Likkutei Torah · Parshas Shir HaShirim · Maamar 22
לבבתני אחותי כלה
You Have Captured My Heart, My Sister, My Bride
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The big idea
Israel’s service “sustains” G‑d: the offerings, and now prayer, lift the soul into the encompassing light, and the Torah and mitzvos draw that light down into the worlds, as bread binds the soul to the body. So the Congregation of Israel makes G‑d, as it were, a “heart” (libavtini) that sends the Infinite Light into all the worlds, through the soul’s two loves, the gazing of its “eyes,” and even one chapter of Torah.
The maamar in brief
The maamar explains Song of Songs 4:9 phrase by phrase, starting from the Sages’ saying that Israel “sustain their Father in heaven” and the verse that calls the offerings G‑d’s “bread.” The offering lifts the animal’s soul to its root in the Chariot and up to the Infinite Light, so that a “pleasing fragrance,” a descent, follows. Prayer does the same for a person’s animal soul: contemplation in the Shema lifts it, through the bittul of will, into the encompassing light (sovev), and “Blessed are You” in the Shemoneh Esreh draws that light into the filling light (memalei). This is the inner meaning of the Exodus and of the double Name in the Shema. The Torah and mitzvos are “bread” too: like the 248 limbs, they are vessels in which sovev is clothed, in Chochmah and in Chesed, through the arousal from below and with the fire of love. Libavtini: Israel make G‑d a “heart,” through the hidden love of “My sister” and the burning love of “bride”; “with one of your eyes” is the sages’ bittul in the higher and lower unity; “with one necklace” is the Torah’s letters, of which even one chapter draws down the One.
Outline
- The question: G‑d’s “bread”Israel “sustain their Father in heaven,” and the offerings are called G‑d’s “bread.” How can the fat and blood of an animal be G‑d’s bread?¶1
- The ascent of the offeringThe animal’s soul, rooted in the face of the ox, rises through the Chariot and supernal Chesed to the Infinite Light, so that a “pleasing fragrance,” a descent, follows. Like bread absorbed into the body, the offering draws G‑d’s light down.¶2–5
- Prayer in place of the offeringsA person’s animal soul is raised through contemplation in the Shema until he desires nothing but G‑d. Will (ratzon) can be mere consent; desire (chefetz) comes from inner delight.¶6–9
- The filling and the encompassing lightMemalei enters the worlds level by level; sovev relates to all of them equally, so even an ordinary person’s blessing draws it down. Hidden now, it is drawn down today through the bittul of will in the Shema.¶10–12
- “Blessed are You” and the ExodusBaruch means both receiving blessing and being its source; blessing is drawn into “You.” Egypt is bounded memalei, the Exodus revealed sovev; the double Names in “I am Havayah your G‑d” and in the Shema are these two levels, and the Shema is the “eating” above.¶13–16
- The Torah as “man” and as “bread”The 248 positive commandments are vessels for sovev; the Torah draws it into Chochmah and the mitzvos into Chesed, through the arousal from below. The bread must be “for My fire-offerings”; serving “with all your might” surpasses the angels; the kohen’s bittul brings the two hearts, weeping and joy.¶17–23
- “You have captured My heart, My sister, bride”Israel make G‑d a “heart” that sends life-force out in two ways; what brings it about is the hidden love of “My sister” and the burning love of “bride.”¶24
- “With one of your eyes”The sages’ gazing at the King’s glory; the written be’achad and the read be’achas are the higher and the lower unity, and both bring about libavtini.¶25–27
- “With one necklace from your neck”The Torah’s letters are precious stones strung on the voice of study; even one chapter draws down the One. The halachos are G‑d’s ways, to be revealed below in the new heavens and the new earth.¶28–31
- SummaryThe main points restated in brief, with notes on the two uses of “bread.”¶32–33
Key concepts
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- G‑d’s light as it relates equally to every level, without entering the worlds’ divisions. Hidden now, it is drawn down through bittul and will be revealed in the days of Moshiach.
- The light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin)ממלא כל עלמין
- G‑d’s light as it enters each world according to its capacity, level after level; bounded and limited, it is the inner meaning of “Egypt.”
- Bread (lechem)לחם
- What binds life-force to its vessel. The offerings, prayer, and the Torah and mitzvos are G‑d’s “bread,” drawing His light into the worlds as bread keeps the soul in the body.
- A pleasing fragrance (rei’ach nichoach)ריח ניחוח
- The phrase used of the offerings, with nichoach read as nechus darga, a descent of level: the ascent is for the sake of a drawing down.
- Will and desire (ratzon, chefetz)רצון וחפץ
- Will can be mere consent, even under compulsion; desire comes from the heart’s inner delight. True desire belongs to G‑d alone.
- Baruchברוך
- Both “receiving blessing” and “the source of blessing.” In “Blessed are You,” the encompassing light is drawn into “You,” the letters of speech.
- My sister, bride (achosi, kallah)אחותי כלה
- The soul’s two loves: the hidden, natural love joined to it from birth, and the burning love born of contemplation.
- The higher and the lower unity (yichuda ila’ah, yichuda tata’ah)יחודא עילאה ויחודא תתאה
- Two kinds of bittul: complete oneness, “Havayah is One” (be’achad), and the yesh that nullifies itself, “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom” (be’achas).
In the Rebbe’s light · 2
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Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶8
The Rebbe explains
In a talk to the students of Tomchei Temimim in Brooklyn on the fifth night of Chanukah 5712 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 2), the Rebbe says it was the „חפצם ורצונם” (desire and will) of the yeshivah’s founders that its students be lamps that give light, and in a note he explains the two words.
Our paragraph distinguishes ratzon (רצון), will, which can be bare consent, even of one compelled „עד שיאמר רוצה אני” (until he says ‘I am willing’), from chafetz (חפץ), the desire of the heart’s inner point, where delight dwells. The Rebbe’s note defines them the same way, chafetz as „פנימיות הרצון” (the inner will), the delight that causes the will, and finds the distinction in the Sages’ exact words: the compelled man says ‘I am willing’ because he takes no delight in it, yet he wills it. And though the Rambam rules that in truth he wants it, the Sages did not write „חפץ אני” (I desire), for he does not yet recognize it himself.
The Alter Rebbe
כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני נק׳ בשם רצון. משא״כ חפץ שהוא חפץ בפנימי׳ נקודת לבו
The Rebbe
וכדיוק לשון רז״ל: כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני — כי אינו מתענג בזה, ואדרבה, אלא שבכל זה רוצה, כיון שכופין אותו
Likkutei Sichos, vol. ב, p. 484, note 16 (section יב) · ליל נר ה׳ דחנוכה, תשי״ב (לתלמידי תו״ת ברוקלין)
- ¶8
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar „ארבעה ראשי שנים הם” (There are four new years), said on 15 Shevat 5731 and later edited by the Rebbe (Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat vol. 5), he explains why Torah study and the mitzvos differ in what they make of the person who does them.
The mitzvos are commands, kept with a servant’s bittul; the Torah is „חכמתו של הקב״ה” (G‑d’s own wisdom), which becomes one with the one who learns it. This, the Rebbe says, is why the Sages said „לעולם ילמוד אדם במקום שלבו חפץ” (a person should always learn where his heart desires), for „חפץ הוא רצון שיש בו תענוג” (chafetz is a will that holds delight), and for this definition his note cites our paragraph. So the main emphasis in Torah study is that the Torah one learns becomes one’s own delight and life.
The Alter Rebbe
משא״כ חפץ שהוא חפץ בפנימי׳ נקודת לבו ששם משכן התענוג
The Rebbe
וזהו שאמרו לעולם ילמוד אדם במקום שלבו חפץ, דחפץ הוא רצון שיש בו תענוג
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ה, p. קעב–קעג (note 49 on p. קעב) · יום ד׳, חמשה עשר בשבט ה׳תשל״א
Short quotes only, with the place of each so it can be read in full. The Rebbe’s sichos, letters and maamarim are published by Kehot and by Vaad Hanochos B’Lahak (lahak.org).
The question: G‑d’s “bread” ¶1
1לבבתני אחותי כלה. לבבתני באחת מעיניך1 (באחד כתיב באחת קרי). באחד ענק מצוורניך. הנה אמרז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] ישראל מפרנסין לאביהם שבשמים2
“You have captured My heart (libavtini), My sister, [My] bride; you have captured My heart with one (be’achas) of your eyes” (be’achad is written, be’achas is read), “with one necklace (anak) from your neck.” Now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Israel provide sustenance for their Father in heaven.”
The maamar opens with Song of Songs 4:9, where the Beloved, G‑d, speaks to His bride, the Congregation of Israel. In this verse the word for “one” before “of your eyes” is written in the masculine (be’achad) but read in the feminine (be’achas), and the maamar will later explain both forms. It then cites the Sages’ striking saying, found in the Zohar together with the “pleasing fragrance” of the offerings, that Israel “provide sustenance” for their Father in heaven.
¶24 The opening verse itself is explained starting in paragraph 24.
והענין הוא דכתיב את קרבני לחמי לאשי3 שהקרבנות שמקריבים חלב ודם מן הבהמה נק׳ בחי׳ לחם אצלו ית׳ כו׳ והוא פלאי. אך הנה ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] ג׳ שותפין יש באדם4 כו׳.
The explanation is that it is written, “My offering, My bread, for My fire-offerings”: the offerings, in which fat and blood of the animal are offered, are called the level of “bread” for Him, may He be blessed, etc. And this is a wonder. But now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “There are three partners in a person,” etc.
The saying rests on the verse in which G‑d calls the offerings “My bread” (Numbers 28:2). The Alter Rebbe calls it a wonder that the fat and blood of an animal should be called G‑d’s “bread,” and he begins his answer with the Talmud’s teaching that a person has three partners: his father, his mother and the Holy One, blessed be He, who gives the soul.
¶5 Hold this question: paragraph 5 explains why offerings are called bread.
The opening verse and the question: how can the animal offerings be called “bread” for G‑d, and in what sense do Israel “sustain” their Father in heaven?
TermsKorbanos
- Korbanos קרבנות
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2ישראל מפרנסין לאביהם שבשמים · Zohar, Vayikra 13:97–16:104
- 3את קרבני לחמי לאשי · Numbers 28:2
- 4שותפין יש באדם · Niddah 31a:9
The ascent of the offering ¶2–5
Now, so too it is with an animal, except that in a person the Holy One, blessed be He, places a soul (neshamah), for his soul is “a part of G‑d above”; while in an animal the soul (nefesh) is
Following the “three partners,” the Alter Rebbe says that an animal, too, has a soul from above and not only a body from its parents. The difference is that a person’s soul is “a part of G‑d above” (Job 31:2), while the animal’s soul comes from a lower source, as the next part explains.
מבחינת פני שור2 שבמרכבה וע״י הקרבן עולה החיות של הנפש ונכלל בשרשו בחיות הקדש והחיות נושאות את הכסא ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם3 כו׳.
from the level of the face of the ox in the Chariot. Through the offering, the life-force (chayus) of the soul rises and is included in its root, in the holy Chayos [the ‘living creatures’ of the Chariot]; and the Chayos bear the Throne, and “upon the likeness of the Throne [was] a likeness like the appearance of a man,” etc.
In Ezekiel’s vision of the Chariot, the holy Chayos (living creatures) have the faces of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle, and an animal’s soul is rooted in the face of the ox. When an animal is offered, its life-force rises back to that root; and since the Chayos carry the Throne, and above the Throne is the likeness of a man, the ascent continues upward through the whole Chariot. In Iggeres HaKodesh 28 the Alter Rebbe describes the same ascent, answered from the “man” upon the Throne, Z’eir Anpin; here he says it reaches the very Infinite Light.
An animal’s soul is rooted in the “face of the ox” of the divine Chariot, and the offering raises it back to that root and, through it, toward the “man” upon the Throne.
In Iggeres HaKodesh 28, which the Kehot note cites, the Alter Rebbe explains that the offerings raise mayin nukvin (the feminine waters) from the animal soul in kelipas nogah to its root, the Chayos that bear the Throne, and that in response mayin duchrin (the masculine waters) descend from the “man” upon the Throne, called Z’eir Anpin. Here, as the note observes, the ascent is said to go further, up to the very Infinite Light.
TermsKiseiMerkavahKorbanosMalachim+3
- Kisei כסא
- Merkavah מרכבה
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Malachim מלאכים
- Hiskallelus התכללות
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2פני שור · Ezekiel 1:10
- 3ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם · Ezekiel 1:26
3וכולם מתנשאים ומתעלים ומתרוממים ע״י הקרבן בעילוי אחר עילוי עד רום המעלות עד אור א״ס ב״ה ממש כדי להיות ריח ניחוח לשון נחות דרגא
And all of them are lifted, raised and elevated through the offering, ascent after ascent, to the highest of heights, up to the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that there be “a pleasing fragrance” (rei’ach nichoach), [nichoach being] a term for nechus darga, “a descent of level”;
Through the offering the whole Chariot, the Chayos, the Throne and the “man” above it, is lifted level after level, up to the Infinite Light itself. The purpose is the “pleasing fragrance” (rei’ach nichoach) said of the offerings, and the Alter Rebbe reads nichoach (the printed Hebrew’s ניחול is a misprint for ניחוח) as related to nechus, “descent”: the ascent is meant to bring about a descent.
דהיינו להיות בחי׳ המשכה מלמעלה למטה התהוות שם הוי׳ צמצום והתפשטות כו׳ ולהיות גם למטה גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה.
that is, so that there be the aspect of drawing down from above to below, the bringing into being of the Name Havayah, contraction (tzimtzum) and expansion, etc., and so that below, too, there be a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He.
The descent is a drawing down of G‑dliness from above to below through the Name Havayah, the Name that signifies bringing into being, which works by contraction and then expansion: its yud is contraction and its hei expansion, as Likkutei Torah, Sh’lach, puts it. Its goal is that the Infinite Light be revealed below as well.
The offering’s ascent reaches the Infinite Light so that a “pleasing fragrance” follows: a descent, in which the Name Havayah brings into being and the Infinite Light is revealed below.
TermsRei’achKorbanosTzimtzum+3
4והיינו ע״י הכהן המקריב שהוא איש החסד1 המעלה את נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] של הבהמה ע״ג [על גבי] המזבח ליכלל בשרשה בחיות הקדש שבמרכבה ומשם היא עולה למעלה מעלה ע״י הכהן העליון הוא חסד עליון.
And this is through the kohen [priest] who offers [it], who is the man of Chesed (kindness), who raises the animal soul of the beast upon the altar, to be included in its root, in the holy Chayos of the Chariot; and from there it rises higher and higher through the supernal Kohen, which is supernal Chesed.
The Zohar, cited in the Kehot note, teaches that the kohen (priest) comes from the side of Chesed, kindness, and that above him is a High Priest on high, the angel Michael, who comes from supernal Chesed. So the kohen lifts the animal’s soul on the altar to its root in the holy Chayos, and the “supernal Kohen,” supernal Chesed, carries the ascent higher still.
דאית חסד ואית חסד2 דאקרי רב חסד כו׳ עד שישוב החיות ליכלל באור א״ס ב״ה ממש כדי שיהיה ריח ניחוח והמשכה כו׳.
For there is Chesed, and there is Chesed that is called “abundant in kindness” (rav chesed), etc., until the life-force returns to be included in the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that there be “a pleasing fragrance” and a drawing down, etc.
With the Zohar’s words, the Alter Rebbe distinguishes two levels of Chesed: ordinary Chesed and a higher Chesed called “abundant in kindness” (rav chesed), one of the attributes of mercy in Exodus 34:6. Through this higher Chesed the life-force returns to the very Infinite Light, and only then comes the “pleasing fragrance,” the drawing down.
The ascent is carried out by the kohen, the man of Chesed, and continued above by supernal Chesed, the “abundant kindness” that brings it to the Infinite Light.
For “there is Chesed and there is Chesed” the Kehot note gives Zohar 1:219a and refers also to Zohar 3:133b and 3:28a.
TermsRei’achChesed olamMerkavahNefesh habahamis+5
- Rei’ach ריח
- Chesed olam חסד עולם
- Merkavah מרכבה
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Malachim מלאכים
- Chesed חסד
Marei mekomos
- 1איש החסד · Zohar, Nasso 13:137–15:145
- 2דאית חסד ואית חסד · Zohar, Vayechi 21:171–23:182
5ולכן נק׳ הקרבנו׳ [הקרבנות] בשם לחם כמו הלחם שעליו יחיה האדם1 עד״מ שהוא המתעכל עד שישוב לדם ובשר ממש ועי״ז ממשיך חיות הנפש בגוף.
Therefore the offerings are called by the name “bread,” like the bread by which a person lives, by way of analogy: it is what is digested until it actually turns into blood and flesh, and through this it draws the life-force of the soul into the body.
This is why the offerings are called “bread.” Bread is the staple “by which a person lives” (Deuteronomy 8:3): it is digested until it becomes the body’s own blood and flesh, and so it keeps the soul’s life-force in the body.
¶1 This answers the question from paragraph 1.
ככה הוא החיות העולה מן הקרבן עולה ונכלל באור א״ס ב״ה ממש ועי״ז פועל ישועות להמשיך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה למטה.
So too the life-force that rises from the offering rises and is included in the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and through this it works salvations, drawing life-force and the Infinite Light, blessed be He, down below.
In the same way, the life-force rising from the offering is absorbed into the very Infinite Light, and this “works salvations” (Psalms 74:12 says it of G‑d): life-force and the Infinite Light are drawn down below. The offering “feeds” G‑d in the sense that it brings His light into the world.
Bread becomes the body and binds the soul to it; so the offering, absorbed above, draws G‑d’s light down. That is why the offerings are G‑d’s “bread.”
Marei mekomos
- 1
Prayer in place of the offerings ¶6–9
6והנה אמרז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] תפלות כנגד קרבנות תקנום.1 והענין הוא שגם באדם יש נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] ששרשה מבחי׳ חיות הקדש שבמרכבה וירדה ונתלבשה בגוף הגשמי.
Now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The prayers were instituted corresponding to the offerings.” The explanation is that in a person, too, there is an animal soul, whose root is from the level of the holy Chayos of the Chariot, and it descended and was clothed in the physical body.
The Talmud teaches that the daily prayers were instituted to correspond to the daily offerings. The reason, the Alter Rebbe explains, is that a person, too, has an animal soul rooted in the holy Chayos, which came down into the physical body.
וצריך להעלותה לשרשה ומשם למעלה מעלה כו׳ והעלאה זו היא בק״ש [בקריאת שמע] וברכותי׳ [וברכותיה] ע״י התבוננות ביוצר אור איך שהוא ית׳ אחד ממש.
It must be raised to its root, and from there higher and higher, etc. This raising is in the Shema and its blessings, through contemplating, in [the blessing] “Who forms light” (Yotzer Or), how He, may He be blessed, is truly One.
Like the animal on the altar, this soul must be raised to its root and beyond. That happens in the Shema and its blessings, through contemplating, in the blessing “Who forms light” (Yotzer Or), how G‑d is truly One.
Prayer takes the place of the offerings because it does for a person’s animal soul what the offering did for the animal: it raises it to its root and beyond, through contemplation in the Shema and its blessings.
For the link between prayer and the offerings the Kehot note also gives Zohar 3:28b and 3:109b.
TermsMerkavahKorbanosNefesh habahamisHisbonenus+4
- Merkavah מרכבה
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Malachim מלאכים
- Tefillah תפלה
Also Haalaah vehamshachah
Marei mekomos
- 1תפלות כנגד קרבנות תקנום · Berakhot 26b:4–5
7ואין עוד מלבדו1 דכולא קמי׳ [קמיה] כלא חשיבי ואין ערוך אליו ית׳ אפי׳ [אפילו] כערך טפה מן הים אוקיינוס כו׳
And “there is nothing else besides Him,” for “all before Him are considered as nothing,” and there is no comparison to Him, may He be blessed, not even like the proportion of a drop to the ocean, etc.
The contemplation continues: “there is nothing else besides Him” (Deuteronomy 4:35), and all of creation is as nothing before Him. There is no comparison between G‑d and the world at all, not even the tiny proportion of a drop to the ocean.
ואי לזאת תכלה הנפש בתשוקה וצמאון לדבקה באור א״ס ב״ה כח, דממש עד שתצא הנפש מנרתקה היא מאסר הגוף. כמ״ש מי לי בשמים2 ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ.
Therefore the soul will pine away with longing and thirst to cleave to the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, until the soul goes out of its sheath, which is the prison of the body; as it is written, “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing on earth.”
Such contemplation awakens a yearning so intense that the soul longs to leave its “sheath,” the body, which confines it like a prison, in order to cleave to G‑d. The Psalmist’s words express it: he wants nothing in heaven or on earth, only G‑d.
Contemplating G‑d’s absolute oneness makes the soul yearn to cleave to Him beyond any other desire: “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing on earth.”
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
8ופי׳ חפצתי הוא שיש בחי׳ רצון ובחי׳ חפץ.1 וההפרש שביניהם כי רצון נק׳ אפילו מה שעושה בע״כ [בעל כרחך] רק שהרצון מסכים לכך בהסכמה בעלמא.
The meaning of “I desire” (chafatzti) is that there is the level of will (ratzon) and the level of desire (chefetz). The difference between them is that “will” is the term even for what one does under compulsion, only that the will agrees to it with a mere consent.
The Alter Rebbe now explains the word chafatzti, “I desire,” by distinguishing will (ratzon) from desire (chefetz). Will can be present even in something a person does only because he must: the will goes along with it, but only as bare consent. The Alter Rebbe’s example comes from the Mishnah (Arachin 21a). A man who owes a burnt offering or peace offering, which the Torah says must be brought “willingly,” is compelled by the court “until he says, ‘I am willing’ (rotzeh ani),” and the same is done with a husband required to give a divorce. Even consent extracted this way is called ratzon, will, though it plainly involves no desire or delight.
ואפילו אם כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני23 נק׳ בשם רצון. משא״כ חפץ שהוא חפץ בפנימי׳ [בפנימיות / בפנימית] נקודת לבו ששם משכן התענוג45
Even if they compel him until he says, “I am willing,” it is called by the name “will.” This is not so with desire: he desires [it] in the inner dimension of the point of his heart, where delight (taanug) dwells.
The proof is the halachic rule that a person may be compelled until he says “I am willing,” and that counts as will. Desire is different: it lives in the innermost point of the heart, where a person’s delight resides.
שמתענג בדבר ההוא אשר יחפוץ לו וע״כ כל חפצו וכל ישעו ומגמת פניו ישים בדבר הזה כי כך הוא חפץ ומתאוה ובכך הוא נרצה לו התענוג.
For he delights in the thing that he desires; therefore he places all his desire, all his salvation and the aim of his face in this thing, for this is what he desires and craves, and in this the delight is pleasing to him.
He delights in the thing he desires, so he puts all his longing and all his hope into it, and it becomes his whole aim. Will can exist without delight; desire is will that flows from delight.
Will (ratzon) can be mere consent, even under compulsion; desire (chefetz) comes from the heart’s inner delight and absorbs a person’s whole aim.
A note to the maamar Basi LeGani 5732, quoted by Kehot, infers from this passage that even a will produced by coercion is called will, and shows that this does not contradict the Rambam, who calls such consent the person’s true will. Likkutei Sichos, also quoted, compares Iggeres HaKodesh 29, where will is the outer dimension of delight.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In a talk to the students of Tomchei Temimim in Brooklyn on the fifth night of Chanukah 5712 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 2), the Rebbe says it was the „חפצם ורצונם” (desire and will) of the yeshivah’s founders that its students be lamps that give light, and in a note he explains the two words.
Our paragraph distinguishes ratzon (רצון), will, which can be bare consent, even of one compelled „עד שיאמר רוצה אני” (until he says ‘I am willing’), from chafetz (חפץ), the desire of the heart’s inner point, where delight dwells. The Rebbe’s note defines them the same way, chafetz as „פנימיות הרצון” (the inner will), the delight that causes the will, and finds the distinction in the Sages’ exact words: the compelled man says ‘I am willing’ because he takes no delight in it, yet he wills it. And though the Rambam rules that in truth he wants it, the Sages did not write „חפץ אני” (I desire), for he does not yet recognize it himself.
The Alter Rebbe
כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני נק׳ בשם רצון. משא״כ חפץ שהוא חפץ בפנימי׳ נקודת לבו
The Rebbe
וכדיוק לשון רז״ל: כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני — כי אינו מתענג בזה, ואדרבה, אלא שבכל זה רוצה, כיון שכופין אותו
Likkutei Sichos, vol. ב, p. 484, note 16 (section יב) · ליל נר ה׳ דחנוכה, תשי״ב (לתלמידי תו״ת ברוקלין)
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar „ארבעה ראשי שנים הם” (There are four new years), said on 15 Shevat 5731 and later edited by the Rebbe (Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat vol. 5), he explains why Torah study and the mitzvos differ in what they make of the person who does them.
The mitzvos are commands, kept with a servant’s bittul; the Torah is „חכמתו של הקב״ה” (G‑d’s own wisdom), which becomes one with the one who learns it. This, the Rebbe says, is why the Sages said „לעולם ילמוד אדם במקום שלבו חפץ” (a person should always learn where his heart desires), for „חפץ הוא רצון שיש בו תענוג” (chafetz is a will that holds delight), and for this definition his note cites our paragraph. So the main emphasis in Torah study is that the Torah one learns becomes one’s own delight and life.
The Alter Rebbe
משא״כ חפץ שהוא חפץ בפנימי׳ נקודת לבו ששם משכן התענוג
The Rebbe
וזהו שאמרו לעולם ילמוד אדם במקום שלבו חפץ, דחפץ הוא רצון שיש בו תענוג
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ה, p. קעב–קעג (note 49 on p. קעב) · יום ד׳, חמשה עשר בשבט ה׳תשל״א
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsKoach hamisavehParsa, masachTaanugRatzon
- Koach hamisaveh כח המתאוה
- Parsa, masach פרסא ומסך
- Taanug תענוג
- Ratzon רצון
Marei mekomos
- 1שיש בחי׳ רצון ובחי׳ חפץ · ראה דרך מצותיך צו, ב.
- 2עד שיאמר רוצה אני · Mishneh Torah, Divorce 2:20
- 3כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני · Mishnah Arakhin 5:6
- 4חפץ בפנימי׳ נקודת לבו ששם משכן התענוג · ראה שו״ת הצ״צ אה״ע ח״ב סי׳ רסג, ועוד. ולהעיר מאגה״ק סכ״ט (קמט, ב), שרצון זה הוא חיצוניות דתענוג” — לקו״ש ח״כ ע׳ 310 הערה 74.
- 5ואפילו אם כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני נק׳ בשם רצון · ”דמזה מוכח שגם רצון שמצד כפי׳ נק׳ רצון, ואין סתירה לזה ממ״ש הרמב״ם (הל׳ גירושין ספ״ב) שזהו רצונו וחפצו האמיתי — דכיון שהוא חושב שרצונו הוא רק מפני הכפי׳ ואעפ״כ אומר רוצה אני (ולשון זה מובא בתורה) מוכח שגם זה נקרא רצון”. — ד״ה באתי לגני תשל״ב הערה 81 (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ו ע׳ צט).
9וזהו ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ שאין לי שום חפץ ותענוג בעניני עוה״ז רק בבחי׳ רצון בע״כ [בעל כרחך]
This is [the meaning of] “And with You I desire nothing on earth”: I have no desire or delight at all in the matters of this world, only on the level of will, under compulsion,
Applied to the verse, “with You I desire nothing on earth” means that the Psalmist has no desire or delight in worldly matters. He deals with them only on the level of will, as one who must.
כי בע״כ [בעל כרחך] אתה חי1 ואין לי חפץ אלא עמך כי עמך מקור חיים2 ומקור התענוגי׳ [התענוגים] ושם כל חפצו וכל ישעו להתענג על ה׳
for “against your will you live”; and I have no desire except with You, for “with You is the source of life” and the source of delights. And he places all his desire and all his salvation in delighting in G‑d.
As the Mishnah says, “against your will you live”: worldly life is accepted, not desired. His only desire is “with You,” for G‑d is “the source of life” and of all delights, so he places all his desire and hope in delighting in G‑d.
(And see on the subject of desire and will in the discourse beginning “I sleep,” in the discourse beginning “And I was with Him as a nursling,” and in the discourse beginning “Remember what Amalek did to you.”
The parenthesis refers to three other discourses that discuss the difference between desire and will: “I sleep,” later in this book; “And I was with Him as a nursling,” in Bamidbar; and “Remember what Amalek did to you,” in Torah Ohr. In “I sleep” the Alter Rebbe defines will as wanting a thing even without true desire, as when one is compelled until he says “I am willing,” and desire as the true will that comes from finding delight in it.
וי״ל [ויש לומר] שבחי׳ זו זהו ענין הקטרת האימורין שבקרבנות כי החלב נמשך מהתענוג וע׳ לקמן בד״ה להבין ענין תפלה. וע׳ בשה״ש [בשיר השירים] ע״פ לסוסתי):6
It may be said that this level is the matter of the burning of the sacrificial portions (eimurin) in the offerings, for the fat derives from delight. And see below, in the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of prayer.” And see in Shir HaShirim on [the verse] “To My mare.”)
The Alter Rebbe adds that this level of desire may be what the burning of the sacrificial fats (eimurin) on the altar represents, since fat comes from delight. In the discourse “To My mare,” earlier in Shir HaShirim, he explains that the fat is the animal’s delight, burnt in the fire above to be included in the source of delights, just as prayer now turns the soul from animal pleasures to delight in G‑d; he also refers to a later discourse on prayer.
True desire is reserved for G‑d, the source of life and delight; everything worldly is dealt with only as will. This desire may be what the burning of the fats on the altar stands for.
TermsAmalekKorbanosOlam HaZehTaanug+2
Marei mekomos
- 1בע״כ אתה חי · Pirkei Avot 4:22
- 2כי עמך מקור חיים · Psalms 36:10
- 3בד״ה אני ישנה · לקמן לג, ד.
- 4ובד״ה ואהי׳ אצלו אמון · לעיל במדבר יח, א.
- 5ובד״ה זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק · תו״א פד, ד. וראה אוה״ת שמע״צ ע׳ א׳תשפד.
- 6וע׳ בשה״ש ע״פ לסוסתי · לעיל יב, ב.
The filling and the encompassing light ¶10–12
10ב והנה נודע שיש ב׳ בחי׳ בהמשכת אור א״ס ב״ה לכל העולמות והנבראים בחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] ובחי׳ סוכ״ע
2. Now, it is known that there are two levels in the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to all the worlds and created beings: the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin).
The second section opens with a basic distinction. G‑d’s light reaches the worlds in two ways: as the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and as the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin).
ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] היינו דרך התלבשות והשתלשלות המדרגות מעילה לעלול בי״ס [בי׳ ספירות] ואח״כ לנשמות ומלאכים שהמה רוחניים ואח״כ בגשמיים כו׳
The light that fills all worlds is by way of enclothement and the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the levels, from cause to effect, in the ten Sefiros, and afterwards to the souls and angels, who are spiritual, and afterwards in physical things, etc.;
The filling light enters the worlds by clothing itself in them step by step, each level the cause of the next: first in the ten Sefiros, then in the souls and angels, who are spiritual, and finally in physical things.
שהחיות נמשך לכל עולם לפי מה שהוא ומזה נמשך ריבוי התחלקות מדרגות עד אין קץ ועולמות עד אין מספר1 בבחי׳ רבות ומשונות זו מזו כו׳
for the life-force (chayus) is drawn to each world according to what it is. From this derives a multiplicity of divisions of levels without end, and worlds without number, in a state of being many and different from one another, etc.
Because each world receives life according to its own capacity, the result is endless variety: levels without end and worlds without number. The phrase plays on Song of Songs 6:8, “maidens (alamos) without number,” as if it read olamos, “worlds.”
אבל בחי׳ סוכ״ע היינו שהוא ג״כ חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה המחיה את העולמות והנבראים אמנם אין החיות נמשך בדרך התלבשות והשתלשלות המדרגות רק בבחי׳ סובב ומקיף מלמעלה.
But the level of the light that encompasses all worlds means that it, too, is life-force and the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that gives life to the worlds and the created beings; however, the life-force is not drawn by way of enclothement and the chain of descent of the levels, but only in the manner of encompassing and surrounding from above.
The encompassing light also gives life to the worlds, but not by entering them level by level. It acts on them only as something that surrounds them from above.
The second section lays the groundwork: G‑d’s light reaches creation both by entering it level by level (memalei) and by encompassing it from above (sovev).
TermsIlah ve’alulSefirosMemalei kol alminMalachim+8
- Ilah ve’alul עילה ועלול
- Sefiros ספירות
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Malachim מלאכים
- Or Makif אור מקיף
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Marei mekomos
- 1ועלמות עד אין מספר · Song of Songs 6:8
11ונק׳ אור מקיף פי׳ שהוא אור וחיות אלא שבא בבחי׳ מקיף ומקיף את כולם בהשוואה א׳ עליונים ותחתונים בלי התחלקות המדרגות
And it is called the encompassing light (Or Makif). That is, it is light and life-force (chayus), except that it comes in the manner of encompassing, and it encompasses all of them in one equal manner, higher and lower beings, without division of levels;
This is why sovev is called the “encompassing light” (Or Makif). It is real light and life, but because it does not enter the worlds it is not divided by their levels; it surrounds the highest and the lowest equally.
for it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed.” He is equal and makes equal small and great, and spirituality and physicality are equal before Him, and “the darkness is as the light.”
The prophet’s words “I, Havayah, have not changed” (Malachi 3:6) express this unchanging, equal relation. To this light small and great, spiritual and physical, are alike, as the Psalmist says, “the darkness is as the light” (Psalms 139:12).
ומזה נמשך משארז״ל [מה שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] אל תהי ברכת הדיוט קלה בעיניך3 כי מבחי׳ סוכ״ע אפי׳ [אפילו] ההדיוט יכול להמשיך כו׳.
From this follows what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Let not the blessing of an ordinary person be light in your eyes”; for from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) even an ordinary person can draw down, etc.
This explains the Talmud’s teaching not to take lightly the blessing of an ordinary person. Since the encompassing light relates to all equally, even an ordinary person can draw it down.
The encompassing light relates equally to every level, high or low; therefore even an ordinary person’s blessing can draw it down.
In the passage in Parshas Masei that the Kehot note cites, the “blessing of an ordinary person” is explained as the ascent of ordinary, physical matters of this world, and it is specifically through nullifying the yesh, the sense of self, that the blessing and the drawing down from above come about.
TermsKachasheichah kaorahBerachahOr MakifSovev kol almin+1
- Kachasheichah kaorah כחשיכה כאורה
- Berachah ברכה
- Or Makif אור מקיף
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Also Chayus
Marei mekomos
- 1אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 2וכחשיכה כאורה · Psalms 139:12
- 3אל תהי׳ ברכת הדיוט קלה בעיניך · Berakhot 7a:4
12והנה בחי׳ סוכ״ע עכשיו הוא בחי׳ העלם שאינה באה לידי גילוי אלא לימוה״מ [לימות המשיח] כי אז עין בעין1 כו׳ רק שעכשיו הוא בבחי׳ היום לעשותן2 להמשיך גילוי זה שלעתיד כנודע
Now, the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) is at present in a state of concealment, for it comes to revelation only in the days of Moshiach, for then “eye to eye,” etc.; except that now it is in the state of “today to do them,” to draw down this revelation that is to come, as is known.
Today the encompassing light is hidden; it will be revealed only in the days of Moshiach, when, as Isaiah says, they will see “eye to eye.” Now is the time of “today to do them,” the time for the service that draws that future revelation down.
והיינו ע״י בחי׳ ביטול רצון שבק״ש [שבקריאת שמע]3 באחד בשומו ללבו איך שהוא א׳ ואין עוד מלבדו כנ״ל שעי״ז תכלה נפשו לדבקה בו ית׳ באור א״ס ב״ה ממש
And this is through the level of the self-nullification (bittul) of will in the Shema, at “One” (echad), when he takes to heart how He is One and “there is nothing else besides Him,” as mentioned above, so that through this his soul will pine to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, to the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He,
This drawing down comes through the self-nullification of one’s will in the Shema, at the word “One” (echad), when one takes to heart that G‑d is One and there is nothing else. That contemplation makes the soul yearn to cleave to the very Infinite Light.
ולא יהי׳ [יהיה] לו רצון אחר כלל ואז עולה ונכלל החיות באור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע שהוא למעלה מבחי׳ התלבשות בגדר עלמין בדרך השתלשלות.
and he will have no other will at all. Then the life-force (chayus) rises and is included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds, which is above the level of enclothement within the bounds of worlds in the manner of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus).
When a person has no other will at all, the life-force rises and is included in the encompassing light, which is above the order in which light is clothed within the worlds. This ascent prepares the descent described next.
The encompassing light, hidden now and revealed in the days of Moshiach, is drawn down today through the bittul of will in the Shema, which lifts the life-force into that light.
TermsBittul haratzonDeveikusKrias ShemaSovev kol almin+7
- Bittul haratzon ביטול רצון
- Deveikus דביקות
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
- Hiskallelus התכללות
- Ratzon רצון
Marei mekomos
- 1עין בעין · Isaiah 52:8
- 2היום לעשותן · Deuteronomy 7:11
- 3ע״י בחי׳ ביטול רצון שבק״ש · ראה אוה״ת קרח ע׳ תשכה.
“Blessed are You” and the Exodus ¶13–16
13ומשם נמשך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה בתפלת י״ח בבחי׳ ברוך אתה להיות ברוך ונמשך אור א״ס ב״ה כו׳ והנה ביאור מלת ברוך יש בו ב׳ פירושים.1
From there, life-force (chayus) and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, are drawn down in the prayer of Shemoneh Esreh [the Eighteen Blessings], in the aspect of “Blessed are You” (Baruch Atah), so that the Infinite Light, blessed be He, become “blessed” (baruch) and be drawn down, etc. Now, the explanation of the word baruch has two interpretations.
From the encompassing light reached in the Shema, G‑d’s light and life-force are drawn down in the Shemoneh Esreh, whose blessings begin “Blessed are You.” The word baruch, “blessed,” expresses this drawing down, and the Alter Rebbe notes that it has two meanings.
The first interpretation is as in “And King Shlomo [shall be] blessed,” where the meaning is a passive form: he receives the blessing, which is drawn down upon him from a higher place.
In the first meaning baruch is passive, as in the verse “And King Shlomo shall be blessed” (I Kings 2:45): one who is “blessed” receives blessing that comes to him from a higher source. In Likkutei Torah, Tazria, the Alter Rebbe gives the same two meanings and refers to this discourse for more.
The light reached in the Shema is drawn down in the Shemoneh Esreh through “Blessed are You,” and the word baruch has two meanings.
In the discourse in Parshas Tazria that the Kehot note cites, the same two meanings are given: baruch as one who has been blessed and receives blessing, as in “And King Shlomo shall be blessed,” and baruch as the source of blessings who blesses all. There the Alter Rebbe refers to this discourse on “You have captured My heart, My sister, [My] bride.”
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה ביאור מלת ברוך יש בו ב׳ פירושים · ראה לעיל פ׳ תזריע כב, ג. דרך מצותיך קב, ב. מאמרי אדה״א ויקרא ח״ב ע׳ תמו ואילך.
- 2והמלך שלמה ברוך · מ״א ב, מה.
- 3והמלך שלמה ברוך · I Kings 2:45
14והב׳ כמו רחום וחנון כו׳ שאינו לשון נפעל אלא לשון מקור שהוא מקור הרחמים.
The second is as in “compassionate and gracious” (rachum vechanun), etc., which is not a passive form but a term for a source: He is the source of compassion.
In the second meaning baruch is like rachum, “compassionate”: it describes not one who receives compassion but its source. So baruch can mean the source of blessing.
וכך הוא ענין ברוך אתה שבתפלה יש בו ב׳ פירושים ושניהם אמת שע״י אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] התכללות החיות באור א״ס ב״ה נמשך ברכה ממקור הברכות הוא אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע כו׳ ממש בבחי׳ את״ה הן הם בחי׳ אותיות שמאלף ועד תי״ו וה׳ מוצאות הפה
So too with “Blessed are You” in prayer: it has two interpretations, and both are true. For through the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), the inclusion of the life-force (chayus) in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, blessing is drawn down from the Source of blessings, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), etc., truly into the level of Atah (“You”), alef-tav-hei: these are the level of the letters from alef to tav, and the five (hei) articulations of the mouth.
Both meanings are true of “Blessed are You” in prayer. Through our arousal from below, when the life-force is included in the Infinite Light, blessing is drawn down from the Source of blessings, the encompassing light itself, into Atah, “You,” whose letters stand for all the letters from alef to tav (א־ת) and for the five places in the mouth where speech is formed (ה, hei, is five).
והוא ענין המשכת בחי׳ סובב לבחי׳ ממלא שיהי׳ [שיהיה] גם בבחי׳ ממלא בחי׳ גילוי סוכ״ע.
This is the drawing down of the level of sovev (encompassing) into the level of memalei (filling), so that in the level of memalei, too, there be the revelation of the light that encompasses all worlds.
Drawing the blessing into “You,” into the letters of speech, is thus drawing the encompassing light into the filling light, so that sovev is revealed within memalei.
Baruch means both receiving blessing and being its source; in “Blessed are You,” blessing from the encompassing light is drawn into “You,” the letters, so that sovev is revealed within memalei.
TermsHei motzaos hapehIsarusa dilesataMemalei kol alminBerachah+7
- Hei motzaos hapeh ה׳ מוצאות הפה
- Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Berachah ברכה
- Tefillah תפלה
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Osiyos אותיות
- Hiskallelus התכללות
15וזהו ענין יציאת מצרים כי בחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] נק׳ מצרים שהוא בחי׳ השתלשלות המדרגות ברבוי התחלקות שונות והרי לכל מדרגה יש לה גבול ומיצר.
This is the matter of the Exodus from Egypt (Mitzrayim): the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) is called Mitzrayim, for it is the level of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the levels, in a multitude of different divisions, and every level has a boundary and a constraint (meitzar).
The Exodus is read in these terms. Mitzrayim, Egypt, is related to meitzar, “constraint”: the filling light comes down through many levels, and each level is bounded and limited.
אבל המשכות גילוי בחי׳ סוכ״ע נק׳ יצ״מ [יציאת מצרים] שהוא השראת אור א״ס ב״ה ממש שכשמו כן הוא אין לו סוף.
But the drawings-down of the revelation of the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) are called the Exodus from Egypt, for this is the indwelling of the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which, as its name is, so it is: it has no end (ein sof).
Going out of Egypt is the revelation of the encompassing light, the dwelling of the very Infinite Light, which, true to its name Ein Sof, “without end,” has no limit at all.
Egypt (Mitzrayim) is the bounded light of memalei; the Exodus is the revelation of the unbounded encompassing light.
TermsMemalei kol alminSovev kol alminHishtalshelus+1
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Also Or Ein Sof
16ובהמשיך האדם על נפשו גילוי בחי׳ זו הרי הוא כאלו יוצא ממצרים בחי׳ מיצר כו׳.
When a person draws the revelation of this level upon his soul, he is as if he goes out of Egypt, the level of constraint (meitzar), etc.
Whenever a person draws this revelation into his own soul, it is as though he leaves Egypt, the state of constraint.
וזהו ענין כפל ב׳ פעמים אני ה׳ אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי1 אתכם מארץ מצרים כו׳ וחזר ואמר אני ה׳ כט, אאלקיכם.
This is the matter of the repetition, twice: “I am Havayah your G‑d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,” etc., and then it says again, “I am Havayah your G‑d.”
This explains why the last verse of the passage of tzitzis says “I am Havayah your G‑d” twice (Numbers 15:41): once before “who brought you out of the land of Egypt” and once after it.
פי׳ הוי׳ אלקיכם הוא גילוי בחי׳ סוכ״ע עד שנעשה בחי׳ הוי׳ לבחי׳ אלקי׳ כו׳ וכמ״ש במ״א.
The meaning: “Havayah your G‑d (Elokeichem)” is the revelation of the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), until the level of Havayah becomes the level of Elokim, etc., as is explained elsewhere.
“Havayah your G‑d” is the revelation of the encompassing light, so great that the level of Havayah itself becomes like the level of Elokim, the Name of concealment and contraction. In Likkutei Torah, Sh’lach, the Alter Rebbe explains that in the future, when a light far above the Name Havayah is revealed, Havayah will be reckoned as Elokim, “your G‑d,” for Israel are the ones who draw that revelation down.
ויש בזה ב׳ בחי׳ סוכ״ע ובחי׳ המשכת גילוי בבחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין]. ולזה כפל ג״כ הוי׳ אלקינו ה׳ אחד.2
In this there are two levels: the light that encompasses all worlds, and the drawing down of revelation into the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin). For this reason [the verse] also says it twice: “Havayah our G‑d, Havayah is One.”
So the verse holds two levels: the encompassing light itself, and its drawing down into the filling light. The same double Name appears in the Shema: “Havayah our G‑d, Havayah is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
הוי׳ אלקינו הוא בחי׳ סוכ״ע בעצמו (והיינו ענין יחוד דאו״א [דאבא ואימא] שהמשכה זו מגילוי זה נק׳ בחינת סוכ״ע קודם שנמשך עדיין בבחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] כי או״א [אבא ואימא] נק׳ ג״כ הנסתרות3 להוי׳ אלקינו4 עלמא דאתכסיא
“Havayah our G‑d” is the level of the light that encompasses all worlds itself. (This is the union of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah): this drawing down from this revelation is called the level of the light that encompasses all worlds before it is yet drawn into the level of the light that fills all worlds; for Abba and Imma are also called “the hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d,” the hidden world (alma de’iskasya);
“Havayah our G‑d” is the encompassing light itself. In Kabbalistic terms this is the union of Abba and Imma, Chochmah and Binah, which still belong to the hidden world; that is why they are called “the hidden things” that belong to Havayah our G‑d (Deuteronomy 29:28). In Likkutei Torah, Acharei, the Alter Rebbe explains that they are called “hidden” because they are covered and enwrapped by the thirteen measures of the beard of Arich Anpin, the outer level of Keser.
וגם החכמה היא למעלה מהשכל המושג ומובן כו׳ וכמ״ש במ״א בפי׳ וענין מוחין דאבא5 והבינה היא ג״כ בחי׳ מקיף וגם כלולה ומיוחדת עם החכמה כו׳
and also Chochmah (wisdom) is above the intellect that is grasped and understood, etc., as is explained elsewhere on the meaning and matter of the intellect (mochin) of Abba; and Binah (understanding), too, is the level of an encompassing [light], and it is also included and united with Chochmah, etc.;
Chochmah is above any intellect that can be grasped, as explained elsewhere about the mochin (intellect) of Abba. In Likkutei Torah, Tzav, the mochin of Abba, the Chochmah that “comes from ayin,” are explained as beyond all comprehension, where the Infinite Light that no thought can grasp is revealed. Binah, too, though it is understanding, is an encompassing light and is united with Chochmah, so both belong to the level of sovev.
והמשכת סוכ״ע כשבא בגילוי בממכ״ע [בממלא כל עלמין] זהו הנקרא יחוד זו״נ [זעיר אנפין ונוקבא] וב׳ המשכות אלו זהו ג״כ ב׳ הפירושים שבמלת ברוך וזהו פי׳ הקדוש ב״ה קדוש היינו סוכ״ע ממש ברוך הוא היינו מקור כל ברכה והוא ההמשכה מכתר בחו״ב [בחכמה ובינה] עלמא דאתכסיא.
and the drawing down of the light that encompasses all worlds, when it comes in revelation into the light that fills all worlds, is what is called the union of Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes) and Nukva (the feminine). These two drawings-down are also the two interpretations of the word baruch. And this is the meaning of “the Holy One, blessed be He” (HaKadosh Baruch Hu): “Holy” (kadosh) is the very light that encompasses all worlds; “Baruch Hu” is the Source of all blessing, and it is the drawing down from Keser (the Crown) into Chochmah and Binah, the hidden world.
When the encompassing light is revealed within the filling light, that is the union of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva. These two drawings-down are the two meanings of baruch, and they explain the name “the Holy One, blessed be He” (HaKadosh Baruch Hu): “Holy” is sovev itself, and “Baruch Hu” is the source of blessing, drawn from Keser into Chochmah and Binah.
And baruch is also that which is drawn into the level of the light that fills all worlds, into the level of Atah (“You”), etc. And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “If the bright spot came first,” etc.
“Baruch” also means the further drawing down into memalei, into “You.” For more, the parenthesis refers to the discourse in Parshas Tazria on “If the bright spot came first,” which opens by explaining the name “the Holy One, blessed be He”: Kadosh is sovev and Baruch is memalei.
ואפשר לומר שב׳ המשכות אלו זהו ענין דעת עליון ודעת תחתון המבואר לקמן בהביאור כי דעת עליון מחבר חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] ודעת תחתון ממשיך מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה] במדות כו׳ ועמ״ש בביאור ע״פ כה תברכו את בנ״י [בני ישראל]8 מענין ב׳ בחי׳ דעת כו׳ ובד״ה החלצו מאתכם)9
It is possible to say that these two drawings-down are the matter of the supernal Daas (knowledge) and the lower Daas, explained below, in the explanation (Biur): for the supernal Daas joins Chochmah and Binah, and the lower Daas draws from Chochmah and Binah into the emotive attributes (middos), etc. And see what is written in the explanation on [the verse] “Thus shall you bless the children of Israel” on the subject of the two levels of Daas, etc., and in the discourse beginning “Arm [men] from among you.”)
The Alter Rebbe suggests that these two drawings-down may be the supernal Daas and the lower Daas, explained below in the Biur (the explanatory discourse that follows this one). Supernal Daas binds Chochmah and Binah together, while lower Daas carries them down into the emotive attributes; the parenthesis closes with references to two other discourses on the two levels of Daas.
והוי׳ אחד הוא כשבא לגילוי בבחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] והיינו בחי׳ יחו״ע [יחודא עילאה] כי בשכמל״ו [ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד] הוא בחי׳ יחו״ת [יחודא תתאה] כנודע.
And “Havayah is One” is when it comes to revelation in the level of the light that fills all worlds, and this is the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah); for “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever” is the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), as is known.
“Havayah is One” is the revelation within memalei, the level called the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), in which the world is nothing before G‑d. The line said after it, “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever,” is the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah).
וזהו ענין תפלות כנגד קרבנות תקנום שכמו שהקרבנות נק׳ לחם. כך נאמר על ק״ש [קריאת שמע] אכלתי יערי10 עם דבשי שנעשה בחי׳ אכילה כביכול למעלה
This is the meaning of “The prayers were instituted corresponding to the offerings”: just as the offerings are called “bread,” so it is said of the Shema, “I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey,” for there comes to be the level of eating, as it were, above;
This is why prayer replaces the offerings. As the offerings are “bread,” the verse “I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey” (Song of Songs 5:1) is said of the Shema: above, as it were, there is an “eating.”
דהיינו בחי׳ ביטול והתכללות הנפש באור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע להמשיך חיות וגילוי אוא״ס [אור אין סוף] ב״ה בבחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין]:1112
that is, the level of the self-nullification (bittul) and inclusion of the soul in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds, to draw down life-force (chayus) and the revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into the level of the light that fills all worlds.
That “eating” is the soul’s self-nullification and inclusion in the encompassing light. Like food, it then draws life-force and the revelation of the Infinite Light down into memalei.
The Exodus pattern appears in the double “I am Havayah your G‑d” and in “Havayah our G‑d, Havayah is One”: first the encompassing light itself (the union of Abba and Imma), then its revelation within the filling light (the union of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva). “Holy” is sovev itself, and the two meanings of “blessed” are these two drawings-down: from Keser into Chochmah and Binah, and into memalei, into “You.” This is the “eating” above that the Shema brings about.
For the doubling in “Havayah our G‑d, Havayah is One” the Kehot note also points to Imrei Binah, Sha’ar HaKriyas Shema, and to Derech Mitzvosecha; for the reading of “I have eaten my honeycomb” as the Shema it gives Zohar 3:226a.
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonYichuda tata’ahYichuda ila’ahKatnus and gadlus+26
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Yichuda tata’ah יחודא תתאה
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Katnus and gadlus קטנות וגדלות
- Hidden world and the revealed world עלמא דאתכסיא ועלמא דאתגליא
- Nukva נוקבא
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Yichud יחוד
- Mochin מוחין
- Kadosh קדוש
- Daas דעת
- Berachah ברכה
- Binah בינה
- Tefillah תפלה
- Keser כתר
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Or Makif אור מקיף
- Abba and Imma אבא ואמא
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Elokim אלקים
- Hiskallelus התכללות
- Middos מדות
Also ChayusBittulHavayahOr Ein SofChochmahHaalaah vehamshachah
Marei mekomos
- 1אני ה׳ אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי · Numbers 15:41
- 2ולזה כפל ג״כ . . הוי׳ אחד · ראה אמרי בינה שער הק״ש בתחלתו. דרך מצותיך קכא, ב.
- 3או״א נק׳ ג״כ הנסתרות · ראה לעיל פ׳ בהר כח, ד.
- 4הנסתרות להוי׳ אלקינו · Deuteronomy 29:28
- 5וכמ״ש במ״א בפי׳ וענין מוחין דאבא · ראה לעיל פ׳ פקודי ג, ג. פ׳ צו יא, ד.
- 6בד״ה אם בהרת קדמה · לעיל פ׳ תזריע כב, ג.
- 7אם בהרת קדמה · Mishnah Negaim 4:11
- 8כה תברכו את בנ״י · Numbers 6:23
- 9החלצו מאתכם · Numbers 31:3
- 10כך נאמר על ק״ש אכלתי יערי · Zohar III, 226a
- 11בחי׳ הוי׳ לבחי׳ אלקים כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א · ראה לעיל פ׳ שלח מז, ג ואילך. מח, ב ואילך.
- 12הוי׳ אלקינו ה׳ אחד · Deuteronomy 6:4
The Torah as “man” and as “bread” ¶17–23
17ג אך הנה ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] על שלשה דברים העולם עומד12 על התורה ועל העבודה כו׳. והנה העבודה הוא הקרבנות וכנגדן התפלה כו׳. אמנם ביאור ענין התורה.
3. But now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the [Temple] service,” etc. Now, the service is the offerings, and corresponding to them, prayer, etc. However, as to the explanation of the matter of the Torah:
The third section turns to the Torah. The Mishnah says the world stands on three things: the Torah, the [Temple] service and acts of kindness. The service was the offerings, now replaced by prayer, and that has been explained; it remains to explain the Torah.
It is written, “This is the Torah: a man (adam),” which is the level of the “man” upon the likeness of the Throne, “a likeness like the appearance of a man,” etc.;
The verse “This is the Torah: a man” (Numbers 19:14), which in its plain sense opens the law of a man who dies in a tent, is read as saying that the Torah is “man”: the “man” upon the Throne in Ezekiel’s vision. The Kehot note records that the 5571 version of this discourse cites instead “And this is the Torah of man” (II Samuel 7:19).
that is, the level of the 248 limbs, the 248 positive commandments, etc.
That “man” has 248 limbs, and they correspond to the Torah’s 248 positive commandments, a teaching of the Talmud (Makkos 23b) that the Kehot note also traces to the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 30).
פי׳ כמו שהאברים הם כלים ומשכן להמשכת החיות הנמשך מן הנפש המתפשט ומתחלק לכל אבר לפי מזגו ותכונתו כך המצות הם בחי׳ כלים ומשכן להשראת אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע השורה ומתלבש ממש בתוכן בבחי׳ התחלקות ההמשכה כל מצוה ומצוה לפי מדרגתה.
That is: just as the limbs are vessels and a dwelling for the drawing down of the life-force (chayus) that is drawn from the soul, which spreads out and is divided to each limb according to its temperament and nature, so the mitzvos are the level of vessels and a dwelling for the indwelling of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which rests and is actually clothed within them in the manner of a divided drawing down, each and every mitzvah according to its level.
Each limb is a vessel for the soul’s life-force and receives it according to its own nature. In the same way each mitzvah is a vessel for the encompassing light, which truly rests and is clothed within it, divided among the mitzvos, each according to its level.
The Torah is “man”: its 248 positive commandments are like the 248 limbs, vessels in which the encompassing light is clothed and divided, each mitzvah according to its level.
Terms248 limbs of the KingKiseiKorbanosAvodas Hashem+9
- 248 limbs of the King רמ״ח אברים דמלכא
- Kisei כסא
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
- Tefillah תפלה
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Also HislabshusChayusOr Ein SofTorah and mitzvosHaalaah vehamshachahTorah
Marei mekomos
- 1על שלשה דברים העולם עומד · אבות א, ב.
- 2על שלשה דברים העולם עומד · Pirkei Avot 1:2
- 3זאת התורה אדם · Numbers 19:14
- 4דמות כמראה אדם · Ezekiel 1:26
- 5רמ״ח אברין רמ״ח מ״ע · ראה ת״ז ת״ל.
- 6רמ״ח אברין רמ״ח מצות עשה · Makkot 23b:18
18וכל ההמשכות הן מבחי׳ סוכ״ע שהוא ענין ביטול באור א״ס ב״ה
And all the drawings-down are from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is the matter of self-nullification (bittul) in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.
All these drawings-down come from sovev, the encompassing light, which is a matter of bittul, self-nullification, in the Infinite Light.
שכל עניני התורה ומצות שהן מלובשים בענינים גשמיים זרעים מועד כו׳ תרומות ומעשרות קרבנות כו׳ בדברים שתחת קליפת נוגה כו׳ הוא כדי להמשיך בהן אור א״ס ב״ה כדי שיהיה היש מקליפת נוגה בטל ונכלל באור ה׳ וקדושתו.
For all the matters of the Torah and mitzvos, which are clothed in physical matters, Zera’im [agriculture], Mo’ed [the festivals], etc., terumos [the priestly portions] and tithes, offerings, etc., in things that are under kelipas nogah [the glowing husk], etc., are in order to draw the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into them, so that the yesh (“something”) of kelipas nogah be nullified and included in the light of G‑d and His holiness.
This is the purpose of the Torah and mitzvos being clothed in physical matters, as the orders of the Mishnah show, Zera’im (agriculture), Mo’ed (the festivals) and the rest, and in terumos, tithes and offerings: they deal with things under kelipas nogah, the husk that contains both good and evil. Their purpose is to draw the Infinite Light into these things, so that their sense of independent existence (yesh) is nullified and included in G‑d’s light and holiness.
Every mitzvah draws the encompassing light into physical things that belong to kelipas nogah, so that they are nullified and included in G‑d’s holiness.
TermsKelipas nogahKorbanosKelipahSovev kol almin+5
- Kelipas nogah קליפת נוגה
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Kelipah קליפה
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Hiskallelus התכללות
19והמל״ת [והמצות לא תעשה] הן להפריד הרע כו׳. ולכן נקרא התורה בשם לחם כמ״ש לכו לחמו בלחמי1 כו׳ כמו שהלחם שעליו יחיה האדם2
And the prohibitive commandments are to separate the evil, etc. Therefore the Torah is called by the name “bread,” as it is written, “Come, eat of my bread,” etc., like the bread by which a person lives.
The prohibitive commandments, by contrast, separate the evil. Because the Torah draws down life, it is called “bread,” as Wisdom says, “Come, eat of my bread” (Proverbs 9:5), like the bread by which a person lives.
כי הגם שעיקר החיות אינו אלא מהנפש החיוני׳ [החיונית] והלחם הוא רק הגורם הקיום שלא יסתלק הנפש מן הגוף והוא רק מחבר ממש חיות הנפש אל הגוף כי לחם לבב אנוש יסעד.3 מ״מ המשכת החיות של הנפש והתקשרותה בגוף הוא מחמת גרם הלחם כי הלחם הוא הגורם והממשיך חיות.
For although the main life-force (chayus) is only from the vital soul, and bread only brings about the endurance, that the soul not depart from the body, and it is only what actually joins the life-force of the soul to the body, for “bread sustains the heart of man”; nevertheless, the drawing down of the soul’s life-force and its bond with the body comes about because of the bread, for bread is what brings about and draws down life-force.
The comparison is exact. Life itself comes from the vital soul, not from bread; bread only keeps the soul from leaving the body and joins it to the body, as the Psalmist says, “bread sustains the heart of man” (Psalms 104:15). Still, the soul’s bond with the body is caused by bread, which is what draws down life.
משא״כ שאר מיני מאכלים ומשקים הם מיני תענוג אבל עיקר הממשיך חיות הוא הלחם.
This is not so with other kinds of food and drink: they are kinds of delight (taanug); but the main thing that draws down life-force is bread.
Other foods and drinks are kinds of delight, while bread is the main thing that draws down life. So too, the next paragraph says, the Torah and mitzvos are what draw G‑d’s light into the worlds.
The Torah is “bread” because, like bread, it binds the life-force to its vessel: bread does not create the soul’s life, but it keeps the soul joined to the body.
Marei mekomos
- 1לכו לחמו בלחמי · Proverbs 9:5
- 2הלחם שעליו יחיה האדם · Deuteronomy 8:3
- 3לחם לבב אנוש יסעד · Psalms 104:15
20וכך התומ״צ [התורה ומצות] המה הגורמים המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע דלאו מכל אינון מדות כלל1 ונקרא רבון עלמין2 למעלה מבחי׳ עלמין להתלבש בבחי׳ עלמין להיות אנת הוא חכים כו׳
So too the Torah and mitzvos are what bring about the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is “not of these attributes at all” and is called “Master of the worlds” (Ribbon Almin), above the level of worlds, to be clothed in the level of worlds, so that there be “You are wise,” etc.
Like bread, the Torah and mitzvos are what draw the encompassing light into the worlds. In the words of Eliyahu’s prayer in the Tikkunei Zohar (Patach Eliyahu), this light is “not of these attributes at all” and is “Master of the worlds,” above them; through the Torah and mitzvos it is clothed in the worlds, so that one can say of it, “You are wise.”
וע״י התורה נמשך ומתלבש אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה והמצות כללותן הוא בחי׳ צדקה וחסד נמשך ונתלבש אור א״ס בחסד כנודע מענין עולם חסד יבנה3 שהחסד צ״ל נבנה כו׳ וכמ״ש במ״א בשה״ש [בשיר השירים] בד״ה לסוסתי.4
Through the Torah the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn down and clothed in Chochmah (wisdom); and the mitzvos, whose general and collective expression is the level of charity and kindness: [through them] the Infinite Light is drawn down and clothed in Chesed (kindness), as is known from the matter of “Forever shall kindness be built” (olam chesed yibaneh), that kindness must be built, etc., and as is explained elsewhere, in Shir HaShirim, in the discourse beginning “To My mare.”
The Torah draws the Infinite Light into Chochmah, wisdom. The mitzvos, which in their general expression are charity and kindness, draw it into Chesed; this is the sense of “Forever shall kindness be built” (Psalms 89:3): kindness itself must be built. In the discourse “To My mare,” earlier in Shir HaShirim, the Alter Rebbe explains that kindness is built and comes into being constantly, through prayer, charity and Torah study.
שכדי להיות התלבשות אור א״ס במדות לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה5 כו׳ באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] תליא מלתא67 אשר קדשנו במצותיו כו׳.
For in order for there to be an enclothement of the Infinite Light in the attributes, “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness and the might,” etc., “the matter depends on the arousal from below”: “who has sanctified us with His commandments,” etc.
For the Infinite Light to be clothed in G‑d’s attributes, listed in the verse “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness and the might” (I Chronicles 29:11), an arousal from below is needed, as the Zohar says. The words of the blessing over a mitzvah, “who has sanctified us with His commandments,” point to the mitzvos as that arousal.
The Torah draws the encompassing light into Chochmah and the mitzvos draw it into Chesed; this enclothement in G‑d’s attributes depends on our arousal from below.
TermsTzedakahIsarusa dilesataGevurahSovev kol almin+8
- Tzedakah צדקה
- Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
- Gevurah גבורה
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Chesed חסד
- Middos מדות
Also HislabshusOr Ein SofTorah and mitzvosChochmahHaalaah vehamshachahTorah
Marei mekomos
- 1דלאו מכל אינון מדות כלל · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:5–7
- 2רבון עלמין · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:9–11
- 3עולם חסד יבנה · Psalms 89:3
- 4בשה״ש בד״ה לסוסתי · לעיל יב, ב.
- 5לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה · I Chronicles 29:11
- 6באתעדל״ת תליא מלתא · Zohar I, 235a
- 7באתעדל״ת תליא מלתא · Zohar, Vayechi 53:517–528
21וזהו את כט, בקרבני לחמי לאשי1 שבחי׳ לחם הוא בחי׳ ביטול היש לאין להמשיך בחי׳ גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה למטה נעשה ע״י הקרבן אשה ריח ניחוח להוי׳.
This is [the meaning of] “My offering, My bread, for My fire-offerings”: the level of bread, which is the level of the nullification of the yesh (“something”) into ayin (“nothing”) in order to draw the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, below, comes about through the offering, “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance to Havayah.”
Now the verse “My offering, My bread, for My fire-offerings” can be read in full. “Bread” is the nullification of the yesh into ayin, of self into nothing, which draws the revelation of the Infinite Light below; in the Temple this came through the offering, “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance to Havayah.”
וע״י התפלה שכנגד קרבנות אכלתי יערי עם דבשי2 כו׳ (ועמ״ש בפי׳ את קרבני לחמי בד״ה צו את בנ״י [בני ישראל]3 את קרבני כו׳ איך שמרומז בזה ההמשכה שע״י עסק התורה וההעלאה שע״י הקרבן כו׳ ע״ש).
And through prayer, which corresponds to the offerings: “I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey,” etc. (And see what is written on the meaning of “My offering, My bread” in the discourse beginning “Command the children of Israel: My offering,” etc., how this alludes to the drawing down that comes through occupation with Torah and the ascent that comes through the offering, etc.; see there.)
Today it comes through prayer, which corresponds to the offerings, as in “I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey.” The parenthesis refers to the discourse in Parshas Pinchas on “Command the children of Israel: My offering,” where the verse is read as alluding both to the drawing down through Torah study and to the ascent through the offering; that discourse reads the doubled “and say to them” as the offerings brought while the Temple stood and the prayer instituted for all generations in their place.
אך בחינת לחמי צ״ל לאשי בחינת רשפי אש4 והתלהבות הנפש שבק״ש [שבקריאת שמע] בהעלותו את נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] ליכלל באור א״ס ב״ה וכל בחינת רשפי אש הוא מצד העלאת נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] והתהפכותה כו׳ שעולה כשלהבת בחי׳ שרפים כו׳.5
But the level of “My bread” must be “for My fire-offerings” (le’ishai): the level of “flashes of fire” and the fiery ardor of the soul in the Shema, when one raises the animal soul to be included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He. And every level of “flashes of fire” comes from the raising of the animal soul and its transformation, etc., for it rises like a flame, the level of the Serafim [the ‘burning’ angels], etc.
But the “bread” must be “for My fire-offerings”: it must come with the soul’s fiery ardor in the Shema, its “flashes of fire,” when one raises the animal soul to the Infinite Light. Such fire comes specifically from transforming the animal soul, which then rises like a flame, like the Serafim, the “burning” angels.
The “bread” of self-nullification that draws down the Infinite Light came through the offering and now comes through prayer; but it must be “for My fire-offerings,” with the fiery love that comes from transforming the animal soul.
TermsRei’achBittul hayeshKorbanosNefesh habahamis+9
- Rei’ach ריח
- Bittul hayesh ביטול היש
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Malachim מלאכים
- Tefillah תפלה
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
Marei mekomos
- 1את קרבני לחמי לאשי · Numbers 28:2
- 2אכלתי יערי עם דבשי · Song of Songs 5:1
- 3בד״ה צו את בנ״י · לעיל פ׳ פנחס עז, ג ואילך.
- 4רשפי אש · Song of Songs 8:6
- 5
22והחיות נושאות את הכסא וזעות מחיל כסא כדאיתא בתדב״א [בתנא דבי אליהו] שהמלאך אינו אומר רק ג״פ [ג׳ פעמים] קדוש כל היום מפני שכשאומר פעם א׳ קדוש מתבטל במציאות ואין נפשו חוזרת אליו עד ד׳ שעות וכן בפעם הב׳.
And the Chayos bear the Throne and tremble in dread of the Throne, as is found in Tanna Devei Eliyahu: an angel says “Holy” only three times in the whole day, because when he says “Holy” once, he is nullified out of existence, and his soul does not return to him for four hours; and so too the second time.
The Chayos who carry the Throne tremble before it. The Midrash Tanna Devei Eliyahu teaches that an angel says “Holy” only three times a day: each time he says it he is so overwhelmed that he ceases to exist, and his soul returns to him only after four hours.
ונמצא שג״פ [שג׳ פעמים] קדוש אומר ביב״ש [בי״ב שעות] היום. אך גדול ורב כח של העלאת וביטול הנפש מישראל מבמלאכים.
It follows that he says “Holy” three times in the twelve hours of the day. Yet great and abundant is the power of the ascent and self-nullification (bittul) of the soul of Israel, more than in the angels.
Three times in twelve hours means once every four hours. Yet the ascent and self-nullification of a Jewish soul is greater and more powerful than that of the angels.
כי החיות נושאות את הכסא ועל הכסא כמראה אדם מלמעלה ולא נמשך ומתלבש בחי׳ אדם שעל הכסא עד שנתגלה בחי׳ בכל מאדך1
For the Chayos bear the Throne, and upon the Throne is “like the appearance of a man, above”; and the level of the “man” on the Throne is not drawn down and clothed until the level of “with all your might” (bechol me’odecha) is revealed
The reason is that the Chayos only carry the Throne, while the “man” upon the Throne is above them. That “man” is drawn down and clothed below only when the level of “with all your might” (bechol me’odecha) is revealed in a person’s service.
(עיין פ׳ וישב בד״ה כה אמר כו׳ בענין פי׳ ונתתי לך מהלכים בין העומדים)2 כי אד״ם הוא אותיות מא״ד3 והיינו בחינת בכל מאדך לכל חד וחד כפום דרגא דיליה
(see Parshas Vayeshev, in the discourse beginning “Thus said,” etc., on the meaning of “And I will give you places to walk among those who stand”); for adam (“man”) has the letters of me’od (“might”). And this is the level of “with all your might,” for each and every one according to his own level:
The parenthesis refers to a Torah Ohr discourse in Parshas Vayeshev on the verse “I will give you places to walk among those who stand” (Zechariah 3:7), where the angels are called “those who stand,” while souls clothed in a body and an animal soul are called “walkers.” The words adam, “man,” and me’od, “might,” have the same letters, and “with all your might” means each person according to his own level.
כמו שהוא עצמו למעלה מכדי שתוכל נפשו שאת ונק׳ מאד שלו לכל נפש לפי מדרגתו ממשיך חיות מבחי׳ אדם שעל הכסא
as he himself is, beyond what his soul can bear; and this is called his me’od, for each soul according to its level. [This] draws down life-force (chayus) from the level of the “man” on the Throne.
Me’od means going beyond oneself: serving with more than one’s soul can bear, each soul at its own level. Such service draws life-force from the “man” upon the Throne.
אדם היינו בחינת א׳ דם הדם הוא הנפש4 וחיות הנמשך מבחי׳ אדם דהיינו מבחי׳ סובב לבחי׳ ממלא.
Adam is the level of alef–dam (“blood”): “the blood is the soul,” and [it is] the life-force drawn from the level of Adam, that is, from the level of sovev (encompassing) to the level of memalei (filling).
Adam itself is read as alef–dam, the letter alef with dam, “blood.” Blood is the soul and life-force, as the verse says, “the blood is the soul” (Deuteronomy 12:23), and this life-force comes from the level of “man,” that is, from the encompassing light into the filling light.
Israel’s self-nullification surpasses the angels’: the Chayos only carry the Throne, while serving “with all your might” (me’od, the letters of adam) draws down the “man” upon the Throne, the life-force that comes from the encompassing light into the filling light.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
In parentheses the Alter Rebbe sends the reader to his Torah Ohr discourse on „ונתתי לך מהלכים בין העומדים” (I will give you places to walk among these who stand, Zechariah 3:7). Our commentary gives its distinction, angels who ‘stand’ and souls who ‘walk’ („מהלכים”), but not how it bears on this paragraph’s claim that the bittul of a Jewish soul is greater than the angels’.
From the Alter Rebbe’s discourse „כה אמר ה׳ צבאות” in Torah Ohr, Vayeshev, on the verse from Zechariah that our paragraph cites in parentheses.
There the Alter Rebbe explains that the angels, and souls before they come down, are called „עומדים” (standing), for they come from letters, the angels from „אותיות הדבור” (the letters of speech) and the souls from „אותיות המחשבה” (the letters of thought), and letters are like inanimate stone; only a soul clothed in a body and an animal soul is called ‘walking’. The angels ‘fly’ only when Israel say Kedushah below; and when the G‑dly soul rides the animal soul and raises it, „גדול ורב כחה” (great and abundant is its power), so that in the Amidah it draws bittul to the Infinite Light even into the angels. This, he says, is „ונתתי לך מהלכים”: walking given „בפנימיות העומדים” (within those who stand), from below upward and from above downward. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why he cites it here, where the ascent and bittul of Israel’s souls is greater than the angels’.
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, vol. Vayeshev, dibbur hamaschil כה אמר ה׳ צבאות אם בדרכי תלך (Torah Ohr, Vayeshev 5 on this site), p. daf 30 (ל)
הנה נודע שהמלאכים נק׳ עומדים כמ״ש שרפים עומדים. וגם הנשמות קודם בואם לעוה״ז נק׳ ג״כ עומדים
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsOmdim and mehalchimKiseiBechol me’odechaMemalei kol almin+8
- Omdim and mehalchim עומדים ומהלכים
- Kisei כסא
- Bechol me’odecha בכל מאדך
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Kadosh קדוש
- Malachim מלאכים
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Osiyos אותיות
Marei mekomos
- 1בכל מאדך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 2ונתתי לך מהלכים בין העומדים · Zechariah 3:7
- 3אדם הוא אותיות מאד · Bereshit Rabbah 8:5
- 4הדם הוא הנפש · Deuteronomy 12:23
And see what is written on the subject of the alef on the verse “And He called to Moshe,” etc. But all this is through the kohen who offers the offering, etc.;
The text refers to its discussion of the alef in the verse “And He called (vayikra) to Moshe” (Leviticus 1:1), whose alef is written small, in connection with the alef of adam just mentioned. But all of this ascent, the Alter Rebbe continues, comes through the kohen who brings the offering.
והיינו בחי׳ אהרן ונחנו מ״ה [מה] שהוא בחי׳ משה ואהרן כו׳ בחי׳ ביטול באוא״ס [באור אין סוף] ב״ה בחי׳ יחו״ע [יחודא עילאה] ובחי׳ יחו״ת [יחודא תתאה] וכו׳
and this is the level of Aharon, “and what (mah) are we,” which is the level of Moshe and Aharon, etc., the level of self-nullification (bittul) in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) and the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), etc.
In the soul, the kohen is the quality of Aharon, who with Moshe said, “And what are we?” (Exodus 16:7): complete self-nullification before the Infinite Light, in both the higher and the lower unity.
שבזה נמשך אור א״ס ב״ה מלמעלה למטה ג״כ בבחי׳ אנת הוא חכים ובבחי׳ לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה ונמשך מזה בחינת התהפכות נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] וכחותיה לקיים ואהבת בכל לבבך23 בב׳ יצריך4 דהיינו להיות לו ב׳ בחי׳ לבבות.5
Through this the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn from above to below, also in the level of “You are wise” and in the level of “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness and the might.” And from this comes the transformation of the animal soul and its powers, to fulfill “And you shall love with all your heart (levavcha),” “with your two inclinations”: that is, that he have two levels of hearts (levavos).
Through this bittul the Infinite Light is drawn from above to below, into Chochmah, “You are wise,” and into the attributes, “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness and the might.” From it comes the transformation of the animal soul, so that one loves G‑d “with all your heart (levavcha),” which the Mishnah reads as “with both your inclinations”: a person is to have two hearts.
הא׳ לאהבה ולכלות נפשו אליו לדבקה בו והב׳ להכניע את היצה״ר [היצר הרע] לאכפיא לסט״א [לסטרא אחרא] ולאהפכא כו׳.
The first is for love, for his soul to pine for Him, to cleave to Him; and the second is to subdue the evil inclination, to subjugate the sitra achra (the other side) and to transform [it], etc.
The first heart is love, the soul’s yearning to cleave to G‑d. The second subdues the evil inclination, first subjugating the sitra achra and then transforming it.
(ועיין בזהר פרשה תרומה דקס״ב סע״ב [סוף עמוד ב]). והן הם בחינת חדוה תקיעא בליבאי מסט׳ [מסטרא] דא6 ובכי׳ תקיעא בליבאי מסטרא דא
(And see the Zohar, Parshas Terumah, folio 162, end of side b.) These are the level of “Joy is lodged in my heart on this side, and weeping is lodged in my heart on that side.”
The text refers to the Zohar in Parshas Terumah (2:162b), which reads levavcha, with its doubled letter, as two hearts, the good and the evil inclination. It then quotes Rabbi Elazar’s words in the Zohar: “Joy is lodged in my heart on this side, and weeping on that side.”
בכי׳ היא המרירות על נפשו שירדה ממעלתה ומדרגתה ישראל עלו במחשבה7 ונתלבשה בגוף הגשמי שהוא רחוק מאד מאור א״ס ב״ה ומסך מבדיל להיות נראה ליש ודבר נפרד בפ״ע [בפני עצמו].
Weeping is the bitterness over his soul, which descended from its station and level, [where] “Israel arose in thought,” and was clothed in the physical body, which is very far from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and a separating screen, so that it appears as a yesh (“something”) and a thing separate unto itself.
The weeping is bitterness over the soul, which comes from the highest source, “Israel arose in thought,” yet descended to be clothed in a physical body. The body is far from the Infinite Light and screens it off, so that the person seems to himself a separate entity.
וחדוה מסטרא דא שהרי גם למטה בדברים גשמיים נמשך ומתלבש אור אין סוף ב״ה בתומ״צ [בתורה ומצות] המלובשים בענינים גשמיים תרומות צדקה כו׳ ואי לזאת יגיל וישמח מאד בה׳ השוכן בתוך תורתו ומצותיו.
And joy on this side: for even below, in physical things, the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn down and clothed in the Torah and mitzvos, which are clothed in physical matters: terumos, charity, etc. Therefore he will exult and rejoice greatly in G‑d, who dwells within His Torah and His mitzvos.
The joy comes from the other side: even below, in physical things, the Infinite Light is clothed in the Torah and mitzvos, which are themselves clothed in physical matters such as terumos and charity. So a person can rejoice greatly in G‑d, who dwells within His Torah and mitzvos.
וזהו ישמח ישראל בעושיו8 לשון רבים הם המצות שנמשכו בענינים גשמיים שהן בבחינת רה״ר [רשות הרבים] טורי דפרודא כו׳:
This is [the meaning of] “Let Israel rejoice in his Makers” (be’osav), in the plural: these are the mitzvos, which are drawn into physical matters, which are in the state of the public domain (reshus harabim), “mountains of separation,” etc.
This is why the verse says “Let Israel rejoice in his Makers” (Psalms 149:2), in the plural: the “makers” are the mitzvos, drawn into physical matters. Those matters belong to the “public domain,” the realm of plurality, called “mountains of separation.”
Through the kohen, Aharon’s bittul (“and what are we”), the Infinite Light is drawn into Chochmah and the attributes, and the animal soul is transformed: love with both inclinations, with weeping over the soul’s descent into the body and joy that G‑d dwells in the mitzvos even in physical things.
For the two hearts the Kehot note also points to Etz Chaim, Sha’ar (Gate) 20, chapter 2. At the paragraph’s close, reshus harabim is the halachic “public domain,” a space shared by many. Turei dipreida, “mountains of separation,” is a Zohar term for the realm of multiplicity and division. The maamar uses both for the physical world, where things appear separate. The plural “his Makers” (be’osav) refers to the mitzvos, which are drawn into that divided realm.
TermsAlma deperudaMerirusRa’aya MehemnaYetzer hara and yetzer tov+17
- Alma deperuda עלמא דפרודא
- Merirus מרירות
- Ra’aya Mehemna רעיא מהימנא
- Yetzer hara and yetzer tov יצר הרע ויצר טוב
- Yichuda tata’ah יחודא תתאה
- Klos hanefesh כלות הנפש
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Parsa, masach פרסא ומסך
- Sitra achra סטרא אחרא
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Deveikus דביקות
- Richuk makom ריחוק מקום
- Tzedakah צדקה
- Mah and Ban מ״ה וב״ן
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Gevurah גבורה
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
Marei mekomos
- 1ויקרא אל משה · Leviticus 1:1
- 2ואהבת בכל לבבך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 3ואהבת בכל לבבך · Zohar, Terumah 64:660–66:669
- 4בכל לבבך בב׳ יצריך · Mishnah Berakhot 9:5
- 5להיות לו ב׳ בחי׳ לבבות · ע״ח ש״כ, פ״ב.
- 6חדוה תקיעא בליבאי מסט׳ דא · Zohar II, 255a
- 7ישראל עלו במחשבה · Bereshit Rabbah 1:4
- 8ישמח ישראל בעושיו · Psalms 149:2
“You have captured My heart, My sister, bride” ¶24
24ד וזהו לבבתני. שהקב״ה אומר לכנס״י [לכנסת ישראל] לבבתני. כלומר שאתה הוא הגורם לי שאהי׳ בבחי׳ לב.
4. And this is [the meaning of] “You have captured My heart” (libavtini): the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the Congregation of Israel (Knesses Yisrael), libavtini; that is to say, you are what causes Me to be in the state of a heart (lev).
The fourth section explains the verse’s first word. Libavtini is built on lev, “heart”: in its plain sense it means “you have captured My heart,” and here G‑d tells the Congregation of Israel that she causes Him, as it were, to be a “heart.”
¶1 This begins explaining the verse quoted in paragraph 1.
והענין כי הלב הוא משכן הדם הוא הנפש וחיות של כל הגוף כי המאכל מתעכל ונעשה דם ונוטל הכבד ריבוי הדם ושולח המובחר ללב ולבא פליג לכל שייפין.1
The explanation is that the heart is the dwelling of the blood, which is the soul and the life-force (chayus) of the whole body. For food is digested and becomes blood; the liver takes the bulk of the blood and sends the choicest to the heart, and “the heart distributes to all the limbs.”
The heart is the seat of the blood, which carries the soul’s life to the whole body. Food becomes blood, the liver takes the bulk of it and sends the choicest part to the heart, and from there “the heart distributes to all the limbs.”
וכך הוא למעלה כב״י [כביכול] שע״י בחי׳ לחם ואכלתי יערי עם דבשי נעשה הקב״ה בבחי׳ לב להמשיך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע לממכ״ע [לממלא כל עלמין]
So it is above, as it were: through the level of “bread” and “I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey,” the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to be in the state of a heart, to draw down life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), into the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin).
So too above: through the “bread” and the “eating” of “I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey,” G‑d becomes, as it were, a “heart” that draws the encompassing light down into the filling light.
ולבבתני ב׳ בחי׳ לבבות הם ב׳ בחי׳ המשכות החיות בחי׳ אנת הוא חכים ובחי׳ לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה כו׳
And libavtini: two levels of hearts (levavos); these are two levels of drawing down of the life-force, the level of “You are wise” and the level of “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness and the might,” etc.
The word libavtini, with its doubled letter bet, like levav, is read as two hearts: two kinds of drawing down, into Chochmah, “You are wise,” and into the attributes, “Yours, Havayah, is the greatness and the might.”
(ועמ״ש ע״פ שיר השירים2 בענין ב׳ בחי׳ חתן כו׳ וב׳ המשכות אלו זהו ענין איהו וחיוהי חד ואיהו וגרמוהי ע׳ [עיין] בע״ח [בעץ חיים] שמ״א פ״ז [פרק ז׳]). הנמשך ע״י התומ״צ [התורה ומצות] שהם בחי׳ לחם.
(And see what is written on [the verse] “The Song of Songs” on the subject of the two levels of “bridegroom,” etc.; and these two drawings-down are the matter of “He and His life-forces are one” and “He and His vessels” (ihu vegarmohi); see Etz Chaim, Sha’ar (Gate) 41, chapter 7.) [It is] drawn down through the Torah and mitzvos, which are the level of “bread.”
The parenthesis links the two drawings-down to the two levels of “bridegroom” explained in the opening discourse of Shir HaShirim, where G‑d is called the bridegroom (chasan) because His light descends (chos darga) into the Torah given to Israel, and to the phrases “He and His life-forces are one” and “He and His vessels,” which the text says are explained in Etz Chaim. Both drawings-down come through the Torah and mitzvos, the “bread.”
כי באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא].3 ויקם עדות ביעקב4 ותורה שם בישראל וכתיב אשר יעשה אותם האדם5 כו׳ שהאדם הוא העושה התומ״צ [התורה ומצות] בבחי׳ לחם ע״י ביטול היש כו׳
For through the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) comes the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila). “He established a testimony in Yaakov and placed a Torah in Israel,” and it is written, “which a person (ha’adam) shall do,” etc.: for it is the person who does the Torah and mitzvos in the level of “bread,” through the nullification of the yesh (“something”), etc.
This depends on us: an arousal from below brings an arousal from above. G‑d placed the Torah in Israel (Psalms 78:5), and the mitzvos are those “which a person shall do” (Leviticus 18:5): it is the person who makes them into “bread” through nullifying his yesh, his sense of self.
ועל ההיפך הוא אומר אשר לא יקים6 כו׳. ובהם וע״י נמשך חיות ואור א״ס כט, גב״ה והמשכות בחי׳ לב.
And of the opposite it says, “who will not uphold,” etc. In them and through them are drawn down life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and the drawings-down of the level of the heart.
Of the opposite case the Torah says, “Cursed is he who will not uphold [the words of this Torah]” (Deuteronomy 27:26). Through the Torah and mitzvos, life-force, the Infinite Light and the drawings-down of the “heart” come about.
והן ב׳ בחי׳ המשכות שהן חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] מים ואש בב׳ משכנות שבלב חלל הימני וחלל השמאלי כו׳ (ועיין בפי׳ הרמ״ז [הרב משה זכות] בזהר פ׳ אמור דצ״ג ע״ב ע״פ לך אמר לבי)78
And these are two levels of drawing down, which are Chesed (kindness) and Gevurah (restraint), water and fire, in the two dwellings in the heart, the right cavity and the left cavity, etc. (And see the commentary of the Ramaz [Rabbi Moshe Zacuto] on the Zohar, Parshas Emor, folio 93, side b, on [the verse] “To You my heart said.”)
The two drawings-down are Chesed and Gevurah, water and fire, which dwell in the heart’s right and left cavities. The text points to the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, a Kabbalist of the seventeenth century) and his commentary on the Zohar on the verse “To You my heart said” (Psalms 27:8).
אך הגורם להמשכה זאת ביאר הכתוב אחותי כלה.9 היינו ב׳ בחי׳ בחי׳ אחותי ובחי׳ כלה.
But what brings about this drawing down the verse explains: “My sister, [My] bride,” that is, two levels: the level of “My sister” (achosi) and the level of “bride” (kallah).
What brings this about is told by the next words of the verse, “My sister, [My] bride”: two levels of love in the soul.
אחותי מלשון איחוי10 אלכסנדרי׳ [אלכסנדריא] שהיא האחוה והאהבה הקבועה תמיד בנפש בתולדתו רק שהיא מוסתרת וצריך עדיין לגלותה מההעלם כו׳.
Achosi (“My sister”) is from the expression “Alexandrian joining” (ichui), which is the kinship and the love fixed constantly in the soul from birth, except that it is hidden and must still be revealed from concealment, etc.
Achosi, “My sister,” is related to ichui, a kind of joining that the Talmud calls “Alexandrian joining.” It stands for the natural love that is permanently joined to the soul from birth, though it is hidden and must be brought out of concealment.
And the level of kallah (“bride”) is the level of “my soul pines” (kalsah nafshi), which is the level of the “flashes of fire” of love that come from contemplation: “Binah is the heart,” etc.
Kallah, “bride,” is related to kalsah, “pines,” as in “my soul longs and pines” (Psalms 84:3). It is the fiery love that comes from contemplation, for “Binah (understanding) is the heart.”
והן הן בחי׳ מחשבה ודבור עלמא דאתכסייא ועלמא דאתגליא1314 כי בחי׳ האהבה המסותרת הטבעית היא מבחי׳ עלמא דאתכסיא והוא בחי׳ תרין ריעין15 כו׳ ובחי׳ כלה הוא בחי׳ עלמא דאתגליא.
And these are the levels of thought and speech, the hidden world (alma de’iskasya) and the revealed world (alma de’isgalya): for the level of the hidden, natural love is from the level of the hidden world, and it is the level of “two companions,” etc.; and the level of kallah is the level of the revealed world.
These two loves are thought and speech, the hidden world and the revealed world. The hidden, natural love belongs to the hidden world, the level of the “two companions,” the Zohar’s name for Chochmah and Binah, which never part; the bride’s burning love belongs to the revealed world.
(ועיין בזהר באדר״ז [באדרא זוטא]) (דר״צ ע״ב) וי״ל [ויש לומר] דב׳ בחי׳ אלו זהו ג״כ בחי׳ שכינתא עילאה ושכינתא תתאה המבואר בד״ה שיר השירים ע״ש ועמ״ש בפ׳ בהר בד״ה כי תבאו אל הארץ בענין פתחי לי אחותי:1617
(And see the Zohar, in the Idra Zuta [the ‘Lesser Assembly’]) (folio 290, side b). It may be said that these two levels are also the levels of the higher Shechinah (Shechinta ila’ah) and the lower Shechinah (Shechinta tata’ah), explained in the discourse beginning “The Song of Songs”; see there. And see what is written in Parshas Behar, in the discourse beginning “When you come into the land,” on the subject of “Open to Me, My sister.”
The text refers to the Idra Zuta in the Zohar, where Chochmah, Abba, and Binah, Imma, are joined as one, and suggests that the two levels are also the higher Shechinah (Binah) and the lower Shechinah (Malchus), explained in the discourse “The Song of Songs.” It also refers to the discourse in Parshas Behar on “Open to Me, My sister.”
Through the Torah, mitzvos and prayer, Israel make G‑d, as it were, a “heart” that draws His light into the worlds in two ways, into Chochmah and into the attributes. What brings this about is the soul’s two loves: the hidden love of “My sister” and the burning love of “bride.”
In the discourse in Parshas Behar that the Kehot note cites, “Open to Me, My sister” is read as G‑d asking the Congregation of Israel to remove the covering, so that the quality of “My sister,” sometimes revealed and sometimes hidden, becomes revealed; achosi is explained there from “Alexandrian joining.” The phrase “Binah liba” comes from Eliyahu’s prayer that opens the second introduction to Tikkunei Zohar (Patach Eliyahu): “Binah is the heart, and with it the heart understands.” The maamar cites it to show that the bride’s fiery love is born of contemplation in Binah, which is itself the root of the heart.
TermsKlos hanefeshAhavah mesuteresMachshavah, dibbur, maasehBittul hayesh+18
- Klos hanefesh כלות הנפש explained hereHere “kallah” is klos hanefesh, love’s flames born of contemplation, the revealed world, as against “achosi,” the natural love always present but hidden.
ובחי׳ כלה הוא בחי׳ כלתה נפשי שהוא בחינת רשפי אש האהבה מחמת התבוננות בינה לבא
- Ahavah mesuteres אהבה מסותרת
- Machshavah, dibbur, maaseh מחשבה דבור ומעשה
- Bittul hayesh ביטול היש
- Ihu vegarmohi איהו וגרמוהי חד
- Hidden world and the revealed world עלמא דאתכסיא ועלמא דאתגליא
- Knesses Yisrael כנסת ישראל
- Isarusa dile’eila אתערותא דלעילא
- Shechinah שכינה
- Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Gevurah גבורה
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Binah בינה
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
Also ChayusBittulOr Ein SofTorah and mitzvosHaalaah vehamshachahTorah
Marei mekomos
- 1ולבא פליג לכל שייפין · Zohar III, 161b
- 2ועמ״ש ע״פ שיר השירים · לעיל א, א.
- 3באתעדל״ת אתעדל״ע · זח״א (פח, א. קסד, א. רלה, א. רמד, א). זח״ב (לב, ב). [כ].
- 4ויקם עדות ביעקב · Psalms 78:5
- 5אשר יעשה אותם האדם · Leviticus 18:5
- 6אשר לא יקים · Deuteronomy 27:26
- 7לך אמר לבי · Psalms 27:8
- 8לך אמר לבי · Zohar, Emor 22:95–24:104
- 9אחותי כלה · ראה לקו״ש ח״כ ע׳ 40 הערה 25, נעתק לעיל פ׳ בהר לט, ג במ״מ.
- 10אחותי מלשון איחוי אלכסנדי׳ · Moed Katan 26b:8–9
- 11כלתה נפשי · Psalms 84:3
- 12בינה לבא · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:17–19
- 13עלמא דאתכסייא . . דאתגליא · זח״א (יח, א. קנב, א. קנח, ב). זח״ב (כט, ב). [כ].
- 14עלמא דאתכסייא ועלמא דאתגליא · Zohar, Bereshit 6:60–7:70
- 15תרין ריעין · Zohar, Idra Zuta 16:69–19:77
- 16פתחי לי אחותי · Song of Songs 5:2
- 17
“With one of your eyes” ¶25–27
“You have captured My heart with one (be’achad) of your eyes”: be’achad is written, be’achas is read. The explanation is that “your eyes” are “the eyes of the congregation,” the sages, etc.
Now the next phrase, “with one of your eyes.” The “eyes” of the Congregation of Israel are its sages, called in the Torah “the eyes of the congregation” (Numbers 15:24).
ובחי׳ חכמה הוא בחינת אסתכלותא ביקרא דמלכא וכענין עיניך יונים. כמו זוג יונים שמסתכלים זה בזה תמיד ונהנין ומתענגין בראייתן והסתכלותן כו׳.
And the level of Chochmah (wisdom) is the level of “gazing at the glory of the King,” like the matter of “your eyes are doves”: like a pair of doves that gaze at each other constantly and take pleasure and delight in their seeing and gazing, etc.
Chochmah, wisdom, is “gazing at the glory of the King,” and “your eyes are doves” describes it: doves gaze at each other constantly and take delight in it.
The “eyes” are the sages, whose wisdom is a constant gazing at the King’s glory, like doves that gaze at each other with delight.
For the sages as “the eyes of the congregation,” the Kehot note also points to Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Derushei HaNekudos, ch. 1.
TermsChochmah
Terms Chochmah
Marei mekomos
- 1עיני העדה · Numbers 15:24
- 2עיני העדה חכמים · ראה אגה״ק סי׳ יד (קכ, ד). לעיל ואתחנן ד, ב ובכ״מ. ע״ח שער דרושי הנקודות פ״א.
26וכך דרך העבודה של בחי׳ חכמים ועיני העדה ההולכים לפני האלקים מסתכלים ביקרא דמלכא תמיד ורואין יקר תפארת גדולתו1 של יוצר בראשית להיות תמיד בבחי׳ ביטול כו׳
So too is the way of service of the level of the sages and “the eyes of the congregation,” who walk before G‑d: they gaze constantly at the glory of the King and see “the precious splendor of the greatness” of the Maker of creation, so as to be constantly in a state of self-nullification (bittul), etc.
The service of the sages, the community’s “eyes,” who walk before G‑d, is to gaze constantly at the King’s glory, beholding “the precious splendor of His greatness.” This gazing keeps them always in a state of bittul, self-nullification.
ויש בזה ב׳ בחי׳. הא׳. מחמת יחודא עילאה איך שהוא ית׳ אחד ממש וכולא קמי׳ [קמיה] כלא חשיב.
In this there are two levels. The first: because of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), how He, may He be blessed, is truly One, and “all before Him is considered as nothing.”
This bittul has two forms. The first comes from the higher unity: G‑d is truly One, and everything before Him is as nothing.
The sages’ gazing at the King’s glory keeps them in constant bittul, which takes two forms; the first stems from the higher unity.
TermsTiferesYichuda ila’ahAvodas HashemYichud+2
- Tiferes תפארת
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Yichud יחוד
- Elokim אלקים
Also Bittul
Marei mekomos
- 1יקר תפארת גדולתו · Esther 1:4
27ואי לזאת הוא תמיד בבחי׳ ביטול באור א״ס ב״ה ממש בבחי׳ אין כו׳.
Therefore he is constantly in a state of self-nullification (bittul) in the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the state of ayin (“nothing”), etc.
From the higher unity comes a bittul in which one is ayin, “nothing,” within the very Infinite Light.
והב׳ מחמת יחו״ת [יחודא תתאה] בשכמל״ו [ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד] איך שהוא ית׳ מלך העולם וכל חיות העולם שנראה ליש מורגש אינו אלא בבחי׳ מלך ומלכותו מלכות כל עולמים1 כו׳.
And the second: because of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever”: how He, may He be blessed, is King of the world, and all the life-force (chayus) of the world, which appears as a tangible yesh (“something”), is only in the aspect of “King,” and “His kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds,” etc.
The second form comes from the lower unity, expressed in “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.” It sees G‑d as King of the world: the world’s life-force, which appears as a tangible existence, is only His rule as King, as the verse says, “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds” (Psalms 145:13).
והוא ענין בחי׳ ביטול היש לאין דהיינו שהוא יש ואעפ״כ [ואף על פי כן] מתבטל כו׳ וזהו תכלית התהוות יש מאין. כדי שיהי׳ [שיהיה] היש בטל כו׳.
And this is the matter of the level of the nullification of the yesh into ayin: that is, it is a yesh, and nevertheless it is nullified, etc. And this is the purpose of the coming into being of something (yesh) from nothing (ayin): so that the yesh be nullified, etc.
This is the nullification of yesh into ayin: one remains an existing being and yet sets oneself aside before G‑d. That, the Alter Rebbe says, is the very purpose of creating something from nothing: that the yesh be nullified.
וב׳ בחי׳ הללו הן מ״ש באחד וקרי באחת.
And these two levels are what is written be’achad and read be’achas.
The two kinds of bittul correspond to the two forms of the word in the verse: be’achad, as it is written, in the masculine, and be’achas, as it is read, in the feminine.
כי באחד הוא ענין יחו״ע [יחודא עילאה] כי שם הביטול הוא בבחי׳ אחד ממש איהו וחיוהי חד כו׳ (וזהו אחד היה אברהם ועמ״ש במ״א בענין עיני האדם לא תשבענה2 בד״ה אני ישנה).3
For be’achad is the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), since there the nullification is in the state of being truly one, “He and His life-forces are one,” etc. (And this is [the meaning of] “Avraham was one”; and see what is written elsewhere on the subject of “the eyes of man are never satisfied,” in the discourse beginning “I sleep.”)
Be’achad, the masculine “one,” is the higher unity, where the bittul is complete oneness: “He and His life-forces are one.” The parenthesis links this to “Avraham was one” (Ezekiel 33:24) and to the discussion of “the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20) in the discourse “I sleep,” where the verse is read of Avraham, who went constantly from level to level.
באחת הוא בחי׳ יחו״ת [יחודא תתאה] שיהיה בבחי׳ יש ושיהיה היש בטל כו׳. אחת לשון נקבה בחי׳ נוק׳ [נוקבא] המקבל מאחד כו׳
Be’achas is the level of the lower unity: that there be the state of yesh, and that the yesh be nullified, etc. Achas is a feminine form: the level of Nukva (the feminine), which receives from echad (“one”), etc.
Be’achas, read in the feminine, is the lower unity: there is a yesh, and it is nullified. The feminine form fits Nukva, the receiving feminine, which receives from echad, the masculine “one.”
ועיקר המכוון בפסוק זה שע״י בחי׳ עיניך הוא בחי׳ אסתכלותא ביקרא דמלכא בין בבחי׳ אחד היינו בחי׳ יחו״ע [יחודא עילאה] בין בבחי׳ אחת הוא יחו״ת [יחודא תתאה] נעשה לבבתני המשכת בחי׳ לב.
And the main intent of this verse is that through the level of “your eyes,” which is the level of gazing at the glory of the King, whether in the level of echad, that is, the level of the higher unity, or in the level of achas, which is the lower unity, there comes about libavtini, the drawing down of the level of the heart.
The verse’s main point concerns the “eyes,” the gazing at the King’s glory: whether that gazing takes the form of echad, the higher unity, or of achas, the lower unity, it brings about libavtini, the drawing down of the “heart.”
להיות המשכת חיות אור א״ס ב״ה הממלא כל עלמין וסובב כל עלמין:4
[This is] so that there be a drawing down of the life-force of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin).
That drawing down brings the life-force of the Infinite Light into the worlds, both as the light that fills them and as the light that encompasses them.
The written and the read forms of “one” are two kinds of bittul: be’achad, the complete oneness of the higher unity, and be’achas, the yesh that nullifies itself in the lower unity. Both kinds of gazing at the King’s glory bring about libavtini, the drawing down of the “heart.”
In the discourse “I sleep” that the Kehot note cites, “the eyes of man are never satisfied” is read of Avraham, “the great man among the giants,” who went constantly from level to level and whose love for G‑d never ceased; so a person should be in the state of constantly gazing at the glory of the King.
TermsYichuda tata’ahYichuda ila’ahBittul hayeshIhu vegarmohi+10
- Yichuda tata’ah יחודא תתאה
- Yichuda ila’ah יחודא עילאה
- Bittul hayesh ביטול היש
- Ihu vegarmohi איהו וגרמוהי חד
- Yesh me’ayin יש מאין
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Malchus מלכות
Marei mekomos
- 1מלכות כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
- 2עיני האדם לא תשבענה · Proverbs 27:20
- 3בד״ה אני ישנה · לקמן לד, ג. וראה הנחת כ״ק אדה״א בסה״מ תקס״ח.
- 4אחד הי׳ אברהם · Ezekiel 33:24
“With one necklace from your neck” ¶28–31
5. “With one (be’achad) necklace (anak) from your neck.” Now, an anak is an ornament of precious stones and pearls, pierced and hung on a thread around the neck.
The fifth section explains the last phrase, “with one necklace from your neck.” An anak is a necklace of precious stones and pearls, pierced and strung on a thread.
שאבנים טובות ומרגליות הן מדומם אלא שהן טובות ומאירות ונאה להתקשט בהם וכך עד״מ הן אותיות התורה שנק׳ אבנים כמ״ש בס״י [בספר יצירה] ב׳ אבנים בונות23 כו׳
For precious stones and pearls are of the inanimate [realm], except that they are precious and shining, and it is fitting to adorn oneself with them. So too, by way of analogy, are the letters of the Torah, which are called “stones,” as is written in Sefer Yetzirah, “Two stones build,” etc.
Stones and pearls belong to the inanimate realm, the lowest level of creation, yet they are precious and radiant, fit for adornment; the Torah’s letters are like them. Sefer Yetzirah, the ancient book on the letters and the Sefiros, calls letters “stones,” as in “two stones build two houses”: two letters form two combinations.
והן מאירים מאור א״ס הנמשך בהן מבחי׳ סוכ״ע שהוא למעלה מעלה מגדר עלמין שנמשך דוקא למטה מאד נעוץ תחלתן בסופן45 דוקא והם נקובים וחלולים שנמשך בהם חוט והמשכה בחי׳ הקול קול יעקב6
And they shine with the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) that is drawn into them from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is far above the bounds of worlds, which is drawn specifically very far below: “their beginning is wedged in their end,” specifically. And they are pierced and hollow, so that a thread and a drawing down is drawn through them, the level of the voice: “The voice is the voice of Yaakov.”
The letters shine with the Infinite Light of sovev, which is far above the worlds yet reaches specifically the lowest levels, as Sefer Yetzirah says, “their beginning is wedged in their end.” Like pierced stones, the letters are hollow, so that a “thread,” a drawing down, passes through them: the voice, as in “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Genesis 27:22).
Voice (kol) is a drawing down, and it is called “your neck with strings of beads” (charuzim): a stringing from Scripture to Mishnah, etc. And see what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “Your cheeks are comely with circlets.”
Voice is a drawing down, and the verse calls it “your neck with strings of beads” (Song of Songs 1:10): the words of Torah strung together from Scripture to Mishnah, like beads on a thread. The text refers to the end of the discourse on that verse for more.
The Torah’s letters are the “necklace”: precious stones of the lowest realm that shine with the highest light, strung on the “thread” of the voice of Torah study, from Scripture to Mishnah.
In the discourse “Your cheeks are comely” that the Kehot note cites, “your neck” is the voice and the drawing down from above to below, which makes holes in all kinds of precious stones, the letters clothed in physicality; the “strings of beads” are the thread drawn through the whole chain of descent, from the beginning of all levels to their end.
TermsTheir beginning is wedged in their endDomem, tzomeach, chai, medaberSovev kol alminOsiyos+3
- Their beginning is wedged in their end נעוץ תחלתן בסופן
- Domem, tzomeach, chai, medaber דומם צומח חי מדבר
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Osiyos אותיות
Marei mekomos
- 1באחד ענק מצורניך · Song of Songs 4:9
- 2בס״י ב׳ אבנים בונות · פ״ד, מט״ז. נתבאר בתו״א כא, א ובכ״מ.
- 3ב׳ אבנים בוונת · Sefer Yetzirah 4:12
- 4נעוץ תחלתן בסופן · שם פ״א, מ״ז.
- 5נעוץ תחלתן בסופן · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
- 6הקול קול יעקב · Genesis 27:22
- 7צוארך בחרוזים · Song of Songs 1:10
- 8סד״ה נאוו לחייך בתורים · לעיל יג, ג.
Therefore they are called the level of anak and an ornament, with which one is adorned and in which one delights: because the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is “high and exalted,” “dwells” in them.
This is why the letters are called a necklace and an ornament, worn with delight: the encompassing light, which is “high and exalted” (Isaiah 57:15), dwells in them.
ובאחד היינו אפילו פרק א׳ והלכה אחת נעשה בחי׳ לבבתני הוא בחי׳ גילוי המשכת החיות כנ״ל.
And be’achad (“with one”) means even one chapter and one halachah [law]: [through it] there comes about the level of libavtini, which is the level of the revelation of the drawing down of the life-force (chayus), as mentioned above.
“With one” means that even one chapter or one halachah of Torah study brings about libavtini, the revelation of the drawn-down life-force described above.
Because the encompassing light dwells in the Torah’s letters they are an ornament of delight, and even one chapter of study draws that light down.
TermsRomemusTaanugSovev kol almin+3
- Romemus רוממות
- Taanug תענוג
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Marei mekomos
- 1רם ונשא שוכן · Isaiah 57:15
30וכמארז״ל [וכמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] אפילו פרק אחד שחרית1 ופרק א׳ ערבית כו׳. ובזה יובן הלשון ופרק אחד ערבית כו׳ דהל״ל [דהוה ליה למימר] ופרק שני.
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Even one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening,” etc. With this the wording “and one chapter in the evening,” etc., will be understood, for it should have said, “and a second chapter.”
The Talmud says that even one who learns only one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening fulfills the verse “This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth.” The Alter Rebbe notes that it should have said “one chapter in the morning and a second chapter in the evening.”
אלא ר״ל [רוצה לומר] פרק אחד דפרק הזה שלומד יהי׳ [יהיה] נמשך בחי׳ כט, דאחד הוא אור א״ס ב״ה ממש.
Rather, it means “one chapter” in the sense that [by] this chapter that he learns there will be drawn down the level of “One,” which is the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.
The answer is that “one” describes what the chapter does: through the chapter one learns, the level of “One,” the very Infinite Light, is drawn down.
Even one chapter morning and evening counts, because each chapter of Torah draws down the “One,” the very Infinite Light.
TermsOr Ein Sof
Terms Or Ein Sof
Marei mekomos
- 1אפי׳ פרק אחד שחרית · Menachot 99b:16–17
31וזשארז״ל [וזהו שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] כל השונה הלכות1 בכל יום2 מובטח לו שהוא בן עוה״ב [עולם הבא] שנאמר הליכות עולם לו.3
This is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Whoever studies halachos every day is assured that he is a son of the World to Come, as it is said, ‘The ways (halichos) of the world are His.’”
The same idea explains a teaching of Tanna Devei Eliyahu quoted in the Talmud: one who studies halachos every day is assured that he is “a son of the World to Come,” because the verse says halichos olam lo, “the ways of the world are His” (Habakkuk 3:6).
א״ת [אל תקרי] הליכות אלא הלכות שההלכות הן הליכה והמשכה מאור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע מעולם ועד עולם.4 וזהו הליכות עולם לו. שהן הליכות שלו בעולם.
“Do not read halichos (ways), but halachos (laws).” For the halachos are a going and a drawing down from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), from world to world. And this is “halichos olam lo”: they are His ways in the world.
The Sages read halichos, “ways,” as halachos, laws. The Alter Rebbe explains that each halachah is a “going,” a drawing down of the encompassing light from world to world, so the halachos are G‑d’s own ways in the world.
לכן אמרו מובטח לו שהוא בן עוה״ב [עולם הבא]. כלומר שהוא נולד ונמשך מבחי׳ עוה״ב [עולם הבא] עלמא דאתכסיא כו׳ כי שם חביון עוזו5 מבחי׳ סוכ״ע.
Therefore they said, “he is assured that he is a son of the World to Come”: that is to say, he is born and drawn from the level of the World to Come, the hidden world (alma de’iskasya), etc., for “there is the hiding of His might,” from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds.
Hence one who studies them is a “son of the World to Come”: he is born of and drawn from that level, the hidden world, where, in the prophet’s words, “there is the hiding of His might” (Habakkuk 3:4): the encompassing light.
אלא שעכשיו בזה הזמן הוא בהעלם ובחי׳ זריעה אור זרוע לצדיק.6 אבל לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] מצמיח ישועות ולכן אמרו עתידים צדיקים שיאמרו לפניהם קדוש.7
Except that now, in this time, it is in concealment and in the state of sowing: “Light is sown for the righteous.” But in the Time to Come He causes salvations to sprout; and therefore they said, “The righteous are destined to have ‘Holy’ said before them.”
For now this light is hidden like a seed: “Light is sown for the righteous” (Psalms 97:11). In the future it will sprout and be revealed, which is why the Talmud says that “Holy” will be said before the righteous, as it is said before G‑d.
שיהי׳ [שיהיה] גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה למטה דוקא ואז יקויים הפסוק כי כאשר השמים החדשים8 והארץ החדשה אשר אני עושה כו׳
That is, there will be a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, specifically below, and then the verse will be fulfilled: “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make,” etc.,
Then the Infinite Light will be revealed specifically below, fulfilling Isaiah’s words about “the new heavens and the new earth” (Isaiah 66:22).
שלא יהיה השמים והארץ גשמיים המעלימים ומסתירים אור ה׳ הוא אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע וקדושתו רק שמים חדשים כו׳ להיות בחי׳ אור א״ס ב״ה הסובב כל עלמין בבחינת גילוי למטה:
that the heavens and the earth will not be physical, concealing and hiding the light of G‑d, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds, and His holiness; but rather “new heavens,” etc., so that the level of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds be in a state of revelation below.
The new heavens and earth will no longer be physical in a way that hides G‑d’s light, the encompassing light and its holiness. Instead, the light that encompasses all worlds will be revealed below.
The halachos are G‑d’s “ways,” the drawing down of the encompassing light; hidden now like sown light, it will be revealed below in the new heavens and the new earth.
Or HaTorah, quoted in the Kehot note, suggests that “from world to world” may be understood in light of what Likkutei Torah explains at the end of the discourse “On the day of Shemini Atzeres” (Kenishin), on “wrapped in light as a garment”: the Torah is a garment that joins world to world.
TermsZeriahHidden world and the revealed worldOlam HaBaLe’asid lavo+5
- Zeriah זריעה
- Hidden world and the revealed world עלמא דאתכסיא ועלמא דאתגליא
- Olam HaBa עולם הבא
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Tzaddik צדיק
- Kadosh קדוש
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Marei mekomos
- 1כל השונה הלכות · Megillah 28b:16–18
- 2כל השונה הלכות בכל יום · Megillah 25b:11–12
- 3הליכות עולם לו · Habakkuk 3:6
- 4הליכה והמשכה מאור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע מעולם ועד עולם · ”ואפ״ל ע״ד שנתבאר בלקו״ת סד״ה ביום השמע״צ כנישין בענין עוטה אור כשלמה שהתורה היא לבוש המחבר מעולם ועד עולם” — אוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ תצט.
- 5שם חביון עוזו · Habakkuk 3:4
- 6אור זרוע לצדיק · Psalms 97:11
- 7עתידים צדיקים שיאמרו לפניהם קדוש · Bava Batra 75b:3–4
- 8כי כאשר השמים החדשים · Isaiah 66:22
Summary ¶32–33
32קיצור. ישראל מפרנסין וכמ״ש את קרבני לחמי. והיינו שע״י הקרבן עולה נפש הבהמה לשרשה פני שור ועי״ז והחיות נושאות כו׳
Summary. “Israel provide sustenance,” as it is written, “My offering, My bread.” That is, through the offering the soul of the animal rises to its root, the face of the ox, and through this, “and the Chayos bear,” etc.,
The maamar ends with a summary of its points. First: Israel “sustain” G‑d through the offerings, His “bread”: the animal’s soul rises to its root in the face of the ox, among the Chayos who bear the Throne.
ונעשה העלאה עד רום המעלות עד שעי״ז אח״כ ניחוח להוי׳ פי׳ נחות דרגא והמשכה וזהו ענין הלחם.
and there comes about an ascent to the highest of heights, until through this, afterwards, “a pleasing fragrance (nichoach) to Havayah”: meaning nechus darga, a descent of level, and a drawing down. And this is the matter of bread.
The ascent reaches the highest level, and then comes the “pleasing fragrance to Havayah,” nichoach as nechus, a descent and drawing down. That is what makes the offering “bread.”
Summary of the first section: the offering raises the animal soul through the Chariot to the highest level, so that a descent, the “pleasing fragrance,” follows; this is why it is called “bread.”
33ועכשיו תפלה במקום קרבנות העלאת נה״ב [נפש הבהמית] ע״י התבוננות בק״ש [בקריאת שמע] וברכותיה אמוי״צ [אמת ויציב] כו׳ וחביב ונחמד כו׳ ע״ד ועמך לא חפצתי.
And now, prayer in place of the offerings: the raising of the animal soul through contemplation in the Shema and its blessings, “True and firm” (Emes VeYatziv), etc., “and beloved and cherished,” etc., in the manner of “And with You I desire nothing.”
Today prayer takes the place of the offerings. It raises the animal soul through contemplation in the Shema and its blessings, including the blessing “True and firm” (Emes VeYatziv) with its words “beloved and cherished,” until one desires only G‑d, as in “with You I desire nothing.”
ופי׳ ניחוח להוי׳ כי יש ב׳ בחי׳ סוכ״ע וממכ״ע [וממלא כל עלמין] והיום לעשותם1 להמשיך מסוכ״ע להיות לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא] עין בעין כו׳
And the meaning of “a pleasing fragrance (nichoach) to Havayah”: for there are two levels, the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) and the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin); and “today to do them”: to draw down from the light that encompasses all worlds, so that in the Time to Come there be “eye to eye,” etc.;
The “pleasing fragrance to Havayah” is explained by the two levels, sovev and memalei. Our service now, “today to do them,” draws from sovev, preparing the future revelation when they will see “eye to eye.”
והיינו ע״י ההעלאה וביטול רצון שעולה החיות בסוכ״ע ואח״כ ההמשכה ויש בזה ב׳ בחי׳ ב׳ שמות הוי׳ שבפסוק ראשון דק״ש [דקריאת שמע] בחי׳ סוכ״ע וההמשכה שמסכ״ע [שמסובב כל עלמין] בממכ״ע [בממלא כל עלמין]
and this is through the ascent and the nullification of will, through which the life-force (chayus) rises into the light that encompasses all worlds, and afterwards the drawing down. In this there are two levels, the two Names Havayah in the first verse of the Shema: the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, and the drawing down from the light that encompasses all worlds into the light that fills all worlds.
This happens through the ascent and the bittul of will, which lift the life-force into sovev, followed by the drawing down. The two Names Havayah in the first verse of the Shema are these two levels: sovev itself, and its drawing down into memalei.
וזהו ניחוח להוי׳ והיינו בא״י [ברוך אתה ה׳] שבשמו״ע [שבשמונה עשרה] המשכה ממקור הברכות שהוא ברוך בעצם לבחי׳ אתה את קרבני וזהו אכלתי יערי כו׳.
And this is “nichoach to Havayah.” And this is “Blessed are You, Havayah” in the Shemoneh Esreh: a drawing down from the Source of blessings, which is blessed in essence, to the level of Atah (“You”). “My offering”: and this is “I have eaten My honeycomb,” etc.
The drawing down is “Blessed are You, Havayah” in the Shemoneh Esreh: from the Source of blessings, blessed in essence, into “You.” This is the meaning of “My offering” and of “I have eaten My honeycomb.”
אך ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] על שלשה דברים העולם עומד על התורה ועל העבודה ועל גמ״ח [גמילות חסדים] (ע׳ [עיין] סד״ה אני דפ׳ ציצית)2 ועבודה נת׳ [נתבאר] שהוא הקרבנות
But our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the [Temple] service and on acts of kindness (gemilus chassadim)” (see the end of the discourse beginning “I,” in the section of tzitzis [fringes]). The service was explained: it is the offerings.
Next the summary turns to the three pillars of the world, the Torah, the service and acts of kindness, with a reference to the end of the discourse “I [am Havayah your G‑d]” on the passage of tzitzis. There, in Likkutei Torah, Sh’lach, the service is the ascent of bittul, in the Shema and prayer, and the Torah and acts of kindness are the drawings-down that follow it, inward and outward. The service, the offerings, has been explained.
אך תורה כתיב זאת התורה אדם י רמ״ח מ״ע [מצות עשה] רמ״ח איברים המשכות מסוכ״ע בבחי׳ כמראה אדם
But of the Torah it is written, “This is the Torah: a man (adam)”: the 248 positive commandments, the 248 limbs, drawings-down from the light that encompasses all worlds into the level of “like the appearance of a man”
The Torah is “man”: its 248 positive commandments are the 248 limbs, drawing the encompassing light into the “appearance of a man” upon the Throne.
(ע׳ [עיין] בד״ה זכור ושמור בדבור אחד שממשיך מבחי׳ כי לא אדם3 בבחי׳ אדם א״נ [אי נמי] עפמ״ש [על פי מה שכתוב] במק״מ [במקדש מלך] משפטים) (קכ״ב א׳) אדם הוא א״א כמראה אדם ז״א ונק׳ לכך לחם
(see the discourse beginning “‘Remember’ and ‘Keep’ in one utterance,” that one draws down from the level of “for He is not a man” into the level of “man”; alternatively, according to what is written in the Mikdash Melech [a commentary on the Zohar] on Mishpatim) (folio 122, side a): “man” is Arich Anpin [the Long Countenance], “like the appearance of a man” is Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes). And therefore it is called “bread”
The summary offers two readings. One, from the discourse in Torah Ohr on “Remember” and “Keep” in one utterance, is that the Torah draws from the level of which it is said “He is not a man” (I Samuel 15:29) into the level of “man”; there the Chayos, bearing the Throne, lift the “man” upon it to that higher level, to draw a new light from sovev into memalei. The other, after the Mikdash Melech, a commentary on the Zohar, is that “man” is Arich Anpin, the outer level of Keser, and “like the appearance of a man” is Z’eir Anpin; this is why the Torah is called “bread.”
(ועמ״ש סוף ביאור ע״פ ואהיה אצלו אמון4 בענין ממושבותיכם תביאו לחם5 כו׳ ע״ש והא דלעיל נת׳ [נתבאר] שהקרבנות נק׳ לחם י״ל [יש לומר] הקרבנות יסוד האש הקרבן עצמו והתורה ג״כ לחם בחי׳ נסכים סולת ושמן כו׳ סולת דעת מחבר כו׳
(and see what is written at the end of the explanation on [the verse] “And I was with Him as a nursling,” on the subject of “From your dwellings you shall bring bread,” etc.; see there. And as for what was explained above, that the offerings are called “bread”: it may be said that the offerings are the element of fire, the offering itself; and the Torah, too, is “bread,” the level of the libations (nesachim), fine flour and oil, etc.; fine flour is Daas (knowledge) that joins, etc.,
The parenthesis refers to the end of the explanation on “And I was with Him as a nursling,” in Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar, where “From your dwellings you shall bring bread” (Leviticus 23:17) is explained through the Shema, called “sitting,” the self-sacrifice of bittul that is the heart of prayer. It then reconciles the two uses of “bread”: the offerings correspond to the element of fire, while the Torah is “bread” as the libations of fine flour and oil, the fine flour being Daas, which joins.
המשכת אור א״ס בחכמה וחסד כו׳ אך הלחם צ״ל לחמי לאשי. רשפי אש. מאדך מאד אותיות אדם א׳ דם וכ״ז [וכל זה] ע״י הכהן אהרן ונחנו מה. בכל לבבך בכיי׳ [בכייה] וחדוה) (ניסוך היין לשיתין כמ״ש בפ׳ שלח גבי נסכים):
the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into Chochmah and Chesed, etc. But the bread must be “My bread for My fire-offerings”: “flashes of fire.” Me’odecha: me’od has the letters of adam, alef–dam. And all this is through the kohen, Aharon, “and what are we.” “With all your heart”: weeping and joy.) (The pouring of the wine into the shissin [the hollows beneath the altar], as is written in Parshas Sh’lach regarding the libations.)
The Torah’s “bread” draws the Infinite Light into Chochmah and Chesed, but it must be “for My fire-offerings,” with the soul’s “flashes of fire.” The summary recalls “with all your might,” me’od as the letters of adam, the kohen and Aharon’s “and what are we,” and the weeping and joy of the two hearts, and ends with a note on the wine libations poured into the shissin, the hollows beneath the altar.
The closing summary: prayer, in place of the offerings, raises the soul into sovev and then draws down through the Shemoneh Esreh; the Torah, the 248 mitzvos as the limbs of “man,” is also “bread,” which must come with the fire of love.
TermsAdamHavayah dil’eila and dilsataBittul haratzonBechol me’odecha+23
- Adam אדם
- Havayah dil’eila and dilsata שם הוי׳ דלעילא ודלתתא
- Bittul haratzon ביטול רצון
- Bechol me’odecha בכל מאדך
- Korbanos קרבנות
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Krias Shema קריאת שמע
- Daas דעת
- Berachah ברכה
- Tefillah תפלה
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Osiyos אותיות
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
- Chesed חסד
- Ratzon רצון
Also ChayusBittulHavayahOr Ein SofChochmahHaalaah vehamshachahTorah
Marei mekomos
- 1היום לעשותם · Deuteronomy 7:11
- 2סד״ה אני דפ׳ ציצית · לעיל פ׳ שלח מט, ב.
- 3כי לא אדם · I Samuel 15:29
- 4סוף ביאור ע״פ ואהיה אצלו אמון · לעיל פ׳ במדבר כ, א.
- 5ממושבותיכם תביאו לחם · Leviticus 23:17
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
Each Rosh Chodesh the names of those learning here are brought to the Ohel. Add your name, and mark what you learn so it is counted.
In one’s avodah
In prayer, raise the animal soul through contemplation in the Shema until you desire nothing but G‑d, and deal with worldly matters only as necessity requires. Serve “with all your might,” beyond your own measure, with love that burns like “flashes of fire,” holding together the weeping over the soul’s descent into the body and the joy that G‑d dwells in His Torah and mitzvos. And study Torah every day, for even one chapter in the morning and one in the evening draws down the One.
Questions for discussion
- In what sense can an animal offering, or a person’s prayer, be called G‑d’s “bread”? How does the comparison with bread, which joins the soul to the body, answer the question?
- What is the difference between will (ratzon) and desire (chefetz), and what does it mean to relate to worldly matters with will alone?
- Why does the Exodus from Egypt stand for the revelation of the encompassing light within the filling light?
- How do the written be’achad and the read be’achas correspond to two kinds of bittul?
- Why should the Talmud say “one chapter in the evening” rather than “a second chapter,” and what does the answer teach about each act of Torah study?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- Aramaic, “the Holy One, blessed be He”: G‑d as holy, set apart from the worlds, paired with Shechinteh, His indwelling; read as sovev kol almin, Z’eir Anpin, Atzmus, and sometimes memalei kol almin.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Life-forceחיות
- Life-force: the G‑dly vitality that brings each creation into being and keeps it alive, drawn to each according to its level and renewed from nothing, as the soul enlivens the body. ×36Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- The boundless light radiating from G‑d’s Essence like sunlight from the sun: His “Name,” a revelation, not the Essence. Chiefly the light before the tzimtzum; also that light as clothed in the sefiros. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Name meaning “He brings into being”: by contraction and expansion, its four letters, He brings all worlds into being while Himself unchanged; was, is and will be are one to Him. Elokim conceals it.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- Contraction: Or Ein Sof (not Ein Sof Himself) hidden in its source so finite worlds can exist, leaving a “vacated space” for the kav; also each later narrowing of light, as in Chochmah. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- One of a Jew’s two souls, clothed in the blood to give the body life; from kelipas nogah, mixed of good and evil, with its own intellect and middos; the G‑dly soul must refine it.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- The Sefirah of kindness (the right arm; Avraham): giving that comes from its nature to do good, spreading from highest to lowest like water. Gevurah, its opposite, limits it; in tikkun each includes the other. ×10Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Willרצון
- Will, which rules the middos: a lower will born of intellect, and the Supernal Will above intellect (Keser, Gulgalta), which covers a hidden reason and delight and is the root of the mitzvos. ×9Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Delightתענוג
- Delight, the inner side of will. Above, the supernal delight of Atik, whose source is His very self: the source of Chochmah, covered by the Supernal Will and drawn down through the mitzvos. ×5Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The inner dimension: the part of anything that turns toward and cleaves to its source (from panim, face), its depth and chief will. Its partner, chitzoniyus, goes out to others; the inner does not descend.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin)ממלא כל עלמין
- G‑d’s life-force clothed within each world and creature by its level, like a soul in a body; it can be known, and it varies with its receivers. Sovev, its partner, is not clothed in them. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- G‑d’s light that is not clothed in the worlds: equal in all worlds, above and below, unchanged by them, it gives them life as an encompassing light. Its partner, memalei, is clothed within each world. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The descent of levels from cause to effect, linked like the rings of a chain, from Chochmah downward; each reveals what was hidden in the one above. Or Ein Sof itself is above this order. ×4Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Sefirosספירות
- Ten emanated powers, Keser (or Daas) and Chochmah through Malchus, each a light in a vessel; through them G‑d conducts the worlds, His essence unchanged; they recur in every world and in man.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Self-nullification before G‑d, the condition for the Or Ein Sof to rest. Its lower degree is a “something” that bows; its higher, Chochmah’s “what are we,” takes up no place at all. ×12Where it’s explained, stated differently
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- A stirring that begins with the person (love and awe won by toil, self-nullification, the deed of the mitzvos) which, “as water reflects a face,” awakens a matching arousal from above.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- The name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- The Name of contraction and concealment, the shield and sheath over Havayah, through which creation appears separate (yesh) and runs as nature (hateva, numerically Elokim). Relative to a higher revelation, Havayah counts as Elokim. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- Chochmah and Binah as father and mother, who beget the middos (love and awe, “son and daughter”). Abba is self-nullifying insight, source of the chassadim; Imma is comprehension, source of the gevuros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it. ×5Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- The Sefirah of comprehension (Imma, the first hei): it expands Chochmah’s flash in length and breadth; letters of thought appear in it; it is “yesh,” and from it love, joy and the middos are born. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The Crown over the Sefiros: intermediary between Or Ein Sof and the emanated, holding the lowest level of the Infinite; the Supernal Will and source of delight, beyond grasp; Chochmah emerges from it. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- The intellect, Chochmah, Binah and Daas, as the “brains” of a level; chiefly the light of Abba and Imma clothed in Z’eir Anpin, the middos, by which they grow. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Z'eir Anpin (the emotive attributes)ז״א
- The partzuf of the six middos of Atzilus (Chesed to Yesod), born from Imma and filled out by the mochin of Abba and Imma; Nukva’s masculine partner, through which the light reaches her.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
- Malchus of Atzilus as a partzuf: the feminine partner of Z’eir Anpin, built after it and from the gevuros; receiving from above, she gives to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah below.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Knowledge as felt recognition: the intellect bound into the soul until it is felt as if seen. Daas unites Chochmah with Binah and spreads into the middos as their inner life; the middos follow it. ×6Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- The emotive powers (in the soul: love, fear, mercy). Born from the intellect and matching its measure, they are rooted above it, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A, emanated to conduct the worlds. ×3Where it’s explained
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The unity seen from above: before G‑d all is as nothing and nothing exists besides Him (the Name Havayah, the Shema’s first verse); the lower unity is the existing world’s self-nullification. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The lower unity (yichuda tata'ah)יחודא תתאה
- The unity seen from below: through the Name Elokim the world exists as a “something” (yesh), and that yesh bows before G‑d (bittul hayesh). It receives from the higher unity, which through it rests below.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The “husks” that cover and conceal holiness: forces of yesh set opposite holiness, whose mark is bittul. They came into being through the breaking of the vessels and draw their nurture from holiness.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The general and collective expression (klalus)כללות
- The general, undivided form of a thing, holding its particulars (pratim) as one. It is revealed first, like the soul’s life in the head, and particular life spreads from it to each part.Where it’s explained
- The sitra achra (the other side)סטרא אחרא
- “The other side,” the opposite of holiness: what appears as a yesh separate from G‑d and casts off His yoke. It has no life of its own but receives it from holiness.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- “He and His vessels” (ihu vegarmohi)איהו וגרמוהי
- Or Ein Sof is wholly one with the vessels of Atzilus (“He and His vessels are one”), a union below His oneness with Chochmah (“He and His life-forces”); the created vessels below Atzilus are not. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- An arousal from aboveאתערותא דלעילא
- G‑d’s stirring toward the world and the soul: it may answer an arousal from below, come first to awaken one, or come from a level no arousal from below reaches.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- The Sefirah of might (the left; Yitzchak), opposite Chesed: described as what limits and contracts Chesed’s flow, and as the life-force in greater intensity, which becomes judgment; included in Chesed, it gives life. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d’s Malchus as it “dwells” among created beings to give them life: Malchus of Atzilus come down below Atzilus. Its being clothed below, down to the kelipos, is called the exile of the Shechinah.Where it’s explained, stated differently