תּוֹרָה יח - רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן מִשְׁתָּעֵי קַרְטָלִיתָא

Torah 2316

Every thing has a purpose [tachlis] — and for that purpose there is yet another higher purpose, above and above. And the primary one is the ultimate final purpose — which is the delight of the World to Come [sha'ashu'ay olam ha-ba] — which is the primary ultimate purpose of all Creation and of all things in the world. But no one can attain and grasp this purpose in his thought except the Tzadikim. And every individual of Israel — according to the root he has within the soul of the Tzadik — so does he receive from him this purpose — in proportion to how much he breaks anger with compassion [rachamanus]. And through this he will merit to reach and attain the purpose in every thing in the world — which is the primary matter.

One must break anger with compassion. That is: when one comes to a state of anger, one should not act in one's anger with any cruelty — on the contrary, one should then strengthen oneself with great compassion toward the very one at whom one wishes to be angry — and sweeten the anger with compassion. And through this, a crown is made for the humble who flee from honour and dominion — and then they accept honour and dominion against their will.

In proportion to the diminution of faith [emunah], so is the hiding of G-d's face [hester panim] and His wrath, G-d forbid. And then the Tzadikim flee from dominion and honour — and the world has no true leader. And through breaking anger with compassion, the wrath is sweetened. And then the true Tzadikim accept honour and leadership. And the world merits a true leader who has compassion on the world to lead them properly — to bring each one to the ultimate purpose.

Sometimes there is a deficiency in the world in that faith is not complete — and through this there is His wrath, G-d forbid, and the hiding of G-d's face, but it is not so apparent. Only when it cascades down and reaches the Tzadikim — then they hide their faces from the world and do not wish to lead it. [When there is idolatry and heresy in the world, there is divine wrath in the world, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "and this is the aspect of the hiding of G-d's face." But when there is no idolatry or heresy — only the faith is not complete — then the wrath and hiding of G-d's face are not so apparent. But when this wrath cascades down and reaches the Tzadikim, they hide themselves.] And because the wrath is a very small fraction — as a momentary flash — through this they do not attribute their self-hiding to the wrath but rather to their own smallness — saying they are not worthy of leading the world. And in truth even they do not know and feel this very tiny wrath. But through the sweetening of the anger and wrath through compassion as above, the wrath within the Tzadikim is then sweetened by compassion. And then compassion prevails within them — and they have compassion on the world and agree to lead it. And the world merits a true leader who leads them with compassion.

Through the breaking of anger with compassion as above, one merits faith. And through this harsh judgments are sweetened. And conversely: through complete faith, one merits compassion and to break anger.

A person should not accept leadership and dominion except when he has complete faith — of which there is no greater completeness. For leadership is primarily in the aspect of compassion — and the primary compassion depends on the removal of idolatry — even the slightest trace of idolatry. Even if he says a deer blocked his path [a superstitious belief] or some similar thing of the ways of the Amorites — even though he believes in Hashem Yisborach — he does not have complete compassion. Therefore he should not accept leadership. And even though he thinks in himself that he has compassion on the world and therefore wants to lead it — in truth he is pursuing honour and attributing his pursuit to compassion. And through this one can come to heresy and atheism [minus v'apikorsus], G-d forbid. But from Heaven they have compassion and do not place leadership in his hands.

Through the love of Torah scholars, Kingship and leadership are established. And when some hatred toward Torah scholars comes to a king or leader, let it be known to him that from Heaven they will remove him from his kingdom — for the world has no existence without wisdom.

The completeness of the letters and the completeness of speech depend upon faith [emunah].