Weekly Reading Insights: Yitro 5770

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An essay from
Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent

(L:1770/Yitro) (for a free weekly email subscription, click here)

Torah study is a uniting factor among all Jewish communities. Nevertheless, there are those who oppose the study of Torah's inner dimension, a.k.a. authentic Kabbala and Chassidut. The claim is that this Torah realm should be left for the Torah giants alone who are already masters in the revealed Torah (Gemara, Mishna, commentaries, etc.).

The Lubavitcher Rebbe finds this premise groundless: At Mt. Sinai., both the hidden and revealed parts of Torah were given to the Jewish people, but at that time, the revealed part was hidden. The Medrash and the Zohar both discuss how the Ten Commandments consist of 620 letters which are a hint to the 620 commandments (613 biblical and 7 Rabbinic). Thus all the commandments were given but only in a condensed and concealed form. On the other hand, the hidden and mystical part of the Torah was experienced by all. Everyone present saw the 'Divine chariot' with the four 'faces' of an ox, eagle, lion, and man.

One of the Arizal's main teachings was that it is a necessity to study the hidden part of the Torah. Those who oppose study of the mystical parts of Torah usually use two arguments: 1) If the study of this material is so important, why wasn't it studied before? If we could manage without it for so long, this is proof that it is not necessary now. 2) Learning the mystical parts of the Torah lead a person to consider the world as naught and even their own needs and desires as naught. Why should I learn something that is so negative about physical existence?

We find an answer to both questions in the field of health care. Maimonides finds parallels between illnesses of the body and illnesses of the soul; therefore you can understand one from the other. In general, illness is a result of the weakening of an organ in the body. To get well, one must strengthen that particular organ. G-d protect us, but there is another type of disease whose damage is caused by growing new, undesirable tissue. A person might say, 'What do I care that there is an extra growth, as long as no organ is missing?' And yet this disease is so dangerous, and does so much damage, many people do not call it even by its name (hence my vagueness). The cure is also different. With nearly all other diseases, something is added to the body (a medicine or remedy). But with this disease, the treatment is to destroy the growth. This cure has only been discovered in recent years

We can apply this same principle to the spiritual issue of whether or not we should study the hidden dimension of the Torah. In our era, called 'the heel of Mashiach', a new spiritual disease has spread which can be perceived as ' undesirable growth'-impudence and arrogance without sense or reason ("Only me and nothing else [matters]").Yes, these problems existed before, but never in the massive wave as it does today. But G-d provides the potential cure to this spiritual malady, even before the illness sets in. This cure is the inner dimension of the Torah. Kabbala and Chassidut's power is to destroy unwanted 'growth'. Only by emphasizing the negation of the exaggerated sense of existence and pride can we eradicate them. This study is a unique demand of our time, since the implementation of Chassidut, counters the temptation for conceit and self-aggrandizement.

May we all merit to study the inner dimensions of the Torah amidst physical and spiritual good health!

Shabbat Salom, Shaul

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from the Chabad Master series, produced by Rabbi Yosef Marcus for

www.ascentofsafed.com and www.kabbalaonline.org

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FROM THE SAGES OF KABBALAH (K:1770/Yitro)

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Specifically, for precious articles on the Weekly Parsha and the Holidays in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,click to

Yitro

One Sample:

Souls, Good and Evil

From the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria

The Ari explains that all souls are composed of both good and evil, since Adam eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil caused good and evil to become intermingled in his soul, as well as in all reality. Prior to this, the difference between good and evil was clear, and man's soul contained no admixture of evil, meaning that his perception was totally clear and unclouded by subjective ego.

This is true for every soul, in accordance with its level. There are those whose souls are mostly evil and contain only a little good, and there are those in whom the opposite is the case. There are many gradations within this spectrum, but "there is no righteous person on earth that does good and never sins".

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this week's:

KOL Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 20

 

 

This week we read about the arrival of the Jewish nation to Mt. Sinai, the monumental and eternal covenant forged with G-d, and the giving of the Ten Commandments.

 

A Sample:

A Sight to Behold

From the writings & talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch

And all the people saw the thunder and the lightning, the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain. (Ex. 20:15)

These words describe the tremendous revelation of G-d's essence and the supernal joy experienced at the Torah's giving - as well as the delight of the Jewish nation at these revelations. Why did the Torah use sight to describe this exceptionally spiritual event? In addition, since Torah learning is primarily an intellectual endeavor, wouldn't terms describing mental perceptions have been more appropriate?

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