English translation — משיחות ש״פ אמוד, ח׳ אייר ה׳תסמ״ט

We are now in the midst of the days of Sefirah,

And in this also — on the third Shabbos of the days of Sefirah,

When we study the third chapter of Pirkei Avos.

More precisely it is: a)

Shabbos Parshas Emor,

During Minchah prayer one begins reading Parshas Behar,

The daily study in Rambam

(according to the division of three chapters per day)

is in the laws of Shemittah and Yovel.

Since everything connected with Torah and mitzvos is with ultimate precision

(all the more so from the fact that all things in the world are with Divine Providence)

it is understood that all these matters have a connection between them.

The reason why Matan Torah is associated with the number

(And the concept)

of three — both in regard to the time of Matan Torah:

"In the third month"

(as the verse states¹)

and in the language of Chazal² —

"the third month"

And both regarding Torah in general —,

(Blessed is the Merciful One who gave)

A third Torah to a third people through a third (day) in a third month"³ — because the number three indicates the content and novelty of the gift of Torah: making peace and unity between G‑dliness, so to speak, and the world.

The difference between the allusion of the content of,

Echad",

Sheni" and,

Shlishi" is⁴:

"One" emphasizes that there is from the outset only one thing.

And like the language of Chazal⁵ regarding,

"one day"* from Maaseh Bereishis —

"Hashem is unique in His world";

"Two" shows division,

beyond the unity,

As our Sages of blessed memory say on the second day of Creation — on which discord was created

(and therefore it does not state,

"that it was good")

The function of,

"third" is — that it unites the

"two".

And through this comes an elevation in the unity

Even regarding the unity of this,

Echad"

— so,

it was doubled in it 'ki tov'"

(as it was on the third day of Maaseh Bereishis,

due to the fact that he makes peace between the divisions created on the second day and the One)

•: from the aspect,

Echad" alone,

Although this demonstrates a certain unity,

But this is a unity that comes from the fact that there is still an existence

(the concept of division)

Therefore, this is not yet a perfect unity,

Because one does not know what will be when yet another existence is created; thirdly,

That even in the place of division —

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Becomes unity,

Then one sees that this is true unity.

And in the manner of the statement of our Sages of blessed memory: "Two verses that contradict each other until the third verse comes and decides between them."

The function of the "third verse" that decides is,

Not that it rules like one verse and negates the second,

But that both verses

(which are inherently contradicting each other in truth¹⁰)

are in harmony.

(among them)

According to the "ruling" of the "third text".

And therefore, "the halacha is according to the decisive opinion",

Because the ruling of the third opinion is

(not by virtue of it being "in agreement with one of the two opinions",

but because of what its reasoning is)

"includes the two opinions and both agree with the opinion of the decider"¹¹.

The concept in the service of G‑d: The Almighty is Hashem, the One.

As it stands revealed in the day one of Maaseh Bereishis.

The Almighty, however, desired that there be a dwelling for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms — through that which a reality of a world is created,

Olam from the term helem and hester (concealment and hiddenness),

Which appears revealed as a separate reality from

Elokus — the ultimate matter of division

(two)

— and a Jew through his avodah,

should become a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in Maaseh Bereishis,

And to unify, so to speak, the world with the Supreme One,

Not by nullifying the existence of the world,

But rather that the world, from the perspective of its own boundaries, should be one thing with G‑dlyness,

So that through this, the purpose and perfection of the unity is achieved — that the world

(creatures)

and G‑dlyness

(the heavens)

that they were created with an interruption in between,

becomes one thing — doubled because it is good,

good for heaven and good for creatures".

And accordingly, it is understood that the giving of the Torah is connected with matters of three — because "the entire Torah was given to make peace in the world"⁹,

And in general — peace and unity between the world and G‑dliness:

Before the giving of the Torah there was a decree that "the upper ones shall not descend below and the lower ones shall not ascend above" — the interruption and division between upper and lower; with the giving of the Torah the decree was nullified,

and I who begins",

"And G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai"¹⁹,

And then the power was given that a Jew should make the physical world and all its

Shabbos Parshas Emor,

8 Iyar

matters for a,

an object of holiness¹¹

(as it will be revealed in the future)

And so too regarding the Torah itself:

The innovation of the Giving of the Torah

(regarding the Torah as it was previously by the Patriarchs and so forth²²)

is,

that instead of the place of the Torah being above

(.

"hidden treasure" of the Holy One, blessed be He²²)

And she finds herself below only temporarily, in a transient manner,

was the entire Torah" given below in this world,

in a manner that specifically there is its permanent place

(And,

It is not in heaven"²⁵)

and in an eternal manner.

And it may be said that this is also an explanation of why the giving of the Torah came

(not immediately after Yetzias Mitzrayim,

but)

after the service during the 49 days of Sefirah:

Since the innovation of Matan Torah is that Torah should be in a permanent manner below,

and making peace and unifying the upper and lower realms,

as each one stands in his own reality

(that Torah is the concept of.

Third)

Therefore it is not enough that there should be only the introduction from Yetzias Mitzrayim

(in the first month)

And indeed,* even though that was a very great revelation —,

revealed to them

King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He — in His very glory and essence — and redeemed them"²,

But this was a revelation from above

(arousal from above)

•²,

in the manner of the level of,

Echad"

(which is before the division)

and a revelation from above alone,

Without considering His greatness — it is only in a encompassing manner and only temporarily,

And he does not change or take on the nature and attributes of the lower being,

But the lower being remains as it was before,

A reality separate from the revelation of G‑dliness from Above:

Specifically through the fact that there is the service of the lower being

(by the power of the arousal from below which brings about the arousal from Above)

That he should transform himself and refine himself,

he becomes

(from the perspective of his boundaries and attributes)

ready for the Giving of the Torah

(and the Receiving of the Torah)

inwardly,

and in a manner that remains constant,

fixed and eternal

(and since the revelation takes place through

(and has in what to itself,

holding")

below,

so that his nature is

(potentially)

not any other existence of G-dliness)

What this is the content of the days of Sefirah

(Its subject, the subject of the second month)

which are one *hamshar* days² that connect,

"time of our freedom"

(the festival of Passover)

and

Sefer HaSichos - 5749

"time of the giving of our Torah"

(the festival of Shavuos)

— The avodah [service] of today consists of "to purify us etc.": Sefirah is connected with the Omer,

which was of barley"³,

animal food"³,

And this denotes the avodah of birur [refinement] and zikuch [purification]

(to purify us)

The middos [attributes] of the animal soul³²,

from chesed shebechesed [kindness within kindness] until malchus shebemalchus [kingship within kingship].

And even though the avodah of refining a person's middos is seemingly a low level

(incomparably lower than the revelation of "Melech Malchei HaMelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu" in Yetzias Mitzrayim)

— it is specifically this that becomes the preparation for Matan Torah on the fiftieth day,

the revelation of the Shaar HaNun

(in addition to the drawing down of the 49 gates)

which is higher than the revelation of Yetzias Mitzrayim; and since this comes after the prior avodah of the Jews,

it is drawn down in a pnimiyus and permanent manner.

The humble one is emphasized in the content of the laws of the days of the Omer in the Shulchan Aruch³⁵:

In the days of the Omer there are various restrictions regarding matters of joy

(We customarily do not marry a woman nor

cut hair etc.)

Because of that which "we mourn for the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died in these days".

As the Gemara relates"³,

That the students of Rabbi Akiva died

(from Passover until Shavuot)

"Because they did not treat each other with respect."

Since this is a law in the Torah of kindness,

and the Torah

(an instruction³)

is eternal²⁵/³ in all times,

it is understandable that from this there is a lesson not only regarding "mourning etc."

(the result of the death of Rabbi Akiva's students from Passover until Shavuot)

But only and primarily — regarding correcting the matter of "they did not show respect to each other,"

by increasing in love of Israel,

and particularly in the conduct of respect for one another.

until perfection in this.

And it could be said,

that this corresponds to the general theme of the service of the days of the Omer — refining and correcting one's nature

(character traits)

of man:

"They did not treat each other with respect" comes as a result of the fact that the Creator created man in a manner that "their opinions are not equal"³,

And this provides the possibility that, due to the differences of opinion between people, a situation of "they did not treat each other with respect" should arise.

The intention in that the Creator created man this way, however, is not that from this should arise, heaven forbid, dissension,

as is obvious and simple,

But on the contrary — because of the superiority that arises from