“Gender is not, in this sense, invented solely as an individual act of will. Nor does it change instantaneously…Gender is a social construct, but it is nevertheless very socially real, durable, and powerful. Gender norms…seem to be simultaneously ideals and expectations.”
“in the twilight of sunless houses, our eyes adjusted to a shy wink; In the constant fear of persecution, the power of our voice vanished into a fearful whisper…Let us rejoin our oldest traditions: let us again become deep-seated, stout-minded, bold-looking men.”
“Gender, in short, in rabbinic culture and thus gender domination are forged via the construction of the ideal male as Torah scholar. Torah study is the functional modality by which male dominance over women is secured in rabbinic discourse, thus fulfilling the functions that physical domination secures in various other cultural formations. Male power remains secure, insofar, at least, as the Rabbis, an all-male group, held power over women.”
זלמן אפסטיין "ישיבת ולוזין"
בולוזין נמצאי תמיד במספר רב תלמידים מתושבי הכרכים הגדולים, מלובשים אירופית ומחונכים בטוב ודעת, וחברותם פעלה לטוב על יתר התלמידים במובן ההתפתחות הנמוסית ודרך ארץ של האדם האינטלגנטי. בן העיר הקטנה, בלמדו בולוזין מספר שנים, מלבד ההשתלמות בלומדים נהפך כמו לאיש אחר גם במראהו החצוני, במלבושיו, במדברותיו, בתנועותיו, ובשובו לביתו, לאיזו פוליסיה או וואהלין, משך עליו עיני כל בתור צעיר חי והדור בלבושו ובהליכותיו ובטוב טעמו, ויהי למופת ליתר הצעירים בעירו, אולי לא פחות מן תלמיד הגימנזיום עתה, בשובו לביתו לעירתו הקטנה על ימי החפשה, אשר בכפתוריו המתנוצצים יהיה למלה בפי כל.
4. Zalman Epstein [1860-1936], "The Yeshivah of Volozhin" in Immanuel Etkes and Shelomoh Tikochinski, Yeshivot Lita: Pirkei Zichoronot, (Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 2004), 74
There were always a great number students, who lived in the big cities, who dressed in European fashion and were cultivated with good manners and opinions, and their membership served the good of the many other students, in the sense that they modeled the moral development and manners of an intellectual. The student from a small town, after studying for a few years in Volozhin, in addition to fulfilling his studies, turned into what seemed like altogether other man, even in the way he dressed, in the way he spoke, in the way he conducted himself, and he returned home to this or that place in Polesia or Wohlin, and drew everyone's attention to this spritely young gentleman and well dressed and good mannered with good tastes, and he would become a good example for the other youths in his town, perhaps no less than the student of the contemporary [secular] Gymnasium, in returning to his home and small town during his holidays, whose gleaming buttons are the talk of the town.
…anyone who tastes the sweetness of Torah in labour and ambient perspiration in their youth will not depart the worlds even when he grows old. And if you encounter one student whose countenance slips from focus upon God, you should know for certain that even in his youth his Torah was only from his words and not from his labour and not in exertion, only in word upon his lips and because of this he will lose it.
זלמן אפשטיין ׳׳ישבת ולוזין׳׳
למדו תורה, גמרא וראשונים, לא מתוך יראת שמים, ולא בשביל שהיא מצוה, רק בשביל שהוא דבר של ממש, מדע, חכמה, ענין רב הערך וראש וראשון בחיי היהודי, והשכל מוצא בו כל כך קורת רוח. למדו בחשק ובקביעות והתענגו על מלחמתה של תורה, על ים התלמוד רחב הידים הזורם ושוטף ומשתפך לכל העברים בלא ראשית ובלא תכלית.
התלמיד הבינוני, בצאתו מישיבת ולזין, לא הביא אתו ממנה פריקת עול, אבל העול הכבד כמו התרכך, קבל רוח של חיים, של תבונה. והתלמיד ההוא לא היה עוד קנאי, חשוכי, מתחסד. זה היה כבר כח נגלה ופתוח וחי ומוכשר להתפתחות ולהתקדמות. זה איננו עוד אותו הכח המאובן והנקשה של רחוב היהודים הישנה, אשר גם הרעם בגלגל ונגה הברק לא יזיזוהו ולא יאירוהו: כסה עליו עבטיט וכמו איננו עוד בחיים––ופתור!
5. Zalman Epstein, continued, pp. 73, 77:
[we] studied Torah, Gemara, and the medieval commentaries not out of fear of heaven, and not because it is a mitzvah but rather because it was something real, science, knowledge, the matter of greatest value and the most primary aspect of Jewish life, and thinking finds so much satisfaction in it. They studied with desire and regularity, and they delighted in the war of Torah, in the broad sea of Talmud, that streams and flows and inundates in every direction, without beginning and without end.
The average student, upon departing the Yeshivah of Volozhin, did not bring with him a rebelliousness against the yoke [of the commandments], but it was as if the heavy yoke softened, as though he received the spirit of life, of understanding. The student was no longer zealous or obsessive, inclined toward excessive piety. This was already a force revealed, open, and alive and prepared for development and progress. This was no longer the archaic and rigid power of the old Jewish street, which neither thunder nor lightning could move: covered with a layer of mud as though no life remained—and exempt [on account of being ignorant]! (Patur)
שו׳׳ת בית הלוי, דרוש יט
ונאמר הכתוב אומר בקהלת כי האלהים עשה את האדם ישר והמה בקשו חשבונות רבים וכבר מבואר בספר נפש החיים ביאור הכתוב דבעת הבריאה נברא אה"ר ישר ולא הי' לו בטבעו המשכה ותשוקה להרע מצד עצמו רק ניתן לו הבחירה שיכול לבחור ברע אבל תשוקה והמשכה להרע לא הי' בטבעו כלל אם לא בהסתה ופיתוי מאחר שמחוץ לגופו והנחש בא עליו מבחוץ להסיתו לחטא ואמרו משבא נחש על חוה הטיל בה זוהמא דהזוהמא נכנסה בפנים אל תוך האדם עד שהתשוקה אל העבירה נכנס אל תוך האדם בטבעו ומעצמו יש לכח החומר שלו נטי' להרע ושוב אין צריך לדבר מבחוץ שיסיתנו, ובזה נוכל לפרש דברי המדרש רבה על פסוק ’הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע’ ואמרו במדרש כהדין קמצה דלבושיה מניה וביה דבתחילה הי' בו שני כוחות נפרדים דבטבעו הי' תשוקה והמשכה לטוב והרע הי' חוץ ממנו ואח"כ נתחברו בו שני הכוחות כאחד הטוב והרע שניהם בו באדם בעצם, וזהו כוונתם דלבושי' מני' ובי'
7. Responsa She’elot u-Teshuvot Beit Ha-Levi, Sermon 15:
R' Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik [1820-1892]
“And it is written, as Kohelet says, that "God made man upright, but they sought for many accountings." And it has already been explained in [R. Hayyim of Volozhin’s] Nefesh HaChaim the meaning of this text, that at the time of creation, Adam HaRishon was created upright and the draw toward and desire for evil was not in his nature, or arising from his being. Rather, he was given choice and the possibility to choose evil. But the desire and the draw towards evil were not in his nature at all, only temptation and incitement coming from outside of his body. Thus, the serpent came upon him from outside to incite him to sin. And it is said that when the snake came upon Eve, he placed corruption within her, and that the corruption was then internalized by Adam until the desire for transgression entered into the nature of man, and arising out his own being he had a material force inclining him to evil. Thus, we no longer need to speak of the outside temptation. And from this, we can also interpret the words of Midrash Rabbah (21) on the verse, "Behold, man has become as one of us, to know good and evil" (Genesis 3:22) And the rabbis interpreted this in the Midrash, that it is "like a snail whose garment is part of its body." For in the beginning there were two separate powers. In his nature, there was desire and the longing for good; and evil was outside of him. But after the sin, the two forces joined together as one, and both good and evil were internalized in man's being. And this is why they interpreted, "like a garment that is part of his body"
שו׳׳ת בית הלוי, הקדמה
והטעם לזה דהת׳׳ח לא הוי בבחי׳ תשמיש קדושה רק בבחי׳ עצם הקדושה וכמו דמבואר באו׳׳ח סי׳ מ׳׳ג דהקלף שכותבין עליה ס׳׳ת לא הוי תשמיש קדושה רק עצם הקדושה וכמו כן הת׳׳ח הוי גופו הקלף של תורה שבע׳׳פ וכמאה׳׳כ כתבם על לוח לבך
...דהת׳׳ח הוי בבחי׳ עצם הקדושה ומש׳׳ה אמרו כל המקבל עליו עול תורה פורקין ממו עול ד׳׳א דמיד שקיבל עליו עול תורה נתקדש גופו בשדושת התורה רק זהו בלומד תורה לשמה...
8. Responsa Beit Ha-Levi, Introduction
“The reason for this is that the Talmid Ḥakham is not considered the vessel of holiness but in the essence of holiness, as it can be explained from Oraḥ Ḥayim, 43 (not there!) that the parchment upon which the Sefer Torah is written is not a vessel of holiness but the essence of holiness, similarly, the body of the Talmid Ḥakham becomes the parchment of the Oral Torah, as it is written, “write them upon the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3)….
…the Talmid Ḥakham is considered under the aspect of the essence of holiness, therefore it is said that anyone who accepts upon themselves the yoke of Torah they also divest themselves of the yoke of other things (ד׳׳א) for as soon as he accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, his body is sanctified in the holiness of Torah; this is only the case with one who learns Torah for its own sake…
R' Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl [1730-1787] (trans. A. Green)
But we humans are dressed in physical, bodily form. How could these divine qualities be awakened in such as us? How could we be aroused to love our blessed Creator in a truly pure way? Or to stand in awe of God, or any of the rest? Our physical nature would not allow us to awaken to such spiritual ways. That is why Y-H-W-H brought His qualities down into physical form, including the love of worldly pleasures or our fear of outward things, punishments, or just the way we humans are afraid of one another. [The divine middot descended] rung after rung, each following the one before it, until they too came to be present in the lowliest matters. All this was so that the physical self, longing to fulfill its pleasures, would be awakened by the love it found in such places. Then awareness and faith would remind us that this is the sublime love of our blessed Creator, measured and contracted until it could enter worldly matter, so that we might be able to grab hold of it.[1] This should make us tremble, holding fast to the love aroused in us, using it to love God in a powerful way. Such love will keep growing, turning ever more toward pleasure of the spirit. “One who seeks to become pure is given help.”[2] Once the quality itself has been awakened, [its uplifting] becomes easier. Understand this.
[1] Although he seeks to explain the entirety of the ten sefirot and their embodiment within the physical world, his attention turns immediately to love, giving him a chance to restate his frequent message that all love is derived from the love of God, and that even the most “fallen” of loves exists within us as a potential stimulus to love at its highest.
[2] B. Yoma 38b.
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Midrash Tanḥuma [states]: “Great is peace, because the prayer-service [i.e., the ‘Amidah] concludes with [the word] ‘peace’; Torah is called ‘peace,’ as in All her paths are peace (Prov. 3:17); and a person returning from the way is greeted also with [the word] shalom, ‘peace.’”[1]
To understand this, we begin with the following verse: Behold I send you My prophet Elijah before the coming of God’s great and awesome day (Mal. 3:23). Send (sholeaḥ) is in the present tense, meaning that even now [God is sending Elijah]. It does not say: “I will send.”[2]
All the desire of God’s servant Israel is for their Father in heaven. This comes about through Elijah, the herald of all that is whole, such as Torah and prayer, in which thought and speech are fully united. But before reaching this, you need great passion and longing. It is Elijah who first arouses this passion and then plays the role of [bringing] messiah.
Surely in every proper prayer, one that unifies thought and speech, some restorative step toward messiah is taken. When our righteous redeemer comes (speedily, in our day!), this unity will be both whole and constant. All the thoughts and letters that together constitute speech will be uplifted.
But the same thing happens in every person’s prayer and study. This is the secret of upbuilding the form of the messiah.[3] Thus taught the BeSHṬ: Every one of Israel needs to restore that part of the messiah’s form that belongs to that person’s soul. The word ADaM (“person”) consists of the letters Alef, Dalet, Mem, standing for Adam, David, and Messiah. The form of Adam, we are told, extended from one end of earth to the other;[4] all the souls of Israel were included within Adam.[5] Only after sin was his form diminished. So too messiah will be of such a full structure, containing all the 600,000 souls of Israel, just like Adam before the sin.[6]
Thus every one of Israel has to prepare the part of messiah belonging to his particular soul. Then the complete form [of humanity] will be restored and set right forever, may this come soon. This will come about by the union of thought and speech, thought being the enlivening soul of speech. That is why prayer without inner direction is compared to a body without a soul…This [true prayer] cannot take place absent the passion aroused by Elijah the herald. This is called “messiah,” related to the word maShiaḤ, meaning speech, and it is thought that brings one to speak (meSiaḤ), activating the letters. Thus whenever thought and speech are united, messiah is restored.[7] But this is not yet constant, as it will be when messiah actually comes. Before the arrival of such wholeness, there will need to be a heralding by Elijah, to awaken the passion of Israel.
Elijah arouses all this passion because Phineas is Elijah.[8] He inherited [i.e. absorbed] the souls of [his uncles] Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron. The reason they died was the great and fiery intensity of their worship of our blessed Creator. Because they so cleaved to the pure, shining light, because their passion was so strong, their souls departed from their bodies. This is the meaning of A fire came forth from before Y-H-W-H and consumed them and they died before Y-H-W-H (Lev. 10:2). They drew so very near, with such intensity, that a fire came forth from their being so very directly before Y-H-W-H. It was their drawing so close [to God] in fiery passion that consumed them. Their souls just cleaved to the pure light. Afterwards Phineas, who is Elijah, inherited those souls. That is why he is ever in a state of unity and passion; the great unification will take place through him. The letters of Elijah (eLiYaHu) are el YeHU, referring to the joining of the final heh to YeHU.[9] All the passions of Israel, referred to as “feminine waters,” represent this union of speech [= final heh] with thought. This takes place through those souls who marshal their passion for the service of Y-H-W-H, for total unity. The ana (“Please!”) in the verse Please (ana) O Y-H-W-H save us (Ps. 118:25) is an abbreviation for Elijah-Nadav-Avihu,[10] since this passionate raising of waters from below always takes place through them.[11] This is shalom, meaning complete unity. Without it, we are like “servants who serve their master for the sake of reward.”[12] Peras (“reward”) can also refer to a broken-off piece; a half, not a whole…
The main thing is to become a servant of Y-H-W-H. Speak the words of Torah or prayer with powerful passion and great attachment. Decide firmly and joyously in your mind that your soul so cleave to these words that it might even pass out of your body, as did the souls of Nadav and Avihu. Even though the Talmud offers opinions regarding the reason for their death,[13] the truth is as we have stated it, although that which is said in the Talmud is also true. Were it not for those matters mentioned in the Talmud, God would have guarded them so that their souls would not have actually departed. It was those factors mentioned that caused this [actual death]. But their devotion was truly high in perfection.[14]
Any place where there is such unity is called peace, because of the wholeness (shalom/shelemut). Torah and prayer are both peace; that is why the tefillah (the ‘Amidah prayer) concludes with a blessing of peace, since it unifies thought and speech. That is the union of heh (= five), the five parts of speech,[15] with Y-H-W, representing thought. All this takes place through Elijah (or el yehu) the herald, which is the prior [arousal of] passion. This is why a person returning from the way is greeted with “shalom.” The holy Zohar says that a person on a journey is joined in a holy coupling (i.e. linked to shekhinah), also represented by this union with the heh.[16] Understand this.
[1] Tanḥ. Pinḥas 1.
[2] The original meaning is that every passing day is one that anticipates the coming of the eschaton. This interpretation echoes the dialogue of Elijah and R. Yehoshu‘a ben Levi in B. Sanh 98a, where Elijah’s arrival each day is potential, depending on whether you listen to His voice (Ps. 95:7). Here he actually does arrive each day, a reality to which we need to become attuned.
[3] The work of building up messiah’s form, a parallel to what is more often called constructing the form of shekhinah (binyan qomat ha-shekhinah) goes on throughout the generations. Messiah comes to herald and effect its completion. While this language does appear several times in the Me’or ‘Eynayim (see above Shemot #3, n. 48), it becomes a dominant theme in Or ha-Me’ir, by Menahem Naḥum’s Mezritch school colleague R. Ze’ev Wolf of Zhitomir.
[4] B. Ḥag. 12a.
[5] Notice how easily he slips back and forth from the universalism of Adam “extending from one end of the world to the other” to the exclusivism of his having contained “all the souls of Israel.” This inconsistency is already found in the kabbalistic sources that preceded Hasidism.
[6] See above Bereshit, n. 206.
[7] Beyond the play on the word between mashiaḥ (“messiah”) mesiaḥ (“speaking”), it is not clear why messiah is specifically connected to the joining of thought and speech, although restoring the wholeness of the spoken word is clearly an important theme to our author. We might think of him as saying that personal integrity, the honest outward expression of what is in one's mind, is always a step toward redemption.
[8] According to kabbalistic sources, Elijah’s soul was a reincarnation of that of Phineas. See, e.g., Zohar 2:190a.
[9] In Hebrew, Elijah's name consists of the first three letters of the Divine name, Y-H-W. Our author is referring to the heh, or the fourth letter of the Divine name, being added.
[10] I.e., the word ana is comprised of the first letters of these three names.
[11] Vital, Liqquṭey Torah to Ps. 118.
[12] M. Avot 1:3.
[13] Cf. ‘Eruv. 63a.
[14] This highly positive evaluation of Nadav and Avihu follows a tradition that is rooted in the Zohar. See above Aḥarey Mot, n. 12 and the Mayse article cited there. The point is that the intensity of their devotion, though flawed, is never lost. Because their lives were cut short, their passion was carried over into their reincarnation as both Phineas and Elijah.
[15] See above, n. 12.
[16] Zohar 1:50b.
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(א) ה וְיֵשׁ שְׁנֵי בְּחִינוֹת בְּרִית: בְּחִינוֹת אַבְרָהָם, וּבְחִינוֹת אֱלִיעֶזֶר.
(ב) אַבְרָהָם הוּא בְּרִית עִלָּאָה, שֶׁהוּא רָקִיעַ הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין מַיִּין עִלָּאִין לְמַיִּין תַּתָּאִין. וְהוּא בְּחִינוֹת בֶּן חוֹרִין, בִּבְחִינוֹת (קהלת י׳:י״ז): אַשְׁרַיִךְ אֶרֶץ שֶׁמַּלְכֵּךְ בֶּן חוֹרִין. וְהוּא עָבֵד תּוֹלָדִין, בִּבְחִינוֹת (בראשית י״ב:ה׳): וְאֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן. כִּי הַחֵרוּת תְּלוּיָה בַּבְּרִית, בִּבְחִינוֹת (זכריה ט׳:י״א): בְּדַם בְּרִיתֵךְ שִׁלַּחְתִּי אֲסִירַיִךְ מִבּוֹר.
(ג) וֶאֱלִיעֶזֶר הוּא בְּרִית תַּתָּאָה. בִּבְחִינוֹת (שמות כ״ג:כ״א): כִּי שְׁמִי בְּקִרְבּוֹ, שְׁמוֹ כְּשֵׁם רַבּוֹ, שֶׁהוּא חַנוֹךְ, מט"ט. בְּחִינוֹת (בראשית י״ד:י״ד): וַיָּרֶק אֶת חֲנִיכָיו, בְּחִינוֹת (משלי כ״ב:ו׳): חֲנוֹךְ לַנַּעַר, בְּחִינוֹת (קהלת שם): אִי לָךְ אֶרֶץ שֶׁמַּלְכֵּךְ נָעַר. וְהוּא תַּחַת בְּרִית עִלָּאָה, בִּבְחִינוֹת (בראשית כ״ד:ב׳): שִׂים נָא יָדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי. וְהוּא רָקִיעַ הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין מַיִּין דָּכְיָן לְמַיִּין מְסָאֳבִין, בֵּין אִסּוּר וְהֶתֵּר, וּבֵין כָּשֵׁר וּפָסוּל, וּבֵין טָמֵא וְטָהוֹר. וְזֶהוּ בְּחִינוֹת: חֲנוֹךְ לַנַּעַר עַל פִּי דַּרְכּוֹ, עַל פִּי דַּיְקָא, הַיְנוּ תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל־פֶּה:
(ד) וּבְרִית עִלָּאָה הוּא שְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית קֹדֶשׁ, וּבְרִית תַּתָּאָה, הוּא שְׁמִירַת אִסּוּר וְהֶתֵּר וְכוּ', וְצָרִיךְ לָאָדָם לִהְיוֹת לוֹ אֵלּוּ שְׁנֵי בְּחִינוֹת בְּרִית, הַיְנוּ שֶׁיְּהֵא צַדִּיק וְלַמְדָן, כִּי לֹא עַם הָאָרֶץ חָסִיד (אבות פ"ב). צַדִּיק נִקְרָא עַל יְדֵי שְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית קֹדֶשׁ. וְלַמְדָן – עַל־יְדֵי אִסּוּר וְהֶתֵּר:
R' Nahman of Breslev [1772-1810]
(1) 5. Now, there are two levels of Covenant: the aspect of Avraham and the aspect of Eliezer.
(2) Avraham is the upper Covenant, the heaven that separates between the upper waters and the lower waters. He is the aspect of a ben ChoRiN (a free man), as in (Ecclesiastes 10:17), “Happy are you, O land, when your king is a free man.” And he produces offspring, as in (Genesis 12:5), “the souls which they made in ChaRaN.” This is because freedom is dependent upon the Covenant, as in (Zechariah 9:11), “Because of the blood of your brit I set free your prisoners from the pit.”
(3) And Eliezer is the lower Covenant. This is as in (Exodus 23:21), “for My name is in him”—his name is the same as his Master’s. He is ChaNoKh, Metat, corresponding to: “he called out his ChaNiKhav (trained servants)” (Genesis 14:14) ; “ChaNoKh (educate) the youth” (Proverbs 22:6) ; “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a youth” (Ecclesiastes 10:16). He is under the upper Covenant, as in (Genesis 24:2), “Please place your hand under my thigh.” And he is the heaven which separates between clear waters and sullied waters, between forbidden and permitted, between kosher and unkosher, and between impure and pure. This is the meaning of, “Educate the youth al pi (in line with) his way.” Specifically “AL Pi”—i.e., Torah sh’b’AL Peh (the Oral Law).
(4) And, the upper Covenant is guarding the brit, while the lower Covenant is keeping [the laws of] forbidden and permitted, etc. A person has to possess both these levels of Covenant, that is, he has to be both a tzaddik and a scholar. For an unlearned person cannot be a saint (Avot 2:5). He is called a tzaddik through guarding the holy brit, and a scholar through the forbidden and permitted.
(ב) וְכֵן שְׁלֹמֹה הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁנָּשָׂא בַּת פַּרְעֹה וְנָשִׁים נָכְרִיּוֹת רַבּוֹת, בְּוַדַּאי לֹא יַעֲלֶה עַל הַדַּעַת, שֶׁהָיָה מֵהַיֵּצֶר הָרָע הַגַּשְׁמִי, כִּי הָיָה חֲכַם אֱמֶת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (מלכים־א ה): וַיֶּחְכַּם מִכָּל הָאָדָם וְכוּ'. וּכְבָר מֻנָּח כְּלָל בְּיָדֵינוּ, שֶׁמִּי שֶׁהוּא חֲכַם אֱמֶת קְצָת, אֵינוֹ נֶחֱשָׁב אֶצְלוֹ זֹאת הַתַּאֲוָה לְשׁוּם נִסָּיוֹן. אֲפִלּוּ אִם תִּתְבַּע אוֹתוֹ אִשָּׁה יָפָה בִּמְקוֹם סֵתֶר, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בְּיָדוֹ לְמַלֹּאת הַתַּאֲוָה, הוּא אֶצְלוֹ רַק שְׁטוּת וְשִׁגָּעוֹן,
(ג) וְאֵינוֹ נֶחְשָׁב לוֹ לְנִסָּיוֹן כְּלָל. וּמַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁבַח יוֹסֵף הַצַּדִּיק שֶׁעָמַד בְּנִסָּיוֹן, יֵשׁ בָּזֶה סוֹד. וְעִקַּר הַנִּסָּיוֹן בַּבְּחִינָה הַנַּ"ל, בִּבְחִינַת הַמְתָּקַת הַגְּבוּרוֹת, לְנַצֵּחַ הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע שֶׁל מַעְלָה. אֲבָל לֹא לְנַצֵּחַ הַיֵּצֶר הָרָע הַגַּשְׁמִי, שֶׁזֶּה אֵינוֹ נִסָּיוֹן כְּלָל. וְכֵן מַה שֶּׁפָּגַם שְׁלֹמֹה, לֹא הָיָה רַק בַּבְּחִינָה זוֹ כַּנַּ"ל: וְעַל כֵּן מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ עָלָיו דִּינִים, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, וְיֵשׁ לוֹ אֵיזֶה צָרָה, רַחֲמָנָא לִצְלָן,
(2) The same is true of King Shlomo, of blessed memory, who married the daughter of Pharaoh and many other non-Jewish women. It is certainly inconceivable that this was the work of the vulgar evil inclination, since he was genuinely wise, as it is written (1 Kings 5:11), “For he was wiser than all men.” And we have already established the rule that for someone with but a minimum of genuine wisdom, this temptation is not considered a test at all. Even if a beautiful woman propositions him in a secluded place, so that he has the ability to satisfy the desire, he regards this as but foolishness and madness. He does not consider it a test at all.
(3) As for that which is said in the Torah in praise of Yosef the Tzaddik for having withstood the test, this involves a mystery. For the essential test is in the abovementioned aspect of mitigating the severities, in order to defeat the evil inclination of on high. It is not in order to defeat the vulgar evil inclination, which is not a test at all. Similarly, Shlomo’s blemish was in this aspect alone, as explained above.
עטר מיינר ’להתעורר׳
מי אני אנ׳לא יודע
מי עשיר ומי שמח
בעולם הזה אורח
לפעמים אני שוכח
שהגוף הזה לרגע
והנשמה לנצח
אפשר לרפא את הפצע
אני משחרר את המתח
כל החרא שעברתי
תולה כמו מדליה
כל הפחד שנשאר בי
אני שם אותו על אבא
כל מי שאהבתי
אני אוהב אותו עדיין
מרים את הידיים, עוצם את העיניים
[פזמון]
רוצה להתעורר בן אדם אחר
בעולם אחר יפה יותר, יפה יותר
רוצה להתעורר בן אדם אחר
בעולם אחר יפה יותר, יפה יותר
[בית 2]
שרפתי ת'חיים על פחדים
שרפתי קשרים כמו גשרים
שרפתי כמה טון של עלים
כי יש לי חלומות אלימים
כמה וכמה פנים ואויב שנמצא בפנים
והכל זה רק עניין של זמן
משנה את עצמו, משנה את העולם
העיקר לא לפחד, העיקר זה לא לפחד
'העיקר לבטוח בה', העיקר לבטוח בה
העיקר ללכת עם הלב
העיקר לרצות להתעורר
העיקר לרצות להתעורר
[פזמון]
רוצה להתעורר בן אדם אחר
בעולם אחר יפה יותר, יפה יותר
רוצה להתעורר בן אדם אחר
בעולם אחר יפה יותר, יפה יותר
אני רוצה להתעורר
Atar Mayner "Le-Hit'orer" To Awaken
Who am I? I don't know
Who is rich and is joyful:
A guest in this world
Sometimes I forget
that this body is only for a second
and the soul is for eternity
can heal the wound
I released the tension
All the shit I've sinned
Hangs on me like a medal
All the fear that's left in me
I put it all on abba
anyone that's loved me
I love you still
Raising the hands, Closing the eyes...
I want to awake, a new person
in a new world, more beautiful, more beautiful
I want to awake, a new person
in a new world, more beautiful, more beautiful
I've burned up life on fears
I've burned connections like bridges
I've burned up a ton of pages
because I have terrible dreams
Just how many friends and foes will I face
It's all just a matter of time
Change yourself, Change the world
The key is not to be afraid,
The key is not to be afraid
The key is to trust in Hashem
The key is to trust in Hashem
The key is to go with the heart
The key is to want to be awoken
The key is to want to be awoken