Parshas Behaaloscha 5785 "Vezeh Maaseh HaMenorah" - The Unity of Jews as the Vessel for Love of Hashem

00:00 The Frierdiker Rebbe related at a farbrengen on 10 Kislev, the day of the Mitteler Rebbe’s liberation, that when they came to arrest the Mitteler Rebbe and take him to prison, and informed him of the matter at length, the Mitteler Rebbe said, “I am not like my father.” He meant his father, the Alter Rebbe. He said that when they came to take the Alter Rebbe to prison, the Alter Rebbe agreed to go. As is known, the entire event took place with the consent of the holy realm; it was not something forced upon him, but happened with its consent. His father agreed to go to prison because he wanted to test the chassidim’s love for one another: how would the chassidim behave when the Rebbe was imprisoned, how would they receive the news, and what would be the state of their love for one another? If he saw that something was lacking in that love, he would correct it. The Frierdiker Rebbe related that he once went in to his father, the Rebbe Rashab, for yechidus, and among the matters he discussed, he repeated the Mitteler Rebbe’s words. The Rebbe Rashab told him, “I leafed through a great many books of halachah to find what permits a Jew to do such a thing.” The Frierdiker Rebbe explained that his father, the Rebbe Rashab, with all

01:43 his avodah in Chassidus, needed everything to accord with Torah and halachah. He said he had examined a number of books of halachah to find a basis for permitting it: how could a Jew risk his life, put himself in actual mortal danger, just to test the state of his students’ love for one another? After much study, he reached a conclusion. The Rebbe Rashab said, “A true shepherd of the Jewish people—a leader, a shepherd of the Jewish people, a Rebbe—must know what is happening with his flock. For that, it is justified for him to risk his life.” The Alter Rebbe risked his life because he wanted to know what was happening with his flock and to see the state of their love for one another. He wanted to see its state because correcting it was worth actual self-sacrifice—the risk to his life involved in that event. The Rebbe Rashab concluded—as the Frierdiker Rebbe relates in that sicha—that among chassidim, love for one another is truly natural. Not second nature, but their very first nature. In other words, it permeates them; it is part of life, something ingrained in the first nature of chassidim. And if not, G-d forbid, it is like [unclear], a person born with a bond to the Rebbe. Why? Among chassidim, love for one another is part

03:10 of who they are, part of their first nature. The weekly parsha, Parshas Behaaloscha, opens: “When you raise up the lamps, the seven lamps shall shine toward the front of the menorah.” Aharon HaKohen is to light the menorah’s lamps, and the seven lamps are to shine toward its front. The verse then says: “And this was the workmanship of the menorah: hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower, it was hammered work; according to the vision that Hashem showed Moshe, so he made the menorah.” In other words, the Torah tells us here about Aharon HaKohen, his service in lighting the menorah’s lamps, and how the seven lamps would shine toward its front. The Torah then tells us once again that the menorah was made from a single piece, from its base to its flower. The well-known question asked by all the commentators is: What is this [unclear]? It is entirely unnecessary. Why does the Torah repeat here something that is not relevant to our parsha and that we already learned in Parshas Terumah? When the Torah describes the menorah there in all its details, it clearly says that the menorah must be hammered from a single piece, with all the details stated in Parshas Terumah. [unclear] Why does the Torah bring it here? Rashi says: [unclear]. Aharon HaKohen was disheartened that he had no part in the dedication of the altar, in the dedication of the Mishkan, and [unclear] him.

04:42 [unclear] commentaries, explanations, sichos, and extensive discussions—what is the substance of the question? In any case, we can put it this way: Aharon lit the menorah. But what do the menorah being “hammered from a single piece” and all of that have to do with our parsha? That is the question the commentators ask, and there are a number of explanations—on the levels of pshat, remez, drush, and sod. But we will discuss the explanation based on the teachings of Chassidus, on the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and his students, particularly on the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim and on the Chassidus of our Rebbeim. It is also well known, as cited in the name of the Baal Shem Tov and discussed at length by the Alter Rebbe in Likkutei Torah, that Aharon HaKohen’s lighting of the lamps is connected with the souls of the Jewish people. In other words, lighting the lamps refers to the soul: “The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem.” Aharon HaKohen lights the menorah, the lamps. We see this as well in the haftorah we read this week: “I saw, and behold, a menorah made entirely of gold.” That is what the prophet Zechariah saw. The menorah, the “menorah made entirely of gold” that we read about in the haftorah, was a metaphor for what he saw—the Jewish people in exile. “A menorah made entirely of gold” refers to the Jewish people during exile. [unclear] refers to the Jewish people while they are in exile and to how they emerge from exile into the Geulah: “Shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” These are the themes of this week’s haftorah.

06:24 That is to say, when we learn “When you raise up the lamps” in the parsha, it refers to the souls of the Jewish people. The Alter Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah, regarding the menorah’s seven branches, that Aharon HaKohen’s lighting was meant to kindle and awaken a thirst within the souls. A flame, as the Alter Rebbe says in explaining “The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem,” is always flickering, always striving to rise upward, toward G-dliness, toward Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is how he seeks to awaken the souls to rise ever higher. So too with souls: they thirst for and cleave to G-dliness, being “literally a part of G-d above.” The soul wants to be absorbed in the Life of life, the blessed Ein Sof. But because the soul descends below and becomes clothed in a body and an animal soul, this becomes concealed, extinguished, G-d forbid. This is the very purpose of Aharon HaKohen, who is one of the seven shepherds who nurture the Jewish people: to instill faith, to instill love. Aharon HaKohen in particular is called in Chassidus, in the language of the Zohar, “the attendant of the bride.” That is, Aharon HaKohen comes on behalf of the Jewish people, elevates the souls, awakens love within them, and gives rise to a thirst for greatness. This is also what the verses of the parsha seek to emphasize: Aharon HaKohen’s purpose is to awaken the soul’s capacity for greatness. At the same time, the lighting is meant to bring them to love Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and to bring love between one Jew and another as well.

08:06 For, as is known, this is a teaching. As is known from the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe, Ahavas Yisroel and love of Hashem—“Love your fellow as yourself” is the vessel for “Love Hashem your G-d.” This too is a teaching. In the familiar phrase, “If you love a Jew, you love Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” For Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves His children; He loves Jews. And when you love someone, you love the things that person loves. If you love Hakadosh Boruch Hu, you love a Jew. There is the well-known story that once, among chassidim in the Alter Rebbe’s time, there was a whole debate over which was primary and which secondary—Ahavas Yisroel or love of Hashem. Some said one thing and others said another, until the Mitteler Rebbe brought the question to the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe said that love of Hashem and Ahavas Yisroel are both engraved in the heart and soul of every Jew. But Ahavas Yisroel is secondary [unclear]. When you love a Jew, you love both Hakadosh Boruch Hu and what Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves. In any case, in this parsha the Torah seeks to emphasize both matters. “When you raise up the lamps” means that Aharon HaKohen awakens the love of Hashem that every Jew has for Hakadosh Boruch Hu: the [unclear], the thirst, and

09:37 the soul’s relationship to greatness. On the other hand, there is Ahavas Yisroel. Regarding this second matter, the Torah says, “And this was the workmanship of the menorah: hammered from a single piece.” The menorah’s defining feature is that it is “hammered from a single piece.” What does that mean? It is the unity of the Jewish people. The menorah has seven branches, each rising along its own path. There are seven ways of serving Hashem, and each person serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu in their own distinctive way. One serves through love, another through awe, another through compassion, another through determination, another through acknowledgment, another through attachment, and another through kingship. [unclear] different ways of serving Hashem, through which each person serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Of them it is said that they must be “toward the front of the menorah.” Though each way of serving Hashem rises along its own path, each in its own way and manner, all must fulfill “The seven lamps shall shine toward the front of the menorah.” All the ways of serving Hashem must lead to one single point, to “the front of the menorah”—to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “I was created solely to serve my Maker.” All must unite in one single intention and goal, so that through them the Divine intent will be fulfilled: “Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired a dwelling for Himself in the lower realms.” How can that happen? After all, it would seem that each person has their own nature. And since one person’s nature is kindness and another’s is strength—two distinct natures,

11:17 They find it hard to connect. One serves Hashem with joy, while the other serves Hashem with bitterness. One is a scholar devoted to Torah study, while the other is a businessman. One follows one path of service, and the other follows another. So when two people have different natures, how can they connect with each other? To this, the verse says: “And this was the workmanship of the menorah: one hammered piece.” The Torah helps us understand that, at their core, all Jews are one piece—like Rashi says, one piece of gold, a single, complete menorah. But when one Jew looks at another from a physical perspective—as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, chapter 32: “And since they are all alike and have one Father, all Jews are therefore called actual brothers, by virtue of the root of their souls in the one Hashem.” In other words, all Jews come from one and the same Father, from the one Hashem. When all the souls of Israel are included above, they are all included in simple unity; at their core, all the souls are one. Thus, as cited in Chassidus in the name of the Jerusalem Talmud, one person and another are like two hands of a single body. If, G-d forbid, one strikes the other, it is as though a person were striking his own hand. They are one body, one complete whole. That is why the Torah says, “And this was the workmanship of the menorah.” Because the menorah is one hammered piece, at the root of their souls they are all one and the same; it is all one. They all belong to one people,

12:52 from “one Father for us all,” from unity. So even when the soul descends below and is clothed in a body, and each person has his own nature, his own role, his own character and his own way of serving Hashem—even though there are branches on the right and branches on the left, and the seven branches of the menorah—they all remain together and face “toward the front of the menorah.” This reminds us that they are one, and they all serve the same Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So even with each person’s own nature, “they all had one intention: to do the will of our Father in Heaven.” On this the Alter Rebbe says: “From its base to its flower.” The verse says, “From its base to its flower.” “Its base” refers to simple people. The thigh is the lowest part of the leg. These are simple people, on the level of the feet—G-d-fearing, simple people, like [unclear], and so on. By contrast, “its flower” refers to tzaddikim, the flowers at the highest point of the menorah. And as the Alter Rebbe says, “its flower” also alludes to “soaring upward.” That is, there are people who serve Hashem, [unclear], as he says in Tanya in the name of the Zohar, that “higher awe” [unclear]—this is “soaring upward,” higher and higher. “From its base to its flower, it is one hammered piece”—it is all one. And as Rashi says, Rashi explains [unclear].

14:26 “One hammered piece, from its base to its flower.” It is like taking a single piece of gold. There is an upper part and a lower part. But when you make it into one hammered piece, as Rashi says, you strike it with a hammer: the upper part comes down and the lower part rises up, and in this way it becomes one. There are Jews who are “the heads of the thousands of Israel,” on the level of “its flower,” and there are other Jews who are on the level of “its base,” the simple people. But we must remember: it is one hammered piece, one thing, [unclear]. The Alter Rebbe explains that in one respect a person may be like a foot, but in another respect he may actually be the head. We see this in the physical human body: the head directs the feet, but the feet carry the head. Without the feet, the head cannot walk. The head wants to reach a certain place, and it needs the feet to get there. So when it comes to walking, the foot is actually the head. And the Alter Rebbe puts it another way in Likkutei Torah: each person completes the other; each gives something of himself to the other. This is [unclear], and this is “from its base to its flower.” The Alter Rebbe explains something deeper in Likkutei Torah: “From its base to its flower” works in such a way that sometimes there can be something positive—

15:45 a thought, a good thought—that comes specifically from another person, who influences his friend. And sometimes the reverse can happen: a bad thought comes to the other person. It may be that I receive my good thought, my vitality, from him, while his bad thought comes from me. So a person must always reckon that the good things he has come from other Jews, while the things that are not good are his own. Then he will always respect and appreciate the other person, and he will have genuine love. This is “from its base to its flower, one hammered piece.” This is the unity among Jews through which the menorah becomes whole, as he says. For there to be a true “when you kindle”—for a Jew to become a menorah himself and reach what is true and pure, where he is one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu without any dross or waste entering in—all of this is connected with genuine Ahavas Yisroel. And when the Alter Rebbe says here, “Let none of you think evil of his fellow in your heart,” he demands this of chassidim: that there should not be even a negative thought in one chossid’s mind, in one Jew’s mind, about another. Genuine love between friends. The Alter Rebbe says this in Tanya as well, in Igeres Hakodesh, section 22. Chassidim studied this Igeres Hakodesh with great fervor; in it, the Alter Rebbe

17:10 asks chassidim, in Igeres Hakodesh, section 22, that “none of you think evil of his fellow in your heart; it should never arise in your heart. And if it does arise, drive it from your heart as you would an actual thought of idolatry.” The Alter Rebbe demands genuine love between friends from chassidim: there must not be even an undesirable thought about another Jew. And if such a thought enters, it must be driven from the heart “as you would an actual thought of idolatry,” the Alter Rebbe says. This is one of the gravest matters. The Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that it is even more serious than lashon hara. The Torah says that one must not speak lashon hara about another person—that concerns speech. The Alter Rebbe says: thought is higher than speech. Thought is a more refined garment; it touches the soul more deeply. So if one may not speak badly about another person, all the more so must one be careful with thought, which is on a higher level. One must take care not to think any undesirable thought about another Jew. That is why the verse tells us here that for “when you kindle” to be possible—for a Jew to fulfill “When you kindle the lamps,” to draw close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and attain true love of Hashem—it comes about through “Let none of you think evil of his fellow in your heart.” It is one hammered piece, one single thing, connected with others. Then they become one. And as—

18:35 How can this happen? Through “toward the front of the menorah,” which means connecting to the tzaddik. Chassidus explains that “the front of the menorah” refers to the tzaddik, the nasi, the Rebbe. True unity is created through the nasi. As is well known, true unity among Jews can come about only through Moshe Rabbeinu and through the extension of Moshe in every generation. That is “the front of the menorah,” the tzaddik, through whom true unity among Jews is created. It says in Noam Elimelech, I think in [unclear], that “the seven lamps” refer to the seven shepherds. The Gemara says that the seven shepherds are seven tzaddikim, while the menorah refers to the Jewish people as a whole. Noam Elimelech gives a wonderful explanation in the parsha: in general, Jews need both of these things. For a Jew to serve Hashem, he must connect to the tzaddikim, the shepherds of Israel, the seven lamps, and receive from the tzaddikim. Then he can attain true closeness—“The seven lamps shall shine toward the front of the menorah”—turning toward Hakadosh Boruch Hu and drawing close to Him. On the other hand, he must influence the Jewish people as a whole. That is the menorah, which according to his explanation refers to the Jewish people as a whole. Ordinarily, these are two separate things that do not go together. Because, granted,

20:09 When you are in a state of connection to tzaddikim, you are moving upward. But when you connect with the Jewish people as a whole, you have to descend—descend from your own level, work with ordinary people, and detach yourself from that ascent. These are two separate forms of service. About this, the verse says, “And Aharon did so,” and Rashi says, “This teaches that he did not change.” The question everyone asks is: What is new here? “This teaches that he did not change”—that Aharon did not change. What is remarkable about Aharon not changing? [unclear]. What is the Torah trying to tell us? There are several explanations, but here he offers a rich interpretation: “shina,” “changed,” is related to “shnayim,” “two.” “This teaches that he did not change”—for him, these were not two separate matters. Seemingly, they are two separate matters: if he wants to connect with a tzaddik, he must rise still higher; and if he wants to connect with the Jewish people as a whole, he must descend still further. “This teaches that he did not change”—for Aharon, these were not two separate matters. For him, there was one thing alone: to connect with the tzaddik and, at that very same moment, to connect with the Jewish people as a whole. And this is the lesson specifically for us, how we must be “of one piece”: connecting with the Jewish people as a whole is part of that same, single endeavor. This comes through connecting with the tzaddik, who reveals the soul within us.

21:36 For the tzaddik is the Raaya Mehemna, the faithful shepherd, who reveals the innermost essence of the soul—that we are all one. Then we can truly connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, [unclear], and attain genuine connection and closeness. This is the order; this is how we are taught the proper order of our service: “From its base to its flower, it was of one piece.” Then we fulfill the Divine intent: to make a dwelling for Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the lower realms. We illuminate the world and prepare for the true light. And through that light, as a Jew illuminates the world and brings light to another Jew, we merit the true light, [unclear], the true and complete Geulah through our righteous Moshiach.