Ten Campaigns
From Innerpedia
Ten Campaigns (מִבְצָעִים). The Lubavitcher Rebbe established ten special campaigns, encouraging an increase in the observance of the the Torah's commandments. The ten campaigns correspond to the ten sefirot from wisdom to kingdom, as follows:
| understanding | wisdom | ||
| tefilin | Torah | ||
| knowledge | |||
| love and unity | |||
| might | loving-kindness | ||
| keeping kosher | Shabbat candles | ||
| beauty | |||
| family purity | |||
| acknowledgment | victory | ||
| a house full of books | Jewish education | ||
| foundation | |||
| tzedakah (charity) | |||
| ateret hayesod | |||
| kingdom | |||
| mezuzah |
Above these 10 campaigns and corresponding to the sefirah of crown hovers God's campaign: bringing the Mashiach. The Lubavitcher Rebbe stressed that when we properly fulfill these ten campaigns, God will surely fulfill His campaign of bringing the Mashiach and the true and complete redemption speedily.
The campaign of [learning] Torah (wisdom)
When learning Torah for its own sake, one merits continuous revelations of Divine insights into the Torah's meaning. The Zohar states that, "Torah is revealed from Divine wisdom."[1] Thus, these insights are actually flashes of wisdom. 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."
The campaign of Tefilin (understanding)
Every Jewish male is commanded to don tefilin every weekday. The intellectual life-force (מוֹחִין) that we draw into the consciousness of our minds and hearts by means of the mitzvah of tefilin is primarily that of understanding (the mother principle).
Wisdom, here corresponding to the campaign of Torah study, and understanding, corresponding to tefilin, are considered two campanions that never part. Indeed, this principle is exhibited in the teaching of the sages that, "the entire Torah is compared to tefilin."[2] Elsewhere, we find that by performing the mitzvah of tefilin "I [God] consider it as though you studied Torah day and night."
Wisdom and understanding represent the father princple () and the mother principle (partzufim). Thus, in the family, the mother benefits from the Torah studied by her husband and children by always encouraging them to study Torah. Likewise, she should also take interest in having her husband and sons' tefilin checked regularily to ensure that they are kosher.
The campaign of love and unity of Israel (knowledge)
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, i.e., a unique manifestation of knowledge, or consciousness) derives form the five aspects of loving-kindness contained within the sefirah of knowledge. Love and unity between the Jewish people begins with the love and union of husband and wife, as in the verse, "And Adam knew his wife Eve."[3]
The campaign of Shabbat [and holiday] candles (loving-kindness)
This campaign, together with the two that follow, constitute the three special mitzvot given in particular to the women of Israel. They correspond to the three vessels situated in the holy sanctuary of the Temple: the Menorah, the Table of Facebread, and the Altar of Incense. These three vessels correspond to the three essential emotive powers of the heart, loving-kindness, might, and beauty. The inner experience and motivators of these three sefirot are love, awe, and mercy, respectively, all of which express the understanding of the heart, the origin of the rectified feminine experience.
The Menorah in the Tabernacle and in the Holy Temple corresponds with the sefirah of loving-kindness, and hence with lighting Shabbat and holiday candles. Its seven candles represent the ascent, in love, of the seven soul-roots of Israel. Its placement, to the south of the Holy of Holies, represents loving-kindness. 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."[4] (See also the articles on the mitzvah of Challah at http://www.inner.org/commandments/challah/challah1.htm)
The campaign of kosher food" (might)
The golden Facebread table on which were placed the twelve loaves of the "face-bread" was to the north part of the Sanctuary, the direction associated with the sefirah of might. The sages define the mighty or powerful person as an individual who can conquer and subdue his cravings.[5] This refers, in particular, to a person who can control his craving for 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 (לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים) was eaten by the priests in the Temple once a week, on Shabbat.[6] Similiarly, it is the custom of many Jewish women to bake challot in honor of Shabbat.
The campaign of family purity (beauty)
The altar of incense was placed in the middle of the holy sanctuary, the position of the sefirah of beauty. The word "incense" (קְטֹרֶת) is cognate to the Aramaic for "bond" or "connection" (קְטִירַא), alluding to the holy bond of husband and wife in family purity. The sense associated with 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").
The campaign of education of children (victory)
In the human form, the sefirah of victory is identified with the right leg of the body. The sages teach that "the son is the leg of his father." By devoted education of the generation to come, the transmission of Torah from generation to generation, the eternal nature (victory can also be translated as eternity) of the Jewish people is passed on. This itself is the power of the Jewish people throughout our history to be victorious over all of our enemies.
The campaign of a house full of [holy] books (acknowledgment)
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. In the same manner, a person should constantly thank (acknowledgment also translates as thanksgiving) God for the gift of the Torah. Holy texts lining the walls grace a home with a sense of splendor, which in turn inspires its occupants to open the books and study their contents.
Of all the sefirot, acknowledgment is the most vulnerable to negative and foreign influence. Therefore, one must critically examine all the books in the home, to ensure that none of them contain profane or impure content, as this will resonate negatively on one's family.
The campaign of charity (foundation)
The sefirah of foundation is identified with the tzadik, the righteous and holy individual. The word tzadik and the word for "charity" (צְדָקָה) stem from the same root. Indeed, the essential definition of a tzadik is one who gives charity and perfoms acts of charity with others. Likewise, from a spiritual perspective, foundation is the sefirah through which all Divine light and life-force flows into reality—represented by the final sefirah, kingdom.
The campaign of Mezuzah (kingdom)
The mezuzah is the mitzvah which sanctifies the house itself. One's house is one's palace of kingdom. The numerical value of the word mezuzah (מְזוּזָה) is 65, also the value of one of the Names of God, Adni. Adni is the Name associated with the sefirah of kingdom. 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).
References
Further reading
- A Sense of the Supernatural, p.100, n. 4.
