Part 9 · Chapter 1

Daat’s Three Dimensions: Depth, Length, Width 0:00

And now we're going to explain how דעת also has an עומק, אורך, ורוחב, which is important because, like we've been saying, that through studying the עומק והאורך והרוחב, the length and the width, you get the depth, you get the עומק. So if a person says, "Well, I don't have a deep דעת for חסידות. So that's it, what can I do? I learned it, and I know the basic thing, but I'm not really I don't feel that it's personally relevant to me, and so I don't pursue it further than that."

So just like if you want to get the עומק of בינה, if you want to get the עומק המושג, you have to study the length and the width of the explanations, and then automatically you'll get the depth. So too with דעת, if you work on the length and width of דעת, automatically you'll get the depth of דעת. And if you have a deep דעת, then and this is the idea of העמקת הדעת, of working to deepen your connection, then when you have the deep דעת, that will motivate you to also study more, to go more deeply in your understanding.

All right, should we delve into it? וגם בדעת יש אורך ורוחב ועומק. דעת also has a length, width, and a depth. כמו, for example, יש מי שדעתיה קצרה. Some people have a short דעת, like a short attention span. ויש שדעתיה ארוכה, and some people have a long attention span.

Short vs Long Daat (Attention Span) 1:18

That's one, one idea of of length of דעת is just how long you'll you'll be able to sit on the idea. The other idea of the אורך הדעת is like paraphernalia.

I mean, like ר' הלל explains, the idea of the אורך הדעת is bringing that you want to bring the idea into a lot of אותיות. That's the idea of bringing it down into אותיות, as like the length. So if you have a long דעת, that means you want to bring into a lot of אותיות.

So that means that you'll want to sit and you know, hear it for a long time, you'll want to talk about it for a long time, but it also means that you'll want to get a t-shirt, and a hat, and a bumper sticker. Those are also, you know, the idea of a lot of אותיות.

And then, so that's the idea of a length, bringing it down into like physical things, into אותיות. ויש שדעתיה רחבה, and there are some people that have a broad a broad דעת, a wide דעת, ולא ארוכה, but it's not long. And so this is the idea that it's wide means it'll come out in a lot of things, but it doesn't come down so far. So the the longer the דעת is, the more it will come down into physical like paraphernalia, like the t-shirt and bumper sticker.

Broad vs Narrow Daat 2:18

And if it's not so long, then it will just stay in, you know, they'll discuss it as like an intellectual thing in a book, but they won't bring it down to physical אותיות. Somebody has a wide דעת will maybe will talk about it a lot, and from all different angles, and bring it up in all different parts of their day.

That's the idea of width, is that it's connected to all different things, not just, you know, one thing. But maybe it's not long, so it'll just be like a discussion, something they'll discuss.

Whatever subject comes up, they'll be like, "Oh yeah, you know, that reminds me of golf." They'll always be talking about golf. So that means they have a wide דעת for it, especially if they know all about it. That's also a thing, you know, if they don't just learn, that means they're interested. I mean, the knowledge itself is the בינה, but the fact that like that they connect it to all different parts of their life would be like a wide דעת.

Another thing of a wide דעת is that they can you can handle opposite things, two opposite things at once. So that means that you can like see both sides of an argument, that would be like a wide דעת. Somebody that has like a narrow דעת means that they're interested in something, like let's say somebody's interested in politics, but they're only interested in the Republican side.

So that means that they have a narrow דעת. They're they're they're only interested in like a narrow aspect of of politics. And the same thing like in חסידות, if a person's only interested in like, you know, עבודה'דיקע מאמרים, or somebody's only interested in השכלה'דיקע מאמרים, so that means they have a narrow דעת. Somebody's only interested in in the מאמרים by a certain רבי, you know, if they're only interested in מאמרים and not in שיחות, not in letters, and not in stories, if somebody's only interested in one one aspect, so that's a narrow דעת.

A wide דעת means that they don't see that the two things contradict, they can handle both, because they're interested in something higher that's deeper. Like we explained before, the length and width come from the depth. So the deeper the source is, then the wider and the longer it will be, because they don't see it as contradicting.

So if somebody's, you know, interested in like the real like in in, you know, if in politics, if somebody was interested in the real depth of politics itself, and the issues, and everything, then they'll be interested in both sides.

Strong versus Light Daat 4:54

The same thing like if a person's really interested in in חסידות itself, then they'll be interested in

והדעת חזק, like somebody who have a strong דעת, means that they like when they connect to something,

it's they get totally engrossed in it and they're very firmly connect to it, and it's very hard to change their opinion about it, or they won't be able to get distracted, and they'll be totally engrossed in it for hours or days or years, and that's it. Like if they made up their mind, that's it, they've made up their they're connected to this, and this is the way they see things, this is the way they feel things, and that's it.

That's the idea of a strong דעת. או דעת קל כנשים, or a light דעת, like women, that women are very good at multitasking. Usually Usually women are much better at that than men. And the reason is cuz usually women have a lighter דעת. And the idea is that you know, they don't get so engrossed in one thing.

Also, you know, men are usually like more strong about also about their their opinion. They get one thing and that's like very very firm. And women are a little bit more a little bit more flexible or more So, that's the idea of a of a דעת קל.

Although the the sometimes it with having a דעת קל, though, also can mean mean תמימותדיק, because it explains that דעת קל also means you only have one קב. That's the idea of a תם. It says a תם only has one קב of דעת. That means that like if this is, they can't they can't like lie or like be sneaky so much, because like this is, you know, if you're supposed to be nice, so then they're being nice, and that's it.

They can't like feel that they're supposed to be nice, and at the same time act mean. It's harder for women to do that. And that's why women aren't allowed to be judges and things like that, because in order to be a judge, you have to be able to put aside the fact that you feel compassion and those kind of things, which is your תמימותדיקע דעת, that would just be like your one קב, and you have to be able to like see it now from the other side.

And you have to be able to, you know, hear both opinion sides, both this person and that person, and feel both of them and see where they're coming from and connect to it without like getting stuck in either one.

Well, there's a different Yeah, there's a difference between between multitasking that comes from having like not getting too connected to any one thing, but then, in order to be able to hold to a connection to two things at once, that's really like a רחב of a דעת. That's like the thing of a judge, is that he's able to see it from one point point of view, and then see it from the other point of view, and not feel like it contradicts.

Yeah, so a question is why, why we don't mention by בינה or חכמה the idea of חזק or קל, strong and light. But really, this idea that he's saying here of חזק and קל, strong and light, is is the equivalent, we're going to say in a minute, is the equivalent to deep or not so deep.

But by דעת, since it's like the idea of of having a of connecting to something, it's like your mental grasp on it, so it's like, then you know, the expression they use is is that's strong. They have like a strong connection to it. That's like a strong feeling. It's not, you know, בינה and חכמה are more they're more objective and removed. It's not really like a personal thing that you'd say like, "I really strongly have a strong feeling for it or a strong connection to it."

דעת קלה כנשים שדעתן קלות. So, what does it mean that there's a light דעת? Means הוא בלתי עומק הדעת, that means that there's that that the דעת is not so deep. ממילא דעת קצרה וכו', and automatically, if the דעת isn't so deep, so it's also it's not so long and it's not so wide.

So, it's not, you know, the So, men tend to like connect much deeper to what they whatever they're doing and get much more engrossed in it, and automatically they'll become more obsessed with it, and it will like take over everything in their life, and women tend to not do that as much.

Although we're going to explain how בינה and דעת, even though we said that they're tools and they have to work together, but בינה and דעת are opposite. So, if at the time you're having more דעת, you're having less בינה. And if you're having, you know, more בינה, then it's less דעת at that actual time.

Daat vs Bina: Light Daat Enhances Bina 9:40

So, even though we said that like the דעת will bring you to more בינה afterwards, but at the at the moment it's a lighter דעת gives you better בינה. That's why that's why women have בינה יתירה also.

It's kind of a trade-off. וההפך זה בין קלי הדעת לעמקי הדעת, בין גדולי קטן ידוע. This difference between a light דעת and a deep דעת, this is like the this is similar to the difference between adult and a child. שהתינוק שדעתו קלה, היינו שאין בו כח המרגיש והתקשרות כלל בדבר זה שמבין ורוצה בו, that a child who has a light דעת does not have this ability to really like have a deep feeling connection to what he understands or what he wants.

To like this is the way I understand it and that, you know, be very passionate about it, and or this is what I want and, you know, be unshakably connected to what he wants.

רק בחיצוניות מאד, only in a very external way. על כן, יתפתה לאיפכא. Therefore, it's it's not so hard to entice the child to the opposite. You can convince them to understand the other way or or to want something else, you know, distract them. It's not so hard to distract a child and convince them, you know, the other way.

מה שאין כן גדול, on the other hand, an adult, שדעתו עמוקה באיזה דבר שמבין ורוצה בו, that had he has a much deeper דעת, much deeper connection to whatever he understands or wants. So, it's not you can't you can't shake him from it so quickly. If this is his opinion, this is what he understands, that's it.

And if this is what he wants, so that he's obsessed with it, and that's it. הוא נקרא עמקות הדעת, so that's called a deep דעת.

וממילא נמשך אורך הדעת ורוחב הדעת כנ''ל בבינה, that automatically, if a person has a deep דעת, then they have a very long דעת and a very wide דעת in that thing.

And so, this is the idea that, you know, I mean, women have more דעת than a child. A child has no דעת. And then, women, it's just have a קל דעת, that means they have a דעת, but it's only for one קו at a time.

Men have a strong דעת, meaning that they can have on both sides at the same time, which means that they get much more obsessed with whatever they're they get into, but it also means that they can have like both sides of like a thing at the same time. וסימן לעמקות הדעת, הוא אשר נראה כעין צמצום וקיבוץ כלי המוח מעוצם עומק התקשרותו במושכל.

Physical Signs of Deep Daat 12:15

So, a sign for somebody that's having עמקות הדעת, that's like really focusing or connecting to that idea, is that they furrow their brow, that he he, you know, you pinch your face, and it looks like you're squeezing your brain because you're so connected to the idea that your brain is like focusing on this. בלשון אידיש, ער איז דערינען, פארנומען, פארקוועטשט, שטארק, זייער, is this is זייער מצומצם, רק בתנועה אחת סקירה אחת עבודה פלונית, that is totally caught up in this idea and totally focused on it and looks as if he is, until he's just totally focused on one little point that it's just in one, one thing.