Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Torah
תורה
Torah
G‑d’s own wisdom (“the Torah issues from Chochmah”), in which Or Ein Sof is enclothed; it descends into laws about physical matters, so one who grasps a law unites with His wisdom.
The word תורה is usually simply the Torah, its study, or “the law of” (תורת העולה). It names the Divine level when the text says בחי׳ תורה, אורייתא מחכמה נפקת, נובלות חכמה, משל הקדמוני, or maps the Written and Oral Torah onto Sefiros (Binah, Chochmah, Z’eir Anpin, Malchus).
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5, ¶5The Torah is His wisdom in Atzilus, the vessel for Or Ein Sof; it is enclothed in the Chochmah of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah and in the laws about physical matters, so when a person understands a law his mind is joined with G‑d’s wisdom in it.
והענין כי התורה היא חכמתו ית׳ שבאצי׳ שבה מלובש אור א״ס ב״ה ממש
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 17, ¶2The revealed Torah is the glow of Chochmah enclothed in the middos: fit, permitted and pure come from Chesed, unfit and impure from Gevurah. It is only “unripe fruit” compared with the essence of supernal Chochmah.
הנה ארז״ל נובלות חכמה שלמעלה תורה
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5, ¶9Torah is from the lights, the inner level (Chochmah, the brain), and mitzvos from the vessels, an outer level whose root is higher; so Torah is food for the soul and mitzvos its garments, and each is said to be above the other.
והנה התורה שהיא בחי׳ חכמה ושכל היינו שהיא מבחי׳ אורות והמצות שהן בחי׳ עשייה היינו שהן מבחי׳ כלים
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 2, ¶2Though the Torah issues from Chochmah, it is Chochmah relative to the Emanator but Binah relative to created beings: the Written Torah is letters, which belong to Binah, while the Oral Torah, where the reasoning matters more than the letters, is Chochmah.
דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת לגבי המאציל היא בחי׳ חכמה אבל לגבי הנבראים היא בחי׳ בינה
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶10Because Or Ein Sof rests in supernal Chochmah, the Torah that issues from it is called “the parable of the Ancient One”: like a parable that holds its meaning, through Torah study one benefits from the radiance of Or Ein Sof.
כך החכמה והתורה היא לבוש לאוא״ס ב״ה
Stated differently
Whether the Torah reaches above sovev kol almin, or Or Ein Sof itself (sovev) is above the Torah
חטה מאכל אדם שהיא התורה זהו מה שלמעלה מבחי׳ סוכ״ע שהתורה נק׳ משל הקדמוניThe Torah (the wheat, food of man) is what is above sovev kol almin, since it is called the parable of the Ancient One of the world (kadmono shel olam).
שגילוי אור א״ס ב״ה עצמו הסוכ״ע שלמעלה מהתורה והוא מקור התורהMoshe attained the Torah, which issues from Chochmah and is the “back”; Or Ein Sof itself, sovev kol almin, is above the Torah and its source, and is reached only through teshuvah.
והנה גם התורה הוא בכלל בחי׳ הצמצום דקו המדהThe Torah preceded the world only by “two thousand years” (Chochmah and Binah), so it belongs to the contractions of the measuring line, while Ein Sof itself is beyond contraction.
Which of Chochmah and Binah the Written Torah and the Oral Torah belong to
ותשבע״פ היא בחי׳ חכמה ושם אין האותיות עיקר כל כך אלא השכל וההשכלהThe Written Torah is letters, and so Binah (Binah is called a Torah scroll); the Oral Torah, where the reasoning and not the letters is the main thing, is Chochmah.
שתושב״כ נמשכה מבחי׳ ח״ע הוא בחי׳ מוחין דאבא ולכן נקראת מוסר אביך. ותושבע״פ נק׳ תורת אמךThe Written Torah is drawn from Chochmah Ila’ah, the mochin of Abba (“your father’s instruction”); the Oral Torah is the mochin of Imma, Binah, the source of the letter-combinations, as one verse becomes a whole tractate.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 17, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Masei 5, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 2, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2, ¶14Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶10
Where it appears
In 1,979 paragraphs of 369 maamarim: part of the language of nearly every page.
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.