I Will Choose the King: Section 6

Further explanation is necessary, [for it appears that the “clever person’s” choice of the king is an intellectual decision]. This applies even according to the explanation that he is not choosing the king because of his desire for personal benefit, but because of his realization of the king’s eminence. This realization motivates him to forego the abundant influence that comes from [the intermediaries]. Thus the “clever person’s” choice of the king appears to stem from his understanding.1 He realizes that since “all the others are subject to replacement2 while the king is not subject to replacement,” it is befitting3 to forego the abundant influence conveyed by the “officers”4 and choose the limited influence that comes from the king himself.

Nevertheless, from the fact that the Midrash associates the [“clever person’s”] choice of the king with the verse, “ ‘G‑d is my portion,’ says my soul,” it appears that the Jews’ choice of G‑d stems from their souls (because their souls are “an actual part of G‑d from Above”)5 which thus [seek to cleave to their source because of an innate spiritual desire] that transcends intellect.6

[Thus there is an apparent contradiction: If the choice comes from the soul’s inherent G‑dly nature, how is it connected with the wisdom of the “clever person”? And if the choice is motivated by logic, what connection does it have to the soul’s innate desire for G‑dliness?]

The core of the resolution is that, as it exists on its own, mortal logic compels a person to desire his own personal benefit. That is the reason why the nations of the world chose the officers even though they can also understand that the king is of fundamental importance. ([After all, if the rationale] “all the others are subject to replacement7 while the king is not subject to replacement” [is a logical imperative, seemingly, they should also comprehend it]). [Nevertheless,] since their fundamental nature is characterized by yeshus, self-concern, they do not want to forego the benefit they will receive from the officers.8 [Their fundamental self-concern prevents them from internalizing the awareness of the truth of G‑d’s prominence.]

Conversely, the reason that Jews feel compelled to forego the benefit [they could receive from the officers] and instead, [rise above] their self-concern and choose G‑dliness, is because of their souls,9 (i.e., because their souls are “a part of G‑d”). Thus their choice of G‑d is an essential choice that transcends logic and reason. (For their choice is not motivated by [their awareness of] G‑d’s eminence — i.e., that “the King is not subject to replacement” — but rather by His Essence. Nevertheless, [their essential bond with G‑d] affects their thinking processes as well,10 causing their minds to realize that since G‑d is true Being, that He is alive and exists everlastingly — i.e., “the King is not subject to replacement” — they should forego their own self-concern and choose G‑dliness.

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I Will Choose the King: Section 5

I Will Choose the King: Section 7

Footnotes

As is reflected by the description of him as a clever person.

[And thus, as explained in sec. 5, since they are subject to replacement, they do not represent true existence, even when they are in power.]

I.e., this can be understood even by mortal intellect.

See Likkutei Torah, Vayikra, p. 20b, which states that ahavah rabbah, “abundant love,” is characterized by a person’s desire for G‑d’s Essence and not the radiance [of His light], even though [bonding with His Essence] will cause the person’s own existence to be nullified. Such love is “referred to as being ‘male’ in nature, because it reflects powerful knowledge [which motivates the person] to choose what is of fundamental importance and not what is of secondary importance.” Ahavah zuta [reflects] a lesser level of love. (It is characterized by a desire for the radiance [of G‑d’s light thus enabling] the person’s existence to remain intact. Thus,) it is “referred to as being ‘female’ in nature, because his knowledge is fickle (cf. Kiddushin 80b), i.e., he grants primacy to what is secondary, [seeking to receive the radiance of Divine light] because he seeks his own self-importance.” See also fn. 9 of this section.

[The various intermediaries through which Divine blessings are channeled.]

[Tanya, ch. 2.]

[To explain by analogy: A son desires to cleave to his father not because of his appreciation of the good that his father has done for him or the positive virtues his father possesses, but because of the mere fact that he is his father; they share an essential bond. Similarly, the soul shares a core connection to G‑dliness that transcends all reason and logic.]

[And thus, as explained in sec. 5, even when they are in power, they do not represent true existence because they are all subject to replacement.]

[Thus, even though they are capable of understanding that G‑dliness is the only true existence, that understanding does not affect their fundamental approach to life. Hence, they choose the intermediaries, the entities that will provide them with immediate benefit.]

See Tanya, ch. 19 (cited in Likkutei Torah, loc. cit.), which states that the soul’s desire “to cleave to its root and source in G‑d, the Life of lives, even though as a result it will be nothingness and void and have its existence subsumed [in Him] entirely,” is a natural drive that
transcends intellect. Now, the soul desires to cleave to G‑d because He is “the Life of lives” (the ultimate eminence), [i.e., something that logic would accept]. Nevertheless, since the soul will become “nothingness and void” by cleaving to G‑d, its desire to cling to its source stems from a natural drive that transcends intellect. [For a person’s intellect on its own would never desire to entirely obliterate his own selfhood. It is the soul’s essential G‑dly nature that motivates such a desire.]

On this basis, it is possible to explain the statement in Likkutei Torah, loc. cit., that the reason for the soul’s desire [to bond with G‑d’s Essence] is “powerful knowledge,” [i.e., seemingly a motivation stemming from logic]. {The maamar in Likkutei Torah, however, cites the passage from Tanya mentioned above [which states that the soul’s desire to cleave to G‑d stems from a natural drive that transcends intellect]}. [The apparent contradiction can be resolved] on the basis of the statements that follow in this maamar:that the desire which stems from the soul’s natural drive, a desire that transcends intellect, affects its thinking processes.

10.

See Sefer HaMaamarim 5560, p. 16, which states: “Because the essence of the soul cleaves [to G‑d]… its power of wisdom is inclined to comprehend the positive nature of G‑dliness and choose what is good.”

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