Likkutei Torah · Parshas Balak · Maamar 1
מי מנה עפר יעקב ומספר את רובע ישראל
“Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, and the number of the fourth of Israel?”
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The big idea
Israel’s souls are rooted in G‑d’s “thought,” above speech and names, yet they gain more by coming down: through the physical mitzvos, done with joy from the heart’s inner point, they draw down the supernal will, the fourth level above thought, speech and action. Through Torah study, “dust” beyond all number, they reach the higher unity.
The maamar in brief
The maamar explains Bilaam’s words, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, and the number of the fourth (reva) of Israel?” Reva means both “a fourth” and “four”: Israel has four levels. Isaiah’s “I created, I formed, also I made” are thought, speech and action, and “also” adds a fourth, the supernal will. Angels and all creatures live from G‑d’s speech and have names; souls are rooted in His thought, the hidden worlds, where they have no name and are one with the Infinite Light. Why, then, descend? Because thought is only a garment, while the will is the Infinite Light. The heart’s inner point, a love above reason with no rival in evil, can unite the whole heart, and in the physical mitzvos a person sets aside his will for G‑d’s, so that the supernal will rests in him. Sand beside the sea and the twelve oxen beneath Shlomo’s sea explain a “number” that cannot be counted: G‑d’s exalted kingship yields separate, countless creatures, and the mitzvos done with joy draw it down without limit. Torah study, “dust” beyond number, is the higher unity, reached through Yaakov’s compassion, yet it must be joined to kindness and charity.
Outline
- The verse and the four levelsBilaam’s verse, the places in the Talmud and Midrash that expound it, and the two meanings of reva, “a fourth” and “four.” The three verbs of Isaiah 43:7 are thought, speech and action; the word “also” adds a fourth level, higher than all three.¶1–3
- Speech, thought and the soul’s sourceThe question of the soul’s ascent through its descent. G‑d’s speech brings the worlds out into revelation, and its letter-combinations are the names of angels and creatures, the revealed worlds. Israel “arose in thought,” the hidden worlds: in its source the soul has no name and is “one,” and all souls were included as one in Adam.¶4–10
- The united heart and the supernal willTwo loves: the outer, born of knowledge, which has a rival on the side of evil, and the inner “great love” above reason, which has none. Uniting the outer heart with the inner; the supernal will, the fourth level, revealed in the physical mitzvos; the 248 commandments as the King’s limbs; and why one hour in this world is better than all the World to Come.¶11–19
- A number that cannot be countedHoshea’s contradiction and the Gemara’s answer. Sand by the sea and the twelve oxen beneath the sea: G‑d’s exalted kingship brings about separate, countless creatures. Israel draw His kingship down through the practical mitzvos, and through the joy of the mitzvah they draw the supernal will without limit, “the fourth of Israel,” which includes all four levels.¶20–27
- Torah, the higher unityTorah study, “dust” beyond all number, is the higher unity, drawing down the inner dimension of the will, “love in delights.” The way to it is Yaakov’s compassion, aroused at fixed times; yet Torah must come with kindness and charity, “the number of the fourth of Israel.”¶28
Key concepts
- Thought, speech and actionמחשבה דיבור ומעשה
- The three “garments” of the soul, matched to “created, formed, made” in Isaiah 43:7. Speech is bound to thought and shapes its letters; action is a thing apart. Above, “speech” is the coming of the worlds into revelation, and “thought” the hidden source.
- The supernal willרצון העליון
- The fourth level, hinted at in the word “also,” far above thought, speech and action. It is the Infinite Light itself, and it is revealed chiefly in the physical performance of the mitzvos.
- Hidden worlds and revealed worldsעלמין סתימין ועלמין דאתגליין
- The revealed worlds live from G‑d’s speech and have names; the hidden worlds are their sources, the level of “thought,” where the souls of Israel are rooted and united with the Infinite Light.
- The desire of the heart, inner and outerרעותא דליבא
- The heart’s will has an outer dimension, a love born of knowledge and contemplation, which has a counterpart on the side of evil, and an inner point, a “great love” above reason, given from Above, which has none.
- Great love and love in delightsאהבה רבה, אהבה בתענוגים
- Great love, a will above reason, is drawn down through the mitzvos from the outer dimension of the supernal will; love in delights is rooted in its inner dimension, G‑d’s delight, and is drawn down through the Torah.
- The lower unity and the higher unityיחודא תתאה, יחודא עילאה
- The mitzvos achieve the lower unity, drawing G‑d’s will into “number,” the level of action; Torah study achieves the higher unity, self-nullification to the Infinite Light itself, “dust” that cannot be counted.
- In the category of numberבגדר מספר
- Created things are separate and so can be called a “number,” yet they cannot actually be counted. What Israel draw down through the mitzvos is in the category of number but never truly finite, because it is the Infinite Light.
- The attribute of Yaakovמדתו של יעקב
- Compassion: yud-akev, pity for the “yud” of supernal Chochmah fallen to the “heel.” Like the middle bar of the Mishkan, it joins the lowest end to the highest and is the way to the light of the Torah.
The verse and the four levels ¶1–3
1מי מנה1 עפר יעקב23456 ומספר את78 רובע ישראל.910 (בגמרא ספ״ג דנדה) (ל״א א׳). רבות ויגש פצ״ד גבי כל הנפש באה.11
“Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, and the number of the fourth of Israel?” (In the Gemara, at the end of chapter 3 of Niddah) (31a). [Midrash] Rabbah, Vayigash, chapter 94, regarding “all the souls that came.”
The maamar opens with Bilaam’s words about Israel (Numbers 23:10): “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, and the number of the fourth (reva) of Israel?” The Alter Rebbe first lists where the Sages expound this verse, beginning with the Gemara at the end of the third chapter of Niddah (31a) and the Midrash Rabbah on Vayigash, where it is brought in connection with “all the souls” of Yaakov’s household.
ויקרא פ״א במדבר פ״ב פ׳ בלק12 בשה״ש רבה ס״פ כתפוח13 בעצי14 ובפסוק אחת היא15 יונתי. ובפסוק אל גנת.1617
Vayikra, chapter 1; Bamidbar, chapter 2; Parshas Balak; in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, at the end of the section “As an apple tree among the trees,” and on the verse “My dove is one,” and on the verse “To the garden of.”
The list continues with more places in the Midrash Rabbah: Vayikra Rabbah, chapter 1; Bamidbar Rabbah, chapter 2 and again in Parshas Balak; and three passages of Shir HaShirim Rabbah, each named by the verse it comments on.
בקהלת רבה18 בפסוק כל הנחלים1920 רבע יש בו ב׳ פירושים פי׳ אחד חלק רביעית, והב׳ מלשון ארבעה. כי הנה בבחי׳ ישראל יש ד׳ בחינות.
In Koheles Rabbah, on the verse “All the rivers.” The word reva (“fourth”) has two meanings: one, a fourth part; and the second, from the word arba’ah (“four”). For within the level of Israel there are four levels.
Koheles Rabbah also brings the verse, on “All the rivers run into the sea.” The Alter Rebbe then notes that reva can mean “a fourth part” or can come from arba’ah, “four,” and states what the maamar will develop: within Israel there are four levels.
The opening paragraph sets out the verse, gathers the places in the Talmud and Midrash where it is expounded, and announces that reva will be read in two ways, as “a fourth” and as “four,” pointing to four levels in Israel.
The Gemara in Niddah reads “the reva of Israel” as the drops from which Israel are conceived: the Holy One, blessed be He, “counts” them, waiting for the one from which a righteous person will be formed. The Kehot note dates the maamar to the year 5563 (1802–03).
Marei mekomos
- 1מי מנה · המאמר הוא משנת תקס״ג. הנחות אחרות נדפסו בסה״מ תקס״ג ח״ב ע׳ תר. נוסח א׳ הוא מהר״מ בן אדה״ז. באוה״ת בלק ע׳ תתקפו נדפסו הגהות על הביאור דלהלן סח, ג — בכותרת: הגהות לד״ה מי מנה.
- 2מי מנה עפר יעקב · Numbers 23:10
- 3מי מנה עפר יעקב · Vayikra Rabbah 1:12
- 4מי מנה עפר יעקב · Bamidbar Rabbah 2:12
- 5מי מנה עפר יעקב · Bamidbar Rabbah 2:17
- 6מי מנה עפר יעקב · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:3:5
- 7
- 8
- 9מי מנה עפר יעקב ומספר את רובע ישראל · Bamidbar Rabbah 20:19
- 10ומספר את רובע ישראל · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 6:9:4
- 11כל הנפש באה · Bereshit Rabbah 94:9
- 12פ׳ בלק · כ, טז.
- 13בשהש״ר ס״פ כתפוח · ב, יב.
- 14
- 15ובפסוק אחת היא · ו, טו.
- 16ובפסוק אל גנת · ו, יז.
- 17אל גנת · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 6:11
- 18בגמרא ספ״ג דנדה . . רבות ויגש . . ובקהלת רבה · נעתקו באוה״ת פ׳ בלק ע׳ תקכה ואילך.
- 19בקה״ר בפסוק כל הנחלים · א, יח.
- 20כל הנחלים · Kohelet Rabbah 1:7:6
2והענין דכתיב ולכבודי בראתיו יצרתיו1 אף עשיתיו והם בחי׳ מחשבה דיבור ומעשה בראתיו הוא בחי׳ מחשבה שהוא יש מאין יצרתיו הוא בחי׳ הדיבור שהוא בחי׳ צורה שמצייר האותיות שבמחשבה.
The explanation is that it is written, “For My glory I created him, I formed him, also I made him.” These are the levels of thought, speech and action. “I created him” is the level of thought, which is something from nothing. “I formed him” is the level of speech, which is the level of form, since it gives form to the letters that are in thought.
Isaiah 43:7 names three stages in G‑d’s making of man: “created,” “formed” and “made.” The Alter Rebbe matches them to thought, speech and action. “Created” is thought, which the text calls “something from nothing”; “formed” is speech, which gives shape to letters already present in thought.
אף עשיתיו בחי׳ המעשה כתיב בלשון אף לפי שהמעשה דבר נפרד בפני עצמו שאינו כערך הדיבור נגד המחשבה שמצייר האותיות המחשבה ממש
“Also I made him” is the level of action. It is written with the word “also” because action is a separate thing, standing by itself; it is not like the relation of speech to thought, for [speech] gives form to the very letters of thought,
“Made” is action. The verse puts the word “also” (af) before it because action stands apart: speech is bound closely to thought and shapes the very letters of thought, but a deed is a separate thing.
כי מה שחושב הוא מדבר משא״כ ענין עשייה גשמיות הוא ענין בפני עצמו [וע׳ מזה בד״ה חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא2 במש״ש. וצורת הה׳ הוא ג׳ קוין כו׳ עד וכמ״ש אף עשיתיו].
since what one thinks, one speaks; whereas physical action is a matter by itself. [And see on this in the discourse beginning “A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim,” in what is written there: “And the form of the letter hei is three lines, etc.,” up to “and as it is written, ‘also I made him.’”]
What a person thinks is what he says, so speech carries on from thought; physical action is a different kind of thing. The bracket sends the reader to the Purim discourse in Torah Ohr, to the passage on the form of the letter hei, made of three lines, which leads up to this same verse, “also I made him.”
The paragraph reads the three verbs of Isaiah 43:7 as thought, speech and action, and explains why action alone is introduced with “also”: it is set apart from the other two.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולכבודי בראתיו יצרתיו · Isaiah 43:7
- 2בד״ה חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא · תו״א צה, ב.
Now, there is yet a fourth level, which is above the three levels mentioned above, thought, speech and action, and it is hinted at in the word “also” (af),
Beyond these three, there is a fourth level, higher than all of them, and the Alter Rebbe finds it in the seemingly extra word “also.”
כי אף הוא לשון ריבוי לרבות עוד דבר שאינו מפורש כאן והוא הדבר שלמעלה מהשלשה בחינות הללו וגבוה ונעלה מהם.
for “also” is a term of inclusion, to include another thing that is not stated explicitly here: the thing that is above these three levels, and higher and loftier than them.
In the Sages’ way of reading Scripture, af (“also”) is a word of inclusion (ribbui): it adds something not stated outright. Here it adds a level above thought, speech and action, which the maamar will later identify as the supernal will.
The word “also” hints at a fourth level above thought, speech and action; this is the fourth of the “four levels” announced at the start.
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה יש עוד בחינה רביעית · ראה לקו״ש-יז ע׳ 204.
Speech, thought and the soul’s source ¶4–10
4וביאור הדבר הנה צריך להבין תכלית ירידת הנשמות לעוה״ז שירידתן צורך עליה היא כנודע, וצריך
The explanation of the matter: we need to understand the purpose of the descent of the souls into this world. Their descent is for the sake of an ascent, as is known; and we need
To explain this fourth level, the Alter Rebbe raises a basic question. It is well known that the soul’s descent into this world is “for the sake of an ascent”: it comes down in order to rise higher than it was.
להבין עליה זו מה היא מאחר שטרם ירידתה היתה נהנית מזיו השכינה1 ומה עילוי גדול מזה.
to understand what this ascent is, since before its descent [the soul] delighted in the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence). And what greater elevation is there than this?
But what could that ascent be? Before coming down, the soul already delighted in “the radiance of the Shechinah,” the Talmud’s description of the reward of the righteous, and nothing seems greater than that.
The paragraph asks what the soul gains by descending into this world, since before it came down it already delighted in the radiance of the Divine Presence.
Marei mekomos
- 1היתה נהנית מזיו השכינה · Berakhot 17a:12
5וגם להשכיל היטב ענין מחשבה דבור ומעשה למעלה שהוא בחי׳ בראתיו יצרתיו כו׳ שהרי כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם12 כתיב ואין לו דמות הגוף3 כו׳.
We also need to comprehend well the matter of thought, speech and action Above, which is the level of “I created him, I formed him,” etc. For it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” and He has no likeness of a body, etc.
A second question: Isaiah says that G‑d’s thoughts are not like ours, and He has no likeness of a body, in the words of the hymn Yigdal. So what can it mean to speak of thought, speech and action Above, the levels the verse called “created, formed, made”?
אלא הענין הוא שבחינת יציאת העולמות מהעלם אל הגילוי נקרא בשם דבר ה׳. כמו ע״ד משל באדם הדיבור הוא מגלה לזולתו מצפוני מחשבתו.
But the matter is that the coming forth of the worlds from concealment into revelation is called by the name “the word of G‑d.” Just as, by way of analogy, in a person, speech reveals to another the hidden things of his thought,
The answer is that these are analogies. The coming of the worlds out of concealment into revelation is called “the word of G‑d,” because speech in a person does just that: it reveals to others what was hidden in his thought.
כך עד״מ בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם45 הם בחי׳ מאמרות וצירופי אותיות היוצאים מהעלם אל הגילוי ולהוות מאין ליש.
so too, by way of analogy, “with ten utterances the world was created”: these are the level of utterances and combinations of letters, which come forth from concealment into revelation, and to bring into being from nothing to something.
So too the Mishnah says that “with ten utterances the world was created”: these utterances are combinations of letters that bring things out of concealment into revelation, creating them from nothing.
The paragraph explains that “thought” and “speech” Above are analogies: creation is called G‑d’s speech because, like human speech, it brings out into the open what was hidden.
The Kehot note traces the words “He has no likeness of a body” to the hymn Yigdal, and refers also to the Rambam, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 1:7.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · ישעי׳ נה, נח.
- 2כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
- 3ואין לו דמות הגוף · תפלת יגדל. ראה רמב״ם הל׳ יסוה״ת א, ז.
- 4בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם · אבות רפ״ה.
- 5בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם · Pirkei Avot 5:1
6והנה במאמר אחד יכול להבראות12 וכדכתיב וברוח פיו כל צבאם3 פי׳ רוח פיו הוא בחי׳ הבל העליון [ע׳ בזהר ח״ג מ״ז ב׳
Now, “it could have been created with one utterance,” as it is written, “And by the breath of His mouth, all their hosts.” The meaning: “the breath of His mouth” is the level of the supernal breath (hevel) [see the Zohar, Part III, 47b,
The same Mishnah adds that the world could have been created with a single utterance. “By the breath of His mouth, all their hosts” speaks of that single source: “the breath of His mouth” is the supernal breath (hevel), and the Zohar cited here teaches that the world is sustained by breath.
ובאגה״ק ד״ה ויעש דוד] והוא מאמר אחד הכולל וכמאמר ברוך אומר ועושה4 במאמר אחד כו׳.
and Iggeres HaKodesh, the passage beginning “And David made”], and it is the one all-inclusive utterance, as in the saying “Blessed is He who says and does,” with one utterance, etc.
The text also points to a letter in Iggeres HaKodesh, a part of Tanya, that opens “And David made.” This breath is the one all-inclusive utterance, as in the blessing Baruch She’amar, “Blessed is He who says and does.”
אלא שהדיבור הוא מחלק ומפריד ההבל לכמה מיני צירופי אותיות שהם הם ריבוי התחלקות העולמות אלף אלפין וכו׳ היש מספר לגדודיו כו׳.567
Only, speech divides and separates the breath into many kinds of combinations of letters, which are themselves the great multiplicity of divisions of the worlds: “a thousand thousands,” etc.; “Is there any number to His legions?” etc.
Speech, however, divides the single breath into many letter-combinations, and these divisions are the multitude of worlds and creatures: “a thousand thousands” and “Is there any number to His legions?”
The paragraph distinguishes the single, undivided breath of G‑d’s mouth from speech, which splits it into many letter-combinations; that splitting is the source of the multitude of worlds.
As breath leaves the mouth as one before it is shaped into separate letters, so the supernal breath is one, and the many utterances come only from its division. The Kehot note adds that the Zohar passage cited here (Part III, 47b) is explained at length in the Tzemach Tzedek’s Or HaTorah.
Marei mekomos
- 1במאמר אחד יכול להבראות · אבות רפ״ה.
- 2במאמר אחד יכול להבראות · Pirkei Avot 5:1
- 3וברוח פיו כל צבאם · Psalms 33:6
- 4ברוך אומר ועושה · ברכת ברוך שאמר.
- 5ע׳ בזח״ג מ״ז ב׳ · נתבאר בארוכה באוה״ת להצ״צ כרך-ב ע׳ תתפא ואילך.
- 6אלף אלפים . . היש מספר לגדודיו · Daniel 7:10
- 7
7וזהו ברכו ה׳ מלאכיו גבורי כח עושי דברו לשמוע בקול דברו דברו דייקא. מפני שהם חיים וקיימים מבחי׳ דבר ה׳
This is [the meaning of] “Bless Havayah, His angels, mighty in strength, who do His word, hearkening to the voice of His word”: “His word” specifically. For they live and exist from the level of the word of G‑d,
Psalms 103:20 calls the angels those who “do His word, hearkening to the voice of His word.” The stress on “His word” shows that the angels’ very life comes from the level of G‑d’s speech.
שהוא בחי׳ גילוי מוצא פי1 ה׳ להיות ריבוי התחלקות הנבראים וצירופי אותיות שמהם חיים הנבראים הם הם בחינת השמות והם בחינת שמות כל הנבראים כל אחד על שמו
which is the level of the revelation of “what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah,” so that there come to be the multiplicity and division of created beings. And the combinations of letters from which the created beings live are themselves the level of the names; they are the level of the names of all created beings, each one by its name,
That speech is “what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah,” the revealed divine utterance, which divides into the many created beings. The letter-combinations that give each creature its life are its name.
כמו מחנה מיכאל כו׳ וכן שמות כל הנבראים למיניהם וכמ״ש ויקרא האדם שמות2 והם בחי׳ שמות ממש צירופי אותיות מוצא פי ה׳ וגו׳ והנה כל זה הוא בחי׳ עלמין דאתגליין.3
like “the camp of Michael,” etc., and likewise the names of all created beings according to their kinds, as it is written, “And Adam gave names.” They are the level of actual names, combinations of letters, “what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah,” etc. Now, all this is the level of the revealed worlds (almin d’isgalyan).
Each angelic camp, such as “the camp of Michael,” and each kind of creature has its own name, as Adam gave names to the animals. These names are real names, combinations of the letters of G‑d’s speech, and all this belongs to the “revealed worlds,” the levels that come out into revelation.
The paragraph shows that everything created, angels included, lives from G‑d’s speech, and that the letter-combinations of that speech are the creatures’ names; all this is the realm of the revealed worlds.
Marei mekomos
- 1מוצא פי ה׳ · Deuteronomy 8:3
- 2ויקרא האדם שמות · Genesis 2:20
- 3ברכו ה׳ מלאכיו · Psalms 103:20
8ויש עלמין סתימין דלא אתגליין12 שהם בחינת מקורים לעלמין דאתגליין. וכל מה שיש בעלמין דאתגליין מוכרח להיות לו מקור בעלמין סתימין כנזכר בדרשת רז״ל אין לך עשב מלמטה3 שאין לו מזל מלמעלה
And there are hidden worlds that are not revealed (almin stimin d’lo isgalyan), which are the sources of the revealed worlds. Everything that exists in the revealed worlds must have a source in the hidden worlds, as is mentioned in the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory: “There is no blade of grass below that has no mazal above.”
Beyond the revealed worlds are “hidden worlds that are not revealed,” a phrase from the Tikkunei Zohar, and they are the sources of the revealed worlds. Everything revealed must have a hidden source, as the Midrash teaches that every blade of grass has a mazal, a heavenly force that strikes it and tells it to grow.
וכן הוא למעלה מעלה עד רום המעלות וכדכתיב כי גבוה מעל גבוה4 שומר וגבוהים עליהם.
And so it is higher and higher, up to the highest heights, as it is written, “For one high above the high watches, and there are higher ones above them.”
This holds level above level, up to the very highest, as Koheles says: above every high one a higher one watches, and there are higher ones above them.
The paragraph introduces the hidden worlds, the concealed sources of the revealed worlds: every revealed thing is rooted in a hidden one above it, all the way up.
Marei mekomos
- 1עלמין סתימין דלא אתגליין · הקדמת ת״ז יז, א.
- 2עלמין סתימין דלא אתגליין · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:11–12
- 3אין לך עשב מלמטה · Bereshit Rabbah 10:6–7
- 4כי גבוה מעל גבוה · Ecclesiastes 5:7
9והנה ישראל עלו במחשבה.1 פי׳ בבחי׳ עלמין סתימין והיינו כמו למשל המחשבה הוא בחי׳ ההעלם של הדבור שהדבור הוא מגלה ופורש מה שבמחשבה ומה שבמחשבה הוא בסקירה אחת צריך לפרש הרבה בדיבורו
Now, “Israel arose in thought.” This means: in the level of the hidden worlds. That is, by way of example: thought is the level of the concealment of speech, for speech reveals and spells out what is in thought; and what is in thought in a single glance one must spell out at length in his speech,
The Midrash says that “Israel arose in thought,” that is, they were in G‑d’s thought before creation. The Alter Rebbe reads this as the hidden worlds. Thought is the concealed form of speech: speech spells out what is in thought, and what thought takes in at a single glance needs many words to express.
כי בחי׳ כח המחשבה הוא מאד נעלה מכח הדבור שהמחשבה הוא לבוש הפנימי שמתאחדת עם הנפש ממש.
because the power of thought is a level far loftier than the power of speech, since thought is the inner garment, which is united with the soul itself.
Thought is far higher than speech because it is the soul’s “inner garment,” united with the soul itself, while speech goes out to others.
שהוא בבחי׳ יש מאין ממש וע״כ כתיב ויקרא האדם שמות לכל הבהמה ולעוף השמים2 וגו׳
It is truly in the manner of something from nothing. Therefore it is written, “And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the heavens,” etc.
Thought, which the text earlier linked with “I created him,” is truly “something from nothing.” This is why the Alter Rebbe now brings the verse about Adam naming the animals: names belong to speech, and the next lines contrast them with the soul’s source in thought.
[ועמ״ש פי׳ זה בד״ה כה תברכו3 בפ׳ נשא] שהם בחי׳ מלאכים פני אריה פני שור פני נשר4 וכו׳ והם השמות מיכאל וגבריאל כו׳
[And see what is written on this meaning in the discourse beginning “Thus shall you bless,” in Parshas Naso], for they are the level of angels, “the face of a lion,” “the face of an ox,” “the face of an eagle,” etc., and these are the names Michael and Gavriel, etc.,
The bracket sends the reader to the discourse “Thus shall you bless” in Parshas Naso for this reading. The animals Adam named stand for angels, whose faces Ezekiel saw as those of a lion, an ox and an eagle, and their names are Michael, Gavriel and so on.
שהם הם הצירופי אותיות שמהם נמשכו ונתהוו מאין ליש בבחי׳ דבר ה׳. אבל ולאדם לא מצא עזר כנגדו.
which are themselves the combinations of letters from which they were drawn forth and brought into being, from nothing to something, in the level of the word of G‑d. But “for Adam there was not found a helper corresponding to him.”
These names are the letter-combinations of G‑d’s word from which the angels came into being from nothing. But the verse goes on: “for Adam there was not found a helper corresponding to him.”
פי׳ עזר הוא בחי׳ שם56 (עיין בהרמב״ן בפי׳ החומש בפסוק זה) והיינו שהנשמה קודם בואה לעולם ולגוף אינה נקראת בשם כלל לפי שמקור חוצבה
The meaning: “helper” is the level of a name (see the Ramban in his commentary on the Chumash on this verse). That is, before the soul comes into the world and into the body, it is not called by any name at all, because the source from which it is hewn
Following the Ramban, who explains that the “helper” in this verse is the giving of names, the Alter Rebbe reads “helper” as “name”: no name was found for Adam. So too the soul, before it comes into the world and the body, has no name at all, because of the source from which it is hewn.
הוא בבחי׳ מחשבה עלמין סתימין דלא אתגליין. ומה שנקרא אברהם יצחק כו׳ הוא אחרי התלבשות הנשמה בגוף.
is in the level of thought, the hidden worlds that are not revealed. And its being called Avraham, Yitzchak, etc., is after the soul is enclothed in the body.
That source is in thought, the hidden worlds that do not come into revelation. A name such as Avraham or Yitzchak belongs to the soul only once it is clothed in a body.
The paragraph places the root of Israel’s souls in “thought,” the hidden worlds above speech; therefore the soul in its source has no name, since names belong to the revealed level of speech.
Angels have names because they come from G‑d’s speech. The soul gains a name only when it is enclothed in a body, since in its root it belongs to G‑d’s “thought,” where nothing has yet been spoken or named.
Marei mekomos
- 1ישראל עלו במחשבה · Bereshit Rabbah 1:4
- 2ויקרא האדם שמות לכל הבהמה ולעוף השמים · Genesis 2:20
- 3בד״ה כה תברכו · לקו״ת נשא כו, ב.
- 4פני ארי׳ פני שור פני נשר · Ezekiel 1:10
- 5עזר הוא בחי׳ שם · ראה המשך תער״ב-א סעי׳ כד.
- 6פי׳ עזר הוא בחי׳ שם · Ramban on Genesis 2:20
This is [the meaning of] “Avraham was one” [Ezekiel 33:24]. The meaning of “was”: before the soul came into its body, it was in the level of “one,”
Ezekiel 33:24 says “Avraham was one.” The Alter Rebbe stresses the word “was”: before the soul came into the body, it was “one.”
דהיינו בבחינת המחשבה שמתאחדת עם הנפש והם הם בחי׳ עלמין סתימין שהם מתייחדים באור א״ס ב״ה ממש בבחינה שקודם בואה לידי גילוי העולמות להיות התחלקות הנבראים מעלמא דפרודא כו׳
that is, in the level of thought, which is united with the soul. These are themselves the level of the hidden worlds, which are united with the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the state that precedes its coming to the revelation of the worlds, to become the division of created beings, of the world of separation (alma d’pruda), etc.
“One” means the level of thought, which is united with the soul: the hidden worlds, which are united with the Infinite Light itself, before anything comes to be revealed as worlds and divided into separate creatures in “the world of separation,” the realm of distinct beings.
לכן באדם הראשון3 היו כלולים ששים רבוא נשמות4 בבחינה אח׳ והיינו לפי שמקור הנשמה היא למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ התחלקות הנבראים כנ״ל [וע׳ בזהר ח״א פ״ה ב׳ ק״ב ב׳]:
Therefore in Adam, the first man, six hundred thousand souls were included in one level. That is because the source of the soul is far, far above the level of the division of created beings, as mentioned above [and see the Zohar, Part I, 85b; 102b].
That is why all six hundred thousand souls of Israel were included as one in Adam: the root of the soul is far above the division of created beings. The text also points to two passages of the Zohar, Part I, 85b and 102b.
Avraham “was one” before his soul entered a body: in its root in thought, the soul is united with the Infinite Light, above all division, which is why all souls could be contained in Adam as one.
The Kehot note traces the teaching that Adam contained the 600,000 souls to the Arizal’s writings: Sha’ar HaMitzvos (Parshas Teitzei), Sha’ar HaGilgulim (Introductions 6, 7 and 12) and Sha’ar HaPesukim (Parshas Bereishis, Drush 3), which in turn cite the Tanchuma and Shemos Rabbah 40:3.
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2אחד היה אברהם · Zohar, Lech Lecha 21:199–22:212
- 3באדם הראשון היו כלולים ששים רבוא נשמות · Sha'ar HaGilgulim 12:2–3
- 4באדה״ר היו כלולים ששים רבוא נשמות · Shemot Rabbah 40:3
The united heart and the supernal will ¶11–19
2. After these words and this truth, we need to understand what the added elevation of the soul is in this world, in its enclothement in the physical body,
Section 2 returns to the question raised earlier: what does the soul gain in this world by being clothed in a physical body?
מאחר שבמקור חוצבה היתה כלולה ומתאחדת באור א״ס ב״ה בבחינת מחשבה בחי׳ עלמין סתימין למעלה מעלה מבחינת שם ובחי׳ דבר ה׳ בעלמין דאתגליין כנ״ל.
since in the source from which it was hewn it was included and united with the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the level of thought, the level of the hidden worlds, far, far above the level of a name and the level of the word of G‑d in the revealed worlds, as mentioned above.
What was just explained makes the question sharper. In its source the soul was included in and united with the Infinite Light in the level of thought, the hidden worlds, far above names and above the revealed worlds of G‑d’s speech.
אך הנה כתיב יחד לבבי ליראה שמך2 וכן אנו מתפללין בברכת אהבת עולם אהבתנו כו׳ ויחד לבבנו כו׳.
However, it is written, “Unite my heart to fear Your Name”; and likewise we pray in the blessing “With an everlasting love You have loved us,” etc.: “and unite our hearts,” etc.
The answer begins from the idea of a “united heart”: the verse “Unite my heart to fear Your Name” (Psalms 86:11) and the words “and unite our hearts” in the blessing “With an everlasting love,” said before the morning Shema.
The paragraph restates the question of what the soul gains by its descent, and introduces the idea of “uniting the heart,” which will answer it.
Marei mekomos
- 1מהו תוספות העילוי להנשמה בעוה״ז · בענין זה ראה גם אוה״ת בראשית כרך-ז דף תתשפ, ב.
- 2יחד לבבי ליראה שמך · Psalms 86:11
12והענין כי יש בחי׳ רעותא דליבא שהוא רצון הלב ויש בזה ב׳ בחינות פנימיות וחיצוניות פנימית נקודת הלב היא בחי׳ אהבה
The explanation is that there is the level of the desire of the heart (re’usa d’liba), which is the will of the heart, and in it there are two levels, the inner dimension (pnimiyus) and the outer dimension (chitzoniyus). The inner dimension, the point of the heart, is the level of love
The “desire of the heart” (re’usa d’liba) is the heart’s will, and it has an inner and an outer dimension. The inner one, called “the point of the heart,” is ahavah rabbah, “great love.”
רבה שלמעלה מהטעם והדעת ובאה מלמעלה בבחי׳ מתנה כמ״ש עבודת מתנה אתן את כהונתכם1 [ע׳ מ״ש פ׳ במדבר סד״ה וידבר2 ה׳ אל משה במדבר סיני.
that is great (ahavah rabbah), which is above reason and knowledge and comes from Above as a gift, as it is written, “As a service of gift I give your priesthood” [see what is written in Parshas Bamidbar, at the end of the discourse beginning “And Havayah spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai.”
This love is above reason and knowledge: a person cannot produce it by thinking, but it comes from Above as a gift, like the priesthood, which the Torah calls “a service of gift.” The bracket refers to the end of the discourse on “And Havayah spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai” in Parshas Bamidbar.
והיא היא בחי׳ עבודת מתנה כו׳. וזהו לגלגלותם ע״ש וע׳ באגה״ק ד״ה כתיב מה יפית].
And this is the very level of “a service of gift,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] “by their heads”; see there. And see Iggeres HaKodesh, the passage beginning “It is written, ‘How fair you are’”].
There this love is identified with “a service of gift” and with the word legulgelosam, “by their heads,” from the census, read as the gulgoles, the skull that hovers above the brain and cannot be contained in it. The text also points to the letter in Iggeres HaKodesh that begins “It is written, ‘How fair you are.’”
וחיצוניות הלב הוא הנלקח מן הדעת והתבוננות בגדולת ה׳ כל חד לפום שיעורא דיליה.3 ולפי שכלו והשגתו באור א״ס ב״ה כך מעורר את האהבה בלב.
And the outer dimension of the heart is [the love] that is derived from knowledge and from contemplating the greatness of G‑d, “each one according to his measure.” According to his intellect and his comprehension of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, so does he arouse the love in the heart.
The outer dimension of the heart is the love a person produces through knowledge, by contemplating G‑d’s greatness. It varies from person to person: “each according to his measure,” in the Zohar’s words, the love matches the depth of his understanding of the Infinite Light.
The paragraph distinguishes two loves in the heart: an inner “great love” above reason, given from Above, and an outer love born of contemplation, which depends on each person’s understanding.
Marei mekomos
- 1עבודת מתנה אתן את כהונתכם · Numbers 18:7
- 2סד״ה וידבר במדבר סיני · לקו״ת במדבר ג, ב.
- 3כל חד לפום שיעורא דילי׳ · Zohar I, 103b
Now, it is well known that “G‑d has made the one opposite the other”: just as there is knowledge in holiness, to know G‑d and to love Him,
Ecclesiastes 7:14 says G‑d made “the one opposite the other”: every power in holiness has a counterpart on the other side. Holy knowledge leads a person to know G‑d and to love Him.
כך יש דעת מצד הקליפה וסט״א והוא דעת הרע ולאהוב דברים זרים ולתאוה יבקש נפרד2 מחמת שערב לחכו מתיקות עוה״ז ותענוגיו.
so there is knowledge on the side of kelipah (the husk) and the sitra achra (the other side), which is the knowledge of evil, and to love strange things; and “the one who separates himself seeks desire,” because the sweetness of this world and its pleasures is pleasant to his palate.
Opposite it stands the knowledge of kelipah and the sitra achra, a “knowledge of evil” that leads to love of strange things and to the self-seeking craving Proverbs speaks of, because the sweetness of this world tastes good to a person.
Because knowledge has a counterpart on the side of evil, the outer love that comes from knowledge always has a rival: a knowledge that draws a person toward the pleasures of this world.
Marei mekomos
- 1את זה לעומת זה עשה אלהים · Ecclesiastes 7:14
- 2ולתאוה יבקש נפרד · Proverbs 18:1
Now, this is the measure of the beinonim (the intermediate ones): “both this and that judge them,” etc., and “one people shall be stronger than the other people,” etc.: when this one rises, that one falls.
This is the condition of the beinonim, the “intermediate” people of whom the Talmud says that “both this and that judge them,” the good inclination and the evil one. They are like the two nations in Rivkah’s womb, of whom it was said that “one people shall be stronger than the other”: when one rises, the other falls.
אך האהבה שבפנימית הלב שלמעלה מהטעם ודעת רק באה מלמעלה בבחי׳ מתנה אין בחינת זה לעומת זה כנגדה שבחי׳ פנימי׳ נקודת הלב היא בחי׳ יחידה שאין לה
But the love that is in the inner dimension of the heart, which is above reason and knowledge and comes only from Above as a gift, has no “one opposite the other” against it; for the inner dimension, the point of the heart, is the level of yechidah, which has
The inner love of the heart, however, which is above reason and comes as a gift, has no counterpart on the other side. The point of the heart is the yechidah, the innermost and highest level of the soul.
אלא רצון אחד לאביה שבשמים והיא המעלה והמדרגה שאין דוגמתה ולא בערכה נמצא בגשמיות כלל רק לה׳ לבדו נמצא בבנ״י עם קרובו3 כמ״ש כי עם קשה עורף הוא4 וסלחת וגו׳.
only one will, for its Father in heaven. This is the quality and the rank whose like, or anything comparable to it, is not found in physicality at all; only for G‑d alone is it found, in the children of Israel, “the people near to Him,” as it is written, “For it is a stiff-necked people, and You shall forgive,” etc.
The yechidah has only one will, for its Father in heaven. Nothing like it exists in the physical world; it is found only in Israel, “the people near to Him,” and only toward G‑d. Moshe’s plea “For it is a stiff-necked people, and You shall forgive” alludes to it.
פי׳ קשה עורף בחי׳ רצון שלמעלה מהטעם ודעת כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א (וע׳ ברבות כי תשא ס״פ מ״ב ואינו אלא לשבחו56 כו׳).
The meaning of “stiff-necked” is the level of a will that is above reason and knowledge, etc., as is explained elsewhere (and see [Midrash] Rabbah on Ki Sisa, at the end of chapter 42: “and it is only to its praise,” etc.).
“Stiff-necked” here means a will above reason, one that does not bend. The Midrash on Ki Sisa says that this description, which sounds like a reproach, is in fact said in Israel’s praise.
ובהתעוררות אהבה רבה זו בקל הוא יכול לנצח ולהגביר הטוב על הרע לגמרי מפני שאין לחיצונים בה אחיזה כלל וזהו יחד לבבי וכו׳ ויחד לבבנו כו׳.
And when this great love is aroused, he can easily prevail and make the good overpower the evil completely, because the external forces have no hold on it at all. This is [the meaning of] “Unite my heart,” etc., and “and unite our hearts,” etc.:
When this great love is aroused, a person can easily overcome evil completely, since the external forces have no hold on it. This is the meaning of “Unite my heart” and “unite our hearts.”
שיהיה נכלל בחי׳ חיצוניות הרצון בבחינת פנימית הרצון (ועמ״ש מזה סד״ה להבין ענין הברכות7 ועמ״ש סד״ה והקרבתם עולה אשה).
that the outer dimension of the will should be included in the inner dimension of the will (and see what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of the blessings,” and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall offer a burnt-offering, a fire-offering”).
“Uniting the heart” means including the outer dimension of the will in its inner dimension. The parentheses refer to the end of the discourse “To understand the matter of the blessings” in Torah Ohr and to the end of the discourse “And you shall offer a burnt-offering, a fire-offering.”
וזהו אף עשיתיו שאף מרבה עוד בחינה א׳ והוא בחי׳ רצון העליון שלמעלה מעלה מבחי׳ מחשבה דבור ומעשה וסמך לעשיתיו לפי
And this is [the meaning of] “also I made him”: “also” includes one more level, namely the level of the supernal will, which is far, far above the level of thought, speech and action. And it is placed next to “I made him” because
Now the word “also” in “also I made him” can be explained: it includes the fourth level, the supernal will, far above thought, speech and action. The verse places it next to “I made him,” the level of action.
שעיקר גילוי רצון זה הוא בבחי׳ עשייה גשמיות דוקא דהיינו במעשה המצות להיות בטל רצונך מפני רצונו89 בסור מרע ועשה טוב.10
the main revelation of this will is specifically in the level of physical action, that is, in the performance of the mitzvos: to “set aside your will before His will” through “turn from evil and do good.”
The reason is that the supernal will is revealed chiefly in physical action, in doing the mitzvos: setting aside one’s own will before G‑d’s will, by turning from evil and doing good.
The inner love above reason has no rival on the side of evil, so it can unite the whole heart. The fourth level hinted at by “also” is the supernal will, which is revealed in the physical performance of the mitzvos.
The struggle of the beinoni belongs to the outer heart, where holy knowledge has an unholy counterpart. The inner point has no counterpart, and when the outer will is drawn into it the struggle is decided.
Marei mekomos
- 1בינונים זה וזה שופטן · Berakhot 61b:2–3
- 2ולאום מלאום יאמץ · Genesis 25:23
- 3בבנ״י עם קרובו · Psalms 148:14
- 4כי עם קשה עורף הוא · Exodus 34:9
- 5ואינו אלא לשבחו · ועל״ק בהאזינו עג, רע״ב. [כ].
- 6ואינו אלא לשבחו · Shemot Rabbah 42:9
- 7סד״ה להבין ענין הברכות · תו״א ז, ב.
- 8בטל רצונך מפני רצונו · אבות ב, ד.
- 9בטל רצונך מפני רצונו · Pirkei Avot 2:4
- 10בסור מרע ועשה טוב · Psalms 34:15
The 248 positive commandments are 248 drawings-down of the supernal will, and “their beginning is wedged in their end” specifically. [And this is one matter
Each of the 248 positive commandments is a channel that draws down the supernal will. Sefer Yetzirah says that “their beginning is wedged in their end”: the highest level, the will, is lodged specifically in the lowest, physical action.
עם המבואר לעיל פ׳ שלח ע״פ ועתה יגדל נא3 כו׳ שבעוה״ז דוקא נעשו ה נשמות בחי׳ מהלכים שהוא בחי׳ אהבה דמאדך בלי גבול הכלי.
with what is explained above in Parshas Shelach on the verse “And now, I pray, let it be great,” etc.: that specifically in this world the souls become the level of “those who walk” (mehalchim), which is the level of the love of “with all your might” (me’odecha), without the limit of the vessel.
The bracket links this to the discourse on “And now, I pray, let it be great” in Parshas Shelach, which explains that only in this world do souls become “walkers” (mehalchim), rising from level to level. This is the love “with all your might” (me’odecha), which has no limit set by the vessel.
The 248 positive commandments draw down the supernal will, the highest level lodged in the lowest; the bracket connects this with the soul’s unlimited love and ascent, which belong to this world.
Marei mekomos
- 1נעוץ תחלתן בסופן · ס״י פ״א, מ״ז.
- 2ונעוץ תחלתן בסופן · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
- 3ועתה יגדל נא · Numbers 14:17
16והיינו ע״י המצות1 כמ״ש אם בחקתי תלכו2 לפי שהם המשכת מקיפים מבחי׳ סוכ״ע על נר״נ להעלותם כו׳ ועמ״ש ע״פ כי תצא3 בפי׳ בקשו פני והיינו ע״י את פניך4 הוי׳ אבקש ע״ש].5
That is, through the mitzvos, as it is written, “If you walk in My statutes,” for they are a drawing-down of encompassing lights (makifim) from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) upon nefesh, ruach and neshamah, to raise them, etc. And see what is written on the verse “When you go out,” on the meaning of “Seek My face,” that is, through “Your face, Havayah, I shall seek”; see there.]
This ascent comes through the mitzvos, as “If you walk in My statutes” suggests: the mitzvos draw encompassing lights (makifim) from the light that encompasses all worlds onto the three levels of the soul, nefesh, ruach and neshamah, to raise them. The bracket also points to the discourse on “When you go out” in Likkutei Torah, on “Seek My face,” which is fulfilled through “Your face, Havayah, I shall seek.”
Through the mitzvos the soul receives encompassing light from beyond the worlds, which lifts it and makes it one of the “walkers.”
Marei mekomos
- 1והיינו ע״י המצות · ראה אוה״ת וישב כרך-ה דף תתצ, ב.
- 2אם בחקתי תלכו · Leviticus 26:3
- 3ע״פ כי תצא · לקו״ת תצא לו, ב.
- 4את פניך הוי׳ אבקש · Psalms 27:8
- 5
17וז״ש בק״ש והיו הדברים האלה1 אשר אנכי מצוך היום וגו׳. והיה אם שמוע תשמעו אל מצותי2 כו׳ אחר ואהבת את3 ה׳ אלהיך בכל לבבך כו׳
And this is what is written in the Shema: “And these words which I command you today shall be,” etc., and “And it shall be, if you will diligently listen to My commandments,” etc., after “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d with all your heart,” etc.
The order of the Shema reflects this. “And these words which I command you today shall be” and the paragraph about the mitzvos, “And it shall be, if you will diligently listen to My commandments,” come after “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d with all your heart.”
פי׳ ב׳ בחינות לב פנימיות וחיצוניות רק שא״א לבא לבחי׳ פנימיות עד שיגיע וישיג תחלה בחי׳ החיצוניות הנולדה מהדעת כי צריך לילך ממטה למעלה [עיין במ״ש בד״ה
The meaning: [these are] two levels of the heart, inner and outer. Only, it is impossible to come to the inner level until one first reaches and attains the outer level, which is born of knowledge, for one must go from below to above [see what is written in the discourse beginning
“With all your heart” refers to both levels of the heart, inner and outer. One cannot reach the inner love before first attaining the outer love that comes from knowledge, because the soul must climb step by step, from below to above.
כי תשמע בקול4 שצ״ל כסדר המדרגות תחלה מפתחות החיצוניות כו׳ ע״ש וסד״ה וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת כו׳ ובד״ה אתם נצבים5 כי
“If you will listen to the voice,” that it must be in the order of the levels, first the outer keys, etc.; see there; and at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbos,” etc.; and in the discourse beginning “You are standing,” for
The bracket points to discourses that make the same point: “If you will listen to the voice,” which says that the order of the levels must be kept, with the outer keys first; the end of “And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbos”; and “You are standing.”
הנה יש בבחי׳ צעקת הלב ב׳ בחי׳ כו׳] וזהו ענין כל האריכות שלפני ק״ש בפסוקי דזמרה וברכות שלפני ק״ש וכו׳ כנודע.
in the level of the outcry of the heart there are two levels, etc.]. And this is the meaning of all the lengthy [prayers] before the Shema, in Pesukei d’Zimrah and the blessings before the Shema, etc., as is known.
In “You are standing” the Alter Rebbe explains that the heart’s outcry also has two levels. This is why the morning prayers have such a long preparation before the Shema, Pesukei d’Zimrah and the blessings before the Shema: they build the outer love that leads to the inner one.
The inner love cannot be reached directly: one must first build the outer love through contemplation, which is why the morning prayers take so long to reach the Shema.
Marei mekomos
- 1והיו הדברים האלה · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 2והיה אם שמוע תשמעו אל מצותי · Deuteronomy 11:13
- 3ואהבת את ה׳ אלהיך בכל לבבך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 4בד״ה כי תשמע בקול · לקו״ת ראה כג, א.
- 5ובד״ה אתם נצבים · לקו״ת נצבים מד, ג.
18ובזה יובן העילוי שיש להנשמה בעבודת ה׳ בהיותה מלובשת בתוך הגוף כי הגם שטרם ירידתה היתה מתאחדת במקורה בבחינת מחשבה דלעילא מ״מ המחשבה אינה נקראת אלא בחי׳ לבוש אלא שהוא לבוש פנימי
Through this, the elevation that the soul has in the service of G‑d while it is enclothed within the body will be understood. For although before its descent it was united in its source in the level of supernal thought, nevertheless thought is called only a garment, though it is an inner garment;
Now the soul’s gain can be understood. Before its descent it was united with its source in G‑d’s “thought,” but thought, even supernal thought, is only a garment, though an inner one.
אבל אינה מתייחדת בשרשה במאצילה לגמרי להיות נכללת באור א״ס ב״ה ממש דלית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל12 פי׳ שאינו נוגע אל עצמותו ומהותו כלל כביכול
but it is not united in its root with its Emanator completely, so as to be included in the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, for “no thought can grasp Him at all.” That is, it does not touch His essence and being at all, as it were,
A garment is not its wearer: even in its root the soul was not wholly one with its Emanator, included in the Infinite Light itself. As the Tikkunei Zohar says, “no thought can grasp Him at all”: thought does not touch His essence.
אלא שמתלבש בו משא״כ בחי׳ רעותא דליבא כד אתכפיא סט״א3 להיות בטל רצונך מפני רצונו כו׳
only that He enclothes Himself in it. Whereas the level of the desire of the heart, “when the sitra achra is subdued,” so as to “set aside your will before His will,” etc.,
At most, G‑d clothes Himself in thought. The desire of the heart is different: in it the sitra achra is subdued and a person sets aside his own will before G‑d’s will.
בסור מרע ועשה טוב בבחי׳ עשי׳ גשמיות במעשה המצות וסור מרע כנ״ל הרי רצון העליון שהוא אור א״ס ב״ה בעצמו ובכבודו שורה ומתגלה בו ורמ״ח פקודין הם רמ״ח אברים דמלכא45 ממש.
through “turn from evil and do good,” in the level of physical action, in the performance of the mitzvos and turning from evil, as mentioned above: then the supernal will, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, Himself in His glory, rests and is revealed in it; and the 248 commandments are truly the 248 limbs of the King.
When this is done in physical action, in doing the mitzvos and refraining from evil, the supernal will, the Infinite Light itself, rests and is revealed in that person. The Tikkunei Zohar calls the 248 commandments “the 248 limbs of the King”: they are G‑d’s will itself, as limbs carry out the will of the one they belong to.
The soul’s gain in the body is that through the mitzvos it is joined to G‑d’s will itself, the Infinite Light, which is higher than the “thought” in which it stood before its descent.
The Zohar teaches that when the sitra achra is subdued, the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, ascends. The Alter Rebbe applies this to a person who sets aside his own will for G‑d’s in the physical deed.
Marei mekomos
- 1דלית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל · ת״ז בהקדמה (פתח אלי׳).
- 2דלית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ כלל · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:10–12
- 3כד אתכפיא סט״א · Zohar II, 128b
- 4ורמ״ח פקודין הם רמ״ח אברים דמלכא · ראה ת״ז ת״ל (עד, א).
- 5ורמ״ח פקודין הם רמ״ח אברים דמלכא · Tikkunei Zohar 74a:8
19וזהו שאמרו רז״ל יפה שעה1 אחת2 כו׳ [ועמ״ש מזה בפ׳ יתרו ע״פ זכור את יום השבת3 בענין איהו וחיוהי חד כו׳
And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Better is one hour,” etc. [And see what is written on this in Parshas Yisro, on the verse “Remember the Shabbos day,” on the matter of “He and His life-forces are one,” etc.;
This explains the Mishnah “Better is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come”: only here is the soul joined to G‑d’s will itself. The bracket refers to the discourse on “Remember the Shabbos day” in Parshas Yisro, on “He and His life-forces are one.”
and see what is written on the verse “And Yaakov settled,” on the meaning of “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver.” And from what is written here, what is written there will be understood better].
It also refers to the discourse on “And Yaakov settled,” on “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver,” and adds that what is explained here sheds light on what is written there.
The section ends with the Sages’ praise of one hour in this world over the whole World to Come, which follows from the soul’s union with the supernal will through the mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1יפה שעה א׳ · אבות ד, יז.
- 2יפה שעה אחת · Pirkei Avot 4:17
- 3ע״פ זכור את יום השבת · תו״א עא, א.
- 4ע״פ וישב יעקב · תו״א כו, ד ואילך.
- 5טוב לי תורת פיך מאלפי זהב וכסף · Psalms 119:72
A number that cannot be counted ¶20–27
20ג וזהו ומספר את רובע ישראל. כי הנה כתיב והיה מספר בנ״י כחול הים1 אשר לא ימד ולא יספר ובגמ׳ (יומא כ״ב א׳)
3. And this is [the meaning of] “and the number of the fourth of Israel.” For it is written, “And the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which shall not be measured nor counted”; and in the Gemara (Yoma 22a)
Section 3 turns to the second half of the verse, “the number of the fourth of Israel.” Hoshea promises that Israel will be like the sand of the sea, “which shall not be measured nor counted,” and the Gemara in Yoma takes up this verse.
רמי אהדדי כתיב והיה מספר וכתיב אשר לא ימד ולא יספר2 ומשני כאן כשעושין רצונו של מקום כו׳. ולבאר הענין צריך להבין מהו כחול הים.
it sets [the verses] against each other: it is written, “And the number shall be,” and it is written, “which shall not be measured nor counted”; and it answers: here, when they do the will of the Omnipresent, etc. To explain the matter, we need to understand what “like the sand of the sea” is.
The Gemara asks how the verse can speak of Israel’s “number” and also say that they cannot be counted, and answers that when Israel do the will of the Omnipresent they are beyond counting. To explain this, the Alter Rebbe first asks why Israel are compared specifically to sand.
כי הנה סביב הימים והנהרות הקרקע הוא חול שהוא יבש ומפורד לחלקים משא״כ שאר עפר הארץ הם רגבי אדמה לחים ומדובקי׳ קצת.3
For around the seas and the rivers the ground is sand, which is dry and separated into particles, whereas the rest of the soil of the earth is clods of earth, moist and stuck together somewhat.
Sand is found around seas and rivers; it is dry and made of separate grains, while ordinary soil is moist and holds together in clods.
The paragraph sets out the contradiction in Hoshea’s verse between “number” and “beyond counting,” and begins to explain it through the image of sand.
Marei mekomos
- 1והי׳ מספר בנ״י כחול הים · Hosea 2:1
- 2רמי אהדדי כתיב והיה מספר וכתיב אשר לא ימד ולא יספר · Yoma 22b:5–6
- 3
21והיינו לפי שהמי׳ אשר בימים ונהרות הם שואבים הלחלוחית מכל הקרקע שסביבם לכך נשארו ביבשות ופירוד והנמשל הוא בכללות חיות העולמות בדבר ה׳ ורוח פיו המהווה כל הנבראים מאין ליש.
That is because the waters in the seas and rivers draw the moisture from all the ground around them, and so it remains dry and separated. The analogue is in the life-force of the worlds as a whole (klalus), through the word of G‑d and the breath of His mouth, which brings all created beings into being from nothing to something.
The water draws the moisture out of the ground beside it, leaving it dry and loose. The analogue concerns the life-force that G‑d gives the worlds as a whole through His word and the breath of His mouth, which creates everything from nothing.
הנה כתיב ויעש את הים כו׳ עומד על שני עשר בקר1 כו׳ והים עליהם מלמעלה (במלכים א׳ סי׳ ז׳)
Now, it is written, “And he made the sea,” etc., “standing upon twelve oxen,” etc., “and the sea was upon them, above” (in I Kings, chapter 7).
The great basin made for Shlomo’s Temple, called “the sea,” stood on twelve bronze oxen, with the sea set above them (I Kings 7).
פי׳ לפי שבחי׳ הים עומד מלמעלה בריחוק מקום לכך נעשו י״ב בקר2 בחי׳ פירוד והתחלקות במספר י״ב והוא
The meaning: because the level of the sea stands above, at a distance, therefore twelve oxen were made, the level of separation and division, in the number twelve. That is
Because the “sea” stood above and apart from them, the oxen beneath it were twelve, separate and divided. What comes from a source that stands far above becomes many and divided.
because the coming into being from nothing to something is through His attribute of Malchus (sovereignty), may He be blessed, “who is exalted from the days of the world,” and “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds,” etc.
So it is with creation: things come into being from nothing through G‑d’s Malchus, His kingship, which the liturgy calls “exalted from the days of the world” and the psalm calls “a kingship over all worlds.”
Sand is dry and loose because the nearby water draws its moisture away; so too, creation comes from G‑d’s kingship, which stands exalted above the worlds, and therefore the worlds are separate and divided, like the twelve oxen beneath the sea.
The Kehot note traces “who is exalted from the days of the world” to the morning blessing Yotzer.
Marei mekomos
- 1עומד על שני עשר בקר · I Kings 7:25
- 2נעשו י״ב בקר · על״ק ריש דרושים לר״ה (נג, ד). [כ].
- 3המתנשא מימות עולם · ברכת יוצר.
- 4מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
22ולפי שהוא רם ומתנשא1 מהם נעשו בחי׳ עם מלשון עוממות דברים זרים ונפרדים כי אין מלך בלא עם23 והתהוותם בבחי׳
And because He is high and exalted above them, they became the level of “a people” (am), from the word omemos, things that are alien and separate; for there is no king without a people. And their coming into being in the level of
Because a king is exalted above his subjects, they become an am, “a people,” a word the Alter Rebbe connects with omemos, things alien and separate. “There is no king without a people”: kingship needs subjects who are other than the king.
עם הוא מבחי׳ התנשאות המלך עצמו ממילא יורדים להיות בבחי׳ עם וכמשל המלך היושב על כסאו שמחמת זה זעים ונרתעים הכל מלפניו ונעשים שפלים לפניו.
“a people” comes from the exaltation of the King Himself: of themselves they descend to be in the level of a people, as in the analogy of the king sitting on his throne, because of which all tremble and recoil before him and become lowly before him.
Their being a “people” comes from the king’s own exaltation. When a king sits on his throne, everyone trembles and shrinks back and feels lowly before him, and so they become his separate subjects.
A king’s very exaltation makes his subjects distant and separate, a “people”; this is how G‑d’s kingship brings about a world of separate beings.
The Kehot note gives earlier sources for “there is no king without a people”: Emek HaMelech (Sha’ar Sha’ashu’ei HaMelech, beginning of chapter 1), Sefer HaChaim (Parshas HaGeulah, chapter 2) and Rabbeinu Bachya on Vayeshev. It traces “high and exalted” to the piyyut “Atah Hu Elokeinu” of the Days of Awe.
Marei mekomos
- 1רם ומתנשא · פיוט אתה הוא אלקינו די״נ.
- 2אין מלך בלא עם · עמה״מ שער שעשועי המלך רפ״א. ס׳ החיים פ׳ הגאולה, פ״ב. בחיי וישב לח, ל.
- 3אין מלך בלא עם · Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 38:30
So G‑d’s Malchus, which is without end or limit, brings into being worlds that have limits, the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, which are yet without end in number: “Is there any number to His legions?”
אלא מפני שהם חיים וקיימים מבחינת התנשאות מלכותו ית׳ המתנשא מימות עולם. לכן יורדים בבחי׳ פירוד והתחלקות לכמה מינים ממינים שונים.
Only, because they live and exist from the level of the exaltation of His Malchus, may He be blessed, “who is exalted from the days of the world,” they therefore descend into the level of separation and division into many kinds, of different species.
Because these worlds live from the exaltation of G‑d’s kingship, which stands above them, they descend into separation and division, into many different kinds.
אך איך הם מקבלים חיותם ממדת מלכותו ית׳ והוא מתנשא מהם הנה באמת על זה כתיב
But how do they receive their life-force from His attribute of Malchus, when He is exalted above them? In truth, on this it is written,
But if G‑d is exalted above them, how do they receive life from His Malchus at all? The answer is in the verse quoted next.
“For a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim”: that is the divine power, which is omnipotent, and “these are His mighty acts,” etc.
“For a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim”: as Tanya explains, the “shield” is the divine power that conceals the light of the “sun” so that creatures can bear it. That power of concealment is part of G‑d’s omnipotence, “His mighty acts.”
G‑d’s infinite kingship brings into being many limited worlds, and they receive life from it despite its exaltation through the divine power of concealment, the “shield” of Psalms 84:12.
Marei mekomos
- 1היש מספר לגדודיו · Job 25:3
- 2כי שמש ומגן ה״א · Psalms 84:12
- 3והן הן גבורותיו · Yoma 69b:15
As is explained in Sefer Shel Beinonim, Part Two. But in general terms, the exaltation is the level of withdrawal, so that the life-force does not descend to them so much.
This is explained in Part Two of Tanya (here called Sefer Shel Beinonim). In general, G‑d’s “exaltation” means a withdrawal: His life-force does not come down to the worlds in full.
והוא כמשל המים ששואבין אליהם הלחלוחית ונעשה על שפתו חול בחי׳ פירוד כנ״ל והנה בחי׳ מספר הזה אינו מספר ממש
It is like the analogy of the waters, which draw the moisture to themselves, and sand forms on its shore, the level of separation, as mentioned above. Now, this level of number is not actual number,
This matches the analogy of water drawing the moisture to itself, which leaves sand on the shore. The “number” that results is not real number.
כדכתיב היש מספר וגו׳ אלא שהוא נק׳ בגדר מספר מפני שהוא מפוזר ומפורד לחלקים ויכול לחול עליו שם מספר
as it is written, “Is there any number,” etc.; only, it is called within the category of number because it is scattered and separated into parts, and the term “number” can apply to it;
As “Is there any number to His legions?” shows, the creatures cannot truly be counted. They are called “number” only because they are scattered and separate, so that the idea of counting can apply to them.
אבל אינו מספר ממש כי לא יספר מרוב כמשל חול הים אשר לא יספר2 מרוב רק הוא בגדר ובחי׳ מספר מפני שמפורד לחלקים וכיון שכל חלק נפרד ונבדל לעצמו יחול עליו שם מספר:
but it is not actual number, for it cannot be counted for its multitude, like the analogy of the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted for its multitude. It is only in the category and level of number because it is separated into parts, and since each part is separate and distinct by itself, the term “number” can apply to it.
Like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted for its multitude, the creatures are not truly numbered; they fall into the category of number only because each is a separate part by itself.
Divine exaltation is a withdrawal of life-force, which leaves creation divided like grains of sand: countable in principle, because each part is separate, but never actually counted.
Marei mekomos
- 1בסש״ב חלק ב׳ · פ״ד.
- 2כחול הים אשר לא יספר · Genesis 32:13
25והנה כתיב והיה מספר בני ישראל שבני ישראל הם הם העושים בחינת מספר שהם הם הממשיכין בחי׳ מלכותו ית׳ להיות מלכותו מלכות כל עולמים.
Now, it is written, “And the number of the children of Israel shall be”: the children of Israel are the very ones who make the level of number, for they are the ones who draw down the level of His Malchus, may He be blessed, so that His kingship will be “a kingship over all worlds.”
Hoshea’s words “And the number of the children of Israel shall be” are read as “Israel make the number”: they draw G‑d’s Malchus down into the worlds, so that His kingship becomes “a kingship over all worlds.”
והיינו ע״י מצות מעשיות שנקראים מצות המלך1 [ועמ״ש מזה ג״כ לעיל פ׳ במדבר סד״ה והיה מספר בני ישראל מספר היינו בחי׳ המצות כו׳ ע״ש].
That is, through the practical mitzvos, which are called “the commands of the King” [and see what is written on this also above, in Parshas Bamidbar, at the end of the discourse beginning “And the number of the children of Israel shall be”: “number” is the level of the mitzvos, etc.; see there].
They do this through the practical mitzvos, which are called “the commands of the King.” The bracket refers to an earlier discourse in Parshas Bamidbar on this verse, which explains “number” as the mitzvos.
Israel bring about the “number” by drawing G‑d’s kingship into the worlds through the practical mitzvos, the King’s commands.
For the phrase “the commands of the King,” the Kehot note invites comparison with the Gemara’s “it is a decree of the King” (Bava Basra 159a), said of a relative who may not testify though he is not suspected of lying, and with the Tosefta on Nega’im, chapter 3.
Marei mekomos
- 1שנקראים מצות המלך · להעיר מב״ב קנט, א. ותוספתא נגעים פ״ג: גזירת מלך היא.
26ולכן אומרים לפני כל מצוה בא״י אלהינו מלך העולם שהוא המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה להיות מלך העולם כנ״ל. כמ״ש במ״א.
Therefore, before every mitzvah one says, “Blessed are You, Havayah, our G‑d, King of the world,” which is the drawing-down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to be King of the world, as mentioned above; as is explained elsewhere.
That is why every blessing over a mitzvah says “King of the world”: the mitzvah draws the Infinite Light down, so that G‑d becomes King of the world.
ולפי שהיא המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה ממש לכן אינו רק בגדר מספר ואינו מספר ממש.
And because it is a drawing-down of the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, it is therefore only in the category of number, and is not actual number.
Because what the mitzvah draws down is the Infinite Light itself, the result is only “in the category of number,” not real, limited number.
The blessing over a mitzvah, “King of the world,” expresses that the mitzvah draws the Infinite Light into the world as kingship, a “number” that is never truly finite.
27וזהו אשר לא ימד ולא יספר כשעושין רצונו של מקום כנ״ל. דהיינו כשממשיכין רצון העליון במעשה המצות שהוא אור א״ס ב״ה והיינו על ידי שמחה של מצוה מנקודת פנימית הלב.
And this is [the meaning of] “which shall not be measured nor counted”: “when they do the will of the Omnipresent,” as mentioned above; that is, when they draw down the supernal will, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, through the performance of the mitzvos. And that is through the joy of the mitzvah, from the inner point of the heart.
Now the Gemara’s answer is clear: Israel “cannot be measured nor counted” when they do the will of the Omnipresent, drawing down the supernal will, the Infinite Light, through the mitzvos. This happens through the joy of the mitzvah, which comes from the inner point of the heart.
וכדכתיב פקודי ה׳ ישרים משמחי לב וכתיב תחת אשר לא עבדת1 את ה׳ אלהיך בשמחה וטוב לבב מרוב כל פי׳ מרוב כל
As it is written, “The precepts of Havayah are upright, gladdening the heart”; and it is written, “Because you did not serve Havayah your G‑d with joy and with gladness of heart, out of an abundance of everything.” The meaning of “out of an abundance of everything”
Two verses link the mitzvos with joy: “The precepts of Havayah are upright, gladdening the heart,” and the rebuke for not serving G‑d “with joy and with gladness of heart, out of an abundance of everything.”
היינו בלי גבול למעלה עד אין קץ2 ולמטה עד אין תכלית בבחי׳ א״ס כנ״ל (ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה מנורת זהב ובד״ה צו את בנ״י כו׳ את קרבני לחמי גבי הקטר חלב התמיד.
is without limit, above without end and below without limit, in the level of the infinite (ein sof), as mentioned above (and see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “A menorah of gold,” and in the discourse beginning “Command the children of Israel,” etc., “My offering, My bread,” regarding the burning of the fats of the daily offering.
“An abundance of everything” means a joy without limit, “above without end and below without limit,” the level of the infinite. The parentheses point to the discourses “A menorah of gold” and “Command the children of Israel… My offering, My bread,” the latter on the burning of the fats of the daily offering.
ועמ״ש מענין פי׳ עושין רצונו של מקום בפ׳ שלח ע״פ מקושש עצים. ועמ״ש מענין שמחה של מצוה בביאור ע״פ צאינה וראינה3 כו׳ בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו.4
And see what is written on the meaning of “they do the will of the Omnipresent” in Parshas Shelach, on the verse “gathering wood.” And see what is written on the joy of the mitzvah in the explanation of the verse “Go out and gaze,” etc., “at the crown with which his mother crowned him.”
They also point to the discourse on “gathering wood” in Parshas Shelach, on “doing the will of the Omnipresent,” and to the explanation of “Go out and gaze… at the crown with which his mother crowned him,” on the joy of the mitzvah.
ומזה יובן איך ע״י שמחה של מצוה ממשיכים כתר דמל׳ הנק׳ רצונו של מקום מבחי׳ ומדרגה היותר עליונה וזהו עושין רצונו כו׳ ע״ד ועשיתם אתם כאלו עשאוני)5
And from this it will be understood how, through the joy of the mitzvah, one draws down Keser of Malchus, which is called “the will of the Omnipresent,” from the highest level and rank. And this is “they do His will,” etc., in the manner of “And you shall do them (atem)”: as though you made Me.)
Through the joy of the mitzvah one draws down Keser of Malchus, the “crown” of kingship called “the will of the Omnipresent,” from the highest level. In “And you shall do them (atem),” the word for “them” is read as atem, “you”: as the Zohar puts it, whoever does the mitzvos, it is “as though he made Me.”
וזהו את רבע ישראל6 חלק הד׳ בחי׳ אף עשיתיו שם הוא גלוי רצון העליון דייקא כנ״ל.
And this is [the meaning of] “the fourth (reva) of Israel”: the fourth part, the level of “also I made him,” where there is specifically the revelation of the supernal will, as mentioned above.
So “the fourth of Israel” is the fourth part, “also I made him,” the level of action, where the supernal will is revealed.
וגם רבע מלשון ארבעה כי בזה נכלל כל ד׳ בחינות מחשבה דבור ומעשה ורצון. ובזה יובן דכתיב מי מנה עפר יעקב ומספר וגו׳
And reva is also from the word arba’ah (“four”), for in this all four levels are included: thought, speech, action and will. And through this, what is written will be understood: “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, and the number,” etc.:
Reva also means “four,” because the deed of the mitzvah includes all four levels: thought, speech, action and will. This also explains the beginning of the verse, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, and the number.”
דמה שכתב ומספר קאי על מי מנה כלומר שאין מספר ואעפ״כ ומספר כתיב דמשמע שיש מספר
that what is written, “and the number,” refers back to “Who has counted,” that is to say, that there is no number; and nevertheless “and the number” is written, which implies that there is a number.
“And the number” continues the question “Who has counted,” meaning that Israel have no number. Yet the word “number” is written, as if they do.
אלא הענין כנ״ל שהוא בגדר מספר ואינו מספר ממש לפי שהוא המשכת רצון העליון את רבע ישראל כנ״ל בחי׳ עשיתיו כנ״ל:7
But the matter is as mentioned above: it is in the category of number and is not actual number, because it is the drawing-down of the supernal will, “the fourth of Israel,” as mentioned above, the level of “I made him,” as mentioned above.
Both are true: Israel are in the category of number but are not truly numbered, because what they draw down is the supernal will, “the fourth of Israel,” the level of “I made him.”
Through the joy of the mitzvah Israel draw down the supernal will without limit. This resolves both verses: the mitzvos make a “number” that is never truly finite, “the fourth of Israel” that includes all four levels.
The Kehot note traces “above without end and below without limit” to the Zohar Chadash on Yisro.
Marei mekomos
- 1תחת אשר לא עבדת · Deuteronomy 28:47
- 2למעלה עד אין קץ · ז״ח פ׳ יתרו. ובמג״א [ובמגן אבות, ברדיטשוב תרס״ב] ראה ד״ה שלש פעמים סי׳ ה. [כ].
- 3בביאור ע״פ צאינה וראינה · לקמן שה״ש כז, א.
- 4בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו · Song of Songs 3:11
- 5ועשיתם אתם כאילו עשאוני · Zohar III, 113a
- 6וזהו את רבע ישראל · מובא באוה״ת ואתחנן ע׳ פד.
- 7פקודי ה׳ ישרים · Psalms 19:9
Torah, the higher unity ¶28
28ד והנה כ״ז הוא בחינת יחודא תתאה במעשה המצות להמשיך רצון העליון בבחינת מספר בחי׳ עשיתיו כנ״ל
4. Now, all this is the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), in the performance of the mitzvos, to draw down the supernal will in the level of number, the level of “I made him,” as mentioned above.
Section 4 sums up: everything said so far is the “lower unity” (yichuda tata’ah), reached through the mitzvos, which draw the supernal will down into “number,” the level of “I made him.”
אך תלמוד תורה כנגד כולם12 שהוא בחינת יחודא עילאה וזהו מי מנה עפר יעקב3 כי עפר אינו בגדר מספר כלל והוא בחי׳ תלמוד תורה לפי
But “the study of Torah is equal to them all,” for it is the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah). And this is [the meaning of] “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?”: for dust is not in the category of number at all, and it is the level of the study of Torah, because
Torah study, however, is “equal to them all,” as the Mishnah says, because it is the “higher unity” (yichuda ila’ah). This is the first half of the verse, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?”: dust cannot be counted at all, and it stands for the study of Torah.
שהוא רצונו ית׳ ממש ולכך הוא בחי׳ יחו״ע בחי׳ ביטול לאור א״ס ב״ה ממש ויחוד חב״ד בחב״ד כו׳. ומתניתא מלכתא כנ״ל.
it is truly His will, may He be blessed; and therefore it is the level of the higher unity, the level of self-nullification (bittul) to the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and the union of Chochmah, Binah and Daas with Chochmah, Binah and Daas, etc. And “the Mishnah is a queen,” as mentioned above.
Torah is G‑d’s will itself, so it brings about the higher unity, in which a person is wholly nullified to the Infinite Light, and a union of Chochmah, Binah and Daas with Chochmah, Binah and Daas: the intellect of the one who learns with the divine wisdom he learns. The text adds the saying “the Mishnah is a queen.”
ואינו בגדר מספר כלל (ועמש״ל בד״ה בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע4 בפי׳ עת לכל חפץ תחת השמים יעו״ש.
And it is not in the category of number at all (and see what is written above in the discourse beginning “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’” on the meaning of “A time for every desire under the heavens”; see there.
Torah is not in the category of number at all. The long parenthesis that begins here first refers to the discourse on “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’” where Koheles’s “A time for every desire under the heavens” is explained.
ומזה יובן יותר מש״כ דהתורה נק׳ עפר שאינו בגדר מספר כלל שהוא גוש אחד שלכך כל העוסק בתורת עולה5 כאילו הקריב עולה6 אף שעוסק בעידנא דלאו זמן הקרבה הוא כלל משא״כ במצות עצמן
And from this, what is written will be understood better: that the Torah is called “dust,” which is not in the category of number at all, for it is one mass. That is why “whoever occupies himself with the Torah of the burnt-offering is as though he offered a burnt-offering,” even though he occupies himself [with it] at a time that is not a time of offering at all; whereas the mitzvos themselves
This explains why Torah is called “dust”: dust is a single mass, without separate units. So the Gemara says that whoever studies the laws of the burnt-offering is as though he offered one, even when it is not the time for offerings.
שהם בחי׳ התחלקות בזמן פלוני עת לכל חפץ7 כו׳ והיינו לפי שהתורה היא בחי׳ רעוא דכל רעוין ועמ״ש עוד מזה בד״ה כי ביום הזה יכפר.8
are the level of division, at such-and-such a time, “a time for every desire,” etc. And that is because the Torah is the level of “the will of all wills.” And see what is written further on this in the discourse beginning “For on this day He shall atone.”
The mitzvos themselves are divided by time, each in its season, “a time for every desire.” Torah is above time because it is “the will of all wills,” the source of all of G‑d’s particular wills. The text points also to the discourse “For on this day He shall atone.”
וזהו קדשנו במצותיך ותן חלקנו בתורתך9 שע״י המצות הוא עדיין בחי׳ קדושין ואירוסין וארשתיך לי כו׳ אך ע״י התורה הוא בחי׳ ההמשכה בבחי׳ פנימית וידעת את1011 ה׳
And this is [the meaning of] “Sanctify us (kadsheinu) with Your commandments, and grant our portion in Your Torah”: for through the mitzvos it is still the level of kiddushin and betrothal, “And I will betroth you to Me,” etc.; but through the Torah it is the level of the drawing-down in the inner level, “and you shall know Havayah.”
This is why the Shabbos and festival prayer asks, “Sanctify us with Your commandments, and grant our portion in Your Torah.” Kadsheinu, “sanctify us,” recalls kiddushin, betrothal: the mitzvos are like betrothal, “I will betroth you to Me,” while Torah is the inner union, “and you shall know Havayah.”
והענין אפשר לומר כי עם היות שע״י המצות נמשך בחי׳ גילוי רצון העליון בנפש ובחי׳ אהבה רבה
And the matter, it may be said, is this: although through the mitzvos there is drawn down the level of the revelation of the supernal will in the soul, and the level of great love (ahavah rabbah),
The Alter Rebbe offers an explanation. The mitzvos do draw the supernal will into the soul, and with it the “great love” (ahavah rabbah).
אך כי גם ברצון עליון יש ג״כ בחי׳ חיצוניות ופנימיות כמ״ש במ״א ע״פ ואהיה אצלו אמון ואהיה שעשועים כו׳ וכך ג״כ בגילוי האה״ר בנפש יש ג״כ ב׳ בחי׳ הא׳ כמ״ש41
yet in the supernal will, too, there is also an outer dimension (chitzoniyus) and an inner dimension (pnimiyus), as is explained elsewhere on the verse “And I was with Him as a nursling, and I was delights,” etc. And so too in the revelation of great love in the soul there are also two levels. The first, as it is written,
But the supernal will itself has an outer and an inner dimension, as Proverbs suggests with “I was with Him as a nursling, and I was delights.” So too the great love in the soul has two levels.
כי עם קשה עורף הוא12 כדלעיל וזהו הנמשך ע״י המצות והב׳ כמ״ש מה יפית ומה נעמת13 אהבה בתענוגים והמשכת בחי׳ אהבה בתענוגים שרשו מבחינת פנימית הרצון עליון ונמשך ע״י התורה.
“For it is a stiff-necked people,” as above, and this is what is drawn down through the mitzvos. The second, as it is written, “How fair you are and how pleasant, love in delights”; and the drawing-down of the level of “love in delights” has its root in the level of the inner dimension of the supernal will, and it is drawn down through the Torah,
The first is the love hinted at in “a stiff-necked people,” a will above reason, which the mitzvos draw down. The second is “love in delights” (Song of Songs 7:7), rooted in the inner dimension of the supernal will, G‑d’s delight, and it is drawn down through the Torah.
כדכתיב ושעשועי את בני14 אדם וזהו חכמת אדם תאיר פניו15 פניו היינו בחינת פנימית וכמ״ש ע״פ חכלילי עינים16 מיין17 שיש בחינת אהבה רבה ולמעלה ממנה הוא אהבה בתענוגים ועמ״ש בד״ה מה טובו בענין מצות ותורה ומ״ש בד״ה לא הביט און ביעקב)
as it is written, “And my delights are with the children of men.” And this is [the meaning of] “A man’s wisdom makes his face shine”: “his face” (panav) is the inner level (pnimiyus). And as is explained on the verse “His eyes are red from wine,” that there is the level of great love, and above it is love in delights. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “How goodly” on the matter of mitzvos and Torah, and what is written in the discourse beginning “He has not beheld iniquity in Yaakov.”)
Torah is G‑d’s “delights with the children of men,” and “a man’s wisdom makes his face shine”: panav, “his face,” hints at pnimiyus, the inner dimension. The parenthesis closes with references to the discourses on “His eyes are red from wine,” “How goodly” and “He has not beheld iniquity in Yaakov.”
אך הדרך שיזכה האדם לאור התורה בבחינת יחודא עילאה הוא ע״י בחי׳ יעקב מדת הרחמים
But the way for a person to merit the light of the Torah in the level of the higher unity is through the level of Yaakov, the attribute of compassion,
How does a person come to the light of the Torah in the higher unity? Through the quality of Yaakov, the attribute of compassion (rachamim).
that is, to arouse great compassion upon his soul by setting fixed times; as is known, a time of favor is at midnight, and likewise at the time of prayer.
This means arousing great compassion on one’s own soul at fixed times: above all at midnight, a time of divine favor, and at the time of prayer.
כי הנה יש בסדר התפלה ופסוקי דזמרה פסוקי דרחמי20 ואזי הוא עת רצון לעורר רחמים על נפשו.
For in the order of the prayer and Pesukei d’Zimrah there are verses of compassion, and then it is a time of favor to arouse compassion upon his soul.
In the order of the prayers, Pesukei d’Zimrah contains verses that speak of G‑d’s compassion, and saying them is a time of favor for arousing compassion on one’s soul.
וזהו מדתו של יעקב י׳ עקב שהוא ענין הרחמנות על בחי׳ יו״ד חכמה עילאה שנפלה וירדה לבחי׳ עקב כנ״ל.
And this is the attribute of Yaakov: yud-akev (“yud, heel”), which is the matter of compassion for the level of the yud, supernal Chochmah, which fell and descended to the level of the heel, as mentioned above.
The name Yaakov is read as yud-akev, “yud” and “heel”: compassion for the yud, supernal Chochmah, which has fallen and come down to the level of the “heel,” the lowest place.
Now, the attribute of Yaakov “bars from one end to the other,” “to raise the poor from the dust” and to elevate [him] into the level of the higher unity, as is explained elsewhere
Yaakov’s attribute is like the middle bar of the Mishkan, which “bars from one end to the other,” joining the lowest end to the highest. It “raises the poor from the dust” and lifts the soul into the higher unity.
(וגם פי׳ עפר כמ״ש ונפשי כעפר לכל24 תהיה25 ועי״ז פתח לבי בתורתך ועמ״ש מזה בפ׳ ויקהל ע״פ קחו מאתכם תרומה כו׳ וגם כמארז״ל כך היא דרכה של תורה26 פת במלח תאכל27 כו׳ ועל הארץ תישן).
(and also the meaning of “dust” is as it is written, “And let my soul be as dust to all,” and through this, “Open my heart to Your Torah”; and see what is written on this in Parshas Vayakhel on the verse “Take from among you an offering,” etc.; and also as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “This is the way of the Torah: bread with salt you shall eat,” etc., “and on the ground you shall sleep”).
“Dust” also recalls the prayer “Let my soul be as dust to all,” followed by “Open my heart to Your Torah”: humility opens the heart to Torah. So too the Mishnah says that the way of Torah is “bread with salt you shall eat… and on the ground you shall sleep.”
אך אמרו רז״ל כל העוסק בתורה לבד28 כו׳ אלא צריך להיות תורה עם גמילות חסדים
But our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Whoever occupies himself with Torah alone,” etc.; rather, there must be Torah together with deeds of kindness.
Yet the Sages warn against one who occupies himself with Torah alone; Torah must come together with deeds of kindness.
ולכן כתיב ומספר את רבע ישראל29 בחי׳ עשיתיו במעשה המצות ומעשה הצדקה הנק׳ בשם מצוה סתם30 ששקולה כנגד כל המצות31 והוא ענין גמילות חסדים. ועמ״ש בד״ה כי תשמע בקול32 גבי לשמור את כל מצותיו.
Therefore it is written, “and the number of the fourth of Israel,” the level of “I made him,” in the performance of the mitzvos and the deed of charity, which is called simply “the mitzvah,” for it is equal to all the mitzvos; and this is the matter of deeds of kindness. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “If you will listen to the voice,” regarding “to keep all His commandments.”
That is why the verse goes on, “and the number of the fourth of Israel”: the mitzvos, above all charity, which the Jerusalem Talmud calls simply “the mitzvah” and which the Gemara says is equal to all the mitzvos. Charity is the practice of kindness.
(וע׳ בזהר משפטים דק״ה בפי׳ מי מנה כו׳ ומספר33 כו׳ והיינו ג״כ ענין יחודא עילאה ויחו״ת כי מי היינו יחוד חו״ב אאלפך חכמה34 אאלפך בינה35 כו׳
(And see in the Zohar, Mishpatim, folio 105, on the meaning of “Who has counted,” etc., “and the number,” etc. This, too, is the matter of the higher unity and the lower unity: for “who” (mi) is the union of Chochmah and Binah, “I will teach you wisdom, I will teach you understanding,” etc.;
A final parenthesis cites the Zohar on Mishpatim, which reads the two halves of the verse as two who count. The Alter Rebbe links them to the higher and lower unity: mi, “who,” is the union of Chochmah and Binah, as in Elihu’s “I will teach you wisdom” and the Talmud’s reading of alef as “learn understanding.”
מספר היינו יחוד המדות והדבור והוא ענין יעשה שלום לי שלום יעשה לי36 ועמ״ש ע״פ אלה פקודי המשכן. משכן העדות כו׳. ובביאור ע״פ ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל.
“number” is the union of the emotive attributes (middos) and speech, and this is the matter of “Let him make peace with Me; peace he shall make with Me.” And see what is written on the verse “These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony,” etc., and in the explanation of the verse “And I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel.”
“Number” is the union of the emotive attributes with speech. This is the double “peace” of Isaiah 27:5, “Let him make peace with Me; peace he shall make with Me.” The text points to the discourses on “These are the accounts of the Mishkan” and “And I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel.”
ולפמש״כ בפרדס ערך מי37 י״ל שזהו ענין שער החמשים מנש״ב שבו ניתנה תורה בחג השבועות וא״ש דמי מנה עפר יעקב קאי על התורה כו׳ ועמ״ש בביאור מארז״ל38 בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה כו׳
And according to what is written in the Pardes, under the entry “Mi,” it can be said that this is the matter of the fiftieth gate of the fifty gates of Binah, in which the Torah was given on the festival of Shavuos; and it is well understood that “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov” refers to the Torah, etc. And see what is written in the explanation of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before,” etc.,
Following the entry on mi in the Pardes (Pardes Rimonim), the Alter Rebbe suggests that mi, whose letters add up to fifty, is the fiftieth of the fifty gates of Binah, through which the Torah was given on Shavuos. Then “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov” refers to the Torah.
מי גילה כו׳ ועיין מה שכתוב בביאור ע״פ וספרתם לכם כו׳ תספרו חמשים יום.39 וע׳ עוד מענין רובע ישראל בזהר פ׳ בלק) (דף ר״י סע״ב ודף ר״ד ע״א) ועמש״ל פ׳ שלח בענין ונסכו רביעית ההין:404243
“Who revealed,” etc. And see what is written in the explanation of the verse “And you shall count for yourselves,” etc., “you shall count fifty days.” And see further on the matter of “the fourth of Israel” in the Zohar, Parshas Balak) (folio 210, end of side b, and folio 204, side a). And see what is written above in Parshas Shelach on the matter of “and its libation, a fourth of a hin.”
The text refers further to the explanations of “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before… Who revealed [this secret]” and of “you shall count fifty days,” to the Zohar on Balak about “the fourth of Israel,” and to the discourse in Shelach on the libation of “a fourth of a hin.”
Section 4 places Torah study, the higher unity that is beyond all number (“dust”), above the mitzvos, the lower unity (“number”). The path to it is Yaakov’s compassion, and yet Torah must be joined to deeds of kindness, “the fourth of Israel.”
Two loves match the two halves of the verse: “great love,” drawn through the mitzvos from the outer dimension of the supernal will, and “love in delights,” drawn through the Torah from its inner dimension, G‑d’s delight. On “a time of favor at midnight,” the Kehot note adds from Or HaTorah that from midnight on is the level of Chesed, linked with “the kindness of G‑d” that shines all day; on prayer as a time of favor it points also to the Zohar, Part II, 253b. For the Sages’ warning against “Torah alone,” it refers to Yevamot 109b.
Marei mekomos
- 1ת״ת כנגד כולם · פאה א, א.
- 2תלמוד תורה כנגד כולם · Mishnah Peah 1:1
- 3מי מנה עפר יעקב · Zohar, Balak 32:345–33:354
- 4בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע · Shabbat 88a:7–8
- 5כל העוסק בתורת עולה · סוף מנחות.
- 6כל העוסק בתורת עולה כאילו הקריב עולה · Menachot 110a:13–14
- 7עת לכל חפץ · Ecclesiastes 3:1
- 8בד״ה כי ביום הזה יכפר · ראה לעיל פ׳ אחרי כו, ד ואילך.
- 9קדשני במצותיך ותן חלקנו בתורתך · תפלת דשבת ויו״ט. וראה לקמן עד, ג. לעיל פ׳ במדבר טז, ג. ח, ד.
- 10וארשתיך לי . . וידעת את ה׳ · Hosea 2:21
- 11וידעת את ה׳ · Hosea 2:22
- 12כי עם קשה עורף הוא · Exodus 34:9
- 13מה יפית ומה נעמת · Song of Songs 7:7
- 14ושעשועי את בנ״א · Proverbs 8:31
- 15חכמת אדם תאיר פניו · Ecclesiastes 8:1
- 16כמ״ש ע״פ חכלילי עינים · תו״א מז, ד.
- 17חכלילי עינים מיין · Genesis 49:12
- 18כנודע שעת רצון הוא בחצות · ראה שו״ע אדה״ז מהדו״ב ס״א, ס״ח ובהנסמן שם. ומבואר באוה״ת במדבר כרך-ד ע׳ א׳תפד שמחצות הלילה ואילך זהו בחי׳ חסד ששייך לבחי׳ חסד א-ל שמאיר בכל היום. וראה שם פ׳ מסעי ע׳ א׳שצה ושם מציין לכמה מקומות בקבלה.
- 19וכן בשעת התפלה · Zohar II, 253b
- 20פסוקי דרחמי · ראה לקמן פ׳ פנחס עח, ג.
- 21מדתו של יעקב מבריח · Zohar I, 1b
- 22מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה · Exodus 26:28
- 23להקים מעפר דל · Psalms 113:7
- 24ונפשי כעפר לכל תהי׳ · תפלת אלקי נצור.
- 25ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה · Berakhot 17a:4
- 26כך היא דרכה של תורה · אבות ו, ד.
- 27כך היא דרכה של תורה פת במלח תאכל · Pirkei Avot 6:4
- 28כל העוסק בתורה לבד · Yevamot 109b
- 29רובע ישראל · Zohar, Balak 45:458–470
- 30ומעשה הצדקה הנק׳ בשם מצוה סתם · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 37:19
- 31ששקולה כנגד כל המצות · Bava Batra 9a:12
- 32בד״ה כי תשמע בקול · לקמן פ׳ ראה כג, ג.
- 33מי מנה כו׳ ומספר · Zohar, Mishpatim 3:202–212
- 34אאלפך חכמה · Job 33:33
- 35אאלפך בינה · Shabbat 104a
- 36יעשה שלום לי שלום יעשה לי · Isaiah 27:5
- 37בפרדס ערך מי · מובא גם ביהל אור ע׳ לז ושם מציין למאו״א מ, סח.
- 38בביאור מארז״ל · שבת פח, סע״א. [כ]. ראה לעיל פ׳ במדבר.
- 39תספרו חמשים יום · Leviticus 23:16
- 40ונסכו רביעית ההין · Numbers 28:7
- 41ע״פ ואהי׳ אצלו אמון · Proverbs 8:30
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Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Before the Shema, build the outer love through contemplation in Pesukei d’Zimrah and the blessings, in order to reach the inner love that unites the heart. In the physical deed of the mitzvah, set aside your own will before G‑d’s will, and do it with joy that comes from the inner point of the heart. Set fixed times, at midnight and in prayer, to arouse compassion on your soul, the way to the light of the Torah; and join your Torah study to deeds of kindness and charity.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the word “also” in “also I made him” point to a level above thought, speech and action, and why is it placed next to action?
- If the soul was already united with G‑d in His “thought,” what does it gain by coming down into a body?
- How can Israel be both “numbered” and “beyond counting”? How do the images of sand and of the twelve oxen help explain it?
- Why does the inner love of the heart have no counterpart on the side of evil, while the love born of knowledge does?
- Why must Torah study, the higher unity, be joined to deeds of kindness and charity?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world. ×1
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×19
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level. ×4
- The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
- The external, expressive aspect. ×7
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion. ×10
- The sitra achra (the other side)סטרא אחרא
- The realm opposed to holiness.
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness. ×1
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- Divine light too great to enter the worlds; it 'surrounds' them and affects them from beyond.
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The general and collective expression (klalus)כללות
- That which encompasses the particulars as one: their general and collective expression (the klal, as against the prat). Never “sum”, “sum total”, “totality” or “general principle”, as if the particulars were added up (וכללותן היא מצות הצדקה is “their general and collective expression is the mitzvah of charity”). Render by sense: “their general and collective expression”, “that which encompasses them all”, “X in general”, “X as a whole”. Keep התכללות as “inclusion” / “inter-inclusion”. ×1
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×2
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×2
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×1
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions. ×1
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×1
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The level above intellect: divine will and delight. ×1
- The lower unity (yichuda tata'ah)יחודא תתאה
- G‑d is present within the world's existence. ×1
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The world is nothing next to G‑d. ×4
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×1
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×2
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail. ×1
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will.
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×1
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- Perseverance, the drive to overcome. ×1