One of the most resounding issues we face in our study of Torah is what to do with disparate opinions. Everyone is familiar with the saying, “Two Jews, three opinions.” But when it comes to Torah, this is no laughing matter. The verse we will now look at provides us with an example of when two seemingly different opinions do not have to contradict and there might be room for applying both. As we will see, this verse alludes to a surprising state of affairs in our relationship with God and sheds light on how to navigate what might seem to be an unresolvable conflict.
WhEN ThE aNgElS aRgUED
To start our discussion, let us look at an interesting passage in the Talmud regarding two of the stones set in the High Priest’s Breastplate, identified by some as the onyx and the jasper. The discussion is set against descriptions of the future glory and beauty of Jerusalem in the time of Redemption:
The verse reads, “And I will make your towers of kadkhoda [your gates of previous stones; the whole of your encircling wall of gems].” Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said: Two angels in heaven, Gabriel and Michael, disagree with regard to the material that will be used to form the walls of Jerusalem. One said they will be made of onyx, and one said of jasper. The Holy Blessed One said to them: “Let it be like this [kedein] and like that [ukhedein], i.e., let them be formed from both together. This compromise is indicated by the word kadkhod, a combination of this [kedein] and that [ukhedein].”
The phrase, “Let it be like this and like that” is very similar to the phrase, “these and these are the words of the living God.” Despite their similarity, they mean two different things. “These and these...” is not meant to be applied practically. The practical decision follows one of the opinions. In this case, the phrase refers to the ongoing disputes between the Academy of Hillel and the Academy of Shamai and the sages ruled, that “the ruling follows the Academy of Hillel.” Instead, “these and these...” is meant to reveal that Above, in the supernal realm, both opinions are considered true. Of course, in practice, you can only follow one of the two opinions. But the phrase, “Let it be like this and like that,” indicates a state in which both options can be exercised in practice. Even though at first the two options may seem to contradict one another. This is the direction in which the Alter Rebbe interprets the options: onyx and jasper. Each indicates a form of Divine service and both forms can be maintained together.
ThE highER aND lOWER TzaDDikiM
The Talmudic discussion quoted above is the subject of several essays from the Alter Rebbe, in which he explains what each type of precious stone symbolizes in this disagreement between the angels. To begin, we need to know that the onyx is the stone representing Joseph and the jasper represents Benjamin. In Kabbalah, the two brothers are referred to as the “higher tzaddik” and the “lower tzaddik.”
Joseph and the onyx represent what is known as direct Godly revelation, a state in which God reveals Himself to the individual from Above to below. This is known as “direct light” or “direct revelation” of Godliness.
Benjamin and jasper represent the ascent of the individual towards God. It thus is known as “reflected light”, from below to Above.
BRiNgiNg ThE SUPERNal DOWN, PURifYiNg ThE MUNDaNE
Returning to the Talmud, there is a dispute between the two angels (or two Talmudic sages—”And some say that this dispute is between two sages in the Land of Israel: Yehudah and Chizkiyah, the sons of Rabbi Chiyya”) regarding what type of service will be performed in the future Jerusalem. One says, it will be the service of receiving God’s direct revelation, the other says, it will be the service of ascent from below to Above to Godliness. In practice, both are needed. Each type of service has its benefits.
To explain this in a bit more details, the jasper, chosen by the angel Gabriel and Rabbi Chizkiyah, represents the individual’s self-refinement that then allows him to ascend towards God, to the point where he is integrated above. Self-refinement is not the result of the drawing down of direct light or direct revelation from Above.
One of the descriptions of direct light can be found in the sages’ statement that, “A maidservant on the Red Sea saw what the prophet Ezekiel could not see.” The maidservant was at a very high level, otherwise she could not see beyond what Ezekiel could see in his prophecy, but she remained a maidservant. There was no act of self-refinement and what she saw was purely in merit of God descending and providing her with the vision. The maidservant did not become a prophetess. This is an example of direct light, which contains tremendous revelations, because God is omnipotent and can reveal Himself in whatever way He pleases, to anyone—even to the least refined individual, without requiring him or her to change. This is certainly wondrous.
ShOUlD Y OU BE aN ONYx OR a JaSPER?
We might ask, which is better: Is it preferable for the lower individual to refine and ascend to meet that which is Above—an act of “reflected light?” Or is it preferable that what is above should reveal itself in the unrefined individual below without any effort on his part—an act of “direct light?” Would it better to be onyx or to be jasper?
After explaining the meaning of this dispute, the Alter Rebbe adds another point. For the direct light to be revealed in the unrefined individual, it has to originate from a source that is higher than the level to which self-refinement can lead a person. The direct light in this case must come from God’s very essence. So, which is better: to remain in your lowly state without refining yourself and have God reveal himself in you or is it better for you to refine yourself and ascend towards Godliness?
MODERN aPPlicaTiON
This difference of opinion is relevant nowadays to the whole question of how we should go about refining reality, specifically when considering the situation in the Land of Israel where the state establishment is officially disconnected from Torah. One option would be to bring down a new revelation (direct light) into the establishment as it stands. The other option that we need to work with the establishment and refine it so much that the reality in the Land of Israel will change so much that it will elevate by itself and be able to integrate into the supernal light.
The place of the supernal light is in the Torah, in the “Position of Torah”. So, which should we choose? Should we be drawing the “Torah position” down into reality causing it by some miracle to descend and illuminate and conquer reality without changing it in the slightest. What this would mean is that we would have a Jewish state, run according to the Torah’s position on issues, and yet the majority of the citizens of this reality would not be careful to keep all the Torah laws. In such a case people would remain the same but the establishment would be different. This would be the onyx option.
Or perhaps the opposite is true. Work slowly to refine the establishment until it is willingly open to accepting the Torah’s will, meaning until everyone does teshuvah. This would be the jasper option.
ThE ”OThER” SON
If we connect these two options for changing society to the concept of the “other son” that Joseph is meant to brings closer to God, we get the following explanations. If the most important thing is drawing direct light down from Above without refining the lower reality, then Joseph is tasked with revealing that “regardless [of the people’s state], they are called ‘sons.’” This in the Talmud is Rabbi Meir’s position—even when a Jew is like an “other,” he is still considered a “son.”
But according to the other option that we dubbed the jasper option, the refinement of the “other” is paramount, thus the point of “an other son,” is to take the person who is “an other,” is estranged from Judaism, and turn him into a son.
Another way of saying this is that Benjamin and the jasper represent teshuvah out of love, which has the ability to make sins performed on purpose into merits. But Joseph and the onyx represent the toil of the tzaddikim, which is higher than teshuvah. This type of work reveals the essential light of God everywhere, in the form of, “God is all, and all is God,” and nothing more.
Since they do not contradict, it seems that both are necessary, and both forms of Divine service are needed to rectify our reality.
(from a class given on 5th of Elul, 5774)
