English translation — מאמר רני ושמחי תשכ"ז

With the help of Heaven.

Shabbat Parshat Beha'alotecha,

the 9th of Sivan, 5727

"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, etc."

And the Alter Rebbe, in Torah Or,

(Discourses of Chanukah)

the discourse beginning with the word "Zeh",

precisely notes that ostensibly, the haftarah of Shabbat Chanukah should begin with the verse

"And he said to me, etc., I saw and behold a menorah of gold, etc.,"

and why do we begin with "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion"?

And he explains there,

that the connection of "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion" to Chanukah is,

that "daughter of Zion" refers to the Congregation of Israel during the time of exile,

for during the time of the Temple, the Congregation of Israel is called "Zion," and during the time of exile it is called "daughter of Zion,"

as is explained there at length.

And it must be understood,

that the aforementioned precise point

[that the beginning of the haftarah is "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion" and not "I saw and behold a menorah of gold"]

also applies to the haftarah of Shabbat Parshat Beha'alotecha,

which is adjacent to the time of the Giving of our Torah,

for the Giving of the Torah is a matter of freedom,

and nevertheless, the beginning of the haftarah of Shabbat Parshat Beha'alotecha is also "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion."

2)

And behold, in Torah Ohr there, in the discourse beginning "Rani Vesimchi" (the first one),

he connects the verse "Rani Vesimchi Bat Tzion" with the statement of the Midrash

(on the verse

"Go forth and see, O daughters of Tzion, King Shlomo, with the crown with which his mother crowned him"),

a parable of a king, etc. He did not cease cherishing her

until He called her "My daughter," etc. He did not cease cherishing her until He called her "My sister," etc. He did not cease cherishing her until He called her "My mother."

And he explains there,

that these three matters

(daughter, sister, mother)

in the service of man are: the fulfillment of the mitzvos,

the occupation with Torah, and the service of self-sacrifice (mesiras nefesh).

For in the fulfillment of mitzvos, the person who fulfills the mitzvah is in the aspect of a receiver

(daughter),

for he receives the drawing down that is drawn down through the fulfillment of the mitzvah.

And through occupation with Torah, Yisrael become brothers and companions to the Holy One, blessed be He,

(sister).

And through the service of self-sacrifice (mesiras nefesh), they are called by the name "mother,"

for they bestow influence, as it were, upon the Holy One, blessed be He.

And this can be connected with what is explained in many places

on the verse "with the crown with which his mother crowned him,"

that the crown with which the Congregation of Yisrael

(the mother)

crowned the Holy One, blessed be He, is through their having preceded "we will do" to "we will hear,"

for the self-nullification of the precedence of "we will do" to "we will hear" is like the self-nullification of self-sacrifice (mesiras nefesh).

And it can be said,

that among the reasons for reading the portion of "Beha'aloscha Es HaNeiros" (When you raise up the lamps) after the festival of Shavuos

is,

that "lamps" (neiros) refer to the souls of Yisrael, as it is written,

"The lamp of Hashem is the soul of man,"

for the explanation of "the lamp of Hashem" is that the soul illuminates

(bestows influence)

as it were, to Hashem,

and as it is brought in the Midrash

on the verse "When you raise up the lamps," that Yisrael illuminate for the One Who illuminates for the entire world,

and this matter is related to the festival of Shavuos,

the crown with which His mother crowned Him.

And based on this, it is necessary to understand even more why the Haftorah of the weekly portion of Beha'aloscha

(the matter of "mother")

is "Rani Vesimchi Bat Tzion."

3)

And the explanation is,

that the drawing down that comes through the fulfillment of the mitzvos,

"daughter,"

is a drawing down that is more elevated than the drawing down that comes through the service of "sister" and "mother."

For the service of self-sacrifice

(mother),

and likewise the occupation with Torah

(sister),

since it is a spiritual service,

it has a connection to the drawing down that is drawn down through it,

and since the drawing down through the service of "sister" and "mother" is like an arousal from above that is aroused and drawn down through an arousal from below,

the drawing down is only from the place that the arousal from below reaches.

But the drawing down through the performance of the mitzvos,

for the performance of the mitzvah is a physical action that is not comparable at all,

is like an arousal from above that is from its own accord,

and therefore the drawing down is from the Essence (Atzmus) of Ein Sof.

And this is "Rani Vesimchi Bat Tzion, for behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,"

that "I am coming" includes two matters.

"I am" (Hineni) — ready of Myself, not through an arousal from below,

"coming" (Ba) —

I Myself, as it were, the actual Ein Sof, blessed be He.

And one may add,

that the superiority of the service of "Basi" over the service of "Achosi" and "Imi" is also with regard to the person who serves.

For in the service of "Achosi" and "Imi," the fineness of the existence of the serving person is felt,

[namely] the greatness of the elevation of his service

[the elevation of the service itself

(the service of engaging in Torah,

and certainly the service of mesiras nefesh),

and the elevation brought about through his service,

that he becomes a brother to the Holy One, blessed be He, and beyond this, that he, as it were, influences the Holy One, blessed be He],

while in the service of "Basi"

(the fulfillment of the mitzvos)

his self-nullification is felt,

both with regard to the service itself,

that all his service is only to fulfill the command of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and with regard to the drawing down that comes through his service,

that this [drawing down] of the Essence of the Ein Sof through the fulfillment of mitzvos is not due to the aspect of the person who fulfills the mitzvos, but because the mitzvos are the will and command of the Essence.

And it may be said,

that through this self-nullification he becomes a vessel for the light that is drawn down through the mitzvos.

And this is [the meaning of] "For behold, I am coming and I will dwell within you,"

that the drawing down of "I am coming,"

I Myself, as it were,

is "within you,"

in the innermost aspect.

D)

And it must be understood,

that since "Imi" is the service of mesiras nefesh,

and mesiras nefesh is the matter of self-nullification,

and particularly according to what was brought above

(section 2)

that the crown with which the Knesses Yisrael crowned

(His mother)

the Holy One, blessed be He, is through their having preceded "naaseh" to "nishma,"

that the self-nullification of preceding "naaseh" to "nishma" is the self-nullification to the Master of the will,

what is the superiority of the self-nullification of "Basi" over the self-nullification of "Imi"?

And it may be said regarding this,

that the self-nullification of preceding "naaseh" to "nishma"

is that Israel accepted upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven.

Therefore,

even though the self-nullification of accepting the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven is

(not only with regard to his power of action,

that he will do all that he is commanded,

but also)

in his very existence,

that his entire existence is that he is a servant of the King,

the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He,

nevertheless,

since the acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven comes from the person's side,

that he accepted upon himself to be a servant of the King,

behold, in this self-nullification the person's own existence is also mixed in

[and likewise with regard to the mesiras nefesh of the aspect of "Imi,"

that mesiras nefesh is from the nature of the soul].

And the true self-nullification is when the self-nullification is from the Master's side.

And it may be said,

that this is what is written,

"For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt,"

that this [fact] that Israel are servants of the Holy One, blessed be He, is

(not only because they accepted the yoke of His kingship, may He be blessed,

but also)

because the Holy One, blessed be He, took them out of the land of Egypt,

through which they are compelled to be servants.

And this matter is primarily drawn down at the time of the giving of the Torah.

5)

And based on this, we can explain the superiority of the nullification of "Basi" over the nullification of "Imi"

[even though the nullification of "Basi"

(the yoke of mitzvos)

pertains to the power of action,

to do what one is commanded,

and the nullification of "Imi"

(the precedence of Naaseh to Nishma,

the yoke of the kingdom of heaven)

is in his very existence

(as above in section 4)],

because the yoke of Israel to fulfill the mitzvos that were given at the giving of the Torah is because at the giving of the Torah the Holy One made them servants,

the essence of nullification.

And it can be said,

that this which is explained in many places30

that "Bas" is the aspect of the recipient,

that he has nothing of his own and is only a recipient of what is given to him from above,

the intention in this is,

that even the nullification of accepting the yoke is not from himself, but rather that at the giving of the Torah the Holy One chose Israel to be His servants.

[And we can connect this with what was brought above

(at the beginning of the maamar)

from Torah Ohr that "Bas Tzion" refers to the Congregation of Israel in the time of exile,

because the nullification of "Bas" is primarily revealed in the service during the time of exile.

And as explained elsewhere31,

that in the time of exile,

and especially in the generation of the heels of Moshiach,

the concealments and veils are exceedingly great,

and there are concealments and veils that a person, from his own side

(even through his acceptance of the yoke that he accepts willingly),

since he is limited,

is not able to overcome,

and that Israel overcomes even these concealments and veils is because their nullification of accepting the yoke is

(not from their own existence, but rather)

from the aspect of G-dliness,

because the Holy One chose them to be His servants,

and with regard to G-dliness there are no limitations32].

And this is that the haftorah of Parshas Beha'aloscha, which is after the time of the giving of our Torah, is "Reini Vesimchi Bas Tzion,"

even though the concept and virtue of "the day of His wedding"8

— this is the giving of the Torah33 —

is

(the crown with which His mother crowned Him)

"His mother,"

because the ultimate intent in the nullification of "Imi" on the holiday of Shavuos is that through this they will afterwards reach a more elevated nullification,

the nullification of "Basi,"

"Bas Tzion."

6)

And the verse is precise: "Rani veSimchi, Bat Tzion,"

that the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos

(Tzion34)

must be not only with nullification,

"Bat" (daughter),

but also with joy,

"Rani veSimchi."

And it must be understood:

When a person is in a state where he has no delight or vitality in Torah and mitzvos,

and his fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos is only in the manner of accepting the yoke

[and moreover,

even his acceptance of the yoke is not in a manner that he desires to accept upon himself the yoke of His kingdom, but only that he cannot cast off from himself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven because the choice of the Holy One, blessed be He, in Israel to be His servants compels him],

how can he himself cause that his fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos be with joy?

And the explanation is,

that there is another interpretation of "Bat Tzion,"

that "Tzion" refers to the tzaddikim,

and "Bat Tzion" is the connection with the tzaddikim35.

And through the connection to the tzaddikim,

and especially to the Nesi'im of Israel, whose function is to draw down a revelation of G-dliness to all of Israel, and particularly to those who are connected and belong to them,

through this, empowerment is drawn to him that his fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos will be with joy,

"Rani veSimchi."

And included in this is also that he will not have confusions from material matters36,

"Rani veSimchi" also regarding children, life, and ample sustenance.

And through the connection to the tzaddikim and to the Nesi'im in every generation,

and what is particularly relevant to us is the connection to the Rebbe, my father-in-law, the Nasi of our generation,

all concealments and veils will be nullified,

including also the nullification

(of the concealment of)

the exile37,

and the Rebbe, my father-in-law, will lead us upright to our land,

in the true and complete redemption,

speedily, literally.