Recap and opening — and this is demanded of us
Welcome back to the eleventh lesson on the maamar Basi LeGani 5711 — and today, with G-d's help, we'll seal ois gimel.
Let's recall the whole road for a moment. We learned what Shechina is, and that its ikar was destined to dwell davka in the lower realms. We saw the descent — the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge that withdrew it from the earth — and the return, seven tzaddikim who brought it back down, until Moshe the seventh. And we learned the secret of the seventh: that his virtue comes from his very being seventh to the first, and that his power is to continue the service of the first — the “vayakri” of Avraham — and to draw the ikar of the Shechina down davka below.
And all this time it has sounded like a historical story — Avraham, Moshe, distant generations. But now the maamar makes its boldest move. It turns all this history toward us, and says one small phrase that changes everything: “the seventh generation.” Us.
Who is the “seventh generation”? What is demanded of it? And why davka upon us falls the task of closing the circle that was opened at the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge? With this we'll seal today.
‘The seventh generation’ — from Avraham to Moshe, and from the Alter Rebbe to us
To understand why we are “the seventh generation,” we need to count another chain — not of the fathers of the nation, but of the Rebbeim of Chabad. This maamar was said by the Rebbe, immediately after the passing of his father-in-law the Rebbe Rayatz. And when one counts the generations from the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad Chassidus, a wondrous thing is revealed.
Count with me: the Alter Rebbe — the first. After him his son, the Mitteler Rebbe — the second. The Tzemach Tzedek — the third. The Rebbe Maharash — the fourth. The Rebbe Rashab — the fifth. The Rebbe Rayatz — the sixth. And the generation after him, our own generation — the seventh.
We, then, stand in exactly the same place in which Moshe stood. Just as Moshe was the seventh from Avraham, so our generation is the seventh from the Alter Rebbe. And if “all sevenths are beloved,” and if davka the seventh is the one who draws down — then this mission, of completing the drawing-down, now falls upon us.
And therefore the maamar says in explicit words: “this is demanded of each and every one of us, the seventh generation.” Notice — not “of the great,” not “of the tzaddikim.” Of each and every one. Of me too, of you too. Every Jew in this generation is a seventh link, and upon him falls a part of the mission.
Beloved — even if we did not choose, and even if it is hard
And now the maamar touches a very sensitive point, a point that each of us feels. It says: true, “the fact that we are in the seventh generation is not by our choice and not through our service.” None of us chose to be born davka now, at the end of the long exile. We did not labor to reach this place. We were simply born into it.
And the maamar continues with breathtaking honesty: “and in several matters, it may be not according to our will.” That is — it may be that our generation is not the generation we would have chosen. A generation of darkness, of the hiding of the Divine face, of hardships. A generation in which faith is demanded at a high price, in which one does not always see open miracles. It may very well be that we would have preferred a different generation.
And nevertheless — and here is all the power — “in any case, all sevenths are beloved.” Remember the principle we learned at the beginning of the ois: the belovedness of the seventh does not depend on choice and on service, but comes “by virtue of birth,” from the very place. And therefore davka the fact that we did not choose — takes nothing away at all. On the contrary: that is exactly the point. We are beloved not because we earned it, but because this is our place, because this is our belonging.
And think how comforting this is. A person might look at our generation and say: “what am I worth compared to the great generations that were?” The maamar comes and says: you are not measured by that. Davka you, in this generation, at this very edge — are beloved. Not in spite of being last, but because you are last. The last link is not the least; it is the one that reaches the goal.
The mission — to finish: the ikar of the Shechina, specifically in the lower realms
And after the comfort — comes the mission. The maamar places us in time: “that we find ourselves in ikvesa diMeshicha, in the very end of ikvesa.”
Let's explain the expression. “Ikvesa diMeshicha” — the heels of Mashiach, the final era of exile, just before the coming of the redemption. “Akev” is also the lowest part of the body, the low and coarse part; and also the end of a matter, what comes in its wake. “The end of ikvesa” — the end of that heel, the very last moment before the end. In plain words: we stand at the very edge. Almost the whole road has already been traveled; only the last steps remain.
And what is demanded of us at this edge? One word: “to finish.” “And the service — to finish the drawing-down of the Shechina.” Not to begin; to complete. The tzaddikim, generation after generation, did the main work — Avraham opened, Moshe brought it down to the earth, the Rebbeim of Chabad continued. The last step remained, and that is our step. We are the workers who come in on the final shift, when the building is almost done, and upon us it falls to lay the last brick.
And what exactly is that “to finish”? Here the maamar gathers everything we built across the whole chapter, in three ascending levels: “and not merely Shechina — but the ikar of the Shechina; and in the lower realms specifically.” Not to be content with a general presence of holiness. To draw down the ikar, the essence, the innermost of the Shechina. And not in some exalted spiritual place — but davka here, in the lower realms, in this physical world, exactly in the place from which it withdrew at the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge.
And so the perfect circle of the whole maamar is sealed. We began with “ikar Shechina b'tachtonim haysa” — that the essence was destined to dwell here below. We saw how it withdrew, and how it was returned. And here is the final answer to the question we asked in the seventh lesson — “where did it vanish, and who will return it?” The answer is: us. Our generation. Now. It is upon us to finish the drawing-down of the ikar of the Shechina, davka to here.
And how does one do this in practice? Through the service of Avraham's “vayakri.” Every good deed, every mitzvah, every time a Jew lights up a dark corner or awakens another Jew — he draws a little more of the Divine essence into the physical world. We do not merely learn about the dwelling-place for the Holy One; we are building it, with our own hands, here.
Sealing the chapter — the full arc, and our mission
So what did we see today, and with what did we seal the ois?
We learned that we are “the seventh generation” — the seventh to the Alter Rebbe, just as Moshe was the seventh to Avraham. And that the virtue of the seventh, the belovedness, belongs to each and every one of us — not because we chose or earned it, but by virtue of our very being the seventh; and therefore even if we did not choose our generation, and even if it is hard and not always to our will, “all sevenths are beloved.” We saw that we stand in ikvesa diMeshicha, at the very end, and that the mission is “to finish” — to complete the drawing-down of the ikar of the Shechina, specifically in the lower realms.
And so the circle we opened eleven lessons ago is completed. “Basi LeGani” — the Holy One wishes to return to His garden, to this world. He was abandoned through the sin, returned by the tzaddikim, and the last step has been placed in our hands. The whole maamar, in the end, is not a lesson in Kabbalah — it is a personal call: come, complete the home.
With this we seal the first part of the maamar. We learned it slowly, word by word, from the question “what is Shechina” to the call “the seventh generation — to finish.” Thank you very much for learning with us all along the way, and thank G-d who granted us to complete the chapter in its fullness. And, please G-d, we'll continue onward, to the continuation of the maamar. We'll see you in the next lesson.