Torah Ohr · Parshas Vayishlach · Maamar 1
וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו אל עשו אחיו כו׳
And Yaakov Sent Messengers Before Him
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The big idea
Yaakov, rooted in the ordered World of Tikkun, sent to Eisav, whose ultimate root is in the higher encompassing lights of Tohu, to draw those lights down into Tikkun. He believed this was possible because the Tikkun was complete, and blessing rests only in a complete place.
The maamar in brief
The maamar reads the opening verses of Vayishlach in order as a Kabbalistic account. Yaakov is rooted in the Name Mah of the World of Tikkun, and Eisav in the World of Tohu, whose lights were too great for their vessels. Those lights withdrew and became encompassing lights (makifim), while the vessels shattered and fell, which is why Eisav below is wicked. In his deepest root, however, Eisav stands above Yaakov, since the lights of Tohu are higher than those of Tikkun. Thinking Eisav had already been refined and returned to that root, Yaakov sent messengers “before him,” to a level above his own, to draw the encompassing light down into the inner light of Tikkun so that the two would unite. His message, “I have sojourned with Lavan, and I have oxen and donkeys,” announced that the Tikkun of Atzilus was complete: every level had been rectified through the Name Mah, drawing on the supernal whiteness (loven). Since the Zohar teaches that blessing rests only in a complete place, and in Tikkun darkness had been turned into light, Yaakov was fit “to find favor” in Eisav’s eyes, that is, to receive Tohu’s encompassing light.
Outline
- Two roots: Tikkun and TohuYaakov is rooted in the Name Mah of Tikkun and Eisav in Tohu. Tohu’s broken vessels make Eisav below wicked, but Tohu’s lights, his deepest root, are higher than Tikkun’s.¶1
- The mission “before him”Believing Eisav refined, Yaakov sends to a level above his own, the primordial kings of Tohu, to draw their encompassing light into Tikkun’s inner light.¶2
- The message: Tikkun is completeHis years with Lavan and his oxen, donkeys and servants mean that every level of Atzilus has been rectified through the Name Mah.¶3
- A complete place for blessingDrawing on the supernal whiteness, Yaakov completed the Tikkun. Blessing rests only in a complete place, so he is now fit “to find favor” and receive Tohu’s encompassing light.¶4
Key concepts
- Tohu (chaos)תהו
- The first, unstable world, whose intense lights could not be held by their vessels. The lights withdrew above and the vessels shattered and fell.
- Tikkun (rectification)תקון
- The ordered world of Atzilus that followed Tohu, with lights measured to fit their vessels, built through the Name Mah. Yaakov is its root.
- The Name Mahשם מ״ה
- The spelling of the Name Havayah whose letters add up to 45, the power that rectifies and orders the levels of Atzilus.
- Encompassing lights (makifim)מקיפים
- Lights too great to enter a vessel, which affect it from beyond. The lights of Tohu became makifim when they withdrew from their vessels.
- Inner light (or pnimi)אור פנימי
- Light that is enclothed within a vessel and shaped to it, as in Tikkun. The aim is for the makif to shine within the inner light.
- Primordial kings (malchin kadmain)מלכין קדמאין
- The kings of Edom who reigned before any king in Israel, read in the Kabbalah as the worlds of Tohu. They are Eisav’s root.
- Supernal whiteness (loven)לובן העליון
- A very high level, read into the name Lavan, from which Yaakov drew the power to rectify all of Atzilus.
- A complete placeאתר שלים
- The Zohar’s condition for blessing to rest: a vessel that is whole. The completed Tikkun is such a place for the encompassing lights.
Two roots: Tikkun and Tohu ¶1
1וישלח יעקב1 מלאכים2 לפניו אל עשו אחיו כו׳. הנה ידוע שיעקב שרשו הוא מבחי׳ שם מ״ה דעולם התקון ושרשו של עשו הוא מבחי׳ עולם התהו.3
“And Yaakov sent messengers before him to Eisav his brother,” etc. Now, it is known that Yaakov’s root is from the level of the Name Mah of the World of Tikkun (rectification), and the root of Eisav is from the level of the World of Tohu (chaos).
The maamar opens with the verse describing Yaakov sending messengers to Eisav on his return from Lavan’s house. It sets up the two roots: Yaakov comes from Tikkun, the ordered world of Atzilus built through the Name Mah (the name whose letters add up to 45), while Eisav comes from Tohu, the earlier, chaotic world that preceded it.
והאורות דתהו הם גדולים מאד ולא יכלו להתלבש בתוך הכלים.4 ונסתלקו מהכלים והן בחינת מקיפים והכלים נשברו ונפלו למטה לכן הי׳ עשו שלמטה רשע
The lights of Tohu are very great, and they could not be enclothed within the vessels. They departed from the vessels, and they are the level of encompassing [lights] (makifim); and the vessels broke and fell below. Therefore Eisav, as he is below, was wicked.
In Tohu the lights were too intense for their vessels, so the lights withdrew upward and remained as encompassing lights (makifim), while the vessels shattered and their fragments fell into the lower worlds. Eisav as he appears down here is rooted in those fallen fragments, which is why he is wicked.
אבל מצד שרש שרשו במקיפים דתהו הרי האורות דתהו הם למעלה מהאורות דתקון וכמשי״ת לקמן בעז״ה ע״פ ויקח מן הבא בידו מנחה5 כו׳. וכמשנ״ת ג״כ בפ׳ תולדות ע״פ ראה ריח בני6 כו׳.
But from the side of the root of his root in the encompassing [lights] of Tohu, the lights of Tohu are above the lights of Tikkun, as will be explained later, with G‑d’s help, on the verse “And he took from what came to his hand a gift,” etc.; and as was also explained in Parshas Toldos on the verse “See, the fragrance of my son,” etc.
Yet Eisav’s ultimate source is the withdrawn lights of Tohu themselves, and these are higher than the lights of Tikkun. The Alter Rebbe points ahead to a later maamar in this parsha and back to one in Parshas Toldos where this point is developed.
The paragraph lays the Kabbalistic foundation for the whole maamar: Yaakov is rooted in Tikkun and Eisav in Tohu, and although Eisav below is wicked because of Tohu’s broken vessels, his deepest root in Tohu’s encompassing lights is higher than Yaakov’s.
According to the Kehot note, the pairing of Yaakov with Tikkun and Eisav with Tohu follows the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah at the end of Parshas Vayishlach. The Rebbe remarked (in the maamar Vayishlach 5743, cited in the note) that this maamar is unusual in explaining verse after verse in order within a single discourse.
Marei mekomos
- 1וישלח יעקב · ב׳ הנחות אחרות בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ פב. וראה בספר השיחות קיץ ת״ש ע׳ נ אודות מאמר זה שנאמר בשנת תקס״ב, וכנראה שנאמר עוד פעם. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. באוה״ת כרך ה תתעב, ב. בד״ה וישלח יעקב תשמ״ג מציין דבמאמר זה ביאור כל פסוק ופסוק על הסדר בדרוש אחד, הוא דבר בלתי רגיל בדרושי חסידות, כי בדרך כלל רוב הדרושים הם על פסוק אחד, ואף שבסידור יש ג״כ דרושים המבארים כו״כ פסוקים על הסדר, מ״מ נראה שדרושים אלו נאמרו כמה פעמים על כל פסוק בפ״ע, ואח״כ נתחברו יחד בדיבור או בכתב, משא״כ בדרוש זה וישלח גו׳ נראה שמלכתחילה הי׳ ביאור על כל הפסוקים הנ״ל. ראה גם ד״ה וישלח תשמ״ז.
- 2וישלח יעקב מלאכים · Genesis 32:4
- 3שיעקב . . דעולם התקון . . עשו . . עולם התהו · לקו״ת להאריז״ל ס״פ וישלח. הענין נתבאר באוה״ת וישלח רלא, ב [מובא גם באוה״ת תבוא ע׳ תתרלו, ובהערות וקיצורים לתניא ע׳ מט].
- 4ולא יכלו להתלבש בתוך הכלים · ראה לעיל ט, ג (ובהנחות הר״פ ע׳ נח). לקמן קיד, ב. סה״מ תרמ״ג ע׳ קמו.
- 5ויקח מן הבא בידו מנחה · Genesis 32:14
- 6ראה ריח בני · Genesis 27:27
The mission “before him” ¶2
2והנה יעקב חשב שעשו נתברר כבר וחזר לשרשו הנעלה בחי׳ המקיפים דתהו שלפני התקון. לכך שלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו לפניו ממש
Now, Yaakov thought that Eisav had already been refined and had returned to his lofty root, the level of the encompassing [lights] of Tohu that precede the Tikkun. Therefore Yaakov sent messengers “before him”: literally before him,
Yaakov believed that Eisav had already been refined, so that he was no longer the wicked Eisav of the broken vessels but had returned to his lofty source in Tohu’s encompassing lights. The Alter Rebbe reads “before him” (lefanav) literally, as “ahead of and higher than him.”
that is, to the level that is above him in rank, “to Eisav his brother… to Seir,” which is the level of the primordial kings (malchin kadmain) of Tohu, the level of encompassing [lights], as mentioned above,
Yaakov sent to a level higher than his own, to Eisav in Seir, which stands for the “primordial kings” of Tohu. These are the kings of Edom who reigned “before a king reigned over the children of Israel,” which the Kabbalah reads as the worlds of Tohu that came before Tikkun.
כדי להמשיך בחי׳ המקיפים דתהו אליו למטה בתקון שהוא בחי׳ האו״פ ויאיר המקיף בפנימי ויתייחדו יחד.
in order to draw the encompassing [lights] of Tohu down to him, below, into Tikkun, which is the level of the inner light (or pnimi), so that the encompassing [light] will shine into the inner [light] and they will be united together.
The goal of the mission was to draw Tohu’s encompassing light down into Tikkun, which is inner light that fits within vessels. Then the encompassing and the inner light would be united, and Tikkun would gain Tohu’s great power.
Reading “before him” literally, the paragraph explains Yaakov’s mission as an attempt to draw the higher, encompassing lights of Tohu (Eisav’s root) into the settled inner light of Tikkun, so that the two would unite.
The union of makif and pnimi, the encompassing light shining within the inner light, is the goal the maamar sets. Tikkun supplies the vessels that can hold the light, and Tohu supplies the intensity that Tikkun on its own lacks.
Marei mekomos
- 1אל עשו אחיו שעירה · Genesis 32:4
- 2שעירה · Genesis 33:14
- 3אל בחי׳ שלמעלה . . בחי׳ מלכין קדמאין דתהו · ראה לקו״ש ח״ה ע׳ 402. חט״ו ע׳ 299 ובהערה 46.
The message: Tikkun is complete ¶3
3ולכן צוה אותם כה תאמרון לאדני לעשו כו׳ עם לבן גרתי1 ויהי לי שור וחמור2 כו׳ דהיינו שהודיעו שכבר נגמר ונשלם כל סדר התקון דאצי׳ בתכלית השלימות
And therefore he commanded them, “So shall you say to my lord, to Eisav,” etc., “I have sojourned with Lavan… and I have oxen and donkeys,” etc. That is, they informed him that the whole order of the Tikkun of Atzilus had already been finished and completed in utter perfection,
The message Yaakov gave the messengers told Eisav that the work of Tikkun was complete. His years with Lavan and the wealth he gained there stand for finishing the rectification of the World of Atzilus.
כי כל הבחי׳ ומדרגות שבעולם האצי׳ בחי׳ שור וחמור צאן ועבד ושפחה כו׳. כולם נתבררו ונתקנו ע״י שם מ״ה.
for all the levels and ranks in the World of Atzilus, the levels of “oxen and donkeys, sheep, and servants and maidservants,” etc., have all been refined and rectified through the Name Mah.
The oxen, donkeys, sheep and servants in the verse stand for all the different levels in Atzilus. Every one of them had now been refined and put right through the Name Mah, the power of Tikkun.
The paragraph reads the content of Yaakov’s message as an announcement that the Tikkun of Atzilus is complete, with each of his possessions standing for a level that has been rectified.
Marei mekomos
- 1כה תאמרון לאדני לעשו כו׳ עם לבן גרתי · Genesis 32:5
- 2ויהי לי שור וחמור · Genesis 32:6
A complete place for blessing ¶4
4וזהו ויהי לי כו׳. וכ״ז בא מפני שעם לבן גרתי. פי׳ בחי׳ לובן העליון שמשם הי׳ עיקר כח השפע ליעקב בעל עולם האצילות לברר ולתקן הכל וכיון שכן שנגמר ונשלם
And this is “and I have,” etc. And all this came about because “I have sojourned with Lavan,” meaning the level of the supernal whiteness (loven), from which came the main power of the flow to Yaakov, the master of the World of Atzilus, to refine and rectify everything. And since it is so, that the work of the Tikkun has been finished and completed
Yaakov’s success came from “Lavan,” read as loven, the supernal whiteness, a very high level that gave him the power to refine and rectify all of Atzilus. Yaakov is called the master of Atzilus because his work of rectification belongs to that world.
מלאכת התקון בשלימות מעתה ראוי ויוכל להיות השראת והמשכת המקיפים דתהו שאם לא היה נגמר התקון בשלימות לא היה יכול להיות המשכת המקיפים כמ״ש בזוהר דלית ברכתא שריא1 באתר ריקניא2 כו׳ אלא באתר שלים כו׳
in perfection, from now on it is fitting and possible for there to be the resting and the drawing down of the encompassing [lights] of Tohu. For had the Tikkun not been completed in perfection, there could not have been the drawing down of the encompassing [lights], as it says in the Zohar, “For blessing does not rest in an empty place,” etc., “but only in a complete place,” etc.
Only when Tikkun is complete can the encompassing lights of Tohu come to rest in it. The Zohar teaches that blessing rests only in a full place, never in an empty one, and a Tikkun that was still unfinished would be such an empty place.
אבל עכשיו שנגמר התקון בתכלית ה״ז אתר שלים שראוי להיות בו המשכת המקיפים עליונים לכן ואשלחה להגיד לאדני למצא חן בעיניך.
But now that the Tikkun has been completed in full, this is a complete place, fit for the drawing down of the supernal encompassing [lights] into it. Therefore, “I have sent to tell my lord, to find favor in your eyes.”
Since Tikkun is now whole, it is a “complete place” able to receive the higher lights. This is why Yaakov sent to tell Eisav: he was ready “to find favor in your eyes.”
דהיינו שתשפיע ותאיר את המקיף שלך אלי בעולם התקון וזהו מציאת החן. והיינו מפני כי ויהי לי שור וחמור צאן3 כו׳.
That is, that you should bestow and shine your encompassing [light] to me in the World of Tikkun, and this is the finding of favor. And this is because “I have oxen and donkeys, sheep,” etc.
The “favor” Yaakov seeks is that Eisav, standing for the encompassing light of Tohu, should shine that light into Yaakov’s world of Tikkun. He is worthy of it because all his “possessions,” the levels of Atzilus, are now rectified.
דאתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא בעולם התקון וה״ז אתר שלים ממש א״כ ראוי אני למצא חן בעיניך שהוא השראת הברכה דבחי׳ המקיפי׳ כו׳:
For darkness has been turned into light in the World of Tikkun, and this is truly a complete place. If so, I am fit to find favor in your eyes, which is the resting of the blessing of the level of the encompassing [lights], etc.
The Aramaic phrase means that darkness has been turned into light: in Tikkun what was dark has been transformed, and so it is truly a complete place. That makes Yaakov fit to receive the blessing of the encompassing lights.
The paragraph explains why the completed Tikkun makes it possible to receive the lights of Tohu: blessing rests only in a complete place, and a Tikkun in which darkness has been turned to light is such a place, so Yaakov asks to “find favor,” meaning that the encompassing light shine into him.
Loven, the supernal whiteness, is a level above Atzilus from which Yaakov draws the strength to rectify it. The principle that a makif can rest only on a complete vessel is why Tikkun has to be finished before the higher lights of Tohu can enter it.
Marei mekomos
- 1דלית ברכתא שריא · Zohar II, 155a
- 2דלית ברכתא שריא באתר ריקניא · Zohar, Terumah 52:565–53:572
- 3ויהי לי שור וחמור צאן · Genesis 32:6
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
Questions for discussion
- Why are the lights of Tohu higher than the lights of Tikkun, even though Tohu ended in shattering?
- How can Eisav be wicked below and yet rooted in a level above Yaakov?
- Why does the Alter Rebbe read “before him” (lefanav) as “to a level above him”?
- Why must the Tikkun be complete before the encompassing lights can rest in it, and how does the Zohar’s teaching about blessing and an empty place explain this?
- What does it mean that darkness has been turned into light in the World of Tikkun?
Key terms in this maamar
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d. ×1