Seven strings of song raise the world

במדרש ז' נימין בכנור ולימות המשיח שמונה ולעתיד עשרה כו'.

In the Midrash: seven strings on the harp, in the days of Mashiach eight, and in the time to come ten, etc.

The Midrash describes the harp of the Beis Hamikdash: seven strings now, eight in the era of Mashiach, and ten in the ultimate future — each stage reflecting a deeper level of connection between this world and its Source.

והענין עפ"י מ"ש במד' בז' קני מנורה שבעה עיני ה' המשוטטים כו' דבכל מעשה בראשית כתיב ז"פ וירא אלקים כי טוב ואין טוב אלא תורה א"כ יש ז' דרכים איך להתקשר בתורה בעוה"ז.

And the matter is according to what the Midrash says regarding the seven branches of the Menorah, "the seven eyes of Hashem that roam" (Zechariah 4:10) — for in the whole account of creation it is written seven times "And Hashem saw that it was good," and "good" refers to nothing other than Torah; if so, there are seven ways to bind oneself to the Torah in this world.

The seven "good"s of creation correspond to the seven branches of the Menorah and the "seven eyes of Hashem." Since "good" means Torah, there are seven distinct pathways through which a person can attach himself to Torah in olam hazeh.

והן הז' נימין.

And these are the seven strings.

The seven strings of the harp are these seven pathways of connection to Torah.

ולכן הלוים היו אומרים בכל יום שיר מיוחד והמשיכו דביקות בעוה"ז להשורש בכל יום באופן מיוחד.

This is why the Leviim would say a unique shir (song) each day, drawing down dveikus (cleaving) in this world to the Root, each day in its own particular way.

Each day of the week has its own shir shel yom because each day is one of the seven pathways. Through the daily song, the Leviim drew the world of that day up to its spiritual root in a manner unique to that day.

וכמו כן הכהן בז' קני המנורה.

And likewise the Kohen, with the seven branches of the Menorah.

Just as the Leviim accomplished this through song, the Kohen accomplished the same through kindling the seven lamps of the Menorah — each branch corresponding to one pathway of Torah.

ולכן כתיב בהיטיבו את הנרות שהמשיך אור התורה שנק' טוב באלה הז' נרות.

Therefore it is written, "when he tends (b'heitivo) the lamps" — that he drew the light of the Torah, which is called "good," into these seven lamps.

The Torah's word "b'heitivo" (from the root tov, "good") hints that the Kohen channels the light of Torah — the "good" of creation — into the seven lamps of the Menorah.

וכמו שהוא בימים כן הוא בנפשות ז' קנים כמ"ש במ"א.

And just as it is with the days, so it is with souls — seven branches, as is explained elsewhere.

The same sevenfold structure that exists in time (the seven days) exists within the human soul itself: seven inner "branches," seven faculties through which a person connects to Torah.

ונר מערבי הוא שבת בזמן.

And the western lamp (ner ma'aravi) is Shabbos in time.

Among the seven lamps, the western lamp corresponds to Shabbos, the seventh and central point of the week.

שמעלה כל הימים לשורש השלשה ראשים כי שבת מעין עוה"ב שהוא כנור של עשור.

For it raises all the days up to the Root of the three "heads," since Shabbos is a foretaste of olam haba, which is the harp of ten strings.

Shabbos gathers and elevates all six weekdays to their higher source. Because Shabbos is "me'ein olam haba" (a taste of the World to Come), it reaches beyond the seven into the tenfold harp of the future.

ובגוף ברית מילה נר מערבי.

And in the body, the bris milah is the western lamp.

What Shabbos is in the dimension of time, the bris milah is in the dimension of the body — the central point that raises and unifies the whole.

ורמזו שממנו הי' מדליק ובו הי' מסיים כי הוא מקשר כל הגוף ממוח לח"י חוליות שבשדרה מראש ועד סוף לכן נק' מערבי.

And they hinted that from it (the western lamp) he would begin to kindle and with it he would finish, for it binds the entire body, from the brain to the eighteen vertebrae of the spine, from beginning to end — therefore it is called "western" (ma'aravi, from the root meaning "to join/blend").

The Kohen began and ended the kindling with the western lamp. So too the bris is the point that joins the entire body together, head to end (brain down the spine). The name ma'aravi shares the root of "mixing/joining" — it is the unifying point.

ועליו דרשו על השמינית.

And concerning it they expounded the phrase "al ha'sheminis" (upon the eighth) (Tehillim 6:1, 12:1).

The mizmor "al ha'sheminis" alludes to this eighth, higher rung — the dimension beyond the seven that the western lamp and the bris reach toward (bris milah being on the eighth day).

והשיר ניתן ללוים שיש להם כח התחברות ודביקות אל השורש שעל שם זה נק' לוים.

And the song was given to the Leviim, who possess the power of connection and dveikus to the Root — for it is on account of this that they are called "Leviim" (from the root meaning "to accompany/join").

The very name "Levi" (as in Leah's words, "yilaveh ishi elai," "my husband will be joined to me") expresses joining and cleaving. The Leviim were therefore given the avodah of song, whose essence is binding the lower world to its Root.

וכמו שיש שיר מיוחד לכל ברי' כדאיתא בפרק שירה.

And just as there is a unique song for every creature, as is found in Perek Shirah.

Perek Shirah records that each created being has its own song of praise — its particular note in the cosmic harmony, expressing its unique bond to its Creator.

כן בזמן שיש לכל יום שיר מיוחד.

So too in time, every day has its own unique song.

The structure of unique songs applies to time as well: each of the seven days sings its distinct shir, as the Leviim expressed in the Beis Hamikdash.

ובשבת שהוא מעין עוה"ב יש בו מעין שיר על השמינית.

And on Shabbos, which is a foretaste of olam haba, there is in it a foretaste of the "song upon the eighth."

Since Shabbos reaches beyond the natural seven, its song carries a taste of the eighth-rung song — the melody of the future world.

וכ' במד' בשבת שירו כפול מזמור שיר ליום השבת שהשבת הוא א' מהז' נימין וז' קני המנורה.

And it is written in the Midrash that on Shabbos its song is doubled — "Mizmor shir for the day of Shabbos" (Tehillim 92:1) — for Shabbos is one of the seven strings and the seven branches of the Menorah.

The Shabbos psalm uses a doubled expression of song ("mizmor shir"). On one level Shabbos is simply the seventh of the seven — one string, one branch among them.

אכן הוא מעלה כל הז' עד מדריגה השמינית ויש בו מעוה"ז ומעוה"ב:

However, it raises all seven up to the eighth level, and it contains something of this world and something of the World to Come.

Yet Shabbos is more than one of the seven — it lifts the entire seven to the eighth rung. That is why its song is "doubled": Shabbos stands with one foot in olam hazeh and one in olam haba.

Summary: The seven strings of the harp, the seven branches of the Menorah, the seven shirei ha'yom, and the seven faculties of the soul all correspond to the seven "good"s of creation — seven pathways of binding to Torah in this world. Shabbos (in time) and the bris milah (in the body) are the unifying "western lamp" that raises all seven to the eighth rung, a foretaste of olam haba's tenfold song.