Outgrowing Perfection

1.

A Complete or Incomplete World

The Midrash states¹ that "everything created during the Six Days of Creation requires making (asiyah)." {The commentary there explains:}²

This is what is written: "which G-d created to make (la'asos)." It does not say "which He created and made," but rather "to make" to teach that everything requires refinement.

We must understand: How does this Midrash fit with our Sages' statement that "the world was created complete"? That statement means that "the things (of the world) were created complete," not as deficient things that "require making - refinement."⁶

Seemingly, one could answer from that same Midrash, which says that "although things were created complete, once Adam, the first man, sinned, they deteriorated."⁷ After all, the phrase "which G-d created to make" appears in the verse about the seventh day: "for on it He abstained from all His work which [G-d] created [to make]." The seventh day came after the sin⁸ of the Tree of Knowledge.⁹ {The verse would then be describing the world after its deterioration, when it did indeed require refinement.}

This, however, is not a (sufficient) answer. The verse says that G-d "created to make," tying the making to the act of creation itself. This means that the need "to make" {that everything} "requires refinement" is (not a result of the later sin, which brought deterioration into the world, but rather) a product of the creation itself. The very act of "creating" was in a way that "requires refinement."

2.

What Shabbos Reveals

One explanation of this can be put as follows:

The meaning behind "G-d created to make" that "everything requires refinement" indeed first arose on the seventh day. It arose, however, not because of the deterioration brought on by the sin of the Tree of Knowledge (a human deed, the very opposite of the {intention behind} "G-d created to make"). {Instead, the need for refinement arose} as a result of the day of Shabbos itself.

In other words, the "same" world that "G-d created" (and exactly as He created it) was in one state during the Six Days of Creation and in a different state on the seventh day. By the standard and state of the six workdays, the world is "complete" a perfect world. When the seventh day arrives, though, the state (elevation) of Shabbos makes it possible {for the world} to rise and stand at a higher level. At that point, the same world (that "G-d created") is lacking (relative to what the seventh day makes possible) and "requires refinement."

This is similar to the Alter Rebbe's explanation in Tanya¹⁰ that "the essence of teshuvah¹¹ is in the heart, and the heart has many aspects and levels." Therefore, even though he "has already done proper teshuvah," when he rises to a higher level, a higher mode of teshuvah is required of him. {The same holds for the world: what stood complete by the standard of the six workdays is lacking once Shabbos raises the standard.}

[Along the same lines, it is explained¹² why we say the blessing "Forgive us" (Selach Lanu) "in the Shemoneh Esreh prayer and not before prayer." {Seemingly, asking forgiveness belongs before prayer, as a preparation for standing before G-d. The reason is that} after a person rises to a higher level (through Shema and prayer), he comes to sense that he must do teshuvah (in a higher manner). {Before that ascent, he would not have felt the need at all.}]

3.

Teshuvah Without a Blemish

Seemingly, however, one could distinguish {between the two cases}, arguing that the proof does not match the case at hand: With teshuvah, the meaning is as follows: Although a person has already done "proper teshuvah" (according to his present state), the blemish (of the sin) has not yet been entirely erased. It is only that, relative to his present state, the blemish is not noticeable. When he is raised to a higher level, however, even a subtler blemish becomes evident there, and he therefore needs teshuvah in a higher manner. ¹³ {In teshuvah, then, the higher level does not create a new lack; it exposes an old one.}

[As in the well-known illustration of a stain on a garment: When a stain is on a simple garment, no one pays it any attention. But when the same stain is on a silk garment, it ruins the garment.¹⁴]

If so, this would seemingly offer no comparison or explanation for our case. Here, G-d brought creation into being from the outset in a manner that was "very good"¹⁵ and "complete" without any blemish or lack, as explained above. {There was no hidden blemish for Shabbos to expose.}

This {argument}, however, is not valid. For in teshuvah, too, there is the path of Divine service of being "all his days in teshuvah."¹⁶ The need for teshuvah all his days is not only because the blemish of an earlier sin has not yet been entirely erased (so that, relative to his present, higher level, a blemish of the sin still remains). G-d forbid that we should suspect every Jew of not yet having done complete teshuvah, as if the blemish of a sin still remained.¹⁷ Rather, even if a person "has done proper teshuvah" complete teshuvah, so that the blemish has been entirely erased teshuvah still applies to him, and he still needs it. ¹⁸ {The analogy to the world therefore holds after all.}

[As is known, ¹⁹ teshuvah applies even to the righteous (tzaddikim). Indeed, one of the things Moshiach will accomplish is that he "comes to bring the righteous to teshuvah."²⁰]

4.

The Past Rises With You

The explanation of this is as follows: When a person rises to a higher level, a higher mode of Divine service is required of him. For relative to his higher level, his earlier Divine service falls short of perfection (even though that service was perfect relative to his earlier level).

A simple example of this is the mitzvah of tzedakah: The obligation of tzedakah is in proportion to the assets a person owns. Clearly, then, when his wealth grows, he cannot content himself with the sum he previously gave to tzedakah (even though back then, in that state, he fulfilled the mitzvah of tzedakah perfectly by giving it). Rather, he must give tzedakah according to his present state. ²¹

{This rising standard reaches back to his past deeds as well,} since a Jew's observance of Torah and mitzvos is an "ongoing effect." In the words of Tanya, ²² the union” that Torah and mitzvos bring about is a "union... that is eternal, forever and ever." Therefore, when a Jew rises to a higher level, he "takes along" the Torah and mitzvos he observed in the past. And to elevate those earlier Torah and mitzvos of his (which, relative to his present state, lack perfection), teshuvah is required.²³ {Here teshuvah does not erase a sin; it raises what was already good.}

[This is also one of the explanations²⁴ for reciting Selach Lanu in the Shemoneh Esreh prayer, which was instituted even for the righteous, who have no sins, and for penitents (baalei teshuvah) who have already done complete teshuvah:

The request "Forgive us" is not (only) for past sins, but also for one's earlier Divine service, which at this moment calls for refinement. For in the Shemoneh Esreh prayer, a person is "standing before the King. "²⁵ This means a state of utter self-nullification (bittul) so much so that even "gesturing" if done "in the presence of the King"²⁶ counts as rebellion against the throne. {From that vantage point,} he senses that his earlier Divine service is not everything; it is lacking (in its service).

When a person is not in the state of "standing before the King," but out in the King's province (on His mission), this service is unblemished and fully perfect. Indeed, at such times the King Himself wants him not to stand in total bittul, so that he will be able to act {and utilize his talents} to carry out the King's command for His province.

Standing before the King, however, he feels that his earlier service lacked absolute bittul toward the King. And for this lack which "came into being" only as he stood before the King he asks, "Forgive us."]

So too in our case: During the Six Days of Creation, the world is utterly perfect ("complete") by the standard of the "workdays."

When the seventh day came, however, and a higher state of holiness was drawn into the world, the world as "G-d created" it (as complete in the six workdays) was in a state of "lacking" that "requires refinement."

5.

A Higher Light, a Higher Standard

The above concept also sheds further light on why the study of Chassidus is essential in our times.

There is a well-known question: In earlier generations, a person could observe the Torah and mitzvos and serve G-d perfectly without studying Pnimiyus HaTorah, the inner dimension of the Torah, and spreading it. Why, then, must there be in our generations the study of the teachings of Chassidus and conduct in the ways of Chassidus (and especially spreading them)?

The answer to this is also well known:²⁷ As the darkness of exile grows greater, a higher light is needed to break through even this darkness. That is why the (hidden) "soul" of the Torah" was revealed. It awakens and reveals the deeper, hidden powers of the soul ("the hidden part of the soul"), {which gives one the ability to overcome the darkness}.

Some, however, may argue that they can manage without the light of Pnimiyus HaTorah. They are immersed in Torah study, set apart from the darkness of exile, and so they hold fast to the ways of their forefathers. For them, {they argue,} the revealed dimension of the Torah is enough to observe the Torah and mitzvos as their grandfathers did, etc.

The lesson here is that even granting his opinion²⁸ that he can reach his grandfather's perfection in Divine service (without the light of Pnimiyus HaTorah), for him (in this generation) that is not perfect service.²⁹

For in those generations, before Pnimiyus HaTorah was revealed, that was indeed unblemished service, service in its full perfection. Now, however, the light of Pnimiyus HaTorah has been revealed in the world, and the power has been granted to serve G-d with "the hidden part of the soul." The earlier mode of service (from before the revelation of Chassidus) is therefore "lacking" (relative to the perfection that can now be achieved). {This is the same pattern as the world on Shabbos: it does not expose a flaw in the past, but rather sets a higher standard in the present.}

Therefore, it is an absolute necessity⁴⁰ to spread the wellsprings of the teachings of Chassidus everywhere, until they reach every Jew.

This is the immediate preparation for the fulfillment of the promise, "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G-d, as the waters cover the sea.' "³¹

From a Sichah delivered on Shabbos Parshas Toldos, 5744 [1983]