Noam Elimelech (Rebbe Elimelech) Reader

And Hashem appeared to him etc (Genesis 18:1) - we have to explain first the verse "And Avraham was old, entered in days" (Genesis 24:1). Behold, the upper worlds are called "days" and the tzadik in their kedusha reaches up to the upper worlds, and this is "Avraham was old/zaken" as in "this one acquired wisdom"/Zeh Kanah chochmah" (Sifra, Kedoshim 7:12); "entered in days" meaning, until he reached the upper worlds, and so too about King David, peace be upon him, it was said "And David was old, entered in days etc" (I Kings 1:1) and this is "He asked from You life; You granted him many days" (Ps. 21:5).

That behold regarding the tzadik, the life they have in this world is not his, rather, it is as a borrowed thing for one hour, and because of this the tzadik goes and strengthens themself always in holiness, since the tzadik always thinks that lest today it will be the day of returning what was borrowed, and this is "he asked from You life", meaning, meaning, the tzadik who thinks that life is only borrowed from You, therefore "You granted him many days", through this the tzadik merits many days, which are the life in the world to come.

And this is "and Hashem appeared to him at the terebinths of Mamre", meaning, that thought Avraham was on the bed, the essence of his sitting really was on the upper worlds, and this is hinted to in "in the heat of the day", meaning, in the heat of holiness and clinging to God, since the heat and the clinging of the upper world is called 'day', as we explained. And this is easy to understand. Or say - And Ad-nai appeared to him etc (Genesis 18:1) - beforehand, let's explain the verse "for Ad-nai is righteous; He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face" (Psalms 11:7).

There is in the Gemara "a certain one lead prayers in the presence of Rav Hanina, and that one said 'the great, etc, the fearless' and Rav Hanina asked 'have you concluded all the praise due to your Master?' (Berakhot 33b:22, Megillah 25a:8). And on a first glance, don't we actually praise the Holy Exalted name with many praises that were not said by the Men of the Great Assembly? Yet, see that the Blessed Holy Exalted Name is described with [words such as] compassionate, gracious and righteous.

And through the trait with which a person serves their Creator, that same trait is aroused Above, in the Worlds, and the Creator is described by that same trait, and a person needs to serve the Creator with all the traits so as to arouse that trait Above, and when a person arouses that trait they are called tzadik, and then the Blessed Name is described as 'tzadik', and so on in all the worlds. And then a great compassion is aroused towards the world, and all judgments are converted into compassion through that tzadik.

And this is "Righteous is Ad-nai", meaning, at the moment the Blessed Name is called 'tzadik' through the continuation of the work of the tzadik, then 'He loves righteous deeds', meaning, compassion and righteousness for this world, and then 'the upright shall behold His face'. The explanation: who caused this? 'the upright, etc', meaning, the upright that looks out always to continue the [presence of] the Blessed Creator to the internalness of the worlds, but 'that one that prayed in the presence of Rav Hanina' that was mentioning the praises through words, did it in a way that implied that the Creator did not create the worlds like that, and therefore Rav Hanina asked 'did you finish praising your Master?'

And this is "to him, Ad-nai, in the woods of"(Genesis 18:1). "To him" meaning, for him, through his service, "Ad-nai" appeared, that is, the trait of compassion; "in the woods" that is the Upper Worlds as I wrote above, "Mamre" meaning through the untarnished sayings (imrot) of our father Avraham, PBUH, which were to continue [the presence of] the Exalted Creator to the worlds, as explained above, and this is easy to understand.

Or say - "appeared, etc" (Genesis 18:1) that behold, when creating the world arouse in the will of the Exalted, to give good to those created, the Holy Blessed One contracted Godself, and - to where did God contract Godself? I heard from my teacher z"l, that God contracted Godself into the letters of the Torah with whoch God created the world. And he said that this is the explanation for what our sages said 'as if it were possible / KeBeYaCHoL' - meaning, through 22 K"B letters YaCHoL it was possible for the Holy One of Blessing to exist in this world, and the tzadik that engages in Torah for its own sake, that tzadik continues the [presence of the] Blessed Creator and raises inside the letters of the Torah, just like in the moment of Creation.

And this is "and revealed to him, Ad-nai, in the trees of Mamre" (Genesis 18:1). Mamre is an expression of speaking, as explained above. And 'tree' is Torah, and the mitzvot are the branches, and the text is saying that through the untarnished sayings that dealt with Torah, he continued [the presence of] the Creator inside the letters, and this is "the woods of Mamre", meaning, in the tree of his sayings Ad-nai appeared to him.

And the text said: "why did he merit that Ad-nai appeared to him through his dealings with Torah? This was due to his great surrender, which is "he sits at the entrance of the tent", that even though he was a great tzadik he held himself in a great surrender, that he was still sitting at the entrance and at the beginning of holiness, since "tent" is a hint to holiness, "as the day warms" meaning, that there are people that look as someone who surrenders but their insides are not like their outsides, and the text says that Avraham had surrendered completely, in truth, with a full heart, and yet it was clear as the sun in his eyes that he had just began in his service to the Blessed One, and this is "as the day warms".

"And he saw, and behold, three men are standing over him" (Genesis 18:2) - this is a hint: Avraham saw that it was on him to fix three worlds, that is, love, awe and balance (tif'eret). The tzadik needs to fix six corners, which are six days of the week, and they are three and three, that is three before Shabbat and three after Shabbat. And therefore the text seized on the language "three men", and this includes all of the six corners, those before with those after Shabbat.

And this is what we say "and unify our hearts to love and to hold in awe" that even, truly, a person needs to set awe before love, however we pray for the awe that comes from within the love, that is,three days that are after Shabbat they are love, because they belong to the Shabbat that passed, and the three days that are before Shabbat they are awe, since from inside them one comes to the love that is Shabbat, and it is because of this that we pray "to love and to hold in awe", as the order of the regular days, that begin in love and end in awe, in order to fix the six corners.

"And he saw and he ran towards them etc" (Genesis 18:2) - the explanation is that, after fixing the three worlds as explained above, through that the Flow came to this world, and the essence needs to be the arousing of below, and this is "he saw, and he ran towards them" - that is, with alacrity, that this is the essence, as the tanna said "alacrity brings one to clealiness, etc" (Mishnah Sotah 9:15).

"Towards them", that is to say, towards the worlds to fix them, that is the arousal from below. "And he bowed down to earth" that the bowing down is to continue the flow to the world below, and this is "he bowed down to the earth", meaning, that he continued the Flows downward. "And he said: 'please do not pass over your servant' - meaning that he prayed to the Holy Exalted Name a short prayer so God would not pass us by.

"Let a little water be brought" - meaning, that a little compassion be brought from above to below, since this is the way of tzadikim, who say little but do much. "And wash your feet" - meaning, that there should be no touching and no seizing to the feet, which are the external negative forces (hitzonim); to enjoy holiness. "And rest under the tree" meaning, that they [the worlds] should only receive Flow from the essence, and that all the Flow should go to Israel.

And sit with this to understand. Or one can say - "Ad-nai appeared to him" (Genesis 18:1) behold, Aner, Eshkol and Mamre were "Avram's allies" (ba'alei brit Avram - Gen. 14:13) even though they were Caananites. [This is why] the text surprises us with "And Ad-nai appeared to him in the woods of Mamre", meaning - how could it be possible for the Holy Exalted Name to appear to him in the woods of Mamre, who was a Canaanite, and doesn't the Holy Blessed One refrain his Shechina from the places of idolaters?

And the text said: don't be surprised with this, since " he is sitting at the entrance of the tent", the explanation is that this is the way of the tzadik, even when the tzadik is below, the essence of their sitting is above the Higher Worlds, which are called "tent of meeting", since they [the worlds] are always in joy and happiness as in Yom Tov, and the tzadik is always yearning with their thoughts, and they conquer the going up with their thoughts to the Higher World that is called "sitting at the entrance of the tent".

And if you say 'how is it possible that the tzadik is both above and below the higher worlds?' To this the text said: take for yourself the proof in the words "warming up of the day", meaning, from the sun that is above the sky, and the light illuminates downwards, and it looks like as if it is above. So too with the tzadik: they are "as the day is warming up", that they are below, and the light of their Torah and their holiness illuminates above, in the Higher Worlds.

And this is "Happy is the man You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts" (Psalms 65:5), meaning, the Higher World.

And Sarah’s lifetime etc (Genesis 23:1) - And the explanation of Rashi "at the age of one hundred she was as a woman of twenty etc beautiful as when she was seven". And for start, what difference does it make that she was as beautiful as she when was seven? And it appears that Rashi z"l intended that his words would hint to two levels that a person should behave all days of their life. The first is that one should be careful and guard oneself against any type of sin and transgression, one should not transgress any positive or negative commandment.

And the second level is that even in permitted things, such as eating and drinking, one interjects all of it in holiness, intending them for heaven: that is, when a person dresses in nice clothes, and wears beautiful adornments, one should intend to be adorning the Image of the King, as explained in the Gemara [source not found], and so in every thing one's intention should be to heaven. And when one behaves in such a way, then anything one has, be it money, clothing, they will feel satisfied with what they have, and will be glad because of that, and their life will be theirs.

But if one's intent is not for heaven in any of that, then they will always feel lack, and nothing will ever be enough for them, and they will find that their life is not really life, and is not theirs at all. And this is really the simple hint "as 100, she was like 20" that there was no sin in her regarding positive or negative mitzvot. "And 20 as she was 7" is a hint to the second level, that is, just as a child that tries to adorn themself they have no idea how to embellish themself, and they do not have the desire to adorn themself with expensive jewelry, so too Sarah was at age 20, which is the time when a person is supposed to conquer the desire to embellish oneself, and to adorn oneself, and all the other worldly matters, and every intent she had, in every adornment and embellishment, was to heaven.

Or we can say - "the years of the life of Sarah etc" (Genesis 23:1) through what we read in the Gemara, "a person is obligated to bless one hundred blessings every day, what is the source? 'What, Israel, does Ad-nai your God ask of you?' (Deut. 10:12) etc do not read mah (what) but me'ah (100)."(Menachot 43b:15). And one needs to say that the explanation is that the essence of the root of a person is to be in a great surrender, and humble in one's own eyes, and think of oneself as "mah", and then one can act on one's deeds as if the Mikdash was still around, and this is the hint of the 100 blessings, as they correspond to the 100 sockets that were in the Mikdash.

And this is the explanation of the Gemara "do not read mah, but me'ah", meaning, when you reach the level of mah, in surrender, you will be able to fix also 100 sockets, meaning, that you will be able to act in your deeds as in the time of the Mikdash. And this is "The years of Sarah’s lifetime"(Genesis 23:1), and "Sarah" is a hint of even when the tzadik is in the level of nukvah (one of the feminine expressions of Divinity), they should in any instance be humble and surrendering, and to this "100 years" hints, corresponding to the 100 sockets.

And "20 years" (teaching seems to be missing). And "seven years" is a hint to fix the seven days of construction, since "shanah" is the gematria of "sefirah". And sit with this to understand. Or say ~ that Rashi z"l hints with this words for a person to learn the ways of Hashem.

There are two levels in the ways of humans. The first is when a person, in their childhood, maintains their studies and learns with diligence, that learning is called "beauty", which is the beauty of the Blessed Creator. When a person ages, that is, above twenty years old, when their mind is intensely concentrated in knowing Hashem, then the person begins to search their deeds, and sees is they were done properly to honor the Blessed One in truth, and sees and understands that they have not fulfilled their obligation at all, in any way, not in dealing with Torah nor mitzvot, in any deeds or studying at this point, since they learned for some position, or to glorify themselves, or wanting some personal benefit and then the person will fear and regret their past, and will strengthen themselves to fix themselves in all their deeds and learning Torah, that all should be equal for the good, in the Name of the Exalted Blessed One, and not for their own benefit.

And behold it is known that in the holy book "Duties of the Heart" it is written: 'there is no devotion as the devotion of the beginning' (paraphrase of Duties of the Heart, Third Treatise in the Service of God), since every thing that is done, is done at its beginning with desire and courage with all the effort necessary. And this what Rashi z"l explained: "at age 100 like age 20 regarding sin", meaning, just as at age 20, when a person is searching their deeds and finding lacking in them, and seizing with strength the way to fix them, which is the first beginning, as explained, so too she [Sarah] was at age 100, at that same level, and "as age 20 like age 7 for beauty" (Rashi on Genesis 23:1:1) also is understood in that way, since in learning one needs also to exert oneself greatly to understand God's Torah just as when one did at their tender age.

And the tzadik that behaves like that, as explained, merits eternal life. And this is "the years of Sarah's lifetime" (Genesis 23:1), using the name Havayah, connecting with eternal life, "the years of the lifetime of Sarah, all equally good" (Rashi on Genesis 23:1:2) is a hint that once the tzadik reaches that level, then all is similar in their eyes, all is for the good. And behold, a person really needs to strengthen oneself to devote oneself regarding eating and drinking in holiness and purity, that through this they are able to release the holy sparks, and through this they merit eternal life.

And this is what Avraham our father PBUH said to the angels "rest under the tree" (Genesis 18:4), meaning under the tree of life, and through this "let me get some bread", that is, through eating, as explained. And this is "Ad-nai said 'behold the human etc and now lest he reaches and takes also from the tree of life and lives forever'" (Genesis 3:22) one can say that it is explained in that way: behold, the Holy Exalted Blessed Name, in God's great compassion, wants that a person would fix what they have broken, through teshuvah.

That is why the Holy Exalted Name said 'and now', meaning, now that the First Human sinned, how will he fix his sin? Lest, and maybe there is a fixing of extending their hand to seize and grasp the tree of life through eating, releasing the holy sparks through eating in holiness, and this is 'and he will eat and live forever', meaning, through eating there will be a way of grasping eternal life, and therefore 'Ad-nai send him out of the Garden of Eden to work the soil' (Genesis 3:23) since in the world to come there is no eating or drinking, and so only in this world one can raise holy sparks, as explained.

And the tzadik that behaves in holiness, in Torah and in eating and in drinking and in all their deeds, continues the flow of lovingkindnesses to the world. And this is "Avraham was old, advanced in days" (Genesis 24:1) meaning, zaken, old, as in 'one who acquired wisdom' zeh kanah chochmah, (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 7 12) and one reaches the level 'days', to continue the flows of lovingkindnesses that are called 'days', through "by day Ad-nai commands God's lovingkindness" (Psalms 42:9) and "Ad-nai blessed Avraham with everything" (Genesis 24:1), that the tzadik who continues the flows needs to have the intent to include all of Israel, and to not doubt oneself at all, as if there is no one else in the world, only that the Holy Blessed One watches out for the tzadik, and blesses them in the inclusion of all Israel, even though the tzadik does not watch out for themself, and this is "and Ad-nai blessed, etc, in everything" - meaning, in the inclusion of all Israel.

And behold the complete tzadik, as explained, goes continuously in revelation, but one who is not in that level needs to 'walk modestly' (Micah 6:8) to fix their internalness, and this is [how we can understand] "and he said to the eldest servant in his house [the one ruling over everything that he had, and said 'put your hand under my thigh']" (Genesis 24:2). Meaning, the complete tzadik we spoke of says to the second tzadik, who is not yet at that level [of being complete], and is just like a servant at that level, that they still need to walk modestly, as explained, fixing their internalness, and this is "eldest in his house".

"The one ruling over everything that he had" - meaning even though they [the second tzadik] are at the level of ruling over this trait of not feeling jealousy towards their fellow, that they do not covet nor desire nor envy other people in their possessions, which is the essence of walking in the ways of Hashem, to take out from one's heart jealousy and coveting of money (which is the essence of what impedes service to God), and this is "the one ruling over everything he has", that they are content with what they have, and does not covet what others had.

And the complete tzadik wants to bring them also to the great level, and so he says "put your hand under my thigh" meaning, connect with him. And this is the hint of "my thigh", which is called "yesod", which is connectedness, as known. And this that is said regarding our father Yaakov, PBUH, "and the sun shone as he passed Penuel [and he as limping at the thigh]" (Genesis 32:32) meaning the "Sun" is lucidity and great holiness, that was shining and illuminating him as he passed through Penuel.

Penuel is an expression for Panu El, [vacating God] and this is when a person separates their awareness from holiness, then, immediately, "and he limps on his thigh", meaning, that one has a lack in the thigh. And when he [Yaakov] passed through Penuel, meaning, that he did not separate his awareness at all from holiness, and this why then "the sun shone to him". We find then that a person needs to connect themself with complete tzadikim in their holiness and their lucidity, and to guard oneself so one will not vacate God from their awareness, and devote oneself in all the traits above mentioned.

And Hashem will help us to serve God in truth, and Hashem will be with us as God was with our ancestors. Amen, may it be God's will.

And these are the generations of Yitzchak, the son of Avraham etc (Gen. 25:19) We need to explain the explanation of Rashi z"l "Yaakov and Esav that are spoken about in the portion" through the way of hint [remez]. Yitzchak is a hint to Judgment [Din], and Avraham is a hint to Lovingkindness [Chesed] as known. And there are tzadikim whose beginning is suffering and whose end is serenity, and there are evil people who are the opposite, and this is "these are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham", meaning, after Judgment, Lovingkindness is born.

And "Avraham gave birth to Yitzchak" means that after Lovingkindness, Judgment is born. And the explanation of Rashi z"l (Rashi on Genesis 25:19:1) that these are Yaakov and Esav who are talked about in the portion is to explain this hint that runs throughout the portion, regarding Yaakov and Esav, that is, Yaakov's beginning is Judgement and his end is serenity, as explained, and regarding Esav it is the opposite.

Or say, also, through the way [of interpreting] of remez (hint): behold, we see the deeds of people - evil people doing evil, the incitement of the evil impulse in them begins with saying to them that it is a mitzvah to do this, when in truth it is a transgression. And the tzadikim who safeguard themselves from transgressions sometimes will do a transgression for its own sake [lishmah], as we find 'it is permissible to lie [lit. change] for the sake of peace' (Bava Metzia 24a, Tosafot on Bava Metzia 24a:1:1, see also Yevamot 65b) - and this is "these are the generations of Yitzchak"(Gen. 25:19), meaning, the judgment that comes through transgressions.

The reason of the transgression is because "son of Avraham" is a hint to a mitzvah, that is, that the yetzer hara says to him that this is a mitzvah, and there are tzadikim who do a transgression for its own sake, as explained. And this is hinted in "Avraham begot Yitzchak", meaning, a great tzadik sometimes begets "Yitzchak", that is, Judgment, by sometimes doing a transgression for its own sake because of the tzadik's great righteousness.

And this is easy to understand. Or say "these are the generations of Yitzchak etc" (Gen. 25:19) and let's begin by explaining the verse "and Yitzchak sowed in the land etc and found a thousand measures/gates" (Gen. 26:12). One needs to say the hint, that behold the service of the tzadik is always to raise the Holy Shechinah, which is the last letter hey [of the name Havayah], and this is the hint in the commentary of Rashi z"l: "this estimation is for tithing" (Rashi on Genesis 26:12:4) - meaning, Yitzchak estimated himself as tithing - which is terumah, since the Text calls Terumah as Tithing in many places.

Terumah is explained as Terom Hey [lit. Raise the letter Hey], and the essence of the service to the Holy Blessed Name through love and fear is the hint [of] Terumah - two from one hundred [trei mimeah] meaning, a person is obligated to bless one hundred blessings every day and one needs to bless [those blessings] in love and awe. And this is called "sowing" regarding the tzadik, that through love and awe a great light is sown within the tzadik, and this is "a light is sown for the righteous" (Ps. 97:11).

And through this immediately one hundred measures are found, meaning, through every blessing that the tzadik blesses they open one gate of those Upper Hundred Gates which are called one hundred blessings, meaning, the Upper Pools, and this is "Yitzchak sowed:, as explained, and "found a hundred gates", as explained. And behold it is known that there is awe that comes before love, since love comes from within awe; and there is Higher Awe that comes from love.

And this is the hint in "and these are the generations of Yitzchak"(Gen. 25:19), meaning, awe that through it "son of Avraham", which is love, is born. And there is awe that comes from within love, and this is the hint in "Avraham", which is love, "begot Yitzchak", which is awe. And this is what Rashi z"l explained "Yaakov and Esav, the ones talked about in the portion". What is the practical application that comes out from this?

The explanation of Rashi is that the practical application is that through awe and love Compassion is awakened and Judgments are shattered, meaning, "Yaakov" is a hint to Compassion, and "Esav a hint to Judgments. And this is the hint in "after that his brother came out, and his hand was holding onto the heel of Esav", meaning, even though some times the nations are victorious, God forbid, and they want to do evil to Israel, God forbid, and it looks like the thing is just about ready to come, God forbid, and it does not happen, and it does not happen, that after the end of the thing arrives, God forbid, and it is finished, then the power of the tzadik goes out and holds onto the end of the thing that it should not happen at all - and this is "his hand", that is, the tzadik's force "holds onto the heel", that is, the end of, "Esav", that wants to finish the thing, then the tzadik holds onto, and does not permit it to happen, and awakens great compassion for Israel.

Amen. And Yitzchak sowed in that land and attained 100 measures (Gen. 26:12) - behold, King David PBUH said: "a light is sown for the righteous" (Ps. 97:11). One can explain that the light is sown in the tzadik's sphere, that is, the light and the holiness that are in the tzadik are like a seedling that makes fruit, since the tzadik causes the awakening of awe in all the world because of the tzadik's holiness, and the light of holiness is sown in people.

"And joy for the upright in heart" - meaning, and for those, who are merely upright in heart, they have the level of joy, meaning, that all humans are joyful when they see them, yet they can't sow holy lights on others. And this is "Yitzchak sowed in that land", as we explained, he sowed awe and holiness inside people. "And he attained one hundred measures/gates" since a person is obligated to say a hundred blessings every day.

And they correspond to the hundred people that died every day, and King David PBUH established one hundred blessings corresponding to them. This tzadik, sowing awe in people, is as if he was giving them life. Through this he caused a fixing to the known 100 gates, since every person has their own gate, and one who sustains a person fixes that person's specific gate. "And all the wells that the servants of Avraham had dug" (Gen. 26:15) - at a first glance, how does this verse connected to this part?

And also - what does this come to teach us? And we also have to understand why Avimelech said to him "go from us" (Gen. 26:16). And the verse says "And Itzchak went from there, and encamped in the river Gerar and settled there" (Gen. 26:17). And we need to understand how the verse understands that he settled and dug the wells, etc, wasn't he gone from there?

And Rashi felt something here, see his commentary. And according to our way, the holy Torah is teaching us the ways of the people who are awakened to awe through the tzadik. And after that, if awe leaves them due to the fact that they were not persistent with it, with the clear goal of conquering the ways of Hashem, then it looks to them that they are full of awe, and even more complete than the tzadikim that serve God in truth, and this is the explanation for here.

They saw that Yitzchak was conquering his awe and his holiness, and it appeared to them that his deeds were not proper, and were not like their own deeds, which were better than his. This mistake came to them because they stuck with the awe from the days of Avraham, and after that, they were exhausted due to it, and this is what the Text says "all the wells", meaning, the springs of awe and holiness that were awakened and dug and opened through Avraham Avinu, "the Philistines had stopped up" meaning, after that the springs of awe were stopped up "filled them with dust" meaning, with physicality, that is, people had lost the awe when doing mitzvot, as they did them just as a matter of course.

Therefore "and Avimelech said 'go from us because you have grown too much' etc" (Gen. 26:16) - meaning, that the awe of Yitzchak was seen by them as a new thing. And is this surprising? Yitzchak's deeds were not conforming to their deeds from the outset. What did Yitzchak do? "he went from there and encamped in the Nahal" - since the tzadik, who has a great light to the point that the tzadik can sow it in others, then it is on the tzadik to strengthen him/her/themselves in any way possible, with all their ability, so as to introduce awe in the hearts of people.

And regarding this one should point out that there is a hint in the Text "if a person uncovers a well" (Ex. 21:33) - 'if' implies the expression 'when' that is, the obligation is with the tzadik, who is called 'person', that uncovers a "well" which is a hint to the springs of awe and holiness, to open the hearts of people in greater awe and holiness. "Or when a person digs a well" - "dig" is an expression of excavation, that one begins excavating and carving into the hearts of people awe and holiness.

"And a bull or a donkey falls into it" - meaning that then obviously the externalities (kelipot) will fall in it. "The owner of the well will pay", meaning, this is the reward of the tzadik, that the Holy One of Blessing, the owner and master of all holiness and awe, will reward the tzadik in the world to come. And not only that but also "the worth in silver will pay to the owner" meaning that this is also the reward, that this awe and this holiness that cause people to return to God, and add more awe and love and desire to serve God, and this is "silver" [kesef] from the expression "truly longing for" [nikhsof nikhsafta, see Gen. 31:30] that is, the desire and the love go back to the Owner.

And it is through this that I explained "words that come from the heart enter in the heart": they enter back into they heart from which they came in truth, those words come back and enter the heart, and add to the heart more holiness. And in the Gemara (Bava Kamma 50a) they asked a difficult question: "if regarding the uncovering of a well there is obligation, all the more so there should be obligation for digging one!" this can be understood as we explained above, if the obligation of the tzadik is to open the hearts of the people with/in the springs of awe, all the more so it is to dig.

"To bring a digger after a digger" (Bava Kamma 50a) meaning, if at the first time the tzadik is unable to awaken the heart, the tzadik should go back and try, through the way "you will surely admonish" (Lev. 19:17). And this is "and he encamped in Nahal Gerar" (Gen. 26:17)- meaning, when Yitzchak saw that they did not turn to his awe to learn from him, he strengthened himself and continued in his holiness until the Upper River, which is the River of the Living Presence, and continued from there to show awe and to awaken them, as it is the way of the tzadik to continue the awakening of awe, the [awareness of] the exaltedness of the Higher Worlds to all human beings.

And this is "and Yitzchak encamped, and he dug the wells of water that were dug in the days of Avraham and the Philistines stopped up": he went back and awakened their spirits in complete awe, and awakened the previous awe that Avraham Avinu PBUH inserted in them. Or, one could say: "Yitzchak sowed in that land etc one hundred gates" (Genesis 26:12) - this is a hint to the Upper Worlds, as explained above, meaning that he was influencing the Upper Worlds, "and Ad-nai blessed him" through this he was able to cause himself to be blessed through the Holy Name, since the essence of the Flows come through the Holy Name, and this is "a psalm of David, I will exalt You etc" (Ps. 145), meaning, through my exalting You and causing the Flow [to flow] on the worlds, through this "I will bless Your Name forever" - I cause Your Name to be blessed so as to influence through the Holy Name. And this is easy to understand.

And Yaakov settled in the land where is father dwelled etc. It seems to me that in combination with the verse "may there be peace in your walls, harmony in your palaces" (Ps. 122:7) that there is in the Gemarah "From the day that the Holy One of Blessing created the world there was no person who called him “Adon” until Abraham came and called him Adon" (Berakhot 7b) - and at the surface, why is it remarkable in that that he called God "Adon"?

Yet, see that we need to unify the names Havaya"h and Ad-nai and then God's Blessed Name is called Adon, through what we sing "El Adon over all His Deeds", that "El" is Chesed as it is written "El's faithfulness [chesed] never fails" (Ps. 52:3), and through our unifying of the Blessed Name we cause and continue lovingkindness [chasadim] and compassion to the world, and this is "El", meaning, when we arouse lovingkindnesses through our unifying of God's Blessed Name then God is "Adon over all His deeds".

And this is "and YHV'H in His holy abode— be silent before Him all the earth" (Habakuk 2:20), that the name Adona'i is the abode for the name Havaya'h, Blessed, as known. And at the moment that we unify God's great name in the holy abode, that is, the unification in the name Adona'i, "all the earth is silent", that is "has" [silent] in gematria is 'Adona'i' that is, then God was called Adon over all the earth.

...After two years’ time, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile.” It seems best to interpret this verse in light of, “The rabbis taught in the language [of the mishnah]”. At first, it appears that they are not offering us anything with this observation. After all, what other language did they have in which to teach? ----However, when a person is learning Torah or performing a mitzvah, s/he needs to imbue the learning with two qualities: (1) the subject which is being studied or the action performed, which is itself holy, and (2) to add the supernal thought of awe and love, to draw into this specific matter the supernal light from the supernal worlds.

This is “they taught,” from “doubled.” For example, Shanu, Shilshu, (twice, thrice), which means that when they studied, they did so with both of these qualities. This also is what is implied when they said “Everyone who reviews halachot” rather than “learns,” by which they intended to hint at these qualities...Now we can understand this opening verse “After two years’ time.” “Days” hints at the holiness which is called “day.

The Torah is saying that if a person thinks that s/he has already completely arrived at these two levels mentioned above, which is “at the end of two years” that is, when a person says that s/he has arrived at these two levels, (at that very moment) know for sure that this thought is not true but rather comes from the bitter materiality of the body, which wants to believe that it has finished its work and arrived at the last levels.

This is why it is Pharaoh who dreams, since the Hebrew letters of Pharaoh re-arrange themselves into oref, which hints at the body which is surfacing this thought without real substance, just like “dreams which speak lies.” Now, “he was standing by the river.” Y’or, river, which means “like light,” that is, mentally this one already standing in the light, but in reality still needs great effort in both these qualities without pause. ----“When out of the Nile there came up seven cows.”

We can say that the verse is hinting at great things, given that Joseph also had two dreams, the first of the wheat and the second of the sun and moon. Joseph is identified with the s’firah of y’sod, foundation, which is the Tsaddik, whose desire is always to draw to Israel the abundance which it deserves according to God’s will. Thus the first dream is about wheat, to draw mercy to Israel so that its material well-being will be available in ample amounts.

Only afterwards do we see what the Tsaddik accomplishes in the supernal worlds, alluded to in the sun, moon, and eleven starsHere also, Pharaoh dreamed two dreams on these same two levels. The nations received sustenance by means of the bulls which Israel sacrificed and Pharaoh saw cows because he was from the feminine side. And it is known that seven hints at the seven days of creation. So the seven healthy cows refer to the nations which live quietly and in peace, while the seven poor-looking cows refer to Israel, impoverished and persecuted in this bitter exile...“And the ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven handsome sturdy cows,” hints that Israel will make an end of the other nations through the magnitude of its holiness.

The verse explains how this will happen when it continues “But when they had consumed them,” one could not tell that they had consumed them (for they looked just as bad as before). The meaning is that the good God mercifully planted within the hearts of the Tsaddikim so that the fire of awe and attachment burns within them, yet modestly and hidden, so that they appear crazy in the eyes of the world who do not understand this (about them).

This is as I said earlier with regard to the verse “What great goodness [is hidden for those who fear You].”1 This can put them in opposition to other people, given that hidden in their hearts is love and awe and enthusiasm which is in opposition to those people who dwell in darkness, who do not know how good is the awe for and the loving desire of our blessed and exalted creator. This is why the fat cows entered into the lean with no effect, that good can enter into them without them realizing it, namely they can “ingest” awe, love of God and d’vekut from a Tsaddik without it having any effect on them. ----The second dream, about the sheaves, hints at the livelihood which every Tsaddik must bring down to Israel through his/her merits.

This also is to be understood as above, that Israel swallows all that is desirable among the nations because everything was created for Israel’s sake....This is what Joseph is saying to his brothers when he accuses them of being spies – namely, he wants them to be on the level of feet, i.e. to think always of the need of Israel for livelihood. They replied that they were kenim, honest men, which the Targum renders as “we are directed,” meaning we want to walk on the greatest levels, in the highest worlds. using the deepest kavvanot, in constant awareness of inter-connectedness.

But Joseph replies, “By this you shall be put to the test” which means that he said to them by means of the Sh’chinah which is called “this”1 will you be tested, meaning will you arrive at this quality. “By Pharaoh's life” – by taking the life force from Pharaoh, i.e. the shells (or husks) because you are m’raglim, i.e. people whose feet are on the ground and you will use your powers to influence Israel (for good).

“And he confined them in the guardhouse for three days,” which means that we can learn that Israel is never in trouble longer than three days (years?) and this was Joseph’s intention when he imprisoned his brothers for three days to establish this by means of his work that Israel would never dwell in trouble longer than three days. And this is the way of Tsaddikim who do their work and perform their actions and who calculate in this work great intentions (kavvanot) and who accomplish in their work a good which lasts for many generations. Understand this. ---

Or, “And Judah approached him…for you are as Pharaoh.” Since the verse simply says that “he approached him,” but doesn’t specify whom, we can say that the tzaddik, known as Judah, approached God. He is praying to the Blessed Name for himself. “He said, please my Lord…so not be angry with your servant.”

Rather, let your grace be magnified with me and don’t be picky with me about my actions, “for like you, like Pharaoh.” This means: why be picky with me when it is impossible for me to direct my thoughts to one thing at a time. Sometimes, my thought is to rise in my mind to the greatest heights, to the level of the tzaddikim who are like you in that the tzaddik can decree and the Holy Blessed One will cause that decree to be sustained.

At other times, my mind is weak and I am drawn to emptiness and delusions like Pharaoh whose letters also form the word for the back of the neck (stubbornness) which hints at the shards. Is this what your eyes are drawn to, to be picky with me about my actions? Rather, deal with me in goodness and grace.

Or we can say "if one hasn't repaid it" (Shabbat 78b:7) that behold, a person has inside a piece of Godliness Above, and even when one transgresses, God forbid... were it not for that Godly piece inside, a person would have no strength to move any part of their body to do anything. And [in a transgression] there is forcing of that Godly piece to cover itself with coverings since those coverings make it possible for that piece to suffer through the great pain of the transgression, and this is secret of the exile of the Shechinah.

And after, when a person repents (returns/does teshuvah) and cries over their transgressions, they cry over the exile of the Shechinah, and through this they destroy the coverings that the Godly piece was forced to wear, and reveal, through the fixing (tikkun) of the transgression [the Shechinah]. And this is the meaning in "until one has not repaid" - that is, one has not removed and revealed the coverings from the Godly piece, one has not yet done teshuvah as needed, so one is "obligated."

"And if one has repaid, one is exempt", as explained above. "Rabbi Yehudah says etc" as explained above. You must not see the donkey of your brother (Deut. 22:4) crouching under his burden (Ex. 23:5) etc - that a person that busies themselves with the issues and businesses of this world, behold, the world is like a burden for them, and they crouch under its burden, and the text says "you must not ignore": this is a warning for the tzadik to pray for that person. And this is easy to understand.

Or explain (regarding Exodus 1:1) according to what is said, that the spirituality and the soul of a person are called "names", that the essence of a name for which a person is called, such as Reuven or Shime'on, the name is given to the soul and not to the body. And the proof of this is that when we see that a person is asleep and we want to wake them up, if we touch the body without calling them by their name it is harder to wake them up than when we call their name.

And this is because when a person is asleep then their soul goes to the Upper realms, and leaves the body, and therefore it is harder to wake that person up just by touching the body, which is not true when you call their name. And this is why the Text surprises and says "and these are the names of the children of Israel", meaning, the holy tzadikim that are known by the name Israel, which is a high level, "came to Egypt", meaning, after being on such high level, how is it possible that they fall sometimes from their high level, and come to Egypt?

It is hinted that they enter in a lower level, and this is what the Text says "with Yaakov", meaning, because of Yaakov, that are the most simple of the people, who are called by the name Yaakov. It is for their sake that there is a need for the tzadik to fall from their level, so that the tzadik will belong and befriend the most simple people so as to raise them to holiness - and if it weren't for this the tzadik would have no belonging with them.

And the Text says the reason why the tzadik can raise them up to holiness, which is "a person and their household". Meaning: the tzadik is called "a person and their household", that is, their innerness, meaning, through the tzadik awakening the tzadik's own innerness, the tzadik is able to awaken the simple people's innerness, and they come together to holiness, and this is "a person and their household came".

And this is "I will thank Ad-nai much with my mouth [and among the many I will praise Him]" (Psalms 109:30) - behold, everything goes according to how one thinks, and a person is able to seize through their thoughts many things that the mouth cannot express. And King David PBUH said "I will thank Ad-nai with my mouth", meaning, even though it is not possible to bring out with the lips all that is in my thought, even in this case I will thank God with my mouth - which is the small level.

This can be because my intention is that "among the many I will praise Him", meaning, so that God's Name can be praised among the many, as explained: when the tzadik is at the small level, the tzadik can raise those who are among the simple ones of the people to holiness. And this is straightforward. “And God appeared to him as a flame of fire from within the bush.” To explain this, it appears that the root practice for a person is to break the hold of the ugly qualities such as hatred, jealousy, pride, desire, and the like; all those qualities which need fixing and whose repair then allows a person to arrive at a high level, great visions, and great enthusiasm and attachment in the service of the Creator, whose name be blessed.

This is “And God appeared…as a flame of fire from within the bush,” meaning that God appeared from within these ugly qualities which are the thorns, through which Moshe arrived at the level where he experienced a fiery enthusiasm. And he saw that the bush was burning but not being consumed, meaning that he experienced this fiery enthusiasm but these ugly qualities didn’t leave him by being entirely consumed; and so he said that he would turn aside and look at this, meaning that he would turn totally away from these ugly qualities in order “to see this great vision,” and then I will arrive at the highest levels and experience the greatest visions.

“Why isn’t the bush consumed?” The Hebrew word for burning/consuming is the same as the one in the phrase “and it grazes in another field” (Sh’mot 22:4). What this is trying to say is that Moshe asked, “Why can’t all these ugly qualities which are like a thorny bush be consumed and be gone forever?” This is the explanation of the [talmudic] phrase “the appearance of afflictions;” afflictions are these ugly qualities and when a person corrects them s/he can ascend to the higher levels.“A shiny-spot [whose colour is] strong like snow” (Bavli Sh’vu’ot 5b) means that if a person has an ugly quality which is like a shiny-spot affliction on the body, then “strong” means to be strong like a lion to overcome it until that quality becomes white like snow, as in the verse “If your sins are like crimson then they will whiten like snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

Its derivative is to be like white wool (Bavli ibid.), meaning that the next step is to arrive at an even higher level, a white wool (or sanctuary) hinting at a supernal holiness.... “And God saw that he had turned to look,” meaning that God saw that Moshe Rabbenu wanted to completely remove all these ugly qualities so that he could see great visions. But this is impossible until the arrival of the righteous redeemer.

Only then will God cause the spirit of tum’ah to pass completely from the earth (Zechariah 13:2). “And so God said, don’t come any closer,” meaning that God told him that it is impossible to arrive at this level. “Remove (shal) your shoes from your feet.” Remove, shal, is like a question or a loan, and so this level can only be on loan to you and cannot be permanent until the mashi’ach comes, may it be soon.

“Because the place [on which you stand] is holy ground,” meaning that you will need to be strong and persevere in all the places where there is materiality, to sanctify that thing.”...And Moshe said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?”At first it appears that the wording is redundant, as Rashi also felt. Also the verse, “And [God] said, ‘I will be with you; that shall be your sign that it was I who sent you.

And when you have freed the people from Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain,’” is not clear at first for the Blessed Name gave as a sign something that will only happen later. Rashi explained this nicely. In my humble opinion it appears to relate to the verse “Shaken, he said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.’”

At first, the word ayn / this is none other, is superfluous and he should have said “How awesome is this place, this is God’s house.”It appears that the holy Torah is showing us how to conduct one’s service, may God’s name be blessed and exalted. When a person experiences love and enthusiasm in prayer or study and in all that one does for the Blessed Name, it is appropriate to think, who knows if this enthusiasm isn’t a strange fire, God forbidBut if the person’s heart burns again and again, the person can think that perhaps it is God causing this sanctity and enthusiasm because the person is now standing with other righteous ones.

The person then will not say that this is the their doing at all and will be very humble and wonder how an ordinary person like me can merit this. And if this continues without stop, one can think truthfully that this is certainly God’s word, that the Blessed Name gave me a gift and hopefully my heart will remain like this all the time. This person will pray constantly to the Blessed Name that God help and guard so as not to fail, God forbid, in any nagging (desire to) sin, that no sin can douse the enthusiastic intensity in the service of the Blessed Creator.

This is, “And Jacob was quite shaken…” which is that when he saw the ladder with its feet on the ground and angels going up and down and this great vision that the Blessed Name was standing over it with all of God’s supernal chariots standing over it, “And Jacob was awed and said, ‘How awesome…’”. He meant, who knows from where this awesomeness comes, for who am I that I merit this great vision. Afterwards he thought and said, “this place.”

Maybe it is the place that causes this great holiness. And after that he said, “This is none other [than the abode of God].” And when he saw that this holiness persisted without interruption he said that certainly is none other than the abode of God and he began to pray to the Blessed Name and then swore that if God would be with him…and protect him, meaning that no sin should interrupt this holiness, God forbid.

Turning to what Moses our Teacher of blessed memory said: “Who am I that I should go…” Moses was the most humble person and lowly in his own eyes. He asked, how is it possible that I can attain this level and that I will bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Even if I were to attain the level of going to Pharaoh, how would I be worthy of taking them out. God replied, “Because I will be with you.

And the sign is that when you take them out…you will worship Me…” It is a good sign for a person who hears through books about the virtues of the righteous and their holy service for the Blessed Name in truth if, at the same time, the heart yearns and burns intensely in wanting to also merit to serve God in truth. This is a good indication that the Name is with the person and that this is God’s word.

This is, “And this will be a sign for you,” that when I say to you “When you take them out…you will worship me at this mountain,” this will be a sign. If your heart still burns and is excited to serve Me when you hear this, then through this you will know that I am with you. And this is what King David prayed, “ Let me again rejoice in Your help” (Psalm 51:14), he was saying give me the merit to return to You and that it should be a good omen for me which is “Let a vigorous spirit sustain me,” that when I hear stories of your redemptions from those who are immersed in your Torah and mitzvot which is redemption and sustaining for the Blessed Name.

When this will be mine for joy and happiness, from it I will know that You are with me and God will give me the merit to be among who are true servers of God along with the righteous. Amen. And Moses returned to Hashem etc and since I came to speak in Your name, evil [it is] for this people, and saving, You haven't saved (Exodus 5:23). And on a first glace "saving, You haven't saved"(Exodus 5:23) is a double expression, since he said "evil [it is] for this people"(Exodus 5:23) - in any case He did not save them.

And here is its explanation, that we in this bitter exile, in which in our pain He is pained (see Isaiah 63:9), and the Shechinah is exiled with us (see Eicha Rabbah 1:32 and Megillah 29a) - the only thing we should worry and complain about is the exile of the Shechinah, and not think at all about our sufferings, but only regarding the suffering and exile of the Shechinah. And if our direction and our suffering were only regarding the suffering of the Shechinah and not on our suffering, obviously we would be redeemed immediately, but we are flesh without the ability to tolerate our pain an grief, and so our days lengthen in this bitter exile due to our many sins, because we partner our suffering with the suffering of the Shechinah, and we worry about our suffering.

And if there was one tzaddik like this he would be able to save the entire world from this exile. And this is what Moses our master peace be upon him said "and since I came to speak in Your name"(Exodus 5:23) - the explanation is that all my speaking was not only for Your great and holy Name, which is in exile, and not only due to our own exile; and the sign and the proof that the truth is with me, that my intent was not only due to Your holy Name is that I see that Pharaoh has done "evil to this people"(Exodus 5:23); that this is the sign to the person who wants to rebuke one's fellow or to say holy words: how does one know that one's intention was only for the sake of Heaven without any other thought or position?

If one sees that when one speak in front of people who are not sincere and they get angry over those words, it is obvious that the intention of the words was completely only toward Heaven, and with the Help Of The Highest Name one's words will make a mark - and this is what Moses our Master may peace be upon him said: all my words were not for any other intention but Your Name, truly, and this is the proof - evil came to this people.

And since my words were only for the holiness of Your Name, it would have been deserving that Israel be redeemed immediately "and why saved, You haven't saved (Exodus 5:23)"? And this is what King David peace be upon him said: "Return to me the happiness of Your salvation"(Psalms 51:14) - meaning, redeem us and return us speedily to our land, because all my intention is solely for "the happiness of Your salvation", that we should be redeemed quickly for Your salvation, to return Your captivity (Lamentations 2:14) which is the Holy Shechina, and not because of us, but only because of You. And the Name will redeem us speedily, and we will be joyful and be happy in His salvation. Amen.

And El-him spoke to Moshe, etc (Exodus 6:2) - Seems to us that [we should] explain what is in the Gemara "the wicked:their beginning is harmony and their end is suffering but the righteous: their beginning is suffering and their end is harmony" (See Genesis Rabbah 66:4). There is to say that the righteous need to serve the Blessed Creator from the beginning with awe and guard oneself from [being manipulated by] the impulse for evil, and to break every physical appetite, and this is "their beginning is suffering" and after one has merited to break every appetite and one's enemy - this is the impulse for evil - he is in peace with himself, the "their end is harmony".

And this is "and El-him spoke", that "speaking" is the language of difficulty, and Elokim is the level of awe; and the explanation of "and spoke" is difficulty; "Elokim" means that when he was in the level of awe; "and said to him 'I am Ad-nai'" means when he came to the level of love that is 'Ad-nai' then the saying was in a softer language. And one could say that this is the intention of Rashi z"l "And Elokim spoke - spoke harshly with him [Moses] because he had spoken so censoriously when he said 'why have You done such evil to this people?!'"

And as it appears in the midrash that he hurled words towards heaven (Shemot Rabbah 3:9), and in truth, may God protect and grant peace, that Moses hurled words against the Blessed Name - he only did that due to his love for the Jewish people, and this teaches regarding the greatness of the love of the Creator Whose Name is Blessed, and the explanation is this: "And Elokim spoke etc' that is to say that even though it was appropriate for Him to speak harshly because he hurled words against Heaven, yet, since it was because of the greatness of his love for the Jewish people, which is the love for the Creator Whose Name is Blessed, therefore 'He said to him 'I am Hashem' which is a soft saying of love.

And this is what King David of blessed memory prayed (Ps. 119:38) 'Confirm Your word through Your servant', meaning that the One Whose Name is Blessed helps one to come to the level of Love, which is hinted by the language of 'saying'; 'that fears You' means love like this: that from love one will come to fear, which is the higher awe. And this si easy to understand. "And I appeared" (Ex. 6:3) - And Rashi, Z"l, wrote "And I appeared to the patriarchs".

And at a first glance, what does Rashi want with this, doesn't the verse explain [itself] 'Avraham, Yitzchak etc' and we know that they are called 'patriarchs'. And it seems that the intention of Rashi with this is that Avraham was the attribute of Love (chesed), Yitzchak the aspect of Strength (gevurah) and Yaakov, Balance (tif'eret) and they influenced one another in their aspects, and if so, how was it applicable that El Shadai was seen to all?

Isn't it that holiness (kedushah) comes from above according to a person's level? However, the root of this issue is this: from the side of the Blessed Creator there is no change whatsoever, rather, according to the service done by a person in their level [holiness] continues on them. We find that Avraham continued on himself the attribute of Love, and so Yitzchak in his attribute, and also too Yaakov, but from the side of the Blessed Creator, there is unified unique simplicity, and this is why Rashi z"l explained "I appeared to the patriarchs" meaning, that with regards to the Blessed Creator there is no separation or division between them at all, and everything is one, therefore [God] appeared to them in one aspect, as El Shadai.

And this is easy to understand. "And I appeared etc as El Shadai etc" (Ex. 6:3) - And we seek to explain with what appears in the Gemara "Shadai - that said to the world, 'enough (dai)'" (Chagigah 12a:15) so it would not keep expanding. And the issue is that our sages z"l made us listen to the great goodness that the Blessed Creator did to us: it is known that the Lofty one is more realized the farther it is from the one to whom [the Lofty one] delegated [action], and it is found that were it not for the fact that [God] said to God's world 'enough!' the world would continue to expand to no end, and the husks (kelipot) from the Depths of the Great Void (Nukvah deTehomah Rabah) would have become present in the world, and now that God said 'enough!' - this is the goodness, that the husks would not become so present.

And there is also "SHaDDai - " that is, that this name loosens (meShaDeD) [the laws of] Nature for the good of Israel. (see Ramban on Genesis 17:1:1) And this is "and I appeared etc as El Shadai" (Ex. 6:3) meaning, when I appeared to the patriarchs to promise them regarding the Land of Israel, I promised to them in the name El Shadai, which loosens the divisions, so that the husks and the nations will not have a grip on the Land of Israel, even if, God forbid, Israel aren't deserving.

"And My name H' I did not make known to them", meaning, I did not promised them in the name Havaya, Blessed be the One and Blessed be the Name, lest, God forbid, they come to sin, and there is strengthening of the husks and the nations will grip, God forbid, the Land of Israel - therefore God was visible to them as El Shadai. And sit with this (think about it deeply).

"And Moshe went up to God" (Exodus 19:3), because the great righteous person (tzadik) is called with the name "Moshe", and to this one there is an extra level above the other tzadikim, mentioned above, [the Moshe-type tzadik] goes up to the higher worlds: "and God called him" the words "and called" denote affection. "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" - those are the tzadikim that are not yet at that level, whose responsibility is to fix the Presence [of the Holy One] that is called [denoted] by the word "thus."

"And declare to the children of Israel" - these are the real tzadikim, who are known by the name Israel, whose responsibility is to the an extra work, that is difficult as tendons... Thus you will say to the house of Jacob and tell the Children of Israel - the energy in the word "thus" is a hint of all the blessings, as it is written "thus you will bless", "thus will be your seed." And the fact that most of the world needs sustenance and abundance, and to this our Creator of Blessed Name said to him [Moshe]: "thus you will say to the house of Jacob" - this is the monetary riches, called [denoted] by the name "Jacob", and the abundance which comes from the aspect "thus" continues for them, bringing blessing and physical abundance from there.

"And tell the Children of Israel" - those are the great ones, which are called by the name "Israel", and the higher light continues for them, putting a great love and awe from the higher worlds in their hearts. "And tell" - this is the language of continuation, giving them what they need from the higher worlds so they continue their work for their level of Gods work. And this is easy to understand.

"And you shall command the Children of Israel, (etc.)" It appears appropriate to explain [this verse] in combination with the verse that King David, peace be upon him, stated "Great [deeds] have [You] accomplished, You, Hashem, my G-d, Your wonders and Your thoughts [have been] upon us," etc. It appears to me that apparently one must understand: How is it possible that a Tzaddik performs wonders to cure the sick or free the imprisoned, and other such acts, if, after all, there is nothing new under the sun, or that a Tzaddik innovates secrets of the Torah, how does this come about for the Tzaddik?

The matter is as follows: Behold, Hashem, May He be Blessed, His nation and His ministers are light, as it is written, "And G-d said, "Let there be light, and there was light," which signifies that light was created anew there in its place and from there the light is brought down below; and we find that the root remains above. And so the Holy One Blessed be He did with everything He made, the root above and everything made below is through the movement of man moves and shakes the root above that is [then] brought down below.

And that is the meaning of, "Great [deeds] have [You] accomplished," meaning that "You, Hashem," have performed and made the many causes and actions, and we find that the root [of these actions] is above, and so, "Your wonders" that we innovate, meaning the cure and the livelihood and every [other] matter, and "Your thoughts," meaning the secrets of the Torah, are "upon us," we are able to do all of them.

And this is what the Holy One Blessed be He said to Moshe Rabbeinu, "And you shall command," which is a term of directive related to the influxes of of blessing and mercy, as it is written, "and I have commanded/directed my blessing," etc., and the Holy One Blessed be He said, "And you," the Vav adds to the matter, meaning that you also shall command blessing and influx upon Israel, because everything "commands" and "stands" from the mouth of the Holy One Blessed be He and it imprinted in its source, just that also "you shall command" to shake the supernal root, "and they shall take to you pure olive oil," and the "olive oil" is a hint to the great and pure influx, and the reason is it stated, "to you" when it should have stated "for them," is because the Tzadik, upon seeing that Israel is absorbed in abundance, that gives benefit and pleasure to him, as if the influx was for him, and this is easy to understand.

Or, let one say that the Holy Torah teaches us the ways of ethics and rebuke, how a person should reprimand his colleague, in that, behold, a person that wants to reprimand people needs to be holy and pure in all his aspects, meaning [the three levels of the soul] N"R"N [Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama], he [should be] holy and his body holy, and [only] then, "you shall surely rebuke/reprimand your fellow compatriot and not carry the sin upon him," because if not this way, in that he has subjected all his ways to holiness and purity, then it is impossible that his rebuke be proper, even if he commands people well and they act according to his word; still both will be unable to complete their tasks fully, and their hearts will go astray: this one in that he will have in his heart a sense of self-aggrandizement, how great is his level that he gave merit to his friend in a mitzvah (commandment) of Hashem, to do it, and all arrogant (self-important) people are an abomination to Hashem, and the other one will also have in his heart a sense of self-aggrandizement, in that he will act act haughtily before people and will not do the mitzvah in a full manner [simply] for the honor of Hashem, and instead there will only be many distractions [leading him astray] in his heart; and all this is because this one that commands the other to do good is not whole in his righteousness and in all aspects of his [character] as discussed previously; however, the Tzadik that is whole, for him it is fitting and proper to reprimand, and the one that follows his command, even in his presence will not feel haughty when close to him due to any form of distraction - neither the one that commands nor the ones that act, rather [the result will be] only that both [sides] as one will do good for the sake of Hashem, may He be Blessed.

And this is [the meaning of], "And you," that the Vav is that which adds to the matter, meaning "you" with all of your qualities mentioned above, "shall command the Children of Israel," in line of what is written in the Talmud, "and Hashem - that is His court," meaning that the Vav is what adds to the matter, and similarly to that is the interpretation here, "and you shall command" for good, for that is what is called a command, in line with what is written in [the holy] books, one commands regarding the good and warns regarding the bad, and if you shall command them with all of your qualities mentioned above, you will accomplish that you all will not come to be led astray by other distractions - not you and not them, and that is, "and they shall bring to you olive oil," meaning all of the repentances and commandments they will do, which is the hint of, "pure olive oil," "crushed for the light," as is found in the holy Alshich's commentary at length, that a person needs to crush and break himself with hardships and abstentions for the service of the Creator may He be blessed, see there, and all of this is even if they perform [the repentances and commandments] in front of you, you all will not come to be led astray by another distraction, G-d forbid, and that is, "and they shall bring to you," which means in front of you, that you see their actions as commanded by you and you all will not turn to any distraction, [performing the deeds] solely for the unification of His Name, may He be blessed, "to light the eternal lamp," which means that your intentions will be only to elevate the holiness and the supernal light which is called, "Lamp," the explanation of "eternal" is that you shall see that the holiness and the supernal light will not move from you forever.

And this is the explanation of the verse, "an eternal fire will burn upon the altar," for which the explanation is that the verse is warning that the holiness and the supernal light will remain burning in you so that you will not extinguish it forever, meaning that you shall add light and holiness so that it will not be extinguished forever. And regarding this our sages, may their memories be for a blessing, stated, "[The term] Tzav [command] specifically means [a call] for alacrity at the moment as well as for future generations," and also regarding this our sages, may their memories be for a blessing, taught us an ethical instruction to reprimand people in this way, meaning that they should hold [think of] themselves always with great humility and without any [sense of elevated] level [or status], just like someone who is now starting their service of the Creator, [starting] with the first principle that brings about [proper] service of Him, may He be blessed, which is alacrity; in line with this concept, the Tanna (a rabbinic authority at the time of the Mishnah) stated, "Alacrity brings about... (etc.) up until [one reaches] the holy spirit, etc.," and we therefore find that, through alacrity, a person can reach great levels, but even so, if he has all of these elevated levels, he should hold [think of] himself as only being at the level of just beginning to have alacrity.

And this [statement] that, "[The term] Tzav [command] (specifically means [a call] for alacrity)," means that the essence of a command, in your desire to command that one come to His service, blessed be He, is that you should command them in a way that is "simply a call for alacrity," meaning that they should not hold themselves to be on any level whatsoever, rather at the beginning, which is alacrity, whether "at the moment," or "for future generations," which means even if he has [already obtained] all of the levels.