Torah Ohr · Parshas Lech Lecha · Maamar 3
ולא יקרא עוד שמך אברם והיה שמך אברהם…
Your name shall no longer be called Avram
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The big idea
G‑d left creation unfinished so that man would perfect it: the screens that hide G‑dliness make a world possible, and through circumcision, and through weekday labor done in holiness, what was hidden is revealed and the mundane is raised up into Shabbos.
The maamar in brief
The maamar asks why circumcision changed Avram’s name to Avraham. Following the Midrash, everything created in the six days needs perfecting by man, as bitter lupines must be sweetened. The Alter Rebbe explains why: creation is renewed each day from nothing, and the physical can come into being only through screens (parsa), like the curtain before the Holy of Holies. Each partition gives birth to a new, derivative light. Some screens stay within holiness (“holy and holy”); the screen between holy and mundane hides the light until realms feel separate from G‑d, though He still sustains them. Within the mundane, the Jewish week is “mundane prepared in the purity of the holy”: Shabbos shines into it, yet it must stay veiled so that work is possible, and through that work man renews creation and brings it up into Shabbos. Circumcision is the same perfecting: Avram, the “exalted father” hidden behind a screen, becomes Avraham, whose added hei reveals Chochmah and Binah (milah = mal plus Yud-Hei, “mal” meaning speech and facing). Below, circumcision uncovers the source of life “for our children,” without taking away its loftiness.
Outline
- Creation needs perfectingCircumcision and the Midrash of the lupines: G‑d created the world to be completed by man. Daily renewal needs a screen, like the Temple curtain, between each world.¶1
- The offspring lightEach partition produces a new light, not of the essence of the first, until physical matter results.¶2
- Holy and mundaneUnlike the screens within holiness, the screen between holy and mundane conceals so fully that realms feel independent, while G‑d still sustains them as “G‑d of gods.”¶3
- The working weekThe mundane made holy: Shabbos shines into the weekdays, which must stay veiled so work can be done; labor renews creation and is raised up into Shabbos.¶4
- Avram becomes AvrahamAvram is the exalted source behind a screen; circumcision (mal plus Yud-Hei) reveals Chochmah and Binah, like speech and the Chashmal, down to the Time to Come.¶5–7
- Circumcision in manBelow, circumcision and peri’ah uncover the source of life “for our children,” keeping its loftiness; for Jews, havdalah means the mundane made holy.¶8
Key concepts
- Screen / partition (masach, parsa)מסך, פרסא
- A barrier through which divine light passes from one level to the next. It hides the light enough for something new and distinct to come into being.
- Offspring light (or shel toladah)אור של תולדה
- The new light born on the far side of a partition, derived from the first light but not of its essence.
- Holy and mundaneבין קדש לחול
- The deepest screen, which hides the light so completely that what is below it feels separate from G‑d, unlike the separation of “holy from holy.”
- Mundane prepared in the purity of the holyחולין שנעשו על טהרת הקדש
- Mundane activity permeated by holiness, like chol hamoed and the week that draws from Shabbos, while still veiled enough for work.
- Perfecting (tikkun)תקון
- Man’s completion of a creation that G‑d deliberately left unfinished, like sweetening bitter lupines; circumcision is its model.
- Milah: mal and Yud-Heiמילה – מל י״ה
- Circumcision as revealing: Yud-Hei stands for Chochmah and Binah, and “mal” means speaking and facing, so the hidden becomes open.
For children · ages 9–13
Finishing what G‑d began
The big idea
G‑d left the world unfinished on purpose so that we would complete it: by doing our weekday work in holiness, we lift the world up into Shabbos.
When Avram was given the mitzvah of circumcision, his name became Avraham. Why does a person need this mitzvah at all? The Midrash answers that everything made in the six days of creation still needs to be finished by people, just as lupine beans are bitter until they are prepared and made sweet. G‑d creates the world anew all the time. For a physical world to exist, His light must be hidden behind a screen, like the curtain (paroches) in the Beis HaMikdash in front of the Holy of Holies. Some screens are within holiness. But the screen between holy and mundane hides so much that the world can feel separate from G‑d, even though He gives it life every moment. The Jewish week is special: the light of Shabbos shines into the weekdays, the first three days from the Shabbos before and the last three from the Shabbos after. Still, the weekdays must stay partly hidden, so that work can be done. Through our work we finish what G‑d began and lift it up into Shabbos. The letter hei added to Avraham’s name shows the same thing: what was hidden becomes revealed.
The mashal
Lupines are beans that are bitter when they grow, and they cannot be eaten until a person prepares them and turns their bitterness into sweetness. So too, the world was created unfinished, and our work makes it sweet and complete. And just as the curtain in the Beis HaMikdash covered the Holy of Holies so that holiness could flow further out, G‑d hides His light so that a world can exist.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why would G‑d create a world that still needs to be finished by people?
- The light of Shabbos shines into the weekdays. Which days get their light from the Shabbos before, and which from the Shabbos after?
- What is one weekday thing you do, like homework or helping at home, that you could do this week in a way that prepares for Shabbos?
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.
Creation needs perfecting ¶1
“Your name shall no longer be called Avram; rather, your name shall be Avraham, for [I have made you] the father of a multitude of nations,” etc.
The maamar opens with G‑d’s words to Avraham at the covenant of circumcision, when the letter hei was added to his name. The question behind the whole maamar is why the circumcision should change his name and make him “father of a multitude of nations.”
הענין כי הטעם למילה דכתיב אשר ברא אלקים לעשות לתקן3 שעדיין צריך תקון ע״י האדם כי הגם שכבר ברא אלקים את האדם לא בראו בשלימות
The explanation: the reason for circumcision [is that] it is written, “which G‑d created to make,” [meaning] to perfect, for it still needs perfecting by man. For although G‑d has already created man, He did not create him complete.
The Alter Rebbe reads the phrase “which G‑d created to make” as “created in order to be perfected”: G‑d deliberately left creation unfinished so that man would complete it. Circumcision is the model: the body G‑d made is completed by a human act.
וכדאיתא במדרש רבה4 (פ׳ בראשית פ׳ י״א) ששאל על המילה5 אם חביבה היא המילה למה נברא האדם ערל6 והיתה התשובה שכל מה שנברא7 בשימ״ב [בששת ימי בראשית] צריכים עשייה ותקון וכמו התורמסין שצריכין תיקון.8910
As is found in Midrash Rabbah (Parshas Bereishis, chapter 11): [someone] asked about circumcision, “If circumcision is so dear, why was man created uncircumcised?” And the answer was that everything that was created in the six days of creation needs [further] making and perfecting, just as lupines need perfecting.
In the Midrash a philosopher asks why, if circumcision is so beloved, the first man was not given it, and the answer is that everything made in the six days of creation needs further work, just as bitter lupines must be sweetened before they can be eaten. The lupine becomes this maamar’s image for perfecting creation.
ולהבין המשל איך הוא דומה לנמשל. הנה נודע מאמר המחדש בטובו11 בכל יום תמיד מע״ב [מעשה בראשית]
And [we must] understand how the analogy resembles what it illustrates. Now, the saying is well known: “Who in His goodness renews each day, continually, the work of creation.”
Now the parable must be applied: in what sense is the world itself like an unfinished body or a bitter lupine? The Alter Rebbe begins from the morning blessing before the Shema, which says that G‑d renews the work of creation every day.
תמיד הוא החדוש יש מאין וענין התהוות יש וגשמי מאין ורוחני א״א להיות כך רק ע״י בחינ׳ [בחינת / בחינה] מ״ש והבדילה הפרוכת12 לכם בין הקודש כו׳
“Continually” is the renewal of something from nothing. And the coming into being of something [tangible] and physical from nothing and spiritual cannot happen except through the level of what is written, “The curtain shall separate for you between the Holy,” etc.
“Continually” means that creation is not a past event but an ongoing bringing of something out of nothing. For something tangible and physical to come out of what is spiritual, there must be something like the curtain in the Mishkan that divided the Holy from the Holy of Holies.
כי בהמ״ק [בית המקדש] שם היה מקור ההשפעה וגילוי השכינה13 בקדה״ק [בקודש הקדשים] ולהיות ההשפעה נמשך משם ולהלאה לא היה ע״י גילוי כל כך
For in the Beis HaMikdash, there, in the Holy of Holies, was the source of the flow [of divine influence] and the revelation of the Shechinah (Divine Presence). And for the flow to be drawn from there onward, it could not be through revelation to such a degree,
In the Beis HaMikdash, G‑d’s presence was openly revealed in the Holy of Holies, and from there blessing flowed out to the world. But if the flow had gone out with that same openness, nothing distinct from G‑d could have come into being.
כי א״כ היה הכל אחד רק שנמשך ע״י מסך מבדיל והוא הפרוכת המבדיל בין קדה״ק [קודש הקדשים] ששם הי׳ [היה] גילוי השכינה לבחי׳
for if so, all would be one. Rather, it is drawn through a separating screen: this is the curtain that separates between the Holy of Holies, where the revelation of the Shechinah was, and the level of
Under full revelation everything would stay absorbed in G‑d, “all one,” leaving no room for a world that feels itself to exist. So the flow passes through a separating screen, pictured by the curtain before the Holy of Holies.
קדש ופרכת ת״א [תרגום אונקלוס] פרסא וכמה בחי׳ פרוכת הי׳ [היה] בבהמ״ק [בבית המקדש] ומשכן שכל ההשתלשלות מעולם ועד עולם הוא ע״י מסך פרסא מפסיק בין כל עולם כו׳.14
the Holy. And “paroches” (curtain), Targum Onkelos renders “parsa” (partition). And there were several kinds of curtain in the Beis HaMikdash and the Mishkan, for the whole chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), from world to world, is through a screen, a partition that interrupts between each world, etc.
The text notes that the Aramaic Targum renders “paroches” as “parsa,” the word Kabbalah uses for the partitions between worlds. The several curtains of the Mishkan and the Beis HaMikdash reflect that every step of descent, from one world to the next, passes through such a partition.
The paragraph links Avraham’s name change to circumcision, cites the Midrash that everything created must still be perfected by man, and introduces the screen (parsa) through which the physical is continually renewed from the spiritual.
In Kabbalah the parsa is above all the partition beneath Atzilus that divides it from Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; here the Alter Rebbe generalizes it to a partition between every world and the one below it. The Midrash itself lists lupines together with mustard and wheat and concludes that even man needs perfecting.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולא יקרא עוד שמך אברם · Genesis 38:4
- 2ולא יקרא עוד שמך אברם · Genesis 17:5
- 3אשר ברא אלקים לעשות לתקן · Bereshit Rabbah 11:7
- 4במדרש רבה · ראה גם מד״ר ס״פ וישלח ס״פ פ״ג התבן והקש כו׳ המתינו עד שתבוא הגורן כו׳. מובא באוה״ת לך לך כרך ד ע׳ תשטו, א. תשכח, ב. ומבואר באוה״ת יתרו כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תש.
- 5ששאל על המילה · ראה דרך מצותיך ח, ב.
- 6למה נברא האדם ערל · ראה לקו״ש חכ״ה ע׳ 14 הערה 9 בענין שאדה״ר נולד מהול ע״ש.
- 7שכל מה שנברא · ראה ספר המאמרים תש״ג ע׳ 100.
- 8והיתה התשובה . . שצריכין תקון · באוה״ת לך לך כרך ד תשטז, א מבאר ”ועדיין אינו מובן כי למה נברא שיהי׳ צריך תיקון” ע״ש וראה שם תשיז, א שמבאר שלכאורה הכוונה כדי שיהי׳ שייך עבודת האדם באתעדל״ת ע״ש בארוכה (המאמר הנ״ל הוא הגהות לסידור שער המילה קמה, א). וראה בסה״מ תרכ״ז ע׳ שיב. (הוצאת תש״ס) ע׳ שלה. בלקו״ש חכ״ה ע׳ 14 נתבאר איך לתווך זה עם מארז״ל עולם על מליאתו נברא ע״ש באריכות.
- 9התורמסין שצריכין תיקון · ראה באוה״ת יתרו כרך ז׳ ע׳ ב׳תש.
- 10שכל מה שנברא בשימ״ב צריכים עשייה ותקון וכמו התורמסין שצריכין תיקון · Bereshit Rabbah 11:6
- 11המחדש בטובו · בסידור מביא ראיה זה אחר הענין ”אור של תולדה”, ושם מוסיף ”מה שאנו אומרים המחדש בטובו בכל יום מע״ב כו׳ דלכאורה מה זו חידוש יש בהשמים וארץ מיום לחבירו”.
- 12והבדילה הפרוכת · Exodus 26:33
- 13ששם הי׳ גילוי השכינה · ע׳ בסידור בד״ה ביאור למ״ש בסש״ב פנ״ב.
- 14מפסיק בין כל עולם כו׳ · בסה״מ תקס״ו מפרש ”שע״י שעברה דרך פרסא נשתנה למהות יש מחודש מה שלא היה מקדם שבחי׳ השפע שקודם הפרסא נק׳ לגבי בחי אין”. ע״ש בארוכה.
The offspring light ¶2
2וזהו ענין המחדש בטובו שהתהוות מאין ליש הוא ע״י חדוש דהיינו ע״י מסך ופרסא נעשה אור חדש אור של תולדה1 ואין זה ממהות אור הראשון2 וכשיורד ומשתלשל נעשה עוד פרסא עד שנתהוה גשמיות ממש:3
And this is the meaning of “Who in His goodness renews”: the coming into being from nothing to something is through renewal. That is, through a screen and partition a new light comes to be, a light that is an offspring, and it is not of the essence of the first light. And as it descends and devolves further, there comes to be yet another partition, until actual physicality comes into being.
This is why the blessing speaks of “renewal”: when light passes through a partition, what comes out on the other side is not the original light made smaller but a new light born from it, as a child is distinct from its parent. Each further partition produces yet another new light, until physical matter comes into being.
The paragraph explains the daily “renewal” of creation: every partition gives birth to a new, derivative light, and a series of partitions leads down to the physical.
The Kehot note gives the reason the light is called “new”: the partition changes it from what it was before, so relative to the light above the partition it is something new. In Torah Ohr, Vayera, the same idea is illustrated by a teacher’s parable, from which a new insight is born in the student.
Marei mekomos
- 1אור חדש אור של תולדה · ראה לקמן יד, ג. סידור קמה ב. סה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ ג. ביאוה״ז לאדהאמ״צ יז, א. סיום ר״ה תרס״ג. ביאור זה שנק׳ אור של תולדה מצויין ריבוי פעמים בדא״ח לכאן. וכן הלשון בסידור קמה, ב. אבל בסה״מ תקס״ו כתב המניח הרה״ק ר׳ משה בן אדה״ז שהמשכת השפע דזיו השכינה ב״ה מהיכל ק״ק מצטרך להיות דרך מעביר הפרוכת” אבל לקמן בהביאור שם ע׳ סא מזכיר ענין ”אור של תולדה”.
- 2ואין זה ממהות אור הראשון · ראה אוה״ת בראשית כרך ד תשיח, א. ובספר הערכים-חב״ד כרך ג טור שפו הערה 6 שלכאורה הכוונה הוא שהטעם על מה שהאור הנמשך ע״י הפרסא נקרא ”אור חדש” הוא לפי שע״י הפרסא משתנה האור מכמו שהי׳ קודם וממילא הוא חידוש לגבי האור שלפני הפרסא, ע״ש.
- 3פרסא עד שנתהוה גשמיות ממש · ענין הפרסא הוא כדי שבי״ע יהי׳ ביכולת לקבל האור. ראה סה״מ תרל״ט ח״א ע׳ קעט בהנחת כ״ק מהורש״ב.
Holy and mundane ¶3
However, there are several kinds of separating screens. For there is another level, [of which] we say at the close of Shabbos, “Who separates between holy and mundane.”
Now a distinction. The screens described so far separate levels within holiness; the havdalah blessing names a different kind, the separation between holy and mundane.
שהוא מסך מבדיל גמור ואינו דומה לפרסא שמפסיק בין הקודש לקדה״ק [לקודש הקדשים] שזהו דרך השתלשלות אותו אור עצמו שנתגשם
This is a complete separating screen, and it is unlike the partition that interrupts between the Holy and the Holy of Holies, for that is the way of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of that very same light, as it becomes more material,
The curtain between the Holy and the Holy of Holies lets the same light come down and grow coarser. What lies beyond it is still that light, only in a lesser form.
וגם לאחר הפרסא הוא קודש (וע״ד שמבדילין במ״ש ליו״ט [ליום טוב] המבדיל בין קדש לקדש) משא״כ בין קדש לחול הוא מסך שמעלים ומסתיר האור עד שנעשה נפרד ממש
and even after the partition it is holy (in the manner that at the close of Shabbos into Yom Tov we say the separation, “Who separates between holy and holy”). Not so between holy and mundane: that is a screen which hides and conceals the light until [what is beyond it] becomes actually separate,
That is why what lies past such a partition is still holy, as the havdalah said when Yom Tov follows Shabbos separates “holy from holy.” The screen between holy and mundane hides the light so completely that what is below it experiences itself as a separate existence.
כמו היכלות החיצונים4 המגביהים א״ע [את עצמו] לומר לי יאורי5 כו׳ אלא שואתה מחיה את כולם6 וקרו ליה אלהא דאלהיא7 ואינן כופרים ממש
like the outer chambers, which exalt themselves to say, “My river is mine,” etc., only that “You give life to them all,” and they call Him “the G‑d of gods,” and they are not outright deniers.
The “outer chambers” are the realms outside holiness, which the Siddur version explains as the seventy heavenly ministers of the nations. They exalt themselves as self-made, like Pharaoh’s boast “My river is mine,” yet G‑d gives them life, and the Talmud says they call Him “G‑d of gods”: they concede a supreme G‑d and do not deny Him outright.
וזהו הודו לאלקי האלקי׳8 כל״ח [כי לעולם חסדו] שלעולם חסדו והשפעתו מעולם ועד עולם עד שהוא בבחי׳ אלקי האלקים במקום ההעלם וההסתר והחושך ועל מסך מבדיל זה נאמר אלביש שמים קדרות9 וכו׳:
And this is [the meaning of] “Give thanks to the G‑d of the gods, for His kindness is le’olam (forever)”: that His kindness and His flow [extend] from world to world, until He is at the level of “G‑d of the gods” in the place of hiddenness, concealment and darkness. And of this separating screen it is said, “I clothe the heavens in blackness,” etc.
The Alter Rebbe reads “His kindness is le’olam” as “to the worlds”: G‑d’s kindness reaches from world to world, even into the deepest concealment, where He is known only as the G‑d above their gods. This thick covering is the screen of Isaiah’s “I clothe the heavens in blackness.”
The paragraph distinguishes two kinds of screen: the partition within holiness, through which the same light descends, and the screen between holy and mundane, which hides so thoroughly that realms come to feel independent of G‑d, even while He sustains them.
The Siddur, quoted in the Kehot note, says the sackcloth of this verse is made of hides, not woven cloth, a denser covering, so that the seventy ministers become so separate that they intend to rebel. The Tzemach Tzedek, citing the Yefeh Anaf commentary on the Midrash, links this garment with the lament “we have not seen our signs.”
Marei mekomos
- 1אך יש כמה מיני מסכים המבדילין · בסידור קמה, ב ובאוה״ת כאן תשטו, ב מבאר ”מ״מ הוא רק הבדלה בין קודש לקודש שגם אחר הפרסא הוא קודש” וע״ז בא הביאור מענין המבדיל בין קודש לחול.
- 2עוד בחינה שאומרים במוצאי שבת · ראה דרך מצותיך מצות מילה ז, ב.
- 3
- 4כמו היכלות החיצונים · בסידור קמה, ג מבאר הענין בע׳ שרים.
- 5לי יאורי · Ezekiel 29:3
- 6ואתה מחי׳ את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
- 7וקרו לי׳ אלהא דאלהיא · Menachot 110a:5–6
- 8הודו לאלקי האלקי׳ · Psalms 136:2
- 9אלביש שמים קדרות · Isaiah 50:3
The working week ¶4
Now, within this level of the mundane there are two levels. The first: the completely mundane, the chambers of Nogah, which call Him “the G‑d of gods,” as mentioned above.
The mundane itself has two levels. The first is the wholly mundane: the “chambers of Nogah,” the realm of kelipas nogah (the translucent husk that mixes good with bad), which, as said, acknowledge G‑d only from afar as “G‑d of gods.”
הב׳ הוא בחי׳ חולין שנעשו על טהרת הקדש חולו של מועד דהיינו שנמשך הארה מקדושה בחי׳ בטול גם בהחול וכמו ע״י שמירת שבת יש הארה בששת ימי החול מבחי׳ קדושת השבת.
The second is the level of “mundane things prepared in the purity of the holy,” [such as] the mundane days of the festival (chol hamoed). That is, an illumination from holiness, the level of self-nullification (bittul), is drawn even into the mundane; just as through keeping Shabbos there is an illumination in the six weekdays from the level of the holiness of Shabbos:
The second is the mundane permeated with holiness. The phrase comes from halachah: ordinary food handled with the purity rules of sacred food. Chol hamoed, the working days of a festival, is the model: days of work that still carry the festival’s holiness, just as Shabbos shines into the days of the week.
ג׳ ימים הראשונים משבת שעברה וג׳ ימים אחרונים משבת הבא וזה נמשך לישראל בששת ימי המעשה2 מקדושת שבת להיות כל מעשיהם בחול
the first three days from the Shabbos that has passed, and the last three days from the coming Shabbos. And this is drawn to the Jewish people in the six workdays from the holiness of Shabbos, so that all their deeds in the mundane should be
The week is split in two: Sunday to Tuesday draw from the Shabbos just past, Wednesday to Friday from the Shabbos to come. In this way a Jew’s weekday activity itself can carry holiness.
ע״ד חולין שנעשו עטה״ק [על טהרת הקודש] (וזהו ענין הבדלה במו״ש [במוצאי שבת] ברוך המבדיל כו׳ הברכה היא המשכה שיהיו החולין נעשי׳ [נעשית / נעשים] עטה״ק [על טהרת הקודש])3 וע״ז נאמר ששת ימים תעשה מעשיך4 וכו׳
in the manner of “mundane things prepared in the purity of the holy.” (And this is the meaning of havdalah at the close of Shabbos, “Blessed … Who separates,” etc.: the blessing is a drawing down, that the mundane things be prepared in the purity of the holy.) And of this it is said, “Six days you shall do your work,” etc.
So havdalah is not only a separation but a blessing, and in Chassidus a blessing means a drawing down: it draws holiness into the week so that the working days become “prepared in the purity of the holy.” The verse “Six days you shall do your work” is read as the charge to do this.
וצריך להיות ששת ימי המעשה דוקא ע״י ההעלם ומסך (המבדיל בין קדש לחול) שאל״כ [שאם לא כן] היה בטול ממש
And the six workdays must be specifically through the concealment and the screen (that separates between holy and mundane), for otherwise there would be actual self-nullification,
Yet the working days must stay veiled, with the screen in place. Otherwise the holiness would overwhelm them into complete self-nullification, and no work could be done.
וכמו ענין תפלת שמו״ע [שמונה עשרה] בהשתחוואו׳ [בהשתחוואות] וכמו שא״א להרים יד לפני המלך כו׳ ומאן דמחוי במחוג קמי מלכא5 כו׳.
as in the matter of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer with its bowings, and just as it is impossible to raise a hand before the king, etc., and “one who gestures with a finger before the king,” etc.
Compare the Shemoneh Esreh, where one stands and bows before G‑d as before a king: in such a presence one may not raise a hand or even point a finger. Full revelation leaves no room for action.
ובאמת כתי׳ [כתיב] יגיע כפיך כי תאכל6 ע״י ל״ט מלאכות הזורע והחורש והקוצר כו׳ דהיינו שע״י המעשה ממשיך הוי״ה חדשה והתהוות דבר חדש להיות המחדש בטובו מעשה בראשית דוקא וזהו אשר ברא אלקים לעשות.
And in truth it is written, “When you eat the toil of your hands,” through the thirty-nine labors, sowing, plowing, reaping, etc. That is, through the deed one draws down a new existence and the coming into being of a new thing, so that there be “Who in His goodness renews the work of creation” specifically. And this is [the meaning of] “which G‑d created to make.”
The Torah praises eating from the toil of one’s hands, the thirty-nine categories of creative work, because through work a person brings something new into being, just as G‑d “renews” creation. That is the meaning of “which G‑d created to make”: G‑d created, and man’s making completes it.
תורמוסין צריכין תקון להפוך מרירו למיתקו להיות מי שטרח7 בע״ש [בערב שבת] יאכל בשבת שיתעלה הכל בבחי׳ שבת
Lupines need perfecting, to turn their bitterness into sweetness, so that “one who toiled on the eve of Shabbos will eat on Shabbos,” that all be elevated into the level of Shabbos.
Back to the Midrash’s lupines: the world’s bitterness is sweetened through human work, as the Talmud says that only one who prepared on Friday eats on Shabbos. The weekday effort is what is finally lifted up into Shabbos.
כי שבת היא מנוחה בחי׳ בטול כמו שמו״ע [שמונה עשרה] וא״א להיות כולו שבת כמו כולו שמו״ע [שמונה עשרה] רק תחלה להיות ימי החול כו׳.
For Shabbos is rest, the level of self-nullification, like the Shemoneh Esreh; and it is impossible for it to be all Shabbos, just as [it cannot be] all Shemoneh Esreh; rather, first there must be the weekdays, etc.
Shabbos is rest, a state of self-nullification like the Shemoneh Esreh, and life cannot consist only of that. The weekdays, with their concealment, must come first, and then they are raised up.
The paragraph divides the mundane into the wholly mundane and the mundane that holiness permeates. The Jewish working week is the second kind: through its labor man renews and perfects creation, preparing it to rise into Shabbos.
The Kehot note points to the Siddur and Derech Mitzvosecha, which ask how “Six days you shall do your work” can be a command to do physical labor. The answer implied here is that the labor itself perfects creation, sweetening the “lupines” of the world.
Marei mekomos
- 1היכלות דנוגה · ראה מק״מ לזח״ב דף רכז, א בשם נ״ב מהרח״ו.
- 2
- 3ברוך המבדיל . . שיהיו החולין נעשי׳ עטה״ק · להעיר מספר המאמרים ת״ש ד״ה ויקם עדות ביעקב ע׳ 57: ברוך אתה המבדיל . . כי אפשר לברר.
- 4ששת ימים תעשה מעשיך · Exodus 23:12
- 5ומאן דמחוי במחוג קמי מלכא · Pesachim 57b
- 6יגיע כפיך כי תאכל · Psalms 128:2
- 7מי שטרח בערב שבת · Avodah Zarah 3a:10
Avram becomes Avraham ¶5–7
5ותקון זה הוא ג״כ בחי׳ המילה כי עד שלא נימול אברהם היה שמו אברם אב הוא בחי׳ ראשית הגילוי יש מאין
And this perfecting is also the aspect of circumcision. For until Avraham was circumcised his name was Avram. “Av” (father) is the level of the first revelation of something from nothing,
Circumcision is the same kind of perfecting. Before it, Avraham was called Avram, and “Av” (father) stands for the source of all flow, the first revelation of something from nothing.
שהוא מקור ההשפעה נק׳ בשם אב1 והיה בבחי׳ רם על כל גוים כו׳ מפני שהיה ע״י מסך.
which, being the source of the flow, is called by the name “father.” And it was in the state of “ram” (exalted), “high above all nations,” etc., because it was through a screen.
“Ram” (exalted) describes that source as it stands above the world, “high above all nations,” because it came through a screen and stayed hidden from them.
The paragraph applies the idea to Avram’s first name: “Av-ram” is the source of the flow, which stays lofty and hidden behind a screen.
Marei mekomos
- 1נק׳ בשם אב והי׳ בבחי׳ רם · ראה אוה״ת בראשית כרך ד פ׳ לך לך תרפט, ב.
6וע״י המילה נק׳ אברהם אב המון גוים להוסיף התכללות ניצוצות כי להיות ההארה בגלוי גמור עד שיתקרב הניצוץ ליכלל תחת כנפי השכינה הוא ע״י המילה כי מילה אותיות מל123 י״ה הם חו״ב [חכמה ובינה].
And through the circumcision he was called Avraham, “father of a multitude of nations,” to add the inclusion of sparks. For the illumination to be in complete revelation, until the spark draws near to be included under the wings of the Shechinah, is through circumcision. For milah (circumcision) is the letters mal [and] Yud-Hei, which are Chochmah and Binah.
With the added hei he becomes “father of a multitude of nations”: his influence now reaches outward to gather the sparks of holiness among the nations, until they come “under the wings of the Shechinah,” the phrase used for one who joins the Jewish people. The word milah (מילה) divides into mal (מל) and the letters Yud-Hei, which stand for Chochmah and Binah.
ומל הוא ל׳ [לשון] התגלות4 כי מל מלשון ממללא שהדבור הוא המגלה את החכמה להיות החכמה יוצאת מכח אל הפועל ומההעל׳ אל הגילוי
And “mal” is a term of revelation, for “mal” is from the word “memalela” (speaks), for speech is what reveals the wisdom, so that the wisdom goes out from potential to actual, and from concealment to revelation.
“Mal” is related to the Aramaic “memalela,” speaks. Speech brings hidden wisdom into the open, so circumcision means the revealing of Chochmah and Binah.
ולכן לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] דכתי׳ [דכתיב] אז אהפך אל עמים5 שפה ברורה כתי׳ [כתיב] וראו כל בשר יחדיו6 כי פי ה׳ דבר מחמת שיהי׳ [שיהיה] גילוי בחי׳ דבור התגלות אלקות7 התגלות חכמה:
And therefore, in the Time to Come, of which it is written, “Then I will turn to the peoples a clear language,” it is written, “And all flesh together shall see that the mouth of Havayah has spoken”: because there will be the revelation of the level of speech, the revelation of G‑dliness, the revelation of Chochmah.
The prophets foretell that in the Time to Come the peoples will have a “clear language” and “all flesh” will see that G‑d has spoken. That is the full revelation of divine speech, which is the revelation of G‑dliness and of Chochmah.
Circumcision adds the hei and reveals what was hidden: Chochmah and Binah come into the open through “speech,” reaching even the sparks among the nations, a revelation to be completed in the Time to Come.
The Kehot notes trace the division of milah into mal and Yud-Hei to the Arizal (Etz Chaim and Ta’amei HaMitzvos, Lech Lecha) and to the Tikkunei Zohar as cited in Sefer HaMaamarim 5633. Likkutei Torah, Pinchas quotes this very passage.
Marei mekomos
- 1מילה אותיות מל י״ה · טעמי המצות ס״פ לך לך, ע״ח שער לג פ״ג. מובא בלקו״ת פינחס עט, ג.
- 2מילה אותיות מל י״ה · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 22 · 65b:4–5
- 3מילה אותיות מל י״ה · Sefer Etz Chaim 33:3
- 4ומל הוא ל׳ התגלות · מובא בלקו״ת פינחס עט, ג.
- 5אז אהפך אל עמים · Zephaniah 3:9
- 6וראו כל בשר יחדיו · Isaiah 40:5
- 7ולכן לע״ל . . מחמת שיהי׳ גילוי בחי׳ דבור התגלות אלקות · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ ק ומוסיף ע״ז ”וכמ״ש בלקו״ת פ׳ צו בד״ה והיה אור הלבנה פ״א שעכשיו הוא בחי׳ נאלמתי דומיה כו׳”.
7וגילוי זה למעלה הוא בבחי׳ חשמל עתים חשות1 דהיינו שלפעמים הוא בבחי׳ העלם סייג לחכמה שתיקה23 ועתים ממללות בחי׳ דבור וגילוי
And this revelation above is in the aspect of Chashmal: “at times silent” (chashos), that is, sometimes it is in the state of concealment, “a fence for wisdom is silence”; “and at times speaking” (memalelos), the level of speech and revelation.
The Talmud reads chashmal, the radiance in Ezekiel’s vision, as “chash” (silent) and “mal” (speaking): at times silent, at times speaking. So revelation above alternates: sometimes held back in silence, “a fence for wisdom,” and sometimes expressed in speech.
וגם מל מלשון והוא ישב ממולי4 שהוא פי׳ נגדי כלומר דבר שנראה כאילו הוא לנוכח עיניו.
And also, “mal” is from the phrase “and he dwells opposite me” (mimuli), which is explained as “facing me”; that is to say, a thing that appears as though it is before one’s eyes.
“Mal” also means “opposite,” as in Balak’s words about Israel “dwelling opposite me.” Revelation means something set right before one’s eyes, seen face to face.
The paragraph adds two more senses of “mal”: the alternation of silence and speech in the Chashmal, and “facing,” so that revelation is something seen before one’s eyes.
The transcript in Sefer HaMaamarim 5566, quoted in the Kehot note, explains Chashmal as the “running and returning” of the angels: at times they are silent, in true self-nullification. This passage does not appear in the Siddur version.
Marei mekomos
- 1בבחי׳ חשמל עתים חשות · Chagigah 13b:1–2
- 2סייג לחכמה שתיקה · אבות ג, יג.
- 3סייג לחכמה שתיקה · Pirkei Avot 3:13
- 4והוא ישב ממולי · Numbers 22:5
Circumcision in man ¶8
And below, in the lower man (for it is written, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”), there is also a screen on the bestowing organ, which is in the state of “ram” (exalted).
The idea now comes down to man below, made “in G‑d’s image,” so that his body mirrors the structure above. In him too there is a screen, the foreskin, over the organ through which life passes to the next generation; like the “ram” of Avram, the source of the flow is covered and hidden.
הנסתרות לה׳ אלקינו2 חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] והנגלות לנו ולבנינו שע״י המילה נעשה נגלות לנו ולבנינו שהגילוי אינו אלא בבחי׳ לבנינו שהוא בחי׳ הולדה כי
“The hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d”: [these are] Chochmah and Binah; “and the revealed things are for us and for our children”: for through the circumcision they become “revealed for us and for our children,” since the revelation is only in the aspect of “for our children,” which is the aspect of begetting.
The verse contrasts “hidden things,” which belong to G‑d, with “revealed things,” which are “for us and for our children.” The Alter Rebbe reads the hidden things as Chochmah and Binah, which circumcision reveals, and the revealing is “for our children,” in begetting, the power to bring new life.
לכן כאשר נתוסף ה׳ באברהם מ״מ לא נעקר הרי״ש באברהם שעדיין הוא בחי׳ רם אלא שנתוסף בחי׳ ה׳ להיות בחי׳ רם זה בגילוי.
For this reason, when the hei was added to Avraham, the reish was nevertheless not uprooted from Avraham, for he is still in the state of “ram” (exalted); only the level of the hei was added, so that this level of “ram” would be in revelation.
That is why the hei added to Avraham’s name did not remove the reish of “ram”: the source stays exalted, but now it is revealed. Circumcision does not do away with the loftiness; it lets it shine openly.
והנה המילה היא גילוי (ופריעה היא גילוי יותר כמו ופרע את ראש האשה.3 שחיטה מפורעת כו׳).
Now, circumcision is revelation (and peri’ah [uncovering] is even greater revelation, as in “and he shall uncover the woman’s head”; “an uncovered slaughter,” etc.).
Circumcision itself is a revealing, and peri’ah, the second stage of the mitzvah, in which the thin membrane is drawn back, reveals still more. The verse about uncovering the woman’s head and the phrase “an uncovered slaughter” show that the root of peri’ah means uncovering.
המסך המבדיל בין קדש לחול דישראל חולין שנעשו על טה״ק [טהרת הקודש] שהיא עיקר ההבדלה כי בשבעה4 הבדלות להבדיל בין הטמא כו׳ אין אנו אומרים לפי שא״צ [שאין צריך / שאינו צריך] כ״כ [כל כך] כי מאחר שמעבירים ההבדלה שבין קדש לחול כו׳:
The screen that separates between holy and mundane, for the Jewish people, is “mundane things prepared in the purity of the holy,” which is the main separation. For of the seven separations, “to separate between the impure,” etc., we do not say, because it is not so necessary; for since one removes the separation between holy and mundane, etc.
For the Jewish people, the screen between holy and mundane is not the wall of the wholly mundane but the thin screen of “mundane things prepared in the purity of the holy,” and this is the essence of havdalah. The passage ends abruptly, and the Kehot note records the Rebbe’s remark that its wording needs some correction.
The paragraph applies the whole idea to man: circumcision removes the screen over the source of life and reveals Chochmah and Binah “for our children” without taking away the source’s loftiness. For Jews, the separation of holy and mundane becomes the mundane made holy.
The Kehot note reports that the printings of Or HaTorah lack these last two lines, and that Or HaTorah’s version ends before its summary with the supernal delight drawn down by raising mayin nukvin (the “feminine waters,” the elevation from below) from the mundane prepared in purity. The Siddur version ends with peri’ah and “an uncovered slaughter.”
Marei mekomos
- 1נעשה אדם בצלמנו · Genesis 1:26
- 2הנסתרות לה׳ אלקינו · Deuteronomy 29:28
- 3ופרע את ראש האשה · Numbers 5:18
- 4שו״ה כי בשבעה · לעיל בהערות ותיקונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע מציין ע״ז ”הל׳ צריך תיקון קצת”. ולהעיר שבכל האוה״ת שנדפסו [לאחר שכתב כ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע הערה זו] ליתא שני שורות אלו. ובאוה״ת כרך ד תשכ, ב הסיום קודם הקיצור: ”אשר עונג העליון שנמשך ע״י העלאת מ״ן מבחי׳ החולין שנעשו על טה״ק. והנה אשר אותיות ראש שלמעלה מבחי׳ ראשית וזהו לעשות את השבת”. בסידור מסיים בתי׳ ”ופרע . . שחיטה מפורעת”.
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
The weekdays are not a lapse from holiness but its workshop: a person must do his work in the six days, with the screen of concealment in place, yet draw the light of Shabbos into it so that his labor becomes “mundane prepared in the purity of the holy.” Through that effort he perfects creation, sweetens its bitterness and brings it up into Shabbos.
Questions for discussion
- Why would G‑d create a world, and a human body, that deliberately need perfecting by man?
- How does the “offspring light” born through a partition differ from the original light, and why is that difference necessary for creation?
- What distinguishes the screen “between holy and holy” from the screen “between holy and mundane”?
- Why must the weekdays remain veiled rather than be full of revelation like Shabbos or the Shemoneh Esreh?
- Why does the hei added to Avraham’s name leave the reish of “ram” in place, and what does that teach about revelation?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world. ×3
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×2
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×4
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail.
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×4
- Teshuvah (return)תשובה
- Returning to G‑d; not only repentance. ×1