Chasidut על שבת 61:11
Pri Tzadik
ויהי בימים וגו' וירא בסבלותם: In the Medrash it is written that G-d saw that they had no rest, and Moshe went and established the Shabbat day. This needs explanation - how is it hinted to here that Moshe established the day of rest for them? The verse says that G-d saw their hardships, no more no less. However, there is undoubtedly a hint towards the Shabbat day. The idea is that in every element of the creation of the world the words וירא אלהים כי טוב are used. How is it possible for the verse to say that G-d saw - didn't he see before/during his creation of the world? However, the intention of the verse is that through G-d's vision he was able to put the light (that he had created in the first day) into them. The only time it doesn't say כי טוב is when G-d created darkness and תוהו ובהו on the first day, and on the second day, G-d created Gehinom according to the Talmud in Pesachim (54A). The verse that says that G-d created evil, even though such a concept is not mentioned in the Genesis account of the creation of the world.
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Kedushat Levi
Numbers 18,7. “I make your priesthood a service that is presented as a gift.”
When man serves the Lord this is not a gift to G’d, as he is obligated to do so from the moment he has been born. When man, in the process of serving the Lord, tries to elevate other creatures spiritually at the same time, this does constitute a gift he presents to the Lord.
When the Talmud in Shabbat 31 describes that the first question the soul is asked when appearing before the heavenly tribunal is: נשאת ונתת באמונה, commonly translated as “have you been fair and honest in your dealings with your fellow man,?” the real meaning is: ”when you engaged in business dealings with gentiles and you benefited financially by these dealings, did you use the opportunity of displaying fairness as an opportunity to bring the gentile closer to G’d the Creator?” If you did so you succeeded in rescuing these “sparks” that had strayed from their original path since they had been encased in a body. The word נשאת from the root נשא to raise, elevate,” in the line we quoted from the Talmud, refers to whether the Jew whose soul now appears for judgment in the celestial spheres being asked whether it had been instrumental in helping stray human beings to return to their sacred origins. When the Israelite, be he a priest or not, succeeds in bringing about conversion of pagans for the right reasons, he can claim to have presented his G’d with a gift, מתנה.
When man serves the Lord this is not a gift to G’d, as he is obligated to do so from the moment he has been born. When man, in the process of serving the Lord, tries to elevate other creatures spiritually at the same time, this does constitute a gift he presents to the Lord.
When the Talmud in Shabbat 31 describes that the first question the soul is asked when appearing before the heavenly tribunal is: נשאת ונתת באמונה, commonly translated as “have you been fair and honest in your dealings with your fellow man,?” the real meaning is: ”when you engaged in business dealings with gentiles and you benefited financially by these dealings, did you use the opportunity of displaying fairness as an opportunity to bring the gentile closer to G’d the Creator?” If you did so you succeeded in rescuing these “sparks” that had strayed from their original path since they had been encased in a body. The word נשאת from the root נשא to raise, elevate,” in the line we quoted from the Talmud, refers to whether the Jew whose soul now appears for judgment in the celestial spheres being asked whether it had been instrumental in helping stray human beings to return to their sacred origins. When the Israelite, be he a priest or not, succeeds in bringing about conversion of pagans for the right reasons, he can claim to have presented his G’d with a gift, מתנה.
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