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Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah

Middos

מדות

The emotive attributes (middos)

The emotive powers (in the soul: love, fear, mercy). Born from the intellect and matching its measure, they are rooted above it, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A, emanated to conduct the worlds.

The word מדה / מדות also means a measure (מדה ושיעור, קו המדה), a person’s character traits (מדות טובות, מדות רעות), and appears in fixed phrases such as the thirteen attributes of mercy (י״ג מדות הרחמים). It means the emotive Sefiros or powers when the text writes ז׳ מדות, ו׳ מדות, ז״ת, מדות דז״א, מדות שבלב, or pairs them with the intellect (שכל ומדות, מוחין ומדות).

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Vezos Haberachah 3, ¶6The middos are born from the intellect and match it: a child, whose intellect is very small, has middos for small things; an adult, whose intellect is great, has middos for great things. This is cause and effect, a chain without a leap: the middos are first contained in the intellect and then revealed, with the intellect’s last level clothed in them.אנו רואים שהולדת המדות הם מהשכל שלפי ערך גילוי השכל כן יהיה המדות
  2. Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2, ¶29Though the middos are born from contemplation, their root is above the intellect, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A are born from Chochmah and Binah but rooted in the Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes of Arich Anpin, “the mountains of darkness,” which are only their source and not middos proper.אמנם שרש ומקור המדות הם למעלה מהשכל היינו מן הרצון שבנפש
  3. Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶14While love and fear are still contained in the intellect they are not felt as something in themselves (“the hidden things of the heart”), and the external forces cannot draw from them; once revealed in the heart they are felt as “yesh,” and from their excess the external forces can draw.והנה כשהמדות כלולים בהשכל וההתבוננות הם בלתי מורגשים עדיין ליש ודבר
  4. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23, ¶17The Mishkan’s curtains are in themselves without limit; a measuring “cubit” contracts them (“up to here Chesed, up to here Gevurah”), and through this they become middos, measures: the measuring line of Yechezkel.רק יש בחי׳ אמה המודדת ומצמצמת עד פה יהי׳ חסד ועד פה גבורה. שעי״ז נעשו בבחי׳ מדות
  5. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42, ¶5G‑d’s essence is none of the middos of Atzilus; they were emanated to conduct the worlds and are a “body” to the light of Ein Sof. A person’s middos bear no comparison to them: G‑d’s mercy is not an emotional reaction and involves no change.שבאמת עצמות א״ס ב״ה לאו מכל אלין מדות דאצילות איהו כלל ואצילות המדות הוא כדי לאנהגא בהון עלמין

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Vezos Haberachah 3, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 5, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2, ¶29Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Emor 6, ¶24

Where it appears

In 994 paragraphs of 302 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.

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