Pikudei[1]

1^st Mamar “Eileh Pikudei Hamishkan …”

1. Vayakhel Moshe:[2]

See Volume 1 of our Chassidishe Parsha Torah Or Series under Parshas Pikudei where we covered the following matters of this Mamar in detail:

1. The purpose of the Mishkan
2. Why specifically our world, and what it means to make G-d a dwelling place
3. The purpose of the dwelling is to dwell within the Jewish people
4. How does one achieve building a Dirah for Hashem-The Avoda of Iskafya
5. Iskafya encompasses all five senses

1. In the future era the Angels will recite Kadosh in front of the righteous:

Our sages state that in the future era the righteous will have Kadosh recited in front of them. This means that the angels will recognize that the divine presence dwells on the righteous to the point that they will shout the words “holy, holy, holy” in their presence. The cause behind the revelation of the divine presence on the righteous is their fulfillment of Torah and Mitzvah’s in this world, through which they draw down onto their soul a revelation of the infinite light of G-d from the level of holy. Now, as for the reason that they repeat the words holy three times, this is because God resides in the three aspects of thought, speech, and action of the righteous.

1. The true fulfillment of Dira Betachtonim when the divine presence is revealed on the Jewish body below:

The ultimate fulfillment of G-d’s desire to have a dwelling place below in this world, will specifically be realized when the divine presence shines and dwells within the souls that are found within bodies. When these bodies become a receptacle for the holiness of G-d then this is the fulfillment of the verse “and I shall dwell within them.”

1. Why specifically the service of Iskafya draws G-dliness:

The method through which one accomplishes making Hashem a dwelling place below is through the service of Iskafya that is involved in one’s keeping of Torah and Mitzvos. Iskafya is the service of subjugating evil; repelling urges and desires for physical pleasures and wants in face of the will of Hashem. [Each Mitzvah and guarding of a prohibition contains within it an aspect of Iskafya which is what is responsible for its elicitation of G-dliness below.] It remains to be understood as to why specifically this divine service of Iskafya retains this power to elicit G-dliness below, and from such a high level. After all, is it not true that to G-d in His infinite level which is above the worldly order, good and evil are one and the same, as He is completely above and beyond these concepts, and to which the existence of evil is similar to a spiders allowance to remain in a kings chamber. [The explanation however is that in G-d’s essence, He truly does care about good versus evil and it is only in the lower levels of His infinite light where He ignores the existence of evil.[3] Now, the service of Iskafya has the ability to  reach G-d’s essence and draw G-dliness from His most infinite level. This is the advantage found in the fulfillment of negative commands versus positive commands as will be explained next.[4]]

1. Negative commands are greater than positive commands:

It states in the Zohar that the 365 negative commands are rooted in the letters Yud Kei of G-d’s name, while the 248 positive commands are rooted in the letters Vav Kei of G-d’s divine name. Now, what remains to be understood is as to how, or why, the negative commands are rooted even higher than the positive commands, as the divine letters of Yud Kei are higher than the divine letters of Vav Kei. Does the abstaining from transgressing negative commands draw down an even greater revelation than the fulfillment of positive commands? This concept that the negative commands a higher than the positive commands is further seen in the law recorded in the Talmud that one who transgresses a positive command is immediately forgiven upon him repenting, while the transgression of a negative command requires waiting until Yom Kippur to receive full atonement even after he repents. This implies that the blemishes caused by transgressing a negative command is greater then the blemish caused by not fulfilling a positive command. This is quite puzzling, as the entire purpose of a positive command is to draw and reveal G-dliness below through performing the actions that correspond to the 248 limbs of the king in the world of Atzilus. A negative command, however, does not involve any action but rather a lack of action in which the person simply sits and does not transgress. Accordingly, how can the fulfillment of a negative command draw down more G-dliness than a positive command?

Negative commands are rooted higher than the positive commands: The explanation behind this is that in truth the root of the negative commands is higher than the root of the positive commands. Meaning, that the fulfillment of negative commands in truth touches and moves a higher level of G-dliness than the fulfillment of positive commands. It is precisely for this reason that the negative commands do not involve one being proactive through performing an action, as their divine lights are too high to be invested within any action, and hence they can only be elicited through lack of action. This is in contrast to the positive commands which touch upon a much lower level of G-dliness that is limited to the point that it can fit inside of the vessels of action that correspond to them. The negative commands are rooted in the hidden world known as Alma Deiskasya, which is an incomprehensible level of G-dliness and is hence also described as dark being that it is concealed, while the positive commands are rooted in the world known as Alma Deisgalya which are a comprehensible level of G-dliness and is hence described as light being that it is revealed. When one abstains from a transgression, he draws G-dliness from this high level of Alma Deisgalya, Yud Kei, which is higher than what he draws down through fulfilling an actual command. As we will explain later on, the fulfillment of the negative command corresponds to negative comprehension known as Yedias Hashelila, while the fulfillment of positive commands corresponds to the comprehension known as Yedias Hachiyuv.

The power in Iskafya: With the above said, it can be understood why when one subjugates the side of evil it causes the glory of G-d to spread throughout all the world’s. This is because Iskafya is the level and aspect of the negative commands to close one’s eyes from seeing evil and to control each one of the other senses. Likewise, in one’s heart it involves controlling one’s lusts to not be drawn after the physical passions and desires which are not for G-d.

1. After death, one’s soul powers return back to their essence:

When a person is alive, the soul sends specific soul powers which are invested within rays of the soul into the specific limbs and organs that correspond to that power, as explained elsewhere. Now, the soul powers do not ever leave the essence of the soul and rather remain essentially bounded with it. When a person passes away and the soul leaves the body, then the soul powers return to their source and reunite within the soul itself.

1. The advantage of Torah study over Mitzvah fulfillment – Torah study corresponds to the vital organs of the body:

Each of the 248 positive commands are called by the Zohar as the 248 limbs of the king, which means that the fulfillment of each command down here below by the Jewish soul elicits a ray of G-dliness to enter its corresponding “limb” and aspect within Z”a of Atzilus. Now, just as we find regarding the limbs of the body that some limbs are considered more vital than others so too it is spiritually above that there exists inner and vital spiritual organs whose importance is much greater than all of the other limbs. The inner organs are considered the most vital as without them the person cannot live and the body as a whole will not function. This difference between inner and outer organs and limbs is especially emphasized in the laws of Treifos in which we find that even a tiny hole in the vast majority of the inner organs can deem the animal a Treifa, in contrast to a hole in an exterior limb which does not deem the animal a Treifa. Now, based on the above we can understand the difference between the effect of the fulfillment of a Mitzvah versus the effect of the study of Torah. The fulfillment of Mitzvah’s draws divinity to the outer more superficial limbs, while the study of Torah draws G-dliness to the inner organs. It is for this reason that the Talmud states that the study of Torah corresponds to all the Mitzvah’s. The Torah is considered the brains and intellect behind all of the general Mitzvah’s.

1. Comprehending that something is not comprehensible is also comprehension:

As stated above, the root level of negative commands is in the concealed worlds known as Alma Deiskasya. The question is therefore raised as to how any benefit can come from accessing this level through fulfilling the negative commands, as if the level is incomprehensible, then its revelation is useless. [This would be similar to a person who purchases a great and powerful industrial machine which requires a three phase electrical board even though he does not have the electrical capability of plugging it in and turning it on. It is as good as useless for him, as it cannot be activated.] So, the explanation is as follows: There exists a type of negative comprehension which effects and excites a person similar, and at times even greater, than a positive comprehension. This is known as Yedias Hashelila. It is also the level of admission, known as Hodah, in which one agrees to the concept after comprehending that is above his mental capabilities to fully comprehend. A negative comprehension is when one toils to understand the idea and comes to a realization that the idea is so high and sublime that it is beyond his comprehension being in essence not comprehensible. This intellectual recognition of the idea being incomprehensible is itself a comprehension that affects the person. Now, the divine revelation that is elicited through fulfillment of the positive commands is on the level of positive comprehension and hence gives the soul pleasure through this comprehension. However, the divine revelation that is elicited through the fulfillment of the negative commands, elicits a level of negative comprehension. However, this level of comprehension is even greater than the former as the levels of G-dliness that can be comprehended by the intellect of souls is much lower and limited than the levels of G-dliness that are not comprehensible. Now, this recognition of the incomprehensible gives the soul even greater pleasure than does the positive comprehension.[5] Even within the negative comprehension there exists many levels and the more and deeper that one comprehends the level of that which is incomprehensible, the greater and more intense the pleasure.

• A parable from Einstein: Albert Einstein, arguably the smartest man to have ever lived in modern times, according to legend was once asked as to the difference between him and a five-year-old. Superficially, this sounds like a most silly question, as how can we compare the knowledge of a five-year-old to that of the greatest scientists that ever lived? However, Albert Einstein cleverly replied that in essence there is no difference between their knowledge, and the difference only lies in where their knowledge ends. He used the lightbulb as an example: An infant does not understand at all that when a light switch is pressed it causes a light to turn on. His level of intellectual maturity is so shallow that it cannot even make this connection, and to him the idea that a light suddenly turns on is a miracle. As the infant grows and matures into a toddler he begins to understand that when you press the switch a light turns on. He now knows why and how a light turns on, however, he still does not know why pressing a switch causes the light to turn on. As he grows and matures into preadolescents and adolescents, he begins to learn about electricity and now understands that there exists wiring that connects the switch of the light to the actual lightbulb, and that it is a flow of electricity which is turned on upon pressing the switch that causes the light to shine. However, he still does not understand how electricity works and what generates it. As he matures further and begins to learn the in-depth science of electronics, he begins to understand the concept of electrons and what causes electricity to be generated and flow. However, he still does not understand the essence of an electron, and as to what it is made up of. On this Einstein replied: The only difference between me and the five-year-old is regarding the level of comprehension that we both have reached in understanding how a lightbulb turns on. However, even I do not understand the full depth of electricity and what electrons are made up of and how they work. The only advantage I have over the five-year-old is that my level of incomprehension is higher than his level of incomprehension. However, at the end of the day, we both don’t comprehend. This is the level of Yedias Hashelila spoken of above. No one, even the greatest Tzadik can truly comprehend G-d. However, he understands much more than us as to what exactly he cannot comprehend.

1. The lower and higher Jerusalem:

There is a well-known concept that we find in Jewish thought which is that just as there exists a physical city of Jerusalem below, so too, there exists a spiritual city of Jerusalem above. This is stated explicitly in tractate Chagiga in which it says that there exists seven heavens, and that included in it is in the heaven of Zevul which contains Jerusalem and the holy temple and the altar. The two Jerusalem’s and holy temples correspond to each other. In truth, however, there exists much more than just two Jerusalem’s and two temples, as there exists a Jerusalem and Temple within each world and level. The lower Jerusalem corresponds to the name Adniy which is the numerical value of the word Heichal/chamber in Hebrew, as this level is a chamber for the name of G-d to reside. This corresponds the unity of the letters Vav Kei of the divine name. The higher Jerusalem in each world corresponds to the unity of the letters Yud Kei of the divine name, which is a unity of Chochmah and Bina. The higher Jerusalem corresponds to the higher level of fear known as Yichuda Ila’h. While the lower Jerusalem corresponds to the lower level of fear known as Yichuda Tata’ah.

1. The number six in Judaism:

The number six in Judaism has significance. Our matriarch Leah had six children. There are six orders in the Mishneh, and so on and so forth. The significance of the number six is with regards to the emotional attributes in the world of Atzilus. There exists six emotional attributes in the world of Atzilus, from Chesed to Yesod. The six sons of Leah as well as the six orders of the Mishna correspond to these attributes. Now, just as the attributes in the world of Atzilus are incorporated of each other for a total number of 36, so too, each order of the Mishnayos contains details dealing with the other orders for a total incorporation. The numerical value of the word Eilah in Hebrew is 36 and corresponds to the six attributes as they are incorporated of each other, for a total of 36 particular attributes. The dwelling of the divine presence below which is accomplished through Mitzvah fulfillment is the revelation of G-dliness within these 36 particular attributes. This is why the Parsha begins with the words “Eileh Pikudei Hamishkan,” as it comes to hint to that the dwelling of the divine presence on the Mishkan is fulfilled with the revelation of G-dliness into the 36 particular attributes through the fulfillment of Mitzvah’s. This is also why the verse describes the commands as “Vieileh Hamitzvos” as the word Eilah hints to the 36 particular attributes into which the Mitzvah’s draw down their divinity. Likewise, regarding the destruction of the temple, Scripture uses the term “Veal Eilah Ani Bochiya/ and I cry over these,” as we are mourning the lack of revelation of G-dliness and dwelling of the divine presence on the 36 attributes.

[1] Likkutei Torah p. 3a-8b

[2] Likkutei Torah p. 3a-6a

[3] See Sefer Hamamrim Beshah Shehikdimi 5672 2:923; Samech Vav p. 521; Atart 5679 p. 382;  Likkutei Sichos 7:22 footnote 28; Toras Menachem 6:159

[4] We placed this explanation in brackets as it is not explicitly written in the words of Admur in the Mamar, although can be understood to be His intent. And so is more clearly understood from this same Mamar of the Mittler Rebbe in Toras Chaim. Whatever the case, two things certainly remain true: 1) that the mitzvah’s due to effect the inner infinite light of God and the essence of God. 2) that negative commands draw down from Keser which is above the worlds.

[5] See Sefer Hamamrim 5679 p. 114