"Whose Words Are As If Written" Havurat Shalom, Shabbat Shuva 5784

Rather, this is what is difficult according to Rabbi Abba: Geneiva’s instruction is the gift of a person on his deathbed of a portion of his estate, and the gift of a person on his deathbed of a portion of his estate requires an act of acquisition. The Gemara asks: Is that to say, by inference, that Rav Huna, according to whose opinion Rabbi Avina acquired the gift, holds that the gift of a person on his deathbed of a portion of his estate does not require an act of acquisition? But don’t we maintain that the gift of a person on his deathbed of a portion of his estate requires an act of acquisition? The Gemara answers: It is different here, as this is not a standard case of the gift of a person on his deathbed. This is a case where one issues an instruction to give the gift due to his imminent death. In that case, the principle: It is a mitzva to fulfill the statement of the deceased, applies even if it is a gift of a portion of his estate.

A person on their deathbed who says, "So-and-so should live in this house", "So-and-so should eat these date fruits", they've said nothing at all, for they haven't caused an acquisition of material goods. "Living", "eating", and so forth are just speech, and can't be acquired. But if the person said, "Give this house to so-and-so that they should live in it until this particular time", or "Give these dates to so-and-so so they should eat the fruits", their words are fulfilled, for they have caused an act of material acquisition -- for fruits, or something that has material substance etc.

4. Even when a person’s time comes to pass away and the soul ascends and attaches itself to the place to which it ascends in the upper worlds, remaining on high is not the soul’s ultimate purpose and perfection. Rather, the soul is most perfect when at the same time that it is above, it is also below. One therefore has to leave behind a blessing, a child / student, so that at the time of one's ascent on high, their daat also remains below.

1C. There are, however, many types of students. The one who is firmly bound to the tzaddik is literally like a branch of a tree, sensing all the tzaddik’s ascents and descents inside themselves, even if not in the proximity of the tzaddik. For if a student is genuinely bound to the tzaddik as they ought to be, like a branch to a tree, they ought to feel all the tzaddik’s spiritual advances and setbacks, just as the branches feel all the [seasonal] changes that the tree undergoes. In the summer they grow and have vitality. This is because the tree nourishes vitality from its source, drawing life-force from there through its vascular tissues—i.e., the lumina through which it draws its nourishment. Therefore in the winter, when the moisture dries up and the lumina shrivel, all the branches shrivel as well, causing the leaves to fall off; and in the summer it is just the opposite.

2A. Before one turns potential into actual, the potential and actual states are bound together and there is nothing separating between them. The reason for this is that “what is final in deed is first in thought” (L'kha Dodi Prayer). For instance, when a person wants to do something, like build a house, they first have to picture in their mind how the built house will look. Then, when they complete the image of this house in their mind, they begin to build it. This shows that the final deed is first in thought.

In brief, the principle is that there is an upper spirit and a lower spirit. When a righteous person becomes hidden [dies], they unite and join these together, by means of their occlusion [death], and thus is able individually to fulfill the aspect of "may you receive a double portion" for one's students (Eliyahu's wish for Elisha, see Likutei Moharan 66).

These two spirits connect to the idea of "potential vs action", the right hand and the left hand, the initial yud of the tetragrammaton and the final yud of the Ado-Shem. Because initially, these were connected as one, both the original potential and its corresponding action, just as "last in deed, first in thought", before the creation. But afterwards, potential and action connect to the concept of "open your hand" (יוּדֶיךָ), see Likutei Moharan 66.

This is the aspect of kinyan sudar (cloaks), acquisition by means of clothing, alluding to action being included within potential, achieved through buying and selling / taking and giving [e.g. challah]. Because physical objects can only pass from one person's possession to another's in this way. They need to strengthen their truth, so that there won't be any return, that they shouldn't go back on their word....

Because potential and action relate to giving and receiving, as is known. Therefore the one who is "giving" [an object or a gift], "takes" a corner of the recipient's garment, signifying that the action is being included with the potential. Thus it goes from one person's possession to another's, ultimately fulfilling its purchase, in truth and without going back.

This is what we find in the kinyan sudar, as in all forms of acquisition -- that someone who transfers an object to their fellow, even via commercial sale, is connecting the shefa of the potential of that object, and their fellow is receiving it...Which is why we put on a tallis first thing in the morning! Because we want to enter into davenning, in order to go out from potential into action. So we first need to ascend from below toward above, in order to tie action to potential...

We find that the essence of an effective gift is specifically by connecting from the start the action to the potential, as in the concept of "last in deed, first in thought". This is achieved by means of the kinyan sudar (acquisition via cloaks), as we've explained. Therefore the deathbed gift doesn't need a full kinyan, because the deathbed gift takes effect only after death. That's when the two spirits are tied together, the upper and the lower spirit, corresponding to potential and action.

We find that then the action is incorporated back into the potential, and therefore the gift is transferred from one domain into another without any special action or speech. So now action and potential are tied together, which is the essence of the permanent gift -- the worldly action ascends and becomes tied into its root, returning and coming out as the gift, from potential to action. And now it happens without doing anything special, and therefore doesn't require a formal kinyan.

In fact, kinyan wouldn't achieve anything with a deathbed gift, because there's no kinyan (i.e. transfer) after death!

Rather, the real kinyan is tying the potential to the action, which relates to the heart of how people serve ha-Shem in the world. For it's impossible for anyone to accomplish something, unless they're still alive. Then they have the capacity [koach, same word as "potential"] to tie action to potential, which is the essence of serving ha-Shem. But after the disappearance [death], a person doesn't have the capacity to do this -- today is for doing it, not tomorrow.

...then the action ascends back to the potential, and then the gift is acquired, meaning it can once again go from potential to action, in this case from the gift-giver to the receiver.

The order of confession for a dangerously ill person, is, 'I confess before you, ha-Shem, my God and the God of my fathers, that my healing and my death are in your hand. May it be Your will, to heal me completely, and if I die, my death should be an expiation for all sins, wrongs and rebellious acts, which I have committed sinfully, wrongfully and rebelliously before You, and grant me a share in Gan Eden, and favor me with the world to come which is stored away for the Righteous.' (Rema: And if one desires to prolong as in the confession for the Day of Atonement, ​​​​​​​one has the right to do so.)