Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Keser Malchus
כתר מלכות
The royal crown (Keser Malchus)
The royal crown: the Supernal Will (Keser) drawn into G‑d’s kingship (Malchus), above the King’s “body”; it is drawn by willing acceptance of His rule and by the deeds of the mitzvos.
The word In Megillas Esther (6:8) the words are the plain royal crown set on the king’s head; the maamarim read that verse, and the human custom of crowning a king with precious stones, as the analogy for the level above.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 18, ¶10“The crown with which his mother crowned him” is Keser Malchus, above the King’s body, as a crown is not part of the body. As precious stones, though inanimate, shine and become a crown, so the letters of Torah enclothed in physical terumos and tithes make a crown above.
עטרה היא בחינת כתר מלכות שהיא למעלה מגוף המלך
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3, ¶5When a person nullifies his will and accepts G‑d’s kingship willingly, he arouses the Supernal Will to enclothe itself in the attribute of Malchus; this is called the coming into being of Keser Malchus. Every attribute, in man and above, extends only as far as the will and delight within it.
להיות הרצון המאציל עליון ב״ה להתלבש במדת מלכותו ית׳ והוא הנק׳ התהוות כתר מלכות
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3, ¶27One is called king only when accepted willingly; over the nations He is a ruler (moshel), not a king. So the core of kingship is the crown with which he is crowned, and Keser is will: Malchus is drawn from Keser, “their beginning is wedged in their end.”
וזהו ענין כתר מלכות שעיקר המלכו׳ הוא הכתר שמכתירין אותו וכתר היינו בחי׳ רצון
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 2, ¶3Malchus receives and has nothing of its own, yet once it receives it rules over those who give to it, as a king receives taxes from his subjects and still reigns over them. So it is called Keser Malchus, a crown from below upward; its root is in Keser.
ונק׳ כתר מל׳ שהיא בחי׳ כתר מלמטה למעלה
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1, ¶19Sovev kol almin, the light of His exaltation shown over the worlds, encompasses all equally. The light drawn onto a person by doing the mitzvos with body and money is not from that alone: it is Keser Malchus, “the crown with which his mother crowned him”, like a crown made of precious stones, which belong to the inanimate, the lowest of the four levels of creation.
אבל ההארה הנמשכת על האדם בקיום המצות במעשה בפו״מ היא בחי׳ כתר מלכות
Stated differently
What the name Keser Malchus refers to, and why it is so called
ונק׳ כתר מל׳ שהיא בחי׳ כתר מלמטה למעלהMalchus itself, which receives from the levels above it and rules over them, is called Keser Malchus: a crown from below upward.
כתר עליון איהו כתר מל׳ ואיהו קרקפתא שבחי׳ כתר ובחי׳ מל׳ הוא ענין א׳Malchus of Ein Sof is the Keser of the emanated, an encompassing light over Atzilus; Keser Elyon is Keser Malchus, and Keser and Malchus are one matter.
והוא הנק׳ בחי׳ כתר דז״א כמו העטרה הכותרת על הראש כו׳ וכשבא הארה זו למטה במל׳ דאצי׳ נק׳ כתר מל׳The encompassing light over the middos of Atzilus is the Keser of Z”A; when this light comes down into Malchus of Atzilus it is called Keser Malchus.
וראש השנה היינו גלגלתא וכתר שבמל׳Keser Malchus (“My face”) is the Keser within Malchus, its Gulgalta, which receives from the Malchus within Keser; this is “the head of the year.”
ולכן נק׳ בחי׳ מלכות בשם כתר מלכות כמו כתר שהיא עטרה על הראש ונעשה מאבנים טובות ואין לה שייכות עם עצם הלובשהMalchus itself is called Keser Malchus because, like a crown of precious stones on the head, it has no relation to the essence of its wearer, yet through it his kingship is seen: the worlds do not touch G‑d’s essence, and only through them is He called King.
Whether Keser Malchus is sovev kol almin or above it
ההמשכה מבחי׳ סוכ״ע שהוא בחי׳כתר שנק׳ ג״כ כתר מלכותThe light drawn through the mitzvos is from sovev kol almin, which is Keser, also called Keser Malchus.
הוא למעלה גם מבחי׳ לבוש מלכות של הקב״ה כ״א בחי׳ כתר מלכות בחי׳ מקיף למקיףThe crown is above sovev kol almin and above the royal garment, which is sovev; it is Keser Malchus, an encompassing of the encompassing.
כי תר״ך מצות הם תר״ך עמודי אור שבכתר שהוא סוכ״ע והכתר נעשה ממצות המלובשים בעשייה גשמיית דוקאThe 620 mitzvos are the 620 pillars of light in Keser, which is sovev kol almin; this crown is made from mitzvos enclothed in physical deeds, like a royal crown made of precious stones.
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1, ¶19Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1, ¶27Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 18, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19, ¶12Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3, ¶7Torah Ohr, Vayechi 2, ¶3
Where it appears
In 29 paragraphs of 20 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Tazria 4 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 6 ¶25
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1 ¶1 ¶2 ¶19 ¶27 ¶28 ¶33 ¶34 ¶40
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 9 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 19 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3 ¶5 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7 ¶25
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 18 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 4 ¶10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 32 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 7 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 5 ¶10
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.