לקוטי שיחות חלק ט״ו - ויצא ה

Parshas Vayeitzei

1. The saying of our Rebbeim^[1] is well known, that right after Simchas Torah (and Shabbos Bereishis)^[2] the order of avodah of "And Yaakov went on his way" begins — a Jew goes to his way (and order of avodah) for the whole year.

As has been discussed a number of times^[*], the explanation is this: during the month of Tishrei Jews are occupied mainly with matters of holiness (the festivals and their mitzvos, and the preparations for them); after the month of Tishrei one enters weekdays and weekday matters — most days are ordinary weekdays, in which most Jews are occupied with earning a livelihood, etc.

This transition from the avodah of the month of Tishrei to the avodah of the whole year is alluded to in "And Yaakov went on his way." The emphasis of the word "on his way" contains two extremes. On the one hand it indicates that the way on which a Jew goes in the weekday life of the whole year after Tishrei is not like the way of the month of Tishrei, but "his way" — his (the person's) way: for most of the day a Jew is occupied with earning a living, eating, drinking and sleeping^[6], and so on — and in this way no holiness is (openly) seen. In this, seemingly, there is no difference between a Jew and a non-Jew.

On the other hand, the same word, "on his way," emphasizes that the way on which the Jew goes throughout the whole year is "his way": his way — the particular way of Yaakov (Avinu), which he trod for all Jews. That is, even the weekday way of a Jew, his walk and conduct in his deeds, in his eating and drinking, etc., in his business dealings, etc.^[7], is different from that of a non-Jew, to make the distinction; it is in a Jewish manner, in the manner of "for the sake of Heaven"^[8] and "know Him in all your ways"^[8].

With this the connection of "And Yaakov went on his way" with the time of the month of Tishrei is also understood — and one announces (as is the well-known custom in many places) "And Yaakov went on his way"^[9] — for the strength a Jew has to bring about that in "his way," in his weekday matters^[10], it should be seen and felt that this is "his way" — the special way of a Jew — comes from the holiness, Torah and mitzvos that a Jew draws in during the month of Tishrei, the general month.

2. The words of our Rebbeim are precise in the extreme, and therefore we must say that describing the departure from the month of Tishrei into the way and order of avodah during the year with the words "And Yaakov went on his way" is not only because this avodah is alluded to in these words, but because this way and order of avodah also accords with the matter and context in which the words are said.

3. The explanation: the verse "And Yaakov went on his way" comes at the end of the account of how Yaakov fled from Lavan, how Lavan pursued him, and the claims and exchanges between Yaakov and Lavan, until "And Lavan rose early in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them, and Lavan went and returned to his place; and Yaakov went on his way"^[15]. That is, "And Yaakov went on his way" does not come in continuation of Yaakov's avodah in the house of Lavan, but after he had already left the house of Lavan in Charan and Lavan had run after him.

And in this lies the connection between "And Yaakov went on his way" (in our parsha) and the announcement of "And Yaakov went on his way" at the end of the month of Tishrei: Lavan's pursuit, etc., in its inner meaning, is the granting of strength to Yaakov to be able to overcome Esav (as told in the following parsha about Yaakov's experiences in meeting Esav), which is the refinement of Esav; and this is like the strength granted by the month of Tishrei for the avodah of birurim of the whole year.

4. This will be understood by first introducing the explanation of the Maggid of Mezritch^[16] that the (inner) reason Lavan pursued Yaakov is "because Yaakov Avinu left behind him letters of the Torah that he had not yet extracted from Lavan, and therefore Lavan pursued Yaakov to give him the letters that remained with him, and a section was added to the Torah with these letters."

This is not understood^[18]: the "letters of the Torah" that Yaakov left with Lavan are sparks of holiness that were with Lavan. Since the purpose of Yaakov's twenty years in the house of Lavan was to refine the sparks of holiness there, why did he leave these sparks and not refine them? And why did their elevation come specifically through Lavan's "and he pursued him"?

From this itself it is proven that among the sparks of holiness that were in Lavan's domain there were two kinds: a) sparks that Yaakov could refine through his avodah there; b) sparks whose refinement could not come through Yaakov's avodah alone, but only through Lavan's pursuit of Yaakov.

By way of example, there are two kinds of mitzvos: a) "all mitzvos in general," such as sukkah and lulav^[19] and the like, whose fulfillment depends on the person's knowledge and will — the mitzvah is carried out because the person wants and intends to do it; b) mitzvos that do not depend on the person's will and knowledge — on the contrary, their fulfillment is specifically without his knowledge, such as the mitzvah of shichechah (the forgotten sheaf) and the like (similar to what is explained also regarding "honor" and "greatness"^[20]).

The inner reason for this difference: the mitzvos connected with a person's knowledge and will are rooted above in the level of Keser, Arich Anpin, which is the level of the Supreme Will — and therefore below too they are connected with the knowledge and will of the one who fulfills them, and through his deed he draws down from the Supreme Will. But the mitzvos whose fulfillment is specifically without knowledge, such as shichechah, are rooted in the lowest level within the Emanator (which is higher than will) — and therefore below too they are above being bound to a person's knowledge and will, as explained in Likkutei Torah^[21].

Similarly it will be understood regarding the two kinds of sparks that were with Lavan: the sparks Yaakov refined during his stay with Lavan were of the kind that could and had to be refined through Yaakov's occupying himself with them with his will and knowledge. But with Lavan there were also lofty sparks that Yaakov could not elevate through his avodah with will and knowledge — and therefore they remained in Lavan's domain; and their refinement and elevation came through a higher power (by way of an arousal from Above).

5. The level from which this higher power is drawn down by way of an arousal from Above is alluded to in the name "Lavan," as our Sages^[22] say on the verse^[23], "Do you know Lavan?" — "Do you know Him who will in the future whiten (lelaben) your sins like snow?"

The explanation of this (as explained in Torah Ohr^[24]) is that Lavan of holiness — the level of the supernal whiteness, "the level of the light of the very Essence and Being of the Ein Sof, blessed be He" — is like, for example, the appearance and color white, which is different from all other colors: the other colors are produced by the existence of a dye that creates the particular color, whereas the appearance and color white is how the very essence and being of a thing looks, not produced by dyes; "and so, for example, is the Ein Sof light, blessed be He, in Himself and in His glory, in whom there is no level of colors at all."

And this is the connection of Lavan with "who will in the future whiten your sins like snow," as in the above saying of our Sages: for the whitening, the forgiveness of sins, comes through drawing down the very Essence of the Ein Sof light, blessed be He, which is above the order of hishtalshelus — the level of the supernal whiteness^[25], the root, through much descent, etc., of Lavan below.

And this is the reason our Sages^[26] say, "Teshuvah suspends and Yom Kippur atones" — that teshuvah alone is not enough, and specifically Yom Kippur, the essence of the day, atones: for the supernal whiteness, from which the forgiveness of sins comes, since it is a level above hishtalshelus, cannot be drawn down by a person through his avodah and arousal (alone), not even through the avodah of teshuvah; it comes from Above by way of an arousal from Above^[25] on Yom Kippur^[27].

6. According to the above (that the level of supernal whiteness [which "descended" into the "physical Lavan"^[28]] cannot be drawn down through a person's avodah and arousal from below, but only through an arousal from Above), it is understood that the refinement of the (lower) sparks that Yaakov accomplished in the twenty years in the house of Lavan, since it was through his avodah by way of arousal from below, did not yet bring about the revelation of the whiteness of holiness that had "descended" into the physical Lavan. Only when Lavan (through his root — the supernal whiteness) ran after Yaakov (that is, by way of an arousal from Above) to give him the lofty sparks (letters) that had remained with him, was the level of supernal whiteness that had been hidden in the (physical) Lavan below revealed to Yaakov.

With this the continuation is understood, "And Lavan rose early in the morning and kissed his sons and his daughters" (as a preface to "and Yaakov went on his way"): after there was "and he pursued" by Lavan — the supernal whiteness, as explained above — the supernal whiteness was drawn down and revealed in the manner of "kisses, the cleaving of spirit to spirit"^[29], to each of the children of Israel — "and he kissed his sons and his daughters," which is the ultimate cleaving to G‑dliness.

And this is the connection of "And (Lavan) rose early… and kissed…" with "and Yaakov went on his way": on the way of Yaakov's journey to Eretz Yisrael he met and had to deal with Esav and "wrestled" with the angel of Esav — the avodah of birurim — and the strength for this avodah came to him from "And Lavan rose early in the morning," from the drawing down of the supernal whiteness.

7. According to the above, the connection of "And Yaakov went on his way" (in our parsha) with the avodah of every Jew in going from the month of Tishrei to the avodah of the whole year is understood:

After the days of arousal and the avodah of teshuvah of every Jew in the month of Elul, in the days of Selichos and especially in the Ten Days of Teshuvah, through which he arouses and draws down from Above what he has the power to draw down through an arousal from below, through his own avodah, the revelation of the level of supernal whiteness is then drawn down by way of an arousal from Above — "And Lavan rose early in the morning" — on Yom Kippur [which is why^[30] the special garments of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur were white garments^[31], indicating the revelation of the Ein Sof light itself, simple in the utmost simplicity, as explained above]. As explained in Likkutei Torah^[32] on "For on this day He shall atone for you… before G‑d," "the inwardness of His will" is aroused, which is called "like a cedar in Lebanon (Levanon)" because He "whitens (malbin) the sins of Israel" —

and "he kissed his sons and his daughters": it is drawn down into all the "supernal partzufim," to the point of transforming even the evil of the animal soul, which is called "his sons and his daughters," so that "willful sins are transformed into actual merits"^[33].

Therefore, right after Yom Kippur, after the lofty drawing down of the supernal whiteness, the avodah of "And Yaakov went on his way" begins, as explained in the discourses of Chassidus^[34].

But the main matter of "And Yaakov went on his way" begins after the month of Tishrei, that is, after the level of supernal whiteness comes down openly and inwardly on the festival of Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, when the main drawing down of the strength for the avodah of "And Yaakov went on his way" also takes place — for his way of avodah in all weekday matters^[35], to refine the sparks and elevate them to holiness^[36] through the avodah of "all your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven" and "know Him in all your ways."

(From the talk of Shabbos Bereishis 5702)