There is a Possuk in Tehillim in which it is written: לִוְיָתָן זֶה יָצַרְתָ לְשַחֶק בּוֹ “You (HaShem) have formed this Livyoson with which to play”, and in ‘Likkutei Torah’ it is brought (in a Maamor at the beginning of the section for this week’s Torah portion under the same heading of this verse), “In the ‘Medrash Rabbah’ it is brought down on the weekly Torah portion of Shemini that the animal [the great beast, the Shor Habor] and [the great fish, the] Livyoson are the “Kenigin”, [make-believe contest for amusement], of the Tzaddikim in the future etc... while the Livyoson will stab the animal [Shor Habor] with its fins and tear it. Yet have we not learnt “One may use any instrument to slaughter an animal as long as it [has a smooth sharp edge and] is not the serrated side of the harvest sickle, [a saw, the teeth of an animal when attached to its jawbone, and a fingernail, because they are serrated and they consequently strangle the animal and do not cut its windpipe and gullet as required]”. (This means that if a serrated saw-like instrument was used in the Shechitah process, then the meat is not kosher. As such, the serrated fins of the Livyoson are certainly invalid for slaughtering, so how can the Livyoson slaughter the Shor Habor with its serrated fins and yet the Shor Habor is still [considered] kosher?) The Midrash answers this question by quoting: “מֵאִתִי תֵצֵא השָ תוֹרָה חַדָ “A new Torah [instruction] will go forth from me” that [on that occasion in the future] HaShem will permit the eating the meat of the Shor Habor despite its irregular form of slaughter with its fins.
In Likkutei Torah the Maamor continues to explain the concept of this particular ‘Kenigin’, [the make-believe contest for the spectators’ amusement] of the Livyoson with the Shor Habor etc”, this will soon be explained in Ois Gimel.
Beis: The Nature of the 'Kenigin' and Its Deeper Meaning
[As a preface], the Maamor here in Likkutei Torah only explains this particular instance of the ‘Kenigin’ of the Livyoson with the Shor Habor, but it does not explain; what is the significance of this kind of amusement in general? This is explained at length in the Sefer ‘Toras Chayim’ on Parshas Toldos in the Maamor with the opening words לְך ן תֵ וְיִ and is also brought down in the Sefer ‘Shnei Hame’oros’ where he explains this ‘Kenigin’ to be purely a spectator sport for its amusement value (causing much laughter and pleasure), and is not dissimilar to the way the noblemen used to place a lion and a leopard into the rink to fight one another. At this fight it was not a forgone conclusion that the lion would beat the leopard or vice-versa, since the noblemen controlled the game by holding back the lion by means of a chain to allow the leopard to pounce on the lion, and then allowing the lion to get back to the leopard. When they see that the lion is about to kill the leopard then they restrict the lion by pulling the chain etc. so the whole episode is not [after all] a genuine sport, in that it does not identify which of the animals is stronger, but it is orchestrated for its ‘spectator value’ for fun and pleasure alone.
Furthermore, the whole pleasure in this spectator animal fight, is not itself a pleasurable spectacle, similar to the pleasure one can derive from listening to a sweet voice or such like, but the pleasure itself is a very shallow pleasure not derived from the actual struggle, but derived from the amusement factor alone, which reflects a very shallow representation of the essence of an exalted human faculty; ‘pleasure’, finding pleasure in the comedy factor of such shallow things, which in themselves are not pleasurable, nevertheless, enables specifically these lowly things, which are not themselves pleasurable, to find [some aspect of] the inner most faculty of desire - pleasure.
Similarly, regarding ‘Avodah’, - the service and worship of HaShem, by rectifying the good through the positive Mitzvos, and the nullifying of evil by abstaining from transgressing the prohibitive Mitzvos, HaShem’s pleasure does not come [directly] due to the actual performance of the Mitzvah, but due to HaShem allowing His pleasure to descend from His essence [in order] to enjoy and have pleasure from the performance of these Mitzvos.
Gimel: The Two Types of Tzaddikim and Their Spiritual Roles
It is explained in ‘Likkutei Torah’, regarding the ‘Kenigin’ [contest for amusement] of the Livyoson with the Shor Habor, that the Livyoson refers to the Tzaddikim whose Avodah is primarily in the spiritual realm, in that they are דִיםוּמְיַחֵד יִח they unite supernal unifications. The greatness of these Tzaddikim is far greater than the greatness of Tzaddikim whose ‘Avodah’ is through dealing with materialism in the physical performance of Mitzvos because their progress [their ascent from level to level] is analogous to the fish of the sea [The Livyoson] which quickly glides from one end of the world to the other using its fins, so too with the progress of these Tzaddikim spiritually; in one leap they ascend and reach very high up.
This is the meaning of the words; “In the future the Livyoson will slaughter the Shor Habor”, [this means] that the Livyoson will elevate the Shor Habor, through its own leap, which is why it says it is going to be achieved by the use of its ‘Fins’, because it is primarily with the use of its fins and because of its fins that the Livyoson can have such an elevation etc. And in more detail, as the Mitteler Rebbe explains in ‘Toras Chayim’ as mentioned above that the Livyoson’s...
