English translation — בלק ג

Sicha 3<pg>100</pg>

A.

"And he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth"<sup>1</sup>,

And in Rashi on our parshah<sup>2</sup>

he explains that this verse is said about the King Moshiach<sup>3</sup>,

and this is the intention in the prophecy of Bilaam<sup>2</sup>

"And he will rule from Yaakov" — "And there will yet be another ruler after Yaakov..

And about the King Moshiach he says thus, as it is said of him 'And he will rule from sea to sea'.

And likewise we find this expression in the prophecy of Zechariah<sup>4</sup>,

which speaks explicitly about the King Moshiach — "Behold your king will come, etc., poor and riding on a donkey, etc., and he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth",

and it is also brought in the Rambam<sup>5</sup>

in the explanation of the verse

(in the prophecy of Bilaam<sup>6</sup>)

"And he will smash all the children of Sheis" — "This is the King Moshiach, of whom it is said 'And he will rule from sea to sea'.

And simply the intention is that King Moshiach will rule and govern over the entire world⁷,

and as the Ibn Ezra explains⁸

"from the southern sea called the Red Sea to the northern sea which is the Ocean Sea and from the river, a river flows from Eden⁹

which is at the beginning of the east until the ends of the earth which is at the end of the west."

And it requires explanation,

why is it said "from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth" and it is not said concisely "over all the earth"¹⁰

and the like.

And in general, why mention the seas

("from sea to sea")¹¹,

behold the kingship of Moshiach is over the lands

(inhabitants of the world).

2.

And this is to be explained in the manner of Chassidus according to the words of our master, the Alter Rebbe<sup>12</sup>,

that the perfection of the era of Mashiach depends on "our deeds and our service during the entire time of the exile",

that through the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the mitzvos — "in His voice you shall listen"<sup>13</sup>

— they prepare the entire world,

and the Jewish people in particular,

for the ultimate perfection of the era of Mashiach.

And since the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, is "measure for measure"<sup>14</sup>,

it is understood,

that "our deeds and our service" which bring about the coming of Mashiach,

must be similar to the elevations that will be then.

That is to say,

that in order to reach the revelation of the kingship of King Mashiach,

which will be "from sea to sea and from the river until<pg>101</pg>

the ends of the earth",

there must be the individual service of each and every one in a manner similar to this.

And it is sweetened according to what is explained in the book Maor Einayim<sup>15</sup>

(by the holy rabbi etc. of Chernobyl)

in the name of the Baal Shem Tov "that every Jew needs to rectify and prepare the part of the stature of Mashiach that pertains to his soul"

[And as was explained elsewhere the hint to this in the revealed part of Torah — in the Yerushalmi<sup>16</sup>

they expounded the verse<sup>6</sup>

"A star has gone forth from Jacob" regarding each and every Jew,

and elsewhere in the Yerushalmi<sup>17</sup>

(and also in several commentators on the Torah<sup>18</sup>)

they expounded it regarding Mashiach,

and this is because in each and every one there is "a part of the stature of Mashiach"],

and as is also explained in the book Tanya<sup>19</sup>,

that the revelation of the inner point in the heart of every Jew,

which is his connection to the Holy One blessed be He beyond human knowledge

("removal of the mind"<sup>20</sup>),

is analogous to "the going out of the general Shechinah from exile and captivity forever and ever".

And based on this it can be said,

that this is the precise wording of the verse "And he will rule

[and he will have dominion]

from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth",

because in order to merit the completeness of the revelation of the kingdom of King Mashiach throughout the entire world

(general redemption),

there must be something similar in the service of man

(private redemption),

that the spark of Mashiach that is in each and every one

(the inner point in the heart)

must rule and have dominion over all parts and matters of the man,

and since his main matters of man are divided into "from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth",

therefore also regarding the kingdom of Mashiach it is stated thus.

3.

Explanation of the matter:

The difference between "sea" and "land" is,

that "sea" indicates things that are covered

(like the creatures of the sea that are covered by the waters of the sea),

and "land" indicates things that are revealed.

And in the service of man: "sea" refers to the powers of the soul within man himself,

and "land" — his actions in the world outside of him.

And behold, regarding the "sea" the verse emphasizes "from sea to sea,"

that there are two "seas" in which the dominion and rule must be.

And it is necessary to explain the matter of the two "seas" in the service of man,

according to what is said in the prophecy of Zechariah²¹

: "And it shall be on that day, living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea,"

that based on this it can be explained,

that the two "seas" mentioned regarding Mashiach — "from sea to sea" — are "the eastern sea" and "the western sea"²²,

the beginning of all seas and their end.

And in the service of man: "the eastern sea" is the beginning of all the powers,

which is the power of wisdom

(the beginning of the intellects),

and "the western sea" is the end of all the powers,

which is the power of action.

And the service of man is not complete until man rules and dominates from the beginning of his powers,

the power of wisdom,

until the end of his powers,

the power of action.

That is: at the beginning of everything a person must rule with the power of wisdom

(and intellect)

of his,

that he be entirely in holiness,

for the entirety of a person's conduct,

in all its details,

depends on the intellect in the head,

that the brain rules over the heart²³

to guard it from evil desires etc.

<pg>102</pg>

But on the other hand, there must be the work and effort to be "ruling" until "the uttermost sea",

the power of his action,

and as we see tangibly,

that it is possible that in his intellect a person understands well how his conduct should be in all the details,

but he does not have the power to control himself to bring it into actuality,

and even to actual deed.

And it is possible that he has a good feeling for everything holy,

including good thought,

and even good speech,

and nevertheless it does not come to actual deed — and the deed is the main thing²⁴.

And this is the emphasis,

that man's service must be "from sea to sea" — because it is impossible that his service be complete,

without the domination and rule over these two extremes,

"the eastern sea" and "the western sea",

wisdom and deed.

4.

However,

all this is in man himself.

And even the power of his action,

actual deed,

which is only in things external to him,

nevertheless it is possible that the intention of his actions is not to affect what is external to him,

but rather this is only a part of his service with himself,

that the aspect that he is entirely permeated with holiness is when it also comes to actual deed²⁵.

And this is what continues in the verse, that it is not enough "from sea to sea",

but it must also be the spread "and from the river to the ends of the earth".

And the concept in this:

Brought above, the commentary of Ibn Ezra that this "river" is the "river that issues from Eden",

that the meaning of this issuing from "Eden" is

(as the continuation of the verse)

"to water the garden",

that at the beginning of creation it was the place of Adam the first,

"and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it"²⁶.

And in general,

it refers to the entire world,

which is called "My garden" — the garden of the Holy One, blessed be He — and as it is written²⁷

"I have come into My garden, My sister, My bride".

And this is the work of man,

"to work it and to guard it"²⁸,

that through his work in refining and purifying the world,

he acts and reveals in the entire world,

that it be recognizable in it that it is the "garden" of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And this is the emphasis of the verse "and from the river to the ends of the earth" — that it is forbidden for a man to confine himself within his four cubits and not think about the world around him,

saying "I have saved my soul",

and he is in "Eden"

(a place of revelation of Divinity²⁹)

— rather he must engage in the work with the "river",

"to water the garden",

to refine and purify

(by the power of the "river" that issues from "Eden")

the entire world,

"to the ends of the earth".

And this service is what brings about the perfection of the kingdom of Mashiach,

"And he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth",

that in addition to the perfection of Mashiach himself&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;,

"My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up and very high"&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;,

behold "he will perfect&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;

the entire world to serve the Lord together, as it is said&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

for then I will turn to the peoples etc. to call them all in the name of the Lord etc.",

in the true and complete redemption,

immediately and truly at once.

(From the sicha of 12 Tammuz 5733)