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Atzmus u’mahus

עצמות ומהות

His Essence and Being (atzmus u’mahus)

His Essence and Being, G‑d as He is in Himself: above even Chochmah and the category of worlds, sovev and memalei included, and unchanged by creation; yet Torah, mitzvos and teshuvah draw it down.

The word עצמות is also “bones” (עֲצָמוֹת), as in the bones, sinews and flesh of the offerings, which the texts liken to the mind and the middos. And עצמות/עצמיות is used relatively for the essence of anything as against its radiance: of a soul, of the wood that becomes ash, of Atzilus or Adam Kadmon. Only “His” Essence (עצמותו ית׳, עצמות א״ס) is the term here.

Where it’s explained

  1. Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶22That He fills and encompasses all worlds and gives them life is only a radiance from Him; His Being and Essence are not in the category of worlds at all, not even as sovev and memalei. That the worlds come from Him is not the main thing of G‑dliness: “You are He before the world was created and after,” the same.אבל מהותו ועצמותו ית׳ אינו בגדר עלמין כלל אפילו להיות סובב וממלא לעלמין
  2. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13, ¶7When a person thinks about something, his essence goes into that thought. Creation does not touch His Essence at all: it is only by way of a radiance, like sunlight from the sun, so it makes no change in Him and is as if created of itself.אבל אצלו ית׳ הוא אינו כן שאינו נוגע לעצמותו כלל רק דרך זיו והארה בעלמא
  3. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1, ¶5His Being and Essence are not in the category of giving or drawing forth at all. The capacity within Him to shine a radiance from which worlds can come is therefore called His Name: “before the world was created there was He and His Name alone.”והיינו לפי כי מהותו ועצמותו אינו בגדר השפעה והמשכה כלל
  4. Likkutei Torah, Devarim 1, ¶5All worlds, up to the highest Gan Eden, come only from His Malchus, a radiance. In this world, through teshuvah and good deeds, one can draw down the very Essence of Ein Sof: “which I (Anochi), His Essence, command you” today; though it is not revealed now, it will be revealed in the time to come.אבל בעוה״ז ע״י תשובה ומע״ט יוכל להמשיך גילוי עצמות א״ס ב״ה ממש

Stated differently

Whether His Name touches and draws the Essence, as a person’s name calls the person himself, or is only external to it

Torah Ohr, Terumah 1, ¶2הרי אין זה נוגע למהותו ועצמותו

A person’s name does not touch his being and essence, which is his intellect and middos; he has no need of it for himself, and it is only his outside, by which others turn to him. So the ten Sefiros, called “the secret of the holy Name,” are only a radiance that does not touch the Essence; even supernal Chochmah has no comparison to it.

Torah Ohr, Yisro 1, ¶6משא״כ בקראו שמו נמשך ג״כ עצמות האדם שהשם הוא זיו והארה הנוגע לעצמות הנפש

The power put into a made thing is cut off from the soul, but when a person is called by name his essence is drawn too: the name is a radiance that touches the essence of the soul and stays bound to it. Yet it is still only a radiance; He Himself is exalted above it.

Likkutei Torah, Reeh 4, ¶5פי׳ כמו שע״י שם האדם קורין עצמותו ומהותו. כך ע״י התורה קוראין וממשיכין עצמות אור א״ס ב״ה

As calling a person’s name calls his essence and being, so the Torah, which is all His Names, calls and draws the Essence of the Or Ein Sof.

Whether His Essence has already been revealed, or its revelation belongs only to the time to come

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶25אך שיהי׳ התגלות עצמותו כביכול שלמעלה מבחי׳ סוכ״ע לא יוכל להיות כ״א לעתיד לבוא

Positive mitzvos now draw sovev down below; a revelation of His Essence, above sovev, can only be in the time to come, through keeping the prohibitions.

Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 4, ¶11אך באמת כל זה הוא רק הארה מבחי׳ שופר גדול ועיקר התגלות עצמותו יהיה לע״ל

What shines in the Yovel and at the close of Yom Kippur is only a radiance of the “great shofar”; the main revelation of His Essence will be in the time to come.

Torah Ohr, Beshalach 5, ¶16והנה בשעת קי״ס הי׳ התגלות מהותו ועצמותו ממש שלמעלה מהשתלשלות

At the splitting of the sea there was a revelation of His very Being and Essence, above the chain of worlds, where concealment and revelation are equal; so the sea turned to dry land.

Main sources

Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶22Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1, ¶5Torah Ohr, Terumah 1, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Devarim 1, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8, ¶25

Where it appears

In 538 paragraphs of 224 maamarim.

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.

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