– SURSĂ DE TEXTE FUNDAMENTALE, CĂRŢI, CURSURI, LECŢII, ÎN LIMBA ROMÂNĂ –
Autor: arhiprofesor
Rene Guenon spunea candva ca numai prostii cred ca se pot initia singuri. Intotdeuna ai nevoie de un maestru. Dar cartea ramane o sursa de imbogatire a cunostintelor noastre fara de care nici maestrii nu-si pot desavarsi lucrarea. Biblioteca de arhitectura este pentru un arhitect tot atat de importanta cat experimentarea in concret a trairii fiecarui spatiu arhitectural.
The King’s daughter on Passover is the intellectual soul, a watch-night, a kept Matza [Passover bread]. The spirit that is kept opposite her is a good day, the day of Shabbat [Sabbath]. They are “Remember and keep,” since he is Atzilut from Malchut. In the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar], a kept Matza and a watch-night extend from Malchut (Tzav, 64-65).
The reason we do not eat Matzot [pl. of Matza] all year long: He explains with an allegory about a king who wears his formal attire only when he is anointed. Also, each year at that same time, he wears his formal attire, but only then.
Matzot are regarded as “harsh judgment,” which are Mochin de Achoraim, GAR de Yenika. This is the circumcision, meaning that although it is impossible to use the Mochin [lights], it still helps to thereby bring out the AHP of the Kelim from the Klipa [shell/peel]. This is why it implies the circumcision.
Matzot are Mochin de Achoraim that illuminate at the time of Gadlut [greatness/adulthood]. That is, during the Gadlut, when they have Mochin of Abba and Ima, the Mochin de Achoraim are not cancelled. On the contrary, the whole quality of Hochma at the time of Gadlut comes from this discernment.
On the night of Passover there was only cutting and not removing [stages in the circumcision], and Gadlut means removing, so how can there be Gadlut on the night of Passover? He answers that removing is awakening from below, and the Gadlut of the night of Passover came by an awakening from above (The Zohar, Bo, 49). Observing the Mitzvot [commandments] is the keeping of the circumcision.
“Bread of poverty”—since it is Achoraim and lacks Hassadim (there).
A kept Matza means that we must keep ourselves in a place where we are going to observe the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Creator so there will not be any fear of Hametz [leaven] there. In other words, the Mitzvot should lead a person toward the correction of creation, and if we do not know how to keep the Matza, we take what is of no significance and leave what is significant.
As the ARI wrote, prior to the redemption, Israel were in forty-nine gates of Tuma’a [impurity] until He was revealed to them and redeemed them. That is, they were rewarded with “I and not a messenger.”
Baal HaSulam said that before the redemption they thought that there are messengers, so redemption means that they were rewarded with “I and not a messenger,” that there is none else besides Him. It follows that before the redemption they also believed that the Creator was helping, but there are messengers, while redemption means that they were rewarded with “I and not a messenger.”
There are two opposites in above reason—in mind and in heart, which is regarded as “for he desires mercy.” If foreign thoughts come to a person, he should remove them from him and not listen to them at all.
This is a hard work because Pharaoh king of Egypt afflicts them and throws foreign thoughts at them in mind and in heart, as it is written, “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and their cry went up to God.” This is one side by which they are rewarded with faith, meaning the exodus from Egypt, and this is regarded as a soul of Kedusha [holiness].
On the other hand, “a soul without knowledge is not good, too,” and we need the knowledge of Kedusha, which is called “wealth,” for there is no wealth except in Daat [reason/knowledge]. When the Creator wanted to enrich them, they did not have Kelim [vessels] because everything was for them above reason, so the Creator gave them the advice to borrow Kelim from the Egyptians.
The taking of the Kelim was only so they would be able to receive a filling for the Kelim, meaning answers to their questions. But once they took the answers, they immediately returned the Kelim to the Egyptians. Because they are going above reason, they have no questions and they took the questions of the Egyptians only temporarily and then returned them.
“Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt.” Amalek is the evil inclination, and it comes to a person only “when you came out from Egypt,” meaning when a person emerges from the Egyptians who are afflicting the soul. When one takes upon himself to engage in serving the Creator, this is when he comes.
It is written in the Shabbat [Sabbath] evening songs (in “Anyone Who Sanctifies”): “The Lord, God of Israel, the love of the innocent [also “whole” or “naïve”]; the Lord, God of Israel, everlasting salvation.”
We should understand the importance of innocence [also “wholeness” or “naivety”]. On the face of it, it seems as though one who has less of an intellect can be more innocent, and one who has more intellect and more ability to criticize cannot be naïve. It follows that the quality of naivety was given to those with little knowledge.
But Baal HaSulam interpreted that first one sees only Mumim [flaws] and then he makes of it Tamim[naïve/innocent/whole]. The explanation is that when one sees only flaws in the world, in individuals and in the collective, this is called Mumim [flaws], and it is called “left line.” Afterward, he accepts everything above reason, and this is called Tamim.
It follows that one who has more knowledge, has more flaws, as it is written, “He who adds knowledge adds pain,” and he should accept all this above reason. It follows that his innocence is built on greater knowledge. Thus, his innocence is greater than one whose innocence is built on smaller knowledge.
It says, “The Lord, God of Israel, the love of the innocent [also “whole” or “naïve”]; the Lord, God of Israel, everlasting salvation.” This means that in order for a person to have the strength to overcome once he sees a world full of flaws, he cannot help himself and needs salvation from above to be able to go into innocence above reason. This is the “Lord, God of Israel, everlasting salvation,” meaning to bring all the flaws into the above reason, which is called Tamim [innocent/whole]. This is the meaning of Ol-Mim [Olamim (everlasting) split in two]. Ol [burden] comes from the word Ayil[Aramaic: entering], meaning to insert a Mum [flaw] in the Tamim.
By this we will understand the words of The Zohar (Balak, Items 187-188). It is written there that a prayer for the poor precedes the rest of the prayers. This is the meaning of “A prayer for the poor when he envelops.” “Envelops,” from the words, “And the enveloped, for Laban,” which means delayed. That is, it delays all other prayers in the world. He asks, Why does the prayer for the poor delays all the prayers? It is because the poor is brokenhearted and the poor always quarrels with the Creator, and the Creator listens and hears his words, see there in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar].
We should understand why the Creator hears the prayer of the poor before all other prayers. He says that the reason is that the Creator is near to the brokenhearted. We should understand the importance of the brokenhearted to whom the Creator is close. In The Zohar, Malchut is called “poor, for she has nothing of her own except that which her husband brings her.” This matter is explained in several places in the Sulam, that there are two states in Malchut. Once it is explained according to the first state, that she is called “poor” because she has no Hassadim [mercies], and elsewhere, he calls there, in the Sulam, the second state of Malchut, that she is called “poor” because she must receive from Zeir Anpin, her husband.
We should interpret that the kingdom of heaven—when one wants to take upon himself that all his actions will be for the sake of the Creator, not in order to receive reward—at that time Malchut is called “poor” because she has nothing to give to the person working for her. Normally, when someone works for someone, he receives a reward for his work. But when a person works for the Creator, not in order to receive reward for his labor, it follows that he is working for a poor one, meaning it like working for a poor person who has nothing with which to pay him.
According to the above, we should interpret a prayer for the poor: A person prays to the Creator that his prayer will be for the poor. That is, he prays that everything he does will be for the sake of the Creator, meaning he wants to work in order not to receive reward. This work means that he wants to work Lishma [for Her sake]. That is, even though he has not achieved it, he still wants to. This is the first discernment in the work of the Creator. Before one achieves the state of Lishma, he works not for the sake of the Creator, but for his own sake.
By this we will understand why the prayer for the poor is accepted before all the prayers, to point that The Zohar says that it delays all the prayers, that it precedes the prayer for David and the prayer for Moses. We should ask why it should delay the rest of the prayers. Is it impossible to answer everyone at the same time, but they must be answered one at a time?
We can understand this if we learn all these three prayers in one person. Normally, we should discern three prayers: 1) A prayer for Moses, who is the quality of the Torah. 2) A prayer for David, who is Malchut [kingship]. That is, he has been rewarded with the quality Malchut but he prays that the kingdom of heaven with which he has been rewarded will not depart from him. 3) A prayer for the poor, when he wants to begin to emerge from self-love and come into the work in order to bestow and not receive any reward, but only for the Creator. Then the body begins to resist this work because it is against his nature. At that time, he comes to a state where he sees that he is bare and destitute. That is, he has no support from which to receive fuel for the work. In other words, when he thought that he should engage in the work Lishma, he was fine. He had Torah and prayer and good deeds, and he had possessions to enjoy. He looked at people with whom he came in contact and felt that he was far above them.
But now that he has begun to walk on the path that leads to Lishma, he feels that he is more deprived than all his contemporaries, since they have vitality. He feels them just as he had felt himself before he began to change his way. At that time, he feels that the world has grown dark on him, as it is written, “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You did not save Your people at all. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a mighty hand he will send them, and with a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land’” (Exodus 5:23).
We should interpret that before Moses came to the people of Israel as a messenger of the Creator, that He wants to lead them out of Egypt, the people of Israel engaged in work of the Creator but were enslaved to Pharaoh king of Egypt. Pharaoh king of Egypt is the will to receive that is found in the created beings, which cannot do anything if not for its own benefit. This is the ruler in all created beings, and afflicts all those who want to emerge from its dominion, meaning to work for the sake of others.
Moses came to the people of Israel and told them that the Creator wants to deliver them from under the governance of Pharaoh, to lead each and every one of the people of Israel from under Pharaoh’s control, which is found within each and every one.
Accordingly, each one understands that Moses’ mission is that we must begin the work Lishma [for Her sake], so it makes sense that now, if we begin to walk on the path of truth, meaning for the sake of the Creator, where each one has the aim to bestow while doing the work of the Creator, now each one will begin to work harder and with great enthusiasm, and the passion will be so intense that it will be difficult for him to retire for a minute to think about corporeal needs, too, which are utterly necessary, since now he is working only for the sake of the Creator. And although he has not begun this work, to feel that he is working for the sake of the Creator, since he wants to walk on the path of truth, the body will certainly agree to make more concessions for him than it did while he was not working on the path of truth, meaning Lishma.
But the reality is opposite. Precisely when we want to walk on the way of Lishma, the body begins to resist. At that time, it begins with all its arguments, meaning the argument of Pharaoh king of Egypt, which is the argument, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” and the argument of the wicked, who says, “What is this work for you?” At that time, the work becomes heavy, and each time he needs more reinforcement.
We should interpret this matter in the above-mentioned verse, “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people.” That is, when Moses came to speak “in Your name,” meaning that they should work for the sake of the Creator, “He has done harm to this people,” they become worse. In other words, before Moses came to say that we must work only for the sake of the Creator, everyone served the Creator and considered themselves righteous. They had the strength to work and the fuel to know why they were working was clear to them. But after Moses came as an emissary of the Creator, that we must work for the sake of the Creator, they have become worse. Thus, accordingly, they would be better off not getting into the work of Lishma.
To this came the answer, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a mighty hand he will send them.’” The answer was not that they did not tell the truth, but what I want from them is to feel the truth, that they are so far from the truth, meaning from working for the sake of the Creator. Then, when they have this kind of demand, that they cannot work Lishma, then you will see how I give you the strength to work for the sake of the Creator. I do not demand that you will be able to walk on the path of truth. All I need is for you to have a Kli [vessel] to receive the abundance. Hence, when you begin to work in order to bestow, you will see that you are incapable of this work, and then I will give you what is called “with a mighty hand he will send them,” as it is written, “And I also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, that the Egyptians enslave them, and I remembered My covenant, etc., and I will deliver you from under the afflictions of Egypt” (Exodus 6). It follows that once they have a Kli to receive, I will give them the power required for it.
Now we will explain what we began, concerning the prayer of the poor—why this prayer delays all other prayers. Since we are speaking of one person in whom all these states unfold, it follows that the prayer of David cannot be accepted, as it is when he has already been rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, but he prays that the kingdom of heaven will not cease from him. One can pray for this after he already has the kingdom of heaven, but anyone who is still far from the kingdom of heaven, who is still under the rule of Pharaoh king of Egypt, how can he be given so that this matter will not cease in him while he still has nothing?
Hence, first the prayer of the poor is accepted, meaning that first he must be rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, called “poor and meager.” This is the first discernment—that a person must enter in the work. Afterward comes the next degree, which is a prayer for David, meaning that his kingdom of heaven will not cease. Then comes the third degree, which is a prayer for Moses, which is the Torah.
“Live Dagim [fish]” means he has Daagot [concerns] about work but he is alive. That is, he has the power to work and find ways to mitigate his concerns. But dead fish means his concerns cause him death, meaning that all his powers to work have died and he has no vital spirit, having no strength to work and find solutions. This is called “dead fish.”
In Egypt, when the Klipa [shell/peel] of Egypt was on the Jews, they ate live fish, but the quality of Egypt is called “dead fish,” as it is written, “The fish that were in the Nile died,” unlike the fish of the Jews, which are alive.
If the concerns are in order to achieve the aim to bestow, this is the concern of Israel, who is concerned over why he is not in the quality of Israel. This is unlike the concerns of the Mitzrim[Egyptians], for Tzar [narrow] means that he is under the rule of the Tzar, meaning the quality of mercy. This is the meaning of “The fish that were in the Nile died,” meaning that these Daagot[concerns] yield death, the death of the powers, and he cannot do anything.
“Come unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may set these signs of Mine within him.”
The interpreters asked about the words, “I have hardened”: Since the Creator gave him the hardening of the heart, meaning that the Creator denied him the choice, why is it his fault? They also asked about the words, “Come unto Pharaoh”: It should have said, “Go unto Pharaoh,” since “come” means “Let us go together,” meaning that the Creator will go together with Moses.
To understand the above, we should precede with what is written, “Our sages said, ‘One should always see oneself as half guilty, half innocent. If he performs one Mitzva [commandment], happy is he for he has sentenced himself to the side of merit’” (Kidushin 40b).
We should ask, 1) How can one say that he is half… while he knows about himself that he has more transgressions than Mitzvot [pl. of Mitzva]? 2) “If he performs one Mitzva,” they said that he has sentenced himself to the side of merit. But they said, “always,” meaning that even after he has sentenced himself to the side of merit, he should also see himself as half and half, so how can such a thing be said when he has already performed one Mitzva? 3) If he knows that he has more merits than iniquities, why must he say “half and half”?
Our sages said, “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him” (Sukkah52a). We should ask why he deserves such a harsh punishment that if he is great, he is given more evil inclination than a small person is given.
The thing is that our sages come to teach us the way in the work of the Creator, to advise us how to emerge from the authority of the evil inclination. Therefore, they instructed us that one should not say that since he has few merits and many iniquities, he can no longer decide that from now on I will walk on the good path, since he sees that he is under the authority of evil because he has many faults and few merits, and he concludes that all this extends from his being born with bad qualities and he has no way to emerge from the governance of evil.
The choice that one is given, to decide to the side of merit, pertains specifically to one in whom the powers of good and bad are equal. At that time, it is possible to decide to the good. But for one whose bad is greater than the good, he can no longer decide.
Our sages said about this: “One should always see oneself as half guilty,” as in “Anyone who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him,” since if someone becomes great and remains in the bad from before he became great, he will have much good and a little bit of bad, and in this way, it is impossible to make a choice, since just as there cannot be choice if the bad is more than the good, there cannot be choice if the good is more than the bad.
Therefore, one who is great, whose good is great, his evil must be increased from above, so he will have the exact same measure as the good. Then, when the two are equal, there can be choice.
It therefore follows that if a person sees that his good is very small, he should know that his bad is also very small. Although he knows that he has made many transgressions, he should still know that from above, the bad in him was diminished because the good in him was diminished, so he would be able to make a choice. As for the many bad deeds he did, there are corrections for this, through Hell or through repentance from fear or from love.
But concerning doing, henceforth there are corrections that diminish the bad so it is not greater than the good, so he will be able to choose.
Thus, a person can always choose, since before he has performed one Mitzva, the authority of the bad is not greater than the authority of the good although he has many bad deeds. After he has performed one Mitzva and decided to the side of merit, his evil is increased, meaning the bad is empowered so as to govern to the same extent as the good. It follows that then, too, he is half and half.
By this we will understand the verse, “Come unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart.” Once Pharaoh has sentenced himself to the side of merit, saying, “The Lord is righteous,” he was great. Therefore, he could no longer make a choice. For this reason, there was a need for the Creator to harden his heart, meaning increase his evil, since only in this way is there room for choice.
It follows that through the hardening of the heart, the ability to choose was not taken away from him. On the contrary, here he was given the possibility to make a choice.
Rabbi Shimon said, “Until that event happened to Joseph, he was not called ‘righteous.’ Once he kept that covenant, he was called ‘righteous’ … And what happened in the pit before, they moved away from it, and it is written, ‘and they hurriedly brought him out of the pit,’ he was removed from it and was crowned in a well of living water.”
He interprets in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] that this should not be perplexing because through this act, he was rewarded with being called a “righteous.” Thus, why did they place him in the prisoners’ dungeon? He replies that he was initially in the pit because through it he ascended to kingship. It is written, “and they hurriedly brought him out of the pit,” meaning he moved away from it, from the Klipa [shell/peel], and was crowned with a well of living water, which is the Shechina [Divinity] (The Zohar, Miketz).
We should ask why it was necessary to first be in prison, which is called Klipa [shell/peel], in order to ascend to Kedusha [holiness]. As soon as he was called “righteous,” by that deed, he should have entered the Kedusha. And yet, we see that Joseph was in the pit twice—1) by his brothers, as it is written, “And they threw him in the pit,” 2) by the chief cook, as it is written, “and they hurriedly brought him out of the pit.”
We should say that a pit means prison, that it is a person being under the control of the evil inclination, when one is incarcerated by it and cannot emerge from its authority.
By observing the Mitzva [commandment] of honoring the father, Joseph saw through the illumination of the Mitzva that he was in prison, since during the darkness it is impossible to see the truth. But that was only through his brothers, who are Israelis. That is, he saw that he was walking in the path of the Creator, but the reason that makes him work is the environment, that he is in an Israeli environment.
It follows that he was incarcerated by the environment, meaning had to engage in Torah and work because of the environment. When a person is rewarded with greater light, he sees the truth, that he is not in the prison of Israel, but he is truly in the hands of the Klipa.
The fact that he was called “righteous” because of the deed, at that time he saw that it was Potiphar who placed him in prison, and saw that it was a real Klipa. At that time, there is room for prayer that the Creator will deliver him from prison.
The more one sees that he needs the Creator’s help not for luxuries but for necessities, the more genuine is the prayer. Therefore, it is accepted above and the Creator delivers a person from imprisonment and is rewarded with being among the recipients of the face of the Shechina [Divinity].
This is the meaning of the words of The Zohar, “And what happened in the pit before was removed in a well of living water,” as it is written in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar], “and they hurriedly brought him out of the pit,” meaning he moved away from this Klipa and was crowned in a well of living water, which is the Shechina.
“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.” Here it implies to us that when a person is in a state of ascent, he should learn what he had at the time of descent, since during the descent, there is no one to speak with, since then a person is devoid of consciousness in the spiritual life and is concerned only with filling his body with pleasures, and it does not matter to him from which place the pleasures come to him, but only “Give!”
However, during the ascent, a person can learn and gain from the state of descent. This is the meaning of “Remember.”
