being the voice of the universe

Imagine every single object in your periphery declaring that HaShem is One all at the same time. Your desk, computer, chair, telephone, wallpaper, floor, door, assorted books, cups, etc. (Anyways, you get the idea.) That is what happened on Har Sinai -- only it wasn't just everything talking to you -- everything was talking to all 600,000+ of you at once, telling you all in no uncertain terms that there is only one God, HaShem. That's how the Tikkunei Zohar describes it. (it's quoted in today's Tanya, the 22nd of Adar) Imagine your own body telling you, your hair, everything. 

It seems to me that the beauty of HaShem's world is this: On Har Sinai, the whole world spoke up and told us that HaShem is One. From that time on, it is our job to give voice to the whole world, to unite HaShem's name in the world and proclaim HaShem's One-ness in the name of all the world.

How is it that we can give voice to the world? The Talmud explains that mankind is called the challah of the world. Challah is a special offering, a small quantity of any dough that is prepared is given to the Kohanim and is attributed Holiness, Kedushah. In a way this is similar to the kedushah of other such tithes, ma'aser or terumah, or even the first fruits and first born. What it means is that mankind represents the microcosm of the macrocosm. 

Another midrash describes a similar idea by saying that in order to create Adam, the first man, HaShem gathered dust from the four corners of the world. Astronomers and science fiction writers take great pleasure in pointing out that most of the heavier elements that make up the world around us, including our bodies are elements that were forged in the hearts of stars in the early universe. I don't think they've ever equated these two ideas from these two vastly different frames of mind. Adam's body [and soul too] was created from a gathering of a little bit of everything created. 

There are other midrashim that hint at the same idea, one example equating different parts of the human body with different animals, etc. Other parshanim explain (as we've mentioned in the past) that the Mishkan was a microcosm of both the world, and the human body, implying that the human body is a microcosm of the world. The Tikkunei Zohar goes into this in depth, explaining the metaphor pertaining to the various major organs.

In short, we here today, each one of us, is a microcosm, gathered from the furthest reaches of space and time, heaven and earth. We are the true testament to HaShem's Oneness. If HaShem wasn't One, how could a little bit of everything created be brought together into a single creation. 

On Har Sinai the whole world proclaimed it for us, just to bring the point home. Today, it is our job every time we say Shema Yisrael, (2 (3^*1) times a day) to embody the whole world, as its representatives.

HaShem Elokeinu HaShem Echad - Hear O Israel, HaShem created and sustains everything in creation, HaShem is One.

The whole world waits every morning and every evening to hear us proclaim this deepest truth, to fulfill its deepest purpose, to bear witness to the oneness of HaShem.^*2

This is also a good kavanah to have when you recite Perek Shirah, that all the animals of the world are waiting to praise HaShem, but they need you to give voice to their prayers.

notes:

*1 We say Shema Yisrael in the morning and evening prayers, and we are meant to repeat it (a third time) on our bed every night before we sleep.

*2 The Ramhal in his Da'ath Tevunoth explains that the whole purpose of creation is to make us aware that HaShem is One.

a holy remnant

Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 16) brings down something from the Midrash, that Rashi apparently quotes in his commentary on Bereishith: Man is the Challah of the world.

There is a mitzwah, whenever one makes dough, to take a portion of the dough and devote it to God. Were there a Beit HaMikdash at present, this dough would be given to the Kohanim, in our days we burn it till it is inedible so that no one else will benefit inappropriately from this Holy dough.

The Rabbis teach that Man's creation was HaShem separating Challah from the world. The earth and the water were mixed into a dough, and from that dough, Challah was taken, and into that Challah, HaShem blew a divine soul.

We are a portion of the world, set aside in Holiness by HaShem, since the time of its creation.

losing yourself in sleep

Reflecting on the Baal HaTanya's words from yesterday (see: say a little do a lot) he explains that we accept upon us the yolk of heaven in kriath shema, and then in the amidah, specifically when we bow down, we receive upon us the yolk of heaven in actuality.

Thinking about the times of day we say the Shema, the Baal HaTanya points out that the bowing down in the Amidah is the essence of actually receiving the yolk of heaven. So what happens when we say the Shema, essentially voicing our desire to accept the yolk of heaven, but then we don't follow through with the Amidah? Namely, when we say Kriath Shema before going to sleep.

If we pay attention to what the Baal HaTanya explained the answer is apparent: The bowing is where the acceptance happens. Bowing is a form of bitul, of belittling and nullifying ourselves before HaShem. What could be more nullifying and belittling than sleep? It is as if we cease to exist altogether.

In fact, one of my favorite midrashim comes to our rescue here. Midrash Rabba on bereishith explains that when HaShem created Adam, the angels couldn't tell Adam appart from HaShem. (Presumably since he was made in the image of HaShem) In the end, HaShem put Adam to sleep which made it clear to the angels that Adam wasn't HaShem, since HaShem never sleeps. Adam was nullified before HaShem via the vehicle of sleep.

So now we can look at the act of going to sleep in an entirely different fashion. Rather than going to sleep because we are exhausted, we can see going to sleep as an act of nullifying ourselves before HaShem. It is a testament to the fact that HaShem runs the world and when we sleep the world continues to exist and function. This is why we say Shema before sleep, to prepare ourselves for the awesome revellation of HaShem that happens in sleep even more than when we are awake and bowing in the Amidah.

If we recall a long time ago, we mentioned Rebbe Nachman's teaching (see: sleep: the answer to every question) brought down in the beginning of Likkutei Halachoth that through sleep we are nullifying ourselves before HaShem and that is why we awaken with new life, refreshed. In that Torah we learn that sleep is one of the biggest tikkunim, a powerful way to fix what we have damaged in the past. [to delve into this a little deeper see: sleep as daat instead of a disconnect]

Perhaps we can even touch the level of dying for Kiddush HaShem (in the name of HaShem) when we go to sleep as an act of bitul before HaShem. After all, chazal teach us that sleep is one sixtieth of death.

critters

The Noam Elimelech (Parashath Shemini) brings down a midrash that the Angels asked HaShem why he created the shratzim, insects and vermin? HaShem explained I created them for the prosecution. The Angels didn't understand so HaShem explained further: When the prosecution comes to claim that Bnei Yisrael doesn't deserve to exist, and that they shouldn't have been created, I will explain that the vermin also were created though they serve no purpose, so that's not a good enough reason why Bnei Yisrael shouldn't exist.

Now, perhaps we'll look at cockroaches, ants, spiders, flies, etc a little bit differently?

Personally, I try to learn something from the insects that invade my life. Ants are so dilligent they continue on with their task no matter whether they are succeeding or failing. Silverfish turn to dust when you kill them, to remind us that we are only dust. Flies can fly wherever they want and still end up deep in the refuse--so too, we Jews (who have the wings of Ahavah and Yirah) have to learn from them to use our wings to fly to the right and not the wrong places. Spiders could teach us a lot about patience. And so on.

of men and angels

The Ohr HaHayyim HaKadosh describes how when God created the angels he reversed the normal order of things specifically so that no one might think the angels had a hand in creating the world. בדבר ה' שמים נעשו וברוח פיו כל צבאם - In the word of HaShem the heavens were established, and with the breath of His mouth, all of their hosts. Normally breath is a precursor to speech, but in this case, even though the angels were created through his breath, God made His speech work differently, such that the speech came before the breath and not after.

Coincidentally, I learned a day earlier what the Baal HaTanya has to say in comparing the creation of men and angels in his Iggeret HaTeshuvah. (part 3 of the Tanya) He explains that while the angels were created through speech, the externality of God's will, man was created from the inner essence of HaShem's will. This can be seen by the phrase ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים - and He blew into his nose, a living soul. It is explained that to blow requires a much more earnest effort than the small amount of breath expelled in speech. (מן דנפח מתוכיה נפח)

According to the teaching of R' Avraham Azulai in Hesed L'Avraham: He explains that while the awesome holiness of the angels (and constant awareness of the divine presence) surpasses our own, only man can bring about the unification of HaShem with the world, and increase infinitely the influx of HaShem's blessing in the world.

Finally we need to connect this with the Midrash (Midrash Rabbah Bereishit) that when Man was created, the angels couldn't tell him apart from HaShem.

What does all this say to me?
According to the Ohr HaHayyim, HaShem went to great lengths to quell any confusion about the angels' involvement in creation. He didn't take them as a partner, rather He created all the world and everything in it, in order that we could be His partners, that we could be close to him. אשר ברא אלקים לעשות - which the Lord created in order to do. HaShem created everything exactly as it is, so that we, who dwell in the world of עשיה the world of doing, could complete it through our actions.

Rebbe Nachman explains that the paradox that gives us free will is completely beyond our understanding and is the very same paradox that prevents the angels from having free will. (and similarly is beyond their comprehension)

When it comes down to it, the creation of man is the unknowable essence of the creation of the world. As it is taught בראשית, for Israel which is called ראשית (first) the world was created.

the process of mind-opening and hitchadshut

When we journey back into the knowledge of our youth, there are, in a sense, gaping holes. It's hard for us to remember how we saw the world or what we understood at younger ages. That's because we are worlds away from that viewpoint now.

Rav Adin Steinsaltz once mentioned in a shiur I attended that a person is like a tree (or a building) the more we grow, the taller we get and the further the horizon recedes. Our world grows as our awareness of it grows. This is the difference between children and mochin d'katnut (small minds) and adults and mochin d'gadlut. (expanded minds) Our mind grows to encompass the world around us, the world we are aware of. The Tanya explains that children get very excited about relatively small things (a candy or toy) because their awareness, their mind, is small.

How does this happen? What is the process through which we grow our minds, through which we progress from mochin d'katnut to mochin d'gadlut? I mentioned in a previous post how Rebbe Nachman describes the teaching process. That a teacher pulls an idea into his/her mind, encompasses it, and then passes it into the (smaller) minds of his students by condensing it into something palatable by them. The process then repeats as he has emptied his mind of said idea, and has cleared room to digest another idea.

The Maor Eynayim explains that the same process happens on an individual level. When we are enlightened with some new understanding, it only stays with us for a short while, and then it moves on, returns to its source. The process of receiving that understanding, that knowledge, however fleeting it may have been, does not leave us in the same state we were before, instead it leaves behind an imprint or after-image. Here the Maor Eynayim reveals a great secret: That imprint becomes the empty vessel in which we may recieve a new idea/understanding. If we didn't have that imprint, we wouldn't have any empty space in which to digest the next idea that comes along. It is only through exploring each idea that we are able to perceive and digest the ideas that come after it. Still, each idea leaves us in short order, but the imprint left behind allows our intellect to grow and climb further, tackling ever-larger ideas.

My sisters used to play this computer game (I found a version of it here called Feeding Frenzy) where you are a fish that needs to eat fish that are smaller than yourself, if you try and eat a bigger fish, it eats you instead and you lose. As you eat the fish, you grow larger. The goal of the game is to grow until you can eat anything in the pond and nothing can eat you.

This fish game is the perfect metaphor explaining how our minds grow through digesting progressively larger and larger ideas until we reach a level of mochin d'gadlut where our minds can relate to and affect the world at large. The shocking discovery for me was still the chidush of the Maor Eynayim (in parashath Beshalah) that even as the ideas leave you, they leave behind the vessel in which you can contain the next idea. This is amazing because it parallels the creation of the world itself. God first removed (via a process called tzimtzum) himself (in a sense) to create a region that was empty, containing only an imprint of its former nature. This imprint was the vessel that would contain all of creation.

This also explains the midrash that before a baby is born he is taught all of the Torah and then is made to forget it. Now we can understand what the goal of such a phenomenon is. It is to leave behind the imprint of the Torah in the baby's mind, so that it can receive knowledge and wisdom from its parents after it is born. Without this imprint, this vacuum, the baby would have no vessel in which to receive knowledge.

[I just did my first siyyum of the Notzer Hesed, the Komarna Rebbe's sefer on Yirah based on the teachings of Chazal in Pirkei Avoth. May the imprint of the Notzer Hesed open my mind to greater knowledge of HaShem. And may all this learning about hitchadshut be in the merit of the refuah shlaimah (the speedy recovery) of my father in law Rav Meir Benayahu ben Victoria, Rav Elisha ben Miriam HaLevy, and Rav Binaymin Azriel ben Liba HaKohen]

labor on shabbath, angels or legions?

In the same shiur with R' Immanuel Levy, he posed this question: (posed by the MaBiT (I will have to find out exactly who he was))

Given that in the laws of Shabbath, if one performs the same מלאכה (work) twice (example: pruning two branches), one is only responsible to bring one offering (to atone for both of the acts); How is it that if someone performs a single act, which embodies two separate מלאכות (works), (example: (1)lighting a fire under a pot that is full of food which will now (2)cook.) how is it that he must bring two offerings? (one to atone for each) [paraphrased by me -- someone please. correct if I've made mistakes]

This question really bothered me. In the real world, we always see cases of people accomplishing multiple tasks with a single action. That is called acting efficiently and we hope that everyone does this as often and as much as possible. In view of this, why would the MaBiT be shocked that one action can have two resulting disparate benefits? He was a wise Torah scholar, far far far wiser than me, so how come I have no trouble with this statement, while he found it so difficult.

Here is my (some might say homiletic) interpretation:
The MaBiT (can be said to have) assumed that the acts of men are similar to angels--as we know angels cannot do two tasks on a single mission. Therefore, if men are like angels, we cannot be held accountable for multiple results of a single action. Instead we discover that we are more closely related to God than to angels: Just as God, with one word creates many things, so too does (God invest the ability within) man (to) perform multiple tasks with a single action. [If you have sharp eyes you may have noticed that the word for work on Shabbath מלאכה, actually contains the world מלאך, angel. The basis for such a question. The answer can similarly be found in the word מלאכה- which can be broken into מלא כה (full of "כה") when God tells Avraham that his children will be many like the sands, he uses the word כה. "Such" will be your children. כה יהיה זרעך. We are full of the speaking spirit (רוח ממללה) midah of God who says "such" will be this and that.]

it's the little things really, no.. really.

a long article on Dark Energy over at Scientific American, tells of how all the various processes that determine all of the universe as we know it may depend heavily on the existence of dark energy. (A weak force that pushes everywhere away from everywhere evenly.)

It's obviously cool to think of this as gevurah to gravity's hesed. Though, in a way, it seems more like in reality it is the reverse, dark energy has more in common with hesed. It is constant and it is weak but over time it will prevail. Whereas, the universal nice guy, gravity, actually is much more gevurah oriented. It's inexorable and crushes things down into black holes, given enough time; it is very strong (relative to dark energy) but it's forces peter out over time and distance.

There was a great article about how powerful gas jets from galactic centers and more generally galactic weather had a heavy impact on star formation in distant parts of galaxies, but I don't know what happened to that article. Here's a similar one. Here's some more explanation of how galactic weather affects star formation.

Similarly we are only beginning to discover how global warming trends can affect all manner of seemingly unrelated processes upon which we rely on a daily basis.

My point here is how little we know, and how much we have to learn about seemingly mild and gradual changes affecting the universe in a profound manner. Something I mentioned in passing in a previous post about breathing. Hesed is what really makes the world go round, not gevurah, but in our day to day interactions, it seems like the effects of hesed are little to nothing. Similarly, in the early universe dark energy had very little impact. Halfway through the present development of the universe, the subtle changes dark energy had wrought on the universe were already irreversible and the trend only continues in the direction of dark energy's continued and growing influence on the universe at large. (and perhaps even on a much smaller scale as the universe continues to develop.)

This is perhaps one of the reasons we have the midrash that God first created the world with midath haDin, (gevurah) and then added midath haRahamim. (by adding hesed) If we apply it to gravity and dark energy, we end up with the first half of the development of the universe being dominated by gravity/din, and then the second half being dominated by dark energy/hesed. Obviously, dark energy is still only a theory, but the nature of lengthening, the long line, is the nature of hesed, and the short line, contracting, is the nature of gevurah. [Similarly but along different lines, time dilation is closer to hesed, whereas length contraction shares more in common with gevurah.]

Anyways, what I was getting at was this: that as our understandings grow, much of what at first might seem either detrimental or ineffective will prove to be beneficial and crucial. (Another example would be oxygen; at very early stages of the development of life oxygen was life-threatening and corrosive, but as life developed it couldn't have continued to develop without embracing oxygen as a vital element in the generation of energy.)