1:4 Faith and All of Creation

Part 1: Faith, Truth, and Trust

Para. 4: Faith and All of Creation

 

“Everything that happens in the world and each entity (found there) is meant to remind us that there’s a Creator” Reb Tzadok declares. After all, we’ve been taught that the entire world was only created so that we might fear God [1] and to know and recognize Him [2].

And it’s said that “the earth is full of Your possessions”, G-d (Psalms 104:24), which means to say that everything is here in order to enable us to “possess” Him [3].

In fact, “God prepares all sorts of things and circumstances everyday so that we might remember Him”, he offers. “For (since) man’s not able to keep from forgetting (God)” on his own – the ability to remember Him has to come from God Himself [4]. That’s why the first of the Ten Commandments reads “I am God your Lord” (Exodus 20:2) rather than starting out with an outright command to believe in Him, simply because “it’s impossible to be commanded to (try to) know something” like the ever-presence of God, given that He’s out of sight. So He must help us.

The help we need to remember Him is provided by the very next of the Ten Commandments which reads “you will have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3) [5]. For that statement reminds us of Godliness in general and of Godly ability [6]. Indeed, every power and ability you have – whether it’s to see, to hear, etc. – should have you recall that God exists and that He Himself granted it to you [7].

(from Tzidkut HaTzaddik 232)

Footnotes:

[1]       See Berachot 6b.

[2]       I.e., to catch sight of Him here and be stunned by His presence – and to thus be reminded of Him.

[3]       The Hebrew term used for “Your possession” קנינך can also be translated as “the possession of You”. The implication is that God can be “possessed”, i.e., taken hold of or grasped and remembered by means of everything on earth.

As he often does about other matters, R’ Tzadok says that he “heard” this interpretation, indicating that he learned it from Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica, his teacher.

[4]       That is, it’s God’s own responsibility to have us remember Him rather than our own. After all, isn’t He invisible and thus can’t we be forgiven for forgetting His presence?

[5]       The term for “other gods”, Elohim, aside for being of God’s own names is also an expression for a כוחות בעל – a being with power and abilities (supernatural or otherwise).

[6]       That is, while there are false gods, simply remembering the existence of Godliness and governance in the world will help us remember God Himself. And while this is indeed a “false trigger” it still and all can generate a recollection of God.

[7]       In short, everything on earth is and needs to be an allusion to God, given that we’re not inclined to remember Him and that God Himself has to trip our memory of Him if we’re to succeed at it.

(c) 2016 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

1:3 The Eternal Faith of the Jewish People

Part 1: Faith, Truth, and Trust

Para. 3: The Eternal Faith of the Jewish People

 

Reb Tzadok declares that “It was (only) at Mattan Torah (i.e., at Mount Sinai) that the Light that the Jewish People perceived at Kriat Yam Suf (i.e., at the Red Sea) was (truly) affixed in them”[1]. And he characterizes that “Light” as the “firm pin-point of faith that’s found in the depth of each and every Jew’s heart”, which “can never be budged or removed” regardless of any exigencies, it’s that firm and sure.

But how fixed is that faith, in fact? Very much so, Reb Tzadok avers, for “even if he’s a sinner, that individual is still and all a Jew in each and every way” [2], hence his faith is part of his inner-core. Besides, the only reason he sins anyway is “because of ‘the yeast in the dough’”, i.e., the yetzer hara [3] -– his sins aren’t motivated by anything in “the actual center-point of his heart”.

What is it, though, that so instilled the belief of God in us that even if we deny it, we can’t deny it [4] — even those of us who discount that belief as well as the entire Torah just for spite [5]? It’s the fact that we came to embrace a sure and immortal faith in God at Mattan Torah [6] [7].

 

(From PriTzaddik, Kedushat Shabbat 7)

Footnotes:

 

[1]         The point seems to be that even though we came to truly and firmly believe in God at Kriat Yam Suf (and to a large degree before that, too), our experiencing God’s presence up close at Mattan Torah instilled that faith in us inexorably.

For, while God Himself was acknowledged to have been the impetus behind the crossing of the Red Sea (and the Ten Plagues before that), Moses was in the foreground then, and the people only believed in God because of him. As it’s put, “The people feared God and believed in him and in Moses his servant” (Exodus 14:19). But when God manifested His presence at Mount Sinai the people were stunned, flummoxed – and convinced.

[2]         “A Jew, even though he has sinned, is still a Jew” – Sanhedrin 44a.

[3]         See Berachot 17a: “As You well know (God), we really want to comply with Your wishes, but we’re held back us back by ‘the yeast in the dough’”.

[4]         Reb Tzadok cites Rambam’s well-known dictum that we can force someone to say “I want to” grant his wife a Get even when he ostensibly doesn’t want to, simply because deep within him, he, like every other Jew, truly wants to abide by the Torah’s dictates, despite appearances, and notwithstanding declarations he might make otherwise (Hilchot Gerushin, Ch. 2).  Also see Mishna Erchin 5:6 and Gittin 9:8.

[5]         L’hachais in Hebrew, literally “angrily” or “huffily” – for spite, which is the most willful and obstinate form of denial and confrontation.

[6]         Reb Tzadok uses the legal term of possession here, kinyan, meaning to say that we came to “own”, i.e., internalize, a belief in God thanks to Mattan Torah (when we wholeheartedly said “We will do (everything God wants us to, even before fully grasping it) and (then) we will hear (the details)” [Exodus 24:7]) that is sure and can never be undone.

[7]         The idea here that God often makes “takes the first step” which then enables us to follow through on it and to solidify something or another in our beings will prove to be a theme throughout Reb Tzadok’s works, as we’ll see in the section entitled “(Human) Effort and the Help of Heaven” below.

This all comes to say that our faith is deep, whether we acknowledge it or deny it, because it was dramatically initiated at Kriat Yam Suf, affirmed at Mattan Torah, then internalized. So deep is that faith, in fact, that whatever we do to countervail it comes from elsewhere rather than from ourselves.

 

(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

 

1: 2 Faith as the Source

Part 1: Faith, Truth, and Trust

Para. 2: Faith as the Source

“Faith is the foundation of the entire Torah”, Reb Tzadok asserts [1]. And it alone enables us “to attach onto God’s presence” and to “be eternal” [2].

“Even if you’re stuck in whatever (untenable, sinful, etc.) situation you’re stuck in, faith can (nonetheless) extricate you from it”. In fact, even if “you’re stuck in one of the world’s deepest, darkest crevices (of sinfulness) from which all light is darkened and hidden” still-and-all by “bolstering your faith” you can merit earning God’s light [3].

And you “can reach the highest stages a person can reach” with faith, “since faith is the gateway to God.” In fact, he concludes, “the promised great redemption will only come about through faith” [4].

(From Pri Tzadik, KedushatShabbat 7)

Footnotes:

[1]         That’s pretty obvious, given that one would only observe the Torah if he believes in God and His Torah. But his point is less straightforward than that, as we’ll see.

It’s clear that Reb Tzadok is speaking of a higher, deeper, more vital sort of faith than we might first come to think of, as we’ll soon see. For there are many degrees of it.

The lowest degree of faith comes down to just accepting the idea of something despite the lack of proof. I might “believe”, for example, that there are specifically Japanese bananas simply because it seems reasonable enough to accept that. But rather than being a statement of faith, that’s a good and tepid guess with nothing to lose if I’m wrong.

The deepest level of faith, though, touches on a felt near-certainty based on the degree that I sense and intuit the existence of the thing I believe in. It comes down to an inward, experienced conviction that’s rooted in a seemingly and perhaps actually palpable sense of the thing’s reality. That’s the sort faith Reb Tzadok is referring to here. It’s the only one that would enable us to attach on to God, to be immortal, etc. which is about to be spoken of.

Also, just as you have to want something before you can think about how to affect it, you have to believe in its existence before you can want it. Hence, belief is the deepest root of both thought and action. We’ll speak of another aspect of faith in note 4 below.

[2] The implication is that you can only attach onto God if He is as palpably real to you as eternity is in your heart.

[3] Reb Tzadok here cites and draws from the well know verse that reads “Even when I walk in the valley of darkness I will fear no harm, for You are with me” (Psalms 23:4) which then ends with assertion that as a consequence of my  belief in that fact “I will dwell in the house of the Lord” (Ibid. v. 6)

[4] We’re promised a world of things — and more — here if we believe: a Torah-life; attachment onto God’s presence and His light; eternity; the highest spiritual levels imaginable; and redemption itself, both personal and national. How is that possible?

Perhaps the best illustration we could offer is this. Many fiction writers approach a project and actors approach a role by assuming what’s termed an “as if” attitude. That’s to say that they’re to imagine as if what they were writing about or planning to act out were laid before their eyes, and that all they had to do was to follow through on it. One might, for example, write or act out a scene as if there actually was a rainstorm in front of his eyes, and he’d thus pick up a signal from there what to write or manifest. On one level it’s placing oneself in the right “mood”, but on another it’s an instance of imaginatively placing oneself in the very situation, feeling or sensing its reality, and going on from there. And in a sense they’ll be right “there” — in the thick of  the situation they’d have taken so seriously.

This is very much in keeping with the Ba’al Shem Tov’s remark that “A person is where his mind dwells” — that you’re very soul is transported to whatever your mind concentrates upon.

Hence, believe in and act as if God exists from the depths of your being and you’ll be with Him and inherit His Torah, you’ll bask in His light, be timeless, achieve the highest spiritual levels, and be redeemed on all levels since you’ll be with Him, so to speak.

 

(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————————-

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

 

1:1 Jewish Joy

Part 1: Faith, Truth, and Trust

Para. 1: Jewish Joy

 

The first entry starts off with the rather broad and electric statement that, “The point of it all, and the intention behind the entirety of Torah and its 613 mitzvot is to be ‘attached’ thus by (I.e., mystically “fused”) onto the Living God. And also to grasp the truth of the first thing we heard from His own mouth that, ‘I am God your Lord’ (Exodus 20:2) [1].

“For each one of us can in fact attach himself onto Him”, Reb Tzadok continues, “since there’s always a portion of Him with us” [2].

This can be a source of “continual joy” – one that’s available to each and every Jew, the fact that we can always attach ourselves onto God. It can be unvarnished joy that “nothing can thwart or take away” from us, our “having a portion of the Living God within us”.

His point is that that’s so regardless of everything. For “even if you’re stuck wherever you’re stuck” (i.e., even if you’re otherwise attached onto wrongdoing and malevolence) and are chock full “of countless sins”, you still and all can never be “separated or cut off from that attachment”, given that you’re a Jew — a “descendent of Yaakov, who was perfect”. And given that God always “devises ways for a banished person not to remain banished from Him” (Samuel II 14:14) [3].

For even if you find yourself “in the depths of the darkest well” and are captivated by and “wedged within all the world’s (untoward) pleasures … and their nonsense” you can still have faith in the fact that God will never abandon you [4].

(From Resisei Layla 53)

Footnotes:

[1] That is, we’re able to and are to attach ourselves onto God’s presence, and to realize the fact that the whole of life itself, the Torah, and the mitzvah-system is meant to have us once again the experience of the Living presence of God that we had when He spoke to us at Mount Sinai.
[2] That’s to say that each one of us can attach onto Him given that He is Himself attached onto us.

[3] Despite everything. The point made in context is that while people may allow others to remain “banished” and abandoned, God never will, and we’re to take that to heart.

[4] In other words, deep in the warm and liquid core of your Jewish soul is a sure and irrevocable tie to God. Know that and you’ll be forever happy.

 

(c) 2015 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

———————————————–

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on http://www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.

 

And then there’s this

I’d also like to draw attention to this new sefer which just came out yet was downloaded for free on the www.hebrewbooks.org cite, and which is especially apropos now in the asseret y’mai teshuva. I’d also like to point to this cogent response to it.

For more information

There’s a lot of information about Reb Tzadok online. See this Hebrew cite and this English one for example, as well as some of these. I especially call your attention to this article.

Introduction

I have no expertise here at all and am depending solely on ספר אוצר המחשבה published anonymously in 1981, with a haskama from הרב יצחק יעקב ווייס and a note about the specifics signed by a “ד ורנר”. It was published by מאורות דעת in Israel.

The Sefer draws upon all of Reb Tzakok’s seforim. It includes a short biography and analysis of his thought, it offers comments by him according to topic, and is broken down into 14 chapters with a couple of hundred entries in all.

I’ll be presenting synopses of Reb Tzadok’s remarks, offer remarks of my own when that’s called for, then cite the work it’s taken from.

 

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman