Torah Ohr · Parshas Yisro · Maamar 2
משה ידבר והאלהים יעננו בקול
“Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers him with a voice”
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The big idea
At Sinai G‑d gave Israel the power to unite His Infinite Light with this world of separation through physical mitzvos, something Avraham had achieved only in the higher worlds. This is “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers”: Moshe’s bittul, present in every Jew who learns and keeps the Torah, draws down the higher unity, and the world below “answers” by repeating it, in exact measure to that bittul.
The maamar in brief
The verse “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers him with a voice” raises two questions: what exchange it describes, and why it is in the present tense. Rav Yosef’s praise of Shavuos raises a third: Avraham kept the whole Torah, so what did its giving add? The mitzvos are “the limbs of the King”: each draws one of G‑d’s Names, and through it the Infinite Light, into Chochmah or Chesed, until they are one with Him. Avraham did this through love, kindness and humility, but mainly in the higher worlds; this world remained a world of separation. At Sinai the Torah was given so that the Infinite Light would be united with physical mitzvos below. Of G‑d’s two “knowledges,” the higher and lower unity, the positive and negative mitzvos make the lower match the higher, and the Torah within and the mitzvos around consume the coarseness that makes the world seem separate. Shavuos reveals the Crown of Torah, beyond the chain of descent. Moshe’s bittul draws down the higher unity; the lower unity, Elokim, answers it; and since Moshe’s bittul is in every person, G‑d answers each one according to his own.
Outline
- Two questionsWhat exchange does “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers” describe, and why the present tense? And if Avraham kept the whole Torah, even eruv tavshilin, what did the day of the Giving of the Torah add?¶1–2
- The limbs of the KingEach mitzvah draws down one of G‑d’s seven Names, which are only “names” toward Him. Through the mitzvos the Infinite Light is clothed in Chochmah and Chesed and becomes one with them, as the soul’s life is one with the body’s limbs.¶3–9
- Avraham’s service aboveBy love, kindness and humility Avraham drew the Infinite Light into Chochmah and Chesed, but mainly in the higher worlds, through G‑d’s own “mitzvos,” such as visiting the lovesick soul and putting on tefillin. This world remained a world of separation.¶10–14
- What Sinai broughtThe Torah was given so that the Infinite Light would be clothed in and united with the Chochmah and Chesed of physical mitzvos below: “G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai.”¶15
- The two unities“A G‑d of knowledges”: the higher unity, in which the lower is nothing, and the lower unity, in which the lower seems most real. The negative and positive commandments make them equal, so that the yesh takes up no space and no void is left.¶16–18
- A consuming fireThe mitzvos surround the soul and the Torah fills it, like fire inside and around a vessel, consuming the animal soul’s coarseness; so Gehinnom has no hold on a Torah scholar. This power is a gift given to Israel.¶19–21
- The Crown of TorahAfter seven weeks that match the seven Names, Shavuos reveals the Crown of Torah, from beyond the chain of descent where above and below are equal. Without it there are many “Yosefs,” adding only worldly knowledge.¶22
- Moshe speaks, G‑d answersMoshe’s bittul draws down the higher unity; ha-Elokim, the lower unity, “answers” by repeating it below. The tense is present because Moshe extends into every generation as the bittul in each person.¶23–25
- The voice of MosheG‑d reads and studies opposite each person according to his bittul. The Shechinah speaks from the throat of the one who is nullified, so a Torah scholar is called Moshe, and his voice carries hidden wisdom into the open.¶26–28
Key concepts
- The seven Names that may not be erasedז׳ שמות שאינן נמחקין
- The divine Names through which G‑d’s attributes come into being, such as El for Chesed and Havayah pointed with patach for Chochmah. Toward G‑d Himself they are only “names,” existing for others.
- The limbs of the Kingרמ״ח אברין דמלכא
- The mitzvos, so called because the Infinite Light is clothed in them and one with them, as a soul’s life is one with the body’s limbs.
- The higher and the lower unityיחודא עילאה ויחודא תתאה
- Two views of G‑d’s oneness: from above, where the lower a thing is the more it is nothing, and from below, where the lower a thing is the more it seems to exist. Torah and mitzvos make the lower match the higher.
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Moshe’s “What are we?”: the awareness that G‑d fills the world as before creation. It is the channel through which the Torah is drawn down, and it extends into every Jew in every generation.
- The Crown of Torahכתר תורה
- The level above the Torah itself, revealed on Shavuos from beyond the chain of descent, where above and below are equal.
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human action, here the performance of the mitzvos, on which the drawing of the Infinite Light into the attributes depends.
- Encompassing and inner lightמקיף ופנימי
- The mitzvos surround the soul as garments; the Torah enters it as food. Together they consume the animal soul’s coarseness from without and within.
Two questions ¶1–2
1משה ידבר12 והאלהים יעננו בקול. בקולו של משה.3 ולהבין כי לא פירש בכתוב מה דבר משה4 ומה ענהו ה׳ דלא קאי על עשרת הדברות
“Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers him with a voice”: “with a voice,” with the voice of Moshe. [We need] to understand [this], for the verse does not specify what Moshe spoke and what G‑d answered him, since it does not refer to the Ten Commandments,
The maamar opens with a verse from the Giving of the Torah at Sinai: “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers him with a voice.” The Gemara reads “with a voice” as Moshe’s own voice. The Alter Rebbe asks what Moshe said and what G‑d answered, since the verse does not say, and it cannot be describing the Ten Commandments.
for [the commandments] “I am” and “You shall have no” we heard from the mouth of the Almighty, and it is written, “I stand between G‑d and you, to tell [you],” etc.
The Sages taught that the first two commandments, “I am” and “You shall have no [other gods],” the people heard directly from G‑d. And Moshe himself describes his role as standing between G‑d and the people to tell them G‑d’s word, so he was the one conveying, not one whom G‑d answered.
הרי שלא נאמר בזה הענין שמשה הוא המדבר והקב״ה העונה וגם להבין מהו ידבר ומהו יעננו לשון עתיד או הווה והוה ליה למימר משה דבר והקב״ה ענהו.
Thus in this matter it is not said that Moshe is the one who speaks and the Holy One, blessed be He, the one who answers. [We] also [need] to understand what yedaber (“speaks”) is and what ya’anenu (“answers him”) is, [being] in the future or present tense, when it should have said, “Moshe spoke, and the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him.”
Either way, nothing here fits a dialogue in which Moshe speaks and G‑d answers. A second question: the verbs yedaber and ya’anenu are in a form that reads as future or as ongoing present, while a one-time event at Sinai should have been told in the past tense.
הענין הוא דאיתא בגמרא דאמר רב יוסף7 אי לאו האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא.
The explanation is this. It is stated in the Gemara that Rav Yosef said, “Were it not for this day that brought it about, how many Yosefs are there in the marketplace!”
The answer begins with a saying in the Gemara. On Shavuos Rav Yosef had a choice calf prepared and said that were it not for this day, the day of the Giving of the Torah, which made him what he was, there would be many ordinary men named Yosef in the marketplace.
The maamar opens with two questions on the verse “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers him with a voice”: what exchange it describes, and why it uses a non-past tense. The answer will start from Rav Yosef’s praise of the day the Torah was given.
Rashi on the verse reads “Moshe speaks” as Moshe relaying the other commandments to the people, and Or HaTorah, cited by Kehot, notes that Ramban disputed this. Kehot also refers to the Guide for the Perplexed (II:33) on the first two commandments being heard from G‑d, and to Tanya, chapter 20, which explains that these two contain the whole Torah.
Marei mekomos
- 1משה ידבר · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי בסה״מ תקס״ו ע׳ רד, ”חג השבועות”. ובכת״י א׳ נוסף ”בק״ק לאזני”. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. הנחה אחרת עם הגהות באוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתמג, עוד הערות בע׳ תתלג. ראה שער אמונה לאדה״א פרק נד (דף פז, א). ד״ה זה נזכר בסה״מ תרס״ה ע׳ ה.
- 2משה ידבר והאלקים יעננו בקול · Exodus 19:19
- 3בקולו של משה · Berakhot 45a:8
- 4מה דבר משה · באוה״ת פ׳ יתרו ע׳ תתמד: ורש״י פי׳ בחומש דמשה ידבר קאי על שאר הדברות . . והרמב״ן השיג ע״ז.
- 5אנכי ולא יהי׳ לך מפי הגבורה שמענו · Makkot 24a:1–3
- 6אנכי עומד בין ה׳ · Deuteronomy 5:5
- 7דאיתא בגמרא דאמר רב יוסף · Pesachim 68b:10
2ולהבין מעלת האי יומא דוקא שהוא יום מתן תורה ומהו ענין מתן התורה. והלא קיים אברהם אבינו ע״ה1 את כל התורה עד שלא ניתנה ואפי׳ עירובי תבשילין2 מפני שלמד את כל התורה כו׳ עד שלא נתנה.
And [we need] to understand the distinction of “this day” specifically, which is the day of the Giving of the Torah, and what the Giving of the Torah is. For did not Avraham our father, peace be upon him, fulfill the entire Torah before it was given, even eruvei tavshilin, because he learned the entire Torah, etc., before it was given?
To reach the answer, the Alter Rebbe first asks what made the day of the Giving of the Torah special. The Sages say Avraham kept the whole Torah before it was given, down to eruv tavshilin (the rabbinic arrangement that allows cooking on Yom Tov for Shabbos), because he had learned all of it; so what did Sinai add?
Rav Yosef’s saying becomes a question: if Avraham already fulfilled the whole Torah, even its rabbinic details, what did the day of the Giving of the Torah accomplish?
The example of eruv tavshilin is pointed: it is a rabbinic enactment, so Avraham’s observance reached even details that would be enacted only much later. The question is therefore not whether the Torah’s content was known before Sinai, but what its being “given” changed.
Marei mekomos
- 1ומהו ענין מ״ת . . אברהם אבינו ע״ה · לעיל יא, ד מציין לכאן ”ועמ״ש ע״פ משה ידבר שם נת׳ היטב ההפרש בין מה שקיים אברהם כל התורה כו׳ למ״ת עולה בקנה א׳ עם מ״ש כאן [בתו״א יא, ד]”. ראה מאמרי אדמו״ר הזקן — הנחות הר״פ ז״ל ע׳ ז. אוה״ת דרושים לשבועות ע׳ קסח. ד״ה זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק תרנ״ד.
- 2קיים אברהם אע״ה . . ואפי׳ עירובי תבשילין · Yoma 28b:10–11
The limbs of the King ¶3–9
3וכמ״ש וישמר משמרתי1 מצותי חקותי ותורתי ובודאי לימד ג״כ ליצחק2 בנו3 ויצחק לימד ליעקב ובניו45 ומה חדוש נתחדש בנתינתה.
As it is written, “and he kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My teachings.” And he surely also taught [it] to Yitzchak his son, and Yitzchak taught Yaakov and his sons. So what new thing was brought about by its being given?
The verse says Avraham kept G‑d’s charge, commandments, statutes and teachings. The Alter Rebbe adds that he surely passed this on to Yitzchak, and Yitzchak to Yaakov and his sons, so the Torah was already known and kept by the Patriarchs; this sharpens the question of what its giving added.
אך הנה נודע ענין המצות דרמ״ח פקודין6 אינון רמ״ח אברין דמלכא. ולכאורה אינו מובן לשון אברין והלא אין לו דמות הגוף וכו׳
But now, the matter of the mitzvos is known: “The 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King.” At first glance the expression “limbs” is not understood, for surely He has no likeness of a body, etc.
The answer begins with what the mitzvos are. A known teaching calls the 248 commandments the 248 “limbs of the King,” but this is puzzling, since G‑d has no body or likeness of a body.
אך יובן ע״פ מ״ש בזהר דכל מעשה המצות הן לאתקנא רזא דשמיה7 שבמצוה זו ממשיך שם זה ובמצוה זו ממשיך שם זה והענין כי שמותיו של הקב״ה הם שבעה שמותיו שאינן8 נמחקין.
But it will be understood from what is written in the Zohar, that all the performance of the mitzvos is “to rectify the mystery of His Name”: through this mitzvah one draws down this Name, and through that mitzvah one draws down that Name. The explanation is that the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He, are His seven Names that may not be erased.
The key is the Zohar’s statement that all the mitzvos are done “to rectify the mystery of His Name”: each mitzvah draws down a particular divine Name. These are the seven Names of G‑d that may not be erased, which the next paragraphs explain.
The question is sharpened, since the Torah was kept and taught by the Patriarchs, and the answer begins: the mitzvos are called the King’s limbs because each one draws down one of G‑d’s Names.
Torah Ohr on Shemot (49d), which Kehot cites, gives the main meaning of “rectifying the mystery of His Name” as drawing down from His great Name, the level of Ein Sof itself. Kehot also quotes the Meiri’s introduction to Avos: Avraham taught Yitzchak the uprightness of his conduct and ways, and handed on to him the secrets of his wisdom, his statutes and his teachings.
Marei mekomos
- 1וישמר משמרתי · Genesis 26:5
- 2ובודאי לימד ג״כ ליצחק · Bereshit Rabbah 95:3
- 3וישמר משמרתי מצותי חקותי ותורתי ובודאי לימד ג״כ ליצחק בנו · Ramban on Genesis 26:5
- 4ליעקב ובניו · באוה״ת פ׳ יתרו ע׳ תתמד מוסיף: ”כפי׳ רש״י פ׳ ויגש ע״פ וירא את העגלות כו׳ בפ׳ עגלה ערופה פירש ממנו”.
- 5לימד ג״כ ליצחק בנו ויצחק לימד ליעקב ובניו · Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 1:3
- 6דרמ״ח פקודין · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 30 · 74a:8
- 7ע״פ מ״ש בזהר . . לאתקנא רזא דשמיה · Song of Songs 3:1
- 8שו״ה שאינן · בבוך 1824: שאינו.
And these are precisely the level of the extension of the life-force and the flow of influence for His attributes, may He be blessed, to come into being: “Yours, G‑d, are the greatness (gedulah), the might (gevurah) and the beauty (tiferes),” etc., which are nothing
The divine Names are what spread G‑d’s life-force and influence so that His attributes come into being: the attributes listed in Chronicles, greatness, might, beauty and the rest. Toward G‑d Himself, though, these attributes are nothing more than a “name.”
אלא בחי׳ שם לבד ע״ד משל כמו השם שאינו אלא לזולתו שיקראנו בשמו כי הוא ית׳ רם ונשא וכו׳.
but the level of a name alone; by way of analogy, like a name, which exists only for another, so that he may call him by his name. For He, may He be blessed, is high and exalted, etc.
A name is not the person himself; it exists only for others, so they can call him. So too G‑d’s attributes do not capture His essence, which is “high and exalted” beyond them; they are how He is called and related to by what He creates.
The seven Names are defined: they are the channels through which G‑d’s attributes come into being, and like a person’s name they exist only toward others, not as His essence.
Torah Ohr on Shemot (49d), which Kehot cites on the previous paragraph, makes the same comparison: a person’s name bears no comparison to his essence and counts as nothing next to it.
Marei mekomos
- 1
5וכמ״ש בתקוני זוהר לאו מכל אלין מדות כלל ואנת הוא1 חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא. כי החכמה הידיעא היא בנבראים שנק׳ בשם חכמה שהיא השכלה להשכיל דבר מושכל
As is written in Tikkunei Zohar: “Not of any of these attributes at all,” and “You are wise, but not with a known wisdom.” For the known wisdom is in created beings, which is called by the name “wisdom”: it is intellection, comprehending an intelligible thing.
Eliyahu’s prayer at the opening of Tikkunei Zohar says G‑d is “not of any of these attributes at all,” and that He is wise but not with a known wisdom. “Known wisdom” is the wisdom of created beings: the mind grasping an idea.
אבל אצלו ית׳ לא שייך זה כי אפי׳ בחי׳ המחשבה שהיא למטה מחכמה נאמר עליה
But with Him, may He be blessed, this does not apply. For even of the level of thought, which is below Chochmah (wisdom), it is said,
Such wisdom cannot be ascribed to G‑d. Even G‑d’s “thought,” which ranks below Chochmah, is said to be utterly unlike ours, in the verse quoted next.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” etc. Rather, it is called Chochmah and thought because it is the source of thought and the source of Chochmah.
Isaiah has G‑d say, “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” If even His “thought” is beyond ours, so is His “wisdom”; the divine level is called Chochmah and thought only because it is the source from which thought and wisdom come.
The paragraph shows how far the attributes are from G‑d Himself: He is wise, but not with any wisdom we know, and His “wisdom” is so called only as the source of ours.
In the same prayer each Sefirah is said to have a known name, while G‑d has no known name, since He fills all the names. This is the background to the maamar’s description of the attributes as “only a name.”
Marei mekomos
- 1
- 2כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
- 3וכמ״ש בת״ז · בהקדמה (פתח אליהו).
6וכמ״ש כי עמך מקור חיים1 באורך נראה אור. פירוש באורך כשנמשך האור למטה אזי נראה ומושג אור החכמה והמחשבה כו׳.
As it is written, “For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see (nir’eh) light.” The meaning of “in Your light” is: when the light is drawn down below, then the light of Chochmah and thought is seen (nir’eh) and grasped, etc.
The verse “in Your light we see light” is read as describing a descent: only when G‑d’s light is drawn down below does the “light” of wisdom and thought become visible and graspable. Divine wisdom as it is in itself is not perceived.
וכן בחי׳ החסד כמ״ש ועשה חסד לאלפים.2 שיש אלפים מדרגות שהם רבוי הצמצומים והמשכות עד שיהיה התהוות חסד.
So too the level of Chesed (kindness), as it is written, “and showing kindness to thousands”: there are thousands of levels, which are the many contractions (tzimtzumim) and drawings-down, until Chesed comes into being.
The same is true of Chesed. “Showing kindness to thousands” hints at thousands of levels of contraction and drawing down that the light passes through before it becomes a kindness that can exist.
Two verses show that Chochmah and Chesed, as they come to be known, are the end of a long drawing down of the divine light through many contractions.
Chochmah and Chesed are the two attributes the maamar will tie to the mitzvos and to Avraham in paragraphs 8–12.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי עמך מקור חיים · Psalms 36:10
- 2ועושה חסד לאלפים · Exodus 20:6
7וכמ״ש עולם חסד יבנה1 שצריך הוא להיות נבנה שיהיה חסד. והמשכה זו להיות התפשטות החיות בבחי׳ חכמה וחסד הוא מז׳ שמות שאינם נמחקין הוי״ה בנקוד פת״ח היא בחכמה2 ושם אל בחסד.
As it is written, “Kindness shall be built forever” (olam chesed yibaneh): that is, it has to be built in order for there to be Chesed. And this drawing down, for the life-force to extend into the level of Chochmah and Chesed, is from the seven Names that may not be erased: Havayah with the vowel patach is in Chochmah, and the Name El is in Chesed.
Psalms says “kindness shall be built forever”: kindness itself has to be built up, through the stages just described, before it exists. This drawing down into Chochmah and Chesed comes through two of the seven Names: Havayah pointed with the vowel patach, which belongs to Chochmah, and the Name El, which belongs to Chesed.
וכמ״ש חסד אל כל היום3 שהם בחי׳ שם בלבד. אך מ״מ אחר שנמשך ובא לידי גילוי מדת החסד והחכמה
As it is written, “The kindness of El is all the day”; and these are only the level of a name. Nevertheless, after it has been drawn down and come to the revelation of the attribute of Chesed and Chochmah,
The verse “The kindness of El is all the day” links the Name El with kindness. Yet these Names are still only “names,” outward expressions; the next part says what happens once they are drawn into Chesed and Chochmah.
הנה ההמשכה ההיא היא מלובשת ממש במדת החסד והחכמה עד שמתאחדת עמהם וזהו ענין איהו וחיוהי חד.4 איהו וגרמוהי חד.5
that drawing down is actually enclothed in the attribute of Chesed and Chochmah, until it becomes one with them. This is the meaning of “He and His life-forces are one; He and His causes are one,”
Once drawn down, the divine flow is truly enclothed in these attributes and becomes one with them. This is what Tikkunei Zohar means in saying of the Sefiros of Atzilus, “He and His life-forces are one; He and His causes are one.”
דהיינו כענין הוא המדע הוא היודע6 כו׳. וכמ״ש לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה7 פי׳ שמתאחדת ונעשית בבחי׳ לך ה׳ ממש.8
that is, like the concept of “He is the Knowledge, He is the Knower,” etc. And as it is written, “Yours, G‑d, are the greatness and the might”: meaning, that it is united and becomes truly the level of “Yours, G‑d.”
The comparison is to the classic statement that G‑d is Himself the knowledge and the knower: His wisdom is not something apart from Him. So in “Yours, G‑d, are the greatness and the might,” the attributes become truly “Yours,” one with G‑d.
The Names El and Havayah draw G‑d’s light into Chesed and Chochmah; though they are only “names,” once drawn down they are wholly one with the attributes, so that the attributes become G‑d’s own.
Torah Ohr later in Yisro (71a) explains that when the Infinite Light is enclothed in Chochmah, “He and His life-forces” are one in it, for He is the knowledge and the known, while “He and His causes” refers to the letters of thought, which are united with Him too, since “My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
Marei mekomos
- 1עולם חסד יבנה · Psalms 89:3
- 2הוי״ה בנקוד פת״ח היא בחכמה · בסה״מ תרנ״ה ע׳ נ נוסף: ובפרד״ס שער השמות פ״ג כ׳ דשם י״ה הוא השם דבחי׳ חכ׳.
- 3חסד אל כל היום · Psalms 52:3
- 4איהו וחיוהי חד · בת״ז בהקדמה (ג, א).
- 5איהו וחיוהי חד. איהו וגרמוהי חד · Tikkunei Zohar 3b:9–10
- 6דהיינו כענין הוא המדע הוא היודע · וכ״ה לקמן עא, א. ובסה״מ תקס״ו ע׳ רו כתב: כמו עד״מ האדם בחיות נפשו שמלובשת באיבריו שמתאחד הוא עם האיברים והכל נחשב כא׳ כך גם בחי׳ התפשטות ההארה מאור א״ס בנאצלים באורות וכלים . . מפני שהמה מיוחדי׳ בו בתכלית, ע״ש.
- 7לך ה׳ הגדולה והגבורה · I Chronicles 29:11
- 8בשיעורים לתניא אגה״ק סי׳ כ׳ נסמן · ע״ח שמ״ז פי״ב. ובכ״מ.
Now, the drawing down of the life-force, so that there be an extension of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and its enclothing in the attribute of Chesed and Chochmah, which bear no comparison to Him — for “You are wise,
The Infinite Light must be drawn down to spread into Chesed and Chochmah and be enclothed in them. Yet these attributes bear no comparison to Him, as the words of Tikkunei Zohar quoted again here say.
ולא בחכמה ידיעא ולא מכל מדות אלין כלל2 באתערותא דלתתא תליא מילתא ע״י מעשה המצות שע״י מצוה שהיא בחכמה ממשיך אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה.
but not with a known wisdom,” and “not of any of these attributes at all” — the matter depends on an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata): through the performance of the mitzvos. Through a mitzvah that is in Chochmah, one draws down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into Chochmah.
The principle that “the matter depends on an arousal from below” gives the answer: human action, the performance of the mitzvos, brings it about. A mitzvah connected with Chochmah draws the Infinite Light into Chochmah.
The drawing of the Infinite Light into the divine attributes depends on human initiative: each mitzvah draws it into the attribute that mitzvah belongs to.
Marei mekomos
- 1המשכת החיות · באוה״ת הגהות למאמר זה ע׳ תתמה הגי׳: התהוות.
- 2דאנת הוא חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא ולא מכל מדות אלין כלל · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–4
9וע״י מצוה שבחסד ממשיך אור א״ס ב״ה בחסד. והן הן המשכת שמותיו ית׳ והתלבשותו בחכ׳ וחסד הוי״ה בנקוד פת״ח בחכמה1 כו׳ ולכן נקראו המצות בשם אברין דמלכא דכמו שמלובש חיות הנפש באברין
And through a mitzvah that is in Chesed, one draws down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into Chesed. These are precisely the drawing down of His Names, may He be blessed, and its enclothing in Chochmah and Chesed: Havayah with the vowel patach in Chochmah, etc. Therefore the mitzvos are called by the name “the limbs of the King”: for just as the life-force of the soul is enclothed in the limbs,
Likewise a mitzvah connected with Chesed draws the Infinite Light into Chesed. This is what it means that the mitzvos draw down G‑d’s Names, and it is why they are called “the limbs of the King,” by the analogy of the soul’s life-force clothed in the body’s limbs, completed in the next part.
ע״ד משל עד שמתאחדת עמהם כך מלובש אור א״ס ב״ה המשכת בחי׳ שמותיו ית׳ בבחי׳ חכמה וחסד שבמעשה המצות עד שמתאחדת ממש באור א״ס ב״ה הנמשך בהם.
by way of analogy, until it becomes one with them, so the Infinite Light, blessed be He, the drawing down of the level of His Names, may He be blessed, is enclothed in the level of Chochmah and Chesed that is in the performance of the mitzvos, until [that level] is truly united with the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that is drawn into them.
In a person the life-force becomes one with the limbs it animates. In the same way the Infinite Light, drawn down through G‑d’s Names, is clothed in the Chochmah and Chesed of the mitzvos until they are wholly united with it; this is how G‑d, who has no body, can be said to have “limbs.”
The puzzle of paragraph 3 is resolved: the mitzvos are the King’s “limbs” because the Infinite Light is clothed and united in them, as the soul’s life is in the limbs of the body.
For Havayah with patach as the Name of Chochmah, Kehot points to Pardes Rimonim (Sha’ar HaNekudos, ch. 5) and Pri Etz Chaim (Sha’ar HaAmidah, ch. 19).
Marei mekomos
- 1ה׳ בנקוד פתח בחכמה · לעיל סז, ד. פרדס שער הנקודות פ״ה. פע״ח שער העמידה פי״ט. וראה באוה״ת ואתחנן ע׳ שעט.
Avraham’s service above ¶10–14
10ובזה יובן ענין המצות שכתוב באברהם וישמר משמרתי מצותי1 וגו׳. דהיינו שגרם ירידת והמשכת אור א״ס ב״ה והתלבשותו במדת החכמה וחסד
With this, the matter of the mitzvos written of Avraham, “and he kept My charge, My commandments,” etc., will be understood. That is, he brought about the descent and drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and its enclothing in the attribute of Chochmah and Chesed,
This explains the verse about Avraham, “he kept My charge, My commandments.” His mitzvos brought about the descent of the Infinite Light into Chochmah and Chesed.
ע״י שנעשה מרכבה אליו ית׳ במדת האהבה הלוך ונסוע הנגבה2 בבחי׳ רצוא ושוב3 כי רוח אייתי רוח4 ואמשיך רוח.
by becoming a chariot (merkavah) for Him, may He be blessed, through the attribute of love: “going and journeying toward the south,” in the mode of “running and returning” (ratzo vashov). For “spirit brings spirit and draws down spirit.”
He did so by becoming a “chariot” for G‑d, wholly given over to Him, through the attribute of love. The Torah describes him “going and journeying toward the south,” the side Kabbalah links with Chesed, in the rhythm of “running and returning” that Yechezkel saw in the living creatures; and the Zohar teaches that a spirit from below brings and draws down a spirit from above.
Avraham’s “mitzvos” were his love and self-dedication: by becoming a chariot for G‑d in love, he drew the Infinite Light down into Chochmah and Chesed.
The Zohar passage ties “spirit draws spirit” to the verse “If he sets his heart toward Him,” and to love: whoever loves the Holy One, blessed be He, arouses His right side toward him, and He receives him in love. The next paragraph quotes that verse.
Marei mekomos
- 1וישמר משמרתי מצותי · Genesis 26:5
- 2הלוך ונסוע הנגבה · Genesis 12:9
- 3רצוא ושוב · Ezekiel 1:14
- 4רוח אייתי רוח · Zohar II, 162b
11וכמ״ש אם ישים אליו לבו1 וגו׳. וגם מחמת שהרבה חסד בעולם. ויטע אשל2 וגו׳. וע״י שהיה שפל רוח מאד. וכמ״ש ואנכי עפר ואפר.3
As it is written, “If he sets his heart toward Him,” etc. And also because he increased kindness in the world: “And he planted an eshel,” etc. And through his being very lowly of spirit, as it is written, “and I am dust and ashes.”
Three of Avraham’s qualities are named. He set his heart toward G‑d, the verse the Zohar connects with spirit drawing spirit; he increased kindness in the world, as with the eshel he planted in Be’er Sheva; and he was deeply humble, calling himself “dust and ashes.”
לכן עי״ז כמים הפנים4 וגו׳. ע״י מדת ענוה המשיך ירידת אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה וחסד שהוא בחי׳ ירידה ושפלות לגבי אור א״ס ב״ה דאנת הוא חכים
Therefore, through this, “As water [mirrors] the face,” etc.: through the attribute of humility he drew down the descent of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into Chochmah and Chesed, which is a descent and a lowering relative to the Infinite Light, blessed be He — for “You are wise,
“As in water face answers to face, so the heart of man to man”: the response from above mirrors the person’s stance below. Because Avraham lowered himself in humility, the Infinite Light likewise lowered itself into Chochmah and Chesed, which for it is a descent.
ולא בחכמה ידיעא ולאו מכל מדות אלין כלל5 שאין ערוך אליו. וכמאמר רז״ל במקום שאתה מוצא גדולתו6 של הקב״ה שם אתה מוצא ענותנותו כו׳:
but not with a known wisdom,” and “not of any of these attributes at all,” for they bear no comparison to Him. And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “In the place where you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, there you find His humility,” etc.
Chochmah and Chesed are a lowering for the Infinite Light because they bear no comparison to it, as Tikkunei Zohar says. The Sages’ saying that G‑d’s greatness and His humility are found together fits this: His descent into the attributes is an act of divine humility.
Avraham’s humility is mirrored above: as he lowered himself, the Infinite Light lowered itself into Chochmah and Chesed, an act of divine humility in the sense of the Sages’ saying.
Torah Ohr in Chayei Sara (16a), which Kehot cites, explains the Sages’ saying: G‑d’s giving life to the worlds is not His greatness but a descent, a lowering of Himself, so the praise “You give life to them all” is a praise of His humility.
Marei mekomos
- 1אם ישים אליו לבו · Job 34:14
- 2ויטע אשל · Genesis 21:33
- 3ואנכי עפר ואפר · Genesis 18:27
- 4כמים הפנים · Proverbs 27:19
- 5דאנת הוא חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא ולאו מכל מדות אלין כלל · Tikkunei Zohar 17b:3–4
- 6במקום שאתה מוצא גדולתו · Megillah 31a:12–13
12אך הנה עיקר המשכות אברהם אבינו1 ע״ה היה בעולמות עליונים2 הגם שהמשיך אור א״ס ב״ה למטה ג״כ להיות גילוי אלהות בעולם וכמ״ש ויקרא שם בשם34 ה׳ אל עולם.
But the main [part] of the drawings-down of Avraham our father, peace be upon him, was in the higher worlds — even though he also drew the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, down below, so that there be a revelation of G‑dliness in the world, as it is written, “And he called there in the Name of G‑d, the G‑d of the world.”
The maamar now sets Avraham’s work apart from what Sinai brought. Avraham did draw G‑dliness down into this world, making G‑d known, as the verse says he called there in the Name of G‑d, the G‑d of the world; but the main effect of his service was in the higher worlds.
וגם הנפש אשר עשו בחרן5 ונטע אמונת ה׳ בלבם מ״מ אין זה ערך לגבי המשכות
And also “the souls that they had made in Charan,” and he planted faith in G‑d in their hearts. Nevertheless, this bears no comparison to the drawings-down
He also brought “the souls they had made in Charan” to faith, planting belief in G‑d in their hearts. Yet all this effect on our world bears no comparison to what he drew down above.
שהמשיך למעלה בעולמות עליונים להיות תוספת גילוי אור א״ס ב״ה בבחינת חכמה וחסד עליון דאצי׳ ושם היה עיקר עבודת אברהם וישמר משמרתי מצותי67 וגו׳.
that he drew down above, in the higher worlds, so that there be an added revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the level of the supernal Chochmah and Chesed of the World of Atzilus (Emanation). And there was the main [focus] of Avraham’s service: “and he kept My charge, My commandments,” etc.
Above, he brought an added revelation of the Infinite Light into the supernal Chochmah and Chesed of Atzilus, the highest world. There lay the main point of his service, and this is what the verse means by his keeping G‑d’s charge and commandments.
מצותי דוקא מצות שהקב״ה עושה בעצמו הקב״ה מבקר חולים8 שענין החולים בעולמות עליונים הוא כמ״ש סמכוני באשישות9 וגו׳ כי חולת אהבה אני.
“My commandments” specifically: commandments that the Holy One, blessed be He, does Himself. “The Holy One, blessed be He, visits the sick”; and the matter of the sick in the higher worlds is as it is written, “Sustain me with flagons,” etc., “for I am sick with love.”
“My commandments” means mitzvos that G‑d Himself, as it were, performs, like the Sages’ “The Holy One, blessed be He, visits the sick.” In the higher worlds “the sick” are the lovesick soul of the Song of Songs: “Sustain me with flagons… for I am sick with love.”
שבחי׳ חולת אהבה היא מחמת ההסתר וההעלם שכל בחי׳ ממלא וסובב כל עלמין אינן אלא בחי׳ זיו ורק הודו על ארץ ושמים10 וגו׳.
For the state of being sick with love comes from the hiddenness and concealment: that the whole level of the light that fills all worlds and the light that encompasses all worlds (memalei and sovev kol almin) is nothing but the level of a radiance (ziv), and only “His splendor is over earth and heaven,” etc.
This lovesickness comes from G‑d’s hiddenness: all the light that fills the worlds and all the light that encompasses them is only a radiance of Him. As the verse says, “His splendor is over earth and heaven”: only His splendor, not His essence.
Avraham’s main work was above: his “mitzvos” were G‑d’s own mitzvos in the higher worlds, such as visiting the lovesick soul that longs for Him, because even the light that fills and surrounds all worlds is only His radiance.
The Gemara in Sotah learns “The Holy One, blessed be He, visits the sick” from G‑d’s appearing to Avraham at Elonei Mamre, a fitting link to a paragraph about Avraham. Kehot notes that this passage, from “My commandments” to “this sickness of love,” is quoted in Or HaTorah on Vayera.
Marei mekomos
- 1אך הנה עיקר המשכות אברהם אבינו · באוה״ת לך לך כרך ד תרפה, א ובסה״מ תר״ן ע׳ שלז מציין לכאן.
- 2בעולמות עליונים · ע׳ באוה״ת ויחי כרך ב שצח, ב. דרושים לחג השבועות ע׳ קעט. ראה אוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תשנז.
- 3ויקרא שם בשם ה׳ אל עולם · Genesis 31:33
- 4ויקרא שם בשם ה׳ אל עולם · Genesis 21:33
- 5וגם הנפש אשר עשו בחרן · Genesis 12:5
- 6מצותי . . אהבה זו · קטע זה מובא באוה״ת פ׳ וירא כרך א פח, ב. וראה לעיל לד, ד קדשנו במצותיו דייקא.
- 7וישמר משמרתי מצותי · Genesis 26:5
- 8הקב״ה מבקר חולים · Sotah 14a:4
- 9סמכוני באשישות · Song of Songs 2:5
- 10הודו על ארץ ושמים · Psalms 148:13
13ואי לזאת תכסף ותכלה הנפש לדבקה בא״ס ב״ה ממש. ועל זה נאמר סמכוני באשישות רפדוני בתפוחים1 שהם ענין התגלות אור א״ס ב״ה מההסתר והעלם שגילוי זה הוא רפואה לחולת אהבה זו.
And therefore the soul yearns and pines to cleave to the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, Himself. And of this it is said, “Sustain me with flagons, spread apples about me”: these signify the revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, out of the hiddenness and concealment, for this revelation is the cure for this sickness of love.
Because of this hiddenness the soul yearns and pines to cleave to the Infinite One Himself, not only to His radiance. The “flagons” and “apples” that sustain the lovesick are the revelation of the Infinite Light out of its concealment; that revelation is the cure, and it is G‑d’s “visiting the sick.”
The cure for the soul’s lovesickness, and so the meaning of G‑d’s “visiting the sick,” is the revelation of the Infinite Light out of its concealment.
Marei mekomos
- 1סמכוני באשישות רפדוני בתפוחים · Song of Songs 2:5
14וכן אמרו הקב״ה מניח תפלין.1 כי תפלין מלשון התקשרות2 שהוא התקשרות אור א״ס ב״ה בחכמה. והיינו דאמרינן תפלין דמארי עלמא מה כתיב בהו ומי כעמך ישראל3 וגו׳.
So too they said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin.” For tefillin is an expression of binding (hiskashrus), which is the binding of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, with Chochmah. And this is what we say: “The tefillin of the Master of the world — what is written in them? ‘And who is like Your people Israel,’” etc.
Another of G‑d’s own mitzvos: the Gemara says He puts on tefillin. “Tefillin” is read as binding (hiskashrus), the Infinite Light binding itself with Chochmah; and the Gemara answers what is written in G‑d’s tefillin with the verse praising Israel, “Who is like Your people Israel.”
כי ישראל עלו במחשבה4 בראשית בשביל ישראל5 שנקראו ראשית67 והתפלין הם ההתקשרות של אור א״ס ב״ה בבחי׳ ישראל שנקראו ראשית הוא בחי׳ חכמה וע״ד זה שאר
For Israel arose in [G‑d’s] thought; “In the beginning” (bereishis) [is] for the sake of Israel, who are called “beginning” (reishis). And the tefillin are the binding of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, with the level of Israel, who are called “beginning,” which is the level of Chochmah. And in this way the other
Israel “arose in G‑d’s thought” before creation, and the Midrash reads “In the beginning” (bereishis) as “for the sake of Israel, who are called ‘beginning’ (reishis).” “Beginning” is the level of Chochmah, so G‑d’s tefillin bind the Infinite Light with Israel, who are rooted in Chochmah.
המצות של הקב״ה הן המשכות מאור א״ס ב״ה בעולמות עליונים ושם גילוי המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה והתלבשותו בחכמה וחסד בבחי׳ איהו וחיוהי חד איהו וגרמוהי חד. אבל האי עלמא עלמא דפרודא כמ״ש ומשם יפרד8 וגו׳.
mitzvos of the Holy One, blessed be He, are drawings-down from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the higher worlds; and there is the revelation of the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and its enclothing in Chochmah and Chesed, in the mode of “He and His life-forces are one; He and His causes are one.” But this world is a world of separation, as it is written, “and from there it divides,” etc.
The same holds for G‑d’s other mitzvos: they draw down the Infinite Light in the higher worlds, where it is clothed in Chochmah and Chesed in complete unity. This world, though, is “a world of separation,” as the verse about the river that leaves Eden says, “and from there it divides.”
G‑d’s own mitzvos, like His tefillin, unite the Infinite Light with Chochmah and Chesed in the higher worlds; but this world is a world of separation, where that unity is not revealed.
Torah Ohr on Miketz (35b), which Kehot cites, reads it the same way: G‑d’s putting on tefillin is the drawing down by which the Infinite Light is clothed in Chochmah, tefillin meaning a binding from above to below, and His tefillin praise Israel because the main flow of Chochmah is for the souls of Israel.
Marei mekomos
- 1הקב״ה מניח תפילין · Berakhot 6a:17–18
- 2תפילין מלשון התקשרות · ראה בערכי הכינוים לבעל סה״ד מערכת תפילין. מובא באוה״ת ויקרא כרך ג ע׳ תתקטז.
- 3ומי כעמך ישראל · I Chronicles 17:21
- 4ישראל עלו במחשבה · Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 6 · 23b:3–4
- 5בראשית בשביל ישראל · Bereshit Rabbah 1:4
- 6בראשית בשביל ישראל שנקראו ראשית · Rashi on Genesis 1:2
- 7בראשית בשביל ישראל שנקראו ראשית · Ramban on Genesis 1:2–3
- 8ומשם יפרד · Genesis 2:10
What Sinai brought ¶15
15וכדי להיות המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה בבחי׳ איהו וחיוהי חד כו׳ גם למטה בעולם הפירוד נתנה התורה לישראל שתהא התלבשות והתאחדות אור א״ס ב״ה ממש בחכמה וחסד שלמטה במעשה המצות וקיומן בעשיה גשמית.
And in order for the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the mode of “He and His life-forces are one,” etc., [to be] also below, in the world of separation, the Torah was given to Israel: so that there be an actual enclothing and uniting of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the Chochmah and Chesed below, in the performance of the mitzvos and their fulfillment in physical action.
To make that unity real below as well, in the world of separation, the Torah was given to Israel. Through physical mitzvos the Infinite Light itself is clothed in, and united with, the Chochmah and Chesed found below.
וכמ״ש וירד ה׳ על הר סיני.1 וע״ז אמרו דהאי יומא הוא דקא גרים:
As it is written, “And G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai.” And of this they said that it is “this day that brought it about.”
This is the meaning of “G‑d descended upon Mount Sinai”: the divine came down into the lowest world. That is what Rav Yosef meant by “this day that brought it about.”
Here is the answer to paragraph 2: Avraham drew the Infinite Light into the higher worlds, but the Giving of the Torah made it possible to unite it with physical mitzvos in this world of separation.
Torah Ohr on Lech Lecha (11d), cited by Kehot on paragraph 2, draws the same contrast: Avraham fulfilled the Torah in the inner dimension, while revelation even in physical things came only with the Giving of the Torah.
Marei mekomos
- 1וירד ה׳ על הר סיני · Exodus 19:20
The two unities ¶16–18
The explanation is this. It is written, “For Havayah is a G‑d of knowledges (El de’os).” Meaning: two [kinds of] knowledge, the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) and the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah).
To explain how this works, the Alter Rebbe turns to Chanah’s song: “Havayah is a G‑d of knowledges,” in the plural. The two knowledges are two ways of seeing G‑d’s unity: the higher unity and the lower unity.
יחודא עלאה מלמעלה למטה שכל מה שלמטה מטה הוא יותר כלא וכאין וכל מה שהוא למעלה יותר יותר נחשב ליש.
The higher unity is from above to below: the lower anything is, the more it is as naught and as nothing, and the higher anything is, the more it is considered to be something (yesh).
The higher unity looks from above downward. From that view, the lower a thing is, the more it is as nothing; only what is higher counts as real existence (yesh).
The paragraph introduces the two “knowledges” of G‑d’s unity, beginning with the higher unity, in which the lower realms are as nothing.
In the higher unity creation is seen from G‑d’s side, where it is nothing; in the lower unity it is seen from the creature’s side, where it exists yet is united with G‑d. The maamar’s point will be that Torah and mitzvos make the lower view match the higher.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי אל דעות ה׳ · I Samuel 2:3
17וכמ״ש להנחיל אוהבי יש.1 ויחודא תתאה ממטה למעלה היא בחי׳ יש מאין שכל מה שלמטה מטה נחשב יותר ליש ונראה לעיני בשר דבר בפני עצמו ומורגש ומה
As it is written, “To cause those who love me to inherit yesh.” And the lower unity, from below to above, is the level of something from nothing (yesh me’ayin): the lower anything is, the more it is considered something, and it appears to eyes of flesh as a thing in its own right, and is felt; and what
Proverbs speaks of yesh, “substance,” as the inheritance of those who love wisdom: true existence belongs to the higher levels. The lower unity looks from below upward; it is the view of creation, something from nothing, in which the lower a thing is, the more it seems to exist, appearing to physical eyes as a thing in its own right.
שהוא למעלה מעלה הוא ענין שאינו נראה ולא מורגש ומושג ובשם זה של אל כולל ב׳ הדעות שכשם שמלמעלה
is higher is a matter that is not seen, nor felt and grasped. And in this Name, El, both kinds of knowledge are included: just as from above
From this view, what is higher is unseen, beyond feeling and grasp. Both views are included in the Name El of “a G‑d of knowledges.”
למטה כל מה שלמטה הוא כלא ואינו תופס מקום כך הוא ממטה למעלה ג״כ מפני כי ולו נתכנו עלילות2 ולא כתיב באלף והקרי ולו בוי״ו.
to below whatever is below is as naught and takes up no space, so it is also from below to above. This is because of “and by Him (velo) actions are weighed”: velo is written with an alef [“not”], and the reading is velo with a vav [“by Him”].
Just as from above the lower is as nothing and takes up no space, so it must be from below upward too. The proof is the next words of the verse, where velo is written with an alef (“not”) and read with a vav (“by Him”), as the next paragraph explains.
The lower unity is described, in which the physical seems most real; the Name El includes both knowledges, so the view from below too must come to see the world as nothing before G‑d.
The written form (kesiv) and the traditional reading (kri) of this word differ, and the maamar takes both as meaningful: the two spellings stand for the two kinds of mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1להנחיל אוהבי יש · Proverbs 8:21
- 2ולו נתכנו עלילות · I Samuel 2:3
18ולא באלף הם מצות לא תעשה. ולו בוי״ו הם מצות עשה. נתכנו להיות שוים יחודא עלאה ויחודא תתאה להיות למטה
Velo with an alef: these are the prohibitive commandments. Velo with a vav: these are the positive commandments. “Are weighed”: so that they be equal, the higher unity and the lower unity, so that it be below
The spelling with an alef, “not,” stands for the prohibitions, and the reading with a vav, “by Him,” for the positive commandments. Together they make the two unities “weighed,” that is, equal, so that below becomes exactly as above.
כמו למעלה ממש שלא יהיה היש תופס מקום כלל כי על התורה ומצות נאמר נעשה אדם בצלמנו1 כדמותנו. בצלמנו בחי׳ התורה.2
exactly as above, so that the yesh takes up no space at all. For of the Torah and mitzvos it is said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”: “in our image” is the level of the Torah;
Then the yesh, the sense of separate existence, takes up no space at all. The Torah and mitzvos are what “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” refers to: “our image” is the Torah.
כדמותנו בחי׳ המצות שהן הן בחי׳ אדם שעל דמות הכסא3 כו׳ שהן הן פנימיות רצונו וחכמתו ית׳ בלי שום הסתר פנים ואין היש מעלים ומסתיר על אור א״ס ב״ה השורה בתוכם ובהם
“after our likeness” is the level of the mitzvos. These are precisely the level of the “man” who is upon “the likeness of the throne,” etc.; for they are precisely the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of His will and His wisdom, may He be blessed, without any hiding of the Face, and the yesh does not conceal and hide the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that rests within them. And in them
“Our likeness” is the mitzvos, the “man” that Yechezkel saw upon the likeness of the throne. They are the inner dimension of G‑d’s will and wisdom, with no hiding of His face, so in them the yesh does not conceal the Infinite Light that rests within.
ועל ידם ממשיך אור א״ס ב״ה להיות למטה כמו למעלה בבחי׳ אין עוד מלבדו4 ולא תחללו5 את שם קדשי שלא לעשות חלל6 כו׳ ולא להיות דוחק רגלי השכינה7 רק ואשים דברי בפיך8 דברי ממש.
and through them one draws down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, so that it be below as above, in the mode of “there is nothing else besides Him.” And “You shall not profane (sechalelu) My holy Name”: not to make a void (chalal), etc., and not to be [one who] “pushes the feet of the Shechinah”; but rather, “And I have put My words in your mouth,” My very words.
Through them the Infinite Light is drawn down so that below is as above, “there is nothing else besides Him.” “You shall not profane (sechalelu) My holy Name” is read as “do not make a chalal,” a void empty of G‑d, and do not “push the feet of the Shechinah” with self-importance; instead, “I have put My words in your mouth,” G‑d’s own words.
Positive and negative mitzvos bring the lower unity into line with the higher, so that below, as above, nothing stands apart from G‑d; the Torah and mitzvos are G‑d’s inner will, with no concealment.
Torah Ohr on Tetzaveh (83b), which Kehot cites, gives the same reading of “You shall not profane”: Torah study must be in total bittul, not a “void” that pushes the feet of the Shechinah, so that as G‑d filled everything before creation, so He fills it now.
Marei mekomos
- 1נעשה אדם בצלמינו · Genesis 1:26
- 2בצלמנו בחי׳ התורה · ראה אוה״ת בראשית כרך ג תקד, א.
- 3אדם שעל דמות הכסא · Ezekiel 1:26
- 4אין עוד מלבדו · Deuteronomy 4:35
- 5ולא תחללו שלא לעשות חלל · Leviticus 22:32
- 6שלא לעשות חלל · Shabbat 33a:3
- 7דוחק רגלי השכינה · Berakhot 43b:19–20
- 8ואשים דברי בפיך · Isaiah 51:16
A consuming fire ¶19–21
19והנה המצות הן לבושין ומקיפין והתורה היא מזון ופנימיות שבהם ממשיך אור א״ס ב״ה להיות שורה על נפשו בבחי׳ מקיף
Now, the mitzvos are garments and encompassing [lights] (makifin), and the Torah is food and the inner dimension. Through them one draws down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, to rest upon one’s soul as an encompassing [light] (makif),
The mitzvos are “garments” and encompassing lights (makifin), surrounding the soul from outside; the Torah is “food” and inner light, taken in. Through the mitzvos the Infinite Light rests upon the soul as a makif.
וגם להיות הנפש תוכה רצוף אהבה1 בבחי׳ פנימית. וע״ז נאמר כי הוי״ה אלהיך אש אוכלה הוא. פי׳ הוי״ה בחי׳ תורה.2
and also so that the soul’s “inside is inlaid with love,” in an inner mode. And of this it is said, “For Havayah your G‑d (Elokecha) is a consuming fire.” Meaning: Havayah is the level of Torah,
Through the Torah the soul’s inside is “inlaid with love,” filled from within. The verse “For Havayah your G‑d is a consuming fire” is read accordingly: “Havayah” stands for the Torah, and, as the next part says, “your G‑d” for the mitzvos.
The mitzvos surround the soul and the Torah fills it from within; together they are the “consuming fire” of the verse.
Marei mekomos
- 1תוכה רצוף אהבה · Song of Songs 3:10
- 2כי ה׳ אלקיך אש אוכלה · Deuteronomy 4:24
20ואלהיך פי׳ בחי׳ מצות הן הם כמו האש ע״ד משל שאם נותנים אש תוך הכלי וסביבותיו הרי ממילא שולט האש מעבר אל עבר ושורף ומכלה לגמרי.
and “your G‑d” (Elokecha) means the level of mitzvos. They are like fire, by way of analogy: if one puts fire inside a vessel and around it, then the fire naturally takes hold from side to side, burning and consuming entirely.
“Your G‑d” stands for the mitzvos. Fire placed both inside a vessel and around it takes hold through and through and consumes it completely; so the Torah within and the mitzvos around work together.
כך התורה והמצות ע״י שהם בבחי׳ פנימיות ובבחינת מקיפין הרי יש בהן כח לכלות ולשרוף לגמרי את חומריות נפש הבהמית וגסותה
So too the Torah and mitzvos: since they are in the mode of inwardness (pnimiyus) and in the mode of encompassing (makifin), they have the power to consume and burn up entirely the materiality of the animal soul and its coarseness,
Because the Torah and mitzvos act both from within and from around, they can burn away entirely the materiality and coarseness of the animal soul.
שהיא המסתרת ומעלמת על אור ה׳ א״ס ב״ה להיות נראה ליש ודבר בפני עצמו שלכן היא צריכה למירוק בגיהנם
which is what hides and conceals the light of G‑d, the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that [it] appears to be yesh, a thing in its own right. That is why it needs to be scoured in Gehinnom.
That coarseness is what hides G‑d’s light and makes things seem to be a yesh, a separate existence. This is why the animal soul needs to be scoured in Gehinnom.
אבל תלמיד חכם1 אין אור של גיהנם שולט בו כי התורה והמצות הם הממרקות מבית ומבחוץ ונגלה כבוד2 ה׳ למטה כמו למעלה.
But over a Torah scholar the fire of Gehinnom has no power, for the Torah and mitzvos are what scour [him] from within and from without; and the glory of G‑d is revealed below as above.
The Gemara says the fire of Gehinnom has no power over a Torah scholar, because the Torah and mitzvos have already scoured him from within and from without. In him G‑d’s glory is revealed below as above.
This is [the meaning of] what is written, “And Mount Sinai was all in smoke, because G‑d descended upon it in fire,” and “G‑d spoke to you from the midst of the fire,” etc.
This is the meaning of the verses about Sinai: the mountain was all smoke because G‑d descended on it in fire, and He spoke from the midst of the fire. The fire of Sinai is the Torah and mitzvos, which consume coarseness and reveal G‑d below.
The Torah within and the mitzvos around burn away the animal soul’s coarseness, the source of the sense of separate existence; this is the fire of Sinai, and why Gehinnom has no hold on a Torah scholar.
The Gemara in Chagigah gives its reason: Torah scholars are “all fire,” as it says, “Is not My word like fire?” The maamar explains that fire as the Torah and mitzvos working from within and from without.
Marei mekomos
- 1אבל תלמיד חכם · ראה לקו״ש חט״ז ע׳ 437 הערה 26.
- 2ונגלה כבוד ה׳ · Isaiah 40:5
- 3והר סיני עשן · Exodus 19:18
- 4וידבר הוי״ה אליכם מתוך האש · Deuteronomy 4:12
- 5ת״ח אין אור של גינהם שולט בו · Chagigah 27a:7–8
21והנה כח זה להמשכה זו ניתן לישראל שהם הם הממשיכים תורתו ומצותיו ע״י עסק תורתם ועבודתם בבחינת ולא תחללו1 וגו׳.
Now, the power for this drawing down was given to Israel, for it is they who draw down His Torah and His mitzvos, through their occupation in Torah and their service, in the mode of “You shall not profane,” etc.
The power to draw G‑dliness down through Torah and mitzvos was given to Israel: they draw down G‑d’s Torah and mitzvos through their study and service, in the spirit of “You shall not profane,” leaving no void.
מה שא״כ עכו״ם אפי׳ אם מקיימין תורה ומצות אין ממשיכין כלום והיא בחי׳ מתנה טובה.
This is not so with idolaters: even if they fulfill Torah and mitzvos, they draw down nothing. And this is the level of “a good gift.”
This power is not built into the deeds themselves but was given to Israel, so the Alter Rebbe says that idolaters who perform the same acts draw down nothing. He calls it “a good gift,” the term the next paragraph takes from the Sages.
The ability to draw the Infinite Light into this world through Torah and mitzvos is a gift given to Israel, not a property of the acts alone.
Marei mekomos
- 1ולא תחללו · Leviticus 22:32
The Crown of Torah ¶22
22וכמארז״ל שלש מתנות טובות כו׳.1 וזמן מתנה זו היא בחג השבועות זמן מתן תורה גלוי בחי׳ כתר תורה שהיא למעלה מבחי׳ התורה.
As our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Three good gifts,” etc. And the time of this gift is on the festival of Shavuos, the time of the Giving of the Torah: the revelation of the level of the Crown of Torah (Keser Torah), which is above the level of the Torah [itself].
The Sages speak of three good gifts G‑d gave Israel, the Torah among them. The gift of drawing G‑dliness down through Torah and mitzvos comes on Shavuos, the time of the Giving of the Torah, as a revelation of the “Crown of Torah” (Keser Torah), a level above the Torah itself.
וזהו אי לאו האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא2 כמה בחי׳ יוסף. יוסף דעת יוסף מכאוב3 וכמה מיני חכמות זרות
This is [the meaning of] “Were it not for this day that brought it about, how many Yosefs are there in the marketplace”: how many levels of yosef (“adding”)! “He who adds (yosef) knowledge adds (yosef) pain,” and how many kinds of foreign wisdoms,
Now Rav Yosef’s saying is explained: there are many kinds of yosef, “adding.” Koheles says that one who adds knowledge adds pain, and there are many kinds of foreign wisdom.
דכתיב בהם חכמים הם להרע4 ולהטיב לא ידעו כי משם יפרד5 אבל האי יומא הוא גלוי חכמתו ורצונו ית׳ המלובשת בתורה שבה התלבשות אוא״ס ב״ה וגלוי למטה כמו למעלה.
of which it is written, “They are wise to do evil, but to do good they do not know,” for “from there it divides.” But this day is the revelation of His wisdom and will, may He be blessed, which is enclothed in the Torah, in which there is the enclothing of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and a revelation below as above.
Of such wisdom Yirmeyahu says, “They are wise to do evil, but to do good they do not know”; it belongs to the world of separation. But this day revealed G‑d’s own wisdom and will, clothed in the Torah, in which the Infinite Light itself is clothed and revealed below as above.
כי האי יומא הוא ממחרת השבת אחר ימי הספירה שבעה שבועות שהם מבחי׳ ז׳ שמות שאינן נמחקין
For this day is “on the morrow of the Shabbos,” after the days of the Counting, seven weeks, which are from the level of the seven Names that may not be erased,
Shavuos falls “on the morrow of the Shabbos,” after the seven weeks of the Counting of the Omer. Those seven weeks correspond to the seven Names that may not be erased.
שהם בסדר השתלשלות6 שכך צריך להיות תחלה ההמשכה מעט מעט עד שבחג השבועות בא הגלוי מלמעלה מסדר ההשתלשלות שמעלה ומטה שוין שם רוחניות כמו גשמיות.
which are within the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus). For so it must be: first the drawing down, little by little, until on the festival of Shavuos the revelation comes from above the order of the chain of descent, where above and below are equal, the spiritual like the physical.
These Names belong to the ordered chain of descent, where light comes down step by step, so the drawing down must first come little by little. On Shavuos a revelation comes from beyond the chain of descent, where above and below, spiritual and physical, are equal.
כמ״ש המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ7 וגו׳ כמ״ש במ״א. והוא ענין כתר תורה. ולכן בא לידי גלוי למטה כמו למעלה.
As it is written, “Who looks down low upon heaven and earth,” etc., as is explained elsewhere. And this is the matter of the Crown of Torah; and therefore it comes into revelation below as above.
This is “Who looks down low upon heaven and earth”: from that height, heaven and earth are equally low. This is the Crown of Torah, and that is why on Shavuos it is revealed below as above.
Rav Yosef’s saying is fully explained: Shavuos, after the seven weeks that match the seven Names, brings the Crown of Torah, a revelation from beyond the chain of descent where above and below are equal; without it there are many “Yosefs” who only add worldly knowledge.
The maamar Mai Chanukah (5673), quoted by Kehot, reads the seven Names here as lights clothed in vessels and Moshe as the essence of Chochmah, and points to a gloss in the explanation printed later in Torah Ohr (68d).
Marei mekomos
- 1שלש מתנות טובות כו׳ · Berakhot 5a:20–21
- 2אי לאו האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא · Pesachim 68b:12–13
- 3יוסף דעת יוסף מכאוב · Ecclesiastes 1:18
- 4חכמים הם להרע · Jeremiah 4:22
- 5כי משם יפרד · Genesis 2:10
- 6ז׳ שמות . . בסדר השתלשלות · ראה בד״ה מאי חנוכה תרע״ג ”ומש״ש [בתו״א כאן] בענין ז׳ שמות כו׳ הן אורות המתלבשים בכלים כמש״ש בהביאור בהג״ה [לקמן סח, ד] ומשה הוא בבחי׳ עצם החכמה”, ע״ש.
- 7המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ · Psalms 113:6
Moshe speaks, G‑d answers ¶23–25
23והנה על המשכת התורה בבחי׳ זו כתיב משה ידבר.1 משה בחינת בטול והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה.
Now, of the drawing down of the Torah in this mode it is written, “Moshe speaks.” Moshe is the level of self-nullification (bittul): “And the man Moshe was very humble, more than any man on the face of the earth,”
Now the opening verse is explained: the drawing down of the Torah in this way is “Moshe speaks.” Moshe is bittul; the Torah calls him the humblest of all men on the face of the earth.
and “What are we?” Yedaber (“speaks”) is an expression of drawing down and leading, as in “He leads (yadber) peoples”; that is, he draws down the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, below through the level of bittul,
He also said of himself and Aharon, “What are we?” Yedaber, “speaks,” also means leading and drawing down, as in “He leads peoples,” so “Moshe speaks” means that Moshe draws the Infinite Light down below through bittul.
for “wisdom is found from ayin,” from the level of ayin (nothing). And “In the place where you find His greatness, there you find His humility”; that is, through the level of humility.
Wisdom “is found from ayin,” from nothingness: Chochmah comes through self-nullification. And as with G‑d’s own greatness and humility, the drawing down comes through humility.
“Moshe speaks” means that Moshe draws the Infinite Light down below through his bittul, for wisdom comes from nothingness and G‑d’s greatness is found together with humility.
Torah Ohr on Bereishis (4a), which Kehot cites, also derives medaber, the “speaking” creature, from “He leads peoples”: the human being leads all the lower creations by raising them through his service.
Marei mekomos
- 1על המשכת התורה . . ידבר · ראה אוה״ת פ׳ יתרו ע׳ תתלב.
- 2והאיש משה ענו מאד . . ונחנו מה · Numbers 12:3
- 3ונחנו מה · Exodus 16:8
- 4ידבר עמים · Psalms 47:4
- 5משה בחי׳ בטול · בלקו״ת פקודי ה, ד מציין לד״ה משה ידבר בענין בטול, ואולי הכוונה לכאן.
- 6החכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
- 7ובמקום שאתה מוצא גדולתו שם אתה מוצא ענותנותו · Megillah 31a:12–13
24והנה משה הוא הממשיך מלמעלה למטה. כי משה שושבינא דמלכא12 ואיש האלהים בעלה דמטרוניתא דהיינו שהוא ממשיך בחי׳ יחודא עלאה שכל מה שלמטה מטה הוא כאין ואין עוד מלבדו3 וגו׳
Now, Moshe is the one who draws down from above to below. For Moshe is “the groomsman of the King,” and “the man of G‑d” (ish ha-Elokim) [is] “the husband of the Matrona”; that is, he draws down the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah), in which the lower anything is, the more it is as nothing, and “there is nothing else besides Him,” etc.
Moshe draws from above to below. The Zohar calls him “the groomsman of the King,” the one who brings the groom to the bride, and “the man of G‑d” is read as the husband of the Matrona, the Shechinah; he draws down the higher unity, in which the lower is as nothing and “there is nothing else besides Him.”
והאלהים הוא בחי׳ יחודא תתאה שהוא בחי׳ כסא הכבוד שהוא מקור לנפש הבהמית פני אריה פני שור4 כו׳. משא״כ משה בחי׳ מה היינו בחי׳ אדם שעל הכסא5 כו׳ אדם בגימטריא מ״ה.67
And ha-Elokim is the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), which is the level of the Throne of Glory, which is the source of the animal soul: “the face of a lion,” “the face of an ox,” etc. Not so Moshe, the level of mah (“what”), that is, the level of the “man” (adam) who is upon the Throne, etc.; adam has the numerical value of mah.
Ha-Elokim, the second half of the verse, is the lower unity: the Throne of Glory, source of the animal soul, as in the faces of the lion and the ox in Yechezkel’s chariot. Moshe, by contrast, is mah (“what”), the “man” upon the Throne, for the letters of adam (1+4+40) add up to mah (40+5), forty-five.
Moshe, the groomsman of the King and the level of mah, draws down the higher unity; ha-Elokim, the Throne and source of the animal soul, is the lower unity.
Likkutei Torah on Beha’aloscha (32b), which refers to this maamar, contrasts Moshe, “the groomsman of the King,” who draws revelation from above to below, with Aharon, “the groomsman of the Matrona,” who raises the souls of Israel from below upward.
Marei mekomos
- 1משה שושבינא דמלכא · Zohar III, 20a
- 2משה שושבינא דמלכא · Zohar, Metzora 4:18–7:25
- 3ואין עוד מלבדו · Deuteronomy 4:35
- 4פני אריה פני שור · Ezekiel 1:10
- 5אדם שעל הכסא · Ezekiel 1:26
- 6ואיש האלקים · Deuteronomy 33:1
- 7אדם בגימט׳ מ״ה · נסמן לעיל נב, ב.
And this is the level of the tzimtzum, for there to be something from nothing (yesh me’ayin). For Elokim is a term for rulership, for “there is no king without a people (am)” — from the term omemus (dimness).
The lower unity is the tzimtzum that lets something come from nothing. Elokim means rulership, and “there is no king without a people”; a people (am) is named from omemus, dimness, beings distant enough from the king to be ruled.
והאלהים יעננו הנה לשון עניה בלשון הקודש הוא כמארז״ל גבי הלל עונה אחריהם מה שהם אומרים2 שמה שהשומע אומר מה שאומר המדבר נק׳ עונה.
“And ha-Elokim answers him (ya’anenu)”: the term “answering” in the Holy Tongue is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said regarding Hallel, “he responds after them what they say”; for when the listener says what the speaker says, it is called “answering.”
“Answering” in the Holy Tongue means repeating the speaker’s words, as the Mishnah says of Hallel: one who hears it from a reader “responds after them what they say.”
וזהו והאלהים יעננו שבחי׳ יחודא תתאה יענה להמשכה זו של משה3 שהמשיך מבחי׳ יחודא עלאה להיות מלמטה למעלה כמו מלמעלה למטה. וענין ידבר ויעננו לשון הווה.
This is [the meaning of] “and ha-Elokim answers him”: the level of the lower unity answers this drawing down of Moshe, who drew down from the level of the higher unity, so that it be from below to above as it is from above to below. And the matter of yedaber and ya’anenu [being] in the present tense:
So “ha-Elokim answers him” means that the lower unity repeats what Moshe draws down from the higher unity: from below upward becomes as from above downward. The next part explains why the verbs are in the present tense.
הנה אתפשטותא דמשה בכל דרא45 היא בחי׳ הבטול שיש בכל אדם לפום מאי דמשער בלביה בקיום התורה והמצות בבחי׳ בטל רצונך:6
the extension of Moshe in every generation is the level of bittul that is in every person, “according to what he measures in his heart,” in fulfilling the Torah and mitzvos in the mode of “Nullify your will.”
Moshe extends into every generation, as Tikkunei Zohar says: his extension is the bittul in every person, each according to what he “measures in his heart,” when he keeps the Torah and mitzvos in the spirit of “Nullify your will.” So “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers” is ongoing, not only a past event.
The lower unity “answers” Moshe by repeating below the unity he draws from above; and since Moshe extends into every generation as each person’s bittul, the verse speaks in the present tense.
Torah Ohr on Bereishis (5a), cited by Kehot, explains Elokim as rulership in the same way: the Name conceals the light through contractions so that separate creations can exist, and this is also called the Shechinah, dwelling within creation.
Marei mekomos
- 1אין מלך בלא עם · נסמן לעיל ה, א. נג, ד.
- 2כמארז״ל גבי הלל עונה אחריהם מה שהם אומרים · Sukkah 38a
- 3יענה להמשכה זו של משה · ראה אוה״ת נ״ך כרך ב ע׳ א׳קיז.
- 4אתפשטותא דמשה בכל דרא · Zohar III, 216b
- 5אתפשטותא דמשה בכל דרא · Tikkunei Zohar 112a:13–14
- 6בטל רצונך · Pirkei Avot 2:4
The voice of Moshe ¶26–28
This is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Whoever reads and studies, the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him.” Not all are equal, on one level;
This explains the Sages’ saying that whoever reads and studies Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him. Not everyone is on one level in this.
rather, each one according to his own measure in the level of bittul to the Infinite Light, blessed be He: the level of “there is nothing else besides Him” and “I, G‑d, have not changed.”
Each person draws it according to his own measure of bittul to the Infinite Light: the awareness that “there is nothing else besides Him” and that “I, G‑d, have not changed.”
G‑d’s “reading and studying opposite” a person is His “answering” Moshe, and it comes to each according to his own bittul.
In Tanna DeBei Eliyahu the teaching is derived from “pour out your heart like water before (nochach) the face of G‑d”: as in “they camped opposite (nochach) one another,” G‑d sits facing the Torah scholar and studies with him.
Marei mekomos
- 1כל הקורא ושונה · ראה תדב״א רבה רפי״ח.
- 2כל הקורא ושונה הקב״ה קורא ושונה כנגדו · Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 18:1–2
- 3אין עוד מלבדו · Deuteronomy 4:35
- 4ואני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
27וכמו שהיה אוא״ס ב״ה ממלא כל חלל זה דעוה״ז קודם שנברא עולם הזה כך הוא ממש לאחר שנברא והוא בחי׳ משה ונחנו מה.1
Just as the Infinite Light, blessed be He, filled this whole space of this world before this world was created, so it is, exactly, after it was created. And this is the level of Moshe: “and what are we?”
The bittul meant here is the recognition that the Infinite Light fills the space of this world after creation exactly as it did before. That is Moshe’s “What are we?”
And “the Shechinah speaks from within the throat of Moshe”; and so in each and every generation, as the Maggid said to the Beis Yosef, “I am the Mishnah that speaks in your mouth.”
Because Moshe was wholly nullified, “the Shechinah spoke from within his throat”; and so in every generation, as the heavenly Maggid told the Beis Yosef, Rabbi Yosef Karo, “I am the Mishnah that speaks in your mouth.”
Moshe’s bittul, the awareness that G‑d fills this world as before creation, made him a voice through which the Shechinah spoke, and the same happens in every generation.
Torah Ohr on Va’eira (56a), which Kehot cites, explains that because Moshe said “What are we?” in total bittul, the Torah was given through him in speech: one who does not feel himself at all simply says what G‑d says, as in “I have put My words in your mouth.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ונחנו מה · Exodus 16:8
- 2ושכינה מדברת · נסמן לעיל נו, א.
- 3אני המשנה המדברת בפיך · מגיד משרים להב״י ר״פ ויקרא. ועוד.
28ולכן נק׳ התלמיד חכם בשם משה כדאיתא בגמ׳ משה שפיר קאמרת.1 כי התלמיד חכם הוא המקבל מבחי׳ חכמה עלאה כח מ״ה ואבא יסד ברתא2 כמ״ש ה׳ בחכמה יסד ארץ3 הוא דבר ה׳ זו הלכה4 שבפי ת״ח.5
Therefore a Torah scholar is called by the name Moshe, as is found in the Gemara: “Moshe, you have spoken well.” For the Torah scholar is the one who receives from the level of supernal Chochmah (wisdom), [which is] koach mah (“the power of what”); and “Abba founded the daughter,” as it is written, “G‑d founded the earth with wisdom”: this is “‘the word of G‑d’: this is the halachah” in the mouth of a Torah scholar.
This is why the Gemara addresses a Torah scholar as “Moshe”: “Moshe, you have spoken well.” The scholar receives from supernal Chochmah, read as koach mah, “the power of what,” Moshe’s level; and as the Zohar says, “Abba founded the daughter”: Chochmah founded the “earth,” which is “the word of G‑d,” the halachah in the scholar’s mouth.
וזהו בקולו של משה6 כי קול הוא בחי׳ המשכה מההעלם אל הגלוי כמו מהבל הלב אל הגרון
This is [the meaning of] “with the voice of Moshe”: for voice is the level of drawing down from the hidden to the revealed, as from the breath of the heart to the throat,
Now the words “with a voice,” Moshe’s voice, are explained. Voice is a drawing from the hidden to the revealed, as breath rises from the heart to the throat.
ע״ד משל כנודע מ״ש על פסוק קנה חכמה7 כלומר כפי ערך המשכת בחי׳ הבטול לאור א״ס ב״ה ככה ממש האלהים יעננו להיות קורא ושונה כנגדו:
by way of analogy, as is known from what is said on the verse “Acquire wisdom.” That is to say: according to the measure of the drawing down of the level of bittul to the Infinite Light, blessed be He, exactly so “ha-Elokim answers him,” reading and studying opposite him.
This is known from the explanation of “Acquire (kneh) wisdom,” where kneh is read like kaneh, the windpipe, through which the voice comes out. So ha-Elokim answers in exact measure to the bittul drawn down: G‑d reads and studies opposite each person according to it.
The maamar closes the circle: “the voice of Moshe” is the voice of each Torah scholar’s bittul, drawing wisdom from hidden to revealed, and G‑d answers each in exact measure to it.
Or HaTorah on Yisro, cited by Kehot, says the Alter Rebbe here follows Avodas HaKodesh (part 4, ch. 33), that Israel understood all the commandments from G‑d’s mouth without any intermediary, as the author of the Akeidah also wrote, unlike Rashi and Ramban, and certainly unlike Rambam.
Marei mekomos
- 1משה שפיר קאמרת · Shabbat 101b:3
- 2ואבא יסד ברתא · Zohar III, 248a
- 3ה׳ בחכמה יסד ארץ · Proverbs 3:19
- 4דבר ה׳ זו הלכה · Shabbat 138b:11–12
- 5זו הלכה שבפי ת״ח · ראה אוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתלב שציין לכאן וכתב שאדה״ז ס״ל כדעת העבודת הקדש ח״ד פל״ג שכל הדברות הבינו ישראל מפיו בלי שום אמצעי ושכן כתב בעל העקדה ודלא כהרמב״ן ורש״י וכ״ש דלא כהרמב״ם, ע״ש. העבוה״ק נתבאר ג״כ בארוכה באוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתמד ואילך.
- 6בקולו של משה · Berakhot 45a:8
- 7קנה חכמה · Proverbs 4:5
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
Each person has a share of Moshe: the bittul with which he keeps the Torah and mitzvos in the spirit of “Nullify your will.” As his bittul, so G‑d’s response: the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him according to his own measure. Like Avraham, he draws G‑d down through humility, not through self-importance, which would make a “void” and push away the Shechinah; and through Torah within and mitzvos around he consumes the coarseness of the animal soul, so that G‑d’s glory is revealed below as above.
Questions for discussion
- If Avraham kept the whole Torah before Sinai, what exactly did the Giving of the Torah add, according to this maamar?
- Why are the mitzvos called “the limbs of the King” when G‑d has no body, and what does the comparison to a soul in its limbs explain?
- What is the difference between the higher unity and the lower unity, and how do positive and negative commandments make them “equal”?
- Why does the Torah need to work both as an inner light and as an encompassing light, as in the image of fire inside and around a vessel?
- How does Moshe’s bittul in every generation explain the present tense of “Moshe speaks, and G‑d answers,” and what does it ask of a person who learns Torah?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- ×9
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×4
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×3
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- Harmony of kindness and restraint; associated with compassion. ×1
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×29
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×21
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light that makes room for finite worlds. ×1
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human initiative that draws down a divine response. ×1
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d.
- The light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin)ממלא כל עלמין
- Divine light that enters each world and gives it life according to its measure.
- The light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin)סובב כל עלמין
- Divine light too great to enter the worlds; it 'surrounds' them and affects them from beyond. ×1
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- The higher unity (yichuda ila'ah)יחודא עילאה
- The world is nothing next to G‑d.
- The lower unity (yichuda tata'ah)יחודא תתאה
- G‑d is present within the world's existence. ×5
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level. ×3
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect.
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world. ×2
- The animal soulנפש הבהמית
- The soul that animates the body and its drives. ×2
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The level above intellect: divine will and delight. ×2
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×2
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting.
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×3