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The maamar in the Rebbe’s light

The Rebbe returns to this maamar in sichos of Shabbos Toldos and draws from it a picture of Eisav: a root high in holiness that encompasses him from above, „רישא דעשו בעטפוי דיצחק” (“Eisav’s head in Yitzchak’s bosom”), and a self below that swallows the light. With it he explains how a wicked man’s head could lie in a tzaddik’s bosom (Toldos 5728) and why Eisav asked about tithing salt and straw (Toldos 5734), and, following the Rebbe Rashab, why the other side numbers eleven (B’Sukkos Teshvu 5741). Yitzchak, the digger of wells, wants to bless Eisav to uncover the lofty sparks in his root, souls like Onkelos and Rabbi Meir (Toldos 5728); only Yaakov, “Mah” of Tikkun, can refine them (Vayetzei 5750); the power of teshuvah, too, comes from that higher light (Toldos 5724); and our “converts” are meant plainly (Vayetzei 5743). His maamar Vayitein Lecha (Toldos 5728), built on this one and on the Rebbe Rashab’s, names that light: „טלא דעתיקא” (the dew of Atika), holiness’s counterpart to the other side’s eleventh. He reads the blessing’s “Elokim” (האלקים) as the Gevuros’ added light (Toldos 5725) and as teshuvah’s bitterness (Toldos 5724). Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) the maamar reads as one argument: Yitzchak saw Eisav’s root truly, but only Yaakov, taking the blessings with guile, could bring that light down to where it refines.

Paragraph by paragraph

1. ¶2

   The Rebbe explains

   In a maamar said on the night of 13 Tishrei 5741, the Rebbe Maharash’s yahrzeit, explaining how the Yom Kippur incense differs from the offerings (offerings refine only what is fit for holiness, incense transforms even the wholly impure), the Rebbe explains why holiness numbers ten and the other side eleven, and why the incense therefore has „י״א סממני הקטורת” (eleven spices).

   On the night of 13 Tishrei 5741 the Rebbe sets out the arithmetic our paragraph only states, following the Rebbe Rashab’s Hemshech 5672, which his notes cite together with our passage. „כל דבר שבעולם הוא מורכב מעשר ענינים” (Everything in the world is made of ten elements), so in holiness the count is ten: „שהחיות מתאחד עם הדבר שמחי׳ אותו ואינו נמנה בפ״ע” (the life-force unites with what it gives life to and is not counted on its own). The kelipos live from a holy life-force that encompasses them from above (the spark within them is in exile, so much that, as the Rebbe Rashab explains, it becomes like evil), and because that life stays apart from them it is counted on its own, an eleventh. So the incense, the service of the inner heart, which turns even the other side to holiness, has eleven spices.

   The Alter Rebbeאך בקדושה עשר ולא תשע ולא י״א ובקליפה הוא י״א סממני הקטורת

   The Rebbeולכן בקדושה הוא מספר עשר, לפי שהחיות מתאחד עם הדבר שמחי׳ אותו ואינו נמנה בפ״ע

   Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. קכד (sec. 3; notes 43 and 45 cite Torah Ohr 20b–c and the Tzemach Tzedek’s glosses, Or HaTorah Toldos 152a) · אור לי״ג תשרי, הילולא דאדמו״ר מהר״ש, ה׳תשמ״א

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2. ¶4

   The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   A sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5734 on Rashi’s „היאך מעשרין את המלח ואת התבן” (“how does one tithe salt and straw”) (Genesis 25:27). After explaining the question in plain sense (Yitzchak tithed ‘of everything’, and the question was how to value such things), in its „יינה של תורה” (‘wine of Torah’) section the Rebbe asks why Eisav chose salt and straw of all things.

   Here the Rebbe brings our maamar’s question, how Eisav could “trap” Yitzchak with questions about tithing straw when Yitzchak „וידע שעשו אין ש״ש שגור בפיו” (knew he did not speak G‑d’s Name), and its answer: Eisav as he is below has no Name of Heaven on his lips, but his root, encompassing him from above, stands high in holiness, „רישא דעשו בעטפוי דיצחק” (“Eisav’s head in Yitzchak’s bosom”), for the root of Eisav (Gevurah of the other side) is from Yitzchak, Gevurah of holiness. That is why Yitzchak wanted to bless Eisav: to draw his root down to him, so that, as Yitzchak thought, he would be refined (Torah Ohr itself says Eisav’s refining must come through Yaakov, his note adds). And so, the Rebbe says, Eisav’s very question hints at his refining: salt is the root of all the Gevuros and sweetens judgments at their root, and straw, the waste of the wheat, is of the kelipos, as of the future it says, “the house of Eisav for stubble.”

   The Alter Rebbeולכן מצד בחינת המקיף עשו שואל איך מעשרין את התבן ומצד הפנימיות אין ש״ש שגור בפיו

   The Rebbeדער שורש פון עשו (גבורה דקליפה) איז פון יצחק, גבורה דקדושה

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. כה, p. 116–122 (Toldos 2); the ‘wine of Torah’ section, p. 121 · ש״פ תולדות ה׳תשל״ד

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3. ¶4

   The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   In notes he prepared in 5702 for a talk at a bar mitzvah celebration (never delivered), on why a Jew comes of age at thirteen and how Yaakov and Eisav differed when they turned thirteen, the Rebbe comes to Rashi’s „היאך מעשרין את המלח ואת התבן” (“how does one tithe salt and straw”) and to why Eisav put the question to “Father”.

   In notes for a bar mitzvah talk the Rebbe contrasts Yaakov, for whom the body’s needs are only the chaff around the kernel, with Eisav, who wanted holiness drawn into the straw itself. Eisav put his question to “Father” (אבא), he writes, because Yitzchak saw him from above, through the makif, where „קליפה קדמה לפרי” (“the husk came before the fruit”), and for this he sends the reader to our maamar; and Eisav asked first about salt because „שמלח הוא בחי׳ גבורה” (salt is Gevurah), Eisav’s own root: “Eisav’s head in Yitzchak’s bosom.” The editors of the Reshimos spell out the link between the two: Eisav’s wish to draw holiness into the straw could be met only as Yitzchak saw him, from the makif.

   The Alter Rebbeולכן מצד בחינת המקיף עשו שואל איך מעשרין את התבן

   The Rebbeכי יצחק ראה אותו מלמעלה דרך המקיף

   Reshimos, vol. חוברת יט (reprinted in Reshimos vol. 15–45, 2nd ed., pp. 114–122), p. the Rebbe’s text as written: booklet 19 p. 4 (2nd ed. p. 115); with the editors’ connecting words in light type: booklet 19 pp. 10–11, 2nd ed. pp. 121–122, sec. 6 · 5702, per the publishers’ preface (booklet 19 p. 2); a plan for a talk, marked ‘not said’

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4. ¶4

   The Rebbe explains

   A sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5728 asking why the parsha opens ‘these are the generations of Yitzchak’ with Eisav in view: Yishmael repented and Eisav did not, yet Eisav, not Yishmael, kept the status of ‘Israel’ and heir. As a sign of Eisav’s deeper bond with Yitzchak the Rebbe takes the tradition that Eisav’s head was buried „בגו עיטפי דיצחק” (‘in Yitzchak’s bosom’).

   How can the head of a wicked man lie in a tzaddik’s bosom, when „אין קוברין רשע אצל צדיק” (the wicked are not buried beside the righteous)? The Rebbe explains that Eisav is wicked by his body; by his “head”, his root taken by itself, cut off from the body’s lowness, he is not wicked at all but bound to Yitzchak, as the Satan at his root above „לשם שמים נתכוונו” (“meant it for the sake of Heaven”). Only when that root comes down into Eisav’s body, which is wholly evil, can the holy spark not shine there: “the lamp of the wicked goes out.” For this he points to our maamar (notes 27–28: „מצד בחינת המקיף”, “from the side of the makif…”).

   The Alter Rebbeוהוא רישא דעשו דהיינו בחי׳ המקיף מלמעלה הוא נכלל בעטפוי דיצחק ממש בקדושה

   The Rebbeדאָס וואָס עשו איז אַ רשע איז עס מצד גופו

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 191 ff. (Toldos 1), p. 193, sec. 3; notes 27–28 cite Torah Ohr 20b–c · ש״פ תולדות ה׳תשכ״ח

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5. ¶5

   The Rebbe explains

   The same sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5728 as the ¶4 item: having shown that the parsha ‘Toldos’ is about Yitzchak’s own service, digging wells to uncover what lies hidden deep, the Rebbe explains why so much of it tells of the blessings: in them Yitzchak’s service toward Eisav comes out.

   In a sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5728 the Rebbe explains why Yitzchak wanted to bless Eisav although he knew well what Eisav was: because of the „ציד בפיו” (“game in his mouth”). In Eisav’s “head”, his root and source, there are very lofty sparks, such as the souls of Onkelos the convert and Rabbi Meir, and for this he cites our paragraph; and since Yitzchak’s service was digging wells, finding the „מים חיים” (“living waters”) hidden deep in the earth, through the blessings he wanted to uncover those holy sparks in Eisav. As Yitzchak sees Eisav, Eisav is fit for it; but as Eisav came out of him he is no vessel for the blessings, so they were given to Yaakov, who alone has the power to refine him (again citing our maamar).

   The Alter Rebbeומהם הי׳ ציד בפיו והי׳ רוצה יצחק להוציא ממנו בעצמו שלא ע״י יעקב

   The Rebbeאין „רישי׳ דעשו” (מצד שרשו ומקורו) זיינען דאָ גאָר הויכע ניצוצות (ווי נשמת אונקלוס הגר, רבי מאיר וכו׳)

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 191 ff. (Toldos 1), sec. 9, pp. 197–198; note 63 (p. 197) cites 'תו״א פרשתנו כ, ג׳, note 65 (p. 198) 'תו״א שם׳ · ש״פ תולדות ה׳תשכ״ח

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6. ¶5

   Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   In the maamar of Shabbos Masei 5717 on the cities of refuge, explaining that every exile, like Egypt, is for drawing the holy sparks out of the kelipos, the Rebbe comes to the saying our paragraph quotes.

   In the maamar of Shabbos Masei 5717 the Rebbe reads the Sages’ „לא גלו ישראל אלא בשביל שיתוספו עליהם גרים” (“Israel was exiled only so that converts would be added to them”) as being about sparks: taken plainly it is hard, he says, since we do not see so many converts; rather, the “converts” are the sparks of Tohu that fell into the kelipos. The reading, with the same difficulty, is already the Rebbe Rashab’s, in his Vayitein Lecha 5654 on our maamar’s verse, where he too names Shemayah and Avtalyon, Rabbi Meir and Onkelos among those lofty souls. That is the work of all the exiles, with the verses our paragraph also brings: „ועת אשר שלט האדם באדם לרע לו” (“a time when man rules over man to his harm”), until „חיל בלע ויקיאנו” (“he swallowed wealth and will vomit it up”). The editors’ note there points to our passage.

   The Alter Rebbeבסוד גלות כמארז״ל לא גלו ישראל אלא כדי להוסיף עליהם גרי׳ וכן בעשו היו ניצוצות כמו ר״מ ואונקלוס

   The Rebbeדלפי פשוטו אינו מובן, שהרי אין אנו רואים ריבוי גרים כ״כ, אך הענין הוא, דגרים הם הניצוצות דתהו שנפלו להקליפות

   Toras Menachem (Hisvaaduyos), vol. כ (תשי״ז ג), p. 189, sec. 7, note 56 · ש״פ מסעי, מבה״ח מנחם-אב, ה׳תשי״ז (הנחה בלתי מוגה)

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7. ¶5

   Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   A sicha of Shabbos Vayetzei 5743 asking why the angels of the Land of Israel came out to meet Yaakov outside the Land; it explains that Yaakov’s going to Charan was for his work of refinement abroad, as Israel’s exile is, and there brings the saying about converts.

   In a note to a sicha of Shabbos Vayetzei 5743 the Rebbe sets out how Chassidus reads the saying „לא הגלה הקב״ה את ישראל לבין האומות אלא כדי שיתוספו עליהם גרים” (“G‑d exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would be added to them”). Other places in Torah Ohr explain it as holy sparks in general; the Tzemach Tzedek, in his Biurei HaZohar, explains it as „גרים כפשוטו” (converts in the plain sense), “and so it is in Torah Ohr 20c”, our paragraph, which names real converts who came from Eisav’s side: Rabbi Meir, Onkelos, Shemayah and Avtalyon, Ovadyah. In a sicha on Vayeshev he holds the two together: the exile is for refining the holy sparks “and up to converts in the plain sense”, again citing our passage for the plain sense.

   The Alter Rebbeוכן בעשו היו ניצוצות כמו ר״מ ואונקלוס ושמעי׳ ואבטליון ועובדיה

   The Rebbeובביאוה״ז להצ״צ (ח״ב ע׳ תשכו. תשל) מבאר מחז״ל זה גרים כפשוטו (ולא — ניצוצי קדושה בכלל). וכ״ה בתו״א כ, ג

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. כה, p. 154 (Vayetzei 2, which begins p. 150), note 43 · ש״פ ויצא ה׳תשמ״ג

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8. ¶6

   The Rebbe explains

   In his maamar Vayitein Lecha of Shabbos Toldos, Mevarchim Kislev 5728 (edited by him for Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5750), the Rebbe asks why Yitzchak’s blessing surpasses the blessing G‑d gave Yitzchak, which would have reached both his sons by itself; he answers from our maamar (his note 12: "ד״ה ראה ריח בני (כ, ב ואילך)”) that Yitzchak wanted to draw a higher light onto Eisav to refine the lofty sparks in him, and then asks what that higher light is.

   Building on the Rebbe Rashab’s Vayitein Lecha 5654, which his notes cite, the Rebbe explains why the blessing opens with “dew”, „טלא דעתיקא” (“the dew of Atika”). The other side numbers eleven because its life-force, encompassing it from above and standing apart, is counted with it; and since the other side is “one opposite the other”, holiness too has a level above its ten Sefiros and set apart from them, Atik, which „לא בחושבן הספירות” (is not counted with them) because it is not their life-force (both steps are in the Rebbe Rashab’s maamar). His own conclusion: Eisav’s sparks, held in the eleven crowns of impurity, are refined by drawing down that level, the counterpart of their eleventh. So the first thing in Yitzchak’s blessing is dew, the dew of Atika.

   The Alter Rebbeוזהו ויתן לך האלקים מטל השמים הוא טלא דעתיקא דנטיף לז״א בחי׳ שמים

   The Rebbeוזהו ויתן לך האלקים מטל השמים, דענין הראשון שבברכת יצחק הוא טל, טלא דעתיקא, כי בכדי לברר הניצוצות שבעשו הוא ע״י המשכת בחינת עתיק

   Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ד, p. סה (sec. 5, notes 19–23); the maamar runs pp. סג–סו, its argument from our maamar opening on p. סד (sec. 4, note 12) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו ה׳תשכ״ח

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9. ¶7

   The Rebbe explains

   A sicha on Parshas Vayetzei 5750 on the three periods of Yaakov’s life (the Land of Israel, Charan, Egypt) and why his „מטתו שלימה” (‘bed was whole’): his completeness includes both the tzaddik’s service and the baal teshuvah’s, and also the refining of Eisav.

   In a sicha of Shabbos Vayetzei 5750 the Rebbe quotes our paragraph: Eisav as he stands in his own place is refined not by Yitzchak’s blessings alone but only through Yaakov. Yaakov is “Mah” of Tikkun, which has the power to refine “Ban”, Eisav, and turn it to holiness, and so to reveal the very high sparks in Eisav, souls like Onkelos the convert and Rabbi Meir, until „אורות גדולים דתהו” (the great lights of Tohu) shine in the great vessels of Tikkun. He suggests that Eisav himself sensed this from his root, and so asked Yaakov, „הלעיטני נא מן האדום האדום הזה” (“Pour me some of this red, red stuff”): only through Yaakov is Edom refined.

   The Alter Rebbeאבל שיהא לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא ומרירו למיתקא א״א כ״א ע״י יעקב ז״א דקדושה

   The Rebbeדוקא דורך יעקב ווערט דער בירור פון אדום (עשו)

   Sefer HaSichos, vol. תש״נ ח״א, p. 166 (sec. 3, notes 45 and 47; the sicha begins p. 162) · ש״פ ויצא, י״א כסלו ה׳תש״נ

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10. ¶7

    A question the Rebbe raises

    In a reshimah on Rashi’s „זו איטליא של יון” (‘this is Italia of Greece’) on „משמני הארץ יהי׳ מושבך” (‘of the richness of the earth shall be your dwelling’), before giving Rashi’s own answer the Rebbe asks how Yitzchak could give Eisav what he had already given Yaakov.

    The Rebbe asks how Yitzchak could give Eisav “of the richness of the earth” after he had already blessed Yaakov with it. He brings Ramban („שלשניכם יספיק”, “enough for both of you”) and our passage, which says it for another purpose: to Eisav it is „משמני מקצת שמני” (mishmanei, only part of the richness), the residue of the oil drawn to the earth, and of Yaakov’s dew „בחי׳ מקיף בלבד” (only an encompassing share). Setting it beside Ramban’s answer, he seems to offer our passage as an answer too (the editors of the Reshimos add, in light type, that it does); then he gives Rashi’s own answer: Italia did not yet exist, so it was not in Yaakov’s blessing.

    The Alter Rebbeולעשו אמר הנה משמני הארץ כו׳ משמני מקצת שמני (וליעקב א׳ ומשמני בתוס׳ וא״ו)

    The Rebbeשלכאורה קשה איך נתן יצחק לעשו ”משמני הארץ” אחרי שכבר בירך בזה את יעקב

    Reshimos, vol. 15–45 (2nd ed.), p. 124 (the notebook draft is on p. 123) · undated reshimah (from the Rebbe’s notebooks)

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11. ¶7

    Background from the Rebbe

    A sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5724 on „ראה ריח בני” (‘See, the fragrance of my son’) as the introduction to ‘May G‑d give you’: why the Midrash reads „יתן ויחזור ויתן” (‘give and give again’), and why the Temple in ruins is hinted in a blessing.

    In a sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5724 the Rebbe reads the blessing’s doubled “give” as two powers: for the tzaddik’s service and for the baal teshuvah’s, which is boundless. The teshuvah of one who remains “Israel” even when he sins first became possible with Eisav, whom the Sages call „ישראל מומר” (an apostate Israelite); so Yitzchak wanted to bless Eisav, to draw onto him the power of teshuvah, which, his note says, fits Torah Ohr: Yitzchak meant to draw a higher light onto Eisav so that he would be refined, and the power of teshuvah too comes from that high level. But in truth, he says, „גם ברכה זו שייכת רק ליעקב” (this blessing too belongs only to Yaakov), for teshuvah in its inner essence is possible only in Yaakov and his children.

    The Alter Rebbeאך מ״מ טעה בזה שאין עשו כדאי בבחי׳ זו כ״א ע״י יעקב

    The Rebbeאבל באמת גם ברכה זו שייכת רק ליעקב, כי גם עבודת התשובה בפנימיותה ועצמיותה לא תתכן אלא ביעקב

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. י, p. 80 ff. (Toldos 2), p. 85, sec. 7 and note 44 (the quoted sentence itself carries notes 47–48) · ש״פ תולדות ה׳תשכ״ד

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12. ¶16

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    A sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5725 on Rashi’s ‘Yaakov and Eisav mentioned in the parsha’ and ‘Avraham begot Yitzchak’: why the whole sidrah is named ‘Toldos’, the ‘generations’ and doings of Yitzchak, whose Gevurah brings an added light through refinement.

    The Rebbe says the whole sidrah is about refining the sparks that had to be drawn out of Eisav, which is why Yaakov had to put on Eisav’s clothes and go with guile, in Eisav’s ways. Only so did Yaakov receive the blessings, which he could not have received as he was: „ויתן לך האלקים” (“May Elokim give you”), the added light drawn down specifically through the Gevuros of the Name Elokim. In his note he sends the reader to the end of Toldos in Torah Ohr, our paragraph, for all of this.

    The Alter Rebbeוזהו ויתן לך האלקים גם בבחי׳ צמצום

    The Rebbeויתן לך האלקים, דער תוספות אור וואָס ווערט נמשך דורך די גבורות פון שם אלקים דוקא

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. ה, p. 354 ff. (Toldos 1), sec. 9, p. 360; note 49 cites the end of Toldos in Torah Ohr · ש״פ תולדות ה׳תשכ״ה

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13. ¶16

    Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    The same sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5724 („יתן ויחזור ויתן”, ‘give and give again,’ as the powers for the tzaddik’s and the baal teshuvah’s service) closes by asking why the blessing says „שם אלקים ולא שם הוי׳” (‘Elokim’, the Name of judgment and contraction, and not Havayah, the Name of mercy).

    The Rebbe explains that the main blessing to Yaakov is the power of teshuvah, which comes through bitterness and a broken heart, that is, through „הדין והצמצום” (judgment and contraction): hence Elokim. But it says „האלקים בה״א הידיעה” (ha-Elokim, with the definite article): knowledge and revelation that come after concealment and contraction, like teshuvah that comes after distance, preparing for what „עין לא ראתה” (“no eye has seen”). His note adds that true boundlessness lies in the line of Gevurah, so the blessing of teshuvah, which is boundless, comes from ha-Elokim, and there he points to the end of Toldos in Torah Ohr.

    The Alter Rebbeוזהו ויתן לך האלקים גם בבחי׳ צמצום

    The Rebbeמכיון שעיקר הברכה ליעקב הוא שיתברך בעבודת התשובה, הקשורה בענין המרירות, שהו״ע הדין והצמצום — שם אלקים

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. י, p. 80 ff. (Toldos 2), p. 87, sec. 10 and note 58 · ש״פ תולדות ה׳תשכ״ד

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14. ¶16

    Background from the RebbeThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    The same maamar Vayitein Lecha (Shabbos Toldos, Mevarchim Kislev 5728): having shown that Eisav’s sparks are refined by drawing down Atik, the dew (see the ¶6 item), the Rebbe asks how Atik, „עתיק מלשון נעתק” (whose name means “removed”), can be drawn down at all, and so comes to the blessing’s “ha-Elokim” and to why it surpasses the blessing G‑d gave Yitzchak.

    In his maamar Vayitein Lecha of Shabbos Toldos 5728, built on ours, the Rebbe reads ha-Elokim, with the definite article, as „בחינת העלם העצמי דא״ס שמשם הוא כח הבירורים” (the hidden essence of the Infinite itself, the source of the power to refine), following the Rebbe Rashab (Hemshech 5666). His reason: Atik, the dew of the blessing, is by nature removed from the chain of worlds and cannot be drawn down of itself; only „עצמות אוא״ס שאינו מוגדר בשום גדר” (the Essence, bound by no definition) can bring it down to refine Eisav’s sparks, and this is what lifts Yitzchak’s blessing above „ויברך אלקים את יצחק” (“and Elokim blessed Yitzchak”). Rashi’s „יתן ויחזור ויתן” (“give, and give again”) he reads as two givings: first the hidden essence given in order to refine, then the Essence revealed through the refining itself (the two stages are in Hemshech 5666, which his note quotes; joining them to “give, and give again” is his).

    The Alter Rebbeוזהו ויתן לך האלקים גם בבחי׳ צמצום וקאי ויתן על בחי׳ הוי״ה האמור למעלה

    The Rebbeוזהו ויתן לך האלקים (האלקים בה׳ הידיעה), בחינת העלם העצמי דא״ס, שמשם הוא כח הבירורים

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ד, p. סה (sec. 6, note 25), continued on p. סו (sec. 7, notes 30–32) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו ה׳תשכ״ח

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15. ¶16

    Background from the Rebbe

    In a reshimah on the law that one clears a fallen heap of rubble on Shabbos to save a life (Yoma 83a), read as the story of man and the world: the world as a perfect building of the letters of the Ten Utterances, and what Adam’s sin made of it.

    In his notes on “one clears the rubble off him on Shabbos” (Yoma 83a), read as the story of man and the world, the Rebbe quotes our paragraph: through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge „נתגשמו העולמות ונעשה עירוב גשמיות ברוחניות” (“the worlds became physical, and physicality was mixed with spirituality”). So where man before the sin saw G‑dliness openly, and the letters of the Ten Utterances as one perfect building, to eyes of flesh it all became a heap of stones with no visible order. In his note to that line he sets beside it the places that speak of good and evil mixed through the sin (Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah; Igeres HaKodesh 12); the editors’ gloss there spells out the contrast: not only physical mixed with spiritual, as in our maamar, but evil mixed with good.

    The Alter Rebbeשע״י נתגשמו העולמות ונעשה עירוב גשמיות ברוחניות

    The Rebbeכי ע״י חטא עה״ד נתגשמו העולמות, ונעשה ערוב גשמיות ברוחניות (תו״א ס״פ תולדות)

    Reshimos, vol. חוברת טו (reprinted in Reshimos vol. 15–45, 2nd ed.), p. booklet 15, p. 44; 2nd ed. p. 44 (and the notebook draft, p. 9) · undated reshimah (from the Rebbe’s notebooks)

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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).