However, in the World of Tohu, which existed in a state of fragmentation, with the Sefiros being one under another and not unified, there were only two lines – since Chesed was by itself and Gevurah was by itself.
And, as this idea is explained elsewhere: In Tohu, the lights were very powerful and the vessels were very weak. Therefore, due to the weakness of the vessel in comparison to the light, the vessel was unable to contain the two opposing forces of Chesed and Gevurah together.
As it is, by way of analogy, that a person whose intellect is insufficiently developed will not be able to functionally contain two opposing possibilities.
Rather, if his mind will lean towards a favorable judgement, he will be unable to comprehend any reasoning to support a guilty verdict, and he will not tolerate any emotional draw towards a guilty verdict in his heart, instead, only accepting goodness and kindness.
And the opposite is also true, if he would be leaning intellectually and emotionally towards a guilty verdict, he would not tolerate any possibility of a favorable verdict.
Thus, he is only ever operating according to one “channel” or set of principles – at times the right side (Chesed) in favor, and at other times the left side (Gevurah) to a guilty verdict.
However, in the World of Tikkun, when there is a third channel that includes Tiferes discerns between Chesed and Gevurah, so that also in a time of strict judgement, there is a possibility to find favor, and vice versa, since in Tikkun the lights are diminished and the vessels are substantial, so the vessels are broad enough to contain two opposing approaches.
However, regarding Yaakov and Eisav, where Yaakov had to draw to himself the Encompassing Light of Tohu, meaning the unlimited light of Tohu, Yaakov had to present an offering that reached that level of Tohu.
And it is known that any offering must match the characteristics of the level that is being drawn down, since the manner of the offering determines the drawing-down.
That being the case, since Tohu has only two lines, as mentioned previously, Yaakov had to establish himself in this way as well.
And this is the meaning that Yaakov “split his camp into two,” in order to follow the pattern of the World of Tohu, in which the Sefiros were set up one under the other.
In this way he connected to the World of Tohu in order to drawn down the Encompassing Light from there.
And from this reason itself, it can be understood why Yaakov offered to Eisav “the mincha-offering” of 200 goats, since the function of this mincha-offering was to draw down the Encompassing Light. And this is similar to the concept of Korbonos-Sacrifices, which are an elevation that elicits a drawing-down.
Nevertheless, Yaakov’s offering to Eisav was not in accordance with the precepts of the Torah, since Korbonos-Sacrifices are taken specifically from kosher domesticated animals that were slaughtered in a kosher fashion. (However, also the slaughter of a sacrifice in the Beis Hamikdash, is kosher when performed by even a non-Kohen).
The Alter Rebbe notes here that the regular sacrifices offered by the forefathers to Hashem were considered acceptable according to the Torah even though they were not Kohanim.
But we do not find a Korbon-Sacrifice in the Torah that is offered from a living animal (except in the case of the Goat sent to Azazel on Yom Kippur).
Generally, an offering to Hashem is only from a slaughtered animal. The only exception to this is the goat that was sent on Yom Kippur. This goat was thrown off a cliff, called Azazel, in the desert, and died on the way down the cliff. Besides for this, no living animal was offered as a sacrifice.
Also, when Korbonos-Sacrifices were brought, only the fats and blood was offered on the mizbeiach-Alter.
But this mincha-offering that Yaakov sent to Eisav included also non-kosher animals, as the verse states, “nursing camels.” Likewise, they were alive and not slaughtered.
All the offerings to Hashem performed by our forefathers followed the rules of the Torah, only kosher and properly slaughtered animals. So, why was Yaakov’s offering to Hashem to bring down the Light of Tohu performed in a way inconsistent with the rules of the Torah?
Now, the idea is as follows:
Because, the elevation, which was Yaakov’s offering, served to draw down from the Encompassing Lights of the World of Tohu, and the elevation and corresponding drawing-down from the World of Tohu are different from the elevation and corresponding drawing down of the World of Tikkun, which is accomplished through the Korbonos that are mentioned in the Torah.
