The Secret of Humility and Dancing: The Path to Drawing Down the Shechinah
Lesson No. 205 | Wednesday, Parashas Nitzavim-Vayeilech, 21 Elul 5759 - Sheva Brachos (Seven Nuptial Blessings)
Through dancing and clapping hands out of true humility, a person nullifies their pride and sweetens all the harsh judgments. The wife, who represents the aspect of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), sees her husband's inner essence and helps him attain humility, just as King David humbled himself in dancing before Hashem despite the humiliation he suffered from Michal.
A wedding is a reenactment of the Giving of the Torah: the candles are the torches of Mount Sinai, the orchestra represents the thunderous voices, and the Sheva Brachos (Seven Nuptial Blessings) are the continuation—seven days of the Giving of the Torah, seven encompassing spiritual lights, and seven voices. Through dancing and clapping hands, one can proclaim to the entire world that Hashem exists. The main greatness of Hashem is that the nations of the world also come to know that there is a God who rules and governs. Therefore, the holy Zohar says regarding Yisro, that when he did teshuvah (repentance) and declared, "Now I know that Hashem is greater than all gods," the entire nation did teshuvah following him, and Hashem's Name was magnified and exalted in the world.
The Aspect of Yaakov: Drawing Down Godliness Through Humility
In order to proclaim to the world that Hashem exists, we need the spiritual aspect of our forefather Yaakov. Yaakov is "the middle bar that bolts from one end to the other." The Noam Elimelech explains the verse:
"I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end (ekev)" (Psalms 119:112).
The aspect of Yaakov is that he is always the "ekev" (the heel, or the very end). Avraham and Yitzchak reached their respective spiritual levels, but Yaakov always remained in the state of the heel. "If a person knows that he is always the heel, that he is always at the end and lower than everyone else, then he can draw down Godliness into the world."
The Talmud in Tractate Sotah (5a) expounds on the verse, "I dwell with the crushed" (Isaiah 57:15)—Hashem descends to the person who is crushed and lowly in spirit. Anyone who possesses arrogance will ultimately be diminished, as it is written, "And like the top of an ear of corn they are cut off" (Job 24:24). When a person enters a field, they first harvest the tallest stalks of corn; similarly, a person who thinks they are the highest is in danger of being harvested first, Heaven forbid. In contrast, Hashem bypassed all the towering mountains and hills and rested His Shechinah (Divine Presence) upon Mount Sinai, which did not raise itself up. He bypassed all the beautiful trees and revealed Himself in the burning bush—a thorny bush. When a person feels that they are entirely full of thorns, they become worthy of the resting of the Shechinah.
The Wife is the Shechinah: The Mirror of the Husband's Pride
The Talmud in Tractate Bava Basra (98a) states: "A haughty man will not abide"—an arrogant person finds no rest in his abode, his home. A wife does not give her husband any peace when he is full of pride. She cannot accept him, nullify herself to him, or listen to his voice as long as he acts haughtily.
"Outwardly, a person can play the part of being humble and lowly, but his wife sees the truth. She cannot tolerate any of her husband's pride." Only when he is in a state of humility and lowliness can she nullify herself to him. Rebbe Nachman says that the wife represents the aspect of the Shechinah (Divine Presence). From the casual conversations of women, one can ascertain the state of the Shechinah. This is why Mordechai would walk in the courtyard of the women's house every day "to know of Esther's well-being"—because Esther represents the Shechinah, and through her words, he knew the standing of the Shechinah.
Throughout all generations, the righteous woman of the generation represented the aspect of the Shechinah: Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah. Sarah was greater than Avraham in prophecy, and Rivkah was greater than Yitzchak. Leah, too, was greater than Yaakov in prophecy—as soon as Reuven was born, she named him with this name because she saw through her Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration) that he was destined to save Yosef from the pit, even though Yosef would take the birthright from him. Yaakov did not see this, which is why he made the striped coat for Yosef, but everything was guided by Divine Providence so that the Jewish people would descend to Egypt and Yosef would shatter all the impurities there.
Nullifying the Evil Inclination and Sweetening Judgments Through Dancing
Rebbe Nachman says that the tzaddikim have already nullified all the impurities for us. The entire evil inclination that exists today is merely an optical illusion, the power of imagination, like spider webs. "There is no evil inclination at all; it is simply boredom, sadness, and recklessness. The moment a person learns Torah, prays, and travels to the graves of tzaddikim, he nullifies it." The main thing is not to give the evil inclination any rest, but to exhaust it through prayers, praises, songs, and dancing.
The Chida says that idolatry can only be nullified through singing and dancing. If a person does not dance, it is only because of his pride, and pride is an aspect of idolatry that brings burning wrath to the world. The Ben Ish Chai explains why dancing sweetens harsh judgments: when a person begins to dance and spin around, even the angels and the prosecuting forces in Heaven start to laugh.
"A person learns Torah—he has pride; he prays—he has pride. Dancing is the only thing in which there is no pride." When you finish praying and do a few spins, everyone in Heaven bursts out laughing, and through this, all the harsh judgments and prosecuting angels are nullified from upon the person.
The Dancing of King David and the Humiliation from Michal
The Midrash describes the tremendous dancing of King David during the bringing up of the Ark of the Covenant. David was "dancing with all his might"—shouting with loud voices, and "leaping"—dressed in garments of fine gold that jingled like bells. He would jump high, do figure-eights in the air, and overturn the Sefiros (Divine emanations), and he did not care what anyone would say about him.
When David returned to bless his household, his wife Michal, the daughter of Shaul, came out to meet him. Michal was not a simple woman; the Talmud in Tractate Eruvin (96a) says that Michal the daughter of Kushi (referring to Shaul) would don Tefillin and the Sages did not protest, as she had tremendous spiritual attainments. But when she saw David dancing like this, she humiliated him before the eyes of all Israel and argued that her father, King Shaul, had never behaved with such a lack of dignity.
But King David answered her out of immense humility: "And I will be even more lightly esteemed than this" (2 Samuel 6:22)—as much as I humbled myself in dancing, I still have not humbled myself enough. I was willing to dance and humble myself even more for the honor of Hashem, may He be blessed.
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