Parshas Tazria
1. On the verse "אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר" ("When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male"), our Sages say:1 "איש מזריע תחלה יולדת נקבה, אשה מזרעת תחלה יולדת זכר" ("If the man emits seed first, she gives birth to a female; if the woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male").
But this is so only now. In the Time to Come, the child will be in the category of a male even when the man emits seed first, as is stated in Torah Ohr2 on the verse "ולציון יאמר איש ואיש יולד בה" ("And of Zion it will be said, 'Man and man was born in her'"): "man and man" — even when the man emits seed first, she gives birth to the category of a male (a "man").
2. An example of this matter is found by us even now.
In Likkutei Torah on this week's parshah it is explained that through "שמחה של מצוה" (the joy of a mitzvah) one brings about that she will give birth to a male. For the joy of a mitzvah below arouses joy Above as well, and joy breaks through boundaries: all the limitations that stem from the order of creation fall away, and among them also the limitation of "the man emits seed first, she gives birth to a female."
By way of analogy: when a king of flesh and blood is joyous, he goes beyond his bounds and rules, and he becomes revealed to everyone, to small and great alike. So too Above: by virtue of joy, G‑dliness that is higher than limitation is revealed, and all bounds fall away.
3. The inner dimension of this matter is as follows. The joy of a mitzvah comes through contemplating the greatness of the mitzvos — that through them one draws down a light that is beyond the scope of the worlds, higher even than the revelation of light in Gan Eden. As our Sages say:3 "יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומעשים טובים בעולם הזה מכל חיי עולם הבא" ("One hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come"). All the life of the World to Come is still a matter of created beings, and created beings are limited; but the mitzvos are His will, may He be blessed, and He is utterly without limit.
This contemplation brings about that the service be with joy, and even more — "with gladness of heart."
As it is written:4 "עבדת את הוי' אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב מרוב כל" ("You served the L‑rd your G‑d with joy and with gladness of heart, out of an abundance of everything"). From where does "you served the L‑rd your G‑d with joy and with gladness of heart" come? From "מרוב כל" — from the contemplation that the mitzvos are higher than "an abundance of everything," which includes even the very highest worlds.
And since the joy of a mitzvah stems from one's binding oneself with the Essence — and He, may He be blessed, is not limited by any limitations — all limitations are removed, and even when the man emits seed first it can be that she gives birth to the category of a male.
4. In this way one will also understand the matter as it will be in the Time to Come. Since in the Time to Come there will be the revelation of the Essence, all limitations will fall away, and so there will also be "And of Zion it will be said, 'Man and man was born in her'" — the man emits seed first, yet she gives birth to the category of a male.
5. Accordingly, one will also understand the dispute between the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud concerning a male or female child. The Bavli5 states that until forty days a plea for mercy can help that the child should be a male, but after forty days it is a prayer in vain. The Yerushalmi6 states that even after forty days — and according to another opinion, even when the woman is already going into labor — one can still bring about through prayer that the child should be a male.
According to what was said above, this can be explained as follows. Once the child has already been formed, it is a prayer in vain. But the view of the Yerushalmi, that prayer can always help, is because the Yerushalmi — the opposite of the "במחשכים" ("in dark places") and the questions of the Babylonian Talmud7 — is akin to the revelation of the Time to Come, and from the perspective of that level there are no limitations at all.
6. As has been said several times, every physical thing — and especially what is written in the Torah — exists also in spirituality, and from spirituality the matter evolves down into physicality.
So too the matter of male and female, with the details mentioned above — a) the difference between "the man emits seed first" and "the woman emits seed first"; b) the difference between now and the Time to Come — exists in spirituality, in the service of the soul of man.
7. In Likkutei Torah (there), he explains the saying of our Sages "the man emits seed first etc." in spiritual terms. "Man" and "woman" refer to the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Congregation of Israel. "The man emits seed first" means that the arousal begins from Above — "אתערותא דלעילא" (an arousal from Above). "The woman emits seed first" means that the arousal begins from man — "אתערותא דלתתא" (an arousal from below).
Thus, if "the man emits seed first — she gives birth to a female": since the arousal comes from Above, it brings about below a matter of "female," that is, something that is not lasting, as the saying goes,8 "נשים דעתן קלות" ("women are light-minded"). For since the person has not prepared a vessel for it — the arousal is only from Above — it has no hold within the person. When, however, "the woman emits seed first," when there is an arousal on the part of man, he thereby becomes a vessel for it; then "she gives birth to a male" — it is something lasting, because the person absorbs it — takes it in — inwardly.
8. Nevertheless, there is an advantage also in "the man emits seed first" (an arousal from Above). For an arousal from below can draw down no more than a light that is within the scope of created beings. But when "the man emits seed," the drawing down comes from Above, and a limitless light, beyond the worlds, can be — and is — drawn down.
It emerges that in each mode there is an advantage. The advantage of "the man emits seed first" lies in the light — the light is a higher one; and the advantage of "the woman emits seed first" is that it comes down inwardly.
In the Time to Come, however, there will be "man and man was born in her" — both advantages will be present: a light that is beyond the scope of the worlds, and in an inward manner — "להוי כדין וכדין" ("let it be both this way and that way").9
9. The two matters — drawing down from Above to below, and elevation from below to Above — are, in general, also the difference between the months of Nissan and Tishrei.
Concerning the months of Nissan and Tishrei, the Midrash says:10 "משבחר הקב"ה בעולמו קבע בו ראשי חדשים ושנים, ומשבחר ביעקב ובניו קבע בו ראש חודש של גאולה" ("From when the Holy One, blessed be He, chose His world, He established in it beginnings of months and years; and from when He chose Yaakov and his sons, He established in it the New Month of redemption"). The Rosh Hashanah of "when the Holy One, blessed be He, chose His world" is in Tishrei, and the month of redemption of "when He chose Yaakov and his sons" is Nissan.
In the Akeidah and in other sefarim the matter of these two months is explained. In the way the A-lmighty conducts the world there are two modes: natural conduct, and miraculous conduct, which is higher than nature. Tishrei is the New Year for the natural order, because on the first of Tishrei man was created — the completion of creation11 according to the order of nature. Nissan is the New Year for the conduct that transcends nature, because in the month of Nissan the Exodus from Egypt took place — miracles that transcend nature.
It is still not understood, however, why the New Year of miraculous conduct must be at a different time. If it is because of the Exodus from Egypt, which took place in the month of Nissan, then this itself must be understood: why was the Exodus in Nissan and not in Tishrei — especially since the beginning of the redemption was in fact in Tishrei, as stated in the Gemara:12 "בתשרי בטלה עבודה מאבותינו במצרים" ("In Tishrei the servitude of our fathers in Egypt ceased")? Why, then, was the complete redemption not also in Tishrei, but specifically in Nissan?
The explanation is this. The difference between Tishrei and Nissan is that Tishrei is gevurah, teshuvah, elevation from below to Above. And since created beings, by virtue of their own service, however high they may ascend, remain within limitation, Tishrei is therefore the New Year for the natural order. Nissan is chesed, drawing down from Above to below, higher than the worlds; therefore Nissan is the New Year for the miraculous conduct that transcends nature.13
For this reason we also see that in Tishrei we pray for rain, and in Nissan for dew. The difference between rain and dew is well known: rain comes through an arousal from below — "ואד יעלה מן הארץ" ("and a mist would rise from the earth"); and dew comes through an arousal from Above.
(This is also the reason that rain "מיעצר" (is withheld) — rain can be held back: since the drawing down of rain depends on the service of created beings, if the service is lacking, the rain is lacking. Dew "לא מיעצר" (is not withheld),14 because it is a drawing down from Above, which the service of created beings does not touch.)
And therefore in Tishrei — elevation — we pray for rain, and in Nissan — drawing down — for dew.
10. How, then — according to the explanation above — is it that in Tishrei the servitude of our fathers ceased, and the beginning of the redemption was in Tishrei?
This will be understood by first explaining the precise wording "משבחר הקב"ה בעולמו" ("from when the Holy One, blessed be He, chose His world") — not "משברא הקב"ה את עולמו" ("from when the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world"), but specifically "chose." Choosing is higher than creating, for through the A-lmighty's having chosen the world, the world gained an elevation: it acquired a connection to G‑dliness.
And this is the precision of the wording, "From when the Holy One, blessed be He, chose His world, He established in it beginnings of months and years": that even the New Year of Tishrei, which is the New Year for the natural order — even this is already higher than the world as it is in itself; this is already the world as it is by virtue of the Holy One, blessed be He, having chosen it.
The creation of the world as it is in itself was on the 25th of Elul,15 and "when the Holy One, blessed be He, chose His world" was on the first of Tishrei (the time of the creation of man, through whose service the world became a vessel for G‑dliness), concerning which — the first of Tishrei — it is said: "זה היום תחילת מעשיך" ("This day is the beginning of Your works"). The 25th (כ"ה) of Elul is the level of "כה" ("thus"), and the first of Tishrei is the level of "זה" ("this"). "This" is higher than "thus," as the saying goes:16 "כל הנביאים נתנבאו בכה ומשה נתנבא בזה" ("All the prophets prophesied with 'thus,' and Moshe prophesied with 'this'"). The world as it is in itself is the level of "thus," because given the concealment and hiddenness in the world, one cannot point and say "this," but only the level of "thus." But by virtue of the creation of man and his service, one can say "this": one sees G‑dliness tangibly — along the lines of "שכל אחד ואחד מראה באצבעו ואומר זה א-לי" ("each and every one pointed with his finger and said, 'This is my G‑d'").
But all this is only the level of G‑dliness that relates to the world and contracts itself according to the world's measure, and conducts the world through the natural order — except that this level itself is not in concealment but in revelation. In the month of Nissan, however, there shines the G‑dliness that is higher than the worlds, in which there is no limitation of nature, G‑d forbid, and from this emerges the miraculous conduct that transcends nature.
Accordingly, one will now understand why in Tishrei the servitude of our fathers ceased: since in Tishrei too the very being of G‑dliness shines, the bondage was annulled and there was the beginning of the redemption. Yet they were still in Mitzrayim — from the term "מצרים וגבולים" (constraints and boundaries) — because all this is the G‑dliness that has invested itself in nature. The Exodus from Egypt took place specifically in the month of Nissan, for in the month of Nissan G‑dliness shines as it is without limit; then came the going out from all constraints and limitations.
11. Accordingly, one will also understand why the opening of the Ten Commandments is "אנכי הוי' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים" ("I am the L‑rd your G‑d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt"). The question is well known:17 why does He say "Who brought you out of the land of Egypt" and not "Who created heaven and earth," which is a greater wonder18 than the Exodus from Egypt? The explanation is that the accomplishment of the Giving of the Torah is that through Torah and mitzvos one binds oneself with the Essence and Being of G‑dliness as He is higher than the worlds. Therefore, at the beginning of the Giving of the Torah, He does not mention the creation of heaven and earth but specifically the Exodus from Egypt — because the accomplishment of the Giving of the Torah is the going out from all the constraints and limitations of the world, and the binding of oneself with the G‑dliness that is higher than the worlds.
12. Accordingly, one will also understand the dispute in the Gemara19 concerning the time of the future redemption. Rabbi Eliezer holds "בניסן נגאלו, בתשרי עתידין להגאל" ("In Nissan they were redeemed; in Tishrei they are destined to be redeemed"), and Rabbi Yehoshua holds "In Nissan they were redeemed; in Nissan they are destined to be redeemed." At first glance the view of Rabbi Eliezer is not understood: why should the time of the future redemption be different from the time of the redemption from Egypt?
But according to the above — that Nissan is drawing down from Above to below and Tishrei is elevation from below to Above — this will be understood. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua follow here their respective positions in another dispute20 concerning the manner of the future redemption. Rabbi Eliezer holds "אם ישראל עושין תשובה נגאלין כו'" ("If Israel does teshuvah, they are redeemed etc."), because since the exile came about on account of sin — "ומפני חטאינו גלינו מארצנו" ("because of our sins we were exiled from our land") — the redemption must also come through rectifying the sin, through the service of teshuvah. And teshuvah is service from below to Above; therefore the redemption will be in Tishrei — elevation. In the plain sense as well, the main time of teshuvah is in the month of Tishrei, as it is written "דרשו הוי' בהמצאו" ("Seek the L‑rd when He is found"), on which our Sages say:21 "אלו עשרה ימים שבין ראש השנה ליום הכיפורים" ("These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur").
But Rabbi Yehoshua holds that the redemption will be in the manner of "ולא בכסף תגאלו — לא בתשובה כו'" ("'And not with money shall you be redeemed' — not through teshuvah etc."); rather, it will come from Above to below. Therefore he holds that "in Nissan they are destined to be redeemed," and so too is the halachah, as the Midrash states it without dissent.22
13. We still need to understand, however, the inner meaning of their dispute regarding the future redemption — whether it will come through service or through a revelation from Above.
We also need to understand the initial assumption of the Gemara there, that even according to Rabbi Yehoshua one would, by reasoning, have had to say that "in Tishrei they are destined to be redeemed" — for the Gemara there brings several proofs that the redemption will be in Tishrei, and only in the conclusion does the Gemara reject the proofs and conclude that the redemption will be in Nissan. From this it is implied that, on the face of it, it should indeed have been so — that the future redemption would come through service from below to Above, in Tishrei — and only at the end does one conclude that the redemption will be in the manner of from Above to below — Nissan.
So we must understand Rabbi Eliezer's reasoning and the initial assumption according to Rabbi Yehoshua. After all, it is written "כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים אראנו נפלאות" ("As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders"),23 and the Exodus from Egypt was in the month of Nissan, from Above to below. Why should there be even an initial assumption that the future redemption will be in Tishrei, from below to Above?
14. The explanation of this is as follows. We said earlier that there is an advantage also in elevation from below to Above. True, the light is a lower one, but it comes inwardly. Therefore there is room in reason for the redemption to be in Tishrei, by virtue of the advantage of inwardness.
The Exodus from Egypt was before the Giving of the Torah, and the Jews were sunk in the forty-nine gates of impurity, so it was necessary to have recourse to "נגלה עליהם מלך מלכי המלכים הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו" ("the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them in His glory and in His own Self"); therefore the redemption was in Nissan.
The future redemption, however, will come after the service of created beings that follows the Giving of the Torah, through which — through our service in Torah and mitzvos — we refine the world and make it a vessel for G‑dliness. For this is indeed the accomplishment of the Giving of the Torah: that even the loftiest matters must be in the world inwardly — to the point that although the revelation of Moshiach is higher than the world, it too must nevertheless be specifically inward. Therefore Rabbi Eliezer says that in Tishrei they will be redeemed.
But Rabbi Yehoshua holds — and so too is the halachah — that the future redemption will come from Above, and nevertheless it will be inward, as it is written, "And of Zion it will be said, 'Man and man was born in her'": although "the man emits seed first" — an arousal from Above — nevertheless "she gives birth to a male" — permanence and inwardness.
(From the Sicha following the maamar "החודש הזה לכם" ("This month shall be for you"), 5717)
15. On the verse "When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male," the holy Ohr HaChaim says: "עוד ירמוז הכתוב" ("The verse further alludes") to the Congregation of Israel, who is called "woman," as it is written,24 "כי בועליך עושיך" ("For your Maker is your Husband"): when the Jews "sow" mitzvos and good deeds — along the lines of25 "זרעו לכם לצדקה" ("Sow for yourselves for righteousness") — the Torah assures: "and she gives birth to a male" — she will bear a male, the category of male being higher than the category of female. "She gives birth" — certainly (with this he resolves what he asked earlier: why does it say "וילדה" ("and she gives birth") and not "אם תלד זכר" ("if she gives birth to a male"), as it says further on, "ואם נקבה תלד" ("and if she gives birth to a female")). This refers to the future redemption, which will be in the category of a male.
And he explains the advantage of the future redemption over the redemption from Egypt: the redemption from Egypt had no permanence — after it came an exile — but the future redemption will be a complete redemption "שאין אחריה גלות" ("after which there is no exile"), because the service of the Jews — "when a woman conceives" — will bring about that the future redemption be in the category of a male: permanence and endurance forever.
This is the substance of his words.26
One may say that this is along the lines of what is cited from the Mechilta,27 and similarly in Midrash Tehillim: "כל השירות לשון נקבה, חוץ משירה דלעתיד דלשון זכר, שירו לה' שיר חדש" ("All the songs are in the feminine form, except the song of the Time to Come, which is in the masculine form: 'Sing to the L‑rd a new song'").
16. The reason for the name "woman" is: "כי מאיש לוקחה זאת" ("for from man was this taken").28 "אין איש אלא הקב"ה, שנאמר ה' איש מלחמה" ("'Man' refers only to the Holy One, blessed be He, as it says, 'The L‑rd is a Man of war'").29 The Congregation of Israel, which is taken from the L‑rd, the "Man," is therefore called "woman."
Each name of the Jewish people signifies a particular quality within them. The name "woman" indicates that their entire existence is only that "from man was this taken." A Jew is not concerned with any coarse materiality, nor even with any physicality; and in the essence of his soul he is not concerned even with spiritual reward and recompense — even the highest levels of spiritual reward. What concerns him is the A-lmighty Himself alone.30 And as was said earlier in the maamar,*30 even the highest levels in the Higher Gan Eden are no more than a mere glimmer, and are utterly incomparable to the Essence.
When the level of "woman" is present, one must still first do the "תזריע" ("conceives," literally "sows"). Sowing is specifically in the earth. If one sows a seed not in the earth but above ten handbreadths — or even below ten handbreadths, and even within three handbreadths of the ground, which is considered as attached to it — nothing will grow from it; the sowing must be specifically in the earth. And then growth comes from it.
So too the sowing of the mitzvos must be specifically in the earth,31 as it says,32 "וזרעתיה לי בארץ" ("I will sow her for Myself in the land"), "כי תהיו אתם ארץ חפץ" ("for you shall be a desirable land").33 And this is specifically below: not above ten handbreadths — the encompassing powers; nor even below ten handbreadths — the inner powers of intellect and emotions; but in actual deed, specifically in actual practice.
As long as the physical deed is lacking, the intention of the mitzvos in the mind is not enough, and neither is the feeling of the heart. One may argue "רחמנא ליבא בעי" ("the Merciful One desires the heart"),34 that it is enough that he has a warm heart and a refined head, and with that he will fulfill his obligation — but he is told: No, there must be the deed in actual practice.
In the mitzvah of tzedakah, which encompasses all the mitzvos, it is not enough that he will have pity on the poor man, that he will shed tears over his situation etc., while the dollar remains in his pocket. One must actually give the dollar to the poor man, simply, in physicality. And just as it is with tzedakah, so it is with all the mitzvos: they must be in actual deed, specifically in physicality — tzitzis of physical wool, tefillin of physical parchment, etc.
And this is the meaning of "אשה כי תזריע" ("when a woman conceives"): when one stands at the level of "woman," there must and still has to be the "תזריע" — in the earth, below. For it could happen that, out of sensing the preciousness of "Man," who is higher than all revelations, as mentioned above, a person will stand in a state of "כלות הנפש" (the soul's expiring in yearning) — like Nadav and Avihu, who were exceedingly holy, as Rashi35 cites that Moshe told Aharon that they were "גדולים ממני וממך" ("greater than me and you"), and "בקרבתם לפני ה'" ("when they drew near before the L‑rd") — "וימותו" ("they died"): they experienced the soul's expiring.36
One must bring it about that there be the "תזריע" — specifically in the earth.
And when one does this, then "she gives birth to a male" — she certainly gives birth. And ultimately one brings about the future redemption, the category of male, as mentioned above.
17. Just as the matter of "male" exists in regard to the future redemption, it exists also now in the service of man. And through the service of man in the category of male, one draws down the redemption in the category of male.
The service is — as the Gemara37 says, "איש דרכו לכבוש" ("It is the way of a man to conquer") — that one must conquer the world with all its matters. One must do it with strength, with the forcefulness of a man "whose way is to conquer." As it says at the beginning of the Tur and Shulchan Aruch: "יתגבר כארי ולא יתבייש מפני המלעיגים" ("He should strengthen himself like a lion and not be ashamed before the scoffers"). And through this service one draws down the redemption.
18. This is also alluded to in what it says further on in the parshah, "וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו" ("And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised"): through the service of "male" one reaches the "eighth day." The matters of the evil inclination are annulled, with all seven names by which he is called38 — among them "ערל" ("uncircumcised") — and one brings about the matter of milah, "מל י-ה."39 One removes the concealment that conceals the Name י-ה, which is the kelipah of Amalek — "אין השם שלם כו' עד שימחה זרעו של עמלק" ("The Name is not complete etc. until the seed of Amalek is wiped out")40 — and the "ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם" ("You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart") brings41 the "ומל הוי' אלקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך" ("The L‑rd your G‑d will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring"), with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
(From the Sicha of Shabbos Parshas Shemini, 5740)
Notes
1) Berachos 60a.
2) Torah Ohr 37c.
3) Avos, ch. 4, mishnah 17.
4) Devarim 28:47.
5) Berachos 60a.
6) [Yerushalmi] Berachos, ch. 9, halachah 3.
7) At length — in Shaarei Orah, Shaar HaChanukah, first discourse, ch. 54; the maamar beginning "חייב אינש לבסומי," 5708, sec. 11.
8) Shabbos 33b; Kiddushin 80b.
9) Bava Basra 75a. See also Likkutei Torah, Parshas Re'eh, the maamar beginning "ושמתי כדכד."
10) Shemos Rabbah 15:11.
11) Ran on Rosh Hashanah 16a.
12) Rosh Hashanah 11a.
13) See Zohar II (186a), on "החדש הזה לכם" ("This month shall be for you"), that it follows the order of the letters, "Aviv" etc., while its seventh month is from the end of the letters; and there (51b), that letters in their order are found in chesed, and in reverse order are found in gevurah. Note also Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, Parshas Vayeitzei, the section on the seven planets: from Nissan until Elul — males, chesed-gevurah-tiferes, netzach-hod-yesod; and from Tishrei — gevuros, rains, returning light, the feminine (this requires further study in light of what is written to the contrary: in Taamei HaMitzvos, Parshas Bo — cited in Ateres Rosh at the beginning of the discourse for the Ten Days of Repentance; in Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar Rosh Hashanah, ch. 4; in Shaar HaKavanos, on Rosh Hashanah, discourse 1; in Nahar Shalom — printed at the end of Etz Chaim, Warsaw edition — at its end). And see Kehillas Yaakov, entry "Twelve Months."
14) Taanis 3a.
15) Vayikra Rabbah, beginning of ch. 29; Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, ch. 8. See Ran on Rosh Hashanah 16a.
16) Sifri; Rashi on the Torah, Bamidbar 30:2.
17) Ibn Ezra on the Torah; and in several places in Chassidus.
18) Tanya, Part II, ch. 2. See also the maamar beginning "החודש," 5700, sec. 2.
19) Rosh Hashanah 11a.
20) Sanhedrin 97b.
21) Rosh Hashanah 18a.
22) Shemos Rabbah 15:11.
23) Michah 7:15.
24) Yeshayahu 54:5.
25) Hoshea 10:12.
26) At length — see the maamar beginning "אשה כי תזריע," 5626.
27) Cited in Tosafos, Pesachim 115b, s.v. "ה"ג ונאמר."
28) Bereishis 2:23.
29) Sotah 42b. Shemos 15:3.
30) See Rambam, Laws of Teshuvah, ch. 10; Shoresh Mitzvas HaTefillah of the Tzemach Tzedek, ch. 40, on the verse "ועמך לא חפצתי" ("And besides You I desire nothing").
*30) See above, p. 231.
31) See Torah Ohr, end of Parshas Shemos; Ohr HaTorah there.
32) Hoshea 2:25.
33) Malachi 3:12.
34) Sanhedrin 106b, and Rashi there.
35) Vayikra 10:3.
36) See also above, p. 227, and note 22 there.
37) Yevamos 65b.
38) Sukkah 52a.
39) Shaar HaMitzvos of the Arizal, Parshas Lech Lecha.
40) Tanchuma, end of Parshas Teitzei; Rashi on the Torah, Shemos 17:16.
41) See Iggeres HaKodesh, sec. 4.
Key Lesson
When the Jewish people "sow" mitzvos in actual physical deed, a "male" is born: the G‑dly light drawn down becomes permanent and is absorbed inwardly. Feeling and intention are not enough; the mitzvah must be done in practice, in the "earth," and this service, done with the strength of one who conquers the world, brings the complete and lasting redemption through Moshiach.