-
The
Ten Campaigns
of Mashiach and Redemption
The
Lubavitcher Rebbe initiated Ten Campaigns, all of
which are intended to enhance the spiritual and physical wellbeing of
our generation.
He
further stated that if we properly fulfill these ten campaigns then God
will surely fulfill His "campaign"--"the campaign of
true and complete redemption with the coming of Mashiach"--speedily
in our days.
God's
"campaign of redemption" corresponds to the sefirah
of keter, the superconscious "crown" of all reality.
Our "ten campaigns" can be correlated to the ten sefirot,
from chochmah to malchut, in the following manner:
-
- 1. Chochmah ("wisdom"): "The campaign of [learning]
Torah":
- Of the Torah it is said: "The Torah is revealed
from Divine wisdom." When one learns Torah for its own sake, one
merits to continuous revelations of Divine insights, lightning flashes
of chochmah. This Divine "light" is the source of
"life" for the Jewish soul, as it is said
of the words of Torah: "For they are our life and the length of
our days."
- 2. Binah ("understanding"):
"The campaign of Tefilin":
- In Kabbalah we are taught that
the "intellectual life-force" (mochin) which we draw
into the consciousness of our minds and hearts by means of the mitzvah
of tefilin is primarily that of "mother"--binah.
Our sages teach that: "The whole Torah is compared to tefilin"
(Kiddushin 35,1), for chochmah and binah are
"two companions that never part." In the Midrash source
we find that by performing the mitzvah of tefilin
"I [God] consider it as though you studied Torah day and night."
Just as the mother of the household merits together with her husband and
children by ever encouraging them to study Torah, so does she take concern
that the tefilin of her husband and sons are checked regularily to
ensure that they always be kosher.
- 3. Da'at ("knowledge"):
"The campaign of love and unity of Israel":
- The power of love that is
potent enough to affect true unity between the souls of Israel (albeit
that each Jew possesses a unique perspective on life, a unique state of da'at)
derives form the five levels of chesed contained within da'at,
as explained above. The love and unity of Israel begins with the love and
union of husband and wife, as it is said: "And Adam knew his
wife Eve."
-
- 4. Chesed
("lovingkindness"): "The campaign of Shabbat
[and holiday] candles":
- This campaign, together with
the two to follow, constitute the three special mitzvot which were
given, in particular, to the women of Israel. They correspond to the three
vessels in the holy sanctuary of the Temple, which in Kabbalah correspond
to the three essential emotive powers of the heart, the three sefirot
of chesed, gevurah, and tiferet (whose inner
experiences are love, fear, and mercy, and all of which express the
"understanding of the heart," the origin of the rectified
feminine experience, as explained in Kabbalah). The Menorah (whose seven
candles represent the ascent, in love, of the seven soul-roots of Israel)
was to the south, the side of chesed. When a woman lights Shabbat
candles she prays to God that in His infinite kindness He grant her
children who will enlighten the world with the light of the "Torah of
kindness."
-
- 5. Gevurah
("might"): "The campaign of kosher food":
- The golden table on which were
placed the twelve loaves of the "face-bread" was to the north,
the side of gevurah. "Who is mighty [gibor, from gevurah],
he who conquers his passion" refers, in particular, to controlling
one's passions with regard to food. The particular mitzvah of women
with regard to kosher food is the mitzvah to take challah
from the bread she bakes. The "face-bread" was eaten by the
priests in the Temple once a week, on Shabbat. Similiarly, it is the
custom of many Jewish women to bake challot in honor of Shabbat.
-
- 6. Tiferet
("beauty"): "The campaign of family
purity":
- The altar of incense was
placed in the middle of the holy sanctuary, the position of the sefirah
of tiferet. The word "incense" (ketoret) is
cognate to the Aramaic for "bond" or "connection" (ketirah),
alluding to the holy bond of husband and wife in family purity. In
Kabbalah we are taught that the "sense" of family purity is the
sense of smell (the sense to feel and respond to the pure and holy
"incense" of the wife's "arousal from below" and the
husband's "arousal from above").
-
- 7. Netzach
("victory," "eternity"): --"The
campaign of education of children":
- In Kabbalah, the sefirah
of netzach is identified with the right leg of the body. Our sages
teach that "the son is the leg of the father." By devoted
education of the generation to come, the transmission of Torah from
generation to generation, the "eternity of Israel" remains
alive. This itself is the power of the Jewish people throughout our
history to be victorious over all of our enemies.
-
- 8. Hod
("splendor," "acknowledgment"): "The
campaign of ?a house full of [holy] books'":
- Even when one has not yet
merited to study and understand in depth all the contents of the holy
books which he possesses, their very presence in his home, lining its
walls, reflects one's faith and acknowledgment that all their contents is
true. So does one thank (hod means as well
"thanksgiving") God for the gift of the Torah. The holy texts
which line its walls are indeed the splendor of one's home (which serves
to arouse and inspire him to know their contents). (As hod
is the most "vulnerable" of all the sefirot to foreign
influences, it is clear why one must critically examine all the books in
one's home, that none be profane or impure.)
-
- 9. Yesod
("foundation"): "The campaign of charity":
- The sefirah of yesod is
identified with the tzaddik, as it is said: "And the tzaddik
is the foundation [yesod] of the world." As the word tzaddik
and the word tzdakah, "charity," are from the same root,
the essential definition of a tzaddik is one who gives tzdakah.
In Kabbalah, the sefirah of yesod is the channel through
which all Divine light and life-force flows and is given to reality (as
represented by the final sefirah, malchut).
-
- 10. Malchut
("kingdom"): "The campaign of Mezuzah":
- The mezuzah is the mitzvah
which sanctifies the house itself. One's house is one's "palace"
of malchut. The word mezuzah in Gematria equals 65, the
value of God's Name Adnut, the Name associated with the sefirah
of malchut. In the merit of the mitzvah of mezuzah, God
protects one's house together with all of its inhabitants and possessions
(whether one is in or out of his house). This is like a king, whose
responsibility it is to protect all of his subjects and their belongings
(wherever they be).
See
the Ten Campaigns Partzuf--"Kabbalistic Flow
Chart."
-
-
|
Improve
your life
