537. This Month Is to You

October 1977

Rabbi Yehuda said, “The Torah should have started from ‘This month is to you,’ which is the first Mitzva [commandment] that Israel were commanded. What is the reason it began with ‘In the beginning’? It is because ‘He told His people the might of His deeds, to give them the inheritance of the nations.’ Thus, if the idol-worshippers would say to Israel, ‘You are robbers, for you have conquered the lands of seven nations,’ they tell them, ‘The whole earth belongs to the Creator; He created it and gave it to whom He pleases. Upon His wish He gave it to them, and upon His wish He took it from them and gave it to us.’”

We should ask why He did not keep the land of Israel for Israel and gave it to them, for which there was a need to make a change in the Torah and not begin the Torah from the place where Rabbi Yehuda says. We should also ask, If the essence of creation is truly because it is called Resheet [beginning], why did He give the big countries to the nations of the world and a small country to Israel?

We should say that all that is spoken of is spirituality, but the corporeal branches extend from the upper roots. Therefore, we should say that He created the world in this way in order to do good to His creations, meaning that to begin with, He created the will to receive, which is the Kli [vessel] to receive the upper pleasures, and then, in order to have equivalence of form, called “bread of shame,” He gave a prohibition that it is forbidden to work with the Kli [vessel] called “in order to receive.” This quality is called “gentiles” or “nations of the world,” or Sitra Achra [other side], or Klipa [shell/peel].

It is permitted to receive only in order to bestow, and this is regarded as taking all the pleasures that previously belonged to the nations, and giving to Israel, meaning in order to bestow upon the Creator, which is called “Israel.” Thus, the will to receive asks, “Why are you robbing, since initially, before the Tzimtzum [restriction], it belonged to us?”

The answer to this is that the Creator created it, meaning initially He gave to the gentiles, since this is the heart of creation. Yet, this is called “uncorrected” because there is the bread of shame there. Thus, the doing good to His creations will not be complete. For this reason, He gave it to Israel, meaning that by giving everything in order to bestow, the reception of the pleasures will be complete.

Thus, “He took it from the nations” because here, in order to receive, there will not be the complete pleasure, “and gave it to Israel,” meaning to the Kli that works in order to bestow, for by this the reception of the pleasures will be complete.

However, it is difficult to correct and make everything be in order to bestow. This is why the land of Israel is called “a small country,” whereas the land of in order to receive is a very big country. However, the land of Israel will spread over the entire world, meaning that all the will to receive will be corrected with the aim to bestow.