Netzavimfrom the mastersAdapted
from Derech
Mitzvotecha by Rabbi Yossi Marcus Nitzavim: A World of Kindness
“and you will return to G-d your L-rd….”
From the Zohar: “A man should not say, When I come
to that world I will then beg mercy of the King and return before Him, for ‘there
is neither deed nor design, neither knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol.’
Rather, one should strive in this world…for once one leaves this world to be judged
by the strong judgement of the judgement of Gehenom—there is neither method nor
wisdom to escape from judgement….” When it comes to the matter of teshuvah,
there is a great difference between this world and the Next. In this world, one
can go from the depths of impurity to the heights of holiness in an instant. “There
is he that acquires his World in one moment,” says the Talmud. [This phrase was said by Rebbe—compiler
of the Mishnah—commenting on the teshuvah of R’ Elazar son of Durdaya, a relentless
hedonist and remorseless sinner. When he was finally inspired to teshuvah he asked
the mountains and valleys, heaven and earth, the sun and the moon to pray for
him. They all replied that they had their own issues. Said
he, “The matter is dependent upon me alone.” He then placed his head between his
knees and cried until his soul departed. A heavenly voice proclaimed: “R’ Elazar
son of Durdaya is fit for the life of the World to Come.” Rebbe cried and said:
“There is he that acquires his World over many years and there is he that acquires
his World in one moment.” The teshuvah of R’ Elazar is often
seen as the quintessential case of teshuvah (see Tanya chapter 43).] Not so in the world to come. After
death, teshuvah achieves nothing. The sinner must undergo various purification
processes including Gehenom before he can merit ascent into Gan Eden. But in this world he can absolve
himself of the need for any such purification in one moment: a moment in which
he effects sincere teshuvah in his heart and thereby acquires a place in the next
world to take pleasure in the radiance of the Divine. What is the reason for this difference? In
short the matter is this: This world is created through the attribute of kindness,
as in the verse “the world is built of kindness”; whereas
the spiritual world is created through gevurah, severity. For in the world to come, the Divine
radiance is revealed in a manner that can be apprehended by creatures. The soul
is thus able to take pleasure in an awareness of the Divine. However, the soul
is only privy to a filtered and veiled level of light, since a direct and unadorned
light would not be palatable to a finite creature such as the soul. Thus the world
to come is seen as a world of gevurah—restriction and filtering. The degree of
revelation in the world to come is called mimalei kol almin, a light that
fills the worlds, and in the language of Kabbala ohr pnimi, a light that
enters and adapts to its recipient. In this world, on the other hand,
Divinity cannot be apprehended. For its light is a higher light; it is not adapted
in a manner that would allow the creatures of this world to apprehend it. This
light is called sovev kol almin, a light that “surrounds” the world because
it cannot be absorbed by it. In the language of Kabbala it is ohr makkif,
the surrounding light, one that transcends any rules or boundaries. [The spiritual world is one of clarity
and awareness of G-d but it is an awareness of a mere reflection of G-d, since
an awareness of G-d’s essence is impossible. In the physical world, by
contrast there is very little awareness of G-d. G-d is nearly entirely concealed,
even His radiance. However, the physical world is host to the light of the essence
of G-d—albeit in a completely concealed manner—and one can access that energy
through Torah and teshuvah. Generally in Chassidus it is explained
that specifically the physical world that hosts the essence of G-d because it
takes the essence of G-d to create to create physical reality. The spiritual realms
are created from emanations of Divinity, not G-d’s essence. Here, the Tzemach
Tzedek sees the presence of the essence of G-d in the fact that we are capable
of raising the “fallen sparks of Tohu” and turning darkness to light—an endeavor
that would be impossible without the presence of G-d’s essence.] *** To delve into this deeper. The world
to come is called a refined world, as in the Talmudic phrase “you have seen a
refined world.” [The Talmud relates the following
incident: R’ Yosef son of R’ Yehoshua son of Levi once took ill and fell into
a coma. When he returned, his father asked him, “What did you see?” He replied,
“I saw a backward world. The lofty ones are below and the lowly ones are above.”
His father said to him, “My son, you have seen a clear world.”] It is a world where all has found
its place, where nebulous potential has acquired distinct features. Like the limbs
of the body—head, hands, feet, even hair and nails—each one is distinct from the
other. The foot cannot become a head. By contrast, this world exists in
a pre-refined state. And it is the task of man to bring order to it through elevating
the sparks of pure good that have “fallen” from the world of Tohu and are enmeshed
in darkness. Now the ability to refine and elevate
the sparks of holiness stems from the power of the transcendent light of sovev
kol almin, which is an expression of the Ein Sof, the essence of G-d. And
because this world operates on the level of transcendence—beyond natural channels—it
is possible to turn darkness to light by drawing from the level where darkness
and light are equal. This idea is expressed in the statement:
“He who told oil to burn will tell vinegar to burn”
or the opposite phenomenon expressed in the verse “He who turns the rock into
a stream of water.” [R’ Chanina ben Dosa, one of the
sages of the Mishnah, was an extraordinarily pious individual. He was also extremely
poor. The Talmud tells of various occasions when he and his family were visited
by miraculous phenomenon, as in the following story. One Friday evening, at twilight,
R’ Chanina noticed that his daughter seemed sad. “My daughter,” he said, “why
are you sad?” To which she replied, “I mistook a container of vinegar for a container
of oil and I lit the Shabbos lamp with it.” He said to her, “My daughter, why
does it bother you? He who told oil to burn will tell vinegar to burn.” Indeed
the flame burned throughout the entire Shabbos.] This can be compared to the seminal
drop, which while in the mother’s womb has the G-d-given capacity to develop into
a complete body with 248 limbs and 365 sinews etc. Now just as G-d gives it the
capacity to develop a head from one particular aspect of it, He can just as easily
cause a foot to develop from that aspect. Similarly in the realm of vegetation.
G-d places the power of growth in the earth. This power stems from the energy
of the various permutations of the letters of the words “tadshei haaretz
– let the earth sprout forth…,” which are present in the earth always (as stated
in Tanya part II in the name of the Baal Shem Tov of blessed memory). This power
allows the earth to produce a fine fruit from a seed. And just as He gave the
power to produce a fruit from a seed to begin with, He can turn things around
and cause an inferior seed to produce high quality fruits, as is known. This is the meaning of “He who told…,”
i.e., He who causes the properties of oil to produce fire can cause the properties
of vinegar to produce fire. This is possible because this world exists in a pre-refined
state and is therefore host to sovev kol almin, which can achieve anything.
The world to come, however, is already refined and is therefore compared to a
fully grown child or apple, which contain only a minimal amount of life-force
by which it remains in existence. The power of formation , however, which formed
it is already gone. Each aspect is therefore set and fixed. Similarly, in the world to come
all is fixed and teshuvah is therefore inconsequential there. One cannot be transformed
from one level to the next. Thus if a person leaves this world with soiled “clothing,”
surrounded by meaningless thoughts, words and deeds, he must undergo various
cleansing processes. This world, however, where sovev is present for the
purpose of elevating the sparks, one is capable of achieving transformation and
healing through teshuvah. May the Almighty indeed return us
in complete teshuvah before Him, for He desires teshuvah… &
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