וזהו On this basis, we can understand the verse:1 “[Who...] weighed the mountains with a scale and the hills with a balance?”
As the Alter Rebbe proceeds to explain, the redundancy in the verse is not merely a literary technique but refers to two different levels and approaches.
The “mountains” and the “hills” refer to [two different] types and levels of love. For there are, [in general,] two categories: mountains and hills, and the hills are on a lower level than that of the mountains.
I.e., the analogue parallels the analogy.
For the “hills refer to the Matriarchs,”2 who receive from the “mountains,” [i.e., the Patriarchs]. [“The hills”] thus refer to the love from the external dimension of the heart which results from logic and knowledge and meditation on the greatness of G‑d, which is [truly] vast.
והנה Now to refine one’s soul and illumine it with the light of this love,
I.e., even when one has meditated on the greatness of G‑d and has established a basis for love and fear, it is possible that he will not experience these emotions, for the fundamental material orientation of our bodies and animal souls may prevent that from happening. For the soul to experience love and fear of G‑d while clothed in a body, its power must be nourished by the influence of the Torah and its mitzvos.
it is necessary to draw the light of the Torah and its mitzvos down to it, for “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King.” 3
Just as a person’s limbs are the mediums to express his vitality within his body, the mitzvos — the limbs of the King — draw down G‑dly vitality into this world.
[In particular, there is a difference between the influence exerted by Torah study and that exerted by the observance of the mitzvos. The mitzvos] parallel the external organs [of the body], while the Torah represents the internal organs.
I.e., as explained in Tanya, ch. 23, through the observance of the mitzvos, a person establishes a connection with G‑d; he is observing G‑d’s will. By studying Torah, one establishes a deeper bond. His mind becomes one with G‑d’s, as it were.
Therefore “Torah study is equivalent to them all,” 4
I.e., as explained in Tanya, ch. 37, since the study of the Torah enables man to establish an intimate bond with G‑d, from this perspective, it outweighs the observance of all other mitzvos.
for the vitality of the soul is far more dependent on [the health of] the inner organs, [as reflected by the law5 that an animal is declared a tereifah
Unfit to be eaten, according to Jewish Law.
if one of these organs] is perforated to the slightest degree.
והם [The influence of the Torah and its mitzvos] can be described by the analogy of a scale in which a weight is placed in one pan and a load is placed in the other pan, tipping the balance. So too, the “load” of Torah and mitzvos tips the pan of love, [causing it to] illumine one’s soul.xvii
The implication is that a person’s observance of the Torah and its mitzvos draws down and arouses his love for G‑d.
אבל The level of “mountains,” by contrast, is identified with “the high mountains”;6 i.e., the love that transcends logic and knowledge. It is above the Torah and its mitzvos, for “the Torah emanates from wisdom.”7
Thus this approach is identified with knowledge and intellect.
It is impossible to reach [this higher love] through the Torah and its mitzvos. Instead, it is aroused through teshuvah from the depths of the heart, which transcends knowledge. [It is spurred by the perception of] one’s distance from the light of G‑d’s countenance. In such an instance, [the motif] “From afar G‑d appeared to me” [applies], as explained above, [i.e., one’s perception of his distance from G‑d brings about an intensification of the love and yearning to bond with Him].
וזהו This reflects the concept of a balance [mentioned above.
The terms “scale” and “balance” refer to two weighing instruments. Though both are balance scales, the “balance” is used to weigh heavier objects. Hence it has a longer horizontal beam to enable it to fluctuate to a greater degree before coming to rest. See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, Hilchos Mishkalos, subsec. 13. Here, the Alter Rebbe is explaining the spiritual analogies to these concepts.
In a physical sense, a balance] involves a scale with a long [horizontal] beam [at the top] with straps hanging from either end. [At the end of these straps hang pans] in which the object which is being weighed is placed. The length and the weight of the beam and the distance [of its pans] enable the balance to be tipped.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, op. cit., which explains that the heavier the object being weighed, the greater length of the horizontal beam required.
[In the analogue,] through the bitterness [felt] within one’s soul due to its distance from G‑d — [the feeling] that he is utterly removed from Him — and by uprooting his will from the matters in which it was originally lodged, he arouses the great and sublime love that transcends reason.xviii
The distance thus becomes a prod enabling the essential bond to G‑d that exists within a Jew’s heart to surface.
וזהו This is the intent of the phrase, “the high mountains for the mountain goats”: that [love symbolized by] “the high mountains” will be drawn down to this lowly plane through “mountain goats,” i.e., the call of the shofar, for “the shofar of Rosh HaShanah is a straight horn of a mountain goat (יעל פשוט).”8 As explained above, [the shofar’s call evokes and expresses] teshuvah from the depths of the heart.
And, as the Alter Rebbe proceeds to explain, the shofar’s call evokes the emotions that transcend intellect.
יעל, the Hebrew term for “mountain goat,” shares the same root letters as the term עליה meaning “ascent.” [Implied is that the shofar’s call] elevates a person to the level of love that transcends knowledge. [The shofar is] פשוט, “straight,” [as our Sages say]:139 “The more one פשיט, ‘straightens,’
I.e., focuses.
one’s heart, the more preferable it is.” [פשיט relates to the word] פשוט, meaning to “strip off,” to remove the love from its enclothement in physical matters, [motivating] one’s heart to cry out within his inner being, [for him] to give over his soul to G‑d and be absorbed in [G‑d’s] oneness.
More particularly, the intent is that one be absorbed in the recitation of “G‑d is one” in the Shema.
וזהו This is the intent of [the continuation of the passage cited at the beginning of the maamar which speaks of G‑d’s establishment of a covenant with the Jewish people]:9 “…as I swore to your ancestors, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov.”
Both “swearing” and establishing a covenant reflect the establishment of a bond above reason and logic. Similarly,
[The Patriarchs] are identified with “the high mountains,” [i.e., the emotions that transcend intellect, as indicated by the verse]:10 “For your ancestors dwelled across the River.”
ונהר “The River” relates to “the river that emerges from Eden to irrigate the garden and from there it is divided.”11 [The river thusrefers] to a dimension in which [G‑d’s] infinite light has been drawn down to a level where it can be comprehended by created beings, as explained in another source.12
As explained in Torah Or, Shmos, p.75d, et al., “the River” is identified with the Sefirah of Binah, “understanding.”
“Across the river” refers to a level that transcends knowledge — “the high mountains” [mentioned above]. This is the source of the level of the Patriarchs, and on this level, an oath and a covenant were established that [Havayah]
The aspect of G‑d that transcends nature.
should be the G‑d
Here the term Elokim, which is identified with nature, is used.
[of the Jewish people] and that this [spiritual potential should permeate] our inner being, as explained above.xix
Summary
[The Alter Rebbe seeks to explain the continuation of the verses that describe the establishment of a covenant between G‑d and the Jewish people:] “as I swore to your ancestors....” [To do so, he cites the verse,] “Who... weighed the mountains with a scale [and the hills with a balance?” and explains that] the hills refer to the love for G‑d that is dependent on understanding,while the mountains refer to the love for G‑d that transcends understanding. The second level is identified with] the Patriarchs, [who are described as] originating from “across the River” — [which refers to] “the river that emerges from Eden” [— i.e., the Patriarch’s rung surpasses the level of understanding].
[G‑d desires] “to have you pass into the covenant.” [As implied by the verse:] “until Your nation passes over, O G‑d,” [the intent is that we make a transition from our ordinary level of connection to G‑d to the level of the Patriarchs].13
[That level is identified with] “the high mountains for the mountain goats.” [Herein lies a connection to] “the shofar of Rosh HaShanah [which] is a straight horn of a mountain goat.”
[Implied is that the shofar enables a person to attain this level of attachment to G‑d. The covenant that G‑d established with the Jewish people was meant to maintain this bond within their hearts at all times.]
