Strength from the Source Above the World

1The Midrash Rabbah [Bereishis Rabbah 68:1] on “Yaakov left” [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.”

2This Midrash can be explained in terms of avodah. Let us explain the verses that come just before it there in Mishlei: “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom [chochmah]; He established the heavens with understanding [tevunah]. By His knowledge [da'as] the depths were split open” [Mishlei 3:19–20]. “My son, let them not depart from before your eyes” [Mishlei 3:21]. It is known that whatever is above the world and above the grasp of created minds is called by the philosophers “above the order” of nature, and by the Kabbalists “above the middos,” the seven Divine attributes through which the world is run. A person may investigate and inquire into the seven middos as far as his hand and his mind can reach. But about the first three (Chochmah, Binah and Da'as), which are above the world and above the grasp of created beings, it was said, “Do not seek what is too wondrous for you, and do not probe what is hidden from you” [Chagigah 13a]. Now a person may fall ill in body and in soul, and his ailments may grow so strong that, by nature and by human understanding, it seems there is no longer any remedy or cure. Even so, let him never tell himself, “It is hopeless,” Heaven forbid. Let him strengthen and fortify himself and believe in the compassion of the Creator, the One without limit, Who is without end and beyond fathoming. He will have mercy on him and send him help from the Sanctuary [cf. Tehillim 20:3], from the source of great mercy, above the world and above the grasp of the human mind.

3aThis is the explanation of the verses there. “Hashem founded the earth with chochmah, He established the heavens with tevunah; by His da'as the depths were split open”: the verse names the three first sefiros, which are above the world. “My son, let them not depart from before your eyes”: a person should always remember in his heart, and never let it leave his sight, that there are still higher levels, lofty and exalted, in Hashem's exaltedness, beyond the grasp of all created minds, the level of the three first sefiros. “Guard sound wisdom [tushiyah] and discretion [mezimah]”: he should guard his thought, which is in his da'as and his mind. He should not take his mind off the holy Torah, which is called mezimah (Avodah Zarah 17b). As the holy Zohar says (Yisro), “The Torah comes from supernal Wisdom.” With the power of the holy Torah he can strengthen himself, for “the Torah gives him counsel,” and that is why it is called tushiyah [cf. Sanhedrin 26b]. And its counsel is emunah: he should believe that there is a source of mercy beyond the grasp of all created minds. It is on the level of “I, Hashem: I and not an angel, I and not a seraph” [Pesach Haggadah]. Even the Chayos and the holy Ofanim, orders of angels, do not know or understand it; only “I, Hashem,” on the level of “before Hashem.” That is what we say in our prayers: “Set us right with good counsel from before You,” that is, from the source of mercy, which is only “before You.”

3b“And they will be life for your soul” [Mishlei 3:22], like the verse “A man's spirit will sustain him in his illness” (Mishlei 18:14). Strengthening oneself is the way to draw life from the Source of life above the world, the level of the supernal mind. As the holy Arizal wrote, the secret of the head-tefillin is the unification of the Names Ekyeh, Havayah and Ekyeh, whose numerical value equals chaim², life: the level of the mind in the supernal Head. “Then [az] you will go on your way securely”: az, alef–zayin, is alef, one, riding on zayin, seven: it stands above the seven middos. For the alef belongs to the first three sefiros, as is known. Through this “you will go on your way securely.” “When you lie down you will not be afraid”: lying down signifies a fall from one's stature, as is known. Even if you lie down and have fallen, do not be afraid. Only believe in our Father in Heaven, Who lives and endures, that in His great mercy and immense kindness He will yet renew your youth like the eagle [cf. Tehillim 103:5], and you will live again. As the holy Rav, R' Yisrael of Ruzhin, zt"l, said on the verse “The dead do not praise Hashem, nor any who go down into silence” (Tehillim 115:17): even someone who has gone down and fallen, Heaven forbid, must not fall silent. Let him praise and laud Hashem and believe in the compassion of the Creator, Who is merciful and gracious, that He will renew the days of his youth with great strength, vigor and health.

4aWith this the holy verses of this parshah are explained. “Yaakov left Be'er Sheva”: Be'er Sheva is the Torah, as Chazal say (Vayikra Rabbah 11:1) on “She has hewn out her seven pillars” [Mishlei 9:1]: these are the seven books of the Torah. “Toward Charan” comes from charon, wrath, as the holy books say. Yaakov Avinu showed us a counsel of faith for strengthening ourselves at a time of wrath in the world, Heaven forbid. The strength comes through the power of the holy Torah, for “the Torah comes from supernal Wisdom.” And the Torah's counsel is “He encountered the place [Makom]”³ [Bereishis 28:11]: to plead for mercy and pray to Hashem that He have mercy on him from the source of great mercy above the world, as we say, “From His place may He turn in mercy.”

4bThat is “he encountered the Makom.” For when each letter of the Name Havayah is multiplied by itself (yud times yud, heh times heh, vav times vav, heh times heh), the total is 186, the numerical value of Makom. As Chazal say, “He is the place of the world, but His world is not His place” (Bereishis Rabbah 68:9). If His world were His place, that is, if the scope, measure and boundary of the world were His place, then His greatness would necessarily have a measure, a boundary and a limit. But in truth He is the place of the world. He surrounds all worlds and fills all worlds, and there is no place empty of Him [Tikkunei Zohar 57]; He is without end and beyond fathoming. That is what the Midrash says: “Yaakov left” — “then [az] you will go on your way securely,” the level of alef riding on zayin, above the seven middos. “When you lie down you will not be afraid” of Esav and of Lavan, for the descent is for the sake of ascent.

5aThis also explains the Midrash further on [Bereishis Rabbah 68:2]: “A song of ascents. I lift my eyes to the mountains [harim]” [Tehillim 121:1]: to my horim, those who teach me and those who conceived me. As the earlier tzaddikim said, the Rebbe gives birth to the soul and the father gives birth to the body, as the verse says, “My father, my father, chariot of Israel” (Melachim II 2:12). So when a person takes to heart his condition, the ailments of his body and the ailments of his soul, that is “I lift my eyes to those who teach me and those who conceived me.” Even so, let him not grieve and tell himself, “It is hopeless,” Heaven forbid. “From where [me'ayin] will my help come?” Through the trait of ayin, nothingness, which is true humility, he arouses the flow of the supernal Ayin from the first three sefiros. As is known, they are called Ayin, being without end and beyond fathoming.

5bThe Midrash continues: “When Eliezer went to bring Rivkah, what is written of him? ‘The servant took ten camels’ [Bereishis 24:10]. And I have not a single nose-ring and not a single bracelet.” It is known that these allude to lofty, exalted secrets of the Torah, as the holy Zohar says [I:181]. “And I have not a single nose-ring and not a single bracelet”: I do not know how to bring about a supernal unification and union, and so give satisfaction to my Maker and Creator. For as is known, from every unification and union of the middos, when the lights strike against one another, the light of kindness spreads through the world, and especially from the union of Yaakov and Rachel⁴. Yaakov Avinu was excusing himself. The force of the troubles and pressures that surrounded him, like a band around his whole head, had unsettled his mind, and so he could not perform the unifications properly. As Chazal say (Nedarim 66a), “The daughters of Israel are beautiful, but poverty makes them unsightly.” That is, great oppression and pressure, the leaven in the dough and the subjugation to the nations, unsettle a person's mind. Then Yaakov said again, “Shall I lose my hope in my Creator? I will not lose my hope in my Creator, Heaven forbid! Rather, ‘my help is from Hashem.’”

5cThe point follows the Ramak's explanation of what we say in the Avodah of Yom Kippur: “When You see the poverty of our deeds, bring righteousness near of Yourself.” That is: if You see poverty of deeds in us, and we lack the power to bring the middos and Malchus close to Tiferes, then “bring her near of Yourself,” O exalted King. Please, You perform the unifications for us, and then they will be done properly, as they should be. That is what Yaakov said: “I will not lose my hope in my Creator; rather, my help is from Hashem,” for He performs the unifications and unions on my behalf. “Maker of heaven and earth” [Tehillim 121:2]: heaven and earth are bridegroom and bride (Shemos Rabbah, Ki Sisa), and He unites the bridegroom and the bride for my sake. This gives strength to the Jewish soul.

6In the pleasant, precious light of Shabbos's holiness a person can always strengthen himself. The holiness of Shabbos is above the world. It is Atika, the most hidden level of the Divine, “upon Hashem,” as it says, “Then you will delight upon Hashem” (Yeshayahu 58:14), and as the holy Zohar explains (end of Acharei). On Shabbos a person merits a wondrous light, a light of da'as and true life-force, as it says, “He rested and was refreshed [vayinafash]” [Shemos 31:17], the level of nefesh, soul. He merits to know the truth that “Hashem's kindnesses have not ended” [Eichah 3:22]: there are good kindnesses in the source of kindness above the world. This is what Chazal said, “A living being carries itself” (Shabbos 94a)⁵. Through true vitality a person carries himself higher and higher, and knows that through Hashem's kindness he will be raised and lifted above the world and above the middos. That is “With the light of Your countenance make them shine,” like the verse “You will make known to me the path of life; fullness of joys is with Your countenance” (Tehillim 16:11)⁶, which Rashi explains, “with the company that is close to You.” We pray: Master of the world, make the light of Your countenance shine for us — the light of da'as — so that we may know how to strengthen ourselves in the light of Your countenance and the light of life, in the company close to You. That is, there are kindnesses beyond the grasp of created minds, on the level of “from before You,” “for Hashem's kindnesses have not ended, and His mercies have not ceased” [Eichah 3:22].