Why Is the Torah Called “Middle Line” in the Work? - 1
Article No. 12, 1990
The Zohar writes (Miketz, Item 238), “Come and see, each day when the sun rises, a single bird awakens on a tree in the Garden of Eden and calls three times, and the announcer calls out loud, ‘Who among you who sees and does not see, who are in the world without knowing why they exist, and do not observe the glory of their Master, the Torah stands before them and they do not delve in it, it would be better for them not to be created than to be created.’”
He interprets there in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] as follows: “Seeing is Hochma. Those who cling to the left line and not to the right, see and do not see, since the Hochma on the left does not shine without clothing in the light of Hassadim [mercies] on the right. Hence, even though there is Hochma there, namely that ‘they see,’ they still do not receive Hochma for lack of clothing of Hassadim. This is why they do not see.
“It is written, ‘who are in the world without knowing why they exist.’ This is said to those who cling to the right, and not to the left, who have sustenance in the world through the light of Hassadim. However, they do not know why they exist, meaning they lack GAR, since illumination of the ‘right’ without the ‘left’ is VAK without a Rosh [head].”
They do not observe the glory of their Master, the Torah stands before them, and they do not delve in it. Torah means “middle line,” which is ZA, who is called “Torah,” which unites the two lines with one another.
We should understand why if they advance on the right, which is Hassadim, when they work in order to bestow, why is this regarded as not observing the glory of their Master? After all, they are engaging only in bestowal upon the Creator because He is great and ruling, and not in order to receive reward, and their whole vitality is that they increase the glory of heaven, and this is why they do all their deeds in order to bestow.
We should also understand why those who have already been rewarded with Hochma, which is regarded as the purpose of creation, are regarded as not observing the glory of their Master, but only when they take upon themselves the Torah, for the Torah is called “middle line,” and only they are regarded as observing the glory of their Master, for only through the Torah they come to glorify their Master.
We have spoken many times about the two matters before us: 1) The purpose of creation, which is for the lower ones to receive delight and pleasure, meaning that all the creatures will feel how the Creator behaves with them in attainment of The Good Who Does Good, as our sages interpreted, “good,” since He is good to him. In other words, a person feels that he receives from the Creator only good, and doing good. “To others” means that he sees that the Creator does good to others, too.
2) The correction of creation, which is that in order not to have the bread of shame, for the creatures not to feel shame while receiving delight and pleasure, a correction was made that the pleasure and the good will not shine on the will to receive for one’s own sake, but only when the creatures can aim in order to bestow. At that time, the delight and pleasure pour onto the creatures.
But this is only in order for the world to exist before they come to the correction of being able to bestow, for the creatures to be able to exist. If they do not have delight and pleasure, they cannot exist in the world, for the need for the delight and pleasure comes to the created beings from the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations. The ARI says that the delight and pleasure come from the breaking of the vessels in the world of Nekudim, when they fell down to the Klipot [shells/peels], which The Zohar calls “a slim light,” which is a very thin light compared to the delight and pleasure bestowed upon those who are in Kedusha [holiness], meaning compared to the delight and pleasure revealed in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], as it is written in The Zohar, that there are 613 Mitzvot opposite the 613 organs of the soul. But the sparks of Kedusha fell to the Klipot only in order to sustain them.
However, the order of the work is to begin from the right. Yet, there are many meanings to “right,” and it is understood according to the context. In other words, wholeness is always called “right” compared to the incomplete. But what is complete and what is incomplete depends on the matter in discussion at the time. In other words, what we need according to the situation, this is called “right.”
Therefore, when a person is far from Torah and Mitzvot, he is regarded as being “on the left.” That is, Kedusha is called “right,” which is man’s wholeness when he observes Torah and Mitzvot. But when we begin to speak of Kedusha but we do not speak of those people who are far from observing Torah and Mitzvot, we do not speak at all about those who are far from religion, those secular ones.
Thus, the state in which we begin to speak is that they observe Torah and Mitzvot only in their actions. They are regarded as “one line.” It is known that we cannot speak of “right” if there is no “left” opposite it, or vice-versa. Therefore, in this regard, those who begin the work in actions are called “one line,” since here is the beginning. But compared to secular people, who have no connection to with the reason, they are considered “right,” for they have wholeness, while the secular are called “leftists.”
Yet, when we begin to speak of people who want to work with the aim to bestow, we must say that people who work only in actions are incomplete. At that time, we must call them “left,” meaning that they have no wholeness. Conversely, those who want to work in order to bestow should be called “right.”
However, if we speak in terms of the feeling of the worker himself, and not with respect to the truth about the order of degrees, we should say that this person, who works only in actions, feels his state in observing Torah and Mitzvot as whole. Therefore, to him, this state is regarded as walking on the “right,” meaning wholeness.
Also, they feel the work in intentions as a lack, since they see that they cannot emerge from the governance of the receiver for oneself. It follows that he feels his deficiency. Hence, we should say that this is considered “left.” That is, normally, we say that something that requires correction is called “left,” as our sages said, that we put Tefillin on the left hand since it is written, “Your hand, a weak hand,” since its power has waned and it needs help.
For this reason, those who want to do the holy work in a manner that has wholeness, to do everything in order to bestow, when they criticize their work and see that they are still not fine, that state is called “left” compared to the work in actions without an intention. In other words, a person must use the act, as well.
Thus, a person should say that although he cannot do something in order to bestow, he still feels himself as whole with respect to actions. He says that it is a great privilege that he can nonetheless perform acts of Kedusha [holiness], even without an intention. It is a great privilege that the Creator awarded him a thought and desire to engage in Torah and Mitzvot only in actions, without an intention. This is called “right” because he feels that he is in wholeness, that it is worthwhile to give thanks to the Creator for this.
Therefore, afterward, when he shifts to the intention and sees that he is deficient, all he needs is to pray that the Creator will help him and give him the power to be able to work with the aim to bestow. This is called “left” compared to the previous state.
However, when he has already been rewarded with the Creator helping him, when he can already work in order to bestow, though only in acts of bestowal, for the acts of bestowal are easier to aim in order to bestow, whereas in acts of reception of pleasure he still cannot aim to bestow, this state is called “right.” But it is called “right” compared to the previous state.
When he wants to work in order to bestow but does not succeed, this is called “left,” and there he has a place for prayer that the Creator will help him be able to aim in order to bestow. But now that the Creator has helped him and he can aim in order to bestow with acts of bestowal, now he must give thanks for the wholeness he has now, and this is called “right.” This light is called “light of Hassadim,” which is considered the correction of creation, when he has the power to perform actions in order to bestow.
Yet, although with regard to the correction, this state is regarded as wholeness, with regard to the purpose of creation, that state is still not regarded as wholeness because he must achieve the purpose of creation. For this reason, it is considered “right” from the perspective of wholeness, and he must thank the Creator for being rewarded with vessels of bestowal, with aiming in order to bestow.
But with regard to the absence of correction of the purpose of creation, it is considered a lack. Therefore, if he has been rewarded with receiving the purpose of creation, called “light of Hochma,” this is certainly regarded as complete wholeness compared to the state where he was rewarded with only light of Hassadim, called “light of the correction of creation.” It should have been called “right,” yet, that state, too, is considered incomplete. Hence, it is called “left, which requires correction,” since even though they extended the light of Hochma in order to bestow, he still needs guarding because the act of reception of pleasure contradicts the intention, which should be in order to bestow.
For this reason, we must extend the middle line, meaning light of Hassadim, which now includes both: Hochma, as well as Hitkalelut [merging/mingling] of Hassadim.
There are two things: 1) the correction of creation, 2) the purpose of creation.
This is called “Torah” or “middle line,” which is included from the right and from the left. At that time we can use the light of the purpose of creation, which is the delight and pleasure that the Creator wants to impart upon His creations, which is the purpose of creation. This means that before there is Hitkalelut with Hassadim, the light of the purpose of creation cannot shine, since the two qualities must be there together. This is called “Torah.”
Now we can understand what we asked, why people who walk in the quality of the “right,” whose works are only to bestow, and who have already been rewarded with the abundance called “light of Hassadim,” are regarded as “not observing the glory of their Master.” Also, those who have already emerged from the right and have already been rewarded with Hochma, called “left,” are still considered “not observing the glory of their Master,” and the Torah stands before them, yet they do not delve in it. This is very difficult to understand, if we are speaking of people who have already been rewarded with Hassadim, and people who have been rewarded with Hochma, that they are not delving in the Torah. Can we say this?
Yet, according to what we explained before, “right” means light of Hassadim, which is only the correction of creation. It follows that as long as they do not engage in extending the light of the purpose of creation, which is what the Creator wants to give to the created beings, the delight and pleasure where His greatness is revealed, called “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures,” at which time His glory is revealed to the created beings, it follows that they are not looking at the glory of their Master, which will be revealed to the created beings.
This is the main deficiency for which, meaning to reveal His Godliness in the world, which is the purpose of creation—to reveal His Godliness to the created beings. For the created beings to receive this goal, all the restrictions and corrections took place. It follows that those who walk only on the right, which is the correction of creation, there is certainly a key deficiency here. That is, they did everything except for what is most important, meaning the goal. This is why it is considered that they are not observing the glory of their Master.
Also, those who have already been rewarded with the light of Hochma, which is the purpose of creation, we asked, What else do they need? The answer is that since there is a rule that the light of Hochma cannot shine to the lower ones without a clothing of light of Hassadim, since the light of Hochma comes in vessels of reception, so although he drew the light in order to bestow, he still needs guarding from being drawn after the act, as he is using the vessels of reception.
For this reason, he must extend clothing that is light of Hassadim, which dresses in the vessels of bestowal, which is considered the correction of creation. Hence, although he extended the light of the purpose of creation, he cannot use it because it does not shine without a clothing of Hassadim. Naturally, he, too, is not observing. In other words, the purpose of creation does not become revealed in him, to see the revelation of His Godliness, as it is written, that those who walk on the left also do not observe the glory of their Master.
This is the meaning of what is written, “The Torah stands before them and they do not exert in it. The Torah means the middle line, ZA, called ‘Torah,’ which unites the two lines with one another.” In other words, through the Torah, called “the middle line,” where there are two qualities together, meaning the purpose of creation, namely the revelation of His Godliness to the creatures, which is called “the glory of their Master,” and there is also the clothing of the correction of creation, called “light of Hassadim,” which is considered “right.” For this reason, when those two are separated, the purpose of creation cannot shine to the created beings. This is considered that they are “not observing the glory of their Master.” But once they delve in Torah, the purpose of creation shines. In the words of The Zohar, this is called “The Torah, and Israel, and the Creator are one.”
Now we can understand what we said (Article No. 11, Tav-Shin-Nun), that the Hanukkah candle is on the left, and its light must not be used because the left, which is Hochma, was already extended to the creatures, but as long as they do not extend the middle line, which is regarded as “Torah,” so as to have right and left together, the light does not shine to an extent that they can use it, due to absence of clothing of Hassadim, which comes through light of Hassadim.
But on Purim, they extended the light of Hassadim, called “right,” through their fasting and crying out, as is explained in The Study of the Ten Sefirot (end of Part 16). It turns out that although on Hanukkah they were complete from the right side, when they shifted to the left to extend Hochma, they no longer had the Hassadim of the right.
This means that the Hassadim that they extend after the extension of Hochma, where Hochma is called “left,” is called “middle line.” It follows that then, on Hanukkah, there was a state of Hanu-Koh [parked here]. That is, they had the quality of the “right.” The miracle was that they had “right” in wholeness. But the quality of the “left” did not have wholeness, for they lacked the middle line, which is the Torah.
Hence, on Shabbat, which is the middle line, the candles are for use. This is called “peace at home,” as in, “In Hochma [wisdom] is a house built.” For this reason, “[between] The Shabbat [Sabbath] candle and the Hanukkah candle, the Shabbat candle precedes,” since Shabbat indicates wholeness. There is the quality of Yesod, called “middle line,” which bestows upon Malchut, called “house.” For this reason, the Shabbat candle comes to imply wholeness. This is why Shabbat is called “Shabbat of peace,” since Yesod, which is the middle line, makes peace between the lines, which are called “right” and “left.”
It follows from the above that the miracle of Hanukkah was on the “right,” called “the correction of creation,” that they had wholeness. This is called that the miracle was over spirituality, since the vessels of bestowal, called “spirituality,” from the perspective of the Kelim [vessels], and these Kelim pertain to the good inclination.
Conversely, the vessels of reception are attributed to corporeality, meaning to the evil inclination, as we explained, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart,” meaning with both your inclinations. That is, with the good inclination, which is vessels of bestowal, we should work for the sake of the Creator. But also with the vessels of reception, which belong to the evil inclination. They, too, must be used for the sake of the Creator, meaning to receive in order to bestow.
It follows that on Hanukkah, when the ARI says that Hanukkah and Purim are both regarded as “left,” the Hanukkah candle is on the left. Although the right is called “wholeness” from the perspective of the vessels of bestowal, the fact that the left illuminated, meaning Hochma without Hassadim, and it is forbidden to use Hochma without Hassadim, but this in itself is a great thing, that they extended the purpose of creation. However, it is still forbidden to use its light.
Therefore, on Hanukkah, it is considered that the miracle was on spirituality because it is forbidden to use Hochma without Hassadim. This is why it is considered a spiritual miracle, which still did not come down so we can use it. In that respect, Hanukkah is considered a “spiritual miracle,” both from the perspective of Hassadim of the right, and from the perspective of the Hochma of the left, since the middle line was still missing.