Waking up from dreams of redemption

Last Shabbath I was asked to give a dvar Torah, I'll try to relate it as succinctly as possible below.

R' Yitzhak Ginsburg says there are 10 dreams, dreamt by seven dreamers in the Humash. In our parashah (WaYeze) we see a number of those dreams: Yaakov's two or three (depending on how you count), and Lavan. In Each of the dreams as well as in every dream in the Humash, you see a clear direction and outcome. All of them relate to and bring closer the Redemption of Am Yisrael. Avimelech's dream protects Sarah Immeinu so that she can return to Avraham Avinu and give birth to Yitzhak. Lavan is told not to even speak any evil to Yaakov Avinu. Pharoah's dream and those of his servants lead to Yosef's freedom, provide for the entire nation during the drought, and set the stage for the eventual exodus from Egypt. Not to mention Yaakov's dreams in which HaShem explicitly promises the success of the Jewish People.

In short, there's is something inherent in the nature of a dream, any dream at all, that it brings us closer to the ultimate redemption.

When it comes to that redemption David HaMelech says in Tehillim, "Hayeinu k'Holmim" - we were as dreamers. The Geulah is not a dream, it is a state of being fully awake. The Galut is like a dream in retrospect, going through the darkness longing for something so ephemeral and distant, something we can barely imagine.

May HaShem fulfill the words of David HaMelech, that we may all awaken from these dreams of Geulah, may we experience the Geulah instead of dreaming of it.

king david as a posek

David HaMelech was a posek. At least according to Masechet Brachot 3b. It's an interesting insight, I never thought of that before, never considered that angle. In fact, I was about to ask why was David HaMelech a posek, when the Tanya (Igeret HaKodesh ch.29) answered my question before I asked it:

In it, Rebbe Shneur Zalman explains that the Oral Torah, through revealing the Divine Will hidden in the Written Torah becomes a crown for the Torah.

To me this connects all of the dots: The Oral Torah and speech in general is related to the Sefirah of Malchut, Kingship. So, it follows perfectly that David HaMelech, the King of Israel would be responsible to reveal the Divine Will inherent in the keeping of the mitzwoth as recorded in the Written Torah, through paskening Halachah, Oral Torah.

back to front

When confronted with the challenge of providing for the nation of Israel, David HaMelech suggests they go to war and live off the spoils. (Berachot 3a)

This troubled me greatly, not the thought of going to war and living off the spoils, but that the Chachamim of David HaMelech's time were insistent that the nation could not adequately provide for itself.

One potential answer comes straight out of the Torah, [see: the nerve of some people] where HaShem promises that there will always be poor in the land of Israel. (Devarim 15:11)

But this is the answer I came up with, after a few weeks of thought: (I ran it by Rav Yehoshuah Kohen and he there may be something to it, so I thought I would share it here.)

In David HaMelech's time, we lived according to the natural order, or in Kabbalistic terms, the Achorayim, (hindpart) whereby the world functions more or less according to science in the sense that the system is a closed system and its (essentially) a zero-sum game. In such a setting, as today, growth requires an ever increasing amount of resources and so, naturally, a growing nation cannot suffice to provide for itself.

Later however, in the time of Shlomo HaMelech, once the Beit HaMikdash was standing, this was no longer the case, as the world achieved its more ideal spiritual status of Panim (forepart, or face to face relationship with God) which entirely defies the classical scientific phrasing of the world as a closed system. As long as the Temple stood, the whole world received abundant sustenance from Jerusalem.

There's even perhaps a hint in the words of the Chachamim who made their case before David HaMelech, they said the mouth of a well cannot suffice to fill the well. In other words, rain is gathered from a large area to fill a well, not just the surface area of the well-mouth. This is very much the opposite of the truth in the time of the Temple, when the Temple itself suffices to fill the whole world with blessing.

the farsighted king

David HaMelech saw that in the end of days, we'd be left with only the three daily prayers as a means to truly experience HaShem. (Tikkunei Zohar 127b)

I haven't had a chance to look into what the commentaries make of this. But I like the way it stands on its own. God willing there will be follow-up posts on the topic.

the daily one hundred

I only just realized this morning that the essence of our tefillah, the central focus of our energies three times every day (and four or more times on chagim) during prayer is a collection of 18 (19) blessings.

I always related to the Amidah (aka. Shemoneh Esrei) as a unit. It was only this morning that I realized it is essentially 18 (19) unique blessings that Chazal lumped together intentionally.

This made me rethink the whole idea of a berachah. With some siyata d'shmaya, today before tefilla I happened to learn the three halachoth in Yalkut Yosef - kitzur Shulchan Aruch on the kavanah of berachoth. It made me realize that the essence of berachoth is the essence of tefillah. Every time we get to say a berachah it is an oppurtunity to tefillah and everything it entails.

Here are a few short details about berachoth that have accumulated in the attic of my head over the years:

1. a berachah literally entails a desire to draw HaShem into the world, make Him (figuratively) more imminent.
2. a berachah regarding some benefit (hana'ah) involves delaying our gratification (for the time we take to make the blessing) as a means of becoming holier through overriding our desires, even temporarily. (Rav Steinsaltz pointed this out to me.)
3. we are careful to make one hundred blessings every day. (attributed to David haMelech in the Talmud)
4. It is important not to say a berachah when there is no need. (since one mentions HaShem's name, which requires the appropriate honor and respect.)
   
5. It is important not to swallow or skip any letters or words of a berachah.

Two insights from the Noam Elimelech related to berachoth that I learned recently:
(1) Each berachah comes from and relates to a specific world, but the answering of amen after a berachah spans all the worlds. (He goes into a complex explanation of when we answer amen after our own berachah, namely when our berachah spans more than one world, otherwise one doesn't answer amen to his own berachah, unless he is the Tzaddik of the generation in which case all his berachoth span all the worlds.)

(2) The only berachah of Bilam's that persisted (kiyyum/kayyam) was the berachah of mah tovu, the reason according to the Noam Elimelech is because it was the only berachah that Bilam made with complete intent, ie. without any desire to curse Bnei Yisrael. The other berachoth were attempts at cursing Bnei Yisrael that HaShem altered and turned into berachoth. From this perhaps we can see that when a blessing is made with proper intent, HaShem gives His ok, His Amen, and it is a berachah that persists and takes on a life of its own.

the fixings of yesteryear

Today's Tanya makes a great if seemingly discouraging point: Our sins exist outside of time, which means that while in the past we may have made peace with them, they still exist in the present as if we had performed them this very second.

Ouch.

First off, this whole explanation is brought in the Tanya as a way of breaking yourself, intentionally, when you feel like you are distant and cold, when you can't seem to make a connection with HaShem.

So, let's try to envision this in a productive way that might be able to turn this teaching in a way that can inspire us and keep us from getting depressed about the idea of never being able to escape our sins.

In Iggeret haTeshuvah the Baal HaTanya explains that one can think of the six hundred and thirteen mitzwoth as strands of a greater rope that is our attachment to HaShem. Whenever we sin, we damage the related strand, and if our sin is repeated or done with particular disdain, that strand can be broken. No worries though, we still have 612 more strands holding us firmly to HaShem.

Still, because that strand is damaged, our relationship with HaShem is lacking something major. Let's just say it might only be one out of six hundred and twelve, but when each single strand gives us a connection and awareness of the infinite Creator, that's a pretty significant loss.

Also, because this rope links us and HaShem, it transcends time.

Taken this way we can look back on the Baal HaTanya's original comment and understand how it is that our sins are above time and each day, they may cause a lack in our relationship with HaShem anew. Until we retie that strand and re-strengthen it so that it cannot tear again, we run the risk of having to do Teshuvah over and over again. [Presumably this situation described above takes into account Teshuvah from yirah and not from ahavah, which is higher and reseals the breach as if it had never been.]

There remains one more question with our understanding of the Tanya, if it is that David HaMelech discusses this phenomenon as if he has to do teshuvah every day, we cannot assume he never did Teshuvah from Ahavah, but rather I will have to bring the Noam Elimelech to explain how David HaMelech, a Tzaddik, could say that about himself, despite his level.

The Noam Elimelech explains that normal people are bogged down with sin, all the while thinking they are tzaddikim, whereas the Tzaddikim find even their (own) most perfect deeds full of sin and lowliness so that every day the Tzaddik pursues HaShem with renewed intensity and increased vigor. This is a kindness because it inspires the rest of us to recognize our flaws and work to heal them. Here too, David HaMelech, by saying his sin is always before him, inspires the rest of us to seek out our sins and rectify them through ever greater efforts.

The upshot of the Tanya is, on a day where we feel a strong bond with HaShem, we don't need to depress ourselves with these thoughts, and we can safely ignore the Noam Elimelech being beinonim and not Tzadikim ourselves. Still, we can learn from the Tzaddikim that when we feel a strong bond with HaShem and great joy, that we should reinvest that energy into mitzwoth, tefilloth, and Torah study to let HaShem know we appreciate where we are, but we still want more!

a secret of dancing

At a simcha, (even moreso than a mundane gathering of a large group of Jews) the Shechinah is present. There is a tremendous ratzon from shamayim to entertain the ba'alei simcha and through them, the Shechinah, the dancing is a major part of this. When you realize that it isn't your energy you are dancing with, that you have the ability to become a kli, a vessel, to express this ratzon, to dance indefinitely, it is like giving feet to the Torah on Simchat Torah. And as chazal tell us, the Aron was nosei et nos'av. (the ark carried those who carried it)

[see Dixie Yid for a post about getting into the dancing]

the inside and the outside

Flowing with our previous Torah about David Hamelech's Derech differing from that of the Baal Shem Tov, I wanted to understand what connecting to HaShem is all about. It's a topic we've covered somewhat extensively but here we'll hopefully highlight a particular perspective.

We know that HaShem is described in two ways when regarding His relationship to creation. On the one side, He surrounds the world, on the other, he permeates it. These are two very different forms of relationship that only HaShem could pull off simultaneously.

It would seem that David HaMelech related primarily to the relationship of being surrounded by HaShem. The image of Succath David is a surrounding image. Being Hidden in HaShem's shade is likewise surrounding.

The Baal Shem Tov, from the other direction seems to want to embrace HaShem's permeating nature. He wants to be totally permeated by HaShem, filled to overflowing, wherever he may be in the world, without ever losing sight of this fullness.

This bears notice, when we relate to HaShem, which way do we relate? Do we want to embrace or be embraced? Or for the more demanding among us, do we want both at once?

Normally when we relate to HaShem it is either in the manner of ratz, running, or shav, returning. I don't know if it is fully clear which one relates to which relationship. It may not be set in stone.

I think there's a place for us to work towards and want both at once. To be at once overflowing with HaShem, and curled tightly in His warmest embrace.

the mountain came to the besht

Rav Ginsburg (Into to the Kabbalah of the Arizal p. 213) brings down that Mosheh Rabbeinu's level was such that he had to ascend the mountain (leaving the people behind) in order to completely cleave to HaShem. He then had to descend back down the mountain to bring HaShem's Word to the people.

He then explains that the Baal Shem Tov asked for a special gift from HaShem that he might be able to be totally connected to the world and to HaShem simultaneously, all the time. This was the difference in the Baal Shem Tov's relationship to HaShem.

I just wanted to interject that according to the Noam Elimelech, David Hamelech sought a slightly different outcome in his request of HaShem, he wanted to stay close to HaShem at all times, and that HaShem would come down to the people directly. [we mentioned this before]

learning from the master

We mentioned in the past that the Ohr HaHayyim explains that HaShem created all of the "construction materials" in the very first expression of the word בראשית. (Bereishith) Then he set everything up on the following six days, leaving everything unfinished, so that we could play our part and finish it.

This morning I was thinking about David HaMelech, he wasn't given permission to build the Beit HaMikdash, but he was promised that his son, Shlomoh, would be the one to build it. This is interesting, because he apparently takes a lesson from HaShem's creation of the world. Even though David HaMelech couldn't build the Beit HaMikdash, he gathered the construction materials that would be necesary in its making, so that Shlomoh wouldn't waste any time in getting straight to the building of it.

[When I was younger and came on trips in the summer to Israel, I remember thinking the Machon HaMikdash (the foundation that prepares the vessels for the Third Temple) was a little off.. but apparently they're just taking their lead from David HaMelech who was copying the original act of creation. May they be blessed in this world and the next.]