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Olam HaZeh

עולם הזה

This world (Olam HaZeh)

This lowest, physical world, Malchus of Asiyah and the end of all levels, where G‑dliness is most hidden; the world of action, choice and teshuvah, where Torah and mitzvos draw light above all worlds.

The word עולם הזה can mean this lifetime, as against the World to Come after it (“one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world”), or this physical world as a level in the chain of worlds, below the lower and upper Gan Eden (“this physical earth is Malchus of Asiyah”). Most places use both at once.

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1, ¶2“Lower” is not a matter of place but of level: this world is the end of the whole chain of worlds, where G‑dliness is grasped only in great concealment, and it is here that G‑d desired a dwelling, through Torah and mitzvos (see the entry dirah-betachtonim).שעולם הזה השפל הוא היותר תחתון ושפל במדרגה דהיינו שהוא סוף ותכלית כל המדרגות השתלשלות העולמות
  2. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 36, ¶2This physical earth is Malchus of Asiyah, and here the lower and upper Gan Eden are Malchus of Yetzirah and of Beriah, all of it only Malchus (other maamarim place the lower Gan Eden in Asiyah; see the entry gan-eden).כי הארץ הלזו הגשמי׳ הוא בחי׳ מל׳ דעשיה
  3. Likkutei Torah, Chukas 11, ¶4This world is the last concealment in the order of the worlds, a doubled darkness where the revelation of wisdom is much reduced; yet it is the world of action, in which the Torah, rooted in Chochmah Ila’ah itself, draws a revelation of Or Ein Sof above the whole chain of worlds.הנה הוא עולם המעשה להמשיך בו גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה למעלה מההשתלשלות
  4. Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 1, ¶3“Today to do them”: only in this world is there choice, and even after sinning one can return in teshuvah; in the World to Come a person stays as he was drawn here.שהעוה״ז דוקא הוא עולם המעשה ובו נתנה הבחירה ביד האדם לבחור בטוב
  5. Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3, ¶14This physical world is as coarse as dust, yet it has spiritual life from the supernal dust of the World of Tohu, before Atzilus, so it can be rectified, by refining the good from the evil.והנה בעוה״ז הגשמי שהוא מגושם כמו עפר מן האדמה ואעפ״כ מפני שיש בו חיות רוחני מעפר העליון שבעולם התהו

Stated differently

Whether the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev) is revealed in this world, without concealment, or present here in concealment, not grasped

Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 8, ¶6לפי שבעוה״ז עולם היותר שפל מתגלה בחי׳ סוכ״ע וכחשיכה כאורה בלי שום בחי׳ הסתר כלל

In this world, the lowest, the level of sovev is revealed, darkness like light, with no concealment at all; therefore here one can go from completely wicked to completely righteous. The same paragraph says that drawing sovev into revelation within memalei comes through Torah and mitzvos.

Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 11, ¶19דדוקא בעוה״ז מאיר ומתגלה בחי׳ סוכ״ע שבו ועל ידו דוקא כח הבירור

Teshuvah avails only in this world, because only in this world does sovev shine and is revealed, and through it comes the power of refinement.

Likkutei Torah, Reeh 11, ¶8אבל בעולם הזה יש בחי׳ הארת סוכ״ע ואע״פ שהוא בבחי׳ העלם שאינ׳ משיגים בו מ״מ פועל הוא כאן

In this world there is a radiance of sovev; though it is concealed, so that it is not grasped, it acts here, and so one can turn from wicked to righteous.

Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 5, ¶26משא״כ בעוה״ז הגם שהוא בהעלם מ״מ עכ״פ נמשך הוא ע״י התורה ומצות

In this world, though sovev is in concealment, it is at least drawn down through Torah and mitzvos, unlike the World to Come (Gan Eden), which is from memalei.

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Chukas 11, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 1, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 2, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 8, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Reeh 11, ¶8Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3, ¶14

Where it appears

In 430 paragraphs of 209 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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