אכן יש ה' במקום הזה ואנכי לא ידעתי. ופירש"י שאילו ידעתי לא ישנתי כו', ביאור ואנכי לא ידעתי שאם ידעתי לא ישנתי, ר"ל שאם ידע לייחד מדה זו לא היה נקרא שינה וכו': (כתונת פסים דל"ה ע"א).
Surely, G‑d is in this place, and I did not know it! (28:16) Meaning, “If I had known it, I would not have slept here.”50Rashi’s comment on this verse. That is, if a person knows how to unite this trait, it would not be called sleep.51This refers to a very deep and central teaching of the Baal Shem Tov; that the attribute of da'at – knowledge of G‑d – has the ability to cut through all levels of darkness and confusion immediately. Da'at is the ability to remember G‑d, on whatever level a person is on. According to this teaching, all the. A person only needs to remember that the spiritual darkness he finds himself in is also from G‑d, and that G‑d is as present there as He is in the moments of inspiration, to be immediately catapulted to a level of closeness to G‑d, and the dissipation of the darkness; for distance from G‑d only comes into existence because we fail to remember that it too is from Him. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef writes: “If [Jacob] knew he was in the aspect of small-mindedness and sleep (a synonym for spiritual unconsciousness), he could unite this level also [with G‑d], and it would no longer be called the aspect of sleep.” A famous parable of the Baal Shem Tov illustrates this point: There was once a king who wanted to test the loyalty of his servants in all the distant lands of his reign. He send a fleet of his ships across the ocean, bearing the flags of an enemy nation. When the fleet drew close to each port, it sent a message to the citizens of the town, “You have five days to surrender, or we will destroy you.” In every town there was panic. In some towns, the people prepared for war. “We are loyal citizens of the king, and we will fight for him to the death.” In other towns, they were ready to surrender, “The king is so far from here, he has nothing to do with our lives. Why should we die for him.” However, in one town, the people calmly replied, “This is a test! We love our king. He need not test us!” The challenge of the battleships represents the evil inclination in man, that seeks to seduce him to transgress G‑d’s will. Some people fight it, while others give in. In both cases, a test exists, because the individual forgets that the side of evil is also from G‑d, and merely testing him. As soon as a person realizes that the tests is itself from G‑d, and not something outside of Him, the test itself disappears, and one comes close to G‑d again. Katones Passim, p. 35a
אכן יש ה' במקום הזה ואנכי לא ידעתי. ופירש"י שאילו ידעתי לא ישנתי כו', ביאור ואנכי לא ידעתי שאם ידעתי לא ישנתי, ר"ל שאם ידע לייחד מדה זו לא היה נקרא שינה וכו':
(כתונת פסים דל"ה ע"א).
Surely, G‑d is in this place, and I did not know it! (28:16)
Meaning, “If I had known it, I would not have slept here.”50Rashi’s comment on this verse. That is, if a person knows how to unite this trait, it would not be called sleep.51This refers to a very deep and central teaching of the Baal Shem Tov; that the attribute of da'at – knowledge of G‑d – has the ability to cut through all levels of darkness and confusion immediately. Da'at is the ability to remember G‑d, on whatever level a person is on. According to this teaching, all the. A person only needs to remember that the spiritual darkness he finds himself in is also from G‑d, and that G‑d is as present there as He is in the moments of inspiration, to be immediately catapulted to a level of closeness to G‑d, and the dissipation of the darkness; for distance from G‑d only comes into existence because we fail to remember that it too is from Him. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef writes: “If [Jacob] knew he was in the aspect of small-mindedness and sleep (a synonym for spiritual unconsciousness), he could unite this level also [with G‑d], and it would no longer be called the aspect of sleep.” A famous parable of the Baal Shem Tov illustrates this point:
There was once a king who wanted to test the loyalty of his servants in all the distant lands of his reign. He send a fleet of his ships across the ocean, bearing the flags of an enemy nation. When the fleet drew close to each port, it sent a message to the citizens of the town, “You have five days to surrender, or we will destroy you.”
In every town there was panic. In some towns, the people prepared for war. “We are loyal citizens of the king, and we will fight for him to the death.” In other towns, they were ready to surrender, “The king is so far from here, he has nothing to do with our lives. Why should we die for him.”
However, in one town, the people calmly replied, “This is a test! We love our king. He need not test us!”
The challenge of the battleships represents the evil inclination in man, that seeks to seduce him to transgress G‑d’s will. Some people fight it, while others give in. In both cases, a test exists, because the individual forgets that the side of evil is also from G‑d, and merely testing him. As soon as a person realizes that the tests is itself from G‑d, and not something outside of Him, the test itself disappears, and one comes close to G‑d again.
Katones Passim, p. 35a