The Arizal on the Torah

Parashat VaYishlach

In the portion of the Torah read this week, we are told that Jacob prepared to encounter Esau by sending him a gift. After sending the gift on ahead, “He arose that night and took his two wives and two handmaidens and eleven children and crossed over the Jabok river crossing.”[1]

As you know, the mentality of Abba [enters] the mentality of Ima, and the yesod of Abba extends further down than the yesod of Ima.

As we have explained previously, the insight of chochmah is the “raw material” of binah and the content that it processes. Inasmuch as this fundamental insight is the original spark of inspiration, its yesod, or drive for self-actualization, is greater and extends further than that of binah.

Now, the mentality of Abba does not fully enter [the mentality of Ima] until the immature mentality is expelled.

The purpose of the investment of the mentality of Abba in that of Ima is in order that they both become transformed into the mental power of Z’eir Anpin. As we know, the purpose of any intellectual insight or resulting revamping of one’s word-view is in order that this remake him as a person, and the measure of that is the extent to which his emotional relationship and response to reality is remade.

The development of the mentality of Z’eir Anpin, however, progresses through three stages: embryonic mentality, nursing mentality, and mature mentality. The progression from one stage to the next is predicated on the displacement of the old mentality by the new one.

The immature mentality is first displaced to the throat. As you know, the immature mentality consists of three Names Elokim, while the mature mentality consists of three Names Havayah. Each Name Havayah rectifies one Name Elokim.

The Name Elokim denotes tzimtzum, or contracted consciousness. Just as in educating a child, the child can at first only assimilate the most superficial aspects of the parents’ intellect, so can Z’eir Anpin at first only accept a contracted version of the mentality of Ima (in which is enclothed the mentality of Abba, as we have said). Thus, the manifestation of the three mental powers of chochmah, binah, and da’at in Z’eir Anpin is in the form the Name Elokim. In contrast, the Name Havayah denotes revelation, and therefore the mature mentality is manifest as three Names Havayah.

The yesod of Abba extends beyond both the immature and mature mentalities, descending below the level of the chest [of Z’eir Anpin].

The mature mentality of Z’eir Anpin is vested in its head, while, as we said, its immature mentality has descended to the level of its throat. However, the yesod of Abba extends further than either state of mentality. The initial insight, although a primarily intellectual experience, contains within it an element of consciousness that transcends intellect, and therefore is not limited to it.

Now, [the combined numerical value of] Havayah and Elokim is the same as that of Jabok, and this yesod [of Abba] extends further than both.

Havayah (yud-hei-vav-hei) = 10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26; Elokim (alef-lamed-hei-yud-mem) = 1 + 30 + 5 + 10 + 40 = 86; 26 + 86 = 112; Jabok (yud-beit-kuf) = 10 + 2 + 100 = 112.

This, then, is the mystical meaning of the verse “the Jabok river crossing.” After this, [the partzuf of] Ya’akov issued from [this light] that was revealed from yesod of Abba [after it extends] outward. This verse refers to him [i.e., this Ya’akov].

As we explained previously, a secondary partzuf of Ya’akov develops out of Z’eir Anpin.

Know also that there are four mystical aspects of Jabok:

1.                      [The combined numerical values of] the Names Havayah and Elokim, [as we have said].

2.                      [The combined numerical values of] the Names Ekyeh, Havayah, and Adni.

The numerical value of the Name Ekyeh (alef-hei-yud-hei, 1 + 5 + 10 + 5) is 21. The numerical value of the Name Adni (alef-dalet-nun-yud) is 65. 21 + 26 + 65 = 112.

3.                      The numerical value of the square spelling-out of the Name Havayah is 184. If we subtract 72 from this number, the remainder is 112.

“Squaring” a word in Kabbalah means developing the word from its first letter, progressively adding one more letter at each step. Thus, the “square” of the Name Havayah (yud-hei-vav-hei) would be:

yud, yud-hei, yud-hei-vav, yud-hei-vav-hei.

When these stages are each spelled out (using the letter yud), we have:

yud-vav-dalet, yud-vav-dalet hei-yud, yud-vav-dalet hei-yud vav-yud-dalet, yud-vav-dalet hei-yud vav-yud-dalet hei-yud.

Numerically, this translates into: 4(10+6+4) + 3(5+10) + 2(6+10+6) + 1(5+10)

= 4(20) + 3(15) + 2(22) + 1(15)

= 80 + 45 + 44 + 15

= 184.

If we subtract the value of the spelling-out of the four letters of the Name Havayah (using the letter yud), i.e., 72, we are left with 112.

4.                      The numerical value of [first three letters of the Name Havayah,] yud-hei-vav, when they are spelled out with the letter yud in the squared fashion is 112.

The first three letters of the Name Havayah are the three unique letters used to spell this Name; the final hei is a repeat of the of the first hei and is therefore in a certain sense not considered as much a part of the essence of the Name as the first three letters. These first three letters are therefore, in certain contexts, treated as a sort of Divine Name by themselves. Psychologically, this would refer to the powers of the soul themselves (yud: chochmah; hei: binah; vav: midot), not considering their expression (the final hei).

The numerical value of the spelling out of the squaring of this three-letter combination is as follows:

yud-vav-dalet, yud-vav-dalet hei-yud, yud-vav-dalet hei-yud vav-yud-vav (10+6+4, 10+6+4 5+10, 10+6+4 5+10 6+10+6) = 112.

As we have explained previously, the Jabok brook is associated with the struggle between good and evil, since it was there that Jacob wrestled with the angel of Esau (as is described in the following verses). We have now caught a glimpse of what this means in terms of the mystical dynamics of the universe. Although evil can make inroads and attempt to gain a foothold via the intellect, the most dangerous confrontation between good and evil occurs at the level of the emotions. Precisely because the emotions are such a pivotal part of the psyche, it is also most crucial that the battle be won at this level.

This, of course, is because the intellect is by nature more abstact and objective. The more subjective nature of the emotions make them the “Jacob’s heel” where evil can gain a foothold. At the emotional level the individual is far more likely to make choices based on “what’s good for me” than “what is good” objectively. This renders him open to self-centeredness, which diverts his consciousness from G-d, which is in turn the source of evil.

Thus, we see that Jacob, the progenitor of the Jewish people, does not come into his own as a partzuf until yesod of Abba, the drive of the initial Divine thought or conception of creation, traverses the intellect and is able to shine out unshielded and unprocessed by the intellect. It is of course crucial that the initial insight of chochmah become firmly rooted in consicousness via binah and developed into the mentality of Z’eir Anpin, precisely because of the struggle that is to ensue once yesod of Abba proceeds beyond its realm. That struggle is the struggle between Jacob and Esau; Esau does not seek to attack Jacob until he has completed his developmental stage of intellectualization of the insight and has emerged from it read to enter the land of Israel, the land of the seven pagan nations or native, unrectified emotions, in order to conquer it for holiness. When Jacob left the land of Israel originally he went to study Torah in the yeshivah of Shem and Eber, and our sages also tell us that Jacob studied Torah while tending Laban’s flock as well. Thus, his entire sojourn outside the land of Israel until this point can be envisioned as the process of the maturation of the intellect. This having been accomplished, Jacob turns his attention to the land of the emotions, and it is here that Esau, threatened by Jacob’s usurption of his hegemony over the emotions, prepares to do battle with him.

*          *         *

The next verses in the Torah read: “He took them and passed them over the brook, and did the same with his possessions. And Jacob was left alone, and a person wrestled with him until dawn.”[2]

Our sages state that [the reason Jacob remained behind was because] he went back to retrieve his small jars [and the like].[3]

As is known, the soul of a righteous individual comprises 248 [spiritual] members, each one of which possesses sparks from a number of the souls of [other] righteous individuals. All the Divine beneficence that is granted to him is given as well for the sake of all [the souls of those other righteous people] who are dependent upon him. This is why righteous people value their possessions, since [they are aware that] it is granted them from above.

According to the sages, there are 248 members (limbs and organs) of the physical body. Inasmuch as the soul possesses powers exactly corresponding to these 248 members, which it enlivens, we may speak of 248 spiritual limbs of the soul, referring to these powers that enliven and govern the 248 members of the body. By fulfilling his G-d-ordained mission in this world, the righteous person is completing the work begun by the righteous people who preceded him, and in this sense may be considerd to be actualizing the potentials of these souls and endowing them with a measure of completion and fulfillment they did not realize while they were in their own bodies.

Cognizant of this, a righteous person will realize that all the Divine beneficence granted to him during his life is not merely for the sake of fulfilling his own personal mission in this world, but for completing the mission of others who preceded him, as well. He will value his possessions not only because they allow him to accomplish his purpose in revealing Divinity in the world but also because they allow him to enhance the stature and state of completion of the souls of those who preceded him.

It is not fitting that a righteous person disdain such things, for if nothing could be accomplished by giving them to him, G-d would not have given them to him.

This is therefore why Jacob returned to collect the small jars [and the like], for had he not returned, it would have appeared as though he did not value them. Everything granted to a person from above must be cared for. He therefore went back for them, in order to show how dear they were to him.

As he prepares to do battle with Esau’s angel, Jacob summons all the G-dly energy he needs for this battle. Always cognizant of his own lack of merit, he make sure to enlist the merit of the spiritual energies of all righteous souls in the cosmic battle between good and evil, at whatever level. This is signified by his attention to detail, how he values the elements of other’s struggle within his own.

Likewise, in each individual’s personal struggle with evil, it is paramount that he recall that he wages the war not on his own merits alone, but that the merits of the righteous of all generations combine with his own and their combined energy outweighs that of evil. Also, the individual should realize the centrality and importance of his struggle; through his efforts the efforts of all generations is given meaning and, hopefully, fulfillment.

—translated from Sha’ar HaPesukim, Sefer HaLikutim, and Likutei Torah by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky