543. Tell the Children of Israel
January 1978
It is written in The Zohar (Item 261 in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar]): “Rabbi Shimon said, ‘Koh [Thus] you shall say to the house of Jacob,’ in saying, from the side of judgment. ‘And tell the sons of Israel,’ as was said, ‘And He said to you His covenant.’ It is written, ‘I have said today unto the Lord your God,’ ‘to the sons of Israel,’ males who come from the side of mercy.”
It is explained that “telling” means mercy for Israel, meaning the males, who come from the side of mercy. RASHI says that “the house of Jacob” is the women. “Speak to them with soft words, and tell the sons of Israel punishments and precisions, meaning to the males—words as hard as tendons” (Mechilta).
Thus, The Zohar implies the opposite—to the women the quality of judgment, and to the males the quality of mercy. But here it is implied that it is soft to the women and as hard as tendons to the males.
There, in The Zohar (Item 269 in the Sulam), he says, “He said to them: ‘Any person should speak with another person according to his ways: with a female according to her ways, with a man according to his ways, and with a mighty man according to his ways. I said to Rabbi Hiya my son, ‘As it is written, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel.’’’”
According to what Maimonides wrote at the end of Hilchot Teshuva, “Therefore, when teaching children, women, and uneducated people, they are taught to work out of fear and in order to receive reward. Until they gain knowledge and acquire much wisdom, they are told that secret bit-by-bit and are accustomed to this matter with ease until they attain Him and know Him and serve Him from love.”
It therefore follows that “Thus shall you say” is soft words, which is Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], meaning for the sake of self-love, which is for the sake of the will to receive, called “the quality of judgment” because there was a Tzimtzum [restriction] on that Kli [vessel] that it is forbidden to use them. Hence, on one hand, it is soft, since women are those who understand only that which concerns their vessels of reception, which is called “female,” meaning the receiving Kli, while males are those who can understand the matter of bestowal, that the heart of the correction is equivalence of form, which our sages called “Cling unto His attributes, as He is merciful, so you are merciful.” This is the opposite of the vessels of reception, called “the quality of judgment,” and this is called “as hard as tendons” because it is hard for the body to accept this work of bestowal.
Thus, on one hand, it is called “merciful” because it is bestowal. And yet, it is as hard for the body as tendons, and the body does not agree to this path in the work of the Creator, the path of truth, which is in order to bestow.
By this we can understand why we need to change the order of the truth, since as it is written in The Zohar, we must speak with each one according to his understanding, so he can understand that through this goal it will be worthwhile for him to take upon himself Torah and Mitzvot [commandments]. Therefore, we naturally have to change our speech with each one according to his understanding.
It is written in The Zohar, Yitro (Item 279 in the Sulam): “‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings’ with mercy. What are the wings of eagles? Rabbi Yehuda said, ‘With mercy’ ... Rabbi Shimon said, ‘The way of the eagle in the sky.’ What is ‘in the sky’? With mercy. Like an eagle that has mercy over his sons and judgment for others, the Creator has mercy for Israel and judgment for idol-worshipping nations.”
We should ask why we must go with the quality of judgment against the nations of the world, why we cannot go with the quality of mercy with them, too. Is there bias in the matter?
We should say that this speaks of the same person, who is regarded as a small world, for man consists of a son, called “My son, My firstborn, Israel,” and also with the quality of the nations of the world. In other words, man’s vessels of reception are called “the nations of the world,” and man’s vessels of bestowal are called “a son of the Creator.”
Usually, reception is of the utmost importance and bestowal is scorned.
This is the meaning of “I bore you on eagles’ wings,” meaning that the Creator lifts His son, the Kli [vessel] of bestowal, and makes it important to him. Naturally, it will fall, meaning that the vessels of reception will be to him of low importance. This is called “a judgment to the nations of the world.” This is called “preparation for the reception of the Torah.”
Because the Torah exists only in those who put themselves to death over it, meaning their selves, namely they should put to death the vessels of reception by not feeding them unless it is in order to bestow. Naturally, it falls and is regarded as dead, while the quality of bestowal is regarded as alive.