The gemara¹ tells us that wherever Abaye and Rava disagree, the halachah follows Rava, except in the six cases known by the mnemonic יע"ל קג"ם ("Ye'al Kegam"),² which are the signs of six laws in which the halachah follows Abaye instead. Why are these cases different?
The Arizal³ says that within Lot's soul was contained Rus Ha'moaviyah and Naamah Ha'amonis who came about through his two daughters. The soul of Rava was contained within Naamah Ha'amonis. R' Yosef Greenwald of Papa⁴ explained that the reason the halachah does not follow Rava in these cases is because that during the time Lot was held captive among the kelipos, they retained a slight hold over the soul of Rava, and therefore, in the six cases of Ye'al Kegam, the halachah does not follow him.
An End that is Unending
The sefer Shoshan Sodos⁵ says that in the soul of Adam, the initial thought of Hashem that Adam will live forever was still there and also that which He said ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות, on the day you eat from the eitz hadaas you will surely die.⁶ How can these two coexist?
Adam would live 1,000 years which is a day by Hashem as it says כי אלף שנים בעיניך 1,000 years are like a day.⁷ Therefore this fulfills "on the day you eat from the eitz hadaas you will surely die," as according to this, he died on the day he ate from the eitz hadaas. That is a day in Hashem's eyes, not in what we call a day.
We know that Adam gave 70 of his 1,000 years to Dovid and therefore he only lived until 930.⁹ When Hashem said מות תמות a deeper explanation is that he will die twice and will not live 1,000 years uninterrupted. That is to say, Adam will die at 930 and then he will continue through Dovid who will die at 70. So מות תמות refers to the death of Adam and Dovid. In the future that same Neshama of Adam that continued with Dovid will then be in Moshiach and that will fulfill Hashem's initial thought of Adam living forever.
These three are hinted at in the name אדם, דוד, משיח which stands for Adam, Dovid, Moshiach.
Mirror Meaning
When R' Shmelke of Nikolsburg came to Nikolburg, he was receiving compliments from people. He suddenly stopped and said, “Before we continue, I need some time." He went into another room, and those waiting outside could hear him praising himself: "You're so wise, R' Shmelke! You're a great tzaddik! You're a gadol hador!"
When he came back, they were puzzled. "Rebbe, what was that about?" R' Shmelke explained: "When someone gives himself kavod, it means nothing. Real kavod is when other people give you honor. I wanted to practice so that the kavod others were giving me would have no greater effect on me than the kavod I give myself, which is worth nothing.”
This, he said, is the meaning of the Mishnah,¹⁰ יְהִי כְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלָּךְ let your friend's honor be as dear to you as your own. He explained it differently: the kavod your friend gives you should be as dear to you as the honor you give yourself, meaning it's all meaningless.