Torah Ohr · Parshas Va’eira · Maamar 3
ויאמר ה׳ אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר כו׳…
“And G‑d said to Moshe and to Aharon”
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The big idea
Kelipah, which boasts “My river is mine,” lives only from a ray of holiness hidden by many contractions. The staff that became a serpent and then a staff again showed this, and the plagues broke Egypt’s kelipos so that the sparks of holiness within them were revealed and returned to G‑d.
The maamar in brief
Why did Aharon’s staff become a serpent, why did it turn back into a staff, and why was this the first wonder, before all the plagues? The Alter Rebbe begins with the Sages’ teaching that the Jewish people made Egypt “like a deep without fish”: they gathered every spark of holiness that had fallen there in the breaking of the vessels. As a soul in a body no longer sees that the world is nothing before G‑d, the sparks are hidden within kelipos, “husks,” which therefore feel independent, as Pharaoh said, “My river is mine.” A husk can be opened only by breaking it. The river that goes out from Eden is one in Atzilus and divides into four in Beriah, and Pishon, the Nile, received more sparks than the others. “Egypt shall know” means “Egypt shall be broken”: the plagues broke the kelipos so that the freed sparks would know G‑d, while the Jewish people, believers, needed no wonders. The first wonder showed the principle: the staff, the chain of holy light, becomes a serpent through many contractions, and becomes a staff again, swallowing the others, when G‑d reveals Himself.
Outline
- The question and the hidden sparksWhy the staff became a serpent and turned back, and why it came first. The Jewish people emptied Egypt of every spark that fell there in the breaking of the vessels; like a soul in a body, the sparks are hidden by kelipos that feel independent, and a husk can be opened only by breaking it.¶1–4
- The river of EdenThe river is one in Atzilus and divides into four at the head of Beriah. The rivers are not alike: Pishon, the Nile of Egypt, received more sparks of Tohu than fell to Babylon.¶5–6
- “Egypt shall know”“Know” means “break”: the plagues broke Egypt’s kelipos so that the sparks could be revealed and return to G‑d, which also answers the question at the Splitting of the Sea. The Jewish people, believers, needed no wonders.¶7
- What the wonders showedThe first wonder is the prelude to the plagues. Kelipah lives from holiness at every moment and only seems independent because of the contractions; a light from above them nullifies it. The staff is the whole chain of holy light, from the highest level to the lowest.¶8–10
- Staff and serpentThrough many contractions the staff becomes the serpent, the source of Egypt’s kelipos. When the serpent becomes a staff again and Aharon’s staff swallows the others, kelipah returns to nullification and the sparks are raised.¶11
Key concepts
- The breaking of the vesselsשבירת הכלים
- The “death” of the seven primordial kings of the World of Tohu, which shattered and fell into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; their sparks of holiness lie hidden in the kelipos.
- Sparksנצוצות
- The fragments of holiness from Tohu that fell into the kelipos. More of them fell into Egypt’s river than into Babylon, and at the Exodus every one was gathered.
- Kelipah (husk)קליפה
- A force that covers and hides the holy spark within it, like the shell around a nut, and so feels itself independent. The spark can be freed only by breaking it.
- An independent existenceיש ודבר בפני עצמו
- The sense of being a thing unto oneself, separate from G‑d: the illusion of kelipah, voiced in Pharaoh’s “My river is mine, and I have made myself.”
- Contractions (tzimtzumim)צמצומים
- The screens and contractions through which life-force descends to kelipah, hiding its source so thoroughly that kelipah can claim independence. A light from above them nullifies it.
- The staffמטה
- From the meaning “drawing forth and inclining”: the whole chain of holy light, from the highest level to the lowest. Hidden by many contractions it becomes the serpent; when G‑d wills, the serpent turns back into a staff.
- The serpentתנין
- The source of Egypt’s kelipos, “the great serpent that lies in the midst of his rivers,” which lives from the staff and returns to it.
The question and the hidden sparks ¶1–4
1ויאמר ה׳ אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר כו׳ קח את מטך1 והשלך לפני פרעה יהי לתנין2 כו׳ עד ויבלע מטה אהרן את מטתם.3
“And G‑d said to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,” etc.: “Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh; it will become a serpent,” etc., up to “and Aharon’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”
The maamar opens with G‑d’s instruction to Moshe and Aharon: when Pharaoh asks them for a wonder, Aharon is to cast his staff before him and it will become a serpent. The Alter Rebbe quotes the passage through to its end, where Aharon’s staff swallows the staffs of Pharaoh’s magicians.
להבין ענין המטה שנהפך לנחש (ואח״כ חזר ונהפך למטה. וגם מה שזה היה המופת הראשון שנתנו לפרעה וקדם לכל העשר מכות) הנה כתיב וינצלו את מצרים4 וארז״ל (פסחים קיט.)
To understand the matter of the staff that turned into a snake (and afterward turned back into a staff; and also the fact that this was the first wonder they gave Pharaoh, and that it came before all the Ten Plagues): now, it is written, “And they emptied out Egypt,” and our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Pesachim 119a)
Three things need explaining: what it means that the staff became a snake, why it then turned back into a staff, and why this was the first wonder shown to Pharaoh, before any of the plagues. The answer begins with the verse that at the Exodus the Jewish people “emptied out” Egypt, and with the Sages’ comment on it.
שעשאו׳ כמצולה שאין בה דגים5. פי׳ שלקטו כל הנצוצין שנפלו בשבירה אליהם ונתרוקנו מצרים מהם עד שנשארו כמצולה כו׳ ולא השאירו שם אפי׳ נצוץ6 א׳.
that they made it like a deep without fish. This means that they gathered all the sparks that had fallen to them in the breaking [of the vessels], and Egypt was emptied of them, until they were left like a deep, etc., and they did not leave there even a single spark.
The Gemara expounds “they emptied” (vayenatzlu) by way of metzulah, “the deep”: Egypt was left like deep water with no fish in it. The Alter Rebbe explains the “fish” as the sparks of holiness that had fallen into Egypt; the Jewish people gathered every one of them and left not a single spark behind.
והנה להבין ענין הנצוצות שנפלו בשבה״כ וענין העלאתם. הענין כי הנה ידוע ענין השבירה הוא מיתת ז׳ מלכין קדמאין דתהו שנשברו ונפלו למטה לבי״ע בבחי׳ הקליפות וסט״א.
Now, to understand the matter of the sparks that fell in the breaking of the vessels, and the matter of their elevation: the explanation is that, as is known, the breaking is the “death” of the seven primordial kings of Tohu, which shattered and fell down into [the worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, into the state of the kelipos (husks) and the sitra achra (the other side).
To explain these sparks, the Alter Rebbe recalls the known teaching of the breaking of the vessels. Tohu (“chaos”) is the primordial world whose lights were too intense for their vessels. Its seven primordial “kings” “died”: they shattered and fell down into the lower worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, into the realm of the kelipos and the sitra achra, the forces opposed to holiness.
והיינו כמו על דרך משל בנשמת האדם7 שקודם בואה לגוף היתה בטילה בתכלית לגבי אור א״ס ב״ה
That is, it is like the analogy of a person’s soul: before it came into the body, it was utterly nullified before the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He
An analogy from the human soul explains what happened to the sparks. Before a soul enters a body, it is completely nullified before G‑d’s Infinite Light, with no sense of a self apart from Him.
(כמ״ש חי ה׳ אשר עמדתי לפניו)89 והיינו משום שאז לא היה דבר המחשיך ומסתיר עליה הגילוי אלקות לכך היתה בטילה למקורה בתכלית.
(as it is written, “As G‑d lives, before Whom I stood”). That is because then there was nothing darkening and concealing the revelation of G‑dliness from it; therefore it was utterly nullified to its source.
The prophet’s oath “before Whom I stood,” in the past tense, is read as the soul speaking of its state before it came down; the Rebbe’s note quoted by Kehot shows that the Zohar reads the verse this way. Then nothing hid G‑dliness from the soul, so it was utterly nullified to its source.
וכיון שירדה למטה ונתלבשה בגוף החומרי אזי הגוף מסתיר עליה להיות נדמה העולם ומלואו ליש ודבר נפרד בפ״ע ואין רואה בחי׳ הבטול של כל העולמות לגבי אור א״ס ב״ה המחיה ומהוה אותם תמיד.
But once it has descended below and been clothed in the physical body, the body conceals [G‑dliness] from it, so that the world and all that fills it seems to be an independent existence, a thing separate unto itself, and it does not see the nullification of all the worlds before the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which constantly gives them life and brings them into being.
Once the soul is in a physical body, the body hides G‑dliness from it: the world seems to exist on its own, and the soul no longer sees that all the worlds are nothing before the Infinite Light that constantly gives them life and being. This is the model for what happened to the sparks.
The paragraph poses the question of the staff and the serpent and lays the groundwork: at the Exodus the Jewish people gathered every spark of holiness that had fallen into Egypt in the breaking of the vessels. The soul’s descent into a body, which hides G‑dliness from it, illustrates what happened to those sparks.
The Rebbe’s note, quoted by Kehot, cites the Zohar’s reading of “before Whom I stood”: it does not say “before Whom I stand,” because souls stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, before they come down into the world (Zohar 3:68b; 1:233b). According to the Kehot note, another transcript of this maamar (Sefer HaMaamarim 5565) begins the analogy with the soul already clothed in the body and only then turns to its state before it came.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויאמר . . קח את מטך · הנחה אחרת בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קפח. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. המאמר עם הגהות וקיצורים באוה״ת כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תרו.
- 2
- 3ויבלע מטה אהרן את מטתם · Exodus 7:12
- 4וינצלו את מצרים · Exodus 12:36
- 5
- 6ולא השאירו שם אפי׳ נצוץ א׳ · בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קפח מבאר כאן בענין רד״ו שנה.
- 7על דרך משל בנשמת האדם · בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קפח ”המלובש׳ בגוף החומרי המחשיך עלי׳ להיות נדמה העולם ליש ודבר נפרד בפ״ע ואין מרגשת בחי׳ הביטול של כל העולמות לגבי א״ס ב״ה ואף שקודם בואה. . .”
- 8חי ה׳ אשר עמדתי לפניו · II Kings 5:16
- 9חי ה׳ אשר עמדתי לפניו · Zohar, Vayechi 48:495–51:505
2וכך עד״מ הוא ענין שבה״כ שנפלו הנצוצין דתהו ונתלבשו בקליפות דבי״ע שהקליפות מחשיכות על הנצוצות ומסתירים אותם
So too, by way of analogy, is the matter of the breaking of the vessels, in which the sparks of Tohu fell and were clothed in the kelipos (husks) of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, so that the kelipos cast darkness over the sparks and conceal them
The breaking of the vessels works like the soul’s descent into a body. The sparks of Tohu fell and were wrapped in the kelipos of the lower worlds, and the kelipos cover them over and darken them.
מכל צד שלא ירגישו גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה עד שיוכלו להיות יש ודבר בפ״ע וכמאמ׳ פרעה לי יאורי ואני עשיתיני1 רק דקרו ליה2 אלהא דאלהיא.3
on every side, so that they do not sense the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, until they can be an independent existence, a thing unto itself, as in Pharaoh’s saying, “My river is mine, and I have made myself,” except that they call Him “the G‑d of gods.”
Hidden on every side, the sparks no longer sense the Infinite Light, to the point that they can become a separate “something,” an existence of their own. This is Pharaoh’s boast, “My river is mine, and I have made myself”; at most such powers grant G‑d the title “the G‑d of gods,” the highest of many, not the only true existence.
The analogy of the soul is applied to the sparks: as the body hides G‑dliness from the soul, the kelipos hide the Infinite Light from the sparks within them. That concealment is what lets kelipah feel independent, like Pharaoh saying “I have made myself.”
In the Gemara the phrase “they call Him the G‑d of gods” explains why G‑d’s Name is called great among the nations: even those who serve other powers acknowledge Him as supreme over them. Applied to kelipah, it describes a power that concedes G‑d’s supremacy yet still regards itself as a power in its own right.
Marei mekomos
- 1לי יאורי ואני עשיתיני · Ezekiel 29:3
- 2דקרו לי׳ אלקא דאלקיא · Menachot 110a:5–6
- 3וכמאמר פרעה · וכ״ה בלקו״ת שה״ש כ רע״א. ועוד. וראה בלקו״ש חכ״א ע׳ 40 הערה 33.
3ואף שקודם השבירה היו הנצוצי׳ בטלים ומיוחדים בא״ס ב״ה מפני שאז היה מתגלה אוא״ס בהם בגילוי ויחוד גמור
And although before the breaking the sparks were nullified and united with the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, because then the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) was revealed in them openly, in complete union,
Before the breaking, the sparks were openly united with G‑d: the Infinite Light shone in them without any concealment, so they were wholly nullified to Him.
אבל לאחר השבירה שירדו הנצוצין ונתלבשו בתוך הקליפות שהם מלבישים אותם ומסתירים הגילוי אלקות כמשל הגוף שמסתיר ומחשיך לגבי הנשמה כנ״ל. לכך אינם יכולים להיות בבחי׳ בטול כמו שהיו תחלה.
yet after the breaking, when the sparks descended and were clothed within the kelipos (husks), which clothe them and conceal the revelation of G‑dliness, as in the analogy of the body, which conceals and darkens [G‑dliness] from the soul, as mentioned above, therefore they cannot be in a state of self-nullification (bittul) as they were at first.
After the breaking they are wrapped in kelipos that hide G‑dliness from them, as the body hides it from the soul. That is why they can no longer stand in the self-nullification they had before.
The paragraph contrasts the sparks before and after the breaking: once revealed in and united with the Infinite One, they are now hidden within kelipos and so can no longer be nullified to Him as they were.
4ולכך נק׳ בשם קליפות שהם כמשל הקליפה שהיא חופפת ומקפת על הפרי הכנוס בתוכה ומסתרת אותה כמשל קליפת האגוז. ואין תרופה להוציא הפרי כ״א ע״י שבירת הקליפה.
This is why they are called by the name kelipos (husks): they are like a husk that covers and surrounds the fruit enclosed within it and hides it, like the shell of a nut. And there is no remedy for getting the fruit out except by breaking the shell.
The name kelipah, “husk” or “shell,” describes what these forces do: like the shell of a nut around its fruit, they surround what is inside and hide it. The only way to reach the fruit is to break the shell.
וכך כדי להוציא נצוצי הקדושה מהקליפות המסתירים עליהם היה צ״ל שבירת הקליפות וזה היה ענין אותות ומופתים ומכות שבמצרים כדלקמן אי״ה:1
So too, in order to extract the sparks of holiness from the kelipos that conceal them, there had to be a breaking of the kelipos; and this was the meaning of the signs, the wonders and the plagues in Egypt, as will be explained below, G‑d willing.
So too, freeing the holy sparks required breaking the kelipos that hid them. The Alter Rebbe says that this is what the signs, wonders and plagues in Egypt were, and promises to explain it further on.
The paragraph explains the term kelipah through the image of a nutshell and draws the conclusion: the sparks could be freed only by breaking the kelipos, and that is what the wonders and plagues of Egypt did.
Marei mekomos
- 1
The river of Eden ¶5–6
Now, it is written, “A river goes out from Eden,” etc., “and from there it divides and becomes four heads. The name of the first is Pishon,” etc.
The Alter Rebbe turns to the Torah’s description of Eden: a single river goes out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides into four “heads,” the first of which is Pishon. He will use it to explain why so many sparks fell into Egypt.
ופי׳ נהר היוצא מעדן היא המשכה והארה הנמשכת מח״ע דאצי׳3 שבה מלובש אור א״ס ב״ה.
The meaning of “the river that goes out from Eden” is the drawing-forth and illumination that is drawn from the Supernal Chochmah (wisdom) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation), in which the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is clothed.
The river is the flow of light from the Supernal Chochmah, the divine wisdom of Atzilus, in which the Infinite Light itself is clothed. “Eden,” the river’s source, thus stands for Chochmah.
ובה ועל ידה נמשך אור א״ס ב״ה בכל האצילות ונמשך עד בחי׳ מל׳ דאצי׳ הנק׳ גן.
In it and through it the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn into all of Atzilus, and it is drawn down to the level of Malchus (sovereignty) of Atzilus, which is called “the garden.”
Through Chochmah the Infinite Light spreads through all of Atzilus and reaches its last level, Malchus, which is called “the garden.”
וזהו להשקות את הגן. ושם באצי׳ איהו וגרמוהי חד בהון.4 ולכן הנהר אחד שהוא עולם האחדות.
This is [the meaning of] “to water the garden.” And there, in Atzilus, “He and His causations are one in them.” Therefore the river is one, it being the world of oneness.
This is the verse’s “to water the garden.” In Atzilus G‑d is one with His attributes, as the Tikkunei Zohar says, “He and His causations are one in them,” so the river there is still one: Atzilus is the world of oneness.
וכיון שהגיע לראש הבריאה אזי משם יפרד בבחי׳ פירוד והתחלקות לד׳ נהרות שהוא תחלת ההתחלקות.
But once it reaches the head of the World of Beriah (Creation), then “from there it divides,” in a state of separation and division, into four rivers, for that is the beginning of division.
Only when the flow reaches the head of Beriah, the first world of separate existence, does it divide into four rivers. Beriah is where division begins.
The paragraph reads the river of Eden as the flow of divine light: one and undivided in Atzilus, it divides into four rivers only on entering Beriah, where separate existence begins.
According to the Kehot note, the other transcript of this maamar (Sefer HaMaamarim 5565) identifies the four heads, the four rivers, with the four exiles. The Tzemach Tzedek’s Or HaTorah on Nach cites this passage and connects it with the Tikkunei Zohar on Metatron and “the river Kevar.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ונהר יוצא מעדן · Genesis 2:10
- 2שם האחד פישון · Genesis 2:11
- 3ונהר יוצא מעדן . . היא המשכה והארה הנמשכת מח״ע דאצי׳ · באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ שצא מציין לכאן ”ועיין בתו״א פ׳ וארא בד״ה . . בענין נהר היוצא מעדן מאצי׳ איך שבבי״ע נפרד לד׳ ראשים שהם מצרים ובבל כו׳, וזה ע״ד דפי׳ בת״ז בהקדמה דף ז׳ סע״א מט״ט בדיוקנא דצדיק יסוד עלמא כו׳ והאי איהו על נהר כבר מאי כבר דא מט״ט דאיהו רכב לעמודא דאמצעיתא כו׳”.
- 4איהו וגרמוהי חד בהון · Tikkunei Zohar 3b:9–10
6והנה כמשל הנהרות שאין נהר א׳ דומה לחבירו לא במהותו שזהו מים מתוקין וצלולין והשני אינו כן.
Now, as in the analogy of rivers, where one river is not like another, neither in its nature, for this one is sweet, clear water and the other is not so,
Rivers in this world differ in their very nature: one carries sweet, clear water, another does not.
ולא בגודלו שזה נמשך מאתים פרסאות והשני נמשך מאה וכה״ג. כך אין דומים הנהרות עליונות זה לזה
nor in its size, for this one extends two hundred parasangs and the other extends a hundred, and the like, so too the supernal rivers are not like one another:
They differ in size too, one running two hundred parasangs and another a hundred. So too the supernal rivers that branch from the one river of Atzilus are not alike.
דהיינו פישון נילוס שר של מצרים נמשכו ונפלו בו נצוצים רבים מעולם התהו יותר ממה שנפלו לבבל כו׳:1
that is, Pishon, the Nile, the prince of Egypt: many sparks from the World of Tohu were drawn and fell into it, more than fell into Babylon, etc.
Pishon is the Nile, which the Alter Rebbe calls the “prince” of Egypt, its ruling power. More sparks from the World of Tohu fell into it than fell to Babylon and the rest, which is why Egypt held so many sparks to be gathered at the Exodus.
Like rivers on earth, the four supernal rivers are not alike, and Pishon, the Nile of Egypt, received far more of the fallen sparks of Tohu than the others.
The Kehot note quotes Or HaTorah’s version of this passage: the other rivers differ too, and the length of each exile was measured by the number of its sparks. That is why the exile in Egypt had to last 210 years, the time in which all the sparks that had fallen there were gathered and refined.
Marei mekomos
- 1כך אין דומים הנהרות . . פישון נילוס . . יותר ממה שנפלו לבבל כו׳ · ”וכעד״ז שאר הנהרות אינם דומים זל״ז וכפי מספר הניצוצי׳ כך נמדד זמן הגלות, ולכך במצרים הי׳ צ״ל רד״ו שנה כדלעיל בענין וינצלו כו׳ שבמשך זמן זה ליקטו וביררו כל הניצוצים שנפלו בהם” — אוה״ת כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תרז.
“Egypt shall know” ¶7
7ועתה יובן ענין המופתים שהראה השי״ת למצרים. וכמ״ש וידעו מצרים כי אני1 ה׳. פי׳ וידעו הוא מלשון שבירה כמ״ש ויודע בם את אנשי סכות.2
Now the wonders that G‑d, may He be blessed, showed Egypt will be understood, as it is written, “And Egypt shall know that I am G‑d.” The meaning of “shall know” (veyadu) is an expression of breaking, as it is written, “and with them he thrashed (vayoda) the men of Sukkos.”
The verse says the wonders were so that “Egypt shall know that I am G‑d.” The Alter Rebbe reads “know” as “break,” citing Gideon, who took thorns and briers “and with them he thrashed (vayoda) the men of Sukkos”: there the verb of knowing plainly means breaking.
והענין כמבואר למעלה שכדי להוציא הנצוץ מן הקליפה המכסה עליה א״א להיות כ״א ע״י שבירת הקליפה וכמשל האגוז כו׳.
The explanation is as explained above: in order to extract the spark from the kelipah (husk) that covers it, it cannot be done except by breaking the kelipah, as in the analogy of the nut, etc.
As the analogy of the nut showed, a spark can be freed from the kelipah that covers it only by breaking that kelipah.
והענין שע״י שבירת הקליפה יוכל להיות גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה להנצוץ עד שיוכלל באלקותו ית׳ וזהו ענין סוס ורוכבו3 רמה.
The point is that through breaking the kelipah there can be a revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to the spark, until it is absorbed into His G‑dliness, may He be blessed. And this is the meaning of “the horse and its rider He has hurled.”
Once the kelipah is broken, the Infinite Light is revealed to the spark and the spark is absorbed back into G‑dliness. The Song at the Sea expresses this: “the horse and its rider He has hurled.”
פי׳ הרוכב הוא הקליפה הרוכב ומכסה על הנצוץ. וזהו ענין מרכבת פרעה4 כו׳ וע״י שבירתם נתגלו הנצוצות ונכללו בא״ס ב״ה
That is, the rider is the kelipah, which rides upon the spark and covers it. And this is the meaning of “Pharaoh’s chariots,” etc. And through their breaking the sparks were revealed and were absorbed into the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He.
The “rider” is the kelipah, sitting on the spark as a rider sits on a horse and covering it, and “Pharaoh’s chariots” mean the same. When they were broken at the sea, the sparks were revealed and absorbed into the Infinite One.
(ובזה יתורץ מ״ש בקי״ס וידעו מצרים כי אני ה׳. ולכאורה תמוה שהרי להלן כתיב לא נשאר בהם עד אחד.5
(With this we can resolve what is written at the Splitting of the Sea, “And Egypt shall know that I am G‑d.” At first glance this is puzzling, for further on it is written, “Not even one of them remained.”
A question in parentheses: at the Splitting of the Sea the Torah says “Egypt shall know that I am G‑d,” yet the Egyptians drowned and “not even one of them remained.” Who, then, was left to know?
אלא דפי׳ וידעו לשון שבירה כו׳. ועי״ז היה גילוי אוא״ס להנצוצין והם ידעו ידיעה ממש כי אני ה׳ ועמ״ש במ״א על קושיא זו).
Rather, the meaning of “shall know” is an expression of breaking, etc. Through this there was a revelation of the Infinite Light to the sparks, and they knew, with actual knowledge, that “I am G‑d.” And see what is explained elsewhere on this question.)
The answer is that “know” means breaking. When the Egyptian kelipos were broken, the Infinite Light was revealed to the sparks they had held, and it was the sparks that truly knew “I am G‑d”; the Alter Rebbe adds that the question is discussed elsewhere.
ועד״ז היה ענין העשר מכות בכדי לשבר הקליפות להוציא מהם הנצוצין. אבל ישראל עצמן לא היו צריכים למופתים כלל כי הם מאמינים בני מאמינים.6
In the same way, the Ten Plagues were in order to break the kelipos and extract the sparks from them. But the Jewish people themselves did not need wonders at all, for they are believers, the children of believers,
The Ten Plagues served the same purpose: to break the kelipos and release the sparks. The Jewish people, by contrast, needed no wonders in order to believe, for the Sages call them “believers, the children of believers.”
וכמ״ש ויאמן העם וישמעו7 כי פקד ה׳ כו׳ רק בשביל להוציא הנצוצות המובלעים תוך הקליפות ממש הוצרך להיות עשר מכות הנ״ל שזהו בשביל וידעו מצרים כו׳:
as it is written, “And the people believed, and they heard that G‑d had remembered,” etc. Only in order to extract the sparks swallowed up within the kelipos proper did there have to be the Ten Plagues mentioned above, which is for the sake of “And Egypt shall know,” etc.
The verse “and the people believed” shows that the Jewish people’s faith did not wait for the plagues. The plagues were needed only to free the sparks swallowed up within the kelipos of Egypt, and that is what “Egypt shall know” means.
The wonders and plagues are explained as the breaking of Egypt’s kelipos: “Egypt shall know” means “Egypt shall be broken,” so that the sparks inside are revealed and return to G‑d. The Jewish people, believers by nature, needed no wonders; the plagues were for the sparks.
The Gemara itself, in calling the Jewish people “believers, the children of believers,” proves “believers” from the verse “and the people believed,” the same verse the Alter Rebbe brings here. His answer about the sea also changes who it is that “knows”: not the drowned Egyptians but the sparks freed from them.
Marei mekomos
- 1וידעו מצרים כי אני ה׳ · Exodus 7:5
- 2ויודע בם את אנשי סוכות · Judges 8:16
- 3סוס ורוכבו · Exodus 15:1
- 4מרכבת פרעה · Exodus 15:4
- 5לא נשאר בהם עד אחד · Exodus 14:28
- 6מאמינים בני מאמינים · Shabbat 97a:4–5
- 7ויאמן העם וישמעו · Exodus 4:31
What the wonders showed ¶8–10
8ובזה יובן ענין המופת הראשון שהראה הש״י לפרעה שהוא ענין שנהפך המטה לנחש שזהו הקדמה לכל העשר מכות.
With this we will understand the first wonder that G‑d, may He be blessed, showed Pharaoh, namely the staff that turned into a snake, which is the prelude to all the Ten Plagues.
With this background the first wonder can be understood. The staff that turned into a snake came before all the Ten Plagues because it served as their introduction.
כי הנה ענין העשר מכות מבואר שהוא לשבר הקליפות שהם בחי׳ יש ודבר בפ״ע כמ״ש לי יאורי1 כו׳ רק דקרו ליה אלהא דאלהיא2 כנ״ל.
For, as has been explained, the Ten Plagues were to break the kelipos (husks), which are in the state of an independent existence, a thing unto itself, as it is written, “My river is mine,” etc., except that they call Him “the G‑d of gods,” as mentioned above.
The plagues were meant to break the kelipos, which feel themselves independent, as in Pharaoh’s “My river is mine,” granting G‑d no more than the title “the G‑d of gods.” The first wonder, as the following paragraphs explain, showed what lies behind that sense of independence.
The paragraph returns to the opening question: the staff that became a snake was the prelude to the plagues, whose purpose was to break the kelipos and their sense of independent existence.
Marei mekomos
- 1לי יאורי · Ezekiel 29:3
- 2דקרו ליה אלהא דאלהיא · Menachot 110a:5–6
9וענין המופתים הוא להראות להם איך שעם היותם בחי׳ קליפות וסט״א ממש אעפ״כ הם מקבלים חיות תמיד מקדושה בכל רגע ושבאמת אינם יש ודבר נפרד בפ״ע כדמיונם הכוזב
The purpose of the wonders is to show them how, although they are actual kelipos (husks) and the sitra achra (the other side), they nevertheless receive life-force from holiness constantly, at every moment, and that in truth they are not an independent existence, a thing separate unto itself, as they falsely imagine,
The wonders were meant to show the kelipos that even they, the realm opposed to holiness, receive their life from holiness at every moment. Their sense of being independent beings is a false imagining.
אלא שהם בטלים בתכלית לגבי אלקותו ית׳ רק שהחיות נמשך להם ע״י מסכים והשתלשלות מדרגות רבים ועצומים וגברו כ״כ הצמצומים וההסתרים עד שיוכלו לומר לי יאורי1 כו׳.
but rather they are utterly nullified before His G‑dliness, may He be blessed. It is only that the life-force is drawn to them through screens and a chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of many and immense levels, and the contractions (tzimtzumim) and concealments became so strong that they can say, “My river is mine,” etc.
In truth they are utterly nullified before G‑d. It is only because their life-force reaches them through screens and a long chain of descending levels, with the contractions and concealments grown so strong, that they can claim, “My river is mine.”
The paragraph states what the wonders were meant to show: kelipah lives from holiness at every moment and is truly nothing before G‑d. Its claim to independence comes only from the many screens and contractions through which its life-force descends.
Marei mekomos
- 1לי יאורי · Ezekiel 29:3
10ולכן בהגלות הארה רבה שלמעלה מן הצמצומים הם בטלים ומבוטלים וזה היה ענין המופתים כו׳.
Therefore, when a great illumination that is above the contractions (tzimtzumim) is revealed, they are nullified and rendered void; and this was the meaning of the wonders, etc.
Since the independence of the kelipos rests only on the contractions, a revelation of light from above the contractions makes them nothing. That is what the wonders did.
וע״ז היה מורה המופת הראשון בענין המטה שנהפך לנחש. פי׳ מטה הוא לשון המשכה והטייה.
And this is what the first wonder indicated, in the staff that turned into a snake. The meaning of “staff” (mateh) is an expression of drawing forth and inclining.
The first wonder pointed to all this. The Alter Rebbe explains the word mateh, “staff,” as meaning drawing forth and inclining, something stretched downward.
וכן שבט ג״כ לשון המשכה כמו כוכבא דשביט.1 דהיינו כל המשכת סדר ההשתלשלות דקדושה מריש כל דרגין עד סוף כל דרגין נק׳ מטה.
Likewise “rod” (shevet) is also an expression of drawing forth, as in kochva deshavit, a comet. That is, the entire drawing-forth of the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) of holiness, from the head of all levels to the end of all levels, is called “staff.”
The synonym shevet, “rod,” likewise means drawing forth, as in the Talmud’s term for a comet, kochva deshavit, a star drawn out in a long trail. So the “staff” stands for the whole chain of holy light drawn down from the highest level to the lowest.
A light from above the contractions nullifies the kelipos, and the first wonder pointed to this. The staff stands for the whole downward chain of holy light, from the highest level to the lowest.
Marei mekomos
- 1כוכבא דשביט · Berakhot 58b:11
Staff and serpent ¶11
11ותנין היא מקור הקליפות דמצרים כמ״ש התנים הגדול1 הרובץ בתוך יאוריו. והראו לו משה ואהרן איך שהמטה נהפך לנחש
And the serpent is the source of the kelipos (husks) of Egypt, as it is written, “the great serpent that lies in the midst of his rivers.” And Moshe and Aharon showed him how the staff turned into a snake,
The serpent is the source of Egypt’s kelipos, which Ezekiel calls “the great serpent that lies in the midst of his rivers,” Pharaoh with his Nile. Moshe and Aharon showed Pharaoh the staff turning into a snake.
דהיינו שמבחי׳ אור והמשכה דקדושה הנק׳ מטה נמשך החיות והקיום להתנין מקור הקליפות. וכמ״ש רגליה יורדות כו׳.2
that is, from the level of the light and drawing-forth of holiness that is called “staff,” the life-force and existence are drawn to the serpent, the source of the kelipos. As it is written, “Her feet go down,” etc.
This meant that the light of holiness drawn downward, the “staff,” is what gives life and existence to the serpent, the source of the kelipos. The verse “Her feet go down” is brought for the same point: holiness extends its lowest reach even to the realm opposed to it.
ומלכותו בכל3 משלה45 אלא שזהו ע״י השתלשלות וצמצוצים רבים כנ״ל עד שיוכל להיות נהפך ממטה לנחש (ועיין בתקוני זהר תקון כ״ב בענין פי׳ מטה)
And “His kingship rules over all.” Only, this is through the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) and many contractions (tzimtzumim), as mentioned above, until it can be turned from a staff into a snake (and see Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 22, on the meaning of “staff”),
G‑d’s “kingship rules over all,” the kelipos included, but only through a long chain of descent and many contractions; through them the staff can become a snake. The Alter Rebbe refers the reader to the Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 22, on the meaning of “staff.”
שע״י צמצומים רבים אלו מסתתר6 השפע מבחי׳ המטה כ״כ עד שיוכל להיות התהוות בחינת התנים הגדול הרובץ בתוך יאוריו ואומר לי יאורי כו׳ כנ״ל.
for through these many contractions the flow from the level of the staff is concealed so greatly that there can come into being “the great serpent that lies in the midst of his rivers,” which says, “My river is mine,” etc., as mentioned above.
The contractions hide the flow that comes from the staff so completely that a “great serpent” can come into being and declare, “My river is mine.”
ואח״כ הראו לו איך שהנחש נהפך למטה וגם ויבלע מטה אהרן את מטתם.7
Afterward they showed him how the snake turned into a staff, and also “Aharon’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”
Then the wonder was reversed: the snake became a staff, and Aharon’s staff swallowed the staffs of Pharaoh’s magicians.
היינו שחזר בחי׳ התנין להתבטל לגבי הקדושה האלקית כבראשונה (וזהו ענין העלאת הנצוצות הנ״ל) בזה הראו לפרעה ולמצרים אשר אינם יש ודבר בפ״ע.
That is, the level of the serpent returned to being nullified before G‑dly holiness, as at first (and this is the elevation of the sparks mentioned above). By this they showed Pharaoh and Egypt that they are not an independent existence, a thing unto itself,
This showed the serpent returning to nullification before holiness, as it had been at first; the Alter Rebbe notes that this is the elevation of the sparks spoken of at the start. It showed Pharaoh and Egypt that they have no independent existence.
כ״א בכל רגע נמשך להם החיות מאלקות אלא שהוא ית׳ אל מסתתר (וברצותו נהפך הנחש למטה והיו כלא היו הקליפות) ועד״ז היו כל המופתים להיות וידעו מצרים כי אני8 ה׳ כנ״ל:
but rather at every moment life-force is drawn to them from G‑dliness, only that He, may He be blessed, is “a G‑d Who hides Himself” (and when He wills, the snake turns into a staff, and the kelipos “are as though they had never been”). In this way were all the wonders, so that “Egypt shall know that I am G‑d,” as mentioned above.
Their life comes from G‑dliness at every moment; only, G‑d is “a G‑d Who hides Himself,” and when He wills, the snake becomes a staff and the kelipos are as though they had never been. All the wonders served this end, that “Egypt shall know that I am G‑d.”
The first wonder sums up the maamar: the staff becoming a snake shows that kelipah lives from holiness hidden by many contractions, and the snake becoming a staff again and swallowing the others shows kelipah returning to nullification when G‑d reveals Himself.
The two halves of the wonder mirror the two halves of the argument. Staff into serpent is the descent of life-force through many contractions until kelipah can claim independence; serpent back into staff, with Aharon’s staff swallowing the others, is the elevation of the sparks when a light from above the contractions is revealed.
Marei mekomos
- 1התנים הגדול · Ezekiel 29:3
- 2רגלי׳ יורדות כו׳ · Proverbs 5:5
- 3והיו כלא היו · Obadiah 1:16
- 4ומלכותו בכל משלה · Psalms 104:19
- 5ומלכותו בכל משלה · Psalms 103:19
- 6אל מסתתר · Isaiah 45:15
- 7ויבלע מטה אהרן את מטתם · Exodus 7:12
- 8וידעו מצרים כי אני ה׳ · Exodus 7:5
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
Questions for discussion
- The Alter Rebbe compares the sparks in the kelipos to a soul in a body. What does the body hide from the soul, and what do the kelipos hide from the sparks?
- How does reading “Egypt shall know” as “Egypt shall be broken” answer the question that “not even one of them remained”?
- If the Jewish people needed no wonders in order to believe, for whom were the plagues?
- What do the staff becoming a serpent, and the serpent becoming a staff again, each show about kelipah?
- According to the image of the four rivers, why did Egypt hold so many sparks, and what does that say about the Exodus?
Key terms in this maamar
- The sitra achra (the other side)סטרא אחרא
- The realm opposed to holiness.
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×1
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions.
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one.
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness. ×6
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight.
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d. ×1
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds.
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×4
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×3