או יאמר בשעה שהקדימו כו׳ אמר מי גילה רז זה לבני כו׳.
וצריך להבין איך אפשר לעשות קודם שישמע מה לעשות גם מה היה ענין התפארות השם יתברך שהתפאר בזה כל כך במה שהקדימו נעשה לנשמע:
Or you could say, “At the moment when Israel put {we will do} before {we will listen, a heavenly voice} said: "Who revealed this secret to my children?’” (Shabbat 88a).
And we must understand how it is possible to do before one hears what to do, as well as the basis for God’s praise, complimenting [Israel] so much because they put we will do before we will listen.
אך האמת שהאדם הוא אינו יכול לעמוד תמיד על מדריגה אחת כי החיות רצוא ושוב שבא ומסתלק
דהיינו כשהוא דבוק בהשם יתברך הוא מרגיש חיות ותענוג ואחר כך מסתלק ונופל מדריגתו.
ויש בזה רזין דאורייתא בטעם הדבר למה צריך ליפול ממדריגתו וטעם אחד הוא כדי שיבוא אחר כך למדריגה יותר גדולה שבכל דבר צריך להיות העדר קודם להויה וכשרוצים להגביה למדריגה יותר גדולה צריך להיות העדר קודם לכן צריך ליפול ממדריגה שהוא עכשיו:
But the truth is that no person is able to stay at one level always -- because the life-force ebbs and flows -- it comes and goes--
Meaning that when someone is attached to Blessed God he feels life-force and pleasure; and afterward he moves away and falls from this level.
And contained in this are secrets of Torah, the reason why it is necessary to fall from his level; and one reason is so that he can arrive afterward at an even greater level, for in every thing there must be Absence before Presence. When we want to rise to an even greater level there must be absence beforehand, therefore one must fall from the level at which one currently stands.
Can you give an example in your own life -- personal or professional -- in which a contraction led to an expansion/growth opportunity/ or growth mindset?
What do you think this has to do with the idea of "Na'aseh v'Nishmah" and how might this apply to the work we are doing in this community?
וְהַחַיּ֖וֹת רָצ֣וֹא וָשׁ֑וֹב כְּמַרְאֵ֖ה הַבָּזָֽק׃
And the hayyot [angels] are dashing to and fro [among] the creatures was something that looked like lightening.
§ The verse states: “And the divine creatures ran and returned like the appearance of a flash of lightning [bazak]” (Ezekiel 1:14). What is the meaning of “ran and returned”? Rav Yehuda said: Like fire that is emitted from a furnace, whose flame is continuously bursting out and withdrawing. What is the meaning of “like the appearance of a flash of lightning”? Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: Like the fire that is emitted from between pieces of earthenware used for refining gold, as an additional meaning ascribed to the word bazak is shards of earthenware.