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Dawn of the Dew
From Sefer HaLikutim in the Writings of the Ari.
Translated by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky.
The portion of the Torah read this week includes the commandment
of raising the Four Species on Sukkot. We are taught "And you will take for
yourselves on the first day [of Sukkot] the fruit of the goodly tree [i.e. an
etrog], palm branches [i.e. a lulav], a branch of the myrtle and willows...."
(Lev. 23:40) We will now see how the process of the Resurrection of the Dead is
alluded to in this verse.
The mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead [is as
follows]:
In the future G-d will resurrect the dead with dew....
[Resurrection] will occur by means of holy [spiritual]
droplets that manifest the name of G-d whose numerical value is that of the word
for "dew" [in Hebrew, "tal" = 39, formed by spelling out the first three
letters of the name Havayah,] yud- hei- vav.
|
yud |
yud-vav-dalet |
10 + 6 + 4 |
20 |
|
hei |
hei-alef |
5 + 1 |
6 |
|
vav |
vav-alef-vav |
6 + 1 + 6 |
13 |
|
. |
. |
. |
39 |
According to the Sages, in the future G-d will resurrect the
dead with dew. "Whence do we know that the dead will come to life only by means
of dew? It is written: 'Your dead will come to life, my corpses will arise;
awake and shout for joy, O you who rest in the dirt. For Your dew is the dew the
brings vegetation to life....' (Isaiah 26:19)." (Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachot
5, or 9b)
When the Jewish people expired in ecstasy from hearing the first
commandment at Mt. Sinai, "G-d revived them using the dew with which He will in
the future resurrect the dead." (Shabbat 88b) Here it is explained that
this "dew" is in fact a physical manifestation of the name of G-d whose
numerical value when spelled out is the same as that of the word for "dew".  | | " The final hei is manifest as the dead that these three letters are meant to revive...." | | |
We see here that this "name" is actually the name Havayah
without the final hei. As we will see, the final hei is manifest
as the dead that these three letters are meant to revive. The Resurrection of
the Dead is thus the (re-)joining of the first three letters of the name
Havayah with its last letter.
These [droplets] descend from the brain of Zeir Anpin
to its yesod, and from there to "the Land of the Living" and malchut.
The Jewish souls there receive [these droplets] and come to life.
Although generally we say that the four letters of the name
Havayah are manifest in the four partzufim of Abba, Imma,
Zeir Anpin and Nukva, respectively, if we narrow our focus onto
Zeir Anpin and Nukva, these four letters are manifest in them also,
as a unit. The first three letters are the intellect and emotions, i.e. the bulk
of Zeir Anpin, while the final hei continues to signify Nukva
(malchut).
Thus, the Resurrection of the Dead, the (re-)union of the first
three letters with the hei, is synonymous with the coupling of Zeir
Anpin with Nukva.
This accords nicely with ideas on the divergent psychologies of
man (manifesting Zeir Anpin) and woman (manifesting Nukva): the
male is a priori oriented upward, seeking to abstract himself from
reality and reunite with his source, while the female is driven to manifest
divinity in reality below. Nonetheless, their mutual success is dependent upon
their "cross-fertilization" of orientation. If the female detaches herself from
the male in order to pursue her ideal of concretizing the divine reality down
below, she will eventually run dry of inspiration, i.e. wither and die, while if
the male detaches himself from the female in order to pursue his ideal of
abstraction and return to source, he will eventually become frustrated over his
lack of ability to manifest his inspiration. | | " The procreative organ receives its true ability...when it manifests and is in tune with the spiritual dimension of individual's mind...." | | |
The earth is a common metaphor or appellate for malchut.
(Yesod is the "foundation" of the "building" of the sefirot, and
thus malchut, which is below yesod, is the earth below and
supporting the foundation.) When malchut receives influx from yesod
(i.e. the yesod of Zeir Anpin) it is called "the Land of Life" or
"the Living Land".
Specifically, what is transferred to Nukva when it
couples with Zeir Anpin is its inspiration, or a "drop" of its
consciousness, which resides in its brain. We see here, again, that true
coupling of male and female is a "cross-fertilization" of attitudes and
orientations of consciousness. The procreative organ receives its true ability
to be "fruitful" and couple when it manifests and is in tune with the spiritual
dimension of individual's mind.
This is the meaning of what is written in the Zohar, that
"dew that is shaken off its head...." (Idra Rabba, III:128a) This "head" is
the "head" discussed there, i.e. the head of the procreative organ, its "crown".
What has been said so far is by way of introduction.
Now, I made efforts to find [a
Scriptural allusion to] this, since everything is alluded to in the [Biblical]
text. | | " Those who dwell...in the Land of Israel, receive it and thus live forever...." | | |
It is known that the etrog is the manifestation of the
"crown" of [the yesod of Zeir Anpin]. I therefore concluded that
the future resurrection - that is, the dew referred to above, which [yesod
of Zeir Anpin] receives from its [i.e. Zeir Anpin's] brain,
and transfers to malchut - should certainly be alluded to in it.
And indeed, I found that the numerical value of the words
for "fruit of the goodly tree" [in Hebrew, "pri etz hadar"] is 659.
"Pri etz hadar" is spelled: pei (80), reish
(200), yud (10) ayin (70), tzadi (90) hei (5),
dalet (4), reish (200) = 659
This turns out to be exactly the numerical value of the
phrase "it [i.e. Zeir Anpin] contains the dew of resurrection, [which
flows] from its brain to her [i.e. malchut]" [plus the kolel].
This idea is that expounded on in the above introduction."
The meaning is that the "crown" of [yesod of]
Zeir Anpin, which is "the fruit of the goodly tree," receives the dew of
resurrection from the brain of Zeir Anpin, and then gives it to
malchut. Those who dwell in it, that is, in the Land of Israel, receive it
and thus live forever.
Thus, we see that all the mysteries of the Torah are
alluded to and concealed deep within Scripture.
Furthermore, it is explained in the Zohar that
the origin of this dew is in Atika [i.e. in Arich Anpin].
Arich Anpin is the partzuf of super-rational will.
The ultimate origin of Zeir Anpin's mentality and consciousness is its
super-rational will. This will drives Zeir Anpin toward self-expression
and motivates it to couple with Nukva. If this will is not manifest,
there will be no coupling; Zeir Anpin will be "cold", "sterile", or
"impotent".
I discovered that this is alluded to [as well] in the words
[of Scripture] themselves. The numerical value of the words "fruit of the goodly
tree" is 659 [as above]. This is also the numerical value of the phrase "dew
from Atika" with the kolel.
In Hebrew, "dew from Atika" is "tal m'Atika".
"Tal" is spelled: tet (9), lamed (30) = 39
"M'Atika" is spelled: mem (40), ayin (70),
tav (400), yud (10), kuf (100), alef (1) = 621
39 + 621 = 660 = 659 + 1
We thus see how the origin [of the dew] is alluded to [in
the words of Scripture as well].
Reprinted with permission from Chabad of California.
Copyright 2004 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved,
including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form,
without permission, in writing, from Chabad of California, Inc.
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