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In the grand sweep of Jewish history (and there is no broader swath of human history than the 5770 years of Judaism), it takes a sharp eye to pin-point points of inflection. None but the truly great sages have the tools and the broad understanding to grasp exactly where we “stand” in the overall scope of our history. Most of us are like the proverbial trees in the forest; we only know what is around us and no more. We lack the tools to discern, for example, when the Jews served G-d with one particular style, and when or why they may have shifted to serving Him with another approach. It is up to the sages to provide us with that kind of perspective. One lens through which they do so is the festival of Shavuot. On Shavuot, we commemorate the giving of the Torah. This festival cemented our unique relationship with the One above, transforming it from a G-dly bond with certain individuals, to a formal spiritual covenant with an entire people – the Jews.
The medium that allows us to judge our history, and to find historical points of change, is to look at what else happened on Shavuot. For, the Torah is not only a written document. It is also a living testament, brought to us and instilled by the great Torah giants of every generation. There was a Moshe Rabeinu who led the Jews out of Egypt, and who brought us the Torah and taught it to the Jews. And there will be no other prophet on his level. Nevertheless, in every generation, there is a tzadik, or righteous person, who applies Moshe’s Torah to his generation. Building upon all that preceded him, he presents the Torah in a manner that is real and alive for his contemporaries. In this sense, there is, so to speak, a “Moshe Rabeinu” in every generation, and a matan Torah (“giving of the Torah”) as well. Every generation faces specific challenges and has specific needs. Although the Torah is eternal and does not change (the obligation of 613 commandments is immutable), how the Torah is presented to each generation, and on what aspect of Torah is placed emphasis, subtly shifts. Our task is to detect the shift, and in so doing, to gain of sense of where exactly we stand in the vast scope of Jewish history.
The events that help us gain this sort of perspective were also events that took place on Shavuot. First, there was the passing of King David – which took place on Shavuot (see the Talmud Yerushalmi, Chagiga 2:3. The Talmud Babli Shabbat 30A tells us that K.David passed away on a Shabbat. In our day and age, the first day of Shavuot cannot occur on Shabbat, but in former days when the months were fixed based upon the word of witnesses, this did occur). And many generations later, during the final (sixth) millennia, some two hundred and fifty years ago, the Ba’al Shem Tov also passed away on the first day of Shavuot. The confluence of these three events (the giving of the Torah, and the passing of King David and of the Ba’al Shem Tov) is not coincidental. Since all three have major ramifications for the Jews as a whole, and all occurred on one day – they are somehow interconnected. The main event of the day was and remains the giving of the Torah, but that event came to expression in different ways through King David and through the Ba’al Shem Tov.
The lens through which we want to view all three events is a statement of King David, appearing in the Midrash (Shemot Raba 12:3). “King David said, even though G-d decreed that the heavens are for G-d, and the earth was given to man…when He wanted to give the torah, He nullified the original decree, saying, ‘The lower realms may ascend above, and the supernal realms may descend to the lower worlds. And I am the initiator, as it says, “And the Lord descended on Mt. SinaiŔ and it says, “And to Moshe, G-d said, Ascend to the Lord...”
An interesting feature of this statement is that it starts with the dynamic from below to Above. That is, King David begins by saying that the “The lower realms may ascendŔ This is despite the fact that in reality, it was G-d Who first initiated the movement, as we see in the final statement, based upon the verse, “And the Lord descended upon Mt. SinaiŔ From this it is understood that in order for the lower realms to ascend and elevate to the upper realms, it was necessary for the initiative to first come from the higher realms – “And I am the Initiator.”
And this holds the key to understanding the connection between the first two events associated with Shavuot; the giving of the Torah and the passing of King David. The descent of the upper, spiritual worlds to join forces with the lower, terrestrial realms was complete and total at matan Torah. This is especially understood in reference to what took place before the giving of the Torah. Even the spiritual giants of that age – our forefathers – were incapable of bringing G-dliness to bear on the physical world in more than a passing way. The mitzvoth that they did were described as “fragrances,” or “aromas.” They had an effect upon the physical world only at the time that the forefathers performed them. But, as soon as they concluded their performance, the spirituality dissipated – it was as if no mitzvah had been done whatsoever. Just like a fragrance or aroma wafts through the air and then disappears, so the G-dliness brought down by the forefathers lasted only so long as they performed the mitzvah. Immediately afterward, it dissipated, leaving no lasting impression on the lower, physical realm.
However, the giving of the Torah, from Above to below, changed all that. After the giving of the Torah, the upper, spiritual worlds decisively “conquered” the lower worlds, so that now when we do a mitzvah, it leaves a lasting “footprint” and impression upon the world. The physical world is not the same after a mitzvah is performed upon it as before. And this we can see during the event itself, as the Torah was given. The Midrash (Shemot Raba 29) says that “No bird chirped, and no fowl flew” as the Torah was given. And most telling; there was no echo. The voice of G-d that emerged from on top of Mt. Sinai, giving us the ten commandments, as well as the thunder, etc – produced no echo. This was because instead of bouncing off the physical world, as before, the voices from above now penetrated the physical world. Instead of hearing the sounds of matan Torah as they bounced off the physical world, now the only voice that was heard was that of G-d Himself. There was no echo, because with the giving of the Torah, the spiritual realm was able to penetrate and permeate the physical world and have an effect upon it from outside. This was the novelty of matan Torah; G-d nullified the decree separating the upper and lower realms, and allowed spirituality to permanently descend to the physical world.
That was all regarding the movement from Above to below. However, the real work begun when the Jews began using the Torah, doing mitzvoth in the physical world, raising and elevating the world from below to Above. And, just as the Torah did not descend from Above immediately, but began its descent with Avraham Avinu (who was the first to “illuminate” the world), so the world did not achieve its spiritual ascent in one fell swoop. It took generations, beginning with the giving of the Torah, and culminating with King David (about whom we say, “all seventh’s are beloved,” since his was the seventh generation after the giving of the Torah) and even moreso, with his son, King Solomon (about whom the Zohar says, “the moon was at its fullest,” since his was the fifteenth generation from Abraham, corresponding to the fifteenth day of the lunar month, when the moon is at its fullest).
There were two themes that characterized King David’s life; his reign as King of the Jews, and the building of the holy Temple in Jerusalem. Regarding his reign, he was the first to be the king of all the Jews (K. Shaul did not reign over all the Jews), and moreover, the reign was granted to him and his descendents forever. And even though it was actually his son, King Solomon who built the Temple, nevertheless all of the plans were drawn up and prepared in the time of King David, and the Temple is called in his name. And it is these two themes which most fully express the principle of the lower realms ascending above, as follows…
There is a difference between the way that we would nullify ourselves as subjects of a king, and the way that we would nullify ourselves to a teacher, for example. For, while we are interested in gaining specific knowledge from the teacher, we need not nullify any other aspects of our lives to his teaching. We relate to the teacher according to what we want from him, and therefore we show him deference and respect in that subject, but not in any other aspect of our lives. This is not true of our relationship, though to a king. The lives of his subjects are bound up with the reign of the king, and therefore his subjects are totally nullified to him and to his will. There is no detail over which the king has no say – he has complete and total control over his kingdom – including his people, and they in turn are totally nullified to his will. This distinction is expressed in the application of the death penalty. If one is disobedient to his teacher, he may suffer rejection, or may simply fail to learn the subject as well as if he put aside his own ego. However, if one is disobedient in any respect whatsoever to the king, he must suffer the consequences – the death penalty. This is because as the subject of the king, every detail of his life is under the dominion of the king’s reign.
A similar dichotomy exists between the Torah and the rule of the King. There are six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth, and failure to comply with any of them entails various punishments. Occasionally, the death penalty comes into play, but the fact that there are other punishments indicates that the death penalty only occurs in instances of extreme severity. The death penalty does not come as a result of failure to subjugate oneself to the dictates of the Torah, but because some of the dictates of the Torah are quite serious and stringent. It is the level of seriousness that determines the penalty. This is unlike the rule of a king, though, to whom total obeisance and nullification is necessary. The level of seriousness or stringency of the disobedience does not matter – major or minor – the very act of disobedience brings on the death penalty. While the Torah comes to teach and to guide, the king on the other hand, comes to rule. As such, he demands the total loyalty and obedience of his subjects. Anything else is liable to capital punishment.
The source of this distinction lies in the two dynamics mentioned above. The Torah was given from Above, and in this sense it is like a “gift.” It will be accepted by different people in different ways, since the initiative to give the Torah came not from the people below, but from Above. A Jewish king, though, comes to us via our own initiative from below. As the Torah says, “Establish over yourselves a KingŔ meaning that the demand for a king comes from below, from the people themselves. And, as a result, the people are completely and totally subjected to the reign of the king, in all details of their lives, since this is their choice from “below.”
The same dynamic, of initiative from below, characterized the holy Temple. For that reason, the Temple was not only a building that “contained” the holy Presence that descended from Above. It was also an edifice that in its very being, “instilled” and “inspired” spirituality below. The very materials from which the Temple was made were permeated with and expressed G-dliness. And although the same was true of the Tabernacle, that traveled with the Jews in the desert and then accompanied them for hundreds of years in the land of Israel, still the Temple had the advantage in establishing the principle of ascent from below. When the tabernacle moved from one place to another during the travels of the Jews, nothing was left of the spirituality that had been there previously. However, G-dliness permeated the structure of the Temple; it also permeated the place on which it stood. While the various locations where the tabernacle stood are no longer holy, the Temple mount remains holy even after the destruction of the Temple. The Temple had the advantage that it not only became holy itself, but it transferred this holiness to the location on which it stood.
The respective advantages to the two dynamics (Above to below, below to Above) have been analyzed elsewhere (see Likutei Sichot, vol. 7, Page 200). In brief, the dynamic from Above to below has the advantage that since it comes from above, it accurately reflects the will of G-d, and His desire to provide illumination in this, the lowest of all worlds. Its disadvantage is that since it does not descend in proportion to the abilities of the lower creation to absorb and integrate it, it is not permanent. Since the lower realms cannot absorb pure, unadulterated revelation of G-dly light from Above, the revelation does not last.
The advantage, on the other hand of the dynamic from below to above is that since it involves commitment from below, it is more lasting and permanent. Since it is, after all, the lower world that demonstrates a desire to ascend, when it polishes and refines itself for that purpose, the effect is longer lasting than when G-dliness merely shines from above. However, since the effort takes place from below, it is lacking the G-dly illumination that could uplift it from Above.
The optimal situation, obviously would be one in which both advantages are present; the support and guidance that comes from above, together with the effort and initiative that emerges from below. Ultimately, that will take place with the arrival of meshiach and the advent of the messianic age. However, the wheels were already set in motion when the Torah was given. It took generations for the dynamic from above to below to materialize with the giving of the Torah. It took more generations for the opposite dynamic to materialize from below to Above, with the reign of King David and the building of the Temple. And it is presently taking generations for the two dynamics to merge and bring the meshiach. However, the process began to come to fruition when the Ba’al Shem Tov first revealed his Torah in the world.
The novelty revealed in the Ba’al Shem Tov’s Torah was that he dealt not only with the secrets of the Torah – the Ten commandments, which transcend the world – but with the the ten creative utterances that permeate the world, as well. Until the time of the Ba’al Shem tov, the ten utterances of creation were just that – ten statements that G-d said in order to create the universe. However, the Torah of the Ba’al Shem Tov reveals that within the letters of the ten utterances of creation is found the highest G-dliness and spirituality, and he sought to awaken that spirituality, among the creatures and creations of the lower world. Before the advent of the Ba’al Shem tov, the ten utterances permeated creation in a concealed manner. But, the Ba’al Shem Tov sought to reveal these G-dly utterances so that the entire world would know that the true nature of creation is not the physical matter that it consists of, but the “word of G-d” that creates and maintains the creation from nothing to something at every instant.
This awareness; that the creation is beyond physical, and includes (mainly) elements that are essentially spiritual, began with the Baal Shem Tov and spread to masses of Jews in Europe and Russia. It is a movement of the world itself, the lower physical realms that have begun to take on a more spiritual consciousness. At the same time, the Baal Shem Tov proved his point by using verses and explanations from the Torah, which is given from Above. By explaining the principle of spirituality within creation by using verses of the Torah itself, the Baal Shem Tov combined the two dynamics (above to below and vice versa), thus setting the stage for the future revelation, when the meshiach, learned in Torah and also from the House of David, will come and build the third and final Temple…
From Likutei Sichot of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz’l, vol. 8, pp. 21-28 Rabbi David Sterne, Jerusalem Connection in the old city of Jerusalem