“...Speak to the entire Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy” (Leviticus 19:2)
First Reading: The Meditative Path to Wisdom
This week we commemorate the yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, the first Rebbe of the Land of Israel in modern times. The Vitebsker, as he is commonly known, was the successor of the Maggid of Mezritch and following the yearning of his teachers, the Maggid and the Ba’al Shem Tov, led a group of 200 families from Russia on aliyah to the land of Israel in 5537 (1777)! The most famous collection of his teachings is Pri Ha’aretz (Fruit of the Land).
In his teachings for parashat Kedoshim, he states that a person who is part of Israel, part of the Jewish people, is someone who is willing to nullify himself to sanctify God publicly, like Moses who said to God, “If you will not [forgive the people], please erase me from Your book.” There is no greater self-nullification than Moses sacrificing himself in this way, by willing to having himself erased from the Torah, all in order to sanctify God’s Name.
The Vitebsker explains that sanctifying God’s Name means to perform some action that will cause Godliness to be revealed upon the Jewish people. A person should be so self-nullified that he or she is willing to be erased from this World and from the World to Come, to become nothing, all so that God be revealed upon the Jewish people.
Holiness and Wisdom: Stripping Corporeality Away
The Vitebsker continues to explain that the name of our parashah, Kedoshim (“you shall be holy”) corresponds to the sefirah of wisdom. Holiness and wisdom are identified with one another in Kabbalah.
Who is a wise person, who is a holy person? The Vitebsker’s answer is that this is an individual who can reach a state of stripping himself corporeally. How does one reach this state? There are many different techniques brought by different authors, but the Vitebsker’s answer demonstrates his connection with the intellectual approach of Chabad.
This connection was discussed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe who said that since the Vitebsker was Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi’s rebbe, it can be argued that the former should be added to the lineage of the Chabad Rebbes. They were both chasidim of the Maggid, but they also had a rebbe-chasid relationship. The Alter Rebbe yearned to join the Vitebsker when he made aliyah to the Land of Israel, but the Vitebsker forced him to stay in Russia, to lead the chasidim there.
In any case, like in many of his teachings, the Vitebsker demonstrates a strongly Chabad-leaning approach. He says that to be holy—to strip oneself of one’s corporeality—one must dedicate his life to wisdom. Wisdom and holiness are interchangeable.
Deep Contemplation of Wisdom
In his book, the Vitebsker utilizes the term “contemplative wisdom” (הָמָכֲחִיתִנּוּי) to describe what he is constantly focused on. This is the inner aspect of wisdom since there is a distinction between wisdom’s interior and its exterior dimensions. Learning the Torah’s revealed wisdom—the body of Torah—is wisdom’s exterior. But contemplating the Torah’s concealed wisdom following the way of the Ba’al Shem Tov and Chasidut—the Torah’s soul—that is wisdom’s interior.
He writes that one should be so engrossed in one’s contemplation of inner wisdom that he should forget whether it is day or night. According to the Vitebsker, the sages of old were able to remain in this contemplative state for three straight days, completely divorced of their corporeal being, clinging to God, not knowing whether it was day nor night. We should all strive to reach this level—the state of “Kedoshim”—“You shall be holy.”
An individual who has not reached this state—contemplation for three straight days without knowing whether it is day or night (it goes without saying that he has not eaten a thing)—has not really visited this world, is certainly not worthy of the title of “sage” (םָכָח), nor the title of “a holy person” (ׁשֹדוָק).
Contemplative Wisdom and Chabad Meditation
What Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk calls “contemplative wisdom” (יתִנּוּיָעָמָכֲח) is known in Chabad as Divine meditation (יתִקֹלֱת אּנוְנֹוּבְתִה), or simply Hitbonenut in Hebrew. Hitbonenut incorporates two aspects related to the sefirah of understanding known as “the Supernal Mother” (הָאָּלִא עָּמִא) and “contemplation” (הָנּבוּּת). Contemplation refers to the mind’s ability to capture a concept internally, to internalize it and is sometimes described as conscious stability.
Rebbe Isaac of Homil explains this best. He writes that Hitbonenut means taking an idea and contemplating it to such an extent that you internalize it, and it reaches a stable state in your mind so that you will not forget it. A person who engages in Hitbonenut is constantly acquiring new ideas, new understanding. This produces great joy in the individual—joy is the inner experience of understanding. This joy is of course positive, but this is not the same as attaining a state of holiness.
The person who attains holiness is totally immersed within the thought he is meditating upon, as Rebbe Isaac describes it. He is so deeply engaged in meditation that he divests himself of his corporeal self and is surrounded by the light of wisdom. This type of Hitbonenut, or Chasidic meditation, is related to the Supernal Mother, which is constantly attached to the Supernal Father principle (הָאָּלִא עָּבַא). This is a different state of mind, distinct from the contemplation described above as thinking about an idea until it settles in your mind, is stabilized, and internalized. An example of contemplation that settles the mind and leads to joy can be found in Rebbe Nachman’s writings.
