What Part Does Adam Play In The Correction Of The World?
Adam: The First Man, the Collective Soul
The ARI (Rabbi Isaac Luria) explains that in truth, we are all parts of a single soul, known to Kabbalists as Adam HaRishon (the first man), and to most other folks as Adam. The exile, says the ARI, occurred as a continuation of the correction process. In Shaar HaPsukim [Gate to the Verses], he wrote:
"Adam HaRishon [Adam] included all the souls and included all the worlds. When he sinned, all those souls fell from him into the Klipot [shells, forms of egotism], which divide into seventy nations. Israel must exile there, in each and every nation, and gather the lilies of the holy souls that had scattered among those thorns, as our sages wrote in Midrash Rabah, 'Why were Israel exiled among the nations? To add foreigners to themselves."
In that regard, The NATZIV of Volojin wrote:
"Its beginning was on Mount Ebal ... but they completed this exalted matter only through exile and dispersion."
Why is the Exile Necessary?
It is with good reason that exile is necessary in order to complete the correction of the Jews, and thereafter the entire world. When Abraham offered the correction method to his fellow Babylonians, they rejected it because they were too busy being self-indulgent and egotistical. And yet, if we are all parts of one collective soul, as the ARI pointed out, eventually all of us will have to achieve correction, by which we will discover the Creator and become like Him.
This is the benefit that He intended to give humankind. Thus, Abraham's correction was only the beginning of the process, certainly not its end. In a long and elaborate essay titled, "And They Built Store-Cities," Baal HaSulam (Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag) writes:
"We must also understand what Abraham the Patriarch asked, 'Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it' (Genesis 15:8)? What did the Creator reply? It is written, 'And He said unto Abram: Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs."
Baal HaSulam explains that the corrected Abraham fears that the rest of his desires, the desires of Adam's soul, will not achieve correction, meaning join Abraham in having the quality of bestowal, thus becoming Abraham's inheritance.
Abraham's Inheritance
Surprisingly, in reply to his question, the Creator promises Abraham exile. And not only that, writes Baal HaSulam, Abraham "accepted it as a guarantee on the inheritance of the land."
Indeed, Abraham knew that a mingling of the desires--manifesting in the different nations of the world, as we have just read in the ARI's words--was necessary in order to complete the correction of humanity. If each of the nations represents a part of Adam's soul, it is necessary for every part of the soul to be introduced to the correction method, and for that part of the soul to eventually adopt it.
The Ruin of the Temples Made it Possible to Introduce the Correction Method to the World
As part of the expansion of the correction process among the desires of Adam's soul, namely in humanity, Abraham went into exile in Egypt, where his tribe had grown into a nation. And when the Israeli nation exiled after the ruin of the First and Second Temples, it introduced the correction method to the entire world.
The ARI (Rabbi Isaac Luria) explains that in truth, we are all parts of a single soul, known to Kabbalists as Adam HaRishon (the first man), and to most other folks as Adam. The exile, says the ARI, occurred as a continuation of the correction process. In Shaar HaPsukim [Gate to the Verses], he wrote:
"Adam HaRishon [Adam] included all the souls and included all the worlds. When he sinned, all those souls fell from him into the Klipot [shells, forms of egotism], which divide into seventy nations. Israel must exile there, in each and every nation, and gather the lilies of the holy souls that had scattered among those thorns, as our sages wrote in Midrash Rabah, 'Why were Israel exiled among the nations? To add foreigners to themselves."
In that regard, The NATZIV of Volojin wrote:
"Its beginning was on Mount Ebal ... but they completed this exalted matter only through exile and dispersion."
Why is the Exile Necessary?
It is with good reason that exile is necessary in order to complete the correction of the Jews, and thereafter the entire world. When Abraham offered the correction method to his fellow Babylonians, they rejected it because they were too busy being self-indulgent and egotistical. And yet, if we are all parts of one collective soul, as the ARI pointed out, eventually all of us will have to achieve correction, by which we will discover the Creator and become like Him.
This is the benefit that He intended to give humankind. Thus, Abraham's correction was only the beginning of the process, certainly not its end. In a long and elaborate essay titled, "And They Built Store-Cities," Baal HaSulam (Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag) writes:
"We must also understand what Abraham the Patriarch asked, 'Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it' (Genesis 15:8)? What did the Creator reply? It is written, 'And He said unto Abram: Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs."
Baal HaSulam explains that the corrected Abraham fears that the rest of his desires, the desires of Adam's soul, will not achieve correction, meaning join Abraham in having the quality of bestowal, thus becoming Abraham's inheritance.
Abraham's Inheritance
Surprisingly, in reply to his question, the Creator promises Abraham exile. And not only that, writes Baal HaSulam, Abraham "accepted it as a guarantee on the inheritance of the land."
Indeed, Abraham knew that a mingling of the desires--manifesting in the different nations of the world, as we have just read in the ARI's words--was necessary in order to complete the correction of humanity. If each of the nations represents a part of Adam's soul, it is necessary for every part of the soul to be introduced to the correction method, and for that part of the soul to eventually adopt it.
The Ruin of the Temples Made it Possible to Introduce the Correction Method to the World
As part of the expansion of the correction process among the desires of Adam's soul, namely in humanity, Abraham went into exile in Egypt, where his tribe had grown into a nation. And when the Israeli nation exiled after the ruin of the First and Second Temples, it introduced the correction method to the entire world.