Chasidut על ראש השנה 33:16
Kedushat Levi
The author of the central paragraph in the mussaph prayer on the Sabbath, which commences with the words: תכנת שבת ...צוית פירושיה עם סדורי נסכיה, refers to the fact that the Torah in the Sabbath legislation not only spelled out the commandment of how to observe this day with one’s body, by allowing the body to “rest” (constructively), but also spelled out how to observe it with our soul.
When referring to the creative acts that G’d abstained from on the seventh day of creation on account of which we are asked to sanctify the Sabbath, both in connection with the word: זכור in our portion, and again in Deuteronomy 5,12 in connection with the word: שמור, we must remember that the “light” which is described in the Torah as G’d’s first act of intervention in the condition of the “world” before G’d created order from chaos, was “direct” light, i.e. an emanation from the Creator, a light which expands in all directions of the universe, performing its function commensurate with the needs of the region or domain which it reaches. It then assumes a character germane to that region or domain. In other words, this אור ישר, will assume a different intensity in the regions inhabited by the highest ranking angels, the שרפים, from the intensity it assumes in the celestial regions inhabited by a lower ranking group of angels known as חיות. The same is true when this אור ישר, arrives in the regions of the terrestrial parts of the universe, the region known as עולם העשיה. At the same time arrival of this “light” also resulted, as an unavoidable consequence, in “reflected” light, a response by the creature who had received it from the Creator. [Compare pages 364/365 where this subject has been discussed previously. Ed.] Each region of the universe receives the amount and intensity of this אור הישר appropriate to its needs.
In kabbalistic parlance the nature of the אור החוזר, the “reflected light,” is perceived as the remnant of the original light which did not remain in the universe as the various universes were unable to ”digest” it so that they could not make use of it as it was too intense and would have destroyed these worlds. Upon the return of this “light” to the Creator, the אין סוף, it will be condensed, i.e. its power will be restrained, but in a manner that in the words of Michah 7,18 make it “digestible” only for the holy Jewish people-as described in connection with Exodus 14,21, see pages (364-366).-
Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 17 alluded to this idea when they explained the term לשארית נחלתו, “to the remnant of His inheritance,” (His own people) in Michah 7,18, as those Jews who transform themselves into truly G’d fearing personalities. Concerning these types of people my sainted teacher Dov Baer has said that the expression שארית נחלתו applies only to those צדיקים who spend almost all of their lives trying to elevate themselves to the level of sanctity of their Creator.
The root of the concept of sanctity, קדושה, holiness, sanctity, is found where the צמצום, the voluntary restriction G’d imposed upon His essence occurs, so that He would not be a destructive force in His own universe. [If we in our parlance, following Rashi, translate holiness as “something apart,” this is no contradiction, but a reflection of the difficulty of translating celestial terminology into language used in the terrestrial part of the universe, the part we humans inhabit. Ed.]
When the Jewish people sanctify themselves by means permitted to them, and in that process separate themselves from the pleasures of this terrestrial world, they do so because they are aware that the so-called pleasures of this terrestrial world are intrinsically worthless, so that they try to elevate themselves to a region outside the domain of the terrestrial, physical universe. These “regions” are beyond our ability to define and therefore we are unable to describe them adequately. Seeing that the nations of the world have none of them been found worthy of being שארית נחלתו “a residue of His inheritance,” it cannot be expected of them to show the least bit of understanding of this subject.
Suffice it to say that the subject matter we called אור חוזר is the unabsorbed part of the אור ישר, the “direct” light that had left the Essence of G’d and dispersed in different regions of His universes, any “excess,” making a “return journey” in preparation for further use by its Dispatcher, the Creator.
This inability of the nations of the world to comprehend the nature of the Sabbath is the reason that while they understand the concept of the Sabbath being a day that symbolizes that the Creator had refrained from overt creative activity, they selected for themselves on an arbitrary basis a different day of the week, one that had not been sanctified by the Creator for that purpose. When the Torah, both in our portion and in Deuteronomy, stresses the element of the sanctity of this “Day of rest,” for the Jewish people, it alludes to the unbroken connection between the Jewish people and the celestial regions, in spite of the fact that our bodies (and, temporarily our souls) inhabit the terrestrial part of the universe. [I have used some of my own wording in the foregoing, for reasons of simplicity. Ed.]
When referring to the creative acts that G’d abstained from on the seventh day of creation on account of which we are asked to sanctify the Sabbath, both in connection with the word: זכור in our portion, and again in Deuteronomy 5,12 in connection with the word: שמור, we must remember that the “light” which is described in the Torah as G’d’s first act of intervention in the condition of the “world” before G’d created order from chaos, was “direct” light, i.e. an emanation from the Creator, a light which expands in all directions of the universe, performing its function commensurate with the needs of the region or domain which it reaches. It then assumes a character germane to that region or domain. In other words, this אור ישר, will assume a different intensity in the regions inhabited by the highest ranking angels, the שרפים, from the intensity it assumes in the celestial regions inhabited by a lower ranking group of angels known as חיות. The same is true when this אור ישר, arrives in the regions of the terrestrial parts of the universe, the region known as עולם העשיה. At the same time arrival of this “light” also resulted, as an unavoidable consequence, in “reflected” light, a response by the creature who had received it from the Creator. [Compare pages 364/365 where this subject has been discussed previously. Ed.] Each region of the universe receives the amount and intensity of this אור הישר appropriate to its needs.
In kabbalistic parlance the nature of the אור החוזר, the “reflected light,” is perceived as the remnant of the original light which did not remain in the universe as the various universes were unable to ”digest” it so that they could not make use of it as it was too intense and would have destroyed these worlds. Upon the return of this “light” to the Creator, the אין סוף, it will be condensed, i.e. its power will be restrained, but in a manner that in the words of Michah 7,18 make it “digestible” only for the holy Jewish people-as described in connection with Exodus 14,21, see pages (364-366).-
Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 17 alluded to this idea when they explained the term לשארית נחלתו, “to the remnant of His inheritance,” (His own people) in Michah 7,18, as those Jews who transform themselves into truly G’d fearing personalities. Concerning these types of people my sainted teacher Dov Baer has said that the expression שארית נחלתו applies only to those צדיקים who spend almost all of their lives trying to elevate themselves to the level of sanctity of their Creator.
The root of the concept of sanctity, קדושה, holiness, sanctity, is found where the צמצום, the voluntary restriction G’d imposed upon His essence occurs, so that He would not be a destructive force in His own universe. [If we in our parlance, following Rashi, translate holiness as “something apart,” this is no contradiction, but a reflection of the difficulty of translating celestial terminology into language used in the terrestrial part of the universe, the part we humans inhabit. Ed.]
When the Jewish people sanctify themselves by means permitted to them, and in that process separate themselves from the pleasures of this terrestrial world, they do so because they are aware that the so-called pleasures of this terrestrial world are intrinsically worthless, so that they try to elevate themselves to a region outside the domain of the terrestrial, physical universe. These “regions” are beyond our ability to define and therefore we are unable to describe them adequately. Seeing that the nations of the world have none of them been found worthy of being שארית נחלתו “a residue of His inheritance,” it cannot be expected of them to show the least bit of understanding of this subject.
Suffice it to say that the subject matter we called אור חוזר is the unabsorbed part of the אור ישר, the “direct” light that had left the Essence of G’d and dispersed in different regions of His universes, any “excess,” making a “return journey” in preparation for further use by its Dispatcher, the Creator.
This inability of the nations of the world to comprehend the nature of the Sabbath is the reason that while they understand the concept of the Sabbath being a day that symbolizes that the Creator had refrained from overt creative activity, they selected for themselves on an arbitrary basis a different day of the week, one that had not been sanctified by the Creator for that purpose. When the Torah, both in our portion and in Deuteronomy, stresses the element of the sanctity of this “Day of rest,” for the Jewish people, it alludes to the unbroken connection between the Jewish people and the celestial regions, in spite of the fact that our bodies (and, temporarily our souls) inhabit the terrestrial part of the universe. [I have used some of my own wording in the foregoing, for reasons of simplicity. Ed.]
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