Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Mechokek
מחוקק
The lawgiver, read as the engraver (mechokek)
The “lawgiver” of the well-song (Bamidbar 21:18), read as “engraver”: Moshe, who engraves the soul from within into a vessel that receives the Or Ein Sof, by drawing down Torah with bittul.
The word In the verse the word means lawgiver or ruler (the Targum renders it “the great scribe,” Matot 7:11); the maamarim read it from chakikah, engraving. In Shir HaShirim 39:5 “Chelkas Mechokek” is the name of a halachic commentary on Even HaEzer, not this concept.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 8, ¶17A vessel is engraved twice: outside, to remove rust, and inside, to carve a receptacle. So the soul is engraved outside by removing what hinders and hides, and inside to become a vessel for the Or Ein Sof, which rests only in Chochmah, ko’ach mah. The mechokek who makes the receptacle draws down Torah with bittul.
והמחוקק העושה הכלי קיבול הוא הממשיך בחי׳ התורה בבחינת הביטול
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 9, ¶21Yaakov overcomes the concealment that comes from the Name Elokim; this is the digging of the well. The mechokek is Moshe, Yesod Abba, who makes the inner engraving of bittul: Moshe is within, Yaakov without, matching the two engravings of a vessel.
במחוקק זה משה יסוד אבא שהוא עושה החקיקה בפנימיות בחינת ביטול
- Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 7, ¶12Love, as against the passing love of thirst, comes into the inwardness of the heart and stays there for ever through the mechokek, who engraves a vessel to receive. The mechokek is Moshe, Daas, the source of the Torah, who sets the Torah “before” Israel, in their inwardness.
ומחוקק זה משה כמ״ש כי שם חלקת מחוקק ספון הוא הדעת שהוא מקור התורה
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 7, ¶11Moshe is Yesod Abba and so is called mechokek, which the Targum renders “the great scribe.” Mechokek means engraving and rectifying the vessels so that there are many vessels and therefore much light; so the war on Midian, rooted in the division before Tikkun, had to be waged by Moshe.
וזהו פי׳ מחוקק שהוא חקיקת ותיקון הכלים להיות ריבוי הכלים ועי״ז יהי׳ ריבוי האור
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3, ¶6The chukim, mitzvos drawn from Keser of Keser, engrave the animal soul from within; the well is dug with the mechokek, that engraving. Yet these mitzvos spread through Chochmah, by Moshe. Without the two engravings one bound by body and animal soul cannot “walk” in love.
וממה נעשה החפירה במחוקק בחי׳ חקיקה הנ״ל שהוא בחי׳ מצות הנ״ל
Stated differently
Which level Moshe, the mechokek, is
ומחוקק זה משה כמ״ש כי שם חלקת מחוקק ספון הוא הדעת שהוא מקור התורהThe mechokek is Moshe, who is Daas, the source of the Torah.
משה הוא יסוד אבא ולכן נקרא מחוקק ותרגומו ספרא רבאMoshe is Yesod Abba, and therefore he is called mechokek.
במחוקק זה משה יסוד אבא שהוא עושה החקיקה בפנימיות בחינת ביטולThe mechokek is Moshe, Yesod Abba, who makes the inner engraving.
Whether the digging of the well is the outer engraving or is done by the mechokek’s engraving
מבחוץ להעביר כל מונע ומסתיר כו׳ והוא בחינת חפירה הנ״לThe outer engraving, removing what hinders and hides, is the digging; the mechokek makes the inner receptacle.
כי משה מלגאו יעקב מלבר שיש ב׳ חקיקות לכלי מבפנים ומבחוץYaakov’s overcoming of concealment is the digging, the outer engraving; Moshe, the mechokek, is the inner.
וממה נעשה החפירה במחוקק בחי׳ חקיקה הנ״ל שהוא בחי׳ מצות הנ״לThe digging is done with the mechokek, the engraving made by the chukim, which in Bechukotai 2:41 is the inner engraving (the outer one is Pesukei DeZimrah).
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Chukas 8, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Chukas 9, ¶21Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 7, ¶12Likkutei Torah, Matos 7, ¶11Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3, ¶6
Where it appears
In 12 paragraphs of 9 maamarim.
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.