Now, this entire process of running in yearning to connect to Hashem in the spiritual process of “Leaving מִצְר יִם-Mitzrayim” is only for the Divine soul, which is in exile in the מְצָּרִ ים-limitations and confinements of the animal soul and physical world that cover over it.
As Pharoh, who represents unholiness, said, “I do not know Havaya,” Hashem as He is above the worlds.
As it is written, “I [Hashem] will go down with you [the Divine soul] to Mitzrayim, and I will also go back up with you” (Bereishis 46:4). This statement was made specifically to י עֲקֹב-Yaakov, representing only the Divine soul as it is compacted into a point, like a letter “י-yud,” coming down into the animal soul which is as coarse as the “עָּק ַׁב-heel” of the body.
The name יַעֲקֹ ב-Yaakov represents the Divine soul as it must become contracted and diminished and then descend into the body. That is why it is a combination of the letter “י-yud,” representing the soul in its contracted state, and the word “עָּקֵ ב-heel,” representing the animal soul that is as coarse, compared to the Divine soul, as the heel is, when compared to the brain.
In addition, “י עֲקֹב-Yaakov is like the rope of his heritage,” and, “His people are a part of Havaya.” (Devarim 32:9)
Just like a long rope, which has one end tied to a very high place and the other end tied to a very low place, the Divine soul extends from being “a part of Havaya,” from Hashem as He is beyond creation, all the way down to become invested in the animal soul.
As it is written, “And Yisrael saw the great ‘hand’ that Havayah used to punish Mitzrayim” (Shemos 14:31). This shows that only the Divine soul, referred to as Yisrael - as in the teaching, “Yisrael came up first in Hashem’s thought,” (Bereishis Rabbah 1:5), and because the name “יִש ְרָּא ַׁל-Yisrael” is the same letters as “לִַׁי־רֹאש ַׁ-they are connected to my [Hashem’s] ‘Head’,” - saw how Hashem, on the level of Havayah, punished Mitzrayim.
So too, in Kerias Shema, when we experience running in yearning to connect to Hashem by leaving the ‘mitzrayim-limitations’ of the animal soul through the love of Hashem, this process is only felt in the Divine soul.
However, the animal soul still wants to eat and have other physical enjoyments like an animal.
To receive the Torah, which is the revelation of Hashem’s Essential Will, as it were, below in this world, first, the animal soul also needs to nullify its ego to Hashem.
This is accomplished through waving the Omer and counting the Omer, as it is written, “And he shall wave the Omer before Havayah to bring Hashem’s goodwill to you, on the day after the first day of Yom Tov, the Kohen should wave it.” (Vayikra 23:11)
Now, the Omer offering was brought from barley flour, which is “ב ְה מַָּׁהַׁ-domesticated animal” food.
Similarly, Above in the spiritual realm, there is a level of angels referred to as “animals,” known as “the Merkavah-Chariot Above.”
The Merkavah and the Four Faces
The prophet Yechezkal was in Exile right before the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. He had a prophetic vision of Hashem coming in “a stormy wind... and raging fire.” He then perceived four angels who were Hashem’s emissaries to carry out different tasks. These angels were called “תֹו יַח-wild animals.” These angels are known as the “Merkavah-Chariot” of Hashem’s Divine Presence. Just like the King travels around in a chariot on various missions, Hashem accomplishes different things using these angels and the angels under them in spiritual level. These four angels each had four faces: 1- A man; 2- A lion; 3- An ox; 4- An eagle. Even though they all had these four faces, they were each facing a different direction with their “main face,” so that each one had an emphasis on one of the four faces, even though they also had the other three faces, which were less pronounced than the main one.
From this I saw the image of four [angels resembling] “תֹו יַח-wild animals,” each one had four faces and four wings... their faces were: the face of a man; and the face of a lion on the right side of all four [angels]; and the face of an ox on the left side of these four [angels]; and the face of an eagle on these four [angels].” (Yechezkal 1:1-10)
The Mitteler Rebbe explains that the “four faces” are four aspects of the “Merkavah” angels: The “face of a man” refers to the intellect of these angels; the “face of a lion on the right side” refers to the love of Hashem of the angels; the “face of an ox on the left side” refers to the fear of Hashem of these angels; and the “face of an eagle” refers to the aspect of awakening mercy from Hashem on themselves.
The angels of the Merkavah-Chariot are called “תֹו יַח-wild animals,” and barley is food for “בְּהֵמָּ ה-domesticated animals.” So how are we comparing the angels of the Merkavah to barley?
The answer is that the word “ב ְה מַָּׁהַׁ-animal,” which usually refers to domestic animals, can also include “ח י ָּהַׁ-wild animals,” as the Gemara proves from a verse (see Baba Kama 17b).
The Alter Rebbe brings another verse to show how the Divine Presence “stands on” a group of angels referred to as animals:
As it is written (Melachim I 7:25) regarding the “י ָּם-Sea/Pool” that King Shlomo made as a Mikvah for the Kohanim to immerse in the Beis Hamikdash: “It was standing upon twelve statues of cows, three [cows] facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east...” These twelve cows arranged in four directions represent the angels of the Merkavah Above, who were also facing all four directions, and the verse concludes, “and the “י ָּם-Sea/Pool” was resting on them [the cow statues] from above.” This “ ָּ ים-Sea/Pool” that was positioned above the cows represented “the Sea Above,” a reference to Malchus of Atzilus.
The sea receives water from the rivers and clouds and doesn’t overflow since it recycles that water back into rivers and its water evaporates to make new clouds. So too, Malchus of Atzilus receives all of the Light and Life from the higher Sefiros, but doesn’t keep it for itself, since it uses that power to create the world.
This level of Malchus of Atzilus is called “בְה מָּהַׁ ר ב ָּהַׁ-the General Source of Animals,” since it is the all-inclusive source of the angels referred to as “animals.”
This level of Malchus is called the Name of Hashem that adds up to “" בן-52,” which is the numerical equivalent of the word “ב ְה מַָּׁהַׁ-animal.”
The letters of Hashem’s Four-Letter Name are י=10 =ה ,5=ו ,6=ה ,5 which adds up to 26. However, each letter, when spelled out fully, adds up to more, e.g. the letter י-yud spelled out is יוד=20. There are four ways to fully spell out the letters of Hashem’s Four-Letter Name. One of them is as follows: יוד=20 הה=10 וו=12 הה= 10, added up altogether equals בַּ"ן-52. This Name of Hashem represents Malchus. The amount of 52 is also the numerical equivalent of the word “בְּהֵמָּ ה-animal,” showing that Malchus is sometimes referred to as בְּהֵמָּ ה-animal.”
Malchus is referred to as a בְּהֵמָּ ה-animal,” since it is the source of the angels of the Merkavah, which have “the face of a lion” and the other animals mentioned in the verse, quoted above.
This Merkavah mentioned above is the source of all of the physical animals, and of the animal soul of the person below, in this world, which are derived from it.
So far, the Alter Rebbe established that Malchus of Atzilus is referred to as “the General Source of Animals,” since it is the source of creation of spiritual animals-angels- and physical animals, as well as our animal soul. Now we will explain the idea that barley is “animal food” as a metaphor for Malchus “consuming” the sparks of Divinity hidden in angels and in our animal soul, which are referred to as “barley:”
The word “ש ְעוֹרַָּׁהַׁ-barley,” is the same letters as “ַׁ ועִ שרַׁ הַׁ'-Five aspects of limitation.”
There are five parts of the mouth that enable us to manipulate the air coming out of our vocal cords into twenty-two different letters. Similarly, our mind possesses five aspects of limitation that enable us to take abstract or general knowledge into a detailed, conscious awareness that can be fully understood and explained. These five aspects of limitation produce the “letters of thought” that we use to process the details of information. These letters of thought are the source of the letters of speech. We also have five fingers on each hand that enable us perform detailed processes.
In their spiritual source, these five aspects of limitation are on two levels of Atzilus: Bina-Understanding, and Malchus-Kingship/Divine Speech. When Malchus uses its five aspects of limitation, which it receives from Bina, it is able to create limited finite beings, such as angels and people.
These angels and people contain sparks of Divinity (Elokus) from the World of Tohu, which is higher than Atzilus. When Malchus creates angels and people, and then reunites them with Hashem, Malchus itself receives an increase in Divine Revelation from the World of Tohu, which is the ultimate source of several aspects of angels and of the animal soul in people.
This process of reconnecting the creations with their source and receiving additional revelation thereby is similar to the process of eating. By eating, we also elevate the sparks of holiness in the food to their source and thereby receive an increase in life. This is why angels and our animal soul are like barley: Just like barley is animal food, so too angels and our animal soul are like “food” for Malchus, which receives additional revelation by reconnecting both angels and sould (us) to our source Above.
Meaning that the redeemed sparks of Divinity that come from below in the creations, which become refined out of the coarseness of the creations and become included in Malchus, referred to as the “General Source of Animals,” as mentioned above, these sparks are the “barley” that Malchus, the “General Source of Animals,” can “eat,” as it were.
As we say in the daily prayers, “He [Hashem] creates ministering angels;” meaning that there are angels which are created new every day and then become nullified, and absorbed and included back into their source in the “General Source of Animals,” which is Malchus, as explained above.
Similar to how physical barley is consumed by a physical animal here below, and then new barley grows, to be eaten again.
This is the meaning of, “The Kohen shall wave the Omer.” This Kohen represents the level of Chesed-Kindness, which elevates Malchus, the “General Source of Animals” described above. This is accomplished through waving the Omer of barley, which is the idea of Malchus that has “ַׁ ועִ שר־הַׁ'-Five aspects of Limitation,” as described above. This elevation of Malchus, the “General Source of Animals,” reaches to a level which is “before Havayah,” a level beyond and above the level of revelation of Hashem’s Name Havayah, as is known.
Through waving the Omer of barley, which represents Malchus, to the level of Bina, which is higher than Havayah (Ze’eir Anpin here), this empowers Malchus to be able to refine and elevate the created beings afterwards.
This elevation of Malchus to Bina, which is higher than Ze’eir Anpin, is represented in the fact that the verse describes the day of waving the Omer as “מִמ ָּחֳרַָּׁתַַׁׁה ש ב ַָּׁת- lit. the day after Shabbos,” and not “מִמ ָּחֳרַָּׁתַַׁׁיוֹםַַׁׁטוֹב - the day after the Yom Tov of the first day of Pesach,” since this is a waving process that elevates Malchus up to the level of Binah, which is a level beyond “Shabbos.” In this case “Shabbos” refers to to Ze’eir Anpin.
There are 10 Sefiros, and from below to above, Binah is the eighth Sefirah. Shabbos is the 7th day, representing Ze’eir Anpin, which completes seven Sefiros, together with Malchus. Thus, Binah, the eighth Sefirah, is represented by “the day after Shabbos,” i.e. the eighth day.
This answers the famous question: If the day of the barley Omer offering is always the day after the first day of the Yom Tov of Pesach, i.e. the second day of Pesach, then why doesn’t the verse simply say that? Why does it call the day of the Omer offering, “מִּמָּּחֳרָּ ת הַש ַּבָּּ ת-the day after Shabbos,” when it could be any day of the week and not necessarily the day after Shabbos. In fact, our Sages needed to explain that “מִּמָּּחֳרָּ ת הַש ַּבָּּ ת” actually refers to the day after Yom Tov, which is also called “Shabbos,” since it is also a day of rest, rather than the regular meaning of Shabbos, which is the seventh day of the week.
The answer given here is that the phrase, “מִּמָּּחֳרָּ ת הַש ַּבָּּ ת-the ‘day’ after Shabbos” is a reference to Binah, the eighth Sefirah from below to above. The process of waving the Omer is to elevate Malchus – “the Omer” – to the level of Binah – “the day after Shabbos.”
The term ‘day’ represents kindness, light, and revelation. In this case, day refers to the Sefiros which reveal Hashem’s Light.
The Ten Sefiros from below to above:
- Malchus 1
- Yesod 2
- Hod 3
- Netzach 4
- Tiferes 5 (Also connected to the Name of “Havayah”)
- Gevurah 6
- Chesed 7 (The 7th ‘day’=Shabbos)
- Binah 8 (The ‘day’ which is ‘after Shabbos’ and ‘Before/Higher than Havayah’)
- Chochmah 9
- Keser 10
Through this waving process, it is then possible, by way of the counting of the Omer, to draw down “Makifim-Encompassing Lights” from Above to below, into Malchus, referred to as “the Omer,” and from there to our own animal soul.
This is the meaning of “ה י וַֹׁםַַׁׁיוַֹׁםַׁאֶּחָּדַַׁׁ לָּעוֹמֶַּׁר-Today is one day of the Omer:” The word “יוַֹׁם-day” represents Kindness and revelation of Hashem, as it is written, “By ‘day’ Hashem commands to send His Kindness.” (Tehillim 42:9)
