bereishit 1/15

The Torah portion Lech Lichuh

56. For there Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote: And not only their desire remains bound in their bodies, but also their father's desire, which is in them from the time of birth; because his father did not sanctify himself, this too is still bound in their bodies. And certainly, if they had seen all this, a great dread would have fallen upon them, for they would see how they stand on a low and degraded level. End of quotation. And in the holy Or HaChaim, at the beginning of the portion of Tazria, he wrote: And behold, at the time of insemination, our Sages, of blessed memory, said that according to the intention that the one inseminating intends, he will draw the soul to the offspring. If he thinks evil and defiled thoughts, he will draw an impure soul to the drop, and if he thinks in purity, he will draw a holy soul. And go and learn from the sons of the wondrous righteous man, King Hezekiah, peace be upon him, who married a prophet's daughter, and because the woman thought about the attendants of Merodach Baladan, she drew an evil soul to her two sons. If so, the essence of birth, which is drawing the soul to the fetus, is at the time of insemination, and prior to it, beforehand, for after the emission of the seed the power of the thinker, from whom the seed will come into being, has already preceded. And this is the statement of the verse, ‘When she inseminates and gives birth’: the verse makes known that the essence of birth is at the time of insemination, for when she inseminates she has already given birth, and what will be will be—whether a pure soul or not; and there is no hope of reversing what already is. And henceforth, the person's exerting himself regarding birth is at the time of insemination, for then is the essence of birth with respect to the soul, which is the essential [element] in the person; and the thing's coming into being and its origination, even though it is hidden, is called birth. End of quotation. And likewise in his words in the portion of Kedoshim.

57. Midrash Rabbah, Beraishis 62:2: All the reward of the tzaddikim is prepared for them for the future to come, and the Holy One, blessed is He, shows them, while they are still in this world, the reward that He will give them in the future to come; and their soul is satiated, and they sleep. Rabbi Elazar said: An analogy to a feast that the king made: he invited the guests and showed them what they would eat and drink, and their soul was satiated, and they went to sleep. So the Holy One, blessed is He, shows the tzaddikim, while they are still in this world, the reward that He will give them in the future to come; and they sleep, as is said: ‘For now I would have lain down and been still.’ Thus, at the departure of the tzaddikim, the Holy One, blessed is He, shows them their reward. When Rabbi Avahu was dying, they showed him thirteen rivers of balsam. He said to them: ‘Whose are these?’ They said to him: ‘Yours.’ He said: ‘These are Avahu’s? And I said: I toiled in vain; for emptiness and vanity I exhausted my strength. Yet indeed my judgment is with Hashem.’

58. The author of HaHafla’ah, of blessed memory, wrote in Panim Yafos (the portion Lech Lichuh): And the matter of Avraham and his descent to Egypt and Pharaoh’s plagues—and the fact that his tranquillity descended upon him—is brought in the Midrash as a sign for the children in their descent to Egypt with ten plagues and their emergence with great possessions. And like what our Sages, of blessed memory, said in Bava Basra, explaining ‘Walk through the land, along its length and its breadth’: so that it should be easy for his children to conquer. And so here Hashem acted even for times of distress; and just as the burden of the road was difficult for them, so it was with Avraham, for it was very burdensome to raise up the sparks that he took out with him from Egypt. And this was his intention that he should give him gifts, so that through this he would raise up the holy sparks. And Scripture said: ‘And he went on his journeys,’ etc., ‘until the place where his tent had been at the beginning,’ etc.: that he went and raised up all the sparks that he took out from Egypt, from level to level, until he brought them to his original level. And it said ‘also Lot,’ for he raised up with him also Lot and everything that was his. End of quotation. And in the book Ateres Tiferes, by Rabbi Chaim Sunani, of blessed memory, he wrote (the portion Lech Lichuh): Know that the principal descent of Avraham to Egypt was in order to gather the holy sparks that fell there from ancient times. And since he gathered the holy sparks, when he descended there through the power of his piety and his righteousness and his intentions—then the Holy One, blessed is He, raised him higher, higher, higher, and made his level greater still, because he returned the children to their Father’s bosom as at first. Etc. For blessing does not rest in the world except when feminine waters ascend; then masculine waters descend without measure or valuation. Therefore, because Avraham raised sparks of holiness, which are the mystery of feminine waters, he caused masculine waters to descend much more; for this reason he was very laden with livestock, silver and gold. End of quotation.

61. And as Rabbi Noson, of blessed memory, wrote in Redemption of the Firstborn (Halacha 5, item 29): that Avraham saved Lot, for this whole war was for this, because he foresaw that from him the birth of Mashiach would develop, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said on the verse: ‘I found Dovid My servant,’ etc. See there. And it is in Beraishis Rabbah 41:4: ‘Where did I find him? In Sodom.’ See there.

62. There Rabbi Noson explains, on the basis of teaching 282, ‘I Will Sing,’ that by judging favourably and inclining toward kindness, to find good points in every individual, even one who is very distant, through this one truly raises him from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit, and he returns to the good. And on this basis Rabbi Noson writes these words.

63. In Halachos of Shabbos (Halacha 7, item 8), Moharnas of blessed memory wrote: Each one has a shortcoming and an advantage, for young people have very great brazenness and leap eagerly to disgrace the truly upright. But they also have an advantage from another side, because they are still young and have not yet grown old in their words and their evil opinion; therefore it was possible to speak with them, dispute with them, defeat them and return them to the truth, as our master and rabbi of blessed memory wrote, that young people can more easily be brought back than the elderly, as he wrote on the verse “I have wandered like a lost sheep,” in section 206; see there. But the elderly sit below, and although they are silent and appear not to desire controversy, but they do not allow the opinion of the young people to be turned to the truth in its truth, because they have already become rooted in their confused opinion. And likewise, in another manner one can speak with the elderly more, because they do not have such boiling of the blood and admit that one should at any rate not persist in controversy. But then the young people will leap up, act brazenly, and say that they pay no attention to the elderly who do not desire controversy, because they have been stopped up from above, etc. End of quotation.

64. The Bris Menuchah (an ancient work of Kabbalah whose truth the Arizal endorsed and attested) wrote at the beginning of his book: The first to make use of it was Adam, for many days, to know wisdom and understanding; and he handed it over to Seth. And Seth made innumerable books about it because of his great wisdom, and arranged all the orders of the Chariot upon the understanding of this Name. And Seth handed it over to Enosh, etc., and Noah to Shem his son; and Shem established houses of study concerning it, brought the wisdom to light, returned many to the good faith, and ruled over all the princes of the earth, and all the princes of the peoples would present at (another reading: look toward) his table. And Shem handed it over to Ever his son; And Ever handed it over to Abraham, and Abraham added new wisdom to it and handed it over to his son Isaac; and Isaac handed it over to Jacob, and Jacob handed it over to his sons, but to Levi he gave the principal portion. End of quotation.

65. In Halachos of Rosh Chodesh (Halacha 7, item 45), he wrote: That he composed and made many books through this, which corresponds to his hiding in the house of Shem and Ever for fourteen years when he fled from Esau, and there he engaged in Torah, and certainly through this he composed many books; for Jacob composed several holy books concerning the holy faith, as cited, and as our master and rabbi of blessed memory related concerning this. End of quotation. And in Likutay Moharan Tinyana, section 32, our holy rabbi wrote: It is a benefit to the world that these teachings and books have disappeared and been burned, for certainly the great early tzaddikim, Tannaim and Amoraim and the like, made many books, but they were lost; yet it is a benefit to the world, for if this had not happened, it would have been altogether impossible for us to draw close to Hashem, blessed be He. For there are many books of heretics which, if—Heaven forbid—they were to spread through the world, would make it altogether impossible to draw close to Hashem, blessed be He. See further there. And in Parparaos LaChochmah there, on section 32, he wrote: This teaching was said on the Shabbos of the portion Yisro, 5569. And I heard that it was said in response to a question asked by the tzaddik rabbi, “מוהר״ר,” of blessed memory, the maggid of the holy community of Tarhovitza, who was spending that Shabbos with our rabbi of blessed memory and asked him about this matter: since certainly the great early tzaddikim made many books, where are they? And I heard that the maggid of blessed memory spoke exceedingly highly in praise of the wonders of this teaching and said that he had spoken about this question with several great tzaddikim and had found no answer in their mouths until he asked our rabbi of blessed memory. And he said that when our rabbi of blessed memory said this teaching, he saw flames of fire issuing from our rabbi’s mouth. See there.

66. And as the Arizal wrote in Likutay Torah (at the beginning of the book of Job), these are his words: Through this you will understand why the external forces desire so greatly to make a person sin, to cause destruction in the Temple, to anger Hashem, blessed be He, and to exile His Divine Presence. The matter is that the external forces are the remnants of the filth from what was refined out of holiness, and this is called death. And behold, they wish to live; and behold, life is the mystery of holiness; and behold, while holiness is in their hands they have vitality, sustenance and abundance. And when holiness is not in their hands they die; and therefore, when they see that they lack sustenance, they labor to make a person sin, in the way of one laboring after his sustenance. For when a person sins, they then cause those souls to enter their domain, and then they live through them. End of quotation. “מהר״א מששון,” of blessed memory, in Chariots of Truth, portion Bihaaloascha, wrote about this after bringing the above words of the Arizal: It is known that the external forces are designated by the name “young lions,” and it is also known that the mystery of all the souls is from the refinements of the above-mentioned 288 sparks, as is known. And this is what it says: “the young lions,” which are the external forces, “roar for prey,” meaning they roar to tear those souls and make them torn prey, for they are from the 288 sparks, which with the inclusive unit have the numerical value of “טר״ף.” And why do they do this, to make them sin? It is for “and to seek their food from God,” for through those souls they too are nourished, as mentioned. End of quotation. And afterward there: And this also is “Young lions have become impoverished and hungry, but those who seek Hashem shall lack no good.” The young lions, which are the external forces, become impoverished and hungry when they become impoverished of the sparks; their very existence is hungry too, and they have no more nourishment from the sparks because these have been refined out of them. Then, at that time, “and those who seek Hashem,” who are Israel, lack no good, for they take all the abundance that was in them. End of quotation.

67. As explained in Aitz Chayim, gate 18, they elevate the holy sparks from the shells into which they fell at the breaking of the vessels; and the holy sparks ascend in the mystery of feminine waters, and through this a supernal unification takes place. And through this the new light of MAH comes forth from the forehead of Adam Kadmon, and then abundance is drawn from one partzuf to another partzuf through unification, and through this they are repaired.

68. As the Arizal wrote in Aitz Chayim (gate 19, chapter 6): Although we have said that all the seven kings were refined, they are not all of them, for they are not all refined until the coming of Moshiach, as above. Rather, the matter is that everything that could then be refined at the time of emanation was refined. But each time they are again refined until they are completely refined. End of quotation. And there in gate 19, chapter 3, the Arizal wrote: These kings have not yet been completely refined, until the coming of Moshiach, for then they will be refined entirely and the dross will be abolished in the mystery of “He has swallowed up death forever.” And the good in them will be refined and joined with holiness; over the course of this time it is refined little by little each day, and at the coming of Moshiach it will be completely refined. End of quotation. And in gate 39, chapter 2: We do not have the ability to refine all the 288 sparks at one time, for if that were so, Moshiach would already have come. And behold, “He has swallowed up death forever” is fulfilled. But in each and every prayer, according to the intention of the one saying it and according to the merit of the time at which that prayer is said, a fixed measure of the 288 sparks is refined. Until it is found that before Moshiach comes, all the 288 sparks will be completed and finished being repaired. End of quotation.

69. Which is placed adjacent to Abraham’s trial, “Go forth from your land,” which Moharnas explains there beforehand, for it is all the same matter.

71. As is cited and mentioned above, earlier concerning this.

72. The B’er Mayim Chaim wrote in the Torah portion Beraishis (‘And the earth was waste and void’): Its explanation in the name of the Ari, whose memory is for the life of the World to Come, is known: at the time when the person of the husk rules over the person of holiness, ‘to his detriment,’ it is precisely so; for after he comes out from there, all the aspects of the holy sparks that were already there come out from him, in the aspect of ‘a kind has found its own kind.’ And of this Scripture said (Job 20:15), ‘He swallowed wealth and will vomit it up.’ That is to say, he is compelled to vomit up everything that was with him from before. And therefore, when Avruhum our father went down to Egypt, it says of his departure from there, ‘And Avrum came up from Egypt,’ etc., ‘And Avrum was very heavy in livestock, in silver and in gold,’ etc. And the holy Torah did not intend to dwell at length on the foolish vanities of this world by recounting them, but rather on raising the sparks of holiness that he brought out from there through their attachment to him when he came there. End quote. And in Laws of Shabbos (at the end of Halacha 4), our teacher Rabbi Noson, of blessed memory, wrote: Avruhum—when he came to the Land of Israel, there was precisely there a famine, until he was forced to leave the Land of Israel for Egypt, which is the aspect of ‘and they go out.’ And nevertheless he did not question the blessed God, but stood the test in Egypt until he merited to come up from there very heavy in livestock, in silver and in gold, which is the aspect of the holy sparks that he sifted out there, as brought down. End quote.

(As is customary in people’s mouths, to say every time that the time is bad now, ‘The time is bad.’ And in truth, all the days of their lives they say so, and from my earliest days until today I remember that they say so every time; and likewise in the earlier generations they used to say so every time.)

73. This is a saying of our Sages of blessed memory brought in Rabbainu’s words in this teaching.

74. As Rashi brings here on the verse.

Israel are above the governance of time. “And He brought him outside and said: Please look toward the heavens,” etc. (15:5) This is all our service in this world: to perfect knowledge through the holiness of Torah and commandments, in order to merit the aspect of above time, as above. For Israel, at their root, are in the aspect of above time, in the aspect of (Shabbos, page 156) ‘Israel have no constellation.’ For the entire order of times is through the stars and constellations. And Israel are above the stars and constellations and above time, in the aspect of what was said to Avruhum: ‘Please look toward the heavens and count the stars. And He said to him: So will your seed be.’ And Rashi explained: looking is only from above to below, etc. That is, He raised him above the stars and constellations, and said to him, ‘So will your seed be’: that Israel, who come from his seed, are above time, which is governed through the stars and constellations. And this is the aspect of what was said at Yitzchok’s birth: ‘At the appointed time I will return to you, at this living time, and Suruh will have a son.’ This is the aspect of the nullification of times: that the appointed time, which is the following year, and this time in which they stood on that day, are all one, in the aspect of ‘At the appointed time I will return to you, at this living time.’ That is, the appointed time, which is the coming year, is ‘at this living time,’ which is that time of this day. For all is one, for the coming year and this day, for there is no time at all, in truth, as mentioned above. And in this aspect, ‘And Suruh will have a son,’ for at the birth of Yitzchok, who was the first born in the holiness of Israel, his birth was in this aspect, the aspect of above time. (Laws of Circumcision, Halacha 4, item 16)

“By what shall I know that I will inherit it?” (15:8) Based on the teaching ‘For their Compassionate One will lead them,’ etc., in Likutay Moharan II, item 7—see the whole teaching there. And it is explained there that every person must occupy himself with settling the world, that is, drawing holy knowledge into the world, so that each person will inform and remind his fellow of the eternal purpose: that he did not come to this world for desires, God forbid, and to worry and think at every moment about livelihood, etc. Rather, his whole coming to this passing world is only to know the blessed Creator through Torah and commandments, etc.; and this is the principal purpose and what remains of a person after his death, etc., for each person must illuminate knowledge in children and disciples, etc. Examine all of this well there. And it is explained there that this person who occupies himself with illuminating knowledge in his fellow and his disciples needs to have the aspect of silence, to be silent where one needs to be silent, so that he will not enter into questions and answers that are above time, for time is insufficient to explain the questions and answers that are there, etc.; for this is the aspect of ‘and make a fence for the Torah’, the aspect of ‘a fence for wisdom is silence,’ etc. Examine all of this well there. And likewise Avruhum said, ‘By what shall I know that I will inherit it?’ For he saw that conquering the Land of Israel so that it will be in our hands forever and ever is very far away, and that one must wait much for this. Therefore he wanted to know completely how the Land of Israel will endure among us, where all the drawing of knowledge is, as above. And immediately the blessed God revealed all the exiles to him, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said; and the completion of the redemption is hinted at there by a hint and in great concealment, as our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded on the verse ‘And also the nation,’ etc. For Avruhum erred in this, in asking ‘By what shall I know,’ as our Rabbis of blessed memory said, for it is forbidden to pursue attaining this knowledge all at once, for one must be silent each time, as above. And this is the aspect of what is said concerning the final end: ‘Let him sit alone and be silent,’ etc., ‘Be silent to Hashem and wait for Him,’ etc. And it is written, ‘Only to God, be silent, my soul,’ etc. And it is written (Amos 5), ‘Therefore the wise person at that time will be silent.’ All this is the aspect of the aforementioned silence, for one must be still and silent, and not investigate what one has no permission to, and await Hashem’s salvation, in the aspect of ‘It is good to hope and wait silently for Hashem’s salvation.’ And this is the aspect of ‘To You silence is praise, God, in Zion,’ namely as above. (Laws of Partners in Land, Halacha 5)

75. The aspect of the concealed Torah, gratuitous kindness, explained in Likutay Moharan II, item 78.

59. And so Rabbi Noson, of blessed memory, wrote again in the Halachos of Shabbos (Halacha 7), brought nearby above. And so he wrote in the Halachos of Boundaries (Halacha 6): When a person is tested, the fullness of understanding is taken from him, for this is the essence of the trial, as I heard from him, of blessed memory. End of quotation.

60. The holy Rabbi Yehudah Ze’ev Leibowitz, of blessed memory, in his book Yizal Mayim Midulyuv (the portion Vayaytzay), wrote to wonder how it could be that King Dovid could not escape from Achish except by making himself appear mad and lacking understanding. And one must also understand why Yaakov our forefather did not truly pray at Mount Moriah at first, and only afterwards, when he reached Charan, set his mind to return. And he explains there a great secret that is explained here in the conduct of Rabbainu, of blessed memory: Therefore Yaakov our forefather did precisely so in his wisdom. And therefore he passed the Holy Temple, because he knew that the Other Side always confuses. And this is ‘Is it possible that I passed’ [by the place where my forefathers prayed]—‘possible’ said calmly: indeed, yes; ‘and he went to Charan’—everything because of the Other Side, and afterwards he returned. Likewise King Dovid, who knew the mysteries of the world, clothed and concealed his holy service through a profound counsel, and concealed himself [at] all the levels before the Other Side. End of quotation. See there.

70. In the holy Zohar, portion Lech Lichuh (folio 82a): Had Sarai not been taken to Pharaoh, He would not have struck him; and this striking caused the later striking, that Egypt would be struck with great plagues. It is written here “great plagues,” and it is written there “And Hashem gave great and evil signs and wonders in Egypt”: just as there there were ten plagues, so here there were ten plagues. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, wrought miracles and mighty deeds for Israel at night, so here the Holy One, blessed be He, wrought miracles and mighty deeds for Sarah at night. End of quotation. And there on side b it says: Throughout that night when Sarah was with Pharaoh, supernal angels came to sing to the Holy One, blessed be He, with songs and praises. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: All of you, go and inflict great blows in Egypt, a sign of what I am destined to do afterward. End of quotation. And our rabbi wrote in Likutay Moharan (Part I, section 62): When the backs of holiness cleave together, such that the shells cannot enter there and suck nourishment, then the faces of holiness are revealed; and then, “And Pharaoh’s princes saw her,” meaning that those princes mentioned above see the beauty of the splendor and majesty of the glory, “And they praised her to Pharaoh.” And all this is intended by Hashem, blessed be He, to bring their swallowed portion out of their mouths, the aspect of “A time when man ruled over man to his own harm.” And this is “And Hashem plagued Pharaoh.” And this is “A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised,” corresponding to “And they praised her to Pharaoh.” This is only for “Give her of the fruit of her hands,” meaning to bring out the sparks of holiness from among them, when she brings all her vitality out from among the shells. End of quotation. And the Tzemach Tzedek wrote in Or HaTorah (portion Lech Lichuh): The deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children. Because Israel must be in exile in Egypt, therefore Pharaoh first had to be raised up, so that Israel would not be under a lowly nation, for the Divine Presence too is in exile with them. And this elevation of Pharaoh was through Sarah, whom he took into his house, who corresponds to the crown of holy kingship; and through being secluded with her, much vitality was added to him. But in truth it is to his harm, for this deed is a sign for the children that afterward they will be able to empty out Egypt and make it like a trap with no fish—that is, to bring out from them the sparks they had previously, from which they live and exist, and they will bring them out from them. And this is the mystery of “And afterward they will come out with great wealth,” etc. And it is in the manner of what is written elsewhere concerning frankincense, which corresponds to an encompassing light over the seventy-two impurities; and although it gives them life, but since this vitality is an encompassing aspect from above, it also brings forth from them the sparks of holiness embedded in them, so that they ascend and are included in it. End of quotation. (And he also wrote this briefly in the portion Mikaitz, on the verse “And now let Pharaoh see.”)