English translation — מאמר וידבר אלוקים אל משה תשל"ב

With the help of Heaven.

24 Teves

"And Elokim spoke to Moshe and said to him, 'I am Havayah,'"

and it concludes, "Therefore say to the children of Israel, 'I am Havayah.'"

And the precise points in this are known from the Baal HaHilula,

what is the innovation in "I am Havayah" with which the speech begins, and as it explains and continues in the verse

(the innovation in "I am Havayah")

that although I appeared

(also)

to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov, this was only with [the name] El Shaddai, but My name Havayah I did not make known to them.

Also, one must understand the general content of the matter of "And I appeared to Avraham etc. and My name Havayah I did not make known to them,"

that on one hand this indicates the superiority and innovation of Moshe over the Patriarchs,

that specifically in the days of Moshe was the name Havayah revealed,

unlike for the Patriarchs, the knowledge and comprehension of the name Havayah was not revealed,

and together with this it is brought in the Midrash

on this verse and matter

(brought in Rashi on the Torah)

that the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Woe for those who are lost and are not found, that I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov etc. and they did not question My attributes, but you said...,"

which seemingly are two contradictory matters.

And similarly one must understand in the statement of our sages, of blessed memory,

(brought in the discourse "HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem,"

the year 5700)

regarding Moshe, "All sevenths are beloved,"

that there is in this a thing and its opposite,

for when it says that sevenths are beloved, this is a belovedness greater than all those that preceded him,

and together with this,

from the fact that they say that his belovedness is in being seventh,

it is understood from this

(and as explained in the aforementioned discourse)

that his belovedness is from the aspect that he is seventh to the first.

And particularly according to the words of the Midrash,

brought in the maamar

(there),

that at the time Moshe requested a matter that pertained to the great ones, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "In the place of the great ones do not stand,"

and "the place of the great ones" refers to Avraham.

And it will be understood with an introduction,

for behold, the maamar of the Baal HaHilula is known,

in Torah Ohr, Parshat Shemot,

and also in one of the heichalos that were recently released from captivity

the discourse "To understand the explanation of the statement of our sages on the verse"

"There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and maidens without number; one is my dove, my perfect one, one is to her mother, pure is she to the one who bore her,"

"There are sixty queens" — these are the sixty tractates, and "eighty concubines" — these are the baraitot, and "maidens without number" — these are the halachot,

which are the statements of the Amoraim,

and it concludes that all this is not comparable to "one is my dove."

And to understand this,

and also to understand the statement of our sages,

"Great is study that brings to action,"

for seemingly we find several halachot that have no relevance to action,

and particularly according to what is explained in Kuntres Acharon

that there are matters that were not... and will not be, and nevertheless there are halachot and discussions in these matters.

And it explains there with the introduction of the known concept that the purpose of creation is to make for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms,

that the dwelling place in the lower realms is made through the sixty queens and eighty concubines and maidens without number,

and in general through the Torah,

that through engaging in the pure Torah,

fit and permitted,

through this that thing is clarified,

and through the subsequent service of Yisrael it is refined and elevated until it becomes a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms.

And behold, just as in a dwelling there must be beautiful vessels,

"do good,"

so too one must remove the undesirable matters, which is the matter of "turn away from evil,"

and this is the Torah as it is on the line of gevurah,

that the ruling is the opposite of pure, fit, and permitted,

and this is because it is not fit to be a vessel for Elokus — a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms.

And this is the matter of "sixty queens,"

sixty tractates,

that specifically in the Oral Torah is the clarification of the will to know the matters of "turn away from evil" and "do good."

And the entirety of the Oral Torah is divided into six,

which are the six orders of the Mishnah,

and each one includes ten, from which is made "sixty queens."

And it is called by the name "queens" because in the Mishnah, Elokus is revealed like a queen, to whom the king goes in a revealed and permanent manner.

And it can be said that this is the connection of the matter of the Mishnah to the Temple,

to the time when the Holy Temple existed,

for although the arrangement of the Mishnah and its completion was by Rabbeinu HaKadosh

(who was after the time of the Temple),

nevertheless our sages said,

"And it was left over in the days of Rebbe,"

that the days of Rebbe are the continuation of the time when the Holy Temple existed.

And "eighty concubines" — these are the baraitot,

that "baraita" is from the term "bar" and "outside,"

for because in that time there was the matter of exile,

"we were exiled from our land,"

which is the matter of "bar" and "outside,"

so too the revelation of will and the revelation of Elokus that was in the Torah at that time was not so clarified, therefore it is called by the name "concubine."

And afterwards it is drawn down lower, and "maidens without number" — these are the halachot, which are the statements of the Amoraim,

and in this is included everything that a qualified student will innovate in the future,

and particularly the Babylonian Talmud, about which it is said, "He has placed me in darkness,"

which is specifically the Torah of the time of exile,

and until the final exile.

And it is called "maidens" from the term "concealment" and "hiding,"

that the concealment and hiding in them is greater than it is in the baraitot.

But nevertheless, specifically in them is the matter of "without number,"

that through them the ultimate clarification is achieved, even to the aspect of "without number."

And this is an introduction to the time of "And the number of the children of Yisrael will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor counted."

And behold, even though through this

(the matter of Torah)

a dwelling place is made for Him, blessed be He,

there must be the aspect of "one is she,"

in order to connect the Torah with the Giver of the Torah,

which is achieved through His having chosen us from all the nations and given us His Torah,

for then "the L-rd is with him, that the law is according to him in every place,"

behold, for this the service of prayer is needed, through which the aspect of "one" is achieved,

that he receives from the One.

For the beginning of the service of prayer is the aspect of "my dove,"

which is as it is written,

"Your eyes are doves,"

and this is the contemplation

(hear)

and the looking in the Shema that precedes prayer

(the Silent Prayer),

and even before that, in the blessings of the Shema and in Pesukei DeZimra, where one contemplates and looks, which is the matter of "your eyes are doves," etc.,

until it reaches "Hear O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is One,"

for "Shema" is also an expression of gathering and collecting,

that he gathers all his affairs,

and becomes a receiver from the L-rd our G-d,

which is the aspect of "one," and until he reaches the aspect of "with all your might,"

which is the matter of self-sacrifice.

And through the service of "one is she, my dove,"

there is achieved "my perfect one," from the term of perfection and completeness, which effects completeness,

filling and completing the will and desire that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have a dwelling place for Himself, blessed be He, in the lower realms,

which is through the Torah, through which He effects in the world all the matters mentioned above.

And also the second interpretation of "my perfect one,"

"my twin,"

that he becomes a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the act of Creation,

(and all the explanations explained in the discourses on the verse in Torah Ohr

and in Likkutei Torah on Song of Songs

of the Baal HaHilula).

And he concludes, "One is she, my dove, my perfect one, she is the only one of her mother," as explained in the aforementioned discourses.

And this is the meaning of what is written, "And G-d spoke to Moshe and said to him, 'I am the L-rd,'"

for behold, the exile of Egypt was analogous to an iron furnace,

for in order that the world could receive the Torah, and study leading to deed,

the matter of the commandments,

it was necessary to precede it with "and they embittered their lives and they worked them"

"the children of Israel with rigor,"

which is the clarification and refinement accomplished through the iron furnace,

which prepared the world to receive the Torah.

This is not so in the time of the Patriarchs before the exile of Egypt,

when the world was not yet prepared, etc.

And through the Torah, the truth of the L-rd is drawn into the world,

for the Torah, called "the Torah of the L-rd," acts upon "In the beginning G-d created"

so that it will be in ultimate perfection,

analogous to what was explained above regarding "my perfect one," that the supernal will that existed at the creation of the world is completed,

"In the beginning" for the sake of the Torah, which is called "beginning."

However, as explained above, that even though the drawing of the dwelling place in the lower realms is through "sixty are queens and eighty concubines and maidens without number,"

the matter of Torah,

there must precede this the matter of prayer, the aspect of "one is she, my dove,"

through which the connection of Israel with the Holy One, blessed be He, is made,

and afterwards, and through this, Israel acts upon the Torah, which becomes connected with the Holy One, blessed be He, and then it draws from above downward.

And as is known

one of the explanations in the statement of our sages, of blessed memory,

"Three knots are tied one to another: Israel, the Torah, and the Holy One, blessed be He,"

for at first glance, in a connection of three things there are only two connections,

rather, Israel is also connected to the Holy One, blessed be He, in a direct manner,

and as it is in a circle.

For the connection is not only from above downward,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, is above, and below that is the Torah,

and below that is Israel,

but rather, Israel themselves are also connected to the Holy One, blessed be He,

and through this, they draw from the Holy One, blessed be He, into the Torah, analogous to what is explained, that Dovid would connect the Torah with the Holy One, blessed be He.

Behold, just as through the aspect of "one is she, my dove," which is the matter of prayer,

they effect the connection of the Torah with the Holy One, blessed be He,

so too is it regarding the matter of "I am the L-rd,"

which is the matter of the Torah, which is the true essence of Himself, "Me you are taking"

through the Torah,

for the innerness of Abba is the innerness of Atik,

which is Essence and Being,

behold, before this there must be "And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov,"

which is the matter of prayer,

for the Patriarchs instituted the prayers,

and in particular,

Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov are the three prayers of Shacharit, Minchah, and Maariv,

which was the preparation for the service of the children, for "the deeds of the Patriarchs are a sign for the children."

For there must be both matters of Torah and prayer.

And this is the meaning of "And G-d spoke," etc.,

for when Israel needed to leave the exile of Egypt, the aspect of Gevurah was still revealed, which is the matter of the name Elokim.

And like Pharaoh who said, "I do not know the L-rd,"

that he is not connected to the name Havayah,

for his matter and root is that he suckles from the forty-eight final permutations of the name Elokim,

and therefore also among Israel,

with due distinction,

who were then in the exile of Egypt, it was also in such a manner.

But afterwards, "And G-d spoke to Moshe and said to him, 'I am the L-rd,'"

that the time had come for the aspect of "I am the L-rd" to be revealed,

and it is through the preface of "And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov,"

which is the matter of prayer, as above,

the aspect of "one is she, my dove,"

for from the perspective of this aspect, it is not appropriate to have misgivings about His attributes, and as our sages, of blessed memory, said,

"With all your might" — with every measure that He measures out to you,

and afterwards, and through this, the aspect of "I am the L-rd" is drawn,

and it is drawn through Moshe, as it is written, "Therefore say to the children of Israel, 'I am the L-rd,'"

"Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it," etc.,

the giving of the Torah to Israel, through which the name Havayah will be revealed,

that the Ten Commandments will be drawn into the Ten Utterances with which the world was created,

redemption from concealment and from Egypt, and with all four expressions of redemption: "and I will take you out, and I will rescue you, and I will redeem you, and I will take you," and until "and I will bring you"

"to a good land"

(the opposite of concealment)

"and broad"

(the opposite of Egypt)

speedily, literally, in our times, through Moshiach our righteous one.