Likkutei Torah · Parshas Bamidbar · Maamar 19
דרוש לשבועות
A discourse for Shavuos: “And I was with Him a nurturer”
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The big idea
The Torah comes down to be Israel’s amon, feeding the soul with the “bread” that brings understanding, and beyond that it brings “delights”: not only the supernal will that is the same in every mitzvah (David’s “songs”), but the distinct inner delight of each mitzvah, revealed “face to face” at Sinai and drawn down every day through the Shema, self-nullification, and even the simple person’s natural love and charity.
The maamar in brief
The maamar reads Proverbs 8:30–31, where the Torah calls itself G‑d’s amon and His “delights,” phrase by phrase. An amon feeds a weaned child bread; Moshe, too lofty, could not supply “meat,” but the Torah descends to sustain Israel. The forty-four days of the Omer are a nursing period that grows the animal soul’s emotions; on Shavuos the Torah arrives as “bread,” the two loaves, bringing Daas, drawn down through the Shema said with self-sacrifice. David was punished for calling the Torah “songs”: he praised the mitzvos as the supernal will, which is above Chochmah yet only their “back,” the same in all of them. Their “face” is the supernal delight, distinct in each mitzvah, revealed at Sinai because Israel’s love rose to delight in G‑d. Ve’ehyeh means these delights must be renewed daily, by turning ani into ayin. The Torah “plays” at all times, even in exile, for its laughter is the nullification of yesh into ayin. Tevel, twice “lion,” includes both scholar and simple person, whose charity draws the delight down “as water, face to face.”
Outline
- The Torah as nurturer: from nursing to breadAmon is one who sustains a child with bread after nursing. Moshe, on his lofty level, could not do this, but the Torah descends to nourish the souls of Israel. The forty-four days of the Omer are “nursing,” in which the emotions of the animal soul grow through iskafya; on Shavuos the Torah comes as “bread” that brings Daas, drawn down through the Shema said with self-sacrifice.¶1–4
- David’s “songs”: the supernal willJoy and delight follow understanding. David called the chukim “songs” because the mitzvos come from the supernal will, which is above Chochmah and above all the endless comprehension of Gan Eden, and he rejoiced in each one as in a beloved melody. Yet he was punished, for he praised them only as the will enclothed in them.¶5–11
- Back and face: will and delightThe will is the “back” of the mitzvos and is the same in all of them; their inner core, the “face,” is the supernal delight, as different in each mitzvah as sight is from hearing. At Sinai, “face to face,” Israel’s inner love, a delight in G‑d, met G‑d’s inner delight, so each utterance revealed its own delight.¶12–16
- David’s punishment, and the meaning of ve’ehyehMeasure for measure, David forgot that the Ark, whose Tablets were all “face,” must be carried face to face on the shoulder, and he fell into forgetfulness, which is “back.” “Delights” are the revealed inner delight; ve’ehyeh teaches that it must be drawn down continually, through the daily Shema and through turning ani into ayin.¶17–20
- “Playing before Him at all times”In times of embrace and in exile, when G‑d’s kindness is hidden in the Torah, the Torah “plays” alike. Its laughter is the nullification of yesh into ayin, which will be revealed in the Time to Come and is drawn now through the Torah, even through the iskafya of the beinoni.¶21–23
- “Playing in tevel” and “my delights with the children of man”Tevel is twice “lion”: the understanding love of the chayos and the natural love of the ofanim, matched by the scholar and by the simple, busy person. Through them, and through charity, the supernal delight flows “as water, face to face” between the supernal and the lower “man,” the wedding of the Giving of the Torah.¶24–26
Key concepts
- amon (nurturer)אמון
- The one who rears a child and feeds it bread after nursing. The Torah is Israel’s amon: it comes down from its height to sustain the soul and give it understanding.
- bread and nursingלחם ויניקה
- Nursing is the Omer period, when the emotions grow without full understanding; bread is the Torah given on Shavuos, which brings Daas, as an infant begins to know only once he tastes grain.
- zemiros (songs)זמירות
- A melody one repeats because it is sweet, though it is the same sweetness each time. David’s word for the Torah, praising the one supernal will present equally in all the mitzvos.
- supernal will and supernal delightרצון העליון ועונג העליון
- The will is the “back” (achorayim) of the mitzvos and is undivided; the delight within it is the “face” (panim), and each mitzvah has its own particular delight.
- sha’ashu’im (delights)שעשועים
- The revelation of the inner supernal delight in the Torah and mitzvos, which must be drawn down continually from below.
- ani and ayinאני ואין
- “I” and “nothing,” spelled with the same letters. When a person turns his ani into ayin, setting aside his self, he draws G‑d’s essential delight into the Torah.
- laughter (sechok)שחוק
- The nullification of yesh into ayin: the world’s appearance as a separate “something” is a jest, made for the final “laughter” when all is revealed as nullified before G‑d.
The Torah as nurturer: from nursing to bread ¶1–4
The heading marks this as a discourse for Shavuos, the festival of the Giving of the Torah. It is built on the verses of Proverbs in which the Torah speaks of itself as G‑d’s “nurturer” and His “delights.”
The title places the maamar on Shavuos, the time of the Giving of the Torah.
Marei mekomos
- 1דרוש לשבועות · דש׳ תקצ״ה — כ״כ בבוך פערטיל שלי (סא, א). [כ]. [וראה להלן ברשימת הכתבי-יד].
“And I was with Him a nurturer (amon), and I was delights (sha’ashu’im) day by day, playing before Him at all times; playing in the inhabited world (tevel) of His earth, and my delights are with the children of man.”
These are the words of the Torah, personified as Wisdom, in Proverbs 8:30–31. The maamar will explain each phrase in turn: “a nurturer,” “delights day by day,” “playing before Him at all times,” “playing in the inhabited world,” and “my delights are with the children of man.”
ופי׳ במדרש רבה4 ר״פ בראשית אמון פדגוג האיך מה דאת אמר כאשר ישא5 האומן את היונק6 והוא לשון פרנסה וכן הוא עוד ברבות משפטים פ״ל.7
And the Midrash Rabbah, at the beginning of Parshas Bereishis, explains: “Amon [means] a tutor (padagog), as you say, ‘as the nurturer (omen) carries the suckling.’” And this is an expression of providing sustenance; and so it is also in the Rabbah on Mishpatim, section 30.
The Midrash reads amon as one who rears a child, a tutor or guardian, and proves it from Moshe’s words “as the nurturer (omen) carries the suckling.” The Alter Rebbe adds that the word speaks of providing sustenance, and that the Midrash on Parshas Mishpatim reads it the same way.
The opening verse is stated, and its first word, amon, is defined through the Midrash as the one who rears and sustains a child.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהי׳ אצלו אמון · ראה לעיל בהוספות יט, א הערת כ״ק אדמו״ר (ונזכר עוד על מאמר זה: תקע״א — באוה״ת במדבר הוספות ע׳ א׳תצט. עקב ע׳ תקלו. וראה להלן ברשימת הכתבי-יד). והנחה אחרת במאמרי אדה״ז כתובים-א ע׳ ר. עוד הנחה בדרך מצותיך משא הארון בכתף מ, ב. מאמרי אדה״א במדבר כרך-ב ע׳ תנד מיוסד על מאמר זה. הגהות — באוה״ת במדבר ע׳ רכא.
- 2
- 3משחקת בתבל ארצו ושעשועי את בני אדם · Proverbs 8:31
- 4ופי׳ במדרש רבה · ראה אוה״ת נ״ך-א ע׳ תקפט.
- 5
- 6אמון פדגוג האיך מה דאת אמר כאשר ישא האומן את היונק · Bereshit Rabbah 1:1
- 7וכן הוא עוד ברבות משפטים פ״ל · Shemot Rabbah 30:9
3והענין כי משה רבינו ע״ה אמר להקב״ה כי תאמר אלי שאהו בחיקך כאשר ישא האומן את היונק כו׳ מאין לי בשר12 כו׳
The explanation is: Moshe our teacher, peace be upon him, said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as the nurturer carries the suckling,’ etc.,” [and] “From where do I have meat,” etc.
When the people demanded meat in the desert, Moshe protested that G‑d had asked him to carry them in his bosom “as the nurturer carries the suckling,” and asked where he could find meat for them all. The maamar reads the two complaints together.
והיינו לפי שהיה במדרגה גבוה מן המים משיתיהו3 עד שהיה כבד פה4 לגבי תשבע״פ וכבד לשון56 לגבי תשב״כ [ועמ״ש מזה בפ׳ בשלח בד״ה
That is, because he was at a level as high as “from the water I drew him,” to the point that he was “heavy of mouth” with respect to the Oral Torah and “heavy of tongue” with respect to the Written Torah [and see what is written on this in Parshas Beshalach, in the discourse beginning
Moshe’s soul was rooted so high (his name, “drawn from the water,” hints at it) that it was hard for him to bring his wisdom down into speech. His being “heavy of mouth” and “heavy of tongue” is read, in the wording of the Ra’aya Mehemna section of the Zohar, as difficulty with the Oral Torah and with the Written Torah. The bracket begins a reference to a discourse in Parshas Beshalach on the double portion of manna.
להבין ענין לחם משנה] ולכן אמר מאין לי בשר שאין זה בערכו כלל. [ועמ״ש מזה בפ׳ בהעלותך]7 רק המן ירד בזכותו8 מזונא דחכמתא,910
“To understand the matter of the double bread (lechem mishneh)”]. Therefore he said, “From where do I have meat?” — for this is not within his measure at all. [And see what is written on this in Parshas Behaalos’cha.] Only the manna came down in his merit, the food of wisdom (mezona dechochmesa).
Meat, a physical and coarse food, was entirely out of keeping with Moshe’s level. What came down in his merit was the manna, which the Zohar calls “the food of wisdom,” a nourishment as refined as Moshe himself.
אבל התורה משבחת א״ע במעלה יתרה שיכולה היא לירד ממעלתה הגבוה והרמה להיות אמון שהיא רועה ומפרנס נש״י כנודע שהתורה נק׳ מזון לנפש11 ולכן נק׳ התורה לחם כמ״ש לכו לחמו בלחמי.12
But the Torah praises itself with an added virtue: that it is able to descend from its high and lofty level to be an amon, that it shepherds and sustains the souls of Israel, as is known that the Torah is called food for the soul. And therefore the Torah is called bread, as it is written, “Come, eat of my bread.”
The Torah praises itself for something more: lofty as it is, it can descend to be an amon, shepherding and sustaining the souls of Israel. That is why the Torah is called food for the soul, and specifically bread, as Wisdom calls out, “Come, eat of my bread.”
וזהו כאשר ישא האומן את היונק. דר״ל שמפרנסו בלחם אחר ימי יניקה דאם ר״ל שמניקו מהו שאמר כאשר ישא האומן כו׳ מאין לי בשר כו׳.
And this is [the meaning of] “as the nurturer carries the suckling”: that is to say, that he sustains him with bread after the days of nursing. For if it meant that he nurses him, what is [the sense of] what he said, “as the nurturer carries,” etc., [and] “From where do I have meat,” etc.?
An omen feeds bread, not milk. Moshe set “as the nurturer carries the suckling” beside “From where do I have meat?”; if omen meant one who nurses, the question about meat would not follow from it.
Moshe, on his lofty level, could not descend to feed Israel ordinary food; the Torah, though, can come down from its height and become the amon that sustains the souls of Israel with “bread.”
In Parshas Ekev the Alter Rebbe brings the same Zohar on “heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue” and explains that Moshe, rooted in the very essence of the higher Chochmah, could not lower himself into the revelation of speech; the Torah is the intermediary that brings that hidden wisdom down.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי תאמר אלי שאהו . . מאין לי בשר · Numbers 11:12
- 2מאין לי בשר · Numbers 11:13
- 3מן המים משיתיהו · Exodus 2:10
- 4כבד פה · Exodus 4:10
- 5כבד פה . . וכבד לשון · שם ד, י.
- 6כבד פה . . לשון · ל׳ הרע״מ. ע׳ עקב (יד, ד). [כ].
- 7וכמ״ש מזה בפ׳ בהעלותך · לקמן לג, ב.
- 8המן ירד בזכותו · Taanit 9b
- 9מזונא דחכמתא · זח״ב (סב, א). [כ].
- 10מזונא דחכמתא · Zohar, Beshalach 28:377–388
- 11שהתו׳ נק׳ מזון לנפש · Chagigah 14a:10
- 12לכו לחמו בלחמי · Proverbs 9:5
4והנה גילוי בחי׳ זו להיות התורה בבחי׳ לחם הוא בשבועות זמן מ״ת שהקריבו שתי הלחם1 לחמו בלחמי תשב״כ ותשבע״פ כי בימי הספירה הם ימי יניקה
Now the revelation of this level — that the Torah be at the level of bread — is on Shavuos, the time of the Giving of the Torah, when they offered the two loaves (shtei halechem): “eat of my bread,” the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. For the days of the Counting [of the Omer] are days of nursing.
The Torah first appears as “bread” on Shavuos, when it was given. On that day two loaves of wheat bread were offered in the Temple, and the Alter Rebbe links them with the doubled word for bread in “eat of my bread” (lachamu belachmi): the Written and the Oral Torah. The days of counting the Omer before Shavuos are, by contrast, days of nursing.
כי לידת נש״י2 הי׳ בשביעי של פסח ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים3 שנמשכו מההעלם אל הגילוי ומשביעי של פסח עד שבועות מ״ד ימים הם בבחי׳ יניקה
For the birth of the souls of Israel was on the seventh [day] of Pesach, [when] “the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea,” for they were drawn forth from concealment into revelation. And from the seventh of Pesach until Shavuos [are] forty-four days, which are at the level of nursing,
The souls of Israel were “born” on the seventh day of Pesach, when the sea split and the people walked through it on dry land, coming out of hiddenness into the open as a child comes out of the womb. The forty-four days from then until Shavuos are the infant’s nursing period.
דהיינו הגדלת המדות חסד שבחסד כו׳ עד״מ שהחלב מגדל אברי הולד וכך ימי הספירה הם המשכות ימים עליונים היום יום כו׳
that is, the growing of the emotive attributes (middos) — Chesed (kindness) of Chesed, etc. — just as, by way of analogy, milk makes the limbs of the infant grow. And so the days of the Counting are drawings-down of the supernal days: “Today is day,” etc.,
Nursing makes an infant’s limbs grow; so the counting of the Omer makes the emotive attributes grow, one combination each day, beginning with Chesed of Chesed. Each day of the count draws down one of the supernal “days,” the divine attributes, as the formula “Today is day so-and-so” suggests.
לעומר שעורים שהוא מאכל בהמה הוא מקור וחיות הנפש הבהמית של האדם [כי הנשמה ונפש אלקית א״צ תיקון לעצמה45 כו׳]
“of the Omer” — [an Omer] of barley, which is animal food, [and] which is the source and life-force (chayus) of a person’s animal soul [for the neshamah and G‑dly soul needs no rectification for itself, etc.],
The Omer offering was of barley, which is animal food; this hints that the counting works on the animal soul, the source of a person’s natural drives. The bracket gives the reason: the G‑dly soul needs no rectification for itself, so the work is with the animal soul.
to transform all the emotive attributes that are in it so that they be “for Havayah alone,” and “you shall not profane,” etc. The first day, Chesed of Chesed, etc.
The aim is to turn every emotion of the animal soul so that it is directed “to Havayah alone” and does not profane His Name. Each day refines one attribute, beginning on the first day with Chesed of Chesed.
והיינו בחי׳ גידול של המדות שבנפש הבהמית והעלאתן ממטה למעלה ע״י בחי׳ המשכת מוחין מלמעלה ונק׳ בע״ח מוחין דיניקה, וכמ״ש במ״א ע״פ ולבן שינים מחלב,8
And this is the growing of the emotive attributes in the animal soul and their elevation from below upward, through a drawing-down of the intellect (mochin) from above; and in Etz Chaim this is called “the mochin of nursing” (mochin deyenikah), as is explained elsewhere on [the verse] “and teeth white with milk.”
In this way the emotions of the animal soul grow and are raised up, through intellect drawn down from above. Etz Chaim calls this “the mochin of nursing,” the early intellect of the nursing stage, and the Alter Rebbe has explained it elsewhere on the verse “teeth white with milk.”
וזו היא המשכה עליונה מלמעלה מן הימים העליונים הנמשכים במ״ד ימי הספירה עד״מ דם נעכר ונעשה חלב.9 כך ע״י אתכפיא שהאדם מזכך מדותיו10 נמשך הגדלת המדות.
And this is a supernal drawing-down from above, from the supernal days that are drawn down in the forty-four days of the Counting — just as, by way of analogy, blood decomposes and becomes milk. So too, through subjugation (iskafya), by which a person refines his emotive attributes, the growing of the emotive attributes is drawn down.
As a mother’s blood is changed into milk, so a light from the supernal days is drawn down during the forty-four days of the count. On the person’s side this works through iskafya: by subduing his natural drives he refines his emotions, and that brings their growth.
אך אין התינוק יודע לקרות11 אבא ואימא עד שיטעום טעם דגן שבבחי׳ יניקה עדיין לא נכנס בו דעת עד שיטעום טעם לחם היא בחי׳ התורה שנתנה אחר ימי הספירה בשבועות
But “the infant does not know how to call ‘father’ and ‘mother’ until he tastes the taste of grain”: for at the level of nursing, Daas (knowledge) has not yet entered him, until he tastes the taste of bread, which is the Torah, which was given after the days of the Counting, on Shavuos.
The Talmud says an infant cannot call “father” and “mother” until he tastes grain; nursing alone does not bring awareness. So Daas, real understanding, comes only with “bread,” the Torah given on Shavuos after the days of the count.
ואזי הקריבו בו שתי הלחם והוא מזון לנפש האלקית לכו לחמו בלחמי12 והקרבה זו צריכה להיות ממושבותיכם13 בחי׳ ישיבה היא בחי׳ ק״ש
And then they offered on it the two loaves, and it is food for the G‑dly soul: “Come, eat of my bread.” And this offering must be “from your dwellings (moshvoseichem),” the level of sitting, which is the Shema.
On Shavuos the two loaves were offered, standing for the Torah as food for the G‑dly soul. The verse says they must come “from your dwellings” (moshvoseichem), from the root “to sit,” which the Alter Rebbe connects with the Shema, which is said sitting.
כי תפלה בעמידה וק״ש בישיבה בעולם הבריאה ששם הוא היחוד שבק״ש יחודא עלאה או״א שא״א לנו להשיגו באצי׳ [וכמ״ש בפע״ח שער הק״ש פ״ד].
For prayer is [said] standing, and the Shema sitting, in the World of Beriah (Creation), for there is the unification of the Shema, the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah), which it is impossible for us to attain in Atzilus [as is written in Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Kerias Shema, chapter 4].
Following the Arizal, the Amidah is said standing because it belongs to Atzilus, and the Shema sitting because it belongs to Beriah. The unification brought about by the Shema is the higher one, of Abba and Imma, and we cannot arouse it while in Atzilus, only from Beriah.
ופי׳ הכתוב ממושבותיכם מבחי׳ ק״ש במס״נ תביאו לחם כו׳ תוכלו להמשיך בחי׳ התורה להיות לכם בבחי׳ לחם הגורם להמשיך בחי׳ הדעת וההשגה. וזהו ואהיה אצלו אמון14:
And the meaning of the verse is: “From your dwellings” — from the level of the Shema with self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) — “you shall bring bread,” etc.: you will be able to draw down the Torah to be for you at the level of bread, which brings about the drawing-down of Daas and comprehension. And this is [the meaning of] “And I was with Him a nurturer (amon).”
So the verse means: from the Shema, said with readiness to give one’s life, “you shall bring bread,” that is, you will be able to draw the Torah down as nourishment that brings understanding and comprehension. This is the Torah’s role as amon, the nurturer.
Shavuos is when the Torah becomes “bread.” After forty-four days of “nursing,” in which the Omer count grows and refines the emotions of the animal soul, the Torah given on Shavuos brings Daas, and the Shema said with self-sacrifice is how a person draws it down.
Iggeres HaKodesh (Tanya) calls the coming of the souls into separate existence in Beriah a “birth,” like the splitting of the sea, and their growth from Shemini Atzeres to the seventh of Pesach a gestation, like that of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva within Imma. Pri Etz Chaim explains that the Shema brings about the union of Abba and Imma and draws mochin to Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, who then unite in the Amidah.
Marei mekomos
- 1שהקריבו שתי הלחם · Leviticus 23:16
- 2לידת נש״י הי׳ בשביעי של פסח · ראה אגה״ק סי׳ כ (קל, ב). וראה לעיל פ׳ צו טז, ב בשם הפע״ח.
- 3ובנ״י הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים · Exodus 15:19
- 4כי הנשמה ונפש אלקית א״צ תיקון לעצמה · ע״ח שכ״ו, פ״א. תניא פרק לז (מח, ב).
- 5כי הנשמה ונפש אלקית א״צ תיקון לעצמה · Sefer Etz Chaim 26:2
- 6לה׳ לבדו · Exodus 22:19
- 7ולא תחללו · Leviticus 22:32
- 8ולבן שינים מחלב · Genesis 49:12
- 9דם נעכר ונעשה חלב · Bekhorot 6b:8–9
- 10כך ע״י אתכפיא שהאדם מזכך מדותיו · במאמרי אדה״ז כתובים-א ע׳ רא הנוסחא ”כך הם ימי הספירה שבכל יום מונים מדה א׳ חסד שבחסד חסד שבגבורה כו׳ להגדיל המדות להיות בבחי׳ אתכפי׳ ואתהפכא”.
- 11אין התינוק יודע לקרות · Berakhot 40a:14
- 12
- 13ממושבותיכם · Leviticus 23:17
- 14
David’s “songs”: the supernal will ¶5–11
5ב ואח״כ ואהיה שעשועים שע״י בחי׳ אמון הוא המשכת בחי׳ לחם ומזון להיות הדעת וההשגה עי״ז אח״כ נמשך גילוי בחי׳ השמחה והשעשועים.
2. And afterwards, “and I was delights”: for through the level of amon, which is the drawing-down of bread and food so that there be Daas (knowledge) and comprehension — through this, afterwards, the revelation of joy and delights is drawn down.
The second section takes up the next words, “and I was delights.” Once the Torah as amon has fed a person with “bread” and given him understanding, a further revelation follows: joy and delight.
והנה ביאור ענין השמחה והשעשועים המתגלים ע״י הדעת וההשגה. יובן במ״ש זמירות היו לי חקיך1 כו׳ ואמרז״ל [במדרש רבה.2
Now, the explanation of the joy and delights that are revealed through Daas and comprehension will be understood from what is written, “Your statutes were songs (zemiros) to me,” etc. And our Sages, of blessed memory, said [in the Midrash Rabbah,
To explain this joy and delight, the Alter Rebbe turns to King David’s words, “Your statutes were songs to me,” and to the Sages’ teaching about them, which he cites from the Midrash, the Tanchuma and the Talmud.
The maamar moves from amon to sha’ashu’im: the understanding gained through the Torah leads to joy and delight, which will be explained through David’s “songs.”
Marei mekomos
- 1זמירות היו לי חקיך · Psalms 119:54
- 2ואמרז״ל במדרש רבה · Bamidbar Rabbah 4:20
6ובתנחומא ובגמרא פ״ז דסוטה דל״ה ע״א]1 שנענש דוד על שקרא ד״ת זמירות ואמר לו הקב״ה זמירות קרית להו הריני
and in the Tanchuma, and in the Gemara, chapter 7 of Sotah, folio 35a] that David was punished for calling words of Torah “songs.” And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You called them songs? Behold, I
The Sages relate that David was punished for calling words of Torah “songs.” G‑d said to him, in effect: you call them songs? Then you will stumble over something even schoolchildren know.
מכשילך בדבר שאפילו תינוקות של2 בית רבן יודעין אותו דכתיב ולבני קהת לא נתן3 כי עבודת הקדש עליהם בכתף ישאו והוא הביא את הארון בעגלה.
will make you stumble in a matter that even schoolchildren know,” as it is written, “But to the sons of Kehos he did not give [wagons], for the service of the holy [things] was upon them; they would carry on the shoulder.” And he brought the Ark on a wagon.
The Torah says that the Levite family of Kehos was given no wagons, because they carried the holy vessels on their shoulders. David had the Ark brought on a wagon, against this law; that was his stumbling.
The Talmud’s account of David’s punishment is quoted: for calling the Torah “songs,” he forgot that the Ark must be carried on the shoulder.
Marei mekomos
- 1ובגמרא פ״ז דסוטה דל״ה ע״א · ראה יהל אור ע׳ תסב שם נעתק לשון הגמרא ורש״י ומהרש״א.
- 2
- 3ולבני קהת לא נתן · Numbers 7:9
7והענין הוא כי פי׳ וביאור מלת זמירות הוא כמו זמר וניגון שמזמרים ומנגנים ניגון א׳ כמה פעמים אע״פ שהכל עריבות ומתיקות א׳ מ״מ כשערב לו לאדם איזה ניגון וזמר יכול לזמר ולנגן אותו כמה פעמים.
The explanation of this is: the meaning and sense of the word zemiros is like a song and melody, when one sings and plays one melody many times. Although it is all one pleasantness and sweetness, nevertheless, when some melody and song is pleasing to a person, he can sing it and play it many times.
Zemiros are like a melody one sings again and again. The tune does not change and holds the same sweetness every time, yet when a person loves a melody he repeats it many times.
The word zemiros is defined: a song repeated many times because it is pleasing, though every repetition holds the same single sweetness.
8וכך היה לי חוקיך חוקים נק׳ מצות שאין בהן טעם כמו פרה אדומה ושעטנז כו׳
And so, “Your statutes were to me”: chukim (statutes) is what the mitzvos that have no reason are called, such as the red heifer and sha’atnez, etc.
David said this of the chukim (statutes), the mitzvos that have no reason a person can understand, such as the red heifer and the ban on sha’atnez, wool and linen woven together.
כלומר שהגם שאין למצוה זו שום טעם ודעת בשכל המושג ומובן מ״מ ערב ומתוק לחיכו עד מאד
That is to say: although this mitzvah has no reason or knowledge at all in intellect that is grasped and understood, nevertheless it was exceedingly pleasant and sweet to his palate.
Although such a mitzvah has no reason the mind can grasp, David found it exceedingly sweet.
והיינו לפי שאף גם אם אין טעם ודעת מלובש בהמשכת מצוה זו למטה בהתלבשותה בגשמיות מ״מ יסודתה בהררי קדש1 הוא
And this is because, even if no reason or knowledge is enclothed in the drawing-down of this mitzvah below, as it is enclothed in physicality, nevertheless “its foundation is in the holy mountains”: it is
The reason is that, although no rationale is enclothed in the mitzvah as it comes down into physical action, its foundation is “in the holy mountains,” far above.
מבחי׳ רצון העליון ב״ה שלמעלה מעלה מבחי׳ טעם ודעת הנמשך מבחי׳ ח״ע והחכמה מאין תמצא2 שהיא נמשכת מבחי׳ אין הוא בחי׳ רצון העליון ב״ה כי
from the level of the supernal will (ratzon), blessed be He, which is far above the level of reason and knowledge that is drawn from the level of the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah). And “Chochmah is found from ayin (nothing),” for it is drawn from the level of ayin, which is the level of the supernal will, blessed be He. For
That root is the supernal will, which is far higher than reason, since all reason comes from Chochmah. Chochmah itself is found “from ayin” (nothing), and that ayin is the supernal will.
הנה החכמה נק׳ עדן34 שהוא עונג הנשמות בג״ע בשכל הנבראים המשכילים בגדולת א״ס ב״ה ונהנים בהשגתם תענוג נפלא עד אין קץ ע״ד שאמרו בגמ׳ על אלישע אחר מוטב דלידייני׳5 כו׳.
Chochmah is called Eden, which is the delight of the souls in Gan Eden, in the intellect of created beings who contemplate the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, and take wondrous delight in their comprehension, without end — along the lines of what was said in the Gemara about Elisha Acher: “It is better that he be judged,” etc.
Chochmah is called “Eden”: the delight of the souls in Gan Eden is the delight of understanding G‑d’s greatness, an endless pleasure in comprehension. How great that delight is can be seen from what the Gemara says of Elisha “Acher”: Rabbi Meir held it better that he be judged so that he could then enter the World to Come.
David delighted in the chukim because, though they have no reason, they come from the supernal will, which is above Chochmah, the source of all reason and of the delight of Gan Eden.
The Pardes notes that in the Zohar the primary “Eden” is Keser, and that Chochmah (and Binah) are called Eden in a borrowed sense, Chochmah most fittingly, as “the lower Eden” hinted at by the letter yud.
Marei mekomos
- 1יסודתה בהררי קדש · Psalms 87:1
- 2והחכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
- 3החכמה נק׳ עדן · פרדס שער כג פט״ז.
- 4החכמה נק׳ עדן · Pardes Rimmonim 23:16:9
- 5מוטב דלדייני׳ · Chagigah 15b:3
9והנה אף שבספרים נזכר רק ב׳ בחי׳ ג״ע תחתון ועליון.1 אבל באמת יש הרבה מיני ג״ע זה למעלה מזה עד אין קץ ותכלית גבוה מעל גבוה2 כו׳,
Now, although in the books only two levels of Gan Eden are mentioned, the lower and the upper, in truth there are many kinds of Gan Eden, one above the other, without end or limit, “one higher than the high,” etc.
The books usually speak of two levels of Gan Eden, the lower and the upper. In truth, the Alter Rebbe says, there are endless levels of Gan Eden, each higher than the one before.
וע״ז רמזו רז״ל ת״ח אין להם מנוחה3 לא בעוה״ז ולא בעוה״ב שנאמר ילכו מחיל אל חיל4 כו׳ אלא שהספרים לא דברו מהם רק מהב׳ מיני ג״ע ג״ע עליון ותחתון.
And our Sages, of blessed memory, alluded to this: “Torah scholars have no rest, neither in this world nor in the World to Come, as it is said, ‘They go from strength to strength,’” etc. Only, the books did not speak of them, but only of the two kinds of Gan Eden, the upper Gan Eden and the lower.
The Talmud hints at this when it says that Torah scholars have no rest even in the World to Come, for they “go from strength to strength,” rising from level to level. The books simply did not describe these levels beyond the two general ones.
אבל בג״ע העליונים עד רום המעלות לא שלחו את ידם וכל עדן שלמעלה מעלה עד רום המעלות הכל נק׳ בשם חכמה
But the higher Gan Edens, up to the loftiest heights, they did not put forth their hand [to discuss]. And every Eden, higher and higher up to the loftiest heights, is all called by the name Chochmah (wisdom),
The higher levels of Gan Eden were left undescribed. All of them, up to the very highest, are called Chochmah, because each is a level of wisdom.
כי העונג שבהם הוא לפי ערך ההשכלה וההשגה ויש השגה למעלה מהשגה עד רום המעלות. אך כל בחי׳ השגה ותענוג מריש כל דרגין כו׳ אינו אלא בבחי׳ זיו.
for the delight in them is according to the measure of the understanding and comprehension, and there is comprehension above comprehension, up to the loftiest heights. But every level of comprehension and delight, [even] from “the head of all levels,” etc., is only at the level of radiance (ziv).
The delight of each Gan Eden matches the depth of comprehension there, and there is always a higher comprehension. Yet all this comprehension and delight, even at “the head of all levels,” is only a radiance (ziv) of G‑dliness, not its essence.
There are endless ascending levels of Gan Eden, all of them levels of Chochmah and comprehension, yet even the highest of them is only a radiance of G‑dliness.
In Parshas Behar the Alter Rebbe adds that the books mention only two levels because the rest were not revealed to us, and compares the radiance the souls receive to sunlight, which counts as nothing compared with the sun itself.
Marei mekomos
- 1שבספרים נזכר רק ב׳ בחי׳ ג״ע תחתון ועליון · וכ״כ גם לעיל פ׳ בהר מא, ב. במאמרי אדה״ז כתובים-א ע׳ רב כ׳ ”רק שבפרד״ס לא נזכר אלא ב׳ בחי׳”. וראה בדרך מצותיך א, ב ”הגם שלא נזכר בספרים רק ב׳ בחי׳ אלו אבל באמת נודע לנו מפי סופרים קדושי עליון אשר נהירין להו שבילא דרקיעא שיש מדריגות לאין קץ”.
- 2גבוה מעל גבוה · Ecclesiastes 5:7
- 3ת״ח אין להם מנוחה · Berakhot 64a:12–13
- 4ילכו מחיל אל חיל · Psalms 84:8
10וכמארז״ל ונהנין מזיו1 כו׳. וזהו בורא קדושים ישתבח2 שמך לעד מלכנו. קדושים אלו הנשמות וקדושים בכל יום3 יהללוך סלה בלי הפסק4 בהשגה למעלה מהשגה כי ת״ח אין להם מנוחה כו׳.
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “and they delight in the radiance,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] “Creator of holy ones, may Your Name be praised forever, our King.” “Holy ones”: these are the souls; and “holy ones praise You every day, selah,” without interruption, in comprehension above comprehension, for “Torah scholars have no rest,” etc.
The Talmud says the righteous in the World to Come “delight in the radiance of the Shechinah.” The prayers echo this: G‑d is “Creator of holy ones,” the souls, who “praise You every day, selah,” and “selah” means without interruption, as the souls rise from one comprehension to the next.
וכל ההילול והשבח הזה אין זה אלא ישתבח שמך בחי׳ שם בלבד בחי׳ זיו כו׳
And all this praise and acclaim is only “may Your Name be praised”: the level of a name alone, the level of radiance, etc.
Yet all their praise reaches only “Your Name.” A name is not the person himself, only how he is called; so too what the souls grasp is a level of radiance alone.
(כמ״ש מזה בד״ה את שבתותי תשמרו)5 ושמו בגימ׳ רצון67 שהרצון הוא למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ חכמה והחכמה היא הנמשכת מבחי׳ הרצון שכך עלה ברצונו להתלבש בבחי׳ חכמה.
(as is written on this in the discourse beginning “You shall keep My Sabbaths”). And “His Name” (shemo) has the numerical value of ratzon (will); for will is far above the level of Chochmah, and Chochmah is what is drawn from the level of will, for so it arose in His will, to be enclothed in the level of Chochmah.
The word shemo (“His Name”) has the same numerical value as ratzon, “will” (346). The will is far above Chochmah, which comes from it, because G‑d willed to be enclothed in Chochmah. The parenthesis refers to the discourse “You shall keep My Sabbaths” in Parshas Behar.
ולזאת הרי בחי׳ החכמה בטילה כאין לגבי בחי׳ רצון העליון ב״ה המתלבש בה ואין ערוך אליו
Therefore the level of Chochmah is nullified as nothing before the level of the supernal will, blessed be He, that is enclothed in it, and it bears no comparison to it.
Chochmah is therefore as nothing before the supernal will that is enclothed in it; the two cannot be compared.
וזהו ענין הזמירות שקרא דוד לד״ת לבחי׳ החוקים שעם היות שאין בהם טעם היינו לפי שנמשכו ונלקחו מרצון העליון ב״ה שהוא למעלה מההשגה והטעם.
And this is the matter of the “songs,” as David called words of Torah, [namely] the level of the statutes: although they have no reason, this is because they were drawn and taken from the supernal will, blessed be He, which is above comprehension and reason.
This explains David’s “songs”: the chukim have no reason because they come directly from the supernal will, which is above reason and comprehension.
All the endless praise of the souls reaches only G‑d’s “Name,” a radiance; that Name is the supernal will, above Chochmah, and from that will come the chukim, which David called “songs.”
In Parshas Pekudei the Alter Rebbe reconciles two traditions: the Arizal writes that “His Name” is Malchus, while the early books of Kabbalah write that shemo has the value of ratzon. Both are true, for Malchus of the Infinite One is called “His Name,” and from it the will, the Keser of Atzilus, is drawn.
Marei mekomos
- 1ונהנין מזיו · Berakhot 17a
- 2בורא קדושים ישתבח · ברכת יוצר.
- 3וקדושים בכל יום · נוסח תפלת שמו״ע.
- 4סלה בלי הפסק · Eruvin 54a:12–13
- 5בד״ה את שבתותי תשמרו · לעיל פ׳ בהר מא, ב.
- 6ושמו בגימ׳ רצון · פע״ח ש׳ הק״ש ספכ״ח. [כ]. ובלקו״ת פקודי ז, ד בשם ספרי הקבלה הראשונים.
- 7ושמו בגימ׳ רצון · Pri Etz Chaim, Gate of the Recitation of the Shema 28:16
11ומ״ש אורייתא מחכמה נפקת1 נפקת דייקא. אבל יסודן למעלה מהחכמה תר״ך עמודי אור23 עד״מ העמוד שמחבר הגג4 עם הרצפה. כך המצות נשפלו למטה.
And as for what is said, “The Torah comes forth from Chochmah”: “comes forth,” specifically. But their foundation is above Chochmah, the 620 pillars of light — by way of analogy, the pillar that joins the roof with the floor. So the mitzvos were lowered below,
The Zohar says the Torah “comes forth from Chochmah”; “comes forth” implies that its origin is above Chochmah. The root of the mitzvos is the 620 “pillars of light” in Keser, the supernal will, and like a pillar joining roof to floor they reach from that height down to physical deeds.
אבל שרשן גבוה מאד נעלה ע״כ היה שמח שמחה גדולה בעסק התורה ומצות ע״י התבוננות זו
but their root is very high and exalted. Therefore he rejoiced with great joy in his occupation with Torah and mitzvos, through this contemplation:
Though the mitzvos come down into physical action, their root is exceedingly high. Contemplating this filled David with great joy in his Torah study and mitzvos.
שהם רצון העליון וע״כ קראן זמירות שהן היו לו כמין זמר שמנגנגין זמר א׳ בהם כמה פעמים מגודל המתיקות שבו.
that they are the supernal will. And therefore he called them “songs,” for they were to him like a kind of song, in which one sings one song many times because of the great sweetness in it.
Because the mitzvos are the supernal will, David called them “songs”: they were to him like a song one sings over and over because it is so sweet.
כך עם היות שכל המצות כולן הן רצונו ית׳ והרי זהו שבח אחד לכל המצות שבכולם מתלבש רצה״ע ב״ה מ״מ היה מתענג ושמח בכל א׳
So too, although all the mitzvos, every one of them, are His will, may He be blessed, so that this is one praise for all the mitzvos, that the supernal will, blessed be He, is enclothed in all of them, nevertheless he delighted and rejoiced in each one,
All the mitzvos are equally G‑d’s will, so in this respect they share a single praise. Even so, David delighted in each one.
כמו שמתענגים ושמחים בעריבות ומתיקות הניגון והזמר שניגון וזמר א׳ מנגנין ומזמרים כמה פעמים מאחר שהוא זמר יפה מאד וזו היא שמחה של מצוה.
just as one delights and rejoices in the pleasantness and sweetness of a melody and song, so that one melody and song is played and sung many times, since it is a very beautiful song. And this is the joy of a mitzvah (simchah shel mitzvah):
His joy was like the joy in a beautiful melody, which one sings again and again. This is the “joy of a mitzvah.”
דהיינו מחמת עוצם גדולת המצוה עצמה כי גבהה מעלתה מאד שהוא הוא רצה״ע ב״ה שלמעלה מהחכמה שהוא בחי׳ עדן ותענוג והשגה נפלאה עד אין קץ מריש כל דרגין כו׳.
that is, because of the immense greatness of the mitzvah itself, for its standing is very lofty: it is the supernal will itself, blessed be He, which is above Chochmah, which is the level of Eden and of delight and wondrous comprehension without end, from “the head of all levels,” etc.
The joy comes from the greatness of the mitzvah itself: it is the supernal will, which is above Chochmah, and Chochmah is itself “Eden,” wondrous delight and comprehension without end.
אך מ״מ נענש דוד ע״ז לפי שעדיין לא הגיע לתכלית השבח העיקר שבתורה ומצות ומעלתן העצמי׳ שהרי לא שבח אותן אלא בבחי׳ רצה״ע ב״ה המלובש בהן.5
Nevertheless, David was punished for this, because he had not yet reached the ultimate praise, the main [praise], of Torah and mitzvos and their essential virtue; for he praised them only in terms of the supernal will, blessed be He, that is enclothed in them.
Still David was punished, because he had not reached the highest praise of Torah and mitzvos, their essential virtue. He praised them only as the supernal will enclothed in them.
David rejoiced in the mitzvos as the supernal will, above Chochmah, and so called them “songs”; but this praise, great as it is, does not reach their essential virtue, and for that he was punished.
Iggeres HaKodesh 29 compares the 620 pillars of light in Keser to the pillars of a great house, standing on the ground with their tops joined to the ceiling. So the mitzvos stretch from the supernal will down to this physical world, and through them the soul rises to be bound up in the light of Keser.
Marei mekomos
- 1אורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar, Mishpatim 20:500–502
- 2תר״ך עמודי אור · פרדס ש״ח, פ״ג.
- 3תר״ך עמודי אור · Pardes Rimmonim 8:5–6
- 4עד״מ העמוד שמחבר הגג · ראה אגה״ק סי׳ כט.
- 5אורייתא מחכ׳ נפקת · Zohar II, 85a
Back and face: will and delight ¶12–16
Now, the will is still at the level of their outer virtue and rank, as it is written, “And you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
The will, high as it is, is still the outer level of the mitzvos. G‑d told Moshe, “You shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen”: the will is the “back.”
אבל פנימיותן ועיקרן הוא הוא עונג העליון ב״ה שהוא פנימית הרצון כידוע וע״ז נאמר אחור
But their inner dimension (pnimiyus) and essence is the supernal delight, blessed be He, which is the inner dimension of the will, as is known. And of this it is said, “Back
The inner core of the mitzvos is the supernal delight, which is the inner dimension of the will. The verse “Back and front You have formed me” speaks of these two levels.
וקדם צרתני2 ועד״מ מבשרי אחזה3 שהתענוג הוא עיקר המכוון והרצון הולך אחר התענוג שמחמת שיש נחת רוח ותענוג לפניו לכך הוא רוצה וחפץ בכך.
and front You have formed me.” And by way of analogy, “from my flesh I behold”: the delight is the main intent, and the will follows the delight; for because there is gratification and delight before him, therefore he wills and desires it.
Human experience (“from my flesh I behold”) shows that delight is the real aim and will follows it: one wants something because one takes pleasure in it.
Will is the “back” and delight the “face” of the mitzvos: the delight is their inner core, and the will only follows it.
Marei mekomos
- 1וראית את אחורי · Exodus 33:23
- 2אחור וקדם צרתני · Psalms 139:5
- 3מבשרי אחזה · Job 19:26
13ולכן נק׳ הרצון בחי׳ אחוריים1 ובחי׳ חיצונית לגבי העונג העליון ב״ה המלובש בו וע״ז נאמר וראית את אחורי ופני לא יראו2 שאין פנימית העונג מתגלה כ״א בחי׳ הרצון בלבד
Therefore the will is called the level of the back (achorayim) and the outer level, in relation to the supernal delight, blessed be He, that is enclothed in it. And of this it is said, “And you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen”: for the inner dimension of the delight is not revealed, only the level of the will alone,
This is why the will is called “back” (achorayim) and “outer” compared with the delight inside it. What is revealed is the will; the inner delight stays hidden, as “My face shall not be seen” says.
כמו שאינו נראה ונגלה באדם לזולתו רק בחי׳ רצון בלבד כשמגלה לו רצונו להיות כך וכך.
just as in a person nothing is seen and revealed to another except the will alone, when he reveals to him his will that such-and-such should be.
So it is with a person: others see only his will, when he tells them what he wants done.
אבל פנימית העונג המלובש בו והמכוון מזה איזה עונג ונחת רוח לפניו מזה לא ניתן להתודע ולהגלות ועונג זה הוא המלובש במצות שהן רצונו ית׳.
But the inner dimension of the delight that is enclothed in it, and what is intended by it, what delight and gratification he has from it, is not given to be made known and revealed. And it is this delight that is enclothed in the mitzvos, which are His will, may He be blessed.
What pleasure he has in it, the inner reason for wanting it, is not revealed. It is this hidden supernal delight that is enclothed in the mitzvos, which are G‑d’s will.
As with a person, only G‑d’s will is revealed in the mitzvos, while the delight within that will, the “face,” remains hidden.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולכן נק׳ הרצון בחי׳ אחוריים · ראה אגה״ק סי׳ כט.
- 2וראית את אחורי ופני לא יראו · Exodus 33:23
14וזהו אשר קדשנו במצותיו אשר מלשון באשרי כי אשרוני123 שהוא לשון הילול ושבח והוא על עוצם ריבוי התענוג שיש בזה
And this is [the meaning of] “Who (asher) has sanctified us with His commandments”: asher is from the expression “In my good fortune (be’oshri), for they will call me fortunate (ishruni),” which is an expression of praise and acclaim; and it is because of the immense abundance of delight that there is in this,
The blessing over a mitzvah says that G‑d is the One “asher (Who) has sanctified us.” The Alter Rebbe reads asher as in Leah’s words when Asher was born, “In my good fortune, for they will call me fortunate”: a word of praise, expressing the great abundance of delight in the mitzvos.
כדי להלל ולשבח מאד ובבחי׳ זו נאמר באשר וטובל בשמן4 רגלו שבבחי׳ רגלו בלבד הוא מלובש בבחי׳ שמן היא בחי׳ ח״ע5 כו׳:
enough to praise and acclaim [it] greatly. And of this level it is said of Asher, “and he dips his foot in oil”: for only at the level of “his foot” is it enclothed in the level of oil, which is the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah), etc.
Moshe blessed the tribe of Asher, “he dips his foot in oil.” Oil stands for the higher Chochmah; so only the lowest level, the “foot,” of this delight is enclothed in Chochmah, and the delight itself is far above it.
The word asher in the blessing over mitzvos speaks of the supernal delight in them, whose mere “foot” reaches down into Chochmah.
Marei mekomos
- 1אשר מלשון באשרי כי אשרוני · Genesis 33:13
- 2באשרי כי אשרוני · Genesis 30:13
- 3אשר מלשון באשרי כי אשרוני · Tikkunei Zohar 74b:2
- 4וטובל בשמן · Deuteronomy 33:24
- 5שמן היא בחי׳ ח״ע · מא״א אות ש׳ סמ״ח.
15ג והנה ההפרש שבין בחי׳ אחוריים לבחי׳ פנים מבשרי אחזה1 שבעורף אין בו התחלקות אברים שעור א׳ מכסה את כולו.
3. Now, the difference between the level of the back and the level of the face, [as] “from my flesh I behold”: in the nape of the neck there is no division into organs, for one skin covers all of it.
The third section begins by showing the difference between “back” and “face” in the human body (“from my flesh I behold”): the back of the neck has no distinct organs, and one skin covers it all.
משא״כ בבחי׳ פנים נראה ונגלה ציור התחלקות האיברים עינים לראות אזנים לשמוע כו׳ ותענוג שבבחי׳ ראיה הוא בחי׳ אחרת משמיעה כו׳.
In the face, by contrast, the form of the division of the organs is seen and revealed: eyes to see, ears to hear, etc.; and the delight in sight is a different thing from [the delight in] hearing, etc.
The face, by contrast, shows distinct organs, each with its own function, eyes to see and ears to hear, and the pleasure of seeing is quite different from the pleasure of hearing.
כך הוא למעלה כביכול שבחי׳ רצון העליון ב״ה נק׳ בחי׳ אחוריים ואין בו שום התחלקות ולכך הרצון המלובש במצות כולל כל המצות בשוה שכולן הן בחי׳ רצונו ית׳
So it is Above, as it were: the level of the supernal will, blessed be He, is called the level of the back, and there is no division in it at all. Therefore the will that is enclothed in the mitzvos includes all the mitzvos equally, for all of them are His will, may He be blessed,
So it is Above: the supernal will is the “back” and has no divisions, so it is present equally in all the mitzvos; each is simply G‑d’s will.
והרי זה שבח א׳ לכולן אלא שהוא שבח גדול מאד כנ״ל שהרצון עליון הוא למעלה מהחכמה כו׳
and so this is one praise for all of them; only, it is a very great praise, as mentioned above, for the supernal will is above Chochmah, etc.
This gives all the mitzvos a single praise, though a very great one, since the will is above Chochmah.
ולכן נק׳ העונג והשמחה הנמשך מזה בשם זמירות כמו זמר שמנגנים ניגון א׳ היפה מאד הרבה פעמים כנ״ל.
And therefore the delight and joy that come from this are called by the name “songs,” like a song in which one plays one very beautiful melody many times, as mentioned above.
That is why the joy that comes from this is called “songs”: like one beautiful melody sung over and over, it is the same joy in every mitzvah.
אבל העונג העליון ב״ה המלובש במצות יש לכל מצוה תענוג פרטי כי העונג היא פנימי׳ המכוון המלובש ברצון ואין פנימית המכוון המלובש ברצון מצוה זו מלובש ברצון מצוה אחרת כי לכל מצוה יש כוונה אחרת כנודע.
But [as for] the supernal delight, blessed be He, that is enclothed in the mitzvos, each mitzvah has a particular delight. For the delight is the inner dimension of the intent that is enclothed in the will, and the inner dimension of the intent enclothed in the will of this mitzvah is not enclothed in the will of another mitzvah, for each mitzvah has a different intent, as is known.
The supernal delight, though, is different in each mitzvah. The delight is the inner intent within the will, and every mitzvah has its own intent, so each carries its own particular delight.
Like the nape of the neck, the will is undivided and the same in every mitzvah, which is why David’s praise of it was “songs”; like the face, the delight is differentiated, with a distinct delight in each mitzvah.
Marei mekomos
- 1מבשרי אחזה · Job 19:26
16וכמו עד״מ בפנים הרי התענוג שבראי׳ המלובש בעינים אינו דומה כלל להתענוג שבשמיעה שבאזנים וכן תענוג שבטעמים חיך אוכל יטעם1 כו׳ כל מין תענוג הוא מהות אחר.
And just as, by way of analogy, in the face, the delight in sight, which is enclothed in the eyes, is not at all like the delight in hearing, which is in the ears; and likewise the delight in tastes, “the palate tastes food,” etc.: each kind of delight is a different essence.
In the face each sense has its own pleasure: the pleasure of sight is nothing like the pleasure of hearing, and taste (“the palate tastes food”) is different again. Each kind of pleasure is a different thing.
כך בחינת עונג העליון הנמשך ומתגלה ע״י המצות בציצית תענוג מיוחד ומשונה מהתענוג שבמצוה אחרת וכן בתפילין כו׳ ובכל המצות.
So [with] the supernal delight that is drawn down and revealed through the mitzvos: in tzitzis [there is] a unique delight, different from the delight in another mitzvah, and so in tefillin, etc., and in all the mitzvos.
So the supernal delight revealed through the mitzvos differs from mitzvah to mitzvah: tzitzis carries one particular delight, tefillin another, and so with all the mitzvos.
ולא כמו מעלת הרצון שהוא מדרגה אחת לכולן (ועמ״ש בד״ה ראו כי23 ה׳ נתן לכם השבת בפי׳ דרכיה דרכי נועם),4
This is unlike the standing of the will, which is one level for all of them (and see what is written in the discourse beginning “See that Havayah has given you the Shabbos,” on the meaning of “Its ways are ways of pleasantness”).
The will, by contrast, is the same in all of them. The parenthesis refers to the discourse “See that Havayah has given you the Shabbos” in Parshas Beshalach, which explains why the Torah and mitzvos are called “ways,” as in “Its ways are ways of pleasantness.”
ולכן במ״ת דכתיב פנים בפנים דבר5 ה׳ שהי׳ גילוי בחי׳ פנים עליונים שהוא עונג העליון ב״ה המלובש בתורה ומצות.
Therefore, at the Giving of the Torah, of which it is written, “Face to face Havayah spoke,” there was a revelation of the supernal face, which is the supernal delight, blessed be He, that is enclothed in Torah and mitzvos.
At Sinai G‑d spoke “face to face”: the supernal “face,” the delight within the Torah and mitzvos, was revealed.
הנה אמרז״ל על כל דבור פרחה נשמתן6 לפי שבכל דבור מעשרת הדברות הי׳ גילוי עונג פרטי המלובש בדיבור זה בלבד שאינו דומה לגילוי העונג שבדיבור השני והגורם לזה שזכו ישראל לכך במ״ת
Indeed, our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “At each utterance their souls flew out”: because in each utterance of the Ten Commandments there was a revelation of a particular delight, enclothed in that utterance alone, which is not like the revelation of the delight in the second utterance. And what caused Israel to merit this at the Giving of the Torah
That is why the Sages say that at each utterance of the Ten Commandments the people’s souls left them: each utterance revealed its own distinct delight, unlike that of the next. What made Israel worthy of this is explained next.
היינו משום דכתיב פנים בפנים, שגם מלמטה למעלה היה בבחי׳ גילוי הפנימיות ולא בבחי׳ אחוריים כי גם בתשוקה וכלות הנפש שממטה למעלה יש ב׳ בחי׳ הא׳ כמ״ש מי לי בשמים7 ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ.
is that it is written, “Face to face”: for from below upward, too, it was at the level of the revelation of the inner dimension, and not at the level of the back. For in the yearning and the expiring of the soul (kelos hanefesh) from below upward, too, there are two levels. The first is as it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven? And with You I desire nothing on earth”:
“Face to face” means that the people too, from below, stood with their inner selves revealed, not their “back.” Even the soul’s longing for G‑d has two levels, and the first is expressed in “Whom do I have in heaven? And with You I desire nothing on earth.”
דהיינו שמבטל רצונו וחפצו המלובש בגוף ונפש הבהמית ורוצה לדבקה בו ית׳ בתשוקה וצמאון כו׳.
that is, he sets aside his will and desire that are enclothed in the body and the animal soul, and wants to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, with yearning and thirst, etc.
At this first level a person sets aside the wants of his body and animal soul, and longs and thirsts to cleave to G‑d.
אך מ״מ רצון זה ותשוקה זו היא בחי׳ אחוריים שהרי עדיין נפשו האלקית מלובשת בגוף ונה״ב בתענוגות בני אדם אלא שרוצה לצאת מהם ומסכים בהסכמה אמיתית שתתפשט האהבה מלבושיה שבנוגה לדבקה באלקים חיים.
Nevertheless, this will and this yearning are at the level of the back: for his G‑dly soul is still enclothed in the body and the animal soul, in the pleasures of mankind; only, he wants to leave them, and agrees with true consent that the love should strip off its garments that are in [kelipas] nogah, to cleave to the living G‑d.
Yet this longing is still “back,” for his G‑dly soul is still clothed in the body and the animal soul and their pleasures. He sincerely wants to leave them, and agrees that his love should shed its garments in kelipas nogah, the realm of worldly things that are neither holy nor forbidden, so as to cleave to the living G‑d.
אך עדיין לא נתפשטה האהבה עד שתחפץ בקרבת אלקים בשמחה וטוב לבב מרוב כל ולהתענג על8 ה׳ אהבה בתענוגים9 ממש שזהו בחי׳ הב׳ וכמ״ש כלה שארי ולבבי10 כו׳
But the love has not yet been stripped [of them] to the point that it desires closeness to G‑d “with joy and gladness of heart, from the abundance of everything,” and to delight in G‑d, actual “love with delights.” This is the second level, as it is written, “My flesh and my heart pine away,” etc.
His love has not yet reached the point of desiring nearness to G‑d with joy and gladness, delighting in Him as one delights in a beloved (“love with delights”). That second level is what the verse calls “My flesh and my heart pine away.”
והיא בחי׳ ומעלה יתירה שמחה ותענוג בה׳ ממש והיא שמחה של מצוה ונשמח בדברי תורתך11 וב מצותיך לעולם ועד
And it is a level and a surpassing virtue: joy and delight in G‑d Himself. And it is the joy of a mitzvah: “and we will rejoice in the words of Your Torah and in Your mitzvos forever and ever,
This second level is a higher one: actual joy and delight in G‑d. It is the joy of a mitzvah, of which the evening prayer says, “we will rejoice in the words of Your Torah and in Your mitzvos forever.”
כי הם חיינו כו׳ ובחי׳ זו הב׳ היא בחי׳ גילוי פנימית וז״ש פנים בפנים דבר ה׳.
for they are our life,” etc. And this second level is the level of the revelation of the inner dimension. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “Face to face Havayah spoke”:
The prayer continues, “for they are our life.” This second level is the revelation of the inner dimension from below, and it is what “Face to face Havayah spoke” means.
כלומר שהיו חיבור והתקשרות בחי׳ פנים עליונים בבחי׳ פנים התחתונים שהי׳ התלבשות עונג העליון ב״ה שהוא הוא פנימי׳ הרצון בבחי׳ עונג התחתון שממטה למעלה כלה שארי ולבבי כו׳
that is to say, there was a joining and binding of the supernal face with the lower face: the supernal delight, blessed be He, which is the very inner dimension of the will, was enclothed in the lower delight that rises from below upward, “My flesh and my heart pine away,” etc.,
“Face to face” means that the supernal face was joined with the lower face: G‑d’s delight, the inner core of His will, entered the people’s own delight in Him, the delight of “My flesh and my heart pine away.”
בבחי׳ פנימי׳ האהבה בתענוגים להתענג על ה׳ ממש שעי״כ זכו והשיגו העונג העליון ב״ה המלובש בכל מצוה עונג פרטי.12
at the level of the inner dimension of the “love with delights,” to delight in G‑d Himself. Through this they merited and attained the supernal delight, blessed be He, that is enclothed in each mitzvah as a particular delight.
Because the people’s love was inward, a “love with delights,” they could receive the supernal delight enclothed in each mitzvah, each as its own particular delight.
Each mitzvah carries its own distinct supernal delight, unlike the uniform will. At Sinai this delight was revealed “face to face,” because the people’s love rose to its inner level, a joyful delight in G‑d, so that their “face” met the supernal “face.”
Marei mekomos
- 1חיך אוכל יטעם · Job 12:11
- 2בד״ה ראו כי · לעיל פ׳ בשלח א, ב.
- 3ראו כי ה׳ נתן לכם השבת · Exodus 16:29
- 4דרכיה דרכי נועם · Proverbs 3:17
- 5פנים בפנים דיבר ה׳ · Deuteronomy 5:4
- 6על כל דיבור פרחה נשמתן · Shabbat 88b:6
- 7מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
- 8ולהתענג על ה׳ · Isaiah 58:14
- 9אהבה בתענוגים · Song of Songs 7:7
- 10כלה שארי ולבבי · Psalms 73:26
- 11ונשמח בדברי תורתך · ברכת ק״ש של ערבית.
- 12בשמחה ובטוב לבב · Deuteronomy 28:47
David’s punishment, and the meaning of ve’ehyeh ¶17–20
17ולכן על כל דבור ודבור פרחה נשמתן. וזהו שנענש דוד המלך ע״ה על שלא שיבח את התורה רק בבחי׳ זמירות שהוא מצד בחי׳ אחוריים של המצות
And therefore at each and every utterance their souls flew out. And this is [why] King David, peace be upon him, was punished: because he praised the Torah only as “songs,” which is from the aspect of the back of the mitzvos,
This is why the souls left them at each utterance: each revealed a distinct inner delight. And this is why David was punished: he praised the Torah only as “songs,” which belong to the “back” of the mitzvos, the will.
ולא שיבח את התורה בבחי׳ זו הפנימי׳ שהיא מעלתן העקרית העצמית, ולכן העונש היה ג״כ מדה כנגד מדה ששכח מעלת התורה שהיא בבחי׳ פנים כי
and did not praise the Torah in this inner aspect, which is their main, essential virtue. And therefore the punishment, too, was measure for measure: he forgot the virtue of the Torah, which is at the level of the face. For
He did not praise the Torah’s inner dimension, its essential virtue. So his punishment was measure for measure: he forgot a law that expresses the Torah’s quality of “face.”
הנה לכך נאמר בכתף ישאו1 שהלוים היו נושאי הארון והיו כתפיהם לחוץ ופניהם כנגד הארון זה כנגד זה
this is why it is said, “They shall carry on the shoulder”: the Levites were the bearers of the Ark, and their shoulders were outward and their faces toward the Ark, facing one another.
The Ark had to be carried on the shoulder: the Levites who bore it had their shoulders outward and their faces turned toward the Ark, so that they and the Ark faced one another.
והיינו לפי שצ״ל בחי׳ פנים בפנים כנ״ל וגם הלוחות שבארון הי׳ בבחי׳ פנים לכל צד שהלוחות היו כתובים משני עבריהם2 שלכל עבר לא נראה
This is because there must be [the level of] face to face, as mentioned above. And the Tablets in the Ark, too, were at the level of face on every side, for the Tablets were written on both their sides, so that on each side nothing was seen
This was required because the relationship must be “face to face.” The Tablets inside the Ark were also all “face”: they were written through on both sides, so from either side one saw only the front.
רק בחי׳ הפנים והוא נענש ששכח זה ונשאו בפרות על העגלה ומה שנענש שנפל בבחי׳ שכחה היא בחי׳ אחוריים [עמ״ש פ׳ תצוה סד״ה זכור כו׳3
but the face. And he was punished in that he forgot this, and they carried it with cows on the wagon. And as for his being punished by falling into forgetfulness, which is the level of the back [see what is written in Parshas Tetzaveh, at the end of the discourse beginning “Remember,” etc.,
David forgot this and had the Ark carried by cows on a wagon. His falling into forgetfulness also fits, for forgetting is a quality of the “back”; the bracket refers to the discourse on “Remember … do not forget” in Parshas Tetzaveh.
לא תשכח] היינו מדה כנגד מדה שלפי שלא שיבח את התורה בבחי׳ פנים אלא בבחי׳ אחוריים שכח מעלת הלוחות שהיו בבחי׳ פנים ונפל לבחי׳ שכחה היא בחי׳ אחוריים.
“do not forget”], this is measure for measure: because he praised the Torah not at the level of the face but at the level of the back, he forgot the virtue of the Tablets, which were at the level of the face, and fell into forgetfulness, which is the level of the back.
It was measure for measure: since he praised the Torah only at the level of the “back,” he forgot the “face” quality of the Tablets and fell into forgetfulness, which is “back.”
David praised the Torah only as will, its “back”; measure for measure he forgot that the Ark, whose Tablets were all “face,” must be carried face to face on the shoulder, and he fell into forgetfulness, which is “back.”
Marei mekomos
- 1בכתף ישאו · Numbers 7:9
- 2כתובים משני עבריהם · Exodus 32:15
- 3פ׳ תצוה סד״ה זכור כו׳ · תו״א פה, ב ”שלא יהא בבחי׳ שכחה שהיא בחי׳ אחוריים כו׳”.
18ובזה יובן מ״ש ואהיה שעשועים1 כי בחי׳ שעשועים הן הן בחי׳ גילוי בחי׳ פנימי׳ דהיינו בחי׳ עונג העליון המלובש במצות
Through this will be understood what is written, “and I was delights”: for delights (sha’ashu’im) are the very revelation of the inner dimension (pnimiyus), that is, the supernal delight that is enclothed in the mitzvos,
This explains “and I was delights”: “delights” (sha’ashu’im) are the revelation of the inner dimension, the supernal delight enclothed in the mitzvos.
שהיא פנימית הרצון משא״כ בחי׳ זמירות הן בחי׳ אחוריים שהוא הרצון כנ״ל [ועמ״ש עוד מענין זה ע״פ ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ובאגה״ק קרוב לסופו ד״ה דוד זמירות קרית להו].
which is the inner dimension of the will; whereas “songs” are the level of the back, which is the will, as mentioned above [and see what is written further on this matter on [the verse] “And it was at the end of two years,” and in Iggeres HaKodesh, near its end, the passage beginning “David, You called them songs”].
That delight is the inner core of the will, whereas “songs” belong to the “back,” the will itself. The bracket refers to the discourse “And it was at the end of two years” and to the essay “David, You called them songs,” which the text places near the end of Iggeres HaKodesh and which today’s editions of Tanya print in Kuntres Acharon.
אך הנה ואהיה כתיב לשון הוה והיינו שצריך להמשיך גילוי והתהוות בחי׳ השעשועים. דבאתאדל״ת תליא מילתא.2
But note: it is written ve’ehyeh, a present-tense form. That is, one must draw down the revelation and coming-into-being of the delights; for the matter depends on an arousal from below.
The verse says ve’ehyeh, a form that speaks of ongoing being rather than of something that once was. The delights must be drawn down and brought into being again and again, and that depends on an arousal from below, a person’s own service.
“Delights” are the revealed inner delight of the mitzvos, above the “songs” of the will; and because the verse speaks in an ongoing form, these delights must be drawn down continually through human service.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהיה שעשועים · Proverbs 8:30
- 2ע״פ ויהי מקץ · תו״א לב, א.
19וזהו יום יום דהיינו בחי׳ ק״ש שאומרים דבר יום ביומו כי בכל יום נעשה בריה חדשה.
And this is [the meaning of] “day by day”: that is, the Shema, which is said “each day’s matter on its day,” for every day there comes about a new creation.
“Day by day” alludes to the Shema, which is said every day, because every day the world is created anew.
וע״כ בכל יום צריך לקרות ק״ש ולמסור נפשו באחד בכל יום ואהבת בחי׳ תענוג כו׳ ועי״ז גורם ירידת התענוג עליון שעשוע שבעצמותו שיתלבש בתורה וזהו אני תורתך שעשעתי.1
Therefore every day one must recite the Shema and give over his soul at [the word] “One” every day, [and then] “And you shall love,” the level of delight, etc. And through this he brings about the descent of the supernal delight, the delight (sha’ashua) that is in His essence, so that it is enclothed in the Torah. And this is [the meaning of] “I (ani) have delighted (sha’ashati) Your Torah.”
So each day one must say the Shema and be ready to give one’s life at the word “One”; then comes “And you shall love,” a love of delight. This draws the supernal delight, the delight in G‑d’s own essence, down to be enclothed in the Torah, as the verse says, “I have delighted Your Torah.”
שעשעתי הוא פועל יוצא שממשיך השעשועים בהתורה והיינו ע״י אני אותיות אין2 פי׳ בחינת ביטול היש שעושה מאני אין
Sha’ashati is a transitive verb: he draws the delights into the Torah. And this is through ani (“I”), which has the letters of ayin (“nothing”); that is, the level of the nullification of the self (bittul hayesh), when one makes of ani, ayin.
The Alter Rebbe reads sha’ashati as a transitive verb: the person puts delight into the Torah. This is done through ani (“I”), whose letters spell ayin (“nothing”): by turning one’s “I” into “nothing,” setting aside one’s sense of self.
והיינו שגם בלימוד התורה לא יהי׳ בבחי׳ יש אלא בביטול היש כמ״ש בכל נפשך3 סמוך לודברת בם4 כו׳ ועי״ז גורם למעלה להמשיך מהיש לאין
That is, in the study of the Torah, too, he should not be in a state of yesh (self), but in the nullification of the self, as it is written, “with all your soul,” next to “and you shall speak of them,” etc. And through this he causes Above a drawing-down from yesh to ayin:
Even in Torah study a person should not feel himself to be a “something” (yesh) but be self-nullified; that is why “with all your soul” stands near “and you shall speak of them,” the command to study. This self-nullification below brings about, Above, a drawing-down from yesh to ayin.
דהיינו מיש האמיתי שעשועים העצמיים5 יומשך הארה בחכמה שהיא בחי׳ אין ממש [והוא ג״כ ההמשכה מבחי׳ אני בבחי׳ אין ע׳ בע״ח שער השתלשלות הי״ס דרך העגולים במה״ב6 פ״ב בענין אני ואין.
that is, from the true Yesh, the essential delights, a radiance is drawn down into Chochmah, which is the level of actual ayin [and this is also the drawing-down from the level of ani into the level of ayin; see in Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Hishtalshelus HaYud Sefiros, Derech HaIgulim, in the Mahadura Basra, chapter 2, on the matter of ani and ayin.
From the true Yesh, G‑d’s essential delights, a radiance is drawn into Chochmah, which is called ayin (“nothing”). The bracket refers to Etz Chaim’s discussion of ani and ayin; Kehot’s note identifies the gate cited as Sha’ar Seder HaAtzilus.
“Day by day” is the daily Shema: self-sacrifice at “One” and the love that follows it turn a person’s ani into ayin, and so draw G‑d’s essential delight into the Torah and into Chochmah.
In Parshas Behar the Alter Rebbe likewise explains the ani of “I am Havayah” as having the letters of ayin, referring to the essence of the Infinite Light, which no thought can grasp.
Marei mekomos
- 1אני תורתך שעשעתי · Psalms 119:70
- 2אני אותיות אין · הובא בע״ח ש׳ דרושי אבי״ע ספ״א, וע׳ שם ש׳ עקודים פ״ג. וע׳ לק׳ נצבים (נג, ג) מאדמו״ר ע״ז. ושם (ע׳, ב [ד]) מפרדס. [כ]. לעיל (בהר) מד, ד.
- 3בכל נפשך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 4ודברת בם · Deuteronomy 6:7
- 5שעשועים העצמיים · ראה באוה״ת נ״ך-א ע׳ תקצ.
- 6שער השתלשלות . . במה״ב · הוא שער סדר האצילות.
20ובמא״א אות א׳ ססעי׳ ס״ד מל׳ דא״ק נק׳ אני מתלבשת ברדל״א נקרא אין עכ״ל1 וע׳ מענין ואהי׳ בזהר ויקהל דרי״ז ע״א2 והייתי לא כתיב
And in Meorei Or, letter alef, at the end of section 64: “Malchus (sovereignty) of Adam Kadmon is called ani; [when] it is enclothed in Radla (the Unknowable Head) it is called ayin.” End of quote. And on the matter of ve’ehyeh, see the Zohar, Vayakhel, folio 217a: “It is not written vehayisi (‘and I was’),
Meorei Or, a lexicon of Kabbalistic terms, says that Malchus of Adam Kadmon is called ani (“I”), and when it is enclothed in the “Unknowable Head” (Radla) it is called ayin (“nothing”): an instance of ani becoming ayin. The Zohar in Vayakhel notes that the verse does not say vehayisi (“and I was”) but ve’ehyeh.
but ve’ehyeh,” etc.; and at the beginning of Parshas Shemini, folio 35b, and in the Ramaz there; and in Parshas Acharei, folio 65b, “and a sign: ve’ehyeh,” etc.; and folio 67b].
The Zohar and its commentator the Ramaz also expound ve’ehyeh in this verse in Parshas Shemini and in Parshas Acharei. These references support reading ve’ehyeh as continual delight.
The bracketed references support the two points just made: the passage from ani to ayin, and the reading of ve’ehyeh as delight that is renewed continually.
The Zohar in Vayakhel says that the holy words of Torah rise before the King, who delights in them and is crowned with them, and therefore the Torah says ve’ehyeh rather than vehayisi: at every time and moment that the supernal words rise before Him. The Ramaz, as the Or HaTorah quotes him, compares the two ve’ehyeh’s of the verse to “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh”: the first ve’ehyeh, “a nurturer,” is Arich Anpin, and the second, “delights day by day,” is Chochmah and Binah.
Marei mekomos
- 1ובמא״א . . נקרא אין עכ״ל · מובא בואה״ת ויקרא-א ע׳ רעט. נתבאר באוה״ת פ׳ בא ע׳ רסא.
- 2ויקהל דרי״ז ע״א · נעתק באריכות באוה״ת נ״ך-א ע׳ תקפז.
- 3ור״פ שמיני דל״ה ע״ב ובהרמ״ז שם · ”חדוותא דקב״ה ואטליותא דילי׳ דכתיב ואהי׳ שעשועים יום יום, ופי׳ הרמ״ז חדוה הוא א״פ ואטליותא א״מ, וזהו ב׳ בחי׳ שעשועים”, — אוה״ת נ״ך-א ע׳ תקפח.
- 4ור״פ שמיני דל״ה ע״ב ובהרמ״ז שם · Zohar, Tzav 29:187–30:193
- 5ובפ׳ אחרי דס״ה ע״ב · בהרמ״ז ”ואהי׳ אצלו אמון ואהי׳ שעשועים ע״ד מ״ש אהי׳ אשר אהי׳, דפי׳ אהי׳ הראשון הוא באריך, ובחי׳ אשר אהי׳ היינו חו״ב. כמו״כ כאן ואהי׳ אצלו אמון זהו א״א, אח״כ ואהי׳ שעשועים יום יום היינו חו״ב”, — אוה״ת נ״ך-א ע׳ תקפח.
- 6וסימן ואהיה · Zohar, Achrei Mot 26:165–28:175
- 7
“Playing before Him at all times” ¶21–23
21ד משחקת לפניו בכל עת. הנה יש כ״ח עתים י״ד לטובה כו׳ וא׳ מהם עת לחבק ועת לרחוק1 מחבק פי׳ שיש לפעמים עת רצון למעלה שנעשה בחי׳ חיבוק
4. “Playing before Him at all times.” Now, there are twenty-eight times, fourteen for good, etc., and one of them is “a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.” The meaning is: sometimes there is a time of favor (eis ratzon) Above, when there comes about an embrace
The fourth section explains “playing before Him at all times.” Koheles lists twenty-eight “times,” fourteen of them good, among them “a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing”; sometimes there is a time of favor Above, when an “embrace” takes place.
כנ״י מקור הנשמות עם הקב״ה כאדם החובק את חבירו מאחוריו שלא ילך מפניו כך כביכול הקב״ה מחבק כנ״י כמ״ש אהבתי אתכם אמר2 ה׳ ואהבתו לא תסור ממנו לעולמים שלא להיות האדם בבחי׳ נפרד ממנו ח״ו.
of Knesses Yisrael (the Community of Israel), the source of the souls, with the Holy One, blessed be He. Like a person who embraces his fellow from behind so that he not go away from him, so, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, embraces Knesses Yisrael, as it is written, “I have loved you, says Havayah,” and His love will not depart from us forever, so that a person not be in a state of separateness from Him, G‑d forbid.
The embrace is between G‑d and Knesses Yisrael, the collective source of all Jewish souls. As a person hugs a friend from behind to keep him from leaving, G‑d holds Israel close, as in “I have loved you, says Havayah,” so that no Jew should be separated from Him.
There are times of divine “embrace,” when G‑d holds Knesses Yisrael close so that no soul is separated from Him.
Marei mekomos
- 1עת לחבק ועת לרחק · Ecclesiastes 3:5
- 2אהבתי אתכם אמר ה׳ · Malachi 1:2
22וכמו שהיה במ״ת פנים בפנים דבר1 ה׳ עמכם שגם ממטה למעלה היה הכל בבחי׳ פנים שאפילו האחוריים נכללו בבחי׳ פנים ונעשה הכל בבחי׳ פנים
As it was at the Giving of the Torah: “Face to face Havayah spoke with you,” for from below upward, too, everything was at the level of face: even the back was included in the level of face, and everything became face,
At Sinai, “Face to face Havayah spoke with you”: from below, too, everything was “face,” and even the “back” was taken up into the “face.”
דהיינו שגם נפש הבהמית אתהפכא כו׳ וכמ״ש בכל לבבך בשני יצריך2 כו׳ וזהו ימין ה׳ עושה חיל [וע׳ בע״ח שער עשרים פ״ב דב׳ פעמים כ״ד
that is, even the animal soul was transformed (is’hapcha), etc., as it is written, “with all your heart,” with both your inclinations, etc. And this is [the meaning of] “The right hand of Havayah does valiantly (oseh chayil)” [and see in Etz Chaim, Sha’ar 20, chapter 2: that twice the twenty-four
Even the animal soul was transformed (is’hapcha), as the Sages read “with all your heart” as “with both your inclinations,” the good and the evil. This is “The right hand of Havayah does valiantly”; the bracket begins a reference to Etz Chaim on the word chayil.
אותיות שיש בפסוק בשכמל״ו דק״ש שחרית וערבית זהו ענין חיל ולכן נקרא כנס״י אשת חיל3 ועמ״ש ע״פ ושמתי כדכד4 וענין בשכמל״ו היינו קבלת עול מלכות שמים וביטול היש וזהו ימין ה׳ עושה חיל].
letters that are in the verse “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever” of the morning and evening Shema is the meaning of chayil; and therefore Knesses Yisrael is called “a woman of valor (eishes chayil).” And see what is written on [the verse] “And I will make [your windows of] kadkod.” And the meaning of “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever” is accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol) of the kingdom of Heaven and the nullification of the self (bittul hayesh); and this is [the meaning of] “The right hand of Havayah does valiantly”].
The verse “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever” has twenty-four letters; said in the morning and evening Shema they make forty-eight, the numerical value of chayil. So Knesses Yisrael is called “a woman of valor” (eishes chayil); and since this verse expresses accepting the yoke of Heaven and self-nullification, it is the “valor” of G‑d’s right hand.
אמנם בגלות הוא בחי׳ עת לרחוק מחבק כשאין עת רצון אזי רחוק מלחבק ואזי אין עומדים כנס״י עם הקב״ה פנים בפנים דהיינו שאין דביקות הנפש באלקים חיים בבחי׳ פנים ממש ע״ד כלה שארי ולבבי5 כו׳
In exile, however, it is the level of “a time to refrain from embracing”: when there is no time of favor, then [He] refrains from embracing, and then Knesses Yisrael does not stand with the Holy One, blessed be He, face to face; that is, the soul’s cleaving to the living G‑d is not at the level of the actual face, in the manner of “My flesh and my heart pine away,” etc.,
In exile, though, it is “a time to refrain from embracing.” Without a time of favor, Knesses Yisrael does not stand with G‑d face to face: a person’s attachment to G‑d is not the inner love of “My flesh and my heart pine away.”
ויש לו תענוג במילי דעלמא הגם שיש לו רצון לה׳ הוא רק בחי׳ אחוריי׳ כנ״ל שהרצון נק׳ אחוריים והתענוג הוא בחינת פנים כו׳
and he has delight in worldly matters. Although he has a will for G‑d, it is only at the level of the back, as mentioned above, for the will is called the back and delight is the level of face, etc.
He still takes pleasure in worldly things, so even his wish for G‑d is only “back,” will without delight. As explained above, the will is the “back” and the delight the “face.”
וז״ש למה תשיב ידך וימינך6 מקרב חיקך כלה חיקך קרי וחוקך כתיב וחוקך היינו התורה
And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? From within Your bosom, make an end!” Cheikcha (“Your bosom”) is how it is read, and chukcha (“Your statute”) is how it is written; and “Your statute” is the Torah,
In the psalmist’s plea, “Why do You withdraw … Your right hand? From within Your bosom, make an end,” the word is written chukcha (“Your statute”) and read cheikcha (“Your bosom”). The Alter Rebbe joins the two: G‑d’s “bosom” is His “statute,” the Torah.
שהיא חוקת ה׳ והוא בקשת כנס״י שיתגלה ימינו ית׳ ולא יהי׳ גנוז ונעלם בחוקו ומכלל זה אתה שומע שיש עתים שהימין גנוז ונעלם בחוקו
which is the statute of G‑d. And this is the request of Knesses Yisrael that His right hand, may He be blessed, be revealed, and not be hidden and concealed within His statute. And from this you can infer that there are times when the right hand is hidden and concealed within His statute.
Knesses Yisrael asks that G‑d’s right hand, His kindness, be revealed and not stay hidden inside the Torah. The plea itself implies that at times it is hidden there.
And this is along the lines of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory: “The light that was created on the first day: by it man could see from one end of the world to the other.
The Talmud says that the light created on the first day of creation let Adam see from one end of the world to the other.
ראה שאין העולם כדאי לו גנזו לצדיקים. והיכן גנזו היינו בתורה9 ועי׳ בזהר פ׳ תרומה (דקמ״ט א׳)
He saw that the world was not worthy of it, [and] hid it away for the righteous.” And where did He hide it? In the Torah. And see the Zohar, Parshas Terumah (folio 149a).
G‑d saw that the world did not deserve this light and hid it away for the righteous. It is hidden in the Torah, as the Zohar on Parshas Terumah says.
And this is the meaning: the right hand, which is supernal Chesed (kindness), which is the level of the primordial light (nehora kadma’ah), is hidden within His statute, which is the Torah.
The “right hand” is supernal Chesed, the “primordial light” of the first day, and it is hidden within G‑d’s “statute,” the Torah.
(ומזה מובן המעשה דאיתא בזהר12 סוף ח״ג דף ש״ה ע״א שאמר ר׳ אלעזר ואנא חמינא כו׳ כי הוא היה יכול שיתגלה לו ע״י התורה בחי׳ אור ההוא הגנוז בו שאדם צופה בו מסוף העולם ועד סופו וע״כ אמר אנא חמינא ממש)
(And from this is understood the story found in the Zohar, at the end of Part III, folio 305a, that Rabbi Elazar said, “And I saw,” etc.: for he was able to have revealed to him, through the Torah, that light hidden in it, by which man can see from one end of the world to the other; and therefore he said, “I saw,” literally.)
This explains Rabbi Elazar’s words in the Zohar, “And I saw”: through the Torah the hidden light, by which one can see from one end of the world to the other, was revealed to him, so he could truly say “I saw.”
וז״ש ימין ה׳ רוממה ימין ה׳ עושה חיל13 כי תמיד יצוה ה׳ עלינו חסדו וימין ה׳ נטוי׳ עלינו
And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “The right hand of Havayah is exalted; the right hand of Havayah does valiantly”: for G‑d always commands His kindness upon us, and the right hand of G‑d is stretched out over us;
The psalm says, “The right hand of Havayah is exalted; the right hand of Havayah does valiantly.” G‑d’s kindness is always directed to us, and His right hand is always stretched out over us.
רק לפעמים היא רוממה מנפש האדם רק היא גנוזה בתורה ולפעמים יורדת ונמשכת למטה בנפש האדם ואזי היא עושה חיל
only, sometimes it is “exalted” above a person’s soul, being only hidden in the Torah, and sometimes it descends and is drawn down below into a person’s soul, and then it “does valiantly.”
Sometimes it is “exalted,” too high for a person’s soul, and remains hidden in the Torah; at other times it comes down into the soul, and then it “does valiantly.”
ולכן אמר הכתוב וימינך מקרב חיקך כלה כלומר שלא תהא מלובשת ומתעלמת14 בתורה להיות גנוזה שם רק תוציאנה מקרב חיקך מההעלם אל הגילוי להיות גילוי ימין וחסד ה׳ היא האהבה תקועה בנפש האדם
Therefore the verse says, “Your right hand, from within Your bosom, make an end”: that is to say, that it should not be enclothed and concealed in the Torah, to be hidden there, but that You bring it out from within Your bosom, from concealment into revelation, so that there be a revelation of the right hand and kindness of G‑d, which is love, implanted in a person’s soul.
So the plea “Your right hand, from within Your bosom, make an end” asks that G‑d’s kindness not stay hidden in the Torah but come out into the open, as a love planted in a person’s soul.
והנה בכל עת ועת בין בבחי׳ עת לחבק בין בבחי׳ עת לרחוק מחבק נאמר על התורה משחקת,
Now, at each and every time, whether at the level of “a time to embrace” or at the level of “a time to refrain from embracing,” it is said of the Torah, “playing.”
At every time, whether “a time to embrace” or “a time to refrain from embracing,” the Torah is described as “playing” before G‑d.
והענין כי הנה בחי׳ שחוק היא בחי׳ ביטול היש לאין וכמ״ש צחוק עשה לי15 אלהים פי׳
The explanation is that laughter (sechok) is the level of the nullification of yesh (something) into ayin (nothing), as it is written, “Elokim has made laughter for me.” The meaning is:
Laughter or play (sechok) is the nullification of yesh, “something,” into ayin, “nothing.” Sarah’s words, “Elokim has made laughter for me,” point to this.
כי שם אלקים המעלים ומסתיר אור א״ס ב״ה להיות נראה העולם ליש ודבר נפרד כו׳ ושלא יבטל במציאות כו׳ כמו זיו השמש בשמש כו׳
the Name Elokim, which hides and conceals the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that the world appears as a yesh and a separate thing, etc., and so that it not be nullified out of existence, etc., like the radiance of the sun within the sun, etc.,
The Name Elokim conceals the Infinite Light so that the world seems to exist on its own, as a separate “something,” rather than being nullified like a ray of sunlight within the sun itself.
הוא בשביל הצחוק שלבסוף הכל שישוב ויתהפך שיהי׳ היש בטל לאין ונגלה כבוד16 ה׳ לעין כל כי שם אלקים המסתיר ומעלים שיהא נראה ליש כו׳
is for the sake of the laughter at the end of everything, when it will turn back and be transformed, so that the yesh will be nullified into ayin, and “the glory of Havayah will be revealed” before every eye. For the Name Elokim, which conceals and hides so that [the world] appears as a yesh, etc.,
This concealment exists for the sake of the “laughter” at the end, when everything will turn back, the “something” will be nullified into “nothing,” and G‑d’s glory will be revealed to all.
הוא רק כמו צחוק שעושין לפני שרים שעושים שינויים דברים זרים לשחוק בהם ונעשה בחי׳ יש ושיהי׳ היש בטל לאין ועשיית גילוי היש יהי׳21
is only like the jesting done before princes, when they do changes, strange things, to laugh at them. [So] there came about the level of yesh, and [it is] so that the yesh will be nullified into ayin, and the making of the revelation of the yesh will be
The concealment by Elokim is like the jests performed before princes, odd and unexpected things done to amuse them. The world’s apparent independence was made so that it would be nullified.
כמו זר נחשב17 ואין זה רק בחי׳ שחוק ועד״ז הוא ענין השחוק לע״ל שעתיד הקב״ה לעשות קניגי18 לצדיקים שור הבר עם לויתן כו׳ וכמ״ש במ״א.1920
“counted as a strange thing,” and this is only the level of laughter. And along these lines is the matter of the laughter in the Time to Come, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a hunt (kenigi) for the righteous, the wild ox with the Leviathan, etc., as is explained elsewhere.
The world’s appearance as “something” is regarded as a strange thing, a mere jest. The Sages’ account of the “hunt” G‑d will stage for the righteous in the Time to Come, the wild ox against the Leviathan, is also this “laughter,” as explained in Parshas Shemini.
In exile the “embrace” is absent and G‑d’s kindness is hidden in the Torah, yet the Torah “plays” at all times: its “laughter” is the nullification of the world’s “something” into G‑d’s “nothing,” which will be fully revealed in the Time to Come.
The Rebbe Rashab, citing this maamar, explains “Your bosom” as Yesod of Imma, and the plea as a request that the chasadim, which are the “right,” be revealed out of the concealment of Yesod of Imma.
Marei mekomos
- 1פנים בפנים דבר ה׳ עמכם · Deuteronomy 5:4
- 2בכל לבבך בשני יצריך · Berakhot 54a:6
- 3אשת חיל · Proverbs 31:10
- 4ושמתי כדכד · Isaiah 54:12
- 5כלה שארי ולבבי · Psalms 73:26
- 6למה תשיב ידך וימינך · Psalms 74:11
- 7אור שנברא ביום ראשון · Chagigah 12a:5–6
- 8אור שנברא ביום ראשון היה אדם צופה בו מסוף העולם ועד סופו · Bereshit Rabbah 12:6
- 9גנזו היינו בתורה · Zohar I, 264a
- 10הימין שהוא חסד · ראה ת״ז בהק׳ (פתח אלי׳).
- 11שהימין שהוא חסד עליון · Tikkunei Zohar 17a
- 12המעשה דאיתא בזהר · ובהכת״י שתח״י בוך פערטעל אי׳ (סא, ב) [וכ״ה במאמרי אדה״ז כתובים-א ע׳ רד ובאוה״ת שבועות ע׳ רכא מעתיק משם]. שמזה מובן מעשה בעש״ט ז״ל שאמר לא׳ שבא לשאול על בנו שהי׳ בריחוק מקום כמה מאות פרסאות שרואה אותו ממש, ואיך הוא עומד בברעסלא, ע״י שקראו לפניו בזה״ק שנפתח ונתגלה האור הגנוז וכו׳ יעו״ש. [כ].
- 13ימין ה׳ עושה חיל · Psalms 118:15
- 14שלא תהא מלובשת ומתעלמת · ”וזהו הבקשה וימינך מקרב חיקך כלה דחיקך הוא בחי׳ יסוד אי׳ ומבקשים וימינך כו׳ שיתגלו החסדים שהן בחי׳ ימין מתוך ההעלם דיסוד אי׳ כו׳ כמ״ש בלקו״ת פ׳ במדבר בהביאור דואהי׳ אצלו אמון” — סה״מ תרנ״ג ע׳ רד.
- 15צחוק עשה לי אלקים · Genesis 21:6
- 16ונגלה כבוד ה׳ · Isaiah 40:5
- 17כמו זר נחשב · Hosea 8:12
- 18שעתיד הקב״ה לעשות קניגי · Vayikra Rabbah 13:3
- 19שור הבר עם לויתן כו׳ וכמ״ש במ״א · ראה לעיל פ׳ שמיני דף יח, א ואילך.
- 20ימין ה׳ רוממה · Psalms 118:16
- 21כמו הצחוק שעושין לפני שרים · במאמרי אדה״ז כתובים-א ע׳ רה מביא הדוגמא מציפור המדברת.
23והנה גילוי בחי׳ ביטול היש לאין שיהיה לעתיד הוא ע״י התורה שהיא המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה בדברים גשמיים שתחת ממשלת קליפת נוגה להעלותם ולקשרם באור ה׳ וקדושתו והוא בחי׳ ביטול היש לאין
Now, the revelation of the nullification of yesh into ayin that will be in the Time to Come comes through the Torah, which is the drawing-down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, into physical things that are under the dominion of kelipas nogah, to raise them and bind them to the light of G‑d and His holiness; and this is the nullification of yesh into ayin.
The nullification of “something” into “nothing” that will be revealed in the Time to Come is brought about now through the Torah. The Torah draws the Infinite Light into physical things under kelipas nogah, and so raises them and binds them to G‑d’s light and holiness.
ולכן נקרא משחקת בכל עת היינו גם ע״י אתכפי׳ כו׳ נמשך התענוג עליון בהתורה וזהו בחי׳ בינונים זה
Therefore it is called “playing at all times”: that is, even through subjugation (iskafya), etc., the supernal delight is drawn into the Torah. And this is the level of the beinonim (intermediate people), [of whom it is said,] “this one and
That is why the Torah “plays” “at all times”: even through iskafya, subduing one’s nature without yet transforming it, the supernal delight is drawn into the Torah. This is the level of the beinonim, the intermediate people.
וזה שופטן1 ויש בהם משני העתים הנ״ל שבשעת התפלה הוא דבוק באלקות ואח״כ פונה לעסקיו כו׳:
that one judge them”; and they have both of the times mentioned above: during prayer he cleaves to G‑dliness, and afterwards he turns to his affairs, etc.
The Talmud says of the beinonim that “this one and that one,” the good and the evil inclination, “judge them.” They know both “times”: in prayer they cleave to G‑d, and afterward they turn to their worldly affairs.
Through the Torah the future nullification of “something” into “nothing” is already drawn into the physical world, and even the beinoni, who moves between closeness and distance, draws the supernal delight through iskafya; so the Torah “plays” at all times.
Marei mekomos
- 1בינונים זה וזה שופטן · Berakhot 61b:2–3
“Playing in tevel” and “my delights with the children of man” ¶24–26
The phrase “playing in the inhabited world of His earth” is explained through a gematria: tevel (432) equals twice aryeh, “lion” (216). In Ezekiel’s chariot there is a lion among the holy chayos and a lion among the ofanim. The chayos belong to Yetzirah, where, in the Tikkunei Zohar’s words, “six Sefiros nest,” and they correspond to the six orders of the Mishnah.
שהם בבחי׳ טעם ודעת וכך החיות הקודש אהבתם היא בבחי׳ טעם ודעת ארי׳ שואג כו׳ מחמת השגתם כי קדוש קדוש קדוש3 הוי׳ צבאות כו׳
which are at the level of reason and knowledge. And so the holy chayos: their love is at the level of reason and knowledge, a lion roaring, etc., because of their comprehension that “Holy, holy, holy is Havayah of hosts,” etc.:
Like the Mishnah, the chayos work with reason and understanding: their love comes from comprehension, and they “roar” like a lion because they grasp the meaning of “Holy, holy, holy is Havayah of hosts.”
איך שהוא קדוש ומובדל כו׳ ומבחי׳ זו שהיא בבחי׳ קדוש ומובדל שאינו בגדר עלמין נמשך לריבוי צבאות והיכלות עד שגם למטה מכה״כ
how He is holy and set apart, etc.; and from this level, which is holy and set apart, not within the bounds of worlds, there is a drawing-down to a multitude of hosts and chambers, to the point that even below, “the whole earth is full of His glory.”
They understand that G‑d is holy and set apart, beyond all worlds, and that from that very transcendence His life-force reaches countless hosts and chambers, until “the whole earth is full of His glory.”
ולכך הם מרעישים בקול רעש גדול על עוצם קדושה זו ממקום קדוש כזה שיהי׳ נמשך ממקום כבודו מאור א״ס ב״ה שלמעלה מגדר עלמין להחיות העולמות
Therefore they raise a tumult “with a great roaring sound” over the immensity of this holiness: that from so holy a place there should be drawn down, “from the place of His glory,” from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is above the bounds of worlds, [light] to give life to the worlds.
This is why they cry out “with a great roaring sound”: they are overwhelmed that life for the worlds should flow from “the place of His glory,” the Infinite Light, which is beyond all worlds.
אך עכ״ז הוא קדוש ומובדל ולא כדמיון הנפש שמתלבשת בגוף כו׳ אבל האופנים הם בבחי׳ עשי׳ שאין להם בחי׳ טעם ודעת והשגה גדולה באור א״ס ב״ה כחיות הקדש ואעפ״כ הם מרעישים מחמת אהבה טבעית שלהם
And yet He is holy and set apart, and not like the soul that is enclothed in the body, etc. But the ofanim are at the level of Asiyah (Action): they do not have reason and knowledge or great comprehension of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, as the holy chayos do; and nevertheless they raise a tumult, because of their natural love.
Even as G‑d gives life to the worlds He remains apart from them, unlike a soul enclothed in a body. The ofanim, of the World of Asiyah, lack such comprehension, yet they too cry out, from a natural love.
וזהו משחקת בתבל ב״פ אריה שבב׳ בחי׳ ארי׳ הוא בבחי׳ משחקת בין בבחי׳ אריה שבחיות הקדש בין בבחי׳ אריה שבאופנים.
And this is “playing in tevel,” twice aryeh: for in both levels of lion it is at the level of “playing,” both in the lion among the holy chayos and in the lion among the ofanim.
So “playing in tevel” means that the Torah “plays” at both levels of “lion”: the understanding love of the chayos and the natural love of the ofanim.
Tevel, twice “lion,” alludes to the two angelic “lions”: the chayos, whose roaring love comes from understanding, and the ofanim, whose love is natural; the Torah “plays” at both levels.
The Kehot note identifies “six Sefiros nest in Yetzirah” as a phrase of the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 6): the six emotive Sefiros are reflected in the World of Yetzirah, the world of the chayos.
Marei mekomos
- 1תבל ב״פ ארי׳ · ראה אוה״ת שמות ע׳ צז ובלקו״ש חי״ב ע׳ יט. וראה שם הערה 49.
- 2שית ספירן מקננין ביצירה · ת״ז ת״ו. מאמרי אדה״ז — הקצרים ע׳ תקנב.
- 3קדוש קדוש קדוש · Isaiah 6:3
25והנה כמו שיש ב׳ בחי׳ במלאכים חיות ואופנים כך יש ב׳ בחי׳ בבני אדם שוכני מטה יש שמתבונן בגדולת הוי׳ בק״ש שמע ישראל1 שמע לשון הבנה באחד ובשכמל״ו
Now, just as there are two levels among the angels, chayos and ofanim, so there are two levels among human beings, who dwell below. There is one who contemplates the greatness of Havayah in the Shema: “Hear, O Israel,” “hear” being an expression of understanding, [contemplating] “One” and “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever,”
Just as there are two kinds of angels, so there are two kinds of people. The first contemplates G‑d’s greatness when he says the Shema: “hear” (shema) also means “understand,” and he understands the oneness expressed in “One” and in “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom.”
ועי״ז יבא לקיום ואהבת בכל נפשך2 ממש ודברת בם3 בם בדברי תורה4 בבחי׳ ביטול היש לאין אני המשנה המדברת בפיך5 ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך6 והם הם הת״ח העוסקים בד״ת שיתא סדרי משנה שהם ביצירה.
and through this he comes to fulfill “And you shall love … with all your soul,” literally, [and] “and you shall speak of them,” of them, in words of Torah, at the level of the nullification of yesh into ayin: “I am the Mishnah that speaks in your mouth,” and “My words that I have put in your mouth.” And these are the Torah scholars who occupy themselves with words of Torah, the six orders of the Mishnah, which are in Yetzirah.
This understanding brings him to love G‑d “with all your soul,” giving himself over entirely, and to “speak of them,” to study Torah with self-nullification, until it is as if the Torah speaks through his mouth (a saying from Maggid Meisharim, the heavenly teaching of Rabbi Yosef Karo). These are the Torah scholars, whose study of the six orders of the Mishnah corresponds to Yetzirah, the level of the chayos.
Among people, the Torah scholar who contemplates G‑d’s greatness in the Shema and studies with self-nullification corresponds to the chayos, whose love comes from understanding.
Marei mekomos
- 1שמע ישראל · Deuteronomy 6:4
- 2בכל נפשך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 3ודברת בם · Deuteronomy 6:7
- 4בדברי תורה · Berakhot 13b:12–13
- 5אני המשנה המדברת בפיך · מגיד מישרים ר״פ ויקרא. ובכ״מ שם.
- 6ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך · Isaiah 59:21
26ויש מי שאינו יכול ללמוד ודעתו קצרה וגם עוסק במו״מ והוא מבחי׳ עשיי׳ ואעפ״כ גם הוא יכול לשאוג
And there is one who cannot learn, and his mind is limited, and he is also occupied in business; he is of the level of Asiyah. Nevertheless, he too can roar
The second kind of person cannot study in depth: his mind is limited and he is busy with his livelihood, so he belongs to the level of Asiyah, action. Yet he too can “roar.”
כאריה שבאופנים ע״י פי׳ הפשוט שבאחד שהוא ית׳ לבדו הוא ועי״ז נמשך בו ג״כ ואהבת בכל לבבך בשני יצריך
like the lion among the ofanim, through the simple meaning of “One”: that He alone, may He be blessed, is [G‑d]. And through this there is drawn into him, too, “And you shall love … with all your heart,” with both your inclinations,
He roars like the lion of the ofanim, through the simple meaning of “One”: that G‑d alone is G‑d. This brings him to love G‑d “with all your heart,” with both inclinations.
כי בכל1 א׳ יש אהבה הטבעית עיין בסש״ב פי״ח וזוכים לגילוי זה ע״י הצדקה שנק׳ מעשה כמ״ש והי׳ מעשה הצדקה שלום2 כו׳,
for in every one there is the natural love (see Sefer Shel Beinonim, chapter 18). And they merit this revelation through charity (tzedakah), which is called “deed” (maaseh), as it is written, “And the deed of charity shall be peace,” etc.
Every Jew has a natural love for G‑d, as Tanya explains in chapter 18. It is revealed through charity, which is called “deed” (maaseh), the language of Asiyah, as in “And the deed of charity shall be peace.”
ועי״ז גורמים וממשיכים בחי׳ משחקת בתבל ארצו הוא ענין המשכת עונג ושעשועים העליונים כנ״ל וכמ״ש כמים הפנים לפנים3 כן לב האדם פי׳
And through this they bring about and draw down the level of “playing in the inhabited world of His earth,” which is the drawing-down of the supernal delight and delights, as mentioned above; and as it is written, “As water, face to face, so the heart of man.” The meaning is:
Through this service they draw down the supernal delights, “playing in the inhabited world of His earth.” The verse “As water, face to face, so the heart of man” shows how this works.
כי יש ב׳ בחי׳ אדם4 היינו כי במלאכים פני אריה כו׳ כתיב ודמות פניהם פני אדם5 ויש בחי׳ אדם למעלה ועל דמות הכסא6 דמות כמראה אדם7
there are two levels of “man” (adam). For of the angels, [with] the face of a lion, etc., it is written, “And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man”; and there is a level of “man” above: “And upon the likeness of the throne, a likeness like the appearance of a man,”
There are two “men”: in Ezekiel’s vision the angels, which have the face of a lion and other faces, also have “the face of a man,” and above them, upon the Throne, there is “a likeness like the appearance of a man.”
דהיינו רמ״ח מצות עשה ושס״ה ל״ת וע״י כמים הפנים לפנים להיות בחי׳ פנימי׳ מלמטה למעלה להמשכת בחי׳ פנימית עליון כן נמשך לב האדם העליון שעל הכסא הוא בחי׳ התורה רמ״ח מצות עשה כו׳
that is, the 248 positive commandments and the 365 prohibitions. And through “as water, face to face,” so that there be the inner dimension from below upward, to draw down the supernal inner dimension, so “the heart of the man” is drawn down: [of] the supernal man upon the throne, which is the Torah, the 248 positive commandments, etc.,
The supernal “man” upon the Throne is the Torah, whose 248 positive commandments and 365 prohibitions are like the limbs and sinews of a body. When the inner dimension rises from below, it draws down the supernal inner dimension, “the heart” of the supernal man.
לאדם התחתון שבמלאכים ודמות פניהם כו׳ וז״ש ושעשועי את בני אדם הם הן ב׳ בחי׳ אדם הנ״ל להיות ההמשכה כמים הפנים כו׳.
to the lower man that is among the angels, “and the likeness of their faces,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “and my delights are with the children of man (bnei adam)”: these are the two levels of “man” mentioned above, so that the drawing-down be “as water, face to face,” etc.
That “heart” flows down to the lower “man” among the angels. This is “my delights are with the children of man (bnei adam)”: both levels of “man” are meant, the delight passing between them as a face is reflected in water.
לכן אמרו רז״ל ביום חתונתו8 זו מתן תורה בחי׳ חתונה וזיווג משפיע ומקבל כו׳ שאין לך טפה יורדת9 מלמעלה עד שאין עולים כו׳:10
Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “‘On the day of his wedding’: this is the Giving of the Torah,” the level of a wedding and union of giver and receiver, etc.; for there is no drop that comes down from above unless [drops] rise up, etc.
So the Sages call the Giving of the Torah G‑d’s “wedding day,” a union of giver and receiver. As the Zohar says, no drop comes down from above unless drops rise from below: the supernal delight comes down in answer to the love that rises.
Even a simple, busy person, through the plain meaning of “One” and through charity, awakens a natural love that draws down the supernal delight. The two levels of “man,” above and below, mirror one another, and that mutual reflection is the “wedding” of the Giving of the Torah.
In Torah Ohr (Megillas Esther) the Alter Rebbe explains “As water, face to face” the same way: the love revealed from above (“I have loved you”) awakens the love from below, the soul’s yearning (kelos hanefesh), which is why Knesses Yisrael is called kallah, “bride”; and this is why their souls flew out at each utterance at Sinai.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי בכל א׳ יש אהבה הטבעית · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 18:7
- 2והי׳ מעשה הצדקה שלום · Isaiah 32:17
- 3כמים הפנים לפנים · Proverbs 27:19
- 4פי׳ כי יש ב׳ בחי׳ אדם · ראה תו״א צח, ד. אוה״ת בשלח ע׳ תעז ואילך.
- 5ודמות פניהם פני אדם · Ezekiel 1:10
- 6ועל דמות הכסא · שם א, כו.
- 7ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם · Ezekiel 1:26
- 8ביום חתונתו · Song of Songs 3:11
- 9שאין לך טפה יורדת מלמע׳ · Zohar III, 247b
- 10זו מ״ת · Taanit 26b:6
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Every day, through the Shema said with readiness to give one’s life at “One,” and through Torah study with self-nullification, a person draws the supernal delight into the Torah; he should rejoice in each mitzvah as G‑d’s delight, not only as His will. Even one who cannot study and is busy with his livelihood can “roar” with his natural love through the simple meaning of “One” and through charity.
Questions for discussion
- Why could Moshe not be Israel’s “nurturer,” while the Torah can, and what does this say about the Torah’s greatness?
- How do the forty-four days of the Omer prepare for Shavuos, according to the image of nursing and bread?
- David praised the Torah for coming from the supernal will, above Chochmah. Why was this praise incomplete, and why was his punishment measure for measure?
- What is the difference between will and delight, “back” and “face,” and how does it explain why each utterance at Sinai made the souls fly out?
- How can a person whose mind is limited and who is busy with business still draw down the supernal “delights”?
Key terms in this maamar
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×4
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×6
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×8
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- The soul that animates the body and its drives. ×4
- The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית
- The soul that is 'a part of G‑d above'. ×1
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×2
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion. ×10
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×1
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The world is nothing next to G‑d.
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- The intellectual configurations.
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d.
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Giving oneself over entirely to G‑d.
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×29
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×12
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will. ×21
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level. ×1
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human initiative that draws down a divine response.
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×7
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×1
- Accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol)קבלת עול
- Submission to G‑d's will beyond understanding. ×1
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×5
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions. ×3
- The Sefirosספירות
- The ten divine attributes through which G‑d relates to creation.
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one.
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×1