Parshas Chayeh Sarah^[1]

1^st Mamar of Yigaleh Lon Taamei

1. Yigaleh Lon Taamei:^[2]

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

1. The spiritual service of eating
2. The Kelipa contained within food
3. Bringing food from the animal kingdom to the G-dly soul
4. The function of food on Shabbos
5. The root of food is from Tohu, and is higher than man
6. On Shabbos, the Shoresh of food is revealed
7. The two forms of eating-Tzaddik and Rasha
8. Weekday eating is the elevation of food; Shabbos eating is the elevation of man
9. Yom Tov eating and Birur

2^nd Mamar of “Veavraham Zakein Bah Bayamim”

2. Veavraham Zakein Bah Bayamim:^[3]

A. Every day requires Mitzvos to be performed:^[4]

A cryptic Zoharic statement: The Zohar explains the verse “Veavraham Zakein Ba Bayamim” to mean that Avraham was satiated with his days, that each day contained its garments of Mitzvos which Avraham had completed. The Zohar concludes: Woe onto the man who has decreased his days, as a day with a blemish is a day without a garment, as above in heaven they garb him in these garments.

The intent: The intent of the statement of the Zohar is as follows: After death, the souls which eventually make it to the garden of Eden receive their pleasure and reward from basking in the Ray of the Divine presence. Now, being that the soul is a limited creation, he cannot receive directly from the divine Ray without it being led to expiration and essential nonexistence. To prevent this from occurring, G-d created garments for the soul to protect it from the intensity of his Divine rays, and allow the souls to receive a measured experience of Divinity, which allow it to receive immense pleasure and at the same time retain its existence. What are these soul garments made of? The Mitzvos that one performs in this world. Every mitzvah that one performs becomes the garment for his soul in the garden of Eden. Now, every day of life in this physical world contains a special divine mission for one’s soul and if a vacation day was taken from one’s divine service and was absent of the fulfillment of Mitzvos, then that day is lacking its garment with which the soul is to be garbed in, in the garden of Eden. It does not suffice to simply do two Mitzvos the next day as a makeup, as every day has its specific required Mitzvos that cannot be made up. This then was the greatness of Avraham Avinu, that he did not lack even one day from his divine service and hence all of his garments were complete.    

The Divine lesson: Never push off a mitzvah that you can do today for tomorrow. Every day of a Jew’s life has its intent and purpose in divine service, and that service is specific to that day. Q&A So, is there really no hope for one who took a vacation from G-d for a day and lost that day’s garment? What about Teshuvah? Indeed, this matter requires further analysis as on the one hand it states that repentance works retroactively, although on the other hand it is not possible to go back in time and reexperience the benefits of having performed the mitzvah on that day. Perhaps then we can conclude that while repentance can help one regain the future benefit from the mitzvah that he missed on a particular day, it will never so to say fix the experience of the past and the fact will always remain that he has one day that is missing a garment. On the other hand, perhaps the fact that that days sin is what caused him repent in the future, then retroactively it is considered as if he began his repentance on the day of the missed mitzvah and hence he never missed a mitzvah on that day, as that day was part of his performance of the mitzvah of repentance. Vetzaruch Iyun.

 

B. Divinity cannot be comprehended in this world and can only be comprehended in the world to come:^[5]

The ray of the Divine presence in the world to come is not similar at all to the revelation of G-dly energy within the worlds, as the G-dly energy within the world is not comprehended at all, while the divine presence shines and is comprehended by the souls and creations in the world. The divine energy that surrounds and enlivens the world while it may appear to be limited and construed to the limitations of the item that it is enlivening, in truth, the divine energy is infinite and incomprehensible, being infinitely above and beyond the limitations of its creation. Thus, while the divine energy within the worlds is too high to be comprehended, the divine Ray that shines within the garden of Eden is limited enough to be comprehensible. [The novelty of this statement in contrast to what is apparent from other areas of Chassidus, is that the G-dliness that enlivens the worlds of Biyah remain infinite and incomprehensible in their essence, and it is only in the garden of Eden that comprehension of the essence of even a glimmer of G-dliness can begin.^[6]] The reason that the divinity that is found in the world is too high for comprehension is because G-d enters his very essence into the divine ray that he shines, as the verse states “that I fill all the worlds,” which means that he lowers Himself into the divine ray to allow it to create the world, as will now be explained next that this is a trait of humility of G-d.

The Divine Lesson: All over the world people are searching for G-dliness and spirituality, turning to various outlets of religion and spiritual enlightenment. These people world over are in the quest to find the divine much similar to an insect trying to reach the light of a star that he is attracted to, or to a lost man trying to find his home. Their goal is to immediately achieve that which they are searching for to bask in the divine, to experience G-d, and in the parable, to find the star and settle on it and to find the lost home and live in it. The only problem is that the insect is too distanced from the star to ever be able to actually land on it, and the lost man is in a different continent than his lost home, and thus no matter how long he searches, and no matter how high the insect flies, he will never be able to reach his goal. Similarly, our quest for G-d will never be quenched in this physical world [until the future era] in the form of feeling the Divine and experiencing unity with it, as this type of experience is limited to the world to come and the garden of Eden which is where our souls will rest in the future, for those who merit. Our quest in this world must be to do everything right and correct according to G-d’s laws and instructions in order to merit to then have a ticket to enter the next world in which the experience of the divine becomes plausible and possible. To desert the G-d-given instructions of how man must live his life in this world due to his quest for feeling and experience of ecstasy of bonding with G-dliness, is both futile and deceiving as it is something that he will never truly achieve. He may deceit himself to believe that he is really experiencing it, although he will not experience it in truth. [The point is, that those who feel an attraction to search for other pathways of spirituality outside of the Jewish religion, or even within the Jewish religion but outside of one’s intended mode of divine service, for the sake of feeling a little more spiritual and connected to G-d, are making a grave mistake if they chase after these futile directions as they will never truly quench their thirst. The only method to quench one’s thirst to feel and experience unity with G-d is to follow his instructions as written in the Torah, and in the future merit to experience divine unity. Compromising on Torah values and instructions that are given in Shulchan Aruch, and one’s intended mode of service, out of claim that one is searching for greater spiritual experience, while being a seemingly good intention will get one nowhere and will simply divert him from the path to truly reach his goal. It seems, that this was the mistake of many Jews who began their career in Orthodox Jewry and began making subtle diversions from Torah law and philosophy for the sake of quenching this thirst, but simply ended up flying further away from the star that they are trying to reach and the lost home that they are trying to find, as it can only be reached through obedience to the G-d-given instructions of His Torah and Shulchan Aruch. This does not mean that one should not try to feel any feeling of attachment and longing for G-d, which is actually a Torah obligation and command and is the purpose of the divine service of prayer, rather it simply means that he should not fool himself to think that what he is feeling is the true experience of divine unity and ecstasy, as this can only be achieved in the world to come.

C. The creation of the worlds is not G-d’s greatness, but His humility:^[7]

The world tends to believe that the greatness of G-d is evident from the fact that He enlivens all the worlds and creates it. In truth, however, this is not a show of G-d’s greatness at all, but rather of his humility, that He is willing to demote Himself to the worlds and create and enliven them. Accordingly, the praise that we give G-d for creating the worlds is in truth not a praise of His greatness, but a praise of His great humility.

The Divine lesson: Who is not astounded by the beauty of the world, upon seeing a glacier, or shooting star, or the view of a scope of mountains from a distance, or the study of plant or animal life? There is so much in our universe to be amazed by and taken aback by the great handywork of G-d. Although, in truth, all this creation is a mere descent from G-d’s true essential greatness, and upon contemplating the beauty of G-d’s handywork, one should come to an even greater realization of G-d’s greatness when all this is simply viewed as a demotion of His true state.

D. Man’s seed derives from his brain:^[8]

According to Kabbalah and Chassidus, the seed of man [i.e. sperm] derives from the brain.^[9] Now, the intent of this belief is not to say that the physical cells of the sperm derive from the brain, as if this were to be the case, then man’s brain would become physically deficient of cells each time he released seed.^[10] Rather, the intent of this belief is to say that the brain creates a spiritual ball of energy which makes its way down to the testis’s through the spinal cord, and [once it enters the testis it] becomes developed and transformed to a physical sperm cell.

The Chassidic perspective on male reproduction: The highest and greatest aspect contained within man is his intellect, which is housed in his brain cells. This is the advantage of man over animal, and this is what defines man as the species of “Midaber” as opposed to Chayah/animal or Tzomeiach/vegetative. Accordingly, in order for man to reproduce a child with this same human quality, the seed must derive from its highest aspect. Likewise, the soul powers are revealed and housed in the brain, and from it derives the spiritual energy to the rest of the body, which can then be transferred to a future child.

 

E. The G-dly soul of man has become a creation:^[11]

As we explained above regarding the seed of men deriving from the brain, similarly, the soul of the Jew derives from G-d’s wisdom. The divine soul of the Jewish in its origin and root comes from actual G-dliness. However, through to its descent below through the chain of worlds [i.e. Seder Hishtalshlus] it metamorphosized and changed into an independent existence and being. [This is the concept of Elokus Naaseh Nivra, where G-dliness itself becomes a creation. Although the G-dly soul always remains loyal to G-d and maintains a passion to cleave to him, this itself is in truth a deficiency from its origin, as in its origin it was a natural part of G-d that did not have a feeling of self that desired to cleave to G-d, as it was already cleaving. The descent below caused the G-dly soul to lose this cleaving to G-d, and make it feel separate from Him and thereby maintain a desire to cleave to Him.]

F. How did Moshe Rabbeinu survive in heaven for 40 days and 40 nights without food?^[12]

The Torah states that Moshe entered the cloud above Mount Sinai in order to receive the tablets and remained there for 40 days and 40 nights and did not eat nor drink throughout the entire period of time. Now, it is not possible for a mortal being to survive without eating and drinking for 40 days. So, what did he consume and what was his source of energy during his stay? The explanation is as follows: The same way that there exists physical food so too there exists spiritual food and hence while Moshe did not consume any physical food throughout his 40 day stay he did consume spiritual food from which he derived divine energy which gave him sustenance similar to physical food. He consumed the same food as the Angels which is spiritual in nature, known as Lechem Abirim. Now, how is it possible for a man of flesh and blood to receive physical sustenance from the spiritual foods of the Angels? Through the cloud that Moshe entered. The purpose of this cloud which Moshe was concealed within was to serve as a medium between the spiritual energy of the food of the Angels and the physical body of Moshe. This cloud was rooted in a very high level of G-dliness and descended below in order to transform into a garment for Moshe through which he would be able to comprehend G-dliness. Through this cloud he also received energy for his physical body similar to a person who sees a very clear and bright light through a sheet.

 

G. Contemplation of how all is naught before G-d arouses love of G-d:^[13]

How does one achieve the arousal of a feeling of love, Viahavta, in Shema? This is through contemplating the message behind the first verse of the Shema. In this verse we unify G-d and contemplate his sovereignty over all the directions of the universe. The deeper message behind this verse is the idea that G-d fills entire universe with His glory and that there is no place devoid of His essence as is known that in truth the essence of G-dliness fills the entire earth. Accordingly, it is found that everything is nullified to His existence similar to the nullification of a ray of the sun within the sun itself. Now, when a person contemplates this message during Pesukei Dezimra and Shema he will be aroused with a passionate desire to cleave to the one G-d that is found in the very place that he is in.

 

H. The effect of Torah learning on the soul above:^[14]

When a person studies Torah here below in this world that his G-dly soul which is involved in the Torah study becomes truthfully united with the Torah which is one with G-d, and hence he becomes actually united with G-d. When a person embellishes his G-dly soul within Torah learning in this world than the root of his soul above also becomes embellished within the Torah of above up until the highest of levels, and a complete unity takes place as a result.

I. A Rasha cannot really internalize the revelation received by learning Torah:^[15]

Even a person who is completely wicked is able to draw G-dliness upon his G-odly soul while he is involved in Torah learning. Nonetheless, on him it says in Tehillim “To the wicked G-d says why do you speak of my commands?” The reason for this is because the effect of his Torah learning is crippled, as although he is able to draw G-dliness down below onto his G-dly soul during his Torah learning, nonetheless he is unable to internalize this revelation within his soul and it remains in an encompassing manner. Accordingly, it is found that his G-dly soul does not benefit from the revelation that is elicited as a result of his Torah learning.

J. The blessings in Shemoneh Esrei are vessels for Elokus:^[16]

The meaning and effect of the blessings of Shemoneh Esrei is as follows: Every blessing begins with the Baruch which means to draw down a revelation of G-dliness from His name Havaya so it be revealed below. Hence, in each blessing of the prayer of Shemoneh Esrei one draws down G-dliness below. However, this G-dliness is not felt by the person due to the coarseness of the body which conceals and darkens the revelation and the revelation will only be felt in the future era when even the flesh of the body will be nullified to G-d and thereby see G-dliness and will no longer act as a source of concealment. It is for this reason that during Shemoneh Esrei one must bow during various blessings of the prayer in order to at least externally show his nullification to G-d which he will naturally experience in the future. Now, the particular blessings of Shemoneh Esrei each represent a particular vessel to contain the divine blessing of G-d. For example, the blessing of healing the sick holds the G-dly revelation and energy necessary to heal the sick and so on and so forth by each blessing.

 _______________________________

[1] Torah Or 15b-17a

[2] Torah Or 15b

[3] Torah Or 16a

[4] Torah Or p. 16a

[5] Torah Or p. 16a; For more on this subject please refer to: Or Hatorah Bereishis 3 p. 530a, Devarim 6 p. 2230

[6] See Or Hatorah Devarim ibid that seemingly this novelty contradicts that which is explained in Likkutei Torah Vaeschanon 10b is a divine energy in Biyah is comprehensible

[7] Torah Or p. 16a

[8] Torah or p. 16a; See also Likkutei Torah Parshas Shelach

[9] Shelah Hakadosh Shaar Haosyos Erech Kedusha 400 and 430; Tanya Chapter 2 in length “The son is drawn from the brain of the father…from a drop in the brain of the father”; Torah Or Chayeh Sarah 2^nd Mamar; Vayechi p. 210; Likkutei Torah Shelach p. 88; Matos p. 167; Shir Hashirim p. 16; Siddur Yaavetz Mosach Hashabbos Mitos Kesef 3:1 that when it is done with holiness it comes from the level of Daas and Bina, which is the brain

[10] Perhaps the intent of this statement is that if sperm cells were reproduced in the brain, and are a form of brain cells, then ejaculation would cause there to be a lack of brain cells each time, until the brain reproduces those cells. However, elsewhere in Likkutei Torah Parshas Shelach, Admur states that the brain does not lose anything upon ejaculation despite that the drop of seed derives from it, being that the seed is a new reproduced cell which was added to the brain [and is not part of the natural physique of the brain]. This seemingly negates the need to novelize that the seed must be a spiritual energy derived from the brain, as even if it were to be a physical drop, it is reproduced and hence does not cause the brain any loss. Vetzaruch Iyun

[11] Torah Or p. 16a

[12] Torah Or p. 16a

[13] Torah Or p. 16a

[14] Torah Or p. 16a

[15] Torah Or p. 16a

[16] Torah Or p. 16a

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