Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Heichalos
היכלות
The chambers (heichalos)
Chambers in the worlds, such as those of love, fear and will, holding souls and angels and veiling G‑d’s light to what creations can bear; the seventh of Beriah’s is the Holy of Holies.
The word היכל is also the Sanctuary of the Temple, whose inner Holy of Holies the books pair with the chamber of the Holy of Holies of Beriah above. In the Zohar’s phrase נקודה בהיכלא (“a point in the chamber”) the chamber is Binah around the point of Chochmah, not one of the chambers of the worlds.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 1, ¶3The “hidden worlds” that the ten Sefiros lead are what the Zohar calls chambers: the chamber of Chesed, of Gevurah, of merit. In them are souls who enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah and angels who stand in love, awe and fear and sing, each by its grasp. A chamber is a general container: the chamber of Chesed is Chesed as a whole, with all ten within it.
ונק׳ בזוהר היכלות היכל החסד היכל הגבורה היכל הזכות
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 2, ¶13Citing Etz Chaim, there are chambers of love and fear and chambers of will. A chamber conceals the light and life so that it is revealed to creations only as far as their vessels can hold; were more revealed, they would cease to exist.
וכללות ענין ההיכל הוא שמעלים את בחי׳ האור והחיות ומסתירו שלא יתגלה לנבראים כמו שהוא בעצמו
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10, ¶18Even the chambers of holiness are called “worlds” (olam, from he’elem, concealment), like the palace in which a king is hidden when he sits in it. Facing them are chambers of the three impure kelipos below Nogah, the source of forbidden desires; pushing away foreign thoughts subdues them.
שהרי אפי׳ היכלות דקדושה נק׳ עלמין כמו ההיכל שמתעלם בו המלך בישיבתו בו
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3, ¶28Unions and prayers act only in the chambers, and through the union of the chambers comes union in Atzilus: when they unite in the seventh, the chamber of the Holy of Holies of Beriah, Z”A and Nukva rise to Abba and Imma. So the Kohen Gadol, though his ascent reached only that chamber of Beriah, drew from far above on Yom Kippur.
כי כל היחודים והתפלות אינן פועלים רק בהיכלות וביחוד ההיכלות יש יחוד באצילות
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶39Esther is Malchus of Atzilus hidden in the head of Beriah, and her seven maidens “from the king’s house” are the seven chambers of Beriah.
אסתר הוא בחי׳ מל׳ דאצי׳ כשמסתתרת בראש הבריאה ושבע נערותיה הראויות לתת לה מבית המלך הן ז׳ היכלות דבריאה
Stated differently
Whether there are chambers in Atzilus too, or the chambers are below it, in Beriah (Atzilus having lights and vessels)
שיש בכל עולם דאצי׳ בי״ע ע״ס ועולמות והיכלותEvery world, Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, has ten Sefiros, worlds and chambers.
בהיכלי מלך שעומדים שם בהיכלות דאצילות ומקבלים בחי׳ יראה שבשם בשלימותSouls standing in Atzilus, “in the king’s chambers,” stand in the chambers of Atzilus and receive the awe there in full; though they are limited, there He and His life and vessels are one.
ולכן צריך ההיכל להעלים ולהסתיר כו׳ (ובבחי׳ אצילות הוא בחי׳ אורות וכלים)The chamber must hide Or Ein Sof because those within it are limited beings, created from nothing; in Atzilus the counterpart is lights and vessels.
צאינה מאצילות כי באצילות הכל בבחינת מקיפים ואיהו וחיוהי חד ואינו נראה ונגלה כו׳ רק צאינה וראינה בנות ציון היינו בהיכלות דבריאה“Go out” from Atzilus, where all is makif and He and His life are one, so nothing is seen; the delight is felt and revealed only in the chambers of Beriah.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Shelach 1, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Shelach 1, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Shelach 2, ¶13Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10, ¶18Likkutei Torah, Behar 3, ¶19Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3, ¶28Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶39
Where it appears
In 154 paragraphs of 102 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶6 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 18 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10 ¶3 ¶11 ¶16 ¶17 ¶18 ¶19 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 1 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶9 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 6 ¶5 ¶18 ¶21 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶11 ¶13 ¶14 ¶15 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 6 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 8 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4 ¶42 ¶54
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 5 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 2 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 12 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10 ¶4 ¶8 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 14 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 8 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 9 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 15 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 16 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21 ¶3 ¶19 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 33 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 9 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 12 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 11 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 10 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5 ¶8 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 6 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 1 ¶3 ¶4 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Tazria 4 ¶5 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3 ¶28
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶28 ¶37
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 2 ¶22
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 5 ¶2 ¶11 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 3 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 1 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 2 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 1 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 6 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1 ¶1 ¶2 ¶3 ¶4 ¶14 ¶21 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 1 ¶2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 10 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 2 ¶13 ¶14 ¶25 ¶28 ¶29 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 8 ¶5 ¶8 ¶10 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 6 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 3 ¶3 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 9 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶39
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 13 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Noach 4 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 1 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 7 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini 1 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 8 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 7 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 4 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶12 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 2 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 5 ¶30 ¶36
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 9 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 2 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶10 ¶11 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 6 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 3 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 31 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 1 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 13 ¶27
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 1 ¶16 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 3 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 3 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 8 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 4 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 4 ¶1 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 7 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Noach 3 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 4 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 3 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 6 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 3 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 7 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 1 ¶7 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 7 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 16 ¶13
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.