Parshas Yisro
1. In connection with what is written in our Parshah, "ויאמר יתרו ברוך ה׳ אשר הציל אתכם" ("And Yisro said: Blessed is the L‑rd, Who has rescued you")1, our Sages, of blessed memory, said2: "גנאי הוא למשה וששים רבוא שלא אמרו ברוך עד שבא יתרו ואמר ברוך ה'" ("It is a disgrace for Moshe and the six hundred thousand that they did not say 'Blessed' until Yisro came and said 'Blessed is the L‑rd'"). We need to understand what is meant by "that they did not say 'Blessed,' etc." — after all, Moshe and the Children of Israel did sing a song3 to G‑d after the miracle of the Splitting of the Sea4!
Nor can one explain that the disgrace is that they did not say "Blessed" over the Exodus from Egypt (but only over the Splitting of the Sea), for if so, "the main point is missing from the book."
This will be understood by first introducing what is stated in the Zohar5: until Yisro came and acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah was not given to Israel. When Yisro came and said, "Blessed is the L‑rd, Who has rescued you, etc. — עתה ידעתי כי גדול ה' מכל האלקים" ("Now I know that the L‑rd is greater than all the gods, etc.")6, he thereby brought about that "the Holy One, blessed be He, was elevated in His glory above and below, and afterwards He gave the Torah in its completeness."
At first glance this is difficult to understand: how is it possible that all the holy virtue of Moshe and Aharon and the six hundred thousand of Israel — before Yisro came — was not yet sufficient for G‑d to give the Torah to Israel, and they merited it only after Yisro (too) acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He, and said "that the L‑rd is greater than all the gods"?
2. All of the above will be understood by first introducing the following question: at the beginning of the Parshah it is written, "וישמע יתרו כהן מדין חתן משה את כל אשר עשה אלקים" ("And Yisro, the priest of Midian, Moshe's father-in-law, heard all that G‑d had done"). We need to understand what the verse is teaching us here with this emphasis that he was "the priest of Midian" (seemingly it would have been enough to tell us briefly: "And Yisro, Moshe's father-in-law, heard").
Furthermore: there are two interpretations of "the kohen of Midian": a) "kohen" in the sense of a minister7, meaning that Yisro was the chief minister of Midian; b) a priest of idolatry8 [and see Rashi below9: "that he was acquainted with every idolatry in the world, etc."]. According to the second interpretation, that he was an idolatrous priest, this is all the more puzzling: did the Torah come here to tell of the disgrace10 of Yisro, Moshe's father-in-law? [Especially since from the content of our Parshah it appears that the intention is the opposite — to tell of Yisro's praise.]
The explanation of this is: in truth the verse does not use this title, "the priest of Midian," to diminish Yisro's importance, but on the contrary, to describe his greatness and honor in the past (in the land of Midian). Through this, his virtue in coming to convert is emphasized all the more — to the point that "his heart moved him to go out to the wilderness, a place of desolation, to hear words of Torah"11.
For even according to the second interpretation of "the priest of Midian" (that he was an idolatrous priest), it indicates Yisro's greatness in the realm of knowledge and comprehension. For the beginning of the error of those who strayed and attached themselves to idolatry came (mainly) through understanding and comprehension, as the Rambam writes12, that "they said: since G‑d created these stars and spheres to conduct the world, etc., they are worthy of being praised and glorified and of being accorded honor, and this is the will of G‑d, etc."
That is to say: although it is true that the flow of G‑dly vitality is drawn into this physical world through the stars and constellations, as our Sages said13, "אין לך עשב למטה שאין לו מזל מלמעלה המכה בו ואומר לו גדל" ("There is no blade of grass below that does not have a constellation above that strikes it and tells it: Grow!") — nevertheless it is forbidden to honor them, etc., on that account, because they have no choice or will of their own, and they are merely "כגרזן ביד החוצב בו" ("like an axe in the hand of the one who chops with it"), to do the will of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He14.
And just as there are intermediaries in this world — the stars and constellations, through which the flow of vitality comes into this world — which in truth are utterly nullified in their existence (and one who ascribes to them any power or dominion is an idolater), so too there are intermediary angels in the World of Yetzirah and the World of Beriah, etc., as it says, "כי גבוה מעל גבוה שומר וגבוהים עליהם" ("for one higher than the high watches over them, and there are higher ones above them")15. And there too, in the more exalted world, there is the warning to know that they are merely like an axe in the hand of the one who chops with it16. On the contrary: the higher the level of the intermediaries, the more liable one is to err in this.
This is the meaning of "that he (Yisro) was acquainted with every idolatry in the world, etc." — that is, he had knowledge and comprehension of all the intermediaries in all the worlds, up to the very highest [except that, being the priest of Midian, he erred and regarded them as intermediaries that possess power and dominion — and this is idolatry]. From this one understands the greatness of Yisro's intellectual comprehension.
From this it is well understood that when the verse describes him as "the priest of Midian," the intention is to tell his praise: that he was a minister and a dignitary in the land of Midian and "sat in the glory of the world" in the physical sense (according to the first interpretation of "the priest of Midian"), and also that he was "an idolatrous priest," acquainted with every idolatry — the greatest in intellectual understanding (according to the second interpretation, for both are true) — and nevertheless he left all his greatness and importance and came to convert.
3. According to this explanation, that Yisro was great in wisdom and knowledge, we will understand what is stated in the Zohar, that it was specifically through his acknowledgment that the Torah was given. For it is stated in the Zohar17 on the verse18 "וראיתי אני שיש יתרון לחכמה מן הסכלות" ("And I saw that wisdom has an advantage over folly" — literally, "an advantage to wisdom from folly"), that the "advantage" in the wisdom of holiness is drawn and comes specifically "from folly," that is, through the refinement of the wisdom of the opposing side (sitra achra)19, which is called "folly." It follows that when Yisro, who was a great sage in the wisdom of the opposing side, came to learn Torah and said "that the L‑rd is greater than all the gods" (as in Rashi's comment cited above), the wisdom of the opposing side was thereby refined until it was transformed into the wisdom of holiness. Consequently, from it (from the "folly") an added advantage of light was gained in the wisdom of holiness. Therefore it was specifically Yisro's acknowledgment — since it drew down an added advantage of light in the wisdom of holiness — that brought about the Giving of the Torah (which is His wisdom, may He be blessed) below, for which there must be a drawing down from an exceedingly lofty place.
However, it is known regarding the preparation for any matter that the preparation must resemble the thing for which it prepares. If so, this itself requires explanation: what is it about the refinement of the wisdom of the opposing side that makes it — and through it — a preparation for the Giving of the Torah?
The explanation is as follows. It is explained in several places20 that before the Giving of the Torah, (the Holy One, blessed be He) decreed and said, "השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם" ("The heavens are the heavens of the L‑rd, but the earth He gave to the children of man")21. When He wished to give the Torah, He annulled the first decree and said, "The lower ones shall ascend to the upper ones, and the upper ones shall descend to the lower ones." That is, at the Giving of the Torah there came about a joining of above and below, in which "the lower one" ascends and is included in "the upper one." Similar to this is the refinement of the wisdom of the opposing side (the very lowest level) and its ascent into the Supernal wisdom; therefore it is a preparation for the Giving of the Torah.
4. This preparation for the Giving of the Torah (through the refinement of the wisdom of the opposing side) has an advantage even over the preparation for the Giving of the Torah that came through the Splitting of the Sea. For it is known that the Splitting of the Sea, too, is a matter of joining the upper and the lower, as explained in several places22 that at the Splitting of the Sea there came about a joining of the concealed world (the sea) and the revealed world (the dry land). This too was in the two modes mentioned in the Midrash, from above to below and from below to above: the drawing down of the concealed world into the revealed world, and the elevation of the revealed world into the concealed world23. Thus the Splitting of the Sea, too, was a preparation for the Giving of the Torah — and nevertheless this preparation was not enough, and the Torah was not given until Yisro came and acknowledged G‑d, until the wisdom of the opposing side, too, was refined.
The reason for this may be said to be: although the joining of upper and lower at the Splitting of the Sea took place in all the worlds24, "from the head of all the levels to the end of all the degrees"25, nevertheless this joining included only "the lower" within the levels of holiness itself; the refinement and elevation did not reach "the lower" of the opposing side as well. (The fact that the Egyptians were drowned in the Sea does not mean that they were refined and purified, but rather that their existence was destroyed and nullified.)
For this reason — that the opposing side had not yet been refined at the Splitting of the Sea — it was possible for Amalek to come and wage war with the Children of Israel. For seemingly, since the revelation of light at the Splitting of the Sea was drawn (above) through all the levels; and also below in this world, not only did "the nations hear" this report of the Splitting of the Sea "from one end of the world to the other"26, but they also saw the miracle with eyes of flesh, for "all the waters in the world were split"27; and even more, this revelation brought about in them nullification and breaking, as it is written28, "שמעו עמים ירגזון וגו׳ נמוגו כל יושבי כנען" ("Nations heard, they trembled, etc. … all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away"), to the point that all the nations were afraid to wage war against Israel — how is it possible that after all this, Amalek would come to wage war with the Children of Israel? Rather, the matter is as explained above: since the very existence of the opposing side had not yet been refined at the Splitting of the Sea [only that at that time there was a breaking and nullification of the spreading forth and powers of the kelipah (in its influence upon the nations of the world), but the essence of the kelipah remained in opposition to G‑dliness (since it had neither been purified nor nullified)], consequently "Amalek came and fought with Israel."
This explains why the Torah was not given (by virtue of the preparation of the Splitting of the Sea, nor by virtue of the virtue and holiness of Moshe and the Children of Israel themselves) until Yisro came and acknowledged that "the L‑rd is greater than all the gods." For specifically through him came about the refinement and purification of the "folly" of the opposing side, and the "advantage" in the wisdom of holiness came into being — and this joining of the very lowest with the very highest29 is the preparation for the Giving of the Torah.
5. Now, according to the above, we will understand (in the "wine of Torah") what Rashi says30: "מה שמועה שמע ובא — קריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק" ("What report did he hear that he came?31 The Splitting of the Sea and the war of Amalek"). The well-known question is: surely Yisro heard of and knew about all the great miracles of the Exodus from Egypt — so why was he not aroused to come32 except through this report of "the Splitting of the Sea and the war of Amalek"? Furthermore: what is the reason that he is precise in his wording to say "and the war of Amalek" (emphasizing Amalek's war and not Israel's victory)? Seemingly he should have said "the rescue of Israel," "the downfall of Amalek," and the like (to tell us the essence of the miracle).
However, according to the above it will be understood: it was specifically these two matters that Yisro heard — "the Splitting of the Sea" (that is, that the joining of the upper and the lower is possible and was also actually accomplished) "and the war of Amalek" (which proves that the joining is not yet complete, for the kelipah still opposes it) — and therefore he (Yisro) came "and acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He, etc.," that is, to rectify and complete the joining through the refinement and purification of the opposing side, which had not been completed until then. Consequently, the precise wording is understood: it was specifically the report of "the war of Amalek" that brought Yisro, and not Israel's victory in this war33.
6. With this, another matter that requires explanation will be understood. It is known that the order must be in the manner of "מעלין בקודש" ("we ascend in holiness")34, and all the more so that this was the order of events for the Children of Israel during the period between the Exodus from Egypt and the Giving of the Torah, when they went out from the forty-nine gates of impurity35 and rose from ascent to ascent until they were fit for the Giving of the Torah36. Seemingly, however, among the events of that period was also the war of Amalek, which caused a great descent in the level of the Children of Israel, to the point that "מלחמה לה' בעמלק מדור דור" ("The L‑rd has a war with Amalek from generation to generation")37?
According to the above this is resolved: since the war of Amalek is the cause of the purification and refinement of the opposing side through Yisro — which is an ascent and a revelation loftier even than the revelation of the Splitting of the Sea — it follows that the war of Amalek, too, is ultimately part of the loftiest ascent and the closest preparation for the Giving of the Torah.
7. According to the above, we will explain what our Sages said, that "it is a disgrace for Moshe and the six hundred thousand that they did not say 'Blessed' until Yisro came and said 'Blessed is the L‑rd'"38. "Baruch" ("Blessed") has the meaning of drawing down, as in the expression of our Sages38, "המבריך את הגפן" ("one who bends down [and roots] the vine"); and "Baruch Hashem" means drawing down Havayah (G‑dliness). That is, the revelation of G‑dly light brought about through the song (and the service) of Moshe and the six hundred thousand, although it was at an exceedingly lofty level, was nevertheless not yet in the manner of "Blessed is Havayah … than all the gods" — that is, in the ultimate drawing down to the very lowest below, since the existence of the opposing side had not been refined through their service (similar to the service of the tzaddikim) — "until Yisro came and said 'Blessed is the L‑rd,'" through whom there was the supernal revelation of the light of Havayah in the ultimate and complete drawing down, all the way to "the lowest," which was refined through his acknowledgment. And then the Torah was given — the joining of the upper and the lower.
8. The lesson from the above for the service of each and every one: the Giving of the Torah must take place, and does take place, every single day, as in the wording of the blessing, "נותן התורה" ("Who gives the Torah"), in the present tense. The preparation for this is the service of "בכל דרכיך דעהו" ("In all your ways, know Him")39: that one be bound and attached to Havayah ("know Him") not only in matters of holiness, but "in all your ways" — also through permissible (mundane) matters; and not only through permissible matters that are close to holiness, but also through permissible matters that are far from holiness — like the war of Amalek, which too was (through its results) a preparation for the Giving of the Torah.
However, before this there must be the service of the Splitting of the Sea — the service in matters of holiness, as explained above — and this gives the strength and the possibility for the war of Amalek, the refinement of permissible matters: "my prayer is adjacent to my bed," and after this, "from the synagogue to the study hall," and (only) after this — "conduct yourself with them in the way of the world"40.
The order of a person each day: the beginning of his service, "immediately upon awakening"41, is the general acknowledgment of the soul, "מודה אני לפניך וכו׳" ("I give thanks before You, etc."); after this comes the order of service of prayer and Torah study (matters of holiness), and only afterwards the morning meal (except that if he is accustomed to it, he eats it before going to the study hall, so that he will be healthy and strong for the service of his Creator, including the study in the study hall, which has no fixed limit, unlike communal prayer in the synagogue)42, etc., permissible matters. First there must be the revelation of the light of the soul through prayer and Torah, and only afterwards is it possible to draw the light of holiness into physical matters as well43.
Now, the above is the order for the vast majority (and the Torah speaks of the majority): throughout the entire day, in every free moment of his44, he learns Torah — and on the contrary, this is his main Torah study (for the purpose of Torah is "to make it fruitful and multiply"45, and not merely to be something fixed and the same every day — in quality or in quantity).
But in addition to the above, there are several distinctions of levels, both among "Yissachar" and among "Zevulun." There is one whose daily "Giving of the Torah" is in the chapter of Mishnah learned in the morning (in the study hall), the Kedushah section at the end of the prayers46, the Shema recited in the prayers, the section of the daily offering, etc., or also the section of the Priestly Blessing, etc., that follows the morning blessings (including the prayers within them).
Service in any one of the above modes is a preparation for the revelation of the Giving of the Torah, in which "אנכי הוי'" ("I am Havayah")47 becomes "אלקיך" ("your G‑d") — your strength and your vitality47.
(From the sichah of Shabbos Parshas Yisro, 5725)
Notes
1) Shemos 18:10–12.
2) Sanhedrin 94a; Mechilta on the verse.
3) And if the intention is specifically to the expression "Blessed" — it is not understood: what advantage does this expression have over the expressions of the Song at the Sea?
4) And it is understood that similarly it is not understood what the Maharsha says (Sanhedrin, ibid.), "that they did not say 'Blessed is the L‑rd' regarding their own miracle" — for seemingly they did say the entire Song?!
5) Zohar II, 67b; 68a (and it is explained in the maamar beginning "Vayomer Moshe," 5709, section 6 ff.; Likkutei Sichos vol. 4, p. 1271).
6) Verses 10–11.
7) Mechilta, beginning of Parshas Yisro; Rashi, Vayigash 46:24; Shemos 2:16.
8) Shemos Rabbah 1:32; Mechilta, beginning of Parshas Yisro.
9) Verse 11.
10) For even "regarding the disgrace of an impure animal the verse did not speak" (Bava Basra 123a; and see Pesachim 3a).
11) Rashi on 18:5.
12) Laws of Idolatry, at the beginning.
13) Bereishis Rabbah 10:6; Zohar I, 251a.
14) See at length the maamar beginning "Mayim Rabim," 5707, and the sources cited there.
15) Koheles 5:7. Explained at length in Or HaTorah, Va'eira, the maamar beginning "Berabos Nesa" (p. 131), and the sources cited there.
16) Note the saying of our Sages, "to Him and not to His attributes" — which applies to Atzilus and above Atzilus (see Likkutei Torah, additions to Vayikra 51c, and in several places).
17) Zohar III, 47b.
18) Koheles 2:13.
19) And see the above-mentioned maamar beginning "Vayomer Moshe," section 2 ff.
20) Shemos Rabbah 12:2; Tanchuma, Va'eira 19.
21) Tehillim 115:16.
22) See Torah Or and Likkutei Torah (as indicated in the index, under the entry "Splitting of the Sea").
23) Shaar HaEmunah, ch. 54; and the maamar beginning "VeHecherim," 5601, p. 5.
24) Shaar HaEmunah, ch. 6.
25) The wording of Tanya, ch. 2. — The expressions "madreigos" and "dargin" can be explained according to what is known (Torah Or, Parshas Mishpatim; and see Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, first sichah on Parshas Vayeira) that the language of Targum is the "back" of the Holy Tongue. Therefore he writes "from the head of all the madreigos" — the head, in "madreigos" (the Holy Tongue) — "to the end of all the dargin" — the end, in "dargin" (the language of Targum).
26) Mechilta, beginning of Parshas Yisro.
27) Mechilta on Shemos 14:21.
28) Beshalach 15:14–15.
29) And see the maamar beginning "Basi LeGani," 5710 — the advantage of light that comes about through transforming darkness into light.
30) Beginning of Parshas Yisro. And see Zevachim (116a) and the Mechilta here, where one opinion says the Splitting of the Sea, another says the war of Amalek, and there are other opinions. And Rashi combines the two above-mentioned opinions!
31) So it appears in all the printed editions I have seen.
32) For one must say that in Rashi's question, "What report did he hear that he came?", the emphasis is on "that he came." For the verse explicitly states the reports he heard — "all that G‑d had done for Moshe and for Israel His people" — and also adds, "that the L‑rd had brought Israel out of Egypt," and Rashi comments, "this is greater than all of them." Rather, the question is what caused his coming: if it was the Exodus from Egypt, then the cause would have brought him immediately after the Exodus. [And one must say (even according to the opinion that he came before the Giving of the Torah) that he did not come immediately, for before his coming he heard about the descent of the manna (as Rashi comments on the verse "all that He had done"), and this was on the 16th of Iyar (Shabbos 87b; Tosefta Sotah 11:2; Rashi, Beshalach 16:1. — And what Rashi says there, Beshalach 15:35 (Yehoshua 5:11), "on the 15th of Iyar" — the Re'em explains that he means after fifteen days had passed); and also through the war of Amalek, which was afterwards, when the Children of Israel were in Rephidim. Moreover, he came "to the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mountain of G‑d" (18:5), and they did not arrive at the Wilderness of Sinai until "on this day," Rosh Chodesh Sivan (Shabbos 86b; Rashi on our Parshah, 19:1).] And on this Rashi explains: the Splitting of the Sea and the war of Amalek.
33) According to this, one may say it in a somewhat different way: the war of Amalek caused a weakening of the importance and honor of Israel in the eyes of the nations [for until then "the chiefs of Edom were terrified … all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away"], as our Sages say on the verse "אשר קרך" ("who happened upon you"), the parable of the bath, etc. (Tanchuma, Yalkut Shimoni and Rashi, Teitzei 25:17). And although "Yehoshua weakened Amalek and his people" (Beshalach 17:13), it was nevertheless only "weakened" (as our Sages say on the verse — and see also Rashi, that the weak ones remained), and this too was not through an open miracle, but "by the sword," in the manner of war (and the natural order). Therefore Yisro came to restore their honor, in that he, "the priest of Midian" (according to both interpretations), would come to them in the wilderness.
34) Berachos 28a, and the sources cited there.
35) Zohar Chadash, beginning of Parshas Yisro; Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 32.
36) And this is the matter of Sefiras HaOmer, in which each day another gate of holiness is drawn down (see Likkutei Sichos vol. 3, p. 996).
37) Beshalach 17:16.
38) Kilayim, beginning of ch. 7. And see Torah Or, Mikeitz 36b.
39) Mishlei 3:6. And see Likkutei Sichos vol. 10, first sichah on Parshas Vayishlach, at length.
40) Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, sec. 156.
41) Siddur of the Alter Rebbe, at the beginning.
42) Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim, sec. 155. Note Piskei Dinim of the Tzemach Tzedek, Orach Chaim, beginning of the Laws of Prayer (p. 8).
43) This is why it is forbidden to eat before prayer, for "how will the food be elevated when he himself is bound below?" (Likkutei Torah, Tzav 5a, and in several places).
44) See Sanhedrin 99a — cited in Sefer Shel Beinonim (Tanya), ch. 1.
45) Zohar I, 12b; Torah Or, Mikeitz 39d.
46) See Piskei Dinim of the Tzemach Tzedek, Orach Chaim, sec. 132.
47) See Likkutei Torah, Devarim 18a.
Key Lesson
The Torah was given only after Yisro, the master of worldly and idolatrous wisdom, acknowledged G‑d, because the true joining of upper and lower requires refining even what is furthest from holiness. So too each day: after first establishing oneself in holiness through prayer and Torah study, one must bring G‑dliness into all one's ways, even mundane matters far from holiness, and this prepares for receiving the Torah anew every day.