ואתחנן אל ה׳ וגו׳ אתה החילות וגו׳

1“And I pleaded with Havayah,” etc., “You have begun,” etc. [We need] to understand what “You have begun” means. Were there not many miracles, such as

the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the Exodus from Egypt, the Giving of the Torah, the war with Amalek and the like? How, then, can all this be called only a beginning? Now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: before the world was created, there was He and His Name alone.

2On the face of it, this is not understood: how can there be, before the creation of the worlds, the aspect of a name for the Holy One, blessed be He? And who called Him by His name?

But the explanation is this. It is stated in the holy Zohar that the purpose of the creation of man is “so that He be known.” The explanation of these words: the descents and the chain of descending levels (hishtalshelus), through many contractions (tzimtzumim), are for the sake of an ascent,

in order to transform darkness into light. And for this G‑d created man upon the earth. For since this world is the lowly world, and the darkness is thick, doubled and redoubled,

and one must multiply lamps to illuminate the darkness, therefore G‑d created man, who is the aspect of the light and the lamp, as it is written, “The lamp of Havayah is the soul of man”: it is a lamp that shines the radiance of the Name Havayah in a revealed manner, to illuminate this world and to transform darkness into light.

3Of this it is said, “And you shall be a blessing,” “a blessing in the midst of the earth.” And it is written, “For they are the seed that Havayah has blessed”; [“blessed”] is a term for drawing down, as in “one who layers [a vine] and one who grafts,” etc.,

so that there be “Blessed is Havayah from world to world”: from the hidden world to the revealed world, that Havayah be in a state of revelation. And those who draw down this revelation are Israel, who are “the seed that Havayah has blessed” and “the lamp of Havayah, the soul of man”: myriads of souls,

which are so many myriads of lamps. For according to the abundance of the darkness and its thickness, doubled and redoubled, so must be the abundance of lamps in the souls. And this revelation is that there be an arousal in a person’s heart, from “the inward part of man, and a deep heart,” for the soul to go out of its sheath, and to be [in the state of] “my soul pines away” for Havayah.

(See what is written in the first discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice,” on the subject of “The lamp of Havayah is the soul of man”: that [when] the soul (neshamah) of man is the aspect of breath (neshimah), in “running and returning,” then it is the aspect of a lamp, to illuminate and to draw down the revelation of the Name Havayah, etc.)

And it is not enough to contemplate in one’s thought alone that He, blessed be He, fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), and that “there is no place empty of Him”; for this is not the level of revelation,

but rather the level of the hidden world, which is in a state of concealment, which does not spread out and shine into the point of his heart;

rather, it is only in the mode of a makif, encompassing from above, as is known from the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “The thief at the mouth of the tunnel,” etc. For it does not touch the actual essence and being of the soul, so as to become truly one; rather, it is

like something separate, standing above. Whereas the level of revelation means that it touches the actual essence of the soul, when he takes to heart how He, blessed be He, fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds, etc.

And because of this, the soul cannot bear to endure its being clothed in the physical body, in the darkness of worldly desire; rather, “he would gather his spirit and his soul to Him,” and the soul would become united with its source.

(And this is the meaning of “so that He be known”: for Daas (knowledge) is actual recognition and feeling, as is explained below on the verse “And you shall know this day”; and see what is written in Parshas Chukas on the verse “that they bring to you,” and in Parshas “And these are the laws,” etc.) In the same vein, [the Sages] instituted saying “Blessed is He who spoke and the world came into being” before the Verses of Praise (Pesukei deZimrah).

That is: that the level of “who spoke and the world came into being” be in a state of “blessed” and revelation, so that an arousal of the heart be drawn forth from [the fact] that He “spoke and the world came into being”; for “He spoke and it came to be,” and “with one utterance the world was created,” etc.

4Likewise, “Blessed is He”: that the level of “He” be in a state of revelation in the heart, so that the heart be stirred, etc. And in general there are thirteen [times] “Blessed,” corresponding to the thirteen tikkunei dikna (adornments of the beard),

which are the aspect of hairs. That is, they are flows that were drawn down by way of the aspect of hairs. By way of analogy, it is like hair, which does not touch the essence and being of the body and the head, but is surplus.

So too, these flows, to become revelation in a person’s heart, are something that does not touch the essence and being of the thing from which the revelation is drawn. For the essence of the thing

that is the source of the flow does not change by any change, nor by decrease or addition, through the act of drawing down, through the change in the arousal and the revelation in the heart. (See what is written elsewhere on the verse “And it shall be tzitzis for you.”)

Now, the twelve [times] “Blessed” are the aspect of particular flows, and the thirteenth is the one that includes all the flows: it is “Blessed are You, Havayah, our G‑d, King of the world.” That is: that the level of Havayah be in a state of revelation,

as though He were present [before us], the aspect of “You”; to be “our G‑d,” that He unite Himself with us, that He be truly ours. And the level of Havayah is what includes all the particular aspects stated in the twelve [times] “Blessed,” and it is their beginning and their essence.

52. The explanation of this will be understood through the saying, “And in His goodness He renews each day, continually, the work of Creation.” For one must understand what “renews” means: are not all days alike, and this day similar to yesterday?

But the explanation is that there is a level called the order of the chain of descending worlds (seder hishtalshelus), from cause to cause, and there is a level called above the way of the order of hishtalshelus.

What is on the level of the order of hishtalshelus is, in general, by way of analogy, like intellect, emotive attributes (middos), thought and speech in a person: the intellect gives birth to the emotive attributes, and from them thought is formed, etc.

So it is in the chain of descending worlds and the many descents of the levels from cause to cause: by way of analogy, it is called the aspect of “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” for above, too, there is, so to speak, the aspect of thought,

except that it is not physical thought as in a person, G‑d forbid. For a person’s thought accomplishes nothing, whereas through the thought above the worlds were created;

and likewise through speech: “By the word of Havayah the heavens were made.” Rather, the level of thought and speech is the level of the revelation of the worlds, which came out from potential to actual and from concealment to revelation, just as thought is the aspect of

the revelation of the intellect, and speech is the revelation of thought. And there are many aspects and kinds of levels, descents and chains of descent, through many and mighty levels and various contractions (tzimtzumim), and all of them are called “thought,” as it says in the Zohar, “how many thoughts upon thoughts,” etc.,

“this is the brain to that,” etc. So too in the aspect of speech. And the division of these many levels is found in the angels and also in the souls: there is a Michael and an Avraham on the level of thought, and there is [a Michael and an Avraham] on the level of speech.

6And the level of thought of a lower world is called the level of speech relative to the world above it, up to the highest heights: “this is the brain to that,” etc.

In the language of the Talmud they are called “inner chambers” and “outer chambers,” which are the aspect of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) and the aspect of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus); and the inner dimension of what is below is called the outer dimension relative to what is above it. And in this way there are many myriads of chains of descending levels, beyond number, as it is written, “Is there any number to His legions?” etc.

But all this is called the aspect of hishtalshelus in the order of the levels, for their emergence from concealment to revelation is that the aspects and levels of concealment bring out what was in their power, in concealment, to be revealed. Although the power in concealment is of greater dignity and superior to the revealed aspect, which is considered a descent, etc.,

nevertheless the power in concealment is the source of the revealed aspect, and that power contains the revealed aspect to the same extent, only in concealment, as in the analogy of intellect, emotive attributes and thought mentioned above. And this aspect of hishtalshelus does not apply

except to the level of the emanated and created beings, for “One higher than the high watches,” etc. But relative to the Emanator Himself, blessed be He, there is no comparison to Him, blessed be He, at all.

7And it is impossible for the creation of the worlds to come about at all by way of hishtalshelus from cause to cause, for a created being bears no comparison to the Creator,

blessed be He. How, then, could they receive their life-force (chayus) from the power of His essence and being, so to speak? And how is it possible for the power of His essence, so to speak, to come out from concealment to revelation, so that from it there be a created power, etc.?

For He is exalted and lofty, higher without end, and the coming into being of a creation is impossible even through an endless multitude of hishtalshelus, because He is not within this category of hishtalshelus. [And this is the meaning of “You are One, but not in number”: that there is no comparison, etc.,

as is explained below in the discourse beginning “The matter of the recital of Shema,” in the discourse beginning “This day [Havayah your G‑d] commands you,” and in the discourse beginning “Elijah opened.”] Rather, the creation of the worlds is through the aspect of

“And in His goodness He renews.” For “in His goodness” means His own goodness, that is, the aspect of His essence, so to speak: this renews the work of Creation, so that it becomes truly new, from nothing to something, as it is written, “And wisdom is found from nothing (me’ayin).”

For Chochmah (wisdom) is the aspect of “beginning,” and it is found from nothing, as a renewal: a new thing comes into being, which was not in the power of the source that brings it forth.

And this is through the aspect of the yud, which is the aspect of contraction (tzimtzum), and afterwards [the letters] hei, vav, hei: the hei is expansion in length and breadth. And there is an upper hei and a lower hei, the hidden world and the revealed world,

8and the vav that joins them, etc. And this is the aspect of Havayah, of which we say, “Blessed are You, Havayah”: that the aspect of Havayah, which is “the source of all,” be revealed; that is, that there be an arousal of the heart from [the fact] that He, blessed be He, is above the level of hishtalshelus, and there is no comparison to Him, blessed be He;

yet He brings all the worlds into being through the aspect of Havayah, by means of the aspect of contraction and expansion, etc., as mentioned above. [And this is [the meaning of] “Before the world was created, there was He and His Name alone.”

“He” is His being and essence, blessed be He; and “His Name” is the light and the revelation, which is also infinite (Ein Sof) and is called the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), which was included in His essence;

that is, there is the capability in His being and essence, so to speak, that a revelation of the Infinite Light be drawn forth from Him, and this capability is called “His Name.” See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “The voice of my beloved,” and in Parshas Pinchas, the discourse beginning “Command the children of Israel.”]

9And this is [the meaning of] “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d.” The explanation: ve’ahavta, ahavah (love), is from the word avah (to be willing), and the added hei is the aspect of the breath (hevel) of the heart; for avah means the will of the mind,

and ahavah is the will of the heart. “And you shall love”: that the will and the longing in the heart be for Havayah to be, that is, for the level of Havayah itself to rest within you, to be truly your G‑d, uniting with you in a revealed manner.

And this is [the meaning of] “es Havayah your G‑d”: es is like eis, as in “a time (eis) to love,” [spelled] with an ayin, because it is the aspect of revelation, so as to be an order of times.

For time is the aspect of a created thing: time applies only in the attribute of His Malchus (sovereignty), blessed be He, “is King, was King and will reign,” which is not so above. See what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel, unto [Havayah your G‑d].”

However, this aspect of revelation in its source, before it comes to the revelation of time, is called es with an alef, as in “es besaro” (his flesh): es is what is ancillary to his flesh. So too the aspect of revelation in its source is what is ancillary to the concealment,

for it is the revelation of the power of the concealment, as mentioned above; and see further what is written on es as what is ancillary, on the verse “And you shall know this day.” And the drawing down of the revelation of the level of Havayah will be “with all your heart”: within two hearts, the inner (pnimiyus) and the outer (chitzoniyus),

which are the aspect of “inner chambers” and “outer chambers” (see what is written in Parshas Re’eh on the verse “When you listen to the voice”). The inner dimension of the heart is an arousal from the level of His essence and being, blessed be He, [of whom it is said,] “No thought can grasp You at all.”

10As it is written, “You have been shown, to know that Havayah is G‑d; there is none else.” “You have been shown” is the aspect of revelation in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the heart, and it comes from the hidden love that is in the nature of every person, etc.,

and an impression of it remains all day, even after prayer, etc. And the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the heart is that the love spreads out to subdue the sitra achra (the other side) and to transform [it], etc.: first to subdue,

as it is written, “He shuts his eyes from looking upon evil,” and it is written, “And you shall not stray after your heart,” so that he will want the revelation of the level of Havayah to be there as well. For the world (olam) is so called from the word helem (concealment), because it conceals and hides the light of Havayah from being revealed; and one must subdue, etc., and afterwards transform darkness into light.

That is: the power of the natural element of fire in his natural soul, to desire every desire, will be transformed from the darkness of this physical world to desiring to cleave to Him, blessed be He. For the element of fire is natural, in the intensity of heat, and through this he desires every desire, being drawn after it.

But when he removes the heat from being drawn after this world, by cooling within himself the desires of this world and despising evil, then through this, of itself and as a matter of course, the natural heat will intensify toward G‑dliness; see what is written in Parshas Sh’lach, in the discourse beginning “In the section on libations.”

And this is [how one comes] to “And you shall love … with all your heart”: that he desire the revelation of the hidden world in the revealed world, and to transform darkness into light. This is through the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) in prayer, in the manner of “their heart cried out,”

as it is written, “And they cried out to Havayah in their distress,” so as to be among the “masters of accounting.” And then, through this, “spirit brings spirit and draws down spirit,” so that there be blessing and drawing down in revelation: “Blessed are You, Havayah,” etc.

113. However, “and the study of Torah is equal to them all.” For the study of Torah is the mitzvah of “And you shall meditate in it day and night,” even in a matter from which he does not yet know whether a practical ruling emerges, such as all the questions of the Gemara that do not follow the halachah,

and even one who does not understand the practical ruling from the Gemara, and even in a matter that has no bearing on practice at all; see what is written on this in Parshas Acharei, on the verse “For on this day He shall atone.”

The explanation is that Torah study is solely a drawing down from the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), as it is written, “And My words which I have put in your mouth.” And this drawing down is brought about not through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), for an arousal from below cannot reach it;

only through the study of Torah, in the combinations of its letters, does he draw it down, as it is written, “Havayah is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth”; and there is no truth

but Torah. See what is written in the explanation on the verse “These are the journeys … and Moshe wrote,” etc., that through the Torah one calls and draws down the level of Havayah.

12This is why [one who studies] is called korei baTorah, “one who calls in the Torah,” as is explained elsewhere. And this is [the meaning of] “And these words, which I (Anochi) command you today, shall be upon your heart, and you shall speak of them,” etc.:

that even the words which Anochi, “I who I am,” commands you will be upon your heart of themselves, as a matter of course, through “and you shall speak (vedibarta) of them.” For vedibarta is a term of leading and drawing, as in “He shall lead (yadber) peoples.” That is to say,

that “in them,” in the words themselves, you shall lead and draw down the level of “I who I am,” which is the level of the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) that comes about not through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) at all, because it is far, far above the arousal from below. (And this is what is written in Parshas Terumah)

(128a): “The exertion in Torah,” etc. And this is the meaning of “and graciously grant me Your Torah” (in Psalms 119:29): “You have graced us with knowledge of Your Torah.” And this is as [explained] below, in the interpretation of “Va’eschanan” as “a free gift.”

And see what is written in Parshas Bamidbar on the subject of “and from the wilderness, a gift.” For the aspect of “wilderness” is as it is written, “in the wilderness,” etc., “in a land through which no man passed

and where no man (adam) dwelt.” That is, man’s arousal from below does not reach there at all. For the matter of the arousal from below is as it is written, “As in water, face [to face],” etc.:

so the arousal from below of a person’s heart awakens an arousal from above from the level of the supernal Man (Adam). Whereas at the level of “for He is not a man,” the arousal from below does not reach there.

And this is “and where no man dwelt,” etc. Rather, the arousal from above is drawn down of its own accord, as a gift; and this is the drawing down that comes through occupation with Torah, of which it is said, “and from the wilderness, a gift,” etc. And this is

“for by the light of Your countenance You gave us a Torah of life.” (See what is written in Parshas Re’eh on the verse “After Havayah,” etc., “you shall walk,” on the subject of “and to His voice you shall listen”; and in the discourse beginning “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’” for Shavuos; and in Iggeres HaKodesh, at its end, the discourse beginning “David, You called them songs.”)

And this is “You have begun to show Your servant”: for Moshe received the Torah from Sinai, and there it is “You have begun,” the arousal from above alone. And see the Sifra DiTzniusa (Terumah 176a). (And in the [Midrash] Rabbah here: “You have begun,” etc.: “You began to come to me,” etc.)

And even for the arousal from below to bring about an arousal from above, there must first be an arousal from above, which is the aspect of “a heavenly voice goes forth from Mount Chorev,” etc., an illumination from above, so that there be thoughts of teshuvah (return), etc.

Along these lines the Sages instituted the blessings over the mitzvos [to be said] before their performance. For “Who has sanctified us with His commandments” means that through the mitzvos, which are the aspect of

the arousal from below, done with physical things, tzitzis of wool and tefillin of parchment, sukkah, lulav, etc., an arousal from above comes about, namely, that supernal holiness comes to rest.

But for there to be “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us,” so that the arousal from below causes and awakens an arousal from above, this is through an arousal from above first,

which is the illumination that comes from above so that there be “Blessed are You, Havayah, our G‑d, King of the world”: that the revelation of the level of Havayah be blessed and drawn down below, so that through this [there be] “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us.”

13This is why they instituted the blessing before the mitzvah: for it is through the blessing that the drawing down is accomplished, so that the performance of the mitzvah, as an arousal from below, brings about an arousal from above; see what is written in the discourse beginning “On the day of Shemini Atzeres,” on the subject of “Great is study, for it leads to action.”

And this is what Moshe asked: “Let me cross over, please, and see the land,” etc. For the supernal “land” is Knesses Yisrael, which is called “a land of desire,” and Moshe wanted to draw down into it the level of “You have begun,” which is the level of the arousal from above that comes about not through an arousal from below.

144. Now, the arousal from above of this level is not drawn down below so as to be truly revealed in the intellect and in the actual grasp of thought, for “No thought can grasp You at all.”

It is grasped only in the manner of sight and the gaze of the heart, as it is written, “Your eyes are doves”: that is, when Knesses Yisrael is in the state of “my dove, my perfect one,” for then she is on a very exalted level,

and then she is in the aspect of “eyes,” which is the aspect of gazing alone; for this drawing down is not grasped in revelation and in being clothed in thought, but is only a mere glimmer, as in what is written, “And His arrow shall go forth like lightning,”

which is like a flash of lightning that flashes in his mind, which is beyond what he can grasp, for the power of his mind’s comprehension cannot contain it.

15And therefore “he was astonished for about an hour.” And this is why it is written, “and let me see the land”: Moshe wanted to draw down this level in the manner of sight.

And the Men of the Great Assembly, who instituted the blessings over the mitzvos in order to draw down the level of the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), are those called the Sages, “the eyes of the congregation,” who are of the level of “Your eyes are doves,” to draw down an illumination from the level of sight and gazing.

(See what is written in the discourse beginning “You have captured my heart,” on “with one of your eyes,” and on the verse “to do what is right in the eyes of Havayah.” And this is “You have begun to show Your servant”: according to its plain meaning, it is not understood why “Your servant” specifically, since He, blessed be He, also showed all Israel all the signs and wonders, and of the Giving of the Torah it is written, “Face to face Havayah spoke with you.”

Rather, “to show” is as it is written, “He saw the first portion for himself”: Moshe merited the level of sight mentioned above, which is drawn from the level of “You have begun,” etc., as mentioned above. And therefore, “Let me cross over, please, and see the land,” to draw into it, too, this level of sight, as mentioned above.)

And in order to draw down this level, this is why Moshe began by saying, “And I pleaded with Havayah.” The explanation: of Shlomo, when he built the Holy Temple, it is written, “with which I pleaded before Havayah,” whereas here it is written, “with (el) Havayah.”

The explanation is this. It is written, “Havayah, G‑d, compassionate and gracious,” etc., and it is written, “Gracious and compassionate is Havayah.” Now, “Havayah, G‑d, compassionate and gracious” means that from the level of Havayah, the source of all coming-into-being, the attributes (middos) are drawn down to be gracious and compassionate.

But “Gracious and compassionate is Havayah” means that for there to be the level of Havayah, which is the aspect of contraction and expansion, etc., all this is because He is gracious and compassionate, etc., as is explained elsewhere, at the end of the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel.”

16And this is “And I pleaded with Havayah”: I drew down from the level of “gracious” so that there be the level of Havayah. And this is what [the Sages] said: “Va’eschanan means nothing but a free gift,” etc.

The meaning of “free” (chinam) is without mitzvos: that is, he drew down from a very high and exalted level, far above the level of the mitzvos, which the mitzvos do not reach. (See what is written on the verse “And in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.”)

This is the level and the rank of the source of the light of the Torah and its root above, which is the level and rank of Moshe, of whom it is said, “I (Anochi) stand between Havayah and you, to tell you the word of Havayah,” etc.: the root of his soul was from the level of “I who I am.”

Therefore he had the power to draw down the level of Havayah, which is the level of the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), “at that time” (ba’eis hahi): that is, that the level of the hidden world, which is called by the name hahi (“that”), be revealed, in the manner of “a time (eis) to love.”

(And this is in the manner of what is written in the Zohar, Parshas Sh’lach) (folio 177a), in the interpretation of “that day,” etc., which joins the end to the beginning. And see on this also in the Pardes.

And this is because “You have begun”: You have already begun, so that there be the arousal from above alone. But at that time this request was not fulfilled, that the arousal from above alone be revealed;

rather, an arousal from above so that there be an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), so that through the revelation of this arousal from below there will be a revelation of the arousal from above.

And this was the level of Yehoshua and all Israel, who entered the Land and fulfilled mitzvos as an arousal from below; and likewise, along these lines, the blessings over the mitzvos, which are the aspect of an arousal from above for the arousal from below.

But of the time to come it is written, “For they shall see eye to eye,” etc. (And see Parshas Nasso, 137a, 130a.)