Ohr HaMeir

On the verse "And Yitzchak his father said to him, 'Come near now and kiss me, my son'": at first glance one must understand why the holy Torah, which is for every time and is perpetual, wrote that Yitzchak asked this of his son at that time, that he kiss him. Also, how could it enter the mind that the Torah would speak of physical matters?

It appears that here the Torah spoke a great hint, to awaken the hearts of people to the avodah (divine service) of the Creator. It taught us how the Holy One, blessed be He, requests this of us. For we are Hashem's portion, His people, and through the excellence of our deeds we will cause Him an aspect of kisses, to receive illumination from above, from a higher level, for "one higher than the high watches," as is known.

"And Yitzchak his father said": our Father in heaven says this and requests it of Israel, who are called "children of the living G-d," as it is written, "My son, My firstborn, Israel." "Come near, final Hei, to me": that is, the raising of the limbs of the Shechinah (the Divine Presence) that dwell in the lowest levels, as mentioned above. And the benefit is "and kiss me, my son": that is, cause Me an aspect of kisses, to receive illumination from a higher level, as is known to those who understand knowledge.

And understand.

"And he said, 'See, the scent of my son...'" It does not say who is speaking. The Zohar says: wherever it says simply "and he said," this is the Shechinah. The meaning is that the Shechinah takes pride in the tzaddik (righteous one) who serves the Holy One, blessed be He, continually, and says, "See the scent of my son," that through the excellence of his deeds he sends up a good scent before You.

This is the ultimate purpose of the yichud (unification), in the manner of "See, my son, with what I have come before you." He has a holy scent such as this, like the scent of the field, that is, the field of the holy apple orchard, "which Hashem has blessed."

It may also mean the following: the true tzaddik causes this by raising mayin nukvin (feminine waters, arousal from below) to Zeir Anpin (the "lesser countenance"). In raising the limbs of the Shechinah, binah (understanding), which is called "which Hashem has blessed," gives a pool of supernal abundance to the Name Havayah, blessed be He. This is the aspect of drawing down mochin (expanded consciousness) from the netzach (victory, endurance), hod (splendor) and yesod (foundation) of Ima.

This is the meaning of "And may G-d give you of the dew of heaven," and it is written with the definite "hei" (HaElokim). For it is already known that there are two aspects, "Elokim Chayim" (the living G-d) and plain "Elokim." And you, by acting thus to cause an arousal above, as discussed: "May HaElokim give you," the known Elokim Chayim, which alludes to supernal Ima, "of the dew of heaven," that is, of the abundance and supernal blessing that flows upon the aspect of "heaven," by the reasoning of "and You will hear from heaven," etc.

May G-d show us the way of His avodah and make us upright to walk in the lands of the living. Amen.