Torah Ohr · Parshas Beshalach · Maamar 5
לסוסתי ברכבי פרעה דמיתיך רעיתי
“To My mare in Pharaoh’s chariots have I likened you, My beloved”
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The big idea
The letters of a person’s words are “horses” that carry him beyond his own understanding: the “female letters” of prayer rise from below and draw down the “male letters” of the Torah, in which G‑d’s very essence comes to fill the world. Beyond both stands the splitting of the Sea, an arousal from above that nothing from below could call forth, and that is the joy of a mitzvah.
The maamar in brief
The Song of Songs likens Israel to Pharaoh’s horses, and the Zohar tells how Pharaoh first set mares before his chariots and then reversed the order. The Alter Rebbe explains that letters are “horses”: the intellect steers speech, yet words carry a person beyond what intellect can reach. “Female letters” are the ascent of prayer, an arousal from below, and they draw down “male letters,” the letters of the Torah, through which the infinite light is revealed below, so that G‑d Himself fills heaven and earth, as at Sinai. Kelipah has its counterparts: idle talk and evil speech draw down a surrounding flow of vanity. Pharaoh used both kinds of horses to drag Israel into kelipah, and G‑d reversed them for holiness. Every day a person leaves Mitzrayim, the limits of the world: contemplation in the morning prayers brings a limitless love in the Shema, which draws love from above, so that G‑d’s own words are in his mouth. Higher still was the splitting of the Sea, where G‑d’s essence, for which hidden and revealed are alike, was revealed with no arousal from below. That is the joy of a mitzvah, through which His essence is drawn down.
Outline
- The verse and the horsesPharaoh’s mares and stallions, and the change of order in G‑d’s leading at the Exodus and at the Sea. Letters are horses that carry the intellect beyond itself; in prayer they need contemplation, and G‑d desires the awe they serve.¶1–2
- Female and male lettersPrayer rises from below and draws down the letters of the Torah, through which G‑d’s very self fills heaven and earth, as at the Giving of the Torah.¶3–4
- The horses of kelipahIdle talk and evil speech draw down a surrounding flow of vanity from the depth of kelipah. Pharaoh sought to drag Israel into kelipah, and G‑d reversed his horses for holiness.¶5–7
- The daily ExodusEvery world is Mitzrayim, a place of limits. Contemplation in Pesukei Dezimra and the blessings before the Shema, on angels and souls without number that live only from His Name, prepares the heart’s cry.¶8–11
- Love below and love aboveA limitless love in the Shema draws love from above; through the letters of the Torah G‑d’s words are in a person’s mouth, and the Shema closes with the going out from limits.¶12–13
- The splitting of the SeaA higher arousal from above, not called forth from below: G‑d’s essence, beyond the chain of hidden and revealed, made the sea itself dry land.¶14–16
- The joy of a mitzvahThe joy of a mitzvah reaches His essence. The mitzvos are the King’s limbs and the Torah His whole body; at the Sea, “Why do you cry out to Me?”, for the matter depended on Atika.¶17–20
Key concepts
- Female lettersאותיות נקבות
- The ascent from below: the words of prayer, in which a person’s own initiative, an arousal from below, rises toward G‑d.
- Male lettersאותיות זכרים
- The drawing down from above: the letters of the Torah, through which the infinite light, beyond the worlds, is revealed below.
- An arousal from below, an arousal from aboveאתערותא דלתתא, אתערותא דלעילא
- “A spirit brings a spirit”: human initiative draws a divine response. At the Sea there was an arousal from above that nothing from below could call forth.
- Mitzrayim and meitzarimמצרים
- Egypt as the limits of every created world; the daily Exodus is leaving those limits through a love “with all your might.”
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- Levels linked like a chain, each hidden relative to what is below it and revealed relative to what is above it; G‑d’s essence is above the whole chain.
- The joy of a mitzvahשמחה של מצוה
- Joy that reaches G‑d’s very essence, “more than the abundance of everything”: the reward of the mitzvos, revealed at the splitting of the Sea.
- Atikaעתיקא
- The level on which, according to the Zohar, the salvation at the Sea depended; the maamar calls it the Essence of the Supernal Emanator, beyond the reach of prayer.
The verse and the horses ¶1–2
“To My mare in Pharaoh’s chariots have I likened you, My beloved.” Now, “My beloved” is likened to Pharaoh’s horses: just as Pharaoh first stationed female horses,
The maamar opens with Song of Songs 1:9, in which G‑d likens His beloved, the people of Israel, to the horses of Pharaoh’s chariots. The Alter Rebbe begins with a detail of the Exodus as the Zohar tells it: Pharaoh at first harnessed mares at the front of his chariots.
ואח״כ היפך זכרים קודם לנקיבות כמ״ש בזהר פ׳ בשלח (ד׳ מז) כמו״כ בשעת יציאת מצרים נאמר וה׳ הולך לפניהם4 יומם וגו׳.
and afterward reversed [the order], males before females, as is written in the Zohar, Parshas Beshalach (folio 47). So too, at the time of the Exodus from Egypt it is said, “And G‑d went before them by day,” etc.
According to the Zohar, Pharaoh harnessed the mares in front with the stallions behind them, and the stallions pressed after the mares as the mares hurried ahead; when he came close to Israel he switched them, putting the stallions in front to do battle. The Zohar, and the Alter Rebbe after it, sets beside this a change of order in G‑d’s own leading of Israel, beginning with the Exodus, when “G‑d went before them by day” in a pillar of cloud.
ואח״כ בשעת קריעת י״ס נאמר ויסע מלאך האלקים5 ההולך לפני מחנה כו׳ וילך מאחריהם כו׳. הנה צריך להבין מהו המשל והנמשל שנמשלה רעיתי לסוסי פרעה.
And afterward, at the time of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, it is said, “And the angel of G‑d moved, who was going before the camp,” etc., “and went behind them,” etc. Now, we need to understand what the analogy is, and what it stands for, in “My beloved” being likened to Pharaoh’s horses.
At the Sea the order was reversed: the angel of G‑d who had been going before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. With these two reversals before him, the Alter Rebbe asks what the comparison of the Jewish people to Pharaoh’s horses really means.
הנה אותיות נקראו סוסים6 כמו הסוס שהאדם רוכב עליו ומוליכו כפי רצונו ואעפ״כ הסוס מוליך את האדם למקום רחוק7 מאד אשר בלתי אפשר להגיע לשם בלי סוס.
Now, letters are called horses. [It is] like a horse, which a person rides and steers as he wishes; and yet the horse carries the person to a very distant place, which it would be impossible to reach without a horse.
The answer begins with an analogy: letters, the building blocks of speech, are called “horses.” A rider steers his horse wherever he wants, yet the horse carries him far beyond where he could ever go on foot.
כמו״כ השכל מנהיג את האותיות ורוכב עליהם שלפי ערך השכל כך הוא הדבור אעפ״כ ע״י האותיות מתעלה למעלה יותר מה שאין השכל יכול להשיג כלל.8
So too, the intellect directs the letters and rides upon them, for speech is according to the measure of the intellect; nevertheless, through the letters one rises higher, [to] what the intellect cannot attain at all.
So it is with intellect and speech: the mind directs the words, and a person speaks according to what he understands. Yet the words can lift a person higher than his understanding could ever reach on its own.
The paragraph sets out the verse and the Zohar’s account of Pharaoh’s mares and stallions, pairs it with the change of order at the Exodus and at the Sea, and begins the answer: letters are “horses” that carry the intellect beyond its own reach.
The Kehot notes cite other transcripts of this maamar. One brings the teaching that letters are called horses in the name of the Maggid; another fills out the analogy with a high mountain that a person cannot climb alone, to which the horse carries him, “so the letters are a vehicle for the intellect”; a third says that the letters have a very lofty source and root, and therefore bring their rider at a run to a high place.
Marei mekomos
- 1לסוסתי ברכבי פרעה · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי בסה״מ תקס״ז ע׳ מ, רק חלק קטן. עוד הנחה במאמרי אדה״ז כתובים כרך ב (הוצאה שני׳) ע׳ קיז. עוד הנחה בהנחת הר״פ ע׳ יג. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. הג״ה באוה״ת בשלח ע׳ תקעז. ראה מאמרי אדה״ז כתובים כרך ב ע׳ ע. והנחת הר״פ בס׳ הנחות הר״פ ע׳ ח. בבוך 1113 גוכתי״ק הצ״צ נמצאים קיצורים וכנראה שהם שייכים לד״ה לסוסתי. ב. אותיו׳ נקבות וזכרים תפלה ותורה מכה״כ גלוי סובב (אך התורה משל הקדמוני וגלוי א״ס בתורה ע״י אותיו׳ ואתא מרבבו׳ קדש לכן תרכב על סוסיך אך תחלה צ״ל תפלה העלא׳ כו׳). ג. זלעו״ז — לכן הולך לפניהם כו׳ (ע״י התקשרו׳ בתפלה מתבטלי׳ המ״ז אותיו׳ נוקבין וכן ע״י עסק התורה דוכרין דקדושה מתבטלי׳ הרהורי׳ רעי׳) — כי י׳ חבל נחלתו וע״י עליי׳ שרש נש״י ממילא מתעלי׳ כו׳. ד. כמ״כ בכל יום יצ״מ מהתקשרו׳ הבלי עולם השכל מלך ושריו וושט ורידין תאוו׳. ויצ״מ ק״ש ע״י התבוננו׳ פד״ז הריבוי קדושי׳ נמשכי׳ רק משמך לא כח הפועל בנפעל לא שניתי המרומם לבדו והמתנשא מימות עולם. אלקי׳ חיים ומלך עולם. ומ״מ בלי גבול הקדושי׳ כו׳ לכן צעק לבי לצאת מגבול ק״ש מאדך סוסי׳ נוקבין ומזה והא״ש לאהבה אייתי רוח והחיות רו״ש ונתתי מטר יושב ושונה כנגדו ודברת הנהגה מלכתא אשר אנכי כו׳ וזהו אני כו׳.
- 2לסוסתי ברכבי פרעה · Song of Songs 1:9
- 3לסוסתי ברכבי פרעה · Zohar, Beshalach 5:63–7:71
- 4וה׳ הולך לפניהם · Exodus 13:21
- 5ויסע מלאך האלקים · Exodus 14:19
- 6אותיות נקראו סוסים · ראה בס׳ הנחות הר״פ ע׳ א בשם הה״מ.
- 7שו״ה האדם — הסוס מוליך את האדם למקום רחוק · בהנחת הר״פ ע׳ ח מביא המשל ”ד״מ הר גבוה ונישא אשר האדם לבדו לא יוכל לילך והסוס נושא אותו לשם כמו״כ אותי׳ הם מרכב לגבי השכל”.
- 8שו״ה שאין השכל — להשיג כלל · בבוך 1824 נוסף: ”(והנה יש שני מיני אותיות אותיות זכרים ואותיות נקבות והיינו סוסים זכרים וסו׳ נקבות)”. בהנחת הר״פ ע׳ ט מוסיף אחר הענין להשיג כלל ”וכמבואר לעיל ג״כ מזה בזהר פ׳ ויחי קצת באריכות מקור ושרש האותיות מאד נעלה ולבעבור זה אותי׳ נק׳ סוסים שהם מביאים במרוצה את רוכבו למקום גבוה ונעלה” — מה שכתב לעיל פ׳ ויחי, הכוונה להמאמר שנדפס בהנחת הר״פ ע׳ א, והנחת אדה״א בס׳ תקס״ז ע׳ יא, ובתוספות הגהות מכ״ק הצ״צ באוה״ת בראשית כרך א ע׳ תתשמב, ב.
2והיינו ע״י אותיות התפלה.1 אך אעפ״כ צ״ל התבוננות ג״כ. אם לא מי שערכו פחות מלהתבונן כלל שלזה בהכרח להעמיק אף בהאותיות לבד
That is, through the letters of prayer. But even so, there must also be contemplation; unless [it is] someone whose stature is too small to contemplate at all, for whom it is necessary to go deep even into the letters alone,
The horses that carry a person beyond his intellect are the letters of the words of prayer. Even so, prayer also needs contemplation (hisbonenus) of G‑d’s greatness; only someone who is unable to contemplate at all must put all his depth into the words themselves.
כמ״ש בא אתה2 וכל ביתך אל התבה וע״י האותיות יכול לעלות כאשר יבואר לקמן בעז״ה.
as it is written, “Come, you and all your household, into the ark”; and through the letters he can ascend, as will be explained below, with G‑d’s help.
G‑d told Noach to come into the teivah, the ark; in Chassidic teaching teivah is also read as “word,” so the verse becomes a call to enter wholly into the words of prayer. Through the letters themselves such a person can rise, and the Alter Rebbe promises to explain this further on.
אך אעפ״כ כתיב לא בגבורת3 הסוס יחפץ כו׳ שאעפ״כ אין רצון וחפץ ה׳ שורה בבחי׳ האותיות כנ״ל שהם רק בחי׳ שוקיים כ״א רוצה ה׳ את יראיו4 כו׳:
But even so, it is written, “He does not desire the strength of the horse,” etc.: that even so, G‑d’s will and desire do not rest on the level of the letters mentioned above, which are only the level of “legs”; rather, “G‑d desires those who fear Him,” etc.
Yet the letters are not the goal. The psalm says that G‑d “does not desire the strength of the horse, nor want the legs of a man; G‑d desires those who fear Him”: the letters are only “legs,” the means of travel, while G‑d’s will rests on the awe of Him that they serve.
The paragraph identifies the “horses” as the letters of prayer, requires that they be joined to contemplation, and cautions that G‑d’s desire is not in the letters themselves but in the awe of Him.
A transcript quoted in the Kehot notes makes the connection explicit: “Come, you and all your household, into the ark” means through the letters of prayer, which are called horses. A gloss in Or HaTorah adds that the soul’s “going” comes about only through its being clothed in the animal soul, whereas the angels are called “standing.”
Marei mekomos
- 1והיינו ע״י אותיות התפלה · בהנחת הר״פ ע׳ ט ”והנה כתיב בא אתה וכל ביתך אל התיבה, היינו ע״י אותיות התפלה הנק׳ סוסים”. באוה״ת פ׳ בשלח ע׳ תקעז נמצא הג״ה השייך לכאן: והנה הילוך זה דוקא ע״י התלבשות בנה״ב, משא״כ המלאכים נק׳ עומדים כי סוס שבו וע״י ההילוך היינו לפי שהוא משם ס״ג שלמעלה משם מ״ה, ועיין בד״ה ונתתי לך מהלכים, ובביאור ע״פ וקבל היהודים, עכ״ה. ראה גם הוספות לכש״ט (הוצאת קה״ת) סי׳ ז ואילך.
- 2בא אתה · Genesis 7:1
- 3לא בגבורת · Psalms 147:10
- 4רוצה ה׳ את יראיו · Psalms 147:11
Female and male letters ¶3–4
3והנה יש ב׳ מיני אותיות1 אותיות זכרים ואותיות נקבות אותיות נקבות היינו ההעלאה שממטה למעלה ע״י האותיות הנ״ל באתעדל״ת ועי״ז באתעדל״ת אתעדל״ע
Now, there are two kinds of letters: male letters and female letters. Female letters are the ascent from below upward through the letters mentioned above, by an arousal from below; and through this, by an arousal from below, [comes] an arousal from above,
The Alter Rebbe now distinguishes two kinds of letters. “Female letters” are the movement from below upward, the human initiative of prayer, and this arousal from below calls forth a response from above.
for “a spirit brings a spirit and draws forth a spirit” (for it is the way of a man to go in search of a woman): a drawing down from above to below, from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin),
The Zohar’s principle “a spirit brings a spirit and draws forth a spirit” means that a stirring below draws a matching stirring from above; the parenthetical remark adds the Talmud’s image that it is the way of a man to seek a woman. What comes down in response is from sovev, the light that surrounds all worlds rather than entering them.
שהוא בלי גבול דלית מחשבה תפיסא ביה4 למעלה מהשגה להיות בחי׳ גלוי למטה ע״י סוסים זכרים והיינו באותיות התורה להיות השמים והארץ אני מלא5 ממש.
which is without limit, for “no thought can grasp Him,” above comprehension, so that it becomes revealed below through male horses, that is, through the letters of the Torah, so that there will be, in actual fact, “The heavens and the earth I fill.”
That light is infinite, beyond the grasp of any thought. It is revealed below through the “male horses,” the letters of the Torah, so that G‑d’s words “The heavens and the earth I fill” become true in actual fact.
דהנה לכאורה תמוה לפעמים כתיב מכה״א כבודו6 שאינו רק כבודו ולא מהותו ועצמותו ולפעמים אמר השמים והארץ אני מלא דהיינו מהו״ע שהוא בחי׳ אני ממש.
For at first glance it is puzzling: sometimes it is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” which is only His glory and not His very being and essence; and sometimes He said, “The heavens and the earth I fill,” that is, His very being and essence, which is the level of the very “I.”
Here is the difficulty: Isaiah’s verse says that “the whole earth is full of His glory,” which is only a radiance of G‑d and not His essence, while in Jeremiah G‑d says “I fill the heavens and the earth,” speaking of His very self. Which is it?
אך שניהם אמת שבאמת אני מלא ממש. אך איך יוכל להתלבש בעולם הגשמי והשפל ומלא קליפות זהו
But both are true, for in truth “I fill,” in actual fact. But how can He be clothed in the physical and lowly world, full of kelipos (husks)? This is
Both are true: G‑d’s very self does fill the world. The real question is how His essence can be clothed in a physical, lowly world full of kelipos, the forces that conceal holiness.
through “The whole earth is full of His glory,” and “there is no glory but Torah.” Kavod (glory) is numerically thirty-two, and these are the thirty-two paths of Chochmah (wisdom), which is the wisdom of the Torah;
The answer is through His “glory,” and the Mishnah teaches that “there is no glory but Torah.” The word kavod (כבוד, glory) has the numerical value thirty-two (20+2+6+4), matching the thirty-two paths of wisdom, which are the wisdom of the Torah.
כי אורייתא מחכמה נפקת910 ועי״ז יוכל להיות את השמים ואת הארץ אני מלא ממש ע״י התלבשותו באותיות התורה שהם אותיות זכרים המשכה מלמעלה למטה
for “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah.” And through this there can be, in actual fact, “The heavens and the earth I fill,” through His being clothed in the letters of the Torah, which are male letters, a drawing down from above to below.
As the Zohar says, the Torah comes forth from Chochmah. Because G‑d is clothed in the letters of the Torah, the “male letters” that bring light down from above, His very self can fill heaven and earth.
וכמארז״ל כל היושב ושונה11 הקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו12 היינו מה שהוא קדוש ומובדל שאף בחי׳ חכמה נחשבת אצלו כבחי׳ עשי׳ גשמיית כמ״ש כלם בחכמה עשית13 ויומשך ויתגלה למטה ע״י אותיות התורה.14
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Whoever sits and studies, the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him.” That is: He Who is holy and set apart, before Whom even the level of Chochmah is considered like the level of physical action (asiyah), as it is written, “You made them all with wisdom,” is drawn down and revealed below through the letters of the Torah.
The teaching of Tanna Devei Eliyahu that when a person studies Torah, G‑d studies opposite him, shows this drawing down. G‑d is so far above the world that even Chochmah is to Him like physical action, as the verse says, “You made them all with wisdom”; yet He is revealed below through the letters of the Torah.
The paragraph defines female letters, the ascent of prayer from below, and male letters, the Torah’s drawing down of the infinite light, and shows how G‑d’s very self fills the world by being clothed in the letters of the Torah.
In a parallel passage of Torah Ohr (Vayeshev, 30b) the Alter Rebbe explains “His glory” as G‑d’s being clothed, links kavod = 32 to the thirty-two paths of wisdom because the Infinite Light is clothed in Chochmah, and brings the same verse, “You made them all with wisdom.” The phrase “no thought can grasp Him” comes from Elijah’s prayer in the Tikkunei Zohar (Patach Eliyahu); the maamar identifies it here with sovev.
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה יש ב׳ מיני אותיות · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ בשלח ע׳ תרכה. המשך תרס״ו ע׳ רז ואילך [שם מיוסד על תו״ח בשלח קנ, א ואילך].
- 2רוח אייתי רוח · Zohar II, 162b
- 3דרכו של איש לחזר · Kiddushin 2b:13–14
- 4דלית מחשבה תפיסא ביה · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:10
- 5השמים והארץ אני מלא · Jeremiah 23:24
- 6מכה״א כבודו · Isaiah 6:3
- 7ואין כבוד אלא תורה · אבות ו, ג.
- 8ואין כבוד אלא תורה · Pirkei Avot 6:3
- 9אורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar II, 121a
- 10אורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar, Yitro 21:378–22:389
- 11כל היושב ושונה · ראה תדב״א רבה רפי״ח.
- 12כל היושב ושונה הקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו · Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 18:1–2
- 13כלם בחכמה עשית · Psalms 104:24
- 14כבוד בגימט׳ ל״ב · ראה גם לעיל ל, ב. לקו״ת שה״ש מז, ג.
And this is [why] concerning the Giving of the Torah it is said, “When You ride upon Your horses,” etc. That is, the level of male horses mentioned above.
Habakkuk’s image of G‑d riding upon His horses is applied to the Giving of the Torah. These are the “male horses,” the letters of the Torah that carry G‑d’s light down into the world.
וזהו מדלג על ההרים2 מקפץ כו׳ שהוא בבחי׳ דילוג ממקום למקום והיינו המשכה מלמעלה מבחי׳ סובב שיומשך ויתגלה למטה כמ״ש וירד ה׳ על הר סיני3 וכל העם רואים4 את הקולות כו׳.
And this is [the meaning of] “leaping over the mountains, bounding,” etc.: that it is in the manner of leaping from place to place, that is, a drawing down from above, from the level of sovev, so that it is drawn down and revealed below; as it is written, “And G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai,” and “All the people saw the voices,” etc.
The Song of Songs describes the beloved “leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills”: a leap skips the places in between. So at Sinai, light from sovev, beyond the ordered descent of the worlds, came straight down: “G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai,” and the people “saw the voices,” seeing what is ordinarily only heard.
The paragraph identifies the male horses with the Giving of the Torah, when G‑d’s infinite light leapt down past every level and was revealed at Sinai.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי תרכב על סוסיך · Habakkuk 3:8
- 2מדלג על ההרים · Song of Songs 2:8
- 3וירד ה׳ על הר סיני · Exodus 19:20
- 4וכל העם רואים · Exodus 20:15
The horses of kelipah ¶5–7
5והנה זה לעו״ז עשה האלקים1 כמו שבקדושה יש ב׳ בחי׳ סוסים הנ״ל אתוון נוק׳ ואתוון דכורין מלמעלה למטה וממט׳ למעלה.
Now, “G‑d has made the one opposite the other”: as in holiness there are the two kinds of horses mentioned above, female letters and male letters, from above to below and from below to above.
Ecclesiastes says that G‑d made one thing opposite the other: whatever exists in holiness has a counterpart on the opposing side. Holiness has two kinds of horses, the female letters that rise from below and the male letters that come down from above.
כמו״כ בקליפות יש ג״כ ב׳ בחינות האותיות והיינו שע״י התקשרותו להבלי עולם בדב״ט ומכ״ש לה״ר והוא בחי׳ אותיות נקבות הנה האותיות מוליכים אותו למקום רחוק מאד.
So too, in the kelipos (husks) there are likewise two kinds of letters. That is: through a person’s attachment to the vanities of the world in idle talk, and all the more so in evil speech, which is the level of female letters, then the letters carry him to a very distant place.
The kelipos, the forces that conceal G‑dliness, have both kinds as well. Their “female letters” are a person’s own words spent on the world’s vanities, idle talk and all the more so evil speech; like the horse in the analogy, these letters carry him far, but away from holiness.
The paragraph turns to the side opposed to holiness, which has its own female letters: words of idle talk and evil speech that carry a person far from G‑d.
Marei mekomos
- 1זה לעו״ז עשה האלקים · Ecclesiastes 7:14
6והיינו לעומק הקליפות בחי׳ מקיף שלהם שנק׳ פרעה עורף1 כו׳ להמשיך עליו המשכה מלמעלה מבחינת המקיף שלהם להקיפו ולהלבישו
That is, to the depth of the kelipos (husks), the level of their encompassing [light], which is called Pharaoh, “the nape” (oref), etc.: to draw upon him a drawing down from above, from the level of their encompassing [light], to encompass him and clothe him.
The words of vanity carry a person into the depth of the kelipos, to their makif, their encompassing level. In the Arizal’s teaching this level is called Pharaoh, whose name has the letters of הערף, “the nape” (the back of the neck); from there a flow comes down upon the person, surrounding and clothing him.
והוא בחי׳ הבל ורעות רוח ונעשים לבושים צואים עליו והוא בחי׳ סוסים זכרים אותיות זכרים שנעשים ע״י אותיות נקבות הנ״ל כי בההפוך אמר ג״כ רוח אייתי רוח2 וכו׳.
And this is the level of “vanity and chasing after wind,” and they become soiled garments upon him. And this is the level of male horses, male letters, which come about through the female letters mentioned above; for of the opposite [side], too, it is said, “a spirit brings a spirit,” etc.
What surrounds him is “vanity and chasing after wind,” and it becomes soiled garments upon him. This is the kelipah’s version of the “male horses,” a flow from above brought on by the person’s own “female letters,” for the rule “a spirit brings a spirit” works on the opposite side as well.
The paragraph completes the parallel in kelipah: idle and evil words draw down upon a person a surrounding flow of vanity from the depth of kelipah, which clothes him like soiled garments.
For Pharaoh as “the nape,” the Kehot note points to the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah at the beginning of Vayeshev and of Shemos, and to many other places.
Marei mekomos
- 1שנק׳ פרעה עורף · ראה לקו״ת להאריז״ל ר״פ וישב ור״פ שמות. ובכ״מ.
- 2רוח אייתי רוח · Zohar, Terumah 64:660–66:669
7והנה פרעה רדף אחר ישראל בשעת יצ״מ כמ״ש וירדף פרעה שרצה להוריד ולהמשיך את נש״י לתוך עומק הקליפות.
Now, Pharaoh pursued Israel at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, as it is written, “And Pharaoh pursued”: for he wanted to bring down and draw the souls of Israel into the depth of the kelipos (husks).
Pharaoh’s pursuit of Israel after the Exodus is read as an attempt to drag the souls of Israel down into the depth of kelipah.
וע״כ העמיד סוסים נקבות תחלה בכדי שעי״ז יהי׳ המשכה מלמעלה ג״כ מעומק הקליפות כי דרכו של איש1 כו׳.
Therefore he set female horses first, so that through this there would also be a drawing down from above, from the depth of the kelipos, for “it is the way of a man,” etc.
That is why he put the mares first: to set off an arousal from below on his side that would draw down a flow from the depth of kelipah, just as “it is the way of a man” to seek a woman.
אך הקב״ה הפך ועשה את הסוסים שני אותיות האלו באלקות בכדי להיות המשכת אלקות למטה כנ״ל.
But the Holy One, blessed be He, reversed [this] and made the horses, these two [kinds of] letters, in G‑dliness, so that there would be a drawing down of G‑dliness below, as mentioned above.
G‑d turned Pharaoh’s design around: He made both kinds of “horses,” the female and the male letters, work in holiness, so that G‑dliness would be drawn down into the world.
And this is [the meaning of] “And G‑d went before them by day,” etc.; and afterward, at the time of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, it became the reverse: “And the angel moved and went behind them,” as mentioned above.
This reversal is seen in the verses: at the Exodus G‑d went before Israel, and at the Sea the order was reversed and the angel moved and went behind them. The change of order in G‑d’s leading mirrors the change Pharaoh made in his horses.
The paragraph applies the analogy to the Exodus itself: Pharaoh tried to use the two kinds of horses to drag Israel into kelipah, and G‑d reversed this and used them to draw G‑dliness down.
The summary of this maamar in the Tzemach Tzedek’s handwriting, quoted in the Kehot notes, adds that through attachment to G‑d in prayer the opposing female letters are nullified, and through Torah study, the male letters of holiness, evil thoughts are nullified.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי דרכו של איש · Kiddushin 2b:8–9
- 2וה׳ הולך לפניהם יומם · Exodus 13:21
- 3ויסע מלאך וילך מאחריהם · Exodus 14:19
The daily Exodus ¶8–11
8והנה כ״ז הוא ע״פ תורה. וכמו״כ הוא ע״פ עבודת ה׳ כי הנה בכל נפש ישראל צ״ל בכל יום בחי׳ יצ״מ וקי״ס כמ״ש למען תזכר את יום צאתך1 מארץ מצרים וגו׳.
Now, all this is in terms of the Torah. And so too it is in terms of the service of G‑d: for in every Jewish soul there must be, every day, the aspect of the Exodus from Egypt and of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, as it is written, “So that you remember the day you went out of the land of Egypt,” etc.
The Alter Rebbe moves from the Torah’s account to the inner service of every Jew: each day must have its own Exodus from Egypt and its own splitting of the Sea. The Torah commands remembering the day of the Exodus “all the days of your life.”
וכמארז״ל בכל יום יהיה בעיניך כאלו היום יצאת מאמ״צ וגם בק״ש אומרים בכל יום אני הוי״ה אלקיכם2 כו׳
And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: every day it should be in your eyes as if you went out of the land of Egypt today. And also in the Shema we say every day, “I am Havayah your G‑d,” etc.,
The Sages teach that a person should see himself every day as if he left Egypt that very day. The Shema, said every day, ends with G‑d’s words, “I am Havayah your G‑d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
מארץ מצרים כו׳ וגם באמוי״צ נאמר וים סוף להם בקעת כו׳ שצ״ל בכל יום שני בחינות הנ״ל
“…from the land of Egypt,” etc. And also in Emes Veyatziv it is said, “And the Sea of Reeds You split for them,” etc. For there must be, every day, the two aspects mentioned above.
The blessing after the morning Shema, Emes Veyatziv, also speaks of the splitting of the Sea. So both, the Exodus and the Sea, belong to every day’s prayer.
כי כל העולמות נק׳ מצרים שהם מבחי׳ מצרים וגבולי׳ כמו מן הארץ לרקיע מהלך ת״ק שנה3 כו׳
For all the worlds are called Mitzrayim (Egypt), since they are of the nature of meitzarim (straits) and limits, as in “From the earth to the firmament is a journey of five hundred years,” etc.,
Why every day? Mitzrayim, Egypt, is read as meitzarim, straits and limits, and every created world is bounded. The Talmud measures even the distance from the earth to the firmament as a journey of five hundred years: vast, but finite.
וכן שית אלפי שנין45 הוי עלמא כו׳ וגלות מצרים נק׳ ההתקשרות בזה העולם הגשמי והמוגבל6 ומלך מצרים נק׳ השכל של הבלי העולם.7
and likewise “The world exists for six thousand years,” etc. And the exile of Egypt is the name for attachment to this physical and limited world, and “the king of Egypt” is the name for the intellect of the vanities of the world.
Time, too, is bounded: the world exists for six thousand years. The inner exile in Egypt is a person’s attachment to this limited physical world, and “the king of Egypt” is the intellect that is occupied with its vanities.
The paragraph turns the story into daily service: every world is Mitzrayim, a place of limits, and a person’s exile is his attachment to a limited world, ruled by an intellect given to its vanities.
The Kehot notes quote the parallel text in Or HaTorah, which adds that this is the meaning of Mitzrayim, from meitzarim, “straits and limits,” and explains “the king of Egypt” as the wisdom of kelipah.
Marei mekomos
- 1למען תזכר את יום צאתך · Deuteronomy 16:3
- 2אני הוי״ה אלקיכם · Numbers 15:41
- 3מן הארץ לרקיע מהלך ת״ק שנה · Chagigah 13a:3
- 4שית אלפי שנין הוי עלמא · ראש השנה לא, ג.
- 5שית אלפי שנין הוי עלמא · Rosh Hashanah 31a:8–9
- 6בזה העולם הגשמי והמוגבל · באוה״ת פ׳ בא כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תריא מוסיף: ”(דזהו פי׳ מצרים לשון מצרים וגבולים, וע׳ בלקו״ת בשה״ש בד״ה קול דודי)”.
- 7ומלך מצרים נק׳ השכל של הבלי העולם · באוה״ת שם ”(א״כ מפרש מלך מצרים חכמה דקליפה)”. ע״ש עוד.
9וכשנעשה התקשרות לזה העולם כ״כ בחוזק עד שהוא בלי שכל כלל בלי טעם ודעת נק׳ אז וימת מלך מצרים
And when the attachment to this world becomes so strong that it is without any intellect at all, without reason or knowledge, it is then called “And the king of Egypt died.”
The Alter Rebbe describes a further stage of the inner Egypt: a person’s bond to the world can grow so strong that it no longer follows any reasoning at all. This is called “the king of Egypt died”: the worldly intellect, the “king,” no longer rules, and the attachment has no reason behind it.
And then, “The children of Israel sighed from the labor, and they cried out”: that there comes about, in the Shema, “their heart cried out,” on the level of “and with all your might,” which is without limit;
In the verse, after the king of Egypt died, the children of Israel sighed from their labor and cried out. In a person’s service this is the cry of the heart in the Shema, at the level of “with all your might” (bechol me’odecha), a love that knows no limit.
דהיינו לצאת מן החושך וגבול הנק׳ מצרים רק להיות צעק לבם למהותו ועצמותו ממש והוא בחי׳ יצ״מ. אך איך יבא לבחי׳ בכל מאדך הנ״ל. הנה זהו ע״י התבוננות בפסוד״ז מב״ש וכו׳.4
that is, to go out of the darkness and limitation called Mitzrayim, only so that their heart cries out to His very being and essence. And this is the level of the Exodus from Egypt. But how does one come to the level of “with all your might” mentioned above? This is through contemplation in Pesukei Dezimra, from Baruch She’amar on, etc.
Such a love breaks out of the darkness and limits of “Mitzrayim” and cries out only to G‑d’s very being and essence; this is the daily Exodus from Egypt. A person reaches it through contemplation in Pesukei Dezimra, the psalms of praise said from Baruch She’amar on, before the Shema.
The paragraph describes the daily Exodus: from the deepest attachment to the world comes the heart’s cry in the Shema, a love “with all your might” without limit, which a person reaches through contemplation in the morning prayers.
Likkutei Torah on Re’eh refers to this very passage of the maamar: because G‑d made the one opposite the other, the other side too has a will above reason, so a person can want worldly things with a force beyond all reason. It goes on to identify love “with all your might” with the yechidah, the highest level of the soul, because me’od, “might,” is without limit.
Marei mekomos
- 1וימת מלך מצרים ואזי ויאנחו בנ״י מן העבודה ויזעקו · Exodus 2:23
- 2צעק לבם · Lamentations 2:18
- 3ובכל מאדך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 4שו״ה הבלי — וכשנעשה התקשרות · ראה לקו״ת ראה כה, א.
And the main thing is in the blessings of the Shema, the “two before it,” etc.; that is, “Creator of holy beings, may Your Name be praised forever.” Now, “forever” is without limit.
The main contemplation comes in the two blessings before the Shema. The first speaks of G‑d as “Creator of holy beings” and says “may Your Name be praised forever (la’ad)”; the Alter Rebbe reads “forever” as “without limit.”
כי הנה הארץ הגשמית היא בבחי׳ גבול ממש אבל ברוחניות והיינו מלאכים ונשמות הם בלי גבול ממש כמ״ש היש מספר לגדודיו2 כו׳ שהם בלי גבול.
For the physical earth is truly limited; but in spirituality, that is, angels and souls, they are truly without limit, as it is written, “Is there any number to His legions?” etc., for they are without limit.
The physical earth is bounded, but spiritual beings, angels and souls, are beyond number, as Job says: “Is there any number to His legions?”
The paragraph points to the blessings before the Shema, which describe the angels and souls, beings without number, praising G‑d’s Name “forever.”
Marei mekomos
- 1בשתים שלפניה · Mishnah Berakhot 1:4
- 2היש מספר לגדודיו · Job 25:3
11ועי״ז ישתבח שמך לעד שחיותם אינו אלא מבחי׳ שמו לבד שאינו כמו כח הפועל בנפעל1 שמתלבש ממש בנפעל בבחי׳ שינוי אבל לפניו אין שינוי כלל.
And through this, “may Your Name be praised forever”: for their life-force is only from the level of His Name alone, which is not like the power of the maker in the thing made, which is actually clothed in the thing made, in a manner of change; but before Him there is no change at all.
All these limitless beings draw their life only from G‑d’s “Name,” an expression of Him, and not from His essence. It is not like a craftsman whose power goes into his work and is changed by it: G‑d is not changed at all by creating.
כמ״ש אני הוי״ה לא שניתי2 כו׳ המרומם לבדו מאז שכמו שקודם בריאת העולמו׳ היה הוא מרומם לבדו כן עתה הוא בלי שינוי כלל המתנשא מימו״ע רק חיות כל העולמות אינו
As it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed,” etc. “He Who alone was exalted from of old”: just as before the creation of the worlds He alone was exalted, so now He is without any change at all, “Who is elevated from days of old.” However, the life-force of all the worlds is nothing
Malachi’s “I, Havayah, have not changed” says this, and so do the words of the morning prayers, “He Who alone was exalted from of old … Who is elevated from days of old”: as He was alone before creation, so He is now.
אלא מבחי׳ שמו נק׳ עליהם שהוא מלך עליהם כמאמר אלקים חיים ומלך עולם3 היינו שמחיה כל העולמות רק בבחי׳ שהוא מלך עליהם שמו לבד ואעפ״כ הוא בלי גבול ששמו הוא ג״כ בלי גבול.
but from the level of His Name, which is called upon them, in that He is King over them, as it says, “the living G‑d and eternal King”: that is, He gives life to all the worlds only in that He is King over them, His Name alone. And even so, it is without limit, for His Name, too, is without limit.
The worlds live because His Name is “called upon them” as their King; Jeremiah calls Him “the living G‑d and eternal King,” Who gives life as King. Yet His Name, too, is without limit, so the beings it sustains are beyond number.
וזהו בורא קדושים ישתבח שמך לעד כו׳ כנ״ל אבל מהותו ועצמותו רם ומתנשא כו׳:
And this is [the meaning of] “Creator of holy beings, may Your Name be praised forever,” etc., as explained above; but His very being and essence is high and exalted, etc.
This is the meaning of the blessing: the limitless “holy beings” praise only His Name, while His own being and essence is high and exalted above it all.
The paragraph explains that all of creation, even the limitless angels and souls, lives only from G‑d’s Name, while He Himself remains unchanged and exalted above it.
Further on in Torah Ohr (Megillas Esther) the Alter Rebbe explains that “creating” implies the power of the maker in the thing made, which fits only G‑d’s Names; of His essence it is said “He commanded and they were created,” and even the level of sovev is only “His Name alone.”
Marei mekomos
- 1כח הפועל בנפעל · ראה לקמן צו, ג במ״מ.
- 2אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 3אלקים חיים ומלך עולם · Jeremiah 10:10
Love below and love above ¶12–13
12והנה אחר שיתבונן כל זאת ואזי ממילא יתעורר מזה בק״ש להיות ואהבת כו׳. בכל מאדך1 בלי גבול לצאת מהחשך כו׳
Now, after one contemplates all this, then, as a matter of course, one will be stirred by it, in the Shema, so that there is “And you shall love,” etc., “with all your might,” without limit, to go out of the darkness, etc.,
Having contemplated that all of creation, however vast, is only His Name, a person is stirred in the Shema to “You shall love … with all your might,” a love beyond limit that seeks to leave the darkness of limitation.
ורק להיות צעק לבם למהותו ועצמותו ממש באתעדל״ת והוא בחי׳ אתוון נוקבין ועי״ז באתעדל״ת אתעדל״ע לעורר האהבה למעלה ג״כ והוא פ׳ שניה שבק״ש שהוא לאהבה את2 ה׳ אלקיכם וגו׳
and only so that “their heart cries out” to His very being and essence, by an arousal from below. And this is the level of female letters. And through this, by an arousal from below [comes] an arousal from above, to arouse love above as well. And this is the second paragraph of the Shema, which is “to love Havayah your G‑d,” etc.
The heart cries out to G‑d’s essence alone; this is the arousal from below, the “female letters.” It draws an arousal from above, love from G‑d’s side, which the second paragraph of the Shema expresses in the words “to love Havayah your G‑d.”
דאינו לשון שם דבר כמו לאהוב רק לאהבה לעשו׳ אהבה למעלה שיומשך אלקות למטה הוי״ה אלקיך ממש.
For it is not a verbal noun like le’ehov (“to love”), but le’ahavah: to bring about love above, so that G‑dliness is drawn down below: Havayah, truly your G‑d.
The Alter Rebbe reads le’ahavah not as the verb “to love” but as “for love”: to bring about love above, so that G‑dliness comes down and Havayah, the Name beyond the world, becomes truly “your G‑d.”
דהנה לאו מכל אלין מדות כלל3 ואיך יהיה אהבה למעל׳ רק ע״י אתעדל״ת בבחי׳ אהבה מלמטה אתוון נוקבין ואהבת וגו׳ אזי ממילא נעשה אהבה למעלה ג״כ כי רוח אייתי רוח4 כו׳.
For [He is] “not of these attributes at all”; so how can there be love above? Only through an arousal from below, in the form of love from below, female letters, “And you shall love,” etc.; then, as a matter of course, love comes about above as well, for “a spirit brings a spirit,” etc.
G‑d in Himself is “not of these attributes at all”: love and the other attributes do not apply to Him. Love above comes about only in response to our love below, by the principle “a spirit brings a spirit.”
The paragraph shows how contemplation leads to the limitless love of the first paragraph of the Shema, an arousal from below, which brings love from above, expressed in the second paragraph.
Marei mekomos
- 1בכל מאדך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 2לאהבה את ה׳ אלקיכם · Deuteronomy 11:13
- 3לאו מכל אלין מדות כלל · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:5–7
- 4רוח אייתי רוח · Zohar, Terumah 64:660–66:669
13וזהו והחיות רו״ש1 שהוא אותיות נקבות ואותיות זכרים וזה נקרא אותיות זכרים דהיינו המשכה מלמעלה למטה שיהיה הוי״ה אלקיך ממש
And this is [the meaning of] “And the chayos (holy creatures) ran and returned”: which is female letters and male letters. And this is called male letters, that is, a drawing down from above to below, so that Havayah will truly be your G‑d.
Ezekiel saw the chayos, the holy creatures, “running and returning.” Their running up is the female letters; their returning down is the male letters, the drawing from above, so that Havayah becomes truly “your G‑d.”
ועי״ז יכולים לומר אח״כ ונתתי עשב בשדך2 ונתתי מטר ארצכם3 וגו׳ דלכאורה איך אומרים ונתתי כו׳ אלא רק מחמת שנמשך מלמעלה להיות הוי״ה אלקיכם ממש
And through this we can afterward say, “And I will give grass in your field,” and “I will give the rain of your land,” etc. For seemingly, how do we say “And I will give”? Only because it has been drawn down from above, so that Havayah is truly your G‑d,
This is why, in the second paragraph of the Shema, a person can say G‑d’s own words, “I will give rain … I will give grass.” How can a person speak in G‑d’s first person? Only because G‑dliness has been drawn down from above.
וע״י התלבשותו באותיות התורה שהן אתוון דכורין שהקב״ה יושב ושונה כנגדו4 שקדוש ומובדל ממש מתלבש באותיות התורה להיות ואשים דברי בפיך5 ממש
and through His being clothed in the letters of the Torah, which are male letters; for the Holy One, blessed be He, “sits and studies opposite him”: He Who is truly holy and set apart is clothed in the letters of the Torah, so that there is truly “And I have put My words in your mouth,”
The drawing down comes through the letters of the Torah, the male letters, in which G‑d “sits and studies opposite” the one who learns. Then Isaiah’s words “I have put My words in your mouth” are literally true: G‑d’s own words are in the person’s mouth.
as it is written, “And you shall speak in them,” and it does not say “And you shall speak them”; that is, “in them,” literally. “Our Mishnah is a queen”; “Who are kings? The Sages.” That is,
The Shema says vedibarta bam, “you shall speak in them,” and not “speak them”: the speaker is inside the words, and they are G‑d’s. In the same vein come the Talmud’s phrases “our Mishnah is a queen” and “Who are kings? The Sages.”
כמו מלך שגוזר ומצוה על מדינתו ברצונו כך הם רבנן גוזרים על כשר פסול טמא וטהור שהוא דברי בפיך ממש
like a king who decrees and commands over his country by his will, so the Sages decree what is valid, invalid, impure and pure; and this is truly “My words in your mouth.”
Like a king whose word is law in his country, the Sages rule what is valid or invalid, impure or pure. Their rulings carry G‑d’s will because His words are in their mouths.
And this is [the meaning of] “These words which I” — Who I am — “command you,” etc. And through this we can afterward say, “And I will give rain,” etc.
The Shema says “these words which I (anochi) command you,” and the Alter Rebbe adds “Who I am”: the One commanding is G‑d’s very self. This is why we can afterward say, in His name, “I will give rain.”
ובק״ש חותמים אני הוי״ה אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים11 שהוא בחי׳ יציאה מן מצרים וגבולים ורק להיות הוי״ה אלקיכם כו׳.
And in the Shema we conclude, “I am Havayah your G‑d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt,” which is the going out from meitzarim (straits) and limits, and only so that Havayah will be your G‑d, etc.
The Shema closes with “I am Havayah your G‑d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt”: going out of meitzarim, straits and limits, so that Havayah alone is “your G‑d.”
והוא אתעדל״ע אותיות זכרים שבאים אחרי אתעדל״ת אותיות נקבות כי דרכו של איש12 כנ״ל:
And this is an arousal from above, male letters, which come after an arousal from below, female letters; for “it is the way of a man,” as mentioned above.
All this is an arousal from above, the male letters, which comes in answer to the arousal from below, the female letters, as “it is the way of a man” to seek a woman.
The paragraph traces the second half of the pattern: after the love from below, G‑d’s essence is drawn down through the letters of the Torah, so that a person can speak G‑d’s own words, as the Shema does in its second and third paragraphs.
Elsewhere in Torah Ohr (Shemos, 49b) the Alter Rebbe explains why the Mishnayos are likened to queens, and at its beginning (Bereishis, 1a) he reads “And these words which I (anochi), Who I am, command you” as the drawing down of G‑d’s revelation through which the Torah comes into being.
Marei mekomos
- 1והחיות רו״ש · Ezekiel 1:14
- 2ונתתי עשב בשדך · Deuteronomy 11:15
- 3ונתתי מטר ארצכם · Deuteronomy 11:14
- 4יושב ושונה כנגדו · Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 18:1–2
- 5ואשים דברי בפיך · Isaiah 51:16
- 6ודברת בם · Deuteronomy 6:7
- 7מתניתין מלכתא · Beitzah 28b:14–15
- 8מאן מלכי רבנן · Gittin 62a:14
- 9הדברים האלה אשר אנכי · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 10אנכי מי שאנכי · נסמן לעיל א, א.
- 11אני הוי״ה אלקיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים · Numbers 15:41
- 12כי דרכו של איש · Kiddushin 2b:8–9
The splitting of the Sea ¶14–16
But there is yet another arousal from above, male letters, which come not through an arousal from below, the female letters, at all.
There is a further arousal from above that no arousal from below calls forth at all: “male letters” with no “female letters” before them.
והוא בחי׳ קריעת ים סוף כי הנה ענין ים הוא שכל מה שיש ביבשה יש בים3 שכל הברואים שיש בים ישנם ג״כ ביבשה
And this is the level of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. For the concept of a sea is that whatever there is on dry land there is in the sea: all the creatures that are in the sea exist on dry land as well,
This is the splitting of the Sea. The Talmud teaches that whatever exists on dry land exists in the sea: the same kinds of creatures live in both.
אלא שבים הם נעלמים ומכוסים וביבשה הם באתגלייא כמו״כ למעלה ג״כ יש בחי׳ ים ובחי׳ יבשה עלמא דאתכסייא ועלמא דאתגלייא וכמו״כ באדם שהוא עולם קטן456 יש ג״כ שכל ומדות מחשבה דבור ומעשה.
except that in the sea they are hidden and covered, while on dry land they are revealed. So too above, there are likewise the level of sea and the level of dry land: the concealed world (alma d’iskasya) and the revealed world (alma d’isgalya). And so too in man, who is a small world, there are likewise intellect and the emotive attributes (middos), thought, speech and action.
In the sea they are covered by water and hidden; on land they are in plain view. Above, too, there is a “sea” and a “dry land,” the concealed world and the revealed world, and a person, “a small world,” has the same structure in his intellect, emotions, thought, speech and action.
שכל הוא בחי׳ עלמא דאתכסייא כי הוא בהעלם ומדות הם בחינת עלמא דאתגלייא שהם בחי׳ גלוי לגבי השכל.
Intellect is the level of the concealed world, for it is hidden; and the emotive attributes are the level of the revealed world, for they are a level of revelation relative to the intellect.
Intellect is the concealed world, at work within the mind, and the emotions are the revealed world, showing outwardly what the intellect holds within.
The paragraph introduces a higher arousal from above, not called forth from below, and prepares to explain it through the splitting of the Sea: sea and dry land as the hidden and the revealed, above and in man.
Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim cites this passage and adds that such drawings come from the level of Atika, and that from there comes the power and strength for the ascent of the “horse” of the arousal from below.
Marei mekomos
- 1יש עוד אתעדל״ע . . שלא ע״י אתעדל״ת כלל · בלקו״ת שה״ש יא, ד מציין ע״ז: והיינו המשכות מבחינת עתיקא כו׳ ע״ש והנה משם הוא שנמשך הכח ועוז לעליית הסוס דאתעדל״ת.
- 2אך הנה יש עוד אתעדל״ע שהם אותיות זכרים · מובא באוה״ת תשא ע׳ א׳תתקסז. ובסה׳מ תרכ״ז ע׳ קנא.
- 3שכל מה שיש ביבשה יש בים · Chullin 127a:12–14
- 4באדם שהוא עולם קטן · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 69 · 100a:6
- 5באדם שהוא עולם קטן · Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 3:3–4
- 6שהוא עולם קטן · Tikkunei Zohar 100a:6
15ומחשבה נק׳ ג״כ בחי׳ גילוי לגבי השכל ודבור הוא יותר בחי׳ גילוי אף לגבי המחשבה כמו״כ למעלה יש מחשבה
And thought, too, is called a level of revelation relative to the intellect; and speech is even more a level of revelation, even relative to thought. So too above, there is thought.
Within a person, thought is more revealed than intellect, and speech is more revealed still. The same holds above: there is a divine “thought.”
ואף דכתיב כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם1 עכ״ז הוא כערך האדם למטה שמחשבתו נק׳ העלם לגבי דבורו. כך למעלה יש בחי׳ העלם שהוא בחי׳ מחשבה.
And although it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” nevertheless it is comparable to man below, whose thought is called concealment relative to his speech. So too above, there is a level of concealment, which is the level of thought.
G‑d’s thoughts are not like ours, as Isaiah says, yet the comparison holds in this respect: as a person’s thought is hidden relative to his speech, so G‑d’s “thought” is a level of concealment relative to His “speech.”
כמ״ש בזוהר כמה מחשבתין אית23 כו׳ שהוא מחשבה למחשבה שמה שנק׳ העלם לגבי למטה הימנו נק׳ בחי׳ גילוי לגבי מדרגה העליון ממנו
As is written in the Zohar, “How many thoughts there are,” etc.: that is, thought relative to thought; for what is called concealment relative to what is below it is called a level of revelation relative to the rank above it.
The Zohar speaks of “how many thoughts there are,” thought above thought. Each level is hidden relative to the one below it and revealed relative to the one above it.
וכן גבוה מעל גבוה4 שהתחתון הוא בחי׳ גילוי לגבי העליון ממנו שהוא בחי׳ העלם ממנו וזה נק׳ השתלשלות העולמות שהוא כמו שלשלת שכ״א אחוז בחבירו.5
And so it is, “higher above higher”: the lower is a level of revelation relative to the one above it, which is a level of concealment relative to it. And this is called the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), which is like a chain (shalsheles), each [link] holding on to the next.
This is “higher above higher”: every lower level is the revelation of a higher one. It is called hishtalshelus, from shalsheles, a chain, because each level is linked to the next like the rings of a chain.
כמו כן השתלשלות כל העולמות שהוא גבוה מעל גבוה עילה ועלול העלם וגילוי כו׳ אבל לגבי מהותו ועצמותו עצמות המאציל שלמעלה מעלה מהשתלשלות העולמות
So too, the chain of descent of all the worlds is higher above higher: cause and effect, concealment and revelation, etc. But relative to His very being and essence, the Essence of the Emanator, Who is far above the chain of descending worlds,
The whole order of the worlds is built this way, as cause and effect, concealment and revelation. But G‑d’s own essence, the Emanator, is far above this chain.
שהם נעלמים אין שייך לפניו כלל מעלה ומטה גם חשך לא יחשיך ממך ולילה כיום יאיר6 כו׳:
which are hidden, above and below have no relevance before Him at all: “Even darkness is not dark for You, and night shines like day,” etc.
Before Him the distinctions of above and below, hidden and revealed, do not apply at all, as the psalm says: “Even darkness is not dark for You, and night shines like day.”
The paragraph describes the chain of worlds as a ladder of concealment and revelation, and sets G‑d’s essence above it, where hidden and revealed are the same.
In Likkutei Torah (Va’eschanan) the Alter Rebbe explains hishtalshelus as a chain whose rings hold one another, light and light of light, from intellect to emotions to thought and speech, and notes that “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” for G‑d’s speech creates, which human speech cannot.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
- 2כמ״ש בזוהר כמה מחשבתין אית · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 69 · 103a:6
- 3כמה מחשבתין אית · Tikkunei Zohar 115a:1
- 4גבוה מעל גבוה · Ecclesiastes 5:7
- 5כמו שלשלת שכ״א אחוז בחבירו · ראה לקו״ת ואתחנן יב, א. ברכה צח, ב. אוה״ת ואתחנן כרך ה ע׳ ב׳ד.
- 6גם חשך לא יחשיך ממך ולילה כיום יאיר · Psalms 139:12
16והנה בשעת קי״ס הי׳ התגלות מהותו ועצמותו ממש שלמעלה מהשתלשלות ועי״ז ים ויבשה שוין ממש ונעשה מים יבשה מהעלם גילוי
Now, at the time of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds there was a revelation of His very being and essence, which is above the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus); and through this, sea and dry land were truly equal, and out of sea was made dry land, out of concealment, revelation.
At the splitting of the Sea, G‑d’s very essence, which is above the whole chain of worlds, was revealed. Before it the hidden (the sea) and the revealed (dry land) are the same, so the sea itself became dry land: the hidden became revealed.
וזהו הפך ים ליבשה בנהר יעברו ברגל1 ויעברו בתוך הים ביבשה2 דייקא שההעלם נעשה גילוי ע״י גילוי עצמותו שהעלם וגילוי שוין ממש.
And this is [the meaning of] “He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot,” and “They passed through the midst of the sea,” specifically “on dry land”: that the concealed became revealed through the revelation of His essence, for concealment and revelation are truly equal.
The verses say this precisely: “He turned the sea into dry land,” and Israel passed “through the midst of the sea on dry land,” within the sea itself. The concealment itself became revelation, because for G‑d’s essence concealment and revelation are truly equal.
The paragraph explains the splitting of the Sea as the revelation of G‑d’s essence, before which the hidden and the revealed are equal, so that the sea itself became dry land.
Marei mekomos
- 1הפך ים ליבשה בנהר יעברו ברגל · Psalms 66:6
- 2ויעברו בתוך הים ביבשה · Nehemiah 9:11
The joy of a mitzvah ¶17–20
17וזהו שם נשמחה בו1 ממש במהותו ועצמותו ממש והוא בחי׳ שמחה של מצוה. כי הנה כתיב תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה׳ אלקיך בשמחה וכו׳
And this is [the meaning of] “There we rejoiced in Him”: truly in Him, in His very being and essence itself. And this is the level of the joy of a mitzvah. For it is written, “Because you did not serve Havayah your G‑d with joy,” etc.,
The same psalm goes on, “there we rejoiced in Him”: in Him, in G‑d’s very essence revealed at the Sea. This, says the Alter Rebbe, is the level of the joy of a mitzvah, and he brings the Torah’s rebuke for not serving G‑d with joy.
מרוב כל2 שרוב כל נק׳ השתלשלות כל העולמות שהם רוב מאד כגלדי בצלים גבוה מעל גבוה כו׳
“…more than the abundance of everything (merov kol)”; for “the abundance of everything” is the name for the chain of descent of all the worlds, which are very abundant, like the layers of onions, higher above higher, etc.;
The verse ends merov kol, plainly “out of the abundance of everything.” “The abundance of everything” is the chain of worlds, many and layered like an onion, each level higher than the one below it.
אבל השמחה של מצוה3 היא בבחי׳ עצמותו ממש שהוא מרוב כל למעלה מהשתלשלות כל העולמות.
but the joy of a mitzvah is on the level of His very essence, which is “more than the abundance of everything,” above the chain of descent of all the worlds.
The Alter Rebbe reads merov kol as “more than all the abundance”: the joy of a mitzvah reaches G‑d’s very essence, which is beyond the whole abundance of the worlds.
The paragraph links the rejoicing at the Sea with the joy of a mitzvah, which reaches G‑d’s essence, beyond all the abundance of the chain of worlds.
Marei mekomos
- 1שם נשמחה בו · Psalms 66:6
- 2תחת אשר לא עבדת . . מרוב כל · Deuteronomy 28:47
- 3אבל השמחה של מצוה · ראה לקו״ת שה״ש ד״ה צאינה וראינה דרוש הראשון.
And this is [the meaning of] “And you shall rejoice before Havayah your G‑d”: which is the level of the joy of the mitzvos of the Torah, which is “before Havayah”: we draw [it] down, etc.
The Torah commands, “you shall rejoice before Havayah your G‑d.” The joy of the Torah’s mitzvos is “before Havayah,” which in this context points to G‑d’s essence beyond even the Name, and through the mitzvos it is drawn down.
כי הנה אנו אומרים אק״ב כו׳ דרמ״ח מצות הן רמ״ח אברים דמלכא2 והוא כמשל אברים של אדם
For we say, “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos,” etc., since the 248 mitzvos are the 248 limbs of the King. And this is like the analogy of the limbs of a person:
Before a mitzvah we bless G‑d “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos.” The 248 mitzvos are called the 248 “limbs of the King,” and the Alter Rebbe explains this with a parable of the human body.
הנה הנשמה אין יכולים לאוחזה ולתופסה כלל רק אעפ״כ כשנוטלין את האדם בידו הימנית או השמאלית ומושכין אותו ממקום למקום.
now, the soul cannot be held or grasped at all; yet even so, when one takes a person by his right hand or his left and pulls him from place to place,
No one can take hold of another person’s soul. But take him by the right hand or the left and pull him, and he comes along.
אזי נמשכה הנשמה ג״כ ממקום למקום אף שהנשמה בעצמה אין יכולים לאוחזה כלל רק שע״י שהתלבשות הנשמה היא בהאברים עי״כ נמשכה הנשמה ג״כ ממילא.
then the soul too is drawn from place to place, even though the soul itself cannot be held at all; only, because the soul is clothed in the limbs, the soul too is thereby drawn along, as a matter of course.
His soul comes with him, though it cannot itself be held, because it is clothed in his limbs. So too, G‑d’s essence cannot be grasped, yet it is drawn along through the mitzvos, the “limbs” in which He is clothed.
The paragraph explains how mitzvos draw down G‑d’s essence: they are the King’s “limbs,” and as the soul moves with the limbs it is clothed in, so He is drawn through the mitzvos.
The passage of the Tikkunei Zohar to which the Kehot note points connects the blessing “Who has sanctified us” with the 248 commandments and speaks of “every limb of the King.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ושמחת לפני ה׳ אלקיך · Deuteronomy 12:18
- 2דרמ״ח מצות הן רמ״ח אברים דמלכא · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 30 · 74a:8
19וכמו״כ המצות הם אברין דמלכא כמו חסד דרועא ימינא1 שע״י הצדקה וחסד שנותנים למטה לעני ממשיכי׳ את עצמותו כביכול ע״י התלבשותו בבחי׳ חסד דרועא ימינא
So too, the mitzvos are “limbs of the King.” For example, “Chesed (kindness) is the right arm”: through the charity and kindness given below to a poor person, one draws down His very essence, as it were, through His being clothed in the level of Chesed, “the right arm.”
Each mitzvah corresponds to a “limb.” In Kabbalistic imagery Chesed, kindness, is the right arm, so giving charity and kindness to a poor person draws G‑d’s essence down, so to speak, through His being clothed in Chesed.
וכן גבורה דרועא שמאלא וכמארז״ל איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו23 כמו לכבוש איזה תאוה כו׳ שעי״ז ממשיכים אותו מלמעלה ג״כ עי״ז. גבורה דרועא שמאלא.
And likewise, “Gevurah (restraint) is the left arm,” as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Who is mighty? One who conquers his inclination,” such as conquering some craving, etc.; for through this one draws Him down from above as well, through this. “Gevurah is the left arm.”
Gevurah, restraint and might, is the left arm. The Mishnah calls mighty the one who conquers his inclination, and overcoming a craving likewise draws G‑d down, through Gevurah.
The paragraph matches mitzvos to the King’s limbs: kindness to the poor draws G‑d down through Chesed, the right arm, and conquering a craving through Gevurah, the left arm.
Marei mekomos
- 1חסד דרועא ימינא · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:16–17
- 2איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו · אבות ד, א.
- 3איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו · Pirkei Avot 4:1
20וכן ת״ת עמודא דאמצעיתא שהוא בחי׳ תורה שהוא כמו שנוטלין את האדם בכל גופו. ועי״ז מוליכים אותו למקום שרוצים כמו״כ ע״י תורה ממשיכין את עצמותו כביכול למטה.
And likewise, “Tiferes (beauty) is the middle pillar,” which is the level of Torah; this is like taking a person by his whole body, and thereby leading him to the place one wishes. So too, through Torah one draws His essence, as it were, down below.
Tiferes, the middle pillar, corresponds to the body as a whole, and it is the Torah. Taking a person by his whole body brings all of him wherever one wishes; so through the Torah G‑d’s essence, so to speak, is drawn down below.
וזהו שמחה של מצוה שהוא מתן שכרן של מצות שהוא בחי׳ גלוי עצמותו שהי׳ אז התגלות בשעת קי״ס
And this is the joy of a mitzvah, which is the giving of the reward of the mitzvos, which is the level of the revelation of His essence, of which there was a revelation then, at the time of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds.
The joy of a mitzvah is the giving of its reward: the revelation of G‑d’s essence. That revelation took place at the splitting of the Sea.
וזהו שם נשמחה בו1 בעצמותו ממש והוא בחי׳ אתעדל״ע בחי׳ אותיות זכרים שבא שלא באתעדל״ת כלל כי אין אתעדל״ת יכול לעורר כלל.2
And this is [the meaning of] “There we rejoiced in Him”: in His very essence. And this is the level of an arousal from above, the level of male letters, which comes not through an arousal from below at all, for an arousal from below cannot arouse [it] at all.
So the verse “there we rejoiced in Him” refers to His very essence. This was an arousal from above, male letters with no female letters before them, for no arousal from below can call it forth.
וזהו ויאמר ה׳ אל משה מה תצעק אלי3 בעתיקא תליא מילתא4 שהוא עצמות המאציל העליון שאין אתעדל״ת יכול לעורר כלל אלא ה׳ ילחם לכם ואתם תחרישון:5
And this is [the meaning of] “And G‑d said to Moshe, ‘Why do you cry out to Me?’”: “the matter depends on Atika (the Ancient One),” which is the Essence of the Supernal Emanator, which an arousal from below cannot arouse at all; rather, “G‑d will fight for you, and you shall be silent.”
At the Sea G‑d said to Moshe, “Why do you cry out to Me?” and the Zohar explains that “the matter depends on Atika,” the Ancient One, which the Alter Rebbe identifies as the Essence of the Emanator, beyond the reach of any prayer. That is why Israel were told, “G‑d will fight for you, and you shall be silent.”
The paragraph closes the maamar: Torah study and the joy of a mitzvah draw down G‑d’s essence, which was revealed at the Sea as an arousal from above that no prayer from below could call forth.
The Kehot note points back to Torah Ohr on Toldos, where the Alter Rebbe says that the practical mitzvos are very lofty in their inner dimension and root, so that the G‑dliness a mitzvah draws down comes from the mitzvah itself and not from the person’s own service. Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim adds that from Atika, which no arousal from below reaches, comes the strength for the ascent of the arousal from below itself.
Marei mekomos
- 1שם נשמחה בו · Psalms 66:6
- 2כי אין אתעדל״ת יכול לעורר כלל · ע׳ לעיל בפ׳ תולדות כ, א: כי ענין המצות מעשיות הם הגבה למעלה מעלה בפנימיותם ושרשם. ע׳ לקו״ת בד״ה ואתחנן. וע׳ באוה״ת דרושים לר״ה ע׳ א׳שה.
- 3ויאמר ה׳ אל משה מה תצעק אלי · Exodus 14:15
- 4ויאמר . . מה תצעק אלי . . בעתיקא תליא מילתא · Zohar II, 48a
- 5ה׳ ילחם לכם ואתם תחרישון · Exodus 14:14
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Every day a person must leave his own Egypt: through contemplation in Pesukei Dezimra and the blessings before the Shema he comes to love G‑d “with all your might” in the Shema, and that love draws G‑d’s love down. His words are horses: idle talk and evil speech carry him into kelipah, while the letters of prayer and of Torah lift him, and through the Torah G‑d’s own words are in his mouth. Through each mitzvah, giving charity, conquering a craving, studying Torah, he draws G‑d’s essence down, and the joy of the mitzvah is its reward.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the maamar call letters “horses,” and in what sense can words carry a person beyond his own understanding?
- What distinguishes the “female letters” of prayer from the “male letters” of Torah, and how does each depend on the other?
- Why is a bond to the world so strong that it is without any reason called “the king of Egypt died,” and what follows from it in the Shema?
- Why was the splitting of the Sea an arousal from above that nothing from below could call forth, and what does “Why do you cry out to Me?” teach about prayer?
- How is the joy of a mitzvah its reward, and how does the parable of the soul and the limbs explain the way a mitzvah draws G‑d down?
Key terms in this maamar
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×1
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human initiative that draws down a divine response.
- An arousal from aboveאתערותא דלעילא
- Divine initiative, unprompted by us.
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- Divine light too great to enter the worlds; it 'surrounds' them and affects them from beyond.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×4
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- ×3
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness.
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being. ×2
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×2
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×3
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×6
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×3
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×2
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- Harmony of kindness and restraint; associated with compassion.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×3
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion. ×1