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Our Rebbe’s Maamarim · Chof Cheshvan · 11:41
“Shall I Conceal from Avraham?”
Vahashem Amar HaMechaseh, Shabbos Vayeira, Chof Cheshvan 5737
Said on Shabbos Vayeira, Chof Cheshvan 5737, the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday, a day that falls exactly the same way this year: the way of Hashem as a road that runs both ways, and why the deed from below reaches the hidden essence.
In this video
- The Rebbe Rashab’s question in Hemshech Samach Vov: what does “to do tzedakah” add to “the way of Hashem”?
- Two maamarim of the Rebbe Rashab on the same verse, and how they differ.
- The mashal of the king’s road: a connector between two places that are far apart, and the kav as a “road.”
- Dirah b’tachtonim, like a man living in a friend’s house: the lower world stays lower, and the essence dwells in it.
- A road goes both ways: Torah draws down, mitzvos raise the lower, and “tzedakah u’mishpat”: judge yourself, then give.
- Ma’aseh gadol: the deed from below reaches the he’elem ha’atzmi, “hamechaseh ani,” revealed to Avraham.
- The Rebbe Rashab’s kapitel 116 and the coming year’s kapitel 117, and a Hayom Yom story from Shabbos Vayeira.
A maamar our Rebbe said on Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, Chof Cheshvan 5737, and later edited for print, followed in its own order, with each idea shown in a picture. This year Chof Cheshvan again falls on Shabbos Vayeira.
A few passages were left out for length (noted in our script notes); nothing was added. The section-by-page breakdown is approximate; the page range 255–261 is firm.
Sources
- Toras Menachem, Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat vol. 1, pp. 255–261, ד"ה וה' אמר המכסה, Shabbos Vayeira, 20 Cheshvan 5737 (first printed in Kuntres Chof Cheshvan 5747)
- Bereishis 18:17–19 with Targum and Rashi
- The Rebbe Rashab, Hemshech Samach Vov, ד"ה וה' אמר המכסה 5666 and ד"ה כי ידעתיו 5665
- The Rebbe Rashab, ד"ה זכור 5678 (as brought in the maamar)
- The Mitteler Rebbe, Biurei HaZohar (as brought in the maamar)
- Torah Ohr (as brought in the maamar)
- Tehillim 116:9 and 117
- Hayom Yom, 9 Cheshvan
Review questions
- What question of the Rebbe Rashab opens the maamar?If “derech Hashem,” the way of Hashem, is Torah and mitzvos, what does the verse add with “la’asos tzedakah,” to do tzedakah, which is the mitzvos? The answer: derech Hashem is a drawing down from above to below; tzedakah u’mishpat is the avodah from below to above (§1).
- What does the mashal of the king’s road teach about the kav?A road is a connector joining two places that are far apart, like the king’s road from the capital to the farthest corner. So the kav, the line of light from Ohr Ein Sof, is called a derech: through it the light reaches the worlds (§2).
- Why is a road that cannot be traveled back “not a road at all,” and what does this teach?Derech Hashem means not only drawing down but also raising the lower, so that it becomes a vessel. Only then does the drawing down truly enter the lower place and become one with it (§4–5).
- What does “hamechaseh ani” mean in the maamar, and why was it revealed to Avraham?“I Who am hidden”: the essential hiddenness of Ein Sof, which the deed from below, ma’aseh gadol, reaches. It was revealed to Avraham because of Avraham’s avodah from below and because Avraham would command his children to do tzedakah u’mishpat (§6).
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