Torah Ohr · Parshas Vayishlach · Maamar 3
ויאמר יעקב אלהי אבי אברהם כו׳
“And Jacob said: ‘G‑d of my father Abraham…’”
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The big idea
Jacob’s two camps and his unusual gift to Esau were deliberate: to draw down the unlimited encompassing light of Tohu, his arousal from below had to mirror Tohu itself, without the divisions and exact measures that belong to Tikkun and to the Torah.
The maamar in brief
Jacob prays for the encompassing lights of the Patriarchs to help him draw down the light of Tohu, which will also save him from Esau. Why did he divide his people into two camps? In the World of Tikkun the Sefiros form three lines, with Tiferes joining Chesed and Gevurah; in Tohu the attributes stood apart, so there were only two lines. This is because Tohu had intense lights in small vessels, like a narrow-minded judge who can see only acquittal or only guilt, while Tikkun has ample vessels, like a broad mind that holds both. Since the arousal from below must match the flow it seeks, Jacob modeled himself on Tohu with two camps. The same explains his gift: unlike Torah sacrifices, which must be pure, slaughtered animals offered with many exact details because the Torah flows from contracted Tikkun, Jacob sent impure, living animals, for the Infinite light of Tohu bears everything. Like the pig that will become pure in the future, and the camels whose root is lofty, this was possible only for Jacob before Sinai; for us, the Torah’s prohibitions are absolute.
Outline
- Jacob’s prayerJacob asks for the Patriarchs’ encompassing lights to help him draw down the light of Tohu and so be saved from Esau.¶1
- Two lines and threeTohu’s separate attributes form two lines, Tikkun’s integrated attributes three; the reason is the ratio of lights to vessels, and the arousal from below must match the flow it seeks.¶2–4
- The two campsJacob divided into two camps to mirror Tohu and connect to its encompassing light.¶5
- The gift to EsauUnlike the precise sacrifices of Tikkun, Jacob’s gift of impure, living animals suited the Infinite light of Tohu.¶6–9
- Camels, the pig, and the limits after SinaiThe impure will be elevated in the future and camels have a lofty root, but after the Torah was given, what it forbids cannot be elevated.¶10
Key concepts
- Tohu (Chaos)תהו
- The primordial world of intense lights in small vessels, whose attributes stood apart, each alone; its vessels shattered.
- Tikkun (Rectification)תקון
- The ordered world of fewer lights and broad vessels, where the attributes work together in three lines.
- Three linesג׳ קוין
- Right (Chesed), left (Gevurah) and center (Tiferes), the center line joining and balancing the other two.
- Encompassing light (makif)אור מקיף
- Light too great to enter a vessel, which affects it from beyond; the light of Tohu is of this kind.
- Mayin nukvin and mayin duchrinמ״ן ומ״ד
- The “feminine waters” of arousal from below and the “masculine waters” of flow from above; the form of the first shapes the second.
- Lights and vesselsאורות וכלים
- Divine revelation and the structures that hold it; their ratio distinguishes Tohu from Tikkun.
Jacob’s prayer ¶1
1ויאמר יעקב אלהי אבי אברהם1 כו׳. פי׳ שהתפלל שיומשך אליו המקיפים דקדושה של האבות לעזור לו שיוכל להמשיך המקיף דתהו הנ״ל שיתגלה למטה ועי״ז ג״כ הצילני נא מיד עשו2 כו׳ שלמטה.
“And Jacob said: ‘G‑d of my father Abraham…’” This means that he prayed that the holy encompassing lights (makifim) of the Patriarchs be drawn down to him, to help him so that he could draw down the encompassing light (makif) of Tohu mentioned above, so that it be revealed below; and through this also [would come about] “Rescue me, please, from the hand of Esau…” who is below.
Before meeting Esau, Jacob prays to “the G‑d of my father Abraham and the G‑d of my father Isaac.” The maamar reads this as a request that the holy “encompassing lights” of the Patriarchs, levels of divine light too great to be absorbed inwardly, come to his aid, so that he could draw down the encompassing light of Tohu discussed in the previous maamar and reveal it in this world. Once that higher light was drawn down, his plea to be saved from Esau, the Esau of the lower world, would also be answered.
The maamar opens by linking Jacob’s prayer to the theme of the preceding discourse: Jacob’s mission is to draw down the lofty light of Tohu, and his rescue from Esau follows from it.
In Chassidus Esau is rooted in the World of Tohu, whose lights are greater than those of Tikkun; to overcome and refine him, Jacob must connect to that root, and for this he calls on the makifim of the Patriarchs.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויאמר יעקב אלהי אבי אברהם · Genesis 32:10
- 2הצילני נא מיד עשו · Genesis 32:12
Two lines and three ¶2–4
2ויחץ את העם1 כו׳ לשני מחנות כו׳. הנה הטעם שחלק לשני מחנות דוקא. יובן ע״פ הקדמה הידוע שעיקר ההפרש בין עולם התהו לעולם התקון.23
“And he divided the people… into two camps….” Now, the reason he divided [them] into two camps specifically will be understood on the basis of the well-known introduction: that the main difference between the World of Tohu (Chaos) and the World of Tikkun (Rectification) [is as follows].
Jacob, fearing Esau, divided his people and flocks into two camps. The maamar asks why specifically two, and answers with the basic distinction between Tohu (Chaos), the primordial world that collapsed, and Tikkun (Rectification), the ordered world that replaced it.
שבעולם התהו היו הספירות מפורדים זה תחת זה אבל בעולם התקון הם בציור קוין4 דהיינו ג׳ קוין ימין ושמאל ואמצע שהקו האמצעי
In the World of Tohu the Sefiros were separate, one beneath the other; but in the World of Tikkun they are in the configuration of lines, that is, three lines, right, left and center, where the center line
הוא המחבר ומייחד ג״כ ב׳ הקוין דימין ושמאל להיות מתכללים יחד כידוע דת״ת הוא הממוצע בין חו״ג ומחברם יחד
is what joins and also unites the two lines of right and left so that they become merged together, as is known that Tiferes is the mediator between Chesed and Gevurah and joins them together.
The center line, headed by Tiferes, is what makes Tikkun work: it balances kindness and restraint so that each includes something of the other. This harmony of opposites is exactly what Tohu lacked.
ולכך ישראל שהם בבחי׳ התקון אומרים ג״פ קדוש5 דוקא וכתיב בהם ג״כ והייתם לי סגולה6 שהסגו״ל הוא ג׳ נקודות בחינת ימין ושמאל ואמצע כו׳
Therefore Israel, who are on the level of Tikkun, say “Holy” three times specifically; and it is also written of them, “You shall be to Me a treasure (segulah),” for the segol [vowel] is three dots, the aspect of right, left and center….
Because the Jewish people belong to the order of Tikkun, their praise has a threefold pattern, the triple “Holy, holy, holy.” The word segulah (“treasure”) used of Israel also hints at this, since the segol vowel is three dots arranged as right, left and center.
אבל בעולם התהו שהיו בבחי׳ פירוד זת״ז ולא נתייחדו יחד ה״ז רק בחי׳ ב׳ קוין שהחסד הוא בפ״ע והגבור׳ הוא בפ״ע.
But in the World of Tohu, which was in a state of separation, one from the other, and they were not united together, this is only the level of two lines: Chesed is by itself and Gevurah is by itself.
In Tohu, by contrast, the attributes stood apart and never merged, so there were in effect only two lines. Chesed acted purely as Chesed and Gevurah purely as Gevurah, with nothing to mediate between them.
The paragraph poses the question of Jacob’s two camps and lays out its foundation: Tikkun is structured in three integrated lines, while Tohu consisted of isolated attributes, effectively two separate lines.
The Arizal describes Tohu as “points” (nekudim) standing one below another, and Tikkun as full configurations arranged in three columns; the three dots of the segol mirror the three columns of Tikkun.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויחץ את העם · Genesis 32:8
- 2ההפרש בין עולם התהו לעולם התיקון · ראה ע״ח שער הכללים פ״א, פ״ב. שער עגולים ויושר ענף ד. ובכ״מ. לקמן נא, ד. ואילך.
- 3עולם התהו לעולם התקון · Sefer Etz Chaim 1:5–6
- 4התהו . . זה תחת זה . . בציור קוין · ראה לעיל ט, ד. וראה ד״ה והארץ היתה תוהו תקס״ח בתחלתו. ובד״ה אחרי מות תרמ״ט סעי׳ ג.
- 5ג״פ קדוש · Isaiah 6:3
- 6והייתם לי סגולה · Exodus 19:5
3וכמ״ש ביאור הדברים במ״א שהענין הוא לפי שבתהו היו האורות מרובים והכלים מועטים ולכן מצד קוטן
And as the explanation of these matters is written elsewhere: the point is that in Tohu the lights were many and the vessels few, and therefore, because of the smallness
The Alter Rebbe now explains why Tohu had only separate lines. In Tohu the light was abundant and the vessels, the structures meant to hold and express it, were few and small.
הכלי לפ״ע האור ע״כ אין הכלי יכולה להכיל ב׳ הפכים חו״ג יחד עד״מ באדם מי ששכלו קטן לא יכיל ב׳ הפכים כלל
of the vessel relative to the light, the vessel cannot contain two opposites, Chesed and Gevurah, together. By way of analogy, in a person: one whose intellect is small cannot contain two opposites at all.
A small vessel overwhelmed by intense light cannot hold two opposing qualities, like kindness and severity, at once. He illustrates this with a person of narrow intellect, who can never hold two opposite considerations in mind together.
אלא אם יטה שכלו לזכות לא ימצא אז שום שכל לחוב ולא יסבול שום נטיה לחוב בלבו אלא רק טוב וחסד בלבד.
Rather, if he inclines his intellect toward acquittal, he will then find no reasoning at all toward guilt, and will not tolerate any leaning toward guilt in his heart, but only goodness and kindness alone.
Such a person, once he leans toward finding someone innocent, sees no argument at all for guilt and cannot bear any thought of it. His whole heart is then pure goodness and kindness, with no room for anything else.
The two separate lines of Tohu are explained by its structure of intense lights in small vessels, illustrated by a narrow-minded judge who can see only one side at a time.
“Many lights and few vessels” in Tohu and “few lights and many vessels” in Tikkun is a key principle of the Arizal’s system; the vessels of Tohu shattered (shevirah) precisely because they could not contain their light.
4ובהיפוך כאשר יטה לחוב לא יסבול כלל נטיה לזכות ונמצא אינו אלא בקו א׳ תמיד פעמים בקו הימין לזכות ופעמים בקו השמאל לחוב
And conversely, when he inclines toward guilt, he will not tolerate any leaning toward acquittal at all. It follows that he is always in only one line: at times in the right line, toward acquittal, and at times in the left line, toward guilt.
The same narrow-minded person, when he leans toward guilt, cannot tolerate any argument for acquittal. He is therefore always in one line only, sometimes entirely on the right (kindness) and sometimes entirely on the left (judgment).
והרי הקוין מפורדי׳ שכשהוא בבחי׳ חסד לא יוכל לסבול בחי׳ דין וכן להיפוך וזהו הנק׳ בחינת ב׳ קוין שהחסד הוא בפני עצמו והגבורה בפני עצמה.
Thus the lines are separate, for when he is in the mode of Chesed he cannot tolerate the mode of judgment, and likewise the reverse. And this is what is called the level of two lines: Chesed is by itself and Gevurah is by itself.
This is the meaning of “two lines”: the lines are separated, so that when Chesed is active there is no room for judgment, and vice versa. Each attribute functions in isolation.
אבל בתקון שהת״ת מכריע בין חו״ג1 היינו שגם בשעת הדין יוכל להיות ג״כ נטיה לזכות וכן להיפך לפי שבתקון האורות מועטים והכלים מרובים
But in Tikkun, where Tiferes decides between Chesed and Gevurah, this means that even at the time of judgment there can also be a leaning toward acquittal, and likewise the reverse, because in Tikkun the lights are few and the vessels many.
In Tikkun, Tiferes “decides” between Chesed and Gevurah, so even during judgment there can be a leaning toward mercy, and the reverse. This is possible because in Tikkun the lights are few and the vessels many.
נמצא הכלי רחב לקבל גם ב׳ הפכים וכמו באדם שדעתו רחבה יוכל לסבול ב׳ הפכים יחד וישכנו במוחו ולבו שמצד זה יש סברא לזכות
It follows that the vessel is broad enough to receive even two opposites. It is like a person whose mind is broad: he can tolerate two opposites together, and they dwell [together] in his mind and heart, [recognizing] that from this side there is reason to acquit,
With ample vessels, there is room to hold even opposites at once. The analogy is a broad-minded person who can keep two opposing views in his mind and heart together, seeing a reason to acquit on one side while still seeing a reason to convict on the other.
אע״פ שמצד אחר יש סברא לחוב כו׳ והרי בתקון מתייחדים חו״ג יחדו וזהו ענין ג׳ קוין. (ועמ״ש מזה לקמן פ׳ יתרו בד״ה להבין ביאור ענין האבות הן הן המרכבה)
even though from another side there is reason to convict…. Thus in Tikkun Chesed and Gevurah are united together, and this is the idea of three lines. (And see what is written on this below, in Parshas Yisro, in the maamar beginning “To understand the explanation of the idea that the Patriarchs are themselves the Chariot.”)
Such a person holds both views at once. This integration of kindness and restraint is what “three lines” means. The Alter Rebbe refers to a maamar in Parshas Yisro on “the Patriarchs are the Chariot” for more on this.
ואמנם בעובדא זו דיעקב ועשו שהיה יעקב צריך להמשיך לו המקיף דתהו שהוא בחי׳ האור דתהו שבלי גבול כו׳ לכך הוצרך להעלות מ״ן לשם.
However, in this episode of Jacob and Esau, where Jacob needed to draw down to himself the encompassing light of Tohu, which is the level of the light of Tohu that is without limit…, therefore he needed to raise mayin nukvin (the “feminine waters”) there.
Yet Jacob, in his encounter with Esau, needed to draw down the encompassing light of Tohu, the unlimited light that no vessel can hold. For that he had to raise mayin nukvin (“feminine waters”), the Kabbalistic term for an arousal from below that elicits a flow from above.
וידוע שהמ״ן צריך להיו׳ לפי אופן ההמשכה שרוצה להמשיך משום שלפי אופן ההעלא׳ כך היא ההמשכה.
And it is known that the mayin nukvin must be according to the manner of the drawing-down that one wishes to draw down, because as the manner of the ascent is, so is the drawing-down.
A principle of Kabbalah: the arousal from below must match the kind of flow one wants to draw down. The form of the ascent determines the form of the descent, and this principle explains Jacob’s two camps in the next paragraph.
The paragraph completes the contrast between Tohu and Tikkun, then turns back to Jacob: since he sought the light of Tohu, his arousal from below had to take a form that matches Tohu.
Mayin nukvin and mayin duchrin are the Zohar’s and the Arizal’s terms for the reciprocal movement of ascent from the receiver and descent from the giver; the principle that the ascent shapes the descent underlies the whole maamar.
Marei mekomos
- 1וזהו הנק׳ בחינת ב׳ קוין . . אבל בתקון שהת״ת מכריע בין חו״ג · מובא באוה״ת פ׳ וישלח רמד, א. ראה תו״ח פ׳ בראשית ט, א.
The two camps ¶5
5והואיל וכן מאחר שבתהו היה רק ב׳ קוין כנ״ל לכך הוצרך יעקב לעשות עצמו ג״כ בדוגמא זו.
And since this is so, since in Tohu there were only two lines, as mentioned above, therefore Jacob also needed to make himself in this pattern.
Since Tohu had only two lines and Jacob sought to draw down its light, he had to shape himself in the same pattern. His form of arousal from below had to mirror the structure of the level he wanted to reach.
וזהו ויחץ את העם1 כו׳ לשני מחנות להיות דוגמת עולם התהו שלשם היה זת״ז ולא בציור ג׳ קוין כנ״ל ועי״ז יתקשר בעולם התהו להמשיך האו״מ כו׳.
And this is [the meaning of] “And he divided the people… into two camps”: to be in the pattern of the World of Tohu, where [the Sefiros] were one beneath the other and not in the configuration of three lines, as mentioned above; and through this he would connect with the World of Tohu, to draw down the encompassing light (or makif)….
This is why he divided his people into two camps: to reproduce the structure of Tohu, whose attributes stood apart and were not arranged in three lines. By imitating it he connected himself to Tohu and could draw down its encompassing light.
The question of the two camps is answered: dividing into two imitated the two separate lines of Tohu, and so connected Jacob to Tohu’s encompassing light.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויחץ את העם · Genesis 32:8
The gift to Esau ¶6–9
6ומזה הטעם עצמו יובן הטעם מה שהקריב יעקב המנחה עזים מאתים1 כו׳. שענין מנחה זו היא העלא׳ מ״ן להמשיך המקיף הנ״ל והוא
And from this very reason, the reason why Jacob offered the gift of “two hundred she-goats…” will be understood. For this gift is the raising of mayin nukvin to draw down the encompassing light mentioned above, and it is
The same reasoning explains Jacob’s gift to Esau of two hundred she-goats and the rest. That gift was his raising of mayin nukvin, an offering from below meant to draw down the encompassing light of Tohu.
ע״ד ענין הקרבנות שהם העלאת מ״ן להמשיך מ״ד כנודע ואעפ״כ היתה מנחתו שלא ע״ד אופן ומשפט הקרבנות שבתורה כו׳. בהיות שמעשה הקרבנות הוא מבהמות טהורים ושחוטים דוקא. אך השחיטה כשירה בזר.2
along the lines of the sacrifices, which are the raising of mayin nukvin to draw down mayin duchrin (the “masculine waters”), as is known. Nevertheless, his gift was not in the manner and law of the sacrifices in the Torah…. For the practice of the sacrifices is with pure animals, and slaughtered ones specifically. Yet the slaughtering is valid [when done] by a non-priest.
In this it resembles the Temple sacrifices, which are also an arousal from below that brings down a flow from above (mayin duchrin, “masculine waters”). But Jacob’s gift did not follow the laws of sacrifices: those required pure (kosher) animals, and slaughtered ones; the maamar adds in passing that the slaughter itself may be done by a non-priest.
Jacob’s gift to Esau is compared to a sacrifice, an arousal from below, while the maamar notes how differently it was structured from the Torah’s sacrificial laws.
The point that slaughter is valid by a non-priest shows that slaughter is not part of the priestly service proper, yet it is still required: the sacrifice must be slaughtered.
Marei mekomos
- 1עזים מאתים · Genesis 32:15
- 2השחיטה כשרה בזר · Berakhot 31a
7ולא מצינו קרבן בתורה בחי רק בשעיר דעזאזל וגם בקרבנות לא היו מקריבים רק החלב והדם.
And we do not find a sacrifice in the Torah [offered] alive, except the goat [sent] to Azazel; and also in the sacrifices, they offered [on the altar] only the fat and the blood.
The Torah has no sacrifice offered while alive, except the goat sent to Azazel on Yom Kippur. Even with regular sacrifices, only the fat and the blood were offered on the altar.
והמנחה הזאת ששלח יעקב לעשו היו בהמות טמאות ג״כ כמ״ש גמלים מניקות1 כו׳. וגם שהן חיין ולא שחוטין
But this gift that Jacob sent to Esau included impure animals too, as it is written, “nursing camels…”; and also, they were alive and not slaughtered.
Jacob’s gift, however, included impure animals, such as the nursing camels named in the verse, and all of them were sent alive rather than slaughtered. These are exactly the features that the laws of sacrifice rule out.
והענין הוא משום שהעלאת מ״ן שהיא המנחה דיעקב הוא להמשיך מ״ד מבחי׳ המקיף דעולם התוהו.
And the explanation is that the raising of mayin nukvin, which is Jacob’s gift, is in order to draw down mayin duchrin from the level of the encompassing light of the World of Tohu.
The reason is that Jacob’s arousal from below was meant to draw down a flow from the encompassing light of Tohu. A different target requires a different kind of offering.
Jacob’s gift broke the patterns of sacrifice (impure, living animals) because it was aimed at the encompassing light of Tohu rather than at the order of Tikkun.
Marei mekomos
- 1גמלים מיניקות · Genesis 32:16
8והמ״ן והמ״ד דעולם התהו הוא משונה ובאופן אחר מן המ״ן ומ״ד דעולם התקון שהוא ענין הקרבנות שבתורה שהתורה היא מבחי׳ עולם התקון דאצילות והיינו
And the mayin nukvin and mayin duchrin of the World of Tohu are different, and of another manner, from the mayin nukvin and mayin duchrin of the World of Tikkun, which is the matter of the sacrifices in the Torah, for the Torah is from the level of the World of Tikkun of Atzilus. That is,
The arousal from below and the flow from above of Tohu differ from those of Tikkun. The sacrifices belong to Tikkun, because the Torah itself flows from the World of Tikkun of Atzilus.
כי עולם התקון הוא בחי׳ אור פנימי שהאורות מתצמצמים ונתפסי׳ בתוך הכלי ומאחר שהאור יכול להתיישב בתוך הכלי זהו הוראה שכבר נתצמצם האור בצמצומים רבים
the World of Tikkun is the level of inner light, where the lights are contracted and grasped within the vessel; and since the light can settle within the vessel, this is an indication that the light has already been contracted through many contractions,
Tikkun is the realm of “inner light,” light that has been contracted enough to be held inside a vessel. That the light can settle inside a vessel shows that it has already gone through many contractions.
וכמ״ש בע״ח שבתקון האורות מועטים כו׳. לכן התורה שנמשכת משם היא ג״כ בבחי׳ דקדוקים וצמצומים.
as is written in Etz Chaim that in Tikkun the lights are few…. Therefore the Torah, which is drawn from there, is also in the mode of precise details and contractions.
This is what Etz Chaim means by “in Tikkun the lights are few.” The Torah, flowing from there, therefore takes the form of precise details and exact measures.
The paragraph explains why the Torah’s service is so precise: it flows from Tikkun, where light is contracted into vessels, unlike the unlimited light of Tohu.
Inner light (or pnimi) is light absorbed by a vessel, while encompassing light (or makif) is too intense to be absorbed and affects the vessel from beyond; Tikkun is characterized by the first, and Jacob sought the second.
9ולכן מפורש בתורה סדר העלאת מ״ן דתקון הכל בדקדוקים שהוא משפט מעשה הקרבנות שיהיו מבהמות טהורים ומג׳ מיני בהמות לבד ושיהיו שחוטין דוקא ויש הרבה דברים שהקרבן נפסל בו
Therefore the order of raising the mayin nukvin of Tikkun is set out in the Torah entirely with precise details, which is the law of the practice of the sacrifices: that they be from pure animals, and from three kinds of animals only, and that they be slaughtered specifically; and there are many things by which the sacrifice is disqualified.
Because the Torah’s arousal from below belongs to Tikkun, the laws of sacrifices are full of precise details. The animal must be pure, from only three species (cattle, sheep and goats), properly slaughtered, and many flaws disqualify it.
וכן בענין ההקרבה איך ומה הרבה דקדוקין כו׳ כי כל התור׳ הוסדה בדרך זה בצמצומים ומדידות מפני שהיא מבחי׳ התקון שהאורות מצומצמים תוך הכלים ולכן מדקדק׳ ג״כ בכמה מיני צמצומים ודקדוקים כו׳.
And likewise regarding the offering, how and what, [there are] many precise details…. For the entire Torah was founded in this way, with contractions and measures, because it is from the level of Tikkun, where the lights are contracted within the vessels; and therefore it is also exacting in many kinds of contractions and precise details….
The same exactness governs how and what is offered. The whole Torah is built on measures and limits because it comes from Tikkun, where lights are contracted into vessels, and so it is precise in many ways.
אבל יעקב העלה מ״ן לבחי׳ המקיף דתהו1 כנ״ל שהוא אור גדול בבחי׳ א״ס שלכן לא יכול הכלי להכילו ונשאר בבחי׳ מקיף
But Jacob raised mayin nukvin to the level of the encompassing light of Tohu, as mentioned above, which is a great light on the level of the Infinite, so that the vessel therefore could not contain it, and it remained on the level of an encompassing light.
Jacob, by contrast, directed his arousal from below to the encompassing light of Tohu. That light is so great, on the level of the Infinite, that no vessel can contain it, so it remains encompassing.
(לכך שלח המנחה שהוא העלאת מ״ן לשם) אף בהמות טמאות גמלים מניקות כו׳. וכולן היו חיין ולא שחוטין כו׳.
(Therefore he sent the gift, which is the raising of mayin nukvin there,) even impure animals, “nursing camels…”; and all of them were alive and not slaughtered….
That is why his gift, his raising of mayin nukvin to that level, could include impure animals like nursing camels. All the animals were also sent alive, not slaughtered.
כי להיות האור בבחי׳ א״ס לכן אין שם הצמצומים והדקדוקים כי א״ס ב״ה הוא כל יכול לסבול הכל אף טמאין ושיהיו חיין כו׳ שאין נמצא שם דקדוקים וצמצומים כלל.
For since the light is on the level of the Infinite, therefore there are no contractions and precise details there; for the Infinite One, blessed be He, is all-capable, able to bear everything, even impure [animals], and that they be alive…, for no precise details and contractions are found there at all.
At the level of the Infinite there are no contractions or fine details. The Infinite One, being all-capable, can bear everything, even impure and living animals, since nothing there is limited or defined.
The paragraph sums up the contrast: the Torah’s precise sacrifices match the contracted light of Tikkun, while Jacob’s unrestricted gift matched the infinite encompassing light of Tohu.
The Kehot note points out that Likkutei Torah, Shelach, seems to refer back to this discussion of Jacob’s gift when it speaks of a drawing-down “like the Torah above.”
Marei mekomos
- 1אבל יעקב העלה מ״ן לבחי׳ המקיף דתהו · בלקו״ת שלח נא, א כנראה שמציין לכאן ”שהמשכתם היה כמו בתורה שלמעלה (ועמ״ש קצת כעין זה ע״פ וישלח יעקב)”. מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ תרנה. ומציין גם לקו״ת חקת ס, א.
Camels, the pig, and the limits after Sinai ¶10
10וכמארז״ל גבי חזיר שעתיד לחזור וליטהר1 היינו לע״ל שיבולע המות לנצח2 ואז יתגלה עצמות א״ס ויוכל גם חזיר להתעלות משא״כ עתה.
And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said regarding the pig (chazir), that it is destined to return (lachazor) and become pure, that is, in the Time to Come, when “death will be swallowed up forever”; then the Essence of the Infinite One will be revealed, and even the pig will be able to be elevated, which is not so now.
The Sages interpret the name chazir (pig) as coming from lachazor, “to return”: in the future it will become pure. That will happen when death is abolished and G‑d’s infinite Essence is revealed, so that even the pig can be elevated, which is not possible now.
לכן יעקב ששלח המנחה לעשו שהוא העלאת מ״ן למקיף דתהו שבבחי׳ א״ס שלח ג״כ דברים טמאים ולכך שלח ג״כ גמלים מניקות כי אדרבה שרשן של גמלים הוא מאד נעלה
Therefore Jacob, who sent the gift to Esau, which is the raising of mayin nukvin to the encompassing light of Tohu that is on the level of the Infinite, also sent impure things; and that is why he also sent nursing camels, for on the contrary, the root of camels is very lofty,
Because Jacob’s gift was aimed at the encompassing light of Tohu, on the level of the Infinite, he could include impure animals. He sent camels in particular because, far from being lowly, their spiritual root is very high.
כמ״ש באליעזר עבד אברהם שלקח יו״ד גמלים מגמלי אדניו3 וכל טוב אדניו בידו והוא ענין כגמול עלי אמו4 כו׳ וכ״ז לא היה יכול לעשות רק יעקב וקודם מ״ת
as is written of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, that he took ten camels of his master’s camels, “with all his master’s goods in his hand”; and this is the idea of “like a weaned child (gamul) upon his mother….” And all this none but Jacob could do, and [only] before the Giving of the Torah.
The height of camels is hinted at in Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, taking ten of his master’s camels “with all his master’s goods in his hand,” and in the word gamal (camel), which recalls gamul, “a weaned child upon his mother.” Only Jacob could do this, and only before the Torah was given at Sinai.
אבל אנחנו כבר ניתן לנו התורה מבחי׳ התקון ומה שהוא טמא ואסור ע״פ התורה הוא מרוחק ולא יוכל להתעלות כלל כו׳ והכרת תכרת הנפש באכלה חלב5 כו׳ וכיוצא:
But as for us, the Torah has already been given to us from the level of Tikkun, and whatever is impure and forbidden according to the Torah is distant and cannot be elevated at all…; and “that soul shall be utterly cut off” for eating forbidden fat…, and the like.
Now that we have received the Torah from the level of Tikkun, whatever it declares impure or forbidden is distant from holiness and cannot be elevated. That is why eating forbidden fat carries the severe penalty of karet (being cut off).
The maamar ends by showing that Jacob’s use of impure animals anticipates the future elevation of all things, while stressing that for us, after Sinai, the Torah’s prohibitions are absolute.
The link of gamal to gamul, weaning, suggests a level beyond ordinary nourishment; the Kehot notes list the Shelah, Midrash Talpiyot citing Rabbeinu Bachya, and Sefer HaKanah as sources for the tradition about the pig.
Marei mekomos
- 1וכמארז״ל גבי חזיר שעתיד לחזור וליטהר · ראה של״ה פ׳ חיי שרה. מדרש תלפיות ענף חזיר בשם רבינו בחיי. ס׳ הקנה. לקו״ת ד״ה וכל בניך ס״ג. וראה הערת כ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע בהמשך מים רבים תרל״ו ע׳ פד. ובכ״מ. סה״ש תנש״א ח״א ע׳ 162 ובמ״מ לשם.
- 2שיבולע המות לנצח · Isaiah 25:8
- 3י׳ גמלים מגמלי אדוניו · Genesis 24:10
- 4כגמול עלי אמו · Psalms 131:2
- 5והכרת תכרת הנפש באכלה חלב · Leviticus 7:25
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
A broad mind, like the vessels of Tikkun, can hold opposing considerations, such as kindness and judgment, together. And while the maamar shows that the loftiest light transcends all limits, it concludes that for us, after the giving of the Torah, the path to G‑d runs through the Torah’s precise laws: what the Torah forbids cannot be elevated.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the arousal from below have to match the kind of flow one wishes to draw down?
- How does the analogy of the narrow-minded and broad-minded judge explain the difference between Tohu and Tikkun?
- Why are the Torah’s laws of sacrifice so exact, according to this maamar?
- What allowed Jacob to send impure, living animals as his offering, and why can we not do the same?
- What do the pig’s future purity and the camel’s lofty root teach about the relationship between the Infinite and the impure?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Sefirosספירות
- The ten divine attributes through which G‑d relates to creation. ×1
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×4
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×1
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- Harmony of kindness and restraint; associated with compassion.
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d. ×1
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- The kav (line of light)קו
- The thin ray of light drawn into the space left after the tzimtzum. ×4
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- Perseverance, the drive to overcome. ×1