Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26) 
 
  Wholeness Via Descent

From the Weekly Parsha Devar Torah Column on www.KabbalaOnline.org, ASCENT LIGHTS, Contemporary illuminations from the director of Ascent-of-Safed.

By Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter 

Zohar I, p. 235a-b, translation and commentary by Rabbi Moshe Miller, based on the commentary Sha'at  Ratzon

The day of Israel's death was approaching .... (Gen. 47:29)

Rabbi Elazar asked Rabbi Shimon [his father] the following question: Since the Holy One, blessed be He knows that a person will eventually die, why is the soul sent down into this world?

" The Holy One places souls in this world so that they can make His glory known...." 
 
His question was primarily, "why do the souls of humans descend from on High into this world?" - referring to the world of  Asiya, where evil predominates over good and death prevails ( Etz Chaim, 42:4, 48:3; see  Tanya chap. 6). If the purpose is to endow man with free choice so that he can choose to serve the Creator and thus be rewarded for his service (or punished for lack of it), it would have been sufficient for the soul to descend from on High to the world of  Yetzira, which is half good and half bad (Etz Chaim 48:3) and therefore still allows the possibility of free choice.

Rabbi Shimon replied: This question has been posed to the rabbis by many [of their students] and they gave their answer: the Holy One places souls in this world so that they can make His glory known. But afterwards He takes them back [when they die].

" Drink water from your own cistern, and flowing waters from your own well...." 
 
So the question still remains: if the purpose is to make His glory known in this world, why does He them take them back? Why do they have to descend into this world only to die later?

However the mystical explanation is this: He began [his explanation with the following verse], "Drink water from your own cistern, and flowing waters from your own well" (Proverbs 5:15). We have established that a well [ malchut] does not flow with water on its own.

A well merely collects water which sits stationary in the well. See Mikva'ot 1:7 ff. for the differences between a well and a spring.

When does it flow with water [i.e. when does a well become like a spring, having the ability to purify to a far greater level than a well]? When the soul completes its work in this world, [when the  Nefesh of a righteous person, a  Tzadik, who served G-d in this world by fulfilling the  Torah's commandments] and returns to that place [above] to which it is attached [the  sefira of  yesod] then it is complete in every aspect, above and below [yesod above, and malchut below].

When the soul returns above, the feminine waters [the waters of malchut, the well] are aroused towards the masculine waters [the waters of yesod, which flow] and flow from below to above so that the [stagnant] well becomes a reservoir of flowing water. Then unity and harmony and the divine will are present, for the soul of the Tzadik brings perfection on high.

Commentaries explain: It is necessary for the soul to come down into this lowly world of Asiya and suffer the pangs of death, the level of Nefesh that descends to Asiya, can become complete in every aspect by elevating the holy sparks that fell into the worlds from the shattered vessels of the world of  Tohu. This is accomplished through  mitzvot and good deeds in this world. The elevation of those sparks must begin from the very lowest of levels, from the level of Nefesh. Therefore, the soul must descend into this world in order to become complete so that it can ascend afterwards and bring completion to the higher worlds as well. The Zohar then goes on to explain that this is the secret of the verse which describes Jacob's last moments:

He drew in his feet [malchut] to the bed [Ze'ir Anpin - the six  sefirot from  chesed to yesod] and he passed on and was gathered unto his people. (Gen. 49:33)