One of the sources for contemplating the nature of disseminating the Torah to the nations of the world is the altar that the Torah commanded be constructed on Mount Eival, on which was written “all the words of this Torah, spelled out clearly,” in the languages of all seventy nations. The Me’or Einayim on this verse connects the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Shimon regarding the writing on the altar to the secret of conversion in general, and from his words emerges a transition from the “classic” conversion, as it was conducted throughout the years of our exile, to the innovation of what we have named the “Fourth Revolution.”
This article is based on a recording from the 21st of Iyar, 5786 and first appeared in the Ki Tavo 5786 edition of Niflaot. An unabridged English translation appears on our Patreon page: www.patreon.com/galeinai.
Writing the Torah on the Altar
In Parashat Ki Tavo, Moshe commands Israel:
And it shall be, when you have crossed the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Eival, and coat them with plaster. And you shall build there an altar to Havayah your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool over them. You shall build the altar of Havayah your God of whole stones… And you shall write on the stones all the words of this Torah, very clearly.[1]
Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Shimon disagreed about how the Torah was written on the stones[2]:
How did Israel write the Torah [on the stones]? Rabbi Yehudah says: they wrote it on the stones themselves, as it says, “and you shall write on the stones,” etc., and afterward they plastered them over with lime. Rabbi Shimon said to him: According to your view, how did the nations of the world learn the Torah? He replied: the Holy blessed One gave the nations of the world “extra intelligence,” and they sent their scribes, who peeled off the plaster and copied it. Rabbi Shimon says: they wrote it on the plaster itself, and then they [the Israelites] wrote beneath it [the verse], “Lest they teach you to do like all their abominations [of idolatry],” etc.
According to Rabbi Yehudah, they wrote the Torah on the stones of the altar and covered it with plaster, so that the Torah was not visible to the nations—except that God gave them “extra intelligence” to send scribes who would peel off the plaster and copy the Torah. This was their opportunity to learn; it was for their sake that the words were written on the altar. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the nations were not drawn toward good on account of it, “and for this their sentence was sealed for the pit of destruction, for they should have learned and did not learn.” By contrast, according to Rabbi Shimon the Torah was written openly, in view of all the nations, with an explicit invitation to repent, so that they would be saved from destruction.
Israel and the Levels among the Nations of the World
The root of the dispute lies in the question of which nations the words of the Torah are addressed to. The Me’or Einayim writes that according to Rashi’s interpretation, both Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yehudah agree that regarding the seven Canaanite nations dwelling in the Land of Israel we must fulfill the commandment, “you shall utterly destroy them”[3] and, “you shall not let any soul live”[4]— therefore, even if they came to convert they would not have been accepted, for it is presumed that their conversion stems from their fear of death and is therefore not a genuine conversion. By contrast, members of all the other seventy nations of the world may engage in Torah and be aroused to return to God through it.
The dispute is thus limited to members of the seven Canaanite nations who do not reside in the Land of Israel: Rabbi Yehudah says that they too are included in the commandment, “you shall utterly destroy them,” and so there is no point in inviting them to learn Torah and repent; whereas according to Rabbi Shimon, the commandment, “you shall utterly destroy them” does not apply to them, and so if they repent through learning the Torah, they can be accepted as converts.
It turns out that there are three levels of non-Jewish nations here, from bottom to top: the seven Canaanite nations that reside in the Land of Israel, who are to be destroyed (according to Rashi’s view, that there is no requirement to approach them with a call to peace[5]); members of the seven Canaanite nations that reside outside the Land, regarding whom Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Shimon disagree; Finally, there are the rest of the seventy non-Jewish nations throughout the world, from whom converts can certainly be accepted.
Inwardly, the people of Israel represent the secret of the World of Emanation (Atzilut)—as they are described as “the nobles of the children of Israel.”[6] Below the World of Emanation lie the three levels of non-Jewish nations corresponding to the three lower Worlds of Creation, Formation, and Action. The world of Creation, most adjacent to Emanation, is described as “possible being”[7] (אֶפְשָׁרוּת הַמְּצִיאוּת)—an unformed reality that certainly has the potential to turn to good, and ultimately, in the days of Mashiach, all the sparks found within it will surely be gathered, revealing that the father and mother principles (Abba and Imma), which dwell in the worlds of Emanation and Creation[8] as “two companions who never part.”[9] Corresponding to the world of Creation —also the “world” of Intellect, from where the intellectual soul that exists even among the nations emerges—are all the non-Jewish nations, the seventy nations populating the entire globe, among whom there certainly are those fit to draw close to the Torah. Of the world of Action it is said, “even that which I have made,”[10] because between it and the realms of holiness there is a gap described as “the anger of the Almighty”[11] causing even the small amount of good found within it to be wholly swallowed up by the impure husks and even “the [pure] piece becomes [as impure as] a carcass.”[12] That is the realm populated by the seven Canaanite nations in the Land of Israel, who cannot be accepted when they leave idolatry and repent (even if they wish to convert, it is clear that their motive is to be found in the material and practical interests of the World of Action, and not because they seek a genuine relationship with God).
The dispute discussed in the section of Talmud quoted above between Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Shimon concerns the World of Formation, which is described as half good and half evil.[13] It is the realms of impulses and desires—to which we here correspond the members of the seven Canaanite nations (corresponding to the seven emotive impure impulses or desires of the heart) who do not live in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Yehudah argues that there is no remedy for them, whereas Rabbi Shimon says that within the balanced reality of the World of Formation, the scales of these individuals can be tipped to the right and thus they can be drawn to holiness and to God and can therefore convert to Judaism.
| Emanation | the Jewish People |
| Creation | the Seventy Nations |
| Formation | the Seven Canaanite Nations Abroad |
| Action | the Seven Canaanite Nations in the Land of Israel |
The Secret of Conversion
After this introduction, the Me’or Einayim asks, “Now, the dispute is not fully understood, for according to Rabbi Yehudah, for what reason was the Torah written [on the stones]?”
According to Rabbi Shimon the purpose of writing the Torah on the stones is to enable—even to invite—the return of members of the Canaanite nations who left the Land of Israel but remain in its vicinity and might cause us to sin. Therefore, we have a vested interest in turning them away from idolatry. But why, according to Rabbi Yehudah, was the Torah written on the stones in the first place? Meaning to say that if the words of the Torah are addressed only to the seventy non-Jewish nations and does not even include an invitation for them to repent (and the only way they can learn about the Torah is through the “extra intelligence” they possess—because it is covered with plaster), what is the purpose of the writing?
To answer this question, the Me’or Einayim first explains the secret of conversion. To summarize his words, it is explicit in the Midrash[14] that the first seven generations of humanity sinned and caused the Shechinah—the Divine Presence—to recede from the earth back to the highest heaven. This was the situation until Abraham arrived in the world and began to bring the Shechinah back to earth through his actions publicizing Godliness and converting converts from among the nations, as will be expounded upon. The sins of Adam and the first seven generations caused sparks of holiness to fall into the psyches of the nations of the world, and these sparks sustain the nations. The holy sparks are also a bond to the pure good—a bond to the holiness of Israel—and by the power of these holy sparks, converts find their way to Torah and to conversion.
Let us explain this a bit more.[15] In everything there is a holy spark of the Divine, without which it could not exist. But this spark can be a distant makif [a distant encompassing light, or revelation] so distant from the person’s consciousness that it receives no expression at all in his or her reality. In Chasidic nomenclature, when something lacks influence in this way, it is in a state called “concealment that lacks [a connection to] reality (הֶעְלֵם שֶׁאֵינוֹ בַּמְּצִיאוּת).” By contrast, the spark of holiness can also be enclothed (to use the Me’or Einayim’s language) or more integrated into one’s consciousness. It is then described as being a near makif [a near encompassing light or revelation]. In this state, it lies near the individual’s consciousness and affects his or her conscious mind. Still, it is not yet fully disclosed the way it is for a Jew. It is then in a state called “concealment that has [a connection to] reality” (הֶעְלֵם שֶׁיֶּשְׁנוֹ בַּמְּצִיאוּת). Such a spark impels a person toward conversion. Conversion is necessary for the elevation and rectification of the world, for “none shall be cast away from Him,”[16] and every such spark must compel and be part of a conversion before the Mashiach can come[17]—but it still requires clarification, meaning that it must be freed from the impure husks and must reach full revelation.
The entire process of conversion is meant to clarify whether a true spark has been revealed here, one that overcomes the external, self-centered husks (kelipot) and is prepared to draw close to God despite the intimidation. Differentiating and identifying a potential convert’s true motivation requires something of a “holy spirit” (Divine inspiration) on the part of the court that oversees the conversion. The purpose of the threats of punishment for those who transgress (as Jews) the Torah’s commandments is to repel the external husks. But once a potential convert demonstrates seriousness and overcomes superficial “threats,” we are required to convert him or her without delay. The Divine inspiration required to identify a true convert is unfortunately lacking today. As a result, the conversion of honest potential converts is drawn out, while on the other hand, even unworthy converts are accepted.[18]
This entire process is necessary on the way to the coming of Mashiach, but when Mashiach comes—after the final completion of the work of clarification—converts will no longer be accepted, because it is presumed that they come to convert only out of external and superficial interests.
Heretics and the Perimeter of Torah
The Torah that was written on the altar on Mt. Eival arouses those non-Jews who have within them a spark that is enclothed to repent and convert. But even one who has no such spark may be drawn to study the Torah, in which case, it will produce in them the opposite effect. The heretics—a term used by the Sages for Christians, to whom in particular the Me’or Einayim refers—are drawn to the Torah, but for the vast majority of them this only feeds the impure husks that affect them, instead of drawing them closer to the good, as they distort the verses and find in them “proofs” for their false faith.
This then is the meaning of the “extra intelligence” possessed by some non-Jews, which prompts them to send scribes to copy the Torah out from beneath the plaster, and yet they too were sentenced to purgatory. The Me’or Einayim explains this, calling upon a process that begin with Adam’s sin—the source from which sparks of holiness descended into the far-encompassing light of non-Jews.
The Sages are commanded to, “make a safeguard around My charge,”[19] and thus, they made a fence around the Torah[20]—not as an addition to the words of Torah, but as a guardrail to protect us from feeding the forces of impurity, like the hairs that protect the limbs, i.e., the 248 commandments, which are described as the 248 limbs of the King,[21] as it were). Any other addition to the words of the Torah—a superfluous addition, not needed for the safeguarding of the words of the Torah—is a departure from the perimeter of holiness, and constitutes a crossing over from the domain of “there is no truth but Torah”[22] into the domain of human falsehood. Doing so disrupts the possibility of seeing the truth within the Torah. Thus, the additions added by heretics—particularly, the Christian faith centered on a human—are falsehoods that disrupts their grasp even of the Torah’s truth and turns their study into a source that nurtures the impure forces of reality.
The Me’or Einayim says that according to Rabbi Yehudah there is reason to write the words of the Torah for those who have within them a good, “enclothed” spark of holiness that is in a state of “concealment that has [a connection to] reality.” These are the sparks present among the seventy non-Jewish nations of the world. But there are those whose attraction to the words of Torah is motivated by an “extra intelligence,” a superfluous surplus, which, instead of drawing them closer to the Torah’s truth, only serves to feed their impure husks, dragging them down deeper toward destruction. Still, it can be argued that in Rabbi Shimon’s view—as will be elaborated shortly—that same “extra intelligence” can also be a positive force, providing them with a motivation to penetrate even beyond the revealed good spark. Case in point was the advice given by Jethro, the first convert, whose “extra intelligence” was incorporated into the Torah,[23] adding to holiness.
The Conversions of Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Shimon
The Me’or Einayim’s comments provide us with a deep appreciation for the inner meaning of the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Shimon.
As noted above, every person’s existence, as well as the existence of every creature, depends on a Divine spark, a spark of affinity to all that is good and holy, and so, in a certain sense, this spark may be termed the “pintelle Yid,” the point or essence of Judaism. In a Jew, this point-like essence appears openly, while in a non-Jew it remains concealed. There are two types of concealment, as discussed above. When the point-like essence exists as a near makif, it resides at the living-one (chayah) level of the soul, which just hovers above consciousness, touching and not touching it, acting as a potential force that strives to be revealed. When the point-like essence exists as a distant makif, it resides at the singular-one (yechidah) level of the soul, which is entirely hidden and can remain forever a mere possibility, with no necessary drive to be revealed.[24] The near makif is apt to be revealed and to bring about actual conversion, but the distant makif has no chance of being aroused in a natural way.
Therefore, Rabbi Yehudah, known as a master of the Torah’s revealed tradition—since his rulings generally prevail[25]—focuses only on those potential converts who possess a concealed spark with a connection to reality. These are the sparks found in the World of Creation, close to holiness, and possessing a strong intellectual soul drawn to holiness. These converts are able to intuit that beneath the plaster, there is a message for them, because they too have a spark striving to be revealed from beneath the external husk, and the Torah found there arouses them to return to God (whereas others may be heretics who merely draw additional strength for their heresy from it, and it is better not to expose them to the words of Torah on our own initiative).
Rabbi Yehudah allows for conversions as they were performed throughout the millennia of our exile from the Land of Israel. These were conversions of souls drawn to the Jewish people of their own accord. No conscious effort was made on the part of Jews to draw these potential converts closer to Torah. Moreover, they had to overcome their initial rejection by the conversion court, freeing themselves of the impure husks on their own, as above).
By contrast, Rabbi Shimon is recognized as the master of the Torah’s hidden tradition. In the revealed tradition (the Talmud), his rulings prevail specifically regarding the laws of Shabbat,[26] the time dedicated to an inward thrust and described as “a semblance of the World to Come.”[27] He is none other than the famous Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Rashbi, and he also believes that sparks in the distant makif, the yechidah level of the soul, can be revealed in reality.[28] Therefore, Rabbi Shimon is not afraid to write the Torah openly, with an explicit appeal to everyone. He believes that the exposure of all the nations of the world to the Torah—including those sunk in the World of Formation, the world of impulses and desires, with no revealed affinity to holiness—will reveal a great many more sparks that can be drawn close and converted, far more than the number of converts who are drawn to the Torah of their own accord, even when it is written beneath the plaster. In his view, the only ones who cannot be accepted are those non-Jews who are undoubtedly motivated by a self-interest. These are the seven Canaanite nations residing in the Land of Israel, at the level of the World of Action, as above.
Rabbi Shimon is found to be the source of the “Fourth Revolution”[29]—the conscious effort required as we approach the time of Mashiach, to shine the light of the Torah to all, in the expectation that it will also arouse sparks that are entirely hidden. This effort will bring close to the Jewish people millions of converts whose return to their root precedes the Redemption.
[1]. Deuteronomy 27:4–8.
[2]. Sotah 35b.
[3] Deuteronomy 20:17.
[4] Ibid. 20:16.
[5] Rashi on Deuteronomy 20:10.
[6] Exodus 24:11.
[7] See the essay “Tzion” 5662 (Sefer HaMa’amarim 5662, p. 356); the discourse “Shuvah” 5686 (Sefer HaMa’amarim 5686, p. 30). Sod Hashem Liyerei’av, part 2, ch. 1.
[8] See Tikkunei Zohar 6 (23a); the opening of Ramaz on Zohar, vol. 2. And elsewhere.
[9] See Zohar 3:290b; 1:123a.
[10] Isaiah 43:7.
[11] Rashi at the end of Parashat Noach. See also Zohar 1:147a; Shelah, Introduction (11), to “Asarah Ma’amarot”; Shefa Tal, Chelek Tal, Sha’ar Rishon, ch. 1.
[12] Chullin 108a; Yevamot 81a.
[13] Etz Chaim, 43, Introduction. And elsewhere.
[14] Bereishit Rabbah 19:13; Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:1.
[15]. See also Kabbalah and Meditation for the Nations, beginning of ch. 3.
[16] 2 Samuel 14:14.
[17] See Likkutei Moharan 17:6.
[18] See further in the class from 2 Adar Rishon, 5782 and following. See HaMahapechah HaRevi’it, ch. 13, at the end.
[19] Yevamot 21a.
[20] See Avot 1:1.
[21] Based on Tikkunei Zohar, 30 (74a).
[22] Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 3:8; Introduction to Eichah Rabbah, section 2; Pesikta DeRav Kahana 15:5.
[23] Mechilta, beginning of Yitro; Rashi on Exodus 18:1.
[24] Only holiness has a distant makif. The impure forces in reality do not, which is the meaning of the Sages’ statement that “they have a reflection [a near makif], but no reflection of a reflection [a distant makif]” (Gittin 66a).
[25] See, for example, Eiruvin 46b. And elsewhere.
[26] Shabbat 157a.
[27] Berachot 57b.
[28] Fittingly, Rabbi Shimon was among the five great disciples of Rabbi Akiva (Maimonides, Introduction to Mishneh Torah). Of these five students who correspond to the five levels of Rabbi Akiva’s soul, Rabbi Shimon represents the yechidah of his teacher, who himself was “the son of converts!” (See also the class of 18 Elul 5745, and elsewhere).
[29] See HaMahapechah HaRevi’it, and in the classes beginning 24 Tevet 5775.
