Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Panim and achor
פנים ואחור
Face and back (panim and achor)
The face is where a thing’s main life and will are turned; the back holds only a little vitality borrowed from the face. Said of G‑d’s flow, of a person’s service, and of supernal unions.
The word פנים is also the plain word for “face” and for “inside” (בפנים), and אחור for “behind.” As terms they come as a pair, often in the forms פנים בפנים (פב״פ, face to face) and אחור באחור (אב״א, back to back), and say whether a flow or a service comes with full will and attention or without it.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶1The face holds the main life: sight, hearing, and where a person looks his thought goes. The back has only a little life taken from the glow of the face, like the hair behind the neck. Israel are “face”; Pharaoh (letters of הערף, the nape) has no face at all and lives only from the back.
והנה העינים הם בחי׳ פנים ששם עיקר החיות ראיה שמיעה וגם במקום שאדם רואה שם מחשבתו
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 4, ¶2What a person wants is called face, and what is against his will is called back. At the Giving of the Torah all of Israel’s will was turned to G‑d and every bodily matter was “back,” so they were face to face with Him, as water reflects face to face.
אך דהנה ידוע שהדבר שברצון נק׳ פנים ומה שהוא נגד רצונו נק׳ אחור
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶30In Arich Anpin there is face and back. Flow given through the back, like one who throws something over his shoulder, can be received even by Pharaoh; flow from the face, given with will and desire, brought the Exodus. “May G‑d lift His face” raises to a level where there is no back at all.
והיינו דוקא כשנמשך השפע דרך אחוריים דהיינו כמאן דשדי בתר כתפין
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 3, ¶3One who sins draws from the back of holiness and not from the inner; through teshuvah (“and I will return to you”) the flow comes from the face. Even within holiness there is a back, as “You will see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
שהעובר על איזה עבירה יונק מבחי׳ אחוריים דקדושה ואינו ממשיך השפע מבחי׳ פנימיות
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2, ¶19Z’eir Anpin and Nukva are first back to back; to be turned face to face, Malchus must first be reduced to a single point beneath Yesod. There are many levels of face to face, and each rise to a higher one again begins from back to back; so too in a person’s service.
כי מתחלה הם אב״א וכדי שיוחזרו מבחי׳ אב״א להיות בבחי׳ פב״פ צ״ל בה באמצע בחי׳ ביטול מציאות הראשון
Stated differently
Whether will is the face or the back
אך דהנה ידוע שהדבר שברצון נק׳ פנים ומה שהוא נגד רצונו נק׳ אחורWhat is in a person’s will is called face; what is against his will is called back.
אך הרצון הוא עדיין בחי׳ אחוריים לגבי התענוג עליון שהוא בחי׳ פניםThe will drawn through prayer is still back relative to supernal delight, which is face; the face, revealed delight, comes through Torah study.
הגם שיש לו רצון לה׳ הוא רק בחי׳ אחוריי׳ כנ״ל שהרצון נק׳ אחורייםIn exile, when a person delights in worldly things, his will for G‑d is only back, for will is called back and delight is face.
What “back” is in a person’s service
אבל מ״מ אין זה אלא בבחי׳ עורף שאינו מבחי׳ פנימית הרצון מאהבה ותשוקה אלא מצות אנשים מלומדה והולך בקרירותKeeping Torah and mitzvos by rote and coldly, not from inner will, love and longing, is “back” (the nape); teshuvah turns it face to face.
מה שאין כן אהבה שלא על פי השגה נקרא אחורLove that comes from comprehension is face to face; love that blazes beyond one’s comprehension is called back, and to reach a greater comprehension one must first be back to back.
ומה שמשיג טעם ותענוג הוא רק בחינת אחורייםA mitzvah whose reason one does not grasp is higher; grasping its reason and delight is only back. The deed without delight is the main thing, not the heart that serves with fervor.
Whether the Torah is face or back
פנים הוא בחי׳ עסק התורה כי אורייתא מחכמה נפקת וחכמת אדם תאיר פניוTorah study is face, since it comes from Chochmah; prayer, from Daas at the back of the head, is back and must come first.
כמ״כ כל בחי׳ תשב״כ מה שנתלבש בתורה גשמיות שלנו אינו אלא בחי׳ אחוריים וחיצוניות דח״עThe Written Torah as clothed in our physical Torah is only the back and outer of supernal Chochmah, like hair, with a little of its light shining within.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶1Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 4, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2, ¶30Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 3, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2, ¶19Likkutei Torah, Acharei 2, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Balak 3, ¶20Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20, ¶22
Where it appears
In 230 paragraphs of 119 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 2 ¶1 ¶2 ¶3 ¶17 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2 ¶28 ¶29 ¶30 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 4 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 5 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶12 ¶14 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 3 ¶2 ¶5 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 7 ¶1 ¶5 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 3 ¶2 ¶3 ¶4 ¶5 ¶11 ¶12 ¶20 ¶34
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 4 ¶1 ¶5 ¶6 ¶7 ¶8 ¶13 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 5 ¶25 ¶26 ¶27 ¶28 ¶29 ¶37
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶19 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 20 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 10 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 1 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 5 ¶7 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11 ¶12 ¶13 ¶14 ¶16 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶14 ¶29
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 2 ¶9 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 5 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶32 ¶33
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶28
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 1 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 14 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶5 ¶6 ¶8 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 11 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 3 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Vayigash 3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 3 ¶2 ¶4 ¶10 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 7 ¶2 ¶3 ¶5 ¶7 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13 ¶22 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 27 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶16 ¶28
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 1 ¶1 ¶3 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 7 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 1 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 21 ¶3 ¶19 ¶21 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 6 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 6 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 1 ¶4 ¶29 ¶38 ¶41
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 2 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 3 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶20 ¶37
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20 ¶13 ¶15 ¶16 ¶17 ¶18 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 5 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 1 ¶9 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 2 ¶1 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 2 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 7 ¶1 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶19 ¶25 ¶26 ¶28 ¶29 ¶40
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 1 ¶1 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 10 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶1 ¶2 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 35 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 36 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4 ¶5 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 4 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 2 ¶5 ¶7 ¶8 ¶10 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 6 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Kedoshim 1 ¶11 ¶13 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 2 ¶5 ¶8 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 1 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1 ¶56
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 3 ¶5 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 3 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15 ¶39
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 1 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 3 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 3 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2 ¶38
- Torah Ohr, Ki Sisa 1 ¶24 ¶26
- Torah Ohr, Noach 4 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 1 ¶18 ¶19 ¶20 ¶26 ¶31 ¶32 ¶33 ¶36
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 2 ¶22
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 6 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 4 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 13 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 2 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 7 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 1 ¶24 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 5 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 6 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 10 ¶9 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 31 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 6 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 8 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 6 ¶19 ¶20 ¶21 ¶37
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 8 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 4 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 2 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 4 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 7 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 4 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 5 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 7 ¶24
- Torah Ohr, Terumah 1 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Terumah 3 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 2 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 1 ¶11 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 6 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 1 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 4 ¶2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 4 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 1 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 4 ¶3 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 12 ¶37
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 3 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 5 ¶2
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.