I generated an UNFINISHED AI-translation of the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef, which I am sharing here. It is heavily annotated. The paragraph organization that I sought to impose on the copy from Sefaria is very rough and represents my own attempt to provide thematic coherence. The AI-translation is followed by my own thematic introduction to the text and then a parsha-by-parsha digest of the text. I will continue to add to the digest following the liturgical year

The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef, named after its “author” Rabbi Ya’akov Yosef of Polonnoye (d.1782) is recognized as the first Hasidic book. Published in 1780 as a homiletical commentary to the Torah, the modernity of this book starts with the doubts that run throughout the length of the text. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef will ask repeatedly regarding a Bible story or a mitzvah. How is this passage “relevant” to “every person” at “every time”? Is Torah just a “collection of stories” (passim)? Also modern is the anthroposophy –the study of the human being, its spiritual construction, development, and task . So too as is the sharp expression of intra-Jewish communal politics and antipathies.

I will venture to identify “subjugation” as the primary principle cutting a metaphysical, anthroposophical, and political arc throughout the entire commentary. There is the subjugation of “matter” to “form,” the subjugation of the body to the soul, the self-abnegation of “man” before the presence of God, and the subjugation of the communal klal to the Tzadikim (the “men of matter” to the “men of form”). Also modern is aversion to money and the concern throughout the text in marshalling the wealth of non-Hasidic Jews to fund the new movement.

MICROSCOSM “Man” is a small world. This is called the secret of “world (olam), year (shanah), and soul (nefesh).” The mnemonic for this interconnection is the Hebrew word ashan (smoke), taken from the verse “And Mount Sinai was in smoke” (Exodus 19:18). NEFESH is the individual person. WORLD refers to the collective whole of the Jewish social-communal-political body (the klal). YEAR refers to Shekhinah, whose union with Her Beloved depends upon “the men of form.” The soul of the year is Shabbat or Shechinah, whose outer garment is the six days of Creation. Each of these three figures contains an inner and outer aspect — corporeal matter and spiritual form (Be’Hukkataipar. 76, see Shoftim, par. 178).

MAN: The human is a spiritual body connected by limbs to the divine name, but the physical body is a screen that separates the human person from God. Physical desire for food, sex, and wealth is necessary for the elevation of the divine sparks that they conceal. This oscillation between the physical and the spiritual manifests the “secret” of “the living creatures ran and returned.” Appearing throughout the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef, the reference from the book of Ezekiel is to the cherubic beings propelled by the divine spirit in the vision of the divine chariot moving this-way-and-that-way (Ezekiel 1:14) (passim) (h/t Shaul Magid). Looked at one way, the body is the soul’s throne, the evil inclination a throne of holiness. The soul is on good terms with the body for the purpose of tricking it. Ultimately, the body’s subjugation is abject. The soul wants to leave the body, which submits to the soul, which accrues merit by submitting the body to Torah and to Torah scholars, who are the Temple, the dwelling place of God. Material existence is subordinate to this higher purpose serving God; and then destroyed (Balak).

THE ASCETIC TZADIK. The secondary literature claims that Rabbi Ya’akov Yosef left a strict and ascetic world view behind when he joined up with the Ba’al Shem Tov. I am not if this is true. The spiritual worldview of the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef remains ascetic and sectarian. First, there is the understanding that the human creature is nothing (ayin) compared to the great majesty of God. Therein lies the humility and genuine kindness that define the way of the Hasid and marks the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef. At the same time, Torah scholars are constantly differentiated from and set above the masses. The Tzadikim overcome the separation of matter and form by subjugating the one to the other, removing barriers of coarse food, heavy garments, and the pursuit of worldly wealth-business-commerce. The world-friendly aspect of Hasidism conveys the thought that the Tzadikim sustain the world via the covenant of thought, speech, action. But one should constantly imagine oneself as if one were dead and not in this world (Tetzaveh par.16). Materiality is the master in this world, the soul a stranger (Kedoshim).In a parable taken from the Besht that appears throughout the entirety of the text, the Tzadik is compared to “the minister who changed his clothes” (passim). The minister of the King goes out into the world to mingle among the masses for the purpose of bringing the prince back from exile. “I place God before me always; I have set the Lord before me always (Psalms 16:8) is arguably the iconic core of Hasidic spirituality (passim).

ISRAEL The communal soul-politics of the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef corresponds to the subjugation of the body to the soul of the individual human person. The community is split between the “faithful of Israel” and “the masses” (passim). The faithful of Israel are the “men of form,” the Tzadikim who manifest soul; the masses or the “men of matter” correspond to the physical body (passim). Just as the material is intended to serve the spiritual, so too are the masses supposed to serve the “faithful of Israel.”  Hasidic spirituality stands against preoccupation with financial matters and livelihood (parnasa). But the Tzadikim depend upon financial support from wealthy Jews in the community. In order to cling to God, the ordinary mass of Jews “cling to Torah scholars” (passim). The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef is keenly aware that the sages no longer rule “this generation” (e.g. Bo, par. 106). One hesitates to call it ambivalence. The wealthy should support Torah scholars. “Kindness and truth,” i.e. the kindness of wealthy benefactors and the truth of the Torah sage, are encouraged to meet and “kiss” (passim). In the pursuit of this ideal compact, it is even the case that the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef puts the onus on leaders not to abandon the larger public upon whom they rely, to elevate them from the lowly rung of their spiritual stupor. At the same time, the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef is cautious about Tzadikim mixing with the people and will advise against it, even for the sake of Heaven (Emor par. 56).

THE KLAL Social historians will find in the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef evidence of the rough and tumble of communal politics, namely the Hasidic critique of mainline traditionalist Judaism and of loose spiritual-purity mores (see Joseph’s bad report on the brothers in Vayigash around par. 70). The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef complains a lot about “the generation” or “this generation” (passim) not being scrupulous with the mitzvot of ritual slaughter or shechita such as knives and salting. There are also complaints about prayer leaders and rabbinic leadership in the city. The sin of Golden Calf alludes to the sin of the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef’s generation. Parshat Nasso provides a most exacting sense of the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef’s conception of the generation in need of rebuke and words of musar at the cusp of the messianic age (Naso,113-40). Two of the largest parsha-commentaries (Kedoshim and Emor) (and a lot more from Leviticus) are dominated by this theme, even as the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef iscautious about potential backfire. If anything, the open hostility between Tzadikim and the ordinary Jews who mock and despise them is powerfully articulated throughout the text. So is the overt tension between faithful Torah scholars and lenient “Jewish judges”(see Shoftim around par. 107 or so). In this war, there are all kinds of enemy: there are the seventy nations against the single nation of Israel; the masses of the people against the Torah scholars; and the learners who are the enemies of the true Torah scholars, the faithful ones of Israel. In this degraded generation, “When a cantor comes to sing, there are many listeners, and when a preacher comes, the listeners diminish.” The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef understands only too well and resents the fact that the people are drawn to music and pleasure, not to words of rebuke and musar (Ki Teize).

On a personal note, I want to add the following. Over the years, I’ve encountered mentions in the secondary literature of Rabbi Ya’akov Yosef and the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef. Most of it is not much more than hagiographic gleanings and isolated generic teaching. No sense was given of the whole. As a student of modern Jewish thought, I always wanted to read this first Hasidic book, and found it, eventually, at Sefaria. But I always stopped short before the challenge of plunging through this very long commentary. I finally finished reading through an AI translation which I generated thanks to the new technology. (All references in this generated translation refer to paragraphs in the version at Sefaria.) I did not expect how unpleasant the content was going to be. Looked at as a historical document, the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef offers a critical lens onto the early decades of the Hasidic movement. To be sure there are nice words –about humility, the menorah as symbol of the Klal, the mutual inclusion and illumination of the members of the community (Nasso, par. 222). However, unlike material coming out from the school of Dov Ber of Mezerich, there is nothing folksy about the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef. Its leanings are hierarchical and elitist. Lastly, anyone who follows Haredi politics in the State of Israel today will recognize the roots of sectarian ethos and spiritual supremacy in this first Hasidic text –including the total disdain of ordinary Jews whose only purpose is to cleave to the Tzadikim and financially bankroll these men of form.

[Wordsearch document for keywords: men of form, subjugate, subdue, submission, submit, run and return, rebuke, men of matter, the generation, wealth, my teacher, I place God before me always]

DIGEST OF THE TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF

TITLE

Ya’akov Yosef appeals to his own authority in this paean to the Besht (identified as “my teacher” throughout the entire commentary). The Besht manifests knowledge, hidden wisdom, Torah, the High Priest, light emanating from the Mishkan, fear of God, a holy man of God, Israel, a holy candle whose face illuminated the world with his wisdom; his words “were as joyous as their giving from Sinai from the mouth of the Almighty.” The key takeaway is that Israel (Baal Shem) loved Joseph (i.e. Ya’akov Yosef) and gave from his glory upon him, his offering an offering to the priest, especially and greatly.

INTRODUCTION

[The secret of Adam – the human creature]

The human person is composed of 4 elements (fire, wind, water, spirit), each with a corresponding vice and virtue. At issue is how to overcome impurity of the shell that covers the body. The human person is a spiritual body connected by limbs, i.e. mitzvot, to the divine name or root. Fear of sin and humility are the cardinal virtues along with lowliness and distance from worldly pleasure before the constant presence of God. Melancholy-sadness is associated with “earth.” Israel is an enhanced human creature whose purpose is to transform matter into form. Those who are lax in Torah and mitzvot are imprisoned by the evil inclination. They are “dwellers of darkness and the shadow of death,” subdued by the labor of their hearts and the forces of impurity. The “secret of Adam” is the connection to God by way of thought, speech, and action. The mitzvot are homologous to limbs. The nations cling to the branch of the Tree, Israel to root.  Israel draws shefa to nations, etc. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef connects his own name Yakov Yosef to this divine cosmic interface. Joseph is the lower foundation (Yesod) included in the upper foundation called Jacob, which is Tiferet (glory, splendor)]

GENESIS*

The commentary to Genesis starts with the human, proceeds to the way of the Hasid, and ends with lovesickness, prayer, the longing to unite with God and the longing to unite Shekhinah with Her Beloved. The last word of the Genesis commentary is the dying in Egypt of the arrogance and pride of “Israel,” the lowliness and humility of “Jacob,” and constant meditation on Torah. “I have set the Lord before me always” (Psalms 16:8) is the motto of Genesis.

BREISHIT*

[God is concealed in Chaos and Cosmos]

The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef starts in deep, dark chaos, and the concealment of God in the chaos, connecting, the human creature, turning matter into form. Humility and lowliness of Jacob, subduing-subjugating chaos and desire, drawing shefa into world, raising the physical to the root. After a person knows that there is no barrier separating him from his God, in times of Torah and prayer, if strange thoughts come upon him, these too are garments and coverings within which the Holy One, blessed be He, is concealed. Regardless, after a person knows that the Holy One, blessed be He, is concealed there, this is no longer concealment. God returned and hid Himself in various coverings and many shells, which are chaos and void and darkness, etc. for He foresaw and saw that there would be generations of wickedness, and He concealed the aforementioned light and hid it from the sinners in many shells. The Torah starts with Genesis to emphasize the fear of God, which is “the beginning of wisdom” (Psalms 111:10). This fear leads to humility. Whoever is small is truly great. Israel is compared to the moon, which initially diminishes itself and later becomes full. The final exile is caused by the proud among Israel who are under the dominion of the evil inclination. When the proud are eliminated, they will emerge from the exile and the redemption will come. The purpose of the creation of the world was so that poor Torah scholars and rich Jews should connect together, so that both would be called great. The material people would influence the spiritual people with their wealth, and the Torah scholars, who are the spiritual ones, would influence the material people with their Torah. By the end of the parsha, the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef looks to the tradition of Ben Zomah who never married. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef spiritualizes sexual desire and seeks to subdue its physical manifestation. To be “man” is to subdue desire. Overcoming barriers between the human person and God, Torah light are the scholars who lead the people, illuminating their path with the light of Torah.

NOAH*

[The Tzadik]

Noah is the Tzadik-scholar who embodies the practice of spiritual seclusion. The guarantee of peace, the covenant of the Tzadik is a covenant of thought, speech, and action. Noah stands against the obsession with worldly and financial concerns, the Ark a symbol of spiritual isolation. Without freeing oneself from material distractions, one risks forfeiting both the World to Come and also this world. Subjugation defines the ideal relationship between scholars and the people who cleave to God by cleaving to scholars, i.e. the Tzadikim. “Righteousness and peace” embrace, creating a unity above and sweetening harsh judgments at their root. The Tzadik uncovers within judgment a hidden kernel of kindness. Yet before Abraham entered the world, kindness had not yet fully manifested. Abraham introduced this quality by taking Lot with him. Lot is the evil inclination in whom Abraham discerned an aspect of kindness, recognizing its purpose for the sake of Heaven. This act demonstrates the transformation of divine judgments into kindness.

LECH LECHA*

[Descent]

Abraham embodies the principle of descent and connecting with others. On one hand, Abraham represents the virtue of extreme spiritual isolation. He leaves country and family. On the other hand, the Divine Presence encompasses all worlds —mineral, plant, animal, and human. All beings in the world, whether good or evil, are included within it. One learns from the wicked, even as one distances oneself from them. The unity of God means that down is up and up is down. When Abram diminishes himself, descending into the final letter of the divine name (representing malchut), he becomes Abraham, able to connect with others and elevate them. He becomes the “father of many nations.” One draws the pure from the impure, etc, evil is the throne of good, etc. Abraham is the perfect human being; who descends and refines nefesh-ruach-neshama (corresponding to action, speech, and thought) and rises to highest perfection (wrapped up in divine roots of kindness and blessing. Circumcision manifests the power of the Tzadik. The covenant of circumcision creates blessing for all creatures. Abraham unites the “awe of YHVH” (Malchut) with “YHVH” (Zeir Anpin), the power of connection, symbolized in Kabbalah as Yesod or phallus. In our commentary, Abraham is a figure bound up with images of sexual intercourse (zivug) and pleasure (ta’anug). The removal of the physical foreskin symbolizes removing the spiritual “foreskin of the heart” to acquire a good heart, completing one in good traits suited to engaging in Torah and mitzvot. The sexual organ, which provides the highest pleasure, symbolizes the unity that joins the male and female aspects. From physical pleasure, one grasps the spiritual pleasure of connecting oneself to the unity of the Blessed One, the source of all pleasure, etc. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef is alert to a fundamental danger that the ascent is not as certain as the descent. It is dangerous to endanger oneself by descending without knowing if one will merit to ascend again. When a person thinks he is distant from God and stands on the earth, he is actually close to God, with his head reaching the heavens. But when he thinks he is close to God, his head reaching the heavens and he feels he is among the ascending, he is actually distant from God and standing on the earth, among the descending. The final word of the parsha is about humility. When a person sees a fault in another person, one should understand that there is a trace of that transgression within oneself and should feel the need to correct oneself.

VA’YERA*

God World Evil Inclination Beit Ha’Midrash

Abraham is kindness; pillar of world. He is the secret of “run and return” who ascends and then descends to elevate others. In a system of metaphysical monism, God controls everything, including the evil inclination, which means that the evil inclination serves God; Focused on these two themes –kindness and the evil inclination, nothing is said about the Akeidah in this commentary to the parsha. When the Toldot Ya’akov Yosf turns to Isaac, it is to the figure of Gevurah-awe and the early pious ones in Talmud, i.e. to Hasidic piety completely devoted to non-stop prayer and Torah study. Abraham is the human being who is called a ‘small city’—exposed to the heat of the day, which symbolizes Gehenna. Sarah is an exemplar of the material (female) which becomes form and then returns to matter. This too in the language of “run and return.” A soul is elevated to neshamah [form] returns to body [matter] and gives birth to children [nefesh]. God is in Elon Mamre, which represents the evil inclination, the synagogue/beit ha’midrash where the evil inclination goes and is trapped and kept from roaming throughout the city. Abraham had God before him always, even among the wicked outside the beit midrash. The fear of Isaac is the inward turn in Hasidic spirituality. Having focused above on Abraham and kindness, the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef here turns to the prayer and Torah of a spiritual elite represented by Isaac who do not need much and who spend all their day at prayer and study –in contrast to people devoted to business, material gain, money.

CHAYEI SARAH*

Nothing (Ayin)

In this parsha, the idea of “nothing” (ayin) and kindness are connected. The life of Sarah is return to the way of nature, while the death of Sarah hints at the death of the physical body due to bad traits stemming from the negative side of the 4 physical elements (fire, wind, water, earth). Introduced in this parsha, the way of the Hasid in the world (represented by Isaac) is the idea of “nothing” which sustains the life of the body free of envy, desire, honor, arrogance, and pride which drive a person from the world. This is to say that one should consider oneself as nothing. If Sarah rises above the physical level and returns to the way of nature, Isaac manifests the power of Din-Gevurah, which goes out into the world of ordinary people who are wicked and turns them to good. The ascetic life is to have God before me always, to be kind with everyone, to not worry about sustenance and earning a living. A person should devote oneself to Torah and mitzvot with the perfect faith that sustenance will come on its own. Isaac ascends to a higher level than his father in overcoming his tendencies towards strict judgment and ascending to the higher level of rachamim (mercy). At the gate of Awe is to place God before one always. The conduct of the Tzadik (with God before me) is to treat others with mercy; because God’s presence is even there in the ugly acts of others. Isaac takes negative things he sees and turns them into good. He sows with the people in the realm of Malchut. One should make oneself like a submissive and humble animal offering brought before God. Abraham now gets the last word in this parsha. Through Torah alone, “the Lord blessed Abraham in everything. This is Abraham’s perfect faith, his mastery of the evil inclination. To say that the goal of Hasidism is to set God before me always is to have God’s presence in one’s thought constantly, which requires the removal of all worldly distractions, including the pursuit of wealth and earning a livelihood.

TOLDOT*

Harsh rebuke and boundless joy

From the attribute of Abraham, one ascends to the harsh level of Isaac, from which the resolution is born, which is Jacob. The patriarchs represent 3 intellectual faculties. Intellect is future oriented; desire is present oriented. Jacob is the Tzadik who mediates Intellect and Desire. Desire is first sweet and then bitter. Intellect subdues desire. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef does not confuse good and evil by calling the one the other and vice versa. Sin manifests the “spirit of folly.” Isaac is the “son of Abraham” transforming chaos and sin into world of repair and kindness. The sweetening of harsh judgment which is Jacob has to come from the side of Isaac, and from Rebecca, who comes from Bethuel but manifests lenient judgment tempered with mercy. Jacob’s birthright is the promise of a limitless portion of boundless delight in God beyond reward and punishment. Judgment is cold and does not create offspring, which is why Isaac has to pray, connecting and subjugating left to right, fulfilling the Master’s will by accepting something harsh with love. On this middle line between Abraham and Isaac, one accepts harsh judgment and rebuke and does so with love, while serving God and doing good deeds not for the sake of reward, which is limited and not boundless. Superior delight and joy come from hearing open words of rebuke. In his rebuke against the people of his own generation, the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef positions Torah and prayer at the pinnacle of the world. Abraham dug wells to open a channel for God’s love in the world, and people in that generation would lengthen their prayers, as well as study Torah in the synagogue after prayer. But then the Philistines stopped up the wells, and the people returned to their previous fallen state. At this stage, Rebecca being barren manifests a defect in the Shekhinah, while Isaac embodies the trait of fear. He supplicates in prayer for Rebecca to repair the damage. He reopens the obstructed wells again. After the dispute with the servants of the Philistine king Avimelech came “Rechovot, and finally, they were fruitful in the land.

VAYEITZEI*

Being in the World

After the theme of boundless blessing in the previous parsha, the Toldot Ya’akov Yosef turns to the profane world. Jacob leaving Beer Sheva leaves the inward solitude of Torah study and prayer and enters into the world of worldly matters to elevate and redeem the lowly. If Israel had observed 2 Shabbats, they would have connected the lower in nature with the upper above nature joining two separate things into a single matrix. At Beth El, Jacob comes to see that God’s name is also in this place full of wild animals, thieves, and evil forces. In Jacob’s dream at Beth El, the angels of God are Israel descending into the world. God is with the lowly, with Israel, with Jacob who lies down in the dust. In this view of the world, greatness lies in lowliness. Jacob is like Shimon bar Yochai and his son who must learn how to live in the profane world without destroying it. The soul descends from the world of Emanation (Atzilut) into the world of Action (Asiyah). To see in this world how the forces of impurity prevail and how lightly people treat the honor of the great King –all of this awakens within the Tzadik a greater desire to bring honor to the King of the Universe who is above and beyond all. The world is a ladder. In this hierarchy, the ordinary masses are the feet, the Torah scholars are the head. The scholars descend into the profane world to elevate the masses. Jacob’s vow and God’s promise –don’t be afraid—refers to the future of the Jewish people, the destruction of the Temple and exile due to loss of connection and abandoning Torah study. Shekhinah is with Israel in exile. In this world, a person should be unified with his “mother” and “daughter,” expelling foreign thoughts, which are like a shell or garment. While speaking Torah and prayer, which is his Daughter, his thoughts, or Mother should cleave with longing and attachment to the light of the King of Life, the light of Ein Sof within the letters of his speech. This musar is flexible, not hard and unbending. The Tzadik mixes with the people. Just as Rabbi Akiva entered the Pardes in peace and left in peace, so Jacob came in peace and left Haran in peace; he returned and entered the inner Torah, called peace, the mind-brain of the walnut.

VAYISHLACH*

Overcoming The Evil Inclination

The struggle between Jacob vs. Esau is the struggle of form and matter in the world. Jacob’s mission is to sojourn in the world with Laban, the evil indication, and to do 613 mitzvot to prepare the body for the World to Come. There are limbs that are within a person’s control and others that are not—such as sight, thoughts, and the like. Jacob wants the favor of Esau, i.e. the love of matter, to subdue it to holiness. Jacob is afraid the evil inclination will kill him or he will kill it, for it is better to subdue even the evil inclination into holiness. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef identifies three types of exile. There is the exile of Israel among the nations, the exile of scholars among the uneducated masses, and the exile of virtuous Torah scholars among evil scholars —those “Jewish demons.” The human person possesses a pure soul within a garment of Nogah within the animal soul. The purpose is to refine and transform the material into form and turn the evil inclination into the good inclination. Then he removes that garment and wears the garment of Ḥashmal, as did Moses. There are 5 orders of soul-ascent that mark the way of the Baal Nefesh in relation to world and material things. [1] One should prioritize the acquisitions of the soul over the acquisitions of the body in both action and thought. [2] The acquisitions of the soul and intellect continually increase and do not diminish. [3] The trait of contentment belongs to the Baalei Nefesh who rejoice in their portion. [4] The Baal Nefesh, who has eyes of intellect, looks toward the final day, knowing that all matters of this world have limits and an end; and through this, he will come to despise these worldly things. [5] The Baal Nefesh, after being complete in all his actions, will seek to guide others. A person must purify his thoughts first, and then perform the commandments, whether by action or by speech, so that they will all be pure and untainted by any external appearance.  The Tzadik tricks the evil inclination, engaging it at the beginning to see how to overcome it like a lion for the sake of heaven. There is a danger in initially joining with the evil inclination, because no one knows if later he will be able to escape from the exile it constitutes. Through sharp exegesis, one enters into the pride within the husks, and afterwards, through the homiletic interpretation and ethics, the husks are shattered. In the days of the Messiah, “your eyes will see your teachers” (Isaiah 30:20), i.e. the letters of the Torah and prayer that they learn and pray, visible before their eyes, shining like polished worlds.

VAYEISHEV*

Humility (Jacob-Joseph)

“These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph.” If a perfect person experiences some hindrance to Torah and prayer, he should understand that this too is from God who pushes him away so that he may draw close. Joseph (Yosef) alludes to the World to Come residing in the עקב (heel) (i.e. Ya’ako“And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his v). As World to Come Joseph signifies constant increase, as opposed to materiality and this world. “Israel” loves Joseph the most here refers to the collective of the Israelite nation who love the type of Joseph more than all than the other Torah scholars. The other scholars act for self-glorification or other personal benefit, whereas Joseph, the Tzadik, acts only for the sake of Heaven. Yehudah represents the quality of malchut (kingship truly approached to Yosef’s level. The service of the brothers was lazy and mechanical—merely following the customs of their ancestors. They resent the zeal of the Tzadikim who serve God with joy. Jacob dwells surrounded by awe “in the land of his father’s sojournings.” All of this was because the material murkiness of the land, i.e. Canaan, was still great and vast until later when it became purified and was called the land of Israel.

MIKETZ*

Secret of Fear — Trust God

Joseph is the Tzadik who trusts in God, not human beings. Against people who seek riches and exploit the poor, instead of being humble and content with little]  This is the secret of morah (awe), that a person must fear before the Blessed One, such that the awe of God should be upon his head—the secret of the surrounding light (Or Makif) that encompasses 248 limbs, corresponding to the numerical value of morah. This is the Shechinah that surrounds a person’s head and encompasses his intellect. No fear of humans should rest upon him. This is because he has morah and the surrounding light of Malchut, preventing anyone from overpowering him. There are two types of people: one who acts naturally, plowing and sowing in their proper times; and another who transcends nature, trusting in God to provide for their needs with minimal effort, devoting their time to serving the Blessed One. For such individuals, their work is done by othersOne who conducts himself according to natural order possesses the fear of kingship, which is called ‘his daughter.’ And one who conducts himself beyond natural order merits fear of the heavens, which is the secret of Binah in unity with Abba. When Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him, Joseph fell in level and was punished. But he restored his level when he put his trust back in God to interpret Pharoah’s dream. Since Joseph conducted himself beyond the natural order, placing his trust in the Lord and not in man, it was therefore fitting that he should not turn to illusions.  A person of faith will have an abundance of blessings, the hidden goodness being reserved for the righteous in the World to Come. Unlike the person rushes to amass immediate wealth in matters of this world.

VAYIGASH*

[Ascent]

Judah approaching Joseph manifests the way of Torah and the secret of prayer. Love sickness for God and closeness to the Shechinah cannot be attained except through the subjugation of the physical and the evil inclination, and this is through suffering. Need to subjugate physicality and the evil inclination which separate one from cleaving to God. Even the sicknesses and sufferings I have endured were love for me, for I merited closeness through them. Torah is the way of the Lord because it guides the complete person to ascend the mountain of the God and travel on their journey from level to level until the pure soul [nefesh] cleaves to the First Cause. To ascend the high mountain, one removes burdens to such as coarse foods, heavy garments, or loads of silver and gold—because they weigh down both the body and the pure soul. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef likens the hatred of the nations for Israel with the hatred of Hasidim by common people and traditionalist scholars. Torah accommodates ordinary human behavior. Against finding flaws with others and not oneself; don’t criticize the Tzadikim (whom you call “youth”) who engage in Torah night and day. Judah approaching Joseph alludes to the subjection of the imagination and senses, which draw a person downwards, to the intellect. Subdue the one to the other gradually and gently until one can settle the mind and separate from them. The ascent to God exalts soul over body. Shechinah and soul return to the lofty place from the place of lowly exile. Shechinah rises from exile and from the husks (klipot), returning to Binah and then to Hochmah which is holiness. Peace and joy and everyone is beautiful to each other.

VAYEHI*

[God Before Me]

“Jacob lived in Egypt” and “Israel drew near to die,” the deep meaning of which is a truth about the humility of Jacob and drawing near to God. The power of an action resides within the act; the creation of the entire world is like a locust whose garments come from itself. In all kinds of suffering and distress, there is a spark of holiness from God garbed within many garments. The Toldot Ya’akov Yosef criticizes the arrogance of “Israel,” i.e. traditionalist Torah scholars who brag and boast. One should instead accept little like Jacob in Egypt who only wants God before him. Everything is good. The Tzadikim always place God before them, humble themselves to the dust. “I have set the Lord always before me.” When the pride and authority associated with the title Israel diminish, this is called “death.” Then, “God will be with you,” for “I dwell with the contrite and humble,” elevating foreign thoughts back to their source, the place called “your forefathers,” the sparks of the Shechinah called “land.”

EXODUS*

With a  consistent and critical eye on social strife and the failings of his own generation, the focus of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF in the commentary to Exodus is Moses and the Tzadik, the subordination of matter to form, words of rebuke and musar. Genesis revealed the soul joy and ḥesed  of Abraham+ the body joy and judgment of Isaac + the complete joy manifested by Jacob/Shabbat). Now in Exodus, Moses rises above nature (El Shadai) to judgement (Elohim) and then higher still to YHWH. A careful reader will observe scattered through the commentary that Da’at is the key to this transition or ladder. Da’at  is the rung of knowledge and knowing; the bridge between the upper and lower worlds, the intellect of the “soul” that connects and subordinates “matter” to “form.” Starting with self- knowledge revealed through words of rebuke and musar, Da’at lies in the difference between divine essence and material shells, and the divine unity—the secret of One. The framework of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is simultaneously unitary and hierarchical. On the one hand, the Evil Inclination and the material world are a single unity stemming from God; the Evil Inclination is a potential throne of holiness. On the other hand, the Tzadik cleaves to God, who is greater than all nature. Against the folly of worldly slumber and for the sake of peace, The TOLDOT YA’AKOV  YOSEF subjugates the “people of matter” (wealthy Jews and the Jewish masses) to the people of form, namely Torah scholars and Tzadikim who are the source of life.

SHEMOT*

Israel descends into the lowly material realm of Egypt, from which they long to ascend. Within this descent the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF laments that in his own generation the truly faithful of Israel have nearly vanished. In this political schema, marked as it is by this anxiety, “Israel” represents the pious, wisdom, scholars, the men of form, while “Jacob” represents the common masses, wealth, materiality. In this world picture, some descend and rise again while others become trapped in the impurity of bodily existence. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF urges the sweetening of harsh judgments through thought, speech, and the unification of divine names, knowing that one must cleave to God even in mundane interactions. A person engaged in Torah and prayer is called “man,” but when descending to the level of ordinary people becomes “woman.” The divine name El Shaddai prevents any deeper descent into the klippot and mitigates the severity of judgment, while the “new king” over Egypt manifests the Evil Inclination. Up and down these rungs, a person is always “ascending and descending,” never fixed at one level. By way of rebuke,  we are reminded that even one who rose in devoted youth must remain vigilant not to let “midnight” pass in the sleep of worldly folly.

VA’ERA*

Ascending to the level of Shabbat and Da’at and including sharp words of rebuke against the leaders of his own generation, the parsha has as its focus the Tzadikim-Priests-Faithful of Israel who complete the perfect service of God by way of attachment to Shekhinah. In Genesis, Abraham manifested soul and divine Ḥ̣esed, Isaac the body and judgment. Jacob combined them together. For their part, the Tzadikim are the emissaries of the Matronita, the Shekhinah, or moon. They serve through the “six days of work” to repair the deficiency of the “moon,” by restraining prohibited desires and directing all action toward the purpose of divine unification. But now, as the boundary-less heritage of Jacob, eating for sake Heaven on Shabbat is unconstrained and boundless. When one truly observes the Sabbath, one becomes God’s treasured possession, awakening an inner fire that draws down a corresponding fire from heaven, and offering fluent prayer consciously oriented toward the Shekhinah. In this framework, the service of ordinary Jews corresponds to the outer altar, where the common fire burns, while the faithful of Israel correspond to the inner altar. None of this Daʿatis known until Moses. The essence of human existence is to awaken from worldly slumber, subdue the left side to holiness. Like Moses, the leaders of each generation must guide the people according to the level  specific to the generation. The rebuker at the city gate must offer reproof tailored to each individual person. With a caustic eye on the rabbinic class of his own day, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF rebukes his own generation. Each generation is shaped by their leaders, which explains the dim spiritual condition of his own time and place.

BO*

Fear Rebuke Punishment: The fear of Heaven or God and the fear of sages turns out to be one and the same thing.  This parsha is in the mode of full-throated rebuke. A person should be like a tail to a lion, not the head of fox. Ordinary Jews and wealthy Jews need to adopt a position of humility and fear sages and cleave to them; turning matter into form;  turning curses into blessings via letter permutations and connections; removing leaven, matzah maror suffering, connecting hesed and gevurah. But will the masses accept words of rebuke and musar? For sake of bringing a sinner back, the Tzadik assumes the lowly garb of base traits to connect with the sinner. Don’t rebuke hardened sinners; better that they remain at level of inadvertent sinners, not intentional ones. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is clearly addressing the “sinners”  of his own generation. The point is for others to hear and see the rebuke. The punishment of the wicked serves as public warning.  But “Pharaoh” now represents the stiff‑necked Israelite—both the clandestine and the brazen offender—before whom God “unsheathes the sun,” a force that heals the righteous and consumes the wicked; which is why common people unaccustomed to Torah and prayer, absorbed in worldly pursuits, experience God’s emergence as death. This relates as well to the death of the Egyptian firstborn. God in the world is death to those who only know worldly things, which are compared to a carcass. Since they were not accustomed to Torah and prayer, being occupied with worldly matters, this is certainly called death for them when God goes out into the midst of Egypt, which is really the sun going out of its sheath. Regarding  matter and form, wealthy Jews should therefore cleave to and support Torah scholars for the sake of Heaven. One should intend all one’s physical ways in eating and drinking and all kinds of work to clarify all the sparks they contain for the sake of Heaven, etc. Against this bad trait, the moral lesson from this is that a poor person should not envy a rich person. A craftsman should not hate another craftsman, a shopkeeper a shopkeeper, a bartender a bartender, and a scholar a scholar. Just as water leaves a high place and goes to a low place, so too the words of Torah only endure in one who is humble. The elders in the generation of Joshua, even though they were exceptionally wise and great righteous individuals, still said about themselves, “Woe to that shame, woe to that disgrace,” because they saw the great level of Moses. They considered themselves as nothing compared to him. The exile of this generation represents an inversion. In the exile of this generation, Israel and the sages are lowly and ordinary Jews rule. The Jewish social body should look up to the sages and aspire to be elevated through them. But in the spirit of self-rebuke, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF knows that people have a claim not to listen to the Torah scholars. In truth, however, their flaws are for their benefit of the common people, to connect with them and elevate them. This is like the parable of a prince who changed his clothes. Moses warned Israel to elevate the heads of the sons of Gershon, to give prominence to the Tzadikim or people of form who are strangers in this world. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF rebukes the lay leaders of each generation along with wealthy and prominent people in each city; they abandon the levels and virtues of the Torah scholars who are before them, and only hold onto the levels of people who are behind them.  In contrast, the faithful of Israel know the difference between husk and holiness, which is why a person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim, meaning the physical aspect, so that through this, the form can unite, which is called knowledge (Da’at). When people of physicality indulge in physical eating and drinking, which is from the husk and called cursed, then through this, people of form can rejoice in spiritual joy, and they also become a throne for holiness. Regarding leaven and honey — leaven symbolizes pride, and honey symbolizes pleasure, and both are invalid in matzah. Matzah, maror represent the removal from worldly pleasure through suffering, connecting Ḥesed and Gevurah to remove pride and desire from a person, then it will be easy to cleave to God. The lesson of the spies scouting the land speak in the same vein regarding moral self-examination and subduing one’s own inclination for physicality, turning the material in a person to form via the path of Torah.

BE’SHALACH*

A person is a small world, and within them are Egypt and Pharaoh. The exodus from Egypt is a war against the Evil Inclination, represented by Pharaoh. The exodus proceeds through extreme polarities of impurity and holiness. The limbs of the body are under the dominion of Pharaoh; their initial liberation proceeds from repentance, asceticism, and harsh subjugation of the material body, and then, to the opposite extreme, which is the crossing of the Red Sea, which represents kindness to the body. Pharaoh’s sending the people away means that the limbs of the person have left the domain of the Evil Inclination. Pharaoh is also Binah, the higher level of repentance, where all lights are revealed. Thus it is said, “In all their affliction, He was afflicted,” meaning that a person prays for the suffering of the Shekhinah, and consequently the suffering of the person passes. “And God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines,” because from that way the land of the Philistines, which are the shells, are nourished. God did not lead them by that way because it was near, meaning the forgetfulness called Pharaoh was near. The opposite of forgetfulness is knowledge or Da’at, called Moses. Until now, Moses knew only the name “God” as nature, but now he knows the name YHWH, which is above nature and greater than all gods. The sanctification of the Divine Name through Pharaoh and his chariots is from this aspect as well, that the matter returned to nature. In contrast,  Shabbat is elevation, sanctity, and the place of God in thought. A person is commanded not to go out of his place on the seventh day,” meaning that it is forbidden to divert one’s mind from the sanctity of Shabbat. A person is similar to the Upper Man, Zeir Anpin, who ascends on Shabbat in the secret of “Israel arose in thought.” If one blemishes thought, one removes the Holy One, who is called “Man,” from His place—from the upper thought.  And if one blemishes in thought, they remove the Holy One, who is called “man,” from His place – from the supernal thought.

YITRO*

This very long commentary is focused on life and death, and the tense and even hostile relation between Torah sages and the masses. The splitting of the Red Sea and the war with Amalek removed the material screen of sin that separates God and the human person. After the splitting of the Sea, Jethro now knows that YHWH, is above nature, represents the aspect of mercy, and is greater than all the elohim or gods of nature and punishing judgments. The one great command at Sinai –I am Lord your God– is at the root of all 613 mitzvot, including the commandment to cleave to God by cleaving to Torah scholars. Torah scholars should be left in solitude and free from communal needs so they can run the affairs of community and attach the people to God. By clinging to Torah scholars, the masses cling to God and then it is good for them and for the entire community (the klal). If they do not give them peace of mind and burden them with communal needs, then they certainly harm themselves and the community.  The masses, however, hate Torah scholars and tzadikim, not understanding that the body has no life if it doesn’t cling to the soul and if the masses do not cling to the faithful of Israel. The Tzadik is likened to the fiery bronze serpent made by Moses and to the serpents who bit Israel during their desert sojourn. In their folly, the masses of Israel turn against the faithful of Israel who have the power to harm and heal. The masses are short-sighted; they shorten the way of God in prayer and in commandments, doing them in a temporary and rote manner. In contrast, the Tzadikim toil in the way of Torah. The serpent that killed also gives life as long as Israel looked upward towards the Torah scholars. Attachment with Torah scholars face to face sustains the secret of the cherubim whose faces were toward each other. But any Torah scholar who does not take vengeance and does not bear a grudge like a serpent is not a Torah scholar. And if the Torah scholar holds the attribute of the masses, who eat with each other and stab each other, etc., then  he is not considered a Torah scholar but is among the masses. Even still, a scholar should take vengeance and bear the grudge only in his heart and should not speak at all due to enmity, like the serpent. And the masses should not separate from Torah scholars. How to help the masses prepare to draw close and elevate to God? Sometimes, one needs to descend to the level of the masses, loving people who are of lesser value and who have no perfection except that they are creations of God. Nevertheless, it is fitting to love them to bring them closer to the Torah. Preaching to the mases, the Tzadikim  wander in the city; they put on lowly garments to attract and lead the masses, transforming impure matter into pure form. The people came to Marah, and confuse sweet with bitter water. Three days with no Torah, they are sick in the soul craving spoil and material things after Splitting of Sea. There are two Sabbaths; the sabbath of the people, eating and resting and the sabbath of the Torah scholars/tzadik without which the former is nothing. By merit of faith and contentment, Israel merits delight. The Tzadik, called alive, satisfies every living thing with favor.

MISHPATIM*

Sadness and gladness of the body and of the ordinary people in relation to the soul are the focus in this parsha relating to laws and justice. The rational ordinances (mishpatim) are according to nature and the common/wealthy Jews, whereas the statutes (ḥukim) are above nature and grasped by the elite. Justice is a principle of Jewish authority and leadership being close to and in the midst of the people. A person should not enter beyond his rung, for this is the cause of his complete nullification. “Who are the kings? The rabbis,” in the governance of a city or state, “by justice establishes the land,” meaning that if they govern them by justice, which is according to nature, the common people called “land” will stand firm and not be moved from their rung. Whereas a person of gifts who wants to elevate them above his own  rung will completely destroy them. The spiritual elite are ayin or nothing; they trust in God who is above nature. Judah represents Elohim‑kingship who approaches and submits before Joseph, the tzadik who nullifies decrees. The individual soul wants to leave the body; the body submits to the soul, which accrues merit by submitting the body to Torah. The soul becomes Master thanks to the body. The body apologizes to the Master for its failings; but, at the register of the communal collective (klal), the onus is placed on the leaders for the failure of the people. The body and material are poor in knowledge and have no joy in cleaving to the Blessed One except through physical eating and drinking. When lacking this, they are in sadness and hinder the soul from cleaving to the Blessed One, which is through joy. One should therefore “borrow on My account” and gladden the material so that the poor among you will be joyful—this in the physical and this in the spiritual. Just as the TYY wrote about the body and soul of an individual, this is true regarding the community (klal), where there are people of material and people of form. Offerings likewise overcome the sadness of the material world through eating and drinking, for example on Purim.

TERUMAH*

Picking up from the previous parsha, we learn that the mitzvot emanate from the divine essence. The commandment to build the Tabernacle/Temple is relevant even when there is no Temple, as these laws relate to the world as a whole. There are three pillars (crowns) on which the world stands: Torah (kingship), Service, and acts of Loving Kindness. Mitzvot, especially tefillin, subjugate the soul (neshamah) and body to God, which transforms the human person into a chariot of God. A wise person learns from everyone, even from the Evil Inclination. The human person is the microcosm of the world; the Tabernacle is a microcosm of the world; and one must make oneself a chariot through self‑subjugation of body and soul. The 613 commandments inform us how a person can sanctify, attach oneself to, and cling to God, which is the purpose of all Torah and commandments. With this, we can understand the three crowns mentioned above: the crown of Torah, which is the tree of life and includes the other two crowns; the crown of priesthood, representing kindness, which enters goes beyond the letter of the law; and the crown of kingship, which is revealed outside, as known. The three aspects are united into one. Opposed to this is the Evil Inclination, which is the necessary opposition without which there is no good and no reward. In this  way, the Evil Inclination is transformed into a throne of holiness.

TETZAVEH

The purpose of the human person, who was created with matter and form, is to subjugate  matter to the form. This is true of the individual person and the same applies to the community (klal). When the masses ascend one level, then the leader of the generation also ascends, as we find with Moses our teacher when Israel camped in repentance. Connecting masses and leaders, corporeal garments clothe the soul/person in this world; spiritual garments clothe the soul in the world to come. The human body is not the person, but it is a garment in which the intellectual soul, which is the person himself, is clothed while in this world. After death, this garment is removed, and the soul is clothed in a spiritual garment. One who makes a spiritual garment for the soul is clothing the union of Tiferet and Malchut through the fulfillment of the 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments with the proper intention, without any ulterior motives or foreign thoughts, so that there is no part for the “Other Side” in the intention of the commandment. One should imagine as if he is dead and not in this world, standing in the Garden of Eden before the Throne of Glory. Spiritual leaders are commended to adorn oneself first and then adorn the wicked. Bells of gold [Torah] surround the wicked [pomegranates] to elevate them with Torah and musar  l leaders. When the masses ascend one level, then the leader of the generation also ascends. Teshuva brings the masses to the correct path.

KI TISA*

Once again relating to right relations and hierarchy between body and soul, and between the people of matter and the people of form who are the Torah scholars. The people of matter are supposed to pay ransom, i.e. to share their wealth and material abundance with Torah scholars. But why offer a half‑coin and not a whole one? The purpose is to teach the children of Israel the importance of unity, so that no one should think that a person is separate from his or her fellow, but rather as if each one is a half, and when one joins with each and every one of Israel, the person becomes whole. For just as in the particular case of one person, the soul and the form should not boast over the body and say that it is a holy soul hewn from a holy place beneath the Throne of Glory, whereas the body is made from dust and created from a putrid drop—and certainly, the body should not boast over the soul that it sustains the soul, for when the soul separates from the body, the body remains putrid—in this way they need each other, like a man and a woman, each one half of the body. Similarly, in general, the scholars and righteous should not say that there is no need for the masses, for they support the Torah and many practical commandments are completed through them; and certainly, the masses should not say that there is no need for the scholars or boast against them. Therefore, each one is a half, and together, the material and the form, both in general and in particular, make one complete person. Then the Evil Inclination becomes the Good Inclination. Finally, the Golden Calf teaches that anyone who disgraces a Torah scholar has no remedy for his wound.

VA-YAQHEL*

The Tzadik and the people of his generation, and elevating both the divine sparks and Evil Inclination for the sake of the Shekhinah and cleaving to God. “Moses assembled”—that is, the Tzadik is Yesod or Foundation, who gathers the entire congregation of Israel, namely all the people of his generation, within himself; and when he repents, becoming the Tzadik, he repairs his generation as well, for it is easier for the people to return in repentance through his rebuke, since his words will be heeded—unlike one who has not first corrected himself. A Torah leader must incorporate within himself all members of his generation, and thus their sins are also, in a way, within him. This is the advice to scholars teaching the people: “Make for yourself great assemblies”—meaning, recognize that within you exists a great congregation, as all Torah scholars form a single soul in which the entire generation is included; first rectify yourself, then teach Torah plainly, then teach laws—so that all are unified as one soul—and finally speak words of musar to inspire collective repentance. This way, God’s great Name is glorified among His children through the unity of their repentance, for the souls of Israel emanate from God’s great Name. The ultimate purpose of assembling is cleaving to God, holiness, God speaking through the throat of Moses, which is possible for every Jew in assembly, for all Israel is potentially prophetic. Tzadikim should therefore treat people gently and act piously toward the Shekhinah. “Speak in a gentle manner” (Psalms 47:4). “Make for yourself a teacher” (rav, Avot 1:6), meaning: create a dispute (riv) for the sake of the Shechinah and pray on its behalf; “Acquire for yourself a friend”—to join with you; “Judge every person favorably”—to use one’s words of Torah and musar to benefit everyone, acting piously (lehitḥassed) toward the Shekhinah, which consists of its scattered sparks, to elevate it favorably so that it rises above and does not descend below. The Master of the Universe is present in concealment (hester), hidden and garbed in the world of exile and suffering. And this is the essence (ikar) of praise and song, for in the exile of Egypt the people thought God was an enemy; but now they perceive that God is, in truth, the Divine Essence, so the enemy became a beloved. Are we, then, in this generation today still in the Exile of Egypt? We too need to clarify and elevate broken sparks—i.e., foreign thoughts—and return them to their root in Ḥesed; in fact, the Evil Inclination draws one closer to God, sweetening and removing the garb, the Evil Inclination turning into a good angel, matter into form, the Evil Inclination turning into sustaining milk. The Evil Inclination surrounds a person like a swarm of bees, while the wise subdue their inclination without battle, knowing that the Evil Inclination is a hidden servant of the King. The secret of the Passover song “Eḥad Mi Yodea” is that everything is one unity, all revealed when garbs are removed and the Angel of Death is slaughtered, and the creation of the world is sustained by combinations: Kindness and Truth, Righteousness and Peace meet and kiss. And why, in general, do the masses tend to be wealthy while Torah scholars are poor and destitute? The answer is that “kindness and truth will preserve him,” meaning that the wealthy will show kindness to the Torah scholars who are poor due, and the Torah scholars will provide wisdom, which is called truth, to the wealthy. The wealthy bestow kindness and support the poor, i.e., Torah scholars, and pursue them for good; the wise man knows the value of wisdom, while the wealthy do not know the value of wisdom.

PEKUDEI*

With an eye on his own generation, the focus of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF in this final parsha in Exodus is sin and exile, the Hurban and hatred, the power of rebuke to effect repair and redemption, and social peace secured by the privileged status of the Torah scholar and Tzadik. The “accounts of the Tabernacle” speak to the repair of that sin so that Israel will merit to build the Third Temple. The First Temple was destroyed because the masses hate Torah scholars; the Second Temple was destroyed because scholars hate each other; and the days of exile have been prolonged until this sin is repaired. This caused division between the first two letters of the name and the last two, therefore its punishment is also “the Lord will cut off.” The Name is not complete all the days of the exile due to baseless hatred, until the future when the leaven, which is the Evil Inclination, will be eradicated. Redemption is accounting, uniting heart and heart, and when there is unity of God through the rebuke and musar, the two aspects are united. The cause of the exile in Egypt was that the masses did not know their flaws, until the aspect of Moses or Da’at (knowledge, wisdom) was revealed in the world. When they knew their flaws through the aspect of knowledge, then they repented and sought to repair their flaws, and the end of the redemption drew near. “Who is wise? He who learns from every person” (Avot 4:1), even from the Evil Inclination, etc.; only the title of wise is given to one who learns from every person. However, there is a remedy: “And to Him you shall cling” (Deuteronomy 10:20)—cling to Torah scholars. The conclusion from there is that it is impossible to fulfill the entire Torah except through peace; however, the aspect of unity is impossible among the masses, except for the Tzadik who lives by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4), who believes that all events are under the specific providence of God. Knowing this, there is no place to hate his fellow, and the Tzadik has peace with everyone, and with this he can fulfill the entire Torah, which is the essence of life and “the length of your days.” So why does the cat not recognize its owner? Because the cat that bites and eats mice is a metaphor for people who bite and harm each other.

LEVITICUS*

The purity ethos of Hasidism is coded through and radicalizes the purity code, the sacrificial offerings, and ritual impurities that shape the biblical book of Leviticus. This-world in the here and now is not a place of joy and pleasure. This-world is the world of lies under the rule of the evil inclination and yetzer. By the end of Leviticus, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF will nullify the evil inclination, whose essence is pride and pleasure, leaving this world behind by purifying matter into form, this world into the world to come. Threaded throughout the commentary to Leviticus is social-spiritual ethos with a primary focus on the relation between the Tzadik and ordinary Jews. The  spirit of rebuke and the problems that attend rebuke in society come to the fore of the commentary. The Tzadik is the stand-in for the priest. The relationship between the Tzadik and the people is an analogue to the relation between the soul and body. On the one hand, there is a leaning together of the two. On the other hand, the relation is unequal. The Tzadik listens and speaks, influences and receives, descends to the people, who along with women, are of “lesser value.” Against joy at this time of the exile of the Shekhinah, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is exacting throughout the commentary to Leviticus against the spirit of pride and pleasure. This takes the form of social critique against the spiritual leaders of this generation of exile against whom the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF directs a steady stream of invective.  Our world is one of constant shifts, ascending and descending for the sake of ascent. The Tzadikim go out into the world, compared frequently to a village of violent and quarrelsome people. They take on the bad qualities of the people, the simple people and men of wealth and pride, to bring them back to their Father and King. Once “in the land” at the end of Leviticus,  the spiritual itinerary will have reached its highest level and terminus. The ultimate purification of the soul stands out as the separation from the body, which ceases to function. Matter has been transformed into spiritual form. In this pure land or supernal world, the world to come, the flame of physical pleasure is extinguished. Connecting instead to the Torah scholars, who are the men of form, what matters most to the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is the raising of the feminine waters, the union of Shekhinah with her Beloved, whose elevation depends on the merit of the deeds of those below and the purity of the Tzadikim.

VA’YIKRA*                                                                                 

God is called Torah. God calls everyday, extending Himself through the cosmos in the medium of Torah to speak, but only with the man of “da’at” represented by Moses. The prayer of the mighty ones [Hasidim] and the call of God to the person who inclines his ear in prayer to hear the call, i.e. Torah, and the Torah scholas who will then teach to ordinary Jews, i.e. to any “man” who brings to him an offering of prayer. The prayer of the Hasidim overcomes the breaches separating God and the human person. The human person and the heavens reflect each other in the mirror universe of Leviticus. “Know what is above you,” whether cruelty or mercy, it extends from you. If the human person in the world exists in a state of radiant countenance, it causes the same above. The same applies to sadness, cruelty, or mercy.  One nullifies all thought about oneself in prayer, the intent of which is to raise the Shekhinah or lower, feminine waters from the night of this exile. The small light and great light of  Torah ascend together through Aaron, who listens and speaks, influences and receives. But do not burn leaven or honey with the burnt offering. These are symbols of the bad that must be distanced from Torah study and the service of the Lord, so that it is not for pride and self-exaltation like leaven, or for other personal enjoyment, which is called honey, sweet to the palate. One checks the synagogue and study hall for leaven and honey and the evil inclination or yetzer of the city leaders and spiritual leaders of the generation who pray not for the sake of God but for their own honor.

TZAV*

A very long commentary on ascetic ethics with a critical eye on the lack of piety in his own generation and community.  Without leaven and honey and not to be eaten or enjoyed, “this” burnt offering of the priests on the fire is “the law of the proud…judged by fire,” including those who insult sages. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF extols the virtues of humility, non-obsession with wealth, not being quarrelsome, and companionship and fellowship, connecting with all people to elevate them, peace between matter and form. There are three types of Tzadik. One is good for himself, and if he associates with the wicked, he learns from their deeds so it is better for him to isolate himself alone. The second type are strong in their righteousness even if they associate with the wicked, but they do not have the power to turn the wicked to the good way. The third type, they have the power to turn even the wicked to good. When the Tzadik has humility with each of these three traits (wisdom, strength, wealth), then he is honored, respecting and loving all people. This is the opposite of pride, which hates everyone, stirs up strife, suspects everyone of many faults.

There is in this spiritual universe a constant rising and falling on moral ladders. This is the law of the burnt offering,” because the one who rises and is proud, called swelling, in the end, he is diminished and called scab, as mentioned above, and this is “This is the law of the burnt offering.” And the same is true in the opposite, the one who diminishes himself in the end rises. The final words of the commentary return to rebuke and teshuva. Teshuva means subduing matter, the music of the eternity, nigun olam, attuning the songs of the small world with the supernal world. But there is no remedy for those who despise sages. Cleave to the sages/priests who are the soul of the world and lift up the ashes, i.e.  the fallen sparks from the material shells.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF tries to resolve the tension between hidden love and kindness and the severities of open rebuke, without which there is no blessing in the world. This is the work of the Tabernacle joining curtains and curtains into one. The Tabernacle manifests the middle path between rebuke of wilderness and love of Sinai. Special and sharp rebuke is reserved for the spiritual-rabbinic leaders including rabbis, cantors, and teachers of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF’s own generation who love honor and accept gifts. This he calls a plague that has spread in every beautiful and pious community, that they sin and cause others to sin. Where did this custom spread from? Because in this generation, now the world is dominated by men of wealth, action, power and people are afraid to rebuke. A person should not say if I were in a city full of righteous people called heaven. No remedy for those who disgrace a sage. The priest, i.e. the Tzadik, lifts up the ash that are the common people.

SHEMINI*

After the focus on rebuke in the previous parsha, the commentary turns to the preeminence of the Tzadik and mourning the death of Tzadikim, which is a great calamity, and the power of atoneing and the power of the Tzadik to refine coarse material animality.  

Only the inner tzadik is called “man,” while the rest of the people of the generation are called the flesh of man, which is the garment for the priest. When there is unity among them, the people cling to the Tzadikim, like the garment to the priest, which is worn for protection and shelter, for honor and glory, and then they atone. If the Tzadik is called man, the beast is a symbol of the wicked who act like a beast, and “man” merits through the beast and returns him to the good.

The parsha includes  a long halakhic discussion re: purity and corpse defilement and ritual slaughter, the upshot of which concerns dead tzadikim, including Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron. What we learn is that the corpse of a Tzadik, because he is holy and pure, does not impart impurity. The parsha has a long concluding excursus on earth and the creatures and refining them after Adam’s sin. Included here is the Leviathan and how to slaughter the turbidity and coarseness of its material. After all, the commandments were only given to refine and purify the material. “And these are the animals which you may eat,” Rav said, “The commandment was given to Israel only to refine the creatures, for what does it matter to Him whether one slaughters from the neck or from the nape, etc.”

TAZRIA*

The female represents the body, turgid potential, Talmud and halakhah. The male represents actualization, clarity, certainty, brightness, and the way of the Tzadikim.

On the “conceiving” or seeding of ideas and putting them into practice, the latter takes 2 possible paths, “male” (certain, righteous) or female (many paths; uncertain, death. When a person has an idea or plan, it is like conception, which occurs in the brain, as it is known that the seed comes from the brain. This means that the idea has not yet come into action but is still in potential form. Once the idea is agreed upon, either by oneself or with friends and advisors, and it is brought into action, it is called birth. If the idea is clear and certain, it is considered male; if not, it is considered female.  On the need to consult with others with more knowledge in spiritual and practical matters, a person should weigh and calculate, and then put into action. The body is the female flesh of the person, which clothes the soul, which is male, in the secret of ‘a female shall surround a man’ (Jeremiah 31:21).

Torah also has body and soul, female and male. And it is said (Avot 3:18) ‘these are the bodies of the laws.” The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF addresses those Hasidism who desire the inner part before filling their belly with Talmud and poskim, because all the Talmud and poskim are general bodies, belonging to all Israel collectively.  The conclusion is that the Talmud and poskim are called ‘woman,’ and the inner part is called ‘man,’ and when one learns gradually, both are fulfilled in his hand, unlike when it is not gradual. “Male” or “female” or internal or external aspects of Torah, which comes first?  Some people need to prepare for prayer with psalms or Torah study.  They need to strengthen themselves first before prayer so that they have the mental capacity to pray without foreign thoughts, or with attachment, and this is through psalms or Torah that they engage in first.

When a person himself makes efforts to awaken in prayer, he is called a male, representing the masculine waters. However, there are times when he is awakened from above, and he awakens by himself in weeping and the like, this is called a woman, representing the feminine waters, and then, God forbid, his prayer will be considered a sin.  The remedy for this is that the person should tremble, remembering that he did not awaken by himself, but needed to be awakened from above first, and he should weep for the initial weeping that came by itself. Then, the feminine waters will turn into masculine waters, and he will become a male, and may it be a merit.  

Excessive joy leads to sin and causes harm. Indeed, a person should always remember with bitterness having had sinned. Then, even when he rejoices, his joy will not be excessive, for he will rejoice with trembling; and, in this, he will not fear that the Satan will intervene in his joy.  A person’s mind should not become haughty because he was appointed as a head and judge, or because of the enjoyment of the heart and the haughtiness of the mind.

Regarding the law of the leper on the day of his cleansing. He has already been cleansed from his leprosy and arrogance, and he wants to humble himself. But he sees that the more he behaves with humility, the more arrogance enters him. The advised counsel is that he should take cedarwood and hyssop. He should appear on the outside like a cedar, like a king or a high official, and within him, he should be humble like a hyssop. The conclusion is that a righteous person ( אדם הישר) is he who makes form from material, and ascends from the level of female, which is the body, to the level of soul, which is the male. Unlike a common person called a body owner, who makes from form material, is called female.

The laws of leprosy and skin afflictions form into a remarkable theodicy of punishment and refinement. A person wants to behave in an upright and righteous way to be called “live flesh,” then he shall be unclean through leprosy, which is a term of punishment and suffering. If he sinned with slander or through arrogance, he is punished with leprosy called “swelling,” a term of arrogance and pride. If through associating with scoffers, he is punished with “scab.” If through abundance, he is punished with a “bright spot,” a term of great brightness. And one who speaks lashon hara (slander) has no remedy.  When he wants to attach himself to God, which is a higher level, the affliction called ‘sapachat‘ (scab) comes, a term of connection and attachment. When he wants to draw even closer to attain great clarity, he is judged again with the affliction called ‘baheret’ (bright spot). These are three levels, to merit nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, which come through suffering, as the body must be crushed to illuminate the soul. Afterwards, he merits to sanctify even his thoughts, which is great clarity, by meriting the neshamah, which is a higher connection, the unification of Chochmah and Binah, which is YHVH and Adonai

 About leprosy of garments and plague,  sometimes the work of the garment is corrupted to the distress of a person, and this is in the secret of smallness. The remedy is to make a redemption, or to give the old garment to the poor, or to give the value of the garment to charity, and may it be a merit to elevate the sparks of his soul. Sometimes a person loses in business; and sometimes he has pleasure and enjoyment. This is the secret of ‘In all your ways acknowledge Him’ (Proverbs 3:6), to unify and elevate the sparks of his soul, which are the sparks of the Shekhinah, the secret of feminine waters. The supernal union is the secret of ‘And Adam knew Eve’ (Genesis 4:25), the secret of ‘Know the God of your father and serve Him’ (1 Chronicles 28:9). About the plagues of garments, from the defects of a person’s sins. after washing and repenting, the priest, i.e. the Tzadik, sees and purifies him.

METZORA*

More on the purification of the leper –to bring in the bride and to make for her a throne, one must first remove the dead.  ‘They interrupt Torah study for the removal of the dead and the bringing in of the bride,’ etc., what is the connection between these? The explanation is that the main engagement in Torah is to make a throne for the Divine Presence, which is called the “bride.” Therefore, one must first repent to correct his deeds, to remove evil, which are the shells called “dead,” and this is the removal of the dead. The “leper” is ‘the one who brings out evil,’ who first needs to correct his deeds in repentance to remove evil, which are the shells he created through his sins. After his cleansing, then ‘the law of kindness is on his tongue,’

Advice to tzadikim who want to engage ordinary  Jews: go to the people and set bounds for them, etc. For one who wants to straighten the people to bring them close to God, he should not begin by teaching them external instructions like white garments and immersion and washing like the Pharisees. He should first begin with inner sanctity from the soul to the flesh, and afterwards with external matters –”sanctify them today and tomorrow,” to prepare their hearts with inner repentance, and afterwards ‘let them wash their clothes.’ Second, he should not wait until the people come to him to seek the way of God, but he should go to them to teach them – “go to the people and sanctify them.” The general rule is that a person must strip himself of the level and aspect of a person inwardly, and descend to the aspect of clothing outwardly, so that he will be on their level, then he can elevate them. This is what is meant by ‘Go to the people,’ meaning it is considered as going, that he descends from his level to the level of the people, who are of lesser value.

But why should the leper bring two birds for his purification? The two birds represent the correction of his own sins and the sins of others. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘He acted with chatter, therefore he should bring a chatter offering. The remedy for one who speaks lashon hara is to humble himself, which is ‘this’ a term of limitation. Another remedy is to engage in Torah. These two remedies, ‘this shall be the law,’ are for the leper who brings out evil, on the day of his cleansing specifically, when he purifies himself from his own sins, also the sins of others that were placed upon him are purified. If he is a Torah scholar, he should engage in Torah, and if he is an unlearned person, he should humble himself,’

About house impurities –the Merciful One does not strike souls first; first come house afflictions, then garments, and afterwards on his body. Therefore, it is considered kindness when God chastises the wicked immediately for their sins when it is clear to Him that they will not repent. The human person is a small world, and he has four elements as there are in the general world: inanimate, vegetative, living, speaking. Sometimes the sparks of his soul descend through the blemish of his sins into an inanimate thing, like a house –a person for his sins is afflicted through the sparks of his soul that are in the wood and stones and the material of the house’s surface, until the man in the house repents, and returns and elevates the sparks of his soul to their root from the inanimate to the level of living, speaking persons, and this is called repentance, returning to his source, for everything is sparks of the Shechinah in the secret of God’s kingdom that rules over everything The lights that went out and became plagues return to their place and attach to their source, and through this, the external forces have no power to draw when it is attached to its root, and it is the return of the light by the priest to its place in Zeir Anpin

Returning to the law of the leper, it is understood that through the afflictions of leprosy, the good is clarified and extracted. As for the evil remains, this is what is meant by “extracts the evil” (Arakhin 15b), that through extracting the good, the evil remains, and on the day of his purification the person will be brought to the priest, the return of the light to its root, which is the priest.

ACHAREI MOT*

On scholars and the wealthy being at peace with each other –or at war with each other.

The calamity suffered by Nadav and Avihu underscore the imperative of uniting 2 halves of the human person: [1] Netzah-spiritual-Torah-Wisdom-right-side and [2] Hod-physical-wealth-Binah-left-side. Each depend on the other. Peace, represented by  Pinchas, binds them together. Nadav and Avihu are compared to Ben Zomah who was among the 4 who entered Pardes and was the one who died. Their downfall from their level in the service of God, which is called “a priest,” which is Aaron, is because they were divided into two. But who needs more warning, the scholar or the wealthy to unite?  In a time for peace, which is the connection of Netzach and Hod two halves of the body, it is fitting to love and to receive from the wealthy because they support the Torah sage. But if the wealthy distances himself from the sage, it is forbidden to receive from him or to benefit from his possessions. The wealthy must draw close to the scholar. At a time of peace, then it is a time to love, but at a time of war when there is separation between the wise, who is called holy from the side of wisdom as known, and the wealthy. Only when there is an awakening of love first from the wealthy, which is on his left, then Aaron, who is the right, will come into the holy place inside, and the unity is completed. At death, Nadav and Avihu enter the realm of divine wisdom/pardes; they separate from body and die like Ben Azzai who died  because his soul clung in great love separated from the body. This is the opposite of Rabbi Akiva who recognized the limit of human intellect and did not break to ascend higher. Nadav and Avihu thought they were close before God, and therefore they died when they entered inside. In contrast, Rabbi Akiva’s greatness is greater than others, because the main purpose and perfection of man who was created in matter and form, is to subdue and make from matter form, and after he beautifies and sanctifies himself in particular, he sanctifies and beautifies others, the masses, who are the secondary matter to the faithful of Israel who are the form, and raises the lower level to the higher.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF offers a theory of vicarious suffering and vicarious repentance. The spiritual leader’s repentance for unintentional sin (his sin is never intentional) raises the entire people. The Tzadik suffers for the sake of others, to raise them with the connection of his repentance. He sins unintentionally, and afterwards when he repents, he connects with those levels in the aspect of his sin to raise them. And perhaps this is hinted at ‘from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat’ (Genesis 2:17),  The woman “she gave me,” and therefore it was without knowledge, because the place of forgetfulness is without knowledge, and then the man descended to her level, and it says ‘whom you gave to be with me.’ And from now on there is a remedy, ‘and I ate’ with knowledge, intending to raise the level that was without knowledge.

KEDOSHIM*

The very long commentary to this parshah represents the beating heart of Hasidic social ethics. The commentary to Kedoshim resolves the points of conflict outlined in Aharei Mot. How can the entire people be holy?  Torah is holiness and life in this world and world to come. There are different types of fear; divine judgment, justice, and also different kinds of kindness, and reincarnations. Why did God create the evil inclination/yetzer and what about suffering? How to rebuke, calling the people to awaken and repent and connect with God? How to exercise restraint in rebuking the people? The basic principle of Hasidic social ethics is not to separate from the community. Rebuke must proceed from a position of love as well as circumspection concerning the social precarity of the community.  Above all, do not separate from the spiritual leaders (soul) and do not separate from the people (body). “You shall love your fellow as yourself; I am the Lord.” The unity of Israel below  arouses the same above. Connecting with ordinary people, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF offers words on repentance, and words of comfort for both common Jews and Torah scholars to whom kingship is ascribed and who instruct sinners along the way.

Holiness as the way of Torah in the world starts with fear and spiritual desire, and most of all, an all-encompassing understanding about life. When the entire congregation of Israel is assembled to Moses, then his holiness will flow to them, so that they will all be in the category of holy. Like ‘A man shall fear his mother and father,’ which was a small matter for Moses and his generation, and understand. Torah is holiness/life in this world and world to come. Some desire life in this world, and some in the world to come, and some desire to cleave to God’s holiness. ‘Great is Torah, for it gives life,’ meaning according to the intention of those who practice it, as they desire life, so Torah gives them life, some life in this world, and some life in the world to come, and understand.  Why then did God create the evil yetzer? Because in the future, everything will be sanctified in God’s holiness. In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will slaughter the angel of death and the evil inclination and will remove the evil from the world. This-world in our own here and now is the world of falsehood marked by dominion of the evil inclination. However, in the future, when the evil inclination will be nullified, this-world will also be called the world of the Holy One, blessed be He.

In this gradated universe, there are two types of fear and mortification; one is called lower mother, as it says “and fear your God,” which is the Shechinah; and the second is called higher wisdom, father. And there are three levels. A man shall fear his mother first, then his father,” to ascend from one level to the level of internal fear. Then “my Sabbaths,” which are the Torah scholars called Sabbath of the whole year, as it says in the Zohar (Part III, 144b), and also the eve of Sabbath, the common people, prepare for the Sabbath, to support the Torah scholars called “Sabbath.” The conclusion from this is that there are three levels, the best of all is one who afflicts himself. The second level, one who listens to the advice of elders in Torah and rebuke and afflicts himself and repents, as it says “and honor the face of the old man.” The third level, one who is afflicted from outside, which is the fear of the government, as it says “and fear your God,” which is the fear of the government, as explained in the writings “Pray for the welfare of the government.”

In the face of fear and also suffering, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF upholds divine justice and kindness. But are the children themselves blemished? In the theodicy seen in the prism of Hasidic monism, all things come from God. Citing the book of Job, the wise person does not worry, because everything he has is a gift from God, and if God takes it, one should not worry about it, for “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). God collects from a person as if it were a matter of that person’s own deeds, but truly everything belongs to God. When the hand of God touches a person, it should be received with joy, and then it is considered as if people themselves gave to God from their own. And with this, the commandment “You shall not commit injustice in judgment” is understood, meaning regarding the judgment from above, you should not show a sad face, as if an injustice and crooked judgment were done. God is your friend and fellow, and a person should always see that God’s judgment is righteous and a great kindness. Everything is God’s and God takes from God’s own, not from His children, because it does not belong to them.  Nevertheless, God attributes the deficiency and punishment to their blemish, as if the deficiency is theirs from their own.

As understood by the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF, the onus for the failure of people, particularly in his own generation, falls on the leaders of the generation. Is God not our Father and Creator? The Hasid sees the failure of the deeds of the generation, and attributes it to himself.  And the people of the world, when they see the failure of the deeds of the tzadikim and pious of the generation, they attribute it to themselves, and they give heart to repent. “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow” means that each should judge his fellow favorably, the leader of the generation should favorably judge the people of his generation, and the people of the generation should do likewise in relation to the leaders of the generation. This way, the common people of the generation will give heart to repent, and the leader of the generation will merit a higher level because of this. The main greatness is for Israel to lead them and teach them the true laws and justice. There is great musar for the leaders not to conduct themselves in ways that hinder repentance by being arrogant over the community and acting not for the sake of Heaven. Per above, all the greatness and wisdom of the Tzadik is not his own, but theirs, and with this, it is easier for him to lead them for the sake of Heaven, because thus they will also believe and say that the flow of their Torah wisdom and success is through the channel that is influenced by the leaders of the generation. About the people of wealth, credit is drawn for the wealthy people from others, not from their own merit, but from the leaders and wise men of the generation and this influence of wisdom and wealth is drawn to all the people of his generation. And similarly, the leaders of the generation should understand that this wisdom and greatness, i.e. wealth, is for the people of his generation. And this is certainly the straight path for everyone, both for the leaders of the generation and for the people of his generation.

The mitzvot are an integral factor in this social ethos, always with an eye towards reward, and also pleasure and also sin, be it minor and greater. A person should be careful with a minor commandment as with a major one, etc. God’s kindness is seen in the recompense of punishment, and everything is from God. Nevertheless, the main reward is according to the joy a person rejoices in the engagement of the commandment and Torah and prayer. There is no greater reward than this, from the pleasure a person has from the commandment itself and in doing it with joy, which is great even if there were no greater reward, although truly there is reward without end for a commandment done with joy. Again turning his attention to the wealthy men of his generation, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF teaches that a person should know to seek peace and wealth so that he has the opportunity to perform another commandment, and not for the hope of another reward, the World to Come and the like. A person should run to perform even a minor commandment, because the joy of the minor commandment will lead to the major commandment. And one should flee from sin even a minor one, lest it lead to a major one

Reflecting serious intra-religious tension in Jewish society, the Hasid goes beyond letter of law and gets mocked by ordinary Jews in the process. But even regarding a minor mitzvah, a Hasid should not let mockers deter him. A Tzadik will progress gradually, first turning away from evil and then doing good, and then entering the category of the tzadik, and then entering beyond the letter of the law to be upright. All this is in something that is beyond the letter of the law, but that which is a commandment from the Torah, be careful with a minor commandment, and do not refrain because of the mockers who will say, “See this one who seeks after a minor commandment, is he a Hasid?” You can answer them that you do not know the reward of the commandments. And consider the loss of a commandment that you leave because of the mockers, against the reward you will gain from them by performing the commandment. Therefore, do not heed them, and be careful and perform for the sake of their Performer, and then you will succeed.

How to resolve this social conflict? The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF now teaches regarding the punishment or suffering of the righteous, that it is because of the sins of the generation. If people murmur against a Tzadik  that a bad event happened to him, know that it is because of the sin of the generation. God does not judge without justice even in the punishment of the righteous. And you might say, there is reason to suspect the tzadik that his inside is not like his outside. But, in fact,  he is punished for the sin of the generation. And similarly, the Tzadik shall judge the generation in righteousness that they are punished for him. And then and only then, they should join together to repent as one, which is the union of body and soul. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” This famous dictum by Hillel tells us how the spiritual leaders should conduct themselves with the people of their generation. And also a moral lesson for the people of the generation on how they should conduct themselves with their leaders.

In this  monistic universe, ultimately, all is one. But the spiritual leaders or Tzadikim are at the top of this social hierarchy, and they assume full responsibility for self-correction in the work of social-spiritual repair or tikkun. Indeed, since the whole world is a complete structure, one entity, the secret of world, year, soul, exists in both an individual person and in the collective body of the people. Just as there is in an individual person material and form, so it is in the collective city or country. The leaders are the form and soul of the people of the generation, and the people of the generation are the material of the form. According to the merit and clarity of the soul, so is the merit of the body, that if the soul is impure, the body is more impure, and vice versa. If one wants to repair the collective, a spiritual leader must first correct the individual by repairing himself to make his own material into spiritual form, and then they will be aroused in him. When one rebukes the many and does not include himself in his rebuke, it does not make an impression on them. The Tzadik is a small world, and with the arousal from below, it will be aroused above, and it will influence below to the level of this person who intends this, and receives from its influence, etc. This repair and repentance are not too difficult because this commandment, repentance and prayer with kavvanah (intention) and unifications, is not a thing separated and distant from you, but is in you yourself. In a monistic universe, it is not in heaven, meaning that you should intend the intention above in heaven as if it is not in you, as if it is a thing separated from you, this is not so, but in your mouth and in your heart to do it, when you do the unification in your mouth and in your heart, in you yourself, to do it, then it will be aroused and done immediately above.

On the responsibility carried by the Tzadik or spiritual leader, everything that exists in the upper world exists in the year and in the soul of a person. Again turning to Hiilel’s saying, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” means when I am not myself corrected first to transform (להפך) from material to form, to transform and make “nothing” from “I,” and this is what it means “for me,” meaning myself first, if so, “who will be for me?” Meaning, if so, who from others will be for me to approach me and transform to my level, after I have not corrected the matter first for me, meaning within me, to make from my material form myself within me in my body and soul, all the more so it is impossible to correct others. Therefore, one must correct oneself first, and then others.

The failure of spiritual leaders to lead the community is because they separate from the public, which they alienate, acting only for themselves. But if a Tzadik repaired himself and repented for his known sins while the people of his generation do not repent and stand by themselves as if they are separated from him, it is either because he did not correct himself first or he is not with the people of his generation. If a person merits through his good deeds, his sparks that belong to him in his birth are united and arranged for him to correct them, and this is called the secret of the first union, and it becomes a help for him, assisting him in cleaving to the Holy One. If he does not merit, then it is against him, and other sparks are arranged for him in his food and, God forbid, cause him to sin. Similarly, with his wife who is bad, and the people of his generation who are rebellious and bitter against him, in the secret of the second union, they are against him. In correcting his deeds, then just as it is a mitzvah to divorce a bad wife and seek a proper union, so he should leave this city. And there is another aspect, that he may have corrected his deeds, and does not need to return and repent again, and yet it is impossible to bring the people of his generation to righteousness, because he did not do his repentance with knowledge and understanding. Now, when he adorns himself, he must also include the people of his generation with him, and then it will be easy for him to correct them and bring them to righteousness. And this is what Hillel said, “And when I am for myself.” Therefore, “if not now, when,” meaning immediately when adorning himself, he should also intend to include all his sparks, which are all the people of his generation.

[But the collective should not separate from the spiritual leaders or think to judge them, but the speiritual leaders should not be strict with the people. The damage of separating is as great for them as is the separation of the body from the soul, etc. And if the people say that they separate from the Tzadik because his ways and deeds are not upright in their eyes, therefore the Torah teaches “Do not judge your fellow until you reach his place.” If the people were at his level to do all his good deeds, then they could judge him this way or that way; but since they are not at his level and place, which is the aspect of the soul and they are the aspect of the body and material, and the material cannot judge the soul for merit or guilt. And if the people separate from the Tzadik not in the aspect of despising him, but because the Tzadik warns about things that a person cannot stand in, because the Torah was only given to those who eat manna, which is not the case for a person burdened with providing for his wife and children, and has the burden of taxes and levies. For this, Hillel turned his face back to the leaders of the generation to hold the way of the righteous gradually, and to straighten the people gradually, which is not the case if he is strict with them. And this is what he said, “Do not say a thing that cannot be heard,” only gradually, and then in the end it will be heard.

At the high level of the Tzadik, we understand that a person’s prayers should be only for the benefit of the Shechinah. Again, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF returns to the elegance of Hillel’s phrasing: “If I am not for myself, who is for me, etc.” If “I” am not for “me” – meaning if the prayer, which is called “I” is not for me, meaning for my own benefit, but rather as if it is the divine presence that is pleading and praying from the Holy One, blessed be He – that is, the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the divine presence – then “Who” is for me. For there is a trait that is called “Who,” which is Binah, which is called the living God, and that is the life of the King, from which there is life. However, when “I” is for “myself” – meaning when the prayer is for oneself, which is the lower level mentioned above, for one’s own benefit, what am I, etc. Therefore, a person at this level should be fearful and anxious for himself, and then he will be elevated. And this is what was said: “And if not now, when?” The Tzadikim are the soul and form of the whole world, and the wicked, who are the matter and body of the whole world, the Tzadikim must strive all their days to bring them under the wings of the divine presence, which is the main purpose of everything.

In world of gilgulim or reincarnation Tzadikim descend from their own high level to bring the wicked to life back from death; and they will sometimes suffer for it. If you see the tzadikim who are born to die, meaning they have descended from their level, which is called death, it is a reason to bring the dead to life, so that they have a connection with the wicked who are called dead in their lifetime, to bring them to life and bring them under the wings of the divine presence, like the parable of bringing the king’s son out of physical impurity through a village boy, understand this. The sufferings come to the righteous from others to protect the generation. Do not question the sufferings of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked, for “the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3). Rabbi Alshich explained “For the Holy One, blessed be He, created him in the fortune suitable for him to rectify what he sinned in the previous gilgul (incarnation). If he sinned from abundance, he will come in the second gilgul in the fortune of poverty, lacking everything. And the opposite, if he was initially upright and did not have the means to be gracious to the poor, he will come in the second gilgul in the fortune of wealth. Therefore, even though everything depends on fortune, nevertheless, the main thing is according to the deeds of the person. God punishes a person for his deeds in the first gilgul; And sometimes the Holy One, blessed be He, does this not as a punishment owed from before, but for his benefit in the future.

In this social-spiritual chain, sages are the main and musical life-force in the world, the dwelling place of the soul in a person, the protectors of the people against the evil inclination. The rest of the masses are the other limbs of the person which the sages seek to awaken by shofar and trumpets and elevate the simple to a higher level. The shofar is a musical instrument arousing weeping, sorrow, and fear. The opposite is the trumpet, whose purpose is to arouse joy. But on Rosh Hashanah, fear should be more than love, unlike on Shabbat and Yom Tov, where love should be more than fear. And this relates to a person, who is a small world. There are two types of trumpets, hinting at two types of joy. One, is the joy of the completely righteous, who are masters of accounting day by day to repent and repair what they spoiled on that day. The other group go all year in the stubbornness of their hearts, and when the Day of Judgment and awe comes, they tremble at the coming of the King of Judgment. The leader of the generation, a righteous foundation of the world, knows how to stand against the enemy that always oppresses us. His weapons are his students who learn the tactics of war and serve him, or other righteous people in the generation who join him. Through their combined prayers, they shoot arrows and catapults at the serpent, as is known. But the enemy will steal the weapons of the righteous. Reflecting on the death of Rabbi Leib (Postner) [Pistner] who protected thousands of Israel in his own generation, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF laments that now we have no one to rely on. In this call to spiritual arms, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF calls upon the people to out to this war and awaken from the slumber of sleep our pure hearts, sharing in the sorrow of the downtrodden and the distressed, crying out bitterly like a woman in labor. The sound of our repentance will rise with the sound of the shofar to awaken the supreme man from his sleep, to draw kindness and mercy from the ever-watchful eyes. In this, the rebuke of the leader on Rosh Hashana opens divine channels, flowing and connecting, even if he hides himself all year

Now the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF gets to the heart of rebuke and rebukers, of which there are 3 types: gold, silver, and copper. Copper corresponds to the fiery serpents; these are rebukers who arouse judgment upon the people of the world. Silver is all mercy aroused in rebuke. The intermediate aspect of rebuke is gold, i.e. pleasant words to arouse the hearts of Israel to return in repentance, causing the flow to continue, and all the Sefirot receive from each other, and the angels below receive from each other, etc. What causes this? Israel, when they receive from each other, whether in Torah or in wealth, cause the upper ones to receive from each other and to flow from one to another.” Similarly, on Rosh Hashanah, through his influence in Torah and rebuke to the masses of simple people, he is called a simple ram, which elevates the simple to a higher level,  He should open his mouth with wisdom and rebuke in the intermediate way called gold. And this is what was said: “plated,” that he should not hide himself but be plated, externally, to influence them and cause an abundance above.

About rebuke, one must be very careful because it leads to lashon ha’ra. “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people, etc.” Silence and subtle hinting is therefore the best way of rebuke, for God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore, let your words be few. The rebuker at the gate should not open his mouth and tongue to bring out the guilt of each person individually, but to choose hidden rebuke to say in hints. By saying open words below of reproach against Israel, perhaps, there will be a place for the attribute of judgment called God to accuse Israel above. Hosea, Isaiah, and Elijah were for that reason  punished in their reproach about Israel. Hints, however, leave no place for the attribute of judgment to grasp Israel, and each person who sees his own affliction and knows the bitterness of his soul feels even in hints, like a scalpel in living flesh. Rabbi Akiva said, “I wonder if there is anyone in this generation who can rebuke, etc.” The rebuker should correct himself first, and all aspects of his generation included in him will be corrected. Even when the rebuke comes from the heart, it is still appropriate to be careful not to speak reproach about Israel to guard against one’s own arrogance lets the rebuker justify himself and condemn the people. “In righteousness, you shall judge your fellow,” “You shall not hate your brother in your heart,” for he is your brother. More to the point is that even if he has a sin that is worthy of hatred, nevertheless, this defect is also in you, for the people of Israel are one complete structure, and the hatred is due to the two hearts within you, which are the evil inclination and the good inclination within you.  Even if the words are true, rebuke destroys the world, arousing strifebetween Israel and their Father in heaven. Additionally, he might be included among those who shame their fellow in public, as it is said, “You shall not bear sin because of him,” as mentioned above. Therefore, his silence is better than his speech. Therefore, only speak righteousness,  out of love for the Holy One, and love for Israel, even though they do not act properly. There is a time for rebuke-musar and a time to refrain. This was how the ancient generations behaved in the days of the sages of the Talmud, who established the matter as an obligation to hear musar. In the time of the Tur, when “wisdom and musar are despised by fools,”  the sages did not establish an obligation to rebuke.

Humility is the key with which spiritual leaders connect with persons, awakening the hearts of the people to remove leaven/klippot/evil before Passover during this period of exile. Because slander or lashon ha’ra about Israel exposes the High Priest to contracting leprosy. God forbid, he causes to bring out evil from his mouth about Israel. Instead, the High Priest removes garments when going out to rebuke Israel to remove his own arrogance. For his part, the humility of Moses reflects the exile of da’at and speech in Egypt. Until the coming of the Messiah, this exile exists in every generation, the war of the Lord against Amalek from generation to generation. In this state, make yourself mute, except in Torah, but, even then, don’t be arrogant. Consider every person as your teacher, connect with every person, “acquire for yourself a friend,” and then you can judge every person favorably. A spiritual leader should be humble like Sinai. “Make for yourself a teacher,” connect with many people. A long discourse follows on “da’at” and the exile of da’at in exile, and humility and kindness and the expansion of da’at at redemption, all of it against arrogance. For through arrogance, the aleph is removed from Adam (man), and only Dam (blood) remains.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF returns to the mitzvah of rebuke as this relates to scoffers, in particular, and subtefuge. “You shall surely rebuke your fellow and not bear sin because of him” (Leviticus 19:17). But Moses, in fact, choose hidden rebuke and concealed it in hints, lest the people reject rebuke.  How then to rebuke scoffers and wicked people? One way is to garb the rebuke in wine and milk. Citing Proverbs, one should not, rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you.  Do not reject him entirely, but give the scoffer wine and milk, meaning to dress the rebuke in verses of the Torah, so they will be sweet to his palate like wine and milk, just as bitter medicines are given to patients within wine and milk. The other way to rebuke the scoffer is to speak openly. But, unlike our own people in this generation, in the days of Moses there were righteous people, the women was pure, and there were holy waters, and she received rebuke with a pleasant countenance. Moses did not fear that the people  would complain. Unlike Isaiah, who was in the days of destruction when adulterers increased, and he wanted to say harsh and bitter words, fearing they would complain – each one would say he intended it for him.

On ineffective vs. gentle rebuke and comfort. Even though our Sages of blessed memory (Bava Metzia 31a) expounded: ‘even a hundred times,’ yet if one needs to rebuke him a hundred times, it implies he was not [effective] ninety-nine times. And this is against the words of our Sages of blessed memory (Yevamot 65b) who said: ‘Just as it is a mitzvah to say something that will be heard, so it is a mitzvah not to say something that will not be heard.’ “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for. Instead, on Rosh Ha’shanah, the leaders go out for themselves, so they will not be caught in the sin of the public. Afterward, on Yom Kippur, everyone goes out, even the two groups that were forgiven go out to appease the king, not for themselves, but for the entire community. And with this, it is explained: “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.” Also, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,” which are the masses. “Prepare the way of the Lord,” to instruct sinners in the way of repentance, which is the way of the Holy One, blessed be He. If it is impossible to make a paved way for the many, nevertheless, it is appropriate to make a straight path for the unique individuals, a small way, for our God

As for this generation, the people are drunk and the Torah scholars are tipsy, everyone in Exile, storm-tossed, and not comforted.  Against orthopraxy, it is understood that prayer today is due to the fixed law; people honor God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him. A person or community will stand to pray before God  while only thinking foolish thoughts about business or physical matters. There are two types of people in this bitter exile, one is called tipsy and one is called drunk. The first type refer to the masses who are drunk from the exile due to the burden of taxes and levies and the like. The second type are the Torah scholars who are exempt from taxes as stated in the Talmud Bava Batra (8a) and in the poskim, who are free, only they cannot focus on the intentions and secrets of prayer. There are 24 things that impede repentance, among which the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF counts five things. First, one who separates from the community; when they repent, he will not be with them. Second, one who disputes the words of the sages; his disputes cause him to separate from them. Third, one who mocks the commandments; since the mitzvot are despised in his eyes, he does not pursue them. Fourth, one who disgraces his teachers. Fifth, one who hates rebuke, because rebuke causes repentance, One who separates from the public, it must be because he thinks they are the sinners and he is righteous and upright, for the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But how is it possible to say that the entire public, who are a nation, are sinners, that they are all sinners and he himself is righteous, that he separates from the public who are a whole nation.

The last word of this long comment to the parsha: If a person thinks that he is cleaving to God that he is in the presence of the Divine, then that person is far from God. But if a person thinks they are far from God, then they are close. One should cleave to Torah scholars and not be wise in one’s own eyes, thinking he is perfect.

EMOR*

More on rebuke, picking up from the previous parsha. “Speak to the priests,” meaning advice for the Tzadik or leader of the generation who seeks to bring musar and rebuke to the people of the city —this is the running theme throughout the long commentary to this parsha.

It begins with an excursus on a line from the Song of Songs,  the time to love has come. I said perhaps because I am not mingling with people but I am separated from them, therefore I am not loved in their eyes, therefore I said I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares to mingle with them, nevertheless they flee from me. Indeed, the foolish wear themselves out for sustenance in this world and become poor in world to come.  The sages desire to bring musar, wisdom and rebuke to the people of the city. The leaders of the generation are commanded to rebuke plainly the people of their generation. Only he should measure his words with judgment. In a generation that is not righteous, Tzadikim pursue the wicked and subdue them under holiness, but to no avail.

There are two types  of tzadikim, those who ignore and those who walk in the counsel of the wicked. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF warns the Tzadikim about the temptation of the evil inclination to go in the path of sinners for the sake of Heaven. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF also warns the people not to cause the master to defile himself among his people by forcing him to sit with sinners and scoffers, especially on Shabbat and holidays, who converse at the gates. Distinguished people of the city or other faithful of Israel walk innocently to the synagogue or study hall to hear the teachings of the sage on Shabbat and holidays. But as they pass by these people sitting in the corners, they think that if they do not sit with them for a little while, they will speak derogatory words about them. Therefore, they sit with them for a little while and then go their way. But the true purpose of the creation of the human person in this world is to prepare for the world to come. In everything one does, even physical, a person should aim to unify the four letters of Havayah, for all eating and drinking, and the work of man from the thirty-nine labors, and other dealings, all are to clarify his sparks that came with him from the day of his birth. The merit of a proper person is not always in one level, for a person is always ascending and descending.

 Moses is the exemplar of a leader ascribing greatness to God and bringing the people to teshuvah. In his light, a true spiritual leader should be a hero standing in the breach and not be ashamed and draw the people close with persuasive words, so there would be unity.  The mention of Moses brings the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF back to consider the hardening of Pharoah’s heart and the problem of free will. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF’s argument is that the divine knowledge about a matter does not compel human choice and action regarding that matter. The opposite is the case. A person’s choice in one’s actions arouses the same reflection above. If a person chooses the good path, they arouse above the good path, which is the right path, whereas one who chooses evil arouses above the left or evil path. Before a person awakens, there is unity above. Only when a person in one’s actions actualizes a certain path, then either the left or right path will prevail above.

This being the so, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF warns about the Tzadik who descends and garbs in bad middot in order to redeem the wicked who will not listen to him. For this disgrace of the scholar in his bad attributes is for the benefit of this, to connect with others and bring them back to the king, but if he disgraces himself and does not connect with them, then there is no remedy. The evil inclination cleverly comes in the attributes of the good inclination, saying it is performing a mitzvah. In this, there are two types of people. One fights against the evil inclination, while the other serves God with the evil inclination and who, by making the evil inclination, which causes “all” (negative), into the good inclination, it becomes “king.”  There is an advantage of light over darkness, which becomes a throne for the one, and even the evening becomes morning. God gave us the Torah, and whoever does all that is written in it merits the world to come, and He promised us in the Torah that if we do it with joy, etc., God will remove from us all things that prevent us from doing it, like illness, war, hunger, etc., so that we will be free to learn and merit the world to come. And if we abandon the Torah knowingly and engage in the vanities of time, as it is written, then God will remove from us all the good things, etc., so that we will perish in our wickedness from this world and the world to come,”

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is now prepared to enter into the world to come and leave behind the material world.

BEHAR*

The world to come, i.e. the otherworldly and anti-mateiralist orientation of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is especially pronounced in this next-to-the final parsha of Leviticus, a biblical book the central focus of which is purity.  The Tzadik-priest takes his distance from the material world and its people. First comes “Six years you shall sow your field”—which is external, learning not for its own sake, the outer Torah of halakhah and pilpul, the “Torah of Man”. And afterward: “And you shall gather its produce”—to bring it inside, from outside to inside, through learning in the seventh year for its own sake, the “Torah of the Lord,” “a Sabbath to the Lord,” the world to come. “For your seed shall be a stranger” (Genesis 15:13)—this is not a punishment, but a promise. One should not concern oneself with the labor of the land, the physical occupation with matters of this world. One should not make this world one’s permanent dwelling, but rather the World to Come.

At the elevation of this level, the composite constitution of the human person disaggregates. Mount Sinai is the aspect of a person composed of body and soul, which are two opposites. For the body, which is from the side of the kelipah, desires and craves wealth, honor, and pride — which is the aspect of “mountain”; and the soul, which is from the side of holiness, desires and craves holy matters — which is the aspect of “Sinai.”  Those involved in the physical will support the Tzadikim with physical sustenance, and those involved in the spiritual will support the am ha’aretz with spiritual sustenance, Torah combines the physical and the spiritual or form only in order to transform the one into the other. The penultimate purpose of everything is to live by Torah, not die, like what happened to Ben Azzai who looked and died in the Pardes or orchard. But there is no ultimate purification until death when body and soul separate and the soul ascends to God, which is the goal. So too at the Revelation at Sinai, their bodies were refined, and their contamination ceased. But with the sin of the Golden Calf, their contamination returned. And it is impossible to purify again except after the separation of body and soul—except for those rare individuals. And now, when body and soul finally separate, the body ceases to function, act, and desire.

At this level, one enters into the hidden treasure of the good hidden in the thickness of a wall. “Coming into the land” refers to the good deeds that cause unification above, raising the feminine waters to their source. A person prepares himself to receive nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. To receive nefesh, one must prepare through practical commandments; to receive ruach, through speech in Torah; and to receive neshamah, which is the foundation called Yosef, one gathers all the kindnesses and strengths to Kingship, which is the Sabbath day.  There is this difference between the side of holiness and the side of impurity: holiness is from mercy and desires the preservation of all, to grasp both this and that in order to draw it close to holiness. But the side of impurity is cruel and desires the destruction of all.  The good lies hidden within the thickness of the wall and the barrier, which are the shells. These are iron partitions between each person and the good treasure, the darkness and night that precede the light of the good day. One digs through the wall by repentance each day. Then one enters the good, the hidden treasure, after one has cleared the thorns from the vineyard. Finally, on the seventh day, which is called: ‘A good gift I have in My treasure house, and its name is Shabbat’—which is the hidden good—then a person can enter by the ladder they built each day from the six weekdays into the seventh Sabbath, which will be a Sabbath, a gift from God guarded from the outside.

Shabbat represents the turn away from material existence and the needs of the body. The spiritual elite represented by the priests guard the place of spiritual delight and boundless heritage. A priest removes the darkness each day by secluding for one hour, and then he can enter the hidden good of each day, which draws from the treasure of light of the Sabbath day. The Tzadikim, who are alive, possess the trait of contentment. They do not waste time chasing after the needs of the house and body, but only for the needs of the soul and spirit, which dwell in the heart, the opposite of blood, which dwells in the liver, which is the material of excessive desires. For its part, the needs of the body, which are the ‘yeteret hakaved’ (the liver’s lobe), cannot be fulfilled, but the needs of the spirit and soul, which dwell in the heart, can be fulfilled. There are those of the body who desire bodily pleasures, and there are those of the soul who pursue spiritual pleasures, The people of matter are obstructed from before and behind—by the leaven in the dough and the subjugation to kingdoms. And only a few elevated individuals remain—those of soul—upon whom the world stands, and they are able to give thanks.

On extinguishing the flame of physical pleasure and connecting instead to the Torah scholars, who are the men of form. This is  the Sabbath law regarding extinguishing a lamp. For it is known that matter and form are opposites, that when one rises, the other falls. Bodily delight is pain to the soul, and the soul’s delight is pain to the body. Except on Shabbat, when one is commanded to eat and drink—through bodily delight, the soul can cleave to the Blessed One in spiritual delight.  But when one becomes accustomed and habituated to bodily pleasures constantly, it becomes nature for him, and he has no pleasure. And this is called death, the opposite of pleasure. This being so, it is better to extinguish the candle and bodily pleasure, which is flesh and blood, even at its beginning when he has physical pleasure before he is habituated to it. But as long as there is rebuke in the world, there is blessing in the world,” since they are face to face with the judges and Torah scholars, they cause a supernal union face to face, and abundance and blessing descend. One should therefore cleave to Torah scholars instead of making Shabbat a physical delight for oneself. “Borrow on Me”—that you cleave and connect to Torah scholars, and through this he is connected to Me. “Then you shall delight in the Lord,” etc.

Repentance is the purification of thought which is self-sanctification. According to the laws of Schmittah, the Land resting on Shabbat is a symbol of repentance and purification of thought, separating Shechinah from the shells and resting, finally, within the person, body and soul. The repentance of the righteous, who is called “man,” is when he sees that he has no cleaving to the Blessed One, to attach his thought to the light of the Ein Sof. First one must repent to remove the husks of foreign thoughts, which is the funeral procession, and afterward engage in Torah, which will be a throne for the resting of the Shechinah, which is called the bride. In the world to come, “The righteous sit with their crowns on their heads.” For this, one must be careful to purify his thought always, so that the Shechinah may be crowned upon their heads. And through this, a person is sanctified, joining physical action with thought, to become a chariot for the Shechinah in body and soul, like at the revelation at Mount Sinai.

In his return to the actual world, the Tzadik descends into the material world to connect with and raise those of lower stature, but only those who desire to connect with him. One who does not wish to connect with him certainly will not ascend with him. “And if your brother becomes impoverished”—he is your brother in poverty of Torah knowledge. The righteous has descended from his level for the purpose that you may ascend with him. But if you speak ill of him and imagine yourself to be like him, that you are equal in every way, and you do not believe that the descent of the righteous is sometimes for this reason—certainly you will not ascend with him in his ascent. “Whether a stranger or a resident”—whether he has now become righteous and is ascending to lofty levels, or a resident who was already righteous and has now descended for the above reason—you should understand and believe that it is for your benefit, as explained above. And “he shall live with you”—when he returns to his level and becomes a tzadik, who is called “alive,” he will be with you, since you already supported him.

BE’HUKKATAI*

 “Walk in My statutes.” How can the reward for mitzvot and punishment be in the World to Come, while here it mentions reward in this world?  The ultimate purpose here is the self-nullification of one’s own will before the will  of God.. Back in the actual world, the person sanctifies himself in the physical—meaning, eating—not only with the intention of eating to clarify the seven kings, etc., and also with the intention to do kindness with his soul, the guest. “Walk in My statutes, peace in the land, etc.” “Walking” refers to engagement in physical matters, “coming” refers to reward in world to come. The creation of the world is not a purposeless act of the Creator by virtue of the tzadik who is the purpose of creation, which subject to death would otherwise be without purpose. But this is not reward in this world, but rather, through the actions of those below, they cause unification above, and their reward is in the World to Come. Even when he is among his people, the masses, which is called “the way,” the opposite of the “path” of the righteous. Nullify your will—plowing and sowing—for His will, to engage in wisdom for the sake of Heaven. And the mighty and the rich should also not use their strength or wealth for their own will, but for His will. The tzadik raises the female waters back to their source and to draw down masculine waters into the world. Sanctification of the physical deed and knowing God. Wisdom and Torah, might, and wealth should only be for God, not for the sake of a person to glory in. God is good and upright. When you awaken peace and love toward your fellow, then your fellow—who is your enemy—will be transformed from l’cherev (to the sword) to l’chaver (to a friend). When those below are worthy of mercy, then the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with goodness and uprightness When those below are not worthy, then He turns His face away from them in anger, judgment and constriction, from the aspect of the Divine Name Elokim. But when they return and turn their faces toward the Blessed One, to walk in the good and upright way, then He too bestows upon them direct light, which is mercy.  “If you walk in My statutes”—that they turn toward the Blessed One face to face—then “I will give peace in the land,” that the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause His Shechinah to dwell in the land, and there will be peace between the Holy One and Israel who are in the land. When one is engaged in worldly matters, the Torah should still not depart from his mouth. “And the land shall yield its produce” refers to the masses, the barren trees, that they will give fruit and be aroused for good. “In His world” refers to the future, when the evil inclination will become a holy angel. The ultimate reality is “peace in the land,” i.e. in the future, when matter and form are not opposites, but the one is subjugated to the latter. In the physical world, where there is fear, there is no joy, and where there is joy, there is no fear. But in the service of the Blessed One, it is possible to find joy in a place of fear, in a place of joy, there should be trembling. The union of Malkhut (sovereignty) with her Beloved, or her descent, depends on the merit of the deeds of those below. For the Shechinah, which was in a lowly state, is now elevated to a higher state

NUMBERS*

Throughout the commentary to the book of Numbers, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF continues to uphold the social metaphysic subjugating the people of matter and their wealth and worldly support to the Torah and musar and prayer of the men of form, namely the Tzadikim, and  their Torah, musar, and rebuke. The onus is put on the people, but the onus is put on the Torah scholars. “Peace” institutes the ideal metaphysical and social union. It combines [1] an upward motion, which is the raising the Shekhinah and the feminine waters to their supernal source with [2] a downward motion, which is the subordination of matter. Close and constant attention is paid to the tensions that define the reality of his own modernity, “this generation” of traditional Jewish society in 18^th C. Ukraine in the face of materialism and at the cusp of what, in retrospect, one can call secularization, namely the collapse of rabbinic authority. The spirit of the commentary is sectarian and marked by anxiety. As seen through its prism the exile of Jewish life is tripartite: Israel is subject to the nations, the common people hate the sages, and sages hate sages. Wistful about intra-communal peace under the authority of the Tzadikim, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF will have left behind the desert of materiality.

NOTE much and even most of the material is cribbed from the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF which I have then organized and framed

BA’MIDBAR*

With an eye on material wealth and materialist values, what will become of Torah is the fundamental anxiety of our text. God spoke to Moses in “the Sinai Desert,” in the “Tent of Meeting. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF turns this doubling into a binary. The wilderness refers to worldly pursuit of wealth versus the Tent of Meeting, which is Torah study. To this double, there are two aspects. In the “desert,” which is matter, there are two aspects: the people who intend and gather wealth for their own pleasure, which is a desert, while “Sinai” refers to those whose worldly goods are given over to the Tzadikim for the sake of Heaven. There are also two aspects to Tent of Meeting. There is the one who sits in tent of Torah for his own pleasure and honor, and the one whose Torah is solely for the pleasure of the Shekhinah.

About this matter is a well-known dispute in the Babylonian Talmud between Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and Rabbi Yishmael (Berakhot 35b) regarding the relative value of Torah study versus engaging in one’s own livelihood. Rabbi Yishmael holds one should conduct oneself in the way of the world (i.e., engage in worldly affairs) whereas Rabbi Shimon holds that when Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, then their work is done by others.  To this, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF appends the famous dictum by Hillel, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me,” etc. Indeed, all the preparations and troubles and the purpose of study and deeds are to merit clinging to God, connecting deed with thought, which is the unification of the Holy One and His Shekhinah.  And this relates to what is said in Song of Songs, “Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves.” The question remains open even for those who act like Shimon bar Yochai and abandon the pursuit of worldly livelihood. Does one do so for the love of oneself, that one should be glorified through the study of Torah and his honor should increase, or for the love of the Shechinah to arouse it as mentioned. “Who is this coming up from the wilderness?” meaning that through “who” (mi), which is repentance, then the Shekhinah, which is called “this” (zot), comes up from the wilderness, which is the matter called “wilderness,” a place of klippa as opposed to form, which is called “field of apples.” And matter becomes form, both in the individual person and in the general populace.

NASO*

In an abject and melancholy state, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF now turns to the men of form who are supposed to gather the people and connect with them even as the men of matter separate from them. The commentary to the parsha starts with the crying out in response to troubles and repentance, the benefit of crying for the whole house of Israel, mourning the death of the righteous, whose passing is akin to the burning of the Temple, and to death itself which is arrogance. “Weep for him who goes away” to death, who are wicked in their lives, called dead, who go without children, i.e. without good deeds. The Jewish masses and wealthy Jews (the people of matter) should cling to Torah scholars and to men of kindness. Enter the suspected adulteress in the Sotah ritual. She represents the material people (“wife”) who have strayed and turned away from listening to Torah scholars (“man”). By way of counterpoint, the priestly blessing makes peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven by causing peace between the people of matter and the people of form. For his part, the nazirite separates all material matters from the study of Torah and mitzvot. Reflecting on the Golden Calf and the people of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF’s own generation at the cusp of the messianic era, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF has the people of form seclude in their own prayer and study circles. We note the extreme social tension of the age. The Tzadikim are pious sectarians who separate themselves from the multitude who are not scrupulous with shechitah (i.e. a matter of purity) and from mainstream rabbinic leadership.

With an eye on this generation today and the hostility of ordinary Jews to the sages, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF tries to mend frayed social ties. He looks back to the destruction of the Second Temple which was caused by Jews neglecting Torah and legislating against Torah scholars. To repair this sin, ḥesed and truth are supposed to meet. From out of the earth ascend the masters of wisdom, who are called truth. And righteousness, who are the wealthy who are not masters of wisdom, they receive wisdom and morality from the masters of Torah. This is the ideal. If today in this generation the wise are, in fact, despised by the masses and by the nations, it is because of the bitter contention between scholars themselves. When scholars disgrace and despise each other, then all the wise are despised in the eyes of the masses, who devise evil counsel on how to avoid Torah and divine service. The kings of the earth and rulers set themselves together against God and against “His Messiah.” Immediately they devise plans against God concerning forbidden foods, to remove good ritual slaughterers and appoint bad ones according to their will, and similar things. “Against His Messiah,” these are the scholars engaged in Torah and divine service, banished from the city and without a quorum so they cannot pray.  The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF tries to arbitrate. Once a leader is appointed over the community, all his sins are forgiven, and he is like a newborn baby. However, this is only when he is appointed by God. This is not the case when he is appointed by authority,

The ideal leader of the generation is Aaron represented by the menorah in the Taberbacle. Aaron is the one who brings many back from sin, to “reprove at the gate in a great assembly.” This is what is meant by “when you raise the lights” (Numbers 8:2). He ascends to high levels to cleave to the Blessed One, then he can raise the lights, which are the 248 limbs of Israel in the general form, with nefesh and ruach (soul and spirit), whose numerical value is ner (candle). The leader of the generation who intends to raise them is called “the face of the Menorah,” or “the face of the generation.” If a person is on this high level of belief and trust, then surely God will repay. At the highest level of faith, Abraham believed that none of his deeds were worthy enough to merit such a level, except through finding favor and a free gift [from God]. There are many, many levels, and in each one, a person can unite the higher attributes, in the secret of “With this shall Aaron come into the Holy” (Leviticus 16:3).

The faith of the Tzadik is one of descent and suffering, which is the intention of the Talmud (Berachot 60b), “A person is obligated to bless over evil and accept it with joy, just as one blesses over good.” Once a person knows that everything is for the sake of the Most High, then one understands that no evil descends from Heaven. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF looks to Joseph’s descent to Egypt and to prison, the purpose of which was to clarify those lower levels by raising the sparks of the Shekhinah. For even in the diminution of their light, when they descend and appear as if they have distanced themselves from His service, nevertheless, they rejoice in suffering, claiming that even in this descent they are doing the will of their Maker, like the moon, which is the Shekhinah, in its descent does the will of its Maker to clarify the 288 sparks in the four worlds of ABYA (Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah), as is known. This is alluded to in the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He: Truth (Emet) (Shabbat 55a)—beginning, middle, end, for “the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3), and in all levels God is found by virtue of His activity.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF returns to the troubles of this generation today. The Tzadikim descend to raise the wealth of the wealthy. Both the study of Torah and the giving of charity are called “sacrifice,” for both actions atone like a sacrifice. And they are both of them superior to offerings called “sacrifice,” for offerings atone for inadvertent sins, while Torah and acts of kindness atone for intentional sins as well. Today in this generation, we see that these who are afflicted cling to God , and people fear lest they be caught in the net of poverty and lowliness if they learn wisdom and ethics.  Therefore, the advice given is: “In peace, together I will lie down and sleep,” for the wise and the generous need each other. The wise also need to descend a little from their level, which is called “sleep,” in order to connect with the wealthy. This is when they are “in peace together,” and are not opposed to each other, for then there is a connection of matter and form, which is a level of ascent for the Shekhinah and Israel.

BEHA’ALOTCHA*

This parsha continues the same point about the people of matter and the men of form in this generation, but in a bitter sectarian spirit of rebuke. Raising the lamps of the menorah in the Tabernacle or Mishkan again is related to the men of form who should connect with the people of matter, and the people of matter who should look up to men of form like Moses in order to subject their own hearts to God. The ” lamps” of the menorah are the people of matter. The people of form are “in front of the menorah,” i.e. the central lamp to give light. Aaron is the Tzadik who connects first to God before connecting to the people of matter who are now likened to “animals.” The amei ha’aretz cause Heaven (Torah scholars) to descend to their own low level, and in this lies danger. The amei ha’aretz were impure, they also caused impurity to “man,” i.e. the people of form. Reflecting the social-spiritual rift in this generation,  there is no need to advise the “people of form” to distance themselves from “people of matter” as the “people of matter” have already taken the initiative to distance themselves from the “people of form.” In truth, this is for the good of the “people of form.” The wheel turns in the world and sometimes the upper ones are below. For now the Temple is destroyed, friends are ashamed, men of action are impoverished, and those with power and glib tongues have gained the upper hand. At this low mark in this generation, the wisdom of scribes has itself decayed and those who fear sin will be despised, and truth will be missing.

But the sages should attribute the corruption of this generation to themselves and to the corruption of their own wisdom for which they are ultimately responsible. This is the work of tikkun or repair. The  Tzadik must first burn and destroy his own thorns. When one separates the impurity and the forbidden from the Divine Presence, then the bride will be adorned with the letters of Halakha. With this, harsh judgments will be included in the kindnesses on the right, and mercy will overcome judgment. When God commands Moses to speak to the rock, this refers to the masses of people whose hearts are as hard as stone, that they should be repaired and have a heart of flesh, and to remove from them the aspect of the rock.

SH’LACH*

The line of rebuke and self-rebuke from the commentary to the previous parsha continues in this parsha, whose concluding word is “peace.”

The spies who are sent by Moses in the Bible to spy out the Land of Israel here refer to Torah scholars who should spy out their own fault before turning to spy out the fault of others. Until now the people believed in Moses, who manifests the attribute of da’at or knowledge/awareness; and through this belief in Moses, the Tzadik, they believed in God. Now that they separated from Moses, they will not believe in and trust God. The people of matter turn against the people of form and are punished by God with exile and subjugation to the nations. The people have baseless hatred for the scholars. But Torah scholars, the men of knowledge or da’at who are called “fathers,” they should first abandon the hatred in their own hearts towards their own children. Caleb stills the people, connecting to the people so as to connect them to Moses in one unity. In the Land, divine service includes everyone, no matter their level.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF teaches that the Shekinah descends into falsehood; the Temple was destroyed because the people who studied Torah failed to say a blessing first, taken to mean that they studied Torah, but  not for its own sake. Against the arrogance of Gehinnom, words of Torah are only upheld by the one who makes himself cunning (עָרוֹם) over them,” i.e. by one who is radically humble.  The perfect person needs to complete two types of study, one cloaked, the other naked (עָרוֹם). First comes the study of Halacha and pilpul, which breaks the klippot or shells, removing the black garments from the Supernal Bride to adorn Her with garments of Torah, which are garments of holiness. Afterwards, a person should learn the second aspect, which is coupling and attaching one’s own essence and inwardness to the inner essence of the Torah without any garment. Related to prayer, there is, on the one hand, feeble, lazy, habitual prayer as if asleep and dead; and there is, on the other hand, prayer that is diligent and intense and awake and alive. The prayer of the Tzadik “covers” or repairs the prayers of others that were offered with laziness and delay. The Tzadik prays to repair the deficiency of the Shekhinah with no hope that his request will be granted or that he will receive any reward.

Public rebuke is a cardinal virtue. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF compares two types of Torah scholars. There is the one who secludes himself and is loved by the public and the other who openly rebukes the public and is hated. (No doubt, this little polemic reflects a historical tension within the new Hasidic movement.) For the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF, the main purpose of everything is to sweeten judgments with mercies, to include the one in the other. Then a unity is made below, which causes a unity above. Therein lies the power of rebuke. Whoever walks in this way to teach his children and his friends the way of God and influences them with wisdom and morals, that person causes the divine abundance or shefa to be drawn down into the material world. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF refers to the rabbinic dictum, (Tamid 28a): “As long as rebuke is in the world, abundance and blessing are in the world, as it is said (Proverbs 24:25): ‘But to those who rebuke, there will be delight, and upon them will come the blessing of good,'” God wants to grant merit to Israel, meaning that they should benefit one another. He multiplied Torah for the Torah scholars, and He multiplied wealth for the common people.  God “found no vessel that holds blessing for Israel other than peace,” etc. A Torah scholar is called “peace,” And charity (tzedakah) is also called “peace.”

KORAH*

The commentary to Korah continues now combining the power of rebuke with the virtue of inra-communal peace and relating it to the work of repair or tikkun. The sin of Korah is was arrogance and separation, which is juxtaposed to the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself.” But how to explain the sin of a Tzadik?

A person should choose the straight path and love rebuke, described as a thread of kindness in the world. For as long as rebuke is in the world, tranquility is in the world, goodness and blessing come to the world, and evil departs from the world. One who rebukes the leaders of the people and who rebukes pride are messengers of God and strangers in the world. The commandment “Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) derives from faith that everything is under the individual providence of God. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF turns to the spies in Numbers and Joshua to reflect upon how the Tzadikim search or spy out the Evil Inclination, turning the “mountains” of arrogance and pride into a throne of holiness.

The concern about Korah is that the entire community suffers on account of a single person’s sin, because all Israel are guarantors for each other. Korah was punished because he separated himself and the men of matter from the men of form, and because the men of matter separated from each other. They manifest Amalek, the spirit of division. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF teaches that the main principle or klal of Torah is communal peace, “love your neighbor as yourself.” From peace, two benefits arise: 1) Every Israelite can fulfill all 613 commandments through peace, etc. 2) When there is peace, there is no room for punishment to occur. Conversely, when there is no peace, then it is impossible for everyone to fulfill all 613 commandments, and then there is room for punishment .

But the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF shifts the onus off Korah and the people. He understands that when one’s fellow does not do what the Tzadik would will, it is because the Tzadik did not do the will of God. Moses attributes the defect of other people to himself. Regarding  the repair or tikkun of penitents, the main thing is through the great ones of the generation who can elevate them and connect them to their root. There are two forms of tikkun. First, in repairing sins and transgressions, the Shekhinah is raised from exile, clarified and removed from the chaff and straw of material existence. The second aspect of repair is the “secret of Gilgal”  or reincarnation. (This rare theme in the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF complements the more standard theme of the rise and fall and rise in levels endured by the Tzadikim in relation to their own faults and in relation to the masses of ordinary people). God kills and makes alive. The souls of the Tzadikim sin and fall and raise all of the wicked back to God, except for those who shame Torah scholars. “The Lord kills and makes alive.” For whatever sin befell a Tzadik, it was in order to connect with the masses of the people to elevate them, and this is why it says “kills” in order to “make alive,” and it is from the side of kindness and mercy. For the soul of the Tzadik descends into Gehenna in the secret of transmigration in order to elevate the souls of the wicked from there.

HUKKAT*

In the history of Jewish thought, the ḥukkim or statutes refer to those mitzvot whose purpose eludes the grasp of ordinary reason. To the ignorant, they appear like “statutes” without reason, simple divine decrees. For the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF, their true reason or function is to marshal two contrasting aspects, the humility ascribed to Moses and the glory/tiferet ascribed to Aaron as helpmeets against the Evil Inclination. For the sake of purification and against arrogance, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF adopts the middle path more associated with Maimonidean rationalism than with Hasidic pietism. Hedging the virtue of humility, we see how the Evil Inclination humbles a person to believe of oneself that one is not worthy of sanctification due to the baseness of one’s matter, i.e. one’s gross physical constitution. Against this humility of the heart, one should grasp the trait of glory, by which it is understood that from the aspect of his soul, one is, indeed, worthy. And if the Evil Inclination inflates one’s spirit or soul to think that one is already holy and pure, one should humble himself from the aspect of the baseness of his physical constitution.

The ritual rule of the red heifer is central to this discourse regarding the statutes. The ash of the red heifer has the power to purify that which is impure and make impure that which is pure. To better explain the paradox, as understood by the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF,  the red heifer is the manifestation of arrogance. But that arrogance which defiles can also make pure. “And he shall slaughter it before him,” this is the point, which is to sweeten arrogance. By using arrogance for the sake of heaven, the Evil Inclination becomes a throne for the good. This explains what is meant by “And he shall take cedar wood,” which is the outward garment of arrogance, “and hyssop,” which is inward humility of heart, and cast them both into the burning of the heifer. A wise person learns from everyone and honors every person. Since everything is one unity, then it is proper that a clean thing should be brought out of an unclean thing; merit should be found even for the unclean to say that this person is pure, and from this, becomes pure. Even a heifer red with sin finds merit to justify it, to say that there is no blemish in it.

The red heifer is also the sin of neglecting Torah. To be sure, the free person is free from the burden of worldly occupation. But to restore intellectual vitality, one must occasionally step back from Torah study. This is the secret of “running and returning” (Ezekiel 1:14). One sometimes needs to lessen Torah study until the intellect returns, and this is what is meant by “lessen your business,” referring to the occupation of Torah study, so that one can then engage in Torah to delve more deeply with awe and love. When done with intention for the sake of heaven, this is called flawless, without blemish or deficiency, like the red heifer itself.

What then is the good path and remedy for sick souls? Sick souls hate the good path and find reasons to permit that which is forbidden. They should go to the Sages, who are the doctors of souls, and they will heal their ailments with the ideas they teach them, until they return to the good path. However, there is a more difficult illness, where one does not recognize one’s own illness at all. And this is due to two reasons: [1]  due to a lack of knowledge, and [2] due to people who  are “wise to do evil,” referring to people who go out to prove that that which is forbidden is permissible.  “One who wishes to become wise should go south; one who wishes to become rich should go north.” But to do this only to fulfill the King’s decrees, Moses requested permission “to pass through your land,” which is this physical world, the portion of Esau, to serve God within it. And so we return to the main theme of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF. The ultimate purpose of human creation in this world is for a person to subjugate their physical matter to their spiritual form. Once one merits to make form from matter, that is a life of peace, namely peace between what are at first the opposites of matter and form, and then everything becomes one unity.  That is why Torah given to Israel, to make peace between matter and form.

Israel is called brazen, which for the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is a virtue. (It would seem the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is thinking of this generation in particular, his own time at the cusp of emancipation and secularization and the precarious place of the Tzadik in the world.) When Israel clings to God, they are not afraid or ashamed before any of the common people who mock the path of the good. This is not the case when a person descends from the levels of clinging. Then a person is ashamed and afraid of the people who will mock him. Against this, Torah is called “strength.” It weakens the strength of matter by making peace between matter and form. Matter desires to act in the physical world. Spiritual form desires to act in intellectual and spiritual matters.  Then, when Shabbat comes, the form of a person and the form of the year and world can delight in Shabbat without any constraint or hindrance. Matter should allow the form to pass through its domains by way of the middle path. For the masses are the matter, and the elders of the community are the form. The virtue of brazenness thus proves to be a great principle in Torah, indicating the great yearning for the love of God. Every aspect of a person turns to God in his Torah, service, and good deeds below for the sake of heaven above. Then a person approaches life and holiness., distanced from death and impurity.

Tzadikim are “vessels,” people of form who descend in order to engage in holy work. All vessels descend to their impurity by thought, but they do not ascend from their impurity except by a change of action, for action immediately nullifies action and immediately thought; but thought does not immediately nullify action or thought.” The Tzadik descends to Gehinnom to elevate the souls who have fallen there. When the Tzadik  descends, there are some wicked ones who cling to him so that they may ascend, but there are some who do not wish to. The group that connects with him ascends with him, while there is no remedy or repair for the group that finds fault with the perfect believers of Israel and does not connect with the Tzadikim.

Again in the spirit of self-rebuke and with his eye on this generation today, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF understands that not every vessel is pure or whole. Most Torah scholars primarily desire the garments of the Torah, from which they derive glory, but not so much with the inner dimension of the Torah, which they do not see. For “it is the glory of God to conceal a matter” (Proverbs 25:2). Whoever has sight to see with the eye of his intellect the greatness of God, that person has fear. Not so a blind person, who is considered like a dead person (Nedarim 64b), has no sight, and therefore has no fear. Now, the type of scholar that wishes to be beloved among the people and believes that by this he will receive sustenance from them, especially at a meal where it is their custom to give gifts to Torah scholars, how will he speak musar, which are words of sharp rebuke, since the people of matter will hate him and not give gifts –and then “if there is no flour, there is no Torah”? In truth, the opposite is more reasonable: “If there is no Torah,” precisely, which is called Torah because it “directs sinners on the path” (Psalms 25:8), then there is no flour. We find that there is a good purpose for the sake of Heaven, not for one’s own pleasure, even in saying plain explanation and sharp words. Even though it is impossible not to become arrogant through this, nevertheless, it has some higher need.

Marrying a “woman”  relates again to this basic metaphysical-social theme of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF, subjugating matter to form, and connecting to the lowly masses despite their impurity. The goal is to humble matter to form, from the general cursed to the general blessed. If so, it is properly called “marriage of a woman,” who is the matter, that he “carries” and elevates her upwards to holiness. This is because of a slight blemish and fault in the character traits of the worthy of the generation, which are lower garments that he wears, and through this he connects with the lowly masses, The head of the city or generation is called a “man,” and the people of his city are called a “woman,” like matter to form. And when he wishes to sanctify them, he is called “one who marries women with a transgression,” for through the transgression within him, he can connect with them and elevate them. Nevertheless, there is some disqualification in him until he vows enjoyment, i.e. being honored or gaining sustenance. The Tzadik “marries a woman” only for the benefit of connecting and elevating the people, and then he will return to his own proper level.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF now returns to the red heifer, the matter of impurity and falling and the exile of the Schekhinah, all for the sake of rising and purity. The red heifer is the wicked of Israel who cause the Shekhinah to fall into impurity in order to clarify and raise sparks by way of Torah and mitzvot. To fall, rise, and be strengthened is the meaning of the red heifer. And these are the wicked, “Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer” (Hosea 4:16). They contaminate the pure – meaning the red heifer causes the descent of the Shekhinah into the depths of the klippot, which are called the “father of fathers of impurity,” in order to purify the impure – to clarify the sparks of the souls to elevate them from impurity to purity, And just as it is in the world, so it is in the year and the soul. For in the year, there are the six weekdays: the Shekhinah clothes itself through Mata”t (angel Metatron) within Klipat Nogah (the “translucent” shell) to clarify sparks through Torah, service, and good deeds. And so too the righteous within the wicked, in the secret of the soul within the body, to humble matter to form to elevate them. “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.” “The Lord kills” the klippot by reviving the holy sparks to elevate them from the klippot, and the klippot remain dead without vitality.

BALAK* 

The Israel-Jacob polarity dominates the commentary to this parsha whose main focus is Balaam whom God caused to bless the people instead of cursing them. In the Bible, the blessings of Balaam are a doubled pean to “Jacob” and “Israel” the entire community of Israel.  Only here, this poetic doubling now confirms the spiritual-social hierarchy that dominates the entrety of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF, preoccupied by the spiritual men of form and the subjugation of matter. Always mistrustful, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF continues to rebuke the spirit of arrogance..

Inside the tents of “Jacob” dwells the essence called “Israel,”  being the Torah scholars whose hands are supported by the wealthy. “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob.” Even the common people dwell in the tents of synagogues and study halls. TheIn this idealized picture, the common people who are Jacob see that Israel –the Torah scholars– encamp among  them, supported by the wealth of the congregation in the service of God. This is why the Moabite king Balak wants Balaam first to curse “Jacob,” the common people. He wants to cause the common people to sin and, in doing so, turn God’s wrath on “Israel,” the Torah scholars whom they support. For through the curse of Balaam they would lose their property, and through this wrath would be drawn upon Israel the Torah scholars who will not be able to purify their thoughts to cling to God. Because the primary sin is not having God before one always in thought, i.e. in the thought of the Torah scholars. But the common people did not sin, an Israel used the material wealth only for a higher purpose, eating and drinking in moderation so as to have strength for the service of God, and they utterly destroyed the rest.

Balak is Samael is the Evil Inclination, terrified by what he saw Israel did to the Amorites, i.e. to the material. Because Israel created a fence, the Evil Inclination assumes as a stratagem the cloak of the Good Inclination. The Evil Inclination came to them in the aspect of Midian, to change its judgment from evil inclination to good inclination, to tempt them with a commandment that is a transgression. But the curse from the side of the material turned into a blessing, to be a throne for the form, which is holiness and blessing. What this means is that a person should not be satisfied with good deeds, Torah, and service of God that he has, but should always add more and go from level to level, never remaining at same level. The aspect that was considered pure now he understands to be impure, and so he adds and goes until “your life shall hang in doubt before you,” and the curse will be considered a blessing.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), meaning it is proper to give rebuke so that they should not be satisfied with little, but should add perfection to perfection. In this, there are two rebukers that are four. Two of them are hidden from the people. They appear only before God, one to accuse and the other intercedes. And there are two types who are revealed to the people in their rebuke. Better is open rebuke, meaning the one who rebukes the people to their faces and reveals their iniquity to them, which causes healing, more than the type of hypocritical and flattering rebukers who speak of their perfection to their faces. In contrast to them, Balaam is the Satan who stands at the right hand of Israel. He blessed and praised and flattered them, but his intention was to accuse them, to make them haughty so that they would sin afterwards. Balaam blessed and praised them like a cedar, and this caused haughtiness, that they would remain on their level like a cedar, and not soft as a reed. Just as a cedar does not stand in a place of water, if one’s mind is high like a cedar and his spirit is haughty, he does not accept discipline, which is likened to water. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF addresses a dispute about the figure of Balaam concluding that he, indeed, has no share in the world to come.

PINCHAS*

Nothing is said about Pinchas in the commentary to this parsha. In earlier parashot and in the last parsha of Numbers, Pinchas represents the covenant of peace between Israel and  their Father in Heaven. In this parsha,  the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF has as its focus sin and repentance. On Rosh Chodesh or new month, when the moon is purified to approach her husband, it is necessary to give one share to the Sitra Aḥra, the Other Side. But the Tzadik clarifies the sparks that are from broken vessels, i.e. the afflictions that he suffers at the hand of the wicked, and then the wicked perish. The Tzadik ascends and the wicked descends beneath him in the secret of the goat for a sin offering of Rosh Chodesh. And through repentance, the Lord will return Shekhinah, and then the moon is purified to approach Her Husband, etc.

Reflecting on the relative balance of merit and sin and the problem of theodicy, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF finds that the righteous die and wicked people live, etc. Therein lies the mercy of God. Just desserts are weighed according to both the number and the gravity of a person or a community’s sins, whereas the weight of a single merit can tip the scale against the number of sins. What tips the scale to merit? The weighing is according to the “God of knowledge,” so it is not known who is righteous and who is wicked. The weight of a single righteous Tzadik can tip the scale for the many sins of the community. Or a righteous person is found righteous on his own particular merit, compared to the people of his city, who are called “creatures.” Or a righteous individual is not put in the general judgment, lest he not be found righteous compared to a large city full of sages and scribes. This is not the case for the wicked. Even though a wicked person was sealed for death, he is judged again in the general judgment, for perhaps in relation to the majority he will be found innocent if perhaps more wicked people will be found than him, compared to whom he will be considered intermediate or even righteous.

Expanding on this theme, there are three books of three each opened on Rosh Hashana. Each book includes three books, so that we can count three books of life, and three books of death, and three books of intermediate ones. The three types of righteous person are in descending order:  first, even when he is occupied with people, a person whose thought is clung to God; second, a person who clings to God only when he is separated from people and occupies himself in solitude and seclusion, which is not the case when he is with people; third is the person who even when he occupies himself with Torah in seclusion and solitude is not clung to God due to foreign thoughts that have not yet been purified in the secret of the soul. Similarly, there are three types of person who engage in mitzvot not for their own sake: first, there are those who may merit wealth and honor in this world; second are  those who engage in mitzvot so that they may live in the World to Come; third are those who act so that they may live in this world and the World to Come. Regarding those who abandon all bodily matters and this world and whose intention is only in their Creator, they are like Enoch and Elijah, whose souls clung to the glorious Name; they will live forever in their bodies and souls. As for those inscribed in book of death, there are those who at least performed a mitzvah, which is life for him in this world; and there are wicked people who disdain mitzvot, and do not believe that wealth and honor come to him from performing mitzvot, but, in any case, he does not disdain others who perform mitzvot; and there are the lowest of all who do not perform mitzvot while disdaining others and keeps them from dosing so, sinning; causing others to sin; he has no life in this world either, and they are written for death even in this world.

According to the well-known rabbinic teaching, baseless hatred was what caused the destruction of the Second Temple. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF identifies this sin with Amalek. As long as baseless hatred is not rectified, including, one supposes the hatred of ordinary Jews for the sages, it’s impossible for the Messiah, son of David, to come. “Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet, and he will turn the heart of fathers to sons,” etc. (Malachi 3:24), which is to repair the aforementioned sin, and then the son of David will come, etc. Therefore, it’s well understood that it’s a mitzvah to remember the deeds of Amalek, so one remembers that the Temple was destroyed for this reason. For if the Temple isn’t rebuilt in one’s days, it’s as if it was destroyed in one’s days. So every person should set his heart to remove the stumbling block from the crooked heart. For this purpose, the mitzvah of the shofar came to awaken the sleepers from sleep, from the aforementioned sin, which caused the destruction of the Temple. Through peace among Israel, the Accuser becomes an advocate.

Now after the destruction of Temple, presumably in this generation, the strong material husks multiply, and the soul now desires to leave the body, because it’s contrary to the purity and clarity of the soul. However, when the soul sees the divine Presence dwelling below, it said, “It’s enough for a servant,” etc. (Berachot 58b), And similarly, from the day the Temple was destroyed, when those of strong arm and those of evil tongue multiplied, and many similar things, due to the husks that increased the impurity of matter, then these tzadikim didn’t wish to dwell among them, for they are the form and the soul. But happy are the people who know how to appease their Maker, and this is what the sound of the shofar hints at. Tekiah manifests  Abraham who shows kindness to his Maker and not for himself. Shevarim are the broken heart, through the binding of Isaac, the left included in right, so will the desires of the Evil Inclination be broken. Then teruah: Jacob, who connects the lower world with the upper, Rachel and Leah.  Listen then to the open rebuke of the Torah scholars. “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,” for the Torah scholars are honored princes, “and I will speak” without garb, to strike with the words of my mouth. This is not the case for the earth, which only hears from afar and through several mediating garbs, i.e. the garb of the verse which are the words of my mouth. Incidentally, perhaps one will pay attention to the inner moral rebuke within the garb, which is difficult to understand.

MATTOT*

In this parsha, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF binds together the intimate connection of memory, action, and image.  

Beloved, indeed, are Israel, for this precious tool was given to them; an extra love made known to them. But “forsake not My teaching.” Whoever forgets one thing, Scripture considers it as if he is liable for his life, etc. If so, one might  reasonably say, that the Torah is a bad bargain, since remembering and forgetting are not in a person’s control. How, then, is the Torah a precious tool? The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF explains, Torah a precious tool for Israel because it is bound to their soul through action, the performance of mitzvot, so it won’t be forgotten. Wherever the commandment of remembrance came, it was commanded to perform an action by which remembrance would be bound, for example the commandment of tzitzit and the like, which is compared to a knot for not forgetting, etc.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF posits “three brains of memory.” There is Chochma and there is Binah, and Da’at (ChaBaD) connects the “thing” (davar) with “this” (zeh), which is Yesod (foundation), which is called “Zachor” (remember). Beloved is the human person created in the image, etc., a chariot for the image of Elohim.  How to make actual that which is potential so that human person can makes himself a chariot to the name of Elohim, for then the human person is truly in the image of Elohim.  Even without da’at, Israel is beloved, only in the lower aspect of Malchut. But with Torah, what was potential is now actual. The people who actually perform Torah and Mitzvot elevate the female spiritual waters, are called children to the Omnipresent (Makom). Theirs is the extra love, i.e. the da’at of the Torah scholars, which increases peace in the world by connecting Malchut and Binah, subduing matter to form in the sanctification of food and drink, which is the main root of holiness.  

Now towards the end of the parsha, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF takes a sharp and aggressive turn. Ultimately, the one who despises the matters of this world and weakens the body is the one who strengthens the soul and chooses the World to Come, which is the opposite of this world. Through the weakening of the body, the power of the soul is strengthened. This is how one can sanctify oneself to be a sanctuary of God.  The way of Torah is bread with salt, etc. Then  happy are you in this world. Your happiness and merit are that the people of this world eat, and it will be good for you, hidden for the World to Come. In this world, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF  exhorts, “avenge the vengeance of the children of Israel,” i.e. the perfect faithful of Israel, “from the Midianites,” i.e. the wicked who contend and argue and nullify the Torah and the service of Israel. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF understands that this is possible not now, but only in the future. “And he sent them and Pinchas.” This is Elijah, “who will turn the heart of fathers to children,” etc. (Malachi 3:24), speedily in our days, etc.

MASSEI*

And with this, “These are the journeys of the children of Israel,” etc., will be understood that they journeyed in one journey from a lower level to a higher level. Through faith and attachment to God, Isreal  became detached from materialism and became spiritual. Initially Israel was a body, and Moses and Aaron like two wings of a dove. And then Israel flew, like an angel which clothes a physical body in its descent to this world to do its mission for God in this world; and when it finishes its mission, divests itself of the physical body and returns to spiritual. This is not the case for most people in the world who act in opposition to the spiritual, having forgotten their mission for God and lacking knowledge. It should be engraved and written on the tablet of one’s heart. The root of the human soul is hewn from beneath the Throne of Glory from a very high place, and descends to its journeys from above downwards in this world within the material garment of the body to do its mission for Him.

The last word of the commentary to the book Numbers reflects on repentance, the plight of this generation, chaos and repair.  To merit Torah a person must walk in the way of Torah which is the opposite of worldliness. There are 3 types of exile: Israel and the nations, scholars and common people, scholars and scholars. Pinchas is Elijah who will make peace. “Woe is Me, for I have sworn” concerning this exile, that the Torah scholars will suffer, which touches upon the cessation of the service of the Lord.  Referring back to  the waters of the flood, when the windows of heaven were opened, this would be an allusion to the World of Tohu (Chaos) before the World of Tikkun (Repair), which is the secret of the seven primordial kings who, due to their great desire and perseverance in clinging to and serving God, ceased to exist and died. But God saw the light, that it was good, which are the deeds of the Tzadikim who have set the Lord always before them (Psalms 16:8).

DEUTERONOMY*

The commentary to Deuteronomy of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF tracks the ritual calendar for the summer and fall seasons —9 Av, Elul, Rosh Hashana, Sukkot. The thematic starting point is the double meaning of exile in this world, which is both social and metaphysical. On one hand stands the bitter exile of the Shekhinah, on the other hand, the precarious place of the prayer and Torah of the Tzadik in the social world. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF reflects upon the war and stratagems to subjugate the collective mass of ordinary Jews, the men of physical matter,  to the men of spiritual form. Per usual, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF holds up the Tzadikim and their musar against the degeneration of his own day and age (referred to throughout the entire commentary as “this generation”).  The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF rebukes both the unbridled and unceasing pursuit of wealth by the people of matter and the pursuit of honor by traditional rabbinic scholars who boast in the public eye. With the iconic form of the 4-letter Name of God before him always, the Tzadik leaves the place of seclusion that is the holy camp of Torah and prayer. In contrast, the city is a place of snakes and scorpions, lies and slander where the Tzadikim are mocked. After a very long and harsh excursus on spiritual war, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF seeks to establish a modus vivendi with the people, and also with Amalek and the Evil Inclination and the power they represent in the social world. By the end of the commentary to Deuteronomy, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF envisions the first fruits of the Land, i.e. the World to Come. In this idyll and with no fear before the judgment of God on Rosh Hashanah, we connect to the Tzadik, who manifests the Da’at of Moses. Now at the end of the commentary after the war with the Evil Inclination in the exile of the city in this generation, “this is the blessing.” An angel and emissary of God, the Tzadik from an ascetic place of seclusion channels blessing into the world.

DEVARIM*

On the double meaning of exile: the physical exile of Israel and the spiritual exile of the soul and Shekhinah. In this generation, the people are disconnected from the Tzadikim, alone in the city before the Evil Immmclimmmatgiommm. We see here in this parsha and will see more further below (in the commentary to the last parsha) the critique of conventional Jewish tradition based on Halakha and pilpul. The world is a wheel turning between the aspects of smallness and greatness, both represented by the Tzadikim.

In synch with the liturgical year, the commentary to the book of Deuteronomy begins with a long excursus on Tisha B’Av with a caustic eye on this generation of today. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF laments the solitary city that sits lonely without connection to the Tzadikim. “Weeping sorely in the night,” there are two types of exile, a double weeping: one is the physical exile among the nations, and the second is the spiritual exile of the soul under the wiles of the Evil Inclination. “Judah has gone into exile from poverty,” which here means they did not want to humble themselves before God. The gates marked by Halakha are desolate. The people hate the Tzadikim, their enemies, therefore “she has no comforter from all her lovers.” And because the people cast off the yoke of the service of the Kingdom of Heaven, the yoke of the kingdom of nations was placed upon them. God’s Shekhinah remains solitary,  like night without the connection of day.

Movimmmg from night to day, the commentary to our parsha now segues to the opening verse of Deuteronomy to consider the meammmimmmg of pleasure. Continuous pleasure woiiild not be pleasure in its essence. The essence of pleasure iddd “light drawn from the darkness.” The way of the Tzadik stands even in the aspect of smallness. The wheel turns in the world (Shabbat 151b), biiit when it is at the top, it is necessary for a person to descend downwards according to the order of the wheel. The life force “runs and returns” (Ezekiel 1:14) and even though there is a time when a person is in the aspect of “smallness,” nevertheless, there is the aspect of the “perfect believers of Israel” which is the aspect of “greatness.” In the unity of their connection together, even in the place of “smallness” there is “greatness.”

The Tzadik’s lament remaimmms the lament of Moses before the people and their corruption. How can the Tzadik bear this alone, left alone without the Shekhinah, because of your “burden” and your “load,” namely the burden of the needs of the public upon the Tzadik, for then the prophecy ceases. “How has the faithful city become a harlot?” “I am not able alone to bear this people,” etc. And the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, etc.

VA’ETCHANAN*

About prayer, and the love of God, and the Tzadik who is godlike, i.e. the Tzadik iddd like God.

Moses pleaded with God at that time, saying, ‘My Lord, Lord, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand.” This refers to prayer conjoining heaven and earth, uniting the divine names YHWH and ELOHIM, connecting kingship or Malchut to Binah, dddpeech to thought. Prayer restddd ommm intention and thought, but it iddd the the vessel of speech that draws down the flow of shefa immmto the world. Understanding the spoken words of prayer connects Malchut to Binah, the physical to the spiritual, and sweetens the judgments of Elohim. Moses is the Tzadik who prays that he should merit being divested of the physical side of life so that he might see “the good Land” which is spiritual. We come to that below in the commentary of the TYY to parsha Ki Tavo.

On the Shema and its blessings, the TYY comes to see the connection and resemblance and paths that make possible, on the one hand, the love between God and the human being and, on the other hand, the love between the people of matter and the people of spiritual form, i.e. the Tzadikim. How could there be love between a person, made of matter (חומר קרוץ), and God? After all love does not come to be except between two equal co-entities. What makes possible the love of God is the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah of a person, whose spiritual constitution is nothing less than a part of God. That is their likeness. The love of God begins with the four aspects of action, speech, and thought [1] “when you sit in your house” in the upper, higher world, [2] “when you walk on the road” in this lower world, [3] “when you lie down” in the grave, and [4] “when you rise up” at the resurrection of the dead. The essence or purpose of all the  Torah and commandments and prayer is to cling to God, and to love God, and to become like God or godlike. This is to say that the Tzadik becomes like God by walking in these four ways. Then he straightens out the common people so that they too become like the Tzadik, and then the Tzadik can love them like himself.

From the place of exile, God-Israel-Shabbat are three witnesses that combine to testify to a unique singularity and to the unique unity between Israel and the nations, between common Jews and scholars, and between scholars and scholars. Again, the eye is on the physical exile of Israel and the virtue of peace, but also the subjugation of the people of matter to the people of form. When there are no people in Israel who denigrate each other, namely when the people do not denigrate the scholars and Tzadikim, then they are also blessed with peace from the nations who, no longer provoked by the what we might call the scandal of election, receive their share of blessing from Israel. For the Torah is a mediating vessel between the world and the Holy One, and those who engage in Torah for its own sake unite and make peace above and below, and among the nations as well.

EIKEV*

On emotion, especially fear in relation to this world, the problem of suffering, and love of physical things. “And you shall love the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:5)  “You shall fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:13). Both refer by way of remez to Torah scholars who are the medium between God and ordinary people. Per usual, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is focused on the Tzadikim as a spiritual axis and an object of devotion or cleaving, with a critical eye on his own day and age, i.e. “this generation” in exile.

Nothing, no mental state or affect in the world is separate from God, whether that state be constituted as love, fear, and so on. A person takes all the lower levels of ordinary and mundane fear (e.g. the fear of political authorities, wicked people, and robbers) and  connects them up to their root; and then a person is free, and no mundane fear or terror will fall upon him. Ditto regarding love (e.g. love of eating and drinking, or sexual intercourse). The lower and higher rungs of love and fear include fear and love of Torah scholars, who are the medium through which ordinary people cleave to God. Is this belief in Moses an idol? Does it violate the prohibition against shituf?  No, because whoever believes in Moses, the shepherd of Israel, is as if he believes in the One who spoke and the world came into being. Moses is only the servant of God through whom miracles were performed. The leader of the community needs to straighten the people in material and spiritual matters, not only in action and speech to give rebuke and moral instruction, but also in thought. The Tzadik connects himself and cleaves to God; and then he should connect himself with the people of his generation and to elevate them and to attach them to God.

But what about suffering? Fear, namely the fear of suffering, always precedes love, fear being the opening and gate through which one enters inside to the level of love. “And you shall love the Lord your God.” Elohim refers to the aspect of judgment, to receive it with joy and to connect it to the name of Havayah, who is the soul, through the word “v’ahavta” (and you shall love). The Tzadikim  have inner love and fear of suffering and poverty which are from the side of God’s honor and greatness; and so there is no break whatsoever in this love and fear even when the attribute of judgment afflicts a person with suffering.

Looking past the problem of suffering, the intense focus of intentional action or practice and the power of prayer is ultimately for the benefit of the Shechinah: to clarify the holy sparks that have entered into the shells and have become foreign thoughts (e.g. relating to sex, incest, idolatry, and even murder). A person should therefore know that prayer is not for his own need but for a higher need, the benefit of the Shekhinah. The ethos is selfless, but not overly. Against excessive humility, we learn from the Baal Shem Tov that most of a person’s humility can distance a person from the service of God, for from his lowness one does not believe that a person could cause divine abundance (shefa) to all the worlds through his own prayer and Torah, that even the angels are sustained by his own Torah and prayer. If he believed in this power, how much would he serve God with joy and with fear from the fullness of everything, and he would be careful with every letter and movement and word.

A person should therefore know that he is a ladder set on the earth, the top of which reaches heaven. Each and all of his movements and speech and walking and business make an active impression (roshem) higher and higher.  This is not the case for a person who thinks, “What am I to damage or to fix above and below that all my business should be recorded above?” Because with this, a person who lacks faith remains in the stubbornness of his heart, especially in this generation when the Shekhinah is in exile with no resting place for the sole of Her foot. But immediately when a person understands that each and every one of his deeds in all his ways are for the sake of Heaven, immediately a throne is made for the Shekhinah to rest in him. Today, no person takes to heart to be a help and a support for the Shekhinah in this bitter exile except the few of the few, namely the Tzadikim who become a throne for the Shekhinah in the attribute of kindness.

The fear of God frees a person from the fear of mundane powers. To understand this, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF turns to the rabbinic dictum, “Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven.”  This is to say that fear is a great and precious value. The main thing is in the hands of a person. Do not fear mundane matters, for in order to test a person, God has come so that His fear will be on your faces. “What does the Lord ask of you but to fear the Lord,” so that no outer fear should come upon you, even though they are many. A person has many kinds of fears, thousands and tens of thousands that spread throughout the world from the first level to the last level. But a unique fear, the fear of God, is the root of everything. A person who fears of God knows that all these mundane fears are only garments meant to garb the inner root, the fear of God. And then no terror will come upon a person from all kinds of outer fear that afflict us in the material world.

RE’EH*

Klal Yisrael: More on fear and the freedom from fear, and appearing before God, but now not simply in relation to the individual, but as a universal principle that extends from the purpose of all creation to the klal of all Israel in “this generation.” What keeps ordinary Jews from wanting to hear words of musar in the synagogue in our own day and age? The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF speaks to the need to overcome the material anxiety that is the relentless pursuit of wealth, and overcoming the shame suffered by the  Tzadik, who stands out in the social world as a figure of ridicule. A quick nod is given to the idea of reincarnation as the principle that sorts out the men of form from ordinary Jews who reject the Torah and musar of the Tzadikim. In this way and in  the end and after troubles and suffering and reincarnations, all Israel is holy and will have a share in World to Come.

On the general and binding cosmic principle about fear and the obligation to show one’s face before God at the Temple or synagogue. All males are obligated to appear and see God’s face, a  “showing of faces” in the courtyard to receive holiness from the higher faces. The obligation falls on all Israel,  not just Tzadikim. All are obligated in the commandment of fear from the side of the nature of creation, the aspect of fear that spreads in the physical world in all the creatures which are from the side of garments and shells which are called “debt.” With reference to the binding of Isaac, offerings are the purpose of creation, the complete “man” subduing matter and the Evil Inclination to spiritual form and holiness. “Lamb” (seh) has the numerical value of “inclination” (yetzer), meaning that a person should rule over their Inclination, like the patriarchs who ruled over their Inclination. In this binary cosmos, there are the faithful of Israel and the masses. The one [male] who only corrected himself and not his neighbor [the masses; female] is still only “half a body,” namely a soul without a body. The fear of God “upon your faces” is the root of all types of fear, and in this you will be saved from the other types of fear which are only a garment in relation to the fear of God.

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF now rebukes ordinary Jews who do not hear and listen, and do not accept or find time for Torah and musar, and therefore do not fear God, whether a person is himself settled in a city, or is itinerant, travelling from city to city. One group among the people goes to the synagogue at the time the wise man preaches Torah and morality; because they do so out of shame and other flawed reasons, the heart does not hear; these people are called a deaf-mute. A second group goes to hear with all their heart, but after they leave the door of the synagogue, the Evil Inclination comes and says, “It is enough for you to hear and not to do now that you are busy with your business,” These ones who hear and do not do are imbeciles (Chagigah 4a). A third group are those never enter the synagogue at all to hear a preacher of Torah, rebuke and musar.

Deeply invested in matters relating to wealth and money, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF goes into great detail in this parsha about  tithes and charity, and the merit by which people become rich, on the one hand, and the Tzadik, on the other hand, the intention of whose prayer is not for his own benefit, but only for the benefit of the Shechinah. But if the Tzadik draws shefa and blessing for all the world, why then do  people distance themselves from the Torah and musar of the Tzadikim? One reason: a person distances himself from the Torah of God because those who cling to these ways are never free from suffering. A related reason: a person avoids the sages because he is afraid he will lose wealth, afraid that he will be scorned in the eyes of everyone; because those who serve God are lowly and despised and serve as a social laughingstock. A final reason is that people lack strength in Torah and prayer and are unable  to break and nullify the shell of foreign thoughts. The TYY concludes by encouraging patience, while being critical of money  and its  insatiable pursuit which puts a person always on the move. In contrast, passion for Torah saves one from the Evil Inclination. If a righteous person has it good in this world, it is due to reincarnation, that he was a righteous person the son of a righteous person, whereas the wicked are reincarnated back into world until they engage Torah with joy.

SHOFTIM*

In the previous parsha, ordinary Jews bore the brunt of the critical eye. In this parsha, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF turns to communal politics, spiritual leadership and authority, the virtue of humility, and social conflict pertaining to the way of the Tzadik in society vis-à-vis the masses and rabbinic opponents. The humility of the Israelite king represents the Tzadikim, who judge the people with gentleness. These are Elul thoughts concerning the repair of sins. In the pit of this world of snakes and scorpions, scoffers and slander, the city under the power of the Evil Inclination. From this world, the ladder of Torah connects the Tzadik to the 4-letter name of God which is before him always (like an icon).

Who bears the onus? Regarding judges and officers, communal leadership, and the humility of Israelite leaders. If you see a generation upon which many troubles come (presumably this being this generation of the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF), then go out and examine the judges of Israel.  Onus here is put on religious leadership. In this way, the dictum, “I wish they had forsaken Me” is understood, meaning that they should not trust in God to do evil deeds and rely on God to help them. As for the type of wicked person who does not believe there is an Eye that sees. Even if he is punished “measure for measure,” he will say it is a coincidence, for he does not believe there is judgment for the punishment of the wicked, and from now on, there is no benefit for him in being punished “measure for measure.” The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is alert, indeed, to the wiles of the Evil Inclination in its war against “the city.”

Extolled is the humility of Israelite kings who rule with gentleness. But regarding the king of Israel or spiritual leader who humbles and abases himself, the TYY again warns that a person should not abase and despise the Tzadik yourself lest his words go unheard. God commandsing “you shall surely set” is a double command, so that God’s fear will be upon you. This relates to the nexus between the world, the year, and the soul. Just as there is a head or primary principle in the year, so there is a head in the soul, and just as there is a head in a specific person, so there is a head of the community or country, i.e. in the social world. And this is what it says, “Every year,” meaning the head of the year, who is the leader and king, makes himself poor in its beginning, i.e. in this world, and becomes rich in the end, i.e. in the World to Come.

But there is also a temporal beginning and end to the corruption of thought in the lifespan of a person. Special for Elul, we find a long discourse on God’s forgiveness and the importance of repenting when a man [sic] is still young. In the beginning of a person’s years, he is prone to the sin of youth because he is constantly thinking bad thoughts and evil musings and engaged in bad speech. Therefore it was made more stringent for young men to repent, which is connected to the shofar blast. “Every year that they do not blow the shofar in its beginning,” meaning in the beginning of the transgression, which is thought, immediately “they are smitten with evil in its end,” even though it is like Shabbat, and this is not so, but “because an accident occurred,” meaning it actually occurred through the duress of sleep that led to a seminal emission which is called “the first of my strength.” “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” What becomes the clarion call to Jewish ethics in liberal/progressive modern Jewish thought here refers to the repair of the specific sin of nocturnal seminal emission (what for the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF would be the wrong type of “flow”).

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF now returns back to the judges at the gate in this discourse on spiritual leadership. “They shall judge the people with righteous judgment” refers to the one who hears and causes others to hear for the sake of Heaven, i.e. for the unification of the Holy One. A person accepts words of musar and rebuke from sages, who themselves are masters of musar who accept musar. “You shall not take a bribe” refers to even the one who receives musar and rebuke should not desire that the rebuker gives him a bribe of words, i.e. flattery and praise. “Justice, justice you shall pursue” in the double form means even if a person is already righteous, nevertheless one should consider oneself as if one is only now beginning to pursue justice. The sacrificial cult hints at the value of rebuke and spiritual leadership. Related to the work of the Tabernacle, a spiritual leader brings people to the altar before the divine Presence. But the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF rebukes proud and arrogant and blemished leaders who cast blame on others, who are right in their own eyes, and who look down on their own brothers and hate those, i.e. the Tzadikim, who serve God. A spiritual leader ascends and connects Kingship (Malchut) to Kindness (Hesed) without self-regard for one’s own wisdom, etc..

Sharp and even strict limits are nevertheless set to the virtue of kindness. Even though a spiritual leader should show kindness to every person to bring them close to the Divine Presence, which is called the altar, nevertheless, a person who has a “blemish” should not be brought close as an offering to the altar. Again, the weight of responsibility is put on the scholars. There are 2 types of people and 2 types of Evil Inclination. The Evil Inclination comes to the simple person in its own simple form, whereas for the Torah scholar, the Evil Inclination assumes the garments of the Good Inclination. The wicked scholar cannot distinguish one garb from the other; is lenient and breaks the fence, causing others to sin with his justifications. While the ordinary person is simply tempted to sin, the arrogant Torah scholar thinks his transgression is a mitzvah and he hates “the rabbis,” here referring to the Tzadikim.

That is why in every city the people should appoint a man to speak words of rebuke and musar, and there should be officers to enforce the words of the judge. If the masses transgress the words of the Sages, the damage is not great, as they have only done evil to themselves; and he knows that he has transgressed a sin for whatever reason, and by removing the reason, he will repent and he will not transgress again since now there is no reason to transgress. This is not the case for the Torah scholar who argues to overturn the words of the Sages which they forbade, and he says that here it is permitted for some reason he has. In that case, he is close to breaking the fence of the Torah. These are the  wicked “judges of Israel,” i.e.  “Jewish judges” (שידין יהודאין ) like Doeg and Ahithophel who were slanderers. The head of the generation or judge who is not a master of musar will damage himself and also others. In contrast, a true spiritual leader should not have “many horses,” meaning, he should not profane himself by associating with common people, lest he be despised. And he shall not have many wives,” relating to impure things of the body.

“When you go out to war, etc.” the men of war should not be in awe or fear of their enemies. The intention of thought and speech is to unify matter and form. One should first attach himself in thought, which is called delight and will, to the inner part of the Torah, which is called the soul. There he attaches his soul, and then he can later influence others, who are the ‘masters of matter and garment,’ through the garments of the Torah, which are called ‘His Torah.’ And this is what is said, “and in His Torah he meditates day and night,” because the speech of the mouth should be with the intention of the heart to unite the matter and the garment with the form. This lies at the heart of the war of Amalek, which is the Evil Inclination, that Amalek does not allow the masters of the material garment to connect with the masters of spiritual form. “The crown of our head has fallen” until the throne is complete to restore the crown to its former glory when Elijah comes and turns the heart of the fathers” – the masters of the form, “with the children” – the masters of the garment and matter (Malachi 3:24).  

On the difference between the 2 types of scholars. When Torah scholars are righteous and act with righteousness and uprightness, then the name of Heaven is loved through them, as the masses of the people also connect with them, which is the aspect of peace connecting and unifying the two aspects of matter and form. These are the Tzadikim. There are also Torah scholars who hate the rabbis or Tzadikim. They are from the part of the “other side” or –the Evil Inclination. This is the sign with which a person will know whether to cling to him: if a scholar speaks in praise of people or in their dispraise. Does the scholar love righteousness, to make people righteous or the opposite? Does he love rebuke, reproving the wicked not to flatter them? In this, the true sages also influence the common people and bring to them the abundance of the Torah which is called “your rains in their season,” corresponding to the spiritual and inner aspect of Torah.

Against this world and society, The Tzadik’s starting point is in ascetic solitude alone with the iconic four-letter name of God before his face, and also when he walks among people. The Tzadik knows that he needs to go out from the book and into the city for his own sustenance or business or for other things. But “sin crouches at the entrance” of the city which is an empty pit without the waters of Torah full of snakes and scorpions, slander and idle talk, and looking at women. Even when the ladder of Torah is set on the ground at the lowest level of the earth among people who are scoffers and gossipers and the like, nevertheless its top and its thought reaches the heavens, to cling his thought to his Maker, that the name of God is before his face always.  Before he goes down into the pit he should bring this ladder, so that when he goes down he can get out of the pit. Outside the house of study and in the city,  he should not trust in his Torah or think that the Evil Inclination will not come to him again. “Hear, O Israel” reflects the unification that is the secret of the four letters of the name of God that shine before his eyes, so  there is no need to worry about that which is external. For this, Moses needed to warn “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,” that he should give ear to the inner part of musar which belongs to the heavens which is the soul, and not to the garment.

KI TIZEI*

Picking up from the previous parsha, the Tzadik goes to war with society against ordinary Jews and also against traditional learners of Torah. When the Tzadik leaves the holy camp, there is the danger of transgression, which the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF now seeks to mitigate. The attention to gender is an interpretive key to the understanding of transgression in the very long and involved commentary to this parsha. By the end of the parsha, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF will establish a modus vivendi between the Tzadikim, who live by their faith, and the masses, who are like fledglings without understanding. A tense peace is established with Amalek, the Evil Inclination, or at least accommodation.

“When you go out to war.” The Holy One, blessed be He, desired to grant merit to Israel; therefore, He gave them abundant Torah and commandments–the crown of Torah—so that the desire for the love of Torah would enter their hearts. The Tzadik goes to war against the people of the city, whether in the case of one person who is called a “small city and few men are in it” or in the social generality of an actual city. Will these ordinary Jews respond with kindness and peace? Will they serve the Tzadik? Will they will be a ladder for you to ascend the rungs of perfection through them in Torah and commandments, or will they reject Torah and mitzvot and musar, in which case you withhold Torah and musar from them, which is like death? Are they careful about forbidden foods and holding strictly to the most exacting rules of ritual slaughter? When the Tzadikim go out to war against their enemies, they are alone and the enemies are many. But “do not fear and do not be dismayed.” The 3 enemies counted by the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF are the seventy nations against the single nation of Israel, the masses of the common people against the Torah scholars, and the traditional learners who are the enemies of the faithful ones of Israel. And there are 2 types of Israel: the people of matter and the people of the form.

In this war with the Evil Inclination and the people of the city, when you see among the captives “a beautiful woman” or “the wife of beautiful form,”  the Torah is here referring not to actual women. The reference is to traditional Torah learners who do evil and adorn themselves with Torah like the “beautiful woman” so that people will enjoy the form of their wisdom. Although God has given these scholars into the hand of the Tzadikim, the “wife of the beautiful form” remains in captivity with the Evil Inclination. The Tzadik desires to bring them close into holiness for the service of God. First “she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from upon her,” which are the adornments of Torah and commandments. Then ” she shall cry for her father and her mother for a full month,” referring to foreign thoughts and intentions. In this, the Tzadik seeks to unite their thoughts and their hearts, “father and mother,” for the sake of heaven. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF returns to the parable of a man who had two wives, one of beautiful form and a merchant, the second modest with many children. The modest captive wife is the Torah. The merchant wife is called “Canaanite,” who is like a maidservant. It is fitting to establish one’s main dwelling with the modest wife who is Torah, while the beautiful merchant wife he should only use for his livelihood in the measure of sufficiency, and this is the way of the Torah.

The way of Torah employs stratagems in the war against the people of matter who populate the city and against the Evil Inclination. Still on the topic of gender,  the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF explains that “man” refers to the people of the form, and “woman” to the people of the matter whose strength has weakened like a female. From the parsha, we learn that a woman should not wear the attire of a man, meaning that one who is only in the form of a woman, who is material, should not wear the measure of a man, which is piety. The same is true in reverse. “A man shall not wear a woman’s garment,” meaning that a scholar should not wear the measure of the people of the matter. But now, in an interesting twist, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF turns to the figure of Yael in the book of Judges who with her “left hand”  killed Sisera with the peg of a tent. Sometimes the Tzadik has to leave the camp and commit a transgression. For her part, Yael was concerned that her action, in fact, might be the counsel of the Evil Inclination, whereas the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF concludes from her example that a great principle (a “firmly fixed tent peg”) against the Evil Inclination is that if a person does not benefit from the transgression and is in fact ashamed of the transgression, then the transgression itself is permissible in the war against the Evil Inclination in the city outside the camp of holiness.

With stratagems in this war against the city outside the gates of holiness, the performance of commandments and prayer are like a parapet, or a garment in the upper Garden of Eden, which is your roof. However, the Tzadik whose deeds are many, everyone hates him, either because he rebukes the people when he sees that they are not acting according to the law, and he is jealous for God; or since he himself does more than what is required, he indicates as if all other people who do not do so are like the wicked, and therefore they are jealous of him. “The righteous shall live by his faithfulness” and walking humbly and in solitude, remembering that this world is only a vestibule before the World to Come and that he will give an account for his way In the world. Even though Torah assumes garments of adornment and gold outside in the world, nevertheless the Tzadik should not wear them for his own pleasure but to fulfill the King’s decree. This is permissible, a stratagem. From the outside he performs the customs of royalty, while on the inside the Tzadik must distance himself from honor and pride, which is the root of all sin and transgression. Again alluding to the captive woman in the laws of war, it should seem as if one stands alone before God, and you “forget your people and your father’s house,” since one’s intention is only for God and not to boast before people.

Still on the topic of gender, now comes what seems to be a shift in attention away from the war and stratagems against the Evil Inclination to thematize the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, and the principle of self-rebuke. From the law of the bird’s nest, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF learns that the ultimate purpose of wisdom is to turn matter into form, both individually and collectively. The bird nest is a garment or physical body for the bird, i.e. the spiritual personhood composed of nefesh, ruach, neshamah. The eggs in this material nest refer to people who merit animal soul (nefesh) though the “action” of practical commandments, while the ones who merit the spirit (ruach) through the “formation” of speech are the fledglings. The fledglings can speak Torah and prayer, but their eyes have not been opened to merit the light of Torah. That is why they need their mother, the mother bird who hovers over them, the secret of understanding, the sephira of Binah. “Don’t take the mother from the nest” means that you should not separate the one with understanding, called mother, from the fledglings. One must not ascend to higher rungs, and leave the fledglings behind; a person with wisdom should not adorn only himself and not others. The mother must sit on the fledglings and the eggs, so that they become one bundle, like the lulav. It may be the case that the Tzadik cannot get close to the fledglings, namely to the people, because of some kind of defect on their part. The defect might, in fact, compel the Tzadik to distance himself and “send away the mother.”  But in truth, “the children you [should] take for yourself,” seeking their defect in yourself and in those greater than you, who are called the “mother of Israel.” The children should be an example for you, and you will repent for yourself and for them “so that it will be well with you and you will lengthen your days.”

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF has now moved the discourse from Elul thoughts and spiritual war to repentance, the commandment to hear the sound of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. God hears the sound of the shofar and gives ear to the teruah, and there is none like God in the way of the world, a king of flesh and blood who has two servants.” The one type of servant follows the pleasures of this world, “slaughtering cattle and sheep,” etc. The second type is always in awe of the word of God. When the first one who is called “trumpets” repents, he is now called a teruah. This is not the case with the shofar, which is the aspect of a Tzadik. In search of a modus-vivendi, a Tzadik should Ignore the sin of your brother, but once he sees it he must bring the wicked to repentance –unless he hates you. “You shall not see your brother’s ox straying,” meaning, it is better that you do not see the ox, which is your brother, straying from the path of life to a matter of transgression, and then “you ignore them,” for you are permitted to ignore them. This is not the case after you see them, for then “you shall surely return them to your brother.” “And if your brother is not close to you,”
 meaning that he does not want to get close to you, that he hates you, because of this “you do not know him” and you cannot connect him to you.

Finally, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF makes peace with Amalek, the Evil Inclination, acknowledging that people today in this generation prefer song to musar.  The voice of the cantor is heard and is beautiful, and since he is pleasing to the human spirit, the spirit of the Omnipresent is also pleased with him. When the cantor sings, the people “grow great,” going and growing, and during the sermon of the preacher, the words of Torah melt away like dew. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF relates to the peg on the tool of the warrior who leaves the camp to fight the Evil Inclination. The peg is Torah, It is a force of stabilization when the Tzadik leaves the camp to connect with the mass of ordinary Jews to bring them back into the camp. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF recommends the middle path between extremes of arrogance and humility and humiliation. But in response to one extreme, the Tzadik needs to align to the opposite extreme, assume the bad traits of the masses in order to return them to their Father. This deviation brings one to a higher rung. If it happened to the head of the generation that he went out outside the camp and committed some unintentional sin, it is because there are people who “will not come into the camp.” Therefore, this unintentional sin happened to him to connect with them and elevate them. Like Abram who went down to Egypt, the external forces, the Tzadik needs great alacrity so that he will not remain there. He must stick a peg in a reliable place to tie himself to it in order to “turn and cover [his] waste” referring to the intention of “entering and exiting.”

And finally, on the difference between ultimate peace and penultimate peace. In the end, Amalek or the Evil Inclination is necessary for the existence of the world until the future redemption when, in the future, the Evil Inclination will be nullified from the world. At that time “when you are in the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance to possess like an inheritance which has no end. In the future when there is no end, then “you shall wipe out the remembrance of Amalek,” but only “a man, a male, and not a female.” In the future, the Evil Inclination will be nullified even more, to kill the male and castrate the female, to be used only for the sake of heaven. And Aaron, who is a high priest below, causes the priest above, who is the Holy One, blessed be He,  to slaughter the Evil Inclination above, And perhaps you will ask why should the Evil Inclination be punished since like, in the parable of the harlot, he does God’s will. The answer to this challenge is that she acted for her own pleasure, and caused harm to the man, who needs a burnt offering to atone for the thought of the heart.

KI TAVO*

The commentary to the previous parsha focused on the stratagems and violence of spiritual war, including material on sexual transgression, the Evil Inclination, and physical pleasure. The commentary to Ki Tavo picks up on the notion that this world is a place of suffering and then turns to the  “first fruits” brought to God in the Land of Israel –not the physical Land, but the World to Come. The Tzadikim are ashamed to rejoice in this world. At the same time, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF continues in the effort to establish a modus-vivendi in this world with ordinary Jews, the masters of matter, presumably wealthy people, and the pleasure of the body as commanded by Torah on Sabbaths, festivals, and weddings when the people rejoice, and the Tzadik along with them.

The essence of the wicked and the Tzadik are two opposites in relation to this world and the World to Come. The custom of the wicked in this world is feasting and joy, “slaying oxen and slaughtering sheep.” They cling to the Evil Inclination and say, “What do we have in the World to Come?” They say there are many wicked in the land, let’s therefore do as is the way of all the land (דרך כל הארץ). But the Tzadik does not allow joy in his heart in this world, for he is always busy with the war of the Evil Inclination, day and night. The way of the Evil Inclination overcomes a person through eating and drinking; the way of the Torah is bread, salt, and water, a life of suffering, etc. For the Tzadik, joy is departing from this world, from the suffering of this world, from the world of falsehood, etc. 

Rung on top of rung, there are multiple first fruits corresponding to the spiritual constitution of the human person and life in the World to Come. [1] “The first of the fruit of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God,” includes everything, and from this there is a moral rebuke about the emission of semen in youth, and the repair for a nocturnal emission. In all the senses of a person, the first shall be for God. Whether in speech, daily action (the first of the fruit of man should be that he goes to the synagogue before he engages in his business), and in the other senses of a person, in sight, in hearing, in walking, and in touch, Also in eating and drinking. [2] There are also “additional first fruits,” meaning that the tzadik must go from level to level. [3] Then there is the “adorning of the first fruits,” as our Sages said (Berachot 17a), “And their crowns on their heads,” meaning that the crowns are made from the very thing with which they sanctified their thoughts. For the root of everything is “first fruits” – that he acted in his prime, in his youth, and did not become wicked through the Evil Inclination, and then he can sanctify himself and ascend in levels. These three rungs of first fruits, additional first fruits, and the adorning of the first fruits correspond to the three rungs of a person’s spiritual matrix: nefesh (soul), ruach (spirit), and neshamah (higher soul). If he merits more, which are “additional first fruits” from his deeds, he merits a ruach. If he merits even more, he merits a neshamah. Corresponding to this, a person has in the World to Come the dwelling place of the nefesh in the Lower Garden of Eden, and the dwelling place of the ruach in the Upper Garden of Eden, and the dwelling place of the neshamah under the Throne of Glory.

The coming into Land hints to the World to Come. In this world you had no joy, for you were called “going” and becoming distant from God because of the war of the Evil Inclination that disturbs you. Against the Evil Inclination are garments made from the intentions and thoughts of the commandments and the Torah, the purification of thought against stratagems of the Evil Inclination, which itself goes dressed up in the garments of the Good Inclination. A  wise person will manage his words with judgment and be patient both physically and spiritually, and he will pray to God to straighten his path. And then, all of a sudden “about midnight,” when the matter is divided for him into two sides, whether to do this or that, “then I will go out in the midst of Egypt” to bring you out of all straits, from distress to relief.  The Torah commands giving pleasure to the body on Shabbat and festivals as a stratagem to give pleasure to the body for the sake of the soul. “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalms 19:9).

About joy and physical pleasure in this world, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF remains extremely cautious and offers this stratagem. The Torah commanded to give pleasure to the body on Shabbat and holidays. When ordinary Jews rejoice in the joy of the body, as at a wedding when there are more ordinary Jews than scholars, then the soul has time to rejoice in the joy of clinging to the King. The people of the body and matter should cling to the Tzadikim, who are themselves ashamed to rejoice. Letting them rejoice at a wedding or the like makes a place for the people of form to rejoice. It is indeed necessary to make the “people of matter” happy, whether with food and drink or with kinds of music, so that there will be a place for the “people of form” to rejoice in clinging to God. For their part, “the wicked in their lives are called dead.” They are only matter without form, like a body without a soul. But as long as they have a clinging with the Tzadikim who are among them, then there is life for the body through the soul.  As it is written in tractate Beitzah (15b) regarding Yom Tov meals and expenditures for Shabbat and festivals, “Borrow from Me and sanctify, etc. .” As long as the Tzadik knows that he will rejoice in clinging to God with the sanctity of the day, then he is obligated to get drunk. Which is not the case when he does not know how to distinguish with physical eyes if his joy is in holiness or not. Then “to sit and do nothing” is preferable. Always skeptical,  a person must have eyes of understanding, to scrutinize in his joy if it is for the sake of heaven or if it is the cunning Evil Inclination dressed up in the garment of the Good Inclination.

NITZAVIM*

From the hard-won place of sanctification and pleasure and joy that concludes the previous parsha, the people in this parsha join together with the Tzadikim in one unity, and now the people have a standing before God, unafraid of the terrible judgments, and confident on this day of collective judgment that dominates the theology of reward and punishment in this section of the Bible.

 “You are all standing this day, all of you, before the Lord your God: your heads, your tribes, and so forth, every man of Israel.”  Israel heard ninety-eight curses, and they said, “Who can withstand these?” Moses began to appease them: “Have you not angered Him, may He be blessed, many times, and He did not make an end of you, and you are standing before Him.” About this they said, “Who can withstand these?” For this reason, Moses appeased them. “You are all standing,” meaning, as the Rambam wrote (Laws of Repentance 3:1), that there is a collective judgment (not individual judgment). With a majority of the Tzadikim, the entire people will be found righteous in the judgment.

From this we know that the Tzadikim are not held accountable for the wicked. Since today, Rosh Hashanah, is the collective judgment, in this you have a standing before God to establish yourselves, that you are all judged together in one unity, whereas when there is separation, and each one says, “I shall have peace,” then “the Lord shall separate him for evil.” Even though they are wicked and are evil to Heaven, nevertheless, if they are good in their association with the Tzadikim, so that there is peace among them, from this it follows that their judgment will also be joined together with the Tzadikim, and they are saved by the majority of the righteous.  And with this, “You are standing this day” will be understood, that you will have a standing when you are standing before God, because the eyes of God behold what is just, and not the transgression.

VA’YEILECH*

The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF continues from the last parsha about divine judgment, turning to the sound of the shofar awakening the people. In the spirit of self-rebuke, do not speak ill of the people Israel. Onus belongs to the princes and spiritual leaders. To them, the Tzadik speaks harshly in the form of a hard outer shell. But God takes pleasure in the sound of the shofar which confuses the Satan.

One who wishes to open his mouth in rebuke and musar must fear that he will speak ill of Israel, and must not complain about this generation, because he himself is the cause. Insead of casting sin upon others and excluding oneself from the general group, one should include himself with them, like Moses did. Moses “spoke these words,” which are harsh, to the generality of the Tzadikim. “And he said to them,” to the important people of the generation he spoke harshly, but not so to the common people. Torah scholars today in this generation hold out their hands to bring the people back but they are opposed by the princes. This one pulls away with his hand to return them to repentance toward holiness, but the shells also pull away with their hand. The one who rebukes raises his voice like a shofar with words of musar that settle upon the heart. Shevarim (שברים) break the person’s heart. Clinging to God is called teruah (תרועה), as it is written (Numbers 23:21), “And the sound of the King is in him” (וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ). The main thing is that the tekiah (תקיעה), which is to awaken him with moral instruction to elevate him gradually, little by little, to drive out the Evil Inclination.

The sound of the shofar and musar awaken the lower man from slumber, causing the upper sound of the shofar to awaken the upper man from slumber. The Satan is indeed confused even if only one person repents. Through the sound of the Shofar of this lower world, the upper sound of the Shofar of the World to Come is awakened. So how can the wicked person who walked all his days in the stubbornness of his heart be accepted when he repents later? Because of the pain that the Satan has when this person repents, God has pleasure. “Happy is the people who know the teruah sound.” Through the lower Shofar sound being awakened to repentance, it is accepted and the sound is connected to the upper Shofar in the secret of “Who is this coming up” (Song of Songs 8:5), and the Satan is confused.

HA’AZINU*

The penultimate and even happy or victorious conclusion of the entire TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF is constellated in this parsha –the mercy of God, happy the people they are all righteous, and God the Rock whose judgment is perfect. We are now firmly back in this world.

“Hear ye, O heavens” hints to the Torah scholars, “and let the earth hear,” to the common people The Torah scholars are “people of soul” who are close to the heavens. The primary concern is to draw the heart, both of Torah scholars and of the common people. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF stands against the tradition of pilpul in the stdy of talmud Torah, which relates purely to earthly matters.  Not only is there no benefit to God, as it is only to show one’s sharpness before the Torah scholars alone, but the common people also are not inclined to hear and understand the words of his mouth, for they don’t know enough to understand sharp pilpul. In good years of Mercy, to be sure, the Tzadik needs to flatter the Torah scholars and speak pilpul first, so that afterward they will also hear musar; and through them, the common people will also incline their ear and hear. When the years are not good, due to Judgment, then even the traditional scholars, of their own accord, say, “Give ye greatness to our God,” wanting to hear moral rebuke, which is called “greatness,” and then pilpul is entirely unnecessary.

On standing confident before judgment, a person should act always for the sake of Heaven in prayer, study of Torah, and deeds of kindness. “Happy are you, O land, when your king is a free man,” whose intention is for the sake of Heaven and not to receive reward. “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,” who acts in order to receive reward, which is Metatron, who is called “child.” Then there is judgment and justice and the perfection of  God and the Tzadikim inherit the Land and secure sustenance for the majority of the people. And then, “your people are all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever.” Prayer and study of Torah and deeds of kindness are only for the sake of Heaven, alone before God. One imagines in thought that one is alone standing before God in prayer, and there is no man with him, and thus his words are correct. And the same applies to the occupation with Torah: that he should learn only before Him, blessed be He. And the same applies to when he gives charity. He should intend it only before God and not to show off before others.

“The Rock, His work is perfect” created the world with wicked and righteous people, and the majority are wicked and they are lost. Does it enter your mind that God’s ways are not judgment? But he stops before the line of strict justice (lifnim mishurat ha-din). There is general judgment and there is individual judgment. The individual judgment secures the Tzadik from the general judgment against the majority of the people and then from there secures sustenance for the majority of the people. God includes them all as one, so that with the Tzadikim all will be declared innocent so that the Land may be established,” meaning sustenance for the Land, which are the rest of the people, so that with the Tzadik, all will be declared innocent in the judgment.

V’ZOT HA’BRACHA*

With comments on Sukkot, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF concludes the entire commentary on the way of blessing and the secret of Da’at in this world, not the World to Come. “And this is the blessing” of “Moses, the man of God.” The Tzadik secludes himself with God to receive the flow of the blessing for himself, and afterward to cause the flow to the children of Israel. The Tzadik is ascetic, an angel of God in the world from whom every person should connect and learn Da’at and the virtue of humility.

The secret of Da’at is Moses, and his generation was the generation of knowledge (dor De’ah). The Tzadik is a chariot, a channel of blessing to receive the divine flow and then to cause the flow into the world. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF refers to the taking of the lulav; raising all the four species and then lower them, to take away and to bring back, raising and lowering. The six cardinal directions first receive the flow for themselves from Above, which is the root of the kindnesses, and afterward they can cause the flow downward, etc. This is also the intention in all the blessings: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe.” The sage scholar is the channel to draw the flow down into the worlds through him. “Noah walked with God (et Ha’Elohim),” and the Sages expounded, etc., and he receives the flow for himself from Above, which is the raising in the Lulav upward, and afterward the lowering downward that channels the flow to others, and he deals with the affairs and needs of the public, or the sustenance of his own wife and children.

The work of the Tzadik requires seclusion from the demands of the public. The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF refers back to the advice given to Moses from Jethro. The Shechinah is not with you, and the reason for this is that “all the people stand before you from morning until evening,” and due to the distractions placed upon you all day to deal with public needs, lest – God forbid – your prophecy cease, that the Shechinah is not with you and you remain “alone.” Da’at extend to the heads of the people, the leaders of the generation for the sake of Heaven, or the city rabbis who need to deal with public needs so that the Tzadik can seclude himself. Along the same vein, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF explains that the ladder that Jacob saw set upon the earth, with the angels of God ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). It should have said descending first. But according to the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF the person who is an emissary in this world to perform God’s mission is an “angel of God,” and he must seclude himself every day so that he first receives the flow for himself from Above, and this is what he said: “ascending” and afterward “descending,”

About the tension between Torah and the needs of practical life, the TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF hesitates, pointing to the intention of Jacob who first married Leah and then Rachel. And this is what is said in the Mishnah: “A person may seclude himself with his mother” (m. Kiddushin 4:12)  who is the Torah and the Shechinah first, and afterward with his daughter who is his wife, as it is said: “And she became a home for him” (Megillah 13b). Leah is called his mother relative to Rachel. And perhaps this is the intention of the verse (Genesis 20:11): “And Abraham said: ‘For I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will slay me because of my wife.” Meaning that the “fear of God,” which is the first wife, is not in this place; here there is only the second wife, which is the distraction of sustenance, and this is what Abraham said: “and they will slay me because of my wife,” for the sake of sustenance.

What of the way of the Tzadik in the world when it is not always possible to observe mitzvot? The TOLDOT YA’AKOV YOSEF understands  that Torah is a complete whole contained in even a single light mitzvah; observe one, grasp the whole, kick one, and forfeit the whole. This explains a dispute of Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish: one master said one thing – that when one fulfills one statute and desires to fulfill more but did not have the opportunity, one is enough to save him from Gehinnom. And the other master said the opposite, that “And she has enlarged her desire without limit” is when one kicks one statute. “Happy is the man who has not walked, etc., but his desire is in the Torah of the Lord.” At least what he could not fulfill and study, and what he can study of His Torah, he meditates on day and night. If you can’t sit in a succah  because it is too hot and you are suffering, there is at least the lulav, which is a separate and light commandment, even though they are related to each other. “Do not be overly righteous, etc., and do not be overly wicked.” Don’t be a great Tzadik who kicks everything if for some reason it is impossible to perform a particular mitzva. For “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it” (Avot 2:16), “And do not be overly wicked,” because one who kicks one commandment becomes overly wicked in the entire Torah. Rather “grasp this,” the commandment that comes into your hand on the condition that also from “that” which will come into your hand afterward, you will not kick it, but “do not withhold your hand” from it either. Then “he who fears God will come forth with them all,” as if he fulfilled the entire Torah and all the commandments.  

The final word of the entire TYY is blessing, attachment to the sages who manifest Da’at, and the virtue of humility, “And this is the blessing” refers to the 4 species of lulav which comprise one bundle and correspond to the four letters of the divine Name. When they are one bundle, then the camp called Lulav, which is the secret of Da’at, draws the flow of the blessing to the whole bundle together. But one who despises a sage and separates from him, for this person “there is no remedy for his wound” (Shabbat 119b), because one who kicks one statute, nothing remains in his hand, so too one who kicks the category of the people called Da’at (Knowledge). And with this, one can understand: “And this is the blessing,” because the Kingship (Malkhut) which is called agud (bundle) and is called zot (this), draws the flow of the blessing from the aspect of Moses, the secret of Da’at, the “man of God (Ish Ha’Elohim),” the husband of the Matronita (Shechinah). This is the secret of “And Adam knew Eve his wife,” and from there to the children of Israel when they are in one bundle, and may God atone. “And they are cast down at your feet, he shall bear your words. Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob”. (Eruvin 55a): “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12), “Not with the arrogant,” etc. And also, “From the wilderness, a gift” (Numbers 21:18), “From one who makes himself like a wilderness,” etc. (Eruvin 54b- 55a). And with this, one can understand: “And they are cast down at your feet,” that whoever’s spirit is volunteered for your feet (humility), “he shall bear your words,” which is the Torah And this is what he said: “For Moses commanded us the Torah,” who was very humble, therefore “an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob,” one who makes himself a heel (eikev), and this is clear.