Knowledge of the Shechina in Her Lowly States Through the Transformations of the Names | Zohar Devarim Chazon Bein HaMetzarim 5786 (Auto Translated)

The Secret of the Exile of the Shechina — How the Shechina Meets a Companion in the Forest

Introduction: From Holiness and the Temple to the Secret of Exile

Here we stand now on the eve of Shabbos Parshas Devarim, Shabbos Chazon, the year 5786, and in this shiur we will come to discuss the secret of the days of Bein HaMetzarim. In the two weeks that have passed, we already engaged in the secret of holiness, the secret of Jerusalem and the Temple, and how we bring this into practice in our service — in deed and in speech — as the Mekubalim expounded and established the various ways of building the Beis HaMikdash: building the Beis HaMikdash in the heart, and also building the Beis HaMikdash in deed, both in the deeds of the mikdash me’at and in the deeds of the great Temple that we hope to build. All this through all the takanos they established, and all they did to bring holiness into the world, through contemplating what holiness is and how it is proper to conduct it (as we explained in the two previous shiurim about holiness and the Temple, and this is not the place for it).

In this shiur I wish to continue the explanation of the secret of exile, which is the deeper secret, the inner level that comes afterward.

The Foundation of Kabbalah: The Shechina and Its Levels

The foundation of Kabbalah is that there is something called Shechina, and the Shechina is that thing which was present in the Beis HaMikdash, present in Jerusalem and in Eretz Yisrael in the time of holiness, in the time of redemption and in the time of building. And meanwhile there are times of non-building, times of all types of non-building, and in practice there are different times of descent. Therefore a person must know how to understand and how to feel the state of the Shechina, the state of holiness in truth, in those times.

As they learned from the Ramak, that the secret of the end, the secret of knowing the end, the secret of knowing the end of exile, depends on knowing all the levels of the Shechina — those levels which ‘our fathers did not fathom,’ the early tzaddikim. The Jews who were in the time of the Churban, the Jews who were in the time of the Tannaim and Amoraim, certainly could not picture in their souls how many levels still exist in the Shechina, how much further it could still descend, as it were.

But the truth is, as we explained, that the fall does not mean only a fall, descent after descent. On the contrary, the very ability to fall means that it is possible to remain, for if it had fallen completely — everything would already be lost. The thing fell, but was not lost. And if it fell and was not lost, then the meaning of the matter is that there are still very many levels of understanding, very many levels of grasping Divinity, of the dwelling of the Shechina, which we have not yet stood upon.

This is a fundamental and very important principle in Kabbalah, and I wish to explain it. We will begin thus: It is known ‘in the way of service.’ The words ‘in the way of service’ everyone knows, but one must incline one’s ear well, for it seems that people are accustomed to say this as words of encouragement, and indeed it is a fine thing to improve a person’s feeling, but it is true, and there is depth in it, and this depth depends on the depth of all the understanding that Kabbalah comes to tell about the secret of the exile of the Shechina.

The Zohar in Parshas Acharei Mos: Weeping and Joy

And behold, as we once learned the words of the Zohar in Parshas Acharei Mos, which are brought in Tanya, Rabbi Shimon explains there the secret, the great secret, the tremendous secret of the separation of the Shechina from her husband — that the letter hei of the Name departed from the letter vav, and this is the secret of the Shechina, the secret of the exile of the Shechina.

And it is said there, ‘Rabbi Shimon wept, Rabbi Elazar wept,’ they wept over what they understood. Rabbi Elazar said, “Weeping is lodged in my heart from one side, and joy on the other side” (Zohar Parshas Acharei Mos) — great weeping is placed in my heart on one side, and on the other hand, great joy I feel.

For tremendous joy is placed in this: I am grasping something new, a new illumination, a new flash, that there is such a thing, that there is such a type of dwelling of the Shechina, that there is such a union of the Holy One Blessed Be He, such a separation, that there is such a fall and still not everything is lost. They did not know at all that there could be such a fall, that one could distance oneself so much and not lose. A new place is created here, a new grasp, this is a chiddush.

Let us say this simply: This is a chiddush. And a chiddush is a joyful thing, and especially if the chiddush is not just any chiddush, but a chiddush that has love in it, a chiddush that has pleasure in it that tells how — one can call it “In all their troubles, He was troubled” (Yeshayahu 63:9) — that every time there is a new trouble, there is a new place where the Shechina is placed, there is a new revelation that the Shechina has a new garment, a new position, a new kind of way in which it is possible to see her. In such a grasp lies a great chiddush.

The Chiddush: That the Lowly Person Overturns the World

When a person contemplates the matter, one can say it thus: When one learns Kabbalah and sees what great damage is caused by the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, the destruction that is in every sin, the destruction that is in every degradation, one learns that it overturns all the worlds, overturns all the channels, and you say, “Woe, my small and foolish transgression overturns all the worlds.” Therefore Rabbi Nachman said that one must also believe about mitzvos, “If you believe that you can damage, believe that you can repair” (Likutei Moharan) — one must believe this also about mitzvos.

But a tremendous chiddush is placed here, that the lowly person overturns the world. And about this — this is the thing that the Ramak already said, and the Arizal emphasizes in his teachings as Rabbi Chaim Vital brings — and all of them said such a thing, after they struggled a bit: Is it possible that we who live here at the end of days, and we do mitzvos, do yichudim, cleave, we have ruach hakodesh, and the Holy One Blessed Be He loves us? How is this possible? We would understand that some Tanna, some Jew, prophet, one of the prophets of those generations, Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon HaKohen — had such a thing. But how does it reach us? How does such a thing reach us?

The Parable of the Ramak and the Arizal: The King on the Roads

And the Ramak said — I bring this from the ‘Reishis Chochma’ in the name of the Ramak, and the Arizal explained, as Rabbi Chaim Vital brings, the same exact thing — that there is a parable in this, and thus he said: A parable of a king who found himself on the roads. This is the parable that the Chassidic sefarim say about the preciousness of the days of Bein HaMetzarim. But this is a parable, and it is a very fundamental thing. I think that this is not only encouragement about the end of days or about Bein HaMetzarim, but a parable about — essentially this is the foundation of all Kabbalah, the foundation of reality, for the reality of the world is this.

The King Who Was Lost on His Way

He says a parable: A king who traveled on a road and was lost on it, he did not have with him his important garments, his important vessels with which he usually conducts himself, for he is a king, and in the royal palace he walks with royal vessels, with royal garments, with royal garb, with servants, and everything in the best way possible, the greatest thing that can be.

And behold he is on the road, and there is someone who has mercy on him, and that person barely knows what a king means, but he sees in him some important person, something refined, something that is not like other people, and gives him a bit of honor, gives him meager bread and scant water, dry bread and peace with it.

And the king feels such affection, such love, for that Jew, for that servant, for the one who helps him in his time of trouble, in the time when he is not a king, in the time when he is not in his kingdom. To such an extent that it seems he is more grateful to him, for when he is in the king’s palace, when he is in his place, it is not such great wisdom that they honor him. Here, this one truly honors him, gives him to eat a piece of bread, a bit of food, a cup of tea in the forest, at night, when it is dark and gloomy and cold, and gives him to eat there — there is such affection in this.

The Shechina Alone After the Tzimtzum

And the Ramak said that one must incline one’s ear and understand, that at this time — as the Shechina said to Rabbi Yosef Karo, to the Beis Yosef, on the night of Shavuos, which is one of the powerful times of the night of Shavuos — one must know that the Shechina is in a state where she has no companions, alone and truly alone. So it was then, and perhaps it was always so, but since the first tzimtzum, since ‘a moment for the moon,’ since the breaking of the vessels, since the creation of the world, she is very much alone, she is not in her place.

That is, what was supposedly her place — then that is indeed her place, but what should have been her place, what would have been fitting for the Malchus Shamayim to be in the king’s palace, in all the glory and splendor, “Strength and gladness are in His place, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary” (Divrei HaYamim I 16:27) — that would have been fitting. But when she is not found in her place, when she is present in a foreign place, in a place of exile, there is additional love, additional affection, additional excitement, much greater excitement in the fact that she finds a companion, finds a companion in the forest, the Shechina finds companions, Jews. Now we must understand; let us delve a bit into the matter.

A Small Thing in This Time Is Important Like a Great Thing

This is what they said, and from here they said, and thus it is brought in the language of the Arizal, which all the later authorities bring, “A small thing in this time is important like a great thing”. And we think that this is a kind of encouragement: Ah, you are such a weak Jew, you already know that there are no expectations from you, nothing can be demanded of you. You put on tefillin once in a while, it’s nothing really, and they give you a pat on the shoulder, “Woe, you put on tefillin.”

No and no, on the contrary. Incline your ear to what he is saying here. That is not what he is saying. What he is saying is that the Shechina is in a weak state, not that you are in a weak state. The Shechina is in a weak state. You are helping the Shechina in her weak state. Not that you are helping her because you are such a weak generation, and therefore the thing is so difficult, that there is such a great yetzer hara, that there are such trials — let’s say even if there are greater trials today — for everything is according to the suffering, so is the reward.

It is not according to the suffering, the reward, but according to the suffering of the Shechina, the reward. A completely new feeling is this. According to the poverty of the Shechina, that when the Shechina has her friends coming to her, when there are groomsmen and companions with her, and when there is a complete state, and His kingdom is complete, and there is a complete tzaddik in his time, and everything is running, and everything is present — then ah, no… the Shechina does not love us so much, it is not such great love. One must toil hard to merit the elevation of ruach hakodesh, one must toil hard to merit devekus, one must toil hard to merit excitement, connection of such a kind, a bond of such a kind.

But at a time, in a place, in a state where the Shechina is in a weak state — and we must speak for a moment about what it means that the Shechina is in a weak state, how is this possible — the king is in a weak state. And that Jew who does not have great understanding of the king, he is not a minister among the ministers in the kingdom, he is not a minister in the king’s house, but a simple person, but he sees that mercy worked in him. Yes, there is no need even for great comprehension.

Rabbi Nachman and the Baal HaTanya: Mercy on the Shechina

And the Baal HaTanya said to him, in his way, a long discourse in Chassidus, in Kabbalah, in deep matters. And Rabbi Nachman came out and said — one must incline one’s ear, this is a delicate matter, and there is a bit of criticism in it — he said that one thing, after he heard all the talk, all the Chassidus, one thing hit the truth. The Baal HaTanya explained “Your mercies are many, Hashem” (Tehillim 119:156) — there is already great mercy on You, Hashem. About this explanation he said that it hit the truth.

In other words, Rabbi Nachman is criticizing a bit here. He says: The Baal HaTanya is not a bit in reality. The Baal HaTanya says deep teachings, Chassidus, Atik and Arich and Yechida Ila’a and Yechida Tata’a, and speaks as if there are great comprehensions, there are great Divine comprehensions, from which — this is reality, this is what he seeks to bring into the world. Rabbi Nachman says: You need to hear the true state of the Shechina. Perhaps you don’t know, perhaps you are a Rebbe, sitting in your house and saying Chassidus. The true state of the Shechina is that there is great mercy on the Holy One Blessed Be He, there is great mercy on the Shechina. Not mercy on us, mercy on the Shechina. Understand, the spark of the Shechina within us — the mercy is on the Shechina. We are not the whole matter. The mercy is on the Shechina in the world in which we are.

The Excitement of the Shechina and the Jew

And now you say that certainly, when a Jew comes and learns a bit of Chassidus, and in a state of mercy on the Shechina, the Shechina is terribly excited. Not you are excited, no — nebech, there is nothing to expect from you. The Shechina is excited. And the Jew is also excited, certainly, when the Jew sees the great excitement of the Shechina, that behold, she found some companion in an unsown land, in a distant place, somewhere ‘He raises the poor from the dust,’ he is filled with desire, and feels tremendous love.

Certainly, he weeps with the Shechina, he cannot say that this is not a time of joy, that this is not a state of completeness — it is a state of deficiency, but he says: Woe, Jews have met, and I have mercy on the Shechina, and the Shechina has mercy on me. And a kind of bond emerges, from the bond that Jews know, a bond that people create in times of trouble, in times of sorrow, in times of tragedy, which can often be a much greater bond than the bond in times of joy. But in times of joy one needs much, one needs to do something, one needs to be something, so that the other…

But this, two Jews met, they met in a place of trouble, and helped each other a bit. Not much, it’s not possible to do much, there is no ability. Both of us are in the same sorrow, both of us in the same mud, both of us in the same garbage. They helped each other a bit, and such a union is created that is not created in the time of the terrible joy, where perhaps with great effort and great difficulty, it is very hard to find such a union.

The Beis Yosef and the Shechina in Exile

And about this they say, as we learned, that the Shechina herself said to the Beis Yosef that they should incline their ear and appreciate the chiddush, the excitement that the Shechina has when there is a Jew, and there are not so many Jews in the world, and there are not so many people in the world who remember the Shechina. And she finds a few Jews gathering together on the night of Shavuos, or on this night, or on this day, or in this afternoon, or at shalosh seudos, or on Friday night, or at melaveh malka, and they speak words of mercy, words of affection, words of love to the Shechina, words of longing, words of awakening.

He says tikkun chatzos, or a niggun that he sings, “Have mercy in Your kindness on Your people”. He remembers some spark, he has a bit of mercy, a bit of caring, a bit of empathy. To the spark, to the Shechina in exile, a connection is created there that did not exist. In other words, a new yichud is created there, a new drawing down of a new secret is created, a new drawing down of ruach hakodesh is created.

It Is Easier in Exile: The Parable of the Convert

Therefore the Maggid of Mezeritch said, and so said the Arizal and the Ramak, all of them said thus, that a person should not think that it is more difficult. That is, when they say that this is a greater level, the intention is not that one must believe that the thing is more difficult. A person should not think that it is more difficult to find Hashem, to find ruach hakodesh, to find everything that a Jew needs, all the supernal comprehensions that a Jew needs, that it is more difficult in this time because the world is a world that… No, it is easier. For you do not need to do anything.

In other words, let us say a simple thing: A convert who comes to convert in this time, they say to him, “Don’t you know that Israel is afflicted and downtrodden?” (Yevamos 47), and he says, “Despite this,” they accept him immediately. In the time of Shlomo HaMelech, in the time when the Jews are successful, “We do not accept converts in the days of Mashiach” — such language was said, we do not accept converts, for then, if a convert comes, perhaps they accept him, and there is a Rambam in this, and deep matters of ‘a prince and most of his people,’ but it is not wisdom. Now you come because the Jews are successful, certainly you will become a convert, certainly you need to prove him much more. The convert who comes in a time of tranquility needs to prove much more that he means it seriously, needs to prove much more that he truly desires Judaism, that he truly desires love of Hashem. Perhaps he is just seeking the money, perhaps for those reasons that Jews were once destroyed to make money, and now he is a Jew from love and fear, from compulsion, because he wants to be among the successful.

Incidentally, perhaps this is our desire, we hope that it will be a great elevation of the Shechina when such a state is fulfilled. But meanwhile, as long as it is not so, it is not great wisdom. A convert who comes to convert — they say to him: Do not delude yourself, yes, you agree, this is what you desire, you know that you mean it seriously.

In the same way, when the reality of the world is such, that one does not receive much honor for doing for the Shechina, for loving the Shechina, for having mercy that the Shechina does not receive — and this is what I wish to clarify here more. Now we will clarify more: I say, we need to explain what is the meaning of the descent of the Shechina.

And everyone understands: What does this have to do with me? There is a question to ask. And from here, I think that there are people who do not receive ruach hakodesh from this. Even though the Maggid of Mezeritch said that he thinks — and about this is the verse of the Maggid of Kozhnitz, “The glory will arrive in Bein HaMetzarim”, that one must speak about this, and I hope with Hashem’s help that we will reach this, but first one must enter a bit into the matter so that they will see it as it is.

And the Maggid of Mezeritch said that it is easier to receive ruach hakodesh in exile than in Eretz Yisrael, than in the time when the Shechina is in her place, for the same reasons. And perhaps people will say that they do not see that he receives ruach hakodesh. Perhaps so, that he will indeed receive ruach hakodesh. Perhaps there are people who say that he does not see. Let us say that the answer is: Because you do not grasp what is being discussed. You do not grasp at all what is being discussed.

What Is the Descent of the Shechina?

What is the descent of the Shechina? You say that a person sits in his beis midrash, closed within himself, sits in his corner, and he has his four amos of halacha, his four amos of tefillah, he settles and knows nothing, separated from the world, withdrawn and separated and isolated. And still he speaks about the weak generation. There is no weak generation in your room, this is not a weak generation. On the contrary, he specifically must prove something. When sitting in yeshiva, sitting in the beis midrash, and there supposedly everyone wants to be worthy and wants to be good, and wants to be more of a talmid chacham, and more of a chassid, and more of a servant, and whatever it may be — this does not say anything that you are there, that you pray there well. This does not say anything in truth, one does not receive anything for this.

That is, what works? It will not be anything, one must toil much, one must innovate a complete chiddush, so that it will be considered something. But just like this it is not considered anything. In Avraham’s generation, this is not considered anything. But who told him that he should delude himself that this is Avraham’s generation?

Two Ways: External and Internal

First of all, there are two ways: in the way of externality and in the way of expanding the world, which I don’t know if to call it externality, and in the way of internality. One thing is, that one who desires to know the state of the Shechina must look at the newspaper, he desires to know the reality of the world. And one must know that — yes, this is the first derasha that I say every year, in honor of Tisha B’Av — that they sit in yeshiva, and ‘for the rest and the inheritance,’ and there is no lack.

One Who Does Not Weep Over the Exile of the Shechina Is Constricting

And they speak that this is Avraham’s generation. That they sit in yeshiva, and ‘for the rest and the inheritance,’ and there is no lack of anything, they never lacked all year the ‘radish and lettuce.’ Every shalosh seudos had salted fish and stuffed fish, for there are Jews who are particular about this, and there are Jews who are particular about this. And in that beis midrash sit Jews and say: Well, we do not feel the pain of the Shechina, it is not for our level. Perhaps once there were Jews who wept on Tisha B’Av, who were pained about the Shechina, and are distressed, and say such derashos.

Why should they weep on Tisha B’Av? And you, do you grasp, do you live either in the world of imagination or in the world of redemption, only a problem — with you Mashiach himself almost did not come, you are satisfied, and one must indeed be grateful, if things are going well, one must be grateful, this is not acceptable. But one must be a bit blind, one must be a great constrictor.

In short, one who does not weep over the exile of the Shechina, over the exile of the generation, over the exile of the descent of the Shechina, he is constricting. And afterward he says teachings, and still thinks that he is a yerei shamayim, that he is a tzaddik, that he strengthened himself when he found some awakening, that he was inspired by some Chassidic sefer, that he found some awakening — how can he weep on Tisha B’Av, after all?

What is being discussed is: Do not be in constriction, open your eyes a bit, look around you at the world, and you will see that the world, as it is, you can see the good life lived in it, you can see that there are good parts, there are good parts in a wondrous way, these are not just good parts. There are things in which we live in a kind of abundance, in a kind of illumination, which are certainly the reward, we almost already live in the World to Come, in the days of Mashiach. But there are things, and certainly when thinking spiritually — and by spiritually I mean the level of humanity, wisdom, culture — which is deep deep in the ground.

The Shame to Be a Companion of the Shechina

And if a person has a feeling for the thing called Shechina — most people do not have such a feeling, most people do not have a feeling for the thing we are saying, that it should be a natural thing to say ‘Baruch Atah Hashem,’ that it should be a natural thing, that there should be feeling in it. And he sees that this is not acceptable. Even in the beis midrash this is not acceptable. It is acceptable only as long as it is written in Shulchan Aruch that one must pray, then they pray. But to say, to speak to the Holy One Blessed Be He, or to speak from the Holy One Blessed Be He, or to speak of the angels, to speak of the Shechina — yes, you are a mekubal, you are some servant, ah, I hear — this is not acceptable. This is a kind of exile, this is a kind of concealment, this is a kind of lowliness, a kind of distress.

And it is a shame, to this very day a shame. Shame in the street, and shame at home, and shame in the beis midrash. It is a shame, a person must be ashamed. It is said in the saying of ‘Chai’ of Purim, “All who hope in You shall not be ashamed”. The meaning of the matter is, in this time ‘as you hope, you will be ashamed’ — one who yearns for the Holy One Blessed Be He, is ashamed.

If I approach a friend and say to him, I wish to do this thing, it seems to me that this is a way to draw close to the Shechina, to feel the dwelling of the Shechina in the world, the spirit of the Shechina, “The spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters” (Bereishis 1:2) — he says to me, yes, they will look at your face, or he says to me, you will not make shidduchim. He says, what does it mean you will not make shidduchim? Do you believe that you will not make shidduchim? Do you believe that the Shechina does not have enough shidduchim for everyone? That the Shechina does not have enough institutions for everyone? That you will not have institutions?

This is the meaning of the exile of the Shechina, and one must also justify oneself and find. Incidentally, permitted, forbidden, there are all kinds of halachos and ‘separating from the community.’ I do not understand, after all we are speaking about love of the Shechina. How can there even be such a question? What has become of us? Ah, we are in exile, we do not live in a world where the Shechina means something.

We live with those who have basic faith, simple faith. He says, I wish to do the good thing, I think I will succeed, I want to move to the Shechina. If someone will write a piyut from love of the Shechina, in which yeshiva will they look at it as an important thing? In none that I know, or almost none. This is the exile of the Shechina, the Shechina has no place. One who holds himself a companion of the Shechina — he must be silent, he must hide, he must hide exactly like a Marrano, he must hide in the Shabbos candles. One who truly loves — in Vizhnitz they are enthusiastic about ‘Melech Dodi,’ no. One who would write ‘Melech Dodi’ himself, and makes a new ‘Lecha Dodi’ in English, because his head runs in English, and his heart runs in English, and he sings it for the bride.

The True Level of the Shechina Means Completeness

And we clarified that it is not enough to say that this is a parable with a nimshal, or that this is the same thing of “As it is above so it is below”, that just as there are different attributes in a person so too in the Holy One Blessed Be He, or the deeper things that the Mekubalim say, that when a person conducts himself with the attribute of chesed he awakens the attribute of chesed in the Holy One Blessed Be He.

The truth of the level of the Shechina means the level of union, the level of completeness of the person. Let us speak about one person: his level of completeness, how complete he is, how wise he is, how good he is, how righteous he is, how successful he is, all those things — this is called the level of the Shechina.

And the descent of the Shechina means, in other words, sins. Ways and stories, situations in which there is no completeness, no wisdom, no Torah, no mitzvos, no fear of Heaven, no abstinence, no holiness, no purity, no thing. This is the meaning of the matter: no scholarship, no analysis, no expertise, no thing. This is the meaning of the descent of the Shechina. True, this is the meaning of the matter.

When a person is doing well, when he personally is doing well, he can desire Shechina. But the descent of the Shechina, its meaning is the places where the Shechina has no place to come — in truth, supposedly, for the Shechina means that there must be completeness, the Shechina should not be broken, there should be completeness and joy and light. This is the greatness of the Shechina. And the descent of the Shechina is when there is not, when there is what we call the spiritual state. Or in other words, when the completeness is not truly completeness. The person is truly in a lowly state, truly broken. He would want to learn, and does not learn; he would want to make money, and does not make money; he would want to be a better father, and is not a better father. All those things. In such a state, in truth it is not possible, there is much less dwelling of the Shechina, it is barely possible to find the Shechina there.

The Shechina Finds a Companion in a Place of Spiritual Descent

And just as we understand that when outside, when other people have no honor, no appreciation for the value of the Shechina, and there is one who appreciates, he is special, he deserves a pat on the shoulder — so too when he himself does not appreciate the value of the Shechina. In other words, he is in a state of lowliness, which is not a state of completeness, upon which the union cannot truly dwell except in a state of completeness. He is in a state of brokenness, in a state of sin, in a state of failure — and then he remembers the love of the Shechina.

Ah, the same thing. The Shechina says to him: “Ah, I found a companion in a place of spiritual descent, in a place that is truly descent. Not physical descent, for all physical descent does not truly prevent the Shechina. In the place that truly prevents the Shechina, which is truly the opposite of the Shechina, which is truly bad in a certain way.” And there the person remembers: Yes, true, I am not a great diligent one, I am not a great talmid chacham

The Shechina Finds a Companion in a Place of Spiritual Descent (continued)

And just as we understand that when outside, when other people have no honor, no appreciation for the value of the Shechina, and there is one who appreciates, he is special, he deserves a pat on the shoulder — so too when he himself does not appreciate the value of the Shechina. In other words, he is in a state of lowliness, which is not a state of completeness, upon which the union cannot truly dwell except in a state of completeness. He is in a state of brokenness, in a state of sin, in a state of failure — and then he remembers the love of the Shechina.

Ah, the same thing. The Shechina says to him: “Ah, I found a companion in a place of spiritual descent, in a place that is truly descent. Not physical descent, for all physical descent does not truly prevent the Shechina. In the place that truly prevents the Shechina, which is truly the opposite of the Shechina, which is truly bad in a certain way.” And there the person remembers: Yes, true, I am not a great diligent one, I am not a great talmid chacham, I am not a complete person. Every time I delude myself that I am a complete person, I catch some anger, some desire, some fall, and I already grasp that they did not mean me when they said that only one who ‘his belly is full and he is a yerei shamayim to the masses’ should engage in Kabbalah. No, not for that, they did not mean me — only that he should do yichud, only that he should have ruach hakodesh. No, they did not mean me.

Ah, so they say to us: One moment, you deserve the Arizal, you deserve the Ramak, the Shechina comes to you and says to you, “Certainly they did not mean you. But that person, in that place, in that state, in that time, gave a place to the Shechina.” He remembered and said, “Me yes, me no.” Still he has some yearning, still he has some longing.

He Has a Desire for the Shechina Like for Eating

Still he has some longing for the beauty, for the refinement that we call Shechina. In other words, he loves to say ‘Lecha Dodi,’ not because he is a tzaddik who says ‘Lecha Dodi,’ not because he is supposedly still in completeness. No, but because he loves it, just as a person can love when he is depressed, when he is in lowliness, when he is in smallness. For some reason, he has no desire to learn, he has no desire to give tzedakah, but to eat he has desire, doesn’t he? Because this he truly loves. And when he truly loves this, he has desire. Exactly so it is possible that yes he has desire for the Shechina, yes he has desire to sing a niggun of longing for the Shechina, to say tikkun chatzos.

What does it mean that you are of importance? Do you even know what the thing means? No, I say some tikkun chatzos, not to show that I am a tzaddik. I say tikkun chatzos because I have a bit of mercy on the Shechina. The mercy is not on me, I am secondary, forget about it, whatever. Mercy on the Shechina, “Your mercies are many, Hashem” (Tehillim 119:156). And the Shechina is a kind of good thing, a kind of beautiful thing, and she is like ‘an abandoned wife’ waiting for the husband of her youth. There is a bit of mercy on her.

And he does some mitzvah, or says some chapter of Tehillim, or sheds a tear, or sits on the ground, or does whatever it may be, for Your Shechina, yes, for the Shechina. So, about this is truly said what the Rebbe says, “All her pursuers overtook her in the narrow straits” (Eichah 1:3), for this is the true thing that is the true strait. The true strait is spiritual lowliness. And there can still be.

Her Feet Descend to Death: The Shechina Can Reach Even to Sheol

This is the chiddush that Kabbalah says, that this is the thing that no one grasped. No one could believe that the exile could be so long. No one believed that there could be such a descent. In other words, no one believed that this is not a deficiency, for they had too much ‘tikkun hasegulah.’ In a certain sense they had Divine comprehensions easily, they had enough faith. On the contrary, they could not know: “Her feet descend to death” (Mishlei 5:5) the Zohar and the Mekubalim say about the Shechina.

The simple meaning of Scripture, its meaning is a harlot woman, but you grasp that the harlot woman is only another level of the Shechina, only another level, another garment. The letter hei became a bit longer, became a kuf. “Her feet descend to death”, to death, to Sheol, all the way to Sheol the Shechina can reach.

In other words, in Sheol a Jew can love the Shechina, not fear. Fear — he knows, perhaps he does not have it, he strayed from the path. But he has a certain love, he has love of the Shechina. And there the Shechina says, “Ah, in Gehinnom I found, I found one who loves me.” This is greater ruach hakodesh than this, so he has true ruach hakodesh, so he has actual prophecy. Not because he is a tzaddik, wise, mighty and rich that he has prophecy, no, but because he is “How she sits alone” (Eichah 1:1) that he has prophecy, a different kind. A better kind, or there is an advantage in it over the previous kind, for then there is no need to examine the whole question of whether he intends for its own sake or does not intend for its own sake.

When a person holds himself perfect, or he is perfect, he must intend much that when he weeps over the exile of the Shechina, indeed the exile of the Shechina disturbs him, or that he is now fulfilling mitzvos from complete completeness. But one who is not a great diligent one, who is not a great wise one, is not a great perfect one, and still he loves the Shechina — he does not need to examine. He truly intends. He is truly a companion of the Shechina, the Shechina speaks with him. She does not speak with the God-fearing Jews, she speaks with the “one who sits alone”, who together with her, “weeps bitterly in the night” (Eichah 1:2).

Emek HaMelech: The Advice of Bein HaMetzarim

And we clarified that it is not enough to say that this is a parable with a nimshal, or that this is the same thing of “As it is above so it is below”, that just as there are different attributes in a person so too in the Holy One Blessed Be He, or the deeper things that the Mekubalim say, that when a person conducts himself with the attribute of chesed he awakens the attribute of chesed in the Holy One Blessed Be He. Now, this is according to the simple meaning, according to the more revealed, according to a clear way, that everyone understands.

The holy sefer “Emek HaMelech” says. The “Emek HaMelech” was a great mekubal, and wrote for himself in his sefer “Emek HaMelech” to build the entire system of the Kabbalah of the Arizal, I think built a bit on Rabbi Yisrael Sarug and others, but he built for himself, and it was very important to build on every matter the clear system, the entire clear process of Judaism, of the inner dimension of Torah, of how the Shechina appears, the foundations of Atzilus — and this was his sefer.

And he writes in his sefer, a wondrous thing: He is on the way, he writes in a practical manner, intentionally practical, that he went very strongly in the matter of the kavanah of the Name Havayah, every time, every day, in every way. This is the root of everything. Thus he brings, he says in a practical way, that thus he did, and thus he succeeded. All the success of his comprehensions was built on having before his eyes always the Name Havayah.

When the Name Havayah Does Not Illuminate

Now he says thus: But there are situations in which it is difficult to have kavanah on the Name Havayah. It is a difficult thing, there are days when it is difficult. He says, for example, the days of Bein HaMetzarim, tested and tried, thus he says, tested and tried. When trying to have kavanah on the Name Havayah, it is more difficult to remember it before the eyes, more difficult.

That is, the Arizal says such a kavanah, for example, that one who desires to know what his spiritual level is, should try to picture to himself the Name Havayah, and according to the clarity of the picture, according to the color, according to the brightness, he will know what his level is. And there are sometimes situations, perhaps not through the person’s fault, but the state of the Shechina is such, that the Name Havayah does not illuminate. Very difficult, and ‘does not illuminate’ means — it is not simple, very difficult to remember before the eyes the Name Havayah. Difficult.

What does one do in such a situation? One who does not learn secrets, the kavanos of the Arizal, does not know what to do. He says, incidentally, it seems it is hidden, the Name is hidden. It is in concealment, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me” (Tehillim 22:2), he can cry out, but he does not know what else to do. He cannot merit such devekus, such kisses of His mouth, which exist when one remembers Names before the eyes — he cannot merit them when he is in such a state.

The Advice: Temuros and Letter Exchanges

The Emek HaMelech says, that when you reach the kavanos of Bein HaMetzarim, you found that there is advice for this. There is advice. And he never reaches this — I did not find in his sefer that he reaches this, perhaps he did not get to write that part, or it is not in our possession, or perhaps yes it is, and I could not find it. But I know what he intends, for the kavanah that he seeks to bring in his sefer is mainly collected and organized from the kavanos of the Arizal.

In Shaar HaKavanos it is written that in Bein HaMetzarim — whoever learned Bnei Yissaschar, a Chassidic tzaddik who knows the kavanah — that in Bein HaMetzarim one should remember before the eyes, instead of the Name Havayah, and he inserts this into the blessings of Shemoneh Esrei, and we are not going to speak about all the details, but instead of the Name Havayah one should remember before the eyes the letters adjacent to the hei. There are different exchanges, temuros, how one can exchange the Name, just as there is Atbash, one can also exchange the letters before the Name, tet-dalet hei-alef, the letters after the Name, kaf-vav zayin-vav, one can exchange the Name Havayah, one can take many more ways, in any case another twenty-two ways, and even more, that one can exchange.

The Arizal z”l says, that his students should remember before their eyes this. And Rabbi Naftali Hertz Bachrach explains in Emek HaMelech, what this is — as I understand from his explanation — that its meaning is thus, that the Name Havayah does not illuminate, whatever its nimshal may be. But in its simple meaning, a person tries to picture to himself the Name Havayah, and it is so, “Woe, where is the Name Havayah?” The Arizal z”l says to him, “I have advice for you. First of all, you are not at fault. The reality in the world is thus, it is Bein HaMetzarim. If you wish to know what is the connection of Bein HaMetzarim? I tell you.”

You need to understand that in the letters, in the world, there are twenty-two letters. “He created His world with thirty-two paths, with ten sefiros and twenty-two letters” (Sefer Yetzirah). All the world is included from twenty-two letters. Now, from the twenty-two letters it is written in Sefer Yetzirah, “He selected three letters and established them in His great Name”. Three letters from the twenty-two are Names.

The world, if one can say that the atoms, let us say the aspect of atoms, twenty-two types of atoms in the world, from which they made all the world. Three of them, yes — for the hei is doubled — three of them are holy atoms. From them, “He selected and established in His great Name,” from those things, when one looks at them, one has kavanah on the Name.

But all the other nineteen letters are also letters. And not only are they also letters, but they are also neighbors of the Name. For one can write, one can make a code, a cipher, one can write as they speak about alef to write tav, and about beis to write shin, or some other cipher called temuros in the language of the Mekubalim. One can exchange every letter with another letter. In other words, understand that I am not now saying that this is an intellectual explanation — one can explain it in an intellectual way, but one can also explain it simply, in the way of Kabbalah, in the way of faith. The yud is only that the tenth letter is a Name, incidentally, but one before the tenth is the ninth letter. Well, why is this not a Name? It is not a Name, very good, when it is in revelation they call it yud-hei-vav-hei. But you can understand that it is only one level distant from the tes.

You Are in the State of Exile: To Walk in Garments of Exile

And today you are not a Jew in the regular state, you are in the state of exile. The Shechina, as we said before, the king’s daughter should have worn some weak garment, some clothing of a pauper, she is a wayfarer, walks on the road, walks in garments of exile. “Make for yourself vessels of exile” (Yechezkel 12:3), they walk in garments of exile, he cannot therefore walk with the Name Havayah, for then the holy letters, the Name Havayah, are hidden, concealed. This is supposedly an examination with dalet and hei and dalet, or kaf-vav and zayin-vav, and mem-tzadi pei-tzadi. And the meaning of the matter is that you walk here…

And the truth is, that all four letters need to be examined in them, one needs to learn the order of the entire alef-beis how and what. I say a chiddush: The Arizal says only the first three, for in truth there are nineteen blessings in Shemoneh Esrei, and there are in any case nineteen ways, for there are only nineteen ways that are possible, for corresponding to each one of the twenty-two letters there must be one of the combinations of the alef-beis that one can exchange it, temuros, except for three which are themselves the Name, yud-hei vav, it comes out nineteen. It comes out that in truth every blessing must have in it a temurah. The Arizal revealed to me the first three, and the rest one can complete by oneself, for this is the secret that he is teaching here.

And I think that in actual practice, one can look in Pardes in Shaarei Temuros and see how to make other combinations — I need to learn this — but one can calculate each one, as one can say that instead of tes-dalet hei-dalet, one goes another letter backward, ches-gimmel dalet-gimmel is also a Name, for it is only two letters distant from the Name, it is a bit more distant, more distant, an even greater fall. But he thinks, has kavanah, and it is no easier to have kavanah on this in its entirety than to have kavanah on the Name. There it is holiness, for every Jew can have kavanah on the Name an entire day, but this is a great thing, and in Bein HaMetzarim it is not possible.

Imagine that one can say this even more, that one from the bathroom — imagine, from the bathroom it is certainly forbidden to have kavanah, perhaps it is permitted, I do not know, one is not obligated to have kavanah in an unclean place.

The Parable of the Mezuzah

Dalet-hei dalet, about this is written in the name ‘Kuzu,’ which they write on the mezuzah on the other side, for a mezuzah in truth should be open. Written in it are the Names “Havayah our God Havayah”, and the Names guard this, remind of the Name of Hashem, and the Rambam says that this is the angel, “The angel of Hashem encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them” (Tehillim 34:8), that when a mezuzah is placed on a Jewish door, this is the angel standing at every Jewish door, the Names of Hashem.

The problem is that many times, it is written in the poskim, many times around the door it is dirty, this is not a place befitting the Name of Hashem. And the early authorities came — I do not know if they were Geonim — who decided that they would write on the other side of the mezuzah, the other side of the Name. For according to Atbash they write ‘Kuzu,’ and those Names can be in an unclean place, for this is not a Name. It is only one letter distant from the Name, it too is truly a Name, it is a code of the Name. And this is permitted.

He says, I think, in an unclean place it is permitted to have kavanah on tes-dalet hei-dalet, Names of Bein HaMetzarim, for this is not a Name — yes it is a Name, but a Name only for one who understands — but these are the studies, and one can go even more distant and more distant, one can go to all the three how they return to the Names. These are all studies of how one can do, that there is a Name, that there is a level of the Shechina truly at that level. And this is the study that the Arizal taught what to do in the days of Bein HaMetzarim.

The Main Kavanah: That the Name Should Illuminate Into the Substitute

The Arizal adds another thing, that the main kavanah is to have kavanah that the light of the Name Havayah illuminates into the substitute. That the exchanges are only a garment of the Name Havayah, they are only another level, another level from outside, more in externality, more in the temurah of the Name Havayah. And one who finds the Name tes-dalet hei-dalet — this is what the Arizal said, that he is a mekubal.

One who knows only the Name Havayah — every Jew knows it. But all those impressions only mekubalim know. What does it mean, why do only mekubalim know? Because the mekubalim are not people who are at greater levels, but they know all the levels. The mekubalim are those who know the smaller levels. The mekubalim are those who know the states of separation, the states in which the Name is clothed in those kinds of temuros and letter exchanges and gematrios and such things, and through them they find a way.

And this is a practical way. I say truly practical, my friends: He is in a state where it is difficult for him to strengthen himself, he feels bad, he feels that he sinned too much, he needs to go to the mikveh, he can be in the grip of Hashem on iron, and have kavanah on mem-tzadi pei-tzadi. And it is truly written that the Arizal says such advices about different things, if they want to say something, it is not possible to say until Atbash, and so on. And this is truly good advice, literally, I say in the way of understanding the letters, and one can speak about this in the way of mussar another time.

This is until here, and may we have a joyous Shabbos, and may we find all the letter combinations that exist, that each one of them truly is only a code, a bit more distant, a bit closer, of the Name Havayah.