Smallness below builds greatness above

במדרש אחות לנו קטנה כו'.

In the Midrash: "We have a little sister (achos lanu ketanah)" (Shir HaShirim 8:8).

The Midrash applies this verse about a "little sister" to Avraham and to the theme of "smallness" as the seedbed of greatness.

כי יש לכל אדם בחי' קטנות וגדלות.

For every person has an aspect of "smallness" (katnus) and "greatness" (gadlus).

Each person passes through states of constriction and expansion, smallness and greatness.

ובאמת כל עוה"ז הוא בחי' קטנות כדאיתא העוה"ז דומה לפרוזדור בפני עוה"ב התקן עצמך בפרוזדור וכל מעשה האדם להכין בעוה"ז לפתוח כחודה של מחט ואז זוכה לחלק אשר יש לו למעלה כדכתיב הבונה בשמים כו' ואגודתו על ארץ ובמד' משל לספינות קשורות כו'.

And in truth, all of this world is the aspect of "smallness," as it is taught: this world is like an antechamber before the World to Come — prepare yourself in the antechamber; and all of a person's deeds are to prepare in this world to "open like the eye of a needle," and then he merits the portion he has Above, as it is written, "He who builds His upper chambers in the heavens… and has founded His bundle (agudaso) upon the earth" (Amos 9:6), and in the Midrash a parable of ships tied together.

This world is a small antechamber; a person's task is to "open an opening the size of a needle's eye" below, and Heaven responds by building his great portion above — earth and heaven are bound together like tethered ships, the small effort below drawing down the great reward above.

וכן הוא בפרט כל אדם שכפי מה שמכין למטה בונה הקב"ה הבנין עליו למעלה.

And so it is with each individual: according to what he prepares below, the Holy One builds the (corresponding) structure for him above.

Each person's preparation in this small world determines the great spiritual edifice Hashem builds for him on high.

ובאמת היא בחי' ראשית חכמה יראת ה' שזה היסוד של החכמה כי ה' יתן חכמה אבל הראשית והיסוד היא יראת ה' כמ"ש מה שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה.

And in truth this is the aspect of "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem" (Tehillim 111:10) — for this is the foundation of wisdom; for "Hashem gives wisdom" (Mishlei 2:6), but the beginning and the foundation is yiras Hashem, as it says, "What does He ask of you but to fear (Hashem)?" (Devarim 10:12).

The "smallness" that prepares for greatness is yiras Shomayim — for although wisdom itself is a gift from Hashem, its foundation and starting point is the fear of Hashem, the one thing asked of a person.

ואברהם אע"ה זכה לראות עולמו בחייו וכמ"ש האבות הן המרכבה מה שלעתיד צדיקי' יושבים ועטרותיהם בראשיהם.

And Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, merited "to see his world in his lifetime," as it says, "the Avos are the Merkavah" — which (corresponds to) the future, when the tzaddikim sit with their crowns upon their heads.

Avraham already attained in this life what others reach only in the future world, becoming a "chariot" for the Shechinah, like the tzaddikim of the World to Come who sit crowned, basking in the divine radiance.

וז"ש במדרש עד שאתה מאיר לי מן החלון בא והאיר לפני שההארה שבעולם הזה הוא מתלבש בטבע ונקרא מתוך החלון ואברהם נתעלה מכל הטבע בבחי' עולם שנה נפש.

This is what the Midrash says: "Instead of illuminating for me through the window, come and illuminate before me" — for the illumination in this world is clothed within nature, and is called "through the window"; but Avraham rose above all of nature, in the aspects of olam, shanah, nefesh (space, time, and soul).

Ordinary divine light in this world is filtered and dimmed through "the window" of nature, but Avraham transcended nature entirely in all three dimensions of space, time, and self, receiving the light directly without any screen.

וזה מארצך בבחי' עולם וממולדתך פי' בזוהר ממזל ומולד דילך בחי' שנה ומבית אביך בחי' נפש וכל זה בא לו מכח הקטנות כדאיתא קטנה שבעוד שהי' קטן הי' מסגל מצות ומעש"ט:

And this is "from your land" — in the aspect of olam (space); "and from your birthplace" — the Zohar explains, "from your constellation and birth-moment" — the aspect of shanah (time); "and from your father's house" — the aspect of nefesh (soul); and all of this came to him through the power of "smallness," as it is taught: "little" — that while he was still small (young), he was already amassing mitzvos and good deeds.

The command "Lech Lecha" — to leave land, birthplace, and father's house — corresponds to rising above space, time, and self; and Avraham merited all this transcendence precisely because of his "smallness": already from his youth he was gathering mitzvos and ma'asim tovim, and that humble beginning grew into his immense greatness.

Summary: The Sefas Emes teaches that every person, and indeed all of this world, is in a state of "smallness" — an antechamber before the World to Come. A person's task is to "open an opening the size of a needle's eye" below through yiras Shomayim, the true beginning and foundation of wisdom, and Hashem responds by building a great spiritual edifice for him above, heaven and earth bound together like tethered ships. Avraham embodied this: from his youth he amassed mitzvos in "smallness," and through that he transcended the dimming "window" of nature in all three dimensions of space, time, and self — which is the meaning of "Lech Lecha" — until he became a Merkavah for the Shechinah and "saw his world in his lifetime."