The Dew of the Heavens

Parshas Toldos addresses Yitzchak Avinu’s blessings to his sons, particularly to Yaakov Avinu, the father of the People Israel. In some traditions, we add the following verse, along with many other verses, to the end of maariv prayers after Shabbat:

“וְיִֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים מִטַּל֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּמִשְׁמַנֵּ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְרֹ֥ב דָּגָ֖ן וְתִירֹֽשׁ׃

And may G-d give you [in addition to the fragrance of Eden] of the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth, and an abundance of corn and wine.”

The Idra Zuta uses Lurianic language to elaborate on this verse in terms of the partzufim (the “faces”) of Hashem, which correspond to the ten Sefirot, or Attributes, such as kindness, justice, etc.

We know, however, that G-d has neither a body nor the form of a body. So why does the Torah use an anthropomorphic description? According to Nosson Dovid Dubov, this is because the Torah uses language people can relate to, and people worshipped idols in the old days. This is the opinion of the Rambam.

The Idra Zuta says, “Dew flows from the white head, which is the skull of Arich Anpin, through the skull of Zeir Anpin…manna is ground from the skull’s dew for the righteous in the world to come, and the dead will be resurrected with it. An occasion for the dew to settle occurred only during the time when the children of Israel traversed the desert and the most ancient sustained them from that place of dew above the skull. This has not occurred since…the dew of the skull of Arich Anpin flows over the skull of Zeir Anpin called heaven. That was then when they were sustained by the dew of heaven. At another time, we learned, “The providential support of man is as difficult…” (Tractate Pesachim 118b) before the Holy One, blessed be He; since sustenance depends on luck (Mazal) at this time. It comes from fate, which contains judgments, rather than from the dew of the skull of Arich Anpin, which is wholly in a state of mercy. This is why children, longevity and sustenance depend on luck rather than merit, as we explained. Everything derives from Mazal, as we explained that it is the beard of Arich Anpin that is called Mazal.”

Elsewhere in the Torah we learn that Mazal (astrological constellations) do not determine the outcomes of our lives if we do mitzvot with faith.

Mendel Kalmenson and Zalman Abraham explain: “Herein lies the Jewish twist on ancient astrology: Our “fate” may be decreed “above,” but our “destiny” is determined by our actions “below.” The concept of mazal is the active mediation between these two dimensions, the manner in which what is decreed in the heavens is brought down and materialized on earth in the form of blessing or its opposite.”