ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה

ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה כו'.

"And Yitzchak went out lasuach in the field…"¹ The maamar explains why the Torah descends into the "field" of the Beraisa and even into darkness and falsehood, and how, through fear of G‑d, it turns that darkness into light.

לבאר זה.

To explain this:

דהנה יש משנה וברייתא.

There are Mishnah and Beraisa.^2[a]

וברייתא פירוש המשנה.

The Beraisa is the explanation of the Mishnah.

כי המשנה הוא הכלל, וברייתא היא הפרט של המשנה.

For the Mishnah is the general rule (kelal), and the Beraisa is the detail (perat) of the Mishnah,

ואין בכלל אלא מה שבפרט.

and "the general includes only what is in the detail."³

ולכאורה הברייתא היא למטה מן המשנה.

Seemingly, the Beraisa is lower than the Mishnah,

שנשתלשלה יותר למטה.

for it has descended further down.

אבל האמת הוא, שהברייתא גבוה יותר.

But the truth is that the Beraisa is higher,

דסוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה.

for "the end of the deed was first in thought."⁴

דהנה התורה נשתלשלה למטה אפילו בדבר שקר.

For the Torah descended below, even into a false claim,^[b]

כגון, "זה אומר אני מצאתיה" כו'.

such as "This one says, 'I found it'…"⁵

ולפי הנראה היא ירידה למטה מאד.

To all appearances, this is a very great descent.

ומכל מקום היא גבוה, "כי סוף מעשה" כו'.

Nevertheless it is lofty, "for the end of the deed…"

וכמשל השפופרת, הנכנס ראשון, יוצא אחרון.

As in the analogy of the tube: what enters first comes out last.⁶

וכמו האדם, שהוא סוף כל הנבראים. והוא במעלה על כולם, והכל נברא בעבורו.

And like man, who is the last of all created beings, yet is superior to them all, and everything was created for his sake.⁷

ולכן נמצא העולם כולו באדם אחד.

Therefore the entire world is found within a single man,⁸

להורות שהכל נברא בעבורו. כי זה כל האדם.

to show that everything was created for his sake: "for this is the whole of man."⁹

וזהו מאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה, "יפה שעה אחת" כו'.

This is the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, "Better one hour…"^10[c]

דהנה בעל הבית, "צדיקים יושבים" כו'.

For [in the World to Come] "the righteous sit…"¹¹

והוא רק בחינת אחוריים.

and this is only the level of the "back" (achorayim).¹²

כמאמר, "וראית את אחורי" כו'. התענוג שמשיג האדם בעבודתו, הוא בחינת אחוריים.

As it is said, "You will see My back…"¹³ The pleasure a person attains in his divine service (avodah) is the level of the "back."

"ופני", אינו באפשרי להשיג. "כי לא יראני האדם וחי".

"But My face" cannot be attained, "for no man can see Me and live."¹⁴

ועל דרך זה גם הגלוי בגן עדן הוא רק בחינת זיו והארה לבד.

In the same way, the revelation in Gan Eden too is only a radiance and glow.¹⁵

ולכן, "יפה שעה אחת" כו'. שהוא המעשה עצמה, בלי תענוג, ובלי שכל, "מכל חיי העולם הבא". דסוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה.

Therefore, "Better one hour…" — the deed itself, without pleasure and without understanding — "than the entire life of the World to Come,"¹⁶ for "the end of the deed was first in thought."

וזהו גם כן ענין משנה וברייתא.

This is also the matter of Mishnah and Beraisa.^[d]

שהמשנה הוא כלל.

The Mishnah is a general rule,

כמו ד' ציצית, מעכבות.

such as that the four tzitzis are indispensable to one another,¹⁷

וכן סוכה שהיא גבוה כו'.

and likewise a sukkah that is too high…¹⁸

ויש למצוא טעם לזה.

And a reason can be found for these,

כענין, "תכלת דומה לים" כו'.

as in "techeles resembles the sea…"¹⁹

וגבי סוכה יש טעם, "למען ידעו דורותיכם", עד כ' אמה כו'.

And regarding the sukkah there is a reason, "so that your generations will know," up to twenty amos…²⁰

אבל הברייתא, הוא פרט לבאר המשנה בכל דקדוקים ופרטים.

But the Beraisa is a detail, explaining the Mishnah in all its fine points and particulars,

כמו סוכת גנב"ך ורקב"ש.

such as the sukkah of GaNaV"CH and RaKaV"Sh,²¹

שאין טעם לדבר.

for which there is no reason.

ונראה בחוש, שהוא למעלה מהשכל והטעם.

One sees plainly that this is above intellect and reason.

וזהו, "אין בכלל אלא מה שבפרט".

This is "the general includes only what is in the detail":

שאין במשנה בכלל, יותר מבפרט, הברייתא.

there is no more in the Mishnah, the general rule, than in the detail, the Beraisa.

ומה שלא נתגלה טעמה, הוא יותר גבוה.

And that whose reason has not been revealed is higher.

כי טעמי המצות, לא נתגלו.

For the reasons of the mitzvos have not been revealed,²²

ולעתיד לבא אם ירצה השם, יתגלו.

and in the time to come, G‑d willing, they will be revealed.

וזהו "רבי שמעון דריש טעמי דקראי".

This is "Rabbi Shimon expounds the reasons of the verses":²³

שדרש, שמה שנאמר בפסוק טעם של דבר, לא זהו עיקר.

he expounded that where a verse states the reason for something, that is not the essential point;

רק שיש טעם בזה, גבוה יותר, למעלה מהטעם.

rather, there is a reason in it that is higher, above the stated reason.

נמצא שבמצוה שאין משיג בה טעם, הוא יותר גבוה.

It follows that a mitzvah in which one grasps no reason is higher,

ומה שמשיג טעם ותענוג הוא רק בחינת אחוריים.

and grasping a reason and pleasure is only the level of the "back."

ולא כמו שסוברים העולם, שהעיקר הוא הלב שמשיג תענוג, ועובד בהתלהבות.

Not as people think, that the main thing is the heart that feels pleasure and serves with fervor;

ואינו כן האמת.

that is not the truth.

רק עיקר הוא המעשה בלי תענוג. והלב אינו כי אם סיוע בחינת גדפין.

Rather, the main thing is the deed without pleasure, and the heart is only an aid, the level of "wings" (gadpin).²⁴

והנה משנה נקרא עיר וברייתא בחינת שדה. לשון בר, חוץ לעיר.

Now, the Mishnah is called a "city," and the Beraisa is the level of a "field,"²⁵ from the word bar, outside — outside the city.^[e]

ולכאורה העיר הוא עיקר, שדרים בה בני אדם.

Seemingly, the city is the main thing, since people live in it.

אך נראה מי הוא מחיה אותם?

But let us see: who sustains them?

השדה שחוץ לעיר. שמביאים משם התבואה.

The field outside the city, from which the grain is brought.

כך הוא הברייתא, מחיה המשנה, ומבארת ההלכה יותר בפרט, היאך לעשות.

So too, the Beraisa sustains the Mishnah, explaining the halachah in greater detail, how one is to act.

כי התנאים, מבלי עולם. שמורים מתוך המשנה.

For "the Tanna'im wear out the world," because they rule from the Mishnah.²⁶

וזהו, "ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה", הוא לשון דבור ושיחה, ולשון שחייה למטה.

This is "And Yitzchak went out lasuach in the field": lasuach means speech and conversation, and also bowing down low.^[f]

מלשון, "ושח רום אנשים".

As in "the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down (veshach),"²⁷

וכן, "כאשר יפרש השוחה לשחות".

and likewise, "as the swimmer spreads out his hands to swim (lischos)."²⁸

(ועיין מה שכתוב בזה על פסוק "תבנה ותכונן עיר סיחון כו'". עיין שם)

(See what is explained on this on the verse "Let the city of Sichon be built and established…"; see there.)²⁹

"בשדה", הוא בר.

"In the field" — this is bar, outside.

ו"לפנות ערב", לְפַנוֺת הערב והחשך.

And lifnos erev, "toward evening," means lefanos, to clear away, the evening and the darkness.³⁰

דהנה התורה נשתלשלה בחשך.

For the Torah descended into darkness,

כמאמר, "במחשכים הושיבני", זה תלמוד בבלי.

as it is said, "He has set me in dark places" — this is the Babylonian Talmud,³¹

שנשתלשל למטה, אפי' בשקר.

which descended below, even into falsehood.

ולמה הוא כך?

And why is this so?

כדי "לפנות הערב", והחשך, "ויהי אור".

In order "to clear away the evening" and the darkness, "and there was light."³²

כמאמר, "לעת ערב יהיה אור".

As it is said, "At evening time there shall be light."³³

כמשל מי שרוצה לפנות איזה דבר, צריך הוא לכנוס בתוכה כדי לפנותה, אבל לא שישאר בתוכה.

It is like someone who wants to clear something out: he must go inside it in order to clear it, but not so as to remain inside it.

גם מה שנשתלשלה התורה ונתלבשה בחשך טענות שקר הוא כדי לפנות החשך, לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא.

So too, the Torah's descent and its being clothed in the darkness of false claims is in order to clear away the darkness, to turn darkness into light (le'ahpacha chashocha linehora).³⁴

וכן העסק בתורה, לדחות החשך והקושיות המסתיר על השכלת הדין האמת לאמתו, ולמצא האמת גילוי רצון עליון ברוך הוא.

Likewise, occupying oneself with Torah is to push away the darkness and the difficulties that conceal the understanding of the law in its absolute truth, and to find the truth, the revelation of the Supreme Will, blessed be He.

וכמו שכתוב, על פסוק, "והמשכילים יזהירו" וגו' עיין שם:

As is explained on the verse "And the wise will shine…"; see there.³⁵

וזהו, "ויצא יצחק לשוח".

This is "And Yitzchak went out lasuach."^[g]

כי כדי לפנות הערב והחשך ולתקנו, הוא על ידי יצחק.

For clearing away the evening and the darkness and rectifying it comes through Yitzchak,

שהוא בחינת פחד ויראת ה'.

who is the level of dread and fear of G‑d.³⁶

וכמאמר, "אם אין יראה אין חכמה" כו'.

As it is said, "If there is no fear, there is no wisdom…"³⁷

(וע' בזוהר בראשית דף כ"א סוף עמוד א').

(See the Zohar, Bereishis, page 21, end of side a.)

וזהו, "האומר אין לי אלא תורה, אפי' תורה אין לו". ונשאר בחשך.

This is "One who says, 'I have nothing but Torah' — even Torah he does not have,"³⁸ and he remains in darkness.

אבל באמת כתיב, "ישת חשך, סתרו".

But in truth it is written, "He made darkness His hiding place."³⁹

שאף שהוא "חשך", מ"מ, הוא "סתרו".

Though it is "darkness," nevertheless it is "His hiding place."⁴⁰

וזהו, "לפנות הערב" והחשך. "ולעת ערב יהי אור".

This is "to clear away the evening" and the darkness, "and at evening time there shall be light."

והיינו ליבון הלכתא.

That is, the "whitening of the halachah" (libun hilchesa).^41[h]

וגם זה פי', "ברכו בתורה".

This is also the meaning of "blessing over the Torah."⁴²

(ועיין מה שכתוב על פסוק קול דודי, ועל פסוק ששים המה מלכות):

(See what is explained on the verse "The voice of my beloved," and on the verse "There are sixty queens.")⁴³

Flow of the maamar (where the Alter Rebbe is heading)

a. He does not begin by explaining the verse but with the relationship of Mishnah and Beraisa. The link to the verse comes later: the Beraisa is the "field," and "Yitzchak went out to the field" is the Torah's descent into the Beraisa and the details of halachah.

b. The Torah's descent even into false claims is brought as an example of "the end of the deed was first in thought": what descends lowest is truly highest. Later he returns to this and explains the purpose of the descent: "to clear away the evening," turning darkness into light.

c. Here he applies the same principle to divine service: the deed in this world, the "end of the deed," is higher than the revelation of the World to Come, which is only the "back."

d. He returns to the opening topic, Mishnah and Beraisa: the Mishnah, like a mitzvah whose reason is revealed, belongs to understanding; the Beraisa, whose details have no reason, is above intellect.

e. Now he connects this to the verse: the Beraisa is called a "field," and it sustains the "city," the Mishnah, as the field supplies the city's grain.

f. From here he explains the verse word by word: lasuach is descent, "in the field" is the Beraisa, and lifnos erev is clearing away the darkness. This returns to what he said earlier, that the Torah descended even into falsehood.

g. Now he explains why it is specifically "Yitzchak": clearing away the darkness through Torah study is done through fear of G‑d, Yitzchak's attribute; without it the learner remains in darkness.

h. Here he sums up: clearing away the darkness is libun hilchesa, clarifying the halachah out of the difficulties – the work of the Beraisa with which the maamar opened.

Notes

1. Bereishis 24:63: "And Yitzchak went out to converse (lasuach) in the field toward evening; he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming." Rashi there: "Lasuach — an expression of prayer."

2. The Beraisa is an "outside" teaching: one not included in the six orders of the Mishnah compiled by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi.

3. The rule of kelal uferat, one of the thirteen principles by which the Torah is expounded. See Zevachim 4b: "A general rule followed by a detail — the general includes only what is in the detail." When a verse states a general term followed by a specific one, the general term includes only what the specific one spells out.

4. From the hymn Lecha Dodi (Siddur, Kabbalas Shabbos): "The end of the deed was first in thought." What is done last is what was first intended, since it is the purpose of everything.

5. See the Mishnah, Bava Metzia 2a: "Two hold a garment. This one says, 'I found it,' and that one says, 'I found it.'" One of them is necessarily making a false claim, yet the Torah deals with his claim and rules on it.

6. See Rashi on Bereishis 25:26: "Go and learn from a tube with a narrow mouth: put two stones into it one after the other — the one that entered first comes out last, and the one that entered last comes out first" (Bereishis Rabbah 63:8).

7. See Sanhedrin 38a: "Man was created on Erev Shabbos … so that he might enter the banquet at once — like a king of flesh and blood who built a palace, furnished it, prepared a banquet, and then brought in the guests." Man was created last, after everything had been prepared for him.

8. Man is a miniature world: everything created in the world is found within him. See Avos deRabbi Nassan, ch. 31.

9. Koheles 12:13: "The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear G‑d and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man." The Sages expound (Berachos 6b): "What is 'for this is the whole of man'? Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: The whole world was created only for the sake of this."

10. Avos 4:17: "Better one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than the entire life of the World to Come; and better one hour of serenity in the World to Come than the entire life of this world."

11. Berachos 17a: "In the World to Come there is no eating and no drinking … rather, the righteous sit with their crowns on their heads and delight in the radiance of the Shechinah."

12. Even the revelation of the Shechinah's radiance to the righteous in Gan Eden is only the "back" (the external aspect), not the "face" (the inner aspect, the Essence).

13. Shemos 33:23: "Then I will remove My hand, and you will see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

14. Shemos 33:20: "He said: You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live."

15. As in the Sages' words cited above, "and delight in the radiance of the Shechinah" — only a radiance and glow, not the light itself.

16. The deed itself in this world, even without pleasure or understanding, is better than all the revelations of the World to Come, since it is "the end of the deed" that was "first in thought."

17. See the Mishnah, Menachos 28a: "The four tzitzis are indispensable to one another, for the four of them are one mitzvah." If one of the four is missing, the mitzvah has not been fulfilled at all.

18. See the Mishnah, Sukkah 2a: "A sukkah that is higher than twenty amos is invalid."

19. Menachos 43b: "Why is techeles singled out from all other colors? Because techeles resembles the sea, the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Throne of Glory."

20. Vayikra 23:43: "So that your generations will know that I made the Children of Israel dwell in sukkos when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am G‑d your G‑d." The Gemara (Sukkah 2a) expounds: "Up to twenty amos a person knows that he is dwelling in a sukkah; above twenty amos he does not know that he is dwelling in a sukkah, because the eye does not take it in."

21. Sukkah 8b: "GaNaV"CH — the sukkah of gentiles, of women, of animals, of Cutheans — is a valid sukkah in any case … RaKaV"Sh — the sukkah of shepherds, of fig-dryers, of watchmen, of fruit guards — is a valid sukkah in any case." Each name is an acronym of the kinds of sukkah listed.

22. See Sanhedrin 21b: "Why were the reasons of the Torah not revealed? Because the reasons of two verses were revealed, and the greatest man in the world stumbled over them."

23. See Sanhedrin 21a: "Does this mean that Rabbi Yehudah expounds the reason of the verse and Rabbi Shimon does not? But we have heard the opposite of them!" Rabbi Shimon expounds the reason of a verse and rules accordingly.

24. That is, "wings." See Tanya, ch. 40: "love and fear are called wings (gadpin)."

25. From the Ra'aya Mehemna, quoted in Torah Ohr, Shemos, the maamar Kol Dodi: "'With mortar' — this is kal vachomer; 'and with bricks' — this is the whitening of the halachah; 'and with all labor in the field' — this is the Beraisa." The Beraisa is called a "field."

26. Sotah 22a: "It was taught: The Tanna'im wear out the world. Can you think they wear out the world? … Ravina said: Because they rule on halachah from their Mishnah." The Tanna'im — those who recite the Mishnah by heart without knowing its reasons — rule from the Mishnah alone, and sometimes compare cases that are not alike (based on Rashi there).

27. Yeshayahu 2:11: "The haughty eyes of man shall be lowered, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and G‑d alone shall be exalted on that day." Veshach means lowering, descending.

28. Yeshayahu 25:11: "He will spread out his hands in its midst, as the swimmer spreads out his hands to swim." Rashi: "The swimmer — one who floats on the water."

29. Likkutei Torah, Chukas, the maamar Al Kein Yomru HaMoshlim, section 4: "'Let the city of Sichon be built and established.' The city of Sichon is prayer, which is called sichah…" and there: "as in 'as the swimmer spreads out his hands to swim' (Yeshayahu 25:11), which means to float on the water; for one who floats on the water moves and carries himself from place to place." The verse is Bamidbar 21:27: "Therefore the poets say: Come to Cheshbon; let the city of Sichon be built and established."

30. Lifnos erev is read here as from the word pinui, clearing away: to clear away and remove the evening and the darkness.

31. Sanhedrin 24a: "'He has set me in dark places like the dead of old' — Rabbi Yirmiyah said: This is the Talmud of Babylonia." Rashi: "For they are not agreeable to one another, and their learning is uncertain to them." The verse is Eichah 3:6.

32. Bereishis 1:3: "G‑d said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

33. Zechariah 14:7: "There shall be one day, known to G‑d, neither day nor night; and at evening time there shall be light."

34. That is, to turn darkness into light. See Tanya, ch. 27: "and transformed from bitter to sweet and from darkness to light."

35. Tanya, Igeres HaKodesh, epistle 26, beginning "And the wise will shine": there it is explained that the Oral Torah — the laws of forbidden and permitted, impure and pure — is called "the Tree of good and evil," since it is clothed in separating the good from the evil. The verse is Daniel 12:3: "And the wise will shine like the radiance of the firmament, and those who bring the many to righteousness like the stars, forever and ever."

36. Based on Bereishis 31:42: "Had not the G‑d of my father, the G‑d of Avraham and the Dread of Yitzchak, been with me…" Yitzchak is the attribute of gevurah, the level of dread and fear.

37. Avos 3:17: "If there is no wisdom, there is no fear; if there is no fear, there is no wisdom."

38. Yevamos 109b: "Whoever says he has nothing but Torah has nothing but Torah … rather, even Torah he does not have." Here it is applied to one who learns without fear of G‑d, who remains in darkness.

39. Tehillim 18:12: "He made darkness His hiding place; around Him is His tent, dark waters, thick clouds of the skies."

40. Although it is a darkness that conceals, it is G‑d's "hiding place," in which His light is hidden; when the darkness is cleared away, the light is revealed.

41. From the Ra'aya Mehemna cited above, "'and with bricks' (levenim) — this is the whitening (libun) of the halachah": clarifying the halachah in its truth, "whitening" it of doubts and difficulties.

42. Based on Bava Metzia 85b: "'G‑d said: Because they forsook My Torah that I set before them.' Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: That they did not first bless over the Torah." Rashi: "When they occupied themselves with Torah, they did not recite the blessing before it."

43. See Torah Ohr, Shemos, the maamar Kol Dodi (cited above), and Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim, the maamarim Shishim Heimah Melachos and Shishim Heimah Melachos (second); there: "The main explanation of libun hilchesa is given in Parshas Shemos, in the maamar Kol Dodi."