QUESTION:
1) What did the Rav mean in a recent response that a person can have a clearer perspective on our current times by “seeing opposites in everything”? This seems like a very abstract concept, can the Rav please give some examples of how one can do this?
ANSWER:
In each thing, see the good parts and bad parts in it, as well as the logical parts in something and the non-logical parts in something.
QUESTION
2) I understand from previous responses of the Rav that this concept of “seeing opposites to everything” is the entry into the 50th Gate of Holiness which is essentially the entry into Radl”a (reisha d’lo isyada, the unknowable head. Thus entering into the deepest level of kedushah depends on this concept of seeing opposites in everything. Why would the deepest level depend on accessing this intellectual ability? How does this intellectual ability awaken the heart to more closeness with Hashem?
ANSWER
The intellect [understanding conflicting concepts and being able to contain the contradiction] is one of the possible ways to enter into Radl”a, but it can also be entered through [being able to contain] contradicting desires and contradicting middos and emotions, etc.
QUESTION
3) Is seeing opposites in everything the same concept as “the secret of opposites” or is it the mind’s ability to overturn information (daas d’hipuch)?
ANSWER
No. Seeing opposites to each thing is to see the different parts of something, sometimes seeing one aspect of something and sometimes seeing a different aspect of it, whereas daas d’hipuch (using the mind to overturn information) is to see opposites within the same concept.
QUESTION
4) Is there a source that seeing opposite in every concept is the entry into the 50th level of holiness, the Radl”a?
ANSWER
What source is needed for this? That is the entire concept of the Radl”a, to see differing and opposite concepts within the same thing, to see opposites within each thing, as the Ramchal explains clearly in “138 Openings To Wisdom” (sefer Kelach Pischei Chochmah).
QUESTION
5) The Rav said that only through the 50th gate of kedushah (holiness) can we fight against the 50th gate of tumah (impurity), and it is either through emunah peshutah, or through temimus, or through seeing opposites to everything. My question is that I know people who seem to be strong at these abilities, they have emunah peshutah and temimus, yet they are very connected to their smartphones and internet use, either for Torah or kiruv purposes. They don’t understand why they need to separate from the Internet, especially if they are getting so much Torah from the internet. It seems to me that the only way for people to wage war against the Internet is through mesirus nefesh to do the will of Hashem. It is just that most people do not understand at all why this is what Hashem wants from us now, because they don’t see a problem with Internet if they are using it for Torah or kiruv purposes and other good purposes. It seems then that mesirus nefesh is the only way to reach the 50th level of kedushah, but just through emunah peshutah or temimus alone, it doesn’t seem that this will be enough to fight against the Internet. If anything, their temimus makes them fall into the Internet even more because in their earnestness they don’t see a problem at all with using Internet – they don’t have the subtlety to feel how this device is intrinsically impure, especially if they get Torah from it. So can the Rav please explain how people can fight against their Internet use just through having emunah peshutah, or temimus, or the ability of seeing opposites in everything? How do these abilities bring a person to the 50th level of kedushah? It seems to be that the only advice to win against the Internet is through mesirus nefesh to do the will of Hashem, and then to explain to others how this is what Hashem wants from us, and only then can they understand it intellectually and then internalize in their hearts, and then they can actually be moser nefesh for Hashem…
ANSWER
Either they have ohr makif (enveloping light which they haven’t yet internalized but which they are encircling and grasping onto), or they have reached a partial level of light. If someone has emunah peshutah or temimus or pshitus, they are certainly connected to the 50th level of kedushah. But it is possible that it hasn’t yet penetrated into their nefesh habehaimis, their animal level of their soul.
QUESTION
5) Will this generation for sure see Mashiach, since we are the last generation? Or can there chas v’shalom be another Holocaust-like scenario that happened to the Jews of Europe (which the Rav hinted to recently that it’s still a possibility of happening, chas v’shalom)?
ANSWER
Both are a possibility. May Hashem take pity on us and bring his Mashiach now, through His compassion.
QUESTION
6) Are there individuals in our generation who are moser nefesh to do the will of Hashem who can bring the Geulah and make all of Klal Yisrael worthy for the Geulah?
ANSWER
That would be possible if the Geulah happens through an “awakening from below”, but now we are already at the level of “For My Sake, for My sake, I will do it.”
QUESTION
7) The Rav explained recently that the decree of “45 days of in desert” which was prophesied about the end of days doesn’t necessarily mean a physical event of being exiled to the desert, because it can also mean a spiritual exile to a spiritual desert, and the Rav also explained that this was also the secret behind the 45 souls who perished in Meiron this year. Did the Rav means that the tragedy in Meiron was a fulfillment of the exile of the 45 days in the desert? And if yes, does that mean we are found in the process of the 45 days in the desert in the spiritual sense?
ANSWER
Yes! It was the cessation of the ideal design of man (the death of the 45 implies the cessation of adam/man, equal to 45). And now the main light is through the illumination of the kav (the ray that extends from the infinite) which is above the human being – the kav d’Adam Kadmon.
QUESTION
8) The Rav said that the closer we get to Mashiach, the light of Mashiach gets stronger, even though the birth pangs preceding Mashiach are getting sharper and more painful. Here is my question Lately I feel a lot of darkness – both because of what’s happening in the world and also because of darkness that I feel inside me. I feel that it’s a holy feeling of mourning the void of holiness in Creation, but I also feel that because my soul isn’t balanced, it also brings me to feel sad and bitter: “ I am bitter and am difficult of spirit.” I don’t feel the light of Mashiach shining strongly in these times. I know that it exists but it’s abstract to me, and I just believe dryly that it exists but I don’t feel it. How can I feel the light of Mashiach during these times and how can I feel that it’s getting stronger?
ANSWER
Connect to p’shitus (unquestionably loyalty to Hashem) and Ain Oid Milvado k’pshuto (the simple and literal sense that there is truly nothing other than Hashem). That is the light which is above our world and above all tumah/impurity. When one truly feels a disconnection from the world, it is easier to feel this.
QUESTION
2) I understand from previous responses of the Rav that this concept of “seeing opposites to everything” is the entry into the 50th Gate of Holiness which is essentially the entry into Radl”a (reisha d’lo isyada, the unknowable head. Thus entering into the deepest level of kedushah depends on this concept of seeing opposites in everything. Why would the deepest level depend on accessing this intellectual ability? How does this intellectual ability awaken the heart to more closeness with Hashem?
ANSWER
The intellect [understanding conflicting concepts and being able to contain the contradiction] is one of the possible ways to enter into Radl”a, but it can also be entered through [being able to contain] contradicting desires and contradicting middos and emotions, etc.
QUESTION
3) Is seeing opposites in everything the same concept as “the secret of opposites” or is it the mind’s ability to overturn information (daas d’hipuch)?
ANSWER
No. Seeing opposites to each thing is to see the different parts of something, sometimes seeing one aspect of something and sometimes seeing a different aspect of it, whereas daas d’hipuch (using the mind to overturn information) is to see opposites within the same concept.
QUESTION
4) Is there a source that seeing opposite in every concept is the entry into the 50th level of holiness, the Radl”a?
ANSWER
What source is needed for this? That is the entire concept of the Radl”a, to see differing and opposite concepts within the same thing, to see opposites within each thing, as the Ramchal explains clearly in “138 Openings To Wisdom” (sefer Kelach Pischei Chochmah).
QUESTION
5) The Rav said that only through the 50th gate of kedushah (holiness) can we fight against the 50th gate of tumah (impurity), and it is either through emunah peshutah, or through temimus, or through seeing opposites to everything. My question is that I know people who seem to be strong at these abilities, they have emunah peshutah and temimus, yet they are very connected to their smartphones and internet use, either for Torah or kiruv purposes. They don’t understand why they need to separate from the Internet, especially if they are getting so much Torah from the internet. It seems to me that the only way for people to wage war against the Internet is through mesirus nefesh to do the will of Hashem. It is just that most people do not understand at all why this is what Hashem wants from us now, because they don’t see a problem with Internet if they are using it for Torah or kiruv purposes and other good purposes. It seems then that mesirus nefesh is the only way to reach the 50th level of kedushah, but just through emunah peshutah or temimus alone, it doesn’t seem that this will be enough to fight against the Internet. If anything, their temimus makes them fall into the Internet even more because in their earnestness they don’t see a problem at all with using Internet – they don’t have the subtlety to feel how this device is intrinsically impure, especially if they get Torah from it. So can the Rav please explain how people can fight against their Internet use just through having emunah peshutah, or temimus, or the ability of seeing opposites in everything? How do these abilities bring a person to the 50th level of kedushah? It seems to be that the only advice to win against the Internet is through mesirus nefesh to do the will of Hashem, and then to explain to others how this is what Hashem wants from us, and only then can they understand it intellectually and then internalize in their hearts, and then they can actually be moser nefesh for Hashem…
ANSWER
Either they have ohr makif (enveloping light which they haven’t yet internalized but which they are encircling and grasping onto), or they have reached a partial level of light. If someone has emunah peshutah or temimus or pshitus, they are certainly connected to the 50th level of kedushah. But it is possible that it hasn’t yet penetrated into their nefesh habehaimis, their animal level of their soul.
QUESTION
5) Will this generation for sure see Mashiach, since we are the last generation? Or can there chas v’shalom be another Holocaust-like scenario that happened to the Jews of Europe (which the Rav hinted to recently that it’s still a possibility of happening, chas v’shalom)?
ANSWER
Both are a possibility. May Hashem take pity on us and bring his Mashiach now, through His compassion.
QUESTION
6) Are there individuals in our generation who are moser nefesh to do the will of Hashem who can bring the Geulah and make all of Klal Yisrael worthy for the Geulah?
ANSWER
That would be possible if the Geulah happens through an “awakening from below”, but now we are already at the level of “For My Sake, for My sake, I will do it.”
QUESTION
7) The Rav explained recently that the decree of “45 days of in desert” which was prophesied about the end of days doesn’t necessarily mean a physical event of being exiled to the desert, because it can also mean a spiritual exile to a spiritual desert, and the Rav also explained that this was also the secret behind the 45 souls who perished in Meiron this year. Did the Rav means that the tragedy in Meiron was a fulfillment of the exile of the 45 days in the desert? And if yes, does that mean we are found in the process of the 45 days in the desert in the spiritual sense?
ANSWER
Yes! It was the cessation of the ideal design of man (the death of the 45 implies the cessation of adam/man, equal to 45). And now the main light is through the illumination of the kav (the ray that extends from the infinite) which is above the human being – the kav d’Adam Kadmon.
QUESTION
8) The Rav said that the closer we get to Mashiach, the light of Mashiach gets stronger, even though the birth pangs preceding Mashiach are getting sharper and more painful. Here is my question Lately I feel a lot of darkness – both because of what’s happening in the world and also because of darkness that I feel inside me. I feel that it’s a holy feeling of mourning the void of holiness in Creation, but I also feel that because my soul isn’t balanced, it also brings me to feel sad and bitter: “ I am bitter and am difficult of spirit.” I don’t feel the light of Mashiach shining strongly in these times. I know that it exists but it’s abstract to me, and I just believe dryly that it exists but I don’t feel it. How can I feel the light of Mashiach during these times and how can I feel that it’s getting stronger?
ANSWER
Connect to p’shitus (unquestionably loyalty to Hashem) and Ain Oid Milvado k’pshuto (the simple and literal sense that there is truly nothing other than Hashem). That is the light which is above our world and above all tumah/impurity. When one truly feels a disconnection from the world, it is easier to feel this.
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