Devekut: Cleaving to God

LESSON ELEVEN BASIC CONCEPTS IN KABBALAH (1) DEVEKUT: CLEAVING TO GOD

TEXT ONE -- Deuteronomy 4:4, 11:22, 10:20

...while you who held fast (ha-devekim) to the Lord your God, are all alive today.

If then, you faithfully keep all this Torah that I command you, loving the Lord your God, walking in all His ways, and holding fast (ul’davkah) to Him...

You must revere the Lord your God: only Him shall you worship, to Him shall you hold fast (tidbak), and by His Name shall you swear.

TEXT TWO -- Midrash, Sifrei 173

Rabbi Eliezer would say: Woe unto us, for whoever cleaves to impurity, the spirit of impurity rests upon him. But one who cleaves to the Shekhinah, it is natural (din hu) that the Holy Spirit rests upon Him. So what causes this (not to happen)? Your sins have separated you from your God. (Is. 59:2)

TEXT THREE -- Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Teshuvah (Laws of Repentance) 10:3

What is the way we should love God? We should love Him with an overwhelming and unlimited love, until our soul becomes permanently bound in the love of God, like one who is love-sick and cannot take his mind off the woman he loves, but always thinks of her, when lying down or rising up, when eating or drinking. Even greater than this should be the love of God in the hearts of those who love Him, thinking about Him constantly, as He commanded us, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

TEXT FOUR A -- Zohar I, 50b-51b

Rabbi Shimon opened, saying: Two verses are written. For the Lord your God is a devouring fire (Deut. 4:24), and you who cleave to the Lord your God are alive, all of you, today (Deut. 4:4). We have established these verses in various places and the companions have been aroused by them.

B -- Talmud, Ketubot 111b

Rabbi Eleazar said to Rabbi Yochanan: Master, I have found for those without knowledge of Torah (amei ha-aretz) a remedy in the Torah. (It says:) you who cleave to the Lord your God are alive, all of you, today; is it really possible to cleave to the Divine Presence, of which it is written: For the Lord your God is a devouring fire? Rather, this means: Whoever marries his daughter to a disciple of the wise, conducts business on their behalf, or benefits them from his assets, is regarded by Scripture as if he cleaves to the Divine Presence.

C -- Talmud, Sotah 14a

Rabbi Chama said in the name of Rabbi Chanina: What is the meaning of Follow after the Lord your God (Deut. 13:5)? Is it really possible for a person to follow the Shekhinah? Is it not also written, For the Lord your God is a devouring fire? Rather, it means one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Praised be He. Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them (Gen. 3:21), so should you clothe the naked. The Holy One, praised be He, visits the sick, as it is written: The Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinths of Mamrei (Gen. 18:1, shortly after Abraham’s circumcision), so should you visit the sick. The Holy One, praised be He, comforted mourners, as it is written: After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac (Gen. 25:11), so should you comfort mourners. The Holy One, praised be he, buries the dead, as it is written: He buried Moses in the valley (Deut. 34:6), so should you bury the dead.

D -- Joseph Gikatilla, 13th c., Sha’arei Orah (“Gates of Light”), p. 166

The ninth sefirah is His and the tenth is ours, for it is our inheritance and our portion. For when the tenth sefirah connects and unites with the ninth, then all Israel as one attaches itself to the Name, Blessed be He, as it has been said: And you who cleave to the Lord your God...Do not be concerned over what the Sages said: “Is it really possible to cleave to the Divine Presence (Shekhinah)?” Indeed, it is possible! Everything was revealed when they said that the verses were telling you to cleave to one of the learned among us. We know who the learned are, the students of God; without a doubt, this is the mystery of the cleaving of the tenth sefirah to the ninth. For whoever causes the unity of Knesset Yisrael (the people of Israel) with the sefirah of Yesod, Yesod cleaves to the Shekhinah and she cleaves to him, and both as one cleave to the Four-Letter Name...

Come and see: For the Lord your God is a devouring fire. The word has been discussed among the companions; there is a fire devouring fire, devouring and consuming it, for there is a fire fiercer than fire, as they have established. But come and see: Whoever desires to penetrate the wisdom of holy unification should contemplate the flame ascending from a glowing ember, or a burning candle. For flame ascends only when grasped by coarse substance.

Come and see! In a flame ascending are two lights: one, a radiant white light; the other, a light tinged with black or blue. The white light is above, ascending unswervingly, while beneath it is the blue or black light, a throne for the white, which rests upon it, each embracing the other, becoming one. This black light colored blue, below, is a throne of glory for the white. Here lies the mystery of the thread of blue. This blue-black throne is grasped by another substance below, so it can flame, arousing it to embrace the white light. Sometimes this blue-black [light] turns red, while the white light above it never wavers, constantly white. This blue one, though, changes color: sometimes blue or black, sometimes red. This [light] is grasped in two directions: above, by that white light; below, by what lies beneath, by which it is fueled, primed to glow. This [light] constantly consumes and devours what is placed beneath it, for the blue light consumes anything

cleaving below, anything it rests upon, since by nature it consumes and devours. On it depends destruction and death of all.

So it consumes anything cleaving below, while that white light hovering over it never devours or consumes, nor does its light waver. Therefore Moses said, For the Lord your God is a devouring fire--really devouring, devouring and consuming anything found below. That is why he said the Lord your God, and not "our God," for Moses inhabited that white light above, which does not consume or devour.

Come and see: The only arousal kindling this blue light, to be grasped by the white light, is Israel cleaving below. Come and see: Although by nature this blue-black light consumes anything cleaving below, Israel cleaves below and abides enduringly, as is written, And you that cleave to the Lord your God are alive-- i.e., to the Lord your God, not "our God," to the Lord your God, to that blue-black light devouring, consuming whatever cleaves below--yet you cleave and endure, as it is written alive, all of you, today.

Above the white light hovers a concealed light, encompassing it. Here abides supernal mystery. You will discover all in the ascending flame, wisdoms of the highest.

TEXT FIVE -- Eliezer Azikri, 16th c. Safed, Sefer Charedim, ch. 9, #10

It is one of the positive mitzvot in the Torah to cleave to the Blessed God, as it says: to Him shall you cleave. This means that one’s love (for God) should be so intense, such that you are not separated from God for even a moment. Scripture separates the love of God and cleaving to God into two separate mitzvot, for it says: (Choose life) by loving the Lord your God, heeding His commands, and cleaving to Him (Deut. 30:20). Furthermore, in Chovot ha-Levavot (“Duties of the Heart,” Bachya ibn Pekuda, 11th c. ethical work) it is written: “cleaving to Him means faithful love and whole-hearted devotion, as it is said (Prov. 18:24): There is a friend who cleaves more closely than a brother.” Nachmanides explains in his commentary on the Torah: “cleaving to Him means keeping the blessed God in mind constantly, so that your thoughts should not depart from Him in

your home, or when you walk on the way, or when you lie down and when you arise, until such time as one’s conversation with other people is with his mouth and tongue (alone), but his heart is not with them, but is still before God. And it is possible that for those at this level, their souls even during their lifetimes are bound up in the bond of (eternal) life (I Sam. 25:29), for they themselves are a dwelling-place for the Shekhinah.”

TEXT SIX –- Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague (16th c.); Netivot Olam (“Eternal Paths”), 2:39

Scripture states: Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God... (Deut. 6:4-5). Since God is one, no existing being in the world is separated from God; all things that exist depend upon and cleave to the blessed God, since He is the basis for all. It is for this reason that love applies to God. Indeed, love of God is more fitting than love of anything else. For in every kind of love that obtains between two human lovers, though they may cleave to one another, nevertheless, each retains his or her individuality. However, in the love of a human for God, a human being can completely return his spirit and soul to God to the extent that he loses his individual existence and completely cleaves to God, as it is written, to love the Lord your God and to cleave to Him. This is complete love.

It is as Rabbi Akiva said: “All my days I have been troubled by the verse, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and now that I have the opportunity, shall I not fulfill it?” (Talmud, Berakhot 61b) This is complete love-- when someone surrenders one’s life to God, for by so doing, one completely cleaves to God. It has been explained that love applies more to God, since a human being can give up his life for God and completely cleave to Him. This is true love.

TEXT SEVEN –- Judah Loew of Prague, Chiddushei Aggadot 1:56

One should know that the Shabbat represents the devekut which exists between Israel and God...The attachment and cleaving of Israel to God represented by the Shabbat differs from that engendered by the other mitzvot. For Shabbat represents creation... [In the Talmud (Shabbat 118b) we learn: “Rabbi

Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Had Israel kept their first Shabbat, no nation or tongue would have enjoyed dominion over them.”] If Israel would have observed its first Shabbat, it would have become attached to God through creation, and whatever is related to the creation is eternal and unchanging.

TEXT EIGHT –- Elijah de Vidas, 1575, Safed, Reishit Chokhmah (“The Beginning of Wisdom”), Sha’ar ha-Ahavah (“Gate of Love”), ch. 4, #24.

...A man would not delay mating with his wife, when he feels passion for her, even if you gave him all the money in the world. Similarly, it is appropriate that a person feel passionately about performing the commandments, since through performing them he couples with the daughter of the King: that is, the Shekhinah...

TEXT NINE -- Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, Shnei Luchot Ha-Brit, Parshat Va'etchanan, Derekh Chayyim Tokhechot Musar.

And you who cleave to the Lord your God are all of you alive today (Deut. 4:4): This verse includes the whole Torah, and the deeds and characteristics and conduct of mankind, that all be for the sake of His Name and to be in devekut with the Blessed God. And even when he attends to his vital physical needs, he should not waver from this devekut. When he attends to his business, he should think: “I am attending to my business, and hope in the Blessed God that I will have profit, for the Blessed One is actually the giver, and from this I will perform a mitzvah, and sustain myself, my wife and children, so that they live to maintain the service of God, and I will contribute to charity, to the study of Torah, and other such needs.” And when he eats or lies down to sleep, he should intend that this strengthen his body so that he might attend to the study of Torah and the performance of mitzvot; similarly with all matters...Thus a man will throughout life be continually cleaved to the Blessed God, if he follows in this path, and will merit eternal devekut with the Blessed One. And the Zohar says (III, 138b, Idra Rabba): “Rabbi Shimon began by quoting, And you who cleave to the Lord your God. What nation is so holy as Israel, of whom it is written: Happy are you, O Israel, who is like you? (Deut. 33:29) And it is written: Who is like You, O Lord, among the mighty? (Ex. 15:11) For the cleaving (of Israel) in 6

this world is to the holy Name, and in the next world even more so, for there they are not separated from the bond of life in which the righteous are bound. This is the meaning of You who cleave to the Lord: actually to the Lord!”

TEXT TEN -- Shnei Luchot Ha-Brit, Toldot Adam, introduction, sect. 3.

And He called their name Adam (Gen. 5:2): this refers to the generations of Adam and his end. If he cleaves to what is above and likens himself to the blessed One, to walk in His ways, then his name will indeed called Adam, from the language of adameh l'Elyon (I will be like the Most High; Is. 14:14), and to on the likeness of the throne, the likeness of man. (Ez. 1:26) But if he separates himself from this cleaving, then he will be called Adam by the name of the earth (adamah) from which he is taken, for he is dust, and to dust he shall return. However, the name Adam from adameh l'Elyon is the essential purpose, for evil is only created for the sake of the good as I have explained. Therefore, this is the essential name of Adam, for this is also the numerical value of the miluy of His great Name, Yud-Heh-Vav- Heh."

TEXT ELEVEN -- Shnei Luchot Ha-Brit, Toldot Adam, Bet David, sect. 7

...life and good, and death and evil. (Deut. 30:15) When one goes on the good path, he cleaves to life, which is the secret of the tree of life. When he goes on the evil path, he cleaves to death. And his “likeness” changes so that when he goes on the good path, he is a likeness of the secret of middot, cleaving to the Holy Name, as our sages of blessed memory said (Talmud, Sotah 14a): “And you who cleave to the Lord means: cleave to his attributes (middot)...”

TEXT TWELVE -- Shnei Luchot Ha-Brit, Toldot Adam, Bet David, sect. 8.

Know that those who study nature have said that death is natural for a human being, because every being perishes...All of our sages who are enamored of Greek wisdom have been drawn to this opinion. They make bitter the judgment and intention of our Torah. But the true sages of the Torah who possess true faith (i.e., the Kabbalists), our rabbis of blessed memory, believe that death is not natural. They said that if one did not sin, he would never die. The sage of truth and Kabbalist, our great Rabbi Nachmanides of blessed memory, said as follows about Parshat Bereshit: “Know that composition does not imply decomposition, except according to the opinion of those of little faith who think creation was necessary. But according to the men of faith who say the world was created by Divine desire, it is clear that its existence also depends upon Him forever, as long as this desire exists. This is a clear truth.”

Certainly the students of nature walk in darkness, for devekut with the Blessed One is above nature, and the will of the Blessed One is that man’s devekut will be eternal...we true believers hold that everything is from God's will, and His will is that man will be eternal, if he remains in devekut.

TEXT THIRTEEN –- Moshe Chayyim Luzzatto (1707-1746, Italy), from manuscript

And they [the righteous] are veritably in the mystical situation of Yesod, who unites with the Shekhinah and performs all the acts out of love as a husband does for his wife and not as a servant for his master.

TEXT FOURTEEN -- teaching of Ba’al Shem Tov, 18th c., Keter Shem Tov, 1:84

And you who cleave to the Lord your God are all of you alive today (Deut. 4:4): This means that devekut is the cause of true life. When you have devekut with God, the life of life, you are alive in essence. But when you interrupt your devekut, you are alive only by happenstance. Just as heat is the essence of fire, but only happens to water in certain circumstances, and the heat

does not remain if water is removed from a fire, [so it is with devekut].

Regarding devekut, the Sages remarked on the verse and cleave to Him (Deut. 11:22): “How can one cleave to Him? Is not God a devouring fire (Deut. 4:24)? Rather, it means to cleave to His attributes.” This means cleaving to Him through the Torah. The Ba’al Shem Tov also taught that when a person is occupied with prayer and Torah, which is completely composed of God’s Name, he should absolutely be in a powerful state of devekut. And even throughout the day, he should still fulfill the verse I have set God always before me (Ps. 16:8) by having some measure of devekut.

To what may this be compared? To a candle or a burning coal. For as long as there is still a live spark within it, the flame can be revived. But if there is not even a spark remaining, the fire must be brought from a new source...This is the meaning of And you who cleave to the Lord your God are all of you alive today; devekut is not only a guarantee for attaining eternal life in the world to come, but also ensures life in this world, which is called today.

TEXT FIFTEEN –- Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizensk (1717-1787), Noam Elimelekh, Bereshit, p. 2a

The tzaddik attaches himself way above, to eternal life, and even when he is in this world he experiences the delight of the Upper World and of eternal life. That is what the Talmud (Berakhot 17a) means when it says (as an expression of blessing), “May you see your (eternal) world in your lifetime” — that through all his deeds and movements being done with holiness and purity, with devekut and joy, and with love and fear of God, he will experience the delight of the Upper World in this world.

TEXT SIXTEEN –- Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizensk, Noam Elimelekh, Shelach, p. 264b

The tzaddik who ascends higher and higher, from one level to another, is always in great devekut with the Creator, blessed be His Name. When he is in devekut, his mind is distracted from

people and thus he is unable to act on behalf of people’s needs, for he is in no way part of this world. Therefore, the tzaddik must sometimes let go of his devekut for the sake of individual needs, so that he might act on their behalf, either through praying for their physical or financial needs, or by bringing down the divine flow of beneficence, which depends upon him. Thus, by occasionally letting go of his devekut, the tzaddik performs a great mitzvah, and this [his letting go] is the will of the Creator.

TEXT SEVENTEEN –- Rabbi Abraham Kalisker (d. 1810), from a letter on the subject of devekut

It is a wonderful boon for the individual to continuously have the advantage of Divine Providence through his associates who are attached in devekut with God, and to be eligible for all good things and success in the uplift of body and soul...Now if some misfortune befall him...all he needs to do is to make his misfortune known to the many with whom he is in a relationship of devekut and who are themselves protected by Divine Providence from suffering and distress by the abundance of their devekut with God. Thus those who are in trouble live under the Divine protection which shields them. In order that the perfect ones might suffer neither pain nor grief, he too will have Divine Providence extended to him when they become aware of his grief.

TEXT EIGHTEEN -– anonymous Kabbalistic manuscript (on the experience of Ben Azzai in the Pardes story)

“Ben Azzai looked and died.” He gazed at the radiance of the Shekhinah, like a man with weak eyes who gazes into the full light of the sun, and his eyes are dimmed, and at times he becomes blinded, because of the intensity of the light which overwhelms him. Thus it happened to Ben Azzai: the light overwhelmed him, and he gazed at it because of his great desire to cleave to it and to enjoy it without interruption, and after he cleaved to it he did not wish to be separated from the sweet radiance, and he remained immersed and hidden within it. And his soul was crowned and adorned by that very radiance and brightness to which no man may cling and afterwards live, as it is said: for no man shall see Me and live (Ex. 33:20). But Ben Azzai only gazed at it a little while, and then his soul

departed and remained (there), and was hidden away in the place of its cleaving, which is a most precious light. And this death was the death of the pious whose souls are separated from all concerns of the lowly world and whose souls cleave to the ways of the supernal world.