Musar for Chagigah 24:1

The line 18,7) ,ואל הבקר רץ אברהם) may be understood as parallel to the heavenly meat that the angels are reported as having fried for אדם הראשון, as reported in Sanhedrin 59. Abraham prepared the bread but did not serve it, since the time for manna which would be ground for the righteous in the heavenly region called שחקים was not yet ripe. Since Adam, however, had already been the recipient of meat from the heavenly regions before he sinned, Abraham saw no reason not to offer meat to these guests from heaven. The bread he prepared assumed a sacred character, seeing Abraham had been feeding the poor at all times, and the reason his descendants were found worthy to feed on heavenly bread was because of their ancestor Abraham's mercy. Unfortunately, the Israelites sinned when they made derogatory comments about the manna, describing it as לחם הקלקל, "bread that is lacking in substance" (Numbers 21,5). This heavenly bread will only appear again in the future that we have spoken of. The reason that

When Moses (in his parting address to the Jewish people in פרשת וזאת הברכה) wanted that his blessing should apply to the people of Israel, he "awoke," or activated the six "pillars." The word אשדת in 33,2 is to be read as two words אש דת. The letters in those two words represent the first letters each of the four pillars אמת-שלום-דין תורה. The other two "pillars" חסד-עבודה are mentioned by Moses a little while later in verse 8 where Moses speaks of תמיך ואוריך לאיש חסיד"ך, referring to the tribe of Levi. Moses goes on to say in verse 10: ישימו קטורה באפך. We know that the choicest of all sacrifices i.e. עבודה is the incense, קטורת. At the very end of his blessings (verse 26), Moses speaks of רכב שמים בעזרך, that with Israel's (i.e. Yeshurun, Israel in its most ideal state) help G–d "rides" the heavens. When Isaiah 66,1 has G–d describe the Heaven as His throne, this is a reference to "G–d riding." When Moses says in 33,25 at the end of the blessings: וכימיך דבאך, "Your strength corresponds to Your days," this is an allusion to the six days of Creation. The six pillars are also called days. Torah is called "day," as we know from Exodus 19,1 where Israel's arrival at Sinai- the source of Torah- is described as occurring ביום הזה, "On 'this' day they arrived in the desert of Sinai." Rashi comments that the reason the Torah employs the words ביום הזה, "on this day," instead of the more appropriate ביום ההוא, "on that day," is to urge us to love the words of Torah as dearly to-day as on the day they were first received thousands of years ago. We know that עבודה is called "day" because the Torah (Leviticus 7,38) writes in connection with the service in the Temple: ביום צוותו, from which we derive that the service has to be performed by day. The connection between the pillar גמילות חסדים and "day" is found in Psalms 42,9: יומם יצוה ה' חסדו, "May G–d command His kindness by day." Our sages (Chagigah 12b) say that anyone who is preoccupied with Torah study at night will have a thread of G–d's kindness extended across to him from the day. We know that the pillar דין is related to "day" from Deut. 21,16: והיה ביום הנחילו את בניו, "On the day he will transmit his estate to his sons as an inheritance, etc." Judgments are not handed down at night. The pillar אמת is the integration of two opposing forces. This corresponds to the concept "day" which is the harmonious blending of opposites i.e. evening and morning into a single unit (Genesis 1/5).

We therefore find the "crown" of Torah and the "crown" of Priesthood combined within one person, Samuel, all for the sake of the "crown" of Torah. Joseph represented the "crown" of Torah as we have pointed out on page 306. The pillar the world rests on is called צדיק; Joseph, universally renowned as יוסף הצדיק is that pillar. The righteous person is the emanation יסוד which leads directly to the emanation מלכות. All the forces, the influences found within the various emanations are channeled to the emanation מלכות only after having passed through the emanation יסוד. All this has been described in Pardes Rimonim in the chapter called צינורות. The emanation מלכות has to be perceived as the מנהיג, guide of the physical universe, acting on behalf of the various other emanations in the name of the אין סוף, G–d Himself. This is the reason it is called מלכות עולם, kingdom of the universe. The pillar which keeps this world going is the צדיק, i.e. the צינור, pipe, which leads from יסוד to מלכות. We derive the "crown" of מלכות, Royalty, from the attribute of מלכות as well as the Holy Temple, the היכל השם, the site of the "crown" of Priesthood. Joseph was the ruler who repaired many of the shortcomings in the world.