Likkutei Torah · Parshas V’Zos HaBerachah · Maamar 1
ואתה מרבבות קדש
And He Came from the Holy Myriads
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The big idea
The Torah is rooted in the level of “myriads,” far above the “hundred” that sustains the worlds, and that is why Torah and mitzvos can draw the deepest divine light down into physical things; yet for now it comes only as “ve’asa,” the back, and above even the myriads is the One who is beyond number.
The maamar in brief
The maamar explains “And He came from the holy myriads” by building a scale of numbers: units, tens, hundreds, thousands and myriads, the highest number with its own name. Each rank receives only a “tenth” of the one above it. Sarah’s lifespan (7, 20 and 100 years) maps the scale onto the Sefiros: the emotive attributes are units, Chochmah and Binah are tens, and Keser is a hundred. Above intellect, will (ratzon, hidden in notzer, “preserving kindness for thousands”) is thousands, and the radiance of delight is myriads. Malchus, “Sarah,” gives life to all worlds from the rank of a hundred, drawn down through the hundred daily blessings. The Torah, however, comes from the myriads, and so through Torah and mitzvos the inner union of Chochmah and Binah, rooted in the Infinite One itself, reaches even a sukkah and tefillin. Still, this revelation is now only “ve’asa,” the Aramaic, the “back,” like hair; the inner reasons of the Torah, the “kisses of His mouth,” await the future. The three levels of blessing, holiness and union follow this ladder, and above even the holy myriads is “a sign among His myriad”: G‑d, One but not in number.
Outline
- The scale of numbersUnits to myriads, each a tenth of the next; Sarah’s 7, 20 and 100 years as the attributes, the intellect and what is above it.¶1–2
- The soul and the willThe five levels of the soul match the five ranks; will without reason and desire with delight; notzer as ratzon and “thousands.”¶3–4
- Delight as a myriad; Sarah as MalchusThe radiance of delight is the “myriad”; Malchus spreads from Sarai to Sarah through the “hundred,” drawn down by the hundred blessings, while the Torah is rooted in the myriads.¶5–6
- From the holy myriads into the physicalBecause its source is so high, the Torah draws the inner union of Chochmah and Binah into physical mitzvos; for now it comes only as ve’asa, the back.¶7
- Blessing, holiness, union and the One beyond numberThe future “kisses” of the Torah’s inner dimension; blessing, holiness and union as rising levels; “a sign among His myriad” as G‑d’s holiness beyond number.¶8–9
Key concepts
- Ayak Becharאי״ק בכ״ר
- The grouping of Hebrew letters by rank (1, 10, 100; 2, 20, 200), showing that each numerical rank reflects the one below it at a higher level.
- The tenth (asiris)עשירית
- The principle that a lower level receives only a tenth of the level above it, as an emotion draws only on a small part of the mind.
- Will and desire (ratzon and chefetz)רצון וחפץ
- Two layers of the supernal will: will beyond reason, and desire that carries reason and delight.
- The holy myriadsרבבות קדש
- The highest named rank, the radiance of the supernal delight, where the Torah is rooted, far above the “hundred” that gives life to the worlds.
- The back (achorayim)אחוריים
- The outer side of a revelation; the Torah’s present revelation is called ve’asa, Aramaic, the back, while its inner reasons will be revealed in the future.
- Blessing, holiness, unionברכה קדושה יחוד
- Three rising levels of drawing down: life for the worlds (the hundred), encompassing light through the mitzvos (the holy myriads), and the inner revelation of the One beyond number.
- One but not in numberחד ולא בחושבן
- G‑d’s oneness beyond all counting; before it, myriads and units are the same.
For children · ages 9–13
The Torah comes from the holy myriads
The big idea
The Torah comes from a place far higher than the life that keeps the world going, and so when we learn it and do mitzvos we bring that very high light into ordinary things like a sukkah and tefillin.
The verse says G‑d came to give the Torah “from the holy myriads.” A myriad means ten thousand, the highest number that has its own name in the Holy Tongue. The maamar builds a ladder of numbers: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands and myriads. Each step receives only a tenth of the step above it. Our feelings are like ones, our understanding is like tens, and what is above understanding is like a hundred. Higher still is will, which is “thousands,” and highest is delight, which is “myriads.” The life that G‑d gives all the worlds comes from the level of a hundred, and we draw it down with the hundred blessings we say each day. But the Torah’s root is in the myriads, far above the hundred. That is why Torah and mitzvos can bring such a lofty light into physical things. For now we receive only the outside of the Torah; its inner reasons will be revealed in the Time to Come. And above even the myriads is G‑d Himself, who is One, beyond all numbers.
The mashal
Hair grows from the head, yet it is not the brain itself: when it is cut, a person feels nothing. So too, the Torah as we have it now is like the hair, the outer part of G‑d’s wisdom. Its inside, which the verse calls “the kisses of His mouth,” will be revealed in the Time to Come.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- Why can the Torah bring G‑d’s light into physical things like a sukkah and tefillin?
- What does the ladder of ones, tens, hundreds, thousands and myriads teach about how each level receives from the one above it?
- Which mitzvah with a physical object can you do this week with the thought that it brings a very high light into the world?
Explanation © likuteitorah.com, CC BY-NC 4.0: retold for children from our translation and explanation, with AI assistance; not yet reviewed by a human editor.
The scale of numbers ¶1–2
1ואתה מרבבות קדש.12 כי הנה יש יחידות עשירות מאות כו׳. אי״ק בכ״ר3 כמ״ש בספר שערי אורה להרי״ג שער א׳ בענין מעשר ומעשר מן המעשר כו׳.
“And He came from the holy myriads.” For there are units, tens, hundreds, etc. [This is the pattern] Ayak Bechar (אי״ק בכ״ר), as is written in the book Sha’arei Orah by Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla, Gate 1, on the subject of the tithe and the tithe from the tithe, etc.,
The maamar opens with Moshe’s blessing, “And He came from the holy myriads” (Deuteronomy 33:2), and first sets up a scale of numbers: units, tens, hundreds, thousands and myriads (ten-thousands). Ayak Bechar is the Kabbalistic grouping of Hebrew letters by rank (alef, yud, kuf are 1, 10, 100; beis, kaf, reish are 2, 20, 200), and Sha’arei Orah uses it, as with the Levites’ tithe and the “tithe from the tithe,” to show that each rank is a tenth of the one above it.
ובענין מאה אדני כסף כו׳ ע״ש. והמספר הגדול הוא רבה כמ״ש היי לאלפי רבבה4 וכתיב ומאה מכם רבבה ירדפו5 שאין מספר למעלה הימנו בלה״ק כי מה שהוא יותר מרבבה אין לו שם בפ״ע בתורה כ״א
and on the subject of the hundred silver sockets, etc.; see there. And the great number is a myriad, as it is written, “Become thousands of myriads,” and it is written, “And a hundred of you shall pursue a myriad.” For there is no number above it in the Holy Tongue, since whatever is more than a myriad has no name of its own in the Torah, but only
The hundred silver sockets of the Mishkan are another example Sha’arei Orah uses. The key claim is that the myriad (ten thousand) is the highest number with its own name in Biblical Hebrew, shown from two verses that use it as the great number.
שנק׳ כך וכך אלפים או כך וכך רבוא וכמ״ש רבבות אלפי ישראל6 וכתיב הרבה משתים עשרה רבו אדם7 (ביונה סס״י ד׳) ולכן מצינו במשנה רפ״ז דברכות בשלשה מהו אומר וכו׳ עד ברבוא מהו אומר כו׳.
that it is called so-and-so many thousands or so-and-so many ten-thousands, as it is written, “the myriads of the thousands of Israel,” and it is written, “more than twelve ten-thousands of people” (in Jonah, end of chapter 4). And therefore we find in the Mishnah, at the beginning of chapter 7 of Berachos: “With three, what does one say?” etc., up to “With ten thousand, what does one say?” etc.
Beyond ten thousand, the Torah only counts in multiples (“myriads of thousands,” “twelve ten-thousands”). The Mishnah on the invitation to Grace after Meals also climbs its scale of wording only up to a gathering of ten thousand, confirming the myriad as the top rank.
והנה כתיב ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה8 ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים שבע הוא בחינת שבע מדות העליונות שבפסוק לך ה׳ הגדולה כו׳
Now it is written, “And the life of Sarah was a hundred years and twenty years and seven years.” Seven is the level of the seven supernal emotive attributes (middos) in the verse, “Yours, G‑d, is the greatness,” etc.,
The Alter Rebbe now maps the numbers onto the Sefiros through the verse on Sarah’s lifespan: 100, 20 and 7. The “seven” are the seven emotive attributes (middos) listed in David’s praise, “Yours, G‑d, is the greatness (Gedulah, i.e. Chesed), the might (Gevurah), the beauty (Tiferes)...” down to “the kingdom” (Malchus).
עד הממלכה כו׳ שהמדות הם בבחי׳ התחלקות המדרגות זו מזו שהרי החסד והגבורה הם מדות נגדיים
up to “the kingdom,” etc. For the attributes are in the mode of the division of the levels from one another, since Chesed (kindness) and Gevurah (restraint) are opposing attributes.
The emotive attributes are distinct from one another and can even oppose each other: kindness pours out, restraint holds back.
ולכן נאמר בהם שנים לשון רבים משא״כ חו״ב נאמר עליהם עשרים שנה לשון יחיד כי הם תרין ריעין דלא מתפרשין9 כמו עד״מ באדם כשמבין ההלכה ע״י כח השכל שבו ממילא נכלל בזה חכמה ובינה.
And therefore of them it says shanim (“years”), in the plural, whereas of Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding) it says esrim shanah (“twenty year”), in the singular, for they are “two companions that never part.” As, by way of analogy, in a person: when he understands a halachah by means of the power of intellect within him, Chochmah and Binah are automatically included in this.
That is why the verse uses the plural “years” for the seven: they remain separate. For the twenty, which stand for Chochmah and Binah, it uses the singular “year,” because the Zohar calls them “two companions that never part”: whenever a person grasps a teaching, the flash of insight and its development work together as one.
ועיין בזהר פ׳ חיי שרה10 (דקכ״ג ע״א). והנה עכ״פ מובן מזה שהמדות כל מדה היא רק בחי׳ יחידית.
And see the Zohar, Parshas Chayei Sarah (123a). Now, in any case it is understood from this that of the attributes, each attribute is only the level of a unit.
After citing the Zohar on Chayei Sarah as the source for this reading, the Alter Rebbe draws the first conclusion: each emotive attribute counts only as a “unit.”
שהרי שבע מדות שבפסוק נק׳ שבע שנים א״כ כל מדה היא נמנית רק לבחי׳ א׳.
For the seven attributes in the verse are called “seven years”; if so, each attribute is counted as only one level.
The proof: seven attributes are “seven years,” one year each, so each attribute is a single unit.
משא״כ השכל הוא בחי׳ עשירית שהרי חו״ב נק׳ עשרים שנה והטעם הוא כי כדי שיהיה גילוי המדות מהשכל א״א שיומשך האור מכל השכל בהמדה כי אם רק מבחי׳ עשירית שבשכל.11121314
The intellect, however, is the level of tens, for Chochmah and Binah are called “twenty years.” And the reason is that, in order for the attributes to be revealed from the intellect, it is impossible for the light of the whole intellect to be drawn into the attribute, but only from the level of the tenth within the intellect.
Intellect, by contrast, is on the level of “tens” (Chochmah and Binah are “twenty”). The reason: when the mind gives rise to an emotion, only a small fraction of it, a “tenth,” enters the emotion; the mind as a whole is far greater than what the feeling contains.
The paragraph builds the numerical scale (units, tens, hundreds, up to the myriad as the highest named number) and begins to map it onto the soul and the Sefiros: the emotive attributes are “units,” while the intellect is “tens,” of which only a tenth flows into the emotions.
The Kehot note on the Zohar reference points to the Mitteler Rebbe’s Biurei HaZohar and to parallel passages in Likkutei Torah (Masei, Re’eh), where the same contrast between the essence of the intellect and what descends into feeling is developed. The whole scale prepares for the maamar’s thesis that the Torah comes from the level of “myriads,” far above the “hundred” of Sarah’s life.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואתה מרבבות קדש · משנת תקס״ט. הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי נדפס בסה״מ תקס״ח ע׳ תקכו.
- 2ואתה מרבבות קדש · דברים לכ, ב.
- 3אי״ק בכ״ר · ראה בד״ה להבין . . דכל פרוטה ופרוטה באוה״ת ענינים ע׳ מב ואילך. אוה״ת פ׳ בא ע׳ שלד.
- 4היי לאלפי רבבה · Genesis 24:60
- 5ומאה מכם רבבה ירדפו · Leviticus 26:8
- 6רבבות אלפי ישראל · Numbers 10:36
- 7הרבה משתים עשרה רבו אדם · Jonah 4:11
- 8ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה · Genesis 23:1
- 9תרין רעין דלא מתפרשין · ר״פ ראה. וש״נ. [כ].
- 10ועיין בזהר פ׳ חיי שרה · ראה ביאוה״ז לאדה״א יב, ג. קלא, סע״א. וראה הלשון באוה״ת ענינים ע׳ מב. וראה לעיל פ׳ מסעי צא, ג. ופ׳ ראה כב, ג.
- 11לך ה׳ הגדולה · I Chronicles 29:11
- 12
- 13
- 14
2וכנודע שאין ערוך השכל המתלבש בהמדות להיות טעם ומוחין למדה לגבי עצמיות השכל מה שאינו שייך למדות.
As is known, the intellect that is enclothed in the attributes, to be the reason and the intellect (mochin) of the attribute, bears no comparison to the essence of the intellect, which has no relation to the attributes.
A basic principle: the part of the mind that “dresses” itself in an emotion, supplying its reason and intelligence, is nothing compared with the mind’s own essence, which has nothing to do with feelings at all.
ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה באתי לגני1 ובפסוק את קרבני לחמי2 שזהו ענין גידים המחברים העצמות עם הבשר כו׳ ע״ש לכן כל מדה היא בחי׳ עשירית שבשכל.
And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “I have come into My garden,” and on the verse “My offering, My bread,” that this is the matter of the sinews that join the bones with the flesh, etc.; see there. Therefore each attribute is the level of the tenth within the intellect.
The Alter Rebbe refers to two other maamarim that develop this, one of them comparing it to the sinews that bind bones to flesh: the link between the “bones” of intellect and the “flesh” of emotion is only a thin connector. Hence the conclusion: each emotion draws only on a tenth of the intellect.
And similarly it is stated concerning the Name Kel, that it is “the radiance of Chochmah,” meaning that Chochmah and Binah shine in the attributes, as it is written, “the kindness of Kel.”
The divine Name Kel (א-ל) is associated with Chesed (“the kindness of Kel,” Psalms 52:3), and the Zohar calls it “the radiance of Chochmah”: it is the light of the intellect as it shines into the attributes.
והוא מעשר מאותיות יש קנה5 חכמה קנה בינה6 גימ׳ יש והוא בחי׳ מל׳ שבחכמה וכמ״ש במ״א ע״פ לפני לא נוצר אל7 עיין בזהר קדושים (דפ״ו סע״א).
And it is the tithe of the letters yesh: [the words] “Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding,” “acquire” [twice] equals yesh in numerical value; and it is the level of Malchus (sovereignty) within Chochmah, as is written elsewhere on [the verse] “Before Me no Kel was formed.” See the Zohar, Kedoshim (end of 86a).
A numerical proof: Kel (א-ל) equals 31, a tenth of yesh (י-ש, 310). “Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding” pairs the word kneh (155) twice, totalling 310 = yesh, so Chochmah and Binah together are “yesh,” and Kel, the light that reaches the emotions, is their tithe. This is called “Malchus of Chochmah,” the lowest, outward-facing aspect of the intellect.
והנה השכל שהוא חו״ב הוא גם כן עשירית מלמעלה מן השכל הנק׳ בחינת מאה. וזהו ענין שארז״ל קומתו של אדה״ר89 הי׳ מאה אמה.
Now the intellect, which is Chochmah and Binah, is likewise a tenth of what is above the intellect, which is called the level of a hundred. And this is the meaning of what our Sages said, that the stature of Adam, the first man, was a hundred cubits.
The same ratio repeats one level higher: all of intellect (Chochmah and Binah, the “tens”) is only a tenth of what is above intellect, the “hundred.” The Sages’ statement that Adam’s stature was a hundred cubits hints at this: Adam, the complete human form, spans the full “hundred.”
והנה למעלה מהשכל יש גם כן בחי׳ הרבה. נר״נ כו׳ וחיה יחידה הם למעלה מהשכל.11
And above the intellect, too, there are many levels. Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, etc., and Chayah [and] Yechidah are above the intellect.
Above intellect there are still more levels. In the soul, Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah relate to action, feeling and intellect, while Chayah and Yechidah, the two highest levels, are beyond intellect.
The paragraph grounds the “tenth” principle: only a tenth of the intellect flows into emotion (shown by the Name Kel as a tithe of yesh), and intellect itself is only a tenth of the level above it, called “a hundred.”
The gematria kneh + kneh = 310 = yesh, and Kel = 31 as its tenth, links Chochmah and Binah (together “yesh”) to the light they shed into the middos. The Kehot note refers to the Kabbalistic lexicon Me’orei Or under “Yesh” for this equation.
Marei mekomos
- 1בד״ה באתי לגני · לקמן שה״ש לב, א.
- 2ובפסוק את קרבני לחמי · לעיל פ׳ פנחס עז, ד.
- 3שם אל שהעוא נהירו דחכמתא · Zohar, Tzav 17:123–19:134
- 4שם אל שהעוא נהירו דחכמתא · Zohar, Achrei Mot 24:153–26:164
- 5שו״ה קנה — יש · ע׳ במאו״א אות י׳ מערכת יש סל״ה. [כ].
- 6קנה חכמה קנה בינה · Proverbs 4:5
- 7לפני לא נוצר אל · Isaiah 43:10
- 8קומתו של אדה״ר הי׳ מאה אמה · Chagigah 12a
- 9קומתו של אדה״ר הי׳ מאה אמה · Bava Batra 75a:12–13
- 10שם א-ל שהוא נהירו דחכמתא · זח״א (צד, א). ובח״ג (ל, ב. לא, א. סה, א). [כ].
- 11חסד א-ל · Psalms 52:3
The soul and the will ¶3–4
3ונגד ה׳ בחי׳ נרנח״י1 הם ה׳ בחי׳ הנ״ל יחידות עשירות מאות אלפים רבבות כי בחי׳ נפש מקבל רק מבחי׳ העשירית שברוח ועד״ז הרוח מבחי׳ הנשמה כו׳ ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה מה טובו אוהליך2
And corresponding to the five levels of Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah and Yechidah are the five levels mentioned above: units, tens, hundreds, thousands, myriads. For the level of Nefesh receives only from the level of the tenth within Ruach, and likewise Ruach from the level of Neshamah, etc. And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “How goodly are your tents.”
The five levels of the soul (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, Yechidah) correspond to the five numerical ranks: units, tens, hundreds, thousands, myriads. Each lower level receives only a “tenth” of the one above it, so the scale of tithes runs through the whole soul; the Alter Rebbe refers to his maamar “How goodly are your tents” for more on this.
והנה בחי׳ רצון העליון הוא למעלה מהשכל והחכמה ויש בזה גם כן ב׳ בחי׳ רצון וחפץ.
Now the level of the supernal will is above the intellect and Chochmah, and in it, too, there are two levels: will (ratzon) and desire (chefetz).
Above intellect is the supernal will, and within will itself there are two levels: ratzon (pure will) and chefetz (desire).
רצון הוא בלי טעם ותענוג. ש תוק כך עלה במחשבה3 כו׳ וחפץ הוא בבחי׳ טעם ותענוג.
Will is without reason and delight: “Be silent; thus it arose in thought,” etc. And desire is in the mode of reason and delight.
Ratzon is will with no reason or pleasure behind it, like G‑d’s answer to Moshe in the Talmud, “Be silent; thus it arose in My thought,” a decision beyond explanation. Chefetz is a desire that comes with a reason and delight, wanting something because it is pleasing.
The paragraph extends the scale of tithes to the five levels of the soul and then begins to look above intellect, where the supernal will has two layers: will without reason, and desire that carries delight.
The distinction between ratzon and chefetz prepares the next steps: “thousands” will be tied to will (notzer = ratzon) and “myriads” to the radiance of delight, so that the higher of the two ranks is linked with the delight and not with bare will.
Marei mekomos
- 1נרנח״י · Zohar I, 81a
- 2בד״ה מה טובו אוהליך · לעיל פ׳ בלק עד, ב.
- 3שתוק כך עלה במחשבה · Menachot 29b:5
4ועמ״ש מזה בביאור ע״פ ואהיה אצלו אמון1 גבי דוד זמירות קרית להו כו׳. וזהו ענין ונוצר חסד לאלפים2 שמבחי׳ נוצר אותיות רצון3 נמשך ומתפשט בחנית אלפים אאלפך חכמה4 אאלפך בינה.
And see what is written about this in the explanation on [the verse] “And I was beside Him as a nursling,” regarding “David, you called them songs,” etc. And this is the meaning of “preserving kindness for thousands”: from the level of notzer (“preserving”), [whose] letters [are] ratzon (“will”), it is drawn down and spreads into the level of alafim (“thousands”): “I shall teach you (a’alefcha) wisdom, I shall teach you understanding.”
After referring to his explanation of “And I was beside Him as a nursling” (Proverbs 8:30), which touches on David calling the Torah “songs,” the Alter Rebbe reads “preserving kindness for thousands”: notzer (“preserving,” נוצר) has the same letters as ratzon (“will,” רצון). So from the level of will, kindness spreads into “thousands” (alafim), a word related to a’alefcha, “I shall teach you” wisdom and understanding. Will thus is the “thousands” that give rise to the intellect.
ועד״ז ארז״ל התורה קדמה אלפים שנה לעולם.56 ועמ״ש מענין לאלפים בד״ה מראיהם ומעשיהם7 וע׳ בפע״ח שער השבת פ״ח בענין ישמח משה כו׳ אלף חלקים של אור כו׳ ע״ש.
And similarly our Sages said: the Torah preceded the world by two thousand years. And see what is written on the subject of “for thousands” in the discourse beginning “Their appearance and their work,” and see Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar HaShabbos, chapter 8, on the subject of “Moshe rejoices,” etc., a thousand parts of light, etc.; see there.
The Midrash that “the Torah preceded the world by two thousand years” fits this: the Torah’s root is in the level of “thousands.” The Alter Rebbe also points to his discourse “Their appearance and their work” in Torah Ohr, and to the Arizal’s Pri Etz Chaim (Sha’ar HaShabbos, ch. 8), on the Shabbos prayer “Moshe rejoices” and “a thousand parts of light.”
The paragraph places the supernal will at the rank of “thousands”: from notzer (the letters of ratzon) kindness spreads into alafim, the source of Chochmah and Binah, which is why the Torah is said to precede the world by “two thousand” years.
The root alef (אלף) means both “thousand” and “teach,” which is why “thousands” can stand for the source of wisdom and understanding. The reference to Pri Etz Chaim links this rank of “thousands” to the “thousand parts of light” discussed there.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהיה אצלו אמון · Proverbs 8:30
- 2ונוצר חסד לאלפים · Exodus 34:7
- 3נוצר אותיות רצון · ע״ל מטות (כג, א). וש״נ.
- 4אאלפך חכמה · Job 33:33
- 5התורה קדמה אלפים שנה לעולם · Midrash Tehillim 90:4
- 6התורה קדמה אלפים שנה לעולם · Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 4:2
- 7בד״ה מראיהם ומעשיהם · תו״א פ׳ יתרו.
Delight as a myriad; Sarah as Malchus ¶5–6
5והנה מבואר במ״א שאנו רואים עד״מ באדם שהתענוג הוא הנמשך ומתפשט באריכות והתרחבות ובריבוי יותר מכל כחות הנפש
Now it is explained elsewhere that we see, by way of analogy, in a person, that delight is what is drawn down and spreads out in length and breadth and in multiplicity more than all the powers of the soul.
An observation from human experience: of all the soul’s powers, delight spreads the widest and takes the most forms.
כי התענוג ישנו בראי׳ ובשמיעה ובכל החושים ובשכל ובמדות כו׳ ומהות התענוג שבראי׳ הוא בסגנון אחר ממהות התענוג שבשמיעה
For delight is present in sight and in hearing and in all the senses, and in the intellect and in the emotive attributes, etc. And the essence of the delight in sight is of a different style from the essence of the delight in hearing,
Delight is present in every faculty: seeing, hearing, all the senses, thinking and feeling. And the pleasure of each is different in kind: the pleasure of a beautiful sight is not the pleasure of hearing.
כמו מנגון וכלכי זמר וכן בשכל מהות תענוג בפ״ע כו׳ ועד״ז כמה מיני רבוי תענוגים.
such as a melody and musical instruments; and likewise in the intellect [there is] an essence of delight of its own, etc. And similarly, many kinds of multiplicity of delights.
The pleasure of music is its own kind, and the pleasure of understanding is yet another. So delight comes in a great multitude of kinds.
ונודע שכל בחי׳ התענוג שלמטה הוא רק ממה שנפל משבה״כ ולכן ג״ע הוא תענוג אין קץ ומוטב דלידייניה1 כו׳ ונודע דג״ע הוא רק הארה בעלמא
And it is known that all delight below is only from what fell in the breaking of the vessels. And therefore the Garden of Eden is delight without end, and “it is better that he be judged,” etc. And it is known that the Garden of Eden is only a mere glimmer.
Yet all the pleasures of this world are only sparks that “fell” in the breaking of the vessels, the primordial collapse by which holy light fell into lower realms. The Garden of Eden, by contrast, is endless delight, so great that the Talmud says of the sinner Acher that “it is better that he be judged” and so come to it; and even that Garden is only a mere glimmer of what is above.
(לכן עד״ז יובן שבחי׳ הארת והתפשטות תענוג העליון נק׳ רבבה לגבי בחי׳ הארת הרצון שהוא בחי׳ לאלפים. כי הוא רב ונעלה יותר עד שמבחי׳ עשירית שתבענוג כו׳ וזהו מ״ש ועתיק יומין יתיב2 כו׳
(Therefore, in the same way it will be understood that the radiance and spreading of the supernal delight is called “a myriad” relative to the radiance of the will, which is the level of “for thousands.” For it is greater and more exalted, to the point that from the level of the tenth within the delight, etc. And this is what is written, “And the Ancient of Days sat,” etc.,
The parenthesis applies this to the scale: the radiance of the supernal delight is “a myriad” compared with the radiance of will, which was “thousands,” because delight is higher, and even a tenth of it is vast. Daniel’s vision of “the Ancient of Days” seated on the throne expresses this.
אלף אלפים ישמשוניה3 ורבו רבוון קדמוהי יקומון כי מבחי׳ ע״י שהוא מקור חיים מקור התענוג אזי גם מה שנמשך ומתפשט ממנו הארה בעלמא בבחי׳ ישמשוניה וקדמוהי יקומון הוא בבחי׳ אלף אלפים ורבו רבוון כו׳.
“a thousand thousands served Him, and myriads of myriads stood before Him.” For from the level of the Ancient of Days, which is the source of life, the source of delight, even what is drawn down and spreads from it as a mere glimmer, at the level of “served Him” and “stood before Him,” is at the level of a thousand thousands and myriads of myriads, etc.
The Ancient of Days (Atik Yomin) is the source of life and of delight. So even the mere glimmer that spreads from it, the angels who “serve Him” and “stand before Him,” number “a thousand thousands” and “myriads of myriads.” The myriads belong to the rank of delight.
וכמ״ש באד״ר4 ענין רבוי העלמין בגלגלתא5 יתבין תליסר אלפי רבוא עלמין כו׳. וזהו ג״כ ענין הללוהו כרוב גודלו).6
And as is written in the Idra Rabba on the subject of the multitude of worlds: in the skull (gulgalta) there dwell thirteen thousand myriads of worlds, etc. And this is also the meaning of “Praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness.”)
The Idra Rabba of the Zohar similarly speaks of “thirteen thousand myriads of worlds” dwelling in the “skull” (gulgalta), the outermost level of Arich Anpin; and the psalm’s “Praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness” alludes to the same multiplicity. This closes the parenthesis.
והנה שרה הוא בחי׳ מטרוניתא בחי׳ מל׳ ומקודם נק׳ שרי לשון אדון שלי בלי התפשטות ואח״כ נעשית שרה לכל העולם7 מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים8 וכדי להיות ההתפשטות למטה יותר צ״ל ההמשכה הכח לזה מלמעלה יותר
Now Sarah is the level of the Matronita, the level of Malchus. At first she was called Sarai, meaning “my master,” without spreading out; and afterward she became Sarah, [mistress] to the whole world: “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds.” And in order for the spreading below to be greater, the drawing down of the power for this must be from higher above.
Back to Sarah: she stands for Malchus, the “Matronita” (Queen). Her first name, Sarai, means “my master,” a rule over a limited sphere; later, as Sarah, she became mistress to the whole world, as Malchus is “a kingdom of all worlds.” For influence to spread further below, the power must come from higher above.
ולכן ניתן לה אות ה׳ שהוא כח התפשטות לאורך ורוחב ועמ״ש בענין ה׳ דאברהם בד״ה הנה אברם כו׳.
Therefore she was given the letter heh, which is the power of spreading out in length and breadth. And see what is written on the subject of the heh of Avraham in the discourse beginning “Behold, Avram,” etc.
So she received the letter heh, whose shape, open wide, expresses spreading out in length and breadth; the Alter Rebbe refers to his discussion of the heh added to Avram’s name.
ועיין בזהר פרשת בלק (דקצ״א א׳) אזעירת גרמה כו׳ ומאי איהי י כו׳ עד אתבניאת ואתעבידת כו׳
And see the Zohar, Parshas Balak (191a): “she made herself small,” etc., “and what is she? A yud,” etc., until “she was built and made,” etc.,
The Zohar on Balak describes Malchus making herself small, becoming a yud (a mere point).
ה׳ כמלקדמין וכו׳ ע״ש ונת׳ במ״א ומזה יובן ענין שרי ביו״ד ושרה בה״א והנה חיי שרה הוא מבחי׳ מאה.9
“a heh as before,” etc.; see there, and it is explained elsewhere. And from this the matter of Sarai with a yud and Sarah with a heh will be understood. Now “the life of Sarah” is from the level of a hundred.
Then she is built up again into a heh. This explains Sarai with a yud and Sarah with a heh. And “the life of Sarah,” the life-force that Malchus gives the worlds, comes from the level of “a hundred.”
The paragraph places delight above will: its radiance is the “myriad” to will’s “thousands.” It then returns to Sarah as Malchus, whose name changes from Sarai to Sarah as she spreads to rule all worlds, drawing on the level of “a hundred.”
The Zohar’s image of Malchus shrinking to a yud and being rebuilt as a heh is the Kabbalistic cycle of Malchus diminished and then built up; the extra heh given to Sarah (and Avraham) is the power to spread into the whole world. The Idra Rabba passage places countless worlds already within the outermost “skull” of Arich Anpin, showing how vast even its glimmer is.
Marei mekomos
- 1ומוטב דלדייני׳ · Chagigah 15b:3
- 2ועתיק יומין יתיב · Daniel 7:9
- 3אלף אלפים ישמשוני׳ · Daniel 7:10
- 4וכמ״ש באד״ר · Zohar III, 128b
- 5וכמ״ש באד״ר ענין רבוי העלמין בגלגלתא · Zohar, Nasso 15:156–16:164
- 6הללוהו כרוב גודלו · Psalms 150:2
- 7שרי . . שרה לכל העולם · Berakhot 13a:7–8
- 8מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
- 9
6וזהו ענין חייב אדם לברך מאה ברכות בכל יום ולכן ארז״ל אל תקרי מה אלא מאה
And this is the meaning of “A person is obligated to recite a hundred blessings every day,” and therefore our Sages said, “Do not read mah (‘what’) but me’ah (‘a hundred’).”
The Talmudic rule that one must recite a hundred blessings a day is linked to the verse “What (mah) does G‑d ask of you,” which the Sages read as me’ah, “a hundred.”
דהיינו שהמל׳ נק׳ מה וממשיכים בה מבחי׳ מאה שהוא בחי׳ כתר שכדי להיות ההתפשטות למטה צ״ל ההמשכה מלמעלה כנ״ל אכן עכ״ז ההמשכה הוא
That is, Malchus is called mah, and into it is drawn from the level of a hundred, which is the level of Keser (the Crown); for in order for there to be spreading below, there must be drawing down from above, as mentioned above. Yet even so, the drawing down is
Malchus is called mah (“what?”), a word of self-effacement. Through the blessings, the level of “a hundred,” which is Keser (the Crown), is drawn into it, since spreading far below requires a source far above.
רק מבחי׳ מאה. אבל בחי׳ התורה שרשה הוא מבחי׳ רבבות שלמעלה מעלה מבחי׳ ומדריגת מאה.
only from the level of a hundred. But the level of the Torah has its root in the level of myriads, which is far, far above the level and rank of a hundred.
Yet this drawing down reaches only the rank of “a hundred.” The Torah, by contrast, is rooted in “myriads,” which is far higher. This is the turning point of the maamar.
The paragraph links the hundred daily blessings to drawing Keser, “a hundred,” into Malchus, and then sets the Torah apart: its root is in the “myriads,” far above the hundred.
The ranks line up: the attributes as units, intellect as tens, Keser as a hundred, will as thousands, and the radiance of delight as myriads. Blessings bring down the “hundred”; the Torah, “from the holy myriads,” brings down a much higher level.
From the holy myriads into the physical ¶7
7וזהו ענין מרבבות קדש.1 ומשם דוקא יוכל להמשיך ולירד גם למטה בדברים גשמיים סוכה ותפילין כו׳ ועמ״ש סד״ה
And this is the meaning of “from the holy myriads.” And specifically from there it can be drawn down and descend even below, into physical things: sukkah and tefillin, etc. And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning
Now the opening verse is explained: the Torah comes “from the holy myriads.” Precisely because its source is so high, it can descend all the way down into physical objects, such as a sukkah and tefillin; the higher the source, the lower it can reach.
“Behold, Avram,” and at the end of the discourse beginning “See, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field.” And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Give ear, O heavens,” on the subject of “[My speech] shall flow as the dew,” etc., “and as showers upon the grass.”
The Alter Rebbe refers to three other maamarim, including his explanation of Moshe’s song “Give ear, O heavens,” where the Torah falls “as showers (revivim) upon the grass.”
אשר רביבים זהו ענין ההמשכה מבחי׳ רבבות קדש (והיינו כי חיי שרה שהוא ענין התפשטות חיות העולמות ואתה מחיה את כולם5 מלכותך מכ״ע הנה שרש המשכה זו נקרא יחוד חיצוניות דחו״ב אין ויש
For revivim (“showers”) is the matter of the drawing down from the level of the holy myriads (revavos). (That is: “the life of Sarah,” which is the spreading of the life-force (chayus) of the worlds, “And You give life to them all,” “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds”: the root of this drawing down is called the union of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of Chochmah and Binah, Ayin and Yesh.
Revivim (showers) shares its root with revavos (myriads): the Torah’s rain comes from the holy myriads. In the parenthesis: the life-force of the worlds, “the life of Sarah” (Malchus, which gives life to all), comes from the outer union of Chochmah and Binah, called Ayin and Yesh (“nothing” and “something”).
אבל ע״י תומ״צ נמשך מבחי׳ יחוד פנימי׳ דחו״ב ששרש המשכה זו מבחי׳ עתיק וא״ס ממש ועד״ז י״ל ענין מה רב טובך אשר צפנת.6 כי רב ורבבה ענין א׳.
But through Torah and mitzvos there is drawn down from the level of the union of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of Chochmah and Binah, the root of which drawing down is from the level of Atik and the Infinite One (Ein Sof) itself. And in the same way one can explain “How abundant is Your goodness, which You have hidden away,” for rav (“abundant”) and revavah (“myriad”) are one concept.
Through Torah and mitzvos, however, a person draws from the inner union of Chochmah and Binah, whose root is in Atik and in the Infinite One itself. The verse “How abundant (rav) is Your goodness, which You have hidden away” alludes to this, since rav and revavah come from the same root.
וז״ש רב פעלים7 כו׳ ועמ״ש ע״פ זכר רב טובך יביעו8 שיסוד דא״א דהיינו בחי׳ ההשפעה נק׳ רב טובך ולכן דורות הראשונים מאדה״ר עד נח האריכו ימים ביותר והיינו לפי שנמשך אז מבחי׳ א״א)
And this is what is written, “abundant in deeds,” etc. And see what is written on [the verse] “They shall utter the remembrance of Your abundant goodness,” that the Yesod of Arich Anpin, meaning the level of bestowal, is called “Your abundant goodness.” And therefore the first generations, from Adam the first man until Noach, lived exceedingly long lives; that is, because at that time it was drawn down from the level of Arich Anpin.)
The phrase “abundant in deeds” (said of Benayahu) is read the same way. In another maamar, the Yesod of Arich Anpin, its channel of giving, is called “Your abundant goodness.” That is why the generations from Adam to Noach lived so long: their life was drawn from Arich Anpin.
(כמ״ש בזהר ח״א דל״ז ע״ב) ואח״כ כתיב והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה9 והיינו ע״ד מ״ש ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה10 כו׳.
(As is written in the Zohar, Part I, 37b.) And afterward it is written, “And his days shall be a hundred and twenty years”; and this is along the lines of what is written, “And the life of Sarah was a hundred years,” etc.
The Zohar is cited for this. Afterwards life was limited to “a hundred and twenty years,” like Sarah’s hundred and twenty: the lower rank of “a hundred.”
ומכ״ז יובן ג״כ ענין ורב שלום בניך11 השלום ברבוי כו׳ בד״ה וכל בניך אך עכ״ז הגילוי וההמשכה עתה ע״י התורה מבחי׳ רבבות הנ״ל הוא
And from all this one will also understand the meaning of “And great shall be the peace of your children”: the peace in abundance, etc., in the discourse beginning “And all your children.” Nevertheless, even so, the revelation and drawing down now, through the Torah, from the level of the myriads mentioned above, is
This also explains “great (rav) shall be the peace of your children”: peace in abundance, rooted in the myriads. Yet the maamar adds a limit to what the Torah reveals from the myriads now.
רק ואתה לשון תרגום שהוא בחינת אחוריים כי טעמי תורה שהוא פנימיות התורה לא נתגלה עדיין וזה יהיה לעתיד.1213
only ve’asa (“and He came”), a term of the Aramaic translation (Targum), which is the level of the back (achorayim); for the reasons of the Torah, which are the inner dimension of the Torah, have not yet been revealed, and this will be in the Time to Come.
What it reveals now is only ve’asa, the Aramaic word for “and He came,” the Targum’s language. Aramaic is the “back” (achorayim), the outer side: the inner reasons of the Torah, its inner dimension, are not yet revealed, and will be only in the Time to Come.
The paragraph explains “from the holy myriads”: the Torah’s root is far above the “hundred,” which is why Torah and mitzvos can draw the inner union of Chochmah and Binah, rooted in the Infinite One, into physical things. It ends with a qualification: for now this comes only as ve’asa, from the “back.”
The contrast between the outer union of Chochmah and Binah (Ayin and Yesh), which sustains the worlds, and their inner union, drawn through Torah and mitzvos, is central in Chassidus. The long lives before the Flood show a time when life came from Arich Anpin, later narrowed to the “hundred and twenty.”
Marei mekomos
- 1מרבבות קדש · Deuteronomy 33:2
- 2ראה ריח בני כריח שדה · Genesis 27:27
- 3האזינו השמים · Deuteronomy 32:1
- 4תזל כטל כו׳ וכרביבים עלי עשב · Deuteronomy 32:2
- 5ואתה מחיה את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
- 6מה רב טובך אשר צפנת · Psalms 31:20
- 7רב פעלים · II Samuel 23:20
- 8זכר רב טובך יביעו · Psalms 145:7
- 9והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה · Genesis 6:3
- 10ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה · Genesis 23:1
- 11ורב שלום בניך · Isaiah 54:13
- 12מלכותך מל׳ כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
- 13
Blessing, holiness, union and the One beyond number ¶8–9
8וזהו ענין שנאמר ישקני מנשיקות פיהו1 בחינת נשיקין התדבקות רוחא ברוחא2 בחינת הבל שהוא התגלות פנימיות טעמי תורה אבל עתה הוא רק בבחי׳ אחוריים ואתה כו׳ וכמו שמבואר באריכות ע״פ תורה צוה.3
And this is the meaning of what is said, “Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth”: the level of kisses, the cleaving of spirit with spirit, the level of breath, which is the revelation of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the reasons of the Torah. But now it is only in the level of the back, “ve’asa,” etc., as is explained at length on [the verse] “Torah [Moshe] commanded [us].”
“Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth” (Song of Songs) asks for the future revelation: a kiss is the joining of one breath and spirit with another, an image for the revelation of the Torah’s inner reasons. For now we have only the “back,” ve’asa; the Alter Rebbe refers to his longer treatment in the maamar on “Torah [Moshe] commanded [us].”
וזהו וזרח משעיר למו4 שהוא רק בחי׳ שערות מותרי מוחין כנודע בגשמיות שהשערות אינם ממהות המוח שחותכין אותן ואינו מרגיש כלל.
And this is [the meaning of] “And He shone forth from Se’ir to them”: that it is only the level of hairs (se’aros), the surplus of the brain, as is known in the physical, that the hairs are not of the essence of the brain, for they are cut and one feels nothing at all.
The same verse says the Torah “shone forth from Se’ir,” read as se’aros, hairs. Hair grows from the head but is excess, not part of the brain’s substance, which is why cutting it does not hurt. The Torah as we have it is like that: an outer extension of G‑d’s wisdom.
וכמ״כ למעלה נובלות חכמה שלמעלה תורה (ואפשר לומר ג״כ שזהו ענין ג׳ מדרגות ברכה קדוש׳ יחוד והיינו כי ברכ׳ זהו ענין מאה ברכות והוא בחינת ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה כנ״ל
And similarly above: the Torah is the fallen fruit of the supernal wisdom. (And one could also say that this is the matter of the three levels: blessing, holiness, union. That is: blessing is the matter of the hundred blessings, and it is the level of “And the life of Sarah was a hundred years,” as mentioned above,
So too the Midrash calls the Torah “the fallen fruit of the supernal wisdom.” A new parenthesis proposes three levels: blessing, holiness (kedushah) and union (yichud). Blessing is the hundred daily blessings, the level of “the life of Sarah, a hundred years.”
והוא ענין הברכה בבחי׳ ואתה מחיה את כולם5 אבל קדוש׳ הוא ההמשכה מבחי׳ רבבות קדש ע״י אשר קדשנו במצותיו שהוא המשכת סוכ״ע אלא שמ״מ קדושין הוא עדיין רק בחי׳ אירוסין והוא בחי׳ ואתא כו׳.
and it is the matter of the blessing at the level of “And You give life to them all.” But holiness is the drawing down from the level of the holy myriads through “Who has sanctified us with His commandments,” which is the drawing down of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). Yet even so, kiddushin is still only the level of betrothal (erusin), and it is the level of “ve’asa,” etc.
Blessing brings life to the worlds (“You give life to them all”). Holiness is higher: it draws from the holy myriads through the mitzvos (“Who has sanctified us with His commandments”), bringing down the light that encompasses all worlds. Still, kiddushin in the sense of marriage is only betrothal (erusin), not yet full union, and so it is still the level of ve’asa, the “back.”
אבל היחוד הוא ההמשכה בבחי׳ פנימיות. גם י״ל כי הנה יש רבבות קדש אבל עכ״ז למעלה מעלה מזה הוא בחי׳ אנת הוא חד ולא בחושבן6
But union is the drawing down in the mode of the inner dimension. It can also be said that there are indeed the holy myriads, yet nevertheless, far, far above this is the level of “You are One, but not in number.”
Union (yichud) is the drawing down of the inner dimension, like the completion of marriage. There is a further point: above even the holy myriads is the level the Tikkunei Zohar describes as “You are One, but not in number,” beyond counting altogether.
וזהו ענין יחוד דהיינו להמשיך גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה יחיד ומיוחד חד ולא בחושבן להיות ונגלה כבוד7 ה׳ כו׳ עין בעין יראו8 כו׳ ועיין בפרדס בעה״כ ערך יבק ובמאורי אור)
And this is the matter of union: to draw down the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, singular and unique, “One but not in number,” so that “the glory of G‑d shall be revealed,” etc., “eye to eye they shall see,” etc. And see Pardes, in the Erchei HaKinuyim, the entry “Yabok,” and in Me’orei Or)
Union means drawing down the revelation of the Infinite Light itself, the One beyond number, so that “the glory of G‑d shall be revealed” and “eye to eye they shall see” (Isaiah), which will happen in the future. The Alter Rebbe cites the Kabbalistic dictionaries: Pardes Rimonim’s “Gate of Terms” under “Yabok,” and Me’orei Or.
(אות ג׳ סעיף ס״ו ובאות יוד סעיף כ״ג) ובר״מ פ׳ משפטים (דקי״ו סע״א9 קי״ט א׳) ובפ׳ פקודי (דרס״ב10 א׳) ובהרמ״ז פ׳ תצא (דרע״ז א׳)
(letter gimmel, section 66, and letter yud, section 23), and in the Ra’aya Mehemna, Parshas Mishpatim (end of 116a, 119a), and in Parshas Pekudei (262a), and in the Ramaz, Parshas Teitzei (277a),
He continues the list of sources in the Zohar (the Ra’aya Mehemna on Mishpatim and the Zohar on Pekudei) and in the glosses of the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto) on the Zohar for Teitzei.
בד״ה ומברך בה ועמ״ש מזה סד״ה ענין הנסכים ועמ״ש עוד מענין ברכה וקדושה ע״פ מ״ש בזח ״ג פ׳ בלק (דק״צ ע״ב) בפסוק ברכו ה׳ מלאכיו כו׳
in the passage beginning “and blesses with it.” And see what is written about this at the end of the discourse beginning “The matter of the libations.” And see further what is written on the subject of blessing and holiness, on what is stated in the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Balak (190b), on the verse “Bless G‑d, His angels,” etc.:
In the Ramaz’s gloss on “and blesses with it,” blessing, holiness and union are matched to Binah, Chochmah and Keser. He also points to his own maamar on the libations, and to the Zohar on Balak discussing the verse “Bless G‑d, His angels.”
אבל קדוש לא אתמסר לון בלחודייהו אלא בהדי ישראל דלא מקדשי קדושה אלא בהדי ישראל ע״ש ובגמרא נזכר מענין ואתה מרבבות (בחגיגה דט״ז א׳).
“but ‘holy’ was not handed over to them on their own, but only together with Israel, for they do not sanctify with holiness except together with Israel”; see there. And in the Gemara the subject of “ve’asa from the myriads” is mentioned (in Chagigah 16a):
That Zohar says the angels may bless on their own, but may say “holy” only together with Israel: holiness is drawn by the Jewish people. The Talmud (Chagigah 16a) also discusses “ve’asa from the myriads.”
אות הוא ברבבה שלו11 וכ״ה ברבות בשה״ש ס״פ מה דודך י״ל הפי׳ כענין מארז״ל ברבות סדר מקץ פ׳ צ׳ קדושים תהיו12 יכול כמוני ת״ל כי קדוש אני כו׳ קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם ונתבאר מזה במ״א.13
“He is a sign (os) among His myriad.” And so it is in the Midrash Rabbah on Song of Songs, end of [the section] “What is your beloved.” One can say the explanation is along the lines of what our Sages said in the Midrash Rabbah, Seder Mikeitz, section 90: “’You shall be holy’: could it be like Me? The verse says, ‘for I am holy,’ etc.: My holiness is above your holiness.” And this has been explained elsewhere.
There the Talmud reads ve’asa as os, “a sign”: G‑d is “a sign among His myriad,” distinct from all His hosts; the Midrash on Song of Songs says the same. The Alter Rebbe suggests this parallels the Midrash on “You shall be holy”: could it mean as holy as G‑d? No, “for I am holy”: “My holiness is above your holiness.”
The paragraph contrasts the Torah’s present revelation, only “the back” and “hair,” with the future “kisses” of its inner dimension, and ranks three levels of drawing down: blessing (the hundred), holiness (the holy myriads, through the mitzvos) and union (the inner dimension, the One beyond number).
The Ramaz’s gloss, quoted in the Kehot note, maps blessing, holiness and union onto Binah, Chochmah and Keser, and the Kehot note cites Or HaTorah that this order (“Bki”) runs from below upward. The Zohar’s teaching that angels say “holy” only with Israel shows that kedushah is drawn specifically through the Jewish people’s Torah and mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1ישקני מנשיקות פיהו · Song of Songs 1:2
- 2התדבקות רוחא ברוחא · Zohar, Bereshit 13:153–14:164
- 3תורה צוה · Deuteronomy 33:4
- 4וזרח משעיר למו · Deuteronomy 33:2
- 5ואתה מחי׳ את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
- 6אנת הוא חד ולא בחושבן · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:9–11
- 7ונגלה כבוד ה׳ · Isaiah 40:5
- 8עין בעין יראו · Isaiah 52:8
- 9ובר״מ פ׳ משפטים (דקי״ו סע״א · Zohar, Mishpatim 11:414–12:424
- 10ובפ׳ פקודי (דרס״ב א׳) · Zohar, Pekudei 52:829–53:838
- 11
- 12קדושים תהיו · Leviticus 19:2
- 13ברכו ה׳ מלאכיו · Psalms 103:20
And along these lines it can be said that “from the holy myriads” is the level of “You shall be holy,” for this is drawn down through the Torah. However, the level of “A sign
Along the same lines: “from the holy myriads” is the level of “You shall be holy,” the holiness a person reaches through the Torah. “A sign among His myriad” is another level.
הוא ברבבה שלו זהו בחי׳ קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם ולמעלה מעלה גם מבחי׳ רבבות קדש כי אנת הוא חד ולא בחושבן3 ועד״ז נאמר ולתבונתו אין מספר.4
is He among His myriad” is the level of “My holiness is above your holiness,” and far, far above even the level of the holy myriads, for “You are One, but not in number.” And similarly it is said, “His understanding is beyond number.”
That level, “a sign among His myriad,” is “My holiness is above your holiness”: G‑d’s own holiness, beyond even the holy myriads, because He is “One, but not in number.” So too “His understanding is beyond number.”
והרי לגבי דבר שאינו בגדר מספר שוין הרבבות עם האחרים וזהו ועתיק יומין יתיב5 כו׳
For relative to something that is not within the bounds of number, the myriads are equal with the others. And this is [the meaning of] “And the Ancient of Days sat,” etc.,
Compared with something outside number altogether, a myriad is no greater than the smallest numbers. That is the meaning of Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days.
אלף אלפי׳ ישמשוניה ורבו רבוון קדמוהי יקומון6 כו׳ וזהו ענין אות הוא בתוך רבבות קדש.
“a thousand thousands served Him, and myriads of myriads stood before Him,” etc. And this is the meaning of “A sign is He within the holy myriads.”
Daniel sees “a thousand thousands” and “myriads of myriads” before Him: all these hosts are equal before Him, and He is “a sign” distinct within them.
ברבות בשה״ש שם. ועיין עוד מענין ואתה מרבבות בזח״ב שמות ג׳7 א׳ תרומה קל״א א׳:
[So it is] in the Midrash Rabbah on Song of Songs, there. And see further on the subject of “And He came from the myriads” in the Zohar, Part II, Shemos 3a, Terumah 131a.
The Alter Rebbe closes by citing the Midrash on Song of Songs again, and two Zohar passages (on Shemos and on Terumah) on “And He came from the myriads.”
The closing paragraph distinguishes two levels in the verse: “from the holy myriads,” the holiness drawn through the Torah, and “a sign among His myriad,” G‑d’s own holiness beyond all number, before which even myriads equal the smallest count.
The phrase “equal with the others” (שוין הרבבות עם האחרים) reads most naturally as “equal with the units” (אחדים): before the One beyond number, myriads and units are the same. This is the peak of the maamar’s numerical ladder.
Marei mekomos
- 1מרבבות קדש · Deuteronomy 33:2
- 2קדושים תהיו · Leviticus 19:2
- 3אנת הוא חד ולא בחושבן · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:9–11
- 4ולתבונתו אין מספר · Psalms 147:5
- 5ועתיק יומין יתיב · Daniel 7:9
- 6אלף אלפי׳ ישמשוניה ורבו רבוון קדמוהי יקומון · Daniel 7:10
- 7בזח״ב שמות ג׳ א׳ · Zohar, Shemot 3:14–5:24
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Through Torah and mitzvos a Jew draws down a light far higher than the life-force that sustains the worlds: from the holy myriads, the inner union of Chochmah and Binah rooted in the Infinite One itself, into physical objects like a sukkah and tefillin. This is the holiness of “Who has sanctified us with His commandments,” which the angels can say only together with Israel.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the maamar insist that a lower level receives only a “tenth” of the level above it? Where do you see this in your own mind and feelings?
- How can the Torah’s very high source be the reason it can reach down into physical objects like tefillin?
- What is the difference between the “hundred” drawn by blessings and the “myriads” drawn by the Torah and mitzvos?
- Why is the Torah’s present revelation called ve’asa, “the back,” and “hair”? What will change in the Time to Come?
- What does it mean that before the One beyond number, myriads and units are equal?
Key terms in this maamar
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×10
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×3
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×1
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×6
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail. ×3
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×2
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×1
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×5
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will. ×11
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The level above intellect: divine will and delight. ×1
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×1
- The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
- The external, expressive aspect. ×1
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level. ×3
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- Divine light too great to enter the worlds; it 'surrounds' them and affects them from beyond.
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The channel that connects and transmits. ×1