Torah Ohr · Sefer Bereishis · Shabbos November 28
פרשת וישלח
Parshas Vayishlach
6 maamarim of the Alter Rebbe on the parsha, in the Hebrew of the Kehot edition, with every marei makom opened right where it appears. Each small section with a faithful English translation and a short explanation.
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The maamarim 6
- וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו אל עשו אחיו כו׳ And Yaakov Sent Messengers Before Him Yaakov, rooted in the ordered World of Tikkun, sent to Eisav, whose ultimate root is in the higher encompassing lights of Tohu, to draw those lights down into Tikkun. He believed this was possible because the Tikkun was complete, and blessing rests only in a complete place.
- וישובו המלאכים אל יעקב לאמר באנו אל אחיך… And the messengers returned to Yaakov, saying: We came… Yaakov sought the lofty encompassing light of Tohu, rooted in Esav, but Esav is still fallen and cannot pass it on; so Yaakov must draw it down himself through an arousal from below, which was the meaning of his gift to Esav.
- ויאמר יעקב אלהי אבי אברהם כו׳ “And Jacob said: ‘G‑d of my father Abraham…’” Jacob’s two camps and his unusual gift to Esau were deliberate: to draw down the unlimited encompassing light of Tohu, his arousal from below had to mirror Tohu itself, without the divisions and exact measures that belong to Tikkun and to the Torah.
- ויקם בלילה הוא ויקח את שתי נשיו כו׳… And He Rose Up That Night Yaakov, the level of Tiferes that joins opposites, sought to unite the encompassing light of Tohu with the inner light of Tikkun. In divine service this means a ratzo of fiery love that is always matched by an equal shov into Torah and mitzvos, like water mixed into wine.
- ויקח מן הבא בידו מנחה לעשו אחיו כו׳ “And he took from what came to his hand” Yaakov’s gift to Eisav was a minchah, a raising of mayin nukvin beyond the soul’s measure, offered to Eisav’s lofty root in the encompassing light of Tohu. By refining the good in Eisav he drew that encompassing light into himself, so that Yaakov, the inner light of Tikkun, came to include the encompassing light as well.
- ויאבק איש עמו כו׳ “And a man wrestled with him” The kelipos try to bypass holiness and feed directly from the Infinite Light, where darkness is like light; Yaakov, rooted in supernal Chochmah, established the order in which G‑d’s inner light rests only on bittul, and so he withstood Samael and even raised the lowest “dust” to the Throne of Glory.
Learn it in seven days Sunday to Shabbos
The Rebbe asked that all the maamarim of the week’s parsha be learned in that week, spread over its seven days. Here is the parsha in seven portions of about equal length.