6604 —פתח בכד וסיים בחבית במקורות חסידיים

B"H, 16th of Kislev, 5719
Brooklyn.

The veteran and Chassid, a G‑d-fearing man, distinguished and honored, etc., our teacher Reb Nosson Dovid, may he live^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

... As for what you wrote on the matter of "he opened with a jug and concluded with a barrel"^[2] — see on this Or Torah of the Maggid of Mezritch, at its end (Torah allusions on the aggados of Chazal)^[3]. Note also the introduction of the Tikkunei Zohar (14a): "a jug, which is the lower Shechinah"^[4]; and in Zohar III^[5] (245b), that a barrel is the higher Shechinah — Malchus and Binah^[6]. And see Likkutei Torah of the Alter Rebbe, Shir HaShirim^[7], at its beginning^[8]. This is not the place to elaborate^[9].

[Publisher's note: Our teacher Reb Nosson Dovid: Rosenblum, Buenos Aires. Further letters to him: above, vol. 16, letter 6050, and in the references in the notes there.]

Notes

1. Reb Nosson Dovid (מו"ה נתן דוד שי'): Rosenblum, of Buenos Aires.

2. "He opened with a jug and concluded with a barrel" (פתח בכד וסיים בחבית): The words of the Gemara, Bava Kamma 27a, on the Mishnah "One who places a jug in the public domain... the owner of the barrel is liable for its damage": "He opened with a jug and concluded with a barrel?" — and Rav Pappa concludes: "a jug and a barrel are the same." The writer apparently asked about the inner meaning of the change of wording.

3. Or Torah of the Maggid of Mezritch (אור תורה להה"מ ממעזריטש): A collection of the teachings of the Maggid of Mezritch, at whose end is a section, "Torah allusions", on sayings of Chazal in the Talmud and Midrashim.

4. "A jug, which is the lower Shechinah" (כד דאיהי שכינתא תתאה): ת"ז = תיקוני זהר. The lower Shechinah is the sefirah of Malchus, which rests in the worlds below; a small vessel, a jug.

5. Zohar III (זח"ג): זהר חלק ג.

6. Malchus and Binah (מל' ובינה): That is: the jug is Malchus, the lower Shechinah; the barrel is Binah, the higher Shechinah, a larger vessel. Accordingly, "he opened with a jug and concluded with a barrel" may be read as alluding to an ascent from the level of Malchus to the level of Binah; and perhaps "a jug and a barrel are the same" — since both are aspects of the Shechinah ("the bride"), higher and lower.

7. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim (לקו"ת שה"ש): לקוטי תורה, שיר השירים.

8. At its beginning (בתחלתו): See Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim, maamar "Shir HaShirim", that the two aspects of "bride" (kallah, from "expiring" and from "my soul longs") "are called in the language of Kabbalah the higher Shechinah and the lower Shechinah... for the whole of Shir HaShirim speaks of these two aspects of bride."

9. This is not the place to elaborate (ואכ"מ): ואין כאן מקומו (to elaborate).

Summary

Answering a question on the Gemara's "he opened with a jug and concluded with a barrel" (Bava Kamma 27a), the Rebbe points to the Maggid's Or Torah, to the Tikkunei Zohar, where the jug is the lower Shechinah (Malchus), and to the Zohar, where the barrel is the higher Shechinah (Binah), and to the beginning of Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim, which speaks of these two aspects.