Sources – Chapter N – Judgment and Kindness

Judgment and Kindness

And in the Midrash: Lech lecha ("Go forth," Genesis 12:1) equals one hundred in numerical value. Here the Omnipresent hinted to him that through this going forth he would merit a son who would be born to him at one hundred years of age; and as Rashi explains here: "[There] you will not merit children," etc. Now, to understand the matter: what kind of good tiding is it that Hashem, blessed be He, announced to him, that [His Name] would not be sealed upon all of them? Had He not already announced to him beforehand that His Divinity, blessed be He, would be associated with him and with his seed? If so, then surely even had it been sealed upon all of them, it would also have been counted for him as a good tiding, since they are his seed. Let us preface with what our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded on the verse "In the beginning God (Elokim) created" (Genesis 1:1), and it is written "on the day that Hashem God (Hashem Elokim) made" (Genesis 2:4): that at first it arose in thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment; He saw that the world could not endure, so the Holy One, blessed be He, put the attribute of mercy first and joined it with the attribute of judgment. Now, on the face of it, this is astonishing: how can one speak of a change of will regarding the Creator, blessed be He, God forbid? For He sees the end of a matter from its beginning. If so, what does it mean that it arose in thought to create with the attribute of judgment, since He foresaw the end of the matter, that it would not endure with the attribute of judgment?

And also to understand what is written in the holy Zohar on the verse "These are the generations of the heavens and the earth behibar'am (when they were created)" (Genesis 2:4): do not read behibar'am but be'Avraham (through Abraham), who is the attribute of kindness (chesed), for it was through His great kindness that the worlds were created. And one must understand: why was it not written explicitly so in the Torah, with the letters in order, be'Avraham? Why was the combination reversed, so that it is written behibar'am?

But it is known that the secret of the creation of the worlds was through tzimtzumim (contractions). For the Creator, blessed be He, is perfect in all attributes and lacks nothing, such that one could say, God forbid, that because that thing was lacking to Him, God forbid, He needed to create the worlds – as, for example, a person who lacks some thing, and as long as he does not have that thing he is called lacking and is not called complete in that respect. Surely no person of intelligence would ever entertain such a thought about the Creator, blessed be He, God forbid. For with Him, blessed be He, past, present and future are equal; and if so, what He is in the future He also was in the past, before the creation of the worlds, when He was called complete in every perfection and had no need, God forbid, on His own account, for the creation of the world. Rather, since He is the great Master of kindness, abundant in kindness and good, as the verse says, "Hashem is good to all" (Psalms 145:9), and it is the nature of the Good to do good, He desired in creating the world to do good to the created beings, so that they would recognize the power of His kingship and delight in the radiance of His glory. With this intention He created the worlds. As it is said [in the hymn] Adon Olam: "Master of the world, who reigned before any form was created" – that He was King in complete perfection, in potential, before any form was created. But the reason He created the worlds is that "when all was made by His will, then His Name was proclaimed King" – through the created beings who recognize the power of His kingship and the splendor of His preciousness, and delight in His service and receive reward in this world and the next. If so, the creation of the worlds was through His great kindness which shone upon the created beings. But the kindness of the Creator, blessed be He, is exceedingly great, a pure and most refined light, which the created beings could not bear. As, for example, with the light of the sun: it is impossible to look at it and benefit from its light except through a screen that contracts the light to the measure that the created beings can receive it and benefit from its light. So too, a thousand thousands of thousands of times more so, the light of His great kindness: the created beings would not have been able to receive it and would have been nullified out of existence. Therefore the attribute of kindness had to be contracted by the attribute of gevurah (might), which is the attribute of judgment, which measures out the attribute of kindness in contraction, according to the measure that the created beings can receive. And all this – before the light of the great flow of kindness from Him, blessed be He, would shine forth, there had to be a contraction, so that afterwards, when the light of kindness shines forth, it would be limited and contracted to the measure that they can receive it, so that there could be a world through kindness, as it is written, "The world is built by kindness" (Psalms 89:3). If so, this contraction and judgment are also included in the attribute of kindness, since it too is for the good of the created beings, for through it they can

receive the light of kindness; and through this the full Name, Havayah Elokim (Hashem God), is called a complete unity. Understand this.

And this is the intention of our Sages, of blessed memory: "At first it arose in thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment." And if you ask: was not the essence of the creation of the world on the side of kindness, as said above? If so, what does it mean that it arose in thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment? To answer this they said: "He saw that the world could not endure" – meaning, had it been created with kindness alone, the world would not have endured because of the great brilliance that comes from His great kindness, as said. Therefore "He put the attribute of mercy first" – meaning, even the preceding step, that it arose in thought to create with the attribute of judgment, was also mercy, as said, so that afterwards they would be able to receive the kindness; only that He "joined it with the attribute of judgment," for without this the power of the illumination of kindness would not have been revealed to the created beings. If so, the attribute of judgment and kindness became partners, one whole, as the term "partnership" (shituf) indicates a single unity.

And this is the secret of or yashar (direct light) and or chozer (returning light). For the attribute of kindness alone is the direct [light], without any restraint or limit, which the created beings have no power to receive; and the attribute of limitation is called returning light, which turns the light back and holds it back and limits it and contracts it, so that its light should not shine forth so much that they cannot receive it. Nevertheless, both are called lights, as said, [for through] the contraction they are able to receive the kindness.

And with this you will also understand why be'Avraham is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah, as we noted above. For had be'Avraham been written explicitly in the Torah, directly, in the letters of be'Avraham, it would have indicated that the generations of heaven and earth were created through direct light; and this is not so, as said, for there had to be returning light. Therefore the letters of be'Avraham were written in reverse, which indicates returning light.

Now, just as it is with the good of the Creator, blessed be He, in general – which is the creation of the worlds – that there first had to be a contraction from the side of gevurah and judgment, for the reason mentioned, so it is always in the present, and in particular, even with every individual person. For before Hashem, blessed be He, desires to shine upon him with His great kindness and to do good to him, there must first be contraction and judgment from the side of gevurah, which is also a good for that person, in such a way that through it he will afterwards be able to receive the good of kindness. For without the judgment and contraction that came to him first, he would not have been able to receive the brilliant light of the kindness that will come to him afterwards, because of the greatness of the brilliance, as said above regarding the creation of the worlds in general.

Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "A person is obligated to bless over the bad just as he blesses over the good" (Berachot 54a, 60b) – just as one blesses over the good with joy, so should one bless over the bad with joy. For in truth all is good; even that bad is also to be reckoned as good, for it comes from the side of contraction, which contracts the attribute of kindness with which the Creator wishes to do good to him afterwards, lowering it to the measure that he will afterwards be able to receive it. And according to the greatness of the good that the Creator, blessed be He, has in mind to bring upon him, so must the prior contraction be great. For if the good is great, the prior contraction, which appears to him as bad, will also be great. And when one believes this, he will surely bless over the bad with joy just as he blesses over the good, for this is

the beginning of the good; and through this one includes the gevurot (severities) within the chasadim (kindnesses). Understand this. And the unification of Havayah Elokim, the full Name, is brought about. And one who has understanding and contemplates his ways will find the good that comes to him afterwards. And if he does not find it, surely those judgments came to atone for his sins and to bring him to the life of the World to Come, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "Sufferings scour away a person's sins" (cf. Berachot 5a). And surely there is no greater good than this, for "one hour of serenity in the World to Come is better than all the life of this world" (Avot 4:17) with all its pleasures. And there is also no greater good than that through those judgments he afterwards drew closer in his heart to Hashem, blessed be He, and fears Him more, as is known. "The wise man's eyes are in his head" (Ecclesiastes 2:14), to understand and contemplate his ways in this. (Me'or Einayim – Noach)

But the secret of the matter is as we have already written elsewhere on the verse "On the day that Hashem God made earth and heaven" (Genesis 2:4): at first it arose in thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment; He saw that the world could not endure, so He put the attribute of mercy first and joined it with the attribute of judgment. And what emerges from what is explained there is that it had to be precisely so: that it would arise in thought to create with the attribute of judgment, and afterwards to join with it the attribute of mercy. For the building of the world is through kindness, as the verse says, "The world is built by kindness" (Psalms 89:3); and His great kindness, blessed be He, the created beings could not receive without something that would contract His great kindness so that it would be revealed only as much as they could receive. Therefore the world was created by His joining the attribute of judgment to the attribute of mercy, for the attribute of judgment contracts the mercy and the kindness, holding it back so that it does not descend beyond the capacity of the recipients to receive. For otherwise there would have been no building of the world at all, because of the greatness of the outpouring of kindness, and it would have been nullified out of existence, were it not for the contraction of the attribute of judgment. Thus the joining of the attribute of judgment to the attribute of kindness is also kindness, because it too is the sustaining of the world; for without judgment the action of kindness would not have come into actuality, due to the nullification of existence, since the created beings would have had no power to receive it. And this was the sweetening of judgment and its inclusion in kindness for the sake of sustaining the world; and there was no change of will, God forbid, but rather it had to be so.

Therefore it is written behibar'am, which is the letters of be'Avraham in reverse, to indicate this intention: that the creation of the world was through direct light and returning light, as explained there. For Avraham in order is the aspect of direct light, whereas in reverse it indicates the returning light, which said to His world "Enough!" (dai) – to contract the direct kindness so that it should not spread out without limit.

And just as the creation of the world was through chesed (kindness) and gevurah (might), for the intention mentioned above, so too are all the conducts of the Creator, blessed be He, in the world: before any kindness comes, whether in general or in particular, even to one person, there must first be a contraction coming from the side of gevurah, to contract the flow of kindness so that they can receive it. And so too a person who wishes to draw close to Hashem, blessed be He, and to walk in His ways, to resemble the attributes of his Maker – he too must have an attribute that contracts the kindness.

(Me'or Einayim – Toldot)

Translated from the Hebrew sources page "מקורות פרק י”ד-דין וחסד" by Roni Ayalon-Hirsch.