In order to affect an “elevation from below” to reveal this type of Makif-encompassing Light, a person should contemplate the greatness of the Essence and Being of the Infinite One:
That “I Hashem have not changed,” through the process of Creation, as it is written (Malachi 3:6), since He is still the only True Existence, just as before, since it is only “His Glory that is on earth and heaven, but His essence is reserved for his people.” (Tehillim 148:13-14)
One can reach this level of being called a “Baal Teshuva,” even if he hasn’t committed any sins, rather distanced himself from Hashem, seemingly to the point of no return. When he realized that he was Jewish, but had utterly distanced himself from Hashem through his total involvement in material (and forbidden) desires, he became completely shaken to the core. He truly regretted his path of life and the unholy things he was involved in, and he cried bitterly from the depths of his soul. His Teshuva was so intense that he in fact died from the overwhelming experience of wanting to change his entire life and give himself over completely to Hashem. When he (unfortunately) died from the intensity of this experience, his soul was allowed to enter Gan Eden, and he was given the title ‘Rabbi.’ Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (author of the Mishnayos) said about him: “It is possible for a person to acquire a portion in the World to Come in one short amount of time.”
Elevation from Below and the Makif Light
His “Teshuva-Return to Hashem” is only expressed in his crying out to Hashem from the fact that he feels so separate and removed from Hashem’s Light and revealed closeness.
This “elevation from below” to reach the Makif-encompassing Light in the manner of a Baal Teshuva, is the idea of the “scent of his garments,” i.e. an elevation from below (smell) to the encompassing level (garments), which draws down the encompassing Light from Above, as mentioned in the blessing of Yitzchok “from the dew of the Heavens etc.”
Why Does Yaakov Need an Awakening from Below?
However, we still need to understand this better: Since Yaakov is the realm of holiness, so automatically all of the Lights Above should flow into him, the levels of Arich Anpin, and Chochmah and Binah etc., so why does he need this “awakening from below” to receive these Lights? Regarding Eisav, we understand that he needs to do something out of the ordinary to be able to receive Hashem’s encompassing Light, since he doesn’t deserve it. But Yaakov already deserves to receive all the Lights from Above, so why does he need to “prepare delicacies” and other measures in order to receive the blessings from Yitzchok?
The idea is: This blessing from Yitzchok was revealing intense multifaceted Lights from Above the Order of Hishtalshelus (spiritual chain of Worlds), that are incomparably higher than anything already revealed in the Order of Hishtalshelus, as mentioned in the blessing: “An abundance of grain and wine,” which represent dimensions of Torah, Halachos and Agadata, which are invested in material matters, such as Hashem’s attribute of Kindness expressed in the Mitzvah of giving physical crops to the poor etc.
Similarly, everything in the Torah (the Chumash) is written in a way of a story, as well as: The stories of all the prophets and the judges; the story of Shimshon; the story of the concubine of Giva; the stories of all the Jewish Kings; the stories of the Gemara, like the stories of Rabah Bar Bar Chana and similar stories; all of these stories hint to the mystical secrets of the Torah that are hidden in them.
Similarly, all of the action of the Mitzvos: Through the physical Sukka and Lulav, Tzitzis, and Tefillin, the Infinte Light of Hashem is drawn down from beyond the Order of Hishtalshelus. Both the revealed dimension of the Torah and physical Mitzvos draw down the Infinite Light of Hashem that is beyond all worlds, and bring it into seemingly simple matters, such as stories and physical objects.
The Role of Yitzchok and the Limitation of Light
Since the nature and capacity of the Order of Hishtalshelus as it comes down into the creation of the World of Action (the physical world) is extremely limited; therefore, in order that abundant Light from the Infinite Light of Hashem should shine there, this needs to come specifically through the aspect of Yitzchok, who embodied the “Source of Severities,” the “Lamp of Darkness,” which is also called “the ‘Kav’ (line) of Measuring,” which measures out and limits the Light so that it come into the level of Wisdom and other attributes. Through these “severities” of Yitzchok, an additional measure of Light and Revelation can also be drawn down even as far as the physical world of Action.
This is the meaning of the blessing: “And He will give to you, Elokim (Hashem as manifest in severity), from the dew of heaven etc.,” meaning that the blessing will also come down into the limitations of this world. When the verse says “And He will give,” this refers to the level of Havaya that was mentioned in the previous verse: “[See, the smell of my son is like that of the field] that is blessed by Havaya.” In other words, the blessing is ultimately coming from Hashem as He is manifest in the Name Havaya, which represents unlimited capacity for revelation. However, since it is so unlimited, it must come through Hashem’s aspect of Elokim, representing limitation, so that it should be able to come down into our world.
The Blessing Must Come Without Yitzchok's Knowledge
Besides for this unlimited blessing needing to come through the name Elokim, it also needed to come to Yaakov without Yitzchok knowing who he was blessing. Rather, as Yitzchok afterward told Eisav, “your brother came in stealthily and took your blessing” (Bereishis 27:35). This is because the blessing is from such a high level that it could not come limited in a revealed conscious awareness.
This is similar to what the Sages said (Moed Katan 28a): “[the flow of blessings into the material world] is not dependent [solely] on one’s merits, but [mainly] on Mazel (a lofty spiritual force).” This is because a person’s merits allow him to receive what he deserves from Hashem’s Light as it already is revealed in the Order of Hishtalshelus. This is not the case regarding the “Mazel,” i.e. the flow of Light from beyond the Order of Hishtalshelus is not dependent on a person’s merits, since it is from a level “higher” than being affected by a person’s actions in this world. The flow of Light from beyond the order of Hishtalshelus is even above the calculation of a person’s merits, which is a logical calculation of what someone should receive.
Therefore, it can only be expressed in something beyond conscious logic and awareness, the “stealth” of Yaakov to receive the blessing without his father’s conscious awareness.
Rectifying the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge
This was also needed in order to correct the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge, that was also caused by deception and trickery, i.e. that of The Snake, who tricked Chava into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which caused all of the worlds to become spiritually coarsened and affected that unholiness connected to physicality should mix with spiritual holiness. To correct this, he (Yitzchok) did just the opposite, by drawing down lofty spiritual Lights to shine even in the physicality of the world, that are so intense that they can refine and separate out the holiness that was mixed into the physicality. This lofty blessing contained Lights that are from higher than the Order of Worlds, that are so high that they can come down even to the lowest physical level and refine it.
This refinement of physicality would not have occurred if Yaakov did not receive these blessings; rather, the Torah would only have been drawn down into spiritual levels that exist Above the physical dimension. This spiritual level of the Torah is hinted in the verse “and [Rivka went to the well to draw water, and] her ‘כ ד-jug’ was on her shoulder,” as explained elsewhere. The word ‘כַד -jug,’ a vessel for containing drawn water, has the numerical value (gematria) of 24. This represents the 24 Books of the Tanach (Torah, Neviim, Kesuvim). The Torah is a “vessel” for Hashem’s Infinite Light that is drawn into it. The shoulder is the part of the body closest to the head. By saying that the ‘כַד -jug’ was on the ‘shoulder,’ this represents the way that Torah exists ‘next to the Head,’ meaning close to its source in Hashem, on an exalted spiritual level. The goal is that this ‘כַד -jug’ of Torah knowledge should come down from the ‘shoulder’ and ‘Head’ and be poured down until it reaches our physical world. This process of enabling the Torah to reach our physical world was connected to Yaakov receiving the blessings of Infinite Light higher than the Order of Worlds, which are so powerful that they bring the Light all the way down to the physical world.
