There is a Possuk in this week’s Parsha that reads: מַה־טֹבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְׁנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׁרָאֵל “How goodly are your tents, Yaacov, your dwelling places, Yisroel”.
The Alter Rebbe delivered a Maamor on these words which is elucidated in ‘Likkutei Torah’ at the end of this week’s Chassidishe Parsha, Parshas Bolok. It is printed with comments from his grandson the Tzemach Tzedek who also elaborates further in his work ‘Ohr Hatorah’ where he also has comments, synopses and explanations on this Maamor which add new concepts as the Possuk states: עֲטֶרֶת זְׁקֵנִים בְׁנֵי בָנִים “Children's children are the crown of the aged, and the glory of the children is their fathers”.
The children are the crown of the aged” especially [relevant] as the Tzemach Tzedek was the son of the Alter Rebbe’s daughter.
There is a well-known story in which this ancestral connection (that the Tzemach Tzedek was the son of the Alter Rebbe’s daughter) was highlighted at the time when the Chassidim were suggesting and demanding and eventually succeeded in getting the Tzemach Tzedek to take on the mantle of leadership of the Chabad Chassidim.
In His Sefer ‘Ohr Hatorah’ The Tzemach Tzedek brings an explanation of our Possuk from the Maggid of Mezritch’s ‘Ohr Torah’ that the word ‘Ohel’ denotes a temporary structure (as the Possuk states: וָאֶהְׁיֶה מִתְׁהַלֵךְ בְׁאֹהֶל “but have walked in a tent”) The word ‘Mishkon’ denotes a more permanent structure (as we see in the Possuk וְׁשָכַנְׁתִי בְׁתוֹכָם “And I will dwell in their midst” which implies a more permanent dwelling).
This is the explanation of the Possuk when it says: “אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב” “your tents, Yaacov” “מִשְׁכְׁנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׁרָאֵל” “your dwelling places, Yisroel”. Yaakov is spelled with the letters ב-ק-ע -י which can also be read as ‘עֵקֶב - י’ which alludes to the lowest state of עָקֵב meaning ‘heel’. Whereas Yisroel is spelled with the letters ‘ל-א-ר-ש -י’ which can be rearranged to spell ‘לִי רֹאש’ which alludes to the state of רֹאש which means head, and not any head but ‘לִי רֹאש’ – Hashem’s head.
In other words, this Possuk encapsulates two extremes which are beyond comparison: from the lowest extreme the ‘heel of Yaakov’ to the highest extreme the ‘head of Hakodosh Boruch Hu’.
Within this there is explained ‘אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב’ the connection of ‘Ohel’ to ‘Yaakov’ and ’מִשְׁכְׁנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׁרָאֵל’ and the connection of ‘Miskon’ to ‘Yisroel’. If a person of Yisroel [finds that he] is in a state of ‘Yaakov’ then this must be a temporary situation because his permanency is ‘לִי רֹאש’.
Yet on both accounts the Possuk states מַה־טֹבוּ “How goodly” highlighting that both situations are good and both have an element of ‘Mah (With all its meanings).
The Tzemach Tzedek in his work ‘Ohr HaTorah’ identifies the difference between the fixed times for Torah study of the businessperson (Yaakov) which are temporary in comparison to the situation of Talmidei Chachomim (Yisroel) whose Torah study is permanent.
However, the Tzemach Tzedek writes thereafter that the above explanations are not the same as those [found] in the [Alter Rebbe’s] Maamor מַה־טֹבוּ in ‘Likkutei Torah’. This is so because the explanation for this Possuk in Likkutei Torah is based on the Possuk: וְׁעָשִיתָ יְׁרִיעֹות עִזִים לְׁאֹהֶל עַל־הַמִשְׁכָן “You shall make curtains of goat hair as an Ohel over the Mishkon” [and this version interprets so] because the linen covers were called ‘Mishkon’ and the goats hair covers were called ‘Ohel’.
The difference between the Mishkon covers and the Ohel covers is that the Mishkon covers of Linen consisted of ten curtains hooked together whereas the Ohel covers of goat’s hair were eleven curtains [hooked together.]
In Likkutei Torah the Alter Rebbe explains that the number eleven alludes to the Avodah of Birurim of ‘Klipas Nogah’.
This is because eleven symbolises the Ten crowns of impurity together with the state of ‘Levona’ that encompasses them. This is why these eleven curtains are made out of goat’s hair because goats themselves allude to darkness as the Talmud records “Why do goats walk in front of the flock etc....
