Chapter 3
In order to reveal this joy derived from the Infinite Light of Hashem within the soul of a person, this is accomplished through Aharon. He is the one who kindles the lamps to be in a manner of “light and joy.”
This is because Aharon is one of the “Seven Shepherds” that nourish and bring down from Above, from the Infinite Light of Hashem, to all the souls of the Jewish People. And Aharon is the Shepherd that nourishes and brings down to all the souls of the Jewish People the “light and joy” in the service of Hashem, as discussed previously.
In this revelation that he brings down there are two aspects: 1) “setting up the lamps,” 2) “when Aharon lights up the lamps.” “Setting up the lamps” refers to how a person sets up and guards a path of spiritual service of connecting to Hashem in prayer with his heart and soul, when he remembers Hashem, his G-d, using all the depth of his mind and heart, working very hard to contemplate on the greatness of Hashem according to the capability of the person.
Arranging one’s prayer and contemplation is called “setting up the lamps,” since he has to “put everything in place” in order to achieve the proper effect of awakening a love for Hashem. This process is done through the person’s own effort, “from below to Above.”
“Lighting up the lamps” refers to drawing down the joy that descends from Above, to uplift the soul and bind it to the Living G-d, who is the Blessed Life of Life, the source of life and the source of all pleasure, Who transcends the entire Order of Spiritual Worlds, this joy from Above uplifts the soul beyond the limited capability of the person to experience joy and love created from contemplation. Rather, he is assisted from Above to experience an incomparably greater joy and love of Hashem than he would be able to achieve with only his own efforts.
This is called “Lighting up the lamps,” since he already has set up “lamps” of love and joy in Hashem through his own contemplation, and the revelation from Above elevates the existing love and joy in a Hashem to a higher level. This great love is called “with all your might (limitless)” (Devarim 6:5) which is revealed during the Recital of Shema.
In order achieve a Reciting Shema and experience love of Hashem “with all your might,” they (the sages) instituted reciting the Verses of Praise before reciting Shema, since “when the praises of G-d are in their throats, then they have a double-edged sword in their hands.” (Tehillim 149:6)
Meaning, that by singing the praises of Hashem with our throat and mouth, it is like our “sword,” our weapon, to cut down the forces of unholiness that prevent us from experiencing the love of Hashem when reciting Shema. That is why they are the preparation for reciting Shema.
This is because, as the Zohar says, “the time of prayer of a time of war,” meaning that first a person needs to fight with himself to prepare for prayer, by using the power of his soul to overcome all distractions or hinderances from inside of himself or outside of himself. This inner battle takes place mainly at the beginning of prayer, during reciting the “Verses of Praise.” By winning that battle, he is then able to fully concentrate during reciting Shema on his contemplation of Hashem, so he can experience love of Hashem “with all of his might.”
This is the idea of arranging the lamps of the Menorah to burn “from evening until morning,” since there is a principle that “first there is darkness and afterwards there is light,” When Hashem created the world, He first created night, and then day. Similarly in our service of Hashem, we start off with a “darker” love of Hashem created through our own contemplation, followed by a “lit up” love of Hashem that is illuminated with a revelation from Above.
Meaning, that the light and joy in Hashem shines in a person’s soul slowly, a bit at a time, starting from a place of spiritual darkness that becomes slowly more spiritually illuminated.
