Likkutei Torah · Sefer Shemos · Shabbos October 3
פרשת דרושים לשמיני עצרת
Parshas Shemini Atzeres
8 maamarim of the Alter Rebbe on the parsha, in the Hebrew of the Kehot edition, with every marei makom opened right where it appears. Each small section with a faithful English translation and a short explanation.
Your progress in Parshas Shemini Atzeres
The maamarim 8
- ביום השמיני עצרת תהיה לכם “On the Eighth Day, There Shall Be an Atzeres for You” A created being can move its Creator only because G‑d bound Himself, by an oath above reason, to the love hidden in every Jew; the festivals and daily Torah study draw that power down, and on Shemini Atzeres the encompassing light of Sukkos is gathered inward to empower every mitzvah of the year.
- ביום השמיני עצרת תהיה לכם “On the Eighth Day, an Atzeres Shall There Be for You” The soul descends so far into this world because only here, where the Infinite Light that precedes all the worlds is hidden, can it do teshuvah: a return that unites it with G‑d's essence above the Name Havayah, higher than any reward in Gan Eden. On Shemini Atzeres that union, reached on Yom Kippur, is absorbed and held, and the hidden "father" (Chochmah, the Written Torah) comes to shine as close as the "mother" (Binah, the Oral Torah): the joy of Simchas Torah.
- ולתוספת ביאור ענין שמחת תורה דהיינו שהתורה תהיה שמחה כו׳ To further explain the matter of Simchas Torah Simchas Torah means that the Torah itself rejoices. The Torah is the garment in which G‑d “wraps Himself in light,” and when the teshuvah of Yom Kippur draws the Infinite Light into it, the Torah, like a garment being worn, is gladdened and revealed.
- ביום השמיני שלח את העם ויברכו את המלך… “On the eighth day he sent the people away” The soul’s bond with G‑d is a dance of ratzo and shov, running toward Him and returning into life. The festivals of Tishrei trace this dance, and Shemini Atzeres is its goal: the fiery love of the Days of Awe is carried into the settled “return” of Torah and mitzvos, where G‑d’s kingship is revealed below.
- ה׳ לי בעוזרי ואני אראה בשנאי “Havayah is for me among my helpers, and I shall look upon my enemies” G‑d’s transcendent light reaches the soul every day but is not held within; on Shemini Atzeres, when G‑d’s joy in His works meets Israel’s joy in its Maker, it is absorbed into the heart. The “helpers” that bring this about are the mitzvos, and a higher help comes when teshuvah turns the soul’s very “enemies” into light.
- טוב לחסות בה׳ מבטוח באדם It is better to take refuge in G‑d than to trust in man "Man" is G‑dliness that enters and settles in the heart; "refuge in Havayah" is G‑dliness beyond grasp that surrounds the soul like shade. The surrounding light is better for protection against the body and animal soul, while the inner light is needed so that G‑dliness becomes one's own.
- טוב לחסות בה׳ וגו׳ It Is Better to Take Refuge in G‑d Holding on to G‑d’s Torah and light requires first being “betrothed” and set apart by the mitzvos, and the deepest refuge is in G‑d Himself, beyond even the Torah. In the same way, the lower, more distant revelation of exile and of the Diaspora’s second day of Yom Tov carries a thirst and a joy that the higher revelation does not.
- להבין ההפרש דבפסח כתיב והקרבתם אשה עולה ריח… To understand the difference: on Pesach it is written, "You shall offer a fire-offering, a burnt-offering" The Torah lists the Pesach offerings as isheh (fire-offering) then olah (burnt-offering), and those of Sukkos as olah then isheh, because isheh is the fiery, yearning love that rises from below and draws G‑d down, while olah is the hidden love of utter oneness that 'rises of itself.' On Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres that deeper love leads.
Learn it in seven days Sunday to Shabbos
The Rebbe asked that all the maamarim of the week’s parsha be learned in that week, spread over its seven days. Here is the parsha in seven portions of about equal length.