One of HaRav Ginsburgh’s favorite themes is taking a topic from modern life and analyzing it through the lens of Torah in general and the Torah’s inner dimension in particular.
In a class given on the 28th of Cheshvan, 5786, his 81st birthday, he spoke about optimism, pessimism, and realism. Whenever the Rav tackles a large topic, his treatment of the subject does not usually end with a single class. This topic continued on for another couple of weeks, and we look forward to publishing more on the topic at some later time.
The Hebrew transcript of this class was first published in Nifla’ot for Vayeitzei 5786.
Isaac and Jacob Archetypes of Optimism and Pessimism
Let us begin with an important principle that can be gleaned from Chasidic writings on Isaac and Jacob: Isaac has an optimistic character; Jacob has a pessimistic character. These are essential character traits of even the most important people. We know that the Ba’al Shem Tov was heard saying “Af” many times. When the Alter Rebbe was arrested, the Russian officials claimed that by saying this syllable, which in Hebrew means “anger,” the Ba’al Shem Tov was calling God’s wrath upon the non-Jews. But the Alter Rebbe explained that he meant the word “af” as it appears in the verse, “All that I have called by My Name, for My honor I have created it, I have formed it, even I have made it” (Isaiah 43:7).
The Ba’al Shem Tov’s intent was to strengthen the normally weak connection between the lowest World of Action and the three Worlds above it, Formation, Creation, and Emanation, by saying the word that hangs them together, “even” (af). The Maggid of Mezritch used to explain that “af” is the initials of the words, “atizlut po” meaning “Emanation is here,” the highest World of Emanation, a state of consciousness in which there is nothing but God, is present everywhere, even in the lowest reality. Based on these explanations, we have taught in the past that “af” can stand for many things, but I do not think that we mentioned that it is the initials of the Hebrew version of “optimistic” and “pessimistic.”
Isaac’s optimism and Jacob’s pessimism can be seen in relation to Esau. Despite knowing that Esau is not bound to the Almighty, Isaac wants to bless him. He is optimistic that the blessings will bring out Esau’s hidden potential. Kabbalistically, Esau contains many great souls that Isaac wants to empower.
Jacob though is far more pessimistic about Esau (as is his mother, Rebeccah). This comes out strongly when after their reunion, Esau suggests that they travel together, but Jacob rejects his offer saying to him, “let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I travel slowly... until I come to my lord in Se’ir.” Jacob never joined up with Esau in Se’ir and the commentaries explain that his intent was that this would happen in the end of days, when the Mashiach arrives. Jacob is pessimistic about the possibility that Esau would be able to reform himself in his present lifetime.
From this example we can also understand a key difference between our present reality and the days of Mashiach. Our present reality is described by the sages as one of deceit. Specifically, from Jacob’s conduct, we learn that this means that even if you have a worthy goal, you may asymptotically approach it, but you will never be able to fully reach it. This is known in technical terms as “up to but not including.” This is a central trait of our present reality, which is why it is described as a deceptive reality: you think you can reach your goal fully, but in fact, it eludes you. Mashiach is thus a change in reality that allows us to reach our goals, completely: “up to and including.” When Mashiach comes, says Jacob, I will be able to reach Se’ir, I will be able to go to the mountain of Esau and appraise him, and the sovereignty will be granted to God.
General Principles Versus Details
Jacob’s pessimism stems from his firm belief that it is impossible to reform Esau all at once. You cannot “scare” Esau into changing all at once. You cannot extract all the holy souls from him in one lifetime. This is simply not possible in our present reality. What would have happened if Isaac had blessed Esau? One of two things: either Isaac’s plan would fail because despite Esau’s lofty spiritual origin, his energy would fall prey to and contribute to the impure husks of reality (husks are kelipot, which mask God’s revelation). Alternately, and perhaps even worse, the blessings would be too much for Esau’s vessels and instead of elevating the holy sparks and souls within him, it would shatter him completely, leading to his absolute demise. All that Esau is—the bad and the good—would be lost.
Seemingly, the loss of Esau could be considered a positive turn of events, as the verse says, “When the wicked perish, there is joy.” However, Chasidic teachings explain that the loss of the wicked is not total and they will return reincarnated in another life so that the sparks of goodness in them can be extracted. Therefore, the demise of Esau would only lengthen our exile, until all the good within him would be elevated. The principle that all goodness must be elevated is based on the verse, “We are going to die, like water spilled on the ground that cannot be regathered; but God will not forsake any soul and ponders thoughts on how no outcast will be lost.”
So long as there is an inkling of a holy spark, be it in a Jew or a non-Jew, even the most wicked, God is devising a plan for elevating that spark and releasing it.
Another way to describe the difference between Isaac and Jacob is to say that Isaac thinks in general principles, while Jacob is sensitive to details. Those like Jacob, that are aware of the details, know that things take time. This is one of the typical features of those who are more pessimistic. It takes time to reach your destination, your goal, and there are going to be failures along the way. As the verse states, “the righteous will fall seven times and rise.” Who can guarantee that you are not standing just before a fall right now?
Those like Isaac who approach things from a more general perspective tend to be more optimistic; they think they can bring about change in one fell swoop.
“In Its Time... I Will Hasten It”
There is a central prophecy from Isaiah regarding the redemption. Says Isaiah, that when the time to redeem us comes, God will hasten the process. The sages note that this prophecy can be understood to be speaking about two options for the redemption: either it will come in its season, in its predetermined time, or it will come with haste, meaning that there is no predetermined time for the redemption. To reconcile these two options, the sages state what has become a well-known formula: “If they merit—the redemption will be hastened; if they do not merit—the redemption will be in its time.”
Following this formula, Isaac is the secret of “if they merit,” therefore the redemption will be hastened. He believes that if at this moment, just before his passing, he blesses Esau, the redemption will come immediately. Jacob, however, is pessimistic, believing that our state is one of “if they do not merit,” meaning that we will not be successful in rectifying Esau and all his sparks of holiness in one concerted effort, for we ourselves are not rectified yet.
To merit in Hebrew also means to prevail, as in a dispute or a conflict.
Who then are those that hold that the redemption should hasten? Those who say, “Let us be prevail. Let us be victorious.” If we are victorious over our enemies, we will merit to hasten the redemption. If Am Yisrael would just want to win, we could bring the redemption today. But Jacob knows that Am Yisrael does not yet want to win, therefore we are still in a state of “if they do not merit,” i.e., “if they do not prevail.” It follows that having a true disposition to be completely victorious is the merit needed to hasten the redemption. To be completely victorious is to take our cue from King David who said, “I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, I will not return until I have annihilated them.”
It should be the most straightforward conclusion that we should want to win the war. Is there really someone who does not want to win? We are capable of winning the war today. The authority of the Jewish people should be dominant over our enemies. It is completely our choice. If we would choose to act this way, the Mashiach would come today, all would be clear, and we would see the hastening of redemption.
Realism
Lately, we have been talking about how there is an intermediate in-between every two extremes. Specifically, we developed the concept of the intermediate nogah inclination that lies between the good inclination and the evil inclination. Here too, between optimism and pessimism, there lies an intermediate approach: realism. Realism is a product of familiarity with reality as it is. Just as in the case of the intermediate inclination, which tends to deteriorate and join the evil inclination, so too realism is predisposed to become pessimism. The more an individual is steeped in the details of reality, the more he or she will tend to be pessimistic.
Realism needs to be pushed towards optimism. It has to be realistic optimism, not fanciful optimism that is divorced from reality. Fanciful, made-up optimism is how we would characterize the state of the World of Chaos, which therefore shattered. To further our understanding of optimism, realism, and pessimism, we can correspond them to the three Worlds of Akudim, Nekudim, and Berudim; the latter two we have referred to as the World of Chaos and the World of Rectification. The World of Berudim, the World of Rectification also known as the World of Emanation (Atizlut) is associated with pessimism, but a realistic pessimism. Its effect is to imbue the three lower worlds with a pessimism that is also connected with realism, but in the three lower worlds, the so-called realistic scenarios are closer to fanciful, even horrifically nightmarish scenarios, which never play out in reality.
It is the World of Akudim, the world that precedes the fanciful optimism of Nekudim (the World of Chaos) and the realistic pessimism of Berudim, that harbors the energy needed to push optimism into realism. Since Nekudim corresponds to Isaac’s optimism and Berudim to Jacob’s pessimism, Akudim corresponds to Abraham, particularly to his God-given gift to bless. Abraham, who like the World of Akudim stands above time and space, can bless others with optimism and pull realism out of its spiraling descent into pessimism and bring it over to the side of optimism. Doing so is akin to the plain meaning of the phrase, “In its time... I will hasten it.” The first part, “in its time” expresses realism. The second part “I will hasten it” expresses optimism. Spoken together, Isaiah is conveying a sense of realistic optimism about the redemption.
Couched in the language of general principles versus details, realistic optimism is the product of seeing how the details of reality, when combined, paint an overall picture of progress towards the redemption. The realistic optimist is not divorced from reality but is able to compile its myriad features into a unified structure that leads to a better world.
