English translation — מאמר בהעלותך את הנרות תשכ"ט

With the help of Heaven.

Shabbos Parshas Beha'aloscha,

21 Sivan,

5729

"When you raise up the lights,"

and it is brought in Likkutei Torah

that the lights are the souls, as it is said,

"The candle of Hashem is the soul of man."

[And the seven lights of the Menorah are the seven types of Yisrael in the service of Hashem:

There is one who serves from love that is drawn like water

(Chesed),

and one who serves from love like sparks of fire

(Gevurah),

etc.]

And the Rebbe Maharash explains in his maamar beginning "Vayidaber... Beha'aloscha es ha'Neiros" that was said one hundred years ago,

that this that souls are called lights is like the statement of our Rabbis, of blessed memory,

"The Holy One, blessed be He, said to man: 'My candle is in your hand, and your candle is in My hand.'

'My candle is in your hand'—this is the Torah, as it is written,

'For a candle is a mitzvah and the Torah is light'; and 'your candle is in My hand'—this is the soul, as it is written,

'The candle of Hashem is the soul of man.'

If you have guarded My candle, I will guard your candle; and if you have extinguished My candle, I will extinguish your candle."

And it needs to be understood:

Behold, that souls are called lights is explicit in the verse

("The candle of Hashem is the soul of man"),

so why does the maamar bring the words of the Midrash "My candle is in your hand and your candle is in My hand"?

Also, it needs to be understood,

that in the verse it says "The candle of Hashem is the soul of man,"

that the soul is a candle of Hashem,

and in the aforementioned Midrash it says that the soul is "your candle"

(of man),

and the Torah is "My candle."

(of the Holy One, blessed be He).

B)

And this can be explained by prefacing what is explained in many places,

that the matter of "When you raise up the lights" is that Aharon awakens the souls so that there will be in them the desire to ascend upward,

and even to be included in the Awtsmoos of Ein Sof.

And although this desire is the nature of the soul,

and as explained in Tanya,

that the reason souls are called by the name "lights"

is,

because just as a flame naturally rises upward and clings to its source

(the general fire element that is beneath

the sphere of the moon),

so too the soul naturally has a ratzo (yearning) to ascend upward to be included in its source,

nevertheless, Aharon needs to raise up the lights

(the souls),

because through the soul's descent below and its enclothing in the body, the natural ratzo within it becomes concealed.

And as explained at length in the discourses,

that one of the reasons for this, that the souls of Atzilus are called "seed of man" and the souls of Biyah are called "seed of beast,"

is,

because the souls of Atzilus,

even in their descent below,

the nature of ratzo and ascent within them is revealed,

and therefore they are called by the name "man," on account of "the spirit of man that ascends upward,"

and the souls of Biyah

(which are the majority of souls),

when they descend below and become enclothed in a body,

they are drawn after the body and the matters of this physical world,

and therefore they are called by the name "beast," on account of "the spirit of the beast that descends downward."

And the service of Aharon is to awaken and reveal the nature of ratzo and ascent that exists also in the souls of Biyah,

"When you raise up the lights,"

so that the nature of ascent within them will be revealed.

And it is explained in the discourses,

that the reason for the raising of the lamps

[the revelation of the nature of ratzo and the ascent of the souls]

is specifically through Aharon,

for regarding Aharon it is written,

"Like the good oil upon the head, descending upon the beard, the beard of Aharon, descending upon the opening of his garments,"

and the concept of the "beard of Aharon" is the halachos of the Torah,

and through the Torah,

"Torah is light,"

the nature of the soul's ascent

(which exists even during its descent below and its enclothing in the body)

is revealed and illuminated, "when you raise the lamps."

And based on this, we can explain the connection of the Sages' statement

(cited in the maamar)

"If you have guarded My lamp, I will guard your lamp" to "when you raise the lamps,"

for the concept of "I will guard your lamp"

(guarding the lamp so it will not be extinguished)

is that the lamp of the soul

(the nature of its ratzo and ascent)

will be revealed,

and this guarding of the soul's lamp is through guarding the lamp of Torah, analogous to the concept of "when you raise the lamps" which is through Aharon,

Torah.

3)

And the maamar continues,

that we need to understand regarding "If you have guarded My lamp, I will guard your lamp,"

what is the connection between them, and moreover that they are dependent on each other.

And it explains this based on what is stated in the Midrash,

"In whose merit were 'These are the generations of the heavens and the earth' created?"

"And in whose merit do they stand?"

"In the merit of 'These are the names of the children of Israel,'"

"And these, in whose merit do they stand?"

"In the merit of 'These are the testimonies, statutes, and judgments.'"

That the intent is that the creation of the world is for the sake of Israel,

and the perfection of Israel is through the Torah.

For through Israel fulfilling the 613 mitzvos, they ascend to a higher level than they are in their own right.

And this is why the soul descends below and becomes enclothed in a physical body in order to fulfill Torah and mitzvos,

for through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, the soul ascends higher than it was before its descent.

And this is "If you have guarded My lamp, I will guard your lamp,"

that the guarding of the soul's lamp is through guarding the lamp of Torah.

And based on what is written in the maamar, that the concept of "If you have guarded My lamp, I will guard your lamp" is that through fulfilling Torah and mitzvos the soul ascends higher than it was before its descent,

one can say,

that this connection of this concept with "when you raise the lamps,"

is,

for also the concept of "when you raise the lamps" is

the ascent that occurs in the souls to a level higher even than they were before their descent below.

4)

And the explanation of the matter in more detail:

One must preface that the precision in the maamar—why they are

[the guarding of the lamp of the soul and the guarding of the lamp of Torah]

dependent upon each other—is

because "you have guarded My lamp" is not only that a person does not transgress G-d forbid a commandment of the Torah, but that he fulfills the commandments of the Torah21,

and therefore it is precise: why are they dependent upon each other?

For that the guarding of the lamp of the soul depends on one not transgressing G-d forbid a commandment of the Torah

is

because when one transgresses G-d forbid a commandment of the Torah, a blemish is caused in the soul.

And the precision in the maamar is that the guarding of the lamp of the soul depends on the fulfillment of the Torah22.

And one must add,

that the precision in the maamar is primarily regarding souls of Atzilus.

For regarding souls of BY"A

(which are the majority of souls)

one could say that the guarding of the lamp of the soul depends on the lamp of Torah because for them, the body and the animal soul conceal and obscure the soul,

therefore the guarding of the lamp of their soul is through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos

(as above in section 2),

and the precision and question in the maamar is primarily regarding souls of Atzilus,

for since for them the soul is revealed,

why do they need the lamp of Torah?

And based on this, one must understand what is said in the maamar, that the guarding of the lamp of the soul is through the guarding of the lamp of Torah because "these are the names of the children of Israel that stand in the merit of these testimonies, statutes, and judgments"—

for seemingly,

that Israel stands in the merit of the Torah and mitzvos is that through fulfilling Torah and mitzvos they are elevated to a more exalted level23

(but the level of the souls of Israel in their own essence is seemingly not dependent on the Torah),

and the meaning of "if you guard My lamp, I will guard your lamp" is that the guarding of the lamp of the soul

(i.e., the level of the lamp of the soul in its own essence24)

is through the guarding of the lamp of Torah.

And this must be explained according to the statement of the Zohar25

cited in Tanya26,

that just as the light of a lamp does not shine and is not held in the wick without oil, so too the Shechinah does not rest upon the body of a person, which is likened to a wick, except through good deeds, which are likened to oil.

And it is explained in Tanya27,

that the reason for this is that

(the indwelling of the Shechinah upon the body of a person is specifically through the fulfillment of the commandments

(good deeds),

and)

his soul alone, which is a part of G-d above, is not sufficient to serve as oil for the wick,

for the soul of a person,

even when he is a completely righteous person serving G-d with fear and love in delights,

is not utterly nullified in existence,

rather it is a thing in itself, one who fears G-d and loves Him.

But the commandments, which are the innermost aspect of His will,

the life-force within them is not a separate entity at all, rather it is unified and included in His will.

And therefore the indwelling of the Shechinah upon the body of a person is specifically through the fulfillment of the commandments,

for the matter of the indwelling of the Shechinah in any thing is that that thing is included in the light of G-d and is utterly nullified in existence to Him,

for then specifically the One G-d dwells, is revealed, and shines in it.

And based on this, one can explain that the guarding of the lamp of the soul is through the guarding of the lamp of Torah,

for the matter of the lamp of the soul is its self-nullification28,

and the perfection of the soul's self-nullification

(utter nullification in existence)

is through the fulfillment of the commandments.

And this is that the lamp of the soul is called "your lamp"

(of the person)

and the lamp of Torah and mitzvos is called "My lamp"

(of the Holy One, blessed be He),

for the self-nullification of the soul

(in its own right)

is not ultimate nullification—"your lamp" of the person,

and the lamp of the commandments, which is the innermost aspect of His will, is "My lamp" of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And through a person fulfilling the commandments,

this nullification is drawn also into the soul,

"I will guard your lamp"29.

5)

And to note,

that the aforementioned maamar is related to the holiday of Shavuos.

For in addition to the fact that the portion of Beha'aloscha

(the beginning of the maamar)

is read after the holiday of Shavuos30,

it is recorded at the beginning of the maamar that it is related to the discourse "Vayedaber Anochi"31.

And based on this, one could say,

that what is explained in the maamar, that through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos an elevation is made in the soul,

is analogous to the elevation of Israel that was renewed at the giving of the Torah.

And the matter is,

that the natural love in every Jew to be attached to G-d and not to separate from Him in any way, even with actual self-sacrifice, existed even before the giving of the Torah,

for this love is an inheritance for us from our forefathers.

And according to what is said in Tanya32

that this—that the forefathers bequeathed to every Jew this love—is related to the fact that the forefathers are themselves the Merkavah33,

for the matter of the Merkavah is that it is nullified to the rider

[for that the movement of the chariot

(the horses)

is according to the will of the rider is not because they want to have a connection to the rider

(like the aforementioned natural love, which is the desire that he be attached to G-d)

but because of their self-nullification to the rider],

one could say,

that in the natural love that comes as an inheritance from the forefathers, who are themselves the Merkavah, is included

(in a concealed way)

also the love that is in the category of self-nullification34,

where one wants nothing for himself at all, and all his desire is that there be a revelation of G-dliness in the world35

and that the intention of the dwelling place36

for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms be completed.

And it is known,

that love is the love and will of the person

(the lover),

and therefore,

even when his love and will is that the Supernal will be fulfilled,

nevertheless,

the essential concept of love and will is an existence.

And the true concept of nullification is in the service of accepting the yoke,

which is like a servant who has no desires whatsoever,

and everything he does is because of the yoke of the master that is upon him,

by virtue of which he is compelled to fulfill the will of the master.

And it can be said,

that since the nullification of the chariot to the rider is not from the will of the chariot

(that it wants to be nullified to the rider and be a chariot for him),

but rather from the rider,

therefore, in the inheritance from the Patriarchs, who are the Merkavah, there is also included in concealment the nullification of accepting the yoke.

[And one may note from the saying of our sages, of blessed memory,

"At the time that Israel preceded 'we will do' to 'we will hear'... who revealed this secret to My children?" And it is explained in Chassidus

that this precedence of "we will do" to "we will hear"

[that in the nullification of accepting the yoke itself, there is a most elevated nullification,

nullification to the Master of Will]

is through the revelation of the hidden love,

a secret.

And it can be said,

that the connection of the hidden love

(existence)

to the precedence of "we will do" to "we will hear"

(nullification of accepting the yoke),

is,

that the hidden love is an inheritance from the Patriarchs, who are the Merkavah].

And from this it is understood,

that the nullification drawn down to Israel at the giving of the Torah

(after they preceded "we will do" to "we will hear")

is a nullification more elevated even than the nullification of the Merkavah.

6)

And the explanation is,

that it is stated in the Gemara,

"They said about Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai that he did not leave out anything great or anything small—

'a great matter' is the Work of the Chariot, 'a small matter' is the discussions of Abaye and Rava."

And it is explained in the Maamar,

that the reason the Work of the Chariot is called a "great matter" is,

that through the chariot,

the person riding upon the chariot reaches a place he cannot reach on his own,

and likewise is it in the Supernal Chariot,

that the Chayos bear the Throne

and the Man upon the Throne

to the level of "Not-Man."

And the main elevation to the level of "Not-Man" is through the Chariot of the Patriarchs

(the Patriarchs, they are the Merkavah),

the Chariot of Atzilus.

For the elevation of the level of "Man" to the level of "Not-Man" that is through the Chariot of BY"A is that the Man upon the Throne

(the Man of BY"A)

is elevated to a level that is a level of "Not-Man" relative to the Man of BY"A,

and through the Chariot of the Patriarchs,

the Chariot of Atzilus,

there is an elevation of the level of Man of Atzilus to the level of "Not-Man" that is above Atzilus,

Arich.

And this is that the Work of the Chariot is called a "great matter,"

for Man,

Zeir Anpin,

is a level of smallness and contraction,

and through the Chariot he is elevated to the level of Arich,

Great.

And the reason that the discussions of Abaye and Rava are called a "small matter"

(even though they are the essence of the Oral Torah)

is,

that the laws of the Torah are clothed in small things.

For in addition to the fact that the mitzvos are clothed in physical things,

each mitzvah has many particular laws,

for the concept of division

(particulars)

is contraction and limitation,

smallness.

[And based on this,

the difference between the Work of the Chariot and the discussions of Abaye and Rava is from one extreme to the other.

For the concept of the Chariot is the departure from the level of limitation

(Man)

to the level of without limitation

(Not-Man)

— a great matter

(for the true concept of greatness is in something that is not limited),

and in the discussions of Abaye and Rava it is the opposite,

the clothing of the Supernal Will,

which is without limit,

in limited things — a small matter].

And the Maamar continues with another reason for this, that the discussions of Abaye and Rava are called a "small matter,"

because the Torah of now is a small thing relative to the inner aspect of the Torah that will be revealed in the future.

And also because the Torah is a parable and garment for the Ein Sof that is clothed within it.

Therefore the Torah is called "the parable of the Ancient One,"

for it is a parable and garment for the level of the "Ancient One of the World."

And a parable relative to the thing being parabled is a small thing.

And it may be said that according to the reason that the debates of Abaye and Rava are called a small thing because the Torah was clothed in small matters,

the description "small thing" is from the perspective of the garments of the Torah.

Therefore he adds that the Torah of the present is a small thing relative to the inner dimension of the Torah that will be revealed in the future,

[and also that it is a small thing relative to the Ein Sof clothed within it],

for according to this reason,

the description "small thing" is

(also)

with regard to the Torah itself.

[And that he also brings the first reason—that the Torah was clothed in small matters—

it may be said,

for in this reason it is emphasized that the difference between the debates of Abaye and Rava and the Account of the Chariot is a difference from one extreme to the other,

as above].

7)

And he continues in the maamar with further explanation that the Torah is called a small thing,

which is because of the extreme self-nullification of the halachah relative to the Ein Sof clothed within it.

For just as a person's study of Torah must be with self-nullification,

"My tongue shall answer Your word"50,

like one who answers after the reader51,

so too is it with regard to the halachos of the Torah themselves, that they are in a state of self-nullification to the Ein Sof clothed within them,

as will be explained below.

[And it may be said,

that according to the interpretation of "small" in its simple sense,

the description "small thing" is in relation to other matters.

But according to the interpretation that "small" denotes self-nullification

[like "I am small from all the kindnesses"52],

the smallness

(self-nullification)

is in it itself].

And it must be understood

(according to the interpretation that "small" denotes self-nullification),

behold, even the Chariot is in a state of self-nullification to the Rider,

and nevertheless it is called a great thing.

And the point of the explanation may be said,

that the self-nullification which is called by the name "small thing"

("I am small"),

is

that it is utterly nullified and has no virtue whatsoever.

And as it is written in Igeres HaKodesh regarding "I am small"53,

that one makes himself like actual refuse and waste that has no need whatsoever.

And since the Chariot has existence,

to the extent that it has an advantage over the Rider

[and as above, that through the Chariot the Rider can reach a place that He cannot reach on His own],

therefore it is not a small thing.

[And on the contrary, because of the elevation within it,

through which it ascends to the aspect of "great"

(Arich),

the Chariot is also called a great thing].

And the halachos of the Torah that are clothed in physical matters

[the first interpretation of "small thing"],

since physical matters have no value54

relative to His wisdom and will, blessed be He, that are clothed within them,

behold they are in the ultimate state of self-nullification,

a small thing.

And through the self-nullification within the halachos of the Torah themselves,

self-nullification is also drawn into the person who engages in Torah,

so that his Torah study will be in the manner of "my tongue shall answer Your word,"

like one who answers after the reader.

8)

And this is [the meaning of] "And G-d spoke all these words, saying,"

And it is explained in Chassidus,

that at the Giving of the Torah, the power was given that a person's study of Torah should be in the manner of "to say,"

to repeat the matters that the Holy One, blessed be He, says.

"My tongue shall answer Your word."

For seemingly,

behold, even before the Giving of the Torah, Israel preceded "we will do" to "we will hear,"

for the precedence of "we will do" to "we will hear" is the self-nullification of the one who possesses will,

and what is the innovation in the self-nullification of "to say" that was renewed at the Giving of the Torah, relative to the self-nullification of "we will do and we will hear"?

And the explanation of this is,

that the self-nullification of the precedence of "we will do" to "we will hear" has an advantage.

For the precedence of "we will do" to "we will hear" is the acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom,

and through the people accepting the yoke of His kingdom, He becomes King.

[And this is analogous to the self-nullification of the chariot,

that through the self-nullification of the chariot to the rider, thereby

it carries and elevates the rider.]

But the self-nullification of "to say" that was renewed at the Giving of the Torah is self-nullification to the ultimate degree.

And likewise is it regarding the fulfillment of the commandments,

that at the Giving of the Torah, the power was given that a person's fulfillment of the commandments should be in ultimate self-nullification,

meaning that his fulfillment of the commandments should be

(not because he accepted upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven and the yoke of the commandments,

but rather)

because the command of the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees upon him to be according to the command.

And as explained in Likkutei Torah

regarding the Ten Commandments that were said at the Giving of the Torah

[and likewise is it regarding all the commands in the Torah]

that they were said in the language of a command and also in the future tense,

for the speech itself decrees upon the person and the world

(and compels them)

to be so.

And it may be said that the advantage of the self-nullification of fulfilling commandments in this manner, relative to the self-nullification of accepting the yoke,

is in two matters.

Because the self-nullification of accepting the yoke is through his having accepted upon himself to be a servant of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

And beyond this,

that the self-nullification of a servant to his master

[even when he is born a servant]

is connected to his own existence,

for his essence is that he is a servant of the master,

but the self-nullification in the aforementioned manner is

(not from the aspect of the person's essence,

but rather)

that it is impossible for there to be an existence in the world that is contrary to the command of the Holy One, blessed be He.

9)

Now, although the self-nullification of Torah study and fulfillment of the mitzvos in the aforementioned manner is total self-nullification,

nevertheless, since Yisrael and the Holy One, blessed be He, are completely one,

therefore this self-nullification does not negate their existence; rather, on the contrary, this itself is their existence.

And this is [the meaning of] "If you have guarded My lamp, I will guard your lamp,"

for although the matter of "I will guard your lamp" is that a person comes to total self-nullification

(which is above even the self-nullification of the Merkavah),

nevertheless, this does not negate his existence; rather, on the contrary, "I will guard your lamp."

And this is also [the meaning of] what Rashi explained on the verse "When you raise up the lamps," that the flame should rise on its own,

for although the elevation of the souls

("When you raise up the lamps")

is that they come to total self-nullification,

nevertheless,

it is in a manner that pertains to the lamps

(souls)

themselves,

[that] "the flame rises on its own."

That is to say,

Torah study and fulfillment of the mitzvos are with self-nullification, and together with this also with vitality and joy.

And since joy breaks boundaries,

therefore,

through the joy of Torah and the joy of a mitzvah, all spiritual and physical matters are drawn down without limitations.