HE HAFTORA OF SEDRA BEHAALOTECHA AND ALSO OF SHABBAT CHANUKAH IS FROM ZECHARIA. THE HAFTORAH begins ‘sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion’.
A few verses later, Zacharia’s beautiful vision of the Menorah is described. In a discourse for Chanuka in Torah Or, Rabbi Shneur Zalman asks why the Haftorah begins with the ‘daughter of Zion’ rather than with the image of the Menorah, which would seem more directly relevant to Chanuka. He answers that since Chanuka concerned a time of Exile, for although the Jewish people were in the Land of Israel, it was a time of foreign oppression, the phrase ‘daughter of Zion’ applied to them. ‘Zion’ expresses freedom and redemption, while ‘daughter of Zion’ expresses Exile. Hence it is fitting that the Haftorah begins with the earlier verse, speaking of Daughter of Zion.
The Rebbe points out that we can ask the same question concerning this Haftorah in relation to Parshat Beha’alotecha. The Parsha begins with describing the Menorah, hence the relevance of the Haftorah is again the vision of the golden Menorah. So, why do we begin on an earlier verse, speaking of ‘daughter of Zion’? The answer which the Alter Rebbe gave in connection with Shabbat Chanuka does not seem to apply, for Parshat Beha’alotecha comes shortly after Shavuot, a time of a great sense of closeness to G-d and of liberation. In this case, why is there stress on the term ‘daughter of Zion’?
Rabbi Shneur Zalman cites a Midrash in connection with the theme ‘daughter of Zion’ which speaks of G-d’s loving relationship with the Jewish people. At one level, He calls them His ‘daughter’. On a higher level, He calls them His ‘sister’. On an even higher level, perhaps striking to our ears, He calls them His ‘mother’. For the Midrash, love of one’s mother is the deepest and purest expression of love.
These three levels of love are the product of three levels of service of G-d, on the part of the Jewish people. The lowest level is performance of the Mitzvot. Higher is study of Torah. Higher still is Mesirat Nefesh, total dedication to Hashem, even to the extent of giving up one’s life. This is the highest level which elicits the highest dimension of love in return. Linked to this highest level is the total dedication expressed by the Jewish people when they said “we will do and we will hear” at the Giving of the Torah, committing themselves to keep the Torah even before they knew what it demands.
The Rebbe suggests that one of the reasons for reading the Sedra Behaalotecha, with its depiction of the Menora after Shavuot is that the lamps of the Menora represent the soul of each person, as it says ‘the lamp of G-d is the soul of a person’. Just as the Menora shines, the souls radiates to Hashem, particularly when the Jewish people express the highest level of service, self-sacrifice, mesirat nefesh.
This point further emphasizes our question: why does the Haftorah begin with speaking of the ‘daughter’ of Zion, the lowest level?
The Rebbe explains that in fact the lowest level, simple observance of Mitzvot, rather than Torah study and self-sacrifice, is in some ways the highest. Both Torah study and self-sacrifice are ‘spiritual’ responses which function as the arousal from below which elicits the response from above. The behavior which elicits the Divine response is, in some sense, commensurate with it.
By contrast the mere actions which constitute performance of the Mitzvot are infinitely lower than any Divine response they may elicit. On account of this, in fact, they elicit a flow from the Essence of the Divine. They can do this because there is no comparison between their performance and the Divine response. The higher levels of activity – Torah study and mesirat nefesh – are so spiritual that they relate directly to the Divine response which they elicit. On account of this, the response is limited, compared with the flow from the Essence which is elicited by the simple performance of the Mitzvot. The response to these comes as if it were a pure ‘arousal from above’ directly from G-d, without any prior step taken by the person.
The same pattern can be seen in terms of the psychological effect of a person’s service of Hashem. Torah study – naturally enough, because it is so inspiring – causes a strong sense of self. Even mesirat nefesh, self-sacrifice, is felt as the person’s own exalted attainment in their going beyond all earthly pleasures simply in order to connect with the Divine. Likewise, when the Jewish people declared ‘we will do and we will hear’, this was from the inner essence of their soul, obviously a very deep level.
By contrast the simple Mitzvot might be performed not from inspiration or enthusiasm, not because of the prompting of one’s Divine soul, but simply because this is the Will of G-d. In himself or herself, the person might feel they do not care about the Mitzvot. The only reason they carry them out is because G-d demands that we should obey His command, so they obey. This comes from a uniquely deep level of one’s being, and this is the special quality of the simple practical Mitzvot, for which we are called ‘daughter of Zion’. They draw an exalted response from G-d.
The Haftorah asks us, as daughter of Zion, to sing and rejoice. On the one hand we can do this, because we know that our simple Mitzvot are complemented by an exalted Divine revelation from the Essence, as described above, even if we are not aware of it.
But there is also yet another way to feel this joy.
Zion represents the Zaddikim. The daughter of Zion is the one who links himself or herself to the Zaddikim. Because of this bond, we carry out the Mitzvot. The Divine essence flows, and we are filled with joy and song. The ultimate expression of this will be with the revelation of Moshiach, leading us to our Holy Land.
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