Dancing
Daughters
IV.
Soul Sources
Four-Letter Foundation
Sefira Sisters
Beyond Boy
V.
Double Your Money
Full Blossom
Ruth's Fullness
VI.
Triple Achievement
People
Land
Torah and Mitzvot
IV. Soul Sources
Four-Letter Foundation
Jewish
unity, we have seen, results from the souls' source in "the spring of gardens"
- an actual part of G-d above. A further distinction, though, can be made. Jewish
unity is a result of the souls' origin in the ineffable four-letter Name of G-d:
Y-H-V-H. A verse confirms this, "For G-d's portion is His people." (Deuteronomy
32:9)
Genesis, however, indicates a lower source - the Name of the L-rd (Elokim).
Its verse states, "And the L-rd said, 'Let us make Man in our image."
(Genesis 1:26) The Name L-rd appears 32 times in the Creation narrative. By employing
the Name L-rd to account for man's origin, an equivalency to all of creation is
implied. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?
Zohar solves our
dilemma. Regarding souls, it is written elsewhere in Genesis, "He breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis
2:7) Zohar points out that G-d's essential four-letter Name is responsible for
this act. It stresses, "When a person blows, he blows from inside."
And Y-H-V-H relative to Elokim connotes innerness. Tanya adds a word to Deuteronomy's
phrase to emphasize this, "verily a portion of G-d."
Since souls
derive from G-d's four-letter Name, they, too, are divided into four categories.
In general terms, souls descend from the Name's final heh. This level corresponds
to the very last Divine attribute - Kingship (Malchut). Nevertheless, in a specific
sense, each Jewish soul matches one of the Name's four letters.
The Patriarchs
likewise illustrate this principle. The Midrash informs us, "They are the
Supernal Chariot." Each of the Chariot's four legs represents Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob and David, respectively. Beneath the Chariot, this sub-division is mirrored
by the four sets of the Tribes' encampments or "flags". Taken together,
they form a single and unique chariot for G-d. Sefira Sisters
Now we
can understand why the Mishna classified the daughters of Jerusalem in four types.
Kabbala informs us that each category corresponds to a letter of G-d's Name. That's
why the Talmud designates the daughters as, "the beautiful ones, those with
distinguished lineage, wealthy ones, and poor ones."
How do these four
kinds of Jewesses reflect the Name's letters? "Beautiful ones" connotes
ultimate perfection. They match the Name's first letter - yud. This letter stands
for the initial attribute (sefira) of Wisdom (Chochmah).
Next in line are
"those with distinguished lineage". They hint to the Name's second letter
- heh. Heh signifies the sefira of Understanding (Binah). King David reveals the
link between Binah, also called "Mother", and lineage, "A joyful
mother of children." (Psalms 113:9)
The third class, "wealthy girls,"
alludes to the sefira of Splendor (Tiferes). Splendor is the core of the six emotive
attributes, which are symbolized by the Name's third letter - vav.
The last
set, "poor ones," hints to the sefira of Kingship - the Name's final
heh. Kingship is called poor because it was emanated bereft of light.
Now
the Mishna's statement is better understood: "On Tu B'Av the daughters of
Jerusalem and Israel went into the vineyards dancing and said, 'Young man, please
lift up your eyes and behold.'" For, then, all of the sub-divisions of souls,
paralleling the Name's four letters, emerged as one. They stood in the state of
"the daughters of Jerusalem" - in consummate awe. They beckoned G-d,
"Young man, please lift up your eyes and behold." Why? Their intent
was to effect the perfect unity between G-d and the Congregation of Israel, which
will be manifest in the Future Era.
Beyond Boy
A
difficulty in this interpretation, though, is raised by Kabbala. Solomon's allusion
of G-d as "a young man" is referenced by Kabbala as applying to His
most exalted realm - "the Ancient One" (Atik Yomin). This aspect of
Divinity manifests the Infinite One (Ein Sof), which immeasurably transcends G-d's
four-letter Name. How can the daughters of Jerusalem say, "Young man, please
lift up your eyes?" Does not Zohar teach that neither male nor female exists
within the Ancient One?
Chassidus resolves the dilemma. When a couple wed,
they elicit the infinite power of G-d's Absolute Essence. Only by means of His
power can the ostensibly opposite male and female be joined together in complete
union. Genesis says of Adam and Eve, "And he cleaves to his wife; they become
one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)
Nonetheless, the Congregation of Israel implores
G-d, "Young man, please lift up your eyes." Although spiritual mating
isn't applicable in the abode of the Ancient One, still, He provides the power
to consummate their bond. For it is precisely G-d's Absolute Essence that bestows
Infinite power on marriages. This is a revelation of eternity - above all manner
of measure and limitation. How is eternity expressed? A couple initiates the begetting
of offspring for posterity.V. Double Your Money
Full
Blossom
Now the Mishna can be understood in its entirety: "Israel
had no holidays as the fifteenth of Av (Tu B'Av) and Yom Kippur. Because on Tu
B'Av the daughters of Jerusalem and Israel went into the vineyards dancing and
said, 'Young man, please lift up your eyes and behold.'" Following the catastrophic
downfall of the Ninth of Av comes the stupendous ascent of the Future Era. What's
more, Isaiah reveals that specifically by means of descent, we obtain G-d's highest
aspect, "I will praise You, although You were angry with me; Your anger is
turned away, and You comfort me." (Isaiah 12:1) Through a requisite plunge,
we attain such fulfillment implied by the verse, "These are the generations
of Peretz." (Ruth 4:18)
Ruth wrote the word "generations"
with all its vowels. "Generations" appears thirteen times in Tanach.
But it's written only twice with all its vowels. The other instance occurs at
the conclusion of the Creation narrative, "These are the generations of the
heaven and the earth when they were created." (Genesis 2:4)
The Midrash
tells us that Genesis's "generations" is written out in full to teach
us that, "The world was created in a completed state. For example, Adam and
Eve were created with the bodies of a twenty year-old."
Ruth's
Fullness
Chassidus delves deeper into the Midrash. Creation was enacted
by a direct revelation of G-d's Ten Attributes. Consequently, Infinite Light shone
in the world without hindrance and the world was then in a state of wholeness
and completeness. Only afterwards, through the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge and
later transgressions, did G-d's Light depart.
Why did Ruth repeat the full
"generations" term? She envisioned the Messianic Redemption, as her
final verse concludes, "And Jesse begot David." (Ruth 4:22) At that
time, the world will reach a state of perfection yet greater than its originally
created "condition of wholeness." By restating the concept of fullness,
Ruth intimated a doubled wholeness.
Joseph's brothers had previously hinted
a two-tiered exile, "We had come down twice." (Genesis 43"20) But
they were speaking about what had transpired during their first visit to Egypt.
Why did they say "twice"? In a similar manner, Ruth foresaw the destruction
of both the First and Second Temples, each of which resulted in exile. She also
envisioned a correlating elevation: a twofold ascent.
Then, the Congregation
of Israel will call out to G-d, "Young man, please lift up your eyes and
look." At that moment, our ultimate unification with G-d's Absolute Essence
will be realized. And this bond will be permanent, as Isaiah said, "Your
eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be taken down;
its pegs shall not be removed forever." (Isaiah 33:20) And Job said, "They
cannot be moved."(Job 41:15)
IX. Triple Achievement
May it be G-d's Will that all of this happen in the immediate future with the
true and complete Deliverance, called the "Third Redemption," alluding
to the thrice-twined cord, whose quality will be realized in the Third Temple.
G-d Himself will erect the Third Temple, as the Israelites sang upon crossing
the split-open sea, "In the sanctuary, G-d, which Your hands have established."
(Exodus 15:17)
People
Then, will manifest the wholeness
of the three facets: the Jewish people, the Holy Land and the Torah. Moses told
Pharaoh, "We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters."
(Exodus 10:9) Likewise in the future deliverance, the Jewish People will also
be complete. By increasing love of one's fellow and Jewish unity, we become one
assemblage.
Land
We will all return to the Holy
Land, as Jeremiah said, "Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
and gather them from the ends of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame,
the woman with child and her that travails with child together; a great company
shall return there." (Jeremiah 31:7) We will encounter a complete Israel
extending to her full borders. What's more, "G-d will enlarge your borders."
(Deuteronomy 19:8) Greater Israel will include land inhabited in ancient times
by the Kenites, Kenizites and Kadmonites - an area east of Biblical Israel.
Torah and Mitzvot
Torah and mitzvot will be practiced in an unprecedented
manner of completeness. In our Shabbat prayers we recite, "There we will
offer to You obligatory sacrifices… with love, in accordance with the command
of Your Will." This will be facilitated by the future perfection of man who
brings the sacrifices, of that which is sacrificed, and of the altar itself.
Until, all of this will bring perfection to the entire world, as the prophet Zephaniah
foresaw, "For then I will transform the nations to a pure language, that
they may all call upon the Name of G-d, to serve Him with common consent."
(Zephaniah 3:9) "And the kingdom shall be G-d's." (Obadiah 1:21) May
this happen speedily in our days.
[Rabbi David Rothschild,
a resident of Safed, is the founder and editor of Nefesh Magazine.]
