Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Oz vesushiyah
עוז ותושיה
Strength and tushiyah (oz vesushiyah), names of the Torah
Two names of the Torah: oz, “strength,” for it strengthens the G‑dly soul to rise and prevail over the body; tushiyah, for it weakens (מתשת) the animal soul’s bond to physicality.
The word עוז in plain Hebrew is “strength” or “might,” and often means just that (as in “כח ועוז”). As a term it is the Sages’ name for the Torah (“אין עוז אלא תורה”), usually paired with tushiyah; the context, a verse read as speaking of Torah, shows which is meant. Tushiyah also appears in the phrase “עצה ותושיה” as a name for Chochmah (Likkutei Torah, Sh’lach 14:16; Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 2:4); there it is not the Torah’s power to weaken the animal soul.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 1, ¶9This is why the Torah was given: it is called oz because it gives the G‑dly soul strength to overcome the body and animal soul. Through it comes “peace” above (the soul bound to the Or Ein Sof in bittul) and below.
שהתורה נק׳ עוז שהיא הנותנת כח ועוז לנפש האלקית להתגבר על חומריות הגוף ונפש הבהמית
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 1, ¶10The same Torah is called tushiyah because it saps the power of the sitra achra on the body’s side, for when one rises the other falls. It has this power, though clothed in physical matters, because its source is in the Or Ein Sof itself, sovev kol almin.
כי התורה שנק׳ עוז נק׳ ג״כ תושיה שמתשת כח הס״א שמצד הגוף
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 6, ¶1Torah is bread that strengthens the G‑dly soul so it can give itself over in Shema. Since nothing tied below can rise until the knot is loosened, the same Torah weakens the animal soul’s bond to this world: oz and tushiyah are one matter.
ולכך נקראת תושיה שמתשת כח הקשר של הנפש הבהמית והוא ענין אחד עם מה שנותנים כח ועוז לנפש לעלות
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶25Applies it to Torah study in speech, “the worm of Yaakov” that strikes only with its mouth: speaking words of Torah strengthens the G‑dly soul to rise into the Ein Sof and weakens the animal soul that blocks it.
שהדבור בתורה נותן עוז וכח לנפש האלקית שתוכל לעלות ולהתכלל בא״ס ב״ה
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶4On “She girds her loins with oz”: oz is the Torah, rooted in Keser, which gives strength to the “loins,” Netzach and Hod, the powers that counsel how to pass wisdom on to another.
עוז היינו התורה ששרשה מהכתר ממנה נמשך הכח ועוז לבחי׳ מתנים שהם נו״ה
Stated differently
What oz denotes in “הוי׳ will give oz to His people”: the Torah, or the gevuros of the left line included in Chesed
וזהו ה׳ עוז לעמו יתן ה׳ יברך את עמו בשלום כי ע״י התורה שנק׳ עוז נעשה בשלוםOz in this verse is the Torah, which strengthens the G‑dly soul and brings peace above and below.
שבהתכללות הגבורות בהחסד יהי׳ ההשפעה ביתר שאת וחיות גדול וז״ש ה׳ עוז לעמו יתןOz (in “and He will give oz to His king”) is the gevuros, the left line, drawn only to Malchus of Atzilus to arouse love; when the gevuros are included in Chesed, that is “הוי׳ will give oz to His people.”
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Yisro 1, ¶9Torah Ohr, Yisro 1, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 6, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21, ¶4
Where it appears
In 89 paragraphs of 64 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 6 ¶1 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 9 ¶13 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 1 ¶16 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 11 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 5 ¶5 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 1 ¶5 ¶7 ¶8 ¶11 ¶12 ¶13 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 10 ¶4 ¶6 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 20 ¶8 ¶13 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 5 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 4 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 4 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 1 ¶9 ¶10 ¶15 ¶17 ¶23
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 3 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 3 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 8 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 9 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 21 ¶2 ¶3 ¶4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 7 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 3 ¶3 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 3 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶44 ¶52
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 3 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 4 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 4 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 3 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 9 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 6 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 34 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 6 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 14 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 9 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 4 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 7 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 5 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 2 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 9 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 6 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 4 ¶15 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 1 ¶2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 2 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 8 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 5 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶40
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.