forbid, in Hashem’s Oneness of being the only Existence, רַ ק ש ֶזֶּה הָיָה מֵּחֲמַת הַסְתָּרָה . rather, this perception was only because Hashem was hiding Himself. He realizes, that in truth, Hashem is still the only True Existence, and nothing is separate from Him, and He is still fully in control of everything that happens in this world.
ְךַא , מ"מ , זוֹ הַהִּתְ בּוֹנְנוּת אֵּינוֹ רַ ק בחי' ש ְ מִּ יעָה הנ"ל , ש ֶמֵּּבִּין אֲבָל בֶּאֱמֶת אֵּין אֶצְלוֹ כ"כ בַּחַי' הַש ָּגָה וּרְ אִּי'
However, this type of contemplation is still only on the level of “hearing about” Hashem’s Oneness through an external factor, i.e., the miracle, that he comes to understand about Hashem’s Oneness but he does not truly grasp it in a way of “seeing” it.
But on Shabbos, it happens automatically that every Jewish person can connect himself to Hashem in contemplative prayer,
לִּהְיוֹת בָּטֵּל מִּ קַ מֵּי' מֵּחֲמַת בחי' אַ יִּ ן הַנִּּזְכָּר [לְעֵּיל ], to reach a level of giving himself over completely to Hashem because of “seeing” the ‘אַ יִּ ן-transcendent’ power of Hashem behind creation, mentioned above.
We said above that a wise person sees how everything is created from the ‘אַ יִּ ן- transcendent’ power of Hashem. On Shabbos, every Jew is elevated to a level where they can reach an awareness of the ‘אַ יִּ ן-transcendent’ Truth of Hashem on the level of “seeing.”
(Obviously, this does not mean that this awareness happens automatically, it means that we are automatically elevated to a level where it is possible to reach that awareness through our effort in contemplative prayer.)
ש ֶבְּש ַבָּת יֵּש תְּלָת קְ ש ָרִּ ין ק וּדְ שָא בְּ רִּ יך הוא וְש ַבָּת וְיִּש ְ רָ אֵּל , וְאַף עַל גַּב דְּ אִּיהוּ לָא חֲזִּי [מַזָלֵּ יה חָ זֵּ יה] כוּ'.
Since on Shabbos, the Shabbos itself connects the Jewish soul to Hashem, and even if he is not consciously aware of this, the higher,
subconscious part of his soul sees this.
וְזֶהוּ נִּ קְ רָ א בְּרָ כָה בחי' רְ אִּ יָ ה הַנַּ "ל , This level of awareness of Hashem available on Shabbos is referred to as ‘ב ְרָׁ כָׁה -blessing’ which is related to the word that means to draw down and reveal, and represents the level of “seeing” Hashem’s Oneness, as mentioned before.
[בְּרָ כָה מִּ לָ שוֹ ן ] דָּבָר הַמִּּ תְרַ בֶּה וּמִּ תְ גַּדֵּּל , תֹויְהִּל ךיִּרָצ תֶמֱאֶּבֶ ש דַע םיִּקֹלֱא לֵּּדַּגְתִּ יֶ ש הַכֹּל בְּטֵּלִּים .
The term ‘ב ְרָׁ כָׁה -blessing’ also has the meaning of ‘increasing’ something and making it greater, which in our case refers to making greater everyone’s awareness of Hashem, until everyone will know that they are completely dependent on Him and should serve Him.
ָּתַא ךּורָּב ּוהֶזְו [ ה םָלֹועָה ךֶלֶמ ּוניֵּקֹלֱא 'ה ] This is also another meaning of what we say when we make a blessing: “‘ ך ורָׁ ב-it should be made greater’ the awareness of the fact that ‘אַתָּ ה 'ה םָלֹועָה ךֶלֶמ ּוניֵּקֹלֱא-You, Hashem, our G-d, is the King of the world.”
וְזֶהוּ וַ יְ בָרֶ 'ּוכְו םיִּהֹלֱא ך This is also the meaning of what Hashem said regarding Shabbos: “וַ יְ בָׁרֶ ך-and He [Hashem] blessed and made greater אֱלֹ קִּ ים-Hashem’s power invested in creation.”
אַף עַל פִּּי ּו יַחְל םיִּהֹלֱא 'יחב אּוהֶ שת עוֹלָמוֹת, מִּ כָּל מָקוֹם 'ּוכ ךֵּרָביִּו
Even though this level of Elokim is the power of Hashem invested in giving life to the creations, nonetheless, Hashem “blessed” it and made it greater on Shabbos, but elevating it to a higher level,
This process is referred to as ‘עליית המלכות-the elevation of Malchus, Hashem’s creative power’ from investment in the creations back to the World of Atzilus. This happens on Shabbos.
This is compared a person who finishes speaking, and retracts back into himself, into his thoughts. When that happens, Malchus reaches a very high level. This is the meaning of “Hashem blessed Elokim” on Shabbos, He elevated His speech back into Himself. At that level, the creations are insignificant by themselves, since they do not seem separate from their Source.
ש ֶהַכֹּל בְּטֵּלִּין נֶגְדּוֹ יָת' , This causes that the creations can reach a much higher level of feeling insignificant relative to Hashem.
וְלָכֵּן אֵּין ש וּם זְמַן , רַ ק ש ֵּש ֶת יָמִּ ים תֵּּעָש ֶה ךיֶהֹלֱא 'הַל תָּבַ ש יִּעיִּבְּ שַה םֹויְו הָכאָלְמ . Therefore, on Shabbos, it is as though time does not exist, since only during the six days of the week is there any need to work and change things, but on Shabbos, there is no need to change anything, since we feel that there is only Hashem.
Time means change, the ability for things to change. On Shabbos we feel how, in Hashem, nothing needs to change, as though time does not exist. (See the Sicha of Parshas Bamidbar 5751 for more on this.)
לַּדְגִּ יֶ ש אָּבַר 'יִּמְ ש שַּדַקְתִּיְו לַּדַּגְתִּי כ"ג ּוהֶזְו ש ְ מוֹ , This is the meaning of “Hashem’s Great Name should be made even greater,” meaning that our awareness and respect for Him should be made greater.
וְזֶהוּ בִּּרְ כַּת ה' הִּיא תַעֲש ִּ יר, וְלֹא יוֹסִּף עֶצֶב בָּהּ , בֹוּטַה אָּב ךֵּרָּבְתִּמ םֵּּ שַהֶ שְּכ . This is the meaning of (Mishlei 10:22): “when Hashem is ‘blessed,’ you will be rich,” and then there will be no sadness, for, when Hashem is “blessed” then good things come automatically.
In other words, when Hashem’s Light and Power is “blessed” in the sense of made greater and more revealed, then everyone will automatically benefit. This happens automatically on Shabbos, when Malchus, Hashem’s creative power, becomes elevated to the level of Atzilus.
מַה ש ֶאֵּין כֵּּן בַּחֲנֻכָּה , ש ֶאֵּינוֹ רַ ק בחי' ש ְ מִּ יעָה בחי' הוֹדָאָה כוּ' , וְהוּא לְמַטָּה מִּ מַּדְ רֵּ גָה, This is not the case regarding Chanuka, which is only the level of ‘hearing about’ Hashem’s Oneness, in a way of ‘הוֹדָׁאָׁה -admitting’ that Hashem is in control of everything and Life of everything etc., which is a lower level than Shabbos which is ‘seeing’ Hashem’s Oneness on the level of ‘בְּרָ כָה-drawn down and revealed’ revelation of Hashem.
ןַמְז רֵּתֹוי ךיִּרָצכָּל כַּ ך הִּתְ בּוֹנְנוּת , Therefore, on Chanuka, more time is needed to reflect on Hashem’s Oneness to come to the full recognition of Hashem in a way of ‘seeing,’
עַד ש ֶתִּּ כְלֶה רֶ גֶל מִּן הַש ּ וּק, until he can metaphorically “remove his ‘רֶ גֶל-legs/feet’ from walking in the marketplace”:
רֶ גֶל הִּיא אֱמוּנָה , the term ‘רֶ גֶל-legs/feet’ represents his faith in Hashem; A person’s faith is the base of his entire connection to Hashem, like the legs that support the entire body and carry it where it needs to go. This comparison of legs to faith is explained in Tanya Igeres Hakodesh in the first letter.
מִּן הַש ּ וּק ש ֶהִּיא רְ ש וּת הָ רַ בִּּים ש ֶהוּא עֲנָפִּים ש ֶמִּּ תְ פַּש ְּ טִּים , ש ֶהֵּם הֲש ִּנוּיִּ י ם הַנִּּרְ אִּ י ם בָּעוֹלָם , and the goal is to remove our faith from ‘the marketplace’ which represents the “רְ ת ו שהָׁ רַ ב ִּים-domain of plurality,” which is the physical world where everything looks and feels separate from Hashem and from each other thing, which are the ever-changing events that we see in this world that we do not see how they are directed by Hashem.
Removing our faith from the “marketplace” means to not take the world at face value, and to stop believing that things just happen based on physical causes.
Rather, we train ourselves to believe that everything that happens with us and with everyone is only directed by Hashem for a Divine purpose.
רַ ק [לִּ רְ א וֹ ת] וּלְהִּתְ בּוֹנֵּן וּלְהִּתְ חַזֵּּק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ כָּ ל כַּ ך עַד ש ֶתִּּ קְ בַּע הָאֱמוּנָה בְּלִּבּוֹ ש ֶהוּא אַ חְדוּת פְּ שוּטָה וד"ל . Rather, the person should strengthen himself to look into and reflect upon his belief in Hashem’s Oneness, until this belief in Hashem’s True Oneness will be firmly planted in his heart.
On Chanuka, a person needs to look into and recognize the miracles that Hashem performs for us, and use that insight to reshape how he looks at everything in the world in general, and his own life in particular.
This is the inner meaning that the Sages “established eight days of Chanuka for Halel and for ‘הוֹדָאָה-admitting’ that Hashem is the True Master of everything that happens, and is his true Source of Life, and therefore, the ultimate pleasure in his life is from connecting to Him.
These days were not only established for giving thanks to Hashem, but more so, to come to a deeper recognition of Hashem. By thinking about the miracles that Hashem did for us then and does for us today, we are able to realize that Hashem is always performing miracles for us, and He is always in control of everything that happens, and has a plan for everything in this world.
This is the inner meaning that the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah is from the time the sun sets and it starts getting dark, until the “legs and feet” of people are no longer walking in the marketplace:
When it begins to get spiritually dark, during the mundane days of the week, and especially during the dark time of exile, we need to illuminate ourselves spiritually. We do so by becoming conscious of and deeply recognizing our belief in Hashem’s Oneness. This process lights us up spiritually, and we need to be active in this process until it “removes our legs and feet from the marketplace”: The “feet and legs” represent our base, our foundation, the marketplace is the plurality of the material world and its beliefs. Removing our “feet and legs” means taking away and shifting our conscious beliefs from those of the “marketplace,” of worldly perspective that has materialistic goals and thinks that each person and the world in general seem to operate “by themselves” G-d forbid. Instead, we realign our consciousness with our inner beliefs that only Hashem makes everything happen, and the only goal in life is to serve Him and connect to Him. This allows us to “see” Hashem everywhere, even in the “marketplace.”
This lesson from Chanuka also applies to Yud Tes Kisleiv, when we celebrate the miracle of the Alter Rebbe’s release from prison and the vindication of the teachings of Chassidus. We need to focus on the miracles that happened then and apply them to our lives today.
One lesson to take from those miracles is that Hashem planned out the entire arrest and liberation of the Alter Rebbe only in order to bring about an even greater awareness of the importance of learning and applying Chassidus. We need to look at any obstacle towards learning and applying Chassidus as a test from Hashem, the purpose of which is only to enable us to reach and even deeper commitment and connection to the teachings of Chassidus, so that we will be able to recognize Hashem and serve Him even better by overcoming those challenges.
Another lesson is similar to that of Chanuka: The purpose of Chassidus is like that of the menorah, to bring spiritual illumination into our lives. This is accomplished by pushing ourselves to think about Hashem’s Oneness during (or before) prayer on a regular basis. This will enable to not only “hear about” Hashem’s True Oneness, but to come to “see” it as our reality. This will cause our true inner belief in Hashem’s Oneness to become firmly implanted in our hearts, and from there to our actions.
Through the spreading of Chassidus into our own mind and hearts, and by sharing it with others, we bring the Light of Hashem into the entire world. This will bring about and hasten the complete Geulah with the coming of Moshiach, when every part of us, and every person, will see Hashem’s True Oneness, and we will then also see the lighting of the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash as well!
לזכות כל ילדי החסידים שיתנו חסידישע נחת לכ"ק אדמו"ר ולהוריהם שיחיו ולזכות יוסף יצחק בן ביילא איטא ולאה בת חנה דבורה רייזל וכל יוצאי חלציהם שיחיו, שיזכו ללמוד חסידות וליליך בדרכי החסידות, ויפוצו מעיינות אור החסידות
ולעילוי נשמת מרת מינדל בת ר' דוד ע"ה פעללער לרגל היארצייט שלה, ח"י כסלו, ער"ה לחסידות
Sponsored by: Rabbi Roberto and Margie Szerer, in loving memory of Gladys Szerer-Sarah Bat Shalom Z''L Victor Sasson-Victor Chayim Ben Saul Z’’L Enrique Szerer-Hersh Ben Aryeh Meyer HaCohen Z’’L Andrea Szerer-Leah Bat Chayim HaCohen Z’’L
לזכות חיזוק ההתקשרות לכ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו נשיא של דור ה"שביעי לראשון, אדמו"ר הזקן" ולזכות גאולה קרובה לכל השבויים בארץ הק', ורפואה שלימה לכל הפצועים, ונצחון גמור לעם ה' נגד כל הקליפות ימ"ש, שנזכה בעזרת ה' לפדה בשלום נפשי של כללות ישראל מגלות להגאולה האמיתית והשלימה תיכף ומיד ממש!
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