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Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah

חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה

The higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah and Chochmah Tata’ah)

“Two wisdoms”: the higher, Chochmah at the head, the Written Torah, bittul in essence; the lower, Malchus, Chochmah at the end, the Oral Torah, enclothed in the physical mitzvos to refine the world.

The word Alone, חכמה עילאה (ח״ע) usually means simply the Chochmah of Atzilus (Abba) over against Keser or Or Ein Sof; for that see the Chochmah entry. It belongs to this pair when set beside חכמה תתאה (ח״ת), as in “two wisdoms” (חכמות בחוץ) or the Written and the Oral Torah.

Where it’s explained

  1. Torah Ohr, Yisro 6, ¶9The wisdom that is enclothed below in the physical deed of the mitzvos (the stones of the Ephod and Breastplate) is called the lower Chochmah; it is drawn from the higher, and its clothing “outside,” in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, brings a revelation of Or Ein Sof higher even than the higher Chochmah (“Chochmos bachutz tarona”).נק׳ בחי׳ חכמה זו שנתלבשה למטה במעשה המצות בשם חכמה תתאה
  2. Likkutei Torah, Eikev 3, ¶6The “two wisdoms” are two breads, bread from heaven and bread from the earth: the higher Chochmah, “wise but not with a knowable wisdom,” is bittul in essence, all being as nothing before Him; the lower, Malchus, is bittul hayesh. The one is blessing, a drawing down; the other thanksgiving, the acknowledgment of what is true before Him though not revealed below.שבחי׳ ח״ע היא בחי׳ ביטול בעצם דכולא קמיה כלא כו׳ ובחי׳ ח״ת היא ביטול היש
  3. Likkutei Torah, Emor 6, ¶31The two loaves of Shavuos correspond to the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, the higher and the lower Chochmah, “Chochmah at the head and Chochmah at the end.” The Oral Torah has the advantage of spelling out the will in each mitzvah; the Written Torah has what the Oral does not explain, such as the cantillation, the very depth of the idea conveyed by hint.שתי הלחם נגד תשב״כ ותשבע״פ היינו ח״ע וחכמה תתאה חכמה בראש וחכמה בסוף
  4. Torah Ohr, Yisro 6, ¶14On weekdays the higher Chochmah is enclothed in the lower to carry out the refinements (birurim), “through Chochmah they are refined”; Shabbos is the ascent of the lower Chochmah into the higher, and so on Shabbos speech and sorting are forbidden.בחכמה אתברירו הוא ע״י התלבשות ח״ע בח״ת לברר בירורים והיינו ביומין דחול
  5. Torah Ohr, Bereishis 8, ¶16“In His image, in the image”: a revelation after a revelation. The first is Or Ein Sof in the higher Chochmah, the Written Torah; the second is the lower Chochmah, which reveals the higher and is the revealed world itself.גילוי חכמה תתאה שהיא בחי׳ גילוי לחכמה עלאה תושב״כ

Stated differently

Whether the Written Torah stands at the higher Chochmah or is enclothed in Z’eir Anpin

Torah Ohr, Vaeira 4, ¶20ותורה שבכתב היא בחי׳ ח״ע. ותורה שבע״פ היא חכמה תתאה

The Written Torah is the higher Chochmah and the Oral Torah the lower; all the letters of the Written Torah are hints and drawings from the higher Chochmah.

Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2, ¶14וגם תורה שבכתב דמח״ע נפקת מ״מ היא המתלבשת בז״א שהוא בחי׳ המדות

The Written Torah issues from the higher Chochmah yet is what is enclothed in Z’eir Anpin, the middos (fit and unfit); Moshe is the very essence of the higher Chochmah as it cleaves to its root.

Where the higher Chochmah of the pair stands: the Chochmah of Atzilus, below the hidden Chochmah of Atik, or above even Keser

Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2, ¶14צ״ל ע״י המשכה מח״ס דעתיק שלמעלה מחכמה עילאה דאצי׳ דקמיה שוין אצילות ובי״ע

In another reading of “Chochmos bachutz”: for the higher Chochmah to be drawn outside, into Malchus, the source of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, there must be a drawing from the hidden Chochmah of Atik, above the higher Chochmah of Atzilus, before which Atzilus and BYA are equal.

Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17, ¶14וזהו ענין חכמה עילאה שלמעלה גם מכתר והיינו לפי שהיא שרש החכמה שברדל״א ממש

The “two Torahs” (“the Torah of Havayah” and “his Torah”) are a higher Chochmah above even Keser, the root of Chochmah in Reisha d’lo Isyada, the Torah above revealed to the Avos, and the lower Chochmah, the Torah of Moshe.

Main sources

Torah Ohr, Yisro 6, ¶9Torah Ohr, Yisro 6, ¶10Torah Ohr, Yisro 6, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Eikev 3, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Emor 6, ¶31Torah Ohr, Vaeira 4, ¶20Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 16, ¶23

Where it appears

In 509 paragraphs of 188 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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