The Rebbe's Rambam | Marking the completion of the entire set

Hilchos Melachim | Ch 12

mikln zekld

463

 be imbued with knowledge of Hashem until it elevates us and raises us out of our current state. 20 Teves 5749. Toras Menachem vol. 2 pg. 167 175. “Like the waters cover the seabed” When the Rambam describes the revelations of the times of Moshiach, he emphasizes Hashem’s name “ Havayeh ,” the four letter name of Yud, Hei, Vov, Hei. He states that our occupation “will be solely to know Havayeh ,” and cites a verse which relates that “The earthwill be filled with the knowledge of Havayeh .” The Rambam highlights this name since the state of the world will be characterized by the nature of the revelation of Havayeh . This can be understood with the following preface: An individual can experience personal redemption from his negative inclinations and fully dedicate him self to his Divine service, but his spiritual state may remain lacking. Despite being entirely invested in spirituality, he remains confined within his human limitations; only one who abnegates all sense of self and is united with Hashem can be considered fully redeemed. However, man alone cannot achieve this; one re quires Divine assistance, 558 the revelation of Havayeh , to liberate himself from all self-centered tendencies. The Divine revelation of Havayeh is an expression of Hashem’s pure essence, which elevates man from his limitations and allows him to internalize the ultimate truth as it exists by Hashem. For an individual, this would be characterized by absolute devotion to Hashem, without any variance between the different aspects of one’s Divine service; he will dedicate himself equally to Torah learning, prayer, the performance of mitzvos and even material pursuits carried out with the proper intent. If one is driven by personal motivation, he may apply himself towards the aspects of Torah and mitzvos which appeal to him, but when one is motivated by the will of Hashem, he will be wholly dedicated to every aspect of Divine service equally. This was indicated in Hashem’s message to Moshe regarding the nature of the exodus from Egypt, “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov with the name Almighty G-d, but with My name Havayeh , I did not become known to them.” 559 Hashem was .562 .(à ,é úáù) "äéøî äéî÷ àãáòë" .563 .á ,âë ïéùåãé÷ à"áùø äàø .564 .á ,ì úåëøá .565 .úåøùë ú÷æçá ì¯àøùé ìëå .(âé ,ãð 'éòùé) "'ä éãåîéì êéðá ìëå" éøäù



Pardes Hamelech

informing Moshe that the nature of the redemption from Egypt was never before experienced, even by the forefathers, for it was to be a revelation of Havayeh . Similarly, the ultimate redemption will not merely be a physical or spiritual redemption; it will be a redemp tion characterized by a revelation of Havayeh . The Essence of Hashem will permeate every fiber of exist ence, and the identity of the entire world will be wholly bound to Him. This explains why at the beginning of the Mishneh Torah , the Rambam does not mention the name Havayeh and refers to Hashem as the “Primary Be ing,” 560 but when discussing the coming of Moshiach he places great emphasis on it. The verse cited by the Rambam hints at this notion too; it states that G-dliness will be present in the world “like the waters cover the seabed.” The revelation of Havayeh will completely nullify all sense of separateness from Hashem and permeate the world with Hashem’s presence. Likkutei Sichos vol. 31 pg. 25 176. “Like the waters cover the seabed” Why does the Rambam quote the end of the verse, if he does not do so in Hilchos Teshuvah 561 ? In the laws of Moshiach, where the Rambam dis cusses Moshiach in greater detail, he also depicts the state of Yedi’as Hashem in full detail. Here, as opposed to Hilchos Teshuvah, he describes the highest possible level of “knowing G-d.” Now, such a state will bring about an unprecedented capacity for self-nullification. In truth, self-nullification is something we strive to attain every time we pray, when we ought to feel like “a servant before his master” 562 — halachically, a servant has no distinct entity other than his master. 563 This state is reached through pondering the greatness of Hashem before prayer. Now, this is not a full-day exercise. The Talmud says that “early chassidim ” would ponder for (only) an hour before prayer, 564 and in our generations, even less time is devoted to this pursuit. 565 Certainly then, when we will spend our entire day studying the greatness of Hashem, we will reach an unprecedented state of self-nullification. We will, in essence, be compared to the fish of the .558 ".åîöò úà øéúî ùåáç ïéà"ù á ,ä úåëøáá àúéàã äî ã"ò .559 .â ,å úåîù .560 ."úåîëçä ãåîòå úåãåñéä ãåñé" ú"øá ÷ø à"ë .561 .á"ä è"ô