Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Academy

4) In the “Sanctification of the Moon” [a prayer at the beginning of each month], we say, “May the blemish of the moon be filled.” Why does He care if the moon remains with its blemish? Does the moon have feelings and will feel deficient if it has a flaw?

5) There is a rule that one who sins brings atonement. So why should Israel bring atonement for Him?

Our sages said, “Israel count by the moon, and the nations of the world count by the sun.”

The “sun” implies knowing, as our sages said (Rish Pesachim) about the verse, “The murderer arises at dawn,” “If the matter is as clear as light to you,” meaning clear knowledge is called “sun,” but if you are doubtful about it, like the night, for the governance of the moon is at night, implying Malchut, which governs at night, as explained in the writings of the ARI. This means that where reason has doubts, this is where the quality of faith belongs.

Prior to the diminution, the kingdom of heaven was in Gadlut [greatness/adulthood]. That is, in a state of Gadlut, a person can feel a wonderful and infinite pleasure when he accepts the kingdom of heaven, and then it would be easy to walk in the ways of the Creator.

But after the diminution of the moon, there was the matter that when one accepts the burden of the kingdom of heaven, he feels a burden without pleasure. However, he receives the faith as a force, “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.”

It follows that through the diminution, there is a place where man will come to sin, meaning not want to assume the burden of the kingdom of heaven. It brings to man the spirit of heresy, and the Creator made it so that there will not be the bread of shame, since precisely where the pleasure is not revealed, it is possible to work not in order to receive reward. It follows that the diminution is a correction that enables man to achieve Lishma [for Her sake], meaning not to please oneself but for the sake of the Creator.

It therefore follows that the diminution is the cause and the reason that man can achieve the eternal wholeness. But along with this correction, there is another cause, meaning it causes man to be able to sin because through the diminution of Malchut, the person veers off from the work of accepting the burden of the kingdom of heaven. This is seemingly the same as not placing an obstacle before a blind person, since a person might trip because of this diminution.

It turns out that it is as though he sinned and needs atonement. This atonement can come specifically through Israel. However, the matter of the offering is about bringing himself near the Creator, where nearness means equivalence of form. That is, when a person takes upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven not in order to receive reward, but in order to bestow, this is called “nearing,” and this is the meaning of an offering to the Creator.

It follows that by taking upon himself the work in order to bestow, the person corrects the sin of the diminution of the moon, since the diminution of Malchut causes man to be able to come to work in order to bestow.

It follows that it becomes revealed that from the beginning, this was not a sin. On the contrary, it brought man to be able to achieve wholeness, since were it not for the diminution there would be no way for man to be able to work in bestowal. At that time, we see that there was no sin here, but on the contrary, a correction that yields wholeness.

It follows that precisely Israel can bring atonement. That is, with the offering, the sin passes. This is why we pray, “May the blemish of the moon be filled,” meaning that Malchut will illuminate in wholeness, and this is done through the correction of our actions in work in order to bestow.