And this is the blessing which Moshe blessed the Children of Israel before his death.
The Arizal* taught that the mitzvah of Netilas Lulav has a theurgical effect, raising up our world to the higher realm of Da’as, and then bringing down spiritual energy to the Ze’ir Anpin (the apparatus which connects Hashem’s input to us), and from there to Malchus (our spiritual receptacle), for our benefit.
Our verse may allude to this process. וזאת הברכה, this is the method through which blessing can be drawn down, אשר ברך משה, that which Moshe, who symbolized Da’as, drew down (ברכה is a term of bestowal), איש, to the Ze’ir Anpin, which is symbolized by the term Ish, אלקים, and from there to Malchus, את בני ישראל, finally arriving at the Jewish People.
This process is not only cosmic – it also occurs in the micro in each individual’s private world.
The wife is symbolic of Torah. One source that uses this imagery is the Talmud’s **derivation that a gentile who studies Torah is guilty of quasi-adultery, as the Torah is described as Israel’s betrothed – תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב, Moshe commanded us the Torah, the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov ***, אל תקרי מורשה אלא מאורסה, do not read it as “a heritage” rather “a betrothed.”
How should one engage his Torah-wife so as to build a lasting marriage?
After Eldad and Meidad prophesied, Yehoshua indignantly protested to Moshe, אדוני משה כלאם, My master Moshe – destroy them****! The Talmud interprets this to mean הטל עליהם צרכי ציבור והם כלים מאליהם, Make them responsible for communal needs and they will self-destruct.***** Tosafos to this passage tempers the harshness of this punishment, saying that it refers to the pair’s prophetic capacity, for, as the Sages teach, the Divine Presence, which is critical for prophecy, only rests when one is in a joyous state.****** Those engaged with public works are distinctly unhappy, precluding their potential for prophecy. One can ask, why does Tosafos tamper with the straightforward meaning of this passage? And, as the Maharsha observes, seemingly Yehoshua did not take their prophecy to be authentic (for, otherwise, why would he have spurned Hashem’s word?). What prophetic capacity, then, was there to tamp down on?
The key to this matter would seem to lie in that which I raised above regarding the Lulav. The way to bring blessing into this world is to first lift oneself up and then to bring the bounty back down with him. This is a template for Jewish leadership, rabbis and other officials who are engaged in communal matters. For it is they who serve as conduits of blessing for their flocks. (As the Talmud says about R. Chanina b. Dosa, כל העולם ניזון בשביל חנינא בני, the entire world is nourished on account of My son, Chanina*******. The word בשביל can be read as “through the conduit,” for R. Chanina created the funnel through which blessing reached his generation.) First they must invest time in their own personal connection with Hashem, engaging in seclusion and introspection, thus elevating themselves. Subsequently, when they engage in their communal responsibilities – or, even when a householder engages in procuring a living for his family – he will be all the more successful in bringing spiritual and material success into his efforts.
One source which reflects this idea is Yaakov’s vision of the angels scaling the heavenly ladder. והנה מלאכי אלקים עולים ויורדים בו, And behold: angels of G-d were ascending and descending upon it********. Why up and then down? Man is like an angel, a messenger of Hashem with a mission in this world. In order to accomplish it, he must first ascend, that is, engage daily in his own spirituality; only then can he descend to his material tasks, bringing that spirituality down with him.
This gives us insight into Yisro’s assessment of Moshe’s leadership predicament. He saw that Moshe was preoccupied with the needs of the masses from morning to night. Consequently, מדוע אתה יושב לבדך, why are you sitting alone*********, i.e., bereft of the Shechinah, as you don’t have time to invest in your personal relationship with Hashem. He therefore counselled Moshe to delegate responsibilities to subordinates, freeing up some of his time, thus ויהי אלקים עמך, ********** the Shechinah will now be able to be with you.
Along these lines, when Moshe disappeared into the heavens and was seemingly not returning, the Eruv Rav complained***********, כי זה משה האיש, for this Moshe – the man of his people, the one who was always on top of all communal needs, לא ידענו מה היה לו, we don’t know what has become of him, as he has become a man of seclusion; as such עשה לנו אלהים, make a leader for us, someone who can take the reins in leading the public.
I would add, in a playful spirit, to the analysis of these words: If it was a replacement for Moshe that they were seeking, why didn’t they say עשה לנו משה instead of עשה לנו אלהים? And what was the emergency – didn’t they still have Aharon and the other elders who could fill Moshe’s shoes?
Rather, their complaint was that Moshe was following Hashem’s example too closely. Just as the Generation of the Dispersion complained that “it is not fair that Hashem took the heavens for himself, leaving us the lower realms,”************ i.e., that Hashem had “checked out” from his involvement with mankind and “secluded Himself” above, so too Moshe had abandoned his earthly flock, secluding himself in Heaven. And so, they demanded עשה לנו אלהים, make for us a god who will function as a leader, and this will inspire another Moshe to follow its example and assume the same role.
However, as we wrote above, Torah management cannot function through leaders who are completely consumed with their task; they must also take time for their personal spiritual elevation.
The reason why Tosafos declined to explain והם כלים מאליהם as referring to physical deterioration is because experience shows that those who lead communal affairs do not waste away due to them. To the contrary, many rabbis and other communal figures do quite well, to put it gently – but, let’s not go there. Therefore, Tosafos opted to explain it as spiritual deterioration.
Returning to our theme, perhaps this is the significance of Yaakov first marrying Leah and then Rochel. In kabbalistic symbolism, Leah represents a higher, more elusive spiritual realm than her sister. Thus, first comes one’s elevation to a higher personal level, and then can come’s mission of descent to those under his care. We find a strain of this alluded to in the mishnah: מתייחד אדם עם אמו ועם בתו, a man may seclude himself with his mother or his daughter*************. First one “secludes” himself with his “mother,” representative of the Torah and the Shechinah; then one tends to the needs of his wife (the word בת having the connotation of בית, household**************).
Perhaps there is a hint to this in Avraham’s remark about the populace in Gerar: רק אין יראת אלקים במקום הזה והרגוני על דבר אשתי. *************** With the absence of יראת אלקים, personal spiritual growth, leaving one with but דבר אשתי, the preoccupation with providing for one’s family, והרגוני, that is a situation that can do a person in.
This also seems to be one possible reading of the ultimate mishnah, at the end of Uktzin. לא מצא הקב"ה כלי מחזיק ברכה לישראל אלא השלום, Hashem did not find a more suitable vessel to hold blessing for Israel than peace, שנאמר ה' עוז לעמו יתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום, as it says: Hashem will give strength to His nation, Hashem will bless His nation with peace. **************** Who is this vessel of blessing? The Torah scholar, who funnels blessing into the world in the manner of R. Chanina b. Dosa. In order for him to be מחזיק ברכה, hold the blessing strongly, he needs to fortify himself with his own Torah and contemplation of Hashem. Hence, ה' עוז לעמו יתן, Hashem provides strength to His nation in the form of the powerful scholar, ה' יברך את עמו בשלום, which in turn allows a flow of peace – but only as a result of the scholar engaging in Torah and Hashem, both of whom are referred to as “Peace.” *****************
Hence, our opening verse: וזאת הברכה אשר ברך משה את בני ישראל, Moshe was able to funnel blessing to the Jewish People, through his being איש האלקים, a man personally preoccupied with the Divine.
Perhaps we can take an entirely different approach to this verse by way of a passage in Avodah Zarah******************. At the end of time, the distraught nations of the world will request one last opportunity to fulfill a mitzvah. And Hashem will acquiesce, providing them with the mitzvah of Sukkah. However, the excessive heat will prompt them to abandon it, kicking it on their way out. As the verse says, ננתקה את מוסרותימו ונשליכה ממנו עבותימו, let us snap their cords and cast away from ourselves their ropes*******************. This dereliction will do them in once and for all. But why? queries the gemara, isn’t someone uncomfortable in the Sukkah exempt from it? Indeed, it explains, but that does not justify kicking it.
Now, let’s think about this. The relationship between a mitzvah and reward is not arbitrary, it is causational. How could the nations recoup the bliss of the World to Come with a single good deed? And where is the detail of the kicking hinted at in the verse in question? And why the repetitive second half of the verse?********************
Let us turn to another passage*********************. The verse states, referring to Gehinnom, ופערה פיה לבלי חק, and she opens wide her mouth without measure**********************. According to Reish Lakish, לבלי חק (which can be read literally as: for one lacking a law) means that one who lacks the observance of but a single law is subject to being swallowed up in Gehinnom. R. Yochonon demurs, interpreting it as one who has not even a single law to show for himself. This is rather peculiar, to have two such divergent interpretations of a single verse.
Further on the topic of reward for lone mitzvos, the Rambam famously states that one can earn the World to Come with the proper fulfilment of a single precept.*********************** From where did he glean this counterintuitive concept? Seemingly, the entirety of the mitzvos is every Jew’s responsibility.
The answer would seem to lie in a principle of the Chassid Yavetz************************. The entirety of the Torah is one entity, all of its mitzvos are interconnected. This is the significance of the fulfillment of a single mitzvah. For like one who grasps a large pile through holding but one of its parts, one can connect with the entirety of the Torah through one of its aspects. Conversely, I would add, one who scorns but one of the mitzvos, is deemed to have rejected all of them.
Perhaps, then, there is no debate between R. Yochonon and Reish Lakish; they are pointing to two sides of the same coin. The former takes the verse as referring to one who would like to fulfill more mitzvos, but has only managed to muster one. That alone gives him entry to their totality. The latter, on the other hand, takes it as referring to one who disparages one mitzvah. This disconnects him from them all.
This relationship between desire and fulfillment vis-à-vis mitzvos may stand behind the Rambam’s aforementioned principle. It may also be reflected in the opening verses of Tehillim. אשרי האיש וגו' כי אם בתורת ה' חפצו ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילה, Praiseworthy is the man… rather, in the Torah of Hashem is his desire and in His Torah does he contemplate day and night. בתורת ה' חפצו, he longs to fulfill more of the Torah, ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילה, and for that which does have access to, he maximizes his involvement.
To return to our Sukkah. In light of the above, we can better understand how a single mitzvah could have brought an eleventh-hour reprieve. Now, although, at surface, the mitzvos of Sukkah and Lulav are unrelated, esoterically they are, playing a synergic role in a particular cosmic rectification*************************. It is for this reason that there is a practice to perform the latter within the former. So, in fact, the nations were tested regarding not one mitzvah, but two. And when they failed, they failed at both. Hence, ננתקה את מוסרותימו, referring, as the Maharsha took it, to the cords of the Sukkah walls. This itself would not have been such a washout for the gentiles, for, after all, it was quite hot. However, ונשליכה ממנו עבותימו, referring to the bound four species of the Lulav**************************. To this egregious rejection there was no justification. As Reish Lakish would have it, it was the rejection of a single precept that stood for a rejection of them all. Hence their doom was sealed.
To turn to another timely text, Koheles reads, אל תהי צדיק הרבה וגו' אל תרשע הרבה. טוב אשר תאחז בזה וגם מזה אל תנח את ידך כי ירא אלקים יצא את כלם., Do not be overly righteous… do not be excessively wicked. It is good that you should grasp this while not letting up on that.***************************
What does it is mean to not be “overly righteous?” It precludes those who view personal merit as a zero-sum game – either one is a perfect saint or wicked; mediocre righteousness is worthless. Such an attitude will only lead people to throw in the towel completely, daunted by the seemingly impossible prospect of perfection. The truth is, as Avos puts it, לא עליך המלאכה לגמור, the work is not yours to complete;**************************** all that is expected of us is to do our best.
If one were to adopt this errant belief, he would be led, as the aforementioned gentiles of the future were, to violently reject the mitzvos. To this the verse continues with the warning אל תרשע הרבה. Rather, one’s approach should be טוב אשר תאחז בזה, to do whatever mitzvos that come his way. Of course, one should not be satisfied with just those, וגם מזה אל תנח את ידך, adding new ones as they become feasible. If one takes such a route, כי ירא אלקים יצא את כלם, he will be accredited as if he fulfilled the Torah in its entirety.
To return to our verse. The four species of the Lulav parallel the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, each of which parallels one of that Name’s four permutations. The numerical values of those permutations taken together comes to 232, the equivalent of הברכ"ה, the blessing. The significance of this is that by grouping the four species – which stand for the four social groups of the Jewish People – together it allows the flow of blessing to flow down upon them all. This is the power of pooling spiritual resources – even grasping a small part of the collective connects one with its entirety. Yet, just as rejecting a single mitzvah is akin to a rejection of them all, as we said, the rejection of the talmid chacham collapses one’s connection with the totality of the nation. As the Talmud states, one who disgraces a scholar has no healing for his injury.*****************************
Hence, וזאת, alluding to Malchus, which is also represented by the איגוד, the bond of the Four Species, הברכה, funnels down the bounty, אשר ברך משה, who is Da’as, את בני ישראל, to the unified Jewish People.
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* See Pri Eitz Chayim, Sha’ar haLulav, 2.** Sanhedrin 59a.*** Devarim 33:4.**** Bamidbar 11:28.***** Sanhedrin 17a.****** Pesachim 117a.******* Berachos 17b.******** Bereishis 28:12.********* Shemos 18:14.********** Ibid., 19.*********** Ibid., 32:1.************ Bereishis Rabbah 38:6.************* Kiddushin 4:12.************** See Megillah 13a.*************** Bereishis 20:11.**************** Tehillim 29:11.***************** As per Mishlei 3:17; Shabbos 10b.****************** 2a.******************* Tehillim 2:3.******************** The Maharsha’s suggestion that one part refers to the walls of the Sukkah and the other to the Schach seems off – we know that the essence of the Sukkah is the Schach.********************* Sanhedrin 111b.********************** Yeshayah 5:14.*********************** Commentary to the Mishnah, end of Makkos.************************ Avos 4:2.************************* Suffice it to say that it involves injecting Da’as into Malchus, which has a feminine characterization. Note the parallel between the talmudic description of women as דעתן קלות, impoverished in Da’as, and our passage’s description of Sukkah as a מצוה קלה.************************** The hadassim in particular are described as ענף עץ עבות.*************************** 7:16-19.**************************** 2:16.***************************** Shabbos 119b.