Torah Ohr · Parshas Vayeitzei · Maamar 1
ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי והיה הוי׳ לי…
“And I Shall Return in Peace to My Father’s House”
The Rebbe on this maamar
The Rebbe built on it in these maamarim of his: ד״ה ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה (5726)ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי (5738)ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי (5747)
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The big idea
Yaakov’s descent to Charan is the descent of divine light into a world that seems separate from G‑d; by raising its “stones,” the letters of creation, and drawing supernal wisdom into Torah and mitzvos, that darkness is turned into light, and this brings about a future delight so great that even the Name Havayah will be like a mere “Elokim” beside it.
The maamar in brief
The maamar asks how the stone of Yaakov’s pillar relates to the Name Havayah, and why the verse joins a feminine noun to a masculine verb. Yaakov is “yud-heel”: he draws supernal Chochmah, the yud, down to the lowest level, Charan, where the divine voice is hidden and creation feels separate. The stones he gathered are the letters of divine speech that give life to creation; he raised them into a single yud, lifting them to Chochmah and even to sovev. Then he set the stone up as a pillar, the vav, drawing Chochmah into Torah and mitzvos, and poured oil on it, so that supernal wisdom is revealed in the Torah’s physical laws with the awe of Sinai. The purpose of this descent is the refining and transforming of darkness, especially through teshuvah, which, like a talking bird, delights G‑d because it is unexpected. Charan then becomes rinah, joyous song: the delight of Yitzchak, “laughter,” to be revealed in the future. Through two kinds of peace, ascent and descent, this delight will be revealed; relative to it Havayah will be like Elokim, and the stone, Malchus, will become a “house of Elokim,” a vessel for Havayah as it is now.
Outline
- The questionsWhy the stone depends on Havayah becoming Elokim, why the verse mixes genders, and what the many stones are.¶1–2
- Yaakov: the yud reaching the heelYaakov draws supernal Chochmah from Be’er Sheva down to Charan; the descent produces a world of separateness that he wishes to raise.¶3–6
- Stones are lettersLetters build words as stones build houses, and are inanimate relative to what they carry; creation lives from the divine letters, even the countless hosts from a single letter.¶7–9
- Many stones into one yudThe combinations of letters create separate beings; Yaakov gathers them into the yud, raising them to supernal Chochmah, where all is one.¶10–12
- The pillar and the oilThe pillar is the vav, Chochmah drawn into Torah and mitzvos; the oil is its revelation there with the awe of Sinai; first the letters must be raised to sovev.¶13–16
- My father’s house: Yitzchak’s laughter“My father” is Yitzchak, future laughter; delight comes from novelty, and the transformation of darkness through teshuvah turns Charan into rinah.¶17–21
- The future revelationWhen impurity is removed, creation will go from something to nothing, and the infinite delight of the seventh day will be revealed.¶22–24
- Peace, and Havayah becoming ElokimPeace joins opposites; its two kinds reveal the delight above the chain of worlds, relative to which Havayah is like Elokim, and the stone becomes a “house of Elokim,” a vessel for what is now Havayah.¶25–29
- SummaryThe Alter Rebbe’s own three-point summary, with a parallel from the Exodus and chametz and matzah.¶30
Key concepts
- Yud-akev (the yud and the heel)יו״ד עקב
- The reading of Yaakov’s name as the yud of supernal Chochmah drawn down to the “heel,” the lowest levels of creation.
- Stones as lettersאבנים נקראו אותיות
- In Sefer Yetzirah letters are called stones: they build words as stones build houses, and are lifeless compared to the meaning they carry. The stones Yaakov gathered are the letters of divine speech.
- Charan and rinahחרן ורנה
- Charan, from “my throat is parched,” is the world where the divine voice is hidden; when darkness is transformed, its ches becomes a hei and Charan becomes rinah, joyous song.
- Subjugation and transformationאתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Subduing the bad emotions and turning darkness into light; the purpose of the descent, and the source of the supernal delight.
- Delight (taanug) and Yitzchakתענוג, יצחק
- Yitzchak means “he will laugh”: the supernal delight that the work of refinement will reveal in the future, like the delight of something unexpected.
- Two kinds of peaceב׳ בחי׳ שלום
- Peace “to the far,” the lower world rising, and peace “to the near,” G‑dliness descending into Torah and mitzvos; peace joins opposites.
- Havayah and Elokimהוי׳ ואלקים
- Like sun and shield: Elokim conceals Havayah so that a finite world can exist. In the future, relative to the delight above both, Havayah itself will be like Elokim.
For children · ages 9–13
The stones that became one
The big idea
When we bring the scattered things of the world back to G‑d and turn even darkness into light, we give G‑d a delight that will be fully seen in the Time to Come.
On his way to Charan, Yaakov took stones from the place and put them at his head; in the morning there was one stone, and he set it up as a pillar and poured oil on it. The maamar explains that the stones are letters. As stones build a house, letters build words, and G‑d created the world with the letters of His word. Charan is the lowest place, where G‑d’s voice is so hidden that the world seems to stand on its own. Yaakov gathered the many letters into one, the small letter yud, which stands for G‑d’s wisdom, where everything is one. Then he set the stone up as a pillar, like the letter vav, a yud that reaches down. This is the Torah, which comes from G‑d’s wisdom and reaches down into the laws of daily life. The oil shows that the same wisdom shines in those laws, so we learn them with awe, as at Mount Sinai. The purpose of it all is teshuvah, returning to G‑d: taking strong feelings, like anger or wanting worldly things, and turning them toward G‑d. Then Charan becomes rinah, joyful song, and Yaakov returns “in peace to my father’s house.”
The mashal
No one is amazed when a person speaks, because people always speak. But if a bird were to speak, everyone would be delighted, because it is new and unexpected. In the same way, when the darkness of this world is turned into light, it brings G‑d a special delight.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why does turning darkness into light bring G‑d more delight than light that was always there?
- What do the many stones that became one stone teach us about the letters of G‑d’s word?
- This week, when you feel angry or want something too much, how can you turn that strong feeling toward G‑d and toward good?
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 · 4
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 (5726–5747) 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.
1.5726Opens from itד״ה ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה
The Rebbe opens by quoting this Torah Ohr maamar almost word for word (yud-akev, Be’er Sheva to Charan, 370 lights) and returns to its verses at the end. The body of the maamar builds mainly on the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar on gevia hakesef (Yosef’s goblet versus the cup of salvations, and the firstbornship of Reuven and Yosef).
Summary
The Rebbe opens with Yaakov’s departure from Be’er Sheva toward Charan, which begins not only the parsha but the specific episode that ends with Yaakov’s vow: “I shall return in peace to my father’s house... and this stone... will be a house of Elokim.” He asks two questions. What connects the beginning of the episode (going out to Charan) with its end (the return and the stone)? And how can a stone reach so lofty a level that it is called “a house of Elokim”? He first restates the Alter Rebbe’s reading. Yaakov is yud-akev, drawing supernal Chochmah down to the “heels.” He goes out from the lofty Be’er Sheva to Charan, the “wrath of the world.” The purpose of that descent is the work of refinement (beirurim), which brings about a great elevation.
To explain this, the Rebbe draws on the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar on Yosef’s goblet (gevia hakesef). David’s “cup of salvations,” which is Malchus, must be lifted up (“esa”) before it can receive. Yosef’s goblet, which is Yesod, already stands at the level of the giver and needs no lifting. The current order is giver and receiver, male and female; the work of refinement is done specifically by name Mah, which refines Ban. In the present order, priestly service is performed by kohanim, whose status follows the father, in keeping with the male-giver order. Paternal firstborn inheritance remains in the first future era as reward for the present-day work done through the male power. In the time to come Malchus will rise: “a female shall surround a male.” Then the service will pass to the firstborn, whose holiness comes from the mother. Kingship will belong to David, who will say “it is fitting for me to bless.” In the later of the two eras to come, inheritance will also follow the mother, which is the advantage of Yosef’s firstbornship. This answers both questions. Yaakov’s going to Charan is the refinement of Ban by Mah. Its end is Ban rising above Mah. The word even (אבן, stone) is Ban plus an alef, “the stone the builders rejected” that will become the cornerstone, so the stone will be a house of Elokim. The double tithe of the vow is the two levels of Keser, Arich and Atik, to be revealed in Malchus.
What the Rebbe adds
- ¶5
The Alter Rebbe says Yaakov “joins” the 370 lights and draws them down, but he does not show where the verse speaks of joining. The Rebbe finds it in the word tzaveh (“command”), read as tzavsa, joining. He also gives the alternative count of 375 lights (שע״ה) from Torah Chaim. He places these lights at the start of the chain of worlds (Chochmah) or above it, in Keser (Atik and Arich). And he reads she’iyah (“turning”) as G‑d’s very first turning toward bringing His light below.
The Alter Rebbe
ובחי׳ יעקב מחבר וממשיך אותן למטה בבחי׳ עקביים ג״כ
The Rebbe
צוה הוא מלשון צוותא וחיבור
- ¶4
The Alter Rebbe explains Charan later (¶20) through “נחר גרוני,” the parched-throat image associated with the hidden divine voice. The Rebbe adds Rashi’s gloss, “חרון אף של עולם,” and calls the purpose of going there the work of refinement; the Alter Rebbe also connects the descent with refinement (¶21). This links the opening verse to the vow at the end.
The Alter Rebbe
למדרגה היותר תחתונה שהוא בחי׳ חרן
The Rebbe
שהוא בחי׳ חרן, חרון אף של עולם
- ¶30
For the Alter Rebbe, the stone, Malchus, becomes a house of Elokim because in the future Havayah itself will be only “Elokim” relative to the supernal delight (¶29). The Rebbe adds a reason within Malchus itself. Even is Ban plus an alef (citing Tanya), so the stone stands for the refinement of Ban by Mah. At the completion of refinement Ban will rise above Mah, “the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone.” This is why the stone itself reaches the level of a house of Elokim.
The Alter Rebbe
האבן הזאת שהיא בחי׳ המל׳ המקבלת משם הוי׳ יהיה בחי׳ בית אלקים
The Rebbe
שם אבן מורה ששרשה משם העולה ב״ן במספרו
- ¶29
The Alter Rebbe only alludes to the tithe of the future ascents “as is known.” The Rebbe spells it out. The doubled “aser a’asrenu” means two tithes, the two levels of Keser, Arich and Atik. These will be revealed in Malchus, and that is why “David My servant will be their prince forever.”
The Alter Rebbe
הכל עשר אעשרנו לך בבחי׳ מעשר כנודע
The Rebbe
ב׳ עישורין, דקאי על ב׳ הבחינות שבכתר, אריך ועתיק
The lesson
In a person’s service of G‑d, prayer is lifting oneself from below upward, like the “cup of salvations” that must be raised. Torah is G‑dliness drawn from above downward, like Yosef’s goblet placed below. These are two analogous directions of connection between upper and lower.
AI summary
The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)
2.5738Built on itד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי
Summary
The Rebbe opens with three questions on Yaakov’s vow. Why must Yaakov return to his father’s house specifically “in peace,” when he has already asked for bread and clothing, which also have a spiritual meaning? What is new in “Havayah will be Elokim to me,” when Havayah is always Elokim? And how can a stone, which stays inanimate even after it became a pillar, be a “house of Elokim”? This last question remains even on the earlier explanation that the stone will be a house for the future “Elokim,” which is Havayah of now. He reads Be’er Sheva in two ways, as Avraham’s well (Binah) and as Yitzchak’s (Malchus). The departure from Be’er Sheva toward Charan is interpreted as extension to the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. Yaakov is the yud of Havayah ruling even the heel. To go down to Charan he first needed a higher power, “command (tzaveh) the salvations of Yaakov.” These are the 375 lights of Arich, above the yud, given to him inwardly. In every Jew, Yaakov’s going out is the soul’s descent into the body, and the oath given to the soul before birth (Be’er Sheva) is a special empowerment for that descent.
The soul’s work below has two parts. Bread and clothing are Torah and mitzvos. “In peace” is the refinement (birur) of the body, the animal soul and one’s portion in the world, above all through permitted matters done for the sake of Heaven and “know Him in all your ways.” This is the Rebbe’s reading of “he took from the stones of the place”; the stone’s becoming a dwelling for G‑d’s Essence is explained separately. Peace applies only where there is opposition. Such work makes the soul a ba’al teshuvah, so it returns not to Be’er Sheva but higher, to “my father’s house,” Yitzchak, the laughter that comes from something new. The greatest novelty is the transformation of physical things themselves, so the very stone becomes a dwelling for G‑d’s Essence. Because this belongs to the final Redemption, after which there is no exile, the verse uses the masculine yihyeh. The laughter is already being made now and will be revealed in the future.
What the Rebbe adds
- ¶5
The Alter Rebbe brings “command the salvations of Yaakov” right after Yaakov’s going out, but does not say why it belongs there. The Rebbe explains it as a special power given because of the descent: just as a salvation is extra help for someone in a low state, Yaakov needed lights above the yud of Havayah in order to draw the yud into Charan. He also reads tzaveh as connection (tzavta), meaning these higher lights are given to him inwardly. That is why, even before going, he was sure his whole vow would be fulfilled.
The Alter Rebbe
ישועות הם ש״ע נהורין עילאין ובחי׳ יעקב מחבר וממשיך אותן למטה
The Rebbe
להמשיך ליעקב שע״ה נהורין דאריך שלמעלה מהשתלשלות, למעלה גם מהיו״ד דשם הוי׳
- ¶7
For the Alter Rebbe, the stones are the letters of the divine word that create the worlds. The Rebbe adds a second meaning. “Makom” is the world, where Havayah is present only hiddenly (Havayah squared equals makom only by gematria), and its stones are its lowest, most divided things. Taking them means mastering one’s body, animal soul and portion in the world and making them a dwelling for G‑d, especially permitted matters, which remain “your deeds” even when done for Heaven. On this reading, bread and clothing in the vow are Torah and mitzvos, and “in peace” is this work of refinement.
The Alter Rebbe
כי הנה נודע שאבנים נקראו אותיות
The Rebbe
ויקח מאבני המקום, לקחת את הדברים התחתונים (הגוף ונה״ב וחלקו בעולם)
- ¶10
For the Alter Rebbe, the one stone at Yaakov’s head is the yud, supernal Chochmah. The Rebbe reads “mera’ashosav” as placing the stone above the head, that is, above Yaakov’s yud, which is the level of chayah in the soul. The inanimate powers in a person, speech and above all action, are rooted higher than intellect, by the rule that the higher a thing is, the lower it descends. Serving G‑d when one feels nothing at all comes from the soul’s essence, the yechidah, the source of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh). That is what gives a Jew the power to make the world a dwelling for G‑d’s Essence. He adds that such service “from poverty” later brings both spiritual and material wealth.
The Alter Rebbe
ויקח מאבני המקום שהם אותיות הרבה ועשה מהן אבן אחת שהוא אות היו״ד
The Rebbe
שע״י העבודה דבחי׳ דומם שבאדם, מתגלית בחינת היחידה שבו (שלמעלה מבחי׳ חי׳)
- ¶21
The Alter Rebbe ties the delight above to novelty and to teshuvah, and calls Yitzchak “my father’s house.” The Rebbe asks why the verse says “my father’s house” and not Be’er Sheva. His answer is that the teshuvah-like work lifts the soul above where it was before its descent, even above the oath given at birth. He then ranks the novelty. The divine soul’s overcoming of concealment is not true novelty, since it is G‑dly by nature. The body and animal soul becoming vessels is newer, and newest of all is one’s portion in the world. He adds that peace applies only where there is opposition, so it is not said of bread and clothing, since in Torah and mitzvos a Jew stands as a tzaddik. “House” means doing this work permanently, in every area of life.
The Alter Rebbe
התענוג והצחוק שלמטה שאינו אלא מאיזו שינוי והתחדשות
The Rebbe
הבירור והזיכוך דהגוף ונה״ב וחלקו בעולם, הרי זה שנעשים כלים לאלקות הוא חידוש אמיתי
- ¶1
The Alter Rebbe asks about the feminine stone with the masculine verb but answers it only implicitly, through Havayah becoming Elokim. The Rebbe answers it directly. Yihyeh refers to the future Redemption, which is masculine, like the masculine shir chadash, a redemption after which there is no exile. He also explains “house of Elokim” as a dwelling for the essential concealment of G‑d’s Essence, rooted in the Essence’s desire for a dwelling in the lowest realm. This is why the inanimate stone, and not something higher, is chosen to be that house.
The Alter Rebbe
לשון האבן הזאת הוא לשון נקיבה ומלת יהי׳ הוא לשון זכר
The Rebbe
כי קאי על הגילוי דגאולה העתידה שאז יהי׳ שיר חדש לשון זכר
The lesson
The main purpose of the soul’s descent is to take the “stones of the place” and make them a permanent dwelling for G‑d: one’s body, animal soul and above all one’s everyday permitted affairs, done for the sake of Heaven and “know Him in all your ways.” Serving G‑d even when one feels as lifeless as a stone reveals the soul’s essence and brings blessing both spiritually and materially.
AI summary
The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)
3.5747Built on itד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי
Summary
The Rebbe opens from Yaakov’s vow and lists the questions raised in the maamarim of the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek. “Ve’shavti” means both “I shall return” and teshuvah, so how does teshuvah belong here? “Be’shalom” is read as “two shaloms”: what are the two kinds of peace? Why specifically “my father’s house,” the house of Yitzchak? What does “Havayah will be Elokim to me” mean? The supplied opening is cut off at «והאבן ה», so the exact questions about the stone, pillar, and “aser a’asrenu” cannot all be verified from the opening.
The Rebbe explains that the two kinds of peace are peace “to the near,” the service of the completely righteous, and peace “to the far who has become near,” the service of baalei teshuvah. The verse speaks of the future, which is tied to teshuvah: Moshiach comes to bring even tzaddikim to teshuvah, so both the “temidin” and the “musafin” will then be complete. This is why the verse says “my father,” Yitzchak. Avraham’s service drew down from above, while Yitzchak’s was digging wells, removing concealment from below upward. The Rebbe distinguishes three aspects of Havayah becoming Elokim: creatures will receive Havayah itself; today’s Havayah will count as Elokim relative to a higher revelation; and lower Havayah will serve as the garment for higher Havayah. Only in the last sense does today’s Havayah become a sheath. The stone is the letters of the divine word: they let G‑dliness come down “drop by drop,” and through the bittul of the pillar they become a revelation (“this”). In the end all of hishtalshelus becomes a house for the Elokim of the future. “Aser a’asrenu lecha” is the completeness of ten, in both lines (down and up), drawn from the Essence into the letters. Since “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children,” all of this happens in every Jew.
What the Rebbe adds
- ¶26
The Alter Rebbe reads the two kinds of peace as two movements: elevation from below upward, and G‑dliness drawn down into Torah and mitzvos. The Rebbe reads them as two kinds of service: tzaddikim (the near) and baalei teshuvah (the far who became near). He ties this to “ve’shavti” as teshuvah and to Moshiach bringing even tzaddikim to teshuvah. The future thus completes both the “temidin” and the “musafin.”
The Alter Rebbe
שלום שלום לרחוק ולקרוב והיינו ב׳ בחי׳ שלום
The Rebbe
והשלום לרחוק שנעשה קרוב שהו״ע עבודת בעלי תשובה
- ¶25
The Alter Rebbe explains “my father’s house” through Yitzchak as laughter and delight, the goal of creation. The Rebbe adds a contrast between Avraham and Yitzchak. Avraham drew down from above (“tzedakah u’mishpat”), the service of tzaddikim. Yitzchak dug wells, removing the earth of concealment, which is the service from below upward of baalei teshuvah. That is why the future, whose novelty is the upward service, is called by Yitzchak’s name.
The Alter Rebbe
שיאמרו לעתיד על יצחק דוקא כי אתה אבינו
The Rebbe
משא״כ עבודת יצחק היתה בענין חפירת הבארות
- ¶29
The Alter Rebbe gives one reading: next to the supernal delight, today’s Havayah will count as Elokim. The Rebbe adds further layers. First, once the refinements are complete there is no more need for the concealing shield of Elokim (din), so creatures will receive Havayah itself. Second, the revelation will come from a higher Havayah or beyond it, and so needs a higher garment. The lower Havayah becomes the sheath for the higher Havayah.
The Alter Rebbe
מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים
The Rebbe
שהוי׳ דלתתא יהי׳ בבחי׳ אלקים ומגן ונרתק להוי׳ דלעילא
- ¶7
The Alter Rebbe identifies the stones as letters, “inanimate” relative to what they contain. The Rebbe explains why letters are needed at all. Without them the flow would be “too much good” to receive. Through the letters it comes “drop by drop,” and these drops still contain all the good. He adds that “this” (pointing with a finger) means revelation, which is brought about through the bittul of the pillar.
The Alter Rebbe
נמצא מובן מכל הנ״ל שאבנים נקראו אותיות
The Rebbe
שהטיפין טיפין כוללים בהם הרוב טובה
- ¶29
The Alter Rebbe only alludes to the tithe. The Rebbe spells it out. Ten is the completeness of the future, like the ten-stringed harp of the time to come. The doubled “aser a’asrenu” matches the two lines of drawing down and raising up. “Lecha” means to the Essence, which, through the 22 letters (ב״ך), is drawn into “this stone” and from it into all the stones.
The Alter Rebbe
הכל עשר אעשרנו לך בבחי׳ מעשר כנודע וד״ל
The Rebbe
כמבואר בהדרושים דלך הינו לך לעצמותך
The lesson
Since Yaakov includes all Jewish souls, every Jew has his own “ve’shavti be’shalom”: a redemption in peace. It leads to the complete peace of Moshiach’s coming.
AI summary
The full maamar: read or print it free at Lahak Hanochos (lahak.org)
With the same ד״ה
This maamar of the Rebbe opens with the same words as this one (5722): where each is printed, and the full text free at Lahak.
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 · 11
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The maamar in the Rebbe’s light
Read together, the Rebbe’s teachings suggest one thread in this maamar: the descent to Charan is where something new is made, and what is made there is already present now. In Veshavti Beshalom 5738, his maamar built on this one, he dwells on the reading that the righteous „אין יכולים לעמוד” (“cannot” stand) where penitents stand, and shows that Yitzchak’s laughter, though promised for the future, is already produced by the work of transformation; in Bayom HaShemini 5741 he explains why teshuvah is the „צפור המדברת” (“talking bird”): it is a leap that makes a person new. In Asher Bara 5739 he brings the Alter Rebbe’s explanation of “just as there, so here”: „הקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו” (the Holy One studying opposite the learner) is exactly as at Sinai. A sicha of Noach 5727 explains the „נחר גרוני” (“parched throat”) in the name Charan: the throat is the passage from mind to heart. He also marks where the maamar’s steps can be read otherwise: the pillar as an ascent (Atah Echad 5732), the yud of Yaakov as the yud of Havayah (Likkutei Sichos vol. 20), and „שלום מלמטה למעלה” (“peace from below”) as a real difficulty (Padah Beshalom 5722, beside 5738). Perhaps a reader comes away seeing the vow’s ascents and descents as two kinds of service, and „והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים” (“Havayah will be Elokim”) as one step „בעילוי אחר עילוי עד אין סוף” (in ascents without end), as a sicha of 5750 puts it.
Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶3
A question the Rebbe raises
In a sicha of Motzaei Shabbos Bereishis 5738, explaining each word of “and Yaakov went on his way” as an instruction for the year’s work, the Rebbe says the name Yaakov shows a Jew’s work reaching down to his lowest power, his „עקב” (“heel”), and that this is also why the name begins with a yud.
Our paragraph makes the yud of Yaakov supernal Chochmah (חכמה עילאה). In a sicha on “and Yaakov went on his way” the Rebbe calls it the yud of the Name Havayah, the letter at the head of the Name and above even its division, with „קוצו של יו״ד” (the “thorn” of the yud) above any form; his note gives both places, Torah Ohr (here, 21a, and 29a), where the yud of Yaakov is Chochmah, and the Tzemach Tzedek’s gloss in Or HaTorah, where it is the yud of Havayah, and another note adds that the yud of Havayah itself points to Chochmah. What the sicha adds is how the yud leads the heel: it is drawn into the “heel” (his note cites Torah Ohr here) so that the heel becomes one word with it, and it stays the head of the word, leading the heel even though the letters akev are the larger and more prominent part.
The Alter Rebbe
יעקב הוא בחי׳ יו״ד עקב שהוא בחי׳ המשכת חכמה עילאה שהוא בחי׳ י׳
The Rebbe
וואָס דאָס איז אויך וואָס דער נאָמען יעקב הויבט זיך אָן מיט אַ יו״ד, וואָס גייט אויף דעם יו״ד פון שם הוי׳
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כ, p. 266 ואילך (the passage and its note 40 on p. 270) · מוצאי שבת בראשית, ה׳תשל״ח (בחדרו)
- ¶13
A question the Rebbe raises
In the maamar Atah Echad of Shabbos Vayeitzei, 9 Kislev 5732, on the unity of Israel brought about from below and from above, the Rebbe reads the pillar and the oil as these two kinds of unity, and his note marks the two readings in Torah Ohr.
Our paragraph reads „וישם אותה מצבה” (“and he set it up as a pillar”) as the vav, the drawing down of Chochmah into Torah and mitzvos. In a maamar of Shabbos Vayeitzei 5732 the Rebbe reads the same words the other way: once the many stones had become one, Yaakov „העלה אותה מלמטלמ״ע עד שנעשית מצבה” (raised it from below upward until it stood as a pillar), and only the pouring of the oil is the drawing down from above. His note says this follows Torah Ohr 22a–b (the biur printed after our maamar), „ודלא כהפי׳ שם כא, ב” (“and not the explanation there, 21b”), the reading Torah Chaim also explains; and he suggests that the two readings of the pillar go with the two readings of Yaakov’s one stone in Or HaTorah, „נקודה תתאה או נקודה עילאה” (a “lower point” or an “upper point”).
The Alter Rebbe
וישם אותה מצבה הוא בחי׳ אות הוא״ו שעשה והמשיך מבחי׳ י׳ לבחי׳ ו׳
The Rebbe
תו״א ויצא כב א-ב (ודלא כהפי׳ שם כא, ב. ובתו״ח מבאר ע״פ פי׳ זה)
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2 (Kislev–Shevat), vol. ב, p. תמז · ש״פ ויצא, ט׳ כסלו, ה׳תשל״ב (from sec. 8 to the end edited by the Rebbe, note 70)
- ¶15
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar Asher Bara for the night of 14 Kislev 5739 (the fiftieth anniversary of the Rebbe’s wedding), built on the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamar of the same opening said at that wedding in 5689, the Rebbe explains the seventh wedding blessing through the wedding above, the Giving of the Torah, which is renewed every day.
In a maamar for 14 Kislev 5739 the Rebbe brings the Sages’ saying that every day, whoever reads and studies, „הקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו” (the Holy One reads and studies opposite him), and the Alter Rebbe’s explanation of it: this is “exactly as it was at the Giving of the Torah the first time” (our paragraph’s „ממש כמו שהי׳ אז”, “exactly as it was then”), and therefore the halachah requires „באימה וביראה וברתת ובזיע” (the dread, awe, trembling and quaking) of Sinai. He adds that, as is explained (his note cites the Arizal’s Likkutei HaShas), these four terms correspond to the four letters of Havayah: the revelation of Havayah to every Jew at Sinai is present in Torah study now. His note on the Alter Rebbe’s words cites Torah Ohr Yisro 67b, and this page and the biur after it (22b) as a “see also”.
The Alter Rebbe
אף כמו שהתורה מלובשת למטה בדברים גשמיים יהי׳ ע״י גילוי חכמה עילאה ממש כמו שהי׳ אז
The Rebbe
דזה שהקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו הוא ממש כמו שהי׳ בשעת מ״ת בפעם הראשונה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat (edited; published as Kuntres Yud-Daled Kislev 5750), vol. ד, p. פ · אור לי״ד כסלו ה׳תשל״ט
- ¶18
The Rebbe explains
In Veshavti Beshalom 5738, after explaining that the return “to my father’s house” is the future revelation brought about by the work of transformation, the Rebbe asks how the future can already be named in Yitzchak’s present name.
Our paragraph reads Yitzchak as a future-tense verb („לשון עתיד”): the supernal delight will be revealed in the time to come. In his maamar on this verse the Rebbe brings that reading (his note cites this page) and shows the present side from the name itself: since he is already called Yitzchak now, the delight already exists, as Sarah said, „צחוק עשה לי אלקים, עשה כבר” (“Elokim has made laughter for me”, made already); only its revelation waits for the future. He says the same of „כי אתה אבינו” (“you are our father”): Yitzchak’s future rescue of Israel from exile has a foretaste now, in his shielding them during the exile.
The Alter Rebbe
והוא לשון עתיד שיתגלה בחי׳ התענוג העליון שלמעלה
The Rebbe
מזה שהוא נקרא עכשיו בשם יצחק, מובן, שגם עכשיו יש תענוג וצחוק זה [וכמ״ש צחוק עשה לי אלקים, עשה כבר]
Sefer HaMaamarim 5738 (old edition; this maamar edited by the Rebbe and published in Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5748), p. פב · מוצאי ש״פ ויצא, ט׳ כסלו, אור ליו״ד כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח
- ¶20
Background from the Rebbe
In a sicha of Shabbos Noach 5727 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 15, Noach 5), on Rashi’s comment that the inverted nun of “b’Charan” shows the world was in wrath until Avram, the Rebbe asks why Rashi adds the word “af”, and answers by setting Rashi’s „חרון אף” (“charon af”) against Charan’s other meaning, the parched throat.
In an edited sicha on Rashi’s “until Avram there was wrath (חרון אף) in the world”, the Rebbe gives the two meanings of Charan: Rashi’s “wrath”, and the one our paragraph uses, Charan with the letters of nichar, „נחר גרוני” (“my throat is parched”) (his note cites this page); he also brings, from the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah (his note), that Charan with the kollel equals „גרון” (garon, “throat”) in gematria. The throat is the passage between the head and the heart: the flow of the mind into the emotions passes through it, and a parched throat lets neither the voice nor the mind’s influence through as it should. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why the maamar calls the hidden divine life-force “throat” and its concealment in the separate worlds a parched throat.
The Alter Rebbe
שנק׳ חר״ן והוא מלשון נחר גרוני כו׳
The Rebbe
דער האַלז איז טרוקן, ובמילא קען דער קול ניט דורכגיין דעם גרון ווי עס דאַרף צו זיין
Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 63 ואילך (the passage and note 31 on p. 67) · ש״פ נח תשכ״ז
- ¶21
The Rebbe explains
In the maamar Veshavti Beshalom of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeitzei 5738, the night of the Mitteler Rebbe’s liberation, explaining that the soul descends so as to rise from tzaddik to baal teshuvah, and that from G‑d’s Essence teshuvah is the main intent, the Rebbe weighs the saying about penitents and the righteous and notes its wording.
The Talmud (Berachos 34b) says the completely righteous “do not stand” where penitents stand; our parenthesis reads „אין יכולים לעמוד” (“cannot stand”). In his maamar on this verse the Rebbe stops on that reading, „כהגירסא המובאת בהדרושים עה״פ ושבתי בשלום” (“as brought in the derushim on Veshavti Beshalom”) (his note cites this page and Torah Chaim): not only do the righteous not stand there, they are not able to. „מעלת הבע״ת היא למעלה גם מיכולת הצד״ג” (The penitent’s level is beyond even the righteous man’s ability), and ability is above every power of the soul, even its encompassing powers, because „ענין התשובה מגיע בעצמותו ית׳” (teshuvah reaches G‑d’s very Essence), before which all revelations, the root of the service of the righteous, bear no comparison at all.
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין צדיקי׳ גמורים אין יכולים לעמוד
The Rebbe
לא רק שאינם עומדין שם, אלא יתירה מזו שאין יכולין לעמוד שם, כהגירסא המובאת בהדרושים עה״פ ושבתי בשלום
Sefer HaMaamarim 5738 (old edition; this maamar edited by the Rebbe and published in Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5748), p. עה · מוצאי ש״פ ויצא, ט׳ כסלו, אור ליו״ד כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח
- ¶21
The Rebbe explains
In Bayom HaShemini of Simchas Torah 5741, explaining the Mishnah “one hour in teshuvah and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all the life of the World to Come” and why it puts teshuvah first, the Rebbe lists the advantages of teshuvah over the service of the righteous.
Our paragraph says that teshuvah in particular brings about delight above „ממש כמשל צפור המדברת” (“exactly like the parable of the talking bird”), and ties this to „יפה שעה אחת בתשובה” (“one hour in teshuvah is more beautiful”). In a maamar of Simchas Torah 5741 on that very Mishnah, the Rebbe gives three advantages of teshuvah over the service of the righteous: the penitent’s thirst is greater because he was far; the joy of nearness after distance is greater, like a king’s son returning from captivity; and teshuvah is a leap, not a gradual step, by which a person becomes a new being (“I am another, not the same man”, in the Rambam’s words). „וגם מזה נעשה תענוג גדול למעלה, דעיקר התענוג הוא מדבר חדש דוקא, ולהעיר ממשל הידוע דצפור המדברת” (“And from this too a great delight is made above, for delight comes mainly from something new; note the well-known parable of the talking bird”) (his note cites this page).
The Alter Rebbe
שע״י בחי׳ תשובה דוקא נעשה התענוג למעלה כ״כ שהוא ממש כמשל צפור המדברת
The Rebbe
וגם מזה נעשה תענוג גדול למעלה, דעיקר התענוג הוא מדבר חדש דוקא, ולהעיר ממשל הידוע דצפור המדברת
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. קלה–קלו · יום שמחת תורה ה׳תשמ״א
- ¶26
The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the maamar Padah Beshalom of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738, explaining that the Sages’ “whoever engages in Torah, acts of kindness and prayer with the congregation” is the redemption “in peace”, the Rebbe borrows our maamar’s two kinds of peace.
In a maamar of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738 the Rebbe reads “in peace” in “He redeemed my soul in peace” as two kinds of peace, „המבואר בתו״א ד״ה ושבתי בשלום” (“as explained in Torah Ohr, dibbur hamaschil Veshavti Beshalom”), and maps them onto „ג׳ הקוין דתורה וגמ״ח ותפלה” (the three lines of Torah, acts of kindness and prayer): Torah and kindness are the peace from above downward, drawn down through Torah and mitzvos, and prayer is the peace from below upward. That upward peace is teshuvah, up to „והרוח תשוב אל האלקים אשר נתנה” (“the spirit returns to G‑d who gave it”), a return he applies even while the soul lives in the body.
The Alter Rebbe
ושלום מלמעלה למטה היינו בחי׳ ירידת והמשכת אלקות למטה בבחי׳ תורה ומצות
The Rebbe
שלום מלמעלה למטה, ההמשכה מלמעלמ״ט ע״י תומ״צ, ושלום מלמטה למעלה, עבודת התשובה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. יא · י״ט כסלו ה׳תשל״ח
- ¶26
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the third maamar of Shabbos Vayeitzei, 10 Kislev 5722 (Padah Beshalom, for the Mitteler Rebbe’s liberation), explaining „פדה בשלום נפשי” (“He redeemed my soul in peace”), the Rebbe brings the Mitteler Rebbe’s reading of “in peace” as two kinds of peace („ב׳ שלום”) and asks how the second can be peace.
Bringing the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar on this verse (Torah Chaim, which reads “in peace” as the same two kinds of peace; his note adds “see also Torah Ohr 21d”), the Rebbe states a difficulty: in many places peace belongs only to refinement from above, „בירור שע״י גילוי אור” (by a revelation of light), while refinement from below, by enclothing oneself in the lower, is war („באופן דמלחמה”); how then can there be „שלום מלמטה למעלה” (“peace from below upward”)? Building on the Rebbe Rashab’s account of the two ways the lower is refined (Hemshech 5672, which his notes cite throughout; his note on the answer: “for what follows, see at length, along these lines, Hemshech 5672”), he answers that peace takes two forms. Either „שנתבטל המנגד” (the opponent is nullified), which comes mainly from above, through a light beyond its measure that transforms it; or the enemy itself becomes a friend (“even his enemies make peace with him”), which he places mainly in the refinement from below, when the lower comes to understand and to love. Complete peace is when each way also has the other’s virtue.
The Alter Rebbe
ב׳ בחי׳ שלום שלום מלמטה למעלה והיינו לרחוק שנעשה קרוב
The Rebbe
ומזה שאומר דפירוש בשלום הוא ב׳ שלום, שלום מלמעלה למטה ושלום מלמטה למעלה, משמע שגם הבירור שמלמטה למעלה הוא באופן דשלום
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2 (Kislev–Shevat), vol. ב, p. ג–ה · ש״פ ויצא, יו״ד כסלו (מאמר ג׳), ה׳תשכ״ב
- ¶29
The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a sicha of Shabbos Vayakhel-Pekudei, Mevarchim Nissan 5750, on the true redemption, when not only is concealment undone but the purpose of the concealment of the Name Elokim itself is revealed, the Rebbe brings „שמש ומגן הוי׳ אלקים” (“a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim”) and Yaakov’s vow.
In an edited sicha of Shabbos Mevarchim Nissan 5750 the Rebbe brings „והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים” (“Havayah will be Elokim to me”) in our maamar’s sense (his note cites this page): „שבחי׳ הוי׳ דעתה יהי׳ לעתיד בבחי׳ אלקים, ושם הוי׳ יהי׳ בדרגא נעלית יותר” (the Havayah of now will in the future be on the level of Elokim, and the Name Havayah will be on a higher level), and so it goes on, „בעילוי אחר עילוי עד אין סוף” (ascent after ascent without end). His note likens this to what is explained about the seven times „הוי׳ הוא האלקים” (“Havayah is the Elokim”) is said at the close of Yom Kippur: seven ascents, for „כאשר שם הוי׳ מתעלה לדרגא נעלית יותר כאלקים יחשב” (each time Havayah rises to a higher level, it is counted as Elokim). That explanation is the Alter Rebbe’s, from the kabbalistic work Mishnas Chassidim, and he reads our verse by it himself (Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah; and a biur on Yaakov’s vow, Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5568, vol. 2, p. תרמ). Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is what our paragraph means by “all the ascents that there will be in the time to come”, which the biur printed after our maamar (22d) spells out as ascents without end.
The Alter Rebbe
מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים לגבי בחי׳ ענג העליון
The Rebbe
שבחי׳ הוי׳ דעתה יהי׳ לעתיד בבחי׳ אלקים, ושם הוי׳ יהי׳ בדרגא נעלית יותר, ומוסיף והולך בעילוי אחר עילוי עד אין סוף
Sefer HaSichos 5750, vol. 1 (edited), vol. תש״נ א, p. 376 · ש״פ ויקהל-פקודי, מבה״ח ניסן, כ״ז אדר ה׳תש״נ
- ¶29
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
Closing Padah Beshalom 5722, the Rebbe ties the redemption “in peace” back to Yaakov’s vow: the return of the sparks to their source brings about the union that the Tanya (ch. 41) calls „ליחדא קוב״ה ושכינתי׳” (the union of the Holy One and His Shechinah).
Our paragraph reads „והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים” (“Havayah will be Elokim to me”) as today’s Havayah becoming a mere “Elokim” beside the higher delight of the future. In a maamar of Shabbos Vayeitzei, Yud Kislev 5722, the Rebbe reads the phrase, after Tanya ch. 41, as a union: Havayah is the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev, “the Holy One, blessed be He”), Elokim the light that fills them (memaleh, “His Shechinah”), and the work of refinement brings about their union; he suggests it works in both directions, „המשכת סובב בממלא והעלאת ממלא בסובב” (drawing sovev into memaleh and raising memaleh into sovev). The second maamar of that farbrengen (dibbur hamaschil Veshavti Beshalom 5722, an unedited transcript) reads the verse the same way; the editors’ note there cites Torah Ohr 21d.
The Alter Rebbe
מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים לגבי בחי׳ ענג העליון
The Rebbe
יהי׳ והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים, יחוד הוי׳ (סובב) ואלקים (ממלא)
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2 (Kislev–Shevat), vol. ב, p. ח · ש״פ ויצא, יו״ד כסלו (מאמר ג׳), ה׳תשכ״ב
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).
The questions ¶1–2
The maamar opens with Yaakov’s vow as he sets out for Charan: if G‑d brings him back in peace, then Havayah will be Elokim to him, and the stone he set up as a pillar will become a house of Elokim. Havayah is the Name of G‑d that brings all things into being and transcends them; Elokim is the Name associated with concealment and limitation.
וצריך להבין השייכות של האבן4 עם שם הוי׳ שכשהוי׳ יהיה לאלקים אז דוקא יהיה האבן בית אלקים כו׳.
Now, we need to understand the connection of the stone with the Name Havayah: that specifically when Havayah will be Elokim, then the stone will be a house of Elokim, etc.
The first question: what does the stone have to do with the Name Havayah? The verse makes the stone’s becoming a “house of Elokim” depend on Havayah first becoming Elokim, and the link between the two is not obvious.
¶29 Hold this question: paragraph 29 explains how the stone becomes a house of Elokim.
גם צריך להבין כי לשון האבן הזאת הוא לשון נקיבה ומלת יהי׳ [יהיה] הוא לשון זכר.
We also need to understand [why] the phrase “this stone” (ha’even hazos) is in the feminine form, while the word “will be” (yihyeh) is in the masculine form.
The second question is grammatical. In Hebrew “stone” (even) is feminine, and “this” (hazos) agrees with it, yet the verb that follows, “will be” (yihyeh), is masculine. The maamar does not return to the grammar by name; its summary (paragraph 30) identifies the stone as Malchus, the level that receives from Havayah, which in the time to come will become a vessel for a higher revelation.
The maamar sets out Yaakov’s vow and asks two questions about it: how the stone relates to the Name Havayah, and why the verse joins a feminine noun to a masculine verb.
The Kehot notes record that the Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript of this maamar begins instead with “And Yaakov made a vow,” and that the Tzemach Tzedek noted it was said on the same Shabbos as the maamar “Shishim Heimah” printed in Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5738
The Alter Rebbe asks about the feminine stone with the masculine verb but answers it only implicitly, through Havayah becoming Elokim. The Rebbe answers it directly. Yihyeh refers to the future Redemption, which is masculine, like the masculine shir chadash, a redemption after which there is no exile. He also explains “house of Elokim” as a dwelling for the essential concealment of G‑d’s Essence, rooted in the Essence’s desire for a dwelling in the lowest realm. This is why the inanimate stone, and not something higher, is chosen to be that house.
The Alter Rebbe
לשון האבן הזאת הוא לשון נקיבה ומלת יהי׳ הוא לשון זכר
The Rebbe
כי קאי על הגילוי דגאולה העתידה שאז יהי׳ שיר חדש לשון זכר
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.
Marei mekomos
- 1ושבתי בשלום · הנחת כ״א אדה״א בסה״מ תקס״ח ח״ב ע׳ תרכו מתחיל וידר יעקב נדר (וכן הוא ההתחלה בתו״ח). עוד הנחה בסה״מ הנחות הר״פ ע׳ סז. באוה״ת ויצא כרך א קצג, ב מציין הצ״צ שד״ה זה וד״ה ששים המה הנדפס בלקו״ת שה״ש נאמרו בשבת א׳. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. קיצורים באוה״ת כרך ה תתנד, ב. נדפסו במ״מ לדף כא, ד. לכללות מאמר זה ראה ד״ה ושבתי בשלום תשל״ח (נדפס בסה״מ מלוקט ח״ב ע׳ קנז). ד״ה זה תשמ״ז.
- 2ושבתי בשלום · Genesis 28:21
- 3והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי מצבה יהיה בית אלקים · Genesis 28:22
- 4וצריך להבין השייכות של האבן וכו׳ · בסה״מ תקס״ח ובתו״ח נמצאים עוד קושיות: ”אור אבא שהוא אור הראשון דאצי׳ יונק מן בחי׳ מזל השמיני דא״א והוא מזל ונוצר חסד ונק׳ בשם מזל העליון”. — סה״מ תקס״ה כרך ב ע׳ תתקמב. וראה בלקו״ת אמור לט, א. לשון יניקה, ומהו ההגדלה. ובסה״מ תקס״ה שם.
2ולהבין את כל הנ״ל צריך להקדים ולבאר מ״ש לעיל מניה ויפגע במקום1 ויקח מאבני המקום וישם מראשותיו וגו׳ וישם אותה מצבה2 כו׳
To understand all the above, we must first preface and explain what is written just before it: “And he came upon the place… and he took from the stones of the place and placed [them] at his head,” etc., “and he set it up as a pillar,” etc.
To answer, the maamar goes back to the verses just before the vow: Yaakov came upon “the place,” took some of its stones and put them at his head, and in the morning set up the stone as a pillar.
וצריך להבין ענין האבנים מה הן. וגם מה שהיו תחלה אבנים הרבה כמ״ש ויקח מאבני המקום וגו׳.
And we need to understand the matter of the stones, what they are; and also why at first there were many stones, as it is written, “And he took from the stones of the place,” etc.
Two more questions: what the stones represent, and why the verse speaks of many stones at first, when later there is only one.
¶10 Hold this question about the many stones: paragraph 10 answers it.
The maamar turns to the story of the stones at Beis El, asking what the stones are and why they were first many and then one.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויפגע במקום · Genesis 28:11
- 2וישם אותה מצבה · Genesis 28:18
Yaakov: the yud reaching the heel ¶3–6
And Yaakov made of them one stone, etc. But now, at the beginning of the parsha it is written, “And Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva and went toward Charan.”
This completes the question: Yaakov made the many stones one, as the Talmud relates (Chullin 91b, cited by Rashi on Genesis 28:11). Before explaining it, the maamar turns to the parsha’s first verse, Yaakov’s journey from Be’er Sheva to Charan.
פי׳ יעקב הוא בחי׳ יו״ד עקב2 שהוא בחי׳ המשכת חכמה עילאה שהוא בחי׳ י׳ למטה מטה גם בבחי׳ עקביים.
The explanation: Yaakov is the level of yud-akev (a yud [and] a heel), which is the drawing down of supernal Chochmah, which is the level of the yud, down to the very lowest, even into the level of the heels.
The name Yaakov (יעקב) is read as yud plus akev, “heel.” The yud, the smallest letter, stands for Chochmah, the first point of divine wisdom; Yaakov’s role is to draw that wisdom down to the “heel,” the lowest level of existence.
The name Yaakov is decoded as “yud-heel”: the drawing of supernal Chochmah into the lowest levels.
The Kehot notes trace the reading yud-akev to Etz Chaim (Sha’ar Seder HaAtzilus, ch. 2) and to the Kabbalistic lexicons Pardes Rimonim and Kehilas Yaakov. Torah Ohr on Vayeshev applies it in every world: the yud, the beginning of thought, extends to the “heel,” which is speech.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
A question the Rebbe raises
In a sicha of Motzaei Shabbos Bereishis 5738, explaining each word of “and Yaakov went on his way” as an instruction for the year’s work, the Rebbe says the name Yaakov shows a Jew’s work reaching down to his lowest power, his „עקב” (“heel”), and that this is also why the name begins with a yud.
Our paragraph makes the yud of Yaakov supernal Chochmah (חכמה עילאה). In a sicha on “and Yaakov went on his way” the Rebbe calls it the yud of the Name Havayah, the letter at the head of the Name and above even its division, with „קוצו של יו״ד” (the “thorn” of the yud) above any form; his note gives both places, Torah Ohr (here, 21a, and 29a), where the yud of Yaakov is Chochmah, and the Tzemach Tzedek’s gloss in Or HaTorah, where it is the yud of Havayah, and another note adds that the yud of Havayah itself points to Chochmah. What the sicha adds is how the yud leads the heel: it is drawn into the “heel” (his note cites Torah Ohr here) so that the heel becomes one word with it, and it stays the head of the word, leading the heel even though the letters akev are the larger and more prominent part.
The Alter Rebbe
יעקב הוא בחי׳ יו״ד עקב שהוא בחי׳ המשכת חכמה עילאה שהוא בחי׳ י׳
The Rebbe
וואָס דאָס איז אויך וואָס דער נאָמען יעקב הויבט זיך אָן מיט אַ יו״ד, וואָס גייט אויף דעם יו״ד פון שם הוי׳
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כ, p. 266 ואילך (the passage and its note 40 on p. 270) · מוצאי שבת בראשית, ה׳תשל״ח (בחדרו)
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 YisraelHigher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah+2
- Yaakov and Yisrael יעקב וישראל
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2יעקב הוא בחי׳ יו״ד עקב · ע״ח שער סדר האצי׳ פ״ב. וראה פרדס שער עה״כ ערך יעקב. וערך עקב. קהלת יעקב ערך ישראל. ובכ״מ. ראה לקמן כז, ב. כט, א. לקו״ת בלק סח, ב. ר״ה סא, ד. אוה״ת וישב תתצד, ב. תצא ע׳ תתעו ואילך.
4וזהו ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה1 שבחי׳ יעקב הוא הממשיך מבחי׳ באר שבע שהוא למעלה מעלה איהו וחיוהי וגרמוהי חד עד השתלשלות למטה מטה למדרגה היותר תחתונה שהוא בחי׳ חרן וכאשר יבואר לקמן בעז״ה [בעזרת השם].
And this is [the meaning of] “And Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva and went toward Charan”: the level of Yaakov is what draws down from the level of Be’er Sheva, which is at the very highest, [where] “He and His life-forces and His vessels are one,” through the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) to the very lowest, to the lowest rung, which is the level of Charan, as will be explained below, with G‑d’s help.
Be’er Sheva stands for the highest level, where, in the phrase of the Tikkunei Zohar, G‑d, His life-forces and His vessels are all one, with no separateness at all. Charan stands for the lowest rung of the chain of worlds. Yaakov’s journey between them is the drawing of divine light from the top of the chain to its bottom; the maamar promises to explain Charan later (paragraph 20).
¶20 Charan as the lowest rung is explained in paragraph 20.
Yaakov’s journey from Be’er Sheva to Charan is read as the path of divine light from perfect unity down to the lowest rung of creation.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה, 5726
The Alter Rebbe explains Charan later (¶20) through “נחר גרוני,” the parched-throat image associated with the hidden divine voice. The Rebbe adds Rashi’s gloss, “חרון אף של עולם,” and calls the purpose of going there the work of refinement; the Alter Rebbe also connects the descent with refinement (¶21). This links the opening verse to the vow at the end.
The Alter Rebbe
למדרגה היותר תחתונה שהוא בחי׳ חרן
The Rebbe
שהוא בחי׳ חרן, חרון אף של עולם
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.
TermsIhu vegarmohiYaakov and YisraelHishtalshelus
- Ihu vegarmohi איהו וגרמוהי חד
- Yaakov and Yisrael יעקב וישראל
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Marei mekomos
- 1
5וכמ״ש צוה ישועות יעקב.1 ישועות הם ש״ע [ש״ע (370)] נהורין עילאין234 ובחי׳ יעקב מחבר וממשיך אותן למטה בבחי׳ עקביים ג״כ.
As it is written, “Command the salvations (yeshuos) of Yaakov.” Yeshuos (ישועות) are the three hundred and seventy (ש״ע, shin-ayin) supernal lights, and the level of Yaakov joins them and draws them down below, into the level of the heels as well.
A verse from Psalms calls on G‑d to “command the salvations of Yaakov.” The word yeshuos (ישועות) is read as containing shin-ayin, 370, the number of the supernal lights spoken of in the Zohar; Yaakov’s role is to join these lights and draw them down to the lowest “heels.”
וגם ישועות הוא מלשון שעה כמ״ש וישע ה׳ אל הבל5 וגו׳ שהוא בחי׳ ירידת והמשכת אורו ית׳ למטה מטה כו׳.
Yeshuos is also from the term “turning” (she’iyah), as it is written, “And Havayah turned (vayisha) to Hevel,” etc., which is the descent and drawing down of His light, blessed be He, to the very lowest, etc.
A second reading: yeshuos is related to vayisha, “He turned toward,” as in G‑d turning toward Hevel’s offering. Either way, the word describes G‑d’s light descending toward what is below.
אך בהשתלשלות אור ה׳ כ״כ [כל כך] בצמצומים רבים עד שבא גם למטה בבחי׳ חרן נעשה עלמא דפרודא לגמרי וכמ״ש ונהר יוצא מעדן6 שהוא בחי׳ חכמה עילאה להשקות את הגן כו׳.
However, as the light of G‑d descends so far, through many contractions (tzimtzumim), until it comes down even to the level of Charan, it becomes a world of utter separateness, as it is written, “And a river goes out from Eden,” which is the level of supernal Chochmah, “to water the garden,” etc.
The problem is that when the light descends so far, through many contractions, until it reaches “Charan,” the result is a world of separateness, where things feel apart from G‑d. The verse about the river that goes out from Eden is brought to show this: Eden is supernal Chochmah, and the river flows down from it to water the garden.
The verse “command the salvations of Yaakov” shows Yaakov drawing the highest lights downward; but the further light descends, the more the world it produces feels separate from G‑d.
The Kehot notes point to the Zohar (1:4b, 3:133b) and Etz Chaim (Sha’ar HaZivugim, ch. 2) for the 370 lights, and note that Torah Chaim reads “375 lights.” Iggeres HaKodesh 3 in Tanya gives the same reading of yeshuah, from vayisha, as the descent of the 370 lights. Likkutei Torah on Chukas (67a), to which a marginal gloss in Torah Ohr refers, explains the number: Chochmah, Binah and Daas each include a hundred (300, shin) and the seven emotive attributes each include ten (70, ayin).
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה, 5726
The Alter Rebbe says Yaakov “joins” the 370 lights and draws them down, but he does not show where the verse speaks of joining. The Rebbe finds it in the word tzaveh (“command”), read as tzavsa, joining. He also gives the alternative count of 375 lights (שע״ה) from Torah Chaim. He places these lights at the start of the chain of worlds (Chochmah) or above it, in Keser (Atik and Arich). And he reads she’iyah (“turning”) as G‑d’s very first turning toward bringing His light below.
The Alter Rebbe
ובחי׳ יעקב מחבר וממשיך אותן למטה בבחי׳ עקביים ג״כ
The Rebbe
צוה הוא מלשון צוותא וחיבור
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5738
The Alter Rebbe brings “command the salvations of Yaakov” right after Yaakov’s going out, but does not say why it belongs there. The Rebbe explains it as a special power given because of the descent: just as a salvation is extra help for someone in a low state, Yaakov needed lights above the yud of Havayah in order to draw the yud into Charan. He also reads tzaveh as connection (tzavta), meaning these higher lights are given to him inwardly. That is why, even before going, he was sure his whole vow would be fulfilled.
The Alter Rebbe
ישועות הם ש״ע נהורין עילאין ובחי׳ יעקב מחבר וממשיך אותן למטה
The Rebbe
להמשיך ליעקב שע״ה נהורין דאריך שלמעלה מהשתלשלות, למעלה גם מהיו״ד דשם הוי׳
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.
TermsShin-ayin nehorinAlma deperudaYaakov and YisraelTzimtzum+4
- Shin-ayin nehorin ש״ע נהורין explained hereOn “Command the salvations (yeshuos) of Yaakov”: yeshuos are the 370 supernal lights, which Yaakov joins and draws down even to the level of the heels. Yeshuos is also from “turning,” as in “Havayah turned to Hevel”: the descent of G‑d’s light to the very lowest.
ישועות הם ש״ע נהורין עילאין ובחי׳ יעקב מחבר וממשיך אותן למטה בבחי׳ עקביים ג״כ
- Alma deperuda עלמא דפרודא
- Yaakov and Yisrael יעקב וישראל
- Tzimtzum צמצום
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Marei mekomos
- 1צוה ישועות יעקב · Psalms 44:5
- 2ש״ע נהורין עילאין · Zohar I, 4b
- 3ש״ע נהורין עילאין · Zohar, Idra Rabba 15:134–17:147
- 4ש״ע נהורין עילאין · Sefer Etz Chaim 15:2:1
- 5וישע ה׳ אל הבל · Genesis 4:4
- 6ונהר יוצא מעדן · Genesis 2:10
6ומשם יפרד1 שכשנמשך משם בהשתלשלות רבות וצמצומים רבים נעשים בחי׳ נפרדים בתכלית. ויעקב אע״ה [אבינו עליו השלום] רצה להעלותם למעלה מעלה שיהי׳ [שיהיה] גם למטה בחי׳ יחוד ובטול ממש כמו שהוא למעלה חיוהי וגרמוהי חד כו׳.2
“And from there it divides”: when it is drawn from there through many stages of descent and many contractions, they become utterly separate beings. And Yaakov our father, peace be upon him, wished to raise them up to the very highest, so that below too there would be true unity and self-nullification (bittul), just as it is above, [where] “His life-forces and His vessels are one,” etc.
The verse continues, “and from there it divides”: after many stages of descent and contraction, the light produces beings that are utterly separate. Yaakov wanted to lift them back up, so that even below there would be the same unity and self-nullification found above, where G‑d’s powers and vessels are one with Him.
The descent of light ends in separate beings, and Yaakov’s task is to raise them so that the lower world, too, becomes one with G‑d.
Marei mekomos
- 1ומשם יפרד · Genesis 2:10
- 2שו״ה הגן כו׳ — בהשתלשלות רבות וצמצומים רבים · בבוך 1824: בהשתלשלות וצמצומים רבים.
Stones are letters ¶7–9
7ולזאת נאמר ויקח מאבני המקום כו׳. כי הנה נודע שאבנים נקראו אותיות וכמ״ש בס״י [בספר יצירה] שני אבנים1 בונות שתי בתים שלש אבנים בונות ששה בתים2 כו׳
Therefore it says, “And he took from the stones of the place,” etc. For it is known that letters are called “stones,” as it says in Sefer Yetzirah, “Two stones build two houses; three stones build six houses,” etc.
This is why the verse says Yaakov took “stones”: in Kabbalah the letters are called stones. Sefer Yetzirah counts the permutations of letters as houses built from stones: two letters make two combinations, three make six.
להיות כמו שמאבנים הרבה נעשה בית אחד שיכולים לדור בתוכו כמו״כ [כמו כן] מאותיות הרבה נעשו תיבות שבהם התלבשו׳ השכל וגם
For just as from many stones one house is made, in which one can dwell, so from many letters words are made, in which the intellect is enclothed.
The first likeness: many stones become one house to live in, and many letters become words, which house an idea.
כמו שהאבנים הם בחי׳ דומם שהוא מדרגה היותר תחתונה מכל הד׳ יסודות דצח״מ [דומם צומח חי מדבר] כמו כן האותיות לגבי השכל המלובש בהם הם בחי׳ דומם בתכלי׳ [בתכלית] שאינם מערך השכל כלל.
And also, just as stones are of the inanimate level, which is the lowest rung of all four foundations, inanimate, vegetative, animal and speaking, so too the letters, relative to the intellect enclothed in them, are utterly of the inanimate level, for they bear no comparison to the intellect at all.
The second likeness: stone is “inanimate,” the lowest of the four categories of creation (inanimate, vegetative, animal and human). Letters, too, are lifeless compared with the idea they carry; they have nothing of the intellect in them.
נמצא מובן מכל הנ״ל שאבנים נקראו אותיות וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] הוא למעלה. דהנה כתיב בדבר ה׳ שמים נעשו3 כו׳.
It is thus understood from all the above that letters are called “stones.” And so it is above, for it is written, “By the word of Havayah the heavens were made,” etc.
So letters are fittingly called stones, and the same is true above: the heavens were made “by the word of Havayah,” that is, by divine letters.
The stones Yaakov took are letters: like stones they build “houses,” and like stones they are inanimate compared to what they contain.
The Kehot note gives Sefer Yetzirah 4:16 according to the Arizal’s version of the text (4:12 in the version on Sefaria).
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5738
For the Alter Rebbe, the stones are the letters of the divine word that create the worlds. The Rebbe adds a second meaning. “Makom” is the world, where Havayah is present only hiddenly (Havayah squared equals makom only by gematria), and its stones are its lowest, most divided things. Taking them means mastering one’s body, animal soul and portion in the world and making them a dwelling for G‑d, especially permitted matters, which remain “your deeds” even when done for Heaven. On this reading, bread and clothing in the vow are Torah and mitzvos, and “in peace” is this work of refinement.
The Alter Rebbe
כי הנה נודע שאבנים נקראו אותיות
The Rebbe
ויקח מאבני המקום, לקחת את הדברים התחתונים (הגוף ונה״ב וחלקו בעולם)
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5747
The Alter Rebbe identifies the stones as letters, “inanimate” relative to what they contain. The Rebbe explains why letters are needed at all. Without them the flow would be “too much good” to receive. Through the letters it comes “drop by drop,” and these drops still contain all the good. He adds that “this” (pointing with a finger) means revelation, which is brought about through the bittul of the pillar.
The Alter Rebbe
נמצא מובן מכל הנ״ל שאבנים נקראו אותיות
The Rebbe
שהטיפין טיפין כוללים בהם הרוב טובה
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.
TermsFour elementsDomem, tzomeach, chai, medaberOsiyosDibbur elyon+1
- Four elements ד׳ יסודות
- Domem, tzomeach, chai, medaber דומם צומח חי מדבר
- Osiyos אותיות
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
Also Hislabshus
Marei mekomos
- 1כמ״ש בס״י שני אבנים · פ״ד מט״ז עפ״י נוסח האריז״ל. ראה לקמן כט, א. לקו״ת במדבר ח, ב.
- 2שני אבנים בונות שתי בתים שלש אבנים בונות ששה בתים · Sefer Yetzirah 4:12
- 3בדבר ה׳ שמים נעשו · Psalms 33:6
And as it is written, “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds.” The explanation: [as for] the life-force of all the worlds, which are worlds without end, as it is written, “Is there any number to His troops?”, nevertheless the source and root of their life-force is only from the level of His Malchus (sovereignty), which is the level of the word of G‑d, etc., which gives them life and brings them into being from nothing to something constantly.
The verse “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds” teaches that the countless worlds, as numerous as G‑d’s hosts in Job’s words, all draw their life from one source only: Malchus, G‑d’s “kingship,” which is His word, constantly bringing them into being from nothing.
הנה עכ״ז [עם כל זה] מקור ושרש חיותם אינו אלא מבחי׳ מלכותו שהוא בחי׳ דבר ה׳ כו׳ המחיה ומהוה אותם מאין ליש תמיד. להיות שהם נבראים בע״ג [בעלי גבול / בעל גבול] שיש גבול להשגתן ומהארץ לרקיע מהלך ת״ק שנה כו׳.
[This is] because they are created beings with limits, whose comprehension has a limit, and “from the earth to the firmament is a journey of five hundred years,” etc.
They can receive only from this level because they are limited creations whose grasp has a limit, as the Talmudic saying about the five-hundred-year journey from the earth to the firmament illustrates.
All the endless worlds get their life only from Malchus, the divine word, because they are finite and cannot receive from anything higher.
TermsYesh me’ayinYesh and ayinDibbur elyonMalchus+1
- Yesh me’ayin יש מאין
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
- Malchus מלכות
Also Chayus
Marei mekomos
- 1מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
- 2היש מספר לגדודיו · Job 25:3
9ואינם כלל בערך לגבי אור ה׳ שהוא בבחי׳ א״ס המתגלה בעולמות עליונים. ולזאת אין יכולים לקבל חיותם
And they bear no comparison at all to the light of G‑d, which is on the level of the Infinite (Ein Sof), revealed in the higher worlds.
The created worlds bear no comparison at all to G‑d’s infinite light as it shines in the higher worlds.
רק מבחי׳ דבר ה׳ שהם אותיות שנבראו בהם שמים וארץ כו׳ שהם בחי׳ דומם לגבי אור א״ס ב״ה
Therefore they cannot receive their life-force except from the level of the word of G‑d, which is the letters with which heaven and earth were created, etc., which are of the inanimate level relative to the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.
So they cannot receive their life directly from that light, only through the divine word, the letters by which heaven and earth were made; and those letters are like inanimate stone compared to the Infinite Light.
וכמ״ש קדוש ה׳ צבאות וכמארז״ל [וכמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה]1 אות הוא בצבאות שלו23 ואף שהם אלף אלפין כמ״ש אלף אלפין ישמשונה4 ורבו רבבן קדמוהי וגו׳ וכמ״ש היש מספר לגדודיו.5
As it is written, “Holy is Havayah of Hosts (Tzeva-os),” and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “He is an os (a sign, or a letter) among His hosts (tzeva-os).”
The Name “Havayah of Hosts” (Tzeva-os) is read as tzeva-os: “He is an os among His hosts.” Os means “sign,” and also “letter,” and the maamar takes it as a letter: in His hosts He is present as a letter, the source of their life.
עכ״ז [עם כל זה] מאחר שהם בעלי גבול חיותם אינו אלא מבחי׳ אות א׳ בלבד שהוא בחי׳ דומם לגמרי לגבי שם הוי׳ שהוא בבחי׳ א״ס כו׳ כנ״ל.6
And although they are a thousand thousands, as it is written, “A thousand thousands served Him, and myriad myriads stood before Him,” etc., and as it is written, “Is there any number to His troops?”, nevertheless, since they are limited, their life-force is only from the level of a single letter alone, which is entirely of the inanimate level relative to the Name Havayah, which is on the level of the Infinite, etc., as mentioned above.
Though the hosts are thousands upon thousands, as Daniel saw, and beyond number, as Job’s friend says, because they are finite their life comes from just one letter, which is inanimate compared to the Name Havayah, the infinite.
Even the countless heavenly hosts live from only one letter of the divine word, because anything finite can receive only from a source that is itself “inanimate” relative to the Infinite.
The Kehot note records that manuscript Buch 1824 reads “as stated in the Zohar” instead of “as our Sages said,” pointing to the introduction of the Tikkunei Zohar.
TermsShamayim va’aretzDomem, tzomeach, chai, medaberKadoshEin Sof+5
- Shamayim va’aretz שמים וארץ
- Domem, tzomeach, chai, medaber דומם צומח חי מדבר
- Kadosh קדוש
- Ein Sof אין סוף
- Osiyos אותיות
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
Marei mekomos
- 1וכמארז״ל · בבוך 1824: וכמ״ש בזהר. — ת״ז בהקדמה יב, ב.
- 2אות הוא בצבאות שלו · Chagigah 16a
- 3אות הוא בצבאות שלו · Tikkunei Zohar 12b
- 4אלף אלפין ישמשונה · Daniel 7:10
- 5היש מספר לגדודיו · Job 25:3
- 6קדוש ה׳ צבאות · Isaiah 6:3
Many stones into one yud ¶10–12
10והנה השתלשלות כל העולמות ברבוי רבבות מדרגות תלוי הכל לפי אופן צירופי האותיות1 שבבחינת דבר ה׳ להתהוות נבראים פרטיים בעלי גבול ונפרדים כו׳.
Now, the chain of descent of all the worlds, through myriads upon myriads of rungs, all depends on the manner of the combinations of the letters in the level of the word of G‑d, so that particular created beings come into being, limited and separate, etc.
Every distinct creature, on every rung, is the product of a particular combination of divine letters; how the letters are arranged determines what comes into being.
ויעקב אע״ה [אבינו עליו השלום] רצה להעלותם למעלה. לזאת ויקח מאבני המקום2 שהם אותיות הרבה ועשה מהן אבן אחת
And Yaakov our father, peace be upon him, wished to raise them up above. Therefore, “he took from the stones of the place,” which are many letters, and made of them one stone, which is the letter yud; this is [the meaning of] “and he placed [it] at his head,” etc.
Yaakov wanted to lift these creatures back up, so he “took from the stones of the place,” the many letters, and made them one stone: the letter yud, the smallest letter, which stands for Chochmah. That is why it is placed “at his head,” the place of intellect.
¶2 This answers the question from paragraph 2.
שהוא אות היו״ד שזהו וישם מראשותיו כו׳ שכמו שלמטה באדם יש שכל ומדות והאותיות הם המלבישים לבחי׳ שכל ומדות שמתלבשים בהם.
For just as below, in a person, there are intellect and emotive attributes (middos), and the letters are what clothe the intellect and emotive attributes that are enclothed in them,
The maamar explains through a person: he has intellect and emotions, and letters (words) are what clothe them.
כמו״כ [כמו כן] למעלה יש בחי׳ חב״ד [חכמה בינה ודעת] וז״ת [וז׳ תחתונות] רק שם הוא חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא3 מבין ולא בבינה ידיעא ולאו מכל מדות אלין ששם הוא בבחי׳ יחוד ובטול בתכלית.
so too above there are the levels of Chochmah, Binah and Daas and the seven lower [Sefiros]; only, there He is “wise, but not with a known wisdom; understanding, but not with a known understanding,” and not of any of these attributes, for there it is in a state of utter unity and self-nullification.
Above too there are intellect (Chochmah, Binah, Daas) and seven emotive Sefiros, but there they are wholly one with G‑d. As the prayer of Eliyahu in the Tikkunei Zohar puts it, He is wise, but not with a wisdom that can be known.
Creation depends on combinations of letters, and Yaakov gathered the many letters into the single yud, lifting them to the level where all is one with G‑d.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe
In ¶10–12 the one stone Yaakov made is the yud („אבן אחת שהוא אות היו״ד”), supernal Chochmah; in the summary (¶30) „והאבן הזאת” (“this stone”) is Malchus, which receives from Havayah. The maamar does not say how the two fit.
In his gloss on these words the Tzemach Tzedek notes that a yud, a “point”, can be „נקודה עילאה שהיא חכמה עילאה” (the upper point, supernal Chochmah), or „נקודה תתאה” (the lower point), Malchus (the yud of Adnus), and suggests that Yaakov’s one stone is the lower point, since an ascent from below begins there; at the pillar (¶13) he adds that our maamar’s wording here implies supernal Chochmah, and leaves both readings standing. The Rebbe suggests that these two readings of the stone go with Torah Ohr’s two readings of the pillar: raised up from below (22a–b), or drawn down from the yud as a vav (here). Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) the summary (¶30), which calls the stone Malchus, follows the lower-point reading.
the Tzemach Tzedek: Sefer HaLikkutim (Tzemach Tzedek), letter yud, entry “Yaakov”, which reproduces his gloss on this maamar from Or HaTorah, Vayeitzei, vol. אות יו״ד (יוסף–יעקב), p. תתקפד
וא״כ יעקב שעשה מאבני המקום אבן אחת שהיא היו״ד נראה דהיינו נקודה תתאה יו״ד דאדנ״י שכך הוא הסדר של ההעלאה מלמטה למעלה
the Tzemach Tzedek: Sefer HaLikkutim (Tzemach Tzedek), letter yud, entry “Yaakov” (his gloss on our ¶13, from Or HaTorah, Vayeitzei), vol. אות יו״ד (יוסף–יעקב), p. תתקפה
ולפמ״ש שהיו״ד הוא נקודה תתאה אתי שפיר שהוא״ו שהוא ז״א גבוה יותר מהיו״ד אך כאן משמע שהיו״ד רומז לחכמה עילאה
the Rebbe: Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2, dibbur hamaschil Atah Echad 5732, note 75, vol. ב, p. תמז
וי״ל דב׳ הפי׳ הם בהמשך לב׳ הפי׳ באבן אחת שעשה יעקב נקודה תתאה או נקודה עילאה
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
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5738
For the Alter Rebbe, the one stone at Yaakov’s head is the yud, supernal Chochmah. The Rebbe reads “mera’ashosav” as placing the stone above the head, that is, above Yaakov’s yud, which is the level of chayah in the soul. The inanimate powers in a person, speech and above all action, are rooted higher than intellect, by the rule that the higher a thing is, the lower it descends. Serving G‑d when one feels nothing at all comes from the soul’s essence, the yechidah, the source of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh). That is what gives a Jew the power to make the world a dwelling for G‑d’s Essence. He adds that such service “from poverty” later brings both spiritual and material wealth.
The Alter Rebbe
ויקח מאבני המקום שהם אותיות הרבה ועשה מהן אבן אחת שהוא אות היו״ד
The Rebbe
שע״י העבודה דבחי׳ דומם שבאדם, מתגלית בחינת היחידה שבו (שלמעלה מבחי׳ חי׳)
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.
TermsYichudMochinBinahOsiyos+5
- Yichud יחוד
- Mochin מוחין
- Binah בינה
- Osiyos אותיות
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1השתלשלות כל העולמות . . צירופי האותיות שבבחי׳ דבר ה׳ · ראה תניא ח״ב פ׳
- 2ויקח מאבני המקום · Genesis 28:11
- 3חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–4
11וכמ״ש לך ה׳ הגדולה כו׳ וחיוהי וגרמוהי חד כו׳. ובחי׳ דבר ה׳ הם האותיות שבהם מתלבשים חב״ד [חכמה בינה ודעת] ומדות שהם ע״ס [עשר ספירות] עליונות.
As it is written, “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness,” etc., and “His life-forces and His vessels are one,” etc. And the level of the word of G‑d is the letters, in which Chochmah, Binah and Daas and the emotive attributes are enclothed, which are the ten supernal Sefiros.
The verse “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness…” lists the Sefiros, and the phrase of the Tikkunei Zohar adds that they are one with Him. The divine word is the letters, and in them the ten supernal Sefiros are clothed.
ובחי׳ אות היו״ד שהיא נקודה קטנה מרמז על היות שבו מתלבש בחי׳ חכמה שהוא בחי׳ אין ובטול בתכלית.1
And the level of the letter yud, which is a small point, alludes to the fact that the level of Chochmah, which is the level of nothingness (ayin) and utter self-nullification, is enclothed in it.
The yud is only a point. Its smallness suits Chochmah, which is called “nothing” (ayin): the first flash of wisdom before it takes any shape, a state of complete self-nullification.
The letters clothe the ten Sefiros, and the tiny yud clothes Chochmah, the level of nothingness and complete self-nullification.
TermsSefirosMochinOsiyosYesh and ayin+5
- Sefiros ספירות
- Mochin מוחין
- Osiyos אותיות
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1לך ה׳ הגדולה · I Chronicles 29:11
And the letter hei, which is a spreading out in length and breadth, alludes to its being a garment for the level of Binah, etc.
The hei is wide and extends in both length and breadth, so it suits Binah, where the point of wisdom is expanded and developed.
וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] שאר האותיות שבהם מתלבשים בחי׳ מדות העליונות. וזהו שיעקב עשה מכל האבנים אבן אחת שהוא אות היו״ד להעלותן לבחי׳ חכמה עילאה.
And likewise the other letters, in which the levels of the supernal emotive attributes are enclothed. And this is [why] Yaakov made of all the stones one stone, which is the letter yud: to raise them up to the level of supernal Chochmah.
The other letters clothe the emotive attributes. Gathering all the stones into one yud means raising all the letters to supernal Chochmah, where they are nullified before G‑d.
The shapes of the letters match the levels they clothe, and gathering them into a yud lifts them all to supernal Chochmah.
TermsLevushimHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahBinahOsiyos+2
- Levushim לבושים
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Binah בינה
- Osiyos אותיות
- Middos מדות
Also Chochmah
Marei mekomos
- 1ואות הה״א · ענין זה ליתא בהנחת הר״פ.
The pillar and the oil ¶13–16
13ואזי אח״כ וישם אותה מצבה1 הוא בחי׳ אות הוא״ו שעשה והמשיך מבחי׳ י׳ לבחי׳ ו׳ להיות התלבשות בחי׳ חכמה עילאה למטה בבחי׳ תומ״צ [תורה ומצות] וכנודע תמונת אות הוא״ו שעל ראשו נקודת היו״ד2
And then, afterward, “and he set it up as a pillar” is the level of the letter vav: he made and drew [it] from the level of the yud to the level of the vav, so that supernal Chochmah would be enclothed below in Torah and mitzvos.
After the ascent comes the descent. Setting the stone up as an upright pillar is the vav, a vertical line: Yaakov drew the yud down into a vav, so that supernal Chochmah would be clothed in Torah and mitzvos below.
ואח״כ הולך ומתמשך למטה כמו כן אורייתא מחכמה עילאה נפקת ונמשך ומתפשט למטה בדברים גשמיים כו׳.
As is known, the form of the letter vav has the point of the yud at its head, and afterward it goes on and extends downward. So too, “the Torah comes forth from supernal Chochmah,” and is drawn down and spreads below into physical things, etc.
The vav is drawn as a point like a yud at its head with a line extending downward from it. So too the Torah, which “comes forth from supernal Chochmah,” comes down and clothes itself in physical matters.
The pillar is the letter vav, the yud extended downward: supernal Chochmah drawn down into the Torah and its mitzvos in the physical world.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
A question the Rebbe raises
In the maamar Atah Echad of Shabbos Vayeitzei, 9 Kislev 5732, on the unity of Israel brought about from below and from above, the Rebbe reads the pillar and the oil as these two kinds of unity, and his note marks the two readings in Torah Ohr.
Our paragraph reads „וישם אותה מצבה” (“and he set it up as a pillar”) as the vav, the drawing down of Chochmah into Torah and mitzvos. In a maamar of Shabbos Vayeitzei 5732 the Rebbe reads the same words the other way: once the many stones had become one, Yaakov „העלה אותה מלמטלמ״ע עד שנעשית מצבה” (raised it from below upward until it stood as a pillar), and only the pouring of the oil is the drawing down from above. His note says this follows Torah Ohr 22a–b (the biur printed after our maamar), „ודלא כהפי׳ שם כא, ב” (“and not the explanation there, 21b”), the reading Torah Chaim also explains; and he suggests that the two readings of the pillar go with the two readings of Yaakov’s one stone in Or HaTorah, „נקודה תתאה או נקודה עילאה” (a “lower point” or an “upper point”).
The Alter Rebbe
וישם אותה מצבה הוא בחי׳ אות הוא״ו שעשה והמשיך מבחי׳ י׳ לבחי׳ ו׳
The Rebbe
תו״א ויצא כב א-ב (ודלא כהפי׳ שם כא, ב. ובתו״ח מבאר ע״פ פי׳ זה)
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2 (Kislev–Shevat), vol. ב, p. תמז · ש״פ ויצא, ט׳ כסלו, ה׳תשל״ב (from sec. 8 to the end edited by the Rebbe, note 70)
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
TermsHigher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah+4
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
Marei mekomos
- 1וישם אותה מצבה · Genesis 28:18
- 2אות הוא״ו שעל ראשו נקודת היו״ד · ראה לעיל טו, ד. לקו״ת תצא כט, ג.
And this is [the meaning of] “and he poured oil on its top.” The explanation: oil is the level of supernal Chochmah, as it is written, “oil of holy anointing.”
Pouring oil on the pillar is the next step. Oil stands for supernal Chochmah; the verse about the “oil of holy anointing” is brought to show oil as a symbol of holiness drawn from above.
להיות גלוי בחי׳ חכמה עילאה ממש למטה בבחי׳ מצבה הנ״ל שהוא בחי׳ תורה ומצות שמלובשים למטה בדברים גשמיים המחליף פרה בחמור4 כו׳ כשר פסול כו׳ עכ״ז [עם כל זה] יהיה בהם גילוי בחי׳ חכמה עילאה ממש כמו שהוא למעלה.
[This is] so that there be a revelation of supernal Chochmah itself below, in the level of the pillar mentioned above, which is the level of Torah and mitzvos, which are enclothed below in physical things, “one who exchanges a cow for a donkey,” etc., kosher [and] unfit, etc.; nevertheless there will be in them a revelation of supernal Chochmah itself, just as it is above.
The aim is that supernal Chochmah itself be revealed in the pillar, that is, in Torah and mitzvos, even though they deal with physical matters: laws about trading a cow for a donkey, about what is kosher and what is unfit. Even there, divine wisdom should be as revealed as it is above.
The oil poured on the pillar is supernal Chochmah revealed within the Torah’s most earthly laws.
The Kehot notes connect oil with wisdom through the Talmud’s remark that olive oil is common in Tekoa, and so wisdom is found there. Or HaTorah on Vayakhel adds that the goal is not the ascent (setting up the pillar) but the drawing down (pouring the oil).
TermsHigher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah+3
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
Marei mekomos
- 1ויצק שמן על ראשה · Genesis 28:18
- 2פי׳ שמן הוא בחי׳ חכמה עילאה · Menachot 85b:13–14
- 3שמן משחת קודש · Exodus 30:25
- 4המחליף פרה בחמור · Mishnah Bava Metzia 8:4
15וכמארז״ל [וכמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] מה להלן באימה וביראה1 אף כאן באימה וביראה. פי׳ מה להלן בשעת מתן תורה על הר סיני שהיו באימה וביראה שאז הי׳ [היה] בחי׳ גילוי בתכלית ששמעו מפי עצמות המאציל אנכי ה׳ אלקיך כו׳.
And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Just as there [it was] in dread and awe, so here [it must be] in dread and awe.” The explanation: “just as there,” at the time of the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, they were in dread and awe, for then there was a revelation in the utmost degree, for they heard from the mouth of the Essence of the Emanator, “I am Havayah your G‑d,” etc.
The Sages taught that Torah must be studied with the same dread and awe as at Sinai. At Sinai the revelation was total: Israel heard “I am Havayah your G‑d” from G‑d’s very Essence, and so they were filled with awe.
אף כאן היינו אף כמו שהתורה מלובשת למטה בדברים גשמיים יהי׳ [יהיה] ע״י גילוי חכמה עילאה ממש כמו שהי׳ [שהיה] אז וכמ״ש ואשים דברי בפיך2 כו׳.3
“So here”: that is, even as the Torah is enclothed below in physical things, it shall be through a revelation of supernal Chochmah itself, just as it was then, as it is written, “And I have placed My words in your mouth,” etc.
“So here” means that even now, when the Torah is clothed in physical matters, it should carry the same revelation of supernal Chochmah as then. The verse “I have placed My words in your mouth” expresses this: G‑d’s own words are in the mouth of the one who learns.
The awe of Sinai is to be present in every study of Torah, because the same supernal wisdom is revealed in it now as then.
The Kehot note records that this whole passage is missing from the Hanachos HaRap transcript, and points to parallels in Boneh Yerushalayim and the Alter Rebbe’s short maamarim.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar Asher Bara for the night of 14 Kislev 5739 (the fiftieth anniversary of the Rebbe’s wedding), built on the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamar of the same opening said at that wedding in 5689, the Rebbe explains the seventh wedding blessing through the wedding above, the Giving of the Torah, which is renewed every day.
In a maamar for 14 Kislev 5739 the Rebbe brings the Sages’ saying that every day, whoever reads and studies, „הקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו” (the Holy One reads and studies opposite him), and the Alter Rebbe’s explanation of it: this is “exactly as it was at the Giving of the Torah the first time” (our paragraph’s „ממש כמו שהי׳ אז”, “exactly as it was then”), and therefore the halachah requires „באימה וביראה וברתת ובזיע” (the dread, awe, trembling and quaking) of Sinai. He adds that, as is explained (his note cites the Arizal’s Likkutei HaShas), these four terms correspond to the four letters of Havayah: the revelation of Havayah to every Jew at Sinai is present in Torah study now. His note on the Alter Rebbe’s words cites Torah Ohr Yisro 67b, and this page and the biur after it (22b) as a “see also”.
The Alter Rebbe
אף כמו שהתורה מלובשת למטה בדברים גשמיים יהי׳ ע״י גילוי חכמה עילאה ממש כמו שהי׳ אז
The Rebbe
דזה שהקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו הוא ממש כמו שהי׳ בשעת מ״ת בפעם הראשונה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat (edited; published as Kuntres Yud-Daled Kislev 5750), vol. ד, p. פ · אור לי״ד כסלו ה׳תשל״ט
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsAnochiHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahAtzmus u’mahus+2
- Anochi אנכי
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Atzmus u’mahus עצמות ומהות
Marei mekomos
- 1וכמארז״ל מה להלן באימה וביראה · Berakhot 22a:4
- 2ואשים דברי בפיך · Isaiah 51:16
- 3אנכי ה׳ אלקיך · Exodus 20:2
16ולהיות גילוי כזה למטה הוצרך יעקב מתחלה להעלותן למעלה מעלה לבחי׳ סוכ״ע. וכמ״ש וירימה מצבה1 להיות כי נעוץ סופן בתחלתן2 ועי״ז נעוץ תחלתן בסופן כו׳ שמדרגה היותר גבוה יותר יכולה לירד ולהתפשט מטה מטה כידוע:3
And for there to be such a revelation below, Yaakov first needed to raise them up to the very highest, to the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). As it is written, “and he raised it up as a pillar”: for “their end is wedged in their beginning,” and through this “their beginning is wedged in their end,” etc., for the higher a rung is, the more it is able to descend and spread lower and lower, as is known.
To bring such revelation down, Yaakov first had to raise the letters to sovev, the light that encompasses all worlds, as a later verse in the parsha says of Yaakov, “he raised it up as a pillar.” The principle, from Sefer Yetzirah, is that the end is wedged in the beginning: what is lowest is rooted in what is highest, and the higher a level is, the further down it can reach.
Ascent comes before descent: only by first raising the letters to the highest level could Yaakov draw revelation all the way down.
Torah Ohr on Bereshis, cited in the note, applies the same principle: through direct light and returning light the foot becomes the head, which is why Israel, the “feet,” are called “first.”
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe
„שמדרגה היותר גבוה יותר יכולה לירד ולהתפשט מטה מטה כידוע” (“The higher a rung, the further down it can descend, as is known”) is given without a source; our ¶16 deeper explains „נעוץ סופן בתחלתן” (‘their end is wedged in their beginning’) from Torah Ohr Bereishis but not why Yaakov must first rise to sovev.
Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) the “as is known” is a principle the Alter Rebbe states elsewhere of Yaakov himself: as the „בריח התיכון” (“middle bar”) that runs from end to end, Yaakov rises to the innermost Keser and therefore descends lowest, „כי כל הגבוה גבוה יותר יוכל להשפיל עצמו” (“for the higher a thing is, the more it can lower itself”) (Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5563). The Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar on our verse (Torah Chaim) says it of the stone at Yaakov’s head: „דכל המשכה א״א בלא העלאה בתחלה” (there is no drawing down without an ascent first), and because Yaakov reaches the very top he can bring the light into full revelation below.
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5563, vol. 2 (on 'מי מנה עפר יעקב׳), vol. תקס״ג ב, p. תרכז
שיעקב בריח התיכון עולה… פנימי כת״ר ולזה יורד ג״כ יותר למטה מטה כי כל הגבוה גבוה יותר יוכל להשפיל עצמו
the Mitteler Rebbe: Torah Chaim, Vayeitzei, dibbur hamaschil Vayidar Yaakov (the parallel of our maamar), sec. 4, vol. בראשית ב (Kehot), p. כד [קסה] (as printed)
דיעקב בריח התיכון שעולה עד פנימי׳ הכתר לקצה העליון שנק׳ מראשותיו כנ״ל ומבריח לקצה התחתון
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.
TermsTheir beginning is wedged in their endSovev kol almin
- Their beginning is wedged in their end נעוץ תחלתן בסופן
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Marei mekomos
- 1וירימה מצבה · Genesis 31:45
- 2נעוץ סופן בתחלתן · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
- 3נעוץ סופן בתחלתן . . כידוע · ראה אוה״ת ואתחנן ע׳ פט. וראה לעיל א, ב.
My father’s house: Yitzchak’s laughter ¶17–21
17וזהו ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי והי׳ [והיה] הוי׳ לי לאלקים. שכל זה יהיה ע״י העלאות והמשכות שממטה למעלה ומלמעלה למטה שהוא בחי׳ וישם מראשתיו כו׳
And this is [the meaning of] “And I shall return in peace to my father’s house, and Havayah will be Elokim to me”: all this will come about through elevations and drawings-down, from below upward and from above downward, which is the level of “and he placed [them] at his head,” etc., and afterward, “and he poured oil on it,” etc., as mentioned above.
Now the maamar returns to the vow. All of it comes about through two movements: the ascent from below, “he placed [them] at his head,” and afterward the descent from above, “he poured oil on it.”
ואח״כ ויצק עליה שמן כו׳ כנ״ל כי הנה כא, גאבי1 קאי על יצחק וכמ״ש כי אתה אבינו2 שלע״ל [שלעתיד לבוא] יאמרו על יצחק כי אתה אבינו כו׳.
For “my father” refers to Yitzchak, as it is written, “For You are our father,” for in the time to come they will say of Yitzchak, “For you are our father,” etc.
“My father” means Yitzchak: the Talmud (Shabbos 89b) relates that in the future, after Yitzchak pleads for his children, Israel will say to him, in Isaiah’s words, “For you are our father.”
The vow is about ascent and descent together, and “my father’s house” is Yitzchak, whom Israel will call “our father” in the future.
The Kehot notes point to Or HaTorah on Terumah and Ki Sisa for this reading of “my father’s house” as Yitzchak.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי הנה אבי · ראה אוה״ת תרומה ע׳ א׳תקכו. וראה גם באוה״ת כי תשא ע׳ א׳תתפז.
- 2כי אתה אבינו · Isaiah 63:16
Now, Yitzchak is from the term tzechok (laughter) and delight, as it is written, “[G‑d] has made laughter for me,” etc., “whoever hears will laugh (yitzchak) with me.”
The name Yitzchak comes from tzechok, laughter, as Sarah said at his birth: G‑d has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh with me. Laughter expresses delight.
והוא לשון עתיד שיתגלה בחי׳ התענוג העליון2 שלמעלה והוא ע״י בחי׳ הבירורי׳ [הבירורים / הבירורין] שלמטה בבחי׳ אתכפיא ואתהפכא מחשוכא לנהורא ע״י העלאות והמשכות כנ״ל.
And [yitzchak, “he will laugh,”] is in the future tense, [meaning] that the supernal delight above will be revealed; and this comes through the refinements (beirurim) below, in the manner of subjugation (iskafya) and transformation (is’hapcha) of darkness into light, through the elevations and drawings-down mentioned above.
Yitzchak is also a future-tense verb, “he will laugh.” So it points to a supernal delight that will be revealed in the future, brought about by the work of refining the world below: subduing evil and turning darkness into light.
Yitzchak means future laughter: the supernal delight that the work of refinement will reveal.
A later maamar quoted in the Kehot note cites this passage and links it with the Midrash that G‑d “will rejoice” in the deeds of the righteous in the future. Or HaTorah on Ki Sisa raises a question here: the third redemption is said to come in Yaakov’s merit, yet here it is linked to Yitzchak.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In Veshavti Beshalom 5738, after explaining that the return “to my father’s house” is the future revelation brought about by the work of transformation, the Rebbe asks how the future can already be named in Yitzchak’s present name.
Our paragraph reads Yitzchak as a future-tense verb („לשון עתיד”): the supernal delight will be revealed in the time to come. In his maamar on this verse the Rebbe brings that reading (his note cites this page) and shows the present side from the name itself: since he is already called Yitzchak now, the delight already exists, as Sarah said, „צחוק עשה לי אלקים, עשה כבר” (“Elokim has made laughter for me”, made already); only its revelation waits for the future. He says the same of „כי אתה אבינו” (“you are our father”): Yitzchak’s future rescue of Israel from exile has a foretaste now, in his shielding them during the exile.
The Alter Rebbe
והוא לשון עתיד שיתגלה בחי׳ התענוג העליון שלמעלה
The Rebbe
מזה שהוא נקרא עכשיו בשם יצחק, מובן, שגם עכשיו יש תענוג וצחוק זה [וכמ״ש צחוק עשה לי אלקים, עשה כבר]
Sefer HaMaamarim 5738 (old edition; this maamar edited by the Rebbe and published in Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5748), p. פב · מוצאי ש״פ ויצא, ט׳ כסלו, אור ליו״ד 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
TermsIskafya and is’hapchaBirurTaanug
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Birur בירור
- Taanug תענוג
Marei mekomos
- 1צחק עשה לי · Genesis 21:6
- 2לשון עתיד שיתגלה בחי׳ התענוג העליון · ע׳ אוה״ת ויחי שצט, ב. וראה באוה״ת פ׳ כי תשא ע׳ א׳תתפז שצ״ע שהרי גאולה שלישית בזכות יעקב, וכאן כ׳ שבזכות יצחק ע״ש. בד״ה כל שמעשיו מרובין תרנ״ג ע׳ ריז: ”מבואר בת״א פ׳ ויצא דהוא בחי׳ צחוק ותענוג עליון שיתגלו לע״ל, וכמארז״ל במד״ר ר״פ אחרי, שמח אינו אומר אלא ישמח ה׳ במעשיו עתיד הקב״ה לשמוח במעשיהן של צדיקים. שלע״ל דוקא יהי׳ גילוי השמחה מבחי׳ הבירורים דעכשיו בבחי׳ אתכפיא ואתהפכא”. ע״ש.
19וכמו התענוג והצחוק שלמטה שאינו אלא מאיזו שינוי והתחדשות כמו למשל צפור המדברת1 וכדומה שאין דרכה וטבעה לדבר משא״כ מאדם המדבר אין מקבלים תענוג כלל לפי שדרכו בתמידות לדבר. וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] ממש למעלה.
Like delight and laughter below, which come only from some change and novelty, for example a talking bird and the like, whose way and nature is not to speak; whereas from a person who speaks one receives no delight at all, since it is his constant way to speak. And exactly so above.
Delight comes from what is new. A talking bird delights us because speech is not its nature; a person who speaks delights no one, because speaking is normal for him. The same is true above: what delights G‑d is what is unexpected.
הנה בחי׳ יעקב הוא י׳ עקב שהוא בחי׳ ירידת והשתלשלות אלקות עד למטה מטה גם בבחי׳ עקביי׳ שהם עולמות הנפרדים לגמרי ובעלי גבול כו׳.
Now, the level of Yaakov is yud-akev, which is the descent and chain-descent of G‑dliness down to the very lowest, even into the level of the heels, which are the utterly separate and limited worlds, etc.
Yaakov, the yud reaching the heel, is G‑dliness descending all the way to the lowest, limited worlds, which seem entirely separate from Him.
Delight comes from novelty, and Yaakov’s descent into the lowest worlds sets up the unexpected transformation that will delight G‑d.
The parable of the talking bird goes back to the Maggid of Mezritch’s Or Torah, as the Kehot note shows, and recurs across Chabad literature, for example to explain why the service of souls in bodies moves G‑d more than the angels’ praise.
TermsYaakov and YisraelTaanugHishtalshelus
- Yaakov and Yisrael יעקב וישראל
- Taanug תענוג
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Marei mekomos
- 1צפור המדברת · או״ת להה״מ (הוצאת קה״ת) פג, א. פו, ד. ועוד. ראה לקמן כה, ד. לקו״ת במדבר יט, ד. שלח מח, ד. שה״ש לז, א. תו״ח תולדות קנב, א. ויצא קסו, א. וישלח קצ, ג. שער האמונה עט, א. סה״מ תרכ״ז ע׳ שצ. סה״מ תער״ב ח״ב ע׳ תתקה. סה״מ תרמ״ג ע׳ קלג.
20וכמ״ש ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה1 שנמשך ונשתלשל בהשתלשלות וצמצומים כ״כ [כל כך] להתהוות יש מאין בעלי גבול ועלמין דפרודי
As it is written, “And Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva and went toward Charan”: [G‑dliness] was drawn down and descended through the chain of descent and contractions so far, so that limited beings and worlds of separateness would come into being, something from nothing,
Yaakov’s journey to Charan is again read as the descent of G‑dliness, through so many contractions that limited, separate worlds come into being from nothing.
שהם בחי׳ נבראי׳ [נבראים] נפרדים שהם בחי׳ יש ונפרד בפ״ע [בפני עצמו] שנק׳ חר״ן והוא מלשון נחר גרוני23 כו׳.
which are separate created beings, which are something (yesh) and separate unto themselves; [this] is called Charan (חרן), and it is from the term “my throat is parched (nichar, נחר),” etc.
These separate beings, which feel they exist on their own, are called Charan (חרן), a word the maamar links to nichar (נחר), “parched,” which shares its letters ches and reish, in the Psalm “my throat is parched.”
¶4 This explains Charan, promised in paragraph 4.
והיינו שהחיות אלקות הנמשך ומתלבש בהם שנק׳ בחי׳ גרון שהוא קול כנודע4 מכוסה ומוסתר בהם לגמרי עד
That is, the divine life-force that is drawn down and enclothed in them, which is called the level of the throat, which is voice, as is known, is covered and hidden in them completely,
The divine life-force in creatures is called “throat,” because the throat produces voice, the divine speech that creates them. In these worlds that voice is completely covered and hidden.
שהם עלמין דפרודי וחשך לגמרי כאלו הם יש ונפרד בפ״ע [בפני עצמו] ואזי נק׳ חרן לשון נחר גרוני כו׳. וכמ״ש נאלמתי דומיה5 כו׳.
until they are worlds of separateness and utter darkness, as if they were something separate unto themselves; and then it is called Charan, from the term “my throat is parched,” etc. And as it is written, “I was mute with silence,” etc.
So the worlds become separate and dark, as if they existed on their own. This is the “parched throat,” and the silence of “I was mute with silence”: the divine voice cannot be heard.
Charan is the lowest world, where the creative divine voice is so hidden that creation seems to stand on its own, a “parched throat.”
The Kehot note gives Rashi’s reading of nichar as “dried out,” and points to the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah on Vayeshev and to Or HaTorah on Va’era.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In a sicha of Shabbos Noach 5727 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 15, Noach 5), on Rashi’s comment that the inverted nun of “b’Charan” shows the world was in wrath until Avram, the Rebbe asks why Rashi adds the word “af”, and answers by setting Rashi’s „חרון אף” (“charon af”) against Charan’s other meaning, the parched throat.
In an edited sicha on Rashi’s “until Avram there was wrath (חרון אף) in the world”, the Rebbe gives the two meanings of Charan: Rashi’s “wrath”, and the one our paragraph uses, Charan with the letters of nichar, „נחר גרוני” (“my throat is parched”) (his note cites this page); he also brings, from the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah (his note), that Charan with the kollel equals „גרון” (garon, “throat”) in gematria. The throat is the passage between the head and the heart: the flow of the mind into the emotions passes through it, and a parched throat lets neither the voice nor the mind’s influence through as it should. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why the maamar calls the hidden divine life-force “throat” and its concealment in the separate worlds a parched throat.
The Alter Rebbe
שנק׳ חר״ן והוא מלשון נחר גרוני כו׳
The Rebbe
דער האַלז איז טרוקן, ובמילא קען דער קול ניט דורכגיין דעם גרון ווי עס דאַרף צו זיין
Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 63 ואילך (the passage and note 31 on p. 67) · ש״פ נח תשכ״ז
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
TermsYesh me’ayinTzimtzumYesh and ayinHishtalshelus+2
- Yesh me’ayin יש מאין
- Tzimtzum צמצום
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Also HislabshusChayus
Marei mekomos
- 1ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה · Genesis 28:10
- 2נחר גרוני · Psalms 69:4
- 3נחר גרוני · Rashi on Psalms 69:4
- 4שנק׳ בחי׳ גרון שהוא קול כנודע · ראה ביאוה״ז להצ״צ כרך ב ע׳ תשסז.
- 5נאלמתי דומי׳ · Psalms 39:3
21והנה תכלית המכוון בירידת והשתלשלות אור ה׳ כ״כ [כל כך] למקום חשך ועלמין דפרודי. היינו בכדי שיהי׳ [שיהיה] אתכפיא ואתהפכא מחשוכא לנהורא כו׳
Now, the ultimate purpose of the descent and chain-descent of the light of G‑d so far, to a place of darkness and worlds of separateness, is so that there be subjugation and transformation of darkness into light, etc.:
Why did G‑d’s light descend so far, into darkness and separateness? So that darkness could be subdued and turned into light (iskafya and is’hapcha, subjugation and transformation).
להפוך את כל המדות רעות שהם האהבה ורשפי אש של הבלי עולם או הכעס כו׳
to transform all the bad emotive attributes (middos), which are the love and fiery flames for the vanities of the world, or anger, etc.,
In a person this means the bad emotions: burning love for the vanities of the world, anger and the like.
להפכם שיהיו רק לה׳ לבדו ולהיות בבחי׳ בטול הרצון לה׳ לבד ולא בבחי׳ יש ונפרד בפ״ע [בפני עצמו] כו׳.
to transform them so that they be for G‑d alone, and to be in a state of self-nullification of the will to G‑d alone, and not in a state of being something separate unto itself, etc.
These are to be transformed so that they are directed to G‑d alone, and so that a person gives up his own will before G‑d instead of feeling himself a separate self.
ונק׳ בחי׳ זאת בחי׳ תשובה שהוא בחילא יתיר כו׳ דהיינו המדות רעות שהם ברשפי אש להפכם ולהשיבם לה׳ לבד כנ״ל
And this level is called teshuvah (return), which is “with greater strength,” etc.; that is, [taking] the bad attributes that are in fiery flames, to transform them and return them to G‑d alone, as mentioned above.
This transformation is called teshuvah, which works “with greater strength”: taking the very fire of the bad emotions and turning it back to G‑d.
(וזהו במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין1 צדיקי׳ [צדיקים] גמורים אין יכולים לעמוד). ועי״ז נעשה תענוג גדול למעלה והוא מבחי׳ אתכפיא ואתהפכא מחשוכא לנהורא שלמטה.
(And this is [the meaning of] “In the place where penitents stand, the completely righteous cannot stand.”) And through this a great delight is brought about above, and it comes from the subjugation and transformation of darkness into light below.
That is why penitents stand where even the completely righteous cannot. And this transformation causes great delight above.
וזהו יפה שעה אחת בתשובה23 כו׳ להיות שע״י בחי׳ תשובה דוקא נעשה התענוג למעלה כ״כ [כל כך] שהוא ממש כמשל צפור המדברת כנ״ל
And this is [the meaning of] “One hour in teshuvah is more beautiful,” etc.: for specifically through teshuvah such delight is brought about above, exactly like the parable of the talking bird mentioned above;
The Mishnah (Avos 4:17) says that one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all the life of the World to Come; the maamar quotes only its opening words. Teshuvah causes delight above just like the talking bird: something unexpected.
ואזי נעשה מבחי׳ חר״ן רנ״ה וכנודע על ענין חמץ ומצה שמאות החי״ת של חמ״ץ נעשה ה״א כמ״ש בזהר פ׳ פנחס4 ע״פ גער חי״ת קנה56 כו׳ ונעשה בחי׳ מצה.
and then from the level of Charan (חרן) is made rinah (רנה, joyous song). As is known concerning chametz and matzah: from the letter ches of chametz (חמץ) a hei is made, as it says in the Zohar, Parshas Pinchas, on the verse “Rebuke the beast (chayas, read as ches) of the reed,” etc., and it becomes the level of matzah (מצה).
Then Charan (חרן) becomes rinah (רנה), joyous song: the ches turns into a hei. The same happens with chametz (חמץ) and matzah (מצה), whose letters differ only in ches and hei; the Zohar reads “rebuke the beast (chayas) of the reed” as rebuking the ches.
כמו״כ [כמו כן] מחרן נעשה רנה כמ״ש באבוד רשעים רנה7 שהוא בחי׳ התענוג שנעשה למעלה מבחי׳ אתכפיא ואתהפכא כנ״ל.8
So too, from Charan is made rinah, as it is written, “When the wicked perish there is joyous song (rinah)”; which is the delight that is brought about above from the subjugation and transformation, as mentioned above.
The verse “when the wicked perish there is joyous song” shows that rinah comes when evil is overcome. This rinah is the delight above that comes from subduing and transforming darkness.
The purpose of the descent is to transform darkness into light, especially through teshuvah, which turns Charan into rinah and brings the greatest delight above.
The Kehot note records that the parenthesis about penitents also appears in the manuscript of the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim, and points to a note of the Rebbe on the Talmudic statement. The word-play works because ches (ח) and hei (ה) differ only by a small gap in the left leg.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
“Teshuvah, which is ‘with greater strength’ (בחילא יתיר)” is quoted without its source or meaning, and the maamar sets it beside „במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין” (“where penitents stand”) without saying why; our commentary translates it only.
“With greater strength” is the Zohar’s description of penitents, who draw upon themselves „ברעותא דלבא יתיר ובחילא סגי לאתקרבא למלכא” (“with greater desire of the heart and great strength to come near the King”) (Zohar I 129b, quoted in Tanya, Iggeres HaTeshuvah ch. 8). Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) our paragraph sets it beside “where penitents stand” for the reason the Alter Rebbe gives elsewhere: that is the Zohar’s reason penitents stand higher, and “greater strength” means „תגבורו׳ הכח שאינו במדה וגבול עד כלות הנפש ממש” (a force beyond all measure, to the soul’s very expiry) (Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5562). He also explains “greater” as „יתיר על הכלי” (more than the vessel of the heart can hold), the boundless love „בכל מאדך” (“with all your might”) of one who comes out of darkness (Torah Ohr; Mayim Rabim 5568).
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5562, vol. 1, vol. תקס״ב א, p. ז
ופי׳ בחילא יתיר הוא תגבורו׳ הכח שאינו במדה וגבול עד כלות הנפש ממש
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken, maamarim nosafim 5568, dibbur hamaschil Mayim Rabim, p. ח
לפי שמצד החושך משכי לי׳ בחילא יתיר כמ״ש בזוהר דהיינו בתגבורת גדולה בלי גבול
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, Mikeitz, the biur 'להבין ביאור הדברים ע״פ המגביהי לשבת׳ (begins p. 77), p. 78 (right column; daf 39c)
וזהו בחי׳ תשובה בחילא יתיר. פי׳ יתיר על הכלי
the Alter Rebbe: Tanya, Iggeres HaTeshuvah ch. 8 (Kirshenbaum edition), p. 204
דאינון משכי עלייהו ברעותא דלבא יתיר ובחילא סגי לאתקרבא למלכא
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In the maamar Veshavti Beshalom of Motzaei Shabbos Vayeitzei 5738, the night of the Mitteler Rebbe’s liberation, explaining that the soul descends so as to rise from tzaddik to baal teshuvah, and that from G‑d’s Essence teshuvah is the main intent, the Rebbe weighs the saying about penitents and the righteous and notes its wording.
The Talmud (Berachos 34b) says the completely righteous “do not stand” where penitents stand; our parenthesis reads „אין יכולים לעמוד” (“cannot stand”). In his maamar on this verse the Rebbe stops on that reading, „כהגירסא המובאת בהדרושים עה״פ ושבתי בשלום” (“as brought in the derushim on Veshavti Beshalom”) (his note cites this page and Torah Chaim): not only do the righteous not stand there, they are not able to. „מעלת הבע״ת היא למעלה גם מיכולת הצד״ג” (The penitent’s level is beyond even the righteous man’s ability), and ability is above every power of the soul, even its encompassing powers, because „ענין התשובה מגיע בעצמותו ית׳” (teshuvah reaches G‑d’s very Essence), before which all revelations, the root of the service of the righteous, bear no comparison at all.
The Alter Rebbe
וזהו במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין צדיקי׳ גמורים אין יכולים לעמוד
The Rebbe
לא רק שאינם עומדין שם, אלא יתירה מזו שאין יכולין לעמוד שם, כהגירסא המובאת בהדרושים עה״פ ושבתי בשלום
Sefer HaMaamarim 5738 (old edition; this maamar edited by the Rebbe and published in Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5748), p. עה · מוצאי ש״פ ויצא, ט׳ כסלו, אור ליו״ד כסלו, ה׳תשל״ח
The Rebbe explains
In Bayom HaShemini of Simchas Torah 5741, explaining the Mishnah “one hour in teshuvah and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all the life of the World to Come” and why it puts teshuvah first, the Rebbe lists the advantages of teshuvah over the service of the righteous.
Our paragraph says that teshuvah in particular brings about delight above „ממש כמשל צפור המדברת” (“exactly like the parable of the talking bird”), and ties this to „יפה שעה אחת בתשובה” (“one hour in teshuvah is more beautiful”). In a maamar of Simchas Torah 5741 on that very Mishnah, the Rebbe gives three advantages of teshuvah over the service of the righteous: the penitent’s thirst is greater because he was far; the joy of nearness after distance is greater, like a king’s son returning from captivity; and teshuvah is a leap, not a gradual step, by which a person becomes a new being (“I am another, not the same man”, in the Rambam’s words). „וגם מזה נעשה תענוג גדול למעלה, דעיקר התענוג הוא מדבר חדש דוקא, ולהעיר ממשל הידוע דצפור המדברת” (“And from this too a great delight is made above, for delight comes mainly from something new; note the well-known parable of the talking bird”) (his note cites this page).
The Alter Rebbe
שע״י בחי׳ תשובה דוקא נעשה התענוג למעלה כ״כ שהוא ממש כמשל צפור המדברת
The Rebbe
וגם מזה נעשה תענוג גדול למעלה, דעיקר התענוג הוא מדבר חדש דוקא, ולהעיר ממשל הידוע דצפור המדברת
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. קלה–קלו · יום שמחת תורה ה׳תשמ״א
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5738
The Alter Rebbe ties the delight above to novelty and to teshuvah, and calls Yitzchak “my father’s house.” The Rebbe asks why the verse says “my father’s house” and not Be’er Sheva. His answer is that the teshuvah-like work lifts the soul above where it was before its descent, even above the oath given at birth. He then ranks the novelty. The divine soul’s overcoming of concealment is not true novelty, since it is G‑dly by nature. The body and animal soul becoming vessels is newer, and newest of all is one’s portion in the world. He adds that peace applies only where there is opposition, so it is not said of bread and clothing, since in Torah and mitzvos a Jew stands as a tzaddik. “House” means doing this work permanently, in every area of life.
The Alter Rebbe
התענוג והצחוק שלמטה שאינו אלא מאיזו שינוי והתחדשות
The Rebbe
הבירור והזיכוך דהגוף ונה״ב וחלקו בעולם, הרי זה שנעשים כלים לאלקות הוא חידוש אמיתי
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
TermsIskafya and is’hapchaBaal teshuvahBittul haratzonTeshuvah+6
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא explained hereThe purpose of the light’s descent into a dark world of separation: to turn the bad middos, the fiery love of worldly vanities and anger, to G‑d alone. This is called teshuvah, and it brings great delight above.
להפוך את כל המדות רעות שהם האהבה ורשפי אש של הבלי עולם או הכעס כו׳ להפכם שיהיו רק לה׳ לבדו
- Baal teshuvah בעל תשובה
- Bittul haratzon ביטול רצון
- Teshuvah תשובה
- Taanug תענוג
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
- Ratzon רצון
- Middos מדות
Also Bittul
Marei mekomos
- 1במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין · Berakhot 34b:22–23
- 2יפה שעה אחת בתשובה · אבות ד, יז.
- 3יפה שעה אחת בתשובה · Pirkei Avot 4:17
- 4כמ״ש בזהר פ׳ פנחס · רנא, ב ואילך. מכאן ואילך בהנחת הר״פ בקיצור.
- 5כמ״ש בזהר פ׳ פנחס ע״פ גער חי״ת קנה · Zohar, Pinchas 105:727–106:740
- 6גער חי״ת קנה · Psalms 68:31
- 7באבוד רשעים רנה · Proverbs 11:10
- 8(וזהו . . לעמוד) · מוסגר זה נמצא גם בכת״י מאמרי אדה״ז. הענין נמצא בהנחות הר״פ, אבל שם בלי מוסגר.
The future revelation ¶22–24
22והנה בחי׳ התענוג הזה יתגלה לעתיד דוקא שאז ואת רוח הטומאה אעביר1 כו׳ שלא יהיה עוד בחי׳ חשך ובירורי׳ [ובירורים] כמו שהוא עתה בעליות וירידות אלא כמ״ש בחריש ובקציר תשבות2 כמבואר במ״א.
Now, this delight will be revealed specifically in the time to come, for then “I will remove the spirit of impurity,” etc., so that there will no longer be darkness and refinements as there are now, in ascents and descents; rather, as it is written, “In plowing and in harvest you shall rest,” as explained elsewhere.
This delight will be fully revealed only in the future, when G‑d removes the spirit of impurity from the earth. Then there will be no darkness to refine and no ups and downs; the work of “plowing and harvest,” the refining, will cease, and there will be rest.
The delight produced by refinement will be revealed in the future, when there is no more evil to refine.
The Likkutei Torah passage cited in the note explains that in the future no “plowing” (breaking up evil) will be needed, since the spirit of impurity will be gone.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואת רוח הטומאה אעביר · Zechariah 13:2
- 2בחריש ובקציר תשבות . . כמ״ש במ״א · Exodus 34:21
23ויהיה בחי׳ גילוי אור ה׳ למטה בבחי׳ יחוד וביטול בתכלית כמו שהוא למעלה בעולמות עליונים דאיהו וחיוהי וגרמוהי חד כו׳ שעתה הוא מאין ליש כו׳ משא״כ לעתיד יהיה מיש לאין בבחי׳ ביטול ואתהפכא כו׳.
And there will be a revelation of the light of G‑d below in a state of utter unity and self-nullification, just as it is above in the higher worlds, where “He and His life-forces and His vessels are one,” etc. For now it is from nothing to something, etc., whereas in the time to come it will be from something to nothing, in a state of self-nullification and transformation, etc.
In the future, G‑d’s light will be revealed below with the same unity found in the higher worlds. Now creation runs “from nothing to something,” producing beings that feel real on their own; then it will run “from something to nothing,” as creation recognizes its nullity before G‑d and is transformed.
The future reverses the direction of creation: instead of nothing becoming something, something will be nullified before G‑d.
TermsIhu vegarmohiIskafya and is’hapchaYesh me’ayinYichud+2
- Ihu vegarmohi איהו וגרמוהי חד
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Yesh me’ayin יש מאין
- Yichud יחוד
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
Also Bittul
24ואזי יתגלה בחי׳ ענג העליון שהוא בבחי׳ א״ס והוא בחי׳ יום הז׳ יום שכולו שבת ומנוחה לחיי העולמים1 שהוא בחי׳ גילוי ענג העליון כנודע שנעשה מהבירורים שלמטה בשיתא אלפי שנין כו׳.
And then the supernal delight, which is on the level of the Infinite (Ein Sof), will be revealed; and this is the level of the seventh day, “the day that is entirely Shabbos and rest for life everlasting,” which is the revelation of the supernal delight, as is known, which comes about from the refinements below during the six thousand years, etc.
Then the supernal delight, which is infinite, will be revealed. This is the “seventh day,” the era that is all Shabbos and rest; it is the fruit of the work of refinement during the six thousand years of the world.
וזהו ושבתי כו׳ אל בית אבי2 שהוא בחי׳ חזרה והשבה של בחי׳ יעקב מבחי׳ חר״ן כנ״ל לבחי׳ רנה שנק׳ בית אבי שהוא בחי׳ יצחק שהוא בחי׳ הצחוק והתענוג העליון שיתגלה לעתיד מבחי׳ אתכפיא ואתהפכא הנ״ל:
And this is [the meaning of] “And I shall return,” etc., “to my father’s house”: it is the return and restoration of the level of Yaakov from the level of Charan, as mentioned above, to the level of rinah, which is called “my father’s house,” which is the level of Yitzchak, which is the supernal laughter and delight that will be revealed in the time to come from the subjugation and transformation mentioned above.
This is Yaakov’s return “to my father’s house”: coming back from Charan, the hidden divine voice, to rinah, the song of delight, which is the level of Yitzchak, the laughter to be revealed in the future.
The future delight is the “seventh day,” and Yaakov’s return to his father’s house is the turning of Charan into rinah, Yitzchak’s laughter.
TermsYaakov and YisraelIskafya and is’hapchaBirurTaanug+2
- Yaakov and Yisrael יעקב וישראל
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Birur בירור
- Taanug תענוג
- Shabbos שבת
- Ein Sof אין סוף
Marei mekomos
- 1יום שכולו שבת ומנוחה לחיי העולמים · Mishnah Tamid 7:4
- 2ושבתי כו׳ אל בית אבי · Genesis 28:21
Peace, and Havayah becoming Elokim ¶25–29
25וזהו שיאמרו לעתיד על יצחק דוקא כי אתה אבינו להיות כי זהו תכלית המכוון בירידת והשתלשלות העולמות כדי שעי״ז יהיה צחוק ותענוג למעלה כנ״ל.
And this is why in the time to come they will say specifically of Yitzchak, “For you are our father”: because this is the ultimate purpose of the descent and chain-descent of the worlds, so that through it there will be laughter and delight above, as mentioned above.
Why will Israel call Yitzchak, of all the Patriarchs, “our father” in the future? Because the whole purpose of the descent of the worlds is the laughter and delight above, and Yitzchak is that laughter.
וזהו ושבתי בשלום כו׳. כי בחי׳ ענג הנ״ל שיתגלה לעתיד הוא דוקא ע״י בחי׳ העלאות והמשכות שהם בחי׳ הבירורים למטה בבחי׳ אתכפייא ואתהפכא כנ״ל שנקרא בחי׳ שלום.
And this is [the meaning of] “And I shall return in peace,” etc. For the delight mentioned above, which will be revealed in the time to come, comes specifically through elevations and drawings-down, which are the refinements below in the manner of subjugation and transformation, as mentioned above; [and this] is called the level of peace (shalom).
Now the word “in peace” is explained. The future delight comes through the two movements of ascent and descent, the refining of the world by subduing and transforming evil, and this joining of the two is called “peace.”
להיות כי שלום הוא המחבר שני הפכים וכמ״ש כא, דעושה שלום במרומיו.1 שמיכאל שר של מים2 וגבריאל שר של אש כו׳.
For peace is what joins two opposites, as it is written, “He makes peace in His heights”: for Michael is the prince of water and Gavriel is the prince of fire, etc.
Peace unites opposites. The Midrash reads “He makes peace in His heights” as G‑d making peace between Michael, an angel of snow (here called the prince of water), and Gavriel, an angel of fire, so that neither harms the other.
Yitzchak is “our father” because delight is the goal of creation, and “peace” is the union of opposites, ascent and descent, that brings that delight.
Torah Ohr on Beshalach, cited in the note, explains that opposites like water and fire, Chesed and Gevurah, can join only through the bittul of Chochmah, which is also why a human being can combine opposing traits.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5747
The Alter Rebbe explains “my father’s house” through Yitzchak as laughter and delight, the goal of creation. The Rebbe adds a contrast between Avraham and Yitzchak. Avraham drew down from above (“tzedakah u’mishpat”), the service of tzaddikim. Yitzchak dug wells, removing the earth of concealment, which is the service from below upward of baalei teshuvah. That is why the future, whose novelty is the upward service, is called by Yitzchak’s name.
The Alter Rebbe
שיאמרו לעתיד על יצחק דוקא כי אתה אבינו
The Rebbe
משא״כ עבודת יצחק היתה בענין חפירת הבארות
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.
TermsShalomIskafya and is’hapchaBirurTaanug+1
- Shalom שלום
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Birur בירור
- Taanug תענוג
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Marei mekomos
- 1עושה שלום במרומיו · Job 25:2
- 2שמיכאל שר של מים · Bamidbar Rabbah 12:8
26והנה כתיב שלום שלום לרחוק ולקרוב1 והיינו ב׳ בחי׳ שלום2 שלום מלמטה למעלה והיינו לרחוק שנעשה קרוב שהוא בחי׳ העלאה ממטה למעלה.
Now, it is written, “Peace, peace, to the far and to the near.” That is, [there are] two levels of peace: peace from below upward, that is, “to the far” who becomes near, which is the elevation from below upward;
Isaiah says “peace, peace” twice, so there are two kinds of peace. The first is peace “to the far”: the one who is far, the lower world, is brought near, rising from below upward.
ושלום מלמעלה למטה היינו בחי׳ ירידת והמשכת אלקות למטה בבחי׳ תורה ומצות כמבואר לעיל במ״ש ויצק שמן כו׳.
and peace from above downward, that is, the descent and drawing down of G‑dliness below into Torah and mitzvos, as explained above on the verse “And he poured oil,” etc.
The second is peace “to the near”: G‑dliness descends from above into Torah and mitzvos, as with the oil Yaakov poured on the pillar.
The doubled “peace” in Isaiah is the two movements of the maamar: the lower world rising, and G‑dliness descending into Torah and mitzvos.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the maamar Padah Beshalom of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738, explaining that the Sages’ “whoever engages in Torah, acts of kindness and prayer with the congregation” is the redemption “in peace”, the Rebbe borrows our maamar’s two kinds of peace.
In a maamar of Yud-Tes Kislev 5738 the Rebbe reads “in peace” in “He redeemed my soul in peace” as two kinds of peace, „המבואר בתו״א ד״ה ושבתי בשלום” (“as explained in Torah Ohr, dibbur hamaschil Veshavti Beshalom”), and maps them onto „ג׳ הקוין דתורה וגמ״ח ותפלה” (the three lines of Torah, acts of kindness and prayer): Torah and kindness are the peace from above downward, drawn down through Torah and mitzvos, and prayer is the peace from below upward. That upward peace is teshuvah, up to „והרוח תשוב אל האלקים אשר נתנה” (“the spirit returns to G‑d who gave it”), a return he applies even while the soul lives in the body.
The Alter Rebbe
ושלום מלמעלה למטה היינו בחי׳ ירידת והמשכת אלקות למטה בבחי׳ תורה ומצות
The Rebbe
שלום מלמעלה למטה, ההמשכה מלמעלמ״ט ע״י תומ״צ, ושלום מלמטה למעלה, עבודת התשובה
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. יא · י״ט כסלו ה׳תשל״ח
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In the third maamar of Shabbos Vayeitzei, 10 Kislev 5722 (Padah Beshalom, for the Mitteler Rebbe’s liberation), explaining „פדה בשלום נפשי” (“He redeemed my soul in peace”), the Rebbe brings the Mitteler Rebbe’s reading of “in peace” as two kinds of peace („ב׳ שלום”) and asks how the second can be peace.
Bringing the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar on this verse (Torah Chaim, which reads “in peace” as the same two kinds of peace; his note adds “see also Torah Ohr 21d”), the Rebbe states a difficulty: in many places peace belongs only to refinement from above, „בירור שע״י גילוי אור” (by a revelation of light), while refinement from below, by enclothing oneself in the lower, is war („באופן דמלחמה”); how then can there be „שלום מלמטה למעלה” (“peace from below upward”)? Building on the Rebbe Rashab’s account of the two ways the lower is refined (Hemshech 5672, which his notes cite throughout; his note on the answer: “for what follows, see at length, along these lines, Hemshech 5672”), he answers that peace takes two forms. Either „שנתבטל המנגד” (the opponent is nullified), which comes mainly from above, through a light beyond its measure that transforms it; or the enemy itself becomes a friend (“even his enemies make peace with him”), which he places mainly in the refinement from below, when the lower comes to understand and to love. Complete peace is when each way also has the other’s virtue.
The Alter Rebbe
ב׳ בחי׳ שלום שלום מלמטה למעלה והיינו לרחוק שנעשה קרוב
The Rebbe
ומזה שאומר דפירוש בשלום הוא ב׳ שלום, שלום מלמעלה למטה ושלום מלמטה למעלה, משמע שגם הבירור שמלמטה למעלה הוא באופן דשלום
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2 (Kislev–Shevat), vol. ב, p. ג–ה · ש״פ ויצא, יו״ד כסלו (מאמר ג׳), ה׳תשכ״ב
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5747
The Alter Rebbe reads the two kinds of peace as two movements: elevation from below upward, and G‑dliness drawn down into Torah and mitzvos. The Rebbe reads them as two kinds of service: tzaddikim (the near) and baalei teshuvah (the far who became near). He ties this to “ve’shavti” as teshuvah and to Moshiach bringing even tzaddikim to teshuvah. The future thus completes both the “temidin” and the “musafin.”
The Alter Rebbe
שלום שלום לרחוק ולקרוב והיינו ב׳ בחי׳ שלום
The Rebbe
והשלום לרחוק שנעשה קרוב שהו״ע עבודת בעלי תשובה
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
TermsShalomRichuk makom+3
- Shalom שלום
- Richuk makom ריחוק מקום
Marei mekomos
- 1שלום שלום לרחוק ולקרוב · Isaiah 57:19
- 2ב׳ בחי׳ שלום · ראה ד״ה פדה בשלום תשל״ח (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ב ע׳ יא) הערה 96.
27וע״י ב׳ בחי׳ שלום הנ״ל שהם בחי׳ אתהפכא מחשוכא לנהורא שלא יהיו בבחי׳ עלמין דפרודי רק בבחי׳ יחוד וביטול כמו שהוא למעלה בעולמות עליוני׳ [עליונים] ממש
And through the two levels of peace mentioned above, which are the transformation of darkness into light, so that they will not be in the state of worlds of separateness but only in a state of unity and self-nullification, exactly as it is above in the higher worlds,
Through these two kinds of peace, darkness is turned into light, and the lower worlds stop being worlds of separateness and become one with G‑d, as the higher worlds are.
ואזי אשוב אל1 בית אבי שיתגלה ממילא בחי׳ הענג העליון שהוא בבחי׳ א״ס ממש למעלה מעלה מהשתלשלות העולמות במדרגות רבות מעלה ומטה וחשך ואור.
then “I shall return to my father’s house”: the supernal delight, which is truly on the level of the Infinite (Ein Sof), far above the chain of descending worlds with its many rungs, above and below, darkness and light, will be revealed of itself.
Then “I shall return to my father’s house”: the supernal delight will be revealed of itself. It is infinite, far above the whole chain of worlds with its distinctions of high and low, dark and light.
משא״כ לגבי עצמותו ומהותו ית׳ קטן וגדול שוים ממש בלי שינוי וכחשכה כאורה2 ממש.
Whereas relative to His essence and being, blessed be He, small and great are truly equal, without change, and “darkness is exactly like light.”
For G‑d’s own essence those distinctions do not exist at all: small and great are the same, and darkness is like light, as the Psalm says.
When the two kinds of peace unite the worlds with G‑d, the infinite delight is revealed, far above the chain of worlds with its high and low, dark and light; for G‑d’s essence these are all the same.
TermsKachasheichah kaorahShalomIskafya and is’hapchaYichud+5
- Kachasheichah kaorah כחשיכה כאורה
- Shalom שלום
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Yichud יחוד
- Taanug תענוג
- Atzmus u’mahus עצמות ומהות
- Ein Sof אין סוף
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Also Bittul
Marei mekomos
- 1שו״ה בעולמות — ואזי אשוב אל · בבוך 1824: ואזי אז יבא אל.
- 2וכחשכה כאורה · Psalms 139:12
28ואז והיה הוי׳ לי לאלקים כו׳. כי הנה כתיב כי שמש ומגן1 הוי׳ אלקים שכמו שהמגן הוא נרתק להשמש ומכסה ומסתיר על אור השמש כמו״כ [כמו כן]
And then, “Havayah will be Elokim to me,” etc. For it is written, “For a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim”: just as the shield is a sheath for the sun, covering and concealing the light of the sun,
Now the vow’s central phrase, “Havayah will be Elokim to me.” The Psalm pairs “sun” with Havayah and “shield” with Elokim: as a shield covers the sun, sheathing its light.
שם אלקים הוא בחי׳ נרתק לשם2 הוי׳ ומכסה ומסתיר עליו להיות נבראים בעלי גבול ונפרדים בפ״ע [בפני עצמו] משא״כ שם הוי׳ הוא בחי׳ המשכת אור ה׳ למטה כו׳.3
so too the Name Elokim is a sheath for the Name Havayah, covering and concealing it, so that there may be created beings that are limited and separate unto themselves; whereas the Name Havayah is the drawing down of the light of G‑d below, etc.
So Elokim conceals Havayah, so that limited, separate creatures can exist without being overwhelmed. Havayah, by contrast, is the drawing down of G‑d’s light.
Elokim is the sheath that conceals Havayah’s light, making a finite world possible.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי שמש ומגן הוי׳ אלקים · Psalms 84:12
- 2בחי׳ נרתק לשם הוי׳ · ראה ד״ה קדושים תהיו תרנ״ז אות ג.
- 3שו״ה ממש — ואז והיה · בבוך 1824: ואזי אז יהי׳.
29והנה כ״ז [כל זה] הוא בבחי׳ השתלשלות מעלה ומטה וחשך ואור אבל לעתיד שיתגלה בחי׳ ענג העליון שהוא למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ ההשתלשלות והוא למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ שם1 הוי׳ ושם אלקים
Now, all this is within the chain of descending worlds, above and below, darkness and light.
All of this, sun and shield, revelation and concealment, belongs to the chain of worlds, with its above and below, darkness and light.
ואזי מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים לגבי בחי׳ ענג העליון הנ״ל
But in the time to come, when the supernal delight will be revealed, which is far above the chain of descending worlds and far above the Name Havayah and the Name Elokim, then what is now the level of the Name Havayah will then be the level of Elokim relative to the supernal delight mentioned above.
But the delight to be revealed in the future is far above the whole chain, above even the Names Havayah and Elokim. Relative to it even Havayah, today the Name of revelation, will be like Elokim, a mere covering: this is “Havayah will be Elokim to me.”
ואזי והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי מצבה2 כנ״ל יהיה בית אלקים שיהיה בית וכלי לבחי׳ אלקים דלעתיד שהוא בחי׳ הוי׳ עתה.
And then “this stone which I have set up as a pillar,” as mentioned above, “will be a house of Elokim”: it will be a house and vessel for the level of Elokim of the time to come, which is the level of Havayah now.
The stone, the lowest level, will then be a “house of Elokim”: a vessel for what will then be called Elokim, which is Havayah as we know it now. This answers the first question: the stone becomes a house once Havayah becomes “Elokim.”
¶1 This answers the question from paragraph 1.
וכל אשר תתן לי הוא לשון עתיד היינו כל עליות שיהיו לעתיד הכל עשר אעשרנו לך בבחי׳ מעשר כנודע וד״ל [ודי למבין]:
“And all that You will give me” is in the future tense; that is, all the ascents that there will be in the time to come, all of them, “I will surely give a tenth of it to You,” in the manner of a tithe, as is known; and this is enough for one who understands.
Yaakov’s vow ends “all that You will give me I will tithe to You.” “Will give” is future: all the ascents of the future, which will also be given back to G‑d as a tithe. The maamar ends with “this is enough for one who understands.”
In the future the delight above both Names will make Havayah itself a mere “Elokim,” and the stone will become a vessel for it; this resolves the vow’s opening question.
A maamar cited in the Kehot note quotes Torah Chaim’s version: that Havayah will be revealed as openly as the Name Elokim is now.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a sicha of Shabbos Vayakhel-Pekudei, Mevarchim Nissan 5750, on the true redemption, when not only is concealment undone but the purpose of the concealment of the Name Elokim itself is revealed, the Rebbe brings „שמש ומגן הוי׳ אלקים” (“a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim”) and Yaakov’s vow.
In an edited sicha of Shabbos Mevarchim Nissan 5750 the Rebbe brings „והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים” (“Havayah will be Elokim to me”) in our maamar’s sense (his note cites this page): „שבחי׳ הוי׳ דעתה יהי׳ לעתיד בבחי׳ אלקים, ושם הוי׳ יהי׳ בדרגא נעלית יותר” (the Havayah of now will in the future be on the level of Elokim, and the Name Havayah will be on a higher level), and so it goes on, „בעילוי אחר עילוי עד אין סוף” (ascent after ascent without end). His note likens this to what is explained about the seven times „הוי׳ הוא האלקים” (“Havayah is the Elokim”) is said at the close of Yom Kippur: seven ascents, for „כאשר שם הוי׳ מתעלה לדרגא נעלית יותר כאלקים יחשב” (each time Havayah rises to a higher level, it is counted as Elokim). That explanation is the Alter Rebbe’s, from the kabbalistic work Mishnas Chassidim, and he reads our verse by it himself (Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah; and a biur on Yaakov’s vow, Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5568, vol. 2, p. תרמ). Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is what our paragraph means by “all the ascents that there will be in the time to come”, which the biur printed after our maamar (22d) spells out as ascents without end.
The Alter Rebbe
מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים לגבי בחי׳ ענג העליון
The Rebbe
שבחי׳ הוי׳ דעתה יהי׳ לעתיד בבחי׳ אלקים, ושם הוי׳ יהי׳ בדרגא נעלית יותר, ומוסיף והולך בעילוי אחר עילוי עד אין סוף
Sefer HaSichos 5750, vol. 1 (edited), vol. תש״נ א, p. 376 · ש״פ ויקהל-פקודי, מבה״ח ניסן, כ״ז אדר ה׳תש״נ
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
Closing Padah Beshalom 5722, the Rebbe ties the redemption “in peace” back to Yaakov’s vow: the return of the sparks to their source brings about the union that the Tanya (ch. 41) calls „ליחדא קוב״ה ושכינתי׳” (the union of the Holy One and His Shechinah).
Our paragraph reads „והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים” (“Havayah will be Elokim to me”) as today’s Havayah becoming a mere “Elokim” beside the higher delight of the future. In a maamar of Shabbos Vayeitzei, Yud Kislev 5722, the Rebbe reads the phrase, after Tanya ch. 41, as a union: Havayah is the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev, “the Holy One, blessed be He”), Elokim the light that fills them (memaleh, “His Shechinah”), and the work of refinement brings about their union; he suggests it works in both directions, „המשכת סובב בממלא והעלאת ממלא בסובב” (drawing sovev into memaleh and raising memaleh into sovev). The second maamar of that farbrengen (dibbur hamaschil Veshavti Beshalom 5722, an unedited transcript) reads the verse the same way; the editors’ note there cites Torah Ohr 21d.
The Alter Rebbe
מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים לגבי בחי׳ ענג העליון
The Rebbe
יהי׳ והי׳ הוי׳ לי לאלקים, יחוד הוי׳ (סובב) ואלקים (ממלא)
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, new edition, vol. 2 (Kislev–Shevat), vol. ב, p. ח · ש״פ ויצא, יו״ד כסלו (מאמר ג׳), ה׳תשכ״ב
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה, 5726
The Alter Rebbe only alludes to the tithe of the future ascents “as is known.” The Rebbe spells it out. The doubled “aser a’asrenu” means two tithes, the two levels of Keser, Arich and Atik. These will be revealed in Malchus, and that is why “David My servant will be their prince forever.”
The Alter Rebbe
הכל עשר אעשרנו לך בבחי׳ מעשר כנודע
The Rebbe
ב׳ עישורין, דקאי על ב׳ הבחינות שבכתר, אריך ועתיק
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5747
The Alter Rebbe gives one reading: next to the supernal delight, today’s Havayah will count as Elokim. The Rebbe adds further layers. First, once the refinements are complete there is no more need for the concealing shield of Elokim (din), so creatures will receive Havayah itself. Second, the revelation will come from a higher Havayah or beyond it, and so needs a higher garment. The lower Havayah becomes the sheath for the higher Havayah.
The Alter Rebbe
מה שעתה הוא בחי׳ שם הוי׳ יהיה אז בחי׳ אלקים
The Rebbe
שהוי׳ דלתתא יהי׳ בבחי׳ אלקים ומגן ונרתק להוי׳ דלעילא
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, 5747
The Alter Rebbe only alludes to the tithe. The Rebbe spells it out. Ten is the completeness of the future, like the ten-stringed harp of the time to come. The doubled “aser a’asrenu” matches the two lines of drawing down and raising up. “Lecha” means to the Essence, which, through the 22 letters (ב״ך), is drawn into “this stone” and from it into all the stones.
The Alter Rebbe
הכל עשר אעשרנו לך בבחי׳ מעשר כנודע וד״ל
The Rebbe
כמבואר בהדרושים דלך הינו לך לעצמותך
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
Marei mekomos
- 1אבל לעתיד . . בחי׳ שם הוי״ה יהי׳ אז בחי׳ אלקים · ראה ד״ה ושבתי בשלום תשל״ח (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ב ע׳ קעז) הערה 205 שמציין לתו״ח כו, ד ושם: ”שהוי׳ יהי׳ בגילוי כמו שם אלקים”.
- 2והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי מצבה · Genesis 28:22
Summary ¶30
30קיצור1 (א) הנה יעקב המשיך היו״ד ח״ע [חכמה עילאה] לבחי׳ עקביי׳ וזהו ענין יציאת יעקב מבאר שבע יסוד אי׳ [אימא] לבחי׳ חרן כדי להעלות בירורי נוגה
Summary. (a) Yaakov drew the yud, supernal Chochmah, down to the level of the heels. And this is the matter of Yaakov’s going out from Be’er Sheva, the Yesod of Imma, to the level of Charan, in order to elevate the refinements of nogah;
A summary in three points. (a) Yaakov drew the yud, supernal Chochmah, down to the heels. Be’er Sheva is identified with Yesod of Imma, the channel of Binah, and Yaakov went down to Charan to raise up the sparks trapped in nogah, the mixed realm of good and evil that can be refined.
והיינו מה שלקח מאבני המקום2 שהם בחי׳ אותיות דבר ה׳ המלובשים בדצ״ח [בדומם צומח חי] ועשה מהם אבן אחת הוא בחי׳ יו״ד שזהו וישם מראשותיו3 (ע׳ [עיין] זהר ח״א [חלק א׳] דע״ב ופ׳ ויצא קנ״א ופ׳ ויחי רל״א ובמ״ש ע״פ אבן ישראל)456
that is, his taking from the stones of the place, which are the letters of the word of G‑d enclothed in the inanimate, vegetative and animal, and making of them one stone, which is the level of the yud; this is “and he placed [it] at his head” (see Zohar, Part I, folio 72, and Parshas Vayetzei, [folio] 151, and Parshas Vayechi, [folio] 231, and what is explained on the verse “the stone of Israel”).
The stones are the letters of G‑d’s word, clothed in the inanimate, vegetative and animal. Yaakov gathered them into one yud, “at his head.” The parenthesis points to places in the Zohar and to a discussion of “the stone of Israel.”
ואח״כ וישם אותה מצבה7 המשכת בחי׳ ו׳ שנמשך מהיו״ד והוא ענין אורייתא מח״נ [מחכמה נפקת] ויצק עליה שמן להיות מה להלן באימה ויראה אף כאן באימה ויראה:8
And afterward, “and he set it up as a pillar”: the drawing down of the level of the vav, which extends from the yud; and this is the matter of “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah.” “And he poured oil on it,” so that “just as there [it was] in dread and awe, so here in dread and awe.”
The pillar is the vav that extends from the yud, the Torah coming forth from supernal Chochmah. The oil is the revelation of Chochmah in Torah, so that it is studied with the awe of Sinai.
(ב) ועי״ז ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי בחי׳ יצחק כי אתה אבינו9 והוא הצחוק והתענוג שיהיה לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] מבירורים אלו והיינו ע״י אתכפיא ואתהפכא נתברר מבחי׳ חר״ן ונהפך החי״ת לה״א להיות רנ״ה בחי׳ תענוג
(b) And through this, “I shall return in peace to my father’s house,” the level of Yitzchak, “For you are our father”; and this is the laughter and delight that there will be in the time to come from these refinements. That is, through subjugation and transformation, [it] is refined from the level of Charan (חרן), and the ches turns into a hei, to become rinah (רנה), the level of delight.
(b) The result is the return to “my father’s house,” Yitzchak, the future laughter and delight born of these refinements: Charan (חרן) is refined, its ches becomes a hei, and it becomes rinah (רנה), delight.
(ועד״ז בענין יצ״מ [יציאת מצרים] מיצר הגרון ע״ד בחי׳ חרן נחר גרוני10 כו׳ וימררו חיי אבותינו וכשנעשה יצ״מ [יציאת מצרים] הוא בחי׳ מצה משא״כ חמץ כענין ההפרש בין חרן לרנה):
(And similarly in the matter of the Exodus from Egypt (Mitzrayim): from the strait of the throat (meitzar hagaron), in the manner of the level of Charan, “my throat is parched,” etc., “and they embittered the lives of our fathers”; and when the Exodus from Egypt takes place, it is the level of matzah, as opposed to chametz, like the difference between Charan and rinah.)
The same is true of the Exodus. Mitzrayim is read as meitzar hagaron, the narrow strait of the throat, like the parched throat of Charan, when the Egyptians embittered our ancestors’ lives. Leaving Egypt is matzah, as against chametz, just as rinah is to Charan.
(ג) וגילוי ענג זה ע״י ב׳ בחי׳ שלום לרחוק ולקרוב11 ואז שם הוי׳ יהיה רק בבחי׳ אלקי׳ לגבי גילוי ההוא ולפיכך האבן הזאת שהיא בחי׳ המל׳ המקבלת משם הוי׳ יהיה בחי׳ בית אלקים
(c) And the revelation of this delight is through the two levels of peace, “to the far and to the near”; and then the Name Havayah will be only on the level of Elokim relative to that revelation. Therefore “this stone,” which is the level of Malchus that receives from the Name Havayah, will be the level of “a house of Elokim.”
(c) This delight is revealed through the two kinds of peace, to the far and to the near. Then Havayah is like Elokim relative to it, and the stone, Malchus, which receives from Havayah, becomes a “house of Elokim.”
(וגם י״ל [יש לומר] כיון דלע״ל [דלעתיד לבוא] יאמרו ליצחק כי אתה אבינו ע״כ שייך בחי׳ זו בשם אלקים וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] צחוק עשה לי אלקים):12
(It may also be said: since in the time to come they will say to Yitzchak, “For you are our father,” this level is therefore connected with the Name Elokim; and this is [the meaning of] “Elokim has made laughter for me.”)
A further suggestion: because Israel will say “you are our father” to Yitzchak, the future level is linked to the Name Elokim, as in Sarah’s words, “Elokim has made laughter for me.”
The summary retraces the maamar: the yud drawn down and the stones raised, the pillar and oil, Charan becoming rinah, and the two kinds of peace that make the stone a house for Havayah.
The Tzemach Tzedek’s own summaries of this maamar, quoted in the Kehot note from Or HaTorah, add that the raising reaches sovev through the yud, “the vessel of bittul,” and that the future ascents go on, one after another, until they reach G‑d Himself.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה, 5726
For the Alter Rebbe, the stone, Malchus, becomes a house of Elokim because in the future Havayah itself will be only “Elokim” relative to the supernal delight (¶29). The Rebbe adds a reason within Malchus itself. Even is Ban plus an alef (citing Tanya), so the stone stands for the refinement of Ban by Mah. At the completion of refinement Ban will rise above Mah, “the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone.” This is why the stone itself reaches the level of a house of Elokim.
The Alter Rebbe
האבן הזאת שהיא בחי׳ המל׳ המקבלת משם הוי׳ יהיה בחי׳ בית אלקים
The Rebbe
שם אבן מורה ששרשה משם העולה ב״ן במספרו
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.
TermsKelipas nogahShalomYesodRichuk makom+12
- Kelipas nogah קליפת נוגה
- Shalom שלום
- Yesod יסוד
- Richuk makom ריחוק מקום
- Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Birur בירור
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Taanug תענוג
- Osiyos אותיות
- Elokim אלקים
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
Marei mekomos
- 1קיצור · בבוך 1824 ליתא. באוה״ת כרך ה תתנד, ב קיצורים אחרים: קיצור. (א) פי׳ צוה ישועות יעקב המשכ׳ ש״ע נהורין שלמעלה מהשתלשלות ע״י ויקח מאבני המקום והעלה אותן לבחי׳ סוכ״ע ע״י היו״ד הנ״ל כלי הביטול, ואח״כ ושוי יתי׳ קמא שהוא כמ״ש קמה אלומתי וגם נצבה עלי׳ אחר עלי׳ לבחי׳ י״ג ת״ד שהן בחי׳ יודי״ן ווי״ן וכו׳ וכ״ז העלא׳. (ב) ואח״כ בחי׳ המשכה ויצוק שמן להיות מה להלן כו׳, וכ״ז ביציאה מבאר שבע לבחי׳ חרן בחי׳ נפרדים ניחר גרוני, נאלמתי דומי׳ וכשמברר שם נעשה רנה בחי׳ יצחק. (ג) ועלי׳ והמשכה זו ע״י בחי׳ שלום ואז יהי׳ הוי׳ נחשב בבחי׳ אלקים והאבן והאותיות יהיו כלים שיהי׳ בהן גילוי שם הוי׳ שנק׳ אז אלקים, ועוד יהי׳ עילוי אחר עילוי בחי׳ עשר אעשרנו עד שיגיע לבחי׳ לך ממש.
- 2מאבני המקום · Zohar, Vayetzei 12:78–13:86
- 3וישם מראשותיו · Genesis 28:11
- 4ובמ״ש ע״פ אבן ישראל · ראה אוה״ת בראשית.
- 5אבן ישראל · Genesis 49:24
- 6אבן ישראל · Zohar, Vayechi 43:450–462
- 7וישם אותה מצבה · Zohar, Noach 35:283–36:297
- 8מה להלן באימה ויראה אף כאן באימה ויראה · Berakhot 22a:4
- 9כי אתה אבינו · Isaiah 63:16
- 10נחר גרוני · Psalms 69:4
- 11לרחוק ולקרוב · Isaiah 57:19
- 12צחוק עשה לי אלקים · Genesis 21:6
Finished the maamar?
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Each Rosh Chodesh the names of those learning here are brought to the Ohel. Add your name, and mark what you learn so it is counted.
In one’s avodah
A person’s bad emotions, the burning love for worldly things and anger, are not simply to be suppressed but turned around and directed to G‑d alone; this teshuvah, done in the darkness of this world, brings G‑d a delight that even the perfectly righteous cannot. Torah, even in its most earthly laws, is to be learned with the awe of Sinai, as the revelation of G‑d’s own wisdom.
Questions for discussion
- Why must Yaakov first raise the stones to the highest level before he can draw supernal wisdom down into them?
- How does the parable of the talking bird explain why the service of teshuvah causes greater delight above than the service of the righteous?
- In what sense are letters “inanimate” relative to the ideas they carry, and what does this say about the world’s relation to the divine word?
- What does it mean that in the future creation will go “from something to nothing,” and how does this relate to Havayah becoming “Elokim”?
- Of the two kinds of peace, “to the far and to the near,” which is Yaakov’s raising of the stones, and which his pouring of the oil?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Name meaning “He brings into being”: by contraction and expansion, its four letters, He brings all worlds into being while Himself unchanged; was, is and will be are one to Him. Elokim conceals it. ×13Where 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. ×15Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it. ×11Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The 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. ×11Where 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. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- Contraction: Or Ein Sof (not Ein Sof Himself) hidden in its source so finite worlds can exist, leaving a “vacated space” for the kav; also each later narrowing of light, as in Chochmah.Where 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. ×2Where 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 Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- The name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- The boundless light radiating from G‑d’s Essence like sunlight from the sun: His “Name,” a revelation, not the Essence. Chiefly the light before the tzimtzum; also that light as clothed in the sefiros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- The 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. ×7Where it’s explained
- 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. ×2Where 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 Sefirosספירות
- Ten emanated powers, Keser (or Daas) and Chochmah through Malchus, each a light in a vessel; through them G‑d conducts the worlds, His essence unchanged; they recur in every world and in man.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- G‑d’s light that is not clothed in the worlds: equal in all worlds, above and below, unchanged by them, it gives them life as an encompassing light. Its partner, memalei, is clothed within each world.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Delightתענוג
- Delight, the inner side of will. Above, the supernal delight of Atik, whose source is His very self: the source of Chochmah, covered by the Supernal Will and drawn down through the mitzvos. ×12Where it’s explained, stated differently
- 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
- 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. ×4Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The Sefirah of binding: a giver’s lowest level, through which it ties itself to the receiver and draws its flow to it. Called kol (all), chai (living), tzaddik and bris (covenant); linked to Yosef. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently