Running Commentary on Torah 34 — V'Atem Tihyu Li Mamleches Kohanim

Beginner: **Opening heading and translator's note.** Rabbeinu's teaching is titled by its central verse: "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, these are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Shemos/Exodus 19:6). The translator's note explains one of the technical terms Rabbeinu will use throughout — *melafum* (also called *shuruk*), the vowel written as a dot inside the letter vav (וּ). The name *melafum* literally means "full mouth." Preview of the teaching: the Torah will show how reproaches and disgraces are nullified by binding the heart to a point of holy love and speech — and how this is achieved through three channels that all trace back to the tzaddik. Intermediate: **Opening**: "V'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh — eileh ha'devarim asher t'daber el b'nei Yisrael" (Shem 19:6). Translator's note on *melafum* (the vowel וּ, lit. "full mouth"). Preview: nullifying reproaches via holy love and speech — three channels traced to the tzaddik.

Beginner: **Rabbeinu's opening pasuk in his own voice.** Rabbeinu now cites the verse directly: "V'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh" — "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." This is the target phrase that the entire teaching will illuminate step by step. Every term in it — "kingdom," "priests," "holy," "nation" — encodes a specific rung in the avodah that follows. Intermediate: **Pasuk in Rabbeinu's voice**: "V'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh" (Shem 19:6) — target phrase for the entire derashah.

Beginner: **Reproach breaks the heart — and its rectification.** Rabbeinu continues the pasuk — "these are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel" — and sets up the teaching with a verse from Tehillim: "Cherpah shavrah libi" (Tehillim 69:21) — "Reproach has broken my heart." Being shamed, insulted, or disgraced is not just emotionally painful; it literally breaks the heart of a person on a spiritual level. The tikkun (rectification), Rabbeinu teaches, is for the person to connect his heart to the specific **nekudah** (point, divine spark) that belongs to his heart at that moment. Once the heart is bound to its nekudah, the reproach that had been settling on it is nullified. He then introduces the general principle that governs the whole teaching: the rulership of the world is in the hand of the tzaddik. The Gemara (Mo'ed Katan 16b) expounds: "Tzaddik moshel — tzaddik rules"; and the Holy One Himself says, as it were, "Who rules over Me? The tzaddik." This rulership will be the key to how the nekudah-heart binding actually works. Intermediate: **Cherpah shavrah libi** (Teh 69:21) — reproach breaks the heart. **Tikkun**: bind lev to the nekudah of this moment → nullifies the cherpah. **Klal**: rulership is in the tzaddik's hand — "tzaddik moshel" (MK 16b); "mi moshel bi — tzaddik".

Beginner: **Yosef the ruler — root of Israel's souls — and the melafum vowel.** This rulership is what Torah means when it calls Yosef ha-tzaddik "ha-shalit" — "And Yosef, he is the ruler" (Bereshis 42:6). Yosef is the **shoresh kelalus nishmos Yisrael** — the root of the collective souls of Israel; all Jews are his "branches" who receive from him. But the whole *point* of this rulership is not domination — it is **to illuminate and awaken Israel's hearts to the service of Hashem**. Rabbeinu brings Moshe's blessing on Yehudah: "Shema Hashem kol Yehudah, v'el amo t'vi'enu" — "Hear, Hashem, the voice of Yehudah, and bring him to his people" (Devarim 33:7). That is: let the tzaddik's light reach into his branches — into the hearts of Israel. Rabbeinu now reveals that this aspect of "Yosef ha-shalit" is specifically the aspect of the **melafum** vowel (the dot-in-vav וּ). In kabbalistic terms, the bris (covenant = circumcision) corresponds to the sefirah of Yesod, and the merkavah (chariot) for Yesod is the Divine Name of four letters vocalized with melafum — Ya-H(o)-Va-Ho (see Tikkun 70; Sha'arei Tziyon, gate of tikkun ha-nefesh). Intermediate: **"V'Yosef hu ha-shalit"** (Ber 42:6) — shoresh kelalus nishmos Yisrael; the rest are anafim. Purpose of memshalah: **להאיר ולעורר** their lev to avodas Hashem (Dev 33:7). Aspect of **melafum** — bris-merkavah of yesod; Havayah vocalized with melafum (Tikkun 70; Sha'arei Tziyon).

Beginner: **Melafum = "full mouth" — why prayer is needed; every Jew is a ruler; government after Matan Torah.** The name *melafum* is read by Rabbeinu as the phrase **mulai pum** — "full mouth." What does this convey? That the **vessel of abundance — which is the mouth of the tzaddik — is full from the divinity of Hashem.** Rabbeinu uses this to answer a classical difficulty: why do we need to pray at all, when Hashem already knows our thoughts? The answer: speech itself is the vessel into which shefa (abundance) is poured. "He blessed you according as He spoke to you" (Devarim 1:11) — the flow follows the speech. When the mouth is full and whole, it can hold a great quantity of abundance, and the tzaddik's mouth certainly is in that state of fullness — which is why he draws down shefa to all Israel. Then Rabbeinu extends this dramatically: **every Jew has within him the aspect of "tzaddik moshel" — the aspect of full-mouth.** As Yeshayahu says, "v'amcha kulam tzaddikim" — "your people are all tzaddikim" (Yeshayahu 60:21); and "Yisrael memshelosav" — "Israel is His rulership" (Tehillim 114:2) — that is, "Who rules over Me? The tzaddik" applies to every Jew. Each Jew possesses a particular precious thing — a nekudah — that his fellow does not have. Rabbeinu illustrates this with the Gemara in Ta'anis 21b about Abaye and Abba Umna: Abaye tries to test Abba Umna's righteousness by sending students, but finds he cannot match Abba Umna's measure — "you cannot do the deed of Abba Umna." This special aspect in each Jew, which the other does not possess, influences, illuminates, and awakens the fellow's heart; the fellow must receive arousal precisely from *this* — "u-mkabelin dein min dein," as the angels say one to another (cf. Yeshayahu 6:3 / Targum). Before Matan Torah, government was in Hashem's hand alone. After Matan Torah, He handed the government over to Israel — each one ruling according to his aspect. The letters of the Torah are the garments of Hashem's ratzon (will); every mitzvah is garbed in that will (tefillin, for example — His will that they be four parshiyos in leather boxes, not silver; so too throughout Torah). Now that the Torah is in our hands, the Divine will is in our hands, and we "rule" — as it were, making His will according to our will. This is the Yerushalmi's teaching (Rosh Hashanah 4:1): "Rabbos asisa atah Hashem Elokai" — before Matan Torah You did many things; and "v'nifle'osecha u-machshevosecha eleinu" — afterwards, Your wonders and Your thoughts are toward *us*. Intermediate: **Melafum = "mulai pum" (malei pum)** — kli ha-shefa/pi ha-tzaddik is full of Elokus. Answers: why pray? Speech is the vessel; shefa follows the mouth (Dev 1:11). **Every Jew = "tzaddik moshel" = malei pum** (Yesh 60:21; Teh 114:2). Each has a unique **nekudah** his fellow lacks — Abaye+Abba Umna (Taan 21b) — which illuminates and awakens his fellow's lev ("u-mkabelin dein min dein," Yesh 6:3 / Tgm). Post-Matan Torah: Hashem gave government into Israel's hand — letters of Torah = garments of ratzon (e.g. tefillin = 4 parshiyos in leather); thus we "rule" His will (Yerushalmi RH 4:1 — "rabbos asisa... v'nifle'osecha eleinu").

Beginner: **"All is in our hands" — the post-Sinai shift.** This is the meaning of "Anochi Hashem Elokecha ha-ma'alcha me'eretz Mitzrayim" — "I am Hashem your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt" — followed immediately by "harchev picha va-amal'enu" — "Widen your mouth and I will fill it" (Tehillim 81:11). Before Matan Torah, *I* was everything — all was Anochi. After Matan Torah: *you* widen your mouth, and I fill it. This is exactly the aspect of melafum — "full mouth" — which is the aspect of "Yosef hu ha-shalit" — Yosef the ruler: the tzaddik's mouth (and by extension every Jew's mouth) draws down the shefa. Intermediate: **"All in our hands"**: "Anochi Hashem... ha-ma'alcha me-Mitzrayim" (Teh 81:11) — pre-Torah everything was Anochi. Post-Torah: "harchev picha va-amal'enu." This is **melafum = "Yosef hu ha-shalit"**.

Beginner: **"Who rules over Me" — mouth-expansion governs shefa; Yosef drawn from chochmah and binah; melafum in klal and prat.** "Who rules over Me? — the tzaddik" means the **shefa follows the expansion of the mouth** — each person's speech-vessel holds according to its measure. The melafum — "full mouth," which is "Yosef the ruler" — is structurally a **nekudah (point) combined with a vav (the vertical line)**, i.e. the dot inside the vav. Why does Yosef correspond to this? Because Yosef is drawn from both **chochmah and binah**, as Paro tells him, "acharei hodi'a Elokim oscha es kol zos, ein navon v'chacham kamocha" — "after God has made all this known to you, there is none as wise (chacham) and understanding (navon) as you" (Bereshis 41:39). **Chochmah** is the **nekudah — the yud — the spring (ma'ayan)**. **Binah** is the **stream (nachal) that flows from the spring**; because of its flowing/drawing character, it is called **vav** — the letter shaped like a descending line, the nachal drawn from the yud-spring. The melafum — nekudah inside vav — therefore exists both in **klal (generality)** and **prat (particularity)**. At the level of klal: the Ten Commandments are the "yud" (ten = numerical value of yud), and the two Luchos are the "vav," as the Gemara teaches that the tablets were **six by six** cubits (Bava Basra 14a). Torah and world together are also yud + vav: Torah = yud, world = vav. Intermediate: **"Mi moshel bi"** = shefa according to expansion of peh; vessel of speech — each according to his measure. Melafum ("Yosef ha-shalit") = **nekudah + vav**. Yosef drawn from **chochmah + binah** (Ber 41:39 "navon v'chacham"). **Chochmah = nekudah = yud = ma'ayan**; **binah = nachal = vav** drawn from yud. Melafum in **klal + prat**: aseres ha-dibros (=yud) + luchos (=vav, 6×6, BB 14a); Torah=yud + olam=vav.

Beginner: **Torah = yud; world = vav; individual yud + vav; broken tablets = orlas lev; shviras ha-kelim of chesed; priesthood from Shem to Avraham to Pinchas.** The Torah is yud — "reishis chochmah" — the beginning of wisdom (Tehillim 111:10). The world is vav — created in **six days** (vav = 6). Tzaddik and Israel together are also yud and vav: the tzaddik is yud, for the tzaddikim are called "the sages of the congregation" (see Introduction to the Zohar page 8; Shemos 27; Ma'orei Or); Israel is vav, because they are "tamchei Oraisa" (supporters of Torah) and are called "vavei ha-amudim" (the hooks that hold up the pillars of the Mishkan). Even **within a single Jew**, there is yud + vav: **yud** on account of the mouth — "pi yedaber chochmos" — "my mouth speaks wisdoms" (Tehillim 49:4); **vav** on account of the heart — "v'hagus libi tevunos" — "and the meditation of my heart is understandings" (ibid.), which is the aspect of the Luchos (which are vav), as it is written "kashrem al gargerosecha, kasvem al lu'ach libecha" — "bind them upon your throat, write them on the tablet of your heart" (Mishlei 3:3). **Now the reverse direction: what happens when the heart is corrupted.** When the heart (= vav / luchos) is sunk in **ahavos ra'os** — evil/fallen loves — that is, in reproaches and disgraces, which together are called **orlas ha-lev** — "the foreskin of the heart" (Devarim 10:16) — then the heart is in the aspect of **broken Luchos (shivrei luchos)**. Reproach itself is the aspect of orlah (foreskin), as it is said regarding Shechem: "lo nuchal la'asos es ha-davar ha-zeh, la'seis es achoseinu l'ish asher lo arlah, ki cherpah hi lanu" — "we cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who has a foreskin, for it is a reproach to us" (Bereshis 34:14). It is the aspect of a fallen and broken love. The reason: it is known (from Etz Chayim, Heichal ha-Nekudim, Sha'ar Shviras ha-Kelim, chapter 3) that the evil inclination and the **klipos (shells)** were formed from the **shviras ha-kelim (breaking of the vessels)**. Specifically, the shviras ha-kelim of **chesed** fell into **binah of Creation — which is binah, the heart** (Pesach Eliyahu); but **the light of chesed itself remained above, in yesod of Atzilus** — which is the aspect of "tzaddik yesod olam" (Mishlei 10:25). So evil loves are derived from the shviras ha-kelim of chesed. Onkelos renders "ki cherpah hi lanu" as "ari chisuda hu lana" — from the root chisda (the Aramaic for chesed) — because reproach is literally composed of the fragments of chesed. You can observe this with the senses: "al kol pesha'im techaseh ahavah" — "love covers all transgressions" (Mishlei 10:12). Even when someone sins against his fellow, if there is real love between them, the offended party does not hurl reproaches — love covers. Only when the bris (covenant) of love between them becomes corrupt — i.e. shviras ha-kelim of their chesed — does reproach come out. So reproach = fragments of chesed fallen. When the heart is sunk in reproach = orlas lev = shivrei luchos, that is precisely "cherpah shavrah libi." **The tikkun** is to connect the heart (vav) to the yud = nekudah = tzaddik, where the light of holy love still dwells (for the light of chesed remained in yesod of Atzilus). The tzaddik — the nekudah where holy love dwells — illuminates into the vav (the heart), and the orlas lev, the reproaches, are nullified. "Al kol pesha'im techaseh ahavah" — there, in the tzaddik's light, dwells holy love. The Gemara (Nedarim 32b) says: the Holy One originally sought to bring kehunah (priesthood) out of Shem, but because Shem placed Avraham's blessing before the Place's blessing, He took it from Shem and gave it to Avraham — "atah kohen le-olam al divrasi Malki Tzedek" (Tehillim 110:4). Intermediate: **Torah=yud** ("reishis chochmah," Teh 111:10); **olam=vav** (6 days). **Tzaddik+Yisrael=yud+vav**: tzaddikim=chachmei ha-keneses (Zohar intro 8; Ma'orei Or); Yisrael=tamchei Oraisa=vavei ha-amudim. **In each Jew**: yud=peh ("pi yedaber chochmos," Teh 49:4), vav=lev ("v'hagus libi tevunos")=luchos (Mish 3:3 "kasvem al lu'ach libecha"). **Lev sunk in ahavos ra'os/charafos = orlas lev** (Dev 10:16) = shivrei luchos. **Cherpah=orlah** (Ber 34:14); yetzer+klipos from **shviras ha-kelim** of **chesed** (Etz Chayim, Heichal ha-Nekudim sha'ar 3; Pesach Eliyahu); or chesed remained in yesod Atzilus ("tzaddik yesod olam," Mish 10:25). Onkelos: cherpah = chisuda (fragments of chesed). "Al kol pesha'im techaseh ahavah" (Mish 10:12) — kisui cherpah is ahavah. **Tikkun**: vav-lev to yud-nekudah-tzaddik → orlas lev buttled. Kehunah from Shem → Avraham (Ned 32b; Teh 110:4).

Beginner: **Priesthood given to Pinchas = bris of peace = holy love; two channels: hisbodedus and speech with a fellow.** And when the Holy One gave kehunah to Pinchas, He said: "hineni nosen lo es brisi shalom" — "Behold I give him My covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12). Kehunah is the aspect of ahavah (love) — it is the portion of Avraham Avinu, who "dwells in the place of bris shalom" — the aspect of the tzaddik, yesod olam. From this everything follows: **every person needs to speak between himself and his Creator (hisbodedus)** — so that his **nekudah** ("pi yedaber chochmos") will illuminate into his **vav** ("v'hagus libi tevunos"), and thereby the orlas ha-lev / reproaches / evil loves are nullified. **But also — every person needs to speak with his fellow in yiras shamayim (fear of Heaven)** — in order to receive arousal in his own heart from **the nekudah that is in his fellow more than in himself**, as the angels call one to another: "u-mkabelin dein min dein." This special aspect in the fellow (which is *not* in you) is itself a nekudah. Intermediate: Kehunah to Pinchas = **brisi shalom** (Bamid 25:12) = ahavah = Avraham's portion = "mekom bris shalom" = tzaddik yesod olam. Two channels: (1) **Hisbodedus**: daber beino l'bein kono → nekudah ("pi yedaber chochmos") illuminates vav ("v'hagus libi tevunos") → nullifies orlas lev. (2) **Daber im chavero b'yiras shamayim** → receive arousal from chavero's higher nekudah ("u-mkabelin dein min dein").

Beginner: **The nekudah called "kohen"; three aspects; all branches of the kelal-tzaddik; Rachel + Yosef; "ki pi ha-medaber."** In this nekudah — your fellow's higher point — dwells the love that is called "kohen." The nekudah is the aspect of *tzaddik* with respect to your fellow, and it illuminates into the vav of his heart. All of these nekudos — the "pi yedaber chochmos" nekudah you have yourself, the nekudah in each Jew that his fellow doesn't have, and the kelal-nekudah of Israel that is the tzaddik — are all **branches** of the tzaddik, who is the kelal (the generality/collective). **Therefore the order is critical**: one must first receive from the tzaddik (the kelal-nekudah); then "u-mkabelin dein min dein" — each receives from each; and each also receives from himself within himself. Through these three aspects, the reproaches / orlas lev / evil loves are nullified, and "al kol pesha'im techaseh ahavah" is fulfilled — because there, in the tzaddik's light, the holy love dwells. When Yosef — the embodied tzaddik — was born, Rachel said: "asaf Elokim es cherpasi" — "God has gathered up my reproach" (Bereshis 30:23) — because the revelation of the nekudah where holy love dwells nullifies the reproaches-as-orlas-lev. And regarding Yosef it says "ki pi ha-medaber aleichem" — "for my mouth speaks to you" (Bereshis 45:12), on which Rashi comments "ke-fi ken libi" — "as my mouth, so is my heart" (see Megillah 16b). That is: Yosef illuminated his nekudah (peh) into his vav (lev) — "pi yedaber chochmos" into "v'hagus libi tevunos." And it is written of him, "va-y'daber al libam" — "and he spoke to their heart" (Bereshis 50:21); Rashi: "devarim she-hem mis'kablim al ha-lev" — words that settle on the heart. Intermediate: Nekudah of chavero = **kohen** (ahavah kedoshah) = tzaddik vis-à-vis chavero → meira l'vav chavero. All nekudos (atzmi / chavero / kelal) = **anafim** to the **nekudah kelalis = tzaddik**. Order: (1) mi-tzaddik, (2) dein min dein, (3) minah u-va (atzmo). Dereich 3 bechinos → battled charafos/orlas lev → **"al kol pesha'im techaseh ahavah"** (Mish 10:12). Leidas Yosef: **"asaf Elokim es cherpasi"** (Ber 30:23). **"Ki pi ha-medaber aleichem"** (Ber 45:12) — Rashi "ke-fi ken libi" (Meg 16b): peh-nekudah → vav-lev. **"Va-y'daber al libam"** (Ber 50:21) — nekudas kelal el lev Yisrael.

Beginner: **The full peirush ha-pasuk.** By means of these three aspects — (1) connection to the tzaddikim, who illuminate the learner because they are the kelal-nekudah of Israel and awaken his heart; (2) speaking with one's fellow, where each can illuminate and awaken the other's heart; and (3) speaking oneself between oneself and one's Creator, arousing one's own heart via "pi yedaber chochmos" — one removes the orlas lev. **This is the meaning of the opening pasuk**: **"V'atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim"** — "and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests" — this is the aspect of **holy love (ahavah kedoshah)**, for kohanim are the men of chesed/love; **"v'goy kadosh"** — "and a holy nation" — this is **kedushah, which is the aspect of nekudah + vav = the rectified heart**. How does one arrive at both ahavah-kedoshah and kedushas ha-lev? **"Eileh ha-devarim asher t'daber el b'nei Yisrael"** — through "these words you shall speak to the children of Israel." For **Moshe is the kelal-nekudah of all the souls of Israel** — the one first-recipient through whom the illumination flows into each Jew's personal nekudah, and from each Jew's nekudah into his fellow's heart, and into his own heart. When you receive from all three of these — your own nekudah, your fellow's nekudah, and the kelal-nekudah — there dwells holy love = kohen. As Hashem said to Pinchas: "hineni nosen lo es brisi shalom" — the nekudah is the bris shalom, for (Etz Chayim) "the light of chesed remained in yesod of Atzilus." [**Hashmatah from the Rebbe**: When one speaks with one's fellow in yiras shamayim, one receives the nekudah of the fellow's heart without a garment (directly). Sometimes, however, he receives the fellow's nekudah *through* ordinary things they discuss — even from mundane speech. Then the nekudah-light is received clothed: the nekudah at times needs to garb itself in those speeches, and the receiver draws from it through that garb.] Intermediate: **Peirush ha-pasuk**: **Mamleches kohanim** = ahavah kedoshah (kohanim=anshei chesed); **goy kadosh** = kedushah = nekudah+vav = lev metukan. Ha-derech: **"eileh ha-devarim asher t'daber"** = Moshe = **nekudah kelalis of nishmos Yisrael** → first from Moshe → each to fellow → each in himself. Ha-nekudah = **bris shalom** (Etz Chayim: or ha-chesed nish'ar b'yesod Atzilus). **Hashmatah**: im chavero b'yiras shamayim → nekudah bli levush; ve-gam derech sichas chulin → nekudah malbeshes atzmah be-divrei ha-rei'im.