The Wise Servant Surpassing the Son

במדרש עבד משכיל ימשול בבן מביש כו'.

In the Midrash: "A wise servant (eved maskil) will rule over a son who acts shamefully" (Mishlei 17:2).

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash on Eliezer, Avraham's servant, applying to him the verse about a "wise servant" who can surpass even a son.

פי' עבד משכיל אינו שהוא חכם לעצמו.

The meaning of "wise servant" is not that he is wise for himself.

"Maskil" here does not mean a servant who is clever in his own right.

רק שהעבדות שלו הוא בהשכלה ונותן לבו ודעתו לעשות העבדות בשלימות.

Rather, that his servitude is performed with understanding (haskalah), and he gives his heart and mind to carry out the service in completeness.

The "wise servant" is one whose very avdus is infused with thoughtfulness — he pours his whole heart and da'as into doing his master's service perfectly.

ויכול להעלות יותר מבחי' בן.

And he is able to ascend higher than the aspect of a son.

Such a devoted servant can rise even higher than a son, whose relationship comes naturally rather than through chosen effort.

וכבר כתבנו במ"א דברי הזוה"ק שכל איש ישראל צריך לעבוד אותו ית"ש בבחי' עבד ובן.

And we have already written elsewhere the words of the Zohar HaKadosh, that every Jew must serve Him, may His Name be blessed, in the aspect of both a servant and a son.

The Zohar teaches that avodas Hashem requires both modes: the loving intimacy of a "son" and the submissive, devoted labor of a "servant."

והנה אאע"ה הוצרך לעשות פעולה זאת ע"י העבד כי הוא נתעלה אחר המילה.

Now Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, had to accomplish this matter [finding a wife for Yitzchak] by means of the servant, for he himself had become elevated after the milah (circumcision).

After his bris milah, Avraham had risen to such a lofty, "son"-like level that he could no longer engage directly with the lower task; it required the "servant," Eliezer.

וכאשר הי' נצרך להעלות עוד הניצוצות קדושות שהי' בבית אביו.

And when it was necessary to further elevate the holy sparks (nitzotzos kedoshos) that were in his father's house [Besuel's and Lavan's household].

There remained holy sparks to be raised from the family of Avraham's origin in Aram — Rivkah and her potential — buried in an unholy environment.

הי' על ידי אליעזר שהוא בחי' עבד.

It was done through Eliezer, who is the aspect of a servant.

Drawing out those sparks from a low place required the "servant" mode — Eliezer, who could descend into that environment to elevate them.

וכן הוא בימי המעשה בירור הניצוצות קדושות.

And so it is during the weekdays: the clarifying (birur) of the holy sparks.

The six working days are likewise a time of birur — sifting and raising holy sparks scattered in mundane, material activity.

לכן ההנהגה ע"י מלאך.

Therefore the [Divine] conduct [during the week] is by means of an angel (malach).

Because the weekday is about elevating sparks from below, it operates through the intermediary of angels — the "servant" mode of Divine governance.

ובש"ק בחי' בן.

And on Shabbos Kodesh it is the aspect of a son.

Shabbos, by contrast, is the "son" mode — direct, intimate connection without the need for intermediaries.

וכמו כן בזמן המקדש הי' בחי' בן.

And likewise in the time of the Mikdash it was the aspect of a son.

When the Bais Hamikdash stood, Bnei Yisrael related to Hashem openly as beloved children.

ונתביישו כל העולם בהתגלות דרך התורה והמקדש כמ"ש המה ראו כן תמהו.

And the whole world was put to shame by the revelation of the way of the Torah and the Mikdash, as it is written: "they saw, thus they were astounded" (Tehillim 48:6).

In that era of revealed closeness, the nations were left ashamed and astonished before the open glory of Torah and the Temple.

אבל עתה בגלות הוא בחי' עבד.

But now, in galus, it is the aspect of a servant.

In exile, the "son" relationship is hidden, and our avodah takes the form of the laboring "servant."

ומ"מ יהי' סוף התיקון בעקבותא דמשיחא ביתר שאת.

And nevertheless, the final rectification (tikkun) will be in the footsteps of Mashiach (ikvesa d'Meshicha) with even greater elevation.

Yet precisely this "servant" labor of galus will bring about the ultimate, loftier tikkun in the era heralding Mashiach.

וע"ז כתיב הנה ישכיל עבדי כו' ירום ונשא דרשו מאברהם ומשה ע"ש בזוה"ק.

And about this it is written: "Behold, My servant shall be wise (yaskil)... he shall be exalted and uplifted" (Yeshayahu 52:13) — which they expounded as referring to Avraham and Moshe; see there in the Zohar HaKadosh.

The Zohar reads "My servant who is maskil" as alluding to Avraham and to Moshe Rabbeinu — exalted "servants" whose devoted service raised them to the heights.

והוא כנ"ל כי מרע"ה הוריד התורה מן השמים.

And this is as above, for Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, brought down the Torah from Heaven.

Moshe's drawing the Torah down to earth was itself the supreme act of an "eved maskil," a wise servant.

והוא בחי' בנים אתם.

And this is the aspect of "you are sons" (banim atem).

Through Moshe's Torah, Bnei Yisrael attained the level of "you are children to Hashem" — the "son" relationship.

ומלך המשיח שיתגלה בב"א עליו כתיב ישכיל עבדי כמ"ש ימשול בבן.

And about the King Mashiach, who will be revealed speedily in our days, it is written: "My servant shall be wise (yaskil avdi)" — as it says, "[the wise servant] will rule over a son."

Mashiach is the ultimate "eved maskil," the wise servant whose perfected service will "rule over a son" — surpassing even the lofty "son" level.

ואז יהי' התיקון השלם.

And then the complete rectification will be.

With Mashiach's revelation the final, total tikkun will be achieved.

והמשכיל יבין דברים אלו ביותר:

And the wise person (maskil) will understand these matters even more deeply.

The author closes by inviting the thoughtful reader to grasp these ideas on a still deeper level.

Summary: The "wise servant" of the verse is not one clever for himself but one who pours his whole heart and mind into his master's service — and can thereby rise even higher than a "son." Every Jew must serve Hashem in both modes: "son" (intimate, as on Shabbos and in the time of the Mikdash) and "servant" (laboring to elevate holy sparks, as on weekdays and in galus, governed through angels). Avraham, elevated after his milah, used Eliezer the "servant" to raise the sparks of Rivkah's house. Though galus is the "servant" era, its very labor brings the greater final tikkun — and Mashiach, the ultimate eved maskil, will "rule over the son," completing the rectification.