Torah Ohr · Parshas Bereishis · Maamar 9
יבל הוא היה אבי יושב אהל ומקנה
“Yaval — he was the father of those who dwell in tents”
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The big idea
Every ascent to a higher level comes through “song,” the nullification of one’s existing self, as a seed must rot before it sprouts. Yuval with his harp is that song; Yaval, “father of tent-dwellers and cattle,” is its source, an encompassing light beyond division that can be drawn down even into the lowest things.
The maamar in brief
The maamar reads the verses about Lemech’s sons, Yaval and Yuval, through the Mishnah “all that have a shir go out with the shir,” taking shir as “song.” Song is bittul, the nullification of one’s “something”: nothing rises to a new level unless it first becomes “nothing,” like a seed that must decompose before it grows. Souls and angels ascend from one comprehension to a greater one only by setting aside the first; this is the “pillar” joining the lower and higher Gardens of Eden, and the reason song accompanied the Temple sacrifices. Nullification has grades — a simple song of bare self-effacement, and double, triple and quadruple songs blended with love, awe and compassion — illustrated by the pillar’s colors, the four winds and the sun’s daily circuit. Yuval, “the one who conveys,” is this song that carries upward. Yaval is its source: the “tent” G‑d set for the sun, an encompassing light in which everything blends and which, having no above and below, reaches even to “cattle,” as Yaakov, who dwelt in tents, drew that lofty level into his shepherding.
Outline
- Song as the way of ascent“All that have song go out with song”: every ascent requires nullifying one’s existing self and comprehension, like a seed that rots before it grows; this is the pillar between the Gardens of Eden and the song at the sacrifices.¶1–2
- Grades of songSimple, double, triple and quadruple song: bare nullification, or nullification blended with love, awe and more, illustrated by the pillar’s colors, the four winds and the sun’s path.¶3
- Yuval: the harp that carries upwardYuval, from “conveying,” is song, which carries the soul upward.¶4
- Yaval: the tent and the cattleThe “tent” is an encompassing light, the source of nullification; being beyond division, it reaches down even to “cattle,” as with Yaakov the tent-dweller who became a shepherd.¶5
Key concepts
- Songשיר
- In this maamar, the self-nullification by which a soul or angel leaves its present level and rises to a higher one.
- Nullification of the “something”ביטול היש
- Setting aside one’s existing self and understanding; a new, greater “something” can come only from a state of “nothing.”
- The pillar in the Garden of Edenעמוד שבין ג״ע התחתון לג״ע העליון
- The Zohar’s pillar by which souls rise from the lower to the higher Garden of Eden; here it is the state of nullification itself.
- Simple, double, triple and quadruple songשיר פשוט, כפול, משולש, מרובע
- Grades of nullification: bare self-effacement, or self-effacement blended with one, two or more emotions such as love, awe and compassion.
- Encompassing lightמקיף
- Light that surrounds rather than enters, symbolized by the “tent”; it is above division, blends everything, and so can be drawn even to the lowest levels.
For children · ages 9–13
Rising higher through song
The big idea
To grow closer to G‑d we must first set aside what we already are, and this humble setting aside is the “song” that lifts us higher.
The Torah tells of two brothers: Yaval, “the father of those who dwell in tents and keep cattle,” and Yuval, “the father of all who play the harp and the pipe.” The maamar explains them with a teaching of our Sages: “All that have song go out with song.” Here “song” (shir) means bittul, setting ourselves aside before G‑d. Nothing can rise to a new, higher level while it holds on to what it already is. Even souls and angels, to understand G‑d more deeply, must first let go of their earlier understanding. That is why the Levi’im sang when an offering was brought in the Beis HaMikdash: an offering goes up, and going up needs song. Some song is plain humility; some is joined with love of G‑d, or with awe, or with both. Yuval, whose name means “one who carries,” is this song that carries a person upward. Yaval is its source: the “tent,” a light that surrounds everything and is not divided into high and low. Because of this, it can reach even the “cattle,” the plainest things, just as Yaakov, who “dwelt in tents,” brought that holiness into his work as a shepherd.
The mashal
A seed planted in the ground must first rot and stop being a seed. Only then does a new plant grow from it, with many more seeds than before. So too a person must first set aside their old self to grow into something greater.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why must something let go of what it already is before it can rise higher?
- What does the seed in the ground teach us about growing in our learning and our Yiddishkeit?
- How can you bring the feeling of davening or learning into an ordinary job this week, the way Yaakov did as a shepherd?
Explanation © likuteitorah.com, CC BY-NC 4.0: retold for children from our translation and explanation, with AI assistance; not yet reviewed by a human editor.
In the Rebbe’s light · 2
AI research Found by AI reading every place in the Rebbe’s works that cites this maamar, and checked against each source by a second AI reader, the less certain by a third. Only what rated high is shown: the Rebbe’s own words, about this very passage. No person has reviewed it yet, so check the place itself before relying on a detail. See something to correct?
The maamar in the Rebbe’s light
Two edited sichos of the Rebbe meet this short maamar at its core: that song is bittul („שהוא בחי׳ בטול היש”), and that bittul is the way of every ascent „ממהות למהות” (“from one essence to another”). In a sicha of Shabbos Ki Seitzei 5714 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 19), citing this passage, he gives the rule with its condition: when an ascent is beyond all proportion to the level before it, bittul must come first, and that bittul is what makes one a vessel (כלי) for the new level, as with the pillar (עמוד) between the lower and the higher Gan Eden. In a sicha of Shabbos Korach, 3 Tammuz 5745 (vol. 28), he sets out the discourse on “Knives of flint” (חרבות צורים) to which our paragraph points: the sun’s motion is its bowing, the song of its soul, so that Yehoshua had only to tell it to be silent („שמש בגבעון דום”) for it to stand still; and he adds his own suggestion about the angel who drives it. Perhaps, in our own reading, the two together show the maamar’s song from both sides: the inner setting-aside that opens a new level, and the constant motion it keeps in the world.
Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶2
The Rebbe explains
In an edited sicha of Shabbos Ki Seitzei 5714, asking why the Torah ties the parapet („מעקה”, ma’akeh) to „בית חדש” (“a new house”), the Rebbe explains that what makes a person a vessel for anything truly new is bittul, and brings the pillar between the two Gardens of Eden as the known example.
The Rebbe states the rule this passage teaches, and states when it holds: when an ascent is beyond all proportion to the level before it, „מוז פאר דער עלי׳ זיין ביטול” (bittul must come before the ascent), and through that bittul one becomes a vessel for it, as with the pillar and the River Dinur („העמוד ונהר דינור”) one passes through from the lower to the higher Gan Eden. His own notes send the reader here for both the rule and the pillar. In his words, „די כלי צו אן ענין של חידוש איז — ביטול” (bittul is “the vessel” for anything new).
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו בחי׳ עמוד שבין ג״ע התחתון לג״ע העליון הוא בחי׳ בטול כנ״ל
The Rebbe
ווען די עלי׳ איז באין ערוך לגבי דער פריערדיקער מדריגה מוז פאַר דער עלי׳ זיין ביטול, וואָס דורכדעם ווערט מען אַ כלי צו דער עלי׳
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יט, p. 212, notes 44-45 (sicha from p. 208) · ש״פ תצא, י״ג אלול, תשי״ד
- ¶3
Background from the Rebbe
In an edited sicha of Shabbos Korach, 3 Tammuz 5745, the day of „שמש בגבעון דום” (“Sun, be still in Givon”), the Rebbe asks why Yehoshua stopped the moon too, and why he said dom (דום, “be silent”) rather than amod (“stand”), and answers from the discourses he names as the Mitteler Rebbe’s (the Siddur’s “Knives of flint”) and the Tzemach Tzedek’s.
This is the discourse our paragraph points to in its parenthesis, and the Rebbe sets out its content: the sun has body and soul, and „גופו סובב בהשתחוואה גשמית לפי שנפשו הרוחנית משתחווה בהשתחוואה רוחנית” (its body circles in physical bowing because its soul bows in spirit); that bowing is „השירה שאומר נפש גלגל השמש בצאתו” (the song the sun’s soul says as it goes out). So Yehoshua said “be silent”, from saying song, and the sun stood still of itself, “for all the time it goes it says song”. He adds a suggestion of his own (b’derech efshar): the angel who leads the sun is so moved by the privilege of his mission that he drives it „במהירות גדולה כזו” (at its tremendous speed).
The Alter Rebbe
גוף השמש הולך תמיד בגשמיות בבחי׳ בטול (כמבואר בענין שמש בגבעון דום כו׳ בדרוש דחרבות צורים)
The Rebbe
וגופו סובב בהשתחוואה גשמית לפי שנפשו הרוחנית משתחווה בהשתחוואה רוחנית. וכמבואר שם שזהו ענין השירה שאומר נפש גלגל השמש בצאתו
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כח, p. 262 (sicha from p. 260) · ש״פ קרח, ג׳ תמוז, תשמ״ה
Short quotes only, with the place of each so it can be read in full. The Rebbe’s sichos, letters and maamarim are published by Kehot and by Vaad Hanochos B’Lahak (lahak.org).
Song as the way of ascent ¶1–2
1יבל הוא12 היה אבי3 יושב אהל ומקנה. ושם אחיו יובל הוא היה אבי כל תופש כנור ועוגב. הנה ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] כל בעלי השיר יוצאין בשיר4 כו׳.
“Yaval — he was the father of those who dwell in tents and [keep] cattle. And his brother’s name was Yuval; he was the father of all who handle the harp and the pipe.” Now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “All that possess song (shir) go out with song,” etc.
The maamar opens with the verses about Lemech’s sons: Yaval, “father of those who dwell in tents and [keep] cattle,” and his brother Yuval, “father of all who handle the harp and pipe.” It then cites a Mishnah on which animals may go out on Shabbos, “all that have a shir go out with the shir”: in the Mishnah a shir is a chain collar, but the Alter Rebbe reads the word in its other sense, “song.”
¶5 Hold the opening verse: paragraph 4 explains Yuval, paragraph 5 Yaval.
פי׳ שכל בחי׳ העלאה ממהות למהות כמו מג״ע [מגן עדן] התחתון לג״ע [לגן עדן] העליון וכדומה הוא ע״י השיר שהוא בחי׳ בטול היש
The meaning: every elevation from one state of being to another — such as from the lower Garden of Eden to the higher Garden of Eden, and the like — is through song, which is the level of the nullification of the “something” (bittul hayesh).
He explains: every ascent from one level of existence to a higher one — for instance, a soul’s rise from the lower Garden of Eden to the higher Garden of Eden — takes place through “song,” and song is the nullification of one’s “something” (bittul hayesh): setting aside one’s own existence and self-awareness.
וכנודע שלא יוכל להתהוות מיש ליש5 אא״כ [אלא אם כן] נעשה היש תחילה בחי׳ אין אז יוכל להתהוות ממנו יש אחר בתוס׳ [בתוספת] ברכה.
As is known, a “something” cannot come into being from a “something” unless the “something” first becomes a state of “nothing”; then another “something” can come into being from it, with added blessing.
A general rule: nothing new comes from a thing while it remains what it is; it must first become “nothing,” and then a new, greater existence can emerge from it, “with added blessing.”
כמשל הגרעין הנזרע בארץ שצריך להיות נרקב בארץ6 ואח״כ יכול לצמוח מזה הרבה גרעיני׳ [גרעינים].
It is like the seed sown in the ground, which must rot in the ground, and afterward many seeds can grow from it.
A seed planted in the ground illustrates this: it must first decompose and lose its form, and only then can a plant bearing many seeds grow from it.
The paragraph introduces the maamar’s theme: “song” is self-nullification (bittul), and only through such nullification can anything rise to a higher level, as a seed must rot before it grows.
The Alter Rebbe’s discourses on sayings of the Sages add that when the seed rots, the “power of delight” within it — the level of “nothing” — remains and produces the growth; they also give the examples of the fetus formed from a drop and the chick from the egg.
TermsBittul hayeshGan EdenBerachahYesh and ayin+2
- Bittul hayesh ביטול היש
- Gan Eden גן עדן
- Berachah ברכה
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
Marei mekomos
- 1יבל הוא הי׳ אבי יושב · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי בסה״מ תקס״ח כרך א ע׳ תקנג, בהתחלה ”ותלד עדה את יבל”. בתו״א לעמבערג ב, ב הנחה אחרת משנת תקס״ט. ראה במפתח המאמרים משנת הנ״ל. באחד מהכת״י כותרת: על חתונת בנו. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. המאמר עם ביאורים והגהות באוה״ת כרך ג תקפה, א (מלקו״ת לג״פ מה, א). וביאור שם תקפו, א. הגהות בדף תקפט, א. לכללות מאמר זה ראה ד״ה כל המאריך באחד — מאמרי אדה״ז על מארז״ל ע׳ כב ואילך.
- 2יבל הוא הי׳ · Genesis 4:21
- 3
- 4כל בעלי השיר יוצאין בשיר · Shabbat 51b:8–10
- 5להתהוות מיש ליש · בבוך אדה״ז — יבל אבי יושב: להתהוות דבר יש מיש. ראה ג״כ מאמרי אדה״ז תקס״ז ע׳ נג ואילך. אוה״ת בראשית ט, ב ואילך. המשך וככה תרל״ז פמ״ב ואילך.
- 6להיות נרקב בארץ · באוה״ת בראשית כרך ג תקפה, א ובלקו״ת לג״פ מה, א: להתרקב מקודם. במאמרי אדה״ז על מארז״ל ע׳ כג ”שיתרקב תחלה וישאר כח התענוג שבגרעין בחי׳ אין”, וכתב שם עוד דוגמא מהוולד שנוצר מטפה, ומאפרוח. וראה תו״ח בראשית לד, א שמבאר ב׳ המשלים.
2וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] למעלה בנשמות ומלאכים כדי שיהיה לו עלייה בתוספת השגה צריך מקודם להיות בבחי׳ בטול היש והשגה ראשונה1 שהיה לו ואח״כ יוכל לעלות השגה יותר גדולה
So too above, in souls and angels: in order for one to have an ascent with added comprehension, he must first be in a state of nullification of his “something” and of the first comprehension he had, and afterward he can rise to a greater comprehension.
The same rule holds for souls and angels above: to rise to a greater comprehension of G‑dliness, one must first set aside one’s own existence and the comprehension one already had; only then can one rise to a greater one.
And this is the level of the pillar between the lower Garden of Eden and the higher Garden of Eden: it is the level of nullification, as mentioned above.
This is the meaning of the “pillar” that, in the Zohar, joins the lower and higher Gardens of Eden: the pillar by which souls ascend is the state of nullification.
וזהו כל בעלי השיר יוצאין בהשגתם ונמשכים לעלות למעלה ע״י השיר ולכן בשעת הקרבת הקרבן היה צריך להיות ג״כ שיר4
And this is [the meaning of] “all that possess song go out” — in their comprehension — “and are drawn” to rise upward through song. Therefore at the time the sacrifice was offered there also had to be song,
So “all that have song go out” — they go beyond their present comprehension — “and are drawn” upward through song. This is why song accompanied the offering of sacrifices in the Temple.
כי ענין הקרבנות הוא העלאה ממטה למעלה אשה ריח ניחוח5 וצריך לזה ג״כ בחי׳ שיר בחי׳ בטול כנ״ל שיוכל להתעלות:6
for the matter of the sacrifices is an elevation from below to above, “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance”; and for this, too, there must be the level of song, the level of nullification, as mentioned above, so that it can be elevated.
A sacrifice is an elevation from below to above (“a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance”), and elevation requires song, that is, nullification.
Souls and angels rise from one level of comprehension to the next only by nullifying the previous one; this “song” is the pillar between the Gardens of Eden and the reason song accompanied the sacrifices.
Elsewhere in Torah Ohr (Tetzaveh) the Alter Rebbe describes many levels of the Garden of Eden, with a pillar joining each higher and lower level for each righteous person according to his rank, so that they “go from strength to strength” in endless ascents.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In an edited sicha of Shabbos Ki Seitzei 5714, asking why the Torah ties the parapet („מעקה”, ma’akeh) to „בית חדש” (“a new house”), the Rebbe explains that what makes a person a vessel for anything truly new is bittul, and brings the pillar between the two Gardens of Eden as the known example.
The Rebbe states the rule this passage teaches, and states when it holds: when an ascent is beyond all proportion to the level before it, „מוז פאר דער עלי׳ זיין ביטול” (bittul must come before the ascent), and through that bittul one becomes a vessel for it, as with the pillar and the River Dinur („העמוד ונהר דינור”) one passes through from the lower to the higher Gan Eden. His own notes send the reader here for both the rule and the pillar. In his words, „די כלי צו אן ענין של חידוש איז — ביטול” (bittul is “the vessel” for anything new).
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו בחי׳ עמוד שבין ג״ע התחתון לג״ע העליון הוא בחי׳ בטול כנ״ל
The Rebbe
ווען די עלי׳ איז באין ערוך לגבי דער פריערדיקער מדריגה מוז פאַר דער עלי׳ זיין ביטול, וואָס דורכדעם ווערט מען אַ כלי צו דער עלי׳
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יט, p. 212, notes 44-45 (sicha from p. 208) · ש״פ תצא, י״ג אלול, תשי״ד
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsRei’achBittul hayeshKorbanosGan Eden+5
Marei mekomos
- 1והשגה ראשונה · בכת״י הנ״ל מהשגה ראשונה.
- 2וזהו בחי׳ עמוד שבין ג״ע התחתון לג״ע העליון · Zohar I, 219a
- 3עמוד שבין ג״ע התחתון לג״ע העליון · Zohar, Vayakhel 24:308–316
- 4בשעת הקרבת הקרבן היה צריך להיות ג״כ שיר · Arakhin 11a
- 5אשה ריח ניחוח · Leviticus 1:9
- 6
Grades of song ¶3
Nullification has many levels, and so does song. The Alter Rebbe distinguishes a “simple” and a “double” song, recalling that the pillar in the Garden of Eden has three colors: white (Chesed, kindness), red (Gevurah, restraint), and green, which blends them.
יש בחי׳ בטול פשוט נקודה אחת בחי׳ יו״ד ויש בחי׳ בטול שנכלל בזה גם מדות בחי׳ אהבה או יראה וכו׳ וכן בחיצוניות המדות שהן חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] יש התכללות ג״כ חסד שבגבורה
There is a level of simple nullification, a single point, the level of Yud; and there is a level of nullification in which emotive attributes are also included — the level of love or awe, etc. And so too in the outer dimension of the emotive attributes, which are Chesed and Gevurah, there is also integration: Chesed within Gevurah,
The simplest nullification is a single “point,” like the letter Yud: bare self-effacement. A fuller nullification includes an emotion as well, such as love or awe. Even the outward expressions of kindness and restraint can be blended, with kindness contained within severity.
כמו המכה את בנו שהוא בחי׳ גבורה ונכלל בזה בחי׳ חסד ואהבה שמחמת אהבה רצונו להדריכו בדרך הישר ולכן מכה דייקא בנו ולא אחר כי את אשר יאהב יוכיח.
like one who strikes his son, which is the level of Gevurah, and within it is included the level of Chesed and love: out of love he wishes to guide him in the straight path, and therefore he strikes specifically his son and not another, “for whom He loves He rebukes.”
A father who strikes his son acts with severity, but out of love, to set him on the right path; that is why he strikes his own son and not another’s child. As Proverbs says, “whom He loves He rebukes.”
וכשהבטול הוא בטול פשוט נקרא שיר פשוט וכשיש בזה עוד מדה אחת אהבה או יראה (עמ״ש בפי׳ הזהר פ׳ קרח3 ע״פ קרואי מועד)45 נקרא שיר כפול
When the nullification is simple nullification, it is called a simple song; and when there is in it one more attribute, love or awe (see what is explained on the Zohar, Parshas Korach, on the verse “called to the assembly”), it is called a double song;
Bare nullification is a “simple song”; nullification joined with one emotion, love or awe, is a “double song.” The parenthesis points to what is explained on the Zohar’s passage about Korach’s men, “called to the assembly.”
וכשיש התכללות המדות (אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] גם שניהם בהבטול) נק׳ שיר משולש ועד״ז יש ג״כ שיר מרובע6
and when there is an integration of the attributes (love and awe, both of them together in the nullification), it is called a triple song; and in the same way there is also a quadruple song
When love and awe are both joined in the nullification, it is a “triple song,” and in the same way there can be a “quadruple song.”
(עמ״ש בענין תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני ושש7 משזר שהן התכללות ד׳ בחי׳ יחד אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] ורחמנות ובחי׳ שש הוא האהבה מוסתרת כו׳)8
(see what is explained on the matter of the blue wool, purple wool, scarlet wool and twisted linen (shesh), which are the integration of four levels together: love, awe and compassion, and the level of shesh is the hidden love, etc.),
The four materials of the Tabernacle’s tapestries — blue, purple and scarlet wool and twisted linen — stand for four blended qualities: love, awe, compassion, and shesh, the hidden love (the innate love every Jewish soul has for G‑d).
for “As the four winds of the heavens I have spread you out,” which is the integration from north to south through the wind that blows from north to south,
The quadruple blending is like Zechariah’s “four winds of heaven”: a wind blowing from north to south blends the qualities of those two directions.
וכן ממזרח למערב כו׳ (ולפעמים יש התכללות כל הד׳ בחי׳ מזרח מערב צפון ודרום ע״י הרוח המנשב כך כו׳)
and likewise from east to west, etc. (and sometimes there is an integration of all four levels — east, west, north and south — through the wind blowing thus, etc.).
A wind from east to west does the same; sometimes a wind blends all four directions together.
וזהו ג״כ ענין הליכת השמש ממזרח למערב הוא ג״כ ענין בטול
This is also the matter of the sun’s movement from east to west: it too is a matter of nullification;
The sun’s daily path from east to west is also an expression of nullification.
¶5 Where the sun's nullification and longing come from: paragraph 5 explains.
והוא בחי׳ נפש שבשמש שהוא בחי׳ השגתה ומחמת זה גוף השמש הולך תמיד בגשמיות בבחי׳ בטול (כמבואר בענין שמש בגבעון דום12 כו׳ בדרוש דחרבות צורים).1314
and it is the level of the soul within the sun, which is its comprehension; and because of this the body of the sun moves constantly, physically, in a state of nullification (as explained regarding “Sun, be still in Givon,” etc., in the discourse on “Knives of flint”).
It comes from the “soul” of the sun, its comprehension, and because of it the sun’s physical body moves constantly in self-nullification. The maamar refers to the discourse on “Knives of flint” (in the Siddur, Kehot notes), where Yehoshua’s “Sun, be still (dom) in Givon” is explained; dom means both “stand still” and “be silent.”
ויש בזה ב׳ דעות בהליכתה אם הוא מצד אהבה ותשוקה או מצד בטול הפשוט. ובאמת יש לפעמים בטול פשוט ולפעמים יש בזה ג״כ בחי׳ אהבה כנ״ל
There are two views about its movement: whether it is out of love and longing or out of simple nullification. In truth, sometimes there is simple nullification and sometimes there is also the level of love in it, as mentioned above
There are two views on what drives the sun’s movement: love and longing, or bare nullification. In truth both occur: sometimes simple nullification, sometimes nullification with love.
(וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] וזרח השמש1516 כו׳ הולך אל דרום וסובב אל צפון17 כו׳ וכדפי׳ ע״ז בזהר ר״פ ויצא שהוא להיות בחי׳ התכללות ד׳ בחי׳ מזרח ומערב צו״ד [צפון ודרום] כו׳ וזרח ובא הן מזרח ומערב):18
(and this is [the meaning of] “And the sun rises,” etc., “goes toward the south and circles toward the north,” etc., as the Zohar explains on this at the beginning of Parshas Vayetzei, that it is so that there be the integration of the four levels — east and west, north and south, etc.; and “rises” and “sets” are east and west).
Koheles describes the sun rising and setting (east and west) and going toward the south and circling toward the north. The Zohar at the beginning of Vayetzei reads these verses of the sun, which every day goes out in the east, turns south and north, and is gathered into the west; so its path joins all four directions, the integration of a “quadruple song.”
Nullification, and so “song,” comes in grades: bare self-effacement (a simple song) and self-effacement blended with love, awe or more (double, triple, quadruple song), illustrated by blended colors, winds and the sun’s path.
The Tzemach Tzedek (Or HaTorah, Vayakhel) suggests that the “simple song” corresponds to yechidah, the soul’s simple will, while a “double song” is love and will drawn through Chochmah and Binah.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
„שיר פשוט ושיר כפול” (“Simple song, double song”), then triple and quadruple: the paragraph sorts four kinds of song by what the nullification holds (bare nullification, one emotion, both, all four together), but does not say where the four come from, and calls simple nullification only „בטול פשוט נקודה אחת בחי׳ יו״ד” (“a single point, the level of Yud”). Our commentary does not say where the four songs come from.
The four songs (simple, double, triple, quadruple) are a teaching of the Tikkunei Zohar („בתיקוני זוהר שיש ד׳ שירים”), as the Alter Rebbe says in a related maamar (Maamarei Admur HaZaken al Maamarei Razal, dibbur hamaschil Kol hama’arich b’echad, pp. 25-26). There he explains the simple song as the light of Keser shining in Chochmah alone, „בבחי׳ נקודה” (“as a point”), and the double song as its shining in Chochmah and Binah together, „שני כוחות” (“two powers”); the triple is Tiferes, which joins opposites, and the quadruple includes them all. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) that is why our paragraph calls simple nullification “a single point, the level of Yud”: the Yud, a single point, stands for Chochmah.
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken al Maamarei Razal, dibbur hamaschil Kol hama’arich b’echad, p. כה
וזהו מש״כ בתיקוני זוהר שיש ד׳ שירים שיר פשוט שיר כפול שיר משולש שיר מרובע
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken al Maamarei Razal, dibbur hamaschil Kol hama’arich b’echad, p. כו
וזהו שיר פשוט הוא כשמאיר הארת הכתר רק בבחי׳ חכמה בבחי׳ נקודה
Explained by the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe
„ויש בזה ב׳ דעות בהליכתה אם הוא מצד אהבה ותשוקה או מצד בטול הפשוט” (“There are two views about its movement: whether it is out of love and longing or out of simple nullification.”). The paragraph does not say whose views these are, and our commentary does not either.
Whose are the two views? Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) they are the two the Tzemach Tzedek weighs in Or HaTorah (Bamidbar, Masei, pp. 1398-1399). The philosophers explained the spheres’ circling by their longing for the One who moves them; the Tzemach Tzedek grants „שתשוקתם אל המניע גורמת סיבובם” (that longing does move them), but asks why, then, westward, and answers that their circling is also „ענין השתחוואה וביטול המציאות” (bowing and self-nullification), which is above longing, westward because the Shechinah is revealed in the west. In his account both are true, as our paragraph concludes: „ובאמת יש לפעמים בטול פשוט ולפעמים יש בזה ג״כ בחי׳ אהבה” (sometimes bare nullification, and sometimes love as well).
the Tzemach Tzedek: Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 4 (Pinchas-Masei), Masei, p. א׳שצט
דהסיבוב שלהם אינה מסיבת התשוקה לבד אלא הוא ענין השתחוואה וביטול המציאות ג״כ שהוא למעלה מענין התשוקה
the Rebbe: Likkutei Sichos, vol. כח, p. 262
הילוך השמש הוא בחי׳ השתחוואה שלו בביטול גדול ונורא
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In an edited sicha of Shabbos Korach, 3 Tammuz 5745, the day of „שמש בגבעון דום” (“Sun, be still in Givon”), the Rebbe asks why Yehoshua stopped the moon too, and why he said dom (דום, “be silent”) rather than amod (“stand”), and answers from the discourses he names as the Mitteler Rebbe’s (the Siddur’s “Knives of flint”) and the Tzemach Tzedek’s.
This is the discourse our paragraph points to in its parenthesis, and the Rebbe sets out its content: the sun has body and soul, and „גופו סובב בהשתחוואה גשמית לפי שנפשו הרוחנית משתחווה בהשתחוואה רוחנית” (its body circles in physical bowing because its soul bows in spirit); that bowing is „השירה שאומר נפש גלגל השמש בצאתו” (the song the sun’s soul says as it goes out). So Yehoshua said “be silent”, from saying song, and the sun stood still of itself, “for all the time it goes it says song”. He adds a suggestion of his own (b’derech efshar): the angel who leads the sun is so moved by the privilege of his mission that he drives it „במהירות גדולה כזו” (at its tremendous speed).
The Alter Rebbe
גוף השמש הולך תמיד בגשמיות בבחי׳ בטול (כמבואר בענין שמש בגבעון דום כו׳ בדרוש דחרבות צורים)
The Rebbe
וגופו סובב בהשתחוואה גשמית לפי שנפשו הרוחנית משתחווה בהשתחוואה רוחנית. וכמבואר שם שזהו ענין השירה שאומר נפש גלגל השמש בצאתו
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כח, p. 262 (sicha from p. 260) · ש״פ קרח, ג׳ תמוז, תשמ״ה
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsTechelesRachamim rabimAhavah v’yirahChitzoniyus+6
- Techeles תכלת
- Rachamim rabim רחמים רבים
- Ahavah v’yirah אהבה ויראה
- Chitzoniyus חיצוניות
- Gevurah גבורה
- Chesed חסד
- Hiskallelus התכללות
- Ratzon רצון
- Middos מדות
Also Bittul
Marei mekomos
- 1שיר פשוט ושיר כפול · באוה״ת פ׳ ויקהל ע׳ ב׳קפז מציין ע״ז: ”וי״ל דשיר פשוט זהו כענין בחי׳ יחידה רצון פשוט וכשהאהבה והרצון נמשך ע״י חו״ב נק׳ שיר כפול” עכ״ל. ראה מאמרי אדה״ז על מארז״ל ע׳ כה.
- 2וכנודע שבהעמוד יש ג׳ גוונים · Zohar I, 219a
- 3בפי׳ הזהר פ׳ קרח · קעו, ב.
- 4קרואי מועד · Numbers 16:2
- 5קרואי מועד · Zohar, Korach 1:5–4:15
- 6שו״ה אחר — וכשהביטול . . ועד״ז יש ג״כ שיר מרובע · מובא באוה״ת בראשית כרך ז תתתג, א.
- 7תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני ושש · Exodus 25:4
- 8שו״ה התכללות — האהבה מוסתרת כו׳ · בבוך מכתבים סלונים סג, א באוה״ת בראשית כרך ג תקפה, ב (מלקו״ת לג״פ מה, א) נוסף: וי״ל שהוא בחי׳ הביטול כו׳.
- 9כי כארבע רוחות · בהגהת הרה״ח ר׳ אשר נוסף: [וזהו ג״כ ענין].
- 10כי כארבע רוחות · זכרי׳, ב, י.
- 11כי כארבע רוחות השמים פרשתי אתכם · Zechariah 2:10
- 12שמש בגבעון דום · Joshua 10:12
- 13בדרוש דחרבות צורים · בסידור שער המילה ובאוה״ת דרושים לחג השבועות ד״ה תורת ה׳ תמימה ע׳ קט.
- 14חרבות צורים · Joshua 5:2
- 15וזרח השמש · Ecclesiastes 1:5
- 16וזרח השמש · Zohar, Vayetzei 1:1–7
- 17הולך אל דרום וסובב אל צפון · Ecclesiastes 1:6
- 18
Yuval: the harp that carries upward ¶4
4ז, דוזהו ענין יובל אבי כל תופש כנור1 כו׳ פי׳ יובל לשון הולכה שמוביל וממשיך למעלה ע״י כנור ועוגב בחי׳ שיר כנ״ל שע״י השיר הוא העלייה יוצאין בשיר2 כו׳.
And this is the meaning of “Yuval, the father of all who handle the harp,” etc. The meaning: Yuval is a term of conveying (holachah), for he conveys (movil) and draws upward through the harp and the pipe, the level of song mentioned above; for through song there is the ascent — “they go out with song,” etc.
Now the verse about Yuval is explained. Yuval is read as a term of holachah, “conveying”: the name shares its root with movil, “he conveys,” for he conveys and draws upward through the harp and pipe — through song, which is nullification. This is the ascent of “they go out with song.”
Yuval, “father of all who handle the harp,” represents song — nullification — which carries the soul upward.
Marei mekomos
- 1יובל אבי כל תופש כנור · Genesis 4:21
- 2יוצאין בשיר · Shabbat 51b:8–10
Yaval: the tent and the cattle ¶5
5ויבל הוא היה אבי יושב אהל1 ומקנה2 כי כתיב לשמש שם אהל בהם3 פי׳ כדי שיהיה להשמש בחי׳ זו שיהיה לה בחי׳ בטול ותשוקה4 הוא ע״י אהל בהם.
“And Yaval was the father of those who dwell in tents and [keep] cattle”: for it is written, “For the sun He set a tent in them.” The meaning: in order that the sun have this quality — that it have nullification and longing — this is through “a tent in them.”
Yaval, the other brother, represents the source of that nullification. The Psalmist says G‑d “set a tent for the sun in them”: the sun’s nullification and longing, described above, come from this “tent.”
¶1 This explains Yaval from the verse opening paragraph 1.
¶3 This explains the sun's nullification from paragraph 3: "a tent in them."
אהל הוא בבחי׳ מקיף מלמעלה נמשך הארה זו שתהיה תמיד בבחי׳ בטול5 וזהו בחי׳ יבל לשון ויבל לחמורים6 שהוא ענין בלבול ותערובות
A tent is in the manner of an encompassing [light]: from above this radiance is drawn so that it be constantly in a state of nullification. And this is the level of Yaval, from the term “and he gave fodder (vayavol) to the donkeys,” which is a matter of mixing (bilbul) and blending.
A tent surrounds whatever is within it, so it represents an encompassing light (makif) from above, which keeps the sun constantly in nullification. The name Yaval recalls “he gave fodder (vayavol) to the donkeys” — fodder mixed together — and so is read as bilbul, mixing and blending.
פי׳ שהיא הארה מבחי׳ מקיף ששם הוא בלי התחלקות ויוכל להתערב הכל שיומשך הארה גם למטה שיוכל להיות אח״כ בחי׳ יובל אבי כל תופש כנור שהוא בחי׳ בטול כנ״ל
The meaning: it is a radiance from the level of the encompassing [light], where there is no division and everything can be blended, so that the radiance be drawn also below, so that afterward there can be the level of “Yuval, the father of all who handle the harp,” which is the level of nullification, as mentioned above.
An encompassing light is above all divisions, so everything can be “blended” in it, and its radiance can reach even below. This makes possible the next stage, Yuval and his harp — the nullification of song.
וזהו אבי יושב אהל ומקנה שבחי׳ אהל הוא בחי׳ מקיף כנ״ל ולכן יוכל להיות גם למקנה להמשיך למטה (כי המקיף אין בו מעלה ומטה כמ״ש ומתחת זרועות עולם)7
And this is [the meaning of] “the father of those who dwell in tents and [keep] cattle”: the level of “tent” is the level of the encompassing [light], as mentioned above, and therefore it can also be for cattle — to draw down below (for the encompassing [light] has no above and below, as it is written, “and beneath are the everlasting arms”).
So Yaval is “father of those who dwell in tents” — the encompassing light — and for that very reason he can also be “father of cattle,” drawing that light down into the lowest things; for an encompassing light surrounds everything equally and has no “above” and “below,” as in “beneath are the everlasting arms.”
Like Yaakov, who was a shepherd of sheep — “a rod of fresh poplar,” etc. (the integration of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes; see the Zohar, Vayetzei).
Yaakov is the example: he shepherded Lavan’s flocks with rods of fresh poplar, almond and plane tree, which the Zohar reads as a blend of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes.
שאדם אחר רועה צאן הוא רועה בגשמיות משא״כ יעקב שהיה יושב אהלים המשיך מבחי׳ מקיפים להיות רועה צאן
For another man who is a shepherd of sheep is a shepherd in a physical way; but Yaakov, who was one who “dwelt in tents,” drew down from the level of the encompassing lights to be a shepherd of sheep.
An ordinary shepherd tends sheep in a purely physical way; but Yaakov, who “dwelt in tents” — connected to the encompassing lights — drew from that lofty level into his shepherding.
וזהו יושב אהל ומקנה כנ״ל10 (ועמ״ש מענין יובל בפ׳ שלח ע״פ מקושש1112 ועיין עוד מענין מקנה בפ׳ ויצא ע״פ ושש שנים בצאנך1314 כו׳ וע״פ ואלה המשפטים1516 כו׳):1718
And this is [the meaning of] “dwell in tents and [keep] cattle,” as mentioned above. (And see what is explained about Yuval in Parshas Shelach, on the verse “gathering [wood],” and see further about “cattle” in Parshas Vayetzei, on the verse “and six years for your flock,” etc., and on the verse “And these are the ordinances,” etc.)
This is “dwell in tents and [keep] cattle.” The closing parenthesis refers to other discourses: on Yuval (Parshas Shelach, on the man “gathering wood”), and on “cattle” (Vayetzei, “six years for your flock,” and Mishpatim, “And these are the ordinances”).
Yaval stands for the encompassing light (the “tent”) that is the source of nullification; because it is beyond division, it can be drawn down even into the lowest things (“cattle”), as Yaakov drew the lofty level of the “tents” into his work as a shepherd.
In the Buch, a manuscript volume of the Alter Rebbe’s discourses, the maamar ends with a further passage: song is said only over wine (the Talmud’s rule in Arakhin 11a for the Levites’ song in the Temple, sung over the wine libation), and the sacrifices need song, the level of nullification, to be elevated; wine “gladdens Elokim” because song over wine brings nullification and revelation, uniting Havayah (revelation) with Elokim (concealment).
Marei mekomos
- 1יושב אהל · Genesis 25:27
- 2יבל הוא היה אבי יושב אהל ומקנה · Genesis 4:20
- 3לשמש שם אהל בהם · Psalms 19:5
- 4בטול ותשוקה · ביהל אור ע׳ 64 נוסף: (דהיינו ענין סיבובה בהשתחוואה למערב בבחי׳ ביטול) עכ״ל שם.
- 5בבחי׳ בטול · ביהל אור שם: ”ובעמה״מ שער ששי פרק ס״ה דל״ז ע״א פי׳ וזו״נ דאצילות נתעלו בתוך או״א ומכסים עליהם כמו חופת חתן וכלה ועז״נ לשמש שם אהל בהם ר״ל בהם בתוך או״א עכ״ל”.
- 6ויבל לחמורים · Judges 19:21
- 7ומתחת זרועות עולם · Deuteronomy 33:27
- 8מקל לבנה לח · Genesis 30:37
- 9מקל לבנה לח · Zohar, Vayetzei 31:305–32:310
- 10יושב אהל ומקנה כנ״ל · סיום המאמר בבוך אדה״ז — יבל אבי יושב א, א ”וזהו אין אומרים שירה אלא על היין שנאמר יין המשמח כו׳ אם אנשים משמח כו׳ מכאן כו׳ כי ענין הקרבנות הוא ג״כ העלאה ממטה למעלה הוצרך לזה ג״כ בחי׳ שיר בחי׳ ביטול שיוכל להיות העלאה, וזהו המשמח אלקים כו׳ פי׳ כי הוי׳ הוא בחי׳ גילוי ואלקים הוא בחי׳ הסתר וע״י השיר על היין נעשה בחי׳ ביטול וגילוי לכן הוא משמח בחי׳ אלקים בחי׳ הסתר להיות יחוד הוי׳ באלקים, אשה בעלה משמחה נכנס יין יצא סוד כו׳”.
- 11ועמ״ש . . ע״פ מקושש · לקו״ת שלח מב, ד. ובאוה״ת בראשית כרך ג תקפו, א מעתיק הלשון מהלקו״ת עם תוס׳ ביאור.
- 12מקושש · Numbers 15:32
- 13בפ׳ ויצא ע״פ ושש שנים בצאנך · לקמן כג, ג ואילך.
- 14ושש שנים בצאנך · Genesis 31:41
- 15ע״פ ואלה המשפטים · ראה לקמן עו, ב.
- 16ואלה המשפטים · Exodus 21:1
- 17ע׳ בזהר ויצא · קסא, ב.
- 18
Finished the maamar?
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Each Rosh Chodesh the names of those learning here are brought to the Ohel. Add your name, and mark what you learn so it is counted.
In one’s avodah
To grow in understanding and closeness to G‑d, a person must be ready to set aside his present self and even his previous grasp of G‑dliness, as a seed must rot before it sprouts; this nullification, which may be bare or filled with love and awe, is the “song” that lifts him higher. And like Yaakov, who dwelt in tents yet tended flocks, one can bring that lofty level down into ordinary, practical work.
Questions for discussion
- Why must a “something” first become “nothing” before a greater “something” can come from it? How does the seed illustrate this?
- How can giving up a comprehension one already has lead to a greater one? What does this suggest about learning Chassidus?
- What distinguishes a simple song from a double, triple or quadruple song, and what does the father who strikes his son teach about blended attributes?
- Why does the sun serve as an example of nullification, and what are the two views of its motion?
- How does the “tent,” an encompassing light, make it possible to reach down to “cattle,” and how did Yaakov exemplify this?
Key terms in this maamar
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Self-nullification before G‑d, the condition for the Or Ein Sof to rest. Its lower degree is a “something” that bows; its higher, Chochmah’s “what are we,” takes up no place at all.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- The Sefirah of kindness (the right arm; Avraham): giving that comes from its nature to do good, spreading from highest to lowest like water. Gevurah, its opposite, limits it; in tikkun each includes the other. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- The Sefirah of might (the left; Yitzchak), opposite Chesed: described as what limits and contracts Chesed’s flow, and as the life-force in greater intensity, which becomes judgment; included in Chesed, it gives life. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- The emotive powers (in the soul: love, fear, mercy). Born from the intellect and matching its measure, they are rooted above it, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A, emanated to conduct the worlds. ×3Where it’s explained
- The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
- The outer dimension of a level: the part that goes out to give to others, as against pnimiyus, which cleaves to the source. Only the outer descends, becoming the inner of the level below. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- Love, the soul’s longing to cleave to G‑d, and awe, its self-nullification before Him: opposites born of the mind (“son and daughter”), called the two “wings” that lift one’s service on high.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- The Sefirah of the middle line (Yaakov’s attribute) between Chesed and Gevurah: it joins and includes them, so Or Ein Sof shines in it constantly. It is mercy and truth, and is rooted in Keser.Where it’s explained, stated differently