{"id":51,"date":"2017-10-29T15:17:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T15:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/?p=51"},"modified":"2017-10-29T15:17:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T15:17:42","slug":"nephesh-hachaim-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/2017\/10\/29\/nephesh-hachaim-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Nephesh\u00a0Hachaim\u00a01:4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nephesh<\/em>\u00a0Hachaim<\/em>\u00a0Gate 1, Ch. 4<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Now, no one should ever say, Who am I to think that I could do anything\u00a0of consequence with my meaningless actions 1<\/sup>? In fact, R\u2019 Chaim asserts, each one of us<\/em> has it within him or her to bring about the sorts of profound things we\u2019d cited above with our actions 2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

As he puts it, \u201cnot a single one of our actions, words or thoughts \u2026 is ever lost!\u201d 3<\/sup>. Every action that each one of us takes is \u201cgreat, far-reaching, and momentous\u201d 4 <\/sup>and affects the very heavens and the supernal lights\u00a05<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

In fact, were we astute enough to understand what actually happens in the heavens as a consequence of our deeds we\u2019d tremble<\/em>, R\u2019 Chaim asserts. For we\u2019d come to realize just how much damage could come about by even our most\u00a0minor\u00a0misdeeds 6<\/sup>!<\/p>\n

R\u2019 Chaim then makes a very astounding, incredibly distressing statement.<\/p>\n

In fact, he says, what we\u2019d be doing with our sins would be even worse than what\u00a0Nebuchadnezzar\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Titus\u00a0did when they (seemingly!) destroyed the first and second\u00a0Beit Hamikdash<\/em>!<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

In point of fact, Nebuchadnezzar\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Titus\u00a0could have no effect on the sup-ernal\u00a0realm7<\/sup>, because they weren\u2019t linked to it and couldn\u2019t influence it 8<\/sup>. But we, on the other hand, who are so quite intimately linked with the supernal realm, can<\/em> affect things in the heavens and the supernal Beit<\/em>\u00a0Hamikdash <\/em>9<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

And so while Nebuchadnezzar and\u00a0Titus\u00a0could \u201conly\u201d destroy the phys-ical\u00a0Beit<\/em>\u00a0Hamikdash<\/em>, we could destroy the corresponding supernal\u00a0Beit<\/em>\u00a0Hamikdash<\/em>\u00a0with our sins 9<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

It should also make us tremble to realize that not only do we have it within us to do that, but it\u2019s also true that we ourselves incorporate all worlds and their resources and capacities 10 <\/sup>which themselves comprise the supernal Beit<\/em> Hamikdash<\/em>!<\/p>\n

For, just as our heart incorporates everything vital to our being and sits in the center of our body and thus corresponds to the Kodesh<\/em> Kedoshim<\/em> 11 <\/sup>in the Beit<\/em> Hamikdash<\/em> which sat in the center of Jerusalem 12<\/sup>, our heart also corresponds to the even<\/em> shetiyah <\/em>13<\/sup>, which incorporates within it all of the sources of holiness 14<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

So when we dwell 15<\/sup> on adultery, for example, we set a virtual harlot 16 <\/sup>in the supernal Kodesh<\/em> Kedoshim<\/em>, G-d forbid! And we thus empower the forces of impurity and the \u201cother side\u201d there and actually do more harm that way than Titus did when he set an actual harlot in the physical Kodesh<\/em> Kedoshim! And the same goes for any sin: with each one we commit we allow \u201cstrange fire\u201d 17<\/sup> to enter our hearts, as when we become angry or express any other untoward desire 18<\/sup>, G-d protect us 19<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

For by virtue of the soul that has been implanted within us, we are the very soul of, the driving force behind, and are in command of innumerable supernal and earthly worlds 20<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:\u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>See Mesillat<\/em> Yesharim<\/em> Ch\u2019s 2 and 3 for the dangers of this attitude.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>This democratic assertion that everyone\u2019s<\/em> actions count in this way contrasts with R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s statement in his second footnote to this chapter that it\u2019s tzaddikim<\/em> that affect such things! But see R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s remark in his Rosh<\/em> Hashanah<\/em> Drasha<\/em> to the effect that no two people are alike, in that some can bring about great changes thanks to their spiritual standing while others can barely bring about any such changes at all (citing Ramchal\u2019s Da\u2019at<\/em> Tevunot<\/em> 126). As such his point here seems to be that we each do indeed affect changes, but tzaddikim<\/em> can do even more.<\/p>\n

3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>I.e., is ever in vain.<\/p>\n

4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>After all, as R\u2019 Chaim points out in his first footnote here, aren\u2019t we told that we ourselves instigate what happens above, citing\u00a0Pirkei<\/em>\u00a0Avot<\/em>\u00a02:1?\u00a0But in point of fact, the Mishna there says that if you\u2019re ever to avoid sinning you\u2019d need to\u00a0\u05de\u05d4 \u05dc\u05de\u05e2\u05dc\u05d4 \u05de\u05de\u05da\u00a0\u05d3\u05e2\u00a0\u2013 literally, to \u201cKnow what\u2019s above you<\/em>\u201d (i.e., \u201can eye that sees and an ear that hears\u201d; and that \u201call your actions are recorded in a book\u201d) and to thus be mindful of what you do.<\/p>\n

But R\u2019 Chaim legitimately but quite non-literally translates\u00a0\u05de\u05d4 \u05dc\u05de\u05e2\u05dc\u05d4 \u05de\u05de\u05da\u00a0\u05d3\u05e2\u00a0as saying, \u201cKnow that all that happens above\u00a0is from\u00a0you<\/em>\u201d in order to make his point. (See\u00a0Ruach<\/em>\u00a0Chaim<\/em>\u00a0on that Mishna, too). Interestingly enough, though, the\u00a0Ba\u2019al Shem Tov<\/em> and his disciples understood the Mishna the same way as R\u2019 Chaim did (see for example Kedushat<\/em>\u00a0Levi<\/em>,\u00a0Parshat<\/em>\u00a0Metzorah<\/em>). Is this then an instance of R\u2019 Chaim acknowledging the legitimacy of Chassidic thought? Perhaps so, given that R\u2019 Chaim seemed sympathetic toward the movement: for one thing, he didn\u2019t sign the ban against Chassidism that his teacher, the Gra, initiated. And R\u2019 Chaim was known to have all of the major works of Chassidic Thought in his library.<\/p>\n

(The reading of the Mishna itself, though, might actually derive from Zohar 2:117b).<\/p>\n

5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>The \u201csupernal lights\u201d spoken of here (\u05e6\u05d7\u05e6\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05e2\u05dc\u05d9\u05d5\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea)\u00a0will be cited in 1:6, 12 (R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s footnote in 1:13) and 4:21 below.<\/p>\n

6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>It goes without saying that if our misdeeds cause such great harm, then our laudable deeds do great good, of course.<\/p>\n

7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>Where all of this counts, as we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim nonetheless cites a statement in 3:12 below from Eitz<\/em> Chaim<\/em> that speaks to the powers that Nebuchadnezzar\u00a0<\/em>had in fact on the upper realms with his use of certain impure powers. Apparently then while Titus and he had some degree of power up above, they didn\u2019t have the nearly ultimate power that we do.<\/p>\n

9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>See Da\u2019at<\/em> Tevunot<\/em> 160.<\/p>\n

9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim asserts that their act was as superfluous as grinding flour (which, by definition, is already ground), citing Eicha<\/em> Rabba<\/em> 1:41. That\u2019s a striking statement, saying in effect that everything Titus and Nebuchadnezzar did was redundant for all intents and purposes since we\u2019d already done the hard part with our sins!<\/p>\n

10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim points out that this will be explained later on in 1:6 and 2:5.<\/p>\n

11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>I.e., The Holy of Holies.<\/p>\n

12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>See Zohar 2:157 and Kuzari<\/em> 4:24.<\/p>\n

13\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>The \u201cFoundation Stone\u201d, which is the point from which the rest of the world was formed (Zohar 1:131 and Yomah<\/em> 54b). Also see Zohar 1: 71b and 2:222 for it resting in the center of the world.<\/p>\n

14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim also cites Zohar 3:161a here to further prove his point.<\/p>\n

R\u2019 Chaim touches upon the centrality and potency of the Beit<\/em> Hamikdash<\/em>, its correspondence to our own beings, and he calls upon each one of us to make ourselves into a human Beit<\/em> Hamikdash<\/em> in his second footnote here — along with the dire warning that the earthly Beit<\/em> Hamikdash<\/em> will do us no good (i.e., it will no longer help to purify us and expiate our sins) if we violate the one<\/em> within<\/em> us!<\/p>\n

\u00a015\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>In our heart.<\/p>\n

16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim terms a harlot \u201cthe image of jealousy\u201d, in reference to Ezekiel 8:3, 5. See Rashi there as well as Zohar 2:3b and Avodah<\/em> Zara<\/em> 55a.<\/p>\n

17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>I.e., foreign and unwanted potencies; see Leviticus 10:1.<\/p>\n

18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>Notice that R\u2019 Chaim is terming anger a ta\u2019ava<\/em> here: a lustful desire \u2013 one that\u2019s perhaps on par with the sorts of immoral desires that would have set a harlot in the supernal Beit<\/em> Hamikdash<\/em>!<\/p>\n

19\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim cites Isaiah 64:10 and Ezekiel 43:7-9.<\/p>\n

20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/sup>R\u2019 Chaim cites and explains the import of Genesis 2:7 to make this point.<\/p>\n

(c) 2017 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n

———————————————————-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rabbi Feldman’s new annotated translation of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag\u2019s \u201cIntroduction to the Zohar\u201d is available as \u201cThe Kabbalah of Self\u201d on Kindle here<\/a>. His annotated translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> and his annotated translation of Rabbeinu Yonah\u2019s “The Gates of Repentance” is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes torah.org entitled \u201cSpiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d that can be subscribed to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nephesh\u00a0Hachaim\u00a0Gate 1, Ch. 4 1. Now, no one should ever say, Who am I to think that I could do anything\u00a0of consequence with my meaningless actions 1? In fact, R\u2019 Chaim asserts, each one of us has it within him … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,7,8,2,3,6,1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hashkapha","category-kabbalah","category-mussar","category-nephesh-hachaim","category-reb-chaim-of-volozhin","category-torah","category-uncategorized","category-volozhin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8YhFQ-P","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/nephesh-hachaim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}