Parshas Vayechi
1. At the conclusion of Parshas Vayechi the Torah relates how Yosef announced to the Jewish people the tidings of the redemption: "אלקים פקד יפקד אתכם והעלה אתכם מן הארץ הזאת גו'" ("G‑d will surely remember you and bring you up out of this land…") — that they would be redeemed and go out of the exile of Egypt. Both the descent into Egypt came about through Yosef — on his account Yaakov and his sons came down to Egypt — and the Exodus from Egypt came about through Yosef: he announced the tidings and gave the sign,1 and not merely a sign, but also the power2 for the "and bring you up out of this land" to come about.
The connection of the Egyptian exile and the Exodus to Yosef will be understood by first explaining the superiority of Yosef, who in certain respects stood at a higher level not only than his brothers, the Shevatim (tribes), but even than Yaakov Avinu. Because spiritually he was — in the respects mentioned — higher than they, therefore3 in physical matters, too, he held the place of a king, and the Shevatim and also Yaakov bowed down to him, as was shown earlier in Yosef's dream and later fulfilled in actual fact: the Shevatim — several times4 — and also Yaakov, as is related at the beginning of this sidrah: "וישתחו ישראל על ראש המטה" ("And Yisrael bowed at the head of the bed").
For all things and events of the physical world descend and derive from the things and events in the spiritual realm. This is especially so regarding the lives of the Avos (Patriarchs) and the Shevatim, whose entire lives were spiritual — as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya:5 "שחיי הצדיק אינם חיים בשרים כי אם חיים רוחנים שהם אמונה ויראה ואהבה" ("The life of the tzaddik is not a life of flesh, but a spiritual life, which is faith, awe and love") — that the life of the tzaddik is not a fleshly life but a spiritual life, namely faith, awe and love. It is therefore certain that all their events in the physical realm, including the fact that Yaakov and the Shevatim bowed down to Yosef, came about because spiritually he stood at a higher level than they.
2. Concerning the superiority of Yosef's level, as well as the levels of the Shevatim and the Avos, it is explained at length in Chassidus that the Avos and the Shevatim were "רועי צאן" ("shepherds of flocks"), separated from worldly matters that could disturb them in their Divine service; but Yosef was viceroy to the king, a position bound up with the greatest preoccupations — especially in Egypt, which is called "ערות הארץ" ("the nakedness of the land")6 — and yet this did not prevent Yosef from simultaneously standing in a state of utter attachment (dveikus) to G‑dliness.
This is also a reason for what the Torah relates:7 "ויכר יוסף את אחיו והם לא הכירוהו" ("Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him") — the brothers did not recognize Yosef because they could not imagine it possible that this viceroy of Egypt could be Yosef the Tzaddik; for according to their mode of Divine service, the world is a contradiction to attachment to G‑dliness. (The meaning of "but they did not recognize him" is also: they had no recognition, no grasp, of so lofty a level as the level of Yosef the Tzaddik.)
This explains the verse:8 "אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף" ("These are the generations of Yaakov: Yosef") — that the "generations of Yaakov," the revelations of Yaakov, whose level is in the world of Atzilus, were drawn down and carried by Yosef into the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, down to this physical world. And specifically Yosef could do this, because his level was — in this respect — even higher than Yaakov's; therefore he could lower himself further down, in keeping with the principle:9 "כל הגבוה גבוה ביותר יורד למטה מטה יותר" ("Whatever is higher descends lower") (the higher something is, the further down it can descend).
That is to say: although "אין קוראין אבות אלא לשלשה" ("Only three are called Avos"),10 only the three — Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov — were "Avos," in that each of them accomplished something in every Jew, drawing down G‑dliness through a distinct attribute: Avraham through Chesed (kindness), Yitzchak through Gevurah (severity), and Yaakov through Tiferes (Rachamim, mercy); whereas Yosef did not accomplish any new matter. He was the "generations of Yaakov": he carried out in the world the drawings-down of Yaakov — the "בחיר שבאבות" ("chosen one of the Avos")11 (the most select of the Avos, because his attribute, Tiferes, is the middle line between Chesed and Gevurah, which includes them both). Yet this itself — that Yosef could bring down the drawings-down of the "chosen one of the Avos" to the very lowest levels — is because he himself was "higher than the highest."
3. On this basis we will also understand what the Zohar says12 — that the three Pilgrim Festivals (Shalosh Regalim) correspond to the three Avos: Pesach corresponds to Avraham, regarding whom it says:13 "לושי ועשי עוגות" ("Knead and make cakes"); Shavuos corresponds to Yitzchak — which is why the blast at the Giving of the Torah on the festival of Shavuos was with the shofar,14 from the ram of Yitzchak;15 and Sukkos corresponds to Yaakov, regarding whom it says:16 "ולמקנהו עשה סוכות" ("And for his cattle he made booths") — this being the first time the Torah mentions the matter of sukkos. And Shemini Atzeres has a connection to Yosef:17 just as concerning Yosef it says "These are the generations of Yaakov: Yosef" — that Yosef is a continuation of Yaakov — so is Shemini Atzeres a continuation of the festival of Sukkos.
In Shemini Atzeres there are two opposite things: it is a "רגל בפני עצמו" ("festival in its own right"),18 a separate Yom Tov unto itself — which is why one says Shehecheyanu on Shemini Atzeres (unlike the Seventh Day of Pesach, when one does not say Shehecheyanu, because it is not a separate Yom Tov apart from the festival of Pesach); and on the other hand, it is called Shemini Atzeres, "the eighth day," which means that it is a continuation of the Yom Tov of Sukkos.
For Shemini Atzeres in its connection to Sukkos is like Yosef the Tzaddik with Yaakov. Yosef, too, is a continuation of Yaakov, because, as discussed, he draws down below the matters of Yaakov; yet this itself — that he can carry down the lofty drawings-down of Yaakov below — is a special superiority of Yosef even over the level of Yaakov himself. So, too, Shemini Atzeres draws down in an inward manner all the matters of the festival of Sukkos (the third festival, which includes within it both festivals, Pesach and Shavuos, just as the attribute of Yaakov includes the attributes of Avraham and Yitzchak). For Sukkos points to makif, the encompassing (like a sukkah, which surrounds a person); that is to say, on Sukkos all the drawings-down from Above descend in an encompassing manner, whereas on Shemini Atzeres they descend inwardly: "עצרת תהי' לכם" ("It shall be an assembly for you") — the drawings-down are drawn to the Jewish people in the manner of "atzeres," a gathering-in, in the sense of absorption, taken in inwardly.19 Yet this itself — that on Shemini Atzeres all the drawings-down come down in an inward manner — points to a higher power in Shemini Atzeres: because of this supernal power, even the revelations that are above the world — and which, on their own account, can be drawn down only in an encompassing manner — can come down on Shemini Atzeres into the world in an inward way.
Furthermore: on Sukkos seventy bullocks were offered, corresponding to the seventy nations.20 This means that from the drawings-down of the festival of Sukkos, which were drawn in the manner of makif, the nations of the world can have nurture and a hold in them; therefore the seventy bullocks were offered in order to refine the seventy nations. But on Shemini Atzeres, even though all the drawings-down then come down below, nevertheless only "פר אחד איל אחד" ("one bullock, one ram") was offered, concerning which it says:21 "יהיו לך לבדך ואין לזרים אתך" ("They shall be yours alone, and not for strangers with you") — the strangers have no hold or nurture whatsoever in it. This is similar to the level of Yosef, for whom, even while in Egypt, "the nakedness of the land," it did not at all confuse him from being in utter attachment to G‑dliness — "and not for strangers with you."
4. A further explanation of the connection of Shemini Atzeres to Yosef: among the reasons why this Yom Tov… [OCR unclear — a page of the source is missing here] …its measures and limitations — therefore on Shemini Atzeres even the drawings-down that are above the world, and that on Sukkos were drawn only in the manner of makif, can come down in an inward manner.
The same is found regarding the matter of circumcision (milah), whose mitzvah is on the eighth day: because through bris milah the level of "eighth" is drawn down — which is above the order of the chain of worlds (hishtalshelus) — it gives the power to draw down the loftiest levels of holiness that are above the world (Keser,23 which transcends hishtalshelus), and to carry them down and bind them with "יסוד סיומא דגופא" ("Yesod, the end of the body")24 — the end of the human body. That is, through bris milah even the entire physical flesh of a Jew is refined and bound with the Al-mighty in an everlasting covenant.25
And the level of "eighth" that shines on Shemini Atzeres is the level of Yosef the Tzaddik, "צדיק יסוד עולם" ("the tzaddik is the foundation of the world").
5. On this basis we will also understand the connection of the Egyptian exile and the Exodus specifically to Yosef: the purpose of the descent into the Egyptian exile was in order to take from there the "רכוש גדול" ("great wealth"), that is, to refine the sparks of holiness that were found in Egypt.26 And when the Jewish people completed this work, having refined the sparks, the redemption came. This is also why it says27 that the redemption from the Egyptian exile was in the merit of the blood of milah and the blood of the Pesach offering;28 for the matter of the blood of milah is to elevate the lowest levels, "Yesod, the end of the body," and the power for this — to be able to lower oneself to the very lowest levels and extract the sparks from there — came from Yosef the Tzaddik. Therefore Yosef the Tzaddik was the one through whom the descent into exile came about, and the one who announced the tidings of the redemption, because he gave the power to carry out the purpose of the exile, the work of refinement (avodas habirurim), and through this to bring the redemption.
6. My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [the Previous Rebbe], said several times29 that there are Chassidic "Ushpizin" (guests). That is to say: just as the seven "Ushpizin" — Avraham, Yitzchak, etc. — each of them is an "Ushpiza," a guest, on a particular day of the festival of Sukkos, so there are seven "Ushpizin" of the leaders (Nesi'im) of Chassidus: the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash, and the Rebbe Rashab, each of whom is an "Ushpiza" on one of the days of Sukkos. From this it is simply understood that my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, who is the successor and continuer of the Chassidic Nesi'im-Ushpizin, has as his day — Shemini Atzeres.
This is also alluded to in the Rebbe's first name — Yosef30 (for in general "שמא גרים" ("the name has an effect"),31 and especially in this case, where the name was chosen by tzaddikim, Nesi'im of Israel) — for, as discussed earlier, the level of Yosef the Tzaddik has a connection to Shemini Atzeres. The Rebbe's service, too, was in the same manner as that of Yosef the Tzaddik:32 he carried down all the lofty matters of the previous Rebbeim below into the world. We see this from the fact that the Rebbe occupied himself with publicizing and spreading Chassidus not only in Lashon HaKodesh and in Yiddish, but also in various other languages, because his service was to draw down G‑dliness everywhere, down to the very lowest levels.
We also find in the Rebbe's conduct two opposite extremes: while being occupied with his entire being in revealing the deepest matters of the teachings of Chassidus, he was at the same time entirely devoted to education and the spreading of Judaism in a very simple manner — teaching Jewish children the Alef-Beis, influencing Jews to keep Shabbos, kashrus, family purity, and the like. And he demanded the same of his Chassidim (for "דבתר רישא גופא אזיל" ("the body follows the head"),33 the entire body follows after the head; therefore Chassidim must especially exert themselves in the matters with which their head, the Rebbe, occupied himself): that they should occupy themselves with proper education and the spreading of Judaism in a very practical manner, and even in a very simple manner, and at the same time immerse themselves deeply in the study of Chassidus (for which purpose the Rebbe wrote and published profound maamarim and series of discourses (hemshechim) of Chabad Chassidus).
Such conduct is similar to how it was with Yosef the Tzaddik: he had to deal with very lowly matters, to the point of providing for the Egyptians — "הא לכם זרע" ("Here is seed for you") — and at the very same time he was in utter attachment to G‑dliness.
7. Therefore we have also seen that Divine Providence led the Rebbe in such an order that he came to live specifically in large cities, concerning which our Sages say: "ישיבת כרכים קשה" ("Dwelling in large cities is hard")34 (just as Yosef the Tzaddik found himself in the metropolis of Egypt). The earlier Nesi'im had their places of residence in small towns, such as Liozna, Liadi, Lubavitch (they did indeed often visit large cities, many times also abroad, for the benefit of the community and of individuals, but that was temporary; their permanent dwelling was in the small town). Even later, when the Rebbe [Rashab] of blessed memory moved from Lubavitch to Rostov, that large city was then cut off from the world, and in Rostov itself too, one was separated from the city. But my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, from the beginning of his leadership, first traveled and then settled in large cities: Moscow, Petersburg (Leningrad), and later Riga, Warsaw, etc. — as the Rebbe once said: "Lubavitch went into ten exiles," and he enumerated all ten exiles — until the Rebbe settled in New York. And precisely in all these large cities he occupied himself with spreading Chassidus together with his spreading of Judaism in general. Just like Yosef the Tzaddik, who was united with G‑dliness and nevertheless was a ruler and occupied himself with improvements in the land of Egypt.
8. Because of the superiority of Yosef over the Avos and the Shevatim — that in him there shone such a level of G‑dliness that is above the world — the conduct from Above toward him, too, was in a manner above nature (the level of sovev, the encompassing).
This is also a reason35 why Yosef the Tzaddik was punished36 for asking the chief butler to mention him to Pharaoh — for not relying with complete trust (bitachon) that the Al-mighty Himself would free him from the prison — and therefore his punishment was to remain two more years in prison. The question is asked: in what did Yosef's sin consist here? It is known that a person must make a vessel in the natural way for the blessing of the Al-mighty, and this is no contradiction to trust in the Al-mighty. As it says37 regarding livelihood: "וברכך ה' אלקיך בכל אשר תעשה" ("And the L‑rd your G‑d will bless you in all that you do") — the Al-mighty will bless you in everything you do; that is, one must make a vessel in the natural way for livelihood and rely on the Al-mighty to send His blessing through that vessel. So, too, we find with Yaakov Avinu, when he feared Esav: "פן יבוא והכני אם על בנים" ("Lest he come and strike me, mother with children") — together with prayer and trust in the Al-mighty, he also prepared vessels in the natural way — a gift (a present to Esav) and war — through which the deliverance should come. Why, then, was Yosef the Tzaddik punished for making a vessel in the natural way for his deliverance from prison?
But it is because at the level at which Yosef stood — as said earlier, that he was attached to the level of sovev of G‑dliness, which is higher than being a source for created beings — he did not need to resort to preparations and vessels in the natural way, and a higher level of trust was demanded of him, without any mediation of the natural order, concerning which trust it says:38 "טוב לחסות בהוי' (בחי' סובב) מבטוח באדם" ("It is better to take refuge in the L‑rd (the level of sovev) than to trust in man") (the supernal "Man," the level of memaleh).
9. Such conduct above nature was also seen with my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe. He broke through all the concealments and hiddenness of nature in so revealed a manner as was not seen to such an extent with any of the Rebbeim. Besides the fact that he was arrested many times,39 the manner of his imprisonment was much harsher, to the point that he was actually sentenced to death, Heaven forfend (the Alter Rebbe, at the time of his arrest, only stood in danger of that punishment, but in practice no such decree was issued against him; whereas the Rebbe was actually condemned to that punishment, may G‑d protect us). Moreover: among those who arrested the Rebbe, conducted his interrogation and tortured him in prison were people possessing free choice (Jews), and over those possessing free choice the Al-mighty is, as it were, not the master, as the saying goes: "הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים" ("Everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven")40 — that regarding matters of the fear of Heaven, of Torah and mitzvos, free choice has been given entirely into the hands of a person, so that he can do as he chooses.
This is also an explanation of what Reuven said to the brothers concerning Yosef: "השליכו אותו אל הבור גו' ויד אל תשלחו בו" ("Cast him into the pit… but do not lay a hand upon him")41 — that they themselves should not touch him, but only throw him into the pit. Seemingly this is not understood: since in the pit there were "נחשים ועקרבים" ("snakes and scorpions"),42 how was it better to throw him into the pit than another way of laying a hand on him? According to Torah it was certain that he would be killed in the pit, as the halachah is43 that "מעידין כו'" ("one may testify…") — when witnesses come and say that so-and-so fell into a pit of snakes and scorpions, his wife may marry another man. The answer to this is: although the Shevatim held that he was liable to death,44 Reuven argued that they should not take it upon themselves and kill him with their own hands, for since they possess free choice, he would then be killed even if he were not liable to death according to all opinions, or if he had a merit and a miracle would be performed for him.45 Therefore they threw him into the pit, by which they handed his judgment over to Heaven, because snakes and scorpions do not possess free choice,46 and a miracle was performed for him. Although according to Torah, by the way of nature, when a person falls into a pit of snakes and scorpions he is killed, as mentioned earlier — moreover, one can say: the Torah law that "one may testify…" is on account of the principle of "אזלינן בתר רובא" ("we follow the majority") (we go by the majority, since in most cases the person is killed in such a situation), except that because of the stringency of the prohibition of a married woman, the majority must be such that the minority is not even a minority that "is not common";47 but not that it would be an actual miracle, a change in nature, but rather — in the language of the Alter Rebbe48 — it is so called by people, and even in the language of the Sages. Since, however, it can ultimately happen on occasion, and nevertheless one does not reckon with the possibility, this is all on account of the principle of "we follow the majority"; and in Yosef's case, according to several opinions: a) the Shevatim had the law of Bnei Noach (Noahides);49 b) among Bnei Noach there is no law of following the majority.50
10. Concerning the future redemption it says:51 "כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים אראנו נפלאות" ("As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders") — that the future redemption will be similar to the redemption from Egypt.
Therefore now, too, in the "heels of Moshiach" (ikvesa diMeshicha), as at the Exodus from Egypt, our service must be to refine the very last sparks of holiness that are found in the lowest depths. The power to lower ourselves so low and to be able to do the work of refinement was given to us by the Rebbe, the Nasi of our generation. For this was the Rebbe's service — "whatever is higher descends lower" — and this is also our service, because "the body follows the head." Our work must be to take the loftiest matters, the "רזין דרזין דאורייתא" ("secrets of the secrets of the Torah"), and spread these wellsprings to the very lowest places, out to the "חוצה" ("outside"), and through this refine the very last sparks — which will bring the coming of "קא אתי מר" ("the Master [Moshiach] comes"), down below ten handbreadths, very soon.
(Collected from the sichos of Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5712 and Acharon shel Pesach 5721)
Notes
1) Targum Yonasan (Vayechi 50:24). Tanchuma, Parshas Shemos 24.
2) See the maamar beginning "Lech" — 5627.
3) Torah Or, Vayechi 103b, end. Above, Parshas Vayigash (p. 828), and the sources noted there.
4) Five times (Bereishis Rabbah [OCR unclear: סס"ד, יו"ד]).
5) Iggeres HaKodesh, ch. 27.
6) Bereishis 42:9. See also Koheles Rabbah 1:4.
7) Bereishis 42:8. Torah Chaim, Vayechi 106d (in the first explanation). Torah Or 103b (according to the explanation in [OCR unclear: החצ"ג]).
8) Bereishis 37:2. See Biurei HaZohar, beginning of Vayechi (30a ff.). Or HaTorah, maamar beginning "Ben Poras Yosef" (385a), and in many places.
9) Explained at length in Sha'arei Orah, maamar beginning "Yavi'u Levush Malchus," ch. 12 ff. and ch. 32 ff.
10) Berachos 16b. See Torah Or, beginning of Parshas Va'eira.
11) Sefer HaPesukim, Toldos 27:25. See also Bereishis Rabbah 76:1; Zohar I 119b, 147b; above, Parshas Vayeitzei.
12) Zohar III 257b. Tur, Orach Chaim, sec. 417, in the name of his brother. (Also cited in Menoras HaMaor (by R. Yisrael Al-Nakawa), part 2, Laws of Rosh Chodesh.)
13) Bereishis 18:6.
14) Shemos 19:19.
15) Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, end of ch. 31, cited in Rashi on Shemos 19:13. Midrash Aggadah, Bereishis 22:13. See the maamar beginning "Shuvah" 5641 (in the series Yonasi 5640).
16) Bereishis 33:17.
17) Zohar I 208b.
18) Sukkah 48a, beginning, and the sources noted there.
19) This explains Rashi's comment in Sukkah, ibid.: "A festival in its own right, for we do not sit in the sukkah." Seemingly, "we do not sit in the sukkah" is only a negative matter — that it is not the "festival" of Sukkah — but it could [still] be an ordinary weekday, and it does not indicate the [positive] "festival" of Shemini Atzeres. According to what is said in the text it is understood: the essence of Shemini Atzeres is that sitting in the sukkah — inside the sukkah — ceases, because, on the contrary, the encompassing lights (makifim) of the sukkah are drawn inwardly. See Likkutei Sichos, vol. 9, p. 228 ff.
20) Sukkah 55b.
21) [The text of this note is missing from the source — it was on a page that did not come through in the OCR.]
23) This is also why the mitzvah of milah is a positive commandment that carries the penalty of kares (כרת), the same letters as Keser (כתר) — for we do not find a liability of kares for a positive commandment apart from the mitzvah of milah (and Pesach, which is comparable to milah; see note 28). For the drawing-down of Keser can come only through negation, a prohibition; and the novelty of milah and Pesach is that through them Keser is drawn down also into the vessels, through a positive act.
24) Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar (17a).
25) See at length above, Parshas Lech.
26) See at length above, Parshas Vayigash.
27) Mechilta, Bo 12:6, cited in Rashi there.
28) In the sicha (Acharon shel Pesach 5721 — printed below, p. 867 ff.) it is explained at length that Pesach, too, is the matter of refining the very lowest sparks, even more than milah. This is not the place to elaborate.
29) See Sefer HaMaamarim 5701, p. 47.
30) His second name, too, alludes to this level, for Yitzchak (יצחק) is numerically equal to eight times Havayah.
31) Berachos 7b. See Sha'ar HaGilgulim, Introduction 23; Sefer Chassidim, sec. 244; and elsewhere.
32) See the sicha of Simchas Torah 5705 (printed in Sefer HaMaamarim 5709, Kuntres 98), sec. 8 and sec. 10.
33) Eruvin 41a.
34) Kesubos 110b.
35) Torah Or, Vayechi 106a. The maamar beginning "VeLo Zachar Sar HaMashkim" 5680.
36) Bereishis Rabbah 89:3, cited in Rashi at the end of Vayeishev.
37) Devarim 15:18. See Kuntres UMa'ayan, maamar 25.
38) Tehillim 118:2 [as printed in the OCR; the verse is 118:8]. Likkutei Torah, Devarim 91b.
39) See Likkutei Levi Yitzchak (printed in Likkutei Dibburim, vol. 4, 611a).
40) Berachos 33b, and the sources noted there.
41) Bereishis 37:22.
42) Shabbos (22a), cited in Rashi on the Torah, ibid.
43) Yevamos 121a. Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, sec. 17, par. 29. See Atzei Arazim there, who suggests, in a forced manner, that the Jerusalem Talmud there disputes the Babylonian Talmud and holds that one may not testify, since we take into account the possibility of a miracle, as with Yosef.
44) Or HaChaim, Vayeishev (37:20). Sforno, ibid. And elsewhere.
45) See Zohar I 185b, beginning; Jerusalem Talmud, Yevamos 16:3, at the end; Tosafos, s.v. "Ein" (Yevamos 121b); Responsa of the Alter Rebbe, sec. 28 (near the end).
46) See at length the comments of R. Chaim Vital and the Ramak on Zohar I (185a, end) (in Sefer Or HaChamah). Or HaChaim, Vayeishev (37:21).
47) Tosafos, s.v. "Chelev" (Bechoros 20b).
48) Responsa, ibid. This requires further study in light of Tanchuma, end of Vayechi: "that He performed a miracle for him…"
49) Parashas Derachim, at the beginning, and in many places.
50) See Sdei Chemed, Kelalim, letter gimmel (sec. 25, subsec. 20), and in Pe'as HaSadeh, Kelalim, letter gimmel (6:3), and the sources noted there.
51) Michah 7:15.
Key Lesson
Yosef stood so high that he could carry the loftiest G‑dliness down into the lowest places, ruling Egypt while remaining utterly attached to G‑d; this is also the power that the Previous Rebbe, who bore his name, gave our generation. Our task now is likewise to take the deepest teachings of Chassidus and spread them to the very "outside," refining the last sparks of holiness and so bringing Moshiach very soon.