Torah Ohr · Parshas Mishpatim · Maamar 7
לא תהיה משכלה ועקרה בארצך את מספר ימיך אמלא
“None shall lose her young or be barren in your land”
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The big idea
Love and awe of G‑d cannot be manufactured: they grow as G‑d’s gift from a supernal “land of life,” while a person’s part is to plow and sow, by contemplating G‑d until He becomes “your G‑d,” by making himself an empty, clean vessel, and by prayer that reaches above the Name of creation. Feelings produced “in your land,” from one’s own self, either die at once or never come.
The maamar in brief
The maamar reads the promise “None shall lose her young or be barren in your land” as speaking of the soul. Above is a “land of life,” Knesses Yisrael above, from which love of G‑d and the life of the mitzvos grow as food grows from the earth: the growth is G‑d’s, while a person must plow and sow. Love is “light sown for the tzaddik,” that is, for every upright Jew. So one should not try to love G‑d by oneself, but contemplate Havayah, before whom all is nothing, until He becomes “your G‑d.” Then love and awe are born and endure; feelings forced “in your land” die at once (“loses her young”) or never come (“barren”). A second barrenness is the lack of a vessel: the ego blocks the mind, so one must be hollowed by a broken heart and rinsed even of permitted pleasures. Next is Chanah’s prayer “upon Havayah,” above the Name that creates worlds, and her weeping, which arouses His great compassion. A person makes the “days,” the garments of Torah and mitzvos; G‑d fills their “number,” their light. Last, G‑d promises to remove the serpent’s “sickness,” the self-awareness born with the first sin.
Outline
- The land of lifeAbove is a “land of life,” Knesses Yisrael above, from which love of G‑d and the mitzvos grow as food grows from the earth; the growth is G‑d’s, and a person’s task is to plow and sow.¶1–2
- Light sown for the tzaddikThe sown “light” is the love of G‑d, sown for every upright Jew; all love and awe are G‑d’s gift, not the worshiper’s own product.¶3–4
- Serving Havayah your G‑dRather than forcing love, a person contemplates Havayah, before whom all is nothing, until He becomes “your G‑d,” grasped as if seen; G‑d’s greatness toward the worlds is His humility, and this descent into the mind is where service begins.¶5–6
- Losing young and barrennessLove and awe born of such contemplation endure, awe coming first; feelings produced “in your land” die at once or are never born.¶7
- The empty, clean vesselA second barrenness is the lack of a vessel: the sense of self blocks the mind. A broken heart hollows the vessel, and detachment even from permitted pleasures rinses it clean.¶8–10
- Chanah’s prayer and weepingChanah prays “upon Havayah,” binding herself with self-sacrifice to G‑d above the Name that brings worlds into being; her weeping arouses the great compassion that flows from His exaltation above all worlds and shields us from sinking into this world.¶11–15
- The number of your daysService must be steady and settled, every day whole and accounted for; the days are the garments of Torah and mitzvos that a person makes, and G‑d fills their “number,” the light within them.¶16–18
- Removing the sicknessG‑d also promises to remove the serpent’s contamination, the awareness of one’s own lack and good that was born with the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.¶19–20
Key concepts
- The land of lifeארץ החיים
- The supernal source, Knesses Yisrael above, from which the souls of Israel receive love of G‑d and the life of the mitzvos, as living things are fed from the earth.
- Knesses Yisraelכנסת ישראל
- The collective soul of Israel, above (rooted in G‑d’s thought) and below; called Leah when she gives birth to love and awe, and Chanah when she is barren.
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The “son” and “daughter” born of contemplating G‑dliness, awe first; true love and awe endure because they grow from above, while self-made feelings fade.
- Empty vesselכלי ריקן
- A heart hollowed by humility and rinsed of attachment to the world, able to receive the contemplation of G‑dliness.
- The Name Havayahשם הוי׳
- The Name that signifies bringing everything into being from nothing; it applies only in relation to the worlds, while Chanah’s prayer reaches above it.
- Great compassion (rachamim rabim)רחמים רבים
- The compassion that flows from G‑d’s infinite exaltation above all worlds, before whom even the highest worlds are lowly; it is aroused by weeping in prayer.
- The number of your daysמספר ימיך
- The light within the days, which are the garments of Torah and mitzvos; a person makes the days, and G‑d fills their light.
The land of life ¶1–2
1לא תהיה משכלה ועקרה בארצך את מספר ימיך אמלא. הנה מודעת זאת כי יש למעלה1 בחינת ארץ החיים שממנה נשפע חיים ומזון לכללות נשמות ישראל
“None shall lose her young or be barren in your land; the number of your days I will fill.” Now, it is well known that above there is the level of the “land of life,” from which life and sustenance flow to the souls of Israel as a whole,
The maamar opens with Exodus 23:26, one of the blessings promised to those who serve G‑d: no woman will lose her young or be barren, and their days will be full. The Alter Rebbe begins with a premise: above there is a spiritual “land of life,” from which life and nourishment flow to all the souls of Israel together.
לאהבה את ה׳ לעשות כל מצותיו אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם חיים אמיתיים2 דוגמת ארץ הלזו התחתונה הגשמית שמצמחת כל מיני מגדים להחיות בהם נפש כל חי חיים גשמיים.34
to love G‑d, to do all His mitzvos, “which a person shall do and live by them,” a true life; just like this lower, physical earth, which grows all kinds of choice fruits to give the soul of every living thing physical life by them.
The “life” that flows from this land is the ability to love G‑d and keep His mitzvos, which the verse calls living by them and the Alter Rebbe calls “a true life.” It is modeled on the physical earth, which grows the food that keeps every living creature alive.
The maamar opens by positing a supernal “land of life” that nourishes the souls of Israel with love of G‑d and the mitzvos, just as the physical earth feeds every living thing.
In a gloss cited in the Kehot notes (Or HaTorah on the Prophets and Writings), the Tzemach Tzedek identifies this “land of life” as Malchus of Atzilus, adding that three things are called “life.” Malchus is the Sefirah that receives from the levels above it and brings their light out to the worlds below, as the earth brings out what is sown in it.
Marei mekomos
- 1יש למעלה בחי׳ ארץ החיים · באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ תיד מוסיף ”שהיא מל׳ דאצי׳ . . כי ג׳ דברים נקראים חיים”.
- 2וחי בהם חיים אמיתיים · Song of Songs 2:1
- 3לא תהי׳ משכלה · המאמר נאמר בשבת משפטים ש״מ אדר תקנ״ז — ראה מאמרי אדה״ז הקצרים ע׳ תריח. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. המאמר עם הגהות באוה״ת משפטים ע׳ א׳רמח. א׳רסב. ב׳תשכט. ב׳תשלב. המאמר נזכר בלקו״ת במדבר ו, ג. אוה״ת פנחס ע׳ א׳רא בענין השמים מספרים.
- 4לא תהי׳ משכלה · Exodus 23:26
Without it, there is no existence or life-force for any who dwell on it; for wealth and riches, gold and silver, are of no avail if there is no growth from the soil, G‑d forbid.
The comparison is pressed further: without the earth’s produce no one can survive, and all the gold and silver in the world are useless if nothing grows. The point being prepared is that spiritual life depends on its source in the same way.
So too, all the spiritual life-force that is drawn to a person for Torah and for [divine] service all comes through the supernal land of life, as it is written, “in the lands of life.”
All the spiritual vitality a person has for Torah study and for serving G‑d comes through the supernal “land of life.” The Alter Rebbe finds this land in the Psalmist’s phrase “the lands of life.”
(ומ״ש בארצות היינו כי יש ארץ עלאה וארץ תתאה. דהיינו כנ״י דלעילא וכנ״י דלתתא כי גם למעלה יש בחי׳ כנ״י כי ישראל עלו במחשבה)4 ונק׳ בשם ארץ.
(And when it says “lands,” this is because there is a higher land and a lower land, that is, Knesses Yisrael above and Knesses Yisrael below; for above, too, there is the level of Knesses Yisrael, since Israel arose in [G‑d’s] thought.) And it is called by the name “land.”
The parenthesis explains the plural “lands”: there is a higher and a lower land, Knesses Yisrael (the collective soul of Israel) as it exists above and as it exists below. Knesses Yisrael exists above too because Israel “arose in [G‑d’s] thought”: the souls have a root in the divine thought itself, and that higher root is what is called “land.”
כי כמו ארץ הלזו הגשמית אין כח צמיחתה מצד עצמה5 אלא מן הזריעה וכח הצומח אשר ניתן בה להיות ממנה ועל ידה נגדל ונצמח כל הזרעים שבתוכה.
For just as this physical earth does not have its power of growth from itself, but from the sowing and the power of growth that was placed in it, so that from it and through it all the seeds within it are grown and sprout,
Why “land”? Because the physical earth has no power of growth of its own; things grow from it only through the seed sown in it and the power of growth placed in it.
כך החיים הרוחניים6 הנמשכים ונשפעים מארץ החיים הם נמשכים ממקור וחיי החיים ב״ה כי הוא הנותן כח בארץ להוציא צמחה. אך זאת עבודת האדם לחרוש ולזרוע בה.7
so the spiritual life that is drawn and flows from the land of life is drawn from the Source and the Life of life, blessed be He, for it is He who gives the land the power to bring forth its growth. But this is the service of man: to plow and to sow in it.
Spiritual life likewise flows through the “land of life” but comes from G‑d, the Source of all life, who gives that land its power to grow. The human part is to plow and sow, preparing the ground; the next paragraphs explain what that work is.
The paragraph extends the analogy: as all physical life depends on the earth, whose power of growth comes from G‑d and is set to work by plowing and sowing, so all spiritual life comes through the supernal “land,” Knesses Yisrael above, whose growth is G‑d’s gift while a person’s task is to plow and sow.
In Iggeres HaKodesh 20, to which the Kehot notes point, the Alter Rebbe explains that the earth’s power to bring forth plants from nothing, year after year, comes from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof); produce that grows through sowing and planting is far better than what grows by itself, and from this one understands how man’s service draws higher lights into the worlds. The same pattern underlies this maamar: the growth is G‑d’s, but the sowing is man’s.
Marei mekomos
- 1אם לא יהי׳ צמח האדמה ח״ו · באוה״ת שמות שם ע׳ ב׳תשכט מציין ”וכמ״ש במד״ר פ׳ אחרי ר״פ כב ע״פ מלך לשדה נעבד אפילו הוא מלך ושליט מסוף העולם עד סופו לשדה נעבד עבדת ארעא או לא עבדת ארעא ולא כלום”. ע״ש.
- 2ארץ החיים העליונה · בלקו״ת פינחס עט, ב מציין לכאן.
- 3בארצות החיים · Psalms 116:9
- 4(ומ״ש . . במחשבה) · בבוך 2061 נכתב בלא מוסגר. באוה״ת שם: עכ״ל הרי״ל.
- 5אין כח צמיחתה מצד עצמה · ראה אגה״ק סי׳ כ (קלב, א). ובלקו״ת פינחס עט, סע״ב.
- 6כך החיים הרוחניים · מובא באוה״ת פ׳ שמות ע׳ פז.
- 7
Light sown for the tzaddik ¶3–4
3והיינו כמ״ש אור זרוע לצדיק1 כי ועמך כלם צדיקים2 כתיב. ואינו שם התואר דהיינו מדרגת צדיק אמיתי שנתבאר במ״א.3 אלא ר״ל מדרגת אדם כשר שאינו רשע ח״ו וכמ״ש צדיק ורשע לא קאמר.45
This is as it is written, “Light is sown for the tzaddik,” for it is written, “And your people are all tzaddikim.” And this is not the title, that is, the rank of a true tzaddik, which is explained elsewhere; rather, it means the rank of an upright person who is not wicked (rasha), G‑d forbid, as it is said, “‘Tzaddik’ and ‘rasha’ it does not say.”
The “sowing” is linked to the verse “Light is sown for the tzaddik,” and since “your people are all tzaddikim,” the light is sown for every Jew. “Tzaddik” here is not the title of the true tzaddik discussed elsewhere (the Kehot note points to Tanya), but an upright person who is not wicked. The saying “‘Tzaddik’ and ‘rasha’ it does not say,” which Tanya, ch. 1, also cites, teaches that righteousness and wickedness are not fixed in advance, so the “tzaddik” meant here is what any person can choose to be.
The paragraph ties the land and its sowing to “Light is sown for the tzaddik,” and explains that every Jew is a “tzaddik” in this sense: an upright person who is not wicked.
Tanya, ch. 1, distinguishes the borrowed use of “tzaddik” for anyone whose merits outweigh his sins, which concerns reward and punishment, from “the true meaning of the title” of tzaddik, one in whom the evil inclination no longer exists. The maamar’s “not the title” draws on this distinction: the light is sown for every upright Jew, not only for the few who reach that rank.
Marei mekomos
- 1אור זרוע לצדיק · Psalms 97:11
- 2ועמך כולם צדיקים · Isaiah 60:21
- 3מדרגת צדיק אמיתי שנתבאר במ״א · באוה״ת משפטים ע׳ א׳רנב: ”שנתבאר בלק״א”. פ״א.
- 4ואינו שם התואר . . ורשע לא קאמר · בבוך 1174 נכתב זה בתוך סוגריים.
- 5צדיק ורשע לא קאמר · Berakhot 7a:25–26
And the “light” is the love of G‑d and the longing for Him, blessed be He, that is drawn to a person: it is sown in the land of life “for the tzaddik.”
The “light” that is sown is the love of G‑d and the longing for Him that come to a person. It is planted in the supernal “land of life,” and from there it grows “for the tzaddik.”
פי׳ להיות צדיק ומקושר בה׳ לדבקה בו.2 וזאת ישים האדם אל לבו וידע נאמנה ויאמין באמונה שלימה
That is, to be a tzaddik and bound to G‑d, to cleave to Him. And a person should take this to heart, and know with certainty, and believe with complete faith,
“For the tzaddik” means: so that the person becomes a tzaddik, bound to G‑d and cleaving to Him. The Alter Rebbe then asks the reader to take the point that follows to heart, with knowledge and complete faith.
כי כל אהבה ויראה הנמשכים אליו הוא מתת אלקים שנותן כח הצומח בארץ העליונה להצמיח אהבת ה׳ ויראתו על פניו ואינם נמשכים מכח האדם העובד עצמו.
that all love and awe that are drawn to him are a gift of G‑d, who gives the power of growth in the supernal land to make the love of G‑d and the awe of Him grow upon his face; and they are not drawn from the power of the worshiper himself.
All the love and awe a person feels are G‑d’s gift: He gives the supernal land the power to make them grow “upon his face,” and the worshiper does not produce them by his own strength. This prepares the next paragraph’s warning against trying to generate love by oneself.
The sown “light” is the love of G‑d; it grows from the supernal land as G‑d’s gift, so a person must know that his love and awe are not his own achievement.
In Or HaTorah (cited in the Kehot notes) the Tzemach Tzedek suggests another reading of “for the tzaddik”: this sowing of love and awe reaches the supernal land through Yosef the tzaddik, and from there it is drawn to the human soul.
Marei mekomos
- 1זרוע בארץ החיים לצדיק · באוה״ת ע׳ ב׳תשל (הנדפס מגוכתי״ק הצ״צ): ”זרוע בארץ לצדיק”.
- 2פי׳ להיות צדיק ומקושר בה׳ לדבקה בו · באוה״ת ע׳ ב׳תשל: ”פי׳ לצדיק י״ל שזריעה אה״ר זו נמשך בארץ העליונה ע״י יוסף הצדיק ומשם נמשך לנפש האדם”. ע״ש.
Serving Havayah your G‑d ¶5–6
5וע״כ כל עיקר עבודתו לא תהיה לאהוב ה׳ מעצמו שיהיה הוא העובד והוא האוהב כו׳. כ״א כמ״ש ועבדתם את1 הוי״ה אלקיכם.
Therefore the whole essence of his service should not be to love G‑d on his own, so that he is the one who serves and he is the one who loves, etc.; but rather as it is written, “And you shall serve Havayah your G‑d.”
Since love and awe come from above, a person’s main service should not be an effort to love G‑d by himself, as if he were the one who serves and loves. It should follow the verse just before the maamar’s verse, “And you shall serve Havayah your G‑d.”
ופי׳ לפי פשוטו אינו מובן וכי הוא יתברך לעבודתנו הוא צריך וכלום חסר ח״ו ואם צדקת מה תתן לו.2
Now, according to its plain sense, its meaning is not understood: does He, blessed be He, need our service? Does He lack anything, G‑d forbid? “If you are righteous, what do you give Him?”
Taken simply, the command to serve G‑d is puzzling, since G‑d lacks nothing and needs nothing from us. As Elihu tells Job, “If you are righteous, what do you give Him?”
אלא הענין3 כי הוי״ה פי׳ היה הוה ויהיה ואני ה׳ לא שניתי4 וכולא קמיה כלא חשיב ותהיה עבודתכם כ״כ עד שבחי׳ זו תהי׳ אצליכם בבחי׳ אלהיכם כאלו הוא אלקים שלכם.
Rather, the point is this: Havayah means “He was, He is and He will be,” and “I, G‑d, have not changed,” and “before Him all is considered as nothing.” And your service should be so [intense] that this level becomes, for you, in the mode of “your G‑d,” as though He were your own G‑d.
The answer reads the verse through the Name Havayah, which means “He was, He is and He will be”: G‑d unchanging and beyond time, before whom all is as nothing. The service asked of us is to make this transcendent Havayah into “your G‑d,” something truly one’s own.
דהיינו שיהיה שורה וקבוע במוח ומחשבה ומורגש ונתפס בשכלו באמת לאמתו כאלו עיניו רואות גילוי אלהותו ית׳ ממש.
That is, that it rest and be fixed in the mind and thought, and be felt and grasped in his intellect in utter truth, as though his eyes actually saw the revelation of His G‑dliness, blessed be He.
Making Havayah “your G‑d” means that this truth settles firmly in the mind and is felt and grasped as vividly as if one saw G‑dliness with one’s own eyes. The “service” is the work of bringing the infinite into human understanding.
The paragraph defines the service: not manufacturing love, but contemplating Havayah, G‑d who is beyond change and before whom all is nothing, until He becomes “your G‑d,” fixed and felt in one’s own mind.
The reading turns on the two Names in the verse: Havayah, G‑d as utterly beyond the worlds, and Elokeichem, “your G‑d,” G‑d as He relates to a person and can be grasped by him. Serving “Havayah your G‑d” means joining the two, so that the transcendent becomes the person’s own.
Marei mekomos
- 1ועבדתם את הוי׳ אלקיכם · Exodus 23:25
- 2ואם צדקת מה תתן לו · Job 35:7
- 3אלא הענין . . גילוי אלקותו ית׳ ממש · ראה אוה״ת שמות כרך ו ע׳ א׳רלב.
- 4ואני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
6ועד״ז הוא סדר כל השבחים1 אלהי אברהם כו׳ הגדול כו׳.2 כי במקום שאתה מוצא גדולתו3 שם אתה מוצא ענותנותו כי באמת כולא קמיה כלא חשיב והתלבשותו בבחי׳ גדולה כביכול ענוה היא.
In this way, too, is the order of all the praises: “G‑d of Avraham,” etc., “the great,” etc. For “where you find His greatness, there you find His humility”; for in truth “before Him all is considered as nothing,” and His investing Himself in the level of greatness is, so to speak, humility.
The praises at the start of the Amidah, “G‑d of Avraham... the great...,” follow the same pattern of joining the transcendent to the personal. As the Talmud says, “where you find His greatness, there you find His humility”: since all is as nothing before Him, His appearing as “great” toward the worlds is itself an act of humility.
והוא באמת עיקר העבודה ומכאן עיקר ההתחלה מלמעלה למטה. וזהו באמת עבודה גדולה שיוכל מוחו הגשמי לקבל ולתפוס בו גילוי אלהותו ית׳.
And this is truly the essence of [divine] service, and from here comes the essential beginning, from above to below. And this is truly a great service: that his physical brain can receive and grasp within it the revelation of His G‑dliness, blessed be He.
This descent from above to below, G‑d making Himself graspable, is the true starting point of service. Hence it is a great service for a physical brain to receive and grasp a revelation of G‑dliness.
The paragraph finds the same pattern in the Amidah’s praises: G‑d’s “greatness” toward the worlds is really humility, and service begins when this G‑dliness comes down into a human mind.
In Torah Ohr, Chayei Sara (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe explains this saying: G‑d’s greatness is not, as people think, that He gives life to all the worlds; that is a descent for Him, a lowering of Himself to be clothed in them, and it is praise of His humility.
Marei mekomos
- 1סדר כל השבחים אלקי אברהם · בתפלת שמו״ע.
- 2אלהי אברהם כו׳ הגדול כו׳ · Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Amidah, Patriarchs 3
- 3במקום שאתה מוצא גדולתו · Megillah 31a:12–13
Losing young and barrenness ¶7
7והנה בכאן נולדה ונתעוררה1 מדת אוי״ר ונק׳ בשם הולדה. כי אהוי״ר הם בחי׳ בן ובת. שאהבה היא בחי׳ בן כמ״ש זכר חסדו.2 והיראה היא בחי׳ בת.
Now, here the attributes of love and awe are born and aroused, and this is called “birth.” For love and awe are the aspects of a son and a daughter: love is the aspect of a son, as it is written, “He remembered (zachar) His kindness,” and awe is the aspect of a daughter.
When the mind truly grasps G‑dliness, love and awe are “born” and aroused, so this stage is called “birth.” Love is a “son” and awe a “daughter”; love is male because of the verse “He remembered (zachar, a word that also means ‘male’) His kindness,” kindness being the attribute of love.
And this is “A daughter first is a good sign for sons”: one must first arouse the awe of G‑d and the dread of Him, for “this is the gate to G‑d,” as is explained elsewhere.
This is the Talmud’s “A daughter first is a good sign for sons”: awe must be aroused first, because awe is “the gate to G‑d” through which one enters to love.
משא״כ כשאין עבודתו עד״ז ובחי׳ זו רק שרוצה לאחוז במדות אהוי״ר להיות אוהב וירא כו׳
This is not so when his service is not in this way and on this level, but he only wants to take hold of the attributes of love and awe, to be one who loves and fears, etc.;
The Alter Rebbe contrasts a person whose service skips this contemplation and who simply wants to seize the feelings of love and awe, to become a person who loves and fears G‑d.
הנה היא לא תצלח בידו ולעולם לא יוליד שום אהבה ויראה אמיתיים כ״א דמיונות שוא שהוא דבר שאין לו קיום
then it will not succeed in his hands, and he will never beget any true love and awe, but only false imaginings, which are a thing that has no permanence
Such an effort will not succeed: it will never produce real love and awe, only empty imaginings that have no staying power.
אלא לפי שעה ונק׳ בחי׳ זו משכלה שיולדת וקוברת. ועקרה היינו שאינה יולדת אהוי״ר כלל.
except for the moment. And this level is called “one who loses her young” (meshakelah), who gives birth and buries; and “barren” means one who does not give birth to love and awe at all.
Feelings that last only a moment are the meshakelah, the mother who gives birth and then buries her children. The “barren” one is the person in whom love and awe are not born at all.
וזהו לא תהיה משכלה ועקרה בארצך כי סבת היות בחינות אלו משכלה ועקרה הוא מחמת כי הם בארצך ואינם באים מארץ עליונה:
And this is “None shall lose her young or be barren in your land”: for the reason these levels are “one who loses her young” and “barren” is that they are “in your land” and do not come from the supernal land.
This explains the verse: both failures happen “in your land,” when love and awe are generated from a person’s own ground rather than coming from the supernal land. The promise that none will lose her young or be barren is fulfilled when love and awe are drawn from above.
The paragraph interprets the verse: love and awe born from contemplating G‑dliness endure, while feelings a person tries to produce “in his own land” either die at once (“loses her young”) or never come (“barren”).
The words “born and aroused” echo Tanya, where contemplating G‑d’s greatness gives birth first to awe and then to love, Chochmah, Binah and Daas being called the “mothers” and source of the emotions. The maamar adds that what is born this way endures, while emotion produced without it does not.
Marei mekomos
- 1נולדה ונתעוררה · ראה תניא פרק ד.
- 2זכר חסדו · Psalms 98:3
- 3בת תחלה סימן יפה לבנים · בבא בתרא קמא, א.
- 4בת תחלה סימן יפה לבנים · Bava Batra 141a:4
- 5זה השער לה׳ · Psalms 118:20
The empty, clean vessel ¶8–10
8אך הנה יש עוד1 בחי׳ עקרה. והוא כענין מארז״ל ע״פ אין לה ולד אפי׳ בית ולד2 אין לה3 ושהיו טומטומים פי׳ שנסתם כ״כ עד שאין לה כלי קבול לקבל הריון.
But there is yet another level of barrenness. It is like what our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse “She had no child”: “She did not even have a womb”; and that they were tumtumim, meaning that she was so closed up that she had no receptacle to receive a pregnancy.
A second, deeper barrenness is introduced. On “She had no child,” said of Sarai, the Sages said that she did not even have a womb, and that Avraham and Sarah were tumtumim, closed up; there was no receptacle in which a child could be conceived.
ועד״ז הנה יש באדם ג״כ בחי׳ זו לעבודת ה׳ שאינו תופס במוחו ושכלו האמת כאשר הוא מחמת שאין לו כלי מחזיק.4
In the same way, there is also this level in a person with regard to the service of G‑d: he does not grasp in his mind and intellect the truth as it is, because he has no vessel that holds [it].
The parallel in divine service is a person who cannot grasp the truth as it is, not for lack of contemplation, but because he has no “vessel” to hold it.
כי כנ״י נק׳ כוס ישועות56 שהוא כלי קבול לקבל החסדים העליונים ונק׳ כוס של ברכה שמקבלת יין המשמח דהיינו בחי׳ התבוננות הנ״ל.
For Knesses Yisrael is called “the cup of salvations,” for it is a receptacle to receive the supernal kindnesses; and it is called “the cup of blessing,” for it receives the wine that gladdens, that is, the level of the contemplation mentioned above.
The vessel is illustrated from Knesses Yisrael, called “the cup of salvations,” a receptacle for the supernal kindnesses, and “the cup of blessing,” which receives “the wine that gladdens.” That wine is the contemplation described above, and it needs a vessel to hold it.
The paragraph introduces a second barrenness: the lack of a vessel to receive the contemplation of G‑dliness, likened to a missing womb and to a cup.
In Likkutei Torah, Chukas (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe recalls this passage when explaining the digging of a well: making the empty vessel through a broken heart is the “digging,” and keeping the heart from attachment even to permitted things is the “clearing out” of pebbles and sand, after which the hidden love is revealed, as in “And Chanah prayed upon Havayah.”
Marei mekomos
- 1אך הנה יש עוד . . אם לא נטהרה מטומאתה · ראה אוה״ת דרושים לר״ה ע׳ א׳שכד. אוה״ת שה״ש ע׳ תפט. סה״מ תרל״ג ח״א ע׳ עג.
- 2אין לה ולד אפי׳ בית ולד · Genesis 11:30
- 3אפי׳ בית ולד אין לה · Yevamot 64b:2–3
- 4שאין לו כלי מחזיק · ראה ביאוה״ז להצ״צ כרך א ע׳ רצה.
- 5כנ״י נק׳ כוס ישועות · ראה גם מאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ רפ.
- 6כוס ישועות · Psalms 116:13
9והיינו כשהוא כלי ריקן. משא״כ אם מחזיק מקום לעצמו ונחשב בעצמו ליש ודבר בפ״ע.
That is, when it is an empty vessel. This is not so if he holds a place for himself and considers himself a “something” (yesh), a thing in its own right.
The vessel receives only when it is empty. A person who “holds a place for himself,” regarding himself as a separate somebody, is a full vessel with no room for G‑dliness.
ולכן הוא עוסק ברצונותיו לומר כך אני רוצה וכך טוב לי זה איני יכול לעשות וכיוצא בדברים ויש בזה פרטים ופרטי פרטים עד אין מספר.
Therefore he is occupied with his desires, saying, “This is what I want,” and “This is good for me,” “This I cannot do,” and things of that sort; and there are details and fine details in this without number.
Such a person is taken up with his own wishes: what he wants, what is good for him, what he cannot do. The forms this takes are endless.
אך דרך כלל יש בחי׳ זו לכל או״א למצוא בנפשו. הן העוסקים במו״מ. הן יושבי אוהלים בכל דבר שאומר אני כו׳ ומחמת זה נטמטם ונסתם מוחו:
But in general, each and every person can find this quality in his soul, both those engaged in business and those who sit in the tents [of Torah], in every matter in which he says “I,” etc.; and because of this his mind becomes stopped up and closed.
Everyone can find this trait in himself, the businessman and the scholar alike, whenever he says “I.” This self-assertion is what blocks the mind, the inner counterpart of being tumtum, closed up.
The paragraph identifies what blocks the vessel: a person’s sense of self, voiced in his constant “I want” and “I,” which closes the mind to G‑dliness.
Now, the advice for making an empty vessel is as it is written, “A broken and crushed heart,” etc., [and] “I dwell with the crushed,” etc.
The remedy for the blocked vessel is “a broken and crushed heart,” which G‑d does not despise, for G‑d says, “I dwell... with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” Brokenness turns a person into the empty vessel in which G‑d can dwell.
והוא כמשל אומן העושה כלי קבול שצריך להכותה בפטיש סביב סביב עד שנעשה חלל בתוכה וכך יהיה האדם ידכה וישוח להיות שפל רוח שלא יתפוס מקום כלל שיהיה מקומו פנוי וחלל כאלו אין ואפס ממש.
It is like the analogy of a craftsman who makes a receptacle: he must strike it with a hammer all around until a hollow is formed inside it. So should a person be: he should crush himself and bow low, to be lowly of spirit, so that he takes up no space at all, so that his place is empty and hollow, as though he were truly nothing and naught.
A craftsman makes a vessel by hammering the material all around until a hollow forms inside. So a person must crush and humble himself until he takes up no room at all, as though he were nothing.
אך עוד אחת היא משארז״ל כוס של ברכה4 צריך הדחה מבפנים5 והענין הוא כי אפילו מי שהוא נדכה בטבע כגון שהוא עני ואין לו מצח להרים ראש.
But there is one more thing, from what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The cup of blessing requires rinsing on the inside.” The point is that even someone who is crushed by nature, for example, one who is poor and has not the face to lift up his head,
A second requirement comes from the law that “the cup of blessing requires rinsing on the inside.” It applies even to someone who is humble by nature or circumstance, such as a poor man who would not dare to raise his head.
עוד צריך הוא שלא יטה לבו אפילו לדברים המותרים להיות מקושר בהם בכל לב ונפש
still needs not to incline his heart even toward permitted things, to be bound up in them with all his heart and soul;
Even such a person must not give his heart to permitted things, becoming bound to them with all his heart and soul.
כי אפשר לעולם שיתקיים עשיית דברים המותרים בלא לב6 ג״כ ואם הטה לבו ונקשר להיות בהבלי העולם א״א להיות כלי קבול עד שיטהר והוא
for it is always possible for permitted things to be done without the heart as well. And if he has inclined his heart and become bound up in the vanities of the world, he cannot be a receptacle until he is purified. This is
Permitted things can be done without the heart being in them. But if the heart attaches itself to the world’s vanities, the person cannot be a receptacle for G‑dliness until he is purified.
כמו למשל כוס המלוכלך שא״א להטיל בו יין עד שירחצנו וכן האשה לא תוכל לקבל הריון אפילו יש לה בית ולד אם לא נטהרה מטומאתה:
like, for example, a soiled cup, into which one cannot put wine until he washes it; and likewise a woman cannot conceive, even if she has a womb, if she has not been purified of her impurity.
A dirty cup cannot hold wine until it is washed, and a woman cannot conceive, even with a womb, until she has become pure. Humility makes the hollow; detachment from worldly desire cleans it.
The paragraph gives two steps to making the vessel: crushing one’s sense of self until one is hollow, and cleansing the heart of attachment even to permitted pleasures.
The Tzemach Tzedek, quoted in the Kehot notes, explains “without the heart”: a person must still eat, drink and attend to physical things, but “without heart,” so that his knowing of them does not move him at his core. Likkutei Torah, Chukas (see paragraph 8), calls these two steps the “digging” and the “clearing out” of a well.
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה העצה לעשות כלי ריקן · ראה אוה״ת נ״ך ע׳ תשנז.
- 2לב נשבר ונדכה · Psalms 51:19
- 3אשכון את דכא · Isaiah 57:15
- 4כוס של ברכה · Berakhot 51a:13
- 5כוס של ברכה צריך הדחה מבפנים · Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 183:1
- 6אפשר — בלא לב · ”היינו הגם שהאדם מוכרח לאכילה ושתי׳ ושארי דברים הגשמיים אלא שצ״ל בלא לב ולב, היינו שהידיעה לא תפעול בו הזזה עצמית” — אוה״ת בראשית כרך ו תתרנז, ב.
Chanah’s prayer and weeping ¶11–15
11והנה אחר שעשה כלי קבול נקיה ומודחת הנה הוא עוד צריך לשית עצות בנפשו. והוא ענין מ״ש ותתפלל חנה על1 ה׳ ובכה תבכה.
Now, after he has made a receptacle, clean and rinsed, he still needs to take counsel in his soul. This is the meaning of what is written, “And Chanah prayed upon G‑d, and wept sorely.”
With a clean, rinsed vessel ready, one more inner step is needed, to “take counsel in one’s soul.” It is found in Chanah’s story: “And Chanah prayed upon G‑d, and wept sorely.”
כי הנה כנ״י2 יש לה כמה בחי׳ ושמות וכשהיא בבחי׳ הולדה נק׳ בשם לאה אם הבנים.
For Knesses Yisrael has several aspects and names; when she is in the state of giving birth, she is called by the name Leah, the mother of children.
Knesses Yisrael, the collective soul of Israel, appears under several names. When she is “giving birth” to love and awe, she is called Leah, the mother of many children.
The paragraph introduces the next step, prayer and weeping, through Chanah’s story, and notes that Knesses Yisrael in her fruitful state is called Leah.
Marei mekomos
- 1ותתפלל חנה על ה׳ · I Samuel 1:10
- 2כי הנה כנ״י · עי׳ אוה״ת פ׳ עקב ע׳ תרג.
12וכשהיא בבחי׳ עקרה שאינה מולדת אהבה ויראה1 נק׳ בשם חנה כמ״ש ולחנה אין ילדים.2 והעצה היא ותתפלל חנה על הוי״ה.
And when she is in the state of barrenness, not giving birth to love and awe, she is called by the name Chanah, as it is written, “But Chanah had no children.” And the advice is: “And Chanah prayed upon Havayah.”
When Knesses Yisrael is barren, with no love and awe, she is called Chanah, of whom it is written, “But Chanah had no children.” The remedy is “And Chanah prayed upon Havayah,” which the Alter Rebbe now explains.
והענין כי הנה שם הוי״ה מורה ע״ש שמהווה את הכל מאין ליש ושם זה הוא בכל עולמות אצילות בי״ע שאין חילוק ביניהם אלא שזה ברא וזה יצר כו׳.
The Name Havayah signifies bringing into being (mehaveh) from nothing to something. It is at work in all four worlds alike; their differences, “this one He created, that one He formed,” are only matters of detail.
אבל דרך כלל הנה הוא מחיה את כולם ומהוה אותם מאין ליש. אך אמתות שם זה אינו אלא לגבי העולמות הנאצלים והנבראים והנוצרים והנעשים.
But in general, He gives life to them all and brings them into being from nothing to something. However, the truth of this Name applies only in relation to the worlds that are emanated, created, formed and made.
Havayah gives life to all the worlds and brings them into being. But this Name is true only in relation to the worlds that are emanated, created, formed and made, since it describes G‑d as their Creator.
אבל לגבי הקב״ה בכבודו ובעצמו לא שייך כלל לומר שם זה דכולא קמיה כלא חשיב ואינם נתפסים אצלו בגדר מציאות כלל כמ״ש אני הוי״ה לא שניתי.3
But in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory and His essence, it is not at all relevant to speak of this Name, for “before Him all is considered as nothing,” and in relation to Him they do not register within the bounds of existence at all, as it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed.”
From the standpoint of G‑d Himself, the Name Havayah does not apply at all, since before Him all is nothing and the worlds do not count as existing. This is “I, Havayah, have not changed”: creation makes no change in Him.
ואתה הוא קודם שנברא כו׳. ואתה הוא לאחר שנברא כו׳. וזהו מ״ש בפרקי דר״א (פ״ג) עד שלא נברא העולם4 היה5 הקב״ה6 ושמו בלבד.
“And You are He before [the world] was created,” etc.; “and You are He after it was created,” etc. This is what is said in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer (chapter 3): “Before the world was created, there was the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Name alone.”
“You are He before [the world] was created... You are He after it was created”: G‑d is the same before and after creation. Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer says the same: before creation there was only “the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Name alone.”
פי׳ שמו לבד ששמו אינו בגדר מהווה ומחיה כלל אלא הוא לבד וכענין נשגב שמו לבדו.7
The meaning of “His Name alone” is that His Name is not at all in the category of bringing into being and giving life, but [there was] He alone. This is like “His Name alone is exalted.”
“His Name alone” means that the Name was not yet acting as Creator and Life-giver; there was only G‑d Himself. This is also the sense of “His Name alone is exalted.”
ונשגב הוא מורה על הפלגה יתירה שהוא מופלג הרבה מעולמות הנאצלים כו׳ רק כי הודו על ארץ ושמים. פי׳ שנמשך הוד וזיו משמו לחיות ארץ ושמים.
“Exalted” denotes an exceeding remoteness: He is far removed from the emanated worlds, etc.; only “His radiance is upon earth and heaven,” meaning that a radiance and splendor is drawn from His Name to give life to earth and heaven.
“Exalted” implies vast distance: G‑d is far removed even from the emanated worlds. What reaches “earth and heaven” is only His “radiance,” a glow from His Name that gives them life.
אך וירם קרן לעמו8 כתיב להיות לו לעם קרובו להיות קרבים אליו בעצמו כדי לקרבם אליו ליכלל ביחודו ית׳ כמ״ש חמלה גדולה ויתירה כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א.
But it is written, “And He has raised up a horn for His people”: that they should be to Him “a people near to Him,” to be near to Him, to His very self, in order to bring them near to Him, to be absorbed into His unity, blessed be He, as it says, “Great and exceeding compassion,” etc., as is explained elsewhere.
Yet the next verse says, “And He has raised up a horn for His people... a people near to Him”: Israel are meant to be near to G‑d Himself, beyond the level that gives life to worlds, and to be absorbed into His unity. This comes from His “great and exceeding compassion.”
The paragraph explains why Chanah’s prayer is “upon Havayah”: the Name Havayah describes G‑d as Creator and applies only to the worlds, while Israel are drawn, through His great compassion, to G‑d Himself, who is “exalted” above that Name.
In Torah Ohr, Vaera (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe reads “His Name” in this verse as His Malchus, the Shechinah through which He relates to the worlds; even His Name in itself is “exalted alone,” and only its radiance shines on “earth,” the lower Gan Eden, and “heaven,” the upper Gan Eden. In Likkutei Torah, Behar, he identifies the “Name” of Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer with what the Zohar calls “light,” a radiance that is as nothing compared to G‑d Himself, as sunlight is to the sun.
Marei mekomos
- 1שאינה מולדת אהבה ויראה · בלקו״ת במדבר ח, ד מציין לכאן.
- 2ולחנה אין ילדים · I Samuel 1:2
- 3אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 4עד שלא נברא העולם · ראה גם לעיל סג, ב ובמ״מ לשם.
- 5
- 6הי׳ הקב״ה · כ״ה גם בפרדס שער עצמות וכלים פ״ח. וראה הלשון לעיל יד, א: ”הי׳ הוא ושמו בלבד”. וכן הלשון ברוב המקומות. ובלקו״ת בהר מא, ג: ושמו הגדול בלבד.
- 7נשגב שמו לבדו · Psalms 148:13
- 8וירם קרן לעמו · Psalms 148:14
13ומזה תתלהט נפשו להשליך נפשו מנגד למסור נפשו על קדוש השם בפועל ממש להיות נפש צמאה וכלתה לה׳ לאתדבקא רוחא ברוחא.
From this his soul will blaze up to cast away his life, to give his life over for the sanctification of the Name in actual deed; to be a soul that thirsts and pines away for G‑d, so that spirit may cleave to spirit.
Contemplating that Israel is drawn to G‑d’s very self sets the soul aflame with readiness to give up life itself for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name. The soul thirsts and pines for G‑d, to cleave to Him “spirit to spirit.”
דהיינו שיהיה כל מחשבה דבור ומעשה שלו במחדו״מ של הקב״ה ומצות מעומקא דלבא בדביקה וחשיקה כו׳ כמ״ש בזהר ע״פ נפשי אויתיך1 כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א.2
That is, that all his thought, speech and action be in the thought, speech and action of the Holy One, blessed be He, and in the mitzvos, from the depths of the heart, with cleaving and passionate desire, etc., as is said in the Zohar on the verse “My soul, I yearn for You,” etc., as is explained elsewhere.
In practice this means that all of a person’s thought, speech and action are absorbed into G‑d’s “thought, speech and action” and into the mitzvos, performed from the depths of the heart with attachment and passion. The Zohar on “My soul, I yearn for You” describes this love.
וזהו ותתפלל חנה על הוי״ה כי תפלה הוא מלשון התקשרות שהתקשרה עצמה על ה׳ פי׳ למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ שם הוי״ה המורה על התהוות העולמות וחיותן כ״א ליבטל וליכלל ביחודו ית׳ במסירת נפש בפ״ע.3
And this is “And Chanah prayed upon Havayah”: for tefillah (prayer) is a term for attachment; she attached herself “upon” G‑d, meaning far, far above the level of the Name Havayah, which denotes the coming into being of the worlds and their life-force; rather, [she sought] only to be nullified and absorbed into His unity, blessed be He, through self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in its own right.
Now “prayed upon Havayah” is clear: tefillah (prayer) means attachment, and “upon” means above. Chanah bound herself to G‑d far above the Name Havayah, which brings the worlds into being and gives them life, seeking only to dissolve into His unity with self-sacrifice.
The paragraph describes the response this contemplation awakens, a self-sacrificing yearning to cleave to G‑d, and reads “Chanah prayed upon Havayah” as attaching oneself to G‑d above the Name that relates to creation.
In Tanya, ch. 44 (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe draws on the Zohar’s reading of “My soul, I yearn for You”: one loves G‑d with the love of soul and spirit, as one loves one’s own life; this love, he writes there, is equal in every Jew and inherited from our forefathers.
Marei mekomos
- 1נפשי אויתיך · Isaiah 26:9
- 2כמ״ש בזהר ע״פ ונפשי אויתיך כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א · Zohar III, 67a
- 3במסירת נפש בפ״ע · באוה״ת משפטים ע׳ א׳רנט: במס״נ בפ״מ.
14והנה משם נמשך בחי׳ ר״ר על נצוץ אלהות שבנפשו. וזהו בכה תבכה1 לעורר רחמים רבים. וזהו המלך המרומם לבדו2 כו׳ והמתנשא מימות עולם.
Now, from there the level of great compassion (rachamim rabim) is drawn upon the spark of G‑dliness in his soul. This is “and wept sorely”: to arouse great compassion. And this is “The King who alone is exalted,” etc., “and who is uplifted beyond the days of the world.”
From that level above the worlds, “great compassion” is drawn upon the spark of G‑dliness in the soul. That is why Chanah “wept sorely”: weeping arouses great compassion. The same idea is in the prayer “The King who alone is exalted... uplifted beyond the days of the world.”
פי׳ שהוא רם ונשא מגדר ובחי׳ עולם ולפיכך ברחמיך הרבים שמחמת התנשאותו מימות עולם עד אין חקר גדלה בעיניו הרחמנות
That is, He is high and uplifted beyond the bounds and level of “world”; and therefore, “in Your great compassion”: for because He is uplifted beyond the days of the world to an unsearchable degree, compassion is great in His eyes
G‑d is “uplifted” above the very category of “world.” Precisely because He is infinitely beyond the worlds, compassion for them is great in His eyes, which is why the prayer continues “in Your great compassion.”
על כל העולם ואפי׳ על עולמות עליונים אפי׳ על בחי׳ ג״ע העליון ולמעלה מעלה עד רום כל המעלות שייך אצלו רחמנות כי כולם שפלים אצלו.
for the whole world, and even for the higher worlds; even for the level of the upper Gan Eden, and higher and higher, up to the summit of all heights, compassion applies with Him, for they are all lowly before Him.
From His vantage point, compassion applies to every world, even the upper Gan Eden and the highest levels of all, since all are lowly compared to Him.
משא״כ בעולמות הנאצלים והנבראים כו׳ כל מה שיורד מטה מטה מתמעט בחי׳ רחמים עד שבבחינת ארץ הלזו הגשמית אין אנו משיגים הרחמנות אפילו שעל עוה״ז הגשמי כיון שאנחנו בתוכה כי הרחמנות הוא אצל גדול על הקטן.
This is not so in the emanated and created worlds, etc.: the further down it descends, the more the level of compassion diminishes, until at the level of this physical earth we do not grasp the compassion even over this physical world, since we are within it; for compassion is [felt] by the great for the small.
Within the chain of worlds, compassion diminishes the lower one goes, until here, in the physical world, we cannot even perceive how much this world needs compassion, because we are inside it. Compassion is felt by the great toward the small, so only one far above can feel it.
כי כמו שהוא מתנשא עד אין חקר כך רחמיו מרובים אף כי נשגב שמו לבדו3 מ״מ הרי אלהי עולם כו׳.
For just as He is uplifted to an unsearchable degree, so is His compassion abundant. Though “His Name alone is exalted,” nevertheless He is indeed “G‑d of the world,” etc.
The greater His exaltation, the greater His compassion: though “His Name alone is exalted,” He is nevertheless “G‑d of the world,” who has compassion on it.
The paragraph explains Chanah’s weeping: it arouses the “great compassion” that comes from G‑d’s infinite exaltation above the worlds, for only one infinitely above can have compassion on all the worlds.
In Torah Ohr, Beshalach (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe distinguishes the measured compassion within the chain of worlds, which has judgment opposite it, from the “great compassion” that precedes Atzilus, a compassion without measure: a person’s compassion for a fly still has some relation, since both are creatures, but the worlds have no relation at all to the Infinite One.
Marei mekomos
- 1בכה תבכה · I Samuel 1:10
- 2
- 3נשגב שמו לבדו · Psalms 148:13
15וזהו אלהי עולם ברחמיך. ובקשתנו הוא שלפי שאין אנו משיגים בשכלנו הרחמנות אתה תעורר רחמיך הרבים שלא נטבע ונשקע בזה העולם. ותהי׳ מגן ישענו משגב בעדנו.1
And this is “G‑d of the world, in Your compassion.” Our request is that, since we do not grasp the compassion with our intellect, You arouse Your great compassion, so that we not be drowned and sunk in this world; and that You be “the shield of our salvation, a stronghold for us.”
The prayer “G‑d of the world, in Your compassion” therefore asks: since our minds cannot grasp this compassion, may You arouse Your great compassion so that we do not drown in this world. It continues by asking G‑d to be “the shield of our salvation, a stronghold for us.”
פי׳ משגב כמו חומה נשגב׳ ומוקפת. וכן מגן הוא מחסה להסתיר בפני האויבים (כי בחי׳ המקיף מסמא עיני החיצונים2 שלא ישלטו):3
“Stronghold” (misgav) is like a lofty, encircling wall; and likewise a shield is a shelter to hide [one] from the enemies (for the level of the encompassing [light] blinds the eyes of the external forces, so that they do not hold sway).
A “stronghold” (misgav, from the same root as nisgav, “exalted”) is a high, encircling wall, and a “shield” hides one from enemies. Both describe the encompassing light (makif), which blinds the external forces of kelipah so that they cannot rule.
The paragraph reads the prayer as a request that G‑d’s great compassion keep us from sinking into the world, His exalted, encompassing light serving as wall and shield.
In Likkutei Torah, Korach (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe explains why the encompassing light repels the external forces: it does not enter vessels, its light being too great for them, while the external forces draw nourishment only through the descent of light from vessel to vessel.
Marei mekomos
- 1מגן ישענו משגב בעדנו · Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Blessings of the Shema, First Blessing before Shema 2
- 2המקיף מסמא עיני החיצונים · ראה לעיל לד, א. לקו״ת קרח נג, ד. ובכ״מ.
- 3ברחמיך הרבים · ראה לעיל בשלח, סג, ב. אמרי בינה שער הציצית ס״ט בסופו. אוה״ת וארא ע׳ ב׳תקעא. סה״מ תש״א ד״ה אלקי עולם (ע׳ 27 ואילך). ובכ״מ. לקו״ש חכ״ב ע׳ 321.
The number of your days ¶16–18
16והנה כתיב ואברהם זקן בא בימים.1 פי׳ זקן זה שקנה חכמה.23 ואמרו ע״פ בישישים חכמה שדעתם מתיישבת עליהם.45
Now, it is written, “And Avraham was old, advanced in days.” “Old” (zaken) means “one who has acquired wisdom.” And [the Sages] said on the verse “With the aged is wisdom” that “their minds become settled upon them.”
The maamar now turns to the second half of its verse, “the number of your days I will fill,” beginning with “Avraham was old, advanced in days.” The Sages read zaken (old) as zeh shekanah chochmah, “one who has acquired wisdom,” and on “With the aged is wisdom” the Mishnah says that the minds of Torah scholars grow more settled as they age.
דהיינו שתהיה עבודה בקביעות ובישוב הדעת ולא יהיה פעם כך ופעם כך כי צריך להיות כל הימים שלמים
That is, the service should be with constancy and a settled mind, and not one time this way and another time that way; for all the days must be whole,
Applied to service, it should be steady and settled, not one way today and another way tomorrow. Every one of a person’s days must be “whole.”
כמ״ש בזוהר והימים שנתנו לו מן השמים לחיות בהם כימי שנותיו לא ניתנו לבטלה אפילו שעה אחת יתירה על השיעור ששיערו כמה הוא צריך להשלים את נפשו.
as is said in the Zohar. And the days that were given to him from heaven to live in, like the days of his years, were not given in vain, not even one hour beyond the measure that was set: how much he needs in order to complete his soul.
Citing the Zohar, the Alter Rebbe explains that a person’s days are allotted from heaven according to exactly what his soul needs to be completed, without a single extra hour. Hence no day, and no hour, may be wasted.
ומזה יתבונן המשכיל להיות ממארי דחושבנא לחשוב כל המחשבות והדבורים והמעשים דבר יום ביומו.
From this the thoughtful person will reflect, to be one of the “masters of accounting,” reckoning all his thoughts, words and deeds, each day’s matter on its day.
From this the thoughtful person will learn to be one of the “masters of accounting,” reviewing every thought, word and deed of each day on that day.
The paragraph begins to explain “the number of your days”: like Avraham, “advanced in days,” a person’s service should be steady and settled, with every day whole, since each day is given exactly for the soul’s completion.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואברהם זקן בא בימים · Genesis 24:1
- 2זקן זה שקנה חכמה · Kiddushin 32a
- 3זקן זה שקנה חכמה · Kiddushin 32b:8
- 4בישישים חכמה שדעתם מתיישבת עליהם · Job 12:12
- 5בישישים חכמה שדעתם מתיישבת עליהם · Mishnah Kinnim 3:6
17והנה הימים הם בחינת לבושים והם לבושי התורה והמצות שלומד ועושה בכל יום. ובלבושים אלו יכול האדם לקבל גלוי אלהותו ית׳ ואהוי״ר הנמשכים מארץ עליונה בתוספת אורה
Now, the days are the level of garments: they are the garments of the Torah and the mitzvos that he learns and does each day. In these garments a person can receive the revelation of His G‑dliness, blessed be He, and the love and awe that are drawn from the supernal land, with added light.
The “days” are garments: they are the Torah a person learns and the mitzvos he does each day. Through these garments he can receive a revelation of G‑dliness, and love and awe from the supernal land, with added light.
כי אף שלומד פשטי התורה ואינו מגיע לו מזה שום אהוי״ר בשעת מעשה מ״מ הרי התורה אור זרוע1 בארץ עליונה ומשם תצמיח צדקה ורב חסד דהיינו בחי׳ אהבה רבה על נפשות ישראל להאיר להם בלבושים אלו.
For even though he learns the plain meaning of the Torah and no love or awe at all comes to him from it at the time, nevertheless the Torah is “light sown” in the supernal land, and from there will sprout righteousness and abundant kindness, that is, the level of a great love for the souls of Israel, to shine for them in these garments.
Even when a person studies the plain meaning of Torah and feels no love or awe at the time, the Torah is “light sown” in the supernal land. From there grow “righteousness and abundant kindness,” G‑d’s great love for the souls of Israel, which later shines into these garments.
The paragraph identifies the “days” with the garments of Torah and mitzvos and assures that even study without feeling is sown above and will shine back into the soul.
This returns to the maamar’s opening image: Torah studied without feeling is like seed in the ground, unseen at first, which the “land of life” brings to growth. The “light sown for the tzaddik” of paragraph 3 is here the Torah itself.
Marei mekomos
- 1אור זרוע · Psalms 97:11
18וזהו את מספר ימיך אמלא.12 פי׳ כי הנה בחי׳ הימים עצמן שהן הלבושים מוטל עליך לעשותן ומספר ימיך הוא אור שבתוך הימים3 כמ״ש בזהר ע״פ השמים מספרים.456
And this is “The number of your days I will fill.” That is: the level of the days themselves, which are the garments, is incumbent upon you to make; and “the number (mispar) of your days” is the light within the days, as is said in the Zohar on the verse “The heavens declare (mesaprim).”
Now the end of the verse is explained. Making the “days” themselves, the garments of Torah and mitzvos, is a person’s own task; but “the number (mispar) of your days” is the light within those days, as the Zohar explains “The heavens declare (mesaprim).”
ופי׳ מנהרין ומנצצין כספירין ובחי׳ מספר זה עלי למלאותו שיאיר עליך מכח הצומח שבארץ החיים.
Its meaning is “they shine and sparkle like sapphires.” And this level of “number,” it is upon Me to fill it, so that it shines upon you from the power of growth in the land of life.
The Zohar reads mesaprim as “they shine and sparkle like sapphires (sapirin).” This inner light, the “number,” is what G‑d promises to fill (“I will fill”), making it shine on the person from the power of growth in the land of life.
The paragraph completes the reading of the verse: a person makes the “days,” the garments of Torah and mitzvos, and G‑d fills their “number,” the sapphire-like light within them, from the land of life.
In Likkutei Torah, Tzav (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe refers to this maamar when explaining the “seven days of filling” (the milu’im of the Mishkan) as drawing the light that encompasses all worlds into open revelation, so that G‑d, who in essence “fills heaven and earth,” is revealed in them.
Marei mekomos
- 1את מספר ימיך אמלא · באוה״ת פנחס ע׳ א׳רא מציין לכאן: ”ומכ״ז יובן ג״כ ענין הנז׳ בתו״א ע״פ את מספר ימיך אמלא”.
- 2את מספר ימיך אמלא · Exodus 23:26
- 3אור שבתוך הימים · Numbers 6:3
- 4כמ״ש בזהר ע״פ השמים מספרים · Zohar I, 8a
- 5השמים מספרים · Psalms 19:2
- 6השמים מספרים · Zohar, Terumah 15:182–16:192
Removing the sickness ¶19–20
Likewise, regarding “turning from evil,” He said, “And I will remove sickness from your midst,” meaning the sickness that has clung to you and taken root within you.
Having explained the promises about love, awe and the days, which concern doing good, the Alter Rebbe turns to “turning from evil,” found in the verse before: “And I will remove sickness from your midst.” The sickness meant is one that has clung to a person and taken root inside him.
והוא ענין מארז״ל ד׳ מתו בעטיו של נחש23 שאע״פ שהם צדיקים גמורים מ״מ נשאר בם עדיין איזה שמץ מזוהמת הנחש שלא יכלו להסירו מכל וכל.
This is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Four died through the counsel of the serpent”: even though they were complete tzaddikim, nevertheless there still remained in them some trace of the contamination of the serpent, which they could not remove entirely.
This is the contamination of the serpent that remained even in the four who “died through the counsel of the serpent,” complete tzaddikim who died only because death entered the world through the serpent’s advice. Even in them some trace of it remained, which they could not remove entirely.
The paragraph turns to “turning from evil”: the “sickness” G‑d promises to remove is the serpent’s contamination, rooted so deeply that even complete tzaddikim could not remove it entirely.
Marei mekomos
- 1והסירותי מחלה מקרבך · Exodus 23:25
- 2ד׳ מתו בעטיו של נחש · בבא בתרא יז, א. וש״נ. קטע זה נעתק באוה״ת בראשית כרך ד תת, א.
- 3מתו בעטיו של נחש · Bava Batra 17a:6
20והוא עיקר נקודת קליפת גסות הרוח שנעשה בטבע האדם בחטאו מעץ הדעת טוב ורע דהיינו שרואה א״ע ומכיר חסרונו1 או יודע שזה טוב לו.
This is the essential point of the kelipah of arrogance that entered human nature through man’s sin with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that is, that he sees himself, and recognizes his lack, or knows that this is good for him.
This residue is the core of the kelipah of arrogance that entered human nature with the sin of the Tree of Knowledge: a person sees himself, aware of what he lacks or of what is good for him.
כמ״ש ותרא האשה כי טוב2 העץ למאכל וגו׳ וזהו שרש הזוהמא ומקור לכל התאוות והעבירות כי בוחר בזה לטובתו או לרעתו.
As it is written, “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food,” etc. And this is the root of the contamination and the source of all desires and sins, for by this he chooses for his own good or his own harm.
Its source is “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food”: for the first time, something was judged by whether it was good for oneself. This self-reference is the root of the contamination and the source of all desires and sins, since a person then chooses by what benefits or harms him.
משא״כ קודם החטא היו ערומים כדכתיב מי הגיד לך3 כו׳ כי לא4 היו מרגישים שום הרגש חסרונם או טובה לעצמו רק שהיו משיגים גלוי אלהותו ית׳ וד״ל:
This was not so before the sin: they were naked, as it is written, “Who told you,” etc.; for they did not feel any sense of their lack, or of good for themselves; they only perceived the revelation of His G‑dliness, blessed be He. And this is enough for one who understands.
Before the sin Adam and Chavah were “naked,” as G‑d’s question “Who told you...?” implies, for they felt no lack and no good of their own; they perceived only the revelation of G‑dliness. The maamar closes with “enough for one who understands”; the self-awareness described here is the same “I” that blocked the vessel in paragraph 9.
The paragraph traces the “sickness” to its root: the self-centered awareness of one’s own lack and good, born with the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, which did not exist when Adam and Chavah perceived only G‑dliness.
In Torah Ohr, Bereshit (cited in the Kehot notes), the Alter Rebbe explains that before the sin Adam and Chavah ate, drank and had children without shame because it was G‑d’s command, not knowing that desire was involved; only after eating from the Tree of Knowledge did they know of desire. A talk of the Rebbe cited in the Kehot notes refers to maamarim explaining that the sin of the Tree of Knowledge was a wish for “feeling” itself.
Marei mekomos
- 1שרואה א״ע ומכיר חסרונו · ראה לקו״ש חי״ז ע׳ 1 הערה 5 שמציין לד״ה להבין ענין חטא אדה״ר בסה״מ אתהלך לאזניא. ד״ה פדה בשלום עזר״ת, שענין חטא עה״ד הי׳ שרצה ענין ההרגשה דוקא.
- 2ותרא האשה כי טוב · Genesis 3:6
- 3מי הגיד לך · Genesis 3:11
- 4כי לא היו מרגישים שום הרגש חסרונם · ראה לעיל ה, ד. ספר החקירה סו, א ואילך.
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Do not try to manufacture love and awe: contemplate G‑d, before whom all is nothing, until this is fixed and felt in your own mind, and know that true feeling is G‑d’s gift from above. Make yourself an empty vessel: notice every “I want” and “I,” break your sense of self, and do even permitted things without your heart in them. Pray with self-sacrifice and tears for G‑d’s great compassion. Keep your service steady, with every day whole: be one of the “masters of accounting,” reviewing each day’s thoughts, words and deeds, and keep learning even when you feel nothing, for that Torah is light sown above.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the maamar insist that love and awe are G‑d’s gift, and how does that change what a person should actually do in prayer and study?
- What is the difference between “one who loses her young” and the “barren” one, and what does each look like in a person’s inner life?
- How can someone who is already humble by circumstance still fail to be an empty vessel, and what does it mean to do permitted things “without the heart”?
- Why should G‑d’s exaltation above all worlds make His compassion greater rather than more distant?
- If Torah study without feeling is “light sown” above, what does that mean for days when learning feels dry?
Key terms in this maamar
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×5
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The two 'wings' of divine service. ×3
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d. ×1
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence.
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions.
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one.
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- ×3
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Giving oneself over entirely to G‑d.
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness.
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion. ×3
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×2
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×2
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×1
- Hod (splendor)הוד
- Acknowledgment and yielding. ×1
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×1