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Torah Ohr · Parshas Vayeishev · Maamar 1

וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען

“And Yaakov settled in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan”

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The big idea

The soul comes down into the body like a merchant who parts with his silver and gold to earn far more: it gives up its open, natural love and awe, and gains the “desire of the heart,” a longing for G‑d beyond all understanding that only a soul in this world can reach.

The maamar in brief

The maamar asks why the verse says both “the land of his father’s sojournings” and “the land of Canaan,” and why the holy land is named after Canaan, Cham’s son, whom Noach cursed. Canaan in holiness is a merchant: like a trader who spends in order to profit, the Jewish people go into exile to raise the sparks of holiness, and each soul leaves its open love and awe (“silver and gold”) above and descends into a body. What it gains here is the desire of the heart (re’usa deliba): contemplating that G‑d is beyond every thought, the soul longs to dissolve into Him, a bond deeper than the love it had before, which was measured by its understanding. In exile this is found “from there,” by contemplating how even what defies G‑d lives from His will. The maamar then reads Yaakov as yud–akev, wisdom drawn down to the heel. “His father’s megurei” is the higher awe that holds supernal Chochmah through Torah study, the higher unity. “The land of Canaan” is the lower unity: drawing kindness into the world through the mitzvos, above all charity.

Outline

  1. The questions: the doubled land and the name CanaanWhy the verse names the land twice and why the holy land is called after Canaan; every figure has a holy counterpart, and Canaan in holiness means a merchant.¶1–2
  2. The merchant and the exileLike a merchant who spends to profit, the Community of Israel goes into exile to refine the sparks of holiness.¶3
  3. The soul’s silver and goldBefore its descent the soul had open love and awe; in the body they are hidden, so why descend? Because the Torah of this world is worth more.¶4–6
  4. The desire of the heartThrough the higher teshuvah the soul gains the desire of the heart, which comes from contemplating that G‑d is beyond all thought, higher than the love it had before.¶7–10
  5. Finding G‑d “from there” in exileIn Temple times revelation drew out this desire; in exile it comes from contemplating how even what opposes G‑d lives from His will, and how much more those who do His will.¶11–12
  6. The analogy completed: Cham and CanaanThe soul is the merchant; the heat of fiery love makes the holy Canaan, but the path begins with the lower awe that comes from G‑d’s kingship.¶13–14
  7. Calling in truthFeeling that stays in the mind fades; a call from the depth of the heart endures.¶15
  8. The two voices of YaakovYaakov is yud–akev; the heard voice of Torah rests only on one who first has the unheard voice of bittul, and then G‑d’s word speaks through him as a king.¶16–19
  9. The verse explained: two settlings“His father’s megurei” is the higher awe that holds supernal Chochmah, the higher unity; “the land of Canaan” is the lower unity, drawing Chesed into the world through the mitzvos and charity.¶20–22

Key concepts

the desire of the heart (re’usa deliba)רעותא דלבא
A longing for G‑d from the innermost point of the heart, born from knowing that He is beyond all understanding; it is above intellect and is reached only by a soul in a body.
Canaan in holiness: the merchantכנען – סוחר
The soul, like a trader, gives up its open love and awe in order to gain the far greater desire of the heart.
silver and goldכסף וזהב
Silver (from “longing”) is love and gold (from the north, the left) is awe: the soul’s natural, open love and awe before its descent.
the higher teshuvahתשובה עילאה
A return to G‑d from the depth of the heart, rooted above the world, which turns the heart from one extreme to the other.
yud–akevיו״ד עקב
The name Yaakov read as the yud of supernal Chochmah drawn down to the heel, the lowest level, in every world.
the voice heard and the voice not heardקלא דאשתמע וקלא דלא אשתמע
The heard voice is Torah, G‑d’s wisdom revealed; the unheard voice is the inner bittul and desire of the heart that must come first.
the higher and lower unityיחודא עילאה ויחודא תתאה
In the higher unity one is nullified to G‑d in Torah study; in the lower unity G‑d’s oneness is revealed in the world itself through the mitzvos and kindness.

For children · ages 9–13

The soul as a merchant

The big idea

The soul comes down into the body like a merchant who spends money to earn much more: here it gains a deep longing for G‑d that it could not reach above.

The verse says that Yaakov settled “in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.” Why does it name the land twice, and why is the holy land called after Canaan? The maamar explains that everything in the Torah also has a holy meaning, and in holiness “Canaan” means a merchant. A merchant gives away his silver and gold, not to lose them, but to earn far more. So too the soul. Before it came into the body, it loved G‑d naturally, like a flame that rises by itself. That love and awe are its “silver and gold,” and when it enters the body they become hidden. What does it gain? Here below it can reach the “desire of the heart,” a longing for G‑d that comes from knowing that He is far beyond anything we can understand. That longing is deeper than the love it had before. At the end, the maamar reads the verse’s two “lands” as two homes for G‑d’s light: when we first set ourselves aside and then learn Torah, His wisdom rests in us; and when we do mitzvos, especially charity, His kindness is drawn down into the world.

The mashal

A merchant lets his silver and gold go out of his hands, not to lose them, but to earn much more. So the soul lets its open love and awe become hidden when it comes into the body, and through its service here it gains something far greater.

Questions for the Shabbos table

  1. What does the soul give up when it comes into the body, and what does it gain?
  2. Why does the maamar say that “Canaan” in holiness means a merchant?
  3. What charity can you give this week to bring G‑d’s kindness into the world?

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 · 5

AI summaries Written by AI from each maamar and checked against it by a second AI reader; no person has reviewed them yet, so check the maamar itself before relying on a detail. See something to correct?

The Rebbe built these 3 maamarim (5727–5746) on the Alter Rebbe’s. Open one for a summary, for what it adds paragraph by paragraph, and its lesson. All of them, by parsha.

1.5727Opens from itד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו ש״פ וישב, כ״ף כסלו, ה׳תשכ״ז · תורת מנחם – ספר המאמרים תשכ״ז · עמ׳ קדThe Rebbe opens from the Alter Rebbe’s reading that Canaan means a merchant, who scatters money in order to profit: the soul likewise descends into a body and animal soul in order to rise higher than before. He then raises further…

The Rebbe opens and closes with the Alter Rebbe’s Vayeshev maamar (Canaan as merchant, megurei as storehouse and fear). The body of the maamar, however, repeats and expands his own maamar “Pada B’shalom” of Yud-Tes Kislev 5727, which builds on the Mitteler Rebbe’s Shaarei Teshuvah, “Pada B’shalom.”

Summary

The Rebbe opens from the Alter Rebbe’s reading that Canaan means a merchant, who scatters money in order to profit: the soul likewise descends into a body and animal soul in order to rise higher than before. He then raises further questions. First, Rashi says Eisav’s settlements were written briefly because they were not “hidden and important” (sefunim vachashuvim), and Yaakov’s at length. If so, why write Eisav’s at all, and what do “short way” and “long way” mean? Second, why does the verse say “He redeemed my soul in peace from the battle (kerav)” and not milchamah, the usual word for war? And why do the Midrash and the verse count eight kings of Edom, when the kings of tohu are seven, and why does Divrei HaYamim say “and he died” of Hadar too?

His explanation turns on Daas. The breaking of the vessels began with Daas, as Adam’s sin was with the Tree of Knowledge: it made physical taste and feeling something in its own right. This felt, outer Daas, with its cunning and its detail, causes the mixture of good and evil. But the inner Daas comes from Keser. It is the essential recognition of the Infinite that lies even beyond negative knowledge (“the ultimate knowledge is that we do not know You”), and it alone can decide and choose good. Hadar, who is Yesod drawing from Daas and Keser, did not break and is the root of tikkun. Refinement (birur) must come from below upward, through closeness (kerav), as in David’s wars, so that the lower being is itself transformed. This answers the questions. Eisav’s settlements are the kings of tohu, with few vessels, hence the “short way.” Their fallen sparks are the reason for the soul’s “trade.” “Megurei” is both the storehouse that gathers the scattered sparks and the awe of shame that comes from inner Daas. “Canaan” with its deceitful scales is the mixture of outer Daas, which must be turned into the Land of Israel.

What the Rebbe adds

  1. ¶3

    The Alter Rebbe gives the merchant analogy for the exile and the soul’s descent. The Rebbe names what the merchant’s “scattering” is invested in: the sparks of tohu that fell in the breaking of the vessels, for the soul itself needs no tikkun. In this way he ties the analogy to Rashi on Vayeshev. Eisav’s settlements are the seven kings of tohu, written briefly because tohu had few vessels for its lights. They are recorded as the preface to Yaakov’s settling, since their sparks are both the cause of the soul’s descent and the source of its profit.

    The Alter Rebbeכמו הסוחר שיפזר ממון כסף וזהב ומוציאם מרשותו כדי להרויח ולהשתכר

    The Rebbeוכל ענין המסחר (כנען) של ירידת הנשמה למטה הוא מצד הניצוצות דתהו שנפלו בשבה״כ

  2. ¶20

    The Alter Rebbe links the two meanings of megurei through “the fear of Havayah is His treasure,” with awe as the vessel for supernal Chochmah. The Rebbe gives each meaning new content. The storehouse is the gathering of sparks that were scattered like the separated letters of a word (ברוך). The awe, which he attributes to the Maggid, is the awe of shame born of recognizing what is beyond comprehension. He then shows how the two connect: that recognition brings about the choice of good, and that choice is what actually gathers the sparks.

    The Alter Rebbeומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳ הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר

    The Rebbeומצד הכרה זו נעשית הבחירה בטוב (כנ״ל), שעי״ז הוא עיקר אסיפת ובירור הניצוצות

  3. ¶1

    The Alter Rebbe reads “scales of deceit” in holiness, as the merchant’s clever gain (“your brother came with deceit”). The Rebbe adds a second side to the name Canaan. The deceit is the cunning of outer Daas, which mixes good with evil and is the cause of the breaking. Thus the land is called Canaan for the descent, and the purpose is to turn Canaan into the Land of Israel. This is a fuller answer to the opening question of why the holy land bears Canaan’s name.

    The Alter Rebbeצריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י בכל התורה ארץ כנען

    The Rebbeאך התכלית של ירידה זו היא לעשות מארץ כנען ארץ ישראל

  4. ¶9

    The Alter Rebbe says G‑d’s essence is grasped by no intellect, only by the desire of the heart. The Rebbe sets out the levels of knowing. Positive knowledge belongs to the light that fills the worlds, and negative knowledge to the light that encompasses them. Above even the encompassing light, even negation does not apply, and there the essence of the soul recognizes the Infinite, like a small child drawn to his father. This is the Daas Elokī rooted in Keser, which gives every Jew, even a simple one, the power to “choose life.”

    The Alter Rebbeואינו נתפס בתוך עלמין לא בבחי׳ ממלא ולא בבחי׳ סובב

    The Rebbeוהוא מה שעצם הנפש מכיר בעצמו א״ס

  5. ¶12

    The Alter Rebbe speaks of turning the heart from one extreme to the other. The Rebbe spells out how this transformation works. Refinement through light from above, like Shlomo and the Queen of Sheba, leaves the lower being unchanged once the light departs. Refinement through kerav, close engagement like David’s, unites the G‑dly soul with the animal soul, so that the animal soul’s own natural intellect becomes like Torah intellect. He associates this mode mainly with Torah study, as against prayer.

    The Alter Rebbeשיהפך לבו מן הקצה אל הקצה ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא

    The Rebbeשאין זה באופן שמתבטל ממציאותו, אלא שמציאות התחתון גופא נהפך לאלקות

The lesson

Every Jew, even one without deep understanding, has the G‑dly Daas to choose good. The soul’s work is to refine the world, with close-engagement birur especially associated with Torah, so that the animal soul and the world are themselves transformed into G‑dliness, not merely overpowered.

AI summary

The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)

2.5732Built on itד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו ש״פ וישב, מבה״ח טבת, ה׳תשל״ב · ספר המאמרים תשל״ב-ל״ג · עמ׳ 70The Rebbe opens with the questions the Alter Rebbe raises: why the verse says “land” twice, and why the Land of Israel is called “the land of Canaan.” He sharpens the second question in three ways. Canaan was presented in the earlier…

Summary

The Rebbe opens with the questions the Alter Rebbe raises: why the verse says “land” twice, and why the Land of Israel is called “the land of Canaan.” He sharpens the second question in three ways. Canaan was presented in the earlier parshiyos as something undesirable. A name in the holy tongue brings a thing into being, gives it life, and sustains it; the Maggid further explains that the name’s letters indicate the form of the light drawn down to give it life. The Rebbe then rhetorically asks why, when referring to another land in addition to the land of his father’s sojournings, the verse does not indicate which land in another way, instead of calling it ארץ כנען. And the Torah keeps the name “land of Canaan” even after Matan Torah and after the conquest, while the Torah is eternal. The Rebbe’s discussion thus treats the name as having enduring significance. He then restates the Alter Rebbe’s answer. “Vayeshev” means lowering. “Megurei” means a dwelling, a storehouse and fear, the higher awe. Canaan means a merchant: the soul descends into the body to trade and profit, rising above where it stood before. On “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver,” he stresses that this means the Torah as it has come down and been revealed below, not the Torah as it is above (“I was with Him as a nursling”).

He then ties this to his previous maamar, which spoke of two levels in Torah: Torah that is bound to G‑d (the Zohar’s “three bonds”) and Torah that is “entirely one” with G‑d. One might assign these to the revealed Torah and the inner Torah, with their sub-levels. He rejects this, because the Tanya explains “entirely one” mainly regarding revealed Torah as grasped by the intellect. So both aspects are present at every level of Torah study, even the smallest. The verse then reads: Yaakov is “I loved Yaakov,” above tohu and tikkun, so even being drawn into “his father’s megurei” is a descent for him. That level is the higher awe and mochin d’Abba, the inner Torah above hishtalshelus. How much more so is the descent to the land of Canaan, reaching the lowest level, in order to bring an ascent higher than before the descent. This is the maamar’s interpretation of the name’s enduring significance: the descent reaches the lowest level and brings an ascent higher than before the descent. He illustrates it with Yosef brought down “to Egypt,” lower still into prison, to refine what is lowest, and with the arrest and redemption of Yud-Tes Kislev, after which the spreading of the wellsprings began. Both lead toward the final redemption.

What the Rebbe adds

  1. ¶1

    The Alter Rebbe asks why the land is called Canaan, given its lineage from Cham. The Rebbe makes the question sharper. A name in the holy tongue brings a thing into being, gives it life, and sustains it; the Maggid further explains that the name’s letters indicate the form of the light drawn down to give it life. The Rebbe therefore asks rhetorically why the verse, when naming an additional land, does not indicate it in another way instead of saying "ארץ כנען.” The name also appears after Matan Torah and after the conquest, and the Torah is eternal. The maamar’s discussion thus treats the name as having enduring significance, not merely as a historical designation.

    The Alter Rebbeצריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י בכל התורה ארץ כנען

    The Rebbeמה שא״י נק׳ בשם ארץ כנען ה״ז ענין נצחי

  2. ¶6

    The Rebbe reads the words “Torah of Your mouth” precisely. The gain that outweighs the soul’s “gold and silver” is not the Torah as it is above (“I was with Him as a nursling”). It is the Torah as it came down into revelation, the supernal speech drawn into a person’s own mouth (“My tongue shall respond with Your word”).

    The Alter Rebbeשיש לי יתרון ומעלה בתורת פיך בעוה״ז

    The Rebbeאלא דוקא להתורה כמו שירדה למטה בגילוי דזהו״ע תורת פיך

  3. ¶17

    The Alter Rebbe describes Torah coming into revelation by being clothed in physical subjects. The Rebbe adds that Torah has two dimensions: being bound to G‑d, and being “entirely one” with Him. He argues these cannot be split into revealed versus inner Torah, or intellect versus delight, since the Tanya places “entirely one” mainly in revealed Torah as grasped by the mind. So both are present at every level, even in study done in utter smallness.

    The Alter Rebbeונמשכה לבחי׳ גילוי ע״י התלבשותה בדברים גשמיים

    The Rebbeשבכל המדרי׳ שבלימוד התורה ישנו הן ענין התורה המתקשרת בקוב״ה

  4. ¶21

    The Alter Rebbe identifies “his father’s megurei” as the higher awe that receives supernal Chochmah. The Rebbe identifies it as mochin d’Abba, the inner Torah above hishtalshelus. He adds that Yaakov’s root (“I loved Yaakov”) is above tohu and tikkun, so even this lofty level is already a descent, the first stage before the full descent into Canaan.

    The Alter Rebbeובחי׳ חכמה עילאה נק׳ אביו

    The Rebbeשהוא כללות מוחין דאבא (בחי׳ פנימיות התורה) שלמעלה מהשתלשלות הוא ג״כ ירידה

  5. ¶3

    The Rebbe explains why, when the Alter Rebbe interprets Canaan in holiness, he uses the verse “Canaan: in his hand are scales of deceit” and not “there shall no longer be a Canaanite.” It hints that the descent must reach the very lowest point, the “scales of deceit” themselves. Only through this does the ascent surpass the state before the descent.

    The Alter Rebbeוכתיב כנען בידו מאזני מרמה

    The Rebbeלפי שבא לרמז שצריך להיות הירידה עד למטה מטה בבחי׳ מאזני מרמה

The lesson

Taken together, the examples present descent as a merchant’s investment for ascent: Yosef’s descent to prison and the Alter Rebbe’s arrest are presented in the maamar as leading to subsequent elevation and redemption. The Rebbe also says that even Torah study in the utmost smallness has the connection expressed by "אותי אתם לוקחים".

AI summary

The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)

3.5746Built on itד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו ש״פ וישב, כ״ד כסלו ה׳תשמ״ו. הנחת הת׳ בלתי מוגה · ספר המאמרים תשמ״ו · עמ׳ סאThe Rebbe opens by referring to known discourses of the Rebbeim that raise this question. Since the earlier verses already show that “the land of his father’s sojournings” is the land of Canaan, why does the verse add “in the land of…

Summary

The Rebbe opens by referring to known discourses of the Rebbeim that raise this question. Since the earlier verses already show that “the land of his father’s sojournings” is the land of Canaan, why does the verse add “in the land of Canaan”? That title must add something. The question is sharpened by the fact that the Torah keeps calling the Land of Israel “Canaan” even after it became the Land of Israel, so the name Canaan must carry a merit even over the name “Eretz Yisrael.” The answer is that Canaan means a merchant. As the Sages say, one who buys and sells at the same price is not called a merchant. Commerce means giving away much in order to end up with more than one had, “one who scatters and yet gains more.” This is descent for the sake of ascent: the soul descends into the body so as to rise higher than where it began, for otherwise the descent would be needless.

“Land” denotes the lowest level. Even within "ארצות החיים" (the upper and lower lands), the service is in the lower land itself; the maamar then describes a further descent below even the lands of the living. Through that descent one reaches an ascent beyond the very categories of up and down, which is why the verse says “vayeshev,” settledness and rest. The Rebbe ties this to Chanukah (first the war, on the 24th of Kislev, then the festival of rest), to the “walking” of souls versus “standing before Me,” and to the times of ikvesa deMeshicha, the “heel” that is the lowest point yet leads to Moshiach, who is “very” (me’od) exalted, the general yechidah. There the aspect of memale kol almin in our present service is elevated into sovev kol almin in the future. The same pattern runs through the coming parshiyos: Yaakov’s settling after Lavan’s house, Mikeitz (keitz hayamin), Vayigash, and Vayechi, Yaakov’s best years in Egypt. The maamar closes with a prayer to reach the day that is all Shabbos.

What the Rebbe adds

  1. ¶1

    The Alter Rebbe asks why the Land of Israel is called Canaan, given Canaan’s lineage from Cham. The Rebbe sharpens the question: the name is used even after the land became Eretz Yisrael. He infers from this that “Canaan” holds a merit beyond the title “Land of Israel” itself, and this is what the doubled wording of the verse comes to add.

    The Alter Rebbeוביאור הענין צריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י בכל התורה ארץ כנען

    The Rebbeגם לאחרי שנעשית ארץ ישראל

  2. ¶3

    The Alter Rebbe’s merchant scatters in order to profit. The Rebbe defines that profit through the Talmudic rule “zavin vezavin tagra ikri?”: recovering what one spent is not trade. The ascent must therefore reach higher than the place from which the descent began, “for otherwise the descent would not have been needed.”

    The Alter Rebbeוכל עיקר כוונתו להיות מפזר ונוסף עוד

    The Rebbeשאם מוכר באותו מחיר שקנה לא נקרא זה בשם מסחר

  3. ¶1

    The Alter Rebbe speaks of two lands as vessels for supernal life, and he identifies Canaan as the lower land of malchus (¶22). The Rebbe reads “Canaan” as a descent below even the lands of the living. Because of that ultimate lowness, the resulting ascent is to a level above the very bounds of upper and lower, of ascent and descent.

    The Alter Rebbeשיש שני ארצות שהם ב׳ בחינת כלים להשראת חיים עליונים

    The Rebbeועד שיש ירידה לתחתון שאין למטה ממנו, למטה גם מבחי׳ ארצות החיים

  4. ¶20

    For the Alter Rebbe, “vayeshev” means Yaakov’s lowering and descent. The Rebbe reads the same word as the outcome of that descent: settledness and rest, a level above the movement of ascent and descent. He connects it to the rest of Chanukah after the war, and to “standing before Me” beyond “walking.”

    The Alter Rebbeוישב הוא ענין השפלה וירידה ממקום עמידתו

    The Rebbeוזהו ענין וישב יעקב גו׳, בחי׳ ישיבה והתיישבות ומנוחה

The lesson

As an application of the maamar’s descent-ascent theme, the descent and struggle of ikvesa deMeshicha point toward an ascent beyond all levels. The closing Erev-Shabbos analogy can be applied as an invitation to taste, already now and with joy, the coming day that is all Shabbos and rest.

AI summary

The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)

With the same ד״ה

These 2 maamarim of the Rebbe open with the same words as this one (5712–5722): where each is printed, and the full text free at Lahak.

1.5712ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו ש״פ וישב, כ״ג כסלו, מבה״ח טבת, ה׳תשי״ב · תורת מנחם – ספר המאמרים תשי״א-תשי״ב · עמ׳ קפדBuilt on the Rebbe Rashab’s ד״ה וישב יעקב תרנ״ו

The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)

AI summary Written by Claude Opus 5.5 reading each of the Rebbe’s maamarim, from the scan corrected by AI, beside the Alter Rebbe’s maamar and our translation; not yet reviewed by a human editor: check the maamar itself before relying on a detail. The Hebrew words are quoted exactly. The full text of the Rebbe’s maamarim is published by Vaad Hanochos B’Lahak, free to read and print on lahak.org, and in print by Kehot. This page gives only short summaries and brief quotes.

In the Rebbe’s light · 14

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 often to this maamar’s distinction in ¶19: in the mitzvos a person is „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“like a servant”), but in Torah learned in bittul „היא המדברת מתוך גרונו” (“the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat”), and the learner is the “king.” He gives it several reasons: the soul’s root before it was breathed into man (Shabbos Re’eh 5730), the higher and lower Havayah (the Hadran on the Rambam, 5748), and the difference between a command and G‑d’s own wisdom (15 Shevat 5731). He also draws its results: „ממזר ת״ח קודם לכהן גדול ע״ה” (a scholar precedes an ignorant High Priest, Naso 5735), and a ruling of Torah „נעשה כן ממילא” (takes effect of itself) (Lag BaOmer 5722). In his maamarim Pada B’shalom and Shalom Rav of Kislev 5738 he sets the maamar’s reading of megurei beside the Maggid’s, calling its awe first „ביטול דעבד” (a servant’s bittul) and then „הביטול דבן” (a son’s). On Shabbos Vayeishev 5722 he notes that it reads the two lands higher than the Maggid, as the higher and lower unity („יחו״ע ויחו״ת”); in 5748 he reads its holy „מרמה” (“deceit”) as gain that comes unknowingly; and in a Reshimah of 5693 he cites its “from there” (¶11) as naming the other side. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) the thread is a descent that wins a deeper bittul: the soul goes down to trade, and brings back a self through which G‑d’s word can speak.

Paragraph by paragraph

  1. ¶1

    The Rebbe explains

    In a sicha of Shabbos Vayeishev, Erev Chanukah 5722, on why the Rambam praises peace in the laws of Chanukah, the Rebbe says Chanukah joins the service of tzaddikim with the service of baalei teshuvah, and in a note shows the same pair in the opening verse of the parsha.

    In an edited note the Rebbe brings the Maggid of Mezritch’s reading of the doubled “land”: „בארץ מגורי אביו” (“the land of his father’s megurei”) is one who, though in the earthiness of this world, stays in the fear of his Father in heaven, and “the land of Canaan” is one who lives even among the wicked, the land of „מאזני מרמה” (“scales of deceit”), and does not learn from their deeds. So the two lands are the service of tzaddikim and the service of teshuvah, both in one verse. He adds that Torah Ohr reads the same two lands „בדרגא נעלית יותר” (“on a higher level”), as „יחו״ע ויחו״ת” (the higher unity and the lower unity), with which this maamar ends (¶22).

    The Alter Rebbeשיש שני ארצות שהם ב׳ בחינת כלים להשראת חיים עליונים

    The Rebbeועד״ז פירש גם בתו״א שם, שיש שני ארצות, אלא שבתו״א מבאר בדרגא נעלית יותר: יחו״ע ויחו״ת

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. ג, p. 812, note 9 · ש״פ וישב, ערב חנוכה, ה׳תשכ״ב

  2. ¶3

    The Rebbe explains

    At the farbrengen of Shabbos Chukas, 10 Tammuz 5748, a note to the sicha (note 70, p. 568) says that the Land of Israel is still called „ארץ כנען” (“the land of Canaan”) after its conquest because its holiness comes also through the work of “Canaan,” the merchant, the refining of what is lowest (citing this maamar); in the supplements printed from the unedited transcript the Rebbe adds why that work is called “deceit.”

    The Rebbe says that the refining of “Canaan” is done by way of “deceit,” a holy deceit, the „מאזני מרמה” (“scales of deceit”) of the verse with which this paragraph opens; in the Toras Menachem transcript he also quotes the paragraph’s own words, that the Community of Israel in exile is likened to the merchant, „כדכתיב בא אחיך במרמה ויקח ברכתך” (“as it is written, ‘your brother came with deceit.’”) He suggests that this “deceit” is „שנעשה שלא בידיעתו” (what is done without the person’s knowing), like „מצות שכחה” (the mitzvah of the forgotten sheaf), which can only be kept unawares, or the honor that pursues „הבורח מן הכבוד” (one who flees from it). Read so, the holy merchant’s “deceit” is a gain that comes to him without his knowing.

    The Alter Rebbeכך הנה מקור נשמת ישראל שהוא בחי׳ כנ״י נמשלה בגלות לסוחר זה כדכתיב בא אחיך במרמה ויקח ברכתך

    The Rebbeוי״ל, שענין ה״מרמה”, שנעשה שלא בידיעתו כו׳, הוא ע״ד המבואר במק״א במעלת המצוות שנעשים דוקא שלא בידיעתו, כמו מצות שכחה

    Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5748, vol. ג, p. 570 · ש״פ חוקת, י׳ תמוז, ה׳תשמ״ח (השלמות לשיחות, בלתי מוגה)

  3. ¶7

    The Rebbe explains

    In dibbur hamaschil Pada B’shalom, said at the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738, the Maggid’s yahrzeit (edited; published for 19 Kislev 5747), bringing the Maggid’s two readings of „וישב יעקב” (“Vayeishev Yaakov”), the Rebbe first sets out the ascent the soul itself makes by its descent.

    Summing up this maamar together with the Tzemach Tzedek’s glosses on it, the Rebbe writes that when the soul overcomes the concealment of the body and of exile and stirs itself to love and awe, „גם האהבה ויראה גופא הם נעלים יותר מהאהבה ויראה שקודם ירידתה” (even that love and awe are higher than the love and awe it had before its descent). His note cites Or HaTorah, where this advantage is likened to that of baalei teshuvah over complete tzaddikim, the theme of „יפה שעה אחת בתשובה” (“better is one hour in teshuvah”) with which this paragraph opens. So in his reading the descent is not only a loss in the soul’s natural love and awe made good by „רעותא דלבא” (the desire of the heart): the love and awe themselves come out higher.

    The Alter Rebbeונמצא שאע״פ שיש לה גרעון באהבה ויראה טבעי׳ שבחיצונית הלב הגלוים מ״מ יהיה לה יתרון בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא

    The Rebbeדע״י שהנשמה מתגברת על ההעלמות וההסתרים דהגוף וזמן הגלות ומתעוררת באהבה ויראה, גם האהבה ויראה גופא הם נעלים יותר מהאהבה ויראה שקודם ירידתה

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. ט (§7, notes 71–72) · י״ט כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח

  4. ¶11

    Background from the Rebbe

    In his notes for a talk at the Simchas Beis HaShoeivah of 5693 in the yeshiva hall in Riga (of which, the first printing says, only part was said), the Rebbe reads the Mishnah of one buried under a fallen ruin on Shabbos as the state of a person busy with the world, and comes to its words “in doubt whether he is there.”

    In notes on the Mishnah’s ruling that on Shabbos a fallen ruin is cleared off a person even “in doubt whether he is there,” the Rebbe remarks that the word “there” (sham) denotes the other side: holiness is “this” (zeh), revelation and light, which is not so with kelipah. “As is known,” he writes, this is the language of the verse „ובקשתם משם את ה׳ אלקיך” (“from there you will seek Havayah your G‑d”), and of „ואותנו הוציא משם” (“and us He brought out from there”) and “they called Pharaoh there,” and for it he cites Likkutei Torah (Ani L’Dodi) and Torah Ohr dibbur hamaschil Vayeishev. So he reads this paragraph’s „משם דייקא” (“from there specifically”) as naming the place of the other side itself.

    The Alter Rebbeאך בזמן הגלות הנה כתיב ובקשתם משם את ה׳ אלקיך ומצאת וגו׳ משם דייקא

    The Rebbeוזהו ג״כ דיוק הל׳ ”שם” שמורה על הסט״א, כי סטרא דקדושה הוא זה, גילוי ואור, משא״כ קליפה, וכידוע שזהו ל׳ הכתוב ובקשתם משם את ד״א

    Reshimos (second edition), vol. טו–מה, p. 11 (second edition, vol. 15–45; first printing: booklet 15, p. 50) · שמחת ביה״ש צ״ג ריגא. באולם הישיבה. (מקצתו)

  5. ¶18

    The Rebbe explains

    In a sicha of Motzaei Shabbos 10 Shevat 5721 on “do not make with Me gods of silver…” at the end of Yisro, where the Alter Rebbe read the first command given after Matan Torah as a command of bittul, the Rebbe distinguishes two kinds of bittul.

    The Rebbe compares the bittul of keeping a mitzvah, „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“like a servant who carries out the king’s commands”), with the bittul of Torah study, where the words a person speaks are G‑d’s own word, as this maamar explains. He adds that the person’s own humbling („ונפשי כעפר לכל תהי׳”, “let my soul be as dust to all,” then „פתח לבי בתורתך”, “open my heart to Your Torah”) „אינה אלא הכנה וכלי” (is only the preparation and the vessel); the bittul of „ואשים דברי בפיך” (“I have put My words in your mouth”) comes from the Torah itself. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is the order of ¶18–19: the bittul this paragraph requires „תחלה” (“first”) makes a person a vessel, and the bittul in which G‑d’s word speaks through him is the Torah’s doing.

    The Alter Rebbeאך כדי שיהיה האדם כלי ומכון שיהיה חכמה עילאה שורה ומתגלה בו בעסק התורה צריך להיות תחלה בבחי׳ בטול

    The Rebbeהרי עבודת האדם בזה אינה אלא הכנה וכלי . . אבל הביטול באופן ד„ואשים דברי בפיך” נמשך מצד התורה עצמה

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. לו, p. 99 (Yisro, the sicha from p. 96) · מוצש״ק, י׳ שבט תשכ״א

  6. ¶19

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In a sicha of Shabbos Re’eh 5730 on Iggeres HaTeshuvah ch. 4, which opens from his father’s note on its words “to explain well, at length,” the Rebbe asks why the Alter Rebbe needs the Zohar’s lower („תשובה תתאה”) and higher teshuvah („תשובה עילאה”) to explain the mitzvah of teshuvah itself, even its beginning, and to answer it explains why lower teshuvah is tied to keeping the mitzvos and higher teshuvah to Torah study.

    The Rebbe gives what he calls one of the explanations, from this paragraph. In keeping mitzvos the bittul is that of one who obeys, „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“like a servant who carries out the king’s commands”); in Torah study “the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat,” so „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis”): his very existence is the “king.” That bittul, he suggests, comes from the root of the soul as it was „בטרם שנפחה” (“before it was breathed”) into man, when it was wholly one with G‑d, while the soul after its descent can only be a being nullified before Him, as a servant before a king. So lower teshuvah belongs to the mitzvos and higher teshuvah to Torah.

    The Alter Rebbeואינו בבחי׳ עבד כ״א בעשיית המצות שהוא כעבד המקיים מצות המלך ועושה דבריו

    The Rebbeויש לומר, אַז דער ביטול (בעסק התורה) נעמט זיך פון דעם שרש הנשמה ווי זי איז געווען „בטרם שנפחה כו׳”

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. יט, p. 401–402 (Biurim l’Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 4, pp. 399–407; the quote on p. 402, notes 18–19 on p. 401) · ש״פ ראה, תש״ל

  7. ¶19

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In the Hadran on the Rambam of Shabbos Va’era 5748, on the completion of the fourth cycle of Mishneh Torah, explaining that the Torah’s laws, as commands for life in the world, have the person and the world “felt” in them, the Rebbe adds a footnote on why mitzvos and Torah differ.

    In a footnote the Rebbe suggests (“it may be said”) that this is also the reason for the difference drawn in this paragraph, that one who keeps mitzvos remains a being “like a servant who carries out the king’s commands,” while in Torah study “the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat”: in the mitzvos „הוי׳ דלתתא” (the “lower Havayah”) is revealed, which „שנותן מקום” (“gives room”) to the world, while in Torah „הוי׳ דלעילא” (the “higher Havayah”) is revealed, „שעי״ז נעשה ביטול העולם” (before which the world is nullified). He then limits it: the difference holds for the mitzvos as they came down as commands to man; as they are within the Torah, the mitzvos too are Torah.

    The Alter Rebbeכי דבר ה׳ זו הלכה היא היא הנגלית בו והיא המדברת מתוך גרונו

    The Rebbeכי, במצוות מתגלה הוי׳ דלתתא ”שנותן מקום” לעולם, משא״כ בתורה מתגלה הוי׳ דלעילא שעי״ז נעשה ביטול העולם

    Hadran on the Rambam (completing the fourth cycle, 5748), in Likkutei Sichos – Geulah uMoshiach, Hosafos, p. 55, note 80* (also Yein Malchus vol. 3 p. תז) · ש״פ וארא, מבה״ח שבט, ה׳תשמ״ח

  8. ¶19

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In dibbur hamaschil Arba’ah Roshei Shanim Hem of 15 Shevat 5731 (edited), explaining why the Jewish people are likened to grain for their mitzvos and to a tree for their Torah study, the Rebbe sets out how mitzvos and Torah differ.

    The Rebbe explains that mitzvos are commands to a person, which already grants him a place as a being, so he keeps them with the bittul of kabbalas ol, „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“as a servant who carries out the king’s command”); but Torah is G‑d’s own wisdom, „אין שם נתינת מקום למציאות שחוץ ממנו” (where there is no room for any existence outside Him), „גם לא למציאות דעבד” (“not even the existence of a servant.”) That is why „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis”): when G‑d’s word speaks through them their bittul is above even a servant’s, until their whole existence is the King himself. For one not at that level, he adds, the stress in Torah study is not self-effacement but that his own understanding become one with the Torah.

    The Alter Rebbeכי להיותו בביטול אל דבר ה׳ ורצונו וחכמתו ואינו תופס מקום מצד עצמו כלל

    The Rebbeובתורה שהיא חכמתו של הקב״ה, אין שם נתינת מקום למציאות שחוץ ממנו, גם לא למציאות דעבד

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ה, p. קעב (§5) · יום ד׳, ט״ו בשבט, ה׳תשל״א

  9. ¶19

    The Rebbe explains

    In a sicha of Shabbos Naso 5735, asking why the Rambam gives „ממזר ת״ח קודם לכהן גדול ע״ה” (“a mamzer who is a Torah scholar precedes an ignorant High Priest”) as a law of its own, the Rebbe distinguishes two levels in „כתר תורה” (“the crown of Torah.”)

    The Rebbe explains that Torah raises a person in two ways: as the loftiest of lofty things, of one kind with the crowns of priesthood and kingship but higher, and beyond all comparison, „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis.”) For the second he quotes this paragraph: one who keeps the mitzvos is like a servant, but in Torah learned in bittul the words he speaks are G‑d’s word, so „שהרוממות והמלכות אינן שלו” (“the exaltation and the kingship are not his”) „אלא של התורה עצמה” (but the Torah’s own), revealed through him.” That is why a mamzer scholar precedes a High Priest who enters the Holy of Holies: the High Priest comes close to the King as a servant or minister, while one who learns in bittul is the “king.”

    The Alter Rebbeולכן נאמר על התורה בי מלכים ימלוכו. ואמרינן מאן מלכי רבנן

    The Rebbeוזהו שלימות הענין ד„כתר תורה”, שהרוממות וה„מלכות” אינן שלו, אלא של התורה עצמה (המתגלית על ידו)

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. לג, p. 43–46 (Naso, the sicha pp. 42–49) · ש״פ נשא, תשל״ה

  10. ¶19

    The Rebbe explains

    In dibbur hamaschil Shir HaMaalos LeDavid Hinei Mah Tov of Lag BaOmer 5722 (edited), asking how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai brought rain by saying a teaching when others needed added blessings, fasts and prayer, the Rebbe explains how Torah changes the world.

    The Rebbe brings “the known teaching” on „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis”): because the Sages’ Torah study is in bittul, their rulings are „שהמלך עצמו (מלך מלכי המלכים הקב״ה) גוזר ואומר את הפסק דין” (the King himself decreeing the law), and since it is the King’s decree, „נעשה כן ממילא” (it takes effect of itself). So a ruling of Torah changes the world even beyond its root, as when the court intercalates the year, and as Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair commanded the river to split: it has the advantage of prayer, which brings something new, and of blessing, which works by command.

    The Alter Rebbeהנה דבר המלך הוא השלטון והוא בחי׳ מלך שגוזר ואומר שאם יטעון ראובן כך כו׳ יהיה כך

    The Rebbeהרי הפסקי דינים שלהם הוא שהמלך עצמו (מלך מלכי המלכים הקב״ה) גוזר ואומר את הפסק דין, וכיון שזהו גזירת המלך, נעשה כן ממילא

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ד, p. רנג (§4, note 24) · ל״ג בעומר, ה׳תשכ״ב

  11. ¶20

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In dibbur hamaschil Pada B’shalom, said at the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738, the Maggid’s yahrzeit (edited), the Rebbe brings the Maggid’s teaching on this verse, which reads megurei first as „יראת אביו שבשמים” (fear of his Father in heaven) and then as “gathering” (as in “he gathers in summer”) the sparks of holiness, and asks how the two connect.

    The Rebbe says the two meanings of megurei are linked, as this paragraph says „ושניהם עולים בקנה אחד” (they “go together”), even by the Maggid’s reading, for whom the storehouse is the gathering of sparks: the gathering („מגורי לשון אסיפה”) and raising of the sparks is completed through the service of fear, „ביטול דעבד” (“the bittul of a servant”), whose whole intent is not for himself, not even to cleave to G‑d, but only „לשמש את קונו” (to serve his Master) and make Him a dwelling below. Through that the refinement is complete.

    The Alter Rebbeוהב׳ הוא לשון אוצר כמו מגורה מלאה פירות שהוא כלי שאוצרין לתוכו

    The Rebbeדשלימות הבירור והעלאת הניצוצות (מגורי לשון אסיפה) הוא ע״י העבודה דיראה, ביטול דעבד, שכל כוונתו בעבודתו היא . . לשמש את קונו

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. ח–ט (§§7–8) · י״ט כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח

  12. ¶20

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In a Likkutei Sichos talk for Vayeishev, adapted from dibbur hamaschil Shalom Rav of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeishev 5738, on Rashi’s „ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה” (“Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility”) and on “great peace to those who love Your Torah,” the Rebbe brings both the Maggid’s and the Alter Rebbe’s readings of megurei.

    The Rebbe explains that the two readings complete each other. The Maggid says what Yaakov’s work was: he came down into earthiness to gather the sparks, work bound up with mitzvos clothed in physical things. The Alter Rebbe reads megurei as higher fear, a storehouse for supernal Chochmah, „ובחי׳ חכמה עילאה נק׳ אביו” (“his father”), and ties it to Torah study; by this he adds that the same work was done in utter bittul, „בדוגמת הביטול בעסק התורה” (like the bittul of Torah study), not as a servant who obeys but as one whose whole being is a „מרכבה” (“chariot”) for G‑d’s will.

    The Alter Rebbeושניהם עולים בקנה אחד כי יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו כתיב

    The Rebbeאון דער אַלטער רבי איז מוסיף אין דעם, אַז (אויך) די עבודה איז באַ אים געווען בתכלית הביטול, בדוגמת הביטול בעסק התורה

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 315–316 (Vayeishev, the sicha from p. 310, §§9–10) · ממאמר ד״ה שלום רב, מוצאי ש״פ וישב תשל״ח

  13. ¶21

    The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    Continuing dibbur hamaschil Shalom Rav of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeishev 5738 (edited), which opens from the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamar of this dibbur hamaschil (5704), after quoting this maamar on Torah and mitzvos and on megurei, the Rebbe draws his own inference from the word „אביו” (“his father.”)

    The Rebbe infers from this paragraph that the awe which is „כלי קבול לחכמה עילאה” (receives supernal Chochmah) is called „מגורי אביו” (“his father’s megurei”), G‑d being called here not Master but Father, as the Maggid says „יראת אביו שבשמים” (“fear of his Father in heaven”); so this bittul is not a servant’s but „הביטול דבן” (a son’s). In „בחי׳ בן אפשר להיות ביטול אמיתי בתכלית” (a son’s service a true and complete bittul is possible), where he is no existence of his own and his whole existence is his father’s; through it „היא המדברת מתוך גרונו” (“the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat.”) So it is higher than a servant’s bittul, and, as Torah Ohr says, in Torah study he is not like a servant but the king himself.

    The Alter Rebbeיראה עילאה יראה בשת בבחי׳ בטול הוא כלי קבול לחכמה עילאה שיהא שורה ומתגלה בו ונקרא מגורי אביו

    The Rebbeשביטול זה הוא (לא הביטול דעבד, כ״א) הביטול דבן . . כי בהעבודה דבחי׳ בן אפשר להיות ביטול אמיתי בתכלית

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. רו–רז (§§10–11) · מוצאי ש״פ וישב, מבה״ח טבת, ה׳תשל״ח

  14. ¶20

    A question the Rebbe raises

    In dibbur hamaschil Shalom Rav of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeishev 5738, said in his room (edited; published for 19 Kislev 5748), quoting this paragraph’s two meanings of megurei („ומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳”), the Rebbe notes in a footnote that they are the Maggid’s, from his Or Torah, and asks why the Alter Rebbe does not say so.

    The Rebbe points out that the two meanings of megurei given here, „הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר” (fear and storehouse), were taught by the Maggid of Mezritch, yet the Alter Rebbe does not name him. One reason may be that the meanings are also in Rashi and elsewhere; but more likely, he says, it is as in many places in the Tanya and his other books, and as with many great Jewish teachers, first Rabbi Eliezer the Great, who rarely named his teacher though „שלא אמר דבר שלא שמע מפי רבו” (he said nothing he had not heard from him). He offers two reasons: everyone knows whose teaching it is, or the student, having grasped it with his own mind, made it his own Torah, so it is not said „בשם אומרו” (in another’s name).

    The Alter Rebbeומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳ הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר

    The Rebbeוזה שאדה״ז לא כתב זה „בשם אומרו”, הה״מ . . ויותר נ״ל — כיון שכן הוא בכו״כ ענינים בתניא ובשאר ספריו

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. רו–רז (note 99) · מוצאי ש״פ וישב, מבה״ח טבת, ה׳תשל״ח (בחדרו)

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).

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The questions: the doubled land and the name Canaan ¶1–2

1וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען. להבין ענין זה גם כפל לשון בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען.

“And Yaakov settled in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.” [We need] to understand this matter, and also the doubled wording, “in the land of his father’s sojournings” [and] “in the land of Canaan.”

Explanation

The maamar opens with the first verse of Parshas Vayeshev, which seems to say the same thing twice: Yaakov lived “in the land of his father’s sojournings” and “in the land of Canaan.” The Alter Rebbe asks why both phrases are needed.

¶20 Hold this question on the doubled wording: paragraphs 20–22 answer it.

הנה כתיב אתהלך לפני ה׳ בארצות החיים. שיש שני ארצות שהם ב׳ בחינת כלים להשראת חיים עליונים

Now, it is written, “I will walk before Havayah in the lands of the living”: [meaning] that there are two lands, which are two levels of vessels for the resting of supernal life

Explanation

He brings a verse from Tehillim that speaks of “lands” in the plural. He reads it as two “lands,” meaning two kinds of vessels, or receptacles, in which supernal life can come to rest.

(וכמו חיים לשון רבים כך ארצות לשון רבים). וביאור הענין צריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י [ארץ ישראל] בכל התורה ארץ כנען.

(and just as “life” [chayim] is in the plural, so “lands” is in the plural). And to explain the matter, we must understand why throughout the Torah the Land of Israel is called “the land of Canaan.”

Explanation

The parenthesis notes that the Hebrew word for life, chayim, is itself plural, hinting at many kinds of life. The Alter Rebbe then asks a second question: why does the Torah consistently call the Land of Israel by the name of Canaan?

והרי חם הוא אבי כנען ומה הוא היחוס שבח א״י [ארץ ישראל] בזה (גם להבין מ״ש כנען בידו מאזני מרמה) גם מה שכתוב ולא יהיה כנעני עוד בבית ה׳ צבאות ביום ההוא.

Yet Cham is the father of Canaan; what then is the praise of the Land of Israel in this lineage? (Also [we need] to understand what is written, “Canaan: in his hand are scales of deceit.”) Also what is written, “And there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Havayah of Hosts on that day.”

Explanation

Canaan, Cham’s son, is the one Noach cursed (Bereishis 9:25), so naming the holy land after him seems to be no praise at all. The difficulty grows when the prophet calls Canaan a trader with false scales, and says that in the future there will be no more “Canaanite” in the house of Havayah.

הנה נודע שכל התורה כולה נדרשת בזה לעומת זה כי כמו שיש לבן ועשו בקליפה

Now, it is known that the entire Torah is expounded [in the manner of] “one opposite the other”: for just as there are Lavan and Eisav in kelipah,

Explanation

The answer begins with a principle: everything in the Torah has a counterpart in holiness and in its opposite, kelipah (the forces of concealment). Lavan and Eisav, who appear as figures of kelipah, have holy counterparts.

וכן שר הטבחים ושר המשקים וכו׳. כך יש כל בחי׳ אלו בקדושה כי זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים.

and likewise the chief of the butchers and the chief of the cupbearers, etc., so all these levels exist in holiness, for “G‑d made the one opposite the other.”

Explanation

The same holds for the chief butcher and the chief cupbearer of the Yosef story. So Canaan too must have a meaning in holiness, and that meaning will explain why the land bears his name.

Paragraph 1 in brief

The opening paragraph poses the questions of the maamar: the doubled phrase in the verse, why the holy land is called after Canaan, and what the prophets mean by Canaan’s scales of deceit. It answers in principle that every figure in the Torah has a counterpart in holiness.

Deeper

The Kehot note records that the parenthesis on the plural “life” appears in the manuscripts, is absent from one manuscript, and is attributed in Or HaTorah to Maharil, the Alter Rebbe’s brother. Another transcript explains it as “many kinds of life-force.”

Explained elsewhere AI research

  1. Explained by the Alter Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe

    The paragraph asks a third question, „ולא יהיה כנעני עוד בבית ה׳ צבאות ביום ההוא” (“there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Havayah of Hosts on that day”): if Canaan in holiness is praise, why will it cease? This version of the maamar never comes back to it.

    The Alter Rebbe asks here why the prophet promises that “there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Havayah of Hosts” if Canaan in holiness is the soul’s profitable trade, and this version of the maamar does not come back to it. In the fuller version of the same maamar (the Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript) he answers that the profit of the trade is stored away, sealed, until the redemption; then the storehouse will be opened and G‑dliness seen „עין בעין יראו” (“eye to eye”) from the essence, with no further need to raise sparks, so there will be no more “Canaanite,” no more trade. The Tzemach Tzedek writes in his glosses that then the refining will be complete and even holy Canaan will not be needed („שלא יצטרך לבחי׳ בירור”), and the Rebbe, in a talk of Simchas Torah 5743 that quotes this maamar, says that then Jews will be at home, „שלא יהי׳ עוד ענין המסחר” (no longer travelers out on business).

    the Alter Rebbe (the Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript of this maamar): Maamarei Admur HaZaken, Al Parshiyos HaTorah, vol. א, p. קצא–קצב אבל לע״ל כשכבר נתגלה מה שהי׳ טמון באוצר הנה לא יהי׳ סיבת היחודים אז מצד העלאת מ״נ מהברורי׳

    the Tzemach Tzedek: Or HaTorah, Bereishis, vol. ה, p. 1788 (old edition תתצד, ב) ועד״ז יובן מ״ש ולא יהי׳ כנעני עוד כו׳ שלא יצטרך לבחי׳ בירור שזהו ענין כנען בידו מאזני מרמה כי אז כבר יושלם הבירור

    the Rebbe: Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5743, vol. א, p. 284 אבל לעתיד לבוא - „לא יהי׳ כנעני עוד בבית ה׳ צבאות ביום ההוא”, היינו, שלא יהי׳ עוד ענין המסחר

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

  1. The Rebbe explains

    In a sicha of Shabbos Vayeishev, Erev Chanukah 5722, on why the Rambam praises peace in the laws of Chanukah, the Rebbe says Chanukah joins the service of tzaddikim with the service of baalei teshuvah, and in a note shows the same pair in the opening verse of the parsha.

    In an edited note the Rebbe brings the Maggid of Mezritch’s reading of the doubled “land”: „בארץ מגורי אביו” (“the land of his father’s megurei”) is one who, though in the earthiness of this world, stays in the fear of his Father in heaven, and “the land of Canaan” is one who lives even among the wicked, the land of „מאזני מרמה” (“scales of deceit”), and does not learn from their deeds. So the two lands are the service of tzaddikim and the service of teshuvah, both in one verse. He adds that Torah Ohr reads the same two lands „בדרגא נעלית יותר” (“on a higher level”), as „יחו״ע ויחו״ת” (the higher unity and the lower unity), with which this maamar ends (¶22).

    The Alter Rebbeשיש שני ארצות שהם ב׳ בחינת כלים להשראת חיים עליונים

    The Rebbeועד״ז פירש גם בתו״א שם, שיש שני ארצות, אלא שבתו״א מבאר בדרגא נעלית יותר: יחו״ע ויחו״ת

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. ג, p. 812, note 9 · ש״פ וישב, ערב חנוכה, ה׳תשכ״ב

  2. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5727

    The Alter Rebbe reads “scales of deceit” in holiness, as the merchant’s clever gain (“your brother came with deceit”). The Rebbe adds a second side to the name Canaan. The deceit is the cunning of outer Daas, which mixes good with evil and is the cause of the breaking. Thus the land is called Canaan for the descent, and the purpose is to turn Canaan into the Land of Israel. This is a fuller answer to the opening question of why the holy land bears Canaan’s name.

    The Alter Rebbeצריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י בכל התורה ארץ כנען

    The Rebbeאך התכלית של ירידה זו היא לעשות מארץ כנען ארץ ישראל

    The whole maamar, summarized

  3. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5732

    The Alter Rebbe asks why the land is called Canaan, given its lineage from Cham. The Rebbe makes the question sharper. A name in the holy tongue brings a thing into being, gives it life, and sustains it; the Maggid further explains that the name’s letters indicate the form of the light drawn down to give it life. The Rebbe therefore asks rhetorically why the verse, when naming an additional land, does not indicate it in another way instead of saying "ארץ כנען.” The name also appears after Matan Torah and after the conquest, and the Torah is eternal. The maamar’s discussion thus treats the name as having enduring significance, not merely as a historical designation.

    The Alter Rebbeצריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י בכל התורה ארץ כנען

    The Rebbeמה שא״י נק׳ בשם ארץ כנען ה״ז ענין נצחי

    The whole maamar, summarized

  4. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5746

    The Alter Rebbe asks why the Land of Israel is called Canaan, given Canaan’s lineage from Cham. The Rebbe sharpens the question: the name is used even after the land became Eretz Yisrael. He infers from this that “Canaan” holds a merit beyond the title “Land of Israel” itself, and this is what the doubled wording of the verse comes to add.

    The Alter Rebbeוביאור הענין צריך להבין למה נק׳ א״י בכל התורה ארץ כנען

    The Rebbeגם לאחרי שנעשית ארץ ישראל

    The whole maamar, summarized

  5. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5746

    The Alter Rebbe speaks of two lands as vessels for supernal life, and he identifies Canaan as the lower land of malchus (¶22). The Rebbe reads “Canaan” as a descent below even the lands of the living. Because of that ultimate lowness, the resulting ascent is to a level above the very bounds of upper and lower, of ascent and descent.

    The Alter Rebbeשיש שני ארצות שהם ב׳ בחינת כלים להשראת חיים עליונים

    The Rebbeועד שיש ירידה לתחתון שאין למטה ממנו, למטה גם מבחי׳ ארצות החיים

    The whole maamar, summarized

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

TermsZeh le’umas zehKelipahLights and vesselsElokim+1

Also Torah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    וישב יעקב · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי במאמרי אדה״ז פרשיות ע׳ קפג. באחד מכת״י רשום שהוא משנת תקס״ג. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. המאמר עם הגהות וכו׳ באוה״ת בראשית כרך ב רנא, ב. כרך ה תתפח, א. הערה תתצח, א. תתצט, ב. כרך ז תתתלז, א. תתלז, ב. חלק מהמאמר מובא גם בד״ה וישב יעקב תרל״ט ע׳ נד. בד״ה מי כה׳ אלקינו תרל״ט ע׳ סד. לכללות מאמר זה ראה פלח הרמון בראשית צו, ג. ד״ה זה תשכ״ז. תשמ״א. תשמ״ו.
  2. 2
    וישב יעקב · Genesis 37:1
  3. 3
    גם כפל לשון · ראה בכלי יקר. ובשיחת ש״פ וישב תשכ״ב. בבוך 633: כפל מלת בארץ תרי זימני: הנה כתיב.
  4. 4
    אתהלך לפני ה׳ · Psalms 116:9
  5. 5
    שיש שני ארצות · באוה״ת חיי שרה קיח, א. סה״מ תרל״ב ע׳ שצ וע׳ שצח. ד״ה אך בגורל תרמ״ז ע׳ יד מציינים לכאן.
  6. 6
    (וכמו חיים לשון רבים · דהיינו רבוי מיני חיות — מאמרי אדה״ז פרשיות ע׳ קפד. ועיין שם. מוסגר זה נמצא גם בכת״י מאמרי אדה״ז. [בבוך 633 ליתא כל המוסגר]. באוה״ת רנא, ב מציין שהגה״ה זו היא ממהרי״ל אחי כ״ק אדה״ז.
  7. 7
    בכל התורה ארץ כנען · Genesis 17:8
  8. 8
    חם הוא אבי כנען · Genesis 9:18
  9. 9
    ומה הוא היחוס שבח א״י בזה · Bereshit Rabbah 36:2
  10. 10
    (גם להבין . . מרמה) · מוסגר זה נמצא גם בכת״י מאמרי אדה״ז. בבוך 633 ליתא המוסגר.
  11. 11
    כנען בידו מאזני מרמה · Hosea 12:8
  12. 12
    גם מה שכתוב ולא יהיה כנעני עוד · ”דאם כפשוטו דכנעני קאי על ארור כנען א״ש, אבל מאחר שנק׳ ארץ ישראל ארץ כנען א״כ מוכרח שזהו כנען דקדושה, א״כ מהו המעלה והשבח ולא יהי׳ עוד כנעני וגו׳” — אוה״ת בראשית כרך ב רנב, א.
  13. 13
    כך יש כל בחי׳ אלו בקדושה · באוה״ת בראשית כרך ב רנב, א מציין למקומות שמבואר ענין לבן דקדושה, עשו דקדושה.
  14. 14
    זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים · Ecclesiastes 7:14
  15. 15
    ולא יהי׳ כנעני עוד בבית ה׳ צבאות · Zechariah 14:21

2והנה שלשה בני נח הם למעלה בקדושה ג׳ בחי׳ גווני קשת חיור סומק ירוק.

Now, the three sons of Noach are, above in holiness, three levels: the colors of the rainbow, white, red and green.

Explanation

The three sons of Noach, Shem, Cham and Yefes, have a root in holiness as the three colors of the rainbow. White, red and green stand in Kabbalah for kindness, restraint and the harmony between them.

אלא שבהשתלשלות העולמות בבחינת נפילה ממדרגה אחר מדרגה נעשה חם גשמי אבי כנען. ולהבין ענין כנען בקדושה הנה כנען פירושו סוחר כמ״ש כנעניה נכבדי ארץ.

But in the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), by way of a fall from level after level, it became the physical Cham, the father of Canaan. And to understand the matter of Canaan in holiness: “Canaan” means a merchant, as it is written, “her merchants (kin’aneha) are the honored of the earth.”

Explanation

Through the descent of divine light from level to level, one of those holy roots fell until it became the physical Cham and his son Canaan. To find Canaan’s holy meaning, the Alter Rebbe turns to the word itself: in Hebrew “Canaan” also means a merchant, as in Yeshayahu’s phrase about the merchants of Tyre.

Paragraph 2 in brief

The paragraph traces Cham and Canaan back to a holy root that fell through the chain of worlds, and it identifies the key to Canaan’s holy meaning: the word means a merchant.

Deeper

The Kehot note cites the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah on Parshas Noach (a collection of the Arizal’s teachings on the Torah, not the Alter Rebbe’s book of that name): Noach himself is Yesod, and the three colors of the rainbow are his three sons, included within him. Or HaTorah develops this.

Explained elsewhere AI research

  1. Explained by the Alter Rebbe and the Rebbe

    Which of Noach’s sons is which color of the rainbow, which of them “fell” to become the physical Cham, and how that answers why the holy land is named after his son: the paragraph says it only in passing.

    The fuller version of this maamar (the Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript) spells out what our text compresses: the three colors of the rainbow, „חיור סומק ירוק” (white, red and green), are Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes, and when the worlds came down in the breaking of the vessels the coarseness took hold from the side of Gevurah, producing “Cham the father of Canaan,” the heat of physical desire. In holiness, Canaan is the holy gevuros, and “the land of Canaan” is „מל׳ דקדושה שמלא גבורות” (Malchus full of gevuros), called the Land of Israel after its cleansing and tikkun; perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is part of why the holy land bears Canaan’s name. The Rebbe, citing this paragraph, identifies the three sons with the three lines, Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes, which in a person’s service are Torah, avodah and gemilus chasadim, and in a sicha of Shabbos Bereishis 5726 he explains Cham’s “heat” as coming from the left line, while Shem and Yefes come from the right and the middle.

    the Alter Rebbe (the Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript of this maamar): Maamarei Admur HaZaken, Al Parshiyos HaTorah, vol. א, p. קפד וארץ כנען היינו מל׳ דקדושה שמלא גבורות

    the Rebbe: Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ה, p. נא, note 46 דג׳ בני נח הם ג׳ הקוין חג״ת (אוה״ת פרשתנו סג, א. תו״א ר״פ וישב), שהם תורה עבודה וגמ״ח

    the Rebbe: Likkutei Sichos, vol. י, p. 28 (Noach, sicha 2; notes 29–30) משא״כ שם ויפת, שהם מקו הימין וקו האמצעי

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.

TermsHishtalshelus

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    שלשה בני נח . . ג׳ בחי גווני קשת · לקוטי תורה להאריז״ל פ׳ נח. דנח בעצמו הוא היסוד וג׳ גווני הקשת הוא ג׳ בניו כלולים בו כו׳. נתבאר באוה״ת וישב כרך ה תתפח, ב.
  2. 2
    Genesis 9:22
  3. 3
    כנען פירושו סוחר · בבא בתרא עה, א. תנחומא מסעי ט. ת״ב שם ז. במדב״ר פכ״ג יו״ד. ע׳ בלקו״ת פ׳ עקב בד״ה להבין שורש טעם וקישור, ובאוה״ת פ׳ בשלח ע׳ תרנ. ובפ׳ ואתחנן ע׳ קכט. ובפ׳ עקב ע׳ תקלג. סה״מ אידיש ע׳ 91 עה״פ ותמת שרה.
  4. 4
    כנען פירושו סוחר · Bava Batra 75a:5
  5. 5
    כנען פירושו סוחר · Bamidbar Rabbah 23:10
  6. 6
    כנעני׳ נכבדי ארץ · Isaiah 23:8

The merchant and the exile ¶3

3וכתיב כנען בידו מאזני מרמה. היינו עד״מ כמו הסוחר שיפזר ממון כסף וזהב ומוציאם מרשותו כדי להרויח ולהשתכר וכל עיקר כוונתו להיות מפזר ונוסף עוד.

And it is written, “Canaan: in his hand are scales of deceit.” That is, by way of analogy, like the merchant who scatters money, silver and gold, and lets it out of his possession in order to profit and earn; and his whole intent is to be one who “scatters and yet gains more.”

Explanation

The merchant who seems to throw away his silver and gold is really investing: he parts with his money only to earn more. This is what King Shlomo calls one who “scatters and yet gains more.”

כך הנה מקור נשמת ישראל שהוא בחי׳ כנ״י [כנסת ישראל] נמשלה בגלות לסוחר זה כדכתיב בא אחיך במרמה ויקח ברכתך. כי הנה כתיב עת אשר שלט האדם באדם לרע לו.

So the source of the souls of Israel, which is the level of the Community of Israel (Knesses Yisrael), is likened in exile to this merchant, as it is written, “Your brother came with deceit and took your blessing.” For it is written, “a time when man ruled over man to his harm.”

Explanation

The Alter Rebbe applies the analogy to the Community of Israel, the collective root of Jewish souls, in exile. The “deceit” of Yaakov taking the blessing and the verse about man ruling over man “to his harm” describe a loss that is really a gain.

שע״י התלבשות השכינה בבחי׳ גלות בתוכם להשפיע להם ע״י זה מתבררים כל ניצוצות הקדושה כמו שאמרו רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] לא גלו ישראל אלא להוסיף עליהם כו׳ להיות בלע המות וכו׳.

For through the enclothing of the Shechinah, in the manner of exile, among them, to bestow upon them, through this all the sparks of holiness are refined; as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Israel was exiled only so that [converts] would be added to them,” etc., so that “He will swallow up death,” etc.

Explanation

When the Shechinah, G‑d’s presence, goes into exile among the nations in order to sustain them, the sparks of holiness scattered there are refined and raised up. The Sages said the exile’s purpose is that converts be added to Israel, and its end is the verse “He will swallow up death forever.”

Paragraph 3 in brief

The paragraph gives the key analogy of the maamar: Canaan in holiness is the merchant who parts with his wealth to gain more, and the exile of the Jewish people is such an investment, raising the sparks of holiness.

Deeper

The Kehot note records the Rebbe’s remark (in the maamar Vayeshev 5727) that the whole point of trade is profit, citing the Sages’ saying that one who buys and sells at the same price is hardly called a merchant. It also points to the Arizal’s Shaar HaMitzvos on the mitzvah of tzedakah, where “scatters and yet gains more” is explained.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. The Rebbe explains

    At the farbrengen of Shabbos Chukas, 10 Tammuz 5748, a note to the sicha (note 70, p. 568) says that the Land of Israel is still called „ארץ כנען” (“the land of Canaan”) after its conquest because its holiness comes also through the work of “Canaan,” the merchant, the refining of what is lowest (citing this maamar); in the supplements printed from the unedited transcript the Rebbe adds why that work is called “deceit.”

    The Rebbe says that the refining of “Canaan” is done by way of “deceit,” a holy deceit, the „מאזני מרמה” (“scales of deceit”) of the verse with which this paragraph opens; in the Toras Menachem transcript he also quotes the paragraph’s own words, that the Community of Israel in exile is likened to the merchant, „כדכתיב בא אחיך במרמה ויקח ברכתך” (“as it is written, ‘your brother came with deceit.’”) He suggests that this “deceit” is „שנעשה שלא בידיעתו” (what is done without the person’s knowing), like „מצות שכחה” (the mitzvah of the forgotten sheaf), which can only be kept unawares, or the honor that pursues „הבורח מן הכבוד” (one who flees from it). Read so, the holy merchant’s “deceit” is a gain that comes to him without his knowing.

    The Alter Rebbeכך הנה מקור נשמת ישראל שהוא בחי׳ כנ״י נמשלה בגלות לסוחר זה כדכתיב בא אחיך במרמה ויקח ברכתך

    The Rebbeוי״ל, שענין ה״מרמה”, שנעשה שלא בידיעתו כו׳, הוא ע״ד המבואר במק״א במעלת המצוות שנעשים דוקא שלא בידיעתו, כמו מצות שכחה

    Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5748, vol. ג, p. 570 · ש״פ חוקת, י׳ תמוז, ה׳תשמ״ח (השלמות לשיחות, בלתי מוגה)

  2. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5727

    The Alter Rebbe gives the merchant analogy for the exile and the soul’s descent. The Rebbe names what the merchant’s “scattering” is invested in: the sparks of tohu that fell in the breaking of the vessels, for the soul itself needs no tikkun. In this way he ties the analogy to Rashi on Vayeshev. Eisav’s settlements are the seven kings of tohu, written briefly because tohu had few vessels for its lights. They are recorded as the preface to Yaakov’s settling, since their sparks are both the cause of the soul’s descent and the source of its profit.

    The Alter Rebbeכמו הסוחר שיפזר ממון כסף וזהב ומוציאם מרשותו כדי להרויח ולהשתכר

    The Rebbeוכל ענין המסחר (כנען) של ירידת הנשמה למטה הוא מצד הניצוצות דתהו שנפלו בשבה״כ

    The whole maamar, summarized

  3. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5732

    The Rebbe explains why, when the Alter Rebbe interprets Canaan in holiness, he uses the verse “Canaan: in his hand are scales of deceit” and not “there shall no longer be a Canaanite.” It hints that the descent must reach the very lowest point, the “scales of deceit” themselves. Only through this does the ascent surpass the state before the descent.

    The Alter Rebbeוכתיב כנען בידו מאזני מרמה

    The Rebbeלפי שבא לרמז שצריך להיות הירידה עד למטה מטה בבחי׳ מאזני מרמה

    The whole maamar, summarized

  4. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5746

    The Alter Rebbe’s merchant scatters in order to profit. The Rebbe defines that profit through the Talmudic rule “zavin vezavin tagra ikri?”: recovering what one spent is not trade. The ascent must therefore reach higher than the place from which the descent began, “for otherwise the descent would not have been needed.”

    The Alter Rebbeוכל עיקר כוונתו להיות מפזר ונוסף עוד

    The Rebbeשאם מוכר באותו מחיר שקנה לא נקרא זה בשם מסחר

    The whole maamar, summarized

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

TermsRapach nitzotzinKnesses YisraelShechinah+2

Also NeshamahHislabshus

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    Hosea 12:8
  2. 2
    מפזר ונוסף עוד · Proverbs 11:24
  3. 3
    בא אחיך במרמה · Genesis 27:35
  4. 4
    עת אשר שלט האדם · Ecclesiastes 8:9
  5. 5
    לא גלו ישראל · נסמן לעיל ו, א.
  6. 6
    לא גלו ישראל אלא להוסיף עליהם · Pesachim 87b:3
  7. 7
    בלע המות · Isaiah 25:8

The soul’s silver and gold ¶4–6

4ואת רוח הטמאה אעביר מן הארץ ונגלה כבוד ה׳ כי עין בעין יראו וגו׳. וכמו שהוא בכללות העולם כך הוא בפרטות בכל נפש מישראל בעבודת ה׳

“And the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land”; “and the glory of Havayah will be revealed”; “for eye to eye they will see,” etc. And just as it is in the world as a whole, so it is in particular in every soul of Israel in the service of G‑d.

Explanation

The prophets promise that impurity will be removed and G‑d’s glory openly seen, the end of the exile’s refinement. The Alter Rebbe now says that what happens to the world as a whole happens in miniature in every Jewish soul’s service of G‑d.

¶14 Hold this question about Cham, father of Canaan: paragraph 14 answers it.

כי הנה הנשמה טרם ירידתה לעולם הזה להתלבש בגוף ונפש החיונית הבהמית היתה קשורה ומיוחדת במקורה ושרשה במאצילה ברשפי אש האהבה בטבע כשלהבת העולה מאליה כו׳

For before its descent into this world to be enclothed in a body and in the vital, animal soul, the soul was bound and united with its source and root, in the One who emanated it, with flames of fire of love, by nature, like a flame that rises of itself, etc.

Explanation

Before coming into a body, the soul was joined to its source in G‑d with a natural, fiery love, like a flame that rises upward of its own accord. The “vital, animal soul” is the life-force that animates the body and its drives.

והיה לה בחי׳ אהבה ויראה טבעי׳ [טבעיים] בגילוי רב שהוא בחי׳ כסף וזהב. כסף מלשון נכסף נכספת דהיינו בחי׳ אהבה.

And it had the level of natural love and awe in great revelation, which is the level of “silver and gold.” “Silver” (kesef) is from the expression nichsof nichsafta, “you longed greatly”; that is, the level of love.

Explanation

That soul had love and awe of G‑d openly and naturally, and these are called “silver and gold.” Silver, kesef, is connected to the verb for longing, as in Lavan’s words to Yaakov, “you longed greatly,” so silver stands for love.

Paragraph 4 in brief

The paragraph moves from the nation to the individual: the soul before its descent had open, natural love and awe, the “silver and gold” that the merchant of the analogy will part with.

Deeper

Tanya chapter 50 also names love “silver” from nichsof nichsafta; there, the fiery love that comes from contemplating G‑d’s greatness is called “gold.” Here gold is linked to awe, as the next paragraph explains.

TermsAhavah v’yirahNefesh habahamisOlam HaZehAvodas Hashem+3

Also NeshamahHislabshus

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ואת רוח הטומאה אעביר מן הארץ · Zechariah 13:2
  2. 2
    ונגלה כבוד ה׳ · Isaiah 40:5
  3. 3
    כי עין בעין יראו · Isaiah 52:8
  4. 4
    נכסף נכספת · Genesis 31:30
  5. 5
    דהיינו בחי׳ אהבה · ראה לקמן פו, ד. מד, ג. באוה״ת וישב רנג, ב מציין: וכמ״ש נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי.

5וזהב מצפון יאתה שהוא בחי׳ שמאל שהוא בחי׳ יראה ואח״כ כשירדה הנשמה לעולם הזה להתלבש בגוף הגשמי

And “gold comes from the north,” which is the level of the left, which is the level of awe. And afterward, when the soul descended into this world to be enclothed in the physical body,

Explanation

Gold is linked to the north, and north stands for the left side, the side of restraint and judgment, so gold means awe. The paragraph then turns to what happens when the soul comes down into a physical body.

הנה גם בחי׳ אהבה ויראה שהיה לה הם מסותרות ומכוסות בלב הגשמי ואינה יכולה לראות באהבה ויראה בהתגלות כל כך כבתחלה, ונמצא שנגרעו האהבה ויראה מערכם.

even the level of love and awe that it had is hidden and covered in the physical heart, and it cannot behold love and awe as openly as at first; so it turns out that the love and awe have been diminished from their measure.

Explanation

In the body the soul’s love and awe are hidden in the physical heart. The soul can no longer feel them as openly as before, so they are reduced from their original level.

Paragraph 5 in brief

The paragraph completes the pairing, gold as awe, and states the problem: in the body the soul’s natural love and awe become hidden and diminished.

Deeper

The Kehot note cites Or HaTorah, which links gold to awe through the Zohar’s reading of gold as Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment.

TermsAhavah v’yirahOlam HaZeh+2

Also NeshamahHislabshus

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    וזהב מצפון יאתה · Job 37:22
  2. 2
    שהוא בחי׳ שמאל שהוא בחי׳ יראה · באוה״ת וישב שם: וכמ״ש בזח״ב פ׳ תרומה דקל״ה א׳ וזהב דא ר״ה יומא דדינא ור״ה הוא בחי׳ יראה.

6וא״כ למה זה ירדה הנשמה לעוה״ז מאחר שהיא ירידה גדולה וגרעון גדול מבתחילה. אך הנה כתיב טוב לי תורת פיך מאלפי זהב וכסף.

If so, why did the soul descend into this world, since it is a great descent and a great loss compared to before? But it is written, “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver.”

Explanation

If the descent into a body hides and reduces the soul’s love and awe, why does the soul come down at all? The answer starts with the verse “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver.”

אלפי לשון לימוד כלומר שיש לי יתרון ומעלה בתורת פיך בעוה״ז יותר מבחי׳ זהב וכסף שהיתה הנשמה למודה בהם בתחלה.

“Thousands” (alfei) is an expression of learning. That is to say: I have an advantage and superiority in “the Torah of Your mouth” in this world, more than the level of “gold and silver” to which the soul was accustomed (lemudah) at first.

Explanation

The Alter Rebbe reads alfei, usually “thousands,” from the root of a’alefcha, “I will teach you” (Iyov 33:33), so that it means “learned in” or “accustomed to.” The verse then says: the Torah I gain in this world is better than the “gold and silver,” the love and awe, that the soul was accustomed (lemudah) to before it came down.

Paragraph 6 in brief

The paragraph asks the central question, why the soul descends, and begins to answer from a verse: what the soul gains here is worth more than the “gold and silver” it gives up.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5732

    The Rebbe reads the words “Torah of Your mouth” precisely. The gain that outweighs the soul’s “gold and silver” is not the Torah as it is above (“I was with Him as a nursling”). It is the Torah as it came down into revelation, the supernal speech drawn into a person’s own mouth (“My tongue shall respond with Your word”).

    The Alter Rebbeשיש לי יתרון ומעלה בתורת פיך בעוה״ז

    The Rebbeאלא דוקא להתורה כמו שירדה למטה בגילוי דזהו״ע תורת פיך

    The whole maamar, summarized

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.

TermsOlam HaZeh+2

Also NeshamahTorah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    טוב לי תורת פיך · Psalms 119:72
  2. 2
    אלפי לשון לימוד · באוה״ת וישב רנג, ב: כמו אאלפך חכמה.
  3. 3
    שהיתה הנשמה למודה בהם בתחלה · ראה לקו״ת שה״ש ו, ג.

The desire of the heart ¶7–10

7והענין כמו שאמרו רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] יפה שעה אחת בתשובה וכו׳ כי ע״י תשובה עילאה מעומקא דלבא תהיה דביקת הנפש באלקים חיים יותר נפלאה ברעותא דלבא

And the matter is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Better is one hour in teshuvah,” etc. For through the higher teshuvah, from the depth of the heart, the cleaving of the soul to the living G‑d will be more wondrous, in the desire of the heart (re’usa deliba),

Explanation

The Sages said one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come. Through the higher teshuvah, a return to G‑d from the depth of the heart, the soul cleaves to G‑d more wondrously, with “the desire of the heart” (re’usa deliba), a longing deeper than feeling.

כמ״ש לקמן, ונמצא שאע״פ [שאף על פי] שיש כז, אלה גרעון באהבה ויראה טבעי׳ [טבעיים] שבחיצונית הלב הגלוים מ״מ יהיה לה יתרון בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא בנקודת פנימית הלב כיתרון האור הבא מן החשך דוקא.

as will be explained below. So it turns out that although it has a loss in the natural love and awe that are revealed in the outer dimension of the heart, nevertheless it will have an advantage in the level of the desire of the heart, in the point of the inner dimension of the heart, like “the advantage of light [that comes] from the darkness,” specifically.

Explanation

So the descent is a trade: the soul loses the open, natural love and awe in the outer layer of the heart, but gains the desire of the heart at its inner point. It is like the light that shines brightest because it comes out of darkness.

¶10 The desire of the heart is explained in paragraphs 9–10.

Paragraph 7 in brief

The paragraph answers why the soul descends: the loss of open love and awe is outweighed by the desire of the heart, a deeper bond reached through teshuvah, like light that comes from darkness.

Deeper

The Kehot note cites Or HaTorah: the soul’s loss is that its comprehension is reduced, and its gain in the inner heart comes through contemplating that no thought can grasp G‑d. Or HaTorah elsewhere says the desire of the heart is the purpose of the soul’s descent.

Explained elsewhere AI research

  1. Explained by the Tzemach Tzedek and the Alter Rebbe

    ¶6 says the soul’s gain is „תורת פיך” (“the Torah of Your mouth”); ¶7 turns at once to teshuvah and the desire of the heart. How does Torah bring that desire, and why does the verse credit Torah rather than the love and awe, which also grow below?

    The Alter Rebbe moves from “the Torah of Your mouth” (¶6) to teshuvah and the desire of the heart (¶7) without saying how one leads to the other. The Tzemach Tzedek asks this, since the love and awe also grow below, and answers that above the soul stood in love and awe constantly and below only for “one hour,” yet that hour reaches the desire of the heart, a will above intellect, which is awakened only „ע״י קיום התומ״צ שהם נמשכות מרצה״ע ב״ה שלמעלה מחכ׳” (by Torah and mitzvos, coming from G‑d’s will that is above even Chochmah); so it is through “the Torah of Your mouth” that the soul’s innermost point, the yechidah, is revealed, which was not revealed even in Gan Eden. In Likkutei Torah (Balak, Mi Manah) the Alter Rebbe explains the same advantage: above, the soul is joined only to G‑d’s “thought,” a garment, while below, when it sets aside its own will for His („להיות בטל רצונך מפני רצונו”) in the mitzvos, His very will rests on it, and this, he says, is „יפה שעה אחת בתשובה” (“better is one hour in teshuvah.”)

    the Tzemach Tzedek: Sefer HaLikutim (Tzemach Tzedek), vol. פ–צ–ק–ר, p. תה (quoting Or HaTorah Vayeishev p. 508 = old edition רנד, ב) זה גופא שתגיע לבחי׳ רעו״ד שהוא ענין הרצון שלמעלה מהשכל זהו ע״י קיום התומ״צ שהם נמשכות מרצה״ע ב״ה שלמעלה מחכ׳

    the Alter Rebbe: Likkutei Torah, Balak, dibbur hamaschil Mi Manah, ch. 2, p. סז, ד משא״כ בחי׳ רעותא דליבא כד אתכפיא סט״א להיות בטל רצונך מפני רצונו

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

  1. The Rebbe explains

    In dibbur hamaschil Pada B’shalom, said at the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738, the Maggid’s yahrzeit (edited; published for 19 Kislev 5747), bringing the Maggid’s two readings of „וישב יעקב” (“Vayeishev Yaakov”), the Rebbe first sets out the ascent the soul itself makes by its descent.

    Summing up this maamar together with the Tzemach Tzedek’s glosses on it, the Rebbe writes that when the soul overcomes the concealment of the body and of exile and stirs itself to love and awe, „גם האהבה ויראה גופא הם נעלים יותר מהאהבה ויראה שקודם ירידתה” (even that love and awe are higher than the love and awe it had before its descent). His note cites Or HaTorah, where this advantage is likened to that of baalei teshuvah over complete tzaddikim, the theme of „יפה שעה אחת בתשובה” (“better is one hour in teshuvah”) with which this paragraph opens. So in his reading the descent is not only a loss in the soul’s natural love and awe made good by „רעותא דלבא” (the desire of the heart): the love and awe themselves come out higher.

    The Alter Rebbeונמצא שאע״פ שיש לה גרעון באהבה ויראה טבעי׳ שבחיצונית הלב הגלוים מ״מ יהיה לה יתרון בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא

    The Rebbeדע״י שהנשמה מתגברת על ההעלמות וההסתרים דהגוף וזמן הגלות ומתעוררת באהבה ויראה, גם האהבה ויראה גופא הם נעלים יותר מהאהבה ויראה שקודם ירידתה

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. ט (§7, notes 71–72) · י״ט 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

TermsRe’usa delibaTeshuvah ila’ah and teshuvah tata’ahChitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halevAhavah v’yirah+4
  • Re’usa deliba רעותא דלבא explained hereThrough higher teshuvah from the depth of the heart the soul cleaves to G‑d more wondrously in re’usa deliba; though it may lack the revealed natural love and awe of the outer heart, it gains in re’usa deliba, the inner point of the heart, as light excels when it comes out of darkness.מ״מ יהיה לה יתרון בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא בנקודת פנימית הלב
  • Teshuvah ila’ah and teshuvah tata’ah תשובה עילאה ותשובה תתאה
  • Chitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halev חיצוניות הלב ופנימיות הלב
  • Ahavah v’yirah אהבה ויראה
  • Chitzoniyus חיצוניות
  • Teshuvah תשובה
  • Elokim אלקים
  • Pnimiyus פנימיות

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    יפה שעה אחת · אבות ד, יז.
  2. 2
    יפה שעה אחת בתשובה · Pirkei Avot 4:17
  3. 3
    שיש לה גרעון באהבה ויראה טבעית שבחיצונית הלב · נתבאר בארוכה באוה״ת בראשית כרך ב רנד, ב ד”מ״ש שיש לה גרעון . . הלב היינו מצד שנתמעט השגתה כו׳ ויש לה יתרון בפנימי׳ הלב ע״י אם ישים אליו לבו דלמחתב״כ” ע״ש בארוכה שמבאר מהו טוב לי תורת פיך.
  4. 4
    שאע״פ . . בבחי׳ רעותא דליבא · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ וישב רסה, ב.
  5. 5
    בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא · בענין רעותא דלבא ראה באוה״ת ואתחנן כרך ו ע׳ ב׳רסט שמציין לכאן ולכמה מקומות בדא״ח: ”בד״ה וישב יעקב בענין רעותא דלבא שהיא תכלית הירידה בעוה״ז כי למתב״כ כ״א ברעו״ד הוא נתפס”.
  6. 6
    כיתרון האור הבא מן החשך · Ecclesiastes 2:13

8וביאור הענין כי הנה כתיב אני ראשון ואני אחרון ומבלעדי אין אלקים. פי׳ ע״ד מ״ש אני ה׳ לא שניתי ואתה הוא קודם שנברא וכו׳

And the explanation of the matter: it is written, “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no G‑d (Elokim).” Meaning, in the manner of what is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed,” and “You were [the same] before the world was created,” etc.,

Explanation

The Alter Rebbe begins a deeper explanation from Yeshayahu: G‑d is first and last, and there is no G‑d besides Him. He reads “first and last” as G‑d’s changelessness, as in “I have not changed,” and as the prayer that says G‑d is the same after creation as before it.

בלי שום שינוי כי אין בריאת עולמות עליונים ותחתונים תופסים מקום כלל וכולא קמיה כלא חשיב ממש.

without any change; for the creation of the higher and lower worlds takes up no place at all, and “all before Him is considered as truly nothing.”

Explanation

Creation causes no change in G‑d, because the worlds take up no “place” before Him at all. Compared to Him they are counted as truly nothing, as the Zohar says, “all before Him is considered as nothing.”

Paragraph 8 in brief

The paragraph introduces the level of G‑d that is entirely unchanged by creation, before whom all worlds are as nothing.

TermsElokim

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    אני ראשון · Isaiah 44:6
  2. 2
    אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6

9ומבלעדי פי׳ מה שהוא זולת בחי׳ זו דהיינו באמצעות הזמן שנראה העולם ליש ודבר בפ״ע [בפני עצמו] בחי׳ זמן ומקום אין אלקים זולתי שהוא בחי׳ אלקים חיים ומלך עולם

And “besides Me” means what is other than this level, that is, in the midst of time, when the world appears as something existing, a thing unto itself, the level of time and space: [there] “there is no Elokim besides Me,” which is the level of “the living G‑d (Elokim) and eternal King,”

Explanation

“Besides Me” refers to a different level: the world as it appears within time and space, as a real thing of its own. There G‑d is known as Elokim, “the living G‑d and eternal King,” the aspect of G‑d that relates to the world as its ruler.

כמאמר ומבלעדיך אין לנו מלך גואל וכו׳ שכל העולמות עליונים ותחתונים נתהוו מבחי׳ מלכותו ית׳

as in the saying, “and besides You we have no king, redeemer,” etc.; for all the higher and lower worlds came into being from the level of His sovereignty (malchus), blessed be He,

Explanation

The prayer “besides You we have no king” points to the same idea. All worlds, higher and lower, came into being from G‑d’s Malchus, His sovereignty, the level through which He creates and rules.

וכדכתיב מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים וגו׳ ושם עלו השגת כל הנבראי׳ [הנבראים] העליונים ותחתוני׳ [ותחתונים] אבל בהקב״ה בכבודו ובעצמו לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה

as it is written, “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds,” etc. And it is up to there that the comprehension of all the higher and lower creations rises. But as for the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory and His essence, “no thought can grasp Him,”

Explanation

The comprehension of every creature, even the highest angel, reaches only as far as this level of kingship. G‑d Himself, in His essence, is beyond the grasp of any thought.

כי הוא רם ונשא מגדר ההשגה ואינו נתפס בתוך עלמין לא בבחי׳ ממלא ולא בבחי׳ סובב בשום שכל והשגה בעולם אלא ברעותא דלבא מקרב איש ולב עמוק.

for He is exalted and uplifted beyond the bounds of comprehension, and He is not grasped within the worlds, neither in the level of [the light that] fills [all worlds] nor in the level of [the light that] encompasses [them], by any intellect or comprehension in the world, but only by the desire of the heart, “the inward part of man and a deep heart.”

Explanation

He is not grasped within the worlds, neither as the light that fills each world nor as the light that surrounds them all, by any mind at all. He can be reached only through the desire of the heart, which the verse calls “the inward part of man and a deep heart.”

Paragraph 9 in brief

The paragraph sets two levels side by side: G‑d as King, the source of the worlds that creatures can comprehend, and G‑d’s own essence, beyond all thought, which is reached only by the desire of the heart.

Deeper

The Kehot note cites Or HaTorah: the source that creates the world as a separate existence is G‑dliness through the tzimtzum and the “vacated space,” and it is called enclothement in the ten Sefiros. Or HaTorah adds that “no thought can grasp Him” holds even for supernal Chochmah.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5727

    The Alter Rebbe says G‑d’s essence is grasped by no intellect, only by the desire of the heart. The Rebbe sets out the levels of knowing. Positive knowledge belongs to the light that fills the worlds, and negative knowledge to the light that encompasses them. Above even the encompassing light, even negation does not apply, and there the essence of the soul recognizes the Infinite, like a small child drawn to his father. This is the Daas Elokī rooted in Keser, which gives every Jew, even a simple one, the power to “choose life.”

    The Alter Rebbeואינו נתפס בתוך עלמין לא בבחי׳ ממלא ולא בבחי׳ סובב

    The Rebbeוהוא מה שעצם הנפש מכיר בעצמו א״ס

    The whole maamar, summarized

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.

TermsRe’usa delibaRomemusMemalei kol alminHasagah+4

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    דהיינו באמצעות הזמן שנראה העולם ליש ודבר בפ״ע · ”ובחי׳ מקור המהווה בחי׳ זו הוא אלקותו ית׳ על ידי צמצום ומקום פנוי, ונק׳ התלבשות בעשר ספירות” אוה״ת בראשית כרך ב רנה, ב.
  2. 2
    אלקים חיים ומלך עולם · Jeremiah 10:10
  3. 3
    מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
  4. 4
    לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה · אפילו חכמה עילאה — אוה״ת וירא כרך ד תשמ, א.
  5. 5
    לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:10–12
  6. 6
    מקרב איש ולב עמוק · Psalms 64:7

10וכמ״ש ממעמקים קראתיך ה׳ מפני כי בחי׳ רעותא דלבא נמשך מהתבוננות זו עצמה אם ישים אליו לבו דלית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל והוא רם ונשא למעל׳ [למעלה / למעלת] מעלה עד אין קץ ותכלית אפילו מבחי׳ חכמה עילאה.

As it is written, “Out of the depths I have called You, Havayah.” For the level of the desire of the heart is drawn from this very contemplation, “if he sets his heart to it”: that no thought can grasp Him at all, and He is exalted and uplifted, higher and higher without end or limit, even beyond the level of supernal Chochmah.

Explanation

The desire of the heart comes from this very contemplation: that G‑d is beyond all thought, higher even than supernal Chochmah. It is the call “from the depths” of the verse in Tehillim.

¶7 This explains the desire of the heart promised in paragraph 7.

אי לזאת תכסף ותכלה נפשו לבטל במציאות אליו יתב׳ [יתברך] לצאת ממאסר הגוף נרתקה ולהשתפך אל חיק אביה

Because of this his soul will yearn and pine to be nullified in its existence to Him, blessed be He, to leave the prison of the body, its sheath, and to pour itself out into the bosom of its Father.

Explanation

Realizing that G‑d is beyond all understanding, the soul longs to dissolve into Him, to leave the body that confines it like a prison, and to pour itself out into its Father’s bosom.

משא״כ הנשמה טרם ירידתה להתלבש בגוף היתה אהבתה ודבקותה בשרשה לפ״ע [לפי ערך] השגתה וכן לענין היראה:

This is not so with the soul before its descent to be enclothed in a body: its love and its cleaving to its root were according to [the measure of] its comprehension; and likewise with regard to awe.

Explanation

Before its descent, the soul’s love and cleaving were measured by what it could understand of G‑d, and so was its awe. The longing born of knowing that G‑d is beyond understanding is therefore something new, which the soul gains only down here.

Paragraph 10 in brief

The paragraph explains how the desire of the heart arises, from contemplating that G‑d is beyond all thought, and why it surpasses the soul’s love before its descent, which was limited by its comprehension.

Deeper

Tanya chapter 50 describes a love “like flames of fire” from contemplating that all is as nothing before G‑d, which brings the soul to kelos hanefesh, the soul’s expiry in longing, wishing to leave its wick. The Kehot note cites Or HaTorah: the soul reaches the desire of the heart, the will above intellect, in this world specifically through the mitzvos, which are G‑d’s will.

TermsRe’usa delibaRomemusHisbonenusHigher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah+4

Also NeshamahHislabshusBittulChochmah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ממעמקים קראתיך · Psalms 130:1
  2. 2
    אם ישים אליו לבו · Job 34:14
  3. 3
    אל חיק אביה · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 50:6
  4. 4
    לצאת . . ולהשתפך אל חיק אביה · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 50:6
  5. 5
    בחי׳ רעו״ד נמשך מהתבוננות זו עצמה · ”הטעם שדווקא בעוה״ז תגיע לבחי׳ רעו״ד שהו״ע הרצון שלמעלה מהשכל, נתבאר בד״ה מי מנה [לקו״ת בלק סז, ד] שהוא ע״י המצות שהם רצה״ע” — אוה״ת וישב (כרך ה) תתצ, ב ע״ש.

Finding G‑d “from there” in exile ¶11–12

11והנה בזמן שהיה בהמ״ק [בית המקדש] קיים היה נמשך בחינה זו רעותא דלבא מגילוי אא״ס [אור אין סוף] ב״ה בהיכל קדשי קדשים כו׳ כמ״ש בתניא להיות בטל רצונו לרצונו ית׳ וכמ״ש כי תהיו לי ארץ חפץ.

Now, at the time when the Holy Temple stood, this level of the desire of the heart was drawn from the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the Sanctuary of the Holy of Holies, etc., as explained in the Tanya, so that one’s will be nullified to His will, blessed be He; and as it is written, “For you shall be to Me a land of desire.”

Explanation

When the Temple stood, the open revelation of G‑d’s Infinite Light in the Holy of Holies drew out this desire of the heart, so that a person’s will was nullified to G‑d’s. Tanya compares the Holy of Holies to the brain, where the soul’s life is revealed before it spreads through the body; Malachi’s “land of desire” names the people as a place of G‑d’s delight.

אך בזמן הגלות הנה כתיב ובקשתם משם את ה׳ אלקיך ומצאת וגו׳ משם דייקא דהיינו כשתתבונן על ההיפוך מדרכי ה׳ איך שהוא רחוק מה׳ בתכלית הריחוק כמו עובר רצונו

But in the time of exile, it is written, “And from there you will seek Havayah your G‑d, and you will find [Him],” etc. “From there” specifically: that is, when you contemplate the opposite of the ways of G‑d, how it is far from G‑d with the utmost distance, such as one who transgresses His will;

Explanation

In exile that open revelation is gone, and the verse says we will find G‑d “from there,” from the place of exile itself. “From there” means contemplating the very opposite of G‑d’s ways: something as distant from Him as can be, like one who transgresses His will.

ומאין נשפע להם שפע וחיות להיות בהם חיות וקיום מרצונו ית׳ שרצונו ית׳ הוא המחיה אותם כמ״ש ואתה מחיה את כלם.

And [consider] from where abundance and life-force flow to them, so that they have life and existence from His will, blessed be He; for His will, blessed be He, is what gives them life, as it is written, “And You give life to them all.”

Explanation

Then one considers where such a thing gets its life: even what transgresses G‑d’s will receives life and existence from that same will, for it is His will that gives life to everything. The contemplation turns on this paradox: even what opposes G‑d lives only from Him.

אך על זה אמרו כמה ארך אפים לפניו שמבחי׳ ארך אפים נמשך ונשתלשל ממדרגות עליונות דרך נפילה להחיות העכו״ם [העובדי כוכבים ומזלות] אף שהם עוברי רצונו.

But about this they said, “How great is the patience before Him”: for from the level of patience (erech apayim) it is drawn and descends, by way of a fall, from higher levels, to give life to the idol-worshipping nations, even though they transgress His will.

Explanation

The Mishnah speaks of G‑d’s great patience, and the Alter Rebbe explains that life-force for the idol-worshipping nations comes down from that attribute of patience, descending by way of a fall through the higher levels. They receive life even though they act against His will.

Paragraph 11 in brief

The paragraph contrasts two ways of reaching the desire of the heart: in Temple times through open revelation, and in exile “from there,” by contemplating how even what opposes G‑d’s will lives from His will.

Deeper

The Kehot note quotes the Tzemach Tzedek in Or HaTorah: the desire of the heart is the will above intellect explained in the maamar Mi Manah in Likkutei Torah. Or HaTorah also compares the Holy of Holies to the Chochmah, Binah and Daas of the World of Beriah, and says that since the Temple’s destruction the four cubits of halachah play the same role. The phrase comes from the Gemara (Berachos 8a): from the day the Temple was destroyed, the Holy One, blessed be He, has in His world only the four cubits of halachah. That saying led Abaye to pray only where he studied. In Or HaTorah’s reading, the study of halachah is now the place where the revelation once found in the Holy of Holies dwells.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. Background from the Rebbe

    In his notes for a talk at the Simchas Beis HaShoeivah of 5693 in the yeshiva hall in Riga (of which, the first printing says, only part was said), the Rebbe reads the Mishnah of one buried under a fallen ruin on Shabbos as the state of a person busy with the world, and comes to its words “in doubt whether he is there.”

    In notes on the Mishnah’s ruling that on Shabbos a fallen ruin is cleared off a person even “in doubt whether he is there,” the Rebbe remarks that the word “there” (sham) denotes the other side: holiness is “this” (zeh), revelation and light, which is not so with kelipah. “As is known,” he writes, this is the language of the verse „ובקשתם משם את ה׳ אלקיך” (“from there you will seek Havayah your G‑d”), and of „ואותנו הוציא משם” (“and us He brought out from there”) and “they called Pharaoh there,” and for it he cites Likkutei Torah (Ani L’Dodi) and Torah Ohr dibbur hamaschil Vayeishev. So he reads this paragraph’s „משם דייקא” (“from there specifically”) as naming the place of the other side itself.

    The Alter Rebbeאך בזמן הגלות הנה כתיב ובקשתם משם את ה׳ אלקיך ומצאת וגו׳ משם דייקא

    The Rebbeוזהו ג״כ דיוק הל׳ ”שם” שמורה על הסט״א, כי סטרא דקדושה הוא זה, גילוי ואור, משא״כ קליפה, וכידוע שזהו ל׳ הכתוב ובקשתם משם את ד״א

    Reshimos (second edition), vol. טו–מה, p. 11 (second edition, vol. 15–45; first printing: booklet 15, p. 50) · שמחת ביה״ש צ״ג ריגא. באולם הישיבה. (מקצתו)

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

TermsKodesh HaKodashimRe’usa delibaArich AnpinHeichalos+5
  • Kodesh HaKodashim קדש הקדשים explained hereWhile the Temple stood, the desire of the heart (re’usa deliba), to make one’s will nullified to His, was drawn from the revelation of Or Ein Sof in the Holy of Holies; in exile it must be sought “from there,” by reflecting on how far one is from G‑d.היה נמשך בחינה זו רעותא דלבא מגילוי אא״ס ב״ה בהיכל קדשי קדשים
  • Re’usa deliba רעותא דלבא
  • Arich Anpin אריך אנפין
  • Heichalos היכלות
  • Richuk makom ריחוק מקום
  • Supernal Will רצון העליון
  • Ratzon רצון

Also ChayusBittul

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    והנה בזמן שהיה בהמ״ק קיים · קטע מכאן מובא בלקו״ת נשא כד, ב. ע״ש.
  2. 2
    דלבא — מגילוי · באוה״ת יתרו שם: וגילוי.
  3. 3
    בהיכל קדשי קדשים · באוה״ת יתרו שם: ”וענין היכל קה״ק מבואר בתניא פרק נ״א ונ״ב שהוא עד״מ התגלות החיות מהנשמה במוחין שבראש ששם גילוי כללות החיות וממנו נמשך לכל הרמ״ח אברים כו׳, ועמ״ש ע״פ שבת שבתון בפי׳ קדש הקדשים שהוא ענין מה שלמעלה גם מסוכ״ע כו׳” ע״ש בארוכה עפ״י כהאריז״ל.
  4. 4
    כמ״ש בתניא · פרק נב. בבוך 1118 ובבוך 633: בלק״א. בלקו״ת נשא כד, ב מעתיק הלשון מכאן ”בסש״ב”. ”היינו כמ״ש בתניא בענין גילוי השכינה המשל מהתלבשות כללות חיות הנפש במוחי׳, וכך הוא עתה בחי׳ התלמוד כמארז״ל משחרב בהמ״ק אין להקב״ה בעולמו אלא ד״א של הלכה. והיכל ק״ק הוא כחב״ד דבריאה” — אוה״ת בראשית כרך ב ע׳ רנו סע״א ע״ש בארוכה איך זה שייך לארץ חפץ.
  5. 5
    כי תהיו לי ארץ חפץ · Malachi 3:12
  6. 6
    ובקשתם משם את ה׳ אלקיך · Deuteronomy 4:29
  7. 7
    ואתה מחי׳ את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
  8. 8
    כמה ארך אפים לפניו · אבות ה, ב.
  9. 9
    כמה ארך אפים לפניו · Pirkei Avot 5:2
  10. 10
    בזמן שהי׳ בהמ״ק . . רעותא דלבא · באוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תשצט מוסיף ע״ז כ״ק אדמו״ר הצ״צ: פי׳ רעו״ד בד״ה מי מנה עפר יעקב שהוא הרצון שלמעלה מהשכל” עכ״ל. ראה באוה״ת בראשית כרך ה תתצט, ב. יתרו ע׳ תתקג.

12וזהו אם לעוברי רצונו כך לעושי רצונו על אחת כמה וכמה שיושפע בחינת רצון עליון שהוא למעלה מעלה מגדר עלמין

And this is [the reasoning]: if [so] for those who transgress His will, then for those who do His will, how much more so, that there will flow the level of the supernal will, which is far, far above the bounds of the worlds:

Explanation

The Alter Rebbe argues from the lesser to the greater, as the Gemara does: if those who defy G‑d’s will receive life from it, then those who do His will surely receive more, the supernal will itself, which stands far above all the worlds.

שלא בבחי׳ ירידת והשתלשלות המדרגות בבחי׳ חכמה ומדות אלא בבחי׳ פנימית נקודת הלב שהיא בחי׳ תשובה עילאה שקדמה לעולם. וזהו כי תדרשנו בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך.

not by way of the descent and chain of levels, in the level of Chochmah and the emotive attributes (middos), but in the level of the inner point of the heart, which is the level of the higher teshuvah that preceded the world. And this is [the meaning of] “when you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”:

Explanation

This will does not come down through the ordered chain of levels, through intellect and emotion, but reaches the inner point of the heart, the level of the higher teshuvah, which the Sages count among the things that preceded the world. That is why the verse says to seek G‑d “with all your heart and with all your soul.”

דהיינו שיהפך לבו מן הקצה אל הקצה ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא ע״י בחי׳ רעותא דלבא זו למאוס בחיי עוה״ז ותענוגים ולמשוך לבו ונפשו לדבקה בו ית׳.

that is, that his heart be turned from one extreme to the other, and “darkness is transformed into light,” through this level of the desire of the heart: to despise the life and pleasures of this world, and to draw his heart and soul to cleave to Him, blessed be He.

Explanation

Seeking with all the heart means turning the heart from one extreme to the other, transforming darkness into light. Through the desire of the heart a person comes to despise the pleasures of this world and draws his heart and soul to cleave to G‑d.

Paragraph 12 in brief

The paragraph draws the conclusion: those who do G‑d’s will receive His supernal will, above all levels, in the inner point of the heart, through a complete turning of the heart to Him.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5727

    The Alter Rebbe speaks of turning the heart from one extreme to the other. The Rebbe spells out how this transformation works. Refinement through light from above, like Shlomo and the Queen of Sheba, leaves the lower being unchanged once the light departs. Refinement through kerav, close engagement like David’s, unites the G‑dly soul with the animal soul, so that the animal soul’s own natural intellect becomes like Torah intellect. He associates this mode mainly with Torah study, as against prayer.

    The Alter Rebbeשיהפך לבו מן הקצה אל הקצה ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא

    The Rebbeשאין זה באופן שמתבטל ממציאותו, אלא שמציאות התחתון גופא נהפך לאלקות

    The whole maamar, summarized

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.

TermsTeshuvahTeshuvah ila’ah and teshuvah tata’ahRe’usa delibaChitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halev+10

Also Chochmah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    אם לעוברי רצונו כך · סוף מכות.
  2. 2
    אם לעוברי רצונו כך לעושי רצונו על אחת כמה וכמה · Makkot 24b:1–2
  3. 3
    כי תדרשנו בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך · Deuteronomy 4:29

The analogy completed: Cham and Canaan ¶13–14

13והנה כל זה ע״ד משל הסוחר הנ״ל שמוציא כסף וזהב מרשותו להיות מפזר ונוסף עוד.

Now, all this is in the manner of the analogy of the merchant mentioned above, who lets silver and gold out of his possession, to be one who “scatters and yet gains more.”

Explanation

The Alter Rebbe returns to the merchant who lets his silver and gold go in order to earn more.

כך הנשמה אע״פ [אף על פי] שמוציאה כסף וזהב שהוא בחי׳ אהבה ויראה הגלוים להתלבש ולהסתיר בגוף ונפש הבהמית הנה עי״ז יש לה יתרון בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא כרשפי אש מן ההפוך.

So the soul: although it lets out “silver and gold,” which is the level of revealed love and awe, to be enclothed and hidden in the body and the animal soul, through this it has an advantage in the level of the desire of the heart, like flames of fire, out of the opposite.

Explanation

The soul, too, gives up its open love and awe, its “silver and gold,” by hiding them in the body and the animal soul. In return it gains the desire of the heart, a fiery love that rises out of the very opposite of G‑dliness.

Paragraph 13 in brief

The paragraph closes the analogy: the soul is the merchant, whose loss of revealed love and awe buys the greater gain of the desire of the heart.

TermsRe’usa delibaAhavah v’yirahNefesh habahamis+2

Also NeshamahHislabshus

14וזהו וחם הוא אבי כנען בזקף גדול שחמימות רשפי אש ושלהבת העולה למעלה מההיפוך הוא העושה בחי׳ כנען לסחור כנ״ל כמ״ש טעמה כי טוב סחרה וגו׳.

And this is [the meaning of] “And Cham is the father of Canaan,” with a zakef gadol: for the heat (chamimus) of the flames of fire and of the flame rising upward out of the opposite is what makes the level of Canaan, to trade, as mentioned above; as it is written, “She perceives that her merchandise is good,” etc.

Explanation

In the verse the word “Cham” carries a zakef gadol, a cantillation mark that pauses on the word and, as Chassidus reads it, lifts it upward. The Alter Rebbe hears in Cham (חם) the Hebrew for heat, chamimus: the heat of the flame rising out of its opposite is what makes the soul a “Canaan,” a merchant whose trade is good, as Shlomo says of the woman of valor, “she perceives that her merchandise is good.”

¶4 This answers the question from paragraph 4 about Cham, father of Canaan.

אך מתחלה צריך להקדים בחי׳ יראה תתאה שהיא נמשכת מבחינת מלכותו ית׳ שהיא נק׳ בחי׳ כנען העליונה דקדושה שמזה יעלה ויבא ויגיע להיות בחי׳ כנען בידו מאזני מרמה להגיע לבחי׳ רעותא דלבא בחי׳ פנימית הלב כנ״ל.

But first one must precede [this] with the level of lower awe, which is drawn from the level of His sovereignty (malchus), blessed be He, which is called the level of the supernal Canaan of holiness; from this one will rise, come and reach the level of “Canaan: in his hand are scales of deceit,” to reach the level of the desire of the heart, the level of the inner dimension of the heart, as mentioned above.

Explanation

Before reaching this, one must first have lower awe, the simple fear of G‑d that comes from His Malchus, His sovereignty; this Malchus is the supernal, holy Canaan. From that foundation a person can rise to the level of the merchant with “scales of deceit,” the desire of the heart in its inner point.

Paragraph 14 in brief

The paragraph reads “Cham is the father of Canaan” in holiness: the heat of fiery love gives birth to the holy merchant, but the path starts with the lower awe that comes from G‑d’s kingship, the supernal Canaan.

Deeper

According to a passage in Torah Ohr on Lech Lecha that the Kehot note cites, zakef gadol signifies Malchus as it rises upward to become Keser.

Explained elsewhere AI research

  1. Explained by the Alter Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek and the Tzemach Tzedek, as the Rebbe quotes him

    Why the lower awe drawn from Malchus is called „כנען העליונה דקדושה” (“the supernal Canaan of holiness”), and (¶22) why the lower land, Malchus, is called Canaan at all.

    The Tzemach Tzedek’s gloss on these words explains why the lower awe of Malchus is called “the supernal Canaan of holiness”: Canaan is submission (hachna’ah) and bittul, as in „ויכנעו עמי” (“and My people humble themselves,” vayikan’u), the broken heart, and through it all revelation is drawn, as oil comes only from crushed olives. In Likkutei Torah (Eikev) the Alter Rebbe gives both meanings of “Canaan,” „כנען מלשון הכנע׳ ושפלו׳ בחי׳ ביטול ומלשון תגר וסוחר” (submission and merchant): the spiritual land of Canaan is first submission and self-sacrifice, and through it the “acquisition” is made, as a merchant acquires. And in his Sefer HaMitzvos, as the Rebbe quotes it, the Tzemach Tzedek says why the land itself bears the name: most mitzvos depend on the land, and the main sparks to be raised are there, so „ששם הוא עיקר המסחר הזה” (it is there that this “trade” chiefly takes place).

    the Alter Rebbe: Likkutei Torah, Eikev, dibbur hamaschil Ulehavin Shoresh Ta’am Kishur, p. טז כנען מלשון הכנע׳ ושפלו׳ בחי׳ ביטול ומלשון תגר וסוחר

    the Tzemach Tzedek: Or HaTorah, Bereishis, vol. ה, p. 1788 (old edition תתצד, ב) נ״ב עיין מ״ש בד״ה בשלח פרעה בסופו שהוא ענין הכנעה וביטול

    the Tzemach Tzedek (Sefer HaMitzvos), as the Rebbe quotes him: Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5746, vol. ב, p. 276 וכ״ז הוא בארץ כנען, ששם הוא עיקר המסחר הזה, לפי ששם עיקרי הניצוצות

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.

TermsLower and higher aweRe’usa delibaChitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halevPnimiyus+1

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    וחם הוא אבי כנען · Genesis 9:18
  2. 2
    בזקף גדול · ראה לעיל יג, ב בענין זקף גדול, ”דהיינו כשהיא מתעלית למעלה”. קטע מכאן מובא באוה״ת פ׳ ואתחנן ע׳ קכט ע״ש.
  3. 3
    טעמה כי טוב סחרה · Proverbs 31:18

Calling in truth ¶15

15וזהו קרוב ה׳ לכל קוראיו לכל אשר יקראהו באמת דהיינו באמתות כז, בנקודת לבו שהרי אנו רואים דגנבא אפום מחתרתא רחמנא קריא ואעפ״כ [ואף על פי כן] עומד ברשעו ואינו שב מידיעתו

And this is [the meaning of] “Havayah is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth”: that is, in the truth of the point of his heart. For we see that “the thief at the mouth of the tunnel calls upon the Merciful One,” and nevertheless he persists in his wickedness and does not turn back from what he knowingly [intends].

Explanation

G‑d is near to those who call on Him “in truth,” meaning from the true point of the heart. The Alter Rebbe shows why that matters: the Gemara says a thief about to break in prays to G‑d for success, yet he goes on with his crime and does not turn back from what he knowingly intends.

וגם אנו רואים שיש אפילו מי שיוליד אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] בלבו וחולפת ועוברת כמו אחר התפלה כנ״ל.

And we also see that there is even one who brings forth love and awe in his heart, and it passes and goes away, such as after prayer, as mentioned above.

Explanation

Even a person who arouses real love and awe in prayer may find that it passes and is gone soon afterwards.

והיינו מפני שאינו נתפס אלא במוחו ושכלו בבחי׳ מקיף אבל אינו נכנס לפני ולפנים שיתפעל הלב באמת לאמתו מעומקא דלבא

And this is because it is grasped only in his mind and intellect, in the manner of an encompassing [light] (makif), but it does not enter within, to the innermost, so that the heart be moved in utter truth, from the depth of the heart.

Explanation

This is because the feeling was held only in the mind, as something “encompassing” from outside, and never entered the innermost heart. The heart was not truly moved from its depths.

משא״כ כשיקראוהו באמת דהיינו מעומקא דלבא הנה שפת אמת תכון לעד ובל תמוט עולם ועד:

Whereas when they call upon Him in truth, that is, from the depth of the heart, then “the lip of truth shall be established forever,” and it shall not falter, forever and ever.

Explanation

When a person calls to G‑d from the depth of the heart, the verse promises that “the lip of truth shall be established forever.” Such a call endures and does not falter.

Paragraph 15 in brief

The paragraph shows why the desire of the heart must come from its inner point: feeling that stays in the mind fades or even coexists with sin, while a call from the depth of the heart lasts forever.

Deeper

The Kehot note gives the saying about the thief according to the reading of Ein Yaakov.

TermsKodesh HaKodashimChitzoniyus halev and pnimiyus halevAhavah v’yirahTefillah+1

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    קרוב ה׳ לכל קוראיו · Psalms 145:18
  2. 2
    דגנבא אפום מחתרתא · Berakhot 63a
  3. 3
    שפת אמת תכון לעד · Proverbs 12:19
  4. 4
    ובל תמוט עולם ועד · Psalms 104:5

The two voices of Yaakov ¶16–19

16והנה כתיב הקל קול יעקב קדמאה חסר ו׳ שהוא בחי׳ קלא דלא אשתמע וקול בתראה מלא ו׳ שהוא בחי׳ קלא דאשתמע כמ״ש בזוהר הקדוש.

Now, it is written, “The voice is the voice of Yaakov”: the first [kol] is written lacking a vav, which is the level of the voice that is not heard, and the second kol is written full, with a vav, which is the level of the voice that is heard, as explained in the holy Zohar.

Explanation

In the verse “The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” the first kol is written without a vav and the second with one. Following the Zohar, the Alter Rebbe calls the first an inner voice that is not heard and the second a voice that is heard.

וביאור הדברים הנה בחי׳ יעקב הוא יו״ד עקב פי׳ שהיו״ד שהוא תחלת המחשבה ביו״ד נברא עוה״ב [עולם הבא] הוא נמשך לבחי׳ עקב ורגל שהוא בחי׳ הדבור.

And the explanation of the matter: the level of Yaakov is yud–akev (“yud” [and] “heel”). Meaning, that the yud, which is the beginning of thought, “with the yud the World to Come was created,” is drawn down to the level of heel and foot, which is the level of speech.

Explanation

The name Yaakov is read as yud and akev, the letter yud and a heel. The yud, the smallest letter, is the beginning of thought, through which the Sages say the World to Come was created, and it reaches down to the heel and foot, which stand for speech.

ויעקב הוא מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה. מריש כל דרגין. ובכל מדרגות עליונות יש ג״כ בחינת ראש ורגל

And Yaakov is [the bar that] “runs through from end to end,” “from the head of all levels.” And in all the higher levels there is also the aspect of head and foot,

Explanation

The Zohar calls Yaakov the central bar of the Mishkan, which ran from one end to the other, from the highest level to the lowest. Every higher level also has a “head” and a “foot.”

כמ״ש ועמדו רגליו ביום ההוא וכתיב והארץ הדום רגלי וכתיב ומקום רגלי אכבד ויעקב הוא בחי׳ יו״ד עקב בכל עולם ועולם לפי ערכו.

as it is written, “And His feet shall stand on that day,” and it is written, “and the earth is My footstool,” and it is written, “and the place of My feet I will honor.” And Yaakov is the level of yud–akev in each and every world, according to its measure.

Explanation

The prophets speak of G‑d’s “feet” and “footstool,” showing that even above there is a lowest part. So Yaakov, yud reaching down to heel, exists in every world at its own level.

Paragraph 16 in brief

The paragraph introduces the two voices of Yaakov and explains his name as yud–akev: the drawing down of the beginning of thought all the way to the “heel,” in every world.

Deeper

According to the Kehot note, the Tzemach Tzedek in Or HaTorah reads “in each world according to its measure” as meaning that Yaakov reaches even above Atzilus, and also into the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

TermsYaakov and YisraelBeyud nivra olam habaOlam HaBaKadosh+1
  • Yaakov and Yisrael יעקב וישראל explained hereYaakov is yud–akev: the yud, the beginning of thought, drawn down to the heel and foot, which is speech. Every higher level also has a head and a foot, and Yaakov is yud–akev in each world according to its rank, the bar that runs from end to end.שהיו״ד שהוא תחלת המחשבה ביו״ד נברא עוה״ב הוא נמשך לבחי׳ עקב ורגל שהוא בחי׳ הדבור
  • Beyud nivra olam haba ביו״ד נברא העוה״ב
  • Olam HaBa עולם הבא
  • Kadosh קדוש
  • Dibbur elyon דבור עליון

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    הקל קול יעקב · Genesis 27:22
  2. 2
    כמ״ש בזהר הקדוש · באוה״ת וישב כרך ה תתצד, ב מציין עיין ח״א ד״ן ע״ב ל״ב א׳ ויצא קנ״א סע״א וישלח קע״א ע״א . . ויגש רי, א. תורת שמואל מצה זו תר״מ סעי׳ כ ואילך.
  3. 3
    הקדוש · בבוך 633 ליתא תי׳ זה.
  4. 4
    יעקב הוא י׳ עקב · נסמן לעיל כא, א.
  5. 5
    ביו״ד נברא עוה״ב · Menachot 29b:13–14
  6. 6
    ויעקב הוא מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה · Zohar III, 186a
  7. 7
    עקב ורגל . . ראש ורגל · הקטע עד שו״ה בחינת — ראש ורגל ליתא בבוך 633.
  8. 8
    ועמדו רגליו ביום ההוא · Zechariah 14:4
  9. 9
    והארץ הדום רגלי · Isaiah 66:1
  10. 10
    ומקום רגלי אכבד · Isaiah 60:13
  11. 11
    הנה בחי׳ יעקב . . בכל עולם ועולם לפי ערכו · באוה״ת פ׳ כי תצא ע׳ תתעו מביא קטע מכאן.
  12. 12
    ויעקב . . בכל עולם ועולם לפי ערכו · באוה״ת וישב (כרך ה) תתצה, א: ומש״ר בכל עולם ועולם לפי ערכו י״ל דהיינו שבחי׳ יעקב שייך גם למעלה מאצי׳ . . וגם בפי׳ בכל עולם לפי ערכו היינו גם בבי״ע.

17והנה בחינת קלא דאשתמע הוא בחי׳ התורה שהוא בחי׳ המשכה כמשל הקול המחבר וממשיך מצפוני כוונת הלב לבא לידי גילוי בדבור וכך התורה היא בחי׳ חכמה עילאה בחי׳ חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא

Now, the level of the voice that is heard is the level of the Torah, which is the level of drawing down, like the analogy of the voice that connects and draws the hidden intentions of the heart so that they come to be revealed in speech. And so the Torah is the level of supernal Chochmah, the level of “wise, but not with a known wisdom.”

Explanation

The heard voice is the Torah: just as the voice carries the heart’s hidden thoughts out into speech, the Torah draws G‑d’s hidden wisdom into revelation. Torah is supernal Chochmah, of which Eliyahu’s prayer in the Tikkunei Zohar says G‑d is “wise, but not with a known wisdom.”

שהרי טעמי המצות לא נתגלו להיות בהתגלות רב להבין כל עמקי סודותיה בפרטי פרטות ונמשכה לבחי׳ גילוי ע״י התלבשותה בדברים גשמיים סדר זרעים מועד וכו׳.

For the reasons of the mitzvos have not been revealed with great openness, so as to understand all the depths of its secrets in their finest details; and it was drawn into revelation through its being enclothed in physical matters: the Order of Zeraim, Moed, etc.

Explanation

That is why the reasons for the mitzvos are not fully revealed. Instead the Torah comes down into revelation by clothing itself in physical matters, the laws of agriculture, the festivals and the other orders of the Mishnah.

Paragraph 17 in brief

The paragraph identifies the heard voice with the Torah, G‑d’s hidden wisdom brought into the open by enclothing itself in the physical subjects of the law.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5732

    The Alter Rebbe describes Torah coming into revelation by being clothed in physical subjects. The Rebbe adds that Torah has two dimensions: being bound to G‑d, and being “entirely one” with Him. He argues these cannot be split into revealed versus inner Torah, or intellect versus delight, since the Tanya places “entirely one” mainly in revealed Torah as grasped by the mind. So both are present at every level, even in study done in utter smallness.

    The Alter Rebbeונמשכה לבחי׳ גילוי ע״י התלבשותה בדברים גשמיים

    The Rebbeשבכל המדרי׳ שבלימוד התורה ישנו הן ענין התורה המתקשרת בקוב״ה

    The whole maamar, summarized

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.

TermsTe’amimKavanahHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahDibbur elyon+4

Also Torah and mitzvosChochmahHaalaah vehamshachahTorah

18והוא בחי׳ קול והמשכה של יעקב יו״ד עקב דהיינו מבחי׳ יו״ד שהוא חכמה עילאה להיות נמשך עד עקב והוא עשי׳ [עשיה].

And this is the level of the voice and drawing-down of Yaakov, yud–akev: that is, from the level of the yud, which is supernal Chochmah, to be drawn down to the heel, which is Asiyah.

Explanation

The heard voice of Yaakov is the yud of supernal Chochmah reaching all the way to the heel, the World of Asiyah, the lowest world of action.

אך כדי שיהיה האדם כלי ומכון שיהיה חכמה עילאה שורה ומתגלה בו בעסק התורה צריך להיות תחלה בבחי׳ בטול בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא

But in order for a person to be a vessel and a place in which supernal Chochmah rests and is revealed, in the study of Torah, he must first be in the level of self-nullification (bittul), in the level of the desire of the heart,

Explanation

For supernal Chochmah to rest in a person while he learns Torah, he must first be in a state of bittul, self-nullification, the desire of the heart. This is the unheard voice that must come first.

והוא בחי׳ קלא דלא אשתמע דרוח אמשיך רוח להיות אור ה׳ שורה ומתגלה בו להיות חכמת ה׳ בקרבו בהתגלות וחב״ד [וחכמה בינה ודעת] שבנפשו בטלים וטפלים אליו והוא ענין אתדבקות רוחא ברוחא.

which is the level of the voice that is not heard; for “spirit draws spirit,” so that the light of G‑d rests and is revealed in him, that the wisdom of G‑d be within him in revelation, and the Chochmah, Binah and Daas of his soul be nullified and subordinate to Him. And this is the matter of “the cleaving of spirit with spirit.”

Explanation

The Zohar says spirit draws spirit: the inner longing draws down G‑d’s light and wisdom to be revealed within the person. His own intellect, his Chochmah, Binah and Daas, becomes nullified to it, and this is the cleaving of spirit with spirit.

Paragraph 18 in brief

The paragraph links the two voices: the heard voice of Torah can rest in a person only after the unheard voice, the desire of the heart and self-nullification, has made him a vessel.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. The Rebbe explains

    In a sicha of Motzaei Shabbos 10 Shevat 5721 on “do not make with Me gods of silver…” at the end of Yisro, where the Alter Rebbe read the first command given after Matan Torah as a command of bittul, the Rebbe distinguishes two kinds of bittul.

    The Rebbe compares the bittul of keeping a mitzvah, „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“like a servant who carries out the king’s commands”), with the bittul of Torah study, where the words a person speaks are G‑d’s own word, as this maamar explains. He adds that the person’s own humbling („ונפשי כעפר לכל תהי׳”, “let my soul be as dust to all,” then „פתח לבי בתורתך”, “open my heart to Your Torah”) „אינה אלא הכנה וכלי” (is only the preparation and the vessel); the bittul of „ואשים דברי בפיך” (“I have put My words in your mouth”) comes from the Torah itself. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is the order of ¶18–19: the bittul this paragraph requires „תחלה” (“first”) makes a person a vessel, and the bittul in which G‑d’s word speaks through him is the Torah’s doing.

    The Alter Rebbeאך כדי שיהיה האדם כלי ומכון שיהיה חכמה עילאה שורה ומתגלה בו בעסק התורה צריך להיות תחלה בבחי׳ בטול

    The Rebbeהרי עבודת האדם בזה אינה אלא הכנה וכלי . . אבל הביטול באופן ד„ואשים דברי בפיך” נמשך מצד התורה עצמה

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. לו, p. 99 (Yisro, the sicha from p. 96) · מוצש״ק, י׳ שבט תשכ״א

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

TermsRe’usa delibaYaakov and YisraelMochinHigher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah+4

Also BittulChochmahHaalaah vehamshachahTorah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    דרוח אמשיך רוח · Zohar II, 162b

19וע״ז נאמר אלוהי בקרבי וכתיב ואשים דברי בפיך. דברי ממש כי דבר ה׳ זו הלכה היא היא הנגלית בו והיא המדברת מתוך גרונו.

And about this it is said, “My G‑d is within me,” and it is written, “And I have put My words in your mouth”: “My words” literally, for “‘the word of Havayah’: this is halachah”; it is this that is revealed in him, and it is this that speaks from within his throat.

Explanation

When a person is nullified in this way, G‑d is “within” him, and G‑d’s own words are in his mouth. The Gemara reads Amos’s “word of Havayah” as halachah, so G‑d’s word is revealed in him and speaks from his throat.

ולכן נאמר על התורה בי מלכים ימלוכו. ואמרינן מאן מלכי רבנן. ומתניתא מלכתא.

Therefore it is said of the Torah, “Through me kings reign,” and we say, “Who are the kings? The Rabbis,” and “the Mishnah is a queen.”

Explanation

That is why wisdom, the Torah, says “through me kings reign,” the Gemara calls the Rabbis “kings,” and the Mishnah is called a queen.

כי להיותו בביטול אל דבר ה׳ ורצונו וחכמתו ואינו תופס מקום מצד עצמו כלל הנה דבר המלך הוא השלטון והוא בחי׳ מלך שגוזר ואומר שאם יטעון ראובן כך כו׳ יהיה כך.

For since he is nullified to the word of G‑d and to His will and His wisdom, and takes up no place of his own at all, “the word of the king is sovereign,” and he is on the level of a king who decrees and says that if Reuven claims thus, etc., it shall be thus,

Explanation

Because the scholar is nullified to G‑d’s word, will and wisdom and claims no standing of his own, his ruling carries G‑d’s authority: like a king whose word is law, he rules that if Reuven claims one thing, the judgment will be so.

וכן לעשות כך ושלא לעשות כך וכו׳ ואינו בבחי׳ עבד כ״א בעשיית המצות שהוא כעבד המקיים מצות המלך ועושה דבריו:

and likewise to do thus and not to do thus, etc. And he is not on the level of a servant, except in the performance of the mitzvos, in which he is like a servant who carries out the king’s commands and does his words.

Explanation

He rules what is permitted and forbidden as well. In the study of Torah he is a king, and only in performing the mitzvos is he a servant, carrying out the King’s commands.

Paragraph 19 in brief

The paragraph shows the result of nullifying oneself to G‑d’s wisdom: G‑d’s word speaks through the scholar, who rules as a king in Torah, while in the mitzvos he is a servant.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In a sicha of Shabbos Re’eh 5730 on Iggeres HaTeshuvah ch. 4, which opens from his father’s note on its words “to explain well, at length,” the Rebbe asks why the Alter Rebbe needs the Zohar’s lower („תשובה תתאה”) and higher teshuvah („תשובה עילאה”) to explain the mitzvah of teshuvah itself, even its beginning, and to answer it explains why lower teshuvah is tied to keeping the mitzvos and higher teshuvah to Torah study.

    The Rebbe gives what he calls one of the explanations, from this paragraph. In keeping mitzvos the bittul is that of one who obeys, „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“like a servant who carries out the king’s commands”); in Torah study “the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat,” so „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis”): his very existence is the “king.” That bittul, he suggests, comes from the root of the soul as it was „בטרם שנפחה” (“before it was breathed”) into man, when it was wholly one with G‑d, while the soul after its descent can only be a being nullified before Him, as a servant before a king. So lower teshuvah belongs to the mitzvos and higher teshuvah to Torah.

    The Alter Rebbeואינו בבחי׳ עבד כ״א בעשיית המצות שהוא כעבד המקיים מצות המלך ועושה דבריו

    The Rebbeויש לומר, אַז דער ביטול (בעסק התורה) נעמט זיך פון דעם שרש הנשמה ווי זי איז געווען „בטרם שנפחה כו׳”

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. יט, p. 401–402 (Biurim l’Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 4, pp. 399–407; the quote on p. 402, notes 18–19 on p. 401) · ש״פ ראה, תש״ל

  2. The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In the Hadran on the Rambam of Shabbos Va’era 5748, on the completion of the fourth cycle of Mishneh Torah, explaining that the Torah’s laws, as commands for life in the world, have the person and the world “felt” in them, the Rebbe adds a footnote on why mitzvos and Torah differ.

    In a footnote the Rebbe suggests (“it may be said”) that this is also the reason for the difference drawn in this paragraph, that one who keeps mitzvos remains a being “like a servant who carries out the king’s commands,” while in Torah study “the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat”: in the mitzvos „הוי׳ דלתתא” (the “lower Havayah”) is revealed, which „שנותן מקום” (“gives room”) to the world, while in Torah „הוי׳ דלעילא” (the “higher Havayah”) is revealed, „שעי״ז נעשה ביטול העולם” (before which the world is nullified). He then limits it: the difference holds for the mitzvos as they came down as commands to man; as they are within the Torah, the mitzvos too are Torah.

    The Alter Rebbeכי דבר ה׳ זו הלכה היא היא הנגלית בו והיא המדברת מתוך גרונו

    The Rebbeכי, במצוות מתגלה הוי׳ דלתתא ”שנותן מקום” לעולם, משא״כ בתורה מתגלה הוי׳ דלעילא שעי״ז נעשה ביטול העולם

    Hadran on the Rambam (completing the fourth cycle, 5748), in Likkutei Sichos – Geulah uMoshiach, Hosafos, p. 55, note 80* (also Yein Malchus vol. 3 p. תז) · ש״פ וארא, מבה״ח שבט, ה׳תשמ״ח

  3. The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In dibbur hamaschil Arba’ah Roshei Shanim Hem of 15 Shevat 5731 (edited), explaining why the Jewish people are likened to grain for their mitzvos and to a tree for their Torah study, the Rebbe sets out how mitzvos and Torah differ.

    The Rebbe explains that mitzvos are commands to a person, which already grants him a place as a being, so he keeps them with the bittul of kabbalas ol, „כעבד המקיים מצות המלך” (“as a servant who carries out the king’s command”); but Torah is G‑d’s own wisdom, „אין שם נתינת מקום למציאות שחוץ ממנו” (where there is no room for any existence outside Him), „גם לא למציאות דעבד” (“not even the existence of a servant.”) That is why „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis”): when G‑d’s word speaks through them their bittul is above even a servant’s, until their whole existence is the King himself. For one not at that level, he adds, the stress in Torah study is not self-effacement but that his own understanding become one with the Torah.

    The Alter Rebbeכי להיותו בביטול אל דבר ה׳ ורצונו וחכמתו ואינו תופס מקום מצד עצמו כלל

    The Rebbeובתורה שהיא חכמתו של הקב״ה, אין שם נתינת מקום למציאות שחוץ ממנו, גם לא למציאות דעבד

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ה, p. קעב (§5) · יום ד׳, ט״ו בשבט, ה׳תשל״א

  4. The Rebbe explains

    In a sicha of Shabbos Naso 5735, asking why the Rambam gives „ממזר ת״ח קודם לכהן גדול ע״ה” (“a mamzer who is a Torah scholar precedes an ignorant High Priest”) as a law of its own, the Rebbe distinguishes two levels in „כתר תורה” (“the crown of Torah.”)

    The Rebbe explains that Torah raises a person in two ways: as the loftiest of lofty things, of one kind with the crowns of priesthood and kingship but higher, and beyond all comparison, „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis.”) For the second he quotes this paragraph: one who keeps the mitzvos is like a servant, but in Torah learned in bittul the words he speaks are G‑d’s word, so „שהרוממות והמלכות אינן שלו” (“the exaltation and the kingship are not his”) „אלא של התורה עצמה” (but the Torah’s own), revealed through him.” That is why a mamzer scholar precedes a High Priest who enters the Holy of Holies: the High Priest comes close to the King as a servant or minister, while one who learns in bittul is the “king.”

    The Alter Rebbeולכן נאמר על התורה בי מלכים ימלוכו. ואמרינן מאן מלכי רבנן

    The Rebbeוזהו שלימות הענין ד„כתר תורה”, שהרוממות וה„מלכות” אינן שלו, אלא של התורה עצמה (המתגלית על ידו)

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. לג, p. 43–46 (Naso, the sicha pp. 42–49) · ש״פ נשא, תשל״ה

  5. The Rebbe explains

    In dibbur hamaschil Shir HaMaalos LeDavid Hinei Mah Tov of Lag BaOmer 5722 (edited), asking how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai brought rain by saying a teaching when others needed added blessings, fasts and prayer, the Rebbe explains how Torah changes the world.

    The Rebbe brings “the known teaching” on „מאן מלכי רבנן” (“who are the kings? the Rabbis”): because the Sages’ Torah study is in bittul, their rulings are „שהמלך עצמו (מלך מלכי המלכים הקב״ה) גוזר ואומר את הפסק דין” (the King himself decreeing the law), and since it is the King’s decree, „נעשה כן ממילא” (it takes effect of itself). So a ruling of Torah changes the world even beyond its root, as when the court intercalates the year, and as Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair commanded the river to split: it has the advantage of prayer, which brings something new, and of blessing, which works by command.

    The Alter Rebbeהנה דבר המלך הוא השלטון והוא בחי׳ מלך שגוזר ואומר שאם יטעון ראובן כך כו׳ יהיה כך

    The Rebbeהרי הפסקי דינים שלהם הוא שהמלך עצמו (מלך מלכי המלכים הקב״ה) גוזר ואומר את הפסק דין, וכיון שזהו גזירת המלך, נעשה כן ממילא

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ד, p. רנג (§4, note 24) · ל״ג בעומר, ה׳תשכ״ב

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

TermsBen ve’evedDibbur elyonMalchusRatzon+4

Also BittulTorah and mitzvosChochmahTorah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ואשים דברי בפיך · Isaiah 51:16
  2. 2
    דבר ה׳ זו הלכה · Shabbat 138b:11–12
  3. 3
    בי מלכים ימלוכו · Proverbs 8:15
  4. 4
    מאן מלכי רבנן · Gittin 62a:14
  5. 5
    ומתניתא מלכתא · ראה לקמן מט, ב.
  6. 6
    דבר המלך הוא השלטון · Ecclesiastes 8:4
  7. 7
    כעבד המקיים מצות המלך ועושה דבריו · מובא בלקו״ש חט״ו ע׳ 315 ומציין שם בהערה 38 ”ולהעיר מתניא פכ״ג”. וראה גם לקו״ש חי״ט ע׳ 401. וראה בד״ה שלום רב תשל״ח בסופו.

The verse explained: two settlings ¶20–22

20וזהו וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו. וישב הוא ענין השפלה וירידה ממקום עמידתו. ופי׳ שבחי׳ יעקב יו״ד עקב נמשך ונשפל להיות בארץ מגורי אביו.

And this is [the meaning of] “And Yaakov settled in the land of his father’s sojournings (megurei).” “Settled” (vayeshev) denotes a lowering and descent from the place where one stood. And the meaning is that the level of Yaakov, yud–akev, is drawn down and lowered to be “in the land of his father’s megurei.”

Explanation

Now the opening verse is explained. “Settled” means a lowering from one’s place: Yaakov, the yud reaching down to the heel, is drawn down and lowered into “the land of his father’s megurei.”

¶1 This begins answering the question from paragraph 1 about the doubled wording.

ומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳ הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר כמו מגורה מלאה פירות שהוא כלי שאוצרין לתוכו ושניהם עולים בקנה אחד כי יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו כתיב.

And megurei has two meanings: the first is an expression of fear, and the second is an expression of a storehouse, as in “a granary (megurah) full of produce,” which is a vessel into which [produce] is stored; and both go together, for it is written, “The fear of Havayah is His treasure.”

Explanation

The word megurei has two meanings: fear, as in magor (terror), and storehouse, as a granary is called a megurah. The two go together, because the verse says “The fear of Havayah is His treasure.”

Paragraph 20 in brief

The paragraph begins to read the opening verse: Yaakov’s settling is a descent, and megurei means both fear and a storehouse, since awe is the vessel that holds G‑d’s treasure.

Deeper

According to the Kehot note, the Rebbe (in the maamar Shalom Rav 5738) showed that both meanings go back to the Maggid of Mezritch’s Or Torah: megurei as fear of one’s Father in heaven, and as gathering in, as in “he gathers in summer.”

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In dibbur hamaschil Pada B’shalom, said at the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738, the Maggid’s yahrzeit (edited), the Rebbe brings the Maggid’s teaching on this verse, which reads megurei first as „יראת אביו שבשמים” (fear of his Father in heaven) and then as “gathering” (as in “he gathers in summer”) the sparks of holiness, and asks how the two connect.

    The Rebbe says the two meanings of megurei are linked, as this paragraph says „ושניהם עולים בקנה אחד” (they “go together”), even by the Maggid’s reading, for whom the storehouse is the gathering of sparks: the gathering („מגורי לשון אסיפה”) and raising of the sparks is completed through the service of fear, „ביטול דעבד” (“the bittul of a servant”), whose whole intent is not for himself, not even to cleave to G‑d, but only „לשמש את קונו” (to serve his Master) and make Him a dwelling below. Through that the refinement is complete.

    The Alter Rebbeוהב׳ הוא לשון אוצר כמו מגורה מלאה פירות שהוא כלי שאוצרין לתוכו

    The Rebbeדשלימות הבירור והעלאת הניצוצות (מגורי לשון אסיפה) הוא ע״י העבודה דיראה, ביטול דעבד, שכל כוונתו בעבודתו היא . . לשמש את קונו

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. ח–ט (§§7–8) · י״ט כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח

  2. The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    In a Likkutei Sichos talk for Vayeishev, adapted from dibbur hamaschil Shalom Rav of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeishev 5738, on Rashi’s „ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה” (“Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility”) and on “great peace to those who love Your Torah,” the Rebbe brings both the Maggid’s and the Alter Rebbe’s readings of megurei.

    The Rebbe explains that the two readings complete each other. The Maggid says what Yaakov’s work was: he came down into earthiness to gather the sparks, work bound up with mitzvos clothed in physical things. The Alter Rebbe reads megurei as higher fear, a storehouse for supernal Chochmah, „ובחי׳ חכמה עילאה נק׳ אביו” (“his father”), and ties it to Torah study; by this he adds that the same work was done in utter bittul, „בדוגמת הביטול בעסק התורה” (like the bittul of Torah study), not as a servant who obeys but as one whose whole being is a „מרכבה” (“chariot”) for G‑d’s will.

    The Alter Rebbeושניהם עולים בקנה אחד כי יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו כתיב

    The Rebbeאון דער אַלטער רבי איז מוסיף אין דעם, אַז (אויך) די עבודה איז באַ אים געווען בתכלית הביטול, בדוגמת הביטול בעסק התורה

    Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 315–316 (Vayeishev, the sicha from p. 310, §§9–10) · ממאמר ד״ה שלום רב, מוצאי ש״פ וישב תשל״ח

  3. A question the Rebbe raises

    In dibbur hamaschil Shalom Rav of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeishev 5738, said in his room (edited; published for 19 Kislev 5748), quoting this paragraph’s two meanings of megurei („ומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳”), the Rebbe notes in a footnote that they are the Maggid’s, from his Or Torah, and asks why the Alter Rebbe does not say so.

    The Rebbe points out that the two meanings of megurei given here, „הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר” (fear and storehouse), were taught by the Maggid of Mezritch, yet the Alter Rebbe does not name him. One reason may be that the meanings are also in Rashi and elsewhere; but more likely, he says, it is as in many places in the Tanya and his other books, and as with many great Jewish teachers, first Rabbi Eliezer the Great, who rarely named his teacher though „שלא אמר דבר שלא שמע מפי רבו” (he said nothing he had not heard from him). He offers two reasons: everyone knows whose teaching it is, or the student, having grasped it with his own mind, made it his own Torah, so it is not said „בשם אומרו” (in another’s name).

    The Alter Rebbeומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳ הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר

    The Rebbeוזה שאדה״ז לא כתב זה „בשם אומרו”, הה״מ . . ויותר נ״ל — כיון שכן הוא בכו״כ ענינים בתניא ובשאר ספריו

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. רו–רז (note 99) · מוצאי ש״פ וישב, מבה״ח טבת, ה׳תשל״ח (בחדרו)

  4. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5727

    The Alter Rebbe links the two meanings of megurei through “the fear of Havayah is His treasure,” with awe as the vessel for supernal Chochmah. The Rebbe gives each meaning new content. The storehouse is the gathering of sparks that were scattered like the separated letters of a word (ברוך). The awe, which he attributes to the Maggid, is the awe of shame born of recognizing what is beyond comprehension. He then shows how the two connect: that recognition brings about the choice of good, and that choice is what actually gathers the sparks.

    The Alter Rebbeומגורי יש בו ב׳ פי׳ הא׳ הוא לשון יראה והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר

    The Rebbeומצד הכרה זו נעשית הבחירה בטוב (כנ״ל), שעי״ז הוא עיקר אסיפת ובירור הניצוצות

    The whole maamar, summarized

  5. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5746

    For the Alter Rebbe, “vayeshev” means Yaakov’s lowering and descent. The Rebbe reads the same word as the outcome of that descent: settledness and rest, a level above the movement of ascent and descent. He connects it to the rest of Chanukah after the war, and to “standing before Me” beyond “walking.”

    The Alter Rebbeוישב הוא ענין השפלה וירידה ממקום עמידתו

    The Rebbeוזהו ענין וישב יעקב גו׳, בחי׳ ישיבה והתיישבות ומנוחה

    The whole maamar, summarized

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

TermsYaakov and Yisrael

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ומגורי . . לשון יראה · Zohar I, 180a
  2. 2
    והב׳ הוא לשון אוצר · Proverbs 10:5
  3. 3
    מגורה מלאה פירות · פסחים ד, רע״ב. וש״נ.
  4. 4
    מגורה מלאה פירות · Pesachim 4b:1–2
  5. 5
    יראת ה׳ היא אוצרו · Isaiah 33:6

21וכן בדברי רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] אוצר של יראת שמים שהיא בחי׳ יראה עילאה יראה בשת בבחי׳ בטול הוא כלי קבול לחכמה עילאה שיהא שורה ומתגלה בו

And so too in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory, “a storehouse of the fear of Heaven,” which is the level of higher awe, the awe of shame, in the level of self-nullification: it is a receiving vessel for supernal Chochmah, that it may rest and be revealed in it.

Explanation

The Sages speak of a “storehouse of the fear of Heaven.” This is the higher awe, the awe of shame before G‑d’s greatness, which is bittul, and it is the vessel in which supernal Chochmah can rest and be revealed.

ונקרא מגורי אביו כי יעקב הוא בחי׳ יו״ד עקב הוא בחי׳ הארה והמשכה מבחי׳ חכמה עילאה להמשיך עד סוף כל דרגין. ובחי׳ חכמה עילאה נק׳ אביו.

And it is called “his father’s megurei,” for Yaakov is the level of yud–akev; he is the level of illumination and drawing-down from the level of supernal Chochmah, to draw [it] down to the end of all levels. And the level of supernal Chochmah is called “his father.”

Explanation

This awe is called “his father’s megurei” because Yaakov is the drawing down of supernal Chochmah to the lowest level, and supernal Chochmah is called his “father.” So “the land of his father’s megurei” is the higher awe that holds his father’s wisdom.

Paragraph 21 in brief

The paragraph explains “his father’s megurei” as the higher awe of self-nullification, the storehouse that receives supernal Chochmah, Yaakov’s “father.”

Deeper

The Rebbe noted (Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat) that Torah Ohr says supernal Chochmah is called “his father” and not just “father,” hinting that it is Yaakov’s own father.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

  1. The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

    Continuing dibbur hamaschil Shalom Rav of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeishev 5738 (edited), which opens from the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamar of this dibbur hamaschil (5704), after quoting this maamar on Torah and mitzvos and on megurei, the Rebbe draws his own inference from the word „אביו” (“his father.”)

    The Rebbe infers from this paragraph that the awe which is „כלי קבול לחכמה עילאה” (receives supernal Chochmah) is called „מגורי אביו” (“his father’s megurei”), G‑d being called here not Master but Father, as the Maggid says „יראת אביו שבשמים” (“fear of his Father in heaven”); so this bittul is not a servant’s but „הביטול דבן” (a son’s). In „בחי׳ בן אפשר להיות ביטול אמיתי בתכלית” (a son’s service a true and complete bittul is possible), where he is no existence of his own and his whole existence is his father’s; through it „היא המדברת מתוך גרונו” (“the word of Havayah… speaks from his throat.”) So it is higher than a servant’s bittul, and, as Torah Ohr says, in Torah study he is not like a servant but the king himself.

    The Alter Rebbeיראה עילאה יראה בשת בבחי׳ בטול הוא כלי קבול לחכמה עילאה שיהא שורה ומתגלה בו ונקרא מגורי אביו

    The Rebbeשביטול זה הוא (לא הביטול דעבד, כ״א) הביטול דבן . . כי בהעבודה דבחי׳ בן אפשר להיות ביטול אמיתי בתכלית

    Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. רו–רז (§§10–11) · מוצאי ש״פ וישב, מבה״ח טבת, ה׳תשל״ח

  2. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, 5732

    The Alter Rebbe identifies “his father’s megurei” as the higher awe that receives supernal Chochmah. The Rebbe identifies it as mochin d’Abba, the inner Torah above hishtalshelus. He adds that Yaakov’s root (“I loved Yaakov”) is above tohu and tikkun, so even this lofty level is already a descent, the first stage before the full descent into Canaan.

    The Alter Rebbeובחי׳ חכמה עילאה נק׳ אביו

    The Rebbeשהוא כללות מוחין דאבא (בחי׳ פנימיות התורה) שלמעלה מהשתלשלות הוא ג״כ ירידה

    The whole maamar, summarized

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

TermsLower and higher aweYaakov and YisraelHigher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah+3

Also BittulChochmahHaalaah vehamshachah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    בדברי רז״ל אוצר של יראת שמים · Berakhot 33b:24
  2. 2
    ובחי׳ חכמה עילאה נק׳ אביו · ”י״ל דבלשון התו״א ד”ח״ע נק׳ אביו” (ולא ”נק׳ אב”) — מרומז גם שח״ע נק׳ ”אביו” דיעקב. (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ב ע׳ רז בהערה 104).

22והנה זה הוא בבחי׳ יחודא עילאה ואתדבקו׳ רוחא ברוחא בעסק התורה להיות בטל אליו ית׳ בבחי׳ חכמה עילאה כנ״ל.

Now, this is in the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) and the cleaving of spirit with spirit in the study of Torah, to be nullified to Him, blessed be He, in the level of supernal Chochmah, as mentioned above.

Explanation

Everything so far belongs to the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), where the person is nullified to G‑d in Torah study and his spirit cleaves to G‑d’s spirit. In that unity the world counts as nothing before G‑d.

אך בבחי׳ יחודא תתאה דהיינו להיות כלי ומכון לשבתו ית׳ בבחי׳ קיום העולם בבחי׳ מלכותו שיהיה גם בזה שורה ומתגלה בחי׳ ה׳ אחד.

But in the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), that is, to be a vessel and a place for His dwelling, blessed be He, in the level of the world’s existence, in the level of His sovereignty, so that in this too the level of “Havayah is One” rest and be revealed:

Explanation

There is also the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah): making the world’s ongoing existence, which comes from G‑d’s Malchus, into a dwelling for Him. The goal is that the oneness of G‑d be revealed in the world itself.

הנה זה נמשך ע״י ישיבה והשפל׳ [והשפלה] אחרת ממדתו של יעקב להמשיך כז, גמדת חסד מראש כל דרגין עד סוף כל דרגין בארץ התחתונה הוא כנען שהוא בחי׳ מלכותו ית׳ ומלך במשפט יעמיד ארץ והוכן בחסד כסא.

this is drawn through another settling and lowering of the attribute of Yaakov, to draw down the attribute of Chesed from the head of all levels to the end of all levels, into the lower land, which is Canaan, which is the level of His sovereignty (malchus), blessed be He; and “A king establishes the land through justice,” and “the throne is established through kindness.”

Explanation

This needs another “settling” and lowering of Yaakov: drawing Chesed, kindness, from the highest level to the lowest, into the lower land, Canaan, which is G‑d’s Malchus. The verses say the king sustains the land through justice and his throne is established through kindness.

שקיום העולם הוא בחסד כמ״ש עולם חסד יבנה דהיינו בעשיית המצות בכלל ששרשם הוא בחי׳ חסד ובפרטות הוא מצות הצדקה וחסד שלכן היא נקראת בשם מצוה סתם כו׳ שהיא שקולה כנגד כל המצות כמ״ש בתניא:

For the world’s existence is through kindness, as it is written, “The world is built on kindness”: that is, through the performance of the mitzvos in general, whose root is the level of Chesed, and in particular it is the mitzvah of charity and kindness, which is why it is called simply “the mitzvah,” etc., for it is equal to all the mitzvos, as explained in the Tanya.

Explanation

The world stands on kindness: in general through all the mitzvos, whose root is Chesed, and in particular through charity. That is why the Sages call charity simply “the mitzvah,” and why it equals all the mitzvos, as Tanya explains.

Paragraph 22 in brief

The paragraph answers the opening question of the doubled wording: “his father’s megurei” is the higher unity reached through Torah and awe, and “the land of Canaan” is the lower unity, drawing kindness into the world through the mitzvos, above all charity.

Deeper

The Kehot note reports that two manuscripts add an ending: especially charity given to the Holy Land itself, which is the gate of heaven and corresponds to the supernal land of Canaan.

TermsYichuda tata’ahYichuda ila’ahKiseiTzedakah+8

Also BittulTorah and mitzvosChochmahTorah

Marei mekomos

  1. 1
    ומלך במשפט יעמיד ארץ · Proverbs 29:4
  2. 2
    והוכן בחסד כסא · Isaiah 16:5
  3. 3
    עולם חסד יבנה · Psalms 89:3
  4. 4
    שהיא שקולה כנגד כל המצות · Bava Batra 9a:12
  5. 5
    מצות הצדקה . . שהיא שקולה כנגד כל המצות כמ״ש בתניא · בלקו״א פרק לז. בבוך 633 (יב, ב) ובבוך 1118 נוסף בסיום המאמר: ”ובפרט בצדקה שעושים עם אה״ק ממש שהוא שער השמים ומכוונת כנגד ארץ כנען העליונה כמו שאה״כ כעיר שחוברה לה יחדיו וד״ל”.

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In one’s avodah

Do not measure your bond with G‑d by how much love and awe you feel: the soul came down precisely to reach a deeper longing, from the depth of the heart, by contemplating that G‑d is beyond all thought, even when facing what seems far from Him. Before Torah study, set yourself aside so that G‑d’s wisdom can rest in you; and bring His kindness into the world through the mitzvos, above all through charity.

Questions for discussion

  1. Why is a merchant, who seems to “lose” his money, the right image for the soul’s descent into the body?
  2. How does the desire of the heart differ from the love and awe the soul had before it came down, and why is it higher?
  3. What does it mean to find G‑d “from there,” in exile, by contemplating what is opposite to Him?
  4. Why must the unheard voice of self-nullification come before the heard voice of Torah study?
  5. How do “his father’s megurei” and “the land of Canaan” correspond to the higher and lower unity?

Key terms in this maamar

Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
The “husks” that cover and conceal holiness: forces of yesh set opposite holiness, whose mark is bittul. They came into being through the breaking of the vessels and draw their nurture from holiness. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
The descent of levels from cause to effect, linked like the rings of a chain, from Chochmah downward; each reveals what was hidden in the one above. Or Ein Sof itself is above this order. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
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. ×1Where 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
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. ×6Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
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. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
The outer dimension of a level: the part that goes out to give to others, as against pnimiyus, which cleaves to the source. Only the outer descends, becoming the inner of the level below.Where it’s explained, stated differently
The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
The inner dimension: the part of anything that turns toward and cleaves to its source (from panim, face), its depth and chief will. Its partner, chitzoniyus, goes out to others; the inner does not descend.Where 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.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”). ×1Where 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. ×1Where 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. ×10Where 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
Willרצון
Will, which rules the middos: a lower will born of intellect, and the Supernal Will above intellect (Keser, Gulgalta), which covers a hidden reason and delight and is the root of the mitzvos. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
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. ×3Where 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. ×1Where it’s explained
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.Where it’s explained, stated differently
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. ×1Where 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.Where 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.Where it’s explained, stated differently
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. ×1Where 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. ×1Where 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. ×6Where it’s explained, stated differently

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Contents

Torah Ohrתורה אור

Parshas Vayeishevוישב

  1. 1וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ…“And Yaakov settled in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan”
    1. The questions: the doubled land and the name Canaan ¶1–2
    2. The merchant and the exile ¶3
    3. The soul’s silver and gold ¶4–6
    4. The desire of the heart ¶7–10
    5. Finding G‑d “from there” in exile ¶11–12
    6. The analogy completed: Cham and Canaan ¶13–14
    7. Calling in truth ¶15
    8. The two voices of Yaakov ¶16–19
    9. The verse explained: two settlings ¶20–22
    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. 3
    4. 4
    5. 5
    6. 6
    7. 7
    8. 8
    9. 9
    10. 10
    11. 11
    12. 12
    13. 13
    14. 14
    15. 15
    16. 16
    17. 17
    18. 18
    19. 19
    20. 20
    21. 21
    22. 22
  2. 2והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלמים כו׳“And Behold, We Were Binding Sheaves”
  3. 3שיר המעלות בשוב כו׳ היינו כחולמיםA Song of Ascents: When [Havayah] Returns... We Were Like Dreamers
  4. 4בכ״ה בכסליו יומי דחנוכה כו׳ שכשנכנסו…On the Twenty-Fifth of Kislev
  5. 5כה אמר ה׳ צבאות אם בדרכי…Thus says Havayah of Hosts: If you will walk in My ways
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