Running Commentary on Torah 9 — Tehomos Yechasyumu

Beginner: Torah 9 opens with the standard marker — **"Lashon Rabbenu, zichrono livrachah"** — signaling Reb Nosson's recording of the Rebbe's own words. A brief, tightly-folded Torah that uses Rabba bar bar Chana's dust-sniffing Arab as a mashal for the tzaddik hador who 'smells' where every Jew is in his tefillah and how far from water (emunah) he stands. Intermediate: Standard marker: **"Lashon Rabbenu, zichrono livrachah."** A tightly-folded Torah using Rabba bar bar Chana's dust-sniffing Arab as mashal for the tzaddik hador who 'smells' where a Jew stands in tefillah and how far from water.

Beginner: The pasuk it will elucidate: **"Tehomos yechasyumu; yardu bi'metzolos k'mo aven"** — 'the depths covered them; they went down into the deeps like a stone' (Shemos 15:5) — from Shiras ha'Yam. The Rebbe will fold this into his teaching on tefillah: the Egyptians descended because they had no tefillah (no ruach chayim); Israel rose because tefillah was on their lips. A pasuk about the sea becomes a pasuk about every Jew's davening. Intermediate: Base pasuk: **"Tehomos yechasyumu; yardu bi'metzolos k'mo aven"** (Shem 15:5) — Shiras ha'Yam. Egyptians descended without tefillah; Israel rose by tefillah. A sea-verse becomes a davening-verse.

Beginner: **"א."** — Section 1 heading. Intermediate: **"א"** — Section 1 heading.

Beginner: **"The essence of chayus (life-force) is received from **tefillah**, as it is written: **'tefillah le'El chayai'** — 'prayer to the G-d of my life' (Tehillim 42:9) — and therefore one must daven with all his koach — because when he davens with all his koach and enters his koach into the **otiyos ha'tefillah** (letters of the prayer), there his koach is renewed, in the aspect of: **'chadashim la'bekarim, rabah emunasecha'** (Eichah 3:23) — 'new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.' Because **emunah is tefillah**, as it is written: **'vayehi yadav emunah'** (Shemos 17:12) — Targum: **'perisen bitzlo'** (spread in prayer)."** Davening with full koach is not performance-effort but a **deposit-and-renewal** transaction: you put your kochos into the letters and they come back new next morning. Intermediate: **Ikar chayus from tefillah**: "tefillah le'El chayai" (Teh 42:9). Must daven with all his koach — entering his koach into the **otiyos ha'tefillah** renews it: **"chadashim la'bekarim, rabah emunasecha"** (Eichah 3:23). **Emunah = tefillah** ("vayehi yadav emunah," Shem 17:12, Targum "perisen bitzlo"). Davening with full koach = deposit-and-renewal transaction in the letters.

Beginner: **"ב."** — Section 2 heading. Intermediate: **"ב"** — Section 2 heading.

Beginner: **Know — there are twelve shvatim, corresponding to the twelve mazalos (constellations)**, as in **Tikkun 18** and **Tikkun 21**. And each individual shevet has its own **nuscha m'yuchedes** (a dedicated version of the tefillah) and its own **sha'ar m'yuchad** (a dedicated gate) through which to enter its tefillah. And each shevet, through its tefillah, **arouses the koach of its mazal** among the twelve mazalos — and the mazal then illuminates below and grows the **tzemach** (plant) and the rest of the things that need it. And this is the peirush of (**Bamidbar 24:17**): **"Darach kochav mi'Yaakov v'kam shevet mi'Yisrael"** — 'a star has stepped out of Yaakov and a scepter has arisen from Israel.' **"V'kam"** — this is the aspect of **amidah**, which is the aspect of **tefillah**. When a shevet of Yisrael stands up to daven, through this he arouses the **kochav** (star), and the kochav **treads and strikes** the [earthly] things so that they grow — as Chazal said (**Bereishis Rabbah 10:6**): **"There is no blade of grass below that does not have a kochav and a mal'ach above striking it and telling it: 'Grow!'"** Tefillah is literally the mechanism by which the stars command the plants to push upward. And this is what Chazal said (**Pesachim 118a**; see also **Sotah 2a**): **"Kashin mezonosav shel adam k'kri'as Yam Suf, v'kasheh zivugo [k'kri'as Yam Suf]"** — 'A person's sustenance is as difficult [to arrange] as the splitting of the Yam Suf, and his match is as difficult as the splitting of the Yam Suf.' Because the Yam Suf was split into **twelve keri'in** (tears/pieces), corresponding to the twelve shvatim (**Pirkei d'Rabi Eliezer 42**; see also **Tikkun 21, 59a**). And Bnei Yisrael, through their tefillah, cause the **zivuga d'Kudsha Berich Hu u'Shechintei** (the union of HKB"H and the Shechinah), as it is written (**Tehillim 68:5**): **"Solu la'rochev ba'aravos"** — '**rochev** = HKB"H; **aravos** = the Shechinah, in whom all the colors are mixed.' And according to the zivug that a person causes through his tefillah, so does he merit his own zivug. And the tefillah itself consists of **twelve nuscha'os** — therefore the zivug is **"k'kri'as Yam Suf"** because that too is twelve. And also, **Yisrael feed their Father in Heaven through their tefillah** (see **Zohar Vayikra 7b**; **Pinchas 226a**; **245b**), as it is written (**Tehillim 105:10**): **"Va'ya'amideha l'Yaakov l'chok"** — 'and He established it for Yaakov as a decree.' **"Chok"** is a term for **mezona** (sustenance) (**Beitzah 16a**), and **"ein amidah ela tefillah"** — 'there is no amidah except tefillah' (**Berachos 6b**). And this is the peirush of (**Tehillim 99:7**): **"Shamru edosav v'chok nasan lamo"** — 'they kept His testimonies and the decree that He gave them.' **"Edus"** is tefillah, as it is written (**Tehillim 122:4**): **"Shivtei Kah edus l'Yisrael l'hodos l'shem Hashem"** — 'the tribes of Kah, a testimony for Yisrael, to give thanks to the Name of Hashem.' And Chazal also said (**Shevuos 30a**): **"ein edus ela ba'amidah"** — 'there is no testimony except standing.' And **amidah is tefillah**, through which we testify to His unity. And according to how a person feeds his Father in Heaven through his tefillah, so is his own parnasah given to him. And this is: **"kashin mezonosav k'kri'as Yam Suf"** — meaning, mezonos is divided into **twelve shvilim** (channels), corresponding to the twelve shivtei Kah. And one needs great **zechus** (merit) for this — that a person should merit to raise his tefillah **through the sha'ar that belongs to his shevet**. And this is what Abba Binyamin said (**Berachos 5b**): **"All my days I would distress myself over two things — over my tefillah, that it should be samuch (close) to my mitah"** — meaning, as stated above, that he should daven **through the sha'ar of his mitah** (his tribal-bed), because there are twelve mitos, and each one has its own sha'ar. And he was davening that **his tefillah should not be distanced from his own mitah**. And this is the lashon **"mitah"** — because **mitah is a l'shon zivug**, as in the next statement of Abba Binyamin: **"al mitasi she'tehei nesunah"** etc. And **mitah is a bechinah of zivug**. Also, **mitah is a bechinah of parnasah**, as it is written (**Vayikra 26:26**): **"b'shivri lachem matteh lechem"** — 'when I break for you the staff of bread' — because the twelve mitos cause zivug and give parnasah, as stated above: **"kasheh zivugan v'kashin mezonosav"**. And he also davened on behalf of **his shevet** — that they should merit the **two shulchanos** (tables of wealth and wisdom). And this is: **"v'al mitasi she'tehei nesunah bein tzafon l'darom"** — 'and over my bed, that it should be placed between north and south' — and Chazal said (**Bava Basra 25b**): **"ha'rotzeh l'hachkim yadrim, v'ha'rotzeh l'ha'ashir yatzpin"** — 'one who wishes to become wise should face south, one who wishes to become wealthy should face north.' And **Yaakov Avinu**, who is **kollel kol shneim asar ha'shvatim** (he includes all twelve shvatim), and who **knew every individual mitah in its root** — for this reason it is written about him (**Bereishis 49:33**): **"va'ye'esof Yaakov raglav el ha'mitah"** — 'and Yaakov gathered his feet onto the bed.' **"Raglav"** — this is the bechinah of tefillah, as it is written (**Tehillim 85:14**): **"tzedek l'fanav yehalech"** — 'righteousness goes before Him' (see **Berachos 14b**) — meaning, he was **gathering all the tefillos, each one to its own root**. And he also had **koach** in his hand to give **a chelek from among the chalakim of the world to Yosef**, as it is written (**Bereishis 48:22**): **"Va'ani nasati lecha shechem echad al achecha"** — 'and I have given you Shechem, one portion above your brothers' — because through his tefillah he was sending **chiyus (life-force) to all three chalakim of the world**, which are: **olam ha'shafal** (the lowly world), **olam ha'kochavim** (the world of stars), and **olam ha'mal'achim** (the world of angels). And this is **SHe-Ch-M** = **SH**afal, **K**ochav, **M**al'ach — because **all of this he merited through his tefillah**, as it is written (ibid.): **"asher lakachti mi'yad [ha'Emori] b'charbi u'v'kashti"** — which Onkelos translates: **"b'tzeloti u'v'va'usi"** = 'through my tefillah and my bakashah.' Intermediate: **12 shvatim ↔ 12 mazalos** (Tik 18, 21). Each shevet: own **nusach** + **sha'ar**; davens → arouses koach of its mazal → mazal meir l'matah, grows tzemach etc. **"Darach kochav mi'Yaakov v'kam shevet mi'Yisrael"** (Bam 24:17) — **"v'kam"** = amidah = tefillah; shevet standing → arouses **kochav** which doresh/makeh things below to grow (**BR 10:6**: "ein lecha eisev mi'l'matah she'ein lo kochav u'mal'ach mi'l'ma'alah she'makeh oso v'omer lo: g'dal!"). **"Kashin mezonosav k'kri'as Yam Suf, v'kasheh zivugo"** (Pes 118a; Sot 2a). Yam Suf niKra l'**12 keri'in** k'neged 12 shvatim (**PdRE 42**; **Tik 21, 59a**). Yisrael b'tefillasam → **zivuga d'KBH u'Shechinta**: **"solu la'rochev ba'aravos"** (Tehillim 68:5) — rochev=KBH, aravos=Shechinta ("she'nis'arev bah kol ha'gonin"). 12 nuscha'os → zivug k'12 keri'in. **Yisrael mefarnesin l'Avihem she'baShamayim b'tefillasam** (Zohar Vayikra 7b; Pinchas 226a; 245b): **"va'ya'amideha l'Yaakov l'chok"** (Tehillim 105:10); **"chok l'shana d'mezona hu"** (Beitzah 16a); **"ein amidah ela tefillah"** (Ber 6b). **"Shamru edosav v'chok nasan lamo"** (Tehillim 99:7); **"shivtei Kah edus l'Yisrael"** (Teh 122:4); **"ein edus ela ba'amidah"** (Shevuos 30a) — amidah=tefillah me'idin al achduso. K'fi she'mefarnes l'Aviv → nosnin lo parnasaso. **Mezonos ne'chlak l'12 shvilim** k'neged 12 shivtei Kah. Tzarich zechus gadol she'yiz'keh l'ha'alos tefillaso **derech sha'ar ha'shayach l'shivto**. **Abba Binyamin** (Ber 5b): "**al tefilasi she'tehei samuch l'mitasi**" = yispallel derech sha'ar shel **mitaso** (12 mitos, kol achas sha'ar m'yuchad); she'lo tisra'chek tefillaso mi'mitaso. **Mitah** = (a) zivug ("al mitasi she'tehei nesunah"); (b) parnasah (**"b'shivri lachem matteh lechem"**, Vay 26:26). 12 mitos gormin zivug u'mefarnesin → "kasheh zivugan v'kashin mezonosav." **"Al mitasi she'tehei nesunah bein tzafon l'darom"** — **BB 25b**: "ha'rotzeh l'hachkim yadrim, ha'rotzeh l'ha'ashir yatzpin" (2 shulchanos). **Yaakov** = kollel kol 12 shvatim, yada kol mitah b'shorshah → **"va'ye'esof Yaakov raglav el ha'mitah"** (Ber 49:33). **"Raglav"** = tefillah (**"tzedek l'fanav yehalech"**, Teh 85:14; Ber 14b) — me'asef kol ha'tefillos, kol achas l'shorshah. **"Nasati lecha shechem echad al achecha"** (Ber 48:22): hi'shpi'a chiyus l'**3 chalkei olam** = olam ha'**Sh**afal, olam ha'**K**ochavim, olam ha'**M**al'achim = **SheCheM**. **"Asher lakachti…b'charbi u'v'kashti"** = Onkelos: **"b'tzeloti u'v'va'usi"**.

Beginner: **§ג. The darkness that surrounds tefillah**: **"But when a person stands to daven, there come *machshavos zaros* (foreign thoughts) and *klipos*, and they surround him, and he remains in darkness and cannot daven."** **Eichah 3:44**: **"sakosa b'anan lach me'avor tefillah"** — 'You have covered Yourself with a cloud so no tefillah can pass through.' **Tehillim 12:9**: **"saviv resha'im yis'halachun"** — 'the wicked walk all around' — 'the resha'im — i.e., the klipos — surround him.' **"*Krom zulos li'v'nei adam*"** (Tehillim 12:9) — 'when baseness is exalted among b'nei adam' — **"heyno bi'sha'as ha'tefillah, she'hi omedes b'romo shel olam"** (Berachos 6b) — 'i.e., at the time of tefillah, which stands at the heights of the world.' **The consolation — *pesachim harbei***: **"V'da, she'yeish p'sachim harbei ba'choshech ha'zeh la'tzeis mi'sham"** — 'know: there are **many openings** in this darkness to exit from there.' As Chazal said (Yoma 38b): **"ha'ba l'tamei, potchin lo"** — 'one who comes to defile himself, they open for him' — **"yeish lo p'sachim harbei"** (see Tosfos Shabbos 104a d.h. *is*). **Nimtza** — 'it emerges that there are **many openings even in the *choshech*** — to exit it.' But the problem: **"aval ha'adam hu iveir v'eino yodea limtzo es ha'pesach"** — 'the person is blind and doesn't know how to find the opening.' **The key — *emes***: **"V'da, she'al yedei emes zocheh limtzo es ha'pesach"** — 'know that **through emes** one merits to find the opening.' **"Ki ikar or ha'mei'ir hu HKB"H"** — 'because the essential *light* that illuminates is HKB"H Himself' — **Tehillim 27:1**: **"Hashem ori v'yish'i"** — 'Hashem is my *light* and my salvation.' **Sheker removes HKB"H**: **"V'al yedei sheker hu m'saleik es HKB"H"** — 'through sheker one *removes* HKB"H' — **Shemos 20:7**: **"lo tisa es shem Hashem l'shav"** — 'do not carry the name of Hashem in vain.' **"Ki al yedei shav m'saleik es HKB"H, ki 'dover shekarim lo yikon l'neged einai'"** — **Tehillim 101:7** — 'one who speaks lies shall not be established before My eyes.' **But emes draws HKB"H to dwell**: **"Aval al yedei emes, HKB"H shochein imo"** — **Tehillim 145:18**: **"karov Hashem l'chol kor'av, l'chol asher yikra'uhu v'emes"** — 'Hashem is close to all who call upon Him — *to all who call upon Him in emes.*' **"U'k'she'HKB"H imo, hu mei'ir lo eich latzeis me'ha'choshech ha'mo'nei'a oso bi'tfilaso"** — 'and when HKB"H is with him, He illuminates him *how to exit the darkness* that prevents him in his tefillah' — **"Hashem ori."** **Bereishis 6:16 — *tzohar ta'aseh la'teivah***: Rashi brings two opinions: **"yeish omrim chalon, v'yeish omrim even tov"** — 'some say a *window*, some say a *precious stone*.' **The difference**: **"ha'chalon ein lo or b'atzmo, ela derech sham nichnas ha'or — aval k'she'ein or, ein mei'ir"** — 'a window has no light of its own; light *passes through* it — but when there is no [outside] light, it does not illuminate.' **"Aval even tov, afilu k'she'ein or mi'bachutz, hu mei'ir b'atzmo"** — 'but a precious stone, even when there is no light from outside, *illuminates on its own.*' **The parallel in people**: **"Ken yeish b'nei adam she'diburam hu chalon, v'ein ko'ach l'ha'ir la'hem b'atzmam"** — 'there are people whose speech is a *window* — no power to illuminate themselves.' **"Yeish omrim — va'amirasam na'aseh chalon. V'yeish she'amirasam na'aseh even tov u'mei'ir"** — 'some *say* [merely] — and their speech becomes a window. Others' speech becomes a precious stone and illuminates *[of itself]*.' The two opinions in Chazal are not a dispute but a **classification of two types of tefillah-speech**: chalon-speech (needs external light) vs. even-tov-speech (self-illuminating). **What determines which**: **"V'da, she'ha'kol l'fi godel ha'emes"** — 'know: it all depends on the *greatness of the emes*' — **"ki ikar ha'or hu HKB"H, v'HKB"H hu *etzem ha'emes*, v'ikar histakkuso shel HaShem yisbarach eino ella el ha'emes"** — 'the ikar of the light is HKB"H, and HKB"H is the *essence of emes*, and the ikar of Hashem's *yearning* is only for emes.' **Bereishis 6:16 — *v'el amah t'chalenah mi'l'ma'alah***: **"v'el *amah* t'chalenah"** — 'and to a *cubit* you shall finish it from above.' **"V'el *amah* t'chalenah"** — **"lashon 'va't'chal nefesh David'"** (Shmuel II 13:39) — 'the expression *va't'chal* is 'David's soul *yearned*.' **Amah** = bechinas *yearning*. **Amah — *the five motza'os of the mouth***: **"*amah* — hi chameish motza'os, ha'k'lulim mei'eish u'mayim"** — 'the *amah* is the five places of articulation of the mouth, which are composed of fire and water.' **"Heyno she'tireh she'yatz'u ha'diburim mi'pichah be'emes — v'az yishto'keik HKB"H mi'l'ma'alah li'sh'kon etzlecha"** — 'i.e., that you see to it that the diburim come out of your mouth **in emes** — and then HKB"H will *yearn from above* to dwell with you.' **"U'kh'she'yishkon etzlecha, hu yair lecha"** — 'when He dwells with you, He will illuminate you.' **The pasuk encoded**: **"V'el amah t'chalenah milmala"** — **"roshei teivos: *amah t'chalenah milmala* = אמת (emes)"** — 'the initial letters of the words **A**mah **T**'chalenah **M**i'l'ma'alah spell **emes**.' **Through emes HKB"H yearns from above to dwell with man** — as above: **"karov Hashem l'chol kor'av."** **V'az — *u'fesach ha'teivah b'tzidah tasim***: **"heyno ha'teivah ha'yotzei'is be'emes, hi tasim lecha pesach ba'choshech she'atah nitzod bo"** — 'i.e., the **teivah** (both 'ark' and 'word') that goes out in emes — *that itself* places for you an *opening* in the darkness in which you are trapped.' The emes-laden word is self-rupturing: it makes its own pesach through the klipos-wall. **"B'*tzidah*"**: **"heyno ha'klipah ha'tzad tzayid"** — 'i.e., the *klipah* that **hunts** its prey' — **Bereishis 25:28**: **"ki tzayid b'fiv"** (of Eisav) — 'for *hunting* was in his mouth.' The klipah catches machshavos zaros like a hunter. **"Ki mi't'chilah lo hayah yachol l'daber mei'chamas ha'choshech ha'soveiv oso, v'al yedei she'yotzei mi'toch ha'choshech u'mispalel heiteiv, al yedei zeh hu m'takein *tachtim sh'niyim u'shlishim*"** — 'for initially he could not speak because of the darkness surrounding him — and by going out from the darkness and davening well, through this he fixes *lower, second, and third stories*' (Bereishis 6:16 on the teivah structure) — **"heyno *olam ha'shafel* v'*olam ha'galgalim* v'*olam ha'sechel*"** — 'i.e., the world-below + the world-of-spheres + the world-of-intellect.' The three tiers of the ark correspond to the three tiers of creation — all rectified by one emes-laden tefillah that broke out of choshech. **[Ksav yad ha'chaveirim — from the disciples' notes]**: **"Ach i efshar l'hispalel rak k'she'lomeid Torah — ki 'lo am ha'aretz chasid'"** (Avos 2:6) — 'one cannot daven unless he learns Torah — for *there is no chasid among amei ha'aretz*' — **Mishlei 28:9**: **"meisir azno mi'sh'moa Torah, gam tefilaso to'eivah"** — 'one who turns his ear from hearing Torah — even his tefillah is an abomination.' Intermediate: **§ג. Choshech that surrounds tefillah**: machshavos zaros + klipos (Eichah 3:44 **"sakosa b'anan"**; Teh 12:9 **"saviv r'sha'im"**; Ber 6b **"omedes b'romo shel olam"**). **P'sachim harbei**: Yoma 38b **"ha'ba l'tamei potchin lo — yeish lo p'sachim harbei"** (Tos. Shab 104a). Adam iveir → doesn't find pesach. **Emes=ha'mafteiach**: **Teh 27:1** **"Hashem ori"** (ikar or=HKB"H=etzem ha'emes). Sheker m'saleik HKB"H (Shem 20:7 **"lo tisa... la'shav"**; Teh 101:7 **"dover shekarim lo yikon"**). Emes → **Teh 145:18** **"karov Hashem l'chol kor'av... b'emes"** → hu mei'ir eich latzeis. **Ber 6:16 — tzohar**: Rashi: chalon o even tov. Chalon=ein or b'atzmo; even tov=mei'ir b'atzmo. B'nei adam: dibur=chalon (ein or) o even tov (mei'ir). Ha'chiluk=godel ha'emes. **V'el *amah* t'chalenah** (Ber 6:16) — **amah**=lashon **hishtokekus** (**"va't'chal nefesh David"** Sh"B 13:39)=**5 motza'os** (k'lulim mei'esh u'mayim). **R"T**: **A**mah **T**'chalenah **M**i'l'ma'alah = **emes**. Emes → HKB"H mishtokeik. **U'fesach ha'teivah b'*tzidah* tasim**: teivah-b'emes=tasim pesach ba'choshech. **Tzidah**=klipah ha'tzad tzayid (Ber 25:28 **"ki tzayid b'fiv"**). **Rectification**: m'takein tachtim-sh'niyim-u'shlishim = olam-ha'shafel / olam-ha'galgalim / olam-ha'sechel (Ber 6:16). **[Ksav yad ha'chaveirim]**: ein tefillah ki im al yedei Torah — **"lo am ha'aretz chasid"** (Avos 2:6); **Mish 28:9** **"meisir azno... gam tefillaso to'eivah."**

Beginner: **"And every person must connect his tefillah to the **tzaddik hador** (the tzaddik of the generation). The tzaddik knows to aim the gates and to raise each and every tefillah to its appropriate gate."** And the Rebbe elevates the scale: **"Every single tzaddik is the aspect of **Moshe-Mashiach**, as Chazal said (Shabbos 101b): **'Moshe, shapir ka'amrat'** — 'Moshe, you have spoken beautifully' (i.e., a Chacham is called by Moshe's name); and it is written: **'ad ki yavo Shiloh'** (Bereshis 49:10) — **'da Moshe'** (Zohar Bereshis 25b) — **Mashiach includes all the tefillos**. For this reason, Mashiach will be **'morach v'daen'** — 'he will smell-judge' — for he judges not by what he sees or hears but by **smell** (Sanhedrin 93b), **because the tefillos are the aspect of **chotem** (the nose), as it is written: **'u'tehilasi echtam lach'** (Yeshayahu 48:9) (see Zohar Naso 130)."** The Rebbe has now set up the exact mashal: a guide who judges places by **smelling**. Intermediate: **Connect your tefillah to the tzaddik hador**; he knows to aim the gates and raise each tefillah to its sha'ar. Every tzaddik = **Moshe-Mashiach** (Shab 101b: "Moshe, shapir ka'amrat"; "ad ki yavo Shiloh — da Moshe," Zohar Ber 25b). Mashiach includes all tefillos; therefore he will be **"morach v'daen"** (Sanh 93b — judges by smell) — **because tefillos are chotem** ("u'tehilasi echtam lach," Yesh 48:9; Zohar Naso 130). Now the mashal is set: a guide judging by smell.

Beginner: Seventh Rabba bar bar Chana ma'amar (after akrukta, worm-fish, ship-fins, geese, Sinai, metei midbar). **"Amar Rabba bar bar Chana: once we were traveling in the wilderness, and a certain **taya** (Arab merchant) accompanied us. He would take **dust** and **smell it** — and he would say: 'This is the way to such-and-such place, and this is the way to such-and-such place.' We said to him: 'How far are we from water?' And he said: 'Give me dust.' We gave. He said: 'Eight parsangos.' We repeated and gave — he said: 'Three parsangos.' I switched it, and he could not [tell]."** (Bava Basra 73b). Every detail — the taya, the dust, the smell, the way-finding, the water-question, the 8 vs 3 parsangos, the switched dust — will be decoded. Intermediate: Seventh ma'amar: **"In the wilderness a taya (Arab merchant) accompanied us. He'd take dust and smell it, saying: this is the way to place X, that to place Y. We asked: how far from water? He said: give me dust. 8 parsangos. Repeated — 3 parsangos. I switched the dust, he couldn't tell"** (Bava Basra 73b). Every detail — taya, dust, smell, way-finding, water-question, 8/3, the switch — will decode.

Beginner: **Rashbam**: **taya** = Ishmaelite merchant. **V'hafkinan** = I turned this dust [upside-down] in this dust — to test him, whether he would be so expert as to tell that the dust had been switched. Intermediate: **Rashbam**: *taya* = Ishmaelite merchant; *v'hafkinan* = switched the dusts to test the taya's expertise.

Beginner: The Rebbe's decoding. **"'Ishtalvein bahadan ha'hu taya — socher Yishmaeli'** — this is the aspect of the **tzaddik hador**, who includes all the tefillos like Mashiach. And tefillos is the aspect of **socher Yishmaeli** — as it is written about Yishmael (Bereshis 16:11): **'ki shama Hashem el **onyeich**'** — Targum: **'kabeil Hashem tzelosach'** — 'Hashem received your prayer.'"** **"And **socher** — because **'saviv'** — its Targum is **'s'chor'** (סחור). And this is the aspect of **emunah**, as it is written: **'v'emunascha sevivosecha'** (Tehillim 89:9) — 'Your faithfulness surrounds You.'"** **"'V'ishtalvein bahadan ha'hu taya'** — we attached ourselves to the tzaddik hador, who is the aspect of **Mashiach, the totality of tefillah**."** **"'V'shakil afra u'moriach v'amar: ha l'duchta ploni, v'ha l'duchta ploni'** — **afra** is the aspect of **tefillah**, for we are dust (*afar*, the humility of tefillah). The tzaddik takes the tefillah, **smells** it (he is *morach v'daen*), and says: 'This tefillah is on its way to such-and-such gate; this tefillah needs such-and-such gate.' He locates every tefillah in the mazal-grid of the 12 shvatim-gates."** Intermediate: **Peirush**: **taya-socher-Yishmaeli** = **tzaddik hador** who includes all tefillos (Mashiach). **Tefillos = socher Yishmaeli** ("ki shama Hashem el onyeich," Ber 16:11, Targum "kabeil Hashem tzelosach"). **Socher** = **saviv** (Targum "s'chor") = **emunah** ("v'emunascha sevivosecha," Teh 89:9). Attaching to the taya = attaching to tzaddik/Mashiach. **Afra u'moriach** = the tzaddik takes the tefillah (afar/humility) and **smells** (morach v'daen) the right gate for it among the 12 shvatim-gates.

Beginner: **§ה. Tefillah = nisim (not derech ha'teva)**: **"U'tefillah hu bechinas nisim, she'hu ein derech ha'teva — ki lif'amim ha'teva m'chayeiv eizeh davar, v'ha'tefillah *m'hapeches es ha'teva*"** — 'tefillah is the bechinah of miracles, which is *not the way of nature* — for sometimes nature obligates some thing, and tefillah *overturns* nature.' Tefillah's very function is to push through the causal chain of teva. **Ikar nisim = ikar tefillah = Eretz Yisrael**: **"V'ikar ha'nisim, heyno ikar ha'tefillah, eino ella b'Eretz Yisrael"** — 'the *essential* locus of nisim — namely the essential locus of tefillah — is only in Eretz Yisrael.' **Tehillim 37:3**: **"sh'chon eretz u'r'eih emunah"** — 'dwell in the land and pasture emunah.' **"V'emunah zeh tefillah"** — 'and emunah means tefillah' — **Shemos 17:12**: **"va'yehi yadav emunah"** — 'and his [Moshe's] hands were steady/emunah' — per **Targum** ('*bi'frisan bi'tzlo*' — spread in tefillah). **Therefore EY is higher than all lands** (Zevachim 54b): **"al shem she'ikar ha'nisim sham hem"** — 'on the name that the ikar of nisim is *there*' — **Yeshayahu 62:10**: **"harimi nes"** — 'raise up a *nes* (banner/miracle).' **Called Eretz Kena'an**: **"Kena'an — lashon **socher**"** (merchant) — **"bechinas emunah, k'mo she'kasuv 've'emunascha s'vivosecha'"** (Tehillim 89:9). *Kena'an* = merchant-type = emunah-type land. **EY drinks first** (Ta'anis 10a): **"Eretz Yisrael shosah t'chilah"** — and rains come from the *tehomos*: **Tehillim 42:8**: **"tehom el tehom korei"** — 'deep calls to deep.' **"V'tehom lashon nes"** (Bereishis Rabbah 84:20 and Rashi there) — 'the word *tehom* is a lashon of miracle' — as in **Rus 1:19**: **"va'teihom kol ha'ir"** — 'and all the city was *astir/astonished*' — **"ki al nes — heyno al davar chiddush — mastmihin"** — 'for on a miracle — namely on a *novelty* — one is astonished.' *Tehom = nes* via the shared root of *astonishment at novelty*. **Ta'anis 25b**: **"kol ha'tor nishma b'artzeinu"** (Shir ha'Shirim 2:12) — 'the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land' — Chazal connect this to **rains** — because **"ikar ha'geshamim nishma b'Eretz Yisrael, ki sham ha'tehomos — heyno ha'nisim — heyno emunah — tefillah."** The *tor* of the pasuk is the sound of the rain-miracle, and its resonance-point is EY because EY is where the tehomos/nisim/emunah/tefillah cluster. **Mitzrayim = opposite of EY (*zeh l'umas zeh asah Elokim*)**: **"U'Mitzrayim hu heifech Eretz Yisrael — zeh l'umas zeh"** — **Shemos 14:27**: **"u'Mitzrayim nasim li'kraso"** (the Egyptians were *fleeing*) — **"she'Mitzrayim l'umas Eretz Yisrael, l'umas ha'nisim"** — 'Mitzrayim is the opposite of EY, opposite of nisim' (*nasim li'kraso* reads as the double-entendre: their very name = flight-from-nisim). **No tefillah-place in Mitzrayim**: **Shemos 9:29**: **"v'hayah k'tzei'i es ha'ir efros kapai"** — 'when I go *out of the city* I will spread my hands' — Moshe had to exit Mitzrayim to daven. **Avraham's pgam b'EY → descent to Mitzrayim**: **"Bi'shvil zeh, k'she'pagam Avraham b'Eretz Yisrael, bi'sha'ah she'hivti'acho HKB"H al yerushas ha'aretz, amar: 'ba'meh eida?'"** (Bereishis 15:8) — 'for this reason, when Avraham blemished Eretz Yisrael — at the moment HKB"H promised him inheritance of the land, he said: *"how shall I know?"*' — **"al yedei zeh yardu avoseinu l'Mitzrayim, ki pagam ba'emunah, heyno Eretz Yisrael, bechinas nisim"** — 'through this our fathers descended to Mitzrayim, because he blemished emunah — which is EY — the bechinah of nisim.' **Why specifically Yaakov and his sons descended**: **"V'yarad Yaakov u'vanav l'Mitzrayim — she'sham heifech ha'nisim, she'zeh l'umas zeh"** — 'Yaakov and his sons [who are the aspect of tefillah] descended to Mitzrayim — where the opposite-of-nisim is — because zeh l'umas zeh.' **And why they, specifically**: **"V'yardu dayka Yaakov u'vanav, ki hu pagam b'Eretz Yisrael, bechinas tefillah — v'yardu Yaakov u'vanav, she'hem *bechinas tefillah*, she'hem bechinas **shneim asar sha'arei tefillah***"** — 'Yaakov and his sons are the *twelve gates of tefillah*.' So it was the carriers-of-tefillah who had to go down to the anti-tefillah land. **V'al yedei she'ikar ha'tefillah hem Yaakov u'vanav**: **"al yedei zeh lo zachah l'Eretz Yisrael, l'vechinas tefillah, ella Yaakov u'vanav"** — 'through this only Yaakov and his sons merit EY/tefillah' — **Bereishis 21:12**: **"ki v'Yitzchak yikarei lecha zera"** — 'in Yitzchak will your seed be called' — **"v'lo kol Yitzchak"** (Nedarim 31a) — 'and *not all of Yitzchak*' — i.e., not Esav, only Yaakov. **Rain depends on emunah**: **"Ein ha'geshamim yordin ella bi'shvil emunah"** (Ta'anis 8a) — 'rains don't come down except because of emunah' — **"heyno bechinas Eretz Yisrael, she'hu bechinas tefillah, bechinas emunah — v'hi shosah t'chilah, she'sham ha'tehomos bechinas nisim"** — EY=tefillah=emunah=where tehomos=nisim live, so of course she drinks first. **Prutah she'ba'kis** (Ta'anis 8b): **"Bi'sha'ah she'ha'geshamim yordin, afilu *prutah she'ba'kis misbareches*"** — 'when rain falls, even the *prutah in the pocket* gets blessed.' **"Prutah — zeh bechinas kol ha'tor"** — 'the prutah is the aspect of kol ha'tor (the turtledove's voice).' **The underlying image**: **"V'amru Chazal: 'hai rudya d'maya dami l'tor u'peritah shafos' — v'hu omeid bein tehoma l'tehoma, she'hu kalul mi'shnei ha'tehomos, she'hu k'lalus ha'nisim"** — 'Chazal said: *this plow-channel of water is similar to a turtledove and to a shoveling prutah* — and it stands between tehom and tehom — being the *sum of the two tehomos* — which is *the totality of nisim*.' The *rudya* (plowed water-channel) is shaped like both a *tor* (bird) and a *prutah* (small coin), sits *between* the two tehomos (upper/lower waters), and so is the k'lal ha'nisim. **Prutah she'ba'kis decoded**: **"She'pe'amim nis'kasah ko'ach ha'nisim; v'al yedei ha'geshamim nisbareicha ha'prutah — heyno ha'nisim — 'd'prita shafos'"** — 'sometimes the koach ha'nisim is *covered* (bi'kis = pocket/covering); and through the geshamim the prutah (the nisim-coin) is blessed — *the prita shovels*.' The rain-miracle *uncovers* the hidden nisim-capacity. **The diagnosis — nis-deniers**: **"V'eilu b'nei adam ha'machchishim kol ha'nisim v'omrim she'ha'kol derech ha'teva — v'im ro'im eizeh nes, hen m'chasin es ha'nes im derech ha'teva, she'omrim she'zeh derech ha'teva'im"** — 'and those people who *deny all miracles* and say everything is derech ha'teva — and when they see a miracle, they *cover it up with derech ha'teva*, saying this is the *way of nature*' — **"nimtza she'pog'mim b'tefillah"** (because tefillah=nisim=m'shaneh ha'teva), **"u'fog'mim b'emunah"** (because they don't believe in hashgachas ha'Borei), **"u'fog'mim b'Eretz Yisrael"** (because EY is the makom-ha'nisim). **And therefore — forced descent to Mitzrayim**: **"V'al yedei zeh tzarich lipol b'galus Mitzrayim — ki zeh l'umas zeh asah k'nal"** — 'and through this one must fall into galus Mitzrayim — because *zeh l'umas zeh* as above.' **"V'chol ha'galuyos m'chunin b'shem Mitzrayim, al shem she'hem m'tzarim l'Yisrael"** — 'all exiles are called Mitzrayim because they are *m'tzarim* (distresses) to Yisrael' (Bereishis Rabbah 16:4). **Shemos 15:5 encoded**: **"*t'homos y'chasyumo*"** — 'tehomos *cover* them' — **"mi she'm'chaseh es ha'nisim v'mareh l'chol davar she'hu derech ha'teva"** — 'the one who *covers over* the miracles and makes everything look like derech ha'teva' — **"yardu bi'metzulos k'mo even"** — 'descend into the depths like a stone.' **Bereishis 49:24**: **"mi'sham ro'eh *even* Yisrael"** — **Targum**: **"av u'vanin"** — 'father and sons.' *Even* = *av u'vanin* = Yaakov + banim. **Metzulos = Mitzrayim**: **Shemos 12:36**: **"va'y'natzlu es Mitzrayim"** — *m'tzulos* from the *natzlu*-root. **"Heyno Yaakov u'vanav, she'hem bechinas tefillah, bechinas nisim, bechinas Eretz Yisrael"** — the ones who descend like a stone into Mitzrayim are *Yaakov and sons themselves* — the tefillah/nisim/EY-carriers. **"L'fi y'ridasam v'l'fi ha'pgam she'pagam b'tefillah u've'emunah u'v'Eretz Yisrael, ken tzarich lered l'omek ha'galus shel Mitzrayim, k'mo she'yardu Yaakov u'vanav l'Mitzrayim, k'she'amar Avraham 'ba'meh eida' al yerushas ha'aretz"** — 'the depth of descent into the Mitzrayim-galus corresponds precisely to the pgam in tefillah/emunah/EY.' (End of Rabbeinu's language.) Intermediate: **§ה. Tefillah=nisim** (hafichas ha'teva). **Ikar nisim=tefillah=Eretz Yisrael** (Teh 37:3 **"shchon eretz u'r'eih emunah"**; Shem 17:12 **"va'yehi yadav emunah"** Targum). EY gavoha mi'kol ha'aratzos (Zev 54b); **"harimi nes"** (Yesh 62:10). **Eretz Kena'an** = *socher* = emunah (Teh 89:9). **EY shosah t'chilah** (Ta'an 10a); rains mi'tehomos (**Teh 42:8 "tehom el tehom korei"**). **Tehom=nes** (B"R 84:20; Rus 1:19 **"va'teihom kol ha'ir"**). **Kol ha'tor** (Shir 2:12; Ta'an 25b)=rains=nishma b'EY. **Mitzrayim=heifech EY** (zeh l'umas zeh; Shem 14:27 **"u'Mitzrayim nasim li'kraso"**=opposite of *nisim*). Ein tefillah b'Mitzrayim (Shem 9:29 **"k'tzei'i es ha'ir"**). **Avraham "ba'meh eida"** (Ber 15:8) = pgam b'EY/emunah → y'ridah l'Mitzrayim. Yordim=**Yaakov u'vanav**=**12 sha'arei tefillah**. EY rak l'Yaakov u'vanav (Ber 21:12 **"ki v'Yitzchak"**; Ned 31a **"v'lo kol Yitzchak"**). **Ta'an 8a**: **"ein ha'geshamim yordin ela bi'shvil emunah."** **Ta'an 8b**: **"prutah she'ba'kis misbareches"** — prutah=**kol ha'tor** (Chazal: **"rudya d'mayah dami l'tor u'peritah shafos"** bein tehoma l'tehoma=k'lalus ha'nisim). Prutah-*ba'kis*=nis-nisgaleh. **Nis-deniers**: m'chasim nisim b'derech-ha'teva → pog'mim b'tefillah/emunah/EY → **galus Mitzrayim** (**kol ha'galuyos=m'tzarim** B"R 16:4). **Shem 15:5** **"t'homos y'chasyumo"** — m'chaseh nisim→yarad bi'metzulos k'mo **even**=**av u'vanin** (Ber 49:24 Targum)=Yaakov u'vanav. Metzulos=**Mitzrayim** (Shem 12:36 **"va'y'natzlu"**). L'fi pgam=l'fi y'ridah.