Friday, July 31, 2015

Short Summary of Likutey Torah VaEtchanan

בס"ד
ואתחנן אל ה' וגו' אתה החילות וגו'

להיות עולם הזה הוא עולם השפל ע"כ ברא אלקים את האדם שהוא נר הוי' נשמת אדם להאיר את
העוה"ז... והיינו ע"י ק"ש ותפלה שיאיר שם הוי"ה בלבו ע"י שיתפעל מקרב איש ולב עמוק וזהו ענין ברוך אתה הוי"ה כו'

This physical and material world is “low” and “dark”, meaning the coarse nature of materiality, defined by time and space, conceal G-dliness, and even spirituality.  Hence this world is called dark, since it only senses itself and does not sense the G-dly lifeforce creating it, and “low” because it is the “farthest” from the “higher” realms where G-dliness is openly revealed (mainly the world of Atzilut).

And for this reason Man was created, each of us being a “candle of Hashem” to light up the darkness.  How?  By manifesting G-dliness within ourselves, our being, our existence, and since we exist in the physical material world, we manifest G-dliness in the physical and material world.

Specifically, we do this by the process of davening, uniting G-dliness and the physical world through the process of pesukei dzimra, the laining of the Shma, and the Amida davening - thereby revealing the Name of Hashem in us and through us in the world.

This is what it means “Blessed are You…” - Boruch (“blessed”) literally means “to bring down”, “You” - means to the presence as we only say “you” to someone who is right here in front of us, and who did we bring down to be right in front of us? Hashem - the Blessed Essence of No End.

יבאר פי' וענין הגילוי שם הוי"ה בלבו דהיינו ע"י שיבין ענין ובטובו מחדש בכל יום מע"ב. בריאה חדשה ממש מאין ליש. ולא דרך השתלשלות שהוא ענין גילוי ההעלם לבד. וע"ז מורה שם הוי'.

How do you bring down the revelation of the Name YHVH in his heart?  By shedding away the husks that conceal Hashem, mainly my sense of corporeal independent existence which defines the physical and material world.  I do this by contemplating how the world is being created from nothing literally at every instance, that is the inner meaning of the blessing we say “He recreates in His kindness…”  

This creation something from nothing is higher than the order of progression of worlds (Atzilut, Beriya, Yetzira, Asiya) which are only revealing what was already before albeit in a concealed way.  This creation we are referring to is actually creating something that before was not in existence at all, referring to the beginning of everything, every moment, from absolute nothing.

וזהו ואהבת את הוי"ה שיהיה שורה בך בבחינת גילוי.  והיינו בכל לבבך תוך שני לבבות פנימית וחיצוניות. וע"י אעדל"ת זו נמשך אתעדל"ע להיות ברכה והמשכה בגילוי.  

This contemplation immediately brings us to love Hashem with all our heart, with both our hearts, both the external feelings we are conscious of as well as our inner emotive attributes, all burnt up with love for the Creator.

And through this process taking place in us (from below) we elicit a great revelation (from above), as is the process that the result of motivation from below (us turning from feeling ourselves and the world and eliciting our love and desire for G-dliness), is motivation from Above (Divine revelation in us and through us in the entire world).  

אך ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם שהוא רק המשכה מאתעדל"ע מבחינה שאין אתעדל"ת יכולה להשיגה וזהו אתה החילות וגם כדי להיות אתעדל"ת צריך להיות תחלה אתעדל"ע כמ"ש ע"פ אלה מסעי בענין ויכתוב משה את מוצאיהם למסעיהם. וע"ז ביקש משה אעברה נא ואראה להמשיך בה בחינת אתה החילות:

Until now we have discussed the process by which man is a candle of the light of G-dliness in the dark world, which is accomplished through davening.  This is a process of motivation from below eliciting a motivation from above.

However the next level is the study of Torah, which is a motivation from Above, from such a high level that it is not elicited by a motivation from below.  It is from such a high level that Created beings cannot reach and “motivate” or “elicit” it, but it comes from the very essence of Hashem Himself so to speak.

This is what Moshe said “You have began”, that Hashem Himself started the process, unelicited from below.  This is what Moshe was asking, that he should bestow this supernal level into the physical land of Israel (and by doing so there would be no room for destruction or exile, since sin and evil cannot penetrate this level).

יבאר שהמשכה מבחינה זו אינו נתפס בגילוי והתלבשות המחשבה כ"א הארה בעלמא כענין מ"ש ויצא כברק חצו.  וזהו ואראה את הארץ וכמש"ש וה' עליהם יראה. עיניך יונים. ועד"ז חכמים שהם עיני העדה תקנו ברכת המצות.  וכדי להמשיך בחינה זו הקדים משה ואמר ואתחנן אל הוי"ה להמשיך מבחינת חנון שהוא אוצר מתנ חנם שאין אתעדל"ת מגיע שם משם המשיך בחי' הוי"ה שהוא אתעדל"ע:

And this level (in personal divine service “Avoda”) cannot be intellectually perceived and experienced, this is called “seeing”, which is a level higher than intellect.  Which is why the Arizal was able to “see” in his dream secrets that could not be explained even is speaking for 60-80 years straight.  

This is “seeing” that Moshe was asking for, to “see” the land of Israel.  And the sages are called “the eyes of the nation’, inheriting this level of “seeing” from Moshe.  And the blessings we make which were enacted by the sages the eyes of the nation, are actually coming from this supernal level of “seeing”, which have the effect of bringing down the supernal level discussed above as a preparation for the actual performance of a mitzvah.  

This has a direct connection with asking to “see the Rebbe”, which immediately brings to him taking us into the land of Israel in the true and complete redemption by Moshiach.

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