Attachment to Hashem and Attachment to Tzadikim: Two Sides of One Coin

I want to share how the Toldos Yaakov Yosef connects three out of four mitzovs in one pasuk in Parshas Eikev and how I think Rebbe Nachman connects the remaining mitzva. (The Toldos Yaakov Yosef is by Reb Yaakov Yosef of Polonya, one of the direct talmidim of the Baal Shem Tov.)

He quotes four amazing mitzvos in one short pasuk at the end of the fifth aliya (Devarim 10:20) of the parsha:

• אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא "The L-rd your G-d you shall fear,"
• אֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד "Him, you shall serve"
• וּבוֹ תִדְבָּק "to Him you shall cling,"
• וּבִשְׁמוֹ תִּשָּׁבֵעַ "And in His name you shall swear."

Just to summarize one kav, one theme, in this long piece from the Toldos, he brings different ma'amarei Chazel which show how each of those mitzvos is teaching us different ways to connect to Hashem through the talmidei chachamim and tzadikim of the generation.

On the mitzva of yiras Hashem, being in awe and fear of Hashem, he quotes the famous drasha from Rebbi Akiva in Bava Kama 51b: "את ה' אלהיך תירא לרבות תלמידי חכמים," that the word "את" in the pasuk comes to include the mitzva to have not only awe and fear of Hashem, but also awe and fear of the talmidei chachamim.

He also quotes a gemara relating to the third mitzva in the pasuk, the mitzva to attach oneself to Hashem. He quotes the Gemara in Kesubos 111b, which says that when one attaches himself to a talmid chacham, it is as if he is attaching himself to the Divine presence. ("וכי אפשר לדבוקי בשכינה והכתיב (דברים ד) כי ה' אלהיך אש אוכלה אלא כל המשיא בתו לתלמיד חכם והעושה פרקמטיא לתלמידי חכמים והמהנה תלמידי חכמים מנכסיו מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו מדבק בשכינה."

He even connects this theme of connecting to Hashem through the tzadikim and the talmidei chachamim through the fourth mitzva in the pasuk, the mitzva to swear only in Hashem's name, and not to swear in any other god's name. He quotes the Rambam in Shorshei Hamitzvos (Mitzvas Asei 7) who says that if one swears in Moshe's name, and has in mind Moshe's Master, and the One who sent Moshe, then it is as if he swears in Hashem's name, but if he has in mind that Moshe is an essential power and he is swearing in Moshe's name directly, he transgresses the prohibition of shituf. ("נשבעת אומתנו בשם משה רבנו (מה נכבד שמו), כאילו אומר הנשבע "באלוקי משה", "במי ששלח את משה" .אבל כשאין הנשבע מכוון לכך ונשבע באחד הנבראים מתוך אמונה שיש לאותו הדבר אמתות בעצמו עד שישבע בו - הרי זה עבר ושיתף אחר עם שם שמים [ועל זה] בא בקבלה: 'כל המשתף שם שמים עם דבר אחר - נעקר מן העולם'.")

We see a common denominator then in three of the four mitzvos in this pasuk. The mitzvos of clinging to Hashem, swearing in Hashem's name, and the mitzva to fear Hashem are all fulfilled through various types of attachment to tzadikim and talmidei chachamim. It should go without saying that this does not imply some sort of vicarious closeness with Hashem such that our connection with tzadikim would somehow absolve us of the need to connect to Hashem ourselves. Rather, in Chassidus in general, attachment to tzadikim means attaching ourselves to them and listening and observing their teachings so that we can grow close to Hashem with their help.

But how does the second mitzva in the pasuk fit in? How does "אֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד," which implies the avodah of tefilla (Sifrei, quoted by Rambam), davening, connect with the other three parts of the pasuk, which relate to various ways of connecting to the tzadikim and talmidei chachamim?

I thought that we can see the connection between attachment to tzadikim and tefilah in what Rebbe Nachman says in Likutei Moharan I:2. He says that before a person davens, he should specifically have in mind to connect himself to all of the true Tzadikim. He discussed the lead-up to the building of the Mishkan, and pointed out that everyone brought different gifts to Moshe for the building of the Mishkan (Shmos 39:33) but that only Moshe knew how to put all of the pieces together to build the Mishkan (Zohar Pikudei 238b). Similarly, every Jew has different strengths and may daven for a wide variety of things. But the tzadikim have the ability to put all of the Jewish people's tefilos together into into their proper places as one "koma sheleima," one perfect structure within which the Divine Presence can rest in this world.

With this teaching from Rebbe Nachman, which shows the importance of connecting to Tzadikim so that our tefilos will accomplish their potential, we can now understand what the mitzva of "אֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד," serving/davening to Hashem, is doing in the context of the other three mitzvos in this pasuk, which cover the concepts of fear of, attachment to, and swearing by Hashem and the Tzadikim. All four share the fact that they all teach the importance of connecting to Hashem by attaching ourselves to the Tzadikim, who can teach and assist us in reaching our full potential.

May we merit to connect to the Master of the world and to His Tzadikim!

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Hashem's Love for the Jewish People - Reb Itchie Mayer on Eikev

Here is Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern's Torah on Parshas Eikev, with English excerpt and full text in Hebrew in pdf form from Reb Itchie Mayer's Torah. You can send an e-mail to this address to subscribe to receive Rav Morgenstern's Torah in your e-mail box every week.

“And it shall come to pass, because you heed these ordinances, and keep, and do them, that Hashem you G-d shall keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.”[1]

Rashi explains: “‘And it shall come to pass, because you heed’—If you heed the little mitzvos that people tend to trample on with their heels [עקב] and do them, Hashem your G-d will keep His blessing for you, and will love you and make you numerous [which is the continuation in the next verse].”

Hashem’s Love for the Jewish People

The Arizal taught: “‘And He will love you and bless you and make you numerous’—The sages said that everything that the Jewish people eat [enjoy] in this world is from the blessing of Bilaam the wicked. But the merits of the Jewish people are kept in reserve for them for the world to come. As the verse says, ‘And Hashem your G-d will keep...’ The sages learned this from our verse here, from a parallel use of terms—here the term, ‘He will love you’ is bound to the term, ‘He will bless you.’ The verse says of Bilaam, ‘And Hashem your G-d will overturn for you the curse to a blessing, for Hashem your G-d loves you.’ In no other place in the Torah do we find blessings juxtaposed with the expression of Hashem’s love other than in connection with Bilaam. If so, the promise of Hashem to love and bless and make us numerous is the blessing of Bilaam.”[2]

In the section detailing Bilaam’s blessings the verse says, “A star has gone forth from Yaakov, and a tribe has arisen from Yisrael.”[3] The star coming forth from Yaakov refers to Moshiach.[4] The Messianic era is one that will be characterized by the total revelation of Hashem’s love for the Jewish people even to the lowest level of the world of Asiyah. This is why all of the blessings uttered by Bilaam refer to all of the blessings and abundance that reach the Jewish people in the world of Asiyah [which we call “this world”]. Its main revelation will be when Moshiach arrives.

Uplifting the Heels

The verse’s promise of Hashem’s love is really that we will merit to experience the full revelation of Hashem’s presence in the lower worlds when Moshiach arrives. But it all depends on, “If you will heed these ordinances...”—if we heed the aspect of the עקב, the heels [which is the lowermost world of Asiyah], then we will merit the arrival of Moshiach and the full expression of Hashem’s love for us.

The main blessing is that Bilaam’s curse should be transformed into a benediction; that the physicality of the world of Asiyah should be transformed into a revelation of G-dliness. Even when a person is in a lowly place and the yetzer hara challenges him, G-d forbid, even so he must make efforts to bind himself to the light of Hashem’s presence. This is the mission of the Jewish people, to reveal G-dliness in the lower places. In the ultimate future, Hashem will transform the yetzer hara into the joyful pleasure of Torah study, as the Zohar teaches. This is really the main joyful pleasure of Torah—to reveal Hashem’s presence in the lower worlds, because this is what rectifies all evil and creates a platform for the good.

[1] Devarim 7:12
[2] Sha’ar Hapesukim, Parshas Ekev
[3] Bamidbar 24:17
[4] Devarim Rabbah 1:20

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