The Depth of Sweetening: How Learning Gemara and Torah Novellae Nullify Judgments

Lesson No. 32 | Lesson 1 - (Continued from No. 31) Friday Morning, Parashas Matos, 23 Tammuz 5755

A profound article explaining how studying Torah in depth and creating chiddushim (novel Torah insights) in Shas (the Talmud) and Poskim (Halachic authorities) elevates a person to the Sefirah of Binah (Understanding), which is the root of judgments. Through enthusiasm in study and the joy of pilpul (analytical debate), all harsh decrees can be sweetened (mitigated) from upon the Jewish people.

The Daily Schedule and the Connection to the Supernal Chariot

A person must strengthen himself like a lion to wake up in the morning for the service of his Creator, so that he awakens the dawn. In the morning, we are incorporated into the aspect of the 'lion' of the Supernal Chariot. Afterward, during Minchah (the afternoon prayer), we must be incorporated into the 'ox' in order to rectify the sin of the Golden Calf (since the word 'Minchah' shares the same gematria/numerical value as 'Egel' - calf). And in the evening, at Chatzos (midnight), we are incorporated into the aspect of 'man' in the Chariot.

Therefore, the importance of keeping to the proper times is immense. One must not be late for the time of prayer, because the letters of the prayer are what arrange the hours of the morning and the night. If the night ends and a person has not prayed, it turns out that the entire night was left abandoned and everything proceeds out of order. When prayer is held in its proper sequence, the entire day is planned and arranged properly.

"I Have Set Hashem Before Me" – The Secret of Learning Gemara

In order to merit the spiritual level of "I have set Hashem before me always," where the Tetragrammaton (the holy Name of Hashem) constantly shines before one's eyes, the only path is through learning Gemara. The entire Gemara is composed of awesome yichudim (Kabbalistic unifications). If a person does not have the study of Gemara, he will not be able to hold the Name of Hashem before his eyes.

When a person learns in depth, he becomes an aspect of a "revealer of depths." On the Day of Judgment, when a person wants to sweeten the judgments, he must learn with depth and intense concentration. When Hashem sees that judgments are overpowering the Jewish people, the greatest sweetening is achieved through the study of "Razin d'Oraisa" – the secrets of the Torah. This is the peak of profundity and true depth, and through this, the judgments are immediately nullified.

Ascending to the Root of Judgments: The Secret of the 'Bashan' and the Sefirah of Binah

A wondrous hint is brought in the name of Rabbi Tzvi of Urgov on the verse:

"Golan in the Bashan, for the Manassites" (Devarim 4:43).

When the Satan wants to overpower us, he tries to increase forgetfulness, and this is the secret of the name 'Menashe' – from the phrase "For God has made me forget (nashani)." To be saved from this, Hashem, in His abundant mercy, reveals the 'Bashan' to us. 'Bashan' (בשן) is an acronym for the fifty (נ - Nun) gates of Binah (שערי בינה - Sha'arei Binah). If a person learns Torah that flows down from the fifty gates of Binah, from the Bashan, all judgments are immediately sweetened.

The holy Arizal teaches that the sweetening of judgments is accomplished specifically through the inner dimensions of the Torah (Kabbalah). But the Kedushas Yitzchak of Komarno asks: What should a person do if he cannot learn the book Etz Chaim and create novel insights into its secrets? His answer is that he should learn a great deal of Gemara and Poskim, and make an effort to create chiddushim (novel insights) in them.

Every person has his own portion and his own chiddush in the Gemara and the Poskim. When a person learns in depth, reveals deep concepts, and innovates something profound and new, he sweetens all the judgments. Why? Because the root of judgments awakens from the Sefirah of Binah (the divine emanation of Understanding). Every chiddush that a person creates in Torah ascends to the Sefirah of Binah, and thereby elevates us to the very root of the judgment—and there, the judgments are sweetened. When we are situated below the Sefirah of Binah, judgments can rule over us, but the ascent to Binah through understanding one thing from another sweetens everything.

The Joy of Pilpul and Enthusiasm in Study

Hashem rejoices in pilpulim (analytical Torah debates) — "He delights in pilpul." When a person engages in pilpul in Torah, he brings joy to Heaven. The moment there is joy, and the King, so to speak, begins to laugh and rejoice, He releases all the bound prisoners, and at that hour, there is absolutely no judgment upon the Jewish people.

The sweetening of judgments can be accomplished through any words of Torah, even the simple literal meaning (peshat), provided that the person learns with desire, awakening, and enthusiasm. Even if he did not merit to create an actual chiddush, the very renewal and enthusiasm in his study turns the learning itself into a chiddush, and this sweetens all the judgments. A person must "kill himself" over his learning (exerting total self-sacrifice), to learn in a renewed way full of vitality, and through this, to cut off all the accusers and prosecutors from upon the Jewish people.

Part 1 of 3 — Lesson No. 32

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