Parshas Va'eira
1. As has already been said many times, all matters of Torah — not only its laws but also its narratives — are a "הוראה" (instruction, guidance) — "תורה מלשון הוראה" ("the word Torah derives from the word for instruction") — in every time and in every place, until the end of all generations. This is the concept of the eternity of the Torah.
This means that even the accounts and events which are bound up with a situation and condition that has no relevance to present-day generations are nevertheless, by virtue of the eternity of the Torah, also an instruction in every generation.
So it is with all the narratives of the Torah, and all the more so with the narratives concerning the Exodus from Egypt.
The mitzvah of remembering the Exodus from Egypt applies every day, because the theme of the Exodus from Egypt is present in a person's spiritual service every day, as the Alter Rebbe explains at length in Tanya (ch. 47) and in Torah Or. It is therefore certain that all the narratives the Torah relates about the manner in which the Jews went out of Egypt physically are also an instruction regarding the manner of "יציאת מצרים" ("the Exodus from Egypt") in the spiritual sense.
The beginning of the Exodus from Egypt came with the Ten Plagues, through which the pride of Pharaoh and the pride of Egypt were broken. This is, after all, the content of this week's Sidrah, in which the plagues of blood, frogs, and so on are related.
2. The beginning of this week's Sidrah speaks of the harsh oppression and exile in Egypt.
The Sidrah opens with the words "וארא אל אברהם" ("And I appeared to Avraham…"), which is G‑d's answer to Moshe Rabbeinu's question (at the end of Parshas Shemos): "למה הרעתה לעם הזה… והצל לא הצלת את עמך" ("Why have You dealt badly with this people… and You have not saved Your people").
The exile was so intense, with such intense darkness — a doubled and redoubled darkness — that even for Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the ultimate of holy wisdom and intellect, there was no room for it even within his intellect, and he asked: "Why have You dealt badly with this people?"
Also afterwards, when Moshe Rabbeinu conveyed to the Jews G‑d's answer — "לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני הוי'" ("Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am Havayah…") and "והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים" ("And I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt…"), with the four expressions of redemption — "ולא שמעו אל משה מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה" ("But they did not listen to Moshe, because of shortness of spirit and hard labor").
Even the extraordinary revelation of the Name Havayah that was then revealed, as it is written, "Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am Havayah" — which was, after all, a most exalted revelation — nevertheless did not break the exile for them, and "they did not listen to Moshe…"
And certainly the fault did not lie with the messenger who conveyed G‑d's words, for the messenger was Moshe Rabbeinu, of whom it is said that "שכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו של משה" ("the Shechinah speaks from the throat of Moshe"), meaning that even Moshe's physical body was a channel and a vessel to convey G‑d's words just as they are.
— As is known,1 the difference between Moshe and all the other prophets is that for all the prophets, at the time of prophecy there had to be a divestment of physicality, because their physical body was not a vessel for it; and even then they prophesied with "כה" ("thus" — the level of a mere likeness). Moshe Rabbeinu, however, remained as he was at the time of prophecy, and prophesied with "זה" ("this"),2 because his physical body was a channel and a vessel to convey the word of Havayah just as it is. —
In addition, there was the remembrance of the merit of the Patriarchs, which G‑d mentioned at the very beginning of His speech: "And I appeared to" the Patriarchs — and the remembrance of the merit of the Patriarchs is a great help. As we find in the Mishnah,3 that they used to say "האיר פני כל המזרח עד שבחברון" ("The entire face of the east is lit up as far as Chevron"), in order to recall the merit of those who sleep in Chevron, and this is an aid — a help — in the service of the offerings in general, and the Tamid offering in particular.
Even more: the remembrance of the merit of the Patriarchs came from G‑d Himself, which is an exceedingly great aid.
And despite all these advantages — a) the revelation of the Name Havayah and the four expressions of redemption; b) the revelation through Moshe; c) the mention of the merit of the Patriarchs; and d) through G‑d Himself — this still did not succeed in having them begin to break the exile, and the matter of redemption did not take hold with them. Not only did it not take hold with them in the manner of "ראיה" ("seeing") — the very greatest form of being affected — but even in the manner of "שמיעה" ("hearing"),4 mere understanding and comprehension, it did not take hold either — "and they did not listen…"
3. All this is explained at the beginning of the Parshah. But later in the Parshah, the plagues are related, and it was specifically they that began to break the exile, despite its strength and force, as mentioned above.
And this is an instruction in the service of each and every person, every day, in the spiritual Exodus from Egypt:
Even though the "Mitzrayim" (Egypt) within him has great strength — whether it is "Mitzrayim" of holiness, meaning that his service is according to reason and understanding, so that consequently his service is limited — "מצרים" (straits) and boundaries; or even if it is "Mitzrayim" of the opposite side, meaning that he lacks even the service that is according to reason and understanding — nevertheless, through the service of the plagues one can break the strength of Mitzrayim and bring about a redemption in one's soul.
4. The first plague that broke the Egyptian exile was blood. The waters — of the Nile — turned into blood.
The nature of water is cold and moist.5 Coldness in general is the opposite of holiness, because holiness is vitality, liveliness. As it says in Avos deRabbi Nosson:6 "עשרה נקראו חיים" ("Ten are called 'life'"); the first one counted there is that the Holy One, blessed be He, is called "life," and afterwards it enumerates all those who are attached to G‑d. Vitality brings with it warmth. Coldness, however, is the opposite of warmth and of holy liveliness.
This means: the first thing that must be broken is coldness. When there is coldness toward matters of holiness, from this begin all the things that stand in opposition to holiness. That is why the first plague was in water — coldness.
5. In which waters was the plague? The Torah relates: "במים אשר ביאור" ("in the waters that are in the river")7 — in the waters of the Nile river.
In coldness there are two kinds: a) a coldness toward worldly matters, which stems from holiness; b) a coldness toward matters of holiness, which is the beginning of all the kelipos, as mentioned above.
Likewise there are two kinds of water: a) water that comes from above, as it is written, "למטר השמים תשתה מים" ("from the rain of heaven it drinks water"), which is the coolness of holiness; b) "מים שמתחת לארץ" ("water beneath the earth") — the coolness of kelipah.
The water of the Nile was of the second level. That is why the expression "עולה לקראתו" ("it rises toward him") is used8 regarding the Nile, because it does not come from above but from the water beneath the earth.
And the waters of the Nile — that is, the coldness toward holiness — were the idol of Egypt, from which all sorts of evil derived. Therefore, when the breaking of the "גאון" — the pride — of Egypt began, the first thing to be broken was the waters of the river — the matter of coldness.
6. What became of the waters? They became "דם" — blood. Blood is vitality, liveliness, as it is written, "כי הדם הוא הנפש" ("for the blood is the soul"). "ויהפכו כל המים אשר ביאור לדם" ("And all the water in the river was turned into blood") — in place of the coldness there came liveliness, "דמיני ובי׳ אבא לשדי׳ בי׳ נרגא" ("[a palm tree] that is like me and in which one would wish to strike an axe").9
With this we will also understand why at the beginning it says10 that the water would turn into blood "ביבשת" ("on the dry land"). Seemingly, what is the relevance of adding the word "on the dry land"? The point, however, is this: dryness, dry land, does not possess even the quality of moisture — attachment — and the achievement was that even in dryness there should also be vitality.
7. Among the four categories — inanimate, vegetative, animal, and speaking — the less vitality a category possesses, the further it is from holiness, for holiness is vitality, as mentioned above. The inanimate is the furthest thing from holiness; after it comes the vegetative, and then the animal. So too among the four worlds — Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, Asiyah — Asiyah, where "הרע גובר" ("evil prevails"), is comparable to the inanimate, and so on.
Water and blood are coolness and warmth as they exist in the inanimate. But the matter of coolness also exists among living creatures, and it goes without saying that this is especially so among those living creatures that were created from water. Of the Ten Plagues, this is the frogs — "ושרץ היאור צפרדעים" ("and the river shall swarm with frogs") — as with the creation of the fish during the six days of Creation;11 to the point that the frog swims in rivers, etc., as related in the Gemara and Midrash,12 that in order for a scorpion to be able to cross a river, it is placed on a frog, and the frog carries it across the river.
— The scorpion, too, is by nature cold, and has an intensity of coldness.13 Nevertheless, it is not water, not the utter opposite of fire; it does not swim. The frog, however, is a creature of the water14 — the opposite of fire.
8. With this we will understand why a special point is made about the frogs, that specifically they went "בתנוריך" ("into your ovens"). Seemingly, what is the achievement in this?
— Our Sages derive from this their self-sacrifice:15 since G‑d commanded them to go into the entire land of Egypt, they went even into the ovens. But this does not explain why the same was not true also of the lice and the wild beasts. —
But according to what was said earlier, it is understandable: they displayed self-sacrifice to the utmost, even from one extreme to the other, as frogs, which are from water — "and the river shall swarm" — nevertheless went into burning ovens — fire, the opposite from one extreme to the other.
9. The frog came to strike the entire domain of Pharaoh, and this means the holy coldness toward matters of physicality and materiality.
And this is the meaning of the frogs going "בתנוריך ובמשארותיך" ("into your ovens and into your kneading troughs"), that is, they went to extinguish the heat and the false haughtiness of kelipah. For in the opposite side, too, there exists the matter of warmth.
Although it was said earlier that kelipah is coolness, coldness, nevertheless, in order for free choice to be possible, kelipah must bear some resemblance to holiness, at least "כקוף בפני אדם" (like a monkey compared to a man). Therefore, in kelipah, too, there exists the matter of heat — excitement about the matters of this world.
10. The instruction — the guidance — from this in one's service is:
In order to be freed from, and go out of, the Egypt of the opposite side
(The manner of going out of the Egypt of holiness — service according to reason and understanding — is similar. But what is chiefly relevant is going out of the Egypt of the opposite side.)
one must bring warmth and liveliness into matters of holiness, because the beginning of every kind of evil is coolness — coldness.
It may seem: what is all the fuss about not having excitement in holiness? After all, one is not doing anything contrary [to Torah]; whom does it bother that one has no excitement in holiness?
One must know that it is not as one imagines — that one can be neither here nor there (not excited about holiness, but also not excited about matters of evil). For if one is cold toward holiness, in the end one will lie in the impurity of Egypt, Heaven forbid.
That is why the Evil Inclination invests so much strength and effort into cooling off a Jew so that he will not be stirred by G‑dliness. So much so, that even when he sees an open miracle and wonder, the Evil Inclination comes to him and argues with him: "What is there for you to be stirred by in this? You yourself believe that all things come from G‑d, and that G‑d is omnipotent, so that in relation to Him all the worlds have no significance. It is obvious, then, that for Him three letters have no significance, and He can change the combination of letters 'חמץ' into the combination of letters 'שמץ', and 'מי שאמר לשמן וידליק הוא יאמר לחומץ וידליק' ('He Who told oil to burn will tell vinegar to burn').16 So why should you be stirred and get carried away?"
The intention of the Evil Inclination is to cool him off from a G‑dly excitement and to produce in him a coldness toward holiness, which is a source of the impurity of Egypt.
Therefore one must remember that the first thing one must do in order to be freed from "Mitzrayim" is "blood": to begin to be excited about, and to live in, the matters of holiness.
And just as one must bring about within oneself warmth in holiness — blood — so too must one bring about within oneself coldness toward worldly matters — the frog. These are also the two movements of "סור מרע" ("turn away from evil") — the frog, "ועשה טוב" ("and do good") — blood; and through these two movements and their offshoots one goes out of Egypt.
11. In general, the order of service is first "turn away from evil" and afterwards "do good," according to the well-known parable that when one wishes to make a dwelling for a king of flesh and blood, the first thing one must do is sweep out all the filthy things, etc., and only then can one bring in beautiful furnishings and make it a dwelling fit for a king.
This is an order from below to above. From above to below, however, the order is the reverse: first "do good" and afterwards "turn away from evil." That is, very lofty revelations are revealed from above, and they bring about that one turns away from evil.
And since the plagues came from above, there was therefore first blood — "do good" — and afterwards the frog — "turn away from evil."
12. Although this is an order from above to below, nevertheless, since all the narratives of the Torah are an instruction for all generations in our service — as mentioned above — this is also an instruction that there must also be an order of beginning with "do good."
As the Rebbe Maharash said: "The world says that if you cannot go under, you must go over; and I hold that one must go over to begin with."
There must also be an order of going higher to begin with — revealing an abundance of light — and then the darkness will be dispelled as a matter of course.
13. Similar to this is the difference between the revealed part of the Torah and the inner dimension of the Torah. From the standpoint of the revealed Torah, the order is from below to above, from the light to the weighty. From the standpoint of the inner dimension, the order is the reverse: one begins immediately with light. Especially in the latter generations, the inner dimension of the Torah is revealed to everyone, and one does not impose the conditions or demand the preparations that were once required in order to begin studying the inner dimension of the Torah. Today one studies the inner dimension of the Torah with everyone — specifically by spreading it. And according to the well-known parable of the Alter Rebbe about the precious stone in the king's crown, [OCR unclear]
And this is the way to go out of Egypt — the way of revealing and spreading the inner dimension of the Torah, beginning with the excitement and vitality of holiness — "blood"; then will come the repelling of evil — the pushing away of the bad.
— And when the three completely impure kelipos are entirely repelled from one's domain, — as a result17 kelipas nogah is elevated —
through this one will bring about the personal redemption in one's soul, and afterwards also the general redemption, "כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים אראנו נפלאות" ("As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders"), speedily in our days.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Va'eira, 5718)
14. It is known that the four expressions of redemption — in this week's Sidrah — "והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי" ("And I will take out, and I will save, and I will redeem, and I will take"), correspond to the four redemptions, from the exile of Egypt and the other exiles. From this it is understood that the expression "והבאתי" ("And I will bring") represents an additional elevation in the redemption of the Future to Come, which in general divides into the days of Moshiach and "חד חרוב" ("one [millennium] of desolation"), etc.
From the fact that G‑d said the fifth expression too at the redemption from Egypt, it is understood that beginning with the Exodus from Egypt, the future redemption in all its aspects had already begun, in keeping with the statement of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [the Previous Rebbe], that from the Exodus from Egypt onward, one is traveling toward the redemption of the Future to Come.
15. The Gemara18 says: "ר׳ יוחנן אמר, אשו משום חציו" ("Rabbi Yochanan said: one's fire [is liable] on account of his arrows"). That is, as soon as one kindles a fire, one already becomes liable for the damages that will result later.
Seemingly, at the time of the damage he is under duress [unable to prevent it]; how then can he be held liable? The liability, however, is for kindling the fire (which was, after all, done willingly), because already at that moment the entire damage was accomplished.
"מרובה מדה טובה ממדה פורעניות" ("The measure of good is greater than the measure of retribution").19 If, regarding the measure of retribution, the entire damage was accomplished from the outset, then regarding the measure of good this is certainly so: as soon as G‑d promised "והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ הטובה" ("And I will bring you to the good land") — which refers to the highest level of the redemption of the Future to Come — it was all already accomplished.
16. Regarding the fast of Tishah b'Av, the same Rabbi Yochanan says20 that he would have instituted the fast on the tenth day of Av, because on Tishah b'Av most of the Beis HaMikdash was still intact, and the main part of the destruction took place on the tenth of Av.
The question is asked: according to the rule mentioned above — that when one kindles a fire the entire damage is already accomplished — since the beginning of the burning was on Tishah b'Av, then according to Rabbi Yochanan himself the whole matter was already accomplished on the ninth of Av? The explanation, however, is that the rule mentioned applies only to a human being of flesh and blood, but not to G‑d.
The reason for the difference: with fire, which is "on account of his arrows," as soon as the arrow has left his hand he is no longer its master. Consequently, when he shoots the arrow or when he kindles the fire, the entire damage is already accomplished.
It is therefore understood that with G‑d, from Whose hand even fire and arrows never leave,21 and Who is always their master, the matter was not accomplished beforehand, for He can always draw it back.
That is why Rabbi Yochanan says that the fast should have been fixed on the tenth of Av, for although "באש הצתה" ("with fire You kindled it") on Tishah b'Av, nevertheless, since He can always draw it back, the destruction was not yet accomplished on Tishah b'Av.
According to this, it would seemingly be the same in our case: how then do we say that when G‑d promised "And I will bring…" the redemption was already accomplished? Since it is always in His hand — "ומי יאמר לו מה תעשה" ("and who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?'") — then as long as He has not carried out the matter in actuality, the matter has not yet been accomplished?
17. In truth, however, this is no question at all. For it is known22 that regarding evil decrees, Heaven forbid, G‑d relents and annuls them, but regarding good decrees He never relents: "ההוא אמר וגו׳ ולא יקימנה" ("Has He said… and will He not fulfill it?"), as a rhetorical question. Therefore, when G‑d promised "And I will bring…", which is a good thing and which He will never retract, it is as though He is, so to speak, compelled in it, and this is, so to speak, as with a person after the arrow has already left his hand.
Although Above there can be no compulsion, Heaven forbid, and everything is according to His blessed Will, nevertheless, since His blessed Will is such that a good thing He will never annul, the matter is in effect compelled.
In relation to G‑d it is certain that this is by His blessed Will, for the very fact that the matter is compelled is itself because that is His blessed Will. But as far as the matter itself is concerned, the matter is compelled, because it — the matter — can in no way be annulled. Consequently, in relation to the matter, it is just like a human being whose arrow has left his hand, where it (the arrow) can in no way come back.
18. The point in one's service is: when one knows that the redemption, up to its greatest elevation, is already present now, and it only needs to become revealed, there is a [OCR unclear]
Notes
1) Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 7:6.
2) Sifri, beginning of Parshas Matos. Rashi's commentary on the Torah, Bamidbar 30:2.
3) Yoma 28a. Tamid 30a.
4) See Torah Or, beginning of Parshas Vayechi, and elsewhere.
5) See Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 4:2.
6) Chapter 34, 10.
7) See Zohar, Part II, 28b.
8) Aggadas Bereishis, ch. 42. Rashi's commentary on the Torah, Bereishis 47:10.
9) Sanhedrin 39b. (This is the wording in Tanya; in the Gemara the reading is "ניד"ל בי׳ נרגא".)
10) Shemos 4:9.
11) Shemos Rabbah 10:2.
12) Nedarim 41a. Koheles Rabbah ch. 5, on the verse "ויתרון ארץ" ("And the advantage of the land").
13) Avodah Zarah 28, end of side b.
14) Shemos Rabbah 10:3.
15) Pesachim 53b. And see Zohar, Part II, 29b.
16) Taanis 25a.
17) Tanya, ch. 37.
18) Bava Kamma 22a, and Nimukei Yosef there.
19) Yoma 76a.
20) Taanis 29a.
21) Rashi, Devarim 32:41.
22) Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 10:10.
Key Lesson
The first plague struck the cold waters of the Nile and turned them into blood, teaching that coldness toward holiness is the root of all spiritual exile, and the first step out of one's personal "Egypt" is warmth and vitality in matters of holiness. Rather than waiting to finish "turning from evil," one should begin from above with "doing good" and spreading the light of Chassidus, and the darkness will be dispelled on its own; and since G‑d's promise of the ultimate redemption can never be retracted, that redemption is already present and only needs to be revealed.