Likkutei Torah · Parshas Emor · Maamar 5
והניף הכהן אותם על לחם הבכורים תנופה לפני…
“And the kohen shall wave them upon the bread of the first fruits”
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The big idea
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.
The maamar in brief
The maamar asks why, on Shavuos, the two lambs are waved together with the two loaves. Creation’s purpose is that the yesh be nullified to G‑dliness, and true bittul means being one with the Infinite Light as the limbs are one with the soul. Man lacks this by nature, but domestic animals show it, because their root is higher than man’s, and sacrifice returns their life-force to that root. Lambs embody bittul most, since they belong to compassion, Yaakov’s attribute. The Torah’s two spellings tell their story: kesev, shin before beis, is their source, where the attributes stand above Chochmah; keves, beis before shin, is their state below. Yaakov “separated” them into the world of separation as the two daily lambs: the morning lamb, so that Avraham’s boundless Chesed is drawn only into what is nullified, and the evening lamb, to sweeten Yitzchak’s Gevuros. On Shavuos the lambs are waved back up with the two loaves, the Written Torah with its song and the Oral Torah with its explanation of the mitzvos. So the loaves are leavened, and the Shavuos lambs are peace-offerings that may be eaten.
Outline
- The question: lambs waved with breadThe Shavuos lambs are waved together with the two loaves; to understand why, the maamar starts from the purpose of creation, the nullification of the yesh to the ayin.¶1
- What true bittul isTo be actually included in the Infinite Light, as the body’s limbs are one with the soul and obey it without resistance.¶2
- Animals, sacrifice and the lambMan lacks innate bittul, but domestic animals have it from their lofty root, and sacrifice returns them there. Lambs, of Yaakov’s compassion, have the most, as their voice, their weakness and their wool show.¶3–5
- Kesev above, keves belowBelow, beis before shin: Chochmah, then the divided attributes; above, shin before beis: attributes higher than Chochmah. Yaakov draws the lambs into the world of separation as the two daily lambs; the morning is Avraham’s Chesed.¶6–7
- The two daily lambs and the Shavuos wavingThe morning lamb keeps boundless Chesed from feeding the kelipos; the evening lamb sweetens Yitzchak’s Gevuros. On Shavuos the lambs are waved back to their source with the loaves, the Written and the Oral Torah.¶8–9
- Song and explanationThe Written Torah has the song of the cantillation, the Oral Torah the explanation of the mitzvos; both are raised to their source, and the lambs with them. So the loaves are leavened, taking on the exaltation of the source.¶10–11
- Peace-offerings and burnt-offeringsThe daily lambs, drawn below, must be wholly burnt; the Shavuos lambs, raised with the Torah, are peace-offerings, eaten even by the owners.¶12
Key concepts
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Not mere humility but being actually included in the Infinite Light, with no existence apart from it, as the limbs have no life apart from the soul.
- Kesev and kevesכשב / כבש
- The Torah’s two spellings of “lamb.” Kesev, shin before beis, is the lambs’ source, where the attributes are above Chochmah; keves, beis before shin, is their state below, where the attributes follow Chochmah and divide.
- The world of separation (alma deferuda)עלמא דפרודא
- The lower worlds, where each thing appears to exist on its own; Yaakov draws the lambs’ bittul down into it.
- The morning of Avrahamבקר דאברהם
- The Zohar’s name for supernal Chesed, which spreads without limit; the morning lamb corresponds to it.
- Cantillation marks (te’amim)טעמים
- The melody of the Written Torah, its song, sweetness and delight, which the Oral Torah does not explain.
- “Exalted from the days of the world”המתנשא מימות עולם
- Words of the morning blessing, used for the source of life-force that transcends the worlds: its transcendence makes them separate, and raised into it they share its exaltation.
The question: lambs waved with bread ¶1
“And the kohen shall wave them upon the bread of the first fruits, a wave-offering before Havayah, upon the two lambs,” etc. And it is stated in the Gemara that the bread is on top, etc.,
The maamar opens with the verse of the Shavuos offering (Leviticus 23:20): the two loaves of the new wheat, “the bread of the first fruits,” were waved together with two lambs brought as peace-offerings. The Gemara (Menachos 62a) brings the view that, as everywhere, the bread is placed on top.
שמניף הכבשים עם הלחם ביחד.3 ולהבין ענין זה והתחברות זו להיות הכבשים עם הלחם בתנופה.
that he waves the lambs together with the bread. And [we must] understand this matter, and this joining: that the lambs are with the bread in the waving.
What the maamar takes from the Gemara is that the lambs and the bread are waved as one. It asks what this joining means: what do animal offerings and loaves of bread have in common, that they should be lifted together?
הנה נודע כי תכלית כל הבריאה להיות היש בטל לאין. ובכל עולם נמשך ביטול היש לפי מדרגתו.
Now, it is known that the purpose of all creation is that the “something” (yesh) be nullified to the “nothing” (ayin). And in every world the nullification of the yesh is drawn down according to its level.
The answer starts from a basic principle: creation exists so that the yesh, the created being that feels itself a “something,” should become nullified to the ayin, the “nothing” of G‑dliness that no creature can grasp. Every world reaches this nullification in its own measure.
The maamar asks why the Shavuos lambs are waved together with the two loaves, and lays its foundation: the purpose of creation is the nullification of the yesh, reached in every world according to its level.
“Nothing” (ayin) in Chassidus does not mean non-existence but G‑dliness itself, which is “nothing” to a creature because it is beyond its grasp. The created yesh is meant to come to know that it has no being apart from it.
Marei mekomos
- 1והניף · בשינויים בס׳ שני המאורות (לבוב — תרמ״ב) כט, א. הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי בסה״מ תקס״ח-א ע׳ רמו (וראה בהנסמן שם ח״ב ע׳ תתקלו). תחילת המאמר מובא באוה״ת ויקרא-ב ע׳ תקעד עם הגהות.
- 2והניף הכהן אותם · Leviticus 23:20
- 3שהלחם מלמעלה . . עם הלחם ביחד · Menachot 62a:1–3
What true bittul is ¶2
2והנה עיקר הביטול הוא להיות בטל ונכלל ממש באור א״ס ב״ה ומיוחד בו ביחוד גמור ואמיתי בתכלית היחוד כהתאחדות אברי הגוף בנפש החיונית השורה ומתלבש בתוכם שאין להם חיות אחר מבלעדי חיות הנפש
Now, the essence of self-nullification (bittul) is to be nullified and actually included in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and united with it in a complete and true union, the ultimate union, like the union of the limbs of the body with the vital soul that rests and is enclothed within them, for they have no other life-force apart from the life-force of the soul.
True bittul is not a feeling of humility but being actually included in the Infinite Light, one with it. The model is the body: its limbs are one with the vital soul enclothed in them, since they have no life of their own apart from the soul’s life.
ולכן האברים נשמעים לרצון הנפש בביטול והתאחדות גמור וכך תהיינה כחות נפש החיונית בטלות ונכללות ממש באור א״ס ב״ה השורה ומקיף על נפשו.
Therefore the limbs obey the will of the soul in complete nullification and union. And so should the powers of the vital soul be nullified and actually included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which rests upon and encompasses his soul.
Because the limbs have no separate life, they obey the soul’s will at once and without resistance. In the same way, a person’s vital soul and all its powers should be nullified in the Infinite Light that rests upon his soul and encompasses it.
The paragraph defines true bittul through the union of the limbs with the soul, and sets it as the goal for the powers of a person’s vital soul.
The analogy is exact: the limbs do not obey the soul by decision or effort; they obey because they have no life apart from it. Bittul in this full sense is therefore not an attitude added to the self but the absence of any existence apart from the Infinite Light.
Animals, sacrifice and the lamb ¶3–5
3ועמ״ש ע״פ והקרבתם עולה אשה. אך הנה בטבע האדם בתולדתו אין כמו ביטול זה ודוגמתו אינו
And see what is written on the verse “And you shall offer a burnt-offering, a fire-offering.” But in the nature of man, as he is born, there is nothing like this nullification, and its like is not
The opening words send the reader to another discourse, on “And you shall offer a burnt-offering, a fire-offering,” for more on this theme. The argument then turns: by nature, from birth, a human being has no such bittul, and nothing like it is found in the physical world.
נמצא בגשמיות כלל לבטל רצונו מפני רצון אחרים בבחי׳ ביטול זה כאלו אין לו רצון אחר כלל
found in physicality at all: to nullify his will before the will of others at the level of this nullification, as though he had no other will at all.
No person naturally sets aside his own will for another’s so completely that it is as if he had no will of his own.
אלא טבע זו היא בבהמה שהן בטלות ברצון המנהיגם ולכל אשר יחפוץ יטה אותם ואינם משנות את תפקידם והיינו מפני כי שרשן ויסודתן בהררי קדש.1
Rather, this nature is in domestic animals, which are nullified to the will of the one who leads them: wherever he wishes he turns them, and they do not change their appointed task. This is because their root and foundation is “in the holy mountains.”
Domestic animals do show this trait: they go wherever their driver turns them and keep to their task. The Alter Rebbe explains that this is because their root is “in the holy mountains,” words taken from Psalms 87:1.
היא מדרגות עליונות באור א״ס ב״ה ושם הן בבחי׳ ביטול באור א״ס ממש (ועמ״ש ע״פ ויאכילך את המן2 בענין בהמה רבה שלמעלה מאדם) אלא שנפלו למטה מטה ממדרגת האדם ונמשך בחי׳ ביטול למטה תח״י האדם.
These are lofty levels in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and there they are at the level of nullification in the Infinite Light itself (see what is written on the verse “And He fed you the manna,” on the matter of the “great beast” (behemah rabbah) that is above man). Only, they fell far down, below the level of man, and the level of nullification was drawn down below, under the hand of man.
These “holy mountains” are lofty levels within the Infinite Light, where the animals’ roots are in complete bittul; the parenthesis points to a discourse on “And He fed you the manna” about the “great beast” whose root is above man. These roots fell below man’s level, and so their bittul shows itself here as submission to man.
וזהו ענין הקרבנות שהיו מקריבין הבהמה ע״ג המזבח ועולה חיותה במקורה ושרשה שהוא בחי׳ ביטול
This is the meaning of the sacrifices: they would offer the animal upon the altar, and its life-force rises into its source and root, which is the level of nullification
This is the inner meaning of the sacrifices: when the animal is offered on the altar, its life-force rises back to its source and root.
ממש באור א״ס ב״ה והקרבנות היו מן הבקר ומן הצאן3 מכל הבהמה ולא מן החיות4 שבבהמה יש בה ביטול יותר מן החיה.
in the very Infinite Light, blessed be He. And the sacrifices were from the cattle and from the flock, from among all the domestic animals, and not from the wild beasts; for a domestic animal has more nullification than a wild beast.
That root is utter bittul in the Infinite Light. This is why only domestic animals, cattle and flock, were offered and not wild animals, as the Gemara learns from the verse (Zevachim 34a): a domestic animal has more bittul than a wild one.
Man lacks innate bittul, but domestic animals have it because their root is higher than man’s; sacrifice returns the animal’s life-force to that root, which is why only domestic animals are offered.
The animal stands below man, yet its root is above him: what is highest in its source can fall lowest in its descent. Its plain physical obedience is thus a trace of the supernal bittul of its root, and the sacrifice brings that trace back to where it began.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויסודתן בהררי קדש · Psalms 87:1
- 2ויאכילך את המן · Deuteronomy 8:3
- 3מן הבקר ומן הצאן · Leviticus 1:2
- 4מכל הבהמה ולא מן החיות · Zevachim 34a
4וכן מכל הבהמה נבחרו כבשים עפ״י הרוב1 שנמשך בהם בחי׳ הביטול יותר. כי הבקר פני שור מהשמאל2 בחי׳ גבורות.
Likewise, from among all the domestic animals, lambs were chosen for the most part, because the level of nullification is drawn into them more. For cattle are “the face of an ox on the left,” the level of Gevuros (restraints).
Among the domestic animals, most offerings were lambs, because bittul is drawn into them most strongly. Cattle, by contrast, come from “the face of an ox on the left” in Yechezkel’s vision of the Divine Chariot (Ezekiel 1:10), and the left side is Gevuros, the attributes of restraint and severity.
וגם שור מנגח בקרנו3 ועזים הם ג״כ בחי׳ גבורות. אבל הכבשים הם בבחי׳ רחמים והכשבים הפריד יעקב4 שכבשים הם בבחי׳ מדותיו של יעקב בחי׳ רחמים.
Also, an ox gores with its horn; and goats, too, are the level of Gevuros. But lambs are at the level of compassion, and “Yaakov separated the lambs (kesavim),” for lambs (kevasim) are at the level of Yaakov’s attributes (middos), the level of compassion.
The ox shows this severity in that it gores with its horn, and goats too belong to Gevuros. Lambs belong to compassion: the verse “And Yaakov separated the lambs” (Genesis 30:40) ties them to Yaakov, whose attribute is compassion.
כי הכבשים יש להם קול רחמנות שמעורר רחמים והיינו לפי שמקורם ושרשם הוא ממדרגה עליונה יותר שהוא מקור הרחמים.
For lambs have a voice of pity that arouses compassion. This is because their source and root is from a higher level, which is the source of compassion.
The lamb’s plaintive bleat arouses pity in whoever hears it. The Alter Rebbe sees in this a sign of the lamb’s root in a higher level, the source of compassion.
Among the domestic animals, lambs hold the most bittul, because they belong to compassion, Yaakov’s attribute, while cattle and goats belong to Gevuros.
In Likkutei Torah, Pinchas, in the discourse on “Command the children of Israel” to which this maamar refers below, the Alter Rebbe explains that the life-force of animals is drawn from “the face of the ox” of the Divine Chariot, and through the sacrifice it rises and is included in that root. There too he asks why the daily offering is specifically a lamb, and answers that the lamb has a voice of compassion, the attribute of Yaakov.
Marei mekomos
- 1נבחרו כבשים ע״פ הרוב · Keritot 28a
- 2פני שור מהשמאל · Ezekiel 1:10
- 3שור מנגח בקרנו · ועבד״ה אדם כי יקריב פ״ב [ויקרא] ד״ב ע״ד. [כ].
- 4והכשבים הפריד יעקב · Genesis 30:40
5ולכן בנפילת החיות למטה נמשך להם הקול שמעורר רחמים וגם הם חלשים בטבעם כתולדותם והרי ניכר ומורגש בהם טבע הביטול [וגם הכבשים יש בהם צמר ששרשו גבוה מאד1 וכמ״ש
Therefore, when the life-force fell below, the voice that arouses compassion was drawn to them. They are also weak by nature, from birth, so that the nature of nullification is recognizable and felt in them. [Lambs also have wool, whose root is very high, and as is written
Because their root is in the source of compassion, when the lambs’ life-force descended into this world it kept the voice that arouses compassion, and their natural weakness makes their bittul plain to see. The bracket adds a further sign of their lofty root: their wool.
בזהר גדול ח״א דמ״ב ע״ג2 ע״פ והבל הביא גם הוא מבכורות צאנו34 מחשבתיה הוה בההוא אתר5 דאתמר בי׳ ועתיק יומין יתיב כו׳ ושער רישי׳ כעמר נקא6 וקב״ה מחשבתא טבא צרפה למעשה ובג״ד קביל ליה וכו׳.
in the Zohar Gadol, Part I, folio 42, column c, on the verse “And Hevel, he too brought of the firstborn of his flock”: “His thought was on that place of which it is said, ‘And the Ancient of Days (Atik Yomin) sat,’ etc., ‘and the hair of His head was like clean wool’; and the Holy One, blessed be He, joins a good thought to the deed, and because of this He accepted it,” etc.
The Zohar on Hevel’s offering of “the firstborn of his flock” (Genesis 4:4) says that his thought was directed to the level of which Daniel says (7:9) that the Ancient of Days sat, “the hair of His head like clean wool”; because G‑d joins a good intention to the deed, the offering was accepted. Kehot notes that the Zohar Gadol cited here is the Cremona printing.
ועמ״ש לקמן בפ׳ פנחס ע״פ צו את בנ״י7 כו׳ וע׳ במשנה ספ״ו דכריתות.8 וע׳ בזהר משפטים קכ״ה א׳ ועמ״ש במ״א ע״פ שערך כעדר העזים9 שגלשו כו׳]:10
See what is written below in Parshas Pinchas on the verse “Command the children of Israel,” etc.; and see the Mishnah at the end of chapter 6 of Kerisos. And see the Zohar, Mishpatim, 125a; and see what is written elsewhere on the verse “Your hair is like a flock of goats that streamed down,” etc.]
The bracket ends with further references: the discourse in Likkutei Torah, Pinchas, on “Command the children of Israel,” which explains why the daily offering is a lamb; the Mishnah at the end of the sixth chapter of Kerisos, on lambs being named before goats; the Zohar on Mishpatim (125a), on the kid and its mother’s milk; and the discourse on “Your hair is like a flock of goats,” on hair as a surplus from which the external forces draw.
Their lofty root gives lambs a voice of compassion and a weak, yielding nature; the bracket adds that their wool, too, comes from a very high root, as the Zohar shows from Hevel’s offering.
In Daniel’s vision the Ancient of Days (Atik Yomin) has hair “like clean wool,” and the Zohar reads Hevel’s offering of sheep as directed to that level, the innermost root of Keser. The lamb’s wool is thus a physical trace of a very high level, which is why the Alter Rebbe brings it as a further sign of the lambs’ loftiness.
Marei mekomos
- 1ומורגש — ששרשו גבוה מאד · א״י. [כ].
- 2וכמ״ש בזהר גדול ח״א דמ״ב ע״ג · הכוונה לזהר דפוס קרימנא, וכ״כ באוה״ת בראשית-ז דף תתשסז מעתיק הלשון כמו כאן.
- 3והבל הביא גם הוא מבכורות צאנו · Genesis 4:4
- 4והבל הביא גם הוא מבכורות צאנו · Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 21:5–6
- 5מחשבתיה הוה בההוא אתר · מובא באוה״ת שופטים ע׳ תתקנט ושם מציין לפרקי דר״א פרק כא.
- 6ועתיק יומין יתיב כו׳ ושער רישי׳ כעמר נקא · Daniel 7:9
- 7לקמן . . צו את בנ״י · עז, ד.
- 8במשנה ספ״ו דכריתות · כח, א.
- 9ע״פ שערך כעדר העזים · ראה לקמן שה״ש לו, ג.
- 10
Kesev above, keves below ¶6–7
6ב והנה בנפילת החיות למטה בגשמיות נק׳ בשם כבשים הב׳ קודם לשי״ן. כי הב׳ רומז לבחינת חכמה בחכמה יבנה בית.1 והשי״ן רומז לג׳ קוין המסתעפים ונמשכים למטה משא״כ כשהם למעלה במקורם הם אחדות אחד.
2. Now, when the life-force has fallen below into physicality, they are called by the name kevasim (כבשים), with the beis before the shin. For the beis alludes to the level of Chochmah (wisdom), [as it is written,] “With wisdom a house (bayis) is built.” And the shin alludes to the three lines that branch out and are drawn downward; whereas when they are above, in their source, they are a single unity.
The Torah spells “lamb” two ways, keves (כבש) and kesev (כשב). The spelling kevasim, beis before shin, describes the lambs after their descent into physicality: the beis, the letter of bayis, “house,” stands for Chochmah, since “with wisdom a house is built” (Proverbs 24:3), and the shin, with its three branches, stands for the three lines of the attributes, divided as they spread downward. In their source they are not divided but one.
The spelling kevasim, with Chochmah (the beis) before the branching attributes (the shin), describes the lambs as they are below, in physicality, where the attributes are divided.
The three lines are the right, left and middle columns of the Sefiros, headed by Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes, pictured by the three strokes of the letter shin. In the order of kevasim the attributes come after Chochmah and follow from it, as emotions follow from understanding.
Marei mekomos
- 1בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
And there they are called kesev (כשב), with the shin before the beis, for the shin is the supernal attributes (middos) that are above Chochmah and intellect, which are called in the Zohar “the mountains of darkness.”
In their source the lambs are called kesev, with the shin first: there the attributes are not born of Chochmah but stand above it and above all intellect. The Zohar calls these hidden attributes “the mountains of darkness,” darkness here meaning that they are beyond the reach of understanding.
[See what is written in Parshas Toldos, in the explanation (biur) on the verse “Many waters” in the Song of Songs, on the matter of the supernal Daas (knowledge), and in the discourse beginning “Your teeth are like a flock.”]
The bracket refers to two other discourses: the Biur (explanatory discourse) in Torah Ohr, Parshas Toldos, on “Many waters cannot quench the love” (Song of Songs 8:7), which explains the supernal Daas, and the discourse on “Your teeth are like a flock.”
אך והכשבים הפריד יעקב6 שיעקב הוא הממשיך בחי׳ הכשבים מבחינתם ומדרגתם שבמקורם לבחי׳ הפירוד שיהי׳ נק׳ בשם כבשים.
But “And Yaakov separated the lambs (kesavim)” [means] that Yaakov is the one who draws the level of the kesavim from their level and rank in their source to the level of separation, so that they will be called by the name kevasim.
The verse “And Yaakov separated the lambs” now receives its inner meaning: Yaakov draws the lambs from their united state as kesavim in their source down to the level of separation, where they are called kevasim.
כדי שיהי׳ נמשך בחי׳ הביטול גם בעלמא דפרודא את הכבש7 א׳ תעשה בבקר ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים כו׳.
[This is] so that the level of nullification will be drawn also into the world of separation (alma deferuda): “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer toward evening,” etc.
The purpose of this descent is that bittul should reach even the “world of separation,” the lower worlds where each thing seems to exist on its own. This is why the daily offering is two lambs, one in the morning and one toward evening (Numbers 28:4).
והענין כי בקר הוא בקר דאברהם89 בחי׳ חסד עליון שמתפשט אור א״ס ב״ה למעלה עד אין קץ ולמטה עד אין תכלית.10
The explanation is: morning is “the morning of Avraham,” the level of supernal Chesed (kindness), in which the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, spreads forth above without end and below without limit.
Morning stands for Avraham, whose attribute is supernal Chesed, kindness that flows without limit; the Zohar calls it “the morning of Avraham.” Through Chesed the Infinite Light spreads forth endlessly, above and below.
In their source the lambs are kesev, the supernal attributes above Chochmah; Yaakov draws them down as kevasim into the world of separation so that bittul reaches there too, in the two daily lambs, the first of which corresponds to Avraham’s boundless Chesed.
In the Biur on “Many waters” the Alter Rebbe distinguishes the supernal Daas, which comes from Keser and unites Chochmah and Binah, from the lower Daas that spreads into the attributes; and attributes born of the intellect from attributes rooted in Keser, above intellect. The Or HaTorah passage cited in the Kehot note sums it up: the supernal Daas draws the attributes of Keser that are above Chochmah, the Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes of Arich Anpin.
Marei mekomos
- 1כש״ב השי״ן קודם לבי״ת . . מדות עליונות שלמעלה מהחכמה · מובא באוה״ת שמות-ז ע׳ ב׳תריט. פ׳ פנחס ע׳ א׳קג.
- 2בזהר · Zohar III, 249b
- 3טורי חשוכא · Zohar, Balak 45:488–46:497
- 4
- 5בביאור ע״פ מים רבים . . בענין דעת עליון · תו״א דף יט, ג. ומצויין באוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תשצו לתו״א הנ״ל ”שדעת העליון ממשיך המדות דכתר שלמעלה מהחכמה והם חג״ת דא״א”. וראה גם באוה״ת שה״ש-ב ע׳ תקסט.
- 6והכשבים הפריד יעקב · Genesis 30:40
- 7את הכבש אחד תעשה · Numbers 28:4
- 8בקר הוא בקר דאברהם · Zohar, Balak 33:354–34:363
- 9בקר הוא בקר דאברהם · Zohar, Miketz 13:217–14:228
- 10בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
The two daily lambs and the Shavuos waving ¶8–9
8והנה בהתפשטותו למטה מדרגה אחר מדרגה בירידות המדרגות בדרך השתלשלות והתלבשות יש יניקה ואחיזה לקליפות וסט״א לינק מהקדושה בחי׳ אהלי קדר1 וכמו שאמר אברהם לו ישמעאל יחיה לפניך.2
Now, as it spreads downward, level after level, in the descent of the levels by way of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) and enclothement, there is nurture and a hold for the kelipos (husks) and the sitra achra (the other side), to draw nurture from holiness: the level of “the tents of Kedar,” and as Avraham said, “O that Yishmael might live before You.”
As Chesed spreads downward through the chain of levels, each clothed in the next, the forces opposed to holiness find a hold and draw nourishment from it. “The tents of Kedar” (Song of Songs 1:5), named for a son of Yishmael, stands for such a drawing from holiness, and Avraham’s plea, “O that Yishmael might live before You” (Genesis 17:18), shows boundless kindness reaching even Yishmael.
וצריך להקדים כבש שהוא בחי׳ ביטול בבחי׳ רחמנות שלא יומשך אור א״ס ב״ה רק בבחי׳ ביטול להיות אור א״ס שורה ומתגלה במי
And it is necessary to put first a lamb, which is the level of nullification, with the quality of pity, so that the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, will be drawn only at the level of nullification: that the Infinite Light should rest and be revealed in one
So the lamb, bittul joined with pity, must come first: the morning offering ensures that the boundless light of Chesed is drawn only into what is nullified to it. The Infinite Light rests and is revealed only in one who is nullified to it; the Gemara (Nedarim 38a) counts humility among the qualities of those on whom G‑d rests His Shechinah.
who is nullified to it, specifically. [See what is written in Parshas Vayeira on the verse “I am a shield to you”; and see the Zohar, Balak, folio 204b, and the end of Parshas Miketz, folio 203.]
The bracket points to the discourse on “I am a shield to you” (Genesis 15:1) in Torah Ohr, which explains Avraham’s unbounded Chesed toward Yishmael, and to two passages of the Zohar, in Balak and at the end of Miketz, that speak of “the morning of Avraham.”
Unbounded Chesed, drawn down as it is, also feeds the forces opposed to holiness; the morning lamb, bittul joined with pity, makes sure the light is drawn only into what is nullified to it.
In Torah Ohr, on “I am a shield to you,” the Alter Rebbe explains that Avraham, great Chesed without restraint, wished even Yishmael to live “before You,” without limit, though he knew what Yishmael was. Yet this is not fitting, he explains there, because in the days of Mashiach all evil must be removed from the earth, which unbounded kindness alone could not bring about.
Marei mekomos
- 1אהלי קדר · Song of Songs 1:5
- 2לו ישמעאל יחי׳ לפניך · Genesis 17:18
- 3אוא״ס שורה ומתגלה במי שבטל · Nedarim 38a
- 4ע״פ אנכי מגן לך · תו״א יב, א.
- 5אנכי מגן לך · Genesis 15:1
- 6
9ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים1 זמן שליטת מדתו של יצחק בחי׳ גבורות להמתיקן כו׳ והמשכות בחי׳ ביטול זה ב׳ כבשים בבחי׳ בקר ובבחי׳ בין הערבים נעשה ע״י יעקב
“And the second lamb you shall offer toward evening”: the time when the attribute of Yitzchak, the level of Gevuros (restraints), holds sway, in order to sweeten them, etc. And the drawings-down of this level of nullification, the two lambs, at the level of morning and at the level of “toward evening,” are accomplished through Yaakov,
The second lamb is offered toward evening, the time when Yitzchak’s attribute, Gevurah, prevails; its bittul sweetens those severities. Both drawings-down, the morning lamb and the evening lamb, are the work of Yaakov.
שהוא בריח התיכון המבריח2 מן הקצה אל הקצה לכך הפריד יעקב הכבשים מבחי׳ כשבים שהיו במקורן ושרשן לבחי׳ כבשים לעלמא דפרודא להתחלק בב׳ בחי׳ ומדרגות שונות.
who is “the middle bar that runs through from end to end.” Therefore Yaakov separated the lambs from the level of kesavim, as they were in their source and root, to the level of kevasim, for the world of separation, to be divided into two different aspects and levels.
Yaakov is “the middle bar” of the Mishkan that ran through all the boards from end to end (Exodus 26:28): his attribute joins the two extremes, Avraham’s Chesed and Yitzchak’s Gevurah. That is why it is he who brings the lambs down from their united source as kesavim into the world of separation as kevasim, divided into two offerings at two times.
אך בשבועות והניף הכהן אותם על לחם3 כו׳ על שני כבשים שמניף את הכבשים למעלה לשרשן ומקורן בחי׳ כשבים להיות בטלים ומיוחדים באור א״ס ב״ה ממש והיינו עם הלחם כי
But on Shavuos, “And the kohen shall wave them upon the bread,” etc., “upon the two lambs”: he waves the lambs upward, to their root and source, the level of kesavim, so that they are nullified and united in the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He. And this is with the bread, because
On Shavuos the movement is reversed: the kohen waves the two lambs upward, back to their root as kesavim, where they are nullified and united in the Infinite Light itself. This happens together with the bread, and the maamar now explains what the bread is.
the meaning of the wavings of the two loaves is [as follows]. For the two loaves allude to the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, as it is written, “Come, eat of my bread,” etc.
The two loaves stand for the two parts of the Torah, the Written and the Oral, since the Torah is called bread: “Come, eat of my bread” (Proverbs 9:5).
כי הן בחי׳ גבוהות שיש בתשב״כ מה שאין בתשבע״פ והוא ענין הטעמים שבתורה זרקא מקף שופר הולך סגולתא כו׳ שהם בחי׳ ניגון בבחי׳ מתיקות ותענוג.
For they are lofty levels: in the Written Torah there is what is not in the Oral Torah, and this is the matter of the cantillation marks (te’amim) of the Torah, zarka, makaf, shofar holech, segolta, etc., which are the level of melody, with the quality of sweetness and delight.
Each part of the Torah has a lofty quality the other lacks. The Written Torah alone has the cantillation marks, named here by the opening of their traditional sequence (zarka, makaf, shofar holech, segolta), and they are pure melody, sweetness and delight.
Yaakov divides the lambs into the two daily offerings of the world of separation; on Shavuos they are waved back up to their source together with the two loaves, which stand for the Written and the Oral Torah.
In Kabbalah Yaakov corresponds to Tiferes, the middle line between Avraham’s Chesed and Yitzchak’s Gevurah; like the middle bar that ran through every board of the Mishkan, it reaches from the highest level to the lowest. This is why the division of the lambs into morning (Chesed) and evening (Gevurah) is attributed to him.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים · Numbers 28:4
- 2בריח התיכון המבריח · Exodus 26:28
- 3והניף הכהן אותם על לחם · Leviticus 23:20
- 4ב׳ הלחם רומזות לתשב״כ ותשבע״פ · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך-ב ע׳ תתקמב.
- 5לכו לחמו בלחמי · Proverbs 9:5
Song and explanation ¶10–11
10וע״ז נאמר ויהי שירו חמשה ואלף12 ובלילה שירה עמי3 שהטעמים הן בבחי׳ שיר וניגון לנגן בשירה וזמרה מרוב שמחה ותענוג שהטעמים אלו הם בתשב״כ ולא בתשבע״פ ואין בתשבע״פ שום פי׳
Of this it is said, “And his songs were a thousand and five,” and “At night His song is with me”: for the cantillation marks are at the level of song and melody, to sing in song and hymn out of great joy and delight. These cantillation marks are in the Written Torah and not in the Oral Torah, and in the Oral Torah there is no interpretation
Shlomo’s “thousand and five” songs (I Kings 5:12) and “At night His song is with me” (Psalms 42:9) are read as referring to this song of the Torah: the cantillation is melody that rises from great joy and delight. It exists only in the Written Torah.
וביאור על הטעמים לבאר ולפרש לנו שירה זו מאי היא [ועמ״ש בפ׳ הברכה ע״פ תורה צוה4 וע״פ ויהי מקץ5 וע״פ שיר השירים6 וע״פ ואהיה אצלו אמון ואהיה שעשועים7 כו׳].
or explanation of the cantillation marks, to explain and interpret for us what this song is. [See what is written in Parshas HaBerachah on the verse “The Torah [Moshe] commanded,” and on “And it came to pass at the end,” and on “The Song of Songs,” and on “And I was with Him as a nursling (amon), and I was a delight,” etc.]
Nowhere does the Oral Torah tell us what this song means; it remains beyond explanation. The bracket lists four discourses that develop the theme: on “The Torah Moshe commanded,” on “And it came to pass at the end” (the opening of Miketz), on “The Song of Songs,” and on “And I was with Him as a nursling.”
רק תשבע״פ היא פי׳ וביאור יסוד המצות ושורשן שפי׳ וביאור זה הוא בתשבע״פ דוקא ולא בתשב״כ כי אין שום מצוה בתשב״כ שלא תהיה צריכה לפי׳
The Oral Torah, however, is the interpretation and explanation of the basis of the mitzvos and their root; this interpretation and explanation is in the Oral Torah specifically and not in the Written Torah. For there is no mitzvah in the Written Torah that does not need the interpretation
The Oral Torah has its own unique quality: it explains the mitzvos, their basis and their root. No mitzvah of the Written Torah can be kept without it.
וביאור תשבע״פ כיצד תהיה דרך עשיית המצוה ובאיזה אופן ובשבועות מניפין ב׳ בחי׳ הלחם למעלה במקורן ושרשן להיות כלולות ומתאחדות באור א״ס ב״ה
and explanation of the Oral Torah: how the mitzvah is to be performed and in what manner. And on Shavuos the two levels of the bread are waved upward, into their source and root, to be included and united in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He,
Only the Oral Torah tells how a mitzvah is performed and in what manner. On Shavuos both, the two kinds of bread, are waved upward to their source, to be included and united in the Infinite Light.
כי שם הן מיוחדות בתכלית היחוד איהו וחיוהי חד כו׳ הוא היודע והוא המדע כו׳.8
for there they are united in the ultimate union: “He and His life-forces are one,” etc.; “He is the Knower and He is the Knowledge,” etc.
In their source the Torah’s two aspects are one with G‑d Himself, in the ultimate unity expressed by “He and His life-forces are one” and “He is the Knower and He is the Knowledge”: there G‑d’s wisdom is not something apart from Him.
The Written Torah carries the song and delight of the cantillation, and the Oral Torah the explanation of the mitzvos; waving the two loaves lifts both to their source, where they are one with G‑d.
The Hebrew word te’amim means both “cantillation marks” and “tastes”: the melody of the reading is the Torah’s taste, its sweetness and delight, which goes beyond the meaning of its words. This is why it cannot be explained, while the Oral Torah, which explains, belongs to the realm of understanding.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויהי שירו חמשה ואלף · מ״א ה, יב.
- 2ויהי שירו חמשה ואלף · I Kings 5:12
- 3ובלילה שירה עמי · Psalms 42:9
- 4תורה צוה · Deuteronomy 33:4
- 5ויהי מקץ · Genesis 41:1
- 6שיר השירים · Song of Songs 1:1
- 7ואהיה אצלו אמון ואהיה שעשועים · Proverbs 8:30
- 8
11ובהן וע״י מתייחדים גם חיות הכבשים להיותן בטלים בשרשן ומקורן העליון להיות הכל בבחי׳ ביטול.
And in them and through them the life-force of the lambs, too, is united, so that they are nullified in their supernal root and source, so that everything is at the level of nullification.
Through the loaves, that is, through the Torah, the lambs’ life-force too is united and nullified in its supernal source. This is why the lambs are waved together with the bread: with the Torah, everything returns to bittul.
ולכן בשתי הלחם דשבועות כתיב חמץ תאפינה1 שמאחר שמתעלה למקור החיות ומקור החיות המהוה עולמות הנפרדים יש מאין הוא בבחי׳ המתנשא מימות עולם2 שזהו חיותם והתהוותם
Therefore of the two loaves of Shavuos it is written, “They shall be baked leavened.” For since it is raised up to the source of the life-force, and the source of the life-force, which brings the separate worlds into being as something from nothing, is at the level of “Who is exalted from the days of the world,” and this is their life-force and their coming-into-being,
This explains why the Shavuos loaves, unlike other meal-offerings, are baked leavened (Leviticus 23:17). They are raised to the source of life-force, which creates the separate worlds from nothing and is, in the words of the morning blessing, “exalted from the days of the world.”
שמחמת שמתנשא ומסתלק מהם אור א״ס ב״ה למעלה ואינו מתלבש בתוכם ממש לכך נתהווה חיותם וקיומם בבחי׳ נפרדים להיות דבר ויש בפ״ע ובהעלותם למקורן ושרשן
for because the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is exalted and withdrawn from them, above, and is not actually enclothed within them, therefore their life-force and existence came into being as separate, to be a thing and an entity in its own right; and when they are raised to their source and root,
The worlds feel themselves separate precisely because the Infinite Light is exalted above them and is not actually enclothed within them; this transcendence is what lets them come into being as entities in their own right.
הוא המתנשא מימות עולם נעשו גם הם בבחי׳ התנשאות שלמעלה מאחר שנכללו ונתאחדו במקורם ממש [ועמ״ש מזה גבי חג השבועות ע״פ וידבר אלקים כו׳ ע״ש].
which is “Who is exalted from the days of the world,” they too have become of the level of the exaltation that is above, since they have been included and united in their very source. [See what is written on this regarding the festival of Shavuos, on the verse “And Elokim spoke,” etc.; see there.]
But when they are raised back into that source, they take on its exaltation, since they are now included and one with it; that holy rising is the leaven of the Shavuos loaves. The bracket refers to the Shavuos discourse on “And Elokim spoke” for more.
The leaven of the Shavuos loaves expresses the supernal “exaltation” they take on when raised into their source, the level that is “exalted from the days of the world.”
Leavened dough, which rises, is generally kept from the altar, and in Chassidus chametz often stands for self-importance. Here the Shavuos loaves are leavened because their rising is not the self-assertion of the yesh but the exaltation of the source itself, which they share once they are included in it.
Marei mekomos
- 1חמץ תאפינה · Leviticus 23:17
- 2המתנשא מימות עולם · ברכת יוצר.
Peace-offerings and burnt-offerings ¶12
12ובזה יובן ההפרש שבין כבשי עצרת לבין שני הכבשים התמידים ליום כי שני כבשי עצרת הם שלמים1 הנאכלים לבעלים משא״כ שני כבשי התמידים ליום הם עולות.2
With this the difference will be understood between the lambs of Atzeres and the two daily tamid lambs: the two lambs of Atzeres are peace-offerings (shelamim), which are eaten by the owners, whereas the two lambs of the daily tamid are burnt-offerings (olos).
The maamar now explains a difference in law. The two lambs of Shavuos (Atzeres) are peace-offerings, which are eaten, while the two daily tamid lambs (Numbers 28:3) are burnt-offerings, wholly consumed on the altar.
והענין כי התמידים הם הכבשים הנמשכים למטהלעולם הפירוד כנ״ל ואזי א״א להאכיל לבעלים שלא יומשך למטה מטה יותר ויהיה אחיזה ויניקה לסט״א.
The explanation is: the tamid offerings are the lambs that are drawn down below, into the world of separation, as mentioned above. And so it is impossible to give them to the owners to eat, lest it be drawn down still further and there be a hold and nurture for the sitra achra (the other side).
The daily lambs are the ones drawn down into the world of separation. Eating them would draw them still further down, where the sitra achra could take hold and draw nourishment.
וצ״ל כולו כליל. אבל כבשי עצרת שהם על לחם הביכורים תנופה3 לפני הוי׳ למעלה במקורם לבחי׳ כשבים
And it must be wholly consumed (kalil). But the lambs of Atzeres, which are “upon the bread of the first fruits, a wave-offering before Havayah,” [raised] upward into their source, to the level of kesavim,
So the tamid must be entirely consumed on the altar. The Shavuos lambs, however, are waved “upon the bread of the first fruits,” upward into their source as kesavim.
וגם נכללים ומיוחדים בבחי׳ שתי הלחם כנ״ל שם אין שליטה ויניקה כלל ולכן הם שלמים הנאכלים אפי׳ לבעלים:
and are also included and united in the level of the two loaves, as mentioned above — there is no dominion or nurture [for the other side] there at all. Therefore they are peace-offerings, which are eaten even by the owners.
There, included in the two loaves of the Torah, no opposing force can rule or draw nourishment, and so they can be peace-offerings, eaten even by the owners.
The maamar closes by explaining why the daily lambs are burnt-offerings and the Shavuos lambs peace-offerings: the first are drawn into the world of separation, the second are raised with the Torah into their source, where nothing opposed to holiness can draw from them.
A burnt-offering (olah) goes up wholly on the altar, while a peace-offering (shelamim) is shared: part on the altar and the rest eaten. The maamar reads the law as a sign of each offering’s spiritual place: what has been drawn into the world of separation must go wholly up, while what has been raised into its source can safely be eaten.
Marei mekomos
- 1כבשי עצרת הם שלמים · Arakhin 25b:20–22
- 2התמידים ליום הם עולות · Numbers 28:3
- 3על לחם הביכורים תנופה · Leviticus 23:20
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
As the body’s limbs obey the soul without resistance because they have no life of their own, so a person should make the powers of his vital soul nullified and included in the Infinite Light that rests upon his soul and encompasses it (paragraph 2).
Questions for discussion
- Why does the maamar define bittul through the union of the limbs with the soul rather than through obedience alone?
- How can domestic animals, which stand below man, have a root higher than man’s, and how does the sacrifice express this?
- What do the two spellings, kesev and keves, teach about the relation of the attributes to Chochmah, above and below?
- Why must the morning lamb, bittul joined with pity, come first when Avraham’s Chesed is drawn down?
- Why are the Shavuos lambs peace-offerings that are eaten, while the daily lambs are wholly burnt, and what do the two loaves of Torah have to do with it?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×16
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×8
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×4
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment.
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×1
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×3
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion. ×1
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×1
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×1
- The sitra achra (the other side)סטרא אחרא
- The realm opposed to holiness.
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will. ×2
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The channel that connects and transmits. ×1
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×1
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×1