Gathering the Sparks
G-d destroyed worlds before creating ours. We emulate G-d by removing the limiting structures we impose on ourselves.
“This world appeals to Me.”
When the Al-mighty created the universe, our Sages of the Midrash inform us, He was not happy with His first product.
“He would build universes and then destroy them.”
Finally, G-d created the world we inhabit and said, “[While] [t]hose did not appeal to me, this one does appeal to me.”
This passage, obviously, begs for further clarification. Why would an all-knowing G-d have to experiment with creation until He found a world that suited Him? Couldn’t he create a world that He wanted from the very outset?
Certain commentators understood this passage literally and have used it as a way of attempting to reconcile the scientific age of the universe with the traditional one. In their opinion, the fossils are remnants from an earlier world that was destroyed.
In addition to the difficulty in using this passage as a way of explaining the fossils— how did the fossils survive a world that was destroyed?—the words of the Midrash were never understood in a literal fashion.
Indeed, the masters of Kabbalah have devoted much attention to this matter and explain that G-d did not actually create worlds and then destroy them. These are not physical worlds that the Midrash is referring to, rather it refers to spiritual realms that exist even now, that are being created and destroyed all the time. And every aspect of life is a product of the twin dynamic of destruction and creation.
The Paradox of Physical Life
In effect, the building and destroying of these “worlds” are responsible for the paradoxical nature of physical existence. Embedded within every material object in our world are sparks of holiness that have “fallen” here from these destroyed worlds; worlds that are pregnant with powerful spiritual forces, but have no means to articulate them.
This process is referred to in the literature of Kabbalah as “sheviras hakeilim, the shattering of the vessels.” As a result of this “power outage” that resulted from a disproportionate surge of energy, we have a world in which the remnant sparks of that sublime world have found refuge in all physical matter.
The question arises: what is the purpose in having these sparks hidden in physical matter? If, for all intents and purposes, physical objects remain physical, of what benefit is the knowledge that all physical matters contain these sparks? And why did G-d allow these sparks to become “hostages” to a lowly material world?
Liberation by way of liberating the “sparks”
The answer to these questions is that we have the capacity to “liberate” these sparks, thereby unleashing untold positive Divine energy into our ordinary world. These powerful G-dly forces were deliberately introduced into our world in a way that doesn’t overwhelm us, and is also accessible to us.
In simple terms, even the most mundane, material and physical object is laden with spiritual potential that can be unleashed when we use the physical object for a spiritual purpose.
For example, every time we take money and give it to tzedakah, we “liberate” those sublime sparks of holiness that were embedded in the money. These unleashed spiritual powers energize us and the world around us. When enough of this concealed G- dly energy is revealed, the world cannot help but [to] change for the good and we then usher in the future Redemption.
By liberating the sparks in every physical object, we ultimately bring liberation and Redemption to the entire world.
Thus, according to Kabbalah, thus, every positive action changes the world drastically and leads to its ultimate redemption. Good thoughts, by contrast, while they can be the motivation and impetus for good deeds, do not possess the same power to liberate these sparks and change the world. It is the physical action utilizing the body and physical objects that possess an infinitely greater capacity to change the world for the better and bring about its radical transformation into a G-dly world.
Emulating G-d
There is room for further reflection, however. We were commanded to emulate G-d. “Just as G-d is compassionate, so shall we be compassionate. Just as G-d is kind and forgiving, so shall we be kind, etc.,” (Talmud ) declare our Sages. It follows then, that just as G-d builds and creates, so shall we be constructive and creative in all of our endeavors.
The question then is, how do we emulate G-d when it comes to His building worlds and destroying them? What good can there be in destructive behavior?
There are actually several levels of positive destruction. First and foremost, we have a need to eliminate the transgressions and the evil impulses that foster them, which create a barrier between ourselves and G-d. Despite the fact that G-d created the opportunities to do evil, we are enjoined not to take advantage of them. We must not hesitate to negate and destroy these “worlds” of opportunity.
And just as when G-d did His act of destruction, it resulted in the introduction of powerful energies within the physical world, similarly, when we destroy the worlds of unholiness, obstruction and transgression, we unleash G-dly energy that is concealed within the forbidden substance or action.
Indeed, according to the teachings of Kabbalah and Chassidus, when we resist the temptation to do evil, we unleash even more formidable spiritual energies than when we do good. When we perform a positive act, we generate a commensurate measure of Divine energy, one that can be “captured” by our finite actions.
The hidden Divine energy that we generate by resisting temptation, by contrast, generates a more transcendent and unconventional aspect of G-d; an aspect that cannot be captured by our finite action, but only by our passive resistance to evil.
Destroying by Eclipsing
One can also apply the lesson of “building and destroying worlds” to positive efforts as well. No matter how much we build constructively, we must never rest on our laurels. Not only should our increased efforts exceed our previous record, they must be so dramatic that they eclipse the former levels of goodness. In relation to the new efforts, the original ones are as if they never existed- “destroyed.”
By constantly creating and then “destroying” our world, we unleash G-d’s reciprocal ability to refashion our world in ways that are exponentially better than that which existed previously.
Messianic Quantum Leaps
This is what the Messianic Age is all about. Not only will we grow from “strength to strength” in our spiritual awareness, in the construction of G-dly universes, but, we will be able to reach infinitely greater heights, making previous levels, by comparison, seem as if they did not even exist.
We will then become full partners with G-d in the creation of the universe, for we too will “build worlds and destroy them.”
However, “destroying” the previous limited institutions in order to extract the sparks from them is still not the ideal.
In the Messianic Age, after completing the task of “liberating the sparks,” the Kabbalists tell us, our focus will turn to “unifying the Divine forces,” which will reveal even more sublime G-dly light.
In truth, the Rebbe informed us that we have already accomplished enough of the unleashing of the sparks through the separation of good from evil. We are therefore now ready for the Final Redemption. Now our focus is “welcoming Moshiach,” by accepting and internalizing the Messianic energies that have already been unleashed.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Breishis by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
