218. Israel Are the Sons of Kings
Israel are called “sons of kings” because anyone who crowns His name upon himself is called “a king’s son,” as it is written, “And sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I the Lord am holy,” for anyone who sanctifies himself is called “holy” because the Creator is called “holy.”
We should understand the meaning of “holy.” In the Jerusalem Talmud (82 in Yevamot), “Anyone who retires himself from the pudendum is called ‘holy.’” In Midrash Rabbah, VaYikra, “Wherever you find a fence around the pudendum, you find Kedusha [holiness],” for Kadosh [holy] means retired [separated]. That is, one must retire oneself from enjoying.
And what is the name Kadosh with regard to the Creator? After all, it cannot be said that there is reception for Himself in Him, for the Creator only gives. For this reason, man, too, must only give to the Creator. “Sanctify yourselves and be holy” means that you should be only givers, “For I the Lord am holy,” since the Creator is the giver. This is the meaning of Dvekut [adhesion].
Thus, “Wherever you find a fence around the pudendum,” for the pudendum is a place where it is forbidden to enjoy, as only in a place of Mitzva [commandment] is it permitted to enjoy.
“God made one opposite the other”: Opposite the Shechina [Divinity] there is a “foreign woman” called Klipa [shell/peel], and the Shechina is called “faith above reason,” which is bestowal.
If a person acts with the aim to bestow contentment upon his Maker, it is considered that he unites with the Shechina. If he acts in order to please himself then he is uniting with the foreign woman, whose aim is only to receive for herself.
The unification of the Creator with the Shechina is that as the Creator only gives, so the Shechina, who is Malchut, all the desires extend from her to the lower ones by turning those desires into aiming to bestow. By this they cause the root of all the desires to be only to bestow. This is called “unification,” meaning that he unites two qualities into one.
This is the meaning of “Man and woman, if they are rewarded, the Shechina is between them” (Sotah 17a). In other words, the quality of “woman” is the opposite of the quality of “giver.” Shechina between them means that then it is evident that the Shochen [dweller] is present in the place of those desires. At that time, the desires are called Shechina because the Shochen, meaning the Holy One, can unite there, since there is equivalence, called Dvekut.
For this reason, wherever one retires from enjoying and causes unification, you find in it Kedusha, since the upper light can be there because the Kelim [vessels] can receive the light of the Creator called Kedusha, for the Kedusha is present only in a place of purity. “Purity” means purity of qualities, and then the Kedusha is present in a place of purity.
However, sometimes, “I the Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their Tuma’a [impurity],” meaning that even when they still do not have Kelim that are ready to be in equivalence, in order to assist a person in achieving this, he must be aided from above. This is the meaning of Lo Lishma, that the light in it reforms him. That light is called “The Lord, who dwells with them in the midst of their Tuma’a.”
This pertains specifically to one who wants to achieve Lishma but cannot overcome his body. Hence, he is given that light so he can defeat the will to receive and walk in the way of the Creator, which is bestowal.
By this we will understand the verse, “And now if you surely listen to My voice and keep My covenant, you will be unto Me a Segula [remedy/virtue] out of all the nations, and you will be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that the Creator speaks to the children of Israel. These are the words, not less and not more, meaning there is no need for more than this.