Likkutei Torah · Parshas Shir HaShirim · Maamar 26

אני ישנה ולבי ער קול דודי דופק פתחי לי כו׳

“I Am Asleep, but My Heart Is Awake”

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about 1 h 25 min of study
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The big idea

In exile Israel “sleeps”: the letters of Torah and prayer still carry the Infinite Light, but it is hidden. Yet G‑d, the “heart” of Israel, stays awake, and like a heart that gives out only what it first receives, His flow answers our arousal from below, while beyond it the “dew” of the supernal will is revealed once a person has done all he can.

The maamar in brief

The maamar explains Song of Songs 5:2. Exile is sleep, in which “our signs,” the letters of Torah and prayer, are not seen, though like horses they carry the encompassing Infinite Light down into the soul. G‑d is called Israel’s heart rather than its brain because the heart gives out only what it first receives, so His flow depends on an arousal from below: the love of the Shema, a true desire (chefetz) for G‑d alone, which draws His delight into Torah and mitzvos. The four names of the bride are stages of this love: “my sister,” the natural love freed from the body; “my beloved,” Israel “feeding” G‑d with their self-nullification, as digested food becomes the blood that binds soul to body, which works because Israel “arose in thought”; “my dove,” a gaze at the King that is never sated; “my perfect one,” Israel making G‑d “whole,” as though they had made Him, by forming the vessels of His attributes. All are caused by “my head is filled with dew,” an arousal from above beyond the arousal from below: “open for Me like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you like the opening of the Ulam.”

Outline

Sleep, signs and lettersExile is sleep, in which “our signs,” the letters of Torah and prayer, are not seen. The letters are “horses” that carry the encompassing Infinite Light down into the soul; in the future it will be seen openly. Yet “my heart is awake”: G‑d is called the heart of Israel.¶1–2
Why the heart and not the brainThe heart’s flow is a circuit: it receives blood made from food, closes on it and opens to send it out, which is its constant beat, while the brain only gives. So G‑d is called the heart: His flow to creation depends on the arousal from below.¶3–5
The love of the Shema and the supernal delightThe arousal from below is “And you shall love”: chefetz, a desire that delights in G‑d alone, not mere ratzon. In response G‑d’s inner will and delight are drawn into the Torah and the physical mitzvos, and so the yoke of Heaven precedes the yoke of the mitzvos.¶6–8
The heart awake in exile, and the pulseEven in exile the will of the heart remains, and the delight is drawn into Torah and mitzvos, though hidden; G‑d does wonders “alone.” Prayer replaces the sacrifices in concealment. Besides the inner heartbeat there is an outer pulse, G‑d’s kindness, hinted in dofek, whose letters spell pakad.¶9–10
“My sister, my beloved”: freeing love and “eating”“My sister” is the natural love of the G‑dly soul, which must be opened from the prison of the body. “My beloved” means Israel “feed” G‑d: the self-nullification of angels and souls in the Shema and its blessings is His “eating,” the soul absorbed into the body of the King.¶11–14
Building the attributesAs food becomes blood and binds soul and body, self-nullification binds the Infinite Light to the “body” of the attributes; even Chesed and Chochmah must be “built.” The power comes from Israel’s root in thought within thought, above the divine speech from which the worlds and Sefiros come, as food’s divine word is higher than man’s.¶15–19
“My dove”: the gaze never satedThe higher level of “my dove” is a constant gaze at the glory of the King, like Avraham’s endless journeying, never sated because G‑d is infinite and renews creation from nothing; it brings joy and delight in G‑d.¶20–22
“My perfect one”: as though you had made MeIsrael is G‑d’s “twin” and makes Him “whole.” Making the vessels, Chesed and Gevurah, through kindness and through subduing and transforming the sitra achra, reveals His perfection, as though they had made Him.¶23–25
“My head is filled with dew”Dew, never withheld, is an arousal from above that does not depend on the arousal from below, the “head” that only gives. In the inner dimension it is revealed only after the full arousal from below: the needle’s eye and the opening of the Ulam.¶26–27
In divine serviceA person can perfect only what lies from Chochmah downward; the will of the soul, like the supernal will, is beyond his reach, yet it is revealed once he has done all he can. A list of sources on “I am asleep” closes the maamar.¶28–29

Key concepts

Our signs, our letters (osiyos)אותותינו / אותיותינו: The letters of Torah and prayer, which “bring” the Infinite Light from concealment into revelation and carry it, like horses, where it could not otherwise reach; in exile they are not seen.
The heart of Israelלבן של ישראל: G‑d is called the heart and not the brain because the heart gives out only what it first receives, so His flow of life depends on the arousal from below.
Arousal from below / arousal from aboveאתערותא דלתתא / אתערותא דלעילא: Human service that calls forth a divine response, and the divine response itself; one arousal from above depends on the arousal from below, and a higher one, the “dew,” does not.
Desire (chefetz) and will (ratzon)חפץ / רצון: Ratzon can exist even without inner desire, as with consent under pressure; chefetz is a desire that takes delight in what it wants, and it is the quality of the love of the Shema.
To be absorbed into the body of the Kingלאשתאבא בגופא דמלכא: The soul’s complete nullification and inclusion in G‑dliness, called “eating” Above, like food that becomes the blood of the soul.
Thought within thoughtמחשבה שבמחשבה: The highest of three levels of thought, real intellect and understanding, where the souls of Israel are rooted; the worlds and Sefiros come from the lower level of speech within thought.
Dofek and pakadדפק / פקד: The pulse, the outer extension of the heartbeat, whose letters spell pakad, G‑d’s attentive remembering and kindness.
Dewטל: A divine flow that is never withheld, from the supernal will beyond the arousal from below, drawn into “my head,” Chochmah.
The point of a needle and the opening of the Ulamכחודה של מחט / כפתחו של אולם: Everything within a person’s power, from Chochmah downward, is a needle’s eye beside the Infinite; when he opens it fully, G‑d opens an opening like the doorless entrance of the Temple hall.

In the Rebbe’s light · 7

AI research Found by AI reading every place in the Rebbe’s works that cites this maamar, and checked against each source by a second AI reader, the less certain by a third. Only what rated high is shown: the Rebbe’s own words, about this very passage. No person has reviewed it yet, so check the place itself before relying on a detail. See something to correct?

The maamar in the Rebbe’s light

The Rebbe returns to this maamar for its picture of exile as sleep, and of what stays awake in it. In a note to his maamar Tziyon b’mishpat, Shabbos Chazon 5741, he reads „ולבי ער” (but my heart is awake) as the soul, pointing to the paragraph that ties it to the yearning in every Jew, and a sicha of 2 Nissan 5748 cites the maamar’s heart, giving life to all the limbs, for what makes a king ‘the heart’ of Israel. In a sicha of Tazria-Metzora 5751 he takes „אותותינו לא ראינו” (we have not seen our signs) further: through the Torah, exile’s hidden wonders are to be revealed to eyes of flesh. His Purim 5728 maamar (a transcript) places ‘my dove’ in the mind and calls the dew, never withheld, G‑d’s „האהבה העצמית” (essential love) for Israel; on Erev Rosh Hashanah 5744 ‘my twin’ and ‘my perfect one’ are two stages, partners and then one. In Toldos 5745 he takes the paragraph’s words for the arousal from above before which ours „אינה נחשבת למאומה” (is not counted as anything), and says why the gift beyond it waits for complete service: it needs a vessel. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar), read with him, the maamar describes a love that stays whole beneath the sleep, from the dew above to the heart below.

Paragraph by paragraph

¶3

Background from the Rebbe

In a sicha for 2 Nissan 5748, the Rebbe Rashab’s yahrtzeit and the day the Rebbe Rayatz’s leadership began, the Rebbe explains why the Rambam calls the king „לב כל קהל ישראל” (the heart of the whole congregation of Israel), not only its head.

Of the „תלת שליטין” (‘three rulers’), brain, heart and liver, the brain is the soul’s chief dwelling and gives each limb life „לפי מזגו ותכונתו” (according to its nature and temperament), while the heart holds the very blood that is the soul. For the difference between them his note 16 says ‘see also’ this column, and note 20 adds his own distinction: „משא״כ המשכת החיות מהלב היא לכל האברים בשוה” (whereas the flow of life from the heart is to all the limbs equally), the essence of life. And since life goes with motion, only the heart is always in „רצוא ושוב” (running and returning), „דפיקו דלבא” (the beat of the heart), where note 22 again cites Likkutei Torah here.

The Alter Rebbeאך להבין למה נקרא עד״מ בשם לב דוקא ולא בשם מוח עד״מ
The Rebbeמשא״כ המשכת החיות מהלב היא לכל האברים בשוה, שכולם מקבלים את הדם שבלב, עצם החיות

Sefer HaSichos 5748, vol. א, p. 348, notes 16, 20 and 22 (reprinted in Likkutei Sichos – Geulah uMoshiach vol. 3 p. 13) · ב׳ ניסן ה׳תשמ״ח
¶9

A question the Rebbe raises

In the maamar Tziyon b’mishpat tipadeh of Shabbos Chazon, Erev Tisha B’Av 5741, explaining, as the Rebbe Rashab’s maamar on this verse does, that exile and captivity belong to the vessels (כלים) and not to the light (אור), the Rebbe applies it to body and soul.

Citing „אני ישנה בגלותא ולבי ער” (I am asleep in exile, but my heart is awake), he reads ‘my heart’ as the soul, awake even while asleep in exile. His note sets two places of this maamar side by side: Likkutei Torah first brings the Zohar’s „ולבי דא קוב״ה” (my heart, this is the Holy One, blessed be He), „אבל ראה לקו״ת שם (לד, א)” (but see Likkutei Torah there, 34a), which connects it also with ‘the will and yearning in every soul of Israel’.

The Alter Rebbeלא עזבנו ה׳ מבחי׳ רעותא דליבא בחי׳ רצון ותשוקה שיש בכל נפש מישראל
The Rebbeאבל ראה לקו״ת שם (לד, א), שמקשר זה גם עם „בחי׳ רצון ותשוקה שיש בכל נפש מישראל”

Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. שיט, note 29 · ש״פ דברים, שבת חזון, ערב תשעה באב ה׳תשמ״א
¶10

The Rebbe explains

In a sicha of Shabbos Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5751, reading the leper’s purification as exile and redemption, the Rebbe says that the darkness of exile, „אותותינו לא ראינו” (we have not seen our signs), comes from lights so high that they are „שלמעלה מהתגלות” (beyond revelation).

In his note he quotes our paragraph: „לא ראינו דייקא” (‘we have not seen’ specifically), not with eyes of flesh, „אבל מ״מ אותותינו קיימות” (but nevertheless our signs endure), and G‑d „לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו” (‘does great wonders alone’), adding in parentheses Rashi’s words on that verse (Niddah 31a), „הוא לבדו יודע שהוא נס” (He alone knows that it is a miracle). Then he proposes that since the signs are ‘our letters’, the letters of the Torah, through the Torah the hidden ‘signs’ of the time of exile are drawn down and revealed, visibly, to eyes of flesh.

The Alter Rebbeוזהו אותותינו לא ראינו לא ראינו דייקא שאינו נראה ונגלה לעיני בשר
The Rebbeועפ״ז י״ל שע״י התורה נעשה המשכת וגילוי ה„אותותינו” דזמן הגלות („נפלאות גדולות לבדו”) באופן הנראה ונגלה לעיני בשר

Likkutei Sichos – Geulah uMoshiach, vol. ג (ויקרא), p. 184, note 50 and its starred sub-note · ש״פ תזריע-מצורע ה׳תנש״א (edited; also Toras Menachem 5751 vol. 3 p. 157)
¶20

The Rebbe explains

In the maamar „בלילה ההוא” of Purim 5728 (an unedited transcript), the Rebbe explains the bride’s four names ‘as explained in Likkutei Torah’ and in the Rebbe Maharash’s maamar of 5628, which ties them to „עליית המלכות כנגד נה״י” (Malchus rising opposite Netzach-Hod-Yesod), Chesed-Gevurah-Tiferes and Chochmah-Binah-Daas.

In the service of love, he says, ‘my beloved’, though it comes from contemplation, is chiefly of the heart’s attributes, while ‘my sister’ is of Netzach, Hod and Yesod; „והאהבה דיונתי היא מצד בחי׳ חב״ד שבנפש, ועיקרה מבחי׳ בינה” (the love of ‘my dove’ comes from the soul’s Chochmah, Binah and Daas, chiefly Binah), and so it holds an immense delight, „עס פאַרנעמט אים אינגאַנצן” (that takes the person over entirely). He opens it with our paragraph’s image, „זוג יונים שמסתכלים תמיד זה בזה” (a pair of doves always gazing at each other).

The Alter Rebbeיעלה ויבא ויגיע למדרגה יותר עליונה הוא בחי׳ יונתי והוא בחי׳ עיניך יונים
The Rebbeוהאהבה דיונתי היא מצד בחי׳ חב״ד שבנפש, ועיקרה מבחי׳ בינה, שלכן יש בזה תענוג עצום

Sefer HaMaamarim (unedited, new edition) 5728, p. קלד–קלה · פורים, ה׳תשכ״ח
¶23

The Rebbe explains

On the night of Erev Rosh Hashanah, 29 Elul 5744 (an unedited transcript), explaining that a Jew becomes „שותף להקב״ה במעשה בראשית” (‘a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of creation’), the Rebbe says that this is more than a partnership of two.

He brings the Sages’ reading of ‘my perfect one’ as „תאומתי” (my twin), „שזהו ע״ד ענין ה״שותפות” שישנם שנים“ (which is like a partnership, in which there are two), and then, ‘beyond this’, quoting our paragraph, the plain sense: „תמתי מלשון שלימות” (tamasi is from wholeness), Israel makes Him whole, as it were. Set beside what the sicha has just said, that on Rosh Hashanah both pass „בתוך גוף אחד להיות לאחדים” (into one body, to become one), this is more than a partnership of two, and he says it comes about through the service of Rosh Hashanah, „תמליכוני עליכם” (make Me King over you).

The Alter Rebbeואין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו שנקרא תמתי מלשון שלימות שהיא משלמת אותו ית׳ כביכול
The Rebbeוכפי שדרשו חז״ל על הפסוק ”אחותי גו׳ תמתי” — ”תאומתי”, שזהו ע״ד ענין ה״שותפות” שישנם שנים. ונוסף לזה

Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשמ״ד ד, p. 2668 · ליל ערב ר״ה, כ״ט אלול ה׳תשד״מ
¶26

The Rebbe explains

In the maamar „בלילה ההוא” of Purim 5728 (an unedited transcript) the Rebbe asks: since ‘I am asleep’ and only ‘my heart is awake’, how can the knocking of „קול דודי” (‘the voice of my Beloved’) accomplish anything?

The answer is in the verse’s continuation, „שראשי נמלא טל” (for my head is filled with dew): as the drushim explain, „טל לא מיעצר” (dew is never withheld), because it does not depend on the deeds of those below, „וענינו למעלה הוא האהבה העצמית דהקב״ה לבנ״י” (and above, it is the Holy One’s essential love for Israel). From that dew comes the knocking, and the knocking brings about the ‘opening’ and then all four levels of service.

The Alter Rebbeאך הנה הגורם לכל בחי׳ הללו הוא מ״ש שראשי נמלא טל
The Rebbeכמבואר בהדרושים שטל לא מיעצר, כיון שאינו תלוי במעשה התחתונים, וענינו למעלה הוא האהבה העצמית דהקב״ה לבנ״י

Sefer HaMaamarim (unedited, new edition) 5728, p. קלו · פורים, ה׳תשכ״ח
¶27

Background from the Rebbe

In the maamar „ויאמר לו יהונתן מחר חודש” of Shabbos Parshas Toldos, Shabbos Mevarchim and Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5745 (edited), the Rebbe asks how high the new light of the month reaches, „ונפקדת” (you will be remembered), drawn through „יפקד מושבך” (your seat will be empty), self-nullification, and measures it against the kinds of arousal from above (אתערותא דלעילא).

Setting out, as explained in Likkutei Torah, three kinds of arousal from above, the Rebbe describes the first, which comes of itself from the Infinite Light above the worlds, in our paragraph’s words, as his note says: before it „אתעדל״ת אינה נחשבת למאומה” (the arousal from below is not counted as anything). The third comes as a gift from that same height, „אלא שאינה שורה ומתגלית אלא לאחרי שלימות העבודה” (except that it rests and is revealed only after the service is complete), for even a gift needs a vessel, as the Zohar says, „קוב״ה לא שריא אלא באתר שלים” (the Holy One rests only in a complete place). The Likkutei Torah passage he follows (23d ff.) refers this third kind to the discourse on ‘I am asleep’ and its ‘open for Me like the point of a needle’: the inner level at the end of our paragraph, revealed only after the whole arousal from below.

The Alter Rebbeשאין אתעדל״ת מגעת לשם ואינה נחשבת שם למאומה וכחשיכה כאורה ומשם יורד הטל
The Rebbeשהמשכת אתעדל״ע זו היא מאוא״ס שלמעלה מעולמות, שלגבי׳, אתעדל״ת אינה נחשבת למאומה

Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ו, p. כד–כה, notes 11–12 · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח וער״ח כסלו ה׳תשמ״ה

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).

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Sleep, signs and letters ¶1–2

1אני ישנה ולבי ער קול דודי1 דופק פתחי לי כו׳. וברבות בשה״ש [בשיר השירים] אני ישנה מן הקץ2

“I am asleep, but my heart is awake; the voice of my beloved knocks: ‘Open to me…,’” etc. And in [Midrash] Rabbah on Song of Songs: “I am asleep” — from the End.

Explanation

The maamar opens with Song of Songs 5:2, where the bride tells how, asleep but with her heart awake, she heard her beloved knocking and calling, “Open to me.” The Midrash on Song of Songs gives many readings of “I am asleep”; the one brought here is “I am asleep from the End,” that is, with regard to the time of the redemption, while “my heart is awake” to the redemption.

ובזהר פ׳ אמור (צ״ה ע״א) אני ישנה בגלותא3 והענין כי הנה הגלות דומה לשינה

And in the Zohar, Parshas Emor (95a): “I am asleep — in the exile.” The explanation is: behold, the exile resembles sleep.

Explanation

The Zohar in Parshas Emor reads “I am asleep” as Israel’s state in exile (there, the exile of Egypt): the exile itself is the sleep. The Alter Rebbe sets out to explain the comparison.

כמו שהשינה הוא ע״י שנסתם מראה עיניו. כך הנה בגלות נאמר אותותינו לא ראינו פי׳ אותותינו כמו אותיותינו דהיינו אותיות התורה והתפלה כי הנה כתיב (ישעיה מ״ה י״א) האותיות שאלוני על בני ועל פועל ידי תצוני4.

Just as sleep comes about through the sight of one’s eyes being closed off, so in the exile it is said, “Our signs we have not seen.” The meaning of “our signs” (ososeinu) is like “our letters” (osiyoseinu), that is, the letters of the Torah and of prayer. For behold, it is written (Isaiah 45:11), “The letters (ha’osiyos), ask Me concerning My children, and concerning the work of My hands command Me.”

Explanation

A sleeper is alive, but his sight is shut off; so too in exile, “Our signs we have not seen” (Psalms 74:9), the lament that the wonders of old are no longer seen. The Alter Rebbe reads ososeinu, “our signs,” as osiyoseinu, “our letters,” the letters of the Torah and of prayer, and supports this from Isaiah 45:11, where ha’osiyos, plainly “the things to come,” is read as “the letters.”

והענין הוא כי הנה אותיות הוא מלשון אתא בקר5 שהן המביאות והממשיכות אור א״ס ב״ה מההעלם אל הגילוי

The explanation is: osiyos (letters) is from the expression “Morning comes (asa)”; for they are what bring and draw the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, from concealment into revelation,

Explanation

The word osiyos is connected with asa, “comes,” as in “Morning comes” (Isaiah 21:12). Letters are what “bring”: they carry the Infinite Light out of concealment into revelation.

להיות גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה ממש בנפש האדם למטה שלכן נקראו האותיות בשם סוסים כמ״ש במ״ת [במתן תורה] כי תרכב6 על סוסיך כו׳ שהן אותיות התורה

so that there be an actual revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the soul of man below. That is why the letters are called by the name “horses,” as it is written concerning the Giving of the Torah, “When You ride upon Your horses,” etc., which are the letters of the Torah.

Explanation

The purpose of this bringing is a real revelation of the Infinite Light within a human soul in this world. This is why the letters are called “horses”: Habakkuk 3:8, “When You ride upon Your horses,” is read as describing the Giving of the Torah, and the horses are the Torah’s letters.

ונמשלו כמו סוס לגבי רוכבו שכשם שהסוס רץ ומוליך את הרוכב למקום שאין הרוכב מגיע לשם מצד טבעו בעצמו כך האותיות הן כסוס לגבי רוכבו הוא אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע

And they are likened to a horse in relation to its rider: just as the horse runs and carries the rider to a place that the rider does not reach by his own nature, so the letters are like a horse in relation to its rider, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin),

Explanation

A horse is lower than its rider, yet it carries him to places he could never reach on his own. The rider here is the Infinite Light that encompasses all worlds (sovev), the level of G‑dliness too great to enter the worlds, and the letters carry it where it would not otherwise go.

שהוא למעלה מעלה מגדר ההשתלשלות והתלבשות המדרגות ולית מחשבה תפיסא בי׳ [ביה] שאינו מתלבש כלל בירידת והשתלשלות סדר המדרגות כ״א ע״י שנתפס ומתלבש באותיות התורה

which is far, far above the bounds of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) and the enclothing of the levels, and “no thought can grasp it”; for it is not enclothed at all in the descent and chain-like progression of the order of levels, except by being grasped and enclothed in the letters of the Torah.

Explanation

This light is far above the whole descending order of levels and is beyond the grasp of any thought. It does not enter that order of levels at all; it is “grasped” only through being enclothed in the letters of the Torah.

(ועמ״ש בד״ה ויאמר משה אכלוהו היום7 ובד״ה נר חנוכה כו׳ מזוזה מימין8 ובד״ה לריח שמניך9 וע׳ בע״ה שער א׳ פ״ד)

(And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And Moshe said, ‘Eat it today,’” and in the discourse beginning “The Chanukah lamp,” etc., “the mezuzah on the right,” and in the discourse beginning “For the fragrance of your oils”; and see Emek HaMelech, Sha’ar (Gate) 1, chapter 4.)

Explanation

The parenthesis sends the reader to three other discourses that develop the theme of the letters of the Torah, and to Emek HaMelech, a major work of Kabbalah by Rabbi Naftali Bacharach (Amsterdam, 1648), Sha’ar (Gate) 1, chapter 4.

וזהו האותיות שאלוני על בני כו׳ האותיות עצמן הן הן המשכות על בני שבאותיות התורה והתפלה נמשך גילוי זה בנפש האדם למטה להיותה משכלת ומתבוננת בגדולת א״ס ב״ה שכשמו כן הוא אין לו סוף ואין ערוך אליו כו׳.10

And this is [the meaning of] “The letters, ask Me concerning My children,” etc.: the letters themselves are the very drawings-down upon “My children”; for in the letters of the Torah and of prayer this revelation is drawn into the soul of man below, so that it comprehends and contemplates the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who, as His Name, so is He: He has no end, and there is no comparison to Him, etc.

Explanation

This is the meaning of “The letters, ask Me concerning My children”: the letters themselves are the channels that bring G‑dliness down “upon My children.” Through Torah study and prayer the revelation reaches the soul, enabling it to understand and contemplate the greatness of the Infinite One, whose very Name, Ein Sof (“without end”), says what He is: boundless and beyond comparison.

Paragraph 1 in brief

The exile is compared to sleep, in which one no longer sees. What we fail to see are our “signs,” the letters of Torah and prayer, which like horses carry the Infinite Light, beyond every level, down into the human soul.

Deeper

Two images meet here: osiyos as “bringers” (from asa, “comes”) and the letters as horses that carry a rider beyond his own reach. Both say that the letters, though they are the lowest and most concrete form of expression, are what convey the sovev, the light that no level of the descending order can hold.

TermsOsiyosChinuchEin arochMah and Ban+7

Osiyos אותיות explained hereOsiyos is from asa, “comes”: the letters of Torah and prayer bring the Or Ein Sof from concealment into revelation in a person’s soul. They are called horses, which carry the rider where he could not reach by himself: the Or Ein Sof that encompasses all worlds, which no thought grasps, is held only through the letters of the Torah.אותיות הוא מלשון אתא בקר שהן המביאות והממשיכות אור א״ס ב״ה מההעלם אל הגילוי
Chinuch חינוך
Ein aroch אין ערוך
Mah and Ban מ״ה וב״ן
Tefillah תפלה
Ein Sof אין סוף
Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Hishtalshelus השתלשלות

Also Hislabshus Or Ein Sof Torah

Marei mekomos

1
Song of Songs 5:2
2
אני ישנה מן הקץ · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2:1
3
אני ישנה בגלותא · Zohar, Emor 25:123–26:131
4
Isaiah 45:11
5
אתא בקר · Isaiah 21:12
6
Habakkuk 3:8
7
ויאמר משה אכלוהו היום · Exodus 16:25
8
מזוזה מימין · Shabbat 22a:2
9
לריח שמניך · Song of Songs 1:3
10
Psalms 74:9

2וכולא קמי׳ [קמיה] כלא ממש ואי לזאת תכלה אליו הנפש בבחי׳ ביטול ממש להיות גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה למטה כמו למעלה.

And “all before Him is as actually nothing.” Therefore the soul will pine away toward Him, in a state of actual self-nullification (bittul), so that there be a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, below as above.

Explanation

Contemplating that everything before G‑d is as nothing brings the soul to a longing so intense that it seems to expire, in complete self-nullification. Through this, the Infinite Light is revealed below just as it is above.

אך בגלות אותותינו לא ראינו שאינו נראה ונגלה גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע בבחי׳ גילוי ממש בעולם

But in the exile, “our signs we have not seen”: the revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, the light that encompasses all worlds, is not seen and revealed as an actual revelation in the world,

Explanation

In the exile, however, this revelation of the encompassing light is not openly seen in the world. That is the meaning of “our signs we have not seen.”

כמו שיהי׳ [שיהיה] לעתיד כי עין בעין יראו1 כו׳ ונגלה כבוד2 הוי׳ וראו כל בשר כו׳.

as it will be in the Time to Come, “for eye to eye they shall see,” etc., and “the glory of Havayah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see,” etc.

Explanation

The contrast is the Time to Come, when, as Isaiah says, G‑dliness will be seen “eye to eye” and “all flesh shall see” the glory of Havayah. Then the revelation will be visible even to physical eyes.

אך מ״מ ולבי ער ופי׳ בזהר ולבי דא קוב״ה [קודשא בריך הוא] וכ״כ [וכן כתב] ברבות בשה״ש [בשיר השירים] גבי ולבי ער איכן מצינו שנק׳ הקב״ה לבן של ישראל3 מן הדין קרא דכתיב צור לבבי וחלקי אלקים לעולם.4 5

Yet nevertheless, “but my heart is awake.” And the Zohar explains: “‘And my heart’ — this is the Holy One, blessed be He.” And so it is written in [Midrash] Rabbah on Song of Songs, on “but my heart is awake”: “Where do we find that the Holy One, blessed be He, is called the heart of Israel? From this verse, as it is written, ‘The Rock of my heart and my portion is G‑d forever.’”

Explanation

Yet even while Israel sleeps in exile, “my heart is awake.” The Zohar reads “my heart” as the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Midrash proves from “the Rock of my heart” (Psalms 73:26) that G‑d is called the heart of Israel; the heart that stays awake through the sleep of exile is G‑d Himself.

Paragraph 2 in brief

The ideal is a revelation of the Infinite Light below as above; in exile it is hidden and will be seen openly only in the Time to Come. Yet “my heart is awake”: G‑d, called the heart of Israel, remains awake within the exile.

TermsSovev kol alminElokim+3

Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Elokim אלקים

Also Bittul Havayah Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
עין בעין יראו · Isaiah 52:8
2
ונגלה כבוד הוי׳ וראו כל בשר · Isaiah 40:5
3
איכן מצינו שנק׳ הקב״ה לבן של ישראל · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2:1
4
צור לבבי וחלקי אלקים לעולם · Psalms 73:26
5
Psalms 74:9

Why the heart and not the brain ¶3–5

3וזהו לבבתני אחותי כלה. ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה ביום השמע״צ [השמיני עצרת] והיינו שהלב הוא חיות כל האברים שבו משכן הדם הוא הנפש1 המחיה את כל הגוף כך הקבה הוא הוא חיינו ואתה מחיה את כולם.2

And this is [the meaning of] “You have captured my heart (libavtini), my sister, bride.” And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “On the day of Shemini Atzeres.” That is: the heart is the life-force (chayus) of all the limbs, for in it is the dwelling of the blood, which is the soul that gives life to the whole body. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is our very life, and “You give life to them all.”

Explanation

The word libavtini, “you have captured my heart,” comes from lev, “heart,” and is linked here to G‑d being Israel’s heart; in Likkutei Torah, Sukkos (82c), in the discourse “On the day of Shemini Atzeres” to which the text refers, the Alter Rebbe reads this verse as G‑d’s inner love for Israel, at the inner point of the heart, since “Israel dwell in the chamber of the heart.” The heart gives life to all the limbs because the blood, which “is the soul,” dwells in it; so G‑d is our very life, “You give life to them all” (Nehemiah 9:6).

אך להבין למה נקרא עד״מ בשם לב דוקא ולא בשם מוח עד״מ שהרי גם המוח הוא משפיע החיות לכללות הגוף דתלת שליטין אינון מוחא ולבא וכבדא3 4

But [we must] understand why He is called, by way of analogy, specifically by the name “heart” and not, by way of analogy, by the name “brain”; for the brain too bestows life-force upon the body as a whole, since “there are three rulers: the brain, the heart and the liver.”

Explanation

The question is why the analogy is specifically the heart and not the brain, since the brain also gives life to the whole body. The Zohar counts three “rulers” of the body: the brain, the heart and the liver.

¶5 Hold this question: paragraph 5 explains why “heart” and not “brain.”

אך אינו דומה סיבוב והילוך השפעת החיות שמן הלב לאברים להילוך ההשפעה שמן המוח לאברים כי הנה על הלב נאמר כל הנחלים הולכים אל הים כו׳.5 6

But the circuit and course of the flow of life-force from the heart to the limbs is not like the course of the flow from the brain to the limbs. For behold, concerning the heart it is said, “All the rivers go to the sea,” etc.,

Explanation

The answer begins: the flow from the heart is a circuit, unlike the one-way flow from the brain. The verse “All the rivers go to the sea” (Ecclesiastes 1:7), which continues “there they return to go,” is applied to the heart.

Paragraph 3 in brief

G‑d is called the heart of Israel because the heart is the seat of life. The paragraph then asks why the heart rather than the brain, and begins to answer from the circular course of the heart’s flow.

Deeper

Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh 31, to which the Kehot note points, develops the same image: the life-force goes out from the heart with the blood to all the limbs and returns to it, and the souls of Israel are called the limbs of the Shechinah, which is called “heart,” as in “the Rock of my heart.”

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

Background from the Rebbe

In a sicha for 2 Nissan 5748, the Rebbe Rashab’s yahrtzeit and the day the Rebbe Rayatz’s leadership began, the Rebbe explains why the Rambam calls the king „לב כל קהל ישראל” (the heart of the whole congregation of Israel), not only its head.

Of the „תלת שליטין” (‘three rulers’), brain, heart and liver, the brain is the soul’s chief dwelling and gives each limb life „לפי מזגו ותכונתו” (according to its nature and temperament), while the heart holds the very blood that is the soul. For the difference between them his note 16 says ‘see also’ this column, and note 20 adds his own distinction: „משא״כ המשכת החיות מהלב היא לכל האברים בשוה” (whereas the flow of life from the heart is to all the limbs equally), the essence of life. And since life goes with motion, only the heart is always in „רצוא ושוב” (running and returning), „דפיקו דלבא” (the beat of the heart), where note 22 again cites Likkutei Torah here.

The Alter Rebbeאך להבין למה נקרא עד״מ בשם לב דוקא ולא בשם מוח עד״מ
The Rebbeמשא״כ המשכת החיות מהלב היא לכל האברים בשוה, שכולם מקבלים את הדם שבלב, עצם החיות

Sefer HaSichos 5748, vol. א, p. 348, notes 16, 20 and 22 (reprinted in Likkutei Sichos – Geulah uMoshiach vol. 3 p. 13) · ב׳ ניסן ה׳תשמ״ח

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

TermsMoach velevHiskallelus+1

Moach velev מוח ולב
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Chayus

Marei mekomos

1
הדם הוא הנפש · Deuteronomy 12:23
2
ואתה מחיה את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
3
דתלת שליטין אינון מוחא ולבא וכבדא · Zohar, Terumah 45:491–46:499
4
דתלת שליטין אינון מוחא ולבא וכבדא · Zohar, Toldot 6:57–7:60
5
Song of Songs 4:9
6
Ecclesiastes 1:7

4ובמקום שהם הולכים שם הם שבים ללכת1 שנמשך הדם מכל האברים אל הלב וחוזר מן הלב ונמשך לכל האברים.

“and to the place where they go, there they return to go”: for the blood is drawn from all the limbs to the heart, and returns from the heart and is drawn out to all the limbs.

Explanation

The second half of the verse, “to the place where they go, there they return,” describes circulation. The blood flows from all the limbs to the heart and goes out from the heart again to all the limbs.

וגם הנה השפעת החיות שמן הלב לאברים הוא מן הדם שהוא הנפש והדם מתהווה מן המאכל שמתעכל ונעשה דם הנפש ממש.

And moreover, the flow of life-force from the heart to the limbs is from the blood, which is the soul; and the blood comes into being from the food, which is digested and becomes the very blood of the soul.

Explanation

A further difference: the heart’s life-force is carried by the blood, which “is the soul,” and that blood is itself made from digested food, so the heart gives out what it first receives from below. In Torah Ohr, Bereishis (7d), the Alter Rebbe describes the same circuit, the blood going out from the heart and returning to it “like the rivers going to the sea,” and applies it to prayer, “the service of the heart.”

Paragraph 4 in brief

Two features set the heart apart from the brain: its flow is a circuit, returning to it from the limbs, and what it gives is the blood it first received from food.

TermsChayus

Terms Chayus

Marei mekomos

1
Ecclesiastes 1:7

5והנה תחלת בישול המאכל הוא בכבד ששם נעשה דם ומתברר ומהמובחר שולח ללב ואזי נסגר הדם בתוך הלב ואח״כ נפתח הלב ע״י כח ההמשכה שנמשך מן המוח ופותח את הלב להמשיך הדם בכל האברים

Now, the beginning of the digestion of the food is in the liver: there it becomes blood and is refined, and the choicest [of it] is sent to the heart. Then the blood is shut up within the heart, and afterwards the heart is opened through the drawing power that extends from the brain and opens the heart, to draw the blood into all the limbs.

Explanation

This follows the physiology known in the Alter Rebbe’s day: food is first processed in the liver, which makes and refines blood and sends the choicest of it to the heart. The blood is held shut inside the heart until a force drawn from the brain opens the heart and sends the blood to the limbs.

ולכן הלב דופק תמיד שמחמת סגירה ופתיחה הנל שהן תמיד כי תמיד מתברר ונשלח דם חדש מן הכבד אל הלב ונסגר ואח״כ נמשך כח מן המוח ופותחו

Therefore the heart beats constantly, because of the aforementioned closing and opening, which are constant; for new blood is constantly refined and sent from the liver to the heart, and is shut in, and afterwards a power is drawn from the brain and opens it.

Explanation

The heartbeat is explained as this constant closing and opening. New blood keeps arriving from the liver and is shut in, and then the force from the brain opens the heart again.

ולכן הוא רצוא ושוב1 תמיד בבחי׳ סגירה ופתיחה וזהו הדפק שדופק הלב תמיד מחמת זה

Therefore it is constantly “running and returning” (ratzo vashov), in the manner of closing and opening; and this is the pulse with which the heart constantly beats, because of this.

Explanation

The phrase “running and returning” (ratzo vashov), said of the angels called Chayos in Ezekiel’s vision, describes this rhythm. The pulse is the heart’s alternation between closing and opening.

נמצא שהשפעת החיות שמן הלב לאברים מדם הנפש שבו היינו מה שמקבל החיות מן הכבד שאותו הדם נסגר בתוכו ואח״כ נפתח כו׳.

It follows that the flow of life-force from the heart to the limbs is from the blood of the soul within it, that is, the life-force that it receives from the liver: that blood is shut up within it, and afterwards it is opened, etc.

Explanation

So what the heart gives the limbs is the blood of the soul it first received from the liver: it receives, closes, and then opens and gives.

משא״כ המשכת החיות שמן המוח לאברים היא המשכה והשפעה לבדה ובזה יובן מה שהקב״ה נקרא עד״מ בשם לב דוקא כי כל השפעות החיות שמשפיע לברואיו באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] דוקא תליא מילתא כנודע.

Whereas the drawing of life-force from the brain to the limbs is a drawing-down and bestowal alone. And with this will be understood why the Holy One, blessed be He, is called, by way of analogy, specifically by the name “heart”: for with all the flows of life-force that He bestows upon His creatures, the matter depends specifically on the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), as is known.

Explanation

The brain only gives; the heart gives what it first received. That is why G‑d is called the “heart”: His flow of life-force to the creatures depends on an arousal from below, on what is first offered up to Him, as the heart first receives and then gives.

¶3 This answers the question from paragraph 3.

Paragraph 5 in brief

The heart’s pulse comes from receiving blood, closing on it and then opening to send it out, while the brain simply gives. G‑d is called the heart because His flow of life to the world depends on the arousal from below, the service of those below.

Deeper

The analogy is exact on both sides: the heart’s output depends on the food raised up to it through the liver, just as the divine flow depends on the service raised up from below, and the opening force comes from the brain, which gives without first receiving.

TermsRatzo vashovIsarusa dilesata+2

Ratzo vashov רצוא ושוב
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא

Also Chayus Haalaah vehamshachah

Marei mekomos

1
Ezekiel 1:14

The love of the Shema and the supernal delight ¶6–8

6ואתעדל״ת [ואתערותא דלתתא] זו הוא מ״ש ואהבת את1 הוי׳ אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ואהבת הוא מלשון אבה

And this arousal from below is what is written, “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d with all your heart and with all your soul.” “And you shall love” (ve’ahavta) is from the term avah (“want”),

Explanation

The arousal from below is the love commanded in the Shema. The word ve’ahavta, “and you shall love,” is linked to avah, “to want,” so love here means a willing desire.

דהיינו ראותא דליבא בחשיקה וחפיצה שיהי׳ [שיהיה] כל רצונו וחפצו להיות הוי׳ הוא אור א״ס ב״ה ממש בבחי׳ אלקיך

that is, the will of the heart (re’usa deliba), with longing and desire: that all his will (ratzon) and desire be for Havayah, which is the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, to be at the level of “your G‑d,”

Explanation

It is the will of the heart (re’usa deliba), a longing desire that Havayah, the Infinite Light itself, should become “your G‑d,” that is, one’s own G‑d.

דהיינו בגילוי הנפש כאלו הוא לנוכח ורצון וחפץ זה יהי׳ [יהיה] בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך שלא יהי׳ [יהיה] רצון וחפץ אחר זולתו וכמ״ש מי לי בשמים ועמך לא חפצתי2 כו׳.

that is, revealed in the soul as though He were present before [him]. And this will and desire shall be “with all your heart and with all your soul,” so that there be no other will or desire apart from Him, as it is written, “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing,” etc.

Explanation

“Your G‑d” means revealed in the soul as though He were present before one. “With all your heart and with all your soul” means there is no other desire besides this, as in the verse “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing.”

Paragraph 6 in brief

The arousal from below that the heart analogy requires is the love of the Shema: a will and desire of the heart for the Infinite Light to be revealed as “your G‑d,” with no other desire beside it.

TermsIsarusa dilesataRatzon+2

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Ratzon רצון

Also Havayah Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
ואהבת את הוי׳ אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך · Deuteronomy 6:5
2
מי לי בשמים ועמך לא חפצתי · Psalms 73:25

7וכל צרכי עוה״ז שצריך האדם להשתמש בהם לחיי גופו יהיו בע״כ [בעל כרחך] וכמאן דשדי בתר כתפוי כי בע״כ [בעל כרחך] אתה חי ולא מחפץ האמיתי.

And all the needs of this world that a person must make use of for the life of his body shall be against his will, and like “one who casts [them] behind his shoulders”; for “against your will you live,” and not out of true desire.

Explanation

The worldly needs a person must attend to for the body’s sake should be done only out of necessity, like something one throws behind one’s shoulders, with no real desire. In the Mishnah (Avos 4:22), Rabbi Elazar HaKappar warns that the grave is no refuge from judgment, for a person is formed, born, lives and dies against his will; the Alter Rebbe borrows its words “against your will you live” for the life of the body and its needs, which a person accepts out of necessity and not out of true desire.

וזהו לא חפצתי כו׳ שיש הפרש בין חפץ לרצון שרצון נקרא מי שרוצה הדבר אף שלא מרצונו וחפצו האמיתי

And this is [the meaning of] “I desire nothing,” etc. For there is a difference between chefetz (desire) and ratzon (will): ratzon is said of one who wants the thing even though it is not out of his true will and desire;

Explanation

The verse uses chafatzti, “I desire,” and the Alter Rebbe explains why. Ratzon, “will,” can describe wanting something even when it is not one’s true inner desire; Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim (28d) draws the same distinction on this very verse, placing chefetz in the inner point of the heart, where delight dwells.

ואף מי שכופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני1 2 3 נקרא רצון אצלו שרוצה מ״מ אבל חפץ נק׳ חפץ ורצון האמיתי

and even one whom they coerce until he says, “I want [to],” it is called ratzon on his part, since he wants [it] nevertheless. But chefetz denotes true desire and will,

Explanation

Even consent obtained under pressure counts as ratzon: the law speaks of compelling a person until he says “I want” (so the Talmud rules for one who vowed an offering, Rosh Hashanah 6a), and that is valid consent. Chefetz, “desire,” is narrower and refers only to a true inner wish.

דהיינו שיש לו חפץ ותשוקה מחמת שמוצא קורת רוח ותענוג באותו הדבר שרוצה וע״ז נאמר ועמך לא חפצתי4 בלשון חפץ ולא בלשון רצון

that is, that he has a desire and yearning because he finds satisfaction and delight in that thing he wants. And regarding this it is said, “And with You I desire (chafatzti) nothing,” in the language of chefetz and not in the language of ratzon:

Explanation

Chefetz is wanting something with longing because one finds satisfaction and delight in it. That is why the psalm says “with You I desire (chafatzti) nothing,” using the word for desire and not the word for will.

שכל חפצו וכל ישעו יהי׳ [יהיה] רק לדבקה בו ית׳ שהוא מקור החיים ומקור התענוגים ועמ״ש בפי׳ וכל גבולך לאבני חפץ5 בד״ה ושמתי כדכד

that all his desire and all his salvation shall be only to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, who is the source of life and the source of delights. And see what is written in the explanation of “And all your borders of stones of desire (avnei chefetz),” in the discourse beginning “And I will make [your windows] of kadkod [a precious stone].”

Explanation

All one’s desire and all one’s salvation should be only to cleave to G‑d, the source of life and of delight. The text refers to the discourse “And I will make your windows of kadkod” (Likkutei Torah, Re’eh), which explains “stones of desire (avnei chefetz)”: chefetz is a love hidden at one’s innermost core, deeper than a fiery love, so intense that the soul cleaves to what it desires.

וע״ז אומרים באמת ויציב ואהוב וחביב ונחמד ונעים כו׳ הדבר הזה והיינו הדבר הזה שבק״ש [שבקריאת שמע] ואהבת את6 ה׳ אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך והיו הדברים האלה7 כו׳.

And regarding this we say in [the blessing] “True and firm”: “and beloved and cherished, and delightful and pleasant,” etc., “is this thing.” And this is “this thing” that is in the Shema: “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d with all your heart and with all your soul, and these words shall be,” etc.

Explanation

The blessing after the morning Shema, “True and firm” (Emes veYatziv), praises “this thing” with words of love and delight: beloved, cherished, delightful, pleasant. “This thing” is the content of the Shema, “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d with all your heart and with all your soul,” so the blessing’s words of delight describe the love the Shema commands.

Paragraph 7 in brief

The love of the Shema is defined as chefetz, a desire that takes delight in what it wants, as against ratzon, which can exist even without inner desire. That desire belongs to G‑d alone, while the body’s needs are met only out of necessity.

Deeper

The legal case the note cites shows how broad ratzon is: in the Talmud, Rashi and the Rambam, consent given under compulsion (“I want”) still counts as will. Chefetz cannot be produced that way, since it exists only where a person finds delight, and that is the quality the Alter Rebbe requires of the love of G‑d.

TermsDeveikusOlam HaZehKrias ShemaTaanug+1

Deveikus דביקות
Olam HaZeh עולם הזה
Krias Shema קריאת שמע
Taanug תענוג
Ratzon רצון

Marei mekomos

1
כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני · Rosh Hashanah 6a:7
2
כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני · Rashi on Leviticus 1:3
3
כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני · Mishneh Torah, Divorce 2:20
4
ועמך לא חפצתי · Psalms 73:25
5
וכל גבולך לאבני חפץ · Isaiah 54:12
6
ואהבת את ה׳ אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך · Deuteronomy 6:5
7
והיו הדברים האלה · Deuteronomy 6:6

8והנה באתערותא דלתתא זו לד, אאתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] גילוי פנימיות רצונו ית׳ וחפצו האמיתי להיות המשכת התורה והמצות וכמ״ש ויקם עדות ביעקב1 ותורה שם בישראל ונמשך בהן עונג העליון

Now, through this arousal from below [comes] the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila): the revelation of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of His will, may He be blessed, and of His true desire, for there to be the drawing-down of the Torah and the mitzvos, as it is written, “He established a testimony in Yaakov, and set a Torah in Israel”; and the supernal delight is drawn into them,

Explanation

The arousal from below calls forth an arousal from above, as the Zohar teaches: the revelation of G‑d’s inner will and true desire that there be Torah and mitzvos, as in “He established a testimony in Yaakov.” Into them is drawn the supernal delight, G‑d’s own pleasure.

כמאמר אשר קדשנו במצותיו אשר הוא מלשון באשרי2 כי אשרוני בנות3 4 שהוא לשון שבח והילול ע״ד וטוב ויפה הנאמר באמת ויציב ואהוב וחביב ונחמד ונעים כו׳.

as in the saying, “who (asher) has sanctified us with His commandments”: asher is from the expression “In my happiness (be’oshri), for daughters have called me happy (ishruni),” which is an expression of praise and acclaim, along the lines of “and good and beautiful” that is said in [the blessing] “True and firm”: “and beloved and cherished, and delightful and pleasant,” etc.

Explanation

The blessing over a mitzvah says “who (asher) has sanctified us,” and the Tikkunei Zohar connects asher with be’oshri, “in my happiness,” Leah’s words when she named Zilpah’s son Asher: a term of praise. The mitzvos thus express G‑d’s delight, as do the words of praise in the blessing “True and firm.”

שנמשך עונג העליון מאור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע שהוא מקור חיי החיים מקור התענוגים להתלבש בתורה ומצות שלפנינו הנגלות לנו המלובשות בענינים גשמיים5

For the supernal delight is drawn from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, the light that encompasses all worlds, which is the source of the life of [all] life, the source of delights, to be enclothed in the Torah and mitzvos that are before us, revealed to us, enclothed in physical matters.

Explanation

This delight comes from the encompassing light itself, the source of the life of all life and of all delights, and is drawn down to be enclothed in the Torah and in the mitzvos we actually perform, which are clothed in physical things. Tanya, chapter 37, to which the Kehot note points, explains that a mitzvah done with a physical object draws the Infinite Light into this physical world.

אשר כח זה להיות המשכה זו שלמעלה מעלה מן ההשתלשלות יורדת ומתלבשת למטה מטה באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] זו תליא

And this power — for this drawing-down, which is far, far above the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), to descend and be enclothed far, far below — depends on this arousal from below.

Explanation

The power for something far above the whole descending order to come down into the lowest physical level depends on this arousal from below.

(ועמ״ש ג״כ מזה בביאור ע״פ יונתי6 בפי׳ כי קולך ערב ומראך נאוה7 ובד״ה ואהיה אצלו אמון8 9 בפי׳ ואהיה שעשועים יום יום ועמ״ש בד״ה אוסרי לגפן10 ובפסוק וזכרתם את כל מצות11 ועמ״ש בד״ה הבאים ישרש12 בפי׳ כי תהיו אתם ארץ חפץ13 כו׳)

(And see what is written on this also in the explanation on [the verse] “My dove,” on the meaning of “for your voice is sweet and your appearance is comely”; and in the discourse beginning “And I was with Him as a nursling,” on the meaning of “and I was [His] delight day by day.” And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Binding [his foal] to the vine,” and on the verse “And you shall remember all the commandments.” And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Those who come, He will cause to take root,” on the meaning of “for you shall be a land of desire,” etc.)

Explanation

The parenthesis lists other discourses on the same theme: G‑d’s delight in Israel’s voice and appearance, the Torah as His “delight day by day,” “Binding his foal to the vine,” the verse about remembering all the commandments, and Israel as “a land of desire (chefetz).” In the first, Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim reads “your voice is sweet” as the delight of Keser, the source of delights, drawn into the Torah; in the second, in Parshas Bamidbar, “I was His delight day by day” is the supernal delight drawn down each day through the Shema said with self-sacrifice.

ולכן אמרו רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] שבתחלה יקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים14 ואח״כ עול מצות15 כי א״א לקבל עול מצות ולהיות נמשך בהן עונג העליון ב״ה כ״א ע״י קבלת עול מלכות שמים תחלה והיינו ואהבת שבפ׳ ראשונה.16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said that first one should accept upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, and afterwards the yoke of the mitzvos. For it is impossible to accept the yoke of the mitzvos, and for the supernal delight, blessed be He, to be drawn into them, except through accepting the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven first; and this is “And you shall love” in the first section [of the Shema].

Explanation

This is why the Mishnah says that in the Shema one first accepts the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven and only afterwards the yoke of the mitzvos. The supernal delight can be drawn into the mitzvos only after the first section’s “And you shall love,” the arousal from below.

Paragraph 8 in brief

Through the love of the Shema, G‑d’s inner desire and delight are drawn down into the Torah and the physical mitzvos. That is why the yoke of Heaven, the love of the first section, must come before the yoke of the mitzvos.

Deeper

Tanya, chapter 37, to which the note points, explains that performing a mitzvah with a physical object that was under kelipas nogah draws the Infinite Light into this physical world; this is how a light “far, far above” the chain of worlds comes to be enclothed “far, far below.”

TermsSha’ashu’imKabbalas olIsarusa dile’eilaSupernal Will+12

Sha’ashu’im שעשועים
Kabbalas ol קבלת עול מלכות שמים
Isarusa dile’eila אתערותא דלעילא
Supernal Will רצון העליון
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Taanug תענוג
Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Pnimiyus פנימיות
Malchus מלכות
Ratzon רצון

Also Hislabshus Or Ein Sof Torah and mitzvos Haalaah vehamshachah Torah

Marei mekomos

1
ויקם עדות ביעקב · Psalms 78:5
2
אשר הוא מלשון באשרי · ת״ז (ת״ל) עד, ב. [כ].
3
באשרי כי אשרוני בנות · Genesis 30:13
4
באשרי כי אשרוני בנות · Tikkunei Zohar 74b:2
5
המלובשות בענינים גשמיים · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 37:7
6
בביאור ע״פ יונתי · לעיל כ, ג ואילך.
7
כי קולך ערב ומראך נאוה · Song of Songs 2:14
8
ובד״ה ואהיה אצלו אמון · לעיל פ׳ במדבר.
9
ואהיה אצלו אמון · Proverbs 8:30
10
אוסרי לגפן · Genesis 49:11
11
וזכרתם את כל מצות · Numbers 15:39
12
הבאים ישרש · Isaiah 27:6
13
כי תהיו אתם ארץ חפץ · Malachi 3:12
14
שבתחלה יקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים · ברכות פ״ב, מ״ב.
15
יקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים ואח״כ עול מצות · Mishnah Berakhot 2:2
16
בד״ה ביום השמע״צ · לעיל סוכות פב, ג.
17
שהלב הוא חיות כל האברים · באוה״ת בראשית כרך ו דף תתרנח, א הקשה דשם נתבאר שהחיות הוא בלב, ומפרש, הכוונה בלקו״ת כאן הוא על הפתיחה והסגירה שבלב שז״ע דפיקא דלבא, וזהבא מן הרוח חיים שבחלל הב׳ שבלב שהוא מוליך האידי׳ למוח כמ״ש חכמי המחקר ע״ש. וראה אגה״ק בתניא סי׳ לא.
18
ואתה מחי׳ את כולם · Nehemiah 9:6
19
דתלת שליטין אינון · Zohar II, 153a
20
וגם הנה השפעת החיות שמן הלב · ראה אגה״ק סי׳ לא. תו״א ז, ד.
21
ואהבת את ה״א · Deuteronomy 6:5
22
מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
23
בעל כרחך אתה חי · אבות ד, כא.
24
הפרש בין חפץ לרצון · ראה לעל כח, ד.
25
כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני · Rosh Hashanah 6a:7
26
בד״ה ושמתי כדכד · לעיל פ׳ ראה כו, א ואילך.
27
באתעדל״ת אתעדל״ע · Zohar I, 235a

The heart awake in exile, and the pulse ¶9–10

9ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה ראיתי והנה מנורת זהב1 2 והנה על בחי׳ אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] ואתעדל״ע זו נאמר ולבי ער3

And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “I have seen, and behold, a menorah all of gold.” Now, concerning this level of arousal from below and arousal from above it is said, “but my heart is awake”:

Explanation

The text refers to the discourse on Zechariah’s vision of the golden menorah, which in Likkutei Torah, Beha’aloscha (34d), takes the menorah’s seven lamps as the seven emotive attributes, love and awe, and goes on to how “And you shall love” is fulfilled. It then states that “but my heart is awake” speaks of this pair: the arousal from below and the arousal from above that answers it.

כי הגם שאני ישנה4 בגלותא שאותותינו לא ראינו כנ״ל מ״מ אף בגלותנו לא עזבנו ה׳ מבחי׳ רעותא דליבא בחי׳ רצון ותשוקה שיש בכל נפש מישראל לעורר את האהבה עד שתחפץ להתפשט מלבושים שבנוגה

for although “I am asleep — in the exile,” in that “our signs we have not seen,” as mentioned above, nevertheless even in our exile G‑d has not left us without the level of the will of the heart (re’usa deliba), the level of will and yearning that there is in every soul of Israel “to arouse the love, until it desires” to divest itself of the garments that are in nogah [the glowing husk].

Explanation

Even in the sleep of exile, when “our signs we have not seen,” G‑d has not taken from us the will of the heart (re’usa deliba): every Jewish soul has a will and yearning that can “arouse the love,” in the words of the Song of Songs, until it desires to shed the garments of nogah. Nogah, the “glowing husk,” is the realm in which good and evil are mixed, from which permitted worldly things draw their life.

ובאתעדל״ת [ובאתערותא דלתתא] זו נמשכה אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] המשכת עונג העליון בתומ״צ [בתורה ומצות] אלא שהן בבחי׳ העלם ולא בגילוי.

And through this arousal from below the arousal from above has been drawn down, the drawing-down of the supernal delight into Torah and mitzvos, except that they are in a state of concealment and not in revelation.

Explanation

Through this arousal from below, the arousal from above draws the supernal delight into Torah and mitzvos, though in exile it remains hidden and not revealed.

Paragraph 9 in brief

“My heart is awake” in exile means that the heart’s will to love G‑d remains in every Jewish soul, and in response the supernal delight is still drawn into Torah and mitzvos, only hidden.

Deeper

Or HaTorah, cited in the note, reconciles this maamar (said on Parshas Beshalach 5568), where the sleep means only that we do not see our signs while above G‑d still “does great wonders alone,” with the discourse of Parshas Chukas 5564, where the sleep is meant literally. Both are true: above, in the spiritual realms, the wonders continue, and waking from the sleep means that they be revealed below.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

A question the Rebbe raises

In the maamar Tziyon b’mishpat tipadeh of Shabbos Chazon, Erev Tisha B’Av 5741, explaining, as the Rebbe Rashab’s maamar on this verse does, that exile and captivity belong to the vessels (כלים) and not to the light (אור), the Rebbe applies it to body and soul.

Citing „אני ישנה בגלותא ולבי ער” (I am asleep in exile, but my heart is awake), he reads ‘my heart’ as the soul, awake even while asleep in exile. His note sets two places of this maamar side by side: Likkutei Torah first brings the Zohar’s „ולבי דא קוב״ה” (my heart, this is the Holy One, blessed be He), „אבל ראה לקו״ת שם (לד, א)” (but see Likkutei Torah there, 34a), which connects it also with ‘the will and yearning in every soul of Israel’.

The Alter Rebbeלא עזבנו ה׳ מבחי׳ רעותא דליבא בחי׳ רצון ותשוקה שיש בכל נפש מישראל
The Rebbeאבל ראה לקו״ת שם (לד, א), שמקשר זה גם עם „בחי׳ רצון ותשוקה שיש בכל נפש מישראל”

Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ב, p. שיט, note 29 · ש״פ דברים, שבת חזון, ערב תשעה באב ה׳תשמ״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

TermsRe’usa delibaKelipas nogahIsarusa dile’eilaIsarusa dilesata+5

Re’usa deliba רעותא דלבא
Kelipas nogah קליפת נוגה
Isarusa dile’eila אתערותא דלעילא
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Levushim לבושים
Taanug תענוג
Ratzon רצון

Also Torah and mitzvos Haalaah vehamshachah

Marei mekomos

1
בד״ה ראיתי והנה מנורת זהב · לעיל פ׳ בהעלותך לד, ד.
2
ראיתי והנה מנורת זהב · Zechariah 4:2
3
ולבי ער · Song of Songs 5:2
4
כי הגם שאני ישנה . . שאותותינו לא ראינו . . לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו · ראה באוה״ת על מארז״ל וענינים ע׳ סב וז״ל: (ומתורץ הסתירה מד״ה אני ישנה בשלח תקס״ח [הנדפס בלקו״ת כאן, וראה גם סה״מ תקס״ח ע׳ יד הנחות הר״פ ע׳ פט] דמשמע דשינה רק לא ראינו אותותינו אבל יש למעלה לעושה נפלאות לבדו, ובאני ישנה חקת תקס״ד [סה״מ תקס״ד ע׳ קנה אוה״ת שה״ש ע׳ תצז] משמע שינה כפשוטו שלמטה סובלי׳ כו׳ וכ״מ בגמרא, דשניהם אמת דיש למעלה היינו ברוחניו׳) ולעורר משינה היינו להיות גלוי למטה, ע״ש.

10וזהו אותותינו לא ראינו1 לא ראינו דייקא2 שאינו נראה ונגלה לעיני בשר עין בעין ממש.

And this is [the meaning of] “Our signs we have not seen”: “we have not seen” specifically, for it is not seen and revealed to eyes of flesh, actually “eye to eye.”

Explanation

The emphasis is on “we have not seen”: the signs exist, but they are not visible to physical eyes, “eye to eye.”

אבל מ״מ אותותינו קיימות שהן אותיותינו דהיינו אותיות התורה ותפלה הנמשכות למטה מאור א״ס ב״ה.

But nevertheless “our signs” endure, which are “our letters,” that is, the letters of the Torah and prayer, which are drawn down from the Infinite Light, blessed be He.

Explanation

Our signs, the letters of Torah and prayer, still endure and still draw the Infinite Light down below, even in exile.

וע״ז נאמר לעושה נפלאות3 גדולות לבדו שממשיך נפלאות גדולות תמיד אלא שהן בבחי׳ לבדו דהיינו בבחי׳ העלם

And regarding this it is said, “To Him who does great wonders alone”: He draws down great wonders constantly, except that they are at the level of “alone,” that is, at the level of concealment.

Explanation

The psalm’s “who does great wonders alone” is read this way: G‑d constantly works great wonders, but “alone,” hidden, known only to Him.

כי תפלה במקום קרבנות תקנום4 5 רק שע״י הקרבנות אשה ריח ניחוח לה׳ היה עי״ז גילוי שכינה ממש בבהמ״ק [בבית המקדש]

For [the Sages] instituted prayer in place of the sacrifices; only, through the sacrifices, “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance to Havayah,” there was, through this, an actual revelation of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) in the Holy Temple,

Explanation

The Sages instituted prayer in place of the sacrifices (Berachos 26b). Through the sacrifices, “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance to Havayah,” there was an open revelation of the Shechinah in the Holy Temple.

והיה אש יורד מלמעלה אריה דאכיל קורבנין6 7 משא״כ ע״י התפלה נעשה המשכה זו בבחי׳ העלם ועמ״ש מזה סד״ה צו את8 בנ״י ואמרת אליהם את קרבני9 כו׳

and there was fire descending from above, “a lion devouring the offerings”; whereas through prayer this drawing-down takes place in a state of concealment. And see what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “Command the Children of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering,’” etc.

Explanation

Fire came down from heaven onto the altar, which the Zohar describes as a lion consuming the offerings; prayer draws down the same flow, but hidden. In Likkutei Torah, Pinchas (76b), the discourse “My offering” explains this fire from above, drawn from the encompassing light, as raising the fire of the animal soul, drawn down through “My bread,” as Israel sustain their Father in Heaven.

אבל מ״מ גם ע״י התפלה מתעלה הנפש לאשתאבא בגופא דמלכא ולהמשיך משם חיים וחסד שפע אור א״ס ב״ה הנעלם ומתלבש באותיות התורה והתפלה

But nevertheless, through prayer too the soul ascends “to be absorbed into the body of the King,” and to draw from there life and kindness, the flow of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that is hidden and enclothed in the letters of the Torah and prayer.

Explanation

Even so, through prayer the soul rises “to be absorbed into the body of the King,” nullified within G‑dliness, and draws down life and kindness from the Infinite Light that is hidden in the letters of Torah and prayer.

ולא עוד אלא שקול דודי דופק10 הוא על היד והיינו הארה והמשכה בבחי׳ חיצוניות שהוא חיצונית ההארה מן הלב שכמו שנמשך בדפיקא דליבא בבחי׳ פנימיות כך מתראה המשכה זו בבחי׳ חיצוניות דפיקא על היד

And not only that, but “the voice of my beloved knocks (dofek)”: this is [the pulse] on the hand, that is, a radiance and drawing-down at the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus), which is the outer dimension of the radiance from the heart. For just as it is drawn in the beating of the heart at the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus), so this drawing-down shows itself at the level of the outer dimension, a beat on the hand.

Explanation

Moreover, “the voice of my beloved knocks (dofek)” is read as the pulse felt at the wrist. The heartbeat itself is the inner flow; the pulse in the hand is its outer extension.

והנה בבחי׳ פנימיות בדפיקא דליבא נמשכו המשכת התורה והמצות ויקם עדות ביעקב11 כו׳

Now, at the level of the inner dimension, in the beating of the heart, there are drawn the drawings-down of the Torah and the mitzvos, “He established a testimony in Yaakov,” etc.

Explanation

The inner flow, the “heartbeat,” is the Torah and mitzvos: “He established a testimony in Yaakov.”

ובבחי׳ חיצוניות הן המשכות חסדי ה׳ עמנו תמיד כעל כל אשר גמלנו12 לעושה נפלאות גדולות וגו׳ נותן לחם לכל בשר כו׳ הזן את העולם כולו בטובו בחן ובחסד כו׳18

And at the level of the outer dimension are the drawings-down of the kindnesses of G‑d with us constantly, “according to all that He has bestowed upon us”: “To Him who does great wonders,” etc., “who gives bread to all flesh,” etc., “who sustains the whole world in His goodness, with grace and with kindness,” etc.

Explanation

The outer flow, the “pulse in the hand,” is G‑d’s constant kindness to us, told in words from verses and prayers: all the good G‑d has bestowed on us, His great wonders, giving bread to all flesh, and sustaining the whole world with grace and kindness, as in the Grace after Meals.

וזהו ענין דפ״ק [דפרק קמא] אותיות פק״ד13 שמזה נמשך להיות וה׳ פקד את שרה14 פקד פקדתי אתכם15 ואת העשוי לכם במצרים ועמ״ש ע״פ אלה פקודי16 17 כו׳ אשר פקד ע״פ משה:19

And this is the matter of dofek (דפק, beating), which has the letters of pakad (פקד, remembered): for from this it comes about that “And Havayah remembered (pakad) Sarah,” [and] “I have surely remembered (pakod pakadti) you and what is done to you in Egypt.” And see what is written on [the verse] “These are the accounts (pekudei),” etc., “which were accounted (pukad) by the word of Moshe.”

Explanation

The word dofek (דפק, “knocks”) has the same letters as pakad (פקד, “remembered”), the word used when G‑d remembered Sarah and when He told Moshe, “I have surely remembered you.” The outer “pulse” is G‑d’s attentive providence and redemption; the text refers to the discourse on “These are the accounts (pekudei)” for more.

Paragraph 10 in brief

In exile our “signs” are hidden, yet the letters of Torah and prayer still draw down G‑dliness, as G‑d does wonders “alone.” Besides this inner flow there is an outer one, the “pulse” of G‑d’s kindness and providence, hinted in dofek, whose letters spell pakad.

Deeper

In the passage of Likkutei Torah, Pekudei, that the note cites, pakad is explained as the letters of dofek and identified with the “back” (achorayim) of the Name Havayah spelled with yuds, the Name Av (72) in Chochmah; that “back” totals 184. The pulse shines from Abba with the Infinite Light within it, which is why it beats constantly.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

The Rebbe explains

In a sicha of Shabbos Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5751, reading the leper’s purification as exile and redemption, the Rebbe says that the darkness of exile, „אותותינו לא ראינו” (we have not seen our signs), comes from lights so high that they are „שלמעלה מהתגלות” (beyond revelation).

In his note he quotes our paragraph: „לא ראינו דייקא” (‘we have not seen’ specifically), not with eyes of flesh, „אבל מ״מ אותותינו קיימות” (but nevertheless our signs endure), and G‑d „לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו” (‘does great wonders alone’), adding in parentheses Rashi’s words on that verse (Niddah 31a), „הוא לבדו יודע שהוא נס” (He alone knows that it is a miracle). Then he proposes that since the signs are ‘our letters’, the letters of the Torah, through the Torah the hidden ‘signs’ of the time of exile are drawn down and revealed, visibly, to eyes of flesh.

The Alter Rebbeוזהו אותותינו לא ראינו לא ראינו דייקא שאינו נראה ונגלה לעיני בשר
The Rebbeועפ״ז י״ל שע״י התורה נעשה המשכת וגילוי ה„אותותינו” דזמן הגלות („נפלאות גדולות לבדו”) באופן הנראה ונגלה לעיני בשר

Likkutei Sichos – Geulah uMoshiach, vol. ג (ויקרא), p. 184, note 50 and its starred sub-note · ש״פ תזריע-מצורע ה׳תנש״א (edited; also Toras Menachem 5751 vol. 3 p. 157)

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

TermsLeishtaava begufa demalkaRei’achKorbanosShechinah+10

Leishtaava begufa demalka לאשתאבא בגופא דמלכא
Rei’ach ריח
Korbanos קרבנות
Shechinah שכינה
Chitzoniyus חיצוניות
Tefillah תפלה
Osiyos אותיות
Chesed חסד
Pnimiyus פנימיות

Also Hislabshus Or Ein Sof Torah and mitzvos Haalaah vehamshachah Torah

Marei mekomos

1
אותותינו לא ראינו · Psalms 74:9
2
אותותינו לא ראינו לא ראינו דייקא · באוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תקכד מציין לכאן. וראה גם באוה״ת וירא כרך ד תשנב, ב ואילך.
3
לעושה נפלאות · Psalms 136:4
4
תפלה במקום קרבנות תקנום · Berakhot 26a:17
5
תפלה במקום קרבנות תקנום · Berakhot 26b:7
6
ארי׳ דאכיל קורבנין · Zohar I, 6b
7
אריה דאכיל קורבנין · Zohar, Vayikra 40:278–41:285
8
סד״ה צו את בנ״י · לעיל פ׳ פנחס עו, ב.
9
ואמרת אליהם את קרבני · Numbers 28:2
10
קול דודי דופק · Song of Songs 5:2
11
ויקם עדות ביעקב · Psalms 78:5
12
כעל כל אשר גמלנו · Isaiah 63:7
13
דפ״ק אותיות פק״ד · קהלת יעקב ערך דפק בשם כתבי האריז״ל. סה״מ תקס״ח ע׳ כא. ראה לעיל פקודי ז, ד.
14
וה׳ פקד את שרה · Genesis 21:1
15
פקד פקדתי אתכם · Exodus 3:16
16
ע״פ אלה פקודי · לעיל בפ׳ פקודי.
17
אלה פקודי · Exodus 38:21
18
נותן לכם לכל בשר · Psalms 136:25
19
Leviticus 6:14–16

“My sister, my beloved”: freeing love and “eating” ¶11–14

11ב והנה על התעוררות בחי׳ רעותא דליבא זו אמר הכתוב פתחי לי אחותי רעיתי1 אחותי היא האהבה הטבעית2 המסותרת בלב כ״י [כנסת ישראל] ובנפשם האלקי׳ שטבע זו היא מחמת מקור חוצבה ושרשה שהיא חלק אלוה ממעל3 ממש

2. Now, concerning the arousal of this level of the will of the heart (re’usa deliba), the verse says, “Open to me, my sister, my beloved (ra’yasi).” “My sister” is the natural love that is hidden in the heart of the Congregation of Israel and in their G‑dly soul; this nature is due to the source from which it was hewn and its root, for it is actually “a part of G‑d above,”

Explanation

The second section of the maamar turns to “Open to me, my sister, my beloved,” the call to arouse the will of the heart. “My sister” is the natural love hidden in every Jewish heart and G‑dly soul; it is natural because the soul’s root is “a part of G‑d above.”

כי חלק4 ה׳ עמו ולכן נקרא אהבה הטבעית זו בשם אחותי שהיא כאהבת אח ואחות שאהבתם היא בטבעם מחמת תולדותם.

for “Havayah’s part is His people.” Therefore this natural love is called by the name “my sister,” for it is like the love of brother and sister, whose love is in their nature by virtue of their birth.

Explanation

The verse “Havayah’s part is His people” says the same. The love is called “sister” because it is like the love between brother and sister, which is inborn and not earned.

ואמר פתחי לי שאהבה זו צריך לפתוח ולהוציאה ממסגר ומאסר הגוף והנפש הבהמית ע״י בחי׳ רעותא דלבא לעורר את האהבה כו׳ וכנ״ל

And it says, “Open to me,” for this love must be opened and brought out from the prison and confinement of the body and the animal soul, through the level of the will of the heart, “to arouse the love,” etc., as mentioned above.

Explanation

“Open to me” means that this hidden love must be opened and freed from the prison of the body and the animal soul. That is done through the will of the heart, which “arouses the love,” as explained earlier.

(ועוד נתק ענין אחותי בד״ה כי תבאו אל הארץ5 בפ׳ בהר וענין רעיתי נת׳ [נתבאר] שם באופן אחר) ורעיתי פי׳ פרנסתי ע״ד מארז״ל [מאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] ישראל מפרנסין6 7 כו׳

(And the matter of “my sister” is explained further in the discourse beginning “When you come into the land,” in Parshas Behar; and the matter of “my beloved” is explained there in another way.) And ra’yasi means “my provider” (parnasati), along the lines of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “Israel sustain,” etc.

Explanation

The parenthesis points to a discourse in Parshas Behar (39c) that explains “my sister” further, from the term for joining together, and “my beloved” in another way. Here ra’yasi (“my beloved”) is read as “my provider,” from the root of feeding, in line with the Zohar’s saying that Israel “sustain” their Father in Heaven.

ועמ״ש רועה ישראל האזינה8 כו׳ שהקב״ה כביכול רועה וניזון לד, במישראל שישראל עושין לו מרעה ומזון.

And see what is written on “Shepherd (ro’eh) of Israel, give ear,” etc.: that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, grazes (ro’eh) and is nourished from Israel, for Israel make pasture and nourishment for Him.

Explanation

The same idea is read into “Shepherd (ro’eh) of Israel”: ro’eh also means “grazing,” so G‑d, as it were, is fed from Israel. Israel’s service is His pasture and nourishment.

וכמ״ש אכלתי יערי עם דבשי9 10 דקאי על ק״ש [קריאת שמע] וברכתויה (כמ״ש פ׳ פנחס דרכ״ו ע״ב) יערי אלו המלאכים כי שרפים עומדים11 נקר׳ [נקרא / נקראת / נקראות] עצי שטים עומדים12 וכולם עומדים ביראה כו׳.

And as it is written, “I have eaten my ya’ri [my honeycomb; ya’ar is also “forest”] with my honey,” which refers to the Shema and its blessings (as is written in Parshas Pinchas, folio 226b): “my ya’ri” — these are the angels, for “Seraphim standing” are called “acacia wood standing,” and “all of them stand in awe,” etc.

Explanation

The verse “I have eaten my ya’ri with my honey” is read, following the Zohar in Parshas Pinchas, as referring to the Shema and its blessings. Plainly ya’ri is “my honeycomb,” but ya’ar is also “forest,” and so it stands for the angels: the Seraphim “standing” are called “acacia wood standing,” the upright boards of the Mishkan, and all the angels stand in awe.

והיינו מה שאומרים בברכת יוצר איך שהמלאכים מקדישים כו׳ והאופנים ברעש גדול13 כו׳

And this is what we say in the blessing of Yotzer [the first blessing before the Shema], how the angels sanctify, etc., “and the Ofanim [a rank of angels] with a great noise,” etc.

Explanation

This is what the blessing of Yotzer, the first blessing before the morning Shema, describes: the angels sanctifying G‑d with “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3, to which the Kehot note points) and the Ofanim, a rank of angels, rising “with a great noise.”

שתשוקתם וחפצם להתכלל באור ה׳ א״ס ב״ה ובטלים אליו ית׳ שביטול והתכללות זה נקרא בשם אכילה כמו המאכל עד״מ שנבלע באברים באברים ומתאחד עם דם הנפש.

That is: their yearning and desire is to be included in the light of G‑d, the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, and they are nullified to Him, may He be blessed. This nullification (bittul) and inclusion is called by the name “eating,” like food, by way of analogy, which is absorbed into the limbs, limb by limb, and becomes one with the blood of the soul.

Explanation

The angels’ yearning and desire is to be included in G‑d’s light, and they are nullified before Him. That nullification is called “eating,” because it resembles food that is absorbed into every limb and becomes one with the blood of the soul.

Paragraph 11 in brief

“Open to me, my sister” calls for releasing the natural, inborn love of the G‑dly soul from the confinement of the body. Ra’yasi means that Israel “feed” G‑d, and “I have eaten my forest” describes the angels’ self-nullification in the blessings of the Shema as G‑d’s “eating.”

Deeper

The image of “eating” prepares the next steps of the maamar: just as food becomes the blood that binds soul and body, the self-nullification of angels and souls becomes, as it were, G‑d’s nourishment, and through it the Infinite Light is bound to its “body,” the divine attributes.

TermsAhavah mesuteresRe’usa delibaNefesh habahamisKrias Shema+6

Ahavah mesuteres אהבה מסותרת explained here“My sister” is the natural love hidden in the heart and G‑dly soul of Israel. It is natural because of the soul’s source, a part of G‑d above, like the love of brother and sister that comes from their birth. “Open for Me”: it must be opened and released from the prison of the body and the animal soul through the will of the heart.אחותי היא האהבה הטבעית המסותרת בלב כ״י ובנפשם האלקי׳ שטבע זו היא מחמת מקור חוצבה ושרשה
Re’usa deliba רעותא דלבא
Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
Krias Shema קריאת שמע
Berachah ברכה
Malachim מלאכים
Ein Sof אין סוף
Elokim אלקים
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Bittul

Marei mekomos

1
פתחי לי אחותי רעיתי · Song of Songs 5:2
2
פתחי לי אחותי . . היא האהבה הטבעית · ראה לקו״ש ח״כ ע׳ 40 בהערה.
3
חלק אלוה ממעל · Job 31:2
4
כי חלק ה׳ עמו · Deuteronomy 32:9
5
בד״ה כי תבואו אל הארץ · לעיל פ׳ בהר לט, ג ואילך. וראה לעיל יב, ג.
6
ישראל מפרנסין · זח״ג (ז, ב). [כ].
7
ישראל מפרנסין · Zohar, Vayikra 13:97–16:104
8
רועה ישראל האזינה · Psalms 80:2
9
אכלתי יערי עם דבשי · Song of Songs 5:1
10
אכלתי יערי עם דבשי · Zohar, Pinchas 57:348–60:357
11
שרפים עומדים · Isaiah 6:2
12
עצי שטים עומדים · Exodus 26:15
13
והאופנים ברעש גדול · Isaiah 6:3

12ודבשי אלו הנשמות שהם פירות היער ויש בהם מתיקות ותענוג מהעז יצא מתוק1 ארץ זבת חלב ודבש כו׳.

And “my honey” — these are the souls, which are the fruits of the forest (ya’ar), and in them there is sweetness and delight: “out of the strong came forth sweetness”; “a land flowing with milk and honey,” etc.

Explanation

“My honey” refers to the souls, the “fruits” of the forest, which have sweetness and delight. Shimshon’s riddle, “out of the strong came forth sweetness,” and the Torah’s description of the Land of Israel as “a land flowing with milk and honey” are brought for this sweetness.

והיינו מה שאומרים בק״ש [בקריאת שמע] שמע ישראל2 דקאי על הניצוץ אלקות ורמ״ח תיבין דק״ש [דקריאת שמע] כנגד רמ״ח אברי האדם שיהיו רמ״ח אברי האדם בטלין ונכללים באדם העליון ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם3 כו׳.

And this is what we say in the Shema, “Hear, O Israel,” which refers to the spark of G‑dliness. And the 248 words of the Shema correspond to the 248 limbs of man, so that the 248 limbs of man be nullified and included in the Supernal Man, “and upon the likeness of the throne, a likeness like the appearance of a man,” etc.

Explanation

In the Shema, “Hear, O Israel” speaks to the spark of G‑dliness in the soul. The Shema’s 248 words correspond to a person’s 248 limbs, so that all of them are nullified and included in the Supernal Man, the “likeness like the appearance of a man” upon the throne in Ezekiel’s vision. The three paragraphs themselves have 245 words; in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 61:3) the count is completed to 248 by three words that the prayer leader repeats aloud, “Havayah your G‑d is true,” so that each limb takes one word.

Paragraph 12 in brief

The souls, “my honey,” are the sweetness G‑d “eats”: in the Shema the spark of G‑dliness in the soul, and through the Shema’s 248 words all 248 limbs, are included in the Supernal Man.

TermsKiseiKrias ShemaTaanugHiskallelus+1

Kisei כסא
Krias Shema קריאת שמע
Taanug תענוג
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Neshamah

Marei mekomos

1
מהעז יצא מתוק · Judges 14:14
2
שמע ישראל · Deuteronomy 6:4
3
ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם · Ezekiel 1:26

13ונקרא בחי׳ זאת בזוה״ק [בזוהר הקדוש] לאשתאבא בגופא דמלכא1 דהיינו להיות בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות ממש באור ה׳ א״ס ב״ה כמו המאכל שנעשה ממנו דם שמתאחד עם דם הנפש ממש.

And this level is called in the holy Zohar “to be absorbed into the body of the King,” that is, to be in a state of actual nullification (bittul) and inclusion in the light of G‑d, the Infinite One, blessed be He, like the food from which blood is made, which becomes one with the very blood of the soul.

Explanation

The Zohar calls this level being “absorbed into the body of the King”: a complete nullification and inclusion in G‑d’s light, like food that becomes blood and unites with the very blood of the soul. In Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar (2a), the Alter Rebbe explains that this is what teshuvah and good deeds achieve in this world, higher than the World to Come’s enjoying the radiance of the Shechinah, and refers back to this discourse.

וכך יהיו כל כחותיו רק לה׳ לבדו וכמ״ש מי לי בשמים ועמך לא חפצתי2 כו׳ וכל כחות הנפש הבהמיות כח המתאוה כו׳ יהיו בבחי׳ אתכפייא ואתהפכא כו׳.

And so all his powers shall be for G‑d alone, as it is written, “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing,” etc. And all the animal powers of the soul, the appetitive power, etc., shall be in the state of being subdued (iskafya) and transformed (is’hapcha), etc.

Explanation

All of a person’s powers are then for G‑d alone, as in “with You I desire nothing.” The powers of the animal soul, such as its appetites, are first subdued (iskafya) and then transformed (is’hapcha).

Paragraph 13 in brief

The soul’s self-nullification is the Zohar’s “absorption into the body of the King”: every power of the person is given to G‑d, and the animal soul’s powers are subdued and transformed.

TermsLeishtaava begufa demalkaKoach hamisavehIskafya and is’hapchaEin Sof+2

Leishtaava begufa demalka לאשתאבא בגופא דמלכא explained hereThe Zohar’s term means actual bittul and inclusion in the Or Ein Sof, as food becomes blood that is one with the very blood of the soul; so all of a person’s powers are for G‑d alone (“Whom have I in heaven”), and the powers of the animal soul are subdued and transformed (iskafya and is’hapcha).דהיינו להיות בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות ממש באור ה׳ א״ס ב״ה כמו המאכל שנעשה ממנו דם
Koach hamisaveh כח המתאוה
Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
Ein Sof אין סוף
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Bittul

Marei mekomos

1
לאשתאבא בגופא דמלכא · Zohar I, 217b
2
מי לי בשמים ועמך לא חפצתי · Psalms 73:25

14ואזי תשוב הנפש לאלקים ותתהפך לבחי׳ אלקו׳ [אלקות] ממש עד שלא יהיה לה חיות ותענוג אחר זולת לה׳ לבדו

And then the soul will return to G‑d and be transformed into actual G‑dliness, until it has no other life-force (chayus) or delight apart from [what is] for G‑d alone.

Explanation

Then the soul returns to G‑d and is transformed into G‑dliness itself, until it has no life or pleasure other than what is for G‑d.

והוא הבאה מחמת ההתבוננות נפש המשכלת שמתבוננת בגדולת א״ס ב״ה אשר אין ערוך אליו ית׳ וכולא קמיה כלא חשיבא וכטפה מים בים האוקיינוס ואי לזאת תבטל הנפש במציאות אליו ית׳

And this comes from the contemplation of the intellectual soul, which contemplates the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, to whom there is no comparison, may He be blessed, and “all before Him is accounted as nothing,” and like a drop of water in the ocean. And therefore the soul will be nullified in its existence to Him, may He be blessed,

Explanation

This comes from the intellectual soul’s contemplation of the Infinite One’s greatness: nothing compares to Him, everything before Him is as nothing, like a drop in the ocean. Seeing this, the soul’s sense of its own existence is nullified before Him.

וישליך מנגד כל החיות וכל התענוגים אשר לא לה׳ המה לדבקה בו לבדו ית׳ באור א״ס ב״ה ממש מקור החיים ומקור התענוגים בלי שום תערובות זר ופניות דלגרמיה כו׳ רק בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות באלקות ממש.

and he will cast aside all the life-force and all the delights that are not for G‑d, to cleave to Him alone, may He be blessed, to the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, the source of life and the source of delights, without any foreign admixture or motives for his own sake, etc., but only in a state of nullification (bittul) and inclusion in actual G‑dliness.

Explanation

The person casts aside every pleasure that is not for G‑d and cleaves to the Infinite Light itself, the source of life and of all delight. This is without any foreign mixture or self-interest, only pure self-nullification and inclusion in G‑dliness.

Paragraph 14 in brief

The transformation of the soul into G‑dliness comes from contemplating the Infinite One’s greatness, which nullifies the soul’s sense of self and leaves it no pleasure but cleaving to G‑d.

TermsDeveikusEin arochHisbonenusTeshuvah+7

Deveikus דביקות
Ein aroch אין ערוך
Hisbonenus התבוננות
Teshuvah תשובה
Taanug תענוג
Ein Sof אין סוף
Elokim אלקים
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Chayus Bittul Or Ein Sof

Building the attributes ¶15–19

15והנה כמו שהמאכל המתעכל ונעשה דם הוא המתאחד עם דם הנפש ומחבר ומקשר השראת נפש בגוף לתת לו חיים כך ע״י אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות עד שתתהפך לבחי׳ אלקות ממש

Now, just as the food that is digested and becomes blood is what becomes one with the blood of the soul, and joins and binds the soul’s indwelling in the body, to give it life, so through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) in a state of nullification (bittul) and inclusion, until it is transformed into actual G‑dliness,

Explanation

The analogy is applied: digested food becomes blood, unites with the blood of the soul and so binds the soul to the body and gives it life. So too an arousal from below in the mode of self-nullification and inclusion, until the soul is transformed into G‑dliness itself, has its effect Above.

נמשך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה כביכול להתחבר ולהתקשר בבחי׳ גופא הן הם מדותיו ית׳ כמ״ש בזהר וכמה גופין תקינת לון1 2 כו׳ חסד דרועא ימינא גבורה כו׳

the life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, are drawn, as it were, to be joined and bound with the level of a “body,” namely His attributes (middos), may He be blessed, as it is written in the Zohar, “And many bodies You fashioned for them,” etc.: “Chesed (kindness) is the right arm, Gevurah (restraint),” etc.

Explanation

Through it, the life-force and the Infinite Light are drawn down and bound, as it were, with a “body,” which is G‑d’s attributes. The source is Eliyahu’s prayer that opens the Tikkunei Zohar (Patach Eliyahu): “many bodies You fashioned for them… Chesed is the right arm, Gevurah the left arm,” and so on.

שמדות חסדו וגבורותיו ית׳ הן בבחי׳ גוף לגבי הנשמה הוא אור א״ס ב״ה בעצמו ובכבודו דלאו מכל אלין מדות כלל כו׳.

For the attributes of His Chesed and His Gevuros, may He be blessed, are as a body in relation to the soul, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself, in its own glory, which “is not of these attributes at all,” etc.

Explanation

The attributes are like a body, while the soul within them is the Infinite Light itself, which, as that prayer says, is none of these attributes.

Paragraph 15 in brief

As food binds the soul to the body, the soul’s self-nullification binds the Infinite Light to its “body,” the divine attributes, which are to that light as a body is to its soul.

TermsIsarusa dilesataGevurahChesedHiskallelus+5

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Gevurah גבורה
Chesed חסד
Hiskallelus התכללות
Middos מדות

Also Neshamah Chayus Bittul Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
וכמה גופין תקינת לון · ת״ז בהקדמה (פתח אלי׳).
2
וכמה גופין תקינת לון · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:15–16

16ואפי׳ [ואפילו] בחכמה עילאה כתיב כולם בחכמה עשית1 שנחשבת כעשייה גשמיות. וכמ״ש כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה2 שהחסד צריך להיות נבנה ומתהווה להיות התלבשות אור א״ס ב״ה במדת החסד

And even of supernal Chochmah (wisdom) it is written, “You have made them all with Chochmah,” for it is accounted as physical making. And as it is written, “For I said, ‘The world — kindness (chesed) shall be built,’” for the Chesed has to be built and come into being, so that there be an enclothing of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the attribute of Chesed;

Explanation

Even the highest Sefirah, supernal Chochmah, is spoken of as something “made,” as in “You have made them all with Chochmah”: compared with the Infinite, it is like physical making. Likewise “kindness shall be built” means that Chesed itself must be built, so that the Infinite Light is enclothed in it.

וכן בשאר המדות ובחכמה (ועמש״ל [ועיין מה שכתוב לעיל] מזה בד״ה לסוסתי)3 ובנין זה הוא מאתעדל״ת [מאתערותא דלתתא] זו שהיא בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות ממש

and so with the other attributes (middos), and with Chochmah. (And see what is written above on this in the discourse beginning “To My mare.”) And this building is from this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), which is in a state of actual nullification (bittul) and inclusion.

Explanation

The same holds for the other attributes and for Chochmah, and the text refers to the discourse “To My mare.” This “building” comes from the arousal from below in complete self-nullification.

שכמו שא״א להיות התקשרות הנפש עם הגוף מן המאכל עד שמתעכל ונעשה דם שמתאחד עם דם הנפש ממש. כך א״א להיות המשכות החיות מאא״ס [מאור אין סוף] ב״ה ולהיות התלבשות אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה ובחסד מחמת אתערותא דלתתא כ״א שתהיה בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות ממש עד שתשוב הנפש בבחי׳ אלקות ממש כנ״ל:

For just as there cannot be a binding of the soul with the body from the food until it is digested and becomes blood that becomes one with the very blood of the soul, so there cannot be the drawing-down of life-force from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and the enclothing of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in Chochmah and in Chesed, by virtue of an arousal from below, unless it is in a state of actual nullification and inclusion, until the soul returns to the state of actual G‑dliness, as mentioned above.

Explanation

Just as the soul is bound to the body only by food that has been digested and become blood, so the Infinite Light is drawn into Chochmah and Chesed only through an arousal from below that is complete self-nullification, until the soul becomes G‑dliness itself.

Paragraph 16 in brief

The Infinite Light’s enclothing in Chochmah, Chesed and the other attributes has to be “built,” and that building comes from the arousal from below of complete self-nullification, as only digested food binds soul and body.

TermsIsarusa dilesataTeshuvahHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahAsiyah+8

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Teshuvah תשובה
Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
Asiyah עשיה
Chesed חסד
Hiskallelus התכללות
Middos מדות

Also Hislabshus Chayus Bittul Or Ein Sof Chochmah

Marei mekomos

1
כולם בחכמה עשית · Psalms 104:24
2
כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה · Psalms 89:3
3
לסוסתי · Song of Songs 1:9

17אך להבין הטעם לכל זה מאין הוא הכח הזה לנפש המלובשת בגוף לאתעדל״ת [לאתערותא דלתתא] כזו להתאחד עם אלקות ולהמשיך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה במדותיו הקדושות יובן בביאור הטעם שהמאכל הגשמי שהוא מדצ״ח [מדומם צומח חי] שהם למטה ממדרגת האדם שהוא מדבר ועליו יחיה האדם

But to understand the reason for all this — from where does the soul enclothed in a body have this power, for such an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), to become one with G‑dliness and to draw the life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, into His holy attributes (middos)? — it will be understood through explaining the reason that physical food, which is of the inanimate, vegetative and animal, which are below the rank of man, who is a speaking [being], is what man lives by.

Explanation

The question now is where a soul clothed in a body gets the power to unite with G‑dliness and draw the Infinite Light into G‑d’s holy attributes. The answer comes from food: it comes from the inanimate, vegetable and animal kingdoms, all lower than man, the speaking being, and yet man lives from it.

¶19 Hold this question: paragraph 19 shows where the soul’s power comes from.

אלא היינו מפני שעל כל מוצא פי1 ה׳ שבמאכל יחיה האדם והמוצא פי ה׳ הוא הוא המחייהו.

Rather, this is because “by all that comes forth from the mouth of Havayah” that is in the food “does man live,” and “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah” is itself what gives him life.

Explanation

The reason is “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah” within the food (Deuteronomy 8:3), the divine word that gives it existence; that is what sustains him.

אך הנה האדם יש בו ג״כ מוצא פי ה׳ ולמה צריך עוד למוצא פי׳ ה׳ שבמאכל.

But behold, man too has in him “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah”; so why does he need, in addition, “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah” that is in the food?

Explanation

This raises a question: man himself has a divine word within him, so why does he need the divine word in the food?

אך הענין הוא דכתיב אחור וקדם צרתני2 3 אחור למע״ב [למעשה בראשית]4 כו׳ ולכן המוצא פי ה׳ שבמאכל הוא ממדרגות עליונות וגבוהות יותר ולזאת יש בו כח להמשיך המשכות חיות נפש האדם והתקשרותה והתלבשותה בגוף.

But the explanation is that it is written, “Behind and before You formed me”: “behind” [means last] in the work of creation, etc. Therefore “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah” that is in the food is from higher and loftier levels, and so it has the power to draw the drawings-down of the life-force of man’s soul, and its binding and enclothing in the body.

Explanation

“Behind and before You formed me”: the Sages explain “behind” as last in the work of creation, for man was created after everything else. What came earlier in creation comes from higher levels of the divine word, so the word in the food is from a higher source than man and has the power to bind his soul to his body.

Paragraph 17 in brief

The power of the soul to draw down the Infinite Light is explained through food: food is lower than man yet sustains him because the divine word in it comes from a higher level, since man was created last.

TermsIsarusa dilesataMiddos+2

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Middos מדות

Also Chayus Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
שעל כל מוצא פי ה׳ · Deuteronomy 8:3
2
אחור וקדם צרתני · Psalms 139:5
3
אחור וקדם צרתני · Eruvin 18a:15–16
4
אחור למע״ב · עירובין (יח, א). [כ].

18והנה כמו שהוא במשל שהמאכל הגשמי מחיה את לד, גהאדם ומחבר נפש האדם בגופו מפני מוצא פי׳1 ה׳ שבו

Now, just as it is in the analogy — that physical food gives life to man and joins man’s soul to his body because of “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah” that is in it —

Explanation

The analogy is now applied. Physical food gives a person life and binds his soul to his body because of the divine word within it.

כך הוא בנמשל באתערותא דלתתא זו בבחי׳ ביטול והתכללות שנקרא בשם אכילה למעלה שממשיך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה להתלבש בבחי׳ גופא חסד דרועא ימינא גבורה כו׳ הוא מפני מוצא פי׳ ה׳

so it is in what the analogy illustrates: this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), in a state of nullification (bittul) and inclusion, which is called by the name “eating” Above, and which draws the life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to be enclothed in the level of a “body” — “Chesed (kindness) is the right arm, Gevurah (restraint),” etc. — it is because of “that which comes forth from the mouth of Havayah.”

Explanation

In the parallel, the arousal from below in the mode of self-nullification, called “eating” Above, draws the life-force and the Infinite Light to be enclothed in the “body” of the divine attributes, Chesed as the right arm, Gevurah as the left, and so on. It has this power because of a “word from the mouth of Havayah” within it, as food does.

הוא כח וחיות אלקות שיש לישראל בשרשם שהוא ממדרגות עליונות שבאור א״ס ב״ה כי ישראל עלה במחשבה.2

This is the G‑dly power and life-force that Israel have in their root, which is from the higher levels within the Infinite Light, blessed be He; for “Israel arose in thought.”

Explanation

That “word” is the G‑dly power in Israel’s root, from higher levels of the Infinite Light: “Israel arose in thought,” before the worlds, in G‑d’s thought (Bereishis Rabbah 1:4). In Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim (47c), the Alter Rebbe explains by this why Rosh Hashanah, the day man was created, is called “the beginning of Your works”: the end of the deed is first in thought, and the supernal thought “I will reign” was for the sake of Israel.

Paragraph 18 in brief

Just as the divine word in food binds the soul to the body, the G‑dly root of Israel, which “arose in thought,” is what gives their self-nullification the power to bind the Infinite Light to the divine attributes.

TermsIsarusa dilesataGevurahChesedHiskallelus+4

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Gevurah גבורה
Chesed חסד
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Hislabshus Chayus Bittul Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
מוצא פי׳ ה׳ · Deuteronomy 8:3
2
ישראל עלה במחשבה · נסמן לעיל פ׳ נצבים מז, ג.

19ופי׳ עלה במחשבה כי יש ג׳ מיני מחשבות כמ״ש כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם1 לשון רבים מחשבה שבמחשבה דהיינו שחושב מחשבת שכל והבנה ודבר שצריך בו עיון הלב.

And the meaning of “arose in thought” is: there are three kinds of thoughts, as it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts” — in the plural. [There is] thought within thought, that is, when one thinks a thought of intellect and understanding, a matter that requires the heart’s reflection.

Explanation

To explain “arose in thought,” the Alter Rebbe distinguishes three kinds of thought, noting that the verse says “thoughts” in the plural. The first is “thought within thought”: thinking with real intellect and understanding, about a matter that needs deep reflection.

ודבור שבמחשבה שחושב דברים בעלמא שאין בהם רק צירופי אותיות ואין מלובש בהם שום שכל והבנה.

And [there is] speech within thought, when one thinks mere words, in which there are only combinations of letters, and no intellect or understanding whatsoever is enclothed in them.

Explanation

The second is “speech within thought”: thinking words alone, mere combinations of letters with no understanding in them.

ומעשה שבמחשבה הוא כח המדמה שהוא רק דמיון לכל מה שרואה במעשה גשמיות ובפועל ממש.

And action within thought is the imaginative faculty, which is only an imagining of whatever one sees in physical action and in actual deed.

Explanation

The third is “action within thought”: the imagination, which pictures concrete physical deeds that one has seen.

ועלה במחשבה היינו מחשבה שבמחשבה שהיא מחשבה עליונה (ועמ״ש ע״פ ויכתוב משה2 את מוצאיהם3 ובד״ה יונתי בחגוי הסלע.4 5 ובד״ה אם בחקתי תלכו6 7 ועמ״ש מענין ב׳ בחי׳ שבמחשבה בד״ה שובה ישראל עד)8 9

And “arose in thought” is thought within thought, which is the supernal thought. (And see what is written on [the verse] “And Moshe wrote their goings forth,” and in the discourse beginning “My dove, in the clefts of the rock,” and in the discourse beginning “If you walk in My statutes”; and see what is written on the matter of the two levels in thought in the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel, unto.”)

Explanation

“Israel arose in thought” refers to the highest of these, thought within thought, the supernal thought. The parenthesis sends the reader to four other discourses on thought; in Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim (16d), for one, the Alter Rebbe distinguishes the part of the soul enclothed in the body from the soul above, an encompassing light, of which it is said “Israel arose in thought.”

ושרש התהוות העולמות והתלבשות אור10 א״ס ב״ה בבחי׳ חכמה וחסד הוא מבחי׳ דבור ואמירה שבמחשבה

And the root of the coming-into-being of the worlds, and of the enclothing of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the levels of Chochmah (wisdom) and Chesed (kindness), is from the level of speech and saying within thought.

Explanation

By contrast, the root of the worlds’ coming into being, and of the Infinite Light’s enclothing in Chochmah and Chesed, is a lower level: speech, or “saying,” within thought.

כמ״ש כי אמרתי עולם כו׳ ויאמר אלקים יהי אור כו׳ והן הן צירופי אותיות נמשכות מאור א״ס ב״ה להאציל כלים די״ס [די׳ ספירות] כמבואר במ״א

As it is written, “For I said, ‘The world…,’” etc., [and] “And G‑d said, ‘Let there be light,’” etc. And these are the very combinations of letters drawn from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, to emanate the vessels of the ten Sefiros, as is explained elsewhere.

Explanation

So Scripture speaks of creation as saying: “For I said, ‘world…’” and “And G‑d said, ‘Let there be light.’” These sayings are the combinations of letters drawn from the Infinite Light to emanate the vessels of the ten Sefiros.

ולכן יש כח בשרש נש״י [נשמות ישראל] שהוא מבחי׳ מחשבה שבמחשבה להמשיך חיות ואור א״ס ב״ה ע״י שבטל ונכלל ממש באלקות באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] זו והוא הוא בבחי׳ המאכל שמתעכל ונהפך לדם הנפש וממשיך חיות כו׳.

Therefore there is power in the root of the souls of Israel, which is from the level of thought within thought, to draw the life-force and the Infinite Light, blessed be He, through its being actually nullified and included in G‑dliness with this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata); and this is exactly like the food that is digested and turns into the blood of the soul and draws life-force, etc.

Explanation

Therefore the root of the souls of Israel, which is in thought within thought, above the speech that is the root of the Sefiros, has the power to draw the Infinite Light into them when the soul is nullified in G‑dliness. This is exactly like food, whose divine word comes from a higher level and so gives life when it becomes the blood of the soul.

¶17 This answers the question from paragraph 17.

וזהו כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה11 שהחסד נבנה ע״י כי אמרתי אמירה בלב שלי שישראל עלה במחשבה

And this is [the meaning of] “For I said, ‘The world — kindness shall be built’”: the Chesed is built through “For I said” — a saying in My heart, that “Israel arose in thought.”

Explanation

Hence “For I said, ‘The world — kindness shall be built’”: Chesed is built through “I said,” a saying in G‑d’s heart that Israel arose in thought. G‑d’s thought of Israel is what builds the attribute of Chesed.

(ועמ״ש מזה לעיל בד״ה לסוסתי וע׳ בפי׳ הרמ״ז [הרב משה זכות] בפ׳ תולדות בדף קל״ה על ענין בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם והלא במאמר אחד יכול להבראות12 כו׳ ע״ש)

(And see what is written on this above in the discourse beginning “To My mare”; and see the commentary of the Ramaz [Rabbi Moshe Zacuto] in Parshas Toldos, on folio 135, on the matter of “With ten utterances the world was created — but could it not have been created with one utterance?” etc.; see there.)

Explanation

The parenthesis refers to the discourse “To My mare” and to the commentary on the Zohar by the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, a seventeenth-century Kabbalist), Parshas Toldos, on the Mishnah’s question why the world was created with ten utterances when it could have been created with one.

ופי׳ כי אמרתי עולם שהאמירה באה לבחי׳ עולם בעשרה מאמרות שנברא העולם יהי אור יהי רקיע13 כו׳.

And the meaning of “For I said, ‘The world’” is that the saying comes to the level of “world,” in the ten utterances with which the world was created: “Let there be light,” “Let there be a firmament,” etc.

Explanation

“For I said, ‘world’” means that the divine saying comes down to the level of “world” through the ten utterances of creation, “Let there be light,” “Let there be a firmament,” and the rest.

ומזה נמשך חיות העולמות בפנימיות ובחיצוניות. בפנימיות ויקם עדות ביעקב14 כו׳ ובחיצוניות קול דודי דופק15 אותיות פק״ד פקד פקדתי16 כו׳.

And from this the life-force of the worlds is drawn, in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) and in the outer dimension (chitzoniyus): in the inner dimension, “He established a testimony in Yaakov,” etc.; and in the outer dimension, “the voice of my beloved knocks (dofek),” the letters of pakad: “I have surely remembered (pakod pakadti),” etc.

Explanation

From this, life-force flows to the worlds in two ways. The inner flow is the Torah and mitzvos, “He established a testimony in Yaakov”; the outer flow is “the voice of my beloved knocks (dofek),” whose letters spell pakad, G‑d’s providence.

וזהו האותיות שאלוני על בני ועל פועל ידי תצוני17 על בני בבחי׳ פנימיות ועל פועל ידי בבחי׳ חיצוניות:

And this is [the meaning of] “The letters, ask Me concerning My children, and concerning the work of My hands command Me”: “concerning My children” at the level of the inner dimension, and “concerning the work of My hands” at the level of the outer dimension.

Explanation

So the verse of the letters is explained: “concerning My children” is the inner flow and “concerning the work of My hands” is the outer flow.

Paragraph 19 in brief

“Israel arose in thought” means that the souls are rooted in thought within thought, above the divine speech from which the worlds and the Sefiros come. That is why their self-nullification can build the attribute of Chesed and draw life to the worlds, inwardly and outwardly.

Deeper

The three levels of thought mirror the order of food and man: just as food, created earlier, has a higher divine word than man and so sustains him, the souls, rooted in thought within thought, are higher than the speech that creates the worlds and the Sefiros, and so their service “builds” the Sefiros themselves.

TermsMachshavah hakedumahChitzoniyusSefirosIsarusa dilesata+13

Machshavah hakedumah מחשבה הקדומה
Chitzoniyus חיצוניות
Sefiros ספירות
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
Binah בינה
Osiyos אותיות
Elokim אלקים
Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
Chesed חסד
Pnimiyus פנימיות
Hiskallelus התכללות

Also Hislabshus Chayus Bittul Or Ein Sof Chochmah

Marei mekomos

1
כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
2
ע״פ ויכתוב משה · לעיל פ׳ מסעי צא, ב ואילך.
3
ויכתוב משה את מוצאיהם · Numbers 33:2
4
ובד״ה יונתי בחגוי הסלע · לעיל טז, ד.
5
יונתי בחגוי הסלע · Song of Songs 2:14
6
ובד״ה אם בחקותי תלכו · לעיל בחקותי מה, א.
7
אם בחקתי תלכו · Leviticus 26:3
8
בד״ה שובה ישראל עד · לעיל שבת שובה סו, ב.
9
שובה ישראל עד · Hosea 14:2
10
יהי אור · Genesis 1:3
11
כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה · Psalms 89:3
12
בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם והלא במאמר אחד יכול להבראות · Pirkei Avot 5:1
13
יהי רקיע · Genesis 1:6
14
ויקם עדות ביעקב · Psalms 78:5
15
קול דודי דופק · Song of Songs 5:2
16
פקד פקדתי · Exodus 3:16
17
האותיות שאלוני על בני ועל פועל ידי תצוני · Isaiah 45:11

“My dove”: the gaze never sated ¶20–22

20ג והנה באתערותא דלתתא זו שע״י בחי׳ פתחי לי אחותי רעיתי1 יעלה ויבא ויגיע למדרגה יותר עליונה הוא בחי׳ יונתי והוא בחי׳ עיניך יונים כמו זוג יונים שמסתכלים תמיד זה בזה ונהנים בראייתם זע״ז [זה עם זה / זה על זה].

3. Now, through this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), which is through the level of “Open to me, my sister, my beloved,” one will rise, come and reach a still higher level, which is the level of “my dove” (yonasi). And this is the level of “your eyes are doves,” like a pair of doves that constantly gaze at each other and take pleasure in seeing each other.

Explanation

The third section begins. The arousal of “Open to me, my sister, my beloved” leads to a higher level, “my dove,” which is “your eyes are doves”: like a pair of doves that gaze at each other constantly and take pleasure in seeing each other.

Paragraph 20 in brief

Beyond the arousal of “my sister, my beloved” is the higher level of “my dove,” a constant mutual gaze of love.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

The Rebbe explains

In the maamar „בלילה ההוא” of Purim 5728 (an unedited transcript), the Rebbe explains the bride’s four names ‘as explained in Likkutei Torah’ and in the Rebbe Maharash’s maamar of 5628, which ties them to „עליית המלכות כנגד נה״י” (Malchus rising opposite Netzach-Hod-Yesod), Chesed-Gevurah-Tiferes and Chochmah-Binah-Daas.

In the service of love, he says, ‘my beloved’, though it comes from contemplation, is chiefly of the heart’s attributes, while ‘my sister’ is of Netzach, Hod and Yesod; „והאהבה דיונתי היא מצד בחי׳ חב״ד שבנפש, ועיקרה מבחי׳ בינה” (the love of ‘my dove’ comes from the soul’s Chochmah, Binah and Daas, chiefly Binah), and so it holds an immense delight, „עס פאַרנעמט אים אינגאַנצן” (that takes the person over entirely). He opens it with our paragraph’s image, „זוג יונים שמסתכלים תמיד זה בזה” (a pair of doves always gazing at each other).

The Alter Rebbeיעלה ויבא ויגיע למדרגה יותר עליונה הוא בחי׳ יונתי והוא בחי׳ עיניך יונים
The Rebbeוהאהבה דיונתי היא מצד בחי׳ חב״ד שבנפש, ועיקרה מבחי׳ בינה, שלכן יש בזה תענוג עצום

Sefer HaMaamarim (unedited, new edition) 5728, p. קלד–קלה · פורים, ה׳תשכ״ח

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

TermsIsarusa dilesata

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא

Marei mekomos

1
פתחי לי אחותי רעיתי · Song of Songs 5:2

21ולא זזה חיבתם מלהסתכל זה בזה. כך יהיה האדם בבחי׳ זו שהוא בחי׳ לאסתכלא ביקרא דמלכא1 לאסתכלא תדיר. ועל זה נאמר עיני האדם לא תשבענה.2

And their affection never ceases from gazing at each other. So shall a person be at this level, which is the level of “gazing at the glory of the King,” gazing constantly. And concerning this it is said, “The eyes of man are not satisfied.”

Explanation

As the doves’ love never stops them gazing at each other, so a person at this level “gazes at the glory of the King,” the Zohar’s phrase, constantly. That is the sense given here to “the eyes of man are not satisfied,” which in Proverbs speaks plainly of man’s endless craving.

פי׳ עיני האדם הוא האדם הגדול בענקים זה אברהם אבינו3 4 שעליו נאמר הלוך ונסוע5 תדיר בלי הפסק תמיד הלוך ונסוע ממדרגה למדרגה עד הנגבה שנקרא אברהם אוהבי6 ותמיד לא זזה חיבתו להמקום ב״ה.

The meaning of “the eyes of man” is: “the great man among the giants” — this is Avraham our father, about whom it is said, “going and journeying,” constantly, without interruption, always “going and journeying” from level to level, until “the south” (ha-negbah); [he is the one] who is called “Avraham who loves Me”; and his affection for the Omnipresent, blessed be He, never ceased.

Explanation

“Man” here is Avraham, called “the great man among the giants.” He went “going and journeying” without pause, from level to level, toward “the south,” associated in Kabbalah with love, and he is called “Avraham who loves Me,” and his love for G‑d never ceased.

ולכן אמרו רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] בכל יום7 יהיה בעיניך דברי תורה כחדשים8 9 שלא שבעתם העין. (ועמ״ש בפ׳ בחקתי בפי׳ ואכלתם ולא תשבעו)10 והיינו מחמת התבוננותו בגדולת א״ס ב״ה שאין לו סוף כו׳.

Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Every day the words of Torah should be in your eyes as new,” which the eye has not had its fill of. (And see what is written in Parshas Bechukosai on the meaning of “And you shall eat and not be satisfied.”) And this is because of his contemplation of the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who has no end, etc.,

Explanation

Hence the Sages’ teaching that the words of Torah should seem new every day, so that the eye is never sated with them (Rashi on Exodus 19:1 and on Deuteronomy 11:13 and 26:16). In Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai (48c), to which the parenthesis refers, “you shall eat and not be satisfied” is read as this love of Torah, always new in one’s eyes. The insatiability comes from contemplating the greatness of the Infinite One, who has no end.

ואין ערוך עליו ית׳ דכולא קמיה כלא כו׳ וכטפה מים אוקיינוס כו׳ והוא המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מע״ב [מעשה בראשית] מאין ליש ממש והתחדשות זו היא רק הארה בעלמא הודו וזיוו של שמו על ארץ11 כו׳

and there is no comparison to Him, may He be blessed, for “all before Him is as nothing,” etc., and like a drop of water [in] the ocean, etc. And He is the One who “in His goodness renews each day, constantly, the work of creation,” from actual nothingness into being; and this renewal is only a mere radiance: “His splendor,” and the radiance of His Name, “is upon the earth,” etc.,

Explanation

Nothing compares to Him; everything before Him is as nothing, like a drop in the ocean. He renews creation from nothing every day, and even this renewal is only a glimmer, “His splendor,” the radiance of His Name.

שהזיו מתחדש מאין ממש מאין תמיד ותמיד הוא מתחדש ולזאת וקדושים בכל יום יהללוך סלה קדושים אלו הנשמות שלמעלה בכל יום תמיד יהללוך סלה

for the radiance is renewed from actual nothingness, from nothingness constantly, and constantly it is renewed. And therefore, “And holy ones praise You every day, selah”: “holy ones” — these are the souls above; “every day,” constantly, “they praise You, selah,”

Explanation

Because the radiance is renewed from nothing constantly, there is always more to see. So, in the words of the third blessing of the daily Amidah prayer, the “holy ones,” here the souls above, praise G‑d every day, “selah,” which the Sages explain as without interruption.

בלי הפסק12 ממדרגה למדרגה עד רום המעלות למעלה עד אין קץ וסוף ולמטה עד אין תכלית.

without interruption, from level to level, up to the height of the levels — above, without limit or end, and below, without bound.

Explanation

Their praise climbs from level to level without end, above and below, since there is no limit to G‑d’s greatness.

Paragraph 21 in brief

The level of “my dove” is a constant gaze at G‑d’s glory that is never sated, like Avraham’s endless journeying, because G‑d is infinite and renews creation from nothing at every moment.

TermsEin arochYesh me’ayinZiv haShechinahEin Sof+3

Ein aroch אין ערוך
Yesh me’ayin יש מאין
Ziv haShechinah זיו השכינה
Ein Sof אין סוף
Yesh and ayin יש ואין

Also Neshamah Torah

Marei mekomos

1
לאסתכלא ביקרא דמלכא · Zohar II, 247b
2
עיני האדם לא תשבענה · Proverbs 27:20
3
האדם הגדול בענקים זה אברהם אבינו · Joshua 14:15
4
האדם הגדול בענקים זה אברהם אבינו · Rashi on Joshua 14:15
5
הלוך ונסוע · Genesis 12:9
6
אברהם אוהבי · Isaiah 41:8
7
בכל יום יהי׳ בעיניך ד״ת כחדשים · Deuteronomy 11:13
8
בכל יום יהיה בעיניך דברי תורה כחדשים · Rashi on Exodus 19:1
9
בכל יום יהיה בעיניך דברי תורה כחדשים · Rashi on Deuteronomy 26:16
10
ואכלתם ולא תשבעו · Leviticus 26:26
11
הודו וזיוו של שמו על ארץ · Psalms 148:13
12
סלה בלי הפסק · Eruvin 54a:12–13

22ואי לזאת לא תשבע עין מלראות1 ולאסתכלא ביקרא דמלכא תדיר ולהיות שש ועלז בה בראיה זו

And therefore the eye will not be sated with seeing, and with gazing at the glory of the King constantly, and with rejoicing and exulting in this seeing,

Explanation

Because G‑d is infinite, the eye is never sated with gazing at the King’s glory, and the person rejoices and exults in this seeing. The words echo Koheles, “the eye is not sated with seeing,” said there of the weariness of the world and here of the endless delight in G‑d.

ולהתענג על ה׳ הוא אור א״ס ב״ה המתגלה בנפשו המשכלת שהיא קרבת ה׳ ממש וצדיק באמונתו2 3 זו יחיה כו׳ כמ״ש בסש״ב [בספר של בינונים] פל״ג.

and with “delighting in Havayah,” which is the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that is revealed in his intellectual soul, which is actual closeness to G‑d; and “the righteous one by his faith,” this [faith], “shall live,” etc., as is written in Sefer Shel Beinonim (Tanya), chapter 33.

Explanation

He delights in G‑d (echoing Isaiah 58:14, “then you shall delight in Havayah”), the Infinite Light as it is revealed in his intellectual soul, which is true closeness to G‑d. This is “the righteous one shall live by his faith,” with the word “this” added, by this faith he lives; as Tanya, chapter 33, explains, the joy of this faith lifts the soul.

Paragraph 22 in brief

The gaze of “my dove” brings joy and delight in G‑d, the Infinite Light revealed in the mind, which is true closeness to G‑d and the life of the righteous through faith.

Deeper

In Tanya, chapter 33, which the text cites, the Alter Rebbe calls this contemplation “closeness to G‑d” itself and brings the teaching that Chabakuk based all 613 commandments on one, “the righteous one shall live by his faith”: when a person’s heart rejoices in faith in G‑d’s unity, the power of that joy lifts his soul.

TermsEmunahRe’iyah and shmiahTzaddikTaanug+1

Emunah אמונה
Re’iyah and shmiah ראיה ושמיעה
Tzaddik צדיק
Taanug תענוג

Also Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
לא תשבע עין מלראות · Ecclesiastes 1:8
2
וצדיק באמונתו . . יחי׳ · Habakkuk 2:4
3
וצדיק באמונתו · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 33:7

“My perfect one”: as though you had made Me ¶23–25

23ובאתערותא דלתתא זו אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] כך ממש עין ה׳ אל יראיו1 לד, דלמיחלים לחסדו ע״י עיני תמיד אל2 ה׳ כו׳

And through this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) is exactly so: “The eye of Havayah is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope for His kindness,” through “My eyes are always toward Havayah,” etc.

Explanation

The response from Above matches the arousal from below exactly. When a person’s eyes are “always toward Havayah,” then “the eye of Havayah is upon those who fear Him”: the constant gaze of “my dove” is answered by G‑d’s gaze.

ומזה נמשך עוד בעילוי אחר עילוי עד שיהיה בבחי׳ תמתי שארז״ל [שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] ברבות בשה״ש [בשיר השירים] תמתי תאומתי3 4 5 שכנס״י [שכנסת ישראל] הם תאומתו של המקום ב״ה

And from this there is drawn further, in ascent after ascent, until one will be at the level of “my perfect one” (tamasi), of which our Sages, of blessed memory, said in [Midrash] Rabbah on Song of Songs, “tamasi — my twin (te’umasi),” for the Congregation of Israel (Knesses Yisrael) is the twin of the Omnipresent, blessed be He.

Explanation

From here one rises still higher, to “my perfect one” (tamasi). The Midrash reads tamasi as te’umasi, “my twin”: the Congregation of Israel is the twin of G‑d.

שהקב״ה נקרא בשם חתן וכנס״י [וכנסת ישראל] בשם כלה המזדווגת להחתן ונעשית לו תאומתו

For the Holy One, blessed be He, is called by the name “bridegroom,” and the Congregation of Israel by the name “bride,” who is united with the bridegroom and becomes his twin.

Explanation

G‑d is called the bridegroom and the Congregation of Israel the bride, who unites with him and becomes his twin.

ואין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו שנקרא תמתי מלשון שלימות שהיא משלמת אותו ית׳ כביכול להיות נקרא בשם תם ושלם ובלעדי כנס״י [כנסת ישראל] אין לו תמות ושלימות אמיתי כביכול כי דכר בלא נוקבא נקרא פלג גופא6 (ע׳ [עיין] בזהר ויקרא ד״ז ע״ב).

Yet “a verse does not depart from its plain meaning”: that it is called tamasi from the term [for] perfection, for she completes Him, may He be blessed, as it were, so that He is called by the name “whole and complete”; and without the Congregation of Israel He has no true wholeness and completeness, as it were, for “a male without a female is called half a body” (see the Zohar, Vayikra, folio 7b).

Explanation

Yet the plain meaning of tamasi still stands: it comes from tam, wholeness and perfection. Israel completes G‑d, as it were, so that He is called whole; without the Congregation of Israel He lacks true wholeness, as it were, since in the Zohar’s words “a male without a female is called half a body.”

ועל זה אמרו רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] ע״פ ועשיתם אתם אתם כתיב מעלה אני עליכם7 כאילו עשאוני כו׳. וביאור ענין זה דלכאורה אינו מובן איך שייך עשיי׳ [עשייה] כלפי מעלה.

And concerning this our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse “And you shall do them (osam)”: “It is written atem (‘you’): I account it to you as though you had made Me,” etc. And the explanation of this matter: for at first glance it is not understood how “making” can apply with regard to Above.

Explanation

This is the meaning of the Sages’ reading of “and you shall do them (osam),” a word written without a vav that can be read atem, “you”: “I account it to you as though you had made Me”; Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim (21c) explains the same saying as Israel making, as it were, a “head” for the Holy One. But it is hard to understand how “making” can apply to G‑d at all.

¶25 Hold this question: paragraph 25 explains how “making” applies Above.

אך הענין הוא כי שלימות הבורא מה שנקרא רחום וחנון ארך אפים וכו׳ לא בא לידי גילוי כ״א בהתהוות העולמות והברואים שנמשך ונתלבש אור א״ס ב״ה דלאו מכל מדות כו׳ בבחי׳ מדת החסד ורחום וחנון כו׳.

But the explanation is that the perfection of the Creator — that He is called “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,” etc. — comes to revelation only in the coming-into-being of the worlds and the creatures, in which the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which “is not of any attributes,” etc., is drawn and enclothed in the level of the attribute of Chesed (kindness), and “compassionate and gracious,” etc.

Explanation

The answer is that the Creator’s “perfection,” His being called compassionate, gracious and slow to anger, is revealed only when worlds and creatures come into being. Then the Infinite Light, which is beyond all attributes, is drawn down and enclothed in the attribute of Chesed and in compassion and grace.

Paragraph 23 in brief

The level of “my perfect one” is Israel as G‑d’s “twin,” who makes Him “whole,” as it were. This is the Sages’ “as though you had made Me”: G‑d’s attributes of compassion and grace are revealed only in creation, when the Infinite Light is enclothed in them.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

The Rebbe explains

On the night of Erev Rosh Hashanah, 29 Elul 5744 (an unedited transcript), explaining that a Jew becomes „שותף להקב״ה במעשה בראשית” (‘a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of creation’), the Rebbe says that this is more than a partnership of two.

He brings the Sages’ reading of ‘my perfect one’ as „תאומתי” (my twin), „שזהו ע״ד ענין ה״שותפות” שישנם שנים“ (which is like a partnership, in which there are two), and then, ‘beyond this’, quoting our paragraph, the plain sense: „תמתי מלשון שלימות” (tamasi is from wholeness), Israel makes Him whole, as it were. Set beside what the sicha has just said, that on Rosh Hashanah both pass „בתוך גוף אחד להיות לאחדים” (into one body, to become one), this is more than a partnership of two, and he says it comes about through the service of Rosh Hashanah, „תמליכוני עליכם” (make Me King over you).

The Alter Rebbeואין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו שנקרא תמתי מלשון שלימות שהיא משלמת אותו ית׳ כביכול
The Rebbeוכפי שדרשו חז״ל על הפסוק ”אחותי גו׳ תמתי” — ”תאומתי”, שזהו ע״ד ענין ה״שותפות” שישנם שנים. ונוסף לזה

Toras Menachem – Hisvaaduyos, vol. תשמ״ד ד, p. 2668 · ליל ערב ר״ה, כ״ט אלול ה׳תשד״מ

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

TermsKnesses YisraelArich AnpinNukvaIsarusa dile’eila+4

Knesses Yisrael כנסת ישראל explained here“Tamasi,” “my twin”: the Holy One is the groom and Knesses Yisrael the bride who becomes His twin; she makes Him whole, as it were, for His mercy and kindness are revealed only through the worlds and creatures (“I account it as though you made Me”).שהקב״ה נקרא בשם חתן וכנס״י בשם כלה המזדווגת להחתן ונעשית לו תאומתו
Arich Anpin אריך אנפין
Nukva נוקבא
Isarusa dile’eila אתערותא דלעילא
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Chesed חסד
Middos מדות

Also Or Ein Sof

Marei mekomos

1
עין ה׳ אל יראיו · Psalms 33:18
2
עיני תמיד אל ה׳ · Psalms 25:15
3
תמתי תאומתי · וע׳ זח״ג (רצו, א). [כ].
4
תמתי תאומתי · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2:2
5
תמתי תאומתי · Zohar, Idra Zuta 36:172–39:183
6
דכר בלא נוקבא נקרא פלג גופא · Zohar, Vayikra 13:97–16:104
7
ועשיתם אתם אתם כתיב מעלה אני עליכם · Leviticus 26:3

24והמשכה זו באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] תליא כנ״ל כי חסד דרועא ימינא1 2 ע״י צדקה וחסד שישראל עושין למטה.

And this drawing-down depends on the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), as mentioned above. For Chesed (kindness), “the right arm,” is through the charity and kindness that Israel do below.

Explanation

This drawing-down of the Infinite Light into the attributes depends on the arousal from below. Chesed, the “right arm,” is drawn down through the charity and kindness that Israel do below.

וגבורה דרועא שמאלא ע״י בחי׳ שמאל דוחה שהוא בחי׳ אתכפייא סט״א [סטרא אחרא] נעשה שמאלו תחת לראשי שגורם נשיאת ראש בבחי׳ הסתלקות דאסתלק יקרא דקוב״ה [דקודשא בריך הוא]

And Gevurah (restraint), “the left arm,” is through the level of “the left [hand] pushes away,” which is the level of subduing (iskafya) the sitra achra (the other side): [then] it becomes “His left hand under my head,” which brings about the lifting of the head, at the level of ascent (histalkus), that “the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, ascends.”

Explanation

Gevurah, the “left arm,” is drawn down through “the left hand pushes away,” the subduing (iskafya) of the sitra achra, the side opposed to holiness. That brings about “His left hand under my head,” which raises the head, the elevation in which, in the Zohar’s words, “the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, ascends” when the sitra achra is subdued.

וע״י אתהפכא סט״ע [סטרא אחרא] בועשה טוב גורם בחינת וימינו תחבקני3 הוא בחי׳ ימינו וחסדו של הקב״ה.

And through transforming (is’hapcha) the sitra achra, with “and do good,” one brings about the level of “and His right hand embraces me,” which is the level of the right hand and the kindness of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Explanation

Transforming (is’hapcha) the sitra achra, by the “do good” of “turn from evil and do good,” brings about “and His right hand embraces me,” G‑d’s right hand and kindness.

כמ״ש אהבתי אתכם אמר4 ה׳ שהיא המקפת את הנפש כאדם החובק את חבירו מאחוריו ומקיפו שאינו מניחו להפרד ממנו כך הוא האהבה הבאה מלמעלה

As it is written, “I have loved you, says Havayah”: it is [the love] that encompasses the soul. Just as a person who embraces his fellow from behind and encircles him, so that he does not let him be separated from him, so is the love that comes from Above,

Explanation

This is G‑d’s love, “I have loved you, says Havayah,” which surrounds the soul. It is like a person embracing a friend from behind, holding him so that he cannot be separated.

שהיא למעלה מכדי שתוכל נפש האדם שאת ואינה מתלבשת ומתעלמת בתוך הנפש רק שהיא מקפת וסובבת אותה עד שתהא צרורה ומוקפת בצרור החיים את5 ה׳ ממש לבלתי הפרד ממנו.

which is beyond what the soul of man can bear; and it is not enclothed and concealed within the soul, but rather it encompasses and surrounds it, until it is bound and encompassed “in the bond of life with Havayah,” truly, never to be separated from Him.

Explanation

This love from Above is greater than a human soul can contain, so it does not enter the soul but surrounds it, until the soul is “bound in the bond of life with Havayah,” never to be separated.

Paragraph 24 in brief

Israel’s deeds draw the Infinite Light into Chesed and Gevurah: kindness draws Chesed, subduing the sitra achra draws Gevurah, and transforming it draws G‑d’s embracing “right hand,” a love from Above that surrounds the soul.

TermsSitra achraIskafya and is’hapchaTzedakahIsarusa dilesata+3

Sitra achra סטרא אחרא
Iskafya and is’hapcha אתכפיא ואתהפכא
Tzedakah צדקה
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Gevurah גבורה
Chesed חסד

Also Haalaah vehamshachah

Marei mekomos

1
חסד דרועא ימינא · ת״ז שם.
2
חסד דרועא ימינא · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:16–17
3
וימינו תחבקני · Song of Songs 2:6
4
אהבתי אתכם אמר ה׳ · Malachi 1:2
5
בצרור החיים את ה׳ · I Samuel 25:29

25וזהו כאלו עשאוני1 דקאי על עשיית החסד והגבורה שהן בחי׳ כלים ומשכן להשראת אור א״ס ב״ה

And this is [the meaning of] “as though you had made Me”: it refers to the making of the Chesed (kindness) and the Gevurah (restraint), which are the level of vessels and a dwelling for the indwelling of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.

Explanation

“As though you had made Me” refers to making Chesed and Gevurah, which are vessels and a dwelling place for the Infinite Light.

¶23 This answers the question from paragraph 23.

כי אור בלא כלי אינו אור הנגלה ומושג כלל ואין העולמות יכולים לקבלו והתהוות העולמות הוא כדי להראות גילוי שלימותו ית׳ רחום וחנון כו׳.

For light without a vessel is not a light that is revealed and grasped at all, and the worlds cannot receive it; and the coming-into-being of the worlds is in order to show the revelation of His perfection, may He be blessed, “compassionate and gracious,” etc.

Explanation

Light without a vessel cannot be revealed or grasped, and the worlds cannot receive it. The purpose of creation is to reveal G‑d’s perfection, His being compassionate and gracious.

ולכן עשיית הכלים נחשבת כאלו עשאוני ממש2 להיות המשכת גילוי שלימותו ית׳

Therefore the making of the vessels is accounted actually “as though you had made Me,” for there to be the drawing-down of the revelation of His perfection, may He be blessed,

Explanation

So making the vessels is accounted as truly “making” G‑d, as it were, because it allows the revelation of His perfection to be drawn down. Or HaTorah (Tavo), quoted in the Kehot note, draws the conclusion: this shows how far the power of a person’s service reaches.

שהוא ע״י התלבשות אור א״ס ב״ה בבחי׳ כלים בחכמה ובחסד ע״י אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] של ישראל. (ועמ״ש עוד מענין יונתי תמתי3 בסמוך בד״ה ששים המה מלכות4 כו׳):

which is through the enclothing of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the level of vessels, in Chochmah (wisdom) and in Chesed, through the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) of Israel. (And see what is written further on the matter of “my dove, my perfect one” nearby, in the discourse beginning “There are sixty queens,” etc.)

Explanation

That revelation comes through the Infinite Light’s enclothing in vessels, in Chochmah and in Chesed, by Israel’s arousal from below. The parenthesis refers to a nearby discourse on “There are sixty queens” for more on “my dove, my perfect one.”

Paragraph 25 in brief

Israel “make” G‑d, as it were, by making the vessels, the attributes, in which the Infinite Light is revealed; without vessels the light could not be revealed, and creation exists to reveal His perfection.

Deeper

Or HaTorah, quoted in the note, draws the conclusion: making the vessels of the ten Sefiros through keeping the mitzvos, so that the light is drawn into them, is as though “they actually made Me,” and this shows how far the power of a person’s service reaches.

TermsIsarusa dilesataGevurahLights and vesselsChesed+5

Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Gevurah גבורה
Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
Chesed חסד
Malchus מלכות

Also Hislabshus Or Ein Sof Chochmah Haalaah vehamshachah

Marei mekomos

1
וזהו כאילו עשאוני · בסה״מ תרל״ג שם: ”שאינו מובן למה נאמר כאלו עשאוני בכ״ף הדמיון לבד”.
2
ולכן עשיית הכלים נחשבת כאילו עשאוני ממש · ”דהיינו שעשיית הכלים דע״ס ע״י קיום המצות שעי״ז יומשך בהם האור מאדון יחיד כו׳ הוא מעלה זה כביכול כאלו עשאוני ממש, הרי עד היכן מגיע כח העבודה כו׳” — אוה״ת פ׳ תבוא ע׳ תתשה. וראה באוה״ת פ׳ ואתחנן ע׳ רסא מביא קטע מכאן.
3
יונתי תמתי · Song of Songs 5:2
4
ששים המה מלכות · Song of Songs 6:8

“My head is filled with dew” ¶26–27

26אך הנה הגורם לכל בחי׳ הללו הוא מ״ש שראשי נמלא טל.1 והענין הוא דכתיב אהיה כטל לישראל2

But behold, what brings about all these levels is what is written, “for my head is filled with dew.” And the explanation is that it is written, “I will be as the dew to Israel.”

Explanation

What makes all these levels possible is “for my head is filled with dew,” the beloved’s words at the door. G‑d says through Hosea, “I will be as the dew to Israel.”

¶29 How the dew causes all these levels is tied together in paragraph 29.

לא כגשמים שנעצרים לפעמים מחמת מעשה התחתונים אבל טל אינו נעצר לעולם אפילו שנים כשני אליהו שאמר אם יהיה טל ומטר3 כו׳ ואעפ״כ [ואף על פי כן] לא פעל אלא עצירת המטר ולא הטל.

Not like rain, which is sometimes withheld because of the deeds of the lower beings; but dew is never withheld, even in years like the years of Eliyahu, who said, “there shall be no dew or rain,” etc.; and even so he effected only the withholding of the rain, and not of the dew.

Explanation

Unlike rain, which is sometimes withheld because of the deeds of those below, dew is never withheld. Even when Eliyahu swore to Achav that there would be neither dew nor rain, only the rain stopped, not the dew.

Paragraph 26 in brief

The source of all the levels described is the “dew” of “my head is filled with dew”: a divine flow that, unlike rain, is never withheld because of human deeds.

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

The Rebbe explains

In the maamar „בלילה ההוא” of Purim 5728 (an unedited transcript) the Rebbe asks: since ‘I am asleep’ and only ‘my heart is awake’, how can the knocking of „קול דודי” (‘the voice of my Beloved’) accomplish anything?

The answer is in the verse’s continuation, „שראשי נמלא טל” (for my head is filled with dew): as the drushim explain, „טל לא מיעצר” (dew is never withheld), because it does not depend on the deeds of those below, „וענינו למעלה הוא האהבה העצמית דהקב״ה לבנ״י” (and above, it is the Holy One’s essential love for Israel). From that dew comes the knocking, and the knocking brings about the ‘opening’ and then all four levels of service.

The Alter Rebbeאך הנה הגורם לכל בחי׳ הללו הוא מ״ש שראשי נמלא טל
The Rebbeכמבואר בהדרושים שטל לא מיעצר, כיון שאינו תלוי במעשה התחתונים, וענינו למעלה הוא האהבה העצמית דהקב״ה לבנ״י

Sefer HaMaamarim (unedited, new edition) 5728, p. קלו · פורים, ה׳תשכ״ח

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

TermsTal

Tal טל

Marei mekomos

1
שראשי נמלא טל · Song of Songs 5:2
2
אהי׳ כטל לישראל · Hosea 14:6
3
אם יהיה טל ומטר · I Kings 17:1

27והטעם כי הנה יש אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] שתלוי באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא]. ויש אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] שאינו תלוי כלל באתעדל״ת [באתערותא דלתתא] כי אתעדל״ע [אתערותא דלעילא] זו היא מדרגה עליונה מאד נעלה באור א״ס ב״ה הסוכ״ע כו׳.

And the reason is: there is an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) that depends on the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), and there is an arousal from above that does not depend at all on the arousal from below; for this arousal from above is a supreme and very exalted level in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), etc.,

Explanation

The reason is that there are two kinds of arousal from above: one that depends on the arousal from below and one that does not. The second comes from a supreme level of the light that encompasses all worlds.

שאין אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] מגעת לשם ואינה נחשבת שם למאומה וכחשיכה כאורה1 ומשם יורד הטל. ולכן אין לו מעצור ממעשה התחתונים שאינו מעכבו חטא ועון כלל כי למענו ית׳ יעשה ולפניו כחשיכה כאורה.

which the arousal from below does not reach, and [where] it is not accounted as anything at all, and “darkness is like light”; and from there the dew descends. Therefore nothing withholds it because of the deeds of the lower beings, for sin and iniquity do not hold it back at all; for He, may He be blessed, acts for His own sake, and before Him “darkness is like light.”

Explanation

The arousal from below does not reach that level and counts for nothing there; there “darkness is like light.” The dew comes from there, so sin does not hold it back: G‑d acts for His own sake.

(ועמ״ש מזה סד״ה האזינו השמים).2 וזהו שראשי נמלא טל3 ראשי דוקא

(And see what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “Give ear, O heavens.”) And this is [the meaning of] “for my head is filled with dew” — “my head” specifically.

Explanation

After a reference to the discourse “Give ear, O heavens,” the text notes that the verse says “my head” specifically.

דהנה מבואר למעלה בענין ולבי ער שאין דומה ההשפעה והילוך החיות שמהלב אל האיברים להשפעה שמהמוח לאיברים שההמשכה מהלב יש בה העלאה תחלה ואח״כ הוא המשכה משא״כ ההשפעה מהמוח היא המשכה לבדה.

For behold, it was explained above, regarding “but my heart is awake,” that there is no likeness between the flow and course of the life-force (chayus) from the heart to the limbs and the flow from the brain to the limbs: for the drawing-down from the heart has in it first an ascent, and afterwards it is a drawing-down; whereas the flow from the brain is a drawing-down alone.

Explanation

It recalls the earlier contrast between the heart and the brain: the heart’s flow first rises to it and only then goes out, while the brain’s flow only goes out.

ולכן ענין הטל שהוא האתעדל״ע [האתערותא דלעילא] שלמעלה מאתעדל״ת [מאתערותא דלתתא] נקרא שראשי נמלא טל הוא בחי׳ מוחא4 ועיין זח״ג [זהר חלק ג] פ׳ שלח (דקס״א ע״ב)

Therefore the matter of the dew, which is the arousal from above that is beyond the arousal from below, is called “for my head is filled with dew,” which is the level of the brain (mocha). And see the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Shelach (folio 161b).

Explanation

So the dew, the arousal from above that does not depend on the arousal from below, is called “my head,” the level of the brain, which gives without first receiving. The Zohar in Parshas Shelach (161b), which the text cites, describes the heart that feeds all the limbs as itself fed from the brain of the head.

וזהו שארז״ל [שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] פתחו לי כחודה של מחט5 6 ואני אפתח לכם כפתחו של אולם ורמזו בזה למ״ש בפ״ב [בפרק ב׳] דמדות כל השערים שבמקדש היו להם דלתות חוץ משל אולם7.

And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Open for Me like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you like the opening of the Ulam (Hall).” And with this they alluded to what is stated in the second chapter of [Tractate] Middos: “All the gates in the Temple had doors, except for that of the Ulam.”

Explanation

This explains the Sages’ saying, “Open for Me like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you like the opening of the Ulam,” the Temple’s great entrance hall; the Zohar in Emor (95a) gives it as “and I will open for you the supernal gates.” It alludes to the Mishnah in Middos: every gate of the Temple had doors except the Ulam’s.

והענין הוא כי הנה8 השערים הם שערי ההשפעה להמשיך חיות ומזון לעולם והדלתות הם לסגור השער כו׳ (עמ״ש מזה בד״ה והבדילה הפרכת)9 10 כי לפעמים לה, אהשערים נסגרים לפי מעשה התחתונים

And the explanation is: the gates are the gates of the flow, to draw life-force and sustenance to the world, and the doors are to close the gate, etc. (See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “And the curtain shall separate.”) For at times the gates are closed according to the deeds of the lower beings;

Explanation

The gates stand for the channels through which life and sustenance flow to the world, and the doors are for closing them. At times these gates are closed because of the deeds of those below.

אבל פתח האולם לא היו בו דלתות שתמיד היה פתוח לפי שהוא רומז לההשפעה היוצאת תמיד בלי הפסק ובלי מעצור ממעשה התחתונים שאין אתעדל״ת [אתערותא דלתתא] מגעת עד שם

but the opening of the Ulam had no doors, for it was always open, because it alludes to the flow that goes forth constantly, without interruption and without being withheld by the deeds of the lower beings, for the arousal from below does not reach there.

Explanation

The Ulam had no doors and was always open, alluding to a flow that never stops and is not held back by human deeds, since the arousal from below does not reach it.

אך זהו דוקא בהשפעה הנשפעת לעוה״ז הגשמי שהיא מושפעת מבחי׳ חיצוניות של עולמות עליונים

But this is specifically in the flow that flows to this physical world, which flows from the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the higher worlds.

Explanation

This applies only to the flow into this physical world, which comes from the outer dimension of the higher worlds.

אבל בבחי׳ פנימיות עולמות עליונים צריך להיות תחלה כל האתעדל״ת [האתערותא דלתתא] כולה עד היכן שכחה מגעת ואח״כ דוקא מתגלה ויורדת בבחי׳ פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית] עליונה ומאד נעלה מה שאין אתערותא דלתתא מגעת עד שם וזהו שאמרו רז״ל [רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] פתחו לי כחודה של מחט ואני אפתח לכם כפתחו של אולם.

But at the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the higher worlds, there must first be the entire arousal from below, all of it, as far as its strength reaches; and only afterwards does a supreme and very exalted inner level, which the arousal from below does not reach, reveal itself and descend. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Open for Me like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you like the opening of the Ulam.”

Explanation

For the inner dimension of the higher worlds, the full arousal from below must come first, as far as a person’s strength reaches; only then is a supreme inner level revealed that the arousal from below could never reach. In Likkutei Torah, Korach (55a), the Alter Rebbe explains that all the arousal from below is only a needle’s opening, through which only a thread is drawn, beside the encompassing light, and yet through it precisely the opening of the Ulam is revealed.

Paragraph 27 in brief

The dew is an arousal from above that does not depend on the arousal from below, the “head” that only gives. For this world it flows regardless of deeds, but in the inner dimension it comes only after the full arousal from below, as in “open for Me like the eye of a needle.”

The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research

Background from the Rebbe

In the maamar „ויאמר לו יהונתן מחר חודש” of Shabbos Parshas Toldos, Shabbos Mevarchim and Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5745 (edited), the Rebbe asks how high the new light of the month reaches, „ונפקדת” (you will be remembered), drawn through „יפקד מושבך” (your seat will be empty), self-nullification, and measures it against the kinds of arousal from above (אתערותא דלעילא).

Setting out, as explained in Likkutei Torah, three kinds of arousal from above, the Rebbe describes the first, which comes of itself from the Infinite Light above the worlds, in our paragraph’s words, as his note says: before it „אתעדל״ת אינה נחשבת למאומה” (the arousal from below is not counted as anything). The third comes as a gift from that same height, „אלא שאינה שורה ומתגלית אלא לאחרי שלימות העבודה” (except that it rests and is revealed only after the service is complete), for even a gift needs a vessel, as the Zohar says, „קוב״ה לא שריא אלא באתר שלים” (the Holy One rests only in a complete place). The Likkutei Torah passage he follows (23d ff.) refers this third kind to the discourse on ‘I am asleep’ and its ‘open for Me like the point of a needle’: the inner level at the end of our paragraph, revealed only after the whole arousal from below.

The Alter Rebbeשאין אתעדל״ת מגעת לשם ואינה נחשבת שם למאומה וכחשיכה כאורה ומשם יורד הטל
The Rebbeשהמשכת אתעדל״ע זו היא מאוא״ס שלמעלה מעולמות, שלגבי׳, אתעדל״ת אינה נחשבת למאומה

Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ו, p. כד–כה, notes 11–12 · ש״פ תולדות, מבה״ח וער״ח כסלו ה׳תשמ״ה

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

TermsTalIsarusa dile’eilaKachasheichah kaorahChitzoniyus+8

Tal טל explained hereHere dew comes from an arousal above, in sovev, which no arousal from below reaches, so no sin withholds it: “my head filled with dew,” the brain’s pure drawing down.שאין אתעדל״ת מגעת לשם ואינה נחשבת שם למאומה וכחשיכה כאורה ומשם יורד הטל
Isarusa dile’eila אתערותא דלעילא explained hereOne arousal from above depends on the arousal from below; another, from sovev kol almin, does not, and sin does not hold it back (the dew; the doorway of the Ulam that had no doors). Yet for the inner levels the full arousal from below must come first, as far as its power reaches.יש אתעדל״ע שתלוי באתעדל״ת. ויש אתעדל״ע שאינו תלוי כלל באתעדל״ת
Kachasheichah kaorah כחשיכה כאורה
Chitzoniyus חיצוניות
Isarusa dilesata אתערותא דלתתא
Olam HaZeh עולם הזה
Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
Pnimiyus פנימיות
Middos מדות

Also Chayus Or Ein Sof Haalaah vehamshachah

Marei mekomos

1
כחשיכה כאורה · Psalms 139:12
2
האזינו השמים · Deuteronomy 32:1
3
שראשי נמלא טל · Song of Songs 5:2
4
הוא בחי׳ מוחא · Zohar, Sh'lach 11:84–92
5
פתחי לי כחודה של מחט · נסמן לעיל כד, ב. ע״ל קרח (נה, א). וש״נ. [כ].
6
פתחו לי כחודה של מחט · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2:2
7
Mishnah Middot 2:3
8
כי הנה . . מגעת שם · ראה אוה״ת חנוכה כרך ב שכח, ב.
9
בד״ה והבדילה הפרוכת · תו״א יב, ג.
10
והבדילה הפרכת · Exodus 26:33

In divine service ¶28–29

28ולהסביר זה הענין בעבודת ה׳. הנה נודע כי ראשית ההשתלשלות הוא מחכמה ולמטה. ומחכמה ולמטה הנה הנפש האלקית היא מתלבשת בגוף ונפש הבהמית

And to explain this matter in the service of G‑d: it is known that the beginning of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) is from Chochmah (wisdom) and below. And from Chochmah and below, the G‑dly soul is enclothed in the body and the animal soul,

Explanation

The idea is now applied to a person’s service of G‑d. The chain of descending worlds begins with Chochmah, and from Chochmah downward the G‑dly soul is enclothed in the body and the animal soul.

וצריך האדם להגביר הנפש האלקית ולהוציאה ממסגר הגוף ונפש הבהמית. אך רצון שבנפש הוא בבח׳ [בבחי׳] רצון עליון שהוא למעלה מההשתלשלות.

and a person must strengthen the G‑dly soul and bring it out from the prison of the body and the animal soul. But the will (ratzon) that is in the soul is at the level of the supernal will, which is above the chain of descending worlds.

Explanation

A person must strengthen the G‑dly soul and free it from the prison of the body and the animal soul. But the will in the soul corresponds to the supernal will, which is above the whole chain of descent.

Paragraph 28 in brief

In a person’s service, everything from Chochmah down is within the descending order and within his power to refine, while the will of the soul corresponds to the supernal will above that order.

Deeper

The supernal will above Chochmah is the level of Keser, the divine will and delight above intellect; the soul’s will, which parallels it, is therefore not enclothed in the body as its intellect and emotions are.

TermsNefesh ha’elokisNefesh habahamisSupernal WillAvodas Hashem+3

Nefesh ha’elokis נפש האלקית
Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
Supernal Will רצון העליון
Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Ratzon רצון

Also Chochmah

29וכך רצון זה אינו מתלבש בנפש הבהמית כלל. אך אינו שורה ומתגלה בנפש האדם בבחי׳ גילוי עד שיעשה כל מה שבכחו

And so this will (ratzon) is not enclothed in the animal soul at all. But it does not rest and become revealed in a person’s soul in a revealed manner until he does all that is in his power.

Explanation

The will of the soul, like the supernal will it reflects, is not enclothed in the animal soul at all. But it is not revealed in a person until he has done everything within his power.

והנה אין בכח נפשו להגביר כ״א מחכמה ולמטה דהיינו שישים עיקר חכמתו בחכמת התורה וכן מדותיו שהוא אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] כו׳ יהיו רק לה׳ לבדו.

Now, it is not in the power of his soul to strengthen [it] except from Chochmah (wisdom) and below: that is, that he place the main part of his wisdom in the wisdom of the Torah, and likewise that his emotive attributes (middos), which are love and awe, etc., be for G‑d alone.

Explanation

What a person can strengthen by his own effort is only what lies from Chochmah downward: he can devote his intellect to the wisdom of the Torah and direct his emotions, his love and awe, to G‑d alone.

משא״כ הרצון שהוא בבחי׳ מקיף ואינו מלובש כלל בנפש אין בכח נפשו לשנותו רק כשיהי׳ [כשיהיה] שלימות מחכמה ולמטה כל מה שיש בכח הנפש אזי ממילא יאיר ויתגלה אור הרצון עליון ב״ה ברצון הנפש בבחי׳ גילוי

Whereas the will, which is at the level of an encompassing [light] (makif) and is not enclothed in the soul at all, his soul does not have the power to change; but when there is completeness from Chochmah and below, all that is in the power of the soul, then of itself the light of the supernal will, blessed be He, will shine and be revealed in the will of the soul, in a revealed manner.

Explanation

The will is an encompassing (makif) level, not enclosed within the soul, so a person cannot change it directly. Yet once he has perfected everything from Chochmah downward, the light of the supernal will shines of itself into the will of his soul and is revealed there.

(וכמשנ״ת [וכמו שנתבאר] לעיל בד״ה צאינה וראינה1 בפי׳ עשה רצונו כרצונך כדי שיעשה רצונך כרצונו2 ועמ״ש בד״ה כי תצא בפי׳ מ״ש בזהר מאן דקטיל לחויא יהבין ליה ברתא דמלכא כו׳).

(As was explained above in the discourse beginning “Go forth and gaze,” on the meaning of “Make His will as your will, so that He will make your will as His will.” And see what is written in the discourse beginning “When you go out,” on the meaning of what is said in the Zohar, “Whoever kills the serpent is given the King’s daughter,” etc.)

Explanation

The parenthesis refers to a discourse on the Mishnah “Make His will as your will, so that He will make your will as His will,” which in Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim (“Go forth and gaze”) takes “His will” as the supernal will, higher even than supernal Chochmah, and to a discourse on the Zohar’s saying that whoever kills the serpent is given the King’s daughter.

ובזה יובן פתחו לי כחודה של מחט דהיינו מבחי׳ ההשתלשלות מחכמה ולמטה שהוא בחי׳ חודה של מחט לגבי אור א״ס ב״ה הסכ״ע [הסובב כל עלמין]

And with this will be understood “Open for Me like the eye of a needle”: that is, from the level of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), from Chochmah and below, which is the level of “the eye of a needle” relative to the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin),

Explanation

This explains “Open for Me like the eye of a needle”: everything within the chain of descent, from Chochmah downward, is no more than a needle’s eye compared with the Infinite Light that encompasses all worlds.

שאין ערוך עליו ית׳ כי נשגב שמו לבדו3 רק הודו וזיו של שמו על ארץ ושמים כו׳.

to whom, may He be blessed, there is no comparison; for “His Name alone is exalted,” only “His splendor,” and the radiance of His Name, “is upon the earth and heavens,” etc.

Explanation

That light is beyond all comparison: “His Name alone is exalted,” and only its splendor, a radiance of His Name, reaches earth and heaven.

ואני אפתח לכם כפתחו של אולם היינו אתערותא דלעילא העליונה שלמעל׳ [שלמעלה] מההשתלשלות ורצון זה הוא הגורם להיות נמשך ממנו רעותא דלבא לעורר את האהבה

“And I will open for you like the opening of the Ulam”: this is the supreme arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), which is above the chain of descending worlds. And this will is what causes there to be drawn from it the will of the heart (re’usa deliba), “to arouse the love,”

Explanation

“I will open for you like the opening of the Ulam” is the supreme arousal from above, beyond the chain of descent. This supernal will is what causes the will of the heart to be drawn down, the will that “arouses the love.”

בבחי׳ אחותי4 רעיתי5 6 7 יונתי תמתי8 מחמת שראשי נמלא טל שהטל שהוא מבחי׳ רצון העליון בה נמשך ונתלבש בבחי׳ ראשי היא בחי׳ חכמה כו׳ וד״ל [ודי למבין]

at the level of “my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one,” because “my head is filled with dew”: for the dew, which is from the level of the supernal will, blessed be He, is drawn and enclothed in the level of “my head,” which is the level of Chochmah, etc. And this suffices for one who understands.

Explanation

That love has the levels “my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one,” and all of them come about because “my head is filled with dew”: the dew, from the supernal will, is drawn into “my head,” which is Chochmah. “This suffices for one who understands” closes the explanation.

¶26 This explains how the dew brings about the levels, from paragraph 26.

(ועיין ברבות ע״פ אני ישנה9 10 11 12 13 14 כו׳ שמות פ׳ ב׳. ק״כ ב׳.15 ר״פ תרומה.16 ס״פ פקודי ובשה״ש [ובשיר השירים] ע״פ אני ישנה ובקהלת ע״פ דברתי אני17 עם לבי18 באסתר ע״פ בימי אחשורוש זהר ר״פ האזינו ובהרמ״ז [ובהרב משה זכות] שם.19

(And see [Midrash] Rabbah on [the verse] “I am asleep,” etc.: Shemos, chapter 2; 120b; the beginning of Parshas Terumah; the end of Parshas Pekudei; and on Song of Songs, on “I am asleep”; and on Koheles, on “I spoke with my heart”; on Esther, on “In the days of Achashverosh.” Zohar: the beginning of Parshas Haazinu, and in the Ramaz there;

Explanation

The parenthesis lists places in Midrash Rabbah (on Shemos, Terumah, Pekudei, Song of Songs, Koheles and Esther) and in the Zohar, with the Ramaz’s commentary, that expound “I am asleep.”

וירא קי״ב א׳ בשלח מ״ו20 א׳ צו ל״ג ב׳21 אמור כ״ה א׳ שלח קע״ד ב׳22 פינחס רל״ג23 24 א׳ כנרשם בספר בית אהרן ע״פ אני ישנה):25 26

Vayera 112a; Beshalach 46a; Tzav 33b; Emor 25a; Shelach 174b; Pinchas 233a; as recorded in the book Beis Aharon on “I am asleep.”)

Explanation

The list continues with further places in the Zohar, “as recorded in the book Beis Aharon,” an index that lists for each verse of Scripture the places where it is expounded. The print reads “Emor 25a”; the Kehot note, quoting Or HaTorah, gives the passage as folio 95a, the place cited at the opening of the maamar.

Paragraph 29 in brief

The will of the soul is revealed only when a person has done all he can from Chochmah downward, “the eye of a needle.” Then the supernal will, the dew in “my head,” opens “like the opening of the Ulam” and gives rise to the heart’s will and to all the levels of love; a list of sources on “I am asleep” closes the maamar.

Deeper

The notes show, from Or HaTorah, how varied the readings of “I am asleep” are: in Shemos Rabbah, asleep from the mitzvos as one who has finished his work, yet awake to acts of kindness; in the Zohar and the Ramaz, sleep as the departure of the mochin, the intellectual lights, from the Congregation of Israel. The maamar’s own reading is that of exile, in which the signs are hidden while the heart, G‑d, stays awake.

TermsTalRe’usa delibaAhavah v’yirahEin aroch+12

Tal טל
Re’usa deliba רעותא דלבא
Ahavah v’yirah אהבה ויראה
Ein aroch אין ערוך
Isarusa dile’eila אתערותא דלעילא
Ziv haShechinah זיו השכינה
Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
Supernal Will רצון העליון
Or Makif אור מקיף
Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
Ratzon רצון
Middos מדות

Also Hislabshus Or Ein Sof Chochmah Torah

Marei mekomos

1
צאינה וראינה · Song of Songs 3:11
2
עשה רצונו כרצונך כדי שיעשה רצונך כרצונו · Pirkei Avot 2:4
3
כי נשגב שמו לבדו · Psalms 148:13
4
אחותי · Zohar, Sh'lach 45:314–46:322
5
אחותי רעיתי · Zohar, Beshalach 3:39–4:52
6
אחותי רעיתי · Zohar, Tzav 20:145–22:156
7
אחותי רעיתי · Zohar, Pinchas 67:390–69:399
8
Song of Songs 5:2
9
ברבות ע״פ אני ישנה · ”אני ישנה מן המצות ולבי ער לגמילות חסדים” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפה.
10
אני ישנה · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2:1
11
אני ישנה · Shemot Rabbah 2:5
12
אני ישנה · Shemot Rabbah 33:3
13
אני ישנה · Zohar, Ha'Azinu 1:1
14
אני ישנה · Zohar, Emor 25:123–26:131
15
שמות פ׳ ב׳ ק״כ ב׳ · ”ע״פ וירא מלאך ה׳ אליו כו׳ מתוך הסנה. הה״ד אני ישנה מן המצות. הי״מ פי׳ שעשיתי מצות כאדם שעשה כבר מלאכתו וגמרה וישן לו” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפז.
16
ר״פ תרומה · ”אני ישנה מן המצות אבל זכות אבותי עומדת לי ולבי ער היינו האהבה המסותרת שיש בכל אחד” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תצא.
17
Ecclesiastes 1:16
18
דברתי אני עם לבי · Kohelet Rabbah 1:16:1
19
זהר ר״פ האזינו ובהרמ״ז שם · דף רפו, א ”אני ישנה אמרה כנסת ישראל (הוא פרצוף הפנימי דמלכות שנק׳ כנסת ישראל) אני ישנה מפקודי אורייתא בזמנא דאזלינא במדברא, ופי׳ הרמ״ז ידוע שסוד השינה הוא הסתלקות המוחין שהם סוד הנשמה למעלה, וכך היתה רחל במדבר שחסרו ממנה אורות אבא שהם פקודי אורייתא ושהם מכוננים אותה כמ״ש בפסוק ה׳ בחכמה אבא יסד ברתא” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפח.
20
בשלח מ״ו א · ”כד אתפליג לילא שארי מלכא למיקם ונ״ב ויקץ כישן הוי׳ בסוד הדורמיטא, ומטרוניתא לזמרא נ״ב רחל ואתי מלכא ואקיש לתרעא דהיכלא ואמר פתחי לי אחותי רעייתי” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפט.
21
צו ל״ג ב׳ · ”פתחי לי בצלותא דאתמר בה אדני שפתי תפתח דאיהו אחותי רעייתי ולית רעייתי אלא פרנסתי כו׳” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תצ.
22
שלח קע״ד ב׳ · ”עד כאן לעילא מכאן ולהלאה לתתא בר האי דרא דכתיב ותתצב אחותו מרחוק אחותו דמאן אחותו דהאי איהו דקרא לכנ״י אחותי כד״א פתחי לי אחותי”.
23
ועיין ברבות ע״פ אני ישנה . . פנחס רל״ג א׳ · כל הקטע בשינויים קלים באוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפה.
24
פנחס רל״ג א׳ · ”כך ישראל כל זמן דאינון אטימין ליבא ולא פתחין בתיובתא לא סלקין ריחא ולא אפיק לון מגו גובין. אבל כד פתחין בתיובתא מיד סלקין ריחא כו׳ פתחי לי אחותי רעייתי” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפט.
25
אמור צ״ה א׳ · ”אני ישינה בגלותא דמצרים דהוו בני ישראל בשעבודא דקשיו. כתב המק״מ נ״ב אני ישינה בסוד דורמיטא שהוא הסתלקות המוחין כן היתה נוקבא בסוד נקודה בלי מוחין וזהו אני ישנה” — אוה״ת שה״ש כרך ב ע׳ תפח. ובע׳ תפט כ׳ ”ובפ׳ אמור צה״א א׳ פי׳ ולבי ער לנטירא להו דלא ישתצון בגלותא, וכתב הרמ״ז כי המוחין שלה נסתלקו ללב ז״א ולכן הוא נעור להאיר לנוק׳ כו׳”. וראה באוה״ת שם ע׳ תצז. ושם ע׳ תקיג בפי׳ הרמ״ז. שם ע׳ תקכד.
26
Exodus 2

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Next: maamar 27להבין ביאור הדברים ע״פ אני ישנה ולבי ער כו׳

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In one’s avodah

Love G‑d with true desire, so that all one’s desire is for Him alone, and attend to the body’s needs only as necessity. Accept the yoke of Heaven before the yoke of the mitzvos. Contemplate the greatness of the Infinite One until the soul is nullified before Him. Do everything within one’s own power, from Chochmah downward, devoting one’s intellect to the wisdom of the Torah and one’s love and awe to G‑d alone; then the supernal will is revealed of itself in the will of the soul.

Questions for discussion

Why does the maamar call G‑d the “heart” of Israel rather than the “brain,” and what does the heart’s way of receiving and giving teach about how divine flow works?
What is the difference between ratzon and chefetz, and why must the love of the Shema be chefetz?
How does the analogy of food becoming the blood of the soul explain the power of self-nullification to draw the Infinite Light into the divine attributes?
In what sense can Israel “make” G‑d, and how does the maamar answer the difficulty of applying “making” to Him?
If the dew is not withheld by human deeds, why does the inner revelation still require the full arousal from below first?

Key terms in this maamar

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.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
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.Where 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.Where 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. ×7Where 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. ×8Where it’s explained, stated differently
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
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. ×21Where 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. ×6Where 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. ×16Where 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. ×3Where 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. ×7Where 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. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
Accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol)קבלת עול: Accepting G‑d as King: nullifying one’s will before Him; from it the mitzvos are kept as a servant keeps his master’s decree, even without reason. In the Shema it precedes the yoke of the mitzvos. ×1Where 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. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות: The outer dimension of a level: the part that goes out to give to others, as against pnimiyus, which cleaves to the source. Only the outer descends, becoming the inner of the level below. ×7Where it’s explained, stated differently
The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית: The soul in every Jew that is “a part of G‑d above”: by nature in bittul, it needs no correction itself, and descends into the body and animal soul to refine them. ×2Where 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. ×4Where 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. ×5Where it’s explained
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. ×16Where 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. ×4Where it’s explained, stated differently
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. ×12Where 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
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
Love and aweאהבה ויראה: Love, the soul’s longing to cleave to G‑d, and awe, its self-nullification before Him: opposites born of the mind (“son and daughter”), called the two “wings” that lift one’s service on high.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות: G‑d’s kingship: the lowest Sefirah, His “speech” and the revealed world, through which all worlds come into being from nothing and live, without touching His essence (“there is no king without a people”). ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently

אני ישנה ולבי ער קול דודי דופק פתחי לי כו׳

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In the Rebbe’s light · 7

Sleep, signs and letters ¶1–2

Why the heart and not the brain ¶3–5

The love of the Shema and the supernal delight ¶6–8

The heart awake in exile, and the pulse ¶9–10

“My sister, my beloved”: freeing love and “eating” ¶11–14

Building the attributes ¶15–19

“My dove”: the gaze never sated ¶20–22

“My perfect one”: as though you had made Me ¶23–25

“My head is filled with dew” ¶26–27

In divine service ¶28–29

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