Conflict Between Material and Spiritual The song of Haazinu, the song Moses sung to the Jewish People on the final day of his life, describes how the great blessings of the land of Israel, the involvement with material pursuits, would ultimately cause the Jewish people to abandon G-d, and ignore their spiritual calling. They would then experience the horrors of exile. Yet, as the song continues, ultimately the people would be healed, and G-d would bring them back to their land. At the precise point where the song transitions from describing the terrible calamity of the exile to the eventual reconciliation between G-d and the people, the song alludes to the spiritual insight that would correct the underlying problem that led to the spiritual downfall in the first place. The song states: See now that it is I! I am the One, and there is no G-d like Me! I cause death and grant life. I strike, but I heal, and no one can rescue from My Hand! The words “I strike and I heal” capture the secret of the transformation. The Midrash points out that the Hebrew word “strike”, “Machatzti”, is the same root as the word “partition”, “Mechitzah”. Thus, the verse can be read, “I created a division and I will heal the division”. Chasidic philosophy explains that the source of all pain, darkness and frustration is the partition between materialism and spirituality. Creation represents the separation of the material from its spiritual source. When we look at the physical reality we don’t sense its soul, its spiritual core. The material creation distracts us from the spiritual energy that continually brings it into existence. The created being is a partition, concealing the inner, mystical, reality. The purpose of creation, however, is to heal the divide, to heal the separation between creation and creator. The partition is necessary, without it there is no independent creation, only the infinite light of G-d. Yet the partition can be healed when the created being reveals that its purpose is to express the Divine truth. The Song of Haazinu, then, tracks the story of our interaction with the material world we live in. We are the products of the partition, we experience the divide, we sense the conflict. We interact with the physical reality and material pleasures and we sense that it has the potential to distract us from our higher selves. We then continue reading the song and our understanding deepens. The partition does not have to be a source of conflict. When we discover the soul and the purpose of the material, the partition will be healed. The purpose of the divide, like the purpose of creation, is to find the unity and harmony in the midst of conflict and tension; to heal the divide between the physical and spiritual. While the entirety of Judaism is about bridging heaven and earth, no Mitzvah does so as powerfully as the Mitzvah of Sukkah. The Sukkah encompasses the entirety of our physical body as well as our physical possessions and experiences. The Sukkah represents the capacity of bringing every aspect of our life into the holy embrace of the Sukkah, imbuing our material life with holiness. (Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Simcha beis Hashoeva 5716)
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