Akiva Society

Translated by Simhah H. Benyosef

Editor’s note: Rabbi Eliahu DaVidas was one of Tzfat’s great Torah and Kabbala scholars of the late 16th Century CE and the understudy of the renowned Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero. His classic book Reishit Chochma is a kabbalistic ethical treatise referred to affectionately as “the guidebook for tzaddikim.” Rebbe Nachman of Breslev held “Reishit Chochma” in highest regard, and urged his followers to learn it. The following excerpt is a precious gem from the “Reishit Chochma.”

  There is no doubt that the "compatible helper" [paraphrasing Gen. 2:18] that G-d has intended for a man may assist him in his task. Yet, there is much more to it than that. A single person is unable to complete the rectification that he is to perform in this world. A soul's heavenly source has male and female halves, which are incarnated into the world as a man and a woman. The incarnation of the two does not necessarily occur simultaneously. As a result, only when the man and woman are righteous do they attain the privilege to meet and wed their real soul mate.   Until marriage, however, a man continues to be a half soul. By means of three steps of the marriage ceremony, the three main levels of a man's soul, the Nefesh, the Ruach and the Neshama, become bound to those of his wife, and they both become one being, with one joint spiritual structure.   Consequently, each spouse may only reach spiritual fulfillment and perfection by means of their union, when their lives are conducted with purity.   Even when the man and woman who get married are not real soul mates - which is often the case in our time - they have to accomplish together a rectification that was assigned to them in Heaven. Sometimes, per divine decree, a person is unable to find a compatible mate. It is nevertheless the unmarried person's duty to keep trying to find a spouse, for one may only reach one's spiritual potential through marriage, and a decree may change at any time that the person achieves whatever rectification is personally required before he can find a mate.   When a man comes into this world without a heavy debt to rectify, he may meet his soul mate and marry her without much effort. The Ari cites the case of a man who sins and has to reincarnate, whereas his soul mate has completed her task in this world and has no further need of incarnation. (Shaar HaGilgulim, 20) In special cases, his soul mate is allowed to incarnate with him, and she will come back to this world with him in order to help him. When the time comes for him to get married, however, he will not find her effortlessly as in the first case, but after an intense search and struggle. Since he reincarnated because of a sin he committed, the Accusers on high speak against him; they want him to be prevented from meeting her, on the grounds that he does not deserve it. So they spread animosity between the couple and they later quarrel. That is why it is written that making couples is as difficult as splitting the Red Sea!       (Breslev Israel thanks our wonderful friends at www.kabbalaonline.org for sharing this wonderful article with us, from Reishit Chochmah, Ktav Publishing House, Inc.)

Back and forth the polemics fly, across the reaches of Cyberspace.

We debate everything, from gay rights to Israeli politics. But for the most part, we deconstruct the Bible. Our differences in perspective could not have been starker. For one, I believe that the Torah is the absolute word of G-d and an instructor and guide for everyday life. My friend Carol believes that it is an eclectic collection of wisdom and fanciful legends, penned by many diverse individuals over time. I believe that the characters in the Bible are real people, my ancestors in fact. She insists that most are mythical heroes, and the events described mainly metaphorical.

I question why she takes the word of an archeologist at face value while rejecting the historic testimony of an entire nation. For her part, she can't comprehend how this ancient document filled with puzzling statements serves as my guide for 21st century living. She does not understand my gullibility -- how I credulously accept Bible stories as perfect truth. I try to explain the need to study the oral Torah -- the interpretations handed down to Moses on Sinai, passed from one generation of sages to the next. Carol doesn't understand why the group decisions of men who lived centuries ago should be followed with such scrupulousness today.

As we play round after round, I think bemusedly of how easily our roles could have been reversed. The divergence of the Jewish nation into separate paths is a relatively recent historical phenomenon. My great-grandparents, as well as hers, were devout Jews; our grandparents had lost their Jewish observance somewhere in the immigration shuffle; my baby-boomer parents reclaimed theirs in their teens. The awareness that I am where I am is only due to a quirk of history leads me to tone down my rhetoric, to think before I speak. I imagine us doing a role swap, with Carol patiently teaching me the Torah that my parents never knew. The switch seems so natural, in my imagination. It reminds me that I do not speak for Torah; the Torah speaks for us.

Slowly, we find common ground. I accept some of her metaphorical interpretations of Torah's stories, although I still insist that the events described in the Torah did in fact take place. She begins to incorporate more mitzvot in her personal life, lighting Shabbat candles, performing a havdalah ceremony. Her children learn about their Judaism, and are proud of it.

Eventually the battle winds down; we both tire. When I sense an edge to our conversations, I back off, sometimes for months. I don't want to push too hard; I value our friendship too highly. Our dialogues turn to more mundane topics. Our kids. Trips to the zoo.

After some months, she hesitantly admits that she misses our discussions. Somewhere inside, she tells me, through all our exchanges, she felt something come alive. I think I know what she means. Her challenges had ignited that very same passion in me and sent me diving into books for hours deep into the night. It's our stubborn Jewish soul asserting itself, screaming for expression. We debate, we grope, and we struggle to define the eternally relevant message of Torah. Beneath the surface disagreements, we share a deeply embedded, unbreakable bond with the Book that made our nation famous.

It is Simchat Torah. In the synagogue, we take out the Torah scroll, unopened, wrapped in its mantle. Holding it aloft, we hug it close to our hearts and dance. We embrace its totality, as we celebrate our unique relationship with this scroll that has kept us and molded us into the People we are today. Reaching back through history, forward for eternity, the Torah is ours, and we are hers.
from Chabad.org by Chaya Shuchat