401. Hear, O Israel
March 1981
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” What is “one”? It is the assembly of Israel that is united in the Creator, who is Zeir Anpin. Rabbi Shimon said that the Zivug [coupling] of the Dechar [Aramaic: male] and Nukva [Aramaic: female] is called “one,” since the place where the Nukva is placed is called “one.”
What is the reason? It is because a male without a female is called “half a body,” and half is not one. When the two halves of the body connect, they become one body, and then they are called “one” (The Zohar, VaYikra, Item 101).
It is written, “Here is a place with Me.” Baal HaSulam interpreted that the acronym Aleph-Tav-Yod [letters of the words “with Me”] is Emuna [faith], Tefillah [prayer], Yegia [labor].
A person should begin the work of the Creator on the right, called “male,” which is wholeness, called happy with his share, which is regarded as “desiring mercy.” Whatever flavor and vitality he has in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is enough for him to labor in Torah and Mitzvot because he believes in private Providence, that such is the will of the Creator, and feels that he is a complete person, and thanks and praises the Creator for giving him a part in His work.
This is called a “male,” when he feels himself as whole and he is always happy and observes, “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
However, this is called “half a body”; he does not have the quality of female, which is a lack. From the perspective of the left, he begins to calculate to what extent his qualities and thoughts are whole, and then he sees the truth, that he is still immersed in the will to receive for his own benefit, and cannot work for the sake of others, whether between man and man or between man and the Creator.
To the extent that he has the recognition of evil, he can exert, meaning work, perform actions, as in “Everything that is in the power of your hand to do, that do.” Also, he can pray from the bottom of the heart, since only to the extent that a person feels the bad, meaning feels that it is bad, to that extent he acts in order to be rid of the bad. This is called “female,” meaning a lack.
It follows that he has room for two opposite qualities. On one hand, he is regarded as complete, which is the “right,” Hesed [mercy], happy with his share. He can praise and thank the Creator for letting him into a place of Torah and good deeds. On the other hand, he can pray to the Creator for remaining outside of the work of the Creator because everything was built on the basis of self-love.
At that time, the person is called “complete,” and otherwise he is not considered “man” because if he sees his deficiencies he will soon run from the quality of the “right,” as well.
But once he has seen his bad state and yet reinforces himself above reason that he has wholeness, and the sign of this is that he can thank the Creator for this, then he is called “complete.” This is “Right and left, and a bride between them.” By having the quality of male and female, he can be rewarded with the quality of “bride,” meaning the real kingdom of heaven.
This is the meaning of “Serve the Lord with gladness.” He asks there in The Zohar: But he cannot be happy because his heart is broken due to his sins! We learn about this, “One always enters through two doors: mercy and fear.”
We can explain this in the above manner. The “right hand side” door is faith above reason, when he is complete. This is private Providence, and it is “for he desires mercy.” The other door is fear, meaning Gevura, “left.” On this door we must give labor and prayer. This is called “man,” since he has two discernments, male and female, complete and lacking, and then his work is considered whole.