Sucos: Prophetic Hydration and Self Awareness

The following is based on content from the Sfas Emes, as it was elaborated and elucidated through discussion with Moshe Chayim Eade, Shlit’a. Feel free to print out this essay and enjoy it over Chag, just please not during Tefilos!

As we are taught, all Korbanos (sacrifices) were accompanied with the pouring of a wine libation on the Mizbeach; the altar. On Sucos, the practice of Nisuch HaMayim accompanied the wine.  This means that not only was wine poured; rather wine and water together were brought with the Korban.

The Gemara goes on at great length to describe the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva, the intense festivities that came with Nisuch HaMayim. The holy priests would travel out of the temple and down to the Mei HaShiloach, a spring that brought forth a constant flow of fresh waters from the inner core of subterranean Yerushalayim. The Rishonim explain that this is water directly from the Six Days of Creation. This is vintage. Throwback. This was Mayim Chayim – water that’s Mamesh alive.

This water was brought up to the Beis HaMikdash with grand fanfare. Trumpets and lyres, song and dance set the tone. There was palpable electricity buzzing in the air. The sages, the precious saints of the Yerushalayim of yesteryear would rejoice and juggle torches.

It was truly a sight to behold. As the Gemara tells us, “He who has not seen the rejoicing of the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva has not seen Simcha in his life.” And not only that, but Chazal also say, “Why is it called the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva, the Rejoicing of the House of Drawing’? Because it was from there that they would draw Ruach HaKodesh, Divine Inspiration.” In the same way that water was drawn from the source, so too was Ruach HaKodesh being drawn down from lofty spiritual planes.

These are truly beautiful concepts. But we still fail to understand how or why. What’s so exciting the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva? Why is it the truest kind of joy? And why does the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva create a situation where Ruach HaKodesh can be drawn forth into a person’s heart?

The Sfas Emes explains that the connection between the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva  and the receiving of Ruach HaKodesh is that just like a bucket is the vessel that draws forth and contains water, so too Simcha, true joy is the vessel used to draw forth Divine Inspiration. Thus, in the exceedingly joyous atmosphere of the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva, Ruach HaKodeh becomes a possibility. And this makes a whole lot of sense in light of Chazal’s comment that the Divine Presence, the Shechinah, only rests in a place of Simcha.

He goes on to say that this is the Simcha of the verse in Bereishis, ‘VaYipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim’ – and God blew into man’s nostrils a Breath of Life. This was the moment where the soul – the breath of God – entered into man and animated him. It is the source; the big-bang so-to-speak of the human experience. 

But we don’t understand what this means. What is the Simcha of VaYipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim? And how is that Simcha synonymous with the joy of the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva?

Well, to answer this question we need to better understand what is true Simcha. In the most basic sense it is happiness. But that tells us very little. The warmest sense of happiness, the type of happiness that satisfies the deepest place in our psyche is the happiness that stems from the security of self-awareness and self-knowledge. A man who walks into a business meeting with an air of preparedness completely diffuses the otherwise tense situation. He has his plan; he’s cool, calm, collected and organized. This inner security and harmony is the most serene feeling possible.

And what is happening in the verse of VaYipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim? We are learning that source of human life is a Divine Breath. We are attaining the most basic and essential level of self-awareness. “I’m Mamesh Divine.” We are learning the true essence and nature of our identity. And thus, if the deepest and most satisfying form of happiness emerges from self-discovery, then being able to identify with my inner, divine, true self is the utmost gratification achievable.

Now we know that Simcha comes out of self-awareness. True self-knowledge brings me to realize that my most deeply rooted essence is a Divine Breath which is really an expression of Godliness. It is what the Sfarim call the Chelek Eloka MiMa’al, the Segment of Elevated Godliness. Therefore, my self-awareness is essentially an encounter with HaKadosh Baruch Hu! The real me is coming from, stemming from Him. And after all, what is Ruach HaKodesh? Ruach HaKodesh is the realization and acceptance of a Divine Revelation. Therefore, self-discovery and personal awareness as a manifestation of the Divine is in of itself a form of Ruach HaKodesh.

We are trained to think that Divine Inspiration is way out there. That one needs to meditate on foreign and esoteric concepts in order to attain spirituality and interface with Godliness. But we now see that this is not true.

We now understand that the simple recognition of our intrinsic Godliness creates the true joy of self-awareness and that is a real and attainable form of Ruach HaKodesh.

But what does that have to do with the theme of the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva? Seemingly this relevant all year-round! Why do we need the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva to teach us that the Simcha of self-awareness is Ruach HaKodesh?

Let’s Mamesh go into the heart of our emotions…

What is disappointment? Disappointment is the difference between my original expectations and the current reality. The greater the gap, the deeper the disappointment.

As we said, the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva celebrates the Nisuch HaMayim. And what is so exciting? It’s the resolution of disappointment. Why? In the beginning of Creation, even before there was light there was water. V’Ruach Elokim Mirachefes El Pnei HaMayim – ‘And the Spirit of Hashem was hovering upon the waters’. All the water was close to Hashem. But then, on the second day God split the waters. He made the Mayim Elyonim and the Mayim Tachtonim – the Upper Waters and the Lower Waters. This is the greatest form of disappointment. The Mayim Tachtonim, the Lower Waters thought, ‘We used to be all the way up there, and now we’re all the way down. Their given reality couldn’t have been farther from the original expectation.

But the Nisuch HaMayim and the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva that highlights it are together the processes that reunite the Mayim Elyonim with the Mayim Tachtonim. It’s the ultimate resolution of the water’s existential disappointment. We put the water on the Altar and raise it up to the level of  where it originally was. In a sense, the water once again gets to feel like its truest self. It goes back to it’s original state of being. Our Simcha of V’Yipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim, our joy or becoming fully ourselves is one in the same the water’s returning to the status of V’Ruach Elokim Mirachefes Al Pnei HaMayim. The Jews and the water celebrate together.

How do we see this in the Torah? It emerges by the Akeida, the dramatic moment in the Torah where Avraham Avinu sends forth his hand to slaughter his only son as a sacrifice. Avraham is called out to from above, Avraham! Avraham! Don’t do it! Spare your son! You’ve already passed the test.

Why is Avraham’s name repeated when he is called? The Sfarim explain that in Shamayim there is portrait of me. This portrait dictates what I would look like if everything went right. What my life would be if I totally fulfilled my potential. This is the ‘me’ upstairs. Then there is me down here, the way that I match up. The difference between me down here and me up there is the root of spiritual disappointment.

Avraham’s name was repeated – Avraham! Avraham! – in order to let him know that the Avraham down here was identical to the idealistic portrait of Avraham up there. Through his tests, through his effort and growth he reached an internal wholeness and a total unification of self.

This complete inner dynamic proves to us (based on our definition of Joy) that Avraham Avinu was in total Simcha because of the Akeida. Because, as we stated above, the Divine Pressence and thus Ruach HaKodesh only appear in a place of Simcha, and had Avraham not had been in a place of joy he would have not heard the Heavens cry out ‘Avraham! Avraham!’ in the first place!

The Simcha of the lower Avraham matching the supernal Avraham draws from the same place as the Simcha of the Mayim Tachtonim finally reunifying with the Mayim Elyonim. But how is this my Simcha as well?

By putting together everything thaw we said, we can fully understand why Simcha is the vessel of Ruach HaKodesh, and why it is specifically the Simchas Beis HaSho’eiva that highlights this element:

After Yom Kipur, I’m pure again. The slate is clean. All the things that created the gap between the me that I’m supposed to be and the me that I really am are now gone. I’m fully myself. There is nothing that separates me from my personal V’Yipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim. That’s the highest form of Simcha. I’m me. I’m back. ‘Me’ – in the truest sense of the word – is emerging once again. I once more sense my Chelek Eloka MiMa’al, my Godly spark. Tapping into this awareness is the inner tranquility of true Simcha and it itself is Ruach HaKodesh.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be able to really sense this. To be able to feel the joy pumping in my veins. To attain the realization that my truest self is Divine. To accept the Ruach HaKodeh that comes from fully knowing who I am. If we can take advantage of the moments that carry with them this exalted mindstate there is no doubt that we will live lives of true, deep Simcha, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately bring the Geulah Sheleima!

Eikev: Party in an Elevator

Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos Kodesh, just please not during Tefilos.

This week’s Parsha begins with Moshe Rabbeinu telling the Jewish People that if they observe the commandments and full-heartedly devote themselves to Avodas Hashem, then God will keep His promise to bring them into Eretz Yisrael and then conquer it.

Due to the interesting word-usage in the opening Passuk, many bottles have ink have been invested into its exposition. With Hashem’s help, perhaps we too will access some levels of the Torah HaKedosha’s beautiful depth. Let’s explore.

Says the Passuk, “V’Haya Eikev Tishmi’un Es HaMishpatim…”  - ‘And it will be on the heels of your heeding to the commandments…’ This is a fancy way of saying, ‘This is what will happen when you listen to Ratzon Hashem and carry it out.

Now, the Passuk merely could have stated ‘V’Haya Im Tishmi’un’ – ‘And it will be if you listen’. Yet, instead, Hashem chose the language of Eikev, which in affect also means ‘if’. When B is Eikev A it tells me that B was the result of A. So, at the end of the day what is gained by switching the simple ‘Im' with ‘Eikev’?

Come Chazal and tell us that the Passuk is coming to deal with a special type of Mitzvah and that the use of language is hinting to us the change. We all have an easier time with Mitzvos that we see as severe or important.  Fasting on Yom Kippur and eating Matzah are good examples. They only come around so often, and when they do they get pretty hyped up. These are called Mitzvos Chamuros – serious Mitzvos.  But there are Mitzvos Kalos, the types of commandment that people sometimes walk all over. Let’s take Birkas HaMazon. Culturally, making an after-Bracha is not treated as a big deal the way those first two examples are. With some thought it becomes easy to place many examples onto either side.

About that second category, the Mitzvos Kalos, Chazal say that a person is Dash B’Akvav, he tramples them with his heels. This means that they are not paid the attention that is due to them. They are not given the respect that they deserve. Our Passuk is coming to tell us about the immense reward for keeping this type of Mitzvah. “V’Haya Eikev Tishmi’un”, It will be when you listen to the Eikev-related Mitzvos. When you make a big deal out of the Mitzvos that are all too often overlooked – that’s where the big reward is.

To make things sweeter, comes the hold Ohr HaChayim and he reminds us of an important principle in Biblical exegesis: “Ain ‘V’Haya’ Ela Lashon Simcha”. When a Passuk begins with V’Haya, ‘And it will be’, you can be sure that the Torah is about to impart good news. Therefore, “V’Haya Eikev Tishmi’un” is coming to tell us that there are very special levels of pleasure and happiness that are waiting for those who keep the Mitzvos that other people are trampling on. Why is this so?

Well, let’s being with the opposite side. In the way that V’Haya is announcing the arrival good vibes, so too Va’Yihi – And it was – is warning the arrival of painful information. It is a Lashon Tzar. How does this work?

The Ze’ev Yitrof explains that the root Yihi is really future tense, but the Hebrew prefix of Vav flips the tense of the word from Yihi - It will be, to Va’Yihi - And it was. This tense-switching prefix is called the Vav-HaHipuch, The Overturning-Vav.  ‘It will be’ connotes the hope for the future, but the Vav HaHipuch puts those hopes out of reach. It tires out what once was a bright possibility. And nothing is more depressing than crushed hopes. This is why VaYihi is Lashon Tzar.

Conversely Haya means ‘It was’ – back in the day, under the cobwebs of history. In this case the Vav HaHipuch breathes new life into that which time has already dominated, switching Haya - ‘It was’ into V’Haya - ‘It shall be’. This refreshing vitality is the life of the Lashon Simcha.

So where is the great Simcha is keeping the Mitzvos Kalos? Those easy Mitzvos, the Mitzvos trampled on by the ‘heels’ of the culture share the theme of Haya, past tense. We see them as bellow us, behind us and beneath us – lifeless and boring. But when we carry them out with zeal, when we fulfill them with enthusiasm, we breathe new life into a once tired and lackluster experience. We take a Haya type of Mitzvah, put in under the enlivening forces of the Vav-HaHipuch and make it a V’Haya type of Mitzvah filled with vitality and excitement.

This is what is going on in the life of Yaakov Avinu. In the epic prophecy of the ladder, the Passuk describes the ladder as being Mutzav Artza and Magi’a Shamaima. It was set on the ground but reaching Heavenward. Hashem is showing Yaakov one aspect of the uniquely Jewish quality to take that which is low and depleted (Mutzav Artza), and raise it up, turning it into something energized and lofty (Magi’a Shamaima).

The letter Yud (י) is the floating letter. Because it hangs in the air, it manifests itself as the Magi’a Shamai letter. If this is true then it makes a lot of sense that the prefix that connotes VaYihi, the letter that serves as the prefix that makes a word future tense is Yud. When the letter Yud starts a word, the whole word is being lifted up after it. Magia Shamaima and therefore Lashon Simcha.

In truth, this begins at Yaakov’s birth. As the Torah HaKedosha tells us, Yaakov Avinu was born a twin. Right before he came out Eisav preceded him. But Yaakov didn’t let Eisav leave without a fight. Yaakov gets his name because – V’Yado Ochezes B’Akeiv Eisav – his hand was grasping on to the Akeiv, the heel of Eisav. He was trying to pull himself out first.

At first glance it’s an utterly ridiculous thought. Yaakov Avinu, the exaltedly righteous forefather of our nation is named after the heel of his evil nemesis Eisav? How does that make any sense?

Says the Arizal, an amazing thing happened at those dramatic moments of the birth of the twins. V’Yado Ochezes B’Akeiv Eisav, Yaakov’s physical grabbing of Eisav’s heel is merely a small physical manifestation of a much larger and more supernal reality.

It’s brought down that the original plan was not for Yaakov versus Eisav. They were not supposed to be set against one another. Rather, they were meant to work together. The initial set up for Am Yisrael was for Yaakov and Eisav to split the twelve tribes in half - six a piece. The Neshamos that were connected to bringing holiness out of the earth were supposed to come from Eisav, as he is described as an Ish Sadeh, man of the field. All the lofty spiritual Tikunim (universal, esoteric perfections) that the world needed were to come from Yaakov. They would split the different roles. Earth and Heaven. Body and soul. Together they would unify two rectified areas of existence thereby making the universe whole.

But Eisav emerged hairy and bearded. He came out Asui, ‘made’. He wasn’t interested in working in the world of spiritual labor. He was done before he started. This being Asui is the root of the name Eisav. At the moment of V’Yado Ochezes B’Akeiv Eisav, when Yaakov grabbed onto the heel of, the lower domain of Eisav; he was really usurping those baser spiritual Kochos for himself. He was accessing the powers of Mutzav Artza that were originally cut out for Eisav and he attached them to his natural Kochos of Magi’a Shamaima. The dream he saw later on was a manifestation of this occurrence. Eisav declared himself to be ready and finished. Eisav was a living VaYihi. His very existence was past-tensed. He had all of this potential and he turned it down.

This means that Yaakov’s whole uniqueness stems from the fact that he was able to access the heel-oriented powers that were originally connected to Eisav. He took the powers that were firmly on the ground and he, in his special way, elevated them.

So then why is his name Yaakov? Shouldn’t it be Eikev? What is the extra Yud doing there in the beginning? Well now the answer should be obvious. The whole concept of taking the Mutzav Artza and making it Magi’a Shamaima is manifested as the flip from past-tense to future-tense: the prefix of Yud. Eisav, who came out ready made with no further potential was V’Haya and thereby Mutzav Artza. Yaakov who came out excited for growth manifested VaYihi and thereby was able to lift things up to the level of Magi’a Shamaima.

Like we said, the Yud, the letter of Magia Shamaima takes a normal word and puts it into the exciting realm of that which is yet to fully be. Therefore, Yaakov’s whole being is to take the Eikev and lift it up, make it Magi’a Shamaima, to excite it and make it future tense… to attach a Yud to the Eikev. Yud plus Eikev spells Yaakov.

This is the depth of V’Haya Eikev Tishmi’un. If you bring the Eikev into the future tense, if you excite that which is naturally low, If you come to deal with Mitzvos the way Yaakov Avinu did that’s the real Simcha and that is where the really big reward is in store.

If we can carry this out, if we can live with this passion, if we can take the Mitzvos that are Mamesh on the ground and then lift them up – then we will be Zocheh to real joy in this world and amazing reward in the next. This is why the Passuk tells us Yagel Yaakov Yismach Yisrael – it’s specifically through accessing this power of Yaakov through which we will have astounding ecstasy in our Avodas Hashem.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to constantly feel the inspiration needed in order to live in this headspace. When we go about our Avodas Hashem in this fashion there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to the Creator and inevitably towards the Geulah Sheleimah!

Parshas Shkalim: A New Lease on Life

Am Yisrael enters into Adar (this year Adar Sheini) by reading what is called Parshas Shkalim. Parshas Shkalim is a small portion found in the beginning of Parshas Ki Sisa where HaKadosh Baruch Hu commands Moshe Rabbeinu to take a census of the people via each one donating a Machatzis HaShekel - One half of a Shekel coin to the creation of the Mishan.

Why do we read about Shkalim when Adar begins? Chazal base this custom off the first Mishna found in Messeches Shkalim. The Messeches begins, “B’Echad Ba’Adar Mashmi’in Al HaShkalim” – ‘On the first day of Adar they proclaim about the Shkalim.’ In the times of the Beis HaMikdash, in similar fashion to what we described by the Mishkan, there was a year donation from the people of a half-Shekel. This money was used to pay for Korbanos (sacrifices) and the general upkeep of the Beis HaMikdash. The announcement to bring in these Shkalim was released on the first day of Adar.

We also know the famous Ma’amar Chazal (and catchy song) MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha - When Adar enters, we increase the happiness level.

What emerges is that Chazal tell us about to spiritual realities that occur simultaneously. The announcement of the Shkalim (based on the Shkalim of the Mishkan) and the amplification of Simcha both emerge from Adar’s arrival.

It would be impossible to say that these two realities - Mashmi’in Al HaShkalim and Marbin B’Simcha - are disconnected. The Jewish approach to spirituality is too sensitive and too nuanced to let such an overlap lay unclarified. The question is: What about Shkalim brings us to a place of Marbin B’Simcha?

We need to begin by first clarifying the nature of the Simcha of Adar. It can’t simply be that there is a holiday – practically every month has some sort of holiday in it. Pesach we celebrate our liberty. Chanuka we celebrate religious dedication. Shavuos commemorates the accaptence of the Torah HaKedosha. Yet none of the months associated with any of these holidays see a clearly stated augmentation of joyfulness. What makes the holiday of Purim unique that it causes a reality of Marbin B’Simcha?

We can answer with a parable that I heard from my dear Rebbe, Rav Elchanan Ehrman Shlit’a: Skydiving. During the drive there…Worry. Suiting up in the equipment…Panic. On the plane-ride up…Terror. As you bullet towards the ground…shock. And then you land safely. You get in your car and go home. The emotions used to describe that car ride are different than that of the others…Bliss. A new lease on life. Pure, unadulterated exhilaration.

Why is this so? The answer is that there are all sorts of joys in life and then there is one happiness that rises above all others, and that is the joy of simply being alive. When my life is put in danger, where there is a chance I just might not make it - and then I get through, I get to approach life with a totally new appreciation. Colors become brighter. Food tastes more flavored. Music is more harmonious. The simple fact that I’m alive on the canvas of the possibility that for a brief moment I almost wasn’t, gives me the ability to live with vitality impossible without such a climactic moment.

This is what sets Purim apart from all other holidays. Like we said, every holiday celebrates a very specific point: Mitzvah-observance, the Torah HaKedosha, freedom. On Purim we are celebrating something qualitatively different. We are celebrating the fact that (to quote my dear grandmother) it’s good be above the ground as opposed to in it.

Haman sought to kill out every last Yiddaleh (Jew in Yiddish) on one day. In the month of Nisan the decree was put out that eleven months later in Adar all of Am Yisrael would be slaughtered. Eleven months. Eleven months of dread. Eleven months of being taunted – “I’m gonna get you.” And then…and the last second…Venahafoch Hu! Everything got turned upside-down and we were saved. Sounds a little like skydiving.

But what caused us to be saved? The Midrash tells us that Haman saught to bribe Achashverosh by paying him ten-thousand silver pieces. When this was happening, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said in Shamayim - “Fool! You think you will decree against them with your money? They already have a Zechus, a merit of money that has far preempted yours!” Which money is that? The Machatzis HaShekel that was used in the desert, the one that we read about on Parshas Shkalim, the entryway into MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha.

Now things are clear. There is an intrinsic connection between the reading of Parshas Shkalim and MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha because what granted us the Simchas HaChayim, the joy of simply being alive, was the fact that we donated the Machatzis HaShekel to the Mishkan. In other words, without Parshas Shkalim there would be no possibility for MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha.

But nowadays in order to experience this spiritual reality we need to take a slightly different root, because – to our great distress – there is no Beis HaMikdash do donate to.

However there is another way other than a monetary donation. That is the donation of my effort, my energy, my emotions. How is a personal investment as good as a monetary one? Because as the Ba’al HaTurim points out, Shekel shares the same Gematria (numerical value) as Nefesh - Soul.

The investment of my Kishkes, of making my Avodas Hashem the central, most important factor in my life is the way that we make our way to Simchas HaChayim. In order to achieve the feeling that life is vibrant we need to be appreciative of the very fact that we are alive, and that is only done by becoming to the root of all life in the universe.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be Zocheh, meritorious enough to experience MiShe’Nichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha in the light of B’Echad Ba’Adar Mashmi’in Al HaShkalim, meaning that on the first of Adar a proclamation is made to each Shekel, each Nefesh that now is the time to become fully alive. If we can life in the context of all of its beauty, if we can experience Avodas Hashem as the life-changing experience that it is, if we can fully invest ourselves there is no doubt that we will live lives full of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!