ביאור על הנ״ל

This short heading marks the maamar as a further explanation of the teaching that precedes it in Torah Ohr, Miketz. What follows develops the ideas of the previous discourse in more detail.

The maamar is built on the verse “For with You is the source of life” (Psalms 36:10). The Zohar teaches that the 613 mitzvos correspond to 613 “paths” in the head (gulgalta) of Z’eir Anpin, the configuration of the divine emotive attributes, all rooted in a single path of Arich Anpin, the higher configuration of the divine will. The Sages say that G‑d Himself “puts on tefillin,” “wraps Himself in tzitzis” and “prays”; the maamar sets out to explain what it means that the mitzvos are G‑d’s own mitzvos.

Even Atzilus, the highest of the worlds, is nothing compared with the essence of the Infinite Light. This sets up the problem: how can a light so far above Atzilus be drawn into it at all?

What reaches Atzilus is only the kav, a thin ray of the Infinite Light, and even that passes through many further contractions before it appears as Chochmah and Chesed. The descent is enormous, and the maamar will identify it with G‑d’s “mitzvos.”

In Kabbalah, “hairs” stand for a channel that carries only a faint trace of the source, the way hair grows from the head but holds almost none of its life. “Abba [Chochmah] draws nourishment from the mazal,” the hair of the beard of Arich Anpin, because the flow from the level above Chochmah to Chochmah must leap across a gap of proportion. This great descent is what is meant when we say G‑d “fulfills the mitzvos.”

G‑d’s “putting on tefillin” is the Infinite Light becoming enclothed in Chochmah. The word tefillin is linked to binding and joining, the bond of the higher with the lower. That is why G‑d’s tefillin contain praise of Israel: “For who is a great nation...” (Deuteronomy 4:7).

The flow of Chochmah is ultimately for the sake of the souls of Israel, a point the maamar promises to develop. G‑d’s “mitzvah of tzedakah” is His drawing down of Chesed, so that, in the words of the Psalm, “the world is built by kindness.”

The Alter Rebbe now turns to a human analogy. In any mitzvah a person does, two stages can be distinguished, the first being the mitzvah object as it exists before he uses it.

The first stage is the object itself, such as tefillin or tzitzis. The second stage is the act of the mitzvah: putting on the tefillin or wrapping oneself in the tzitzis.

The act is what makes the mitzvah complete. Without placing the tefillin on head and arm, there is no mitzvah.

Properly written tefillin are holy even in a box on the shelf. Yet the Supreme Will is revealed only when a Jew puts them on, so the holiness of the object is not yet the revelation of G‑d’s will that the mitzvah brings.

Applied above, the “tefillin themselves” are the four mochin, the intellectual faculties of Chochmah, Binah and Daas, with Daas divided into its Chesed and Gevurah sides. (Physical tefillin of the head likewise have four compartments.) These are the first stage, the mitzvah “object.”

G‑d “putting on” the tefillin is the Infinite Light enclothing itself in these mochin, the completion of the mitzvah. Just as worn tefillin far surpass tefillin on a shelf, the mochin with the Infinite Light in them are beyond comparison with the mochin on their own.

The Alter Rebbe raises a difficulty with the analogy. Below, the mitzvah is the act of putting on the tefillin, but can the same distinction be made above?

Physical tefillin exist apart from the person, so they can be holy objects before he wears them. Above, however, “everything is from You”: the mochin have no existence independent of the light that comes from G‑d.

Chochmah itself comes into being from G‑d, and as Maimonides writes, G‑d is “the Knower and the Knowledge,” one with His knowing. If so, how can there be divine “tefillin” that exist before G‑d puts them on?

The answer will come from Patach Eliyahu, the prayer of Elijah in the Tikkunei Zohar, which says that when G‑d withdraws from the Sefiros they remain “like a body without a soul.” But this raises the same question: how can the Sefiros remain at all, even as a body, without Him?

In a person the body exists on its own, since it comes from the parents and not from the soul. Above, though, everything comes from G‑d, so it is not clear how anything could remain once He withdraws.

The answer is that “withdraw” does not mean a total withdrawal. Only the mature mochin (gadlus) withdraw, while the immature mochin (katnus) remain, as a sleeping person keeps a reduced awareness even though his full intellect is not active.

The vessels, called the “body,” have their own root in the Infinite Light, in the level called “reaching and not reaching,” which touches the vessels’ source but does not truly enter it. The higher light later enters them like a soul in a body, but the vessels themselves exist from their own root.

The vessels can be in a state of immaturity or maturity. Because they have their own root, they remain like a body even when the mature mochin leave them.

They are called “a body without a soul” not because they are lifeless, but because their state without the mature light bears no comparison to their state when that light shines in them.

So too, “G‑d puts on tefillin” means an added light in Chochmah and great mochin, so strong that they “protrude upon the head,” as tefillin stand out on a person’s head.

The “tefillin themselves” correspond to the vessels that exist like a body without a soul. The same pattern applies to all of G‑d’s mitzvos: an existing vessel, and an added light that fills it.

The Sages say that G‑d “sits and occupies Himself with Torah”: this is the drawing down of the letters from His great Name. They also say G‑d prays, “May it be My will that My mercy overcome My anger.”

G‑d’s prayer means that the attributes of Arich Anpin, the higher mercies such as “abundant in kindness,” should flow into Z’eir Anpin. A second reading then follows: “the Holy One” refers to Z’eir Anpin of Atzilus itself.

On the second reading, the tefillin are the mochin that Z’eir Anpin receives from Abba and Imma, which are above it. This fits G‑d’s prayer even better, since one prays for what is above oneself.

G‑d’s prayer, on this reading, is that the attributes of Arich Anpin be drawn down to Z’eir Anpin. A parenthetical note says the two readings are also discussed in the commentary on the Zohar’s phrase “the Holy One comes to delight in the Garden of Eden,” and that both are true.

Two levels of divine mitzvos are distinguished: “My mitzvos,” those of the Emanator Himself, and “the mitzvos of Havayah,” those of Z’eir Anpin. For Z’eir Anpin, a mitzvah is a light drawn from above it; for the Infinite One, “My mitzvos” are the light He draws from Himself into the roots of the vessels.

That is why Scripture calls the mitzvos “the way of Havayah” and “the paths of Havayah.” They are the road on which the Infinite Light travels to enclothe itself in Atzilus, and every such flow passes through the Name Havayah, which means bringing into being.

The purpose of a person’s mitzvos below is to bring about G‑d’s “mitzvos” above, the added light described earlier. This is what Kabbalah calls “adding light in Atzilus.”

That purpose applies fully to tzaddikim, whose nefesh, ruach and neshamah, the levels of the soul, hold no evil at all. For beinonim, the “intermediate” people of Tanya who still have evil to contend with, the main purpose of their mitzvos is to refine their own souls.

The Alter Rebbe raises a question about what he has just said. The mitzvah is identical for everyone: the tefillin of Moshe and Aharon contained the same four Torah passages as ours, so how can its main purpose differ between a tzaddik and a beinoni?

The answer is that the purpose is really one. When the mitzvos of tzaddikim add light in Atzilus, that added light itself gives the power to refine the evil mixed into kelipas nogah, the “glowing husk” of the lower worlds that is neither wholly holy nor wholly evil, which is the beinoni’s task.

The verse “Who lowers Himself to look upon heaven and earth” (Psalms 113:6) is read as describing G‑d’s own mitzvos: He lowers Himself to become enclothed within “heaven and earth.” On this first explanation, these are Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, the masculine and feminine configurations of Atzilus.

G‑d is “high above all,” so His light can be withdrawn from the vessels of the ten Sefiros, the state of “when You withdraw from them.” The Alter Rebbe compares this to sleep, when a person’s mochin withdraw into the essence of the soul and are not active.

In dreams the mind still combines the letters of thought, but without wisdom, only as imagination. When a person wakes, his intellect shines into his thinking again.

Above, when the light and the mature mochin withdraw from the ten Sefiros back into the essence of the Infinite Light, what remains revealed below is like sleep: the forms continue, but without their true inner light.

In that “sleeping” state, the nations that served idols, Egypt and Babylon, were able to dominate, because the divine light was not revealed in its strength. When the light and mature mochin are enclothed in the Sefiros, which is what “the Holy One puts on tefillin” means, the situation changes.

This is G‑d lowering Himself into “heaven and earth,” of which Moshe prays, “Look down from Your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel” (Deuteronomy 26:15). G‑d’s “looking down” is His light entering the Sefiros, and the blessing of Israel follows from it.

“In Your light we see light” (Psalms 36:10) is read to mean that Israel are “seen” as something important. The reason is that the whole chain of descending worlds exists for the sake of the Torah and mitzvos that Israel fulfills.

The second reading of “Who lowers Himself to look upon heaven and earth” is that “heaven and earth” are the cause of G‑d’s lowering, not only where it ends. To explain it, the Alter Rebbe introduces Zechariah’s vision of a golden menorah with “a bowl upon its top” (Zechariah 4:2).

Light passes from G‑d, the Emanator, to the emanated worlds through Keser, the “crown.” Keser contains something of the lowest level of the level above, and this aspect is called Atik, the “Ancient One.”

For example, Malchus, the lowest level of Atzilus, becomes Atik, the inner Keser, of the next world, Beriah. So Beriah’s Keser contains the very lowest level of Atzilus.

In the same way, Malchus of Adam Kadmon, the primordial level above Atzilus (also called Malchus of the Infinite One), becomes the Atik and Keser of Atzilus. This is the “bowl upon its top” of Zechariah’s menorah.

The phrase “the bowl of the capital” (I Kings 7:41) shows that a “bowl” sits on top and surrounds the head like a crown. Keser likewise is a crown that encircles the mochin and is not inside them.

The menorah’s seven lamps are the seven emotive attributes of Atzilus, and the “seven pipes to the lamps” are the seven lower Sefiros of Atik Yomin, which feed those attributes. As pipes bring oil to a lamp, these higher attributes supply the emotive attributes of Atzilus.

There are two kinds of emotive attributes. The first kind are those born from intellect and contemplation, the love and awe a person reaches by meditating on G‑d’s greatness; these are called “mountains of light,” since they are lit up by understanding.

The second kind are above intellect and reason, such as “great love” (ahavah rabbah), and are called “mountains of darkness” because the mind cannot grasp them. These higher attributes are the “pipes” that feed the attributes born of intellect, the “lamps.”

The “two olive trees” beside the bowl (Zechariah 4:3) are Chochmah and Binah of Arich Anpin. They are also the two “mazalos” called notzer and venakeh, from the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which are the sources of Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus.

An olive is bitter, yet crushing it brings out oil. This stands for refining the 288 sparks of holiness that fell into the lower realms, which is done by subduing the sitra achra (iskafya) and by transforming it (is’hapcha).

The Zohar says that when the sitra achra is subdued, G‑d’s glory rises and is revealed. These refinements are also the source of the “feminine waters” (mayin nukvin), the arousal from below, and the “masculine waters” (mayin duchrin), the flow from above, both drawn from the two mazalos.

The mazal venakeh is the root of the arousal from below, and notzer is the root of the flow from above. That is why they are the two olive trees whose oil, the light drawn out by crushing, feeds the menorah.

The “bowl upon its top” (Keser, the encompassing light above intellect) is drawn down mainly through the nullification of will (bittul ha-ratzon). This is a service above any choice made by reasoning, and so it reaches a level that is itself above reason.

Refining the 288 sparks produces “reflected light,” light rising from below to above. It rises so high that it reaches even into the hidden Chochmah, the concealed wisdom of Arich Anpin.

This rising light is pictured as the hairs of the head breaking through. In response an added light and abundant flow descend through the “hairs of the beard,” the channels of flow from above to below.

The practical mitzvos are done with physical things from kelipas nogah, such as the wool of tzitzis and the parchment of tefillin. Using them for a mitzvah refines the sparks within them and brings added light into Atzilus.

Nullification of will goes further. One sets aside the body’s will as a whole, not just in a particular act, and resolves to follow G‑d, which subdues the sitra achra more than any single mitzvah does.

Completing the previous sentence, the Alter Rebbe describes total nullification of will: a person has no will of his own except what G‑d wills. This subdues the sitra achra more powerfully than a single mitzvah, and it draws down “the bowl upon its top,” the Keser above Atzilus.

This bowl is “the Will of all wills,” the source of every particular divine will. The 613 mitzvos, the 613 paths in the head of Z’eir Anpin, are by comparison like a person’s particular wishes, each one a specific expression of will.

The root of all the particular mitzvos is the Will of all wills, and it is reached only by setting aside one’s own will, which binds a person to the Master of the will Himself, not merely to one of His wishes. This self-effacement is called “earth,” since one makes oneself like dust that everyone treads on.

In a parenthesis, “heaven” is defined as the encompassing light, reached through love “with all your might” (bechol me’odecha), a love truly without limit. Like the nullification of will, it is above intellect, and it draws down the bowl and the pipes, the channels from the Emanator to the worlds.

This gives the second reading of “Who lowers Himself to look upon heaven and earth”: through this “heaven” (boundless love) and “earth” (nullification of will), the Infinite One Himself lowers Himself, so that Keser is drawn down to Atzilus. Here heaven and earth are the cause of the lowering.

After that, Torah and mitzvos bring the light from Keser into the 613 paths of Z’eir Anpin and “the 248 limbs of the King,” the 248 positive mitzvos. This corresponds to the first reading, in which G‑d lowers Himself into heaven and earth, Z’eir Anpin and Nukva.

The parenthesis cites the Arizal: the higher union of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah) is brought about by self-sacrifice, while the union of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva comes through Torah and mitzvos. These match the two readings of the verse, which speak of a higher and a lower “heaven and earth.”

The Mishnah asks why the Shema is said before “And it shall be, if you will listen”: so that one first accepts the yoke of Heaven’s kingship and then the yoke of the mitzvos. The Shema’s “with all your might” is the boundless love called “heaven” in the second reading.

The Sages read “me’odecha” (your might) as “whatever measure (middah) He metes out to you, thank (modeh) Him very much.” Accepting everything G‑d sends with thanks is the nullification of will called “earth.”

Together these make up accepting the yoke of Heaven’s kingship, where “kingship of Heaven” means Malchus of the Infinite One, an encompassing light. Through it “the bowl upon its top” is drawn down.

Malchus of the Infinite One thus becomes Atik for Atzilus. Only then does “And it shall be, if you will listen,” the observance of the mitzvos, draw the light into the vessels within Z’eir Anpin and Nukva.

The maamar returns to its opening verse, “For with You is the source of life.” Malchus of Atzilus, which becomes Atik (the inner Keser) of the lower worlds Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, is their “source of life,” since Keser is the root of each world.

That source is only “with You”: secondary and nullified before the essence of Atzilus, its lowest level. That is why the verse says “with You” and not “You are” the source of life.

Higher up, Malchus of Adam Kadmon is the source of life of Atzilus, yet it too is only “with You,” nullified before the essence of Adam Kadmon. This is “Who is enthroned on high” (Psalms 113:5): the essence remains exalted, and only its lowest level becomes the source of the level below.

“Who lowers Himself to look upon heaven and earth,” in both readings, means that a person’s service draws an added light from the very essence of Adam Kadmon into “the bowl upon its top.” More than the usual lowest level descends.

This explains why the bowl, though it is a crown that encompasses, is also a receiver. Rashi on Zechariah calls it a basin that holds the oil, and here it receives the added light from the essence of Adam Kadmon.

“In Your light we see light” speaks to G‑d directly (“Your”), which points to the level of “You,” the essence, not merely “with You.” It describes the added light from the essence of Adam Kadmon being revealed in all four worlds, Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

“We see” can also be read “we are seen”: at this level Israel are regarded as important. This connects back to “Look down... and bless Your people Israel” (paragraph 18), closing the maamar.