Avraham and Sarah in Provence - Hakirah

246 : Ḥakirah, the Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought
needed. 96 That said, should such books as Encountering the Creator be
banned? I think not. Were one to promote a ban on the use of the
chomer/tzurah metaphor in the interpretation of Tanach, many a classic
sefer would have to be pulled from the shelves of our sefarim stores as
well.
“And he said to Sarah his wife” 97—there are two shades in the
worship of the tzaddik. One is to serve with ruchniyus (spirituality),
and the other is to also sanctify and purify one’s gashmiyus (physical
being) excessively. The quality of worshipping with ruchniyus is
called Avraham and this is from the male ( ארכוד)
side, while that
of worshipping from the gashmiyus is called Sarah. Thus the mean-
ing of “He said to Sarah his wife” addressing the female ( אבקונ)
side and telling her “that now I know you are a beautiful woman,”
is that I have not ascended to the highest level of sanctity, for I still
am drawn by physical beauty. “And they will kill me” means that if
we do not check ourselves and strengthen our sanctity, then, G-d
forbid, they will kill me, i.e., the ruchniyus force. “And you they will
let live” means that the force of gashmiyus will have ascendancy.
Therefore say “you are my sister” meaning that we should
strengthen ourselves intensely in sanctity and in clinging to the Torah
consistent with the verse “say to wisdom that you are my sister.”
98 “That it may be good for me,” means that because of this I
shall ascend to the goodness of the highest sanctity for the force of
ruchniyus will be dominant… And also this “my soul will live for
your sake ( ךללגב)
”—the term ךללגב is related to “as the dung
( ללגה)
is swept away” referring to the fact that the life-force of
sanctity would be injected even into the dung, i.e., the gashmiyus.
(Noam Elimelech, parashas Lech Lecha)
Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk not only equates female and male
with chomer and tzurah, albeit with the terminology of gashmiyus and
96 תורוד ורמאי המ . ןונבלה יזראכ םיקזח ויה םהש ףא לע םינושארל ץוחנ היה רפסה םאש
זאמ רפסה תא סיפדחל ךירצ היהש ו"
ק לש ונב ןב ו"
ק...
לתוכה יבשעכ םהש םינורחאה
לארשי תוצופת לכב וציפהלו םדקמו.
97 These verses are from Bereishis 12.
98 ( ד:
ז ילשמ)
ְתּאָ יִת ֹחֲא
, הָמְכָחַל רֹמֱא
. This verse using the feminine “sister” for
wisdom would seem to pose a challenge to our analysis, but looking at
the following verses “to guard you from the foreign woman,” it becomes
clear that it means to say that the feminine side, i.e., chomer, must
be imbued with wisdom.