Torah Ohr · Parshas Chayei Sarah · Maamar 4
ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה כו׳
“And Isaac went out to converse in the field”
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The big idea
What comes last and lowest was first in G‑d’s thought: the Baraisa’s reasonless details stand above the Mishnah’s reasoned rules, and the bare deed of a mitzvah stands above the delight of the World to Come. Torah descends into darkness and even falsehood in order to clear it away and turn it into light, and that work needs Isaac’s awe of G‑d.
The maamar in brief
The maamar reads Isaac’s going out “lasuach in the field toward evening” through the pair Mishnah and Baraisa. The Mishnah states general rules; the Baraisa spells out their details. The Baraisa seems lower, but “the end of the deed is first in thought”: like a tube, where what goes in first comes out last, or like man, created last yet the purpose of all creation, the lowest level carries the deepest intent. So “one hour of good deeds in this world” outweighs the World to Come, whose delight is only G‑d’s “back.” The Mishnah’s rules often have a reason one can find; the Baraisa’s details have none, and what lies beyond reason is higher. In service too, the deed matters more than the heart’s delight, which is only its “wings.” The Mishnah is a “city,” and the Baraisa the “field” that feeds it. Isaac “bends down” into that field to “clear away the evening”: Torah is clothed in darkness, in the debates of the Babylonian Talmud and even false claims, so that the darkness, where G‑d hides, will become light. That clearing, the “whitening” of the halachah, needs awe of G‑d.
Outline
- Mishnah and Baraisa: the last is the highestThe Baraisa, the detail of the Mishnah, seems lower but is higher, for the end of a deed is first in thought; the tube and man, created last, illustrate it.¶1–2
- One hour of deeds above the World to ComeThe delight of the World to Come and of understanding is only G‑d’s “back”; the bare deed reaches His “face,” and the Mishnah’s general rules are the counterpart of that revealed level.¶3–4
- Above reasonThe Baraisa’s details have no reason and so reveal what is above intellect; a mitzvah done without grasping its reason is higher, and the deed outranks the heart’s fervor.¶5
- City and field; clearing away the eveningThe Baraisa is the field that feeds the city of the Mishnah; Isaac bends low into the field, for Torah descends into darkness to clear it and find the true law, G‑d’s will.¶6
- Isaac’s aweClearing the darkness needs awe of G‑d, which Isaac embodies; since G‑d hides within the darkness, clearing it brings light, the whitening of the halachah.¶7
Key concepts
- Mishnah and Baraisaמשנה וברייתא
- The Mishnah gives the general rules (the klal); a Baraisa, a teaching left outside the Mishnah, gives the particulars (the prat). Here the Mishnah is a “city” and the Baraisa a “field.”
- The end of the deed is first in thoughtסוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה
- What is done last is what the planner intended from the start; so the lowest level of a process carries its deepest purpose.
- Back and faceאחוריים ופנים
- G‑d’s “back” is whatever of Him can be grasped and enjoyed, including the reward of the World to Come; His “face,” His inner will, cannot be grasped and is reached through the deed itself.
- Above reasonלמעלה מהטעם
- A law or mitzvah with no revealed reason comes from a level higher than any stated reason; even where the Torah gives a reason, a higher one lies behind it.
- Clearing away the eveningלפנות הערב
- Reading lifnos erev (“toward evening”) as lefanos, “to clear away”: Torah enters darkness and falsehood only in order to clear them away and turn darkness into light.
- Whitening of the halachahליבון הלכתא
- Working through the questions and difficulties that obscure a law until its true ruling, the revealed will of G‑d, shines clearly.
For children · ages 9–13
The deed comes first
The big idea
What comes last was first in G‑d’s thought, so the simple deed of a mitzvah is higher than any delight we feel or reason we understand.
The Torah says, “And Yitzchak went out lasuach in the field toward evening.” The maamar explains it through two teachings. The Mishnah gives a general rule, and a Baraisa explains it in every detail. The details seem lower, but “the end of the deed is first in thought.” In a tube, what goes in first comes out last. Man was created last of all, yet the whole world was made for him. So the lowest step holds the deepest purpose. That is why one hour of good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come. Many rules of the Mishnah have a reason we can find, but many details of the Baraisa have none, and what is above reason is higher. In the same way, the main thing in a mitzvah is the deed itself; the warm feeling in the heart is only its “wings,” a help. Lasuach means to speak and also to bend low. Yitzchak bends down into the field to “clear away the evening”: the Torah goes down into darkness and hard questions in order to turn them into light. For that we need Yitzchak’s quality, awe of G‑d.
The mashal
People live in the city, so the city seems to be the main thing, but their food comes from the field outside it. So too, the Baraisa, the “field,” gives life to the Mishnah, the “city,” by showing exactly how to act. And a person who wants to clear something out must go into it, but not stay there; so the Torah went down into darkness only to clear it away and bring out light.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why is the simple deed of a mitzvah higher than the good feeling we have while doing it?
- What does it mean that Yitzchak went out into the field to “clear away the evening”?
- Which mitzvah will you do this week even when you do not understand its reason or do not feel like it, and how can awe of G‑d help you learn Torah well?
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.
Mishnah and Baraisa: the last is the highest ¶1–2
1ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה12 כו׳. לבאר זה דהנה יש משנה וברייתא. וברייתא פי׳ המשנה3 כי המשנה הוא הכלל וברייתא היא הפרט של המשנה ואין בכלל אלא מה שבפרט.
“And Isaac went out lasuach in the field,” etc. To explain this: there is Mishnah, and there is Baraisa. The Baraisa is the explanation of the Mishnah, for the Mishnah is the general rule and the Baraisa is the particular detail of the Mishnah, and “the general contains only what is in the particular.”
The maamar opens with the verse about Isaac going out “lasuach” in the field before evening, and approaches it through two layers of the Oral Torah. The Mishnah states the law in compact general rules; a Baraisa is a teaching of the same era left outside the Mishnah, which spells out its details. The Talmudic principle “the general contains only what is in the particular” means that a general rule holds nothing beyond the details that make it up.
ולכאורה הברייתא היא למטה מן המשנה שנשתלשלה יותר למטה אבל האמת הוא שהברייתא גבוה יותר דסוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה. דהנה התורה4 נשתלשלה למטה אפי׳ [אפילו] בדבר שקר כגון זה אומר אני מצאתיה5 כו׳.
Seemingly, the Baraisa is lower than the Mishnah, for it has descended further down; but the truth is that the Baraisa is higher, for “the end of the deed is first in thought.” For the Torah has descended below, even into a matter of falsehood, such as “This one says, ‘I found it,’” etc.
Since the Baraisa goes into finer, more worldly detail, it looks like a further step down. Yet, as the saying goes, what comes last in the doing was first in the planner’s mind; so the lowest, most detailed level expresses the deepest intent. The proof is how far Torah descends: the Mishnah opens Bava Metzia with two litigants each claiming “I found it,” one of whom must be lying, and the Torah rules even on such a claim.
The paragraph introduces the pair Mishnah (general rule) and Baraisa (detailed particular) and makes the maamar’s first claim: the Baraisa, though it seems lower, is higher, because the last step of a deed reveals its first intent.
The Kehot note reports that a manuscript reads “and a proof of this: for the Torah…,” making explicit that the Torah’s descent into a case built on a false claim is brought as proof that the lowest level is the most intended.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה · ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. בלקו״ת פ׳ ראה לב, ד מציין לד״ה זה בענין עיר ושדה.
- 2ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה · Genesis 24:63
- 3וברייתא פי׳ המשנה · בבוך 2061: ”וברייתא הוא פי׳ של המשנה”. בענין ברייתות ראה בארוכה באוה״ת פ׳ שמות ע׳ יב ואילך. לקו״ת שה״ש מד, ב ושם מציין לכאן.
- 4שהברייתא — דהנה התורה · בכת״י הנ״ל: וראי׳ לזה דהנה התורה.
- 5זה אומר אני מצאתי׳ · Bava Metzia 2a:1
2ולפי הנראה היא ירידה למטה מאד ומ״מ [ומכל מקום] היא גבוה כי סוף מעשה כו׳. וכמשל השפופרת הנכנס ראשון יוצא אחרון
To all appearances it is a very great descent downward, and nevertheless it is lofty, for “the end of the deed,” etc. It is like the analogy of the tube: what goes in first comes out last.
However low the Baraisa’s descent looks, it is really lofty, for the end of a deed is what was first in thought. The analogy is a narrow tube: what is put in first comes out last, so what emerges last was there from the beginning.
וכמו האדם שהוא סוף כל הנבראים והוא במעלה על כולם והכל נברא בעבורו ולכן נמצא העולם כולו באדם אחד להורות שהכל נברא בעבורו כי זה כל האדם.1
And it is like man, who is the last of all the created beings, yet he is higher in rank than all of them, and everything was created for his sake. Therefore the entire world is found in a single man, to show that everything was created for his sake, for “this is the whole of man.”
Man was created last, on the sixth day, yet he is the purpose of all creation, and everything was made for him. That is why a single human being contains the whole world in miniature; the verse “this is the whole of man” is read as saying that man is the sum of everything.
The paragraph illustrates the principle that the last is the highest with the tube analogy and with man, created last yet the purpose of all creation.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי זה כל האדם · Ecclesiastes 12:13
One hour of deeds above the World to Come ¶3–4
3וזהו מארז״ל [מאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] יפה שעה אחת12 כו׳. דהנה בעה״ב [בעולם הבא] צדיקים יושבים3 כו׳ והוא רק בחי׳ אחוריים
This is [the meaning of] the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “Better is one hour,” etc. For in the World to Come “the righteous sit,” etc., and that is only the level of the back (achorayim),
The Mishnah in Avos says: “Better is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come.” The reward of the World to Come, where “the righteous sit with their crowns on their heads and enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah,” is only G‑d’s “back”: a reflection of Him, not His inner self.
כמאמר וראית את אחורי4 כו׳ התענוג שמשיג האדם בעבודתו הוא בחינת אחוריים ופני אינו באפשרי להשיג כי לא יראני האדם וחי.56
as it is said, “And you shall see My back,” etc. The delight that a person grasps in his divine service is the level of the back, whereas “My face” cannot possibly be grasped, “for no man shall see Me and live.”
G‑d told Moses, “You shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen,” and “no man shall see Me and live.” The Alter Rebbe reads “back” as the delight and understanding a person can grasp in serving G‑d, and “face” as the inner level that no created being can grasp.
The paragraph applies the principle to reward: the delight of the World to Come, and any delight grasped in divine service, is only G‑d’s “back,” while His “face” lies beyond grasp.
An early manuscript version of this passage, quoted in the Kehot note, spells out the idea: whatever of G‑dliness one grasps and takes delight in is the level of the back, while the level of the face, “what is before the back,” cannot be grasped, and that is the deed itself.
Marei mekomos
- 1יפה שעה אחת · אבות ד, יז. ”ע׳ ד״ה ובבואה לפני המלך ס״ג ע״ש (ממורי נ״ע)” הג״ה בגיליון תו״א.
- 2יפה שעה אחת · Pirkei Avot 4:17
- 3צדיקים יושבים · Berakhot 17a:12
- 4וראית את אחורי · Exodus 33:23
- 5כי לא יראני האדם וחי · Exodus 33:20
- 6וכמשל השפופרת . . האדם וחי · בבוך אדה״ז יבל אבי יושב ה, ב הקטע בשינוים: ”כמו שפופרת של קנה מה שמניחים בתוכו ראשון יוצא אחרון וכמו האדם שהוא סוף לכל הנבראים שהוא נברא בששת ימי בראשית ומ״מ הוא במעלה על כולם וכל הנבראים כולם הם לצורך האדם שמאכלו ומלבושים ושארי הדברים הכל הוא מחמת הטעם יתיר במעלה הנ״ל, וזהו ג״כ מה שכתוב בגמרא יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומע״ט בעוה״ז מכל חיי עוה״ב כי עוה״ב הוא מחמת הצדיקים יושבין ועטרותיהן בראשיהן ונהנין מזיו השכינה והוא רק בחי׳ אחוריים כמ״ש וראית את אחורי כו׳ כי מה שמשיגים אלקות ויש לו תענוג בזה הוא בחי׳ אחוריים אבל (כו׳ הוא המעשה) בחי׳ פנים דהיינו מה שהוא לפני אחוריים לא יראו שא״א להשיג וכמ״ש כי לא יראני האדם וחי”. עכ״ל שם.
4ועד״ז [ועל דרך זה] גם הגלוי בג״ע [בגן עדן] הוא רק בחי׳ זיו והארה לבד ולכן יפה שעה אחת כו׳ שהוא המעשה עצמה בלי תענוג ובלי שכל מכל חיי העוה״ב [העולם הבא] דסוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה.
In the same way, the revelation in Gan Eden too is only the level of radiance and glow alone. Therefore “better is one hour,” etc., which is the deed itself, without delight and without intellect, “than all the life of the World to Come,” for “the end of the deed is first in thought.”
Gan Eden, the World to Come, reveals only a “radiance” and “glow” of G‑d, not His essence. The deed of a mitzvah itself, even when done without delight or understanding, reaches the essence, because it is the final act that was first in G‑d’s thought; that is why one hour of deeds here is “better” than all of the World to Come.
וזהו גם כן ענין משנה וברייתא שהמשנה הוא כלל כמו ד׳ ציצית מעכבות וכן סוכה שהיא גבוה כו׳.
This is also the matter of Mishnah and Baraisa: the Mishnah is a general rule, such as “the four tzitzis are indispensable [to one another],” and likewise “a sukkah that is high,” etc.
The same pattern appears in Mishnah and Baraisa. The Mishnah gives broad rules, such as that the four fringes of tzitzis are one mitzvah and each is indispensable to the others, or that “a sukkah that is higher than twenty cubits is invalid.”
The paragraph states that the bare deed outranks the revealed light of Gan Eden, and ties this back to Mishnah and Baraisa by giving examples of the Mishnah’s general rules.
Above reason ¶5
5ויש למצוא טעם לזה כענין תכלת דומה לים12 כו׳ וגבי סוכה יש טעם למען ידעו דורותיכם3 עד כ׳ [כתב] אמה4 כו׳.
And one can find a reason for this, as in the matter of “the techeles [blue] resembles the sea,” etc.; and regarding sukkah there is a reason, “so that your generations may know” — up to twenty cubits, etc.
The Mishnah’s general rules often have a reason one can find. The blue thread of tzitzis recalls the sea, the sea the sky, and the sky the Throne of Glory; and a sukkah may not be higher than twenty cubits because the verse says “so that your generations may know that I made you dwell in sukkos,” and above twenty cubits a person does not notice the roof over him.
אבל הברייתא הוא פרט לבאר המשנה בכל דקדוקים ופרטים כמו סוכת גנב״ך ורקב״ש5 שאין טעם לדבר ונראה בחוש שהוא למעלה מהשכל והטעם וזהו אין בכלל
But the Baraisa is the particular detail that explains the Mishnah in all its fine points and details, such as the sukkah of “GaNBaCh” and “RaKBaSh,” for which there is no reason, and one sees plainly that it is above intellect and reason. And this is [the meaning of] “the general contains nothing
The Baraisa lists fine details with no stated rationale: a sukkah built by gentiles, women, animals or Kusim (GaNBaCh), or by shepherds, fig-dryers, town watchmen or fruit guards (RaKBaSh), is valid. Such details, which follow no reason one can see, show that the law comes from a place above intellect.
אלא מה שבפרט שאין במשנה בכלל יותר מבפרט הברייתא ומה שלא נתגלה טעמה הוא יותר גבוה כי טעמי המצות לא נתגלו6 ולע״ל [ולעתיד לבוא] אי״ה [אם ירצה השם] יתגלו
but what is in the particular”: the Mishnah, as a general rule, contains no more than the particular of the Baraisa. And that whose reason has not been revealed is higher, for the reasons of the mitzvos have not been revealed, and in the time to come, G‑d willing, they will be revealed.
The general rule has nothing beyond its particulars; so the reasonless details are no lesser addition but the very content of the rule. What has no revealed reason is higher, just as the Talmud says that the reasons of the mitzvos were not revealed; they will be revealed only in the time to come.
וזהו ר״ש [רבי שמעון] דריש טעמי דקראי7 שדרש שמה שנאמר בפסוק טעם של דבר לא זהו עיקר רק שיש טעם בזה גבוה יותר למעלה מהטעם.
And this is [why] Rabbi Shimon expounds the reason of the verses: he expounded that where a verse states the reason for a matter, that is not the essential thing; rather, there is in it a reason that is higher, above [that] reason.
The Talmud records that the Tanna Rabbi Shimon “expounds the reason of the verse” and rules accordingly. The Alter Rebbe reads this to mean that even when a verse states a reason, that reason is not the essence; behind it lies a higher reason, above any stated reason.
נמצא שבמצוה שאין משיג בה טעם הוא יותר גבוה ומה שמשיג טעם ותענוג הוא רק בחינת אחוריים ולא
It follows that a mitzvah in which one does not grasp a reason is higher, and what one grasps with reason and delight is only the level of the back; and it is not
The conclusion: a mitzvah whose reason one does not grasp is higher, and whatever one does grasp, with understanding and delight, is only the “back” spoken of above.
כמו שסוברים העולם שהעיקר הוא הלב שמשיג תענוג ועובד בהתלהבות ואינו כן האמת רק עיקר הוא המעשה בלי תענוג והלב אינו כ״א [כי אם] סיוע בחינת גדפין.8
as the world supposes, that the main thing is the heart, which grasps delight and serves with fervor. That is not the truth; rather, the main thing is the deed without delight, and the heart is nothing but an aid, the level of wings.
Many think the heart’s fervor and delight are the essence of serving G‑d. The Alter Rebbe says the essence is the deed itself, even without delight; the feelings of the heart are like “wings” that help lift the deed, not the thing itself.
The paragraph contrasts the Mishnah’s rules, which have reasons, with the Baraisa’s reasonless details, and concludes that what lies beyond reason is higher: in the mitzvos, the deed matters more than the heart’s delight.
Love and awe are called the “wings” of divine service: they carry the deed upward but are not its substance. According to the Kehot note, the manuscript gives a different reason for the sukkah rule: above twenty cubits it is invalid because the sukkah resembles the clouds of glory. It also adds to the techeles chain “and the sea resembles the sky, and the sky the Throne of Glory.”
Marei mekomos
- 1תכלת דומה לים · Menachot 43b:13–14
- 2תכלת דומה לים · Zohar, Vayera 35:506–36:513
- 3למען ידעו דורותיכם · Leviticus 23:43
- 4עד כ׳ אמה · Sukkah 2a:8
- 5סוכת גנב״ך ורקב״ש · Sukkah 8b:8–10
- 6טעמי המצות לא נתגלו · Sanhedrin 21b:16
- 7ר״ש דריש טעמי דקראי · Yoma 42b:12–13
- 8בכת״י ליתא הפסוק. ושם · ”וכן בסוכה למעלה מעשרים כו׳ לפי שהוא דומה לענני הכבוד”.
City and field; clearing away the evening ¶6
6והנה משנה נקרא עיר וברייתא בחי׳ שדה לשון בר חוץ לעיר1 ולכאורה העיר הוא עיקר שדרים בה בנ״א [בני אדם]. אך נראה מי הוא מחיה אותם.9
Now, the Mishnah is called “a city,” and the Baraisa is the level of “a field,” a term from bar, “outside,” outside the city. Seemingly the city is the main thing, for people live in it. But let us see who gives them life:
The Sages call the collected laws of the Torah a “city,” and the Baraisa is a “field”: the word baraisa comes from bar, “outside,” since these teachings stayed outside the Mishnah. A city seems more important than a field because people live there, but the question is what keeps them alive.
השדה שחוץ לעיר שמביאים משם התבוא׳. כך הוא הברייתא מחיה המשנה ומבארת ההלכה יותר בפרט היאך לעשות כי התנאים מבלי עולם שמורים מתוך המשנה.2
the field outside the city, from which the grain is brought. So too, the Baraisa gives life to the Mishnah and explains the halachah in greater detail, how to act; for “the Tannaim destroy the world,” since they issue rulings from within the Mishnah.
The city lives on the grain grown in the fields outside it. So too the Baraisa, with its details of how to act, gives life to the Mishnah. The Talmud says that Tannaim who issue rulings straight from the Mishnah’s general wording, without its explanation, “destroy the world,” because they rule wrongly.
וזהו ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה הוא לשון דבור ושיחה ול׳ [ולשון] שחייה למטה מלשון ושח רום אנשים3
And this is [the meaning of] “And Isaac went out lasuach in the field”: [lasuach] is a term of speech and conversation, and a term of bending low, from the phrase “and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down (veshach),”
Now the verse is read anew. Lasuach means speech and conversation, meaning Isaac’s speech in Torah, and also bending low, as in Isaiah’s “and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down (veshach).” Isaac bows down to bring Torah into the “field” of detail.
וכן כאשר יפרש4 השוחה לשחות (בישעיה כ״ה) (ועמ״ש בזה ע״פ תבנה ותכונן5 עיר סיחון כו׳ ע״ש [עיין שם]) בשדה הוא בר. ולפנות ערב לפנות הערב והחשך.
and likewise “as the swimmer (hasocheh) spreads out to swim” (in Isaiah 25) (and see what is explained on this on [the verse] “Let the city of Sichon be built and established,” etc.; see there). “In the field” — this is bar. And “lifnos erev” [“toward evening”]: to clear away the evening and the darkness.
Isaiah also uses the related word hasocheh, “the swimmer” who stretches out to swim, which suggests reaching downward. “In the field” refers to the bar, the Baraisa outside the city. And lifnos erev, “toward evening,” is reread as lefanos, “to clear away” the evening and darkness.
דהנה התורה נשתלשלה בחשך כמאמר במחשכים הושיבני זה תלמוד בבלי6 שנשתלשל למטה אפי׳ [אפילו] בשקר ולמה הוא כך כדי לפנות הערב והחשך ויהי אור
For the Torah has descended into darkness, as the saying goes, “He has set me in dark places” — this is the Babylonian Talmud, which descended below, even into falsehood. And why is it so? In order to clear away the evening and the darkness, “and there was light,”
The Talmud reads “He has set me in dark places” as the Babylonian Talmud, whose long debates and rejected arguments are like darkness. Torah has descended into this, even into false claims; the purpose is to clear the darkness away, so that there will be light.
כמאמר לעת ערב7 יהיה אור כמשל מי שרוצה לפנות איזה דבר צריך הוא לכנוס בתוכ׳ [בתוכה] כדי לפנותה אבל לא שישאר בתוכה.
as it says, “At evening time there shall be light.” It is like the analogy of one who wishes to clear something out: he must enter into it in order to clear it out, but not remain inside it.
Zechariah’s promise, “at evening time there shall be light,” describes this goal. The analogy: to clean something out you must go inside it, but you do not stay there; so Torah enters darkness only to clear it.
גם מה שנשתלשלה התורה ונתלבשה בחשך טענות שקר הוא כדי לפנות החשך לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא
So too, the fact that the Torah descended and clothed itself in darkness, in false claims, is in order to clear away the darkness, to turn darkness into light.
The Torah’s clothing itself in false arguments has one purpose: to transform darkness itself into light, not only to push it away.
וכן העסק בתורה לדחות החשך והקושיות המסתיר על השכלת הדין האמת לאמתו ולמצא האמת גילוי רצון עליון ב״ה וכמ״ש ע״פ והמשכילים יזהירו8 וגו׳ [וגומר] ע״ש [עיין שם]:
And likewise, occupation in Torah is to push away the darkness and the difficulties that conceal the understanding of the law in its absolute truth, and to find the truth, the revelation of the Supreme Will, blessed be He; as is explained on [the verse] “And the wise shall shine,” etc.; see there.
Studying Torah does the same. The difficulties and questions that hide the true ruling are the darkness; by working through them the learner finds the law in its full truth, which is the revealed will of G‑d. The Alter Rebbe refers to his explanation of “And the wise shall shine” for more on this.
The paragraph calls the Mishnah a “city” and the Baraisa a “field” that feeds it, then rereads the verse: Isaac bows down into the field to clear away the darkness in which Torah is clothed, so that the true law, G‑d’s will, shines out.
The Kehot note cites a Kabbalistic lexicon (Meorei Or) where bar is Yesod when it is in exile, outside its place, and Malchus is then called “Baraisa.” Likkutei Torah (Vayikra) sets the Babylonian Talmud in the World of Beriah, which the verse “He forms light and creates darkness” calls darkness; hence “He has set me in dark places.” In Iggeres HaKodesh 26 the Alter Rebbe explains that in exile the halachah is clothed in the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil (the permitted and the forbidden, the pure and the impure), and that clarifying it brings out the Supreme Will clothed there.
Marei mekomos
- 1וברייתא בחי׳ שדה לשון בר חוץ לעיר · ראה מאו״א ב, נג בר הוא היסוד כשהוא בגלות לבר מאתרי׳ והמל׳ נק׳ אז ברייתא. וראה באוה״ת שמות ע׳ כ.
- 2כי התנאים מבלי עולם שמורים מתוך המשנה · Sotah 22a:7
- 3ושח רום אנשים · Isaiah 2:11
- 4
- 5ע״פ תבנה ותכונן · לקו״ת חקת סו, א [בלקו״ת שם מציין לכאן]. ובאוה״ת חקת ע׳ תתפז ואילך.
- 6במחשכים הושיבני זה תלמוד בבלי · Lamentations 3:6
- 7לעת ערב יהי׳ אור · Zechariah 14:7
- 8ע״פ והמשכילים יזהירו · אגה״ק סי׳ כו.
- 9משנה נק׳ עיר וברייתא בחי׳ שדה · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ שמות ע׳ טו: ”כמארז״ל בתמורה דט״ז ע״פ קרית ספר ביהושע סי׳ טו דהיינו הלכות התורה ע״ש בפרש״י בד״ה וילכדה כו׳”. ע׳ אוה״ת תולדות קמג, א ואילך.
Isaac’s awe ¶7
7וזהו ויצא יצחק לשוח. כי כדי לפנות הערב והחשך ולתקנו הוא ע״י יצחק שהוא בחי׳ פחד ויראת ה׳ וכמאמר אם אין יראה אין חכמה12 כו׳.
And this is [the meaning of] “And Isaac went out lasuach.” For clearing away the evening and the darkness and rectifying it comes about through Isaac, who is the level of Pachad (fear) and the awe of G‑d; as the saying goes, “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom,” etc.
Why Isaac? Isaac stands for Pachad, fear, and awe of G‑d (the Torah calls G‑d “the Fear of Isaac”). Clearing the darkness out of Torah needs awe, as the Mishnah says, “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom”: Torah study without awe of G‑d does not stay wisdom.
(וע׳ [ועיין] בזוהר בראשית3 ד׳ כ״א סע״א [סוף עמוד א]).4 וזהו האומר אין לי אלא תורה5 אפי׳ [אפילו] תורה אין לו ונשאר בחשך
(And see the Zohar, Bereshis, page 21, end of side a.) And this is [the meaning of] “Whoever says, ‘I have nothing but Torah,’ does not have even Torah,” and he remains in darkness.
The Zohar, quoted in the Kehot note, says that the light that is growing dark “at the turning of evening” is the secret of Isaac’s prayer, which rectifies that level, as the verse says “Isaac went out lasuach in the field toward evening.” The Talmud’s saying about one who has “nothing but Torah” describes study cut off from awe and from deeds: such a person stays in the darkness.
אבל באמת כתיב ישת חשך סתרו6 שאף שהוא חשך מ״מ [מכל מקום] הוא סתרו וזהו לפנות הערב והחשך ולעת ערב יהי אור
But in truth it is written, “He made darkness His hiding place”: although it is darkness, nevertheless it is His hiding place. And this is “to clear away the evening and the darkness,” and “at evening time there shall be light.”
Yet the darkness is not simply against G‑d: King David says, “He made darkness His hiding place,” so G‑d Himself is hidden inside it. That is why clearing it away brings out light: “at evening time there shall be light.”
That is, the whitening of the halachah; and this too is the meaning of “they blessed over the Torah.” (And see what is explained on “The voice of my beloved” and on “There are sixty queens.”)
This is “the whitening of halachah”: making the true law shine out of its dark garments. It is also what is meant by blessing over the Torah, and the Alter Rebbe refers to his maamarim on “The voice of my beloved” and “There are sixty queens” for more.
The paragraph explains why the verse names Isaac: clearing away the darkness around Torah needs awe of G‑d, and because G‑d is hidden in that darkness, clearing it brings out His light, the “whitening” of the halachah.
In the maamar on “The voice of my beloved” (Torah Ohr, Shemos) the Alter Rebbe explains libun hilchesa, “whitening the halachah,” as whitening laws that appear black with the supernal whiteness, through joy in G‑d and self-nullification to His will as it is clothed in His Torah. In the maamar on “There are sixty queens” (Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim), a person’s speech in Torah is the very word of G‑d; through it the Holy One and His Shechinah are united, and the light that encompasses all worlds is revealed below.
Marei mekomos
- 1אם אין יראה אין חכמה · אבות ג, יז.
- 2אם אין יראה אין חכמה · Pirkei Avot 3:17
- 3וע׳ בזהר בראשית דכ״א סע״א · ”תנינא נהירו דאזיל לאתחשכא לעת פנות ערב רזא דצלותא דיצחק לאתקנא האי דרגא דכתיב ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב אסתכלותא דערב חשוכן כלהו לגביה בהאי פנות ערב”. ע״כ.
- 4וע׳ בזוהר בראשית ד׳ כ״א סע״א · Zohar, Bereshit 11:129–12:142
- 5האומר אין לי אלא תורה · Yevamot 109b:4–5
- 6ישת חשך סתרו · Psalms 18:12
- 7ע״פ קול דודי · לקמן נא, ג.
- 8וע״פ ששים המה מלכות · לקו״ת שה״ש מא, ב. ושם מציין לכאן.
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
The main thing in serving G‑d is the deed itself, even without delight or understanding; the heart’s feelings are wings that help, not the essence. Torah study must be joined with awe of G‑d, for one who has “nothing but Torah” stays in darkness; with awe, the effort of working through difficulties clears the darkness and brings out the true halachah.
Questions for discussion
- Why should the detailed Baraisa, which seems a further descent, be higher than the Mishnah? How do the tube and the creation of man illustrate this?
- In what sense is the reward of the World to Come only G‑d’s “back,” and why can an hour of deeds in this world reach higher?
- The maamar says the essence of service is the deed, not the heart’s fervor. How does it describe the heart’s proper role?
- Why does Torah descend into darkness and even false claims, and what does the analogy of clearing out a place teach about how to engage with that darkness?
- Why does the verse name Isaac for this work, and what does “He made darkness His hiding place” add?
Key terms in this maamar
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will. ×5
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×1
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×1
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×1