לקוטי שיחות חלק א׳ - וישלח / י״ט כסלו

Parshas Vayishlach

1. On the verse "עם לבן גרתי" ("I have sojourned with Lavan"), Rashi says: "ותרי״ג מצות שמרתי" ("and I kept the 613 mitzvos"). This is not understood: a) What is the connection between this derash on the verse — "and I kept the 613 (taryag — the letters of garti)¹ mitzvos" — and the simple meaning of the verse, where "garti" comes from the word for sojourning (geirus)? b) Why was it relevant to inform Eisav that "I kept the 613 mitzvos"? c) What is the Torah — the instruction — in this for us?

2. The meaning of "I have sojourned with Lavan" is that all the matters of Lavan the Aramean — all the material things, "שור וחמור צאן ועבד ושפחה" ("oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants and maidservants") — were for him nothing more than "garti" — a sojourn, something foreign. It was not his concern.

His life was the soul and the matters of Torah and mitzvos, and all the material things were nothing more than a temporary sojourn.

And this is also what is said further on in the parsha, "ויבן לו בית ולמקנהו עשה סכות" ("and he built himself a house, and for his cattle he made booths")²: "lo" — "for himself," that is, for his very essence — the soul with its matters — he built a "house," a permanent dwelling. "U'lemiknehu" — "for his acquisitions," for the material things, which are "acquired" additions (for the soul in itself — and especially the soul as it is above — does not need them; moreover, it has no connection to them at all, except that, upon coming down below, it acquires material things) — "he made booths," a temporary dwelling.

— The Previous Rebbe related in a sicha³ a saying of the Maggid of Mezritch, who said that at home it is otherwise: at home one indeed must have everything, but on the road it does not matter that the lodging is not so beautiful and the furniture is not so fine — after all, he is on the road. —

In light of this we will understand the connection between the plain meaning of the verse and the derash on the verse: because of "I have sojourned with Lavan" — because material things were for him in the category of a sojourn — the materiality did not confuse (interfere with) the spirituality, and he was able to carry out "and I kept the 613 mitzvos."

3. Moreover: because material things are held in a mode of sojourning, not only does materiality not interfere with spirituality, but spirituality is drawn down into materiality as well, until the materiality itself becomes spirituality and holiness.

As he concludes in the verse, "ויהי לי שור וחמור צאן ועבד ושפחה" ("I have oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants and maidservants") — all this became "li," "mine," belonging to the core and essence of Yaakov.

4. In the Midrash⁴ on the verse "I have oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants and maidservants," it says: "חמור זה מלך המשיח" ("'Donkey' — this is King Moshiach"), as it is said⁵, "עני ורוכב על חמור" ("humble, and riding upon a donkey"), etc.

The coming of Moshiach depends on the avodah of birurim (refinement)⁶. That is, through every Jew refining his body, his animal soul and his portion in the world, and using them for holiness, the revelations of the Future will be drawn down.

And this is the sequence of the verses, "I have sojourned with Lavan… I have oxen and donkeys": because for Yaakov material things were in the category of a sojourn, and he made them vessels for G‑dliness — "garti" in its literal sense, dwelling in them — he was thereby already ready for Moshiach: "I have… donkeys," and "'donkey' — this is King Moshiach."⁷

And for this reason he sent angels to Eisav, to tell him that he had already completed all the birurim and was ready for Moshiach, reckoning that Eisav too was already past his birur⁸, and that from Eisav's side, too, the Redemption could already come.

To this the angels answered him, "באנו אל אחיך אל עשו" ("We came to your brother, to Eisav"). From your side he is already "your brother" — you are already ready for the Redemption; but he, from his side, is still "Eisav," before the birur, and consequently the Redemption cannot yet come.

5. The Torah and its instructions are eternal — for every Jew, at every time and in every place.

The lesson from all this is: every Jew must know that even if, from the standpoint of his surroundings, from the standpoint of the world, it is not yet fitting for the Redemption to come, because the world is not yet refined (not yet purified), nevertheless he, from his side, must prepare himself, with all his matters — "sheep, servants and maidservants" — for the complete Redemption.

And the preparation for this is "I have sojourned with Lavan." He must know that the whole of this world is nothing more than "garti" — "גר אנכי בארץ" ("I am a stranger in the land")⁹. All of "ימי שנותינו בהם שבעים שנה ואם בגבורות שמונים שנה" ("the days of our years are seventy years, and if in strength, eighty years")¹⁰, "והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה" ("and his days shall be one hundred and twenty years")¹¹, are nothing more than a sojourn. Then materiality is no contradiction to spirituality, and thereby he has "oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants and maidservants" in the material sense as well.

And by preparing himself with his matters for the Redemption, he also brings it about in the world, for the world is evenly balanced¹² (equal against equal); consequently, with one good deed he will tip the scales for the entire world, and bring the Redemption to the entire world.

And as the Rambam rules¹³: "ישראל עושים תשובה מיד נגאלים" ("when Israel does teshuvah, they are immediately redeemed"). And the Alter Rebbe¹⁴ adds: "תיכף ומיד" ("instantly and immediately"). Consequently, regardless of the state of the world, he can, through teshuvah, bring about the personal redemption within himself, and also the general Redemption of the entire world.

6. All things, after all, come about by Divine Providence. The redemption of the Alter Rebbe together with Chassidus — 19 Kislev 5559 — took place in the week following Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach, in which the above-mentioned lessons are found. Chassidus gives every Jew the strength not to reckon with the state of the world, to carry out within himself the avodah of "I have sojourned with Lavan," and consequently to arrive at "I have… donkeys," and "'donkey' — this is King Moshiach."

Chassidus is a preparation and a vessel for the revelation of Moshiach: through "יפוצו מעינותיך חוצה" ("your wellsprings shall spread outward"), "קא אתי מר" ("the Master is coming") — speedily in our days.

(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach, [OCR unclear: year])

7. In the above-mentioned Midrash it says: "'Donkey' — this is King Moshiach." It is not understood why Yaakov alluded to the future Redemption specifically through the matter of a donkey. The Gemara¹⁵ says: It is written, "וארו עם ענני שמיא" ("and behold, with the clouds of heaven…")¹⁶ (that Moshiach will come through a cloud), and it is written, "humble, and riding upon a donkey" (that Moshiach will come on a donkey)? "זכו עם ענני שמיא, לא זכו עני רוכב על חמור" ("If they merit — with the clouds of heaven; if they do not merit — humble, riding upon a donkey"): if Jews are meritorious, Moshiach will come through a cloud; if not — on a donkey. According to this it is even more difficult: Yaakov's readiness for the future Redemption was, after all, by virtue of the perfection of his avodah — "they merit" — so why did he allude to Moshiach not through the matter of a cloud, but specifically through the matter of "riding upon a donkey"?

8. In Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer¹⁷ it says that the donkey mentioned regarding Moshiach, "humble, and riding upon a donkey," is the very same donkey mentioned regarding Moshe Rabbeinu, "וירכיבם על החמור" ("and he set them upon the donkey")¹⁸, and the very same donkey mentioned regarding Avraham Avinu, "ויחבוש את חמורו" ("and he saddled his donkey")¹⁹.

That is to say, Avraham, Moshe and Moshiach are a continuation of one and the same matter. Avraham began the "שני אלפים תורה" ("two thousand years of Torah")²⁰; Moshe Rabbeinu received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to all of Israel²¹ (although the verse "and he set them upon the donkey" was said before the Giving of the Torah, it is stated in connection with the Exodus from Egypt, which is a preparation for the Giving of the Torah, as it says, "בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה" ("when you bring the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G‑d upon this mountain")²²); and the purpose of the Giving of the Torah will be revealed through King Moshiach.

9. Nevertheless, there is a difference between Avraham's use of the donkey, Moshe's use of it, and Moshiach's use of it.

Regarding Avraham it says that he used the donkey for the wood and the knife; he himself and his lads went on foot, and only the wood and the knife — things that assist a person — did he place upon the donkey.

Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu it says, "ויקח את אשתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על החמור" ("and he took his wife and his sons and set them upon the donkey") — and his wife and sons are much closer to a person than wood and a knife, for a wife is "עזר כנגדו" ("a helper corresponding to him")²³, "כגופו דמיא" ("considered like his own body")²⁴, and "ברא כרעא דאבוה" ("a son is the leg of his father")²⁵ — the leg being the lower part of the person himself.

Regarding Moshiach it says, "humble, and riding upon a donkey" — Moshiach himself will ride upon the donkey.

10. The point of using and riding a donkey is that through it a person, together with his belongings, can arrive at a place which, because of its height or its distance, cannot be reached without the donkey.

So too regarding riding upon the donkey in spirituality

— for "chamor" (donkey) alludes to "chomer" (physical matter), as is known from the Baal Shem Tov's interpretation²⁶ of the verse "כי תראה חמור שונאך" ("when you see the donkey of your enemy")²⁷ —

that is, through refining and purifying physicality and materiality, one can reach and rise to a level which the soul by itself cannot reach, as it is written, "ורב תבואות בכח שור" ("and abundant crops come through the strength of the ox")²⁸.

11. In the times of Avraham Avinu — the beginning of the two thousand years of Torah, i.e., the beginning of the avodah — physicality and matter could not yet elevate the person himself, for physicality itself had not yet become holiness; as is explained in many places, the decree that "בני רומי לא ירדו כו'" ("the inhabitants of Rome shall not descend…")²⁹ was still in force. It could have an effect only on the things that assist — the wood and the knife — that through the avodah of refining physicality, those things would, at that time, assist toward holiness.

With Moshe Rabbeinu, through the donkey there came about an elevation in the lower matters of the person himself, for after the exile in Egypt and the Giving of the Torah a refinement took place in the physical matter of the world as well, to the point that physicality itself becomes holiness through the mitzvah.

— As is known regarding the difference between before the Giving of the Torah and after the Giving of the Torah: before the Giving of the Torah, physicality was not a vessel that unites with spirituality, and the avodah consisted only in this, that the world should not oppose — and should even assist — the flows of light drawn down through the avodah; but that physicality itself, in its inner essence, should become holiness — this came about through the Giving of the Torah.

As with Yaakov's rods and troughs: although through the avodah of the rods and troughs a light was drawn down, as through the mitzvah of tefillin³⁰, it was not in an internal and absorbed manner. The proof is that after the avodah no light remained in the rods, because even beforehand it had not been in a manner of absorption and union.

But after the Giving of the Torah, when one performs a mitzvah with a physical object, the physical object itself becomes holiness, i.e., the physicality of the world becomes a vessel for G‑dliness. Nevertheless, even then the elevation was no more than in the lower parts of the person — "his wife" (like his body) "and his sons" (a son is the leg of his father) — up to the revealed powers of the soul that descended below and became enclothed in the body. —

But with the coming of Moshiach a deeper matter will be accomplished: "humble, and riding upon a donkey." The superiority of the body over the soul will be revealed — "אשת חיל עטרת בעלה" ("a woman of valor is the crown of her husband")³¹; even in the chayah and yechidah levels of the soul an elevation will be accomplished through the refinement of physical matter.

With the coming of Moshiach the true root of created existence (yesh hanivra) will be revealed — that the truth of created existence is the True Existence (Yesh Ha'amiti). Therefore, through the refinement of physical matter, the refinement of created existence, an elevation will be accomplished even in the very essence of the soul.

12. This is also the allusion in the saying of our Sages: "If they merit — with the clouds of heaven; if they do not merit — humble, and riding upon a donkey." "Zachu" ("they merit") — through avodah in pure and spiritual matters (clear and spiritual things) — there will be "with the clouds of heaven," a revelation in the manner of direct light, from above to below. "Lo zachu" ("they do not merit") — if the avodah is in matters that are not yet purified, i.e., physical and material matters, and one refines and purifies them — then there will be the revelation of "humble, and riding upon a donkey," the revelation in the manner of reflected light, from below to above: through the donkey one will reach a place which the soul by itself cannot reach.

And this is what Yaakov said, "I have oxen and donkeys": by virtue of his avodah specifically with Lavan — refining the physical and material things — he was ready for the highest revelation, that of "humble, and riding upon a donkey."

13. The Previous Rebbe related: When the Alter Rebbe was in prison, he was interrogated by the "tovarishch-minister," i.e., the deputy of the minister, who was well-versed in Tanach and learned in Jewish matters.

One of the questions he put to the Alter Rebbe concerned the meaning of the verse "ויקרא ה' אלקים אל האדם ויאמר לו איכה" ("And the L‑rd G‑d called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?'")³² — did the Almighty then not know where Adam was, that He asked him "Where are you?" The Alter Rebbe answered him according to Rashi's explanation. The minister said to him: What Rashi says I know myself; I want to hear an explanation from the Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe answered him: When a person is, for example, so many years old — stating as he did so the exact number of the minister's years — the Almighty asks him: "Where are you?" Do you know for what purpose you were created in the world, what you must do, and what you have done?

And the Previous Rebbe concluded: The Alter Rebbe's answer to the minister saved him — the Alter Rebbe — from klos hanefesh (the soul's expiry), for the Alter Rebbe was in great joy that he had merited to sit in prison and to give himself over for the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid; he had such great delight from this, to the point of klos hanefesh. But when he contemplated that the Almighty asks every person, "Where are you?" — has he accomplished what he needs to accomplish — this brought about that he should remain below, a soul in a body, and carry out the matters for the sake of which his soul came down below.

14. An event that happened with our holy Rebbeim, our leaders, which a Nasi and shepherd of Israel related and transmitted to us, is a lesson for his flock — for the community of Chassidim, and through them, for all Jews.

Every Jew must know that the question "Where are you?" is asked of everyone, always, from the greatest of the great to the smallest of the small (from the greatest to the least). But the question comes to each one according to his nature.

Of one person, the question "Where are you?" demands that he hold himself back from klos hanefesh (as is written regarding the sons of Aharon, "בקרבתם לפני ה' וימותו" ("when they drew near before G‑d, and they died")³³), and instead carry out his mission and avodah here below, to fulfill the purpose of a dwelling place in the lower realms.

And of another, the question "Where are you?" demands that he not let himself be drawn into lusts and the like, through which he would fall altogether, but rather strengthen himself in learning Torah and fulfilling mitzvos.

And this very demand is a granting of strength, that each one should carry out his avodah and fulfill the purpose for which he was created, with joy and gladness of heart.

15. Concerning the connection between the question "Where are you?" and the Alter Rebbe's imprisonment, one can perhaps say:

The Alter Rebbe's imprisonment came about because of the accusation that existed at that time against the revelation of the secrets of the Torah — the teachings of Chassidus.

When the Alter Rebbe revealed and publicized these [secrets] of the Torah to all Jews — by bringing them down into the intellect and Chabad of the G‑dly soul, through which they descend also into the Chabad of the intellectual soul and of the animal soul, until they take hold of and permeate even the physical body — an accusation arose against this above. And because of this, the accusation also came down below, in the imprisonment.

So too, the victory and redemption that took place here below came about because above, permission was granted — a power and a command — to reveal these [secrets] even into human intellect; and because of this there came about here below as well the redemption of the Alter Rebbe and of the teachings of Chassidus.

This removed all limitations: for when one does it not on one's own, but as the emissary (of the Omnipresent), and with the power of the One Who calls "Where are you?" — which is the Essence, "נמנע הנמנעות" ("the One for Whom even the impossible is possible")³⁴ and the Bearer of opposites — one brings down even the hidden part of the Torah so that it comes into revelation; and this arouses and reveals the hidden part of the soul as it is bound with the hidden aspect of the Holy One, blessed be He³⁵.

(From the sicha of 19 Kislev, 5718)

16. Concerning the month of Kislev it is said that it is like the month of Sivan. Sivan is the third month from Nisan, and Nisan is also a Rosh Hashanah, as stated in the Mishnah³⁶; likewise, the month of Kislev is the third month from the Rosh Hashanah that is in Tishrei.

The difference between Nisan and Tishrei is: Nisan is the avodah of tzaddikim, for the Exodus from Egypt is a matter of conversion, and "גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי" ("a convert who has converted is like a newborn child")³⁷ — he has no sins and no matters that are not as they should be, for he is like a newborn child.

And the month of Sivan, the third month from Nisan, is the time of the Giving of the Torah.

Tishrei is the avodah of baalei teshuvah. Kislev, the third month from Tishrei, is a Giving of the Torah — the revelation of the inner dimension of the Torah (pnimiyus haTorah).

Just as with the matter of teshuvah: although teshuvah is higher than Torah³⁸ — which is why teshuvah helps even for a matter in which one has blemished the Torah — nevertheless, the matter of teshuvah itself is derived from the Torah.

So too with the revelation of pnimiyus haTorah, which takes place in the month of Kislev: it too derives from the Giving of the Torah in Sivan. For at the Giving of the Torah in Sivan all matters of the Torah were given — even the Torah that Moshiach will learn and reveal, which is the deepest matter in the Torah, as the Midrash says³⁹, that the Torah of now is "הבל" ("vanity") compared to the Torah of Moshiach — this too was given at the Giving of the Torah in Sivan.

Nevertheless, pnimiyus haTorah was concealed at the Giving of the Torah in Sivan, and the revelation of pnimiyus haTorah is in the month of Kislev, the third month from Tishrei — the avodah of teshuvah. For then, in the month of Kislev, comes the revelation of pnimiyus haTorah and the spreading of the wellsprings outward, which is a preparation for the revelation of Moshiach.

17. Because the month of Kislev is a time of revelation of Torah — a new revelation in Torah, when pnimiyus haTorah was revealed — this also comes down into the world, so that in the month of Kislev a new revelation shines in the world: the matter of miracles. Chassidus explains well that in truth the natural order is also miracles⁴⁰, only the difference is this: nature is a revelation that is constantly present, so because of habit the miracle is not noticed, to the point that one might think that it is, G‑d forbid, "a castle without a master." But when a miracle comes, to which one is not accustomed, then it is in revelation; and this is the matter of miracles — that it is a new revelation.

And therefore Kislev is a month of miracles: because it is a time of a new revelation in Torah, and "אסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא" ("He looked into the Torah and created the world"), this is drawn down into the world as well, so that in the conduct of the world, too, it is a time of miracles, a new revelation.

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Notes

1) See Midrash Lekach Tov; Midrash HaGadol.

2) See also Maamarei Admur HaZaken — HaKetzarim, p. 77.

3) Likkutei Dibburim, vol. 2, Likkut 11, p. 214.

4) Bereishis Rabbah 75:6.

5) Zechariah 9:9.

6) Tanya, ch. 37.

7) See above, note 4.

8) See Torah Or 24c.

9) Tehillim 119:19.

10) Tehillim 90:10.

11) Bereishis 6:3.

12) See Kiddushin 40b.

13) Hilchos Teshuvah 7:5.

14) Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 11. On the addition of "instantly" (tikef) to "immediately" (miyad): see Taanis 19b, "is that 'immediately' of theirs…" etc.; Rashi s.v. "miyad," Shabbos 89a. In contrast, "tikef" — according to what is written in Zevachim 33a; Tosafos s.v. "kol" (Sotah 39a); Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, end of sec. 166.

15) Sanhedrin 98a.

16) Daniel 7:13.

17) Ch. 31.

18) Shemos 4:20.

19) Bereishis 22:3.

20) Avodah Zarah 9a. And see Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, beginning of Parshas Lech. The discourse beginning "VaHashem beirach es Avraham" by the Tzemach Tzedek, printed in his novellae on Tractate Bava Basra (Or HaTorah, Chayei Sarah, 126a ff.).

21) Avos, beginning of ch. 1.

22) Shemos 3:12.

23) Bereishis 2:18.

24) Berachos 24a.

25) And see Eruvin 70b.

26) Cited in Hayom Yom, 28 Shevat, and above, p. 32.

27) Shemos 23:5.

28) Mishlei 14:4. See Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 75b.

29) See above, p. 41.

30) See Zohar I, 161b ff.; end of the discourse beginning "Vayatzeg es hamaklos" by the Tzemach Tzedek, in Or HaTorah, Vayeitzei (223b).

31) Mishlei 12:4.

32) Bereishis 3:9.

33) Vayikra 16:1. See Or HaChaim there.

34) See Responsa of the Rashba, sec. 418; Sefer HaChakirah of the Tzemach Tzedek, p. 68, and elsewhere.

35) See Zohar III, 73a.

36) Rosh Hashanah 2a.

37) Yevamos 22a.

38) Likkutei Torah, in the discourses of Parshas Acharei ("Ki bayom hazeh"), and in the discourses for Yom Kippur.

39) Koheles Rabbah, ch. 11.

40) [OCR unclear — the text of this note does not appear in the source.]

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Key Lesson

When a Jew treats the material world as a temporary sojourn — "I have sojourned with Lavan" — materiality no longer hinders his Torah and mitzvos, and he can refine it until it becomes holiness itself, the "donkey" that carries him to heights the soul alone cannot reach. Regardless of the state of the world around him, he can prepare himself for the Redemption now, and with even one good deed tip the scales for the entire world. The question "Where are you?" is asked of every person, and it comes as a granting of strength to fulfill his mission with joy.