Parshas Vayeira — 20 MarCheshvan
1. Since today is 20 MarCheshvan — the birthday of the Rebbe, Admur Maharash"b (the Rebbe Rashab), nishmaso Eden, my father-in-law's father — I will retell here a story[1] that I have told once before:
The Rebbe (Maharash"b), nishmaso Eden, used to go in every 20 MarCheshvan — his birthday — to his grandfather, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, to ask for a blessing. Possibly this was also the practice of the Tzemach Tzedek's other grandchildren.
Once, when the Rebbe went in — (he was then four or five years old, for the Rebbe was born in the year 5621, and in Nissan 5626 the Tzemach Tzedek passed away) — he burst into tears. The Tzemach Tzedek asked him, "Why are you crying?" He answered that he had learned in Chumash (or heard it retold) that G‑d revealed Himself to Avraham Avinu (it was Parshas Vayeira), and he was crying: why had He not revealed Himself to him?
The Tzemach Tzedek answered him: When a Jew (another version: a Jew who is a tzaddik) resolves at the age of ninety-nine that he must circumcise himself, he is worthy that G‑d should reveal Himself to him. The child accepted the answer and stopped crying.
2. Although the story with the Rebbe, nishmaso Eden, took place when he was still a child before bar mitzvah, and even before he had "reached the age of training" (higia l'chinuch) — nevertheless one must learn from the story. For since the Rebbe, nishmaso Eden, told the story to his only son — the Rebbe [my father-in-law] — and the Rebbe retold it so that it would be passed on to the world, this is proof that the story speaks to us too. Two things can be learned from it: from the question and from the answer.
3. From the Rebbe's weeping over the fact that G‑d had not revealed Himself to him, one can learn that every Jew — in whatever state he may find himself, even if he "has not reached the age of training," meaning that he has not even a little understanding, so that not only does he himself not understand, but he cannot even receive influence from another —
— in years he may even be an adult, but in spirituality he is a minor who has not reached the age of training; as the Rebbe, my father-in-law, said, Jewish years are not reckoned by the passport: on the passport he may be an old Jew, while in his true, spiritual years, in his fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, he is a small child playing under the table —
he too can demand, and demand forcefully — which is, after all, what weeping is —
— something higher than his understanding, higher than the mochin (intellect), which can no longer bear it, and so from the "motrei mochin" (the overflow of the intellect — what the mind cannot contain) come tears[1*] —
that G‑d should reveal Himself to him, as to Avraham Avinu.
4. More than that: he can demand that G‑d reveal Himself to him as He revealed Himself to Avraham Avinu after he had fulfilled the mitzvah of milah — for in that state it was "And G‑d appeared to him."
Before that, too, we find the revelation of the Name Havayah to Avraham, but it cannot be compared to the revelation — "v'isgalei" — that came after the mitzvah of milah, which was a far higher one[2].
When G‑d revealed Himself to Avraham after the mitzvah of milah, he was already called Avraham, with an added hei. On this the Gemara says[3] that Avraham then became master over five more organs — "the two eyes, the two ears and rosh hageviyah" (the organ of the bris) — over which, by nature, a person is not master. Before that he was called Avram — without the hei; he was master only over what a person can rule by his nature. But afterwards, through what he did by his own power — as much as one can do with one's own strength — he was given from Heaven also such things that one cannot reach by oneself, and he became master also over the things that by nature cannot be ruled.
So it is understood that the revelation to Avraham Avinu after the mitzvah of milah was far higher than before.
Nevertheless every Jew — even one who "has not reached the age of training" in spirituality — can also demand that G‑d reveal Himself to him as He revealed Himself to Avraham when he already stood at the level that followed the mitzvah of milah.
5. From the Tzemach Tzedek's answer — that the revelation to Avraham came about because he knew that he had to circumcise himself — one can learn: True, every Jew can demand that G‑d reveal Himself to him. But it requires a preliminary: he must know that he has to circumcise himself. That is, regardless of all the virtues he has in actuality, or at least in potential —
— in potential every Jew can reach the highest levels, as was said earlier, and as it is written[4] that every Jew is obligated to say: "When will my deeds reach the deeds of my fathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov?" From the fact that it counts Avraham together with Yitzchak and Yaakov, there is also a proof that it means Avraham at the level he stood at after the mitzvah of milah —
nevertheless he must know that he has to circumcise himself.
6. More than that: even those who have the virtues in actuality — the tzaddikim, who are masters even over the organs over which by nature one cannot be master, like Avraham Avinu — they too must know that they have to circumcise themselves.
— The story is known of the Rebbe (Maharash"b), nishmaso Eden, that he once complained that he could not hear in one ear. When they began to look for the cause, they found that on Shabbos, while he was saying Chassidus, people were talking in another room, and this had disturbed him in saying the maamar. Since he felt the responsibility — that his task is to impart his Chassidus — and the talking disturbed him, he removed the sense of hearing from the ear that was on the side of that room. And this is what is said in a maamar[5], that tzaddikim have withdrawn their sight or their hearing when it disturbed the G‑dly soul; for tzaddikim are masters over the senses that by nature one does not rule. —
Yet even those who stand on such a high level must know that they have to circumcise themselves.
7. The reason for this is that when there is even the very finest orlah (foreskin) in spirituality, it can, after many stages of descent, come down into lowly things.
And this is the precision of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek's wording: that a Jew, a tzaddik, at ninety-nine years knows that he must circumcise himself. At a hundred years — that is, when he has refined all ten powers, each power as it is made up of ten — he no longer has anything to fear, for he no longer has any connection to the matters of the world, as it is said[6]: "At a hundred, it is as if he had died and passed away and ceased from the world."
— For at first glance it is not understood what the Mishnah in Avos means by "At a hundred, it is as if he had died and passed away and ceased from the world." All the matters it lists there in the Mishnah are practical directives for how to conduct oneself: "At five, for Scripture; at ten, for Mishnah; at thirteen, for mitzvos," etc. But what kind of directive is it that at a hundred he is "as if he had died and passed away and ceased from the world"? Rather, the meaning is: when he has already refined all ten powers — and specifically in detail[7], each one as it is made up of ten[8] — he is "a hundred years old," and he is "as if he had passed away and ceased from the world": he no longer has any connection to the matters of the world and has nothing to fear, as though he no longer had a yetzer hara[9]. —
When he is ninety-nine, however, something is still lacking in his refinement of all ten powers in detail; then he must circumcise himself, because through the many stages of descent
— this does not mean many stages of descent in the sense that the person is in one world and the descent is in another world; rather, since man is "before the work of creation and after the work of creation"[10], within man himself there can be many stages of descent —
it can come down to lowly matters.
When, however, there is the general bittul — he knows that he must circumcise himself, he knows that as he is he is not fit, and that he must become different — this is a preparation for reaching the higher levels: that there should be "And G‑d appeared to him," as to Avraham Avinu after the mitzvah of milah, and he becomes "Avraham" with an added hei; he becomes master over all his senses, even over those that by nature one cannot rule.
More still: he becomes master over his portion in the world. As was said in the maamar regarding tzaddikim, by effecting a refinement (purification) in themselves, they also bring about a refinement in their portion in the world.
So too, by becoming master over his senses, he also becomes master over his portion in the world — over all the things he needs in order to serve G‑d, in children, in life and in sustenance (banei, chayei u'mezonei) — and all of it should be in abundance.
(From a talk of 20 MarCheshvan, 5713)
* * *
8. One of the virtues Avraham Avinu attained through the mitzvah of milah is that he then became fit to father Yitzchak. According to the saying of our Sages[11], Yitzchak had to be born specifically from a holy drop — as is also written[12] in the words "Who sanctified the beloved one from the womb." Therefore Avraham — although even before the mitzvah of milah he was a chariot for G‑dliness — was not yet fit to have Yitzchak; only when he attained "and be perfect" through milah, only then could Yitzchak be born.
From this one also understands Yitzchak's superiority over Avraham. At Avraham's birth we do not find that the condition mentioned was needed; but Yitzchak's birth — even after all of Avraham's earlier virtues — could not take place before he had attained "and be perfect."
9. What is the reason that specifically Yitzchak had to be born from a holy drop?
The difference between Avraham and Yitzchak is:
Avraham's theme is hamshachah — drawing down from above to below; Yitzchak's theme is ha'alaah — raising up from below to above[13].
As explained in many maamarim of Chassidus, Avraham's service is "love like water" (a love for G‑d that is likened to water), as we say (in the prayer for rain), "Remember the father who was drawn after You like water" (remember the father, Avraham, who was drawn after You like water) — and the nature of water is to flow down from above[14]; Yitzchak's service is love "like flashes of fire" (like flames), and the nature of fire is to rise upward from below.
The difference between Avraham and Yitzchak was not only in their service with themselves, but also in the service they accomplished in the world.
Avraham brought about in the world that G‑dliness should be drawn into it from above to below; and Yitzchak brought about in the world that it itself should be raised up and become a vessel for G‑dliness — ha'alaah, from below to above.
And this very difference is also seen in the ways they conducted themselves, as the Torah tells us.
10. Avraham Avinu drew G‑dliness down to everyone: in the land of Canaan — as it was before its refinement — and also in Egypt. He even drew G‑dliness down to the Arabs, who used to bow down to the dust of their feet[15], which is the very lowest level.
— A person is divided into three parts: head, body and foot. The foot is the very lowest part, and the dust of the feet is lower still than the foot itself. The Arabs stood on so low a level that they bowed down to the dust of their feet; that is, the intellect of the head stood, for them, lower than the dust of the feet. —
Nevertheless Avraham Avinu devoted himself to drawing G‑dliness down into them too, as our Sages say[16] on the verse[17] "And he called there in the name of G‑d, the G‑d of the world": do not read "he called" (vayikra) but "he caused to call" (vayakri) — that is, he made them proclaim; he brought them to cry out "G‑d of the world."
Since the theme of Avraham's service was hamshachah, so too the path and the means to it were in a manner of hamshachah, as related in the words of our Sages[18]: the way Avraham used to make G‑dliness known in the world was through hospitality to guests (hachnasas orchim).
He took guests in, in the desert, gave them everything, and afterwards, when they wanted to thank him, he told them: "Bless the One of Whose food you have eaten; give thanks, bless and praise the One Who spoke and the world came into being."
11. Yitzchak's theme was — as said earlier — ha'alaah, from below to above. Therefore he had no connection whatever with Egypt, or with the lands outside Eretz Yisrael altogether, for he was "a perfect burnt-offering"[19]. And even while in Eretz Yisrael, his involvement was with digging wells, which alludes to the manner of revealing G‑dliness by way of ha'alaah — revealing G‑dliness by raising up what is below. For Yitzchak's level was removed from the world: ascent and withdrawal from below to above.
Just as he himself was in the mode of ha'alaah, so he accomplished the same in the world, making of it a vessel (that is drawn upward) to G‑dliness.
12. As the Torah tells us, Yitzchak's service was digging the wells. This means revealing and drawing up the living waters that are found below in the earth — not pouring living waters into it from another place, but revealing the springing water that is found there itself. For the truth is that living waters are there; it is only that they are covered over with earth, mud and stones, and when the cover is removed, the living waters are revealed.
This also points to his spiritual service: removing all the things that cover and conceal, and making the world a vessel for G‑dliness — ha'alaah from below to above, like the living waters themselves, which spring from below upward.
13. Not only did Yitzchak take no account of the obstacles that cover the living waters; more than that, he took no account of any opponents who hindered the digging of the wells.
As the Torah tells us, when Avimelech's shepherds came, drove away Yitzchak's shepherds and stopped up the wells, Yitzchak was not daunted and ordered them to keep digging.
More still: even when the wells that Yitzchak's servants had dug were taken and given to the Pelishtim — which in a deeper sense means that the liveliness and warmth one had only just dug through to are taken into the kelipah of the Pelishtim (which is "an open alley"[20]) — even then Yitzchak was not daunted and kept digging. And when the second well was taken too, he dug a third, until he reached "Rechovos" (breadth): "For now G‑d has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land"[21].
14. By reason, there was every cause to be daunted by Avimelech — at a time when Avimelech sits on his royal throne and hinders the digging of the wells of holiness, and the wells that were dug with the greatest exertion Avimelech takes for himself. Yitzchak, however, took no account of any calculations of reason; he knew that his task was to reveal living waters, and he did that work with mesiras nefesh.
The service of making the world a vessel for G‑dliness reaches into the true infinity (beli gvul ha'amiti) of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, for through it the ultimate purpose of the Divine intent is accomplished[21*]. As it says regarding the reason for calling him by the name Yitzchak — "G‑d has made laughter (tzchok) for me"[22]: the refinement and purification of the things that conceal, and that derive from the Name Elokim, which is numerically equal to hateva (nature)[23] — this specifically calls forth the laughter and delight Above[24].
15. In light of this one will understand why Yitzchak had to be born specifically from a holy drop. For Avraham's level, of itself, was Atzilus — that is, G‑dliness within limitation; and through fulfilling the mitzvah of milah he attained temimus (wholeness) — "and be perfect" — which is G‑dliness that is above Atzilus[25]. And this evoked in Yitzchak that his service should be without any limitations, not even the limitations of holy intellect[26].
16. The directive from this is:
Avraham and Yitzchak are both called fathers of every Jew.
Every Jew must have two kinds of service: the service of Avraham and the service of Yitzchak.
When a Jew is occupied with Torah, prayer and fulfilling mitzvos, he is, after all, within bright four cubits. He has nothing to do with the world. Not only when he is occupied with the two pillars of Torah and avodah, but even when he is occupied with the pillar of gemilus chassadim — fulfilling mitzvos — which he must do with physical things, he is nevertheless then too occupied with fulfilling the Supreme Will (G‑d's will). It is only that he draws G‑d's will down into physicality as well; but he has nothing to do with the physical itself, all the more so not with any opposition, and not even with anything that covers and conceals G‑dliness.
Even when one stands at such a level, one must know that this is not yet the ultimate purpose of serving G‑d. This is only the service of Avraham; one must also occupy oneself with the service of Yitzchak.
One must also deal with those in whom, from the outside, nothing more can be seen than stones and mud covering over the living waters, and even with those who appear to be opponents of G‑dliness — that is, with such as are outwardly sunk in transgressions, deliberately and even to provoke. With them too one must undertake to dig into them, to remove from them the things that obstruct, until one digs through to the living waters that are found within them, and to reveal them and bring them out into the open.
One may argue: he has already tried digging once and again, and not only does he see no benefit, but on the contrary, the Pelishtim have even taken the wells — so what room is there, by reason, to keep on digging?
To this the answer is: "Who sanctified the beloved one from the womb … and his offspring …" The service of Yitzchak and his children must be without any calculations. That until now he has not succeeded — that is G‑d's own calculation, and "Why do you concern yourself with the hidden ways of the Merciful One?"[27] What concerns him is that he must dig and dig, until he digs through to the living waters; and in the end he will reach "For now G‑d has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land"[28].
(From a talk of 12 Tammuz, 5714)
Key Lesson
Every Jew, whatever his spiritual standing, may demand — even with tears — that G‑d reveal Himself to him as He did to Avraham; but the precondition is the humility of knowing that, as he is now, he still needs to "circumcise himself" and become different. And it is not enough to live in the bright four cubits of Torah, prayer and mitzvos (the service of Avraham): like Yitzchak digging wells, one must also reach the Jew whose living waters are covered with stones and mud, even one who seems opposed. One keeps digging without calculating past failures — success is G‑d's concern, and in the end comes "G‑d has made room for us."