Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Mati velo mati
מטי ולא מטי
Reaching and not reaching (mati velo mati)
Etz Chaim’s term for a light too great for its vessels: it reaches into them and at once withdraws, again and again, never leaving entirely; above, it is the root of ratzo vashov.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 2, ¶24Etz Chaim’s name for the pulse of G‑dly light from above: it reaches and spreads, then withdraws and does not reach, all within G‑dliness itself. So G‑d’s flow is likened to fire, whose nature is to withdraw after spreading, like the heartbeat.
ונק׳ זה בע״ח בשם מטי ולא מטי שהאור מטי ומתפשט וחוזר ומסתלק ולא מטי
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 8, ¶13A drawing down from Adam Kadmon cannot enclothe in vessels in full revelation: as soon as it reaches, it withdraws, for no vessel can hold it. Unlike the returning makif, which leaves the vessel entirely, here the reaching comes again after each withdrawal, and so the vessel can bear the light.
מיד שנמשך בחי׳ מטי אז מיד מסתלק ונעשה בחי׳ ולא מטי. כי אין כלי מספיקו
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3, ¶26In the order from above, “heavens” come first: it reaches because it wishes to give, and does not reach because the vessel cannot bear it; from below upward, by contrast, the ratzo comes first. This aspect of the world of Akudim is hidden now and will be revealed in the Time to Come.
מטי שרוצה להשפיע ולא מטי שאין הכלי יכול לסבול
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10, ¶7The G‑dly life-force in all the worlds runs and returns, and this is the mati velo mati of Etz Chaim. It is the constant renewal of creation: at every moment the former life-force withdraws and a new one is drawn from its source.
וזהו ג״כ בחי׳ מטי ולא מטי הנזכר בע״ח
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 4, ¶9In the soul’s service: at first (“rouses its nest”) G‑dliness is revealed upon the soul and touches it, but does not enter its innermost core; afterward it clothes and surrounds the soul, through Pesukei Dezimrah until Shema.
נוגע ואינו נוגע בבחי׳ מטי ולא מטי דהיינו שיתגלה על נפשו אלקות ונגעה עד הנפש
Stated differently
Whether the reaching (expansion) comes before the not reaching (withdrawal), or the withdrawal comes first
שבחי׳ מטי הוא בחי׳ ההתפשטות קודם לבחי׳ לא מטיThe reaching, which is the expansion, precedes the not reaching; as in the heartbeat, the expansion comes first and then the withdrawal.
כי כל המשכה מלמעלה צ״ל ע״י מטי ולא מטי תחלה בחי׳ הסתלקות שהוא ענין לא מטי ואח״כ התפשטות בחי׳ מטיEvery drawing down from above comes through mati velo mati: first the withdrawal, the not reaching, and afterward the expansion, the reaching; so the arousal from below must also be ratzo vashov.
וכדי שיהיה בחי׳ מטי צ״ל תחלה בחי׳ לא מטיFor the revelation at the Giving of the Torah there first had to be a withdrawal above: for there to be reaching, there must first be not reaching.
Whether mati velo mati is the mode of a light too high for the vessels, or the root of the vessels themselves, with the light that clothes in them rooted higher
לפי שההמשכה היא ממקום גבוה מאד נעלה שהוא בחי׳ א״ק. ע״כ משם מוכרח להיות ההמשכה בבחי׳ מטי ולא מטיBecause the drawing down is from the very high level of Adam Kadmon, it must be mati velo mati: it cannot clothe itself in the vessels, for no vessel can hold it.
כי הכלים הנק׳ גופא יש להן שרש בפ״ע מאוא״ס היינו מבחי׳ מטי ולא מטיThe vessels, called the body, have a root of their own in the Or Ein Sof, from mati velo mati; afterward the light whose root is higher than this level clothes itself in them like a soul in a body.
Where mati velo mati is placed: in Adam Kadmon, or in Chochmah
דבחינת מטי ולא מטי נמשך מפה דא״ק שהוא בחינת אורות הטעמים דא״קCiting Etz Chaim: mati velo mati is drawn from the mouth of Adam Kadmon, the lights of the ta’amim of Adam Kadmon.
והדפיקו בחי׳ רצוא ושוב והיינו בחי׳ מטי ולא מטי דחכמה לפי שאור א״ס שורה בחכמהCiting the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah (Ta’amei HaMitzvos, Vayera): the pulse in a person is the achoraim of Abba; its beating is ratzo vashov, the mati velo mati of Chochmah, because the Or Ein Sof rests in Chochmah.
Whether mati velo mati names the flow above, with ratzo vashov as its counterpart below, or also the ascent from below
כי שיר הוא ענין ההתכללות ברצוא ושוב ולמעלה הוא בחינת מטי ולא מטיSong is inclusion through ratzo vashov; above, it is mati velo mati. The songs from below upward are the feminine “shirah,” through which the supernal “shir” is drawn down (so also Nasso 2:26: journeying and encamping are ratzo vashov, and above, in their root, mati velo mati).
וכן עבודת הלוים בשיר הוא בבחי׳ הסתלקות הגבורות ממטה למעלה והחיות רצוא ושוב ונק׳ בחי׳ מטי ולא מטיThe Levites’ service in song is the withdrawal of the Gevuros from below upward, the running and returning of the life-force, and this is called mati velo mati.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Masei 8, ¶12Likkutei Torah, Masei 8, ¶13Torah Ohr, Bereishis 2, ¶23Torah Ohr, Bereishis 2, ¶24Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3, ¶26Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10, ¶7
Where it appears
In 19 paragraphs of 16 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 8 ¶12 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 1 ¶35
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶28
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Metzora 1 ¶11 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 4 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 10 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 2 ¶23 ¶24
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3 ¶26
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 8 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 2 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 4 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 6 ¶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.