Chesed & Din - Internal vs. External

Chesed is the root of the light, the Neshama, in contrast with Din which is the root of the vessels and the body. Din, the power of constriction, creates the vessels within which Chesed shines and lights up the soul. Ergo, Chesed relates to the internal, the soul, and Din to the external, the body. Because of the aspect of Din there are people whose purpose is to focus on all the external issues and to fight against them.

The purpose of judges, the representatives of Din, who are also referred to as אלוקים (Elokim, one of the names of God), is to focus specifically on that which is problematic and needs to be rectified. The Talmud teaches us, "A judge only has that which his eyes see." The judge is not meant to deal with external issues on the basis of understanding the defendant's inner soul. After all, if he judges every person on the basis of his soul, rather than his actions, everyone would be innocent and the judge would not inspire people to rectify their behavior. The Mahara"l and Rav Kook both teach that a judge needs to focus on the superficial and the problems, as his job is to work in the realm of the external and to fix it. This is also the function of the revealed Torah which sees the external of things, sees all the problems, the causes of damage, sins and impurities, and directs how they should be dealt with. This is the function of the Levites who represent Din and they have the mandate to demand purity and the rectification of wrongdoing.

In contrast with the judges who represent Din are the Kohanim who represent Chesed and are skilled in working with inner purity. They awaken the soul that is sleeping within the heart. They do not speak a lot of bone-breaking Mussar (rebuke), but speak softly to the hearts of all with sweet and kind words. With love and compassion, with their great spirit and powerful soul, with good hearts and faith in every Jewish person, they succeed in breaking through the walls and awaken the hearts with holiness. They fill hearts with a deep desire to connect to God. It is specifically their internal view that does not focus on sins and wrongdoing, and does not classify people only on the basis of their actions, which can fill people with hope. The people are comforted from their inner turmoil caused by their distance from God, and their hearts are filled with a loving desire to develop a relationship with the Divine.

The Kohanim stay in the House of God day and night focusing on the merits of the Jewish Nation and saying to God, "The Jews are pure and holy, and if they have fallen in sin, their hearts are burning with a fire that cannot be seen externally. Awake and seeking, awake and feeling pain because of the distance. The desire for God is strong in the heart of every Jew, even in one who is not cognizant of it it is present.

We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster.

Our eyes must always be turned higher and higher to rise to the loftiest spirituality. We can't compromise with our mediocre state, but aspire to the unbounded infinity. We aim to the infinite and constantly expand our consciousness and our proximity to the loftiest heights. Even though we need to take into account the realities of our limited ability to receive, our inner drive is literally to reach God. We have not traded in this ambition to settle for a limited amount of spiritual light that fits into our finite paradigm.

For this reason the year begins with Gevurah (Din, judgement) to remind us of our purpose. Even though Gevurah is a raging fire that fills our hearts with fear and trepidation, these are sufferings of love. We desire them because we desire our King and don't want to settle for anything less. The purpose of the entirety of Creation is to get to Him. For this reason, "The left hand is under my head, and the right will hug me." First the left builds the head, then the entire body can follow with love. The left comes first in the same way that Tohu proceeds Tikkun. First there is chaos which can then be controlled by entering into holding vessels. This is also why the High Holy Day precede the holiday of Sukkos.

Rav Kook asks:

Why is it that there is Breaking? He explains that if God wishes to give according to His ability and the recipient is limited, then the amount of good that can be shared is limited. He therefore gives infinite good, based on His measure. Infinite spirituality. The recipient can't contain it and it will inevitably shatter. The recipient will then rebuild her vessel because of her great desire to return to the infinite source, to unite with spirituality. In this manner the Creation forms herself and ultimately reaches the Creators level of perfection. It rises above the level of a Creation -something which would have been impossible without an outpouring of good that was beyond her ability to receive.

Later, he writes:

The World of Tohu, its breakage and reconstruction, demonstrate to us that the great desire for Tikkun, building, and existence - all the essence of good- are all very strongly at work. Existence cannot receive the awesome good of God, unlimited strength. The fractured existence disintegrates from too much good, from powerful life, it breaks from its great ambition. This does not prevent the good from following its path. It rebuilds after the Breaking. It builds a beautiful and priceless building. The subsequent measure of good is so great, that it is worth suffering the breakage, all the pain of destruction, in order to end up with a wonderful world which can hold within it a rich life which would otherwise be beyond its grasp.