35. Lihavin Inyan Mattan Torah 5736 This is a quite the Ma’amar! Short and very deep. The greatest thing is Divine Revelation, because that’s the purpose for the creation. Steps are taken to get the revelation forward. In general there are three steps: A. revealing ‘all’ the light, but in fleeting way (like the waft of perfume); B. revealing what the recipient can receive, but internally (in lasting way), C. using the second step to (ultimately) reveal everything (# A) in a way that the world can take it (# B). The Avos represent the first idea, revealing everything but fleetingly. The Giving of the Torah is the second and (ultimately) the third step. The question of the Ma’amar is: (On the one hand) if the Avos only reveal a waft of perfume, what purpose to they serve in setting up Mattan Torah. (On the other hand) ריח, the idea of smell of perfume is on a level of the Neshama altogether above the body (דבר שהנשמה נהנית ממנו ולא הגוף) which is the level of the Avos, should be the same as Etzem, so what are they (the Avos) lacking that we have? The answer is that they reveal everything (more than we do (initially)) but as a fleeting light; and this is a necessary first step because it is a revelation (of some kind), and any revelation is good, so that it could be later followed by something much deeper.
