me.”[8] Hashem “hugged” the Jewish people so tightly, as it were, that they could not turn their back to Him and reject Him. He revealed Himself to them with an ahavah rabah, a “great love”—a love so passionate that they were “forced” to respond in kind.

How did they respond in kind? They declared “we will do,” and thereby surrendered to Hashem with an absolute commitment, as explained.

This also explains how they could have “jumped” from the depths of impurity to the heights of holiness. As sublime as their love for Hashem was, it came through a revelation from Above, and not through their own efforts and merit. And so it didn’t matter that they had just emerged from Egypt; as they were, on their degenerate level, Hashem expressed His “great love” for them, and thereby elevated them to a sublime level of love towards Him.

Based on Torah Ohr, s.v. Chayav inish libsumi.

_________________________
[1] Tanya ch. 6; cf. ibid. ch. 35.
[2] Cf. Torah Ohr, Yisro 74a-b.
[3] See Shemos 24:7
[4] Tanya ch. 41 (57a).
[5] Zohar Chadash, Yisro, beg.
[6] Shabbos 88a.
[7] Mishlei 27:19.
[8] Shir HaShirim 2:6, 8:3.

This post is dedicated by Reb Kasriel Oliver and family as a merit for Rivka Reizel bas Hinda Zelda Bracha Tsap.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Purim: Seeing Through the Facade

Purim: Seeing Through the Facade

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

On Purim, we celebrate a very special kind of miracle. A “miracle vested in nature”.

“Normal” miracles jump in your face and jar you out of your sense of self and your default approach to the world. Normally, the external natural world cries out “I exist,” and only allows us to connect with the level of G–dliness that is vested within nature, which stems from the divine name of Elokim. Open miracles, however, virtually “force” us to acknowledge that right behind the Elokim-generated forces of nature lie the name of Havayeh, a level of G–dliness so sublime that it utterly transcends nature, and it even transcends the fundamental parameters of time and space.

(Of course, a true skeptic—one filled with blind faith in the powers of his puny intellect, and a passionate desire to reject anything and everything beyond it at all costs—will find a way to deny, dismiss, and belittle anything and everything that transcends nature. But “we are not speaking of fools.”[1])

Then there is a miracle that can be easily denied, or not noticed to begin with. One could fail to realize that this event involved divine intervention in the “normal” process of nature. This kind of miracle truly tests our faith, our inner bond with Hashem, our power to sense the absolute truth of G–dliness.

This is the lesson of the story of Purim. No dramatic splitting of the sea, flame without oil, or Golem here. Just a series of apparently fortuitous coincidences, any one of which alone might seem surprising, but still well within the realm of statistical probability.

And yet since the Jew’s special Neshamah stems from the name of Havayeh,[2] he has the power, if he so chooses, to see through the façade of Elokim, to see how in fact these were no natural events—this was the handiwork of Havayeh alone.

And this is what we celebrate on Purim—the Jew’s ability to see through the mask of nature[3] and see Hashem’s constant guiding hand. And not only in grand events of national significance, but even in his very own personal life—if he truly wants, he has the power to see how Hashem has guided him every step of the way, and how in fact, every single event in his life is truly from Hashem—and not only from Elokim, but from Havayeh.[4]

Certainly, when the Jew sees in his personal life a “coincidence” that some might attribute to chance, citing the all-knowing professors of statistics as their supposedly unimpeachable source, or at least to the cyclical rhythms of Elokim, the Jew knows the truth—that every single event in his life occurs by Divine Providence alone, and stems (not only from Elokim, but on a deeper level) from Havayeh.

So why did he, let’s just say, receive an e-mail from an old friend he had fallen out of touch with for years soon after he spent five minutes consciously thinking about this person for no apparent reason (as actually happened to me just last night)? The Jew knows that this was no fluke. Hashem wanted to show him a little glimpse of His Personal Providence by slightly removing the façade of nature for a brief while.

Then this experience shows him tangibly how mikreh—chance is rak meiHashem—only from Hashem.[5] His eyes are opened up (and perhaps this is one of the meanings of the Rebbe’s exhortation that we “open our eyes”) to see Hashem’s hand in every aspect of his life. And the more he searches earnestly for Hashem, the more he truly sees Him.

This endows him with the encouragement to approach even his daily mundane, apparently banal routine duties with joy and inspiration, knowing that Hashem—including the lofty level of Havayeh—goes with him always, even in the apparently negative events in his life (may Hashem spare us), and that only Hashem gives him the strength to perform acts of might.[6] And through this faith, “everything will become good on a revealed level as well.”[7] Kein tihiyeh lanu!

_____________________________________

[1] Bava Kama 85a.
[2] See the explanation and sources quoted here.
[3] This is one of the reasons for the custom to dress up in costume on Purim (Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, Eileh Hamitzvos, p. 293).
[4] Cf. Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh ch. 11.
[5] Sfas Emes, Parshas Zachor, 5632.
[6] Cf. Devarim 8:14-18.
[7] Tanya ibid.


This article is dedicated by Sholom Ber and Rochel'e Odze, l'ilui nishmas Yaakov ben Moshe (Jack Muchnik) a"h.


Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

The source of Jewish souls in the letters of Torah

The source of Jewish souls in the letters of Torah

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

(This is a continuation of the posts here, here, and here.)


The Jewish souls’ origin in Torah is also related to the letters in a Sefer Torah, which also number 600,000. Thus, the name “ישראל” is an acronym[1] for “יש ששים רבוא אותיות לתורה.”


The Neshamah of every single Jew stems from his or her corresponding letter in the Sefer Torah, which originates from the source of his or her soul in Torah above.


The Alter Rebbe asks:[2] Aren’t there far fewer letters in the Sefer Torah (to be precise, there are 304,805 letters)? He answers that the number of 600,000 includes the unwritten vowel sounds, each of which indicates a letter. For example, a komatz is an alef, a chirik is a yud, a cholam is a vav, and so on. However, we do not know exactly how to calculate which vowels are counted as letters in order to reach the number of 600,000.[3]


The Rebbe Rashab explains[4] that there are two kinds of letters: Letters of thought and letters of speech. When one thinks, one also uses letters, but these letters are far more abstract and spiritual than letters that come down in the relatively coarse medium of speech.


Likewise, the letters of Torah exist on both these levels: The letters of a physical Sefer Torah are comparable to Hashem’s letters of speech. But at the level of Chochmah of Atzilus, the Torah exists in the form of letters of thought. The Hebrew vowel sounds (Nekudos) are not necessarily written, but they allude to letters that one thinks. Thus, letters of thought include the more rarefied letters that relate to the Nekudos. And so on the level that Torah exists in Hashem’s thought, as it were, there are far more letters—altogether, 600,000. And since “The Jewish people arose in Hashem’s thought”[5]; i.e., the Jewish people stem from the level of Torah as it exists in Hashem’s thought, as it were, therefore the Jewish souls also number 600,000.


Moreover, just as thoughts are united with the thinker, so is a Jew united with Hashem by connecting with His thought. To explain, letters of thought are far more united with the soul than letters of speech; thus, although both thought and speech are referred to mere garments of the soul and not its essence, thought is called a “united garment,” while speech is referred to as a “separate garment.” Likewise, “The Torah binds the Jewish people with Hashem”[6] because the Jewish soul is rooted in the level of Hashem’s thought, which is united with Hashem in a far more complete way than the rest of the creations, which stem from Hashem’s speech, as it were.


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[1] Megaleh Amukos 186.
[2] Likkutei Torah Behar 41b, 43d.
[3] See the commentary of the P’nei Yehoshua on Kiddushin 30a, for additional solutions.
[4] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5663-5664, p. 309. Ibid., p. 131. Cf. ibid., p. 368.
[5] Bereshis Rabba 1:4.
[6] Zohar 3:73b.

This post was dedicated by Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaye Nechomoh), and by Yisroel Meir Raphael and family. Also dedicated by Yosef ben Chaim Goldenberg, now in the US Army; may Hashem continue to watch over him with many blessings and for a safe and healthy return to his family from Afghanistan.



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