Chasidut for Berakhot 12:38
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 17,6.“Here I stand opposite you on the rock at Mount Chorev. When you will strike the rock water will come forth from it and the people will drink.” The obvious question about this verse is: ‘how is it possible to describe G’d, the Creator, as “standing” when we always perceive of Him as being present all over the universe, i.e. מלא כל הארץ כבודו, “the whole earth is filled with His glory?” There is no spot on earth where G’d is not “present!” The wording in our verse creates the impression in the reader’s mind that at that time G’d was present only on the rock (Mount Chorev)!
In order to clarify this we must revert to the Talmud in B’rachot 6 where the root of the word עמד, is defined as meaning תפלה, “prayer.” The Talmud quotes as its source psalms 106,30 ויעמוד פינחס ויפלל, “Pinchas waited and prayed before stepping forth.” This quotation seems to reinforce the problem rather than to resolve it, seeing that in our principal daily prayer prayers, known as עמידה, “something performed while standing,” the focus seems to be on standing still. The Talmud clearly had in mind something other than the plain meaning of the words, the פשט.
It appears clear therefore that our sages were not speaking about the people at large when they made the statement quoted in the Talmud B’rachot 6 that the meaning of the word עמידה refers primarily to prayer. They had in mind only the elite of the people, the scholars and the pious. When speaking of such people the common meaning of עמידה, i.e. standing still, does not apply at all, as these people are spiritually constantly “on the move;” they keep moving from one spiritual level to the next higher one. It is what distinguishes them even from angels whom the prophet Zecharyah 2,7 described as העומדים האלה, “these spiritually stationary ones.” When a person is on the “lookout” for his Creator in order to serve Him in the manner appropriate to His stature, he must do so and constantly keep searching until by learning how to manipulate the letters in the holy tongue he will feel that he is coming closer to G’d’s essence. The very idea of “standing still,” resting on one’s laurels, so to speak, is not part of such people’s vocabulary. This is precisely why in the parlance of the prophets the righteous are defined as מהלכים, from the root הלך i.e. people who are constantly “on the move.” They are traversing different regions of the universe, proceeding from one “world” to another in search of their ultimate objective of דבקות, “cleaving” to G’d. When we recite what are known as the פסוקי דזמרה, sacred texts in which G’d is extolled in song and poetry, we are “travelling” through different layers of these various “worlds.” When these psalms are recited with profound concentration, they lead the person doing so to getting insights into more and more facets of G’d’s many characteristics.
In the parlance of our sages these different worlds of disembodied creatures are known collectively as the עולם האצילות, ‘the world of emanation.’ As the term indicates, this olam ha-atzilut is not yet the domain in which the King of kings resides, as “emanation” implies a certain degree of physicality in that “world,” however minute. When one gets to reciting the עמידה, the nineteen benedictions which make up the essence of our prayers, one is supposed to have prepared oneself for facing the highest domain in which no physical matters exist, the domain whence only the אורות של אין סוף, “the brilliant light of the essence of the Creator sends forth illumination to His universe.” This light from the eyn sof surrounds a human being from all directions so that he automatically pours out his heart in front of G’d, literally. This had not been the case previously, although he had already reached the level of olam haatzilut.
People who have not even attained that level are considered as still in the אצילות העשיה, the region of the emanations in the lower levels of the ten emanations, in the region of the completed physical universe, whereas people who have attained the next higher level are considered as in the atzilut hayetzirah, the world of emanations in the part of the physical domain that is still in the formative stages. The אצילות דבריאה, domain of the highest layers of emanations is immediately below that which is known as אצילות דאצילות, the region in which any emanation containing something approaching matter is at an absolute minimum. This is the absolutely highest level that it is possible for a mortal human being to achieve. There is no further progress from there, hence the elite of the Jewish people when having achieved that level through intensive prayer are considered as עומד “standing”. (still) If the principal daily prayer is called עמידה, suggesting “standstill,” this is to be understood as far more than keeping one’s feet close together parallel to one another while reciting these benedictions; the word symbolized the “highest “ rung in their spiritual ascent that the person involved in praying is capable of attaining, i.e. his ultimate goal.
In order to clarify this we must revert to the Talmud in B’rachot 6 where the root of the word עמד, is defined as meaning תפלה, “prayer.” The Talmud quotes as its source psalms 106,30 ויעמוד פינחס ויפלל, “Pinchas waited and prayed before stepping forth.” This quotation seems to reinforce the problem rather than to resolve it, seeing that in our principal daily prayer prayers, known as עמידה, “something performed while standing,” the focus seems to be on standing still. The Talmud clearly had in mind something other than the plain meaning of the words, the פשט.
It appears clear therefore that our sages were not speaking about the people at large when they made the statement quoted in the Talmud B’rachot 6 that the meaning of the word עמידה refers primarily to prayer. They had in mind only the elite of the people, the scholars and the pious. When speaking of such people the common meaning of עמידה, i.e. standing still, does not apply at all, as these people are spiritually constantly “on the move;” they keep moving from one spiritual level to the next higher one. It is what distinguishes them even from angels whom the prophet Zecharyah 2,7 described as העומדים האלה, “these spiritually stationary ones.” When a person is on the “lookout” for his Creator in order to serve Him in the manner appropriate to His stature, he must do so and constantly keep searching until by learning how to manipulate the letters in the holy tongue he will feel that he is coming closer to G’d’s essence. The very idea of “standing still,” resting on one’s laurels, so to speak, is not part of such people’s vocabulary. This is precisely why in the parlance of the prophets the righteous are defined as מהלכים, from the root הלך i.e. people who are constantly “on the move.” They are traversing different regions of the universe, proceeding from one “world” to another in search of their ultimate objective of דבקות, “cleaving” to G’d. When we recite what are known as the פסוקי דזמרה, sacred texts in which G’d is extolled in song and poetry, we are “travelling” through different layers of these various “worlds.” When these psalms are recited with profound concentration, they lead the person doing so to getting insights into more and more facets of G’d’s many characteristics.
In the parlance of our sages these different worlds of disembodied creatures are known collectively as the עולם האצילות, ‘the world of emanation.’ As the term indicates, this olam ha-atzilut is not yet the domain in which the King of kings resides, as “emanation” implies a certain degree of physicality in that “world,” however minute. When one gets to reciting the עמידה, the nineteen benedictions which make up the essence of our prayers, one is supposed to have prepared oneself for facing the highest domain in which no physical matters exist, the domain whence only the אורות של אין סוף, “the brilliant light of the essence of the Creator sends forth illumination to His universe.” This light from the eyn sof surrounds a human being from all directions so that he automatically pours out his heart in front of G’d, literally. This had not been the case previously, although he had already reached the level of olam haatzilut.
People who have not even attained that level are considered as still in the אצילות העשיה, the region of the emanations in the lower levels of the ten emanations, in the region of the completed physical universe, whereas people who have attained the next higher level are considered as in the atzilut hayetzirah, the world of emanations in the part of the physical domain that is still in the formative stages. The אצילות דבריאה, domain of the highest layers of emanations is immediately below that which is known as אצילות דאצילות, the region in which any emanation containing something approaching matter is at an absolute minimum. This is the absolutely highest level that it is possible for a mortal human being to achieve. There is no further progress from there, hence the elite of the Jewish people when having achieved that level through intensive prayer are considered as עומד “standing”. (still) If the principal daily prayer is called עמידה, suggesting “standstill,” this is to be understood as far more than keeping one’s feet close together parallel to one another while reciting these benedictions; the word symbolized the “highest “ rung in their spiritual ascent that the person involved in praying is capable of attaining, i.e. his ultimate goal.
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