Leaving Be'er Sheva: Torah's Strength in Darkness

1The Midrash Rabbah [Bereishis Rabbah 68:1] on “Yaakov left Be'er Sheva and went toward Charan” [Bereishis 28:10]: R' Pinchas, in the name of R' Chanina bar Pappa¹, opened: “Then you will go on your way securely” [Mishlei 3:23]: this is Yaakov, as it says, “Yaakov left.” “When you lie down you will not be afraid” [Mishlei 3:24]: of Esav and of Lavan; “you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.”

2aThe Midrash can be explained through the verses that come just before there in Mishlei: “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding. By His knowledge the depths were split open, and the skies drip dew” (Mishlei 3:19–20). It is known that the holy Name of the source of da'as, understanding, is Alef-Heh-Vav-Heh, “the King's signet ring with which heaven and earth are sealed.” It comes from the initials of es hashamayim ve'es ha'aretz, “the heavens and the earth” [Bereishis 1:1]. The hint is that with the light of da'as a person can join the earth to the heavens. This is like the verse “The heavens for height and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable” (Mishlei 25:3). Even if a Jewish soul is very deep down, in a lowly state, with the light of da'as he knows that his hope is not lost. For a Jew, with the portion of Hashem within him, there is no end and no limit below, Heaven forbid. In His great mercy the Creator bears with the rebellious and overlooks their wrongs. He has mercy on all souls, even on people in a lowly state, in the depths of the earth. For to One so vast, what difference is there between “the depth of the beginning” and “the depth of the end” [Sefer Yetzirah 1:5]? As the verse says, “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Yirmiyahu 23:24). He watches over all creatures above and below.

2bThis is what the verse says: “By His knowledge the depths were split open.” Even someone who has gone down, Heaven forbid, to the abyss and the depths of the earth can still split open the abyss with da'as. He strengthens himself so that he can rise again and join himself to the level of heaven. For heaven is joined to the earth, since the flow from above is first awakened from the earth. As Chazal say, “No drop comes down from above unless two drops rise up from below” (Taanis 25b)². “And the skies drip dew”: Chazal say (Chagigah 12b) that the shechakim, the skies, are where “millstones stand and grind manna for the tzaddikim.”

2cThis means that even the great tzaddikim, who are “the heavens for height,” feel the delight, pleasantness, love and sweetness of the One Above until “their soul yearns and even pines” [Tehillim 84:3]. They come to need the dew, tala de'Atika, “the dew of the Ancient One,” the life-giving flow from the highest level. As Chazal say there, it is “the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will revive the dead,” and it revives and restores their souls. Even so, they too need the power to strengthen themselves. For the more they grasp, the more it seems to them that their light has gone dark and they see nothing at all. As the holy Zohar says, that light is dark only in comparison with the supernal light. That is “Cloud and thick darkness surround Him” (Tehillim 97:2). The closer a person comes to Hashem, and the more he contemplates Hashem's greatness and exaltedness, the darker his light grows around him. Then he knows all the better that “the ultimate knowledge is that we do not know,” and that he does not know even the smallest edge of the primordial wisdom.

3The main way to strengthen oneself in a time of darkness is through the power of the holy Torah. With it a person can hold firm through all the troubles and hardships that have passed over his head, and not stray from the straight path toward either extreme. For the Torah is the middle, the level of Tiferes, and Tiferes, as is known, is the middle line, the sefirah that balances kindness and severity. This is the verse “My son, let them not depart from before your eyes” [Mishlei 3:21], which Rashi explains, “let them not become crooked before your eyes”: do not let your way bend, but walk the middle path. “Guard sound wisdom and discretion”: as Chazal say (Avodah Zarah 17b), “Discretion will guard you” [Mishlei 2:11], that is, the Torah. The power of the holy Torah helps a person guard his soul from scheming and from the yetzer hara. That is “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom,” as the holy Zohar says (Yisro), “The Torah comes from supernal Wisdom” [Zohar II:85a]. And as the Midrash says (Vayikra Rabbah 11:1), Bar Kappara applied the verse to the Torah: “‘Wisdom has built her house’ [Mishlei 9:1]: this is the Torah, as it says, ‘For Hashem gives wisdom’ [Mishlei 2:6] and ‘Hashem acquired me at the beginning of His way’ [Mishlei 8:22]. ‘She has hewn out her seven pillars’: these are the seven books of the Torah.” That is, Hashem gave us the holy Torah so that a person can strengthen himself and light up his soul in the deepest darkness, and walk on the path of life by a ray of light, the light of Torah.

4With this we can understand the holy verse “Yaakov left Be'er Sheva.” Be'er Sheva is the holy Torah, a well [be'er] of living waters, like “the well that princes dug” [Bamidbar 21:18]. Sheva, seven, is named for the seven books of the Torah, as in the Midrash above. Charanah, “toward Charan,” comes from charon, wrath, as the holy books explain. Yaakov Avinu showed us the faithful counsel for strengthening ourselves at a time of wrath in the world, and for reviving our wretched soul so that its life remains in it. That faithful counsel is the holy Torah, for the essential counsel and strength is the power of the Torah. This is what the Midrash says: “Then you will go on your way securely: this is Yaakov.” For it is known that Chochmah and Binah, wisdom and understanding, correspond to Avraham and Yitzchak, while Da'as corresponds to Yaakov, “the middle bar” [Shemos 26:28], as the holy Zohar says (II:14b). With the light of da'as a person can walk securely even in a time of darkness. That is what the Midrash says: “When you lie down you will not be afraid: of Esav and of Lavan.” And so the Midrash says further on [Bereishis Rabbah 68:5]: “When he sought to leave for chutz la'aretz, from where did he take permission? Was it not from Be'er Sheva? He said: I too will go to Be'er Sheva; if He grants me permission, I will go out.” This means that he took permission from the Torah. He went with the power of the holy Torah.

5R' Shmuel bar Nachman opened [Bereishis Rabbah 68:2]: “A song of ascents. I lift my eyes to the mountains: from where will my help come?” [Tehillim 121:1]. The “mountains” are the hidden and lofty secrets that the human intellect cannot grasp, as the Rambam writes. To grasp and know such lofty matters, one needs help from Heaven. That is “I lift my eyes to the mountains: from where will my help come? My help is from Hashem” [Tehillim 121:2]. But in truth, mei'ayin yavo ezri can be read “my help will come from ayin, nothingness.” The tried and tested way to merit da'as is the trait of ayin: self-nullification and humility. A proud person damages the yud and heh of Hashem's Name Havayah, which, as is known, allude to the holy mind, Chochmah and Binah. In this way his mind is damaged, and all the character traits are included in the mind. But through humility and self-nullification, making himself as nothing at all, he repairs and purifies his mind and merits da'as. He also arouses the flow of the supernal Ayin. For, as is known, the first three sefiros are called Ayin, since they are without end and beyond fathoming³.

6The Midrash also says: “‘I lift my eyes to the mountains [harim]’: to my horim, those who teach me and those who conceived me.” As the earlier tzaddikim, zt"l, said, the Rebbe gives birth to the soul and the father gives birth to the body; that is, the Rebbe sets the soul right. That is why the Rebbe is called by the names horim, parents, and morim, teachers. He is a kind of father, as the verse says, “My father, my father, chariot of Israel!” (Melachim II 2:12). For the Rav is the father of the soul. So the Midrash says, “I lift my eyes to the mountains — to those who teach me and those who conceived me — from where will my help come?” This follows what the Midrash Shmuel and the holy books say on the Mishnah (Avos 3:1): “Akavya ben Mahalalel says: Contemplate three things and you will not come to sin. Know from where you came, and where you are going…” and then, “From where did you come? From a putrid drop.” At first glance, why the repetition? The Mishnah's explanation already spells out all three things. Rather, the meaning is: contemplate three hidden matters that require contemplation. “Know from where you came”: that your soul was hewn from beneath the Throne of Glory; see there.

7aThe explanation follows the words of the holy Rebbe, R' Bunim of Peshischa, zt"l: every Jew needs to have these two good traits. First, “I am dust and ashes” [Bereishis 18:27]. Second, “The world was created for my sake” [Sanhedrin 37a]. One time is when the yetzer hara wants to throw him into the pit of sadness, since a fallen man is easy for him to capture⁴. He says, “Who are you to enter the King's palace with Torah and mitzvos? You are full of sins; Heaven forbid, you have almost no hope.” Then answer him: “Know from where you came”: from the supernal Ayin. Your soul is hewn from beneath His Throne of Glory, and you are “a portion of God above” [Iyov 31:2]. “And where you are going”: to the place of the angels and seraphim, to the World of Truth. “And before Whom you are destined to give an accounting.” But if, Heaven forbid, he wants to show you “the glory of your riches” [Esther 5:11], your many deeds in Torah and mitzvos, and that you are a person of high stature, then “answer a fool according to his folly” [Mishlei 26:5]. Tell him the end of the Mishnah: “From where did you come? From a putrid drop.”

7bIn truth, the two depend on each other. If a person remembers where he comes from, that he is a lowly, dark and despicable creature, then his fear is always on his face [cf. Shemos 20:17]. How could he be so brazen as to rebel against the Creator, and to damage and ruin his precious soul, which is hewn from His Throne of Glory? Out of great humility he can remember that he is hewn from the Throne of Glory. In truth, through this the part is joined and bound to the whole, and with this he revives and restores his wretched soul. As for the tried and tested advice for saving his soul from being caught, Heaven forbid, in the net of the yetzer, the verse says: “Mei'ayin yavo ezri.” When he contemplates where he comes from, that he is “born of woman” [Iyov 14:1], he can come to see that his soul is hewn from beneath His Throne of Glory, “from the supernal Ayin.” This is the hint in the Midrash: “I lift my eyes to those who teach me and those who conceived me” (the soul and the body, as explained above) “from where [mei'ayin] will my help come?”

8aThis is what the Midrash says [Bereishis Rabbah 68:2]: “When Eliezer went to bring Rivkah, what is written of him? ‘The servant took ten camels’ [Bereishis 24:10]. And I, not a single nose-ring and not a single bracelet!” Yaakov Avinu showed us that even when a Jewish soul is in the very depths of a lowly state and on its own has nothing at all, it should still believe and trust in Hashem and His salvation, that He will help. That is what Yaakov Avinu said: “And I, not a single nose-ring and not a single bracelet.” The hint is: although on my own side I have nothing at all, I still believe and trust in Hashem, the Merciful One, that He will have mercy on me too. That is what the Midrash says: “He went back and said: Shall I lose my hope in my Creator? Heaven forbid! I will not lose my hope in my Creator. Rather, ‘My help is from Hashem, Maker of heaven and earth’ [Tehillim 121:2].”

8bFor in His great mercy Hashem has mercy on all souls: on people at the height of stature, on the level of “heaven,” and on people at the lowest level, on the level of “earth.” This is what the holy Zohar says: “The Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel are one” [cf. Zohar III:73a]. As is known, the holy Torah is the middle line, Tiferes, which leans to neither extreme. Through its power the Torah makes known to a person that everything that happens comes from Hashem. He is the Master of the palace, Who leads the whole world with the attribute of mercy and has mercy on all of them equally, as He “makes small and great equal.” As it says, “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Yirmiyahu 23:24): He watches over all creatures above and below. For who can grasp and understand the mercy of the One Who has no limit? Not even an angel, not even a seraph, for His mercy has no end and cannot be fathomed. Through the power of the Torah and this knowledge, a person sweetens all the harsh judgments and becomes free. As the sefer Noam Elimelech says: “‘And he went toward Charan’: to nullify the judgments and to become free.” This is what Chazal say (Avos 6:2): “No one is free except one who occupies himself with Torah.” With the power of the Torah he nullifies the judgments and severities and becomes free.