Parashat BeHar
from Likutei Torah by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Gedalia Potash and William Schecter, MD
April 7, 2021
This draft has neither been edited nor approved by Rabbi Potash
The Elter Rebbe begins his discussion by quoting a Pasuk from this week’s Parsha: “When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of the Lord. Six years you may sow your fields….” (Leviticus 25:2). The significance of this passage is that immediately after arriving in the land, there shall be a year of rest for the land (no cultivation) prior to the onset of the 6 years of cultivation.
Rabbi Potash commented: Just as we are commanded to work for 6 days and rest on the 7th so we are commanded to work the land for 6 years and then on the 7th year, the land is to lie fallow and we are meant to turn inward and replenish our soul. But paradoxically, the Torah tells us that when the Children of Israel enter the Land of Israel, they must first rest after arriving in the land and then only after one year of rest are they to begin the 6 years of labor. A sabbatical year seemingly should follow 6 years of labor and not precede them as it is stated in the Torah.
The Elter Rebbe then quotes from the Song of Songs to support his interpretation: “Open to me my sister, my bride…” (Song of Songs 5:2)
Rabbi Potash commented: This is a paradox: how could one be both a sister and a bride? In a relationship, there is sometimes a concealment and sometimes openness. The task is to bring the relationship to the surface and bask in the beauty of the relationship. Sometimes the relationship between G-d and the Jewish people is concealed but it is always there.
There are two dimensions of the relationship: My sister—a relationship which you are born with and requires less effort –and my bride a relationship which requires constant work to keep it alive and growing.
And the explanation is that G-d said to the assembly of Israel “open to Me” in order that Israel would have a relation with G-d similar to a sister and bride.
And the assembly of Israel is always called by this name at times when G-d is revealed and at times when G-d is hidden and concealed. Therefore, He said “open” to drive away the hidden and concealed in order to be revealed. To understand the essence of revelation and the nature of concealment one must understand the garment that conceals this revelation.
In order to understand the nature of the revelation and the concealment the Elter Rebbe compares the word “my sister” (Achoti אחותי) with the word אלכסנדרית אחוי (Achui Alexandrit—the Alexandrian stitch).
Rabbi Potash commented: the Alexandrian stitch is a type of stitch which originated in Alexandria Egypt and basically formed a hidden seam which joined two separate entities to form one whole. Notice both the word אחות (sister) and the word אחוי (stitch) share the same root (אח).
The Elter Rebbe continues his argument. By way of example, the issue of the natural love that is in the souls of Israel is derived from the Source of their formation which is of Divine Origin.
Rabbi Potash commented: A natural love because the soul is carved out of its Divine Source, a spiritual rock if you will. Just as in childbirth, there is a natural bond between siblings coming from the same source, so too, there is a natural love for G-d because the soul is carved out from the Divine. Even when the soul descends to our earth, it can still feel the Divine connection.
After creation from nil to existence, the souls descend far below to be enclothed in the body. This vitalized soul is the attribute of the Tsadikim from the side of the G-dly Soul, which dwells within them, and desires to unite with the Divine Light and to nullify material reality. This desire to cleave to the Divine Light comes from the depths of the heart, and throughout life they are in a continued state of nullification due to the nature of their Souls (the way they were made). The Tsadikim therefore do not require any contemplation or preparation to awaken this natural love.”. This by analogy is like the love of a brother and a sister. The love between them is fixed and planted in the nature of their mutual history without any awakening at all and this is true love that is endless.
The Elter Rebbe then writes “When I call You to mind upon my bed, when I think of You in the watches of the night” (Psalms 63:7).
Rabbi Potash commented “If I remember you on the bed in the morning, I will crave you.” Sibling love is more consistent than this. Love resulting from meditation and study results in a new found excitement and love that we didn’t feel before and we may not feel afterwards. Seemingly, consistency has a premium to it but is that really special? Is there more merit to the consistency of the love or to the unique effort? The answer is that we need both the consistent love of the Tsadik and the love of the Beinoni revealed by study and prayer.
However, when such a love (for G-d) is not fixed and planted in the heart of man (the Beinoni), it is necessary to awaken this love through prayer and the recitation of the Shm’a.
The Elter Rebbe next quotes a passage from the Shm’a “when you sit in the house when thou walk by the way, when thou lie down and when thou rise up”.
When this love is not fixed and planted in the heart of man but awakened at fixed times such as the time of recitation of the Shm’a or davening the Amidah, the love is transient. This love is not called true love that is from the center of the heart but is rather the “lip of truth” from the expression “lip of his mouth” which is an expression meaning that around the garment of the awakening there is a “lip” or edge of the garment.
Here the Elter Rebbe is using a play on words in Hebrew. Safah (שפה) in Hebrew means both lip and edge. For example, Sfat Hayam (שפת הים -- the lip of the sea) means seashore. So, the love experienced by the Beinoni which is awakened at the time of davening is compared to the hem of a garment by the Elter Rebbe. It is there but it is on the periphery and not the essence of the garment.
The Elter Rebbe continues: By way of example, this love comes at the time of awakening; it is the lip (edge) of the truth, meaning it is the beginning of the truth but not the complete truth. Therefore, it is said in the Zohar: True language you shall establish forever… and it is written “the Lord is close to those who call to Him to all who call to Him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18) Meaning the essence of truth, not the periphery of truth.
Rabbi Potash commented: The language of truth you shall establish. It doesn’t say it was established. It says you shall establish with effort. Spousal love is a metaphor for the kind of love that the Soul can experience: a surge and a withdrawal –and that can add a component to the relationship. It is a relationship that needs our involvement. It is more like a spousal relationship which needs continuous effort. The pursuit of the love is the way this exists. The Soul can actually grow in this relationship.
And since he (the Beinoni) must continually awaken within him the love, it is not yet done out of the nature and true essence of the heart. In any case, this is called the lip (periphery) of truth. Even though at the moment of awakening of the love from his heart, each according to his ability, there also exists within him “When I call You to mind upon my bed….” (Psalm 63:7). After prayer, G-d remains imprinted in his memory and there is a spirit of generosity within him, but the awakened love departs. And the reason preventing the entrance of the love to the depths of the heart is that this love is enclothed and concealed by the strength of the lust for material things from the vitalized soul whose root is the attribute of haughtiness, like the skin of a snake, which covers and conceals the strength of this love. There are various levels and types of garments, the small for the small, the large for the large, each according to the size of his material desires. He must drive out even the attribute of a thin garment having the attribute of haughtiness. As our Rabbis said “And Rav Ḥisda says that Mar Ukva says: With regard to anyone who speaks malicious speech, the Holy One, Blessed be He says about him: He and I cannot dwell together in the world. As it is stated in the verse: “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will destroy him; whoever is haughty of eye and proud of heart, I will not suffer him” (Psalms 101:5). Do not read the phrase as: “I will not suffer him [oto],” but as: With him [ito] I cannot bear to dwell. God is saying that He cannot bear having this person in the world with Him. And there are those who teach this notion of God’s not being able to tolerate a certain type of person in reference to the arrogant, i.e., they apply it to the last part of the verse: Proud of heart. (Arkin 15b:13) and he must open the coverlet as a man who wants to open a crack in a wall to make enough space. He must cut and break the wall until a sufficient space is created. Similarly, a man who want this love to be fixed within his heart and to enter into the depths of his heart must first have a broken heart and spirit to drive away haughtiness and the lust for material things to separate from materialism. And about this the Rabbis said: “open for Me like a point of a needle and I will open for you like the entrance to the Hall in front of the Holy Temple” because one who comes to be purified is helped to rid himself of every attribute and level of haughtiness and to rise to the highest levels. And through this, the light of this love will illuminate the depths of the heart until the strength of the essence of the soul is nullified when the flame arises from it to be united with the Divine light. And this is the attribute of “my sister” as referred to above.
This last sentence alludes to the desire of the G-dly Soul to escape from its material wrappings, arise like the flame of a candle, return to the Supernal Source from which it was hewn and unite with the Divine Light.
Rabbi Potash commented: If we can “clean up shop” and organize our hearts and eradicate and remove our lust for material pleasures, we will actually have a much more passionate and consistent love than even the natural love we are born with. By self-discipline, we can eliminate the animal lust so that we can focus all our efforts exclusively toward spiritual endeavors. That way we will have both the natural and awakened love.
So, what does all this have to do with the 6 years of labor on the land and the 7th year of rest? Rabbi Potash comments: The Elter Rebbe compares the 6 years of labor to the work of “cleaning shop” and removing our material desires. The seventh year of rest is compared to the revealed natural love
