דעֶר רֶבִּי (רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן) בְּעֵת עֶר אִיז געֶקוּמעֶן פוּן פּעֶטעֶרְבּוּרְג, האָט עֶר געֶזאָגְט פאַרְ'ן מִיטעֶלעֶן רֶבִּי'ן אַ מַאֲמָר — אִינְגאַנְצעֶן עֶטְלִיכעֶ שׁוּרוֹת: שְׂאוּ יְדֵיכֶם קֹדֶשׁ — זֶהוּ הַעֲלָאַת הַמִּדּוֹת בְּמּוֹחִין וְהַאָרַת הַמּוֹחִין בְּמִדּוֹת, וּבָרְכוּ אֶת ה' — שֶׁמַּמְשִׁיכִים עַל יְדֵי זֶה שֵׁם הֲוַי' דִלְעֵלָּא, שֶׁעַל יְדֵי זֶה פּוֹעֵל שֶׁיִּהְיֶה — יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' מִצִּיּוֹן — הַמְשָׁכַת שֵׁם הֲוַי' מֵעַצְמִיּוּת הַנְּשָׁמָה, עוֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ — שֶׁעַל יְדֵי זֶה הוּא קִיּוּם הָעוֹלָמוֹת.

When the Alter Rebbe came home from Petersburg,1 he delivered a maamar to the Mitteler Rebbe, comprised of only a few lines. [In this teaching, successive stages in a Jew’s avodah are presented via a mystical exposition of two verses:2 “Raise your hands in holiness and bless G‑d. May G‑d bless you from Zion, He who makes heaven and earth.”]

Raise your hands in holiness…: This alludes to uplifting one’s emotive attributes3 to the intellect,4 and beaming the light of the intellect into the emotional attributes.

…and bless G‑d: Through this one draws down the sublime level of [G‑d’s] Name Havayah.5

May G‑d bless you from Zion…: As a result, the Name Havayah is brought forth from the essence of the soul.

…He Who makes heaven and earth: And through this, all the worlds are sustained.6

Delving Deeply

In the above teaching, “blessing” is equated with “drawing down.” As has been explained,7 the word for “blessing” (berachah) shares a root (ברך) with a number of other words, whose common denominator relates to drawing something downward. Spiritually, too, the act of blessing draws spiritual influence “downward” beyond its normal reach, and reveals G‑dliness on a level at which it would not ordinarily be evident.

What is the catalyst for this? A person’s extending himself beyond his own limitations, by undertaking a challenge that is uncharacteristic of his personality; for example, raising the emotions to the intellect or radiating the intellect into the emotions.

Why are such efforts considered beyond the ordinary? Because intellect and emotion are two diverse planes of experience. In general, the intellect seeks objective knowledge of reality, while the emotions manifest one’s subjective feelings. It is only when a person transcends his own limitations that these two can function together in complete harmony. Such efforts on man’s part elicit G‑dliness in such a way that it, too, becomes manifest at times and places that are beyond its accustomed self-imposed limits.

Week after week, we are given an opportunity to bring this about.

When we say Havdalah,8 we demarcate the holy day of Shabbos from the workaday days that follow. The words we use are Baruch… hamavdil bein kodesh lechol. At their straightforward level, these words simply bless G‑d, Who makes a distinction between the time that is sanctified and the time that is unsanctified. However, as the Alter Rebbe points out elsewhere,9 at the same moment that we say hamavdil, which means that we are separating the time that is sanctified from the time that is unsanctified, we are also aiming to draw down the holiness of the sanctified day into the unsanctified weekdays that follow. Hence we say both words: Baruch… hamavdil.