Standing up – Spiritual stance – Continual renewal

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 1/17/2011 Monday 12 Shvat 5771 (and for yesterday's shiur see below)


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Page 43 – about 11 lines from the top of the page (Line starts “haya bechinat igulim...”)

Kavanah originates in, and represents the etzem.



Kavanah is an intend without any prior prodding. It is not the result of “cause and effect”.

Yoshar has that type of set up where you have independent entities that show initiative. A person has to make his own decision – there is nothing that compels. Every time a Jew does a mitzvah he is re-creating the impetus – he is exercising his intent.

A man versus a fish. A man has to have a spirit to stand – that is the spirit that holds him up. Standing on two feet is not a logical/physical position. It is a spiritual stance.

Answers don't hold you up. A spirit of inspiration is what supports one. The sense of “what am I doing” is being created constantly. The essence is beyond inspiration and is indestructible, but we are not always aware of it. Every motivation comes from there, but occasionally this essence has to be revisited.

Yoshar has to come from tzimzum. The fish are really submerged in the water, but a man drinks, not by jumping into the lake, but by taking a cup-full out of the lake. It is the same water, but now it is transformed and not the huge lake. It is defined, and in a new environment – this is the concept of the tzimzum which creates yoshar. The water comes to the man in a way that doesn't disturb his individual presence.

This is like getting Torah at mount Sinai – we had to accept it and not be flooded by it.


AyinBase with R' Paltiel 1/16/2011 Sunday 11 Shvat 5771 

Creator and creation

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Page 43 – 8 lines from the top of the page (Line starts “kehilat Yaakov...”)

In the essence of mind/intellect is the sense of the essence and from there comes conception and birth.

This level of mind has a sense of the “fundamental truth of the world”.

For everything that exists on the land, there is a counterpart in the sea. In the sea it doesn't represent itself, but the sea – it exists because of the sea. The sea creatures are mute and don't express their own perception. They are submerged in the sea/ein sof.

On the land, things represent themselves.

The real intent of the Creator is seen in yoshar (signified by land, as opposed to igulim, signified by sea) specifically.

The intent/kavana/point is seen in yoshar. He did not make the world for the sake of tohu – chaotic unfocussed existence, but that it should be settled.

Without design or compass the city or boat goes in circles.

Atzmus/essence is downloaded by settled situations.

Unification of diverse factors indicates essence. It represents a single viewpoint.

It a man is a “jack of all trades” he lacks center and focus. To create anything one has to use many faculties/energies. The owner stands on the side, commissions the job and doesn't get his hands dirty. The owner has the intent, not the function. This intent represents him, himself. It gives value to the entire project. This is where it becomes a human structure. The house is not to show the skill of the architect or bricklayer, but to settle a human being and family.

Something worthwhile is “an end in itself”. What is the significance of the human being, who eventually has “his last day” of life? We see the logic of the question, but the truth goes against this. All recognize a moment of life is priceless.

A human being is infinity itself because he represents his Creator, not himself. The animal does things with instinct and develops very quickly. The human does things with intent and takes time to develop.