ברבות פ׳ עקב ד״א ושמר לך כו׳ אברהם…

The maamar opens with a Midrash (Devarim Rabbah 3:7) on the verse in Parshas Eikev, “And Havayah your G‑d shall keep for you the covenant and the kindness.” In the Midrash’s parable a noblewoman brings two tenant farmers into her marriage; the Alter Rebbe quotes its application: Avraham handed down to his children two such “tenant farmers,” charity and justice, for G‑d says He chose him so that his children would “keep the way of Havayah, to do charity and justice.”

In the parable the king answers the bride’s two tenant farmers with two of his own; so G‑d set up, corresponding to Israel’s charity and justice, His own kindness and mercy. In the words the Alter Rebbe passes over with “etc.,” the Midrash adds that Israel lost theirs and G‑d withdrew His, until Israel set themselves right again.

Israel’s return is proved from Isaiah 1:27, “Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her returnees through charity,” and G‑d’s response from Isaiah 54:10, where His “kindness” and His “mercy” are named together. The rest of the maamar explains these two pairs: justice and charity on Israel’s side, mercy and kindness on G‑d’s.

To explain the Midrash, the Alter Rebbe first recalls a question on Psalms 147:12. Zion is the inner part of Jerusalem, so one would expect the inner place to be paired with the higher Name, Havayah; yet the verse pairs Jerusalem with Havayah and Zion with Elokim, the Name associated with contraction and concealment.

The answer begins from Psalms 149:2, where Israel “rejoices” but the children of Zion “exult.” A discourse elsewhere, on Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in Havayah, and my soul shall exult in my Elokim,” shows the same pairing: rejoicing (simchah) goes with Havayah, and exultation (gilah) with Elokim and with Zion.

Exultation is the joy of Psalms 2:11, “exult with trembling”: joy that is joined with awe. The Alter Rebbe states that it is a higher level than ordinary joy, and refers to the discourse “Know this day” for the next point.

That discourse explains that love and awe merge into one another only through a revelation from the level the opening blessing of the Amidah calls “the awesome, G‑d Most High.” Exultation also belongs to the inner, hidden part of the heart, the “hidden world,” like the second Tablets, which were given quietly, unlike the public revelation that accompanied the first.

For the revelation of “the awesome, G‑d Most High” to enter a person inwardly and bring about “exult with trembling,” restraint and contraction (gevuros and tzimtzumim) are needed. The Alter Rebbe refers to his discussion of the threads of the tzitzis at the end of the discourse “Korach took,” earlier in Likkutei Torah.

This is why exultation is linked with “my Elokim”: Elokim is the Name of contraction and restraint. Yet this Elokim is not a lower level but Havayah itself becoming Elokim, as in Genesis 28:21, “and Havayah shall be Elokim to me,” which the discourse “Return, O Israel” explains in connection with Yom Kippur.

This is why Zion is told, “praise your Elokim.” A person draws this level down through “justice” (mishpat): setting aside his own will and restraining himself, in keeping with the Talmud’s “Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you,” as explained in the discourse on “But Havayah your G‑d was not willing to listen to Bilam.”

The “justice” meant here is the judgment a person passes on himself, refusing to be drawn after excesses beyond what he needs. The Sages say that the righteous are “judged” by their good inclination: it is the good inclination that rules them.

Torah study is a second way to draw this level down, since the Torah is itself called “justice” (mishpat). So “Zion shall be redeemed through justice” means that the exultation of “the children of Zion,” the “exult with trembling,” comes through self-judgment and through Torah study.

Torah study is needed because, as the Mishnah in Avos says, “If there is no wisdom, there is no awe,” and exultation is joy joined with awe. Further, Devarim 1:17 says “justice is Elokim’s,” so justice is what brings about “praise your Elokim, O Zion.”

The discourse “Havayah is for me among my helpers” explains that for G‑dliness to be absorbed in the G‑dly soul, “the peoples of the earth” must be broken; that discourse reads them as the body and the animal soul. Their cravings hide G‑dliness and keep the G‑dly soul from absorbing it.

The G‑dly soul is the level of Zion. The Alter Rebbe also refers to the discourse on the seven days of installation (miluim) in Parshas Tzav, which explains Ezekiel’s words “I shall be filled, [now that] she is laid waste.” The context suggests the application: the G‑dly soul is filled when the cravings of the body and the animal soul are broken.

Zion is redeemed specifically through mishpat because the word also means proper order, as in Yosef’s words to the butler, “after the former manner (mishpat)” (Genesis 40:13), which Onkelos renders “according to the former practice.” Justice in this sense means everything standing in its proper place.

The proper place is the order of the worlds before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, when everything stood where it belonged. Yirmeyahu’s promise that “the palace shall abide in its rightful place (mishpato)” uses mishpat in the same sense.

The second half of the verse, “her returnees through charity,” refers to all the mitzvos together, which are called tzedakah, “charity,” as in Devarim 6:25, “And it shall be charity for us if we keep to do all this commandment.”

Justice also leads to charity in the plain sense: one who judges himself and limits his own excesses has what to give to others. The discourse “I will sing to Havayah” in Torah Ohr (Beshalach) explains this.

This explains why David is praised for “executing justice and charity” (II Samuel 8:15): through these two is drawn down the joy that the verses link with Havayah, “I will greatly rejoice in Havayah” and “Let Israel rejoice in its Maker.” The reader is referred again to the discourse “I will greatly rejoice.”

Now the Alter Rebbe turns to G‑d’s two “tenant farmers.” The mercy of “says Havayah, who has mercy on you” is the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy on Yom Kippur, as he explains below, at the end of the discourse on “For the mountains shall depart.”

These attributes are drawn down by the “justice” a person executes on himself, which is why the Torah commands for Yom Kippur, “and you shall afflict your souls.” The Alter Rebbe refers to the discourse on Zechariah’s vision, “I have seen, and behold, a menorah of gold,” earlier in Likkutei Torah.

That discourse explains the crushing and pounding a person does to himself, like olives crushed to release their oil. Through it he draws down the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which Psalms 133:2 describes as “the good oil … running down upon the beard,” the beard being a Kabbalistic image of these attributes.

Torah study, too, draws down the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, since the Torah is called “justice.” Two discourses in Parshas Re’eh explain this; the second reads “who grazes among the roses (shoshanim)” as a play on “those who study (shonim) halachos.”

Now a question: the Midrash names kindness alongside mercy, which implies that kindness is a still higher level. But the Thirteen Attributes are already “great mercy,” so the Alter Rebbe asks what kindness could add beyond them.

The answer lies in Isaiah 1:18, earlier in the same chapter as “Zion shall be redeemed through justice.” It speaks of two degrees of cleansing: sins that “become white as snow” and sins that “shall be as wool.”

“White as snow” refers to the crimson strip of Yom Kippur, which turned white as a sign that Israel’s sins were forgiven. The Mishnah at the end of chapter 6 of Yoma and the Mishnah in chapter 9 of Shabbos both connect it with this verse.

The whitening comes from the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which Daniel’s vision describes as the garment of the “Ancient of Days” (Atik Yomin), “white as snow.” The discourse “For on this day He shall atone” discusses this further.

“They shall be as wool” is higher, matching the next words in Daniel, “and the hair of His head was like pure wool.” In the analogy, hair grows from the person himself, while a garment is outside him; so this level comes from G‑d’s essence, above the “garment” of mercy.

This higher level is Chesed, kindness, above even the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. Etz Chaim, in its gate on Arich Anpin, teaches that the “hair of the head” is drawn from the supernal Chesed clothed in Keser, which the Alter Rebbe describes as the inner dimension of Chesed within the Infinite One itself.

That Chesed has no admixture of judgment (din) at all. The mercy of “white as snow” still contains some judgment, since Yom Kippur, the day it is revealed, is called the day of judgment and justice.

A further sign that mercy involves judgment: the Talmud says one may not have mercy on a person who lacks understanding, so mercy weighs who deserves it. Mercy also applies only to someone in distress or to the poor.

Chesed, by contrast, is given to rich and poor alike, without weighing need or merit; this is “they shall be as wool.” It is revealed mainly on Sukkos, which comes after the Ten Days of Teshuvah.

Yet Psalms 147:16 praises G‑d who “gives snow like wool”: even in the “snow” level, the “garment” of Yom Kippur, something of the higher “wool” level is drawn down.

The Alter Rebbe adds two references: the discourse on “It is a Shabbos of complete rest for you,” said of Yom Kippur, and the end of the discourse on “Give ear, O heavens,” which speaks of Sukkos.

That discourse calls Sukkos the level of “I will be like dew to Israel”: dew is the image of a gift from above that does not depend on an arousal from below. The Alter Rebbe suggests that this unprompted gift is the same Chesed, for Micah 7:18 says that G‑d “desires kindness.”

The two levels, mercy and kindness, are drawn down by justice and by charity. The Ten Days of Teshuvah are the time of “the King of Justice,” the words said in the Amidah during those days, and Sukkos is linked with charity, as Pri Etz Chaim reports in the name of Rabbi Chaim Vital.

He points to the discourse on “And all your children,” which speaks of “through charity you shall be established” (Isaiah 54:13–14). He adds that “Zion shall be redeemed through justice” can be explained further through the Talmud’s teaching that in the time to come Israel will say to Yitzchak, “For you are our father,” as discussed at the end of the discourse “The Torah [that Moshe] commanded.”

Further explanations are pointed to: what is said elsewhere on “He gives snow,” that snow has an intense whiteness, and on the linen garments the Kohen Gadol wore on Yom Kippur. “Her returnees through charity” is as already explained above.