NAMES, LETTERS, HUGS, AND KISSES

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

Thanks to everyone who hosted Mommy while in California.

BH she enjoyed her trip very much.

This week we started the second Book of Chumash called Shmos, and the first sedra is also called Shmos (NAMES)

I have seen it said in sichos of the Rebbe, that the name of a person is very deep in the essence of his soul.

That is why, when a person faints, or is unconscious, they may respond when you call their name, drawing their essence back into the body.

This is connected to our exile, and the exile in Egypt, but I want to rather link it to something else interesting that I learned this week in a maamar of the Alte Rebbe printed in his siddur. (Chanukah)

The topic was about the source of SPEECH and LETTERS within ourselves.

If one thinks about it, it is fascinating where letters and words arise from!

As part of the analysis the Alte Rebbe describes what happens with our words of prayer.

Our Sages say that the Angel called Matat, who is the highest of the angels, is 'sitting and braiding crowns for his Creator', and it is explained that these crowns are from the prayers of Am Yisrael.

And we have to understand how it is possible for the lowly, physical words we utter down on earth, to reach so high up to become crowns to our Creator?

It is known that the letters and words of our prayers, are raised up by angels, raising them from one level to a higher level.

4 worlds are described and within each world there are chambers (hechalot), where angels at different levels, raise these letters from one level to the next, one chamber to the next, one world to the next, going higher and higher, passing the letters on from one to the other - 'vekara zeh el zeh veamar', and 'umekablim zeh el zeh'

The Zohar says that there is a malach (angel) supervising the prayers and it 'gafif lah venashik lah batechilah, veachar kach maaleh osah leolam haelyon heimeno' - it EMBRACES (the words of prayer) and KISSES them initially, and then passes them up to the next level of angel above it, and in this way it is transported higher and higher, until it reaches the height of heights where the chief angel Matat 'braids them into wreaths for the Creator'.

And why is the expression of KISSING and EMBRACING used?

KISSING expresses a 'bonding of spirit with spirit'

The angel interprets the spirit of the words (ie their passion and meaning that has been applied by ourselves), and incorporates this into its own spirit. He then passes it onto a higher level angel, and this higher level interprets and bonds with the words as picked up in the lower level angel, 'bonding spirit to spirit' at a higher level etc.

The HUG refers to the 'surrounding' as is stated in Baba Metzia 'that the angel of Hashem camped around those that fear Him', and every Jew has an angel which surrounds him or her (except very great neshamas who do not need this)

And so all our words of prayer reach to a place beyond our intellect.

And the Alte Rebbe states that this is also the source where all LETTERS OF SPEECH are stored and originate, and are drawn upon by our mind to express ideas in the form of physical speech.

And he says this is the area called Yechidah in the soul.

Wishing everyone a Gut Shabbos, with the assurance that all our prayers are heard Above.