Chof-Daled Teves*
1. It is known what the Shelah1 writes: that all the mo'adei hashanah — all the designated (set-apart) days of the year (including the birthdays and the yahrtzeit days of tzaddikim, "שדומים לבוראם" ("who resemble their Creator")2, and the like) — are alluded to in the Torah portions that are read (and studied) at the times when these days occur.
From this it is understood regarding Chof-Daled Teves, the yom hahillula of the Alter Rebbe, which falls (in most years — as in this year) in the week of Parshas Va'eira, that there is an allusion in Parshas Va'eira3 to "מעשיו ותורתו ועבודתו" ("his deeds, his Torah, and his service")4 of the Alter Rebbe (which come to their completion on the day of his passing5).
— One common point connects the name of the sidrah, "וארא" ("And I appeared") — for the name of a sidrah expresses the content of the entire sidrah (as has been discussed several times6) — with the name of the Alter Rebbe:
The first name of the Alter Rebbe (his principal name — the name in the Holy Tongue7) is "Shneur," and the meaning of "Shneur" is "שני אור" ("two lights")8 — that is, the concept of illumination.
"Va'eira" too, which means "I revealed Myself," has the same content as (the effect of) light: what light accomplishes9 is not to add new things, but to illuminate, and thereby to make it possible for the things that are (already) there to be seen — which is the content of "Va'eira."
It may be said that the word "Va'eira" also alludes to the idea of "two lights" — and the two lights of the Alter Rebbe are, after all (as the Baal Shem Tov said10), the light of nigleh, the revealed part of Torah, and the light of nistar, the hidden part of Torah:
The word "Va'eira" contains the letters "or alef," which allude to two lights: its beginning, the letters vav-alef-reish, explicitly form the word "or" (light) — corresponding to the light of nigleh11; and the letter alef, which is the initial of or (here the "light" stands in concealment, as an initial), alludes to the light of the hidden aspects of Torah.
2. Since the name of the Alter Rebbe carries the meaning of illumination, it is understood that this was also one of the distinctive qualities of the "deeds, Torah, and service" of the Alter Rebbe.
The explanation of this: the principal achievement of the Alter Rebbe was the revelation of the teachings of Chabad Chassidus. In the words of the leader of our generation, my father-in-law, the Rebbe12: the founder of Chabad Chassidus — Chochmah, Binah, and Da'as — and the first leader of Chabad Chassidim; he brought down the matters of the general teachings of Chassidus (which had been revealed through the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid) into Chochmah, Binah, and Da'as, in a manner that everyone would be able to understand them with his intellect.
So too regarding the "light" of nigleh of Torah — the composition of his Shulchan Aruch: among its chief innovations was that he issued "הלכות בטעמיהן . . מילתא בטעמא" ("laws together with their reasons . . each matter with its reason")13 specifically, so that one who studies them should not only know the ruling of how to conduct himself in practice, but should also understand the law thoroughly.
And this is the concept of "light" — for wisdom and intellect are called "light"14: by grasping a matter with the intellect, with understanding, the thing becomes "illuminated," open to the person. When one understands a thing, one sees the thing as it truly is; one sees what the thing really is.
When one believes in something — even when this is true faith, in which there is no room for any doubts — so long as one has no understanding of it, the matter is not "open" to him: he knows with certainty that the thing is so, but the "illumination" of the intellect accomplishes that one will see the thing in all its details, to the point that one can come — and actually does come — to a "יחוד נפלא" ("wondrous unity"), in which "המשכיל והשכל והמושכל" ("the one who knows, the intellect, and the thing known") become one15.
3. And this is what the Alter Rebbe accomplished in revealing the teachings of Chabad Chassidus (the "light" of nistar of Torah):
Until the time of the Alter Rebbe, the matters of the teachings of Chassidus were learned by most people (practically all) in a manner of (accepting — at least the details of the matters — with) faith: "וצדיק באמונתו יחיה" ("The righteous man shall live by his faith")16 — through his faith (his bond) with the tzaddik, the tzaddik gave him life (since the one who was given life had lacked vitality, "light"):
The Alter Rebbe, through the revelation of Chabad Chassidus, "התחיל להאיר" ("began to shine")17 — the matters of the teachings of Chassidus were uncovered to every single person.
And the same applies to the "light" of nigleh of Torah — the composition of the Shulchan Aruch:
The purpose of a Shulchan Aruch is to know the halachah in practice. Therefore, it would seemingly18 not matter in it what the reasons are, or the give-and-take surrounding the halachah, but only the conclusion of the halachah for practice — how a person must act in actual deed19.
However, when one knows only the final rulings, without their reasons, the manner in which they are fulfilled is (mainly) only through kabbalas ol, acceptance of the yoke: he follows the Shulchan Aruch and fulfills the mitzvah, and fulfills it perfectly (and consequently he has what a mitzvah accomplishes — "tzavsa"20 and connection, etc.) — but it does not shine for him. So much so, that the Beis Yosef says21 (and warns about this) regarding his Shulchan Aruch, that it follows from and is founded upon his book, the Beis Yosef.
The Alter Rebbe, through composing the Shulchan Aruch specifically in the manner of "laws together with their reasons," illuminated also the matter of the kabbalas ol22 of the Shulchan Aruch: even a "Shulchan Aruch" — halachah for practice — must contain within it the reasons of the laws, so that the fulfillment of the mitzvah should also be in an illuminated manner, with understanding and comprehension.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Va'eira 5741 and Shabbos Parshas Savo (Chai Elul) 5740)
Notes
*) Regarding him, see Likkutei Levi Yitzchak — Letters, p. 249ff.
1) Beginning of Vayeshev.
2) Bereishis Rabbah 67:8; Bamidbar Rabbah 10:5; and the sources cited there.
3) See also, at length, Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, p. 35ff.; vol. 16, p. 56ff.; vol. 21, p. 52ff.
4) Wording of the Alter Rebbe — Iggeres HaKodesh, in the explanation of Epistle 27 (146a, end, ff.).
5) See Iggeres HaKodesh, there, and its explanation; there, Epistle 28; Siddur, Shaar Lag BaOmer (304b–c).
6) See at length Likkutei Sichos vol. 5, p. 57ff., and the sources cited there.
7) See also Likkutei Levi Yitzchak, Letters, p. 218.
8) See Yam Shel Shlomo, Gittin, ch. 4, §26 — quoted in the name of Shem HaGedolim by the Chida, Maareches Gedolim, end of the letter Shin (cited in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, there, note 17).
9) See Sefer HaErchim–Chabad, entry "Or — Behirus," p. 498, and the sources noted there.
10) Likkutei Dibburim vol. 1, 83a, and elsewhere.
11) Note also the content of the verse: "וארא . . באל ש-די" ("I appeared . . as E-l Sha-dai") (nigleh), "ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם" ("but by My name Havayah I did not make Myself known to them") (nistar).
12) Sefer HaSichos 5701, end of p. 158ff., and similarly in many places.
13) Wording of "the sons of the Gaon, the author, of blessed memory," in their introduction to the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch.
14) See in detail on this — Sefer HaErchim–Chabad, there, p. 557ff., and the sources cited there.
15) Tanya, ch. 5.
16) Chavakuk 2:4. See Likkutei Dibburim vol. 1, 131a; 141b; and elsewhere.
17) See Toras Shalom, p. 171: "The Rebbe . . like Avraham, 'began to shine' (the wording of the Midrash — Shemos Rabbah 15:26; see also Bereishis Rabbah 2:3: 'How long will the world conduct itself in darkness? Let the light come . . this is Avraham') . . our Rebbe began to shine."
18) See Sdei Chemed (volume of Klalei HaPoskim, end of §67, par. 8), that this expression applies even when the conclusion is indeed so.
19) See at length the introduction of "the sons of the Gaon, the author, of blessed memory" to the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch.
20) Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 45c, and in many places.
21) Introduction of the Beis Yosef to his Shulchan Aruch (printed at the beginning of the [OCR unclear] section).
Regarding the views on whether it is permitted to issue halachic rulings from books of rulings without knowing the reasons — see the Alter Rebbe's Laws of Torah Study, beginning of ch. 2, in Kuntres Acharon; Yad Malachi, Rules of the Shulchan Aruch (par. 1); Sdei Chemed, Klalei HaPoskim (§13, par. [OCR unclear]); and the sources cited there.
22) In light of what is explained in the text, the lengthy discussion in Hemshech 5667 (p. 326) becomes all the sweeter — and similarly in Toras Chaim, Vayakhel [OCR unclear] — regarding a "simple servant" who "has pleasure in his service," except that his gratification is the gratification of his master and not his own at all. For seemingly: the virtue of a simple servant lies in his utter self-nullification, to the point that "it is as if he does not exist in the world for himself at all" (5667, there, p. 310; and similarly in Toras Chaim, there, 569a, top). If so, what is added (when one emphasizes the virtue of a simple servant) by his having pleasure in his service? Seemingly, from the standpoint of self-nullification, his virtue would be greater if "he has no joy or gratification for himself at all in his service," because "he has no place, existence, or being of his own at all" (5667, there; see also there, end of p. 312ff.; Toras Chaim, there [OCR unclear]).
— However, with self-nullification alone, his service still lacks the element of light, and in all service the element of light is essential. Therefore, even in the simple servant there is the virtue that he has pleasure in his service; except that since he is a simple servant, the pleasure in his service is not "his," but rather his master's gratification.
Key Lesson
The Alter Rebbe, whose name Shneur means "two lights," illuminated both the hidden and revealed parts of Torah, bringing Chassidus into intellectual understanding and giving the Shulchan Aruch its reasons. A Jew should not be content with faith and acceptance of the yoke alone, but should strive to understand, so that his Torah and mitzvos shine for him.