The simple meaning of the verse is that in the place where Avram built an Altar (Mizbeiach) for Hashem, he called upon the name of Hashem and prayed to Him.
The mystical meaning is that Hashem ‘called’ Av-ram, the “Hidden Intellect,” to come into “the Name of Hashem,” which is Malchus.
(The verse can either be read: “And he, Avram, called there in the Name of Hashem,” or “and He (Hashem) called there for Avram to come into the Name of Hashem.”)
The term ‘calling’ here refers to the process of drawing down from ‘Av-ram,’ the “Lofty Hidden Intellect,” which is the level of Yesod Abba, i.e., Yesod of Chochma-Wisdom of Atzilus into the Ten Sefiros of Malchus, the ‘wife’ of Ze’eir Anpin, which is called “the Name of Hashem.”
A name is only needed for someone to relate to another person, for oneself he doesn’t need a name. Similarly, the attribute of Malchus is how Hashem creates and conducts the world, how He interacts with creations. This is why Malchus is called “the Name of Hashem.”
Thus, the verse is interpreted not just as Avram calling on the name of Hashem, but on a “calling” and drawing down of a revelation from the lofty level of ‘Av-ram’ into the ‘Name of Hashem,’ the level of Malchus, which transmits all revelation downward into the lower realms.
Summary of the Maamar
- Avram represents and embodies the Lofty Hidden Intellect, which is even higher than Atzilus, and only accessible to Chochma of Atzilus. Hashem wanted that this lofty level come down into the world.
- In order for that to happen, he first needed to have the Bris Milah. Before the Bris, there was a level of Kelipa/unholiness that was attached to him, which would ‘siphon’ off additional life-force for unholiness from him. If Avraham would receive a greater revelation from Hashem before the Bris, then the unholiness would also become greater. Only after the Bris, could Hashem reveal Himself to Avraham on an incomparably greater level without giving additional life-force to unholiness.
- What was the accomplishment of this greater revelation of Hashem to Avraham after the Bris? Now Avraham has the power to reveal Hashem’s Light into the physicality of this world. Because of this, he is also able to separate out the “Sparks of Holiness” that are trapped in physicality, and reconnect them to Holiness (by elevating them back up to Atzilus).
- This additional power to elevate the “Sparks of Holiness” is represented by the additional letter ה' that was added to his name (changing his name from אברם to אברהם). As Rashi explains, the added letter ה' stands for the word ‘המון - multitude of nations,’ meaning that now Avraham has the power to elevate a multitude of Sparks of Holiness and reconnect them with Hashem.
- However, if all that was accomplished is that Avraham now has a greater ability to descend into physicality and elevate it, then seemingly, for him personally it isn’t an ascent at all, just a descent. Why would Hashem add a letter to his name, implying an additional personal greatness, when the benefit is only to the Sparks of Holiness, but not for Avraham personally?
- The answer is that that letter ה' that was added also represents the level of Binah-Understanding, which corresponds to the first letter ה' of Hashem’s Name. This level brings down and reveals the level of Chochma-Wisdom to the lower levels of Atzilus. The fact that Binah has the power to bring down and reveal Chochma, shows that it possesses a higher source of power than Chochma. That higher source of power is Hashem’s Atik-Essential Pleasure which precedes the World of Atzilus. Because of Binah’s lofty source in Atik, it is able to bring down Hashem’s revelation to a much lower than Chochma by itself would be able to. This concept is brought in the following: Because King Shlomo was wiser than everyone else, he also had the ability to bring down lofty spiritual concepts three thousand levels, until it was able to be understood in physical terms by ordinary people.
- To understand this in our service of Hashem: The wisdom of the Torah descends from Chochma of Atzilus until our physical world, to teach us how to do Mitzvos and live as Hashem wants in the physical world. Now, when a Jew does the Mitzvah of taking the Lulav and Esrog, for example, at that time he is actually grasping the level of Chochma of Atzilus contained in the Mitzvah. Now, what power enabled Chochma of Atzilus to come down to us and be accessible in our physical mitzvos? It is the power of Kesser-Crown, the levels of Hashem’s Essential Pleasure and Will that transcend and precede the World of Atzilus.
- Because of this, we can understand that not only do we people gain from doing Mitzvos, but also all the levels of the World of Atzilus gain from our Mitzvos. Since, only when we perform a physical mitzvah in this world, does the Essential Light of Kesser shine into Atzilus on an entirely new level. When this happens, this causes a “Unification Above,” meaning that Binah unites with Chochma on a deeper level, and Malchus unites with Ze’eir Anpin on a deeper level, since they are infused with a new Light from Hashem, the Essential Light of Kesser.
- Now, this ability to reveal Kesser in Atzilus is mainly accomplished by learning Torah and fulfilling Mitzvos that we received at the Giving of the Torah at Sinai. However, the Forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, prepared the Jewish People and the world for the Giving of the Torah through their service of Hashem. They initiated the process of revealing the Essential Infinite Light of Hashem into Atzilus and into our world.
- However, Avraham’s accomplishment in revealing this Essential Light of Hashem was mainly to reveal it in the world of Atzilus. This ability he received when Hashem told him “Lech Lecha-go reveal your essence.” Before that, he couldn’t even reveal this Lofty Hidden Intellect into the levels of Atzilus outside of Chochma. After Hashem told him “Lech Lecha,” was able to reveal that Lofty Hidden Intellect in all the levels of Atzilus, including Malchus, but not into the physical world. After he had the Bris Milah, he was then able to reveal some of this Essential Light of Kesser into the physical world, and elevate some Sparks of Holiness, but not enough to make the physical objects themselves become holy.
- Only after the Jewish People were enslaved in Mitzraim (Egypt), and suffered in a way that defies all understanding, were they able to receive Torah and Mitzvos that can accomplish something that totally defies understanding. This is the ability to transform the physicality itself and make it holy, make it become so fused with holiness that it becomes an extension of holiness itself, while remaining physical. It only at that point that Hashem’s holiness can permeate a physical object, such as the parchments in the Tefillin, that they themselves become truly holy.
- As a preparation for this accomplishment of the Giving of the Torah, Hashem gave Avraham one mitzvah to be performed physically, the mitzvah of Bris Milah. Because of this mitzvah, Yitzchok was born with an open connection to holiness, and was able to father Yaakov to be born with an even greater and more revealed connection to holiness. In this way, Yaakov’s descendants would eventually be able to receive the Torah and fully reveal Hashem’s holiness even in all aspects of the material world.
- This is the idea that when describing how the Jewish People are Hashem’s nation, it says “He made us and ‘לֹא-not’ ourselves,” this word ‘לֹא’ is pronounced with a ו', ‘.לוֹ ’ The letter א' represents the level of Kesser, the ‘head’ and source of all levels, like the letter א', which is the head of all letters. The letter ו' represents the 6 Attributes of Ze’eir Anpin, the source of the souls of the Jewish People. The substitution of the letter ו' with an א' represents bringing down the level of Kesser, into the ו', the 6 Attributes of Ze’eir Anpin, the source of the souls of the Jewish People. This shows that the fact that we are His Nation is in connection with the fact that we bring down the level of Kesser through our Mitzvos.
- This is the idea it says in the verse that “when Avraham was 75 years old, he left Charan”: The idea of “Charan-anger” is the point between intellect and emotion, when an idea is no longer an intellect, but not yet a true emotion in the heart. At that point, the idea can get ‘stuck’ on its way down and near expression, similar to when someone is angry and not able to express themselves correctly. This represents how the Light of Hashem in the Intellect of Chochma and Binah of Atzilus got ‘stuck,’ as it were, on the way to being fully expressed in the emotive attributes of Ze’eir Anpin, and therefore unable to be fully expressed in our world. When Avraham reached the level called “75,” he was able to solve this problem of being ‘stuck,’ and allow the Wisdom of Hashem to leave “Charan.” The number 75 corresponds to the 7 emotional attributes, each one as it is comprised of all ten sefiros, including the three intellectual aspects, thus 7x10=70, together with a special power from Kesser called the “5 aspects of Kindness” from Kesser, thus 70+5=75. This represents how Avraham received the power from Kesser to bring down the Wisdom of Hashem to become fully integrated into emotive attributes of Ze’eir Apin.
- The next part of the verses continues this theme. Not only did Avraham bring this Wisdom into the emotive attributes of Ze’eir Anpin, but he also brought it into all the levels of Malchus. This is hinted to in the names of the places he visited, Shchem and Eilon Moreh, which represent the levels of Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiferes of Malchus.
- Just as Avraham needed to have the letter ה' added to his name (as explained above), so too Sarai needed to have the letter י' in her name שָרָ י transformed into a ה' in שָרָה. The letter ה' represents expansive revelation, like something well explained, the opposite of the letter י' which connotes constriction, like an idea condensed into a single point. Since Sarah was a partner with Avraham in this mission to reveal the Essential Wisdom and Light of Hashem in this world, she needed her name to reflect that ability to bring about full revelation. This she accomplished by giving birth to Yitzchok, and through her teaching herself and other women about Hashem.
A Lesson in the Service of Hashem from the Maamar
Our journey in life comes in many stages. But in every stage, there are two elements:
One is to reveal Hashem from Above to below. This means to learn Torah, to do mitzvos, and to teach Torah. By teaching Torah, we become elevated to an infinitely higher level. Just like Avraham connected to the Infinite Light of Hashem by bringing down the Lofty Wisdom into this world, so too, each and every one of us connects to Hashem on a much deeper level by sharing what we know with those that don’t. This is something every Jew is capable of. Like it says in the Shema: “ושננתם לבניך -and you shall teach them to your children,” the Gemara explains that this means one’s students. In other words, every Jew has students, every Jew has something to share with another Jew in some capacity. By bringing down Hashem’s Wisdom to someone who doesn’t have it, this connects the person to Hashem on an incomparably deeper level.
The second element is from below to Above. This means, that we need to find the Sparks of Holiness in all of all material matters. In our food, in our clothing, in our business transactions, in our recreational activities. We need to look for the connection to Hashem in everything in our physical life. By being mindful of that element of “trapped holiness,” and thinking about how we want to connect our physical life to Hashem, we are able to “redeem” these sparks of holiness.
How much more so, when we look at another person, we need to see the soul inside of them, waiting for an opportunity to come closer to Hashem. Every person we interact with we are able to affect in them a greater awareness of Hashem (for example, to get someone to say “Baruch Hashem” or “thank G-d”). This is the main elevation from below to Above, to connect whoever we can with Hashem, including with and starting with ourselves, our family, and our community, and in addition, all of our physical things.
