It is impossible to achieve true upward movement without opposition. Just as the air’s opposition is employed to create a stronger upward movement than that which could be obtained using flotation, so too for a person to transcend the materialism of the world and get closer to G-d, it is not enough to involve the good inclination alone.
The Rebbe - Mind Over Matter - Aviation and Space.
The developers of the first “flying machines” were faced with two options:
a) Using materials that are lighter than air (such as hot air, hydrogen, etc.). This is similar to Maimonides’ statement that wood floats because it is lighter than the water.
b) Copying birds’ movements: Pushing the air creates pressure, which lifts the aircraft.
Although the first method seems to be easier and more reliable, the second method is the one that was favored, and it is the main method of aviation nowadays.
In spiritual terms:
It is impossible to achieve true upward movement without opposition. Just as the air’s opposition is employed to create a stronger upward movement than that which could be obtained using flotation, so too for a person to transcend the materialism of the world and get closer to G-d, it is not enough to involve the good inclination alone. It is specifically through the evil inclination’s opposition, and the resultant extra drive to overcome it, that one attains a more powerful lift and hence greater heights.
According to Chassidut, the reason that air at lower altitudes is warmer than higher air masses is that sunlight is strengthened when reflected by the ground. This is the advantage of a “reflected light” — which is strengthened upon facing opposition — over a “direct light” which has only its own strength. This, too, is the advantage of the Divine service of those who have faced adversity and overcome it — Ba’alei Teshuva (returnees [to G-d]; literally, Masters of Return) — over those who were righteous all along.
Space Flight
All of the above is true only where there is an atmosphere. What is done where there is no atmosphere, or where the density of the air is very low? How can one generate upward movement in the absence of resistance? How can one travel in space?
Rather than dwelling on the scientific solution to this problem, we will focus instead on the spiritual analogue of such a mode of divine service. The prophet tells us that in the future all evil will be banished from the world. How then will we be able to continue ascending from level to level within goodness and holiness in the absence of opposition?
The absence of external opposition itself will create an internal, self-generated pressure within holiness itself. The attribute of chessed (loving-kindness) flows from above to below, i.e., from giver to recipient. Gevurah (stringency), on the other hand, is expressed through elevation, and a yearning for that which is higher. Through harmoniously blending the two and serving G-d in both directions — a service which is an expression of the attribute of tiferet (splendor) — an “upward movement” is created. Thus, without any “external push,” one is able to reach ever higher, until the ultimate goal, when “Israel, the Torah, and the Holy One blessed be He, are all one.” The Rebbe - Mind Over Matter - Aviation and Space. |
