Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Kavanah
כוונה
Intent, directing the heart (kavanah)
The intent with which a mitzvah, prayer or Torah study is done. The mitzvah is the body and vessel, the kavanah its soul, which draws the light into it; in general the kavanah is prayer.
The word כוונה also means simply “the intent” or “the meaning” of a verse or saying (כוונת הפסוק), and the plural כוונות often names the Arizal’s kabbalistic meditations (כוונת הקדיש, כוונת ברכת כהנים). The concept here is the person’s directing of heart and mind in a mitzvah, prayer or study.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2, ¶7“Mitzvos require kavanah”: the mitzvos themselves are a body, the fulfillment of the King’s command, vessels and limbs of the King; the kavanah is the soul that gives them life. What it draws comes from potential into actual revelation only through doing the mitzvah in deed.
שהמצות עצמן הם בחי׳ גוף והכוונה הוא בחי׳ נשמה
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3, ¶17Through the mitzvos the supernal holiness of Or Ein Sof is drawn below, so they need kavanah: the mitzvah is the limb and vessel, the kavanah the drawing of the light into it. In general prayer is the kavanah, drawing the light as a whole; the blessing over each mitzvah is the kavanah in particular, drawing it into that one limb of the King, as life flows from the brain through the spinal cord to every limb.
כי המצוה היא האבר והכלי והכוונה הוא המשכת האור בתוך הכלי
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 6, ¶9There are two sowings: the body of the deed, from which light and radiance grow in the lower Gan Eden, and the more spiritual sowing of the kavanah, in heart and mind, which is chiefly to cleave to G‑d through this mitzvah. In a prohibition the kavanah is not to be separated through it from His unity.
והכוונה היא בלבו ומוחו שהוא ענין רוחני יותר מגופה של מעשה המצוה כי הרי עיקר הכוונה הוא לדבקה בו ית׳
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 11, ¶6Kavanah is not thought alone but being aimed (mechuvan): directing the heart toward Ein Sof in bittul, set opposite “none compares to You,” until “there is none besides Him” is grasped in mind and heart. The voice of Yaakov arouses the kavanah; Knesses Yisrael is called kavanah.
והכוונה אינו מחשבה לבדה כ״א להיות מכוון כו׳. וכך בחי׳ כנ״י נקרא כוונה
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 3, ¶11Citing Etz Chaim: the kavanah in Torah study is in Beriah, the study itself in Yetzirah, and a mitzvah without kavanah in Asiyah; the kavanah is a soul (neshamah) to both. Nefesh and neshamah differ only in kavanah, the neshamah’s rising higher, not in the plain study itself.
ואף שהכוונה בעסק התורה היא בבריאה והתורה עצמה ביצי׳ וכן המצוה בלי כוונה בעשי׳
Stated differently
Whether the G‑dliness drawn by a mitzvah depends on the kavanah (“mitzvos require kavanah”) or comes from the mitzvos themselves (“mitzvos do not require kavanah”)
והכוונה הוא מה שרוצה להמשיך יחוד העליון וביטול היש במצוה זו להיות יחוד הוי׳ ואלקיםMitzvos require kavanah: the kavanah is what one wishes to draw through this mitzvah, the supernal union and the nullification of the yesh, the union of Havayah and Elokim; it is the soul that gives the limbs life.
כי מצות צריכות כוונה להמשיך בהן האור וכללות הכוונה היא התפלה של כל יוםMitzvos require kavanah in order to draw the light into them; the kavanah in general is the daily prayer, and in particular the blessings over the mitzvos.
ולכן המצות לא תצטרך להם עבודת האדם לתקנם ולכוון אל אמתתם כי מצות א״צ כוונה לפי שהן בעצמם מתוקניםThe practical mitzvos are rooted very high and came down already rectified, so they need no human work to rectify them or aim at their truth: “mitzvos do not require kavanah,” and the G‑dliness drawn comes from the mitzvos themselves, not from his service; Torah and prayer, service of the heart, depend on kavanah. The kavanah needed in doing mitzvos is to reflect first how far he is from G‑d, be humbled, and aim in the mitzvah to come close.
What the kavanah of the mitzvos consists of
וענין הכוונה היא לקיים מצות המלך הקב״ה דהיינו שבכל המצות שעושה יהיה כוונתו שעושה כדי לקיים מצות בוראוThe kavanah is to fulfill the King’s command: even where the matter follows of itself, as love from contemplating G‑d’s greatness, one must intend that he does it only because he was commanded, for the Kingship is above the life enclothed in creatures.
פי׳ לדעת המכוון בהם והמכוון הוא להיות מובדל מן התאוות ומכל מדות הרעותAs kiddushin set a wife apart for her husband, the kavanah of all the mitzvos is to know what they aim at: to be set apart from cravings and from all bad traits.
וזהו מצות צריכות כוונה להיות מכוון למטה כמו למעלה שבמצות הוא גילוי פנימיות רצונו ית׳The kavanah is to be aligned below as above: as the mitzvos reveal the inner will of G‑d, so the inner will of one’s soul should be revealed toward G‑d.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Balak 3, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 6, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 11, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 2, ¶8Torah Ohr, Toldos 4, ¶3Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 3, ¶11
Where it appears
In 243 paragraphs of 150 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 1 ¶13 ¶26 ¶33 ¶42
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2 ¶9 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 5 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶6 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶24 ¶44
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 6 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 11 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1 ¶3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3 ¶1 ¶11 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 8 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 7 ¶1 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶5 ¶19 ¶40 ¶41 ¶50
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23 ¶5 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 32 ¶3 ¶38
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini 1 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 1 ¶1 ¶8 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 4 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 7 ¶1 ¶39
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 10 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 8 ¶1 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶27 ¶68
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 2 ¶7 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 3 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶5 ¶35
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3 ¶3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶23 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 5 ¶19 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 2 ¶11 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶5 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 4 ¶6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 9 ¶11 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 13 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 15 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 39 ¶6 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 3 ¶6 ¶8 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 8 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 4 ¶3 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 1 ¶47
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 6 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 7 ¶30 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 17 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19 ¶3 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 29 ¶2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 1 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 8 ¶21 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7 ¶16 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 5 ¶4 ¶5 ¶7 ¶14 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 7 ¶6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 2 ¶25 ¶29 ¶32 ¶36
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 6 ¶13 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 11 ¶1 ¶6 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 6 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 2 ¶18 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 18 ¶5 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 2 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶6 ¶8 ¶9 ¶16 ¶17 ¶18 ¶20 ¶21 ¶25 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 5 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶3 ¶6 ¶17 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1 ¶14 ¶49 ¶58
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 2 ¶14 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 3 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶1 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 16 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 3 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶3 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 35 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4 ¶2 ¶5 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 5 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 6 ¶4 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 2 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 4 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 10 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 3 ¶1 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Terumah 1 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 3 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 19 ¶12 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 1 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1 ¶3 ¶25 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 3 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 10 ¶1 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 2 ¶26
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 13 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 5 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 2 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 5 ¶22 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 8 ¶3 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 3 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 8 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 5 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 4 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 7 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 11 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 36 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 6 ¶7 ¶10 ¶20
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 7 ¶9 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 9 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 10 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 2 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 5 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 1 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 1 ¶11 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 1 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 1 ¶12 ¶17
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 5 ¶30
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 2 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 4 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 4 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 4 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 2 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 6 ¶14 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 2 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 5 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 5 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 37 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 2 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 12 ¶5 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 12 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 21 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 6 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 13 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 8 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 1 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 3 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 7 ¶4 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 30 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 1 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Noach 1 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15 ¶17
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.