Drawing Near the Distant Awakens Divine Mercy

1aThe holy words of my father and teacher, R' Yechiel of Alexander, zt"l, quoted above in section 1, can be explained further in terms of serving Hashem. The Gemara says (Avodah Zarah 9a) that the two thousand years of Torah began with “the souls they made in Charan” [Bereishis 12:5]. In his great righteousness and holiness, and his fierce love for Hashem, Avraham Avinu gave his life and his wealth to make known in the world that there is a Creator, one unique Master who runs the world. He took in guests and gave them food and drink, as the Midrash relates, in order to bring those who were far from Hashem close to Him and return them in teshuvah. As Chazal say, “Great is a shared meal, for it draws close those who are far” (Sanhedrin 103b). “Far” means the sinner who has drifted away from the light of the King's face, as Chazal read “Peace, peace to the far and to the near” [Yeshayahu 57:19]: first to one who was far and has come close (Berachos 34b; Vayikra Rabbah 16). That is why Avraham Avinu fed all his guests: to give them of what Hashem had graciously given him. He made everyone call out the Name of Heaven and showed them “the way they should walk” [Shemos 18:20]. As it says, “For I have known him, so that he will command his children and his household after him” [Bereishis 18:19].

1bAvraham Avinu held fast to the attribute of kindness; he was the one who perfected it above all. It was he who shared Hashem's Torah with others generously and brought them under the wings of the Shechinah. Perhaps this is the meaning of what Chazal say (Sukkah 49b) on “A Torah of kindness is on her tongue” [Mishlei 31:26]: “Is there a Torah of kindness and a Torah that is not of kindness? Rather, a Torah of kindness is Torah one teaches to others.” For “the world is built on kindness” [Tehillim 89:3]: a person's task is to take care to do good to his fellow and give to others. Someone who cleaves to Hashem's ways and is a man of kindness shares his Torah with his fellow, so that he too will know “that Hashem is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other” [Devarim 4:39]. He does not want to be the only tzaddik and the only scholar in the world. This is what Chazal say (Makkos 10a and elsewhere) on “A sword upon the baddim, and they shall become foolish” [Yirmiyahu 50:36]: “These are the talmidei chachamim who study bad b'vad, each on his own.” They want to be unique in the world, and that is the opposite of what Hashem intended in giving the Torah. The heart of the Torah is “Love your fellow as yourself” [Vayikra 19:18] and “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow,” as Hillel and R' Akiva taught (Shabbos 31a; Mechilta).

1cThe heart of love is to teach Hashem's Torah to one's fellow as well. As Chazal say (Nedarim 37a), “Just as I taught you for free, so you must teach for free.” Hashem gave the holy Torah purely out of His kindness, to do good to His creatures, and so you too must share it and teach it to others. That is a “Torah of kindness”: it shows everyone that the Torah was given purely as kindness. But someone who wants to stand alone in the world, and thinks the Torah was given to him alone and no one else has a share in it, is living in isolation, the opposite of what the Torah is about. He also diminishes Hashem's glory, and so “a sword upon the baddim,” the isolated ones. And worse, they “become foolish.” For “the Torah comes from the higher Chochmah” (Zohar, Yisro). Chochmah is ko'ach mah, “the power of ‘what,’” and, as is known, Chochmah is the giver; its nature is to give to another. That is Hashem's will for the Torah: that it be taught to the Jewish people. So when scholars study bad b'vad, only for themselves, they automatically damage the higher Chochmah and become fools, Heaven help us.

1dBut Avraham Avinu, with his attribute of kindness and the great power of his righteousness and holiness, though he stood on very high levels, gave food and drink to idol worshippers. He ate together with them in order to draw them close and bring them under the wings of the Shechinah, as the Midrash relates. He did not push them away; he joined with them, to bring the love and knowledge of Hashem into the world. As it says, “For I have known him,” a word of love and closeness (see Rashi there). This is what the Creator wants from a person raised high by the gifts Hashem has given him: to draw every simple person close to Hashem's service and to judge him favorably. By doing this, he awakens abundant mercy from the Source of mercy.

2aThis is what we find with Gideon. Hashem told him, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel” (Shoftim 6:14), and Chazal say (Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim): “In the strength of this merit, that you spoke in defense of My children.” For all kindness and blessing, some awakening from below is needed. It is always the way of the Good to do good to His creatures. “He desires kindness” [Michah 7:18], to give the measure of His goodness to the seed of the holy people at every time and season. But for this there must be at least some awakening from below. “With the measure a person measures, he is measured” (Sotah 8b), and “through an awakening below, there is an awakening above” [cf. Zohar I:86b]. If there is no merit and no awakening from below at all, then “a king establishes the land through justice” [Mishlei 29:4], and we cannot come out innocent in judgment, unless He acts for His own sake. So with Gideon, because he spoke in Israel's defense, the blessing that was ready to come down was able to come down into the world.

2bSo too, when a person “works salvation in the midst of the earth” [Tehillim 74:12] and acts with kindness toward his Maker and His creatures, having mercy on even a simple person and drawing him close, and loving his fellow even when his fellow is not worthy of being loved, then Heaven has mercy on him, measure for measure, even though he is not worthy. Through this he brings blessing down below, even though he is not worthy of receiving it. This compassion is awakened in us because the source from which we were hewn is beneath Hashem's Throne of Glory. There is in us a tiny fraction of compassion from the Source of mercy, a part of the whole. We are “merciful ones, children of merciful ones” [cf. Yevamos 79a], the seed of our holy fathers. So compassion awakens in us to draw close, lift up and raise even the lowly, and not to pursue them and push them away, Heaven forbid. As David HaMelech said of the wicked, “For they pursue the one You have struck” (Tehillim 69:27). This is the root of the whole Torah.

3aThis explains the story Chazal tell (Shabbos 31a). A gentile came before Shammai and said, “Teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot,” and Shammai pushed him away. When he came before Hillel, Hillel accepted him and told him, “‘Love your fellow as yourself’: this is the whole Torah.¹ The rest is its explanation; go and learn.” That is, the very fact that Hillel drew him close and spoke with him was itself the essence of the whole Torah. His question made no sense and had no substance. How can anyone learn the whole Torah, which is “longer than the earth in measure” [Iyov 11:9], and on one foot at that? Even so, Hillel did not push him away but drew him close gently. That is what Hillel told him: this is a great principle of the Torah. That I have drawn you close now, bringing blessing down even on one who is not worthy, is itself the root of the whole Torah. “The rest is its explanation; go and learn.”

3bThis is the meaning of “Love your fellow as yourself; I am Hashem” [Vayikra 19:18]. Through love and friendship, each person shares “the perfect Torah of Hashem” [Tehillim 19:8] with another, even when his fellow is not worthy of being loved. With this awakening from below, he awakens “I am Hashem,” the higher attribute of mercy alluded to in the Name Havayah, even toward one who is not worthy. He adds strength, power and life to the attribute of mercy, so that it spreads through the world without interruption and brings good to the world without end, as Hashem in His goodness wants, to bestow the radiance of His blessings on the world. For He runs the world with the attribute of mercy.

4aThis explains what Chazal say (Niddah 73a): “Whoever studies halachos every day is assured that he has a share in the World to Come, as it says, ‘The ways of the world are His’ [Chavakuk 3:6]. Do not read halichos, ‘ways,’ but halachos.” That is, if he studies halachos every day and shares them with others, then because he walks in the way of kindness, “the ways of the world are his.” He awakens and directs all the ways of the worlds by this same attribute, measure for measure, so that Hashem's goodness and kindness spread through the world. The opposite is also true. Through his sins, Heaven forbid, a person cuts off the source of blessing so that it cannot spread through the world, since he stands in its way as an obstacle.

4bThis is the meaning of the verse “Pour out your heart like water opposite the face of Hashem” (Eichah 2:19). Let him pour out his heart like water and do teshuvah for what his deeds caused: that something stood opposite and against the face of Hashem. He caused the wellspring of blessing to be cut off, ruined and dried up, so that it cannot spread through the world. “The face of Hashem” stands for the attribute of mercy and the flow of good. This was the sin of the people of Sedom, as it says, “For their outcry has grown great before the face of Hashem” [Bereishis 19:13], before the light of the King's face. But of Avraham it says, “And Avraham was still standing before Hashem” [Bereishis 18:22]. By drawing close those who were far, bringing them under the wings of the Shechinah and raising them to the greatest heights, he caused the light of the King's face to spread, “to light up the earth and those who dwell on it,” to bring all good, and to make Hashem's goodness known.

5The faithful counsel and remedy for this is the Torah. As the Zohar says (I:202a), “Nothing can break the yetzer hara except Torah.” The holy Torah binds and ties the Jewish soul to “the portion of Hashem's inheritance” [cf. Devarim 32:9], as the Zohar says: “The Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel are one.” In this way the holy Torah works within a Jew to bind his soul to Hashem. That was the Creator's aim in giving the holy Torah: to raise simple and lowly people, and simple and lowly things, to the very top, “a pleasing fragrance to Hashem” [Vayikra 1:9], as He wants. As we have written many times on the verse “The heavens are Hashem's heavens, but the earth He gave to mankind” [Tehillim 115:16]: He gave it to man to raise it to the level of heaven, as Hashem wants, “so that everything made will know that You made it.” In truth, the light of the holy Torah, the elixir of life [cf. Yoma 72b], is badly needed by every Jew. For “who can say, ‘I have purified my heart’?” [Mishlei 20:9]. As the verse says, “For no living being will be found righteous before You” (Tehillim 143:2): even with all my limbs alive in me, we cannot be found righteous before You. But in the merit of drawing close simple, lowly people who are not deserving, a person merits to awaken mercy for himself from Heaven, measure for measure, even though he is not worthy or deserving.

6This explains the Midrash quoted above, where Hashem said to the angels, “Isn't this the one in whose house you ate?” In his great holiness, Avraham gave to you, with his holy intention in the mitzvah of hospitality: to do good to another, which was the very purpose of creating the world. See how great his holiness was, how deeply he grasped with Godly understanding the intent behind creation, and how good his teaching was to others and to simple people, teaching them wisdom and knowledge. Surely it is fitting for him to be the Merciful One's messenger, to draw the many close to Hashem's service and bring them merit. That was Hashem's answer to the angels: “Aren't you ashamed? Isn't this the one whose house you came down to and at whose table you ate? You understood then that it is right and fitting for him to teach the people Hashem's Torah, and so it is fitting for him to receive the Torah. But you want to harm him; you have no connection at all to the holy Torah.”

7This explains the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 60) that kindness circulates in the world because of Avraham. As we wrote above, through Avraham Avinu's attribute of kindness, drawing close those who were far in order to make Hashem's Name known in the world, he caused kindness to spread through the world and awakened compassion for the whole world, measure for measure. And especially for those who are close, that they not drift away, Heaven forbid.

8aThis explains the Psalmist's words, “My soul thirsts for Hashem” [cf. Tehillim 42:3] and “I lift my eyes to the mountains” [Tehillim 121:1]: like Hillel and not like Shammai. “The mountains” are the Avos, as in the Midrash quoted above. When I come to know that my eyes look only to Hashem's mercy and kindness, and “my soul thirsts for Hashem,” for the very essence of the Name Havayah, simple mercy and revealed kindness, then “I lift my eyes” to the attribute of Avraham Avinu, through whom all kindness and mercy come, to awaken his attribute of kindness upon me. Then I see that his counsel was only to draw close those who are far from Hashem's service. Though in truth I keep my distance from them and their deeds, out of great compassion for my brothers and friends, children of one Father, I draw them close and give them food and drink. Great is the power of a shared meal that draws close those who are far, in the sense of “to the far and to the near.” “Far” means one who has drifted away from Hashem, as Chazal say (Berachos 34b).

8bBy drawing close those who are far from me and from my way of thinking, as Hillel did with the convert, teaching him too to draw close and love everyone. With this I awaken the attribute of kindness of Avraham Avinu, who did the same. I awaken the higher attribute of kindness, whose “right hand is stretched out to receive those who return,” to draw me close to Him too, though I am far, loathsome and abominable, and to have mercy on me with His right hand and His kindness. This comes through Hillel's way with the convert, and not Shammai's, who pushed him away. Justice was on Shammai's side, for the convert spoke senselessly. Even so, to awaken kindness in this world, the way of Hillel the Elder is needed. In this world it is impossible to act by Shammai's way, until the future, when “the earth will be filled with knowledge” [Yeshayahu 11:9] of the Most High.