Concerning Hesed [Mercy]

Article No. 4, 1986

It is written in the holy Zohar concerning Hesed [mercy] (Lech Lecha, item 382): “Why was he not called Abraham thus far? We explained that thus far he was not circumcised, and now he has been circumcised. Once he was circumcised he connected with the Hey, which is the Shechina [Divinity], and the Shechina was in him. This is why now he is called Abraham, with a Hey. It is written, ‘These are the generations of the heaven and earth when they were created.’ We learned that He created them with a Hey, and we learned, in Abraham, meaning that BeHibaraam [when they were created] has the letters of Be Avraham [in Abraham]. This means that the world was created for Abraham.

“He asks, ‘What are they saying?’ That is, ‘Why are they disputed in interpreting BeHibaraam?’ He replies, ‘It is Hesed. When he says that BeHibaraam implies Avraham, who is Hesed, and the world, which is the Shechina, was created for Hesed. This is why he says that He created them with a Hey, meaning the Shechina.

“But one does not dispute the other because everything comes down together. That is, if there is Hesed in the world, the Shechina is in the world, as well, and vice versa. Hence, the two meanings—Hesed and Shechina—are one thing, and the world was created for Hesed and for the Shechina. We should understand why he interprets that BeHibaraam means Be Avraham, which is Hesed, meaning that the world was created for Hesed.”

We should understand the matter of Hesed. Is this not something that concerns only what is between man and man? Did the Creator create the upper worlds—the world of the angels, and the seraphim—only so that each one will deal with mercy with one’s friend, so that Reuben will deal with mercy with Shimon? What will the Creator get out of this? Can such a thing be said? Accordingly, we must understand what is Hesed [mercy], as he said that the world was created for Hesed.

It is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. Therefore, we should ask, “Why are there two explanations about the verse, ‘These are the generations of the heaven … when they were created,’” one because of the Shechina and the other because of Abraham, who is Hesed?

We should say that from the verse, “When they were created,” they explain only how to achieve the goal, called “to do good to His creations.” This means that the creatures must attain the complete delight and pleasure. That is, when they receive delight and pleasure, they should not feel any unpleasantness, called the “bread of shame.”

To correct this, there was the Tzimtzum [restriction], which is a concealment on the delight and pleasure. It is as the holy ARI says (The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, p 1): “Know, that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures created, an upper simple light filled the whole of reality, and there was no vacant place. … When it came into His simple will to create the worlds … to bring to light the perfection of His deeds … then He restricted Himself.”

It follows that the concealment we see on spirituality, meaning, although we should believe that “The whole earth is full of His glory,” but if all the creatures in the world felt the glory of the Creator, who would want to engage in lowly things when they see the importance of the glory of spirituality? After all, a person can receive an image of what he had in the past.

If, for example, a person imagines that the most important period he had was when he felt that it was worthwhile to adhere to spirituality, and he looked at himself and the entire world, how time passes aimlessly and pointlessly, and engages only in trivialities. Then, when he is high-spirited, the world seemed to him like little children playing with toys.

Similarly, we sometimes see a little child taking a rope, putting it on another’s shoulder and telling him, “You be the horse and I’ll pull the reigns.” They both enjoy this game. And if we tell the children, “Why are you playing with false things? You are not a wagon-driver and he is not a horse,” they will not understand what we are telling them.

When a person depicts the time when he had the most important state in life, he looked at how people engage only in corporeality as a grownup looking at little children playing. It follows that all we need so we can engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] is the revelation. That is, to reveal the delight and pleasure hidden in them so we will see them openly. Then, who would not want delight and pleasure? Who would be able to degrade himself and walk into a henhouse and peck in the trash like them, and be happy and joyful about it, when he can enjoy the life of a human? That is, his sustenance would be what delights people and not what delights beasts and animals. All this is said when he feels the difference between the vitality of people and the vitality of beasts, animals, and fowls.

But during the concealment, when he does not see any other life in the world but that the one that he enjoys is the vitality of the whole world, when he looks at other people relinquishing corporeal matters in search for spiritual life, they look at them as foolish, mindless children. Little children are allowed to play with important things, and they throw them away and take meaningless things instead.

While they can enjoy corporeal things, they throw them away and contemplate attaining spiritual possessions. To them, the spiritual matters are meaningless, meaning things that have no value. But it is all because of the concealment on spirituality.

Now we will explain the two interpretations of the word Hibaraam [when they were created], where the first means Hesed, and the second means Shechina. We ask, “Is it worthwhile to create the next world and this world for Hesed?” As we explained above, according to the purpose of creation, which is to do good to His creations, the delight and pleasure cannot be revealed before they can receive in order to bestow. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve the goal in full.

This is why we need to explain what is said about BeHibaraam, meaning that through them they will fulfill the purpose of creation, and without them it is impossible to achieve the purpose of creation in full. This is why interpreting that Be Avraham [in Abraham] is Hesed means that by engaging in the quality of Hesed they can achieve the quality of bestowal, after which they will be able to receive the pleasure, and that reception will be regarded as bestowal.

It is as he says in the Sulam [commentary on The Zohar] (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 175), where he brings the words of our sages: “Upon the creation of the world, when He said to the angels, ‘Let us make man in our image,’ Hesed said, ‘Let him be created, for he does mercy.’ Truth said, ‘Let him not be created, for he is all lies.’”

He interprets there the words of our sages, that Hesed said, “Let him be created”: “But Hesed said, ‘Let him be created because he does mercy,’ since the Mitzva [commandment] to do good that he does is necessarily a clear act of bestowal by which he will gradually become corrected until he can engage in all the Mitzvot [commandments] in order to bestow. Thus, he is guaranteed to finally achieve his goal of engaging Lishma [for Her sake]. This is why Hesed argued that he should be created.”

It follows that saying BeHibaraam means that Hibaraam is needed only as a means but not as a goal, as it is known that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. Rather, it is counsels how the creatures can receive the goal, meaning be able to receive the delight and pleasure. Because there must be equivalence of form between the giver and the receiver, and since they are opposite in form, they will never be able to receive the delight and pleasure.

This is why one is saying that the means is Hesed, where through the quality of Hesed that each does with the other, they will be rewarded with vessels of bestowal and be able to receive the delight and pleasure, and another says that it is BeHibaraam, meaning Hey Beraam [created them], namely the Shechina. This does not mean that he disputes him, but when he says that He created them with a Hey, it means that Malchut, which is the Shechina, is implied here in BeHibaraam, meaning a small Hey.

The holy ARI interprets (presented in Gatehouse of Intentions, item 43), “This is the meaning of BeHibaraam, BeHey Beraam [created them with a Hey], since all the creatures were five Partzufim, both in Atzilut and in BYA. This is the meaning of the small Hey of Malchut de AK after she was diminished at the end of her ZAT.”

He interprets there (in Ohr Pashut [commentary below the text]) that the world of Tikkun [correction], called ABYA, emerged from another Malchut, that was mitigated by the quality of Rachamim [mercy], called Tzimtzum Bet [second restriction], where there was diminution in Malchut. This is why Malchut is called “small Hey.”

This means that the Hey in BeHibaraam is interpreted to refer to the Shechina who received correction called “the association of the quality of mercy with judgment.” This means that Malchut, called “the quality of judgment,” is the root of the creatures, namely the will to receive, the Kli [vessel] that must receive the purpose of creation—to benefit His creations—and is the vessel of reception for the delight and pleasure that is the substance of the creatures, meaning the desire to receive delight and pleasure from Him. But due to the correction of equivalence of form, there was a rule that this vessel of reception must not be used unless it can aim to bestow. This is called “restriction and judgment.”

The world cannot exist without this correction, called “receiving in order to bestow,” or there is no disclosure of abundance to the lower ones due to the Tzimtzum and judgment that was made for the purpose of correcting the world. However, how is it possible to change the nature of creation, which is reception, into one of bestowal?

Therefore, to be able to correct the vessels of reception to work in order to bestow, there had to be a correction called “association of the quality of mercy with judgment,” known as Tzimtzum Bet. This means that Bina, the quality of mercy, called “bestowal,” mingled with Malchut, which is reception. Through that merger of mercy with judgment that is done by the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], we can achieve the abundance although it is against our nature.

This matter is presented in “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” (item 58): “This is the meaning of our sages’ words: ‘In the beginning, He contemplated creating the world with the quality of Din [judgment]. He saw that the world does not exist and preceded the quality of Rachamim [mercy], and associated it with the quality of Din.’ …‘He saw that the world does not exist’ means that in this way, it was impossible for man, who was to be created from this Behina Dalet, to assume acts of bestowal. …Therefore, He preceded the quality of Rachamim and associated it with the quality of Din. Through this association, Behina Dalet—Midat ha Din—was incorporated with sparks of bestowal in the Kli of Bina.”

According to the above-said, it follows that we have the means by which to achieve the purpose of creation to do good to His creations, only thanks to the small Hey. This is because the judgment in the Hey, which is the quality of judgment, diminished into the quality of mercy. This means that part of the desire to receive diminished and received into it the quality of Rachamim, as was said above, that in the roots, the vessels of reception included the quality of bestowal, called Rachamim.

By this we will understand why the holy Zohar concludes that “one does not dispute the other because everything comes down together. That is, if there is Hesed in the world, the Shechina is in the world, as well, and vice versa. …and the world was created for Hesed and for the Shechina.”

This implies that it means that both, meaning the quality of Hesed and the Shechina, which was corrected with the quality of Rachamim, aim for the same thing—that through them the creatures would achieve the purpose of creation, which is to delight His creatures. This is why he says, “If there is no Hesed there is no Shechina.”

That is, without the correction of Hesed in the world, where through the quality of Hesed they can receive in order to bestow, there would not be the Shechina. That is, the correction that was done in Malchut, called “association of the quality of mercy with judgment,” would not help. However, the quality of Hesed does exist in the world, meaning that Malchut was corrected with the quality of Hesed, which is Rachamim, and this helps to achieve the goal.

However, we should understand why Malchut is called Shechina. Baal HaSulam said that the holy Zohar says, “He is Shochen [dweller]; she is Shechina.” This means that where the Creator is revealed it is called Shechina. This is called “instilling of the Shechina,” meaning that there the Creator is revealed.

For this reason one should always pray to be rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, also known as “faith.” That is, one should pray that he will be rewarded with faith. But there is a question: If he knows that he lacks faith in the Creator, then to whom is he praying, for only when he believes in the Creator can it be said that he is asking the Creator to give him what he wants?

We can interpret this according to what is written in the “Introduction to the study of the Ten Sefirot” (item 14): “‘He whose Torah is his trade.’ The measure of his faith is apparent in his practice of Torah because the letters of Umanuto [his trade], are the same [in Hebrew] as in Emunato [his faith]. It is like a person who trusts his friend and lends him money. He may trust him with a pound, and if he asks for two pounds he will refuse to lend him. He might also trust him with one hundred pounds, but not more. Also, he might trust him enough to lend him half his property, but not all his property. Finally, he may trust him with all his property without a hint of fear. This last faith is considered ‘whole faith,’ and the previous forms are considered ‘incomplete faith.’ Rather it is partial faith, whether more or less.”

Thus, we see that there is partial faith. When he has partial faith, it can be said that a person should pray to the Creator to help him since he has only partial faith, so he wants the Creator to help him achieve complete faith. And since it is impossible to be awarded complete faith before one is rewarded with equivalence of form, as said in the previous articles and presented in the “Introduction of the Book of Zohar” (p 138), hence there are those corrections, as written above concerning BeHibaraam: 1) through the quality of Hesed they will achieve equivalence of form, which is regarded as Abraham; 2) he says that he is Hey, meaning the Shechina. That is, Malchut received into her the quality of Rachamim by which they will come into bestowal, and then the purpose of creation to do good to His creations will come true.

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כדאי להיכנס כדי להוסיף לייק לסרטונים, לשמור תכנים ולהירשם למינויים.

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© כל הזכויות שמורות 2003-2026 בני ברוך - קבלה לעם