שפת אמת

Torah transcends time and place to rectify all

Naso · תר"נ (1889) · Essay 2Share

Torah · Tree of Life · time and place · tikkun · restoring the soul

ובמדרש יקרה היא מפנינים ממי שנכנס לפני ולפנים ומבכור כו' ע"ש.

And in the Medrash: "She is more precious than pearls (peninim)" (Mishlei 3:15) — more precious than the one who enters the innermost chamber (lifnai velifnim), and than the firstborn, etc. — see there.

The Medrash darshens "peninim" as a play on "penimah," teaching that Torah is more precious even than the Kohen Gadol who enters the Holy of Holies and than the firstborn's service.

והענין דכתיב לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים.

And the matter is: as it is written, "Everything has its season, and there is a time for every desire under the heavens" (Koheles 3:1).

In the created world, everything is bound to a particular time and place — each thing has its allotted moment "under the heavens."

ולכן יש בעולם שנה נפש חילוקי מדריגות מקום וזמן מיוחד לכל חפץ.

Therefore there are, in [the dimensions of] olam (space), shanah (time), and nefesh (soul), differing levels — a special place and time for each thing.

Across the three axes of world, year, and soul, everything is divided into distinct levels, each with its own designated place and time.

אבל התורה שהיא מן השמים כתיב בה ארוכה מארץ מדה שהיא למעלה מכל אלה התחלקות המדריגות ולכן התורה משיבת נפש כ"א עד לשורשו שבתורה שהיא למעלה מהתלבשות הטבע בזמן ומקום מיוחד.

But the Torah, which is "from the heavens," about it is written, "longer than the earth is its measure" (Iyov 11:9) — for it is above all these divisions of levels. Therefore the Torah "restores the soul" (Tehillim 19:8) — each one [back] to his root within the Torah, which is above the garbing of nature in a particular time and place.

Torah comes from above and transcends all the divisions of time, place, and soul. Because it is rooted higher than nature's limits, it can "restore the soul," reconnecting every person to his own unique root within the Torah.

ולכן יכולין לתקן הכל בכח התורה כי באמת כל הקלקולים נעשה ע"י החטא ותערובות טוב ורע.

And therefore one can rectify everything through the power of the Torah, for in truth all the corruptions came about through the cheit (sin) and the mixture of good and evil.

Since Torah transcends nature's divisions, it has the power to repair all damage — for every flaw in the world stems from the original sin, which intermingled good and evil.

והתורה היא בחי' עץ החיים שאין תערובות רע כלל.

And the Torah is the aspect of the Eitz HaChaim (Tree of Life), in which there is no admixture of evil at all.

Torah corresponds to the Tree of Life — utterly pure, with no trace of the good-and-evil mixture introduced by the Tree of Knowledge.

לכן נק' לקח טוב:

Therefore it is called "a good acquisition" (lekach tov) (Mishlei 4:2).

Because Torah is pure good with no admixture of evil, it is fittingly called "lekach tov" — a wholly good teaching that can rectify everything.

Summary: Everything in the created world of olam-shanah-nefesh is bound to a particular time, place, and level. The Torah, however, comes "from the heavens" and transcends all these divisions, which is why it can "restore the soul," returning each person to his unique root within it. Since all the world's corruptions stem from the sin that mixed good and evil, and the Torah is the Tree of Life with no admixture of evil whatsoever, it has the power to rectify everything — and so it is called "lekach tov," a wholly good teaching.

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