Rosh HaShanah - 076 Repairing The Cosmic Mix-Up

The Creation Begins and Ends With Mixture

B’siyata d’shmaya, we are in the month of Elul, the month in which the world was created, in preparation for the day of Rosh Hashanah.

The first explicit statement in the Torah of the ten statements in which the world was created is, “Hashem said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.^[1]” This is the first occasion that Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s statement is explicit. But immediately afterwards it says, “Hashem saw the light that it was good, and Hashem separated between the light and the darkness. Hashem called the light - ‘day’, and the darkness, He called ‘night’...^[2]” Our Rabbis taught us, as is well-known, that the light, at its inception, consisted of both light and darkness functioning as a mixture. “And Hashem separated (vayavdel) between the light and the darkness,” there then became a reality of separation - havdalah.

Upon reflection, the first thing that was revealed in the world - light - at its point of revelation, is found to be a mixture. ‘Light and darkness functioning as a mixture^[3]’. Rosh Hashanah is called “ori” (my light)^[4] - “LeDovid Hashem ori^[5]”. The dissolution of that original light, of which was said: “Hashem said, ‘Let there be light’” - this is Rosh Hashanah, “LeDovid Hashem ori”. Nevertheless, the first thing to be revealed in the world was revealed as a mixture (light and darkness functioning as a mixture). Afterwards, Hashem brought about a separation, light by itself and darkness by itself, “Hashem called the light, ‘day’, and the darkness He called ‘night’”. But its origin was as a mixture.

The last thing to be created in ma’aseh bereishis also shares this same root. “Hashem said, ‘Let us make man’^[6]”, and afterwards, Hashem cast “a deep sleep upon the man and he slept; and He took one of his sides...^[7]” From the outset, man and woman were created mixed together (according to one opinion - with two faces, and to the other she was his tail^[8]). Hakadosh Boruch Hu then cast a deep sleep upon him (them) and took one of his sides, separating that mixture. If so, the first thing created in the world (light) started as a mixture, light and darkness functioning as a mixture. The last thing to be created (man) was also created as a kind of mixture. First a mixture was made of man and woman and then they were separated from one another.

Any perceptive person understands that the root of existence that was revealed during the days of ma’aseh bereishis is, in essence, the inner depth of all creation. If the first thing to be created was as a mixture, and the last thing was created as a mixture, this means that the reality of all creation was built in the form of a mixture. This is the reality of creation - that even that which was created in the intermediate days was created in the same manner, whose foundation is essentially a mixture.

Let us sharpen this idea further. “And there was evening (erev) and there was morning...^[9]” - evening is called “erev”, as is well-known, from the lingual root (ayin-reish-beis) meaning mixture (ta’aroves). “Hashem called the light, ‘day’, and the darkness He called, ‘night’”. Is there really complete darkness at night? “The great luminary for dominion over the day, and the small luminary for dominion over the night.” ^[10] Therefore, at night there is not complete darkness. And so, when it is said, “and darkness He called, ‘night’” - darkness is night, but there is still a bit of light in it. This is the meaning of, “And it was evening (erev) and it was morning”. Day is illumination, but the night, which is darkness, is not a total darkness. Night is a mixture of light and darkness functioning as a mixture, therefore it is called “erev” (from the word taaruvos/mixture).

According to this, how do we perceive the Creation? Is it a recurring process of day, night and then day, or is it a process of night, day and then night? Or, in other words (but it is really the same concept): Is it a cycle of morning-evening-morning, or is it evening-morning-evening? For most halachos, the order is evening and then morning. “And there was evening and there was morning” - this is the order of the beginning of the day. Where does Yom Rishon (the first day) begin? From the night. The same goes for Yom Sheini (the second day). For Yom Rishon, there is less of a practical difference (though there is of course a practical difference), but the most fundamental example of a day when there is an outright practical difference is Shabbos Kodesh. When does Shabbos begin? It starts from the evening until the end of the next day. Indeed this applies to many other halachos, in fact most halachos are built upon evening being first and then morning. So what is the order of the creation at its root? Evening, morning, and then evening. In the language of the posuk it is called “from evening to evening^[11]”. This is the perception of time.

If so, the depth of the matter is that time begins in the evening and ends in the evening. Therefore the order of time is not morning, evening and morning. With korbanos, there is such a law. A korban is not sacrificed at night. If there are organs that have not been consumed in the daytime, then they are sacrificed, but what is the time of the offering of the korban? First the morning tamid, and then all the other sacrifices - “upon it complete all the other sacrifices”, ending with the afternoon tamid, but, they are consumed for a day and night, or two days and a night. This is an opposing example, nevertheless the fundamental order of things is evening, morning and evening. In other words, the perception is that we start with a mixture and end with a mixture. And in between, we have a point of clarification, which is called morning. If so, the inner order of creation is that the beginning of everything is built as a mixture.

Where do we find a clear and tangible example of this in man? “Night was only created for sleep,” as the Gemara says^[12], but when a person goes to sleep, does he fall asleep immediately? In general, the way in which the world was created is that it is a process. “Asleep yet not asleep, awake yet not awake.”^[13] Even when a person wakes up, does he wake up immediately? It is written explicitly^[14] that one should not get up immediately when he wakes up, but should remain in place for a while so that he should not get up in confusion, since a person does not wake up immediately, rather he initially wakes up to a mixed state, and then he wakes up completely. If so, at the beginning of every day, and at the end of every day, it is not that a person passes from a state of sleep to a state of awake, and from a state of awake to a state of sleep, but rather he passes from his initial state to a state of mixture and then to second state and so on and so forth. This is the order of the creation of the world. This example is very fundamental.

Everything in creation follows its beginning. In the language of our Rabbis, as is well known, “The body is drawn after the head.”^[15]So if the “head” was morning, then it is the mixture that would be drawn after the morning. But if the beginning is evening, a mixture, then the whole day, how is it characterized? As a reality of mixture. This is the essential definition of the reality of creation as we recognize it.

The Tree of Knowledge was “mixed good and evil”. How did there come to exist within it both good and evil? There existed in it a mixture, since that is the root of creation: “And there was evening...”. Why were Adam Harishon and Chava inclined to eat from the Tree of Knowledge? Because at the basis of the beginning of their perception was a reality of mixture. So if they are inclined towards mixture, to which way did they incline, towards the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge? They inclined towards eating from the Tree of Knowledge, because their reality is one of mixture.

Rosh HaShanah – The Time When We Are Sifted

Now we can understand clearer what happens when Rosh Hashanah arrives. Hakadosh Boruch Hu sits and judges the world’s inhabitants. A person did very many deeds throughout the year. There were good deeds and, Rachmana litzlan, there were also deeds to the contrary. Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment, it is a day for the “process of borer”, a time to sort and sift things out. What does Hashem do on Rosh Hashanah? He sorts through all the deeds that were done as a mixture throughout the entire year, to see “where the person is holding” [what the person’s general spiritual level is].

What happens when there is a ta’aroves (a mixture)? Of course, there are dry mixtures, there are wet mixtures, and other laws of mixtures such as with terumah or orlah, but the simple and fundamental dry mixture, what is the din? We go after the majority (rov). Every mixture (ta’aroves) has in it the letters resh-vav-beis (rov). With which din do we judge a mixture? We go after the rov (majority). This is the definition of the judgment of Rosh Hashanah. How does Hashem judge man on Rosh Hashanah? “Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah^[16]”, one book for the tzadikim gemurim, one book for the reshoim gemurim, and a book for the beinonim. Are the tzadikim gemurim those who are perfectly righteous and have never sinned? It refers to those who have mostly merits, and conversely, the reshoim have mostly sins. Man is judged according to his majority.

If so, what then is the entire definition of Rosh Hashanah? What does it come to define? Although “there is no righteous man who will do good in the land and will not sin^[17]”, if he repents he can be a tzadik gamur, but for the vast majority of human beings, what is their reality? It is a reality of mixture. The majority is what defines which way the point of the mixture inclines. If it inclines towards good, he is a tzadik. If, Heaven forbid, it inclines towards bad, he is a rasha. The entire foundation of Rosh Hashanah is built upon the perception that when a person arrives at judgment, usually he is coming from a reality of mixture. It is from within that mixture that they come to judge the person. They decide his judgment, by rule of majority, to which side he belongs, to this side or to the other side.

If we have understood up to this point, that everything at its inception is a majority, a mixture, and the end of everything is also a mixture, how therefore does the year start? It starts by way of clarifying this mixture, nonetheless it starts from a mixture. And the end of the year is also evident as a reality of mixture.

According to this, what we have said about the beginning of the world, and what we have said about Rosh Hashanah of each year, so too one can say with regards to an encompassing view of all of history.

Let us refine this point. There are two perspectives that a person should have when he comes to view Rosh Hashanah: There is a lower perspective, and a higher perspective. The smaller perspective is a person’s own self-accounting. “Who relates the end from the beginning…”^[18] “A land that... the eyes of Hashem you G-d are on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”^[19] So when man reckons his soul’s accounting (and likewise they reckon for him from above), what is the perspective? “From the beginning of the year to the end of the year” - what he did from the beginning of the year until the end of year. This is one perspective of Rosh Hashanah.

What is the second perspective of Rosh Hashanah? A perspective from the beginning of days to the end of days. Where is this perspective written? We declare on Rosh Hashanah the Malchuyos, Zichronos and Shofaros. What are the Zichronos? “You remember all deeds, and also none of the creations are hidden from you.^[20]” We begin to mention from the beginning of days. Hashem remembered Noach, and so on and so forth, from the beginning of days until where we find ourselves. If so, when we mention Zichronos on Rosh Hashanah, what is the definition of the remembrance? “You remember all deeds”, everything. From the beginning of days to the end of days. As for Shofaros, our Rabbis have said, as is explained by Rav Saadia Ga’on, that there are ten reasons for blowing the shofar. One of the reasons is to remind us of the shofar of the end of days: “It will be on that day the great shofar will be blown.^[21]” So what does the shofar evoke for us? The end of all the world’s days. What will be then? “On that day Hashem will be one, and His name will be one.”^[22] Then His kingship will be revealed in its entirety.

Consequently, each and every year that we work to accept Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King over us, there are two perspectives. One perspective: We accept Him as King in relation to the situation we are in now. The King sits on the throne of law and judgment over what happened with each person this past year. This is one judgment, one perspective.

The second perspective is that, as our Rabbis say and is brought in the Rishonim and also in the Gr”a, man is judged about the next world, as Tosafos states^[23]. In other words, it is a judgment on the whole entire creation, on who will be a ben olam haba (destined for the World To Come) due to the entirety of his deeds, and not necessarily this year specifically. Consequently, when we accept His kingship, it is a form of acceptance of the kingship that will be at the end of the days of the world, “On that day Hashem will be one and His name one”. The Zichronos bring to mind all the days of the world, whereas the Shofaros evoke the light of the end: “On that day the great shofar will be blown”.

If so, Rosh Hashanah presents us with two ways of seeing things. One way is a perspective of this year, for each and every individual there is a judgment on this year. And there is also a deeper, more encompassing way, a second way, which is the more complete understanding: A perspective of all the days of the world, from beginning to end. And when it is understood this way, then if at the beginning of the creation of the world and at the end of the days of ma’aseh Bereishis, at the beginning of every day and at the end of every day, and so too at the essence of Rosh Hashanah, the foundation is a mixture - then likewise, there is the great mixture of all the days of the world.

The Mixture At The End of Time: The Erev Rav

What is the great mixture of all the days of the world? To understand clearly: At the beginning of time, in whom was revealed the element of mixture? The Serpent tempted Chavah to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, where good and evil were mixed with one another. So what is the power of the Serpent? What is its seduction? Its power is to connect human beings with mixture. This was at the beginning of the world.

At the end of days, as our Rabbis have taught us, as is well-known and is much explained by the Gr’a, and is evident and tangible to anyone observant, there will be the ascendancy of the Erev Rav (the Mixed Multitude) that will rule over the entire generation. What is the depth of the matter that the Erev Rav rules at the end of days? The Erev Rav rules at the end of days because the Erev Rav is means “mixture”. The translation of the word Erev Rav literally means “great mixture”.

There is a small Erev - a small mixture (called Erev Zeir), and there is also a great Erev , a great mixture (called Erev Rabbah, or Erev Rav). Just as in the beginning of days, the day Adam was created, the Serpent’s  seduction was to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil mixed with each other, a mixture - thus began the order of creation, as was explained besiyata d’shmaya until now - so too, the end of days is also built in the same way. The end of days is built in the manner of, “From evening to evening.” The world began with a mixture, and what will be the end of the world? It too will be by way of a mixture.

But just as we blow the shofar now, but the shofar that we will blow at the end of days will be a great shofar, “And it will be on that day the great shofar will be blown”; so too the mixture that will be at the end of days is not a small mixture, it is a great mixture. What is the difference between a small mixture and a great mixture? The meaning of a small mixture is that it starts in the “evening” and ends in the “evening”, begins with a mixture and ends in a mixture. What is a great mixture? That even everything in between becomes a reality of mixture.

This is the force of the great mixture that exists. If only the beginning and end are a mixture but the middle is not a mixture, then is the majority a mixture or not a mixture? The majority is not a mixture. But if the force of the mixture applies to the whole scope of existence, then the mixture includes its entirety. This is the force called the Erev Rav.

These matters are the clear and fundamental understanding. When a person makes an accounting of his soul for the whole year, each person according to his standing, he must first understand: What is the existence in which we live in? We live, according to our Rabbis, in an existence called Erev Rav.

It is not only that there are people who are Erev Rav, the leaders of the shirkers who are the Erev Rav, though certainly this is true, as stated by our Rabbis. But what is the deeper definition? That through them, since they control the deep, inner helm of the leadership, then everything is in a form of mixture. What type of mixture? Not a small mixture, but a large mixture. As a result of this, man’s deeds are all mingled in the mixture. The deepness of the mixture surrounds reality from all sides, every aspect of it is impacted by the existence of mixture.

How The Erev Rav Affects All of Our Deeds

The consequence of this and the practical difference to us, is that when man comes to think about the deeds he has done throughout the year, each man according to his soul’s accounting, there is of course the first and fundamental perspective: Is what he has done a mitzvah? Is what he did an aveirah? What are his deeds? This is the first step.

The second stage, which is our focus, at present: The things that we do, each and every thing we do, does it consist of a mixture? This is not a question of either right or left, of positive or negative, rather this is a question of the things that we have done, are they done in the form of a mixture? Certainly this was true for all the days of the world, the beginning is mixed and the end is mixed. But, in depth, as has been explained, the force of the mixture encompasses everything. And so everything is mixed with one another in a mixture of majority. Everything turns into a mixed reality. And therefore each and every act that we do, and in more precise language, most of the deeds - and the majority defines the entirety - in what way are they done? They are done in the form of an act that a person does that contains a reality of mixture. A reality of a mixture means that the act is not clean, is not pure, but instead it consists of a mixture.

Let us give the most fundamental and clear example of Rosh Hashanah. We have two fundamental approaches to Rosh Hashanah. One approach is to accept Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King over us. The second approach is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu judges us and decides for everyone what will happen in the coming year. To accept Hakadosh Boruch Hu over us as King, is an avodah for the sake of Heaven. The aspect of din and of judgment that He metes out to us, this is for our sake, in that it relates to us, each one according to his portion.

When man is found on Rosh Hashanah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu judges him, each according to his standing, is Rosh Hashanah itself a mixture - or does it have one root point that is purely for Heaven’s sake? Whoever wants to come out zakai (vindicated) in his judgment, zakai from the word zach (pure), what does he need to have? Of course, there is the first test - his actual deeds. The second test: Is there a part of him that is pure, that is clean, that is not mixed? Does he have one deed, one word, one thought that is pure?

Our Rabbis have said that if it is clear to a person that he has done one clean thing in this world he already has cause to feel at ease. Why? This is the place where there is no mixture, there is no “evening”. There is one clean reality, which is solely for Hashem alone. One thing that is clean. If he has one clean thing, then in this thing Hakadosh Boruch Hu can dwell.

This is the depth of the well-known words of Chazal, “Open for me an opening like the tip of a needle and I will open an opening for you like the opening of a hall,” or “like an opening that carts and carriages can enter^[24]”, and other variants in the words of Chazal. What is an opening like the tip of a needle? An opening like the tip of a needle means, one clean thing for Hashem alone. One thing, like the tip of a needle. One small thing, but it is one small thing for Hashem alone.

Now let us understand deeply, whoever does not achieve one thing for the sake of Heaven, does not know Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Why? Hakadosh Boruch Hu is entirely good, and that person, what is he? He is a mixture. Where does Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveal himself? “Open for me an opening like the point of a needle,” at the point of a needle is the point of revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. A person may do many good deeds, but if the context of his deed is a mixture, then for this mixture, of course he will be rewarded, and he also has a spiritual illumination from it, but the revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu within his deeds he will not have, because his reality is that of mixture.

This is the depth of why the revelation of the Shechinah that is found in our generation is far from being what it was in its most exalted state. Why is this the case to such an extent? Sure, there is a lot of Torah, there are a lot of acts of charity and a lot of good deeds, but everything is mixed, almost everything is a mixture of things, an actual mixture of good and evil, a mixture of jealousy, physical desire and the craving for honor that encompasses everything. Even if it belongs to the world of Torah, jealousy, physical desire and the craving for honor can apply there also.

In order for there to exist a true revelation, one must have one clean point.

The Ultimate Soul-Repair: To Do One Act That Is Completely Pure

Let us now illustrate this practically. If a person really wants to make Hakadosh Boruch Hu King over him, of course the first stage is accepting the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, the actual observance of the commandments. The second stage that we have been discussing is, that he should take one deed for the coming year – either a deed, a word or a thought – and one will strive to do that deed, word or thought from the utmost purity that exists, for the sake of Heaven, without any other consideration. Not for the sake of good in this world and not for the sake of good in the next world, neither for reward in this world nor for reward in the next world, but simply to please the Creator!

One such point is the root from which the whole soul is illuminated! This is called, “Accept upon yourselves my Kingship,^[25]” to accept His kingship, may His name be blessed. “You shall surely place a king over yourself^[26]”, to accept the kingship of the Creator, may His name be blessed. That there should be one thing in which He, so to speak, and His kingship should be revealed in the most complete way. A person who conducts himself in this way, attains one point in his soul that is not part of a mixture. It is upon this point in the soul, that it is revealed to him, “leDavid Hashem ori” - this is the source of his light in his soul.

More broadly, we are in a generation that is entirely Erev Rav. Whoever has a clean point such as this, by doing this he distinguishes himself from the Erev Rav, and he is a ben olam haba, and he has attained a prominent degree of self-nullification. Such a person may of course have other parts of his soul that are far from being unmixed, yet he is connected and tied to a separate reality, a reality that is unmixed - one clean and pure point.

However, in order to achieve what has just been said, it is not merely a matter of acceptance, of a person accepting to do something for the sake of Heaven. It requires that “He who examines the kidneys and heart,^[27]” will testify about him that this is his intention in his mind”, this is his intention in his emotions, and that he is wholehearted in doing so, truly for the sake of His name, may it be blessed, with love. When it is an act that Hakadosh Boruch Hu testifies about this person that his intentions were completely pure, this is called that the person came out zakai in his judgment - that is, such a person has the inner zoch (purity), from which comes the root of all illumination.

Let us refine this point and reiterate it. It is not just that he has done one small thing that was done in cleanliness and unmixed purity. Rather, that this one small thing is the source of the root of illumination through which the whole soul will be illuminated. It is the “opening like the tip of a needle,”  by means of which there can be a root for accepting His kingship, may His name be blessed, that will illuminate the full scope of the entire year and all the days of the world.

Obviously, as a person progresses further and further and increases, so does this point need to be expanded more and more - “Expand the place of your tent...^[28]” But the basis for a true acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, besides accepting the boundaries of law, which is the clear first stage, the second stage which we have been talking about is to accept upon oneself one clean point in its full purity, to break free from the context of mixture.

On the day of Rosh Hashanah, Adam HaRishon ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil mixed with each other, thereby imputing this day with a perception of sin in which everything is revealed to be a reality of mixture. On this very day, our work is to correct that sin. How, according to what we have explained? It is by revealing one point from within us that is not mixed, but completely clean and pure.

When this point is discovered in our souls and our souls connect together and these points will join together also, this will be the root of the light of Moshiach. This is the root of, “It will be on that day the great shofar will be blown,”- the antithesis of the force of the Erev Rav that rules almost without straits - the opposite point of this phenomenon will be revealed. Through this, there can be a root source of true illumination for one’s soul.

In Conclusion

I hope these matters were understood with the appropriate subtlety that they contain. This is not to be defined as a small piece of advice, or just a small resolution. It is a small resolution, but it is very, very, very deep. And it touches the depths of a person’s pnimiyus, at the purest point within him, by means of which he emanates and becomes attached to Hashem, may He be blessed. He will be able to feel tangibly that Hashem is so close, an utter closeness and attachment, to Him.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW SHIUR
ראש.השנה_076_ערב.רב.תערובת.תשעט