Kabbalah/Chassidut

A. Streams of Consciousness

The Verses

"G-d will dry up the Nile Delta and He will wave His Hand over the Euphrates River with the power of His Breath; He will break it into seven streams and lead the people across in dry shoes. There will be a road from Assyria for the remnant of His people that will remain from Assyria, as there was for Israel on the day it went up from the land of Egypt" (Isaiah 11: 15-16 / Haftorah 8th day of Pasover outside of Israel)

Messiah's Torah

Maimonides teaches that in the future Messianic era, the Messiah will teach everyone Torah. The Sages write, "G-d will reveal a new, innovative Torah.' This means that the manner of Torah study will be new.

In that era, people will learn Torah visually! The revelation of the attribute of sight will be an unprecedented phenomenon. It applies to the level of thought in the Torah.

The Torah as we know it derives from the aspect of speech. G-d spoke the Ten Commandments and verbally delivered the written and oral Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.

But in the future, G-d will transmit His New Torah to Earth. This will be similar to our present day Torah, that was given below, "not in heaven" (Deuteronomy 30:12). After all, the essential legal decisions of Torah apply to affairs on Earth. As King Solomon disclosed, angels "Descend to listen to your Torah learning" (Song of Songs 8:13).

These future revelations of the Torah are included in what the Zohar calls "the Soul of the Torah." The principal application of these inner aspects of the Torah will also be specifically on Earth. And their revelation will be in a manner of sight.

Euphrates Crossing

Now we can understand the substance of the Splitting of the Euphrates River which will occur in Messianic Times. The revelation of the Revealed Torah - called the 'body' or essential Torah - first required the Splitting of the Sea. For, only by means of this feat was the World of Speech -- the Revealed World -- revealed on Mount Sinai. Likewise to facilitate the revelation of Messiah's Torah, the World of Thought - the Concealed World - must be split open.

This, then, is the significance of Isaiah's prophecy of the Splitting of the River. But why should this future event occur precisely in a river? Kabbala answers that thought is allegorized as a river.

River Thought

Thought never rests or remains still, it continuously flows. The Hebrew word for river (nahar) is derived from the verb for flowing. As Isaiah said, "In the end of days … All the nations will stream (naharu) to the Temple" (Isaiah 2:2).

The Future Revelation will be such that Messiah's Torah will spread out in a manner that resembles the ever-increasing breadth of a river.

This is the concept of the future Splitting of the River. Just as the sea split to permit the Infinite Lights it concealed to shine, likewise the river will part to allow Messiah's Torah to become revealed. For the Messiah will teach the Inner Torah, which corresponds to the World of Thought. Hence that which today conceals this World must first be nullified. Only then can the Infinite Lights hidden therein be revealed.

B. Two Torah's

People Parallel

A deeper understanding of this idea can be reached by observing human beings. Kabbala tells us that man is similar to Divinity, which is why the Hebrew word for man (adam), is constructed from the same two-letter root as the term for "similar" (adamah). Thus by appreciating human faculties, one can discern those of G-d.

Humans possess the faculties of speech and thought. The distinction between them is comparable to the difference between revelation and concealment.

Speech's function is to reveal to a recipient one's inner thoughts. In the faculty of thought, however, our thoughts remain hidden. As the Talmud says, "A man does not know what is in his friend's heart."

Divine Speech

In like manner, G-d desired to make known his Revealed Torah - called Divine Speech. He wanted to speak Torah on Mount Sinai. But before He could do so, G-d first had to remove the obstacle that inhibited Speech's revelation. That's why He split open the sea, which corresponds to the final sefirah in the World of Emanation, the attribute of Kingship (Malchut), which is associated with Divine Speech. [see "The Secret of the Splitting of the Sea.] When the sea opened up, a revelation of Divine Speech descended below. Then Divine Speech - the Revealed Torah - was given to the Jewish people.

Divine Thought

Messiah's Torah will be of an entirely different nature. For the Inner Torah relates to G-d's attribute of Thought. What's more, this high level of Torah will be apprehended by means of man's faculty of sight. People will not only know what lies within his friend's heart, rather, they will be able to see what is there!

To precipitate this revelation, an even higher "splitting" must first take place. While
Speech refers to Emanation's attribute of Kingship, Thought alludes to its sefirah of Understanding (Binah). In order for Thought and G-d's Inwardness to shine below, a splitting and revelation in the sefirah of Understanding is required.

[on to Part 2]

[David Rothschild, a resident of Tsfat, is the founder and editor of Nefesh Magazine.]