Hayom Yom: Tackling Life's Tasks - 5 Nissan

[A grammatical point:] In the paragraph beginning Retzeh in the Grace after Meals, the letter beis in the phrase baal hayeshuos has a dagesh, whereasthe same letter in the following phrase (u’vaal hanechamos) does not have a dagesh.

The Sages teach:1 “It is not a person’s place that enhances his honor [kavod]; it is the person that enhances the honor of his place.”

On this teaching my revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash], commented: “There are two ways to understand the word kavod:

“Its three root-letters spell kaved, which means a liver. The same word appears in the phrase,2 kaved lev Par’oh, where it means that‘Pharaoh’s heart has become stubborn’ (lit., ‘heavy’). In the interpretation of the Sages,3 ‘His heart, [which ought to be warmly responsive to spirituality,] has become [spiritually insensitive,] like a liver.’4

“The other meaning of kavod is ‘honor,’ which [in Kabbalistic terms] signifies the revelation of a transcendent light5 from a lofty Divine source.

“Considering these two meanings, the above teaching of the Sages can be perceived [on a non-literal, mystical level,] as intimating the following message: A person’s place, his environment, [should] not [weigh him down and] cool his ardor; rather, every individual has the power to illuminate his environment with the light of the Torah and Divine service.

“[And indeed,] before every soul descends into the body, an oath is administered to it: ‘Be righteous!’6 [Now, the root of the verb mashbi’im (‘an oath is administered’) is virtually identical with the root of the verb masbi’im (‘one causes [him] to be sated’).7 ] By this oath, the soul is fully empowered to fulfill the purpose of its descent.

“And the same is true of every individual, wherever he may be.”8