BAsi L’Gani 5717

Beis Moshiach presents Section 6 of the maamer the Rebbe MH”M delivered on Yud Shvat 5717, in accordance with the custom established by the Rebbe to review each year a section of the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamer Basi L’Gani of 5710. • This year we focus on the seventh section of the profound and foundational Chassidic discourse.

Translated by Boruch Merkur

IMPOVERISHED OF THE ABILITY TO BOND

6. The maamer continues that all of the above pertains to the letter Daled, which is from the realm of holiness. Its counterpart, however, associated with the unholy realm, is the letter Reish. The unholy quality of the letter Reish is alluded to in the verse, “V’la’rash ein kol (literally, the poor have nothing)” (Shmuel II 12:3), meaning that they [“the poor,” the forces of evil] do not possess the aspect of “kol,” the power of S’firas HaYesod to engender bonding – “ki kol ba’shamayim va’aretz (for all in the heavens and the earth),” “d’achid shmaya v’ar’a (that unifies the heavens with the earth).” Thus, unholiness literally has nothing.

The opposite is said of Yaakov (who embodies the general concept of holiness): “yesh li kol (I have kol, everything; i.e., holiness possesses the aspect of Yesod).”

The Rebbe adds that Daled is also related to the word “dibbur-speech.” The letter Daled, which stems from the realm of holiness, therefore signifies the revelation of Divine speech. Divine speech gives rise to all existence and sustains the entire universe (“with the word of G-d the heavens were made, etc.”). The unholy forces, however, especially when they prevail over holiness, counter Divine speech, causing it to be concealed and hidden, indeed silenced, as it is written “ne’elamti dumiya hechesheisi – I made myself mute in silence” (T’hillim 39:3).

RECOGNIZING G-D IN THE FUTURE ERA

To further elaborate on the connection between the concealment of Divine speech and the concept of “la’rash ein kol,” consider the opposite effect, the full expression of Divine speech in the Future Era, when the Tzimtzum will be “corrected”:

Regarding the Future Era it is said, “and the glory of G-d will be revealed and all flesh will together see that the mouth of [specifically the Divine name] Havaya has spoken (pi Havaya dibber)” (Yeshayahu 40:5). Now, the world was created with G-d’s speech, through Ten Divine Utterances, articulated by the Divine name Elokim (“Va’yomer Elokim” – B’Reishis 1:3). What then is the meaning of “all flesh will together see that the mouth of Havana has spoken”?

The answer emerges from the Mitteler Rebbe’s interpretation of the verse, “Praise G-d from the heavens, praise Him from the exalted heights … praise G-d from the earth … the beast and all animals, etc.” All individual creations in the heavens and the earth, all the way down to the lowest depths, praise the Divine name Havaya. At first glance, it is difficult to understand how beings that were created through G-d’s name Elokim praise Havaya? It makes sense that beings created by the Ten Utterances of Elokim chant “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Havaya (Holy, holy, holy is Havaya),” because it is possible to come to the recognition of the holiness of Havaya – that G-d is “holy” and separate, distinct – even through the name Elokim. But the fact is that the verse specifies that all creations [not only recognize but] praise Havaya (even the Gentile nations praise Havaya, as it is written, “praise Havaya all nations”). How is it possible that creations that stem from the Divine name Elokim praise Havaya?

To answer, the Mitteler Rebbe offers a lengthy interpretation of the verse, “You shall know today and place upon your hearts that Havaya is Elokim”: The Zohar speaks of the fundamental, universal principle that Havaya and Elokim are one. Therefore, the creation of beings with the Divine name Elokim is also in a manner whereby Havaya and Elokim are one. It is just that Elokim is analogous to a shield or sheath to Havaya, as it is written, “For a sun and shield is Havaya Elokim.” But since this shield and sheath is of the realm of holiness, also through it all created beings can come to praise Havaya, including “praise Havaya all nations.”

All the above, however, applies just to the present era – that in our time, only through the Ten Utterance of Elokim can Havaya be reached. That is, the “sun” of Havaya is only attainable as it is within the shield and sheath of the name Elokim. But in the Future Era there will be the innovation of “the glory of Havaya will be revealed and all flesh will together see that the mouth of Havaya has spoken,” for “the Alm-ghty will bring the sun out of its sheath.” The sun of Havaya will emerge from the shield and sheath of Elokim. Then the revelation of the name Havaya will be seen as it is unto itself. Seen and perceived, that is, not only by souls and angels, but “all flesh,” including beasts and animals of the physical world; all shall recognize that the “the mouth of Havaya has spoken.”

This broad revelation is reminiscent of what is written (in the Biblical story where oxen where used to transport the Holy Ark), “Va’yisharna (literally, the cows went straight; Shmuel I 6:12). Our Sages interpret (in Tractate Avoda Zara 24b; see also Zohar II 137b, end, ff.) the word “va’yisharna” to mean that the cows sang a song, shira, and they ask, “What song did they sing? … ‘Sing to Havaya a new song, shir chadash’ (T’hillim 98:1).” Here the Talmud alludes to the song of the Future Era, as stated in Midrash (Tanchuma B’Shalach 10): “The song of the Future Era, when there will be a redemption that will never be followed by another exile, is referred to in the masculine form [i.e., “shir” as opposed to “shira”], ‘sing to Havaya a new song, shir chadash.’”

And the revelation of the Future Era will be in a manner of “all flesh will…see,” even animals and beasts, “that the mouth of Havaya has spoken,” for G-d’s speech will be revealed in the most overt fashion.

the silence of a lamb

In the present time of exile, however, it is the exact opposite: G-d’s speech is now in the ultimate state of concealment, as it is written, “Ne’elamti dumiya hechesheisi (I made myself mute in silence).” “Ne’elamti” means mute, the opposite of speech. The Tzemach Tzedek explains that this condition prevails in the time of exile, as it is written, “As the silence of a lamb before it is shorn” (Yeshayahu 53:7), the opposite of speech. And he elaborates: “As the silence of a lamb before it is shorn” – it is specifically then, when the lamb is to be shorn, that it is silent. “Lamb” here refers to the Jewish people, K’nesses Yisroel, corresponding to S’firas HaMalchus. In the time of exile, when the “lamb” (Malchus) is “shorn” – shearing saaros (hair or wool) – it is silenced. That is, the Ten Utterances of Creation are silent and mute, as it were, and the drawing down of G-dly vitality into the world comes about through “garments” and “saaros,” which conceal Divine speech.

The above resonates with what the Rebbe Rayatz explains later in this section of the maamer (the seventh section) – that the light and vitality that enlivens Sitra Achara, the unholy forces, is a mere haara d’haara, the reflection of a ray. This light is the external aspect of a superficial G-dly revelation and it is manifest in a most unobtrusive way. Hair is symbolic of this process, for the vitality of hair is not apparent. When hair/wool is cut/shorn, no pain is felt, because the vitality within hair is highly constricted. The vitality of hair, which must pass through the barrier and tzimtzum of the skull, contains only the most superficial aspect of bodily vitality. For this reason it is called “ne’elama-silence,” the opposite of speech.

The Tzemach Tzedek explains that this is also the meaning of the verse, “Ne’elamti dumiya hechesheisi (I made myself mute in silence)”: Reishis Chochma points out that the first initial of each word of “ne’elamti dumiya hechesheisi” spells “nida.” (Nida alludes to the general time of exile – when “Yerushalayim sinned grievously, she became a wanderer (l’nida haysa)” (Eicha 1:8), and Tzor [a city of the descendants of Eisav] was filled from the destruction of Yerushalayim (Rashi Toldos 25:23).)

“Nida” is comprised of the letters Nun-Daled (spelling “nad-wander”) and Hei, alluding to how the final Hei of the name Havaya withdraws from the letter Vav. That is, the final Hei, S’firas HaMalchus, the aspect of speech, “wanders” and distances itself from the letter Vav, whose function is to draw G-dliness into the world. The result of this dislocation is that Divine speech is concealed and hidden, as it says in Zohar, “since they separated (Hei separated from Vav) … ‘ne’elamti dumiya’; since Vav withdrew from Hei … Divine speech is muted, silenced.”

From this it is understood that the concept of ne’elamti dumiya hechesheisi – the acronym for “nida,” whereby Hei “wanders” away from and withdraws from Vav – is the opposite of the concept of kol-everything, S’firas HaYesod, which “unites the heavens with the earth, joining the Vav (heavens, Ze’ir Anpin) with Hei (the earth, Malchus). This also comprises the concept of “la’rash ein kol”: Since there is no aspect of “kol” to unite the heavens with the earth, the middos-attributes (signified by the letter Vav) are not manifest and drawn into Malchus (the letter Hei). Hei, in effect, wanders away from Vav, resulting in the concept of “reishus” (Reish) and poverty.

(To be continued be”H)