Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Academy

The Zohar (Mishpatim, Items 33-34) asks about the verse, “Who will not fear You, King of the nations”? “Is the Creator the king of the nations? He is the king of Israel! …And should you say that He is called ‘King of the nations,’ it is a praise for them that the Creator rules over them, and not as they say, that they were given to His servants and appointees. Moreover, the end of the verse writes, ‘For among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.’ All this is praise to the rest of the nations.”

It explains, “If you say that it says about the Creator, ‘King of the nations,’ it is not so. Rather, ‘Who among the kings of the nations will not fear You, for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.’ ‘There is none like You’ is the word that spreads among them in their wisdom and they all admit it.”

We should ask about this since reality does not show this, and I wish there were the spreading of the word “none like You” among the Jews!

In ethics, we should say that there are two states in the work of the Creator: a state prior to repentance, and a state after the repentance.

It is written in The Zohar (Mishpatim, Item 76): “Come and see, anyone who is rewarded with thirteen years or more is considered a son of the Assembly of Israel. And anyone who is twenty years of age or more and is rewarded with it is considered a son of the Creator, as in ‘You are sons of the Lord your God.’”

We should understand the difference between being a son of the Assembly of Israel, which is regarded as Malchut, and being a son of the Creator. It is explained that the hand Tefillin [phylacteries] is called “faith,” and the head Tefillin is called “Torah.” A prayer is called “work in the heart,” and faith is acquired through work, since it is considered Malchut, who is called “poor and meager.”

When a person must take upon himself the burden of faith, the body kicks back. Hence, it is a lot of work to be able to overcome it. Also, Torah is called “a gift,” as our sages said, “from Matannah [Hebrew: gift] to Nachliel.” We should say that the difference between faith and Torah is that faith is called Tzedakah [charity/righteousness] and Torah, a gift. The difference between charity and a gift is that charity is a necessity, and a gift is an accessory.

For example, if someone gives a poor person a sack of flour that costs twenty pounds, we will say that he received a sack of flour as charity. But if someone sends the poor a watch that costs twenty pounds, we will say that he received the watch as a gift.

Faith is necessity, for without fear of heaven there is nothing. But Torah is like an accessory. Hence, faith, which is the first state, is called “a son of the Assembly of Israel,” which is faith. The second state, regarded as Torah, is called “a son of the Creator.”

A person’s thoughts and desires before he repents are called “gentiles.” When he repents, it is considered that he is king over these nations. This is the meaning of what he says, “Who among the kings of the nations will not fear You?” since if he has no fear of heaven, he is not called “king of the nations,” “for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You,” for everyone says that there is none like You.

We should say that even after he becomes a king, he says that all his wisdom and in all their kingdoms, and every time he had control over his nations, it all came to him from “there is none like You,” meaning that only the Creator helps him, as our sages said, “Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it,” etc.