The Eye Within:

 

An Encounter with the Teachings of the Avritcher Rebbe,

Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber Zts”l of Avritch and Tsfat

 

(from the book, Bat Ayin)

 

Translation and reflections by Jonathan Glass. This is a work in progress and hopefully, prayerfully a labor of love. Hashem! Please grant that it be in some measure faithful to the awesome, ego-free holiness of the original. Comments are welcome. Email. [email protected]

 

For the Slonimer Rebbe’s Netivot Shalom vol. 1 see Pathways of Equanimity. For more about the Avritcher Rebbe see Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber of Avritch

 

This work is dedicated to my mother of blessed memory, Pesya daughter of R. Yitzchak Leib, son of R. Zeev Yekutiel, son of R. Mordechai, son of R. Yisrael Leib, son of R. Moshe Ephraim, son of R.Yisrael Leib, brother of Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber, the Rebbe of Avritch Zts”l. May all learning that stems from it bring merit to her neshama.

 

Sukkot

 

You shall take for yourselves on the first day…[1] The sages comment on this: “Is it in fact the first day? Is it not the fifteenth day (of the month)? Rather it is the first regarding the reckoning of transgressions.”[2] We can explain this as follows. The People of Israel fully accepted the yoke of Heaven upon themselves on Rosh Hashana. They would recite the phrase “Holy King” and “King of Judgment.” The nations of the world, however, did not accept the yoke of Heaven upon themselves over Rosh Hashana and it is the task of the People of Israel to bring the glory of God’s kingdom to all of creation, even to the nations of the world. The offering of the seventy bulls on the festival of Sukkot is in order that the influx of God’s kingdom flows to all of the seventy nations. This is alluded to in the verse, You shall take for yourselves. The word for yourselves (lachem) contains the same letters as the word “melech” which means “king.” This means that you should accept the yoke of Heaven upon yourselves on the first day. This question of the sages—“Is it in fact the first day? Is it not the fifteenth day?”—should be understood thus: Is it the first day of accepting the yoke of Heaven? Is it not the fifteenth day following Rosh Hashana when the People of Israel accepted the yoke of Heaven upon themselves? The answer of the sages is that regarding the People of Israel it is the fifteenth day but regarding the nations of the world it is the first day since they did not accept the yoke of Heaven upon themselves on Rosh Hashana. The meaning of the phrase “regarding the reckoning of transgressions” is that it refers to the nations of the world for regarding Israel the Blessed Holy One does not regard their transgressions because of His great love for them. This then is the meaning of You shall take for yourselves (lachem) on the first day…: You shall take the aspect of divine kingship on the first day and bring its influx to all the seventy nations. Then Hashem will be King over all the earth.[3] May it happen speedily in our days Amen.

 

 

 

 

Reflections

 

Divine influx, the consciousness and intensity of awareness of divine sovereignty flows into the world through the spiritual leaders of Israel to the People of Israel to the nations of the world to all of creation. The verse which speaks of taking the four species on the first day alludes to bringing the awareness of divine sovereignty to all of creation. It is called the first day because this awareness is new for the nations of the world—it is a “first”—for they did not experience it on Rosh Hashana.

 

Interestingly, the idea of bringing divine awareness to creation is expressed as taking for yourselves. When one takes the four species for oneself and infuses one’s being with the awareness of the Divine one actually becomes a “no-self.” When one brings the awareness of the Divine to places that lie beyond one’s habitual limits—that is a true taking for oneself. What you have is what you give.

 

 

Bereishit 1.

 

In the beginning of God’s creating…the earth was unformed and void…God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light…[4] We need to explain the two kinds of light referred to in these verses. We also need to explain the connection between the end of the Torah and its beginning and the significance of the Torah ending with the letter “lamed” and beginning with the letter “beit.” These spell out the word “lev,” meaning “heart.”

 

The world was created for the sake of Israel and for the sake of awe. Both of these are referred to as “beginnings” (reishit).[5] The intention is that the People of Israel should constantly hold close to Hashem and be in a state of great awe. They should cultivate fear and awe through contemplating the Blessed One’s greatness. This is a high and precious spiritual state.

 

Nevertheless, the living beings run forth and return.[6] It is impossible for a person to remain in such a high spiritual state. Occasionally he will fall. The light of his heart will become shrouded over and he will not experience the same awe of Hashem. When one experiences such a state he will be ashamed of his distance; it will break his heart and will cause him to humble and subdue himself before Hashem. This is signified by the broken tablets and this is why the broken tablets were also placed inside the ark.

 

This is the meaning of the verse, that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.[7] Rashi explains that the verse refers to Moses smashing the tablets and the fact that God approved of this and said, that you broke[8] --meaning “you did well to break them!”[9] The verse alludes to the following idea: “Moses” symbolizes the awareness of the Jewish people. His breaking of the tablets alludes to his breaking the heart (lev) for the first and last letters of the Torah spell the word “heart” (lev). The Blessed Creator desired this when He created the world. The first verse of the Torah alludes to these two states mentioned above. In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth. The heavens alludes to a state of elevated spiritual awareness; the earth alludes to a state of lowly material existence. The Torah continues—the earth was unformed and void…which is interpreted as “confounded by its confusion.”[10] This refers to a state of a broken heart over the fact that so little spiritual light permeates one’s worldly existence. Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.[11] This means that from that very state of confusion and material existence a great light emanated. It was evening and it was morning—a single day.[12] This means that both of these states became joined in great holiness through submission and great humility. The numerical value of “day” and “night” (yom, layla) is equal to that of “humility” (anava). Through great humility the right and the left sides merge into one—a single day.

 

 

Reflections

 

The human is designed and charged with the supremely happy task of knowing God. Yet from the outset his creation involves the heavens and the earth—a never-ending dance of running and returning. Serving God while in a state of running—a state of high spiritual awareness –is quite natural. The question is how to find meaning in the state of the earth—the lowly states that we all experience. Where is God in that? What do you do when you cannot perceive God’s light?

 

The answer to this is the realization that the distance itself can bring about longing and a certain humility—a broken heart. God’s light is accessed through this longing and humility just as it is accessed through a state of high spiritual awareness. Knowing this and integrating it into one’s life is the key to wholeness. The Torah begins with the creation of the heavens and the earth but immediately turns to and focuses on the earth. This is because of the importance of knowing what to do about the state of spiritual distance. Will it suck you down, drive you away, cause you to lose hope or cause you to subscribe to a more “worldly” reality? The Rebbe tells us that the earth is part of the dance for it can break our heart and give us humility. In our humility we are with God. One who dances with God always—whether near or far, whether in clarity or in fog—joins the heavens with the earth and lives a life of a single day—a life that transcends the dualism of all existence.

 

Bereishit 2.

 

In the beginning of God’s (Elohim) creating…[13] Rashi comments: “Originally He thought of creating it with the attribute of severity. He saw that the world would not endure so He preceded it with the attribute of compassion. This is indicated by the verse, In the day that Hashem Elohim made…”[14],[15] We can explain this in the way of Mussar. It is known that the Blessed Holy One contracted His light in order to create worlds. First He contracted His light and created the upper world with the letter “yud”. After this He further contracted His light until He created this material world with the letter “heh”. The shape of the letter “heh” alludes to human freedom of choice: the letter is open underneath signifying that people are free to leave; the letter also has a higher opening which signifies the possibility of spiritual return (teshuva) and the fact that the Blessed Holy One accepts those who return to a life of holiness. This is explained by our sages.[16] The upper world, however, is one of supernal holiness and there is no teshuva there for the Blessed Holy One is exacting with the righteous and with the angels to the point of a hair’s breadth.[17] The greater the holiness, the more stringent is the treatment. To the extent that there is less holiness—due to the contraction of divine light—there is greater compassion and possibility of teshuva. It is for this reason that the World to Come—the world of the angels—has no aspect of teshuva whereas this world is one of compassion and teshuva. This is the meaning of the statement of the sages quoted by Rashi: Originally, at the beginning of God’s contracting His light, He created the upper world—a place of great severity due to its supernal holiness. Later, when He wished to create this world—in which the divine light is very hidden—He used the attribute of compassion, which is also the aspect of teshuva.

 

This idea is alluded to in the words, the heavens and the earth (et hashamayim v’et ha-aretz).[18] The heavens refers to the higher world; the earth refers to the lower world. The letter “vav” is added to the word the earth to signify that it is created through God’s compassion as we will explain. The letter “vav” alludes to a year for it may be spelled either “vav vav,” in which case its numerical value is twelve, or “vav aleph vav” in which case its numerical value is thirteen. These correspond to a regular year of twelve months and to a leap year of thirteen months, which in turn correspond to the twelve or thirteen attributes of compassion.[19] There is more divine compassion in a leap year as signified by the addition of the letter “aleph” between the two “vav” letters for supernal holiness is drawn down from the upper world.[20]

 

The same is true within this world. There are many different levels of holiness in days and places. The holier a day or a place is, the more stringent are the rules concerning it. Shabbat is the holiest day and the source of holiness for all the days of the week. It is also a day with very exacting regulations. The letters of the word, in the beginning (bereishit) can also spell “awe of Shabbat.”[21] Concerning places, all the lands receive their holiness from the Land of Israel, the Land of Israel from Jerusalem, Jerusalem from the Temple, and the Temple from the Holy of Holies. The greater the level of holiness of a place, the stricter its regulations.

 

Moses yearned to enter the Land of Israel—and unto the very Holy of Holies—for he wished to draw down that luminous holiness upon Israel. This is the meaning of the verse, Moses ascended from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the height of the summit…He died there…[22] Moses ascended to the highest spiritual levels in order to draw down supernal awe and holiness upon Israel. He held close to the supernal holiness of the Land of Israel that Blessed Hashem showed him until he “died with a kiss”[23] and even in death his eye saw. This is the explanation of Rashi’s comment on the words, his eye did not weaken—“even after he died.”[24] Moses did not die but was absorbed in a state of supernal holiness and he drew down holiness and supernal awe upon all Israel. This is the meaning of the verse, Moses, servant of Hashem, died in the land of Moab by the mouth of Hashem.[25] The numerical value for the words by the mouth of Hashem is the same for that of “awe.” Though Moses was in the land of Moab he drew down a level of awe upon Israel through his gazing at the Land of Israel.

 

This is the connection of the last verse of the Torah—for all the great awe that Moses rendered in the eyes of all Israel with the first verse—In the beginning of God’s creating… Moses drew down great awe from the upper worlds for all Israel. He drew it down into their heart (lev)—an idea alluded to by the first and last letters of the Torah (lamed, beit). Their heart became purified and they experienced beginning and “the awe of Shabbat.”[26] This is the joining of the upper world to the lower world, the joining of heaven and earth, the joining of the letter “yud” to the letter “heh.” This is the “desire to sing” (shir ta-ev) which is also formed by the letters of the word “Bereishit.”[27] This is the Song of Songs of Solomon,[28] the song that is holier than all other songs,[29] the song that signifies the completion (shleimut) of the building of the Temple. The numerical value of the word in the beginning (Bereishit) equals that of the words of Solomon (asher lishlomo) plus seven, which signifies Shabbat. The most complete revelation of holiness and light comes through Shabbat. Concerning Shabbat the verse states, You shall delight in Hashem (al Hashem).[30] This refers to a level that precedes divine thought. The verse continues, He shall give you the desires of your heart. Through drawing down the holiness of Shabbat the desires of a pure heart are fulfilled—to truly serve Him, Amen, May it be His will.

 

Reflections

 

Far from perfection compassion is great,

But truth blazes stark, unforgiving reality,

Perfection is here,

Punctuating time and space,

Shabbat, the land of Israel,

Immoveable sources of life,

More real than experience,

And though he wasn’t there,

Moses saw the land for what it is,

Sees still now with an undimmed eye,

Beyond life and death,

And bids that we see,

Encounter the eye within,

And sing the song that cuts through,

Joining first to last, seamless path of eternity,

O my heart, will you be purified,

And begin?

 

Bereishit 3.

 

God created…in the image of God He created him; He made them male and female.[31] We need to understand why the human is referred to with a singular pronoun (him) at the beginning of the verse and a plural pronoun (them) at the end of the verse. The sages relate that the main reason for the world’s creation is that the Blessed Holy One is called merciful and gracious;[32] He relates to the world through His thirteen attributes of mercy. These thirteen attributes, however, are drawn down from below as the sages say, “Hold close to His attributes: Just as He is compassionate, so too should you be compassionate.”[33] Hence “whoever is compassionate with beings is treated compassionately from Heaven.”[34] It is the human act of compassion below that arouses divine compassion. This is also true regarding other attributes; a person’s behavior arouses a similar attribute on High. This is because Jacob is the rope of His inheritance.[35] This is enough for those who understand.

 

There are, however, two levels of holding close to the Blessed One’s attributes. The first level is that of the person who serves with love and delight. He despises worldly vanities and dedicates his entire being in his service. He guards his mouth from consuming food that has even the slightest doubt of something prohibited and from speaking any words that are not dedicated to Hashem such as thoughtless words and certainly slander and gossip, God forbid. All of his speech concerns Hashem’s Torah and the awe of Hashem or it concerns essential bodily needs in which case he still speaks in fear and awe of Hashem. He sanctifies his eyes and prevents them from gazing in any place that is not sanctified for Hashem. He sanctifies his heart and desires no material gain. Certainly he does not desire honor, nor does he have any desire that is not for Hashem. Such a person holds close to Hashem, the Living God, Living Source of all that is found in the universe. When such a person has an opportunity to have compassion, it is automatic and requires no conscious decision, for due to the wholeness of his service he holds close to the Life-source of the object of his compassion. May it be His will that we merit reaching this level! How fortunate this person is! How fortunate his lot!

 

There is a second and lower level. This is the level of one who has not yet been completely cleansed. Such a person is still challenged by his evil inclination but he overcomes it in all matters—in his speech, thought, and deeds—through his service. When such a person has an opportunity to be compassionate he may need to overcome the adversity of his inclination and make a decision in favor of compassion based on the advice of the sages—“whoever is compassionate with beings is treated compassionately from Heaven.”[36]

 

Both of these levels are good; both hold close to the Blessed One’s attributes and draw down an abundance of blessing to the world through the thirteen attributes of mercy. Nevertheless, the higher level is known as male for it is a direct source of influx whereas the lower level is known as female for it a recipient of the influx. These two levels are alluded to in the verse, Let us make the human in our image... The image refers to divine goodness and compassion; this is what the Zohar refers to as “the seal of the King” (gushpanka d’malka). The human needed to be made in this image in order to draw down the thirteen attributes of mercy. The higher level of holding close is referred to as male. Later, when the world was created, the vessels were broken, and good and evil became mixed—with the likelihood of evil predominating—the second level came into being. Concerning this second level the Torah states, He made them—meaning these two levels. This is the meaning of the words, male and female He created them. In the Zohar Rabbi Shimon alludes to the idea that the world can only be sustained through goodness. On the words, the heavens and the earth he comments: “This is the seal of the King which is imprinted on the heavens and the earth.” The allusion is this: the words, the heavens and the earth (et hashamayim v’et ha-aretz) form an acronym (aleph, heh, vav, heh), the numerical value of which is equal to that of “good” (tov).

 

The first set of tablets did not contain the words, so that it will be good for you.[37] Moses smashed them because they lacked this aspect of goodness and Moses saw that the world could not be sustained through them without goodness. The Blessed Holy One agreed with him[38] and gave him a second set of tablets on which He wrote the words, so that it will be good for you. This is the connection between the last verse of the Torah, And for all the great might and awesome power that Moses displayed before all Israel[39]and the first verse, In the beginning of God’s creating…[40]

Moses our teacher—peace be upon him—smashed the first set of tablets for the sake of the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth. The world was created with the “seal of the King,” the goodness alluded to in the words, the heavens and the earth, as mentioned above. Moses smashed the first set of tablets because they lacked this aspect of goodness. The word, in the beginning (Bereishit) itself indicates the quality of compassion for the word has the minor numerical value of thirteen[41], which alludes to the thirteen inflowing paths of compassion (mechilin d’rachamei). Moses’ smashing the tablets sweetened two-hundred and eighty judgments and prevented them from falling upon Israel. This is alluded to in the words, which Moses did in the eyes of all Israel, the numerical value of which is two-hundred and eighty.

 

The verse further alludes to the way in which Moses accomplished this sweetening. He repaired Israel and sanctified their eyes and hearts so that they would be directed to Hashem alone. The sages comment: “The eye sees and the heart desires…”[42] These are the “two agents of sin”[43] and a person is required to repair them. The last verse of the Torah mentions the eyes, and the last letter of the Torah (lamed), together with the first letter of the Torah (beit) form the word “heart” (lev). One needs to have a “good eye and a lowly spirit”[44]—that is, a good eye and a lowly heart. The last two letters of the Torah also form the divine name “El,” the name that indicates kindness and it was through kindness that the creation process begins—In the beginning God created…—as the author of Emek Ha-melech writes.

 

Reflections

 

Moses smashes these tablets that lack the flow of goodness necessary for the world’s sustenance. And that itself is an act of compassion that arouses compassion on High. God is not a static compassion dispenser but is in some way joined with us to bring forth compassion as we bring it forth ourselves, at first through struggle and then, perhaps without even being aware of it. Moses’ smashing the tablets is a rejection of a system that does not allow the divine flow to enter the world—does not allow for the world to exist! It is a smashing motivated by compassion and hence it arouses compassion on High. Who can live with a hermetically sealed doctrine of formalized legalism, eyes without light, a heart of stone? Yet these spots of darkness are part of life, they are opportunities, and when a discerning Moses breaks them compassion becomes possible.

 

Bereishit 4.

 

A river goes forth from Eden to water the garden. From there it divides and becomes four branches.[45] We can explain the hint of this passage. First we will preface that the holy Torah’s end is rooted in its beginning. The end of the Torah –that Moses did in the eyes of all Israel[46] –refers to Moses being prompted to smash the tablets before their eyes.[47] At first glance it is difficult to understand why Moses would destroy the writing of God[48] before their eyes. Certainly he had a specific intention in doing this but the act itself is difficult to understand.

 

There are two kinds of service. One is a service of the Blessed Creator through Torah, mitzvot, and acts of goodness in which a person never strays at all from the path of Torah. The second type of service is one in which a person performs an act that is not in accordance with the Torah but is nonetheless necessary at that time. In such an instance the person has no intent to benefit from his act in any way. An example of this manner of service is Elijah on Mount Carmel.[49] One may not rely on oneself to serve in this manner even if one’s intentions are for the sake of Heaven since the deed itself is an adverse one. Only one who exists in a state of constant and unremitting awe of Hashem, one who is punctilious in his performance of Hashem’s will to the point of a hair’s breadth—such a person may, on occasion, enter into this kind of service. One who follows the path of Torah without ever deviating represents the quality of kindness (chesed). Those activities that deviate from the path of Torah represent the quality of severity (gevurah). When one engages in an activity of the quality of severity but does so in order to carry out Hashem’s will—this is the joining of the two qualities of kindness and severity which is known as integration (daat).

 

When Moses smashed the tablets he embodied this integration of kindness and severity. How was he able to serve Hashem in such a way? The answer is alluded to in the word, In the beginning (Bereishit) for this word’s numerical value is the same as that of the words “awe, first-born, integration” (yareh, bechor, daat). The word “first-born” indicates a state of preceding. The idea here is that awe is prior to integration. The reason why Moses was able to allow himself to smash the tablets is because he had previously attained a state of great and constant awe of Hashem. The word Eden alludes to the state of awe that precedes integration for the word “eden” means “before” as we see in the words, that have not yet (aden) come into being.[50] The word garden (gan) alludes to a kind of service in which the deed itself is despicable but one does it with holy intention. The word “gan” is derived from the word “gnut” meaning “despicable.”

 

This is the meaning of the verse, A river goes forth from Eden to water the garden. From there it divides and becomes four branches.[51] An influx flows when one is in a state of awe. This is the river that flows and waters the garden. When one has awe one is able to serve the Blessed Creator in a way of integration. From there it divides and becomes four branches. This means that when one serves in this manner of integration his service contains four branches. The first is deed, which is connected to severity, and the second is intention, which is connected to kindness. When one attains the level of integrated service through the prior state of awe as mentioned above, he adds another two branches—severity within kindness, and kindness within severity.[52] These are the four branches. May we merit sweetening the judgments with kindness, Amen.

 

 

Reflections

 

The inner life is not reducible to the programmatic. The higher state is when even the promptings and desires of one’s heart are holy and may draw a person into areas that are outside accepted norms. This is obviously a dangerous path to follow for how does one discern between a “higher prompting” and plain old desire, laziness, and jealousy? The answer is that one can only reach the higher state through attaining a true and unwavering awe of Hashem. This awe is what makes the river flow into the garden and bring about a service that is multi-dimensional.

 

 

 

Noach 1.