Wealth

7 Kislev 5782

“The drop drawn from the vessel of the supreme wisdom, like the drop that derives from the father’s brain, has the power to procreate and bring about existence ex nihilo.” (Lessons in Tanya, Kuntres Acharon, middle of Essay 4)

Emotions and intellect are inherently limited. They cannot descend into the world except in a concealed manner. In contrast, the material derives from a complete source containing the full essence of its Creator. By way of example, any teacher, no matter how good, is incapable of imparting his entire knowledge to even the best of his students. “In contrast, a physical seminal drop is capable of creating a child - it imparts the entire essence of the father. So much so, in fact, that it is possible for the ‘power of the child to outshine the power of his father’” (Tanya, as above)

“The man [Jacob] thus became exceedingly prosperous.” (Bereishis 30:43)

Jacob was able to attain such wealth because he synthesized the inspirational approach of Abraham and the self-disciplining approach of Isaac into one harmony with his involvement in the material world. The Twelve Tribes, as a physical manifestation of Hashem’s promise to Abraham, came through him, not through Esau. Even though Esau was completely involved with the material, the most material of blessings, of wealth and children, were found with Jacob.

“Then I will come to the altar of God-to God, the joy of my delight-and praise You on the lyre, O God, my God.” (Tehillim 43:4)

The pinnacle of our divine service, the sacrifices offered up on the holy altar, are physical in nature. This teaches us that the way of beauty, of Tiferes, is neither the “school of Mussar,” negating materiality by pointing out the disgusting and abhorrent nature of all bodily and material things, nor the “school of Chakira,” recognizing he superiority of the “inner form” and the spiritual, but the “school of Chassidus.” The “school of Chassidus” highlights the unique quality of the material when it is purified, and the unique quality of “form” when it is integrated with the material to a point “that one cannot detect where either of them begins or ends - for ‘Their beginning is wedged into their end, and their end into their beginning’” (Hayom Yom 7 Kislev).