וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו אל עשו אחיו כו׳

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

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

   In the maamar dibbur hamaschil Im Lavan Garti of Shabbos Vayishlach 5742 (unedited), built mainly on the Or HaTorah maamar of that name, which the Rebbe takes to be the Alter Rebbe’s with the Tzemach Tzedek’s glosses, the Rebbe asks why Yaakov would tell Eisav „ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי” (that he kept the 613 mitzvos), and on the way explains why Yaakov, once he had rectified himself, could receive „מאורות המקיפים דעשו” (Eisav’s encompassing lights).

   Here the Rebbe says that Eisav’s being the firstborn is not only „קדימה בזמן” (precedence in time) but „קדימה במעלה” (precedence in rank): his root is in Tohu, which comes before Tikkun in rank. On the contrary, because Tohu (Eisav) is above Tikkun (Yaakov), Eisav was also born first. Tohu is higher because „בעולם התוהו היו אורות מרובים וכלים מועטים” (its lights are many and its vessels few), and “few” is relative: against Tohu’s encompassing lights, even the broadest vessels are few.

   The Alter Rebbeאבל מצד שרש שרשו במקיפים דתהו הרי האורות דתהו הם למעלה מהאורות דתקון

   The Rebbeוזהו ג״כ מה שעשו הוא הבכור, שהוא לא רק קדימה בזמן, שנולד קודם, אלא גם קדימה במעלה, ששרשו מעולם התוהו שקדם (במעלה) לעולם התיקון

   Toras Menachem 5742 (unedited), vol. א, p. 469 (the same text: Sefer HaMaamarim, bilti mugah, new edition, Derushei Chasunah, pp. רכב–רכג; the site’s sikum cites Sefer HaMaamarim 5742 p. 72) · ש״פ וישלח, ט״ז כסלו ה׳תשמ״ב (הנחה בלתי מוגה)

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2. Background from the Rebbe

   At the farbrengen that opened the international gathering of shluchim (Shabbos Toldos, Mevarchim Kislev 5751), the Rebbe asks why Yaakov’s birth and his very name are bound up with „וידו אוחזת בעקב עשו” (‘his hand holding Eisav’s heel’), and answers by tracing Yaakov’s whole life as one mission of refinement from the highest level to the lowest.

   Quoting this paragraph (his note: Torah Ohr, start of Vayishlach; at length Torah Chaim), the Rebbe says Yaakov’s work is to reveal Eisav’s root, Tohu’s abundant lights, „האורות דתהו הם למעלה מהאורות דתיקון” (that are higher than Tikkun’s), and draw them into Tikkun’s many vessels. But the refining itself goes in Tikkun’s orderly way („באופן של סדר מסודר”): it begins at „עקב עשו” (‘the heel of Eisav’), the lowest level of Tohu’s lights, and climbs step by step, through the birthright, the blessings taken in „בגדי עשו בנה הגדול החמודות” (Eisav’s garments) and the twenty years in Charan, and only then come the messengers to Eisav, whom Yaakov by then counted as refined.

   The Alter Rebbeאבל מצד שרש שרשו במקיפים דתהו הרי האורות דתהו הם למעלה מהאורות דתקון

   The Rebbeאָבער בזה גופא – איז דער בירור באופן של סדר מסודר (פון עולם התיקון של יעקב), אָנהויבנדיק פון דעם בירור פון „וידו אוחזת בעקב עשו”

   Sefer HaSichos 5751, vol. א, p. 146 (edited; the transcript: Toras Menachem 5751 vol. 1 p. 326) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו ה׳תשנ״א

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3. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה עם לבן גרתי ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי, 5742

   The Alter Rebbe states that Tohu’s lights are higher and could not enclothe in vessels. The Rebbe draws from this that Eisav’s being the firstborn is precedence in rank, not only in time, and that his earlier birth is itself a result of his higher root. He also defines ״כלים מועטים״ as relative: compared to the makifim of Tohu, even the broadest vessels are few.

   The Alter Rebbeהרי האורות דתהו הם למעלה מהאורות דתקון

   The Rebbeשהוא לא רק קדימה בזמן, שנולד קודם, אלא גם קדימה במעלה

   The whole maamar, summarized

4. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה עם לבן גרתי ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי, 5742

   The Alter Rebbe only notes that Eisav below is wicked. The Rebbe defines that kelipah in avodah and sets it against Lavan’s. Lavan’s kelipah is improper but honest with itself. Eisav’s deceives itself with excuses (״אין לו כח״, ״דזה אינו רוצה און דאס לייגט זיך ניט ביי אים״) and with the doubt of Amalek (= safek): whether one needs to engage at all (״יש לו ספק אם הוא צריך להתעסק בזה״). That makes it the hardest to refine and the reason the exile of Edom is so long.

   The Alter Rebbeלכן הי׳ עשו שלמטה רשע

   The Rebbeמשא״כ קליפת עשו הוא למטה מזה, שמרמה את עצמו

   The whole maamar, summarized

Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

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

   In a sicha of Shabbos Vayishlach 5725 that starts from Rashi’s “angels: actual angels (mamash)”, the Rebbe brings the reading the Rebbe Rayatz relates in the name of the Maggid of Mezritch, that Yaakov sent Eisav only the “mamash” of the angels, their tangible side, while their spirituality stayed with him; further on, after explaining Yaakov’s gift as an offering to Tohu („העלאת מ״ן לבחי׳ עולם התהו”), he turns to which of the brothers is truly the firstborn.

   The Rebbe reads the Alter Rebbe’s „לפניו לפניו ממש” (“before him, literally (mamash) before him”) two ways. Plainly it is praise: Yaakov sent „אל בחי׳ שלמעלה ממנו במדרגה” (to a level above his own). But read as the Maggid read Rashi’s “mamash”, it also limits it: Eisav, Tohu, is “before” Yaakov only in “mamash”, in externality, while inwardly Yaakov, Tikkun, is higher, as Chassidus explains that Eisav is the firstborn „נאר בחיצוניות” (only outwardly). By refining Tohu’s fallen sparks, Yaakov draws not only from Tohu, which came before Tikkun, but also from the place where Tikkun is higher.

   The Alter Rebbeלכך שלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו לפניו ממש דהיינו אל בחי׳ שלמעלה ממנו במדרגה

   The Rebbeדאָס וואָס עשו (דתהו) איז „לפניו” — העכער פון יעקב׳ן, איז עס בלויז אין „ממש”, אין חיצוניות, אָבער בפנימיות איז יעקב העכער

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. ה, p. 402–403 (the sicha begins p. 389; section יח: ‘only outwardly’ and note 105 citing Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 24c, on p. 402; the reading of 'לפניו ממש׳ and the quote on p. 403) · ש״פ וישלח ה׳תשכ״ה

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2. The Rebbe explains

   In the same sicha of Shabbos Toldos 5751, continuing the story of Yaakov’s orderly refinement to the point where, after twenty years in Charan, he sends messengers „אל עשו אחיו ארצה שעיר” (‘to Eisav his brother, to the land of Seir’).

   The Rebbe explains why Yaakov later says „עד אשר אבוא אל אדוני שעירה” (“until I come to my lord, to Seir”) (Bereishis 33:14): Yaakov wanted to receive from “my lord” the abundant lights of Tohu of the level of “Seirah”, from se’aros, hairs, in the good sense („שערות למעליותא”): the hairs of the beard of „י״ג תיקוני דיקנא” (the thirteen tikkunei dikna), the level of Keser, a flow above the mochin that can come down only through the contraction of hair. It was to be drawn into Tikkun’s large vessels, until even the harm that comes from the external forces drawing on the hair is reversed, „נגע” (nega, affliction) into „ענג” (oneg, delight). For hair “in the good sense” his note points to the Alter Rebbe’s explanation of hair in Likkutei Torah, Emor.

   The Alter Rebbeאל עשו אחיו שעירה שהוא בחי׳ מלכין קדמאין דתהו בחי׳ מקיפים

   The Rebbeבכדי מקבל זיין (מ„אדוני”) די אורות מרובים (אדוני) דתהו, פון בחי׳ שעירה, בחי׳ שערות למעליותא

   Sefer HaSichos 5751, vol. א, p. 147 (edited; the transcript: Toras Menachem 5751 vol. 1 p. 327) · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח כסלו ה׳תשנ״א

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3. The Rebbe explains

   In the edited sicha of Shabbos Vayishlach 18 Kislev 5747, about to ask how Yaakov could have thought the redemption was at hand, the Rebbe first shows in a note that „כן משמע בתו״א ותו״ח” (this is indeed what Torah Ohr and Torah Chaim mean), though Torah Ohr speaks only of makifim and Tikkun.

   This paragraph never mentions the redemption. The Rebbe notes that it is implied here, and „מוכח לכאורה” (‘apparently proven’) by this very sentence: „יעקב חשב שעשו כבר נתברר” (Yaakov thought Eisav was already refined), and „הגאולה תלוי׳ בשלימות הבירורים” (the redemption depends on the completion of the refinements) (Etz Chaim, Shaar Mayin Nukvin; Tanya ch. 37). Torah Chaim says it outright: Yaakov was already complete in his service „כמו שיהי׳ לעתיד לבא” (‘as he will be in the Time to Come’), and sent to Eisav ‘as he is above, after complete refinement’. The Rebbe suggests the basis is the Midrash that ‘donkey’ in Yaakov’s „ויהי לי שור וחמור” (‘I have oxen and donkeys’) is the King Moshiach („חמור זה מלך המשיח”).

   The Alter Rebbeוהנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה

   The Rebbeוכן מוכח לכאורה מזה שיעקב חשב שעשו כבר נתברר (תו״א שם), כי הגאולה תלוי׳ בשלימות הבירורים

   Sefer HaSichos 5747, vol. א, p. 132, note 80 (= Likkutei Sichos vol. 25 p. 368; that printing of the sicha begins p. 360) · ש״פ וישלח, ח״י כסלו ה׳תשמ״ז

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4. The Rebbe explains

   In the edited sicha of Shabbos Vayishlach, 18 Kislev 5747, the eve of 19 Kislev, the Rebbe asks how „הפצת המעינות חוצה” (the spreading of the wellsprings ‘outward’) is hinted in ‘Vayishlach’, and first lays out the order of Yaakov’s service in the parsha as Chassidus explains it.

   Retelling why Yaakov sent, the Rebbe sets out two levels. In the first (his note 36: Torah Chaim, start of the parsha) Yaakov let Eisav know that he had finished the refinements of the World of Tikkun in exile with Lavan, and also „די ניצוצות שנפלו ע״י שבירת הכלים בעולם התהו” (the sparks that fell in the shattering of Tohu’s vessels) into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah („ויהי לי שור וחמור”, ‘I have oxen and donkeys’), and could now refine Eisav himself, whose root is in that shattering. „ולמעלה מזה” (‘And higher than this’), quoting our paragraph (note 37: Torah Ohr, start of the parsha): „יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה” (Yaakov thought Eisav already refined and returned to his root), and sent „להמשיך בחי׳ המקיפים דתהו אליו למטה בתקון” (to draw Tohu’s makifim down into Tikkun).

   The Alter Rebbeוהנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה בחי׳ המקיפים דתהו שלפני התקון

   The Rebbeאון איצטער קען ער (און ער וויל) אויך מברר זיין עשו׳ן וואָס שרשו איז מבחי׳ שבירת הכלים דתהו, ולמעלה מזה

   Sefer HaSichos 5747, vol. א, p. 127, §4, notes 36–37 (= Likkutei Sichos vol. 25 p. 363; that printing of the sicha begins p. 360) · ש״פ וישלח, ח״י כסלו ה׳תשמ״ז

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5. A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   At the farbrengen of Shabbos Vayishlach 18 Kislev 5747, in both edited write-ups of it, the Rebbe asks how Yaakov could think the redemption had come, when the decree „ועבדום וענו אותם ארבע מאות שנה” (‘they will enslave them and afflict them four hundred years’) was still unpaid (Eisav himself left the land „מפני שטר חוב של גזירת” (‘because of the debt of the decree’), as Rashi says) and most nations worshipped idols, as Yaakov had seen on his way from Charan.

   His answer: since „מדתו של יעקב היא מדת האמת” (Yaakov’s attribute is truth), what he announced must really have been so; „שאכן היתה יכולה לבוא הגאולה העתידה תיכף ומיד” (the future redemption could truly have come at once), as „וישב יעקב” (‘Yaakov dwelt’) in tranquility shows, only later „התערבו ענינים אחרים” (other matters intervened). In the Yiddish sicha he adds that G‑d had given Yaakov one mission, to refine Eisav, and had not told him to deal with the other nations; that itself showed he could fulfil it and bring the redemption whatever was around him. The lesson is for every shliach: to be wholly given to his own mission.

   The Alter Rebbeוהנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה

   The Rebbeומכיון שמדתו של יעקב היא מדת האמת – הרי בודאי שכן הוא באמת, היינו, שאכן היתה יכולה לבוא הגאולה העתידה תיכף ומיד

   Sefer HaSichos 5747, vol. א, p. 143 (Hebrew sicha, §9; the sicha begins p. 137); the Yiddish sicha of the same day, pp. 132–134 (§9–10, note 85 on p. 133); also in Likkutei Sichos vol. 25 (the sicha from p. 360; §9 p. 368) · ש״פ וישלח, ח״י כסלו ה׳תשמ״ז

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6. A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   In the maamar dibbur hamaschil Vayishlach Yaakov 5747, said at the same farbrengen (unedited transcript), after retelling the drush of Torah Ohr, Torah Chaim and Or HaTorah on the whole passage (the sending and the gift, the messengers’ reply, the divided camp and the embrace), the Rebbe raises a ‘general question’ on Yaakov’s being ready for the redemption and „וחשב שכבר נתברר עשו” (‘thinking that Eisav had already been refined’): the 400-year debt, the seventy nations, and Egypt, which the Arizal’s writings call the head and source of all exiles.

   His answer in the maamar: there are two counts of the nations, seventy and seventy-two, the seventy-two being the seventy plus their source and root, Yishmael and Eisav, Chesed and Gevurah. Once Yaakov had finished refining Lavan (Chesed) and thought Eisav (Gevurah) refined, all the nations were, in his view, refined at their root.

   The Alter Rebbeוהנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה

   The Rebbeכי לאחר שגמר בירורו של לבן, חסד, וחשב שכבר נתברר עשו, גבורה, הרי כבר נתבררו כל האומות

   Sefer HaMaamarim 5747 (unedited, old edition), p. מב–מג (= Toras Menachem 5747 vol. 1 p. 591) · ש״פ וישלח, י״ח כסלו ה׳תשמ״ז

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7. A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place

   At the farbrengen of Shabbos Vayeishev, 21 Kislev 5745, the third of the days of redemption (19 Kislev fell on Thursday; unedited), the Rebbe reads Rashi’s „ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה” (‘Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility’) as a wish for the full peace of the redemption, for which Yaakov from his side was already ready (‘as explained in the drushim of Parshas Vayishlach’ in the Hebrew transcript, ‘as the Midrash says’ in the Yiddish); later in the talk he takes up the difficulty this raises.

   In this talk (unedited; two transcripts) the Rebbe asks how Yaakov could think the full redemption could come at once, when he knew of „גזירת ברית בין הבתרים” (the decree of the Covenant Between the Parts), „ועבדום וענו אותם” (‘they will enslave them and afflict them’). In the Hebrew transcript (Toras Menachem) he puts the question on what is explained here, „שיעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר” (‘that Yaakov thought Eisav had already been refined’); in the Yiddish (Sichos Kodesh) he puts it on ‘the Midrash’ that Yaakov was already ready for Moshiach. In both he answers from the Alter Rebbe’s Torah Ohr (start of Shemos): „ענין השעבוד יכול להיות גם ע״י העבודה דלימוד התורה” (the servitude can also be fulfilled through the toil of Torah study), as the Zohar reads „בחומר דא ק״ו ובלבנים דא ליבון הלכתא” (‘with mortar (chomer)’ as kal vachomer and ‘with bricks (leveinim)’ as clarifying the halachah (libun hilchesa).

   The Alter Rebbeוהנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה

   The Rebbeהרי שאלה זו היא בתקפה גם בנוגע להמבואר שיעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר, ובמילא יכולים כבר ללכת לגאולה השלימה

   Toras Menachem 5745 (unedited), vol. ב, p. 903 (§16; the drushim of Vayishlach are named in §7, p. 894; the talk begins p. 887). The Yiddish transcript: Sichos Kodesh 5745 vol. 2 p. צז, §22 · ש״פ וישב, כ״א כסלו ה׳תשמ״ה

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8. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5731

   The Alter Rebbe presents the sending as based on what Yaakov ‘thought’ about Eisav. That could be read as a mistaken assumption that was later corrected. The Rebbe rejects this reading because the Avos are a ‘merkavah.’ Both the ascent to Tohu and the refinement of Eisav below were true, simultaneous modes of avodah, as Rashi hints: gift, prayer and war. On this basis he reconciles the opposing midrashim about the sending and the bowing. The refiner must enclothe himself in the garments of the refined, which is lofty in essence but outwardly a descent that needs correction.

   The Alter Rebbeוהנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה

   The Rebbeואין הכוונה בהדרושים הנ״ל שמה ששלח יעקב מלאכים וכו׳, הי׳ רק להסלקא דעתך שלו

   The whole maamar, summarized

9. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5731

   The Alter Rebbe explains ‘before him’ as an ascent to the level above Yaakov but does not link the sending to the previous verse. The Rebbe connects Machanayim with a prior arousal from above: for an arousal from below there first had to be an arousal from above, as represented by the angels of G‑d at Machanayim, whose ‘two camps’ are Tohu and Tikkun.

   The Alter Rebbeלכך שלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו לפניו ממש

   The Rebbeדמחנים (שתי מחנות) הוא בחי׳ תהו ותיקון וכו׳

   The whole maamar, summarized

10. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה עם לבן גרתי ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי, 5742

    The Alter Rebbe frames the mission in terms of Eisav’s lofty root. The Rebbe insists that the refining concerns Eisav as he is below, so Lavan too must be read literally as a kelipah to be refined. That raises a question of order: why Lavan first and then Eisav? Answering that birurim proceed in an orderly progression from the closer world to the more distant one (Lavan as kelipas nogah) is not enough, since Lavan too is of the three impure kelipos. The Rebbe resolves it: Lavan is the keser of kelipah and Eisav its z”a, so the head is refined before the body.

    The Alter Rebbeיעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה

    The Rebbeולכן צריך להיות תחלה הבירור דלבן, בחי׳ הראש דקליפה

    The whole maamar, summarized

11. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה עם לבן גרתי ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי, 5742

    The Alter Rebbe describes the goal as uniting the encompassing light with the inner light. Following Or HaTorah, the Rebbe frames Yaakov’s going to Eisav as the union of Mah and Ban, accomplished through mitzvos (the union of Kudsha Brich Hu and His Shechinah). Using the maamar Mehera 5652, he distinguishes two stages. Now the kallah is subordinate and receives everything from the chasan (״משמח חתן וכלה״). In the future she will have her own voice and even predominate (״משמח חתן עם הכלה״, ״נקבה תסובב גברא״).

    The Alter Rebbeויאיר המקיף בפנימי ויתייחדו יחד

    The Rebbeכללות הענין מה שיעקב הלך לעשו הו״ע החיבור דמ״ה וב״ן

    The whole maamar, summarized

12. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5743

    The Alter Rebbe reads “Eisav his brother” as the level above Yaakov, the primordial kings of Tohu. The Rebbe reads “his brother” as a sign that Yaakov had already refined the lofty elements of Tohu, its abundant lights, out of Eisav. So from Yaakov’s side Eisav too was already prepared for the redemption.

    The Alter Rebbeאל עשו אחיו שעירה שהוא בחי׳ מלכין קדמאין דתהו

    The Rebbeומצד יעקב הי׳ עשו בבחי׳ עשו אחיו, היינו שבירר ממנו את הענינים הנעלים שבעולם התוהו

    The whole maamar, summarized

13. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5743

    In the Alter Rebbe’s maamar, what Yaakov seeks from Eisav is the encompassing lights of Tohu, to shine into the inner light of Tikkun. The Rebbe adds that Yaakov also wanted the bittul that belonged to the vessels of Tohu to be in himself. This connects the opening of the sequence to Yaakov remaining alone.

    The Alter Rebbeכדי להמשיך בחי׳ המקיפים דתהו אליו למטה בתקון

    The Rebbeוְזֶה רָצָה יַעֲקֹב שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בּוֹ (בְּיַעֲקֹב) אוֹתוֹ הַבִּיטּוּל שֶׁבַּכֵּלִים דְּתֹהוּ

    The whole maamar, summarized

Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made

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1. The Rebbe explains

   In an edited sicha on Rashi’s comments in Vayishlach (from the kings of Edom back to the parsha’s opening), the Rebbe asks how Yaakov could call Eisav „לאדוני” (‘my lord’) and himself „עבדך” (‘your servant’), bow seven times and send tribute, when Yitzchak’s ‘be a lord over your brothers’ and the prophecy ‘the elder shall serve the younger’ are, by Rashi, permanent and unconditional for Yaakov and Eisav as individuals.

   He answers from Chassidus (his note cites Torah Ohr and Torah Chaim on the parsha): in his root Eisav is higher than Yaakov, which is why he was born first, and when Yaakov refines Eisav, a lofty light from Eisav’s root shines in him. So in sending messengers ‘before him’, in „כה תאמרון לאדוני גו׳ כה אמר עבדך יעקב” (‘so shall you say to my lord, to Eisav… your servant Yaakov’), and in the gift, „יעקב האט מיט דעם אלעם געמיינט (בעיקר) דעם שורש פון עשו” (Yaakov meant chiefly Eisav’s root), which is above him.

   The Alter Rebbeולכן צוה אותם כה תאמרון לאדני לעשו כו׳

   The Rebbeאַז יעקב האָט מיט דעם אַלעם געמיינט (בעיקר) דעם שורש פון עשו, וואָס איז העכער פון יעקב׳ן

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 299 (the sicha begins p. 294; Kehot’s note on ¶2 cites p. 299 and note 46) · משיחת ש״פ וישלח תשל״ז, ד״ה וישלח יעקב תשל״א

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

   In the maamar dibbur hamaschil Vayishlach Yaakov, Shabbos Vayishlach 18 Kislev 5743 (unedited), which recalls that the drushim of Torah Ohr and Torah Chaim explain the whole passage verse by verse and retells them, the Rebbe comes to Yaakov’s list of possessions after reading „גרתי” (“garti”) as „גימטריא תרי״ג” (613).

   Yaakov lists every possession, the Rebbe says, because, as the Rebbe Rashab writes in Kuntres HaAvodah, „שאינו מספיק העבודה באופן כללי” (general service is not enough), even from the soul’s yechidah or chayah; there must be „עבודה פרטית והתבוננות פרטית” (detailed service and detailed contemplation), and Yaakov had refined each detail. Over all of them he says “li”, “to me”: „בירור בתכלית השלימות” (a refinement in full perfection), and lasting, since „כל מקום שנאמר לי אינו זז לעולם” (“wherever li is said, it never moves”) (as explained in Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar).

   The Alter Rebbeכי כל הבחי׳ ומדרגות שבעולם האצי׳ בחי׳ שור וחמור צאן ועבד ושפחה כו׳. כולם נתבררו ונתקנו ע״י שם מ״ה

   The Rebbeוזהו מה שאמר יעקב ויהי לי שור וחמור גו׳, היינו שמונה את כל פרטי הבירורים, שבכולם פעל הבירור בפרטיות

   Toras Menachem 5743 (unedited), vol. א, p. 553 (the maamar begins on this page; Sefer HaMaamarim 5743 p. נ has a gap here, as the site’s sikum notes) · ש״פ וישלח, י״ח כסלו ה׳תשמ״ג

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

   In an edited sicha (compiled from Shabbos Vayishlach 5716–5718) the Rebbe asks three things about Rashi’s „עם לבן גרתי ותרי״ג מצות שמרתי” (‘I sojourned (garti) with Lavan, and kept the 613 (taryag) mitzvos’): how the derash fits the plain sense of garti, sojourning; why it mattered to tell Eisav; and what it teaches us.

   The Rebbe reads the message’s words in their plain sense. ‘I sojourned (garti) with Lavan’: all of Lavan’s world, the „שור וחמור צאן ועבד ושפחה” (‘oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants and maidservants’), was to Yaakov only a sojourn, something foreign, so it did not hinder him and he kept the 613 mitzvos; more, the spiritual was drawn into the physical until it became holy, ‘li’, ‘to me’, part of Yaakov’s essence. Since the Midrash reads „חמור זה מלך המשיח” (‘donkey’ as the King Moshiach), „ביאת המשיח איז אפהענגיק פון עבודת הבירורים” (whose coming depends on refinement), Yaakov was ready for Moshiach, and so he sent to tell Eisav that „ער האט שוין דורכגעטאן אלע בירורים” (he had finished all the refinements), reckoning that Eisav too was refined (his note: Torah Ohr 24c, this maamar).

   The Alter Rebbeעם לבן גרתי ויהי לי שור וחמור כו׳ דהיינו שהודיעו שכבר נגמר ונשלם כל סדר התקון

   The Rebbeאון צוליב דעם האָט ער געשיקט מלאכים צו עשו׳ן, דערציילן אים, אַז ער האָט שוין דורכגעטאָן אַלע בירורים, און איז גרייט צו משיח׳ן

   Likkutei Sichos, vol. א, p. 69, note 8 (the sicha begins p. 68) · מלוקט משיחות ש״פ וישלח תשט״ז–תשי״ח

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4. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5743

   For the Alter Rebbe, ¶3 says the Tikkun of Atzilus is complete, and ¶4 explains that the encompassing lights of Tohu can now be drawn down. The Rebbe adds a distinct redemption framing: he says Yaakov announced the completion of the birurim and his readiness for redemption. At the close he applies it to each individual of Yaakov’s congregation, who is given angels and becomes their baal habayit, sending them to Eisav to say that the work of birurim is done and one may go greet Moshiach.

   The Alter Rebbeשכבר נגמר ונשלם כל סדר התקון דאצי׳ בתכלית השלימות

   The Rebbeוהודיע לו שמצדו כבר גמר את כל ענין הבירורים והוא כבר מוכן לקראת הגאולה

   The whole maamar, summarized

Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

1. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5731

   The Alter Rebbe reads Lavan as the supernal whiteness, the source of Yaakov’s power to refine. The Rebbe reads Lavan as kelipas nogah, the easier refinement, which is why it took only twenty years. He sets this against Eisav, the three wholly impure kelipos, whose refinement is far harder and continues until now. This adds a second, lower stage of birur that the Alter Rebbe’s maamar does not describe.

   The Alter Rebbeוכ״ז בא מפני שעם לבן גרתי. פי׳ בחי׳ לובן העליון

   The Rebbeשלאחר גמר הבירור בלבן שהוא בחי׳ קליפת נוגה, הנה אח״כ מברר גם בחי׳ עשו

   The whole maamar, summarized

2. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5731

   For the Alter Rebbe, the completed Tikkun is already the ‘complete place’ fit for the makifim. The Rebbe distinguishes ordinary peace, which merely fills a lack, from ‘great peace,’ true perfection. He explains that this perfection requires refining Eisav’s ‘I have much’ (יש לי רב), the four hundred men, only after which the makifim of Tohu can be drawn down.

   The Alter Rebbeאבל עכשיו שנגמר התקון בתכלית ה״ז אתר שלים

   The Rebbeדשלום סתם ה״ז מילוי החסרון בלבד, ורב שלום הו״ע השלימות

   The whole maamar, summarized

3. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה עם לבן גרתי ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי, 5742

   The Alter Rebbe identifies Lavan with the supernal whiteness, from which came the main flow of power to Yaakov to refine and rectify everything. The Rebbe adds the link through Rashi’s ״ותרי״ג מצוות שמרתי״: the 613 mitzvos flow from loven ha’elyon, and through living with it Yaakov rectified himself. Since ״זאת התורה אדם״, the Rebbe explains that the upper person has 248 limbs and 365 sinews, and correspondingly the lower person has 613 powers and limbs. This self-rectification through mitzvos precedes refining Eisav, in keeping with ״קשוט עצמך ואח״כ קשוט אחרים״. This also answers why Yaakov would announce his mitzvah-observance to Eisav.

   The Alter Rebbeפי׳ בחי׳ לובן העליון שמשם הי׳ עיקר כח השפע ליעקב

   The Rebbeכי תרי״ג מצוות נמשכין מבחי׳ לובן העליון

   The whole maamar, summarized

4. From the Rebbe’s maamar ד״ה וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו, 5743

   The Alter Rebbe reads “Im Lavan garti” as the supernal Whiteness (loven), the source of the power for Tikkun. The Rebbe brings the reading that “garti” equals 613. This turns the source of Yaakov’s completed Tikkun into concrete avodah: refining the world through the 613 mitzvos while in Lavan’s house.

   The Alter Rebbeוכ״ז בא מפני שעם לבן גרתי. פי׳ בחי׳ לובן העליון

   The Rebbeהיינו שעבודתו אצל לבן היתה בתרי״ג מצות, ענין הבירורים

   The whole maamar, summarized

Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.