Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Aspaklaria hameirah / she’einah meirah
אספקלריא המאירה ושאינה מאירה
The glass that shines and the glass that does not shine (aspaklaria hameirah / she’einah meirah)
Two ways of seeing G‑dliness: the shining glass (clear glass) shows the essence by direct light, as Moshe saw; the glass that does not shine (a mirror) shows only a likeness, yet reaches higher levels.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4, ¶18The glass that does not shine is a mirror with a thin silver coating (4:17): it returns reflected light (Or Chozer) and cannot be seen through by direct light, so it shows only a likeness, not the essence. Yet it has one higher quality: in it one sees oneself and what is behind. Isaiah’s “I saw G‑d” was through it; in the soul it is “with all your might” (bechol me’odecha), the transforming of the animal soul, which draws light from above not in the order of hishtalshelus.
ולכן אין רואין מהות הדבר הנראה ועצמותו כמו ע״י אספקלריא המאירה כי אם רק דמות לבד נראה ע״י אספקלריא שאינה מאירה
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶19The Talmud (Yevamos 49b) reconciles “no man shall see Me and live” with Isaiah’s “I saw”: all the prophets gazed through a glass that does not shine, Moshe through one that shines. Clear glass shows the very essence even from afar; the silvered mirror shows only a likeness, yet shows what the clear glass cannot show at all. This is “all the prophets prophesied with koh (thus); Moshe with zeh (this).”
דאספקלריא המאירה היינו עד״מ זכוכית הבהירה אשר בה ועל ידה יכולים לראות גם מרחוק ורואים מהות הדבר ועצמותו ממש
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶20In terms of the worlds: Moshe saw Atzilus by passing through Beriah, the other prophets saw Atzilus fully clothed in Beriah. So the “crown”, Keser, cannot be seen through the shining glass at all; one must “go out” into the chambers of Beriah and see it through the glass that does not shine.
דגילוי האצי׳ נק׳ אספקלריא המאירה וכשהוא ע״י התלבשות גמור בבריאה נקרא אספקלריא שאינה מאירה
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 8, ¶13By Kabbalah these are two real modes of seeing, and both exist in every person’s service of G‑d: occupation with Torah and mitzvos is the shining glass, like Moshe’s “zeh”; the Shema and prayer, “with both your inclinations”, are the silvered glass that makes reflected light (7:21). The first day of Yom Tov draws from the first, the second day from the second (7:22).
איך בכל אדם בעבודת ה׳ יש ג״כ ב׳ בחינות אספקלריא הנ״ל
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4, ¶9The “koh” of the prophets is Malchus, called the glass that does not shine, “in our likeness”. Though zeh is above koh, koh and the non-shining glass have an added quality: through it one comes to “with all your might”; so Isaiah, who prophesied with koh, said “I saw G‑d”.
כל הנביאים נתנבאו בכה היא בחי׳ מל׳ שנקרא אספקלריא דלא נהרא בחי׳ כדמותנו
Stated differently
Whether a vision other than Moshe’s is called the glass that shines
אלא שמשה רבינו נתנבא באספקלריא המאירה ושאר הנביאים נתנבאו באספקלריא שאינה מאירהAll the prophets saw through a glass; Moshe alone prophesied through the shining glass, the other prophets through the glass that does not shine.
וזהו נפתחו השמים ואראה מראות אלקים בחינת אספקלריא המאירהThe verse “the heavens opened and I saw visions of G‑d” (Yechezkel 1:1) is called the shining glass, through “heaven”, the Torah: through it Israel appear before G‑d, as it were, as in a shining glass mirror, which makes what is seen in it look greater and more praiseworthy than without it.
What distinguishes Moshe’s glass from that of the other prophets
והנה מרבע״ה ראה באספקלריא המאירה אשר בה רואין המהות ממשThe difference is in the kind of glass: Moshe saw through the shining glass, in which the essence itself is seen; the other prophets only through the glass that does not shine, a likeness (koh).
שמרע״ה ראה באספקלריא אחת המאירה ושאר הנביאים דרך ז׳ אספקלריאותAll the prophets, even Moshe, saw through a glass; the difference is that Moshe saw through one glass, a shining one, and the other prophets through seven glasses.
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4, ¶15Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4, ¶17Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4, ¶18Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4, ¶19Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4, ¶22Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶19Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 8, ¶13Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 33, ¶7
Where it appears
In 22 paragraphs of 9 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 33 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4 ¶14 ¶15 ¶16 ¶17 ¶18 ¶19 ¶22 ¶23 ¶27 ¶48
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 18 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 8 ¶13 ¶14 ¶15 ¶17
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 5 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21 ¶19 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 6 ¶26
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15 ¶26
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.