The Great Revelation of Wisdom |
The Great Revelation of Wisdom
The first medrash in Medrash Raba tells us that Hakadosh Baruch Hu “looked into the Torah and created the world”. In other words, our holy Torah is the blueprint for creation. According to this, it should be that everything that happens in the world is in sync with the Torah. However, at face value it would appear that, at times, the world and the Torah are going in two opposite directions. Regarding the giving over of Torah: every generation that is further removed from Sinai is further removed from the proper understanding of Torah. This is alluded to in the gemara in Shabbos that says the previous generations were like ‘malachim’ and we are like donkeys. And for this reason Rishonim are more authoritative than Achronim etc. However, when it comes to the physical world we are all witnesses to the indisputable phenomenon that as time goes on the understanding of science and technology is greatly increasing. How do these two things go together?
The truth is that on a simple ‘pshot’ level these two patterns do not blend together. Anyone who has studied Torah and secular studies recognizes that while in Torah, texts from hundreds of years ago (and much more) can be of the highest authority, when it comes to secular knowledge usually the more recent works are the most reliable ones. However, there is a remarkable well-known Zohar Hakadosh that can help us begin to solve this conundrum. The Zohar Hakadosh ( Vayera 117A) says that in the 600th year of the sixth millennium the gates of wisdom from above and the wellsprings of wisdom from below will be opened, and the world will be prepared to enter the seventh millenium like a man who is preparing on Friday as the sun begins to set for Shabbos. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the “wellsprings of wisdom from above” refers to an increased understanding of Torah knowledge while the “wellsprings from below” refers to an increased understanding in physical matters. So according to the Zoahar Hakadosh in 5,600 (1840) incredible spiritual and physical wisdom began to come down to the world in order to prepare the world for Moshiach.
Now regarding the increased wisdom in physical matters, this Zohar is a glaring prophecy. We all know that 1840 is around the time that the industrial revolution began and since then science and technology have just continued to explode with new amazing discoveries. However, where do we see the fulfillment of these words regarding spiritual wisdom?
Well, regarding the revealed areas of Torah, while highest authority is usually given to earlier authorities who are closer to Sinai, we still do see a unique revelation of increased understanding that was revealed in later years. Reb Yisroel Salanter and the Mussar movement he started revealed a new deeper psychological understanding to many of the words of Chazal. And in “lumdus”, Reb Chaim and his beis medrash definitely opened up a deeper understanding of the sugya. This theme of increased understanding has been continued with many of the incredible seforim that have been written in our time.
However, the main realm in which we have seen the revelation of the “wisdom from above” is undoubtedly in ‘pnimius hatorah” ( the hidden section of the Torah) . When the Zohar Hakadosh became more widespread it created an absolute revolution in Jewish thought. Pnimius Hatorah provided very strong tools to deal with many of the deeper existential issues of reality. Instead of using Greek philosophy as a tool to understand the wisdom of Torah, the inner depth of the Torah itself was revealed to help us understand the world and the Torah more clearly. However, until the revelation of the Arizal in Tzfat in 1570, many parts (particularly the deeper parts such as the Idra Raba etc.) of the Zohar were hidden from us. The Ari Hakadosh who graced the great city of Tzfat in 1570 as a young 36 year old Tzadik revolutionized the study of Torah completely. He introduced a profound systematic structure to the Zohar, explained the hidden secrets of the 7 kings of Esav mentioned at the end of Parshas Vayishlach, and from then on became the ultimate authority in Jewish thought as Chassidis, the great Sephardic mekubalim and even the Gra ” who trembled at his words” (testimony given by Rav Chaim Volozhin in the intro to the Gra’s commentary of Sifra Detzenusa), all followed his path. However, even with the great revelation of the Arizal there were still many seemingly contradictions in his works and many of the spiritual matters were explained only in a general way.
But not for long. Less than two hundred years after the passing of the Ari in 1572, the spiritual world began to become shaken up again. In Yerushalayim, appeared a Yemenite Kabbalist, Rav Shalom Sharabi, who began to reveal the inner depths of the Kisvei Ari. He explained that if one understands many concepts of the Ari as “relative” (or what is called “erachin”) many questions can be answered. He also explained in his magnum opus, “Hakdamus Rechovos Hanaar” that the entire kisvei Ari operates on two levels: one is called “Orech” -a more general external understanding of things. And the other one is called “Ovei”-looking at things more from the essence in which many things are more similar.
However, this was just the beginning. At around the same time, in Italy the Ramchal began revealing how the teachings of the Ari express themselves in the “hanhagos” of Hashem in this world which ultimately is about returning the world to divine unity. The main chidush of the Ramchal was that kabbalah was now becoming something more connected to what is going on in the physical world. However, it was not until the great revelation of Chassidus with the Baal Shem Tov hakadosh and his students that the deep connection between spirituality and the physical really became sealed. Not only could the physical be used for spirituality, but the Baal Shem Tov and his students taught us that everything that the Ari described in Heaven actually also exists in the physical world and within our souls as well. Two generations later the Alter Rebbe systematized the Baal Shem Tov’s derech and in 1840 the main work in which his teachings are elucidated fully, Likutei Torah, was published.
So, what is this point of going through this very brief spiritual sketch of recent Jewish spiritual history? Well, even if we are not yet on the level to immerse ourselves fully in all of these works, one thing is clear: There is a clear profound pattern of increased Torah understanding that is penetrating the generations as they come closer to Moshiach. Ideas that may have been difficult or even forbidden to understand in previous generations are now a mitzvah to study ( c.f.. Leshem , biurim on Igulim and Yosher, anaf 5). Because, yes each generation is further away from Sinai. However, each subsequent generation is also closer to Mashiach when the ultimate Divine unity will be expressed to the world. So just as there is increased wisdom in the physical world there is even more increased wisdom in the spiritual world above.There is harmony between what we see in the physical and spiritual. If anything, the increased wisdom in the physical world emanates on a spiritual level from the increased wisdom in the spiritual realm. Yes, we can really see now how Hashem looks into the Torah and creates the world.
Now, this does not mean that we are, chas veshalom, on a higher level than the earlier generations. “Rishonim Kemalachim” ( The earlier generations are like angels) does not change. However, a good analogy would be to compare a sefer written by a great Talmid Chochom 200 years ago to one written today by one who uses Otzar Hachochma. The latter may be able to quote many more sources than the former. However, he is not greater than him-he just has stronger tools. So too, certainly the earlier generations were on a much higher level than us. Their Torah and Yiras Shemayim ( awe of Heaven) was seared in their hearts in a way that is difficult for us to comprehend. However, we have the benefit that we are closer to Moshiach and thereby have been given special tools of incredible Torah understanding to help us. May we all be zoche to understand the wonders of Hashem’s incredible Torah!
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