English translation — מאמר וביום שמחתכם תש"מ

With the help of Heaven.

Monday of Rosh HaShanah, 5740*

– A discourse –

"And on your day of rejoicing, and on your festivals, and on your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets... and they shall be for you a remembrance before your G-d,

I am the L-rd your G-d."

And it is brought in the Gemara:

"What is the purpose of the statement 'I am the L-rd your G-d'? This establishes a general principle that wherever 'remembrances' are mentioned, 'kingships' must accompany them."

(For "I am the L-rd your G-d" is [the theme of] Kingship,

and from the fact that it says "I am the L-rd your G-d" regarding "and they shall be for you a remembrance," we learn that wherever "remembrances" are mentioned, "kingships" must also be said.)

And from this we learn

that on Rosh HaShanah one must recite Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros.

"You shall blow..." — Shofros,

"And they shall be for you a remembrance..." — Zichronos,

"I am the L-rd your G-d" — Malchiyos.

Now, these three matters

(Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros)

are not only in speech,

the recitation of the verses of Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros,

as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said:

"Recite before Me on Rosh HaShanah Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros,"

but also in actual deed,

as is explained in the aforementioned statement of our Rabbis: "Malchiyos — so that you make Me King..."

(that you make Me King in actual deed)

"Zichronos — so that your remembrance may arise before Me"

(that your remembrance may arise in actual deed)

"And with what? With the shofar," through the actual physical act of blowing the shofar.

Now, the blessings

(the blessings of Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros)

are mutually indispensable,

but the blessings and the blasts are not mutually indispensable.

And it is explained in the discourses of our Nesi'im on this topic

("And on your day of rejoicing")

that because the blessings and the blasts are two different matters,

the blessings are speech and the blasts are deed.

And one must understand why on Rosh HaShanah both matters are needed.

Especially since the simple meaning of the Sages' phrase "And with what? With the shofar" refers to the shofar blast,

that the matter of "make Me King over you" and "your remembrance may arise before Me for good" is accomplished through the shofar blast, which is the main thing.

And this is also evident from the statement of our Rabbis,

that "the mitzvah of the day is with the shofar," meaning that all the matters of this day

(Rosh HaShanah)

are drawn down through the shofar blast.

And this is also understood from what the Rambam wrote:

"Although the blowing of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah is a decree of Scripture, it contains a hint, namely: 'Awaken, etc.'" And it is explained in the discourses of our Nesi'im

that in the Rambam's lengthy wording, the three matters of Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros are hinted at,

from which it is understood

that all these three matters are drawn down through the shofar blast,

and the hint

(the general hint)

in the shofar — "Awaken, etc." — is the matter of teshuvah

(as explained in the Rambam there),

meaning that the mitzvah of the shofar blast is connected to the entirety of the matter of Rosh HaShanah

("the mitzvah of the day is with the shofar"),

because on Rosh HaShanah all things return to their primordial state, and one must arouse a new drawing down from His Essence and Being,

and to draw this down through the entire order of the chain of descent until the physical world.

And this drawing down is through the shofar,

for the shofar alludes to the matter of teshuvah, as above, that the essence of teshuvah is unification with the Source,

their primordial state,

and it exists in a manner from below upward and from above downward, as it is written,

"And the spirit shall return to G-d who gave it,"

as explained in Likkutei Torah at the beginning of this portion

(the portion of Haazinu),

and therefore through this one arouses a new drawing down from His Essence and Being,

and through the deed

(the actual physical act of blowing the shofar)

one draws down

this [drawing down] into the physical world.

2)

And behold, not only is physical action required

(and the spiritual aspect of teshuvah is not sufficient, nor even the recitation of verses),

but within this itself, it is not sufficient that it be the inner voice of man; rather, one must specifically blow with the sound of a ram's horn of an animal,

[either] a straight ram's horn or bent ram's horns,

according to the two opinions in this matter, for these and those are the words of the living G-d.

And also now,

when we blow

(on Rosh Hashanah)

with bent ram's horns,

there are these two aspects in the spiritual service.

[The aspect] of a straight ram's horn, because "the more a person straightens his mind, the better,"

and it is explained in Chassidus

that this is that a person must strip himself of all his desires.

And the intention is not [only] for undesirable desires,

for what would that teach us?

And this matter

(that he should have no undesirable desires)

is already accomplished through the service of the month of Elul before Rosh Hashanah.

And the matter of "a person straightens his mind" on Rosh Hashanah is that he should strip himself of every [mental] image, even an image of holiness.

For the drawing down of Rosh Hashanah is from that which is beyond the category of place and beyond the category of image,

therefore the service of "straightening" [stripping] is required,

and through the simplicity [self-nullification] within man, he draws down the simplicity above,

even reaching the aspect of the ultimate simplicity.

And we blow with bent ram's horns, because "the more a person bends his mind, the better,"

and it is explained in Chassidus

that this is the service of subjugation

(which has an advantage even over the service of stripping away desires),

that this service is through the aspect of "male"

(bent ram's horns),

"a man's way is to conquer."

3)

And this is the mitzvah of the day with the shofar,

that through the service of the shofar in the two modes of "straightening" and "bending"

[each of which has a unique advantage]

they draw down a new light,

as explained in Iggeret HaKodesh

that on every Rosh Hashanah a new light is drawn down that never existed before,

and through this, renewal occurs in the entire order of the chain of descent,

even reaching renewal in the externality of the worlds.

And although the primary renewal on Rosh Hashanah is in the inwardness of the worlds,

nevertheless, through this, renewal occurs also in the externality of the worlds,

as explained in the Siddur

in the discourse "L’havin Inyan Teki’at Shofar al pi Kavvanat HaBaal Shem Tov z"l."

And all this is accomplished through Israel, "a people close to Him,"

"You are children to Hashem your G-d,"

as the Maggid explains in Likutei Amarim and Or HaTorah at their beginning, regarding the matter of "Whom He consulted? The souls of the righteous,"

that the delight He would take in the service of Israel arose before Him,

and this determined the [primordial] will,

and from the aspect of the absolute will it was drawn to the revealed will,

and afterwards it was drawn through the entire order of the chain of descent until this lowest world, beneath which there is no lower,

for specifically through this the intention of "a dwelling place for Him in the lower realms" is completed.

And this is the meaning of "Say before Me [verses of] Malchuyot so that you will coronate Me over you... and with what? With a shofar,"

which means the actual blowing of the shofar in deed,

for "the mitzvah of the day is with the shofar,"

except that included in this

(in continuation of the beginning of the maamar, "Say before Me... and Shofarot")

is also the recitation of the verses of Shofarot,

[and particularly, according to this, one can reconcile our version in the Gemara with the version

"Say before Me [verses of] Malchuyot so that... Zichronot so that... Shofarot so that..." and the thirteen [shofar blasts] afterwards,

"and with what? With a shofar."]

4)

And behold, this verse

("And on your joyous days... and you shall blow with trumpets...")

is the continuation and conclusion of the matter preceding it,

"Make for yourself two trumpets...,"

and the teaching of the Maggid is known,

"Two trumpets, two half-forms,"

meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Congregation of Israel are,

[so to speak,

and perhaps even without "so to speak",]

two half-forms.

From this, the explanation of the verse is understood: "And you shall blow with trumpets... and they shall be for you as a remembrance before your G-d, I am Hashem your G-d,"

that the matter of Malchuyot

("I am Hashem your G-d")

and Zichronot

("and they shall be for you as a remembrance")

which is accomplished through "and you shall blow with trumpets,"

"With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, shout before the King, Hashem"

[for in the Temple

("before your G-d,"

"before the King, Hashem")

both were present

(except that the mitzvah of the day is with the shofar,

as explained in the Mishnah),

and through the "latticed windows, unopenable" that were in the Temple,

this was drawn

(as all matters of the Temple)

also to the outlying areas, even to the entire world.

And even in the time of exile],

it is because the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel are two half-forms.

And the explanation is,

that the second soul in Israel is literally a part of G-d above,

and it is known

that there are two extremes in this.

For "literally" applies to "a part of G-d above,"

meaning that the second soul in Israel is a literal part of His very Essence [Atzmus],

and the Baal Shem Tov's statement is known,

"When you grasp a part of the essence, you grasp the whole of it,"

and the word "literally" also indicates the lowest extreme,

"literally" that which is grasped by the sense of touch.

And this is what it means that the second soul in Israel is literally a part of G-d above,

that even when it is clothed in a physical body, literally from the word "touch,"

even then it is a literal part of His Essence and Being, blessed be He,

one literal [unity] with His Essence [Atzmus],

and according to the teaching of the Maggid

(cited above)

that they are two half-forms.

And now, since "you are called 'man'"

on the name "similar to the One above,"

it is understood that the matter of two half-forms is also within the soul itself.

For it is known

that in every soul there are two general levels,

the part of the soul that is above

(the aspect of the mazal)

the "head" of the soul,

and the part of the soul that is in the body

(the revealed faculties)

the "foot" of the soul.

And these two aspects are the two half-forms within each particular soul.

And the meaning of "And you shall blow with trumpets... and they shall be for you as a remembrance before your G-d..." is that one must connect his two half-forms

and place them

(אַוועקשטעלן זיי)

before Hashem your G-d,

and through the connection of these two half-forms

(head and foot)

within each particular soul,

through this the connection of the head and foot of all of Israel is also accomplished, and their elevation before Hashem your G-d,

"You are standing today"

(Rosh Hashanah)

"all of you before Hashem your G-d: your heads... until your woodcutters and water drawers,"

that all of Israel

[the "head" of Israel

("your heads")

and the "foot" of Israel

("your woodcutters and water drawers")]

are connected together and they stand and are elevated before Hashem your G-d,

and they become one thing with Him, as the verse continues,

"to pass into the covenant...," for the matter of the covenant is that they become one thing.

e)

And this is “And on the day of your rejoicing… and you shall sound with trumpets… I am the L-rd your G-d.”

“And you shall sound” refers to the sounding of the shofar,

for the mitzvah of the day

(Rosh Hashanah)

is with the shofar,

as it is stated in the Mishnah:

The shofar is prolonged and the trumpets are shortened, for the mitzvah of the day is with the shofar.

And through this, the matter of the trumpets is also drawn down and revealed,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel are two halves of a form,

meaning that Israel are rooted in His very Essence (Atzmus) and they determine the will

(as above, regarding “Whom did He consult? The souls of the righteous”),

and from the determined will it is drawn to the revealed will, etc., until it is drawn down below in this world,

and this is the main point.

That is, the drawing down through all the levels—

delight, will, intellect, emotions, and kingship, etc.—is an intermediary through which it is then drawn down into this world.

And as explained in the holy Tanya,

that in the entire order of the chain of descent, it is a descent from the light of His countenance,

and the ultimate intention is this lowly world, below which there is no lower,

a deep pit,

specifically in it

(in this lowly world)

was man created and in it was given the soul, literally a part of G-d from above,

and through his service in Torah and mitzvos

(“to work it and to guard it”)

the intention of a dwelling place in the lower realms is completed,

a dwelling place for His Essence and Being,

so that “these are the generations of Peretz, Peretz is written fully,”

which is higher even than it was at the beginning of creation, for “the world was created in its fullness,”

“Peretz begot… Dovid,”

Dovid, the King Messiah,

who will build the Holy Temple,

and it will be “and you shall sound with trumpets… before your G-d,”

“with trumpets and the sound of the shofar, shout before the King, the L-rd,”

literally

(in the Holy Temple)

below ten handbreadths.

For through the service during the time of exile, “sound the shofar at the new moon,”

“improve your deeds,”

and in a novel manner, as the precise wording of the verse “sound at the new moon a shofar”

(and not “sound a shofar at the new moon”),

as is known the explanation of the Baal Shem Tov

on this,

through this is brought about the matter of “make for yourself two trumpets… for summoning the congregation and for journeying of the camps,”

to gather all of Israel together and for journeying and proceeding from strength to strength,

from a deep pit to a high roof,

and the matter of “when

you go to war,” war with the animal soul,

and you will be saved through subjugation and transformation,

and through this it will be “and you shall sound with trumpets before your G-d” in the third Holy Temple, which will be built very soon by our righteous Messiah,

and all this in the manner of “and on the day of your rejoicing,”

and “everlasting joy upon their heads,”

speedily in our days, literally.