English translation — מאמר קומי אורי תשל"ג

*

"Arise, shine, for your light has come..."

Now,

"for your light has come" is the reason for "Arise, shine."

That the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Israel,

Since your light has already come,

the light of yours

(of Israel),

therefore you need to arise and shine.

And one must understand what is the concept of these two lights,

the light of Israel themselves and the light that they need to shine.

And this will be understood by means of what is brought in the Yalkut,

Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He,

We made a Menorah for You in the days of Moshe and it was extinguished,

in the days of Shlomo and it was extinguished,

from now on we await only Your light,

as it is stated,

"For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light,"

and so the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Arise, shine, for your light has come."

And from the fact that they compare "Arise, shine, for your light has come" to "in Your light we see light,"

it is understood,

that the two concepts in the verse "Arise, shine, for your light has come" are analogous to the two concepts in the verse "in Your light we see light."

2)

And this will be understood by prefacing what is explained by my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, in his maamar beginning "For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light,"

that in this verse there are four concepts.

Life,

source of life,

Your light, and light.

And these four concepts are in order from below upward.

"Life" is the G-dly vitality that is invested in the worlds,

filling all worlds.

[And one may add an explanation,

that this which is called by the name "life" is in the plural,

because the vitality that is invested in the worlds and creations is in a multiplicity of divisions,

in each creation according to its concept.]

"Source of life" is the light that encompasses all worlds.

"Your light" is Torah,

Torah is light,

which is above even the encompassing [light].

And the "light" that is seen through "Your light" is above even "Your light,"

to the extent that "Your light" is only a preparation for the light that is seen through it.

3)

Now, in order to explain the superiority of length (orech),

through which the greatness of the light that is seen through length will be understood

(which is above even length),

this will be understood by prefacing the explanation of the aspect of the Source of Life (Makor Chayim),

which has two interpretations.

For that which is called by the name "Source of Life" is,

that even the surrounding light (Or HaSovev),

since it is merely an illumination,

is a source

(at least)

(for the light that fills and through this,

also)

for the vitality that is invested in the worlds.

And that "Source of Life" refers to the light that is above the aspect of a source for the vitality of Memaleh Kol Almin,

and this that it is called by the name "Source of Life" is because from it vitality is found

[similar to what is said in Likkutei Torah,

regarding the matter that the Holy One, blessed be He, is called "our Rock of Life" (Tzur Chayeinu),

that the explanation of "Rock" (Tzur) is the source and root of all roots of coming-into-being,

for the intention is not that He is a source, heaven forbid, for coming-into-being,

but rather that all roots of coming-into-being are found from Him].

And this is what is said, "For with You is the source of life,"

for in the word "with You" (imcha) there are two interpretations.

That the emphasis in "with You" is that it is only "with You" and not You,

a thing that is secondary and nullified to You.

And that the emphasis in "with You" is that it is not a matter unto itself, but rather "with You,"

unified with Him, blessed be He.

And similar to what is said in the Midrash

on the verse,

"If you lend money to My people,"

"If you lend money... to My people,"

"Just as I... so too you..."

And it can be said,

that these two interpretations correspond to the two interpretations

(above)

regarding the Source of Life.

For according to the interpretation that the Source of Life is the aspect of a source for life,

the interpretation of "For with You is the source of life" is that the matter of the Source of Life is only "with You" and not You,

secondary and nullified to You.

And according to the interpretation that the Source of Life is that life is found from Him

(but not that He is the aspect of a source),

the interpretation of "For with You is the source of life" is that the drawing down of life is only from "with You,"

from the aspect of the light that is unified with Him, blessed be He.

4)

Now, even according to the interpretation that the intention in "Source of Life" is that from Him life is found

(and not that He is in the aspect of a source for them),

nevertheless,

from the fact that it is called by the name "Source of Life"

(the vitality of the worlds),

it is proven that it has a connection to the worlds.

And this is why, after it says "For with You is the source of life," it adds "in Your light" etc.

(for the order of matters in the verse is from below to above,

as above),

for "length" (orech) is above connection to worlds.

And therefore it is called by the name "light"

(length),

for the matter of light is that it is attached to the luminary and is of the same essence as the luminary.

That is,

that it is not in the aspect of existence,

and consequently it cannot be a source for anything,

and its entire matter is that it is a revelation of the luminary.

And it specifies "in Your light" (be-orcha),

for in addition to this that light in general

(even as it spreads outside the luminary)

its entire matter is the spreading and revelation of the luminary as above,

nevertheless, within light itself, it is "Your light,"

light of Yours,

light that is included in His Essence.

For in general, this is the Ein Sof light that is before the tzimtzum

(as explained in many places

that the general light before the tzimtzum is the light included in His Essence).

For this light is above connection to worlds,

and therefore,

in order for the coming-into-being of the worlds to occur, there must be a removal of the light.

And about this our Sages said,

"Before the world was created, He and His Name alone existed,"

for the light before the tzimtzum

(for the beginning of creation is the tzimtzum,

and "before the world was created" refers to before the tzimtzum)

is called His Name,

for just as a person's name is not an existence at all

(not even like the existence of light)

and its entire matter is that the person turns to those who call him by his name,

so too is it regarding the light before the tzimtzum,

which is not in the aspect of existence and its entire matter is only that it is His Name,

"He and His Name alone."

5)

Now, it is known

that in the Ein Sof light before the tzimtzum there are

(in general)

two levels.

The essence of the light and the spreading of the light.

And within the spreading of the light itself, there are two levels in general.

A revelation to itself,

which is the root of the surrounding light (Or HaSovev).

And the revelation that relates to the worlds

(for although the general light before the tzimtzum is included in His Essence as above,

nevertheless, within His Essence itself there is a revelation that relates to the worlds),

and it is the root of the filling light (Or HaMemalei).

And according to what is known,

that the drawing down of light above is not in a compulsory manner, heaven forbid,

and even the drawing down of the light before the tzimtzum

(even the revelation to itself, which is above the revelation that relates to the worlds)

is for some intention for the sake of the worlds,

it follows,

that these two aspects of Sovev and Memalei after the tzimtzum are drawn from the two revelations

(revelation to itself and revelation that relates to the worlds)

before the tzimtzum, in a manner that the revelations before the tzimtzum are related

to the aspects after the tzimtzum.

And from this it is understood,

that even the light before the tzimtzum is included in the Source of Life,

and "length" (orech)

(which is above the Source of Life)

is more elevated even than the light before the tzimtzum.

And it can be said that this is what is explained in the maamar, that "length" refers to the Torah

("Torah is light"),

for the Torah is not for the sake of the worlds,

on the contrary,

the coming-into-being of all the worlds

(including even the revelations before the tzimtzum,

which are for the sake of the worlds)

is for the sake of the Torah.

6)

And the verse continues, "we see light,"

which is above even length,

to the point that length is only a preparation for the light that is seen through it

(as above from the maamar).

And the explanation of this can be understood based on the known principle29

regarding Torah and the souls of Israel,

that the root of Israel is above the root of Torah30,

as it is stated in Tanna D'vei Eliyahu31

Two things preceded the world: Torah and Israel,

and I do not know which of them came first,

but when He says "Command the children of Israel," "Speak to the children of Israel,"

I say that Israel preceded.

However, the souls of Israel were drawn down and descended into a state of independent existence,

like a son

("You are children to Hashem your G-d"32)

who, despite being from the essence of the father,

is a separate entity33,

while Torah, even as it is drawn down below, is unified with Him, blessed be He,

"The Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one"34.

And this is the reason that the virtue of Israel

(who preceded Torah)

is revealed through the Torah

(for in the Torah it is said, "Command the children of Israel,"

"Speak to the children of Israel"),

for the souls,

as they are in themselves,

being a separate entity,

their root is in concealment,

but not so Torah,

which is one with the Holy One, blessed be He,

it is a level of revelation

("and Torah is light"),

and through the Torah is revealed

(also)

the root of Israel.

And based on this, it can be said that the two matters of "in Your light we see light" are Torah and Israel.

"Your light" is Torah

(as above),

and the light that is seen through "Your light" is the root of Israel that is revealed through the Torah35.

7)

And this is "Arise, shine, for your light has come,"

for these two matters

("your light" and "your light" [in the sense of length])

are analogous to the two matters of "in Your light we see light"

(as above at the beginning of the maamar).

"Your light" [orech],

the light of Israel themselves,

is like "in Your light"

(Your light),

and "Arise, shine" [uri],

the light that Israel shine,

is like the light that is seen through "Your light"

(which is above "Your light").

And this will be understood based on what is explained elsewhere36

regarding soul and body,

that regarding souls it is written32

"You are children to Hashem your G-d"37,

and therefore,

the love and attachment of the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel by virtue of their soul is like a natural love, so to speak

(like the love of a father for his son).

That is,

the root of this love is from a level where the place of the beloved is relevant,

and it is not from His very Essence.

However, the love and attachment of the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel by virtue of their body,

is

(not due to the virtue of the body,

nor even the virtue of "son,"

an essential virtue,

but rather)

due to the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose the body of Israel38,

with His free choice,

for this choice is from His very Essence.

However,

the virtue of the soul

(which is a child to the Holy One, blessed be He)

is revealed,

but not so the virtue of the body

(in which is the choice of the Essence)

is concealed.

And through the soul working with the body,

its virtue is revealed in it,

the choice of the Essence.

And based on this, we can explain "Arise, shine, for your light has come,"

that "your light" is the light of the soul,

and "Arise, shine" is that through the light of the soul

("for your light has come")

she must work with the body and illuminate it,

so that through this a matter more elevated than the light of the soul is revealed

("your light"),

as explained above

(section 2)

regarding "in Your light we see light,"

that the light seen through "Your light" is more elevated than "Your light."

8)

And behold, it is explained in the maamar of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, beginning with the words "For with You is the source of life" mentioned there,

that the verse "For with You is the source of life, etc." is an utterance of the Congregation of Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He, during the time of exile39.

For during the time of exile,

the thirst for Elokus is greater than during the time of the Beis HaMikdash,

and according to the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov

(the master of the birthday of 18 Elul)

on the verse40

"My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water,"

"Thus in holiness I have beheld You,"

that "My soul thirsts for You, etc." is during the time of exile

(in a dry and weary land without water),

and regarding this it is said "Thus in holiness I have beheld You" — would that I beheld You in holiness.

And during the time of exile, the Congregation of Israel says to the Holy One, blessed be He,

"Master of the Universe, for with You is the source of life, in Your light we see light,"

With You, Master of the Universe, is the source of life,

With Your light we see light.

And according to what was explained above in section 1

(based on the discourse of the Yalkut)

that "Arise, shine, for your light has come" is in the manner of "in Your light we see light,"

it can be said,

that also the utterance of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the Congregation of Israel, "Arise, shine, for your light has come"

[although from the simple language of "for your light has come"

(that it has already come)

it implies that it speaks of the time of the Geulah],

it is

(also)

during the time of exile.

That is,

that even during the time of exile,

and especially in the final days of the exile,

it is possible and necessary that the matter of "Arise, shine, for your light has come" should be,

both regarding the light of the soul

(your light)

and regarding that the soul illuminates the body

(Arise, shine).

And through our actions and service during the time of exile41,

and especially in the matter of "Arise, shine, for your light has come,"

we bring closer and hasten even more the future Geulah,

when then "Arise, shine, for your light has come" will be in its simple sense

(that it has already come),

and in a manner of alacrity,

as the conclusion and seal of the Haftorah42

— "I will hasten it"43.