Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut, Entrance to the Gate of Beit Yaakov 2

ענין "יסוד היראה היא האמונה" שע"י האמונה ברוממות הש"י, מגיע ליראה שאינו כיראת הגויים שיראים מחסרונם, אלא ע"י חסרונו מכיר רוממות ה'. Human Deficiency and Human Perfection
After discussing the necessity of fear in one’s relationship with God, and the various types of fear – from lower to higher – the author now discusses genuine versus false fear. Whereas genuine fear (awe) frees a person from his limitations and brings him into a direct encounter with God in an act of faith, false fear is born of personal limitations and is the underlying cause of idolatry. According to Rav Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz, fear is always related to a sense of lack.¹⁹³Simply put, one who lacks funds will fear the tax collector; one who lacks self-confidence, will fear public speaking. Psychologically speaking, human beings tend to set as personal goals or absolute truths one particular trait or approach to life.¹⁹⁴For instance, a strong person, who unbendingly believes in the use of force to solve disputes, will fear conflict resolution through peaceful means. A person who sets compassion as an absolute value will fear the use of cruelty – even when correct and necessary. (R. Gershon Henokh will offer this example below.) Yet this attitude invariably causes an individual to be deficient in alternative approaches, and he subsequently fears and represses their manifestation in his life, lest they disrupt his self-image and perfection. Idolatry results when this fear of deficiency is projected outwards, onto the figure of the idol, whom the individual then fears.¹⁹⁵In other words, according to the Izhbitzer Rebbe, idolatry does not begin with the objectification of one’s values and beliefs, in the case, for instance, of making an idol out of money, but in the projection of one’s fears and deficiencies, since the whole purpose of an idol is to be saved from them. The idolater does this in the hopes that the idol will alleviate his fear – even though it is powerless to do so. Thus, the idolater’s faith in and fear of his idol begins with the projection of his own imperfection. The opposite approach is embodied by the Jewish people. The faith that R. Gershon Henokh spoke of in chapter one is really the affirmation of God’s absolute transcendence. Even though human beings are lacking, they need not fear that lack. Rather, they can use their own sense of deficiency to realize, by implication, the absolute perfection of God. In other words, our lack opens us to God’s completeness. This is the fear and faith that allows for the acceptance of the Torah, mentioned above, which brings a person into a state of balance, and frees him from the fear that leads to idolatry.

וזה ענין, שיסוד היראה העיקרית הוא אמונה, שעל ידי שיבין ויאמין בדעת ברוממות הש"י, ועל ידי זה יירא את הש"י, אז תהיה יראתו שלמה. שהיראה שהיא מצד האדם, הוא רק מפני שמכיר חסרונו, ועל זה נאמר (ישעיה מג) לפסלו יסגד לו, שזה היראה נקרא כמה פעמים בזה"ק (וארא כט.) דחלא דלהון, שמפני שהם חסרים, ישתחוו למקום שנדמה להם שכשיציב לנגדו יראה ממה שמכיר חסרונו, מזה ישופע לו למלאות די חסרונו. ואף שבהדחלא עצמה אין בה שום כח למלאות לו, ורק שנדמה לו שע"י היראה שמציב חסרונו לנגדו, בזה יהיה הוא בעצמו שלם, וא"כ עובד רק לחסרונו שירא ממנו, וזה יקרא לפסלו יסגוד, היינו למקום שהוא פסול ומחוסר. וכן מבואר בפנים במקומו, שכל הדחלות הנזכרים היו, שהיו מציבים להם יראה במקום שהיו מרגישים שהם חסרים, והיה בהם שני מינים או שהעמידו להם דמות החסרון, או דמות שלימות החסרון. והחלש, או שעבד לדמות גבור, או לדמות חלש, וכ"ש במקומו, ושאני עבודת ישראל שמחסרונו הוא מכיר רוממות ה', וכמ"ש (איוב יט) ומבשרי אחזה אלוה. ובזה"ק (אמור צ:) ואת דכא ושפל רוח האי אתר שלים יתיר הוא מכלא בגין דמאיך גרמיה למשריה עליה גאותא דכלא גאותא עלאה ודא הוא שלים. וזה שנזכר בתיקוני הזהר בהקדמה (דף ה:) דרגא שביעאה ביראת ה' דליה ליה חוסר הה"ד יראו את ה' קדושיו כי אין מחסור ליראיו, לאו יהא מאינון דאתמר בהון (משלי יא) וחושך מיושר אך למחסור ולא יהא לו חוסר מאורייתא אם הוא מארי תורה, דבלאו אורייתא לית דחילו כד"א אין בור ירא חטא וכגוונא דלית אורייתא בלא דחילו אוף הכי לית דחילו בלא אורייתא וכו': The true foundation of the fear of God is faith. Only by understanding and consciously believing in the supreme lofty heights of God, and then actively fearing Him, does fear become complete. Man’s normal experience of fear usually stems from an awareness of his own deficiencies. Of this it is said (Yeshayahu, 44:17), “He makes himself an idol and bows down to it.”¹⁹⁶In other words, he makes of himself an idol, which he bows down to. This kind of fear is called by the Zohar (Vaeira, 29a), “their fear.”¹⁹⁷That is, their own personal fears, which they project outward, upon the idol. Since idolaters are deficient, they believe that by prostrating themselves to an idol and expressing their fear, stemming from a recognition of their own deficiency, the idol will emit a flow of energy to fill their lacks.¹⁹⁸Using the example in note 177, above, we can say that a strong person fears being weak. He therefore prays to an idol to save him from weakness, although all he his really doing is projecting his own inner fears outward, and fearfully worshipping them. And even though the idol is actually powerless to do so, the idolater still believes that by projecting his fear outward, he himself will become complete. Ultimately, he is only worshiping the very deficiency that he fears. This is called, “bowing down to his idol.”¹⁹⁹In other words, to the particular trait or idea that he has idolized. The word for idol in Hebrew, “pesel,” is connected to the word for pasul, which means “invalid” or “deficient.” Further in the Beit Yaakov it will be explained that the fear of the idolater, expressed in a place where he knows he is lacking, takes on two forms. The idolater will either erect a form of the lack itself, or a form of the fulfillment of that lack. A weak person will worship either the image of a hero, or the image a weakling. This will all be explained. The service of Israel, however, is different. For we recognize the awesome heights of God precisely through our own deficiencies,²⁰⁰This is opposite the process that leads to idolatry. Here, the awareness of one’s own deficiencies leads to an awareness of God’s grandeur and exaltedness, engendering a fear of God’s own greatness – not the projection of one’s own deficiencies onto an idol. as it is written (Iyov, 19:26), “From my flesh (meaning my limitations and deficiencies) I shall see God.” It is written in the Zohar (Emor, 90b): “I will dwell among the downtrodden and low of spirit.” (Yeshayahu, 57:15) This is the place of the greatest wholeness. When one brings himself low so that the awesome pride of the Supernal One, the Pride of all, may rest upon him, this is a place of wholeness.²⁰¹One’s personal sense of lowliness brings about a revelation of Supernal Pride; that is, lowliness itself engenders a sense of a wholeness in that it connects one to God. This is mentioned in the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar (5b): The seventh level in the fear of God is one who lacks nothing,²⁰²Note the subtle shift of approach the author makes with this passage of the Zohar, as well the following one. Previously, R. Gershon Henokh juxtaposed the fear of idolators, which is born out of their sense of personal lack, to the rectified fear of Israel, in which a sense of lack produces an appreciation of God’s completeness. Now, the author begins to discuss a type of fear that is the result of completeness. Based upon this and other Izhbitzer texts (see Tzidkat HaTzaddik 212), he seems to mean the following: Because of Israel’s belief (emunah) in God’s utter transcendence, the sense of lack they feel does not result in idolatry – which is the transference of personal lack onto the divinity. Rather, Israel’s lack proves the very opposite – that God is wholely complete and transcendent, as R. Gershon Hanokh interprets the verse, “From my flesh, I see God” – “from my limitations, I deduce the Divine.” In other words – ironically – the idolaters desire for wholeness only exacerbates his weakness, whereas Israel’s acceptance of their weakness allows them to partake of the Divine wholeness. The author further explains that the correct means by which to assuage one’s sense of lack is Torah study. For Torah study frees a person from being fixated on a singular value or truth; thus he does not experience the fear resulting from a sense of personal deficiency in its loss. What is left is a sense of Divine transcendence, which engenders awe. (See note 195.) as it is written (Tehillim, 34:10), “Fear God, His holy ones, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him.” He is not one of those of whom it is said (Mishlei, 11:24), “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” If he is a Torah scholar, he shall not be lacking in Torah, for without Torah, there is no fear of God. This is as it is said (Pirkei Avot, 2:5), “An unlearned person does not fear sin.” Just as there is no Torah without the fear of God, similarly, there is no fear of God without the Torah.

ובזוה"ק (יתרו עח; עט.) את מעשה ה' כי נורא הוא אמר ר"א שלימא דכלא וכו' והנורא דא יעקב איש תם גבר שלים בכולא וכו' בכל אתר דהוה שלימותא שכיח איקרי נורא וכו' לית דחילו אלא באתר דהוה שלימותא שכיח. ובזה"ק בשלח (נא:) אתה כוננת מישרים וכו' והבריח התיכון וגו' דא קוב"ה ר' יצחק אמר דא יעקב, וכולא חד אלא למלכא דאיהו שלים מכלא דעתיה שלים מכולא, מה ארחיה שהאי מלכא אנפוי נהורין כשמשא תדיר בגין דאיהו שלים, וכד דאין, דאין לטב ודאין לביש וכו' ומאן דאיהו חכימא אע"ג דחמי אנפוי דמלכא נהירין אמר מלכא ודאי שלים הוא שלים הוא מכולא דעתיה שלים אנא חמי דבהאי נהירו דינא יתיר ואתכסיא וכו' כך קוב"ה שלים תדיר וכו' בג"כ בעי לאסתמרא מניה. והוא שיראה שאינה מן התורה, תוכל להגיע ליראה מפני החסרון, כמו שנזכר לעיל, וכמו שמבאר, וחושך מיושר אך למחסור. אבל יראה שהיא מן התורה ע"י האמונה, נקרא שלימו דמהימנותא קדישא, כדאיתא בזה"ק (יתרו עט.) מאי דכתיב (בראשית כח) ויירא ויאמר מה נורא וגו' מאי קא חמא דקאמר דאיהו נורא וכו' חמא שלימו דמהימנותא קדישא דהוה שכיח בההוא אתר כגוונא דלעילא ובכל אתר דהוי שלימותא שכיח אתקרי נורא כו' יעו"ש. שהתורה היא ישרה וקרואה ספר הישר כמ"ש (שמואל ב' א) הלא היא כתובה על ספר הישר, שהיא מעמודא דאמצעיתא, והיא תמימה, שהאחוז בה אין לו חסרון, מפני שמישרת מדותיו של אדם, שלא יטה להשקע בשום קצה מן המדות, שעי"ז נופל אדם בחסרון. שאם יכנע תחת מדה אחת שבמדות בלא קו ומשקל הדעת להכריע, שלא יטה לקצה אחרון, מכל מדה, יש בכל מדה חסרון אף שהיא מדה טובה, אך אם יתנהג במדה זו בתורת מדה טבועה וקבועה בלא הכשר דעת וחשבון, אז ישתמש בהמדה במקום שאינו ראוי, כגון שירחם על אכזרי, ואין לך רע מזה שמרחם על אכזרי ומחזיק ומקיים כח מזיק לעולם. ולזה צריך להשתמש בכל מדה בדעת במקום הראוי, ויכלכל דבריו במשפט בכל פרטי הנהגותיו כפי דעת התורה, אז יהיה שלם בלא חסרון. ועיקר החסרון הוא חסרון אמונה וכדאיתא בזה"ק ויקרא (דף טז:) והיה כי יחטא ואשם וכו' דהא בגין דא אסתלק קוב"ה מכלא כביכול קוב"ה לא אשתכח בקיומיה דהא כנסת ישראל אתפרשא מאתרהא הה"ד (ישעיה מד) אבדה האמונה דא כנסת ישראל כד"א (תהלים צב) ואמונתך בלילות וכו': The Zohar writes concerning the goal of human completeness (Yitro 78b-79a): “You shall see the work of God that I shall do, it is awesome.” (Shemot, 34:10) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is the completion of everything.” … “It is awesome,” refers to Yaakov,²⁰³In the first of the eighteen benedictions we say, “God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, the Great, the Mighty, and the Awesome God.” “Awesome” (norah) signifies the main quality of the patriarch Yaakov, who thus represents a complete fear of the awesome power of God. It was Yaakov, after his dream of the ladder, who said, “how awesome (norah) is this place!” (Bereshit, 28:17) the ish tam, the man complete in all his attributes.²⁰⁴Generally, in the Zohar, Yaakov Avinu represents the Torah, or the sefirah of Tiferet, which is beauty, balance, and pride. Yaakov and Tiferet also represent completeness. See Bereshit, 25:27, “Yaakov was an ish tam (wholehearted, simple, complete), dwelling in tents.” Yaakov further represents completeness, in that all of his children were completely righteous, as opposed to Avraham who begat Yishmael and Yitskhak who begat Eisav. Wherever you find completeness, it is called “awesome.” … The fear of God rests only in a place of completeness.²⁰⁵“A place of completeness” – see note 185. And in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (51b): “You have established equity” (Tehillim, 99:4). This is the “middle bar” (Shemot, 26:28),²⁰⁶This was inserted in the midst of the boards comprising the walls of the tabernacle. signifying the Holy One, blessed be He.²⁰⁷In the Zohar, the term “the Holy One,” refers to the sefirah of Tiferet, which corresponds to Yaakov, the Torah, and the trait of “completeness.” Rabbi Yitzhak said, “This is Yaakov.” It is really all the same matter. If the king is complete in all aspects, clearly his knowledge is complete in all aspects. What is the way of this king? He shines continually as the sun, for he is complete. When he judges, he judges for the good and for the bad. When a wise person sees the king’s face shining, he says, “Certainly the king is complete in all aspects; his knowledge is complete and his completeness is above all others. In this shining light of his face I see that he is judging more than I see, yet it is covered.” … So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, is ever complete … For this reason, one must take great care to guard himself from Him.²⁰⁸Meaning to honor God and adhere to His commandments. Fear that is not rooted in the Torah can fall to the low level of the fear of deficiency, as mentioned above. This is as the Tikkunei Zohar, above, explained the verse, “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” However, the true fear of God, rooted in the Torah and based on faith, is called, “the completion of holy faith.” This is as it is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a): What is the meaning of the verse (Bereshit, 28:17), “And Yaakov feared, and said, how awesome (norah) is this place!” What did Yaakov see that he could only describe as dreadful and awe-inspiring (norah)? He saw the absolute completion of holy faith which existed in that place, just as it is above in the upper worlds. Every place that is at such a level of perfection is called, “awesome (norah).”²⁰⁹That is, perfect faith results in an exalted type of fear, more correctly known as “awe.” The Torah is the straight path, and is called the “book of yashar,”²¹⁰Yashar means straight, direct, even. as it is written (Shmuel 2, 1:18), “Is it not written in the book of yashar?” The Torah comes from the middle column,²¹¹There are three columns in the array of the ten Sefirot – right, left, and middle. The middle column joins and synthesizes the opposing forces of right and left, . and is whole, for one who grasps onto the Torah lacks nothing. This is because it straightens and balances a person’s attributes so that he is not steeped in any one extremity, which is what brings him to deficiency. If a person is subjugated to any one of his attributes, and thereby lacks the strength of mind to balance its power and prevent it from becoming extreme, then the attribute is deficient, even if it is a good trait that could otherwise be the source of good behavior. If this attribute is taken to its extremity, and then becomes an involuntary mode of behavior, without any reckoning or deliberation, then the attribute, albeit good, will be used in the wrong way.²¹²This relates to the teaching of the Izhbitzer that there are no bad attributes, only bad applications of good attributes. For example, as R. Gershon Henokh explains here, kindness is neither an inherently good nor evil trait. Used correctly, it is good, but used improperly, as in the case of one who shows kindness to evil-doers, the trait becomes a sin. (This explains the Izhbitzer’s vindication of the sins of various biblical characters. According to him, they never intentionally sinned, but only mistimed the use of certain attributes.) The goal of the Torah is to produce perfected and balanced human beings (symbolized by Yaakov, Tiferet), who always know how to use their character traits in the right way, according to the needs of the situation. An imbalanced person, on the other hand, becomes stuck in a certain mode of behavior, and is unable to deviate from it, even when the situation calls for an alternative approach. This person is deficient in the other traits – a lack that engenders within him a fear of situations in which his innate character trait cannot apply. (See note 177, above.) According to Rav Mordechai Yosef, this person may objectify his lack in the form of an idol, which he will fear, though what he is actually fearing is his own, innate deficiency (his “dark side”). Thus, in praying to the idol to be saved from that which he fears, he is really only praying to his own fear and deficiency. This approach is most likely a Hasidic interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of the death of the seven Edomite kings (based upon Genesis 36). Each king symbolizes a different trait, or sefirah, used by God to create the world. Nonetheless, these traits were flawed, inasmuch as each one sought to be an exclusive conduit for God’s creative energy: be it Hesed (Love), Gevurah (Severity), or Tiferet (Mercy). This led to the “breaking of the vessels,” and the current, fallen nature of reality, which demands repair. Each “king” said, “I, and only I, will rule.” However, the verses in Genesis do not record the death of the eighth king, Hadar, and they also mention that he had a wife (Meheitavel). In other words, he was the only one who made room for another perspective; thus he did not “die” (i.e. the trait did not shatter), and represents the attribute of “tikkun,” or rectification. This led to the new emanation of the sefirot in which each one contains all ten: love contains wisdom; understanding contains balance, and so forth. In this way, by adapting and being flexible, the vessels could contain God’s light and the world could survive. In the psychological terms used by R. Gershon Henokh, a person on the level of the seven kings will exhibit an inflexible commitment to one particular character trait, and lack the ability to negotiate situations that are not suited to that attribute; whereas the rectified approach means using the whole variety of shades of love, fear, etc, and adapting and relating to the plethora of stimuli one encounters in the world. Take, for example, the trait of kindness, which is clearly a good attribute. However, when it is used indiscriminately and bestowed generously upon cruel people, it becomes destructive; for there is no greater evil than acting kindly toward the cruel.²¹³This is based on the aphorisim of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 7:16): “One who is kind to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind.” One who errs in this way upholds and even strengthens destructive forces in the world. Clearly, every attribute must be used with clear and conscious deliberation, at the proper time and in the proper place. In this way, he may “establish equity”²¹⁴As in the verse from Tehillim, 99:4, cited above. in every aspect of his behavior, according to the approach of the Torah. Then, he will be complete and lack nothing.²¹⁵Lacking nothing, he will be free from the lower level of fear. His actions will all be balanced and in line with God’s will. His fear of God will be like that of Yaakov – norah – an expression of awe and faith. Above all, the greatest deficiency a person can have is a lack of emunah (faith). On this it is written in the Zohar (Vayikra, 16b): “And it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty…” (Vayikra, 5:23). Because of this, God withdraws from everything; then God, so to speak, does not exist in creation, and Knesset Yisrael²¹⁶Knesset Yisrael means the “Congregation of the people of Israel,” and is synonymous with the Shechinah, the sefirah of Malchut, the attribute of faith, and the Divine presence which rests upon the Israelite nation. One could say, “God/the Shechinah/faith is hidden from that place.” has left her place. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 7:28), “Emunah has perished.” That means that Knesset Yisrael has perished.²¹⁷Meaning, separated from her place. Of this it is said (Tehillim 92:3), “To speak of Your emunah in the nights.”²¹⁸“Speaking of your faith at night,” means that if one has true faith, then even after the sin, when man sits in darkness, so to speak, he can still amend his ways and return to God.