646. The Generations of Jacob Joseph
December 3, 1977
“Observe and sanctify it from its beginning through its end.” It was interpreted in The Zohar, What is Shabbat [Sabbath]? The name of the Creator.
Accordingly, what does it mean that we should observe the sanctification of the holy name? I would understand it differently—that we must sanctify ourselves, as it is written, “You will be holy.”
The thing is that Kedusha [holiness] means something important, and secular means something unimportant. It is our nature to appreciate that which concerns our body, meaning we value anything that concerns self-love. When a person does things that he does not see what they will yield to self-love, but that he must aim everything for the sake of the Creator, then his work is unimportant in his eyes.
This is the meaning of having to sanctify the name of the Creator, meaning that the work will be important to us when we must work for the sake of the Creator—called the name of the Creator. This work will be the main thing for us, and our engagement in the work of the body is only so we can serve the Creator with the body.
Yet, how do we achieve this? The body is full of questions and it always asks, “What will you gain from working for the sake of the Creator?”
RASHI writes as follows about the verse, “These are the generations of Jacob Joseph”: “Another thing: ‘And Jacob sat. The camels of that linen merchant came in loaded with linen. That coal merchant wondered where all that linen would be placed. A clever man replied to him, ‘One spark from your blower burns it all.’’”
We should ask what is clever about this if he asked where it would be placed. If he is clever, he should have given him ideas how to fit it in, while he told him to burn all the linen. Thus, this reply is inappropriate.
Yet, we need to understand how RASHI concludes: “Jacob saw all the champions that are written above, he wondered and said, ‘Who can conquer all of them?’ What is written below? ‘These are the generations of Jacob Joseph,’ and it is written, ‘Then the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau will be as stubble, a spark setting off from Joseph that consumes and burns them all.’” What does “The house of Jacob will be a fire” mean? It is enough to write “And the house of Joseph a flame.”
But the allegory is this: Where will they place all this linen? That is, when the linen enters the store of the coal merchant, he will have no place to work because the linen will be a burden on him, and he will no longer be able to throw out the linen. This is why the clever man told him, “Before the camels with the linen come into your place, set off one spark and it will promptly burn it all,” and then they will not be able to do harm although they are many.
But if they have already entered, you cannot overcome them and throw out the linen because all this burden will be on you, and you will have no choice. This is why the clever man said, “One spark will burn it all.”
The lesson is that when he saw all the champions, Jacob wondered how he could conquer them. They explained that one spark will emerge from Joseph, since Joseph is the quality of “righteous,” called “a giver.” When he takes to himself the quality of bestowal, he has a way to prevent them from entering because they will be burned immediately by the intention to bestow.
But if he lets them in, he will not be able to overcome them, as with the linen. When they enter, when the heavy burden falls on him, he cannot throw them out.
This is the meaning of “the house of Joseph a flame,” for a flame is not something permanent, but a bursting flame in ups and downs. Therefore, whenever the questions of Esau arrive, he immediately increases and inflames by the power of the desire to bestow, and does not let those champions into his heart. Then, from all the many flames, a constant fire will be made, which is the quality of Jacob.
That is, by flaming time after time in ascents and descents, he is rewarded with a permanent fire.