Torah Ohr · Sefer Bereishis · Shabbos December 12
פרשת מקץ
Parshas Mikeitz
16 maamarim of the Alter Rebbe on the parsha, in the Hebrew of the Kehot edition, with every marei makom opened right where it appears. Each small section with a faithful English translation and a short explanation.
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The maamarim 16
- ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חולם וגו׳ “And it came to pass at the end of two years of days, and Pharaoh was dreaming” The love of G‑d awakened in prayer lasts only when it is held in the vessels of Torah and aimed at G‑d’s purpose, a dwelling place below; prayer that seeks its own experience forgets “Yosef,” and its light fades like Pharaoh’s dream.
- ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חלם והנה עומד על היאור “And It Came to Pass at the End of Two Full Years” (second maamar) The Torah sustains all the worlds, yet its true essence is G‑d’s own delight, far above them; a person who learns with that delight draws down a supernal love that protects the good of prayer, while for one who lacks it, G‑dliness shines in his prayer only as a dot above, and in time his desires can consume the love and awe that prayer stirred.
- ענין חנוכה The subject of Chanukah Love of G‑d has two sources, both from above: the power to kindle it at all (“when Aharon kindles”) and the added love that enlarges it beyond human measure (“when he tends”). A person reaches both through the mitzvos, which, like the oil of a lamp, are dark to the mind yet draw down G‑d Himself.
- ת״ר מצות נר חנוכה כו׳ The Rabbis taught: the mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp… Beis Shammai say… The mitzvos are the soul’s garments in Gan Eden, and in this world the soul is the wick that lets G‑d’s light catch them. Chanukah’s lights, like the eight “princes of men,” draw an encompassing light from above wisdom that must be built up from below step by step; that is why Beis Hillel’s rule, ascending from one to eight, prevails.
- כי עמך מקור חיים באורך נראה אור For with You is the source of life; in Your light we shall see light The flow of life to the worlds is only “with” G‑d, not His essence; through Torah, mitzvos and the self-nullification of the heart, Israel draws the Infinite Light down from the Source of all, so that it is seen, and Israel is seen in that light.
- ביאור על הנ״ל An Explanation of the Above G‑d’s own “mitzvos” are the descent of His Infinite Light into the Sefiros: the mochin are the “tefillin,” and the light entering them is His “putting them on.” A person’s mitzvos draw that light into Atzilus, while nullifying one’s will and loving G‑d without limit draw down the Will of all wills itself, the “bowl” atop Zechariah’s menorah.
- רני ושמחי בת ציון כו׳ “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion” The Midrash’s three names for Israel, “daughter,” “sister” and “mother,” are three ranks of divine service: one who must receive love of G‑d from above, the master of Torah whose halachah separates good from evil, and one whose Torah is joined to self-sacrifice at “One,” and so gives birth to the revelation of G‑dliness. In the Time to Come the “daughter” will rise with surpassing dignity.
- קצת ביאור על זה A Brief Explanation of This The “daughter” is what is refined, and the “sister,” the master of Torah, is the one who refines. The Chanukah lamp hints at three unifications, reached through self-sacrifice in the Shema, Torah and mitzvos; in the Time to Come the refined “daughter” will be raised to be “a crown on his head.”
- רני ושמחי בת ציון כי הנני בא “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come” Divine service has two movements: singing, the soul’s longing ascent, born of G‑d’s concealment, which must come first; and joy, the Infinite Light drawn down through Torah and mitzvos. The Chanukah lamp, lit outside the door, shows that this light reaches even one who stands outside, and the prophet promises that G‑d Himself will come even to the “daughter of Zion” in exile.
- ביאור על הנ״ל An Explanation of the Above: “Sing and Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion” Song is the soul’s yearning ascent from distance, and joy is G‑d’s light drawn down through Torah and mitzvos: angels have only song, souls have both, and in the future Malchus, the “daughter of Zion,” will have song and joy as one, through a drawing-down from G‑d’s very Self.
- מי כה׳ אלקינו המגביהי לשבת המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ “Who is like Havayah our G‑d, Who raises high to sit, Who lowers to see…” Scripture calls both the mitzvah and the soul a lamp. The G‑dly soul’s contemplation kindles a love that consumes even the animal soul, like oil drawn up a wick into the flame; the mitzvos lift the soul from below as encompassing garments, and the Torah’s light draws the Infinite Light down from above, so that G‑d is revealed below as above.
- ביאור על הנ״ל An Explanation of the Above There are two lamps. In the lamp of the soul, the G‑dly soul is a limited wick and the human intellect, rooted in Tohu, is the oil; in the lamp of the mitzvah, the mitzvah is the wick that lifts that intellect and the physical things it is done with, also from Tohu. The burning oil becomes a love beyond the person’s measure, though bounded in itself, and this ascent from below draws down “the Torah is light,” the truly unlimited Infinite Light from above the tzimtzum, revealed in this world.
- כי אתה נרי ה׳ והוי״ה יגיה חשכי For You Are My Lamp, Havayah The soul is a lamp of the Name Havayah: Torah and awe are its oil, and the animal soul is the wick that the G‑dly soul’s flame transforms, so that the truth of Havayah shines in the physical world. When later, weaker generations cannot light that lamp themselves, a higher Havayah, beyond the ordered worlds, illuminates their darkness, as at Chanukah.
- ביאור על פסוק כי אתה נרי הנה בארוממך… An Explanation of the Verse “For You Are My Lamp” Light can be raised from below, as on Shabbos, or drawn down from above, as on Chanukah. The deepest light, rooted in the hidden wisdom within Keser, reaches the lowest places directly, through the physical mitzvos, tzedakah and the pure oil of Chanukah, without passing through the long chain of descent.
- נר חנוכה מצוה להניחה כו׳ משמאל, כדי שתהא… The Chanukah Lamp: A Mitzvah to Place It on the Left The mezuzah on the right is the ascent from below, “a mitzvah is a lamp”; the Chanukah lamp on the left is the light of the Torah drawn down from above. The ascent is what draws the light, and it carries it even into the darkest places, so that darkness itself is turned into light.
- ביאור על הנ״ל An Explanation of the Above The mitzvos rise from below and the Torah’s light comes down from above, and it is the ascent that draws the descent: as air lets a flame shine and letters let an idea be revealed, “a mitzvah is a lamp” rises to Keser and draws down new light so that “the Torah is light.” So the mezuzah, the ascent, is on the right, and the Chanukah lamp, the Torah’s light drawn down to the doorway and outward, is on the left.
The Rebbe’s maamarim on this parsha 9
The Rebbe built 9 of his maamarim (5724–5747) on the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim of this parsha. Each maamar’s page summarizes them, with what the Rebbe adds; or see them all together.
- Maamar 3ענין חנוכה1 maamar · 5747
- Maamar 5כי עמך מקור חיים באורך נראה אור1 maamar · 5734
- Maamar 7רני ושמחי בת ציון כו׳4 maamarim · 5724–5745
- Maamar 9רני ושמחי בת ציון כי הנני בא2 maamarim · 5737–5742
- Maamar 13כי אתה נרי ה׳ והוי״ה יגיה חשכי1 maamar · 5747
Learn it in seven days Sunday to Shabbos
The Rebbe asked that all the maamarim of the week’s parsha be learned in that week, spread over its seven days. Here is the parsha in seven portions of about equal length.