Parshas Va’eschanan

The maamarim 12

1. 1 ואתחנן אל ה׳ וגו׳ אתה החילות וגו׳ “And I pleaded to Havayah … You have begun” Moshe’s words “You have begun” mean that at Sinai G‑d Himself began: He gave the Torah as a pure arousal from above, a free gift from His very essence that no human effort can reach. Moshe pleaded to draw that gift into Knesses Yisrael in the Land, but its revelation on its own was not granted then: an arousal from above awakened an arousal from below, and Israel entered with the mitzvos; the gift revealed on its own awaits the time to come, when “they shall see eye to eye.” Maamar 1.16 paragraphs~1 h162 sourcesEnglish
2. 2 קיצור מהדרוש ע״פ ואתחנן אל ה׳ A Summary of the Discourse on “And I Pleaded to Havayah” Man, “the lamp of Havayah,” reveals G‑d’s power to create from nothing in his own heart through prayer, an arousal from below; but Torah, and Moshe’s plea, reach a higher revelation that comes from G‑d’s free grace alone and can only be glimpsed, like a flash of lightning. Maamar 2.5 paragraphs~10 min48 sourcesEnglish
3. 3 ביאור ואתחנן An explanation of “And I pleaded” (Va’eschanan) Moshe’s plea to enter the Land was a request to draw into the Congregation of Israel a revelation of “sight”: an arousal from above, rooted in Chochmah and in the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, that does not depend on any arousal from below. He drew only “hearing” and an encompassing light; the inner revelation of sight awaits the Time to Come. Maamar 3.Biur4 paragraphs~45 min91 sourcesEnglish
4. 4 וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך וגו׳ “And you shall know this day, and take it to your heart” G‑d as He fills the worlds can be known and felt, but G‑d as He transcends them, unchanged by their existence, can only be believed. Torah and mitzvos, performed “this day” in this world, nurture that faith until it becomes felt knowledge, as it will be fully in the time to come. Maamar 4.13 paragraphs~50 min168 sourcesEnglish
5. 5 ביאור הדברים ע״פ וידעת היום כו׳ An Explanation of “And You Shall Know This Day” There are two levels of knowing G‑d: a lower Daas, born of understanding, that grasps G‑d as He fills the worlds, and a higher Daas, rooted in Keser, that reaches the light beyond them. “And you shall know this day” calls on us to draw that higher knowledge into faith, here in this world, through Torah and mitzvos, preparing for the time when “the earth shall be full of knowledge.” Maamar 5.Biur27 paragraphs~1 h 5 min174 sourcesEnglish
6. 6 להבין בתוספת ביאור ע״פ וידעת היום והשבות אל… To understand, with additional explanation, the verse “Know this day…” Daas is knowing and sensing that something exists without grasping what it is, so even sovev kol almin, which no thought can grasp, can truly be known; the Torah and mitzvos, G‑d’s own wisdom and will clothed in physical matters, draw this Daas into what would otherwise be faith alone. Kept constantly in mind, Daas brings love and awe, and its reward is the future revelation, when what is now known only to exist will be seen. Maamar 6.37 paragraphs~1 h 35 min156 sourcesEnglish
7. 7 וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי הוי׳ הוא… “Know this day and return it to your heart that Havayah is Elokim…” As evening and morning make one day, love and awe, opposites like the two inclinations of the heart, must become one: love that contains awe, awe that holds love within. This comes through a light from “G‑d Most High,” above all the worlds, drawn down by the vav of “and the awesome” and revealed in the joy of a mitzvah; it is drawn down by a person’s own work of bringing even the evil inclination to serve G‑d, and it unites the Names Havayah and Elokim. Maamar 7.15 paragraphs~1 h 10 min188 sourcesEnglish
8. 8 וזאת המצוה אשר צוה ה׳ כו׳ “And this is the commandment which Havayah commanded…” The mitzvos “make” Gan Eden by drawing G‑d’s encompassing light (sovev) into the light that fills the worlds (memalei), and it is the Torah that carries this drawing-down into the physical deed. Because the mitzvos are done with physical things raised out of kelipas nogah, they need a double guarding, the Written Torah from within and the Oral Torah from without, and this guarding rests on awe and a heartfelt love of G‑d. Maamar 8.23 paragraphs~1 h 5 min181 sourcesEnglish
9. 9 למען תירא את הוי׳ אלקיך So that you will fear Havayah your G‑d The mitzvos come down through Malchus yet are rooted in Keser, and they are garments that clothe the soul; the Oral Torah is the house that guards those garments by refining good from evil. But it is “the house of Havayah,” and truly guards, only when the Torah is studied with fear of G‑d. Maamar 9.17 paragraphs~55 min119 sourcesEnglish
10. 10 שמע ישראל הוי׳ אלקינו הוי׳ אחד ואהבת כו׳ Hear, O Israel, Havayah is our G‑d, Havayah is One The Shema names Havayah twice because there are two levels: “Havayah is One,” G‑d’s oneness within creation, and “Havayah is our G‑d,” His singularity (Yachid), the root of the soul’s Yechidah. Contemplating this once brought love by itself; since the destruction, love comes only through accepting the yoke of Heaven, nullifying one’s will, which, like a seed that rots before it grows, opens the way to boundless love “with all your might.” Maamar 10.16 paragraphs~40 min120 sourcesEnglish
11. 11 ענין ק״ש אחד ואהבת כו׳ The Subject of the Shema: “One” and “You Shall Love” G‑d is “One, but not in number”: He stands beyond every ratio and every chain of cause and effect, and the worlds receive only His “name.” Contemplating this at length, as the Shema and the prayers before it are designed to do, awakens love from the innermost point of the soul, and that love draws G‑dliness into Torah and mitzvos. Maamar 11.8 paragraphs~45 min104 sourcesEnglish
12. 12 ואהבת את הוי׳ אלקיך כו׳ “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d” In the Shema, love and restraint are crossed: the first section’s love is outwardly Chesed but inwardly the Gevurah of the soul’s flight beyond every limit (the Name of forty-two), and the second section’s warnings are outwardly Gevurah but inwardly the Chesed of the Name Av, the Infinite Light drawn down into vessels. Maamar 12.18 paragraphs~50 min131 sourcesEnglish

The Rebbe’s maamarim on this parsha 1

The Rebbe built one of his maamarim (5723) 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 4וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך וגו׳1 maamar · 5723

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 – maamar 3 ¶2~90 min
2. MONMaamar 3 ¶3 – maamar 5 ¶8~95 min
3. TUEMaamar 5 ¶9 – maamar 6 ¶21~92 min
4. WEDMaamar 6 ¶22 – maamar 7 ¶8~94 min
5. THUMaamar 7 ¶9 – maamar 8 ¶23~86 min
6. FRIMaamar 9 ¶1 – maamar 10 ¶16~96 min
7. SHABMaamar 11 ¶1 – maamar 12 ¶18~94 min