007 —ויהיו בנ"י במדבר

Vayehiu Bnei Yisrael BaMidbar Vayimtze'u Ish Mekosheish Eitzim V'Gomer.^[1]

The Zohar explains that there are two types of trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. It asks: which of them is greater, and so on.

To understand this, we must first understand the concept of holiness, as our Sages said^[2]: "A person sanctifies himself a little below, and he is sanctified greatly from Above." This does not only refer to the resting of the Shechinah, about which it is explicitly said: "the Shechinah dwells," as our Sages said^[3]: even one who sits and studies Torah, the Shechinah is with him.

Rather, the matter is as the Gemara says^[4] regarding the verse: "And you shall gather your grain"^[5] and the verse: "Strangers shall stand and pasture your flocks"^[6]—one is when the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent, and one is when they do not. This is puzzling: how can "and you shall gather your grain" refer to when they are not doing His will, when just before it says: "to serve Him with all your heart and soul"?

The explanation is that in this section, "with all your might" is not mentioned, as it is in Parshas Shema. Therefore, it is still considered as not fully doing the will of the Omnipresent.

To understand this, the Zohar states: "There is no service like the service of love." Since it does not say "with love," it is understood that the love itself requires great effort and toil to attain. Just as Moshe Rabbeinu taught: "To love Hashem your G‑d, for He is your life"^[7].

This means that when a person contemplates how much he loves the life of his soul and greatly desires his continued existence, he should set this to heart: that Hashem Himself is the very life within him, the life of all worlds, higher and lower.

This is the meaning of "with all your soul"—for there are many faculties in the vital soul, such as nourishing, repelling, digesting, etc., and likewise in the intellectual soul. For this love to be firmly established in the heart requires great work, toil, and much effort in the above contemplation. This love is called Ahavas Olam (worldly love)—the level of Memale Kol Almin (immanent Divine light), as is known. Therefore, it is limited and has an end, and can be nullified if the heart turns elsewhere.

But the level of "with all your might" is a love without limit or measure and has no interruption, for wherever it says "me'od" (very), it means without end, because it comes from the level of Sovev Kol Almin (transcendent Divine light), before which all is considered as nothing.

For the life of all worlds, higher and lower, is only from His "breath," as it says: "U'Veruach Piv Kol Tzeva'am"^[8] (and by the breath of His mouth all their host). Just as in a physical person, the breath of his mouth comes from his inner being, yet it is not his essence at all. There is no change in his essence before or after the breath leaves him; it is only a ray and an extension. So too, the life of all worlds is only a ray and extension from the Infinite Light, which enters all worlds to enliven them.

But the level of Sovev Kol Almin is that which cannot be enclosed within the worlds to enliven them—it is His very essence, before which higher and lower are truly equal, for they do not occupy any place before Him. Therefore, it is written: "Hodu Al Eretz V'Shamayim"^[9] (His glory is upon earth and heaven), meaning that earth is considered as heaven before Him, for all is as nothing.

This love from the level of Sovev Kol Almin never changes due to other loves in any way. As it is written: "Many waters cannot extinguish the love"^[10]—since it does not become enclosed within a vessel. Each person, according to his measure, has this level of love, as it says: "And your people are all righteous"^[11]. And it is written: "And it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you"^[12], and: "For it is a sign between Me and you"^[13]—an everlasting covenant. The meaning of "sign of the covenant" is this level of love from Sovev Kol Almin, which does not become enclosed within you but stands over you as a makif (encompassing light) between Me and you. And this is sufficient for the understanding.

This is why our Sages called Him "the Holy One, blessed be He," and not by other names or appellations such as Merciful, etc.—for all other names and appellations refer to the effect or action that extends from Him. Even the name Havayah refers to bringing existence from nothing to something. But the name Kadosh (Holy) refers to His very essence, which is holy and separate, not enclosed within the worlds. "Kadosh Baruch Hu" is the Infinite Light that is enclosed within Ze'er Anpin, for He and His attributes are one (see elsewhere on the verse "Tze'enah U'Re'enah").

The love that comes from this level is called kedushah (holiness), in the feminine sense, as it receives from the Holy. As it says: "And to your husband will be your desire"^[14] (see Raya Mehemna Parshas Emor 93a, Pardes, entry on Kadosh, and elsewhere regarding the meaning of this holiness and how separation leads to holiness).

This level of love, called the sign of the covenant, is only revealed through the removal of the orlah (foreskin) that covers and conceals, as it says: "U'Maltem Es Orlas Levavchem"^[15] (and you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart; see elsewhere on Parshas Re'eh Anochi).

Orlah does not mean blockage but covering, etc. It is the aspect of negative love for worldly pleasures, even if permitted, but with passion and desire. This is the meaning of "the labor of your hands when you eat"^[16]—that the hands, feet, and other external limbs are active, but not the heart.

Even those who are naturally cold, like tent dwellers, who are "born circumcised," still need to draw blood for the covenant, to reduce their fat and blood, to minimize bodily pleasures and needs that hinder Divine service. As it says: "Churning milk produces butter"^[17]. Our Sages said: "Where do you find the butter of Torah? In one who has expelled the milk he nursed"^[18].

The concept of butter is like the fat that floats on milk; so too, this love does not become enclosed within a vessel, as explained above.

(See elsewhere on Parshas Vayechi on the verse "And whiter than milk," and on Parshas Va'era on "And I appeared..."—that holy milk is the expansion of the attributes of love and awe through "the mother of children is joyful." See Zohar III 136b on "washed in milk"^[19]—the supernal whiteness, etc. Thus, butter, the fat of milk, is the higher love above the vessel. This is what is said about Avraham: "And he took butter and milk"^[20]. And it says: "Butter and honey he shall eat"^[21].)

But where do you find the butter of Torah? In one who has expelled, etc.—for only separation leads to holiness, and this great love only comes after the level of separation, which is the refinement of the good and evil in the animal soul, achieved through Ahavas Olam. Through this, one comes to holiness and this great love, which is the level of the Tree of Life.

VeHinei Kasuv VeHayah KeEitz Shatul Al Palgei Mayim V'Gomer.^[22]

This refers to the level of the Tree of Life. "And he will not see when heat comes," meaning that this love will not be nullified or interrupted by passion or desire for other things, for the makif (encompassing light) blinds the eyes of the external forces, and "many waters cannot extinguish the love."

It is written: "If He sets His heart upon him, He gathers his spirit and soul to Himself"^[23]. This means that when a person sets his heart and deeply desires this great love, as it says: "And to your husband will be your desire"^[24], then Hashem gathers and draws down additional holiness below.

This is the meaning of "a person sanctifies himself a little"—it is only a little, as our Sages said: "It appears to them as a mountain," etc.^[25] But in truth, it is not so—he is sanctified greatly from Above, drawing upon himself the level of Sovev Kol Almin through Torah and mitzvos.

The mitzvos are the limbs of the King. It is like grabbing a person by one of his limbs and drawing him toward you, and all the more so when you grab his right hand, which is through the mitzvah of tzedakah and kindness, the right arm, etc.

When one contemplates well that Torah and mitzvos are from the level of Sovev Kol Almin, and Hashem's very essence dwells within them, then when one studies Torah with his mind or performs a mitzvah with his hand, he draws upon himself the Infinite Light in its very essence.

This is the meaning of "and by the stream he sends forth his roots"—the word "Yovel" (stream) with cholam and with malafum, both mean "to bring." As it says: "Kings shall bring gifts to you"^[26]. But Yovel with malafum means that Hashem is drawn and extended below through Torah and mitzvos. Yovel with cholam means that He leads and draws us upward, as it says: "It shall be a jubilee for you"^[27]—meaning that the jubilee will be yours, bringing and drawing: "And you shall return every man to his possession," to be united as one, with a double kiss.

(See elsewhere on Parshas Bereishis on "And his brother's name was Yovel"^[28]. Yovel is the fiftieth year, the fiftieth gate of Binah^[29]. This is the meaning of Yovel, leading and drawing us upward. See elsewhere on "And you shall count for yourselves...fifty days"—the fiftieth gate connects the emanator, the Infinite, to the emanated. Thus, "he shall be like a tree...and by the stream he sends forth his roots"—the level of Yovel is even higher than the Tree of Life.)

(This is also understood from the Zohar III, Parshas Shelach 158b, on "Is there a tree or not"^[30]—the level of "Ayin" (nothingness) is even higher than the Tree of Life. The fiftieth gate, which is Yovel, is the intermediary between Ayin and Yesh (something), as explained elsewhere. See Parshas Va'eschanan on "And you shall know today" regarding "And Avraham bound...above the trees.")

From this, we understand the sin of the wood gatherer on Shabbos. Shabbos night is the elevation of the sparks refined during the six weekdays, the refinement of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, where the good is separated from the evil and rises upward to connect to the Tree of Life. Therefore, the main revelation of great love is on Shabbos, as explained elsewhere on "Vayakhel Moshe."

This Tree of Life is the level of Shabbos day, and afterward, "and by the stream he sends forth his roots"—the level of Shabbos Shabbaton, the Mincha of Shabbos, a time of favor, as explained in Zohar III 129a.

The sin of the wood gatherer is uprooting something from its growth, meaning to separate the "yesh" (somethingness) to be independent, not nullified to its source that gives it life and existence.

On Shabbos, when the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life are united, and the "yesh" is nullified, and the worlds ascend, one who uproots something from its growth—making it an independent entity, the opposite of nullification to its source—is liable, for he damages the above-mentioned trees, the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life.

(See more about the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life in Parshas Bereishis on "Behold, the man..." and earlier in the discourse on "When the Jews said 'We will do,'" and in Parshas Balak on the explanation of "Who has counted.")

Summary

This maamar teaches that true, infinite love for G‑d comes from the level of Sovev Kol Almin, transcending all limits. Through self-refinement and mitzvos, one can draw down this boundless holiness, achieving unity with the Divine and transforming even the mundane into a vessel for G‑dliness.