Likkutei Torah · Parshas Ki Seitzei · Maamar 5
ולא אבה הוי׳ אלהיך לשמוע אל בלעם ויהפוך…
“But Havayah your G‑d was not willing to listen to Bilam”
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The big idea
G‑d’s refusal, beyond reason, to hear the accuser answers the Jew’s own love for Him beyond reason, the tip of the yud of Havayah in the soul. And when a penitent cries out “with all your might” from the hidden depths of his soul, G‑d’s love from above does more than ignore his sins: it turns them into merits, the curse into a blessing.
The maamar in brief
The Torah praises G‑d for refusing to listen to Bilam and for turning his curse into a blessing. The Alter Rebbe asks why such a refusal is remarkable, and what was turned if Bilam was never heard. Bilam stands for the accuser who seeks out Israel’s real sins; the praise is that G‑d refuses to hear him at all, beyond reason. This answers to the Jew’s own love beyond reason, the tip of the yud of Havayah: a hidden natural love that would sooner give up life than be separated from G‑d. The maamar then maps the rest of the Name onto the soul. The yud is Chochmah, born of tzimtzum; a person echoes it by nullifying his own will, which draws down the tzimtzum that renews creation each day. The first hei is Binah: broad contemplation, love, joy and the higher teshuvah of prayer. The vav and final hei are Torah and mitzvos in action, summed up in charity. Beyond these is a Havayah drawn from above, “because He loved you”: the penitent’s cry “with all your might” reveals the soul’s hidden depths, and from there sins become merits and the curse a blessing, culminating on Yom Kippur.
Outline
- Why not listening is praiseBilam stands for the accuser who seeks out Israel’s real sins. G‑d’s praise is that He refuses to hear him, not by refuting him but beyond reason; the verse names Havayah because a radiance of Havayah is in every Jewish soul.¶1–2
- The tip of the yud: love beyond reasonEvery Jew has a hidden natural love that would give up life rather than be separated from G‑d: the tip of the yud, rooted in the Infinite Light within the soul’s Chochmah. Aroused, it brings fear of sin even regarding the words of the Scribes, and it evokes G‑d’s own “not willing to listen.”¶3
- The yud: Chochmah, tzimtzum and nullifying one’s willChochmah emerges from the Infinite Light only through a radical tzimtzum, like hair from the brain; without it the worlds could not exist. The daily renewal of creation depends on a person’s own tzimtzum, “Nullify your will,” in thought, speech and action, through the Chochmah of the soul.¶4–5
- The first hei: contemplation, love and teshuvah in prayerBinah broadens the point of Chochmah into contemplation of G‑d’s greatness, which brings love and joy into the heart. Its arousal from below is the higher teshuvah, a cry from distress; in prayer it leads to “You shall love Havayah your G‑d” and to the request that G‑d’s “face” be drawn down.¶6–8
- The vav and final hei: Torah, mitzvos and charityThe Torah, the vav, draws G‑d’s light even into the “wilderness” of this world; the mitzvos in action, the final hei, reveal it there. Charity, their general expression, shows this in its spelling: tzedek becomes tzedakah when Chesed fills it.¶9
- Havayah from above: the penitent and the depths“Because Havayah your G‑d loved you” is a love from above that turns sins into merits. The penitent’s cry “with all your might” reaches the level of Yah and the prohibitions and reveals the soul’s ten hidden depths and a new Havayah, from which forgiveness flows, one depth on each of the Ten Days of Teshuvah until Yom Kippur.¶10–12
Key concepts
- the tip of the yudקוצו של יו״ד
- The point that rises above the first letter of Havayah; in the soul, the hidden natural love beyond reason that reaches toward the Infinite One.
- the natural loveאהבה הטבעית
- A love for G‑d built into the G‑dly soul, which would give up life rather than be separated from His unity; it stays hidden by the body until it is aroused.
- tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- G‑d’s concealment of His essence so that Chochmah, and through it the worlds, can exist; a person mirrors it by setting aside his own will.
- “Nullify your will”בטל רצונך
- The person’s own tzimtzum: restraining every desire that is not for G‑d, in thought, speech and action, even in what is permitted.
- the higher teshuvahתשובה עילאה
- A return from below upward that reveals the first hei, Binah: a cry from the distress of distance from G‑d that gathers the whole soul to Him.
- “with all your might”ובכל מאדך
- Love beyond the soul’s capacity, revealed above all in baalei teshuvah; it reaches the Name Yah and the hidden depths of the soul.
- Yah and vav-heiי״ה / ו״ה
- The two halves of Havayah: Yah, the source of the 365 prohibitions, is higher than vav-hei, the source of the positive commandments.
- the depthsממעמקים
- The hidden roots of the soul’s ten powers, “the depth of darkness,” revealed through teshuvah; one is drawn out on each of the Ten Days of Teshuvah.
Why not listening is praise ¶1–2
“But Havayah your G‑d was not willing to listen to Bilam, and Havayah your G‑d turned the curse into a blessing for you,” etc.
The maamar opens with a verse from Parshas Ki Teitzei about Bilam, the prophet hired to curse Israel: G‑d refused to listen to him and turned his intended curse into a blessing. The whole maamar explains what this refusal means and how a curse can become a blessing.
להבין מהו הפלא הגדול ועצום מה שלא אבה לשמוע בקול איש בליעל כבלעם הרשע וגם מהו ויהפוך ה׳ את הקללה לברכה מאחר שלא שמע אל בלעם כלל.
[We need] to understand: what is the great and tremendous wonder in His not being willing to listen to the voice of a base man such as the wicked Bilam? And also, what is [the meaning of] “Havayah turned the curse into a blessing,” since He did not listen to Bilam at all?
The Alter Rebbe asks two questions. First, why the Torah presents it as a great wonder that G‑d did not heed a wicked man like Bilam, when no one would expect Him to. Second, if G‑d did not listen to Bilam at all, so that the curse never took effect, what there was to “turn” into a blessing.
הענין הוא שיש מקטרגים שמקטרגים על ישראל שלכך נוטלין שופר בר״ה [בראש השנה] לערבב הקטגור והוא שמחפש אחר עוונות בני ישראל ומדקדק אחריהם ללמד עליהם חובה
The matter is that there are accusers who accuse Israel, which is why the shofar is taken up on Rosh HaShanah, to confound the accuser; and he is the one who searches out the sins of the Children of Israel and scrutinizes them, to argue for their guilt.
The answer begins with what Bilam stands for: the accuser on high, who seeks out the sins of Israel and builds a case against them. The shofar is sounded on Rosh HaShanah precisely to confound this accuser, which shows that his charges are a real threat.
וזהו נק׳ בחי׳ בלעם שכך היה דרכו של בלעם ג״כ שהיה מחפש ג״כ למצוא מקום עון לישראל ראש הפעור הנשקפה4 ע״פ הישימון וישת אל המדבר פניו5 מקומות שהיו עתידים שם ישראל לחטוא כו׳
And this is called the level of Bilam, for such was also Bilam’s way: he too searched to find a place of sin for Israel, “the top of Peor, which looks out over the wasteland,” and “he set his face toward the wilderness,” places where Israel were destined to sin, etc.
Bilam worked the same way: he looked for spots connected with Israel’s sins, so that his curse would have a foothold. The verses describe him being taken to “the top of Peor” and turning his face “toward the wilderness,” and the Alter Rebbe reads these as places where Israel would later sin, so the accusation had real substance.
וזהו השבח ששיבח הכתוב כי אע״פ [אף על פי] שבא בטענה אעפ״כ [אף על פי כן] ולא אבה הוי׳ אלהיך לשמוע ופי׳ שלא אבה לשמוע אל דבריו כלל
And this is the praise that the verse offers: that although he came with a claim, nevertheless “Havayah your G‑d was not willing to listen.” And the meaning is that He was not willing to listen to his words at all;
This is why the verse counts as praise: Bilam’s case was not baseless, and still “Havayah your G‑d was not willing to listen.” The Alter Rebbe stresses that this means G‑d did not hear his words at all.
ולא שיש להשיב על דבריו תשובה נצחת מטעם ודעת המושג ומובן רק שאין מקבלין ושומעין את דבריו כלל בלי טעם ודעת.
not that there is a conclusive answer to give in reply to his words, from reason and knowledge that can be grasped and understood, but only that his words are not received or listened to at all, without reason and knowledge.
G‑d’s refusal is not the result of a winning argument that disproves the accusation on its own terms. He simply does not take it in, in a way that is beyond reason, and this “beyond reason” becomes the key to the whole maamar.
The paragraph sets out the maamar’s two questions on the verse about Bilam and begins the answer: Bilam stands for the accuser whose charges against Israel have substance, and G‑d’s praise is that He refuses to hear them at all, not by refuting them but beyond reason.
Two ways of dismissing an accusation are contrasted: answering it with reasons, on its own level, or refusing to entertain it at all. The maamar goes on to show that the second, a refusal “without reason,” answers to something beyond reason in the Jewish soul; the second question, how the curse is turned into a blessing, is answered only at the end (paragraphs 10 to 12), where sins themselves are turned into merits.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולא אבה · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי בסה״מ תקס״ו ע׳ שלד. עוד הגהות באוה״ת ע׳ תתקצה, שם ע׳ תתקפא מיוסד על הנחת אדה״א עם הגהות אחרות. שם ע׳ תתקצה הגהות נוספות.
- 2ולא אבה ה״א לשמוע אל בלעם · Deuteronomy 23:6
- 3
- 4ראש הפעור הנשקפה · Numbers 23:28
- 5וישת אל המדבר פניו · Numbers 24:1
2וכ״כ [וכמו כן] למה ביאר הכתוב ולא אבה הוי׳ אלהיך כי הוי׳ הוא אלהיך ממש שבכל נפש מישראל יש בחי׳ והארה משם1 הוי׳ וכמ״ש
And so too, [this is] why the verse spelled out, “But Havayah your G‑d was not willing”: because Havayah is truly your G‑d. For in every soul of Israel there is an aspect and a radiance of the Name Havayah, and as it is written,
The Alter Rebbe explains why the verse names Havayah, the Name that expresses G‑d as He transcends all creation, as “your G‑d.” It is “yours” in the fullest sense, because every Jewish soul contains an aspect and a radiance of that very Name, and so G‑d’s refusal to hear the accuser comes from a level that is present within the Jew himself.
“For Havayah’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance”: that they are a portion and a radiance of the very Name Havayah. [And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “See, I set before you.”]
The proof is the verse “For Havayah’s portion is His people,” which the Alter Rebbe reads literally: the souls of Israel are a portion of the Name Havayah itself. A bracketed note refers the reader to the discourse on “See, I set before you” for more on this.
The paragraph explains why the verse speaks of “Havayah your G‑d”: the Name Havayah itself has a portion and a radiance in every Jewish soul.
The word “your” carries the argument: the transcendent Name is “yours” because a portion of it is within each Jew. The following paragraphs map the letters of the Name onto the soul: the tip of the yud (paragraph 3), the yud (paragraphs 4 and 5), the first hei (paragraphs 6 to 8), and the vav and final hei (paragraph 9).
Marei mekomos
- 1שבכל נפש מישראל יש בחי׳ והארה משם ה׳ · חלק מכאן מובא בסה״מ תרכ״ט (הוצאת תשנ״ב) ע׳ רצט. וראה גם בספר השיחות תנש״א ע׳ 799 ואילך.
- 2כי חלק ה׳ עמו · Deuteronomy 32:9
- 3בד״ה ראה אנכי · לעיל יח, א.
- 4כי הנה בכל נפש מישראל . . קוצו של יו״ד · מובא באוה״ת שה״ש כרך א ע׳ קלא.
The tip of the yud: love beyond reason ¶3
3וביאור ענין זה הוא כי הנה בכל נפש מישראל יש בחי׳ אהבה הטבעית המיוסדת ומוטבעת בטבע נפשו האלהית
And the explanation of this matter is that in every soul of Israel there is the level of the natural love, founded and implanted in the nature of his G‑dly soul:
Every Jew has a natural love for G‑d, built into the very nature of the G‑dly soul. It is not acquired through study or reasoning; it is part of what the soul is.
שלא להיות נפרד מיחודו1 ואחדותו ית׳ ואין אדם עובר עבירה2 אא״כ [אלא אם כן] נכנס בו רוח שטות המטעה אותו לומר שאף על פי כן עודנו ביהדותו כו׳
not to be separated from His unity and oneness, may He be blessed. And a person does not commit a sin unless a spirit of folly enters him, which misleads him into saying that even so he is still within his Judaism, etc.
The content of this love is the soul’s refusal to be separated from G‑d’s unity. The Talmud teaches that a person sins only when a “spirit of folly” enters him, and the Alter Rebbe explains what that folly is: it persuades him that even after the sin he is still a Jew, still bound to G‑d, so the sin does not seem to touch that bond.
אבל ליפרד מיחודו ית׳ הרי אפי׳ [אפילו] קל שבקלים מוסר נפשו על ק״ה [קידוש השם] כו׳ מחמת טבע נפשו נר ה׳ נשמת אדם3 כנר הדולק שהשלהבת עולה מאליה כו׳
But to be separated from His unity, may He be blessed: even the most unworthy of the unworthy gives up his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, etc., because of the nature of his soul, “The lamp of Havayah is the soul of man,” like a burning lamp, whose flame rises of itself, etc.,
When the choice is openly one of being cut off from G‑d, as when a Jew is told to deny Him, even the least observant will give up his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name. This comes from the soul’s nature, which Proverbs calls “the lamp of Havayah”: like a flame that rises upward by itself, the soul strives toward its source.
בלי טעם ודעת אלא שהיא מסותרת ומכוסה בלבוש שק הוא הגוף הגשמי וממנו בא הרוח שטות כו׳
without reason and knowledge; except that it is hidden and covered by a garment of sackcloth, which is the physical body, and from it comes the spirit of folly, etc.
This readiness to give up one’s life involves no reasoning or calculation. Yet the love is usually hidden, covered by the physical body, which the Alter Rebbe calls a “garment of sackcloth,” and it is from the body that the spirit of folly comes.
אבל כשמעורר את האהבה עד שתחפץ לצאת מלבושיה הרי הוא בא לידי יראת חטא שלא לעבור אפי׳ [אפילו] על דבר קל של ד״ס כי חמורים ד״ס יותר מד״ת [מדברי תורה]456 שלכן נקראו סופרים7 כי
But when he arouses the love, until it desires to go out of its garments, then he comes to the fear of sin: not to transgress even a light matter of the words of the Scribes (divrei sofrim), for the words of the Scribes are more stringent than the words of Torah; which is why they are called Sofrim, for
When a person deliberately arouses this love until it “desires to go out of its garments,” it produces fear of sin, a care that guards even against light rabbinic prohibitions. The Sages teach that the words of the Scribes are more stringent than the words of Torah, and the Alter Rebbe now explains why the Sages are called Sofrim.
הנה יש בחי׳ סופר וספר וספור89 ספר הוא בחי׳ תשב״כ [תורה שבכתב] וסופר הוא העושה את הספר היא בחי׳ תשבע״פ [תורה שבעל פה] א״ח [אשת חיל] עטרת בעלה כו׳
there are the levels of sofer (scribe), sefer (book) and sippur (telling). The sefer is the level of the Written Torah, and the sofer is the one who makes the sefer, which is the level of the Oral Torah: “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband,” etc.
The triad of scribe, book and telling echoes the opening of Sefer Yetzirah. In the Alter Rebbe’s image the “book” is the Written Torah and the “scribe,” who makes the book, is the Oral Torah; the Oral Torah is thus the “woman of valor” who is the “crown” of her “husband,” the Written Torah, and this is why the words of the Scribes carry such weight.
[ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה ושאבתם מים בששון10 ובד״ה שחורה אני ונאוה]11 ובחי׳ אהבה זו הוא בחי׳ קוצו של יו״ד12 של שם הוי׳
[And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “You shall draw water with joy” and in the discourse beginning “I am black, yet comely.”] And this level of love is the level of the tip of the yud of the Name Havayah;
A bracketed note sends the reader to two other discourses on this subject. The Alter Rebbe then identifies the hidden love with the tip of the yud: the small point that rises above the letter yud, the first letter of the Name Havayah.
כי הקוץ שעל היו״ד פונה למעלה ורומז שהוא נמשך למעלה לא״ס ב״ה שהוא למעלה מגדר ההשגה ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה13 וכולא קמי׳ [קמיה] כלא חשיב14 כי אני ה׳ לא שניתי15 כו׳19
for the tip atop the yud points upward, and alludes to its being drawn upward, to the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who is above the bounds of comprehension, and “no thought can grasp Him,” and “all before Him is accounted as nothing”; “For I, Havayah, have not changed,” etc.
Because the tip of the yud points upward, beyond the letter itself, it stands for the soul’s bond with the Infinite One, who is beyond all comprehension: “no thought can grasp Him,” all before Him is “as nothing,” and He never changes. That is where the hidden love reaches.
וכך הוא ענין אהבה זו שהיא בלי טעם ודעת היא מצד השראת אור א״ס ב״ה ממש המלובש בחכמה שמחיה את הנפש שהיא למעלה מגדר ההשגה כו׳
And such is the matter of this love, which is without reason and knowledge: it stems from the indwelling of the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is clothed in the Chochmah (wisdom) that gives life to the soul, which is above the bounds of comprehension, etc.
The love is beyond reason because what dwells in it is the Infinite Light itself, clothed in the soul’s Chochmah, the power that gives the soul life and stands above comprehension. Since its root is beyond understanding, the love it produces is beyond understanding too.
ולכן היא כשלהבת העולה מאליה ומעצמה כו׳ רק לפי שהיא מסותרת צריך האדם לעוררה ובאתעדל״ת [ובאתערותא דלתתא] אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] להיות ג״כ ולא אבה לשמוע מבחי׳
Therefore it is like a flame that rises of itself and on its own, etc.; but because it is hidden, a person must arouse it. And through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) there is an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), so that there is also “He was not willing to listen,” from the level
Like a flame that rises by itself, this love moves upward of its own accord, but because it is hidden a person must awaken it. When he does, his arousal from below evokes a matching arousal from above: G‑d too acts beyond reason and “was not willing to listen” to the accuser.
שהיא למעלה מן הטעם והדעת [ועיין בשע״ק [בשערי קדושה] להרח״ו [להרבי חיים ויטאל] ח״ג [חלק ג׳] שער16 א׳ כי קוצו של יו״ד17 כו׳ ע״ש וע״ש שער ב׳ ויחידה כו׳]:18
that is above reason and knowledge. [And see Sha’arei Kedushah by Rabbi Chaim Vital, Part III, Gate 1: “for the tip of the yud,” etc.; see there. And see there, Gate 2: “and Yechidah,” etc.]
This answers the first question: G‑d’s refusal, beyond reason, to hear the accuser mirrors the Jew’s love for Him beyond reason. The Alter Rebbe adds a reference to Rabbi Chaim Vital’s Sha’arei Kedushah, which speaks of the tip of the yud and of Yechidah, the innermost level of the soul.
The paragraph explains the hidden natural love in every Jew, a love beyond reason that would give up life rather than be separated from G‑d; it is the tip of the yud of Havayah, rooted in the Infinite Light within the soul’s Chochmah. When a person arouses it, G‑d responds in kind and, beyond reason, refuses to hear the accuser.
In Sha’arei Kedushah, Part III, Gate 1, Rabbi Chaim Vital writes that the five worlds together are one Havayah: the tip of the yud is Adam Kadmon, which is so hidden it has no full letter, while the yud, the hei, the vav and the final hei are Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. In Gate 2 he writes that the soul’s Yechidah derives from Adam Kadmon, so the love beyond reason, the tip of the yud in the soul, corresponds to Yechidah, the innermost point of the soul.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויחידה · Sha'arei Kedusha, Part 3 2:29
- 2ואין אדם עובר עבירה · Sotah 3a:4–5
- 3נר ה׳ נשמת אדם · Proverbs 20:27
- 4חמורים ד״ס יותר מד״ת · Sanhedrin 88b
- 5חמורים ד״ס יותר מד״ת · Eruvin 21b
- 6חמורים ד״ס יותר מד״ת · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:3
- 7נקראו סופרים · Kiddushin 30a:11
- 8יש בחי׳ סופר וספר וספור · ראה ס״י בתחלתו.
- 9סופר וספר וספור · Sefer Yetzirah 1:1
- 10בד״ה ושאבתם מים בששון · לקמן דרושים לסוכות פ, ב.
- 11ובד״ה שחורה אני ונאוה · Song of Songs 7:1
- 12בחי׳ קוצו של יוד · ראה ד״ה וכל העם רואים תרמ״ז (בסה״מ תרמ״ו-נ) ע׳ תל. ובספר השיחות תנש״א ע׳ 800 הערה 43, שיחת ש״פ תצא.
- 13ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:10–12
- 14כולא קמי׳ כלא חשיב · Zohar I, 11b
- 15אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 16בשע״ק להרח״ו ח״ג שער א׳ · ראה לקמן שה״ש מ, ד.
- 17כי קוצו של יו״ד · Sha'arei Kedusha, Part 3 1:6
- 18א״ח עט״ב · Proverbs 12:4
- 19ולית מח׳ תפיסא בי׳ · ת״ז בהקדמה (פתח אלי׳).
The yud: Chochmah, tzimtzum and nullifying one’s will ¶4–5
4ב וביאור ענין היו״ד של שם הוי׳ איך הוא בנפש הנה היו״ד הוא בחי׳ חכמה כח מ״ה [מה] שהיא בחי׳ הצמצום שאינה אלא בחי׳ נקודה כו׳
2. And the explanation of the matter of the yud of the Name Havayah, how it is in the soul: the yud is the level of Chochmah (wisdom), ko’ach mah (the potential of “what”), which is the level of the tzimtzum (contraction), for it is only the level of a point, etc.
The second section explains how the yud of Havayah is present in the soul. The yud stands for Chochmah, called ko’ach mah, “the potential of what”: a first point of insight, not yet defined. Being a mere point, it expresses tzimtzum, contraction.
והענין כי הנה נודע שלהיות התהוות בחי׳ חכמה שהיא ראשית גילוי ההשתלשלות מאור א״ס ב״ה
The matter is this. It is known that the coming into being of the level of Chochmah, which is the beginning of the revelation of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He,
It is an accepted principle that Chochmah, the very first revelation in the whole chain of worlds, comes from the Infinite Light, which is utterly beyond that chain.
שהוא למעלה מעלה מבחי׳ וגדר ההשתלשלות הוא ע״י כמה צמצומים וירידת האור בהעלם אחר העלם עד שירדה ונמשכה הארה מועטת ומצומצמת
which is far, far above the level and bounds of the chain of descent, is through many contractions and the descent of the light in concealment after concealment, until there descended and was drawn forth a radiance that is slight and contracted
To bring Chochmah into being, the Infinite Light passed through many contractions, one concealment after another, until only a faint and greatly reduced glimmer of it remained.
מאד כדמיון הארה היוצאת דרך שערות הראש שצומחין ויונקין מן המוחין שבראש דרך הגולגלתא החופפת על המוחין שמעלמת ומסתרת את המוחין עצמן שלא יהיו בגילוי
exceedingly, like the radiance that comes out through the hairs of the head, which grow and draw nourishment from the brain in the head through the skull that overarches the brain, which conceals and hides the brain itself so that it should not be revealed,
The Alter Rebbe offers an analogy: hair grows from a trace of vitality that comes from the brain, but only by way of the skull. The skull covers and hides the brain, so what reaches the hair is not the brain’s own life.
כדי שעי״ז תצמחנה השערות מעצם הגולגלתא החופף ומכסה על המוחין והארה ההיא היא מצומצמת מאד עד שאין לה ערך ויחוס עם הארת המוחין עצמן כמו שאין ערך ויחוס לשערות עם המוחין
so that, through this, the hairs may grow from the bone of the skull that overarches and covers the brain. And that radiance is exceedingly contracted, to the point that it has no comparison or relation to the radiance of the brain itself, just as the hairs have no comparison or relation to the brain;
The skull’s covering is what allows hair to grow at all, yet the vitality in the hair is so reduced that it bears no comparison to the life of the brain; hair and brain belong to different categories.
שהרי אפילו אם מגלחין את השערות לא ירגיש כאב במוחין כלל כך ככל המשל הזה ויותר מזה לאין קץ הוא ענין התהוות החכמה1 מלמעלה מן החכמה מאור א״ס ב״ה
for even if the hairs are shaved off, no pain at all is felt in the brain. So, entirely like this analogy, and endlessly more so, is the matter of the coming into being of Chochmah from what is above Chochmah, from the Infinite Light, blessed be He,
The proof is that cutting hair causes the brain no pain. Chochmah’s relation to its source above it, the Infinite Light, is like this, and infinitely more so.
שהוא רם ונשא כו׳ יותר מהתהוות המדות אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] מן החב״ד [החכמה בינה ודעת] שעצמיות החב״ד [החכמה בינה ודעת] הן מלובשות במדות
which is high and exalted, etc., more so than [in] the coming into being of the emotive attributes (middos), love and awe, from Chochmah, Binah (understanding) and Daas (knowledge), for the very essence of Chochmah, Binah and Daas is clothed in the emotive attributes.
The contrast is with the emotions, love and awe, which grow out of the intellect, Chochmah, Binah and Daas: there the very essence of the intellect is present in the emotions it produces. The gap between the exalted Infinite Light and Chochmah is far greater.
אבל התהוות החכמה מאור א״ס ב״ה אין עצמיות אור א״ס ב״ה מלובש בה אלא הארה מועטת ומצומצמת מן ההעלם
But in the coming into being of Chochmah from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, the essence of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is not clothed in it; only a slight and contracted radiance, from the concealment,
In the emergence of Chochmah the essence of the Infinite Light is not present at all. Chochmah receives only a faint, contracted glimmer, and even that comes out of concealment.
דהיינו לאחר ההעלם וההסתר עצמיות אוא״ס [אור אין סוף] ב״ה וכמ״ש ישת חשך סתרו2 שמסתתר בבחי׳חשך והעלם להיות גילוי ההארה בבחי׳ חכמה ראשית גילוי ההשתלשלות וזהו ה׳ מלך גאות לבש3 כו׳
that is, after the concealment and hiding of the essence of the Infinite Light, blessed be He. As it is written, “He made darkness His hiding place”: He hides Himself in the level of darkness and concealment, so that there may be a revelation of the radiance in the level of Chochmah, the beginning of the revelation of the chain of descent. And this is [the meaning of] “Havayah reigns; He is clothed in majesty,” etc.,
The glimmer appears only after the essence of the Infinite Light has been hidden, as the verse says, “He made darkness His hiding place”: G‑d conceals Himself so that a measured revelation, Chochmah, can appear. “Havayah reigns; He is clothed in majesty” says the same thing: G‑d puts on a “garment.”
אף תכון תבל כו׳ שכדי להיות תכון תבל הוצרך להתלבש אור א״ס ב״ה בבחי׳ לבוש וכסוי שלא יאיר ויתגלה כמו שהוא אלא בבחי׳ צמצום כו׳
“the world, too, is firmly established,” etc.: in order that “the world be firmly established,” the Infinite Light, blessed be He, had to clothe itself in the level of a garment and covering, so that it would not shine and be revealed as it is, but only in the level of tzimtzum, etc.
The verse goes on, “the world, too, is firmly established”: the world can stand only because the Infinite Light has clothed itself and does not shine as it is, but only through tzimtzum.
וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] בראשית ברא אלקים45 כו׳ בראשית בגילוי בחי׳ ראשית הגילוי היא בחי׳ חכמה ברא אלקים במדת הצמצום וכמארז״ל [וכמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] בתחלה עלה6 במחשבה לברא במדה״ד [במדת הדין]7 כו׳
And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “In the beginning Elokim created,” etc.: “Bereshis,” with the revelation of the level of the beginning of revelation, which is the level of Chochmah; “Elokim created,” with the attribute of tzimtzum. And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “At first it arose in [His] thought to create [it] with the attribute of judgment,” etc.
The first verse of the Torah teaches the same. “Bereshis,” “in the beginning,” refers to Chochmah, the reishis or “beginning” of revelation, and it was created by “Elokim,” the Name associated with tzimtzum and judgment; so too Rashi brings the Sages’ teaching that G‑d first thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment.
כי היא הארה מצומצמת כדי להיות ראשית הגילוי בהשתלשלות העולמות כי החכמה ראשית גילוי ההשגה וההבנה באור א״ס ב״ה המתגלה בבחי׳ בינה
For it is a contracted radiance, so that it may be the beginning of revelation in the chain of descent of the worlds; for Chochmah is the beginning of the revelation of the comprehension and understanding of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which is revealed in the level of Binah,
Chochmah has to be a contracted glimmer because it is the starting point of the worlds’ chain of descent. It is the first flash of grasping the Infinite Light, a grasp that is then unfolded in Binah.
שהיא ה׳ עילאה בחי׳ התפשטות אורך ורוחב כו׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] וסוכ״ע כו׳ אלא שבחכמה ההשגה ההיא בבחי׳ העלם שאינה מאירה ומתגלה
which is the upper hei, the level of expansion, in length and breadth, etc., of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), etc. Except that in Chochmah that comprehension is in a state of concealment, for it does not shine and become revealed
Binah is the first hei of the Name, a letter that extends in length and breadth: the developed understanding of how G‑d fills and encompasses all worlds. In Chochmah this grasp is still concealed and not yet spread out.
אלא כברק המבריק8 במוח שכלו של אדם עד״מ ובלתי צמצום אור א״ס ב״ה והתלבשותו בבחינת חכמה לא היה יכול להיות התפשטות בחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] וסוכ״ע שהיו העולמות בטלים במציאות לגמרי והיו אין ואפס ממש
except like lightning that flashes in the mind of a person’s intellect, by way of analogy. And without the tzimtzum of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and its being clothed in the level of Chochmah, there could not have been the expansion of the level of the light that fills all worlds and the light that encompasses all worlds; for the worlds would have been utterly nullified out of existence, and would have been truly nothing and naught.
Chochmah is like a flash of lightning in the mind. Without the tzimtzum of the Infinite Light into Chochmah, the divine light that fills and encompasses the worlds could not have spread forth; the worlds would have been wholly nullified and would not exist at all.
כי גם עכשיו אחר שנבראו העולמות הרי קמי׳ [קמיה] כולא כלא91011 אלא שהוא כלא בכ״ף הדמיון ולא לא ממש ואף גם זאת אינו אלא קמי׳ [קמיה] ולא לגבי הנבראים.
For even now, after the worlds have been created, “before Him all is as nothing”; but it is “as nothing” (kelo), with the kaf of comparison, and not actually “nothing” (lo); and even this is only before Him, and not in relation to the created beings.
Even now that the worlds exist, before G‑d they are kelo, “as nothing,” where the letter kaf means “like”: they resemble nothingness without actually being nothing. Even this is so only from G‑d’s side; from the side of the creations, they truly exist.
אבל אם היה אור א״ס ב״ה מתגלה כמו שהוא היו בטלים ממש והיו אין ולא ממש
But if the Infinite Light, blessed be He, were revealed as it is, they would be truly nullified, and would be nothing (ayin) and actually “nothing” (lo).
Were the Infinite Light revealed as it is, the worlds would cease entirely: not “as nothing,” but actually nothing.
ולכן אמרז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] בשעה שקטרגו המלאכים ואמרו מה אנוש12 כו׳ הושיט אצבעו הקטנה ב יניהן ושרפן פי׳ שהושיט והמשיך גילוי עצמותו ית׳ יותר מכדי מדה ושיעור המצומצם בהשגת המלאכים מעט מזעיר בחי׳ אצבעו הקטנה
Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said that when the angels accused and said, “What is man,” etc., “He stretched out His little finger among them and burned them.” The meaning is that He extended and drew forth a revelation of His essence, may He be blessed, beyond the contracted measure and limit of the angels’ comprehension: a tiny bit, the level of “His little finger”
This explains the Talmud’s account: when angels objected to the creation of man, saying “What is man,” G‑d “stretched out His little finger among them and burned them.” The Alter Rebbe reads the “little finger” as a tiny revelation of G‑d’s essence, slightly beyond the measure fitted to the angels’ grasp, and that alone consumed them.
(וע׳ בפרדס בתחלתו בשם ספר יצירה עשר ספירות בלי מה מספר עשר אצבעות1314 כו׳ ובזח״ב [ובזהר חלק ב׳] ר״פ יתרו)
(And see Pardes at its beginning, citing Sefer Yetzirah: “Ten Sefiros without ‘what’ (beli mah), the number of the ten fingers,” etc.; and Zohar, Part II, at the beginning of Parshas Yisro.)
A parenthesis supports the image of the finger: Pardes quotes Sefer Yetzirah, which matches the ten Sefiros to the ten fingers, and the Zohar speaks of the fingers at the beginning of Parshas Yisro. A “finger” is thus a divine attribute, a measured revelation.
ואזי ושרפן שנשרפו ונתבטלו במציאות לגמרי והיו כלא היו רק הצמצום הוא הגורם התהוות העולמות.
And then “and burned them”: they were burned and utterly nullified out of existence, and were as though they had never been. It is only the tzimtzum that brings about the coming into being of the worlds.
Faced with more revelation than they could hold, the angels were burned and ceased to exist. The lesson is that it is only the tzimtzum that allows the worlds to come into being.
והנה תחלת בריאת העולמות היה מפני כי חפץ חסד הוא15 אך מה שבטובו מחדש16 בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית מחדש בבחי׳ יש מבחי׳ חכמה וצמצום בכל יום
Now, the beginning of the creation of the worlds was because “He desires kindness.” But [the fact] that “in His goodness He renews each day, continually, the work of Creation,” renewing [it] as existence (yesh) from the level of Chochmah and tzimtzum each day,
The first creation came from G‑d’s own desire for kindness, without any prompting. But, as the blessing before the morning Shema says, “in His goodness He renews each day, continually, the work of Creation,” bringing the world into being anew each day as a distinct existence, through Chochmah and tzimtzum.
כי בכל יום מתחדשת הארה אחרת [וגם בכל שעה מתחדש צירוף שם הוי׳ כו׳] באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] תליא מילתא וצ״ל צמצום והעלם זה גם באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] והוא להיות בחי׳ בטל רצונך1718 כו׳
since each day a different radiance is renewed [and also each hour a combination of the Name Havayah is renewed, etc.], depends on the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata). And this tzimtzum and concealment must also be in the arousal from below: namely, to be the level of “Nullify your will,” etc.;
Since each day brings a new divine radiance, and even each hour a new combination of the letters of Havayah, this daily renewal depends on human initiative, the arousal from below. A person must therefore make a tzimtzum of his own, in the spirit of the Mishnah’s “Nullify your will before His will.”
דהיינו לצמצם ולכבוש את כל רצונותיו אשר לא לה׳ המה הן במחשבה רבות מחשבות בלב איש19
that is, to contract and subdue all his desires that are not for G‑d: whether in thought, “Many are the thoughts in a man’s heart,
This personal tzimtzum means restraining and subduing every desire that is not for G‑d. It begins in thought: a person has many plans of his own, but only G‑d’s counsel will stand.
ועצת ה׳ היא תקום והן בדבור שלא להיו׳ [להיות] דבורו ורוח פיו כרצונו והן במעש׳ עוצם עיניו מראות ברע20 ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם21 כו׳
but the counsel of Havayah, it shall stand”; or in speech, that his speech and the breath of his mouth not be as he wishes; or in action, “he shuts his eyes from seeing evil,” and “you shall not stray after your heart,” etc.;
It extends to speech, not saying whatever one wishes, and to action, as in “he shuts his eyes from seeing evil” and “you shall not stray after your heart.”
בין באיסור בין בהיתר כמארז״ל [כמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] קדש א״ע [את עצמו]22 במותר לך והוא בכל שיעור קומה של אדם להשליך נפשו ורצונו מנגד כו׳
whether in what is forbidden or in what is permitted, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you.” And this is in the entire stature of a person: to cast aside his soul and his will, etc.
The restraint applies even to what is permitted, in keeping with the Talmud’s “Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you,” and it takes in the whole person, all his faculties, setting aside his own self and will.
וביטול זה הוא בבחי׳ חכמה כי בחכמה אתברירו23 לברר הטוב מהרע ולבטל רצון הרע מפני הטוב בכח החכמה שבנפש
And this self-nullification (bittul) is in the level of Chochmah, for “through Chochmah they were refined”: to sift the good from the evil and to nullify the will for evil before the good, by the power of the Chochmah in the soul.
Such self-nullification belongs to Chochmah, for “through Chochmah they were refined”: Chochmah sorts good from evil, and the soul’s Chochmah is what enables a person to set aside his desire for evil in favor of the good.
ולכן ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] קדש א״ע [את עצמו] כו׳ כי קדש הוא בחכמה24 כמו קדש לי כל בכור2526 כו׳.2728
Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Sanctify yourself,” etc.; for kodesh (holiness) is in Chochmah, as in “Sanctify to Me every firstborn,” etc.
This is why the Sages put it as “sanctify yourself”: holiness is bound up with Chochmah. The verse “Sanctify to Me every firstborn” shows the link, for Chochmah is the “firstborn,” the first of all levels.
The paragraph explains the yud of Havayah: Chochmah emerges from the Infinite Light only through a radical tzimtzum, like hair from the brain, and without it the worlds could not exist. Because the daily renewal of creation depends on human initiative, a person must make a matching tzimtzum, setting aside his own desires through the Chochmah of his soul.
The Likkutei Torah passage on Parshas Balak that the note cites calls supernal Chochmah “firstborn,” the beginning of revelation, and quotes the Zohar: “Sanctify to Me every firstborn: this is the yud, which is holy, the firstborn of all the supernal holinesses.” This is the chain the maamar relies on: holiness, Chochmah, the yud. The distinction between kelo (“as nothing”) and lo (“nothing”) means the tzimtzum does not make the worlds independent of G‑d: they exist from their own side, while before Him they remain as nothing.
Marei mekomos
- 1התהוות החכמה מלמלעה מן החכמה · ראה אוה״ת קרח ע׳ תשכא.
- 2ישת חשך סתרו · Psalms 18:12
- 3ה׳ מלך גאות לבש · Psalms 93:1
- 4וז״ש בראשית ברא אלקים · ”דר״ל דבחי׳ בראשית הוא חכמה הנק׳ ראשית הגילוי נברא ע״י שם אלקים שהוא בחי׳ צמצום כו׳, וכן פי׳ המק״מ ר״פ וארא דכ״ב ע״ב וז״ל בראשית שהוא מל׳ ברא אותה אלקים כו׳” — אוה״ת תולדות כרך ד תתיג, ב.
- 5בראשית ברא אלקים · Genesis 1:1
- 6בתחלה עלה במח׳ לברא במדה״ר · Zohar I, 120b
- 7בתחלה עלה במחשבה לברא במדה״ד · Rashi on Genesis 1:1:3
- 8כברק המבריק · ע׳ לעיל בד״ה אז ישיר ישראל (סב, ג) וש״נ [כ].
- 9קמי כולא כלא · דניאל (ד, לב). ועי׳ זח״א (יא, ב). [כ].
- 10קמי׳ כולא כלא · Daniel 4:32
- 11קמי׳ כולא כלא · Zohar, Introduction 20:188–22:199
- 12בשעה שקטרגו המלאכים ואמרו מה אנוש · Sanhedrin 38b:4
- 13עשר ספירות בלי מה מספר עשר אצבעות · Pardes Rimmonim 1:4–5
- 14עשר אצבעות · Zohar, Yitro 1:1–8
- 15כי חפץ חסד הוא · Micah 7:18
- 16שבטובו מחדש בכי״ת · ברכת יוצר.
- 17בטל רצונך · אבות ב, ד.
- 18בטל רצונך · Pirkei Avot 2:4
- 19רבות מחשבות בלב איש · Proverbs 19:21
- 20עוצם עיניו מראות ברע · Isaiah 33:15
- 21ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם · Numbers 15:39
- 22קדש א״ע · Sifrei Devarim 104:7
- 23בחכמה אתברירו · Zohar II, 254b
- 24קדש הוא בחכמה · מא״א בערכו.
- 25להיות בטל רצונך . . כל בכור · אוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתט.
- 26קדש לי כל בכור · Exodus 13:2
- 27וצ״ל בחי׳ צמצום והעלם . . בטל רצונך · מובא באוה״ת בשלח כרך ח ע׳ ב׳תתקע, וע״ש שמציין לכמה מקומות לתו״א ולקו״ת.
- 28קדש את עצמך במותר לך · Yevamot 20a:15
5וע״י בחי׳ ביטול זה שבאתעדל״ת [שבאתערותא דלתתא] שמבטל ומסלק א״ע [את עצמו] ורצונו ליבטל אליו ית׳ אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] להיות ביטול וסילוק עצמיות אור א״ס ב״ה שלא יאיר ויתגלה
And through this level of self-nullification (bittul) in the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), in which he nullifies and removes himself and his will so as to be nullified to Him, may He be blessed, there is an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila): that there be a nullification and withdrawal of the essence of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that it does not shine and become revealed
Here is the effect of the person’s self-nullification. When he sets aside himself and his will before G‑d, this arousal from below evokes a matching arousal from above: the essence of the Infinite Light withdraws and conceals itself, so that it does not shine openly.
אלא בבחי׳ צמצום בהעלם אחר העלם בבחינת ישת חשך סתרו1 חשך ולא אור ויהי׳ [ויהיה] גילוי בחי׳ יו״ד שהיא חכמה כו׳ ע״י בחי׳ יו״ד חכמה שבנפש:
except in the level of tzimtzum (contraction), in concealment after concealment, in the mode of “He made darkness His hiding place,” darkness and not light. And there will be a revelation of the level of the yud, which is Chochmah (wisdom), etc., through the level of the yud, the Chochmah, that is in the soul.
The Infinite Light then shines only through tzimtzum, concealment after concealment, “He made darkness His hiding place,” and this is exactly what allows the yud, Chochmah, to be revealed above. The yud above is revealed through the yud of the soul, its Chochmah, which carries out the self-nullification.
The paragraph completes the account of the yud: a person’s tzimtzum of his own will draws down G‑d’s tzimtzum of His essence, through which Chochmah, the yud, is revealed and creation is renewed.
The correspondence is measure for measure: setting aside one’s will below is itself a tzimtzum, and it calls forth the divine tzimtzum above. The same pattern, an arousal in the soul that reveals the matching letter above, governs each letter of the Name in the sections that follow.
Marei mekomos
- 1ישת חשך סתרו · Psalms 18:12
The first hei: contemplation, love and teshuvah in prayer ¶6–8
6ג וענין הה׳ של שם הוי׳ שבנפש הוא כי הנה ה׳ ראשונה היא בחי׳ בינה עילאה בחי׳ התפשטות הה׳ באורך ורוחב ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] וסוכ״ע מן צמצום הנקודה כו׳
3. And the matter of the hei of the Name Havayah in the soul is this: the first hei is the level of supernal Binah (understanding), the level of the expansion of the hei, in length and breadth, of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), from the tzimtzum (contraction) of the point, etc.
The third section turns to the first hei of Havayah, which is supernal Binah. Unlike the yud, a mere point, the letter hei extends in length and breadth: Binah unfolds the point of Chochmah into a full understanding of how G‑d fills and encompasses all worlds.
ובנפש הוא התפשטות והתרחבות ההשגה מן ברק המבריק במוח שהיא בחי׳ נקודה כו׳ להיות מרחיב דעתו ובינתו בגדולת א״ס ב״ה איך שהוא ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] וסוכ״ע בהארה אחת מצומצמת כו׳.
And in the soul it is the expansion and broadening of comprehension from the lightning that flashes in the brain, which is the level of a point, etc.: that he broaden his knowledge and understanding in the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, how He fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds with one contracted radiance, etc.
In the soul, this hei is contemplation: taking the flash of insight and broadening it, expanding one’s mind and understanding in the greatness of the Infinite One. One reflects on how all the worlds, those He fills and those He encompasses, come from a single contracted glimmer of His light.
The paragraph introduces the first hei of Havayah, Binah, as the expansion of Chochmah’s point; in the soul it is broad, detailed contemplation of G‑d’s greatness.
The shapes of the letters carry the meaning: the yud is a point without extension, while the hei has length and breadth. Paragraph 4 already called Binah “the upper hei.”
7ועי״ז יהיה ג״כ ההתפשטות וההתגלות בלב והתלהבות והתלהטות רשפי אש1 האהבה וכן שמחת הנפש בה׳ עושה הוא ע״י התרחבות
And through this there will also be the expansion and revelation in the heart, and the flaming and blazing of the fiery flashes of love; and likewise the soul’s joy in G‑d, its Maker, comes through the broadening
Broad contemplation in the mind brings an expansion and revelation in the heart: blazing, fiery love for G‑d, and the soul’s joy in its Maker. Both come from the breadth of the contemplation.
ההתבוננות בלב אם הבנים שמחה2 ואתעדל״ת [ואתערותא דלתתא] לגילוי בחי׳ ה׳ זו היא בחי׳ תשובה עילאה ממטה למעלה [וזהו תשובה תשוב3 ה׳] ויצעקו אל4 ה׳ בצר להם
of contemplation in the heart: “a joyful mother of children.” And the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) for the revelation of this level of hei is the level of the higher teshuvah (return), from below upward [and this is “teshuvah”: tashuv hei, “the hei shall return”]: “and they cried out to Havayah in their distress,”
Binah is called “a joyful mother of children,” since it gives birth to the emotions with joy. The arousal from below that reveals this hei is the “higher teshuvah,” a return from below upward; the Zohar reads teshuvah as tashuv hei, “the hei shall return,” and it takes the form of a cry from distress, “they cried out to Havayah in their distress.”
כי הירידה מאור פניו ית׳ הוא בבחי׳ צר בבחי׳ הארה מועטת ומצומצמת ובפרט אם ישים אשם נפשו מכל מעשיו דבוריו ומחשבותיו אשר לא לה׳
for the descent from the light of His countenance, may He be blessed, is in the level of “distress” (tzar, narrowness), in the level of a slight and contracted radiance; and especially if he holds his soul guilty for all his deeds, words and thoughts which are not for G‑d,
The “distress” (tzar, also “narrowness”) is the soul’s awareness that it receives only a narrow, contracted glimmer of G‑d’s light. It is felt all the more when a person holds himself guilty for deeds, words and thoughts that were not for G‑d.
המה אשר בהבל בא ובחשך ילך5 ואי לזאת ישים אליו לבו רוחו ונשמתו אליו יאסוף6 לדבקה בו ית׳ ממש ורוח אייתי רוח7 ואמשיך רוח כו׳.
he who “came in vanity and goes in darkness.” And therefore “he sets his heart toward Him; his spirit and his soul he gathers to Him,” to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, truly; and “spirit brings spirit and draws spirit,” etc.
He sees that such a life “comes in vanity and goes in darkness,” and so he turns his whole heart, spirit and soul to G‑d, to cleave to Him. The Zohar’s principle “spirit brings spirit and draws spirit” means that this outpouring of the person’s spirit draws down G‑d’s spirit in return.
The paragraph shows how contemplation of G‑d’s greatness brings love and joy into the heart, and identifies the arousal from below for this hei: the higher teshuvah, a cry from the distress of distance from G‑d that gathers the whole soul to Him.
In the Raaya Mehemna passage the note cites, teshuvah is identified with Binah, and the word is read as tashuv hei, the hei returning to the vav so that the Name is complete. The Zohar’s passage on “spirit draws spirit,” also cited, adds that everything depends on desire, and gives as its sign the same verse from Job that the Alter Rebbe uses here.
Marei mekomos
- 1רשפי אש · Song of Songs 8:6
- 2אם הבנים שמחה · Psalms 113:9
- 3תשובה תשוב ה׳ · Zohar III, 122a
- 4ויצעקו אל ה׳ בצר להם · Psalms 107:6
- 5בהבל בא ובחשך ילך · Ecclesiastes 6:4
- 6ישים אליו לבו רוחו ונשמתו אליו יאסוף · Job 34:14
- 7ורוח אייתי רוח · Zohar II, 162b
8ועד״ז סובב הולך כל ענין התפלה להתבונן בירידת והשתלשלות אור א״ס ב״ה בהארה מועטת ומצומצמת בחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] וסוכ״ע עד שיהללו את שם ה׳ כו׳ בחי׳ שם בלבד וישתבח שמך לעד כו׳
In the same way, the whole matter of prayer revolves around this: to contemplate the descent of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and its chain of descent (hishtalshelus), in a slight and contracted radiance, the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), until “they praise the Name of Havayah,” etc., the level of a name alone, and “May Your Name be praised forever,” etc.;
The whole of prayer follows this pattern: one contemplates how the Infinite Light descends, step by step, as a faint, contracted glimmer that fills and encompasses all worlds. The morning prayers reach “let them praise the Name of Havayah” and “May Your Name be praised forever,” for all of creation comes only from G‑d’s “Name,” a mere glimmer of Him.
בכדי שעי״ז יבא לקיום ואהבת בק״ש [בקריאת שמע] את1 הוי׳ אלהיך ממש להיות גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה ממש ואותה אנו מבקשים שיהי׳ [שיהיה] בבחי׳ גילוי ההתפשטות באורך ורוחב בלב ונפש
so that through this he will come to fulfill, in the Shema, “You shall love Havayah your G‑d,” truly: that there be a revelation of the very Infinite Light, blessed be He. And this is what we ask for: that it be in the level of a revealed expansion, in length and breadth, in the heart and soul.
This contemplation leads to the Shema’s command “You shall love Havayah your G‑d”: love for G‑d Himself, the Infinite Light as it is, and not only for its glimmer. We ask that this love be revealed and expand in length and breadth, filling the heart and soul.
וזהו והחזירנו בתשובה שלימה לפניך פי׳ להיות המשכת פניך פנימיותך דהיינו בחי׳ אור א״ס ב״ה ממש וכמ״ש יאר ה׳ פניו כו׳.2
And this is [the meaning of] “Bring us back in complete teshuvah (return) before You (lefanecha)”: the meaning is that there be a drawing-down of “Your face” (panecha), Your inner dimension (pnimiyus), that is, the level of the very Infinite Light, blessed be He; as it is written, “May Havayah make His face shine,” etc.
This is the request in the daily Amidah, “Bring us back in complete teshuvah before You”: lefanecha, “before You,” contains panim, “face,” which suggests pnimiyus, G‑d’s innermost being. We ask that the Infinite Light itself be drawn down, as in the priestly blessing, “May Havayah make His face shine upon you.”
The paragraph applies the first hei to prayer: contemplating the descent of the Infinite Light leads to the love of the Shema, and to the request for teshuvah that draws down G‑d’s “face,” His inner being.
Contemplation in prayer moves from the “Name,” the glimmer that sustains the worlds, to the “face,” G‑d’s inner being: seeing that all creation is only His Name awakens the longing for Him Himself.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהבת בק״ש את הוי׳ אלהיך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 2יאר ה׳ פניו · Numbers 6:25
The vav and final hei: Torah, mitzvos and charity ¶9
9וענין הו״ה בנפש הוא להיות גילוי ההמשכה בתורה ומצות בקיום המעשה בפו״מ [בפועל ממש] כי התורה היא בחי׳ וי״ו קול קורא במדבר1 פנו דרך ה׳
And the matter of the vav and the [final] hei in the soul is that there be a revelation of the drawing-down in Torah and mitzvos, in the fulfillment of the deed in actual practice. For the Torah is the level of the vav: “A voice calls in the wilderness: Clear the way of Havayah,”
Next come the last two letters of the Name, the vav and the final hei. In the soul they are the drawing-down of G‑d’s light through Torah and mitzvos, carried out in actual deeds; the Torah is the vav, the letter of drawing down, and it is Isaiah’s “voice that calls.”
להיות המשכת קול התורה קורא דרך ה׳ וגילוי אורו ית׳ אפי׳ [אפילו] בבחי׳ מדבר שהוא העוה״ז שיהי׳ [שיהיה] בו כן בקדש חזיתיך2 המשכת קודש עליון [ועמ״ש בד״ה
that there be a drawing-down of the voice of the Torah, calling “the way of Havayah,” and a revelation of His light, may He be blessed, even in the level of “wilderness,” which is this world: that in it there be “So have I beheld You in holiness,” a drawing-down of supernal holiness. [And see what is written in the discourse beginning
The voice of Torah calls out “the way of Havayah,” drawing G‑d’s light even into the “wilderness,” this lowly world, so that even here one can say, “So have I beheld You in holiness”: supernal holiness drawn down below. A bracketed note sends the reader to another discourse on this.
כי תשמע בקול פ׳ ראה] והמשכה זו היינו בה׳ תתאה היא בחי׳ המעשה והיה מעשה הצדקה3 מעשה דייקא וצדקה היא כללות המצות45 כי
“When you hearken to the voice,” Parshas Re’eh.] And this drawing-down is in the lower hei, which is the level of action: “And the deed of charity (tzedakah) shall be,” “deed” specifically. And charity is the general and collective expression (klalus) of the mitzvos; for
The drawing-down reaches its goal in the final hei, the level of action. The verse speaks of “the deed of charity,” stressing deed, and charity is the general expression of all the mitzvos, as the Talmud teaches that charity equals all the other mitzvos together.
כמו שצדקה הוא להחיות רוח שפלים6 כו׳ כך כללות המצות הן להיות המשכת חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה למטה בעולם השפל הגשמי ונגלה כבוד7 ה׳ למטה כו׳
just as charity is “to revive the spirit of the lowly,” etc., so the mitzvos, in their general and collective expression, are for drawing down life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, below, into the lowly physical world, “and the glory of Havayah shall be revealed” below, etc.
Just as charity “revives the spirit of the lowly,” giving life to the poor, all the mitzvos together bring divine life-force and the Infinite Light down into the lowly physical world, so that “the glory of Havayah” is revealed even below.
And this is the level of the hei; for “Your right hand is full of tzedek (righteousness)”: it is called tzedek, without a hei; and when “Your right hand is full,” [that is,] the expansion and drawings-down of Chesed (kindness),
The final hei shows in the very spelling of charity. Tzedek, “righteousness,” is spelled without a hei, and the verse “Your right hand is full of tzedek” shows what completes it: the right hand stands for Chesed, G‑d’s expansive kindness, which fills tzedek.
אזי הוא נק׳ בתוספת1112 ה׳ צדקה (וע׳ בזהר פ׳ בחקתי דקי״ג ע״ב ובפי׳ הרמ״ז [הרב משה זכות] שם ובאדר״ז [ובאדרא זוטא] דרצ״א סע״ב [סוף עמוד ב] ודרצ״ב ע״א).13 והנה גילוי זה שבבחי׳ המעשה הוא ע״י בחי׳ הוי״ו שהוא ענין ההמשכה כו׳:
then, with the addition of a hei, it is called tzedakah. (And see the Zohar, Parshas Bechukosai, folio 113b, and the commentary of the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto) there; and the Idra Zuta, folio 291, end of side b, and folio 292a.) Now, this revelation in the level of action comes through the level of the vav, which is the matter of drawing down, etc.
When Chesed fills tzedek, a hei is added and it becomes tzedakah, charity; the Zohar passage the Alter Rebbe cites teaches that tzedakah gives to tzedek and joins with it. He then notes that this revelation in action comes through the vav, which stands for drawing down.
The paragraph explains the vav and final hei of Havayah in the soul: the Torah, the vav, draws G‑d’s light down into this world, and the mitzvos in action, summed up in charity, the final hei, reveal it there; tzedek becomes tzedakah when Chesed fills it.
In the Zohar passage on Bechukosai that the Alter Rebbe cites, one who gives charity to the poor makes the holy Name complete above, because tzedakah gives to tzedek and joins them; the Ramaz there explains that tzedakah is spelled with a hei because it alludes to the five chassadim (kindnesses) of the right hand. In the Idra Zuta passages, tzedek is nourished from above and its judgments are sweetened when it is joined to what is above it.
Marei mekomos
- 1קול קורא במדבר · Isaiah 40:3
- 2כן בקדש חזיתיך · Psalms 63:3
- 3והי׳ מעשה הצדקה · Isaiah 32:17
- 4וצדקה היא כללות המצות · Bava Batra 9a:12–13
- 5וצדקה היא כללות המצות · Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10:1
- 6להחיות רוח שפלים · Isaiah 57:15
- 7ונגלה כבוד ה׳ · Isaiah 40:5
- 8צדק מלאה ימינך · Psalms 48:11
- 9שנק׳ צדק בלא ה׳ · Zohar, Idra Zuta 19:87–22:95
- 10שנק׳ צדק בלא ה׳ · Zohar, Idra Zuta 22:95–23:105
- 11נק׳ בתוספת ה׳ צדקה · Zohar, Bechukotai 4:19–7:26
- 12נק׳ בתוספת ה׳ צדקה · Mikdash Melekh, RaMaZ Commentary on Zohar
- 13בזהר פ׳ בחקתי דקי״ג ע״ב . . ובאד״ז דרצ״א סע״ב ודרצ״ב ע״א · נתבארו באוה״ת ענינים ע׳ מג ואילך.
Havayah from above: the penitent and the depths ¶10–12
10ד אך הנה כ״ז [כל זה] הוא ענין בחי׳ הוי״ה שבנפש האלקית שיש לה בחי׳ התלבשות בגוף ונפש הבהמית אבל יש בחי׳ הוי׳ הנמשך מלמעלה וזהו כי אהבך1 ה׳ אלקיך.
4. However, all this is the matter of the level of Havayah in the G‑dly soul, which is clothed in the body and the animal soul. But there is a level of Havayah that is drawn from above; and this is [the meaning of] “because Havayah your G‑d loved you.”
The fourth section turns to a different level. All the letters described so far are Havayah as it is within the G‑dly soul, which is clothed in the body and the animal soul, and revealed through the person’s own service; but there is also a Havayah drawn down from above, to which the verse’s closing words allude: “because Havayah your G‑d loved you.”
פי׳ אהבך לשון פועל יוצא שהוא הממשיך בך מדת האהבה הבאה מלמעלה שהיא אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] שלפני אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] ומשם ויהפוך ה׳ לך את הקללה לברכה שזדונות נעשו כזכיות2 ממש.
The meaning: “loved you” (ahevcha) is a transitive form: that He is the one who draws into you the attribute of love that comes from above, which is the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) that precedes the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata). And from there [comes] “Havayah turned the curse into a blessing for you”: that intentional sins become literally like merits.
The Alter Rebbe reads “loved you” (ahevcha) as transitive: G‑d puts into you a love that comes from above. This is the arousal from above that comes before, and does not depend on, any arousal from below, and from it comes the turning of the curse into a blessing: intentional sins become, in truth, like merits.
The paragraph introduces a Havayah that comes from above, beyond the soul’s own service: G‑d’s love, drawn into the person before any initiative of his own, which turns the curse into a blessing by turning sins into merits. This begins the answer to the maamar’s second question.
The Talmud gives two degrees: teshuvah out of fear makes intentional sins like unintentional ones, and teshuvah out of love makes them like merits. A later discourse quoted in the note spells out the steps: not only are the accusers not heard, which by itself would leave the sins in place, but the sins are atoned for, and beyond that they are turned into merits.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי אהבך ה׳ אלקיך · Deuteronomy 23:6
- 2שזדונות נעשו כזכיות · Yoma 86b:3
11וביאור ענין זה הוא כי הנה גדול כח בע״ת [בעלי תשובה] דמשכין ליה בחילא יתיר1 כו׳ והיינו ע״י בחי׳ ובכל מאדך2 למעלה מכדי שתוכל נפשו שאת הן במס״נ [במסירות נפש] בפו״מ [בפועל ממש] כמעשה דר״א [דרבי אלעזר] ב״ד [בן דורדיא]3 כו׳
And the explanation of this matter is that great is the power of baalei teshuvah (penitents), “who draw Him down with greater strength,” etc. And this is through the level of “with all your might,” beyond what his soul can bear: whether through self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in actual fact, as in the episode of Rabbi Elazar ben Durdaya, etc.,
The Zohar says that baalei teshuvah, those who return to G‑d after sin, “draw Him down with greater strength.” Their strength comes from “with all your might,” a love that exceeds what the soul can contain, which can show itself in actual self-sacrifice, as with Rabbi Elazar ben Durdaya, a great sinner who repented and wept until his soul left him.
והן בבחי׳ ביטול אליו ית׳ וכלות הנפש בק״ש [בקריאת שמע] וכמ״ש אליך ה׳ נפשי אשא4 וגו׳ ובחי׳ ובכל מדך הוא המתגלה בבע״ת [בבעלי תשובה] יותר מבצדיקים שבצדיקים היא בחי׳ ובכל נפשך כו׳
or in the level of self-nullification (bittul) to Him, may He be blessed, and the expiry of the soul in the Shema, as it is written, “To You, Havayah, I lift up my soul,” etc. And the level of “with all your might” is what is revealed in baalei teshuvah more than in the most righteous of the righteous, which is the level of “with all your soul,” etc.
It can also show itself in the soul’s complete self-nullification and “expiry” during the Shema, as in “To You, Havayah, I lift up my soul.” This “with all your might” is revealed in baalei teshuvah more than in the most perfect tzaddikim, whose love is “with all your soul.”
והיינו לפי שיתרון האור הוא הבא מתוך החשך5 דוקא שע״י הזדונות שישים אשם נפשו איך שבהבל בא6 כו׳ ונגעה בו עד הנפש.
This is because the advantage of light is that which comes out of the darkness specifically: through the intentional sins, when he holds his soul guilty, how he “came in vanity,” etc., and it touches him to the soul.
The reason is that light is most precious when it comes out of darkness. The penitent’s past sins make him feel his guilt, that his life “came in vanity,” and the pain reaches the depth of his soul.
אי לזאת יצעק אל ה׳ בצר לו מאד ותהי׳ [ותהיה] הצעקה גדולה לאלקים למעלה מכדי שתוכל נפשו שאת וזהו ענין י״ה עם שמי שס״ה78 כו׳
Therefore he will cry out to Havayah in his very great distress, and the cry will be great unto G‑d, beyond what his soul can bear. And this is the matter of “Yah with Shemi (My Name) is 365,” etc.:
From that distress he cries out to G‑d with a cry beyond his soul’s capacity. This is linked to the Zohar’s teaching that the Name Yah together with shemi, “My Name,” makes 365, the number of the prohibitions.
שהל״ת [שהלא תעשה] הן בשם י״ה למעלה מבחי׳ עשה שהן בשם ו״ה וכמ״ש בארץ לא זרועה9 שבחי׳ לא הוא הנזרע כו׳
for the prohibitions are in the Name Yah, above the level of the positive [commandments], which are in the Name vav-hei; and as it is written, “in a land not (lo) sown,” that the level of lo (“not”) is what is sown, etc.,
The 365 prohibitions belong to Yah, the first two letters of Havayah, which are higher than the vav-hei, the source of the positive commandments. Jeremiah’s “in a land not sown” hints at this: the “not” (lo), the prohibitions, is itself what is sown.
כמ״ש במ״א כי לפי ששם י״ה הוא למעלה משם ו״ה א״א בכח הנפש להמשיך משם בבחי׳ המשכה שהוא בקיום מ״ע [מצות עשה] רק בשמירת הל״ת [הלא תעשה]
as is explained elsewhere. For since the Name Yah is above the Name vav-hei, it is impossible, by the power of the soul, to draw down from there in the mode of drawing-down, which is through fulfilling the positive commandments; only through keeping the prohibitions,
Because Yah is higher than vav-hei, the soul cannot draw from it by positive action, the mode of drawing-down that belongs to the positive commandments. It reaches Yah only through keeping the prohibitions, that is, through refraining.
שהוא ענין עקירת הרצון מן ההיפך ועיקרה זו שמן ההיפוך תגדל מאד עד שיבא ויגיע לבחי׳ ובכל מאדך10 למעלה מכדי שתוכל הנפש שאת.
which is the matter of uprooting the will from the opposite; and this uprooting, from the opposite, will grow very great, until he comes and reaches the level of “with all your might,” beyond what the soul can bear.
Keeping a prohibition means uprooting one’s will from its opposite. In a penitent, who has known that opposite from within, the uprooting becomes so intense that it reaches “with all your might,” beyond the soul’s capacity.
The paragraph explains why baalei teshuvah draw G‑d down “with greater strength”: their regret over sin brings a cry and an uprooting of the will that exceed the soul’s capacity, the level of “with all your might,” which corresponds to the Name Yah and the prohibitions, higher than the vav-hei of the positive commandments.
The numbers come from the Zohar: shemi (350) with Yah (15) makes 365, the prohibitions; zichri, “My remembrance” (237), with vav-hei (11) makes 248, the positive commandments. The Likkutei Torah passage on Pekudei that the note cites draws a practical consequence: since the prohibitions are higher, one who transgresses a positive commandment and repents is forgiven at once, while for a prohibition teshuvah only suspends the punishment.
Marei mekomos
- 1בע״ת דמשכין לי׳ בחילא יתיר · Zohar I, 129b
- 2ובכל מאדך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 3כמעשה דר״א ב״ד · Avodah Zarah 17a
- 4אליך ה׳ נפשי אשא · Psalms 25:1
- 5שיתרון האור הוא הבא מתוך החושך · Ecclesiastes 2:13
- 6שבהבל בא · Ecclesiastes 6:4
- 7י-ה עם שמי שס״ה · Zohar I, 24a
- 8י״ה עם שמי שס״ה · Tikkunei Zohar 5a:4
- 9בארץ לא זרועה · Jeremiah 2:2
- 10ובכל מאדך הוא המתגלה בבע״ת · ראה שערי תשובה לאדה״א ח״ב חינוך פמ״ב.
12והנה ע״ז נאמר ממעמקים קראתיך1 הוי׳ כי יש יו״ד עמקים שהם כנגד עשר בחינות הנפש ז׳ מדות וג׳ שכליים והעומק שלהן הוא השרש שבכל בחי׳ שנק׳ עומקא דחשוכא
Now, about this it is said, “From the depths I have called You, Havayah.” For there are ten depths, which correspond to the ten levels of the soul, seven emotive attributes (middos) and three intellectual ones, and their depth is the root in each level, which is called “the depth of darkness” (umka dechashucha):
The Alter Rebbe now reads Psalm 130, “From the depths I have called You, Havayah.” The depths are ten, matching the soul’s ten powers, seven emotional and three intellectual, and the “depth” of each power is its hidden root, called in Aramaic “the depth of darkness.”
דהיינו בחי׳ החשך שעדיין לא בא לידי גילוי בנפש שאין בו בחי׳ התלבשות בגוף ונפש הבהמית הוא מהמדות עליונות הבאות מלמעלה שהן למעלה מכוחות המתגלות בנפש
that is, the level of the darkness that has not yet come into revelation in the soul, in which there is no aspect of being clothed in the body and the animal soul. It is from the supernal attributes that come from above, which are above the powers that are revealed in the soul.
This “darkness” is the part of each power that has never come into revelation in the soul and is not clothed in the body or the animal soul. It comes from supernal attributes that come from above, beyond the faculties the soul shows openly.
רק ע״י בחי׳ ובכל מאדך מתגלה בחי׳ ממעמקים ומשם קראתיך הוי׳ להיות התחדשות בחי׳ הוי׳ בנפש ולהיות בנפש הוי׳ זו של בחי׳ ממעמקים
Only through the level of “with all your might” is the level of “from the depths” revealed; and from there, “I have called You, Havayah”: that there be a renewal of the level of Havayah in the soul, and that there be in the soul this Havayah of the level of “from the depths,”
These depths are revealed only through “with all your might,” the penitent’s love beyond measure. From there the person calls to G‑d, and a new level of Havayah comes into being in the soul, one that rises from its hidden depths.
שעדיין לא היתה בגילוי הנפש ועי״ז ויהפוך ה׳ את הקללה לברכה2 שמשם נמשך מחילת וסליחת העוונות וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים3 כו׳ מחיתי כעב פשעיך4 כו׳
which was not yet revealed in the soul. And through this, “Havayah turned the curse into a blessing”: for from there is drawn the forgiveness and pardon of sins, “And I will sprinkle pure water upon you,” etc.; “I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud,” etc.
This new revelation is what turns the curse into a blessing: from it flow forgiveness and pardon of sins, as in “I will sprinkle pure water upon you” and “I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud.” This answers the opening question: the curse is not merely ignored but transformed.
ולכן אומרים בעשי״ת [בעשרת ימי תשובה] מזמור זה ממעמקים שבכל יום ממשיך עומק א׳ עד שביוהכ״פ [שביום הכפורים] לפני הוי׳ תטהרו לפני הוי׳ המתגלה בנפש שמשם נמשך להיות תטהרו:5
Therefore, during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, we say this psalm, “From the depths”; for each day one draws down one depth, until on Yom Kippur: “Before Havayah you shall be purified,” before the Havayah that is revealed in the soul, from which it is drawn down that “you shall be purified.”
This is why Psalm 130 is recited during the Ten Days of Teshuvah: each day draws out one of the ten depths, until on Yom Kippur “before Havayah you shall be purified.” The Havayah “before” whom we are purified is the one now revealed in the soul, the source of the purification.
The paragraph reads “From the depths I have called You, Havayah” as the revelation of the soul’s ten hidden roots through “with all your might,” which brings a new Havayah into the soul; from it comes the forgiveness that turns the curse into a blessing, drawn out one depth on each of the Ten Days of Teshuvah until Yom Kippur.
This closes the circle opened in paragraph 1: there G‑d refused to listen to the accuser; here the Havayah drawn up from the depths of the penitent’s soul removes the sins themselves. The ten days match the ten depths, so the season of teshuvah is when the whole hidden root of the soul is brought into revelation.
Marei mekomos
- 1ממעמקים קראתיך ה׳ · Psalms 130:1
- 2ויהפוך ה׳ את הקללה לברכה · Deuteronomy 23:6
- 3וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים · Ezekiel 36:25
- 4מחיתי כעב פשעיך · Isaiah 44:22
- 5לפני הוי׳ תטהרו · Leviticus 16:30
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Arouse the hidden love for G‑d and let it guard you even in small matters of the words of the Scribes. Set aside your own will in thought, speech and action, even in what is permitted. In prayer, broaden your contemplation of G‑d’s greatness until it becomes love and joy, and draw His light into the world through Torah, mitzvos and above all charity. And let remorse over the past become a cry “with all your might” that reveals the depths of the soul, especially during the Ten Days of Teshuvah.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the maamar see more praise in G‑d’s refusal, beyond reason, to hear the accuser than in a refutation of his charges, and how does that refusal mirror the Jew’s own love?
- How does the analogy of hair and the brain show the gap between the Infinite Light and Chochmah, and why is that gap necessary for the worlds to exist?
- What does it mean that the daily renewal of creation depends on the arousal from below, and how does “Nullify your will” act as a person’s own tzimtzum?
- Why is charity the general expression of all the mitzvos, and what does the added hei of tzedakah signify?
- Why is “with all your might” revealed more in baalei teshuvah than in perfect tzaddikim, and how does it turn the curse into a blessing?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית
- The soul that is 'a part of G‑d above'. ×1
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×18
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human initiative that draws down a divine response.
- An arousal from aboveאתערותא דלעילא
- Divine initiative, unprompted by us.
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light that makes room for finite worlds. ×9
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×5
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×4
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The two 'wings' of divine service.
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail. ×2
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion. ×5
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×3
- The light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin)ממלא כל עלמין
- Divine light that enters each world and gives it life according to its measure.
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- Divine light too great to enter the worlds; it 'surrounds' them and affects them from beyond.
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×4
- Teshuvah (return)תשובה
- Returning to G‑d; not only repentance. ×4
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level.
- The general and collective expression (klalus)כללות
- That which encompasses the particulars as one: their general and collective expression (the klal, as against the prat). Never “sum”, “sum total”, “totality” or “general principle”, as if the particulars were added up (וכללותן היא מצות הצדקה is “their general and collective expression is the mitzvah of charity”). Render by sense: “their general and collective expression”, “that which encompasses them all”, “X in general”, “X as a whole”. Keep התכללות as “inclusion” / “inter-inclusion”. ×2
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×2
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×2
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- The soul that animates the body and its drives. ×2
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Giving oneself over entirely to G‑d.
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×7
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×2