Chapter 3
“So, he split the group of people into two camps...” (ibid. verse 8)
After Yaakov heard the report from the messengers that Eisav was coming to attack him with an army of 400 men, Yaakov split his camp in half. He said that he did this so that even if one camp is destroyed, the other camp will be able to escape and be saved.
The Alter Rebbe will explain the deeper meaning of why he split his camp into specifically two groups.
Now, the reason that Yaakov split his family into two camps can be understood by prefacing the known difference between the Worlds of Tohu and Tikkun.
In the following explanation, the idea of Sefiros being arranged in “3 channels” or “one beneath each other” are metaphors:
The idea of the Sefiros of Tohu being “one beneath the other” represents how each Sefira is separate from the other Sefiros. From the perspective of each Sefira, there are two possibilities: The Sefira itself, or the other, different sefiros. For example, from the perspective of Chesed, there is either Chesed, or some other way that is not Chesed. There is no middle ground. In a certain sense, the “camp” of the Sefiros of Tohu is divided in half: Either you are with me or against me.
This contrasts the Sefiros of Tikkun which are in “3 Channels”: This means that there are three possibilities, 1-the Sefira itself, 2-the Sefira that works in the opposite way, and 3-how these two can work together. From the perspective of each Sefira of Tikkun it is not “with me or against me,” there is a higher truth that is bigger and truer than me that encompasses all of us equally, and since we are both part of that greater truth, we can work together to accomplish the ultimate objective.
In the World of Tohu, the Sefiros were separated, one beneath the other,
- Chochma
- Bina
- Daas
- Chesed
- Gevura
- Tiferes
- Netzach
- Hod
- Yesod
- Malchus
but in the World of Tikkun, they form channels.
- Bina Chochma
- Daas
- Gevura Chesed
- Tiferes
- Hod Netzach
- Yesod
- Malchus
Meaning 3 Channels – Right, Left and Center – for the Center channel is one that also connects and unifies the Right and Left channels, so that they operate towards a single goal.
As is known, that the sefira of Tiferes is a connector between Chesed-Kindness and Gevurah-Severity, and it joins them together to fulfill one purpose.
The middle Channel shows on how the other Sefiros are both part of something greater, and therefore can merge together.
And therefore, Yisroel, who are on the level of Tikkun, say “Kadosh,” three times specifically.
In the Kedusha prayer that is recited in Chazan’s repetition of the Amida, we recite three verses. The first verse is from Yeshaya (6:3) discussing the Serafim angels and how they praise Hashem, “וְקָּרָּא זֶה אֶל זֶה וְאָּמַר קָּדוֹש קָּדוֹש קָּדוֹש ה ' צְבָּאוֹת מְלֹא כָּל הָּאָּרֶ ץ כְּבוֹדוֹ -And one [angel] called to the other and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.’”
The fact that we say the same word “קָּדוֹש -holy" three times in a row, is because our service of Hashem is connected to the number three, corresponding to Tiferes, the Middle Channel, that unites the two opposite Channels of Kindness and Severity.
And it is written about them, the Jewish People, “And you will be to me as a Segulah-Treasure,” which is similar to the word for the vowel “Segol,” which is comprised of three dots – right, left and center.
The three dots represent the three Channels, and the center dot represents Tiferes that merges the Right and Left Channels.
