הושענא רבה ב

Section Yud-Tes [יט] And the essential rectification is through counting the days of the Omer — for through the reckoning and counting of the days one draws down the bechina of the rectification of judgment mentioned at the beginning of the Torah teaching of the Holy Sanctuary cited above. For the rectification of judgment must be drawn down each and every day — in the bechina of "to do the judgment of His servant and the judgment of His people Israel, the matter of each day in its day" — for a person is judged each day, and every person must anticipate at the beginning of the day to judge himself — in order to sweeten and nullify the judgment from above. And this is itself the sweetening and nullifying of anger — for the essential anger flows from the strengthening of the judgments, G‑d forbid. And according to how much one merits to nullify the judgments through the aforementioned bechina of judgment — by judging oneself — through this one nullifies the anger. And this itself is what is explained at the beginning of the Torah teaching Heichal HaKodesh cited above: that through the judgment one nullifies and burns the evil of the souls that he draws close — so that they shall not attach themselves to the bechina of the Holy Sanctuary (as explained there) — for the essential evil is anger, as cited there from the verse: "and remove anger from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh." And see there carefully in the Torah teaching cited above — for the entire matter of the Holy Sanctuary and yad vashem [hand and name] explained there, and the Throne of Judgment, and igula [circle] and ribua [square] — are all one (see there carefully). And it is understood from there that anger — which is a blemish of the Name and the soul — is itself the bechina of blemishing the Holy Sanctuary through the evil of the souls. Thus the essential evil is anger, and it is nullified through the fire of judgment (as explained there). And this is what we draw down through the counting of the days — for one must make an accounting of each and every day, which is the bechina of judgment. For the essential judgment is according to the accounting that is reckoned with a person for each and every day over all that he did — as it is said: "and before Whom you will one day give account and reckoning, etc." And one who wishes to have mercy on himself and save himself from the heavenly account and reckoning must judge himself, making an accounting with his soul each and every day. And therefore, in the days of the Counting — which are a preparation for receiving the Torah — one must draw close himself together with all the souls of Israel depending on him to Hashem, blessed be He — which is the essential bechina of building the Holy Sanctuary cited above. Therefore one must each day upon its arrival count the day — to know that all the days are numbered and counted in reckoning — which is the bechina of judgment, which applies every day, as stated — meaning, he reflects upon his soul for each day and judges himself, as stated. And through the bechina of judgment the heart is inflamed and burns the evil — which is anger — and through this one magnifies the Name and the soul through holy wealth, which is the bechina of the forty-nine days of the Counting, as stated.

There are m'orei or — lights of light — and m'orei aish — lights of fire — and they are this-against-that (zeh l'umos zeh). The lights of light are the aspect of the holy Name, the aspect of the three colors of the eye and the pupil (bas ayin), the aspect of Shabbas sh'ma d'Kudsha B'rich Hu — "Shabbos is the Name of the Holy Blessed One" — the aspect of the mochin (higher consciousness) of tefillin, the aspect of glory (pe'er), the aspect of the Temple, etc. (See there in detail.)

This is the aspect of Chanukah — for the evil kingdom of Greece stood against the people of Israel to cause them to forget His Torah, etc. The Torah is also TaNTA [Tav-Nun-Tes-Aleph], which are the three colors of the eye and the pupil. And they sought to cause the Torah to be forgotten and to conceal His great Name. They decreed that one must write on the horn of the ox that one has no portion in the God of Israel. They sought to conceal the glory of Israel — for this is our glory: that we glorify ourselves in His Divinity, in His great and holy Name, in the aspect of es Hashem he'emarta — "You have declared God" — the language of glorification — that we glorify ourselves in His great Name through the Torah, which is the aspect of the glory of Israel (tiferes Yisrael). They sought to conceal all this — Heaven forbid — which is the aspect of concealing the glory and beauty of Israel, the aspect of concealing the lights of light — which are the aspect of the holy Name, as above. And this is the aspect of contaminating all the oils of the Temple — this is the aspect of the lights of light that illuminate in the Temple, which are the aspect of the holy Name, corresponding to oil — in the aspect of l'rei'ach shmanecha tovim shemen turak sh'mecha — "for your oils have a goodly fragrance, your name is oil poured forth" — and Rashi explains: a good name is called after good oil, etc. And they sought to conceal the aspect of the holy Name, the aspect of lights of light, and to strengthen — Heaven forbid — the name of impurity. When the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed and defeated them, they established them as a Yom Tov and fixed them with Hallel and thanksgiving, the aspect of l'hodos u-l'halel l'shimcha ha-gadol — "to give thanks and praise to Your great Name" — to magnify and sanctify His great Name, for then His Name was revealed, in the aspect of u-l'cha asisa sheim gadol v'kadosh b'olamecha — "and for Yourself You made a great and holy name in Your world." This is the aspect of the Chanukah candle — a candle of oil — which is the aspect of the lights of light, to kindle and illuminate, the aspect of the lights of light that are the aspect of the holy Name, as above. For the kindling of a lamp of mitzvah is in the aspect of the lights of light — for the sacred fire, that is, the lamp of mitzvah, is not in the aspect of lights of fire, but rather in the aspect of lights of light. For the Divine Presence is called — so to speak — aish ochlah — "a consuming fire" — as it is written: ki Hashem Elokecha aish ochlah hu etc. And it is brought in the holy Zohar (Bereishis 51) that it is called a consuming fire d'achlei kula v'sha'tzei kula — "that consumes all and destroys all." But Israel who cleave to it receive life from it, in the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim ba-Shem Elokeichem chayyim kulchem ha-yom — "And you who cleave to the Lord your God are all alive this day." That is, even though it is a consuming fire and everything it touches is consumed and burned — b'gin d'achlei kola v'sha'tzei kola — nevertheless Israel cleave to it and are not consumed, Heaven forbid. On the contrary, they receive life from it, in the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. This is the aspect of lights of light and lights of fire. For toward the nations of the world it is in the aspect of lights of fire — which is the aspect of the strong judgment of the Divine Presence from which the lights of fire receive their sustenance. Therefore they are consumed and burned by this fire — d'achlei kula v'sha'tzei kula — as above. But Israel who cleave to it and receive life from it — the essential life being the mochin (higher consciousness), as it is written: v'ha-chochmah t'chayyeh — "wisdom gives life" — and the mochin are the aspect of lights of light, it emerges that for Israel it is not the aspect of lights of fire, Heaven forbid, but rather the aspect of lights of light — the aspect of life and mochin, the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim ba-Shem Elokeichem chayyim etc. — for in truth it is all one — Hashem Echad u-shmo Echad. Even the Sitra Achra holds onto holiness and has no vitality except through its grip on holiness — that is, even the lights of fire grip onto holiness, which is when the lights of light depart, the mochin that sweeten judgment — and when they depart strong judgment remains and the lights of fire hold on there. But Israel who cleave to the Divine Presence receive life, for the aspect of lights of light is drawn upon them — the aspect of mochin, which are life — the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc., as above. This is the aspect of the Chanukah miracle — that a small amount of oil burned, that had only been fit to kindle for one day and it burned for eight days — for the Blessed Name showed thereby that the Divine Presence rests among Israel, and Israel who cleave to it are not consumed — on the contrary, they receive life from it — which is the aspect of lights of light, the aspect of the holy Name that was revealed in the Chanukah miracle, as above. And this the Blessed Name demonstrated tangibly in the miracle of the oil — that a small amount of oil burned for so many days, to teach that the lights of fire have no dominion, for Israel cleave to the lights of light. For the lights of fire are the aspect of d'achlei kula v'sha'tzei kula — therefore one needs much oil for as long as one needs to kindle — since the fire burns the oil. But now, through the Chanukah miracle in which God's great Name was magnified and the lights of light prevailed and the lights of fire were subdued, the Blessed Name performed a miracle and showed tangibly even in physical reality that the lights of fire have no dominion, only the lights of light — for a small amount of oil burned and illuminated for a long time and was not immediately burned in one day as would have been expected, because the lights of fire were subdued, as above. This is the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. chayyim etc. — that even though Israel cleave to a consuming fire, they are alive — for for them it is the aspect of lights of light. Even this oil was attached to the fire and was not burned, as above. This is the aspect of the miracle that was constantly present in the Temple Menorah — the western lamp (ner ha-ma'aravi) that burned miraculously for a long time. Our Rabbis of blessed memory said: the western lamp is testimony that the Divine Presence rests among Israel — that is, as above — for Israel cleave to the Divine Presence and they are alive for the fire does not consume them, on the contrary they receive life. This was seen tangibly in the miracle of the western lamp that the oil was not burned by the fire as expected, for it burned beyond the measure. This is testimony to all who come into the world that the Divine Presence rests among Israel — for they are able to cleave to it, in the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. And this is why it is called testimony — for surely testimony is needed for this, since the nations of the world would not believe that the Divine Presence rests among Israel: "How is it possible to cleave to God — is He not a consuming fire?" But in truth Israel cleave to it and on the contrary receive life from it. And this was seen tangibly through the miracle of the western lamp. And our Rabbis of blessed memory said: "How is it possible to cleave to Him, is He not a consuming fire? Rather, cleave to Torah scholars," etc. — for Torah scholars are the aspect of the glory (pe'er) of Israel, which is the aspect of lights of light. And through this it is possible to cleave to Him, as above. (See the above teaching.) This is the aspect of the Shabbos lamp — for on Shabbos the lights of light are revealed, for Shabbas sh'ma d'Kudsha B'rich Hu — "Shabbos is the Name of the Holy Blessed One" (as it is written there). Therefore then it is a mitzvah to kindle a lamp, for the Shabbos lamp — which is a mitzvah lamp — is the aspect of lights of light, as above. Therefore in the days of the Matriarchs one could see this physically — that the Shabbos lamp was the aspect of lights of light as above, and therefore it burned from Shabbos to Shabbos (as Rashi explains on the verse va-y'vi'eha Yitzchak ha-ohelah etc.). This is the aspect of the subduing of the lights of fire and the prevailing of the lights of light, as above. And even now — although we do not merit to see this physically — nonetheless in truth every mitzvah lamp, such as the Shabbos lamp, the Temple lamp, the Chanukah lamp, and the like, they are all the aspect of lights of light, as above — which is the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim ba-Shem etc. And this is the aspect of ki ner mitzvah v'Torah or v'derech chayyim tochachus mussar — "for a mitzvah is a lamp and Torah is light, and the way of life is the rebuke of correction" — derech chayyim tochachus mussar is the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. chayyim — for the Divine Presence — so to speak — is the aspect of tochachus mussar, the aspect of asher yisratu immo — "which his mother rebuked him" — for She rebukes and reproaches the whole world through Her judgments. But the nations of the world are consumed and burned by the harsh judgments — in the aspect of consuming fire, d'achlei kula v'sha'tzei kula — as above. But Israel are not consumed by the judgments, Heaven forbid, in the aspect of ki e'eseh chalah b'chol ha-goyim oscha lo e'eseh chalah — "for I will make a full end of all the nations, but of you I will not make a full end." And of them it is said: v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. — for they receive life from Her, as above. And this is v'derech chayyim tochachus mussar, as above. This is the aspect of ki ner mitzvah — a mitzvah lamp literally — which is the aspect of lights of light, as above. And this is v'Torah or — for the Torah is the aspect of the three colors of the eye and the pupil, the aspect of the lights of light mentioned above. And this is v'derech chayyim etc. — for all this is the aspect of derech chayyim tochachus mussar, the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc., which is the aspect of lights of light, as above. This is the aspect of the vision that Moshe saw at the burning bush — he saw that the bush was burning in fire yet the bush was not consumed — which is the aspect mentioned above, the aspect of consuming fire d'achlei kula etc., yet nevertheless v'atem ha-d'vekim etc., as above. And therefore the Holy Blessed One showed this to Moshe at the very beginning of Israel's drawing near — for God wanted to show Moshe the greatness of the love of Israel that He chose them to draw near to Him above all seventy nations, and He alluded this to him at the bush — just as the bush burns in fire yet is not consumed, so too literally Israel are able to cleave to God even though He is a consuming fire. For of them it is said: v'atem ha-d'vekim ba-Shem Elokeichem chayyim etc., as above. This is the aspect of Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah who gave their lives for the sanctification of God's Name and were thrown into the furnace of fire and were not burned — for they are called ba'alei sheim tov (owners of a good name), as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Midrash Koheles on the verse "a good name"): "We find that owners of a good name who entered the place of death and came out alive," etc. — which are Chananiah, etc. It emerges that they were ba'alei sheim tov — the aspect of lights of light — and therefore the fire — the aspect of lights of fire — did not have dominion over them, as above. For of them it is said: v'atem ha-d'vekim etc., as above. And therefore the satraps and governors who threw them into the furnace were burned by the flames of fire — for against the nations the fire was in the aspect of consuming fire d'achlei kola v'sha'tzei kola. And the same fire against Israel — the ba'alei sheim — was in the aspect of lights of light, the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc., as above. And this is itself the aspect of Avraham Avinu of blessed memory who was thrown into the furnace of fire and came out alive while Haran died in that same fire — that is, as above, the aspect of consuming fire d'achlei kola etc. and v'atem ha-d'vekim etc., as above. This is the meaning of Atah hu Hashem ha-Elokim asher bacharta v'Avram v'hotzeisav me'ur Kasdim — "You are the Lord God who chose Avram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees." For through bringing him out of Ur of the Chaldees — from the furnace of fire — in this He chose him. For this is the holiness of Israel who are chosen from among seventy nations — the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. — that they cleave to the consuming fire and yet are alive. Thus through this miracle of being saved from the furnace of fire — the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. — God showed through this that He chose him from all the nations. For all of them are unable to cleave to Him — b'gin d'achlei kola v'sha'tzei kola — only Avraham and his descendants alone, as above, in the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. And this is asher bacharta v'Avram v'hotzeisav me'ur Kasdim — bacharta specifically — for through being saved from the fire — the aspect of v'atem ha-d'vekim etc. — in this he is chosen from all the nations, as above. And this is v'samta sh'mo Avraham — this is the aspect of the magnification of the Name, which is the aspect of lights of light, opposite of lights of fire — through which he was saved from the furnace of fire, as above. This is the aspect of the timing of the kindling of the Chanukah lamp — from when the sun sets (mishkiah ha-chamah). For the setting of the sun is the aspect of the departure of the light — then the lights of fire are aroused (as explained there in the above teaching). And therefore precisely then is the time of kindling the Chanukah lamp, which is the aspect of lights of light, as above — in order to illuminate the aspect of lights of light to subdue the lights of fire. This is the aspect of the Chanukah miracle, as above — for through the greatness of the Chanukah miracle it becomes now as it is on Shabbos, when the lights of fire have no dominion, only the lights of light, as above. And therefore it is called Chanukah — on account of the dedication of the altar (chanukas ha-Mizbeach) that was dedicated then in the days of the Second Temple. And similarly, on Chanukah one reads the portion of the Princes (Nesi'im) — what they offered at the raising of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) — for the raising of the Tabernacle and the Temple is the aspect of lights of light, for there the lights of light illuminate (as explained there). And this is the aspect of the Chanukah lamp, as above. Therefore they are connected to each other, as above.

Likutay Halachos — Laws of Hoshana Rabbah, Halachos 1–2

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