English translation — מאמר ויגש אליו יהודה תשל"ו

With the help of Heaven.

Shabbos Parshas Vayigash 5736*

"And Yehudah approached him" etc.1,

And it is stated in the Zohar2

that Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the matter of connecting Geulah (redemption) to Tefillah (prayer).

And it is explained in the discourses of our Nesi'im3,

that Geulah is the aspect of Yesod, as it is said4

"If he will redeem you, the good one will redeem," and "good" is the aspect of Yesod,

and Tefillah is the aspect of Malchus.

And this is the connection of Geulah and Tefillah to Yosef and Yehudah,

for Yosef was seventeen years old5

[which] in gematria is "good," [and] he is Yesod,

and Yehudah is Malchus.

And the precise point in this is known3,

that Yehudah's approach to Yosef [means] that Yosef was in his place and Yehudah approached Yosef,

and the connection of Geulah to Tefillah is that Tefillah is in its place and Geulah is connected

(approaches)

to Tefillah.

And moreover,

in Yehudah's approach to Yosef it is emphasized that Yosef was more elevated than Yehudah, therefore Yehudah needed to approach him,

and in the connection of Geulah to Tefillah the main thing is6

the Tefillah.

B)

And the point of the explanation in this, in the discourses,

based on what is explained in Torah Or, the discourse "And behold, we were binding sheaves"7,

that the sparks that were refined by the tribes needed to undergo a second refinement through Yosef,

for the refinement by the tribes is a refinement in the manner of from below upward

(refinement of Ban),

for this refinement is only the nullification of the yesh (existence),

and therefore they needed to be refined a second time through Yosef,

a refinement in the manner of from above downward

(refinement of Mah),

and through this they

(the sparks)

become included in Elokus.

And it is explained in Torah Or there8,

that in order for there to be a drawing down of the name Mah,

it is through the elevation of Mayin Nukvin of the name Ban.

And this is what is said9

"and prostrated themselves to my sheaf,"

the elevation of Mayin Nukvin of the tribes in the aspect of nullification

(prostration),

through which they aroused the drawing down of the name Mah to be a second refinement.

And it is known,

that in order to arouse the elevation of the feminine waters of Ban,

this itself is through a drawing from the name Mah.

And this is what is said in the Zohar, that Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the matter of attaching redemption to prayer,

for Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the elevation of the feminine waters of the tribes

[Yehudah is the primary of the tribes]

to Yosef,

to arouse the drawing of masculine waters from the name Mah, so that there will be the second clarification from above downward.

[And this is what our sages said

on the verse "And Yehudah approached him" — "And he approached" means only for peace,

because the quality of the clarification that is in the manner of from above downward

(the clarification of Yosef)

is that it is in a manner of peace.

And it is known

the difference between the clarification of prayer and the clarification of Torah,

that the clarification of prayer, which is from below upward, is in a manner of war,

and the clarification of Torah, which is from above downward, is in a manner of rest and peace.

And within Torah itself,

the difference between the clarification through the revealed aspect of Torah and the clarification through the inner aspect of Torah].

And the giving of power for the elevation of the feminine waters of Malchus to Zeir Anpin,

the approach of Yehudah to Yosef,

is through the drawing from Zeir Anpin to Malchus,

the attaching of redemption to prayer.

And the expression "attaching redemption to prayer" indicates

(as above)

that prayer is the primary thing,

for

the primary intent of a dwelling place in the lower realms is in the clarification that is in the manner of from below upward,

the clarification of Ban.

For the clarification in the manner of from above downward,

the clarification of Mah,

since the clarification is from the aspect of the revelation of light

(and not from the aspect of the lower being itself),

it is not so connected to the lower being itself,

and the intent of a dwelling place in the lower realms is completed specifically through the clarification in the manner of from below upward,

that the lower being becomes a vessel for Divinity.

And therefore in the future, Yehudah will be above Yosef,

as it is stated in the haftarah of the portion of Vayigash

"And My servant Dovid shall be king over them... and Dovid My servant shall be their prince forever."

3)

And one must understand,

behold, that the clarification of Ban is above Mah will be in the future,

and now Mah is above Ban,

and the matter of attaching redemption to prayer is that now prayer is above redemption.

And also one must understand,

that from what the Zohar said that Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the matter of attaching redemption to prayer,

it implies,

that also in Yehudah's approach to Yosef, the superiority of Malchus over Zeir Anpin is evident.

4)

Now, it is explained in the discourses,

that these two matters—the drawing down of Mah and the refinement of Ban—are analogous to study and action.

And the concept is,

that the reason for the dispute

whether study is greater or action is greater,

is,

that in each one there is an advantage.

For the advantage of study is in the matter of revelations, and the advantage of action is that specifically through the fulfillment of the commandments is the drawing down of the Awtsmoos.

And they counted and concluded that study is greater, because study leads to action,

so that even the advantage of action comes through study.

And there are two aspects in this.

That through the study of Torah, the drawing down of the Awtsmoos that is in the action of the commandments is revealed,

for the revelation of every matter is through Torah,

“Torah is light.”

And moreover,

even the drawing down itself of the action of the commandments is through study.

For that which through the action of the commandments there is a drawing down of the Awtsmoos is when the action is in a state of self-nullification,

and this is accomplished through the study of Torah, which is called “Tushiyah,”

which weakens the power of the animal soul and effects in it self-nullification.

For this is the meaning of “study is great, for it leads to action”—that the action itself comes about through study.

And similarly,

this is the case regarding the drawing down of Mah and the refinement of Ban,

that the drawing down of the Awtsmoos is through the refinement of Ban,

and as mentioned above, that specifically through the refinement of Ban is the intention of a dwelling place in the lower worlds completed,

except that in order to come to this,

it is through the drawing down of Mah.

And this is like the concept of study leading to action.

And it must be understood,

that according to this,

the aforementioned precision

[that the matter of juxtaposing redemption to prayer is that even now prayer is higher than redemption]

is even more so,

for regarding the matter of study and action,

now study is greater, and only in the future will action be greater,

but regarding the matter of redemption and prayer, even now prayer is higher than redemption.

5)

And the explanation of this can be said,

that the reason why now study is greater is because study leads to action,

which proves that action is the main thing,

and this results from the fact that in the future action will be greater.

But now,

when the main advantage is in revelations,

even the greatness of action

(that specifically through it is the drawing down of the Awtsmoos)

as it is felt now is only as it relates to revelations,

and since the revelation of the drawing down of the Awtsmoos in the action of the commandments is through the study of Torah,

therefore now study is greater because it leads to action.

And based on this, it can be said,

that what is stated in the discourses—that the drawing down of Mah to arouse the raising of the Mayin Nukvin of Ban is like the concept of study leading to action—

is

(also)

an explanation for this, that the matter of juxtaposing redemption to prayer, which indicates the superiority of prayer, is analogous to how in the future Yehudah will be higher than Yosef.

For although that Yehudah is higher than Yosef will be primarily in the future,

nevertheless,

since even now there shines

(somewhat)

the advantage of Malchus

[for the reason that study is greater now is because it leads to action],

therefore it is possible that in several matters,

the advantage of Malchus itself will be revealed,

the advantage of prayer over redemption.

And based on this, it is also possible to explain what is stated in the Zohar, that Yehudah's approach to Yosef is the matter of juxtaposing redemption to prayer,

even though Yehudah's approach to Yosef indicates

(generally)

the advantage of Zeir Anpin,

for there are aspects in Yehudah's approach to Yosef in which the advantage of Malchus is emphasized,

as will be explained below.

6)

And this will be understood with an introduction to what Yehudah's approach to Yosef and his statement "How can I go up to my father etc."30

brought about that Yosef could not restrain himself etc. and made himself known to his brothers.31

For superficially, after they all came to him with Binyamin his brother, he should have made himself known to them immediately,

and why did he hide the goblet in Binyamin's sack32

in order that they should come to him yet again.

And also then he did not make himself known to them immediately,

and only after Yehudah approached him and argued his claims,

then specifically he made himself known to his brothers.

And the point of the explanation of this33,

that Binyamin is the lower tzaddik who raises the recipient from below to above34

and connects him to the influencer.

And the main raising of mayin nukvin of Malchus is through Binyamin35.

And therefore the main raising of mayin nukvin of the tribes was when they came to Yosef the second time for the sake of Binyamin36.

And this that Yosef hid the goblet in Binyamin's sack,

it is,

because in order to arouse the raising of mayin nukvin of Malchus it is through the drawing down from Z'eir Anpin37

(as above in section 2).

And it can be said,

that this that Yosef commanded to hide the goblet in Binyamin's sack

(and Binyamin and the tribes did not know of this),

it is,

because in order that the raising of mayin nukvin of the recipient be from the side of the recipient,

it is when the drawing down from the influencer that arouses the recipient is in concealment38.

And this that after this the goblet was found,

it is,

because after the raising of mayin nukvin was already aroused within them,

the drawing down comes in revelation.

And through this they were elevated even more than their elevation when the goblet was hidden.

And this is that after the goblet was found, Yehudah said39

"God has found the iniquity of your servants,"

because after he was elevated to a more lofty level,

even the most subtle matter was considered to him as an iniquity40.

And then "Yehudah approached him,"

his raising of mayin nukvin

[and of all the tribes]

was in completeness.

7)

And behold, when Yehudah wanted to arouse Yosef that he should draw down to him a drawing of mayin duchrin,

he said to him1

"Please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears etc., for you are like Paroh."

And the explanation of this41,

that because the drawing down from Z'eir Anpin to Malchus is a descent,

therefore Yehudah explained to Yosef that on the contrary,

through this there will be an ascent in Z'eir Anpin,

that he will be "like you, like Paroh."

For Yosef, as he is from his own side, begins from Chochmah which is the beginning of revelation,

and through his influencing "your servant,"

Malchus,

he will be "like Paroh,"

Kesser,

and in Kesser itself—the innerness of Kesser41.

And this is the connection of Yehudah's approach to Yosef to the linkage of redemption to prayer,

for in Yehudah's approach to Yosef, the superiority of Malchus relative to Zeir Anpin is emphasized,

in that through Zeir Anpin's influence to Malchus, an additional elevation is generated in Zeir Anpin.

And it is analogous to "great is study that brings to action,"

for through this, an enlargement is effected in study.

Based on this, one may also understand the connection of "Vayigash eilav Yehudah" with the haftarah of Parshat Vayigash, whose content is that in the future, Yehudah will be above Yosef,

for the elevation that is effected in Zeir Anpin through His influence to Malchus is a preparation for that

(in the future)

the superiority of Malchus itself will be revealed,

"and they shall serve Hashem their God and Dovid their king, whom I will raise up for them,"

with the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu, speedily and truly.