The Secret of Guarding the Eyes: Rescue from the Klipos of Imagination and the Power of Jerusalem
Lesson No. 189 | Sunday, Parashas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim, 2 Iyar 5759
An in-depth discourse explaining how blemishing the eyes causes a person to fall into the imaginary world of the klipah (spiritual husk) of Esav, and how every sin clothes a person in klipos. Through the secrets of gilgulim (reincarnations), the immense power of the Land of Israel to remove all klipos is explained, and the secret of the name of Yehoshua bin Nun is revealed.
The moment a person opens his eyes to this world without guarding them, seventy klipos of Esav clothe him. Esav represents the concept of "shav" (falsehood and vanity), as is written regarding the wicked. The entire essence of Esav, and all the forces of wickedness in the world, are rooted in this falsehood. When a person opens his eyes to the sights of the street, he creates for himself firmaments of falsehood and heavens of falsehood, which are the aspect of "kosnos ohr" (garments of skin).
This entire creation is vanity; it is an imaginary creation that does not truly exist, because it is the opposite of Hashem, blessed be He, and whatever is the opposite of Hashem simply does not exist. It is merely an illusion designed for the purpose of testing mankind. Adam HaRishon (the First Man) fell into this illusion of "a lust for the eyes," and when a person opens his eyes to worldly desires, he lives his entire day in illusions and the power of imagination.
The secret of the gematria (numerical value): the klipah of the dog and the pig.
When a person sins, he draws harsh klipos upon himself. The word "aveirah" (sin) has a gematria of 277. This number corresponds exactly to two severe klipos: "kalba" (dog, 53) and "chazira" (pig, 224), which together equal exactly 277. With every sin a person commits, he becomes clothed in the klipah of the dog and the pig.
Due to blemishes of the eyes, a person is liable to be reincarnated as a dog or a pig. When a soul must return in a gilgul (reincarnation) to achieve its tikkun (rectification), it passes through several animals. First, it comes back as a camel, to see if the person will do teshuvah (repentance). When the soul is reincarnated, it feels this degradation and must cry out to Hashem. If he does not cry out and fails to do teshuvah, he is reincarnated as a hyrax, and afterward as a hare. Each stage is higher and demands greater Torah learning to rectify. Finally, if he still has not done teshuvah, he is reincarnated as a pig. This is the fourth reincarnation, as hinted at in the verse:
"Behold, Hashem does all these things, twice, three times with a man" (Iyov 33:29).
After the "three times," the fourth reincarnation is the pig. Even before a person is actually reincarnated, he already becomes clothed in this klipah during his lifetime. A person who opens his eyes in the street, looking right and left at inappropriate sights, is already clothed right now in the klipah of the dog and the pig.
The prayer of David and Shlomo.
Regarding this, Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) prayed in Mishlei (Proverbs):
"Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with my allotted bread" (Mishlei 30:8).
What is the meaning of "poverty nor wealth"? Chazal (our Sages) say: "There is none poorer than the dog, and none richer than the pig." Shlomo HaMelech prayed: 'Give me neither poverty nor wealth'—do not reincarnate me as a dog, which is poor, nor as a pig, which is rich. He begged for atonement for his sins so that he would not have to return in these reincarnations of the klipah of Esav.
David HaMelech (King David) also prayed regarding the departure of his soul from this world, pleading:
"Rescue my soul from the sword, my only one from the grip of the dog" (Tehillim 22:21).
He begged that Hashem not punish him with these reincarnations. The only way for a person to be saved from these reincarnations is by beginning to guard his eyes. Then, he will merit to be included in the Holy Chariot—in the ox, the lion, and the eagle of the Divine Chariot, which are holy animals, rather than the animals of the Sitra Achra (the Other Side).
The war of the worlds in our mother's womb and the prayer of Moshe.
Moshe Rabbeinu prayed 515 prayers over the course of seven days, from the 1st of Adar until the 7th of Adar. One of his prayers was that the Jewish people should be saved and not have to return in the reincarnations of a dog and a pig. He prayed that the Holy One, blessed be He, would give them the strength to overcome blemishes of the eyes. Therefore, Moshe showed them the Chariot "in the likeness of a hand," a great secret intended to extract them from these klipos. The phrase "Yadecha HaChazakah" (Your strong hand) has a gematria of 159, which is the numerical equivalent of "katan" (small).
This war began even in our mother's womb. When Yaakov and Esav were fetuses, Esav already drew upon himself the ministering angel of Esav (the Samael) in order to kill Yaakov, and Yaakov drew down Michael, the great ministering angel, to fight him. Each wanted to crush the other's head. Esav is called "rav" (great/elder), which hints at the acronym of the two klipos: "rash" (poor - the dog) and "osher" (wealth - the pig).
The power of the Land of Israel and the secret of Yehoshua's name.
How do we merit to be saved from all this? The "Megaleh Amukos" reveals a novel insight: When a person is in the Land of Israel, in the holy city of Jerusalem, this is the place to remove all the kelipos (impure husks) in the world. Even things that Moshe Rabbeinu did not merit, we can merit in the merit of the Land of Israel and Jerusalem.
This connects to a tremendous secret brought down in the Gemara in Tractate Arachin (32b), regarding Yehoshua bin Nun. At the end of Parashas Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu says to Yehoshua:
"And I commanded Yehoshua at that time, saying, 'Your eyes have seen all that Hashem your God has done to these two kings...'" (Devarim 3:21)
In the merit of guarding his eyes ("your eyes have seen"), Yehoshua reached such a tremendous spiritual level that his name was completed. Originally, he was called Hoshea; Moshe added the letter Yud to his name, and at the end of the Book of Devarim, he already appears in perfection with two Vavs – "Yehoshua" (spelled with an extra Vav). He reached perfection and was able to bring all the salvations and miracles upon entering the Land of Israel.
But the great wonder is revealed in the Book of Nechemia, where it describes what happened to Yehoshua at the end of his days:
"And all the congregation of those who had returned from the captivity made Sukkos and dwelled in the Sukkos, for since the days of Yeshua bin Nun the Children of Israel had not done so until that day; and there was very great joy" (Nechemia 8:17)
The prophet calls him "Yeshua bin Nun." He lost the letter Hei, which was a root letter of his original name, and he lost the letter Vav that he received at the end of the Book of Devarim. They removed two letters from his name! The Gemara asks: What was the great and terrible Divine wrath upon Yehoshua that caused two letters to be removed from his name before his passing? (Of course, his passing atoned for everything and the letters returned to him).
And another tremendous question arises from the verse: What is the meaning of "they had not made such Sukkos since the days of Yehoshua bin Nun"? Did King David not make Sukkos?! Did King Shlomo, about whom it is said "every man under his vine and under his fig tree" and that they were as numerous as the sand of the sea, eating and drinking, not make Sukkos?! Did the righteous kings Asa, Yehoshafat, and Chizkiyahu not make Sukkos?! How is it possible that a congregation of four hundred thousand who went up with Ezra made Sukkos the likes of which had never been seen? These are the deep questions that the Gemara clarifies regarding the secret of the holiness of the Land.
Part 3 of 3 — Lesson No. 189