Chazal bring the following Medrash
שמות רבה לה א ועשית את הקרשים למשכן הה”ד (תהלים קד) ישבעו עצי ה’ ארזי לבנון אשר נטע הרבה בריות ברא הקב”ה בעולמו ולא היה העולם ראוי להשתמש בהן וגנזן הקב”ה מן העולם ואיזה זה אור שנברא ביום ראשון דא”ר יהודה בר סימון האור שברא הקב”ה ביום ראשון אדם צופה ומביט בו מסוף העולם ועד סופו כיון שנסתכל הקב”ה בדורו של אנוש ובדור המבול ובדור הפלגה שמעשיהם מקולקלים עמד וגנזו מהן שנא’ (איוב לח) וימנע מרשעים אורם ולמי גנזו לצדיקים לעתיד לבא שנאמר (בראשית א) וירא אלהים את האור כי טוב מהו כי טוב שהיה אורו נאה לעולם ולא היה מזיק כשמש הזה והיכן גנזו בגן עדן שנא’ (תהלים צז) אור זרוע לצדיק והרבה בריות ברא הקדוש ב”ה בעולם ולא היה העולם ראוי להשתמש בהן והיו ראויין להגנז ולא נגנזו מפני כבוד הקב”ה.
א”ר חנינא לא היה העולם ראוי להשתמש בארזים אלא לא נבראו אלא בשביל המשכן ובשביל בהמ”ק שנא’ (תהלים קד) ישבעו עצי ה’ ארזי לבנון אשר נטע ואין לבנון אלא ביהמ”ק שנאמר (דברים ג) ההר הטוב הזה והלבנון
Hashem created in His symmetrical world incredible resources to benefit man, and instead of Man using them to perfect the world and raise it to an even higher level he misuses and abuses them robbing from them their potential elevated stature. The Mesillas Yesharim in the first chapter brings the Medrashwhen Hashem first created Man he then gave him a tour in Gan Eden and said “Take a good look at my beautiful and praiseworthy world which I created for your benefit. Pay attention and focus not to ruin and destroy My world”. Man was given the choice to either elevate the world making it a sanctuary for Hashem’s service, or to enlist it to serve his personal selfish agenda thereby stunting it and himself from bringing out the divine potential that lies within.
There are many parts of creation which Hashem did not make accessible for Man’s usage for fear that his evil urges will harness their energy to increase the power of the Satan. Such an example of this is the Light that was created on the first day of creation with which one had the ability to see with it from one end of the world to the other. Hashem hid that light preserving it for the reward to the tzadikim in the next world. Another example of a creation that Hashem did really not want to create but did so for His honor, was the cedar wood used in the building of the Mishkan. It was for this exclusive purpose alone that they were created.
Rav Simcha Wasserman ztl once said that whether Man will build or destroy Hashem’s world depends upon his outlook on the world. If the human sees the world as a place to discover the opportunities and offerings that this world offers hm, then he will eventually destroy himself and the world. However in contrast, if he seeks to discover what the world needs from him in order to be elevated to a loftier spiritual level, then Man will prosper and so will his world. In Rav Simcha’s own words, the two viewpoints on the world are either מה ניתןאו אפשר לעשות בכל חלקי הבריאה what is possible and available to take advantage from creation, or מה צריך לעשות עם כל חלק מהבריאה what is needed to be done to raise creation to a greater perfection. The first viewpoints sets Man as the center of the world and concerns only what he can take from it. This is in contrast to the latter viewpoint which fixes Man’s focus in the world to fulfill the mission of Hashem concerning what is needed for him to give to the world and to bring it to a higher level.
In the world ofאפשר or ניתן , everything is happenstance and the only need of Man is self survival and pleasure. In the world of theצריך perspective, everything created is exactly designed and it needs Man’s input and infusion to bring about its tikkun. The wordקרך used to describe Amalek אשר קרך בדרך is the opposite of צריך to what is needed. They both have the same gematriahbecause Amalek and Yisrael diametrically oppose each other.
When the malach of Aisav fought with Yaakov the Torah tells us ויגע בכף ירך יעקב that he injured Yaakov in the palm of the thigh. Aisav sees a world of קרך which leaves man directionless without purpose and meaning other than self interest. Yaakov sees a world needy צריך of tikkun, and he possesses the road map and his destination prescribed in the Torah. Aisav injures Yaakov בכף ירך . The wordבכף adds up to 105 counting the three letters. The letter צדי adds up to 105 with the kollel. The injury of בכף ירך is equal to the letters of צ-ריך. The malach of Aisav סמאל was out to blind לסמא (the same letters) Yaakov from his world perspective ofצריך and change it to his ownאפשר , a world that offers multitudes of possibilities and options for one’s personal gain and usage.
From the very beginning of Man’s creation Hashem desired to instill in him the consciousness that his outlook on life must be צריך he is needed by Hashem to complete creation. As Chazal say נעשה אדם Hashem said before the creation of Man Let us make man. Who is the us referring to? Chazal said to the future creation of Man let us do it together as partners. The soul did not have a problem with this but the body in which the yetzer harah rests did. The yetzerviews life as opportunities for pleasure and power not for spiritual growth. So when Hashem made Man’s body he formed it by kneading the water and earth together like a dough into a shape צורה of a body which was composed of 248 limbs paralleling the 248 mitzvos and 365 sinews corresponding to the 365 negative commandments. This parallel of the physical body to the spiritual body of mitzvos instructed man to possess a צריך view in the world, I need the world and the world needs me because we both need tikkun. The body of man “needed” to be “kneaded” in order to have a precise shape and a specific purpose and not veer away from his destiny. Man must not ask from the world what it can do for him, but rather ask from the Torah what he needs to do on behalf of Hashem’s world.
With Man’s pursuit of theאפשר viewpoint of life, he will leave in his path a definite dilution of the Hashem’s spirit and purpose in creation. Take the word אפשר . The letter aleph symbolizes Hashem who is called the אלופו של עולם . The rest of the letters spell פשר which means compromise. If one believes that the world lacks a designer and purpose then both the dimensions of Man and the world will be very compromised at best.
However, the Torah tells us בראשית ברא that before everything else was created there was an עלה במחשבה that Hashem kiyiyachol thought how everything should be had not man sinned by eating from the Aitz Hadaas. It was at that moment of the chait that the צריך viewpoint received an adversary competitive from theאפשר perspective of the world and life. Even if during the week we might struggle with challenges of the yeter harah talking us into the אפשרphilosophy, when Shabbos comes and we receive clarity from the neshamayesairah, the drive and urgency of one’s obligations צריך, what we need to do with the world in order to make its tikkun becomes conscious to us. The gematriah שעלה במחשבה with the kollel equals יום השבת. On Shabbos we receive the insight to once again become partners with Hashem in committing ourselves to the need and mission of bringing Hashem’s light into the universe and into ourselves.
Rav Brazil
Gut Shabbos
