Kedushas Levi · Parshas Toldos · Maamar יא From the Torah ofRebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchevרבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשובProfile ›

Which Hashem Has Blessed: A Hint at Abba Ila'ah

Bereishis 27:27

וַיִּגַּשׁ וַיִּשַּׁק־לוֹ וַיָּרַח אֶת־רֵיחַ בְּגָדָיו וַיְבָרֲכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר רְאֵה רֵיחַ בְּנִי כְּרֵיחַ שָׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרֲכוֹ יְהוָה

He came near and kissed him; he smelled the scent of his garments and blessed him, and said, “See, the scent of my son is like the scent of a field which Hashem has blessed.”

16“He came near and kissed him … and said, ‘See, the scent of my son is like the scent of a field which Hashem has blessed.’” The first letters of asher beiracho Hashem (אשר ברכו יהוה), “which Hashem has blessed,” spell Avi (אבי), “my father,”¹ a hint at Abba Ila'ah, the supernal Father.² One who understands will understand.

בַּפָּסוּק וַיִּגַּשׁ וַיִּשַּׁק לוֹ וְכוּ' וַיֹּאמֶר רְאֵה רֵיחַ בְּנִי כְּרֵיחַ שָׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרֲכוֹ ה' (בראשית כז, כז). רָאשֵׁי תֵּיבוֹת אֲשֶׁר בֵּרֲכוֹ ה', הוּא אב"י רֶמֶז עַל אַבָּא עִילָּאָה וְהַמֵּבִין יָבִין:

The yud is the first letter of the Name Havayah, which we read as “Hashem.” ↩
Abba Ila'ah is a level in the Kabbalistic order, the sefirah of Chochmah. ↩

In shortThe first letters of “which Hashem has blessed” spell Avi, “my father”: a hint at Abba Ila'ah, the supernal Father.

Takeaway

Every blessing, down to the scent of a field, flows from the Father on high, so we can say each berachah as a child turning to that Father.

Learn this in the merit of Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. His yahrzeit and life ›

All of Kedushas Levi

More on Parshas Toldos

See all ›

Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzYaakov from Esav: Bringing the Bad into HolinessGood and bad come to us mixed together, and in exile our work is not to make the bad vanish but to draw out the good within it, serving Hashem with the very desire and longing…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzAlways Going, Truly Humble: Yitzchak's GreatnessWe came down to this world not to receive a gift we have not earned, but to perfect ourselves, and for that we need two things together. Like Yehoshua setting out the benches for…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzGrowing Greater through Wealth: Yitzchak's AvodahThe Torah tells of the Avos' wealth to show that they kept walking upward in avodas Hashem even when prosperity made the yetzer hara strong against them. Yitzchak's mesirus nefesh…