Torah Ohr · Parshas Yisro · Maamar 1
בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום…
“In the third month”
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The big idea
Receiving the Torah gave Israel what contemplation, even the Patriarchs’ love, could not guarantee: strength for the G‑dly soul to break out of the body’s constraints. That strength comes through self-nullification, in which a person’s Torah is G‑d’s own word speaking through him, as the moon has no light but the sun’s.
The maamar in brief
Scripture says Israel reached Sinai “on this day” without naming the day; the Sages show it was Rosh Chodesh. To explain why it is called “this day,” the Alter Rebbe asks what the giving of the Torah added to the Patriarchs. Avraham rose out of “Egypt,” the constraints of the body, to a love in which his soul longed to expire into G‑d, by contemplating that all the worlds are only G‑d’s “speech” and “handiwork,” while He Himself is unchanged. Most people contemplate this and remain unmoved, because the body’s physicality weakens the soul. The Torah, called “strength” and tushiyah, empowers the G‑dly soul and weakens the sitra achra, because its source is G‑d’s essence. The word “saying” in the Ten Commandments gave Israel the power to speak Torah as G‑d’s own word, in self-nullification, which is why study calls for the awe of Sinai. Like the moon, which has no light of its own, Israel receive the light of Havayah, the sun. On Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the new moon after the preparation of the Omer, this self-nullifying love was revealed: “this day.”
Outline
- “On this day” and what Sinai addedThe verse says only “this day,” and the Sages show it was Rosh Chodesh. To explain why, the Alter Rebbe asks what the Torah added to the Patriarchs, beginning with Avraham’s ascent to the higher love.¶1–2
- Avraham’s love and the soul’s weaknessAvraham rose out of “Egypt,” the body’s constraints, to kelos hanefesh, by contemplating that the worlds are only G‑d’s speech and handiwork while He is unchanged. Others contemplate the same and stay unmoved, because the body’s physicality weakens the soul.¶3–8
- The Torah as strength and tushiyahThe Torah gives the G‑dly soul strength and weakens the sitra achra, bringing peace above and below; its power comes from its source in G‑d’s essence, with which it is one.¶9–10
- “Saying”: G‑d’s word in our mouths“Saying” in the Ten Commandments gave Israel the power to speak all of Torah as G‑d’s word from Sinai, in self-nullification, like one who repeats after the speaker; hence the awe of Sinai in every study.¶11–14
- Anochi and the way out of EgyptThrough the Torah, G‑d’s essence (Anochi) reaches Israel through Havayah until it is “your G‑d,” freeing the soul from its Egypt. Love born of the higher unity overcomes both inclinations, as in the Shema of the people of Jericho.¶15–17
- The moon and the sunIsrael are like the moon, with nothing of their own: the Infinite Light, the “sun” of Havayah, dwells and speaks in their Torah and service. Through tzedakah and self-nullifying service it shines below as above.¶18–21
- Rosh Chodesh SivanAfter the preparation of the Omer, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the new moon, revealed self-nullifying love, “this day.” The “wilderness” of Sinai is speech nullified to G‑d’s word, and leaving Refidim is the end of the soul’s weakness.¶22–23
Key concepts
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one’s own sense of self before G‑d. Here it is the key to Torah study: one speaks the Torah only as one who repeats what G‑d says, so that His word, not the person, is heard.
- The soul’s expiry (kelos hanefesh)כלות הנפש
- A love of G‑d so intense that the soul longs to leave the body and be absorbed in Him. Avraham reached it; Malachi’s “you have not expired” is read as wonder that others do not.
- Egypt as constraintמצרים / מצר וגבול
- The narrowness (meitzar) that the body and the animal soul impose on the G‑dly soul. Avraham’s going up from Egypt and the Exodus are read as the soul’s release from it.
- Strength (oz) and tushiyahעוז ותושיה
- Two names of the Torah: oz, the strength it gives the G‑dly soul, and tushiyah, which the Talmud connects with weakening, its power to sap the sitra achra.
- “Saying” (leimor)לאמר
- The word that introduces the Ten Commandments. Since all Israel heard them directly, it is read as the power given to Israel to “say” the Torah themselves, so that a sage’s halachah is G‑d’s word from Sinai.
- Anochiאנכי
- “I,” the first word of the Ten Commandments, read as G‑d’s very essence, which through the Torah reaches Israel by way of the Name Havayah until it is “your G‑d.”
- The moon that has nothing of its ownלית לה מגרמה כלום
- The moon receives all its light from the sun and shrinks to a point when it stands beneath it. Israel, whose Torah and service “have nothing of their own,” are like the moon to the sun of Havayah.
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- G‑d’s light beyond the worlds, before whom above and below are equal and nothing changed with creation. Contemplating it gives rise to Avraham’s love, and it is the source of the Torah.
“On this day” and what Sinai added ¶1–2
“In the third month after the children of Israel went out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the wilderness of Sinai.” Now, it says simply “on this day,” and does not
The maamar opens with the verse that tells when Israel reached Mount Sinai: in the third month after the Exodus, “on this day.” The Alter Rebbe notes that the verse says only “this day” and does not name the day of the month.
specify which day; only our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded that it was on Rosh Chodesh: it is written here, “on this day,” and it is written there, “This month shall be for you.”
The Sages identified the day by a verbal analogy (gezeirah shavah): the word “this” links our verse to “This month (hachodesh) shall be for you,” the verse about the new moon, so the day was Rosh Chodesh. The maamar will ask why Scripture calls Rosh Chodesh simply “this day.”
The paragraph sets out the verse and its puzzle: Scripture says only “on this day,” and the Sages, comparing it with “This month shall be for you,” show that the day was Rosh Chodesh.
A talk of Shabbos Parshas Shelach 5748, cited in the Kehot notes, stresses that the Torah dates the giving of the Torah only to “the third month,” so that the Talmud records two opinions about the day; the “third day” of Exodus 19:16 is one of the days of preparation, not the third of the month.
Marei mekomos
- 1בחדש השלישי · נדפס גם בתו״א לעמבערג דף ה, א. הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי בסה״מ תקס״ז ע׳ קמו: בשבת שלפני שבועות. ובע׳ שעה ביאור נוסף. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. הגהות וקיצורים באוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תשעב. תשעג. תשצ. שייך לביאור ע׳ תשצב. קיצורים בכרך ח ע׳ ב׳תתקעה. עוד קטע לכאן ע׳ ב׳תתקעו. חלק נעתק גם בסה״מ תרל״ג כרך א ע׳ רצג עם הגהות ושינוים (מיוסד על הנדפס באוה״ת פ׳ יתרו ע׳ תשעג). וראה גם באוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תשסח ואילך. חלק מהמאמר הושווה לבוך 1052 כתי״ק מהרי״ל (רוב הכת״י דהה מאוד וא״א לפענח האותיות). לכללות מאמר זה ראה אוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתסו. בסה״מ תרנ״ה ע׳ פח [שמיוסד על ד״ה בס׳ תרל״ג הנ״ל]. ד״ה באתי לגני תשל״ו. פלח הרמון שמות ע׳ רכ.
- 2בחדש השלישי · Exodus 19:1
- 3ביום הזה . . שהוא בר״ח · Shabbat 86b:5
- 4החדש הזה לכם · Exodus 12:2
- 5למה נק׳ ר״ח . . ביום הזה · ראה בחיי כאן יט, א. בתקס״ז ע׳ קמו: ”למה נק׳ ר״ח זה”.
2ולהבין למה נק׳ ר״ח בכתוב בלשון ביום הזה. יובן בהקדים ענין מעלת קבלת התורה והלא קודם מ״ת היו כמה צדיקים1 והאבות2 הן הן המרכבה3 ג״כ4 קודם שנתנה התורה.
And [we need] to understand why Rosh Chodesh is called in Scripture by the expression “on this day.” It will be understood by first introducing the matter of the virtue of receiving the Torah. Yet surely, before the giving of the Torah there were a number of tzaddikim, and “the Patriarchs are themselves the chariot,” also before the Torah was given.
Before answering, the Alter Rebbe asks what the giving of the Torah added. There were righteous people before Sinai, and the Midrash says that “the Patriarchs are themselves the chariot”: they were wholly given over to G‑d’s will, as a chariot has no will of its own apart from its rider.
אך הענין כי הנה מעלת אברהם הוא שהי׳ הולך ונסוע הנגבה.5 פי׳ שהי׳ הולך ונסוע ממדרגה למדרגה6 עד שבא הנגבה הוא בחי׳ ומדת אהבה7 העליונה.8
But the explanation is this: the virtue of Avraham is that he was “going on and journeying toward the south” (hanegbah). This means that he was going and journeying from level to level until he came to “the south,” which is the level and attribute of the higher love.
The answer begins with Avraham. The verse says he went “journeying toward the south,” and the Alter Rebbe reads it as an inner ascent: Avraham rose from level to level until he reached “the south,” the attribute of the higher love.
The paragraph asks why Rosh Chodesh is called “this day,” and prepares the answer by asking what the giving of the Torah added to the Patriarchs, beginning with Avraham’s ascent from level to level to the higher love.
The Kehot note says that the Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript gives this reading in the name of the Zohar; the Zohar there reads “going on and journeying toward the south” as “level after level,” until Avraham was crowned in the south, his portion. Likkutei Torah (Beha’alosecha) reads the verse the same way: Avraham went from level to level, from below upward, until he cleaved to the south, the love of G‑d.
Marei mekomos
- 1שו״ה צדיקים — צדיקים · בבוך 1052 (בכתי״ק מהרי״ל): צדיקים גדולים.
- 2היו כמה צדיקים והאבות · לקמן עג, ג ”צדיקים ונביאים כמו אדם הראשון חנוך מתושלח כו׳, ואברהם קיים כל התורה”. ולקמן צו, ג מביא רק אברהם. בסה״מ תקס״ב ע׳ יא ”מתושלח נח ואברהם” (מובא גם באוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תשנד). בסה״מ תרל״ג ובסה״מ תרנ״ה ע׳ פח: כמו מתושלח ואברהם והאבות.
- 3והאבות הן הן המרכבה · Bereshit Rabbah 47:6
- 4שו״ה צדיקים — ג״כ · בבוך 1052: גם.
- 5הלוך ונסוע הנגבה · Genesis 12:9
- 6שהי׳ הולך ונסוע ממדרגה למדרגה · Zohar I, 84a
- 7שו״ה אהבה — מעלייה לעלייה · בבוך 1052: מעילוי לעילוי.
- 8הנגבה הוא בחי׳ ומדת אהבה העליונה · וכ״ה בלקו״ת בהעלותך כט, ג.
Avraham’s love and the soul’s weakness ¶3–8
3וכ״כ היה הולך מעלייה לעלייה עד שהיה בבחי׳ מרכבה ממש לאהבה זו העליונה עד שהיתה בבחי׳ גילוי בנפשו ממש והליכה זו היא ממטה למעלה מבחי׳ מצרים
And he went so far, from ascent to ascent, that he was at the level of an actual chariot for this higher love, until it was in a state of revelation in his very soul. And this going is from below to above, out of the level of Egypt (Mitzrayim),
Avraham’s climb made him a “chariot” for this love, so that it was openly revealed in his soul. The climb was a going up out of “Egypt” (Mitzrayim), a name the Alter Rebbe reads as meitzar, constraint.
כמ״ש ויעל אברם ממצרים1 דהיינו בחי׳ מצר וגבול שמצד הגוף ונפש הבהמית המגבילים ומלבישים את נפש האלקית שבאדם עד שאע״פ
as it is written, “And Avram went up out of Egypt”: that is, the level of constraint (meitzar) and limitation that comes from the body and the animal soul, which limit and clothe the G‑dly soul in a person, so that even though
The proof is the verse “And Avram went up out of Egypt.” Inwardly, “Egypt” is the narrowness and limitation that the body and the animal soul impose on the G‑dly soul, which they hem in and clothe.
שנפשו האלקית היא משכלת ומתבוננת בגדולת א״ס ב״ה והתפשטותיו על הנבראים שהוא חיי החיים ואתה מחיה את כלם.2 את השמים ואת הארץ אני מלא ומכה״כ.3
his G‑dly soul understands and contemplates the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, and His extending over the created beings, that He is the Life of all life, and “You give life to them all,” “The heavens and the earth I fill,” and “the whole earth is full of His glory,”
Even when the G‑dly soul grasps G‑d’s greatness, that He is the life of all things and fills heaven and earth, as the verses say, that understanding alone does not set it free. The abbreviation at the end stands for “the whole earth is full of His glory,” from Isaiah’s vision.
אעפ״כ אינו בכח נפשו לצאת מנרתקה הוא מאסר הגוף להיות בבחי׳ אתכפייא ואתהפכא כו׳ רק הגוף עומד על עמדו בתקפו ובגבורתו כתולדתו.
nevertheless it is not in the power of his soul to go out of its sheath, which is the prison of the body, so as to be at the level of subjugation (iskafya) and transformation (ishapcha), etc. Rather, the body stands in its place, in its strength and its might, just as it was born.
The soul still lacks the strength to leave its “sheath,” the prison of the body, and to bring the body’s drives to be subdued (iskafya) or transformed (ishapcha). The body remains as strong as it was at birth, untouched by what the soul understands.
The paragraph describes Avraham’s rise out of the “Egypt” of the body’s constraints, and the ordinary person’s situation: the soul may understand G‑d’s greatness, yet the body stays as it was.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויעל אברם ממצרים · Genesis 13:1
- 2ואתה מחיה את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
- 3את השמים ואת הארץ אני מלא ומכה״כ · Jeremiah 23:24
4וכמארז״ל גנבא אפום מחתרתא1 כו׳. ומעלת אברהם היתה שעלה מבחי׳ מצר זה לדבקה נפשו באהבה עליונה עד שתחפוץ להתפשט מלבושי׳ שבנגה שמצד הגוף להיות בבחי׳ בטול אליו ית׳ לבדו בבחי׳ כלות הנפש ממש.
And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The thief at the mouth of the tunnel,” etc. And the virtue of Avraham was that he rose up out of this level of constraint, so that his soul cleaved in a higher love, until it would desire to strip itself of its garments of nogah that come from the body, so as to be in a state of self-nullification (bittul) toward Him alone, blessed be He, in a state of the soul’s actual expiry (kelos hanefesh).
The Sages’ saying about the thief who, at the mouth of the tunnel he is digging, calls on G‑d illustrates the point: a person can believe in G‑d and still do what the body wants. Avraham was different: he rose out of these constraints until his soul longed to shed its “garments of nogah,” the layer bound to the body that is neither holy nor wholly evil, and to be nullified to G‑d alone in kelos hanefesh, a yearning so strong that the soul would expire.
The paragraph contrasts the ordinary case, shown by the thief who prays as he breaks in, with Avraham, whose love brought his soul to the point of expiring into G‑d.
The Kehot note locates the thief’s saying at the end of Tractate Berakhot, in the version of the Ein Yaakov; in full it says that the thief at the mouth of his tunnel calls out to the Merciful One.
Marei mekomos
- 1גנבא אפום מחתרתא · סוף ברכות ע״פ גירסת העין יעקב.
5והנה אהבה זו באה מחמת התבוננות1 באור א״ס ב״ה עצמו הסוכ״ע דלית מחשבה ת״ב כלל2 כי מלכותך מלכות כ״ע3 בחי׳ מלך לבד שהוא בחי׳ דבור כמ״ש דבר מלך שלטון.4
Now, this love comes from contemplating the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself, the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which no thought can grasp at all. For “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds”: [this is] the level of King alone, which is the level of speech, as it is written, “The word of a king is sovereign.”
Avraham’s love came from contemplating the Infinite Light that “encompasses” all worlds (sovev kol almin), beyond any grasp. By contrast, G‑d’s “kingship” over the worlds is only the level of “King,” whose instrument is speech, as a king rules by his word.
וכמאמר ברוך שאמר5 והיה העולם אמירה בלבד שמזה נמשך חיות כל העולמות וקיומם והתהוותם מאין ליש שאין זה אלא בחי׳ הארה בעלמא
And as in the saying, “Blessed is He who spoke, and the world came to be”: by an utterance alone, from which is drawn the life-force of all the worlds, their existence and their coming into being from nothing into something; and this is no more than the level of a mere glimmer.
The prayer “Blessed is He who spoke, and the world came to be” shows that all creation comes from mere speech. So all the life, existence and creation of the worlds from nothing is only a faint glimmer of G‑d’s light.
וכמ״ש תתברך בשמים ממעל6 ועל הארץ מתחת על כל שבח מעשה ידיך7 שכל העולמות שמים וארץ מן הארץ לרקיע ת״ק שנה89 אינה
And as it is said, “May You be blessed in the heavens above and on the earth below, for all the praise of the work of Your hands”: for all the worlds, heaven and earth — from the earth to the firmament is [a journey of] five hundred years — are nothing
A second proof comes from the blessing before the Shema, which calls heaven and earth “the work of Your hands.” Even worlds so vast that, according to the Talmud, the distance from the earth to the firmament is a five-hundred-year journey are only G‑d’s handiwork.
אלא בחי׳ מעשה ידיך שכמו במעשה ידי אדם עד״מ אינו מלובש אלא כח המעשה10 שהוא לבוש החיצוני של הנפש.
but the level of “the work of Your hands.” For just as with the work of a person’s hands, by way of analogy, nothing is invested [in it] but the power of action, which is the outer garment of the soul,
The analogy: what a person makes with his hands holds only his power of action, the outermost of the soul’s garments of thought, speech and action. Nothing of the person’s inner self is in it.
כך החיות המלובש בכל העולמות אינן אלא בבחי׳ כח המעשה שהוא כח החיצוני והארה בעלמא שאינו נוגע לעצמות ומהות הנפש כלל.
so too the life-force invested in all the worlds is only at the level of the power of action, which is an outer power and a mere glimmer, which does not touch the essence and being of the soul at all.
So too the divine life-force in all the worlds is like that outer power of action, a mere glimmer that does not touch G‑d’s essence. Contemplating this shows how far G‑d Himself is beyond all the worlds.
The paragraph explains what Avraham contemplated: all the worlds come only from G‑d’s “speech” and “handiwork,” an outer glimmer like a craftsman’s power of action, while G‑d Himself, the Infinite Light, is beyond them.
The Kehot note cites Kuntres Etz HaChaim, which reads this passage as showing that the service of the higher unity is needed by everyone: though few truly reach it, each person must strive for it, and then, at least for a time, he will desire it.
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה אהבה זו באה מחמת התבוננות · בקונטרס עץ החיים סעי׳ ז מבאר שכאן מבואר איך בהכרח שתהיה העבודה דיחו״ע בכאו״א, ובהקיצור שם כתב ”יסביר אשר אף דעבודה דיחו״ע באמיתית מועטים השייכים אלי׳, מ״מ הכרח לכאו״א להשתדל בזה, ואז, לפי שעה עכ״פ יחפוץ בזה” ע״ש.
- 2שו״ה ת״ב — כלל · תי׳ זו ליתא בבוך 1052.
- 3מלכותך מלכות כ״ע · Psalms 145:13
- 4דבר מלך שלטון · Ecclesiastes 8:4
- 5וכמאמר ברוך שאמר · ראה גם לעיל נד, א.
- 6
- 7תתברך . . שבח מעשה ידיך · נוסח ברכות ק״ש. בלקו״ת ברכה צז, א. שה״ש מד, ג — מציין לכאן.
- 8מן הארץ לרקיע ת״ק שנה · Chagigah 13a:3
- 9שו״ה הארץ — ת״ק שנה · בבוך 1052: ת״ק שנה כו׳ ת״ק שנה כו׳.
- 10אינו מלובש אלא כח המעשה · בחי׳ עשי׳. בסה״מ תקס״ז ע׳ קמז-ח מבאר באריכות גם ביצירה ובבריאה.
6ובורא קדושים ישתבח שמך1 לעד כו׳ שהקדושים שהם מלאכים ונשמות הם בחינת שם בלבד שהוא ג״כ אינו אלא זיו והארה כו׳
And “Creator of holy beings, may Your Name be praised forever,” etc.: for the holy beings, which are angels and souls, are only the level of a name, which is also no more than a radiance and a glimmer, etc.,
Another phrase of the same blessing, “Creator of holy beings, may Your Name be praised,” points to a higher level. The angels and souls, the “holy beings,” relate to G‑d’s “Name,” which is also only a radiance.
אלא שאינם בבחי׳ מעשה ידיך כמו חיצוניות העולמות כי הנה כח המעשה2 המלובש באיזה כלי או שאר דבר מעשה ידי אדם עד״מ
except that they are not at the level of “the work of Your hands,” like the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the worlds. For as for the power of action invested in some vessel, or in any other thing that is the work of a person’s hands, by way of analogy,
Yet they stand above the outer dimension of the worlds, which is “the work of Your hands.” To explain the difference, the Alter Rebbe returns to the analogy of a craftsman’s power of action invested in an object.
הנה הכח ההוא אין לו שייכות כלל עם עצמות ומהות הנפש כי נעשה נפרד מובדל ממנו וע״י אחיזת הכלי עם הכח המלובש בו אין נמשך עצמות אדם אחריו.
that power has no connection at all with the essence and being of the soul, for it has become separate and set apart from it. And by taking hold of the vessel with the power invested in it, the person’s essence is not drawn after it.
That power becomes separate from the craftsman: holding the object does not draw the person himself along with it.
משא״כ בקראו שמו נמשך ג״כ עצמות האדם שהשם הוא זיו והארה הנוגע לעצמות הנפש ועודנו קשור ומיוחד עמה.
This is not so when one calls him by his name: then the person’s essence is drawn as well, for the name is a radiance and a glimmer that touches the essence of the soul, and it is still bound and united with it.
A name is different. When a person is called by his name, he himself responds, because a name, though only a radiance, is still bound up with the essence of the soul.
אך עכ״ז אין זה אלא בחי׳ זיו. אבל הוא ית׳ בכבודו ובעצמו רם3 ונשא כו׳.
Nevertheless, this is only the level of radiance. But He, blessed be He, in His own glory and essence, is high and exalted, etc.
Still, a name is only a radiance. G‑d Himself, “in His glory and essence,” is exalted far above both the worlds and the holy beings.
The paragraph distinguishes two levels of G‑d’s outward expression: the worlds are like a craftsman’s handiwork, wholly separate from him, while angels and souls are like a person’s name, still bound to him; G‑d Himself is beyond both.
Tanya (Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, ch. 2), to which the Kehot note points, uses the craftsman’s vessel from the other side: a silversmith’s vessel keeps its form after his hands leave it, because human making only reshapes existing matter, while creation from nothing depends on G‑d’s power at every moment.
Marei mekomos
- 1ובורא קדושים ישתבח שמך · קטע מכאן מובא בסה״מ תרל״ג ח״א ע׳ קפח.
- 2כי הנה כח המעשה · Tanya, Sha’ar HaYichud 2:1
- 3שו״ה בכבודו — רם · בבוך 1052: הוא רם.
7והוא הוא הסוכ״ע ומעלה ומטה שוים לפניו כו׳. וכמ״ש אני ה׳ לא שניתי1 ואי לזאת תשפך הנפש אל חיק אביה2 ממש להיות נכספה
And it is He who is the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), and above and below are equal before Him, etc. As it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed.” And therefore the soul will pour itself out into the very bosom of its Father, so as to be “longing,”
G‑d Himself is the level that “encompasses all worlds,” before whom above and below are the same; “I, Havayah, have not changed” teaches that He is no different after creation than before it. Grasping this, the soul pours itself out toward G‑d like a child into its father’s embrace, and begins to “long.”
וגם כלתה נפשי3 להיות בבחינת בטול ממש אליו ית׳ לבדו וכמ״ש מי לי בשמים4 וז״ש אני ה׳ לא שניתי ואתם בני יעקב לא כליתם.
“and indeed my soul expires,” so as to be in a state of complete self-nullification (bittul) toward Him alone, blessed be He, as it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven?” And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed, and you, the children of Yaakov, have not expired.”
The psalm continues, “and indeed my soul expires”: the soul reaches complete self-nullification to G‑d alone, as in “Whom do I have in heaven?” This is why the prophet joins “I have not changed” to “you have not expired.”
פי׳ שהנביא מתמה על ישראל הרי אני ה׳ לא שניתי ומפני מה לא כליתם שאין לכם כלות הנפש.5
That is, the prophet wonders at Israel: Behold, “I, Havayah, have not changed,” so for what reason “have you not expired,” [meaning] that you do not have the soul’s expiry (kelos hanefesh)?
Read this way, Malachi’s verse is a prophet’s astonished question: since G‑d is unchanged by creation, why do Israel not reach kelos hanefesh, the soul’s longing to the point of expiry?
אך דבר הגורם להיות מונע ומעכב את הנפש מבחי׳ בטול זה כמו שהעיד הכתוב ואתם בני יעקב לא כליתם הגם שיתבונן בגדולת א״ס ב״ה
But as for the thing that causes the soul to be held back and hindered from this level of self-nullification, as the verse testified, “and you, the children of Yaakov, have not expired,” even though one contemplates the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He,
The Alter Rebbe now asks what holds the soul back, as the verse testifies, even when a person contemplates G‑d’s greatness.
כי אני ה׳ לא שניתי ולא כל האדם זוכה למעלת ומדרגת אברהם שנעשה מרכבה בבחי׳ בטול ממש באהבה עליונה מחמת התבוננות זו. הנה הסבה היא חלישת כח הנפש שאין בכחה לצאת מנרתקה ומאסרה.6
that “I, Havayah, have not changed,” and not every person merits the virtue and rank of Avraham, who became a chariot in a state of complete self-nullification in the higher love because of this contemplation: the cause is the weakness of the soul’s power, for it does not have the strength to go out of its sheath and its prison.
Not everyone becomes, like Avraham, a “chariot” of the higher love through such contemplation. The cause is the soul’s weakness: it lacks the strength to break out of its sheath, the prison of the body.
The paragraph shows that contemplating G‑d’s unchanging transcendence should bring the soul to kelos hanefesh, reads Malachi’s “you have not expired” as the prophet’s wonder that it does not, and names the reason: the soul’s weakness inside the body.
Tanya (ch. 50), cited in the note, describes this love as fiery coals: contemplating G‑d’s greatness makes the soul thirst for Him, then grow love-sick, and finally reach kelos hanefesh, quoting the same “and indeed my soul expires.” Likkutei Torah (Rosh Hashanah) reads Malachi’s verse the same way: even when the heart understands that all is as nothing before G‑d, it is not moved to its very core.
Marei mekomos
- 1אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 2אל חיק אביה · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 50:6
- 3נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי · Psalms 84:3
- 4מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
- 5שהנביא מתמה על ישראל . . שאין לכם כלות הנפש · בלקו״ש חי״ז ע׳ 116 מציין ללקו״ת ר״ה סא, ד. וראה בסה״מ תרל״ד ע׳ קמא ”והיינו כי ע״י ההתבוננות בבחי׳ אני ה׳ לא שניתי ואתה הוא קודם שנבה״ע ואתה הוא לאחר שנבה״ע בלי שום שינוי כלל וכלל, והיינו לפי שכללות ההשתלשלות הוא מבחי׳ הארה בעלמא שאינו נוגע כלל . . ואי לזאת באיזה יחפוץ אם בהארה הנפרשת או בעצמותו עיקר ומקור לכל, וע״ז מתמה הנביא על ישראל מדוע לא כליתם”. ראה גם בסה״מ תרס״ב ע׳ תטו.
- 6שאין בכחה לצאת מנרתקה ומאסרה · ראה קונטרס עץ החיים פ״ז.
8והוא מ״ש כשל בעוני כח1 שע״י העונות נכשל ונתחלש כח הנפש2 וכמ״ש כי אם עונותיכם3 היו מבדילים ביניכם לבין אלהיכם ולא עונות ממש אלא גשמיות הגוף וחומריותו הוא שנעשה מסך מבדיל
And this is what is written, “My strength stumbles through my iniquity”: through iniquities the power of the soul stumbles and is weakened. And as it is written, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your G‑d.” And [this means] not actual iniquities; rather, the physicality of the body and its materiality is what becomes a separating screen,
The soul’s weakness is tied to the verse “My strength stumbles through my iniquity” and to Isaiah’s “your iniquities have separated between you and your G‑d.” The Alter Rebbe adds that the separating “screen” here is not actual sin but the body’s physicality and coarseness.
שהוא הוא המצר וגבול שמגביל ומלביש את הנפש עד שמורידה לימשך אחריה ואינה יכולה לעלות ולצאת ממנה4 וע״ז נאמר ותרא את עני אבותינו5 היינו מדות אהוי״ר כו׳ אברהם מדת האהבה כו׳:
which is itself the constraint and limitation that limits and clothes the soul, until it brings it down to be drawn after it, and it cannot rise and go out of it. And of this it is said, “And You saw the affliction of our fathers”: that is, the attributes of love and awe, etc., Avraham [being] the attribute of love, etc.
This physicality is the “constraint” of Egypt that hems in the soul and drags it after the body, so that it cannot rise. “And You saw the affliction of our fathers” in Egypt refers to the confinement of the attributes of love and awe, the attributes of the Patriarchs, with Avraham as the attribute of love.
The paragraph identifies what weakens the soul: not literal sins but the body’s physicality, the “Egypt” that confines the love and awe of the Patriarchs within each person.
A maamar beginning “Pesal Lecha” (Sefer HaMaamarim 5662), cited in the note, adds that avon here need not mean an actual sin: the word suggests crookedness, bending one’s way after the body’s materiality and desires until the G‑dly soul too is caught and cannot get out.
Marei mekomos
- 1כשל בעוני כחי · Psalms 31:11
- 2שע״י העונות נכשל ונתחלש כח הנפש · בד״ה פסל לך תרס״ב ע׳ תטו מוסיף ”ולא דוקא עון ממש אלא הוא לשון עיוות ועקום מה שמעוות ומעקם דרכו לילך אחרי חומריות ותאוות הגוף ונה״ב עד שגם נה״א נסרך ונדבק שאינו יכול ליצא (אַרויסגיין) משם”. ראה גם בתרל״ג שם ע׳ רצה.
- 3כי אם עונותיכם · Isaiah 59:2
- 4ואינה יכולה לעלות ולצאת ממנה · בקונטרס עץ החיים שם ”ואדרבה מורידו כו׳”.
- 5ותרא את עני אבותינו · Nehemiah 9:9
The Torah as strength and tushiyah ¶9–10
9ולזה נתנה התורה לישראל1 שהתורה נק׳ עוז2 שהיא הנותנת כח ועוז לנפש האלקית להתגבר על חומריות הגוף ונפש הבהמית וגסותן לצאת ממסגר אסיר.3
And for this the Torah was given to Israel. For the Torah is called ‘strength’ (oz), since it is what gives power and strength to the G‑dly soul to overcome the materiality of the body and of the animal soul, and their coarseness, so as to go out from the prisoner’s confinement.
This is why the Torah was given. The Torah is called oz, “strength,” because it gives the G‑dly soul the power to overcome the coarseness of the body and the animal soul and to go free, like a prisoner leaving his confinement.
וזהו ה׳ עוז לעמו יתן4 ה׳ יברך את עמו בשלום כי ע״י התורה שנק׳ עוז נעשה בשלום פי׳ ב׳ שלום.
And this is [the meaning of] “G‑d will give strength to His people; G‑d will bless His people with peace”: for through the Torah, which is called ‘strength,’ there comes about “with peace” (beshalom), meaning two (beis) [kinds of] peace.
The verse “G‑d will give strength (oz) to His people; G‑d will bless His people with peace” is read accordingly: through the Torah, “strength,” comes “peace.” The word beshalom is read as beis shalom, “two peaces,” since the letter beis stands for two.
כמארז״ל עושה שלום בפמליא של מעלה5 ובפמליא של מטה. שלום היינו התקשרות בפמליא של מעלה היינו בחי׳ גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה ממש בנפש האלקית להיות קשורה ומיוחדת בבחי׳ בטול ממש.
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “He makes peace in the household above and in the household below.” ‘Peace’ means connection. In the household above, that is, the level of the revelation of the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the G‑dly soul, so that it be bound and united in a state of complete self-nullification (bittul).
The two are the Sages’ “peace in the household above and in the household below.” Peace means connection; in the “household above,” the G‑dly soul, the Infinite Light is revealed, so that the soul is bound to G‑d in self-nullification.
The paragraph answers what the Torah added: it is “strength” that empowers the G‑dly soul and brings a twofold peace, the first being the soul’s bond with the Infinite Light.
Likkutei Torah (Shir HaShirim), to which the note points, defines peace as the joining of two opposites: lofty lights, whose nature is to rise away, shine below. It explains the peace above and below as the drawing of the Infinite Light into Atzilus and of Malchus of Atzilus into Beriah, which one who studies Torah for its own sake draws down.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולזה ניתנה התורה לישראל · ראה ד״ה ויתן לך ש״פ תולדות תרס״ו.
- 2שהתורה נק׳ עוז · Vayikra Rabbah 31:5
- 3ממסגר אסיר · Isaiah 42:7
- 4ה׳ עוז לעמו יתן · Psalms 29:11
- 5עושה שלום בפמליא של מעלה · Sanhedrin 99b:10–11
10ובפמליא של מטה היינו הארת כחות נפש האלקית המלובשת בגוף ונה״ב שלא יהיה מונע ומעכב מצד הגוף ונפשו הבהמית רק שיהיו כולם מסכימים ומתרצים ליחוד זה כד אתכפייא ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא
And in the household below, that is, the shining of the powers of the G‑dly soul that is clothed in the body and the animal soul, so that there be no holding back or hindrance from the side of the body and its animal soul; rather, that all of them agree and consent to this union, when there is subjugation (iskafya) and darkness is transformed into light (ishapcha).
Peace in the “household below” is within the person himself: the powers of the G‑dly soul shine through the body and the animal soul, so that they do not resist but consent to this union with G‑d. This is the state of iskafya and ishapcha, when the other side is subdued and its darkness becomes light.
For the Torah, which is called ‘strength,’ is also called tushiyah, for it weakens (mateshes) the power of the sitra achra (the other side) that comes from the body; for “one nation shall prevail over the other nation,” and when this one rises, that one falls.
The Torah is also called tushiyah, which the Talmud connects with mateshes, “weakens”: it saps the strength of the sitra achra that comes from the body. As the verse said of Yaakov and Esav, “one nation shall prevail over the other”: when one rises, the other falls.
אך להבין כיצד הוא העוז של התורה ליתן כח לנפש האלקית ולהתיש כח גשמיות הגוף וחומריותו הלא גם התורה נתלבשה בענינים גשמיים5 תרומות ומעשרות כו׳.
But [we need] to understand how the Torah’s strength gives power to the G‑dly soul and weakens the power of the body’s physicality and materiality. Is not the Torah, too, clothed in physical matters, terumos and tithes, etc.?
A question follows: how can the Torah strengthen the soul against physicality, when the Torah itself is clothed in physical matters, such as the laws of terumos (the portion of the harvest given to the kohanim) and tithes?
אמנם הנה נודע כי מקור התורה ויסודה בהררי קדש6 עליון מאא״ס ב״ה בעצמו ובכבודו הסוכ״ע אני ה׳ לא שניתי אורייתא וקוב״ה כולא חד.78
However, it is known that the source of the Torah and its foundation are in the “holy mountains” on high, from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very self and His glory, which encompasses all worlds: “I, Havayah, have not changed.” “The Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one.”
The answer: the Torah’s source is in the “holy mountains” above, in G‑d’s own essence, the level that encompasses all worlds and does not change. “The Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one,” so the Torah’s strength is G‑d’s own.
The paragraph describes the second peace, in which the body and the animal soul consent to holiness, explains the Torah as tushiyah that weakens the other side, and roots its power in G‑d’s own essence, with which the Torah is one.
The passage in Torah Ohr (Va’eira) to which the note points cites this saying from the Zohar and stresses “the Holy One, blessed be He” itself: the level that is holy and wholly separate from the worlds, so far beyond them that they could not receive life even from its radiance.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי התורה — נק׳ ג״כ תושי׳ · Sanhedrin 26b
- 2לאום מלאום יאמץ · Pesachim 42b:6
- 3לאום מלאום יאמץ · Genesis 25:23
- 4וכשזה קם זה נופל · Rashi on Genesis 25:23
- 5כיצד הוא העוז של התורה . . הלא גם התורה נתלבשה בענינים גשמיים · בתקס״ז ע׳ קמט מבאר הקושיא ”כיצד תהי׳ התורה עוז ותושי׳ והלא מצד גופי ענייני ההלכות שבתורה הרי הם מלובשים בענינים גשמיים כמו מצות תרומות ומעשרות בתבואות ומצות ציצית בצמר וכיוצא, ואיך יועילו להיות כח ועוז להשגה האלקי׳ בנפש האלקי׳ להיות לה עוז וכח במס״נ וכיוצא”, ע״ש.
- 6ויסודה בהררי קדש · Psalms 87:1
- 7אורייתא וקוב״ה כולא חד · נסמן לעיל נז, ג.
- 8שו״ה התקשרות — היינו · בבוך 1052: הוא.
“Saying”: G‑d’s word in our mouths ¶11–14
Now, the essence of the receiving of the Torah is what is written in the Ten Commandments: “And G‑d spoke all these words, saying (leimor): I (Anochi)…”
The heart of receiving the Torah is in the opening of the Ten Commandments: “And G‑d spoke all these words, saying: I (Anochi)….” The Alter Rebbe focuses on the word “saying” (leimor).
דלכאורה מלת לאמר אין לה הבנה3 ואינה4 כמו כל לאמר שבמקרא5 שפי׳ לאמר לזולתו. משא״כ בעשרת הדברות א״א לפרש כך
For seemingly the word ‘saying’ (leimor) cannot be understood. It is not like every ‘saying’ in Scripture, whose meaning is ‘to say [it] to someone else.’ But in the Ten Commandments it is impossible to explain it this way,
Elsewhere in Scripture, “saying” means “to say it to others,” as when G‑d speaks to Moshe for him to pass the words on. That cannot be its meaning here.
for all Israel heard, and “face to face G‑d spoke,” “with the one who is here and with the one who is not here,” etc.
At Sinai all Israel heard G‑d directly, “face to face,” and the covenant included even those “not here,” the generations to come. No one was left to whom the words still had to be told.
אך פי׳ הוא לאמר ולדבר את כל דברי התורה מה שכבר נאמר למשה מסיני כי כל מקרא ומשנה הלכות ואגדות כולם נאמרו למשה בסיני הגם שבגמרא הוזכרו שמות תנאים ואמוראים9 שאמרו הלכה זו
Rather, the meaning is: to say and to speak all the words of the Torah, what was already said to Moshe from Sinai. For all of Scripture and Mishnah, halachos and aggados, were all said to Moshe at Sinai. Even though the Gemara mentions the names of the Tannaim and Amoraim who said this halachah,
The new meaning: “saying” refers to Israel themselves saying and speaking all the words of Torah that had already been given to Moshe at Sinai. All of Scripture and Mishnah, halachos and aggados, were given at Sinai, even when the Talmud records them in the names of later sages.
כמו ב״ש אומר כך כו׳ היינו דבר ה׳ זו הלכה10 שנאמרה למשה מסיני שיצא מפי אותו תנא ואמורא.
as in “Beis Shammai say thus,” etc., that is, “the word of G‑d — this is halachah,” which was said to Moshe from Sinai, which came out of the mouth of that Tanna or Amora.
So when the Talmud says “Beis Shammai say thus,” the ruling is still “the word of G‑d,” which the Talmud defines as halachah, given at Sinai and now spoken through the mouth of that sage.
The paragraph asks what “saying” means in the Ten Commandments when all Israel heard them directly, and answers that it gave Israel the power to “say” Torah: every halachah a sage speaks is the word of G‑d from Sinai.
A maamar of 5730 cited in the notes sharpens the question: Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer teaches that all the souls of Israel, from the first generation to the last, stood at Mount Sinai and received the Torah, so there was no one at all to whom the words still had to be told.
Marei mekomos
- 1וידבר אלקים · Exodus 20:1
- 2
- 3דלכאורה מלת לאמר אין לה הבנה · ראה לקו״ת במדבר טו, ג. שה״ש מ, ב. מה שנתבאר כאן ראה ד״ה בחודש השלישי תשל״ד (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ד ע׳ קנה) ושם בהערה 8 נוסף לסה״מ תקס״ז ותו״ח מציין לסה״מ תרנ״ה ע׳ צא-ב.
- 4שו״ה מלת — ואינה · בבוך 1052: שאינה.
- 5כמו כל לאמר שבמקרא · Sotah 27b:8–9
- 6שהרי כל ישראל שמעו · בד״ה וידבר כו׳ אנכי תש״ל (הנחה בלתי מוגה) ומפרט ”יותר מזה כמבואר בפדר״א שכל נש״י מראש כל הדורות עד סוף כל הדורות היו בהר סיני וכרתו ברית עם הקב״ה וקבלו את התורה, וא״כ אינו מובן כאן פירוש תיבת לאמר”.
- 7ופב״פ דיבר ה׳ · Deuteronomy 5:4
- 8את אשר ישנו פה · Deuteronomy 29:14
- 9שמות תנאים ואמוראים · באוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תשפג מציין: הנה כן משמע בהדיא ברבות פ׳ יתרו ס״פ כח”.
- 10דבר ה׳ זו הלכה · Shabbat 138b:11–12
12וכענין דברי אשר שמתי בפיך1 וכח זה ניתן לישראל להיות הלכה היוצאת מפיהם דבר ה׳ ממש שנאמרה למשה מסיני ניתן בזמן קבלת התורה בעשרת הדברות לאמר מה שכבר נאמרה
This is like “My words which I have placed in your mouth.” And this power was given to Israel, that the halachah coming out of their mouths should be the very word of G‑d that was said to Moshe from Sinai; it was given at the time of the receiving of the Torah, in the Ten Commandments: “saying” (leimor), [saying] what had already been said;
This is like Isaiah’s promise, “My words which I have placed in your mouth.” The power for halachah spoken by Jews to be G‑d’s own word from Sinai was given at Sinai, in that one word “saying”: to say again what had already been said.
דהיינו בחי׳ בטול אליו ית׳ שאין הדבור נעשה נפרד2 אצל האדם להיות יוצא מפי עצמו כאלו הוא שלו רק
that is, the level of self-nullification (bittul) toward Him, blessed be He, so that the speech does not become something separate for the person, coming out of his own mouth as though it were his; rather,
That power is self-nullification: the words of Torah do not become the speaker’s own, as though he were their author.
כמ״ש תען לשוני אמרתך3 שהתורה היא אמרתך אלא שלשוני תען כעונה אחר האומר מה שהוא אומר.
as it is written, “My tongue shall answer Your word”: for the Torah is “Your word,” only that “my tongue answers,” like one who answers after the speaker with what he says.
The verse “My tongue shall answer Your word” describes this. The Torah is G‑d’s word, and the person’s tongue only “answers,” repeating it after the One who speaks.
The paragraph explains the power given through “saying”: Torah spoken in self-nullification is not the person’s own speech but G‑d’s word, which his tongue only repeats.
Likkutei Torah (Shemini Atzeres), to which the note points, reads “My tongue shall answer Your word” the same way, as David’s prayer for all Israel: like one who repeats after another, he would only voice the word of G‑d already spoken, adding nothing of his own. It adds that this is a great quality of Torah study that not everyone merits.
Marei mekomos
- 1דברי אשר שמתי בפיך · Isaiah 59:21
- 2שאין הדבור נעשה נפרד · באוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תשפג מציין ”הוא ענין נפלא, וע׳ מזה לעיל סד״ה וארא אל אברהם שזהו בחי׳ משה”. ולהעיר שבתקס״ז אין תי׳ אלו.
- 3תען לשוני אמרתך · Psalms 119:172
13ויו״ד הדברות הן כללות כל התורה שבקבלתן עשרת הדברות מפי הגבורה קבלו כל התורה להיות בחי׳ בטול אצלם לדבר ה׳ המדבר בפיהם ולהיות
And the Ten Commandments are the general principles of the whole Torah, so that by receiving the Ten Commandments from the mouth of the Almighty they received the whole Torah: that there be in them the level of self-nullification (bittul) to the word of G‑d that speaks in their mouths, and that they be
The Ten Commandments contain the whole Torah in general form, so receiving them from G‑d’s mouth meant receiving the whole Torah. What Israel received was the self-nullification through which G‑d’s word speaks in their mouths.
רק כעונה אחר האומר שהוא ענין גילוי אור א״ס למטה כמו למעלה בבחי׳ בטול ממש.
only like one who answers after the speaker, which is the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) below as above, in a state of complete self-nullification.
They were to be only like one who repeats after the speaker. This is the revelation of the Infinite Light below just as above, in complete self-nullification.
The paragraph extends the point to the whole Torah, which the Ten Commandments contain: at Sinai Israel received the ability to speak all of Torah as G‑d’s own word, revealing the Infinite Light below as above.
14ומזה יתבונן המשכיל ויפול עליו אימה ופחד בעסק התורה בשומו ללבו כי דבר ה׳ הוא ממש שנאמרו למשה מסיני.
From this the thoughtful person will reflect, and dread and fear will fall upon him in his Torah study, when he takes to heart that it is truly the word of G‑d, which was said to Moshe from Sinai.
A practical consequence: a thoughtful person who takes to heart that the Torah he studies is truly G‑d’s word from Sinai will be filled with dread and fear as he learns.
וזהשארז״ל ע״פ והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך וסמיך ליה יום אשר עמדת1 כו׳ מה להלן באימה ויראה כו׳ אף כאן כו׳ שלכאורה אינו מובן דמיון זה מה להלן אף כאן כו׳
And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse “And you shall make them known to your children and your children’s children,” next to which is [written] “the day that you stood,” etc.: “Just as there [it was] in dread and awe, etc., so too here,” etc. For seemingly this comparison, “just as there, so too here,” etc., is not understood,
The Sages learned this from two adjacent verses: “make them known to your children,” followed by “the day that you stood” at Sinai. As Sinai was in dread and awe, so must Torah study be; but the Alter Rebbe asks how the comparison holds.
שהרי במעמד הר סיני וכל העם רואים את הקולות2 ופב״פ דבר3 ה׳. משא״כ בעסק התורה של כל אדם כשלומד בפני עצמו.
since at the standing at Mount Sinai “all the people saw the voices,” and “face to face G‑d spoke.” This is not so with the Torah study of every person when he learns by himself.
At Sinai the people saw the voices and heard G‑d face to face, while a person studying alone has no such experience. Why should he feel the awe of Sinai?
אלא הענין הוא כמש״ל כי גם עסק התורה שבכ״א ובכל זמן הוא דבר ה׳ ממש שנאמר למשה מסיני. ועל ידי זה תפול עליו אימה ויראה כאלו קבלה היום מהר סיני:4
But the explanation is as written above: that the Torah study of each person, at any time, is also truly the word of G‑d that was said to Moshe from Sinai. And through this, dread and awe will fall upon him, as if he received it today from Mount Sinai.
The answer is the point just made: every person’s Torah study, at any time, is the very word of G‑d given at Sinai. Knowing this brings awe, as if he were receiving the Torah from Mount Sinai today.
The paragraph draws the lesson: since all Torah study is G‑d’s word from Sinai, the Sages’ demand that it be done with the dread and awe of Sinai makes sense.
Torah Ohr (Vayeitzei), to which the note points, gives a related answer: one should take to heart that the Torah he learns draws down supernal Chochmah, where the Infinite Light shines beyond the chain of worlds and nothing is hidden, so “just as there, so here.”
Marei mekomos
- 1יום אשר עמדת · Deuteronomy 4:10
- 2וכל העם רואים את הקולות · Exodus 20:15
- 3ופב״פ דבר ה׳ · Deuteronomy 5:4
- 4והודעת לבניך . . מה להלן באימה ויראה · Deuteronomy 4:9
Anochi and the way out of Egypt ¶15–17
Now, Torah study in this state of self-nullification (bittul) is what gives strength and might to the G‑dly soul, and tushiyah to the sitra achra (the other side).
Torah study in this self-nullification is what gives the G‑dly soul “strength and might” and acts as tushiyah, weakening the sitra achra.
וזהו אנכי ה׳ אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים3 כי בקבלת התורה נמשך בחי׳ אנכי דהיינו אנכי ממש עצמותו ומהותו ית׳ הסוכ״ע כו׳.
And this is [the meaning of] “I (Anochi) am Havayah your G‑d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt”: for through receiving the Torah the level of Anochi is drawn down, that is, the very Anochi, His essence and being, blessed be He, which encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), etc.
This is hinted in the first commandment, “I (Anochi) am Havayah your G‑d, who brought you out of Egypt.” Receiving the Torah drew down Anochi, “I” in the fullest sense: G‑d’s own essence, which encompasses all worlds.
The paragraph ties the strength of Torah study to the first commandment: in receiving the Torah, G‑d’s very essence, Anochi, was drawn down to Israel.
Or HaTorah (on Nach), quoting this passage, explains the strength as the G‑dly soul’s power to overcome the animal soul until it longs to leave its sheath, the body’s prison. A maamar of 5734 cited in the note adds that Torah study brings about a change, an elevation, in the person who learns it.
Marei mekomos
- 1עוז ותעצומות · Psalms 68:36
- 2עסק התורה . . הנותן עוז ותעצומות לנפש האלקית · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך ב ע׳ א׳קא: שנותנת כח לנפש האלקית ומתשת כח הנפש הבהמית, והיינו שתוכל הנפש האלוקית להתגבר על נה״ב עד שתכסוף לצאת מנרתקה מאסר הגוף, ע״ש. ראה בד״ה בחודש השלישי תשל״ד שם לצד הערה 21 ”שע״י לימוד התורה נעשה שינוי (רוממות) בהאדם הלומדה”. וראה שם בהערה הנ״ל.
- 3אנכי ה׳ אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים · Exodus 20:2
16וכמ״ש והיו הדברים האלה1 אשר אנכי מצוך היום כו׳ ובחי׳ אנכי זה נמשך לישראל בבחי׳ הוי״ה דהיינו ע״י צמצום והתפשטות כנ״ל עד שנעשה בבחי׳ אלקיך ממש
As it is written, “And these words which I (Anochi) command you today,” etc. And this level of Anochi is drawn to Israel through the level of Havayah, that is, through tzimtzum (contraction) and expansion, as mentioned above, until it becomes the level of ‘your G‑d’ (Elokecha) itself.
The same Anochi appears in “these words which I (Anochi) command you today.” This essence reaches Israel through the Name Havayah, by contraction and expansion, until it becomes Elokecha, “your G‑d,” in actuality.
ואזי אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבחי׳ מצרים וגבולים שמצד הגוף ונה״ב המגבילים ומלבישים את נפש האלקית ומעכבים לצאת מנרתקה
And then [comes] “who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Mitzrayim)”: out of the level of constraints (meitzarim) and limits that come from the body and the animal soul, which limit and clothe the G‑dly soul and keep [it] from going out of its sheath.
Then comes “who brought you out of the land of Egypt”: out of the meitzarim, the constraints of the body and the animal soul that limit the G‑dly soul and keep it from leaving its sheath.
וכמ״ש ואעלה אתכם מעני מצרים אל ארץ טובה ורחבה23 כי ע״י קבלת אנכי דהיינו בחי׳ סוכ״ע ואני ה׳ לא שניתי בעסק התורה בבחי׳ בטול כו׳ הוא הנותן כח לנפש האלהית.
As it is written, “And I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to a good and spacious land.” For through receiving Anochi, that is, the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) and “I, Havayah, have not changed,” in Torah study in a state of self-nullification (bittul), etc., it is this that gives power to the G‑dly soul.
The verse “I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to a good and spacious land” describes the result. Receiving Anochi, the transcendent level of “I have not changed,” through self-nullifying Torah study is what gives the G‑dly soul its power.
The paragraph traces how G‑d’s essence (Anochi) comes to Israel through Havayah until it is “your G‑d,” and how this frees the G‑dly soul from the constraints of the body, its “Egypt.”
Marei mekomos
- 1והיו הדברים האלה · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 2ואעלה אתכם מעני מצרים אל ארץ טובה ורחבה · Exodus 3:17
- 3אל ארץ טובה ורחבה · Exodus 3:8
And [it is] tushiyah to the desires of the body, etc. And this is the matter of the people of Jericho, who would run together (korchin) the Shema, and would not pause between ‘One’ (echad) and ‘And you shall love’ (ve’ahavta).
The Torah also weakens the body’s desires. This explains the custom of the people of Jericho, who recited the Shema without a pause between “One” and “And you shall love,” that is, without saying “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom” in between.
כי ע״י קבלת בחי׳ אחד דהיינו בחי׳ יחודא עלאה שהוא בחי׳ בטול ממש לאור א״ס
For through receiving the level of ‘One,’ that is, the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), which is the level of complete self-nullification (bittul) to the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof),
The reason: receiving “One” means receiving the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), in which everything is nullified before the Infinite Light.
ב״ה הסוכ״ע כנ״ל תגדל האהבה ביתר שאת עד שתהיה בכל לבבך בשני יצריך3 דאתכפיא סט״א ואתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא שמבחי׳ בטול זה נמשך עוז ותושיה כנ״ל.
blessed be He, which encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), as mentioned above, the love will grow with surpassing loftiness, until it is “with all your heart,” with both your inclinations, when the sitra achra (the other side) is subdued (iskafya) and darkness is transformed into light (ishapcha); for from this level of self-nullification are drawn strength and tushiyah, as mentioned above.
From that self-nullification love grows until it is “with all your heart,” which the Mishnah explains as with both inclinations, the good and the evil, since the animal side is subdued and even transformed. So “One” leads straight into “And you shall love.”
משא״כ בשכמל״ו הרי כתיב מלך אלהים על גוים כי שם זה הוא חיות העולמות ואפי׳ עכו״ם בכלל.8
This is not so with ‘Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever’: for it is written, “Elokim reigns over the nations,” since this Name is the life-force of the worlds, and even idolaters are included.
“Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom” is different. It refers to Elokim, G‑d as the life-force of the worlds, which, as the verse “Elokim reigns over the nations” shows, gives life even to idolaters.
וכענין שארז״ל לא כאברהם שיצא ממנו ישמעאל45 כו׳ אלא שאנו אומרים בשכמל״ו בחשאי כי ועד הוא ג״כ אחד אלא שהוא בחילופי דאתוון6 כמ״ש בזוהר:7
This is like what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Not like Avraham, from whom Yishmael came forth,” etc. Only, we say ‘Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever’ in a whisper, because ‘forever’ (va’ed) is also ‘One’ (echad), except that it is in an exchange of letters, as is written in the Zohar.
This connects to the Sages’ teaching about Yaakov’s sons, “not like Avraham, from whom Yishmael came”; in the Talmud’s telling, when they declared the Shema, Yaakov answered “Blessed be the Name….” We say it only in a whisper because, as the Zohar explains, its va’ed (“forever”) is echad (“One”) with its letters exchanged, so that “One” is not said openly.
The paragraph explains why the people of Jericho went straight from “One” to “And you shall love”: love that overcomes both inclinations comes from the higher unity, while “Blessed be the Name…” belongs to Elokim, which sustains even the nations, and so is said quietly.
The Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript explains that Elokim reigns even over the nations because they receive from combinations of the Name Elokim. The Zohar adds that in the time to come, when the evil eye is gone from the world, “One” will be said openly.
Marei mekomos
- 1אנשי יריחו היו כורכין את שמע · Pesachim 55b:15
- 2ולא היו מפסיקין בין אחד ואהבת · Pesachim 56a:5
- 3בכל לבבך בשני יצריך · Mishnah Berakhot 9:5
- 4לא כאברהם שיצא ממנו ישמעאל · ספרי דברים לב, ט.
- 5לא כאברהם שיצא ממנו ישמעאל · Sifrei Devarim 312:1–2
- 6ועד הוא ג״כ אחד אלא שהוא בחילופי דאתוון · Zohar, Terumah 12:134–143
- 7ועד . . אחד . . בחילופי דאתוון כמ״ש בזהר · ח״ב קלד, א. וראה הערת כ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע בספר המאמרים תש״ח ע׳ 242.
- 8מלך אלקים על גוים · Psalms 47:9
The moon and the sun ¶18–21
18ובזה יובן מה שישראל מונים ללבנה.1 כי הלבנה לית לה מגרמה כלום2 רק שמקבלת האור שלה מאור השמש להאיר על הארץ.
With this we can understand why Israel reckons by the moon. For the moon has nothing of its own; it only receives its light from the light of the sun, to shine upon the earth.
The maamar now turns to the moon, by which Israel reckon their calendar. The moon has no light of its own; all its light is received from the sun.
ולכן בכל חודש וחודש מתמעטת קודם חידושה עד שנעשית בבחי׳ נקודה3 מפני שבאה תחת אור השמש ממש לקבל ממנה
Therefore, every month it diminishes before its renewal until it becomes the level of a point, because it comes directly under the light of the sun to receive from it;
Each month, before its renewal, the moon shrinks to a mere point, because it stands directly beneath the sun to receive from it.
ולכן אינה מאירה על הארץ והולכת ואור עד מילוי הלבנה והכל מאור השמש ממש שהלבנה לית לה מגרמה כלום.
therefore it does not shine upon the earth. And it grows steadily brighter until the moon is full, and all of it is from the very light of the sun, for the moon has nothing of its own.
In that position it gives no light to the earth; afterward it grows brighter until it is full, and all of that light is the sun’s. Its waning and waxing show that it has nothing of its own.
The paragraph introduces the image of the moon, which Israel follow in their calendar: it has no light of its own and shrinks to a point when it stands closest beneath the sun, from which all its light comes.
The Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript adds that the moon’s upper half, facing the sun, gives no light because it is nullified in existence to the sun’s light shining on it, while its lower half shines on the earth with the sun’s light.
Marei mekomos
- 1שישראל מונים ללבנה · Sukkah 29a:10
- 2כי הלבנה לית לה מגרמה כלום · Zohar III, 33a
- 3עד שנעשית בבחי׳ נקודה · ראה אוה״ת כאן ע׳ תשצה.
19ואחר מילוי הלבנה חוזרת ומתמעטת להיות בבחינת נקודה בסוף החדש עד שחוזרת ומתחדשת. וככל הדברים האלה וכמשל הזה כך הוא ענין ישראל1
And after the moon is full, it diminishes again, becoming the level of a point at the end of the month, until it is renewed again. And in keeping with all these words and with this analogy, so it is with Israel,
After it is full, the moon wanes again to a point at the end of the month and is then renewed. Israel are like the moon in all of this.
שהם בחי׳ בטול לאור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע ותורתם ועבודתם הם בבחינת דלית להון מגרמיהון כלום. שאינו בבחי׳ יש מי שלומד יש מי שאוהב כו׳.
who are the level of self-nullification (bittul) to the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin); and their Torah and their divine service are at the level of ‘they have nothing of their own,’ that is, it is not at the level of ‘there is one who learns, there is one who loves,’ etc.
Israel are nullified to the Infinite Light, and their Torah study and service “have nothing of their own,” like the moon. There is no independent self who learns or who loves.
אלא הכל בבחי׳ בטול לאור א״ס ב״ה ממש ואור א״ס ב״ה ממש הוא השוכן בתוך
Rather, everything is in a state of self-nullification to the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, and it is the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, that dwells within
Everything is nullified to the Infinite Light, and it is the Infinite Light itself that dwells within their Torah and their service.
תורתם ועבודתם ודבר ה׳ זו הלכה2 היא המדברת בפיהם וזו היא בחי׳ שמש כמ״ש כי שמש ומגן הוי״ה אלקים.3 שבחי׳ הוי״ה נק׳ שמש.
their Torah and their divine service, and “the word of G‑d — this is halachah” is what speaks in their mouths. And this is the level of ‘sun,’ as it is written, “For Havayah Elokim is a sun and a shield”: for the level of Havayah is called ‘sun.’
So the halachah they speak is “the word of G‑d,” speaking through them. This is the “sun” of the verse “For Havayah Elokim is a sun and a shield”: the Name Havayah is the sun, the source of the light that Israel, like the moon, receive.
The paragraph applies the image: like the moon, Israel and their Torah and service have nothing of their own, and the Infinite Light, the “sun” that is the Name Havayah, shines and speaks through them.
The Mitteler Rebbe’s transcript states the comparison directly: Israel are likened to the moon because, as a whole, the souls of Israel have nothing of their own except what they receive from G‑d’s light shining on them, the Infinite Light.
Marei mekomos
- 1כך הוא ענין ישראל · ”שנמשלי׳ ללבנה כי ישראל מונין ללבנה כנודע דגם כללות נ״י לית להו מגרמייהו כלום אלא רק מה שמקבלים מאור ה׳ המאיר עליהם והוא אור א״ס ב״ה” — תקס״ז ע׳ קנא.
- 2ודבר ה׳ זו הלכה · Shabbat 138b:11–12
- 3כי שמש ומגן הוי״ה אלקים · Psalms 84:12
20ובחי׳ אלהים נק׳ מגן כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א. והתורה נמשך משם הוי״ה. וזהו ענין תורה ועבודה וגמ״ח שצריך להיות שלשתן דוקא כי גמ״ח היינו צדקה.
And the level of Elokim is called ‘shield,’ etc., as explained elsewhere. And the Torah is drawn from the Name Havayah. And this is the matter of Torah, divine service and acts of kindness (gemilus chasadim), that all three of them, specifically, are needed. For acts of kindness means tzedakah.
The Name Elokim, which conceals and limits, is called the “shield”; the maamar only notes that this is explained elsewhere. The Torah comes from the Name Havayah, the “sun.” The maamar then turns to the three things on which, the Mishnah says, the world stands, Torah, divine service and acts of kindness, all three of which are needed; acts of kindness here means tzedakah, charity.
וצדקה היא כללות כל התורה שנק׳ בשם צדקה ובפרטות מעשה הצדקה ממש שהצדקה היא להחיות רוח שפלים1 היא בחי׳ שמש כמ״ש וזרחה לכם יראי שמי2 שמש צדקה. כי כמו שהצדקה היא להחיות רוח שפלים.
And tzedakah is the whole Torah in general, which is called by the name ‘tzedakah,’ and in particular the actual deed of tzedakah. For tzedakah, which is “to revive the spirit of the lowly,” is the level of ‘sun,’ as it is written, “And there shall shine for you who fear My Name a sun of tzedakah.” For just as tzedakah is “to revive the spirit of the lowly,”
Tzedakah has a broad sense, the whole Torah, which is called “tzedakah,” and a specific one, actual charity. Charity “revives the spirit of the lowly,” and so it is like the sun, as the verse speaks of “a sun of tzedakah.”
The paragraph links the sun to the Name Havayah and to the Torah, and introduces tzedakah, both the Torah as a whole and the act of charity, as the “sun of tzedakah” that revives the lowly.
Marei mekomos
- 1להחיות רוח שפלים · Isaiah 57:15
- 2וזרחה לכם יראי שמי · Malachi 3:20
21וכן אור השמש הוא להאיר במקום חשך שאין בו אור שהיא בחי׳ השפעה מלמעלה למטה.
So too the light of the sun is to shine in a place of darkness that has no light, which is the level of influence from above to below.
Just as charity revives the lowly, sunlight shines into darkness where there is no light. Both are an influence from above to below.
והשפעה זו היא ע״י בחי׳ עבודה שהוא בחי׳ בטול ממטה למעלה אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע להיות השפעת אוא״ס ב״ה ממש שורה ומתגלה למטה כמו למעלה דהיינו כמו בטול הלבנה לאור השמש ממש:
And this influence is through the level of divine service (avodah), which is the level of self-nullification (bittul) from below to above, [to] the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), so that the influence of the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, rest and be revealed below as above; that is, like the self-nullification of the moon to the very light of the sun.
This influence comes through divine service, which is self-nullification from below upward toward the Infinite Light. Through it the Infinite Light rests and is revealed below as it is above, just as the moon, nullified before the sun, receives its light.
The paragraph completes the image: the “sun” of G‑d’s influence shines below through Israel’s service, which is self-nullification like the moon’s before the sun.
Rosh Chodesh Sivan ¶22–23
22וזהו בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום הזה1 כו׳ כי בצאת ישראל ממצרים התחילו לספור ספירת העומר כמ״ש שבעה שבועות תספר לך.2 והם הכנה להיות קבלת התורה בשבועות.
And this is [the meaning of] “In the third month after the children of Israel went out of the land of Egypt, on this day,” etc. For when Israel went out of Egypt they began to count the counting of the Omer, as it is written, “Seven weeks shall you count for yourself.” And these are a preparation for the receiving of the Torah on Shavuos.
The maamar returns to its opening verse. When Israel left Egypt they began counting the Omer, “seven weeks shall you count,” as a preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuos.
דהיינו להיות גילוי אוא״ס ב״ה למטה כמו למעלה בבחי׳ בטול אליו ית׳ לאמר אחר מה שיאמר הוא ולהיות דבר ה׳ ממש בתוך בני ישראל בעסק תורתם.
That is, so that there be a revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, below as above, in a state of self-nullification (bittul) toward Him, blessed be He: to ‘say’ after what He will say, and that the very word of G‑d be within the children of Israel in their Torah study.
The goal of that preparation was the revelation of the Infinite Light below as above through self-nullification: that Israel “say” after G‑d what He says, so that His very word is present in their Torah study.
The paragraph connects the counting of the Omer to the theme: the seven weeks prepare Israel for the self-nullification in which G‑d’s word speaks through their Torah.
Marei mekomos
- 1בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום הזה · Exodus 19:1
- 2שבעה שבועות תספר לך · Deuteronomy 16:9
23ובשבוע הז׳ ביום ג׳ בו הוא כאלו כבר נכנסה כל השבוע ונעשו אז ישראל מוכנים ועומדים1 לקבל בחי׳ בטול זה.
And in the seventh week, on its third day, it is as if the whole week had already come in, and Israel then became prepared and standing ready to receive this level of self-nullification (bittul).
Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the day Israel reached Sinai, is the third day of the seventh week of the Omer. By then it is as if the whole week had come, so Israel were already prepared to receive this self-nullification.
והיה אז מולד הלבנה שהוא גילוי אוא״ס ב״ה אחר בטול הלבנה אליו. ולכן נק׳ ביום הזה סתם כי יום היינו אור וגילוי
And then was the birth of the moon (molad), which is the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, after the moon’s self-nullification to Him. Therefore it is called simply “on this day,” for ‘day’ means light and revelation,
That day was also the birth of the new moon: after the moon’s nullification to the sun, when it shrinks to a point, comes a new revelation of light. This is why the verse calls it simply “this day,” since “day” means light and revelation.
כמ״ש ויקרא אלהים לאור יום והיינו גילוי ואהבה שבבחי׳ בטול אליו ית׳ (שבחי׳ אהבה זו נק׳ היום הזה כי פי׳ זה הוא בחי׳ יחו״ע שלכן משרע״ה נתנבא בזה.9
as it is written, “And G‑d called the light ‘day.’” And this is the revelation and the love that is in a state of self-nullification toward Him, blessed be He. (For this level of love is called ‘this day’ (hayom hazeh), because the meaning of ‘this’ (zeh) is the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), which is why Moshe our teacher, peace be upon him, prophesied with ‘this.’
As in “G‑d called the light ‘day,’” day is revelation, here the revelation of a love that comes from self-nullification. In a parenthesis the Alter Rebbe adds that this love is called “this day” because zeh, “this,” signifies the higher unity; the Sages teach that Moshe alone prophesied with the words “This is the thing.”
ובר״ח מקבלת כנ״י מוחין מחכמה. עמ״ש בד״ה והיה מדי חדש.2 לכן האהבה היא בבחי׳ בטול)
On Rosh Chodesh the Community of Israel receives mochin, intellect, from Chochmah, as explained in the discourse beginning “And it shall be, from one new moon to the next.” Therefore the love of that day is a love of self-nullification.
כי ואהבת3 ב״פ אור ואזי באו למדבר סיני שירדה שנאה4 כו׳ דהיינו ענין תושיה שמתשת כח הס״א כו׳ ומדבר מלשון דבור
For ‘And you shall love’ (ve’ahavta) is twice ‘light’ (or) [in numerical value]. And then “they came to the wilderness of Sinai,” where hatred (sin’ah) descended, etc., that is, the matter of tushiyah, which weakens the power of the sitra achra (the other side), etc. And ‘wilderness’ (midbar) is from the word ‘speech’ (dibbur),
The numerical value of ve’ahavta, “And you shall love” (414), is twice that of or, “light” (207), which is why this love is called “day.” Then Israel came to Sinai, whose name the Talmud links to sin’ah, “hatred,” here meaning tushiyah, the weakening of the sitra achra; and midbar, “wilderness,” is related to dibbur, “speech.”
כמו ומדברך נאוה5 ונק׳ מדבר בתוספת מ׳ כי המ׳ הוא מאותיות האמנתי״ו שהן להקטין הענין6 כלומר שאין בזו בחי׳ דבור בפ״ע רק בחי׳ שכבר נדבר
as in “and your speech (midbarech) is lovely.” And it is called midbar with an added mem, because the mem is one of the letters ‘he’emantiv,’ which serve to diminish the matter; that is to say, in this there is no level of speech in its own right, only the level of what has already been spoken,
As in “your speech (midbarech) is lovely,” midbar means speech, but with an added mem, one of the letters (remembered as he’emantiv) that are added to a root, which the Alter Rebbe says diminish its sense. Midbar is thus speech that is not independent, only a repetition of what has already been spoken.
דהיינו שהדבור הוא בחי׳ בטול בדבר ה׳ המדבר בו (ועמ״ש בד״ה הנ״ל) ואזי ויסעו מרפידים.7
that is, the speech is in a state of self-nullification within the word of G‑d that speaks in him (and see what is written in the discourse mentioned above). And then “they journeyed from Refidim”:
Such speech is nullified within the word of G‑d that speaks through the person, and the text again refers to the discourse on Rosh Chodesh for more. Then the verse says, “they journeyed from Refidim.”
בחי׳ רפיון ידים כמארז״ל למה נק׳ שמה רפידים8 כו׳ דהיינו בחינת חלישת כח הנשמה רק שניתנה להם עוז ותעצומות לנשמה ותושיה לס״א כו׳:
the level of slackness of hands (rifyon yadayim), as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Why was its name called Refidim?” etc., that is, the level of weakness of the soul’s power; only, they were given strength and might for the soul, and tushiyah to the sitra achra, etc.
The Talmud reads Refidim as rifyon yadayim, “slackness of hands,” here the weakness of the soul. Israel left that weakness behind because they were given strength and might for the soul and tushiyah against the sitra achra, the gift of the Torah described throughout the maamar.
The paragraph returns to the opening verse: on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the new moon after the moon’s nullification, Israel were ready for the revelation of self-nullifying love called “this day”; reaching the “wilderness” of Sinai and leaving Refidim express speech nullified to G‑d’s word and the end of the soul’s weakness.
A maamar of 5729 cited in the notes explains that Israel were ready not only through the light drawn from above but also through their own service below. The note pairs this with Chullin 60b, where the grasses brought forth on the third day of creation “stood at the opening of the ground” until Adam prayed for them and rain fell.
Marei mekomos
- 1ונעשו אז ישראל מוכנים ועומדים · Chullin 60b
- 2בד״ה והיה מדי חדש · ראה לקו״ת ברכה צו, ד ואילך.
- 3ואהבת · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 4למדבר סיני שירדה שנאה · Shabbat 89a:7
- 5ומדברך נאוה · Song of Songs 4:3
- 6ומדבר מלשון דבור . . בתוספת מ׳ . . להקטין הענין · באוה״ת פ׳ במדבר ע׳ כג מציין ע״ז ”ועי׳ בלקו״ת סד״ה אלה פקודי המשכן ובהביאור שם ספ״ז ובד״ה ששים המה מלכות דרוש השני פ״ג בענין אשר אזכיר את שמי ושם מיירי בבחי׳ הדיבור בד״ת”, ע״ש.
- 7ויסעו מרפידים · Exodus 19:2
- 8למה נק׳ שמה רפידים · Sanhedrin 106a:14–15
- 9ויקרא אלקים לאור יום · Genesis 1:5
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
A person who takes to heart that the Torah he is learning is truly the word of G‑d given at Sinai will feel dread and awe as he studies, as if he were receiving it today. And Torah studied in self-nullification, as one who only repeats what G‑d says, is what gives the G‑dly soul the strength to overcome the body and weakens the sitra achra, where contemplation alone has left a person unmoved.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the Alter Rebbe say that contemplating G‑d’s greatness is not enough to free the soul, and what does the Torah add that even the Patriarchs’ love did not?
- How does the word “saying” (leimor) in the Ten Commandments become the basis for saying that every halachah a sage speaks is G‑d’s word from Sinai?
- How do a craftsman’s handiwork and a person’s name differ in their connection to the self, and how does the maamar apply this to the worlds and to angels and souls?
- What does the moon, which shrinks to a point when it stands closest beneath the sun, teach about self-nullification and receiving light?
- Why did the people of Jericho go straight from “One” to “And you shall love,” and why is “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom” said in a whisper?
Key terms in this maamar
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- The soul that animates the body and its drives. ×2
- The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית
- The soul that is 'a part of G‑d above'. ×7
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d.
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- Divine light too great to enter the worlds; it 'surrounds' them and affects them from beyond.
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×5
- The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
- The external, expressive aspect. ×1
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The two 'wings' of divine service.
- The sitra achra (the other side)סטרא אחרא
- The realm opposed to holiness.
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light that makes room for finite worlds. ×1
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The world is nothing next to G‑d.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×2
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×1
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×1
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×1
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×1
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×1