Parshas Emor

The maamarim 6

1. 1 ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל וכו׳ “And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel” G‑d is “holy,” separate: He gives life to the worlds without being enclothed in them, and only a faint radiance of His kingship, drawn from Him as thinly as a hair, enters and divides among them. The angels’ three “Holy”s are three stages of a Jew’s service: in prayer the heart’s burning love rises toward that holiness, while Torah study and the practical mitzvos draw it down; all of them rest on first turning from evil. Maamar 1.52 paragraphs~2 h 15 min191 sourcesEnglish
2. 2 לבאר הדברים ע״פ ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל בענין… To Explain “And I Shall Be Sanctified in the Midst of the Children of Israel” The angels’ threefold “Kadosh” corresponds to three crowns that Israel draw down: self-sacrifice in the Shema brings new light from the Infinite One through the union of Abba and Imma, Torah study draws the crown of will to Z’eir Anpin, and the practical mitzvos draw it furthest down, to Malchus and the lower worlds, because what descends lowest is rooted highest. Maamar 2.42 paragraphs~1 h 40 min181 sourcesEnglish
3. 3 וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת מיום הביאכם את עומר… “And You Shall Count for Yourselves from the Morrow of the Shabbos” The Counting of the Omer draws down light. Pesach’s Exodus is the soul’s rush upward (ratzo), which frees only the G‑dly soul; the waving and counting of the Omer refine the animal soul too and nullify a person’s own will, so that at Shavuos G‑d’s will can come down (shov) into the letters of the Torah. Maamar 3.23 paragraphs~40 min100 sourcesEnglish
4. 4 והניף את העומר “And he shall wave the Omer” The barley Omer, “animal fodder,” stands for the refining of the animal soul, which is rooted in Malchus as behemah (beast). Its waving and the counting that follows raise this “beast” and draw down the encompassing light of Binah, so that on Shavuos Malchus becomes adam (man) and the Torah, from the Supernal Will, is drawn into the letters of wheat. Maamar 4.36 paragraphs~1 h106 sourcesEnglish
5. 5 והניף הכהן אותם על לחם הבכורים תנופה לפני… “And the kohen shall wave them upon the bread of the first fruits” The two Shavuos lambs, the embodiment of bittul, are waved together with the two loaves, the Written and the Oral Torah, and through the Torah they are raised back to their source, where nothing opposed to holiness can draw from them. The daily lambs, which carry bittul down into the world of separation, must instead be wholly burnt. Maamar 5.12 paragraphs~25 min56 sourcesEnglish
6. 6 ביאור ע״פ והניף הכהן אותם An explanation of the verse “And the kohen shall wave them” The lights of Tohu are higher than those of Tikkun, but only Tikkun, where the attributes include one another, is a “complete place” in which the Infinite Light dwells. Man, rooted in Tikkun, rules over and elevates the creatures of Tohu; and on Shavuos the two lambs are raised to the attributes of Keser through the two loaves, the Torah, whose root is higher still, which is why the bread lies on top. Maamar 6.Biur34 paragraphs~2 h 10 min180 sourcesEnglish

The Rebbe’s maamarim on this parsha 5

The Rebbe built 5 of his maamarim (5725–5748) on the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim of this parsha. Each maamar’s page summarizes them, with what the Rebbe adds; or see them all together.

• Maamar 1ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל וכו׳3 maamarim · 5725–5748
• Maamar 3וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת מיום הביאכם את עומר…2 maamarim · 5730–5736

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.

1. SUNMaamar 1, ¶1–32~69 min
2. MONMaamar 1 ¶33 – maamar 2 ¶3~67 min
3. TUEMaamar 2, ¶4–28~73 min
4. WEDMaamar 2 ¶29 – maamar 4 ¶3~70 min
5. THUMaamar 4 ¶4 – maamar 5 ¶7~70 min
6. FRIMaamar 5 ¶8 – maamar 6 ¶12~73 min
7. SHABMaamar 6, ¶13–34~67 min