"And your Covenant with death shall be annulled"

Synopsis

Rabbi Yosi begins the discussion by saying that God exiled Yisrael only after His children lost Faith, which is the secret of the Shechinah. Then the Shechinah is separated, or "annulled" from Zeir Anpin. Death, we learn, will be destroyed from the world only when the children of Yisrael "cleave to the right" of God.

Relevance

At the moment of creation, the souls of mankind sought the opportunity to create their own Light through their effort towards spiritual transformation. For this reason, our physical world, and all the supernal worlds above, was created. We create our own Light when we overcome our doubts concerning the reality of The Creator and when we triumph over our Evil Inclinations. When we experience doubt or succumb to the selfish impulses of our nature, we disconnect from the Light and our exile continues. These negative attributes are associated with the Left Column energy. However, when a man "cleaves to the right" of God, it means he is becoming a more sharing and tolerant person, the attributes associated with Right Column energy. Thus, one purpose behind this passage is to ignite the power of Right Column energy within us, so that we overcome our dark side and attract the Light of the Shechinah into our lives. In addition, the mere act of reading the words contained herein strengthens our faith, arouses the Light of the Shechinah and helps to remove the force of Death from this universe.

Atonement Brit (Covenant) Covenant (Brit) Death Death and the Afterlife Exile Faith Shechinah Zeir Anpin

187. Rabbi Yosi said, The Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Yisrael only when there was no faith among them, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE SHECHINAH CALLED FAITH, FOR SINCE THEY HAVE IMPAIRED THEIR COVENANT, THE SHECHINAH WAS GONE FROM THEM. For when faith is withheld from them, it is so in everything-- meaning, ALSO ABOVE, THE SHECHINAH IS SEPARATED FROM ZEIR ANPIN, as it is written, "And your Covenant with death shall be annulled" (Yeshayah 28:18), WHICH MEANS THAT KEEPING THE COVENANT ATONES FROM DEATH, AND IT ATONED FOR THEM TOO, SO THEY WOULD NOT GO INTO EXILE. BUT THEY DID IMPAIR THE COVENANT AND THUS THE SHECHINAH DEPARTED FROM THEM.

187. א"ר יוֹסֵי, לָא אַגְלֵי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶלָּא בְּזִמְנָא דְּלָא אִשְׁתַּכַּח מְהֵימְנוּתָא בֵּינַיְיהוּ, כַּד אִתְמְנַע מְהֵימְנוּתָא בֵּינַיְיהוּ, כִּבְיָכוֹל, הָכֵי אִשְׁתַּכַּח בְּכֹלָּא, דִּכְתִיב וְכִפֶּר בְּרִיתְכֶם אֶת מָוֶת.

Death Death and the Afterlife Hands Torah

188. Rabbi Chiya said, This is the meaning of, "He will destroy death forever" (Yeshayah 25:8). RABBI YOSI said to him: When the Holy One, blessed be He, will awaken His right, death will be destroyed forever from the world. But the right will not stir until Yisrael will arise and cleave to the right of the Holy One, blessed be He. What is "THE RIGHT" OF THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE? It is the Torah, as is written, "From His right hand went a fiery law for them" (Devarim 33:2). At that time, "the right hand of Hashem does valiantly" (Tehilim 118:16) followed by, "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of Hashem" (Ibid. 17), AS THE RIGHT ANNULS DEATH.

188. א"ר חִיָּיא, מַאי דִכְתִיב, בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת לָנֶצַח. א"ל, כַּד יִתְעַר קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא יְמִינָא דִילֵיהּ, אִתְמְנַע מוֹתָא מִן עַלְמָא, וְלָא יִתְעַר הַאי יְמִינָא, אֶלָּא כַּד יִתְעָרוּן יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּימִינָא דְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, וּמַאי נִיהוּ תּוֹרָה, דִּכְתִיב בָּהּ, מִימִינוֹ אֵשׁ דָּת לָמוֹ, בְּהַהוּא זִמְנָא, יְמִין ה' עוֹשָׂה חָיִל וגו,' לֹא אָמוּת כִּי אֶחְיֶה וַאֲסַפֵּר מַעֲשֵׂי יָהּ.

Garden of Eden Righteous

189. תָּנָא, הַהוּא זַכָּאָה דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא אִתְרְעֵי בֵּיהּ, וְכָרוֹזָא קָרֵי עֲלֵיהּ, ל' יוֹמִין, בֵּינֵי צַדִּיקַיָיא בְּגִנְתָא דְעֵדֶן, כֻּלְּהוּ צַדִּיקַיָא חָדָאן, כֻּלְּהוּ צַדִּיקַיָיא אַתְיָין, וּמְעַטְּרָן דּוּכְתֵּיהּ דְּהַהוּא צַדִּיקָא, עַד דְּיֵיתֵי לְמֵידַר דִּיּוּרֵיהּ בֵּינַיְיהוּ.