Torah Ohr · Parshas Yisro · Maamar 6
זכור את יום השבת לקדשו
“Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it”
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The big idea
Shabbos is holy of itself: it is the ascent of all creation to G‑d’s essence and the revelation of the higher Chochmah. But the revelation within that Chochmah of the supernal delight, which is higher still, depends on Israel, whose weekday mitzvos, done with love, ‘make’ Shabbos and ‘sanctify’ it.
The maamar in brief
The maamar asks why the Torah commands us to sanctify Shabbos, when the Talmud says Shabbos is ‘sanctified and established’ from creation, unlike the festivals, which Israel sanctify. It also asks about the commandment’s two words: zachor (‘Remember’), which with yud-heh equals 248, and zichri, which with vav-heh also equals 248. Shabbos is first defined: the six days are divine speech, the Name Elokim filtering the unchanging light of Havayah into letters, and Shabbos is the return of that life-force to G‑d’s essence, an ascent that comes by itself. Yet verses say that Israel ‘make’ Shabbos. The key is “Wisdoms sing aloud outside”: when the higher Chochmah descends into the lower, the Torah’s wisdom clothed in physical mitzvos, it draws into Chochmah the supernal delight, which is above Chochmah itself. So the weekday service of love, zachor with yud-heh, rises from below and brings down on Shabbos zichri with vav-heh, the revelation of that delight. This is ‘to sanctify it.’ Shamor, receiving and guarding, will in the future be one with zachor.
Outline
- The questionWhy command us to sanctify a Shabbos that is holy of itself, unlike Yom Tov? And what distinguishes zachor with yud-heh from zichri with vav-heh, when both equal 248?¶1–2
- What Shabbos isThe six days are divine speech through the Name Elokim, which conceals the light of Havayah; Shabbos is the ascent of the worlds to G‑d’s essence, which comes by itself, and teshuvah is its likeness.¶3–5
- Wisdoms outsideIsrael ‘make’ Shabbos: the higher Chochmah descends into the lower, the Torah’s wisdom clothed in physical laws and mitzvos, and there it ‘sings aloud,’ drawing down a light above Chochmah.¶6–9
- Reishis and the supernal delightChochmah is reishis, receiving from rosh, the supernal delight, as a new idea is born of delight; the mitzvos, blessed with asher kideshanu, draw that delight into Chochmah.¶10–13
- Making Shabbos in the weekdaysShabbos is the ascent of the lower Chochmah into the higher; the weekday refinements, a service of love, rise through prayer into the prayer of Shabbos: zachor with yud-heh.¶14–16
- The drawing-downThe ascent is for the sake of a descent: the hundred blessings, and chiefly Shabbos, draw sovev into memalei; this is zichri with vav-heh, like the voice and speech of Torah.¶17–18
- The answerShabbos is holy as Chochmah, but the revelation of the supernal delight within it comes through Israel’s weekday mitzvos; so “Six days you shall labor” belongs to “Remember.”¶19–20
- Zachor and shamorZachor is the giving, shamor the receiving and guarding, like the Written and the Oral Torah; in the future they will be one, and Shabbos night will be like Shabbos day.¶21–22
Key concepts
- Sanctified and establishedשבת מיקדשא וקיימא
- Shabbos has been holy since creation and does not depend on Israel, unlike the festivals, whose dates and holiness Israel fix.
- Zachor and zichriזכור / זכרי
- Each equals 248, the positive commandments: zachor with yud-heh is the upward movement of the weekday service of love, and zichri with vav-heh the drawing-down on Shabbos.
- The higher and the lower Chochmahחכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- The ‘two wisdoms’: Chochmah beyond all grasp, and the Torah’s wisdom that has come down into physical mitzvos to refine the world.
- The supernal delightתענוג העליון
- The ‘head’ (rosh, whose letters spell asher) from which Chochmah, reishis, receives; the mitzvos draw it into Chochmah, and on Shabbos it is revealed as ‘delight.’
- Sovev and memaleiסובב כל עלמין / ממלא כל עלמין
- The light that encompasses all worlds and the light that fills them; a ‘blessing’ draws the first into the second, chiefly on Shabbos.
- Shamorשמור
- Keeping and guarding: the receiving side, which holds the influence and keeps it from the external forces; the Oral Torah, which receives and guards the Written.
The question ¶1–2
“Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it.” [We need] to understand what the command to sanctify the Shabbos is about: is not the Shabbos sanctified and established (mikadsha vekayma)?
The maamar opens with the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8) and a question. To ‘sanctify’ something means to give it a holiness it lacks, yet Shabbos is already holy and fixed, so what does the command ‘to sanctify it’ ask of us?
דבשלמא קדושת יו״ט תלוי בישראל שלכך אומרים מקדש ישראל והזמנים. מתחלה ישראל ואח״כ הזמנים משום דישראל אינהו דקדשינהו לזמנים.4
Granted, the holiness of Yom Tov depends on Israel; that is why we say, “Who sanctifies Israel and the seasons”: first Israel and afterward the seasons, because it is Israel who sanctify the seasons.
On Yom Tov the blessing ends “Who sanctifies Israel and the seasons,” naming Israel first, because the festivals become holy through Israel, whose court fixes the calendar and so the dates of the festivals. The Talmud (Berakhot 49a) explains the blessing this way.
אבל בשבת אנו מברכים מקדש השבת. ואין אומרים מקדש ישראל והשבת וכמארז״ל אטו שבת ישראל מקדשי ליה והלא שבת מיקדשא וקיימא משי״ב כו׳.
But on Shabbos we bless, “Who sanctifies the Shabbos,” and we do not say, “Who sanctifies Israel and the Shabbos,” as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Is it Israel who sanctify the Shabbos? Surely the Shabbos is sanctified and established” from the six days of creation, etc.
The Shabbos blessing ends simply “Who sanctifies the Shabbos.” The Talmud (Beitzah 17a) rejects the version “Who sanctifies Israel and the Shabbos” with the words quoted here: Shabbos does not wait for Israel to sanctify it, for it has been holy since the six days of creation.
ונק׳ כל שבת שבת בראשית שלמעלה מבחי׳ ישראל (כי שבת הוא בחי׳ התגלות ח״ע ונק׳ גילוי מוחין דאבא שהוא למעלה מבחי׳ נש״י המושרשים בז״א. וכמו שמבואר בזוהר פ׳ אמור )(ריש דף צ״ד)
And every Shabbos is called ‘Shabbos Bereishis’ (the Shabbos of creation), which is above the level of Israel. (For Shabbos is the level of the revelation of the higher Chochmah (wisdom), and is called the revelation of the intellect (mochin) of Abba, which is above the level of the souls of Israel, who are rooted in Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes). And as is explained in the Zohar, Parshas Emor (beginning of page 94),
Because its holiness goes back to creation, every Shabbos is called ‘Shabbos Bereishis.’ The parenthesis gives the Kabbalistic reason: Shabbos reveals the higher Chochmah, the intellect of Abba, while the souls of Israel are rooted lower, in Z’eir Anpin, the configuration of the emotive attributes.
דאחידן ביה במלכא.5 ופי׳ הרמ״ז הם ישראל המושרשים בזעיר. זה בחסד וזה בגבורה וזה בתפארת כו׳.
The Zohar speaks of those “who are attached to the King,” the King being Z’eir Anpin. The Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto), in his commentary on the Zohar, identifies them as the souls of Israel, each rooted in one of Z’eir Anpin’s attributes, such as kindness, restraint or beauty.
ושבת מבואר שם דהוא גלוי מוחין דאבא בז״א ומבואר שם ג״כ איך שגילוי והמשכה זו הוא מעצמו וא״צ למעשינו כו׳.
And of Shabbos it is explained there that it is the revelation of the intellect of Abba in Z’eir Anpin; and it is also explained there how this revelation and drawing-down comes of itself and does not need our deeds, etc.
The same Zohar passage describes Shabbos as the shining of Abba’s intellect into Z’eir Anpin, a light that comes by itself, without any action of ours. The Zohar there compares Shabbos to a son who enters his father’s house whenever he wishes, with no need of an invitation.
משא״כ ביו״ט גילוי קצת ההארה ממוחין דאבא שמאיר ביו״ט הוא ע״י מעשנו ותפלותנו כו׳.
This is not so on Yom Tov: the revelation of a little of the radiance from the intellect of Abba that shines on Yom Tov comes through our deeds and our prayers, etc.)
Yom Tov, by contrast, receives only some of the radiance of Abba, and that radiance depends on our deeds and prayers. This is the Kabbalistic counterpart of the difference between the two blessings: Israel sanctify the festivals, but not Shabbos.
The maamar poses its question: why command us to sanctify Shabbos, when Shabbos is holy of itself, unlike Yom Tov, whose holiness depends on Israel? In Kabbalistic terms, Shabbos reveals the intellect of Abba, which is above the souls’ root in Z’eir Anpin and shines without our deeds.
In the Zohar on Emor (3:94a), the festivals are ‘invited’ (mikra’ei kodesh) from the supernal place called kodesh, but Shabbos is not invited: it is kodesh’s own inheritance, like a son who comes and goes in his father’s house. The Alter Rebbe reads that kodesh as Abba, the higher Chochmah, which is why Shabbos stands above the level of Israel. The answer to the opening question comes in paragraph 19.
Marei mekomos
- 1זכור את יום השבת · הנחה אחרת בסה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ לב (בהוצאה החדשה ע׳ מו). ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. תוס׳ והערות באוה״ת ע׳ תתקמה. ובכרך ז ע׳ ב׳תרצט. קיצור דקיצור ע׳ ב׳תשא. תוספות והערות עם הגהות נוספות ע׳ ב׳תשג. ובכרך ח ע׳ ב׳תתקצד. בסה״מ תרכ״ז (הוצאת תש״ס) ע׳ קכה מיוסד על מאמר זה. וכן בסה״מ תרמ״ב. ראה ד״ה אבות מלאכות תר״ל ע׳ רמט ואילך. ד״ה ויקח ה״א תרל״א ע׳ א.
- 2זכור את יום השבת · Exodus 20:8
- 3שבת מיקדשא וקיימא · Beitzah 17a:3–4
- 4דישראל אינהו דקדשינהו לזמנים · Berakhot 49a:9–10
- 5דאחידן ביה במלכא · Zohar, Emor 24:104–111
Now, in the later [version of the] Commandments it says, “Keep the Shabbos day to sanctify it.” And our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “‘Remember’ (zachor) and ‘Keep’ (shamor) were said in a single utterance.”
Deuteronomy repeats the Ten Commandments with ‘Keep’ (shamor) in place of ‘Remember’ (zachor). The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 27a) says both words were spoken in a single divine utterance, something no human mouth can say and no ear can hear.
והענין דשמור הוא מל״ת כמארז״ל כל מקום שנאמר השמר פן ואל3 אינו אלא ל״ת. וזכור הוא רמ״ח מ״ע כי זכור עם4 י״ה גי׳ רמ״ח מ״ע
The explanation: ‘Keep’ belongs to the prohibitive commandments, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Wherever it says ‘beware’ (hishamer), ‘lest’ (pen) or ‘do not’ (al), it is nothing but a prohibition.” And ‘Remember’ is the 248 positive commandments, for zachor with yud-heh has the numerical value of 248, the positive commandments.
Shamor shares its root with hishamer (‘beware’), which the Talmud says always marks a prohibition, so ‘Keep’ stands for the prohibitive commandments. ‘Remember’ stands for the 248 positive commandments: the letters of zachor add up to 233, and with yud (10) and heh (5) the total is 248.
והנה זכרי עם ו״ה גימטריא רמ״ח. וצ״ל ההפרש בין זכור לזכרי.5 ומה שזכור הוא עם י״ה וזכרי עם ו״ה:
Now, zichri (‘My remembrance’) with vav-heh [also] has the numerical value of 248. And we need to understand the difference between zachor and zichri, and why zachor is with yud-heh and zichri with vav-heh.
Zichri (‘My remembrance,’ from “this is My remembrance,” Exodus 3:15) adds up to 237, and with vav (6) and heh (5) it too makes 248. Both words equal the positive commandments, but with different halves of the four-letter Name, and the maamar asks what that difference means; the answer comes in paragraphs 15–18.
Zachor and shamor are introduced: shamor stands for the prohibitions, zachor for the 248 positive commandments. Since both zachor with yud-heh and zichri with vav-heh equal 248, the maamar asks what distinguishes them.
The Zohar (1:24a, in a passage of the Tikkunim printed there) teaches that shmi (‘My Name’) with yud-heh equals 365, the prohibitions, and zichri with vav-heh equals 248, the positive commandments, so that all 613 mitzvos hang on the four letters of the Name. In Likkutei Torah, Pekudei, the Alter Rebbe adds that yud-heh is higher than vav-heh, so the prohibitions are rooted higher than the positive commandments.
Marei mekomos
- 1שמור את יום השבת · Deuteronomy 5:12
- 2זכור ושמור בדבור אחד נאמרו · Rosh Hashanah 27a:2–3
- 3כל מקום שנאמר השמר פן ואל · Eruvin 96a:8
- 4זכור עם י״ה גימט׳ רמ״ח מ״ע · Zohar I, 24a
- 5וצ״ל ההפרש בין זכור לזכרי · בתקס״ט שם מבאר ”שהרי כמו שתיבת זכרי עם ו״ה עולה גי׳ רמ״ח מ״ע כך זכור עם י״ה עולה גי׳ רמ״ח מ״ע (וא״כ לכאורה מצות השבת לפעמים בו״ה שהן שרש מ״ע ולפעמים בי״ה שהן שרש הל״ת כמ״ש זה שמי כו׳ ושמי עם י״ה גי׳ שס״ה וידוע דאותיות י״ה גבוהים מאותיות ו״ה גם א״כ למה נאמר זכור ושמור בשבת מאחר דגם זכור שרשו בל״ת שהן בי״ה כו׳ וד״ל).
What Shabbos is ¶3–5
3והנה להבין כ״ז צריך להבין תחלה כללות ענין השבת מהו.1 דהנה כתיב וירא אלקים את כל אשר עשה2 והנה טוב מאד.
Now, to understand all this, we must first understand what the concept of Shabbos is in general. For it is written, “And G‑d saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”
Before answering, the maamar defines Shabbos itself, starting from the last verse of the creation story (Genesis 1:31). G‑d’s look at ‘all that He had made’ marks the boundary between the six days of making and the day of rest.
שבששת ימי בראשית הוא בחי׳ את כל אשר עשה והיינו ע״י צירופי אותיות דעשרה מאמרות.
For the six days of creation are the level of “all that He had made,” that is, through the combinations of letters of the Ten Utterances,
The six days are the stage of ‘making’: the world comes into being through the Ten Utterances of Genesis 1, whose letters, combined in different ways, give each creature its existence.
כמו מאמר יהי אור3 יהי רקיע4 יקוו המים5 כו׳ תדשא6 כו׳. הוא בבחי׳ ירידה כמו באדם גילוי השכל בדבור שהוא בחי׳ ירידה.
such as the utterances “Let there be light,” “Let there be a firmament,” “Let the waters gather,” etc., “Let [the earth] sprout,” etc. This is in the manner of descent, as in a person the revelation of the intellect in speech is a descent.
Each utterance, ‘Let there be light,’ ‘Let there be a firmament’ and the rest, is a descent, like a person’s intellect coming down into speech. An idea in the mind is broader and higher than the words that express it.
והנה כתיב כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם7 כו׳. שיש למעלה כביכול בחי׳ מחשבה ובחי׳ דבור דהיינו שבחי׳ מחשבה נק׳ עלמין סתימין
Now, it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” etc.: that above there is, as it were, a level of thought and a level of speech. That is, the level of thought is called ‘the hidden worlds’ (almin sesimin)
Isaiah’s verse implies that G‑d, as it were, has both ‘thought’ and ‘speech.’ Thought corresponds to ‘the hidden worlds,’ the levels that remain concealed.
(ר״ל האור והחיות המחיה את עלמין סתימין נק׳ מחשבה עליונה). ובחי׳ דבור נק׳ עלמא דאתגלייא. ונק׳ אותיות לשון התגלות מלשון תרגום ואתא.8
(meaning, the light and life-force (chayus) that gives life to the hidden worlds is called ‘supernal thought’). And the level of speech is called ‘the revealed world’ (alma de’isgalya). And ‘letters’ (osiyos) are so called as a term of revelation, from the Targum’s word ve’asa (‘and he came’).
The parenthesis clarifies that ‘supernal thought’ is the light that gives life to the hidden worlds, while speech is ‘the revealed world.’ The word osiyos (‘letters’) is linked to the Aramaic asa, ‘came’ (as in Isaiah 21:12): letters are where a hidden idea ‘comes out’ into view.
כי הנה הדבור מקבל מבחי׳ המדות עליונות שבחי׳ שיתא יומין דבראשית הם ששה מדות עליונות.
For speech receives from the level of the supernal emotive attributes (middos): the level of the ‘six days of creation’ (shisa yomin divreishis) is the six supernal attributes.
Speech does not stand on its own; it receives from the emotive attributes. So the ‘six days of creation’ are the six supernal attributes, from Chesed to Yesod, each day expressing one of them.
והנה ידוע המאמר לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא910 כו׳. כולא לאחזאה כו׳ שבאדם בחי׳ חסד ורחמים מעורר התפעלות בנפשו להשפיע
Now, the saying is known: “Not that You have a known righteousness,” etc.; “all is to show,” etc. For in a person, the quality of kindness and compassion stirs an emotional arousal in his soul to bestow,
The Tikkunei Zohar (in Elijah’s prayer, Patach Eliyahu) says that G‑d has no defined attribute of ‘righteousness’ or ‘judgment’; the attributes exist only ‘to show’ how the world is conducted. In a person, kindness and compassion are feelings that stir and change him.
משא״כ מדותיו ית׳ המיוחדות בו ית׳ שהוא אחדות פשוט בלי שום שינוי התפעלות ח״ו כמ״ש אני הוי״ה לא שניתי11 וזהו לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא כו׳.
whereas His attributes, blessed be He, which are united with Him, blessed be He, who is a simple oneness, are without any change of emotional arousal, G‑d forbid, as it is written, “I, G‑d, have not changed.” And this is “Not that You have a known righteousness,” etc.
G‑d’s attributes are one with Him, a simple unity, and do not stir or change, as Malachi says, “I have not changed.” That is why the Zohar denies Him a ‘known’ attribute in the human sense.
ובהיות כן שהששה מדות עליונות הם למעלה מבחי׳ התפעלות ושינוי ע״כ כדי שיהיה נמשך מבחי׳ המדות לבחי׳ הדבור להיות עלמא דאתגלייא הוא רק בבחי׳ אחוריים לשון תרגום כו׳:
And since this is so, that the six supernal attributes are above emotional arousal and change, therefore, for [influence] to be drawn from the level of the attributes to the level of speech, to become the revealed world, it is only in the manner of ‘the back’ (achorayim), [like] the language of Targum, etc.
Since the attributes are beyond change, they can reach speech and bring forth a revealed world only through their ‘back’ (achorayim), an outer and indirect aspect. This is compared to Targum, the Aramaic translation, which conveys a text in an outer language; hence letters are named with the Targum word asa.
Shabbos is first set against the six days of creation: those days are divine ‘speech,’ the letters of the Ten Utterances, coming down from the six supernal attributes. Since those attributes are unchanging, they reach speech and a revealed world only through their ‘back’ (achorayim).
In Likkutei Torah on V’Zos HaBerachah (cited in the Kehot note) the Alter Rebbe applies the same image to the Torah: its present revelation is only ve’asa, a Targum term and the level of achorayim, because the inner reasons of the Torah are not yet revealed; they will be revealed in the future.
Marei mekomos
- 1כללות ענין השבת מהו · באוה״ת יתרו כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תרצט מציין ע״ז ”ועמ״ש מענין השבת לקמן סד״ה זכור את יום השבת דרוש השני. ובד״ה ענין האבות הן הן המרכבה. ובפ׳ תרומה בד״ה מי יתנך כאח לי בענין קונה שמים וארץ. ובד״ה ויקהל משה. ולעיל ס״פ בשלח סד״ה אכלוהו היום וסד״ה ענין לחם משנה”.
- 2וירא אלקים את כל אשר עשה · Genesis 1:31
- 3יהי אור · Genesis 1:3
- 4יהי רקיע · Genesis 1:6
- 5יקוו המים · Genesis 1:9
- 6תדשא · Genesis 1:11
- 7כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
- 8ונק׳ אותיות לשון התגלות מלשון תרגום ואתא · Isaiah 21:12
- 9לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar, Patach Eliyahu · 17b:4–6
- 10לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:5–7
- 11אני הוי״ה לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
This is why, in all the work of the six days of creation, until after “And [the heavens and the earth] were finished,” only the Name Elokim is mentioned; only after it says, “And they were finished,” etc.,
Throughout Genesis 1, the account of the six days, G‑d is called only Elokim. Only after the verses of completion and rest (Genesis 2:1–3) does the Torah use another Name.
“for on it He rested,” etc., does it afterward say, “On the day Havayah Elokim made”: the Name Havayah is mentioned specifically afterward.
Genesis 2:4, “On the day Havayah Elokim made earth and heaven,” is the first verse to use the Name Havayah. The maamar takes this late appearance as a clue to what Shabbos adds.
והענין כי ידוע מ״ש שמש ומגן4 הוי״ה אלקים. כי שם הוי״ה כתיב בי׳ אני הוי״ה לא שניתי5 (כנ״ל לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא כו׳)
The explanation is as is known from what is written: “A sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim.” For of the Name Havayah it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed” (as above, “Not that You have a known righteousness,” etc.),
Psalm 84 calls Havayah a ‘sun’ and Elokim a ‘shield.’ Havayah is the Name of G‑d’s unchanging being, “I, Havayah, have not changed,” recalling the point of paragraph 3 that G‑d’s attributes do not change.
ובחי׳ אלקים הוא הנרתק לשם הוי״ה הנק׳ ג״כ שמש (כמ״ש שמש ומגן6 ה׳ כו׳) כדי להיות התהוות הבריאה יש מאין שזהו ע״י אותיות הדבור כנ״ל
and the level of Elokim is the sheath for the Name Havayah, which is also called ‘sun’ (as it is written, “A sun and a shield is Havayah,” etc.), so that there can be the coming into being of creation, something from nothing, which is through the letters of speech, as above.
Like a sun too bright to look at, Havayah needs a ‘sheath,’ the Name Elokim, so that finite creatures can come into being from nothing. That filtering takes place through the letters of divine speech described above.
(והוא בחי׳ שם אלקים שהוא שרש בחי׳ אותיות וכלים. ושם הוי״ה7 הוא שורש בחי׳ האור שלמעלה מבחי׳ כלים ואותיות לכן ההמשכה משם הוי״ה הוא דוקא ע״י המגן דשם אלקים שהם האותיות המעלימים כנ״ל.
(And this is the level of the Name Elokim, which is the root of letters and vessels; and the Name Havayah is the root of the light, which is above vessels and letters. Therefore the drawing-down from the Name Havayah is specifically through the shield of the Name Elokim, which is the letters that conceal, as above.
In the parenthesis: Elokim is the root of letters and vessels, the forms that limit, while Havayah is the root of a light beyond all vessels. So Havayah’s influence reaches creation only through the ‘shield’ of Elokim, letters that conceal even as they convey.
ולכן בששת ימי בראשית לא נזכר רק שם אלקים כי בששת ימי בראשית היה ההמשכה מבחי׳ שם הוי״ה להתלבש בשם אלקים שהוא בחי׳ הדבור לומר יהי אור יהי רקיע כו׳)
And that is why in the six days of creation only the Name Elokim is mentioned: for in the six days of creation the drawing-down from the level of the Name Havayah was to be clothed in the Name Elokim, which is the level of speech, to say, “Let there be light,” “Let there be a firmament,” etc.)
This explains why only Elokim appears during the six days: the creative utterances were Havayah’s light clothed in Elokim, the level of speech.
ואח״כ בסוף ששת ימי בראשית נאמר והנה טוב מאד ויכלו השמים.8 פי׳ טוב מאד היא בחי׳ בע״ת כידוע דטוב זה יצ״ט9 ומאד זה יצה״ר10 כשנהפך לטוב ע״י התשובה.
And afterward, at the end of the six days of creation, it says, “And behold, it was very good,” “And the heavens were finished.” The meaning: ‘very good’ is the level of baalei teshuvah (those who return), as is known that ‘good’ is the good inclination and ‘very’ is the evil inclination when it has been turned to good through teshuvah (return).
‘Very good’ at the end of the six days alludes to the baal teshuvah, one who returns to G‑d. The Midrash reads ‘very good’ as both the good inclination and the evil inclination; here it is the evil inclination once teshuvah has turned it to good.
והענין כי במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים11 כו׳. כי אתכפייא ואתהפכא דבחי׳ בע״ת הוא בתגבורת האהבה ממטה למעלה מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את12 כו׳.
The point is: “In the place where baalei teshuvah stand,” etc. For the subjugation (iskafya) and transformation (ishapcha) of the level of baalei teshuvah is with an intensified love, from below to above: “Many waters cannot quench the [love],” etc.
The Talmud says baalei teshuvah stand where even the perfectly righteous cannot. Their subjugation and transformation of evil (iskafya and ishapcha) comes with a surge of love rising from below, a love that “many waters cannot quench.”
כמ״כ למעלה עליית החיות שירד בששת ימי בראשית בבחי׳ ירידה היא עולה בבחי׳ עליית העולמות למהותו ועצמותו ית׳.
So too above: the ascent of the life-force (chayus) that came down during the six days of creation in the manner of descent: it rises, as the ascent of the worlds, to His very being and essence, blessed be He.
So too in creation: the life-force that came down through the six days rises on Shabbos, together with the worlds, to G‑d’s very being and essence. Shabbos is this upward return.
The six days of creation are the Name Elokim, which conceals the unchanging light of Havayah and filters it into finite letters; Havayah is named only after the work is finished. ‘Very good’ alludes to teshuvah, whose upward surge of love mirrors the ascent of all creation on Shabbos.
In Torah Ohr, Vayetzei (cited in the Kehot note on ‘the place where baalei teshuvah stand’), the Alter Rebbe explains that teshuvah, which turns the evil traits themselves to G‑d, has greater strength, and that this subjugation and transformation of darkness into light causes a great delight above, which will be fully revealed in the future.
Marei mekomos
- 1לא נאמר רק שם אלקים · באוה״ת יתרו כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תשיא יש כאן הגה״ה.
- 2כי בו שבת · Genesis 2:3
- 3ביום עשות הוי״ה אלקים · Genesis 2:4
- 4שמש ומגן ה׳ אלקים · Psalms 84:12
- 5אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 6(כמ״ש שמש ומגן ה׳ כו׳) · בבוך 174 נכתב במקומו: (כמ״ש שיש הוד כנ״ל).
- 7שם אלקים . . אותיות וכלים ושם הוי׳ הוא שורש בחי׳ האור · נתבאר בד״ה וידעת תרנ״ז ע׳ מו. ובד״ה ראה קראתי תרס״ה ע׳ קפא ואילך.
- 8ויכלו השמים · Genesis 2:1
- 9דטוב זה יצ״ט · Bereshit Rabbah 9:9
- 10טוב זה יצ״ט ומאד זה יצה״ר · Bereshit Rabbah 9:7
- 11במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים · Berakhot 34b:22–23
- 12מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את · Song of Songs 8:7
5וז״ש אח״כ ויכלו השמים1 כי בו שבת2 כאדם ששובת ממלאכתו שהשכל ומדות שנשפלו להתלבש בדבור ובמעשה עולים למהותן ועצמותן כמו״כ הוא למעלה עלייה למהו״ע ית׳.
And this is what is written afterward: “And the heavens were finished,” “for on it He rested.” [It is] like a person who rests from his work, when the intellect and emotive attributes that had lowered themselves to be clothed in speech and action rise to their own being and essence; so too above, there is an ascent to His being and essence, blessed be He.
Genesis 2 says that the heavens and earth were finished and that G‑d ‘rested.’ When a person stops working, his mind and feelings, which had been lowered into speech and action, return to their own essence; likewise G‑d’s ‘rest’ is the ascent of the divine energy to His very being.
וזהו בחי׳ ומדרגת שבת דמעלי שבתא שהוא בחי׳ עליות וזהו שבת בראשית דמיקדשא וקיימא שהעלייה היא ממילא כי בו שבת כו׳.
And this is the level and rank of ‘Shabbos eve’ (Shabbos de’mealei Shabbsa), which is the level of ascents. And this is the Shabbos of Bereishis, which is ‘sanctified and established,’ for the ascent comes of itself: “for on it He rested,” etc.
This ascent is called ‘Shabbos eve’ (Shabbos de’mealei Shabbsa), an Aramaic term for the Shabbos of the night, a time of ascents, which paragraph 22 pairs with ‘Shabbos day.’ Because the ascent happens by itself, this is the ‘Shabbos of Bereishis’ that is ‘sanctified and established’ without our help.
(וצ״ע דמשמע שע״י טוב מאד בע״ת אז כי בו שבת והרי אמר דשבת מיקדשא וקיימא שהעלייה ממילא. לכן צריך לומר דלאו ע״י בע״ת הוא ההעלאה כי עליות העולמות הוא ממילא רק ענין תשובה עלאה היא דוגמא לבחי׳ זו.
(This needs examination, for it implies that through ‘very good,’ the baal teshuvah, there then comes “for on it He rested”; yet it was said that Shabbos is ‘sanctified and established,’ the ascent coming of itself. Therefore we must say that the elevation does not come through the baal teshuvah, for the ascent of the worlds comes of itself; only, the matter of the higher teshuvah (teshuvah ila’ah) is a likeness of this level.
A parenthetical note raises a difficulty: paragraph 4 seemed to make the Shabbos ascent depend on ‘very good,’ the baal teshuvah, yet Shabbos is holy of itself. The resolution: the ascent of the worlds comes by itself, and the higher teshuvah is only a likeness of it.
כי שבת אותיות תשב3 להיות ששבת עליות העולמות וכמו״כ הבע״ת ועיקר פעולת האתעדל״ת לבחי׳ שבת יתבאר לקמן אי״ה):
For Shabbos (שבת) has the letters of tashev (תשב, ‘return’), since Shabbos is the ascent of the worlds, and so too the baal teshuvah. And the main effect of the arousal from below on the level of Shabbos will be explained below, G‑d willing.)
The word Shabbos (שבת) has the letters of tashev (תשב), ‘return,’ which links Shabbos with teshuvah: both are a return upward. What the arousal from below, human effort, adds to Shabbos is left for later in the maamar.
Shabbos is the ascent of creation’s life-force back to G‑d’s essence, like a person’s faculties returning to themselves when he rests; this ascent comes by itself, which is why Shabbos is ‘sanctified and established.’ Teshuvah, whose letters Shabbos shares, is a likeness of this ascent, not its cause.
The Kehot note points to Likkutei Torah, Ha’azinu, where the Alter Rebbe develops ‘Shabbos has the letters of tashev’: during the six days G‑d’s light spread into ‘making’ (before Him even Chochmah counts as ‘making’), and on Shabbos it is revealed above Chochmah, like a person who stops working and turns his attention back to the essence of his soul. Torah Ohr, Vayakhel, adds that Shabbos, as tashev, is a kind of arousal from below that prepares the drawing-down through Torah and mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויכלו השמים · Genesis 2:1
- 2כי בו שבת · Genesis 2:3
- 3שבת אותיות תשב · Bereshit Rabbah 22:13
Wisdoms outside ¶6–9
6אך הנה כתיב אשר ברא1 אלהים לעשות. וארז״ל לעשות לתקן.2 וכתיב ושמרו בני ישראל3 את השבת לעשות את השבת דמזה משמע שישראל עושים את השבת
However, it is written, “which G‑d created to make,” and our Sages, of blessed memory, said: ‘to make’ [means] to perfect. And it is written, “And the children of Israel shall keep the Shabbos, to make the Shabbos,” from which it is understood that Israel make the Shabbos
A counterpoint: Genesis 2:3 says G‑d created the world ‘to make,’ which the Sages read as ‘to perfect,’ leaving creation for us to complete. And Exodus 31:16 says Israel shall keep Shabbos ‘to make the Shabbos,’ implying that Israel do ‘make’ Shabbos after all.
ע״י מעשה המצות בו׳ יומין דחול דהיינו פי׳ לעשות לתקן או ע״י תשובה. דהנה כתיב חכמות בחוץ תרונה.4
through the performance of the mitzvos during the six weekdays, which is the meaning of ‘to make’ [as] ‘to perfect,’ or through teshuvah (return). For it is written, “Wisdoms sing aloud outside.”
Israel ‘make’ Shabbos through the mitzvos of the six weekdays, which is ‘perfecting’ creation, or through teshuvah. To explain how, the maamar turns to the verse “Wisdoms sing aloud outside” (Proverbs 1:20).
Against the claim that Shabbos is holy of itself, verses say that Israel ‘make’ Shabbos, through the mitzvos of the weekdays or through teshuvah. The verse “Wisdoms sing aloud outside” will explain how.
The Kehot note on ‘to make, to perfect’ points to Rashi’s commentary on Bereshit Rabbah 11:7 and to Torah Ohr, Bereishis, where the Alter Rebbe explains that the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are ‘which G‑d created to make’: to perfect what was not perfected at creation, by refining good from evil through divine service.
Marei mekomos
- 1אשר ברא אלקים לעשות · Genesis 2:3
- 2לעשות לתקן · ראה פרש״י לבראשית רבה פי״א, ז. ראה לעיל ג, ב.
- 3ושמרו בני ישראל · Exodus 31:16
- 4חכמות בחוץ תרונה ופי׳ בזהר · Proverbs 1:20
7ופי׳ בזוהר1 חכמות תרי חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה. פי׳ ח״ע הוא בחי׳ חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא.2 וחכמה תתאה הוא כמארז״ל נובלות חכמה שלמעלה תורה.3
And the Zohar explains: ‘wisdoms’ are two, the higher Chochmah (wisdom) and the lower Chochmah. The higher Chochmah is the level of “wise, but not with a known wisdom.” And the lower Chochmah is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The nobelos (fallen fruit) of the wisdom above is the Torah.”
The Zohar reads ‘wisdoms’ as two: the higher Chochmah, ‘wise, but not with a known wisdom,’ beyond all grasp, and the lower Chochmah. The lower Chochmah is the Torah, which the Midrash calls the nobelos, the ‘fallen fruit,’ of the wisdom above: something that has dropped from its source, yet is of its substance.
פי׳ בחי׳ הנובלות הוא בחי׳ אור ושפע מבחי׳ אור החכמה הנמשך למטה כדי לברר בירורים
The meaning: the level of nobelos is a light and flow from the light of Chochmah, which is drawn down below in order to carry out refinements (beirurim),
Nobelos means a light and flow from Chochmah that has come down in order to do the work of refinement (beirurim), separating good from evil in the world.
that is, the wisdom in the Torah that has been clothed in physical things, to distinguish between impure and pure, and similarly in all the prohibitive commandments.
This is the Torah’s wisdom clothed in physical matters, such as which things are pure and which impure, and likewise all the prohibitions. Through them a person sorts the world into what can be elevated and what cannot.
The two ‘wisdoms’ are the higher Chochmah, beyond all grasp, and the lower Chochmah, the Torah’s wisdom that has come down into physical laws in order to refine the world; the prohibitions are one example.
In Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha (cited in the Kehot note), the Alter Rebbe explains that the Torah, though it speaks of physical things, is from the level of ‘wise but not with a known wisdom,’ since the higher Chochmah can be grasped only as clothed in physical things, as when one takes an esrog. Sefer HaMaamarim 5654, quoted in the note, calls the distinction between pure and impure “a general refinement between good and bad: this can be elevated and that cannot.” In the same Midrash, Shabbos is the ‘fallen fruit’ of the World to Come.
Marei mekomos
- 1ופי׳ בזוהר · Zohar I, 141b
- 2חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–4
- 3נובלות חכמה שלמעלה תורה · Bereshit Rabbah 17:5
- 4להבדיל בין טמא לטהור · ”שזהו בירור כללי בין טוב לרע שזה אפשר להתעלות וזה א״א להתעלות” — סה״מ תרנ״ד ע׳ עו, ע״ש.
- 5חכמות בחוץ תרונה ופי׳ בזהר · Proverbs 1:20
- 6
8וכמו״כ גם במעשה המצות עשה הרי נתלבשה החכמה במצות גשמיים כמו במצות ציצית בצמר גשמי דטלית כו׳
And likewise also in the performance of the positive commandments, the wisdom has been clothed in physical mitzvos, as in the mitzvah of tzitzis, in the physical wool of the tallis, etc.
The positive commandments work the same way: divine wisdom is clothed in physical objects. Tzitzis, for example, are made of physical wool attached to a physical tallis.
ולמעלה הטלית הוא בחינת אור מקיף. וכמ״ש לבושיה כתלג חיור1 שהוא בחי׳ סוכ״ע. והחוטין הם ל״ב נתיבות החכמה.2
And above, the tallis is the level of encompassing light (or makif), as it is written, “His garment was white as snow,” which is the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). And the threads are the thirty-two paths of Chochmah (wisdom).
Above, the tallis that surrounds the body corresponds to the encompassing light, the light that encompasses all worlds, which Daniel’s vision describes as a garment ‘white as snow.’ The threads, four corners of eight strands each, correspond to the thirty-two paths of Chochmah.
Positive commandments, like the prohibitions, clothe Chochmah in physical things: the wool tallis stands for the encompassing light, and its threads for the thirty-two paths of Chochmah.
The Kehot note on the threads as the thirty-two paths refers to the Zohar (3:301a) and to the sources gathered in Sefer HaMaamarim 5640.
Marei mekomos
- 1לבושי׳ כתלג חיור · Daniel 7:9
- 2והחוטין הם ל״ב נתיבות החכמה · ראה זח״ג שא, א. ובהנסמן בסה״מ תר״ם ע׳ קסב הערה 673.
9ועד״ז בשאר המצות כמו אבני האפוד והחושן תרשיש ושהם אבנים גשמיים ונחקק בהם שמות י״ב השבטים.
And similarly with the other mitzvos, such as the stones of the Ephod and the Breastplate, tarshish and shoham, which are physical stones on which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved.
Another example: the High Priest’s Ephod and Breastplate held precious stones, among them tarshish and shoham, physical stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes.
וכתיב ונשא אותם אהרן לפני1 ה׳ לזכרון ולמעלה רומזים לבחי׳ אורות עליונים שימשיך אהרן כהנא רבא בחי׳ חסדים עליונים דלפני האצי׳ כו׳
And it is written, “And Aharon shall bear them before G‑d for a remembrance”; and above, they allude to supernal lights: that Aharon the High Priest would draw down the level of the supernal kindnesses (chassadim) that are before the World of Atzilus (Emanation), etc.
The Torah says Aharon bore the names ‘before G‑d for a remembrance.’ Above, the stones allude to supernal lights: the High Priest drew down the supernal kindnesses (chassadim) from a level the text calls ‘before Atzilus,’ that is, prior to and above it.
ולמטה נתלבשה חכמה זו באבנים גשמיים ובמעשה גשמית דחושן ואפוד. וכה״ג יובן בכל מעשה המצות.
And below, this wisdom was clothed in physical stones and in the physical work of the Breastplate and Ephod. And in the same way it is to be understood in all the performance of the mitzvos.
Below, that wisdom was clothed in actual stones and in the craftsmanship of the garments. Every mitzvah is to be understood the same way: a supernal light clothed in a physical act.
וע״כ נק׳ בחי׳ חכמה זו שנתלבשה למטה במעשה המצות בשם חכמה תתאה שמתלבשת בעשייה גשמית לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא כו׳. וזהו חכמות בחוץ תרונה.
Therefore this wisdom, which has been clothed below in the performance of the mitzvos, is called by the name ‘the lower Chochmah (wisdom),’ for it is clothed in physical action, to turn darkness into light, etc. And this is “Wisdoms sing aloud outside.”
This is why the wisdom clothed in the mitzvos is called ‘the lower Chochmah’: it enters physical action in order to turn darkness into light. This is ‘wisdoms … outside.’
בחוץ דוקא כשנתלבשה ח״ת (הנמשכת מח״ע וזהו חכמות בחוץ כו׳ שהארת ח״ע נמשכת בח״ת ומתלבשים בחוץ דהיינו בבי״ע עד שנמשכים בעשייה גשמית ממש כנ״ל) בעשיה גשמית במעשה המצות שלפנינו אז דוקא תרונה
“Outside” specifically: when the lower Chochmah (which is drawn from the higher Chochmah; and this is “Wisdoms… outside,” etc.: the radiance of the higher Chochmah is drawn into the lower Chochmah, and they are clothed ‘outside,’ that is, in [the worlds of] Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation) and Asiyah (Action), until they are drawn into actual physical action, as above) is clothed in physical action, in the performance of the mitzvos before us, then specifically does it “sing aloud.”
The parenthesis explains the plural: the radiance of the higher Chochmah is drawn into the lower, and both are clothed ‘outside,’ in the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, down to physical deeds. Only when wisdom reaches the actual mitzvos before us does it ‘sing aloud.’
פי׳ שיהיה עי״ז תוספת וגלוי אוא״ס ב״ה שלמעלה מעלה אפי׳ מבחי׳ ח״ע. וע״י מעשה המצות יומשך ויתגלה בח״ע נמצא דוקא ע״י התלבשות החכמות בחוץ אז תרונה:2
This means that through this there will be an addition and revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is far above even the level of the higher Chochmah; and through the performance of the mitzvos it will be drawn down and revealed in the higher Chochmah. It follows that specifically through the clothing of the wisdoms ‘outside’ do they then “sing aloud.”
‘Sing aloud’ means an addition: a revelation of the Infinite Light, far above even the higher Chochmah, is drawn down by the mitzvos and revealed in the higher Chochmah. So it is precisely wisdom’s descent ‘outside’ that brings this new light.
Every mitzvah is supernal wisdom clothed in a physical object or act, like the engraved stones of the High Priest’s garments. When the higher Chochmah descends ‘outside’ into physical mitzvos, it ‘sings aloud’: the mitzvos draw into Chochmah a revelation of the Infinite Light that is higher than Chochmah itself.
Marei mekomos
- 1ונשא אותם אהרן לפני ה׳ לזכרון · Exodus 28:29
- 2
Reishis and the supernal delight ¶10–13
10וביאור הדבר הוא דהנה כתיב ראשית חכמה1 והיינו בחי׳ חכמה עלאה שנק׳ ראשית. כי ח״ת נק׳ סופא דכל דרגין23 כנודע
The explanation of the matter: it is written, “The beginning of wisdom,” which is the level of the higher Chochmah (wisdom), called ‘beginning’ (reishis). For the lower Chochmah is called ‘the end of all levels,’ as is known,
Psalm 111 says “The beginning (reishis) of wisdom,” and the maamar identifies ‘beginning’ with the higher Chochmah. The lower Chochmah, by contrast, is called ‘the end of all levels.’
שהיא בחי׳ מל׳ וח״ע נק׳ ראשית. והנה ראשית בתי״ו מורה על לשון נקבה. כי ראש הוא לשון דכר.
for it is the level of Malchus (sovereignty), while the higher Chochmah is called ‘beginning.’ Now, reishis, with a tav, indicates a feminine form, for rosh (head) is a masculine form.
The lower Chochmah is Malchus, the last of the Sefiros. A point of grammar follows: reishis ends in tav, a feminine ending, while rosh (‘head’) is masculine, so reishis is the ‘feminine,’ receiving form of rosh.
The higher Chochmah is called reishis (‘beginning’), and the lower Chochmah, Malchus, ‘the end of all levels.’ Reishis, with its feminine ending, is the receiving counterpart of rosh, the ‘head.’
The Zohar (2:226a, cited by Kehot) speaks of the ‘sea’ below as ‘the end of all levels,’ from which the building of the lower worlds begins.
Marei mekomos
- 1ראשית חכמה · Psalms 111:10
- 2כי ח״ת נק׳ סופא דכל דרגין · Zohar II, 56a
- 3סופא דכל דרגין · Zohar, Pekudei 14:96–15:105
11וראשית הוא לשון נוקבא. והיינו כי החכמה היא בחי׳ מקבל שמקבלת מבחי׳ ראש. וכמ״ש והחכמה מאין תמצא1 שנמשכת מבחי׳ אין דהיינו שלא בדרך השתלשלות עילה ועלול רק כמו בחי׳ יש מאין.
And reishis is a feminine form. That is, Chochmah (wisdom) is the level of a recipient, receiving from the level of rosh (head). As it is written, “And wisdom is found from ayin (nothing)”: it is drawn from the level of ayin, that is, not by way of a progression (hishtalshelus) of cause and effect, but like the level of something from nothing.
Chochmah is ‘feminine’ in that it receives from something higher, rosh. Job’s verse, read in Chassidus as ‘wisdom is found from ayin (nothing),’ says that Chochmah emerges from a level so far above it that it is ‘nothing’ to it: not as a cause produces an effect, but like creation from nothing.
כי בחי׳ האין שממנו תמצא החכמה הוא למעלה ממדרגת החכמה והוא כמו עד״מ באדם כשנופל לו איזה המצאה וסברא חדשה אזי מתמלא תענוג. מזה אנו רואים שבחי׳ תענוג הוא למעלה מבחי׳ חכמה.
For the level of ayin, from which wisdom is found, is above the rank of Chochmah. It is like, by way of analogy, a person to whom some discovery and new idea occurs: he is then filled with delight. From this we see that the level of delight is above the level of Chochmah,
The ayin is above Chochmah. The human analogy: when a new insight occurs to a person he is filled with delight, which shows that delight lies deeper than the intellect.
דהיינו שהוא מקור החכמה ולכן בתחלת התחדשות הסברא יהי׳ הענג גדול להיות כי רגע זו יצאה ונמשכה החכמה ממקורה התענוג.
that is, it is the source of Chochmah. Therefore, at the beginning, when the idea is new, the delight is great, because at that moment the wisdom has come forth and been drawn from its source, delight.
Delight is the source of the insight. That is why the delight is greatest at the moment the idea is born: it has just emerged from its source.
לכן מאיר בה אור התענוג משא״כ כשמתיישן אח״כ אינו מתענג כ״כ מהסברא שכבר נתרחקה ממקורה שהוא התענוג.
Therefore the light of delight shines in it. This is not so when it grows old afterward: he does not delight so much in the idea, for it has already moved away from its source, which is delight.
As the idea becomes familiar, the delight fades, because the idea has moved away from its source in delight.
Chochmah receives from a higher ‘head’ that is ‘nothing’ relative to it, which in human terms is the delight that floods a person with a new idea. Delight is the source of wisdom, which is why a new insight delights most at its birth.
Marei mekomos
- 1והחכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
12וכמו״כ למעלה בחי׳ תענוג העליון הוא מקור החכמה. וזהו בחי׳ מאין תמצא. מאין הוא בחי׳ עונג.
So too above: the level of the supernal delight is the source of Chochmah (wisdom). And this is the level of “from ayin is it found”: ayin is the level of delight.
The same is true above: the supernal delight is the source of Chochmah. This delight is the ayin, the ‘nothing,’ from which wisdom is found.
וזהו שנק׳ חכמה ראשית שהיא בחי׳ מקבל מבחי׳ ראש הוא התענוג עליון שנק׳ ראש אותיות אשר1 שהוא לשון אושר ותענוג וכמו באשרי2 כי אשרוני בנות אשרי יושבי34 כו׳:
And this is why Chochmah is called reishis, for it is the level of a recipient from the level of rosh (head), the supernal delight, which is called rosh (ראש), the letters of asher (אשר), a term of happiness (osher) and delight, as in “In my happiness, for daughters will call me happy,” “Happy are those who dwell,” etc.
So Chochmah is reishis, the receiver from rosh, the supernal delight. The letters of rosh (ראש) rearranged spell asher (אשר), which means happiness and delight, as in Leah’s “In my happiness (be’ashri), for daughters will call me happy” and “Happy (ashrei) are those who dwell in Your house.”
The supernal delight is the rosh from which Chochmah, reishis, receives; rosh has the letters of asher, the word for happiness and delight.
In the other transcript (Sefer HaMaamarim 5569, as quoted in the Kehot note) the words ‘Happy are those who dwell’ are missing, and the text adds: “and this is Ehe-yeh asher Ehe-yeh, for the Name Ehe-yeh is in Keser, which is the supernal delight called Atika.” The Zohar (1:15a) likewise reads asher as the letters of rosh.
Marei mekomos
- 1ראש אותיות אשר · Zohar I, 15a
- 2באשרי · Genesis 30:13
- 3אשרי יושבי · בסה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ לז אין תי׳ אלו, ושם אחר תי׳ לשון תענוג כמו באשרי כו׳ מוסיף במוסגר ”(וזהו אהי׳ אשר אהי׳ כי שם אהי׳ בכתר שהוא בחי׳ עונג העליון שנק׳ עתיקא כידוע)”.
- 4אשרי יושבי · Psalms 84:5
13והנה בברכת המצות אנו מברכין אשר קדשנו במצותיו כו׳. שע״י המצות אנו ממשיכים מבחי׳ אשר שהוא בחי׳ ענג העליון.
Now, in the blessing over the mitzvos we bless, “Who (asher) has sanctified us with His commandments,” etc.: for through the mitzvos we draw down from the level of asher, which is the level of the supernal delight.
The blessing over a mitzvah says asher kideshanu, ‘Who has sanctified us.’ The maamar reads asher as the supernal delight: through the mitzvos we draw down from that level.
וההמשכה היא בבחי׳ ח״ע וח״ת שהן בחי׳ יחו״ע ויחו״ת שנמשך בהן מבחי׳ ענג העליון. וזהו פי׳ הברכה בא״י אלקינו הוא בחי׳ יחו״ע דחו״ב אצי׳
And the drawing-down is into the higher Chochmah (wisdom) and the lower Chochmah, which are the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) and the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), into which [light] is drawn from the supernal delight. And this is the meaning of the blessing: “Blessed are You, G‑d, our G‑d” is the higher unity, of Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus,
The light is drawn into the two Chochmahs, which correspond to the ‘higher unity,’ in which all existence is nothing before G‑d, and the ‘lower unity,’ G‑d present within the world. The opening words of the blessing, ‘Blessed are You, G‑d, our G‑d,’ express the higher unity of Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus.
ואח״כ מלך העולם הוא בחי׳ יחו״ת וממשיכים להם מבחי׳ אשר קדשנו כו׳ בחי׳ ענג העליון.
and afterward, “King of the universe” is the lower unity; and we draw into them from the level of “Who (asher) has sanctified us,” etc., the supernal delight.
‘King of the universe’ expresses the lower unity. The words ‘Who (asher) has sanctified us’ then draw the supernal delight into both.
והיינו דוקא ע״י קיום מעשה המצות הגשמיים בבחי׳ אתכפייא ואתהפכא לברר בירורי נוגה שעי״ז דייקא ממשיכים גלוי התענוג העליון וזהו חכמות כשנתלבשו בחוץ אזי דוקא תרונה מחמת גלוי התענוג העליון בחכמה:1
And this is specifically through fulfilling the physical performance of the mitzvos, in the manner of subjugation (iskafya) and transformation (ishapcha), to carry out the refinements (beirurim) of nogah; for specifically through this do we draw down the revelation of the supernal delight. And this is “Wisdoms”: when they are clothed “outside,” then specifically they “sing aloud,” because of the revelation of the supernal delight in Chochmah.
This happens only through actually doing the physical mitzvos, subduing and transforming the material (iskafya and ishapcha) and refining kelipas nogah, the realm that is neither holy nor wholly evil and can be raised to holiness. This is ‘wisdoms … outside sing aloud’: when wisdom is clothed in physical deeds, the supernal delight is revealed in it.
The blessing over the mitzvos maps this: ‘Blessed are You, G‑d, our G‑d’ is the higher unity, ‘King of the universe’ the lower, and asher kideshanu draws the supernal delight into both, but only through actually doing the physical mitzvos.
The summary in Hemshech Matzah Zu 5640, quoted in the Kehot note, puts it this way: the lower Chochmah is the radiance of the higher Chochmah clothed in the physical mitzvos to refine kelipas nogah, and through this it ‘sings aloud’; for the higher Chochmah of Atzilus is reishis, which receives from rosh, the letters of asher, and in the blessing over the mitzvos we say asher, the delight drawn into Chochmah and Binah, the higher and the lower unity.
Marei mekomos
- 1גילוי התענוג העליון בחכמה · בהמשך מצה זו תר״מ ע׳ קעג בהקיצור לסעי׳ כב (שהוא הלשון מכאן): חכמות תרין ח״ע וח״ת, חכ׳ תתאה היא הארת ח״ע שנתלבשה במעהמ״צ לברר בירורי נוגה ועי״ז תרונה, כי ח״ע דאצי׳ היא ראשית שמקבל מראש אותיות אשר, ובברכת המצות מברכים אשר בחי׳ תענוג שנמשך בחו״ב יחו״ע ויחו״ת כו׳.
Making Shabbos in the weekdays ¶14–16
14ומעתה יובן ג״כ ענין לעשות את השבת. כי שבת הוא בחי׳ חכמה1 ובחכמה אתברירו.2 ולכן ארז״ל בשבת דבור אסור3 כי סייג לחכמה שתיקה.45 והוא בחי׳ עליית ח״ת בח״ע.
From this, the meaning of “to make the Shabbos” will also be understood. For Shabbos is the level of Chochmah (wisdom), and “through Chochmah they are refined.” Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said that on Shabbos speech is forbidden, for “a fence for wisdom is silence.” And it is the ascent of the lower Chochmah into the higher Chochmah.
Now ‘to make the Shabbos’ can be explained. Shabbos is Chochmah, and refinement happens ‘through Chochmah.’ The Sages forbade weekday speech on Shabbos, and Rabbi Akiva taught that “a fence for wisdom is silence”: on Shabbos the lower Chochmah, which works through speech and refinement, rises into the higher Chochmah.
(לכן בשבת בורר אסור כי בחכמה אתברירו הוא ע״י התלבשות ח״ע בח״ת לברר בירורים והיינו ביומין דחול אבל בשבת שהוא עליי׳ ח״ת בח״ע לכן דבור אסור).
(Therefore on Shabbos sorting (borer) is forbidden: for “through Chochmah they are refined” happens through the higher Chochmah being clothed in the lower Chochmah to carry out refinements, and that is during the weekdays; but on Shabbos, which is the ascent of the lower Chochmah into the higher Chochmah, therefore speech is forbidden.)
The parenthesis adds that this is why sorting (borer), one of the labors forbidden on Shabbos, is prohibited: refinement happens through the higher Chochmah clothing itself in the lower, which belongs to the weekdays. On Shabbos the lower Chochmah rises into the higher, so refining activity, like speech, is out of place.
והנה ע״י הבירורים ממעשה המצות שנעשו ביומין דחול נמשך מבחי׳ ענג עליון לבחי׳ חכמה דהנה החכמה נקראת עדן שמקבל מבחי׳ התענוג. ומבחינת עדן נמשך לגן.
Now, through the refinements from the performance of the mitzvos that were done during the weekdays, [light] is drawn from the level of the supernal delight into the level of Chochmah. For Chochmah is called ‘Eden,’ for it receives from delight; and from the level of Eden it is drawn into the Garden (Gan).
The refinements of the weekday mitzvos draw the supernal delight into Chochmah. Chochmah is called ‘Eden,’ a word that means pleasure, because it receives from delight, and from Eden the flow passes into the ‘Garden’ (Gan).
And this is the matter of the upper Gan Eden and the lower Gan Eden, where [souls] enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence). But “one hour of teshuvah (return) and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come,”
This is the upper and lower Gan Eden, where souls enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah. Yet the Mishnah says that one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come.
כי ע״י המצות ממשיכים עצמות ענג העליון שלמעלה מבחי׳ חכמה. וזהו הכל ע״י ו׳ יומין דחול ששת ימים תעבד:8
for through the mitzvos we draw down the very essence of the supernal delight, which is above the level of Chochmah. And all this is through the six weekdays: “Six days you shall labor.”
The reason: through the mitzvos we draw down the very essence of the supernal delight, which is above Chochmah, while Gan Eden receives what passes through Chochmah. All this is done in the six weekdays: “Six days you shall labor.”
Shabbos is Chochmah, the ascent of the lower Chochmah into the higher, which is why weekday speech and sorting are forbidden on it. The weekday mitzvos draw the essence of the supernal delight into Chochmah, more than Gan Eden itself receives, so it is the six weekdays that ‘make’ Shabbos.
The Tzemach Tzedek (Or HaTorah, Pinchas, cited in the Kehot note) sums up this point: Shabbos itself is Chochmah, and through ‘to sanctify it’ one draws into it “and you shall call the Shabbos a delight.” Torah Ohr, Bereishis (also cited) explains that the whole exile is the time of refinements through Chochmah, which is why Chochmah also contains judgment (din).
Marei mekomos
- 1כי שבת הוא בחי׳ חכמה · באוה״ת פנחס ע׳ א׳קסא מביא שכאן מבאר ”שהשבת עצמו הוא בחי׳ חכמה וע״י לקדשו ממשיך בו בחי׳ וקראת לשבת ענג כו׳”.
- 2ובחכמה אתברירו · נסמן לעיל ה, ד.
- 3בשבת דבור אסור · Shabbat 113b:1–2
- 4סייג לחכמה שתיקה · אבות ג, יז.
- 5סייג לחכמה שתיקה · Pirkei Avot 3:13
- 6יפה שעה אחת · אבות ד, יז.
- 7יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומע״ט בעוה״ז מכל חיי העוה״ב · Pirkei Avot 4:17
- 8ששת ימים תעבד · Exodus 20:9
15וזהו ענין זכור עם י״ה. וזכרי עם ו״ה. היינו מלמטה למעלה ומלמעלה למטה. דהנה פי׳ ששת ימים תעבוד היינו בחי׳ אהבה כי לית פולחנא כפולחנא דרחימותא.1
And this is the matter of zachor with yud-heh and zichri with vav-heh: that is, from below to above and from above to below. For the meaning of “Six days you shall labor (ta’avod)” is the level of love, for “there is no service like the service of love.”
The maamar now answers the question of paragraph 2: zachor with yud-heh is the movement from below to above, and zichri with vav-heh the movement from above to below. “Six days you shall labor (ta’avod)” is read as avodah, service done with love, for the Zohar says there is no service like the service of love.
שכל ימות החול הוא בחי׳ בירורים שכל מעשה המצות או הדבור או מה שעושה מו״מ בהיתר להתפרנס כדי שיוכל לעבוד את ה׳ נתברר עי״ז בירורי נצוצות קדושות מבחי׳ ק״נ ועולים לה׳
For all the weekdays are the level of refinements: through all the performance of the mitzvos, or speech, or the business a person conducts in a permitted way to earn a living so that he can serve G‑d, there are refined thereby the refinements of holy sparks from the level of kelipas nogah (the husk of nogah), and they rise to G‑d
All the weekday activity is refinement: mitzvos, speech, and even honest business conducted to earn a living so as to be able to serve G‑d. Through them the holy sparks held in kelipas nogah, the neutral realm, are refined and rise to G‑d.
ע״י התפלה וכל התפלות של ימות החול נכללים ועולים ע״י תפלת השבת וזהו הכל ע״י בחי׳ אהבה מלמטה למעלה.
through prayer. And all the prayers of the weekdays are included and rise through the prayer of Shabbos. And all this is through the level of love, from below to above.
They rise through prayer, and all the weekday prayers are gathered up and raised by the prayer of Shabbos. This whole upward movement is driven by love.
Zachor with yud-heh is the upward movement of the weekdays: mitzvos, speech and honest work refine holy sparks, which rise through prayer and are gathered into the prayer of Shabbos, all through love.
Marei mekomos
- 1לית פולחנא כפולחנא דרחימותא · Zohar III, 267a
16וזהו זכור עם י״ה רמ״ח שהאהבה נק׳ זכור כי יראה היא בחי׳ נקבה. כמ״ש אשה יראת1 ה׳ ואהבה היא בחי׳ דכר זכר חסדו.2 והאהבה היא שרש לרמ״ח מ״ע.
And this is zachor with yud-heh, 248: love is called zachor, for awe is the level of the female, as it is written, “A woman who fears G‑d,” and love is the level of the male (dechar): “He remembered (zachar) His kindness.” And love is the root of the 248 positive commandments.
Zachor with yud-heh equals 248 and stands for love. In Kabbalistic language ‘male’ and ‘female’ describe giving and receiving: awe is ‘female,’ as in “a woman who fears G‑d,” and love is ‘male’ (zachar), as in “He remembered (zachar) His kindness.” Love is the root of the 248 positive commandments.
והיינו שע״י רמ״ח מ״ע ובחי׳ פולחנא דרחימותא היא העלאה ממטה למעלה לבחי׳ י״ה (וגם האיש דרכו לכבש3 לכן בירור ק״נ וההעלאה הוא ע״י אהבה):
That is, through the 248 positive commandments and the service of love there is an elevation from below to above, to the level of yud-heh. (Also, “it is the way of a man to conquer”; therefore the refinement of kelipas nogah and the elevation are through love.)
Through the 248 positive commandments and the service of love there is an ascent from below to the level of yud-heh. The parenthesis adds the Talmud’s “it is the way of a man to conquer”: conquering and refining kelipas nogah is the work of love, the ‘male’ quality.
Love is the ‘male,’ active quality (zachar) and the root of the 248 positive commandments; through it the weekday service rises to yud-heh. Here ‘male’ and ‘female’ are Kabbalistic terms for giving and receiving, applied to love and awe.
Marei mekomos
- 1אשה יראת ה׳ · Proverbs 31:30
- 2זכר חסדו · Psalms 98:3
- 3האיש דרכו לכבש · Yevamot 65b:4–5
The drawing-down ¶17–18
17והנה תכלית ההעלאה הוא כדי להיות אח״כ המשכה מלמעלה למטה. וז״ש רז״ל ע״פ מה ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך.1 א״ת מה אלא מאה2 ברכות שחייב אדם לברך בכל יום.
Now, the purpose of the elevation is that afterward there be a drawing-down from above to below. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse, “What (mah) does G‑d your G‑d ask of you?”: “Do not read mah but me’ah (a hundred)”: the hundred blessings that a person is obligated to say every day.
The purpose of the ascent is a descent: after rising, light must be drawn down. The Talmud (Menachos 43b) derives the obligation of a hundred blessings a day from “What (mah) does G‑d ask of you,” and the maamar cites the reading ‘do not read mah but me’ah,’ ‘a hundred.’
והענין הוא כי בחי׳ ההמשכה שנמשך מבחי׳ סוכ״ע לבחי׳ ממכ״ע נק׳ בשם ברכה כי הוא בחי׳ הגילוי מן ההעלם. וזהו א״ת מה.
The point is that the drawing-down that is drawn from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) to the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) is called by the name ‘blessing,’ for it is the level of revelation out of concealment. And this is “Do not read mah,”
A ‘blessing’ (berachah) is a drawing-down from sovev kol almin, the light beyond the worlds, into memalei kol almin, the light within them: a revelation out of concealment. This is the point of reading mah as me’ah.
שהוא בחי׳ ממכ״ע כמבואר בזוהר בראשית בתחלתו בהקדמה (דף א׳ ע״ב) ע״פ מה אדיר שמך בכל הארץ3 דבחי׳ מ״ה הוא בבחי׳ בדבר ה׳ שמים נעשו.4
which is the level of memalei kol almin, as explained in the Zohar on Bereishis, at its beginning, in the Introduction (page 1b), on the verse, “How (mah) mighty is Your Name in all the earth”: that the level of mah is the level of “By the word of G‑d the heavens were made.”
Mah (‘what’) is the level of memalei kol almin. The maamar cites the Zohar’s introduction on “How (mah) mighty is Your Name in all the earth,” where mah is the lower level, here identified with the divine speech by which ‘the heavens were made.’
וזהו מה אדיר שמך בכל הארץ שמתלבש בעולמות להיות ממכ״ע וכן הוא ג״כ בזוהר ח״ב (דקכ״ז) ע״פ ויקחו לי תרומה5 דרגא תתאה דאיהו רזא דעלמא תתאה אקרי מ״ה.6
And this is “How mighty is Your Name in all the earth”: that it is clothed in the worlds to be memalei kol almin. And so it is also in the Zohar, volume 2 (page 127), on the verse, “And they shall take for Me an offering (terumah)”: “The lower level, which is the mystery of the lower world, is called mah.”
‘Your Name in all the earth’ is the divine light clothed in the worlds, memalei kol almin. The Zohar on Terumah likewise calls the lower level, the mystery of the lower world, mah.
(וזהו ענין תרומה. א״ת מ״ה אלא מאה. דהיינו להמשיך מבחי׳ סוכ״ע לבחי׳ ממכ״ע הנק׳ מ״ה תרומה.
(And this is the matter of terumah: “Do not read mah but me’ah”; that is, to draw down from the level of sovev kol almin to the level of memalei kol almin, which is called mah; [this is] terumah.
The parenthesis links this to terumah, the offering of Parshas Terumah, which the Zohar expounds with ‘do not read mah but me’ah.’ Drawing sovev into memalei, the level called mah, is identified with terumah.
כי הנה תרומת מעשר הוא מעשר מן המעשר78 כי הדבור עליון שהוא בחי׳ ממכ״ע נק׳ בחי׳ מעשר לגבי המדות עליונות דהיינו משום כי רק חלק עשירי מהמדה נמשך להיות הגילוי בדבור
For terumas ma’aser is “a tithe of the tithe.” For the supernal speech, which is the level of memalei kol almin, is called the level of a ‘tithe’ (ma’aser) relative to the supernal attributes (middos), because only a tenth part of the attribute is drawn down to become the revelation in speech;
Terumas ma’aser, the priests’ portion taken from the Levites’ tithe, is ‘a tithe of the tithe.’ So too above: supernal speech, memalei kol almin, is a ‘tithe’ of the attributes, since only a tenth of an attribute comes out in speech.
וגם המדות לגבי חו״ב הם ג״כ רק כמו בחי׳ חלק עשירי שבחינה האחרונה שבחו״ב נמשך להיות מקור למדות. והתרומה היא העלאה ממטה למעלה וצ״ע).9 וענין מאה ברכות הוא להמשיך מלמעלה למטה ההארה מבחי׳ סוכ״ע לממכ״ע:
and the attributes, too, relative to Chochmah and Binah, are likewise only like the level of a tenth part, for the last level within Chochmah and Binah is drawn down to be the source for the attributes. And the terumah is an elevation from below to above; this needs examination.) And the matter of the hundred blessings is to draw down from above to below the radiance from the level of sovev kol almin to memalei kol almin.
And the attributes are only like a tenth of Chochmah and Binah, whose last level becomes their source. The author leaves open (‘this needs examination’) how terumah, which is an elevation, fits a drawing-down; the hundred blessings, at any rate, draw the radiance of sovev into memalei from above to below.
Ascent is for the sake of descent: the hundred daily blessings draw the light that encompasses all worlds into the light that fills them, the level called mah. A parenthetical note relates this to terumah and to the ‘tenths’ by which each level comes down.
In Torah Ohr, Toldos (cited in the Kehot note), the Alter Rebbe asks why exactly a hundred: mah is Malchus, memalei kol almin, and sovev is drawn into it through Keser, the intermediary; a hundred blessings draw from the ten Sefiros of Arich Anpin, each comprising ten. In Or HaTorah, Vayakhel, the Tzemach Tzedek distinguishes two kinds of terumah: terumah gedolah, given without measure or weight, and terumas ma’aser, taken precisely by weight and measure.
Marei mekomos
- 1מה ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך · Deuteronomy 10:12
- 2א״ת מה אלא מאה · Menachot 43b:15–17
- 3מה אדיר שמך בכל הארץ · Zohar, Introduction 2:4–4:12
- 4בדבר ה׳ שמים נעשו · Psalms 33:6
- 5ויקחו לי תרומה · Exodus 25:2
- 6דרגא תתאה דאיהו רזא דעלמא תתאה אקרי מ״ה · Zohar, Terumah 2:12–4:23
- 7תרומת מעשר הוא מעשר מן המעשר · באוה״ת פ׳ ויקהל ע׳ ב׳קפא מבאר ב׳ מיני תרומה א׳ ענין תרומה גדולה אין תורמין לא במדה ולא במשקל, והב׳ תרומת מעשר ניטלת דוקא במשקל ובמדה, ע״ש.
- 8מעשר מן המעשר · Numbers 18:26
- 9והתרומה היא העלאה . . וצ״ע · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ ויקהל ע׳ ב׳קפא ואילך.
18והנה עיקר ענין זו ההמשכה מלמעלה למטה הוא בשבת (דהגם שבכל יום מברכים מאה ברכות מ״מ עיקר גילוי ויחוד סובב בממלא הוא בשבת).
Now, the main [occasion] of this drawing-down from above to below is on Shabbos (for although every day we say a hundred blessings, nevertheless the main revelation and union of sovev in memalei is on Shabbos).
The chief time of this drawing-down is Shabbos. Although blessings are said every day, the main revelation and union of sovev within memalei happens on Shabbos.
וזהו זכרי עם ו״ה רמ״ח היינו בשבת היא ההמשכה מלמעלה למטה אל בחי׳ ו׳ שהוא״ו הוא המשכה.
And this is zichri with vav-heh, 248: on Shabbos there is the drawing-down from above to below, to the level of vav, for the vav is a drawing-down.
This is zichri with vav-heh: on Shabbos light is drawn from above to below, to the vav. The letter vav, a vertical line, signifies drawing-down.
והיינו ג״כ ענין התורה שהיא בחי׳ המשכה קול בוי״ו דאורייתא מח״ע נפקת והוא יו״ד דזכרי ונמשך למטה בקול ודבור. וכמ״ש ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך.1
And this is also the matter of the Torah, which is the level of drawing-down: kol (voice), [spelled] with a vav. For “the Torah comes forth from the higher Chochmah (wisdom),” which is the yud of zichri, and it is drawn down below into voice and speech, as it is written, “And My words which I have placed in your mouth.”
The Torah is also a drawing-down, and kol (‘voice’) is spelled with a vav. The Torah comes from the higher Chochmah, the yud of zichri, and descends into voice and speech, as Isaiah says, “My words which I have placed in your mouth.”
וכמו שאמרו על שמאי והלל2 דאלו ואלו דא״ח. והיינו ו״ה קול ודבור בתורה. וזהו ג״כ שרש ענין השבת שהוא בחי׳ החכמה יו״ד דזכרי ונמשך למטה בבחי׳ ו״ה.
And as they said about Shammai and Hillel, that “these and these are the words of the living G‑d.” And this is vav-heh: voice and speech in Torah. And this is also the root of the matter of Shabbos, which is the level of Chochmah, the yud of zichri, drawn down below into the level of vav-heh.
Even the disputes of Shammai and Hillel are “the words of the living G‑d”: divine wisdom in human voice and speech, the vav and heh. The root of Shabbos is the same: Chochmah, the yud, drawn down into vav-heh.
(והענין זכור הוא האהבה ועי״ז עולה המ״ן לבחי׳ י״ה. וזכרי הוא יסוד אבא שמתגלה בשבת בבחי׳ זו״נ כידוע בכוונת זכר למע״ב במוסף וזהו שנמשך בבחי׳ ו״ה):
(The point is: zachor is love, and through it the ‘feminine waters’ (mayin nukvin) rise to the level of yud-heh. And zichri is Yesod (foundation) of Abba, which is revealed on Shabbos in the level of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, as is known from the kavanah (mystical intention) of “a remembrance of the work of creation” in Musaf; and this is its being drawn into the level of vav-heh.)
In the parenthesis: zachor is love, which raises ‘feminine waters’ (mayin nukvin), the Kabbalistic term for an arousal from below, up to yud-heh. Zichri is Yesod of Abba, revealed on Shabbos in Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, as is known from the mystical intention (kavanah) for ‘a remembrance of the work of creation’ in the Musaf prayer.
Zichri with vav-heh is the downward movement: on Shabbos Chochmah, the yud, is drawn down into vav-heh, like the ‘voice and speech’ of Torah. Zachor raises the arousal from below; zichri, Yesod of Abba, brings the response down on Shabbos.
Marei mekomos
- 1ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך · Isaiah 59:21
- 2וכמו שאמרו על שמאי והלל · Eruvin 13b:6
The answer ¶19–20
And this is the command, “Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it.” The question was set out above: surely Shabbos is ‘sanctified and established.’
Now the opening question can be answered. If Shabbos is already ‘sanctified and established,’ what does “Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it” ask of us?
והענין מובן ע״פ מה שנתבאר כי באמת בחי׳ שבת מצד עצמו מיקדשא וקיימא שהוא בחי׳ קדש בחי׳ חכמה (דהיינו בחי׳ מוחין דאבא. ויו״ט נק׳ מקראי קדש בחי׳ נה״י דאבא מתלבשין במוחין דאימא).
The matter is understood from what has been explained: in truth, the level of Shabbos in itself is ‘sanctified and established,’ for it is the level of kodesh (holiness), the level of Chochmah (that is, the level of the intellect (mochin) of Abba; while Yom Tov is called mikra’ei kodesh (‘holy convocations’), the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod of Abba clothed in the intellect of Imma).
Shabbos in itself is holy and needs no help: it is kodesh, Chochmah, the intellect of Abba. Yom Tov is called ‘holy convocations’ (mikra’ei kodesh) because it receives only Abba’s lower powers, Netzach, Hod and Yesod, clothed in the intellect of Imma.
אך כדי להמשיך בחי׳ גילוי ענג העליון שיומשך ויתגלה בחכמה (דהיינו התגלות עתיק בחכמה) הוא
But to draw down the revelation of the supernal delight, so that it be drawn and revealed in Chochmah (that is, the revelation of Atik in Chochmah), is
But there is something beyond Shabbos’s own holiness: the revelation of the supernal delight within Chochmah, which the parenthesis calls the revelation of Atik, the innermost level of Keser, in Chochmah.
ע״י ישראל ע״י מעשה המצות שעושין כל ימות החול שאומרים אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו שממשיכים מבחי׳ אשר ענג העליון בבחי׳ ראשית חכמה כנ״ל:
through Israel, through the performance of the mitzvos that they do all the weekdays, over which they say, “Who (asher) has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us”: for they draw down from the level of asher, the supernal delight, into the level of “the beginning (reishis) of wisdom,” as above.
That revelation depends on Israel, on the mitzvos of the weekdays, over which they say asher kideshanu. Through them they draw from asher, the supernal delight, into reishis, Chochmah, and this is what ‘to sanctify it’ adds.
The answer: Shabbos is holy in itself as Chochmah, but the revelation of the supernal delight within that Chochmah depends on Israel’s weekday mitzvos, and that is what ‘to sanctify it’ commands.
This completes the contrast drawn in paragraph 1 from the Zohar on Emor: the festivals are mikra’ei kodesh, ‘invited’ from kodesh, while Shabbos is kodesh’s own inheritance; yet even Shabbos gains through Israel the revelation of Atik, the supernal delight.
Marei mekomos
- 1זכור את יום השבת לקדשו · Exodus 20:8
20וז״ש אח״כ ששת ימים תעבד1 דלכאורה זה אינו מ״ע רק רשות ומה ענין זה לזכור את יום השבת לקדשו שהיא מ״ע אלא דלהיות דפי׳ לקדשו להמשיך גילוי עונג העליון בחכמה בשבת.
And this is what is written afterward, “Six days you shall labor.” For at first glance this is not a positive commandment but only something permitted, so what does it have to do with “Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it,” which is a positive commandment? But since the meaning of ‘to sanctify it’ is to draw down the revelation of the supernal delight into Chochmah (wisdom) on Shabbos,
The next verse, “Six days you shall labor,” seems to be mere permission, not a commandment, so why is it joined to the commandment of Shabbos? Because ‘to sanctify it’ means drawing the supernal delight into Chochmah on Shabbos.
וכמ״ש וקראת לשבת ענג.2 והמשכה זו היא ע״י העלאת הבירורים שע״י מעשה המצות בחול. והיינו ע״י בחי׳ זכור עם י״ה.
as it is written, “And you shall call the Shabbos a delight”; and this drawing-down is through the elevation of the refinements [made] through the performance of the mitzvos during the week; that is, through the level of zachor with yud-heh,
Isaiah calls Shabbos ‘a delight’ (oneg). That delight is drawn down through the elevation of the refinements made by the weekday mitzvos, the upward movement of zachor with yud-heh.
וששת ימים תעבוד פולחנא דרחימותא. ועי״ז יומשך בשבת בחי׳ לקדשו. וזהו זכור כו׳. כי שבת נק׳ שבת בראשית.
and “Six days you shall labor,” the service of love; and through this the level of “to sanctify it” will be drawn down on Shabbos. And this is “Remember,” etc. For Shabbos is called ‘Shabbos Bereishis.’
“Six days you shall labor” is the service of love that brings about ‘to sanctify it’ on Shabbos, so the six days are part of ‘Remember.’ And Shabbos is called ‘Shabbos Bereishis,’ which the next paragraph explains.
This explains why “Six days you shall labor” belongs to the Shabbos commandment: the weekday service of love raises the refinements that draw the supernal delight, ‘oneg,’ into Shabbos.
In Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah (cited in the Kehot note), the Alter Rebbe contrasts weekday eating, which refines the food, with eating on Shabbos, when sorting is forbidden and the food rises to its root and is eaten as a drawing-down from above: “And you shall call the Shabbos a delight.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ששת ימים תעבד · Exodus 20:9
- 2וקראת לשבת עונג · Isaiah 58:13
Zachor and shamor ¶21–22
21והנה בראשית היא בחי׳ נוק׳ שמקבל מבחי׳ ראש שהוא תענוג העליון כנ״ל. ולכן אמר זכור את יום השבת כו׳ להמשיך בו מבחי׳ תענוג העליון שנק׳ בחי׳ זכר ומשפיע לבחי׳ ראשית חכמה כו׳.
Now, Bereishis is the level of Nukva (the feminine), which receives from the level of rosh (head), which is the supernal delight, as above. Therefore it says, “Remember the Shabbos day,” etc.: to draw into it from the level of the supernal delight, which is called the level of the male (zachar) and the giver, to the level of “the beginning (reishis) of wisdom,” etc.
‘Bereishis’ contains reishis, the ‘feminine’ level that receives from rosh, the supernal delight. So ‘Remember’ (zachor) means drawing into Shabbos from that delight, the ‘male,’ giving level, into ‘the beginning (reishis) of wisdom.’
And this is Yisrael, [whose letters spell] li rosh (‘a head for Me’), for they are the ones who draw down from the level of rosh. (And see what is written in the section on tzitzis on the matter of li rosh.) And the level of “Keep the Shabbos day”:
The letters of Yisrael (ישראל) spell li rosh (לי ראש), ‘a head for Me’: Israel are those who draw down from rosh. The text refers to what is written in the section on tzitzis, and turns to the second word, ‘Keep.’
our Sages, of blessed memory, said: ‘Keep’ — this is Mishnah. The point is that keeping (shemirah) means separating the kelipos (husks), so that there be no nourishment for the external forces.
The Sages read shamor (‘keep’) as the study of Mishnah. Keeping means guarding: separating the kelipos so that the external forces cannot draw nourishment from holiness.
וזהו ענין זכור לדכורא. ושמור לנוקבא. כי השמירה שלא יינקו החיצונים מטפת דכורא היא ע״י שנמשכת במעי דנוק׳.
And this is the matter of ‘zachor for the male, shamor for the female.’ For the keeping, so that the external forces not draw nourishment from the drop of the male, is through its being drawn into the womb of the female.
Hence the saying ‘zachor for the male, shamor for the female.’ In the Kabbalistic image of giver and receiver, the giver’s influence is protected from the external forces only when it is fully received and held within the receiver, Nukva.
ולכן הנפילים5 היו מפני שלא נקלטה הטפה כו׳ וזהו ג״כ ענין שמור זו משנה שבתושבע״פ היא נק׳ תורת אמך לגבי תושב״כ שנק׳ מוסר אביך6 וכמ״ש במ״א:
Therefore “the Nefilim were” because the drop was not absorbed, etc. And this is also the matter of ‘Keep — this is Mishnah,’ for the Oral Torah is called “the teaching of your mother” relative to the Written Torah, which is called “the instruction of your father,” as explained elsewhere.
The text alludes to a Kabbalistic teaching that the Nefilim of Genesis 6:4 came from influence that was not received and held in its proper place. Shamor is Mishnah because the Oral Torah is ‘your mother’s teaching,’ the receiving side, relative to the Written Torah, ‘your father’s instruction.’
Zachor draws the supernal delight, the ‘male’ giver, into Shabbos; shamor is the ‘female,’ receiving and guarding, which keeps the influence from the external forces, as the Oral Torah receives and guards the Written. In Kabbalah these terms describe giving and receiving.
In Torah Ohr, Shemos (cited in the Kehot note), ‘Yisrael, li rosh’ is the level of Chochmah: its essence, ‘wise but not with a known wisdom,’ cannot be grasped, and only its outer powers, Netzach, Hod and Yesod of Abba, called ‘Yisrael Saba,’ shine as the source of the worlds.
Marei mekomos
- 1ישראל לי ראש · נסמן לעיל נ, ד וראה גם לעיל נד, ג.
- 2ועמ״ש בפ׳ ציצית · לקו״ת ס״פ שלח מח, ג בארוכה.
- 3שמור זו משנה · Deuteronomy 4:6
- 4שמור זו משנה · Rashi on Deuteronomy 4:6
- 5הנפילים היו · Genesis 6:4
- 6תורת אמך לגבי תושב״כ שנק׳ מוסר אביך · Proverbs 1:8
22אך לעתיד יהיה זכור ושמור בדבור א׳ נאמרו (ר״ל שאז יתגלה בחינה זו למטה) שיהיה הכל חד יחו״ע ויחו״ת
But in the time to come it will be [as] “‘Remember’ and ‘Keep’ were said in a single utterance” (meaning that then this level will be revealed below), for all will be one, the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) and the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah)
In the future, “‘Remember’ and ‘Keep’ were said in a single utterance” will be revealed below: the two will be one. The higher unity and the lower unity will merge.
(שהן בחי׳ זכור ובחי׳ שמור דהיינו שגם יחו״ת יהיה במדרגת הגלוי שביחו״ע והיינו ע״י גלוי עצמות א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע דקמיה שוה הכל כו׳).
(which are the level of zachor and the level of shamor; that is, the lower unity too will be at the rank of the revelation that is in the higher unity, and this is through the revelation of the essence of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), before whom all is equal, etc.).
Zachor is the higher unity, shamor the lower. The lower unity will reach the revelation of the higher through the revelation of the essence of the Infinite One, before whom ‘all is equal,’ high and low alike.
וזהו שנאמר אות הוא ביני ובין בני ישראל1 (ר״ל אות היא קאי על בחי׳ מל׳ שמור לנוק׳ וכמ״ש במ״א באור ענין זה ע״פ הזוהר ויקהל )(דר״ד)2 האי רוחא אתפשטותא דההיא נקודה3 כו׳.
And this is what is said, “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel” (meaning, ‘sign’ refers to the level of Malchus (sovereignty), shamor for the female; as explained elsewhere in the explanation of this matter on the Zohar, Vayakhel (page 204): “This spirit is the spreading forth of that point,” etc.).
Exodus 31 calls Shabbos “a sign between Me and the children of Israel,” and the ‘sign’ is Malchus, shamor, the ‘female.’ The text refers to an explanation given elsewhere of the Zohar on Vayakhel, which speaks of the Shabbos spirit as the spreading forth of ‘that point,’ Malchus.
וזהו יום שכולו ארוך4 (ר״ל שמור וזכור הם בחי׳ שבת דמעלי שבתא ושבתא דיומא ולע״ל שיהיו שניהם במדרגה א׳ שבת דמעלי שבתא יהי׳ ג״כ במדרגת שבתא דיומא הז׳ יום שכולו ארוך ועמ״ש כה״ג ע״פ ההפטרה דפ׳ במדבר כי גדול יום5 כו׳)
And this is ‘the day that is entirely long’ (meaning: shamor and zachor are the level of ‘Shabbos eve’ (Shabbos de’mealei Shabbsa) and ‘Shabbos day’ (Shabbsa de’yoma); and in the time to come, when the two of them will be at one rank, Shabbos eve too will be at the rank of Shabbos day, the seventh, ‘the day that is entirely long.’ And see what is written in a similar vein on the haftarah of Parshas Bamidbar, “For great is the day,” etc.)
Shamor and zachor are Shabbos night and Shabbos day. In the future both will be at the level of Shabbos day, ‘the day that is entirely long’; the text also refers to what is written on the haftarah of Bamidbar, “For great is the day.”
כי עתה זה היום אשר קוינו לו. פי׳ קוינו בחי׳ קו ארוך6 ולעתיד יהיה בחי׳ שבת מעלה ומטה שוין (וע׳ לקמן בד״ה להבין באור ענין האבות הן הן המרכבה מש״ש מענין זה):7
For now [it is], “This is the day we hoped (kivinu) for.” The meaning: kivinu is the level of a long line (kav). And in the time to come there will be the level of Shabbos, above and below equal. (And see below, in the discourse beginning “To understand the explanation of the matter, ‘The Patriarchs are themselves the Chariot,’” what is written there on this matter.)
Now, “this is the day we hoped (kivinu) for” expresses hope, a kav, a long line stretching toward a goal. In the future it will be Shabbos, when above and below are equal; the text refers to a later discourse on ‘the Patriarchs are themselves the Chariot.’
In the future zachor and shamor will be revealed as one: the lower unity will equal the higher, and Shabbos night will be like Shabbos day, through the revelation of G‑d’s essence, before whom above and below are equal.
The Kehot note says the explanation of the Zohar on Vayakhel to which the text refers is printed in Sefer HaMaamarim 5565 and in the Tzemach Tzedek’s Biurei HaZohar. Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha (cited on ‘the day that is entirely long’) identifies that day with the great revelation of the future, ‘Your abundant goodness.’
Marei mekomos
- 1אות הוא ביני ובין בני ישראל · Exodus 31:17
- 2וכמ״ש במ״א ביאור ענין זה ע״פ הזהר ויקהל (דר״ד) · נדפס בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ שנב. ובביאוה״ז להצ״צ כרך ב ע׳ תתמא (בכרך א ע׳ רצא).
- 3האי רוחא אתפשטותא דההיא נקודה · Zohar, Vayakhel 14:185–195
- 4יום שכולו ארוך · לעיל יג, ד. וש״נ.
- 5כי גדול יום · Hosea 2:2
- 6פי׳ קוינו בחי׳ קו ארוך · ראה אוה״ת ויקרא ע׳ תשיא.
- 7
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
The six weekdays are where Shabbos is made: every mitzvah, every word, and even honest business done to earn a living so as to serve G‑d refines the world when it is done with love, and through prayer it rises into the prayer of Shabbos. This weekday service is what draws the supernal delight into Shabbos, fulfilling “Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it.”
Questions for discussion
- If Shabbos is holy from creation, what exactly does ‘to sanctify it’ add, according to the maamar?
- Why does the Name Havayah appear only after the account of the six days, and what does this teach about Shabbos?
- How can the descent of wisdom ‘outside,’ into physical mitzvos, reveal something higher than wisdom itself?
- What is the connection between the weekday service of love (zachor with yud-heh) and the drawing-down on Shabbos (zichri with vav-heh)?
- What does the fading delight of an old idea teach about the relationship between Chochmah and the supernal delight?
Key terms in this maamar
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×38
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×5
- Z'eir Anpin (the emotive attributes)ז״א
- The six emotive Sefiros as one configuration. ×2
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×2
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×1
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- Harmony of kindness and restraint; associated with compassion. ×1
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×2
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×8
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×9
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- Teshuvah (return)תשובה
- Returning to G‑d; not only repentance. ×5
- 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.
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d.
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one. ×1
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×1
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions.
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds.
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×1
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will. ×13
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail.
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The world is nothing next to G‑d.
- The lower unity (yichuda tata'ah)יחודא תתאה
- G‑d is present within the world's existence.
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world. ×1
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness.
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The two 'wings' of divine service.
- The light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin)ממלא כל עלמין
- Divine light that enters each world and gives it life according to its measure.
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The channel that connects and transmits. ×1
- Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
- Malchus as the receiving configuration. ×2
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- Perseverance, the drive to overcome.
- Hod (splendor)הוד
- Acknowledgment and yielding.
- 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. ×1