Radical Compassion: The Spiritual Vision of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of - PDF document

Radical Compassion: The Spiritual Vision of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev (1740-1809) Presentation by Rabbi Or Rose orose@hebrewcollege.edu Kedushat Levi, Pinhas “ Moses spoke to God, saying: ‘Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the community who will go out before them, who will take them out and bring them in, so that the Lord’s community may not be like sheep without a shepherd” (Numbers 27:15-17). The verse instructs us to judge the people of Israel favorably, even if they are unable to do the will of the Creator at all times, as angels do. This is so only because they are so gripped by trying to make a living. That is why Abraham our Father, a man of mercy… gave food to the angels who came to visit him, though he knew that angels do not eat. He did so in order to teach them about human needs, in order that they not judge Israel harshly. And this is why Moses said, “The Lord, the God of the spirit of all flesh.” Because man is flesh and blood he must labor for his livelihood, and therefore, there are times when he does not serve God steadily. This is why Moses said… “The Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh.” Just as you are the God of the spirits of all flesh and you judge them [Israel] favorably, so shall you “appoint a man over the congregation,” a leader of Israel that will also speak favorably of them. Kedushat Levi , Hukat “ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle” (Numbers 20:8). RaSHI and RaMBaN are divided as to the sin of Moses. One says it is that of saying “Listen, O you rebels (20:10),” and the other defines it as striking the rock. But they

really are the same, for one led to the other. There are two sorts of preachers who address Israel to move them to do the Creator’s will: One speaks to them in a positive manner, telling each person what a high rung is his—how the souls of Israel are truly hewn from beneath the Throne of Glory. [He reminds them] of the Creator’s great pleasure in a mitsvah performed by any Jew, how all the worlds are joyous at seeing God’s command fulfilled. This kind of preaching inclines the heart to do God’s bidding and to accept the yoke of God’s kingdom. But other preachers reprove Israel with harsh language, shaming them until they are forced to do God’s will… When Moses said “Listen, O you rebels,” he was reproving Israel with harsh words. That was why he had to strike the rock in order to force it to fulfill its created purpose. Had he uplifted Israel as the blessed Holy One intended by saying “Speak to the rock,” he would have been saying: “You, O rock, who were created for the sake of Israel. They are on such a high rung that you have to do that for which you were created, to bring forth water for Israel.” But now that he had reproved Israel harshly, he needed to strike the rock… “Because you did not have faith in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Children of Israel.” The one who approaches Israel through goodness can pass this understanding on to them, “Sanctifying Me in the eyes” …Our sages (Song of Songs Rabbah 1:23) say that “eyes” refers to the wise within the community. They [the community] too would be able to attain this understanding. Kedushat Levi, Yitro “I am the Lord your God…” (Exodus 20:2) Let us explain this verse in light of the following rabbinic teaching: “At the Sea of Reeds He appeared to them as a youth, and at Mount Sinai He appeared to them as an elder” (Pesikta Rabbati 21:5). The Blessed Holy One veils Himself in the worlds. However, at the Sea of Reeds, where there was no change in nature, He was not garbed in the worlds, and the Children of Israel saw the Divine unclothed. At Mount Sinai, however, the Holy Blessed One dressed Himself such that the worlds could maintain their existence. In the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, clothing is associated with the symbol of hair. That is why at the Sea of Reeds God appeared to them as a young man without facial hair, without any worldly garb. When giving the Torah, God was revealed to them as an elder [ zaken / zakan ] with hair, dressed in this-wordly form… At Sinai… God had to be covered in “garments” so that the Children of Israel would understand the Torah. That is why it is written [in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy]: “You

appeared to them in the cloud of Your glory…”; that is, by limiting and clothing His great light… The liturgist then explains why this [darkness] was necessary by saying, “… upon your holy people to speak to them”; meaning that God spoke to them from within a cloud so that they could understand His holy words. Kedushat Levi, Bereshit “These are the generations ( toldot ) of the heavens and the earth when they were created” (Genesis 2:4). This verse comes to teach us the purpose of the creation of the heavens and the earth, because the word toladah (singular of toldot ) can also mean “purpose.” This is demonstrated in the continuation of the sentence, which reads: … “on the day the Lord, God made the earth and the heavens. This statement points to the future when “earth” will precede “heaven.” This is the purpose of Creation: that the ones above will receive from the ones below. And his is also the meaning of the Psalmistss statement, “God’s glory is upon the earth and the heavens” (Psalm 148:13). That is to say, the Blessed Holy One’s glory emerges when earth precedes heaven, when the upper ones receive from the lower ones. Understand. Kedushat Levi, Noah “ Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his age” (Genesis 6:9). … Let us consider Rashi’s comment that Noah was among those of limited faith. How could this be so, since the Torah itself testifies that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his age? …Now even though Noah was great and blameless tzaddik , he was very small in his own eyes and did not have faith that he was a powerful enough tzaddik with the ability to overturn the decree of the flood. In fact, he thought of himself as being equal to the rest of his generation. He said, “If I am to be saved in the ark, and I am no more righteous than the rest of this generation, they too will be saved.” Therefore, he did notary to save the people of his generation. This is why Rashi taught that Noah was among those of limited faith… Kedushat Levi , Terumah (Translation by Arthur Green) “Like all that I show you – the structure of the tabernacle and the structure of all its vessels – and thus shall you do (25:9).”

RaSHI comments on “and thus shall you do” – for all generations. But the Tosafot object: The altar that Moses made was not equal to that made by Solomon! RaMBaN raises a similar objection. But following our method, we can understand “and thus shall you do” as referring to something else. Really, the structure of the tabernacle and all its vessels that had to be of a certain height, weight, and form were all ways of garbing or giving form to some holy spiritual entity. This followed the prophetic experience that Moses had on Mount Sinai, along with all of Israel. As they drew this holy force into their deeds, so it was. This is the way that the garb or vessel, along with the tabernacle itself, had to be made. But we also know the Talmudic statement (Sanhedrin 89a) that “no two prophets prophecy in the same style.” Each does so in his own categories. These follow the path of that person in worshipping God; in that very way does the spirit of prophecy appear. This means that Moses and the generation of the wilderness, following the qualities of worship and prophecy they attained at Sinai, had to construct this particular form of tabernacle, structuring its vessels in just this way so that they would properly garb the spiritual lights of holiness. This is what Scripture means when it says: “Like all that I show you” – according to your level of prophecy, so should the tabernacle and vessels be. But then it adds “and thus shall you do” – for all generations. This means that in every generation, when you want to build the Temple, the structure should be in accord with the prophecy that is then attained. That should determine the form of Temple and vessels. Solomon did it according to his worship and his prophetic spirit. The form he made followed that which he attained. Thus RaMBaN’s objection can really be dismissed. Of course his altar was different! That was the commandment – that they not do it always in one particular form, but in accord with the flow of prophecy that takes place then. That should determine the form of the earthly vessels.