Chasidut על ברכות 35:23
Kedushat Levi
This is the true meaning of what the Mishnah in Avot 6,11 tells us when the author states that everything the Lord has created has as its objective the enhancing of His glory. Maimonides in the Moreh Nevuchim when explaining the line in our prayers about G’d being יוצר אור ובורא חושך, “fashioning light, while having created the element of darkness,” explains the word ברא, as related to the word בור, as in Genesis 37,24 והבור רק אין בו מים, “the pit was empty and did not contain any water;” in other words, by withdrawing light there remains darkness. This “darkness” would be what is left from the original chaos, תהו ובוהו, of which the Torah speaks in the first verse of Genesis prior to G’d creating light.
In spite of this commentary by Maimonides, what the Mishnah meant refers only to the creatures. i.e. man, to whom G’d had given בחירה, the ability to make their own decisions as to whether they would live their lives in accordance with the wishes of the Creator or not. When man rises above the temptations offered in this world and chooses to serve his Creator this adds to G’d’s glory.
We know that by carrying out G’d’s will as expressed by the commandments He gave us in the Torah, we establish a “lifeline” to Him, and as the Talmud says in B’rachot 18, the righteous are considered as “great,” because they are called “alive” even after their bodies have already been interred. The same is not true for the wicked, who our sages describe as “dead” even while still walking around on earth. The wicked, by choosing a path which eventually results in their forfeiting their afterlife, have already identified themselves with “death,” even while onlookers do not yet realize this. [We hardly need any proof for his after reminding ourselves that Esau declined the benefits of birthright for precisely this consideration (Genesis 25,32). Ed.]
In spite of this commentary by Maimonides, what the Mishnah meant refers only to the creatures. i.e. man, to whom G’d had given בחירה, the ability to make their own decisions as to whether they would live their lives in accordance with the wishes of the Creator or not. When man rises above the temptations offered in this world and chooses to serve his Creator this adds to G’d’s glory.
We know that by carrying out G’d’s will as expressed by the commandments He gave us in the Torah, we establish a “lifeline” to Him, and as the Talmud says in B’rachot 18, the righteous are considered as “great,” because they are called “alive” even after their bodies have already been interred. The same is not true for the wicked, who our sages describe as “dead” even while still walking around on earth. The wicked, by choosing a path which eventually results in their forfeiting their afterlife, have already identified themselves with “death,” even while onlookers do not yet realize this. [We hardly need any proof for his after reminding ourselves that Esau declined the benefits of birthright for precisely this consideration (Genesis 25,32). Ed.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy