Torah Ohr · Parshas Tetzaveh · Maamar 2
ועשית בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך וגו׳ ואתה תדבר…
“You shall make holy garments for Aharon your brother”
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The big idea
The great love that comes from above, Aharon’s level of “abundant in kindness,” must be clothed in garments to dwell in the soul, and those garments are the Torah and the mitzvos; they are made at three levels, by Moshe, by the wise-hearted and by every Jew.
The maamar in brief
The Torah ascribes the making of Aharon’s garments to three makers: Moshe, the wise-hearted, and simply “they,” all Israel. Aharon, the High Priest and man of Chesed, draws down ahavah rabbah, a great love from above, and his garments are the garments of that love. The Alter Rebbe distinguishes two kinds of Chesed. Avraham’s “everlasting kindness” is the natural love hidden in every Jew; it belongs to the ordered chain of worlds and is awakened by an unearned arousal from above. Aharon’s “abundant in kindness” is the Infinite Light entering Chochmah from above that chain, reaching it only as a glimmer through the “hairs” of Aharon’s beard, through many contractions. A person’s own love and self-nullification evoke that supernal love, as a face is reflected in water, until it is revealed in his soul up to “with all your might.” Because this love is beyond intellect, it must be clothed in the Torah, studied for its own sake, and in the mitzvos. These garments are made at three levels: Moshe’s, drawing the Torah from its hidden source; the wise-hearted, whose bittul draws wisdom; and every Jew, whose simple mitzvos and acceptance of Heaven’s yoke draw down the royal garment.
Outline
- The question and the garments of loveWhy Aharon’s garments are made by three makers; Aharon draws down the great love, and his garments are its garments; a person’s days are the garments of Torah and mitzvos his soul needs.¶1–2
- Two kinds of ChesedAvraham’s “everlasting kindness,” the arousal from above that comes first and awakens the natural love, against Aharon’s “abundant in kindness,” drawn down by a person’s own effort, above the chain of cause and effect.¶3–6
- The beard of Aharon: light through hairsThe Infinite Light reaches Chochmah only as a glimmer through many contractions, like life in hair or an idea in a teacher’s words; a person’s love from below brings these contractions about.¶7–9
- Drawing the great love into the soulAharon as nir’eh, “seen”: by contemplating G‑d’s unity and setting aside every other desire, a person causes the supernal love to rest in his soul like sight, up to “with all your might.”¶10–12
- Torah and mitzvos as the garmentsThe love needs vessels: Torah studied for its own sake draws the Infinite Light into Chochmah, and the mitzvos, tzedakah and Chesed, draw it into Chesed and complete the 248 limbs of the King.¶13–16
- The first level: MosheMoshe draws the Torah from its hidden source; Israel are the Torah’s bridegroom; the blessing over the mitzvos comes from a place higher than giver and receiver, from Moshe’s level, and its goal is the garment of G‑d’s kingship.¶17–21
- The wise-hearted and all IsraelThe wise-hearted, with one nullified heart, draw a spirit of wisdom; all Israel, through simple mitzvos and accepting the yoke of Heaven, draw down the royal garment and the supernal attributes.¶22–23
Key concepts
- Everlasting kindness (chesed olam)חסד עולם
- Chesed that works within the ordered chain of worlds; Avraham’s level, and the natural love hidden in every Jew, awakened by an arousal from above that comes before any effort.
- Abundant in kindness (verav chesed)ורב חסד
- Aharon’s level: the Infinite Light entering Chochmah and Chesed from above the chain of cause and effect, drawn down in answer to a person’s own effort.
- Great love (ahavah rabbah)אהבה רבה
- A love of G‑d beyond what the soul can reach by itself, given from above through Aharon and rising to “with all your might.”
- Arousal from below and from aboveאתערותא דלתתא ואתערותא דלעילא
- A person’s own effort, which calls forth a divine response; one arousal from above precedes that effort, and a higher one answers it.
- Hairsשערות
- The image for the faint glimmer, passing through many contractions, by which the Infinite reaches Chochmah, as life passes from the brain into the hair.
- Garmentsלבושים
- The Torah and the mitzvos, in which the great love is clothed so that the soul can hold it; also the soul’s garments in Gan Eden, made day by day.
- The wise-heartedחכמי לב
- Those whose single heart is nullified before G‑d, and who therefore receive a spirit of wisdom from above.
- Royal garment (levush malchus)לבוש מלכות
- The garment that every Jew draws down by keeping the mitzvos simply and accepting the yoke of Heaven, rooted in the supernal blessing.
The question and the garments of love ¶1–2
1ועשית בגדי קדש12 לאהרן אחיך וגו׳ ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו3 וגו׳ ועשו בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך ולבניו4 וגו׳.
“You shall make holy garments for Aharon your brother,” etc.; “And you shall speak to all the wise-hearted, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make Aharon’s garments to sanctify him,” etc.; “And they shall make holy garments for Aharon your brother and for his sons,” etc.
The maamar opens with three verses from the beginning of Exodus 28 about making the priestly garments. In the first G‑d tells Moshe, “You shall make”; in the second the wise-hearted make them; in the third the Torah says only “they shall make,” without naming who.
להבין שלש עשיות הללו שבבגדי אהרן של משה ושל חכמי לב וסתם ועשו משמע של כלל ישראל.
[We need] to understand these three makings of Aharon’s garments: that of Moshe, that of the wise-hearted, and the unqualified “and they shall make,” which implies [a making] of the whole of Israel.
The Alter Rebbe asks why the same garments are made three times over, by three different makers. He will answer that these are three levels at which garments are made for the soul’s love: Moshe’s, that of the wise-hearted, and that of every Jew, since an unqualified “they” means the people as a whole.
הנה אהרן הוא משבעה רועים5 המפרנסים וממשיכים לכללות נש״י מאוא״ס ב״ה שהוא איש החסד6 וכהן גדול הממשיך בחי׳ אה״ר ובגדי אהרן הם לבושים לאהבה זו.78
Now, Aharon is one of the seven shepherds who sustain and draw down [influence] to the souls of Israel as a whole from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He; for he is the man of Chesed (kindness) and the High Priest, who draws down the level of great love (ahavah rabbah). And Aharon’s garments are garments for this love.
The “seven shepherds” are the great leaders who channel divine life to the whole Jewish people, and Aharon is one of them. As the High Priest and the embodiment of Chesed, he draws down ahavah rabbah, “great love”: a love of G‑d that comes to a person as a gift from above, beyond what he reaches by his own effort. Aharon’s garments are the garments in which that love is clothed.
The paragraph poses the maamar’s question, why Aharon’s garments are made by three different makers, and lays down its premise: Aharon draws the great love down from the Infinite Light to all Israel, and his garments are the garments of that love.
The Tzemach Tzedek, quoted in Kehot’s note, infers from the wording “garments for this love” that these are not the soul’s ordinary garments but a distinct kind; the soul’s garments therefore differ by countless levels, and a soul that had the great love coming from Aharon the High Priest has garments drawn from Aharon’s own garments. Sefer HaErchim-Chabad, also cited by Kehot, observes that the explanations of this maamar in Or HaTorah tie the title “man of Chesed” to Aharon as he is in Atzilus, and suggests that the maamar calls “abundant in kindness” Aharon’s attribute because he stands at that level even there.
Marei mekomos
- 1ועשית בגדי קדש · נדפס בתו״א לעמבערג ט, ג. הנחת כ״ק אדה״א בסה״מ תקס״ה ח״א ע׳ דש. שם ע׳ שיב נמצא ג״כ ביאור. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. חלק מהמאמר באוה״ת תצא ע׳ א׳תקעז בד״ה ואתה הקרב (מתחיל מהקטע והנה נודע). קיצורים למאמר זה בכרך ח ע׳ ג׳סז. המאמר עם הגהות ע׳ א׳תקפז (מהסגנון נראה שההגהות נכתבו בהיותו צעיר — ושייכים להסוג שנדפסו באוה״ת בראשית כרך ו מפרשת וישב ואילך). ביאור ע׳ א׳תקצח (כנראה הביאור הוא להצ״צ והביאור הוא הנדפס בסה״מ תקס״ה ח״א ע׳ שיב) ועם הגהות באוה״ת כרך ז ע׳ א׳תרד ובכרך ח ע׳ ג׳ע. קיצור ע׳ א׳תר. להדרוש שבתו״א ע׳ א׳תרכז. ביאור וקיצור מהדרוש ע׳ א׳תרלג. להדרוש שבתו״א ע׳ א׳תשנז. קיצור ע׳ ב׳תשסה. המאמר משנת תקס״ה. באוה״ת כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תשסג מציין ”הדרוש ואלה המשפטים והדרוש ועשית בגדי קודש נאמרו מרבינו ז״ל סמוכים זה לזה בפ׳ משפטים ובפ׳ תצוה דשנת תקס״ה”. ד״ה זה במאמרי אדה״א כאן ע׳ שלח, מיוסד על ד״ה זה. ד״ה זה נזכר בלקו״ת ויקרא ב, ב בענין אתעדל״ע לעורר אתעדל״ת. וראה גם בפ׳ אמור כו, ג. עקב יז, ב. בלקו״ת צו ט, ד מציין לכאן בענין והחכמה מאין תמצא מבחי׳ שאין ערוך שהוא רק בחי׳ שערות.
- 2ועשית בגדי קדש · Exodus 28:2
- 3ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו · Exodus 28:3
- 4ועשו בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך ולבניו · Exodus 28:4
- 5אהרן הוא משבעה רועים · Sukkah 52b:13
- 6שהוא איש החסד · ראה ספר הערכים-חב״ד כרך ב טור תרכד ערך אהרן הערה 2: ”היא בחי׳ ”ורב חסד”, אבל בביאורים לתו״א (אוה״ת תצוה ע׳ א׳תרד, א׳ תריח) שתואר זה הוא לבחי׳ אהרן שבאצי׳ . . ואפשר דמ״ש בתו״א שם שבחי׳ ”ורב חסד” היא מדתו של אהרן ”איש החסד” הוא — לפי שגם בהיותו באצילות הוא בבחי׳ זו”. ע״ש.
- 7ובגדי אהרן הם לבושים לאהבה זו · באוה״ת ע׳ א׳תקפז מדייק הצ״צ ”מדקדוק לשונו ובגדי אהרן הם לבושים של אהבה זו וכמו שיש לבושים לכל נשמה כו׳, מובן דלבושים אלו של אהבה זו אינו הלבושים של הנשמה, דא״כ מהו וכמו שיש כו׳, היינו הך . . ולפ״ז יובן כמה רבבות מדריגות שונות בבחי׳ הלבושים של הנשמה, אם הם מבחי׳ נשמה שהי׳ לה בחי׳ אה״ר דמבחי׳ אהרן כה״ג שאז הלבושים נמשכים מבחי׳ לבושים דאהרן הנ״ל”.
- 8בהמשך תער״ב חלק ב׳ ע׳ תתעב · ובתו״א . . דאותיות הדבור הן כדוגמת השערות. בלקו״ת שלח מו, א. שה״ש ט, ב. מציין לכאן בענין המשכה ע״י שערות. בלקו״ת קרח נג, א מציין בענין אותיות הדבור נק׳ ג״כ שערות. בלקו״ת נצבים נ, א שיש כמה בחי׳ בלבושים הנעשים ממעשה המצות. בלקו״ת ראה לג, א. וזאת הברכה ק, ב — נסמן לכאן.
2וכענין מ״ש ימים יוצרו1 שהימים הם בחי׳ לבושים. וכמ״ש בזוהר2 ע״פ ואברהם זקן בא בימים3 יומין עלאין דאינון לבושין45 כו׳.
This is like what is written, “Days were formed,” for the days are the level of garments; and as is stated in the Zohar on the verse “And Avraham was old, come into days”: “supernal days, which are garments,” etc.
The verse “days were formed” is read as saying that a person’s days are formed into something: they become garments for the soul. The Zohar reads “Avraham came into days” in the same way: he entered his “supernal days,” which are the soul’s garments.
לפי שכל נשמה יש לה לבושים של תורה ומצות אשר יעשה אותם האדם ומכוונת6 המצות ורעותא דלבא נעשו לבושין בג״ע העליון. וממצות מעשיות סתם נעשו לבושים בג״ע התחתון כנודע.
For every soul has garments of Torah and mitzvos, which a person does: from the intention of the mitzvos and the heart’s desire (re’usa deliba), garments are made in the Higher Gan Eden; and from plain practical mitzvos, garments are made in the Lower Gan Eden, as is known.
Every soul acquires garments from the Torah and mitzvos it performs. What is done with intention (kavanah) and the heart’s desire becomes a garment in the Higher Gan Eden, the upper paradise of souls; deeds done without that inner dimension become garments in the Lower Gan Eden.
והימים הקצובים לאדם מספר ימי שני חייו כ״כ ימים בשיעור לבושין שצריכה הנשמה להיות לה מהתורה ומצות אשר יעשה דבר יום ביומו:
And the days allotted to a person, the number of the days of the years of his life, are just so many days as the measure of the garments that the soul needs to have from the Torah and mitzvos that he will do, each day’s portion on its day.
This is why days are called garments: the number of days allotted to each person matches exactly the garments his soul needs to acquire. Each day has its own portion of Torah and mitzvos to fill.
The paragraph explains what the soul’s garments are: the Torah and mitzvos a person performs day by day, which clothe the soul in Gan Eden; the length of a person’s life is measured by the garments his soul needs.
In the Zohar passage Kehot cites from Vayechi, each day of a person’s life stands before G‑d, and the days a righteous person fills with good become “garments of glory” for his soul in the World to Come, while days lost to sin leave the garment lacking. Earlier in Torah Ohr, on “Six years he shall serve,” the Alter Rebbe explains why they are called “days”: the mitzvos are rooted above time and descend into time, so that the soul can grasp them.
Marei mekomos
- 1ימים יוצרו · Psalms 139:16
- 2וכמ״ש בזהר · ח״א קכט, א. רכד, א. וראה סה״מ תקס״ה ח״א ע׳ רנז מפני מה נק׳ הלבושים בשם ימים. וראה לעיל עה, ד. ראה הלשון מהזהר באוה״ת פ׳ בלק ע׳ תתקמ.
- 3
- 4ואברהם זקן בא בימים יומין עלאין דאינון לבושין · Zohar, Chayei Sara 15:114–16:121
- 5ואברהם זקן בא בימים יומין עלאין דאינון לבושין · Zohar, Vayechi 32:294–303
- 6האדם ומכוונת · בתו״א דפוס לעמבערג שנת תורה ט, ג: האדם וחי בהם ובכוונת. אבל בבוך 1052 כמו שנדפס כאן.
Two kinds of Chesed ¶3–6
3והנה נודע כי אברהם הוא הרועה הראשון משבעה רועים הממשיך ג״כ בחי׳ אהבה לכללות נשמות ישראל.
Now, it is known that Avraham is the first shepherd of the seven shepherds, who also draws down the level of love to the souls of Israel as a whole.
Avraham is also one of the seven shepherds, indeed the first of them, and like Aharon he draws love down to all the souls of Israel. So the question arises how the two kinds of love differ.
וכמ״ש אברהם אוהבי.1 וההפרש שבין מדת אהרן איש החסד ובין מדת אברהם2 אוהבי יובן ע״פ מ״ש בזוהר אית חסד ואית חסד3 אית חסד דאקרי חסד עולם. ואית חסד דאקרי ורב חסד כו׳:
As it is written, “Avraham, who loves Me.” And the difference between the attribute of Aharon, the man of Chesed, and the attribute of Avraham, “who loves Me,” will be understood from what is stated in the Zohar: “There is Chesed and there is Chesed: there is a Chesed called ‘everlasting kindness’ (chesed olam), and there is a Chesed called ‘and abundant in kindness’ (verav chesed),” etc.
Isaiah calls Avraham “the one who loves Me,” so his attribute is love. To explain the difference, the Alter Rebbe cites the Zohar that there are two kinds of Chesed: chesed olam, “everlasting kindness” (olam also means “world”), and verav chesed, “and abundant in kindness,” one of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.
Avraham, like Aharon, draws down love to all Israel; the paragraph introduces the Zohar’s two kinds of Chesed, “everlasting kindness” and “abundant in kindness,” as the key to how their loves differ.
In the Idra Rabba passage Kehot cites, the Zohar distinguishes an inner Chesed, that of Atik Yomin (the innermost level of Keser), hidden in the “corner of the beard,” from an outer Chesed called chesed olam, which belongs to Z’eir Anpin, as in “the world is built by Chesed.” It connects the inner Chesed with the priest, who may not shave the corners of his beard because he comes from that side; the maamar develops this link through “the beard of Aharon.”
Marei mekomos
- 1אברהם אוהבי · Isaiah 41:8
- 2וההפרש שבין מדת אהרן . . מדת אברהם · באוה״ת כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תשנח מציין לכמה מקומות בדא״ח. ובארוכה ראה בספר הערכים-חב״ד ערך אברהם וערך אהרן.
- 3אית חסד ואית חסד · Zohar I, 219a
4וביאור הענין זה הנה נודע דבאתערותא דלתתא אתערותא דלעילא. והנה גם לפני1 אתערותא דלתתא קדמה אתערותא דלעילא
The explanation of this matter: it is known that through an arousal from below [there comes] an arousal from above. Now, even before the arousal from below, an arousal from above comes first,
A basic principle from the Zohar is that a stirring from below, a person’s own effort, calls forth a response from above. Yet before a person can make any effort at all, an arousal from above must come first, unprompted.
כדי שתהא אתעדל״ת לעורר לב האדם להקיצו משנתו בהבלי העולם שטבע האדם נמשך אחריהם ולהמשיך לבו לעבודת2 ה׳ לדבקה בו.
so that there may be an arousal from below: to awaken a person’s heart, to rouse him from his sleep in the vanities of the world, after which human nature is drawn, and to draw his heart to the service of G‑d, to cleave to Him.
That first arousal from above wakes a person from his absorption in the vanities of the world, toward which human nature is drawn. It stirs his heart so that he can begin, on his own, the arousal from below: serving G‑d and cleaving to Him.
The paragraph introduces two arousals from above: one that comes first and makes a person’s own effort possible, and one that answers that effort.
Likkutei Torah on Vayikra, which refers to this discourse, illustrates the first kind: some people are suddenly inspired in prayer without any preparation and without knowing why, and the inspiration soon fades. That is an arousal from above whose purpose is to awaken the arousal from below.
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה גם לפני אתעדל״ת קדמה אתעדל״ע · ראה אוה״ת ויקרא כרך ג ע׳ תשכא.
- 2לעבודת ה׳ · בבוך תניא-ברוק: לעבודת האדם לה׳.
5ואתעדל״ע זו היא מבחי׳ חסד עולם.1 וכמ״ש וחסד ה׳ מעולם ועד עולם. חסדי ה׳ עולם אשירה הוא בחינת מדרגת אברהם שזכה להיות מרכבה לחסד זה.
This arousal from above is from the level of everlasting kindness (chesed olam), as it is written, “And the kindness of G‑d is from everlasting to everlasting”; “I will sing of the kindnesses of G‑d forever (olam)” — this is the level of Avraham’s rank, who merited to be a chariot (merkavah) for this Chesed.
The arousal from above that comes first, unearned, is chesed olam, the “everlasting kindness” of which the verses speak. This is Avraham’s level: he was a “chariot” for this Chesed, wholly given over to it, as a chariot has no will of its own apart from its rider.
וכמ״ש חסד לאברהם2 שהיא מדת האהבה הטבעית שבלב כללות נש״י3 רק שהיא מסותרת ומכוסה בלבוש שק שהם הגוף ונה״ב.4
As it is written, “kindness to Avraham”: this is the attribute of the natural love in the heart of the souls of Israel as a whole, except that it is hidden and covered by a garment of sackcloth, namely the body and the animal soul.
“Kindness to Avraham” is the natural love for G‑d hidden in the heart of every Jew, an inheritance from Avraham. But it is hidden and covered by the body and the animal soul, which the Alter Rebbe likens to a garment of sackcloth.
The paragraph identifies the first arousal from above with “everlasting kindness,” Avraham’s level, which is the natural love for G‑d hidden in every Jewish heart.
Marei mekomos
- 1חסדי ה׳ עולם אשירה · Psalms 89:2
- 2חסד לאברהם · Micah 7:20
- 3שו״ה שהיא — נש״י · בבוך 1052: ישראל.
- 4וחסד ה׳ מעולם · Psalms 103:17
6ואתערותא דלעילא זו היא לעורר את האהבה עד שתחפץ1 להתפשט מלבושיה לדבקה בו ית׳ ולצעוק אל ה׳ בצר לו מקרב איש ולב עמוק להמשיך לבו אחר ה׳ כטבע נפשו מאליו וממילא.
This arousal from above is to awaken the love, until it desires to strip off its garments, to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, and to cry out to G‑d in his distress from the inwardness of a man and a deep heart, to draw his heart after G‑d, as is the nature of his soul, of itself and as a matter of course.
The arousal from above that comes first awakens a person’s natural love until it longs to shed its garments, the body and animal soul that hide it, and cleave to G‑d. It moves him to cry out to G‑d from the depths of his heart, as his soul does by nature, without effort.
אך באתעדל״ת אתעדל״ע הוא שמעורר האדם למעלה בחי׳ ורב חסד שהוא בחי׳ אהרן כהן גדול שבחי׳ זו מאד נעלה מבחי׳ חסד עולם
But through an arousal from below, an arousal from above: that is, a person arouses on high the level of “abundant in kindness” (verav chesed), which is the level of Aharon the High Priest. And this level is far loftier than the level of everlasting kindness (chesed olam),
The second arousal from above comes only in answer to a person’s own effort. It draws down verav chesed, “abundant in kindness,” which is Aharon’s level and far loftier than Avraham’s chesed olam.
כי חסד עולם הוא מבחי׳ התהוות ההשתלשלות בסדר המדרגות דרך עילה ועלול שכל עלול יש לו איזה ערך ויחוס עם עילתו
for everlasting kindness is from the level of the coming into being of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), in the order of the levels, by way of cause and effect, where every effect bears some proportion and relation to its cause,
Chesed olam belongs to the “world” (olam), the ordered chain of descending worlds. In that chain each level is caused by the one above it, and so it bears some proportion and relation to its cause.
כמו עד״מ גילוי השכל במדות אהוי״ר כו׳ שהמדות מקבלים מגילוי השכל שהוא מלובש בהם ממש וכן המדות במחשבה ומחשבה בדבור כו׳.
as, by way of analogy, the revelation of the intellect in the emotive attributes (middos), love and awe, etc.: the emotive attributes receive from the revelation of the intellect, which is actually enclothed in them; and likewise the emotive attributes in thought, and thought in speech, etc.
The analogy is the human psyche: the intellect enters the emotions, so that love and awe follow from understanding; the emotions then shape thought, and thought shapes speech. Each stage receives from the one before it, which is truly present within it.
אבל בחי׳ ורב חסד הוא למעלה מעלה2 מן ההשתלשלות שהוא בחי׳ גילוי ההמשכה והתלבשות אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה וחסד כו׳.
But the level of “abundant in kindness” is far, far above the chain of descending worlds: it is the level of the revelation of the drawing down, and the enclothement, of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in Chochmah (wisdom) and Chesed, etc.
Verav chesed stands above that chain altogether. It is the Infinite Light itself being drawn down and enclothed in Chochmah and Chesed, not the effect of any cause within the chain.
דהיינו להיות ראשית ההתהוות של בחי׳ חכמה כו׳ והחכמה מאין ממש תמצא3 שאין ערוך אליו כלל וכמ״ש בת״ז4 לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא5 כו׳ ולא מכל מדות כו׳.
That is, for there to be the beginning of the coming into being of the level of Chochmah, etc.; and Chochmah “is found from ayin (nothing)” in the most literal sense, for there is no comparison to Him at all, as is stated in the Tikkunei Zohar: “Not that You have a known righteousness,” etc., “nor of any of the attributes,” etc.
The very first emergence of Chochmah, the beginning of all that comes into being, is a creation “from nothing” (ayin), since the Infinite bears no comparison to it at all; Job’s “where (me’ayin) shall wisdom be found” is read as “wisdom comes from nothing.” The Tikkunei Zohar says the same: G‑d in Himself has no definable righteousness, nor any of the attributes.
The paragraph distinguishes the two kinds of Chesed: “everlasting kindness” works within the chain of cause and effect, while “abundant in kindness,” Aharon’s level, is the Infinite Light entering Chochmah from above that chain, to which it bears no comparison.
Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim, citing this discourse, explains “there is Chesed and there is Chesed” as an inner and an outer Chesed, and calls the inner one, verav chesed, the level of the “supernal Kohen” above Atzilus, who raises the angels of the lower worlds to their root. This matches the Idra Rabba, where the inner Chesed of Atik Yomin stands above the chesed olam of Z’eir Anpin.
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2אבל בחי׳ ורב חסד הוא למעלה מעלה . . כמ״ש כשמן הטוב · קטע מובא בלקו״ת פ׳ כי תצא לז, ג. ראה לקו״ת שה״ש ל, ד. סה״מ תרכ״ז (הוצאה חדשה) ע׳ סו.
- 3והחכמה מאין ממש תמצא · Job 28:12
- 4וכמ״ש בת״ז · בהקדמה (פתח אליהו).
- 5
The beard of Aharon: light through hairs ¶7–9
And He is also above Chochmah, exalted and lofty, etc., as it is written, “You have made them all with wisdom”: the level of physical making, etc.
The Infinite is above even Chochmah, the highest faculty of intellect. “You have made them all with wisdom” implies that, before Him, even Chochmah counts as mere “making,” like the lowest level of physical action.
ודרך גילוי זה והמשכה זו להיות התלבשות אוא״ס ב״ה בחכמה2 הוא כמ״ש כי הנה כשמן הטוב על הראש3 יורד על הזקן זקן אהרן.
And the way of this revelation and this drawing down, so that the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is enclothed in Chochmah, is as it is written — for behold: “Like the good oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aharon.”
If there is no comparison between them, how can the Infinite Light be enclothed in Chochmah at all? The verse about oil running down Aharon’s beard shows the way.
פי׳ מה שנמשך בבחי׳ זקן אהרן דיקנא דכהנא רבא שהוא בחי׳ שערות. דהיינו כמשל ההארה היוצאת דרך נקבי שערות הראש או הזקן ממותרי מוחין שהשערות הן חלולין ויונקין מהמוחין שבראש
That is: what is drawn down by way of the level of “the beard of Aharon,” “the beard of the High Priest” (dikna dechahana raba), which is the level of hairs. That is, as in the analogy of the illumination that goes out through the openings of the hairs of the head or of the beard, from the surplus of the brain (mochin): for the hairs are hollow and draw nourishment from the brain in the head,
Aharon’s beard, called in Aramaic “the beard of the High Priest,” stands for the level of hairs. Hairs grow from the surplus of the mochin, here the brain itself, the seat of the intellect: they are hollow channels that draw a faint illumination from it.
ועל כל זה אין להם ערך ויחוס כלל עם המוחין שבראש שהם חב״ד ואין עיקר חיות המוחין מתפשט בהם
yet for all that, they bear no proportion or relation at all to the brain in the head, which is Chochmah, Binah and Daas, and the main life-force of the brain does not spread into them;
Although the hairs draw from the brain, they bear no proportion or relation to it at all: the brain, the seat of Chochmah, Binah and Daas, does not send its main life-force into them.
שהרי אם יחתוך אדם שער ראשו לא ירגיש המוח כאב כלל שאין מתפשט בהם אלא הארה בעלמא להיות להם רק יניקה ואחיזה במוחין.
for if a person cuts the hair of his head, the brain feels no pain at all, since nothing spreads into them but a mere illumination, so that they have only nourishment from, and a hold in, the brain.
The proof is that cutting one’s hair causes no pain: the brain’s life does not reach the hair, which has only a slight nourishment from the brain and a hold in it.
כך עד״מ הוא גילוי אור והתלבשותו בחכמה וחסד שאין ערוך כלל ולהיות נמשך מבחי׳ דלאו מכל מדות כו׳
So too, by way of analogy, is the revelation of light and its enclothement in Chochmah and Chesed, for there is no comparison at all; and for there to be drawn down, from the level of “not of any of the attributes,” etc.,
So it is above: the light enclothed in Chochmah and Chesed bears no comparison to its source. It comes from the level of “not of any of the attributes,” the Infinite as He is above all the Sefiros.
ולמעלה מגדר חכמה כו׳ התהוות בחי׳ חכמה ומדות אין זה אלא זיו והארה בעלמא בבחי׳ שערות שהם צמצומים רבים ועצומים להמשיך ההארה.
and from above the bounds of Chochmah, etc., the coming into being of the level of Chochmah and the emotive attributes — this is nothing but a mere radiance and illumination, at the level of hairs, which are many and immense contractions (tzimtzumim) to draw down the illumination.
What comes from beyond Chochmah to bring Chochmah and the emotive attributes into being is only a faint radiance, like the life that passes through a hair. The “hairs” are many immense contractions (tzimtzumim), which let only a glimmer pass through.
Using the image of oil running down Aharon’s beard, the paragraph explains how the Infinite Light reaches Chochmah: as with the slight life that flows from the brain into the hair, only a glimmer passes, through many great contractions.
Likkutei Torah on Sh’lach, citing this discourse, adds that the drawing down through the “hairs” comes from the Gulgalta (the “skull”), above the level of the brain, and that the hairs divide the flow into countless different levels of comprehension, as angels differ from one another only by what they grasp.
Marei mekomos
- 1כלם בחכמה עשית · Psalms 104:24
- 2להיות התלבשות אוא״ס ב״ה בחכמה · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 35:7–8
- 3כשמן הטוב על הראש · Psalms 133:2
8וכמשל זה של השערות שהוא בגשמיות הגוף כך יש עוד משל רוחני בחיות הנפש מהמשכת איזה חכמה בצירופי אותיות הדבור.
And like this analogy of the hairs, which is in the physicality of the body, there is also a spiritual analogy, in the life-force of the soul: from the drawing down of some wisdom into combinations of the letters of speech.
A second analogy, this time from the life of the soul rather than the body: the way wisdom is conveyed through combinations of letters in speech.
כמו למשל אותיות דבורי הרב המלמד ומסביר איזה חידוש ושכל לתלמידו כי הנה צירופי אותיות מדבור הרב אינם עצמיות השכל
For example, the letters of the words of a teacher who teaches and explains some novel idea and concept to his student: the combinations of the letters of the teacher’s speech are not the essence of the concept,
When a teacher explains a new idea to his student, the letters and words he uses are not the idea itself.
שהרי יכול להיות הסבר הזה גם בצירופי אותיות אחרות רק הם כדמיון השערות כי על ידן ובתוכן עובר השפעת השכל
for this explanation could also be given in other combinations of letters; rather, they are like the hairs, for through them and within them the flow of the concept passes;
The proof is that the same idea could be put in quite different words. The words are like hairs: the idea passes through them and is carried within them, yet they are not its essence.
ולפי שבעצמות השכל של הרב אין תפיסא להתלמיד לכך צ״ל צירופי אותיות הדבור להעביר ולהמשיך השכל של הרב לתלמיד.
and since the student has no grasp of the essence of the teacher’s concept, therefore there must be combinations of the letters of speech to convey and draw the teacher’s concept down to the student.
The student cannot grasp the teacher’s mind directly, so the idea must be contracted into words to reach him. In the same way the Infinite Light must pass through many contractions to be drawn into Chochmah.
The paragraph gives a spiritual counterpart to the analogy of hair: words carry a teacher’s idea to the student without being its essence, just as the “hairs” carry a glimmer of the Infinite into Chochmah.
Kehot notes that the Rebbe Rashab cites this Torah Ohr in Hemshech 5672 for the idea that the letters of speech are like hairs, and that Likkutei Torah on Korach refers here for the letters of speech also being called “hairs.”
9והנה הגורם להיות צמצומים אלו להמשכת גילוי זה היא אתערותא דלתתא שע״י האהבה שממטה למעלה כמים הפנים1 כו׳
Now, what causes these contractions (tzimtzumim) for drawing down this revelation is the arousal from below: for through the love from below to above, “as water [reflects] the face,” etc.,
What brings about these contractions, which let the revelation be drawn down, is a person’s own arousal from below. Love directed upward from below is answered from above, as a face is reflected in water.
כך היא האהבה עליונה אהבתי אתכם2 אמר הוי״ה דהיינו להיות בחי׳ הוי״ה צמצום והתפשטות כו׳ כי אהבה דוחקת את הבשר:3
so is the supernal love, “I have loved you, says Havayah” — that is, for there to be the level of Havayah, contraction and expansion, etc., for “love compresses the flesh.”
Malachi’s “I have loved you, says Havayah” is that supernal love. The Name Havayah stands for contraction and expansion, and “love compresses the flesh”: as love makes room where there seems to be none, the supernal love leads the Infinite to contract itself so that it can be revealed to man.
The paragraph names the cause of the contractions: a person’s love from below, which, like a face reflected in water, evokes G‑d’s love from above, and that love contracts the Infinite Light so that it can be revealed.
Torah Ohr on Megillas Esther, referring back to this discourse for the meaning of “I have loved you,” describes this supernal love as “His right hand embraces me”: it surrounds the Congregation of Israel on every side and awakens a matching love in the souls of Israel, “as water reflects face to face.”
Marei mekomos
- 1כמים הפנים · Proverbs 27:19
- 2אהבתי אתכם · Malachi 1:2
- 3אהבה דוחקת את הבשר · Bava Metzia 84a:4
Drawing the great love into the soul ¶10–12
10והנה באתערותא דלתתא זו שהאדם מעורר למעלה ממשיך ג״כ על נפשו למטה להיות גילוי בחי׳ זו בנפשו
Now, through this arousal from below, by which a person arouses on high, he also draws down upon his soul below, so that this level is revealed in his soul.
A person’s arousal from below does two things: it awakens “abundant in kindness” above, and it also draws that level down into his own soul, so that he comes to feel it.
כי אתערותא דלעילא הוא מבחי׳ אהרן שהוא משבעה רועים הרועה וממשיך הגילוי בכנס״י הוא שורש כל נש״י ואהרן אותיות נראה1 שהוא כמ״ש עין בעין נראה2 כו׳.
For the arousal from above is from the level of Aharon, who is one of the seven shepherds, who shepherds and draws down the revelation into the Congregation of Israel (Knesses Yisrael), which is the root of all the souls of Israel. And [the name] Aharon has the letters of nir’eh (“is seen”), as it is written, “eye to eye [You] are seen,” etc.
The arousal from above comes from Aharon, the shepherd who channels revelation into Knesses Yisrael, the collective root of all Jewish souls. His name has the letters of nir’eh, “is seen,” as in “eye to eye You are seen”: his is a level of open, visible revelation.
דהיינו להיות גילוי אתערותא דלעילא זו בנפש האדם בהתפעלות והתגלות הלב וכדמיון ראיה חושיית ויומשך עליו גילוי אור האה״ר הבאה מלמעלה כמו שיתבאר לקמן.
That is, that this arousal from above be revealed in a person’s soul, in the stirring and revelation of the heart, like physical sight; and the revelation of the light of the great love (ahavah rabbah) that comes from above will be drawn down upon him, as will be explained below.
The aim is for this arousal to be revealed in the soul as a felt stirring of the heart, as vivid as physical sight. Then the great love (ahavah rabbah) from above, which the maamar explains further on, is drawn down upon the person.
The paragraph explains that the arousal from below also draws Aharon’s level into the person’s own soul, as a revelation as clear as sight, which brings the great love from above.
Likkutei Torah on Beha’alosecha, citing this discourse, explains “eye to eye You are seen” as seeing that before G‑d all is as nothing, and that even the cloud that seems to hide Him is “Your cloud,” coming from Him. The love born of this seeing is ahavah rabbah, above ahavas olam, the love that belongs to the bounds of place and time.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהרן אותיות נראה · Zohar III, 103a
- 2עין בעין נראה · Numbers 14:14
11וכמ״ש ואהבת את1 ה׳ אלקיך כו׳. וע״ד דרשת רז״ל שיהא שם שמים מתאהב2 כו׳ כלומר שואהבת הוא פועל יוצא לשלישי
As it is written, “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d,” etc. And along the lines of our Sages’ exposition, “that the Name of Heaven become beloved,” etc. — that is, ve’ahavta (“and you shall love”) is a verb that acts upon a third party:
The commandment to love G‑d is read, with the Talmud’s “that the Name of Heaven become beloved through you,” as a love whose effect reaches beyond the lover. Ve’ahavta is taken as a transitive verb: it acts on a “third party” and causes love there.
דהיינו שתפעול את האהבה העליונה שהיא אהבתי אתכם כו׳ להיות בחי׳ גילוי בנפש שהוי״ה יהי׳ אלקיך אלוה שלך כו׳
that is, that you bring about the supernal love, which is “I have loved you,” etc., so that there will be the level of revelation in the soul that Havayah will be your G‑d (Elokecha), a G‑d of your own, etc.
The “third party” is the supernal love, G‑d’s “I have loved you.” A person’s love for G‑d causes that love to be revealed in his soul, so that Havayah, the transcendent G‑d, becomes Elokecha, “your G‑d,” present to him personally.
והיינו ע״י התבוננותו בה׳ אחד3 איך שהוא אחד בח׳ וד׳ שהם ז׳ רקיעים והארץ וד׳ רוחות העולם שתמשך בהם בחי׳ אחד הוא יחודו להיות מתייחדים וכלולים בא׳
And this comes through his contemplating “Havayah is One” (echad): how He is One in the ches and the dalet, which are the seven heavens and the earth and the four directions of the world, so that there is drawn into them the level of One, which is His unity, so that they become united and included in the One.
The way to this is contemplating “Havayah is One” (echad). In echad, the ches (numerically eight) stands for the seven heavens and the earth and the dalet (four) for the four directions; G‑d’s oneness is to be drawn into them all, so that everything is united and included in the One.
וכן למעלה מעלה ברוחניות עד רום המעלות יש בחי׳ ז׳ רקיעים וארץ כו׳ שהם בחי׳ לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה4 כו׳
And likewise far above, in spirituality, up to the highest heights, there is the level of seven heavens and earth, etc., which are the level of “Yours, G‑d, are the greatness and the might,” etc.,
The same structure exists in the spiritual worlds, up to the very highest. There the “seven heavens and earth” are the Sefiros named in the verse “Yours, G‑d, are the greatness and the might…”, from Chesed onward.
שהם בחי׳ שמים אש ומים ולך ה׳ הממלכה היא בחי׳ ארץ והכל בבחי׳ לך ה׳ שהם בבחי׳ בטול אליו ית׳ מחמת
which are the level of heaven (shamayim), fire and water; and “Yours, G‑d, is the kingdom” is the level of earth. And all of it is at the level of “Yours, G‑d,” for they are in a state of self-nullification (bittul) to Him, may He be blessed, because
The “heavens” (shamayim, read as esh, fire, and mayim, water) are the emotive Sefiros, and “Yours is the kingdom” is Malchus, the “earth.” All of them are called “Yours,” for they are entirely nullified before Him.
כי נשגב שמו לבדו רק הודו וזיוו על ארץ ושמים5 דהיינו על כל בחי׳ ארץ ושמים הנ״ל וארץ קדמה לשמים כו׳
“His Name alone is exalted,” and only “His glory” and His radiance are “upon earth and heaven,” that is, upon all the levels of earth and heaven mentioned above; and earth preceded heaven, etc.
G‑d’s Name itself remains beyond them all; only His glory and radiance spread over “earth and heaven,” that is, over all the levels just described. The verse names earth before heaven, and the Alter Rebbe remarks that earth preceded heaven, without elaborating here.
והגורם להיות יחוד זה והמשכה זו הוא כי הוי״ה אלקינו דהיינו שישראל הם המייחדים שמו והממשיכים להיות יחודו ית׳ למטה להיות גילוי א״ס בעולמות שבאתערותא דלתתא תליא מילתא
And what causes this unity and this drawing down is that Havayah is “our G‑d” (Elokeinu): that is, Israel are the ones who unify His Name and draw down His unity, may He be blessed, below, so that the Infinite One (Ein Sof) is revealed in the worlds; for the matter depends on the arousal from below,
This unity is drawn into the worlds because Havayah is “our G‑d”: it is Israel who unify His Name and draw His oneness down below, so that the Infinite is revealed in the worlds. In the Zohar’s words, the matter depends on the arousal from below.
וכמ״ש בת״ז לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא כו׳ אלא לאחזאה כו׳ כפום עובדיהון6 דב״נ שלהיות לאחזא׳
as is stated in the Tikkunei Zohar: “Not that You have a known righteousness,” etc., “but to show,” etc., “according to the deeds of human beings”: meaning, that for there to be “to show” —
The Tikkunei Zohar says that G‑d in Himself has no defined attribute of righteousness, yet He reveals Himself through the attributes in order to show how the world is conducted, “according to the deeds of human beings.”
דהיינו גילוי איך אתנהג עלמא בצדק ובמשפט דהיינו בבחי׳ מדות ולהיות יוצא מההעלם שהוא בחי׳ דלאו מכל מדות כו׳
that is, a revelation of how the world is conducted with righteousness and with justice, that is, through the level of the attributes (middos), and for this to come out of the concealment, which is the level of “not of any of the attributes,” etc. —
Showing that G‑d conducts the world with righteousness and justice means that the Sefiros emerge from concealment, from the level of “not of any of the attributes,” G‑d as He is above them.
הוא כפום עובדיהון דב״נ תלוי במעשה התחתונים כו׳ וכאשר יעמיק מחשבתו וישים על לבו הדברים האלה
is “according to the deeds of human beings”: it depends on the deeds of the lower beings, etc. And when he deepens his thought and takes these matters to heart,
Whether that revelation takes place depends on the deeds of people below. When a person deeply contemplates all this, it moves his heart.
אזי יהיה שם שמים מתאהב כו׳ שיהי׳ גילוי האהבה העליונה שורה ומתגלה בנפש בבחי׳ ראיה שיהא הלב רואה כו׳.7
then “the Name of Heaven will become beloved,” etc.: the revelation of the supernal love will rest and be revealed in the soul in the manner of sight, so that the heart sees, etc.
Then “the Name of Heaven becomes beloved” through him: the supernal love rests and is revealed in his soul, so that his heart “sees” G‑dliness and does not merely understand it.
The paragraph explains “You shall love” as a love that brings G‑d’s own love into the soul: by contemplating His oneness throughout the worlds, and that this oneness is revealed only through Israel’s deeds, a person causes the supernal love to dwell in him as an inner sight.
The Tzemach Tzedek, as Kehot quotes him from Or HaTorah, records another explanation of “that the Name of Heaven become beloved”: added light shines into the Name, as in “on that day Havayah will be One and His Name One,” for “Heaven” is Z’eir Anpin and “the Name of Heaven” is Malchus.
Marei mekomos
- 1ואהבת את ה׳ אלקיך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 2שיהא שם שמים מתאהב · Yoma 86a:12
- 3בה׳ אחד · Deuteronomy 6:4
- 4לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה · I Chronicles 29:11
- 5כי נשגב שמו לבדו רק הודו וזיוו על ארץ ושמים · Psalms 148:13
- 6לאו דאית לך צדק ידיעא כו׳ אלא לאחזאה כו׳ כפום עובדיהון · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–5
- 7
12וגילוי זה בנפש הוא מחמת אתערותא דלתתא בכל לבבך בשני יצריך1 שגם היצה״ר יהי׳ לאכפייא כו׳ שלא יהי׳ לו רק לב א׳ לאביהם שבשמים.
And this revelation in the soul comes because of the arousal from below of “with all your heart (levavecha)” — “with both your inclinations”: that the evil inclination too be subdued (le’iskafya), etc., so that he has only one heart, for their Father in Heaven.
What draws this revelation is a person’s own effort to love G‑d “with all your heart,” which the Mishnah reads as “with both your inclinations.” Even the evil inclination is to be subdued (iskafya), so that the whole heart is one, given to the Father in Heaven.
וכמ״ש ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ.2 וכמארז״ל בטל רצונך34 כו׳ שלא יהי׳ לו חפץ ורצון אחר להיות פוסח על שתי הסעיפים כו׳.
As it is written, “And besides You I desire nothing on earth”; and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Nullify your will,” etc.: that he should have no other desire or will that would leave him limping between two opinions, etc.
“Besides You I desire nothing on earth” and the Mishnah’s “Nullify your will before His will” say the same: no competing desire is left, no “limping between two opinions.”
כי ע״י שצמצם א״ע וישליך מנגד נפשו ורצונו שבגשמיות וישים אליו לבו רוחו ונשמתו5 כו׳
For through his contracting himself, and casting away his soul and his will that are in physical things, and setting his heart, his spirit and his soul toward Him, etc.,
The person “contracts himself”: he lays aside his own soul and his desire for physical things, and turns his heart, spirit and soul to G‑d alone.
אזי כמים הפנים לפנים6 תהיה אהבה עליונה שורה ומתגלה בו להיות האהבה דוחקת את הבשר7 בבחי׳ צמצומים רבים להאיר
then, “as water [reflects] face to face,” the supernal love will rest and be revealed in him: so that the love “compresses the flesh,” in the manner of many contractions (tzimtzumim), so as to cause to shine
Then, as a face is mirrored in water, the supernal love answers in kind and rests in him. Just as he contracted himself, the supernal love “compresses” itself through many contractions.
מתוכם אוא״ס ב״ה בגילוי על נפשו שיושפע עליו שפע רב וגלוי עצום עד שיגיע למעלת ומדרגת ובכל מאדך8 הוא בחי׳ אה״ר הבאה מלמעלה
from within them the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in revelation upon his soul, so that an abundant flow and an immense revelation will be bestowed upon him, until he reaches the rank and level of “and with all your might” (uvchol me’odecha), which is the level of great love (ahavah rabbah) that comes from above,
Through those contractions the Infinite Light shines openly upon his soul in abundance, until he reaches “with all your might” (me’odecha, from me’od, “very much”), a love without limit. This is ahavah rabbah, the great love that comes from above.
שהוא למעלה מכדי שתוכל נפשו שאת בכלות הנפש ובטול במציאות כו׳ כי אהרן שושבינא דמטרוניתא9 שהוא המגביה ומנשא נש״י עד רום המעלות.
which is beyond what his soul is able to bear, with expiry of the soul (kelos hanefesh) and nullification of [its] existence, etc. For Aharon is “the groomsman of the Matronita (the Queen),” who lifts and raises the souls of Israel to the highest heights.
This love is more than the soul can contain; it brings kelos hanefesh, the soul’s longing to the point of expiry, and the nullification of its very existence. It comes through Aharon, “the groomsman of the Queen,” who lifts the souls of Israel to the highest levels.
וכמ״ש אלה מסעי כו׳10 ביד משה ואהרן וכתיב הוא אהרן ומשה11 אשר אמר ה׳ להם הוציאו את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים על צבאותם פי׳ למעלה מצבאותם למעלה משרש נשמותיהם:
As it is written, “These are the journeys,” etc., “by the hand of Moshe and Aharon”; and it is written, “This is Aharon and Moshe, to whom G‑d said: Bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt al tzivosam (according to their hosts)” — meaning, above (al) their hosts, above the root of their souls.
The verses that pair Moshe and Aharon in bringing Israel out of Egypt “al tzivosam” are read as “above their hosts”: Aharon raises the souls even above their own root.
The paragraph describes the service that brings the great love: wholehearted self-nullification, answered by the supernal love, which contracts itself so that the Infinite Light shines upon the person until he reaches the boundless love “with all your might” that comes from above through Aharon.
Likkutei Torah on Masei, referring to this discourse, says this great love is drawn from above through Aharon, the groomsman of the Matronita, from “abundant in kindness,” above chesed olam, olam being the six emotive attributes. The previous maamar in Torah Ohr explains Aharon as the groomsman who accompanies the souls, like a bride, to their union with the Infinite Light, which they could not reach by their own strength.
Marei mekomos
- 1בכל לבבך בשני יצריך · Berakhot 54a:6
- 2ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ · Psalms 73:25
- 3בטל רצונך · אבות פ״ב מ״ג.
- 4בטל רצונך · Pirkei Avot 2:4
- 5אליו לבו רוחו ונשמתו · Job 34:14
- 6כמים הפנים לפנים · Proverbs 27:19
- 7האהבה דוחקת את הבשר · Bava Metzia 84a:4
- 8ובכל מאדך · Deuteronomy 6:5
- 9אהרן שושבינא דמטרוניתא · נסמן לעיל פא, א. בלקו״ת מסעי צד, ב מציין לכאן.
- 10אלה מסעי כו׳ · Numbers 33:1
- 11הוא אהרן ומשה · Exodus 6:26
Torah and mitzvos as the garments ¶13–16
However, for the level of the revelation of the love, there must be the level of a vessel and a garment, in which the love may rest and be enclothed, so that it comes to revelation in actual fact;
Revealed love needs a vessel and a garment in which to rest, so that it can come into actual expression.
כי אין אור בלא כלי ולבוש. ועל זה נאמר זקן אהרן שיורד על פי מדותיו.2
for there is no light without a vessel and a garment. And of this it is said, “the beard of Aharon, which runs down upon the opening of his garments (middosav).”
This is a general rule: no light can be received without a vessel. The end of the verse about the oil alludes to it: the oil runs down from Aharon’s beard “upon the opening of his garments (middosav).”
מדותיו מלשון מדו בד3 אלו הלבושין4 שהם הם התורה והמצות שהם בחי׳ לבושין לאהבה זו כי מאחר שבחי׳ אהבה זו נמשכה מבחי׳ דלאו מכל מדות כו׳.
Middosav is from the term “his linen garment” (mido vad): these are the garments, which are none other than the Torah and the mitzvos, which are the level of garments for this love. For since this love is drawn from the level of “not of any of the attributes (middos),” etc.,
Middosav is read as “his garments,” as in the priest’s “linen garment” (mido vad). These garments are the Torah and mitzvos. Because the love comes from the level that is above all attributes (middos), it needs them in order to be held.
למעלה מגדר חכמה כו׳ אינה נתפסת בשום שכל שבגדר חכמת הנבראים והשגתם אלא כאשר תפיסא ומתלבשת בתורה ומצות שהם רצונו וחכמתו ית׳ מבחי׳ אנת חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא5 כו׳:
above the bounds of Chochmah, etc., it cannot be grasped by any intellect within the bounds of the wisdom and comprehension of created beings, except when it is grasped and enclothed in Torah and mitzvos, which are His will and His wisdom, may He be blessed, from the level of “You are wise, but not with a known wisdom,” etc.
A love from beyond Chochmah cannot be grasped by any created intellect. It can be held only when it is clothed in Torah and mitzvos, which are G‑d’s own will and wisdom, from the level of “You are wise, but not with a known wisdom.”
The paragraph explains why the great love needs garments: since it comes from above all intellect, it can be held only in the Torah and mitzvos, G‑d’s will and wisdom, as the oil from Aharon’s beard runs down onto his garments.
Sefer HaMaamarim 5634, which Kehot cites, explains middosav as garments, as the Targum renders it “the hem of the garment” and as Rashi explains. Kehot also notes that in manuscript 1052 the second section of the maamar begins here.
Marei mekomos
- 1אך הנה לבחי׳ גלוי · בבוך 1052 נסמן סעיף ב).
- 2זקן אהרן שיורד על פי מדותיו · Psalms 133:2
- 3מדו בד · Leviticus 6:3
- 4שו״ה מדו — אלו הלבושין · בסה״מ תרל״ד ע׳ רד כמו שת״י על אימרא דלבושא, וכן פרש״י יעו״ש.
- 5אנת חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3
14וזהו והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך1 כו׳ שלהיות גלוי בחי׳ אנכי מי שאנכי2 הוא ע״י והיו הדברים האלה דוקא ולכך ודברת בם3 ולא4 בדברי׳ בטלים.
And this is [the meaning of] “And these words which I (Anochi) command you shall be,” etc.: for the revelation of the level of Anochi — “I, Who I am” — comes specifically through “And these words shall be.” And therefore: “and you shall speak of them,” and not of idle words.
The Shema’s “And these words which I command you shall be” is read with emphasis on Anochi, “I”: the revelation of G‑d’s very Self, “I, Who I am,” comes only through “these words,” the Torah. Hence “you shall speak of them,” and not of idle matters.
ופי׳ ודברת מלשון ידבר עמים5 שהוא לשון הנהגה והמשכה. כלומר שהמשכות גלוי האהבה יהיה בלבוש התורה דוקא ולא בשאר חכמות שהם לשכל והשגת הנבראים
And the meaning of “and you shall speak” (vedibarta) is from the term “He leads (yadber) nations,” which is a term of leading and drawing down. That is, the drawing down of the revelation of the love shall be specifically in the garment of the Torah, and not in other wisdoms, which are for the intellect and comprehension of created beings;
Vedibarta, “you shall speak,” is related to yadber in “He leads nations under us,” a term of leading and drawing. So the verse means: draw down the revelation of the love specifically through the garment of the Torah, not through other wisdoms, which belong to created intellect.
כי כולם נק׳ אצלו ית׳ דברים בטלים דלאו אורחא דמלכא6 לאשתעי במילין דהדיוטא אלא דוקא בחי׳ התורה שהיא בחי׳ דלאו בחכמה ידיעא כו׳ שהוא למעלה מעלה מגדר ושכל והשגת הנבראים כו׳.
for all of them are called, in relation to Him, may He be blessed, idle words, since “it is not the way of the King to speak of the matters of a commoner”; but only the level of the Torah, which is the level of “not with a known wisdom,” etc., which is far, far above the bounds, intellect and comprehension of created beings, etc.
Before G‑d every other wisdom is “idle words”; as the Zohar says, a king does not talk about a commoner’s affairs. Only the Torah, which comes from His wisdom that is “not a known wisdom,” is far above all created understanding.
The paragraph applies the principle to “these words” of Torah: only Torah, G‑d’s own wisdom, can be the garment that draws down the revelation of His Self and His love; other wisdoms are “idle” before Him.
Earlier in Torah Ohr, on Bereishis, Kehot’s cross-reference reads “these words which I (Anochi, Who I am) command you” as drawing down the revelation of G‑dliness and the coming into being of the Torah at the level of “fire and water.” There, too, man is called medaber, the “speaker,” from yadber amim, as the one who leads and elevates all the levels below him.
Marei mekomos
- 1והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 2אנכי מי שאנכי · נסמן לעיל א, א.
- 3ודברת בם · Deuteronomy 6:7
- 4ודברת בם ולא בדברים בטלים · Yoma 19b:10
- 5מלשון ידבר עמים · Psalms 47:4
- 6דלאו אורחא דמלכא · Zohar III, 149b
15וע״י עסק התורה למטה שהיא חכמתו ית׳ ממשיכין האהבה העליונה להיות גלוי אוא״ס בחכמה כו׳.
And through the study of Torah below, which is His wisdom, may He be blessed, one draws down the supernal love, so that there is a revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) in Chochmah, etc.
Studying Torah below, since Torah is G‑d’s own wisdom, draws down the supernal love, so that the Infinite Light is revealed in Chochmah.
וזהו ענין עסק התורה לשמה לשם התורה דהיינו להיות גלוי אוא״ס בחכמה שהיא בחי׳ התורה דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת.1
And this is the meaning of Torah study lishmah (“for its sake”): for the sake of the Torah, that is, so that there be a revelation of the Infinite Light in Chochmah, which is the level of the Torah, for “the Torah issues from Chochmah.”
This is the true meaning of studying Torah lishmah, “for its sake”: for the sake of the Torah itself, that the Infinite Light be revealed in Chochmah, which is the Torah’s source, since “the Torah issues from Chochmah.”
The paragraph concludes that Torah study for the sake of the Torah is what draws the Infinite Light into Chochmah.
Marei mekomos
- 1דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar II, 121a
16וזו היא המשכת ראשית התהוות ההשתלשלות מאין ליש שהוא ראשית חכמה וצ״ל המשכה ב׳ במדות ג״כ בראשית שהוא החסד כי הוא ראשית הבנין.
And this is the drawing down of the beginning of the coming into being of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), from nothing to something, which is the beginning, Chochmah (reishis chochmah). And there must also be a second drawing down, into the emotive attributes (middos), at [their] beginning, which is Chesed, for it is the beginning of the building.
Drawing the Infinite Light into Chochmah is the first step of creation “from nothing to something,” since Chochmah is the “beginning” (reishis). A second drawing down is needed into the emotive attributes, at their beginning, Chesed, the first of the attributes that “build” the world.
וכמ״ש כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה1 והמשכה זו ע״י עשיית המצות שכללותן נק׳ בשם צדקה וחסד.
As it is written, “For I said: The world shall be built by Chesed.” And this drawing down comes through doing the mitzvos, whose general and collective expression (klalus) is called by the name tzedakah and Chesed.
“The world shall be built by Chesed” shows that Chesed is the foundation of the building. This drawing down comes through doing the mitzvos, which as a whole are called tzedakah (charity) and Chesed.
ובפרטן מתחלקין לרמ״ח. רמ״ח אברין דמלכא שבהם ועל ידם ממשיכים גלוי למעלה2 אור א״ס ב״ה בחסד.
And in their particulars they divide into 248: the 248 “limbs of the King,” in which and through which one draws down, on high, a revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in Chesed.
In their particulars the positive mitzvos number 248, and Kabbalah calls them the “248 limbs of the King.” Through each of them a revelation of the Infinite Light is drawn down above, in Chesed.
וזהו ושמרו דרך3 ה׳ לעשות צדקה כו׳. דרך ה׳ כלומר המשכת גלוי הוי׳ מההעלם אל הגלוי
And this is [the meaning of] “And they shall keep the way of Havayah, to do tzedakah,” etc. “The way of Havayah”: that is, the drawing down of the revelation of Havayah from concealment into revelation
Avraham’s descendants “keep the way of Havayah, to do tzedakah.” The “way” is the path by which the revelation of Havayah is drawn from concealment into the open.
(ונק׳ המשכה זו בשם דרך עד״מ כמו דרך שמהלכין בה מעיר לעיר) לעשות צדקה כו׳ שיהיה התהוות בחי׳ צדקה וחסד.
(this drawing down is called by the name “way” by way of analogy, like a road on which one travels from city to city); “to do tzedakah,” etc.: that the level of tzedakah and Chesed should come into being.
The parenthesis explains the image: as a road leads from one city to another, the drawing down leads from the hidden to the revealed. “To do tzedakah” means bringing tzedakah and Chesed into being above.
וכמ״ש וצדקה ביעקב אתה עשית4 שנמשך בחי׳ צדקה מלמעלה ע״י ישראל. אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניך56 שעל ידיהם הוא בנין החסד. וכמ״ש עולם חסד יבנה.
As it is written, “And tzedakah in Yaakov You have made”: that the level of tzedakah is drawn down from above through Israel. “Do not read banayich (‘your children’) but bonayich (‘your builders’)”: for through them is the building of Chesed, as it is written, “The world shall be built by Chesed.”
“Tzedakah in Yaakov You have made” is read as Israel “making” tzedakah above. Likewise “do not read banayich, your children, but bonayich, your builders”: Israel build the edifice of Chesed by which the world is built.
ולכך נק׳ כנ״י יונתי תמתי כלומר שמתממת ומשלמת אותי כביכול להיות תמים ושלם ברמ״ח אברים דמלכא. כלומר שממשיכים להיות בחי׳ רמ״ח אברים ע״י רמ״ח מצות כו׳:
Therefore the Congregation of Israel (Knesses Yisrael) is called “My dove, My perfect one (tamasi)”: that is, she makes Me perfect and complete, as it were, to be whole and complete in the 248 limbs of the King. That is, they draw down so that there will be the level of the 248 limbs, through the 248 mitzvos, etc.
Hence Israel is called tamasi, “My perfect one,” read as “she who perfects Me”: through the 248 positive mitzvos Israel, as it were, complete the 248 limbs of the King.
The paragraph extends the drawing down from Chochmah to Chesed: through the 248 positive mitzvos, which together are tzedakah and Chesed, Israel draw the Infinite Light into Chesed and, as it were, build and complete the 248 limbs of the King.
Likkutei Torah on Shir HaShirim, which Kehot cites for this verse, reads “For I said (amarti)” in light of “you have proclaimed (he’emarta) Havayah”: through Israel’s “saying,” a corresponding “saying” is drawn down from the Name Havayah. This is the theme of “the Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin,” the drawing down of the Infinite Light from above the order of the chain of worlds.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה · Psalms 89:3
- 2שו״ה רמ״ח — גלוי למעלה · בבוך 1052: למעלה גלוי.
- 3ושמרו דרך ה׳ · Genesis 18:19
- 4וצדקה ביעקב אתה עשית · Psalms 99:4
- 5אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניך · סוף ברכות. וש״נ.
- 6אל תקרי בניך אלא בוניך · Berakhot 64a:14
The first level: Moshe ¶17–21
17והנה בתקון ועשיית1 לבושים אלו יש ג׳ בחינות ומדרגות מדרגה הא׳ הוא של משה כי משה נקרא על שם כי מן המים משיתהו.2
Now, in the fashioning and making of these garments there are three levels and grades. The first grade is that of Moshe, for Moshe is named for “because I drew him (meshisihu) out of the water.”
Now the maamar returns to the three makings of the garments and explains them as three levels. The first is Moshe’s, whose very name comes from “I drew him (meshisihu) out of the water.”
ופירוש משיתיהו מההעלם אל הגלוי שנמשך מן ההעלם שלמעלה מן ההשתלשלות מן המים בחי׳ מקור התורה שכל התורה היא בחינת כד שנשאב מן הים הם כ״ד ספרי דאורייתא. וכמ״ש ותמלא כדה3 ותעל.4
And the meaning of meshisihu (“I drew him”) is: from concealment into revelation, for he was drawn from the concealment that is above the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), “from the water,” the level of the source of the Torah. For the whole Torah is the level of a jug (kad) drawn from the sea: these are the twenty-four (kaf-dalet) books of the Torah. As it is written, “and she filled her jug and went up.”
Moshe was drawn from the hidden level above the chain of worlds, the “water” that is the source of the Torah. The Torah as we have it is like a jug (kad, whose letters have the value 24) drawn from that sea: the twenty-four books of Scripture; as Rivkah “filled her jug and went up.”
The paragraph begins the answer to the opening question: the first level of making the garments is Moshe’s, who draws the Torah, like water in a jug, from its hidden source above the worlds.
Likkutei Torah on Kedoshim, referring to this discourse’s three levels in the making of Aharon’s garments, adds that all of this concerns only the light that shines in the worlds; of G‑d’s essence no comprehension applies at all, only “we thank You.”
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה בתקון ועשיית הלבושים · בלקו״ת קדושים ל, ג מציין לכאן: ”ועמ״ש . . שבתיקון ועשיית בגדי אהרן יש ג׳ בחינות ומדריגות אך כ״ז רק בבחי׳ האור המאיר בעולמות אבל בעצמותו ית׳ אין שייך שום השגה”. ע״ש. וראה גם לקו״ת שה״ש יח, ג. יט, ב. כ, ד.
- 2מן המים משיתיהו · Exodus 2:10
- 3ותמלא כדה · Genesis 24:16
- 4שו״ה הא׳ — הוא של משה · באוה״ת כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תשסג מציין לכמה מקומות בתו״א לעיל בענין מדרגות משה. ע״ש.
18והנה על בחי׳ לבוש זה הוא ענין מה שארז״ל שהתורה נק׳ כלה ומאורשה1 קהלת יעקב2 וישראל הם בחי׳ חתן המשפיע כו׳
Now, concerning this level of garment is the matter of what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: that the Torah is called a bride, and “the betrothed (me’orashah) of the congregation of Yaakov,” and Israel are the level of the bridegroom, the one who bestows, etc.,
The Sages’ teaching that the Torah is the “betrothed” of the congregation of Yaakov (reading morashah, “inheritance,” as “betrothed”) belongs to this first level. The Torah is the bride and Israel the bridegroom, the one who gives.
שהם המשפיעים להיות בחי׳ אוא״ס בחכמה והם העוסקים בתורה לשמה לשם התורה. דהיינו שיהיה התהוות בחינת תורה.
for they are the ones who bestow, so that there will be the level of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) in Chochmah; and they are the ones who engage in Torah lishmah, for the sake of the Torah, that is, so that the level of Torah will come into being.
Israel “give” to the Torah by causing the Infinite Light to be in Chochmah. That is what those who study Torah lishmah do: they bring the Torah into being, as it were.
And likewise of the mitzvos it is written, “and you shall make them”; “which a person shall make,” etc.: for it is the person who draws down and makes those mitzvos.
The same holds for the mitzvos: “and you shall make them” and “which a person shall make” show that it is the person who “makes” the mitzvos, drawing them down.
The paragraph describes Moshe’s level as Israel’s role of bridegroom to the Torah: through Torah study lishmah and the doing of mitzvos, they draw down and “make” the Torah and the mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1שארז״ל שהתורה נק׳ כלה ומאורשה · Pesachim 49b
- 2קהלת יעקב · Deuteronomy 33:4
- 3ועשיתם אתם · Leviticus 26:3
- 4אשר יעשה אתם האדם · Leviticus 18:5
19והנה בזה יובן ענין ברכת המצות1 שהוא כענין ברכת חתנים ונישואין וכמ״ש בזוהר לית ברכתא שריא2 אלא באתר דדכר ונוק׳3 כו׳
Now, with this the matter of the blessing over the mitzvos will be understood, which is like the matter of the blessing of bridegrooms and marriage, as is stated in the Zohar: “Blessing rests only in a place where there are male and female,” etc.
Since a person “makes” the mitzvos, it is understood why a blessing is said over them: it is like the blessings of a wedding. The Zohar says that blessing rests only where male and female are joined.
שבמקום שיש משפיע4 ומקבל נשפע תוספת ורבוי שפע והארה מלמעלה מעלה ממקום גבוה מאד נעלה יותר משל ב׳ הבחי׳5 של המשפיע ושל המקבל.
For in a place where there is a giver and a receiver, there flows an increase and abundance of flow and illumination from far above, from a very high place, loftier than [the place] of the two levels, of the giver and of the receiver.
Where a giver and a receiver unite, a blessing flows down from a place higher than both of them. So too, when Israel join with the Torah and mitzvos as groom and bride, an added blessing comes from far above.
The paragraph explains the blessing said over mitzvos by comparing it to the wedding blessings: the union of giver and receiver draws an added flow from a source higher than both.
Earlier in Torah Ohr, on Shemos, which refers to this discourse, the blessings over mitzvos, though rabbinic, are explained as higher than the mitzvos themselves: the mitzvah draws down an inner light that enters the vessels, while its blessing draws an encompassing light (or makif) that is too great to be enclosed in them.
Marei mekomos
- 1והנה בזה יובן ענין ברכת המצות . . גילוי מלכותו ית׳ · נתבאר באוה״ת כרך ח ע׳ ג׳עא. לעיל נג, ב מציין לכאן בענין ברכת המצות. וכ״ה בלקו״ת ואתחנן י, ג. עקב טז, ב. ראה כב, א [ועמ״ש כעין זה סד״ה ועשית . . בענין ברכת המצות] שמע״צ פא, ב-ג. שה״ש יז, ב.
- 2לית ברכתא שריא · Zohar I, 165a
- 3ברכתא שריא אלא באתר דדכר ונוק׳ · Zohar, Vayeshev 5:57–68
- 4שבמקום שיש משפיע · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ ואתחנן ע׳ תכט.
- 5מלמעלה — ממקום גבוה מאד נעלה יותר משל ב׳ הבחי׳ · ראה לעיל מח, א. ובלקו״ת אמור לו, ג.
20וכמ״ש זכר ונקבה בראם1 ויברך אתם. וברכה והמשכה זו היא מבחי׳ משה למעלה מההשתלשלות. ולכך ביום שהוקם המשכן כתיב ויביאו את המשכן אל משה אמר ויהי נועם234 כו׳
As it is written, “Male and female He created them, and He blessed them.” And this blessing and drawing down is from the level of Moshe, above the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus). Therefore, on the day the Mishkan was set up, it is written, “And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe”; he said, “May the pleasantness be,” etc.,
“Male and female He created them, and He blessed them”: the blessing follows the union. That blessing comes from Moshe’s level, above the chain of worlds, which is why on the day the Mishkan was set up it was brought to Moshe, and he blessed the people with “May the pleasantness [of G‑d] be upon us.”
שתהא השראת הברכה מלמעלה מעלה והיא ברכת המצות5 ברוך כו׳ מלך העולם שיהא ריבוי שפע ברכה והמשכה מעולם ועד עולם.6
that the blessing should rest from far above. And this is the blessing over the mitzvos, “Blessed,” etc., “King of the world (olam)”: that there be an abundance of the flow of blessing and drawing down, from world to world (me’olam ve’ad olam).
So too the blessing over a mitzvah draws its blessing from far above. Its words, “Blessed … King of the world (olam),” mean that an abundant flow of blessing comes down from one world to another.
The paragraph traces the blessing to Moshe’s level, above the worlds: as Moshe blessed the completed Mishkan, so the blessing over a mitzvah draws an abundant flow from far above.
The Tzemach Tzedek, quoting this passage in Or HaTorah on Nach (as Kehot cites), infers that since blessing rests where male and female, Z’eir Anpin and Malchus, are joined, the blessing itself comes from Binah, and that this is the meaning of “May the pleasantness be.”
Marei mekomos
- 1זכר ונקבה בראם · Genesis 1:27
- 2ויהי נועם · Rashi on Exodus 39:43
- 3ויהי נועם · Bamidbar Rabbah 12:9
- 4ויהי נועם · Psalms 90:17
- 5ביום שהוקם המשכן . . והיא ברכת המצות · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך ג ע׳ א׳שיא: ”ומבאר שם [הכוונה לכאן] שבמקום שיש דכר ונוק׳ שורה הברכה, ודו״נ הם ז״א ומל׳ א״כ משמע שהברכה הוא מהבינה וזהו ענין ויהי נועם כו׳”.
- 6ויביאו . . אמר ויהי נועם · Exodus 39:33
And the purpose and end of the blessing is that His sovereignty, may He be blessed, be revealed: “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds.” And this is the level of a garment,
The goal of the blessing is the revelation of G‑d’s sovereignty: “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds.” Sovereignty (Malchus) is a “garment.”
כמ״ש ה׳ מלך גאות לבש3 וכתיב ומרדכי יצא4 מלפני המלך בלבוש מלכות שמדת מלכותו היא בחי׳ לבוש5 לחכמתו ורצונו ומדותיו ית׳ הנמשך
as it is written, “G‑d reigns; He is clothed in majesty”; and it is written, “And Mordechai went out from before the king in royal apparel (levush malchus)”: for His attribute of sovereignty (Malchus) is the level of a garment for His wisdom and His will and His emotive attributes, may He be blessed, which is drawn down
“G‑d reigns; He is clothed in majesty” and Mordechai’s “royal apparel” both join kingship to clothing. G‑d’s sovereignty clothes His wisdom, will and emotive attributes, which are drawn down and revealed through it.
ומתגלה בתוספת וריבוי האור שלמעלה מעלה מסדר ההשתלשלות וזו היא בחי׳ ברכה שברכה היא בחי׳ תוספת וריבוי כו׳.
and revealed with the increase and abundance of the light that is far above the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus). And this is the level of blessing, for blessing is the level of increase and abundance, etc.
Through Malchus the added light from above the chain of worlds is revealed. That added light is what “blessing” means, for blessing is increase and abundance.
The paragraph names the purpose of the blessing: the revelation of G‑d’s kingship, a “garment” through which the added light from above the worlds is revealed.
Marei mekomos
- 1ותכלית וסוף הברכה · בלקו״ת שבת שובה סז, ב מציין לכאן.
- 2מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים · Psalms 145:13
- 3ה׳ מלך גאות לבש · Psalms 93:1
- 4ומרדכי יצא · Esther 8:15
- 5שו״ה גאות — שמדת מלכותו היא בחי׳ לבוש · מובא בלקו״ת אחרי כח, א. שה״ש יז, ב.
The wise-hearted and all Israel ¶22–23
22ומדרגה השנית היא בחי׳ עשיית לבוש שעושים חכמי לב הנק׳ חכמי לב ע״ש שאין להם אלא לב אחד בבחי׳ בטול בחי׳ חכמה
The second grade is the level of the making of a garment that the wise-hearted make. They are called “wise-hearted” because they have only one heart, in a state of self-nullification (bittul), the level of Chochmah.
The second level of making the garments is that of the wise-hearted. They are called “wise-hearted” because their heart is undivided and wholly nullified before G‑d, and self-nullification (bittul) is the mark of Chochmah.
כי בחי׳ נפרד שיש לו שתי לבבות עליו נאמר אשר אתם זנים אחריהם1 כו׳ שאין אדם עובר עבירה אא״כ2 נכנס בו רוח שטות שנסתלק ממנו בחי׳ חכמה כו׳
For of the level of the separated one, who has two hearts, it is said, “after which you go astray,” etc.; for “a person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of folly enters him,” that is, the level of Chochmah has departed from him, etc.;
One who is “separate” from G‑d has two hearts, divided between holiness and his own desires; of him it is said, “after which you go astray.” The Sages teach that a person sins only when a spirit of folly enters him, that is, when Chochmah has left him.
משא״כ בבחי׳ לב אחד ע״ז נאמר אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה3 להיות נשפע עליו רוח חכמה מאתערותא דלעילא ע״י אתעדל״ת חכמי לב.
whereas of the level of one heart it is said, “whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom”: that a spirit of wisdom flows upon him from the arousal from above, through the arousal from below of the wise-hearted.
Of one whose heart is undivided it is said, “whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom”: his own arousal from below, his bittul, draws a spirit of wisdom upon him as an arousal from above.
The paragraph describes the second level, the wise-hearted, whose single, self-nullified heart draws a spirit of wisdom upon them from above.
Marei mekomos
- 1אשר אתם זונים אחריהם · Numbers 15:39
- 2שאין אדם עובר עבירה אא״כ · Sotah 3a:3–4
- 3אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה · Exodus 28:3
23ולכך ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו1 שגם הם עושים בגדי אהרן בבחינת קדש העליון על ידי המשכת חכמתו ורצונו ית׳ מאחר שהם בטלים אליה ונעשים בחי׳ מרכבה.
Therefore: “And they shall make Aharon’s garments to sanctify him”: they too make Aharon’s garments, at the level of the supernal holiness (kodesh), through drawing down His wisdom and will, may He be blessed, since they are nullified to it and become the level of a chariot (merkavah).
Because the wise-hearted are nullified before G‑d’s wisdom and become a “chariot” for it, they too make Aharon’s garments “to sanctify him,” at the level of supernal holiness (kodesh), drawn down through His wisdom and will.
ומדרגה השלישית הוא בחי׳ ועשו סתם של כלל ישראל דלא כתיב בהם לקדשו אלא סתם לכהנו לי2
The third grade is the level of the unqualified “and they shall make” of the whole of Israel, about whom “to sanctify him” is not written, but only, unqualified, “to serve Me as priest.”
The third level is the plain “they shall make” of all Israel. Of them the verse does not say “to sanctify him,” only “to serve Me as priest.”
שהוא בחי׳ עשיית המצות מעשיות בסתם מאהבה הטבעית המסותרת בלבד ואעפ״כ הם ממשיכים לבוש עליון לאהבה זו דהיינו לבוש מלכות
This is the level of doing the practical mitzvos plainly, from the hidden natural love alone; and nevertheless they draw down a supernal garment for this love, namely the garment of sovereignty (levush malchus),
This is the doing of the practical mitzvos simply, from the hidden natural love alone, without the higher levels of the first two. Even so, it draws down a supernal garment for the love: the “royal garment” (levush malchus).
כי שום תשים עליך מלך3 כתיב בקבלת עומ״ש בשלימות בלב ונפש ונעוץ סופן4 כו׳ שהלבוש נמשך מבחי׳ ברכה עליונה כו׳. וע״ז נאמר איש אשר כברכתו5 כו׳.
for “You shall surely set a king over you” is written — through accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven completely, with heart and soul; and “their end is wedged [in their beginning],” etc., so that the garment is drawn from the level of the supernal blessing, etc. And of this it is said, “each according to his blessing,” etc.
“You shall surely set a king over you” is fulfilled by accepting the yoke of Heaven’s kingship fully, with heart and soul. And since “their end is wedged in their beginning,” the lowest level is bound to the highest: the royal garment drawn by simple deeds comes from the supernal blessing, as in “each according to his blessing.”
ועל ידי זה נמשכו להם גם המדות עליונות. וזהו והם יקחו את הזהב ואת התכלת6 שהם גוונין עלאין כו׳ וד״ל:
And through this, the supernal emotive attributes (middos) too are drawn down to them. And this is [the meaning of] “And they shall take the gold and the blue (techeiles),” which are “supernal colors,” etc. And this suffices for one who understands.
Through this the supernal emotive attributes are drawn to them too. That is the meaning of “they shall take the gold and the blue,” the materials of the garments, called in Aramaic “supernal colors,” that is, divine attributes.
The paragraph completes the answer with the second and third levels: the wise-hearted, whose bittul makes them a chariot for G‑d’s wisdom, and all Israel, whose simple performance of the mitzvos with acceptance of Heaven’s yoke draws down the royal garment from the supernal blessing.
Marei mekomos
- 1ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו · Exodus 28:3
- 2לכהנו לי · Exodus 28:4
- 3שום תשים עליך מלך · Deuteronomy 17:15
- 4ונעוץ סופן · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
- 5איש אשר כברכתו · Genesis 49:28
- 6והם יקחו את הזהב ואת התכלת · Exodus 28:5
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
A person need not wait for inspiration from above alone: by making his heart one, setting aside every other desire and contemplating G‑d’s unity, he draws the great love from above into his own soul. That love must then be housed in Torah study for its own sake and in the practical mitzvos; and even the simplest Jew, keeping the mitzvos from the hidden natural love and accepting the yoke of Heaven, makes a royal garment for it.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the maamar call Avraham’s love “everlasting kindness” and Aharon’s “abundant in kindness,” and how does each come to a person?
- What do the analogies of the hair and of a teacher’s words teach about how the Infinite reaches Chochmah?
- How can a person’s own love cause G‑d’s love to contract itself and be revealed in his soul?
- Why must the great love be clothed in Torah and mitzvos rather than in other wisdom?
- What does each maker of Aharon’s garments, Moshe, the wise-hearted and all Israel, contribute, and why is even the simplest level called a “royal garment”?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×25
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human initiative that draws down a divine response. ×6
- An arousal from aboveאתערותא דלעילא
- Divine initiative, unprompted by us. ×6
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- The soul that animates the body and its drives.
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×6
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×11
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The two 'wings' of divine service.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×23
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×5
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×2
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail.
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion.
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light that makes room for finite worlds. ×1
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being. ×1
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d.
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×1
- The general and collective expression (klalus)כללות
- That which encompasses the particulars as one: their general and collective expression (the klal, as against the prat). Never “sum”, “sum total”, “totality” or “general principle”, as if the particulars were added up (וכללותן היא מצות הצדקה is “their general and collective expression is the mitzvah of charity”). Render by sense: “their general and collective expression”, “that which encompasses them all”, “X in general”, “X as a whole”. Keep התכללות as “inclusion” / “inter-inclusion”. ×3
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×3
- Accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol)קבלת עול
- Submission to G‑d's will beyond understanding.
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×1