This week has been a grueling muddle. One of those times where everything seems just a little bit challenging and every little event that pops up saps just a bit more of your quickly waning energy. And right in the thick of it, the Netiv Mitzwotecha (Emunah 4:4) reminds me of the basics:
When you are caught up in the middle of a throng of challenges, and you feel unequal to the task of overcoming it, the only way to raise up all those dinim is to shine the light of Torah on them. When we sit and learn and delve to the heart, the innermost part of the Torah through simply learning l'shma (loosely translated: for the sake of heaven) then the heavens open up and the angels ride upon the letters and words of our Torah like chariots, the inhabitants of the upper worlds rejoice, and the sweet warm light of Torah floods out upon all of our challenges.
Put simply, losing yourself in learning brings us back to basics, refocuses us, connects us with the truth once again. Just as HaShem has brought us this far, He will carry us further still.
Showing posts with label rahamim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rahamim. Show all posts
20.8.08
1.4.08
the judgement of the tzaddik is mercy
The Midrash speaks about how HaShem chose to create the world with Din, might and judgement, but saw that it couldn't stand so He partnered Rachamim, mercy, with it.
Many Hassidic Rebbes tackled the apparent change in HaShem's thought process, as if the Rabbis (chas v'shalom) were saying HaShem made a mistake. Of course He doesn't make mistakes, He's beyond time and infallible, so the concept of a mistake makes no sense in the context of HaShem. So what's the Midrash coming to teach us?
The Noam Elimelech has a unique take on this: He explains that there was no change, that the world still functions according to Din. But in order that the world would be able to exist, the Tzaddikim emerge in great Gevurah, great might, ascend to the root of all Din, and overcome and master the Judgement. Essentially the whole system works based on Gevurah or Din. Rachamim is the term for the victory of the Tzaddikim's Holy Gevurah over the natural Din HaShem bestowed within the system. This, he explains, is why the word 'partnered' (שתף) is used in the midrash as opposed to another word. HaShem allows the Tzaddikim through their great Holiness and desire to become partners in sustaining the world.
Many Hassidic Rebbes tackled the apparent change in HaShem's thought process, as if the Rabbis (chas v'shalom) were saying HaShem made a mistake. Of course He doesn't make mistakes, He's beyond time and infallible, so the concept of a mistake makes no sense in the context of HaShem. So what's the Midrash coming to teach us?
The Noam Elimelech has a unique take on this: He explains that there was no change, that the world still functions according to Din. But in order that the world would be able to exist, the Tzaddikim emerge in great Gevurah, great might, ascend to the root of all Din, and overcome and master the Judgement. Essentially the whole system works based on Gevurah or Din. Rachamim is the term for the victory of the Tzaddikim's Holy Gevurah over the natural Din HaShem bestowed within the system. This, he explains, is why the word 'partnered' (שתף) is used in the midrash as opposed to another word. HaShem allows the Tzaddikim through their great Holiness and desire to become partners in sustaining the world.
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