Chapter 1
We need to understand: Why is the holiday of Pesach celebrated on the day that the miracle occurred, unlike on Chanukah and Purim, when the holiday is celebrated on the day of rest from the persecution?
The holiday of Purim was originally celebrated on the 14th of Adar, which is the day after the Jewish People defeated their enemies, on the 13th of Adar. Similarly, Chanuka was celebrated starting on the 25th of Kislev, the day after the Jewish people defeated their enemies on the 24th of Kislev.
However, Pesach was originally celebrated on the 15th of Nissan, the same day when Hashem killed the firstborns of Egypt, which was the completion of the victory over the Egyptian enslavement. How was it possible for the Jewish People in Egypt to celebrate their freedom from slavery while they were still in the country of their oppression, surrounded by their enemies? In fact, the main celebration of Pesach was in the beginning of the night of the 15th of Nissan, which was before the killing of the firstborn of Egypt, which happened only later, at midnight!
We can understand this by prefacing an explanation of the following two concepts: Hashem has Light that ‘Memalei-Permeates’ the worlds, and He has Light that ‘Soiveiv-Encompasses’ and surrounds the worlds.
Memalei-Permeating, refers to G-dly light and energy which is drawn down from one level to the next, from the world of souls, then to the world of angels, until it is drawn down into this physical world. For it is known that this world receives its sustenance from the 70 spiritual ministers, and the ministers receive from the angels, which in turn receive from a higher level, which receives from a yet higher level above them.
However, Soveiv-Encompassing is the level of G-dly light and energy that is not drawn down into orderly levels from one to the next; rather it is drawn down to all levels at once.
By way of analogy of the soul, there are also two types of transmissions of energy:
- That which is drawn from one level to the next – from intellect to emotions, and from emotions to conscious thought, and from conscious thought to speech, and so forth.
- That which shines on all levels as one, not by way of being drawn down in an orderly fashion from one level to the next.
We see in the body something corresponding to “Soveiv-Encompassing”: When someone thinks that he wants to move his foot, his foot will move immediately and instantly. It does not take any time for the thought in his mind to travel through all the levels of his intellect and emotion, or through his other body parts until it reaches his foot.
This shows that the messages of the brain reach the foot also in a way that is not stepwise. Rather, the brain has a direct and equal connection with each part of the body. This connection is not dependent on any other mental, emotional, or bodily entities.
Similarly, Above, there are two manners of the Flow of Life and Light from Hashem:
- Memalei Kol Almin-Permeates all Worlds is the ray which is revealed and drawn down according to the order of levels. Regarding this, it is written (Yeshaya 6:3), “The entire world is filled with ‘His Glory’,” and the Targum Yonasan explains that ‘His Glory’ here means ‘His Radiance.’ In other words, the verse is saying that the whole world is full of the ‘Radiance’ of Hashem’s Light as it comes down into each level, according to the individual capacity of that level.
- However, the Soveiv-Encompassing Light is not directly revealed, only an external aspect of it is revealed. However, this revelation is present in everything but not according to its level, since “All are equal before Him,” souls and angels, spirituality and physicality, and even the kelipos (unholiness). As it is written (Yirmiya 23:24), “For the heavens and the earth I fill.” I Myself—Hashem’s Being and Essence, “fills” the heavens and earth entirely equally.
Now, regarding Pesach it is written (Shemos 12:23), “And Hashem passed over the entryway.” Meaning, that the miracle was by means of a revelation of a light in a way of “skipping over,” and not by way of the orderly progression of spiritual levels (Hishtalshelus), from one level to the next. Rather, this revelation came in a way of ‘Soveiv Kol Almin-Encompassing all Worlds,’ as it is written (Shemos 12:12), “And I skipped over” – “I and not an angel.”
The reason this was necessary, unlike in the story of the camp of Sancheirev, when the enemies of the Jewish people were killed by an angel and not by Hashem Himself, as it says (Melachim II, 19:35), “And the angel of Hashem went out and struck down the camp of Ashur.” Similarly regarding Sisera’s army, Hashem sent angels to destroy them instead of “Hashem Himself,” as it were.
The reason: There, it was simply a mission to carry out a task that was ready to be done – go and strike them! This is unlike the case of Mitzraim in the Striking Down of the Firstborn, “Every firstborn” was killed, and they needed discernment to know which was the firstborn to his father, since they were steeped in immorality and it was unclear who each person’s father was, thus making it difficult to determine the firstborn of a given father.
Even a firstborn of the mother was difficult to know, since there were those who were older and therefore it wasn’t obvious who was born first, since only in a household of children is it obvious which one is the oldest and born first, and this is not within the capacity of an angel to discern these matters.
The reason that is written in the holy Sefarim, (the Siddur of the Arizal, specifically), that an angel is unable to descend to such a place of impurity, is far-fetched. In fact, we see a proof from the story of the camp of Ashur, which was punished through an angel, showing that an angel was, indeed, able to descend into the unholiness of the enemy camp of Ashur.
Regardless, whatever reason is given for the fact that the death of Egyptian firstborn was from “Hashem Himself” as opposed to an angel, the intention is the same, that at the time of the death of the Egyptian firstborns there was a revelation from the level of Hashem as He is ‘Soveiv Kol Almin-Encompasses all Worlds.’
This is the meaning of saying that the death of the Egyptian firstborns was from “I” – Hashem’s Being and Essence, and not from the level of how Hashem is ‘Memalei Kol Almin-Permeates all Worlds.’
With all of this explanation, we can understand the answer to the question asked previously: Yom Tov is when there is an indwelling of Hashem’s Holiness from Above, and this revelation and indwelling is not possible to be manifest in our world without the initial removal of the External Covering of this world, which is created by the forces of unholiness that interfere with this revelation, as is written (Devarim 13:6), “And you shall destroy the evil from within you.”
Therefore, regarding Purim, first the Jewish People needed to “Kill 75,000 of their mortal enemies,” (see Ester 9:16), who were actually from the nation of Amalek, which is a powerful kelipah (force of unholiness), as is written (Bamidbar 24:20), “Amalek was the first of the nations [to attack the Jewish People], and its end will be permanent destruction.” It is also written (Devarim 25:19), “You must completely wipe out Amalek,” and (Ester 9:10) “the ten sons of Haman were killed.”
Only after this, they established (ibid. 9:17-19) “a day of celebration and joy... and sending portions of food to one’s friends (mishloach manos), and gifts to the poor,” which signifies a revelation of holiness as the cause of the celebration.
By way of analogy: When a king wishes to live in a new house, first it has to be cleaned from all filth and dirt before he can move into it. Similarly, before there can be a revelation of the Holiness of Hashem in this world, the world needs to be cleaned from the forces of unholiness.
This is why this process of establishing the Yom Tov of Purim required two separate days – one day, the 13th of Adar, to remove the concealment on holiness, and then the next day, the 14th of Adar was the revelation of holiness. This is because the revelation on Purim was from the level of how Hashem is ‘Memalei Kol Almin-Permeates all Worlds;’ this Divine Light comes from one level to the next, step by step, first removing the impurity, and only then revealing the good. But they cannot both happen at one time.
However, the miracle of Pesach, which came about through a revelation of the level of how Hashem is ‘Soveiv Kol Almin-Encompasses all Worlds,’ which does not become differentiated and shines to all in the exact same way, this makes it possible to have both of these two things [removing the evil and revealing the good] all at once, so that there could be a punishing of the Egyptians – through the Striking down the Firstborn of Egypt – and, at the same time, a revelation of Holiness to the Jewish People, to the extent that they sang the Hallel in praise of Hashem for this great miracle.
Now the Alter Rebbe will address a different version of the story of the night of Pesach in Egypt, which would disprove the need of the above explanation that the miracle was from how Hashem is ‘Soveiv Kol Almin-Encompasses all Worlds’:
Now, regarding what is written in certain Sefarim that this occurrence of the Death of the Firstborn was prior to midnight, but the other event of the revelation of Hashem to the Jewish People was after midnight, this is not the case. Rather, they both occurred at the exact same time.
According to that variant version of the story, our above explanation is not conclusive. Since, if the death of the Egyptian firstborn occurred before midnight, and the revelation of Hashem happened after midnight, then we can say that Pesach is no different from Purim and Chanuka, when the unholiness was first removed, and only afterwards there was a celebration of the revelation of Hashem.
However, as mentioned in the beginning of the maamar, this is not the correct version of the story. In truth, the death of the firstborns of Egypt only started at midnight, while the Jewish people were in the middle of celebrating their redemption.
In fact, the death of the Egyptian firstborn occurred after the Jewish People finished eating the Korban Pesach and the Matzah, and had already started singing praises to Hashem, even before the death of the Egyptian firstborn. This means that at the same time that there was still great unholiness in Egypt, the Jewish People were already experiencing a great revelation of Hashem, which was expressed in their singing praises to Hashem.
In order for there to be a revelation that was accessible to the Jewish people in the midst of the intense Egypt unholiness, this revelation of Hashem had to come from how Hashem ‘Soveiv Kol Almin-Encompasses all worlds’ equally, where there is no differentiation between Holiness and impurity.
Chapter 2
However, we need to understand how the Light of Hashem, ‘Soveiv Kol Almin-Encompasses all worlds,’ is equally manifest everywhere and equalizes everything, as was stated previously, and before Him (Tehillim 139:12) “Darkness is like light,” and (Iyov 35:7) “If you will act righteously, what does that give to Him?”
The Light of how Hashem Encompasses all worlds equally doesn’t differentiate between holiness and unholiness. This is how it can also shine in a place of unholiness, unlike the Light of how Hashem Permeates all worlds. This is how the Jewish people were able to celebrate Divine revelation in the midst of the unholiness of Egypt, since the revelation was from how Hashem Encompasses all worlds.
Then how is it possible that from that very same level of how Hashem ‘Soveiv-Encompasses’ everything equally, specifically from there comes the power of Striking down the Egyptians? If this level is revealed to holiness and unholiness equally, then why does it bring destruction on the wicked Egyptians? Seemingly, it should be revealed to the Egyptians the same way it is revealed to the Jewish people?
The explanation is, based on what is written in Pri Eitz Chaim, in the explanation of the section of the Hagaddah beginning, “עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ...”
