Infinity/Infinities

Relative infinities can be many. 

  But Asolute Infinity can only be One.

~ Rav Bachya Ibn Pequda 

Shavat and Aquarius

Tonight's the beginning of the Jewish month of Shevat which is associated with the zodiac sign of Aquarius, the water carrier. In Hebrew the name of Aquarius is "deli" and literally means, "bucket". 

The great Chassidic master Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov teaches, in his work "Bnei Yissaschar", that Aquarius is the zodiac sign of the Jewish people and it also bears a unique association with Abraham's servant Eliezer. 

The great Torah commentary Rashi explains that Eliezer doled out drinks from the Torah of his master Abraham. Hebrew word for doling out is "doleh" and is grammatically related to the word "deli", Aquarius.

In reviewing this teaching, I notice that Rashi does not state that Eliezer doled out food from his master's teachings, but rather drinks. This got me thinking, what's the difference between doling out food and doling out drinks?

Then it dawned on me, food requires that the person chew, i.e. process. Drinks just smoothly go down, requiring much less effort. 

When giving over from Abraham's Torah, Eliezer didn't hand it over to the students raw and unprocessed. Rather, he was concerned to present the teachings in a way which they can be related to. Therefore, he carefully ensured that the teachings were brought down to where they met the students at eye level.

Chabad mystical philosophy teaches that there are two kinds of bowing. One kind is what we're commonly familiar with, where someone of a lower rank bows before someone of a higher rank; like a servant before a master. While bowing, the servant temporarily sets aside all traces of personal identity in order to internalize the master's message. 

No doubt Eliezer was adept at setting aside his identity before his master Abraham. For example, when he was entrusted with the sensitive mission of finding a bride for Isaac, he remains entirely nameless.  The Bible does not mention his name and neither does he mention his own name. When identifying himself to Rebecca's family, he opens with the words, "I am Abraham's servant..." without any mention of his name.

However, Eliezer was also a master at the second kind of bowing. The second kind, might be even harder than the first. It's when someone of higher rank figuratively bows to someone of lower rank. This kind of bowing can require even more humility.

But what does such bowing look like? It's when someone of higher stature  mentally steps into the situation of a person of lower stature to delicately convey a message in a manner which can be easily understood. Likely, the most commonly observed example of this scenario is that of a teacher who really reaches the students. In such a scenario difficult concepts are brought down to students in ways in which they can relate.

By stating that Eliezer doled out water Rashi is conveying that Eliezer was precisely this kind of teacher. He transformed the difficult concepts into water, meaning that he made them near effortless to internalize. 

Being a master of both kinds of bowing turned him into an ideal bridge personality, as he brought together various levels of people in common continuum of communication.

-------------O------------ 

 

Abraham's Hospitality

The Midrash relates that Abraham would ask his guests to thank God after he served them a luscious meal. If they refused, he then requested that they then pay for the meal instead. 

He'd claim, "If you don't believe that God provided you with this meal then it must be me that did. In that case I want to be paid for my services. Let's see, how much does bread and meat cost in the middle of the desert?"

As he'd rack up the huge bill, the guests would open their mouths and start thanking God.

It was taught to me that having guests is huge mitzvah, in and of itself. Therefore, for the past 26 years I have wondered why did Abraham make his hospitality contingent on his guests thanking God? 

Recently, it dawned on me that possibly the answer lay in the special relational bond which only a mitzvah can form. Since there is no parity between Infinite and finite, how the two can ever form such a bond is truly a quandary. 

What solves this quandary is a mitzvah, a Torah commandment. Even in circumstances where parity is out of reach, the Infinite and finite can meet around a mitzvah - a common interest that a certain act should be performed.

In Chabad teachings the following parable is offered to highlight how this kind of bond can be formed:

In a university, there was a world renowned professor. He was a top thought leader in his field. One day while studying he notices someone at the other end of the work spectrum, the janitor. Other than being under the same roof, the two share little in common. 

Yet today he wants something from the janitor. So, he motions him over. 

"Could you please prepare for me a tea with a few biscuits today and every day at 3pm?", he requests.

The janitor nods compliantly and begins a routine of bringing him his daily treat. 

Though there's little parity between the two of them, by fulfilling the professor's request a bond starts to form. Similarly, when God's requests (i.e. His mitzvahs) are fulfilled a bond is formed with Him. And even a human being, a lowly finite creature, can form a relational bond with the Infinite One.  

In Abraham's time there were only seven mitzvahs. Hosting guests was not among them. However, monotheism was. 

By urging his guests to express their thanks to God, Abraham was engaging them in an act of monotheism. Thereby, he turned the whole act of hosting them into that mitzvah. All the delicacies he served became like firewood to fuel their expression of thanks, their act of monotheism. 

In short, this was his way of turning hosting guests, which was not yet a mitzvah, into a mitzvah. 

--------------💖--------------