Truth and Faith Draw Down Livelihood

1The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 63:2) on “These are the generations of Yitzchak” [Bereishis 25:19] cites the verse “Grandchildren are the crown of the elders” [Mishlei 17:6]. R' Shmuel bar R' Yitzchak said: Avraham was saved from the fiery furnace only in the merit of Yaakov. It is like a man who had a case before the ruler, and the verdict was that he be burned. But the ruler looked into his astrolabe and saw that this man would father a daughter who would marry the king. He said, “He deserves to be saved in the merit of his daughter.” So too Avraham: Nimrod sentenced him to be burned, and the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that Yaakov would come from him. He said, “Avraham deserves to be saved in the merit of Yaakov.” This is what is written: “Therefore, thus says Hashem to the house of Yaakov, who redeemed Avraham” [Yeshayahu 29:22].

2aTo explain the Midrash: it is written, “Righteousness (tzedek) and justice (mishpat) are the foundation of Your throne” (Tehillim 89:15). It is known that tzedek and mishpat are the attributes of Tiferes and Malchus, harmony and kingship, as the Tikkunei Zohar writes in Pesach Eliyahu: “Mishpat is the middle pillar; tzedek is the holy Kingship.” Tiferes is Yaakov's attribute, and his trait was truth, as the verse says, “You will give truth to Yaakov” (Michah 7:20). Truth is the middle point, leaning toward neither extreme, just as Tiferes is the balance between Chessed and Gevurah. As is known, Chessed is expanding too much, Gevurah is contracting too much, and Tiferes is the balance. Chazal say, “Truth stands” (Shabbos 104a): through truth one can endure forever and for generations, because it does not lean to the extremes. One who merits the holy light of truth believes that Hashem is One and unique, and merits to cleave to Hashem, the source of truth, as it says, “Hashem, God, is truth” (Yirmiyahu 10:10). Truth and faith are the male and the female, as the holy Zohar says [Ra'aya Mehemna, III:230a]: “He is truth and She is faith.” Through truth and faith a person merits to be joined and bound to “the cord of Hashem's inheritance” [cf. Devarim 32:9], and he awakens the merit of the Avos.

2bThis is what the Midrash means by saying he would father a daughter who would marry the king. Through truth and faith a person merits to be brought close to Hashem and cleave to Him. Then comes the union of “the wife of youth” [cf. Yeshayahu 54:6] with her Beloved, Knesses Yisrael with the Holy One, blessed be He, in complete union. Through emunah one also merits an outpouring of livelihood. The attribute of Malchus receives the divine flow, and it gives and distributes sustenance, as the holy Zohar says on “She gives food (teref) to her household and a portion (chok) to her maidens” [Mishlei 31:15]. That is the outpouring of livelihood. Chok means sustenance, as Chazal say (Beitzah 16a): “How do we know that chok means food? From ‘Provide me with my allotted bread (lechem chuki)’ (Mishlei 30:8), and ‘they ate their allotment (chukam)’ [Bereishis 47:22].” “To her maidens (na'aroseha)” refers to the believers, in the spirit of “The simple one believes everything” [Mishlei 14:15]. And chok also means faith, as we say in the morning prayers, “Truth and faith, a law (chok) that will not pass away.” People look for advice and schemes for their livelihood. But the true advice is faith: to believe with complete faith in Hashem's Oneness, that He brings everything into being. One who is weak in faith, that itself is a lack of livelihood. As the holy Zohar says in Parshas Vayishlach on the verse “Better is one lightly esteemed ... than one who honors himself and lacks bread” (Mishlei 12:9): “Lacks bread” means he lacks faith. “But those who seek Hashem will not lack any good” [Tehillim 34:11].

2cThe main thing is to fix in one's heart simple, complete, wholehearted faith, without any doubt. Simply believe in the Creator, that He is One and unique, brings all that exists into being, and is the Cause of all causes. Do not be like those who are wise in their own eyes and pursue new inquiries “that came of late” [cf. Devarim 32:17]. This is what David HaMelech said: “Hashem is my shepherd; I shall not lack” (Tehillim 23:1). He prayed that he not lack sustenance, and that he himself not be lacking and damage the vessel that receives the flow. “In grassy pastures He makes me lie down” [Tehillim 23:2]: he likened himself to an animal standing in the field. He had not yet grasped anything of the Creator, and stood before Him like an animal, as it says, “I am ignorant and do not know; I was like a beast before You” (Tehillim 73:22). He only believed with simple, complete faith. As the holy Ba'al Shem Tov said before his passing: “I set aside all the understanding I have attained. I am ignorant and do not know; I only believe.” Through this a person merits “He leads me beside still waters” [Tehillim 23:2]. The holy Arizal said that “still waters” are good kindnesses, kindnesses that every eye can see are good. Hashem repays a person measure for measure [cf. Sotah 8b]. Since he believes with simple, complete faith, without inquiries, Hashem does good kindnesses with him simply and openly.

3Through the precious, pleasant holiness of Shabbos, a person merits faith. During the six workdays, when he is busy with his work, he imagines that “my strength and the might of my hand made me this wealth” [Devarim 8:17]. But on Shabbos there is no human activity, since work is forbidden. Shabbos is the source of blessing, “from which all six days are blessed” [Zohar II:63b], and then he believes that Hashem alone did all this and brings everything into being. The Shabbos meals are called “the meal of faith,” because through the Shabbos meal one merits faith. That is why Shabbos is called the source of blessing, as we sing, “For she is the source of blessing.” All that is needed is a boring tool, to bore and open a passage in the source so that the flow comes down. Faith is what bores into the source and draws down the flow to the whole world. As is known, emunah means drawing forth, from the word in “He was raising (omen) Hadassah” [Esther 2:7].