“You will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you should speak to the Children of Israel.”
(Exodus 19:6)
[Hidden Light] edit
Anyone who wants to experience a taste of the Or HaGanuz (Hidden Light)—i.e., the mysteries of the Torah that will be revealed in the Future—must elevate the aspect of fear to its source.
[To Judge Oneself] edit
And with what is fear elevated? With the aspect of judgment. As it is written (Proverbs 29:4), “Through judgment, the king will establish the land.” And land corresponds to fear, as in (Psalms 76:9), “The earth feared.” That is, a person should judge all his actions, as is written (Psalms 112:5), “He conducts his affairs with judgment”—i.e., he should himself judge and evaluate all his actions.
By doing this, all fright is removed from him and an aspect of a clear and pure fear emerges. Only fear of God remains, no other fear. For when a person does not evaluate and judge himself, he is then evaluated and judged from Above. This is because “when there is no judgment below, there is judgment Above” (Devarim Rabbah 5:4). And when a man is judged with the judgment of heaven, then justice becomes clothed in all things and all things become God’s messengers for executing “the written judgment” (Psalms 149:9) upon this man. As our Sages taught: “To Your judgments they were steadfast…,” and thus “all are Your servants” (Psalms 119:91) —so as to execute justice upon this man (Nedarim 41a).
{“And he that puts right the way, to him I will show the salvation of the Lord” (Psalms 50:23).} However, when a person judges himself, when there is judgment below [so that] there is no judgment Above, then fear does not clothe itself in anything in order to rouse the person. This is because he has roused himself. This is the meaning of, “And sam (he puts right) the way…”—someone who evaluates his ways (Sotah 5b). In other words, he judges the way he acts, as in (Exodus 21:1), “These are the judgments which taSiM (you shall put)….”
As a result, “… to him I will show the salvation of the Lord.” This corresponds to fear, as in (Ecclesiastes 12:13), “And the Lord shall you fear.” In other words, the aspect of fear ascends from the evil husk and the nations by means of judgment. For, originally, [fear] was clothed in the evil husk. This is why a person is afraid of something—the authorities, thieves, or anything else which causes him to be afraid—because fear has clothed itself in that thing. For if fear had not clothed itself in that thing, the thing itself would not have had the ability to frighten the person.
[Daat ♦ Holy Knowledge] edit
And, the source of fear is daat (holy knowledge), as is written in Etz Chaim (Shaar Rosh HaShanah 2): MaNTZPaKh is located in Daat of Z’er Anpin. As is written (Proverbs 2:5), “Then you will understand the fear of God, and daat of the Lord you will find.” And the essence of knowledge is in the heart, as in (Deuteronomy 29:3), “Yet God has not given you a heart to know.” The essence of fear is also [in the heart], as our Sages taught: Of the things which are given over to [i.e., hidden in] the heart, it is said, “And you shall fear your Lord!” (Kiddushin 32b). That is, he will know whom to fear—i.e., “To fear the glorious name” (Deuteronomy 28:58), [which is] fear of His exaltedness.
[Perception of the Torah] edit
When a person achieves the aspect of daat, he merits perception of the Torah, as is written (Proverbs 8:12), “I, wisdom, dwell with [the] cunning”—the dwelling of the Torah is with the one who has daat. As is written, the Holy One “gives wisdom to the wise” (Daniel 2:21).
However, there are two aspects to the Torah: the aspect of revealed and the aspect of hidden. Although the aspect of hidden will only be [fully] merited in the Future (Zohar III, p.152a), still, by means of prayer with self-sacrifice one can merit the aspect of hidden [even] in this world. And the way to merit prayer is through the revealed Torah. This is because the Torah which is revealed corresponds to Sinai, as our Sages taught: “Sinai” or “an uprooter-of-mountains,” which is preferable? And they answered, “Sinai” is preferable, for everyone requires the grain merchant (Berakhot 4a). The revealed Torah is something which everyone needs. The hidden Torah, however, few are those who need it (Zohar III, p.73a).
Now the aspect of Sinai corresponds to humility, as our Sages taught: The Holy One ignored all the mountains and gave the Torah only on Mount Sinai (Sotah 5a). And our Sages taught: The prayers of a humble person are not rejected, as in (Psalms 51:19), “A broken and contrite heart You do not despise” (Sotah 5b). By praying with self-sacrifice, a person transcends all his corporeality and has no limitations. And with no limitations, he is then able to perceive the Torah of the Future, which has no limitations and cannot be circumscribed.
[Hidden Mysteries] edit
This is what Rabbah bar bar Chanah recounted: I myself saw this akrukta which was as akra deHagrunia (the city of Hagrunia). And how large was the city of Hagrunia? sixty houses. A tanina (serpent) came by and swallowed it. A pushkantza (raven) came by and swallowed the serpent, and then ascended a tree and sat there. Come and see how great was the strength of that tree! Rabbi Papa the son of Shmuel said: Had I not been there, I would never have believed him! (Bava Batra 73b).
Rashbam:
akrukta - [Aramaic for frog;] in Hebrew, tzephardeah: as the city of Hagrunia - it was as large as this city: And how large was the city of Hagrunia? sixty houses - The Talmud said this: A serpent came by - Rabbah said this: pushkantza - [Aramaic for] a female raven; [orev in Hebrew]: a tree - on one branch, the way birds do: never have believed - I would not have believed it:
♦
akrukta — Rashbam explains that this is a tzephardeah. This alludes to the elevation of fear to its source, i.e., daat. This is because the word TZePhaRDeAh is a composite of TZiPoR (bird) and DeAh (knowledge) (Tanna d’Bei Eliyahu 1:7). A bird corresponds to fear/earth, as in (Isaiah 24:16), “From the knaf (corner) of the earth we heard songs.” And, as is written (Isaiah 60:8), “MI EiLeH (Who are these)”—the same letters as ELoHIM —“that fly as a cloud.” And deah is the source of fear.
which was as aKRA (the city) of haGRUNia — This is phonetically similar to “KRA b’GaRUN (cry out from the throat)” (Isaiah 58:1). This is a reference to the revealed Torah, as our Sages taught: l’motzI’eihem (to those who express them) verbally (Eruvin 54a). For by elevating the fear to the aspect of daat, one merits the revealed Torah.
And how large was the city of Hagrunia? sixty houses — This corresponds to prayer. For when we call out to the Holy One in the imagery of man and He makes Himself available to us “whenever we call upon Him” (Deuteronomy 4:7), this is God’s lovingkindness. This is because, were it not for God’s kindnesses, it would not be appropriate to call out and make reference to God with imagery, praises, words and letters. But all this is God’s lovingkindness. And this is sixty houses —corresponding to lovingkindness, the aspect of Avraham. As it is written (Song of Songs 6:8), “There are sixty kingdoms,” which Rashi explains as referring to Avraham. And houses connotes houses of kingship.
This is the meaning of “samkhuni b’AShiShoT (support me with the wine jugs)” (Song of Songs 2:5). This is like holding up AShaShoT (crystal reflectors) against a powerful light in order to look at the powerful light through the reflectors. Similarly, His lovingkindness decreed that we be supported by [i.e., rely upon] this imagery and praise. And this is the connotation of SaMKhuni, it corresponds to SaMeKh (sixty), and to “There are sixty kingdoms.” This is the aspect of Avraham, for he corresponds to the samekh houses.
A tanina came by and swallowed it — Tanina indicates the aspect of a serpent. It lures a person into praying for personal benefit, such as, “Give us life and livelihood” (Tikkuney Zohar, p.22a), or other [similar] benefits.
A pushkantza came by and swallowed it — Rashbam explains that this is an orev. And our Sages taught: [With whom is the Torah to be found?] With the one who makes his face as black as a raven, and one who makes himself cruel to his children as the raven (Eruvin 22a). That is, he prays without any concern for personal benefit. He does not consider himself as having any worth, so that all his selfhood and corporeality are eliminated. He is thus negated, as if he were not in this world, as it is written (Psalms 44:23), “For Your sake, we are killed each day.” This corresponds to “black as a raven” (Song of Songs 5:11). And through this:
ascended a tree and sat there — This is meriting the aspect of hidden Torah, as is written (Psalms 18:11), “He made darkness SiTRo (His hidden place).” A person merits the SiTRey (hidden mysteries of) Torah through darkness—i.e., self-sacrifice—for he “makes his face as black as a raven.” For [the hidden Torah] corresponds to darkness due to its deep concepts. And this is: It ascended a tree and sat there. [The tree] is the dwelling place of the souls, as is written (Zohar II, 99a): All the souls emanate from the Great Tree.
And [the hidden Torah] is an aspect of the World to Come, in which there is length of days, as in (Isaiah 65:22), “As the days of a tree, so shall the days of My people be.” This is merited through prayer, for the Holy One desires the prayer of the Jewish people (cf. Chullin 60b).
And, when the Jews pray before Him and satisfy His desire, then [God], as it were, takes on the aspect of IShaH (the feminine). This is because He receives pleasure from us, as is written (Numbers 28:8), “It is an ISheH (fire offering), an appeasing fragrance to God.” Through the appeasing fragrance that He receives, He takes on the feminine aspect. And, [because] “The female shall court the male” (Jeremiah 31:21), the Holy One takes on the aspect of a “revealed garment.” In other words, that aspect which was originally hidden is now revealed through prayer. And, God and the Torah are one (Zohar III, 73a). Thus, through prayer, Torah is revealed—i.e., the hidden mysteries of the Torah.
Come and see how great was the strength of that tree! — That is, [come see] how great is the strength of those mysteries of Torah. It cannot be clothed in anything finite or physical, but only in the one who “makes his face as black as a raven” and behaves as a raven to his children. {There are five possessions which the Holy One acquired in His world: Torah is one possession; heaven and earth are one possession; Avraham is one possession; Israel [the Jewish people] is one possession; the Holy Temple is one possession (Avot 6:10).}
[Five Possessions] edit
This corresponds to, “There are five possessions which He acquired in His world….”
Torah is one possession — This corresponds to the revealed Torah.
heaven and earth are one possession — This is the aspect of elevating fear to daat. “Earth” corresponds to fear, as mentioned above. “Heaven” corresponds to daat, because daat (knowledge) is union, as in (Genesis 4:1), “The man knew [Chavah, his wife].” And this corresponds to ShaMaYiM (heaven): aiSh (fire) and MaYiM (water) bound together.
Avraham is one possession — This corresponds to prayer, the aspect of sixty houses, “there are sixty kingdoms,” as above.
Israel is one possession — This is the aspect of judgment, which elevates fear, as explained. As is written (Psalms 147:19), “His statutes and His judgments to Israel.”
The Holy Temple is one possession — This corresponds to the mysteries of the Torah, which are merited through prayer, the aspect of Avraham.
And this is: “This mountain, which His right hand has acquired” (Psalms 78:54). “Right” corresponds to prayer, the aspect of Avraham. And [the hidden Torah] is called “mountain” due to its deep concepts. It is also called Holy Temple, the aspect of holiness/first, [as in] (Leviticus 22:10), “No non-priest may eat that which is holy”—the only ones that may eat of it are His holy ones and those whom He called [to partake]. And the Holy Temple corresponds to the mysteries of the Torah.
[Judgments to Israel] edit
And this is the explanation of [the opening verse]: “You will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. {These are the devarim (words) that you should daber (speak) to the Children of Israel.}”
kingdom — This corresponds to the revealed Torah, because with it “kings rule” (Proverbs 8:15). Kingship is the aspect of revealed, for a king without a nation is no king. And everyone has need of a king, because “everyone requires the grain merchant.”
priests — This is synonymous with prayer, the aspect of Avraham. As our Sages taught: The Holy One said to Avraham (Psalms 110:4), “You are a priest forever” (Nedarim 32b).
and a holy nation — This is the aspect of the Holy Temple—the hidden Torah which is called holy. And how can we merit achieving these aspects? by elevating and binding the aspect of fear to knowledge through the aspect of judgment, as above. And this is:
These are the devarim (words) which you should daber (speak) — This corresponds to fear which is called “word.” This is because the essence of speech is there [in fear], as our Sages taught: When a person has fear of Heaven, his words are listened to (Berakhot 6b). Moshe is the aspect of daat. This is, which you should daber — specifically [“daber”]! And this is: “If they should have davar (a word) between them, they come to me” (Exodus 18:16) —because Israel, who is the aspect of judgment, elevates and binds fear to Moshe, to the aspect of daat. And this is:
to the Children of Israel — Specifically! for they are the aspect of judgment, as in, “His statutes and His judgments to Israel.”
Thus, by binding fear to the aspect of daat through judgment, we merit revealed Torah. Through the revealed Torah we merit prayer. And through prayer, we merit the mysteries of the Torah.
DaVaR — This corresponds to fear, as is written (Malakhi 3:16), “Then those who fear God niDBRu (spoke).”
[Faithful of the Earth] edit
This lesson applies to the verse: “My eyes are upon the faithful of the earth, [that they should dwell with Me. He that goes in the way of perfection, he will serve me”] (Psalms 101:6).
My eyes — This is the aspect of daat, as in (Genesis 3:7), “And the eyes of both of them were opened.” Also, daat is ten [times] the Holy Name { YHVH }, which is numerically equivalent to twice ayin (eye), as is known (see Etz Chaim, Shaar 25:2).
the faithful — This is the aspect of Aharon, as is brought in Midrash Shocher Tov (#101). And Aharon corresponds to judgment, as in (Exodus 28:30), “Aharon bore the judgment of the Children of Israel.”
the earth — This corresponds to fear, as above.
should dwell with Me — This alludes to Sinai, humility; “I dwell with the humble” (Isaiah 57:15), as above.
He that goes in the way of perfection — This is the aspect of prayer, the aspect of Avraham, as is written (Genesis 17:1), “Go before Me and be perfect.”
he will serve me — This alludes to the mysteries of the Torah, corresponding to “he,” an aspect of the World to Come (Zohar I, 154b).