Torah Ohr · Parshas Vayeira · Maamar 2
ארדה נא וגו׳
“I will go down now [and see]”
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The big idea
G‑d knows everything in the manner of “revealed and known,” without His knowledge entering into what is known. The “roaming eyes” of G‑d are the vessels of the Sefiros and the angels, through which deeds rise from below, the feminine eyes carrying judgment; and “I will go down and see” is the descent of Chesed, which looks at the same facts and seeks merit.
The maamar in brief
The maamar opens with questions on G‑d’s words about Sodom: why “its outcry” and “which has come” are feminine, and why G‑d, Who sees all from heaven, must “go down and see.” To answer, the Alter Rebbe takes up the philosophers’ problem: how can the simple One know countless details without becoming many? The Sages’ phrase “revealed and known” answers it: G‑d’s knowledge does not enter into what it knows. Yet Scripture speaks of G‑d’s “eyes” roaming the earth. These eyes are the vessels of the Sefiros and the angels, through which deeds rise upward, while the Infinite Light within them knows as “revealed and known.” A long gloss distinguishes an encompassing higher Daas, which knows without reacting (the key to foreknowledge and free choice), from a lower Daas in the vessels, which brings reward and punishment. Following the Zohar, the feminine “eyes” are angels of Malchus and judgment, and the masculine ones are angels of Z’eir Anpin and Chesed. The outcry of Sodom rose through the feminine channel; “I will go down and see” is Chesed descending, like seeing rather than hearing, to read the same facts toward merit.
Outline
- The questions on the verseWhy the feminine forms, and why G‑d must “go down and see”; the outcry is the judgment of Malchus.¶1
- “Revealed and known”The philosophers’ problem of providence and multiplicity; G‑d’s knowledge does not enter what it knows; the roaming eyes raise a new question, answered by lights and vessels.¶2–3
- The eyes as vesselsDeeds rise through angels and the vessels of Malchus of Atzilus; the roaming belongs to the vessels, while the light within knows as “revealed and known.”¶4–7
- Gloss: higher and lower DaasAn encompassing higher Daas knows without reacting and is the source of forgiveness; the lower Daas in the vessels brings reward and punishment; foreknowledge and choice; Yosef’s “good eye” and Sodom’s loss of it.¶8–13
- Feminine and masculine eyesFrom the Zohar: the feminine eyes are angels of Malchus, the masculine eyes angels of Z’eir Anpin; the outcry rose through Malchus, and G‑d goes down with Chesed.¶14–17
- Judgment and kindness read the same factsEvery case can be argued toward guilt or merit; the Flood and Noach’s offering show Chesed turning the same reasoning into merit; “I will go down” as direct light descending into judgment.¶18
- Seeing and hearingThe three lines of the Sefiros; seeing is from the long right line of Chochmah and Chesed, hearing from Binah on the left; the outcry is heard, and G‑d goes down to see.¶19–20
Key concepts
- Revealed and knownגלוי וידוע
- The Sages’ phrase for G‑d’s knowledge: everything is simply revealed before Him, without His mind entering into or being affected by what He knows. It resolves how the simple One can know countless details.
- Lights and vesselsאורות וכלים
- Each Sefirah has a vessel (the attribute itself, such as Chesed or Gevurah, which limits and defines) and a light within it, a radiance of the Infinite One that is none of the attributes.
- The eyes of Havayah that roamעיני ה׳ משוטטים / עיניו משוטטות
- The vessels of the Sefiros and the angels that receive from them, through which the deeds of those below are observed and carried upward. The masculine form refers to Z’eir Anpin and Chesed, the feminine to Malchus and judgment.
- Higher Daas and lower Daasדעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- The higher Daas is encompassing: it knows everything without flowing into the attributes, so it produces no reaction, and it is the source of forgiveness. The lower Daas is enclothed in the vessels and brings reward and punishment.
- Direct light and returning lightאור ישר ואור חוזר
- Light descending from above to below (Chesed) and light rising from below to above (gevuros). The outcry rises like returning light; “I will go down” is the direct light of Chesed.
- Long, short and intermediateחד אריך וחד קציר וחד בינוני
- The three lines of the Sefiros: the right line of kindness reaches furthest, the left line of severity reaches only the most worthy, and the middle line has compassion on whoever needs it.
For children · ages 9–13
Going down to see with kindness
The big idea
G‑d knows everything without being changed by it, and with kindness He looks at the very same facts to find the good.
When an outcry about the city of Sodom rose up to G‑d, He said, “I will go down now and see.” But G‑d sees everything from heaven; why would He need to go down? Our Sages say that everything is “revealed and known” before G‑d. When a person learns something, at first they do not know it, and then their mind takes it in and is changed. G‑d is not like that. He knows every small detail of every creature without His mind being changed at all, as the verse says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” Another verse says that “the eyes of G‑d roam throughout the whole earth.” These “eyes” are the channels through which G‑d’s light reaches the world and through which people’s deeds rise up. Some of them belong to judgment: through them the outcry over what people do rises up, the way a sound rises to the ear. Others belong to Chesed, kindness, which looks down from above. Every story can be told for the good or for the bad. “I will go down and see” means looking with kindness, to find merit in the very same facts.
The mashal
Our Sages said that a judge should not judge a Torah scholar who is as dear to him as his own body, because “a person does not see guilt in himself.” When we love someone, we find a way to see the good in what they did. G‑d’s kindness looks at us in this way.
Questions for the Shabbos table
- How is the way G‑d knows things different from the way we come to know something?
- Why does the verse say “I will go down now and see,” and not “I will hear”?
- Yosef had a “good eye” and gave bread to others. How can you look at someone with a good eye this week?
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 · 7
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 gather around the question this maamar opens: how the One G‑d knows and watches over the many without becoming many, and how His eyes can still be said to „משוטטים” (‘roam’). In his reshimah on individual providence (5703) he names the premise behind the philosophers’ question: „שכל עלול פועל שינוי בהעילה” (every effect works a change in its cause). In a sicha of Shabbos Korach 5733 he sets the Sages’ „גלוי וידוע” (‘revealed and known’) against Rashi’s ‘You know’: a knowledge above enclothement that relates to all creatures alike, and a knowledge by enclothement from which reward and punishment are measured, the two the Rebbe Maharash, as the Rebbe sets out in Basi LeGani 5724, calls the higher and the lower Daas (דעת עליון ודעת תחתון). In his hadran on the Rambam of 5746 he suggests that these are G‑d’s knowledge before and after He contracted Himself into the bounds of intellect, and so places two answers on knowledge and free choice; in Kenesher Yair Kino 5722 he takes up the masculine and feminine ‘eyes’ as two kinds of angels, vessels of seeing, with Israel the pupil („אישון עינו”). And in a sicha of Shabbos Vayera 5748, setting out the doubt that the rainbow can raise, why the reason that brought the Flood later ruled out another, he points for the answer of Chassidus to this maamar and to the Rebbe Rayatz, who explains the turn as „רצון חדש” (a new will) drawn down by Noach’s offering.
Paragraph by paragraph
- ¶2
The Rebbe explains
In a sicha of Shabbos Korach 5733 (edited, in Yiddish) the Rebbe asks why Moshe and Aharon open their plea ‘one man sins, and You will be angry with the whole congregation?’ with ‘G‑d of the spirits of all flesh’, and why Rashi explains it as „ויודע אתה מי החוטא” (‘You know (yode’a) who the sinner is’) rather than with the Sages’ „גלוי וידוע” (‘revealed and known (yadua)’).
In a sicha of Shabbos Korach 5733 the Rebbe sets Rashi’s „ויודע אתה מי החוטא” (‘You know (yode’a) who sinned’) against the Sages’ ‘revealed and known (yadua)’, „לשון השגור בדחז״ל” (‘the expression common in the words of our Sages’), as the Alter Rebbe calls it here (his note cites this paragraph). As is known, he writes, citing this maamar, there are two levels in G‑d’s knowledge and providence. ‘Known’: not by enclothement, but „הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ית׳ ממילא” (‘everything is revealed and known before Him of itself’); though it reaches every detail, it stands above the creatures and relates to all of them alike, so the deeds of those below cannot blemish it and their differences of rank take up no place there. ‘Knows’: G‑d as it were occupies Himself with knowing, by enclothement, and this varies with each creature’s level, so reward and punishment in their degrees are drawn from it.
The Alter Rebbe
גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם. גלוי וידוע דייקא
The Rebbe
א) די ידיעה (און השגחה) אין דעם אופן פון ”גלוי וידוע” -- ניט בדרך התלבשות, נאָר ”הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ית׳ ממילא”
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יח, p. 196–198 (sec. 3, notes 11 and 15) · ש״פ קרח תשל״ג
- ¶2
Background from the Rebbe
In his reshimah on individual providence (Menachem Av 5703, sent to R. Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin and later printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 8), surveying the views from the earlier Sages of Israel to the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe explains in a note what the deniers of providence mentioned in Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah ch. 2 held.
In his reshimah on individual providence (5703) the Rebbe explains what lay behind the denial of providence: its deniers held that creation proceeds by a chain of cause and effect in which „כל עלול פועל שינוי בהעילה” (every effect works a change in its cause), so G‑d cannot be clothed in the lowly worlds and watch over them, for that would lower Him, „וגם יפעול רבוי” (‘and would also make for multiplicity’), citing this maamar. So, in their view, „עזב ד׳ את הארץ” (‘G‑d has forsaken the earth’) and He is only „אלקא דאלקיא” (‘the G‑d of gods’). The answer to them, as the Tanya gives it there, is the reverse: „כח המהוה עומד תמיד בדבר המתהווה” (the power that brings a thing into being must stand in it constantly), so He is always present in the lower worlds.
The Alter Rebbe
וא״כ איך יתכן ידיעת הש״י הפרטים וההשגחה פרטי׳ לתת דעתו על ענינים רבים שהרי זה בחי׳ רבוי
The Rebbe
שכל עלול פועל שינוי בהעילה, ולכן אי אפ״ל שמלובש ומשגיח גם בעולמות השפלים ... שזהו השפלה, וגם יפעול רבוי
Igros Kodesh (printed also in Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, p. 277), vol. א, p. קסח–קסט (letter צד, note א) · רשימה, לפני י״ח מנ״א תש״ג
- ¶5
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar Kenesher Yair Kino, said on Shabbos Haazinu, 13 Tishrei 5722 (the Rebbe Maharash’s yahrzeit), whose opening and close the Rebbe edited, he begins from the preceding verse, „יצרנהו כאישון עינו” (‘He guarded him as the pupil of His eye’) (Devarim 32:10), said of Israel.
Opening his maamar of Shabbos Haazinu 5722, in the part he edited, the Rebbe writes that, as is known (his note: the Alter Rebbe’s dibbur hamaschil Yesovevenhu), there are Sefiros and angels called ‘eyes’, ‘as explained in Torah Ohr’ (his note: Vayera, dibbur hamaschil Arda Na) on „עיני הוי׳ משוטטים ומשוטטות” (‘the eyes of Havayah roam’, meshotetim and meshotetos), two kinds of angels. Israel, who stand further within than the ministering angels, are „אישון עינו” (‘the pupil of His eye’): „העין עם היותו כלי לכח הראי׳, מ״מ הנה עיקר הראי׳ הוא מהאישון שבעין” (the eye is a vessel for the power of sight, but the seeing itself comes through the pupil). The angels are ‘eyes’ in general; Israel are the pupil.
The Alter Rebbe
ולכן נאמר ע״ז עיניו משוטטות שהוא בחי׳ הכלים דע״ס. וגם המלאכים המקבלים מהם נק׳ מארי דעיינין
The Rebbe
שהעין עם היותו כלי לכח הראי׳, מ״מ הנה עיקר הראי׳ הוא מהאישון שבעין, וזהו מעלת ישראל על המלאכים
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat (new edition), vol. 1, Tishrei–Cheshvan, vol. א, p. שנז (the edited opening; notes 3–4) · ש״פ האזינו, י״ג תשרי ה׳תשכ״ב
- ¶8
Background from the Rebbe
In a sicha of Shabbos Behar-Bechukosai 5737 (edited, Yiddish) on Rashi’s „ופניתי אליכם, אפנה מכל עסקי לשלם שכרכם” (‘I will turn to you: I will turn away from all My affairs to pay your reward’), the Rebbe asks why paying Israel’s reward is not counted among G‑d’s ‘affairs’.
In a sicha of Shabbos Behar-Bechukosai 5737 the Rebbe explains that all of G‑d’s „עסקי” (‘affairs’) come from the level of drawing-forth and revelation, not from His Essence: the bringing of worlds into being, ‘and even reward and punishment in the ordinary way, even for Jews, are only from lights and revelations’ (אורות וגילויים), as the Essence contracts itself into a movement of drawing-forth, into the ten Sefiros; for this his note cites this maamar (15a ff.). The reward of „ופניתי אליכם” (‘I will turn to you’), for toiling in Torah („עמלים בתורה”) beyond what is required, comes from the Essence itself.
The Alter Rebbe
רק הפגם והשכר והעונש הוא נמשך ע״י הדעת המתפשט ונמשך במדות ונק׳ דעת תחתון
The Rebbe
און אפילו דער ענין פון שכר ועונש ע״ד הרגיל און אפילו צו אידן, איז נאָר פון אורות וגילויים
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יז, p. 328–329 (note 46) · ש״פ בהו״ב תשל״ז
- ¶9
The Rebbe explains
In his hadran on the Rambam of Shabbos Vayakhel, Parshas Shekalim 5746 (edited; Likkutei Sichos vol. 27 pp. 249 ff.), explaining the mitzvah to know G‑d and that He is not bound by the limits of intellect, the Rebbe turns in note 14 to the Rambam’s statement that the answer to ‘knowledge and free choice’ is „ארוכה מארץ מדה” (‘longer than the earth’).
In his hadran on the Rambam of 5746 the Rebbe asks why the Rambam calls the question of knowledge and free choice unanswerable, when it seems to fall away of itself: G‑d knows the future because „לפניו ית׳ אין קדימה ואיחור” (for Him there is no before and after), so His knowing beforehand is like knowing after the choice, as R. Moshe Almosnino answers. He explains that „ידיעה מסובבת מהדבר שיודע” (‘knowledge is caused by the thing known’) holds only „ע״פ גדרי השכל” (within the bounds of intellect); G‑d, not bound by them, knows from Himself, and only after He contracted Himself, as it were, into those bounds is His knowledge caused by the thing. He then points to this maamar: ‘it may be said’ that its higher and lower Daas („דעת עליון ודעת תחתון”) are these two levels, so that Almosnino speaks of the knowledge after the contraction and the Rambam of the knowledge before it.
The Alter Rebbe
אלא לפי שידיעה זו שהש״י יודע הכל מקודם אשר נעשה זהו בבחי׳ דעת עליון שלא ע״י הכלים דע״ס
The Rebbe
ועיין בתו״א וירא (טו, א) בענין דעת עליון ודעת תחתון, די״ל שהם ב׳ הבחינות דלעיל
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כז, p. 251–252 (note 14) · ש״פ ויקהל, פ׳ שקלים, מבה״ח אדר שני ה׳תשמ״ו
- ¶10
Background from the Rebbe
In a sicha of Shabbos Mikeitz 5725 (edited, Yiddish) on Rashi’s two explanations of the brothers’ 'חלילה לעבדיך׳ (‘it is chullin to us, a term of disgrace’), the Rebbe explains how a Jew can be busy with mundane things and remain wholly apart from them, because so it is, as it were, Above; in a bracket he applies this to Avraham’s plea over Sodom, a few verses after „ארדה נא ואראה” (‘I will go down now and see’).
In a sicha of Shabbos Mikeitz 5725 the Rebbe explains Avraham’s doubled plea over Sodom, „חלילה לך מעשות גו׳ חלילה לך השופט כל הארץ” (‘Far be it from You … far be it from You, Judge of all the earth’): even at the level of ‘the Judge of all the earth’, the level of G‑dliness where the deeds of those below take up place, where they are judged and from which reward and punishment are drawn (for this his note 20 cites this maamar and Torah Chaim there), „חולין” (‘chullin’) has no place. Even the Divine light that relates to the worlds is not caught up in them.
The Alter Rebbe
ושיהי׳ שכר ועונש זהו דוקא ע״י דעת תחתון שע״י הכלים והעינים
The Rebbe
אפילו אין דער דרגא פון ”השופט כל הארץ”, די דרגא פון אלקות וואו מעשה התחתונים זיינען תופס מקום -- זיי ווערן דאָרט גע׳משפט
Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 361 (sec. 5, note 20) · ש״פ מקץ תשכ״ה
- ¶11
A question the Rebbe raises
In the same reshimah on individual providence (Menachem Av 5703), arguing that the earlier sages who denied individual providence over minerals, plants and animals need not have denied that creation is renewed at every moment, the Rebbe weighs, as his fourth proof, how Chassidus relates creation to providence.
In his reshimah on individual providence (5703), arguing that sages who denied individual providence over plants and animals need not have denied that creation is renewed every moment, the Rebbe writes that by Chassidus it seems clear that „ענין ההתהוות וענין השגח״פ הם במדרי׳ שונות” (creation and individual providence stand on different levels): providence involves change and depends on reward and punishment, „ידיעה שלאחר המעשה ד״ת” (‘knowledge after the deed, lower Daas’), while creation is from sovev kol almin, coming through memalei kol almin (for the difference he refers to Pelach HaRimon on dibbur hamaschil Arda Na, sec. 9). Yet the Rebbe Rashab, at the end of his Rosh Hashanah hemshech of 5663, calls „שהשגחה שעל הנברא זהו חיותו” (the providence over a creature its very life), citing the Tanya, which speaks only of ‘knowledge’; the Rebbe notes that this maamar too implies that providence and knowledge belong together, and leaves the two maamarim to be reconciled.
The Alter Rebbe
ע״י בחי׳ עיני ה׳ לראות המעשה כשכבר נעשה בפועל עי״ז וידע אלקים שנמשך בחי׳ הדעת תחתון
The Rebbe
דענין ההתהוות וענין השגח״פ הם במדרי׳ שונות, והשגח״פ ענינה שינויים ותלוי׳ בשכר ועונש, ידיעה שלאחר המעשה ד״ת
Likkutei Sichos, vol. ח, p. 283–284 (reshimah ‘Hashgachah Pratis’, sec. ח, proof ד) · רשימה, מנ״א תש״ג
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).
The questions on the verse ¶1
1ארדה נא וגו׳. הנה הכצעקתה הוא לשון נקבה וכן הבאה. ועשו לשון נקבה ולשון זכר.1 וגם להבין מהו ארדה נא ואראה הלא משמים הביט2 ה׳.
“I will go down now [and see]” etc. Now, “according to its outcry” (haktza’akasah) is in the feminine form, and so is “which has come” (haba’ah); while “they have done” (asu) is a form [shared by] the feminine and the masculine. We must also understand what “I will go down now and see” means: surely “From heaven Havayah looked down.”
The maamar opens with G‑d’s words before the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18:21): “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to its outcry which has come to Me.” The Alter Rebbe notes a grammatical oddity: “its outcry” and “which has come” are feminine, while “they have done” (asu) is a plural form that can be either feminine or masculine. He adds a second question: why should G‑d need to “go down” and “see,” when Scripture says He looks down from heaven and sees everything?
¶16 Hold this question on the feminine forms: paragraph 16 answers it.
¶18 Why must G‑d "go down and see"? Paragraph 18 explains.
אך פי׳ הכצעקתה היינו הצעקה העולה מבחי׳ מדת הדין שהיא בחי׳ מדת מלכות שנק׳ דין דינא דמלכותא דינא3 רק שהוא דינא רפיא מלך במשפט יעמיד ארץ4 וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] הכצעקתה הבאה5 וכמ״ש בערב היא באה.6
But the meaning of “according to its outcry” is: the outcry that rises from the level of the attribute of judgment, which is the level of the attribute of Malchus (sovereignty), which is called din (judgment), [as in] “the law (dina) of the kingdom is law”; only that it is a soft judgment, [as in] “A king by justice establishes the land.” And this is [the meaning of] “according to its outcry which has come (haba’ah),” as it is written, “In the evening she would come (ba’ah),”
The first answer concerns the feminine forms. The outcry is the complaint of judgment against Sodom, and judgment belongs to Malchus, the feminine Sefirah. The word din means both “judgment” and “law,” so Malchus, “kingdom,” is tied to judgment through the Talmud’s rule “the law (dina) of the kingdom is law.” Yet this is a “soft” judgment, like a king whose justice stabilizes the land rather than destroying it. The feminine “came” (ba’ah) is then shown in two verses where a woman “came”: a hint to Malchus, since in the Kabbalah Rachel is a name for Malchus, and evening is a time of judgment.
The paragraph raises the maamar’s questions (why feminine forms, and why G‑d must “go down and see”) and gives a first key: the “outcry” is the voice of judgment rising from Malchus, the feminine attribute.
Malchus is called “the kingdom” and is the root of law and judgment; the Zohar’s term dina rafya, “soft judgment,” distinguishes the judgment of Malchus from the harsh judgment of Gevurah. The feminine grammar will later be tied to the Zohar’s teaching that “His eyes roam” (feminine) are the angels of Malchus, while “they roam” (masculine) belong to Z’eir Anpin.
TermsMalchus
- Malchus מלכות
Marei mekomos
- 1הנה הכצעקתה הוא לשון נקבה וכן הבאה, ועשו לשון נקבה ולשון זכר · במאמרי אדה״ז פרשיות ע׳ קו הקושיא ”מה שבתחלה אמר הכצעקתה לשון נקבה ולשון יחיד ואח״כ אמר עשו ל׳ רבים ולשון זכר”. ושם מוסיף עוד קושיא ”מהו ענין הירידה הזאת האיך שייך ירידה לפניו”. וראה שם בשולי העמוד מב׳ כת״י דשם נוסף עוד קושיא ”מה טעם תלה (הידיעה הכצעקתה) הירידה בצעקתה אם ירד דוקא ויראה כו׳” ע״ש בארוכה. ובאוה״ת בראשית כרך ד תשלו, א.
- 2הלא משמים הביט ה׳ · Psalms 33:13
- 3דינא דמלכותא דינא · Bava Kamma 113a:14–16
- 4מלך במשפט יעמיד ארץ · Proverbs 29:4
- 5
- 6בערב היא באה · Esther 2:14
“Revealed and known” ¶2–3
2ורחל באה.1 וביאור הענין הנה מתחלה יש להקדים לשון השגור2 בדחז״ל [בדברי חכמינו זכרונם לברכה] גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר3 והיה העולם.4 גלוי וידוע דייקא.
[and] “And Rachel came (ba’ah).” And the explanation of the matter: first we must preface [with] the expression that is common in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory: “It is revealed and known before Him Who spoke and the world came into being.” “Revealed and known,” precisely.
“And Rachel came” completes the verses with the feminine “came” (ba’ah). The Alter Rebbe then begins the full explanation by introducing a phrase often found in the Talmud: “It is revealed and known before Him Who spoke and the world came into being.” He stresses the precise wording “revealed and known,” which will carry the whole answer.
כי הנה הפילוסופים נלאו להשיג ענין ההשגחה פרטית5 כמו אין אדם נוקף אצבעו מלמטה6 אא״כ [אלא אם כן] מכריזין עליו מלמעלה דקשה להם כיון
For the philosophers have wearied [themselves] to grasp the matter of individual providence, such as “A person does not bruise his finger below unless it is proclaimed concerning him above,” for it is difficult for them: since
The philosophers struggled with the idea that G‑d watches over every detail of the world, as expressed in the Talmud’s saying that a person does not even bruise his finger below unless it was decreed above.
שהוא ית׳ יחיד ומיוחד אחד האמת וא״כ איך יתכן ידיעת הש״י [השם יתברך] הפרטים וההשגחה פרטי׳ לתת דעתו על ענינים רבים שהרי זה בחי׳ רבוי.789
He, may He be blessed, is singular and unique, the true One, then how is it possible [that there be] G‑d’s knowledge of the particulars, and individual providence, [that He should] set His mind on many matters, when this is [a state of] multiplicity?
Their difficulty: G‑d is absolutely one and simple. To know countless particulars and attend to each one seems to require a mind divided among many things, which would introduce multiplicity into G‑d’s oneness.
¶7 Hold the philosophers' question on multiplicity: paragraph 7 gives the full answer.
The paragraph introduces the philosophical problem the maamar sets out to solve: how can the absolutely simple One know and watch over countless details without becoming many?
The same tension between G‑d’s simple oneness and the multiplicity of creation is discussed in Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, to which the Kehot note points. The Alter Rebbe’s answer will not deny providence but will distinguish the manner in which G‑d knows from the manner in which a person knows.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In a sicha of Shabbos Korach 5733 (edited, in Yiddish) the Rebbe asks why Moshe and Aharon open their plea ‘one man sins, and You will be angry with the whole congregation?’ with ‘G‑d of the spirits of all flesh’, and why Rashi explains it as „ויודע אתה מי החוטא” (‘You know (yode’a) who the sinner is’) rather than with the Sages’ „גלוי וידוע” (‘revealed and known (yadua)’).
In a sicha of Shabbos Korach 5733 the Rebbe sets Rashi’s „ויודע אתה מי החוטא” (‘You know (yode’a) who sinned’) against the Sages’ ‘revealed and known (yadua)’, „לשון השגור בדחז״ל” (‘the expression common in the words of our Sages’), as the Alter Rebbe calls it here (his note cites this paragraph). As is known, he writes, citing this maamar, there are two levels in G‑d’s knowledge and providence. ‘Known’: not by enclothement, but „הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ית׳ ממילא” (‘everything is revealed and known before Him of itself’); though it reaches every detail, it stands above the creatures and relates to all of them alike, so the deeds of those below cannot blemish it and their differences of rank take up no place there. ‘Knows’: G‑d as it were occupies Himself with knowing, by enclothement, and this varies with each creature’s level, so reward and punishment in their degrees are drawn from it.
The Alter Rebbe
גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם. גלוי וידוע דייקא
The Rebbe
א) די ידיעה (און השגחה) אין דעם אופן פון ”גלוי וידוע” -- ניט בדרך התלבשות, נאָר ”הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ית׳ ממילא”
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יח, p. 196–198 (sec. 3, notes 11 and 15) · ש״פ קרח תשל״ג
Background from the Rebbe
In his reshimah on individual providence (Menachem Av 5703, sent to R. Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin and later printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 8), surveying the views from the earlier Sages of Israel to the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe explains in a note what the deniers of providence mentioned in Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah ch. 2 held.
In his reshimah on individual providence (5703) the Rebbe explains what lay behind the denial of providence: its deniers held that creation proceeds by a chain of cause and effect in which „כל עלול פועל שינוי בהעילה” (every effect works a change in its cause), so G‑d cannot be clothed in the lowly worlds and watch over them, for that would lower Him, „וגם יפעול רבוי” (‘and would also make for multiplicity’), citing this maamar. So, in their view, „עזב ד׳ את הארץ” (‘G‑d has forsaken the earth’) and He is only „אלקא דאלקיא” (‘the G‑d of gods’). The answer to them, as the Tanya gives it there, is the reverse: „כח המהוה עומד תמיד בדבר המתהווה” (the power that brings a thing into being must stand in it constantly), so He is always present in the lower worlds.
The Alter Rebbe
וא״כ איך יתכן ידיעת הש״י הפרטים וההשגחה פרטי׳ לתת דעתו על ענינים רבים שהרי זה בחי׳ רבוי
The Rebbe
שכל עלול פועל שינוי בהעילה, ולכן אי אפ״ל שמלובש ומשגיח גם בעולמות השפלים ... שזהו השפלה, וגם יפעול רבוי
Igros Kodesh (printed also in Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, p. 277), vol. א, p. קסח–קסט (letter צד, note א) · רשימה, לפני י״ח מנ״א תש״ג
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
TermsLeah and Rachel
- Leah and Rachel לאה ורחל
Marei mekomos
- 1ורחל באה · Genesis 29:9
- 2וביאור הענין . . יש להקדים לשון השגור · מכאן ואילך ראה ד״ה השמר לך תרל״ה כרך א ע׳ ב ואילך.
- 3בדחז״ל גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והי׳ העולם · Eruvin 13b:3
- 4גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם · Kiddushin 31a:1
- 5כי הנה הפילוסופים נלאו להשיג ענין ההשגחה פרטית · Tanya, Sha’ar HaYichud 7:15
- 6אין אדם נוקף אצבעו מלמטה · Chullin 7b:15–16
- 7הכצעקתה הבאה · המשך הפסוק ארדה נא.
- 8בערב היא באה · Esther 2:14
- 9ולהעיר ממרז״ל בכ״מ · Shabbat 55a:8–9
3וחז״ל [וחכמינו זכרונם לברכה] כיוונו לתרץ זה בדבור אחד באמרם גלוי וידוע לפני כו׳ שאין ידיעתו ית׳1 כדמיון ידיעת האדם איזו דבר שדעתו השיג
And our Sages, of blessed memory, meant to resolve this in a single phrase, by saying “It is revealed and known before [Him]” etc.: that His knowledge, may He be blessed, is not like a person’s knowledge of some thing, where his mind has grasped
The Sages’ phrase “revealed and known” answers the philosophers in a word. A person’s knowledge is different: he first does not know something, then his mind reaches out and grasps it.
הדבר ומתחלה לא ידעו וכשיודע הדבר הרי דעתו מלובשת בידיעה זו2 ומחשבה זו שנותן דעתו להשיגה וקודם ידיעתו היה דעתו פנוי וה״ז [והרי זה] בחי׳ שינוי והתפעלות
the thing, and at first he did not know it, and when he knows the thing his mind is enclothed in this knowledge and in this thought, as he applies his mind to grasp it; and before his knowing, his mind was free. And this is [a state of] change and of being affected.
When a person comes to know something, his mind becomes wrapped up in that thought; before, it was free of it. So human knowing involves change and being affected by the object known.
משא״כ למעלה ידיעתו ית׳ שיודע כל העולמות ופרטיהן אין הענין שדעתו מתלבשת ונתפסת בזה אלא
Above, however, it is not so. His knowledge, may He be blessed, by which He knows all the worlds and their particulars, does not mean that His mind is enclothed in it and grasped by it; rather,
G‑d’s knowledge of all the worlds and their details is not like that: His mind does not become wrapped up in and held by what He knows.
ע״ד גלוי וידוע שהכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ית׳ ממילא וא״צ [ואין צריך / ואינו צריך] להיות נתפס ומתלבש בהדבר לידע
[it is] in the manner of “revealed and known”: that everything is revealed and known before Him, may He be blessed, of itself, and He need not be grasped by and enclothed in the thing in order to know [it].
Everything is simply “revealed and known” before Him, on its own. He does not need to reach out to the thing and enter into it in order to know it.
(במכש״כ [במכל שכן] ממה שמחיה ומהווה הדבר שלא ע״י התלבשות בהדבר כ״א על ידי היותו סוכ״ע. וכ״ש [וכל שכן] וק״ו שידיעת הדבר ופרטיו א״צ [אין צריך / אינו צריך] להיות ע״י התלבשות ותפיסה בהדבר כו׳)
(All the more so, from [the fact] that He gives life to the thing and brings it into being not by being enclothed in the thing, but by His being the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). Then all the more so, by kal vachomer, knowing the thing and its particulars need not come by being enclothed in and grasped by the thing, etc.)
A supporting argument, a kal vachomer (a fortiori): G‑d gives life to every creature and brings it into being not by entering into it but as the light that encompasses all worlds, acting on it from beyond. If even creating and sustaining a thing does not require entering it, then surely knowing it does not.
וכיון שהוא גלוי וידוע אין שייך כלל קושייתם שהוא בחי׳ רבוי כי זה אינו רק במין ידיעת האדם שא״א לו לידע דבר כ״א ע״י שדעתו ומחשבתו מתלבשים בידיעת הדבר.
And since it is “revealed and known,” their question, that this is [a state of] multiplicity, does not apply at all; for this is so only in the kind of knowledge a person has, who cannot know a thing except by his mind and thought being enclothed in the knowledge of the thing.
Since G‑d’s knowledge is “revealed and known,” the philosophers’ objection falls away. Multiplicity arises only in human knowing, where the mind must enter into each thing it knows.
וזהו כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם3 כו׳ כי הוא גלוי וידוע כו׳ (והמשכיל יבין דקות הדברים ולאו כל מוחא סביל דא).
And this is [the meaning of] “For My thoughts are not your thoughts” etc.: for it is “revealed and known” etc. (The discerning will understand the subtlety of these matters; not every mind can bear this.)
Isaiah’s verse “My thoughts are not your thoughts” is read in this light: G‑d’s knowing is of a completely different kind from ours. The Alter Rebbe adds that the point is subtle and not every mind can take it in.
והנה כתיב4 (זכרי׳ [זכריה] סי׳ ד׳) שבעה אלה עיני5 ה׳ המה משוטטים בכל הארץ וכתיב (ד״ה [דברי הימים] ב׳ י״ו ט׳) כי ה׳ עיניו משוטטות בכל הארץ.6
Now it is written (Zechariah, chapter 4), “These seven are the eyes of Havayah; they roam (meshotetim) throughout the whole earth”; and it is written (II Chronicles 16:9), “For Havayah, His eyes roam (meshotetos) throughout the whole earth.”
A new question begins. Two verses describe G‑d’s “eyes” as “roaming” through the whole earth, once with a masculine verb (meshotetim) and once with a feminine one (meshotetos).
ויש להבין דענין משוטטים ומשוטטות משמע שנמשך לראות ולעיין הדבר על ידי ראיה זו והרי זה כמו בחי׳ התלבשות בהדבר הנראה וידוע וזה לכאורה הפך ממ״ש בפי׳ גלוי וידוע.
And this must be understood: the term “roam” (meshotetim, meshotetos) implies that [the gaze] extends to see and examine the thing by means of this seeing; and this is like a state of being enclothed in the thing that is seen and known. And this seems to be the opposite of what was said in explaining “revealed and known.”
“Roaming” suggests going out to look at and examine things, which sounds like the very mind-entering-the-thing that “revealed and known” denied.
אך הענין כי נודע שבע״ס [שבעשר ספירות] יש אורות וכלים7 כי בחי׳ חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] זהו בחי׳ כלי8 אבל האור הוא הארה מא״ס ב״ה דלאו מכל אינון מדות איהו כלל
But the explanation is that, as is known, in the ten Sefiros there are lights and vessels. For the level of Chesed (kindness) and Gevurah (restraint) is the level of a vessel; but the light is a radiance from the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, [of Whom it is said that] “He is not of any of these attributes at all.”
The answer rests on the known teaching that each of the ten Sefiros has a light and a vessel. Attributes like Chesed and Gevurah are the vessels, while the light within them is a radiance of the Infinite One, which in itself is none of these attributes, as the Tikkunei Zohar says in Eliyahu’s opening prayer (Patach Eliyahu).
רק שהאור מתלבש בהכלי שהוא חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] ושאר המדות שהן נקראים בחינת כלים שהם מגבילים את האור ובהן
Only, the light is enclothed in the vessel, which is Chesed and Gevurah and the other attributes, which are called the level of vessels, for they limit the light. And in them
The light is enclothed in the vessels, the attributes of Chesed, Gevurah and the rest. They are called vessels because they give the light limits and definition.
ועל ידם נמשך האור להיות מחיה נבראים בע״ג [בעלי גבול / בעל גבול] להיות התהוות מיכאל וגבריאל מחנה מיכאל מקבלים מבחי׳ חסד9 וגבריאל מבחי׳ גבורה שא״א להיות המשכה זו מהאור עצמו כ״א ע״י הכלים.
and through them the light is drawn down to give life to finite creations, bringing into being Michael and Gavriel: the camp of Michael receives from the level of Chesed, and Gavriel from the level of Gevurah. For this drawing-down cannot come from the light itself, but only through the vessels,
Through these vessels the light reaches finite creatures, for example the angels: Michael’s camp receives from Chesed and Gavriel’s from Gevurah. Limited beings cannot receive directly from the unlimited light; it must pass through the vessels.
כמו שא״א להיות השפעת כסף וזהב מהנשמה אא״כ [אלא אם כן] מלובשת בגוף ונותנת הנשמה צדקה לעני ע״י היד הגשמי.
just as there cannot be a giving of silver and gold from the soul unless it is enclothed in a body, and the soul gives charity to the poor man through the physical hand.
An analogy: the soul cannot give money to a poor man unless it is clothed in a body and uses a physical hand. So too the divine light acts on creation only through the vessels.
The paragraph answers the philosophers: G‑d knows “revealed and known,” without His knowledge entering what is known. It then raises the challenge of the “roaming eyes” and begins its answer with the distinction between the lights and the vessels of the Sefiros.
The vessels are the attributes themselves; the light is not defined by them. On the Kehot note, a later maamar says this holds in Z’eir Anpin, where the light takes on the nature of the vessels, whereas in Arich Anpin the vessel is completely nullified to the light. The kal vachomer from sovev kol almin fits the Tanya’s teaching that G‑d’s creative power acts on the world without being contained in it.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Rebbe Maharash and the Rebbe
The philosophers’ problem in ¶2–3 is the one the Rambam answers by saying that G‑d knows all things by knowing Himself, ‘the knower, the known and the knowledge’; the maamar answers with „גלוי וידוע” (‘revealed and known’) and does not say how the two answers relate.
In a maamar of 5627 (Toras Shmuel), explaining that G‑d gives life to the world without being clothed in it, so that nothing changes in Him, the Rebbe Maharash explains the Sages’ ‘revealed and known’; the Rebbe sets it out in his Basi LeGani of Motzaei Shabbos Beshalach, 11 Shevat 5724 (unedited), on Yosef, whom the affairs of Egypt did not disturb.
The Rambam answers the philosophers’ question by saying that G‑d knows all things by knowing Himself: He is ‘the knower, the known and the knowledge’. The Rebbe Maharash joins this to the Sages’ „גלוי וידוע” (‘revealed and known’): they said ‘known’ because „שידוע לפניו ממילא, לא בבחי׳ התלבשות” (it is known before Him of itself, not by enclothement). The lower Daas, shining in the Sefiros by enclothement, is „הוא היודע” (‘He is the knower’); the higher Daas is „הוא הידוע” (‘He is the known’), in which all are surveyed „בסקירה אחת” (in a single glance), yet each in detail, as all who come into the world pass before Him one by one on Rosh Hashanah. The Rebbe sets this out in Basi LeGani 5724 (‘known, precisely’), and in a letter he points to this maamar as a further explanation of the Rambam’s words as the Tanya brings them.
the Rebbe Maharash: Sefer HaMaamarim 5627 (Toras Shmuel), p. שכב (sec. ב)
ובזה יובן ל׳ רז״ל גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והי׳ העולם, וכיוונו בלשון ידוע שידוע לפניו ממילא ואינו בבחי׳ התלבשות
the Rebbe: Sefer HaMaamarim 5724 (unedited, new edition), dibbur hamaschil Basi LeGani, Motzaei Shabbos Beshalach, 11 Shevat 5724 (maamar 3), sec. 7, p. קח–קט
דעת תחתון הוא באופן שהוא היודע, שהוא באופן של התלבשות כביכול
the Rebbe: Igros Kodesh (letter of 10 Elul 5719; quoted in the Reshimos edition of the Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah ch. 7, p. שעו), vol. יח, p. תקכב
וימצא ביאור נוסף בכ״מ בדא״ח, ומהם בספר תורה אור לבעל התניא יד, ד עה״כ ארדה גו׳ הכצעקתה גו׳
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.
TermsLights and vesselsRe’iyah and shmiahTzedakahSefiros+10
- Lights and vessels אורות וכלים explained hereIn the ten sefiros, Chesed and Gevurah are the vessels; the light is a radiance of Ein Sof, who is none of these attributes. The vessels limit the light, and only through them can it give life to bounded creatures (Michael from Chesed, Gavriel from Gevurah), as a soul gives charity only through the hand.
שבע״ס יש אורות וכלים כי בחי׳ חו״ג זהו בחי׳ כלי אבל האור הוא הארה מא״ס ב״ה דלאו מכל אינון מדות איהו כלל
- Re’iyah and shmiah ראיה ושמיעה
- Tzedakah צדקה
- Sefiros ספירות
- Gevurah גבורה
- Daas דעת
- Ein Sof אין סוף
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
- Chesed חסד
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1שאין ידיעתו ית׳ · ראה לקו״ת שה״ש כא, ב.
- 2הרי דעתו מלובשת בידיעה זו · ראה לקו״ת שה״ש כא, ב.
- 3כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
- 4והנה כתיב שבעה אלה · בלקו״ת ראה כד, א. שמע״צ צא, ד — מציין לכאן.
- 5שבעה אלה עיני ה׳ המה משוטטים בכל הארץ · Zechariah 4:10
- 6כי ה׳ עיניו משוטטות בכל הארץ · II Chronicles 16:9
- 7כי נודע שבע״ס יש אורות וכלים · במאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ קפד מקשר זה אלמעלה וז״ל שם: ”אך באמת קושיא זו תפול גם כן על מציאות עשר ספירות דאצי׳ ממאצילן שהוא ג״כ בחי׳ התחלקות עשר מציאות פרטים . . ואיך נמצא זאת מבחי׳ אור א״ס הפשוט שהוא מופשט מגדר התחלקות מכל וכל” ע״ש. וראה פרשיות ע׳ קז. אוה״ת בראשית כרך ד תשלו, א.
- 8כי בחי׳ חו״ג זהו בחי׳ כלי · בד״ה אין עומדין תרס״ז (בהמשך תרס״ו ע׳ תפא) מפרש: והיינו בז״א לפי שהאור נעשה כמהות הכלים כו׳, אבל בא״א לית שמאלא בהאי עתיקא לפי שהכלי בטל לגמרי אל האור וה״ה כמהות האור כו׳ עכ״ל ע״ש.
- 9מחנה מיכאל מקבלים מבחי׳ חסד כו׳ · Zohar III, 235b
The eyes as vessels ¶4–7
4והנה כמו כן ע״י הכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] הוא ג״כ בחי׳ העלאת הזכות וחוב של כל נברא
Now likewise, through the vessels of the ten Sefiros there is also the raising up of the merit and the guilt of every creature.
Just as the light reaches creation through the vessels, so too the record of every creature’s merits and faults rises upward through the vessels.
כי ע״י שהאדם עובר עבירה קונה לו קטיגור אחד1 נעשה פגם וכתם באותו המלאך הממונה ע״ז כי יש מלאכים שמקבלים ממדה זו ויש ממדה זו כנ״ל בענין מיכאל וגבריאל כו׳
For when a person commits a transgression, he “acquires for himself one accuser”: a blemish and a stain are made in the angel appointed over this [matter]. For there are angels that receive from this attribute and [angels that receive] from that attribute, as was said above regarding Michael and Gavriel, etc.
A sin, in the words of the Mishnah, “acquires an accuser”: it leaves a blemish in the angel charged over that matter. Angels are of different kinds, some drawing from Chesed and some from Gevurah, as with Michael and Gavriel.
ומלאך זה מעלה הדבר למלאך גבוה ממנו עד שמתעלה בכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] דמלכות דאצי׳ המתלבשים בבי״ע ובתוך הכלי מלובש האור מא״ס ב״ה.
That angel passes the matter up to a higher angel, and so on, until it reaches the vessels of Malchus of Atzilus, which are clothed in the lower worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. Within those vessels is the light of the Infinite One.
The paragraph applies the vessels to the upward direction: a person’s deeds are reported upward through angels and the vessels of Malchus of Atzilus, within which the Infinite Light dwells.
TermsSefirosLights and vesselsMalachimYetzirah+7
Marei mekomos
- 1קונה לו קטיגור אחד · Pirkei Avot 4:11
5ונמצא ע״י הכלים מתעלה להאור א״ס ב״ה המלובש בהכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות]. ולכן נאמר ע״ז עיניו משוטטות שהוא בחי׳ הכלים טו, אדע״ס [דעשר ספירות]. וגם המלאכים המקבלים מהם1 נק׳ מארי דעיינין2 ויש מארי דאודנין.
It follows that through the vessels [the matter] rises to the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is enclothed in the vessels of the ten Sefiros. Therefore it is said of this, “His eyes roam,” which is the level of the vessels of the ten Sefiros. And the angels that receive from them, too, are called “masters of eyes”; and there are [also] “masters of ears.”
So a deed rises through the vessels until it reaches the Infinite Light clothed within them. The verse’s “His eyes roam” refers to these vessels, and the angels who receive from them are called by the Aramaic name “masters of eyes,” alongside others called “masters of ears”: angels whose task is to see, and angels whose task is to hear.
The paragraph identifies the “eyes of Havayah” that roam the earth with the vessels of the Sefiros and the angels who receive from them.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In the maamar Kenesher Yair Kino, said on Shabbos Haazinu, 13 Tishrei 5722 (the Rebbe Maharash’s yahrzeit), whose opening and close the Rebbe edited, he begins from the preceding verse, „יצרנהו כאישון עינו” (‘He guarded him as the pupil of His eye’) (Devarim 32:10), said of Israel.
Opening his maamar of Shabbos Haazinu 5722, in the part he edited, the Rebbe writes that, as is known (his note: the Alter Rebbe’s dibbur hamaschil Yesovevenhu), there are Sefiros and angels called ‘eyes’, ‘as explained in Torah Ohr’ (his note: Vayera, dibbur hamaschil Arda Na) on „עיני הוי׳ משוטטים ומשוטטות” (‘the eyes of Havayah roam’, meshotetim and meshotetos), two kinds of angels. Israel, who stand further within than the ministering angels, are „אישון עינו” (‘the pupil of His eye’): „העין עם היותו כלי לכח הראי׳, מ״מ הנה עיקר הראי׳ הוא מהאישון שבעין” (the eye is a vessel for the power of sight, but the seeing itself comes through the pupil). The angels are ‘eyes’ in general; Israel are the pupil.
The Alter Rebbe
ולכן נאמר ע״ז עיניו משוטטות שהוא בחי׳ הכלים דע״ס. וגם המלאכים המקבלים מהם נק׳ מארי דעיינין
The Rebbe
שהעין עם היותו כלי לכח הראי׳, מ״מ הנה עיקר הראי׳ הוא מהאישון שבעין, וזהו מעלת ישראל על המלאכים
Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat (new edition), vol. 1, Tishrei–Cheshvan, vol. א, p. שנז (the edited opening; notes 3–4) · ש״פ האזינו, י״ג תשרי 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
TermsSefirosLights and vesselsMalachim+2
- Sefiros ספירות
- Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
- Malachim מלאכים
Also HislabshusOr Ein Sof
Marei mekomos
- 1וגם המלאכים המקבלים מהם · ראה ד״ה והר סיני תרנ״ג ע׳ רא.
- 2מארי דעיינין · ע׳ אוה״ת וירא כרך ד תשלו, א. פ׳ עקב ע׳ תקצז.
6והם משוטטים בכל הארץ כמאמר דע מה למעלה ממך1 עין רואה2 כו׳ ובהכלים שייך לומר משוטטים בבחינת התלבשות בהדבר.
And they roam throughout the whole earth, as in the saying, “Know what is above you: an eye that sees” etc. And of the vessels it is fitting to say “roam,” in the sense of being enclothed in the thing.
These “eyes” roam the whole earth, as the Mishnah says, “Know what is above you: an eye that sees and an ear that hears.” Speaking of “roaming,” going out to the thing, fits the vessels, which do enter into what they observe.
ובהם וע״י מתעלה הדבר בבחי׳ האור המלובש בתוכן מא״ס ב״ה והוא ע״ד גלוי וידוע3 שידיעה זו שבכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] שעל ידי עיניו משוטטים היא בחי׳
And in them and through them the matter rises to the level of the light from the Infinite One, blessed be He, that is enclothed within them; and this is in the manner of “revealed and known”: that this knowledge in the vessels of the ten Sefiros, which [comes] through “His eyes roam,” is in the level of
Through the vessels the matter reaches the Infinite Light clothed within them. At that level, the knowledge gathered by the roaming eyes is known in the manner of “revealed and known.”
גלוי וידוע לאור א״ס ב״ה המלובש בהכלים כיון שהאור באמת לאו מכל אינון מדות איהו כלל אע״פ [אף על פי] שמלובש בהכלי כו׳.
“revealed and known” to the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that is enclothed in the vessels; since the light in truth “is not of any of these attributes at all,” even though it is enclothed in the vessel, etc.
This is because the light, though clothed in the vessels, is in truth none of the attributes. So the “roaming” belongs only to the vessels, while the light within knows without entering into anything.
The paragraph resolves the contradiction: “roaming” describes the vessels, which do enter into what they see, while the light within them knows in the manner of “revealed and known.”
TermsSefirosLights and vesselsEin SofMiddos+2
- Sefiros ספירות
- Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
- Ein Sof אין סוף
- Middos מדות
Also HislabshusOr Ein Sof
Marei mekomos
- 1דע מה למעלה ממך · אבות ב, א.
- 2דע מה למעלה ממך עין רואה · Pirkei Avot 2:1
- 3והוא ע״ד גלוי וידוע · בלקו״ת שה״ש כא, ב מציין לכאן. ראה ד״ה צהר תעשה תרע״ג.
7וזהו תירוץ לקושיית הפילוסופים שאין ידיעה והשגחה זו גורם בחי׳ רבוי כי ההשגחה ע״ד עיניו משוטטות הוא ע״י הכלים כנ״ל
And this is the answer to the philosophers’ question: this knowledge and providence does not cause [a state of] multiplicity. For the providence in the manner of “His eyes roam” is through the vessels, as said above;
This answers the philosophers: providence through the “roaming eyes” does not make G‑d many, because that providence operates through the vessels.
¶2 This answers the philosophers' question from paragraph 2.
אבל הידיעה בא״ס ב״ה המלובש בהכלים מה שיודע ורואה מה שעיניו משוטטות הנה ידיעתו יתברך זו היא בבחי׳ גלוי וידוע1 כו׳:
but the knowledge in the Infinite One, blessed be He, Who is enclothed in the vessels, [namely,] what He knows and sees of what His eyes roam over: this knowledge of His, may He be blessed, is in the manner of “revealed and known” etc.
What the Infinite One, clothed in the vessels, knows of what the eyes observe is not a knowledge that enters into things. It is in the manner of “revealed and known,” with no multiplicity.
The paragraph completes the answer to the philosophers: the detailed “roaming” belongs to the vessels, while G‑d’s own knowledge remains “revealed and known” and untouched by multiplicity.
According to a later analysis cited in the Kehot note, the point here is that what G‑d knows is not known because He has already seen the deeds; His knowledge comes from Himself.
Marei mekomos
- 1שו״ה משוטטות — בבחי׳ גלוי וידוע · באוה״ת סידור ע׳ נ מציין לכאן. ענין הידיעה נתבאר בארוכה בספר הערכים-חב״ד ח״ד בערך אורות דספירות ”פשיטותם” ע׳ פד ואילך, ובמילואים שם ע׳ תקכו, שהכוונה כאן בתו״א דזה מה שהוא יודע הוא לא מצד שהוא רואה כבר את המעשים, כי אם שהידיעה היא מחמת עצמו, ע״ש. ראה ביאוה״ז להצ״צ כרך א ע׳ סה ואילך.
Gloss: higher and lower Daas ¶8–13
8הגה״ה [הגהה](ועיין בפרדס שער1 פ״ח [פרק ח׳] ושער ד׳ פ״ט2 מענין זה ובזוהר פקודי רנ״ב ע״א ואלין עיני ה׳ כולהו נטלי אשגחותא כו׳ עיי״ש [עיין שם] וברע״מ [וברעיא מהימנא] פ׳ שופטים ד׳ ער״ה סע״א [סוף עמוד א].3 ויש להבין כיון דפי׳ עיני ה׳ הם הכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] דאבי״ע [דאצילות בריאה יצירה עשיה] והמלאכים.
Gloss: (And see Pardes, Sha’ar, chapter 8, and Sha’ar (Gate) 4, chapter 9, on this subject; and in the Zohar, Pekudei, p. 252a: “And these are the eyes of Havayah; all of them take up watchfulness” etc., see there; and in the Ra’aya Mehemna, Parshas Shoftim, p. 275, end of column a. Now this must be understood: since the meaning of “the eyes of Havayah” is the vessels of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and the angels,
A long gloss (hagahah) begins here, set off from the main text. It first lists where the subject is discussed: Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Pardes Rimonim (the first reference gives a chapter without a gate number, as printed), and two Zohar passages on “the eyes of Havayah” that keep watch, one of them in the Ra’aya Mehemna (“the Faithful Shepherd”), a section of the Zohar. Then it sharpens the question. The “eyes of Havayah” are the vessels of the Sefiros in all four worlds and the angels.
א״כ איך שייך שהבורא ית׳ יצטרך לידע את כל הנבראים ע״י אמצעות הע״ס [העשר ספירות] והרי היוצר עין הלא יביט4 בעצמו דבשלמא לענין ההשפעה והמשכת החיות בהנבראים הוצרך להיות ע״י הכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] שאל״כ [שאם לא כן] לא יוכלו הנבראי׳ [הנבראים] לקבל
then how can it be that the Creator, may He be blessed, would need to know all the creatures by means of the ten Sefiros? Surely “He Who forms the eye, shall He not see?” by Himself. Granted, as regards the flow of influence and the drawing of life-force into the creatures, it had to be through the vessels of the ten Sefiros, for otherwise the creatures could not receive [it];
If so, why would the Creator need intermediaries in order to know His creatures? The Psalmist says, “He Who forms the eye, shall He not see?” It makes sense that life-force must pass through the vessels, because creatures could not receive it directly.
משא״כ לענין ידיעת השי״ת [השם יתברך] שיודע את כל הנבראי׳ [הנבראים] אין שייך לומר כן ח״ו [חס ושלום] וא״כ למה צ״ל בחי׳ העינים שהם הכלים משוטטים כו׳ דהא בודאי הכל גלוי וידוע לפניו ית׳ בעצמו ביתר שאת שלא ע״י אמצעו׳ הכלי׳ כלל:)
but as regards G‑d’s knowledge, by which He knows all the creatures, one cannot say so, heaven forbid. If so, why must there be the level of the eyes, which are the vessels, roaming etc.? For surely everything is revealed and known before Him, may He be blessed, Himself, to a far greater degree, without any mediation of the vessels at all.)
Knowing, however, is not a matter of what the creatures can receive. G‑d surely knows everything Himself, far better and without any intermediary. So why speak of “eyes” that roam?
אך הענין כמ״ש5 כי אל דעות6 ה׳ שיש ב׳ בחי׳ בדעת78 דעת עליון וד״ת [ודעת תחתון]. ד״ע [דעת עליון] הוא בחי׳ מקיף וסוכ״ע9 היינו
But the explanation is as it is written, “For Havayah is a G‑d of knowledges”: that there are two levels in Daas (knowledge): the higher Daas and the lower Daas. The higher Daas is the level of the encompassing and of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin); that is,
The answer: the verse “a G‑d of knowledges” uses the plural, teaching that there are two levels of Daas. The higher Daas is “encompassing”: like the light that encompasses all worlds, it relates to everything from above without entering into it.
כי יש בחי׳ דעת שיודע ורואה הכל רק שהדעת הוא בבחי׳ מקיף דהיינו שאינו מתפשט בהמדו׳ להיות התפעלות מהדבר שהוא יודע או רואה וכענין
there is a level of Daas that knows and sees everything, only that this Daas is in an encompassing mode, meaning that it does not extend into the attributes so as to [produce] a reaction to the thing that it knows or sees; as in the matter
This higher Daas knows and sees everything, but its knowledge does not flow down into the emotive attributes (such as kindness and severity), so it produces no reaction to what it knows.
שנאמר לא הביט און ביעקב10 שאין הפי׳ שלא הביט כלל אלא כמ״ש וירא און ולא יתבונן11 וכמ״ש אם צדקת מה תתן לו12 וע״ז נאמר טהור עינים מראות ברע13 שאין ראיתו הרע עושה רושם והתפעלות כלל
that is said, “He has not looked at iniquity in Yaakov”: the meaning is not that He did not look at all, but as it is written, “He sees iniquity and does not consider [it]”; and as it is written, “If you are righteous, what do you give Him?” And of this it is said, “[You are] too pure of eyes to look upon evil”: His seeing of evil makes no impression and [produces] no reaction at all,
Several verses illustrate this. “He has not looked at iniquity in Yaakov” does not mean G‑d does not see it, but, as the verse in Iyov is read here, He sees it and does not dwell on it. “If you are righteous, what do you give Him?” shows that human deeds do not change Him, and “too pure of eyes to look upon evil” means that seeing evil leaves no mark on Him at this level.
כי שממית בידים תתפש14 ומשם מקור הסליחה15 והרחמים שאין מגיע שם שום פגם והוא למעלה מהכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות].
for “the spider grasps with its hands [and it is in the king’s palaces].” And from there [comes] the source of forgiveness and compassion, for no blemish reaches there; and it is above the vessels of the ten Sefiros.
The verse from Mishlei finishes “and it is in the king’s palaces”: a creature so small that it can walk even through the king’s chambers, and the king pays it no mind. The Alter Rebbe gives the meaning himself in Torah Ohr, Vayishlach (the maamar “And a man wrestled”): it takes up no place, so it can be even in the king’s palace. So too here: before the higher Daas the evil is seen, yet it takes up no place there and leaves no mark. That is why forgiveness and compassion come from there: no blemish reaches that level, which stands above the vessels of the Sefiros. The Rebbe Rashab, explaining this passage (Sefer HaMaamarim 5653, p. 201), adds: on the contrary, precisely because the blemish does not reach there, forgiveness can be drawn from there to fill what the sins have blemished.
רק הפגם והשכר והעונש הוא נמשך ע״י הדעת המתפשט ונמשך במדות ונק׳ דעת תחתון והוא המתלבש בבחי׳ ממכ״ע [ממלא כל עלמין] היינו בכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] דאבי״ע [דאצילות בריאה יצירה עשיה]16
Only the blemish, and the reward and punishment, are drawn through the Daas that extends and is drawn into the attributes, which is called the lower Daas; and it is what is enclothed in the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), that is, in the vessels of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.
Blemish, reward and punishment belong to the lower Daas, which does flow into the attributes. It is enclothed in the light that fills all worlds, that is, in the vessels of the Sefiros of the four worlds.
ולכן ידיעה זו היא ע״י בחי׳ עיני ה׳ שהם הכלים והמדות שעי״ז נמשך ההתפעלות שכר ועונש שהפגם מגיע בהכלים דייקא
Therefore this knowledge is through the level of “the eyes of Havayah,” which are the vessels and the attributes, through which the reaction of reward and punishment is drawn; for the blemish reaches the vessels, precisely;
This is why knowledge through “the eyes of Havayah” (the vessels and attributes) brings reward and punishment: a sin’s blemish reaches the vessels themselves.
משא״כ ע״י הידיעה שבדעת העליון שלא ע״י הכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] אע״פ [אף על פי] שהכל גלוי וידוע לא נמשך מזה התפעלות כו׳.1718
whereas through the knowledge that is in the higher Daas, not through the vessels of the ten Sefiros, even though everything is revealed and known, no reaction is drawn from it, etc.
The higher Daas, which does not work through the vessels, also knows everything, yet nothing it knows produces a reaction of reward or punishment.
The gloss asks why G‑d, Who knows everything by Himself, would “see” through the vessels, and answers with two levels of Daas: an encompassing higher Daas that knows without reacting, and a lower Daas, enclothed in the vessels, through which blemish, reward and punishment come.
The two levels of Daas parallel sovev kol almin and memalei kol almin. The Kehot note points to the Zohar (Idra Zuta) for the two levels of Daas, and a related Likkutei Torah passage explains that the higher Daas comes from Keser and is not limited by any vessel. The same passage adds that the higher level is the very source of forgiveness, since the blemish does not reach it.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In a sicha of Shabbos Behar-Bechukosai 5737 (edited, Yiddish) on Rashi’s „ופניתי אליכם, אפנה מכל עסקי לשלם שכרכם” (‘I will turn to you: I will turn away from all My affairs to pay your reward’), the Rebbe asks why paying Israel’s reward is not counted among G‑d’s ‘affairs’.
In a sicha of Shabbos Behar-Bechukosai 5737 the Rebbe explains that all of G‑d’s „עסקי” (‘affairs’) come from the level of drawing-forth and revelation, not from His Essence: the bringing of worlds into being, ‘and even reward and punishment in the ordinary way, even for Jews, are only from lights and revelations’ (אורות וגילויים), as the Essence contracts itself into a movement of drawing-forth, into the ten Sefiros; for this his note cites this maamar (15a ff.). The reward of „ופניתי אליכם” (‘I will turn to you’), for toiling in Torah („עמלים בתורה”) beyond what is required, comes from the Essence itself.
The Alter Rebbe
רק הפגם והשכר והעונש הוא נמשך ע״י הדעת המתפשט ונמשך במדות ונק׳ דעת תחתון
The Rebbe
און אפילו דער ענין פון שכר ועונש ע״ד הרגיל און אפילו צו אידן, איז נאָר פון אורות וגילויים
Likkutei Sichos, vol. יז, p. 328–329 (note 46) · ש״פ בהו״ב תשל״ז
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
TermsDaasDaas elyon and daas tachtonTzedakahSefiros+10
- Daas דעת explained hereThe higher Daas knows all as an encompassing light without spreading into the middos to be affected, so it is the source of forgiveness; blemish, reward and punishment come through the lower Daas, which spreads into the middos and the vessels of the ten Sefiros.
רק הפגם והשכר והעונש הוא נמשך ע״י הדעת המתפשט ונמשך במדות ונק׳ דעת תחתון
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Tzedakah צדקה
- Sefiros ספירות
- Memalei kol almin ממלא כל עלמין
- Hisbonenus התבוננות
- Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
- Malachim מלאכים
- Or Makif אור מקיף
- Sovev kol almin סובב כל עלמין
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1ועיין בפרדס שער · במאמרי אדה״ז פרשיות ח״א ע׳ קז ”וכמבואר בפרדס בכמה דוכתי שא״א לתרץ קושיות הפילוסופי׳ וכל המבוכים שנבוכו בענין ההשתלשלו׳ מאחה״פ אם לא ע״י חכמת הקבלה וע״כ נק׳ בחי׳ ע״ס דאצי׳ בזוהר בשם רזא דמהימנותא קדישא כידוע”.
- 2ושער ד׳ פ״ט · Pardes Rimmonim 4:9:2–3
- 3וברע״מ פ׳ שופטים ד׳ ער״ה סע״א · Zohar, Shoftim 3:11–4:20
- 4היוצר עין הלא יביט · Psalms 94:9
- 5אך הענין כמ״ש · קטע מכאן נעתק בסה״מ תרכ״ט (הוצאת תשנ״ב) ע׳ לה בשינוי סדר עם הוספות וביאורים.
- 6כי אל דעות ה׳ · I Samuel 2:3
- 7שיש ב׳ בחי׳ בדעת · Zohar III, 291a
- 8שיש ב׳ בחי׳ בדעת · Zohar, Idra Zuta 19:87–22:95
- 9שיש ב׳ בחי׳ בדעת . . מקיף וסוכ״ע · ראה לקו״ת ראה כד, א. שמע״צ צא, ד. ובכ״מ.
- 10לא הביט און ביעקב · Numbers 23:21
- 11וירא און ולא התבונן · Job 11:11
- 12אם צדקת מה תתן לו · Job 35:7
- 13טהור עינים מראות ברע · Habakkuk 1:13
- 14שממית בידים תתפש · Proverbs 30:28
- 15ומשם מקור הסליחה · סה״מ תרנ״ג שם ”ואדרבה משם נמשך הסליחה כו׳ והיא הנותנת מפני שאין הפגם נוגע שם לכן נמשך משם להיות סליחות עוונות למלאות הפגמים כו׳”.
- 16היינו בכלים דע״ס דאבי״ע · ראה המשך תער״ב ח״ג ע׳ א׳שסט. שמציין לכאן ”מבו׳ [= הכוונה לכאן] דבהכלים דאצי׳ מגיע הפגם והוא בבחי׳ יודע היינו בבחי׳ התלבשות כו׳”. וראה שם ע׳ א׳רכח.
- 17הגה״ה · בלקו״ת שה״ש ל, ב מציין לכאן.
- 18
9ותדע שכן הוא מענין ידיעה ובחירה שאין הידיעה שהשי״ת [שהשם יתברך] יודע שזה יהיה צדיק או רשע מכרחת את הבחירה כלל.1 ואיך הוא.
And you may know that this is so from the matter of knowledge and free choice: that the knowledge by which G‑d, blessed be He, knows that this one will be righteous or wicked does not compel the choice at all. And how is this?
Proof from the classic problem of divine foreknowledge and free choice: G‑d knows whether a person will be righteous or wicked, yet that knowledge does not force his choice. How can that be?
אלא לפי שידיעה זו שהש״י [שהשם יתברך] יודע הכל מקודם אשר נעשה זהו בבחי׳ דעת עליון שלא ע״י הכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות]
Rather, because this knowledge, by which G‑d, blessed be He, knows everything before it is done, is in the level of the higher Daas, not through the vessels of the ten Sefiros.
Because G‑d’s knowledge of what will happen, before it happens, belongs to the higher Daas, which does not work through the vessels of the Sefiros.
דהא עיני ה׳ משוטטים לראות המעשה שכבר נעשה שזה נראה לבחי׳ המלאכים והכלים דבי״ע שנעשה עי״ז פגם וכתם בהמלאך כו׳ וכנ״ל
For “the eyes of Havayah roam” to see the deed that has already been done, which is seen by the level of the angels and the vessels of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, so that a blemish and a stain are thereby made in the angel, etc., as said above;
“The eyes of Havayah roam” to see a deed only after it has been done: the deed is seen by the angels and the vessels of the lower worlds, and it leaves a blemish in the angel, as explained above.
משא״כ הידיעה שהקב״ה יודע העתיד ומעשה האדם קודם שנעשה אינו על ידם כלל כ״א ידיעה זו היא במקום גבוה מאד בחי׳ דעת עליון ולהיות דעת זה בחי׳ מקיף אינו מכריח את הבחירה שאין האדם מתפעל מזה
whereas the knowledge by which the Holy One, blessed be He, knows the future and a person’s deeds before they are done is not through them at all. Rather, this knowledge is in a very high place, the level of the higher Daas; and since this Daas is an encompassing level, it does not compel the choice, for the person is not affected by it,
Foreknowledge is not through them at all but in the very high, encompassing higher Daas. Because it is encompassing, it does not act upon the person, and his choice stays free.
כמו שלא נמשך מדעת זה התפעלות אפי׳ [אפילו] בהמדות עליונים חו״ג [חסד וגבורה] להיות מזה שכר ועונש כנ״ל.
just as no reaction is drawn from this Daas even into the supernal attributes, Chesed and Gevurah, so that reward and punishment would come of it, as said above.
Just as this Daas causes no reaction even in the supernal attributes of Chesed and Gevurah, so that no reward or punishment follows from it, so it causes no compulsion in the person below.
The paragraph shows that the two levels of Daas also answer the problem of foreknowledge and free choice: foreknowledge is in the encompassing higher Daas, which does not act on the person, so it does not compel him.
The Kehot note adds, from a later maamar, that foreknowledge cannot compel the choice, since a person is still made to swear to be righteous.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
The Rebbe explains
In his hadran on the Rambam of Shabbos Vayakhel, Parshas Shekalim 5746 (edited; Likkutei Sichos vol. 27 pp. 249 ff.), explaining the mitzvah to know G‑d and that He is not bound by the limits of intellect, the Rebbe turns in note 14 to the Rambam’s statement that the answer to ‘knowledge and free choice’ is „ארוכה מארץ מדה” (‘longer than the earth’).
In his hadran on the Rambam of 5746 the Rebbe asks why the Rambam calls the question of knowledge and free choice unanswerable, when it seems to fall away of itself: G‑d knows the future because „לפניו ית׳ אין קדימה ואיחור” (for Him there is no before and after), so His knowing beforehand is like knowing after the choice, as R. Moshe Almosnino answers. He explains that „ידיעה מסובבת מהדבר שיודע” (‘knowledge is caused by the thing known’) holds only „ע״פ גדרי השכל” (within the bounds of intellect); G‑d, not bound by them, knows from Himself, and only after He contracted Himself, as it were, into those bounds is His knowledge caused by the thing. He then points to this maamar: ‘it may be said’ that its higher and lower Daas („דעת עליון ודעת תחתון”) are these two levels, so that Almosnino speaks of the knowledge after the contraction and the Rambam of the knowledge before it.
The Alter Rebbe
אלא לפי שידיעה זו שהש״י יודע הכל מקודם אשר נעשה זהו בבחי׳ דעת עליון שלא ע״י הכלים דע״ס
The Rebbe
ועיין בתו״א וירא (טו, א) בענין דעת עליון ודעת תחתון, די״ל שהם ב׳ הבחינות דלעיל
Likkutei Sichos, vol. כז, p. 251–252 (note 14) · ש״פ ויקהל, פ׳ שקלים, מבה״ח אדר שני ה׳תשמ״ו
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
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonSefirosTzaddikDaas+7
Marei mekomos
- 1מכרחת את הבחירה כלל · ”שהרי משביעין אותו תהא צדיק” — סה״מ תרכ״ט ע׳ כט.
10ושיהי׳ [ושיהיה] שכר ועונש זהו דוקא ע״י דעת תחתון שע״י הכלים והעינים.1 ועיין בפרדס ש״ד פ״ט בענין ידיעה ובחירה2 שכ׳ [שכתב] כי יש חילוק בידיעה קודם שיחטא טו, בהאדם אעפ״י [אף על פי] שעתיד לחטוא. לאחר שחטא כו׳ ע״ש.
And that there be reward and punishment is specifically through the lower Daas, which is through the vessels and the eyes. And see Pardes, Sha’ar (Gate) 4, chapter 9, on the matter of knowledge and choice, where he writes that there is a difference in the knowledge before a person sins, even though he will sin in the future, [and] after he has sinned, etc.; see there.
Reward and punishment come only through the lower Daas, which works through the vessels and the “eyes.” The Alter Rebbe refers again to Pardes Rimonim, which distinguishes between G‑d’s knowledge before a person sins, even when he will sin, and His knowledge after he has sinned.
The paragraph ties reward and punishment to the lower Daas and connects this to Cordovero’s distinction between knowledge before and after a sin.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
Background from the Rebbe
In a sicha of Shabbos Mikeitz 5725 (edited, Yiddish) on Rashi’s two explanations of the brothers’ 'חלילה לעבדיך׳ (‘it is chullin to us, a term of disgrace’), the Rebbe explains how a Jew can be busy with mundane things and remain wholly apart from them, because so it is, as it were, Above; in a bracket he applies this to Avraham’s plea over Sodom, a few verses after „ארדה נא ואראה” (‘I will go down now and see’).
In a sicha of Shabbos Mikeitz 5725 the Rebbe explains Avraham’s doubled plea over Sodom, „חלילה לך מעשות גו׳ חלילה לך השופט כל הארץ” (‘Far be it from You … far be it from You, Judge of all the earth’): even at the level of ‘the Judge of all the earth’, the level of G‑dliness where the deeds of those below take up place, where they are judged and from which reward and punishment are drawn (for this his note 20 cites this maamar and Torah Chaim there), „חולין” (‘chullin’) has no place. Even the Divine light that relates to the worlds is not caught up in them.
The Alter Rebbe
ושיהי׳ שכר ועונש זהו דוקא ע״י דעת תחתון שע״י הכלים והעינים
The Rebbe
אפילו אין דער דרגא פון ”השופט כל הארץ”, די דרגא פון אלקות וואו מעשה התחתונים זיינען תופס מקום -- זיי ווערן דאָרט גע׳משפט
Likkutei Sichos, vol. טו, p. 361 (sec. 5, note 20) · ש״פ מקץ תשכ״ה
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
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonDaasLights and vessels
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Daas דעת
- Lights and vessels אורות וכלים
Marei mekomos
- 1דוקא . . שע״י הכלים והעינים · שע״י הכלים והמדות שלשם מגיע הפגם ומשם נמשך השכר והעונש שזהו ע״י ירידתו והשפלתו בבחי׳ ד״ת בחי׳ ממכ״ע היינו בכלים דע״ס דאבי״ע — סה״מ תרכ״ט ע׳ ל.
- 2ועיין בפרדס ש״ד פ״ט בענין ידיעה ובחירה · Pardes Rimmonim 4:9:4
11ולפמ״ש [ולפי מה שכתוב] יובן כי הידיעה קודם שיחטא זהו בבחי׳ דעת עליון וכנ״ל.
And according to what has been said, it will be understood that the knowledge before he sins is in the level of the higher Daas, as said above.
Following this, G‑d’s knowledge of a sin before it is committed is in the higher Daas.
וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] בפ׳ שמות וירא אלקים את בנ״י [בני ישראל]1 וידע אלקים פי׳ לא שנתחדש׳ [שנתחדשה] הידיעה אלא שמקודם היה בדעת עליון שלא נמשך מזה התפעלות להיות עונש לפרעה ושכר לישראל
And this is what is said in Parshas Shemos: “And G‑d saw the children of Israel, and G‑d knew.” The meaning is not that the knowledge was new; rather, beforehand it was in the higher Daas, from which no reaction was drawn [to bring] punishment for Pharaoh and reward for Israel.
The verse “G‑d saw the children of Israel, and G‑d knew” does not mean G‑d learned something new. He knew all along, but in the higher Daas, which produced no reaction, no punishment for Pharaoh and no reward for Israel.
וע״י וירא אלקים ע״י בחי׳ עיני ה׳ לראות המעשה כשכבר נעשה בפועל עי״ז וידע אלקים שנמשך בחי׳ הדעת תחתון המתפשט במדות להיות שכר ועונש.
And through “And G‑d saw,” through the level of “the eyes of Havayah” seeing the deed once it had already actually been done, thereby “and G‑d knew”: the level of the lower Daas, which extends into the attributes, was drawn [down], so that there be reward and punishment.
Once “G‑d saw” through “the eyes of Havayah” the deed actually done, then “G‑d knew”: the lower Daas, which flows into the attributes, came into play, bringing reward and punishment.
The paragraph reads the verse “G‑d saw... and G‑d knew” as the passage from the higher Daas, which does not react, to the lower Daas, which brings reward and punishment.
The Rebbe on this paragraph AI research
A question the Rebbe raises
In the same reshimah on individual providence (Menachem Av 5703), arguing that the earlier sages who denied individual providence over minerals, plants and animals need not have denied that creation is renewed at every moment, the Rebbe weighs, as his fourth proof, how Chassidus relates creation to providence.
In his reshimah on individual providence (5703), arguing that sages who denied individual providence over plants and animals need not have denied that creation is renewed every moment, the Rebbe writes that by Chassidus it seems clear that „ענין ההתהוות וענין השגח״פ הם במדרי׳ שונות” (creation and individual providence stand on different levels): providence involves change and depends on reward and punishment, „ידיעה שלאחר המעשה ד״ת” (‘knowledge after the deed, lower Daas’), while creation is from sovev kol almin, coming through memalei kol almin (for the difference he refers to Pelach HaRimon on dibbur hamaschil Arda Na, sec. 9). Yet the Rebbe Rashab, at the end of his Rosh Hashanah hemshech of 5663, calls „שהשגחה שעל הנברא זהו חיותו” (the providence over a creature its very life), citing the Tanya, which speaks only of ‘knowledge’; the Rebbe notes that this maamar too implies that providence and knowledge belong together, and leaves the two maamarim to be reconciled.
The Alter Rebbe
ע״י בחי׳ עיני ה׳ לראות המעשה כשכבר נעשה בפועל עי״ז וידע אלקים שנמשך בחי׳ הדעת תחתון
The Rebbe
דענין ההתהוות וענין השגח״פ הם במדרי׳ שונות, והשגח״פ ענינה שינויים ותלוי׳ בשכר ועונש, ידיעה שלאחר המעשה ד״ת
Likkutei Sichos, vol. ח, p. 283–284 (reshimah ‘Hashgachah Pratis’, sec. ח, proof ד) · רשימה, מנ״א תש״ג
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
TermsDaas elyon and daas tachtonDaasElokimMiddos
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Daas דעת
- Elokim אלקים
- Middos מדות
Marei mekomos
- 1וירא אלקים את בנ״י · Exodus 2:25
12והנה השגחה זו מבחי׳ דעת עליון ע״ז נאמר עין ה׳ אל יראיו1 וכתיב עין בעין נראה2 כדפי׳ באד״ר [באדרא רבא] דף ק״ל ע״א3 וע״ש דיוסף הצדיק זכה לזה וזהו
Now of this providence, from the level of the higher Daas, it is said, “The eye of Havayah is toward those who fear Him”; and it is written, “eye to eye [You] were seen,” as explained in the Idra Rabba, p. 130a; and see there that Yosef the righteous merited this, and this is [the meaning of]
Providence from the higher Daas is “the eye of Havayah toward those who fear Him,” and “eye to eye,” Moshe’s words of how G‑d was seen openly. The Idra Rabba (“the Great Assembly,” a section of the Zohar) explains this and says Yosef merited it.
“A fruitful son above the eye (ayin).” And he merited this through “And Yosef sustained”; and this is [the meaning of] “He who has a good eye shall be blessed, for he has given of his bread to the poor”; see there.
Yosef is called “a fruitful son above the eye”: the word ayin plainly means “spring” in the verse, but it also means “eye,” and the maamar reads it as the higher “eye.” He merited it by sustaining his family, as “he who has a good eye shall be blessed, for he has given of his bread to the poor.”
ומזה יובן דבעון סדום שפגמו בזה ע״כ נמנע מהם גלוי בחי׳ עליונה זו הממתיק כל הדינים בחי׳ ורב חסד7 כו׳:
And from this it will be understood that, because of the sin of Sodom, in which they blemished this, the revelation of this supernal level, which sweetens all the judgments, the level of “and abundant in kindness” etc., was withheld from them.
By contrast, Sodom’s sin blemished this very quality, and so they were denied the revelation of this higher level, the “abundant in kindness” that sweetens all judgments.
The paragraph links the higher Daas to generosity: Yosef’s “good eye” earned him this higher providence, and Sodom’s sin cut them off from it.
The link to Sodom returns to the maamar’s theme. The prophet names Sodom’s sin as not supporting the poor (Ezekiel 16:49), the opposite of the “good eye” that gives its bread to the poor; so they lost the level of “abundant in kindness” that would otherwise have sweetened the judgments against them.
Explained elsewhere AI research
Explained by the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Rashab and the Rebbe
The higher providence is „עין ה׳ אל יראיו” (‘the eye of Havayah toward those who fear Him’), one eye, set against the ‘eyes’ that roam; the maamar does not say why the singular marks the higher level, and the Idra Rabba it cites is not explained.
In Or HaTorah on Zechariah 4:10 the Tzemach Tzedek glosses the „שבעה אלה עיני ה׳” (‘seven eyes of Havayah’) with the Kabbalists’ account of the one eye and the seven; in Or HaTorah, Bamidbar, on the seventy elders, he explains the Idra Rabba on the open eye and Yosef.
Why one ‘eye’? In the Idra Rabba that our paragraph cites, as the Tzemach Tzedek explains it after the Kabbalists, „עין ה׳ אל יראיו” (‘the eye of Havayah toward those who fear Him’) is the single open eye of Arich Anpin, singular because, in the Zohar’s words, „לית שמאלא בהאי עתיקא” (‘there is no left in this Atik’): it is wholly mercy, while the ‘seven eyes’ that roam are the attributes of Z’eir Anpin, with Chesed and Gevurah. There, he adds, Yosef merited providence from this „טוב עין” (‘good eye’) because „נתן מלחמו לדל” (he gave of his bread to the poor), and so no evil eye ruled him. The Rebbe Rashab suggests that this one eye is „אישון עינו” (‘the pupil of His eye’), Israel, watched over from the power of sight itself, above the vessels; and in a maamar of 5717 (unedited) the Rebbe explains the singular as „קו האמצעי” (the middle line), which has no changes. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why our paragraph calls this level the one that „הממתיק כל הדינים” (‘sweetens all the judgments’).
the Tzemach Tzedek: Or HaTorah, Nach vol. 1 (gloss on Zechariah 4:10), vol. א, p. תקיד
ששם יש אשגחותא דדינא וע״כ נק׳ זה ירידה לגבי הנה עין ה׳ כו׳ שכולו רחמים
the Tzemach Tzedek: Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 2 (Behaaloscha–Korach), p. שצג
ושם פי׳ אשר יוסף זכה להשגחה מבחי׳ טוב עין דא״א מ״ט כי נתן מלחמו לדל
the Rebbe Rashab: Hemshech 5672 (Besha’ah Shehikdimu), vol. ג, p. 1408–1410
גם י״ל דבחי׳ אישון עינו הוא כמ״ש באד״ר דק״ל ע״א בפי׳ עין ה׳ אל יראיו עין אחת בחי׳ עינא דעתיקא
the Rebbe (in a section that, by its editors’ note, follows the Rebbe Rashab’s Hemshech 5672): Sefer HaMaamarim 5717 (unedited, new edition), dibbur hamaschil Naaseh Adam, Shabbos Bereishis 5717, sec. 2, p. לא–לב (also Torat Menachem vol. 18, 5717 vol. 1, p. 117)
שזהו יצרנהו כאישון עינו, לשון יחיד, וכמ״ש עין הוי׳ אל יראיו, לשון יחיד, והו״ע קו האמצעי
the Rebbe: Igros Kodesh (reshimah ‘Hashgachah Pratis’, 5703), vol. א, p. קסט (letter צד, note ב)
ההשגחות בעין א׳ אל יראיו, בב׳ עינים, בעין א׳ שלמע׳ מהשגחת ב׳ עינים ... חלוקים באופן ההשגחה אבל לא בפרטיותה
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.
TermsHamtakahDaas elyon and daas tachtonChesed olamTzaddik+2
- Hamtakah דינים והמתקתם explained hereProvidence from the higher Daas, the “eye” Yosef merited by feeding others, sweetens all dinim; Sodom, blemishing it by their sin, was denied that revelation.
ע״כ נמנע מהם גלוי בחי׳ עליונה זו הממתיק כל הדינים בחי׳ ורב חסד
- Daas elyon and daas tachton דעת עליון ודעת תחתון
- Chesed olam חסד עולם
- Tzaddik צדיק
- Daas דעת
- Chesed חסד
Marei mekomos
- 1עין ה׳ אל יראיו · Psalms 33:18
- 2עין בעין נראה · Numbers 14:14
- 3כדפי׳ באד״ר דף ק״ל ע״א · ראה המשך תער״ב ח״ב ע׳ א׳לא.
- 4בן פורת עלי עין · Genesis 49:22
- 5ויכלכל יוסף · Genesis 47:12
- 6טוב עין הוא יבורך · Proverbs 22:9
- 7ורב חסד · Exodus 34:6
13(ע״כ הגה״ה [הגהה]):
(End of the gloss.)
This marks the end of the long gloss that began in paragraph 8; the main text resumes.
End of the gloss.
Feminine and masculine eyes ¶14–17
14והנה בזוהר בסבא דמשפטים דק״ז1 ע״א פי׳ מ״ש עיניו משוטטות אלין נוקבין ומ״ש המה משוטטים אלין דכורין וכ״ה בזוהר ויחי דרמ״א סע״א [סוף עמוד א]23 דפי׳ משוטטים הם בתקוני שכינתא לתתא כו׳ היינו
Now in the Zohar, in the Saba deMishpatim, p. 107a, it explains that what is said, “His eyes roam (meshotetos),” these are feminine; and what is said, “they roam (meshotetim),” these are masculine. And so it is in the Zohar, Vayechi, p. 241, end of column a, which explains that “roam (meshotetim)” are in the adornments of the Shechinah below, etc. That is,
The Zohar, in the section called Saba deMishpatim (“the Elder” of Parshas Mishpatim), distinguishes the two verses: “His eyes roam” (feminine) refers to feminine powers, and “they roam” (masculine) to masculine ones. Another Zohar passage says the “roaming” ones serve the adornments of the Shechinah below.
כי יש מלאכים שהם מז״א ויש מלאכים שהם ממלכות4 כמ״ש הרח״ו [הרבי חיים ויטאל] עמ״ש בזוהר ר״פ שמות דף ד׳ ע״א בענין איש וביתו באו56 וז״ל [וזה לשונו] נ״ב7 ת״ת [תפארת] ומלכות ור״ל [ורוצה לומר] המלאכים שמן הז״א והמלאכים שמן המל׳ עכ״ל [עד כאן לשונו] המק״מ [המקדש מלך] שם.
there are angels that are from Z’eir Anpin and there are angels that are from Malchus, as Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote on what is said in the Zohar at the beginning of Parshas Shemos, p. 4a, on “each man came with his household”; and this is his wording: “Note: Tiferes and Malchus; and he means the angels that are from Z’eir Anpin and the angels that are from Malchus.” Until here the wording of the Mikdash Melech there.
So there are two kinds of angels, from Z’eir Anpin (the masculine) and from Malchus (the feminine). The Alter Rebbe quotes this from the Mikdash Melech, a commentary on the Zohar by Rabbi Shalom Buzaglo, which records a gloss of Rabbi Chaim Vital, the Arizal’s chief disciple, on “each man came with his household”: the “man” is Tiferes and the “household” is Malchus, meaning the angels of each.
Back in the main text, the paragraph uses the Zohar to explain the masculine and feminine forms of “roam”: they are angels from Z’eir Anpin and angels from Malchus.
According to a later maamar cited in the Kehot note, these masculine and feminine “eyes” are angels of Atzilus, formed from the outer aspect of the vessels of Z’eir Anpin and Malchus of Atzilus.
TermsShechinahMalachimZ’eir AnpinMalchus
- Shechinah שכינה
- Malachim מלאכים
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Malchus מלכות
Marei mekomos
- 1בזהר . . דמשפטים דק״ז · באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ תקטו מעתיק לשון הזוהר עם ביאור. ובסה״מ תרכ״ט ע׳ ל.
- 2וכ״ה בזהר ויחי דרמ״א סע״א · באוה״ת נ״ך שם ע׳ תקיד מעתיק הלשון.
- 3וכ״ה בזוהר ויחי דרמ״א סע״א · Zohar, Vayechi 64:651–65:661
- 4כי יש מלאכים שהם מז״א ויש מלאכים שהם ממלכות · ראה בהמשך תער״ב ח״ג ע׳ א׳תע, ואולי הכוונה לכאן, שכ׳ ”לפמ״ש בתו״א בד״ה ארדה נא הב׳ נר׳ שהם מלאכים דאצי׳ וכמ״ש באגה״ק שם [סי׳ כ] דמחיצוניות הכלים די״ס דאצי׳ שהן אלקות נבראו ההיכלות כו׳ וגם גופות המלאכים דאצי׳ שהן בחי׳ יש כו׳, די״ל דעיניו משוטטים ועיניו משוטטות שהן בחי׳ דכורין ונוקבין מבחי׳ ז״א ומל׳ כמ״ש בד״ה ארדה נא הנ״ל הן המלאכים המתהווים מבחי׳ חיצוניות הכלים דזו״נ דאצי׳ כו׳” ע״ש. וראה שם ע׳ א׳תח מה שלפעמים נאמר משוטטים ולפעמים משוטטות ע״ש.
- 5בזוהר ר״פ שמות דף ד׳ ע״א בענין איש וביתו באו · Zohar, Shemot 5:33–6:39
- 6איש וביתו באו · Exodus 1:1
- 7עמ״ש — וז״ל נ״ב · בסה״מ תרכ״ט שם: וז״ל המק״מ נ״ב.
15והמלאכים שהם בתקוני שכינתא היא בחי׳ מלכות דאצי׳ נק׳ נוקבין וכמש״ש [וכמה שכתוב שם] בזוהר ד׳ רמ״ז ע״א בפי׳ בנות צעדה1 למיהוי עלי שור. בנות צעדה.
And the angels that are in the adornments of the Shechinah, which is the level of Malchus of Atzilus, are called feminine; as is said there in the Zohar, p. 247a, explaining “Daughters stepped, to be upon the wall” (banos tza’adah alei shur): “’Daughters stepped’ (tza’adah):
The angels in the “adornments of the Shechinah,” which is Malchus of Atzilus, are called feminine. The Zohar shows this from the verse “daughters stepped (tza’adah) upon the wall” in Yaakov’s blessing to Yosef, which plainly says that the branches (banos, literally “daughters”) of a fruitful vine climb over the wall.
צעדות מיבעי לי׳ אלא ההוא עין דכתיב לעילא ומאן איהו עין משפט כו׳ ואיהו עין צעדה ופסעת למיטל בנות לתקונהא והיינו בנות צעדה ולא בנים
it should have said tza’adus [in the plural]. Rather, [it is] that eye which is written above; and what is it? The eye of justice, etc.; and it steps and strides to take daughters for its adornment. And this is [why it says] ‘daughters stepped,’ and not ‘sons.’”
The Zohar notes that the verb is singular when “daughters” is plural. It explains that the subject is “the eye” (ayin) mentioned earlier in the verse, “the eye of justice” (Ein Mishpat, also a place name in Genesis 14:7, “the spring of judgment”), which steps forth to take “daughters” for its adornment. That is why the verse says “daughters” and not “sons.”
פי׳ שההשגחה הנמשכת ע״י הע״ס [העשר ספירות] דמלכות דאצי׳ שהיא בחי׳ עין משפט ע״ש מלך במשפט יעמיד ארץ2 הוא נמשך ומתלבש בהמלאכים הנקראים בנות שהם בחי׳ נוקבין.
The meaning is that the providence which is drawn through the ten Sefiros of Malchus of Atzilus, which is the level of “the eye of justice,” [so called] after [the verse] “A king by justice establishes the land,” is drawn down and enclothed in the angels that are called “daughters,” which are the level of the feminine.
The Alter Rebbe explains: the providence that comes through the Sefiros of Malchus of Atzilus, called “the eye of justice” because Malchus is the king who rules by justice, is enclothed in angels called “daughters,” the feminine angels.
The paragraph uses the Zohar on “daughters stepped” to show that the providence of Malchus, “the eye of justice,” works through feminine angels.
In Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 91d, the Alter Rebbe cites this Zohar and explains that shur in “upon the wall” (alei shur) means gazing, as in “I behold him (ashurenu)”; so the “daughters” step forth to look at and watch over those below, as paragraph 16 says.
TermsShechinahSefirosMalachimMalchus+2
Also Hislabshus
Marei mekomos
- 1בנות צעדה · Genesis 49:22
- 2מלך במשפט יעמיד ארץ · Proverbs 29:4
16וזהו בנות צעדה שהמל׳ צועדת על הבנות עלי שור1 לראות ולהשגיח מעשה התחתונים וע״ז נאמר עיניו משוטטות לשון נוקבא. וזהו ענין הכצעקתה הבאה אלי.2
And this is [the meaning of] “daughters stepped”: that Malchus steps over the daughters “upon the wall,” to see and watch over the deeds of the lower beings. And of this it is said, “His eyes roam (meshotetos),” in the feminine. And this is the matter of “according to its outcry which has come to Me,”
Now the Zohar’s image is applied: Malchus “steps over” her “daughters,” the feminine angels, to watch the deeds of those below. The words “upon the wall” (alei shur) are read here for their purpose, “to see”: shur also means “to gaze,” as the Alter Rebbe explains elsewhere (Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 91d). This is the feminine “His eyes roam,” and it is also why the maamar’s verse speaks of “its outcry” in the feminine.
לשון נקבה שהיא בחי׳ מלכות שנק׳ דינא דמלכותא והוא העלאת הפגם ע״י המלאכים שמבחי׳ מל׳ והכלים דע״ס [דעשר ספירות] דבחי׳ מל׳ הבאה אלי לאא״ס [לאור אין סוף] ב״ה המלובש בע״ס [בעשר ספירות] דאצי׳.
in the feminine, which is the level of Malchus, which is called “the law of the kingdom”; and it is the raising up of the blemish through the angels that are of the level of Malchus, and the vessels of the ten Sefiros of the level of Malchus, “which has come to Me”: to the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that is enclothed in the ten Sefiros of Atzilus.
The feminine form points to Malchus, the attribute of “the law of the kingdom.” The “outcry which has come to Me” is the report of the blemish carried upward by the angels of Malchus and the vessels of Malchus, until it reaches the Infinite Light clothed in the Sefiros of Atzilus.
¶1 This answers the question from paragraph 1 about the feminine forms.
The paragraph answers the maamar’s first question: the feminine forms “its outcry” and “which has come” show that the charge against Sodom rose through the feminine channel of providence, the angels and vessels of Malchus, the attribute of judgment.
This joins the opening of the maamar (Malchus as “the law of the kingdom”) with the Zohar’s teaching on feminine and masculine “eyes.” The outcry rises by the path described in paragraphs 4 and 5, through the angels and the vessels of Malchus of Atzilus.
TermsNukvaSefirosLights and vesselsMalachim+4
Marei mekomos
- 1בנות צעדה . . עלי שור · Genesis 49:22
- 2הכצעקתה הבאה אלי · Genesis 18:21
17ועז״נ [ועל זה נאמר] ארדה נא ואראה ע״י מדת החסד וכנודע שז״א רובו חסדים אנפוי דמלכא נהירין שהוא
And of this it is said, “I will go down now and see”: through the attribute of Chesed. And as is known, Z’eir Anpin is mostly chasadim (kindnesses), [as in] “the face of the King shines,” which is
G‑d’s response, “I will go down now and see,” comes through Chesed. Z’eir Anpin, the masculine configuration of the emotive attributes, is mostly kindness; in the Aramaic phrase, “the face of the King shines.”
מ״ש עיני ה׳ הם משוטטים ל׳ [לשון] זכר שהם בחי׳ דכורין שהוא בחי׳ חסד ואראה הכצעקתה כו׳ שאולי ע״י מדת החסד ימצא להם זכות.
what is said, “the eyes of Havayah, they roam (meshotetim),” in the masculine, which are the level of the masculine, which is the level of Chesed. “And I will see according to its outcry” etc.: that perhaps through the attribute of Chesed merit will be found for them.
This is the masculine “the eyes of Havayah, they roam”: the angels of Z’eir Anpin, which are of Chesed. “I will see” means that perhaps, through Chesed, some merit will be found for Sodom.
The paragraph explains “I will go down now and see” as G‑d’s answer to the outcry of judgment with the masculine providence of Chesed, which looks for merit.
TermsZ’eir AnpinChesed
- Z’eir Anpin זעיר אנפין
- Chesed חסד
Judgment and kindness read the same facts ¶18
18וכמבואר באדר״ז [באדרא זוטא] דרצ״ג ע״ב1 שבחי׳ ההשגחה ע״י בחי׳ עיניו משוטטות ל׳ [לשון] נוקבא הוא בחי׳ דין וההשגחה שע״י בחי׳ עיני ה׳ המה משוטטים הוא בחי׳ רחמים כו׳ ע״ש.
And as is explained in the Idra Zuta, p. 293b, that the providence through the level of “His eyes roam (meshotetos),” in the feminine, is the level of judgment, and the providence that is through the level of “the eyes of Havayah, they roam (meshotetim)” is the level of compassion, etc.; see there.
The Idra Zuta (“the Small Assembly,” a section of the Zohar) states outright that the feminine “eyes” are judgment and the masculine “eyes” are compassion.
והענין שהוא עד״מ כמ״ש ושפטו העדה2 והצילו העדה.3 עדה שופטת ועדה מצלת.4 לפי שבכל דבר יוכל ללמד זכות וחובה
And the matter is, by way of analogy, as it is written, “And the congregation shall judge... and the congregation shall save”: a congregation that judges and a congregation that saves. For in every matter one can argue for merit and for guilt.
An analogy from court: the Torah speaks of the court both judging and saving, since every case offers grounds both to condemn and to acquit.
וע״כ ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] פסילנא לי׳ לצורבא מרבנן5 לדינא דחביב עלי כגופאי ואין אדם רואה חוב לעצמו הרי
And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “I disqualify [myself from judging] a Torah scholar, for he is as dear to me as my own body”; and “a person does not see guilt in himself.” Thus,
The Talmud records a sage who disqualified himself from judging a Torah scholar he loved “as my own body,” because a person does not see guilt in himself.
אע״פ [אף על פי] שהוא חייב באמת אינו רואה עליו חובה שמחמת קירוב הדעת והחביבות מוצא מקום ללמד זכות
even though he is truly guilty, one does not see guilt in him; for because of closeness of mind and affection, one finds room to argue for merit.
Love and closeness lead the mind to find grounds for acquittal even where there is real guilt.
משא״כ למי שאינו חביב עליו כ״כ [כל כך] הי׳ [היה] מלמד חובה וכמ״ש וכל יצר מחשבות לבו רק רע6 כו׳
Whereas for one who is not so dear to him, he would argue for guilt; as it is written, “and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil” etc.;
Toward someone less beloved, the same facts are read as guilt. So before the Flood Scripture says that “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil.”
and through this there followed, “And Havayah said, I will blot out man” etc. Thus, because the inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, [judgment] was drawn to argue for guilt.
From that assessment came the decree “I will blot out man”: the evil inclination was taken as grounds for condemnation.
ואח״כ בפ׳ נח כתיב ויאמר ה׳ אל לבו9 לא אוסיף לקלל עוד את האדמה בעבור האדם
And afterwards, in Parshas Noach, it is written, “And Havayah said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more because of man,
After the Flood, in Parshas Noach, G‑d says He will never again curse the ground because of man.
כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו הרי שמסברא זו עצמה שיצר לב האדם רע מצא ללמד זכות שלא יוסיף לקלל את האדמה בעבור האדם
for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Thus from this very reasoning, that the inclination of man’s heart is evil, He found [a way] to argue for merit: that He would not again curse the ground because of man.
G‑d gives the reason: “for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” The very same fact, that man’s inclination is evil, is now a reason for leniency.
והיינו לפי שהי׳ [שהיה] התגלות מדת החסד ע״י וירח ה׳ את ריח הניחוח10 שבקרבן שהקריב נח המשיך גילוי מדת החסד ללמד זכות בזו הסברא עצמה שנמשך תחלה ללמד חובה ע״י מדה״ד [מדת הדין].
And this is because there was a revelation of the attribute of Chesed through “And Havayah smelled the pleasing fragrance”: through the offering that Noach brought, he drew down a revelation of the attribute of Chesed to argue for merit with this very reasoning that at first had been drawn to argue for guilt through the attribute of judgment.
The change came from a revelation of Chesed: when G‑d “smelled the pleasing fragrance” of Noach’s offering, Chesed was drawn down, and the same reasoning that judgment used to condemn became grounds to acquit.
וזהו ענין החילוק בין ב׳ בחינות השגחות טו, גהנ״ל (ועמ״ש במ״א ע״פ לעשות הישר בעיני1112 ה׳ אלקיך). וזהו פי׳ ארדה נא.
And this is the difference between the two levels of providence mentioned above. (And see what is written elsewhere on the verse “to do what is right in the eyes of Havayah your G‑d.”) And this is the meaning of “I will go down now”:
This is the difference between the two kinds of providence, the feminine of judgment and the masculine of Chesed. The Alter Rebbe refers to another discussion on “to do what is right in the eyes of Havayah,” and then returns to explain “I will go down now.”
כי צעקתה היא הבאה מלמטה למעלה שהוא בחי׳ גבורות ואו״ח [ואור חוזר] ולזה נאמר ארדה נא לשון ירידה הוא מלמעלה למטה דהיינו בחי׳ או״י [אור ישר] שהוא בחי׳ חסד להשגיח במדת החסד ללמד זכות.
for “its outcry” is that which comes from below to above, which is the level of the gevuros (severities) and the returning light (or chozer); and therefore it says “I will go down now,” a term of descent, which is from above to below, that is, the level of the direct light (or yashar), which is the level of Chesed, to watch over with the attribute of Chesed, to argue for merit.
The “outcry” rises from below to above, like the “returning light” (or chozer) of severity. “Going down” is from above to below, like the “direct light” (or yashar), which is Chesed: G‑d descends with Chesed to look for merit.
¶1 This answers the question from paragraph 1 about "I will go down."
ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו13 דהיינו אם עוונם גדול מנשוא כ״כ [כל כך] עד שגם ע״פ החסד לא יוכל למצוא זכות אז כלה. ואם לא. פי׳ אולי ע״י החסד יוכל ללמד זכות כו׳.
“And I will see [whether] according to its outcry which has come to Me they have done”: that is, if their sin is so great, too great to bear, that even according to Chesed He could not find merit, then [there will be] destruction (kalah). “And if not”: meaning, perhaps through Chesed He could argue for merit, etc.
The verse ends “whether they have done altogether (kalah).” The Alter Rebbe reads it: if their sin is so great that even Chesed can find no merit, there will be destruction (kalah); “and if not,” Chesed may yet find merit.
וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] במדרש ארדה נא ממדה״ר [ממדות הרחמים] למדה״ד [למדת הדין]1415 ובזוהר דק״ה ע״ב16 ארדה נא מדרגא דרחמי לדרגא דדינא17 ר״ל [רוצה לומר] להמשיך רחמים ממדה״ר [ממדות הרחמים] אל בחי׳ מדה״ד [מדת הדין] ואראה כו׳.
And this is what is said in the Midrash: “I will go down now”: from the attribute of mercy to the attribute of judgment; and in the Zohar, p. 105b: “I will go down now: from the level of mercy to the level of judgment”; meaning, to draw mercy from the attribute of mercy into the level of the attribute of judgment, “and I will see,” etc.
The Midrash and the Zohar say that “I will go down” means going down from mercy to judgment. The Alter Rebbe explains this as bringing mercy down into the attribute of judgment, so that it is judgment itself that is “seen” with mercy.
The paragraph explains why two kinds of providence give different verdicts: the same facts can be read toward guilt or toward merit, and Chesed reads them toward merit. “I will go down” is the descent of Chesed into judgment to look for merit for Sodom.
The example of the Flood shows that Chesed does not ignore the facts; it reads the very same facts differently. “Or chozer” and “or yashar” are Kabbalistic terms for light rising from below and light descending from above; the maamar ties them to the feminine outcry and the masculine descent.
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Explained by the Rebbe and the Rebbe Rayatz
The maamar says that Noach’s offering („וירח ה׳ את ריח הניחוח”, ‘Havayah smelled the pleasing fragrance’) revealed Chesed and turned the same reasoning to merit, but not why an offering should do this.
In a sicha of Shabbos Vayera 5748, on why gazing at the rainbow is ‘not sparing the honor of one’s Maker’, the Rebbe raises the question of the Flood’s two verdicts and points, for Chassidus, to this passage and to the Rebbe Rayatz’s Basi LeGani 5710, ch. 18.
In a sicha of Shabbos Vayera 5748 the Rebbe sets out the doubt that contemplating the rainbow can raise, a question Abarbanel asks and our paragraph answers: the reason given for never again bringing a Flood, „כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו” (‘for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth’), is the very reason the Flood came; what changed? For the answer of Chassidus he points to this passage, to Torah Chaim and to the Rebbe Rayatz’s Basi LeGani 5710, ch. 18. There the Rebbe Rayatz explains that a turn from one reasoning to its opposite „בא מצד הרצון” (comes from the will), which stands above reason: after „וירח הוי׳ את ריח הניחוח” (‘Havayah smelled the pleasing fragrance’), the offering, „דרזא דקורבנא עולה עד רזא דא״ס” (whose inner meaning rises to the Infinite itself), drew down „רצון חדש” (a new will), and the same fact was then read for merit. Perhaps (biur b’derech efshar) this is why our paragraph ties the revelation of Chesed to Noach’s offering.
the Rebbe: Likkutei Sichos, sicha of Shabbos Vayera 5748, vol. לה, p. 80–81 (note 41)
ומה נשתנה שבתחילה סברא זו חייבה להביא המבול, ואח״כ נהפך שסברא זו עצמה תחייב שלא להביא עוד מבול על הארץ?!
the Rebbe Rayatz: Basi LeGani 5710, ch. 18 (in Torat Menachem, Sefer HaMaamarim Basi LeGani vol. 2), vol. ב, p. תקצג
דלאחר דוירח הוי׳ את ריח הניחוח, דרזא דקורבנא עולה עד רזא דא״ס אז נמשך בחינת רצון חדש
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.
TermsOr chozerRei’achNukvaKorbanos+4
Marei mekomos
- 1וכמבואר באדר״ז דרצ״ג ע״ב · Zohar, Idra Zuta 24:113–27:121
- 2ושפטו העדה · Numbers 35:24
- 3והצילו העדה · Numbers 35:25
- 4ושפטו העדה והצילו העדה עדה שופטת ועדה מצלת · מסעי לה, כד-כה. סנהדרין פ״א משנה א.
- 5פסילנא לי׳ לצורבא מרבנן · Shabbat 119a:1
- 6וכל יצר מחשבות לבו רק רע · Genesis 6:5
- 7ויאמר ה׳ אמחה את האדם · Genesis 6:7
- 8נמשך ללמד חובה · ראה לקו״ת אמור לט, א. שה״ש מז, ד. באוה״ת ענינים ע׳ קצז מציין לכאן.
- 9ויאמר ה׳ אל לבו · Genesis 8:21
- 10וירח ה׳ את ריח הניחוח · נח ח, כא.
- 11ע״פ לעשות הישר בעיני ה׳ · לקו״ת ראה כג, ד ואילך.
- 12לעשות הישר בעיני ה׳ אלקיך · Deuteronomy 13:19
- 13ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו · Genesis 18:21
- 14וז״ש במדרש ארדה נא ממדה״ר למדה״ד · ראה רמב״ן וירא יח, כ. הנסמן במאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ קצו.
- 15וז״ש במדרש ארדה נא ממדה״ר למדה״ד · Ramban on Genesis 18:20:2
- 16ובזהר דק״ה ע״ב · בתורת חיים ר״פ וירא (צז, א): בזוהר [ח״א קה, ב] א׳ ע״ד המדרש הנ״ל וז״ל וכי לא הוה ידע קודב״ה דא׳ ארדה נא . . אלא ארדה נא מדרגא דרחמי לדרגא דדינא כו׳.
- 17ובזוהר דק״ה ע״ב ארדה נא מדרגא דרחמי לדרגא דדינא · Zohar, Vayera 12:201–14:212
Seeing and hearing ¶19–20
19והנה רש״י [רבי שלמה יצחקי] פי׳ בחומש ארדה נא למד לדיינים שלא יפסקו דיני נפשות אלא בראיה.1 והענין דאיתא בת״ז [בתיקוני זהר]2 ואלין עשר ספירן אינון אזלין כסדרן3 חד אריך וחד קציר וחד בינוני.
Now Rashi explains in the Chumash [on] “I will go down now”: “[This] teaches judges not to decide capital cases except by seeing.” And the explanation is that it is found in the Tikkunei Zohar: “And these ten Sefiros go in their order: one long, one short, and one intermediate.”
Rashi learns from “I will go down and see” that judges may not decide capital cases except by seeing for themselves. To explain why “seeing” matters, the Alter Rebbe cites the Tikkunei Zohar: the Sefiros go in order, “one long, one short, and one intermediate.”
פי׳ כי ע״ס [עשר ספירות] נחלקי׳ לג׳ קוין קו הימין חח״נ [חכמה חסד נצח] נק׳ חד אריך טו, דכי החסד נמשך ומתפשט יותר
The ten Sefiros form three lines. The right line, Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach, is “long” because kindness reaches far.
ולכן גמ״ח [גמילות חסדים] בין לעניים בין לעשירים4 הרי שהחסד מתפשט יותר מהרחמים שעל העשיר אין שייך רחמנות כ״א על העני.
And therefore acts of kindness [are done] both to the poor and to the rich; thus Chesed spreads further than compassion, for compassion does not apply to the rich man, but only to the poor.
The Talmud teaches that acts of kindness are greater than charity (tzedakah): charity is given only to the poor, while kindness is done for rich and poor alike. From this the Alter Rebbe shows that Chesed reaches further than compassion, for one feels compassion only for the poor, not for the rich.
וקו השמאל בג״ה [בינה גבורה הוד] נק׳ חד קציר שאינו נמשך כ״א למי שהגון ביותר. וקו האמצעי נק׳ בינוני שמרחם על מי שנופל רחמנות.
The left line, Binah, Gevurah and Hod, is “short”: it reaches only the most deserving. The middle line is “intermediate”: it has compassion on whoever is in a state that calls for compassion.
The paragraph introduces the three lines of the Sefiros and their reach: the long right line of Chesed, the short left line of Gevurah, and the intermediate middle line of compassion.
TermsGimmel kavinBeinoniArich AnpinRachamim rabim+3
- Gimmel kavin ג׳ קוין explained hereTikkunei Zohar’s “one long, one short, one middle”: the right line (Chochmah, Chesed, Netzach) is long, as kindness extends to poor and rich alike; the left line (Binah, Gevurah, Hod) is short, reaching only one who is most fit; the middle line is between, showing mercy to whoever is pitiable.
פי׳ כי ע״ס נחלקי׳ לג׳ קוין קו הימין חח״נ נק׳ חד אריך
- Beinoni בינוני
- Arich Anpin אריך אנפין
- Rachamim rabim רחמים רבים
- Re’iyah and shmiah ראיה ושמיעה
- Sefiros ספירות
- Chesed חסד
Marei mekomos
- 1רש״י פי׳ בחומש ארדה נא למד לדיינים שלא יפסקו דיני נפשות אלא בראיה · Rashi on Genesis 18:21
- 2דאיתא בת״ז · בהקדמה (פתח אליהו).
- 3
- 4גמ״ח בין לעניים בין לעשירים · Sukkah 49b:11
20והנה יש ראיה ושמיעה הראיה נמשך מבחי׳ חכמה קו הימין ושמיעה מבינה קו השמאל. וכנודע מענין ראובן1 ושמעון2
Now there is seeing and there is hearing. Seeing is drawn from the level of Chochmah, the right line, and hearing from Binah, the left line; as is known from the matter of Reuven and Shimon.
Seeing and hearing correspond to the two sides: seeing to Chochmah on the right, hearing to Binah on the left. This is known from the names Reuven (from “seeing”) and Shimon (from “hearing”).
ולכן הראי׳ [הראיה] היא מלמעלה למטה והשמיעה ממטה למעלה שהאותיות מתעלים ונכנסים לאוזן השומע ולזה ג״כ הראי׳ [הראיה] נשפלת למטה יותר מהשמיעה שרואה דבר גשמי
And therefore seeing is from above to below, and hearing from below to above, for the letters rise and enter the ear of the listener. And for this reason too, seeing descends lower than hearing, for it sees a physical thing,
Seeing goes from above to below, while hearing goes from below to above, as sounds rise into the ear. So seeing reaches lower, even to physical objects.
משא״כ השמיעה היא רק קול ודבור כי הראי׳ [הראיה] היא מבחי׳ חד אריך וכנודע שיסוד אבא אריך כו׳.
whereas hearing is only voice and speech. For seeing is from the level of “one long,” as is known that the Yesod of Abba is long, etc.
Hearing, by contrast, takes in only voice and speech. Seeing belongs to the “long” line; the Alter Rebbe adds the Arizal’s teaching that the Yesod of Abba (Chochmah) is long, reaching further down than the Yesod of Imma (Binah).
וזהו מ״ש ארדה נא ואראה כי הכצעקתה הבאה זהו כמו בחי׳ שמיעה שמבחי׳ בינה ולכן היא הבאה מלמטה למעלה והוא בחי׳ קו השמאל אבל ארדה נא ואראה בבחי׳ ראיה שהוא בחי׳ חסדים כו׳:
And this is what is said, “I will go down now and see”: for “according to its outcry which has come” is like the level of hearing, which is from the level of Binah; therefore it comes from below to above, and it is the level of the left line. But “I will go down now and see” is in the level of seeing, which is the level of chasadim (kindnesses), etc.
Applied to the verse: “its outcry which has come” is like hearing, from Binah, rising from below on the left side. “I will go down and see” is seeing, which belongs to kindness. G‑d responds to the outcry not only by hearing but by “going down and seeing” with Chesed.
The paragraph closes the maamar: the outcry is “heard” through the left side of judgment, while “I will go down and see” is “seeing” from the long right line of Chesed, which reaches down to find merit.
This also explains Rashi’s lesson: capital cases need “seeing,” because seeing comes from Chesed, which looks for merit, while mere “hearing” of an accusation comes from the side of judgment.
TermsRe’iyah and shmiahGimmel kavinArich AnpinYesod+6
- Re’iyah and shmiah ראיה ושמיעה explained hereSeeing is drawn from Chochmah, the right line, and hearing from Binah, the left (Reuven and Shimon). So seeing goes from above to below and reaches lower, to physical things, while hearing goes from below upward, as letters rise into the ear; “I will go down and see” as against “the cry that has come.”
הראיה נמשך מבחי׳ חכמה קו הימין ושמיעה מבינה קו השמאל
- Gimmel kavin ג׳ קוין
- Arich Anpin אריך אנפין
- Yesod יסוד
- Binah בינה
- Abba and Imma אבא ואמא
- Osiyos אותיות
- Dibbur elyon דבור עליון
- Chesed חסד
Also Chochmah
Marei mekomos
- 1ראובן · Genesis 29:32
- 2שמעון · Genesis 29:33
Finished the maamar?
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In one’s avodah
The maamar says Yosef merited the higher providence, “the eye of Havayah toward those who fear Him,” through sustaining others: “he who has a good eye shall be blessed, for he has given of his bread to the poor.” Sodom blemished this very quality and was denied it. It also shows, from the judge who loves the one he judges, that closeness and kindness find room for merit in the very same facts that judgment would condemn.
Questions for discussion
- How does “revealed and known” differ from the way a person comes to know something, and why does that difference answer the philosophers’ question about multiplicity?
- If G‑d knows everything by Himself, why does Scripture speak of “eyes” that roam the earth? What role do the vessels and the angels play?
- How do the two levels of Daas explain why G‑d’s foreknowledge does not compel a person’s free choice?
- The same fact, that “the inclination of man’s heart is evil,” leads first to the Flood and then to G‑d’s promise never to curse the ground again. What changed, according to the maamar?
- Why does the maamar link “I will go down and see” with seeing rather than hearing, and what does this suggest about Rashi’s rule that judges must see for themselves?
Key terms in this maamar
- 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”). ×7Where 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
- 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
- Lights and vesselsאורות וכלים
- The two sides of each sefirah: the lights, a radiance of Or Ein Sof, boundless; and the vessels, the defined attributes (Chesed, Gevurah…) that limit that light so it can give life to finite beings. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently, Sefer HaErchim
- 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. ×13Where 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. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- The name for G‑d as without end or limit, beyond all grasp; what is drawn from Him is Or Ein Sof, only a radiance; all revelation comes from Malchus of Ein Sof.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first created world, below the partition (parsa) under Atzilus: something new from nothing (yesh me’ayin), corresponding to thought, where Binah of Atzilus dwells; world of the seraphim, souls and Gan Eden HaElyon.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
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of formation, between Beriah and Asiyah: like speech, it reveals what was hidden in Beriah (something from something, not new creation); the middos of Atzilus shine there; the world of the angels.Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest of the four worlds, corresponding to action: its ten Sefiros are still holy, but below them lies kelipas nogah; this physical world is Malchus of Asiyah, its lowest level.Where 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
- 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. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- 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. ×17Where 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. ×7Where it’s explained
- 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 Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- Aramaic, “the Holy One, blessed be He”: G‑d as holy, set apart from the worlds, paired with Shechinteh, His indwelling; read as sovev kol almin, Z’eir Anpin, Atzmus, and sometimes memalei kol almin. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d’s Malchus as it “dwells” among created beings to give them life: Malchus of Atzilus come down below Atzilus. Its being clothed below, down to the kelipos, is called the exile of the Shechinah.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
- 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
- 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. ×1Where it’s explained, stated differently
- 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
- 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. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently
- 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
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The Sefirah of binding: a giver’s lowest level, through which it ties itself to the receiver and draws its flow to it. Called kol (all), chai (living), tzaddik and bris (covenant); linked to Yosef. ×1Where 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. ×6Where 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. ×3Where it’s explained, stated differently
- Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
- Malchus of Atzilus as a partzuf: the feminine partner of Z’eir Anpin, built after it and from the gevuros; receiving from above, she gives to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah below. ×2Where it’s explained, stated differently