לקוטי שיחות חלק ט״ו - ויצא א

Parshas Vayeitzei

1. In connection with the blessing G‑d gave Yaakov Avinu, "And you shall burst forth westward, eastward, northward and southward"^[1], our Sages say^[2]: "Whoever delights in Shabbos is given an inheritance without boundaries, as it says^[3], 'Then you shall delight in G‑d… and I will feed you the inheritance of Yaakov…' — not like Avraham… and not like Yitzchak…, but like Yaakov, of whom it is written, 'And you shall burst forth westward, eastward, northward and southward.'"

It is known^[4] that the reward of a mitzvah is measure for measure. We therefore need to understand: in what way is the mitzvah of (delight in) Shabbos itself in the category of "without boundaries," so that^[5] its reward, too, is "an inheritance without boundaries"^[6]?

2. This very point — that the reward for keeping Shabbos is the blessing "and you shall burst forth" ("an inheritance without boundaries") — is found also with regard to Yaakov himself:

Our Sages say^[7]: "Avraham, about whom keeping Shabbos is not written, inherited the world^[8] in measure, as it says^[9], 'Arise, walk through the land, its length and its breadth…'; but Yaakov, about whom keeping Shabbos is written — as it says^[10], 'and he encamped before the city': he entered at twilight and set the techumin (Shabbos boundaries) while it was still day — inherited the world without measure, as it says, 'And your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth…'"^[10*].

The commentators^[11] explain that the words "Avraham, about whom keeping Shabbos is not written" do not mean that the Torah never mentions at all that he kept the mitzvah of Shabbos — for it is written^[12] of Avraham, "and he kept My charge," and our Sages^[13] explain, "Avraham knew even the laws of eiruv chatzeiros." Rather, it means that nothing is said "explicitly," "in particular," about Shabbos as such, but only in general, included in all the mitzvos of the entire Torah; whereas of Yaakov it is stated "in particular" that he kept the mitzvah of Shabbos.

And since the Torah singles out this mitzvah of keeping Shabbos in the case of Yaakov (and not in the case of Avraham), this itself shows that in Yaakov's case the keeping of the mitzvah of Shabbos was distinguished from the other mitzvos^[14]; and because of the special quality of his keeping of Shabbos he merited the blessing "and you shall burst forth."

We must also say: since, of all the details of the mitzvah of Shabbos that Yaakov kept, the Torah explicitly mentions the detail that he "set the techumin," it is understood that although the blessing "and you shall burst forth" is connected with keeping Shabbos in general (in the words of our Sages, "Yaakov, about whom keeping Shabbos is written"), it nevertheless has a special connection with the matter of techumin.

In other words: the special quality in keeping the mitzvah of Shabbos for which Yaakov was distinguished found its expression particularly in his keeping of the matter of techumin.

We need to understand: a) What was the special quality of Yaakov's keeping of the mitzvah of Shabbos compared with Avraham's keeping of the same mitzvah, for which reason it is mentioned only of Yaakov, and for which he merited the blessing "and you shall burst forth"? b) Why is this quality expressed specifically in the matter of techumin^[15]?

3. This will be understood by first introducing what the Mitteler Rebbe — the one whose redemption is celebrated on Yud Kislev^[16] — explains in his maamar "Atah Echad"^[17] about the difference between the mitzvah of Shabbos and the other mitzvos:

With the other mitzvos, since they are fulfilled through avodah and action, there are differences between the way great tzaddikim fulfill a mitzvah and the way simple people fulfill it. For great tzaddikim, when they put on tefillin opposite the heart and on the head, for example, the heart and the (mind in the) head are in a most lofty state — which is not so with simple people. And similarly with other mitzvos.

The mitzvah of keeping Shabbos, however, which consists of rest and ceasing from matters of action, lies in the "not," in the absence^[*17], and there is no difference in it between one Jew and another. For although simple people cease from ordinary work, while those who perform the work of the Mishkan cease from the labors of the Mishkan, and also cease from the avodah of birurim (refinement) of the weekdays^[18], this is only a difference in the matters from which one ceases; but in the matter and essence of ceasing itself, "all are truly equal"^[19].

And when one fulfills the ceasing and rest completely, because "it is in his eyes as though all his work is done"^[20], and "because of the delight of Shabbos" he "does not think about his affairs at all," then "there is^[21] no delight greater than this"^[22].

4. The reason all are equal in the mitzvah of Shabbos, the Mitteler Rebbe explains^[23], is that the essence of the mitzvah of Shabbos is "in the rest of the soul in its very essence, at the level of yechidah, which is above the level of revelation in mind and heart." That is, the mitzvah of Shabbos is bound up with the essence of the soul, the level of yechidah within the soul. Therefore there are no differences in it between one Jew and another, for at the level of yechidah all Jews are equal, from the greatest of the great to the simplest of the simple.

On this basis the Mitteler Rebbe explains what we say in the Shabbos Minchah prayer, "For their rest comes from You, and through their rest they sanctify Your Name":

The rest of Shabbos is "truly from You," from His very Essence and Being^[24], and therefore in Jews too this rest is bound up with the very essence of the soul — the level of yechidah. "And through their rest they sanctify Your Name": mesirus nefesh for the sanctification of G‑d's Name^[25] is found in its fullness in all Jews equally, because the power of mesirus nefesh for kiddush Hashem comes from the yechidah of the soul; and therefore "through their rest they sanctify…," for the rest of Shabbos and kiddush Hashem are both bound up with the yechidah of the soul.

5. The reason the yechidah of the soul is whole in every Jew, regardless of the state of his faculties, is that yechidah is utterly removed from a person's faculties; it is higher than "revelation."

That is, the yechidah of the soul is higher even than the makifim (encompassing levels) of the soul, for they too have a tangible effect on a person^[26] — as Chassidus explains^[27] on the saying of our Sages^[28], "Although he does not see, his mazal sees": from the level of mazal in the soul, which is the encompassing level of the soul, thoughts of teshuvah come to a person without preparation, and so on.

The yechidah of the soul, however, is higher than having a revealed effect on a person, to the point that it appears as though it has no connection with him.

Therefore the yechidah cannot rest within the vessels of the body; moreover, not even in the encompassing things around a person, such as garments and a house^[29], in which the encompassing levels of the soul rest — since these have a connection and are fitted to the person^[30].

[Not only "garments," the "near makif," which surround a person in a manner fitted to the measure of the one who wears them; but also a "house," which is a "distant makif," far from the person, also has a connection with and relation to the person.]

So the yechidah, which is utterly separate from the person, cannot rest there.

Rather, the yechidah rests (as explained there in the maamar, ch. 13) in a person's daled amos (four cubits), "which are distant in the utmost distance, beyond which there is no greater distance" — and therefore the yechidah of the soul can rest there.

And this is also the reason^[32] for the law of daled amos on Shabbos, which our Sages^[33] derive from the verse^[34], "Let each man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day" — for on Shabbos there is the revelation of the level of yechidah, which rests in a person's daled amos^[35].

6. In light of the above, the connection between the blessing "and you shall burst forth" and the mitzvah of Shabbos is understood: "and you shall burst forth" is "an inheritance without boundaries," which in its true sense is the expanse of His very Essence and Being, which has no limits; and this is drawn down through keeping Shabbos, for "their rest comes from You" — "truly from You"^[36].

And this is also the advantage of Yaakov's keeping of Shabbos over Avraham's keeping of Shabbos:

With Avraham, the Torah includes the detail of keeping Shabbos within his keeping of the Torah as a whole, because his role was not to show openly the advantage of keeping Shabbos over the other mitzvos — the revelation of the level of yechidah.

It was specifically Yaakov^[37] (the middle line, who alone ascends into the inwardness^[*37] of Keser), in whom there was utter bittul (self-nullification)^[38] — which is why it says^[39] (as a preface to the blessing "and you shall burst forth"), "And your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth," "dust" indicating the ultimate bittul^[40] — in whom the level of yechidah shone, which is expressed openly in keeping Shabbos, as explained above at length.

7. According to this we will also understand why, out of the whole general category of keeping Shabbos, the matter of techumin is singled out here: a person's "techum" is similar to his daled amos, for the techum is a person's "place" (which is why it is derived^[41] from the verse "let no man go out of his place"). From this it is understood that the revelation of the level of yechidah has a connection with a person's techum.

In other words: just as the level of yechidah rests in a person's daled amos, so one may perhaps say that something similar rests in a person's general "place"^[42] — in his techum.

And therefore, although the level of yechidah is expressed in keeping the mitzvah of Shabbos as a whole, it has a special connection with the matter of techumin — for that is where the level of yechidah rests.

(From the maamar beginning "Vehayah Zaracha," Shabbos Parshas Vayeitzei, Yud Kislev 5722)