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Ki Tetze (When You Go) – Weekly Torah Portion

Deuteronomy, 21:10-25:19
This Week’s Torah Portion | August 11 – August 17, 2013 – Elul 5 – Elul 11, 5773

In A Nutshell

The portion, Ki Tetze (When You Go), details special and infrequent Mitzvot (commandments), such as the attitude toward a rebellious son, a firstborn son of the loved one or the hated one, and the commandment to send a bird from the nest and not harm it, when taking the bird’s eggs or nestlings.

The portion also details many Mitzvot that deal with everyday life, ethics, and social order, such as returning a loss, divorce, and the obligation to be considerate of others in vulnerable situations, such as poor, proselytes, orphans, and widows. Additionally, the portion mentions the importance of a just sentence. The last Mitzva (singular of Mitzvot) is to always remember what Amalek did to Israel when they came out of Egypt, when it jumped them when they were unprepared, and to blot out the memory of Amalek.

Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

The portion marks a stage in the spiritual development after the reception of the ego, the reception of the evil inclination from Egypt. First, the evil inclination in us should appear, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination.” That appearance happens when we try to achieve love of others, to come out of ourselves. When we attempt to do it, we discover how much we are actually immersed in self-love and hatred of others. At that time we determine that our hatred of others and our love for ourselves are what is called the “evil inclination.”

That revelation is profound inner work. It is no small task. There is a very good reason why it is written, “I have created the evil inclination.” “I have created” means that the Creator created. The recognition of the evil inclination in a person—that it is hatred of others and love of oneself—is precisely what brings us into contact with the Creator. From that recognition, a person marches on a path of hard work, trying to be good to others, as it is written, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Then a person discovers great internal obstacles, which actually come from above, from the Creator. This is man’s first contact with the Creator.

Following the initial contact with the Creator, a person begins to move along with Him, in partnership. This is when there is, “I have created the Torah as a spice,” and a person has someone to turn to, someone to help one correct oneself.

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Glossary – Ki Tetze (When You Go) Parsha – Weekly Torah Portion

Glossary of Terms Used in the Ki Tetze (When You Go) Weekly Torah Portion

Son

A “son” is the next degree, or Ben (son), from the word Mevin (understanding). We can never understand what we are doing, both in corporeality and in spirituality. Only after we do, act, “By Your actions we know You” (Prayer Book, The Song of Unification on Sabbath). Through actions, we begin to understand. It is like children playing without understanding anything, but all of a sudden they grew smarter.
It is the same for us. This is why Ben, Mevin, is a degree that comes to us as a result of actions. It is also why it is written, “By Your actions we know You” (Megillah, 6b). Make an effort, act, and you will understand and see.

Beloved Woman and Hated Woman

A “beloved woman” is the will to receive with which a person can work in order to bestow. A “hated woman” is the will to receive with which one cannot work with the aim to bestow, which does not support a person because the person is weak. This is why there are prohibitions, to separate them and treat each of them differently.
It is the same with the sons, the firstborn sons from the loved woman and from the hated woman. It has to do with our desires, and it depends on how a person relates to it, how one can or cannot lift the will to receive toward correction.

Loss

In spirituality, a loss means that a person loses the ability to remain at a degree that one has already acquired. In other words, if a person loses something it deliberately comes from above. It is a kind of help to a person, and one needs to search. This is the root of the commandment to return a loss that has been found to its owner.

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What Is The Meaning Of ‘And God created man in His own image’ In The Bible?

The Creator created only one desire—to enjoy. However, this desire is so all-encompassing that bringing us all to the end goal right away is impossible. After all, we’re talking about infinite bliss, which is precisely the goal of man’s creation. So instead, it is done in phases because the desire to enjoy within us divides into myriad smaller desires. By correcting them one at a time, progressing from “easy” to “difficult,” we will achieve infinite bliss, the absolute and everlasting fulfillment prepared for us by the Creator.

For those in whom the point in the heart (the striving for spiritual pleasure) has awakened, working with one’s desires becomes a fascinating journey into the Upper World.

 

Becoming the Ruler Over all Desires

“And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”

In other words, inside of you, a “human” is born to rule over all other desires: “And let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” All these desires were created exclusively for man.

The “human” inside you is destined to walk a difficult path before he realizes that ruling over them doesn’t mean using them for his benefit, for it only harms him and the world. Quite the contrary, these desires must be used exclusively to others’ delight, because with respect to the desires of others, all of us are always free, able to clearly separate ourselves from each other.

 

The Inanimate, Vegetative and Animate Desires

Before “the birth of a human within you,” you were filled only with the inanimate, vegetative, and animate desires.

An inanimate desire is when you want only one thing—to be still and not think of anything, like a rock by the wayside, totally passive, with only a single thought: “Leave me alone.”

A vegetative desire is when you react to external stimuli, but are not yet able to move from your place, as if tied to the ground (by egoism).

You begin to ask yourself questions like, “Why do I suffer?” You aspire for the Light, wishing to be “watered.” You are concerned only with your own growth, you consume, you are no longer a rock—and that is progress.

An animate desire implies movement and searching for subsistence. At this stage you may connect with others like you, and band into a pack because together it will be easier to acquire food. You are concerned with breeding and raising your progeny.

And then, suddenly, inside of you emerges the most complex and exalted desire that comprises all the others, called the “Man within us.”

 

Man in the Image of the Creator

The word “man” in Hebrew is “Adam.”

“Adam” derives from the word Domeh—similar, alike, similar to the Creator.

It follows that only one who aspires to be like the Creator, to take on His qualities and to be born spiritually, can be called Adam (“man,” similar to the Creator).

The Creator’s qualities are pure bestowal, absolute and unconditional love.

A certain point named “Adam” or “the point in the heart” has awakened within you. This point is one with the Creator and wants to be like Him because He is its root.

There exists an apparatus of the Upper Governance, in charge of all the souls, their paths and order of correction. This managing apparatus is directly connected to man’s point in the heart, the Adam in you.

What is the purpose of this apparatus? It will provide you with the information about the program of Creation, the path you must traverse. Without it you cannot know what to do, what your next step should be, or what is required of you.

In order for you to acquire the qualities necessary to advance, the Upper Degree must teach you exactly what you need to do and how to do it. For this reason it issues this auxiliary device called Tzelem (image).

This device is implanted in the soul, where it activates all the necessary corrections. This is why it is written that man (Adam) is made in the Creator’s image.

“Eternal Life through the Middle Line by the Study of Kabbalah” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

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What Does The Fifth Day In Genesis Mean?

“And God said: ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.’ And God created the great sea- monsters, and every living creature that creeps, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.’ And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.”

 

The Act of Creation as Preparation for Man’s Complementary Role

The Book of Zohar depicts each day of Creation as “erection of halls” within man, the so-called “celestial chambers” (Heb. Heichalot—hollow spaces of desires). As the soul’s egoistic qualities become corrected, these hollow spaces gradually fill up with the Upper Light. This is what every person subconsciously aspires to. A gradual filling of the hollow spaces brings all souls to a state of complete correction and perfection.

As discussed elsewhere, the sacred writings were composed using “The Language of the Branches,” where the Creator’s forces are described with words from our language. In the book, Genesis, for instance, they are called fish, fowl and so on: “…and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air.” As you read these lines, you should clearly visualize all the actions that you must carry out for your own correction.

Let’s look at the word “fish” (Dag), which stems from the word Daaga (concern). If you see this word in the text, know that it doesn’t allude to fish swimming in water (remember, also, that water denotes the Light of mercy), but to concern. What should you be concerned with? Only with growing closer to the Creator. There should be no other concern for you. These desires to enter the spiritual world are precisely what Genesis speaks of.

 

Correction with the Help of the Wisdom of Kabbalah

However, for the moment, we must keep in mind that all desires are within us. In their uncorrected form, they appear as objects in our world, but in their corrected form they are the Creator’s forces, governed by His Light.

So then, the Fifth Day alludes to the desires to be corrected first and foremost. This is because they are “easier,” that is, easier to correct: “…and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”

Such is your path as well, dear reader—to separate within you egoistic desires, to which you can attach an altruistic intention, and thus try to correct them. To do that, first try to simply think about it. Think and read Kabbalistic books, primarily the books of Baal HaSulam, who took all the ancient Kabbalistic sources from the times of Abraham, Moses, and the ARI, and adapted them to our generation.

“What Does the Fifth Day in Genesis Mean?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

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What Is Day And Night In The Bible?

“And God said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; (…)And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. (…) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

The human being (Adam) inside of you has not yet been born. This excerpt speaks only of creating the environment for his birth and life. What is an “environment”? It is forces—the Creator’s forces that will influence the person. They exist only to bring one to the goal of Creation—unification with the Creator and eternal happiness.

 

The Spiritual Environment

So, which forces were revealed on Day Four? “And God said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night.’”

The lights are to govern “night” and “day”—the states one undergoes on the path to the Creator.

“Day” refers to an ascent, when you are filled with confidence that you are on the right path, flying on the anticipation of the doors into the spiritual world opening up before you any second now. “Night” is a descent, when nothing brings joy and the spiritual world seems nonexistent or made up, and you ask yourself, “Why am I wasting my life on this nonsense?”

These questions are thrown at you by your ego. The ego finds the perfect moment to attack because it knows that if you endure, and break into the spiritual dimension, you will escape its rule. Naturally, the ego doesn’t want this, so these common questions abound, “Whom do you work for?” “Can you even see Him?” “Where is your reason?” “Look around, people are leading peaceful and pleasant lives, while you’re struggling toward an unrealizable goal!”

 

The Tools for Enduring the Night

There is only one thing to suggest: when “night” falls, make sure you are surrounded by people like you, who are seeking the path into the spiritual world. Friends who have the same goal as you will bear the brunt of the ego’s blow, and you will realize that alone, you are helpless, but together, you will endure.

Another useful advice is to go to sleep. What does it mean to “go to sleep?” It means to disconnect from all the pestering questions, block them out, and not look back. You “sleep” through this period.

It’s as if you cancel, nullify yourself, waiting it out as you gather your strength. You think no thoughts, make no actions or movements, and rightfully so. You know that morning is right around the corner.

“Morning” signifies a new ascent, a way out of the state of descent.

 

Going through Ascents and Descents in Order to be Born into Spirituality

You may ask, “Why does the Creator send us these ascents and descents?”

He sends us these states because without them there would be no advancement, as progress is possible only via a continual change of states.

Only by overcoming is a true person born, a real “man.” This notion refers to the “inner man.”
Also, if the Creator had placed you in a good state right away, He would crush you with His Light. You’d be deprived of any free choice, having become a slave to that state.

But the Creator doesn’t want a slave of the Light. He wants a friend, an equal, which you can become only if you go through all the states and choose the Creator of your own volition.

Your task is to feel the immortal soul behind the mortal bodies, whereupon all your questions will fade away instantly; then, you will see the goodness emanating from the Creator and His individual attitude toward every soul.

The Creator will push the human toward attainment of the spiritual world. To this end you need to identify yourself with your inner qualities, with the “human” in you. If you succeed you will pass through all the states that lie ahead together with Him. The “nights” and the “days,” the “mornings” and the “evenings” are spiritual states designed to bring you to Infinity, to life in the Upper World.

“What Is Day and Night in the Bible?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.

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