All the distinctions and gradations of love, that have been mentioned above, derive from the "right side," from the distinction of "Priest, man of grace" and are called kesef ha-kodoshim ("longing for holy things") etymologically as in "Thou sore longedst after thy father's house."
There is, however, yet another distinction of love which excels them all, as gold is superior to silver, and this is a love like fiery coals from the distinction of the "Supernal Gevurot" from Binah ilaah ("Supernal Understanding"). This is when, through contemplation on the greatness of the blessed En Sof, before Whom everything is truly accounted as nought, the soul is kindled and flares up towards the glory of the splendour of His greatness, in order to gaze on the glory of the King, like glowing coals of a mighty flame which surges upwards, striving to be parted from the wick and the wood on which it has taken hold. This is brought on by the preponderance of the element of Divine fire that is in the divine soul. In consequence of this it develops a thirst, as is written: "My soul thirsteth for Thee"; next it attains the distinction of "love-sickness"; and then it reaches a state of very rapture of the soul (
From here [supernal Gevurot] issues forth the root of the Levites [on earth] below (and in the World to Come, when the world will be exalted, they will become the priests, as our Master Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, commented on the verse, "But the priests, the Levites," that the Levites of today will become the priests of the future). The service of the Levites was to raise the voice of melody and thanksgiving, with song and music, with tunefulness and harmony, in a manner of "advance and retreat" which is the distinction of the intense love resembling the flame that flashes out of the lightning, as is mentioned in the Gemara (Chagigah, ch. II).
It is impossible to elucidate this matter clearly in writing. Yet every warmhearted and intelligent person gifted with understanding, who deeply binds his mind and contemplation to G‑d, will discover the goodness and light which are treasured up in his intelligent soul, each according to his capacity— ("There is one who is affected [in one way] ..., and there is one who is affected [in another],")— prefacing it with the fear of sin, in order to be completely parted from evil, that the iniquities may not interpose,..., G‑d forbid.
The order of the service in occupying oneself with the Torah and commandments, a service derived from the category of the said intense love, is in the manner of "retreat" alone, as is written in Sefer Yetzirah: "And if thy heart hastens, return to the One." The interpretation of [the phrase] "If thy heart hastens" is the craving of the soul that is in the right side of the heart — when it gains sway and bursts into flame and grows so exceedingly enraptured that the very soul is consumed with a desire to pour itself out into the embrace of its Father, the blessed Life of life, and to leave its confinement in the corporeal, physical body, in order to attach itself to Him, may He be blessed— then one must take to heart the teaching of the Rabbis, of blessed memory: "Despite thyself thou livest" in this body, animating it for the purpose of drawing downwards the higher life from the blessed Life of life, through the life-giving Torah, that there may be a dwelling in the lower world for His blessed Oneness in a revealed state. As has been explained above, and as is explained in the holy Zohar, "That there be 'One in One,' the meaning of which is that the yichud hane'elam (hidden Unity) shall become a category of the 'revealed world.'"
And this is the interpretation of the text: "Come, my beloved," and so on. From this will be understood the adage of the Rabbis: "Despite thyself thou livest, and despite thyself...." As for what shall one's will be indeed? The answer will be found elsewhere in the lengthy explanation of this Mishnah: "Despite thyself thou livest"— with the aid of the blessed Life of life.
Start a Discussion