לקוטי שיחות חלק א׳ - חיי שרה

Parshas Chayei Sarah

1. In this week's sidrah it is written: "ותמת שרה בקרית ארבע היא חברון בארץ כנען" ("And Sarah died in Kiryas Arba, that is Chevron, in the land of Canaan"). The Zohar explains that Sarah is an allusion to the body, and Avraham — to the soul¹. And this is — says the Zohar — "And Sarah died": when the body dies "in Kiryas Arba" ("the city of four"), for it consists of the four elements, "that is Chevron" (from chibur, joining) — for as long as it lived, the four elements were joined together — and when it dies, then "ויבא אברהם" ("And Avraham came") — the soul — "לספוד לשרה ולבכותה" ("to eulogize Sarah and to weep for her"): the soul weeps, because even after death, after the passing, the soul remains bound up with the body.

According to this — that Sarah alludes to the body and Avraham to the soul — it is seemingly not understood what is written, "כל אשר תאמר אליך שרה שמע בקולה" ("Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice").

2. There is a well-known teaching of the Baal Shem Tov² on the verse "כי תראה חמור שונאך גו'" ("When you see the donkey of your enemy…")³. "When you see a chamor (donkey)" — when you look closely at your chomer (your corporeality), you will see that it is "your enemy": it is your enemy, because at the beginning of one's avodah and at the beginning of life, the body and the soul are enemies of one another. "רובץ תחת משאו" ("Lying under its burden") — the "burden" means the yoke (the load) of Torah and mitzvos. Even though this is "its burden," its very own burden — for the reason mitzvos were given specifically to souls within bodies is that the intent is to refine the body — nevertheless it is a burden for the body, something it does not want; consequently it is "lying under its burden."

3. Besides the fact that the mitzvos were given specifically to souls within bodies, the mitzvos themselves are also enclothed specifically in physical things. And not only the practical mitzvos, but also the mitzvos that are "duties of the heart" — such as love and fear — and "duties of the mind" — such as the mitzvah of believing in the Unity (believing in the Oneness of the Creator) — the purpose of these mitzvos, too, is that they be felt specifically in the corporeal flesh of the heart and the brain.

For example, the mitzvah of love of G‑d. Just as in physical matters "שמועה טובה תדשן עצם" ("Good news fattens the bone")⁴ — as the Gemara relates⁵ that because of the good news that was told to someone, a physical change came about in him — so too with love of G‑d: the "קרבת אלקים לי טוב" ("Closeness to G‑d is good for me") that a person senses must also be noticeable in his body.

So too with fear: it is not enough that there be a contraction in the mind, or even in the heart; it must be noticeable in the corporeal flesh of the brain and the heart that he is afraid.

The Nesi'im have shown us everything, and in this matter, too, there is an example. The story is well known that once, during davening (on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur), when the Alter Rebbe reached the words "ובכן תן פחדך" ("And so, place Your fear"), he began rolling on the ground, saying "pach, pach" (with a patach under the pei), and out of great fear he could not finish the word. Only after some time did he complete the whole word "Pachdecha."

Another story, of the Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek: In the first years of his leadership he once sat at a farbrengen with Chassidim. Kavit was brought (what today is called "90-proof"); he took one glass, and another glass, and asked that a third glass be poured. Afterwards he passed his hand over his forehead, and the drink was not at all noticeable on him.

The Tzemach Tzedek later explained that he had contemplated the greatness of G‑d, and a fear fell upon him, and "יין קשה פחד מפיגו" ("Fear dispels the effect of strong wine")⁶, so the fear removed from his body the effect that the wine has. The fear had such an effect on him, and was so noticeable even in his body, that it removed the effect of the drink.

So too with love. The tzaddik Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl became stout in body from saying "אמן יהא שמיה רבא" ("Amen, may His great Name be blessed")⁷. When he contemplated the "great Name" and the greatness of Havaye — that the Al-mighty is "מברך לעלם ולעלמי עלמיא" ("blessed forever and to all eternity"), that He is drawn into all the worlds, including the physical World of Action — he was aroused with love and delight, to the point that it brought about a stoutness in his body.

4. "וחדלת מעזוב לו" ("Would you refrain from helping him?") — the Baal Shem Tov further explains in his teaching on the verse mentioned above: You might think that since the body is "lying under its burden," you will occupy yourself with the kind of avodah that pertains to the soul, and you will break the body through fasts and self-mortification. So we are told, "עזוב תעזוב עמו" ("You shall surely help along with him"), because one must refine the body.

Even if he were to have in mind all the kavanos of the mitzvah but would not fulfill the mitzvah in actual deed — he would have in mind the kavanos of tefillin, but would not actually put on tefillin — not only is the fulfillment of the mitzvah lacking, but he has also committed a transgression: he has neglected the mitzvah of tefillin.

If, however, he actually puts on tefillin but did not have the kavanos in mind — whether because he does not know the kavanos, or he does know them but did not concentrate on them — he will be punished, because he should have had them in mind; but the mitzvah he has fulfilled.

At the bris of one of the Tzemach Tzedek's grandsons there were two mohalim. One was older and knew the writings of the Arizal — whether all of them or not all, he certainly knew the matters connected with milah — and the other was younger, an expert, but much simpler than the older one. The Tzemach Tzedek said that the younger one should be chosen, and he gave the reason: because one has to simply cut, physically.

And this is the meaning of "Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice": "Sarah" means — according to the interpretation of the Zohar — the body, because the main intent is the body. Now this is concealed, and in the Time to Come it will be revealed, to the point that the soul will receive its vitality from the body⁸. Regarding the Patriarchs it is known that "הטעימן הקב"ה בעולם הזה מעין עולם הבא" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, gave them a taste in this world of the World to Come")⁹ (the Al-mighty let them taste something of the World to Come already in this world); therefore Avraham was told: "Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice."

(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah, 5711)

5. The first shidduch and wedding explicitly described in the Torah is in this week's sidrah — the wedding of Yitzchak. Regarding Adam and Chavah, the Midrash¹⁰ also says that their wedding is alluded to in the Torah, but that is no more than an allusion, in only a few words.

When Eliezer related how Avraham had sent him to Aram Naharayim, and how he arrived there, he said, "ואבוא היום" ("And I came today") — today he arrived. Rashi¹¹ explains: "היום יצאתי והיום באתי, מכאן שקפצה לו הדרך" ("Today I set out and today I arrived; from here we learn that the road contracted for him") — that is, he had kefitzas haderech, a miraculous shortening of the way.

Why was the kefitzas haderech needed, and why did Eliezer relate it? There are two explanations of this; the second is a Chassidic one, and through it we will see the simplicity and soulfulness of a Chassidic explanation.

6. a) When Avraham sent Eliezer to Aram Naharayim, he wrote a deed of gift of all his property to Yitzchak¹². But what is to be done about the date of the deed? To write an earlier date, i.e., the day Eliezer set out — why should he give away his property for the seventeen days that the journey should take? Especially according to the ruling of the Mishnah that "חייב אדם להיות חס על נכסיו" ("A person must be sparing with his property")¹³: from later on — from Eliezer's arrival in Aram Naharayim — he must give away the property for the sake of the shidduch, but not seventeen days earlier. To write a date seventeen days later would make it a post-dated deed; true, a post-dated deed is valid, but it is still not entirely smooth¹⁴. So Avraham wrote the date on which he wrote the deed, and therefore there was kefitzas haderech — "Today I set out and today I arrived" — so that the property should not leave his possession before its time.

When Eliezer came to Aram Naharayim, he was afraid that Besuel and Lavan would ask him: How is it that the deed is dated today — it is a post-dated deed, which for Avraham "מיחזי כשיקרא" ("looks like a falsehood")? So Eliezer immediately anticipated this and said: Ask no questions — "Today I set out and today I arrived."

b) It is stated¹⁵ that Rivkah, in Besuel's home, was "כשושנה בין החוחים" ("like a rose among the thorns"). Precisely there the rose grows, and the thorns are part of its sustenance and growth¹⁶. And one needs a claim and a power to take the rose out from there, because the thorns do not let go. In the merit of the rose the whole area is watered, and consequently the thorns also live from it. When Rivkah became three years and one day old — at which point she was fit for marriage, to wed Yitzchak — this was immediately sensed by Avraham. This change is also the power and the claim to connect with holiness and to leave from among the thorns. Avraham immediately said to Eliezer: "אל ארצי ואל מולדתי תלך ולקחת אשה לבני ליצחק" ("Go to my land and to my birthplace, and take a wife for my son, for Yitzchak"). Were there no kefitzas haderech, Rivkah would have remained with Lavan and Besuel for superfluous time. One could not begin the departure from among the thorns — by sending Eliezer — before Rivkah had become three years and a day old; therefore there was then kefitzas haderech, so that she should not remain there any extra time.

When Eliezer came to Aram Naharayim he understood that Lavan and Besuel would claim that Rivkah should stay on with them for a while (as indeed they claimed, "תשב הנערה אתנו ימים או עשור" ("Let the maiden stay with us a year or ten months")), so he immediately said: "Today" — you should know that this is a matter of minutes, every minute is a loss, and the proof: "Today I set out and today I arrived."

7. The open lesson of this Torah narrative for us and for later generations is: "מעשה אבות סימן לבנים" ("The deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children")¹⁷. Just as with Rivkah there was kefitzas haderech so that she should not remain an extra minute in Besuel's house, so too this is a sign for the children: one must not fall into dejection because of the darkness of exile, for the Al-mighty will hasten the Redemption, so that we will not have to remain even one extra minute in exile.

Just as Egypt is the root of all the exiles, then just as in the Egyptian exile it was "בעצם היום יצאו וגו'" ("On that very day they went out…"), and as the Mechilta¹⁸ says that the Al-mighty did not hold them back even for the blink of an eye — so too, "כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים אראנו נפלאות" ("As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders")¹⁹, in the present exile. We need only complete the "small jugs," and then the complete Redemption through Moshiach Tzidkeinu will come, speedily in our days.

(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah, 5713)

8. On the passage "ואברהם זקן" ("And Avraham was old"), our Sages say²⁰: "יפה שיחתן של עבדי בתי אבות מתורתן של בנים" ("The conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs' households is finer than the Torah of the children") — for many fundamental laws of the Torah are derived from one extra letter, and so on. That is, "the Torah of the children" is stated briefly, by allusion, which is the difference between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah: the Oral Torah is at length and with details, while the Written Torah is brief and with allusions.

But the conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs is written at length and in detail. Moreover, one matter is written two or three times. Such is the story of Eliezer: first it is written what Avraham told him and what happened to him, and afterwards it is all written again, as Eliezer relates what Avraham told him and what happened to him.

9. Though the reason for this is that "the conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs is finer," nevertheless, in connection with what matter is this told in the Torah? In the matter of a shidduch and a wedding. From this it is understood that besides the virtue of the conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs, there is also the virtue of the matter of a wedding.

The explanation is: When a Jew goes to build a Jewish home, it is an everlasting edifice, because he builds it according to Torah, which is a Torah of life, given by the One Who lives forever; consequently he too becomes "ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם חיים כלכם היום" ("And you who cleave to the L‑rd your G‑d are all alive today")²¹. And the home he builds also becomes an eternal edifice — for only then is it called truly "living"²².

Therefore it is stated²³ that what Eliezer gave Rivkah — a "נזם זהב בקע משקלו" ("gold nose ring weighing a beka") and "שני צמידים עשרה זהב משקלם" ("two bracelets weighing ten gold shekels") — was for kiddushin, and it corresponded to the half-shekel, "a beka per head," which is the mitzvah of tzedakah, called "the entirety of the mitzvos"²⁴; and to the two Tablets with the Ten Commandments — which are "the entirety of the Torah," which the Jewish people took upon themselves with kabbalas ol, saying "נעשה" ("we will do") before "נשמע" ("we will hear")²⁵ — for the foundation of building a Jewish home is Torah and mitzvah with kabbalas ol.

10. The reason he gave two bracelets — corresponding to the two Tablets, upon which the Ten Commandments were specifically "חרות" ("engraved"), not written — is as follows.

The Written Torah in general consists of written letters — ink on parchment; that is, the ink, the letters, are one thing, and the parchment is a separate thing, and the Written Torah is composed of the two things together.

In the Oral Torah, too, there are two things: the words of Torah, and the person who studies the Torah — who is a separate thing.

In contrast, the Ten Commandments that were on the Tablets — the letters were engraved; that is, the Tablets are not a separate thing from the Ten Commandments; rather, the letters were made out of the Tablets themselves.

The idea of "engraved letters" in the service of G‑d is, as the Gemara says²⁶, that after a person merits, it becomes "ובתורתו" ("and in his Torah") — his own Torah: he and the Torah become one thing.

Therefore Eliezer gave bracelets corresponding specifically to the Tablets, to show that in the Jewish home, which must stand on the foundations of Torah and mitzvos, it is not enough that the Jew fulfills the Torah with kabbalas ol while he and the Torah remain two separate things, even though they are in harmony. Rather, he and the Torah should become one thing — to make himself into Torah; he becomes one with "אנכי ה' אלקיך" ("I am the L‑rd your G‑d"), and likewise with all the Commandments.

11. And this is why "the conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs is finer than the Torah of the children," as we see through the matter of a wedding. "Servants of the Patriarchs" represents kabbalas ol, and a wedding, too, is an edifice built on the foundations of Torah and mitzvah with kabbalas ol, in the manner of engraved letters — this is the foundation for "the Torah of the children."

When there is kabbalas ol in the laying of the foundations — at length and in detail, repeated once and yet again — then "the Torah of the children," the details of halachah, can be brief and by allusion.

It is stated: "קוב"ה אסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, looked into the Torah and created the world"). And it is likewise stated: "בר נש אסתכל באורייתא ומקיים עלמא" ("A person looks into the Torah and sustains the world")²⁷ — when a person looks into the Torah, the world stands through it. The foundation of the world is Torah. Consequently, so it is with every individual in his own world: when he looks into the Torah — the foundations of Torah and mitzvah with kabbalas ol are laid in the manner of an eternal edifice — then the world is created and stands, so that the home he builds is an everlasting one, "ולא תשכח מפי זרעו ומפי זרע זרעו עד עולם" ("and it shall not be forgotten from the mouth of his offspring, nor from the mouth of his offspring's offspring, forever"), "דור ישרים יבורך" ("a generation of the upright shall be blessed").

(From the sichos of the second day of Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5713)

12. In this week's sidrah it is stated that Avraham Avinu said to Eliezer, "שים נא ידך תחת ירכי" ("Place, please, your hand under my thigh"). The Gemara²⁸ derives from this that an oath must be taken specifically "בנקיטת חפץ" ("while holding an object"). Rav Papa says that this means a Sefer Torah; that is, an oath must be administered specifically with a Sefer Torah, and a judge who administers an oath without a Sefer Torah has erred in a matter of Mishnah and must retract.

But the Gemara there does not conclude like Rav Papa, and the law remains that although initially one should indeed have a Sefer Torah, after the fact tefillin are also acceptable. And a Torah scholar, out of respect for him, may swear with tefillin even initially, not necessarily with a Sefer Torah. The entire law the Gemara discusses there concerns the oath of one who admits part of the claim (modeh bemiktzas). Two things are not understood:

a) The question Tosafos asks there: Since this entire matter is derived from Avraham Avinu, where there was no question of partial admission — why is it derived here specifically for partial admission? It should have been derived also for the oath of utterance (shevuas habitui) and the oath regarding a deposit (shevuas hapikadon)! — and Tosafos leaves it as an unresolved question.

b) With Avraham there was neither a Sefer Torah nor tefillin, but a different mitzvah — so from where do we derive that one must have specifically a Sefer Torah or tefillin?

13. The concept of an oath is explained in a maamar of the Alter Rebbe, and at greater length in a maamar of the Tzemach Tzedek²⁹: shevuah (oath) is related to the word sova (satiety); that is, through it one is given strength from Above. Therefore the law is that "נשבעין לקיים את המצוות" ("One may swear to fulfill the mitzvos")³⁰, even though he is in any case already sworn regarding them from Mount Sinai, because through the oath he is given a higher strength. And this is also the idea of "משביעין אותו תהי צדיק ואל תהי רשע" ("He is made to swear: Be righteous and do not be wicked") (before a person is born he is put under oath: You shall be a tzaddik and you shall not be a rasha)³¹.

In order that the strength given from Above should connect with the person down below, so that he receives this strength and is able to use it, there must be an intermediary that connects the person with the strength from Above.

This connector is a mitzvah, for the mitzvos are the Al-mighty's emissaries, as it is stated: "כבדו את המצוות שהן שלוחי" ("Honor the mitzvos, for they are My emissaries")³², and "שלוחו של אדם כמותו" ("A person's emissary is like himself")³³. Therefore a mitzvah can bring down the strength from Above and connect it with the person.

And this is the reason an oath must be taken specifically while holding an object: by holding an object of a mitzvah in his hand, that object connects him with the strength from Above.

14. This is the explanation of holding an object in general. But why specifically a Sefer Torah or tefillin?

It is stated: "לא ברא הקב"ה דבר אחד לבטלה" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, did not create a single thing in vain")³⁴. Therefore, wherever a Jew is, he must make holiness out of everything, and consequently he must use the oath — the strength given him from Above — in the entire world. This connection of the strength from Above, through the person, with the entire world, comes about through Torah, for Torah is the intermediary — the connecting force — between the Al-mighty and the world, in keeping with the above-mentioned statement, "He looked into the Torah and created the world."

According to this we will also understand why tefillin are used for an oath: because tefillin are of the same nature as Torah, as explained in the maamar of Chassidus³⁵ beginning "איתא במדרש תהלים" ("It is stated in Midrash Tehillim")³⁶: "ר' אליעזר אומר: אמרו ישראל לפני הקב"ה, רבש"ע רוצין אנו ליגע בתורה יומם ולילה אבל אין לנו פנאי, א"ל הקב"ה, קיימו מצות תפילין ומעלה אני עליכם כאלו אתם יגיעים בתורה יומם ולילה" ("Rabbi Eliezer says: Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the world, we wish to toil in Torah day and night, but we have no time. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin, and I will regard you as though you toiled in Torah day and night"). From this statement of our Sages it is understood that tefillin are the same concept as a Sefer Torah.

The explanation of the matter: The function of Torah is to draw mochin (the intellect) into the middos (the emotions), and the same is accomplished through tefillin. By putting on tefillin below, one brings about the putting on of tefillin Above, as it is stated, "הקב"ה מניח תפילין" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin")³⁷ (the Al-mighty, as it were, puts on tefillin). "The Holy One, blessed be He" is Z"A, the middos, and tefillin represent the mochin; "the Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin" means the drawing of mochin into middos.

Therefore, by holding tefillin during the oath — tefillin whose function in the service of G‑d is to subjugate the mind and the heart³⁸ — one can also accomplish the connection of the strength from Above with the world, as through Torah.

But this is only after the fact, as is also the wording of the above-mentioned Midrash: Jews would want to toil in Torah day and night, but since "אין לנו פנאי" ("we have no time"), after the fact tefillin also suffice — the subjugation of the head and the heart, at least at the beginning of the day — through which it remains as it should be for the whole day.

15. The reason why, for a Torah scholar, it suffices even initially to hold tefillin in his hand during the oath:

It is stated in the Zohar that a Torah scholar is called "Shabbos"³⁹. And there is an allusion to this in the Gemara as well⁴⁰: The Gemara relates that a Torah scholar came as a guest, and he was served a great feast. The Torah scholar asked where the feast had come from — they had not been expecting him! He was answered that it had been prepared for Shabbos, and since he came, they gave him the Shabbos feast.

The connection between Shabbos and a Torah scholar is that on Shabbos one is separated from weekday occupations, i.e., from the matters of the material world; and so too a Torah scholar is separated from the material world⁴¹. Therefore a Torah scholar need not hold a Sefer Torah during an oath even initially, for the function of a Sefer Torah, as mentioned above, is to connect the strength from Above with the world. Since he is separated from the world, he does not need this.

Tefillin, however, even a Torah scholar needs, because tefillin subjugate the head and the heart, and this accomplishes the connection of the strength from Above with the person — unlike a Sefer Torah, whose function is the connection of this strength with the world.

16. The fact that at Avraham Avinu's oath there was no Sefer Torah or tefillin, but specifically the mitzvah of milah, will be understood through the introduction of the well-known question⁴²: Since Avraham Avinu fulfilled the entire Torah⁴³, why did he wait with the mitzvah of milah until the Al-mighty would command him?

The answer is based on what is known about what Mattan Torah accomplished with regard to the mitzvos that the Patriarchs had fulfilled earlier. Before Mattan Torah there was the decree that "בני רומי לא ירדו לסוריא ובני סוריא לא יעלו לרומי" ("The inhabitants of Rome shall not descend to Syria, and the inhabitants of Syria shall not ascend to Rome")⁴⁴ — i.e., that there should be no connection between spirituality and physicality — and at Mattan Torah this decree was annulled. A possibility for such a connection came into being. Mattan Torah brought about that if a Jew fulfills a mitzvah with a physical thing, the physical thing becomes holy.

The mitzvos that the Patriarchs fulfilled, though they performed them with physical things, had no connection to the physical thing itself. The physical thing remained in its materiality as before. After Mattan Torah, through the mitzvah, the physical thing itself becomes holy, and therefore holiness remains upon it even after the mitzvah has been fulfilled.

The reason for this is that the Patriarchs' fulfillment of the mitzvos was with their own strength, so it could not permeate the physical as it does after Mattan Torah.

Since "the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children" — and it is also an empowerment for the children — the Patriarchs were given a mitzvah similar to the mitzvos after Mattan Torah, and that is the mitzvah of milah, in which the physical is made holy, and the holiness is not only during the fulfillment of the mitzvah but remains afterwards as well, like the mitzvos after Mattan Torah. (A proof of this is that at the oath he told him, "Place, please, your hand under my thigh," because the holiness remained afterwards too, even after he had already fulfilled the mitzvah.)

The mitzvah of milah was therefore different from the other mitzvos the Patriarchs fulfilled, because it was by a command of the Al-mighty. And therefore Avraham Avinu waited with this mitzvah until the Al-mighty would command him: this mitzvah is entirely different from the other mitzvos that Avraham fulfilled, and for it a power from Above was needed.

According to this we will understand why Avraham's oath was through the mitzvah of milah, although now a Sefer Torah is needed for it: the function of the mitzvah of milah at that time was to connect and draw holiness into the world, down to the physical — the same thing that Mattan Torah accomplished and that Torah accomplishes now. For at that time the mitzvah of milah was the general concept of Torah.

17. According to this we will also understand why it is derived only for the oath of partial admission and not for the other oaths: because the oath of partial admission pertains to the general service of G‑d, and when one receives strength from Above in the matter of partial admission, the particular matters are automatically set right.

The explanation of partial admission in spiritual avodah is: "נשמה שנתת בי" ("The soul that You have placed within me") — the soul that the Al-mighty placed within me is there so that the person should, through his avodah, attain an elevation. And so it is stated in the Midrash⁴⁵ regarding every detail of avodah: "מי הקדימני ואשלם" ("Who has preceded Me, that I should repay him?")⁴⁶ — the Al-mighty gives a Jew the strength for each mitzvah individually. And the powers that the Al-mighty gives are on loan — He demands that they be repaid, that is, that they be used in avodah.

As the Rebbe, my father-in-law, related⁴⁷, in the name of the earlier Rebbeim, the meaning of the word "Hakafos": Since Tishrei is a general month — "החודש השביעי" ("the seventh month"), from the word musba, satiated "with all good"⁴⁸ — a Jew is then satiated with powers for the whole year, given to him behakafah, on credit, and it is demanded that there be avodah (as it is stated regarding Avraham), "וילך למסעיו" ("And he went on his journeys"), meaning that on his way back he repaid his loans⁴⁹.

Although the powers are given from Above, nevertheless, because of the evil inclination that pushes its way into a Jew, it is understandable that he should begin to deny a little and to claim that "כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה" ("My strength and the might of my hand have made me this wealth")⁵⁰ — that his own strength and might brought him what he possesses.

"כופר הכל" ("One who denies everything") — the Gemara says that this cannot be, for the presumption is that a person will not be so brazen before his creditor⁵¹.

A Jew cannot, G‑d forbid, deny the Al-mighty, for he has a soul which, even when he sins, "is faithful with Him, may He be blessed"⁵² — the soul always sees G‑dliness; it is "before its creditor," and "חזקה אין אדם מעיז פניו בפני בעל חובו" ("There is a presumption that a person is not brazen before his creditor"). Even the lowest of the low does not have the audacity to deny the debt entirely, thinking that it is "my strength and the might of my hand."

So what is it? He is a "partial admitter." In certain details he holds that it is his own strength and the might of his hand; in certain matters he thinks that he himself is the master and can do as he pleases. He does daven and study, but after davening and after studying — so he thinks — he has already paid the Al-mighty his debt, and now it is his own strength and the might of his hand. In the rest, he denies.

He makes a reckoning for himself that he does not transgress any prohibitions — as the wording of the statement is, "ולא עבר עבירה מימיו" ("and he never committed a transgression in his life") — and especially since he studies Torah and fulfills mitzvos, he has already given the Al-mighty everything due to Him, and the rest is his own strength. So he is told that everything he possesses, and his entire existence, is not his own strength and might; rather, he must admit that all of it belongs to the Al-mighty, and consequently he must repay Him everything.

And for this there is the oath, related to the word "satiety," whereby he is given strength from Above — "הקב"ה עוזרו" ("the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him"). The Al-mighty helps him to have the conviction that there is nothing whatsoever of his own, and consequently he must make G‑dliness out of all the matters of the world, for the whole world belongs to the Al-mighty. And when one takes the strength and draws it into the world, after making a blessing (for berachah is related to hamavrich⁵³ — drawing down below), then it becomes "והארץ נתן לבני אדם" ("and the earth He has given to the children of man")⁵⁴: he receives a portion, a part that becomes his.

18. Just as in a physical oath one must hold a Sefer Torah, or at least tefillin, in order to receive the strength from Above, so too in spiritual avodah.

Initially there should be the aspect of a Sefer Torah — toiling in Torah day and night, for Torah gives the power to connect the world with G‑dliness, as explained above, that what Mattan Torah accomplished was to connect physicality with G‑dliness. This is also the meaning of Torah in its plain sense: "Torah" is related to horaah⁵⁵, an instruction — Torah instructs how to use every matter of the world in accordance with the will of the Al-mighty. But if one cannot manage to toil in Torah the whole day, then at least at the beginning of the day there should be the subjugation of the mind and the heart through the mitzvah of tefillin, and this should be the beginning and the guideline for the whole day, so that all his affairs throughout the day are built upon the subjugation — the submission — of the mind and the heart at the beginning of the day.

And holding a Sefer Torah and tefillin in the above-mentioned sense brings him to be a "full admitter" (modeh bekulo), acknowledging that everything belongs to the Al-mighty; then he will automatically be spared the oath of utterance and other oaths.

According to this it will also be understood why the oath is derived from Avraham Avinu's oath concerning the marriage of Yitzchak with Rivkah: this is the union of Mah and Ban, a general union⁵⁶, as is known from the books of Kabbalah. Consequently, the law of partial admission is also derived from it, since this too is a general matter in avodah.

19. The practical lesson of this entire matter is: When one goes out into the world, one must know a general principle — that the foundation of avodah is to take a Sefer Torah along, to toil in Torah for as much time as there is — according to the Shulchan Aruch — and in the remaining time there should at least be conduct with the subjugation of the mind and the heart. This will also give him the strength to make all his physical matters into vessels for G‑dliness.

* * *

20. In this week's sidrah the discussion of the beginning of the Redemption begins. The previous sidrah speaks about exile: "והכנעני אז בארץ" ("And the Canaanite was then in the land"), and as our Sages say⁵⁷, "שהיה הולך וכובש כו'" ("for he was progressively conquering…"). But this week's sidrah already speaks about the Redemption: Avraham Avinu bought a field in Eretz Yisrael from Efron, and this was before the eyes of the children of Ches, all of whom acknowledged that it belonged to Avraham — a beginning of the general Redemption of all Jews.

Although he paid "ארבע מאות שקל כסף" ("four hundred silver shekels") for it, it is said regarding this that not only did Efron gain no virtue from it, but on the contrary, he incurred a further deficiency⁵⁸: through it the letter vav was taken from his name.

As it is written in the sefer Paane'ach Raza — a work of one of the Rishonim — through the four hundred silver shekels that Avraham Avinu paid, every Jew received a portion in Eretz Yisrael. As he calculates there — according to the reckoning of "זרע חומר שעורים בחמשים שקל כסף" ("the sowing of a chomer of barley at fifty silver shekels")⁵⁹ — for four hundred shekels, six hundred thousand Jews each received a cubit by a cubit in Eretz Yisrael.

The Redemption already began then; we need only remove the concealments and the hiddenness and bring the Redemption down below, in a revealed manner, through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days, literally.

(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah, 5716)

Notes

1) See Responsa of the Rashba, sec. 408. Discourse beginning "R. Bena'ah" (Ohr HaTorah, Chayei Sarah, 119b ff.; ibid., vol. 2, 442a ff.).

2) Cited in Hayom Yom, p. 23 — 28 Shevat.

3) Shemos 23:5.

4) Mishlei 15:30.

5) Gittin 56b.

6) See Bava Basra 10a, and this requires some further study. And see Likkutei Sichos vol. 25, p. 199.

7) Discourse beginning "Vekahal Hayere'im," 5678.

8) Discourse beginning "Lechol Tichlah," 5659.

9) Bava Basra 16b. See also the discourse beginning "R. Bena'ah," mentioned above.

10) Bereishis Rabbah ch. 8, and elsewhere.

11) Bereishis 24:42. Bereishis Rabbah 59:11.

12) Bereishis Rabbah 59:11 (which in this disagrees with Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer ch. 16) — cited in Rashi's commentary on the Torah, Bereishis 24:36.

13) Arachin ch. 8, Mishnah 4.

14) See Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 43:13, and Shach there. Torah Temimah on the verse (Bereishis 24:42).

15) Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:2 (1).

16) Zohar II, 20b.

17) Ramban, Bereishis 12:6: "They said: Everything that happened to the Patriarchs is a sign for the children" (and in Tanchuma, Lech 9: "The Holy One, blessed be He, gave Avraham a sign: everything that happened to you happened to your children").

18) Mechilta on the verse "And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years."

19) Michah 7:15.

20) Bereishis Rabbah 60:8.

21) Devarim 4:4.

22) Just as a deceptive stream that fails even only once in seven years (a complete cycle of years, like a week of days) is not called "living water" (Parah 8:5; and see Likkutei Torah, Matos 83c).

23) Targum Yonasan 24:22. Bereishis Rabbah 60:6 (cited in Rashi, Bereishis 24:22). Midrash HaGadol.

24) Bava Basra 9a.

25) Shabbos 88a.

26) Kiddushin 32b.

27) Zohar II, 161b.

28) Shevuos 38b.

29) Kitzurim on Tanya, discourse beginning "Umashbi'in Oso."

30) Chagigah 10a.

31) Niddah 30b.

32) Tanchuma, Vayigash 6.

33) Berachos 34b.

34) Shabbos 77b.

35) Printed in Sefer HaMaamarim 5653, p. 279; Sefer HaMaamarim 5708, p. 271.

36) On the verse (1:2) "But only in the Torah of…"

37) Berachos 6a.

38) Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 25:5; Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe there, par. 11. Tanya ch. 41.

39) Zohar III, 29a.

40) Shabbos 119a.

41) See Rambam, Hilchos De'os, beginning of ch. 5.

42) Cited in Torah Or, Parshas Lech, discourse beginning "Be'etzem Hayom Hazeh."

43) Yoma 28b.

44) Shemos Rabbah 12:3.

45) Vayikra Rabbah 27:2.

46) Iyov 41:3.

47) Likkutei Dibburim, p. 196.

48) Vayikra Rabbah 29:8.

49) Bereishis Rabbah 41:3.

50) Devarim 8:17.

51) Bava Metzia 3a, end.

52) Tanya, end of ch. 24.

53) Torah Or, Mikeitz, 37c.

54) Tehillim 115:16. Berachos 35a, end.

55) Gur Aryeh (by the Maharal), beginning of Bereishis, in the name of the Radak.

56) And see Likkutei Torah, Berachah 96c. Ohr HaTorah, Chayei Sarah, discourse beginning "Yafeh Sichasan."

57) Rashi, Bereishis 12:6.

58) Mechilta, Yisro, Parshah 1. And see Rashi, Chayei Sarah 23:16.

59) Bechukosai 27:16.

Key Lesson

The body is not merely a burden to be overcome; the ultimate intent is to refine it, so that our love and fear of G‑d are felt in our very flesh and our physical affairs become vessels for G‑dliness. This Sicha teaches that we accomplish this by binding ourselves to Torah — toiling in it as much as we can, and at the very least beginning each day with tefillin that subjugate mind and heart — and by acknowledging that everything we have belongs to G‑d. Then, like Rivkah, whose departure from among the thorns was not delayed even a minute, we will not remain in exile an extra moment.