ELEVATING ALL OF CREATION (MB)

Topic: Holidays & Time Zones | 2017

The ten days beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending on Yom Kippur are called the Ten Days of Repentance, and each day corresponds to one of the Ten Utterances of the Light of the Creator that created this world. Most of us know the Story of Creation; the Creator said, "Let there be light" and there was light, "Let there be vegetation," and there was vegetation, and so on. Therefore, because each one of the Ten Utterances corresponds to each of the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the one that corresponds with Yom Kippur can help us understand some of the Light and gifts that are available on that day. 

The tenth utterance in the process of creation was, "Let us make man." The Ari, Rav Isaac Luria, points out something in this tenth utterance that is different from the other nine before it. In all the previous steps in the process of creation - the creation of light, the creation of the ocean, the creation of the heavens, the creation of vegetation, the creation of the animals, etc. - it was a singular utterance. However, when it comes to the tenth utterance, the plural “us” is used.

And so, the kabbalists ask who the us is that the Creator is referring to when He says, "Let us make man." The Ari explains that one can only influence where he is and what he is connected to, and as such, every other part of creation - the animals, vegetation, heavens, earth, oceans, and so on - can only influence where they are because they are singularly of their own essence. Yet, man needed to be different, because the purpose of man is to elevate all parts of creation, spiritually and physically. In order to be able to elevate and bring a change to everything, we have to be made of everything, because a person cannot influence what he does not have or is not connected to. 

Therefore, the Ari says that when the Creator decided, after the physical world was done, that it was time for man to be created, He said to all parts of creation, "I need you all to take a drop of your essence, and together, We are going to create this essence of man." And because man is made up of an element of everything of this world, both spiritually and physically, man can influence everything of this world. 

It is an aspect of what the day of Yom Kippur is about; the energy of "Let us make man" is awakened. Now, as we understand it, the fact that we are made up of everything, on the positive side, means we can influence and elevate everything. But, of course, on the negative side, it also means that when we fall, we take down aspects of everything with us. We cannot have the positive without also the negative. That is the secret of man as being created by all creation, not just by the Light of the Creator. And now we can come to Yom Kippur with the understanding that in this past year, because we are made up of everything, when we got angry or acted selfishly, we did not simply take ourselves down a little bit; we, in essence, took everything down a little bit. We have the potential to both elevate and bring down everything. All of nature is influenced by the actions of man. 

So, on Yom Kippur, yes, we need to cleanse all the damage to everything that is connected to us that we have done when we fell in this past year in whatever degree. But, more importantly than that, on Yom Kippur we need to ask, "Give us more of everything, give us a greater connection to all of creation." Because the more we are connected to all of creation, the more our individual actions will be able to elevate all of creation. It is a secret of Yom Kippur, which relates to the tenth utterance of creation, "Let us make man;” on Yom Kippur, we go to all of creation and say, "Today is the day you are investing yourselves in each one of us, in each person in this world. Give me more of you so that I can elevate more of this world." 

My father, Rav Berg, would often remind us that it is not a single individual who comes to this world, but rather, a collective consciousness. And in speaking about the End of the Correction, Maimonides says, “The collective consciousness of this person called Mashiach, the consciousness that will bring a change to this world, is that he elevates him or her self and the people of his generation." That is what Mashiach consciousness is. It is that desire and focus of, “I need to elevate myself and the entire world, all of the time, every single day, every single week, every single month." 

I am sure we all desire to be part of that work and part of that consciousness, to some degree. And on Yom Kippur we can ask, "Make me a greater part of everything." Because, on Yom Kippur, the Light of "Let us make man,” is revealed, and we can ask for more of that connection to all of creation. Why? So that in this coming year as we elevate, we have the connection to all things and the strength and ability to not only elevate ourselves, but also all of creation.