Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Or shel toladah
אור של תולדה
Offspring light (or shel toladah)
The light that reaches Beriah through the screen (masach, parsa) between Atzilus and Beriah: born of the light above but not of its essence; the “nothing” from which Beriah’s “something” comes.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 4, ¶4Malchus, the “shoe,” is a screen between Atzilus and Beriah, so that the light of Atzilus, one with its source, is not revealed in Beriah as it is, and Beriah can be a “something.” The light drawn through the screen to give Beriah life is offspring light, not the essence of the light before the parsa; relative to that light it is “nothing,” and from it Beriah comes to be as something from nothing.
והאור שנמשך מאצי׳ ע״י המסך להחיות בריאה הוא אור של תולדה ולכן נק׳ הבריאה יש מאין
- Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 3, ¶2Coming into being from nothing to something is through renewal: through a screen and parsa a new light, an offspring light, comes to be, not of the nature of the first light; each further descent adds another parsa, down to physicality. (On the other sense of “new light,” see or chadash.)
ע״י מסך ופרסא נעשה אור חדש אור של תולדה ואין זה ממהות אור הראשון
- Torah Ohr, Vayeira 1, ¶20Beriah comes from the parsa as offspring light: a light of Chochmah born anew in Beriah, as a student gains a new idea from his teacher’s analogy, which is about another matter; the idea is new to him, renewed through the analogy.
שהי׳ אור של תולדה דהיינו שנולד ונתחדש אור חכמה בבריאה
- Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 9, ¶1Within Atzilus the middos come from the intellect as cause and effect, already contained in it. Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah come from Malchus of Atzilus, which changes the flow from one nature to another, an entirely new nature, offspring light; so Gan Eden is in Malchus, where souls and angels can grasp it.
דהיינו צמצום האור עד שיהיה מהות חדש ממש בבחי׳ אור של תולדה ונקרא יש מאין
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶2Light passing through clear glass is unchanged, as the flow to the Land of Israel only passes through the minister of Asiyah. Light that is clothed, as behind a screen and curtain or a riddle and analogy, is concealed, so the sunlight seen through a screen is called offspring light.
עד שהאור השמש הנראה דרך המסך נק׳ אור של תולדה
Sefer HaErchim Chabad
אור של תולדה הוא תואר לאור שנולד ונתחדש מאור שקדם לו, אבל: אור זה הוא שונה מהאור שקדם לו — כי המשכתו ממנו הוא ע״י דבר המפסיק.“Offspring light” describes light born and renewed from a light before it, yet different from that light, because it is drawn from it through something that interrupts. (our translation)
Sefer HaErchim Chabad, vol. ג, entry אור של תולדה, col. תקיא · © Kehot Publication Society, quoted
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 4, ¶4Torah Ohr, Lech Lecha 3, ¶2Torah Ohr, Vayeira 1, ¶20Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 9, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶2
Where it appears
In 9 paragraphs of 9 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.