Torah Ohr · Parshas Lech Lecha · Maamar 5
שרי אשתך לא תקרא שמה שרי כי שרה שמה וגו׳
Sarai your wife: you shall not call her name Sarai
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The big idea
How a new existence comes into being depends on the level: above, at the level of the higher Chochmah (Avraham), birth comes through contraction, the yud; below, at the level of the lower Chochmah (Sarah), it comes through expansion, the hei. That is why Sarah could bear Yitzchak only once her yud became a hei.
The maamar in brief
The Midrash teaches that Sarai could not give birth, but Sarah could. This is puzzling: the yud of Sarai stands for Chochmah, the level of ayin (nothing), which is the source of new existence, while the hei of Sarah stands for Binah, called yesh (something). Why would exchanging the higher letter for the lower one give her the power to bear a child? The Alter Rebbe answers that Avraham and Sarah are the higher and the lower Chochmah. Above, a new existence comes about only through tzimtzum: were the Infinite Light to spread forth as it is, nothing finite could ever arise. Below, the reverse is true: contraction would leave only darkness and concealment, and existence comes about through spreading out and expansion, which the broad letter hei expresses. The three tips of the yud and the shape of the two hei’s illustrate this. Avraham too received a hei, but only to become ‘the father of a multitude of nations’, elevating what lies outside holiness; for Yitzchak, who belongs to holiness, whose nature is self-nullification, he did not need it. Sarah, however, needed the hei for Yitzchak’s birth.
Outline
- The question: why a hei for Sarah?The name change gave Sarah the power to give birth; yet the yud (Chochmah, ‘nothing’) is the source of new existence and is higher than the hei (Binah, ‘something’). The key: Avraham and Sarah are the higher and the lower Chochmah.¶1
- Contraction above, expansion belowAbove, new existence comes only through tzimtzum; below, at Sarah’s level, it comes through expansion. Avraham’s hei served his role as father of many nations, not Yitzchak’s birth; Sarah needed the hei for Yitzchak.¶2
Key concepts
- Yud and heiיו״ד וה״א
- In Kabbalah the yud, a single point, stands for Chochmah and for contraction; the hei, which spreads out in width and length, stands for Binah and for expansion.
- Ayin and yeshאין ויש
- Chochmah is called ayin (‘nothing’), the undefined source from which new existence comes; Binah is called yesh (‘something’), where things have taken definite shape.
- The higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmahחכמה עילאה וחכמה תתאה
- Two levels of Chochmah. Avraham corresponds to the higher, rooted in the Chochmah of Atzilus; Sarah to the lower. Each brings new existence into being in the opposite way.
- tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light; at the higher level it is the only way a finite, new existence can come about.
- Spreading forth and expansionהתפשטות והרחבה
- At the lower level, where the light is already limited, new existence comes through expansion rather than further contraction, which would leave only darkness.
- self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- The nature of the side of holiness; because of it, Yitzchak’s birth did not require Avraham’s hei of expansion.
For children · ages 9–13
Why Sarai became Sarah
The big idea
Above, new things come into being when G‑d’s light is held back; below, they come into being when it spreads out, which is why Sarah needed the wide letter hei to have Yitzchak.
G‑d told Avraham that his wife Sarai would now be called Sarah, and the Sages teach that this change gave her the power to have a child. But this is puzzling. The letter yud at the end of Sarai stands for Chochmah, wisdom, which is called “nothing” (ayin) and is the source of every new thing. The letter hei of Sarah stands for Binah, understanding, which is called “something” (yesh). How could trading a higher letter for a lower one help her? The Alter Rebbe answers that Avraham and Sarah stand for two levels: a higher wisdom and a lower wisdom. At the higher level, G‑d’s light has no end, and a new thing can come into being only through tzimtzum, holding the light back. That is the small yud. At the lower level it is the opposite: holding back would leave only darkness, and new things come through spreading out. That is the wide hei. Avraham also received a hei, so that he would be “the father of a multitude of nations.” But Sarah needed her hei for the birth of Yitzchak.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why is it sometimes holding back, and sometimes spreading out, that lets something new come into being?
- Look at the letters yud and hei. How does the shape of each one fit what the maamar says about it?
- When can holding yourself back help something good happen, and when is it better to give freely and generously?
Explanation © likuteitorah.com, CC BY-NC 4.0: retold for children from our translation and explanation, with AI assistance; not yet reviewed by a human editor.
In the Rebbe’s light · 1
AI research Found by AI reading every place in the Rebbe’s works that cites this maamar, and checked against each source by a second AI reader, the less certain by a third. Only what rated high is shown: the Rebbe’s own words, about this very passage. No person has reviewed it yet, so check the place itself before relying on a detail. See something to correct?
Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶2
The Rebbe explains
On the night of 13 Nissan 5726, the hundredth yahrzeit of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe studied the first of the Tzemach Tzedek’s glosses printed in Likkutei Torah, on the Talmud’s “the World to Come was created with yud, this world with hei”; the gloss refers to this maamar (“see what is written in Torah Ohr Lech Lecha, dibbur hamaschil שרי אשתך") for why Sarah could bear only when „לוקח מאתה כח היו״ד וניתן לה כח הה׳ במקומו” (the yud was taken from her and the hei given).
Having read the gloss, the Rebbe explains it in his own words. Where the light is abundant, as at its source before all contractions, a creature can receive it only after „צמצום גדול ביותר” (the greatest contraction), until what remains is „אות יו״ד שהיא נקודה בעלמא” (a mere point, a yud); so the World to Come, where souls „ליהנות מזיו השכינה” (enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah), was created with yud. „עוה״ז הוא סוף ההשתלשלות” (This world is the end of the descent): further contraction there would mean darkness, so it needs the hei, which „התפשטות לאורך ורוחב” (spreads out in length and breadth), a light strong enough to subdue darkness and turn it to light. This is ¶2’s “above through tzimtzum, below through expansion”.
The Alter Rebbe
משא״כ למטה בבחי׳ שרה כו׳ הוא להיפך ממש שאם היה האור מתצמצם היה חשך והעלם והסתר גמור
The Rebbe
כדי שהנברא יוכל לקבל ההמשכה והגילוי, צריך להיות צמצום גדול ביותר, עד כדי כך, שמה שנשאר וניתן לאח״ז הוא רק בדוגמת אות יו״ד
Toras Menachem – Hisvaduyos, vol. 46 (תשכ״ו ב), p. 270-272 · שיחת מוצש״ק פ׳ צו, אור לי״ג ניסן, ה׳תשכ״ו (בלתי מוגה)
Short quotes only, with the place of each so it can be read in full. The Rebbe’s sichos, letters and maamarim are published by Kehot and by Vaad Hanochos B’Lahak (lahak.org).
The question: why a hei for Sarah? ¶1
“Sarai your wife: you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name,” etc. Now, the change of Sarah’s name was so that she would have [the capacity of] giving birth,
The maamar opens with G‑d’s instruction to Avraham to change his wife’s name from Sarai (spelled with a final yud) to Sarah (spelled with a final hei). The Alter Rebbe states the premise: the purpose of this change was to give her the ability to bear a child.
The Midrash says that as Sarai she could not give birth, but as Sarah she could. This raises a difficulty: in Kabbalah the letter yud stands for Chochmah and the letter hei for Binah, and Chochmah is the higher faculty. Why would exchanging a higher letter for a lower one bring about the ability to give birth?
ונודע כי עיקר הולדה מבחינת חכמה לפי שחכמה בחי׳ אין והחכמה מאין5 כו׳. משא״כ בינה נק׳ יש כו׳
And it is known that giving birth comes chiefly from the level of Chochmah, because Chochmah is the level of ayin (nothing), [as it is written,] “and Chochmah comes from ayin,” etc.; whereas Binah is called yesh (something), etc.
The question is sharpened. Chochmah is called ayin, ‘nothing’, because it is the first flash of insight before anything is defined; bringing something new into being, ‘something from nothing’, is rooted there. The verse cited plays on one word: in Job, me’ayin asks ‘from where’ wisdom comes, and here it is read ‘from nothing’, so that Chochmah comes from ayin. Binah, where the idea is developed and takes on definite shape, is called yesh, ‘something’, an existence already there.
ואיך נהפוך הוא שלהיות לה כח ההולדה לוקח מאתה כח היו״ד וניתן לה כח הה׳ במקומו6 כו׳.
So how is it turned around, that for her to have the power of giving birth, the power of the yud is taken from her and the power of the hei is given to her in its place, etc.?
So the change seems backwards: to give Sarah the power to give birth, the yud, the letter of Chochmah and the source of new existence, was taken away, and the hei of Binah was put in its place.
¶2 Hold this question: paragraph 2 explains why Sarah needed the hei.
והענין כי אברהם ושרה הם בחי׳ ח״ע [חכמה עילאה] וח״ת [וחכמה תתאה] כו׳ ששרש אברהם הוא בבחי׳ חכמה דאצי׳.
And the explanation is that Avraham and Sarah are the levels of the higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah, etc., for Avraham’s root is in the level of the Chochmah of Atzilus.
The answer begins. Avraham and Sarah correspond to two levels of Chochmah: Avraham to the higher Chochmah, rooted in the Chochmah of Atzilus, and Sarah to the lower Chochmah. What is true of how birth works at the higher level is not true of the lower one, as the next paragraph explains.
The paragraph poses the maamar’s question: if the yud (Chochmah, ‘nothing’) is the source of new existence, why did Sarah receive the power to bear a child by exchanging her yud for a hei (Binah, ‘something’)? It then gives the key to the answer: Avraham and Sarah stand for the higher and the lower Chochmah.
Higher Chochmah and lower Chochmah are standard Kabbalistic terms: the Chochmah of Atzilus proper, and Malchus, which receives from it and is its reflection below. The yud is a single point, the letter of contraction, while the hei spreads out in width and length; the maamar’s answer turns on which of these two modes brings a new existence into being at each level.
TermsHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahBinahYesh and ayinAtzilus+1
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Binah בינה
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Atzilus אצילות
Also Chochmah
Marei mekomos
- 1שרי אשתך · בבוך 1101 הוסיף כ״ק הצ״צ בגוכתי״ק על כת״י מעתיק: מוגה. הנחת מהר״א הלוי בספרו עבודת הלוי פ׳ לך לך טז, ד כותרת ”כי״ק בעת ששמע מאדמו״ר הזקן”. ראה לעיל בציונים מכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע.
- 2שרי אשתך לא תקרא שמה שרי · Genesis 17:15
- 3שרי לא תלד · Bereshit Rabbah 44:12
- 4שרי לא תלד · Bereshit Rabbah 44:10
- 5והחכמה מאין · Job 28:12
- 6ואיך נהפוך . . וניתן לה כח הה׳ במקומו · בלקו״ת בשלח א, ב מציין לכאן.
Contraction above, expansion below ¶2
2והנה למעלה כך הוא המדה1 עיקר ההולדה להיות מציאות הולדה חדשה הוא ע״י צמצום דוקא2 כי אם הי׳ [היה] אא״ס [אור אין סוף] ב״ה מתפשט
Now above, this is the rule: the essence of giving birth, so that a new existence is born, comes specifically through tzimtzum (contraction). For if the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, were to spread forth
Here the answer is given. At the higher level (Avraham’s), a genuinely new existence comes about only through tzimtzum, the self-concealment of the Infinite Light. Without such contraction, nothing separate could arise.
כמו שהוא בבחי׳ א״ס לא הי׳ [היה] אפשר להיות שום התהוות מציאות כלל אפי׳ [אפילו] ע״י רבוא רבבות השתלשלות כי כשמו כן הוא אין סוף להתפשטותו וכו׳.
as it is, in the level of the Infinite, it would not be possible for any existence at all to come into being, even through myriads upon myriads [of stages] of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus); for as its name is, so it is: there is no end to its spreading forth, etc.
If the Infinite Light spread forth as it truly is, no finite existence could come into being, however many stages of descent it passed through: ‘as its name is, so it is’, and its name, Ein Sof, means ‘without end’. That is why, at the higher level, the yud, a single contracted point, is the letter of birth.
משא״כ למטה בבחי׳ שרה כו׳ הוא להיפך ממש שאם היה האור מתצמצם היה חשך והעלם והסתר גמור ועיקר התהוות המציאות הוא ע״י בחי׳ התפשטות והרחבה דוקא וכו׳
Whereas below, in the level of Sarah, etc., it is the very opposite: if the light were contracted, there would be darkness, concealment and total hiddenness; and existence comes into being chiefly through the level of spreading forth and expansion specifically, etc.
At the lower level, Sarah’s, it is the reverse. There the light is already limited, so further contraction would leave only darkness and concealment; new existence comes about precisely through spreading out and expansion. The hei, a letter with breadth and length, expresses that expansion.
¶1 This answers the question from paragraph 1.
(וכנודע בענין ג׳ קוצין של3 היו״ד שהקוץ התחתון מקור וכח הבינה תלוי בקוץ העליון כו׳).
(As is known concerning the three tips of the yud: the lower tip, the source and power of Binah, depends on the upper tip, etc.)
The text’s own parenthetical support: the yud is drawn with three tips, an upper, a middle and a lower one; the first maamar of this parsha, citing the Pardes, explains that the hei is drawn from the lower tip. The lower tip is the source of Binah, and it depends on the upper tip, which shows that the spreading out associated with Binah draws its power from what is above it.
וכנודע בענין תמונת ב׳ ההי״ן. ומה שנתוסף לאברהם ה׳ אברם אינו מוליד45 כו׳ אברהם הוא בחי׳ ח״ע [חכמה עילאה] כו׳
And as is known concerning the shape of the two hei’s. And as for the hei that was added to Avraham — “Avram does not beget,” etc. — [although] Avraham is the level of the higher Chochmah, etc.:
A further support is the shape of the two hei’s in the Name Havayah, a letter that spreads out in width and length. In the Kabbalistic reading of the Name, the first hei stands for Binah and the final hei for Malchus. So the same expanding form marks both Binah and the lower level that Sarah represents. The text then raises an objection: Avraham too received a hei, since the Midrash says ‘Avram does not beget’ but Avraham does; yet Avraham is the higher Chochmah, for whom birth should come through contraction, not expansion.
היינו כמו שמפורש במקרא כי אב המון גוים6 כו׳ ע״ד בחי׳ הנפש אשר עשו בחרן7 בחי׳ העלאות מזלעו״ז [מזה לעומת זה] כו׳.
That is, [it was] as is stated explicitly in the verse, “for [I have made you] the father of a multitude of nations,” etc., in the manner of the level of “the souls they had made in Charan,” the level of elevations from the opposing side (zeh le’umas zeh), etc.
The answer: Avraham’s hei was for what the verse states explicitly, that he would be ‘the father of a multitude of nations’, like ‘the souls they had made in Charan’, which our tradition understands as the people Avraham and Sarah drew to the service of G‑d. That is elevation from the side opposed to holiness, which requires expansion outward.
אבל להולדת יצחק8 סט׳ [סטרא] דקדושה לא היה צריך כי אדרבה כל סטרא דקדושה בחי׳ ביטול ולא התפשטות כו׳
But for the birth of Yitzchak, [who is of] the side of holiness, it was not needed; for on the contrary, the whole side of holiness is the level of self-nullification (bittul) and not of spreading forth, etc.
For the birth of Yitzchak, who belongs wholly to the side of holiness, Avraham did not need the hei, because holiness is by nature self-nullification (bittul), not spreading forth. So at Avraham’s level the birth of a holy child still comes through the contraction of the yud.
משא״כ לשרה נתוסף הה׳ ללידת יצחק כו׳ (וע׳ לקמן פ׳ חיי שרה בד״ה יגלה לן טעמי) :
Whereas to Sarah the hei was added for the birth of Yitzchak, etc. (And see below, in Parshas Chayei Sarah, in the maamar beginning “Yegaleh lan ta’amei.”)
Sarah, however, being the lower Chochmah, did need the hei for Yitzchak’s birth, since at her level new existence comes through expansion. The text refers the reader to a maamar in Parshas Chayei Sarah, ‘Yegaleh lan ta’amei’, for more on this.
The paragraph resolves the question: at the higher level (Avraham, the higher Chochmah) new existence comes through contraction, the yud; at the lower level (Sarah, the lower Chochmah) it comes through expansion, the hei. Avraham’s added hei served only his role as father of many nations, not the birth of Yitzchak, whereas Sarah needed the hei for Yitzchak himself.
The Kehot notes record that other treatments disagree on one point: the Mitteler Rebbe’s Biurei HaZohar explains that the hei added to Avraham was for Yitzchak’s birth, and the Tzemach Tzedek in Or HaTorah calls the reading in this maamar strained, suggesting instead that Avram needed the hei so that the soul would be drawn down into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, since a birth in Atzilus alone was not enough. Likkutei Torah (Beshalach) adds that this tzimtzum is not total concealment but like a teacher condensing a lesson for a student.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
On the night of 13 Nissan 5726, the hundredth yahrzeit of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe studied the first of the Tzemach Tzedek’s glosses printed in Likkutei Torah, on the Talmud’s “the World to Come was created with yud, this world with hei”; the gloss refers to this maamar (“see what is written in Torah Ohr Lech Lecha, dibbur hamaschil שרי אשתך") for why Sarah could bear only when „לוקח מאתה כח היו״ד וניתן לה כח הה׳ במקומו” (the yud was taken from her and the hei given).
Having read the gloss, the Rebbe explains it in his own words. Where the light is abundant, as at its source before all contractions, a creature can receive it only after „צמצום גדול ביותר” (the greatest contraction), until what remains is „אות יו״ד שהיא נקודה בעלמא” (a mere point, a yud); so the World to Come, where souls „ליהנות מזיו השכינה” (enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah), was created with yud. „עוה״ז הוא סוף ההשתלשלות” (This world is the end of the descent): further contraction there would mean darkness, so it needs the hei, which „התפשטות לאורך ורוחב” (spreads out in length and breadth), a light strong enough to subdue darkness and turn it to light. This is ¶2’s “above through tzimtzum, below through expansion”.
The Alter Rebbe
משא״כ למטה בבחי׳ שרה כו׳ הוא להיפך ממש שאם היה האור מתצמצם היה חשך והעלם והסתר גמור
The Rebbe
כדי שהנברא יוכל לקבל ההמשכה והגילוי, צריך להיות צמצום גדול ביותר, עד כדי כך, שמה שנשאר וניתן לאח״ז הוא רק בדוגמת אות יו״ד
Toras Menachem – Hisvaduyos, vol. 46 (תשכ״ו ב), p. 270-272 · שיחת מוצש״ק פ׳ צו, אור לי״ג ניסן, ה׳תשכ״ו (בלתי מוגה)
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsTe’amimTzimtzumHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahBinah+4
- Te’amim טעמים
- Tzimtzum צמצום
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Binah בינה
- Ein Sof אין סוף
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה למעלה כך הוא המדה · מובא בלקו״ת פ׳ כי תצא לז, ג.
- 2שו״ה ההולדה — הוא ע״י צמצום דוקא · ראה בלקו״ת בשלח א, א: ”ואין זה הצמצום העלם והסתר גמור, אלא ע״ד לעולם ישנה אדם לתלמידו בדרך קצרה” ע״ש. וראה באוה״ת בראשית כרך ד תשכג, ב.
- 3וכנודע בענין ג׳ קוצין של יו״ד · ראה לעיל יא, ב. ובמ״מ לשם.
- 4אברם אינו מוליד · Bereshit Rabbah 44:12
- 5אברם אינו מוליד · Bereshit Rabbah 44:10
- 6כי אב המון גוים · Genesis 17:5
- 7הנפש אשר עשו בחרן · Genesis 12:5
- 8להולדת יצחק . . לא הי׳ צריך · ראה ביאורי הזהר לכ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי יג, ב דשם מבואר שהוספת הה׳ הי׳ בשביל לידת יצחק. באוה״ת בראשית כרך ד תשכד, א: ”ומ״ש אברם אינו מוליד היינו להיות אב המון גוים אבל לא בשביל יצחק זה דחוק, וההכרח שהביא לפרש כן היינו משום דהא באצי׳ הגילוי ע״י יו״ד, נ״ל דיש ליישב ולומר דהא אברם הוצרך להוולד שיומשך הנשמה בעשי׳ ולא די בלידה דאצי׳ א״כ לצורך הלידה בבי״ע צ״ל ה׳” ע״ש. ראה גם בספר הערכים-חב״ד ח״א ערך אברהם בהערה 116-7. ראה בסה״מ תרכ״ז ע׳ ש.
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Questions for discussion
- If birth comes chiefly from Chochmah, the level of ayin (‘nothing’), why could Sarah bear a child only once the yud of her name became a hei?
- According to the maamar, why can nothing finite come into being unless the Infinite Light is contracted?
- Why would contraction at Sarah’s level lead to darkness and concealment rather than to birth?
- What did Avraham’s added hei accomplish, and why was it not needed for the birth of Yitzchak?
- How do the three tips of the yud illustrate that the lower level depends on the higher?
Key terms in this maamar
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it. ×5Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- The Sefirah of comprehension (Imma, the first hei): it expands Chochmah’s flash in length and breadth; letters of thought appear in it; it is “yesh,” and from it love, joy and the middos are born. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The first revelation in the chain of worlds (vayaetzel, “drew off”): the ten Sefiros, where Or Ein Sof rests and lights and vessels are one with Him; Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are created from nothing.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- Contraction: Or Ein Sof (not Ein Sof Himself) hidden in its source so finite worlds can exist, leaving a “vacated space” for the kav; also each later narrowing of light, as in Chochmah. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- The boundless light radiating from G‑d’s Essence like sunlight from the sun: His “Name,” a revelation, not the Essence. Chiefly the light before the tzimtzum; also that light as clothed in the sefiros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- The name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The descent of levels from cause to effect, linked like the rings of a chain, from Chochmah downward; each reveals what was hidden in the one above. Or Ein Sof itself is above this order. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Self-nullification before G‑d, the condition for the Or Ein Sof to rest. Its lower degree is a “something” that bows; its higher, Chochmah’s “what are we,” takes up no place at all. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently