As already mentioned, the beginning of the rectification is hinted at in King Hadar and his wife Mehitavel. Out of the seven crises of the kings of Edom themselves, begins the post-traumatic growth of rectification, growth from crisis. It is this couple, Hadar and Mehitavel who grow. They represent foundation and kingdom from the crises of foundation and kingdom, i.e., the crisis in Shalom Bayit and the crisis of emptiness.
The process of growth and rectification includes three stages: first, the mental strength to go through the crisis. This stage is depicted the other strength: “Hold back for a moment until the anger passes.” Next, the strength to correct the cause of the crisis, through a deep counseling process (a psychoanalysis of holiness), with the help of a good Chasidic mentor—a counselor of the soul. Finally, the ultimate goal of the process is to be able to grow anew from the crisis, a leap that is incomparable to the previous state that preceded the crisis, so much so that it is revealed the crisis is a "descent for the sake of an ascent.” By adopting a new worldview and accepting a joyful mission from the Rebbe, one merits to achieve, “His name is Tzemach, and from beneath him, it will grow."
Ultimately, everything depends on the sacred lowliness (depicted in the verse with the phrase, “beneath him”)—the inner dimension of the sefirah of kingdom (as King David said, "And I will be lowly in my eyes"), the secret of Hadar-Mehitavel whose gematria is the same as “woman” (אשה). Specifically, Hadar—whose meaning also includes return (like "he will return to it")—is the awareness that one can turn the wheel backwards, to begin life anew from scratch, from the low point a person has reached (and the recognition that the feeling of "I am nothing" is not despair, but a source of joy and the possibility to start completely anew). Mehitavel is the secret of the union of the names Mah and Ban, as is well known—the union of male and female (a union that characterizes every point in the world of rectification, in contrast to the world of Tohu). Mehitabel provides the awareness that I am lacking a partner—my entire problem is that I am alone, feeling that "I exist but there is none besides me," yet it is written, "It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a helper for him."
This consciousness, beyond being the foundation of the rectification for the Shalom Bayit crisis, the crisis of the sefirah of foundation, is also the foundation of the rectification of emptiness. When there are relationships with others, one can give profound meaning to all of life—the meaning of life is "an opportunity to do good," to the extent that a soul descends into the world for sixty or seventy years in order to do a good deed for a Jew, to help an elderly Jew cross the street or offer him a glass of water. Such a good deed fills me completely, giving me meaning, accompanied by gratitude for all the good God has given me, and above all, for the merit I have received to be able to do good. Gratitude is the beginning of the rectification of the crisis in kingdom. And when kingdom is rectified and one merits the humility of rectification, they are able to balance and rectify the entire soul and grow from all other crises.
Let us summarize all seven crises in a partzuf:
- knowledge-da’at: Nervous Breakdown
- loving-kindness-chessed: Crisis of Love
- might-gevurah: Crisis of Paranoia
- beauty-tiferet: Crisis of Alienation
- victory-netzach and splendor-hod: Crisis of Failure
- foundation-yesod: Family Crisis
- kingdom-malchut: Crisis of Meaninglessness
(based on a shiur given on 16 Shevat 5785)
- See Tanya Iggeret HaKodesh 8. Resisei Laylah 52. Tiferet Shlomoh Mo’adim, Purim, s.v. Im Mizera HaYehudim.
- See Sanhedrin 14a.
- As in Judges 8:16.
- Proverbs 31:30.
- See Sefer Yetzirah 4:2 and commentaries there. See Kehillat Yaakov s.v. “chen.”
- Isaiah 26:20.
- Likkutei Torah Behar 41a following Makkot 7b.
- 2 Samuel 6:22.
- Isaiah 47:8 and v. 10. Tzephaniah 2:15.
- Genesis 2:18.
- HaYom Yom 5 Iyar in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov.
