English translation — מאמר ויגש אליו יהודה תשכ"ה

B"S.

Shabbos Parshas Vayigash,

7 Teves,

5725

"And Yehudah approached him [Yosef]" etc.1,

And in the haftarah of Parshas Vayigash it is stated2,

"Take for yourself one stick and write upon it 'for Yehudah'... and take one stick and write upon it 'for Yosef'... and bring them close to one another for yourself into one stick, and they shall become one in your hand."

And seemingly, the connection of the haftarah to the parshah is that the content of both is the connection of Yehudah and Yosef.

But in detail,

In Yehudah's approach to Yosef

(in the parshah)

it is emphasized that Yosef was superior to Yehudah,

to the extent that Yosef was king over all his brothers,

including Yehudah,

And in the haftarah it is stated3,

"And My servant Dovid shall be king over them."

[And as explained in Torah Or4,

that Yosef is

[Yesod of]

Zeir Anpin and Yehudah is Malchus,

and therefore now Yosef is above Yehudah,

for in the order of the chain of descent,

Zeir Anpin is above Malchus

[and furthermore,

Zeir Anpin is the influencer to Malchus.

And this is "And Yehudah approached him and said, 'Bi Adoni,'"

for the explanation of "Bi Adoni" is that in Yehudah

(Bi)

the influence from Yosef the Righteous

(Adoni) will be drawn.

But in the future to come,

when the root of Malchus will be revealed,

which is above the root of Zeir Anpin,

therefore then "My servant Dovid shall be king over them."]

But from the fact that the verse "And My servant Dovid shall be king over them" is also in the haftarah of Parshas Vayigash,

it implies

that in "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" there is also the advantage of Yehudah over Yosef.

Except that what is emphasized in the revelation of "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" is the advantage of Yosef over Yehudah,

and in the haftarah, the advantage of Yehudah over Yosef.

2)

And this can be connected with what is explained in the discourses of the Tzemach Tzedek5,

that the final letters of "Vayigash eilav"

"Yehudah"

are equal6,

for the matter of "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" is that Malchus

(Yehudah)

and Zeir Anpin

(Yosef)

are both equal.

And he explains,

that the matter of "equal" is like what is stated in Likkutei Torah7

in the explanation of the verse8,

"to do what is upright (hayashar) in the eyes of Hashem,"

that the matter of "yashar" (straight/upright) is the connection and unification of the upper Daas and the lower Daas,

the upper unification and the lower unification

(both of which are equal),

to become one in the other9.

For Yosef and Yehudah as they are in themselves,

they are

(like)

two opposites.

For in Yosef

(Zeir Anpin),

which is from above downward,

it is10

the upper Daas, where there is "yesh" (existence) above and "ayin" (nothingness) below,

and in Yehudah

(Malchus),

which is from below upward,

it is10

the lower Daas, where there is "yesh" below and "ayin" above,

and the matter of "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" is the connection of the upper Daas and the lower Daas.

[And this is what our sages said11

on the verse "Vayigash eilav Yehudah": "Vayigash" is nothing other than an expression of peace,

for the matter of peace is the connection of the upper Daas and the lower Daas12].

And like the statement13,

"And the children of Yehudah and the children of Yisrael shall gather together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head,"

for now14,

the service of the children of Yehudah is from below upward,

the lower Daas,

and the service of the children of Yisrael

[the ten tribes who belong to Yosef]

is from above downward,

the upper Daas,

and in the future to come they will be joined together,

to become one in the other.

And from this it is understood,

that in Yehudah's approach to Yosef,

there are two matters.

In a revealed way,

the matter of Yehudah's approach to Yosef is because Yosef

(Yesod of Zeir Anpin)

is the one who bestows and Yehudah

(Malchus)

is the receiver,

and therefore Yehudah approached Yosef and requested "Bi Adoni,"

that influence should be drawn into him from Yosef the Righteous.

And there is another matter in Yehudah's approach to Yosef,

hinted at in the final letters of "Vayigash eilav Yehudah,"

which is the connection and unification of Yosef

(Zeir Anpin,

the higher Daas)

and Yehudah

(Malchus,

the lower Daas)

that will be in the future,

when Malchus will be like Zeir Anpin.

And based on this it can be said,

that in "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" is also hinted the elevation of Malchus that will be in the future,

that Malchus will be above Zeir Anpin,

"A woman of valor is the crown of her husband"15,

above even the matter of both of them being equal.

And it can be said,

that this is what is stated in the Zohar16,

that Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the matter of joining redemption to prayer

[for redemption is the aspect of Yesod,

Yosef,

and prayer is the aspect of Malchus,

Yehudah17].

For from the language of our sages18,

"joining redemption to prayer"

(and not "joining prayer to redemption"),

[meaning] that prayer is in its place and redemption is joined

(approached)

to prayer,

it is understood19,

that the main thing is20

prayer.

And from this that the Zohar says that Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the matter of joining redemption to prayer,

it implies,

that also in Yehudah's approach to Yosef there is

(in a concealed way)

the superiority of Yehudah over Yosef.

3)

And this will be understood by prefacing what the Rebbe

(the Rebbe Rashab)

of blessed memory said in the discourse on this verse21,

that this that Yehudah first began with "Bi Adoni"

(for seemingly he should have begun "Please let your servant speak...")

is like the matter of the precedence of the verse22

"Ad-nai, open my lips" before prayer

[and this is not an interruption between redemption and prayer,

as stated in the Gemara23,

since the sages instituted saying "Ad-nai, open my lips,"

it is considered like a long prayer].

And in the Targum on the verse "Ad-nai, open my lips" it is explained,

"my lips open in Torah."

And it is explained in many discourses24

that explain the matter of Torah and prayer

(and also in the aforementioned discourse25),

that the request in this verse at the beginning of prayer is,

that prayer

(and "my mouth will declare Your praise")

should be like Torah

("Ad-nai, open my lips" in Torah).

For just as in Torah,

the Torah that a person learns is the word of God,

"My words that I have placed in your mouth"26,

and the person is like one who answers after the caller27,

so too prayer should be in the manner of "and my mouth will declare Your praise,"

that a person's prayer should be that through it there will be drawn

("declare" from the term "drawing")

Your praise,

the prayer of the Holy One, blessed be He.

4)

Now, it is explained in the above discourses,

that Torah and prayer are analogous to the two aspects of above, upward without end, and below, downward without end.

For Torah, which is an influence from above to below,

is analogous to the aspect of "downward without end,"

and prayer, which is an elevation from below to above, is analogous to the aspect of "upward without end."

And according to the known principle

that this [aspect] that Ein Sof is "downward without end"

(the root of Torah)

is the matter of expansion and revelation,

which expands and is revealed downward, downward without end,

and this [aspect] that Ein Sof is "upward without end" is like that which is elevated and included in His Essence, upward, upward without end,

it is understood

that prayer is higher than Torah.

And the request "Ad-noy, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise" is,

that in prayer, which is from below to above, there should also be the quality of Torah,

from above to below.

The explanation is,

that prayer is when a person requests and prays,

and also the influence that comes through prayer,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills his request,

is from the aspect of the quality of the work of the lower being,

"You desire the work of Your hands."

And it can be said,

that the reason for this, that one must stand in prayer like a servant before his master with awe, fear, and dread,

is,

that this [fact] that the work of the lower being

(prayer)

arouses above the will to fulfill his request, is

(primarily)

because in the work of the lower being there is the quality of self-nullification,

therefore,

the more prayer is with greater self-nullification,

the more it arouses above to fulfill his request.

And this is that prayer is an elevation from below to above,

because the request of prayer is with self-nullification

(in the manner of a servant who requests),

for the matter of self-nullification is that one departs from one's own existence,

an elevation from below to above.

And Torah is the word of G-d

[which exists even before a person's engagement in Torah],

and the effect that is accomplished through a person's engagement in Torah is that the Torah and the Ein Sof clothed within it are drawn down to the person.

And moreover,

that even the drawing down of the Torah and the Ein Sof clothed within it into the person engaged in Torah,

is

(not through the person nullifying his intellect,

but on the contrary)

that the Torah is drawn down and clothes itself in the person's intellect as it is in his existence,

an influence from above to below.

And it can be said,

that just as with Torah,

its connection to the matter of "downward without end" is to this [aspect] that Ein Sof is "downward without end,"

that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, is drawn down downward,

so too is it with prayer,

that the connection of prayer to the matter of "upward without end" is

(not only because prayer is the elevation of the person,

but also)

to this [aspect] that Ein Sof is "upward without end."

For this, that through prayer a new will is aroused to fulfill the request of the one praying

[even when according to the wisdom of the Torah he is not worthy of it],

is because through prayer an ascent is made in the light above,

which is elevated above the order of Seder Hishtalshelus,

and above even the Torah,

until upward, upward without end,

and from there a new will is drawn down to fulfill his request.

However, nevertheless, there is an advantage in the influence of Torah over the influence through prayer.

For the influence through prayer,

since prayer is the work of the lower being,

therefore even the influence from above that comes through prayer is in relation to worldly matters

(the fulfillment of the request of the one praying),

except that the root of the influence is from upward, upward without end.

And the influence of Torah,

which is an influence from above from its own side,

is an influence of G-dliness.

For even after the Torah descended below and clothed itself in human intellect, it is the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is above the intellect of created beings.

5)

And the explanation of the matter in more detail

will be understood based on what the Tzemach Tzedek wrote in the maamar

beginning with the words “To understand the matter of our Sages’ statement”

that the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is above without end and below without limit.

[This heichel

(in which the aforementioned maamar is found)

was in captivity for several years,

and recently

it was redeemed from captivity and arrived here.

And it is noteworthy

that in this discourse there are several matters that are not in the aforementioned discourses.]

In explanation of the verse

“Train a youth according to his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it,”

for at first glance, when a person grows old he should ascend to a higher level,

and what is

the advantage that even when he grows old he will not depart from the way he was trained as a youth?

And he explains in the maamar,

that in human intellect there is a great and immense difference between the intellect a person attains in his youth and the intellect he attains in his adulthood, and all the more so in his old age.

But in the Torah, which is G‑dliness,

the difference between his youth and his old age is only in the comprehension of the person in which the Torah is clothed,

but in the Torah itself,

which is the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, above the intellect of created beings,

there is no difference between the intellect of the youth and the intellect of the elder,

and therefore even when he grows old he will not depart from the way he was taught in his youth.

And he adds in the maamar,

that it is written

“I was a youth and also have aged,”

“youth” refers to Metat in Yetzirah, and “I have aged” refers to his ascent in Atzilus,

for the wisdom of Torah that is in Atzilus is far higher than the wisdom of Torah that is in Yetzirah.

And nevertheless,

even when he grows old and ascends to Atzilus, he will not depart from the way he was taught in his youth in Yetzirah,

because the essence of Torah is the essential delight of the Awtsmoos

(and “I was with Him, [a source of] delight,”

specifically “with Him”),

which is above even the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He,

the Chochmah of Atzilus.

And regarding this aspect of Torah

(which is the essence of Torah)

there is no difference between the comprehension of Yetzirah

(and also the comprehension of human intellect)

and the comprehension of Atzilus.

And based on this, the advantage in the drawing down through Torah over the drawing down through prayer will be understood even more.

For the drawing down below through prayer is

(not that G‑dliness itself is drawn down below,

but rather)

that through the drawing down a change is made in the matters of the world.

And the drawing down of Torah

is a drawing down of G‑dliness,

such that even after its descent below it is the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And moreover,

the G‑dliness that is in Torah, which is drawn down below and clothed in the intellect of the person studying it,

is not in the category of worlds,

therefore,

the comprehension of human intellect and the comprehension of Atzilus are truly equal with respect to it.

6)

And it can be said,

that just as the advantage in the drawing down through Torah over the drawing down through prayer is with regard to the recipient below,

in that a revelation of G‑dliness is drawn into him,

so too is the advantage in the drawing down through prayer over the drawing down through Torah,

for in addition to the fact that the source of the drawing down through prayer is above the chain of descent,

the advantage in the drawing down through prayer is also with regard to the recipient below,

in that through prayer a change is made in the created beings below,

to heal the sick and bless the years.

And to add,

that this matter

[that through prayer a change is made below]

applies to every prayer.

And the explanation is,

that it is explained in the aforementioned discourse of the Tzemach Tzedek,

that regarding what is stated in the Gemara

that in communal prayer

(specifically)

it is written

“Behold, G‑d is mighty, He does not

despise,”

that it is desirable and accepted forever,

the intention in this is,

that this—that the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills the request of communal prayer—

is also in a revealed manner.

That is to say,

that even in an individual’s prayer,

the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills his request

[as is proven from the fact that the Men of the Great Assembly instituted praying three times every day,

and certainly they would not have instituted a blessing that would be, G‑d forbid, in vain].

Rather, in an individual’s prayer,

it is possible that the influence

(the fulfillment of the request)

will be in concealment,

and the advantage of communal prayer is that the influence is in revelation.

And it is noteworthy,

that in several discourses

it is explained that in an individual’s prayer it is possible that the influence remains above and is not drawn down below,

but in the aforementioned discourse of the Tzemach Tzedek it is explained that the influence

(even in an individual’s prayer)

is drawn down below,

except that it is possible that it is in concealment.

And it can be said,

that since the request of prayer is that the influence be drawn down below

(to heal the sick and bless the years),

therefore,

even if they draw down for him the influence he requested, but the influence is not drawn down below,

his prayer would be a blessing in vain,

and from this it is proven,

that in every prayer,

even in an individual’s prayer, the influence is drawn down below, except that it is possible that it is in concealment.

And it continues in the maamar,

that this—that sometimes the drawing down of influence is in concealment—is because of the multitude of intervening screens.

That is to say,

that this—that the influence is in concealment—is not due to the manner of the drawing down

(that the drawing down is on a level of concealment that is above revelation49),

but rather,

that the concealment is due to the screens that conceal.

And it is analogous to giving a gift in a closed vessel,

where the gift is present in its fullness within the vessel,

but because of the screen of the vessel, it is impossible to take it openly.

And it adds in the maamar,

that the influences that were drawn down through all the prayers,

not only do they exist in their fullness in concealment, but ultimately they will also be in revelation.

For when all of Israel will be aroused in complete repentance and all the screens will be nullified,

then all the drawn-down influences of all the prayers throughout all the generations will be revealed.

7)

And it needs to be understood,

that the reason that through prayer a light above the chain of descent is drawn down, through which a change is effected in the creations

(to heal the sick and bless the years)

is due to the elevation of Mayin Nukvin in prayer42,

for the matter of the elevation of Mayin Nukvin in prayer is seemingly when the prayer is with intention and self-nullification,

and in the maamar it is explained that through every prayer a change is effected in the creations

(except that it is in concealment).

And one can say the explanation of this,

that at the time that Israel prays

(even when he is not intent in his prayer),

in his innermost being he is as one standing before the King,

except that this is in concealment.

Therefore,

every prayer of Israel is an elevation of Mayin Nukvin that arouses and draws down the light that is above the chain of descent to change the creations.

But the drawing down and the change below

(the fulfillment of the request)

that comes about through this elevation of Mayin Nukvin is in concealment.

And the more that the intention and self-nullification in the prayer are in greater revelation,

the fulfillment of the request is in greater revelation.

8)

And it continues in the maamar43,

that based on this, it will be understood what is stated in the Gemara50

that when Rebbi heard from Eliyahu the prophet that Rebbi Chiya and his sons are comparable to the Patriarchs,

Rebbi stood them before the ark,

he said "He causes the wind to blow" and a wind blew,

"He brings down the rain" and rain came,

when he reached saying "He revives the dead" the world trembled.

And it needs to be understood,

that Rebbi Chiya and his sons would pray every day,

and nevertheless the drawing down through their prayer

(a wind blew,

rain came,

the world trembled)

was specifically when Rebbi stood them before the ark.

And seemingly, one could say,

that by their praying before the ark and being emissaries of the congregation,

their prayer had the power of the congregation,

and the prayer of the congregation is always desirable and accepted,

for even when there are screens, the drawing down is in revelation51.

But this explanation is insufficient,

for even the prayer of the congregation,

even when the emissary of the congregation is a very great person,

does not have the power to effect a great change in creation in a revealed way,

and especially the change of the resurrection of the dead,

when there are screens that conceal.

And it is explained in the maamar,

that by Rebbi standing them before the ark and their becoming emissaries of the congregation of all of Israel,

they broke

(through their prayer)

the screens.

For in addition to the fact that the congregation that was present at the time of their prayer were all greatly aroused,

also the screens on the part of those who were not there and were not aroused,

Rebbi Chiya and his sons broke through their prayer,

since their prayer was as emissaries of the congregation of all of Israel,

including even those who were not aroused.

And one can explain the elucidation of this,

that by Rabbi [Yehudah HaNasi] placing them before the ark and making them the emissaries of the congregation of all Israel,

he effected this upon all of Israel

(even upon those who knew nothing at all of the entire matter)52

that they would be drawn after the congregation that was present at the time of the prayer of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and his sons,

and all the more so after Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and his sons themselves

(the emissaries of the congregation),

and therefore,

the arousal of the congregation that was present at the time of the prayer,

and their prayer of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and his sons,

effected in the innermost aspect upon all of Israel,

and through this the barriers were nullified.

9)

And behold, that which was explained above

(section 4)

that the drawing down of the light that is above the chain of descent, which comes through prayer, is that through it a change is effected in the matters of the world

(and not that the light itself is drawn downward),

this is regarding prayer as it is in its own right.

But when the prayer is in a manner that also includes the aspect of Torah,

one can say,

that in the drawing down that comes through this prayer,

there are both virtues.

That the root of the drawing down is above and beyond, to no end,

and that the light itself is drawn downward.

That is,

that in the change that is effected in the world

(that the sick person is healed and the like)

there is felt in revelation not only the change in the world

(the result of the drawing down)

but also the Divine light through which the change is effected.

And one can connect this with what was explained above

(section 3)

that the request "Ad-noy, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise" at the beginning of the Silent Prayer is that a person's prayer should be in a manner that through it "Your praise" is drawn,

the prayer of the Holy One, blessed be He,

for when the prayer is in this manner, there are in it both virtues.

The virtue of prayer—the work from below

[that reaches above and beyond, to no end,

"You yearn for the work of Your hands"],

and the virtue of Torah—a drawing down from above.

And through the union of the two aspects in the work of prayer,

that even the request of the human is in the manner of "my mouth will declare Your praise,"

through this,

even in the drawing down that comes through prayer there are

(analogous to)

the two aspects.

That through it a change is effected in the lower realm,

and that the change in the lower realm is in a manner that the Divine light through which the change is effected is felt in it.

10)

And 4)

Based on this, we can explain the connection of "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" to the union of the two intellects,

the higher Daas and the lower Daas,

for the two matters of Torah and prayer are in the manner of higher Daas and lower Daas.

For in addition to the fact that Torah is from above downward and prayer is from below upward

(for higher Daas is from above downward and lower Daas is from below upward53),

[there is also the fact] that Torah is drawn into the intellect of man as it is in his [own] existence

(for although man's intellect is incomparable to the Torah,

nevertheless, in order for man's intellect to understand and grasp the Torah he learns, he does not need to depart from his [own] existence)

and even then it is the word of Hashem54,

meaning that the drawing down of Torah below is not according to the limitations of the lower realm, but rather from the aspect of the Torah itself

(since it is without limit, it is drawn into every place),

this indicates that in the drawing down of Torah, the creations do not occupy a place — this is higher Daas, where

(above there is a "yesh" [existence], and)

below there is nothing.

And [the fact] that the drawing down of prayer is from the aspect of the elevation of the lower realm's service

("You desire the work of Your hands"),

and also that its subject is to change the creations,

indicates that in this drawing down, the lower realm occupies a place — this is lower Daas, where below there is a "yesh."

And through Yehudah's plea "Bi Adoni,"

which is like the matter of the verse "Ad-nai, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise" recited before prayer

(as above in section 3),

his prayer

(the prayer of man)

was in such a manner that through it, the prayer of the Holy One, blessed be He, was drawn down,

[so that] even the drawing down through his prayer,

whose subject is to make a change in the lower realm,

was in a manner that the drawing down from above was revealed within it

(from above the chain of descent),

[this is] the union of the two intellects.

And based on what was explained above

(section 4)

that prayer is above Torah

[for Torah is analogous to the matter of "lower and lower," etc., and prayer is analogous to the matter of "higher and higher," etc.],

and the advantage of Torah relative to prayer is that the drawing down of Torah is a drawing down of Elokus,

it can be said

that when prayer is in a manner that also contains the advantage of Torah,

then prayer is above Torah.

And similarly, regarding higher Daas and lower Daas,

when lower Daas is in a manner that the revelation of higher Daas also shines within it,

then it is above higher Daas.

And similarly, regarding Zeir Anpin and Malchus,

which are higher Daas and lower Daas

(as above in section 2),

[it is] that through Malchus becoming like Zeir Anpin

(both equal),

this is a preparation for the revelation of the source of Malchus, which is above the source of Zeir Anpin.

Therefore, in the union of the two intellects in "Vayigash eilav Yehudah," there is also concealed the elevation of Malchus that will be in the future,

that Malchus will be above Zeir Anpin,

"A woman of valor is the crown of her husband."