The
Lord
Has
Chosen
Jacob
for
Himself
Article
No.
16,
1986
In
The
Zohar,
Teruma
(item
1),
Rabbi
Hiya
interprets
the
verse,
“The
Lord
has
chosen
Jacob
for
Himself.”
These
are
its
words:
“Rabbi
Hiya
started,
‘For
the
Lord
has
chosen
Jacob
for
Himself,
Israel
for
His
merit.’
How
beloved
are
the
sons
of
Israel
by
the
Creator,
Who
desires
them
and
wishes
to
unite
with
them
and
bond
with
them,
and
He
has
made
them
a
unique
nation
in
the
world,
as
it
is
written,
‘And
what
one
nation
on
Earth
is
like
Your
people
Israel,’
and
they
desired
Him
and
bonded
with
Him.
It
is
written
about
it,
‘The
Lord
has
chosen
Jacob
for
Himself,’
and
it
is
written,
‘For
the
Lord's
portion
is
His
people.’
And
to
the
rest
of
the
nations
He
has
given
ministers
and
rulers
over
them
while
He
took
Israel
for
His
portion.”
We
should
understand
the
following
about
the
above
words
of
Rabbi
Hiya:
1)
He
begins
to
interpret,
“For
the
Lord
has
chosen
Jacob
for
Himself.”
This
means
that
the
Creator
has
chosen
Jacob
because
he
says
that
He
wanted
them
and
wanted
to
unite
and
bond
with
them.
Afterwards
he
interprets
to
the
contrary
and
says,
“They
desired
Him
and
bonded
with
Him,”
as
it
is
written,
“For
Jacob
has
chosen
the
Lord
for
himself.”
2)
What
does
it
mean
when
he
says,
“and
He
has
made
them
a
unique
nation
in
the
world,”
as
it
is
written,
“And
what
one
nation
on
Earth
is
like
Your
people
Israel”?
After
all
they
are
a
nation
among
the
seventy
nations
of
the
world,
so
what
does
“one
nation”
mean?
It
seems
to
imply
that
He
made
them
one
nation.
3)
He
interprets,
“For
the
Lord's
portion
is
His
people,”
to
mean
that
He
has
given
the
rest
of
the
nations
ministers
and
rulers
over
them,
and
took
Israel
to
His
portion.
We
should
understand
what
it
means
that
He
has
given
the
rest
of
the
nations
ministers
and
rulers,
but
took
the
people
of
Israel
to
His
portion.
It
is
known
that
there
are
two
types
of
guidance:
The
first
is
called
“private
Providence,”
and
the
second
is
called
“guidance
through
reward
and
punishment.”
They
contradict
one
another,
and
Baal
HaSulam
interpreted
that
one
cannot
attain
this
with
the
external
mind,
but
only
when
one
has
achieved
one’s
wholeness
in
one’s
inner
degree
can
one
attain
this.
The
order
of
man’s
work
is
that
we
were
given
the
work
of
the
Creator
with
guidance
through
reward
and
punishment.
This
is
why
one
must
not
say,
“I
am
waiting
for
the
Creator
to
give
me
desire
and
craving
to
engage
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
and
when
He
feels
that
I
am
feeling
a
good
feeling
I
will
keep
the
Torah
and
Mitzvot.
It
is
forbidden
to
say
that
since
we
are
as
“clay
in
the
hands
of
the
potter,”
in
the
hands
of
the
Creator.
How
does
our
overcoming
help
to
work
against
the
view
of
our
bodies?
We
are
told
that
we
must
not
look
at
our
bodies,
which
demand
that
we
satisfy
their
wishes.
Rather,
we
must
accustom
our
bodies
and
convince
them
to
follow
the
rules
of
Torah
whether
they
agree
or
not.
We
must
believe
in
reward
and
punishment—that
everything
depends
on
our
actions,
to
the
extent
that
we
persuade
our
bodies
to
follow
the
laws
of
Torah.
Our
sages
said,
“The
reward
is
according
to
the
labor
(Avot,
Chapter
5):
“Ben
He
He
says,
‘The
reward
is
according
to
the
labor.’”
Baal
HaSulam
said
that
we
must
keep
the
two
above
types
of
guidance
in
the
following
manner:
Before
the
act,
meaning
during
the
preparation,
when
he
is
about
to
keep
the
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
he
must
believe
in
Providence
of
reward
and
punishment.
Then,
“Everything
that
is
in
the
might
of
your
hand
to
do,
that
do.”
That
is,
everything
depends
on
man’s
work:
To
the
extent
of
one’s
strength
to
overcome
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
so
he
will
be
rewarded.
But
after
the
work
he
should
say
that
he
believes
in
private
Providence.
It
follows
that
since
it
is
difficult
for
a
person
to
say
after
all
the
efforts
he
put
in,
how
can
he
say
that
it
is
private
Providence?
It
follows
that
afterwards
he
is
still
working
in
reward
and
punishment.
That
is,
if
he
tries
to
believe
that
it
was
private
Providence
he
will
receive
reward
for
this.
If
he
cannot
believe
in
private
Providence,
it
follows
that
he
is
punished
for
not
wanting
to
believe
in
private
Providence.
Therefore,
by
believing
in
private
Providence
and
that
it
is
not
up
to
him,
but
the
Creator
has
chosen
to
connect
with
him,
he
must
praise
and
thank
the
Creator
for
choosing
him.
This
applies
to
each
and
every
discernment.
That
is,
for
even
the
smallest
action
in
spirituality
that
one
is
rewarded
with
doing
he
should
thank
the
Creator
for
giving
him
a
thought
and
desire
to
do
this
thing.
One
should
accustom
oneself
to
this
work.
When
he
rises
before
dawn,
whether
he
woke
up
by
himself
or
a
friend
woke
him
up,
he
should
believe
that
although
he
overcame
his
idleness
and
got
out
of
bed—with
great
effort,
and
he
certainly
deserves
gratitude
and
a
great
reward
for
such
great
effort—he
should
still
believe
that
the
Creator
has
given
him
the
desire
to
overcome
all
the
thoughts
he
had
when
he
rose
out
of
bed.
It
follows
that
it
is
the
opposite
of
what
one
thinks,
meaning
that
the
Creator
deserves
gratitude
for
giving
him
the
power
and
desire
to
overcome
all
this
thoughts
and
desires.
It
follows
that
on
the
one
hand
the
Creator
has
chosen
him,
and
this
is
called
“private
Providence.”
On
the
other
hand,
Jacob
has
chosen
the
Creator,
and
this
is
the
meaning
of
reward
and
punishment.
Now
we
will
explain
what
we
asked,
“What
does
it
mean
when
he
says,
‘and
He
has
made
them
a
unique
nation
in
the
world’?”
After
all,
there
are
seventy
other
nations
in
the
world,
and
the
verse
says,
“And
what
one
nation
on
Earth
is
like
Your
people
Israel”?
It
is
known
that
singular
and
plural
in
spirituality
are
interpreted
as
disparity
of
form
and
equivalence
of
form,
as
it
is
written
(Exodus,
19:2),
“And
Israel
camped
there
before
the
mountain.”
RASHI
interpreted,
“As
one
man
with
one
heart.”
This
is
why
it
is
written,
“camped,”
in
singular
form
[in
Hebrew].
However,
the
rest
of
the
pauses
are
with
complaints
and
disputes,
this
is
why
it
is
written
there
“camped”
in
plural
form
[in
Hebrew].
It
follows
that
singular
refers
to
equivalence
of
form.
With
the
above
said
we
should
interpret
that
the
Creator
has
made
the
people
of
Israel.
Although
they
are
many,
as
in,
“As
their
faces
are
not
similar
to
one
another,
their
views
are
not
similar
to
one
another”
(Berachot,
58).
Still,
He
has
made
them
a
unique
people
in
the
world,
which
is
a
great
novelty.
That
is,
although
they
are
a
nation,
meaning
plural,
they
still
have
the
singular
form
through
equivalence
of
form.
As
it
was
at
the
time
of
the
giving
of
the
Torah,
so
should
be
the
wholeness
of
the
people
of
Israel,
meaning
to
become
one.
It
is
presented
in
the
article,
“The
Arvut
(Mutual
Guarantee)”
(item
23):
“This
is
why
the
text
refers
to
them
in
singular
form,
as
it
is
written,
‘and
there
Israel
camped
before
the
mountain,’
which
our
sages
interpret
‘as
one
man
in
one
heart.’
This
is
because
each
and
every
person
from
the
nation
completely
detached
himself
from
self-love
…
It
turns
out
that
all
the
individuals
in
the
nation
have
come
together
and
become
one
heart
and
one
man,
for
only
then
were
they
qualified
to
receive
the
Torah.”
We
therefore
see
that
the
Creator
made
it
so
the
people
of
Israel
would
achieve
wholeness
by
giving
them
the
power
to
all
be
of
equal
form,
which
is
to
bring
contentment
to
one’s
Maker.
We
should
also
explain
the
third
question.
We
asked
about
His
giving
the
rest
of
the
nations
ministers
and
rulers,
while
taking
Israel
for
Himself,
for
His
own
portion.
We
should
interpret
this
in
the
work
in
one
person,
meaning
in
one
body.
When
a
person
attributes
everything
that
happens
in
the
world
to
the
Creator,
who
does
and
will
do
all
the
deeds,
he
is
regarded
as
a
part
of
the
Creator
because
there
is
no
other
authority
in
the
world.
At
that
time
he
is
considered
a
part
of
the
Creator.
When
he
does
not
attribute
everything
that
happens
in
the
world
to
the
Creator,
but
says
that
they
are
other
forces,
which
are
not
Kedusha
[holiness/sanctity],
he
is
in
a
state
of
“nations
of
the
world,”
meaning
having
appointees
and
ministers.
However,
this
is
when
he
is
in
a
state
of
“the
rest
of
the
nations
of
the
world.”