Raising the Holy Sparks

Transcription

1 בס"ד Raising the Holy Sparks A Short Essay by Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook From: Orot HaKodesh (Lights of Sanctity), Vol. 3, page 184 Translated and annotated by David Derovan A necessary Word or two The word, tikkun, has become very popular in many Jewish and even non- Jewish circles. The word connotes a concept first defined by Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Ari HaKadosh (the holy lion), the famous teacher of Kabbalah in 16 th century Safed. For the Ari HaKadosh, tikkun is the last step in a process that began with the creation of the world. His description of the creation starts with tzimtzum. God contracted into Himself, leaving a void, a vacuum. Into that vacuum, God poured His divine essence, the shefah or effluence, and created a series of ten clay vessels. As the first vessel came into being, it was filled with shefah until it overflowed. The overflow of the shefah created the next vessel, which was quickly filled to overflowing and so on and so on down the line until the shefah filled the tenth vessel. The tenth vessel was the end of the line, so to speak. There were to be no more vessels. However, for reasons known only to the Creator, Himself, the flow of the shefah continued. Finally, when the tenth vessel could hold no more, a great explosion occurred. This explosion is called the breaking of the vessels, shevirat hakaylim. There is a disagreement among the students of the Ari HaKadosh, if only the tenth vessel exploded or if all of the ten vessels exploded. Be that as it may, the result was the creation of our physical universe. Rabbi Luria identifies two basic components that make up our universe. The first are the shards of the clay vessel(s), the klipot, which constitute everything that is material or physical in our universe. Intermingled with all the shards, the klipot, are the divine sparks, the nitzotzot hakedoshim, which are all the spiritual, non-physical elements in our universe. It is crucial to note that the above description is not historical or scientific in any way. Rather, it is a conceptual description of spiritual processes that led to our existence on earth. Indeed, the process of tzimtzum, followed by the flow of the shefah resulting in the shevirat hakaylim and the rain of klipot and nitzotzot hakedoshim is meant to explain why we exist. The Ari HaKadosh taught that we are here on earth to do tikkun, the repair. It is our job to repair existence itself by raising the holy, divine sparks, the nitzotzot hakedoshim out of the physical matter, the klipot, and allow them to ascend heavenward to recombine with their divine source. Tikkun is 2011 David Jay Derovan Please feel free to share this essay with friends and colleagues Your comments, criticisms and suggestions are always welcome

2 accomplished by our study of Torah, our observance of Mitzvot and our good deeds. As a Torah scholar of almost infinite depth and breadth, Rav Kook is wellaware of the Kabbalistic concepts and processes described above. However, as will become evident shortly, his take on raising the holy sparks is unique to say the least. Raising the Holy Sparks by Rav Kook העלאת ניצוצות הקדושה קכט את ניצוצות הקדושה אנו שואפים תמיד להעלות. יודעים אנו שבפועל לא נתגלה עדיין בההויה הסובבת אותנו אותו הכח האיתן של האידיאליות האלהית, כל התפארת, כל ההוד שביסוד המציאות, אבל התנועה כולה האיתנה של היש הולכת היא לקראת האידיאליות הגמורה Raising the Holy Sparks Section 129 We are always yearning to raise the holy sparks. We know that the strong potential of the divine idealism, all of the beauty (tiferet), all of the glory (hod) that is the foundation (yesod) of reality has actually not been revealed in the existence that surrounds us. However, the entire, strong movement of that which exists is moving toward the ultimate idealism. Speaking from the perspective of a Kabbalistically-aware Jew, Rav Kook makes two basic points: (a) Everyone wants to participate in raising the divine sparks. (b) The final, end result of the tikkun has yet to be achieved. Rav Kook uses the term, divine idealism, instead of a more prosaic description the revelation of God that is to occur in the end of days. It is also important to note that Rav Kook uses the names of three Sefirot, spiritual forces: (a) tiferet, (b) hod, and (c) yesod. According to the Kabbalah, the system of the ten Sefirot is one model of the spiritual bridge that connects God to our universe. The use of these terms implies that the ultimate, final revelation with reveal not only God, Himself, but all of the spiritual forces that He employs. מתבשלת היא האידיאליות ברוחנו, לפי אותו הערך שאנו מתרוממים, משאנו באים לידי הכרת שיטת האידיאליות הכללית, מתוך שאנו שואבים אותה מאוצר החיים שלמעלה מההויה המוגבלת, הננו מחיים ומשיבים את כל הקטעים שאנו לוקטים מתוך החיים וההויה כולה, מכל תנועה, מכל כח, מכל שיח מכל שיג, מכל רגש, מכל תוכן קל וקטן עד נשגב וגדול, את האור הפזור שמגמגם הוא בכללות, מוציא הוא הברות בודדות לצרפם לפרק שירה איתן, ומזליף זליפה זרמית של אור חיים, אציליים גבוריים ומלאים עז וקודש, עז קודש, קודש הקדשים, קודש קדשי הקדשים. 2

3 The idealism is cooking in our spirit. According to the value that we [use] to ascend, when we come to the awareness of the general idealism, as we draw it forth from the storehouse of life, which is above the limited existence, we invigorate and return all of the pieces that we have gathered from life and all of existence, from every movement, from every strength, from every act, from every feeling, from all content be it light-weight and small or ascendant and great the scattered light that generally stutters, single syllables that exit only to be combined into a chapter of mighty song, which then drips with the flow of the light of life, [light that is] noble, courageous and filled with strength and holiness, strong holiness, the holy of holies, the holiness of the holy of holies! In the Hebrew original, the above paragraph is one, very long sentence. It becomes intelligible when broken down into pieces. The very beginning is a pun on the subject of the previous paragraph. First, Rav Kook states that the divine idealism has yet to be realized. Now he begins by saying that that very idealism is cooking inside us. Each person is in and of themselves a combination of a shard, klipah, and a divine spark, a nitzotz. The body is the klipah, literally, the shell that encases our soul, the nitzotz. To say that idealism is cooking inside us is to tell us that the tikkun begins with each of us as individuals when we activate our soul. Once we know that our job is to effect the tikkun what Rav Kook calls the awareness of the general idealism then we can begin to draw strength from the very source of our souls, namely from God on high, the storehouse of life, which is above the limited existence. The next step is to invigorate which in the Hebrew is literally, to give life to absolutely everything in our lives and to everything that we touch. These are the pieces that we have gathered from life and all of existence, from every movement etc. This is the first stage of raising the holy sparks. Rav Kook describes the sparks of divinity that are contained within all of the minutiae of life as the scattered light that generally stutters. These are the single, barely unintelligible syllables that we forge together into a new song. So long as the sparks are imprisoned within the klipot, they sputter and stutter. The next step in raising them is to reveal them by expressing their sanctity, even through disconnected syllables that are practically unintelligible. Nevertheless, the sparks begin to sparkle and the syllables combine to form an exquisite song. At this point, Rav Kook only hints at what is happening. Irrespective of which model we might choose to describe it, the spiritual bridge between God and the universe, in general, and God and humanity, in particular, is actually a two-way street. Each of us gathers the totality of our lives and sends the divine sparks shooting up to heaven in the form of a mighty song. This in turn awakens spiritual forces in heaven that initiate the flow of divine effluence, shefah, back down to us. It starts out as a drip, but it ends up as the flow of the light of life. The shefah comes from a place that we recognize from our knowledge of the Temple. The sanctity of the shefah is not just from a holy place, and not just from the holy of holiest places. It flows from the deepest recesses of divine sanctity, the holiness of the holy of holies. Rav Kook teaches us two important lessons concerning the raising of the sparks. The first is that the process is not a mechanical one. We are not talking 3

4 about doing action A that automatically results in a controlled reaction B. Rather, the raising of holy sparks is a fluid, individual experience that changes with time, that depends on content and is highly individual. The second lesson is that the act of sending sparks up to heaven does not deplete us of our innate spirituality. However much or little we send upwards results in a cascade of divine goodness and the purest of Godly sanctity that descends to us and permeates our very being. This is the spiritual pulsing of the world. There is a constant upward flow and concomitant downward flow of spirit from the world / humanity to God and from God back to us. Just as hearts beat and sound waves pulsate, the spiritual worlds are alive with the continual traffic of our packages of sparks ascending and the shower of Godliness descending. את הניצוצות הפזורים אנחנו מעלים לכלל שיטות שלמות, כלומר עולמות מלאים, מבונים בבנין שלם, יבנו ברוחנו, יתכוננו בכליותינו, יבוצרו בחיינו הפרטיים ובחיי חברתנו כולה, יתערו וינטעו, ילכו מהם פלגים יבלי מים, ישלחו שרשיהם להעשות ארזים אדירים, "י שׂ בּ עוּ ע צ י ה' אַר ז י ל ב נוֹן א שׁ ר נ ט ע" (תהלים קד:טז). We raise the scattered sparks to complete, general systems, that is to say, to full worlds, constructed of a complete structure, to be built with our spirit, to be designed in our insides (literally, in our kidneys), to be harvested from our private lives and from the lives of society as a whole. They will be awakened and planted. Streams and rivulets of water will emerge from them. They will send out their roots to grow mighty cedars. God's trees are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon, which He planted (Psalms 104:16). What is the result of raising the divine sparks? What happens to them? Rav Kook begins his answer with an obtuse statement that even he finds unclear. The gist of the paragraph is that what begins below, on earth, as scattered, sputtering sparks ends up as bricks and beams in complete, glorious structures in heaven. These structures are built out of our spirit. In Hebrew, the word hints at the Kabbalistic concept of ru ach, spirit, which is associated with the power of speech. In the previous paragraph, Rav Kook described the sparks are barely intelligible syllables. Here, the sparks are our ru ach, our spirit that is fully expressed in our speech. Indeed, we speak and the sparks fly to God! In the Midrash, the Rabbis teach that Abraham s kidneys were the source of his knowledge of God. Rav Kook alludes to that hyperbolic, Midrashic expression when he describes our kidneys as the source of the designs for these heavenly, spiritual structures. In fact, the flow of divine sparks ascending to God is the result of individual as well as communal effort. The process does not rely totally on individuals. Society as a whole must become part of the process. In the middle of the paragraph, Rav Kook switches gears and metaphors. Instead of buildings, think of the great stream of ascending nitzotzot transforming into rivers and streams of divine light that seep deep into the divine soil of heaven only to emerge as mighty cedar trees. God's trees are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon, which He planted, says King David in Psalms. 4

5 Rabbi Chaninah, in the Genesis Rabbah (15:1), uses this verse to describe the magnificent life that blossoms in God s orchard, all fed by the flow of divine sparks released from their earthly shells, says Rav Kook. איש כפי ניצוצין אשר העלה חייו מתעשרים, הכל לפי רוב המעשה, הפעולה, ולפי רוב הבינה תגדל השאיפה, ולפי רוב הפעלים יתאדר הבנין. לפי גודל השאיפה תגדל The life of each person, according to the sparks that are raised, is enriched. Everything is according to the amount of effort and action. And the activity is according to the increase in the amount of yearning. And the greater understanding results in increased yearning. And with greater activity, the building becomes strong. The raising of holy sparks, the participation in the pulsing of ascendant and descending spirituality, the contribution to the strength of beauty of God s cedar trees is all a function of action, of doing. We can only increase our raising of the sparks if we increase our desire to do so. And our desire and yearning to be active players in the process requires greater knowledge and understanding. Only then will we do more and achieve more. Only then do we become God s partners building a strong, spiritually complete world. 5