T88 PNC - Who Covers the Heavens (Tzaddik/Ahavah-Yirah/Blessing Channel, 2 segs)

Opening verse: 'Who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth' (Psalms 147:8). The divine blessings (hashpa'ot and brachot) cannot reach the world except through the tzaddik — for the tzaddik has 'hands' with which to receive them. These hands are ahavah (love) and yirah (fear/awe): the tzaddik holds divine blessing in his hands of love and awe. The tzaddik must guard and preserve these qualities so that the accusers (the destructive spiritual forces) do not rob him of the divine flow.

This is the meaning of 'Who covers the heavens with clouds' — the clouds are fire and water: when the tzaddik can 'cover the heavens' — meaning contain and harmonize the opposing forces of fire (yirah/gevurah) and water (ahavah/chesed) — then 'who prepares rain for the earth' — the divine blessing flows down as rain to the earth below. The tzaddik who balances ahavah and yirah, preventing them from overwhelming each other, becomes the channel through which blessing flows into the world.