The verse, "It is not good for the man to be by himself; I will make him a helper as his counterpart" is mystically interpreted as a reference to the Divine names "Havaye" and "Elokim" and their respective roles in G-d's creation of the universe.
This also has a practical lesson to teach man in his worship of G-d, as alluded to in the verse, "And Havaye Elokim made for Adam and for his wife garments of hide, and clothed them."
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THIS WEEK, having just celebrated (on the holiday of Simchas Torah) completion of the yearly cycle of Torah readings and the beginning of a new cycle, we read in the Torah the very first portion in Genesis, the portion called Bereishis, which tells of the creation of the universe and of the life of the first man, Adam, and his descendants. As with all of Scripture, each item in the Torah bears an infinite number of complimentary interpretations on various levels of depth; from the verse that tells of G-dथcision to create Chava , the first woman, we may derive some insight into manಯle in this physical world.
Regarding the creation of Chava (Eve) we read (Genesis 2:18) 襠man being by himself is not good; I [G-d] shall make for him a helper as his counterpart.ፊstyle='mso-footnote-id:ftn1' href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">[1] The reason for this is that it would have been for some reason unsatisfactory to G-dబan if man alone were put into the universe; G-d saw fit to introduce a second factor that would provide the help necessary to bring the Divine plan to ideal realization. This may be understood in its mystical sense as a reference to the opposing forces brought into play by G-d in creating the universe, especially in light of the fact that the Hebrew word ⮥gdo奄 (㠨is counterpartterally means both ﲲesponding to himᮤ opposition to him.ﺰ>
It is
written (Psalms 84:12), ﲠG-d, the L-rd, is a sun and a shield.䨥 two
references to G-d in this verse ( and 襠L-rdࡲe expressed in Hebrew
by the Divine names Havayeﳰan>(the Tetragrammaton) and Elokim. Although G-d
Himself is by definition nameless and unknowable, the numerous Hebrew names for
G-d express the ways He manifests Himself in creation (e.g., 쬭Merciful,꓁lmighty렴he Tetragrammaton, Havaye, usually refers to the purely
creative aspect of G-d, the unmitigated benevolent force that would bring
ﭥthing鮴o being out of ﴨing.᳠is well known, however, from Jewish
mystical tradition, this creative energy direct from G-d Himself is so
powerful, so intense, as to actually preclude creation as we know it. This is
something like the way the sun itself is so brilliant that its light would
simply blind our perception of everything else 祲e it not shielded or dimmed
in some way. We would not be able to make out, say, the articles of furniture
in a room if the sun itself were right outside the window, for our perception
would be overwhelmed by the light. Were G-d to have created the universe using
just the creative emanation represented by the name Havaye, we would
also not be able to perceive the created things as separate entities unto
themselves; at best, everything would be a function of G-dliness, overwhelmed
by the all-pervasive force, but for this physical world as we know it 鮍
which each thing seems to exist in its own right, without a visible connection
to G-d 䯠be created directly by the brilliant 駨t裂G-d Himself would
not have been possible. G-d had to shield some of this
light, allegorically speaking, concealing it from our perception, in order for
the universe as it is to have been created, and it is to this aspect of G-d 괨e concealing, restraining force that allows us to exist as we do 䨡t the
name Elokim refers.ﳰan>This is what is
meant by the verse mentioned above: ﲠG-d, the L-rd, is a sun and a shield겥ads in Hebrew, ﲠHavaye, Elokim, is a sun and a shield,鮥., the
creative energy of the name Havaye is, like the sun, overwhelming, and
the name Elokim shields it from our perception so that we may exist in
our own right, in a manner of speaking.
Now, all the above is relevant
to our discussion, as will be understood from the following:
The Divine Presence is compared
to a mirrorﳰan>in Scripture (as in
the verse (Numbers 12:6), vision [also meaning 鲲orɠmake Myself
known to him.`mirror is essentially a piece of glass covered by a thin
sheet of silver; without the silver covering, the glass would be transparent
and for optical purposes practically nonexistent. A person can see only that
which is in front of them; this is not changed by a sheet of glass, since the
light passes right through the glass. Paradoxically though, blocking the
passage of the light through the glass by means of the silver coating serves to
increase the personeld of vision, since the light reflects off the mirror
and allows them to see what is behind them as well. Just as the silver blocks
the light, yet by doing so allows it to reach places it never could before, so
too does the name Elokimﳰan>block and shield
the name Havayeﳰan>饴 this allows
the Divine plan to be realized in a manner which would not have been possible
otherwise. This is because the very reason G-d created the world as a distinct
entity (rather than something imperceptible in its own right ᳠discussed
above) to begin with is so that we could conduct ourselves in accordance with
the will of G-d, and please Him thereby. (There is a big
difference indeed between something that is completely nullified in relation to
G-d because G-d overwhelms it, and something which is not by nature
nullified and overwhelmed in relation to G-d, but which defers to His will
anyway, voluntarily nullifying itself, so to speak, in relation to G-d.)
If the universe had been created by G-d using the emanations represented by the
name Havaye alone, this voluntary deference to G-d on the part of the
creations would never have been possible, since we would not have been able to
exist in our own right anyway. It is only by the name Elokim 쯣king
the light䨡t we can attain what would have been impossible otherwise,
namely, the voluntary deference to G-d discussed above.
We are now in a position to
understand the mystical interpretation of the verse, 襠Man being by Himself
is not good.䨥 phrase 襠Man⥦ers to G-d, who is called the 塶enly
Man賥e Ezekiel 1:26), and in this context it refers to G-d
manifesting Himself solely through the name Havaye: 䠩s not good for
the Man, Havaye, to be 須imself栴he only factor in the creative
process. Rather, as the verse continues, G-d says ෩ll make him a helper in
opposition to him,䨡t is, by coming in opposition to the all-pervasive,
overwhelming light of the name Havaye, by 쯣king鴬 the name Elokimﳰan>acts as a helper,
since it reflects the light to places it could not previously reach, as
explained above.
All this is also symbolized by
the verse (Genesis 3:21), Havayeﳰan>Elokimﳰan>made for Adamﳰan>and for his wife
garments of hide, and clothed them.䨥 term 餥鳠frequently used in mystical literature as a metaphor
for anything not sanctified specifically to G-d, for all mundane things. Rather
than be openly revealed, G-d covered man with the physical, mundane covering of
the universe, with the intent that we take even the non-holy elements of life
and make them holy by utilizing them in our service of G-d. (For example, a cow
is just a cow, but if a Jewish person eats that cow in order to get the energy
and strength necessary to worship G-d properly, he or she has infused that cow
with an element of spirituality.)
The Hebrew terminology used here
beautifully expresses this. One of the reasons the term 餥鳠used in the sense we have been discussing is that
hides are naturally raw and unrefined, and must be thoroughly worked over 갯unded, soaked in acid, etc. 䯠become beautiful leather. Similarly, the
mundane is the ᷠmaterial究en humanity, which must be strenuously refined
in order to bring out the underlying spiritual element. In Hebrew, this is
called ibud, working over and refining, the hides, a term that is
etymologically related to avodah, service or worship
of G-d. True avodah, worship of G-d, consists of ibud, refining
the 餥s鮠our own personalities and in life in general. Finally, the term
for one who accomplishes this is oved Elokim, which literally
means servant of G-d, but has the connotation of who refines (oved)
the coarseness and mundane elements of existence brought about by the
concealment of G-dliness through the name Elokim.ﳰan>
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Ӽ/span> 2001 Dach Holdings, Ltd. Please note that the
foregoing is an informal synopsis by a private person, and that, therefore,
errors are possible. Please email comments@PurityPress.com with corrections or comments.
Good Shabbos!
[1] In the
original version of this synopsis, submitted to the Rebbe upon its publication
in 1982, this verse was translated, 襠man being by
himself is not good; I [G-d] shall make him a helper corresponding [lit.,
యsiteയ him.䨥 author is indebted to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z쯩>
for the word ﵮterpart样hich expresses both ﲲespondenceᮤ
యsite校s a better translation of the Hebrew ⮥gdo.奄