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בשברי לכם מטה לחם ואפו עשר נשים לחמכם…

“When I Break for You the Staff of Bread”

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The big idea

The curses of the rebuke are, in their hidden dimension, blessings. “When I break for you the staff of bread” is the Torah’s descent, through the breaking of the Tablets, into physical laws; and “ten women shall bake your bread in one oven” teaches how that Torah becomes one with a person: baked in the hidden fire of love for G‑d, by a soul that knows its good is not its own.

The maamar in brief

The maamar reads a curse of the rebuke, a famine in which ten women bake in one oven and bread is handed back by weight, as a blessing. The Zohar teaches that G‑d, the Torah and Israel each have a hidden and a revealed level. The revealed is the world of place, physical and spiritual; the hidden is beyond place and beyond grasp. On their revealed level the curses are sent to Israel’s enemies, to Esav and the multiplicity of “these”; their inner dimension, heard “in the voice” of G‑d, is blessing, as in the Talmud’s “These are all blessings.” The Torah is bread: as wheat grows because its high root fell in the shattering, the Torah’s secrets descended into physical laws when the first Tablets were broken. Unbaked, the Torah stays apart from the learner; baked, it becomes one with him. The fire is the hidden love in every Jewish heart, the black fire, “the flame of Yah”; the oven is love born of contemplating G‑d’s oneness; the ten women are the soul’s ten faculties, as receivers. Then the Torah is raised “by weight,” and is always new.

Outline

  1. Hidden and revealedThe curses are truly blessings; the Zohar’s three levels, each hidden and revealed; the hidden is beyond place; the revealed is the physical world and the spiritual life-force within it, which is also “place.”¶1–2
  2. The curses and the staff of breadSpiritual place and “Blessed is the Place”; on the revealed level the curses speak of the enemies, of Esav and “these”; “in the voice” they are blessings; the Torah is bread whose high root fell, through the breaking of the Tablets, into physical laws.¶3
  3. Baked breadThe Torah is wheat bread, its twenty-two letters; unbaked dough is not absorbed, while baked bread becomes one with the body; so Torah that is not “baked” stays apart from the learner.¶4–5
  4. The fire, the oven and the ten womenBlack fire upon white fire is the hidden love in every heart, “the flame of Yah”; the oven is love that comes from contemplating G‑d’s oneness; the ten women are the soul’s ten faculties, as receivers.¶6–7
  5. Not one’s own; by weight; ever new“Be in your own eyes like a wicked person”: the flame is from Yah, not from oneself; the Torah is returned upward “by weight” to the supernal Scale; one is never sated, and the Torah never grows old, as G‑d is above time.¶8

Key concepts

Hidden and revealedסתים וגליא
The Zohar’s pair: G‑d, the Torah and Israel each have a concealed dimension, beyond grasp and beyond place, and a revealed one. The curses are the Torah’s revealed side; the blessing is in its hidden side.
Place (makom)מקום
Space with its six directions, and also the spiritual life-force that sustains it, which belongs to the revealed and is nullified to the hidden above place. “Blessed is the Place” draws down from above place into place.
Eleh (“these”)אלה
A plural word, standing for the multiplicity and separation of the realm opposed to holiness: Esav, “the mountains of separation.” On the revealed level the curses are directed there.
Bekol (“in the voice”)בקול
Hearing the inner dimension of G‑d’s voice, what is drawn from the hidden; there the blessings within the curses are found.
The staff of breadמטה לחם
The Tree of Life, the Torah’s hidden level. Its “breaking,” the breaking of the first Tablets, brought the Torah down into physical laws, where it can be the soul’s bread.
Bakingאפיה
Learning Torah in the flame of the hidden love for G‑d, so that it is absorbed into the learner and becomes one with him, as baked bread is digested and becomes one with the body.
Black fire upon white fireאש שחורה על גבי אש לבנה
The fire in which the Torah was given. The black fire, the hidden, is the concealed love that burns in every Jewish heart.
Matkela (the Scale)מתקלא
The Zohar’s supernal Scale, a level above what it weighs. “They shall return your bread by weight”: the baked Torah is raised up to it.

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Hidden and revealed ¶1–2

1בשברי לכם מטה לחם ואפו עשר נשים לחמכם בתנור אחד והשיבו לחמכם במשקל כו׳. הנה ידוע שאף שלפי הנראה דברי התוכחות אלו הם קללות אבל לפי האמת אינם רק ברכות.

“When I break for you the staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall return your bread by weight,” etc. Now, it is known that although, according to what is seen, these words of rebuke are curses, in truth they are nothing but blessings.

Explanation

The maamar opens with a verse from the rebuke in Parshas Bechukosai: in a time of scarcity, ten women will bake in a single oven and the bread will be handed back by weight. The Alter Rebbe states the principle behind his whole reading: these words of rebuke look like curses, but in truth they are only blessings.

ולהבין זה הוא ע״ד מה שאמר בזהר תלת דרגין מתקשראן דא בדא קוב״ה אורייתא וישראל וכו׳ כולהו דרגא על דרגא סתים וגליא (בפ׳ אחרי דע״ג ע״א).

To understand this: it is along the lines of what is said in the Zohar, “Three levels are bound to one another: the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah and Israel,” etc., “each of them level upon level, hidden and revealed” (in Parshas Acharei, 73a).

Explanation

To explain how a curse can be a blessing, he cites the Zohar: G‑d, the Torah and Israel are bound together, and each of them has a hidden and a revealed dimension. This pair, hidden and revealed, is the key to the maamar: the curses are the Torah’s revealed side, and its hidden side is blessing.

וביאור ענין בחי׳ סתים היינו מה שאינו נראה ומושג ואינו מתלבש במקום כלל ונק׳ סתימא דכל סתימין, פי׳ אפילו מן הסתימא הוא סתום ונעלם, ולית מחשבה דלהון תפיסא ביה כלל ועיין בסה״מ דקי״א ע״א.

The explanation of the matter of the level of “hidden” is: that which is not seen or grasped and is not enclothed in place at all, and is called “the most hidden of all the hidden”; that is, even from the hidden it is hidden and concealed, and “no thought of theirs grasps Him at all.” And see Sefer Hadras Melech, 111a.

Explanation

“Hidden” here means what cannot be seen or grasped and is not in place (space) at all. The Zohar calls it “the most hidden of all the hidden,” concealed even from what is itself concealed, and the Tikkunei Zohar says that “no thought grasps Him at all.” Sefer Hadras Melech is a commentary on the Zohar, which the Alter Rebbe cites for this.

Paragraph 1 in brief

The opening poses the question (how can the curses of the rebuke be blessings?) and introduces the Zohar’s distinction between “hidden” and “revealed,” defining the hidden as what is beyond place and beyond all grasp.

Deeper

The Kehot note records that this maamar was said in 5555 (1794–95) and that Or HaTorah prints it with slight variations and other glosses. The words “no thought grasps Him at all” come from Elijah’s opening prayer in the Tikkunei Zohar (17a), which also calls G‑d “hidden above all the hidden.”

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    בשברי לכם מטה לחם · נאמרה בשנת תקנ״ה. ראה רשימת המאמרים שבסו״ס מאמרים קצרים ע׳ תריג הערה 26. באוה״ת ויקרא כרך-ד ע׳ א׳קפג בשינויים קלים ובהגהות אחרות.
  2. 2
    בשברי לכם מטה לחם · Leviticus 26:26
  3. 3
    לפי האמת אינם רק ברכות · ראה גם אוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תרמה ואילך לקו״ש ח״ז ע׳ 233. חי״ט ע׳ 137 שמבאר ענין זה.
  4. 4
    תלת דרגין · ראה להלן הוספות להערות וציונים.
  5. 5
    תלת דרגין מתקשראן דא בדא קוב״ה אורייתא וישראל וכו׳ כולהו דרגא על דרגא סתים וגליא · Zohar, Achrei Mot 49:296–50:305
  6. 6
    סתימא דכל סתימין · Zohar II, 89a
  7. 7
    ולית מחשבה . . כלל · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:10–12

2ובחי׳ גליא הוא מה שאנו רואים עולם הגשמי בחי׳ מקום בעל ששה קצוות מעלה ומטה וד׳ רוחות העולם.

And the level of “revealed” is what we see: the physical world, the level of place, which has six extremities: above and below and the four directions of the world.

Explanation

The revealed level is the physical world we see, defined by place: six directions, up, down and the four points of the compass.

ולכאורה לא יתכן לומר על בחי׳ גשמית שהוא בחי׳ אלהות. אבל באמת הענין הוא כן

Seemingly, it is not possible to say of a physical level that it is a level of G‑dliness. But in truth the matter is so,

Explanation

One might object that something physical cannot be called G‑dliness. The Alter Rebbe answers that in truth it can, as he now explains.

כי אין עוד מלבדו כתיב ומלכותו בכל משלה וכל מה שאנו רואים בדצח״מ שבעוה״ז יש בכל גשמי מגשמיים הנ״ל חיות רוחני המחיה אותו תמיד

for it is written, “There is none else besides Him,” and “His sovereignty rules over all.” And in all that we see of the inanimate, vegetative, animal and speaking [creations] of this world, in every physical thing among the physical things mentioned above, there is a spiritual life-force that gives it life constantly,

Explanation

Two verses show that nothing exists apart from G‑d: “There is none else besides Him” and “His sovereignty rules over all.” Every mineral, plant, animal and human being has a spiritual life-force that gives it existence at every moment, and that life-force is G‑dliness within the physical.

והוא ג״כ נק׳ בחי׳ מקום כמ״ש הנה מקום אתי שיש ג״כ בחי׳ מקום למעלה וכו׳.

and it too is called the level of place, as it is written, “Behold, there is a place with Me”: that there is also a level of place above, etc.

Explanation

This spiritual life-force is also called “place.” G‑d’s words to Moshe, “Behold, there is a place with Me,” show that there is a “place” above as well, not only physical space.

Paragraph 2 in brief

Paragraph 2 defines the revealed level: the physical world of space, and within it a spiritual life-force that is G‑dliness and is itself called “place.”

Deeper

A Kehot note cites Or HaTorah (Nasso), which draws from this passage that the spiritual life-force is truly the level of place: not physical place, G‑d forbid, but spiritual and abstracted from the bounds of physical space, and yet truly “place.” The Tzemach Tzedek’s Sefer HaChakirah quotes a passage from here.

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ובחי׳ גליא · ראה לקמן פ׳ נצבים מו, א.
  2. 2
    אין עוד מלבדו · Deuteronomy 4:35
  3. 3
    ומלכותו בכל משלה · Psalms 103:19
  4. 4
    וכל מה שאנו רואים . . למעלה מן המקום לבחי׳ מקום · הרי מבואר שהחיות רוחני בחי׳ מקום הוא ולא מקום גשמי ח״ו, אלא רוחני מופשט מגדר מקום גשמי ח״ו, ואעפ״כ הוא בחי׳ מקום ממש רק שהוא רוחני — אוה״ת נשא ע׳ רנז.
  5. 5
    הנה מקום אתי · Exodus 33:21
  6. 6
    ג״כ נקרא בחי׳ מקום · ראה לקמן שלח מג, א. ספר החקירה עד, ב. ואילך. ושם עו, א מביא קטע מכאן.

The curses and the staff of bread ¶3

3ופי׳ מקום שהחיות רוחני בחי׳ מקום הוא ונק׳ ג״כ גליא ובטל הוא לבחי׳ סתום שלמעלה ממנו מן בחי׳ מקום כענין ביטול אותיות המחשבה בשכל כידוע ואינו מתלבש בו כלל.

The meaning of “place” is that the spiritual life-force is the level of place, and it too is called “revealed”; and it is nullified to the level of “hidden” that is above it, above the level of place, like the nullification of the letters of thought in the intellect, as is known; and [the hidden] is not enclothed in it at all.

Explanation

The “place” meant here is not physical space: the spiritual life-force is itself the level of place, and it belongs to the revealed. It is nullified before the hidden level above it, as the letters of thought are nullified within the intellect they express, while the hidden itself does not enter it at all.

וזהו ברוך המקום כי ברוך הוא לשון המשכה להמשיך מן למעלה מן המקום לבחי׳ מקום ע״ד האמור בברכת השנים להמשיך מן למעלה מן הזמן לבחי׳ זמן.

This is [the meaning of] “Blessed is the Place (Baruch HaMakom)”: for baruch (“blessed”) is an expression of drawing down, to draw down from above place into the level of place, in the manner of what is said in the Blessing of the Years: to draw down from above time into the level of time.

Explanation

This explains the Haggadah’s words “Blessed is the Place”: in Chassidus, baruch (“blessed”) means drawing down. To bless G‑d as “the Place” is to draw down from what is above place into place, just as the Blessing of the Years in the weekday Amidah draws down from what is above time into time.

וזהו ברוך ה׳ כו׳ מן העולם ועד העולם, (ענין מקום רוחני י״ל דהיינו ו״ק עליונים שהם שרש הו״ק גשמיים צפון ודרום כו׳ שזהו בחי׳ המקום,

This is [the meaning of] “Blessed is Havayah,” etc., “from world to world.” (The matter of spiritual place: it may be said that this is the six supernal extremities, which are the root of the six physical extremities, north and south, etc., which is the level of place;

Explanation

The verse “Blessed is Havayah… from world to world” is read the same way: a drawing down into the “world,” which Tanya (Part II, chapter 7) defines as place and time. A long parenthesis begins here: spiritual place may be the six supernal extremities, the emotive attributes that are the root of the six physical directions.

וכן נתבאר במ״א ע״פ וארא אל אברהם כו׳ בפי׳ וענין שהוא אחד בשבעה רקיעים והארץ וד׳ רוחות העולם כו׳ ע״ש, וע׳ מזה ג״כ בפ׳ בשלח ע״פ ויאמר משה אכלוהו היום כו׳

and so it is explained elsewhere, on the verse “And I appeared to Avraham,” etc., in the explanation and meaning of [the teaching] that He is One in the seven heavens and the earth and the four directions of the world, etc.; see there. And see about this also in Parshas Beshalach, on the verse “And Moshe said, ‘Eat it today,’” etc.,

Explanation

He cites his own discussions: on “And I appeared to Avraham,” on the word Echad (“One”) as G‑d’s oneness in the seven heavens and the earth (the ches, eight) and in the four directions (the dalet, four); and on “And Moshe said, Eat it today” in Torah Ohr, Beshalach.

ובפ׳ בראשית בד״ה השמים כסאי עולם נק׳ בחי׳ אש ומים כו׳ דהיינו המדות עליונות כנודע, וכן הוא בפרדס בערכי הכינויים ערך מקום. ולמעלה מבחי׳ מקום רוחני היינו חו״ב כו׳ וכ״ש למעלה יותר כו׳.

and in Parshas Bereishis, in the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne,” [where] “world” is called the level of fire and water, etc., that is, the supernal emotive attributes (middos), as is known. And so it is in the Pardes, in the Erchei HaKinuyim, under the entry “Place.” And above the level of spiritual place is Chochmah and Binah, etc., and all the more so higher still, etc.

Explanation

A third is the first discourse of Torah Ohr, “The heavens are My throne,” where the level called here “world” is fire and water, the supernal emotive attributes; and the Pardes, under “Place” in its glossary of Kabbalistic terms (Erchei HaKinuyim). Above spiritual place are Chochmah and Binah, and higher still, the levels beyond them.

אכן בזח״א ויצא דקמ״ז מבואר דבחי׳ מלכות נק׳ מקום וכ״ה בזהר בשלח דס״ג סע״ב ועיין בזהר ויקהל דר״ז ע״א וע׳ בסש״ב ח״ב פ״ז).

However, in the Zohar, Part I, Vayetze, 147, it is explained that the level of Malchus is called “place”; and so it is in the Zohar, Beshalach, at the end of 63b; and see the Zohar, Vayakhel, 207a; and see Sefer Shel Beinonim, Part II, chapter 7.)

Explanation

Other passages call Malchus (sovereignty), the last of the Sefiros, “place”: the Zohar in Vayetze, Beshalach and Vayakhel. Tanya, Part II, chapter 7, explains that the life-force of space is drawn only from G‑d’s Malchus.

והנה אורייתא ג״כ סתים וגליא פי׳ כענין הקללות האלה שלפי הנראה ומושג בחי׳ גליא אינו מדבר בישראל כמ״ש ונתן ה׳ אלהיך את כל האלות האלה על אויביך וגו׳.

Now, the Torah too is hidden and revealed. That is, like these curses: according to what is seen and grasped, the level of “revealed,” it does not speak of Israel, as it is written, “And Havayah your G‑d will put all these curses upon your enemies,” etc.

Explanation

The argument returns to the Torah, which also has hidden and revealed levels. On its revealed level the curses do not speak of Israel at all; the verse says G‑d “will put all these curses upon your enemies.”

והיינו בחי׳ עשו שהוא בחי׳ אלה לשון רבים טורי דפרודא כמ״ש נפשות עשו, ועיין בזח״א ויחי דרכ״ז ע״ב,

This is the level of Esav, which is the level of eleh (“these”), a plural expression, “the mountains of separation,” as it is written, “the souls of Esav”; and see the Zohar, Part I, Vayechi, 227b.

Explanation

The curses belong to Esav, the level of eleh (“these”), a plural word: the realm opposed to holiness is multiplicity and separation, “the mountains of separation.” Esav’s household is counted in the plural, “souls.” The Zohar in Vayechi hears in “Who are these (eleh)?” the idolatrous cry “These are your gods.”

אבל ואתה תשוב ושמעת בקול ה׳ וגו׳. כי הפנימית בבחי׳ סתום בהמשכות החיות מן הסתום אל הגליא.

But “And you shall return and listen to the voice (bekol) of Havayah,” etc.: for the inner dimension is in the level of “hidden,” in the drawings-down of the life-force from the hidden to the revealed.

Explanation

But the next verse, “And you shall return and listen to the voice of Havayah,” speaks to Israel. The inner dimension of the curses lies in the hidden level, in the flow of life-force from the hidden into the revealed.

וזהו בקול גו׳ והם בחינת ה ברכות שבקללות (ע׳ במ״ש ע״פ כי תשמע בקול וגו׳ בפ׳ ראה, והנה ברכות אלו הוא ע״ד מ״ש בגמ׳ פ״ק דמ״ק ד״ט ע״ב הנך כולהו ברכתא נינהו כו׳,

This is [the meaning of] “to the voice (bekol),” etc., and these are the level of the blessings that are within the curses. (See what is written on the verse “When you listen to the voice,” etc., in Parshas Re’eh. Now, these blessings are along the lines of what is said in the Gemara, in the first chapter of Moed Katan, 9b: “These are all blessings,” etc.;

Explanation

The word bekol (“to the voice,” literally “in the voice”) points to the inner dimension of the voice: the blessings hidden inside the curses. He cites his discourse in Re’eh on “When you listen to the voice,” and the Talmud (Moed Katan 9b), where sages blessed a young scholar with words that sounded like curses and his father told him: “These are all blessings.”

והיינו שהברכה היא מבחי׳ סתום, ומהרש״א שם פי׳ והם עשו כן לחדודי כו׳, ויותר נראה כפשטן לפי שהברכה באופן זה היא מבחי׳ סתום).

that is, the blessing is from the level of “hidden.” The Maharsha there explains that they did so to sharpen [him], etc.; but it seems more [correct to take them] according to their plain meaning, since a blessing in this manner is from the level of “hidden.”)

Explanation

Such a blessing comes from the hidden level, which is why it appears clothed as a curse. The Maharsha explains that the sages spoke this way to sharpen the young man’s mind; the Alter Rebbe prefers to take their words at face value, as true blessings from the hidden level.

והנה ידוע שהתורה נק׳ לחם והיא מחיה את הנשמה כמזון הגשמי שמחיה את הגוף אף שהלחם הוא בחי׳ צומח והאדם הוא בחי׳ חי מדבר

Now, it is known that the Torah is called bread, and it gives life to the soul like physical food, which gives life to the body. Although bread is of the vegetative level and man is of the level of a living, speaking [being],

Explanation

A new question: the Torah is called “bread” and nourishes the soul as food nourishes the body. Yet bread comes from the vegetative realm, while a human being is a living, speaking creature, a higher level.

והוא נגד השכל, לכאורה שיהא החי מדבר ניזון ומקבל חיות מן דבר שהוא למטה ממנו במדרגה,

and it seemingly goes against reason that a living, speaking [being] should be nourished and receive life-force from something that is beneath it in rank,

Explanation

It seems unreasonable that a higher creature should draw its life from a lower one.

אך אמנם הענין הוא שבאמת תבואת הארץ שרש חיותם הוא ממקום גבוה מאד אלא שנפלו בשבירה להצמיח החטה,

in fact, however, the matter is that in truth the root of the life-force of the produce of the earth is from a very high place, except that they fell in the shattering, to make the wheat grow.

Explanation

The answer: the root of the earth’s produce is very high, but it fell in the shattering (the “breaking of the vessels” of Kabbalah), and that fall is what makes the wheat grow. What nourishes the person is the high root hidden within the grain.

וכן בענין התורה שנק׳ לחם ומזון להנשמה הוא ג״כ על דרך הנ״ל שסודות התורה נשתלשלו בדברים גשמיים איסור והיתר טומאה וטהרה כו׳.

So too with the Torah, which is called bread and food for the soul: it too is in the manner mentioned above, that the secrets of the Torah descended in a chain into physical matters: forbidden and permitted, impure and pure, etc.

Explanation

The Torah follows the same pattern: its secrets descended step by step into physical laws, forbidden and permitted, impure and pure. Its power to nourish the soul is the high root within those laws.

ועמ״ש מזה ע״פ וידבר משה אל ראשי המטות. וכ״ז מפני שנפלו בשבירה פי׳ מחמת שבירת לוחות הראשונות שהיו מתחלה חירות ממלאך המות ומחמת שבירתן נתלבשה התורה בדברים גשמיים,

And see what is written about this on the verse “And Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes.” All this is because they fell in the shattering; that is, because of the shattering of the first Tablets, which at first were “freedom from the Angel of Death,” and because of their shattering the Torah was enclothed in physical matters,

Explanation

He refers to his discourse on “And Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes” (Likkutei Torah, Matos). The Torah’s fall came through the breaking of the first Tablets: the Midrash reads charus (“engraved”) on the Tablets as cheirus, “freedom” from the Angel of Death; once they were broken, the Torah became clothed in physical matters.

(וכמ״ש בלק״ת פ׳ תשא שסוד שבירת הלוחות הי׳ כעין שבירת הכלים כו׳ ע״ש, ועמ״ש מענין חרות על הלוחות בביאור ע״פ אם בחקתי).

(and as is written in the Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, Parshas Ki Sisa, that the mystery of the shattering of the Tablets was akin to the shattering of the vessels, etc.; see there. And see what is written on the matter of “engraved (charus) on the Tablets” in the explanation on the verse “If [you walk] in My statutes.”)

Explanation

In a parenthesis he cites the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah on Ki Sisa (the passage beginning “And the Tablets were the work of G‑d,” as the Kehot note identifies it): the breaking of the Tablets was akin to the breaking of the vessels. He also refers to his Biur on “If you walk in My statutes,” earlier in this parsha, on the letters engraved on the Tablets.

וזהו בשברי לכם מטה לחם מטה לחם הוא עץ החיים בחי׳ סתים ובשבירת עץ החיים שהוא שבירת הלוחות נפלה ונשתלשלה בדברים גשמיים כו׳:

This is [the meaning of] “When I break for you the staff of bread”: the staff of bread is the Tree of Life, the level of “hidden”; and through the shattering of the Tree of Life, which is the shattering of the Tablets, [the Torah] fell and descended in a chain into physical matters, etc.

Explanation

Now the verse reads: “the staff of bread” is the Tree of Life, the Torah’s hidden level. “When I break” it, as the Tablets were broken, the Torah falls and descends into physical matters, and this descent is what lets it become bread for the soul.

Paragraph 3 in brief

Paragraph 3 develops hidden and revealed: the spiritual life-force as “place,” the Torah’s curses as its revealed side with blessings hidden inside them, and the Torah as bread whose high root fell, through the breaking of the Tablets, into physical laws: the meaning of “When I break for you the staff of bread.”

Deeper

The long parenthesis gathers views of “spiritual place”: the six supernal extremities (the emotive attributes), Chochmah and Binah above them, or Malchus, the source of the life-force of space (Tanya, Part II, chapter 7). A Kehot note quotes the Tzemach Tzedek’s Derech Emunah: G‑d Himself is not called “place” even in the sense of rank and level, for rank applies only to created beings and the ten Sefiros, while before Him above and below are equal.

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ברוך המקום · הגדה של פסח.
  2. 2
  3. 3
    ברוך ה׳ . . מן העולם ועד העולם · Psalms 106:48
  4. 4
    ענין מקום רוחני · ראה מצות האמנת אלקות בסופו. בדרך אמונה שם עו, א מציין לתו״א סה, ב כי רוחות הם ו״ק צפון ודרום ומעתיק שם הקטע מתו״א.
  5. 5
    ע״פ וארא אל אברהם · תו״א נה, ב וכן מציין לזה בדרך אמונה שם ושם מעתיק לשון התו״א וז״ל ”וכמ״ש עוד בתו״א פ׳ וארא בד״ה וארא אל אברהם בפי׳ הוי׳ אחד שהוא אחד בשבעה רקיעים והארץ ובד׳ רוחות העולם שהם בחי׳ ו״ק כו׳ והם ו״ק גשמיים ו״ק רוחניים דהיינו בחי׳ מעלה ומטה שיש בכל העולמות” ע״ש שמעתיק עוד. ובסוף מסיים ”ור״ל אף לא מעלה ומדרגה ולא כמ״ש המ״נ [פ״ח] שנק׳ הוא ית׳ מקום ע״ש המעלה ומדרגה כי בחי׳ מעלה ומדרגה שייך רק בהנמצאים וע״ס, אבל אצלו ית׳ שוה המעלה עם המטה” ע״ש בארוכה. וראה גם ד״ה וארא בסה״מ תקס״ב.
  6. 6
    וארא אל אברהם · Exodus 6:3
  7. 7
    ויאמר משה אכלוהו היום · תו״א סה, ב.
  8. 8
    ויאמר משה אכלוהו היום · Exodus 16:25
  9. 9
    בד״ה השמים כסאי · תו״א א, א.
  10. 10
    השמים כסאי · Isaiah 66:1
  11. 11
    דבחי׳ מלכות נק׳ מקום · Zohar, Beshalach 28:408–418
  12. 12
    דבחי׳ מלכות נק׳ מקום · Zohar, Vayakhel 18:238–246
  13. 13
    בזהר בשלח דס״ג ע״ב · ”משמע דבחי׳ מל׳ נק׳ מקום”, — אוה״ת ויקרא-ב ע׳ תרנז.
  14. 14
    בזהר ויקהל דר״ז ע״א · מובא באוה״ת ויקרא-ב ע׳ תרנז.
  15. 15
    וע׳ בסש״ב ח״ב פ״ז · שחיות המקום נמשך רק מבחי׳ מלכות מלכותך מכ״ע כו׳, וראה בדרך אמונה שם בארוכה.
  16. 16
    בחי׳ עשו שהוא בחי׳ אלה · Zohar, Vayechi 35:365–36:376
  17. 17
    טורי דפרודא · Zohar I, 158a
  18. 18
    נפשות עשו · Genesis 36:6
  19. 19
    ואתה תשוב ושמעת · Deuteronomy 30:8
  20. 20
    ע״פ כי תשמע בקול · לקו״ת ראה כג, ב.
  21. 21
    כי תשמע בקול · Deuteronomy 13:19
  22. 22
    הנך כולהו ברכתא נינהו · Moed Katan 9b:5
  23. 23
    והנה ברכות אלו . . מבחי׳ סתום · הובא ונתבאר בלקו״ש ח״א ע׳ 238 עיי״ש.
  24. 24
    ע״פ וידבר משה אל ראשי המטות · לקו״ת מטות פא, ב ואילך.
  25. 25
    וידבר משה אל ראשי המטות · Numbers 30:2
  26. 26
    חירות ממלאך המות · שמו״ר מא, ט.
  27. 27
    חירות ממלאך המות · Shemot Rabbah 41:7
  28. 28
    בלק״ת פ׳ תשא · בד״ה והלוחות מעשה אלקים.
  29. 29
    בביאור ע״פ אם בחקתי · לעיל מה, ד ואילך.
  30. 30
    בשברי לכם מטה לחם · Leviticus 26:26
  31. 31
    ונתן ה״א את כל האלות האלה על אויביך · Deuteronomy 30:7
  32. 32

Baked bread ¶4–5

4ב ואפו עשר נשים. פי׳ ואפו כי הנה התורה נק׳ לחם חטה שהוא כ״ב אותיות התורה כמנין חט״ה.

2. “And ten women shall bake.” The meaning of “shall bake”: for the Torah is called wheat bread, which is the twenty-two letters of the Torah, the numerical value of chitah (“wheat”).

Explanation

The second section begins with the next words of the verse, “And ten women shall bake.” The Torah is called “wheat bread” because chitah (wheat, חטה) has the numerical value 22 (8 + 9 + 5), the number of the letters of the Torah.

והענין כי האוכל עיסה שלא נאפית עדיין אינה מתעכלת במעיו כלל ואינה נבלע באבריו להיות ממנה דם הנפש

The matter is that when one eats dough that has not yet been baked, it is not digested in his innards at all and is not absorbed into his limbs so that the blood of the soul be made from it;

Explanation

The analogy: raw dough cannot be digested. It is not absorbed into the body’s limbs and does not become “the blood of the soul,” the blood that carries a person’s life.

אבל האוכל אחר אפייתו הוא מתעכל במעיו ונבלע באבריו להיות ממנו דם הנפש והיו לאחדים ממש.

but when one eats [it] after it has been baked, it is digested in his innards and absorbed into his limbs so that the blood of the soul is made from it, and they become truly one.

Explanation

Baked bread is digested, absorbed into the limbs and becomes the person’s own life-blood, wholly one with him. Baking is what makes food part of the one who eats it.

Paragraph 4 in brief

Section 2 opens with “ten women shall bake”: the Torah is “wheat bread,” its twenty-two letters, and as only baked bread is digested and becomes one with the body, the Torah must be “baked” to become one with the person.

Deeper

The Kehot notes trace the Torah as bread to the Talmud (Chagigah 14a) and the Midrash, both on “Come, eat of My bread,” and the twenty-two letters as chitah to the Tikkunei Zohar (114b), where the wise “discard the straw and eat the wheat of the Torah from within,” and to the Zohar (3:188b), where wheat “includes the twenty-two letters.”

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ואפו עשר נשים · Leviticus 26:26
  2. 2
    התורה נק׳ לחם · Chagigah 14a
  3. 3
    התורה נק׳ לחם · Bereshit Rabbah 43:6
  4. 4
    לחם חטה · Tikkunei Zohar 114b
  5. 5
    כ״ב אותיות התורה כמנין חטה · Zohar III, 188b

5וכן הענין במזון הנפש שהיא התורה שכשאינה אפויה אצל האדם כמו שית׳ לקמן, אף אם הוא אדם שלומד תורה הרבה אינה מתאחדת עמו

So too is the matter with the food of the soul, which is the Torah: when it is not baked by a person, as will be explained below, even if he is a person who studies much Torah, it does not become one with him;

Explanation

The same holds for the soul’s food, the Torah: unless it is “baked,” even a person who learns a great deal of Torah does not become one with it. What the “baking” is will be explained in the next paragraphs.

אלא היא ענין בפ״ע והוא בפני עצמו ואינו מקבל חיות כלל ממנה כענין הלחם הגשמי שלא נאפה עדיין כלל, אבל כשהתורה אפויה אצל האדם היא נבלעת בכל רמ״ח אבריו והיו לאחדים ממש כנ״ל.

rather, it is a thing by itself and he is by himself, and he receives no life-force from it at all, like physical bread that has not yet been baked at all. But when the Torah is baked by a person, it is absorbed into all his 248 limbs, and they become truly one, as mentioned above.

Explanation

Unbaked, the Torah stays a separate thing beside him, and he draws no life from it, like raw dough. Baked, it is absorbed into all his 248 limbs (the traditional count of the body’s limbs) and becomes truly one with him.

Paragraph 5 in brief

Paragraph 5 applies the analogy: Torah learned without “baking” stays outside the person and gives him no life, while “baked” Torah becomes one with all his limbs.

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    כמו שית׳ לקמן · ועד״ה כי תבואו בפ׳ בהר [מ, ג] סופ״ג, יעו״ש. [כ].

The fire, the oven and the ten women ¶6–7

6וזהו שאמרו חז״ל על פסוק ערוכה בכל ושמורה אם ערוכה בכל רמ״ח אבריו היא שמורה וכו׳. וכמשנ״ת ע״פ ושבתה הארץ.

This is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse “Arranged in all and preserved”: if it is arranged in all his 248 limbs, it is preserved, etc. And as was explained on the verse “The land shall rest.”

Explanation

The Sages read “arranged in all and preserved” as: if the Torah is “arranged” in all 248 limbs, it is preserved, that is, not forgotten. This is Torah that has become one with the whole person. He also refers to his discussion on the verse “The land shall rest.”

ולהבין ענין האפיה הוא ענין אמרם ז״ל כי התורה נתנה אש שחורה על גבי אש לבנה,

To understand the matter of the baking: it is the matter of their saying, of blessed memory, that the Torah was given [as] black fire upon white fire.

Explanation

To explain the “baking,” he cites the Sages’ teaching that the Torah was given as black fire upon white fire. Fire is what bakes.

(וע׳ בהרמ״ז פ׳ עקב דף ער״ב סע״ב. פי׳ אש שחורה חכמה סתימאה ע״ג אש לבנה הוא אבא. וא״כ פי׳ וענין אש שחורה הוא ע״ד ישת חשך סתרו ועמ״ש מזה ג״כ בד״ה שחורה אני ונאוה ע״ש).

(And see the Ramaz, Parshas Eikev, folio 272, end of side b. The meaning: black fire, the hidden Chochmah, upon white fire, which is Abba. If so, the meaning and matter of black fire is along the lines of “He made darkness His hiding place”; and see what is written about this also in the discourse beginning “I am black and comely”; see there.)

Explanation

In a parenthesis: the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto), on Parshas Eikev (folio 272b), is cited as identifying the black fire with the hidden Chochmah and the white fire beneath it with Abba. Black fire is thus like “He made darkness His hiding place”: blackness is concealment. He also refers to his discourse “I am black and comely.”

והנה ענין אש שחורה הוא אש מסותרת ונעלמת בלב כל א׳ ואחד מישראל באהבה ותשוקה לדבקה בו ית׳, שאף שהוא טרוד בעסקיו הגשמיים

Now, the matter of black fire is a fire hidden and concealed in the heart of each and every one of Israel, in love and yearning to cleave to Him, may He be blessed. For even though he is busy with his physical affairs,

Explanation

He applies this to the soul: the “black fire” is a hidden, concealed love in the heart of every Jew, a yearning to cleave to G‑d, present even while he is busy with his physical affairs.

כי לבו בוער תמיד לאהבת ה׳ כמ״ש צעק לבם אל אדני כי הלב צועק בהעלם והסתר לדבקה בו ית׳ ונק׳ חולת אהבה וכמ״ש סמכוני באשישות וגו׳ כי חולת אהבה אני

indeed his heart burns constantly with love of G‑d, as it is written, “Their heart cried out to Ado-nai”: for the heart cries out in concealment and hiddenness to cleave to Him, may He be blessed. And this is called “lovesick,” as it is written, “Sustain me with flagons,” etc., “for I am lovesick.”

Explanation

His heart burns with this love constantly, as in “Their heart cried out to Ado-nai”: the heart, not the mouth, cries out, in hiddenness. This is the lovesickness of the Song of Songs: “Sustain me with flagons… for I am lovesick.”

(וזהו ענין אני ישנה ואעפ״כ ולבי ער. ועמ״ש ע״פ ציון במשפט תפדה), ובאהבה זו המסותרת ובוערת אשר רשפיה רשפי אש שלהבת י״ה שמתלהב ובוער תמיד לדבקה בו ית׳ בזה יוכל האדם לאפות לחם חטה

(This is the matter of “I am asleep,” and nevertheless “my heart is awake.” And see what is written on the verse “Zion shall be redeemed through justice.”) And with this love, which is hidden and burning, whose “flashes are flashes of fire, the flame of Yah,” which flares and burns constantly to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, with this a person can bake wheat bread,

Explanation

It is also “I am asleep, but my heart is awake”: asleep outwardly, awake within. He refers as well to his discourse on “Zion shall be redeemed through justice.” This hidden love is “the flame of Yah” of the Song of Songs, always burning, and with it a person can bake the wheat bread of the Torah.

שהיא התורה וכשיאפה האדם את התורה בשלהבת האהבה אליו ית׳, בזה יובלעו דברי תורה במעיו והיו לאחדים עמו.

which is the Torah. And when a person bakes the Torah in the flame of love for Him, may He be blessed, by this the words of Torah will be absorbed in his innards, and they will become one with him.

Explanation

Torah learned in the flame of this love is “baked”: its words are absorbed into the person and become one with him. The Kehot note compares “Your Torah is within my innards” (Psalms 40:9).

Paragraph 6 in brief

Paragraph 6 explains the “baking”: the Torah’s black fire upon white fire corresponds to the hidden love that burns in every Jewish heart, and Torah learned with that flame is absorbed into the learner and becomes one with him.

Deeper

The parenthesis links the black fire to the hidden Chochmah and to “He made darkness His hiding place,” so the black fire belongs to the “hidden” of the maamar’s opening. The love that bakes the Torah is hidden in the same way: it cries out in the heart without being seen.

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ערוכה בכל ושמורה · II Samuel 23:5
  2. 2
    אם ערוכה . . היא שמורה · Eruvin 54a:1
  3. 3
    ושבתה הארץ · Leviticus 25:2
  4. 4
    נתנה אש שחורה ע״ג אש לבנה · ירושלמי שקלים פ״ו, ה״א. ראה לקו״ת שה״ש ד, ב. רש״י בוזאת הברכה פסוק ב ד״ה אש דת. ושם בשה״ש סוס״ה פסוק טז. והדוגמא כלפי הקב״ה שחורת כעורב, יעו״ש. מירוש׳ שקלים (פ״ו סוה״א). ושם (פ״ח [סוה״ג]) דסוטה. ובילקוט ברכה [עה״פ] ושה״ש [ה, יג רמז תתקט]. ובשהש״ר [ס](פ״ה). ושם דב״ר (פ״ג סי׳ י״ג [י״ב]). ובריש מדרש כונן. [כ].
  5. 5
    התורה נתנה אש שחורה על גבי אש לבנה · Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:1
  6. 6
    התורה נתנה אש שחורה על גבי אש לבנה · Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:7–8
  7. 7
    ישת חשך סתרו · Psalms 18:12
  8. 8
    בד״ה שחורה אני ונאוה · לקו״ת שה״ש ד, ב ואילך.
  9. 9
    שחורה אני ונאוה · Song of Songs 1:5
  10. 10
    צעק לבם אל אד׳ · Lamentations 2:18
  11. 11
    סמכוני באשישות · Song of Songs 2:5
  12. 12
    אני ישנה · Song of Songs 5:2
  13. 13
    ציון במשפט תפדה · Isaiah 1:27
  14. 14
    רשפי׳ רשפי אש · Song of Songs 8:6
  15. 15
    יובלעו ד״ת במעיו · Psalms 40:9

7וזהו ואפו לחמכם פי׳ התורה בתנור אחד פי׳ בחמימות האהבה הבאה מהתבוננות של אחד יחודו של עולם.

This is [the meaning of] “they shall bake your bread,” that is, the Torah, “in one oven,” that is, in the warmth of the love that comes from the contemplation of “One,” the Unity of the world.

Explanation

“They shall bake your bread,” the Torah, “in one oven”: the oven is the warmth of love that comes from contemplating G‑d’s oneness, “One,” the Unity of the world. Contemplation kindles the love that bakes the Torah.

וענין עשר נשים הוא שבנפש כל אחד ואחד מישראל יש עשר בחינות שלש אמות ושבע כפולות ובעשרה דברים אלו יהיה האפיה הנ״ל ויהיו בחי׳ אלו בחי׳ נוקבא שידע שבאמת אין הטוב שלו.

And the matter of “ten women” is that in the soul of each and every one of Israel there are ten levels, three mothers and seven doubles, and with these ten things the baking mentioned above will come about. And these levels shall be the level of Nukva (the feminine): that he should know that in truth the good is not his own.

Explanation

The “ten women” are ten levels in every Jewish soul, named with Sefer Yetzirah’s terms for the letters: three “mothers” and seven “doubles.” As Tanya, chapter 3, explains these terms, they are the soul’s three intellectual faculties and seven emotive attributes. All ten take part in the baking, and they are “women,” the receiving feminine (Nukva): a person must know that the good is not his own.

דהיינו התשוקה לדבקה בו ית׳ אינו מעצמו ועבודתו רק בעל האמת נותן לו האמת.

That is, the yearning to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, is not of himself and of his service; only the Master of truth gives him the truth.

Explanation

Even his yearning to cleave to G‑d, and his service, do not come from himself: only “the Master of truth gives him the truth.” Like a receiver, he has nothing of his own.

Paragraph 7 in brief

Paragraph 7 reads “they shall bake your bread in one oven” as Torah baked in the warmth of love born of contemplating G‑d’s oneness, and the “ten women” as the soul’s ten faculties, which must be receivers, knowing that their good is not their own.

Deeper

Sefer Yetzirah divides the twenty-two letters into three “mothers,” seven “doubles” and twelve “simple” letters; the maamar uses the first two groups, ten in all, for the soul’s ten levels. Tanya, chapter 3, uses the same terms: the ten faculties of each level of the soul divide into “three mothers and seven doubles,” that is, Chochmah, Binah and Daas and the seven days of building.

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ואפו לחמכם · Leviticus 26:26
  2. 2
    פי׳ בחמימות האהבה · ראה לעיל פ׳ בהר מ, ג. אוה״ת פ׳ שלח ע׳ תקמב.
  3. 3
    שלש אמות ושבע כפולות · הל׳ בסי׳ יצירה כ״ה [פ״ה מ״ג]. [כ]. ראה תניא פרק ג.
  4. 4
    שלש אמות ושבע כפולות · Sefer Yetzirah 5:3

Not one’s own; by weight; ever new ¶8

8וזהו היה בעיניך כרשע אפילו אם אחד לומד תמיד תורה ומתפלל תמיד מ״מ היה בעיניך כרשע.

This is [the meaning of] “Be in your own eyes like a wicked person”: even if one constantly studies Torah and constantly prays, nevertheless “be in your own eyes like a wicked person.”

Explanation

This is why the Sages say, “Be in your own eyes like a wicked person”: even one who constantly learns and prays must see himself this way.

אבל הרע בעצמו שעושה שלו הוא כי הוא מעצמו, וזהו שלהבת י״ה כי השלהבת לאהבת

But the evil itself is that he makes it his own: that it is from himself. This is [the meaning of] “the flame of Yah”: for the flame of love for

Explanation

The evil is not in the learning or the prayer but in taking them as one’s own, as though they came from oneself. “The flame of Yah” teaches the opposite: the flame of love for G‑d comes from Yah, from G‑d, not from the person.

ה׳ הוא מן י״ה וכשיהי׳ בעצמו בחי׳ מקבל לבד ולא בחי׳ יש בפ״ע יוכל לבוא לידי אפייה הנ״ל, ועיין מ״ש סד״ה שימני כחותם.

G‑d is from Yah. And when he himself is in the level of a receiver only, and not the level of an existence (yesh) in its own right, he will be able to come to the baking mentioned above. And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “Set me as a seal.”

Explanation

When a person is only a receiver, and not a yesh, a self in his own right, he can “bake” his Torah. He refers to the end of his discourse on “Set me as a seal,” the opening of the same verse that speaks of “the flame of Yah.”

והשיבו לחמכם במשקל פי׳ שישיב התורה ע״י אפייה הנ״ל ממטה למעלה בבחי׳ משקל כמ״ש ושקל בפלס הרים שהוא בבחי׳ שלמעלה מבחי׳ הרים שבו שוקל הרים ונקרא מתקלא בזהר

“And they shall return your bread by weight”: that is, that he will return the Torah, through the baking mentioned above, from below to above, in the level of weight, as it is written, “and weighed the mountains in a scale”: that is, in the level that is above the level of mountains, by which He weighs the mountains; and it is called Matkela (“the Scale”) in the Zohar

Explanation

“And they shall return your bread by weight”: through the baking, the person raises the Torah from below to above, to the level of “weight,” as in “He weighed the mountains in a scale.” The scale stands above the mountains it weighs; the Zohar calls this level the Matkela, “the Scale.”

(בפ׳ תרומה קע״ו ב׳ האזינו דר״צ ע״א. ועמ״ש בד״ה לבך יהגה אימה. איה סופר איה שוקל ומ״ש בד״ה אתם נצבים בענין ושקל בפלס ועמ״ש בענין תנופת שתי הלחם ע״פ והניף הכהן אותם), ואכלתם ולא תשבעו ע״ד אוהב כסף כו׳.

(in Parshas Terumah, 176b; Haazinu, 290a. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Your heart will meditate on terror”: “Where is the scribe? Where is the weigher?”; and what is written in the discourse beginning “You are standing,” on the matter of “and weighed in a scale”; and see what is written on the matter of the waving of the two loaves, on the verse “And the kohen shall wave them”). “And you shall eat and not be satisfied”: in the manner of “One who loves money,” etc.

Explanation

The Zohar passages are in Terumah, where the Sifra DiTzniusa begins, and in Haazinu (the Idra Zuta); he also refers to his discourses “Your heart will meditate on terror,” “You are standing,” and on the waving of the two Shavuos loaves. Then “you shall eat and not be satisfied,” like “one who loves money will not be satisfied with money”: the more one has, the more one wants.

כן באהבתה תשגה תמיד לחזור פעמים רבות אין מספר. ובכל פעם יהיו בעיניו כחדשים ממש ולא ישבע נפשו בהם לעולם.

So too, “with her love you shall be enraptured always”: to go over [the Torah] again many times without number. And each time [its words] shall be in his eyes truly as new, and his soul shall never be satisfied with them.

Explanation

So it is with the Torah: “with her love you shall be enraptured always.” One should go over it countless times, and each time its words should be truly new to him, his soul never sated.

וכמ״ש אל תבוז כי זקנה אמך. וגם שלא יהיה בבחי׳ זקנה. וכמאמר רז״ל ומי איכא זקנה קמיה כו׳.

And as it is written, “Do not scorn your mother when she is old.” And also, that it should not be in the level of old age; as in the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “And is there old age before Him?” etc.

Explanation

As “Do not scorn your mother when she is old”: the Torah must never grow “old” in his eyes. The Sages say that there is no old age before G‑d.

שהוא ית׳ למעלה מהזמן ואין הזמן מושל בו להזקינו. אבל בלאו הכי אינו מקבל חיות מן התורה כי וכבודי לאחר לא אתן כו׳:

For He, may He be blessed, is above time, and time does not rule over Him to make Him old. But without this, he does not receive life-force from the Torah, for “and My glory I will not give to another,” etc.

Explanation

G‑d is above time, and time does not make Him old; so the Torah, His wisdom, should never age for the learner. Without all this a person receives no life from the Torah, for “My glory I will not give to another”: one who remains “another,” a self of his own, does not receive it.

Paragraph 8 in brief

Paragraph 8 completes the verse: a person must regard his love and learning as not his own, so that “the flame of Yah” can bake his Torah; then he “returns the bread by weight,” raising the Torah to the supernal Scale, and “eats and is not satisfied,” finding the Torah ever new.

Deeper

“Set me as a seal” and “its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Yah” are the same verse (Song of Songs 8:6), so the discourse cited in this paragraph continues the theme of the flame. The Zohar’s Matkela is the supernal “scale” on which, in the Idra Zuta, Chochmah and Binah “are weighed together”; returning the bread “by weight” lifts the Torah back toward that root.

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    הי׳ בעיניך כרשע · Niddah 30b:25
  2. 2
    שלהבת י״ה · Song of Songs 8:6
  3. 3
    והשיבו לחמכם במשקל · Leviticus 26:26
  4. 4
    והשיבו לחמכם במשקל פי׳ · ראה אוה״ת ויקרא-א ע׳ שו.
  5. 5
    ושקל בפלס הרים · Isaiah 40:12
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
    לבך יהגה אימה. איה סופר איה שוקל · Isaiah 33:18
  9. 9
    בד״ה אתם נצבים · לקו״ת נצבים מה, א.
  10. 10
    אתם נצבים · Deuteronomy 29:9
  11. 11
    ע״פ והניף הכהן אותם · לעיל פ׳ אמור לז, ב.
  12. 12
    והניף הכהן אותם · Leviticus 23:20
  13. 13
    אוהב כסף · Ecclesiastes 5:9
  14. 14
    באהבתה תשגה תמיד · Proverbs 5:19
  15. 15
    אל תבוז כי זקנה אמך · שם כג, כב.
  16. 16
    אל תבוז כי זקנה אמך · Proverbs 23:22
  17. 17
    ומי איכא זקנה קמי׳ · Yevamot 16b:6
  18. 18
    וכבודי לאחר לא אתן · Isaiah 42:8
  19. 19

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In one’s avodah

Learning a great deal of Torah is not enough: it must be “baked.” A person should learn in the warmth of the hidden love for G‑d that every Jew has, kindled by contemplating G‑d’s oneness, with all ten faculties of his soul, knowing that even his love and his service are not his own but are given him by the Master of truth. Then the Torah becomes one with him; and he should return to it again and again, finding it new each time and never sated.

Questions for discussion

  1. How can a verse that describes famine be, in its hidden dimension, a blessing? What does the story in Moed Katan add to this?
  2. Why can bread, from the vegetative realm, nourish a human being, and how does the Alter Rebbe apply this to the Torah’s physical laws?
  3. What is the difference between Torah that is “baked” and Torah that is not, even for someone who learns a great deal?
  4. Why must the soul’s ten faculties be “women,” receivers? How does “Be in your own eyes like a wicked person” fit with constant learning and prayer?
  5. What does it mean for the Torah never to grow “old” in one’s eyes, and how does this connect to G‑d being above time?

Key terms in this maamar

The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
Life-forceחיות
The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×6
The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×1
Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
The first flash of insight. ×1
Binah (understanding)בינה
Developing and grasping an insight in detail.
Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×1
Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
Malchus as the receiving configuration. ×1
Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×1

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Contents

Likkutei Torahלקוטי תורה

Parshas Bechukosaiבחוקתי

  1. 1אם בחקותי תלכו“If you will walk in My statutes”
  2. 2ביאור אם בחקותיAn Explanation of “If You Walk in My Statutes”
  3. 3בשברי לכם מטה לחם ואפו עשר…“When I Break for You the Staff of Bread”
    1. Hidden and revealed ¶1–2
    2. The curses and the staff of bread ¶3
    3. Baked bread ¶4–5
    4. The fire, the oven and the ten women ¶6–7
    5. Not one’s own; by weight; ever new ¶8
    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. 3
    4. 4
    5. 5
    6. 6
    7. 7
    8. 8
  4. 4אלה החוקים והמשפטים והתורות אשר נתן…These are the statutes, the ordinances and the teachings
  5. 5אסור לאדם שיטעום עד שיתן מאכל…A Person Is Forbidden to Taste Until He Feeds His Animal
  6. 6וילך ראובן בימי קציר חטים וימצא…“And Reuven went in the days of the wheat harvest, and found dudaim”