The Blemish of the Ear
The Ba’al Shem Tov has an astonishing insight on the verse, “You shall not bow down to another god” (הֶוֲחַּתְׁשִא תֹי לִכּ רֵחַל אֵאְל). First let us mention that there is a similar verse in Psalms, which reads, “There shall not be among you a strange god, nor shall you bow down to a foreign god” (אֹל רָכֵל נֵאְה לֶוֲחַּתְׁשִא תֹלְר וָל זֵ אָךְה בֶיְהִי). This presents a very interesting phenomenon where idolatry is referred to using three conjunctions, all involving the name of God, Kel, and three synonymous words: “other” (רֵחַא), “strange” (רָז), and “foreign” (רָכֵנ).
The linguistic allusion here is found by taking the initials of these three synonyms (רָכֵ נרָ זרֵחַא), which spell “ear” (ןֶזֹא). Indeed, in Kabbalah the blemish of bowing down to anything but the One God is causes damage at a very high level known as the ear of the partzuf of Primordial Man.
What is bowing down, in general? In both verses, there is a prohibition against bowing. There are two states a person can be in: vertical and horizontal. In other words, one can stand upright which designates a hierarchical state since the head is above the shoulders, above the torso, and so on. One can also prostrate with one’s arms and legs extended, designating a state of equilibrium or equality since all the body’s parts, regardless of relative importance, are at the same level.
In Hebrew the word for “vertical” (יִכָנֲא) is spelled the same as the first “I” (יִכֹנָא) in the Ten Commandments: “I am Havayah your God” (ָיךֶהֹ-לֱי י-הוה אִכֹנָא), meaning that the Giving of the Torah is meant to introduce a rectified hierarchy into reality. This is not the place to elaborate, but the right axis of the sefirot, especially the sefirah of loving-kindness (chessed) is considered to represent an upright, hierarchical state. The ultimate rectification of the left axis of the sefirot is to reach a state of stable and balanced equality, which is also very positive.
The sense of balance is in the ears, which is why in Hebrew, the words for “horizontal” (ןָּזֻאְמ) “balanced” (ןָּזֻאְמ), and “ear” (ןֶזֹא) all come from the same root. To prostrate with arms and feet extended represents a state of nullification of being. If it is directed towards holiness, prostration is a horizontal holiness. If it is not directed towards the holy, as we said, it constitutes a blemish in the ear of the partzuf of Primordial Man.
This is precisely the blemish of someone who is not circumcised. The covenant of circumcision is for the sake of horizontal holiness—for the purpose of procreating in holiness. Likewise, the organ of procreation, which corresponds to foundation, leans to the left, whose rectification we said is associated with the horizontal.
Let us now articulate the remarkable teaching from the Baal Shem Tov. He elucidates that the verse in Psalms, “There shall not be among you a strange god” (אֹל רָל זֵ אָךְה בֶיְהִי) should not be understood in its simple sense, where the term god refers to a false god. Instead, it can be interpreted as referring to the Holy Blessed One, the true God. What the verse then conveys is that “There shall not be in you a God”—i.e., sacred God—“who is strange.” In other words, God should not be a stranger to you. For a Jew, God must be the most intimate, inherently relevant, and precious entity. God should never be something you consider strange.
Following the Ba’al Shem Tov’s teaching, the other two expressions can be interpreted in the same manner. “You shall not bow down to another god,” would now mean that you should not bow down—i.e., nullify your being—before God when you treat Him as an “other,” when you do not identify with Him. Your nullification in this case is superficial and unfit. “Nor shall you bow down to a foreign god” then means that if God is foreign to you, once again, your nullification before Him is invalid.
The rectification for all of these is to be found in circumcision, as above.
There is much to contemplate. Since we have three synonyms—other, strange, and foreign – and we wish to say that circumcision rectifies all of them, we need to begin by asking: What is the common denominator between these three (apart from their meaning, which we have already considered)? In Hebrew, they all end with the letter reish (רָכֵ נרָ זרֵחַא). In Bati Legani, the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s seminal essay based on the Frierdiker Rebbe’s essay by the same name, the letter reish is described as the one letter that is most associated with the “other side,” the side of impurity, exactly because it is what differentiates between “other” (רֵחַא), as in “An other god” (רֵחַל אֵא), and “one” (דָחֶא), as in “God is one” (דָחֶי-הוה א).
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS
We can also contemplate how these three negative synonyms (רָר זֵחַא רָכֵנ) correspond to the three intellectual sefirot, Chabad: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
“Foreign” (רָכֵנ) represents a flaw in the sefirah of knowledge (da’at), since the root of this word in Hebrew is also the root of “recognition.” We learn this from the verse in the Book of Ruth, “Why have I found favor in your eyes to recognize me, though I am a stranger?” (ןֵי חִאתָצָ מַעּוּדַמהָּיִרְכנִכֹנָּאְי וִנֵריִּכַהְ לָיךֶינֵעְּב). Ruth was saying to Boaz: Why do you recognize me, i.e., draw me close—the essence of the sefirah of knowledge—“though I am a foreigner.” The linguistic similarity between “recognize” and “foreigner” is a play on words.
Similarly, there is a verse regarding Joseph and his brothers that involves the same play on words, “Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he made himself foreign to them” (ףֵסֹא יוְרַּיַו םֶיהֵלֲר אֵכַּנְתִּיַם וֵרִכַּּיַיו וָחֶת אֶא). From here we learn that someone who is “foreign” is one who is distant from my knowledge, someone I am not connected to, since knowledge implies connection and attachment.
“Other” (רֵחַא) as noted is the opposite of “one” (דָחֶא). Thus, “You shall not bow down to another god” means that you should not confuse “other” with “one.” The true One dwells within the inner aspect of wisdom, as the Alter Rebbe writes in Tanya, citing the Maggid of Mezritch. Thus, “other” represents the external aspect of wisdom, the impure husk of wisdom, the husk that corresponds to the people of Midian, who have no self-nullification and therefore bicker and fight amongst themselves constantly, as explained in the essays titled Hechaltzu.
Finally, “strange” (רָז) refers to something that is peculiar, something I do not understand, I cannot grasp it intellectually. This corresponds to the intellectual power of understanding (binah). The phrase that “strange” appears in is different than the other two, as it does not mention bowing down. Instead, it says, “There shall not be in you a strange God”; “In you” suggests “in your mind,” in your capacity for comprehension and absorption, which relates to the sefirah of understanding.
Thus, the order of the three phrases, one from the Torah and the two from Psalms exactly follow the order of the intellectual faculties, Chabad: “You shall not bow down to another god,” “There shall not be in you a strange god,” and “Nor shall you bow down to a foreign god.”
(from a class given on 9th of Shevat, 5776)
