Yisro 5644 תרמ”ד
במדרש ה’ עוזי ומעוזי כו’. כי באמת שורש של נשמות בנ”י הם דבקים בשורש התורה. כדאיתא אורייתא וישראל כולהו חד וזהו ה’ עוזי ממש. ובחי’ ומעוזי הוא העוז שיש לאדם מהקב”ה ע”י סיבות ועצות. והיא מדרגה פחותה מהנ”ל. וכמו ההפרש בין השגה שלעתיד בין היגיעה בעוה”ז שהוא ע”י מחיצות והפסקות. וזה ג”כ ענין הקדמת נעשה לנשמע. כי נעשה הוא בחי’ ראשונה כמלאכי השרת שהשליחות הוא עצם החיות שלהם. וא”צ להיות ע”י הכנות. אכן מדרגה של נשמע הוצרכו בנ”י בעודם בעוה”ז שנשתלחו נשמתן של ישראל לעוה”ז. ונתלבשו בגופות כדי לקיים כל הברואים. וז”ש מעוזי ומנוסי כו’ אליך גוים יבואו. שכל מה שהיו צריכין לירד למצרים וכל אלה המקומות. הכל בעבור אליך גוים יבואו. וב’ בחי’ הנ”ל הם ימי המעשה והשבת. כי מעוזי בחול ובש”ק עוזי ממש. דכ’ ששת ימים תעבוד כו’ ויום השביעי כו’ לה’. והלא כל הארץ ומלואה לה’. רק שהקב”ה וב”ש בחר לו חלק מיוחד בכל הענינים. ובנפשות בחר בנ”י לחלקו. ובזמן יום הז’ לה’. וכן כל המועדות. וכמ”ש ימים יוצרו ולו אחד זה יום השבת כו’. ובעולם בחר לו א”י ירושלים ובהמ”ק. וזה חסר לנו עתה. ולכן איתא השבת ובנ”י מעידין זה ע”ז. כדכ’ זכור כו’ יום הז’ לקדשו. שבנ”י המיוחדים לשמו ית’. ולהם האלקות שנמצא בנפשות. מצאו להם מנוח ביום השבת. דאיתא יומא דנשמתין הוא ולאו דגופין. שמתעלה מבחי’ זמן וטבע להיות למעלה מהטבע. לכן לא ירד בו מן גשמיי. כדאיתא בזוה”ק. וכ’ ששת ימים עשה ה’ כו’ השמים כו’. פי’ בכל הבריאה יש השתתפות החיות אלקיות וחיות היסודות משמים וארץ. וזה עשה ה’ את השמים. פי’ בשיתוף כמ”ש בכל הברואים תוצא הארץ. ישרצו כו’. אבל ביום השבת יומא דנשמתין בלבד ואין בו השתתפות הגוף. ולכן הנחילנו יום השבת שאין בו מגע נכרי שהיא בחי’ המיוחדת לבנ”י בלבד. בחי’ ה’ עוזי כמ”ש לעיל. ובחול כ’ ועשית כל מלאכתך. היינו ע”י היגיעה בעוה”ז כדי להחיות כל הברואים שהוא בהשתתפות נשמה וגוף. ועשית הוא לשון כפי’ שיש מלחמה בימי המעשה. אבל ש”ק נק’ מנוחה. וכן בגוף הישראלי יש כח לנשמתו לגבור על הגוף יותר בש”ק. ולכן נק’ נשמה יתירה בתוספת כח. דבחול כח שניהם שוה. ונלחמת הנשמה עם הגוף. ובשבת הגוף נכנע. וזה הרמז ע”ה אימת שבת עליו. ובכל ג’ בחי’ הנ”ל חל שמו ית’ על חלק שלו. ושורה בו ברכה לכל השאר. ובנ”י הם הכלי מחזיק ברכה בעבור כל הנפשות. וכמו כן בש”ק כ’ ויברך שהוא כלי מחזיק ברכה לכל שיתא יומין. וכמו כן בירושלים דכ’ בכ”מ אשר אזכיר א”ש א”א וברכתיך. ומשם יוצא הברכה לכל העולם. לכן אמרו חז”ל אחר שחרב בהמ”ק כל יום קללתו מרובה. כי עיקר הברכה הי’ מבהמ”ק:
The Midrash quotes the pasuk (Yirmiya 16:19): “Hashem is my strength and my fortress on days of suffering, To you the nations of the world shall come from the ends of the earth.” The Midrash explains how the nations of the world heard about the miracles that happened to Bnei Yisrael and caused many of them to join the Jewish nation.
In truth, the source of the souls of Bnei Yisrael is connected to the source of the Torah, as it states in Zohar: “The Torah, Hashem, and Bnei Yisrael are all one.” Therefore, indeed, Hashem is the actual strength of Bnei Yisrael.
The concept of ‘My fortress’ is that strength that a person gets from Hashem through indirect causes. This is a lower level than the direct energy from Hashem.
This is like the difference between the comprehension that one will have in the world to come as opposed to that of this world, which is more indirect and via many partitions.
Furthermore, this is also the concept of na’ase and nishma. The concept of na’ase – “we will do” – is the first concept, akin to that of the angels, where their mission is their actual existence and life force. It does not require any preparations (it is hardwired into its system). Whereas the level of nishma – “we will hear” – is one that was necessary for Bnei Yisrael while they were in this world, where our souls are clothed in a physical body which gives us life. With this, we can understand the pasuk – ‘my fortress, to you the nations of the world will come’, meaning the lower concept of this world and the reason why we needed to go down to Mitzrayim and all these places was to bring out the sparks of holiness that were trapped there.
These two elements parallel the days of the week and Shabbos. My fortress (the indirect level) is during the days of the week, whereas on Shabbos it is ‘my strength’ literally a direct energy from Hashem.
This idea can be seen in the pasuk regarding Shabbos (Shemos 20:8-9): “Six days you shall work, and on the Seventh day it is Shabbos to Hashem your G-d.” Now everything in the world is Hashem’s so why now only on Shabbos is this so significant? However, it is because Hashem chose something unique and special out of certain parts of this world in the realm of souls. He chose Bnei Yisrael as His portion, and in the realm of time it is Shabbos and the Yom Tov days, as it states (Tehillim 139:16): “He has created days and He has one of them” – referring to Shabbos and Yom Tov. And in the realm of space, He has chosen Eretz Yisrael, Yerushalayim, and the Beis Hamikdash, which is currently lost from us (1886).
Therefore, it states that Bnei Yisrael and Shabbos testify to each other. As it states ‘Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it’, this means that Bnei Yisrael are unique to Hashem and they who have Godliness within them rest on the Shabbos day. As it states, The Shabbos is a day of the soul and not of the body, this means that the physical concept of the time becomes elevated to above nature. Therefore, the physical manna did not fall on Shabbos.
Furthermore, the pasuk states in “Six days Hashem created the Heaven and earth.” This means that in every part of creation there is a combination of the life force of Hashem together with the elements of Heaven and earth. This is what is meant by the pasuk ‘Hashem made ‘es’ the Heaven…’ meaning together with the Heaven and earth. Therefore, the Torah says when describing the creation: “The earth shall sprout forth” or “they will spawn”, etc., however, on Shabbos which is a completely spiritual day, that of the soul, there is no combination with anything physical. Therefore, regarding Shabbos it states ‘He inherited to us the Shabbos’. This means that there is no other foreign interference of the other nations in the Shabbos, for it is unique just to Bnei Yisrael, the concept of ‘My strength’ as explained above.
On the days of the week, however, it states ‘You shall do all your work’, this means that it is through toiling in this world to give life force to all of creation, which is through a combination of the body and the soul. This is why the word ‘you shall do’ which is usually used as an expression of forcing is used, for during the days of the week, there is a constant battle with the negative forces. However, on Shabbos it is called a day of rest.
Similarly, in the body of the person, there is an element on Shabbos which enables a person to overcome these forces on Shabbos.
Therefore, on Shabbos we receive a soul referred to as an ‘extra soul’, which means that it has extra power, whereas during the days of the week, their power is the same, but on Shabbos the physical is subjugated to the spiritual. This concept is alluding to in the words of our sages who state that on Shabbos the fear of Shabbos is instilled even in an ignoramus.
Regarding all these three elements (time, space, and soul), the name of Hashem rests on them, and a blessing rests upon it for the rest of it (time, space of soul). Bnei Yisrael are the vessel that can contain the blessing for all the other souls, and similarly, the Shabbos is the source of blessing for the days of the week, and similarly, Yerushalayim is the source from where all blessing emanates through that place. As the pasuk states ‘Any place that My name is mentioned, I will come to you and bless you’, therefore it is from there that blessing comes to the world. Therefore, our sages explain that once the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed each day the curses get worse and worse. This is because the primary source of blessing was from the Beis Hamikdash.
בפסוק וישמע יתרו כו’ כי הוציא. וקשה דכבר כ’ אשר עשה כו’. וי”ל הפי’ שבכח יציאת מצרים נפתח הפתח לגרים. כמ”ש עד עתה אין עבד יכול לברוח כו’. ובכח יצ”מ נתרחב כח הקדושה. וניתוספו גרים. כמ”ש וגם ערב רב עלו. לכן הי’ בכח יתרו לשמוע ולאתכפיא לסטרא דקדושה. ובמד’ הסמיכות דיתרו למלחמת עמלק לץ תכה ופתי יערים כו’. כי הנה ע”י יצ”מ נתברר התערובות של טו”ר. והי’ נמצא גם באומות ניצוצות הטובים רק שהיו מעורבין. וביצ”מ שנבדלו בנ”י להיות קודש לה’. ממילא כל מי שהי’ בו רצון טוב לשמים. יכול להתקרב ע”י בנ”י. וכל מי שהי’ רשע בזדון נתברר רשעו. ונתברר ע”י בנ”י רשעת עמלק וטובת יתרו:
The pasuk states (Shemos 18:1) Yisro hears all that Hashem had done to Bnei Yisrael… that He had taken them out of Mitzrayim. This is difficult to understand; it states that Yisro heard all that Hashem had done, which obviously includes the exodus, why then is it singled out and ‘repeated’? We can explain that it was through the exodus from Mitzrayim that there was now an opening for converts to join. This is alluded to in the midrash that states that until this time no slave had ever escaped from Mitzrayim, however, through the exodus, the power of holiness extended, and converts were added to Bnei Yisrael, as it states ‘A great multitude came up with Bnei Yisrael’. Therefore, it was only because of the exodus that Yisro was able to hear what really happened and connect to the side of holiness. The Midrash explains that the connection between Yisro immediately following Amalek, is that a fool will miss opportunities, whereas the wise will become smarter (Mishlei 19:25). The idea here is that in the exodus, there was the clarification and distinction between good and evil, and therefore the sparks of goodness that were mixed into the nations of the world separated out of them and joined Bnei Yisrael, and therefore automatically anyone who had a desire to do good to Hashem was able to get close through Bnei Yisrael. However, on the contrary, whoever was purposefully wicked, his evil was clarified and were separated out to the side of evil of Amalek. Therefore, the wickedness of Amalek parallels the good of Yisro, for they both were brought about through the exodus.
