Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Geh al geh
גאה על גאה
Exalted above exalted (geh al geh)
From “He is exalted, exalted” (Song at the Sea): G‑d exalted above even His exaltation as sovev kol almin, beyond any relation to worlds; in Onkelos, “exalted over the proud,” withholding from them.
The word גאה plainly means pride. Here it is G‑d’s exaltation; Onkelos reads it as His being exalted over the proud, and a person’s “holy pride” (גאות דקדושה), refusing to stoop to worldly desires, arouses it (Chukat 2:27). “Havayah reigns, He has donned majesty (גאות)” speaks of Malchus as a garment, a different matter.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 3, ¶11The doubled word: the first “exalted” is sovev kol almin, before which all is as nothing; the second, exalted above exalted, is Ein Sof Himself, beyond all thought, “You alone,” so that even His holiness, His being separate, does not compare to Him, for He is not in the category of worlds at all.
פי׳ שבחי׳ אשירה הוא מפני כי גאה למעלה מגאה וגאה הוא בחינת סובב כל עלמין
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶22Ge’ah means rising above the vessels: the light that cannot be clothed in any vessel and shines from above as a makif, sovev kol almin. Yet sovev, being “encompassing worlds,” still relates to worlds and vessels; Ein Sof is exalted above exalted, above both the makif and the pnimi, sovev and memalei.
אבל א״ס ב״ה הוא גאה על גאה שהוא רם ומתנשא על המקיף והפנימי
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶27Onkelos renders it “exalted over the proud”: He rises above and withdraws His influence from the proud, the wicked who say “our hand is high.” A person’s holy pride, refusing to lower himself to worldly desires, arouses this above; so at the Sea He lowered the proud and raised the lowly. When He does not so exalt Himself, all may receive, since before Him all is as nothing.
ותרגומו איתגאי על גיוותניא כלומר שמתגאה ומסלק השפעתו מן הגאים
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶29“Exalted, exalted” is like “Master of wonders”: even wonder is to Him like physical making. This level is Atik Yomin, the inner Keser, all face and no back; since the kelipos and the wicked draw from His greatness only from the back, from here they can draw nothing.
פי׳ גאה גאה הוא ע״ד אדון הנפלאות דהיינו שאפי׳ בחי׳ פלא נחשב אצלו ית׳ כעשיה גשמיות
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶6His exaltation is beyond the very category of exaltation and greatness: He is above cause and effect, for He is sovev kol almin, and before Him the higher Chochmah and physical action are equal, so He watches over every act of a person as over Chochmah. This is the humility greater than all, “Who lowers Himself to look upon heaven and earth.”
והיינו כי גאה גאה שרוממותו יותר מבחי׳ גאה וגדולה והיינו המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ
Stated differently
What the second, higher “exalted” is: Ein Sof Himself above sovev kol almin, sovev kol almin itself, or the higher of two levels within Keser (Atik)
וגאה על גאה הוא יתברך בעצמו ובכבודו אין סוף ברוך הוא ממשThe first “exalted” is sovev kol almin; the second is Ein Sof Himself, not in the category of worlds at all.
שהוא ית׳ למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ זו דעילה ועלול כי הוא ית׳ בחי׳ סכ״ע“Exalted, exalted,” His exaltation beyond exaltation and greatness, is His being above cause and effect because He is sovev kol almin, before whom the higher Chochmah and physical action are equal.
והנה בבחי׳ סוכ״ע יש ג״כ ב׳ בחינות. וזהו ענין גאה גאה. דהיינו ב׳ הבחי׳ שבכתר עליוןBoth are within sovev kol almin: the two levels of the supernal Keser, the “two crowns” for na’aseh and nishma; the first of them cannot be called sovev at all, being not in the category of worlds.
ובחי׳ ומדרגה זו הוא הנקרא עתיק יומין המתנשא מימות עולם שהוא בחי׳ העליונה שבכתר“Exalted, exalted,” the Master of wonders, is Atik Yomin, the highest level in Keser, its inner aspect.
והוא ענין ב׳ הבחי׳ שבכתר בחינה התחתונה שבמאציל ושרש הנאצליםThe two “exalted” (like the two “Anochi”) are the two levels in Keser: the lowest level of the Emanator and the root of the emanated.
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Beshalach 3, ¶11Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4, ¶22Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶22Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶27Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶29Likkutei Torah, Reeh 3, ¶18Likkutei Torah, Shelach 15, ¶9
Where it appears
In 67 paragraphs of 48 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 5 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 5 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶4 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶5 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 3 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 15 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17 ¶24
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 3 ¶1 ¶11 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4 ¶1 ¶21 ¶22 ¶23 ¶25
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1 ¶1 ¶14 ¶16 ¶40
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 19 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 8 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 9 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 11 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 6 ¶4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 1 ¶21 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 1 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 27 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 4 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 1 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 2 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2 ¶3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 5 ¶4 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 15 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 17 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 6 ¶16 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Devarim 2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 5 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 36 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 2 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 2 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2 ¶27 ¶29 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 2 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 4 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Metzora 1 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 7 ¶12
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.