Torah Ohr · Parshas Toldos · Maamar 2
מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה וגו׳…
Many waters cannot quench the love
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The big idea
The soul’s love for G‑d cannot be satisfied by any revealed understanding, not even the delights of Gan Eden (the “rivers”); it is quenched only by the hidden “spring,” which flows from G‑d’s own essence and is drawn down through Torah and practical mitzvos after the animal soul has been refined.
The maamar in brief
The maamar explains the verse “Many waters cannot quench the love... if a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, boz yavuzu lo.” The Torah has a hidden “spring,” G‑d’s unknowable wisdom, and revealed “rivers,” the comprehension of its secrets that souls enjoy in Gan Eden. These rivers, the “many waters,” cannot satisfy the soul’s love, which wants G‑d Himself. That is drawn down by Rivkah, who “went down to the spring and filled her pitcher” (kadah, the twenty-four books of Scripture). To explain Rivkah, the Alter Rebbe explains Yitzchak: future laughter and delight, which comes through the concealing Name Elokim, when a separate creation nullifies itself. Rivkah, a yoked “team,” is the refined and united emotions of the animal soul, whose ascent draws down the revelation of “Anochi” through the mitzvos, something the angels cannot do. The “man” who gives “the wealth of His house” is G‑d, and that wealth is the supernal delight hidden in the Torah, and “boz yavuzu” becomes the eager “plunder” of that treasure, hinted also in the water libation of Sukkos. The maamar ends with Psalm 93 and the future revelation of Arich Anpin, “a day that is entirely long.”
Outline
- Spring and riverTorah has a hidden spring and revealed rivers; the rivers of Gan Eden cannot satisfy the soul’s love, which will be quenched by the spring revealed in the future and drawn down now through Torah and mitzvos.¶1–2
- Yitzchak: laughter through ElokimYitzchak is future delight, which comes through the concealment of the Name Elokim, when a created “something” nullifies itself, and is revealed when the work of refinement is complete.¶3–5
- Rivkah: the yoked teamRivkah is the refined, united emotions of the animal soul, rooted in the Chariot; their ascent draws down “Anochi” through physical mitzvos, which the angels cannot do.¶6–9
- The love that waters cannot quenchContemplation in the Shema arouses a boundless love that neither contemplation nor Gan Eden can satisfy; only Torah and mitzvos, which, as it were, grasp G‑d’s essence, can.¶10–11
- The wealth of His house“If a man would give” is G‑d’s certain promise to give His innermost treasure, drawn down now through mitzvos and blessings; it is the supernal delight hidden in the Torah, the 310 worlds drawn from the aleph.¶12–19
- Plundering the treasure“Boz yavuzu” is eager plunder: the soul’s joy in Torah and mitzvos; the spring, though it seems smaller, is the true source; the water libation of Sukkos alludes to this.¶20–25
- Psalm 93 and the long dayThe rivers lift their voice in ascent and receive the reward of the Infinite Light in the Torah; the future “day that is entirely long” is the revelation of Arich Anpin, alluded to in Mashiach’s cup.¶26–31
Key concepts
- Spring and riverמעיין ונהר
- The spring is the hidden source, G‑d’s unknowable wisdom; the river is its revealed flow, measured to each recipient. The spring looks smaller because it is closer to G‑d and more nullified, but it is the source of all the rivers.
- The Name Elokimשם אלקים
- The Name that conceals the creative power of Havayah, making creation appear separate. Because of this concealment, the self-nullification of creation is a novelty that brings G‑d delight.
- Refining the animal soulבירור נפש הבהמית
- The main work of turning darkness into light; the G‑dly soul needs no rectification. When the animal soul’s emotions are refined and united, its high root raises the G‑dly soul and draws down G‑d’s essence.
- Anochiאנכי
- “I,” G‑d’s own essence, the most hidden of all hidden. The maamar reads “which I command you” as the essence drawn down through the mitzvos.
- The wealth of His houseהון ביתו
- G‑d’s innermost treasure, the supernal delight hidden in the letters of the Torah, to be revealed openly in the future.
- Arich Anpinאריך אנפין
- The “Long Countenance,” the outer level of Keser, a hidden Divine light that can extend all the way down into the physical world equally; its revelation is the future “day that is entirely long.”
For children · ages 9–13
The spring and the rivers
The big idea
Our love for G‑d can be satisfied only by G‑d Himself, and we reach Him through the words of Torah and the mitzvos.
The verse says, “Many waters cannot quench the love.” The maamar compares the Torah to water. A spring wells up, hidden, from deep under the earth; rivers flow from it openly across the land. The rivers are the Torah’s secrets that the souls understand and enjoy in Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden. The spring is G‑d’s own wisdom, which no one can grasp. When we think about G‑d’s Oneness while saying the Shema, a great love for Him can wake up in us. Even the rivers of Gan Eden cannot satisfy that love, because the soul wants G‑d Himself. What does satisfy it? The Torah and the mitzvos, which come from the spring. This is hinted in Rivkah, who “went down to the spring and filled her pitcher.” Her name means animals yoked together as a team. When our love, our awe and our pity for our own soul, which came down so far, pull together like that team (sometimes a fourth joins them: accepting G‑d’s will), they rise up, and that brings G‑d’s light down into the mitzvos, something even the angels cannot do. So the words of Torah and the mitzvos are G‑d’s own treasure, and we should take hold of them eagerly and with joy.
The mashal
A person who wants light to reach far away, or into a dark place, must light a big torch. So too, the blessing said over a mitzvah adds to G‑d’s light, so that it reaches all the way down into our physical world. And when that treasure is given, the soul seizes it the way someone grabs a precious treasure, out of great longing for it.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why can’t even the delights of Gan Eden satisfy the soul’s love for G‑d?
- What do the hidden spring and the open rivers stand for, and why is the spring greater?
- Before which mitzvah this week will you say the blessing slowly, remembering that the mitzvah is G‑d’s own treasure?
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.
The Rebbe’s maamarim on this maamar · 3
With the same ד״ה
These 3 maamarim of the Rebbe open with the same words as this one (5717–5738): where each is printed, and the full text free at Lahak.
In the Rebbe’s light · 17
AI research Found by AI reading every place in the Rebbe’s works that cites this maamar, and checked against each source by a second AI reader, the less certain by a third. Only what rated high is shown: the Rebbe’s own words, about this very passage. No person has reviewed it yet, so check the place itself before relying on a detail. See something to correct?
The maamar in the Rebbe’s light
The Rebbe returns to this maamar often. In his maamar Mayim Rabbim of Shabbos Toldos 5717 he sets its reading of „מים רבים” (‘many waters’), a lofty contemplation that cannot quench the soul’s thirst, beside the Targum’s, where they are the nations, and shows that the two explain each other: the souls are rooted in G‑d’s Essence, reached only through Torah and practical mitzvos. On Shabbos Toldos and Vayishlach 5745 he faces Torah Ohr Noach, where the same waters are worldly troubles, and answers that those lower waters lead a Jew to the holy ones. On Yitzchak’s laughter, sichos in Likkutei Sichos and the Kuntres Inyanah shel Toras HaChassidus explain that „אלקים בגימטריא הטבע” (Elokim is nature), that the delight comes from refining the body and digging away what hides the living water, and that only the Essence turns „חשוכא לנהורא” (darkness into light); the Hadran on the Rambam of 5750 sees the spring revealed through halachah kept in practice. A birthday letter of 5733 and the maamar Nasata Lirei’echa 5736 read „שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך” (‘long even at its beginning’) as a day full of content and a redemption complete in one moment. Read together, they suggest (our synthesis) that the maamar’s spring (מעיין), higher than every river (נהר), is drawn precisely through concealment, the animal soul and the deed.
Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶2
Background from the Rebbe
In the Hadran on the Rambam said on Shabbos Chayei Sarah, 27 Marcheshvan 5750, close to the completion of a cycle of the daily Rambam on 24 Marcheshvan, the Rebbe explains why the Rambam ends his work with „כמים לים מכסים” (‘as the waters cover the sea’); in a note he ties it to that day’s Chumash portion, „וכדה על שכמה ותרד העינה” (‘her pitcher on her shoulder... and she went down to the spring’).
In that note the Rebbe recalls that kad (כד), the pitcher, hints at the twenty-four books of Scripture, and kadah (כדה), with its added heh, at the Oral Torah that draws from the Written (citing Or HaTorah), the Oral Torah that the Rambam’s work gathers. A pitcher, he adds, holds only a little water taken from the sea or the spring (citing Likkutei Torah); the spring itself is revealed „ע״י קיום התומ״צ במעשה בפועל” (through keeping Torah and mitzvos in practice), through the halachos, by which one merits the revelation of the spring in the Time to Come, and for this he cites our passage. That is why the Rambam ends not with a pitcher but with the sea: ‘as the waters cover the sea.’
The Alter Rebbe
ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה הם כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא שהם נמשכים מבחי׳ המעיין
The Rebbe
וגילוי המעיין („העינה”) נעשה ע״י קיום התומ״צ במעשה בפועל, ע״י הלכות התורה (ספרו של הרמב״ם), שעי״ז זוכים לגילוי המעיין לעתיד לבוא
Likkutei Sichos – Geulah u’Moshiach, Hosafos (the Hadran on the Rambam 5750; first printed in Sefer HaSichos 5750 vol. 1, p. 121), p. 83 (note * to the date line) · ש״פ חיי שרה, כ״ז מרחשון ה׳תש״נ
- ¶4
The Rebbe explains
In Likkutei Sichos vol. 3 (Toldos), from the sicha of Shabbos Mevarchim Kislev 5721, after reading ‘These are the generations of Yitzchak son of Avraham; Avraham begot Yitzchak’ three ways and the Zohar’s reading of it as the delight of the future, the Rebbe brings ‘what Chassidus explains’ about Yitzchak’s name, citing this maamar.
The Rebbe explains this paragraph: Elokim is the ‘shield’ over the ‘sun’ of Havayah, „כי שמש ומגן הוי׳ אלקים” (‘for a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim’), because Elokim equals ha-teva, nature, in numerical value, and nature hides G‑dliness; refining what nature conceals brings about the laughter and delight above, since it fulfills G‑d’s intent of „דירה בתחתונים” (a dwelling in the lowest realm). He adds that in a person the soul corresponds to Havayah and the body that conceals it to Elokim, so the delight above comes specifically from refining the body. That is why in the future the body will stand higher than the soul, and the soul will receive from the body.
The Alter Rebbe
עיקר הצחוק והתענוג עשה לנו השם אלקים המסתיר ומעלים
The Rebbe
און דער צחוק און תענוג שלמעלה ווערן פון בירור הגוף דוקא, ווייל אין דעם גוף פירט זיך אויס די כוונה
Likkutei Sichos, vol. ג, p. 786 (Toldos, sec. 7) · שבת מבה״ח כסלו (ש״פ תולדות) ה׳תשכ״א
- ¶4
Background from the Rebbe
In the Kuntres Inyanah shel Toras HaChassidus (from the talk of 19 Kislev 5726, edited by the Rebbe), explaining that Chassidus, the innermost part of the Torah, reaches even the animal soul and the world, and that its essence shows precisely in transforming them.
The Rebbe states that the laughter and delight above come through refining and rectifying darkness, „אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא” (turning darkness into light), and his note sends the reader to Torah Ohr 17d ff., where this maamar begins. He sets it beside a principle he has just explained: every revelation, however lofty, is defined, so evil stands opposed to it and it can only fight it; only „עצמותו ית׳ שהוא פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות” (G‑d’s Essence, utterly simple) and with nothing opposed to it, can change evil and turn it to good. Hence, he says, the Torah, one with His Essence, is „משחקת לפניו” (‘playing (mesacheket) before Him’): precisely in turning darkness into light its innermost being shows, as it is one with the inner Ein Sof.
The Alter Rebbe
לעבוד ולתקן את בחי׳ החשך וההסתר הנמשך משם אלקים לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא
The Rebbe
ורק עצמותו ית׳ שהוא פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות ומושלל מכל הציורים וגם אין שייך שום מנגד אליו, ובמילא — ביכלתו לשנותו ולהפכו לטוב
Kuntres Inyanah shel Toras HaChassidus (in Toras Menachem 5726, vol. 1), p. 278 (sec. 19) · י״ט כסלו ה׳תשכ״ו
- ¶4
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar of Zos Chanukah 5738 on the Chanukah lights ‘until the foot ceases from the marketplace,’ the Rebbe explains that a person’s work turns the public domain of the world into „רשות היחיד ליחידו של עולם” (a private domain for the One G‑d), and that the delight this brings above is the loftiest of all.
The Rebbe cites this paragraph’s analogy (his note: Torah Ohr 18a): laughter is „התענוג הבא מדבר חידוש” (the delight that comes from something new), and so too the laughter above comes from the novelty of darkness turned into light, a delight greater than any other in the world. He suggests (v’yesh lomar) that this explains the Sages’ saying „כל המלמד את בן עם הארץ תורה אפילו הקב״ה גוזר גזירה מבטלה בשבילו” (that if one teaches Torah to the son of an unlearned man, even when G‑d issues a decree He annuls it for his sake): it is G‑d’s own will that the tzaddik annul the decree, and from being ‘defeated’ comes the greatest delight above, as when „קא חייך ואמר נצחוני בני” (‘He laughed and said, My children have defeated Me’).
The Alter Rebbe
כמשל הצחוק שעושים השרים שהוא מדבר חדש כמו מלחמת הארי עם חיה אחרת
The Rebbe
וכידוע בענין הצחוק [שהו״ע התענוג הבא מדבר חידוש דוקא. שכמו״כ הוא גם כביכול בהתענוג וצחוק שלמעלה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. כט (sec. 6) · זאת חנוכה, ה׳תשל״ח
- ¶4
Background from the Rebbe
At the farbrengen of 12 Tammuz 5714 (edited for Likkutei Sichos vol. 1), contrasting Avraham, who drew G‑dliness down into the world, with Yitzchak, who dug wells to reveal the living water (מים חיים) already hidden in the earth, and who went on digging when Avimelech’s shepherds seized the wells.
The Rebbe explains that Yitzchak’s way, removing the earth and stones that cover the living water and making the world a vessel for G‑dliness, reaches „בלי גבול האמתי” (the true infinite), because through it G‑d’s purpose is fulfilled. He ties this to the reason for the name Yitzchak given here, „צחוק עשה לי אלקים” (‘Laughter has Elokim made for me’) (his note: Torah Ohr 18a): refining the things that conceal, which come from „שם אלקים בגימטריא הטבע” (the Name Elokim, numerically ha-teva: nature), is specifically what calls forth the laughter and delight above.
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו צחוק עשה לי אלקים שעיקר הצחוק ותענוג העליון נמשך ע״י שם אלקים
The Rebbe
וועלכע נעמען זיך פון דעם שם אלקים בגימטריא „הטבע” — דאָס דוקא רופט אַרויס דעם צחוק ותענוג שלמעלה
Likkutei Sichos, vol. א, p. 30 · י״ב תמוז ה׳תשי״ד
- ¶5
Background from the Rebbe
In a letter to the seventh gathering of shluchim in the Land of Israel (15 Menachem Av 5746), held at ‘Ohel Yosef Yitzchak Lubavitch’ in Kfar Chabad, the Rebbe draws a lesson from each word of the venue’s name.
The Rebbe reads ‘Yosef’ as adding, up to „יוסף ה׳ לי בן אחר” (‘may G‑d add me another son’), turning the ‘other’ into a ‘son,’ and ‘Yitzchak’ as „עבודה מתוך שמחה” (service with joy). In a note he cites this maamar: the essence of ‘Yitzchak,’ the laughter and delight, comes after the work of turning darkness into light, and that work is Yosef’s making of the ‘other’ into a ‘son.’
The Alter Rebbe
והנה עיקר הצחוק והתענוג מתגלה כשנשלם הבירור והתקון דשם אלקים
The Rebbe
תו״א תולדות יז, ד שעיקר ענין „יצחק” הצחוק והתענוג — בא לאחרי העבודה דאתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא (שזהו״ע „יוסף ה׳ לי בן אחר”, עשיית „אחר” ל„בן”)
Likkutei Sichos (letters), vol. כט, p. 430 (letter pp. 428–430; the note on 'יצחק׳) · מכתב ט״ו מנחם-אב, ה׳תשמ״ו
- ¶5
Background from the Rebbe
In a talk of Motzaei Shabbos Chayei Sarah, Mevarchim Kislev 5738 (edited for Likkutei Sichos vol. 20), on ‘These are the generations of Yitzchak... Yaakov and Eisav,’ the Rebbe asks why Eisav is counted among ‘the generations of Yitzchak’ and how, while Eisav still opposes Yaakov, „אל תירא עבדי יעקב” (‘Fear not, My servant Yaakov’) can already apply.
Eisav exists, the Rebbe explains, so that his darkness may be subdued and turned into light, which will bring the future revelation; the revelation of Yitzchak’s laughter and delight, which comes through the concealment of the Name Elokim down to its lowest form in Eisav, will be only in the Time to Come (his note: Torah Ohr 18a). He then draws a point from this paragraph: although Yitzchak is named „על שם העתיד” (‘after the future’), the very fact that he is already called by that name now shows that even now it is visible that Eisav exists for that purpose, as ‘the generations of Yitzchak.’
The Alter Rebbe
ולכן נק׳ יצחק ע״ש העתיד שלעתיד יהיה גילוי צחוק ותענוג זה
The Rebbe
איז פון דעם גופא וואָס מען רופט אים אָן איצטער מיטן נאָמען יצחק „על שם העתיד” און מען זעט בגלוי
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כ, p. 343 (sec. מא) · מוצאי ש״פ חיי שרה, מבה״ח כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח
- ¶8
Background from the Rebbe
In a letter of blessing for a wedding (20 Tammuz 5706), on what marriage begins in a person’s service of G‑d.
Marriage, the Rebbe writes, begins a person’s work with his own portion in the world, and through it the soul rises „באין ערוך” (beyond measure), from the light that fills the worlds to the light that transcends them. The yearning and service that bring this about must be „לא בבחי׳ אהבה לבדה או בבחי׳ יראה לבדה” (neither love alone nor awe alone), but the inclusion and joining of all the middos together, „רבקה של שלש כו׳ של ארבע” (‘a rivkah of three... of four’), citing this maamar. Through this service in this world specifically, Israel rises to the level that transcends the worlds, above even the seraphim; that, he adds, is why this world „כבי הילולא דמיא” (‘is like a wedding hall’), for through marriage the power to bear children is revealed, which souls have and angels do not.
The Alter Rebbe
כשיש בחי׳ התכללות המדות אהוי״ר והתעוררות רחמים על נפשו שירדה פלאים
The Rebbe
והתשוקה והעבודה צ״ל לא בבחי׳ אהבה לבדה או בבחי׳ יראה לבדה כו׳, כ״א בהתכללות וחיבור כל המדות יחדיו, רבקה של שלש כו׳ של ארבע
Likkutei Sichos (letters on marriage), vol. כט, p. 452 (letter pp. 452–453) · מכתב כ׳ תמוז, ה׳תש״ו
- ¶10
A question the Rebbe raises
Mayim Rabbim of Shabbos Toldos 5717 (edited by the Rebbe) opens with the Targum and Midrash, which read ‘many waters’ as the nations that cannot extinguish G‑d’s love for Israel, even when Israel is ‘a little sister,’ „קטנה בזכיות” (small in merits), and asks how this fits ‘the explanation of Rabbeinu (the Alter Rebbe) in this parsha.’
The Rebbe sets the Alter Rebbe’s reading here, where the ‘many waters’ are a lofty contemplation that still cannot quench the soul’s thirst and Israel is „במדריגה עליונה ביותר” (at its highest), beside the Targum and Midrash, where they are the nations and Israel is at its lowest, ‘a little sister,’ small in merits; and he states that the two readings „לא זו בלבד שאין סותרים זה לזה אלא עוד מסייעים ומבארים זא״ז” (do not contradict but support and explain each other). At the close of the maamar he joins them: because the souls are „מושרשים בעצמות ממש” (rooted in G‑d’s very Essence), nothing but Torah and mitzvos can quench their love, and for the same reason the nations cannot extinguish G‑d’s love for them even when they sin, as parents do not resent a little girl, who is rooted in their very essence.
The Alter Rebbe
פי׳ מים רבים הוא ההתבוננות שהאדם משיג ומתבונן בגדולת ה׳
The Rebbe
ובאמת הנה ב׳ הפירושים הנה לא זו בלבד שאין סותרים זה לזה אלא עוד מסייעים ומבארים זא״ז
Toras Menachem – Sefer HaMaamarim 5717, p. מח–מט (sec. 2), סא (sec. 11) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו, ה׳תשי״ז
- ¶10
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
At the farbrengen of Shabbos Toldos 5745 (unedited), answering those who asked why he had explained a Rashi about the birth of Yitzchak differently from an earlier explanation, the Rebbe argues that the Torah allows several, even opposite, explanations, and ‘leans on a great tree’, the Alter Rebbe himself.
Whoever learns the Chassidic parsha, the Rebbe says, reaches this maamar, the second in Toldos, and may be struck by „קושיא עצומה” (a great question): only weeks earlier, in Noach, the Alter Rebbe explained ‘many waters’ as „הטרדות והבלבולים דעניני עוה״ז” (the troubles and confusions of worldly life), which cannot extinguish the hidden love, while here he explains the same verse the opposite way, as „אהבה רבה וצמאון לה׳” (a great love and thirst for G‑d); and the Tzemach Tzedek arranged both in one book. The answer he gives here is that the Torah has many interpretations, „שבעים פנים לתורה” (‘seventy faces’), even six hundred thousand on each level; the reconciliation of the two readings themselves he gave two weeks later, on Shabbos Vayishlach.
The Alter Rebbe
ההתבוננות שהאדם משיג ומתבונן בגדולת ה׳ ביחו״ע ויחו״ת בפסוק שמע ישראל ובשכמל״ו
The Rebbe
וא״כ, היתכן שבפ׳ תולדות מבאר אדמו״ר הזקן עצמו פסוק זה עצמו באופן הפוך — ש״מים רבים” קאי על אהבה רבה וצמאון לה׳
Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשמ״ה ח״ב, p. 734–735 (sec. 22) · ש״פ תולדות, ה׳תשמ״ה (בלתי מוגה)
- ¶10
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
At the farbrengen of Shabbos Vayishlach 5745 (unedited), on pairs of opposites (Korach of the other side and „קרח הנורא” (the ‘awesome ice’, kerach) of holiness; Eisav, who hates Yaakov yet kisses him), the Rebbe comes back to Torah Ohr’s two opposite readings of ‘many waters’, which he had raised on Shabbos Toldos two weeks before, and reconciles them.
In Noach, the Rebbe notes, „מים רבים הם כל טרדות הפרנסה והמחשבות שבעניני עוה״ז” (the ‘many waters’ are the troubles of livelihood and worldly thoughts); here they are the soul’s love and thirst „בכל מאדך” (‘with all your might’), which only Torah and mitzvos can quench; and both stand in Torah Ohr. He answers that there is no contradiction, because „שדוקא ממצב של תכלית הירידה יכולים לבוא לתכלית העילוי” (from the lowest descent one comes to the highest ascent): when a Jew does his service without being affected by the ‘many waters’ of livelihood, he comes to the holy ‘many waters,’ a great love ‘with all your might,’ which nothing quenches but „הון ביתו” (‘the wealth of His house’), Torah study and the mitzvos. He sets beside it Eisav, who hates Yaakov yet ‘kissed him with all his heart,’ and Rabbi Akiva, who came from poverty to the wealth of Torah.
The Alter Rebbe
ואהבה זו גדלה מאד להיות נפשו צמאה לה׳ בבחי׳ בכל מאדך בלי גבול
The Rebbe
אזי מגיע לבחי׳ ה״מים רבים” דקדושה, אהבה רבה בבחי׳ בכל מאדך, שאין לרוותה כי אם ע״י ”הון ביתו” — לימוד התורה וקיום המצוות
Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשמ״ה ח״ב, p. 809 (sec. 18), 812–813 (sec. 21) · ש״פ וישלח, ה׳תשמ״ה (בלתי מוגה)
- ¶10
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the maamar Ki Yedativ said on the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday in 5736 (unedited), the Rebbe ties the verse to the Rebbe Maharash’s maamar of Shabbos Vayera 5636, which explains ‘many waters’ and asks how water could ever extinguish love.
The Rebbe notes that the 5636 maamar seems to follow Torah Ohr Noach, where the ‘many waters’ are the troubles of livelihood, while „ד״ה זה שבתו״א פרשת תולדות” (‘this dibbur hamaschil in Torah Ohr Parshas Toldos’) teaches that they are „מדרגות נעלות בקדושה” (lofty levels of holiness): not only physical waters but spiritual ones too cannot extinguish the love. That, he says, is why the question in 5636 (how can intellect, water in the spiritual sense, put out the hidden love?) is about spiritual waters. He adds that both Torah Ohr maamarim reach the love „בכל מאדך” (‘with all your might’), where 5636 speaks only of „בכל לבבך” (‘all your heart’): this one because its waters are not troubles at all, the Noach maamar because it speaks of dealing with worldly things as one should.
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה
The Rebbe
אמנם בד״ה זה שבתו״א פרשת תולדות מבואר דמים רבים הם מדרגות נעלות בקדושה, היינו לא רק מים רבים בגשמיות (טרדות הפרנסה) כ״א גם ברוחניות
Sefer HaMaamarim 5736 (old ed.), p. 46, 48 · כ׳ מרחשון ה׳תשל״ו (יום הולדת אדמו״ר מהורש״ב; בלתי מוגה)
- ¶10
Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
At the farbrengen of 13 Tammuz 5719, speaking of „האהבה המסותרת” (the hidden love) every Jew inherits from Avraham and of ‘many waters’ that seem too strong to escape, the Rebbe asks why such waters exist at all.
The ‘many waters’ on the side of evil exist, the Rebbe says, only because they exist first on the side of good: „רבינו הזקן מבאר” (‘Rabbeinu HaZaken explains’) that ‘many waters’ are „האהבה רבה דקדושה” (the great love of holiness), which sweeps away the love of the other side, foreign loves for worldly things, even permitted ones. Without that craving, he notes, there would be no room for involvement with the world at all; and he links this to „מי המבול” (the waters of the Flood). The editors’ note points to this paragraph (TO 18b), but the sweeping away of foreign loves is not in its words.
The Alter Rebbe
שמזה נמשך ואהבת בכל לבבך כו׳
The Rebbe
הסיבה לכך שישנם ”מים רבים” בלעו״ז, היא, מפני שענין זה ישנו תחילה בצד הטוב
Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשי״ט ח״ג, p. 107 (sec. 13) · י״ג תמוז, ה׳תשי״ט
- ¶11
The Rebbe explains
At the close of Mayim Rabbim 5717, after a long section on „ה׳ אחד” (‘G‑d is one’) (from the Rebbe Rashab), the Rebbe returns to the verse to explain the Alter Rebbe’s reading and to join it with the Targum’s.
The Rebbe explains why contemplation and even the revelations of Gan Eden, the ‘rivers’ (נהרות) of upper and lower Gan Eden, cannot quench this love. Even when Israel is at its lowest, he says, their practical mitzvos, „ובעשי׳ בכוונה פשוטה לשם שמים” (and even acts done simply for the sake of Heaven), reach „מרחב העצמי” (the ‘essential expanse’, merchav ha’atzmi) above every revelation; the term merchav ha’atzmi, and the teaching that acts done for the sake of Heaven draw down G‑dliness, are the Rebbe Rashab’s, from his maamar of 5678, which the Rebbe follows in the sections before. Therefore nothing short of this can quench the love of the souls for G‑d’s very Essence, where they are rooted, for „לית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל” (no thought grasps Him at all), not even the primordial thought of Adam Kadmon, except as it takes hold of and is clothed in Torah and mitzvos; and this, he says, is the Alter Rebbe’s reading of the verse. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this gives the reason behind our paragraph’s contrast between grasping G‑d’s ‘existence’ or His ‘radiance’ and holding His Essence through the mitzvos.
The Alter Rebbe
אפילו ההשגות שבג״ע שהיא השגת מהות זיו השכינה ממש ולא מציאותו לבד
The Rebbe
כי לית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל, אפי׳ מח׳ הקדומה דא״ק, כי אם כאשר תפיסא ומתלבשת בתורה ומצותי׳, וכפירוש רבינו הזקן
Toras Menachem – Sefer HaMaamarim 5717, p. סא (sec. 11) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו, ה׳תשי״ז
- ¶11
Background from the Rebbe
In a talk of the first day of Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan 5746 (edited in 5747 for Likkutei Sichos vol. 30, Noach 1), on the Midrash that at the start of creation, when the world was all water, „הי׳ קלוסו של הקב״ה עולה” (G‑d’s praise rose) from the waters, and that the Flood returned the world to that state: how can waters that came to destroy be a lofty state?
Explaining Rashi’s word 'כהלכתה׳ on „יבשה הארץ” (‘the earth was dry’), the Rebbe reads the Flood waters as the Torah as it stands above the world’s existence, „מי הדעת” (‘waters of knowledge’), and the dry earth as the Torah come down and clothed in earthly matters, where its halachah is revealed; the second is the higher, for the Torah’s purpose is to act in the world through its halachah. For this he points (note 71) to our paragraph: the thirst of the love cannot be quenched „כי אם... דוקא ע״י עסק התורה ומצות מעשיות” (‘except... specifically through occupation in the Torah and practical mitzvos’). In another note (37) he cites our ¶10 for ‘many waters’ in a positive sense, the contemplation of G‑d’s greatness.
The Alter Rebbe
כי אם רץ לבך שוב לאחד הוא דוקא ע״י עסק התורה ומצות מעשיות
The Rebbe
מי המבול מרמזים על מדריגת התורה („מי הדעת”) כפי שהיא למעלה עדיין ממציאות העולם; ואילו „יבשה הארץ” היא התורה כפי שירדה למטה ונתלבשה בעניני ארץ
Likkutei Sichos – Geulah u’Moshiach (reprinting Likkutei Sichos vol. 30, Noach 1), vol. 1 (Bereishis), p. 23 (sec. 8, note 71) · א׳ דר״ח מרחשון ה׳תשמ״ו (edited 5747)
- ¶31
Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a birthday letter (25 Cheshvan 5733; Igros Kodesh vol. 28, letter 10,589), explaining the customary blessing „לאריכות ימים ושנים” (‘length of days and years’).
„כיון שימים בכלל שנים” (Since the days are included in the years), the Rebbe asks, why bless with ‘length of days’ as well? Following the Alter Rebbe’s precision here, „שגם בתחילתו הוא ארוך” (‘even at its beginning it is long’), he answers that each single day of the good years is itself a long day, so „ממולא בתוכן טוב” (filled with good content) that it becomes great length, even without measure, just as a moment of great joy breaks every limit and is full beyond bound.
The Alter Rebbe
והענין הוא כי פי׳ כולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך
The Rebbe
אלא הפירוש הוא שכל יום ויום מהשנים טובות — הוא יום ארוך, היינו שהוא ממולא בתוכן טוב שעושה את היום לאריכות גדולה ועד לאין שיעור
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יד, p. 376–377 (letter of 25 Marcheshvan 5733) · מכתב כ״ה מרחשון, ה׳תשל״ג
- ¶31
Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the maamar Nasata Lirei’echa (12–15 Tammuz 5736), discussing the ‘lot’ (goral) by which the Land was divided, which is above reason, and the redemption that comes from that level.
The Rebbe explains that because the redemption, with the conquest of the whole Land and its widening, comes through the ‘lot,’ which is above reason, „אין צורך כלל באריכות זמן” (it needs no length of time at all): in the Alter Rebbe’s words, „יום שכולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך” (‘a day entirely long, that is, even at its beginning it is long’), for in a single moment the true and complete redemption comes with all its details and perfection.
The Alter Rebbe
וע״כ כולו ארוך בתחלה כמו בסוף שהוא גילוי בחי׳ שאין לו תחלה ואין לו תכלה
The Rebbe
דיום שכולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך, דבשעתא חדא באה הגאולה האמיתית והשלימה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. א, p. רב (sec. 19) · ש״פ חוקת-בלק, י״ב תמוז ה׳תשל״ו (המשך ביום א׳ ויום ג׳, י״ג וט״ו תמוז); נדפס ע״פ הוראת כ״ק אדמו״ר, י״ב תמוז ה׳תשמ״ו
Short quotes only, with the place of each so it can be read in full. The Rebbe’s sichos, letters and maamarim are published by Kehot and by Vaad Hanochos B’Lahak (lahak.org).
Spring and river ¶1–2
1מים רבים12 לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה וגו׳ עד בוז יבוזו לו. ובזוהר ח״ג [חלק ג׳] דנ״ד ע״ב מים רבים דא הוא נהר עלאה דמניה נפקין נהרין לכל עיבר כו׳.
“Many waters cannot quench the love, etc.,” until “boz yavuzu lo [they will surely seize it as spoil].” And in the Zohar, volume 3, page 54b: “‘Many waters’: this is the supernal river from which rivers issue forth to every side, etc.”
The maamar opens with the verse from Song of Songs about a love that “many waters” cannot put out, and quotes the Zohar’s reading that these “many waters” are a single supernal river that feeds all the other rivers. The whole discourse will ask what these waters and rivers are, and what kind of love they cannot quench; it will also read the verse’s last words, boz yavuzu lo, not as scorn but as an eager seizing, like plunder (paragraph 20).
¶20 Hold the phrase "boz yavuzu": paragraph 20 explains it as eager plunder.
והנה הנהרות נמשכים מן המעיינות3 שהמעיינות נובעים מן התהום ומהם נמשכים הנהרות וכמ״ש השולח מעינים4 בנחלים והמעיינות נובעים מתחת לארץ אבל הנהרות נמשכים בגלוי ע״פ כל הארץ לכך התורה שנמשלה למים
Now, the rivers are drawn from the springs: the springs well up from the deep, and from them the rivers are drawn, as it is written, “He sends forth springs into the streams.” The springs well up from beneath the earth, whereas the rivers are drawn openly across the face of the whole earth. Therefore the Torah, which is likened to water,
A spring and a river differ: the spring rises hidden from underground, while the river flows openly over the land, and the rivers draw their water from the springs. This natural picture is about to be applied to the Torah, which Scripture compares to water.
כמ״ש הוי כל צמא לכו למים5 יש בה בחי׳ מעיין והוא כמאמר חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא67 שאינו מושג כלל כמשל המעיין שנובע מתחת לארץ ואינו ניכר ונגלה כ״כ [כל כך] ויש בה בחי׳ נהרות
as it is written, “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water,” has in it the level of a spring. This is as the saying, “Wise, but not with a known wisdom”: it is not grasped at all, like the analogy of the spring that wells up from beneath the earth and is not so recognizable and revealed. And it has in it the level of rivers,
The Torah has a “spring” dimension: its source in G‑d’s own wisdom, described in the Tikkunei Zohar as “wise, but not with a known wisdom,” a wisdom no created mind can grasp, hidden like water under the ground. It also has a “river” dimension, described next.
וכמ״ש ונהר יוצא מעדן8 להשקות את הגן כו׳ שזיו השכינה המתגלה בג״ע [בגן עדן] בהשגת רזין דאורייתא נמשך מבחי׳ נהר היוצא מעדן כו׳ ונמשך ומתחלק לכמה בחי׳ נהרות והמשכות פרטיים לכל אחד כפי השגתו כו׳.9
as it is written, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, etc.”: for the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) that is revealed in Gan Eden, in the comprehension of the secrets of the Torah, is drawn from the level of the “river that went out of Eden, etc.,” and it is drawn down and divides into many levels of rivers and particular flows, to each one according to his comprehension, etc.
The “river” is Torah as it becomes revealed: the understanding of the Torah’s secrets that the souls enjoy in Gan Eden, the radiance of the Shechinah. From one river it branches into many streams, so that every soul receives according to its own capacity to comprehend.
The opening sets up the maamar’s central image: Torah has a hidden “spring” (G‑d’s own unknowable wisdom) and revealed “rivers” (the comprehension of its secrets in Gan Eden), and the verse’s “many waters” are these rivers.
The distinction between the spring (maayan) and the river (nahar) runs through the whole maamar: the river is revelation measured to the recipient, while the spring is closer to the Essence and therefore less visible. The Kehot note points to Or HaTorah on Song of Songs for a fuller treatment of this difference.
TermsPnimiyus haTorahShechinahGan EdenZiv haShechinah+3
- Pnimiyus haTorah פנימיות התורה
- Shechinah שכינה
- Gan Eden גן עדן
- Ziv haShechinah זיו השכינה
- Hasagah השגה
Marei mekomos
- 1מים רבים · הנחת כ״ק אדה״א בסה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ א. (באחד מהכת״י נרשם ”תורה הנאמרה שבת שלפני פורים על חתונת נכדו תקסטי״ת”. ובאוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתיד מצויין ”עיין בהביאור ע״פ מים רבים לא יוכלו כו׳ (דחתונת ב״ד ר׳ בער)”. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. לכללות מאמר זה ראה ד״ה זה ש״פ תולדות תשי״ז לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע (נדפס בסה״מ מלוקט ח״א).
- 2מים רבים · Song of Songs 8:7
- 3והנה הנהרות נמשכים מן המעיינות · ההפרש בין נהר למעיינות — ראה אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תנה.
- 4השולח מעינים · Psalms 104:10
- 5הוי כל צמא לכו למים · Isaiah 55:1
- 6חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar, Patach Eliyahu · 17b:3–4
- 7חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–4
- 8ונהר יוצא מעדן · Genesis 2:10
- 9
2ולכן נק׳ נהר לפי שבא ונמשך בגילוי להיות מושג לצדיקים וע״ז נאמר מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות1 את האהבה של כנס״י [כנסת ישראל] להקב״ה
Therefore it is called a “river,” because it comes and is drawn down in revelation, so as to be grasped by the tzaddikim. And of this it is said, “Many waters cannot quench the love” of the Congregation of Israel for the Holy One, blessed be He.
The revealed level is called a “river” because it flows openly and can be understood by the tzaddikim. Yet the verse says that even these “many waters” cannot quench the love of the Jewish people, the Congregation of Israel, for G‑d.
כי עם היות שזהו גילוי מדריגות עליונות מאד עכ״ז [עם כל זה] לא ישקיטו את האהבה שהנפש לא תתמלא ותתרוה צמאונה ע״י גילוי זה לבד
For although this is a revelation of very lofty levels, nevertheless they will not still the love, for the soul will not be filled, nor its thirst quenched, through this revelation alone.
However high this revelation is, it cannot satisfy the soul’s love; the soul’s thirst is for more than any revealed understanding can give.
וכמ״ש מי לי בשמים2 ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ כי שמים וארץ הם ג״ע [גן עדן] העליון והתחתון שבו מתענגים הנשמות ע״י נהר היוצא מעדן כו׳ ועכ״ז [ועם כל זה] מי לי בשמים כו׳ כי ג״ע הוא רק לפי שעה
As it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven? And besides You I desire nothing on earth.” For “heaven” and “earth” are the Upper and the Lower Gan Eden, in which the souls take delight through the “river that went out of Eden, etc.”; and nevertheless, “Whom do I have in heaven, etc.,” for Gan Eden is only for a time.
The Psalm says, “Whom do I have in heaven?”: the soul wants G‑d Himself, not heaven and earth. The Alter Rebbe reads “heaven” and “earth” as the Upper and Lower Gan Eden, where the souls delight in the flow of the “river,” and notes that Gan Eden is in any case only a temporary stage.
אבל עיקר הגילוי יהיה לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] בתח״ה [בתחיית המתים] וכמ״ש ומעין יצא מבית3 ה׳ שזהו למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ נהר כו׳
But the main revelation will be in the Time to Come, at the Resurrection of the Dead, as it is written, “And a spring shall come forth from the House of Havayah,” which is far, far above the level of a river, etc.
The main revelation will come after the Resurrection of the Dead, and the prophet Joel describes it as a “spring” coming forth from the House of Havayah: the spring, the source, is far higher than the river that flows from it.
והיינו ע״י עסק התורה ומצות שעז״נ [שעל זה נאמר] ותרד העינה4 ותמלא כדה הם כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא56 שהם נמשכים מבחי׳ המעיין בחי׳ חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא7 שעיקר גילוי זה יהיה לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא]:
And this is through occupation in the Torah and the mitzvos, of which it is said, “And she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher”: these are the twenty-four books of the Torah, which are drawn from the level of the spring, the level of “wise, but not with a known wisdom,” for the main revelation of this will be in the Time to Come.
That future revelation from the spring is brought about now through learning Torah and doing mitzvos. The verse about Rivkah, “she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher,” hints at this: the word for “her pitcher,” kadah, spells kaf-dalet (twenty-four) and heh, alluding to the twenty-four books of Scripture, which come from the hidden “spring” level.
The paragraph interprets the verse: the “many waters” of revealed Divine wisdom in Gan Eden cannot satisfy the soul’s love, which will be quenched only by the “spring” revealed in the Time to Come and drawn down now through Torah and mitzvos.
The reading of kadah (her pitcher) as the twenty-four books of Scripture comes from the Tikkunei Zohar, as the Kehot note shows. The word kad, spelled kaf and dalet, has the numerical value twenty-four, so the pitcher Rivkah fills at the spring stands for the Torah’s twenty-four books, drawn from the hidden source the maamar calls the spring. The Mitteler Rebbe’s Torah Chaim on Chayei Sarah develops at length the theme of Rivkah drawing from the spring.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In the Hadran on the Rambam said on Shabbos Chayei Sarah, 27 Marcheshvan 5750, close to the completion of a cycle of the daily Rambam on 24 Marcheshvan, the Rebbe explains why the Rambam ends his work with „כמים לים מכסים” (‘as the waters cover the sea’); in a note he ties it to that day’s Chumash portion, „וכדה על שכמה ותרד העינה” (‘her pitcher on her shoulder... and she went down to the spring’).
In that note the Rebbe recalls that kad (כד), the pitcher, hints at the twenty-four books of Scripture, and kadah (כדה), with its added heh, at the Oral Torah that draws from the Written (citing Or HaTorah), the Oral Torah that the Rambam’s work gathers. A pitcher, he adds, holds only a little water taken from the sea or the spring (citing Likkutei Torah); the spring itself is revealed „ע״י קיום התומ״צ במעשה בפועל” (through keeping Torah and mitzvos in practice), through the halachos, by which one merits the revelation of the spring in the Time to Come, and for this he cites our passage. That is why the Rambam ends not with a pitcher but with the sea: ‘as the waters cover the sea.’
The Alter Rebbe
ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה הם כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא שהם נמשכים מבחי׳ המעיין
The Rebbe
וגילוי המעיין („העינה”) נעשה ע״י קיום התומ״צ במעשה בפועל, ע״י הלכות התורה (ספרו של הרמב״ם), שעי״ז זוכים לגילוי המעיין לעתיד לבוא
Likkutei Sichos – Geulah u’Moshiach, Hosafos (the Hadran on the Rambam 5750; first printed in Sefer HaSichos 5750 vol. 1, p. 121), p. 83 (note * to the date line) · ש״פ חיי שרה, כ״ז מרחשון ה׳תש״נ
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsShamayim va’aretzKnesses YisraelGan EdenLe’asid lavo+6
- Shamayim va’aretz שמים וארץ
- Knesses Yisrael כנסת ישראל
- Gan Eden גן עדן
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Tzaddik צדיק
- Taanug תענוג
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
- 3ומעין יצא מבית ה׳ · Joel 4:18
- 4ותרד העינה · Genesis 24:16
- 5ותמלא כדה הם כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 21 · 47a:12–14
- 6ותמלא כדה הם כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא · Tikkunei Zohar 46b:21–22
- 7מבחי׳ המעיין בחי׳ חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · ראה אוה״ת דרושים ליוהכ״פ ע׳ א׳תתקצח.
Yitzchak: laughter through Elokim ¶3–5
3אך הנה כדי להיות המשכה וגילוי זה ע״י תומ״צ [תורה ומצות] מעשיות עז״נ [על זה נאמר] ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה1 שזהו ע״י רבקה אמנו שהיא היא אשר ביכולתה להיות ותמלא כדה כו׳.
However, so that this drawing down and revelation may come about through the Torah and the practical mitzvos, of this it is said, “And she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher”: this is through Rivkah our mother, for she it is who has the power to bring about “and filled her pitcher, etc.”
The spring’s revelation is drawn down through practical Torah and mitzvos, and the verse credits this to Rivkah: she is the one who can go down to the spring and fill the pitcher. So the question becomes what Rivkah represents.
ולהבין מהו בחי׳ רבקה י״ל [יש לומר] תחלה ענין בחי׳ יצחק כי הנה יצחק הוא לשון צחוק ותענוג והוא גילוי תענוג העליון לצדיקים לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] כמ״ש לויתן זה יצרת2 לשחק בו.
And to understand what the level of Rivkah is, we must first explain the matter of the level of Yitzchak. For “Yitzchak” is an expression of laughter and delight, and it is the revelation of the supernal delight to the tzaddikim in the Time to Come, as it is written, “This Leviathan You formed to sport with.”
To explain Rivkah, the Alter Rebbe first explains Yitzchak, whose name means “he will laugh.” Laughter expresses delight, and Yitzchak stands for the supernal delight that will be revealed to the tzaddikim in the future, alluded to by the Leviathan that G‑d formed “to sport with.”
¶7 What Rivkah is waits until paragraph 7; Yitzchak comes first.
The paragraph turns from the verse to the figures of Rivkah and Yitzchak: Rivkah draws down the spring, and Yitzchak represents the future revelation of Divine delight.
The Leviathan “to sport with” connects to the Sages’ teaching that the tzaddikim will feast on the Leviathan in the future, a symbol of the delight that will then be revealed.
TermsLe’asid lavoTzaddikTaanug+2
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Tzaddik צדיק
- Taanug תענוג
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2לויתן זה יצרת · Psalms 104:26
Therefore “Yitzchak” is in the future tense. For the level of “Laughter has Elokim made for us” [means] that this level, the revelation of delight, is drawn down through the Name Elokim.
The name Yitzchak is in the future tense, “he will laugh.” Sarah said, “Laughter has Elokim made for me,” and the Alter Rebbe notes that the Name used is Elokim: the delight comes about specifically through the Name that conceals.
והענין כי שמש ומגן2 הוי״ה אלקים ששם אלקים הוא המגן ונרתק על שם הוי״ה המהוה מאין ליש שהנרתק הוא כסוי והעלם שלא יהי׳ [יהיה] גילוי שם הוי״ה
The explanation: “For a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim.” The Name Elokim is the shield and the sheath over the Name Havayah, which brings into being something from nothing. For the sheath is a covering and concealment, so that the Name Havayah is not revealed
Havayah is the Name that brings everything into being from nothing; Elokim is a “shield” or “sheath” over it, as the Psalm pairs them. The sheath hides, so that the creative power of Havayah is not openly seen.
רק ע״י לבוש והנרתק המסתיר עליו וכמשל אור וזיו השמש המאיר דרך מסך ופרגוד כמ״ש במ״א ע״פ והבדילה הפרכת3 כו׳
except through a garment and the sheath that conceals over it, like the analogy of the light and radiance of the sun that shines through a screen and a curtain, as is explained elsewhere on the verse “And the curtain shall divide, etc.”
Just as sunlight can only be looked at through a screen, the light of Havayah reaches creation only through the covering of Elokim. The Alter Rebbe refers to his fuller explanation of this in another maamar, on the curtain of the Sanctuary.
ומחמת נרתק ומגן זה נעשו הנבראים בחי׳ יש ודבר נפרד ובהתרבות הלבושים ע״י ק״ך צירופי אלקים456 נמשך למטה בעשייה החשך וההסתר ביותר ועל כן ירדה הנשמה למטה להיות עובד אלקים
And because of this sheath and shield, the created beings became a something and a separate thing; and with the multiplication of the garments through the 120 combinations of Elokim, the darkness and concealment are drawn down below into Asiyah all the more. And therefore the soul descended below to be “one who serves Elokim,”
Because of this concealment, created things feel like independent entities. The concealment multiplies through the 120 combinations of the letters of Elokim, becoming greatest in our physical world, and this is why the soul came down: to be “one who serves Elokim,” working with that very concealment.
דהיינו לעבוד ולתקן7 את בחי׳ החשך וההסתר הנמשך משם אלקים לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא וזהו אשר ברא אלקים לעשות8 ופי׳ במדרש לעשות לתקן.9
that is, to work upon and rectify the level of the darkness and concealment drawn from the Name Elokim, to turn darkness into light. And this is “which Elokim created to make,” and the Midrash explains “to make” as “to rectify.”
The soul’s task is to transform the darkness into light. The verse says that G‑d created “to make,” and the Midrash reads “to make” as “to rectify”: creation was left for us to complete.
(והיינו לתקן) ההסתר הנמשך משם אלקים והוא ע״י בטול היש לאין10 שעי״ז אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא. והיינו ע״י מס״נ [מסירות נפש] בתפלה יח, אוע״י תומ״צ [תורה ומצות].
(That is, to rectify) the concealment drawn from the Name Elokim; and this is through the nullification of the something into nothing, by which darkness is turned into light. And this is through self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in prayer, and through the Torah and the mitzvos.
The rectification happens when the “something” nullifies itself before G‑d, turning the darkness into light. In practice this comes through self-sacrifice in prayer and through Torah and mitzvos.
וזהו צחוק עשה לי11 אלקים שעיקר הצחוק ותענוג העליון נמשך ע״י שם אלקים כמשל הצחוק שעושים השרים שהוא מדבר חדש12
And this is “Laughter has Elokim made for me”: the essence of the laughter and the supernal delight is drawn down through the Name Elokim, like the analogy of the laughter that princes make, which is from something new,
Now the Alter Rebbe explains why laughter comes through Elokim: people laugh at something new and unexpected, such as the novel spectacles staged for nobles.
כמו מלחמת הארי עם חיה אחרת שמההתחדשות נמשך הצחוק והתענוג כך בחי׳ בטול היש לאין זהו ההתחדשות שהנברא שנעשה יש ודבר נפרד יוכל לבטל א״ע [את עצמו].
such as the battle of a lion with another beast, where from the novelty come the laughter and the delight. So too the level of the nullification of the something into nothing: this is the novelty, that the created being, which has become a something and a separate thing, is able to nullify itself.
A lion fighting another beast delights the onlookers because it is out of the ordinary. So too, the true novelty is that a created being that feels itself separate can nullify itself before G‑d; this surprise brings G‑d delight.
משא״כ אם לא היה שם אלקים מסתיר לא היה נמשך בחי׳ צחוק ותענוג זה כלל א״כ עיקר הצחוק והתענוג עשה לנו השם אלקים המסתיר ומעלים שבסבתו נמשך התענוג והיינו ע״י בטול היש לאין.
Whereas if the Name Elokim did not conceal, this level of laughter and delight would not be drawn down at all. If so, the essence of the laughter and the delight was made for us by the Name Elokim, which conceals and hides, because of which the delight is drawn down, that is, through the nullification of the something into nothing.
Without the concealment of Elokim there would be no independent “something” to nullify, and so no novelty and no delight. The very Name that hides G‑d is what makes this laughter possible.
The paragraph explains why Yitzchak’s laughter comes through the Name Elokim: the concealment creates a world that feels separate, and the delight comes when that world nullifies itself before G‑d, a novelty possible only because of the concealment.
The Kehot note directs to Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah (from chapter 4) on Havayah and Elokim as sun and shield. The 120 combinations of Elokim are discussed in the Arizal’s Etz Chaim. The five letters of the Name Elokim can be arranged in 120 different orders. The maamar treats each arrangement as another garment over the light, so that the concealment grows thicker as it descends into Asiyah. The parable of the novelty brought before a king appears in Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar: nothing in the palace is lacking, so only something new, like a talking bird, can arouse the king’s delight.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In Likkutei Sichos vol. 3 (Toldos), from the sicha of Shabbos Mevarchim Kislev 5721, after reading ‘These are the generations of Yitzchak son of Avraham; Avraham begot Yitzchak’ three ways and the Zohar’s reading of it as the delight of the future, the Rebbe brings ‘what Chassidus explains’ about Yitzchak’s name, citing this maamar.
The Rebbe explains this paragraph: Elokim is the ‘shield’ over the ‘sun’ of Havayah, „כי שמש ומגן הוי׳ אלקים” (‘for a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim’), because Elokim equals ha-teva, nature, in numerical value, and nature hides G‑dliness; refining what nature conceals brings about the laughter and delight above, since it fulfills G‑d’s intent of „דירה בתחתונים” (a dwelling in the lowest realm). He adds that in a person the soul corresponds to Havayah and the body that conceals it to Elokim, so the delight above comes specifically from refining the body. That is why in the future the body will stand higher than the soul, and the soul will receive from the body.
The Alter Rebbe
עיקר הצחוק והתענוג עשה לנו השם אלקים המסתיר ומעלים
The Rebbe
און דער צחוק און תענוג שלמעלה ווערן פון בירור הגוף דוקא, ווייל אין דעם גוף פירט זיך אויס די כוונה
Likkutei Sichos, vol. ג, p. 786 (Toldos, sec. 7) · שבת מבה״ח כסלו (ש״פ תולדות) ה׳תשכ״א
Background from the Rebbe
In the Kuntres Inyanah shel Toras HaChassidus (from the talk of 19 Kislev 5726, edited by the Rebbe), explaining that Chassidus, the innermost part of the Torah, reaches even the animal soul and the world, and that its essence shows precisely in transforming them.
The Rebbe states that the laughter and delight above come through refining and rectifying darkness, „אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא” (turning darkness into light), and his note sends the reader to Torah Ohr 17d ff., where this maamar begins. He sets it beside a principle he has just explained: every revelation, however lofty, is defined, so evil stands opposed to it and it can only fight it; only „עצמותו ית׳ שהוא פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות” (G‑d’s Essence, utterly simple) and with nothing opposed to it, can change evil and turn it to good. Hence, he says, the Torah, one with His Essence, is „משחקת לפניו” (‘playing (mesacheket) before Him’): precisely in turning darkness into light its innermost being shows, as it is one with the inner Ein Sof.
The Alter Rebbe
לעבוד ולתקן את בחי׳ החשך וההסתר הנמשך משם אלקים לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא
The Rebbe
ורק עצמותו ית׳ שהוא פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות ומושלל מכל הציורים וגם אין שייך שום מנגד אליו, ובמילא — ביכלתו לשנותו ולהפכו לטוב
Kuntres Inyanah shel Toras HaChassidus (in Toras Menachem 5726, vol. 1), p. 278 (sec. 19) · י״ט כסלו ה׳תשכ״ו
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar of Zos Chanukah 5738 on the Chanukah lights ‘until the foot ceases from the marketplace,’ the Rebbe explains that a person’s work turns the public domain of the world into „רשות היחיד ליחידו של עולם” (a private domain for the One G‑d), and that the delight this brings above is the loftiest of all.
The Rebbe cites this paragraph’s analogy (his note: Torah Ohr 18a): laughter is „התענוג הבא מדבר חידוש” (the delight that comes from something new), and so too the laughter above comes from the novelty of darkness turned into light, a delight greater than any other in the world. He suggests (v’yesh lomar) that this explains the Sages’ saying „כל המלמד את בן עם הארץ תורה אפילו הקב״ה גוזר גזירה מבטלה בשבילו” (that if one teaches Torah to the son of an unlearned man, even when G‑d issues a decree He annuls it for his sake): it is G‑d’s own will that the tzaddik annul the decree, and from being ‘defeated’ comes the greatest delight above, as when „קא חייך ואמר נצחוני בני” (‘He laughed and said, My children have defeated Me’).
The Alter Rebbe
כמשל הצחוק שעושים השרים שהוא מדבר חדש כמו מלחמת הארי עם חיה אחרת
The Rebbe
וכידוע בענין הצחוק [שהו״ע התענוג הבא מדבר חידוש דוקא. שכמו״כ הוא גם כביכול בהתענוג וצחוק שלמעלה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. כט (sec. 6) · זאת חנוכה, ה׳תשל״ח
Background from the Rebbe
At the farbrengen of 12 Tammuz 5714 (edited for Likkutei Sichos vol. 1), contrasting Avraham, who drew G‑dliness down into the world, with Yitzchak, who dug wells to reveal the living water (מים חיים) already hidden in the earth, and who went on digging when Avimelech’s shepherds seized the wells.
The Rebbe explains that Yitzchak’s way, removing the earth and stones that cover the living water and making the world a vessel for G‑dliness, reaches „בלי גבול האמתי” (the true infinite), because through it G‑d’s purpose is fulfilled. He ties this to the reason for the name Yitzchak given here, „צחוק עשה לי אלקים” (‘Laughter has Elokim made for me’) (his note: Torah Ohr 18a): refining the things that conceal, which come from „שם אלקים בגימטריא הטבע” (the Name Elokim, numerically ha-teva: nature), is specifically what calls forth the laughter and delight above.
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו צחוק עשה לי אלקים שעיקר הצחוק ותענוג העליון נמשך ע״י שם אלקים
The Rebbe
וועלכע נעמען זיך פון דעם שם אלקים בגימטריא „הטבע” — דאָס דוקא רופט אַרויס דעם צחוק ותענוג שלמעלה
Likkutei Sichos, vol. א, p. 30 · י״ב תמוז ה׳תשי״ד
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsAvodas HashemElokimBittul hayeshParsa, masach+14
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳ explained hereHere the soul descends as an oved Elokim to repair the concealment from the Name Elokim, turning darkness to light by bittul hayesh, and this brings supernal delight (“laughter”).
ועל כן ירדה הנשמה למטה להיות עובד אלקים דהיינו לעבוד ולתקן את בחי׳ החשך וההסתר הנמשך משם אלקים
- Elokim אלקים explained here“A sun and a shield are Havayah Elokim”: Havayah brings into being from nothing, and Elokim is the shield and sheath that covers it, like sunlight through a screen. Because of it creatures are yesh and separate, and through the 120 combinations of Elokim the darkness grows in Asiyah; the soul descends to serve Elokim, turning that darkness to light. The delight above comes from such a creature’s bittul, which only this concealment makes possible.
ששם אלקים הוא המגן ונרתק על שם הוי״ה המהוה מאין ליש
- Bittul hayesh ביטול היש
- Parsa, masach פרסא ומסך
- Mesirus nefesh מסירות נפש
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Yesh me’ayin יש מאין
- Ziv haShechinah זיו השכינה
- Levushim לבושים
- Taanug תענוג
- Yud-hei and vav-hei י״ה ו״ה
- Tefillah תפלה
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Asiyah עשיה
Marei mekomos
- 1יצחק הוא לשון עתיד · ”כי היו״ד משמש על להבא” סה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ ב. ראה שיחת מוצאי ש״פ חיי שרה ה׳תשל״ח סמ״א (בקונטרסים חורף ה׳תשל״ח ע׳ 95).
- 2כי שמש ומגן הוי׳ אלקים · Psalms 84:12
- 3כמ״ש במ״א ע״פ והבדילה הפרכת · לעיל יב, ג.
- 4ק״ך צירופי אלקים · ע״ח שערי הזיווגים שט״ו פ״ו. שער השמות שמ״ד פ״א.
- 5ק״ך צירופי אלקים · Sefer Etz Chaim 15:6:1
- 6ק״ך צירופי אלקים · Sefer Etz Chaim 44:1:2
- 7להיות עובד אלקים דהיינו לעבוד ולתקן · באוה״ת בלק ע׳ א׳כ מציין לכאן.
- 8אשר ברא אלקים לעשות · Genesis 2:3
- 9ברא אלקים לעשות . . לתקן · ראה פירש״י לב״ר פ׳ יא, ו.
- 10ההסתר הנמשך משם אלקים והוא ע״י בטול היש לאין · ראה לקמן נד, ב. לקו״ת אמור לז, א. פנחס עז, ג. שה״ש סז, ב. אוה״ת בא ע׳ רנה ובכ״מ.
- 11
- 12שהוא מדבר חדש · ראה לקו״ת במדבר כ, א.
5והנה עיקר הצחוק והתענוג מתגלה כשנשלם הבירור והתקון דשם אלקים וכמו במע״ב [במעשה בראשית] כתיב וירא אלקים את כל אשר עשה1
Now, the essence of the laughter and the delight is revealed when the refinement and rectification of the Name Elokim is completed. As in the Work of Creation it is written, “And Elokim saw all that He had made,
The full delight is revealed only when the work of refining and rectifying the concealment of Elokim is finished. The account of creation shows this: G‑d “saw all that He had made” only at the end of the six days.
והנה טוב מאד ויכולו השמים2 שבגמר כל המלאכה נתגלה התענוג משא״כ בעוד שלא נגמרה המלאכה אין התענוג מתגלה כ״א הוא עוסק לגמור המלאכה.
and behold, it was very good,” and, “And the heavens were completed”: at the completion of all the work the delight was revealed; whereas while the work was not yet completed, the delight is not revealed, but rather he is occupied with completing the work.
Only after “it was very good” and “the heavens were completed” was the delight revealed. While work is still being done, the worker is busy completing it and the pleasure is not yet revealed.
כך עד״ז עכשיו העסק הוא להיות עובד אלקים לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא ובגמר ושלימות הבירורים אזי
So too, in the same way, now the occupation is to be “one who serves Elokim,” to turn darkness into light; and at the completion and perfection of the refinements, then
Our time is the time of work: to be “one who serves Elokim,” turning darkness into light. The delight will appear when all the refinements are complete.
כתיב ותחדש פני אדמה3 ישמח ה׳ במעשיו ויהיה גילוי הצחוק והתענוג ולכן נק׳ יצחק ע״ש [על שם] העתיד שלעתיד יהיה גילוי צחוק ותענוג זה:4
it is written, “And You renew the face of the earth,” “Havayah will rejoice in His works,” and there will be the revelation of the laughter and the delight. And therefore he is called “Yitzchak,” after the future, for in the Time to Come there will be the revelation of this laughter and delight.
Then the verses will be fulfilled: “You renew the face of the earth,” “Havayah will rejoice in His works.” That is why the name Yitzchak, “he will laugh,” is in the future tense: the laughter and delight belong to the Time to Come.
The paragraph explains why Yitzchak’s delight is future: it is revealed only when the work of refinement is complete, as the delight of creation came only at its end.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In a letter to the seventh gathering of shluchim in the Land of Israel (15 Menachem Av 5746), held at ‘Ohel Yosef Yitzchak Lubavitch’ in Kfar Chabad, the Rebbe draws a lesson from each word of the venue’s name.
The Rebbe reads ‘Yosef’ as adding, up to „יוסף ה׳ לי בן אחר” (‘may G‑d add me another son’), turning the ‘other’ into a ‘son,’ and ‘Yitzchak’ as „עבודה מתוך שמחה” (service with joy). In a note he cites this maamar: the essence of ‘Yitzchak,’ the laughter and delight, comes after the work of turning darkness into light, and that work is Yosef’s making of the ‘other’ into a ‘son.’
The Alter Rebbe
והנה עיקר הצחוק והתענוג מתגלה כשנשלם הבירור והתקון דשם אלקים
The Rebbe
תו״א תולדות יז, ד שעיקר ענין „יצחק” הצחוק והתענוג — בא לאחרי העבודה דאתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא (שזהו״ע „יוסף ה׳ לי בן אחר”, עשיית „אחר” ל„בן”)
Likkutei Sichos (letters), vol. כט, p. 430 (letter pp. 428–430; the note on 'יצחק׳) · מכתב ט״ו מנחם-אב, ה׳תשמ״ו
Background from the Rebbe
In a talk of Motzaei Shabbos Chayei Sarah, Mevarchim Kislev 5738 (edited for Likkutei Sichos vol. 20), on ‘These are the generations of Yitzchak... Yaakov and Eisav,’ the Rebbe asks why Eisav is counted among ‘the generations of Yitzchak’ and how, while Eisav still opposes Yaakov, „אל תירא עבדי יעקב” (‘Fear not, My servant Yaakov’) can already apply.
Eisav exists, the Rebbe explains, so that his darkness may be subdued and turned into light, which will bring the future revelation; the revelation of Yitzchak’s laughter and delight, which comes through the concealment of the Name Elokim down to its lowest form in Eisav, will be only in the Time to Come (his note: Torah Ohr 18a). He then draws a point from this paragraph: although Yitzchak is named „על שם העתיד” (‘after the future’), the very fact that he is already called by that name now shows that even now it is visible that Eisav exists for that purpose, as ‘the generations of Yitzchak.’
The Alter Rebbe
ולכן נק׳ יצחק ע״ש העתיד שלעתיד יהיה גילוי צחוק ותענוג זה
The Rebbe
איז פון דעם גופא וואָס מען רופט אים אָן איצטער מיטן נאָמען יצחק „על שם העתיד” און מען זעט בגלוי
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כ, p. 343 (sec. מא) · מוצאי ש״פ חיי שרה, מבה״ח כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsAvodas HashemBirurTaanugElokim
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Birur בירור
- Taanug תענוג
- Elokim אלקים
Marei mekomos
- 1וירא אלקים את כל אשר עשה · Genesis 1:31
- 2ויכולו השמים · Genesis 2:1
- 3ותחדש פני אדמה · Psalms 104:30
- 4ישמח ה׳ במעשיו · Psalms 104:31
Rivkah: the yoked team ¶6–9
6והנה ביצחק כתיב והנה יצחק מצחק1 את רבקה אשתו2. פי׳ שכל הצחוק ותענוג עליון דיצחק הנ״ל הוא נמשך ע״י רבקה אשתו.
Now, of Yitzchak it is written, “And behold, Yitzchak was sporting with Rivkah his wife.” Meaning: all the laughter and supernal delight of Yitzchak discussed above is drawn down through Rivkah his wife.
The verse “Yitzchak was sporting with Rivkah his wife” shows that Yitzchak’s laughter and delight comes about through Rivkah. Now the Alter Rebbe will explain what Rivkah represents.
כי הנה עיקר בחי׳ אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא הוא שייך בנה״ב [בנפש הבהמית] שבאדם שהיא צריכה בירור ותקון לעשות לתקן משא״כ הנשמה עצמה א״צ [אין צריך / אינו צריך] תקון.3
For the main level of turning darkness into light pertains to the animal soul in a person, which needs refinement and rectification, “to make,” [that is,] “to rectify”; whereas the soul itself does not need rectification.
Turning darkness into light is mainly the work of refining the animal soul, the natural, self-centered life of a person. The G‑dly soul itself needs no rectification; it came down only to refine the animal soul.
ונה״ב [ונפש הבהמית] שרשה מחיות המרכבה פני שור4 וכו׳ וכמו שיש כח בהמרכבה להיות והחיות נושאות את הכסא כך יש כח בנה״ב [בנפש הבהמית] להיות בה
And the animal soul is rooted in the Chayos of the Chariot, the face of the ox, etc. And just as there is power in the Chariot to be [such that] “the Chayos carry the Throne,” so there is power in the animal soul for there to be in it
The animal soul is rooted in the “face of the ox” among the Chayos, the holy creatures of Ezekiel’s Chariot, which carry the Divine Throne. Just as those creatures lift the Throne, the animal soul, once refined, has the power to lift up the G‑dly soul.
וע״י עליות לנה״א [לנפש האלקית] והיינו אחר הבירור של נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] משום ששרשה גבוה מאד נעלה מלפני מלך כו׳:
and through it ascents for the G‑dly soul, that is, after the refinement of the animal soul, because its root is very high, exalted, from “before any king reigned [over the children of Israel],” etc.
After it is refined, the animal soul becomes a source of ascent for the G‑dly soul, because its root is extremely high and exalted: from “before any king reigned over the children of Israel,” the kings of Edom, that is, the world of Tohu, which came before the order of Tikkun.
The paragraph identifies where the delight comes from: the refinement of the animal soul, which is rooted in the Chayos of the Chariot and, once refined, raises the G‑dly soul.
The idea that the soul itself needs no rectification and descends only to refine the body and animal soul appears in Tanya, chapter 37, drawing on Etz Chaim sha’ar 26. That chapter also explains that the ultimate revelation of the Infinite Light in the physical world depends on our work during exile.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
„משום ששרשה גבוה מאד נעלה מלפני מלך כו׳” (“Because its root is very high, exalted, from ‘before any king reigned,’ etc.”): the Alter Rebbe quotes the verse only by its first words, “מלפני מלך כו׳”.
The words “מלפני מלך כו׳” abbreviate the verse ‘before any king reigned over the Children of Israel’ (Bereishis 36:31), the kings of Edom, which in Kabbalah are the world of Tohu that came before the world of Tikkun. Elsewhere in Torah Ohr the Alter Rebbe writes the phrase out: the face of the lion and the face of the ox carry the Throne because their root is „מלפני מלך מלך כו׳ דהיינו מעולם התהו” (‘from before a king reigned, that is, from the world of Tohu’); and in a discourse of 5571 he explains that the animal soul’s root is in those kings, above the world of Tikkun from which the G‑dly souls come, which is why its love, once refined, is the stronger. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is the sense here: the refined animal soul lifts the G‑dly soul because it comes from that higher root.
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Yisro, dibbur hamaschil להבין ביאור ענין האבות הן הן המרכבה, p. עב, ד (printed p. 144; Kehot key 72:47; site: Yisro 9 ¶1)
פני אריה פני שור כו׳ שהם מרכבה לפי שהם משבה״כ שנפלו בבריאה ועיקרם מלפני מלך מלך כו׳ דהיינו מעולם התהו
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5571, p. יד
כי שרשה מבחי׳ המלכים דתוהו שהם לפני מלוך מלך לבני ישראל פי׳ למעלה מעולם התיקון שמשם נמשכו הנפשות האלקי׳ שבישראל
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Vayeshev, dibbur hamaschil כה אמר ה׳ צבאות אם בדרכי תלך, p. ל, ג (printed p. 60; site: Vayeshev 5 ¶11)
והיינו לפי ששרשה ממקום עליון יותר מלפני מלך מלך כו׳ ורב יעבד כו׳
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsNefesh ha’elokisKiseiMerkavahIskafya and is’hapcha+5
- Nefesh ha’elokis נפש האלקית
- Kisei כסא
- Merkavah מרכבה
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Birur בירור
- Taanug תענוג
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה יצחק מצחק · Genesis 26:20
- 2
- 3הנשמה עצמה א״צ תיקון · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 37:18
- 4פני שור · Ezekiel 1:10
7ובזה יובן ענין בחי׳ רבקה שהוא מלשון רבקות של שלש שלש בקר1 או של ארבע ארבע דהפי׳ הוא חבור וקשור של שלש או ארבע בהמות
And with this the matter of the level of Rivkah will be understood. It is from the term “rivkos” of three, three oxen, or of four, four, for the meaning is the joining and binding of three or four animals
The name Rivkah is connected to the Talmudic word “rivkah,” a team of three or four oxen yoked together. The name therefore means joining several animals into one working unit.
¶3 This explains the level of Rivkah raised in paragraph 3.
יחדיו נק׳ רבקה וכך הוא בענין חיות המרכבה כשהן כלולים ומתייחדים יחד להיות והחיות נושאות הן בחי׳ רבקה של שלש שלש בקר שהוא התכללות חג״ת [חסד גבורה תפארת] פני ארי׳ [אריה] מבחי׳ חסד.
together, [which] is called a “rivkah.” And so it is with the Chayos of the Chariot: when they are included and united together, so as to be [such that] “the Chayos carry,” they are the level of a “rivkah” of three, three oxen, which is the inter-inclusion of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes: the face of the lion from the level of Chesed,
The Chayos, the holy creatures of Ezekiel’s Chariot, carry the Throne when they are joined into one team. When three are joined, they are the three emotive attributes Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes, each a “face”: the lion’s face corresponds to Chesed.
The paragraph gives the key to Rivkah: her name means a yoked team of animals, and on high this is the Chariot’s creatures joined together as the attributes Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes.
The Kehot note records that Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim refers back to this passage, and that Or HaTorah on Korach discusses the same term. In the Mishnah a rivkah is a team of oxen yoked together; the name Rivkah is read as that joining.
Marei mekomos
- 1רבקות של שלש שלש בקר · Eruvin 17b:17–18
8ופני שור מבחי׳ גבורה כו׳. ולפעמים הן של ארבע ארבע שהוא בחי׳ פני אדם שבחיות המרכבה שהן ד׳ בחי׳ חגת״מ [חסד גבורה תפארת מלכות].
and the face of the ox from the level of Gevurah, etc. And sometimes they are of four, four, which is the level of the face of a man among the Chayos of the Chariot, for they are four levels: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferes and Malchus.
The ox’s face corresponds to Gevurah. Sometimes the team has four, adding the face of a man, which corresponds to Malchus; so the four faces are Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferes and Malchus.
ועד״ז ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] האבות הן הן המרכבה12 שהן ג׳ בחי׳ חג״ת [חסד גבורה תפארת] ודוד הוא רגלא רביעאה כו׳.
And similarly our Sages said, “The Patriarchs are themselves the Chariot”: they are the three levels of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes, and David is the fourth leg, etc.
The Sages say that the Patriarchs were the Chariot, meaning they were wholly given over to G‑d’s will. Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov are Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes, and King David, who embodies Malchus, is the fourth leg of the Throne.
וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] במרכבת יחזקאל חוברות אשה אל אחותה3 שהן בבחי׳ חבור והתכללות שעי״ז דוקא והחיות נושאות כו׳
And this is what is said of Yechezkel’s Chariot, “joined one to another”: they are in a state of joining and inter-inclusion, for specifically through this, “the Chayos carry, etc.,”
Ezekiel describes the creatures’ wings as “joined one to another.” Their power to carry the Throne comes precisely from being joined and included in each other.
משום שע״י ההתכללות וחבור המדות יחדיו עי״ז מתעלים וממשיכים מבחי׳ עליונה מאד ששם כל המדות כלולים יחדיו (עמ״ש בפ׳ נח בענין זה).
because through the inter-inclusion and joining of the middos together, they are thereby elevated and draw from a very high level, where all the middos are included together (see what is explained in Parshas Noach on this matter).
When the attributes combine, they rise and draw from a very high level in which all the attributes are still one. The Alter Rebbe refers to his discussion of this in a maamar on Parshas Noach.
ועד״ז יובן בעבודת ה׳ באדם כשיש בחי׳ התכללות המדות אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] והתעוררות רחמים על נפשו שירדה פלאים4 זהו נק׳ בחי׳ רבקה של שלש שלש בקר שמדות נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] מתבררים מק״נ [מקליפת נוגה] ועולים לה׳.
And similarly it will be understood in the service of G‑d in a person: when there is the level of inter-inclusion of the middos (emotive attributes), love and awe, and the arousal of compassion on his soul, which has descended wondrously low, this is called the level of a “rivkah” of three, three oxen; for the middos of the animal soul are refined from kelipas nogah and ascend to G‑d.
The same happens in a person’s service of G‑d. When love, awe and compassion for one’s own soul, which has fallen so low, all combine, the emotions of the animal soul are refined out of kelipas nogah, the mixed realm that can go either to good or to evil, and rise to G‑d. This is a “rivkah” of three.
וזהו והנה רבקה יוצאת5 שיוצאת מק״נ [מקליפת נוגה] ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא ולפעמים היא של ארבע ארבע בהתכללות מדת מל׳ שהוא בחי׳ בטול וקבלת עול ועבודת עבד כי העבודה והיראה הן שני מצות כו׳.
And this is “And behold, Rivkah came out”: she comes out from kelipas nogah, and darkness is turned into light. And sometimes she is of four, four, with the inclusion of the attribute of Malchus, which is the level of self-nullification (bittul), accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol) and the service of a servant; for service and awe are two mitzvos, etc.
“Rivkah came out” means she comes out of kelipas nogah, and darkness becomes light. A “rivkah” of four adds Malchus: self-nullification, accepting the yoke and serving as a servant, which is distinct from awe, since service and awe are counted as two separate mitzvos.
וזהו שיצחק מצחק את רבקה אשתו6 דהיינו שבחי׳ יצחק שהוא התענוג שיתגלה לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] הרי הוא נמשך את רבקה אשתו
And this is [why] “Yitzchak was sporting with Rivkah his wife”: that is, the level of Yitzchak, which is the delight that will be revealed in the Time to Come, is drawn “with Rivkah his wife”
This explains why Yitzchak “was sporting with Rivkah”: the future delight of Yitzchak comes through Rivkah, the refined and united emotions of the animal soul.
(שהוא בחי׳ בירור דשם ב״ן [שם ב״ן] בגימ׳ [בגימטריא] בהמה דהיינו ע״י בירור נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] כשעולה למעלה מעלה להיות בבחי׳ רבקה כי למטה הוא ענפין מתפרדין אבל ע״י הברור אז נעשה התכללות כו׳)7
(which is the level of the refinement of the Name Ban, [whose] numerical value is behemah [animal], that is, through the refinement of the animal soul, when it ascends higher and higher to be in the level of Rivkah; for below it is “branches that separate,” but through the refinement there then comes about inter-inclusion, etc.).
The Name Ban (Havayah spelled out to the value of 52) equals behemah, “animal,” in numerical value, so Rivkah’s work is refining the animal soul. Below, the soul’s drives are scattered “branches that separate”; once refined, they unite.
ולכן עי״ז דוקא ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה8 דהיינו שע״י בחי׳ בירור ובטול נפש הבהמית דוקא
And therefore, specifically through this, “she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher”: that is, specifically through the level of the refinement and nullification of the animal soul,
This is why Rivkah is the one who “went down to the spring and filled her pitcher”: the drawing down happens specifically through refining and nullifying the animal soul.
הנה ע״י העלאה זו נמשך להיות ירידה והמשכה בחי׳ ותמלא כדה היינו כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא.
through this ascent there comes about a descent and drawing down, the level of “and filled her pitcher,” namely the twenty-four books of the Torah.
The ascent of the animal soul brings about a descent from above: the filling of the pitcher, which is the twenty-four books of Scripture.
כי הנה כל התורה נתלבשה בענינים גשמיים כמו יח, במצות תרומות ומעשרות בצמח וזרע הארץ ומצות קרבנות בבע״ח [בבעלי חיים]
For the entire Torah has been clothed in physical matters, such as the mitzvos of terumos and maasros in the vegetation and seed of the land, and the mitzvah of sacrifices with animals,
The Torah’s commandments are clothed in physical things: tithes and priestly gifts from produce, sacrifices from animals.
וכן בכל המצות שכ״ז [שכל זה] הוא נלקח מק״נ [מקליפת נוגה] וע״י המצות מתבררים ונמשך עי״ז גילוי א״ס ב״ה אשר אנכי מצוך.910
and so too with all the mitzvos; all of this is taken from kelipas nogah, and through the mitzvos they are refined, and through this is drawn down the revelation of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, “which I (Anochi) command you.”
All these physical things come from kelipas nogah; performing the mitzvos with them refines them and draws into them the revelation of G‑d Himself, as the verse says “which I (Anochi) command you,” the “I” of G‑d’s own essence.
The paragraph applies the image of the yoked team to the soul: when the animal soul’s emotions are refined and united in love, awe and compassion, and at times also with Malchus, acceptance of the yoke, they rise, and this ascent draws down the Torah and mitzvos with the revelation of G‑d’s own essence.
The link between the Name Ban and behemah reflects the Kabbalistic teaching that the animal soul and Malchus are refined together; the Kehot note shows that this parenthetical gloss also appears in Sefer HaMaamarim 5569. The principle that an ascent from below draws a descent from above runs through the whole maamar.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
„עמ״ש בפ׳ נח בענין זה” (“See what is explained in Parshas Noach on this matter”): the Kehot notes give no place, and our explain only says “a maamar on Parshas Noach.” A reader cannot tell where the inclusion of the middos drawing „מבחי׳ עליונה מאד ששם כל המדות כלולים יחדיו” (from “a very high level, where all the middos are included together”) is explained.
The reference is probably (biur b’derech efshar) to the Alter Rebbe’s maamar on “And G‑d said: Behold, they are one people” in Parshas Noach, which explains that the whole virtue of the world of Tikkun is the inclusion of the attributes in one another, and that through such inclusion a very high light shines, like the level of „עקודים בכלי א׳” (Akudim, where all the lights are in one vessel), above both Tohu and Tikkun. That is the level from which the joined Chayos, and the joined middos of a person, draw.
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Noach, dibbur hamaschil ויאמר ה׳ הן עם אחד ושפה אחת, p. יא, ב (the passage runs over 11a–b; site: Noach 4 ¶13–15)
שבבחי׳ התכללות מאיר אור עליון ביותר וכמש״ל בענין עקודים בכלי א׳ שהוא בחי׳ ומדרגה גבוה מאד
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In a letter of blessing for a wedding (20 Tammuz 5706), on what marriage begins in a person’s service of G‑d.
Marriage, the Rebbe writes, begins a person’s work with his own portion in the world, and through it the soul rises „באין ערוך” (beyond measure), from the light that fills the worlds to the light that transcends them. The yearning and service that bring this about must be „לא בבחי׳ אהבה לבדה או בבחי׳ יראה לבדה” (neither love alone nor awe alone), but the inclusion and joining of all the middos together, „רבקה של שלש כו׳ של ארבע” (‘a rivkah of three... of four’), citing this maamar. Through this service in this world specifically, Israel rises to the level that transcends the worlds, above even the seraphim; that, he adds, is why this world „כבי הילולא דמיא” (‘is like a wedding hall’), for through marriage the power to bear children is revealed, which souls have and angels do not.
The Alter Rebbe
כשיש בחי׳ התכללות המדות אהוי״ר והתעוררות רחמים על נפשו שירדה פלאים
The Rebbe
והתשוקה והעבודה צ״ל לא בבחי׳ אהבה לבדה או בבחי׳ יראה לבדה כו׳, כ״א בהתכללות וחיבור כל המדות יחדיו, רבקה של שלש כו׳ של ארבע
Likkutei Sichos (letters on marriage), vol. כט, p. 452 (letter pp. 452–453) · מכתב כ׳ תמוז, ה׳תש״ו
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsKabbalas olAvosMerkavahAhavah v’yirah+18
- Kabbalas ol קבלת עול מלכות שמים
- Avos אבות
- Merkavah מרכבה
- Ahavah v’yirah אהבה ויראה
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Anochi אנכי
- Mah and Ban מ״ה וב״ן
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Gevurah גבורה
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Birur בירור
- Taanug תענוג
- Ein Sof אין סוף
- Hiskallelus התכללות
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1האבות הן הן המרכבה · נסמן לעיל ד, ג.
- 2ארז״ל האבות הן הן המרכבה · Bereshit Rabbah 47:6
- 3חוברות אשה אל אחותה · Ezekiel 1:9
- 4שירדה פלאים · Lamentations 1:9
- 5והנה רבקה יוצאת · Genesis 24:15
- 6יצחק מצחק את רבקה אשתו · Genesis 26:8
- 7(שהוא בחי׳ בירור דשם ב״ן . . התכללות כו׳) · ראה הג״ה זו בסה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ צ.
- 8ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה · Genesis 24:16
- 9אשר אנכי מצוך · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 10
9וזהו הנה אנכי נצב על עין המים1 דהיינו בבחי׳ ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה נמשך ממש בחי׳ אנכי שהוא סדכ״ס [סבה דכל סבות] שממנו נמשך המעיין כו׳.
And this is “Behold, I (Anochi) stand by the spring of water”: that is, in the level of “she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher,” there is drawn down the very level of Anochi, which is the most hidden of all hidden, from which the spring is drawn, etc.
Eliezer says, “Behold, I (Anochi) stand by the spring of water.” The Alter Rebbe reads “Anochi,” “I,” as G‑d’s very essence, the most hidden of all hidden, the source of the spring: through Rivkah’s drawing at the spring, this very level is drawn down.
ולכן כדי שיהי׳ [שיהיה] המשכה זו גילוי אוא״ס [אור אין סוף] ב״ה בדברים גשמיים שמק״נ [שמקליפת נוגה] הוא דוקא ע״י בירור נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] תחלה
And therefore, so that there may be this drawing down of the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, into physical things that are from kelipas nogah, it is specifically through first refining the animal soul,
For G‑d’s light to enter physical things, which come from kelipas nogah, the animal soul must first be refined.
שהיא ג״כ מק״נ [מקליפת נוגה] שאז אחר בירור והעלאה זו יוכל להיות המשכה וירידה זו (ועמ״ש כיוצא בזה ע״פ וספרתם לכם2 כו׳ וע״פ זכור את יום השבת).3
which is also from kelipas nogah; for then, after this refinement and ascent, this drawing down and descent can come about. (And see what is explained similarly on the verse “And you shall count for yourselves, etc.,” and on the verse “Remember the Shabbos day.”)
The animal soul is also from kelipas nogah; once it is refined and raised, the drawing down into physical things can follow. The Alter Rebbe refers to parallel discussions on counting the Omer and on remembering Shabbos.
וע״כ לא נתנה תורה למלאכים משום כלום יצה״ר [יצר הרע] יש ביניהם45 ואין שייך אצלם בירור ק״נ [קליפת נוגה] ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא
And therefore the Torah was not given to the angels, because “Is there an evil inclination among you?” The refinement of kelipas nogah and turning darkness into light do not pertain to them.
This is why the Torah was not given to the angels: as Moshe argued, they have no evil inclination. They have nothing to refine and no darkness to turn into light.
ולכן א״א להיות ג״כ אצלם המשכה זו מבחי׳ אשר אנכי מצוך ואע״פ [ואף על פי] שבודאי נמשך גילוי אלקות למלאכים הוא מבחי׳ ונהר יוצא מעדן להשקות את הגן6 דבזה כתיב היושבת בגנים חברים7 שהם המלאכים מקשיבים לקולך.
And therefore this drawing down from the level of “which I (Anochi) command you” also cannot come about among them. And although a revelation of G‑dliness is certainly drawn down to the angels, it is from the level of “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden,” of which it is written, “You who dwell in the gardens, the companions,” who are the angels, “listen to your voice.”
So the angels cannot receive the revelation of “Anochi” that comes through the mitzvos. They do receive a revelation of G‑dliness, but only from the “river” that flows into the garden: the Song of Songs speaks of “companions,” the angels, who listen to the voice of the one who dwells in the gardens.
אבל גילוי בחי׳ ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה לא נמשך להם כ״א למטה דוקא. ולכן ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] עתידים צדיקים8 שיאמרו (המלאכים) לפניהם קדוש:
But the revelation of the level of “she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher” is not drawn down to them, but only below. And therefore our Sages said that the tzaddikim are destined to have (the angels) say “Holy” before them.
The “spring” level reaches only us below. That is why the Sages say that in the future the angels will say “Holy” before the tzaddikim: those who refined the world will stand higher than the angels.
The paragraph explains that the essence of G‑d (“Anochi”) is drawn down only through refining the animal soul and the physical world; this is why the Torah was given to people rather than angels, and why the tzaddikim will surpass the angels.
The angels receive from the “river,” the revealed flow that is also the delight of Gan Eden, while souls in bodies can draw from the “spring” itself. The Kehot notes list many places in Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah where the saying about the angels saying “Holy” before the tzaddikim is explained.
TermsYetzer hara and yetzer tovIskafya and is’hapchaAnochiTzaddik+8
- Yetzer hara and yetzer tov יצר הרע ויצר טוב
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Anochi אנכי
- Tzaddik צדיק
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Birur בירור
- Kadosh קדוש
- Malachim מלאכים
- Shabbos שבת
Marei mekomos
- 1הנה אנכי נצב על עין המים · Genesis 24:43
- 2ע״פ וספרתם לכם · ראה לקו״ת פ׳ במדבר ד״ה זה.
- 3וע״פ זכור את יום השבת · אולי הכוונה ללקמן עא, ב.
- 4כלום יצה״ר יש ביניהם · ראה שבת פט, רע״א.
- 5כלום יצה״ר יש ביניהם · Shabbat 89a:1
- 6ונהר יוצא מעדן להשקות את הגן · Genesis 2:10
- 7היושבת בגנים חברים · Song of Songs 8:13
- 8עתידים צדיקים · Bava Batra 75b
The love that waters cannot quench ¶10–11
And this is “Many waters cannot quench the love.” Meaning: “many waters” is the contemplation in which a person comprehends and contemplates the greatness of G‑d,
Now the Alter Rebbe returns to the verse and gives it a meaning in a person’s own service: the “many waters” are the contemplation of G‑d’s greatness.
ביחו״ע [ביחודא עילאה] ויחו״ת [ויחודא תתאה] בפסוק שמע ישראל2 ובשכמל״ו [וברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד] שמזה נמשך ואהבת בכל לבבך3 כו׳ ואהבה זו גדלה מאד להיות נפשו צמאה לה׳ בבחי׳ בכל מאדך בלי גבול.
in the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) and the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), in the verse “Shema Yisrael” and in “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever,” from which comes “And you shall love... with all your heart, etc.” And this love grows very great, until his soul thirsts for G‑d in the level of “with all your might,” without limit.
This is the meditation during the Shema: on the higher unity (the world is as nothing before G‑d) and the lower unity (G‑d is present within the world’s existence), expressed in “Shema Yisrael” and “Blessed be the Name.” From it comes the love of G‑d, which can grow into a boundless thirst “with all your might.”
The paragraph reads “many waters” as the contemplation of G‑d’s unity in the Shema, which gives birth to a boundless love.
In Chabad teaching the verse “Shema Yisrael” expresses the higher unity and “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom” the lower unity; the contemplation of both leads to “And you shall love.”
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
A question the Rebbe raises
Mayim Rabbim of Shabbos Toldos 5717 (edited by the Rebbe) opens with the Targum and Midrash, which read ‘many waters’ as the nations that cannot extinguish G‑d’s love for Israel, even when Israel is ‘a little sister,’ „קטנה בזכיות” (small in merits), and asks how this fits ‘the explanation of Rabbeinu (the Alter Rebbe) in this parsha.’
The Rebbe sets the Alter Rebbe’s reading here, where the ‘many waters’ are a lofty contemplation that still cannot quench the soul’s thirst and Israel is „במדריגה עליונה ביותר” (at its highest), beside the Targum and Midrash, where they are the nations and Israel is at its lowest, ‘a little sister,’ small in merits; and he states that the two readings „לא זו בלבד שאין סותרים זה לזה אלא עוד מסייעים ומבארים זא״ז” (do not contradict but support and explain each other). At the close of the maamar he joins them: because the souls are „מושרשים בעצמות ממש” (rooted in G‑d’s very Essence), nothing but Torah and mitzvos can quench their love, and for the same reason the nations cannot extinguish G‑d’s love for them even when they sin, as parents do not resent a little girl, who is rooted in their very essence.
The Alter Rebbe
פי׳ מים רבים הוא ההתבוננות שהאדם משיג ומתבונן בגדולת ה׳
The Rebbe
ובאמת הנה ב׳ הפירושים הנה לא זו בלבד שאין סותרים זה לזה אלא עוד מסייעים ומבארים זא״ז
Toras Menachem – Sefer HaMaamarim 5717, p. מח–מט (sec. 2), סא (sec. 11) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו, ה׳תשי״ז
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
At the farbrengen of Shabbos Toldos 5745 (unedited), answering those who asked why he had explained a Rashi about the birth of Yitzchak differently from an earlier explanation, the Rebbe argues that the Torah allows several, even opposite, explanations, and ‘leans on a great tree’, the Alter Rebbe himself.
Whoever learns the Chassidic parsha, the Rebbe says, reaches this maamar, the second in Toldos, and may be struck by „קושיא עצומה” (a great question): only weeks earlier, in Noach, the Alter Rebbe explained ‘many waters’ as „הטרדות והבלבולים דעניני עוה״ז” (the troubles and confusions of worldly life), which cannot extinguish the hidden love, while here he explains the same verse the opposite way, as „אהבה רבה וצמאון לה׳” (a great love and thirst for G‑d); and the Tzemach Tzedek arranged both in one book. The answer he gives here is that the Torah has many interpretations, „שבעים פנים לתורה” (‘seventy faces’), even six hundred thousand on each level; the reconciliation of the two readings themselves he gave two weeks later, on Shabbos Vayishlach.
The Alter Rebbe
ההתבוננות שהאדם משיג ומתבונן בגדולת ה׳ ביחו״ע ויחו״ת בפסוק שמע ישראל ובשכמל״ו
The Rebbe
וא״כ, היתכן שבפ׳ תולדות מבאר אדמו״ר הזקן עצמו פסוק זה עצמו באופן הפוך — ש״מים רבים” קאי על אהבה רבה וצמאון לה׳
Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשמ״ה ח״ב, p. 734–735 (sec. 22) · ש״פ תולדות, ה׳תשמ״ה (בלתי מוגה)
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
At the farbrengen of Shabbos Vayishlach 5745 (unedited), on pairs of opposites (Korach of the other side and „קרח הנורא” (the ‘awesome ice’, kerach) of holiness; Eisav, who hates Yaakov yet kisses him), the Rebbe comes back to Torah Ohr’s two opposite readings of ‘many waters’, which he had raised on Shabbos Toldos two weeks before, and reconciles them.
In Noach, the Rebbe notes, „מים רבים הם כל טרדות הפרנסה והמחשבות שבעניני עוה״ז” (the ‘many waters’ are the troubles of livelihood and worldly thoughts); here they are the soul’s love and thirst „בכל מאדך” (‘with all your might’), which only Torah and mitzvos can quench; and both stand in Torah Ohr. He answers that there is no contradiction, because „שדוקא ממצב של תכלית הירידה יכולים לבוא לתכלית העילוי” (from the lowest descent one comes to the highest ascent): when a Jew does his service without being affected by the ‘many waters’ of livelihood, he comes to the holy ‘many waters,’ a great love ‘with all your might,’ which nothing quenches but „הון ביתו” (‘the wealth of His house’), Torah study and the mitzvos. He sets beside it Eisav, who hates Yaakov yet ‘kissed him with all his heart,’ and Rabbi Akiva, who came from poverty to the wealth of Torah.
The Alter Rebbe
ואהבה זו גדלה מאד להיות נפשו צמאה לה׳ בבחי׳ בכל מאדך בלי גבול
The Rebbe
אזי מגיע לבחי׳ ה״מים רבים” דקדושה, אהבה רבה בבחי׳ בכל מאדך, שאין לרוותה כי אם ע״י ”הון ביתו” — לימוד התורה וקיום המצוות
Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשמ״ה ח״ב, p. 809 (sec. 18), 812–813 (sec. 21) · ש״פ וישלח, ה׳תשמ״ה (בלתי מוגה)
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the maamar Ki Yedativ said on the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday in 5736 (unedited), the Rebbe ties the verse to the Rebbe Maharash’s maamar of Shabbos Vayera 5636, which explains ‘many waters’ and asks how water could ever extinguish love.
The Rebbe notes that the 5636 maamar seems to follow Torah Ohr Noach, where the ‘many waters’ are the troubles of livelihood, while „ד״ה זה שבתו״א פרשת תולדות” (‘this dibbur hamaschil in Torah Ohr Parshas Toldos’) teaches that they are „מדרגות נעלות בקדושה” (lofty levels of holiness): not only physical waters but spiritual ones too cannot extinguish the love. That, he says, is why the question in 5636 (how can intellect, water in the spiritual sense, put out the hidden love?) is about spiritual waters. He adds that both Torah Ohr maamarim reach the love „בכל מאדך” (‘with all your might’), where 5636 speaks only of „בכל לבבך” (‘all your heart’): this one because its waters are not troubles at all, the Noach maamar because it speaks of dealing with worldly things as one should.
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה
The Rebbe
אמנם בד״ה זה שבתו״א פרשת תולדות מבואר דמים רבים הם מדרגות נעלות בקדושה, היינו לא רק מים רבים בגשמיות (טרדות הפרנסה) כ״א גם ברוחניות
Sefer HaMaamarim 5736 (old ed.), p. 46, 48 · כ׳ מרחשון ה׳תשל״ו (יום הולדת אדמו״ר מהורש״ב; בלתי מוגה)
Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
At the farbrengen of 13 Tammuz 5719, speaking of „האהבה המסותרת” (the hidden love) every Jew inherits from Avraham and of ‘many waters’ that seem too strong to escape, the Rebbe asks why such waters exist at all.
The ‘many waters’ on the side of evil exist, the Rebbe says, only because they exist first on the side of good: „רבינו הזקן מבאר” (‘Rabbeinu HaZaken explains’) that ‘many waters’ are „האהבה רבה דקדושה” (the great love of holiness), which sweeps away the love of the other side, foreign loves for worldly things, even permitted ones. Without that craving, he notes, there would be no room for involvement with the world at all; and he links this to „מי המבול” (the waters of the Flood). The editors’ note points to this paragraph (TO 18b), but the sweeping away of foreign loves is not in its words.
The Alter Rebbe
שמזה נמשך ואהבת בכל לבבך כו׳
The Rebbe
הסיבה לכך שישנם ”מים רבים” בלעו״ז, היא, מפני שענין זה ישנו תחילה בצד הטוב
Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשי״ט ח״ג, p. 107 (sec. 13) · י״ג תמוז, ה׳תשי״ט
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsYichuda tata’ahYichuda ila’ahBechol me’odechaHisbonenus+1
- Yichuda tata’ah יחודא תתאה
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Bechol me’odecha בכל מאדך
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
Marei mekomos
- 1מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה · Song of Songs 8:7
- 2שמע ישראל · Deuteronomy 6:4
- 3ואהבת בכל לבבך · Deuteronomy 6:5
11ולא יוכל להשקיט ולכבות צמאון האהבה זו ע״י המים רבים עצמן שהיא ההתבוננות הנ״ל שמשיג ביחו״ע [ביחודא עילאה] ויחו״ת [ויחודא תתאה]
And the thirst of this love cannot be stilled and quenched by the “many waters” themselves, that is, the contemplation mentioned above, in which he comprehends the higher unity and the lower unity.
The contemplation that aroused this thirst cannot itself satisfy it: understanding more does not quench the longing.
Rather, “if your heart runs, return to the One” is specifically through occupation in the Torah and practical mitzvos, which is the level of “which I (Anochi) Myself command you.”
The phrase “if your heart runs, return to the One” describes the soul’s longing followed by its return. The return, the fulfillment of the longing, comes through Torah study and practical mitzvos, in which G‑d’s very “I” gives the command.
משא״כ בידיעה והתבוננות לבד הוא רק ידיעת מציאותו ולא בחי׳ אשר אנכי ממש מצוך שהוא כמו בחי׳ תפיסא במהו״ע [במהותו ועצמותו] כביכול ע״י המצות מעשיות דרמ״ח פקודין אינון רמ״ח אברי׳ [אברים] דמלכא.3
Whereas through knowledge and contemplation alone, there is only knowledge of His existence, and not the level of “which I Myself command you,” which is like the level of grasping His very essence, as it were, through the practical mitzvos; for “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King.”
Contemplation gives knowledge only that G‑d exists, but a mitzvah is like grasping G‑d’s essence itself, as it were. As the Tikkunei Zohar says, the 248 positive commandments are the “248 limbs of the King”: to hold a limb is to hold the King.
יתר על כן אפילו ההשגות שבג״ע [שבגן עדן] שהיא השגת מהות זיו השכינה ממש ולא מציאותו לבד עכ״ז [עם כל זה] עז״נ [על זה נאמר] מים רבים הנמשכים מנהר היוצא מעדן כו׳
Moreover, even the comprehensions in Gan Eden, which are a comprehension of the very essence of the radiance of the Shechinah and not merely of its existence, nevertheless of these it is said: “many waters,” which are drawn from the “river that went out of Eden, etc.,”
Even the souls’ understanding in Gan Eden, which perceives the actual radiance of the Shechinah and not only its existence, is still “many waters” flowing from the river.
לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה דבחי׳ רבקה בכל לבבך ומאדך הנ״ל וכמ״ש מי לי בשמים4 וגו׳
“cannot quench the love” of the level of Rivkah, “with all your heart” and “with all your might,” mentioned above; as it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven, etc.”
These waters too cannot quench the love of Rivkah’s level, the love “with all your heart” and “with all your might”; as the Psalm says, the soul wants nothing in heaven, only G‑d.
כי הגלוי שבג״ע [שבגן עדן] נקרא רק זיו והארה בלבד ונק׳ לקבל פרס לשון פרוסה כמ״ש במ״א.
For the revelation in Gan Eden is called only a radiance and a glimmer, and it is called “receiving a reward” [peras], an expression of “a slice” [perusah], as explained elsewhere.
The revelation in Gan Eden is only a radiance. It is called a “reward” (peras), related to perusah, “a slice”: only a portion of the whole.
אבל האהבה הנ״ל היא למהו״ע [למהותו ועצמותו] ית׳ וזה שלא ע״מ [על מנת] לקבל פרס5 כו׳ וזהו ונהרות לא ישטפוה6
But the love mentioned above is for His blessed essence itself, and this is “not in order to receive a reward, etc.” And this is “nor can rivers drown it,”
The soul’s love reaches for G‑d’s essence itself, like one who serves “not in order to receive a reward.” This is why “rivers cannot drown it.”
כי בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם78 שבחי׳ אה״ר [אהבה רבה] הנ״ל היא מגעת למעלה אפילו מבחי׳ הנהר הנ״ל שהוא מקור כל הנהרות כו׳ וא״כ ודאי ונהרות לא ישטפוה:
for “your fathers dwelt beyond the river”: the level of the great love mentioned above reaches higher even than the level of the river mentioned above, which is the source of all the rivers, etc.; and if so, certainly “rivers cannot drown it.”
The verse in Yehoshua, “your fathers dwelt beyond the river,” is read as saying that this love stands beyond, above, the river, above even its source; so the rivers of revealed light certainly cannot drown it.
The paragraph explains why the soul’s love cannot be quenched by contemplation or even by the delights of Gan Eden: it seeks G‑d’s essence, which is grasped only through Torah and practical mitzvos.
“Ratzo” (running) and “shov” (returning) are a basic pair in Chassidus: the soul’s yearning to leave its limits and its return to act within the world. The phrase comes from Sefer Yetzirah and the Tikkunei Zohar, as the Kehot note records. The saying that the 248 positive mitzvos are “the 248 limbs of the King” compares the commandments to the limbs of a body. Whoever holds a person’s arm holds the person himself, and in the same way whoever does a mitzvah, so to speak, takes hold of G‑d’s very essence. That is why the maamar sets practical mitzvos above contemplation, which knows only that G‑d exists.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe and a ביאור on the Alter Rebbe’s teaching, written down in his lifetime by an unnamed hand
„ונק׳ לקבל פרס לשון פרוסה כמ״ש במ״א” (“It is called ‘receiving a reward’ (peras), an expression of ‘a slice’ (perusah), as explained elsewhere”): no place is given in the text or the Kehot notes, and the explain gives only the gloss.
The same gloss appears, in the same terms, in the Alter Rebbe’s discourse Sos Tasis in Likkutei Torah, Tazria: the souls’ delight in the radiance of the Shechinah in Gan Eden is called peras because it is only a ‘slice’ (as in „פרוס לרעב לחמך”, ‘to break [paros] your bread for the hungry’), so one whose love is great does not want this slice, only to be absorbed in the King Himself, and that is serving „שלא על מנת לקבל פרס” (‘not in order to receive a reward’). Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is the place he means here; Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim says likewise that even upper Gan Eden is only radiance, „חלק מובדל מעצמיות” (‘a part separated from His Essence’).
the Alter Rebbe: Likkutei Torah, Tazria, dibbur hamaschil שוש תשיש ותגל העקרה, p. כ, ב (Kehot key 20:27; site: Tazria 3 ¶3)
הנק׳ במשנה שלא על מנת לקבל פרס שבחי׳ נהנין מזיו נק׳ פרס שאינו רק פרוסה מלשון הלא פרוס לרעב לחמך
the Alter Rebbe: Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim, dibbur hamaschil יונתי בחגוי הסלע, p. יז, א (as the Rebbe cites it; Kehot key 16:86 is wrong by the print; site: Shir HaShirim 15 ¶5)
ואפילו גן עדן העליון צדיקים יושבין ונהנין מזיו השכינה כו׳ ונקרא בשם קבלת פרס מלשון פרוסה חלק מובדל מעצמיות ב״ה
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther (on פרס ומדי), p. קיח, ב (Hosafos on Megillas Esther, sec. ד; printed daf קיח)
והיינו פי׳ פרס מלשון פרוסה שהוא ענין התחלקות כמו פרס לרעב לחמך
a ביאור on the Alter Rebbe’s teaching, written down in his lifetime by an unnamed hand (headed 'ביאור על תורת אדמו״ר שי׳’): Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5563 (ביאור על לא הביט און ביעקב), vol. ב, p. תשצט
פרס לשון פרוסה התחלקות השתלשלות מהיו״ד
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
At the close of Mayim Rabbim 5717, after a long section on „ה׳ אחד” (‘G‑d is one’) (from the Rebbe Rashab), the Rebbe returns to the verse to explain the Alter Rebbe’s reading and to join it with the Targum’s.
The Rebbe explains why contemplation and even the revelations of Gan Eden, the ‘rivers’ (נהרות) of upper and lower Gan Eden, cannot quench this love. Even when Israel is at its lowest, he says, their practical mitzvos, „ובעשי׳ בכוונה פשוטה לשם שמים” (and even acts done simply for the sake of Heaven), reach „מרחב העצמי” (the ‘essential expanse’, merchav ha’atzmi) above every revelation; the term merchav ha’atzmi, and the teaching that acts done for the sake of Heaven draw down G‑dliness, are the Rebbe Rashab’s, from his maamar of 5678, which the Rebbe follows in the sections before. Therefore nothing short of this can quench the love of the souls for G‑d’s very Essence, where they are rooted, for „לית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל” (no thought grasps Him at all), not even the primordial thought of Adam Kadmon, except as it takes hold of and is clothed in Torah and mitzvos; and this, he says, is the Alter Rebbe’s reading of the verse. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this gives the reason behind our paragraph’s contrast between grasping G‑d’s ‘existence’ or His ‘radiance’ and holding His Essence through the mitzvos.
The Alter Rebbe
אפילו ההשגות שבג״ע שהיא השגת מהות זיו השכינה ממש ולא מציאותו לבד
The Rebbe
כי לית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל, אפי׳ מח׳ הקדומה דא״ק, כי אם כאשר תפיסא ומתלבשת בתורה ומצותי׳, וכפירוש רבינו הזקן
Toras Menachem – Sefer HaMaamarim 5717, p. סא (sec. 11) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו, ה׳תשי״ז
Background from the Rebbe
In a talk of the first day of Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan 5746 (edited in 5747 for Likkutei Sichos vol. 30, Noach 1), on the Midrash that at the start of creation, when the world was all water, „הי׳ קלוסו של הקב״ה עולה” (G‑d’s praise rose) from the waters, and that the Flood returned the world to that state: how can waters that came to destroy be a lofty state?
Explaining Rashi’s word 'כהלכתה׳ on „יבשה הארץ” (‘the earth was dry’), the Rebbe reads the Flood waters as the Torah as it stands above the world’s existence, „מי הדעת” (‘waters of knowledge’), and the dry earth as the Torah come down and clothed in earthly matters, where its halachah is revealed; the second is the higher, for the Torah’s purpose is to act in the world through its halachah. For this he points (note 71) to our paragraph: the thirst of the love cannot be quenched „כי אם... דוקא ע״י עסק התורה ומצות מעשיות” (‘except... specifically through occupation in the Torah and practical mitzvos’). In another note (37) he cites our ¶10 for ‘many waters’ in a positive sense, the contemplation of G‑d’s greatness.
The Alter Rebbe
כי אם רץ לבך שוב לאחד הוא דוקא ע״י עסק התורה ומצות מעשיות
The Rebbe
מי המבול מרמזים על מדריגת התורה („מי הדעת”) כפי שהיא למעלה עדיין ממציאות העולם; ואילו „יבשה הארץ” היא התורה כפי שירדה למטה ונתלבשה בעניני ארץ
Likkutei Sichos – Geulah u’Moshiach (reprinting Likkutei Sichos vol. 30, Noach 1), vol. 1 (Bereishis), p. 23 (sec. 8, note 71) · א׳ דר״ח מרחשון ה׳תשמ״ו (edited 5747)
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsYichuda tata’ah248 limbs of the KingYichuda ila’ahBechol me’odecha+9
- Yichuda tata’ah יחודא תתאה
- 248 limbs of the King רמ״ח אברים דמלכא
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Bechol me’odecha בכל מאדך
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
- Anochi אנכי
- Shechinah שכינה
- Gan Eden גן עדן
- Ziv haShechinah זיו השכינה
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Hasagah השגה
Marei mekomos
- 1אם רץ לבך · ת״ז בהקדמה. ספר יצירה פ״א — שוב למקום.
- 2אם רץ לבך שוב לאחד · Sefer Yetzirah 1:8
- 3דרמ״ח פקודין אינון רמ״ח אברי׳ דמלכא · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 30 · 74a:8
- 4מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
- 5שלא ע״מ לקבל פרס · Pirkei Avot 1:3
- 6ונהרות לא ישטפוה · Song of Songs 8:7
- 7בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם · Joshua 2:24
- 8בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם · Joshua 24:2
The wealth of His house ¶12–19
12אך אם יתן איש את כל הון ביתו באהבה בוז יבוזו לו.1 פי׳ אם הוא לשון כאשר שיש אם שאינו משמש בלשון ספק אלא בלשון ודאי.
However, “If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, boz yavuzu lo [they will surely seize it as spoil].” Meaning: “if” is an expression of “when,” for there is an “if” that is not used in the sense of doubt but in the sense of certainty,
The verse continues, “If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love.” The Alter Rebbe notes that the Hebrew “im,” “if,” can mean “when”: it sometimes expresses certainty, not doubt.
as in “If you lend money,” and “And if the Jubilee shall be,” where this is not an expression of doubt; rather, the thing will certainly be and come.
He gives two examples from the Torah where “if” means a certainty: lending to the poor and the coming of the Jubilee year, both of which will surely happen.
The paragraph begins the explanation of the second half of the verse by showing that “if” can mean “when,” a certainty rather than a condition.
Marei mekomos
- 1אם יתן איש את כל הון ביתו באהבה בוז יבוזו לו · Song of Songs 8:7
- 2אם כסף תלוה · Exodus 22:24
- 3ואם יהיה היובל · Numbers 36:4
13ולשון אם כאן אינו אלא לשון כאשר. פי׳ כאשר כסף תלוה את העני לא תהיה לו כנושה1 וכן כאשר יהיה היובל.2
And the word “if” here is nothing but an expression of “when.” Meaning: “When you lend money” to the poor, “do not be to him as a creditor”; and likewise, “when the Jubilee shall be.”
The two examples show that “if” can mean “when”: lending to the poor is a duty, not an option, and the Jubilee will certainly arrive.
וכמו כן אם יתן איש פי׳ כאשר יתן איש זה הקב״ה34 שיתן בודאי והיינו לעתיד שיתן הוא לשון עתיד שלעתיד לבא יתן את כל הון ביתו שבזמן הזה אינו בא לידי גילוי כ״א לעתיד דוקא.
And similarly, “If a man would give” means “When a man will give”: this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who will certainly give; that is, in the Future, for “will give” is an expression of the future. For in the Time to Come He will give “all the wealth of His house,” which in the present time does not come to revelation, but only in the Future specifically.
So “If a man would give” means “When a man will give,” and the “man” is G‑d, as the Midrash reads “man” in other verses. G‑d will certainly give “all the wealth of His house,” His innermost treasures; but this will be revealed only in the Time to Come.
¶16 Why it is called "the wealth of His house": paragraph 16 explains.
אך הגם שאין זה בגלוי עכשיו מ״מ נמשך הוא ממש בחי׳ זו ע״י תורה כ״ד ספרים דאורייתא ומצות מעשיות שהם בחי׳ והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי5 מי שאנכי6 ממש נמשך עי״ז.
However, although this is not revealed now, nevertheless this very level is drawn down through the Torah, the twenty-four books of the Torah, and the practical mitzvos, which are the level of “And these words which I (Anochi) [command you] shall be”: He who is truly “I” is drawn down through this.
Though hidden now, that same level is already drawn down through Torah study and practical mitzvos. The verse “these words which I (Anochi) command you” means that G‑d, the true “I,” is Himself drawn down into them.
The paragraph reads “If a man would give all the wealth of his house” as G‑d’s certain promise to reveal His innermost treasures in the future, and adds that this level is drawn down even now through Torah and mitzvos.
The phrase “Anochi, He who is truly I” appears at the very opening of Torah Ohr, where the Alter Rebbe explains that through Torah and mitzvos G‑d’s own being is drawn into the world. The Zohar on this very verse (3:54b, the passage quoted at the opening of the maamar) also says: “If a man would give: this is the Holy One, blessed be He.”
Marei mekomos
- 1כאשר כסף תלוה את העני לא תהיה לו כנושה · Exodus 22:24
- 2כאשר יהיה היובל · Numbers 36:4
- 3איש זה הקב״ה · ילקוט פ׳ בא רמז קצא. וראה בסה״מ תרכ״ט ע׳ נא. ראה לקו״ת פ׳ ראה לא, ד שמציין לכאן.
- 4איש זה הקב״ה · Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 191:3–4
- 5והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 6אנכי מי שאנכי · נסמן לעיל א, א.
14וזהו מצוך ל׳ [לשון] צוותא וחבור. וזהו בא״י [ברוך אתה ה׳] אמ״ה [אלקינו מלך העולם] אק״ב [אשר קדשנו במצותיו] אתה היינו מהו״ע [מהותו ועצמותו] ית׳ ברוך ונמשך בבחי׳ שם הוי׳ המתלבש בע״ס [בעשר ספירות] יו״ד בחכמה כו׳5
And this is [why it says] “command you” (metzavecha), an expression of togetherness and connection. And this is [the blessing] “Blessed are You, Havayah, our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us”: “You” is His blessed essence itself; “blessed” [means] drawn down in the level of the Name Havayah, which is clothed in the Ten Sefiros, the yud in Chochmah, etc.,
The word “metzavecha,” “command you,” is related to “tzavsa,” togetherness: a mitzvah joins the person with G‑d. The words of every blessing trace how G‑d’s essence (“You”) is drawn down (“blessed”) through the Name Havayah, which enters the Ten Sefiros starting with the yud, Chochmah.
עד שנמשך להיות מלך העולם בבחי׳ מל׳ מקור דבי״ע והוא אשר קדשנו אשר לשון ענג כמו באשרי
It continues down until it becomes “King of the universe,” Malchus, the source of the lower worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. Then “asher kideshanu,” “who has sanctified us”: the word asher is related to Leah’s word “be’ashri,” “happy am I,” which expresses delight.
כי אשרוני1 והוא בחי׳ תענוג וצחוק העליון שיתגלה לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] בפו״מ [בפועל ממש] כשיתן הון ביתו כו׳ הוא נמשך עכשיו ממש כי היום לעשותם ולמחר יח, גלקבל שכרם.234
for the daughters have called me happy.” And this is the level of the supernal delight and laughter that will be revealed in the Time to Come in actual fact, when He gives “the wealth of His house, etc.”: it is drawn down now, truly, for “Today to do them, and tomorrow to receive their reward.”
So the blessing over a mitzvah draws down now the supernal delight and laughter, Yitzchak’s future delight, that will be openly revealed when G‑d gives “the wealth of His house.” As the Sages say, today is for doing the mitzvos and tomorrow for receiving their reward, and the reward is the revelation of what the mitzvah itself draws down.
The paragraph shows how the words of the blessing over a mitzvah describe the drawing down of G‑d’s essence and delight, level by level, into the world, so that the future delight is already present in the mitzvah.
The reading of mitzvah as tzavsa (connection) recurs often in Likkutei Torah, as the Kehot note lists; in Bechukosai the Alter Rebbe explains that the purpose of a mitzvah is to draw down G‑d’s light through the vessel of the mitzvah.
TermsSefirosLe’asid lavoBerachahTaanug+6
Marei mekomos
- 1באשרי כי אשרוני · Genesis 30:13
- 2היום לעשותם ולמחר לקבל שכרם · ואתחנן ז, יא. וברש״י שם.
- 3היום לעשותם ולמחר לקבל שכרם · Rashi on Deuteronomy 7:11
- 4היום לעשותם ולמחר לקבל שכרם · Eruvin 22a:5–6
- 5מצוך לשון צוותא וחיבור · ראה לקו״ת בחקותי מה, ג. חוקת נז, ד. ואתחנן ח, ג. ובהנסמן בד״ה וקבל היהודים תשי״א הערה 55 (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ג ע׳ עב).
15וענין פי׳ ברכה זו שצ״ל הוא עד״מ אם רוצה אדם להאיר למרחוק או במקום חשך ואפילה צריך
And the meaning of this blessing that must be said is, by way of analogy: if a person wants to give light far off, or in a place of darkness and gloom, he must
The Alter Rebbe explains why a blessing is needed with a parable: to light a dark or distant place you need a larger torch.
להדליק אבוקה גדולה ולהוסיף על האור בכדי שיגיע אורו גם למרחוק וכך כדי שיגיע האור והגילוי בעשי׳ [בעשיה] הגשמי׳ [הגשמיים / הגשמיות / הגשמית] צריך להוסיף אור האבוקה וזהו הברכה כו׳.
kindle a great torch and add to the light, so that its light reaches far off as well. So too, in order for the light and revelation to reach the physical Asiyah, the light of the torch must be increased; and this is the blessing, etc.
To carry G‑d’s light all the way down into the physical world, the light must be increased. That is what a blessing (berachah) does: it adds and draws down more light.
ולכן ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] חייב אדם לברך1 מאה ברכות בכ״י [בכל יום]. וכמ״ש בזוהר ר״פ חיי שרה2 דקכ״ג ע״א.3 שהוא המשכה מאתר עלאה סדכ״ס [סבה דכל סבות] כו׳.
And therefore our Sages said, “A person is obligated to recite a hundred blessings every day.” And as is said in the Zohar, at the beginning of Parshas Chayei Sarah, page 123a: that it is a drawing down from the supernal place, the most hidden of all hidden, etc.
This is why the Sages require a hundred blessings a day. The Zohar connects the hundred daily blessings with a drawing down from the supernal place it calls “the most hidden of all hidden.”
The paragraph explains the purpose of the blessing: like a larger torch needed to light a distant place, it increases the Divine light so that it reaches down into the physical world.
The Zohar (as quoted in the Kehot note) says that Sarah’s “hundred years” include everything together, in the mystery of the hundred blessings every day.
Marei mekomos
- 1חייב אדם לברך · Menachot 43b:15–17
- 2בזוהר ר״פ חיי שרה · ”מאה שנה כללא דכלא כחדא ברזא דמאה ברכאן בכל יומא”. ע״כ. ראה לקו״ת פ׳ צו י, א.
- 3בזוהר ר״פ חיי שרה דקכ״ג ע״א · Zohar, Chayei Sara 5:23–6:28
16והנה ע״ז ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] יפה שעה12 א׳ בתשובה ומעש״ט [ומעשים טובים] בעוה״ז מכל חיי העוה״ב [העולם הבא] כי ג״ע [גן עדן] הוא רק זיו השכינה
Now, of this our Sages said, “Better is one hour of teshuvah (return) and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come,” for Gan Eden is only the radiance of the Shechinah,
The Mishnah says one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better than all of the World to Come. The reason: Gan Eden gives only the radiance of the Shechinah.
ולכן לא יוכל לכבות את האהבה אבל המשכה זו היא מבחי׳ מהו״ע [מהותו ועצמותו] ולא זיו לבד ולכן נק׳ הון ביתו. דהנה כתיב בחכמה יבנה בית.3
and therefore it cannot quench the love. But this drawing down is from the level of His very essence, and not the radiance alone, and therefore it is called “the wealth of His house.” For it is written, “With wisdom a house is built.”
Radiance cannot quench the soul’s love, but Torah and mitzvos draw down G‑d’s very essence; that is why it is called “the wealth of His house,” the inner treasure. The word “house” leads to the verse “With wisdom a house is built.”
¶13 This explains "the wealth of His house" from paragraph 13.
פי׳ אותיות התורה נק׳ בתים כמ״ש בס״י [בספר יצירה] שני אבנים4 בונות שתי בתים.5 ולכך נק׳ ת״ח [תלמיד חכם / תלמידי חכמים] בנאים6 שעוסקים בבנינו ש״ע [של עולם].
Meaning: the letters of the Torah are called “houses,” as it is said in Sefer Yetzirah, “Two stones build two houses.” And therefore Torah scholars are called “builders,” for they are occupied with the building of the world.
The letters of the Torah are called “houses”: Sefer Yetzirah calls letters “stones” and the words formed from them “houses.” So Torah scholars are called “builders,” because through their learning they build the world.
The paragraph explains why this world surpasses the World to Come: Torah and mitzvos draw down G‑d’s essence, “the wealth of His house,” the house built from the letters of the Torah.
Sefer Yetzirah counts the letters as “stones” and the words they form as “houses”: two stones build two houses, three build six, and so on. In the Gemara (Shabbos 114a), a Mishnah mentions the garments of “banai,” builders, and Rabbi Yochanan explains that these are Torah scholars, who are occupied all their days with building the world. Here the Alter Rebbe reads their “building” as building the houses formed by the Torah’s letters.
TermsOlam HaBaShechinahGan EdenZiv haShechinah+6
- Olam HaBa עולם הבא
- Shechinah שכינה
- Gan Eden גן עדן
- Ziv haShechinah זיו השכינה
- Olam HaZeh עולם הזה
- Teshuvah תשובה
- Osiyos אותיות
Marei mekomos
- 1יפה שעה אחת · אבות ד, יז.
- 2יפה שעה א׳ בתשובה ומעש״ט בעוה״ז מכל חיי העוה״ב · Pirkei Avot 4:17
- 3בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
- 4בס״י שני אבנים · פ״ד מט״ו. ראה לקמן כא, א.
- 5בס״י שני אבנים בונות שתי בתים · Sefer Yetzirah 4:12
- 6נק׳ ת״ח בנאים · Shabbat 114a
17והנה בחי׳ חכמה הוא חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא12 שהוא למעלה מבחי׳ ונהר יוצא כמש״ל [כמה שכתוב לעיל] ובתבונה
Now, the level of Chochmah is “wise, but not with a known wisdom,” which is above the level of “And a river went out,” as explained above. “And with understanding
The verse from Proverbs is explained by level: Chochmah, the wisdom that is “not a known wisdom,” is the spring above the river.
יתכונן3 הוא מ״ש ולתבונתו אין חקר4 ובדעת חדרים ימלאון5 כל הון יקר ונעים והוא בחי׳ תענוג עליון הגנוז ומלובש בהתורה כמ״ש אני תורתך שעשעתי.6
it is established” is what is said, “His understanding is unsearchable.” “And with knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth”: this is the level of the supernal delight that is hidden and clothed in the Torah, as it is written, “I delight in Your Torah.”
“With understanding it is established” is Binah, the unsearchable understanding. “With knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth” refers to the supernal delight hidden in the Torah, as the Psalm says, “I delight in Your Torah.”
The paragraph maps the verse “With wisdom a house is built, with understanding it is established, and with knowledge the rooms are filled” onto Chochmah, Binah and Daas, identifying the “precious wealth” with the delight hidden in the Torah.
The Kehot note directs to the Rebbe’s maamar with the same opening words (5717) for a further treatment of this verse.
TermsTevunahDaasTaanugBinah+3
Marei mekomos
- 1חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar, Patach Eliyahu · 17b:3–4
- 2חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–4
- 3ובתבונה יתכונן · Proverbs 24:3
- 4ולתבונתו אין חקר · Isaiah 40:28
- 5ובדעת חדרים ימלאון · Proverbs 24:4
- 6אני תורתך שעשעתי · Psalms 119:70
18וזהו בחי׳ הון ביתו שנמשך ע״י הדעת כי דעת ל׳ [לשון] חבור כמו והאדם ידע1 והיינו שמחבר וממשיך בחי׳ תענוג עליון ממקור התענוגים בחו״ב [בחכמה ובינה] דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת.23
And this is the level of “the wealth of His house,” which is drawn down through Daas; for “daas” is an expression of connection, as in “And Adam knew.” That is, it connects and draws down the level of the supernal delight from the source of delights into the Chochmah and Binah of the Torah, [for] “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah.”
The “wealth of His house” is drawn down by Daas, since “daas” means connection, as in “Adam knew Chavah.” Daas connects the supernal delight from its source with the Chochmah and Binah of the Torah, which comes forth from Chochmah.
והוא ע״ד מ״ש בספר הבהיר4 דהע״ה [דוד המלך עליו השלום] היה מחבר תורה שלמעלה בהקב״ה וגילוי זה יהיה בפו״מ [בפועל ממש] לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] שיתן איש את כל הון ביתו הון יקר ונעים.
And this is like what is said in Sefer HaBahir, that King David, peace be upon him, would connect the Torah above with the Holy One, blessed be He. And this revelation will be in actual fact in the Future, when “a man will give all the wealth of His house,” “precious and pleasant wealth.”
Sefer HaBahir says that King David would connect the Torah above with G‑d; the Alter Rebbe compares this to the work of Daas. In the future this connection will be openly revealed, when G‑d gives “all the wealth of His house.”
The paragraph identifies Daas, the power of connection, as what draws the supernal delight into the Torah, a revelation that will become open in the future.
The Kehot note records that Likkutei Torah, Shelach, quoting the Bahir, has a variant reading “in the spring of Chochmah”; the same reading is in Or HaTorah.
Marei mekomos
- 1והאדם ידע · Genesis 4:1
- 2דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar II, 121a
- 3דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar, Yitro 21:378–22:389
- 4מ״ש בספר הבהיר · סי׳ קצו. ראה גם לקו״ת שלח נא, א. ושם: נ״א במעין החכמה. וכ״ה באוה״ת שבועות ע׳ קצא. נ״ך כרך ב׳ ע׳ תתקיד.
19וכמארז״ל [וכמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] עתיד הקב״ה להנחיל לכל צדיק ש״י עולמות12 וזהו בחי׳ ההון יקר כי יקר ג״כ גימטריא יש
As our Sages said, “In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will give each tzaddik three hundred and ten worlds as an inheritance”; and this is the level of the “precious wealth,” for “yakar” [precious] too is numerically equal to “yesh” [310].
The Mishnah says every tzaddik will inherit 310 worlds, which is the “precious wealth”: yakar (precious) and yesh (there is, 310) have the same numerical value.
ולכן נאמר אם יתן אי״ש3 א׳ י״ש שהמשכת ש״י עולמות נמשכים מן אלופו של עולם וכמ״ש אאלפך חכמה אאלפך בינה.4
And therefore it says, “If a man (ish) would give”: ish is aleph [and] yesh; for the drawing down of the 310 worlds is drawn from the Master (Aluf) of the world, as it is written, “I will teach you (a’alefcha) wisdom, I will teach you understanding.”
The word ish (man) is spelled aleph plus yesh: the 310 worlds (yesh) come from the aleph, the Master (Aluf) of the world. Job’s “a’alefcha,” “I will teach you,” shares the root of aleph.
ונאמר קנה חכמה קנה בינה5 ב״פ [ב׳ פעמים] קנה גימטריא י״ש שכ״ז [שכל זה] נמשך מבחי׳ האלף אאלפך כו׳:
And it says, “Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding”: twice “kneh” [acquire] is numerically “yesh,” for all this is drawn from the level of the aleph, “I will teach you, etc.”
Similarly, “acquire” (kneh, 155) said twice equals 310, yesh; all of it comes from the aleph, the level of G‑d as the source of wisdom.
Through number and letter, the paragraph shows that the “precious wealth” is the 310 worlds promised to the tzaddikim, drawn from the aleph, G‑d as the Master of the world.
The numbers: yakar is yud-kuf-reish, 10+100+200 = 310; yesh is yud-shin, 10+300 = 310; kneh is kuf-nun-heh, 100+50+5 = 155, and twice is 310.
Marei mekomos
- 1עתיד הקב״ה להנחיל . . ש״י עולמות · סוף עוקצין.
- 2עתיד הקב״ה להנחיל לכל צדיק ש״י עולמות · Mishnah Oktzin 3:12
- 3אם יתן איש · Song of Songs 8:7
- 4וכמ״ש אאלפך חכמה אאלפך בינה · Job 33:33
- 5קנה חכמה קנה בינה · Proverbs 4:5
Plundering the treasure ¶20–25
20והנה בחי׳ גילוי זה הוא מרוה צמאון האה״ר [האהבה רבה] הנ״ל וזהו בוז יבוזו לו1 ל׳ [לשון] ביזה ושלל2 וכמו אדם הבוזז וחוטף דבר יקר הערך
Now, this level of revelation quenches the thirst of the great love mentioned above. And this is “boz yavuzu lo,” an expression of plunder and spoil, like a person who plunders and snatches a thing of precious worth,
This revelation is what quenches the soul’s great love. “Boz yavuzu lo” is now read not as scorn but as “bizah,” plunder: a person grabs something of great value.
¶1 This explains "boz yavuzu" from paragraph 1.
כמו ביזת אוצרות יקרים שבוזז וחוטף משום שמא אין ראוי שיתנו לו דרך נתינה ע״כ בוזז וחוטף לגודל תשוקתו לזה.
such as the plundering of precious treasures, where he plunders and snatches because perhaps it would not be fitting for them to give it to him by way of a gift; therefore he plunders and snatches, out of the greatness of his longing for it.
Plunderers seize treasure because they do not expect to receive it as a gift; they snatch it out of their intense longing.
The paragraph reinterprets “boz yavuzu” as plunder, describing the soul’s eager seizing of the Divine treasure.
TermsAhavah rabbah
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
Marei mekomos
- 1בוז יבוזו לו · Song of Songs 8:7
- 2ל׳ ביזה ושלל · מובא ביהל אור ע׳ ע.
21וכך הוא בהתגלות אוצרו הטוב1 שהוא בחי׳ סדכ״ס [סבה דכל סבות] אשר עין לא ראתה2 אלקים זולתך. ונק׳ הון ביתו ע״כ כאשר יומשך ויתן גילוי אוצרות אלו אזי בוז יבוזו עד״מ.
And so it is with the revelation of “His good treasure,” which is the level of the most hidden of all hidden, [of which it is said,] “No eye has seen, O G‑d, besides You.” And it is called “the wealth of His house.” Therefore, when the revelation of these treasures is drawn down and given, then “boz yavuzu,” by way of analogy.
G‑d’s “good treasure” is the most hidden of all hidden levels, which “no eye has seen” but G‑d. When He reveals these treasures, the soul will “plunder” them, figuratively speaking.
ובחי׳ זו עכשיו היא שמחת הנפש בעסק התורה ומצות אחר הצמאון ואה״ר [ואהבה רבה] בק״ש [בקריאת שמע] אשר יעורר האדם בנפשו להיות מי לי בשמים3 כו׳ ומים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה.4
And this level, now, is the joy of the soul in occupation with the Torah and the mitzvos, after the thirst and the great love in the recitation of the Shema, which a person arouses in his soul so as to be [in the state of] “Whom do I have in heaven, etc.,” and “Many waters cannot quench the love.”
Even now this is felt as the soul’s joy in Torah and mitzvos, after the thirst and love aroused in the Shema, when one feels that only G‑d Himself can satisfy the soul.
זאת ישים אל לבו כי הדברים האלה הן ד״ת [דברי תורה] ומצות הם הם בחי׳ גילוי הון יקר הנ״ל.
Let him take this to heart: that these things, the words of Torah and the mitzvos, are themselves the level of the revelation of the “precious wealth” mentioned above.
A person should reflect that the words of Torah and the mitzvos are themselves that “precious wealth.”
The paragraph applies the “plunder” to a person’s service: the joy felt in Torah and mitzvos after the love of the Shema is the seizing of G‑d’s hidden treasure.
TermsAhavah rabbahSimchahKrias ShemaElokim+2
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
- Simchah שמחה
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Elokim אלקים
Marei mekomos
- 1אוצרו הטוב · Deuteronomy 28:12
- 2עין לא ראתה · Isaiah 64:3
- 3מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
- 4ומים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה · Song of Songs 8:7
22וכמ״ש יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו1 ולזאת ישמח לבו בשמחה ובטוב לבב2 מרוב כל. וזהו ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה ותעל.3
As it is written, “The fear of Havayah is His treasure.” And for this his heart should rejoice, with joy and with gladness of heart, “from the abundance of everything.” And this is “she went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up.”
Isaiah calls the fear of G‑d “His treasure,” so one should serve with joy. And Rivkah “went down, filled her pitcher, and came up”: going down to the spring leads to going up.
שע״י כ״ד ספרים דאורייתא עם היות שזהו בחי׳ שוב וירידה שנתלבשו בעשיה גשמית הנה עי״ז אדרבה ותעל גם למעלה מאה״ר [מאהבה רבה] הנ״ל דבחי׳ רבקה כו׳
For through the twenty-four books of the Torah, although this is the level of return and descent, for they were clothed in physical Asiyah, nevertheless through this, on the contrary, “she came up,” even above the great love mentioned above, of the level of Rivkah, etc.
The twenty-four books of the Torah are a “return” and descent into the physical world, yet through them one rises even higher than the great love of Rivkah’s level.
והגם שמים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה היינו מים רבים דייקא שנמשכו מבחי׳ הנהר
And although “many waters cannot quench the love,” that is “many waters” specifically, which were drawn from the level of the river.
The “many waters” that cannot quench the love come from the river, the revealed level.
אבל כ״ד ספרים דאורייתא הם נמשכים מבחי׳ ותרד העינה שהמעיין נמשך מבחי׳ סדכ״ס [סבה דכל סבות] ממש כמ״ש הנה אנכי נצב על עין המים4 ולכן עי״ז ירוו צמאון האה״ר [האהבה רבה] ולכן אדרבה המעיין הוא נראה קטן יותר מהנהר
But the twenty-four books of the Torah are drawn from the level of “she went down to the spring,” for the spring is drawn from the very level of the most hidden of all hidden, as it is written, “Behold, I (Anochi) stand by the spring of water”; and therefore through this the thirst of the great love will be quenched. And therefore, on the contrary, the spring appears smaller than the river;
But the Torah comes from the spring, which comes from G‑d’s essence, the “I” who “stands by the spring”; only this quenches the thirst. The spring looks smaller than the river.
היינו משום שהוא קרוב יותר לבחי׳ אנכי סדכ״ס [סבה דכל סבות] ע״כ יש בו הבטול יותר דכל הקרוב קרוב קמי׳ [קמיה] כו׳ וכמאמר אין זולתך לחיי עוה״ב [עולם הבא] אפס בלתך כו׳.
that is, because it is closer to the level of Anochi, the most hidden of all hidden, therefore there is more self-nullification (bittul) in it, for “whatever is closer is closer before Him, etc.”; and as the saying, “There is none besides You for the life of the World to Come; there is nothing apart from You, etc.”
The spring is smaller because it is closer to G‑d, and what is closer to Him is more nullified before Him. This is like the prayer that speaks of “none besides You” and “nothing apart from You.”
אבל באמת בודאי הרי מקור מוצא המים הוא מהמעיין וממנו נמשך להנהר כמ״ש המשלח מעינים בנחלים.5
But in truth, certainly, the source from which the water comes forth is the spring, and from it [the water] is drawn to the river, as it is written, “He sends forth springs into the streams.”
But in truth the spring is the source of the river’s water, as the Psalm says, “He sends forth springs into the streams.”
The paragraph resolves the argument: Torah and mitzvos, the “spring,” though lowly and physical in appearance, raise the soul above even its great love, because the spring is closer to G‑d’s essence and is the true source of the rivers.
The idea that what is closer to the source appears smaller, because it is more nullified, is a recurring Chassidic principle: nullification before G‑d grows with closeness.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Rebbe Rashab and an unsigned gloss in Torah Ohr’s Hosafos
„וכמאמר אין זולתך לחיי עוה״ב אפס בלתך כו׳” (“And as the saying, ‘There is none besides You for the life of the World to Come; there is nothing apart from You, etc.’”): why this line from the Shabbos prayer proves that the spring, being closer, is more nullified is not explained in the text or our commentary.
In his discourse Ein Aroch Lecha of Simchas Torah 5652, the Rebbe Rashab explains the two phrases of this prayer: „ואין זולתך מלכנו לחיי העוה״ב” (“there is none (ein) besides You … for the life of the World to Come”), which he takes as Gan Eden, speaks of something that exists but is nullified, while „אפס בלתך גואלנו לימות המשיח” (“there is nothing (efes) apart from You … for the days of Mashiach”) is a greater nullification, in which nothing exists apart from Him, like light that exists only while it is attached to its source. A gloss printed in Torah Ohr’s Hosafos likewise reads ein as Gan Eden and efes as the days of Mashiach, efes being higher than ein. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why the Alter Rebbe brings the line here: „ונהר יוצא מעדן להשקות את הגן” (the “river” that waters the garden of Eden) and the “spring” stand to each other as ein and efes, and the spring, closer to its Source, is the more nullified.
the Rebbe Rashab: Sefer HaMaamarim 5652 (in the volume 5652–5653), dibbur hamaschil אין ערוך לך (שמחת תורה תרנ״ב), p. י
דאפס הוא ביטול יותר, דאין זולתך הוא מורה שיש מציאות אלא שבטל כו׳, ואפס הוא שאין מציאות זולת כלל
an unsigned gloss in Torah Ohr’s Hosafos (printed in parentheses; not to be credited to the Alter Rebbe): Torah Ohr, Hosafos, Vayakhel (on the Omer: העלאת מ״ן לבחי׳ התהו), p. קיד, ג (Hosafos, Vayakhel; printed p. 228)
זולתך מלכנו לחיי העוה״ב דהיינו ג״ע אפס בלתך גואלנו לימות המשיח שבימות המשיח יהיה הארה מבחי׳ אפס שלמעלה מבחי׳ אין
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsOlam HaBaAhavah rabbahRatzo vashovAnochi+4
- Olam HaBa עולם הבא
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
- Ratzo vashov רצוא ושוב
- Anochi אנכי
- Simchah שמחה
- Asiyah עשיה
Marei mekomos
- 1יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו · Isaiah 33:6
- 2בשמחה ובטוב לבב · Deuteronomy 28:47
- 3ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה ותעל · Genesis 24:16
- 4הנה אנכי נצב על עין המים · Genesis 24:43
- 5המשלח מעינים בנחלים · Psalms 104:10
23וגם מי מעיין נק׳ מים חיים כו׳. ובוז יבוזו כמאמר שיננא חטוף ואכול1 חטוף ובריך דהיינו כמ״ש לכו לחמו בלחמי2 וכמ״ש פי פערתי ואשאפה3 כו׳. עמא פזיזא4 כו׳.
And also, spring water is called “living water,” etc. And “boz yavuzu” is as the saying, “Sharp one, snatch and eat, snatch and bless”; that is, as it is written, “Come, eat of my bread,” and as it is written, “I opened my mouth wide and panted, etc.”; “An impetuous people, etc.”
Spring water is called “living water,” because it flows from its source. The Alter Rebbe illustrates the eager “snatching” of boz yavuzu with the Talmud’s advice to “snatch and eat,” with Wisdom’s invitation “Come, eat of my bread,” with the Psalmist’s “I opened my mouth wide and panted,” and with the description of Israel at Sinai as an “impetuous people” who said “we will do” before “we will hear.”
ולכן נרמז ג״כ נסוך המים בחג יח, דבלשון בוז יבוזו כמ״ש בזוהר5 דהיינו כי בקרבנות דיום שני וששי ושביעי נרמז נסוך המים כמארז״ל [כמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] נאמר בשני ונסכיהם כו׳.6
And therefore the water libation on the Festival is also alluded to in the expression “boz yavuzu,” as is said in the Zohar. That is, in the offerings of the second, sixth and seventh days the water libation is alluded to, as our Sages said, “It says on the second [day], ‘and their libations,’ etc.”
The Zohar finds the water libation of Sukkos hinted in the word “boz”: the libation is alluded to in the offerings of the second, sixth and seventh days of the festival, as the Talmud derives from the wording of those verses.
The paragraph illustrates the eager “plunder” of boz yavuzu from the Talmud and Scripture, and introduces the Zohar’s link between “boz” and the water libation on Sukkos.
The Zohar (quoted in the Kehot note) says: “What is boz? The second day, the sixth day and the seventh day of Sukkos, on which they would pour water and wine.” On Sukkos, besides the wine libation, water drawn from the Shiloach in a golden flask was poured on the altar (Mishnah, Sukkah 48a). The Sages found it hinted in the Torah’s verses for the offerings of the second, sixth and seventh days, which carry extra letters (mem, yud, mem) spelling mayim, “water.”
TermsMayim chaimKorbanos
- Mayim chaim מים חיים
- Korbanos קרבנות
Marei mekomos
- 1שיננא חטוף ואכול · Eruvin 54a:4–5
- 2לכו לחמו בלחמי · Proverbs 9:5
- 3פי פערתי ואשאפה · Psalms 119:131
- 4עמא פזיזא · Shabbat 88a:9
- 5כמ״ש בזוהר · ח״ג רנו, א: ”מאי בוז יוצא תניינא ויומא שתיתאה ויומא שביעאה דסוכות בהן הוון מנסכים מים ויין”. ע״כ.
- 6כמארז״ל נאמר בשני ונסכיהם כו׳ · Numbers 29:19
24ושני וששי ושביעי הם אותיות בוז. והיינו משום שזהו ג״כ ע״ד ביזה הנ״ל להשקיט רשפי אש האהבה שבמזבח שהוא ע״י נסוך המים מהמעיין כמ״ש ושאבתם מים בששון1 כו׳
And “second,” “sixth” and “seventh” [bet, vav, zayin] are the letters of “boz.” And that is because this too is in the manner of the “plunder” mentioned above: to still the fiery flashes of the love that is on the altar, which is through the libation of water from the spring, as it is written, “And you shall draw water with joy, etc.”
The letters for two, six and seven, bet, vav and zayin, spell “boz.” The water libation is a kind of “plunder”: water drawn from the spring stills the flames of love burning on the altar, the soul’s fiery love, and it was done with great joy.
ולכן נסוך זה דוקא אחר עשי״ת [עשרת ימי תשובה] שהיא תגבורת האהבה בבחי׳ תשובה ועמך לא חפצתי2 כו׳ ע״ד והנה רבקה יוצאת3 כנ״ל.
And therefore this libation is specifically after the Ten Days of Teshuvah, which are the intensification of love in the level of teshuvah (return), and “besides You I desire nothing, etc.,” in the manner of “And behold, Rivkah came out,” as mentioned above.
The libation comes after the Ten Days of Teshuvah, when love for G‑d is intensified through return, “besides You I desire nothing.” That is Rivkah “coming out,” the ascent from below that must come first.
The paragraph explains why the water libation is hinted by “boz”: the water from the spring quenches the fiery love aroused during the Days of Teshuvah, as the “plunder” quenches the soul’s thirst.
Marei mekomos
- 1ושאבתם מים בששון · Isaiah 12:3
- 2ועמך לא חפצתי · Psalms 73:25
- 3והנה רבקה יוצאת · Genesis 24:15
25ועי״ז אח״כ דוקא נמשך בחי׳ ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה1 וכמש״ל [וכמה שכתוב לעיל] ולכן היה בזה שמחה רבה ועצומה כו׳.
And through this, specifically afterward, the level of “she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher” is drawn down, as explained above; and therefore there was in this a great and intense joy, etc.
After the ascent of the Days of Teshuvah comes the drawing down, “she filled her pitcher.” This is why the water drawing on Sukkos was accompanied by such great joy.
וגם כי זהו כמו בחי׳ הון ביתו ממש שהוא גנוז באותיות התורה שהרי לא נתפרש בתורה בפי׳ מצות ניסוך המים
And also because this is like the very level of “the wealth of His house,” which is hidden in the letters of the Torah; for the mitzvah of the water libation is not stated explicitly in the Torah,
Another reason for the joy: the water libation is like “the wealth of His house,” the hidden treasure, because it is not written explicitly in the Torah.
רק שחז״ל [שחכמינו זכרונם לברכה] גילו לנו זה שהוא מרומז בתורה המ״ם ביום שני. והיו״ד ביום ששי. והמ״ם בשביעי. וזהו הון ביתו הגנוז ומוטמן כו׳:
but our Sages revealed to us that it is alluded to in the Torah: the mem on the second day, the yud on the sixth day, and the mem on the seventh. And this is “the wealth of His house,” which is hidden and concealed, etc.
The Sages found it hidden in extra letters of the verses: a mem on the second day, a yud on the sixth, a mem on the seventh, spelling mayim, water. A mitzvah hidden in the letters of the Torah is “the wealth of His house,” concealed and stored away.
The paragraph explains the great joy of the water libation: it comes after the ascent of teshuvah and draws down the hidden “wealth of His house,” itself concealed in the letters of the Torah.
Marei mekomos
- 1ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה · Genesis 24:16
Psalm 93 and the long day ¶26–31
26ועכ״ז [ועם כל זה] יובן מ״ש נשאו נהרות קולם1 ישאו נהרות דכים ופי׳ בזוהר פ׳ וארא (דף כ״ג ע״א)2 אינון נהרות כמד״א [כמה דאת אמר] ונהר יוצא מעדן3 וגו׳
And with all this will be understood what is written, “The rivers have lifted up their voice; the rivers shall lift up their dochyam.” And the Zohar explains, on Parshas Va’eira (page 23a): “These are the rivers, as it is said, ‘And a river went out of Eden, etc.’”
The Alter Rebbe now reads Psalm 93, “The rivers have lifted up their voice; the rivers shall lift up their dochyam.” The Zohar identifies these rivers with the river that goes out of Eden.
והיינו בחי׳ בינה שע״י ההתבוננות בגדולת א״ס ב״ה נולד׳ רשפי אש האהבה לדבקה בה׳. וזהו נשאו נהרות קולם והוא ההעלאה מלמטה למעלה.
And this is the level of Binah (understanding), for through contemplation of the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, the fiery flashes of love are born, to cleave to G‑d. And this is “The rivers have lifted up their voice”: it is the ascent from below upward.
The rivers are Binah, understanding: contemplating G‑d’s greatness gives birth to a fiery love and a desire to cleave to Him. “The rivers have lifted up their voice” is this ascent from below upward.
וכן בתרגום קלהון בשירתא הרי קול זה הוא בחי׳ השיר שהוא העלאה כנודע מענין השיר שהלוים אומרים ואח״כ נמשך עי״ז המשכה מלמעלה למטה.
And so too the Targum [renders], “their voice in song.” This voice is the level of song, which is an ascent, as is known from the matter of the song that the Levites say; and afterward, through this, a drawing down from above to below is drawn.
The Aramaic Targum renders “their voice” as “in song.” Song is an ascent, like the song of the Levites in the Temple, and it brings a drawing down from above in response.
The paragraph reads the Psalm’s rivers lifting their voice as the ascent of love born of contemplation, which in turn brings a drawing down from above.
The Kehot note points to the Tzemach Tzedek’s Yahel Or on this verse.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
„קול זה הוא בחי׳ השיר שהוא העלאה כנודע מענין השיר שהלוים אומרים” (“This voice is the level of song, which is an ascent, as is known from the matter of the song that the Levites say”): “as is known” with no place, and our explain does not say why song is an ascent.
In a discourse of 5568 the Alter Rebbe explains that song carries one beyond his present grasp, so that „כל בעלי השיר יוצאין בשיר” (“all who have song go out in song”), rising from level to level; that is why the Levites sang over the offerings: through the song the offering could rise from below to above, and without it, it would not ascend. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is the “known” matter he refers to here, where „נשאו נהרות קולם” (the rivers “lift up their voice”) in song.
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5568, vol. א, p. תקנד
והיינו הטעם שהלוים אומרים שירה על הקרבן כדי שע״י השיר יוכל להיות בחי׳ העלאה לקרבן מלמטה למעלה
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
Marei mekomos
- 1נשאו נהרות קולם · Psalms 93:3
- 2ופי׳ בזוהר פ׳ וארא (דף כ״ג ע״א) · Zohar, Vaera 1:16–2:26
- 3ונהר יוצא מעדן · Genesis 2:10
27וכמש״ל [וכמה שכתוב לעיל] שע״י והנה רבקה יצאת בבחי׳ העלאה עי״ז אח״כ ותרד העינה ותמלא כדה כנ״ל וכמ״ש אם ישים אליו לבו1 רוחו ונשמתו אליו יאסף.
And as explained above, through “And behold, Rivkah came out,” in the level of ascent, through this afterward “she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher,” as mentioned above; and as it is written, “If he sets his heart to Him, His spirit and His breath will be gathered to him.”
As with Rivkah, the ascent comes first and the drawing down follows. Job’s verse is read the same way: when a person sets his heart to G‑d, G‑d’s spirit is gathered to him in response.
וזהו ישאו נהרות דכים ותרגומו יקבלון נהרותא אגר שבחיהון שהשכר הוא ההמשכה מאוא״ס [מאור אין סוף] המלובש בתורה חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא שהיא למעלה מבחי׳ הבינה וההשגה.
And this is “the rivers shall lift up their dochyam,” and its Targum is, “The rivers will receive the reward of their praises”: the reward is the drawing down from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that is clothed in the Torah, “wise, but not with a known wisdom,” which is above the level of Binah and comprehension.
The second half of the verse, “the rivers shall lift up their dochyam,” is rendered by the Targum as “the rivers will receive the reward of their praises.” The reward is the Infinite Light clothed in the Torah, the “wise, but not with a known wisdom,” above Binah and all comprehension.
והוא ע״ד השולח מעינים בנחלים. וכדפי׳ בזוהר פ׳ חוקת (דף קפ״א ע״א)2 ונק׳ דכים לשון צלילות ובהירות כמו מר דרור3 ומתרגמינן מירא דכיא.4
And it is in the manner of “He sends forth springs into the streams,” and as is explained in the Zohar, Parshas Chukas (page 181a). And it is called “dochyam,” an expression of clearness and brightness, as in “pure myrrh” (mar deror), which we render [in Aramaic] “mira dachya.”
This is the spring that feeds the rivers. The Alter Rebbe gives several meanings of “dochyam”: first, clarity and brightness, since the Aramaic translation renders “pure myrrh” as “mira dachya.”
וזה מורה על הלכות התורה כמ״ש במ״א בענין מרדכי וכן הוא ל׳ [לשון] טהרה כמו על איל קמצא דכן5 דהיינו המשכת ח״ע [חכמה עילאה] בתורה הוא לברר הטהור מן הטמא.6
And this indicates the laws of the Torah, as explained elsewhere on the matter of Mordechai. And it is also an expression of purity, as in “concerning the ayil kamtza [locust], that it is pure (dachan)”; that is, the drawing down of supernal Chochmah in the Torah is to separate the pure from the impure.
This clarity refers to the laws of the Torah (as explained elsewhere on Mordechai, whose name is linked with mira dachya). “Dachan” also means ritually pure, as in the Mishnah about a kind of locust being pure: the Torah’s supernal wisdom distinguishes pure from impure.
The paragraph explains the Psalm’s “reward”: the rivers’ ascent is answered by the Infinite Light hidden in the Torah, and “dochyam” means the clarity of the Torah’s laws, which separate pure from impure.
The Sages linked Mordechai to “mar deror,” rendered in Aramaic “mira dachya”; the Alter Rebbe refers to his explanation elsewhere of the laws of the Torah as this clarity. “Al ayil kamtza dachan” is the Aramaic testimony of an early Sage that a certain kind of locust, the ayil kamtza, is pure and may be eaten. There “dachan” means “pure,” so dochyam also carries the sense of purity: the Torah’s wisdom separates the pure from the impure.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
„וזה מורה על הלכות התורה כמ״ש במ״א בענין מרדכי” (“This indicates the laws of the Torah, as explained elsewhere on the matter of Mordechai”): the Kehot notes give no place, and our deeper does not identify it.
This appears to refer (biur b’derech efshar) to Torah Ohr on Megillas Esther, where the Alter Rebbe explains the hint for Mordechai, „מר דרור ומתרגמינן מירא דכיא” (mar deror, rendered mira dachya): it is „מרירות שבמקום טהור” (“bitterness in a pure place”), the halachos, the word of G‑d rooted in supernal Chochmah yet clothed in the coarse matters of this world; and in the Biur there, mira dachya is the Torah drawn down „בבחינת דכיין ומסאבין” (“as dachyan u’mesaavin,” pure and impure). This is how „דכים” (“dochyam”) here points to the laws of the Torah, which separate pure from impure.
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther, dibbur hamaschil יביאו לבוש מלכות, p. צ, ד (printed p. 180; Kehot note keys 90:43–45; site: Megillas Esther 1 ¶23)
פי׳ מירא דכיא מרירות שבמקום טהור דהיינו הלכות שהן דבר ה׳ ושרשן ומקורן בח״ע
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther, ביאור על הנ״ל, p. צב, א (Kehot note keys 92:1–3; site: Megillas Esther 2 ¶16)
ולמטה נקרא מירא דכיא בחי׳ מר שהוא מרירות וגבורות הנמשך בבחינת דכיין ומסאבין
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsHasagahBirurHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahBinah+6
- Hasagah השגה
- Birur בירור
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Binah בינה
Also NeshamahHislabshusOr Ein SofChochmahHaalaah vehamshachahTorah
Marei mekomos
- 1אם ישים אליו לבו · Job 34:14
- 2וכדפי׳ בזוהר פ׳ חוקת (דף קפ״א ע״א) · Zohar, Chukat 3:16–4:25
- 3מר דרור · Exodus 30:23
- 4ומתרגמינן מירא דכיא · Onkelos Exodus 30:23
- 5על איל קמצא דכן · Pesachim 16a:3
- 6השולח מים בנחלים · Psalms 104:10
And they are called “dachyan u’mesaavin” [pure and impure]. And also “dochyam” [is] “dach yam,” that is, a pitcher (kad) that is drawn from the sea (yam) of Chochmah, as it is written, “and she filled her pitcher, etc.”
The Aramaic for pure and impure is “dachyan u’mesaavin.” Another reading: “dochyam” is “dach yam,” the reversed letters of kad (pitcher) plus yam (sea): a pitcher drawn from the sea of Chochmah, which is Rivkah’s “she filled her pitcher.”
וגם דכים ל׳ [לשון] עומק ושפלות כדפרש״י [כדפירש רש״י / כדפירוש רש״י] שהוא בחי׳ השוב ובטול שאחר הרצוא. וכתיב ואת דכא ושפל רוח2 וכמ״ש במ״א ע״פ ונשב בגיא3 כו׳
And also, “dochyam” is an expression of depth and lowliness, as Rashi explains, which is the level of the return and self-nullification (bittul) that follows the running. And it is written, “and with the crushed and lowly of spirit,” and as explained elsewhere on the verse “And we dwelt in the valley, etc.”
A third meaning, following Rashi, is depth and lowliness: the “return” and self-nullification that follows the soul’s “running” toward G‑d. Isaiah says G‑d dwells with the crushed (daka) and lowly in spirit.
And as it is also written, “What house could you build for Me, etc.… but to this one I will look: to the poor and the broken of spirit, etc.”
And Isaiah says that no house can contain G‑d, yet He looks to the poor and broken in spirit. Humility, not grandeur, is where G‑d rests.
The paragraph adds two more meanings of “dochyam”: a pitcher drawn from the sea of Chochmah, and the humility and self-nullification that follow the soul’s yearning.
“Running” (ratzo) and “returning” (shov) describe the soul’s movement: yearning toward G‑d, then returning with humility to serve Him below. The Kehot note points to Or HaTorah, Va’eschanan, for “And we dwelt in the valley.” The Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 21, 46b) also reads dochyam as dach yam and links dach to the twenty-four books of the Torah and to “and she filled her pitcher.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ותמלא כדה · Genesis 24:16
- 2ואת דכא ושפל רוח · Isaiah 57:15
- 3וכמ״ש במ״א ע״פ ונשב בגיא · ראה אוה״ת ואתחנן ע׳ קמד.
- 4אי זה בית · Isaiah 66:1
- 5אי זה בית אשר תבנו לי · Isaiah 66:1–2
29והדר מפרש מהו מעלת השכר הזה מקולות מים רבים1 אדירים כו׳ אדיר במרום כו׳. ופי׳ כמ״ש בפע״ח [בפרי עץ חיים] שער היוכ״פ [היום כפור / היום הכפורים] פ״ג [פרק ג׳] כי יש קולות עליונים שמהן ניזונים או״א [אבא ואימא] כו׳ ע״ש.
And then [the verse] explains what the virtue of this reward is: “More than the voices of many waters, the mighty, etc.; mighty on high, etc.” And the explanation is as explained in Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Yom HaKippurim, chapter 3, that there are supernal voices from which Abba and Imma are nourished, etc.; see there.
The next verse describes the reward’s greatness: “More than the voices of many waters... mighty on high is Havayah.” Pri Etz Chaim teaches that there are supernal “voices” that nourish Abba and Imma, the intellectual configurations (Chochmah and Binah).
ועמ״ש ע״פ וכל העם רואים את הקולות23 כו׳ וזהו עדותיך נאמנו מאד4 לביתך נאוה קודש. עד״מ בחכמה יבנה בית5 דקאי על תיבות ואותיות התורה שנמשכו ונבנו ע״י ח״ע [חכמה עילאה].
And see what is explained on the verse “And all the people saw the voices, etc.” And this is “Your testimonies are very faithful; holiness befits Your house,” by way of analogy, [as in] “With wisdom a house is built,” which refers to the words and letters of the Torah, which were drawn down and built through supernal Chochmah.
The Alter Rebbe also refers to his explanation on “all the people saw the voices” at Sinai. “Your testimonies are very faithful; holiness befits Your house”: the “house” is again the words and letters of the Torah, built through supernal Chochmah.
The paragraph continues through Psalm 93: the reward surpasses even the higher “voices” of the many waters, and the “house” adorned with holiness is the Torah’s letters, built from Chochmah.
Torah Ohr, Yisro, on “And all the people saw the voices,” explains “voices” as drawings-down of the Infinite Light into revelation, and links the five voices of Sinai with five times “water,” the descending flow: the same pairing of voices and waters that Psalm 93 makes.
TermsHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahAbba and ImmaOsiyos+2
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Abba and Imma אבא ואמא
- Osiyos אותיות
Marei mekomos
- 1מקולות מים רבים · Psalms 93:4
- 2ועמ״ש ע״פ וכל העם רואים את הקולות · לקמן עג, ג ואילך.
- 3וכל העם רואים את הקולות · Exodus 20:15
- 4עדותיך נאמנו מאד · Psalms 93:5
- 5בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
“Your testimonies are faithful”: “testimony” is an expression of knowledge, as it is written, “And with knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious wealth,” which is called “the wealth of His house.”
“Testimony” (eidus) is related to daas, knowledge, and daas fills the rooms with “all precious wealth,” the “wealth of His house.”
וזהו לביתך נאוה קדש.3 שהוא המשכה מבחי׳ קדש העליון אור א״ס ב״ה. ה׳ לאורך ימים הוא כמארז״ל [כמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] על אלף השביעי יום שכולו ארוך.4
And this is “holiness befits Your house”: it is a drawing down from the level of the supernal Holiness, the Infinite Light, blessed be He. “Havayah, for length of days” is as our Sages said concerning the seventh millennium, “a day that is entirely long.”
“Holiness befits Your house” means the Torah draws down from the supernal holiness, the Infinite Light. The verse ends “for length of days,” which the Sages apply to the seventh millennium, “a day that is entirely long.”
The paragraph finishes reading the Psalm: the “testimonies” are Daas, the “house” receives supernal holiness, and “length of days” points to the future era that is “entirely long.”
The Kehot note also points to Or HaTorah, Ki Seitzei, for this saying about the seventh millennium.
Marei mekomos
- 1ובדעת חדרים ימלאו · שם כד, ד.
- 2ובדעת חדרים ימלאו כל הון יקר · Proverbs 24:4
- 3לביתך נאוה קדש · Psalms 93:5
- 4כמארז״ל על אלף השביעי יום שכולו ארוך · Kiddushin 39b:8
31והענין הוא כי פי׳ כולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך. ולכאורה אין לשון אריכות נופל רק בסיום וסוף ולא בתחלה. ואיך כולו ארוך גם בתחלתו.
And the matter is: the meaning of “entirely long” is that even at its beginning it is long. But seemingly, the term “length” applies only to the conclusion and end, and not to the beginning; so how is it “entirely long,” even at its beginning?
The question: “long” usually describes how far something extends to its end, so how can a day be long even at its beginning?
אך הכוונה שיהיה גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה המלובש בסתר עליון שנק׳ אריך אנפין כמ״ש ארך אפים1 כו׳.
But the intent is that there will be a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which is clothed in the supernal hiddenness called Arich Anpin, as it is written, “long-suffering (erech apayim), etc.”
The answer: in the future the Infinite Light hidden in Arich Anpin (the “Long Countenance,” the outer level of Keser, below Atik Yomin) will be revealed. Arich is related to erech apayim, “long-suffering.”
ונק׳ אריך אנפין היינו שיכול לימשך גם למטה בעשי׳ [בעשיה] כי קמיה ית׳ שוה ומשוה רוחניות וגשמיות
And it is called Arich Anpin, meaning that it can be drawn down also below into Asiyah, for before Him, blessed be He, spirituality and physicality are equal, and He makes them equal.
It is called “long” because it can extend all the way down into the physical world: before G‑d, spiritual and physical are equal.
ולכן יהיה הגילוי למטה ביחו״ת [ביחודא תתאה] כמו ביחו״ע [ביחודא עילאה] (ועמ״ש ע״פ ועתה יגדל2 נא כו׳ כאשר דברת לאמר3 ה׳ ארך אפים כו׳)
And therefore the revelation below, in the lower unity, will be as in the higher unity. (And see what is explained on the verse “And now, please, let [the power] be great, etc., as You have spoken, saying: Havayah is long-suffering, etc.”)
So in the future G‑d will be revealed below, in the lower unity, as He is above, in the higher unity. The Alter Rebbe refers to his maamar on Moshe’s prayer quoting “Havayah is long-suffering.”
וע״כ כולו ארוך בתחלה כמו בסוף שהוא גילוי בחי׳ שאין לו תחלה ואין לו תכלה ועד״ז הוא מארז״ל [מאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] יט, אכסא דמלכא משיחא4 מחזיק רכ״א לוגין שאין לו פי׳ ע״פ פשוטו כלל מהו ענין רכ״א לוגין דוקא.
And therefore it is entirely long, at the beginning as at the end, for it is the revelation of the level that has no beginning and no end. And similar to this is the saying of our Sages, “The cup of King Mashiach holds two hundred and twenty-one lugin,” which has no explanation at all according to its plain meaning: what is the significance of two hundred and twenty-one lugin specifically?
A level with no beginning and no end is “long” at the start as at the finish. The same idea explains the Sages’ saying that Mashiach’s cup holds 221 lugin, a number that makes no sense literally.
אלא הכוונה שהכוס הוא הכלי לגילוי אוא״ס [אור אין סוף] ב״ה ויהיה הגילוי בו מבחי׳ ארך אפים כו׳ כנ״ל:
Rather, the intent is that the cup is the vessel for the revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and the revelation in it will be from the level of “erech apayim, etc.,” as mentioned above.
The cup is a vessel for the revelation of the Infinite Light from the level of “erech” (long): erech, aleph-reish-kaf, equals 221.
The maamar concludes by explaining the future “day that is entirely long” as the revelation of Arich Anpin, which reaches down into the physical world equally, alluded to in the 221 lugin of Mashiach’s cup.
The numerical value of erech (aleph 1, reish 200, kaf 20) is 221. The Kehot note cites a lengthy explanation of Mashiach’s cup in the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar V’es gevi’i and in Or HaTorah, Bereishis.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a birthday letter (25 Cheshvan 5733; Igros Kodesh vol. 28, letter 10,589), explaining the customary blessing „לאריכות ימים ושנים” (‘length of days and years’).
„כיון שימים בכלל שנים” (Since the days are included in the years), the Rebbe asks, why bless with ‘length of days’ as well? Following the Alter Rebbe’s precision here, „שגם בתחילתו הוא ארוך” (‘even at its beginning it is long’), he answers that each single day of the good years is itself a long day, so „ממולא בתוכן טוב” (filled with good content) that it becomes great length, even without measure, just as a moment of great joy breaks every limit and is full beyond bound.
The Alter Rebbe
והענין הוא כי פי׳ כולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך
The Rebbe
אלא הפירוש הוא שכל יום ויום מהשנים טובות — הוא יום ארוך, היינו שהוא ממולא בתוכן טוב שעושה את היום לאריכות גדולה ועד לאין שיעור
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יד, p. 376–377 (letter of 25 Marcheshvan 5733) · מכתב כ״ה מרחשון, ה׳תשל״ג
Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the maamar Nasata Lirei’echa (12–15 Tammuz 5736), discussing the ‘lot’ (goral) by which the Land was divided, which is above reason, and the redemption that comes from that level.
The Rebbe explains that because the redemption, with the conquest of the whole Land and its widening, comes through the ‘lot,’ which is above reason, „אין צורך כלל באריכות זמן” (it needs no length of time at all): in the Alter Rebbe’s words, „יום שכולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך” (‘a day entirely long, that is, even at its beginning it is long’), for in a single moment the true and complete redemption comes with all its details and perfection.
The Alter Rebbe
וע״כ כולו ארוך בתחלה כמו בסוף שהוא גילוי בחי׳ שאין לו תחלה ואין לו תכלה
The Rebbe
דיום שכולו ארוך היינו שגם בתחלתו הוא ארוך, דבשעתא חדא באה הגאולה האמיתית והשלימה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. א, p. רב (sec. 19) · ש״פ חוקת-בלק, י״ב תמוז ה׳תשל״ו (המשך ביום א׳ ויום ג׳, י״ג וט״ו תמוז); נדפס ע״פ הוראת כ״ק אדמו״ר, י״ב תמוז ה׳תשמ״ו
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsArich AnpinYichuda tata’ahYichuda ila’ahKisei+3
- Arich Anpin אריך אנפין explained hereOr Ein Sof clothed in the “hidden supernal” is called Arich Anpin, as in “erech apayim”: it is called long because it can extend even down to Asiyah, for before Him spiritual and physical are equal.
ונק׳ אריך אנפין היינו שיכול לימשך גם למטה בעשי׳
- Yichuda tata’ah יחודא תתאה
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Kisei כסא
- Kavanah כוונה
Also HislabshusOr Ein Sof
Marei mekomos
- 1ארך אפים · Psalms 145:8
- 2ע״פ ועתה יגדל · לקו״ת שלח לט, ב.
- 3ועתה יגדל נא כו׳ כאשר דברת לאמר ה׳ ארך אפים · Numbers 14:17–18
- 4כסא דמלכא משיחא · Yoma 76a:9
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
Each Rosh Chodesh the names of those learning here are brought to the Ohel. Add your name, and mark what you learn so it is counted.
In one’s avodah
After arousing in the Shema a love for G‑d that nothing else can satisfy, a person should know that the words of Torah and the mitzvos are themselves G‑d’s precious treasure. He should seize them eagerly and with joy, and refine his animal soul through love, awe and acceptance of the yoke, for that ascent is what draws G‑d’s essence into the world.
Questions for discussion
- Why can even the revelation of Gan Eden not satisfy the soul’s love, while a physical mitzvah can?
- How does the concealment of the Name Elokim make G‑d’s delight possible?
- What does Rivkah’s name, a team of yoked oxen, teach about refining the emotions?
- Why does the spring look smaller than the river, and what does this teach about closeness to G‑d?
- In what sense is the joy of Torah and mitzvos a “plunder” of G‑d’s treasure?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d’s Malchus as it “dwells” among created beings to give them life: Malchus of Atzilus come down below Atzilus. Its being clothed below, down to the kelipos, is called the exile of the Shechinah. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- Aramaic, “the Holy One, blessed be He”: G‑d as holy, set apart from the worlds, paired with Shechinteh, His indwelling; read as sovev kol almin, Z’eir Anpin, Atzmus, and sometimes memalei kol almin. ×4Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Delightתענוג
- Delight, the inner side of will. Above, the supernal delight of Atik, whose source is His very self: the source of Chochmah, covered by the Supernal Will and drawn down through the mitzvos. ×18Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- The Name of contraction and concealment, the shield and sheath over Havayah, through which creation appears separate (yesh) and runs as nature (hateva, numerically Elokim). Relative to a higher revelation, Havayah counts as Elokim. ×16Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Name meaning “He brings into being”: by contraction and expansion, its four letters, He brings all worlds into being while Himself unchanged; was, is and will be are one to Him. Elokim conceals it. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest of the four worlds, corresponding to action: its ten Sefiros are still holy, but below them lies kelipas nogah; this physical world is Malchus of Asiyah, its lowest level. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Giving over one’s life to G‑d: nullifying one’s very existence in the Or Ein Sof, as at “One” in the Shema. It stems from above reason, and every Jew has it in potential.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- One of a Jew’s two souls, clothed in the blood to give the body life; from kelipas nogah, mixed of good and evil, with its own intellect and middos; the G‑dly soul must refine it. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית
- The soul in every Jew that is “a part of G‑d above”: by nature in bittul, it needs no correction itself, and descends into the body and animal soul to refine them.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- The Sefirah of kindness (the right arm; Avraham): giving that comes from its nature to do good, spreading from highest to lowest like water. Gevurah, its opposite, limits it; in tikkun each includes the other. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- The Sefirah of might (the left; Yitzchak), opposite Chesed: described as what limits and contracts Chesed’s flow, and as the life-force in greater intensity, which becomes judgment; included in Chesed, it gives life. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- The Sefirah of the middle line (Yaakov’s attribute) between Chesed and Gevurah: it joins and includes them, so Or Ein Sof shines in it constantly. It is mercy and truth, and is rooted in Keser.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- G‑d’s kingship: the lowest Sefirah, His “speech” and the revealed world, through which all worlds come into being from nothing and live, without touching His essence (“there is no king without a people”).Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- The emotive powers (in the soul: love, fear, mercy). Born from the intellect and matching its measure, they are rooted above it, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A, emanated to conduct the worlds. ×4Where it’s explained
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- Love, the soul’s longing to cleave to G‑d, and awe, its self-nullification before Him: opposites born of the mind (“son and daughter”), called the two “wings” that lift one’s service on high.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Self-nullification before G‑d, the condition for the Or Ein Sof to rest. Its lower degree is a “something” that bows; its higher, Chochmah’s “what are we,” takes up no place at all.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol)קבלת עול
- Accepting G‑d as King: nullifying one’s will before Him; from it the mitzvos are kept as a servant keeps his master’s decree, even without reason. In the Shema it precedes the yoke of the mitzvos. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- The name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- The boundless light radiating from G‑d’s Essence like sunlight from the sun: His “Name,” a revelation, not the Essence. Chiefly the light before the tzimtzum; also that light as clothed in the sefiros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The unity seen from above: before G‑d all is as nothing and nothing exists besides Him (the Name Havayah, the Shema’s first verse); the lower unity is the existing world’s self-nullification.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The lower unity (yichuda tata'ah)יחודא תתאה
- The unity seen from below: through the Name Elokim the world exists as a “something” (yesh), and that yesh bows before G‑d (bittul hayesh). It receives from the higher unity, which through it rests below.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Sefirosספירות
- Ten emanated powers, Keser (or Daas) and Chochmah through Malchus, each a light in a vessel; through them G‑d conducts the worlds, His essence unchanged; they recur in every world and in man.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it. ×11Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first created world, below the partition (parsa) under Atzilus: something new from nothing (yesh me’ayin), corresponding to thought, where Binah of Atzilus dwells; world of the seraphim, souls and Gan Eden HaElyon.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of formation, between Beriah and Asiyah: like speech, it reveals what was hidden in Beriah (something from something, not new creation); the middos of Atzilus shine there; the world of the angels.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Teshuvah (return)תשובה
- Returning the soul, which descended into physical things, to its source and root, to cleave to G‑d; not only leaving sin. Its two levels are the return of the lower and the higher hei. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- The Sefirah of comprehension (Imma, the first hei): it expands Chochmah’s flash in length and breadth; letters of thought appear in it; it is “yesh,” and from it love, joy and the middos are born. ×4Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Knowledge as felt recognition: the intellect bound into the soul until it is felt as if seen. Daas unites Chochmah with Binah and spreads into the middos as their inner life; the middos follow it. ×5Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- Chochmah and Binah as father and mother, who beget the middos (love and awe, “son and daughter”). Abba is self-nullifying insight, source of the chassadim; Imma is comprehension, source of the gevuros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- Life-forceחיות
- Life-force: the G‑dly vitality that brings each creation into being and keeps it alive, drawn to each according to its level and renewed from nothing, as the soul enlivens the body. ×6Where it’s explained, stated differently