להבין ענין משארז״ל יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומע״ט…

1Pertaining to the verse “And Abraham was old, advanced in days.”

2To understand the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory: “Better is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come.” And this must be understood: is not the purpose of teshuvah and good deeds that garments for the soul are made from them, so that it can enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah in the World to Come,

as the Zohar says on the verse “And Abraham was old, advanced in days”: “in those supernal days,” etc.; “Woe to the man who diminished days above! For when they come to clothe him in those days, the day that he blemished is missing from that garment,” as mentioned above.

3The explanation is that the radiance of the Shechinah in the World to Come is not like the spreading forth of the divine life-force within the worlds, as it is written, “And You give life to them all”; for the divine life-force that is clothed within the worlds is not grasped or seen.

As in the analogy of the spreading forth of the soul’s life-force within the body, divided among the limbs; and certainly, in the spiritual life-force, division of the life-force into parts does not apply at all, for in spirituality there is no image or form.

4Now the effect of the life-force in the limbs is recognizable and visible, but the essence and being of the life-force is not visible or recognizable at all.

So too the divine life-force that gives life to all the worlds, which are bounded and finite: certainly in the spiritual life-force there is no aspect of limit and end. For example, the life-force that gives life to the round sphere of the heavens: certainly it cannot be said that the spiritual life-force too is in the form of a circle, as mentioned above;

only that the spreading forth of the life-force accords with the form of the vessel that receives the life-force; and even though the life-force is clothed within it, nevertheless the life-force itself is not within the bounds of place and limit.

5And with this will be understood what is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” and its Targum [renders], “the radiance of His glory,” which is only a radiance, a spreading forth of illumination alone. And it is written, “The heavens and the earth I fill.”

And the explanation is that both are true, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Wherever you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, there you find His humility,” etc.

That is: not as people think, that what is called the greatness of the Creator is that He, blessed be He, gives life to all the worlds; for on the contrary, this is a descent for Him, blessed be He, that He lowers Himself and is clothed within all the worlds to give them life and to sustain them.

6And what is written, “And You give life to them all,” is not praise in terms of His greatness, blessed be He, for “His greatness is unsearchable” and “His understanding is beyond number”; rather, the praise is in terms of His humility, that He is able to lower Himself, etc.

But the World to Come, in which they enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah, is the grasp of the essence and being of the spreading forth of the divine life-force, in a manner of revelation.

7Now it must be understood: how can the soul, which is a created being, an existence and a thing unto itself, grasp the essence and being of G‑dliness, which is not within the bounds of comprehension and limit?

And even though the soul is “a part of G‑d above,” this is, by way of analogy, like the drop of seed that is drawn from the brain: it cannot be said that while still in his brain it was a physical drop of seed, for if so, the brain would be diminished, etc.

Rather, in truth, the beginning of its drawing forth from the brain is a spiritual power alone; only afterward, in the successive stages of its descent through the spinal cord, it is changed and becomes a physical drop.

So, by way of analogy, the soul: its essential root is from the level of G‑dliness itself, only that it descended step by step to become a created being, an existence and a thing unto itself, etc.

8If so, how can it grasp the essence and being of G‑dliness? The explanation: it is written, “And Moses came into the midst of the cloud... and he was there forty days and forty nights; bread he did not eat,” etc.

And his physical body was nourished by spiritual food alone, as it is written, “Man ate the bread of the mighty,” etc., just like the angels. And how can this be, that something physical should receive food and life-force from something spiritual, when they are utterly separate from one another?

But this is the meaning of the cloud with which Moses, peace be upon him, was covered: the cloud had its root in a very exalted level of G‑dliness,

only it descended step by step and became material, to be a garment for Moses, peace be upon him, through which he could grasp G‑dliness, and it was food for him; as in the analogy of a person who sees and gazes at a bright light through a curtain.

So too the Torah and the practical mitzvos, whose root is from the Supernal Will, from His wisdom, blessed be He, which are one with Him, blessed be He: “He is wise,” etc.,

which are higher than the radiance of the Shechinah, which is only the spreading forth of the life-force, etc.; and they descended step by step, spread forth and were clothed in the matters of this physical world, such as the parchment of tefillin, the wool of tzitzis, and charity, etc.

When a person occupies himself with Torah and mitzvos, garments are made for his soul, which it puts on in the Garden of Eden, through which the soul, which is a created being, can grasp the radiance of the Shechinah, the essence of G‑dliness.

And this is “Better is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds,” whose root is from the Supernal Will, blessed be He, “than all the life of the World to Come,” which is only the radiance of the Shechinah, as is known. Nevertheless, they are called garments, through which [the soul] can grasp the radiance of the Shechinah. And this will suffice for one who understands.

9Now it must be understood what love and awe are, [given] that they are only “wings” to lift up the main thing, which is Torah and good deeds. And [one must] understand the essence of love, what it is. Now in the Shema, one must crown Him above and below and to the four directions of the world.

Explanation: it is written, “The whole earth is full of His glory,” and its Targum [renders], “the radiance of His glory,” which is only a radiance, a spreading forth and an illumination alone, that is clothed within all the worlds; and it is written, “The heavens and the earth I fill,” in the level of the essence of G‑dliness, which is not held within measure and limit.

And the explanation is that both are true, etc., as in the analogy of the nullification of the sun’s radiance within the source, the sun itself, as is known; for in truth the essence of G‑dliness fills the whole earth. But what spreads forth into vessel and limit is nullified and included in the essence and being of G‑dliness, etc.

10Now when a person contemplates this well in Pesukei deZimra and in the Shema, how in truth it is so, that the worlds are nullified within the source of their life, only that because the person is in a physical vessel, the body,

which is “the snake’s skin,” which grows and increases from physicality that hides and conceals, so that he cannot see [this] with the eyes of sensory sight, then a longing will be aroused in the heart to be bound up in this contemplation all day long and not to be separated [from it] at all.

11And this is the acceptance of what is said in the first verse, “And you shall love”: that Havayah be “your G‑d,” so that he will always be bound up in this contemplation, the nullification of the worlds to the One who gives them life and brings them into being. Only, because

his physical body cannot receive the true nullification described above, he completes in his mind, in the Shema, the subject of Torah study, when he says, “And you shall speak of them.”

That is: when his G‑dly soul is occupied in Torah, a true union is made with the Torah; and the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all truly one.

For the Torah came forth from supernal Chochmah and was clothed in the matters of this world; and when a person clothes his G‑dly soul in the matters of Torah study in this world,

then the root of his soul above is also clothed in the Torah above, up to the highest heights, and a complete union is made there. And this is [the meaning of] “The Holy One, blessed be He, sits and studies opposite him,” as mentioned above. And this is “G‑d is your shadow”: meaning, like a shadow.

12Now it is written, “I am Havayah your G‑d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Meaning: a person should not say, in a spirit of lowliness, “How will I reach the level of union in Torah and prayer, since

I have not yet completely turned away from evil, etc., and [the evil] is still whole within me?” This he should take to heart: that G‑d is the One who brings him out of the land of Egypt.

Meaning: that He separates and sets apart, within his soul, the good from the evil, the G‑dly soul from the animal soul, when he has not yet actually done evil.

13And even a completely wicked person draws [light] into his G‑dly soul when he occupies himself with Torah; only, concerning him it is said, “But to the wicked, G‑d said: What have you to do with recounting My statutes?”

Meaning: there is no benefit to his G‑dly soul, because concerning him it is said, “And you cast My words behind you,” so that he cannot draw [it] into his inner being. And this will suffice for one who understands.

14Now, concerning blessings: “Blessed are You, Havayah.” Meaning: “blessed” (baruch) is a drawing down and increase, so that Havayah, which is the level of contraction and expansion, etc., will be in the level of “You,” [addressed] face to face, revelation, etc.

But since the body is what hides and darkens, and only in the time to come will there be the revelation of G‑dliness, “and all flesh shall see,” and it will be in [a state of] self-nullification (bittul), now, [therefore,] one must at least show the bittul externally, by bowing and by prostrating the head: “One who bows, bows at ‘Blessed.’”

And [the blessings] “Who heals the sick,” “Who redeems Israel” and “Who blesses the years” are vessels for the level of the drawing down and revelation of G‑dliness, etc. And one who bows must [bow until] an issar is seen opposite his heart.

Meaning: the main drawing down will be in the brain, until it spreads also into his heart, even a little; this is the level of issar (and see what is written below on the explanation of “binding to the vine”),

which is the level of desire, as it is written, “His splendor is upon the earth and the heavens,” even in the level of the radiance and spreading forth of the life-force that is clothed within all the worlds. And the ultimate intent is for Him to have a dwelling place among the lower realms; and “the end of the deed is first in thought,” “their end is wedged in their beginning.” And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “The earth was created first,” etc.