Likkutei Torah · Parshas Va’eschanan · Maamar 9
למען תירא את הוי׳ אלקיך
So that you will fear Havayah your G‑d
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The big idea
The mitzvos come down through Malchus yet are rooted in Keser, and they are garments that clothe the soul; the Oral Torah is the house that guards those garments by refining good from evil. But it is “the house of Havayah,” and truly guards, only when the Torah is studied with fear of G‑d.
The maamar in brief
The maamar explains Deuteronomy 6:2, “So that you will fear Havayah your G‑d… to guard.” It first contrasts two ways of coming into being: within Atzilus, levels emerge as effect from cause, as emotions are born of the mind, while the created worlds come from Malchus “from nothing to something.” So Gan Eden and every light reach the worlds through Malchus, whose creative power comes from Keser shining within it, for “their beginning is wedged in their end.” The mitzvos, “the commands of the King,” are drawn through Malchus yet rooted in Keser, and drawing their light requires the divine unifications, an added light in the giver. The Maggid read “your G‑d” as the G‑dly spark in each soul. The Torah is food, rooted in Chochmah; the mitzvos are garments, rooted in Keser. Of the two encompassing lights, one is a garment fitted to its vessel, the other a house that surrounds all equally. The Oral Torah is that house: its rulings refine good from evil and guard the garments of the mitzvos. Without fear the Torah is not “the house of Havayah”; so fear must accompany the guarding.
Outline
- Two ways of coming into beingWithin Atzilus, levels come forth as cause and effect; the created worlds come from Malchus as something from nothing. That is why Gan Eden and every light reach the worlds through Malchus, which draws its creative power from Keser.¶1–2
- The mitzvos: from Malchus, rooted in KeserKeser shines most of all in Malchus, so the mitzvos of Malchus are rooted in Keser. Drawing its light down requires the unifications, an added light in the giver, as a teacher needs depth of wisdom to explain through parables.¶3–4
- What G‑d asks of youDeuteronomy 10:12 and the hundred daily blessings draw Keser into Malchus. In the Maggid’s reading, each person draws Keser’s light into the G‑dly spark of his own soul, through love from the heart’s innermost desire.¶5–6
- Food, garment and houseThe Torah is food, from Chochmah; the mitzvos are garments, from Keser. There are two encompassing lights, one like a garment and one like a house, and both are revealed in Malchus: as the mitzvos it is a garment, as the Oral Torah a house.¶7–11
- The Oral Torah guardsThe Oral Torah’s rulings clarify fine and doubtful cases, nullifying the kelipos at the root of what is forbidden. As a house it guards the garments made by the mitzvos, whose material, from nogah, needs refining and guarding.¶12–15
- So that you will fear… to guardThe house must be built by Havayah: Torah spoken as G‑d’s word, with fear and self-nullification, as in the bowing of prayer. Without fear the Torah does not rise and does not refine.¶16–17
Key concepts
- Something from nothing (yesh me’ayin)יש מאין
- Creation through a complete change of essence, as the worlds come from Malchus; unlike cause and effect (“something from something”), in which the effect already existed, hidden, in its cause.
- Their beginning is wedged in their endנעוץ תחלתן בסופן
- Sefer Yetzirah’s principle that the highest level is bound with the lowest, so that the light of Keser shines most of all in Malchus.
- Unifications (yichudim)יחודים
- The union of Abba and Imma and of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva: an added light in the giver that lets the light of Keser pass down through the mitzvos.
- Encompassing lights (makifim)מקיפים
- Light that surrounds rather than enters: either relative to a vessel too small to hold it, like a garment, or encompassing everything equally, like a house.
- Garment and houseלבוש ובית
- Both protect a person, but a garment is close and made to measure, while a house is wide and distant. The mitzvos are the garment; the Oral Torah is the house.
- The Mishnah is a queenמתניתא מלכתא
- The Oral Torah as Malchus, whose rulings decide what is forbidden and what is permitted, refining good from evil.
Two ways of coming into being ¶1–2
1למען תירא את1 הוי׳ אלקיך. הנה להבין ענין המצות שנק׳ מצות המלך234 ששרשם מבחי׳ מל׳ ואעפ״כ [ואף על פי כן] הם ג״כ בחי׳ לבושים ומקיפים צריך להקדים תחלה ענין ההשתלשלות מעילה לעלול וענין בחי׳ יש מאין כ׳ו כי
“So that you will fear Havayah your G‑d.” Now, to understand the matter of the mitzvos, which are called “the commands of the King,” whose root is from the level of Malchus (sovereignty), and which nevertheless are also the level of garments and encompassing lights (makifim), we must first preface the matter of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) from cause to effect, and the matter of the level of something from nothing, etc. For
The maamar opens with a verse from Deuteronomy 6:2, which it explains only at the very end. Its question is this: the mitzvos are called “the King’s commands” because they come from Malchus, G‑d’s attribute of kingship, yet they are also called “garments” and “encompassing lights,” terms for something that surrounds from above. To answer it, the Alter Rebbe first explains two ways one level can come from another: as an effect comes from its cause, and as something comes from nothing.
הנה ג״ע [גן עדן] הוא בחי׳ מל׳ שג״ע [שגן עדן] התחתון הוא במל׳ דיצירה וג״ע [וגן עדן] העליון הוא במל׳ דבריאה וכמ״ש האריז״ל [האר״י זכרונו לברכה] שהוא בבחי׳ בינה שבמל׳5
indeed, Gan Eden is the level of Malchus: the lower Gan Eden is in the Malchus of the World of Yetzirah (Formation), and the upper Gan Eden is in the Malchus of the World of Beriah (Creation); and as the Arizal, of blessed memory, writes, it is at the level of Binah (understanding) within Malchus
Gan Eden, where souls receive their reward, is placed in Malchus, the lowest Sefirah of a world: the lower Gan Eden in the Malchus of Yetzirah, the upper Gan Eden in the Malchus of Beriah. The Arizal adds that it is Binah, the power of understanding, as it exists within Malchus.
(עיין בע״ח [בעץ חיים] שער מ״ג שער ציור עולמות אבי״ע [אצילות בריאה יצירה עשיה] פ״א ועיין בפ׳ בראשית דכ״ו ע״א גן דא שכינתא תתאה6 כו׳ ובפ׳ תרומה קס״ו ב׳ ויקהל דר״י [דרבינו יצחק] ע״ב ובפ׳ פנחס דר״מ ע״ב) כי
(see Etz Chaim, Sha’ar 43, the Gate of the Picture of the Worlds of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, chapter 1; and see in Parshas Bereishis, folio 26a, “Gan (the Garden) — this is the lower Shechinah,” etc.; and in Parshas Terumah, 166b; Vayakhel, folio 210b; and in Parshas Pinchas, folio 240b). For
In parentheses the Alter Rebbe gives his sources: the gate of Etz Chaim that describes the four worlds, and several passages of the Zohar. The Zohar on Bereishis reads “Garden” as the lower Shechinah, that is, Malchus, and “Eden” as the supernal Mother, that is, Binah.
הנה ענין הג״ע [הגן עדן] הוא בבחי׳ השגת אלקות יושבין ונהנין7 מזיו השכינה וזהו מבחי׳ בינה דוקא אך לא מבחי׳ בינה כמו שהוא בבחי׳ האצילות אלא אחר שעוברת דרך המל׳.
indeed, the matter of Gan Eden is at the level of the apprehension of G‑dliness — “sitting and delighting in the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence)” — and this is from the level of Binah specifically; yet not from the level of Binah as it is at the level of Atzilus (Emanation), but after it passes through Malchus.
Gan Eden is a state of grasping G‑dliness; the Talmud’s phrase for the reward of the righteous is “sitting and delighting in the radiance of the Shechinah.” Grasping is the work of Binah, but the souls do not receive Binah as it is in Atzilus, the world still one with G‑d. They receive it only after it has passed through Malchus.
והטעם הוא כי הנבראים הם בע״ג [בעלי גבול / בעל גבול] ומחודשים מאין ליש ממש וא״א להם להכיל בהם אור ההשגה
The reason is that created beings are finite and are brought newly into being, truly from nothing to something, and they cannot contain within themselves the light of apprehension
Created beings are limited, and they are brought into being from nothing. For that reason they cannot hold the light of understanding in the form it has in Atzilus.
כמו שהוא בבחי׳ אצילות מאחר שאין ערך ביניהם כלל (וכמ״ש במ״א שלכן נק׳ יסוד יתום מאמו דהיינו מ״ש גבי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה8 ר״ת [ראשי תיבות] יתום9
as it is at the level of Atzilus, since there is no comparison at all between them. (As is explained elsewhere: this is why Yesod is called “orphaned of its mother,” namely, what is written of Yosef, “beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance,” whose initials [form the word] yasom (orphan);
There is no common measure between Atzilus and the created worlds. The parenthesis brings a supporting teaching: Yesod is called “an orphan from its mother,” its mother being Binah, and this is hinted in the words describing Yosef, who corresponds to Yesod, since the first letters of the four Hebrew words, י־ת־ו־מ, spell yasom, “orphan.” The Kehot note traces this to the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah on Parshas Vayeshev.
כי יסוד הוא מקור ההשפעה בבי״ע ואי אפשר להיות בהשפעה זו גילוי בחי׳ בינה ממש כמו שהיא באצילות כמ״ש מזה ע״פ הרע״מ [הרעיא מהימנא] פ׳ כי תשא גבי והדל לא ימעיט10 כו׳)
for Yesod is the source of the flow of influence into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and in this flow of influence there cannot be a revelation of the level of Binah itself as it is in Atzilus; as is explained on this, following the Raaya Mehemna of Parshas Ki Sisa, regarding “and the poor shall not give less,” etc.)
Yesod is the channel through which divine influence reaches the three lower worlds, yet that influence cannot carry Binah as it is in Atzilus; in that sense Yesod is “orphaned” of Binah. The Alter Rebbe refers to his explanation of the Raaya Mehemna on Parshas Ki Sisa, on the half-shekel verse “and the poor shall not give less.”
אם לא ע״י שעוברת ההארה באמצעות בחי׳ המל׳ שהיא הגורמת פעולת שינוי ההשפעה ממהות למהות
unless the illumination passes through the medium of the level of Malchus, which is what brings about the change of the influence from one essence to another,
The light of Atzilus can reach created beings only by passing through Malchus. Malchus does not simply pass the light on: it changes it into something of a different nature.
ממש עד שיהיה בריאה חדשה ממש וכנודע ההפרש שבין בחי׳ ההשתלשלות העולמות באצילות עצמו שהוא רק באופן עילה ועלול העלם וגילוי בלבד
altogether, until there is an altogether new creation. And, as is known, [there is] a difference between the level of the chain of descent of the worlds within Atzilus itself, which is only in the manner of cause and effect, concealment and revelation alone,
Malchus changes the light so completely that the result is a genuinely new creation. To show how different this is, the Alter Rebbe contrasts it with the way levels come forth within Atzilus itself, which is only cause and effect: the revealing of what was already hidden in the cause.
כי המדות הגם שהם מתהווים מהשכל ונולדים ממנו כנראה בעליל סיבת שינוי המדות באדם כשהוא קטן מתאוה לדברים קטנים ופחותים וכשהוא גדול אינו מתאוה להם כלל שהוא מסיבת הארת מוחין דגדלות כנ״ל
for the emotive attributes (middos), although they come into being from the intellect and are born of it — as is plainly seen in the cause of the change of a person’s attributes: when he is small he desires small and petty things, and when he is grown he does not desire them at all, which is because of the illumination of the intellect (mochin) of maturity, as mentioned above
The example of cause and effect is the way emotions arise from the mind. They are born of it, as can be seen when a child grows up: his desires change because his understanding has matured.
(ועיין בפי׳ המשניות להרמב״ם [להרבי משה בן מימון] בסנהדרין משנת כל ישראל יש להם חלק. במ״ש שים דעתך כי נער קטן11 כו׳) והרי אנו רואים אופן המשכתם מהשכל שהוא רק בבחי׳ עילה ועלול
(and see the Rambam’s Commentary on the Mishnah, in Sanhedrin, on the mishnah “All Israel have a share,” in what he writes, “Set your mind [to this]: a small boy,” etc.) — here we see that the manner in which they are drawn from the intellect is only at the level of cause and effect,
The Rambam describes how a teacher entices a small boy to study with nuts and sweets, and later with fine clothes, since what a child values changes as his mind grows. From this we see that emotions come from the intellect as an effect comes from its cause.
דהיינו בבחי׳ גילוי מהעלם שגם קודם יציאתם בגילוי מהעלם להיות מציאת אהבה ותשוקה או יראה ופחד הם כלולים ונמצאים ממש באותו השכל המוליד וא״כ הוא בבחי׳ יש מיש שהמקבל קרוב בערך להמשפיע.
that is, at the level of revelation from concealment: for even before they emerge from concealment into revelation, to become an existing love and longing, or awe and fear, they are included and actually present in that very intellect that gives birth [to them]. If so, it is at the level of something from something, in which the recipient is close in measure to the one who bestows.
Before love or fear appear as feelings, they already exist, hidden, in the understanding that gives rise to them; their emergence is only a revealing. This is “something from something”: the effect is of the same kind as its cause and close to it in measure.
משא״כ אופן התהוות בי״ע מבחי׳ מל׳ דאצילות הוא בריחוק יותר גדול עד שהנבראים אינם ממהות אצילות כלל וזהו שנק׳ מאין המוחלט ליש להיות
Whereas the manner in which Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah come into being from the level of the Malchus of Atzilus is at a far greater distance, to the point that created beings are not of the essence of Atzilus at all. And this is what is called [coming into being] from absolute nothing to something, inasmuch as
The coming into being of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah from the Malchus of Atzilus is entirely different: created beings share nothing of the essence of Atzilus. This is called creation from absolute nothing.
כי בחי׳ המל׳ נקרא אין שאינה מושגת אצלם כנ״ל וכמו עד״מ ההתפשטות מלך ב״ו [בשר ודם] על אנשי מדינתו שהוא בבחי׳ ריחוק
the level of Malchus is called “nothing” (ayin), for it is not apprehended by them, as mentioned above; and as, by way of analogy, the extension of a king of flesh and blood over the people of his country is at a level of distance,
From the created beings’ point of view Malchus is “nothing,” because they cannot grasp it at all. The analogy is a human king: his rule extends over his whole country, while he himself remains far from his people.
שהרי מקבלים עול מלכות אף שאינם רואים פניו כלל (ועיין מ״ש בד״ה מי מנה12 עפר יעקב13 בפי׳ והים עליהם מלמעלה)
for they accept the yoke of his kingship even though they do not see his face at all. (And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov,” on the meaning of “and the sea was upon them, above.”)
The king’s subjects accept his rule without ever seeing his face, just as creatures receive their existence from Malchus without perceiving it. The parenthesis refers to a discourse in Likkutei Torah, Parshas Balak, on “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov.”
וזהו הטעם שהג״ע [שהגן עדן] הוא בבחי׳ מל׳ דייקא דהיינו צמצום האור14 עד שיהיה מהות חדש ממש בבחי׳ אור של תולדה ונקרא יש מאין עד שיהיה
And this is the reason that Gan Eden is at the level of Malchus specifically: that is, a tzimtzum (contraction) of the light until there is an altogether new essence, at the level of a light that is an offspring (toldah), and it is called something from nothing, so that it can be
This is why Gan Eden must be in Malchus: there the light is contracted until it becomes a new essence, a light that is only an offspring of its source rather than the source itself. Such a light counts as “something from nothing.”
מושג לנשמות ומלאכים דבי״ע והזו ג״כ הטעם שאנו ממשיכים כל האורות לבי״ע ע״י בחי׳ המל׳ דוקא וכמו שאנו אומרים ברוך אתה הוי׳ אלקינו מלך העולם.15
apprehended by the souls and angels of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. And this too is the reason that we draw down all the lights into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah through the level of Malchus specifically, as we say, “Blessed are You, Havayah our G‑d, King of the world.”
Only in this changed form can the souls and angels of the created worlds grasp it. The same rule explains why every blessing calls G‑d “King of the world”: all light reaches the worlds through Malchus, G‑d’s kingship.
The paragraph lays the groundwork: within Atzilus, one level comes from another as effect from cause, but the created worlds come from Malchus “from nothing to something,” through a complete change of essence. That is why Gan Eden, the souls’ grasp of G‑dliness, is located in Malchus, and why every divine light reaches the worlds through Malchus.
The Etz Chaim passage cited places the earthly Gan Eden at the right arm of Malchus of Asiyah, which it calls Binah of Malchus, with Eden as its Chochmah. The Zohar on Vayakhel (2:210b), also cited, calls the lower point “Garden” in relation to the supernal Eden, which is hidden even from the souls in Gan Eden, and says the righteous there are clothed in garments made of the good deeds they did through the Torah’s commandments.
Marei mekomos
- 1למען תירא את ה״א · Deuteronomy 6:2
- 2המצות שנק׳ מצות המלך · להעיר מב״ב קנט, א. תוספתא נגעים פ״ג: גזירת מלך היא. נוסח הברכות: מלך העולם . . במצותיו. ועוד. וראה סה״מ ה׳ש״ת ע׳ 48 שמציין לכאן.
- 3מצות המלך · Bava Batra 159a:10–12
- 4מצות המלך · Tosefta Negaim 3:7
- 5בינה שבמל׳ · Sefer Etz Chaim 43:2
- 6גן דא שכינתא תתאה · Zohar, Bereshit 21:238–248
- 7ג״ע . . יושבין ונהנין · Berakhot 17a
- 8
- 9יפה תואר ויפה מראה ר״ת יתום · לקו״ת מהאריז״ל פ׳ וישב ע״פ ויהי יוסף יפ״ת. מאו״א י, לו.
- 10והדל לא ימעיט · Exodus 30:15
- 11שים דעתך כי נער קטן · Rambam on Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1
- 12בד״ה מי מנה · לעיל בלק סח, א.
- 13
- 14משא״כ אופן התהוות . . דהיינו צמצום האור · באוה״ת דברים כרך ז ע׳ ב׳רל יש כאן הגהה שכ׳ שלכאורה זה סותר למ״ש בתו״א פ׳ חיי בד״ה להבין משארז״ל יפה שעה א׳ דלשם כ׳ דזיו השכינה בעוה״ב אינו כמו התפשטות חיות אלקות בתוך העולמות א״כ אפילו בעולם הבריאה אינו מושג המהות רק המציאות ע״ש.
- 15וזאת המצוה . . לעשות בארץ · Deuteronomy 6:1
2וזהו מ״ש וזאת המצוה כו׳ לעשות בארץ1 אשר ארץ הוא בחי׳2 מלכות דאצילות שכל ההמשכות בבי״ע הוא ע״י המל׳ דוקא ע״כ נאמר לעשות בארץ דוקא
And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “And this is the commandment, etc., to do in the land which…”: “land” is the level of the Malchus (sovereignty) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation), for all the drawings-down into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are through Malchus specifically; therefore it says “to do in the land” specifically.
The Alter Rebbe turns to the verse just before the maamar’s opening verse: “And this is the commandment… to do in the land.” “Land” stands for the Malchus of Atzilus. The verse says the mitzvos are done “in the land” because everything drawn down into the created worlds passes through Malchus.
והיינו מטעם הנ״ל שא״א להיות גילוי הארה מאור א״ס בבי״ע אם לא ע״י אמצעות בחי׳ המל׳ דוקא שאז יוכל להיות מושג בנבראים ע״י בחי׳ הצמצום דרך המסך.
This is for the reason mentioned above: that there cannot be a revelation of illumination from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah except through the medium of the level of Malchus specifically, for then it can be apprehended by created beings, through the level of tzimtzum (contraction), by way of the screen (masach).
This follows from paragraph 1: the Infinite Light can be revealed in the created worlds only through Malchus. Malchus contracts the light through a “screen” (masach), a filter that lets only a reduced illumination through, so that created beings can grasp it.
משא״כ מאו״א [מאבא ואימא] לז״א ומז״א לא היה מושג בנבראים כלל להיותם בחי׳ אצי׳ שלמעלה מההשגה ואף בהמדות אע״פ [אף על פי]
Whereas from Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah) to Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes), and from Z’eir Anpin, it would not be apprehended by created beings at all, since they are the level of Atzilus, which is above apprehension. And even in the emotive attributes (middos), although
The higher levels of Atzilus, Abba and Imma (the divine intellect) and Z’eir Anpin (the divine emotions), could not be grasped by created beings directly. Even the emotive attributes, although lower than the intellect, still belong to Atzilus.
שהם בחי׳ ירידת המדרגה לגבי בחי׳ חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] מ״מ הם ממהות אחד כו׳ ונק׳ הנצח לכך בשם ענף החכמה כנ״ל וכנודע.
they are a level of descent in rank relative to the level of Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding), nevertheless they are of one essence, etc.; and therefore Netzach (victory) is called by the name “the branch of Chochmah,” as mentioned above and as is known.
Within Atzilus the emotions are of one essence with the intellect, only lower in rank. That is why Netzach, one of the emotive Sefiros, can be called “the branch of Chochmah”: it is an outgrowth of wisdom, not something different from it.
אך הכח הזה בבחי׳ מל׳ להעלים האור ולהוות יש מאין הוא מהארת הכתר המאיר בה שהוא מבחי׳ עצמיות אור א״ס ב״ה ונק׳ לכך כתר שהוא מענין כותרת
But this power in the level of Malchus — to conceal the light and to bring into being something from nothing — is from the illumination of Keser that shines in it, which is from the level of the very essence of the Infinite Light, blessed be He; and therefore it is called Keser (the Crown), from the term koteres (the crown of a pillar),
Where does Malchus get the power to create something from nothing, which the other Sefiros of Atzilus lack? From Keser, the crown, which shines into Malchus and is of the very essence of the Infinite Light. The name Keser is related to koteres, the crown set on top of a pillar, which surrounds rather than enters.
דהיינו בחי׳ מקיף כו׳ והוא המהוה כל העולמות מאין ליש כי גם האצי׳ אינם ערך אליו ומקבלים ג״כ הארה מצומצמת מאד באופן יש מאין וכמ״ש והחכמה מאין תמצא.3
that is, the level of an encompassing light (makif), etc. And it is what brings all the worlds into being from nothing to something; for even [the levels of] Atzilus bear no comparison to it, and they too receive a very contracted illumination, in the manner of something from nothing, as it is written, “And Chochmah is found from ayin (nothing).”
Keser is an encompassing level, above and around everything, and it is what truly creates from nothing: even Atzilus is as nothing beside it and receives from it only a contracted light. So the Alter Rebbe reads Job’s words as “Chochmah is found from ayin”: wisdom itself comes from the “nothing” of Keser.
The paragraph applies paragraph 1 to the verse “to do in the land”: the mitzvos act through Malchus, the “land,” which is the only channel to the created worlds. But Malchus’s power to create from nothing comes from Keser, the encompassing crown that shines within it.
The Kehot note on “land is the level of Malchus” points to the Kabbalistic lexicons Me’orei Or (letter alef, 126) and Kehillat Yaakov, under that entry. In this reading of Job 28:12, ayin (“nothing”) names Keser, the source from which Chochmah comes.
Marei mekomos
- 1וזאת המצוה כו׳ לעשות בארץ · Deuteronomy 6:1
- 2ארץ הוא בחי׳ מל׳ · מא״א א, קכו. קה״י בערכו.
- 3והחכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
The mitzvos: from Malchus, rooted in Keser ¶3–4
3והנה לפי שנעוץ תחלתן בסופן12 דוקא ע״כ הארת הכתר מאיר במל׳ יותר מבכל הע״ס [העשר ספירות] והוא הנותן בה כח ועוז להחיות מאין ליש בבי״ע כנ״ל.
Now, because “their beginning is wedged in their end” specifically, therefore the illumination of Keser (the Crown) shines in Malchus (sovereignty) more than in all the Ten Sefiros; and it is what gives it the power and strength to give life from nothing to something in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, as mentioned above.
Sefer Yetzirah says of the Ten Sefiros that “their end is wedged in their beginning and their beginning in their end”: the highest and the lowest are bound together. So Keser, the first, shines in Malchus, the last, more than in any other Sefirah, and this is what gives Malchus the power to create and sustain the lower worlds from nothing.
ועיין בד״ה איהו וחיוהי3 ועיין מ״ש בד״ה כי כאשר השמים החדשים45 בענין השמים כסאי6 וזהו ענין המצות שהם בבחי׳ מל׳ מצות המלך
And see the discourse beginning “He and His life-forces”; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “For as the new heavens,” on the matter of “The heavens are My throne.” And this is the matter of the mitzvos, which are at the level of Malchus — “the commands of the King” —
The Alter Rebbe refers to the letter in the Tanya beginning “He and His life-forces” and to a discourse in Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim. He then applies the principle to the mitzvos: they belong to Malchus, as “the commands of the King.”
דהיינו רמ״ח מיני המשכות מבחי׳ מל׳ בבי״ע ואעפ״כ [ואף על פי כן] שרשם בבחינת כתר תרי״ג ארחין דגלגלתא דהיינו מטעם הנ״ל שהארת הכתר הוא במל׳ דוקא (ועמ״ש מזה בביאור ע״פ והיה לכם לציצית7 וע״פ וידבר דעשרת הדברות)
that is, 248 kinds of drawings-down from the level of Malchus into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; and nevertheless their root is in the level of Keser — the 613 paths of the Gulgalta (the Skull) — namely, for the reason mentioned above, that the illumination of Keser is in Malchus specifically. (And see what is written on this in the explanation on “And it shall be for you as tzitzis,” and on “And [G‑d] spoke” of the Ten Commandments.)
The 248 positive mitzvos are 248 channels through which Malchus draws divine light into the created worlds. Yet their root is in Keser, called the Gulgalta, the “skull” of the supernal form, with its 613 paths, because Keser’s light is present in Malchus.
וזהו שאמרו שתרי״ג מצות דאורייתא וז׳ מצות דרבנן הם בבחי׳ תר״ך עמודי אור89 דהיינו כמו עמוד שמחבר הגג עם הרצפה שהוא בחיי׳ [בחינת] נעוץ סופן בתחלתן כנ״ל.
And this is [the meaning of] what they said, that the 613 mitzvos of the Torah and the 7 mitzvos of the Rabbis are at the level of the 620 pillars of light: that is, like a pillar that joins the roof with the floor, which is the level of “their end is wedged in their beginning,” as mentioned above.
The 613 commandments of the Torah and the seven commandments of the Rabbis make 620, the number of “pillars of light” in Keser; 620 is also the numerical value of the word כתר. A pillar joins roof and floor, as the mitzvos join Keser, the highest level, with Malchus, the lowest.
והנה לפני כל המצות צ״ל לשם יחוד10 קוב״ה [קודשא בריך הוא] ושכינתיה והענין כי המשכת אור זה שמהכתר הוא אינו כ״א ע״י בחינת היחודים דוקא יחוד או״א [אבא ואימא] ויחווד זו״נ [זעיר אנפין ונוקבא].
Now, before all the mitzvos one must say, “For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah (Divine Presence).” The explanation is that the drawing down of this light that comes from Keser is only through the level of the unifications specifically: the unification of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah), and the unification of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva.
This is why the formula “For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah” is said before a mitzvah. Keser’s light reaches Malchus only through “unifications”: the union of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah) and the union of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva (the emotive attributes and Malchus).
The paragraph explains how the mitzvos can belong to Malchus and still be rooted in Keser: the highest level shines most in the lowest. This light reaches Malchus only through the divine unions, which is why the mitzvos are preceded by “For the sake of the unification.”
Iggeres HaKodesh 20 makes the same point: the first nine Sefiros come forth as cause and effect, while in Malchus the power of the Infinite Light to create something from nothing is revealed; “their beginning is wedged in their end” because Keser stands between the Emanator and the emanated and holds the last level of the Infinite. Pardes Rimmonim adds that 620 pillars of light are in Keser, the number of the letters כתר.
Marei mekomos
- 1נעוץ תחלתן בסופן · ס״י פ״א, מ״ז.
- 2נעוץ תחלתן בסופן · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
- 3בד״ה איהו וחיוהי · אגה״ק סי׳ כ.
- 4בד״ה כאשר השמים החדשים · ראה לקמן שה״ש נ, ד ואילך.
- 5כי כאשר השמים החדשים · Isaiah 66:22
- 6השמים כסאי · Isaiah 66:1
- 7והיה לכם לציצית · Numbers 15:39
- 8תרי״ג . . תר״ך עמודי אור · פרדס ש״ח, פ״ג. ע״ל בחקותי (מז, ב). וש״נ. [כ].
- 9תר״ך עמודי אור · Pardes Rimmonim 8:5–6
- 10לפני כל המצות צ״ל לשם יחוד · נסמן לעיל ואתחנן ט, א.
4והענין כי היחוד הוא מסיבת תוספת ההאארה בהמשפיע עד שיוכל להוריד ממנו הארה למטה כנ״ל וכמארז״ל [וכמאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] פחות מבן ט׳ שנה1 אין ביאתו ביאה שהוא לפי שלא נשלמו בו עדיין בחי׳ המוחין דגדלות
The explanation is that the unification comes about because of an addition of illumination in the one who bestows, until he is able to bring down from himself an illumination below, as mentioned above; and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, one less than nine years old, his cohabitation is not [considered] cohabitation — which is because the level of the intellect (mochin) of maturity has not yet been completed in him.
Why are unifications needed? A giver can pass light down only when he has more than he needs for himself. The Talmud’s ruling (Sanhedrin 69a) that a boy under nine is not legally capable of marital union illustrates this: he has not yet reached the mature intellect (mochin degadlus).
ואף שיש בו אז ג״כ כח וחיות ויש לו ג״כ בחי׳ המוחין זהו רק כדי סיפוק לבד לצורך עצמו ודי להפקיע כו׳
And even though he then also has strength and vitality, and he also has the level of intellect, this is only enough to suffice for his own needs alone, and enough to exempt, etc.
A young child has life and some intelligence, but only enough for himself. The clause breaks off with “etc.”
אמנם בבוא ההארה יתירה אז יכול להשפיע גם למטה ולהוליד מהות חדש ממש וכך יובן בענין כששיבחו חז״ל [חכמינו זכרונם לברכה] את ר״מ [רבי מאיר] שהיה אומר ג׳ מאות משלים2 ובשלמה כתיב וי דבר שלשת אלפים משל34
But when the additional illumination comes, then he is able to bestow also below and to beget an altogether new being. And in the same way will be understood the matter of our Sages, of blessed memory, praising Rabbi Meir for saying three hundred parables, while of Shlomo it is written, “And he spoke three thousand parables.”
When extra light comes, the giver can give below and even bring forth something new, as a grown person can bring a child into the world. The same idea explains why the Sages praised Rabbi Meir for his three hundred parables, and why Scripture praises Shlomo for three thousand.
וזהו פלא לכאורה איזה חידוש גדול יש במשלים הלא הם רק מענינים גשמיים שבעוה״ז ויותר יש שבח בידיעת רזין עילאין כנ״ל.
At first glance this is a wonder: what great novelty is there in parables? Are they not only from physical matters of this world? There is more praise in the knowledge of supernal mysteries, as mentioned above.
The praise seems strange: parables deal with ordinary physical matters, while knowing the mysteries of the Torah would seem the greater achievement.
אך הענין שהמצאת המשל לנמשל דהיינו שיוכל להוריד חכמתו בלבושים גשמיים זהו ע״י עומק החכמה דייקא שלמעלה מהחכמה שבנמשל
But the explanation is that devising a parable for the matter it illustrates — that is, being able to bring one’s wisdom down into physical garments — is through the depth of wisdom specifically, which is above the wisdom in the matter illustrated.
The answer is that to find a parable that conveys an idea, a teacher must bring his wisdom down into physical terms. That requires a depth of wisdom greater than the idea being taught.
ולכן אנו רואים הרבה אנשים חכמים שאע״פ [שאף על פי] שידע דבר חכמה אעפ״כ [אף על פי כן] לא יוכל להסביר החכמה ההיא ומה גם ע״י משלים כו׳ ואם יאמר משלים יהיו מילין דכדי.
Therefore we see many wise men who, though [each] knows a matter of wisdom, nevertheless cannot explain that wisdom, and all the more so through parables, etc.; and if he does say parables, they will be idle words.
This is why many learned people cannot explain what they know, let alone through parables. When they try, their parables say nothing.
והיינו מפני כי לזה צריך עומק החכמה (ועמ״ש מזה בד״ה הנה אברם5 כו׳ ובד״ה והבדילה הפרוכת6 ועמ״ש בביאור ע״פ יונתי7 גבי פי׳ יפתי הלבושים שממעשה המצות)
This is because for this the depth of wisdom is needed. (And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Behold, Avram,” etc., and in the discourse beginning “And the curtain shall divide”; and see what is written in the explanation on “My dove,” regarding the meaning of “my fair one”: the garments that come from the performance of the mitzvos.)
Explaining well takes depth of wisdom. The parenthesis refers to two discourses in Torah Ohr and to Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim, on the verse “My dove… my fair one,” which speaks of the garments made from performing mitzvos.
וזהו ג״כ ענין הנ״ל שלצורך השפעה צ״ל תוספת אור במשפיע (ועמ״ש בביאור דמזוזה מימין8 גבי והנה שרש גילוי האותיות כו׳ אבל שרשם כו׳ והמשל בזה כח ההולדה כו׳)
And this too is the matter mentioned above, that for the sake of bestowal there must be an addition of light in the one who bestows. (And see what is written in the explanation of “The mezuzah on the right,” regarding “Now, the root of the revelation of the letters,” etc., “but their root,” etc., “and the analogy for this is the power of procreation,” etc.)
This is the principle stated before: to give to another, the giver must have extra light. The parenthesis refers to a discourse in Torah Ohr on “the mezuzah on the right,” which uses the power of procreation as an analogy.
וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] כאן שא״א להיות המשכת הכתר במל׳ ע״י המצוה שצריך להיות נמשך דרך או״א [אבא ואימא] וז״א אם לא ע״י תוספת הארה באצילות ואז ממילא היה השפעה למטה והוא הנק׳ בחי׳ יחודים
So too here: it is impossible for there to be a drawing down of Keser into Malchus through the mitzvah — which must be drawn by way of Abba and Imma and Z’eir Anpin — except through an addition of illumination in Atzilus; and then, of itself, there would be bestowal below. And this is what is called the level of unifications.
So it is with the mitzvos. Keser’s light must pass through Abba and Imma and Z’eir Anpin to reach Malchus, and that happens only when extra light is added in Atzilus; once it is added, the giving below follows by itself. This is what “unifications” means.
(ועמ״ש סד״ה ועשית בגדי קדש9 גבי והנה בזה יובן ענין ברכת המצות כו׳ ותכלית וסוף הברכה הוא להיות גילוי מלכותו ית׳):10
(And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall make holy garments,” regarding “And with this will be understood the matter of the blessing over the mitzvos,” etc., “and the purpose and end of the blessing is that there be a revelation of His kingship, may He be blessed.”)
The parenthesis refers to the end of a discourse in Torah Ohr, Parshas Tetzaveh, which explains the blessing said over the mitzvos. Its conclusion is that the blessing’s purpose is the revelation of G‑d’s kingship.
The paragraph explains what a “unification” is: an addition of light in the giver, without which nothing can pass down to the receiver. A boy’s maturity and a teacher’s ability to explain through parables both show that giving requires a surplus beyond what one needs oneself.
The Talmud says Rabbi Meir had three hundred fox fables, of which later generations kept only three. Read here, the depth of wisdom needed to make parables is the same “additional light” that makes a unification fruitful below.
Marei mekomos
- 1פחות מבן ט׳ שנה · Sanhedrin 69a
- 2שהיה אומר ג׳ מאות משלים · Sanhedrin 38b
- 3וידבר שלשת אלפים משל · מ״א ה, יב.
- 4שלשת אלפים משל · I Kings 5:12
- 5בד״ה הנה אברם · תו״א יא, ג.
- 6ובד״ה והבדילה הפרוכת · תו״א יב, ד.
- 7ובביאור ע״פ יונתי · לקמן שה״ש יח, ב ואילך. יט, ד.
- 8בביאור דמזוזה מימין · תו״א מג, א.
- 9סד״ה ועשית בגדי קדש · תו״א פב, ד.
- 10ר׳ מאיר שהי׳ אומר ג׳ מאות משלים · סנהדרין לח, סע״ב.
What G‑d asks of you ¶5–6
5ב ועתה יובן מ״ש ועתה ישראל מה1 ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך כ״א ליראה את הוי׳ אלקיך וארז״ל [ואמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] א״ת [אל תקרי] מה אלא מאה23 כו׳
2. And now will be understood what is written, “And now, Israel, what does Havayah your G‑d ask of you, but to fear Havayah your G‑d,” and our Sages, of blessed memory, said: do not read mah (what) but me’ah (one hundred), etc.
The second section begins with Deuteronomy 10:12. The Talmud learns from this verse that a person must say one hundred blessings each day, and Rashi and Tosafos explain the reading: not mah, “what,” but me’ah, “one hundred.”
פי׳ כי ענין המצות הוא המשכת כתר במל׳ והיינו מה ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך כ״א ליראה ולהמשיך אור הכתר במל׳ הנק׳ הוי׳ אלהיך
The explanation is that the matter of the mitzvos is the drawing down of Keser (the Crown) into Malchus (sovereignty). And this is “what does Havayah your G‑d ask of you, but to fear,” and to draw the light of Keser into Malchus, which is called “Havayah your G‑d.”
The Alter Rebbe reads the verse as a description of the mitzvos: G‑d asks that we draw the light of Keser into Malchus. The words “Havayah your G‑d” name this drawing: Havayah, the light from above, joined to “your G‑d,” which is Malchus.
כי בחי׳ אור הכתר כמו שהיא למעלה אינן יכולים לקבלו ובמ״ת [ובמתן תורה] שהיה גילוי אור הכתר אנכי פרחה נשמתם4
For the level of the light of Keser as it is above, they cannot receive it; and at the Giving of the Torah, when there was a revelation of the light of Keser — “Anochi (I)” — their souls flew out.
The light of Keser as it is above cannot be received. At Sinai, when it was revealed with the first word, Anochi (“I”), the souls of Israel left them, as the Talmud relates (Shabbat 88b).
אבל מהו שואל מעמך להמשיך אור הכתר במל׳ הנק׳ מה כמ״ש מה רב טובך5 כו׳ (עיין זח״א [זהר חלק א] בההקדמה ד״ב ור״פ תרומה).6
But what He asks of you is to draw the light of Keser into Malchus, which is called mah (what), as it is written, “How (mah) great is Your goodness,” etc. (See the Zohar, Part I, in the Introduction, folio 2, and the beginning of Parshas Terumah.)
What G‑d asks of us is not that revelation but a light drawn into Malchus, which is called mah, “what.” The verse “How (mah) great is Your goodness” is brought as an example of this name, and the parenthesis gives places in the Zohar.
וזהו אלא מאה שע״י מאה ברכות7 ממשיכים מבחי׳ אור הכתר כמ״ש בפ׳ חיי שרה (דקכ״ג ע״א).
And this is “but me’ah (one hundred)”: through one hundred blessings we draw down from the level of the light of Keser, as is written in Parshas Chayei Sarah (folio 123a).
This is the meaning of me’ah, “one hundred”: the hundred daily blessings draw down from the light of Keser. The Zohar on Chayei Sarah teaches this.
והרב המגיד הקדוש ז״ל [זכרונו לברכה / זכרונם לברכה] היה מרגלא בפומיה תמיד פסוק זה דועתה מה הוי׳ שואל מעמך כו׳
And the holy Rav, the Maggid, of blessed memory, constantly had this verse on his lips: “And now, what does Havayah ask of you,” etc.
The Alter Rebbe now reports a teaching of his master, the Maggid of Mezritch, who often quoted this verse.
והיה נותן בו טעם בתוספת ביאור ודקדוק הלשון כ״א ליראה את הוי׳ אלקיך דוקא דהיינו שא״צ [שאין צריך / שאינו צריך] לפרש ליראה את הוי׳ אלקיך שהוא המשכת אור א״ס במל׳ הנק׳ אלקים
And he would give a reason for it, adding an explanation and a precise reading of the wording, “but to fear Havayah your G‑d” specifically: that is, there is no need to interpret “to fear Havayah your G‑d” as the drawing of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into Malchus, which is called Elokim;
The Maggid dwelt on the words “to fear Havayah your G‑d.” He said there is no need to read them in the Kabbalistic way, as the drawing of the Infinite Light into Malchus, which is called Elokim.
אלא יתפרש כפשוטו שכאו״א [שכל אחד ואחד] ימשיך אור הכתר באלקות השורה בו ממש דהיינו בחי׳ ניצוץ הארת המל׳ שבנפשו שע״י המצוה ששרשה מאור הכתר ימשיך בו הארה משם.
rather, it should be interpreted according to its plain meaning: that each and every one should draw the light of Keser into the G‑dliness that actually rests within him, namely, the level of the spark of the illumination of Malchus that is in his soul — that through the mitzvah, whose root is from the light of Keser, he should draw into it an illumination from there.
Read them simply: “your G‑d” is the G‑dliness within each person, the spark of Malchus in his soul. Through a mitzvah, whose root is Keser, a person draws Keser’s light into that spark.
The paragraph reads Deuteronomy 10:12 as a description of the mitzvos: what G‑d “asks” is to draw the light of Keser into Malchus, through the hundred daily blessings. In the Maggid’s reading, the “G‑d” in question is the spark of G‑dliness in each person’s own soul.
The preceding discourse in Likkutei Torah, Vaetchanan, distinguishes the supernal awe revealed at Sinai, before which the souls flew out, from the lower awe that is all G‑d asks of us. The Maggid’s reading moves the drawing down of Keser from the cosmic Malchus to the spark of Malchus in each soul.
Marei mekomos
- 1ועתה ישראל מה ה׳ אלקיך שואל מעמך · Deuteronomy 10:12
- 2וארז״ל א״ת מה אלא מאה · מנחות מג, סע״ב [בתוד״ה שואל. — כ] וברש״י ד״ה מה.
- 3מה אלא מאה · Menachot 43b:15–17
- 4ובמ״ת . . פרחה נשמתם · Shabbat 88b
- 5מה רב טובך · Psalms 31:20
- 6זח״א בההקדמה ד״ב ור״פ תרומה · ראה יהל אור ע׳ קיז.
- 7מאה ברכות · Zohar, Chayei Sara 5:23–6:28
6וזהו אלקיך דוקא. וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] ואהבת את1 הוי׳ אלקיך בכל מאדך שהיא בחי׳ רעותא דלבא דהיינו פנימית הלב שלמעלה מהגבלת הכלים דלב
And this is “your G‑d” specifically. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d … with all your might (me’odecha),” which is the level of the desire of the heart (re’usa deliba), that is, the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the heart, which is above the limitation of the vessels of the heart;
This is why the verse says “your G‑d”: the spark of G‑dliness in each person. The command to love G‑d “with all your might (me’odecha)” points to the “desire of the heart” (re’usa deliba), the innermost point of the heart, which goes beyond the measured feelings the heart can hold.
והוא ז״א בעתיקא אחיד ותליא23 עי״ז יתעורר הכתר עליון מקורהמקיפים להיות נמשך ושורה למטה. וזהו כל עיקר ענין המצות כו׳.
and this is [the teaching] “Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes) is bound to and hangs upon Atika.” Through this, the supernal Keser (Crown), the source of the encompassing lights, will be aroused to be drawn down and to rest below. And this is the whole essence of the matter of the mitzvos, etc.
In Kabbalistic terms this inner desire is Z’eir Anpin, the divine emotions, as it is rooted in Atika, the inner level of Keser; the Zohar says Z’eir Anpin is bound to and hangs upon Atika. Love from this place arouses Keser, the source of the encompassing lights, to come down and rest below, and this is the heart of all the mitzvos.
The paragraph completes the Maggid’s reading: love “with all your might” comes from the innermost point of the heart, which reaches up to Keser and draws its encompassing light down into a person’s own G‑dly spark.
In the Idra Zuta, Abba and Imma come forth from the hidden brain of Atika and are included in its Mazla, depending on it and bound to it, and Z’eir Anpin depends on and is bound to Atika Kadisha. The Alter Rebbe uses this to show that the heart’s desire beyond measure reaches the level of Atik, the inner dimension of Keser.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהבת את ה״א · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 2ז״א בעתיקא אחיד ותליא · זח״ג (אד״ז) רצב, א. ע״ל שמיני (יט, א [ב]). נ׳[סמן] מאדמו״ר [כ].
- 3ז״א בעתיקא אחיד ותליא · Zohar, Idra Zuta 22:95–23:105
Food, garment and house ¶7–11
7והנה המצות נקראו לבושים ומקיפים אך התורה היא בחי׳ מזון לכו לחמו בלחמי1 והענין כי התורה היא בחי׳ חו״ב [חכמה ובינה]
Now, the mitzvos are called garments and encompassing lights, but the Torah is the level of food — “Come, eat of my bread.” The explanation is that the Torah is the level of Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding):
The mitzvos are called garments, which surround a person from outside, while the Torah is called food, which enters and becomes part of him, as in Proverbs, “Come, eat of my bread.” The reason is that the Torah belongs to Chochmah and Binah, the powers of the intellect.
שהוא תשב״כ [תורה שבכתב] שנק׳ ספר דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת2 ותשבע״פ [ותורה שבעל פה] היא בחי׳ בינה והענין כי התורה שרשה ג״כ מבחי׳ הכתר אלא שהיא בבחי׳ חכמה שבכתר.3
that is, the Written Torah, which is called a book (sefer), for “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah”; and the Oral Torah is the level of Binah. And the explanation is that the Torah too has its root in the level of Keser (the Crown), except that it is at the level of the Chochmah within Keser.
The Written Torah corresponds to Chochmah, as the Zohar says, “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah,” and the Oral Torah, which unfolds and explains it, corresponds to Binah. The Torah too is rooted in Keser, but in the Chochmah within Keser.
The paragraph introduces the contrast that runs through the rest of the maamar: the mitzvos are garments and encompassing lights, while the Torah, rooted in Chochmah, is food that enters within.
The Tanya, at the end of chapter 5, explains why the Torah is called bread: as bread becomes the flesh and blood of the one who eats it, Torah knowledge that is grasped well becomes one with the mind of the one who learns it.
Marei mekomos
- 1לכו לחמו בלחמי · Proverbs 9:5
- 2אורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar II, 85a
- 3המצות נק׳ לבושים . . התו׳ היא בחי׳ מזון · נסמן לעיל ט, ג.
8וכמ״ש ויקם עדות ביעקב1 ותורה שם בישראל דהיינו בחי׳ קו האמצעי שמבריח מן הקצה23 העליונה דכתר אל קצה התחתונה בסוף האצילות והוא המזווג ומייחד או״א [אבא ואימא] להמשיך בחי׳ טפת אבא כו׳.
As it is written, “He established a testimony in Yaakov and set a Torah in Israel”: that is, the level of the middle line, which runs from the upper end of Keser (the Crown) to the lower end, at the conclusion of the World of Atzilus (Emanation); and it is what couples and unites Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah), to draw down the level of the drop of Abba, etc.
The verse ties the Torah to Yaakov, who in Kabbalah is the “middle line,” compared to the central bar of the Mishkan that ran “from end to end.” This line reaches from the top of Keser to the bottom of Atzilus and unites Abba and Imma, Chochmah and Binah, drawing down the flow from Abba that the Kabbalah calls “the drop of Abba.”
והוא בחי׳ התורה והיינו ע״י הארת הכתר כנודע וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] החכמה תחיה בעליה4 פי׳ כי למטה החכמה תחיה ממש את המצות
And this is the level of the Torah, and this is through the illumination of Keser, as is known. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “Chochmah (wisdom) gives life to its masters (be’aleha)”: the explanation is that below, Chochmah actually gives life to the mitzvos,
This middle line is the Torah, and it works through the light of Keser. Ecclesiastes says “wisdom gives life to be’aleha,” usually “its possessors”; the Alter Rebbe reads it as “its masters,” meaning the mitzvos, so that Chochmah, the Torah, gives life to the mitzvos.
שהרי המצות הם בבחי׳ מל׳ ומקורה ושרשה הוא מאו״א [מאבא ואימא] וז״א כי ממל׳ שבחכמה נעשה חכמה שבמל׳ וכן ממל׳ דבחסד כו׳
for the mitzvos are at the level of Malchus (sovereignty), and its source and root is from Abba and Imma and Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes): for from the Malchus within Chochmah comes the Chochmah within Malchus, and likewise from the Malchus of Chesed (kindness), etc.;
The mitzvos belong to Malchus, but Malchus has its source in the Sefiros above it: the Malchus aspect of each higher Sefirah becomes the matching aspect within Malchus. So Malchus receives its life from Chochmah and the other Sefiros.
וכמו התורה שהיא בירור המצות דהיינו הטעם והשכל של אותו המצוה וה״ז [והרי זה] חיות המצוה ממש (וכמ״ש מזה בד״ה ראיתי והנה מנורת זהב56 כו׳)
[this is] like the Torah, which is the clarification of the mitzvos — that is, the reason and the rationale of that mitzvah — and this is truly the life-force (chayus) of the mitzvah. (As is written on this in the discourse beginning “I saw, and behold, a menorah of gold,” etc.)
In the same way the Torah explains the mitzvos: it gives each mitzvah its reason and meaning, and this is the mitzvah’s life. The parenthesis refers to a discourse in Likkutei Torah, Beha’aloscha, on Zechariah’s vision of the golden menorah.
ומ״מ בשרש כל השרש המצות יותר נעלה אף מבחינת החכמה דתורה הרי שרש המצות מכתר שבכתר שהוא למעלה מהחכמה שבכתר.
Nevertheless, at the root of all roots, the mitzvos are loftier even than the level of the Chochmah of the Torah, for the root of the mitzvos is from the Keser within Keser, which is above the Chochmah within Keser.
Yet at their deepest root the mitzvos are higher than the Torah’s wisdom. They come from the Keser within Keser, the divine will itself, while the Torah comes from the Chochmah within Keser.
(And see what is written on this in the explanation on “Go out and see,” and on “Let them bring royal apparel.”) And therefore the mitzvos are called the masters (be’aleha) of Chochmah;
The parenthesis refers to discourses on “Go out and see” (Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim) and on “Let them bring royal apparel” (Torah Ohr). This is why the mitzvos are called the “masters” of wisdom: their root stands above it.
רק שאעפ״כ [שאף על פי כן] החכמה תחיה בעליה וכידוע שלכך נק׳ התורה מזון לנפש כמ״ש לכו לחמו בלחמי11 כו׳ להיותם מחיה ממש
only that, even so, “Chochmah gives life to its masters.” And as is known, this is why the Torah is called food for the soul, as it is written, “Come, eat of my bread,” etc., since they actually give life.
Even so, wisdom gives life to its masters: the Torah brings the mitzvos to life. That is why the Torah is called food, which actually sustains.
אבל המצות נק׳ בשם לבושים דהיינו מצד שרשם באור הכתר שהוא בחי׳ מקיפים (ועמ״ש עוד מזה בביאור ע״פ אני לדודי12 כו׳)
But the mitzvos are called by the name garments, that is, on account of their root in the light of Keser, which is the level of encompassing lights (makifim). (And see what is written further on this in the explanation on “I am my Beloved’s,” etc.)
The mitzvos are called garments because their root is in Keser, an encompassing level beyond a person’s grasp. The parenthesis refers to a discourse in Likkutei Torah, Re’eh, on “I am my Beloved’s.”
אך במקיפין עצמן יש ב׳ בחי׳ ולנגד זה נק׳ המצות לבוש והתורה נק׳ בית אל תקרא בניך
However, within the encompassing lights themselves there are two levels; and corresponding to this, the mitzvos are called a garment, and the Torah is called a house: “Do not read banayich (your children)
There are two kinds of encompassing light, and they correspond to two images: the mitzvos are a garment, and the Torah is a house. The Talmud reads “your children” (banayich) as “your builders” (bonayich), meaning Torah scholars, who build.
אלא בוניך13 והמל׳ נק׳ ג״כ לבוש ובית וכמאמר ר׳ [רבי] יוסי מימי לא קריתי לאשתי אשתי אלא ביתי14 וכתיב ויבן ה׳ את הצלע15 לשון בנין.1617
but bonayich (your builders).” And Malchus too is called a garment and a house, as in the saying of Rabbi Yossi, “In all my days I never called my wife ‘my wife,’ but ‘my house’”; and it is written, “And Havayah built the rib” — an expression of building.
Malchus, the feminine, is called both garment and house: Rabbi Yossi called his wife “my house,” and Scripture describes the making of Chavah as “building.” The next paragraphs explain the two images.
The paragraph sets the Torah, rooted in the Chochmah within Keser, against the mitzvos, rooted in the Keser within Keser: the Torah gives the mitzvos life, but the mitzvos stand higher. It then introduces the two images that follow, the mitzvos as a garment and the Torah as a house.
The Zohar on Balak (3:186a) counts the middle bar among the five bars of the Mishkan’s boards, the central one on which the others depend: “the pillar of Yaakov, the secret of Moshe.” The preceding discourse in Likkutei Torah, Vaetchanan, reads be’aleha by the Aramaic translation of ba’al, “master” or “lord,” because the mitzvos come from the supernal will, above Chochmah.
Marei mekomos
- 1ויקם עדות ביעקב · Psalms 78:5
- 2בחי׳ קו האמצעי שמבריח מן הקצה · Zohar I, 1b
- 3שמבריח מן הקצה · Exodus 26:28
- 4החכמה תחי׳ בעלי׳ · Ecclesiastes 7:12
- 5בד״ה ראיתי והנה מנורת זהב · לעיל בהעלותך לג, ג ואילך.
- 6ראיתי והנה מנורת זהב · Zechariah 4:2
- 7בביאור ע״פ צאינה וראינה · לקמן שה״ש כב, ד.
- 8צאינה וראינה · Song of Songs 3:11
- 9וע״פ יביאו לבוש מלכות · תו״א צא, סע״ב ואילך.
- 10יביאו לבוש מלכות · Esther 6:8
- 11לכו לחמו בלחמי · Proverbs 9:5
- 12בביאור ע״פ אני לדודי · לקמן פ׳ ראה לד, א.
- 13א״ת בניך אלא בוניך · Berakhot 64a:14
- 14וכמאמר ר׳ יוסי מימי לא קריתי . . ביתי · Shabbat 118b:10–11
- 15ויבן את הצלע · Genesis 2:22
- 16ויבן . . לשון בנין · ברכות (סא, א). [כ].
- 17ויבן ה׳ את הצלע לשון בנין · Berakhot 61a:17–18
9והענין הוא כי ההפרש בין הלבוש לבית הוא כי אף ששניהם הם בחינת שומרים ומגינים על האדם מ״מ יש הפרש גדול ביניהם כי הלבוש הוא בקירוב גדול אל המהתלבש בו וגם שהוא מיוחד למדתו דוקא.
The explanation is that the difference between a garment and a house is this: although both of them serve to guard and protect a person, nevertheless there is a great difference between them, for a garment is in great closeness to the one who wears it, and it is also fitted to his measure specifically.
Garment and house both protect a person, but in different ways. A garment is close to the body and cut to its size.
משא״כ הבית הוא בריחו הרבה ממנו לפי שהוא בהרחבות והתפשטות יתירה וע״כ אינה מיוחדת לפי מדת הדר בו.
Whereas a house is at a great distance from him, since it is of great breadth and expanse, and therefore it is not fitted to the measure of the one who dwells in it.
A house stands at a distance from the person and is far larger than he is. It is not made to his measure.
The paragraph sets out the analogy: garment and house both protect, but a garment fits its wearer closely, while a house is wide and distant and not made to measure.
10וכמ״כ [וכמו כן] למעלה יש ב׳ מיני מקיפים הא׳ המקיף שבבחי׳ השתלשלות שמבחי׳ פנימי שבעליון נעשה מקיף לתחתון שהוא מיוחד
So too above, there are two kinds of encompassing lights. The first is the encompassing light within the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), in which, from the level of what is inner in the higher one, an encompassing light is made for the lower one; it is fitted
The first kind of encompassing light belongs to the ordered chain of levels: what is inner light for a higher level is too great to enter the lower one, so it remains around it as an encompassing light.
רק לפי ערך הכלי שלגבי מדת אותו הכלי בשיעור קבלתה הוא בחי׳ מקיף משא״כ אם היתה רחבה היה נכנס בבחי׳ פנימיות וכמו שהוא בחי׳ פנימיות בעליון כו׳ והוא הנק׳ בחי׳ לבוש.
only to the measure of the vessel: in relation to the measure of that vessel, in the extent of its capacity to receive, it is the level of an encompassing light, whereas if [the vessel] were wider, it would enter as an inner light (pnimiyus), just as it is the level of an inner light in the higher one, etc. And this is what is called the level of a garment.
Such light is “encompassing” only in relation to a particular vessel; were the vessel larger, the same light would enter it, as it does in the higher level. Because it is measured to its vessel, it is called a garment.
The first kind of encompassing light is relative: it surrounds only because the vessel is too small for it, and so, like a garment, it is measured to the one it surrounds.
11והב׳ הוא בחי׳ מקיף כל המקיפין דהיינו בחי׳ אור העגול הראשון שהוא מקיף כל העולמות בהשוואה א׳ ולא שהוא מקיף פרטי
The second is the level of the encompassing light of all encompassing lights, that is, the level of the first circular light, which encompasses all the worlds equally, as one, and not that it is a particular encompassing light;
The second kind is the encompassing light of all encompassing lights, the “first circular light,” which surrounds all the worlds equally. It is not tied to any one vessel.
כי הוא מעצמות אור א״ס השוה ומשוה1 כו׳ וכוללם כולם כא׳ [כאחד] והוא הנק׳ בשם בית. וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] בע״ח [בעץ חיים]2 דשרש ההיכלות הוא משיורי אור המקיפין כו׳
for it is from the essence of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), “Who is equal and makes equal,” etc., and it includes them all as one. And this is what is called by the name “house.” And this is what is said in Etz Chaim, that the root of the heichalos (chambers) is from the remnants of the light of the encompassing lights, etc.
It comes from the essence of the Infinite Light, of which the High Holiday hymn says that He is “equal and makes equal” small and great. Because it includes everything as one, it is called a house; Etz Chaim says the heichalos, the chambers of the worlds, are rooted in what remains of the encompassing lights.
(ועיין מענין מזון לבוש בית ע״פ מזמור שיר חנכת הבית.34 ועמ״ש מענין ב׳ בחי׳ מקיפים בשיר השירים ע״פ כאהלי קדר כיריעות שלמה56 ובביאור ע״פ הבאים ישרש78 כו׳ ובביאור ע״פ כי תצא9 בענין ל׳ [לשון] מ׳ דצלם)
(And see on the subject of food, garment, house, on “A psalm, a song for the dedication of the House.” And see what is written on the subject of the two levels of encompassing lights in Shir HaShirim, on “like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Shlomo”; and in the explanation on “[In days] to come, Yaakov will take root,” etc.; and in the explanation on “When you go out,” on the subject of the lamed and mem of tzelem (image).)
The parenthesis lists further discussions: of food, garment and house (Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah); of the two encompassing lights (Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim; Torah Ohr, Shemos); and of the letters lamed and mem of tzelem, “image” (Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei), which stand for encompassing lights.
והנה ב׳ מיני מקיפין הללו שניהם באים ומתגלים בבחי׳ מל׳ (ולכן אמר דוד מזמור שיר חנכת הבית עם היות ששלמה בנה הבית והיינו לפי שדוד היה מרכבה לכללות בחי׳ מלכות דאצילות וכמ״ש במ״א)
Now, these two kinds of encompassing lights both come and are revealed in the level of Malchus (sovereignty). (And therefore David said, “A psalm, a song for the dedication of the House,” even though Shlomo built the House; this is because David was a chariot for the level of the Malchus of Atzilus (Emanation) in its general and collective expression (klalus), as is explained elsewhere.)
Both kinds of encompassing light are revealed in Malchus. That is why David, who was a “chariot” for Malchus as a whole, composed the psalm for the dedication of the Temple, the House, although Shlomo built it.
והיינו שמצד מה שהוא בבחי׳ מצות המלך זהו בחי׳ לבוש ושרשו מאור הכתר כנ״ל. אמנם מצד שהוא בחי׳ תשבע״פ [תורה שבעל פה] נק׳ בית
That is, inasmuch as it is at the level of “the commands of the King,” this is the level of a garment, and its root is from the light of Keser (the Crown), as mentioned above. However, inasmuch as it is the level of the Oral Torah, it is called a house:
Malchus as “the commands of the King,” the mitzvos, is the garment, rooted in Keser. Malchus as the Oral Torah is the house.
כמו הבית שהוא שומר להאדם ומצילו מן הקור והגשמים או מן החום כמ״כ [כמו כן] שמור זו משנה שמור לנוק׳ [לנוקבא]
just as a house guards a person and saves him from the cold and the rain, or from the heat, so too “Guard (shamor) — this is the Mishnah”; “guard” [corresponds] to the Nukva (the feminine),
A house protects a person from cold, rain and heat. So too the Oral Torah “guards”: the Sages read the word shamor, “guard,” as the Mishnah, and “guard” is associated with the Nukva, the feminine aspect, which is Malchus.
שהוא בבחי׳ שומר הטוב מהרע ומבררת אותו כמ״ש ותתן טרף לביתה10 בחכמה יבנה בית11 חכמות נשים בנתה12 ביהת עיין ברבות ר״פ שמיני13 כי בחכמה דייקא אתברירו.14
which is at the level of guarding the good from the evil and refining it, as it is written, “And she gives food (teref) to her household”; “Through wisdom a house is built”; “The wise among women builds her house” — see the Midrash Rabbah at the beginning of Shemini; for it is in Chochmah (wisdom) specifically that they are refined.
Guarding means separating the good from the evil and refining it, the work of Malchus and of wisdom. Proverbs speaks of the woman of valor who gives teref, literally “torn-off food,” to her household, and of wisdom building a house; the Alter Rebbe adds that the refining takes place in Chochmah.
אך עכ״ז [עם כל זה] הוא ע״י כח המקיף עליון דבחי׳ בית ובחי׳ זו בתורה הוא הבל הדבור שמדבר המשנה
But even so, this is through the power of the supernal encompassing light of the level of a house. And this level in the Torah is the breath of the speech with which one speaks the Mishnah,
Even so, the Oral Torah’s guarding draws on the higher encompassing light, the “house.” In Torah study this is the breath of speech with which one says the words of the Mishnah aloud.
שהוא בחי׳ מקיף וכמ״ש ואשים דברי בפיך15 ובצל ידי כסיתיך וכמ״ש במ״א ע״פ ביום השע״צ [השמיני עצרת] בענין גדול תלמוד שמביא לידי מעשה וכמ״כ [וכמו כן] ג״כ בבינונים ספ״ה
which is the level of an encompassing light, as it is written, “And I have put My words in your mouth, and in the shadow of My hand I have covered you”; and as is explained elsewhere, on “On the day of Shemini Atzeres,” on the subject of “Study is great, for it leads to action”; and likewise also in [the Book of] the Beinonim, at the end of chapter 5,
Spoken words surround the speaker, as Isaiah says: “I have put My words in your mouth, and in the shadow of My hand I have covered you.” The Alter Rebbe refers to his discourse on Shemini Atzeres and to the Tanya, end of chapter 5, which says, following the Pri Etz Chaim, that the breath of spoken Torah becomes an encompassing light.
בשם הפע״ח [הפרי עץ חיים] ועמ״ש ג״כ מענין הדב ור בד״ת [בדברי תורה] בד״ה את חקת התורה16 גבי ושני תולעת. אך להיבן מה שאמרו שמור זו משנה דוקא דהיינו תשבע״פ [תורה שבעל פה].17
in the name of the Pri Etz Chaim. And see also what is written on the subject of speech in words of Torah in the discourse beginning “This is the statute of the Torah,” regarding “and scarlet wool.” But to understand why they said “Guard — this is the Mishnah” specifically, that is, the Oral Torah:
He also refers to a discourse on Parshas Chukas about speech in words of Torah. Then he asks why the Sages tied “guarding” to the Mishnah, the Oral Torah, in particular.
The paragraph presents the second encompassing light, which surrounds all equally and is called a house. Both encompassing lights are revealed in Malchus: as the mitzvos it is the garment, and as the Oral Torah it is the house that guards, refining good from evil.
Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei, citing Mavo She’arim, explains the three letters of tzelem: the tzadi is the inner light, the lamed the encompassing light of the three mochin, and the mem the general encompassing light of Keser, an encompassing light of the encompassing light. These parallel the two kinds of encompassing light described here.
Marei mekomos
- 1השוה ומשוה · פיוט וכל מאמינים.
- 2וז״ש בע״ח · ל״מ. [כ].
- 3ע״פ מזמור שיר חנוכת הבית · לקמן פ׳ ברכה צח, ד ואילך.
- 4מזמור שיר חנכת הבית · Psalms 30:1
- 5ע״פ כאהלי קדר כיריעות שלמה · Song of Songs 7:3
- 6
- 7ובביאור ע״פ הבאים ישרש · תו״א נד, ג.
- 8הבאים ישרש · Isaiah 27:6
- 9ובביאור ע״פ כי תצא · לקמן פ׳ תצא לו, ד.
- 10ותתן טרף לביתה · Proverbs 31:15
- 11בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
- 12חכמות נשים בנתה ביתה · Proverbs 14:1
- 13ברבות ר״פ שמיני · הלשון נעתק באוה״ת פ׳ בהעלותך ע׳ שעה.
- 14בחכמה . . אתברירו · Zohar II, 254b
- 15ואשים דברי בפיך · Isaiah 51:16
- 16חקת התורה · Numbers 19:2
- 17
The Oral Torah guards ¶12–15
12והענין כי התורה היא להבדיל בין הטמא לטהור. וארז״ל [ואמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] בת״כ [בתורת כהנים] ס״פ שמיני צ״ל בין פרה לחמור והלא כבר הם מפורשים.
The explanation is that the Torah is to distinguish between the impure and the pure. And our Sages, of blessed memory, said in the Toras Kohanim, at the end of Shemini: Need it say, between a cow and a donkey? Are they not already explicit?
The Oral Torah’s task is to separate the forbidden from the permitted. The Sifra (Toras Kohanim) asks why the Torah must command us to distinguish between impure and pure animals, when the difference between, say, a cow and a donkey is already spelled out.
א״כ למה נאמר ולהבדיל בין הטמא ובין1 הטהור. בין טמאה לך לטהורה לך. בין שנשחט רובו של קנה לנשחט חציו.2
If so, why does it say, “And to distinguish between the impure and the pure”? Between what is impure for you and what is pure for you: between [an animal] of which the greater part of the windpipe was slaughtered and one of which half was slaughtered.
The answer is that the verse refers to differences the eye cannot easily see, such as an animal slaughtered through most of the windpipe, which is kosher, and one slaughtered through only half, which is not.
וכמה הוא בין רובו לחציו מלא שעורה עכ״ל [עד כאן לשונו] והיינו כי מה שמבואר בתשב״כ [בתורה שבכתב] שהוא אסור או מותר אין זה צריך לפנים ואינו נק׳ הוראה כלל בפ״ק [בפרק קמא] דהוריות (דף ד׳ ע״א)
And how much is [the difference] between its greater part and its half? A hair’s breadth. End of quote. That is, what is made clear in the Written Torah to be forbidden or permitted does not need [to be taken] inside [to the sages], and is not called a ruling (hora’ah) at all — in the first chapter of Horayos (folio 4a),
The difference is a hair’s breadth. From this the Alter Rebbe draws a principle: what the Written Torah states plainly needs no deliberation and is not called a “ruling” (hora’ah).
לענין הורו ב״ד [בית דין] משום דזיל קרי בי רב הוא3. כי הוראה זהו שייך על דבר שאינו גלוי כ״כ [כל כך] ויש לספק בו
regarding [the law of] “the court ruled,” because it is [a case of] “go and read it in the schoolhouse.” For a ruling applies to a matter that is not so revealed, in which there is room for doubt;
In Horayos the Talmud says a court is not liable for an erroneous ruling on something stated plainly in the Torah, because “you can go and read it in the schoolhouse.” A true ruling concerns a matter that is not obvious and can be doubted.
ולכן עיקר הוראה זו הוא ע״י תשבע״פ [תורה שבעל פה] שבה מתברר אף בדברים המסופקים מהו אסור ומהו מותר וההוראה הוא הבירור וזהו דשמור זו משנה.
therefore the essence of this ruling is through the Oral Torah, in which it is clarified, even in doubtful matters, what is forbidden and what is permitted; and the ruling is the clarification (birur). And this is [the meaning of] “Guard — this is the Mishnah.”
That is why rulings come from the Oral Torah: it clarifies, even in doubtful cases, what is forbidden and what is permitted. This clarification is the “guarding” meant by “Guard: this is the Mishnah.”
The paragraph explains why “guarding” belongs to the Oral Torah: the Written Torah states what is plain, while deciding fine and doubtful cases, the true ruling and clarification, is the work of the Oral Torah.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולהבדיל בין הטמא ובין טהור · Leviticus 11:47
- 2בין שנשחט רובו של קנה לנשחט חציו · Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 12 7
- 3
13והנה בגשמיות ההבדלה הוא כפשוטו שלא יאכלו האיסור. אך ההבדלה ברוחניות הוא כי ידוע שכל דבר איסו מה שהוא אסור על האדם יש לו שרש ומקור למעלה בקליפות.
Now, physically, the separation is in its plain sense: that they not eat what is forbidden. But the separation in spirituality is this: it is known that every forbidden thing — whatever is forbidden to a person — has a root and source above, in the kelipos (the husks).
Physically, separating the impure from the pure simply means not eating what is forbidden. Spiritually it does more: everything forbidden draws its existence from a source above, in the kelipos, the forces that conceal holiness.
ולכן ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] העובר עבירה אחת1 קונה לו קטיגור אחד2 וע״י זה שאומר הוא אסור ופסול וכיוצא הוא מבטלו ומורידו מגדולתו
Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “One who commits one transgression acquires for himself one accuser.” And through one’s saying “it is forbidden” and “invalid” and the like, he nullifies it and brings it down from its greatness,
That is why the Mishnah says a single sin acquires an accuser: it strengthens the kelipah. In the other direction, when the Oral Torah declares something forbidden or invalid, the ruling nullifies the kelipah and brings it down from its height.
כי באמת הרע מצד עצמו היה כלא היה רק בבחי׳ חוצפא אם תגביה כנשר3 כו׳ וע״י המבטשין4 יפלו ויתפרדו כל פועלי און.5
for in truth evil in and of itself is as if it never was, except at the level of brazenness (chutzpa) — “Though you rise high like the eagle,” etc. — and through those who strike [it], all workers of iniquity shall fall and be scattered.
Evil has no true existence of its own; it has only brazenness, the arrogance of which Obadiah says, “Though you rise high like the eagle… from there I will bring you down.” Those who strike at it, by declaring it forbidden, make the workers of iniquity fall and scatter, in the words of Psalm 92.
The paragraph explains the spiritual effect of the Oral Torah’s rulings: every forbidden thing has its root in the kelipos, and declaring it forbidden strips that root of its power, since evil has no real existence of its own.
In the Zohar on Shelach (3:168a), cited by the Kehot note, striking (batash) brings out light: wood that will not shine is struck until it gives light, and a body in which the soul’s light does not shine is struck until it shines.
Marei mekomos
- 1העובר עבירה אחת · אבות ד, יא.
- 2העובר עבירה אחת קונה לו קטיגור אחד · Pirkei Avot 4:11
- 3אם תגבי׳ כנשר · Obadiah 1:4
- 4וע״י המבטשין · Zohar III, 168a
- 5יתפרדו כל פועלי און · Psalms 92:10
14והנה ב חינה זו הוא בחי׳ מל׳ מתניתא מלכתא12 שגוזר כך וכך כו׳. ולכן התשבע״פ [התורה שבעל פה] בבחי׳ זו שנקראת בית היא בחי׳ שומר להלבושים הנעשים ממעשה המצות
Now, this level is the level of Malchus (sovereignty) — “the Mishnah is a queen” — which decrees thus and thus, etc. Therefore the Oral Torah, in this level, which is called a house, is the level of a guard for the garments that are made from the performance of the mitzvos.
This ruling power is Malchus, and the Talmud’s phrase “the Mishnah is a queen” fits it, since the Oral Torah decrees what is forbidden and permitted. So the Oral Torah, as the “house,” guards the garments that the mitzvos make.
והענין כי המצות עמן אף ששרשן בכתר והוא בחי׳ הרצון אשר במצוה אבל גוף הדבר שנעשה בו המצוה הוא מנוגה כמו ציצית מצמר וכיוצא ויש בו טו״ר [טוב ורע]
The explanation is that the mitzvos themselves — although their root is in Keser (the Crown), and this is the level of the will that is in the mitzvah — nevertheless the very object with which the mitzvah is done is from nogah, such as tzitzis from wool and the like, and there is good and evil in it,
The root of the mitzvos is in Keser, the divine will expressed in each mitzvah. But the physical object of the mitzvah, such as the wool of tzitzis, comes from nogah, the “translucent” kelipah in which good and evil are mixed and which can be raised to holiness.
וצריך בירור והיינו ע״י בחי׳ מל׳ ותתן טרף לביתה3 כו׳ וגם צריך שמירה והוא בחינת תכלת נהורא תכלא שחפו בו המשכן הוא בחי׳ בית.
and it needs refining, and this is through the level of Malchus — “And she gives food (teref) to her household,” etc. And it also needs guarding, and this is the level of techeles, “the blue light (nehora techela),” with which the Mishkan was covered, which is the level of a house.
So the mitzvah’s material needs refining, the work of Malchus that “gives teref to her household,” and it also needs guarding. The guarding comes from techeles, the blue of the coverings of the Mishkan, called “the blue light”; this is the level of a house.
The paragraph places the Oral Torah’s rulings in Malchus and shows why the garments of the mitzvos need them: the root of a mitzvah is the divine will in Keser, but its material comes from nogah, which mixes good and evil and must be both refined and guarded.
Marei mekomos
- 1מתניתא מלכתא · Ketubot 61b:7–8
- 2מתניתא מלכתא · Beitzah 28b:14–15
- 3ותתן טרף לביתה · Proverbs 31:15
15ועמ״ש סד״ה מה טובו אוהליך יעקב1 אוהל נק׳ דירת עראי בחי׳ בעלי עסקים שקובעים עתים לתורה פרק אחד שחרית ופרק אחד ערבית2
And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “How goodly are your tents, Yaakov”: a tent is called a temporary dwelling — the level of businessmen who set times for Torah, one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening;
The Alter Rebbe refers to a discourse on “How goodly are your tents, Yaakov,” which distinguishes two ways of learning. A tent is a temporary dwelling: the level of businessmen who set fixed times for Torah, a chapter in the morning and a chapter in the evening.
משכנותיך נק׳ דירת קבע כשעוסק בתורה תמיד ועכ״פ [ועל כל פנים] נק׳ התורה דירה ובית שהוא שומר להלבושים ועמ״ש מענין מקיף דתכלת סד״ה ויקח קרח3 וזהו למען תירא.
“your dwelling places” are called a permanent dwelling — when one engages in Torah constantly. At any rate, the Torah is called a dwelling and a house, which guards the garments. And see what is written on the subject of the encompassing light of techeles at the end of the discourse beginning “And Korach took.” And this is “So that you will fear.”
“Your dwelling places” are a permanent dwelling: one who studies Torah constantly. Either way the Torah is a dwelling, a house that guards the garments of the mitzvos; the Alter Rebbe also refers to a discourse on Korach about the encompassing light of techeles, and then returns to the maamar’s opening words.
For at first it says, “And this is the commandment, etc., to do in the land”; but there must also be “so that you will fear, etc., to guard.”
The verse before ours said “to do in the land,” which is the mitzvos. Our verse adds “so that you will fear… to guard”: the mitzvos must also be guarded.
The paragraph gathers the threads: Torah study, whether at fixed times or constant, is a house that guards the garments made by the mitzvos. That is why, after “to do,” the Torah adds “so that you will fear… to guard.”
Marei mekomos
- 1מה טובו אוהליך יעקב · Numbers 24:5
- 2פרק אחד שחרית ופרק אחד ערבית · Menachot 99b:16–17
- 3ויקח קרח · Numbers 16:1
- 4וזאת המצוה כו׳ לעשות בארץ · Deuteronomy 6:1
- 5למען תירא כ׳ו לשמור · Deuteronomy 6:2
So that you will fear… to guard ¶16–17
16ופי׳ כי לעשות היינו המשכת הכתר ע״י המצות והוא הנק׳ לבוש כנ״ל והדר לשמור כו׳
The explanation is that “to do” is the drawing down of Keser (the Crown) through the mitzvos, and this is what is called a garment, as mentioned above; and then “to guard,” etc.,
The two verses are now read together: “to do” is the drawing down of Keser through the mitzvos, the “garment.” “To guard” comes after it.
היינו בחי׳ שמור זו משנה אך אם ה׳ לא יבנה כו׳ וצ״ל למען תירא את ה׳.
that is, the level of “Guard — this is the Mishnah.” But “Unless Havayah builds,” etc.; and so there must be “so that you will fear Havayah.”
“To guard” is the Oral Torah, as in “Guard: this is the Mishnah.” But the psalm warns, “Unless Havayah builds the house, its builders labor in vain,” so the guarding requires “so that you will fear Havayah.”
The meaning of “Unless Havayah builds the house” is that the letters of the Torah are called a house, as is written at the end of the discourse beginning “One thing I asked of Havayah”: “that I may dwell in the house of Havayah.”
The “house” of the psalm is the letters of the Torah. The Alter Rebbe refers to a discourse on “One thing I asked of Havayah… that I may dwell in the house of Havayah.”
The paragraph reads the opening verse in full: “to do” is the garment of the mitzvos, “to guard” is the house of the Oral Torah, and that house stands only if Havayah builds it, which requires fear of Havayah.
Marei mekomos
- 1אם ה׳ לא יבנה בית · Psalms 127:1
- 2אחת שאלתי מאת ה׳. שבתי בבית ה׳ · Psalms 27:4
17וצ״ל בית הוי׳ דוקא דהיינו כמ״ש ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך1 וכמ״ש מזה סד״ה ראשי המטות2 גבי לאמר זה הדבר כו׳
And it must be the house of Havayah specifically: that is, as it is written, “And My words which I have put in your mouth”; and as is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “The heads of the tribes,” regarding “saying: This is the thing,” etc.
The Torah must be the house “of Havayah,” G‑d’s own words in a person’s mouth, as Isaiah says: “My words which I have put in your mouth.” The Alter Rebbe refers to a discourse on “The heads of the tribes.”
And this is “My tongue shall respond to Your word”; and as is written also at the end of the discourse beginning “There are sixty queens,” on the subject of the meaning of “In every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned,” etc.;
So too the psalm says, “My tongue shall respond to Your word”: a person’s tongue only answers to G‑d’s word. He refers also to a discourse on “There are sixty queens,” on the verse “In every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned.”
ע״ש ולהיות כן הוא ע״י לעמן תירא את הוי׳ ולא תחללו6 כו׳ שלא להיות יש ודבר מפסיק כו׳
see there. And for it to be so is through “so that you will fear Havayah,” and “you shall not profane,” etc., so that there not be a yesh (a separate existence) and a thing that interrupts, etc.
This comes about only through fear of G‑d and through not “profaning” His Name. There must be no sense of self (yesh) standing between the person and G‑d’s word.
משא״כ התורה שבלי יראה אינו נק׳ בית ה׳ כ״א נק׳ רק תרעא לדרתא7 (בפ׳ במה מדליקין דל״א) וזהו
Whereas Torah that is without fear is not called the house of Havayah, but is called only “a gate to the courtyard” (in the chapter Bameh Madlikin, folio 31). And this is
Torah studied without fear is not “the house of Havayah.” The Talmud compares such a person to one who has no courtyard yet makes a gate to the courtyard: fear of Heaven is the courtyard, and the Torah is the gate leading into it.
because “Torah without fear and love does not fly upward,” and the refining and separating, by one’s saying “kosher” and “invalid,” does not come about at all.
The Tikkunei Zohar says Torah without fear and love does not rise upward. Such study does not accomplish the refining and separating that the Oral Torah’s rulings of “kosher” and “invalid” are meant to bring about.
וע״כ אמר למען תירא כו׳ לשמור וגם כמ״ש במ״א ע״פ השמים כסאי כו׳ איזה בית10
And therefore it says, “So that you will fear,” etc., “to guard.” And also, as is written elsewhere on “The heavens are My throne,” etc., “What house
This is why the verse joins “so that you will fear” with “to guard.” The Alter Rebbe adds another explanation from elsewhere, on Isaiah’s “The heavens are My throne… what house would you build for Me?”
אשר תבנו לי שבחי׳ מקיף עליון דבית הוא הנעשה ע״י כריעות והשתחואות דשמו״ע [דשמונה עשרה] שהוא בחינת ביטול כו׳ וזהו למען תירא כו׳ לשמור כו׳.
would you build for Me?”: that the level of the supernal encompassing light of a house is what is made through the bending of the knees and the bowings of the Shemoneh Esreh, which is the level of self-nullification (bittul), etc. And this is “So that you will fear,” etc., “to guard,” etc.
The supernal encompassing light called a “house” is built by the bowing in the Shemoneh Esreh, which expresses self-nullification. That self-nullification is the fear the verse asks for, and so “so that you will fear… to guard.”
וע׳ בפ׳ נח (דף ע״ד א׳) ע״פ והבית בהבנותו1112 ובפ׳ וישלח (דף קע״ב) ועמ״ש בד״ה וכל בניך13 גבי א״ת [אל תקרי] בניך אלא בוניך:14
And see in Parshas Noach (folio 74a) on “And the house, in its being built,” and in Parshas Vayishlach (folio 172); and see what is written in the discourse beginning “And all your children,” regarding “do not read banayich (your children) but bonayich (your builders).”
The maamar closes with references: the Zohar on Noach, on the verse about the Temple built “in its being built,” the Zohar on Vayishlach, and a discourse on “And all your children,” where “your children” is read as “your builders.”
The maamar concludes: the Torah becomes “the house of Havayah” only when it is G‑d’s word spoken without a sense of self, which requires fear; without fear the Torah does not rise and cannot refine. The bowing of prayer, an act of self-nullification, builds the supernal house, so “so that you will fear” must come with “to guard.”
The Kehot note traces “Torah without fear and love does not fly upward” (Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 10) to Pesachim 50b, where G‑d’s kindness reaches “above the heavens” for those who act for its own sake and only “up to the heavens” for those who do not. The Zohar on Noach, cited at the end, reads “the house in its being built” as will rising from hidden thought, becoming voice and then speech.
Marei mekomos
- 1ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך · Isaiah 59:21
- 2ראשי המטות · Numbers 30:2
- 3תען לשוני אמרתך · Psalms 119:172
- 4ששים המה מלכות · Song of Songs 6:8
- 5בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי · Exodus 20:21
- 6ולא תחללו · Leviticus 22:32
- 7תרעא לדרתא · Shabbat 31b:1
- 8אורייתא בלא דחילו ורחימו · ת״ז ת״י. [ומקורו מפסחים (נ, ב) מעל שמים. — כ].
- 9אורייתא בלא דחילו ורחימו לא פרחא לעילא · Tikkunei Zohar 25b:12–14
- 10השמים כסאי כו׳ איזה בית · Isaiah 66:1
- 11והבית בהבנותו · I Kings 6:7
- 12והבית בהבנותו · Zohar, Noach 40:322–42:335
- 13וכל בניך · Isaiah 54:13
- 14א״ת בניך אלא בוניך · Berakhot 64a:14
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
To do the mitzvos so as to draw the light of Keser into the spark of G‑dliness in one’s own soul, and to study Torah, the Oral Torah above all, with fear of G‑d and self-nullification, like the bowing in prayer, so that one’s Torah is “the house of Havayah” that guards the garments of the mitzvos and no sense of self stands in its way.
Questions for discussion
- Why does creation from Malchus count as “something from nothing,” while emotions that arise from the mind are only “something from something”?
- How do Rabbi Meir’s and Shlomo’s parables illustrate the need for an added light in the giver?
- In the Maggid’s reading, what is “your G‑d” in “to fear Havayah your G‑d,” and how does a mitzvah draw the light of Keser into it?
- In what ways are the mitzvos like a garment and the Oral Torah like a house?
- Why is Torah studied without fear not “the house of Havayah,” and what does the bowing of prayer add?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×5
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×3
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions. ×1
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×2
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail. ×5
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world. ×1
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d. ×10
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one.
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The channel that connects and transmits. ×2
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×3
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×3
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light that makes room for finite worlds. ×2
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- The intellectual configurations.
- Z'eir Anpin (the emotive attributes)ז״א
- The six emotive Sefiros as one configuration.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×19
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- Perseverance, the drive to overcome. ×1
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The level above intellect: divine will and delight. ×26
- The Sefirosספירות
- The ten divine attributes through which G‑d relates to creation.
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
- Malchus as the receiving configuration.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×1
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level. ×2
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×1
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×3
- The general and collective expression (klalus)כללות
- That which encompasses the particulars as one: their general and collective expression (the klal, as against the prat). Never “sum”, “sum total”, “totality” or “general principle”, as if the particulars were added up (וכללותן היא מצות הצדקה is “their general and collective expression is the mitzvah of charity”). Render by sense: “their general and collective expression”, “that which encompasses them all”, “X in general”, “X as a whole”. Keep התכללות as “inclusion” / “inter-inclusion”. ×1
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness.
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×1
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×1