Zachar Chasdo He Remembered His Kindness

94 - Zachar Chasdo [He Remembered His Kindness] [In the language of the companions] “He remembered His kindness and His faith to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our G-d” [Psalms 98:3].

The matter is thus: All the worlds were created solely for the sake of Israel, as it is written, “For My glory I created it, I formed it, even I made it” [Isaiah 43:7]. That is, creation (beriah [creation]), formation (yetzirah [formation]), and making ( asiyah [making]) were brought into being solely for My glory. And “My glory” refers to Israel, as it is said, “And I will dwell among them” [Exodus 25:8]. Our rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded [Shelah, Masekhet Taanit , 60a]: It does not say “among him” but “among them,” teaching that the Shekhinah [Divine Presence] rests within each and every Jew. Thus, every individual of Israel is called a garment, and a garment is called glory, as Rabbi Yochanan referred to his clothing as “my honor” [Shabbat 113a]. It follows that all the worlds were created only for the sake of Israel, to bestow upon them abundant good. When they are unable to receive that good due to their sins, there is sorrow before Him, as it is said, “In all their trouble, He was troubled” [Isaiah 63:9]. However, due to the brilliance of the light of the chesed [kindness], it is impossible to receive it as it is. Therefore, a tzimtzum [contraction] is required. The Holy One, blessed be He, when He desires to bestow great goodness, must “speak” Let it be thus,” as it is written, “By the word of Hashem the heavens were made” [Psalms 33:6]. The letters are the tzimtzumim [contractions], limiting the light by defining it—from the letter א (alef) to the letter ת ( tav Yet, due to our many sins, the speech is also in exile, as it is said, “Declare His glory among the nations” [Psalms 96:3]. That is, speech with Israel is in exile. Therefore, it is written, “And the glory of Hashem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken” [Isaiah 40:5]. When Israel is redeemed, the speech, so to speak, will be with the Name of Hashem. Our sages, of blessed memory, said [Sanhedrin 37a]: “Each person is obligated to say: For my sake the world was created,” and consequently is obligated to rectify it. What is this rectification? It is that a person should strive to raise all the sparks. These nitzotzos [sparks] are letters. Thus, by raising sparks, one raises letters. From letters, speech is formed. Through speech, the Blessed Name bestows great good to Israel. How can one raise nitzotzos to Hashem, blessed be He? The advice is as follows: When a person looks at something, he should immediately believe with complete emunah [faith] that within that thing are letters and sparks. From this emunah , the letter ז (zayin) is formed, as it is said, “All His work is in faith” [Psalms 33:4]. The “work” refers to the six weekdays; the emunah is the seventh [Shabbos, the day of faith]. Then he should unite the emunah with chochmah [wisdom], as it is written, “Know the G-d of your father” [1 Chronicles 28:9]. “G-d of your father” refers to the aspect of emunah , as in the saying [ Chullin 13b]: “The deeds of their ancestors in their hands,” meaning we believe in Him, that He is the G-d of our fathers. That is the essence. “Know” is chochmah . And chochmah is represented by the letter י ( yud ), as Rashi explains [Exodus 15:1]: “Then sang [Moshe]”—it does not say “sang,” but “will sing” ( yashir ), indicating thought ( yud refers to the realm of thought). What is the combination of י ( yud ) and ז (zayin)? It forms the letter ע (ayin) [since 10 (י) × 7 (ז) = 70 = ע in gematria]. Furthermore, ayin also represents chochmah , as the wise of the congregation are called “the eyes ( aynai ) of the congregation” [Numbers 15:24]. Consequently, when a person has such an ayin [eye, vision], when he looks at something in the world, the nitzotzos are surely elevated, as it is said, “You shall make a tzitz of pure gold” [Exodus 28:36]. Tzitz [frontlet] comes from the root for “looking” [Zohar, Vayakhel 217b; Shemos 165a]. When the gaze is pure—rooted in emunah and chochmah —then, “You shall engrave upon engravings of a seal,” meaning: through such a gaze, you open the sealed nitzotzos within all things and raise them “Holy to Hashem.” These nitzotzos are letters. From letters, speech is made. Through such speech, the Blessed Name bestows great good upon Israel. When one raises the nitzotzos from the object, the object itself becomes nullified, for the nitzotzos are its life-force. This is the meaning of the verse: “He remembered His kindness”— zakar [remembered] here means bestowal. When He desires to bestow chesed to Israel, He combines “His faith to the house of Israel”—that is, chochmah , as it is said, “With wisdom a house is built” [Proverbs 24:3]. “All the ends of the earth have seen”—that is, the earthiness of the object becomes null. “Es” (es)—the letters from א (alef) to ת ( tav )—that is, the nitzotzos , become the “salvation of our G-d,” for from the nitzotzos , speech is formed. Through this, Hashem, blessed be He, bestows abundant good to Israel. This is “the salvation of our G-d,” for this is His delight.