Shever: Break...Bread On Cosmic Cracks and Human Hearts

God said to Moshe, “Bo el Paroh (Go to Pharaoh), for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might set these signs of Mine in their midst; and that you might recount in the ears of your children and your grandchildren how I have made a mockery of the Egyptians, and of My signs which I have wrought in their midst—that you might know that I am God.” [Moshe and Aharon went to Pharaoh, and they said to him, “Thus says God,] ‘… tomorrow I will bring locusts into your borders.’” (Exodus 10:1-4) God created the world as a consequence of His compassion. For He wanted to reveal His compassion, and if Creation had not taken place, to whom would He have shown His compassion? He therefore created the entire creation, from the inception of Atzilut all the way down to the center point of the corporeal world, in order to display His compassion. Yet when God wanted to create the world, there was no place in which to create it, since there was nothing but Ein Sof (the Infinite One). He therefore contracted the Light to the sides, and through this contraction the Vacated Space was made. Then, within this Vacated Space, all time and space came into existence—this being the creation of the world {as explained at the beginning of Etz Chaim} . This Vacated Space was necessary for the creation of the world, since without the Vacated Space there would have been no place in which to create the world, as explained above. Yet, understanding and comprehending this contraction [that resulted in the formation] of the Vacated Space will be possible only in the Future, since it is necessary to say about it two contradictory things: existence and nonexistence. The Vacated Space is the result of the contraction; that [God], so to speak, withdrew His Godliness from that place. Thus there is, so to speak, no Godliness there. Were it not so, it would not be vacated. There would then be nothing but Ein Sof, with no place whatsoever for the world’s creation. However the actual truth is that, even so, there is surely Godliness there as well. For there is surely nothing without His life-force. This is why it is not at all possible to comprehend the concept of the Vacated Space until the Future. 2. Know, that there are two types of heresy. One is the heresy that stems from secular wisdom. Of this it is said, “And know what to answer the heretic” (Avot 2:14), since this heresy has an answer. This is because it stems from secular wisdom, which stems from extraneous elements, from the aspect of the Shattering of the Vessels. An overload of the Light caused the vessels to break, and this brought into existence the forces of evil, as is known. And secular wisdom stems from there—i.e., from the Shattering of the Vessels, from extraneous elements, the dross of holiness. This is analogous to the human [body], which has a number of types of extraneous elements and waste products, such as nails, hair and sweat, and other extraneous elements and waste products. Similarly, each secular wisdom stems from an extraneous element and known dross of holiness; and magic, too, stems from an extraneous element and known dross. Therefore, although whoever succumbs to this heresy should surely flee and escape from that place, nevertheless, having fallen there it is possible for him to find the way to get free. For he will be able to find God in that place, provided he seeks and searches for Him there. Since the [heresies] stem from the Shattering of the Vessels, there must be some holy sparks and some letters that broke and fell there, as is known. Consequently, he can find Godliness and intellect there in order to answer the questions raised by this heresy that stems from secular wisdom, which [in turn] stems from extraneous elements, from the Shattering of the Vessels. For there is Godly life-force there—i.e., intellect, and letters that broke and fell into that place. This heresy therefore has an answer, and of this it is said, “And know what to answer the heretic.” However, there is another type of heresy. These are pseudo-wisdoms, yet since they are intricate and people cannot comprehend them, they appear to be wisdom. For example, this is comparable to when someone postulates an untrue argument in Talmud and its commentaries. Since there is no learned individual to answer the question that arises from this argument, it therefore seems that he has postulated a superior argument and insight, even though in truth it is not at all [a valid] argument. Likewise, the philosophers have a number of conundrums and questions that in fact have no [basis in] wisdom, and the questions are nullified from the outset, but since the human mind is incapable of answering them they consequently seem to be [based in] wisdom and [to raise legitimate] questions. In truth, it is impossible to answer these questions. This is because the questions [that arise] from this heresy stem from the Vacated Space in which, so to speak, there is no Godliness. There is therefore absolutely no way that one can find an answer for these questions that come from there, from the aspect of the Vacated Space—i.e., [no way to] find God there. For if God were found there as well, it would then not be vacated, and there would have been nothing but Ein Sof, as explained above. Therefore, of this heresy it is said (Proverbs 2:19): “None that go to her yeShUVun (return).” There is absolutely no teShUVah (answer) for this heresy since it stems from the Vacated Space, from which, so to speak, He contracted His Godliness. But through faith, the Jewish people prevail over all the wisdoms and even this heresy that stems from the Vacated Space. This is because they believe in God, without any philosophical enquiry and intellection, but only with perfect faith. For God “fills all worlds and encircles all worlds.” Thus we find that He is, so to speak, within all the worlds and round about all the worlds. Yet there has to be a separation, so to speak, between the filling and the encircling, for if not, then it is all one. That it is not, is due to the aspect of the Vacated Space, from which He contracted His Godliness, so to speak, and within which He created the entire creation. Thus it is that the Vacated Space surrounds the entire world, and God, Who encircles all worlds, encircles the Vacated Space as well. It is therefore relevant to say “He fills all worlds”—i.e., the entire creation that was created within the Vacated Space—and also “He encircles all worlds”—i.e., He encircles also the Vacated Space. In between, the Vacated Space acts as a separation, since [God], so to speak, contracted His Godliness from there. Now, through faith—their believing that God fills all worlds and encircles all worlds, and since He encircles all worlds then also the Vacated Space itself exists by virtue of His wisdom, and in actual truth His Godliness is surely in that place, just that it is impossible to comprehend this and to find God there, as explained above—they accordingly prevail over all the wisdoms, questions and heresies that stem from the Vacated Space. They know that it is surely impossible to find an answer for [these heresies], because if one would find an answer for them—i.e., would find God in them—then there would be no Vacated Space and the creation could not have come into existence. Nevertheless, the actual truth is that there surely is an answer for them, and there certainly is Godliness there. However, as a result of philosophical enquiry they become submerged there, because it is impossible to find God there since it is the aspect of the Vacated Space. Rather, a person must believe that God encircles that as well, and that in truth His Godliness is certainly there as well. This is why the Jews are called IVRiim (Hebrews), because with their faith OVRim (they prevail over) all the wisdoms, and even the pseudo-wisdoms—i.e., the second heresy, which stems from the Vacated Space, as explained above. And therefore God is called “the God of the IVRiim” (Exodus 3:18), from the expression “EiVeR (beyond) the river” (Joshua 24:3), which connotes sides. That is, His Godliness encircles also the Vacated Space, which comes from the contraction whereby He contracted the Light to the sides. And therefore the Jews are called Ivriim, because through their faith—that they believe God is “the God of the Ivriim,” as explained above—they prevail over all the wisdoms and also all that is pseudo-wisdom, namely the second heresy, as explained above. This is why a person must surely be extremely wary of this second heresy; to flee and escape from there without delving or looking into their words at all, because, God forbid, he will surely become submerged there. Of this it is written, “None that go to her return…,” as explained above. 3. But know! if there is a great tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe, he must especially delve into these words of heresy. And even though it is impossible to answer them, as explained above, nevertheless, by his delving into there, he elevates from there a number of souls that fell and became submerged within this heresy. This is because these conundrums and questions [raised] by the heresy that stems from the Vacated Space are the aspect of silence, since there is no intellect or letters to answer them, as explained above. The creation came into existence by means of the spoken word, as it is written (Psalms 33:6) “By the word of God the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth their entire host [was created].” The spoken word contains wisdom, because the whole of speech is but the five articulators of the mouth. Through them all the things of the entire creation came into existence, as it is written (ibid. 104:24), “You created them all with wisdom.” The spoken word is the demarcation of all things. [God] circumscribed His wisdom in the letters, such that certain letters demarcate one thing, while other letters demarcate something else. But there in the Vacated Space—which surrounds all the worlds, and which is, so to speak, vacated of everything, as explained above—there is no spoken word at all, and not even intellect without letters, as explained above. Thus the conundrums that stem from there are in the aspect of silence. This is analogous to what we find of Moshe: When he asked regarding the death of Rabbi Akiva, “Is this the Torah, and is this its reward?” they answered him, “Be silent! Thus has it arisen in thought” (Menachot 29b). That is, you must be silent and not ask for an answer and solution for this question. This is because “thus has it arisen in thought,” which is more exalted than speech. Therefore, you must keep silent regarding this question, because it is in the aspect of “arisen in thought,” where there is no speech to answer it. The same is true of the questions and conundrums that stem from the Vacated Space, where there is no spoken word or intellect, as explained above. They are thus in the aspect of silence; one must simply believe and keep silent there. This is why it is forbidden for anyone other than the tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe to enter and delve into these words of heresy and the conundrums. For Moshe is the aspect of silence, in the aspect that is called “heavy of speech” (Exodus 4:10), the aspect of a silence more exalted than speech. Therefore, the tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe, the aspect of silence, is capable of delving into these perplexing words, which are the aspect of silence, as explained above. He should especially delve into [them], in order to elevate the souls that fell into there, as explained above. 4. Know, too, that dispute is the aspect of Creation. For the world was created mainly by means of the Vacated Space, as explained above. This is because without it there would have been nothing but Ein Sof, with no place for the creation of the world, as explained above. He therefore contracted the Light to the sides, and the Vacated Space was made. Within it He created the entire creation—i.e., time and space—by means of the spoken word, as explained above: “By the word of God the heavens were made….” The same is true of the aspect of dispute. If all the Torah scholars were one, there would be no place for the world’s creation. However, as a result of their dispute and their separating from one another, with each one withdrawing to a different side, the aspect of the Vacated Space is made between them. This is the aspect of the contraction of the Light to the sides, within which the world is created by means of the spoken word, as explained above. This is because whatever each one of them says is only for the sake of creating the world, which they bring about within the Vacated Space that is between them. For the Torah scholars create everything through their words, as it is written (Isaiah 51:16), “and I have declared to Zion: You are ami (My people)”—do not read ami, but imi (“with Me”). Just as I make heaven and earth through My word, so you do the same (Zohar, Introduction, p.4b-5a) .

(34) Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.(35) And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.—

If a poor person asks of you [to give him something], and you do not have anything in your possession to give to him, comfort him with words.¹⁸⁴See Leviticus Rabbah 34:15 as well as Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 9b. It is forbidden to speak harshly to a poor person or to raise your voice in a shout, for his heart is broken and crushed. Thus it says in Scripture, (Psalms 51:19) God, You will not despise a contrite and crushed heart. And it says, (Isaiah 57:15) Reviving the spirits of the lowly, reviving the hearts of the contrite. And woe to anyone who shames a poor person! Woe to him! Rather, let him be like a father to him, in compassion and in words, as it is said, (Job 29:15) I was a father to the needy.