Explanations of the Prayer - Mizmor Shir Chanukas - Part 2

00:01 Speaker 1 This prayer, this song, was composed by King David for the dedication of the House. We spoke about that in the previous class. Let’s just add one point. We’ve also spoken before about how “a psalm, a song” refers to two things. A psalm is played on an instrument; a song is sung with the mouth. So “a psalm, a song” means both instrument and voice. In serving Hashem, these correspond to the animal soul and the G-dly soul. They are two distinct things: the psalm, the instrument, corresponds to the animal soul, and the song to the G-dly soul. Sometimes one is written first, and sometimes the other is. It depends on the kind of song, and on what is below and what is above. All right, we won’t get into that; it’s not so important right now. Otherwise we won’t get to the main point. Let’s continue. “I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up.” What is King David saying? King David represents Malchus of Atzilus, which relates to the soul of a Jew: the G-dly soul as it is clothed in the body. There are concealments and veils. There is an animal soul, there are kelipos and the sitra achra, and all sorts of things that conceal the light of the soul and prevent it from doing its work. So we need Hakadosh Boruch Hu to help us emerge from the exile and from the body and animal soul. That is the theme of this chapter. “I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up.” I exalt Hashem. In the simple meaning, that means I praise Hashem. But Chassidus also explains “I will exalt You” in terms of exaltedness, referring to Kesser, which is exalted. Because Malchus, on the one hand, is the lowest level,

02:01 Speaker 1 while on the other hand, Malchus in particular is rooted in the highest level. That is the point King David, who represents Malchus, is speaking about here. He says that it is specifically through Malchus, through the work of birurim in this physical world. Similarly, the Beis Hamikdash and its dedication relate to the inanimate. As explained in Chassidus, the difference between the Beis Hamikdash and the Mishkan is that the Mishkan was made from things that grow, while the Beis Hamikdash was inanimate, representing the lowest kind of created thing. So it is specifically in Malchus, specifically in the lowest realms, that Hashem’s Essence is drawn down. That is the meaning of “I will exalt You”: exaltedness is drawn down specifically through our work in these matters, through the work of birurim. As we said, the emphasis is on “I will exalt You, Hashem.” I exalt Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is, through our avodah, the exaltedness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is drawn down. “I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up.” What does “for You have lifted me up” mean? In the simple sense, King David is saying that he exalts Hashem because Hashem lifted him up. The word dalisani, “You have lifted me up,” is related to drawing water with a bucket—drawing water up from a well. “I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up”: I exalt Hashem because He pulled me out of the mud, out of bad things. “And You did not let my enemies rejoice over me.” He did not let the enemies rejoice over him. On the simplest level, this speaks about King David. As we discussed last time, King David had enemies who spread all kinds of slander about him. They said he had done all sorts of bad things; they mocked him, hated him and pursued him. King David had many

03:59 Speaker 1 pursuers. So he thanks Hashem for protecting him and drawing him up, lifting him up, so that his enemies could not rejoice over his—how do you say it? His loss, his...

04:21 Speaker 2 His downfall.

04:22 Speaker 1 What?

04:23 Speaker 2 His loss and all that.

04:24 Speaker 1 His loss, yes. So that is the straightforward meaning of this verse. King David says that Hashem saved him, so his enemies could not rejoice over his defeat. Hashem protected him and brought him out of all his troubles and all the bad things. But what does it mean in Chassidus, in the inner meaning of the matter? Again, it refers to the G-dly soul, the neshamah, which descends below. The enemies are the yetzer hara, the animal soul and all the forces that conceal and obscure—all the things that seek to confuse the G-dly soul. They are waiting for a person to fall into all sorts of bad things, into kelipah and into improper desires. So we thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu for protecting us: “for You have lifted me up.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu lifts us, supports us and brings us out of all the bad things. He makes sure that the yetzer hara cannot rejoice over our defeat. Chassidus explains that the word dalisani has several meanings. It means to lift up, as we said, but it is also related to dalus, poverty—to being dal, poor. That seems to be the opposite. Another meaning is drawing up, as in drawing water. So there is lifting up and there is drawing up; these are two related aspects. Dalisani is also related to deles, a door. The maamarim of Chassidus explain that all these meanings are connected, and that they refer to the sefirah of Malchus. As we said, this is all about King David and the sefirah of Malchus, which

06:27 Speaker 1 has all these qualities, as explained regarding Malchus. On the one hand, there is dalisani in the sense of Malchus’s bittul, its poverty. Malchus has this quality of bittul and poverty. In a person’s avodah, this is expressed in “Let my soul be like dust to everyone.” That is the poverty we speak of in avodah. Precisely when a Jew feels that he is poor, that he is not an independent entity, that he is nullified, he becomes a vessel for G-dliness. The second meaning is drawing up—raising and elevating. Precisely because Malchus is the lowest, Hakadosh Boruch Hu raises it up. “Whoever humbles himself, Hakadosh Boruch Hu raises him up.” That is the exaltedness found specifically in Malchus. Then there is drawing up in the sense of drawing water, which is also found in Malchus: raising something from below to above, elevating the inner dimension of Malchus. There is a point to that as well, though I don’t remember the details right now. And there is also the meaning of a door. What is a door? A door also refers to Malchus. What is a door? A door—one moment, sir, one moment. What is a door? It serves for entering and leaving, right? That is where people go in and out. So a door also represents the sefirah of Malchus, which provides an entrance and an exit: the passage between G-dliness and created beings. All these meanings apply to a person’s inner avodah. That is “I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up.” Every Jew has all these qualities within his soul and in his avodah. He has the bittul of poverty, and he has exaltedness. He has the power of drawing up, the power that a Jew has to

08:20 Speaker 1 To be absorbed into the body of the King and to connect with G-dliness. The power of the dalet is that a Jew has the ability to take all the things of this world and elevate them, bring them close, bring them into the domain of holiness. And through all this, “You did not let my enemies rejoice over me.” These are the strengths a Jew has so that he will not fall, so that the yetzer hara cannot rule over him. Then he continues and asks: “Hashem, my G-d, I cried out to You, and You healed me.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu, I prayed to You, I cried out to You, and You healed me. In other words, a Jew says to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: I am asking You. A Jew may be in a state where the animal soul rules over him—the yetzer hara and all kinds of other things. He faces concealments and obstacles. He prays to Hashem, and Hashem heals him. “You healed me” applies physically, and spiritually as well. “You healed me” also refers to teshuvah, because teshuvah brings him healing. What he means here is that through “I cried out to You,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu “healed me.” In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives me the strength to do teshuvah, and through that He heals all the wrong things a person did in the past, all his improper conduct. Hakadosh Boruch Hu heals him of all those things. There is a story about the Mitteler Rebbe. They relate that when the Mitteler Rebbe was a child of seven or eight, he would already daven at length. Once, they heard him saying this verse in his davening with deep feeling and a great deal of crying. Afterward, they asked him what he had been thinking about. The Mitteler Rebbe, who was a small child, said that as he davened he was thinking: “Hashem, my G-d”—G-d, my G-d. Look at how he translated it: “I cried out to You”—I plead with You, I beg You. “And You healed me”—make me weak. He translated “You healed me” not according to its simple meaning, from the word for healing, but as related to the word “weak.” What does “weak” mean?

10:20 Speaker 1 Weak. So, “Hashem, my G-d, I cried out to You, and You healed me.” I ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu to weaken the force, the stubbornness, of my animal soul. The animal soul has its force, its sense of self, the force of materiality and the force of coarseness. These are general characteristics of the animal soul, and they prevent a person from connecting with G-dliness. So, “I cried out to You.” I ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “and You healed me”—that He weaken the force of the animal soul’s coarseness, so that I can serve Hashem as I should. Yes, today we want to…