The Maor Va-Shemesh reveals that when Yaakov Avinu leaves Be’er Sheva, the Torah is teaching us what it means when a tzaddik departs. Rashi’s three expressions, “hod, ziv, hadar,” are not repetitions. They reflect three forms of spiritual light that a tzaddik brings into a place. His avodah forces even his opponents to admit the truth. His presence generates chiyut, a living spiritual vitality that uplifts the entire city. And he awakens Jewish hearts to teshuvah, the inner return to Hashem. When the tzaddik leaves, these lights withdraw.
On the stones Yaakov placed around his head, the Maor Va-Shemesh teaches that the “avanim” are really the otiot-letters of Torah and tefillah. Every letter contains alfei olamot, countless worlds of holiness. When a Jew davens with awareness that each letter is alive, the letters themselves yearn to draw spiritual light from the upper mochin. They “struggle” for closeness, just as the stones strove for Yaakov’s head. And just as the stones merged into one, Hashem gathers all the letters of a tzaddik’s prayer into one unified yichud above.
The Maor Va-Shemesh also shows that the three stones correspond to the three Avot and the three daily tefillot. Avraham is Shacharit, pure chesed. Yitzchak is Minchah, the hour of din and gevurah. Yaakov is Maariv, the b’riach ha’tichon who unites chesed and gevurah, day and night, into a single flow of rachamim. This power of harmony allows Yaakov to descend into places of darkness and elevate them.
In Yaakov’s neder, “If Elokim will be with me,” he is not expressing doubt. He is recognizing that exile requires the name Elokim, the form of divine presence that sweetens judgments. Upon returning in peace, he asks that the name Hashem, pure mercy, rest upon him. Yaakov can integrate both, because he embodies the fusion of all three Avot.
In the end, the Maor Va-Shemesh shows that Yaakov’s journey is the journey of every Jewish soul. To leave what is comfortable, to walk into places that feel like exile, to carry kedushah into the dark, to lift every spark, and to return to Hashem whole and transformed. It is the path of the tzaddik. And it is the path inside each of us.
Use this source sheet, complete with footnoted sources and a concise, footnoted bio of R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (Ma’or Va-Shemesh) to enjoy this teaching at your own pace, perfect for self-learners.
Prepared by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach
The Ma’or Va-Shemesh is a classic Hasidic commentary on the weekly portions and festivals by R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Kraków (1751-1823). A foremost later disciple, and for years the Shamash, of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, he emerged after his rebbe’s passing as a leading figure in the fourth generation of Chassidut and of Polish Hasidism. His Torah blends close reading of the Psukim with mystical depth, emphasizing Dvekut, heartfelt prayer, joy, and sanctifying the everyday, with a hallmark leadership ethic: the tzaddik sweetens judgment into mercy and draws people close.