Parshas Tzav
1. In today's Sidra, there are two passages about offerings that were brought on behalf of the Kohanim themselves1 (as the owners of the offering, unlike most offerings, which the Kohanim brought for others (as well) — for individuals or for the congregation):
The first time — "זה קרבן אהרן ובניו" ("This is the offering of Aharon and his sons")2 — speaks of the offering that the Kohen Gadol brought every day,3 and of the offering that he had to bring (specifically4) on the day of his initiation into the high priesthood, and likewise an ordinary Kohen — on the day of his initiation into the priesthood;
And the second time — "קח את אהרן ואת בניו גו' ואת פר החטאת גו'" ("Take Aharon and his sons etc. and the bull of the sin-offering etc.")5 — speaks of the offerings brought during the Days of Miluim (Inauguration), when Aharon and his sons were initiated into the priesthood (for the first time).
Between these two kinds of offerings, however, there is a fundamental difference: The offerings of which it says "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons" (not only those that the Kohen Gadol brought every day after he had already been anointed as Kohen Gadol, but even the offerings brought on the day of initiation into the priesthood) came about because of the virtue found among the Kohanim.6 Their virtue (on account of which they merited the priesthood) consisted in the fact that they took no part in the deed of the Golden Calf. What is more, they punished those who worshipped the Calf: a) with the severest punishment, "הרגו" ("kill"), and b) even — "בנו" ("his son") and "אחיו" ("his brother");7
Whereas the offerings brought during the Days of Miluim (some of them) were brought in order to atone for Aharon for the Calf that he had made.8
2. Since both these matters stand in Parshas Tzav, which is often read on the Shabbos near Purim, this is an indication that they have a connection to the theme of Purim.9
And an allusion to this connection is also found in the Likkutei Torah on today's Sidra:
In the maamar "ביאור מעט ע"פ ואכלתם אכול" ("A Brief Explanation of 'And You Shall Eat Fully'"), where the verse "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons"10 is explained, the Tzemach Tzedek11 writes in his gloss, "ועיין מ"ש בביאור ע"פ יביאו לבוש מלכות" ("See what is written in the explanation of 'Let them bring the royal garment'"), which is from Megillas Esther.
[And although, on the surface, the Tzemach Tzedek intends by this only to reference the subject discussed in that maamar (concerning the Kav and thread, that its first revelation is in Chochmah) — nevertheless, since all matters of Torah are absolutely precise (and all the more so given that even in worldly matters nothing, Heaven forbid, happens by chance; everything is by Divine Providence), therefore, since the subject of the first revelation of the Kav is explained in the "Explanation of 'Let them bring the royal garment'" — this itself is a proof of its connection to the theme of Purim.12];
And likewise in another maamar (of the Likkutei Torah on this Parshah), the one beginning "והי' אור הלבנה" ("And the light of the moon shall be"), which is bound up with the subject of the Seven Days of Miluim13 (the second category among the offerings of the Kohanim), the Tzemach Tzedek14 again notes, "וכמ"ש סד"ה חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא, דלכך אין שום שם במגילת אסתר" ("As is written at the end of the maamar beginning 'A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim,' that this is why no Divine Name appears in Megillas Esther").15
And here one sees a wondrous and marvelous thing: how these two references (although they seem to bear only on the content of the subjects to which they are attached) also express both the inner content of "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons" and of the Days of Miluim, and the difference between them (as will be explained below in Section 10).
3. It would seem that the references mentioned point to two matters that are the opposite of one another:
In the "Brief Explanation of 'And You Shall Eat Fully,'" it is discussed that Atzilus is not a new creation, something from nothing, as is Beriah; rather, it is drawn "מהעלם אל הגילוי" ("from concealment into revelation") — and on this the Tzemach Tzedek refers to the "Explanation of 'Let them bring the royal garment,'" where it says16 that in Chochmah (of Atzilus) is the first revelation of the Kav;
And in the maamar beginning "And the light of the moon shall be," it speaks of how the level of "קול חתן וכלה" ("the voice of groom and bride") is not revealed at present — and on this the Tzemach Tzedek notes "at the end of the maamar beginning 'A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim,'" where the reason is stated17 that Megillas Esther mentions none of the Holy Names because the miracle of Purim was enclothed in nature, "וכמשל*17 החתן שהולך ללון בבורסקי" ("like the parable of the bridegroom who goes to lodge in a tannery"), not revelation but enclothement etc.
In truth, however, since both matters are discussed in maamarim on the same Sidra, and especially since both "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons" and the matter of the "Days of Miluim" share a common point (as mentioned at the beginning of Section 1) — and also since both references are to Purim discourses — it must therefore be said that the two matters in the references mentioned have a common aspect and a shared point that connects and joins them both.
And the Tzemach Tzedek himself alludes to this, in that in both references (after citing from the maamarim he points to the matters that (openly) bear on what is discussed in the Likkutei Torah) he adds the words "עיין שם" ("see there").
With "see there" after the reference to the Explanation of "Let them bring the royal garment" — from which he copies the words "והיא ראשית הגילוי בחכמה" ("and it is the first revelation, in Chochmah") — it may be said that he also means to allude to what is stated there, that the "Kav and thread" came "ע"פ18 צמצום ומקום פנוי . . שלא להיות בגלוי בחי' א"ס כו'" ("after tzimtzum and a vacated space . . so that the level of the Infinite should not be revealed etc."); that is, the revelation that comes in Chochmah came through a tzimtzum;
And with "see there" in his reference to "the end of the maamar beginning 'A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim'" — from which he earlier copies the subject of "דלכך אין שום שם במגילת אסתר . . מלובשים בהעלם כו'" ("that this is why no Name appears in Megillas Esther . . enclothed in concealment etc.") — it may be said that he also alludes to what is discussed there, that "ענין קריאת המגילה הוא כמו קורא בתורה שקורא וממשיך גילוי האור" ("the reading of the Megillah is like one who reads the Torah, who reads and draws down a revelation of light"); that is, from the concealment of "no Name appears in Megillas Esther" there is drawn (through the reading of the Megillah) a revelation of light (and on the contrary: the revelation that comes from this is a revelation of the Essence of the Infinite, blessed be He, which is "למעלה מבחי' שמות" ("above the level of Names")).
4. The above matter will become understood after explaining the reason for the custom19 at the reading of the Megillah that "בלילה ההוא" ("On that night") is read in a raised voice — because the force of the miracle was expressed20 in "בלילה ההוא נדדה שנת המלך" ("On that night the king's sleep was disturbed"):
"That night" points to the utmost concealment. For "night" by itself already means concealment (this is the difference between "day" and "night": day is light and revelation, and night is darkness and concealment — "ויקרא אלקים לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה" ("And G‑d called the light day, and the darkness He called night")21); and "that" also points to concealment (as is known the difference between "זה" ("this"), which is a term of revelation, and "הוא" ("that"), which is a term of the hidden, of concealment).22 It is thus understood that "that night" — the twofold concealment of "night" together with the concealment of "that" — is the utmost concealment.
And the concealment of "that night" is bound up with (Megillas) Esther, for of Esther too it is said:23 "אסתר מן התורה מנין ואנכי הסתר אסתיר" ("Where is Esther in the Torah? 'And I will surely hide'"24): "I will surely hide" (hastir astir) — a double concealment.
And according to the explanation of the Baal Shem Tov on the verse "I will surely hide,"25 that (this is not merely a twofold concealment, but also that) the concealment itself is hidden — that is, one does not feel at all that one is in a state of concealment — it is understood that the meaning of the concealment of "on that night" is similar: the "night" itself is in a state of "that"; one does not even see that it is "night." So great is the concealment that one does not feel at all that one is in a state of darkness; it is altogether "שמים חשך לאור" ("who make darkness into light").26
And this is the inner content of the fact that the force of the miracle of Purim lies in "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed": specifically in "that night" — the utmost concealment — "the king's sleep was disturbed," there came the utmost revelation. This does not mean that through "the king's sleep was disturbed" the night ended, the concealment ended; rather, as the words of the verse say, "on that night": in "that night" itself, in the existing utmost concealment, the "disturbing of the king's sleep" was accomplished.27 And therefore the parable of a gazelle28 is brought regarding the miracle of Purim: even when it sleeps (with one eye closed), its other eye is open and awake — meaning that together with the concealment of "on that night" there is also "the king's sleep was disturbed" — the utmost revelation.29
5. And this itself — that "the king's sleep was disturbed" means such a revelation of G‑dly light that descends even into the concealment of "night," and even into the doubled concealment of "that night" — this alone proves its great loftiness:
The light called "day" is a limited light, and it therefore cannot enter the concealment of "night" (even an ordinary night), because the concealment of "night" opposes it. But "the king's sleep was disturbed" points to an unlimited light, and with regard to such a light "concealment" is no opposition, and therefore it is drawn down even "on that night."30
And this superiority of "the king's sleep was disturbed" over "day" is also understood in simple terms:
By day it is generally not the time for sleeping.31 But this absence of sleep by day is altogether different from the absence of sleep caused by "sleep being disturbed" (at night). And the difference is twofold:
a) The daytime absence of sleep is bound up with the light of day, something outside the person; whereas with "sleep being disturbed," this sleeplessness comes from the (inner32) state of the person himself.
b) The ordinary wakefulness of daytime is not such that the light of day does not allow one to fall asleep;33 it merely keeps the person in a state of not wanting to sleep. In contrast, with "sleep being disturbed," the person stands in a state that does not permit any sleep.
And therefore, when a person finds himself in the state of "sleep being disturbed," it makes no difference whether it is day or night. For "sleep being disturbed" is such an arousal that, in relation to it, the very existence of "sleep" (concealment) is absent, and therefore it cannot be that the concealment of "night" (and even of "that night") should oppose it.
6. And this is also the reason why, when one reaches "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed," one raises the voice:
Raising the voice while speaking is bound up with two matters: a) these words stir a person in the depth of his soul. As one sees plainly, when a person speaks about something that moves him greatly, he cannot then be calm and speak quietly; rather, his words come out in a loud voice; b) the words are heard over a greater distance. The louder the voice, the farther away it is heard.
And so it is also with the drawing down of the light of "the king's sleep was disturbed — the King of the world"34: a) the light derives from a very deep place, where the category of concealment does not apply, as mentioned above; b) it is drawn down to the farthest distance, even into the most distant, lowest concealment, even into the concealment of "that night."
And since by reading the words "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed" one wants to draw down and accomplish the very matter one is reading (as is known35 the explanation of "נזכרים ונעשים" ("are remembered and enacted"), that through "are remembered" comes "and enacted"), therefore one must read these words with a raised voice, which contains the two advantages mentioned above — in order thereby to effect also Above36 these two aspects of "the king's sleep was disturbed."
7. In "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed" there is yet a deeper matter — and this too will be understood through the parable of "sleep being disturbed" in a human being:
The matter of "sleep being disturbed" in a person applies at night. By day, however, it is not the time of sleep at all. And since "sleep being disturbed" applies specifically at night, it is understandable in spiritual terms — regarding "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed, the King of the world" — that specifically because of the (great) concealment and hiddenness of "(that) night"
[in which the Jewish people found themselves at the time of Haman's decree, which is why the Congregation of Israel was then37 called by the name Esther — from the word "I will surely hide"]
the revelation of "the king's sleep was disturbed" was accomplished.
And this matter too is seen in raising the voice: When a person wants his words to be heard from afar, he says them in a loud voice. It turns out, then, that the distance is the cause that calls forth the raising of the voice. And the greater the distance ("on that night"), the greater the raising of the voice (the force of the miracle).
8. The difference between the two explanations mentioned of "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed":
According to the explanation (in Section 5) that "that night" cannot conceal in relation to "the king's sleep was disturbed," and therefore it is drawn down even "on that night" (but not that "that night" itself is the cause that called forth the light), "the king's sleep was disturbed" has no inner connection with "that night" itself: The "night" itself, in its inner nature, indeed remains a matter of concealment; it is simply that the light, since it is unlimited, came into it as well.38
[And this shows that the light has a certain definition: it is defined within the category of "light," and therefore it has no connection with "darkness" itself so as to be able to transform the darkness into light. It is merely that within the category of light and revelation itself it is unlimited, to the point that darkness cannot conceal in relation to it.]
Whereas according to the explanation (in Section 7) that the concealment of "that night" is the cause that calls forth "the king's sleep was disturbed," it is understood that the accomplishment of the light also lies in the concealment itself: "that night" itself is transformed into light; since it brings the light, this means that it becomes — light.
[And this is proof that the level of "the king's sleep was disturbed" is not defined by the categories of concealment and revelation — and therefore through it darkness can become light.]
9. These two explanations are alluded to in the two references mentioned above that the Tzemach Tzedek notes in our Sidra — to the Explanation of "Let them bring the royal garment" (where it speaks of the revelation of the Kav that comes through tzimtzum), and to the end of the maamar beginning "A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim" (where it discusses the concealment in Megillas Esther, which afterward emerges — through the reading of the Megillah — into revelation):
In the maamar "Let them bring the royal garment"39 it is explained that the superior quality of the miracle of Purim consists in its having been enclothed in nature. For this shows that the miracle came from a very high place, which, because of its height, can descend very low — even to clothing itself in the garments of nature — like a barrel full of wine: because the wine in it stands so high — to the point of overflowing — it pours from it even to the outside.
[With this he explains there the saying of our Sages,40 "הנביאים והכתובים עתידים להבטל, ומגלת אסתר והלכות אין עתידין ליבטל" ("The Prophets and the Writings are destined to be nullified, but Megillas Esther and the Laws will not be nullified") — because the root of the miracle of Purim, recounted in Megillas Esther, is on a very high level, which is why the miracle was enclothed in nature.41]
And continuing from this, there comes there (in the "Additional Explanation of 'Let them bring the royal garment'") the explanation of the light of the Kav, which comes "after tzimtzum and a vacated space"; namely, since the light of the Kav broke through the tzimtzum, this shows that it has a very great force,42 and thereby also an advantage over the light that filled the place of the void before the tzimtzum (similar to the first explanation of "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed": because "the king's sleep was disturbed" points to a revelation of light drawn from a very high level, it therefore descends even into the concealment of "on that night"43).
But the maamar "A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim"44 speaks of a deeper matter in the superiority of Purim: the extra virtue of "הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש" ("They accepted it anew in the days of Achashverosh") over the putting of "we will do" before "we will hear" at the time of the Giving of the Torah45 — for the putting of "we will do" before "we will hear" came from the revelation of light from Above, whereas "they accepted it anew in the days of Achashverosh" came by way of "אתערותא דלתתא מצד עצמם" ("an arousal from below, on their own part").
And since the arousal from below came about because Jews then stood in a state of "I will surely hide" — and this called forth from them the "accepted" that is even higher than the Giving of the Torah — it is understood that the concealment itself was transformed into light (similar to the second explanation of "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed," that the concealment of "that night" itself called forth (and was transformed into) the light of "the king's sleep was disturbed").
And therefore, when he explains at the end of the maamar why "מגלת אסתר לא תבטל" ("Megillas Esther will not be nullified"), he explains that this is because of the loftiness present in the concealment in the Megillah, and that from this concealment there emerges (through the reading of the Megillah) the revelation of the Essence46 — which is higher than Names.
10. According to all the above, one will also understand the connection between the content of the reference "See what is written in the explanation of 'Let them bring the royal garment'" (concerning revelation as it comes through tzimtzum) and the subject of "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons," discussed in the maamar beginning "And you shall eat fully"; and likewise the connection of the reference to the end of the maamar beginning "A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim" (where it speaks of concealment as revelation emerges from it) with the subject of "the Seven Days of Miluim," which follows upon the maamar beginning "And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun":
It was said earlier (Section 1) that the virtue of the Kohanim (on account of which they merited the priesthood, and in connection with which came the special offering of "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons") consisted in the fact that they had no share in the sin of the Golden Calf, and on the contrary they punished etc. (as mentioned there).
Consequently, it is understood that this virtue of theirs, of "כל השבט כשר" ("the entire tribe was upright"),47 grew precisely out of the fact that the other tribes of Israel were different in this respect; that although other Jews did commit the sin, the Kohanim guarded themselves from it, and on the contrary: there was aroused in them the opposite motion of zeal for G‑d, to the point of "הרגו איש את אחיו גו'" ("Let each man kill his brother etc.")48 — and through this they merited "להיות כהנים למקום" ("to be Kohanim to the Omnipresent").
That is to say, the revelation of their soul was so forceful that it tore through and illuminated even the time of such doubled and redoubled darkness, when most of the tribes of Israel did not withstand the test of the sin of the Calf.49
Nevertheless, this revelation of light is still in a manner of limitation, and therefore it did not yet suffice to atone for the sin of the Calf (on the contrary: there had to be "they killed etc."). It turns out that this is similar to the first manner of revelation of light mentioned above, which only has the power to break through the darkness of tzimtzum, but not to turn the tzimtzum itself into light.
Whereas the offerings of the Seven Days of Miluim: through these offerings the sin of the Calf was atoned, and this was a complete atonement.50
For it came after teshuvah out of love, through which willful sins become like merits.51 And as stated explicitly in Rashi52 that the calf of the eighth day of the Miluim — the utmost completion of the Days of Miluim — is what atones for the deed of the Calf that he had made.
This is similar to the second manner, in which concealment and sin come entirely to an end; the darkness of concealment itself becomes — light and revelation.
11. And this too is the connection of this matter (the virtue of the Seven Days of Miluim) to the verse "והי' אור הלבנה כאור החמה גו'" ("And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun etc."), with which the maamar begins:53
Since the accomplishment of the Seven Days of Miluim is (not that the revelation comes even into the place of concealment, but) that the concealment itself should shine, it follows of itself that the moon (the level of Malchus — the matter of concealment) need not at all depend on the "light of the sun"; rather, the moon itself will have a light — and thus the "light of the moon" is exactly like the "light of the sun."54
And since all the revelations of the Time to Come depend on our deeds and service now,55 there is therefore demanded now as well (not only the service of "אתכפיא" ("subduing") — bending and breaking through the darkness and concealment of the world in general and of the small world, man, in particular — but also) the service of "אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא" ("transforming darkness into light"), which is the matter of the "Days of Miluim" (that instead of "נתמלאה56 צור מחורבנה של ירושלים" ("Tzor was filled from the ruin of Yerushalayim") one should transform it into) — "נתמלאה ירושלים מחורבנה של צור" ("Yerushalayim was filled from the ruin of Tzor"),57
which is the vessel for the fulfillment of what was foretold,58 "And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun," which will be in the Time to Come, with the coming of our righteous Moshiach, very soon indeed.
(From the sichos of Purim and Shabbos Parshas Tzav, 5725)
Notes
1) For this is a novelty (see Vayikra Rabbah on our Parshah, ch. 8, 2 — cited and explained in Likkutei Torah on our Parshah 7d ff.).
2) Our Parshah, 6:13 ff.
3) In addition to what he offers every day (Rambam, Laws of the Vessels of the Beis HaMikdash, ch. 5, halachah 17).
4) Menachos 51b. Rambam ibid., halachah 16. Rashi on the Torah, ibid.
5) Our Parshah, 8:2 ff.
6) See Chinuch, mitzvah 136 (regarding the griddle-cake offering of the Kohen Gadol, which he offered every day): "It is fitting for such a man to have a special offering etc."
7) Rashi, Tisa 32:29 (and seemingly, according to this, this should apply to the entire tribe of Levi and not specifically to the Kohanim. See Rashi on Bamidbar (3:12) and Devarim (10:8), who explains it regarding the Levi'im. But in both places he explains the reason as being that they did not err with the Calf, not that they killed. But see Rashi, Berachah 33:9. This is not the place to elaborate).
8) Rashi, Shemini 9:2 (from Toras Kohanim there). See also Rashi, Tetzaveh 29:1.
9) See Shelah, section on the Written Torah, beginning of Parshas Vayeshev (copied in Likkutei Sichos vol. 5, p. 129, note 1). See also above, p. 20 ff.
10) See Likkutei Torah, ibid.
11) 8, end of side b.
12) See above, pp. 28-29.
13) Indeed, the heading on the biur to this maamar is "ענין שבעת ימי המילואים" ("The matter of the Seven Days of Miluim").
14) 9, beginning of side c.
15) Also noted there (side c) is a reference to the "Explanation of 'וקבל היהודים' ('And the Jews accepted')"; (ibid., side d) to the maamar beginning "זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק" ("Remember what Amalek did to you"); and at the very conclusion of the maamar (10, end of side a): "ועיין בפע"ח שער הפורים" ("And see Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar HaPurim").
16) Torah Ohr 92c.
17) Ibid., 100b.
*17) Zohar III, 115b. Compare Seder Eliyahu, ch. 25.
18) So it is also in the first printing: "ע"פ" ("after"). But see the maamar beginning "יביאו לבוש" in Shaarei Orah, ch. 84 (and likewise later in this discourse in Torah Ohr): "ע"י" ("through").
19) Minhagei Maharil — cited in Magen Avraham on Orach Chaim, siman 690, subsection 6. Explained at length in the maamarim beginning "בלילה ההוא" of 5700; "חייב אינש" of 5708; "בלילה ההוא" of 5725 (Sefer HaMaamarim Meluket, vol. 4, p. 183 ff.); and elsewhere.
20) Megillah 19a.
21) Bereishis 1:5.
22) The four levels — "יום הזה" ("this day"), "יום ההוא" ("that day"); "לילה הזה" ("this night"), "לילה ההוא" ("that night") — are explained at length in the maamar beginning "בלילה ההוא" of 5725 (Sefer HaMaamarim Meluket, ibid.), based on the maamar beginning "והנה כו' ותוסף אסתר" of the Mitteler Rebbe (Maamarei Admur HaEmtzoi on Nach, p. 415 ff.). (In Torah Ohr 94d — in a different way.)
23) Chullin 139b.
24) Vayeilech 31:18.
25) Cited in Toldos Yaakov Yosef, beginning of Parshas Bereishis.
26) The wording of the verse, Yeshayahu 5:20.
27) For the miracle of Purim was enclothed in nature (see Torah Ohr 91a, 100a, and elsewhere).
In this way one understands the connection between the explanation (Megillah 15b; Yalkut Shimoni on this verse) that "the king's sleep was disturbed" refers to "the sleep of the King of the world," and the explanation (ibid.) "the sleep of King Achashverosh, literally" (see Likkutei Sichos vol. 3, p. 782, that all explanations of one verse are connected with one another) — for since "the sleep of the King, the King of the world, was disturbed" came in a manner of enclothement in the garments of nature — "on that night" — therefore it was enclothed in "the sleep of King Achashverosh, literally, was disturbed."
28) Shir HaShirim Rabbah, end of ch. 8. In Torah Ohr 116d, this is cited regarding the miracle that took place on Purim. See there.
29) The parable of the gazelle in the Midrash there refers to the level of "עין ה' אל יראיו" ("The eye of G‑d is upon those who fear Him") — a gaze with one eye, which is lower than two eyes. But in Bereishis Rabbah, beginning of ch. 40: "'The eye of G‑d is upon those who fear Him' — this is Avraham," and this refers to the level of the one eye of Atika, which is above the level of two eyes (Yahel Or, p. 122 (based on Zohar III, 129b). See also Or HaTorah, end of Parshas Vayeira. See also the maamar beginning "אר"י לא ברא כו'" of 5694 (and according to this, the question of the Yefeh To'ar on Bereishis Rabbah there is resolved)). And in light of what is known, that all explanations of one verse are connected with one another (noted above, note 27), it must be said that the level of one eye below two eyes is connected to the level of one eye above two eyes. (See also Torah Ohr there: "להיות נמשך מבחי' עינא פקיחא דלא נאים" ("to be drawn from the level of the open eye that does not sleep"), which is the one eye of Atika (Zohar there, end of side b), to which the matter of sleep does not apply.)
It may be said that the superiority of the level of two eyes over the level of one eye in Shir HaShirim Rabbah there is only with regard to the revelations, namely that the Providence of one eye comes enclothed in the garments of nature (as written in Torah Ohr there: "שמתלבש בלבוש" ("which is enclothed in a garment")), but the essence of the light in this level is the same light as the level of the one eye of Atika. As stated in Torah Ohr there: "ודמה לך לבחי' מהותו ועצמותו ית' בחי' ע"ק ומשם יומשך להיות לצבי כו'" ("And be likened to the level of His Being and Essence, may He be blessed, the level of Atik, and from there it will be drawn to be like a gazelle etc."). (Similar to what is explained in Torah Ohr, the maamar beginning "חייב אינש" (99, end of side d ff.), regarding the fact that on Purim work is permitted. See there.)
— According to this, the same is true of the two levels of fear — lower fear and higher fear [which are drawn from these two levels of gazing (see Yahel Or, ibid.; the maamar beginning "אר"י," ibid.)] — that they differ only with regard to the revelations, but as for their essential being, even lower fear (although it is lower than love on the level of the revelations) is in His Essence, may He be blessed (Kuntres HaAvodah, p. 18).
30) Similar to what is known (the maamar beginning "הקבצו" of 5668 (in the Hemshech 5666); "וידבר אלקים" of 5704, at the end; and elsewhere) that the tzimtzum has no ability to conceal the unlimited light, and therefore it is present even after the tzimtzum just as it was before the tzimtzum.
31) See Rambam, Laws of De'os, ch. 4, halachah 5: "ולא יישן ביום" ("He should not sleep by day"). Sukkah 26b, and Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 231 and siman 4, paragraph 15. See also the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe at its beginning, that one must rise from his sleep before the light of morning.
32) See Rashi, s.v. "נדדה": "ויש אומרים כו'" ("And some say etc.").
Its effect on the matter of his body is also more inward than the effect of daylight, since "אין הניצוץ (דשמש) נכנס בתוכיות . . האדם" ("the ray (of the sun) does not enter the interior . . of the person") (Torah Ohr 86, beginning of side b, and elsewhere).
So too in the analogue, that the enclothing of the miracle in nature (see above, note 27) was in such a manner that "אותו הלילה עצמו שאמר והעם לעשות בו כטוב בעיניך, הוא עצמו אמר ואתם כתבו על היהודים כטוב בעיניכם, שהוא ענין אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא כו'" ("that very night on which he said, 'and the people, to do with them as seems good in your eyes,' he himself said, 'And you, write concerning the Jews as seems good in your eyes,' which is the matter of transforming darkness into light etc.") (Torah Ohr 94b).
33) Compare Eruvin 65a: "ינוף ופרע". And in Rashi there: "ישן ביום" ("he sleeps by day"). See also Tur and Shulchan Aruch, ibid., beginning of siman 231: "If it is impossible etc., he should sleep."
34) Noted in note 27.
35) Ramaz, in the book Tikkun Shovavim — cited and explained in the book Lev David (by the Chida), ch. 29. (See also Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar 19 (Purim), ch. 5.)
36) For with the measure with which a person measures, he is measured (Mishnah, end of the first chapter of Sotah). And in the terminology of Chassidus (Derech Mitzvosecha 123a, 160a, and elsewhere): the arousal from below must be akin to and resemble the arousal from Above that is awakened and drawn down through it.
37) Similarly in the general period of exile (Sefer HaMaamarim 5627, p. 167).
38) And although according to this explanation too the miracle of Purim was in the manner of transforming darkness into light (see above, note 32), nevertheless, this was from the side of the light — and not that the darkness transformed into light of itself (see at length in the maamar beginning "ויאמר לו יהונתן" of 5711: the two manners in the level of transforming darkness into light: a transformation from the side of the light, and from the side of the darkness itself).
39) Torah Ohr 90, end of side d ff.
40) Yerushalmi Megillah, ch. 1, halachah 5. Rambam, end of the Laws of Megillah.
41) And likewise the halachos are enclothed in physicality (Torah Ohr, ibid.; see also ibid. (94, end of side b), that in them too there is the parable of the "gazelle").
42) See similarly Siddur 232b, 258a. See also Likkutei Torah on our Parshah 8, end of side d ff.
43) Torah Ohr 99, beginning of side a.
44) See above, p. 22 ff., that this is the content of the obligation to become intoxicated etc. until one does not know.
45) Shabbos 88a.
46) Which is higher even than the level of the light untouched by the tzimtzum, from which the Kav is drawn.
See the series Basi LeGani 5710, ch. 13 ff., that the spreading and revelation of light — even in the very lowest levels — derives from the aspect of "למטה מטה עד אין תכלית" ("downward without limit"), which even in its first root is within the category of revelation (ibid., ch. 16 and (17?)). Whereas the root of concealments and hiddenness is from the level of "למעלה מעלה עד אין קץ" ("upward without end") (ibid., ch. 15), the level of "אוצר" ("treasury"), which is not within the category of revelation.
47) Rashi, Tisa 32:26.
48) Tisa, ibid., 27-28.
49) This may also be connected with what is explained in Likkutei Torah (7d ff.) on the verse "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons": that the intent in "מהאוכל יצא מאכל" ("Out of the eater came forth food") is [not only the wonder in this, but] also that the coming forth of the "food" is specifically "from the eater." For through his descent "to eat" and to refine the levels below him, he is elevated to become "food" for the levels above him.
50) See Igeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 2.
51) Yoma 86b.
52) Our Parshah, 9:2. And see Or HaChaim here.
53) See also Likkutei Torah, ibid. (9, end of side a), that the matter of breaking through is the level of "משמח חתן וכלה" ("who gladdens groom and bride"), while the matter of "And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun" is a higher level — "משמח חתן עם הכלה" ("who gladdens the groom with the bride"). See there.
54) Likkutei Torah, ibid., 10a.
55) Tanya, beginning of ch. 37.
56) See Megillah 6a; Pesachim 42b.
57) Likkutei Torah, ibid., 11a ff.
58) Yeshayahu 30:26.
Key Lesson
This Sicha teaches that the deepest Divine revelation does not merely shine in spite of concealment; it is the concealment itself that calls it forth and is transformed by it, as in "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed." Therefore, in addition to subduing the darkness of the world and of oneself, a Jew is called upon now to transform that darkness into light, and this service is the vessel for the time when "the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun," with the coming of Moshiach.