Parshas Shemos
1. On the verse1 "שלח נא ביד תשלח" ("Please send by the hand of whom You will send"), it is stated in the Midrash2: "[Moshe] said before Him: 'Master of the World, "please send by the hand of whom You will send" — by the hand of Moshiach, who is destined to be revealed.'" However, this request of Moshe was not accepted, for the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, was that specifically Moshe should be the emissary to take the Children of Israel out of Egypt.
From the words of the Midrash it is understood that there is a special connection between Moshe and Moshiach, on account of which Moshe asked that the mission placed upon him (the redemption of the Children of Israel from Egypt) be handed over "by the hand of Moshiach"; except that, nevertheless, the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt had to come about specifically through Moshe, while the role of Moshiach is specifically the redemption of the Jewish people from their final exile.
Now, the content of this connection between Moshe and Moshiach (on account of which there is the common element in their missions: to redeem the Children of Israel from their exile) is understood according to the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory3: "משה הוא גואל ראשון הוא גואל אחרון" ("Moshe is the first redeemer; he is the final redeemer"). The meaning is not that Moshe himself, in his own person, will be the final redeemer, for Moshe is from the tribe of Levi, whereas Moshiach will arise "מבית דוד" ("from the House of David")4 — from the tribe of Yehudah. Rather, the meaning is that Moshe, who is the "first redeemer," is the very one through whose power and by whose means Moshiach, the final redeemer, will come.
The explanation: The Torah is the first (and principal) of the virtues of the King Moshiach — "הוגה בתורה" ("he meditates in Torah")5; that is to say, his power to be the redeemer of the Jewish people comes through the Torah, which is "תורת משה" ("the Torah of Moshe")6. And similarly, the power of the Jewish people to bring about the future redemption through their own Divine service is through the Torah (as will be explained below).
This inner connection between Moshiach and Moshe is also alluded to in the fact that the coming of Moshiach is called "יבוא שילה" ("Shiloh will come"): "יבא שילה"7 is numerically equal to "משיח" (Moshiach)8, and "שילה" (Shiloh) is numerically equal to "משה" (Moshe)9. For "Shiloh will come" — meaning the revelation of Moshiach and his actual coming — is (in numerical value) "Moshiach"; and "Shiloh" is numerically equal to "Moshe," meaning that (that which already exists before the "will come") the power for the coming of Moshiach is itself the matter of Moshe.
Now, there is the well-known talk of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe10, that "יבא" ("will come," of "Shiloh") is numerically equal to "אחד" ("one"), and "Moshe" combined with "one" is numerically equal to "Moshiach." That is, the actual coming of Moshiach ("will come") will be through Divine service in the manner of "one." The power to carry out this service was given to us by Moshe11, and therefore "Moshe" (the granting of power for this service) combined with "one" (the service itself) is numerically equal to "Moshiach."
2. To explain this: Our Sages, of blessed memory, said "עולם על מילואו נברא" ("The world was created in its fullness")12, meaning that when the world was created, all its aspects were in their completeness. But afterwards, through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge — "שבא נחש על חוה, הטיל בה זוהמא" ("when the serpent came upon Chavah, it injected filth into her")13 — man (and the world14) descended from his completeness and elevated state, until the time of the Giving of the Torah, when they were raised up from their descent, for "ישראל שעמדו על הר סיני פסקה זוהמתן" ("when Israel stood at Mount Sinai, their filth ceased")15. Then afterwards there came another descent, through the sin of the Golden Calf, when their filth returned16 — and it is still in the world until the coming of the future redemption and the fulfillment of the prophecy "ואת רוח הטומאה אעביר מן הארץ" ("And I will remove the spirit of impurity from the land")17, when the filth will be completely nullified and the world will be refined, purified and elevated to the ultimate degree of refinement, purity and elevation.
Now, it is known that "ירידה צורך עלי' היא" ("descent is for the sake of ascent"), meaning that the entire purpose of a descent from a prior level is for the sake of the ascent that comes through it18. It is therefore understood that the ascent following the descent contains an elevation even relative to the elevated state that existed before the descent. From this it is understood that the level of ascent brought about by the Giving of the Torah, which came after the descent through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, has an advantage over the elevated level that existed before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge; and certainly the same is true of the superior quality of the future ascent (which follows the descent through the sin of the Golden Calf) relative to the ascent of the Giving of the Torah (which preceded the sin of the Golden Calf).
The superiority of this ascent (which follows the descent, relative to the prior elevated state) is "with added eminence" — both from the perspective of the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, from above to below, and from the perspective of the elevation of the Jewish people (and the world) from below to above.
As we find with the ascent of the Giving of the Torah: Although even before the Giving of the Torah the power to fulfill the mitzvos had already been given — in the words of the Rambam19, "על ששה דברים נצטווה אדה"ר וכו'" ("Adam, the first man, was commanded concerning six things... and to Noach was added [the prohibition of] a limb from a living animal... Avraham came and was commanded further beyond these... and Yitzchak... and Yaakov added..."), and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said that the Patriarchs fulfilled "כל התורה כולה עד שלא נתנה" ("the entire Torah before it was given")20 — nevertheless, it was specifically at the Giving of the Torah that there was introduced (not only a great elevation and added strength in the fulfillment of the mitzvos themselves21, but also) the entire matter of "ובנו בחרת" ("And You have chosen us")22 — the choosing of the Jewish people by the Holy One, blessed be He, which comes from His very Essence, may He be blessed23, which transcends every light and revelation (that had been revealed before the Giving of the Torah).
So too with regard to the superiority of the level of the Jewish people (and the world): Although through the sin of the Golden Calf the filth of the Jewish people returned, nevertheless this filth was not as it had been before the Giving of the Torah24. For since the refinement and elevation of "their filth ceased" at the Giving of the Torah was on a loftier level than the level of elevation before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge — meaning that its effect was more inward and penetrating25 — therefore even in the descent that followed it, its effect is still discernible.
3. The same applies to the ascent of the future redemption — when Moshiach will teach Torah to the entire Jewish people26, the Torah of Moshiach (comparable to the ascent at the Giving of the Torah27) — which also possesses a great and surpassing superiority over the ascent at the Giving of the Torah28, in both of the above-mentioned respects: in the revelation of G‑dliness from above, and in the level of the Jewish people (and the world):
It is explained in Tanya29 that although the revelation of G‑dliness at the Giving of the Torah was on the level of physical sight, it was nevertheless only a "foretaste" and semblance of the revelation that will take place in the Time to Come. It is thus understood from this that the level of "ונגלה כבוד הוי' וגו'" ("And the glory of the L‑rd shall be revealed...")30 — the revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that will take place in the Time to Come — is loftier than the level of the revelation of G‑dliness at the Giving of the Torah.
So too with regard to the level of the Jewish people and the world: In the Time to Come there will be fulfilled what is written, "And I will remove the spirit of impurity from the land" and "בלע המות לנצח וגו'" ("He will swallow up death forever...")31, meaning
[not as it was at the Giving of the Torah, when only "their filth ceased," while there still remained the possibility that it would return afterwards (as actually happened through the sin of the Golden Calf)32. This was because the purification effected in the world did not stem from the world itself, but from the drawing down and revelation of G‑dliness from above; therefore, "במשוך היובל" ("when the ram's horn sounds a long blast") — when this revelation departed — there was again a possibility for the filth to return33. But in the Time to Come, it means]
that the matter of impurity and filth will be removed entirely, meaning that the world itself, by its own nature, will be refined and purified; and therefore the revelation (the ascent) that will come about through this will be revealed and will permeate the world in a manner of "forever."
4. Now, from the fact that it is specifically after the descent that the loftiest ascent occurs, it is understood that the descent is merely a necessary preparation34 for the ascent that follows it. That is, it is specifically the Divine service in the place of descent that brings about the ascent.
Just as the ascent of the Giving of the Torah came through the preparation of "מעשה אבות" ("the deeds of the Patriarchs")35, and afterwards the refinement and purification of "כור הברזל" ("the iron furnace")36 in Egypt37, which prepared the Jewish people (and the world) to be able to receive the revelation of the Giving of the Torah;
so too, through the preparation of "מעשינו ועבודתינו כל זמן משך הגלות" ("our deeds and our Divine service throughout the time of the exile")38 in refining and purifying the world — until the world itself, by its own nature, will be purified and elevated, as explained above — the ascent of the future redemption will come.
5. The matter will be understood by first introducing the well-known question39 on what is written40, "שמע ישראל וגו' ה' אחד" ("Hear O Israel... the L‑rd is One"): Seemingly it would have been more fitting to say "the L‑rd is יחיד (singular)," for the word "אחד" ("one") does not seemingly indicate the true unity of the Holy One, blessed be He, since there is a "one" that is counted, which has a second to it (and therefore it says41 "יש אחד ואין שני" ("There is one, and there is no second"), for the word "one" by itself does not yet negate "a second"), whereas the word "singular" negates from the outset any notion of a second?
The explanation of this39 is that this very point is the answer: The ultimate and true unity of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not expressed in negating, from the outset, all existence besides Him (the level of "singular"); rather, it is specifically when there is an existence of a world, and nevertheless it is felt in the world that it is not an existence unto itself — precisely in this is the truth of the unity of the Holy One, blessed be He, expressed. This is the meaning of "one": that even when there is the existence of a world, it is nevertheless united with Him, may He be blessed, in absolute unity42. This is alluded to in the three letters of the word "אחד": the dalet (four) — the four directions of the world; the ches (eight) — the seven heavens and the earth (above and below); the alef — the Holy One, blessed be He, "אלופו של עולם" ("the Master of the world")43. The meaning of the word "one" is that one must draw down and reveal His G‑dliness, may He be blessed (alluded to in the letter alef), in the world (alluded to in the letters ches and dalet), so that even in the world — a term connoting concealment and hiddenness — as it is in its own existence and its own parameters, it will be felt that its entire existence is the "Master of the world" (as is also alluded to in the fact that the alef in the word "one," which alludes to the "Master of the world," is the first letter, and included in it and nullified to it44 are the ches and dalet, which allude to the existence of the world).
6. But seemingly, how can the world — whose nature is (as its name indicates) to hide and conceal G‑dliness — be a "vessel" to receive, and in such a manner that through it the "Master of the world" will be revealed? For this purpose the Torah and mitzvos were given to the Jewish people at the Giving of the Torah, so that with them and through them they would refine and purify the world and make it "דירה לו יתברך בתחתונים" ("a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed, in the lower realms")45.
The fact that at the Giving of the Torah the power was given to refine and purify the world means not only that at that time the Torah and its mitzvos were given, through which the world will be made a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed, but also that the very revelation of G‑dliness at the Giving of the Torah, and the level of the world at that time, gave the power for the refinement and purification of the world after the Giving of the Torah:
At the time the Torah was given, the world was entirely nullified from its existence by reason of the intensity of the revelation from above, and this nullification was felt in the world as well, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "ציפור לא צווח כו' אלא העולם שותק וכו'" ("No bird chirped... rather, the world was silent...")46. And although the world itself, as it is in its parameters and existence, was not yet fit to receive the revelation of the lofty light of the Giving of the Torah, and it was only that it was nullified from its parameters and existence, etc., on account of the revelation coming from above (and therefore this was only temporary, as mentioned above),
nevertheless, it is this nullification at the time of the Giving of the Torah that gave the power for the world to be refined, purified and elevated afterwards, until it will be a "vessel" and a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed.
7. Based on this, it will be explained why "Moshe" with the addition of "one" is numerically equal to "Moshiach." For the matter of Moshe (the Giving of the Torah) is the granting of power for the Divine service of refining and purifying the world in the manner of "one"47, and this service, by the power of Moshe, will bring the future redemption, which is the matter of Moshiach48.
According to this, the inner connection between Moshe and Moshiach is explained: the future redemption will actually come through Moshiach, but this is by the power of Moshe, from whom and through whom the ability was given to hasten and bring about the revelation of Moshiach.
On the other hand, the difference between them is also understood: Although Moshe is the redeemer of the Jewish people, the purpose of the servitude and exile of Egypt, and of the redemption and exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, is the Giving of the Torah, as it is written, "בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה" ("When you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve G‑d upon this mountain")49; and the matter of the Giving of the Torah, which is the matter of Moshe, is (in addition to the principal matter of the choosing of the Jewish people by the Holy One, blessed be He, as mentioned above) the granting of power for the Divine service of refining and purifying the world. The matter of Moshiach, by contrast, is the completion of the refinement and purification, and principally the Divine service thereafter, when the world will already be refined and purified, etc.50
8. Man is a world in miniature51. Just like the order described above in the world (in its plain sense), so it is in every individual and on every single day: "יצא אדם לפעלו ולעבודתו עדי ערב" ("Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening"), and afterwards he says "בידך אפקיד רוחי" ("Into Your hand I entrust my spirit"), and the next day he becomes a new creation52 and begins a new service.
The service of the day begins with prayer and Torah — "לביהכ"נ ומביהכ"נ לביהמ"ד" ("to the synagogue, and from the synagogue to the house of study")53 — and then he also receives "the power" for his service in the world: the G‑dly soul spreads through his body (through prayer54), and he is able to rule over the evil inclination and over his portion in the world (through Torah — the "antidote" to the evil inclination55, and in its plain sense, guidance in all his ways). Afterwards comes the actual service in worldly matters — "הנהג בהם מנהג דרך ארץ" ("conduct yourself with them in the way of the world")56. To the point that, as the Rambam writes57, "שהחכם כו' צריך שיהי' ניכר כו' במאכלו ובמשקהו וכו'" ("the wise man... must be distinguished... in his eating and in his drinking, etc."), meaning that in all these matters it should be evident that he is "החכם עיניו בראשו" ("the wise man, whose eyes are in his head")58 and that "מלט הוא את העיר (קטנה) בחכמתו" ("he saved the (small) city with his wisdom")58 — the "חד" (ches-dalet) is nullified to the "alef," the Master of the world, through "אאלפך חכמה" ("I will teach you wisdom")59.
And after the completion of the day's service, when a person makes a true accounting of his service during the day, his task of drawing down the level of alef into all worldly matters is emphasized once again. This is why he says "בידך אפקיד רוחי גו' א-ל אמת" ("Into Your hand I entrust my spirit... G‑d of truth")59*, for the concept of "אמת" ("truth") is akin to the concept of "one" discussed above, as it is written60, "ואמת הוי' לעולם" ("and the truth of the L‑rd endures forever")61, and as it is stated in the Jerusalem Talmud62 that "חותמו של הקב"ה אמת" ("the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth"), because among the three letters alef-mem-tav, the alef is the first of the letters, the mem is their middle, and the tav is the last of the letters, as it is written63, "אני ראשון ואני אחרון ומבלעדי אין אלקים" ("I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no G‑d"). That is, in all matters of the world, from one end to the other, "the truth of the L‑rd" will be drawn down and revealed — the Master of the world, from the truth of whose existence all existing things came into being. Therefore it is stated in the sefarim64 that when the alef is removed from the word "אמת" ("truth"), what remains is "מת" ("dead") — the opposite of life.
And just as, in the general sense, the power to refine and purify the world was given at the Giving of the Torah, so too in the individual service of each person: through refining and purifying his portion in the world by means of his service as commanded to him in the Torah (the level of Moshe), we arrive at the general redemption65 (the level of Moshiach), speedily in our days.
(From the sichos of Acharon shel Pesach, 5729)
Notes
1) Our parsha, 4:13.
2) Lekach Tov on the verse. See also Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, end of ch. [OCR unclear]: "By the hand of that man whom you are destined to send, etc., as it says, 'Behold, I am sending you Eliyahu the prophet...'" See also Targum Yonasan ben Uziel: "Send... by the hand of Pinchas, who is fit to be sent at the end of days" (and Pinchas is Eliyahu (Targum Yonasan, Va'eira 6:18; Zohar II 190a, end; Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer ch. 47; Yalkut Shimoni, beginning of Parshas Pinchas; Midrash Aggadah there; Rashi, Bava Metzia 117b; Ralbag, I Melachim 17:1; and elsewhere)).
3) See Shemos Rabbah 2:6; Zohar I 253a; Shaar HaPesukim, Parshas Vayechi; Torah Or, Mishpatim 75b. And also according to what is explained in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, etc. (cited in the previous note), that "Please send by the hand of whom You will send" refers to Eliyahu — see Devarim Rabbah, end of ch. 3: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "Just as you gave your life for them in this world, so in the Time to Come, when I bring them Eliyahu the prophet, the two of you will come together."
4) Rambam, Laws of Kings, end of ch. 11.
5) Rambam, there.
6) Malachi 3:22. See also Shabbos 89a.
7) Vayechi 49:10.
8) Baal HaTurim on the verse.
9) Zohar I 25b; 253a. [OCR unclear] there. Likkutei Torah of the Arizal and Shaar HaPesukim, Parshas Vayechi. See also the sicha cited in the next note.
10) Acharon shel Pesach 5699.
11) See what is written in Tanya, beginning of ch. 42. Based on this, it will be understood what is explained in that sicha, that "Shiloh" being numerically equal to "Moshe" means that Moshe knew that the main part of all the revelations will be when everything is refined — "and I will remove the spirit of impurity from the land" — and they will be refined and purified from the "wilderness of the nations," and will go to Shiloh with song. For seemingly, the fact that Moshe knew, etc., is not a (sufficient) reason for him to be numerically equal to Shiloh. According to what is explained in the text, it can be said that "Moshe knew" means knowledge as it should be — knowledge that has results: the granting of power for this service; and therefore he is numerically equal to Shiloh.
12) See Bereishis Rabbah 10:7; 13:3.
13) Shabbos 146a.
14) See Torah Or, Yisro 74b.
15) Shabbos, there. Zohar I 52b; Zohar II 193b.
16) Zohar, there. See also Tanya, end of ch. 36.
17) Zechariah 13:2.
18) See at length Likkutei Sichos vol. 5, first sicha on Parshas Lech Lecha, and the sources cited there.
19) Laws of Kings 9:1.
20) Yoma 28b; Kiddushin 82a.
21) See Likkutei Sichos vol. 3, Parshas Lech Lecha; vol. 5, Parshas Vayeira, and the sources cited there.
22) See Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim, siman 60, seif [OCR unclear].
23) See Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 38b; Sefer HaMaamarim 5703, p. 24; Likkutei Sichos vol. 4, p. 1341. See also above, in the first sicha, section 5 ff.
24) See Nitzutzei Oros on Zohar III 14b.
25) For at the Giving of the Torah the decree that the upper beings would not descend to the lower beings, etc., was annulled (Shemos Rabbah 12:3; see also Tanchuma, Va'eira 15). See also the sources cited above, note 21. See also Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, the sicha for Shavuos.
26) Likkutei Torah, Tzav 17a; Shaar HaEmunah ch. 56.
27) See Torah Or, Shemos 49a, and elsewhere.
28) See Koheles Rabbah (end of ch. 1 and beginning of ch. 2), that the Torah of this world is vanity compared to the Torah of Moshiach.
29) Ch. 36.
30) Yeshayahu 40:5. See also Shaar HaEmunah ch. 25.
31) Yeshayahu 25:8.
32) See the maamar beginning "Vayeired" 5643, at its end: "As for the fact that at the Giving of the Torah their filth ceased, it can be said that this is as written in Sefer Shel Beinonim concerning beinonim, that the evil within them is dormant and can reawaken; so too here, for afterwards came the sin of the Golden Calf, when their filth returned and there were changes — meaning that even at the outset it had not been completely purified."
33) See Likkutei Sichos there, that at the Giving of the Torah, in actuality there was only the matter of "the upper beings descended to the lower beings," whereas the matter of "the lower beings shall ascend to the upper beings" — through the refinement and ascent of the lower being itself — began after the Giving of the Torah, except that the power for this was given at the Giving of the Torah.
34) See Likkutei Sichos vol. 5, p. 57 ff.
35) See Likkutei Sichos vol. 3, p. 776.
36) I Melachim 8:51.
37) See Torah Or, Yisro (74a–b); Shemos, there.
38) Tanya, beginning of ch. 37.
39) See Torah Or, Va'eira 55b; Imrei Binah, Shaar Krias Shema, sec. 8 ff.; Sefer HaMitzvos of the Tzemach Tzedek, p. 124; and elsewhere.
40) Va'eschanan 6:4.
41) Koheles 4:8.
42) See Likkutei Sichos vol. [OCR unclear], p. 1335.
43) Semak, cited in Beis Yosef, Orach Chaim, end of siman 61; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, there, seif 6; Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim, there, seif 6; Likkutei Torah, Tazria 23c. See also Berachos 13b.
44) See Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah ch. 12 (89b).
45) Tanchuma, Naso 16.
46) Shemos Rabbah, end of ch. 29.
47) This explains the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory (Devarim Rabbah 2:31), that the Jewish people merited the Shema at the Giving of the Torah: for at the Giving of the Torah they were given the power for the service of "one," as in the text.
48) Although in the above-mentioned sicha it is explained that "Moshe" combined with "one" being numerically equal to "Moshiach" means that through there being unity among the Jewish people in general, and in particular unity in speaking about Moshiach, etc., they will draw down the complete redemption through Moshiach — nevertheless, since the revelations of the Time to Come depend not only on the refinement, purification and state of the Jewish people themselves, but also on the refinement and purification of the world, as explained in Tanya (ch. 37 ff.) and elsewhere, there must in any case also be the matter of "one" in the world. However, in order to bring about unity in the world, there must first be unity among the Jewish people (see Likkutei Sichos vol. 9, p. 159, and note 49 there); and true unity among the Jewish people is likewise akin to the matter of "one" — that even with the individual character of each one, by which [OCR unclear] each is distinct from his fellow, they are united (see at length Likkutei Sichos vol. 4, p. 1142 ff.; Likkutei Sichos vol. 9, cited above).
49) Our parsha, 3:12.
50) It can be said that this is also the content of the answer of the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moshe (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, there): "I did not say to you, 'Go, and I will send you to Israel,' but rather, 'Go, and I will send you to Pharaoh'; [as for] that man of whom you say, 'I will send him in the future [OCR doubtful] to Israel,' etc." For the matter of Moshe applies while there is still the existence of "Pharaoh" in the world — to refine and purify it, etc., whereas the matter of Eliyahu (and Moshiach) is principally after "And I will remove the spirit of impurity from the land," as in the text.
51) Tanchuma, Pekudei 3; Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 69 (100a). See also Avos DeRabbi Nassan ch. 31; Koheles Rabbah 1:4; Zohar I 134b; [OCR unclear] vol. 1, ch. 72; Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 5a, end.
52) Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim, remez 702; Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim, Mahadura Kamma, siman 4, seif 1; siman 6, seif 1.
53) Berachos 64a.
54) Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 99d, and elsewhere.
55) See Kiddushin 30b.
56) Berachos 35b. See also Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim, simanim 156–157.
57) Laws of Character Traits 5:1.
58) Koheles 2:14; 9:15; Nedarim 32b.
59) Iyov 33:33.
59*) Tehillim 31:6.
60) Tehillim 117:2.
61) See Likkutei Torah, Behaalosecha 30d.
62) Sanhedrin 1:1. See also Devarim Rabbah 1:10; Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:9 (1).
63) Yeshayahu 44:6.
64) Chiddushei Aggados of the Maharsha, Sanhedrin 97a, s.v. "Bela Zimnei." See also Me'orei Or, entry "Emes."
65) See Iggeres HaKodesh, epistle 14.
Key Lesson
Moshe, through the Giving of the Torah, granted every Jew the power to refine the world so that even within its own existence it feels it is one with G‑d, the "Master of the world" — and it is precisely this service, carried out in the place of descent, that brings Moshiach. Each day, a person who begins with prayer and Torah and then conducts his worldly affairs with wisdom draws the "alef" into the "ches" and "dalet," refining his portion of the world and hastening the general redemption.