Guarding the Light on High: Humility and Faith

127The holy Kozhnitzer Maggid, zt"l,¹ writes in his sefer Avodas Yisrael that it is a custom to say “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High” after kindling the Chanukah lights, so that the outside forces, the powers opposed to holiness, will not take hold of the light on high, the holy light from above. This psalm is the “song against afflictions,” as is well known.² Most people take the reason to be that by saying the psalm, Hashem will shield them from every affliction. But the main reason is to guard the light on high from the grip of the outside forces. So far his words.

128aPerhaps both reasons are really one. We can see this through words of the same Maggid in his sefer Ohr Yisrael on the Tikkunei Zohar, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, zt"l, on Chazal's saying: “The early chassidim would wait one hour before prayer and one hour after prayer.”³ In the hour before prayer they would contemplate their own lowliness and the greatness of the Creator, as the Tur explains in the name of the Rambam. In the hour after prayer they would consider that their prayer had still not been fitting before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. This stance after prayer is the holy Name Ehyeh, “I will be,” a Name in the future tense, which means zamin ana, “I am ready to be”: until now I have done nothing at all, but my desire and my will, from this day on, is to occupy myself with Torah and prayer as is fitting, as the Master of the world has commanded us.

128bThis Name guards against the outside forces, so that they will not take hold of one's prayer. As the Tikkunei Zohar says, “And therefore she, the point, is called ‘a virgin, and no man had known her’”:⁴ that is, the tzaddikim [untouched like her] know that they have not yet touched anything, and have not yet done their work where it ought to be done. Joining Havayah, the Four-Letter Name, with Ehyeh is the first of the three such joinings of Divine Names in the blessings over the Chanukah lights, whose values together add up to ner, “lamp.”⁵ This joining guards against the outside forces, so that they will not take hold of the light on high. All this comes through submission and self-nullification, as in the words “I am ready.” But if a person grows proud, he brings harm on himself, Heaven forbid, and as a result the outside forces take hold of the lights on high. This is the meaning of the verse “And evil shall not befall you”:⁶ you will bring no harm on yourself; and then “no plague shall come near your tent”: the lights on high. For ohel, a tent, is light, as Rashi writes on “And Moshe would take the tent”: it is light.⁷ So the two reasons are one: we say the psalm for both, that Hashem shield and protect us from every affliction, and with that the outside forces will not take hold of the lights on high.

129aThe same Maggid also writes there, in Avodas Yisrael, the Arizal's words about two of the sefiros, the Divine attributes, Netzach, victory, and Hod, acknowledgment: “He is in Netzach and she is in Hod,” for in the days of Matisyahu the attribute of Hod was set right.⁸ These are surely great secrets, lofty and exalted, which are not our affair. By our understanding, the explanation is what the holy sefarim write: Hod is set right through emunah, faith, for “He is truth and she is faith.”⁹ And the verse says, Netzach Yisrael, “The Eternal One of Israel does not lie”:¹⁰ He, Netzach, is truth, which conquers (menatze'ach) everything. Hod, she, is faith, for as Chazal say, modim, “they concede” [a word akin to Hod], implies that they had disagreed: some do disagree and deny the providence of the Creator, blessed be He. They explain everything as a chain of causes in their own minds, as if everything runs by the way of nature, and “it was not Hashem who did all this.”¹¹

129bThis is Chazal's phrase about the Greeks, “they defiled all the oils,”¹² for oil alludes to wisdom,¹³ and wisdom and faith flow from one place. So the Ramban writes in Sefer HaEmunah VehaBitachon,¹⁴ in line with the verses “The righteous shall live by his faith”¹⁵ and “Wisdom gives life to those who have it.”¹⁶ That is, with their accursed wisdom the Greeks defiled the thoughts of Israel and their faith. We know that Chochmah and Binah, wisdom and understanding, are “two companions that never part.” That is, Chochmah is the brain, and Binah is the heart, “and with it the heart understands,”¹⁷ in the spirit of the verse “and his heart will understand, and he will return.”¹⁸ For one must surely join the brain and the heart into one, so that they never part from each other, and “together they shall be whole.”¹⁹ Then he will root and fix complete emunah in his heart.

129cOne whom Hashem has graced with a pure, clear and bright mind and with eyes that are lit up, who sees the brightness with no hiding of Hashem's face, does not need faith so much. It is different for people of lesser worth, all the more so in a time of deep darkness. Through the distress of the times we sit in darkness and not light, Heaven forbid; the light of da'as, of understanding, has grown dark for us, and Hashem's face is greatly hidden. For such people the main counsel is emunah. They must believe with complete faith in the Oneness of the Creator: that He gives being to all that exists, causes every cause, and runs the whole world with the attribute of mercy. All this is for one's good, for evil does not come forth from Him.²⁰ So this is no hiding of His face; it is a kind of hidden love. Through the kindling of the Chanukah lights, “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”:²¹ the Holy One, blessed be He, lights up their eyes in the very depth of the darkness and the concealment. Their eyes are opened to see that “this came from Hashem,”²² and that everything is for their good, for it is the way of the Good to do good; only the good and the kindness are not yet revealed to every eye. Then they fix faith in Hashem in their hearts.

130This is what Chazal meant: “The mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp is from sunset until the foot ceases from the marketplace.”²³ The Chanukah lights are lit “from sunset”: from the time the brightness ends and a person's mind is mixed up (me'urbav), in the spirit of erev, evening, a word of the same root, in the deepest darkness. Then he must believe, in the spirit of “Your faithfulness in the nights.”²⁴ On “until the foot (regel) ceases from the marketplace,” the writings of the Arizal hold great secrets, with kavanos, intentions for prayer, and Divine Names: the measure is until the brightness ends, and what is called “the foot from the marketplace” is the worlds of alma deperuda, “the world of separation.” In the plain sense, “until the regel ceases” means until habit (regilus) and nature cease, and people believe only in Hashem, with complete faith in the Oneness and the providence of the Creator, blessed be He: that Hashem alone did all this, that He watches over all, “performs wonders,” and “in His goodness renews the work of Creation every day, continually.”²⁵

131aThis is the meaning of [the Gemara's measure for that time], “until the feet of the Tarmodians are gone,”²⁶ in light of a story Chazal tell about two men. One of them asked Hillel, “Why are the eyes of the Tarmodians terutos, soft?” Hillel said to him, “You have asked a great question: because they live among the sands.”²⁷ Rashi explains that their eyes are too weak to see because of the sand that blows into them.²⁸ That is, the Tarmodians' eyes are weak through a lack of faith: they denied His providence and said that everything runs by the way of nature. They imagined that even the odd way their eyes were made was only the way of nature, caused by the nature of their land. Through their lack of faith their light grew dark for them, and their eyes grew too dim to see. As Dovid HaMelech said, “My iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see.”²⁹

131bBut in truth, if a person is worthy of eyes that are lit up, he sees with open eyes the greatness of Hashem: that He watches over all, and “devises plans so that no one banished should stay banished from Him.”³⁰ He looks ahead to where each creature will live, and creates for it the tools that suit that place. That is why the Tarmodians were created with terutos eyes [in Rashi's second sense, round], shaped so that the wind would not get into them, and they could live on the face of the earth. From this every person can see that everything comes by hashgachah pratis, Hashem's watchful care over each individual, and not by happenstance or chance, Heaven forbid. Not so the fools and simpletons, who take none of this to heart. The cause of their lack of faith is that “they live among the sands”: sand never holds together or gathers into one, and each grain always parts from its fellow. This is the meaning of “until the feet of the Tarmodians are gone”: the Holy One, blessed be He, will light up their eyes, and “every creature will understand that You formed it, and everything made will see that You made it.”³¹

132This is what Hillel meant there by “You have asked a great question.” What made it a great question? Hillel was telling him: through your question it becomes known to all how great are the works of Hashem, Who created nothing in vain, Heaven forbid, and “alone does great wonders.”³² He creates terutos eyes for them so that they can live on the face of the earth with open eyes, for Hashem gives life to every living thing. Chanukah is the attribute of Hod, as the Tikkunei Zohar writes,³³ and Hod, as we saw, is “she,” faith. These days reach deep and carry their force onward, so each and every one must prepare himself and leave an impression within himself for the time of katnus, when the spirit is small: to draw down the light of emunah, and to plant faith in Hashem in his heart for the time of deep darkness. Then he will know that Hashem surrounds all the worlds and fills all the worlds, and “there is no place empty of Him.”³⁴ This is what Chazal meant by “The kidneys give counsel”:³⁵ their counsel is the one the paytan names in the Rosh Hashanah prayers, “His counsel (atzaso) is faith, His deed is truth.”³⁶ The kidneys counsel (yo'atzos) a person to believe in Hashem, that His deed is truth, and “Hashem God is truth.”³⁷ Everything comes from Him, blessed be He, Who watches over each and every creature with hashgachah pratis.