Torah Ohr · Parshas Toldos · Maamar 3
ביאור על הנ״ל
An Explanation of the Above
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The big idea
There are two kinds of Daas: lower Daas, which binds understanding into the emotions and refines them, and upper Daas, which draws the undivided emotions of Keser (ahavah rabbah) down, and higher still, draws the Torah’s “wealth” from the first three Sefiros of Keser. That Torah-wealth, fully revealed in the Time to Come, is what quenches even the love that is above reason.
The maamar in brief
The maamar explains the second half of “Many waters cannot extinguish the love… if a man would give all the wealth of his house.” “If” means “when”: in the Time to Come a man will surely give this wealth, which Proverbs calls the treasure that Daas brings into the chambers. To define Daas, the Alter Rebbe reconciles two Kabbalistic models of the Sefiros, a vertical chain and three parallel lines, as describing two kinds of emotion. Lower Daas bonds the intellect into emotions born of understanding (ahavas olam) and refines them, since such emotions can hide a trace of the animal soul; the story of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon, who feared his devotion was partly temperament, illustrates this. Upper Daas, in the middle line beneath Keser, draws down emotions above intellect: ahavah rabbah, the undivided love present in every soul, symbolized by Rivkah, read as rivkah, a team of cattle tied together. Many waters of comprehension cannot quench it, but the Torah, rooted in the first three Sefiros of Keser, can. This also explains the hundred daily blessings, and the Resurrection, when the body will live from the encompassing light.
Outline
- “If a man would give”“Im” means “when”: in the Time to Come a man will certainly give “all the wealth of his house,” the treasure Daas brings into the house.¶1–2
- Two orders of the SefirosChochmah builds, Binah establishes, Daas fills. The vertical chain and the three lines are both true: they describe emotions born of intellect (lower Daas) and emotions rooted in Keser (upper Daas).¶3–10
- Lower Daas refines the emotionsDaas is connection, the inner dimension of the emotions; without it they may be mixed, as when fervent prayer is later followed by anger.¶11–13
- Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon’s testRabbi Chanina feared his readiness to die for Torah came partly from a natural love of learning; his generosity proved it did not.¶14–22
- Ahavas olam, ahavah rabbah and RivkahLove born of understanding is ahavas olam; love above intellect is ahavah rabbah, the undivided middos of Keser, symbolized by Rivkah, who descends into Torah and so ascends.¶23–24
- Many waters and the wealth of his houseComprehension cannot quench ahavah rabbah, but the Torah, from the first three Sefiros of Keser, satisfies it; hence the hundred blessings, which draw sovev into memalei.¶25–26
- The body living from the Infinite LightAs will moves the foot without being contained in it, the encompassing light will sustain the resurrected body without food.¶27
Key concepts
- Upper Daas and lower Daasדעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Lower Daas stands below Chochmah and Binah and carries intellect into the emotions; upper Daas stands directly below Keser and carries the light of Keser into intellect and emotions alike.
- Two orders of the Sefirosסדר זה תחת זה וג׳ קווין
- The Sefiros as a vertical chain (each emerging from the one above) or as three parallel lines; both are true, for two kinds of emotion.
- Ahavas olamאהבת עולם
- Love born from understanding through lower Daas; in the Zohar, the “lesser love.” Its intellectual sources are distinct, so its emotions are divided.
- Ahavah rabbahאהבה רבה
- Love above intellect, present in every soul, rooted in the middos within Keser; all emotions are included in it without division.
- Rivkahרבקה
- Read as rivkah, a team of cattle tied together (Eruvin 17b): the image of ahavah rabbah, in which all the emotions are joined.
- Akudim and Nekudimעקודים ונקודים
- Early worlds of the Kabbalah: in Akudim all Sefiros are bound in one vessel (from Keser), in Nekudim they are separate points (from Chochmah).
- The wealth of his houseהון ביתו
- The revelation of Keser, specifically its first three Sefiros, drawn by upper Daas into Torah and its detailed commandments.
- Keser as intermediaryכתר ממוצע
- Keser joins the Emanator and the emanated: its first three Sefiros touch the Emanator, its seven lower are the root of the Sefiros.
For children · ages 9–13
The love that many waters cannot put out
The big idea
Deep in every soul is a love for G‑d that is above understanding; no amount of thinking can satisfy it, only the Torah and its mitzvos, which come from even higher.
The maamar explains the verse “Many waters cannot extinguish the love,” and its second half, “If a man would give all the wealth of his house.” Here “if” means “when”: in the Time to Come it will surely happen. There are two kinds of love for G‑d. The first comes from understanding: we think about G‑d’s greatness, and love grows in our heart. This love needs Daas, which means a deep connection, so that our thinking truly reaches the heart and makes the feeling pure. Without it, even warm prayer can be followed by anger, a sign that something of ourselves was mixed in. The second love is above understanding. It is called ahavah rabbah, “great love,” and it is in every soul. Rivkah’s name hints at it, from a word for tying animals together, because in this love all our feelings are joined as one. The “many waters,” all our understanding, cannot put this love out, and they cannot satisfy it either. What satisfies it is “the wealth of his house”: the Torah and the exact details of the mitzvos, such as how to make a sukkah, tzitzis and tefillin, which show G‑d’s own will.
The mashal
A person’s foot does not think, yet as soon as the person wants to move it, it moves. The will is not inside the foot the way a thought is inside the mind, but it moves the foot from above. In the same way, in the Time to Come, G‑d’s light will give life to the body directly, from above.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- What is the difference between a love for G‑d that comes from understanding and a love that is above understanding?
- Why might Rivkah’s name, which speaks of tying things together, be a sign of the great love hidden in every soul?
- This week, how can you do one mitzvah carefully, with all its details, knowing that it shows what G‑d wants?
Explanation © likuteitorah.com, CC BY-NC 4.0: retold for children from our translation and explanation, with AI assistance; not yet reviewed by a human editor.
In the Rebbe’s light · 5
AI research Found by AI reading every place in the Rebbe’s works that cites this maamar, and checked against each source by a second AI reader, the less certain by a third. Only what rated high is shown: the Rebbe’s own words, about this very passage. No person has reviewed it yet, so check the place itself before relying on a detail. See something to correct?
The maamar in the Rebbe’s light
The Rebbe’s teachings on this maamar gather around its middle, the story of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon, and draw from it a rule for all service: a person’s nature runs in one line, so only service that runs also „היפך טבעו” (against his nature) proves that it is wholly for G‑d (his note to a hadran of 22 Shevat 5750). On Motzaei Shabbos Lech Lecha 5738 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 20) he gives the “inner meaning” (פירוש הפנימי) of Torah Ohr here: Rabbi Chanina sought to be sure that his self-sacrifice came not even „מצד טבע נפשו האלקית” (from the nature of his G‑dly soul). At Simchas Beis HaShoeivah 5722 he shows why Rabbi Chanina had to ask another: service „למעלה ממדידה והגבלה שלו” (beyond a person’s own measure) cannot be gauged from within, only seen by someone else. The lines on black bile (מרה שחורה) he read, in letters of 5710 and 5714, as showing that a temperament can be harnessed for diligence in Torah, and a responsum of 5704, following the Rebbe Rashab’s maamar Lechol tichla 5659, adds that even at the Resurrection the body’s life from the Infinite Light will pass through the soul. Read with these, the maamar’s account of Daas, which draws what is above intellect into the middos, perhaps stands as the inner frame of a question the Rebbe kept returning to: how a person can know that his service is more than his nature.
Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶21
The Rebbe explains
In a letter of 13 Menachem Av 5710, glad that its recipient had begun to take seriously the proposal of a parochial school in Chicago, the Rebbe adds that he will surely not give that matter „יותר מדי בטבע המרה־שחורה” (“too much of the nature of black bile”), and points to this passage.
The Rebbe read this passage as teaching a use for the melancholic temperament: the black bile that draws a Jew to study „יום ולילה” (“day and night”) can be put to work „לענין התמדה בלימוד” (for diligence in learning), “as explained in Torah Ohr, Toldos, biur Mayim Rabbim.” He wrote the same in a letter of 16 Kislev 5714 (“it is known what is written in Torah Ohr, that from black bile comes also diligence in the study of wisdom, and especially in the study of the holy Torah”), and in a handwritten reply citing “Torah Ohr 19c” he added that when black bile goes into diligence in Torah day and night, none of it is left for idle matters.
The Alter Rebbe
אך שתמשיך נפשו לדבר הנהוג בישראל כמו ענין למוד התורה שבע״פ. יחשוק נפשו ולבו להגות בה יום ולילה לא ישבות
The Rebbe
להשתמש בכח המרה שחורה לענין התמדה בלימוד
Igros Kodesh, vol. ג, p. שע (letter תערב) · י״ג מנחם אב, ה׳תש״י
- ¶22
The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a hadran on the Mishnayos studied on a yahrzeit (Keilim 24, Mikvaos 7), published for 22 Shevat 5750, the Rebbe reads the needle that one „מוליך ומביא” (“moves back and forth”) in the water (Mikvaos 7:7) as service at both extremes, rising up and drawing down, which shows that it comes not from one’s own nature but „באופן של ביטול לקיים רצון הקב״ה” (from self-nullification to do G‑d’s will); his note grounds this in our passage.
In his note the Rebbe states the rule of this passage: „שכאשר עבודתו היא גם היפך טבעו מוכח שעבודתו היא בשלימות” (when a person’s service runs also against his nature, that proves it complete), with no admixture of his soul’s natural bent. The discourse gives the reason: a person’s nature runs in one line, „בקו של העלאה או בקו של המשכה” (rising up or drawing down), so only service in both directions shows that it is not nature. In Torah Ohr’s own case, Rabbi Chanina’s self-sacrifice for Torah might have run the way his temperament leaned, so it could not settle his doubt, while giving away „מעות פורים” (the Purim money), against the miserliness of black bile, could. In the notes to a general letter of 18 Elul 5736 he also gives this passage as a source for “changing the nature of one’s middos.”
The Alter Rebbe
והשיבו זה לא יבורר כ״א אם בא מעשה לידך. פי׳ נסיון
The Rebbe
שכאשר עבודתו היא גם היפך טבעו, מוכח, שעבודתו היא בשלימות, ללא תערובות טבע נפשו
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ד, p. קעא, note 78 · published for 22 Shevat 5750, from talks of 20 Menachem Av 5749, 24 Tishrei 5750 and others (also Sefer HaSichos 5750 vol. 2 p. 695 ff.)
- ¶22
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a talk in his room on Motzaei Shabbos Lech Lecha 5738, explaining that „לך לך” (“Go,” lech lecha) asks every Jew to go beyond himself even in matters that are already perfect by his own standing, the Rebbe brings Rabbi Chanina as the example.
The Rebbe reads Rabbi Yose’s question as asking whether Rabbi Chanina had conducted himself like Binyamin HaTzaddik („ולא כגבאי צדקה סתם”, “not like an ordinary charity collector,” his note adds, citing Bava Basra 10b–11a), even though he was already giving his life for Torah, to make sure his self-sacrifice did not come from nature, “not even „מצד טבע נפשו האלקית” (from the nature of his G‑dly soul), which is the inner meaning in Torah Ohr.” Torah Ohr speaks of the nature of the body and its temperament; the Rebbe, calling his reading the inner meaning beside that plain one, extends it to the G‑dly soul’s own leanings. This, he explains, is the toil of one who „עובד אלקים” (“serves G‑d,” oved Elokim): changing even the nature of the G‑dly soul’s middos, far harder than changing the animal soul’s.
The Alter Rebbe
שאם הוא מצד טבע הגוף אף שיחשוק חשק נפלא עכ״פ לא יגיע למס״נ
The Rebbe
איז ניט מצד הטבע, אפילו ניט מצד טבע נפשו האלקית (וואָס דאָס איז דער פירוש הפנימי בתו״א)
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כ, p. 306 · מוצאי ש״פ לך לך, ה׳תשל״ח (the same talk in Sichos Kodesh 5738 vol. 1)
- ¶22
Background from the Rebbe
At the farbrengen of Simchas Beis HaShoeivah 5722, explaining why the Sages say „מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה” (“whoever has not seen the rejoicing of the water-drawing”), stressing seeing rather than rejoicing, the Rebbe argues that joy and service „למעלה ממדידה והגבלה שלו” (beyond a person’s own measure) cannot be gauged by the one who has them, only seen in him by another.
Service „בכל מאדך” (“with all your might”), beyond a person’s own measure, is something he cannot gauge in himself: he holds to it with his whole being, but only another, standing and watching, can testify to it. That, he says, is how Chassidus explains why Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai could say before his passing, „איני יודע באיזו דרך מוליכים אותי” (“I do not know which way they are leading me”). He then brings Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon as another case of the same thing, “as explained in Torah Ohr”: Rabbi Chanina asked Rabbi Yose, „מה אני לחיי העולם הבא” (“What am I for the life of the World to Come?”) and was answered, „כלום מעשה בא לידך” (“Has a deed come to your hand?”). He could not measure his own devotion from within, so he turned to another to see it.
The Alter Rebbe
ושאל מר׳ יוסי היאך הוא משיג בו
The Rebbe
בשביל זה יש צורך בהזולת שיראה ויבחן אופן הנהגתו כו׳
Toras Menachem (Hisvaaduyos), vol. לב (תשכ״ב א), p. 59–60 · שמחת בית השואבה, ה׳תשכ״ב
- ¶27
The Rebbe explains
In a responsum (before Menachem Av 5704) on the Shelah’s quotation from Tola’as Yaakov that the chametz and matzah offerings of Shavuos hint that body and soul will together delight „מזיו השכינה” (in the radiance of the Shechinah) after the Resurrection, the Rebbe asks why, if so, the chametz loaves themselves were not put on the altar, as the matzah offering was.
Answering, the Rebbe sums up this passage: at the Resurrection a light so high will be revealed that it can give life even to a physical body, „ולא כמו עתה שהנשמה מחי׳ את הגוף” (not as now, when the soul gives the body life). But he adds, from the Rebbe Rashab’s Lechol tichla 5659, that even then the bond of soul and body is needed for life itself: for that light to enliven the body in order and in detail, „צריך החיות לעבור דרך הנשמה ולהיות נמדד על ידה” (the life must pass through the soul and be measured by it), coming through the soul though not from it. That, he concludes, is why the matzah (the soul) was offered on the altar directly and the chametz (the body) was not.
The Alter Rebbe
ועד״ז גם הגוף הגשמי יקבל חיות וקיום למזון מאור א״ס ב״ה ממש
The Rebbe
צריך החיות לעבור דרך הנשמה ולהיות נמדד על ידה
Igros Kodesh, vol. א, p. שיא (letter קסג, pp. שז–שיא) · [לפני מנ״א תש״ד] (a responsum; also in Teshuvos uBiurim p. 9 ff. (§ג) and Likkutei Sichos vol. 28)
Short quotes only, with the place of each so it can be read in full. The Rebbe’s sichos, letters and maamarim are published by Kehot and by Vaad Hanochos B’Lahak (lahak.org).
“If a man would give” ¶1–2
This heading marks the maamar as a further explanation of the discourse just before it in Torah Ohr, which expounded the verse “Many waters cannot extinguish the love” (Song of Songs 8:7). Here the Alter Rebbe takes up the second half of that verse, “If a man would give all the wealth of his house,” and builds a fuller account of Daas to explain it.
A heading: what follows elaborates the previous maamar on “Many waters.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ביאור על הנ״ל · הנחה אחרת בסה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ יג. עוד הנחה שם ע׳ לג. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. ביאור זה נזכר בסה״מ תרס״ט ע׳ קסח בענין ד״ע הממשיך מבחי׳ הכתר.
To understand the explanation of the matter [stated] on the verse, “If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,” etc. Now, “im” (if) is an expression of “when.”
The maamar opens with the word “im” in the verse “If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love.” Ordinarily “im” means “if” and implies doubt, but the Alter Rebbe argues that here it means “when.”
שיש אם שאין משמשין בלשון ספק. אלא בלשון ודאי כמו אם כסף תלוה.2 ואם יהי׳ [יהיה] היובל כו׳
For there is an “im” that does not serve as an expression of doubt but as an expression of certainty, as in “Im (when) you lend money,” and “V’im (and when) the Jubilee shall be,” etc.
He brings two verses where “im” plainly does not express doubt: “when you lend money” (lending to the poor is a duty, not an option) and “when the Jubilee shall be” (the Jubilee year will certainly come).
שאין זה לשון ספק כלל אלא שבודאי יהיה הדבר ויבא ולשון אם אינו אלא לשון כאשר.
where this is not an expression of doubt at all; rather, the thing will certainly be and come about, and the word “im” is nothing but an expression of “when.”
In those verses the event is certain; “im” simply marks the time when it happens.
פי׳ כאשר כסף תלוה את העני לא תהיה לו כנושה וכן כאשר יהיה היובל כו׳. וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] אם יתן איש כו׳.
That is: when you lend money to the poor man, you shall not be to him as a creditor; and likewise, when the Jubilee shall be, etc. And so too, “If a man would give,” etc.
He spells out the reading of the two proof-verses and applies the same reading to our verse: not “if a man should give,” but “when a man gives.”
פי׳ כאשר יתן איש כו׳ שיתן בודאי. והיינו לעתיד (שיתן הוא לשון עתיד) שלע״ל [שלעתיד לבוא] יתן איש את כל הון ביתו.
means: when a man will give, etc., that he will certainly give. And this refers to the future (for “yiten,” “would give,” is the future tense): that in the Time to Come a man will give all the wealth of his house.
So the verse is a promise: a man certainly will give all the wealth of his house. Since “yiten” is future tense, the Alter Rebbe places this in the Time to Come, the era of the final redemption.
שבזה״ז [שבזמן הזה] אינו בא לידי גילוי להיות בבחי׳ זו שיתן כל הון ביתו. כ״א לעתיד דוקא.
For in this time it does not come to revelation, to be on this level, that one would give all the wealth of his house; but only in the Time to Come specifically.
Now, in the present era, this level (giving “all the wealth of his house”) is not revealed; it belongs specifically to the future. The rest of the maamar explains what this “wealth” is and why it belongs to the future.
והענין כי הנה הון ביתו היינו כמו האוצרות והמטמונים שמונחים בתוך הבית. והוא ע״ד מ״ש ובדעת חדרים ימלאון3 כל הון יקר ונעים.45
And the explanation: now, “the wealth of his house” is like the treasures and hidden stores that lie within the house. And this is along the lines of what is written, “And by Daas (knowledge) the chambers are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth.”
“The wealth of his house” is the hidden treasure stored inside a house. The Alter Rebbe links it to Proverbs 24:4, where Daas fills the chambers with precious wealth; this sets up the maamar’s theme, the role of Daas.
The verse “If a man would give all the wealth of his house” is read as a certain promise for the Time to Come, and “the wealth of his house” is identified with the treasures that Daas brings into the chambers.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe and the Rebbe
„אם יתן איש” (“If a man would give”): the maamar never says who the “man” is. Our explain reads him as a person who “will give all the wealth of his house,” though in the Time to Come it is a revelation from above that is given, and later (¶25) souls „בוז יבוזו” (“plunder”) it.
Who is the “man” who will give? In the maamar this biur explains, the Alter Rebbe says it outright: „כאשר יתן איש זה הקב״ה” (“when a man will give — this is the Holy One, blessed be He”), who will surely give in the Time to Come; and even now, though unrevealed, this wealth is drawn through the Torah and the mitzvos. The Rebbe repeats the reading in his maamar Mayim Rabbim of Shabbos Toldos 5717: the wealth G‑d gives is the Torah and mitzvos, and “boz yavuzu” is „כמו ביזת אוצרות יקרים שבוזז וחוטף לגודל תשוקתו לזה” (the plunder of one who seizes precious treasures out of great longing).
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, p. Toldos 18a–b (maamar Mayim Rabbim, our maamar 2, ¶13)
כאשר יתן איש זה הקב״ה שיתן בודאי והיינו לעתיד
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569, p. יג (another transcript of this biur)
מדבר על העתיד שעתיד ליתן הון ביתו בבחי׳ הגילוי מן ההעלם
the Rebbe: Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. א, p. נב (ד״ה מים רבים, ש״פ תולדות תשי״ז)
אם יתן איש את כל הון ביתו באהבה, איש זה הקב״ה, כאשר יתן את כל הון ביתו, הוא התומ״צ
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsLe’asid lavoDaas
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Daas דעת
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2אם כסף תלוה · Exodus 22:24
- 3ובדעת חדרים ימלאון · Proverbs 24:4
- 4ביאור על הנ״ל · הנחה אחרת בסה״מ תקס״ט ע׳ יג. עוד הנחה שם ע׳ לג. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. ביאור זה נזכר בסה״מ תרס״ט ע׳ קסח בענין ד״ע הממשיך מבחי׳ הכתר.
- 5ואם יהי׳ היובל · Numbers 36:4
Two orders of the Sefiros ¶3–10
3והנה כתיב בחכמה יבנה בית1 ובתבונה יתכונן ובדעת חדרים ימלאון.2 פי׳ בחכמה הוא רק עצם בנין הבית לבד שהן אותיות התורה שנק׳ בתים כנודע.
Now it is written, “With Chochmah (wisdom) a house is built, and with understanding it is established, and by Daas (knowledge) the chambers are filled.” The explanation: “with Chochmah” is only the essential building of the house alone, which [refers to] the letters of the Torah, which are called “houses,” as is known.
Proverbs 24:3–4 describes three stages in making a house: Chochmah builds it, understanding establishes it, Daas fills its rooms. The bare structure built by Chochmah is identified with the letters of the Torah, which are called “houses” (Sefer Yetzirah calls the letters “stones” and the words built of them “houses”).
ובתבונה יתכונן פי׳ עיקר קיום והעמדת תבנית ותוכן הבית ברבוי חדריו ומוצאיו ומובאיו הוא ע״י הבינה דייקא. אבל בדעת ימלאון כל החדרים בהון יקר כו׳.
“And with understanding it is established” means: the main sustaining and setting up of the form and content of the house, with its many rooms and its exits and entrances, is through Binah (understanding) specifically. But “by Daas” all the chambers are filled with precious wealth, etc.
Binah is what gives the house its shape and inner layout; the Alter Rebbe hears in tevunah (“understanding”) and yiskonen (“it is established”) the words tavnis (“form”) and tochen (“content”). Binah sets up its many rooms, exits and entrances, the way understanding develops a bare insight into a detailed structure. Daas does something more: it fills those rooms with treasure.
ולהבין את כל זה צריך להקדים הקדמה אחת בביאור ענין סדר השתלשלות די״ס [די׳ ספירות]3 דאצי׳ איך הוא סדרם ואופנם.
To understand all this, we must first set down one introduction, explaining the matter of the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus: what their order and manner are.
To explain what Daas contributes, the Alter Rebbe first sets out how the ten Sefiros of Atzilus are ordered: how each emerges from the one before it.
¶26 Hold this: paragraph 26 explains how Daas fills the house with wealth.
ומצינו בזה בדברי המקובלים (בע״ח [בעץ חיים] ובפרדס) שני אופנים אשר לכאורה הם כמעט הפכים. האופן הא׳ שבחי׳ השתלשלות הם זה תחת זה.
Now we find on this, in the words of the Kabbalists (in Etz Chaim and in Pardes), two modes which, seemingly, are almost opposites. The first mode: that the levels of the hishtalshelus are one beneath the other.
The Kabbalistic sources (Etz Chaim, the Arizal’s teachings as recorded by R. Chaim Vital, and Pardes Rimonim of R. Moshe Cordovero) describe two arrangements that seem almost contradictory. The first is a vertical chain, each Sefirah directly below the one before it.
דהיינו שבחי׳ בינה נאצלה מבחי׳ חכמה ובחי׳ דעת מבחי׳ בינה. וג׳ אלו הן ג״ר [ג׳ ראשונות]. ומהם נאצלו חג״ת [חסד גבורה תפארת] ג״כ ע״ד הנ״ל.
In this first model, Binah comes from Chochmah and Daas from Binah; these three are the intellectual Sefiros, “the first three.” The emotive Sefiros (Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferes and the rest) then emerge from them in the same step-by-step way.
Daas is what fills the “house” with wealth. To explain it, the Alter Rebbe begins an introduction on the two Kabbalistic models of how the Sefiros are ordered, starting with the model of a vertical chain.
TermsTevunahSefirosDaasMalachim+6
Marei mekomos
- 1בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
- 2ובדעת חדרים ימלאון · Proverbs 24:4
- 3סדר השתלשלות די״ס · בהבא לקמן ראה ביאוה״ז להצ״צ ע׳ ערה ואילך. לקו״ת ואתחנן ה, א ואילך. סה״מ תקס״ח ע׳ קפד ואילך. ובד״ה כי תבאו אל הארץ תרס״ו ע׳ רכד, ובד״ה אם בחקתי תלכו תרס״ז (בהמשך תרס״ו) ע׳ תלז.
4והנה ציור גשמי הלז הוא עד״מ מבשרי אחזה1 כו׳. כמו עשר כחות הנפש שמתלבשים בתוך אברי הגוף שראשית הגילוי הוא בחכמה שהיא בחי׳ הברקת השכל בבחי׳ נקודה כו׳.
Now this physical depiction is, by way of analogy, [as in] “From my flesh I behold,” etc.: like the ten powers of the soul that are clothed within the limbs of the body, where the first revelation is in Chochmah, which is the level of the flash of intellect, in the manner of a point, etc.
The Alter Rebbe grounds this vertical model in human experience, per Job’s “From my flesh I behold [G‑d]”: we learn about the divine from the structure of our own soul. In the soul’s ten powers, the first to appear is Chochmah, a sudden flash of insight, like a point without dimensions.
ונק׳ חכמה כח מ״ה [מה]2 כו׳ לפי שעדיין אינה מושגת ונק׳ בחי׳ י׳ נקודה כו׳ וממנה נמשכת בחי׳ בינה התפשטות ההשגה באורך ורוחב.
And Chochmah is called “ko’ach mah” (the potential of “what”), etc., because it is not yet grasped; and it is called the level of the yud, a point, etc. And from it the level of Binah is drawn forth: the expansion of comprehension in length and breadth.
Chochmah is called “ko’ach mah,” “the potential of ‘what’” (the letters of chochmah rearranged; the Kehot note gives the introduction to Tikkunei Zohar): a seed of insight not yet grasped or articulated. It corresponds to the letter yud, a mere point. From it comes Binah, which develops that point, expanding it “in length and breadth” into full comprehension.
The vertical model is illustrated from the human mind: an insight (Chochmah) comes first, and understanding (Binah) develops out of it.
TermsKoach mahMah and BanHasagahBinah+1
- Koach mah כח מ״ה
- Mah and Ban מ״ה וב״ן
- Hasagah השגה
- Binah בינה
Also Chochmah
Marei mekomos
- 1מבשרי אחזה · Job 19:26
- 2חכמה כח מ״ה · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 3:5–6
5והוא בחי׳ ה׳ כו׳ והן הם אב ואם המולידות את המדות אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה] כי לפי שכלו והתבוננותו בדבר הוא מוליד אהבה לדבר ההוא או יראה ממנו כו׳.
This is the level of the hei, etc. And these are the father and mother that give birth to the emotive attributes (middos), love and awe; for according to his intellect and his contemplation of a thing, he gives birth to love for that thing or awe of it, etc.
Binah corresponds to the letter hei, whose shape has length and breadth. Chochmah and Binah together are the “father and mother” of the emotions: contemplating a subject gives rise to love for it or awe of it, according to what the mind grasps.
וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] למעלה בעולם האצי׳ בסדר השתלשלות הי״ס [הי׳ ספירות] בחי׳ ח״ע [חכמה עילאה] דאצי׳ היא ראשית הגילוי והיא בחי׳ י׳ של שם הוי׳ שעדיין אינה בבחי׳ גילוי והחכמה מאין תמצא1
So too above, in the World of Atzilus, in the order of the chain of descent of the ten Sefiros: the level of supernal Chochmah of Atzilus is the beginning of revelation, and it is the level of the yud of the Name Havayah, which is not yet in a state of revelation, “and Chochmah is found from ayin (nothingness)”;
The same is true above, in Atzilus: supernal Chochmah is the first point of revelation, the yud of the Name Havayah, a point still hidden. It is “found from ayin”: it emerges from the unknowable level above it (Keser).
ולכן התלבשות אור א״ס בחכמה דוקא ומבחי׳ חכמה נמשכה בחי׳ בינה דאצי׳ שהוא בחי׳ גילוי ההתפשטות באורך ורוחב הנק׳ ה׳.
and therefore the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) is clothed in Chochmah specifically. And from the level of Chochmah the level of Binah of Atzilus was drawn forth, which is the level of the revelation of expansion in length and breadth, called the hei,
Because Chochmah is so close to its source, the Infinite Light is clothed specifically in it. From Chochmah comes the Binah of Atzilus, the expanded, revealed stage, which corresponds to the upper hei of the Name.
The vertical model is applied to Atzilus: Chochmah (the yud) is the first, hidden revelation, and Binah (the hei) develops from it and gives birth to the emotive attributes.
Reading Job’s “From where (me’ayin) shall wisdom be found” as “Chochmah is found from ayin” is a classic Chassidic interpretation: ayin, “nothingness,” names Keser, which is beyond grasp.
TermsAhavah v’yirahSefirosHigher Chochmah and the lower ChochmahBinah+7
- Ahavah v’yirah אהבה ויראה
- Sefiros ספירות
- Higher Chochmah and the lower Chochmah חכמה עלאה וחכמה תתאה
- Binah בינה
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
- Atzilus אצילות
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1והחכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
and it is called “the mother of the children.” And the second mode of the order of the chain of descent is that they are in the form of three lines: Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach in the right line, etc.
Binah is called “the mother of the children” because the middos are born from it. Now the second Kabbalistic model: the Sefiros are arranged not in a single column but in three parallel lines, Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach on the right (with Binah, Gevurah and Hod on the left, and the middle line between them).
נמצא לפי סדר זה בחי׳ חב״ד [חכמה בינה ודעת] אין נמשכות זו מזו. וגם המדות כולן אין עיקר המשכתן מן הג״ר [הג׳ ראשונות] מאחר שחו״ב [שחכמה ובינה] עומדות בב׳ קווין מקבילות כו׳.
It follows that according to this order, the levels of Chochmah, Binah and Daas are not drawn one from another. And also, none of the middos derives mainly from the first three [Sefiros], since Chochmah and Binah stand in two parallel lines, etc.
In this three-line model, Chochmah, Binah and Daas do not come one from another, since Chochmah and Binah stand side by side in two separate lines. Nor do the middos mainly come from the three intellectual Sefiros; they seem to have a different source.
The second model is introduced: three parallel lines, in which intellect and emotion are not simply cause and effect.
TermsGimmel kavinMochinHishtalshelusMiddos
- Gimmel kavin ג׳ קוין explained hereHere the three lines are the second mode of descent, Chochmah, Chesed, Netzach on the right; in it Chochmah, Binah and Daas do not flow one from another.
והאופן הב׳ של סדר ההשתלשלות שהם בציור ג׳ קווין חח״ן בקו ימין כו׳
- Mochin מוחין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1אם הבנים · Psalms 113:9
7והנה עיקר ההפרש שבין ב׳ הבחי׳ בסדר ההשתלשלות הנ״ל הוא בב׳ אופנים. הא׳ שלפי סדר הא׳ שחב״ד [שחכמה בינה ודעת] הם זו תחת זו נמצא שהדעת עומד למטה מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה].
Now the main difference between the two modes in the order of the chain of descent mentioned above is in two respects. The first: according to the first order, in which Chochmah, Binah and Daas are one beneath the other, it follows that Daas stands below Chochmah and Binah
The two models differ in two ways. First, where Daas stands: in the vertical model, Daas is below Chochmah and Binah.
ולמעלה מחו״ג [מחסד וגבורה] כי הוא הממשיך הארת החו״ב [החכמה ובינה] לחו״ג [לחסד וגבורה]. משא״כ לפי סדר הב׳ שהם בג׳ קווין
and above Chesed and Gevurah, for it is what draws the illumination of Chochmah and Binah into Chesed and Gevurah. This is not so according to the second order, in which they are in three lines:
In the vertical model Daas is above Chesed and Gevurah, a bridge that passes the light of the intellect down to the emotions. In the three-line model it is different.
נמצא שהדעת הוא בקו האמצעי ואינו עומד תחת חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] רק תחת הכתר והוא ממשיך הארת הכתר לחו״ב [לחכמה ובינה] ולחו״ג [ולחסד וגבורה] כמשי״ת [כמו שיתבאר].
it follows that Daas is in the middle line and does not stand beneath Chochmah and Binah, but only beneath Keser (the Crown), and it draws the illumination of Keser into Chochmah and Binah and into Chesed and Gevurah, as will be explained.
Daas sits in the middle line directly beneath Keser, not beneath Chochmah and Binah. So its role is to draw the light of Keser, which is above intellect, into both the intellect (Chochmah and Binah) and the emotions (Chesed and Gevurah).
¶9 How Daas draws down Keser's light is explained in paragraph 9.
The first difference between the models: in one Daas passes down the light of the intellect; in the other it passes down the light of Keser.
TermsGimmel kavinMochinDaasMalachim+2
- Gimmel kavin ג׳ קוין explained hereIn the order of three lines Daas stands in the middle line, directly beneath Keser rather than beneath Chochmah and Binah, and draws the light of Keser into Chochmah and Binah and into Chesed and Gevurah.
נמצא שהדעת הוא בקו האמצעי ואינו עומד תחת חו״ב רק תחת הכתר
- Mochin מוחין
- Daas דעת
- Malachim מלאכים
- Keser כתר
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
8והב׳ שלפי סדר הא׳ עיקר הולדת ומציאו׳ [ומציאות] המדות הוא מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה] ע״י הדעת הממשיך כנ״ל.
And the second: according to the first order, the main birth and existence of the middos is from Chochmah and Binah, through Daas which draws [them] down, as above.
The second difference concerns where the middos come from. In the vertical model they are born from Chochmah and Binah, with Daas as the channel.
משא״כ לפי סדר הב׳ הן נמשכות מבחי׳ הכתר ע״י הדעת הממשיך בהן הארת הכתר יט, בדוקא. והענין הוא דשניהם אמת.
This is not so according to the second order: they are drawn from the level of Keser, through Daas, which draws into them the illumination of Keser specifically. And the explanation is that both are true.
In the three-line model the middos come from Keser, and Daas draws the light of Keser into them. The Alter Rebbe states that both models are true: each describes a different kind of emotion, as he now explains.
The second difference: the middos come either from intellect or from Keser. Both models are declared true.
9ויובן זה ע״פ מה שנודע שיש ב׳ בחי׳ דעת.1 דעת עליון ודעת תחתון. דעת העליון הוא הנמשך מבחי׳ הכתר ומחבר ומייחד לחו״ב [לחכמה ובינה] וחו״ג [וחסד וגבורה]
This will be understood from what is known, that there are two levels of Daas: upper Daas and lower Daas. Upper Daas is that which is drawn from the level of Keser and connects and unites Chochmah and Binah, and Chesed and Gevurah,
The resolution rests on two kinds of Daas. Upper Daas comes from Keser and binds together Chochmah and Binah, and Chesed and Gevurah, from above.
¶7 This explains the promise from paragraph 7: upper Daas, drawn from Keser.
ע״י הארת הכתר ודעת התחתון הוא הדעת המתפשט בתוך המדות להמשיך בהן הארת חו״ב [חכמה ובינה]. וגם הנה נודע שיש ב׳ בחי׳2 מדות.
through the illumination of Keser. And lower Daas is the Daas that spreads within the middos, to draw into them the illumination of Chochmah and Binah. And it is also known that there are two levels of middos.
Upper Daas unites them through the light of Keser, while lower Daas spreads down into the emotions and carries the light of the intellect into them. Correspondingly, there are two kinds of middos.
הא׳ מדות שעיקר מציאותן הוא מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה] עד״מ באדם למטה כשהמדות הן רק לפי השכל שהשכל הוא המולידן וקטן ששכלו קצר כו׳.
The first: middos whose main existence is from Chochmah and Binah — by way of analogy, in man below, when the middos are only according to the intellect, for the intellect is what gives birth to them; and a child, whose intellect is short, etc.
The first kind are emotions produced by understanding, as in a person whose feelings follow his reasoning. A child, whose understanding is limited, has correspondingly limited emotions; so these emotions depend on the intellect.
והב׳ הוא בחי׳ המדות שמקורן ושרשן למעלה מן השכל רק שיוצאין ונמשכין דרך השכל וכמ״ש בר״מ [ברעיא מהימנא]3 דז״א בעתיקא אחיד ותליא כו׳ וכמ״ש באריכות במ״א:
And the second is the level of middos whose source and root are above the intellect, only that they go out and are drawn by way of the intellect; as is written in the Ra’aya Mehemna that Z’eir Anpin is attached to and hangs upon Atika, etc., and as is explained at length elsewhere.
The second kind are emotions whose root is above intellect; they merely pass through the intellect on their way out. The Zohar’s phrase “Z’eir Anpin is attached to and hangs upon Atika” expresses this (the text names the Ra’aya Mehemna, “the Faithful Shepherd,” a section of the Zohar; the Kehot note places the saying at Zohar III 292a, in the Idra Zuta): the emotive configuration (Z’eir Anpin) is rooted directly in Atika, the inner level of Keser, not only in the intellect.
Two kinds of Daas and two kinds of middos are introduced: emotions born of intellect through lower Daas, and emotions rooted above intellect, in Keser, through upper Daas.
“Atika” (Atik Yomin) is the innermost level of Keser; the Zohar’s statement that Z’eir Anpin “hangs” on it shows that the emotive Sefiros have a root higher than Chochmah and Binah.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by Likkutei Torah, the Rebbe Rashab and the Rebbe
Two kinds of Daas (ב׳ בחי׳ דעת): the maamar defines them by where they stand, but does not say how they differ in a person’s awareness of G‑d; ¶8’s „דשניהם אמת” (“both are true”) is left abstract.
Likkutei Torah (Va’eschanan 6a), pointing back to this explanation, adds that lower Daas (דעת תחתון), drawn from Binah, belongs to the light that fills the worlds, and upper Daas, drawn from Keser itself, to the light that encompasses them. The Rebbe Rashab, citing this biur, says what each brings about: „דעת המחבר מוחין ומדות” (the Daas that links mind and emotions) joins levels that stand in proportion, so the lower is refined but remains; the Daas that draws Keser joins what is above the chain of worlds, and through it comes the nullification of existence, „כולא קמי׳ כלא חשיב” (“all before Him is as nothing”) (Sefer HaMaamarim, Yom Tov shel Rosh Hashanah 5666).
Likkutei Torah (the cross-reference may be the Tzemach Tzedek’s): Likkutei Torah, p. Va’eschanan 6a
דעת תחתון הוא הנמשך מהבינה כמאמר אם אין בינה אין דעת והוא הדעת בבחי׳ ממכ״ע
the Rebbe Rashab: Sefer HaMaamarim 5666 (Yom Tov shel Rosh Hashanah 5666), new edition, p. תקעו
דע״י בחי׳ דעת זה נעשה בחי׳ הביטול במציאות בבחי׳ כולא קמי׳ כלא חשיב
the Rebbe: Reshimos: Ma’arei Mekomos, Hagahos veHe’aros Ketzaros leSefer HaTanya, Iggeres HaKodesh 15, p. לו
דעת תחתון דעת עליון: ביאורם: ע״ח שער כ״ה דרוש ב׳ כלל יז׳. תו״א יט, א ועוד
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonAtikDaasKeser+2
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון explained hereThe basic definition: the higher Daas is drawn from Keser and unites Chochmah with Binah (and Chesed with Gevurah) through Keser’s light; the lower Daas spreads within the middos to bring the light of Chochmah and Binah into them. Matching these are two kinds of middos: those born of intellect, and those rooted above intellect that only pass through it.
דעת העליון הוא הנמשך מבחי׳ הכתר ומחבר ומייחד לחו״ב וחו״ג ע״י הארת הכתר ודעת התחתון הוא הדעת המתפשט בתוך המדות להמשיך בהן הארת חו״ב
- Atik עתיק
- Daas דעת
- Keser כתר
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1ב׳ בחי׳ דעת · ראה לקו״ת פ׳ מטות פז, ג. שמע״צ פג, א. שה״ש ל, ג. אוה״ת שופטים ע׳ תתמט. ד״ה אם בחקתי תלכו רס״ז (בהמשך תרס״ו). בלקו״ת בלק סט, ג מציין לענין הדעת כמו שמבאר כאן. וראה שם שכ״ק הצ״צ מציין לעוד מקומות בדא״ח, שם עא, ג. ואתחנן ו, א. ר״ה נז, ד.
- 2הנה נודע שיש ב׳ בחי׳ במדות · מובא בביאוה״ז להצ״צ כרך א ע׳ רעח.
- 3וכמ״ש בר״מ · Zohar III, 292a
10ומעתה יובנו ויבוארו ב׳ הבחי׳ בסדר ההשתלשלות על נכון. כי הנה הסדר הב׳ שהן בג׳ קווין כו׳ היינו בענין המדות שאין עיקר מציאותן מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה] כ״א מבחי׳ הכתר שמאיר בהן
And now the two levels in the order of the chain of descent will be properly understood and explained. For the second order, in which they are in three lines, etc., concerns the middos whose main existence is not from Chochmah and Binah but from the level of Keser, which shines in them,
Now the two models fit together. The three-line model describes the emotions whose main source is not intellect but Keser, shining into them.
וכמאמר דז״א בעתיקא אחיד ותליא הנ״ל והיינו ע״י בחינת דעת העליון הנ״ל שהוא מבחי׳ הכתר ומחבר ומייחד בחינת חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] כו׳ שנמצא בחינת הדעת עומד בין חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] ותחת הכתר כו׳.
as in the saying mentioned above, that “Z’eir Anpin is attached to and hangs upon Atika.” And this is through the level of upper Daas mentioned above, which is from the level of Keser and connects and unites the level of Chochmah and Binah, etc., so that the level of Daas turns out to stand between Chochmah and Binah and beneath Keser, etc.
This matches the Zohar’s statement that Z’eir Anpin hangs on Atika. It works through upper Daas, which comes from Keser and unites Chochmah and Binah; that is why, in this model, Daas stands between Chochmah and Binah, directly beneath Keser.
משא״כ סדר הא׳ היינו בבחינת המדות שמציאותן הוא רק מן השכל והיינו ע״י בחינת דעת התחתון המתפשט בתוך המדות ומאיר בהן הארת חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] כו׳:
Whereas the first order concerns the level of the middos whose existence is only from the intellect; and this is through the level of lower Daas, which spreads within the middos and shines into them the illumination of Chochmah and Binah, etc.
The vertical model describes the emotions that come only from intellect, through lower Daas, which spreads into the middos and brings the light of Chochmah and Binah into them.
The two Kabbalistic models are reconciled: the vertical chain describes intellect-born emotions (lower Daas), the three lines describe emotions rooted in Keser (upper Daas).
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonGimmel kavinAtikDaas+4
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Gimmel kavin ג׳ קוין
- Atik עתיק
- Daas דעת
- Keser כתר
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Hishtalshelus השתלשלות
- Middos מדות
Lower Daas refines the emotions ¶11–13
11ולהבין כל הדברים הנ״ל בתוספת ביאור צריך להבין תחלה בחי׳ הדעת מהו. ומתחלה נבאר בחי׳ הדעת התחתון וממנו יובן בחי׳ דעת העליון. דהנה כבר נתבאר למעלה כי עיקר הולדת המדות הוא מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה].
To understand all the above with further explanation, we must first understand what the level of Daas is. And first we will explain the level of lower Daas, and from it the level of upper Daas will be understood. For it was already explained above that the main birth of the middos is from Chochmah and Binah.
To go deeper, the Alter Rebbe will first define Daas itself, beginning with lower Daas, which is closer to experience, and from it derive upper Daas. The starting point: as shown above, the middos are mainly born from Chochmah and Binah, so what does Daas add?
¶23 Upper Daas is taken up again in paragraph 23, after lower Daas.
A transition: the definition of Daas, beginning with lower Daas.
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonDaasMiddos
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Daas דעת
- Middos מדות
We need to understand what function Daas serves. But the matter is that Daas, everywhere, is of the level of the inner [dimension].
What does Daas add, if the emotions are already born from Chochmah and Binah? The answer: Daas always belongs to the inner dimension of whatever it is in.
וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] כאן בחי׳ הדעת המתפשט בתוך המדות הוא פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית] המדות שהוא תכלית הבירור שלהן כי הדעת
So too here, the level of Daas that spreads within the middos is the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the middos, which is their ultimate refinement. For Daas
Lower Daas, spreading within the emotions, is their inner core, and it is what brings them to their final, refined state.
היינו התקשרות ומחמת התקשרות בחי׳ חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] בתוך המדות מברר ומבדיל בין טו״ר [טוב ורע] שלא תהיינה המדות מעורבות טו״ר [טוב ורע] כי המדות בטבען כתולדותן יכולות להיות מעורבות טו״ר [טוב ורע].
means connection; and because of the connection of the level of Chochmah and Binah within the middos, it refines and distinguishes between good and evil, so that the middos will not be mixed of good and evil. For the middos, by their nature, as they are born, can be mixed of good and evil.
Daas means connection (as in “Adam knew Chavah”: attachment). Through Daas, the insight of Chochmah and Binah is bonded into the emotions, and this bond sorts good from evil in them. Left to themselves, emotions as they are first born can be a mixture of good and bad.
Daas is defined as connection: it binds the intellect into the emotions, and so refines them and separates good from evil in them.
Marei mekomos
- 1וצריך להבין בחי׳ דעת מהו משמש · בלקו״ת פ׳ מטות פו, ד, פז, ד מציין לכאן.
13ולכן יניקת החיצוני׳ [החיצונים] הן מן המדות כמו אברהם שיצא ממנו ישמעאל12 כו׳. וכמו״כ [וכמו כן] בעבודת ה׳ מבחי׳ האהבה וההתפעלות כרשפי אש3 על ידי ההתבוננות בגדולת ה׳ בשעת התפלה יוכל לבא אח״כ לידי כעס.
Therefore the nurture of the external [forces] is from the middos, as with Avraham, from whom Yishmael came forth, etc. And so too in the service of G‑d: from the level of love and the arousal “like flashes of fire,” [that comes] through contemplating the greatness of G‑d during prayer, one can afterwards come to anger.
Because emotions can be mixed, the “external forces” (kelipah, the forces opposed to holiness) draw their nurture from them. The Sages’ example: from Avraham, the embodiment of Chesed, came Yishmael, kindness in a spoiled form. So too a person may pray with fiery love after contemplating G‑d’s greatness, and later that day come to anger.
ומוכרח להיות שגם בשעת התפלה היה קצת תערובת זר. שאם היתה בבחי׳ אלקות לבד שהוא גילוי אור ה׳ על נפשו בשעת התפלה.
It must necessarily be that even during prayer there was some slight admixture of something foreign. For if it had been of the level of G‑dliness alone, which is the revelation of G‑d’s light upon his soul during prayer,
The Alter Rebbe infers that even the fiery love in prayer must have held a trace of something foreign. Had it been pure G‑dliness, a revelation of G‑d’s light upon the soul, it could not have led to anything foreign afterwards.
מאין בא אח״כ לידי כעס וכדומה שהוא בחי׳ יניקת החיצוני׳ [החיצונים]. כנודע שאין יניקת החיצונים רק מבחי׳ אחוריים דשם אלקים שהוא ענין בחי׳ ההסתר כו׳
from where would he afterwards come to anger and the like, which is the level of the nurture of the external [forces]? As is known, the external forces draw nurture only from the level of the back (achorayim) of the Name Elokim, which is the matter of the level of concealment, etc.
The later anger could not have come from pure G‑dliness, since the external forces feed only from the “back” of the Name Elokim, the aspect of divine concealment. Pure revelation gives them nothing to feed on.
(וצ״ע [וצריך עיון] בתניא פכ״ח וצ״ל דמ״ש כאן קצת תערובת זר היינו מצד התלבשות הנה״ב [הנפש הבהמית] והמדות שבה הן הם המעורבות טו״ר [טוב ורע]. ולפי שהנפש האלקי׳ מלובשת בה כו׳. וההוכחה היא שגם בשעת התפלה לא יצאה מנרתקה ומהתלבשותה לגמרי מכל וכל כו׳.
(And this requires examination [in light of] Tanya, chapter 28. And one must say that what is said here, “some slight admixture of something foreign,” is on account of the clothing in the animal soul, whose middos are the ones that are mixed of good and evil; and because the G‑dly soul is clothed in it, etc. And the proof is that even during prayer it did not leave its sheath and its clothing entirely, altogether, etc.
A parenthetical qualification: Tanya ch. 28 seems to say otherwise (that foreign thoughts during prayer do not show that the prayer was flawed). The note reconciles the two: the “admixture” is not in the G‑dly soul’s love itself but comes from the animal soul, whose emotions are mixed, and in which the G‑dly soul is clothed. Even in prayer the G‑dly soul does not fully leave that “sheath.”
והיינו ממש כמש״ש [כמה שכתוב שם] פכ״ח שהקליפה מתאמצת כו׳. וגם מן הראיי׳ [הראייה] שיתבאר מעובדא דר״ח [דרבי חנינא] ב״ת [בן תרדיון] משמע ג״כ כמ״ש דהתם ג״כ קס״ד שטעה בנפשו מחמת טבעיות נפשו הבהמית שאפשר שסייעה בעבודתו כמשי״ת [כמו שיתבאר]):
And this is exactly as is written there in chapter 28, that the kelipah exerts itself, etc. And also from the proof that will be explained from the incident of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon it is implied likewise, as stated, for there too it entered his mind that he had erred about himself because of the naturalness of his animal soul, which may have assisted in his service, as will be explained.)
This matches Tanya ch. 28, which says the kelipah exerts itself to confront a person who prays. And the story of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon, told next, points the same way: he worried that his animal soul’s natural temperament had helped drive his devotion.
¶14 The story of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon begins in paragraph 14.
Because unrefined emotions can be mixed, even sincere love in prayer may carry a trace of the animal soul, as shown by the anger that can follow it.
The distinction between the G‑dly soul’s own love and the animal soul’s share in it keeps this passage consistent with Tanya, ch. 28: the flaw lies in the “garment” that the G‑dly soul wears, not in the G‑dly soul itself. The proof rests on a Kabbalistic principle: the external forces can draw only from the “back” (achorayim) of the Name Elokim, the aspect of divine concealment, never from revealed G‑dliness. So if anger followed the prayer, the love during it could not have been pure revelation of G‑dliness alone.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
„כנודע שאין יניקת החיצונים רק מבחי׳ אחוריים דשם אלקים” (“As is known, the external forces draw nurture only from the ‘back’ (achorayim) of the Name Elokim”): no source is given, and our deeper note states the principle without saying what the “back” is.
In another transcript of this same explanation (Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569), the Alter Rebbe spells out what is “known”: the Name Elokim, which conceals the light of Havayah, is permuted 120 ways in the lower worlds; from the first 72 the external forces have no nurture at all, and they draw only from the last 48, the “back” of the Name (hinted, he says, in “the land of the children of Cham,” cham being 48).
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569, p. לו (in the second transcript of this biur, from p. לג)
וכנודע שיניקת החיצונים הוא מבחי׳ אחוריים דשם אלקים וכמ״ש באדמת בני חם שהם מ״ח צירופי אלקים
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsNefesh ha’elokisPanim and achorNefesh habahamisKelipah+6
- Nefesh ha’elokis נפש האלקית
- Panim and achor פנים ואחור
- Nefesh habahamis נפש הבהמית
- Kelipah קליפה
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Tefillah תפלה
- Elokim אלקים
- Middos מדות
Also Hislabshus
Marei mekomos
- 1אברהם שיצא ממנו ישמעאל · ספרי דברים לב, ט.
- 2אברהם שיצא ממנו ישמעאל · Sifrei Devarim 312:1–2
- 3כרשפי אש · Song of Songs 8:6
Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon’s test ¶14–22
14ובזה יובן מעשה דר׳ [דרבי] יוסי בן קיסמא1 עם ר׳ [רבי] חנינא בן תרדיון שאמר תמה אני אם לא ישרפו אותך כו׳. והשיבו מן השמים ירחמו וא״ל [ואמר ליה] אני אומר לך דברי טעם כו׳.
With this will be understood the story of Rabbi Yose ben Kisma with Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon, [to whom] he said, “I will be amazed if they do not burn you,” etc. And he answered him, “Heaven will have mercy”; and he said to him, “I am telling you words of reason,” etc.
The Alter Rebbe now brings a Talmudic story as evidence. When Rabbi Yose ben Kisma was ill, Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon visited him. Rabbi Yose told him that Rome ruled by Heaven’s decree and he was defying it by teaching Torah in public: “I wonder if they will not burn you.” Rabbi Chanina replied, “Heaven will have mercy,” and Rabbi Yose answered, “I am telling you reasoned words, and you say ‘Heaven will have mercy’?”
The story of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon is introduced as a proof that even great devotion can hold a trace of natural temperament.
Marei mekomos
- 1מעשה דר׳ יוסי בן קיסמא · Avodah Zarah 18a:6
15וא״ל [ואמר ליה] ר״ח [רבי חנינא] מה אני לחיי עוה״ב [עולם הבא].1 וא״ל [ואמר ליה] כלום מעשה כו׳. והשיבו מעות פורים וכו׳ וחלקתים לעניים.
And Rabbi Chanina said to him, “What am I [destined for] as to the life of the World to Come?” And he said to him, “Has any deed come to your hand?” etc. And he answered him, “Purim money,” etc., “and I divided it among the poor.”
Rabbi Chanina then asked about his own fate in the World to Come. Rabbi Yose asked whether any particular deed had come his way, and Rabbi Chanina told him that his Purim funds had become mixed up with charity funds, and he distributed all of it to the poor.
ע״כ [עד כאן]. ולכאורה מאד תמוה שאלתו מה הוא לעוה״ב [לעולם הבא]. אם הוא מוסר נפשו על קדוה״ש [קידוש השם] שהי׳ [שהיה] מקהיל קהלו׳ [קהלות] ברבים לא יהי׳ [יהיה] לו עדיין חלק לעוה״ב [לעולם הבא].
End of quote. Now, seemingly, his question, what [awaits] him in the World to Come, is very puzzling: if he is giving up his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, in that he was gathering assemblies in public, would he still not have a share in the World to Come?
The question is puzzling: Rabbi Chanina was risking martyrdom by gathering crowds to study Torah in public, a supreme sanctification of G‑d’s Name. How could he doubt his share in the World to Come?
The Alter Rebbe raises the first difficulty in the story: why a man ready to die for G‑d’s Name would doubt his share in the World to Come.
TermsOlam HaBaMesirus nefesh
- Olam HaBa עולם הבא
- Mesirus nefesh מסירות נפש
Marei mekomos
- 1מה אני לחיי עוה״ב · Avodah Zarah 18a:7
16וגם מה שאל ר׳ [רבי] יוסי כלום מעשה בא לידך. מהו התשובה על שאלתו כו׳. אך הענין שהי׳ [שהיה] ר׳ [רבי] חנינא בן תרדיון מסופק בעצמו ענין מסירת
And also, what did Rabbi Yose ask, “Has any deed come to your hand?” What kind of answer is this to his question? etc. But the matter is that Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon was in doubt about himself concerning the matter of his giving up
A second difficulty: how does Rabbi Yose’s question about a deed answer anything? The Alter Rebbe’s answer: Rabbi Chanina was unsure about the purity of his own self-sacrifice.
נפשו בשביל עסק התורה אם הוא באמיתות לש״ש [לשם שמים] בלבד אף שהי׳ [שהיה] צדיק מופלג ולומד לשמה באמת מ״מ לפי שיש בנ״א [בני אדם] יט, גשמצד טבעו ומזגו ומדותיו להמשיך חשק ותשוקת כל לבבו אל למוד החכמות.
his life for the sake of occupying himself with Torah: whether it was truly for the sake of Heaven alone. Although he was an outstanding tzaddik and truly studied for its own sake, nevertheless, since there are people who, by their nature, their temperament and their middos, draw the desire and longing of their whole heart to the study of the sciences,
He doubted whether his giving up his life for Torah study was truly for Heaven’s sake alone. He was a great tzaddik who studied Torah for its own sake, but some people are drawn to intellectual pursuits by temperament alone, and he feared that some of his passion might come from such a natural disposition.
The Alter Rebbe resolves the story: Rabbi Chanina feared that his devotion to Torah was partly driven by a natural love of learning.
17ולהיות תמיד מחשבתו ולבו ושכלו דבוק בהן. והראי׳ [והראיה] מהפילסופים מהאומות הקדמונים שהיו שרים גדולים לא יחסר להם כל מעדני עולם.
and for their thought, heart and intellect to be always attached to them. And the proof is from the philosophers of the ancient nations, who were great ministers lacking none of the world’s delicacies,
Such people want their minds and hearts always absorbed in study. The proof is the ancient philosophers, wealthy nobles with every luxury.
היו עוזבים כל תענוגי׳ ועוסקים בכל לבבם ותשוקת נפשם בלמוד החכמות. כל היום והלילה אין מחשבתו פנויה.
[yet] they would leave all pleasures and occupy themselves with all their heart and the longing of their soul in the study of the sciences; all day and night his thought is not free
Yet these philosophers gave up all pleasures to devote themselves wholeheartedly to learning, their minds occupied day and night.
Evidence that a love of learning can be purely a matter of temperament: the ancient philosophers.
TermsDeveikus
- Deveikus דביקות
18ולהבין ולהעמיק בענין החכמות ותערב לנפשו ותתענג בהם כ״כ [כל כך] כמו זולתו בכל תענוגי העולם. וזה אינו להם מצד אמונתם
[from seeking] to understand and to go deeply into the matter of the sciences, and it is pleasant to his soul and he delights in them as much as another [delights] in all the pleasures of the world. And this was not for them on account of their faith,
They delved into the sciences and found in them a pleasure equal to what others find in worldly delights. This did not come from their religious faith.
שהם היו גוים עובדי כוכבים שאין להם שום הכרח ואמונה שיגרום להם סבת עסקם בחכמותיהם בתכונה ותשבורת ופילסופיא חכמת החיצוני׳ [החיצונים] תענוג נפלא כ״א מצד מזג טבעם מאד תכריח בחשק נפלא שנולד בטבע כזה.
for they were star-worshipping gentiles, who have no compulsion or faith that would cause them to have, in their occupation with their sciences — astronomy, mathematics and philosophy, external wisdom — a wondrous delight; but only on account of the temperament of their nature, which compels [them] very strongly, with a wondrous desire that is born in such a nature.
As idolaters, they had no religious duty or belief that would make astronomy, mathematics and philosophy a source of such joy. It came from their inborn temperament, which gave them an extraordinary desire for these studies.
The philosophers’ passion shows that intellectual devotion can come from nature alone, apart from any religious motive.
19ויש מהם נולד במזג אחר שלא יתאווה ויחשוק לחכמות אף כי יבינם אין לו תענוג להשים מחשבתו בהם אפי׳ [אפילו] רגע אחת רק אחר שרירות לבו רק רע כל היום1 לזאת תכלה נפשו.
And there is one among them born with a different temperament, who does not crave and desire the sciences; even though he understands them, he has no pleasure in setting his thought on them even for one moment, but only after the stubbornness of his heart, “only evil all the day”; for this his soul yearns.
Others are born with the opposite temperament: even when they can understand intellectual matters, they cannot enjoy thinking about them for a moment and follow only their heart’s desires. The phrases “the stubbornness of his heart” (a frequent biblical idiom) and “only evil all the day” (Genesis 6:5) are borrowed from Scripture.
The contrasting temperament: one who can understand but finds no pleasure in thought.
TermsTaanug
- Taanug תענוג
Marei mekomos
- 1רק רע כל היום · Genesis 6:5
20וסבת זה הוא מצד המרות. יש שגובר בו מרה הלבנה שאין ביכלתו לצמצם מחשבתו בדבר א׳ אף שהוא שכלי ולא יתענג בו כלל.
And the cause of this is the humors. There is one in whom white bile dominates, who is unable to concentrate his thought on one thing, even though it is intellectual, and he takes no delight in it at all.
The Alter Rebbe explains these differences, following the medicine of his day, by the bodily humors. One in whom “white bile” dominates cannot hold his mind on a single subject and finds no pleasure even in intellectual matters.
ויש שגובר בו מרה שחורה בתולדתו תשתוקק נפשו מאד אל החכמה כל חפציה לא ישוו בה כאש׳ [כאשר] כ״ז [כל זה] מבואר בח״פ [בשמונה פרקים] להרמב״ם [להרבי משה בן מימון] ע״ש פ״ח [פרק ח׳].1
And there is one in whom black bile dominates from birth: his soul longs greatly for wisdom, “all [other] desires cannot compare to it” — as all this is explained in the Rambam’s Eight Chapters; see there, chapter 8.
One born with a dominance of “black bile” (the melancholic temperament) longs intensely for wisdom and values it above everything, in the words Proverbs uses of wisdom (3:15; 8:11). The Alter Rebbe cites Maimonides’ Eight Chapters, chapter 8, on innate temperaments.
Physical temperament explains why some are naturally drawn to study and others are not.
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Explained by the Alter Rebbe and the Rebbe
The scholar whose love of study comes from black bile: the maamar does not tie this to the Alter Rebbe’s definition in Tanya, ch. 15, of one who „אשר לא עבדו” (“does not serve G‑d”), which uses the same example.
The same example appears in Tanya, chapter 15: one who is diligent in study „בטבעו מתולדתו” (“by nature, from birth”), “through a dominance of black bile,” never has to fight his inclination, and so is among those who “do not serve G‑d,” though he commits no sin; the Rebbe’s notes on that chapter point back to this passage. Another transcript of this explanation (Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569) makes the tie outright: only one „ששונה פרקו מאה פעמים ואחד” (who reviews his chapter a hundred and one times), beyond his habit, is an oved Elokim, and Rabbi Chanina feared that his self-sacrifice still held „הסכם הטבעי דנה״ב” (the natural consent of the animal soul), so that he was not yet one.
the Alter Rebbe: Tanya, Likkutei Amarim, p. ch. 15 (as printed in the Rebbe’s Reshimos on Tanya, p. קד)
כגון שהוא מתמיד בלמודו בטבעו מתולדתו על ידי תגבורת המרה שחורה
the Rebbe: Reshimos: Ma’arei Mekomos, Hagahos veHe’aros Ketzaros leSefer HaTanya, p. קד (on ch. 15)
בטבעו מתולדתו: נזכר בזה בתו״א תולדות בביאור לד״ה מים רבים
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569, p. כג (another transcript of this biur)
אלא השונה ק״א פעמים יותר מכפי טבעו הגשמי שבזה מתקן לשם אלקים דוקא
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
Marei mekomos
- 1מבואר בח״פ להרמב״ם ע״ש פ״ח · Eight Chapters 8:10
21ולכן גם בישראל ימצא טבעיים מחולקים כמותם. אך שתמשיך נפשו לדבר הנהוג בישראל כמו ענין למוד התורה שבע״פ [שבעל פה]. יחשוק נפשו ולבו להגות בה יום ולילה לא ישבות.
Therefore among Jews too one will find natures divided like theirs; but [in a Jew] his soul will be drawn to a thing customary among Jews, such as the study of the Oral Torah: his soul and heart will long to meditate in it day and night without ceasing.
The same range of temperaments exists among Jews, but a Jew’s natural bent is channeled into something Jews value, such as the study of the Oral Torah, so that he longs to study it day and night.
ולפיכך ר״ח [רבי חנינא] ב״ת [בן תרדיון] היה ירא שמא גם מצד טבעו גופני׳ גורם לו מסירת נפשו בעד החכמה אף שבודאי אינו אלא מעט מזעיר מ״מ אין זה לה׳ לבדו1 כו׳.
Therefore Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon feared that perhaps his bodily nature too was causing his self-sacrifice for the sake of wisdom. Although it was certainly only a tiny bit, nevertheless this is not “to Havayah alone,” etc.
Hence Rabbi Chanina’s fear: that his bodily temperament contributed, even slightly, to his readiness to die for Torah. Even a tiny natural motive would mean his devotion was not purely “to G‑d alone.”
¶13 This is the proof promised in paragraph 13: his bodily nature.
Rabbi Chanina feared that his natural temperament had a share in his self-sacrifice for Torah.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In a letter of 13 Menachem Av 5710, glad that its recipient had begun to take seriously the proposal of a parochial school in Chicago, the Rebbe adds that he will surely not give that matter „יותר מדי בטבע המרה־שחורה” (“too much of the nature of black bile”), and points to this passage.
The Rebbe read this passage as teaching a use for the melancholic temperament: the black bile that draws a Jew to study „יום ולילה” (“day and night”) can be put to work „לענין התמדה בלימוד” (for diligence in learning), “as explained in Torah Ohr, Toldos, biur Mayim Rabbim.” He wrote the same in a letter of 16 Kislev 5714 (“it is known what is written in Torah Ohr, that from black bile comes also diligence in the study of wisdom, and especially in the study of the holy Torah”), and in a handwritten reply citing “Torah Ohr 19c” he added that when black bile goes into diligence in Torah day and night, none of it is left for idle matters.
The Alter Rebbe
אך שתמשיך נפשו לדבר הנהוג בישראל כמו ענין למוד התורה שבע״פ. יחשוק נפשו ולבו להגות בה יום ולילה לא ישבות
The Rebbe
להשתמש בכח המרה שחורה לענין התמדה בלימוד
Igros Kodesh, vol. ג, p. שע (letter תערב) · י״ג מנחם אב, ה׳תש״י
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsTorah shebiksav and Torah shebe’al pehZ’eir Anpin+2
- Torah shebiksav and Torah shebe’al peh תורה שבכתב ותורה שבעל פה
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
Marei mekomos
- 1לה׳ לבדו · Exodus 22:19
22ושאל מר׳ [מרבי] יוסי היאך הוא משיג בו. אם הוא מנוחלי העוה״ב [העולם הבא] שאין בלבו אלא אחד כו׳. והשיבו זה לא יבורר כ״א אם בא מעשה לידך.1
And he asked Rabbi Yose how he could ascertain this about himself: whether he is among those who inherit the World to Come, in whose heart there is only One, etc. And he answered him: this can be clarified only if a deed has come to your hand.
Rabbi Chanina asked how he could know whether he truly belonged to the World to Come, whether his heart held only G‑d. Rabbi Yose said that only a real-life test (“a deed that comes to your hand”) could reveal it.
פי׳ נסיון שהחילוק בו שאם הוא מצד טבע הגוף אף שיחשוק חשק נפלא עכ״פ [על כל פנים] לא יגיע למס״נ [למסירות נפש] כו׳ ואמר לו שמעות פורים כו׳
That is, a test, in which the distinction [lies]: if it comes from the nature of the body, then even though he desires with a wondrous desire, in any case it will not reach self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), etc. And he told him that the Purim money, etc.,
The test works like this: a desire that comes from bodily nature, however strong, will not bring a person to give up his life. Rabbi Chanina’s answer about the Purim money supplied the proof.
שהוא ענין פיזור ממון שזה אות ומופת שאין במס״נ [במסירות נפש] שלו אפילו שרש המרה כו׳. שמדת המרה שחורה הנ״ל גורמת מדת הקמצנות.
which is a matter of distributing money — this is a sign and proof that in his self-sacrifice there is not even the root of the humor, etc. For the trait of black bile mentioned above causes the trait of miserliness,
Giving away money freely is the opposite of the trait that goes with black bile, which makes a person miserly. Since Rabbi Chanina was generous, his self-sacrifice did not even have the root of that temperament.
Rabbi Yose’s question was a test: generosity proved that Rabbi Chanina’s devotion did not come from the temperament that breeds love of study.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe
Why black bile (מרה שחורה), the source of diligence, should also cause miserliness, and white bile (מרה הלבנה) generosity, is stated without explanation.
Another transcript of this explanation (Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569) gives the reason: black bile brings „עוצם בחי׳ הכיווץ בעצמו” (a strong contraction of the self), which lets a person bind his mind to study and also „הגורמת מדת הקמצנות בממון” (makes him close-fisted with money), while white bile brings expansion, the opposite of that concentration, and with it generosity. So when Rabbi Chanina told of giving away the Purim money, Rabbi Yose saw that he was open-handed by nature, the very opposite of the temperament that breeds diligence, and his self-sacrifice for Torah could not have come from it.
the Alter Rebbe: Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5569, p. כג
שרשה באה ממרה השחורה שהיא גורמת עוצם בחי׳ הכיווץ בעצמו והיא הגורמת מדת הקמצנות בממון
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explainsThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a hadran on the Mishnayos studied on a yahrzeit (Keilim 24, Mikvaos 7), published for 22 Shevat 5750, the Rebbe reads the needle that one „מוליך ומביא” (“moves back and forth”) in the water (Mikvaos 7:7) as service at both extremes, rising up and drawing down, which shows that it comes not from one’s own nature but „באופן של ביטול לקיים רצון הקב״ה” (from self-nullification to do G‑d’s will); his note grounds this in our passage.
In his note the Rebbe states the rule of this passage: „שכאשר עבודתו היא גם היפך טבעו מוכח שעבודתו היא בשלימות” (when a person’s service runs also against his nature, that proves it complete), with no admixture of his soul’s natural bent. The discourse gives the reason: a person’s nature runs in one line, „בקו של העלאה או בקו של המשכה” (rising up or drawing down), so only service in both directions shows that it is not nature. In Torah Ohr’s own case, Rabbi Chanina’s self-sacrifice for Torah might have run the way his temperament leaned, so it could not settle his doubt, while giving away „מעות פורים” (the Purim money), against the miserliness of black bile, could. In the notes to a general letter of 18 Elul 5736 he also gives this passage as a source for “changing the nature of one’s middos.”
The Alter Rebbe
והשיבו זה לא יבורר כ״א אם בא מעשה לידך. פי׳ נסיון
The Rebbe
שכאשר עבודתו היא גם היפך טבעו, מוכח, שעבודתו היא בשלימות, ללא תערובות טבע נפשו
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat, vol. ד, p. קעא, note 78 · published for 22 Shevat 5750, from talks of 20 Menachem Av 5749, 24 Tishrei 5750 and others (also Sefer HaSichos 5750 vol. 2 p. 695 ff.)
A question the Rebbe raisesThe Rebbe says this in more than one place
In a talk in his room on Motzaei Shabbos Lech Lecha 5738, explaining that „לך לך” (“Go,” lech lecha) asks every Jew to go beyond himself even in matters that are already perfect by his own standing, the Rebbe brings Rabbi Chanina as the example.
The Rebbe reads Rabbi Yose’s question as asking whether Rabbi Chanina had conducted himself like Binyamin HaTzaddik („ולא כגבאי צדקה סתם”, “not like an ordinary charity collector,” his note adds, citing Bava Basra 10b–11a), even though he was already giving his life for Torah, to make sure his self-sacrifice did not come from nature, “not even „מצד טבע נפשו האלקית” (from the nature of his G‑dly soul), which is the inner meaning in Torah Ohr.” Torah Ohr speaks of the nature of the body and its temperament; the Rebbe, calling his reading the inner meaning beside that plain one, extends it to the G‑dly soul’s own leanings. This, he explains, is the toil of one who „עובד אלקים” (“serves G‑d,” oved Elokim): changing even the nature of the G‑dly soul’s middos, far harder than changing the animal soul’s.
The Alter Rebbe
שאם הוא מצד טבע הגוף אף שיחשוק חשק נפלא עכ״פ לא יגיע למס״נ
The Rebbe
איז ניט מצד הטבע, אפילו ניט מצד טבע נפשו האלקית (וואָס דאָס איז דער פירוש הפנימי בתו״א)
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כ, p. 306 · מוצאי ש״פ לך לך, ה׳תשל״ח (the same talk in Sichos Kodesh 5738 vol. 1)
Background from the Rebbe
At the farbrengen of Simchas Beis HaShoeivah 5722, explaining why the Sages say „מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה” (“whoever has not seen the rejoicing of the water-drawing”), stressing seeing rather than rejoicing, the Rebbe argues that joy and service „למעלה ממדידה והגבלה שלו” (beyond a person’s own measure) cannot be gauged by the one who has them, only seen in him by another.
Service „בכל מאדך” (“with all your might”), beyond a person’s own measure, is something he cannot gauge in himself: he holds to it with his whole being, but only another, standing and watching, can testify to it. That, he says, is how Chassidus explains why Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai could say before his passing, „איני יודע באיזו דרך מוליכים אותי” (“I do not know which way they are leading me”). He then brings Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon as another case of the same thing, “as explained in Torah Ohr”: Rabbi Chanina asked Rabbi Yose, „מה אני לחיי העולם הבא” (“What am I for the life of the World to Come?”) and was answered, „כלום מעשה בא לידך” (“Has a deed come to your hand?”). He could not measure his own devotion from within, so he turned to another to see it.
The Alter Rebbe
ושאל מר׳ יוסי היאך הוא משיג בו
The Rebbe
בשביל זה יש צורך בהזולת שיראה ויבחן אופן הנהגתו כו׳
Toras Menachem (Hisvaaduyos), vol. לב (תשכ״ב א), p. 59–60 · שמחת בית השואבה, ה׳תשכ״ב
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
TermsOlam HaBaMesirus nefesh
- Olam HaBa עולם הבא
- Mesirus nefesh מסירות נפש
Marei mekomos
- 1אם בא מעשה לידך · Avodah Zarah 18a:8–9
Ahavas olam, ahavah rabbah and Rivkah ¶23–24
23והמרה הלבנה הפיזור כו׳ לכן השיבו א״כ מחלקך יהא חלקי1 שמזה מובן שמס״נ [שמסירות נפש] על התורה הוא רק לפי שאין בלבו אלא אחד ואין בו תערובת טבעית כלל.
and white bile [causes] distributing [money], etc. Therefore he answered him, “If so, may my portion be of your portion.” From this it is understood that his self-sacrifice for the Torah is only because in his heart there is only One, and there is no natural admixture in it at all.
White bile, by contrast, goes with generosity. So Rabbi Yose concluded, “If so, may my portion be like yours”: Rabbi Chanina’s readiness to die for the Torah came only from a heart devoted to the One G‑d, with no natural motive mixed in.
ומכ״ז [ומכל זה] מובן שיוכל להיות במדות הנפש בחי׳ תערובת שאפי׳ [שאפילו] במדה שנראה ודאי טוב גמור יוכל להיות שיש בזה עדיין קצת תערובת כו׳.
From all this it is understood that there can be, in the middos of the soul, a level of admixture, so that even in a middah that seems certainly entirely good, it can be that there is still some slight admixture in it, etc.
The general lesson: emotions can contain a hidden admixture, so that even a trait that looks wholly good may still carry a trace of something else.
ולכן כדי שיהי׳ [שיהיה] בירור המדות לתכליתן הוא ע״י בחי׳ הדעת. והיינו שהוא ממשיך פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית] המדות
Therefore, for there to be refinement of the middos to their ultimate [degree], it is through the level of Daas; that is, it draws out the inner dimension of the middos.
So the complete refinement of the emotions comes through Daas, which draws out their inner dimension.
כי עיקר תערובת טו״ר [טוב ורע] זה שייך בחיצוני׳ הלב משא״כ בבחי׳ פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית] הלב כו׳ (עיין מש״ל [מה שכתוב לעיל] בסוף ד״ה להבין ענין הברכות כו׳).
For this admixture of good and evil pertains mainly to the outer dimension of the heart, which is not so in the level of the inner dimension of the heart, etc. (See what was written above, at the end of the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of the blessings,” etc.)
Mixture of good and evil belongs mainly to the outer dimension of the heart, its surface feelings; the inner point of the heart is not subject to it. The parenthesis refers to the end of “To understand the matter of the blessings” (Torah Ohr, Bereishis), which explains that once the emotions are revealed, clothed in the body and the animal soul, the kelipos can take hold of them, so a “seal” from above is needed to keep them apart.
והנה כ״ז [כל זה] בבחי׳ דעת התחתון המתפשט במדות אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה]. שהדעת הזה הוא תחת הבינה ואהבה שנולדה מהבינה והדעת נק׳ אהבת עולם.
Now all this is on the level of lower Daas, which spreads into the middos of love and awe. For this Daas is beneath Binah; and the love that is born from Binah and Daas is called ahavas olam (worldly love).
All this describes lower Daas, which spreads into love and awe and stands beneath Binah. The love born from Binah and lower Daas is “ahavas olam”: love that grows from contemplating G‑d as He gives life to the world.
ובזוהר נק׳ אהבה זוטא. ומתוך זה נוכל להבין ג״כ בבחי׳ דעת העליון. כי הנה יש ב׳ מיני מדות.2
And in the Zohar it is called ahavah zuta (lesser love). And from this we can also understand the level of upper Daas. For there are two kinds of middos.
The Zohar calls it “ahavah zuta,” the lesser love. From lower Daas we can now understand upper Daas, by distinguishing two kinds of middos.
¶11 Here upper Daas is explained, as promised in paragraph 11.
הא׳ המדות הנולדי׳ מהשכל וכשהם נולדים ונמשכים מהשכל ע״י הדעת אז הם בבחי׳ פנימיות ובבירור יותר מכל סיג.
The first: the middos that are born from the intellect; and when they are born and drawn from the intellect through Daas, they are in a state of inwardness, and refined, more [free] from all dross.
The first kind is emotions born from intellect; when Daas draws them from the intellect, they become inward and more refined, cleaner of dross.
The story shows that emotions can be mixed; lower Daas refines intellect-born emotions (ahavas olam). This leads to the other kind of emotion and upper Daas.
The two loves are distinguished by their source: ahavas olam is born of the mind’s contemplation and brought into the heart by lower Daas; ahavah rabbah is rooted above intellect, in the middos of Keser, and drawn by upper Daas.
TermsAhavas olamDaas elyon and daas tachtonAhavah rabbahAhavah v’yirah+8
- Ahavas olam אהבת עולם
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
- Ahavah v’yirah אהבה ויראה
- Mesirus nefesh מסירות נפש
- Birur בירור
- Daas דעת
- Berachah ברכה
- Binah בינה
- Pnimiyus פנימיות
- Middos מדות
Also Torah
Marei mekomos
- 1מחלקך יהא חלקי · Avodah Zarah 18a:8–9
- 2יש ב׳ מיני מדות · מובא בלקו״ת אמור לט, ב.
24והב׳ הם המדות שלמעלה מהשכל. ונק׳ אהבה רבה שיש בכל נפש. ולמעלה הוא בחי׳ מדות שבכתר חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] דא״א1
And the second are the middos that are above the intellect; [this love] is called ahavah rabbah (great love), which is in every soul. And above, it is the level of the middos within Keser: the Chesed and Gevurah of Arich Anpin,
The second kind of emotion is above intellect: “ahavah rabbah,” the great love latent in every soul. Its source above is the middos within Keser, the Chesed and Gevurah of Arich Anpin (the outer level of Keser).
שהם למעלה מהשכל שהוא חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] רק שנמשכים דרך מעבר בחו״ב [בחכמה ובינה]. והם נמשכים ע״י הדעת שעומד בקו האמצעי. מכוון תחת הכתר.
which are above the intellect, that is, Chochmah and Binah, only that they are drawn by way of passage through Chochmah and Binah. And they are drawn through the Daas that stands in the middle line, aligned directly beneath Keser.
These emotions of Keser are higher than Chochmah and Binah, though they pass through them on the way down. They are drawn down through the Daas of the middle line, which stands directly below Keser.
משא״כ חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] הם חח״ן [חכמה חסד נצח] מימין בג״ה [בינה גבורה הוד] משמאל לכן ע״י הדעת זה נמשכים המדות דכתר שהם מדות שלמעלה מהשכל להיות נמשכין בז״א.
Whereas Chochmah and Binah are Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach on the right [and] Binah, Gevurah and Hod on the left. Therefore, through this Daas, the middos of Keser, which are middos above the intellect, are drawn so as to be drawn into Z’eir Anpin.
Chochmah and Binah are on the two side lines (right and left), so only the middle-line Daas is in a position to carry the middos of Keser straight down into Z’eir Anpin, the emotive Sefiros of Atzilus.
ולמטה הוא הגילוי במדות שבלב כו׳ ובחי׳ אה״ר [אהבה רבה] זו ישנה ג״כ בכל א׳ וכמ״ש בתניא (ס״פ מ״ו)2 ע״פ בהמות הייתי עמך3 בהמות לשון רבים כו׳ דעת העליון הכולל חו״ג [חסד וגבורה]4 כו׳ ע״ש.
And below, it is the revelation in the middos of the heart, etc. And this level of ahavah rabbah is also present in everyone, as is written in Tanya (end of chapter 46) on the verse, “I was as beasts (behemos) with You” — behemos is plural, etc., the upper Daas that includes Chesed and Gevurah, etc.; see there.
Below, in the person, this appears as the heart’s emotions. The end of Tanya ch. 46 reads “I was as beasts with You, yet I am always with You” as said for every Jew: even one who does not feel this love is always united with G‑d. It adds that the plural behemos hints that before G‑d even upper Daas, which includes Chesed and Gevurah, is like “beasts” beside the Infinite Light.
וזהו ענין רבקה שהוא בחי׳ קשר וחבור של שלש5 או ארבע בקר יט, דיחד להיותה בחי׳ אה״ר [אהבה רבה] שהוא המדות שלמעלה מהשכל שהם בחינת התכללות כל המדות יחד ואין בהם התחלקות כלל
And this is the idea of Rivkah, which is the level of a tie and binding together of three or four cattle; for she is the level of ahavah rabbah, which is the middos above the intellect, which are the level of the inclusion of all the middos together, with no division among them at all
Hence Rivkah. In the Mishnah a rivkah is a team of three or four cattle tied together, so the name Rivkah is read as that “tie,” an image for ahavah rabbah, in which all the emotions are joined as one with no division.
(וכנ״ל שדעת כולל חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] שהן תרין עטרין הנמשכים מכתפין דאריך) כי בהמדות שעיקר התהוותן הוא מהשכל שייך התחלקו׳ [התחלקות] המדרגה
(and as above, that Daas includes Chesed and Gevurah, which are the “two crowns” drawn from the shoulders of Arich [Anpin]). For in the middos whose main coming-into-being is from the intellect, division of levels applies,
As noted, upper Daas includes Chesed and Gevurah, the “two crowns” drawn from the “shoulders” of Arich Anpin. By contrast, emotions that come from the intellect are divided by level.
כי אותו השכל שמוליד אהבה הוא אינו אותה ההשכלה המוליד יראה ואותו השכל שמוליד יראה אינו המוליד אהבה.
for the very intellect that gives birth to love is not the same intellection that gives birth to awe, and the intellect that gives birth to awe is not the one that gives birth to love.
The reason: the insight that produces love is different from the insight that produces awe, and each emotion has its own intellectual source.
ולכן המדות הנולדים מהן הן בחי׳ ענפין מתפרדין זמ״ז [זה מזה] משא״כ בלמעלה מהשכל אין שייך התחלקות6 כלל והוא ע״ד ההפרש בין עולם העקודים לעולם הנקודים.7
Therefore the middos born from them are the level of branches that separate from one another; whereas in what is above the intellect, division does not apply at all. And this is like the difference between the World of Akudim and the World of Nekudim:
So intellect-born emotions are like separate branches. Above the intellect there is no division. The Kabbalah’s contrast between the World of Akudim (“bound”) and the World of Nekudim (“points”) illustrates this.
שבעקודי׳ כל הע״ס [העשר ספירות] עקודי׳ [עקודים] בכלי׳ [בכלים / בכלי] א׳ ואין בהם התחלקות כלל. משא״כ בנקודים הם י׳ נקודות מחולקי׳.
that in Akudim all ten Sefiros are bound together in one vessel, and there is no division among them at all; whereas in Nekudim they are ten separate points.
In Akudim all ten Sefiros are bound together in one vessel; in Nekudim they are ten separate points, each in its own vessel.
והיינו משום כי נקודים הוא מבחינת חכמה (כי בענין טנת״א [טעמים נקודות תגין אותיות] הנקודות בחינת חכמה כו׳) ושם שייך התחלקות אבל העקודים הוא מבחי׳ כתר דשם הוא למעלה מההתחלקות.
And this is because Nekudim is from the level of Chochmah (for in the matter of ta’amim, nekudos, tagin and osiyos, the nekudos are the level of Chochmah, etc.), and there division applies; but Akudim is from the level of Keser, for there it is above division.
Nekudim derives from Chochmah: in the Kabbalistic set of cantillation marks, vowel points, crownlets and letters, the vowel points correspond to Chochmah. At the level of Chochmah, division is possible. Akudim derives from Keser, which is above division.
ולכן בחי׳ המדות שלמעלה מהשכל הנק׳ אה״ר [אהבה רבה] שיש בכל נפש זה נק׳ בחי׳ רבקה שהוא קשר וחבור כמה בהמות דר״ל [דרוצה לומר] התכללות המדות יחדו ממש.
Therefore the level of the middos above the intellect, called ahavah rabbah, which is in every soul — this is called the level of Rivkah, which is a tie and binding of several beasts; that is to say, the actual inclusion of the middos together.
So ahavah rabbah, the undivided love above intellect that is in every soul, is called Rivkah, the team of several animals tied together: all the emotions truly joined as one.
וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] ותרד העינה8 יש לפרשו כפשוטו ל׳ [לשון] ירידה ממש כי החכ׳ [החכמה] נק׳ מעיין. כי והחכמה מאין תמצא9 מבחי׳ כתר כמו המעיין הנובע מתחת לארץ. ונהר הוא בחי׳ בינה.
And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “And she went down to the spring”: it can be explained according to its plain meaning, an expression of actual descent. For Chochmah is called a spring, since “Chochmah is found from ayin (nothingness),” from the level of Keser, like a spring that wells up from beneath the earth. And a river is the level of Binah.
Now Genesis 24:16, “And she went down to the spring,” can be read literally as a descent: Chochmah is a spring because it wells up from ayin, from Keser, like water from under the ground; Binah is the broad river that flows from it.
והנה לגבי רבקה שהם המדות שבכתר א״כ ההמשכה בחו״ב [בחכמה ובינה] נק׳ ותרד העינה (ועמ״ש בפי׳ ויוציאנו10 ה׳ אלקינו ממצרים. או״א [אבא ואימא] שהלבישו לזרועות דא״א כו׳) ותמלא כדה היינו כ״ד ספרין דאורייתא.
Now, in relation to Rivkah, which is the middos within Keser, the drawing-down into Chochmah and Binah is therefore called “and she went down to the spring” (and see what is written in the explanation of “And Havayah our G‑d brought us out of Egypt”: Abba and Imma, which clothed the arms of Arich Anpin, etc.). “And she filled her pitcher (kadah)”: this is the twenty-four (kad) books of the Torah,
For Rivkah, the middos of Keser, going down into Chochmah and Binah is a descent: “she went down to the spring.” (The Alter Rebbe refers to his explanation of “And Havayah our G‑d brought us out of Egypt,” where Abba and Imma clothe the “arms” of Arich Anpin, i.e., Chochmah and Binah enclothe the middos of Keser.) “She filled her pitcher (kadah)”: the letters kaf-dalet of kadah equal twenty-four, the twenty-four books of Scripture.
דאוריי׳ [דאורייתא] מחכמה נפקת. ובעבודה הוא שע״י האה״ר [האהבה רבה] ממשיכים התגלות אור א״ס בחכמה ובתורה דמחכמה נפקת.
for the Torah comes forth from Chochmah. And in divine service, this is that through ahavah rabbah one draws down the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into Chochmah and into the Torah, which comes forth from Chochmah.
The Torah comes from Chochmah. In a person’s service this means that through ahavah rabbah one draws the revelation of the Infinite Light into Chochmah and into the Torah that comes from it.
ותעל כי באמת ירידה זו עלייה היא כי פי׳ אורייתא מחכמה נפקת היינו שהתגלותה היא מחכמה
“And she came up”: for in truth this descent is an ascent. For the meaning of “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah” is that its revelation is from Chochmah,
“And she came up”: this descent is really an ascent. Saying that the Torah comes from Chochmah means only that it is revealed through Chochmah.
אבל שרשה למעלה מהחכמה כי תרי״ג מצות דאורייתא עם ז׳ מצות דרבנן הם תר״ך עמודי אור1112 שהם בחי׳ כתר וא״כ התורה נמשכת מחכ׳ [מחכמה] שבכתר
but its root is above Chochmah. For the 613 mitzvos of the Torah, together with the seven mitzvos of the Rabbis, are the 620 pillars of light, which are the level of Keser; and so the Torah is drawn from the Chochmah within Keser,
The Torah’s root, however, is higher than Chochmah. The 613 Torah commandments and the 7 Rabbinic commandments make 620, the number of “pillars of light” of Keser (the Hebrew word keser also equals 620). So the Torah derives from the Chochmah within Keser.
שהיא גבוה מבחי׳ המדות שבכתר הנק׳ רבקה של שלש בקר כנ״ל (ועמ״ש במ״א בענין תנופת שתי הלחם ע״ג שני הכבשים):
which is higher than the level of the middos within Keser, called Rivkah of three cattle, as above. (And see what is written elsewhere on the matter of the waving of the two loaves upon the two lambs.)
This Chochmah within Keser is higher than the middos within Keser, “Rivkah.” By filling her pitcher with Torah, Rivkah rises above her own level. The parenthesis refers to a discussion elsewhere of waving the two loaves of Shavuos together with the two lambs.
Ahavah rabbah, emotion above intellect, is rooted in the undivided middos of Keser and is symbolized by Rivkah, read as rivkah, a team of cattle tied together. Drawing it into Torah seems a descent but is an ascent, because Torah is rooted in the Chochmah of Keser, higher still.
The comparison of Akudim and Nekudim draws on the Arizal’s account of the early worlds: the “points” of Nekudim, each separate, are the world of Tohu whose vessels shattered, while Akudim held all the lights in a single vessel. TaNTA abbreviates the four components of the Torah’s written text: ta’amim (cantillation marks), nekudos (vowel points), tagin (crownlets on the letters) and osiyos (letters). Kabbalah assigns them to successive levels, with the nekudos corresponding to Chochmah, which is why the world of the separate “points” stems from Chochmah. Likewise, the word Keser (כתר) has the numerical value 620, the 613 Torah commandments plus the seven rabbinic ones. This is why the 620 “pillars of light” are identified with Keser.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe and Likkutei Torah
„ועמ״ש במ״א בענין תנופת שתי הלחם ע״ג שני הכבשים” (“And see what is written elsewhere on the matter of the waving of the two loaves upon the two lambs”): no place is given; our explain only says it is discussed elsewhere.
The place meant is most likely the explanation in Likkutei Torah, Emor, of “And the kohen shall wave them upon the bread of the first fruits,” which itself refers back to this biur. There the two lambs of Shavuos are waved up to their root in the middos of Keser, the Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes of Arich Anpin, while the two loaves, the Written and the Oral Torah that “come forth from Chochmah and Binah,” are waved to a root higher still, in the hidden Chochmah of Arich Anpin; that is why the loaves lie above the lambs. It is the order of our paragraph, where the Torah, drawn from the Chochmah within Keser, rises above Rivkah, „המדות שבכתר הנק׳ רבקה” (the middos of Keser).
the Alter Rebbe: Likkutei Torah, p. Emor 39d (biur on “Vehenif hakohen osam al lechem habikkurim”)
וזהו דשתי הלחם למעלה משני הכבשים כי תנופת הכבשים לבחי׳ כשבים היינו לחג״ת דא״א
Likkutei Torah (the cross-reference may be the Tzemach Tzedek’s): Likkutei Torah, p. Emor 39b (the same biur)
ועמ״ש בביאור ע״פ מים רבים כו׳ אם יתן איש מענין ב׳ בחי׳ מדות הנ״ל
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsAkudimAhavah rabbahDaas elyon and daas tachtonTaryach amudei or+19
- Akudim עקודים נקודים וברודים explained hereNekudim is from Chochmah, where division applies; Akudim is from Keser, above division. So the middos above intellect (ahavah rabbah, present in every soul) are all included together, unlike middos born of intellect, which branch apart from each other.
נקודים הוא מבחינת חכמה (כי בענין טנת״א הנקודות בחינת חכמה כו׳) ושם שייך התחלקות אבל העקודים הוא מבחי׳ כתר דשם הוא למעלה מההתחלקות
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה explained hereHere, ahavah rabbah, in every soul, is emotion above intellect, from Keser, undivided, as “Rivkah” binds cattle together; through it the Or Ein Sof is drawn into Chochmah and Torah.
ובעבודה הוא שע״י האה״ר ממשיכים התגלות אור א״ס בחכמה ובתורה דמחכמה נפקת
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Taryach amudei or תר״ך עמודי אור
- Gimmel kavin ג׳ קוין
- Divrei sofrim דברי סופרים
- Te’amim טעמים
- Arich Anpin אריך אנפין
- Achdus Hashem אחדות השם
- Sefiros ספירות
- Avodas Hashem עבודת ה׳
- Daas דעת
- Binah בינה
- Keser כתר
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Abba and Imma אבא ואמא
- Hiskallelus התכללות
- Middos מדות
Also Or Ein SofTorah and mitzvosChochmahHaalaah vehamshachahTorah
Marei mekomos
- 1ולמעלה הוא בחי׳ מדות שבכתר חו״ג דא״א · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תשצו. מובא גם בלקו״ת אמור לז, ב.
- 2וכמ״ש בתניא (ס״פ מ״ו) · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 46:10
- 3בהמות הייתי עמך · Psalms 73:22
- 4דעת העליון הכולל חו״ג · ראה סה״מ תרנ״ז ע׳ ריט. בענין ב׳ בחי׳ דעת — ראה בלקוטי ביאורים להרה״ק ר׳ הלל לשער היחוד מכ״ק אדה״א הוצאת תשנ״ה קנ, א שמציין לכאן.
- 5רבקה . . של שלש · Eruvin 17b
- 6בלמעלה מהשכל אין שייך התחלקות · לקמן צח, א מציין לכאן.
- 7ההפרש בין עולם העקודים לעולם הנקודים · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ ויקהל ע׳ ב׳צה. ב׳ צט.
- 8ותרד העינה · Genesis 24:16
- 9והחכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
- 10ועמ״ש בפי׳ ויוציאנו ה׳ אלקינו · סידור רצג, ג ואילך.
- 11תר״ך עמודי אור · פרדס שער ח׳ פ״ג. ראה אגה״ק סכ״ט. וראה הערת כ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע בסה״מ תש״ח ע׳ 165.
- 12תר״ך עמודי אור · Pardes Rimmonim 8:3:3–4
Many waters and the wealth of his house ¶25–26
25וזהו מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה.1 והיינו להיות שאהבה זו היא בחי׳ אה״ר [אהבה רבה] ששרשה למעלה מהשכל ע״כ לא ישקיטו המים
And this is [the meaning of] “Many waters cannot extinguish the love.” That is, since this love is the level of ahavah rabbah, whose root is above the intellect, therefore the many waters
Now the verse becomes clear: “Many waters cannot extinguish the love” refers to ahavah rabbah, rooted above intellect. Therefore the “many waters” cannot extinguish it.
רבים והנהרות שהן השגות אלקות הנמשכים מחו״ב [מחכמה ובינה] דאצי׳ את האהבה זו כיון ששרשה למעלה מכל ההשגות ונמשכה מבחי׳ דעת עליון הממשיך בחי׳ מדות שבכתר כו׳.
and the rivers — which are comprehensions of G‑dliness drawn from Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus — cannot quench this love, since its root is above all comprehensions and it is drawn from the level of upper Daas, which draws down the level of the middos within Keser, etc.
The “many waters” and “rivers” are the comprehensions of G‑dliness that flow from Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus. They cannot still this love, since it is rooted beyond all comprehension and is drawn from upper Daas, which carries the middos of Keser.
אך אם יתן איש את כל הון ביתו בוז יבוזו לשון ביזה ושלל כי ביתו קאי על אותיות התורה דכתיב בחכמה יבנה בית.2
But “If a man would give all the wealth of his house… boz yavuzu” — an expression of plunder and spoil. For “his house” refers to the letters of the Torah, as it is written, “With Chochmah a house is built.”
The second half of the verse: “If a man would give all the wealth of his house.” The Alter Rebbe reads “boz yavuzu” not as “they would scorn it” but as “bizah,” plunder and spoil, as when a person seizes great riches. Plainly the verse says that one who offered all his wealth for love would be scorned. “His house” is the letters of the Torah, built by Chochmah.
The verse is applied: “many waters” (intellectual comprehension) cannot quench ahavah rabbah; and “the wealth of his house,” connected to Torah, is something to be seized like spoil.
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonAhavah rabbahHasagahDaas+6
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
- Hasagah השגה
- Daas דעת
- Keser כתר
- Osiyos אותיות
- Atzilus אצילות
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה · Song of Songs 8:7
- 2בחכמה יבנה בית · Proverbs 24:3
26והון ביתו היינו מ״ש ובדעת חדרים ימלאון כל הון יקר ונעים1 והיינו בחי׳ דעת העליון שממשיך גילוי בחי׳ הכתר2 שלמעלה מהחכמה.
And “the wealth of his house” is what is written, “And by Daas the chambers are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth”; and this is the level of upper Daas, which draws down the revelation of the level of Keser, which is above Chochmah.
“The wealth of his house” is the “precious and pleasant wealth” that Daas brings into the chambers (Proverbs 24:4). This is upper Daas, which draws down the revelation of Keser, above Chochmah.
¶3 This answers the question from paragraph 3: the wealth is upper Daas.
ודעת זה מחבר חו״ב [חכמה ובינה] שהם תושב״כ [תורה שבכתב] ותושבע״פ [ותורה שבעל פה] וממשיך בהן אור הכתר דהיינו להיות גילוי רצון העליון איך לעשות הסוכה והציצית והתפילין.
And this Daas connects Chochmah and Binah, which are the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, and draws into them the light of Keser; that is, that there be a revelation of the Supreme Will: how to make the sukkah, the tzitzis and the tefillin.
Upper Daas joins Chochmah and Binah, which correspond to the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, and brings the light of Keser (G‑d’s will) into them. That is what the practical details of the mitzvos are: G‑d’s supreme will revealed, how exactly to make a sukkah, tzitzis and tefillin.
ולכן גם בחי׳ אה״ר [אהבה רבה] הנ״ל תתרוה צמאונה ע״י גילוי זה כיון שהוא ג״כ המשכת דעת עליון ולא עוד
Therefore the above-mentioned level of ahavah rabbah too will have its thirst quenched through this revelation, since it too is a drawing-down of upper Daas. And not only that,
So the ahavah rabbah, the thirsting love above intellect, is quenched by this revelation in Torah, because the Torah too is drawn from upper Daas.
אלא שהוא המשכה מבחי׳ גבוה יותר הרבה מהמשכת המדות שלמעלה מהשכל כי המדות הם בחי׳ ז״ת [ז׳ תחתונות] דא״א.
but it is a drawing-down from a level much higher than the drawing-down of the middos that are above the intellect; for the middos are the level of the seven lower [Sefiros] of Arich Anpin,
Moreover, the Torah comes from a far higher level than the middos above intellect. Those middos are the seven lower Sefiros of Arich Anpin (the emotions within Keser).
אבל הון ביתו הוא התורה זהו בחי׳ ג״ר [ג׳ ראשונות] דא״א (ועמ״ש בדרוש השופר3 שהכתר הוא ממוצע45 בין המאציל לנאצלים שיש בו מבחי׳ תחתונה שבמאציל והוא בחי׳ ג״ר [ג׳ ראשונות] דא״א.
whereas “the wealth of his house,” which is the Torah, is the level of the first three [Sefiros] of Arich Anpin. (And see what is written in the discourse on the shofar, that Keser is intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated, for it has [something] of the lowest level of the Emanator, and this is the level of the first three of Arich Anpin;
The Torah, “the wealth of his house,” comes from the first three, the intellect within Keser. The parenthesis refers to the discourse on the shofar: Keser is the intermediary between G‑d the Emanator and the emanated Sefiros, and its first three Sefiros touch the lowest level of the Emanator.
ויש בו בחי׳ שרש הנאצלים והוא מז״ת [מז׳ תחתונות] ע״ש. וא״כ מובן איך שבחי׳ זו דהון ביתו הנמשך ע״י התורה שהוא מבחי׳ ג״ר [ג׳ ראשונות] גבוה לאין קץ גם מבחי׳ המדות שלמעלה מהשכל שהן בחי׳ ז״ת [ז׳ תחתונות] כו׳.
and it has the level of the root of the emanated, and this is from the seven lower [Sefiros]; see there. Accordingly, it is understood how this level of “the wealth of his house,” which is drawn through the Torah, being from the level of the first three, is infinitely higher even than the level of the middos that are above the intellect, which are the level of the seven lower [Sefiros], etc.
The seven lower Sefiros of Keser are the root of the emanated Sefiros. So “the wealth of his house,” drawn through Torah from the first three of Keser, is infinitely higher than the emotions above intellect, which come from the seven lower.
וזהו ותרד העינה כו׳ ותעל שהיא עלייה גדולה למעלה מבחי׳ רבקה. וביאור הענין שדעת זה שנמשך ע״י התורה דהיינו מ״ש הון ביתו גבוה מבחי׳ דעת הממשיך אה״ר [אהבה רבה] יובן עם מ״ש בלק״ת [בלקוטי תורה (להאריז״ל)] פ׳ שמות6 ע״פ
And this is “And she went down to the spring,” etc., “and she came up”: which is a great ascent, above the level of Rivkah. And the explanation of the matter — that this Daas, which is drawn through the Torah, namely what is written, “the wealth of his house,” is higher than the level of the Daas that draws down ahavah rabbah — will be understood with what is written in the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah, Parshas Shemos, on the verse
This explains “she went down… and came up”: Rivkah’s descent into Torah raises her above her own level. That the Daas carried by Torah is higher than the Daas that carries ahavah rabbah is explained in the Arizal’s Likkutei Torah on Shemos, on “that he turned aside to see.”
כי סר לראות7 שבחי׳ דעת הכולל תרין עטרין8 עם היותן מדות דכתר הוא למטה מבחינת דעת הכולל תרין אחסנתוי דאו״א [דאבא ואימא] כו׳ שממשיך ב״פ [ב׳ פעמים] קדמאין שהם בחי׳ חב״ד [חכמה בינה ודעת] שבחו״ג [שבחסד וגבורה] דא״א.
“[And Havayah saw] that he turned aside to see”: that the level of the Daas that includes the “two crowns,” though they are the middos of Keser, is below the level of the Daas that includes the “two inheritances” of Abba and Imma, etc., which draws down the first two joints, which are the level of Chochmah, Binah and Daas within the Chesed and Gevurah of Arich Anpin.
As the maamar reports it, the Arizal there distinguishes two kinds of Daas: one containing the “two crowns” (Chesed and Gevurah of Keser, the emotions above intellect), and a higher one containing the “two inheritances” of Abba and Imma, which draws down the first two “joints” of the arms of Arich Anpin, that is, the intellect (Chochmah, Binah and Daas) within its Chesed and Gevurah.
ועמ״ש בפ׳ ראה אנכי נותן9 בענין יום יום יעמס לנו10 כו׳ ע״ש. ויובן שייכות ש״י עולמות11 לדעת זה. וגם דעת זה שרשו עוד גבוה יותר דהיינו מתקון ואמת כו׳. וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] תורת אמת12 כו׳).
And see what is written in Parshas Re’eh, [on] “See, I set before you,” on the matter of “Day by day He loads us,” etc.; see there. And the connection of the 310 worlds to this Daas will be understood. And also, the root of this Daas is higher still, namely from the tikkun “and truth,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “The Torah of truth,” etc.)
Further references: a discourse on “See, I set before you” (Parshas Re’eh) about “Day by day He loads us.” The 310 worlds that the Sages promise the righteous connect to this Daas. Its root is higher still, in the tikkun (one of the thirteen “attributes” of the supernal beard) called “and truth,” hence the Torah is called “the Torah of truth.”
ובכ״ז [ובכל זה] יובן מארז״ל [מאמר רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] דחייב אדם לברך מאה ברכות13 בכל יום. דצ״ל מספר מאה דוקא. אלא
With all this will be understood the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, that a person is obliged to recite one hundred blessings every day. [Why] must it be the number one hundred specifically? But
The maamar now applies this to the Sages’ rule that one must recite a hundred blessings every day. Why exactly one hundred?
כי פי׳ א״ת [אל תקרי] מה אלא מאה1415 כי מה היינו בחי׳ מל׳16 ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] וצריך להמשיך מבחי׳ סוכ״ע בממכ״ע [בממלא כל עלמין].17
the explanation: “Do not read mah (what) but me’ah (one hundred).” For mah is the level of Malchus, the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin); and one must draw down from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) into memalei kol almin.
The Sages derive it from “What (mah) does G‑d ask of you,” reading mah as me’ah, “a hundred.” Mah stands for Malchus, the divine light that fills and enlivens the worlds according to their measure. The purpose of the blessings is to draw the encompassing light (sovev) into that indwelling light.
והוא ע״י הכתר שהוא הממוצע בין המאציל לנאצלים. ולכן צ״ל מאה ברכות דוקא להמשיך מע״ס [מעשר ספירות] דא״א הכלולים מעשר
And this is through Keser, which is the intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated. Therefore there must be one hundred blessings specifically, to draw down from the ten Sefiros of Arich Anpin, [each] comprising ten,
That drawing-down happens through Keser, the intermediary between G‑d and the Sefiros. Hence a hundred: the ten Sefiros of Arich Anpin, each containing ten.
דהיינו שיהי׳ [שיהיה] ההמשכה גם מג״ר [מג׳ ראשונות] דא״א כנ״ל. וזהו ונאם הגבר הוקם ע״ל18 שהעי״ן מורה על ז״ת [ז׳ תחתונות]. והלמ״ד על ג״ר [ג׳ ראשונות].
that is, so that the drawing-down be also from the first three [Sefiros] of Arich Anpin, as above. And this is [the meaning of] “The saying of the man raised on high (al),” for the ayin indicates the seven lower [Sefiros], and the lamed the first three.
Counting all ten, not just seven, means the drawing-down reaches even the first three Sefiros of Arich Anpin, the source of the Torah described above. David’s phrase “the man raised on high (al)” hints at this: ayin (70) represents the seven lower Sefiros (each of ten), lamed (30) the first three (each of ten), together 100.
(ובזה יובן משארז״ל [מה שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] שהיו מתים ק׳ אנשים בכל יום עד שתקן דוד מאה ברכות.19 וצ״ל השייכות שע״י המאה ברכות פסקו מלמות).
(And with this will be understood what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: that one hundred people used to die every day until David instituted one hundred blessings. And the connection must be explained: how, through the hundred blessings, they stopped dying.)
A related saying: a hundred people died each day until King David instituted the hundred blessings. The parenthesis asks how the blessings stopped the deaths.
אך הענין כי הנה ע״י גילוי זה דסוכ״ע יהיה תח״ה [תחיית המתים] לע״ל [לעתיד לבוא]. והנה ענין תחיית המתים שיהיה גוף עם קרביים ומעיים וחי וקים לעולם בלי אכילה ושתיה.
But the matter is that through this revelation of sovev kol almin, the Resurrection of the Dead will take place in the Time to Come. Now the idea of the Resurrection of the Dead is that there will be a body with innards and intestines, living and enduring forever without eating and drinking.
The answer: the revelation of sovev kol almin is what will bring about the Resurrection of the Dead. The resurrected body will be a real body, with all its organs, yet will live forever without food or drink.
ואיך הוא זה אלא ע״י שיהי׳ [שיהיה] גילוי סוכ״ע דקמיה שוה רוחניות וגשמיות ממש. ע״כ גם הגוף יוכל לחיות מזה.
And how can this be, except through there being a revelation of sovev kol almin, before which spirituality and physicality are truly equal? Therefore the body too will be able to live from this.
That is possible only through the revelation of sovev, before which spiritual and physical are equal, so a physical body can draw life from it directly. The hundred blessings draw sovev down, and so they counter death.
“The wealth of his house” is Torah, drawn through upper Daas from the first three Sefiros of Keser. It is higher than the love above intellect and satisfies it. The same drawing-down of sovev explains the hundred daily blessings and the Resurrection.
The two kinds of Daas here parallel the two in the Arizal: the Daas of the “two crowns” (the middos of Keser) and the higher Daas of the “two inheritances” of Abba and Imma. The maamar places the Torah’s “wealth” on the higher of the two. Its root is traced higher still, to “Tikkun ve’Emes.” Ve’emes, “and truth,” is one of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Shemos 34:6), which Kabbalah describes as thirteen tikkunim, “adornments,” of the beard of Arich Anpin. Hence the Torah is called “Toras emes,” a Torah of truth. The hundred blessings discussed later in the paragraph come from Rabbi Meir’s teaching in Menachos 43b that a person must recite a hundred blessings every day, based on the verse “And now, Israel, what (mah) does G‑d your G‑d ask of you” (Devarim 10:12). The maamar reads that mah as me’ah, “a hundred,” and takes mah as Malchus, the light that fills the worlds. The hundred blessings draw the encompassing light into it through the ten Sefiros of Arich Anpin, each of which contains ten.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Alter Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Rashab
„ויובן שייכות ש״י עולמות לדעת זה” (“And the connection of the 310 worlds to this Daas will be understood”): the connection is never explained, and our explain only repeats it.
The companion maamar on Mayim Rabbim supplies the link: the Sages’ promise „עתיד הקב״ה להנחיל לכל צדיק ש״י עולמות” (that G‑d will give each tzaddik 310 worlds) is “the precious wealth” of Proverbs 24:4, „ובדעת חדרים ימלאון כל הון יקר ונעים” (“by Daas the chambers are filled with all precious (yakar) and pleasant wealth”), since yakar has the value 310. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why the 310 worlds belong to “this Daas,” the one that includes „תרין אחסנתוי דאו״א” (the “two inheritances” of Abba and Imma), Chochmah and Binah: the Tzemach Tzedek writes (Or HaTorah, Re’eh) that the 310 worlds are drawn through Chochmah and Binah, in which the lower half of Keser’s 620 pillars of light shines.
the Alter Rebbe: Torah Ohr, p. Toldos 18c–d (maamar Mayim Rabbim, our maamar 2, ¶19)
עתיד הקב״ה להנחיל לכל צדיק ש״י עולמות וזהו בחי׳ ההון יקר כי יקר ג״כ גימטריא יש
the Tzemach Tzedek: Or HaTorah, Devarim (Eikev–Savo), p. Re’eh, p. תרסא
למחר לקבל שכרם באותן ש״י עולמות הנמשכים מחו״ב הנק׳ יום יום
the Rebbe Rashab: Sefer HaMaamarim 5663, vol. ב, p. סו
וכמ״ש ובדעת חדרים ימלאו כל הון יקר ונעים, יקר בגימט׳ ש״י
Where the maamar leaves something unexplained, found by AI in the library and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail.
TermsTechiyas hameisimDaas elyon and daas tachtonMemutzaAhavah rabbah+21
- Techiyas hameisim תחיית המתים
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Memutza ממוצע
- Ahavah rabbah אהבה רבה
- Torah shebiksav and Torah shebe’al peh תורה שבכתב ותורה שבעל פה
- Mayin nukvin and mayin duchrin מיין נוקבין ומיין דוכרין (מ״ן ומ״ד)
- Anochi אנכי
- Sefiros ספירות
- Le’asid lavo לעתיד לבא
- Supernal Will רצון העליון
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Mochin מוחין
- Daas דעת
- Berachah ברכה
- Keser כתר
- Abba and Imma אבא ואמא
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Yesh and ayin יש ואין
- Hiskallelus התכללות
- Ratzon רצון
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1ובדעת חדרים ימלאון כל הון יקר ונעים · Proverbs 24:4
- 2דעת העליון שממשיך גילוי בחי׳ הכתר · ראה לקו״ת שה״ש לז, ד בסופו. ולהעיר מאור התורה פ׳ ראה ע׳ תרמא, וראה בד״ה שמח תשמח תרנ״ז ע׳ 45.
- 3ועמ״ש בדרוש השופר · ראה לקו״ת ראה כח, ב.
- 4שהכתר הוא ממוצע · ראה ע״ח שער מ״א פ״ג. ראה לעיל יד, א. לקמן קט, ב.
- 5שהכתר הוא ממוצע · Sefer Etz Chaim 41:3:4
- 6בלקו״ת פ׳ שמות · להאריז״ל. וראה הלשון באוה״ת פ׳ ויקהל כרך ז ע׳ ב׳תשצא. ובאוה״ת נ״ך ח״א ע׳ כח.
- 7כי סר לראות · Exodus 3:4
- 8דעת הכולל תרין עטרין · ראה לקו״ת פ׳ פקודי ה, א.
- 9ועמ״ש בפ׳ ראה אנכי נותן · אולי הכוונה לסה״מ תקס״ח ע׳ שעב ואילך. ונמצא עם הגהות וכו׳ באוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תרמח ואילך, דשם מבואר בענין כתר שהוא ממוצע.
- 10יום יום יעמס לנו · Psalms 68:20
- 11ש״י עולמות · Mishnah Oktzin 3:12
- 12תורת אמת · Malachi 2:6
- 13דחייב אדם לברך מאה ברכות · Menachot 43b:15–17
- 14א״ת מה אלא מאה · Zohar II, 127a
- 15א״ת מה אלא מאה · Zohar, Korach 10:46–13:56
- 16מה היינו בחי׳ מל׳ · זח״ב תרומה קכז, א.
- 17וצריך להמשיך מבחי׳ סוכ״ע בממכ״ע · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ נ.
- 18ונאם הגבר הוקם ע״ל · II Samuel 23:1
- 19שהיו מתים ק׳ אנשים בכל יום עד שתקן דוד מאה ברכות · Bamidbar Rabbah 18:21
The body living from the Infinite Light ¶27
27ועד״מ באדם יש ב׳ מיני המשכות. הא׳ בבחי׳ פנימיות השכל במוח. ומדות בלב. כח המעשה ביד כו׳.
And by way of analogy: in man there are two kinds of drawing-down. The first is in the manner of inwardness: the intellect in the brain, and the middos in the heart, the power of action in the hand, etc.
An analogy from the human being: there are two ways the soul reaches the body. The first is inward: each faculty in its own organ, intellect in the brain, emotion in the heart, the power of action in the hand.
והב׳ בחי׳ מקיף והוא הרצון והמחשבה שישנו אפילו ברגל שמיד כשרוצה להניע רגלו תתנענע רגלו כו׳.
And the second is the level of the encompassing (makif): this is the will and the thought, which are present even in the foot; for as soon as he wants to move his foot, his foot moves, etc.
The second is “encompassing” (makif): will and thought reach even the foot, which has no faculty of its own for thought; the moment a person wants to move his foot, it moves.
ואע״פ [ואף על פי] שהרגל אינו כלי לגילוי המחשבה מ״מ פועל בו המחשבה וזהו בחי׳ מקיף. ועד״ז גם הגוף הגשמי יקבל חיות וקיום למזון מאור א״ס ב״ה ממש וד״ל [ודי למבין]:
And although the foot is not a vessel for the revelation of thought, nevertheless the thought acts upon it; and this is the level of the encompassing. And in the same way, the physical body too will receive life-force and existence, as nourishment, from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself. And this is sufficient for the understanding.
The foot is not a vessel for thought, yet thought acts on it: a power that works on what cannot contain it. In the same way, at the Resurrection the physical body will receive life directly from the Infinite Light, as its nourishment, without food. The Alter Rebbe ends with “enough for the understanding.”
An analogy closes the maamar: as the will moves the foot without being contained in it, sovev will give life directly to the resurrected body.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In a responsum (before Menachem Av 5704) on the Shelah’s quotation from Tola’as Yaakov that the chametz and matzah offerings of Shavuos hint that body and soul will together delight „מזיו השכינה” (in the radiance of the Shechinah) after the Resurrection, the Rebbe asks why, if so, the chametz loaves themselves were not put on the altar, as the matzah offering was.
Answering, the Rebbe sums up this passage: at the Resurrection a light so high will be revealed that it can give life even to a physical body, „ולא כמו עתה שהנשמה מחי׳ את הגוף” (not as now, when the soul gives the body life). But he adds, from the Rebbe Rashab’s Lechol tichla 5659, that even then the bond of soul and body is needed for life itself: for that light to enliven the body in order and in detail, „צריך החיות לעבור דרך הנשמה ולהיות נמדד על ידה” (the life must pass through the soul and be measured by it), coming through the soul though not from it. That, he concludes, is why the matzah (the soul) was offered on the altar directly and the chametz (the body) was not.
The Alter Rebbe
ועד״ז גם הגוף הגשמי יקבל חיות וקיום למזון מאור א״ס ב״ה ממש
The Rebbe
צריך החיות לעבור דרך הנשמה ולהיות נמדד על ידה
Igros Kodesh, vol. א, p. שיא (letter קסג, pp. שז–שיא) · [לפני מנ״א תש״ד] (a responsum; also in Teshuvos uBiurim p. 9 ff. (§ג) and Likkutei Sichos vol. 28)
Found by AI in the Rebbe’s works and checked against each source; not yet reviewed by a person, so check the place before relying on a detail. How it was made
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In one’s avodah
Emotions born of understanding need Daas, deep and sustained connection, to be refined; otherwise even fiery love in prayer can carry a trace of the animal soul, which shows itself afterward as anger. A devotion that seems wholly good may still hold a trace of one’s nature: Rabbi Chanina feared this of his self-sacrifice, until his generosity showed that no natural temperament was in it. The ahavah rabbah hidden in every soul, which no intellectual comprehension can quench, finds its fulfilment in Torah and the exact details of the mitzvos, G‑d’s will revealed, and in reciting a hundred blessings every day.
Questions for discussion
- How can both models of the Sefiros, the vertical chain and the three lines, be true at once, and what does each describe in a person’s emotional life?
- Why does the Alter Rebbe infer that anger after fervent prayer shows a foreign admixture in the prayer itself, and how does the parenthetical note reconcile this with Tanya, chapter 28?
- What did Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon fear about his self-sacrifice, and why did giving away the Purim money prove his devotion was pure?
- Why is ahavah rabbah called “Rivkah,” and why is her going down to the spring really an ascent?
- How do the hundred daily blessings relate to the Resurrection of the Dead, according to the maamar?
Key terms in this maamar
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Knowledge as felt recognition: the intellect bound into the soul until it is felt as if seen. Daas unites Chochmah with Binah and spreads into the middos as their inner life; the middos follow it. ×45Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first Sefirah of revelation: a single point of insight (koach mah, the yud of Havayah) that comes from the “nothing” above it; being bittul, Or Ein Sof rests in it, and Binah expands it. ×21Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- The Sefirah of comprehension (Imma, the first hei): it expands Chochmah’s flash in length and breadth; letters of thought appear in it; it is “yesh,” and from it love, joy and the middos are born. ×8Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The descent of levels from cause to effect, linked like the rings of a chain, from Chochmah downward; each reveals what was hidden in the one above. Or Ein Sof itself is above this order. ×6Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Sefirosספירות
- Ten emanated powers, Keser (or Daas) and Chochmah through Malchus, each a light in a vessel; through them G‑d conducts the worlds, His essence unchanged; they recur in every world and in man.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The first revelation in the chain of worlds (vayaetzel, “drew off”): the ten Sefiros, where Or Ein Sof rests and lights and vessels are one with Him; Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are created from nothing.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- The Sefirah of kindness (the right arm; Avraham): giving that comes from its nature to do good, spreading from highest to lowest like water. Gevurah, its opposite, limits it; in tikkun each includes the other.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- The Sefirah of might (the left; Yitzchak), opposite Chesed: described as what limits and contracts Chesed’s flow, and as the life-force in greater intensity, which becomes judgment; included in Chesed, it gives life.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- The Sefirah of the middle line (Yaakov’s attribute) between Chesed and Gevurah: it joins and includes them, so Or Ein Sof shines in it constantly. It is mercy and truth, and is rooted in Keser.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- The emotive powers (in the soul: love, fear, mercy). Born from the intellect and matching its measure, they are rooted above it, in the will; above, the middos of Z”A, emanated to conduct the worlds. ×43Where it’s explained
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- Love, the soul’s longing to cleave to G‑d, and awe, its self-nullification before Him: opposites born of the mind (“son and daughter”), called the two “wings” that lift one’s service on high.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Name meaning “He brings into being”: by contraction and expansion, its four letters, He brings all worlds into being while Himself unchanged; was, is and will be are one to Him. Elokim conceals it. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- The boundless light radiating from G‑d’s Essence like sunlight from the sun: His “Name,” a revelation, not the Essence. Chiefly the light before the tzimtzum; also that light as clothed in the sefiros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- The Sefirah below Chesed on the right line, its branch: giving carried through by resolve after its reason has gone. With its partner Hod it is “outside the body,” yet rooted in Keser.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The Crown over the Sefiros: intermediary between Or Ein Sof and the emanated, holding the lowest level of the Infinite; the Supernal Will and source of delight, beyond grasp; Chochmah emerges from it. ×24Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The inner dimension: the part of anything that turns toward and cleaves to its source (from panim, face), its depth and chief will. Its partner, chitzoniyus, goes out to others; the inner does not descend. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The “husks” that cover and conceal holiness: forces of yesh set opposite holiness, whose mark is bittul. They came into being through the breaking of the vessels and draw their nurture from holiness. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- The Name of contraction and concealment, the shield and sheath over Havayah, through which creation appears separate (yesh) and runs as nature (hateva, numerically Elokim). Relative to a higher revelation, Havayah counts as Elokim. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- One of a Jew’s two souls, clothed in the blood to give the body life; from kelipas nogah, mixed of good and evil, with its own intellect and middos; the G‑dly soul must refine it.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית
- The soul in every Jew that is “a part of G‑d above”: by nature in bittul, it needs no correction itself, and descends into the body and animal soul to refine them.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Giving over one’s life to G‑d: nullifying one’s very existence in the Or Ein Sof, as at “One” in the Shema. It stems from above reason, and every Jew has it in potential.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Delightתענוג
- Delight, the inner side of will. Above, the supernal delight of Atik, whose source is His very self: the source of Chochmah, covered by the Supernal Will and drawn down through the mitzvos. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
- The outer dimension of a level: the part that goes out to give to others, as against pnimiyus, which cleaves to the source. Only the outer descends, becoming the inner of the level below.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- Chochmah and Binah as father and mother, who beget the middos (love and awe, “son and daughter”). Abba is self-nullifying insight, source of the chassadim; Imma is comprehension, source of the gevuros.Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- Hod (splendor)הוד
- The Sefirah below Gevurah on the left line, its branch, and Netzach’s partner: acknowledgment (hodaah) from afar of what one does not truly grasp. Like Netzach it is “outside the body,” yet rooted in Keser.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Willרצון
- Will, which rules the middos: a lower will born of intellect, and the Supernal Will above intellect (Keser, Gulgalta), which covers a hidden reason and delight and is the root of the mitzvos. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- G‑d’s kingship: the lowest Sefirah, His “speech” and the revealed world, through which all worlds come into being from nothing and live, without touching His essence (“there is no king without a people”).Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin)ממלא כל עלמין
- G‑d’s life-force clothed within each world and creature by its level, like a soul in a body; it can be known, and it varies with its receivers. Sovev, its partner, is not clothed in them.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- G‑d’s light that is not clothed in the worlds: equal in all worlds, above and below, unchanged by them, it gives them life as an encompassing light. Its partner, memalei, is clothed within each world.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Life-forceחיות
- Life-force: the G‑dly vitality that brings each creation into being and keeps it alive, drawn to each according to its level and renewed from nothing, as the soul enlivens the body. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Z'eir Anpin (the emotive attributes)ז״א
- The partzuf of the six middos of Atzilus (Chesed to Yesod), born from Imma and filled out by the mochin of Abba and Imma; Nukva’s masculine partner, through which the light reaches her. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The kav (line of light)קו
- The thread-like line of Or Ein Sof drawn into the vacated space after the tzimtzum: a small revelation, root of all hishtalshelus and the inner light, narrowing as it descends until it ends in Atzilus. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Teshuvah (return)תשובה
- Returning the soul, which descended into physical things, to its source and root, to cleave to G‑d; not only leaving sin. Its two levels are the return of the lower and the higher hei. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently