I always thought that the angels were called the numerous above (המוני מעלה) and we down here were known as the group below (קבוצי מטה) and together, each in our rightful place we praise HaShem and say קדוש, kadosh. I understood that so many mistakes were made throughout history because we didn't understand or accept our place. Hassidut did a great service and helped us to realize that there is no better place to be than in the world, involved in Torah, Tefillah, and Mitzwoth. That is our job. (or to quote an 80s movie, Goonies, "it's our time, our time down here.")
Rav Avraham Azulai explains (Hesed L'Avraham 2:22) the secret on a deeper level: The "numerous above" are the souls of the Tzaddikim in Gan Eden who ride down upon the ladders created by the letters of new Torah being learned in the world in order to unite with those down here who are learning Torah. This joining of the Tzaddikim in shamayim and Bnei Yisrael in the world is exactly the right formula to complete the union of HaShem's dwelling place within the world. This is the secret of the המוני מעלה and the קבוצי מטה.
Showing posts with label shamayim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shamayim. Show all posts
28.11.07
4.11.07
clothes and stronger clothes
In yesterday's Tanya we learned that our mitzwoth are the clothes of our soul in the lower Gan Eden. In the Upper Gan Eden, the intentions, our love and fear of HaShem, with which we performed the mitzwoth are our clothes.
The Pri Ha'aretz might help us understand the ramifications of this a little. In parashath Hayyei Sarah, he explains that Avraham finally reached a level where he was untouchable by the Yetzer Hara. This level bears a little explaining: No matter how high a level we achieved yesterday, when the Yetzer Hara gets the best of us today, we will fall, and all of our previous level will be given over to the klippoth. So basically, the more we achieve, the more we feed the other side! We can't win!
The only way around this, he explains, is through attaining levels of emunah, pure faith in HaShem, and yirah, awe of HaShem's greatness. As you replace your performance of the mitzwoth for personal gain with your performance of the mitzwoth out of emunah and yirah, you free your mitzwoth of any foothold the Yetzer Hara might have. Once you gain no personal benefit from your actions, then the Yetzer Hara can't either. In the end, once all of your middot are perfected in this manner and turned to causes other than yourself, you are free from the stranglehold of the Yetzer Hara.
From here we can see the dynamic nature of the system and how our intentions in performing the mitzwah affect us on an even deeper level than the performance of the mitzwah itself.
The power of our mitzwoth are beyond compare. Even the simplest of physical actions, when elevated through the performance of a mitzwah, clothes our soul in the lower Gan Eden, allowing us to receive directly from HaShem's infinite light. Because these actions are still vulnerable to the Yetzer Hara while we are still in this world--as long as we derive some intended benefit from their practice--they have as well a spiritual weakness, and that weakness makes them over-sensitive to the greater divine illumination of the higher Gan Eden.
At the level of the higher Gan Eden, only the purest intentions that were clothed in our mitzwoth can offer us the necessary interface to fully receive HaShem's boundless radiance. This is because they are completely impervious to the taint of the Yetzer Hara.
The Pri Ha'aretz might help us understand the ramifications of this a little. In parashath Hayyei Sarah, he explains that Avraham finally reached a level where he was untouchable by the Yetzer Hara. This level bears a little explaining: No matter how high a level we achieved yesterday, when the Yetzer Hara gets the best of us today, we will fall, and all of our previous level will be given over to the klippoth. So basically, the more we achieve, the more we feed the other side! We can't win!
The only way around this, he explains, is through attaining levels of emunah, pure faith in HaShem, and yirah, awe of HaShem's greatness. As you replace your performance of the mitzwoth for personal gain with your performance of the mitzwoth out of emunah and yirah, you free your mitzwoth of any foothold the Yetzer Hara might have. Once you gain no personal benefit from your actions, then the Yetzer Hara can't either. In the end, once all of your middot are perfected in this manner and turned to causes other than yourself, you are free from the stranglehold of the Yetzer Hara.
From here we can see the dynamic nature of the system and how our intentions in performing the mitzwah affect us on an even deeper level than the performance of the mitzwah itself.
The power of our mitzwoth are beyond compare. Even the simplest of physical actions, when elevated through the performance of a mitzwah, clothes our soul in the lower Gan Eden, allowing us to receive directly from HaShem's infinite light. Because these actions are still vulnerable to the Yetzer Hara while we are still in this world--as long as we derive some intended benefit from their practice--they have as well a spiritual weakness, and that weakness makes them over-sensitive to the greater divine illumination of the higher Gan Eden.
At the level of the higher Gan Eden, only the purest intentions that were clothed in our mitzwoth can offer us the necessary interface to fully receive HaShem's boundless radiance. This is because they are completely impervious to the taint of the Yetzer Hara.
24.12.06
Maor Eynayim: Parashat Vayigash
Paraphrasing the Maor Eynayim:
This is all he says, he never really gets into why it is that Yehudah approaches Yosef. Yehudah represents Malchut, and Yosef represents the tzaddik. This coming close of Yehudah to Yosef describes a relationship between the Shechinah and the Tzaddik, but I don't know enough to understand it more deeply than that.
The Maor Eynayim might also be suggesting that just like HaShem brings together fire and water in the heavens, and all the worlds in man, that He is the force bringing Yehudah and Yosef together.
One last interesting point is that the same word Vayigash is used regarding Yaakov and the rock he rolls off the mouth of the well. Interesting parallel that Yosef is now the rock on the mouth of all the food of Mizrayim and Yehudah approaches him, to roll him off?
The Maor Eynayim asks what we can learn from Yehudah approaching Yosef, is the Torah just a bunch of stories? No. The Torah is fire, and like fire can't be held without the proper protective clothing, so too Torah cannot be held without the proper clothing. God clothes the deepest Torah in the stories. [btw Shlomo Carlebach said that sharing stories is a much richer relationship than sharing information.]
But, the Torah is also likened to water, he continues, and this is part of the deeper meaning of Shamayim, Esh u' Mayim (tans. Fire and Water) -- that God binds both fire and water to make peace and perform His will. The whole of the Torah is infused by the combination of Ahavah w' Yirah (trans. love and awe) , in illustration, we see that the gematria of the word torah is 611 leaving the last two mitzwot, loving God and fearing God, out because all the remaining 611 mitzwot need to be performed with both love and fear of God.
In the final step he goes on to add that Man is created by combining together all of the worlds. Just as, in the heavens God brings water and fire into united service, in the creation of man, He unites all of the worlds. This is important for us to remember because the moment we detach ourselves from this reality, and forget that it is God that binds all our forces together (even the spiritual and material) we are delving into idolatry. This is the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov (on וסרתם ועבדתם אלוהים אחרים in the second perek of shema) that the moment you 'turn away' you are already serving other gods. Even something as simple as moving our hands, who is it that's moving our hand? It is God's force flowing within us, that empowers us to move.
This is the intimate knowledge of the Tzaddik. God says that the Tzaddikim 'rule' him, because they can dissolve his decrees, and he upholds their decrees. Is it the Tzaddik's place to second-guess God? Of course not. Instead, if we understand the phrase more clearly מי מושל בי who rules through me? The Tzaddikim live with an awareness that it is God acting through them, so they are actually enacting God's will when they dissolve a heavenly decree.
This is all he says, he never really gets into why it is that Yehudah approaches Yosef. Yehudah represents Malchut, and Yosef represents the tzaddik. This coming close of Yehudah to Yosef describes a relationship between the Shechinah and the Tzaddik, but I don't know enough to understand it more deeply than that.
The Maor Eynayim might also be suggesting that just like HaShem brings together fire and water in the heavens, and all the worlds in man, that He is the force bringing Yehudah and Yosef together.
One last interesting point is that the same word Vayigash is used regarding Yaakov and the rock he rolls off the mouth of the well. Interesting parallel that Yosef is now the rock on the mouth of all the food of Mizrayim and Yehudah approaches him, to roll him off?
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