TALKING BIRDS AND A COLLECTION OF STONES
Vayeitzei
The Parsha of Vayeitzei is something we should all be able to relate to, after all it tells the story of our own Neshama and its journey to this world.
Yaakov leaves Be’er Sheva and travels to Charan. One his way he spends the night on the Temple Mount. He takes a bunch of stone and places them around his head. The following morning, the stones have fused into one and Yaakov stands this stone up as a monument. He anoints the monument with oil and pledges; when I return to my father’s house, Hashem will be my G-d and this stone which I have stood as a monument will be a House of G-d.
The Alter Rebbe (Torah Ohr Vayeitzei) explains the deeper meaning of this story, with specific focus on the significance of the stones and Yaakov’s promise.
The letters which spell the word Charan (חרן) when rearranged spell the word נחר. We find this word in Tehillim (69:4) when Dovid Hamelech says נחר גרוני, my throat is dried. Like a dry, hoarse throat which blocks the flow of one’s voice, Charan represents the blockage and concealment of Hashem’s light from shining in the world.
Each Neshama descends into this world, a world of Charan, a world which hides the presence of its Creator and appears as an independent existence. The Neshama’s mission is to enter this world and through Torah, Mitzvos and Emunah, transform it to a place of G-dly revelation.
The blockage of Charan is created by the letter ח, a letter which is associated with Kelipah. Through the Avodah of Birrurim, refining the coarse world of Charan, the ח is transformed into a ה, a letter (which is similar to the ח in shape, but is) associated with Kedusha.
(We find a similar idea in the difference between Chametz חמץ which represents arrogance and Kelipah and Matzah מצה, which represents humility and Kedusha. Here too, the difference between the two words is one letter, Matzah has a ה in place of the ח in Chametz.)
When the ח of Charan is transformed and the letters once again rearranged, we spell the word רנה, a loud and joyous song, where the voice is able to emanate unhindered and be expressed in its full force and beauty.
This Avodah is represented by the stones. Yaakov takes the many stones which represent the hidden sparks of G-dliness which are trapped and hidden within the world. He gathers them and elevates them to a level of oneness with their source.
The pouring of the oil down this pillar alludes to the Divine light which this Avodah draws down into the world.
Yaakov says that through this he will return to the house of his father, Yitzchak. Yitzchak comes from the term laughter but written in future tense. This refers to the tremendous joy and pleasure which Hashem receives from our Avodah of refining the world. This pleasure will be revealed in the times of Moshiach for the Neshama itself to experience.
Why is it that the refining of the world generates so much joy above?
Joy comes from something novel and unexpected. The Alter Rebbe illustrates this point with an example of a talking parrot. It is only because the nature of the parrot is that it does not talk, that makes the talking parrot the source of enjoyment and delight. The fact that a human being can talk is no cause from great delight, because that is what they are expected to do.
For the spiritual worlds and the realm of the angels to be surrendered to Hashem and radiate His presence is not novel.
But when a world which conceals G-dliness becomes an expression of Hashem’s presence, when the hoarse voice of Charan become the beautiful song of Rinah, when dull and inanimate stones become a conduit for G-dly revelation, this is something unique and completely novel.
Chassidus encapsulates this mission in a simple phrase; Hashem creates the worlds יש מאין, something from nothing, in order for us to transform the יש back to אין. When we transform the something-ness of the world back to nothing, surrendering the world back to a state of oneness of Hashem, this is the most joyous song of all.
Yaakov leaves Be’er Sheva and travels to Charan. One his way he spends the night on the Temple Mount. He takes a bunch of stone and places them around his head. The following morning, the stones have fused into one and Yaakov stands this stone up as a monument. He anoints the monument with oil and pledges; when I return to my father’s house, Hashem will be my G-d and this stone which I have stood as a monument will be a House of G-d.
The Alter Rebbe (Torah Ohr Vayeitzei) explains the deeper meaning of this story, with specific focus on the significance of the stones and Yaakov’s promise.
The letters which spell the word Charan (חרן) when rearranged spell the word נחר. We find this word in Tehillim (69:4) when Dovid Hamelech says נחר גרוני, my throat is dried. Like a dry, hoarse throat which blocks the flow of one’s voice, Charan represents the blockage and concealment of Hashem’s light from shining in the world.
Each Neshama descends into this world, a world of Charan, a world which hides the presence of its Creator and appears as an independent existence. The Neshama’s mission is to enter this world and through Torah, Mitzvos and Emunah, transform it to a place of G-dly revelation.
The blockage of Charan is created by the letter ח, a letter which is associated with Kelipah. Through the Avodah of Birrurim, refining the coarse world of Charan, the ח is transformed into a ה, a letter (which is similar to the ח in shape, but is) associated with Kedusha.
(We find a similar idea in the difference between Chametz חמץ which represents arrogance and Kelipah and Matzah מצה, which represents humility and Kedusha. Here too, the difference between the two words is one letter, Matzah has a ה in place of the ח in Chametz.)
When the ח of Charan is transformed and the letters once again rearranged, we spell the word רנה, a loud and joyous song, where the voice is able to emanate unhindered and be expressed in its full force and beauty.
This Avodah is represented by the stones. Yaakov takes the many stones which represent the hidden sparks of G-dliness which are trapped and hidden within the world. He gathers them and elevates them to a level of oneness with their source.
The pouring of the oil down this pillar alludes to the Divine light which this Avodah draws down into the world.
Yaakov says that through this he will return to the house of his father, Yitzchak. Yitzchak comes from the term laughter but written in future tense. This refers to the tremendous joy and pleasure which Hashem receives from our Avodah of refining the world. This pleasure will be revealed in the times of Moshiach for the Neshama itself to experience.
Why is it that the refining of the world generates so much joy above?
Joy comes from something novel and unexpected. The Alter Rebbe illustrates this point with an example of a talking parrot. It is only because the nature of the parrot is that it does not talk, that makes the talking parrot the source of enjoyment and delight. The fact that a human being can talk is no cause from great delight, because that is what they are expected to do.
For the spiritual worlds and the realm of the angels to be surrendered to Hashem and radiate His presence is not novel.
But when a world which conceals G-dliness becomes an expression of Hashem’s presence, when the hoarse voice of Charan become the beautiful song of Rinah, when dull and inanimate stones become a conduit for G-dly revelation, this is something unique and completely novel.
Chassidus encapsulates this mission in a simple phrase; Hashem creates the worlds יש מאין, something from nothing, in order for us to transform the יש back to אין. When we transform the something-ness of the world back to nothing, surrendering the world back to a state of oneness of Hashem, this is the most joyous song of all.