Part 2 · Chapter 31

ויובן זה יותר ממה שאנו רואים במידות חסד וגבורה שהן הפכים ונגדיים ממש וכו׳. Now we'll understand this better from looking at the two emotions of חסד and גבורה, kindness and severity, which these are opposite emotions and they also oppose each other.

Opposite Emotions: חסד vs גבורה 0:11

So חסד opposes being strict, severe, and severe, severity opposes being kind. אך כאשר באין המדות בכלי, but when these emotions come into a vessel, כמו למחשבה לדיבור למעשה בפועל ממש, to actually think about it, or to say it, or to do it, יוכל אור החסד להאיר במחשבה ודיבור מעשה היפוכיים ממש. Then the light of חסד can shine into an opposite מחשבה, דיבור, מעשה.

So as far as the actual motion, if a person's feeling a emotion of חסד, that's opposite of the emotion of גבורה and they won't feel any emotion of גבורה. And if they're feeling emotion of גבורה, they won't feel the emotion of חסד. But when they come to express it, so a person could express the חסד by acting externally in a strict way.

Strict Parenting as a חסד Expression 1:25

Like a parent that loves the child, so they won't handle a thing of like a light of גבורה to actually want to hurt the child, but to be strict for the child's benefit, which is really a חסד, that's way a light of חסד, that they'll be able to do. That's the light of חסד going into a כלי of גבורה. Or the כלי of גבורה can go into the the the the light of גבורה can go into the כלי of חסד, like a spy that they'll act externally nice in order to stab the enemy in the back.

שהרי יוכל לחשוב, יכול לחשוב ולדבר ובמעשה נגד מה שבלבו, for a person is able to think, speak, and do the opposite of what's in his heart. וגם לכעוס בלב על אוהבו בלבו ולרחם בלבו על שונאו וכו׳.

And not only that, if you it even goes a step further, that when it comes to the vessel, even before you go to the vessels of מחשבה, דיבור, מעשה, which are like really the לבושים, even in just the vessel of the heart itself, your heart can get angry at somebody that you really love, and you can feel mercy in your heart for somebody that you really hate.

Because even though as far as the real light you feel one way, but as far as just the vessel, it's possible that you could just have a feeling one way or the other way. שהלב מוכן להיות כלי למה שהוא היפוכו וכו׳, because the heart is ready to be a vessel for its opposite.

So even though in your heart you love somebody, it's possible for you just to have like a reaction that you'll get angry as far as like the vessel. It's not that you want to get angry at them, but your heart, at the same time that it loves them, you can get angry at them. Say, well, if you love them, how can you get angry at them? Because the vessel of your heart is able to handle opposites, and so if whatever reason, and that's the thing of that it's like a it's like a it's מורכב, that that the emotions are complicated, it's not a it's not a just like a פשוט מידה, that once it comes into the vessel, so then even though as far as the light, so you love the person, but if they do something that would make you have like a reaction of anger, so then it's so possible that the that your heart should react in a way of anger.

ולפי שבכלים יש התכללות דבר והיפוכו יותר מבאורות, because the vessels have this ability to have two opposites more than the lights do. דמה שבגילה יש רעדה ברוגז יש רחמים וכן ההיפך ברעדה גילה וברחמים רוגז הכל מצד הכלי דוקא וכו׳.

Because this that it's possible in joy to have fear, and in anger to have mercy, and also the opposite, that in fear there should be joy and in mercy there should be anger, is all comes because of the vessel, specifically. As far as the light, you could not have these type of opposites. וכך אנו מוצאים ב-ו׳ ימי המעשה, and this is like we see in the six days of creation, שביום א׳ הוא בבחינת חסד יהי אור, ויום ב׳ הוא בבחינת גבורה יהי רקיע וכו׳, that we see that each day had its own מידה.

The first day was the מידה of חסד, that's why that's when light was created, which is a thing of חסד, and the second day is a מידה of גבורה, which is when the firmament was created that separated, which is a thing of גבורה, division.

כמו שכתוב בזוהר, like it says in the זוהר, דכל יומא ועבידתיה וכולי, that each day had its own job. Each day had a different emotion, a different מידה that ruled over that day and did its job. ועם כל זה, nevertheless, בכל יום יש התכללות מיום זולתו דווקא. Nevertheless, each day was related to and connected to its other, the other day, specifically. כידוע, as is known, for example, so even on the first day, when He created light, the light wasn't truly without any limits.

It was a limited, physical light, which was a thing of גבורה. And even on the second day, when there was a division made between the upper waters and the lower waters by the firmament, the purpose of that division was really for a חסד, that there should be people.

And so, and every single day really had a connection to every מידה. Nevertheless, the main purpose of each day was one מידה. That was the main job of each day.

ועם כל זה, בכל יום יש התכללות מיום זולתו דווקא, כידוע, לפי שכאשר בא האור בכלי, שנקרא יום, אז יש התכללות דהפכי דווקא. Because when the light comes into the vessel, which that's the idea of a day, the idea of יום, of a day, means it's not just the light that it says, like, God called the light day. In other words, that there light was already there, and then He said that the light should be should be connected to the thing of a day, that the day would be the time when the light shines.

So the idea of a יום means already when the light is being expressed in a vessel, it's already shining onto the world, and and also the idea of a day is means like it's coming out, it's being revealed.

So that's the idea of when the light is coming into the vessel. And once it comes into the vessel, the the the day, a day is already a whole cycle that includes all different types of changes, and all different events, and it's all part of one day.

And that's the idea that in the vessel, it has all types of opposite things that happen within the same sphere. והיינו, שכאשר בא הדבר לידי השפעה בפועל ממש, and this is why is it that in the vessel they're able to have two opposites? Because when you come to do something in actuality, אי אפשר שלא יוכלל בחסד מבחינת הדין ובדין מבחינת החסד.

Inclusion of חסד in דין and Vice Versa 7:26

It's impossible that you should not have the inclusion of a חסד in the דין, and the דין in the חסד. For example, what's when you're going to actually punish somebody, let's say, you're going to do a דין, it's impossible to give a punishment that's only דין. There's always going to be a thing of חסד there. You're not going to be able to do something that's totally דין.

And the same with חסד, if you want to do something nice for somebody, you can never really do something that's like totally nice. There's always a limit to it. מה שאין כן כשהאור והשפע עדיין בלא כלי וכולי, on the other hand, when the light is still without a vessel, כמו פסק דין למעשה דווקא. Right, so when it's not with a vessel, so then it's like in theory, so in the theory, you could have be very altruistic, and want only חסד or only דין.

When you come to actually do it, so like a person, let's say, in their they can have this infinite love for somebody, and they want only good for them, but there's nothing they can really do to express it, because once it comes to למעשה, it's going to be limited, and there's going to be some דין involved. And the same thing, a person could have infinite hate, and want only דין and גבורה, but they'll, once, any, and no punishment they'll do, or like no revenge they'll take on the enemy will be great enough, cuz if there's it's always too nice.

כמו פסק דין למעשה דווקא, like a פסק דין למעשה, שבהכרח יוכלל חסד בדין ודין בחסד. מה שאין כן כשאינו למעשה וכולי. So when you come to פסק דין למעשה, that there's like a actual sentence, the sentence is going to have to have a connection, the חסד and דין.

But in the פסק דין that's not למעשה, like the verdict, so you could just say, "He's totally guilty." That's the פסק that's not למעשה. Then you say, "Okay, so what's the sentence? What are we going to do with him? We're going to give him, you know, 20 years in jail."

That's that's not total דין, that's חסד, you know?

ונמצא, שמצד בחינת חיצוניות הכלי, שהוא למעשה, שם הוא עיקר בחינת התכללות וכולי ודוק. So it comes out that in the external vessel, which is the vessel, which that's where it comes למעשה, that's where there's the main התכללות, as opposed to the internal vessel even,

because when it's not למעשה yet, then it doesn't it doesn't have to have התכללות so much.