Therefore, when the bad of the animal, created by all these levels of concealment, will be sorted out and removed (through the effort of the Divine soul), it will automatically reach this level of great love for Hashem described above, that it receives from the source of the animal soul from the World of Tohu, with a much greater intensity than it had before it descended into this world.
This is the meaning of the verse quoted at the beginning of the maamar, (Devarim 21:15) “And it shall be that the first son will be born to the wife he does not like,” meaning that specifically through the animal soul, which is connected to unholiness, which is hated by Hashem, the Divine soul “will give birth to the ‘first-born’ son,” meaning that it is also connected to the higher level of Tohu, referred to as “before there was a ruling king to the Children of Yisroel,” in addition to its own innate love for Hashem from the World of Tikkun.
The animal soul contains an element of unholiness which is “hated” by Hashem, but is also called the “first-born,” since in its ultimate source it derives from the World of Tohu, which is “before” Tikkun, just like Eisav was born before Yaakov. Now, just like Yaakov was ultimately able to receive that first-born birth-right from Eisav (see Parshas Toldos), (and come out with his own level of Tikkun together with the advantage of Eisav’s source in Tohu), so too, every Jew’s Divine soul is able to refine and elevate the animal soul so that it will receive a love for Hashem on the level of Tohu, in addition to the natural love it (the Divine soul) already has from its source Tikkun.
This is what it means by, “The first-born son will be to the wife he doesn’t like:” Through the animal soul (which has an aspect that one dislikes, and therefore, works with), his Divine soul achieves a love for Hashem from the level of Tohu, referred to as the “the first-born son,” since Tohu is higher and “before” Tikkun.
Now, the word “לשניאה-to the one that is hated” is spelled with a י' (after the נ') instead of how it is usually spelled, with a ו' (לשנואה), this is coming to teach us something new, which is also a reference to Mount Sinai, which is spelled similarly to שניאה with a י'.
The reference to Mount Sinai is to teach us that “שניאה-hatred” mentioned here, is also referring to the hatred that we feel for unholiness. Our hatred for unholiness will help us reveal the potential love for Hashem contained in the animal soul, due to its source in Tohu.
This connection to Mount Sinai is what our Sages explained, (Shabbos 89b) “Why is the name of the mountain the Torah was given on called סיני-Sinai? Because, through the Torah, we acquire the power to have “שניאה-hatred” for the unholiness associated with the other nations of the world (and our own animal soul, which is similar to the souls of the nations of the world).”
This means that we receive the power to completely despise the bad of our animal soul through revealing the desire and love for Hashem which is beyond all logic and reason when we say Shema. This will help unlock the very deep potential love of Hashem (that is rooted in Tohu) into our animal soul.
Thus, we have another twist on how to interpret the verse: “And it shall be that the first-born son will be born ‘לשניאה-to the one that is hated,’” meaning that the love from Tohu, called the ‘first-born son,’ will come to us through “hating” the animal soul’s connection to unholiness.
This ‘hatred’ to unholiness happens automatically by awakening an essential love for Hashem in Shema. Since love and hatred are corresponding opposites, the more one loves his friend, the more he hates anyone who hates his friend. Similarly, the deeper one loves Hashem, the more he hates unholiness, which is opposed to Hashem. Thus, by loving Hashem, we are ‘hating’ unholiness, and this is what unlocks the animal soul’s tremendous potential to love Hashem on the level of Tohu.
