| |
Chapter Ten, Section Four: Post-Temple Waters
Translation and commentary by Rabbi David Slavin
[Note: this article is a continuation of the previous:
Traits of Israel's Waters]
Nowadays, after the destruction of the Holy Temple,
the system has changed. We [in Israel] now take the "watered down" rains, and
they [outside of Israel] get the full influence. This can be understood from a
passage in the Zohar: "'And you shall make a table of Cedar wood' (Ex. 25:23)
teaches us, that as long as the Jews are fulfilling the will of their Master,
they shall eat from the 'table of the king', and all their meals shall be
prepared for them, and they, experiencing this delight, shall give the remnants
to the nations of the world. Conversely, at the times when the Jews are not
fulfilling the will of their master, then the meals will be cast to the dogs,
leaving the Jews only the scraps. 'Thus shall the children of Israel eat their
breads, impure amongst the nation to where I shall disperse them.' (Ezekiel
4:13). That refers to the scraps of the abhorrent idol-worshipping nations. Whoa
unto the son of the king that is sitting and waiting for the scraps of servants'
table." (Zohar, parashat Teruma 152b)
And so in our days the verse, "And I shall stop up the
heavens and there shall be no 'mataar'" (Deut. 11 17), has been
fulfilled. For the 'mataar', which is Sag [in the Atbash
system] now travels to the lands outside Israel, to the "servants". And the
miluim descend to Eretz Yisrael as the number "geshamim" ["rains"
=393]. This is the secret of the verse, "Under the maidservant who inherits her
matron" (Proverbs 30: 23).  | | " Even though at present she has the status of a maidservant, nonetheless, she rules all..." | | |
Originally (when Eretz Yisrael was in its full glory)
the four miluim of Eh-yeh [161+143+151=616] were entirely given
over to Eretz Yisrael. This is seen from the verse "They spied [in Hebrew, 'vayaturu']
the land of Canaan' (Num. 13:2), in which "yaturu" has the numerical
value of 616. It is then that Eretz Yisrael is called "The Matron" [in Hebrew, "gevirta"].
This is so being that the four miluim [equaling 616] together with the
four kolels [=4] have the same value as "gevirta" [which equals
620, also the numerical value of " keter"]. Under that circumstance, only
the miluim of the three Eh-yehs [140+130+122] would descend to
outside of Israel, for they have the value of the word "shifcha" [meaning
"maidservant", which equals 393.
Yet nowadays, when we are at the times of "Under the
maidservant who inherits her matron" (Proverbs 30:23). That is understood by the
fact that the amount of influence descending now in Eretz Yisrael is the number
393 - "shifcha" ["maidservant"], whilst, simultaneously, outside of
Israel they are receiving a full 455 - "tenna". This is what is meant by
the verse "Give iniquity to their iniquities, and not let them have access to
your righteousness [in Hebrew, 'tzidkotecha']" (Psalms 69:28), for
"tzidkotecha" has the numerical value of "Yitro" ["Jethro"], with
the four miluim of Eh-yeh.
This is what is meant by the verse, "When a man shall
sell his daughter as a maidservant, she shall not go out as the rest of the
servants" (Ex. 21:7). In other words, in "When a man sells...", "Man" here
is hinting to G-d. "...His daughter" is referring to the Shechina. "...As a
maidservant" implies that she, the Shechina, will only receive divine
beneficence to the extent of what the maidservant would have received, whereas
the maidservant will receive that which the Matron, the Shechina, would
have gotten.
"She shall not go out as the rest of the servants",
for most servants are freed if any of their "roshei evarim", literally,
"the head of their limbs", i.e. main limbs become damaged. Yet she, the
Shechina, isn't freed in the same fashion. For our purpose, "the head of
their limbs" refers to the top part of each realm; therefore that would normally
indicate only the aspect of the first milui of 161 [Eh-yeh spelled
out with yuds], which stems from chochma bina and daat,
which are the top - the three primary sefirot. Rather, she goes out, by
means of the three miluim of Eh-yeh alone. They have the value of
"tenna" [455]. This is hinted to in the first letters of the words in the
verse, "Lo teytze k'tzet ha'avadim" [Hebrew
for "She shall no go out as the leaving of the servants", whose initials equal
30+ 400+ 20+ 5 = 455].
This is true even though She, the Shechina, has
been given over to the commands of the maidservant. Nonetheless, she shall not
exit servitude as the servants. Rather, "And her sovereignty is over all the
domain". That is why the three miluim with the three kolels add up
to "shilton" [meaning "dominion" and equaling 395], also to "shofet"
[meaning "judge"]. This indicates that even though at present she has the status
of a maidservant ["shifcha"], nonetheless, she rules all. | | " Nowadays the angel Metatron rules in Eretz Yisrael..." | | |
Therefore, nowadays the angel Metatron rules in Eretz
Yisrael, for he is known as "Second to the King" [in Hebrew, "Mishne
La'Melech"], for the three miluim [of Eh-yeh] with their
kolels equal "Mishne", 395. Originally the Shechina was alone
without garments, and supplied sustenance and nurturing to Eretz Yisrael, but
now she is enclothed by Metatron. Now she is called the "maidservant" of the
Shechina. Through her the Land of Israel gets its sustenance. This is why
now, during the exile, Eretz Yisrael is called "Eretz Ha'tzvi" [Hebrew
for "the land of the deer"], the numerical value of which equals 393, the same
as "shifcha" ["maidservant"]. She only is capable of receiving influence
of "rains" [in Hebrew, "geshamim", which equals 393], again, the value of
"shifcha".
This is what is meant by the passage in the Zohar (parashat
Lech Lecha 95b), "'Woe to you, oh land, whose king is a lad?' (Ecclesiastes
10:16): Woe unto the world that nurses from that side." For that is through
Metatron, who is termed "the lad", who is "Mishne" - secondary to the
King. "Mishne" has the same value as "parnasa" [which means
"sustenance"], 395. It is though him that the Land is sustained.
This is what the Sages meant by their statement,
"Rabbi Abahu said, 'Even a Canaanite maidservant [shifcha] in
Eretz Yisrael is guaranteed entrance to the World to Come'. For behold it is
written, 'I will give a soul to the nation upon her [the Land]' (Isaiah 42:5),
and it is also written, '[Ishmael,] remain here with the donkey' (Gen. 22:5),
[for you are] the nation whose is similar to a donkey." This would imply that
any one who lives in the Land and only receives the aspect of the 'Shifcha',
should stay there. This is because it is through her that he is guaranteed a
place in the World to Come, for the three miluim are indicative of the
World to Come, as was mentioned earlier. | | " Eretz Yisrael, even amidst its status of destruction, remains the epitome of purity and holiness..." | | |
The three Eh-yehs are from the aspect of
bina, which is called "Olam Haba" ["the World to Come"]. The
three miluim are called the "Bat Olam Haba" [literally "Daughter
of the World to Come"]. And just as she is guaranteed a portion in the World to
Come [Olam Haba] (for all her influence stems from bina), so too
he who receives from that influence is called a "Ben Olam Haba"
[literally, "a son of the World to Come"].
The equating of the two verses mentioned above "Remain
here with the donkey" - the nation that is similar to a donkey, and "I will give
a soul to the nation upon her [the land]" (Baba Kama 49a), can best be
understood from the following passage in the Zohar (Raya Mehemna,
parashat Ki Teitzei 275b): "He is not called King until he rides on his
horse - the Jewish people. When the Holy One Blessed be He is away from his
place, He seems not to be King." Therefore He rides a donkey - Metatron, who is
considered a donkey, relative to G-d. Nonetheless he's still second to the King.
Therefore anyone living inside of Eretz Yisrael whilst it is in a state of
destruction, and receives even just a morsel of bread, is receiving from the
influence of Metatron, who is the "Mishne". G-d still gives him a " Neshama"
(the same letters as "Mishne"). That is what is meant by the language of
the verse, "I will give a "Neshama" to the nation upon her [the Land]'.
This is also what is meant by the verse, "To the 'mataar'
['rains'] of the heavens you shall drink water." (Deut.11:11) For the letters of
"mataar" are found in "Metatron", who is called the "chamor"
[Hebrew for "donkey"], who, together with the kolel, equals that of "mataar".
The remaining three letters of Metatron, tet vav and nun, have the
same value as "Ado-nai". This is another way to see how Metatron is the "Chamor
Ado-nai" [literally, "the donkey of G-d"]. This indicates that through
the Shechina dressing itself by Metatron, the various rains ["geshamim"
and "mataar"] fall in Eretz Yisrael. Thus the value of "Ado-nai"
in the Albam code has the same value as "geshamim".
Since Eretz Yisrael, even amidst its status of
destruction, remains the epitome of purity and holiness, "male" waters nourish
her. Even nowadays, the little "watered-down" scraps that she receives are
"male" waters. Egypt, however, is the epitome of defilement, which is why she is
called "the disgrace of the earth", and therefore it wasn't befitting for her to
be nourished from the "male" waters, rather from the Nile, which is "feminine"
water. That might be the essence of the verse, "For the land to which you come
to possess, is not like the land of Egypt that you left from, where you would
plant your seeds and water them on foot like a vegetable garden." (Deut. 11:10).
Yet Abraham, in his love for his son Ishmael, prayed
for him saying, "Oh! That Ishmael might live before You." (Gen. 17:18) This is
because the fate of one to be nourished from the feminine waters, is not a life.
Therefore G-d responded to Abraham saying, "Yet regarding Ishmael, I have heard
you, I have blessed him..." (Gen. 17:20). The blessing is the mystery of the
"drop" of "male" water, mentioned previously. The intention of this is that
subsequent to a decree from the wisdom of the Holy One, that there shall be no
rains in the land of Egypt, and it is impossible to void that decree. Thus when
Abraham prayed, the decree remained intact, and yet there was an addition of
that "drop" of blessing. | " The most significant and beautiful trait
in G-d's eyes is humility..." | | |
Know that the "feminine" waters are divided into three
categories, one atop the other:
The first and lowest level is the water that is
hand-drawn by people, out of streams and springs to water their gardens; these
drawn waters are called "dead", which was the level of the water of Egypt before
Abraham's prayers. That is probably why the verse says, "Not like the land of
Egypt that you left from, where you would plant your seeds and water them on
foot like a vegetable garden." (Deut. 11:10)
The next level up are the waters that flow out of the
springs and streams by themselves. They are called "living waters".
The third and highest level of "feminine" waters are
those of rain that fall from the clouds that have been filled by condensation of
the salty oceans and lakes etc. that get purified by the clouds and then
descend.
Just like the "feminine" waters are divided into three
levels, so too, the "male" waters are divide into three categories: The lowest
level is when the rains descend, the hue of the heavens is contiguous. In other
words it is not spotted with different shades.
The next level is when the "groom" goes out to meet
the "bride". In other words, the rain is falling with such strength, that before
the next drop (bride) hits the ground, the previous one (groom) has bounced up
to greet her.
The highest level is when it rains day and night, for three consecutive days
We see that 29 of the 30 types of fruits can grow only
with a particular type of "male" water, yet the etrog [citron] can grow even by
means of drawn water. This is what is meant when the Sages say, "Etrogs
grow on all waters" ( Sukkot 38a). This is why etrogs share certain laws
[i.e. tithing] with vegetables (that also grow with any water). Yet this is why
it is called a "Pri Etz Hadar" ["fruit of the beautiful tree"]. Its
humility is its beauty. For the most significant and beautiful trait in G-d's
eyes is humility.
Know that everything physical in this ethereal world
originates from a spiritual example of it in the heavens. In other words, the
physical is a mere shadow of the spiritual. In that fashion, all 30 types of
fruits can be found above in their spiritual form, hue, and shape. Rather that
up in heaven they are in their spiritual form and down below they are in their
physical form as a shadow of their spirit.
[End of Chapter Ten] To return to the previous article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Traits of Israel's Waters, click here
To continue on to the next article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Footsteps in the Land, click here
|
