Lech Lecha From Avram
to AvrahamAdapted from Torah Or
by Rabbi Yossi Marcus
"And G-d said to Avram go to you...."2]
"No longer shall your name be Avram But Avraham shall be your
name. For the father of many nations have I made you"
œ Behold. Avram’s soul is
on the level of wisdom that is hidden from any perception—seichel hanehlam
mikol rayon. Hence his name—Av Ram—meaning,
Lofty Father. Father, in general, refers
to Chochmah, the unarticulated flash of insight, since it is the progenitor of
all thought, emotion and deed. Lofty father, refers to Chochmah that is
lofty and exalted, entirely beyond any perception. Now the message of Go
to you is that this lofty level must descend so that it can be experienced
by lower worlds and souls. The completely hidden must be revealed. This is a description
not only of Avraham’s journey but of the entire scheme of creation in general
and that of each soul. How does this revelation
take place? Firstly there must be the creation of lower realities. This is achieved
through filtering, tzimtzum. Light must be preceded by
darkness— and it was evening
then morning: day one. In order to create yesh,
beings that experience a sense of independent existence, there must be Evening,
darkness. This is followed by Morning, enlightenment. We then have a yesh
that experiences bittul, nullification, which allows for day one:
Unlike the other days which
are described as second, third etc., the first day is called Day One, alluding
to the goal of creation, where the Oneness and onlyness of G-d is experienced
by a nullified yesh. This is alluded to in the
word echad, One, which is made up of the letters alef, ches,
daled. The ches and the daled, numerically equivalent to
eight and four respectively, allude to the universe: seven heavens and one earth,
and the four corners of the world. The alef represents the Aluf of the
world, the Master of the world. Echad, then, means that all of the universe
is one with G-d, i.e., all of existence is merely an expression of Him. Echad
implies a oneness despite the “presence” of otherness. (The word yachid,
by contrast, means single or alone, alluding to a singularity that does not recognize
otherness. See Tanya vol. 2.) The revelation, however,
must be preceded by Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin of the heart.
In this way, the darkness is subdued so that the revelation can take place without
the risk of its energy being siphoned by darkness. Hence we read that after
the circumcision, Avraham is called, Father of Nations.
Why are the nations suddenly mentioned at this point? “Nations” refers not only
to the peoples of the world, but also to the elements of nature in general. For
it was through the circumcision that Avraham experienced the revelation that would
allow for the processing and elevation of nature. This began the process of
elevation that would extend throughout history.[8] As
the Talmud says, Israel
was exiled to the far corners of the world so that they would bring in converts.
This refers not only to human converts, but also to the “conversion” of the natural
elements, food and drink etc., and their elevation to holiness. Before Avraham, the world
existed in a state of Tohu,
chaos. The climate of the world was one of great intensity, which led to the “shattering
of the vessels,” the flood etc. With Avraham began the era of Tikkun, rectification,
where the fallen sparks of intense light are gradually elevated. ascent and descentSo, in a sense, the transition
from Avram to Avraham is a descent. Yet, this descent is initiated by the additional
Hey (Avraham) that Avraham received, which is symbol of revelation. For
every descent and extension must be preceded by a great revelation. For example, we see that
a wise person must prepare himself before he imparts the profundity of his wisdom.
An idea may be clear to him in his mind but for him to communicate to others he
must think deeply to develop a method through which to clothe his wisdom in language
that his listener can relate to. He must be able to find the truth of his idea
as it is expressed even in much lower phenomena. Thus it is written that
King Solomon spoke three thousand parables[11] for
one concept. Because of his immense brilliance he was able to lower himself three
thousand degrees beneath his level of wisdom and enclothe his wisdom in terms
that even the simplest person could understand. But in order to achieve
this descent, the wise person must reach deep into himself, to a level that is
far beyond his Chochmah, so that he can extend and articulate his Chochmah. This all is a metaphor for
the kabbalistic idea that Atik
is revealed in Binah, not
Chochmah. For it is the light of Atik—which is beyond Chochmah—that produces the
expansiveness and articulation of Binah. Chochmah itself could not produce such
descent. (As in the metaphor of the person, where he must draw from higher in
order to transmit lower.) So the root of Binah and
its revelation is drawn from Atik. The Hey draws from the crown of the Yud.
kotzo
shel yud), embodies Atik. Hence the Hey draws from the crown of the Yud,
referring to the fact that Binah, or Hey, draws its power from Atik, the crown
of the Yud. So when Avraham receives
the extra Hey in his name, he is empowered with the light of Atik, the light of
Kesser. He is therefore able to descend. Yet through this descent
he experiences an ascent from the “perceived G-d” to “G-d.” In describing the first
altar built by Avraham in this parsha, the Torah says, And he built an altar
to G-d, Who had appeared to him. A few verses later, the Torah describes another
altar that Avraham built to G-d. The first verse describes Avraham relating
to G-d subjectively, the G-d that had appeared to him. He then ascended
to a level where he related to G-d as He is. So Go to you, which
can mean go up or go down, actually means both. On the one hand Avraham experiences
descent in this parsha and at the same time experiences ascent. This convergence is reflected
in the date of the seventh of Cheshvan, around which this parsha is always read.
The seventh of Cheshvan is the day in between the end of the intensely spiritual
Tishrei period and the rest of the year. (It is the day that the last pilgrims
would finally reach their homes following the festival. In the land of Israel,
the prayer for rain would not be said—though rain was needed immediately after
the Sukkot—so that those returning to their homes would not be rained upon.) It
thus symbolizes the convergence of ascent, Tishrei, and descent, the rest of the
year.
Torahchakim vilo bichochmah yediah. Yet the Torah descended into physical
properties. When you take an Esrog or other physical object in the performance
of a mitzvah it is as if you are holding the supernal wisdom. That the wisdom of Torah
can achieve such descent is because of its source in the light of Kesser. Indeed
Kesser is the numeric equivalent of 620, alluding to the 613 commandments of the
Torah and the seven commandments of the sages, which are the 620 pillars of light. So the revelation of the
section of the Torah that speaks of the sanctification of the first born, for
example, is a greater revelation than the manifestation of that section of the
Torah as it exists in the supernal wisdom. The same is true of all of Torah. For
on the physical plane, the Torah contains the light of Kesser. Hence our actions
here on the physical plane, such as giving tzedakah, have cosmic repercussions
in the higher worlds. [Adapted and summarized by Rabbi Yosef Marcus.]
< © Ascent of Safed
|