87. Shabbat Shekalim

I heard on Adar 26, March 7, 1948

On Shabbat Shekalim [name of a weekly portion], when he came in for the Kiddush¹ … he said, “There was a custom among the Admorim [rabbis, heads of congregations] in Poland, that all the rich men would come to their rabbis on Shabbat [of the portion of] Shekalim to receive Shekalim [coins] from their rabbis.”

He said that it implies that there cannot be obliteration of Amalek without Shekalim. This is so because before one receives Shekalim, there is still no Klipa [shell] of Amalek. Rather, when taking Shekalim, the great Klipa called “Amalek” comes, and the work of obliterating Amalek begins. However, prior to that, he has nothing to erase.

And he added an explanation to it, concerning what the Sayer of Kuznitz said about what is said in the closing prayer: “You have separated man from the beginning and You will recognize him to stand before You.” The sayer asked about it: “How is it possible to stand without a Rosh [head/beginning]? It means that he separated the Rosh from the man, and how can such a thing be?” The explanation is, “When you count the heads of the children of Israel,” by which we extend the discernment of Rosh. If we give the half Shekel, through it we are awarded the Rosh.

And he later asked … “Why does he prepare for the Kiddush more drinking than eating? This is not the right order, since the order should be more eating than drinking, as drinking comes only to complement the eating, by way of ‘And you shall eat and be satisfied, and bless.’ However, it is not so when drinking is more than eating.” And he interpreted that eating implies Hassadim [mercy] and drinking implies Hochma [wisdom].

And he said further, that the Shabbat prior to the month of Adar contains the whole of the month of Adar. Hence, “when Adar enters, there is much joy.” And he said that there is a difference between a Shabbat and a good day. Shabbat is called “love,” and a good day is called “joy.” The difference between joy and love is that love is an essence, and joy is only a result, born from some reason. The reason is the essence, and the result is only a progeny of the essence. Hence, Shabbat is called “love and good will,” and a good day is called “joy and merriment.”

He also explained concerning what Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai replied to his wife, that I was like a minister before the King, and he, Rabbi Hanina Ben Dosa, like a slave before the King; this is why he could pray. It seems as though it should have been the opposite—that the minister would have more strength to induce his opinion on the King, and not the slave.

However, a “minister” is one who has already been awarded private Providence. In that state, he sees no room for prayer since everything is good. But a slave is one who is at the degree of reward and punishment, and then he has room to pray since he sees he has more to correct.

And he added an explanation from an article that is presented (Baba Metzia 85a). It is written there, “A calf was being led to the slaughter. It went, put its head in the rabbi’s lap, and wept. He told it, ‘Go, this is what you were made for.’ They said, ‘Since he has no pity, suffering shall come upon him.’”

“This is what you were made for” means private Providence, that there is nothing to add or take away, since there the sufferings, too, are considered merits. This is why he extended sufferings upon him.

And the Gemara says that he was rid of the suffering through an act, by saying, “and His mercies are over all His works.” One day, the rabbi’s maid was sweeping the house. There were rat young there, and she was sweeping them away. He told her, “Leave them!” It is written, “and His mercies are over all His works.” Since he attained that a prayer, too, remains in eternity, he now had room for prayer. This is why the sufferings departed from him.

At the end of Shabbat, he said an interpretation about what The Zohar says about the verse, “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself.” Who chose whom? And The Zohar replies, “The Lord chose Jacob” (Beresheet 161b). And he said that the question of The Zohar is if the Creator chose Jacob. It follows that Jacob did not do anything, but all was under private Providence. And if Jacob did choose, it means that Jacob is the doer, meaning a matter of reward and punishment.

And he replied that in the beginning, one should begin on the path of reward and punishment. When he completes that phase of reward and punishment, he is rewarded with seeing that everything is under private Providence, that “He alone does and will do all the deeds.” However, before one completes one’s work in reward and punishment it is impossible to understand private Providence.

And on Sunday night, after the lesson, he explained the matter of Jacob’s cunningness, that it is written about Jacob, “Your brother came with guile.” There was certainly no issue of falsehood here. Otherwise, the text would not say about Jacob, the senior among the patriarchs, that he was a liar.

Rather, “guile” means that when one performs an act of wisdom without intending for wisdom, but to elicit some benefit that he needs, and sees that it cannot be obtained directly, hence, he performs an act of wisdom to obtain the thing he needs. This is called “wisdom.”

This is the meaning of the verse, “be guile with reason,” meaning wisdom through reason. This means that the wisdom he wants to obtain is not for the purpose of wisdom, but through something else which forces him to extend wisdom. In other words, he must extend in order to complement the Hassadim.

Because before the Hassadim obtain Hochma, they are discerned as Katnut [smallness/infancy]. However, afterward, when he extends Hochma but still prefers Hassadim to Hochma, it is apparent that the Hassadim are more important than Hochma. This is called GAR de Bina, which means that he uses the Hassadim because of a choice.

This is the meaning of Hochma through Daat, that Hochma appears in the form of VAK in YESHSUT. And in AVI, Hochma appears by improving the Hassadim and remaining in Hassadim. However, although Bina is considered the correction of “desiring mercy,” her choice of Hassadim is not apparent because of Tzimtzum Bet, where there is no Hochma. However, in Gadlut [greatness/adulthood], when Hochma comes, the Hassadim she uses are because of a choice.