Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Keser Torah
כתר תורה
The crown of Torah (Keser Torah)
The Torah as crown: its root in the Supernal Will (Keser), above the Chochmah from which it issues, an encompassing light where high and low are equal; revealed at Matan Torah and on Shemini Atzeres.
The word In the Sages’ saying (three crowns: of Torah, of priesthood, of kingship) the crown of Torah is the honor of Torah learning; the maamarim read it as the Torah’s root in the Sefirah Keser, the Supernal Will. Keser here is the Sefirah and its figure of a crown above the head.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4, ¶8The Torah is called a crown (613 mitzvos and seven rabbinic ones make 620, the value of כתר): it issues from Chochmah, but its root is far above Supernal Chochmah. On Shemini Atzeres G‑d, in His love and joy, takes His crown from His head, as it were, and gives it to Israel, who gather it in to keep the acceptance of His kingship all year.
והיינו כתר תורה דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת אבל שרשה היא למעלה מעלה ממדריגת חכמה עילאה
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4, ¶14On Simchas Torah the crown of Torah shines: above the mochin, as the skull covers the brain, because it comes from a level above grasped intellect.
שמאיר בחי׳ כתר תורה שהוא למעלה מהמוחין כמו גלגלתא דחפיא על מוחא
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 2, ¶22After the forty-nine days of the Omer, drawn little by little within hishtalshelus, Shavuos brings a revelation from above hishtalshelus, where high and low, spiritual and physical are equal; that is the crown of Torah, and so it is revealed below as above.
וזמן מתנה זו היא בחג השבועות זמן מתן תורה גלוי בחי׳ כתר תורה שהיא למעלה מבחי׳ התורה
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 5, ¶3The fiftieth gate encircles all levels without high or low; in it the Torah was given, drawing Or Ein Sof into physical Asiyah. Like a crown above the head, which has no head and foot, it spreads below as above.
הוא ענין כתר תורה כמו כותרת ועטרה שעל הראש מלמעלה בבחי׳ שאין בה בחי׳ ראש ורגל
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 20, ¶31The crown is the Supernal Will, a supernal encompassing light, above “bread and wine”, what is drawn as inner light; it is from the revelation of Or Ein Sof itself, sovev kol almin, and so the righteous will sit with their crowns on their heads in the time to come.
עטרה הוא בחי׳ רצון העליון כמ״ש כצנה רצון תעטרנו שהוא בחי׳ מקיף עליון והוא בחי׳ כתר תורה
Stated differently
When the crown of Torah is revealed
וזמן מתנה זו היא בחג השבועות זמן מתן תורהThe time of this gift is Shavuos, the day of the Giving of the Torah, after the seven weeks of the Omer.
אך ביום השמיני עצרת שהוא שמחת תורה היינו שמאיר בחי׳ כתר תורהOn Shemini Atzeres, Simchas Torah, the crown of Torah shines; it is the last of the three crowns drawn from Rosh Hashanah on (4:16).
Whether the crown of the 620 mitzvos is called Keser Torah or Keser Malchus
והתורה נקרא כתר כמאמר רז״ל כתר תורה וכן תרי״ג מצות דאורייתא וז׳ מצות דרנן עולים תר״ךThe Torah is called a crown, the crown of Torah, and the 620 mitzvos equal כתר.
וזהו ענין כתר מלכות כי תרי״ג מצות דאורייתא וז׳ מצות דרבנן הן בגימטריא תר״ךThe 620 mitzvos, the 620 pillars of light in Keser that join high and low, are the meaning of Keser Malchus, drawn by Israel’s “we will do” before “we will hear”.
בר״ה אמרו לפני מלכיות זהו המשכת כתר מלכותOffered as “it may be said”: Keser Malchus and Keser Torah are separate crowns: Keser Malchus is drawn on Rosh Hashanah, the crown of priesthood on Yom Kippur, and Keser Torah on Shemini Atzeres as a drawing from above to below.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4, ¶8Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4, ¶16Torah Ohr, Yisro 2, ¶22Torah Ohr, Yisro 5, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 20, ¶31
Where it appears
In 9 paragraphs of 5 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.