YECHIDAH AND LOVE OF FELLOW JEWS
Love of fellow Jews is one of the most important principles of the Torah. Unfortunately, such love is a difficult task. Thinking about yechidah, the hidden innate virtue each soul harbors, enables this love. Frequently, we are alienated from each other due to judgementalism. We decide that others are sinners or that we are better than they are, and as a result we do not love them. If we would truly internalize the fact that every Jew has a point of yechidah, if we would look at them and only see their yechidah, we would have to respect and adore them, for they would be perfectly righteous.
There were righteous individuals who insisted on seeing the yechidah part in their fellow Jews and as a result only saw goodness in their Jewish brethren.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev once saw a man smoking a cigar on Yom Kippur. The Rabbi approached the Jew and said, “Perhaps you are unaware, but today is the holiest day of the year when we Jews are not supposed to light fires.”
The man responded, “I know that today is Yom Kippur.”
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak then said, “Perhaps you do not realize that you have a cigar in your mouth?”
The man answered, “I know that today is the holiest day and that I should not smoke, but I like smoking.”
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak then turned to Heaven and said, “God, see how holy your children are! They know that You do not approve of their smoking on the holy day. Yet they will not lie.”
It is told of R. Levi Yitzchak that he never allowed visiting preachers to address his congregation. These itinerant speakers were wont to rebuke the general populace. The Berditchever felt that we may not mention any sins about the Jewish people, for Israel has no sins. Once a preacher came and promised not to say anything negative. In the middle of his speech he got carried away and started to criticize the community for its failings. At that point the Rabbi interjected, “God, don’t believe him. He is only saying that because he gets paid for his sermon. He has no credibility!”231Ma’asei Hashem pg. 138.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak would serve as the cantor for the High Holiday prayers. One year, he returned home after Yom Kippur and burst into unceasing sobs.
“Woe to you, Levi Yitzchak!” He screamed. “What did you do? Today you recited, Chatu, avu, pashu amcha Yisrael, ‘Your nation Israel sinned, transgressed, and was iniquitous.’ What Lies! Can you find any sins amongst the Jews?”232Imros Tzaddikim, Klausenberg, pg. 196 number seven.
The former Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, of blessed memory,233He was born in 1880 and passed away in 1958. The Belzer Rebbe was very attached to the legacy of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Like Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, he constantly found merit in the deeds of Jews. When the Rebbe of Boston, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, met with the Belzer Rebbe, R. Aharon asked him for his name. He responded, “Levi Yitzchak ben Sarah Sasha.” When the Belzer Rebbe heard those words, he gripped Rabbi Horowitz’s hand a little tighter, and his entire body began to shake. After a long while he again asked, “What is your name?” Rabbi Horowitz did not understand the commotion over his name. The Belzer Chasidim then explained to him that his name, Levi Yitzchak ben Sarah Sasha, was identical to the name of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. The Belzer Rebbe felt a great attachment to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, so when he heard the name he was deeply moved (Admorei Belz, Volume 4, pg. 132). was once told that Jews in secular Kibbutzim in the holy land were raising pigs. The Rebbe immediately responded, “These Jews are so holy, they are certain that the Messiah is coming soon. According to the Zohar when the Messiah will come there will be a part of pig that will become kosher (the pig’s nature will change, and it will then chew its cud). These people are preparing the pigs in honor of Messiah’s imminent arrival.”234Admorei Belz, Volume 4, pg. 138.
Yechidah leads to a sense of love, unity, and equality among all Jews. Feelings of love, unity, and fellowship with all other Jews lift an individual up to reach the yechidah within his or her soul and to hear its voice in a clearer manner.
There is a custom that before the performance of any Mitzvah, a statement of intent is recited. The statement, called Le-sheim Yichud, declares that the act will be performed because God commanded it, and through this act more holiness will fill the world. The introduction closes with a phrase that declares, “this deed is being performed be- sheim kol Yisrael, in the name of all of Israel.” R. Elimelech of Lizhensk235Rabbi Elimelech was born in 1717, and he passed away in 1787. He was one of the great students of the Maggid of Mezeritch, and he brought Chasidic practice to Poland and Hungary. explained this custom in light of yechidah:
The reason why we say before all of our service to God and our prayers Le-sheim Yichud [and conclude with] be-sheim kol Yisrael is that there is no man who has no flaws. Therefore how can we perform a service of holiness with our limbs? We have performed sins with these same body parts and they have been damaged [spiritually], so how can we cause the holiness of a Mitzvah act to reside on our grossly impure physical body? The solution to this is joining the collective of Israel. There is a spiritual universe named Kol Yisrael, “All of Israel.” This universe is pristine and cannot be defiled through sin. The collective of Israel are all tzaddikim, as in the verse, Ve-ammeich kullam tzaddikim. Therefore, even if individuals sin at times, the community of Israel maintains its sanctity, and there is no evil within it. This [universe] is called in the holy books, Adam Kadmon, and there, sin has no authority. Man connects himself to that transcendent holiness through feelings of fellowship with the entire community. Therefore, before the Mitzvah, connect yourself to that world, be filled with radiant holiness, and then you will be able to perform a Mitzvah.236Noam Elimelech, Parashas Devarim, s.v. od ba-pasuk hana”l. Rabbi Aha-ron Belzer would encourage his Chasidim to follow the words of the Noam Elimelech and perform good deeds for the sake of all of Israel so that the entirety of the Torah would be fulfilled by the entirety of Israel.
The Rebbe once heard that an individual had discovered a lost object and was about to return it to its owner. He then requested, “Please return the object with the express intent that the Mitzvah of hashavas aveidah is being performed for the sake of all the members of Israel.” The Rebbe then explained that not everyone merits fulfilling the Mitzvah of returning lost objects, for some Jews never merit to find the lost object of another Jew. Therefore, there are probably some Jews who are missing this Mitzvah; for the sake of helping all Jews, this Mitzvah should be performed for the sake of all of Israel (Admorei Belz, Volume 4, pg. 119).
As we learned in Lesson Twelve, Yom Kippur is the day of yechidah. The author of the Tanya found a hint to yechidah in the verse about Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is described in the Torah as the day of spiritual purification, Ki ba-yom ha-zeh yechapper aleichem mi-kol avonoseichem lifnei Hashem tit’haru, “For on this day He will atone for all of your sins, before Y-H-V-H, God, you will become pure” (Lev. 16:30). The Tanya explained this verse to mean that the purity you will receive will come from before the Tetragrammaton, from the apex of the yud, from the point before the first letter, from the level of yechidah.
Since Yom Kippur is a day of reaching yechidah, is it any wonder that Rabbi Yosef Karo records a law that on the eve of Yom Kippur all Jews should ask forgiveness from each other and bond together in love and unity?237On Purim as well there is a special obligation to unite the members of the Jewish people. On Purim union is achieved through the obligation of sending gifts to fellow Jews, thus bonding each one to the other. Esther asked Mordechai to gather all the Jews together to pray that her mission to the king succeed. Perhaps Esther realized that there was a need for an arousal of yechidah to save the nation; that is why she asked that all Jews come together and pray for her.
There are only several laws in Orach Chaim Chapter 606, and perhaps yechidah is their common denominator. This chapter records that prior to Yom Kippur one is obligated to patch up relations with all those whom one may have slighted or hurt during the prior year. He instructs how to ask forgiveness from the deceased. Finally, he teaches that there is a custom to immerse oneself in a mikveh, a ritual bath, and to undergo thirty-nine symbolic lashes prior to Yom Kippur. As mentioned earlier, the thirty-nine lashes and the mikveh represent the fortieth level—the point of yechidah. Perhaps the law of asking forgiveness is also to enable attaining yechidah. For only through a sense of oneness with all Jews can yechidah be accessed.238Emunas Etecha, Parashas Ha’azinu 5757. Rav Wolfson also notes that 606 (the number of the chapter) is the sum of the phrase, Be-rachamim gedolim akabtzech, “I will gather you in with great compassion” (300+93+213=606). The final redemption will cause a revelation of yechidah, and it is God’s compassion that causes Him to consider the yechidah within the soul. Perhaps that is why the chapter of the laws of yechidah equals be-rachamim gedolim akabtzech. It is God’s great love and compassion that cause Him to acknowledge the yechidah within man, and He will reveal that good to man during the ultimate redemption.
The Aftermath of Yom Kippur
A mere five days after the holiday of Yom Kippur, Jews celebrate the holiday of Sukkos. During Sukkos we have the opportunity to lift the four species.239The four species are a palm branch, three myrtle branches, two willow branches and the citron fruit. On each day during the seven-day holiday, four species of agricultural products240See further Horeb, Chapter 31. Rabbi Hirsch explains that the four species represent the different parts of the natural world. The willow is plain wood that does not have a special scent or taste; it represents those items in nature that are merely raw materials, and human effort is needed to transform them into something useful. The palm branch represents food without smell, namely items in nature that have inherent benefit to man, yet he must expend some effort to release that benefit. Food is the symbol of these items for most food must be processed out of its natural form (e.g., grinding wheat to produce bread). The myrtle branches have a beautiful smell but have no taste. They represent the parts of nature that are perfectly suited for human consumption even without any human effort. Air, sweet smelling roses, and water are prime examples of those parts of nature that provide benefit to man even before he changes them at all. The citron fruit represents total perfection as it is both a food and a fragrance. are lifted and waved around in praise to the Almighty. Rabbi Isaac Luria taught that these four species represent the four letters of God’s name. The hadas, “myrtle branches,” represent the yud. And the aravos, “willow branches,” represent the letter heh. The lulav, “palm branch,” represents the vav. The esrog, “citron,” is the final heh. Bringing all four species together is a symbolic unification of God’s name and a symbolic discovery of the Divine in all realms. Waving the four species in all directions indicates that God’s name fills all the dimensions of reality, and the Almighty can be found everywhere.241See further Innerspace pg. 109. This raises a question; the letters in God’s name parallel the parts of the soul, and there are really five parts of the soul, for there is also yechidah. Yechidah is represented by the apex of the yud. What part of the four species parallels the apex of the yud and the yechidah part of the soul?
On Yom Kippur each Jew discovers within himself a bit of his personal yechidah, and Sukkos is a continuation of Yom Kippur.242See further Horeb 23:170. Rabbi Hirsch points out that Yom Kippur has two qualities: kapparah (atonement) and taharah (purification). The day brings atonement—namely a defense against physical punishment due the sinner—and purification—spiritual cleansing of the soul that was sullied with sin. Sukkos and its concluding holiday of Shemini Atzeres emerge from these two qualities. Sukkos is a celebration of physical survival and completes kapparah; Shemini Atzeres is a celebration of spiritual survival and thus completes taharah.
See further the Vilna Gaon’s commentary to Song of Songs 1:4, s.v. ve-daled pesukim elu, and Avodas Ha-Gershuni on Song of Songs 3:4, s.v. ve-shamati mi-dodi ha-gaon he-chasid me-vilna. The Gaon answers the Tur’s question why the holiday of Sukkos, meant to commemorate the clouds of glory with which Israel exited Egypt, is observed during Tishrei and not Nisan, the time of the Exodus. He explains that the full exit from Egypt was when the Jews merited having the Divine presence (the Shechinah) among them. Initially they had the Divine presence, and the intimate relationship between Creator and His children was symbolized by Heavenly clouds that surrounded the people. However, once the nation worshipped the Golden Calf (on 17 Tammuz), Moses broke the stone tablets of the commandments, the Almighty distanced Himself, and the clouds disappeared. The people engaged in a massive teshuvah campaign that started on the first day of Elul. They prayed for thirty-nine days, and on the fortieth they fasted. God forgave them, and on the fortieth day Moses returned to the people with a second set of tablets. Ever since then, the fortieth day (Yom Kippur) became a day of fasting, prayer, and forgiveness (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer). To complete the process of forgiveness and Divine reconciliation, on Yom Kippur Moses told the people that God had commanded the erection of a sanctuary. Its construction and inauguration would bring the Divine Presence into the camp for a permanent stay. On 11 Tishrei an appeal for gifts needed to construct the sanctuary was made. On the twelfth and thirteenth, the people brought all the raw materials necessary for the building. On the fourteenth, Moses announced that the community had donated sufficient materials and no further donations were needed, and he apportioned raw materials to different craftsmen. On the fifteenth, the construction began and the Divine presence returned. Thus, the fifteenth of Tishrei is the day when we celebrate the return of the clouds of glory. It emerges from this analysis that Sukkos is really a celebration of the completion of the forgiveness attained on Yom Kippur. See further Zeman Simchaseinu, Article 1. On Yom Kippur each Jew touches the depths of his or her heart (yechidah). On Sukkos, the apex of the yud is the heart of the Jew that joins the four species in completing God’s name.
This may be an added meaning to the verse about the four species. The Torah writes, U-lekachtem lachem ba-yom ha-rishon, “And you should take for yourselves on the first day ” Perhaps it also means take yourself along with the species, for the depths of your soul complete God’s name.243Emunas Etecha, Shemini Atzeres, 5757.
There are five books in the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Rabbi Isaac Luriah taught that these books parallel the parts of the Tetragrammaton. Genesis is from the apex of the yud, Exodus the yud, Leviticus the first heh, Numbers the vav, and Deuteronomy the last heh. Genesis deals with the foundation of the Jewish people, with our patriarchs, and it does not detail many laws that we must obey. Our patriarchs are the source of the apex of the yud within every Jewish heart. The other books of the Torah that deal with law can be violated and defiled, just as other parts of the soul can be sullied. But the book of Genesis cannot be harmed, and the yechidah within can hardly ever be silenced.
We begin reading Genesis at the end of Sukkos during the holiday of Simchas Torah. Perhaps it is due to our having reached yechidah on Yom Kippur, and then having further grasped yechidah throughout Sukkos while waving the four species, that allows us to learn the book of Genesis that also parallels the apex of the yud and yechidah.244Ibid. Rav Wolfson also suggested that the phrase, Nagil ve-nasis be-zos ha-Torah, “We will rejoice and celebrate with this Torah,” which is sung on Simchas Torah, may be referring to yechidah. After having expressed the inner love that is within us, we rejoice. Pointing to our heart we shout, “This Torah is right in our bosom, how fortunate we are!”
Yechidah and the Future
The Talmud states:
Ula Biraa taught a lesson in the name of Rabbi Elazar: In the future the Almighty will arrange a dancing ring for the righteous in the Garden of Eden, and God will sit in their midst. Each and every one of the righteous will point with his finger [at the Divine]. This is the meaning of the verse, “And it will be said on that day, here is this God of ours, we placed our hope in Him and He saved us. This is God whom we have hoped for, let us celebrate and rejoice in His salvation.”
What is the symbolic meaning of all the righteous around a circle with God in the center? R. Tzadok Ha-Cohen of Lublin explained that in a circle each point along the circumference is equidistant to the center. A circle of righteous individuals with God in the center symbolizes total equality. There will be no distinctions among the righteous in the World-to-Come. Each one at his point on the circle will be as close to God as all the other righteous individuals.
This equality stems from a revelation of yechidah. At the level of yechidah, everyone is perfectly righteous. In the future, God will reveal the yechidah within each and every one of the righteous, thus they will be equals in the fellowship of virtue.245Chasidim have a tradition that the Messiah will be an individual who will find good in every Jew. He will reveal how each Jew, even the seemingly complete sinner, is really extremely righteous. Through finding merit for every Jew, he will return all the Jews to observance and bring about the redemptive era and its blessings (Admorei Belz, Volume 4, pg. 132, quoting the work Pe’er La-Yesharim).
Another image that the Rabbis use for the final glory is found in the Talmud in Berachos 17a:
Rav would regularly say: the World-to-Come is not like this world. In the World-to-Come there is neither eating nor drinking; no procreation and no business dealings; there is no jealousy and no hatred, no hate nor competition. Rather the righteous sit with their crowns in their heads and they enjoy the glow of the Divine Presence [Shechinah].
This may also be a reference to yechidah. The future world will be a permanent Yom Kippur, which is why there will be no eating or drinking. Yom Kippur is the day we touch yechidah. In the next world we will be fully attached to yechidah, and that is the meaning of the crowns in the head. Chayah and yechidah are parts of the soul that are makkifin. They are not internalized within the person; rather they envelope him. They are symbolized as crowns since a crown sits atop the head and is not in the person. In the World-to-Come the crowns of the righteous will be in their heads, for chayah and yechidah will be internalized. We will then completely and permanently express these levels.246Innerspace pg. 18 in the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (Likkutei Moharan 21:4).
Lesson Fourteen will explain why every Jew has a yechidah part of the soul.