Holy Days
Free translation and adaptation from a discourse
of
Rabbi Sholom Dov Baer Schneerson
Chanukah 5678-1918
by Rabbi
David Rothschild
Preface
I. Divine Dynamics
II. High-Level Decimation
III. Holy Eight
These discourses presuppose a familiarity with Torah. Perhaps for these reasons, only a handful has been translated into English and published as books by the Kehot Publication Society.
Over the course of two hundred years, the Lubavitcher Rebbes delivered thousands of discourses. Now for the first time they are being made public on the Internet.
In the texts that follow an attempt was made to abridge and elucidate their content. To provide background information for difficult terms and concepts, additional material from other Chassidic discourses, appears in brackets. The remaining content is a free translation.
On Chanukah we
are commanded to place the menorah in the front doorway facing the outside. The
12th century commentary, Rashi, says “the front doorway refers to
the door which opens onto a courtyard. In those times several homes shared a
common courtyard.
Rashi’s
grandsons, the Tosefos, disagreed. They were of the opinion the menorah must
always face a public thoroughfare. This would mean that when a house is adjacent
to a street, the menorah must be placed in doorway which faces the street. If a
courtyard separates the house from the street, in their opinion the menorah
must be placed in the doorway of the courtyard so that it is visible from the
street.
The Talmud Sages stated that the practice -- transmitted through the generations from Second Temple times – was to position the menorah on the left side of the doorway, opposite the mezuzah. If there is no mezuzah the menorah was to be placed on the right side of the entrance. The significance of these details is revealed by Kabbala.
When the Greeks conquered Israel, they weren’t interested in enslaving Jews. Their intent was to force the abandonment of Torah and mitzvahs.
Among their decrees was to compel Jews to inscribe on the horns of their cattle, “We have no portion in the G-d of Israel.” Cattle represent the Left Side. [In Ezekiel’s vision, the flaming chariot had the face of a steer on its left side.] Disobedience carried the death penalty.
[The spiritual apparatus by which G-d created and sustains the universe are ten emanations called seferahs. The seferahs are aligned in three sets: right, left and center. The Right Side refers to the chain of emanations where Kindness is the primary seferah. The Left Side denotes the set where Severity is the prominent.]
The difference between the Right and Left Side concerns their dynamic. The Right Side provides life-force by drawing the recipient close. As evil can’t countenance G-d’s light, it is unable to receive vitality from the Right Side.
The Left Side grants life-force through the opposite dynamic. It pushes away and constricts the Divine light. After sundry restrictions and repulsion, this light is reduced in intensity and substance. From this low level evil can derive vitality.
Holy Embrace
When the Right
Side draws near an object, the object embraces and becomes one with its source
of life. The source then reveals itself to the recipient, filling it with even
more Goodness and light.
Repulsion
functions in the opposite manner. The object is pushed farther and farther away
until it enjoys little, if any, of the revealed light.
This process
can be better understood by way of illustration. An important person endears an
ordinary fellow by engaging him in extended conversation, sharing ideas and
facets of his life. But when he wants to shun someone he speaks in an abrupt
manner.
To sum up, The
Right Side – Goodness, bestows vitality via closeness and revelation. Evil
can’t face the light. Its life-force can only be provided by the Left Side –
Severity, through which light is repulsed and concealed.
The Greeks oppressed the Jews on a spiritual level. They wanted to “level the playing field” by forcing Jews to receive life-force from the same place they did -- the Left Side. That’s the reason behind the decree to inscribe “We have no portion in the G-d of Israel” on the horns of cattle. Cattle represent the Left Side. Horns are devoid of vitality. They are the physical manifestation of spiritual waste matter – the bottommost descent of the Left.
When the Hashmanites rose and defeated the Greeks, they instituted the practice of lighting of the menorah on the left side of door which faces outside. This act causes the rectification of the Left Side; evil is mitigated and ultimately vanquished.
King Solomon taught, “As a mitzvah candle and Torah light” (Proverbs 6:23). A deeper understanding of Chanukah lights can be gained by examining the purpose of Torah and mitzvahs.
Mitzvahs are performed on physical objects. The physical world contains two categories of objects: neutral and forbidden. Neutral objects are neither innately good nor evil; their spiritual source is an intermediate level, which can be transformed into Holiness. When a physical thing is seized and subjected to G-d’s will, it is brought close to G-d, becoming a vessel for G-d’s light. This process realizes G-d’s innermost desire: that He be manifest in this world.
The higher one
ascends the numerous spiritual worlds, the greater the intensity and value of
G-d’s light. In the physical world,
that light is completely concealed. It is G-d’s desire that even this lowest of
all possible worlds should itself become a vessel for His light.
A mitzvah
rarifies the physical object used in its performance, elevating it to become a
vessel for light. As a result of this process every neutral thing, its
intermediate spiritual life-force together with now liberated sparks of
holiness ascends to embrace G-d. Additional new light is then revealed in this
world.
That’s why
Proverbs calls mitzvahs “candles.” Just as a candle’s wick holds light, so
mitzvahs reveal the Infinite Light of G-d.
Some mitzvahs
involve food and clothing. Others relate to the house. The mezuzah elevates the
house and its contents to G-d. The word “mezuzah” can be divided into three
parts: “me-zu-zah.”. The souls of
Israel are called “zu” [‘these’ a plural form]; “zah” [the singular form] refers to G-d; “me” [the letter
‘mem’] has the numerical value of 40 which symbolize the forty days during
which Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai. The word taken as a whole signifies the
bonding of Jews with G-d through the mitzvahs.
The word “mitzvah” itself means to connect. The phrase used in blessings -- “which you commanded” – thus means, “which you connected.” The intent of the mitzvahs is to achieve the bonding of Jews to G-d. And because mitzvahs involve physical objects, by performing mitzvahs the entire physical word is gradually elevated and bound with G-d.
King Solomon
writes in Song of Songs, “His right arm embraces me” (Song of Songs 8:3). This signifies the Right Side as a connector.
That’s why the mezuzah is affixed on the right side of the doorway. It brings
the house and everything inside closer to G-d.
While mitzvahs elevate the physical world, Torah draws spiritual light downward. By learning Torah, G-d’s Absolute Infinite Light is revealed and drawn down into the world.
There are three
kinds of lights: the Absolute Infinite Light, a less intense Relative Infinite
Light, and the most diminished light, known as the Limited Light.
Before creation
took place G-d’s Relative Infinite Light shone forth, but a finite world could
not exist within revealed infinity. So G-d withdrew and concealed his Relative
Infinite Light. Then out of the darkness shinned the Limited Light. That’s what
created the worlds.
The Absolute
Infinite Light wasn’t party to this process. As it is absolutely infinite, it
is above concealment. Since it can’t be concealed, it wasn’t revealed. For how
could a finite world exist in revealed absolute infinity? So G-d held it back,
as it were, for Himself.
The source of
creation then is really the Relative Infinite Light. It’s called relative
because finite creation first begun via its initial revelation. That’s because
the Limited Light, prior to its own revelation, had been bound up and united in
this Relative Infinite Light.
The Relative
Infinite Light, being only relatively infinite, could be concealed. G-d’s power
of contraction and restriction made it vanish. It only disappeared from our
perception. Relative to G-d, it is still present in the world. Sometimes it is
revealed in miracles.
After the Relative
Infinite Light was concealed the Limited Light now could be revealed. It shone
out of the darkness and created the world. It could do so because there wasn’t
any revealed infinity around.
The Absolute
Infinite Light wasn’t revealed until G-d gave Moses the Torah to make possible
its revelation. A world created by means of the concealment of the Relative
Infinite Light thus had drawn into it this highest Absolute Infinite Light.
The innovation
of the Giving of the Torah isn’t just that a hitherto unrevealable Absolute
Infinite Light enters the world. The amazing thing is this “reality above
infinity” should enter physical objects. Through the Torah, the physical world
has a means by which to accept within itself – to internalize -- a
manifestation of this Absolute Infinite
Light.
Being that this light is from the Essence of G-d, it has the ability to descend, purify and rectify unclean and forbidden realms. Mitzvahs, by contrast, elevate only permitted things such as kosher food. And by observing the negative commandments such as the prohibition of eating non-kosher animals, the forbidden is repelled. But the unclean animal doesn’t change. It is still there.
The Torah,
however, in discussing the laws of non-kosher animals, effects their purification.
That’s because Torah’s Light is of the absolute essence of G-d. It can descend
to the depths, remaining unscathed while it brings about the desired result.
This power of
“Torah light” is akin to the lights of Chanukah.
The
rectification of the Left Side must occur from the Left Side itself.
This can be understood by considering the difference between the Levites and
the Cohens. Both participated in offering sacrifices in the Temple.
The Cohens originate from the Right Side as the Zohar writes, “The Cohen is a man of kindness.”
The Levites are from the Left Side. Their true purpose is to rectify the Left Side. The Torah refers to the Levites with the word “it” (hu), connoting that which is concealed. The object is unknown; that’s why it can only be referenced as “it.” The Zohar says, “It is the Ancient One (‘Atik’).” Considering the connection between the “concealment” of the Levites and their ability to rectify the Left Side will help explain the power of Chanukah lights.
When G-d created the worlds, a north wind circled the Earth. If G-d hadn’t stopped the creative process at a certain point, the north wind would have completely encompassed the world, and evil’s power would have been unstoppable. Nevertheless, evil is immensely powerful. It adheres to the Left Side to nurture life-force. But because its power isn’t absolute, its nourishment from the Left Side can be rectified.
The Levites accomplished this rectification by slaughtering the sacrifices in the northern section of the Temple. North corresponds to the left. That’s because inside the Temple the Tablets of Law faced east, and G-d’s Presence is revealed in the Tablets.
Sacred Union
As mentioned above, the term “it” (hu)
refers to the concealed. There are ascending levels of “the unknown.” Creation
resulted in two categories of worlds: The Revealed Worlds, and the Concealed
World. In this context, The Concealed World is Binah, the attribute or seferah
of Understanding.
[The set of seferahs on the left side commence with
Understanding The seferah directly below Understanding is Gevurah
or Severity. On the right side the first seferah is Chochmah or
Wisdom. Below Wisdom is Chesed or Kindness.]
Inside the seferah of Understanding shines a
revelation of “the Ancient One” (“Atik”).
[Atik in Hebrew means to duplicate. Atik is a
copy of the essence of the Infinite Light even after creation. As it is above
revelation, it can only reside within a concealed place. The vessels of
Understanding provide the space for its revelation. These vessels are the
letters of thought.]
Wisdom is above creation and can thereby accept within
itself a revelation of the Infinite Light of Atik. When the inner aspect
of Wisdom unites with inner aspect of Understanding, Atik shines in a
revealed fashion for the first time.
Kabbala calls Wisdom “Father” and Understanding “Mother.”
They are bound together in an everlasting unity via the Levites. Moreover, the
word Levy in Hebrew means to bind together and connect.
Thus the Levites bring about the revelation of the Absolute Infinite Light in Understanding. This then is the explanation of what the Zohar said, “It is the Ancient One” The Ancient One – Atik – is revealed in Understanding.
The Free World
The seferah of Understanding is also called the “Free
World.” This is because the Infinite Light shines there, so evil can not exist.
As the Levites’ source is Understanding, they are intrinsically above evil.
Therefore they have the power to bring about its rectification.
The Left Side, then, begins in the free-from-evil world of
Understanding, where incomprehensible Infinite Light shines. Below
Understanding starts Severity. This is still in the realm of holiness; it’s
just that the dynamic of Severity restricts and constricts light. As a result,
at the bottommost level, evil is created and nurtured. The way to deal with
evil, then, is to decimate it at its source – the source of the Left Side.
Sweet Severity
As mentioned above, Understanding has the power to eradicate
evil. But what is intrinsic to Severity that only through its source can
it be rectified?
[Each seferah contains within itself an expression of
the other ten seferahs. Inside Understanding for example, resides the
sub-seferah of Severity-of -Understanding.]
The source of Severity is Understanding; and in
Understanding there is no severity. That’s because the Kindness-of-Wisdom
itself becomes the Severity-of- Understanding. Since the essence of Severity is
loving kindness, the Kabbala calls it sweetened severity.
The sweet severity in Understanding is the source of the
lower seferah of Severity. By
operating at the level of the source of Severity, the Levites – themselves a
manifesting of this source – rectify the Left Side and evil itself.
Hair Removal
This explains why the Levites were commanded to shave all
the hair off their bodies. Hair is like a narrow tube which constricts the
life-force that passes through it. Evil attaches itself to the extremities of
the hair where it can receive nourishment from the diminished light. To
eliminate that possibility, the Levites shaved.
The Cohens, however, assisted the Levites in the Temple
service. Before the Levites lifted certain offerings, the Cohens first placed
their hands under the Levites’ hands, and together they would raise the
sacrifice.
The principle here is that in order to elevate physical
existence into the spiritual realms, the act must be preceded by an influx of
G-dly Kindness from above. That’s why the Cohens -- representing Kindness – helped
the Levites. But there is deeper reason.
Not Yet
These days, spiritual conduct must be a manifestation of
Kindness. Only in the Future Era will Severity be primary. The Ari said, “In
the future the Levites will be Cohens. Thus, during Temple times, the Levites
required assistance from the Cohens. Kindness was, and continues to be, the way
to serve G-d. Nevertheless, the service of the Levites was to rectify the Left
Side of severity.
[In the Future the attribute of G-d’s Essential Severity
will dominate. The nature of severity is to overpower. In other words, G-d will
force a revelation of the unrevealable.]
III. Holy Eight
Two Levels of G-d
The Greeks conspired to coerce Jews to abandon Torah. The
Hashmanites were victorious on the battlefield by virtue of their willingness
to sacrifice themselves to preserve the Torah. In this merit, they drew down a
revelation of the Absolute Infinite Light of G-d’s Essence to rectify the Left
Side. This is why they instituted Chanukah lights. The lights manifest the
Absolute Infinite Light. This Absolute Light is a revelation of the higher name
of G-d which itself is represented by the number eight.
The prophet Samuel said, “You are my lamp G-d, G-d makes my
darkness light” (Samuel
II 22:19). The names for G-d
here are the holy four-letter name.
G-d is represented in this verse by two identical names
appearing juxtaposed. The first, or lower name, refers to the light which
brought about creation. This is the Limited Light mentioned above. Its source
is the Relative Infinite Light, which had to be concealed, after which the
Limited Light descended below. As the light
moves downward it is further reduced by a multitude of veils. At the end
of the process the light has reached such a diminished state that it can now be
a source of life for finite entities. This is what Samuel meant by “You are my
candle G-d” -- the lower name whose light makes creation.
The second, higher name of G-d, is above creation. It is the
Absolute Essence of Light. This is the intention of the second half of Samuel’s
statement, “G-d makes my darkness light.” To illuminate darkness requires a
revelation of the name that is above creation.
Messianic Laughter
Each Hebrew letter has a numerical value. [For example, the
first letter, aleph, is the number one.] The numerical value of the word
Isaac (Yitzchak), after its letters are added together, equals eight
times the numerical value of the four-letter name of G-d (8 x 26) mentioned
above. Yitzchak refers to the revelation of the Future Era as it written, “They
will declare to Yitzchak for you are our father” (Isaiah 63:16).
[Yitzchak is from the Hebrew word laughter, an expression of
delight. In the Future Era, G-d’s attribute of Delight will be revealed. That’s
why Yitzchak pertains to the post-Messianic Revelation.]
The numerical value of the word Jacob (“Yaacov”} is equal to
seven times G-d’s name (7 x 26). Jacob symbolizes the lower of the two names of
G-d. This is the name present in creation.
This distinction between seven and eight finds a resonance
in the seven lights of the Temple’s menorah compared to the eight lights of the
Chanukah menorah.
Two Types of Menorahs
The seven lights of the Temple’s menorah represent the lower
name of G-d (as Jacob equals seven times G-d’s name). They illuminated the
seven emotional attributes or seferahs active in creation. [Compare this
to the seven days (seferahs) of Creation.] This seven-branched menorah had to be in the south side of the
Temple, since South, from G-d’s perspective, is the Right Side. For if it had
been placed in the northern part – the Left Side – evil could attach itself to
the limited life-force revealed by the seven lights.
But the eight lights of the Chanukah menorah are the eight
lights of G-d’s higher name. Eight is the seferah of Understanding. The
ten seferahs can be configured as a single vertical set. When counted
from below to above, Understanding is the eighth seferah. As mentioned
above, the essence of the Infinite Light is revealed in Understanding. The
Chanukah lights draw down and illuminate this light in order to rectify the
Left Side.
And Harps
The Temple’s harp consisted of seven springs. After the
Messiah comes, the Third Temple will have an eight-stringed harp. The Hebrew
word for harp (cnor ) is composed of two sets of two letters: nr
-- which means candle; and co
[the letters chaf-vov] – which is the Hebrew number for G-d’s four-letter name
– 26.
“Harp” signifies the illumination of G-d’s light in a
candle. In the Temple their was a revelation of the lower name of G-d, the one
that was 7 x 26. Therefore, its harp had only seven strings. In the Future Era,
when the Third Temple will stand, there will be a revelation of the higher
name: 8 x 26. That’s why Messiah’s harp has eight strings.
This, then, is secret of the eight lights of Chanukah:
through them, the Absolute Infinite Light from the higher name of G-d is
revealed to rectify the Left Side and blow evil away.
Spiritual Courtyards
The menorah must face the outside because it has the power
to purify even the “outside” -- a domain separate from G-d. This is similar to
the ability of Torah to descend into forbidden realms. Because the Torah’s
source is the essence of G-d’s Infinite Light, it has the power to reach down
to return sparks of holiness and Jews ensnared in the lowest places.
The Kabbala elucidates the disagreement between Rashi and
Tosofot regarding the placement of the menorah. Rashi thought it should be
placed in the doorway opening onto a courtyard.
There are two kinds of courtyards. The first is an inner
courtyard, which usually has a roof. This is analogous to the World of Creation
where good and evil haven’t yet mixed. Spiritual evil thus can’t get into the
inner, covered courtyard.
It is only in the lower World of Formation where evil first
gets a foothold. There, life-force is so reduced that evil can receive
sustenance. This spiritual world is called an outer courtyard; it is exposed to
the outside and hasn’t any covering. That’s why evil can penetrate.
This explains why Rashi wanted the menorah exposed to a
courtyard. There, the menorah blows away evil at its root: at the place of its
initial sustenance.
Tosofot, however, thought the menorah should be placed in the doorway facing a public thoroughfare. The public domain refers both to the lowest World of Action, and the physical world in which evil prevails. Tosofot felt the menorah is so powerful that it can rectify evil even in its basest, most blatant manifestation.
Conclusion
According to all opinions the menorah must be placed on the left side of the doorway across from the mezuzah. As mentioned above, the Levites, whose job it was to rectify the Left Side, required assistance from the Cohens. The Cohens provided the revelation of G-d’s Kindness. Likewise, the Chanukah menorah, which rectifies the Left Side, also needs help from the Kindness of the Right Side. And that’s what the mezuzah does.
If there isn’t a mezuzah on the doorpost, the menorah is placed on the right side. That’s because lighting Chanukah candles is a mitzvah, and all mitzvahs are of the Right Side. The menorah’s purpose – the rectification of the Left Side -- is demonstrated by its placement in the outside door entrance. This displays its power to purify and rectify even the outside.
This, then, is an explanation of the mitzvah of Chanukah lights. They draw down revelation from the Essence of G-d. That’s why they have the power to rescue Jews trapped even in the lowest depths, and eradicate evil from the world.