Chapter Nine Introduction To answer the question of why the verse associates the “crushed for luminary” with the “And they will take to you pure olive oil” the Rebbe turns to a technical question: The Previous Rebbe starts his mamor with the teaching of the Sages on the verse in Esther, “And the Jews accepted that which they began to do”, that Israel “accepted at Purim what they began to do at the Giving of the Torah”.
The Previous Rebbe explains that it is specifically because the Jews were crushed at the time of the decree of Haman and they observed Torah and Mitzvos with self-sacrifice that they reached the luminary - Essence of the soul, that they were able to achieve accepting the Torah, which they did not achieve even with the “we shall do and we shall hear” at the Giving of the Torah. The Rebbe’s question is that the verse, “And the Jews accepted that which they began to do” in Esther is in chapter nine, after the miracle happened!
Thus, seemingly, the “And the Jews accepted that which they began to do” happened after their being “crushed” was already over?! Thus, there are two dimensions to the “And the Jews accepted that which they began to do”: (a) That which took place during the decree of Haman, through their selfsacrifice for Torah and Mitzvos, as explained in the Previous Rebbe’s mamor. (b) That which took place after the miracle of Purim took place, which was even higher than that which took place during the time of the decree of Haman.
Likewise there are two dimensions in the “crushed for luminary” that takes place when the Children of Israel are in exile: (a) That of when there are decrees against observing Torah and Mitzvos (as it was in the time of when the Previous Rebbe said his mamor). And through the self-sacrifice for Torah and Mitzvos they reach “crushed for luminary”. (b) That of when the Jewish people are in a state of physical and spiritual broadness, as it was after the miracle of Purim (and as the time when the Rebbe said this mamor), and yet the Children of Israel are “crushed for luminary” from this that they are in exile.
And through the “crushed” of being in exile, they reach “luminary”. Note: The latter is a total innovation of the Rebbe! Note: At the end of CHAPTER ELEVEN, after fully explaining what (b) is all about, and why it is higher than (a), the Rebbe will answer his question: The “crushed for luminary” of (a) is related to, “And you will connect the Children of Israel”, while the “crushed for luminary” of (b) is connected with “And they shall take to you pure olive oil”.
Here the journey to understand the (b), and why it is even higher than (a), begins: (i) That which a Jew is “crushed - broken and depressed” over being in exile is because the true will of a Jew that there be the revelation of Divinity touches to the essence core of his beingness. (ii) This “crushed - broken and depressed” comes from the Luminary - Essence of the Soul of which its connection with G-d is an Essence connection.
In CHAPTER TEN the Rebbe will explain why the “Luminary - Essence of the Soul” that comes from the “crushed for luminary” of “being in exile without the revelation of Divinity” is even higher than the “Luminary - Essence of the Soul ” that comes from the “crushed for luminary” of “self-sacrifice for Torah and Mitzvos”. “ 9) And behold the verse ‘And the Jews took upon themselves what they had commenced to do’ speaks (in its simple meaning) in the time of after the miracle of Purim.
” Which seemingly is a question on that the Previous Rebbe explained, that the reason why the Jewish people were able to achieve at Purim the “And the Jews accepted” that which they only “commenced to do” at the Giving of the Torah is because at Purim there was the “crushed” of Haman’s decree which led to self-sacrifice, which led to the Jews reaching the “luminary - Essence of the Soul”. However, the verse “And the Jews took upon themselves what they had commenced to do” took place after the miracle took place, when. Seemingly, there was no more the “crushed?!
Therefore the Rebbe explains: “And it can be said, that this which the mamor (of the Previous Rebbe) explains about ‘And the Jews took upon themselves what they had commenced to do’ means that in the days of Achashverosh they ‘took upon themselves’ that which ‘they commenced’ at the Giving of the Torah, is also according to the simple meaning of the verse ‘and they took upon themselves…’ that it was after the miracle.
” The Rebbe is saying that the Previous Rebbe’s explanation that the “And the Jews took upon themselves what they had commenced to do” happened because the Children of Israel was in a state of “crushed - broken and depressed”, and therefore reached “luminary”, is also as the verse simply speaks of after the miracle happened. --see Footnote 41 as to how the Rebbe sees that the Previous Rebbe was speaking also of after the miracle happened.
“And according to this (that there are the two dimensions of ‘And the Jews took upon themselves what they had commenced to do’, one during the decree of Haman and one after the miracle happened) this that in the days of Achashverosh took upon themselves what they had commenced at the Giving of the Torah, there are two concepts.
The ‘took upon themselves’ at the time of the decree, through their self-sacrifice (for their observance of Torah and Mitzvos) (as explained in the (Previous Rebbe’s) mamor), and the ‘took upon themselves’ that was after the miracle of Purim, which was higher even than the ‘took upon themselves’ at the time of the decree (as will be further explained).” The Rebbe just said that not only is there the second dimension of the “And the Jews took upon themselves what they had commenced to do” that took place after the miracle happened, but that this second dimension is even higher than the first dimension.
This is what the Rebbe will explain in the next two chapters. However, the teaching of “in the days of Achashverosh they ‘took upon themselves’ that which ‘they commenced’ at the Giving of the Torah” is from the Midrash, not the Previous Rebbe. The Previous Rebbe explains this with “crushed for luminary”, that through the “crushed” they reached the “luminary” and that is how “in the days of Achashverosh they ‘took upon themselves’ that which ‘they commenced’ at the Giving of the Torah”.
Thus, by saying that there are two dimensions of “in the days of Achashverosh they ‘took upon themselves’ that which ‘they commenced’ at the Giving of the Torah” then we must say that there are two dimensions of “crushed for luminary”: “And there is to say, that it is same way concerning the ‘crushed for luminary’, that through the concept of ‘crushed’ in the time of exile one reaches the ‘luminary’, that there are two concepts within this.