Yaakov's Pure Inner Point and the Day of Atonement

1The Midrash Rabbah on our parshah (Bereishis Rabbah 65:14) says: “‘Rivkah said to Yaakov...’ ‘Go now to the flock...’ R' L. said¹: Go and secure in advance the nation that is likened to a flock. ‘Good kids of the goats’: R' Ch. said², good for you, for through them you take the blessings, and good for your children, for through them they are atoned for on Yom Kippur, as it says, ‘For on this day [He shall atone for you]’ (Vayikra 16:30).” See there.

2The Midrash needs explaining. Is it not well known that Chazal say, “The essence of the day atones” (Yoma 85b)? The holiness of the day itself atones, not the offering, so how can the goats atone? Let us also first bring the Midrash further on, which needs explaining as well: “‘Yaakov said: Esav my brother is a hairy man’ (Bereishis 27:11): a man of demons. ‘And I am a smooth man (chalak)’: as it says, ‘For Hashem's portion (chelek) is His people, Yaakov the lot of His inheritance’ (Devarim 32:9). R' Levi said³: It is like a hairy man and a bald man standing at the edge of a threshing floor. The chaff blew onto the hairy man and got tangled in his hair. It blew onto the bald man, and he put his hand on his head and brushed it off. So too, the wicked Esav soils himself with sins all year and has nothing with which to atone. Yaakov also soils himself with sins all year, but Yom Kippur comes and he has something with which to atone, as it says, ‘For on this day...’ (Vayikra 16:30).”

3aWe can explain the Midrash, and with it the well-known question on the verse, “Rivkah said to Yaakov: I heard your father speaking... and I will bless you before Hashem” (Bereishis 27:6–7). We never find Yitzchak saying “before Hashem,” only “that my soul may bless you before I die” (Bereishis 27:4). The Zohar on our parshah (I:143a) says: “Had it said ‘and I will bless you’ and no more, it would have been fine. But once it said ‘before Hashem,’ at that moment the Throne of Glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, trembled...” The holy Maggid of Kozhnitz, zt"l, writes in his sefer Avodas Yisrael that in his words to Esav, “hunt game for me” (Bereishis 27:3), Yitzchak hinted at the hidden Name Havayah; see there. Perhaps we can say as follows, based on Chazal's words (Berachos 17a): “It is revealed and known before the One Who spoke and the world came into being that our will is to do Your will, but the leaven in the dough and the subjugation to the nations hold us back.” A sin is done without true knowledge or will. It is only like chaff without wheat, for the innermost point of the heart is clean and free of any trace of blemish.

3bThat is why the Satan has no permission to accuse on Yom Kippur, as Chazal say (Vayikra Rabbah 21:4): “HaSatan has the numerical value of 364.” On all the other days of the year the Satan accuses, but on Yom Kippur he does not. The 365 days of the year correspond to the 365 sinews of the body, and Yom Kippur corresponds to the sinew and beat of the heart, in the innermost heart. On the 364 days he is allowed to accuse, because he sees that the bones and sinews have been damaged and spoiled by sins and transgressions. But Yom Kippur belongs to the world of Binah, understanding, and “Binah is the heart, and through it the heart understands” (Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction). On the essence of this day the innermost heart is revealed, the sinew of the heart, and there no sin or iniquity touches at all: “evil does not dwell with You” (Tehillim 5:5). This is the aspect of “before Hashem you shall be purified” (Vayikra 16:30), a level “higher than the high” (Koheles 5:7), hidden from all created beings; only “I, Hashem, search the heart and test the kidneys” (Yirmiyahu 17:10). All this is true only of a Jewish soul, for the core of a Jew's soul is “a Divine portion from above” (Iyov 31:2). Not so the nations of the world: even the innermost part of their hearts is black, and they sin with knowledge and will. Their inside is just like their outside.

4aThis is what the Midrash means. “Esav my brother is a hairy man”: a man of demons. “And I am a smooth man (chalak)”: for “Hashem's portion (chelek) is His people.” That is, a Divine portion from above is planted and rooted in my heart, and “the soul You placed in me is pure.” This is the meaning of the parable of the hairy man and the bald man standing at the edge of the threshing floor. “The chaff blew onto the hairy man and got tangled in his hair”: hair alludes to harsh judgments, as is known. Esav has no inner heart, and his sin goes all the way through, his inside like his outside. “The chaff blew onto the bald man,” onto Yaakov, “and he put his hand on his head and brushed it off.” A hand means power, as in “Israel saw the great hand” (Shemos 14:31). He gathers all his strength and takes to heart against Whom he sinned, and with Whose power he sinned. He sees with open eyes that all his strength and life are given to him by Hashem. Through this reflection, from the depths of his heart, he brushes the chaff off himself. The chaff is the screens and garments that cover and conceal the precious light of his soul, “like a cloud covering the sun, like chaff covering the wheat.”

4bThat is what the Midrash says: “The wicked Esav soils himself with sins all year and has nothing with which to atone,” for he has no inner point to awaken in him. “But Yaakov soils himself with sins all year, and Yom Kippur comes and he has something with which to atone.” When the time comes that the leaven is set aside, a great illumination is revealed in the world from the Source of abundant mercy. Then every Jewish soul, even the simplest and lowliest of the people, discovers its innermost heart. The “voice of Yaakov” roars from its depths, and his heart cries out to Hashem, as it says, “Pour out your heart like water before the face of Hashem” (Eichah 2:19). He confesses and forsakes his sin, appeases and reconciles himself with the King of kings, and “he returns and is healed” (Yeshayahu 6:10).

5aSo too on “the night the festival is sanctified” (Yeshayahu 30:29), on Pesach, which is peh sach, “the mouth speaks.” It is a time when all Israel prays with prayers, songs and praises, a time to pour out one's words and bitterness of soul before Hashem. For then the great, brilliant light is revealed, and an awakening from above stirs abundant mercy from a very high and exalted place, the level of “I”: “I, and not an angel; I, and not a seraph” [Haggadah]. As Targum Yonasan says (on Bereishis 27:1), Yitzchak told Esav, “On this night the treasuries of dew are opened.” The time itself brings it about, so that “whoever is in need, let him come and keep Pesach” [Haggadah]: peh sach, the mouth speaks. And that speech leaves its mark, bearing fruit above and taking root below.

5bThis is the meaning of Yitzchak's blessing. Yitzchak Avinu sensed this light, and he wanted to bless his son Esav with this blessing, that mercy be aroused upon him from the Source of mercy through the power of the holiness of time. The holy books speak of three dimensions: place, time and soul. Even though in the dimension of soul Esav was not good, the dimension of time would prevail and let him be blessed. Rivkah Imeinu, in her great wisdom, understood this. That is why it says, “Rivkah said to Yaakov her son, saying: I heard your father speaking to Esav your brother, saying.” With the word “saying” twice, she hinted: “Your father wanted to bless Esav your brother by the power of the holiness of the day, a time that enables everyone to ‘say,’ so that his speech acts in the upper worlds.” And this is “before Hashem”: a time when mercy is revealed from a place “higher than the high,” the level of “before Hashem.” Yitzchak drew on the power of mercy of these two times, Pesach and Yom Kippur.

5cAs the Kedushas Levi writes (Derush for Pesach): “In truth, all through the year, when a person arouses love of the Creator, which is the aspect of Pesach, he affects all the upper worlds just as they are affected on Pesach through love of the Creator. But to make that day a festival according to its aspect, that is, to make other days into Pesach when he has love of the Creator on them, is impossible. For in the world of action, all Israel must be on this level, and so on. But Avraham Avinu was ‘one’: he served the Creator and aroused the Divine attributes, as it says, ‘Avraham was one’ (Yechezkel 33:24). So Avraham Avinu could make a Yom Tov on any day on which he aroused one of these attributes. He could even make two festivals on one day: when he had love of the Creator, he could make it Pesach, and when on that same day he had fear of Hashem, that day was Yom Kippur...” See there at length.

6“Yaakov said: Esav my brother is a hairy man”: the chaff gets tangled in the hair, in the harsh judgments, so how can the blessings rest on his head? “And I am a smooth man (chalak)”: “Hashem's portion (chelek) is His people, Yaakov the lot of His inheritance,” for I am clean and free of any trace of blemish. Yaakov Avinu thought that even at the end of days, when exile is at its harshest and the oppression most crushing, every Jew would remain at his precious worth and lofty level, clean and free of any trace of blemish. But Rivkah said, “Only (ach), my son, listen to my voice.” Ach is a word of limiting, as Chazal say, “every ach and rak is a limitation” (Yerushalmi Berachos 9:5). She meant: what will happen at the end of days, in the darkness of the times? The leaven in the dough and the subjugation to the nations hold us back, all the more so when they try to tear away the foundation of the Jewish faith and the pride of Israel. True, the portion of Yaakov is never blemished, Heaven forbid; no sin or iniquity touches it there. Even so, the multitude of sins soils and sullies that precious light. That is why she said, “Go now to the flock”: go and secure in advance the nation that is likened to a flock.

7aSomething similar holds for the precious holiness of Shabbos. As it says, “refraining from pursuing your affairs and speaking words (vedaber davar)” (Yeshayahu 58:13): speech on Shabbos acts in the upper worlds and accomplishes a davar, a thing. The reason is that the precious holiness of Shabbos is above the world. It belongs to Atika, the most hidden level of Divinity, hinted at in “upon Hashem”: “Then you will delight upon Hashem” (Yeshayahu 58:14), as the Zohar writes (end of Acharei Mos); see there. The word oneg, delight, hints at this too, as the holy books write: its letters are the initials of Eden, Nahar, Gan, Eden, river and garden, which are above the world. For holy Shabbos is only for rest, holiness and splendor. That is why we do not ask for our needs on Shabbos. But when a person mentions Hashem's mighty deeds, “Who supports the fallen and heals the sick,” his speech acts in the upper worlds and draws down healing.

7bThis is what the holy Arizal wrote in his song for Shabbos night: “That He may rest upon His people, who delight for His Name's sake in sweet things and honey.” It is like what we say, “May Your friendship be sweeter to him than the honeycomb and every taste.” One who merits feeling the pleasantness of this friendship and the sweet delight of the light of Hashem's holiness and His mitzvos finds it sweeter than the honeycomb and every taste, and all the pleasures of this world count as nothing beside it. This is the essence of the delights of holy Shabbos: that one merits the sweetness and friendship of Hashem's light. “From pursuing your affairs”: Chazal expound, “Your affairs are forbidden, but the affairs of Heaven are permitted” (Shabbos 113a)⁴. “Your affairs” means your own desires. Desire for mundane matters is asur, forbidden, literally “bound.” But “the affairs of Heaven,” Hashem's desires, are mutar, permitted, in the sense Chazal use for untying a knot. As a result, all one's desires will be for Hashem alone.

8a“R' Yochanan said⁵: He did not ask her, nor did she ask him...” The point is true according to both of them, the one who asked and the one who answered. The cause of Israel's sins is the leaven in the dough and the harshness of exile. The great pressure and hardship confuse people's minds, fill their heads with the vanities of this world, and keep Israel from thinking about how to serve Hashem. As Chazal said, “It is revealed and known before You that our will is to do Your will...” (Berachos 17a). In His great mercy, Hashem understands and looks into the innermost heart, into the dark places where even the person himself perceives nothing. He sees that the man did not defy Him out of rebellion and treachery, Heaven forbid. Rather, the leaven in the dough and the subjugation to the nations caused the sins. Therefore “the goat shall carry,” this is Esav, “all their sins” (avonosam), the sins of the tam, the wholesome one, this is Yaakov.

8bThis explains the verses (Tehillim 68:21–22), “To Hashem, the Lord, belong the issues of death.” Chazal say there are many kinds of death, as many as the numerical value of totza'os, nine hundred and three (Berachos 8a), may Hashem save us. “But God will crush the head of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who goes about in his guilt.” Esav's head is hair, and his thoughts are always on how to make Israel sin. That is “he goes about in his guilt,” in Israel's guilt. So Hashem crushes the head of His enemies with them, for it all came about because of him. And this is the meaning of “with the light of Your face make them shine.”⁶ We ask: “Master of the world, You Who test the kidneys and search the heart, Who see into the innermost depths, where there is no wickedness: let the light of Your face shine for us.” That light is the inner point, the portion of Yaakov, which is called “light,” as the Zohar says: “Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face” (Tehillim 44:4) are Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. May this point shine for us in all the darkness, in Your abundant mercy, which is called the light of the face of mercy.