Topic: Kabbalistic Concepts |
In the portion Naso is the story of the Sotah, a woman accused by her husband of adultery. After being accused, she then has to say it's not true, and in the time of the Tabernacle, there was a test; it wasn't so much the adultery, but the lying after the adultery. Therefore, this is not only a person who's fallen. This is a person who has fallen and is blind to their fall.
What is the test? It says the kohen, the priest, takes holy water (the Torah doesn't tell us specifically what the holy water is), puts dirt from the floor of the Tabernacle, or the Temple that existed, into an earthenware vessel, places it into the water, and then dissolves the Tetragrammaton into the water, so that there are the three elements in the water: the holy water, the earth from the Tabernacle, and the name of the Creator. If the woman was lying and really had cheated on her husband, terrible things happen from drinking this water. However, if she was pure and did not cheat on her husband, then not only did terrible things not happen, but also, she receives many blessings and great Light from it; so much so that if she had been unable to bear children, she is now able to.
The great kabbalist Rav Chaim ben Atar, in his commentary, says, "We find a strange phrase in the portion Naso - holy water.” Then he asks what it means, “holy water,” what makes it holy, and why holy water would be used in a test of somebody who might be very negative? He says that in order to explain this phrase and the story, he has to reveal something from the secrets of the Torah and the wisdom of Kabbalah: at the essence of everything - every inanimate vegetable, animal, and human - is a tremendous desire to come close to the Light of the Creator. There is this hunger, even in the inanimate things in our world, for a connection to the Light of the Creator. Just that understanding is so beautiful; the essence of everything in this world— for example, a paper, a table, a cup, and so on — is one of a tremendous yearning and hunger to come close to the Light of the Creator. Everything in this world, from the inanimate to the human, has at its core a tremendous hunger and desire to come close to the Light of the Creator.
The Midrash says there's a concept called the waters that cry. Why are they called the waters that cry? We know that in the process of Creation, there were some waters that were sent down into the physical world and some waters that were allowed to elevate to the heavens. The waters that were sent down into the physical world are in pain, because they're far away from the Light of the Creator, and as we said, at the core is a burning hunger and desire to be close to the Creator. Therefore, the low waters are called the crying waters, because everything that is created which is far from the Creator is in pain. And so, all the water and physicality that exists in our world, to the degree that it is distanced from the Light of the Creator, is to the degree that it is in pain and cries. The one thing that unifies all creation is this burning hunger that we all have for a connection to the Light to the Creator.
Humans, because of our selfishness and Desire to Receive for the Self Alone, are able to hide that hunger, but for everything else, it exists in the open. And therefore, any lack of connection for vegetation, inanimate object, or animal causes them pain and tears. But since we know that the Light of the Creator desires to reside in everything, what happened was that since man fell, every time we do a negative action, we distance the Light of the Creator and cause more pain to all of creation. Then, because of our negativity, the Light of the Creator has to be more concealed and more distant to all of creation.
When it says that the Light of the Creator will remove all the tears, it’s not just talking about the tears cried by humans. It's talking about the tears that exist in all creation— in the waters, the inanimate objects, the vegetation, the animals… they're all crying. They're all in pain because of the lack of connection to the Light of the Creator. Then, when the End of the Correction comes, the waters will be full of joy. The world will be full of joy. But when an individual, and the world collectively, cause the Light of the Creator, because of our negative actions, to have to elevate, this is what causes pain and darkness in the world.
Rav Chaim Ben Atar tells us we have to pay attention to this teaching, because it’s very important. What was revealed at Sinai, which is really the secret of Shavuot, is what the End of the Correction means: the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the Creator. It means that everything will finally have what it wants. The waters will have what they want. The earth will have what it wants. The vegetation will have what it wants. The animals will have what they want.
And as we know, at the time when the Light of the Creator was revealed at Sinai, all people, waters, inanimate objects, vegetation, and animals were filled with joy, because they were able to finally reconnect completely to the Light of the Creator, and then there was freedom from death, because there was no cause for darkness or pain. Because, again, this is the amazing revelation amongst many that the Rav Chaim Ben Atar gives us here: what causes darkness to manifest in this world is caused by our negative actions that distance the Light of the Creator from all of creation.
It says when the End of the Correction comes, the spirit of uncleanliness will be rooted from the earth. What is that force that allows negativity? The pain that exists in creation, in the inanimate, in the vegetation, in the animals is what manifests and is called the spirit of uncleanliness. That is the force that allows darkness, pain, and death to manifest in our world. But when we elevate our world and allow everything to become closer to the Creator, then that spirit of uncleanliness is removed; that facilitator of darkness and pain is removed from our world. And that is also when we remove death from our world forever.
So, first Rav Chaim Ben Atar tells us how important this teaching is, and then at the end, he says to keep this teaching now, with this understanding, that all of creation is in pain, because everything at its essence has a great desire and hunger to be connected to the Light of the Creator. When we individually or collectively cause the Light of the Creator to move even further, then we cause greater pain. And that is what allows darkness, negativity, and death to manifest in our world.
So, what does it mean, holy water? And why is this water used to test the woman who fell, but says she didn't? These are waters that resided in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is the place where the Light of the Creator manifested in this world, and any water that is close to the Creator is holy water. Any water that is close to the Creator is happy water. As such, now we understand what the purpose of this happy and holy water, which resides in the Tabernacle, the physical resting place of the Light of the Creator, was. The Creator says, "Take the water that is currently happy." Why is it happy? Because it's connected to the Light of the Creator. And it feels that connection, and it's happy with it, and is given to the woman to drink.
When the water goes into this woman, she's either a pure and elevated woman, or a woman who is fallen and has no idea she's fallen. The water, when it goes into her mouth, is happy, holy, elevated water that is connected to the Light of the Creator. And so, when she ingests it, if she is a woman who is far away from the Light to the Creator, she causes great pain to this water. Because she's taken what was previously holy, pure, connected water, and brought it into her body, and since she has been a negative person, she is separating that water from the Light of the Creator; it is the pain of that water which causes the woman to manifest negativity right then and there. However, if the woman is elevated, if she's pure, then the water, even having been ingested by her, remains connected to the Light of the Creator. The water feels no pain nor negativity. That is the secret of the holy water.
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