The Secret of the Chasan and Kallah: Sweetening the Judgments and Opening the Closed Mem
Shiur No. 206 | Sunday, the eve of the 25th of Elul 5759 - Sheva Brachos (seven wedding blessings) at the Chen Halls in Jerusalem, may it be built and established
The complete sweetening of the judgments and the nations of the world is accomplished through song, melody, and the joy of a chasan (groom) and kallah (bride). During the Chuppah (wedding canopy) ceremony, the chasan and kallah recreate the secret of creation, open the closed Mem of King Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah), and draw down a Divine spark of renewal to all the worlds.
Today, the complete sweetening of the judgments and Gevuros (severities) is achieved only through melodies and dancing. As Rebbe Nachman explains (Likutey Moharan, Torah 32), it is impossible to sweeten the Gevuros except through song and melody. This is the secret of the Tribe of Levi, who receive the Gevuros and sweeten them.
All the nations of the world are essentially Gevuros that we have not yet sweetened. All the seventy nations, the armies, and the celestial princes—everything stems from the use of Gevuros that we have not yet managed to elevate to their root, and from this, the kelipos (spiritual impurities) were created. We have no need to fight them or speak with them; rather, we only need to elevate them to their root through melodies and songs, until no Gevuros remain in the world. Avraham Avinu (our Patriarch Abraham) managed to elevate only half of the Gevuros in the world, which amount to two hundred and seventy thousand myriads.
The Power of a Wedding: Consuming the Gevuros
Here, a tremendous secret hidden within a wedding is revealed. The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin expounds on the verse:
"Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they be no more" (Psalms 59:14).
At a wedding, it is possible to consume all the nations of the world—meaning, to elevate all the remaining Gevuros. Through the kosher kallah and the dancing that brings her joy, it is possible to completely consume all evil.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 94b) tells of the wicked Sancheriv (Sennacherib) who came with a massive army of mighty warriors wearing scale armor, numbering sixty thousand myriads and horsemen. This exact massive number of soldiers came against Avraham Avinu, came against King Chizkiyahu, and will similarly come in the war of Gog and Magog. This camp stretched across four hundred parsangs.
The Missed Opportunity of King Chizkiyahu and the Secret of Song
The holy Arizal explains in Sefer HaLikutim that Hashem wanted to make Chizkiyahu the Mashiach and Sancheriv Gog and Magog. Avraham Avinu managed to defeat this massive army, which consisted of one hundred and eighty-five troop commanders, in the merit of his power of spiritual attainment. He attained the "inner voice," from which the nations descend endlessly.
King Chizkiyahu also attained this voice, but in order to reach the second and complete level, he had to sing a song of praise. Had Chizkiyahu sung a song of praise, he would have attained the highest level and elevated all the Gevuros entirely.
All the nations of the world, as well as all our negative desires and thoughts, are Gevuros that we have not elevated. If we rectify our thoughts and desires, all the nations of the world that descend from those Gevuros will automatically be nullified. Therefore, song is required in all spiritual work.
The Secret of the Kallah and the Letter Hey
This is the deep secret of a chasan and kallah. The verse states:
"For I will make a full end (kallah) of all the nations" (Jeremiah 30:11).
Why is she called a "kallah" (bride)? Because through the kosher kallah, who embodies the aspect of Sarah Imeinu (our Matriarch Sarah) and King David—the "sweet singer of Israel"—it is possible to reach the level of "I will make a full end (kallah) of all the nations." She is also called kallah after the word techeiles (blue thread), and after the word kullah (all of her).
Before the wedding, the kallah is in the aspect of the letter Dalet (representing dalah, poor and impoverished). The entire spiritual work is to transform the Dalet into a Hey, and to incorporate her into the Name of Havayah (Hashem's four-letter Name). This is accomplished by drawing the letter Yud, which is the secret of the ten types of melody, into the Dalet, thereby transforming it into a Hey.
The Wedding Ring and the Closed Mem
The Tikkunei Zohar (5a) reveals a wondrous secret: At the moment the chasan says to the kallah under the Chuppah, "Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moshe and Israel," a heavenly voice goes forth throughout all the worlds.
When Hashem created the world, He first created the world of Atzilus (Emanation), and from it descended the worlds of Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation), and Asiyah (Action). Hashem wanted to sanctify the three lower worlds and reconnect them with the world of Atzilus. At that moment, a Heavenly voice (Bas Kol) emerged and said: "Behold, you are consecrated to Me with this ring."
What is this cosmic ring? It is the closed letter Mem (מ) of the verse:
"To him who increases the authority, and for peace without end" (Isaiah 9:6).
Hashem sanctified all the worlds with this closed *Mem*, yet it remained closed. The complete Geulah (Redemption) will only occur when this Mem is completely opened, when the tzaddik who knows how to open it arrives. King Chizkiyahu did not merit to open it because he did not sing a song of praise.
The Spark of Creation: "From the Beginning, God Created"
The Gemara relates that the Attribute of Strict Justice prosecuted against Chizkiyahu and said: "David, King of Israel, who sang so many songs and praises before You, You did not make him Mashiach; yet Chizkiyahu, for whom You performed all these miracles and who did not sing a song of praise before You, You will make him Mashiach?". Immediately, the Mem became closed.
In order for there to be a complete creation, the closed Mem must be opened and transformed into the letter Beis (ב), since an open Mem takes the shape of a Beis. Therefore, the holy Zohar says that in the Torah scroll of the Mesivta Ila'ah (the Heavenly Yeshiva), it is not written "Bereshis bara Elokim" (In the beginning, God created), but rather it is written:
"Mereshis bara Elokim" (From the beginning, God created).
The holy groom is the Divine spark with which a completely new creation of the world begins every single day. This spark descends from the highest supernal worlds—from the Hod (Splendor) of Adam Kadmon (the primordial level of creation), through the Gevurah (Severity) of Atik (the most ancient, concealed level of the Divine), and down to the concealed brain of Arich Anpin (the level of Divine Will). The bride is the closed *Mem* that surrounds this spark, and through the consecration (kiddushin), the creation begins anew—'from the beginning' (*mereshis*).
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 206
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