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Isarusa dile’eila

אתערותא דלעילא

An arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila)

G‑d’s stirring toward the world and the soul: it may answer an arousal from below, come first to awaken one, or come from a level no arousal from below reaches.

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Nasso 6, ¶21Lists three levels of arousal from above, matched to the three blessings of the Kohanim: one that awakens the arousal from below, one that comes after the arousal from below, and a supernal one that is in essence above the arousal from below.הא׳ אתעדל״ע המעורר אתעדל״ת וזהו ענין ברכה בראש דהיינו יברכך. הב׳ אתעדל״ע הבאה אחר האתעדל״ת
  2. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 26, ¶27One arousal from above depends on the arousal from below; another, from sovev kol almin, does not, and sin does not hold it back (the dew; the doorway of the Ulam that had no doors). Yet for the inner levels the full arousal from below must come first, as far as its power reaches.יש אתעדל״ע שתלוי באתעדל״ת. ויש אתעדל״ע שאינו תלוי כלל באתעדל״ת
  3. Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 1, ¶12Even for the arousal from below to bring an arousal from above, there must first be an arousal from above, an illumination that prompts thoughts of teshuvah; so the blessing comes before the mitzvah. Torah, the level of Anochi, is an arousal from above that comes as a gift, above any arousal from below.וגם לבחי׳ אתעדל״ת להיות אתעדל״ע צריך להיות תחלה אתעדל״ע שהוא בחי׳ ב״ק יוצאת מהר חורב
  4. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19, ¶24Notes that some places call the arousal from above that comes of itself higher and others call the one drawn through an arousal from below higher, and says both are true: the first is rooted higher but reaches only as an outer, encompassing light; the second is a truly inner revelation.שרש ומקור אתעלד״ע זו שנמשך מעצמו נמשך מבחי׳ כי חפץ חסד הוא דהיינו ממקום שאין אתעדל״ת מגעת שם כלל
  5. Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6, ¶11The arousal from below draws an arousal from above only from Chochmah of Atzilus; Keser, above the chain of worlds, is revealed of itself with no arousal from below, as on Shavuos and at the splitting of the sea (“Havayah will fight for you, and you shall be silent”).שבחי׳ כתר מתגלה ממילא בלי אתעדל״ת כלל כמו בשבועות מתגלה בחי׳ הכתר

Stated differently

Which arousal from above is higher: the one that comes before an arousal from below, or the one drawn through it

Likkutei Torah, Shelach 13, ¶2ואתערותא דלעילא זו גדלה מעלתה מאד מאותה שע״י אתעדל״ת שאין אתעדל״ת יכולה להגיע אליה

The arousal from above that comes before the arousal from below, to raise up from below, is far greater than the one drawn through an arousal from below, which cannot reach it (“My holiness is above your holiness”).

Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 3, ¶4מה שאין כן להיות הגילוי אתעדל״ע בבחי׳ פנימי׳ ממש אינו אלא ע״י אתעדל״ת תחלה

The blessing over the mitzvos, an arousal from above before the deed, gives only an encompassing light (makif); a truly inner revelation of the arousal from above comes only through an arousal from below first, by keeping the mitzvos.

Discussed by

  • The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 3 (Chukas-Balak), p. תתעח

    States the difference between the arousal from above before and after the arousal from below: the later one enters the soul inwardly, the earlier one shines only as an encompassing light.

    שהאתעדל״ע שאחר קדימת אתעדל״ת ממש בבחי׳ באר מים חיים היא באה בבחי׳ שפע ואור בתוך ופנימי׳ הנפש

  • The Rebbe · Likkutei Sichos vol. 12 (Tazria, sicha 2), p. 72

    Holds both sides from Likkutei Torah together: the arousal drawn through the arousal from below is inner light, while the one that comes of itself comes from a higher level that the arousal from below cannot reach, but only as outer light.

    שהאתעדל״ע שמצד עצמה היא מבחי׳ חיצוניות האור והבאה ע״י אתעדל״ת היא מבחי׳ פנימיות האור

The level from which the arousal from above that the arousal from below cannot reach comes

Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6, ¶11בחי׳ כתר שהוא למעלה מהשתלשלות כלל, והוא בחינת גולגלתא דאריך

It is Keser, above the chain of worlds, the Galgalta of Arich, which has no relation at all to Chochmah.

Likkutei Torah, Tazria 4, ¶7יש אתעדל״ע שהיא הגבה מאד נעלה מכפי אתעדל״ת שאין אתעדל״ת מגעת שם והיינו בחי׳ א״ק שהוא לפני אצילות

It is Adam Kadmon, before Atzilus, which does not invest itself in the worlds at all; it is revealed through circumcision, while Shabbos is the arousal from above that matches the arousal from below.

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42, ¶12ופנימית עתיק הוא למעל׳ מהשבירה והתיקון והוא ענין אתעדל״ע שלמעלה מאתעדל״ת לגמרי

It is the inner aspect of Atik, above the breaking and the rectification, to be drawn in the new heavens and earth; everything drawn now, through an arousal from below, comes only from the outer aspect of Atik.

Discussed by

  • The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Vayikra vol. 2 (Tazria), p. תקיד

    Places the arousal beyond any arousal from below in the inner aspect of Adam Kadmon, the general Keser, and suggests that inner and outer Adam Kadmon parallel Atik and Arich in Keser of Atzilus.

    וזה הוא הגילוי מבחי׳ פנימי׳ א״ק פנימי׳ הכתר הכללי וכיון שאינו בא אלא אחר שלימות האתעדל״ע שע״י אתעדל״ת

Whether the giving of the Torah on Shavuos was an arousal from above that followed an arousal from below, or one that came first or of itself

Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2, ¶27בשבועות מתן תורה הוא בחי׳ אתעדל״ע שאחר אתעדל״ת התגלות רצונו וחכמתו למטה

The offerings (“you shall bring near”) are the arousal from below, and through them the giving of the Torah on Shavuos is the arousal from above that comes after the arousal from below.

Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12, ¶24משא״כ בשעת מ״ת שהיה ההתחלה ע״י אתעדל״ע שכפה עליהם הר כגיגית

At the giving of the Torah the beginning was from an arousal from above, the mountain held over them, which then awakened their arousal from below (“we will do” before “we will hear”); so it was “the man seeds first,” unlike Purim.

Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6, ¶11שבחי׳ כתר מתגלה ממילא בלי אתעדל״ת כלל כמו בשבועות מתגלה בחי׳ הכתר

On Shavuos Keser is revealed of itself, without any arousal from below.

Discussed by

  • The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat vol. 1, p. שסה

    Raises the counting of the Omer as an arousal from below before Sinai, then says it was too small to be a vessel for the giving of the Torah and served only as preparation.

    הגילוי דמ״ת הי׳ בדרך אתעדל״ע שלא ע״י אתעדל״ת, דהגם שהיתה העבודה דספירת העומר במשך הז׳ שבועות שבין יצי״מ למ״ת

Whether Shabbos is an arousal from above that answers the arousal from below, or one that does not depend on it

Likkutei Torah, Tazria 4, ¶7וזהו דוקא ענין שבת שהוא אתעדל״ע לפי האתעדל״ת

Shabbos is the arousal from above that matches the arousal from below, the mayin duchrin of Mah refining the mayin nukvin of Ban; circumcision draws an arousal from above far beyond any arousal from below.

Likkutei Torah, Matos 5, ¶3שהמשכת מ״ד הנ״ל תלוי באתעדל״ע בלתי אתעדל״ת כלל לכן נאמר בעתו רצונו רצון עליון לבד כמו בשבתות ויו״ט

The drawing of mayin duchrin “in its time” depends on an arousal from above with no arousal from below at all, the supernal will alone, as on Shabbos and festivals.

Torah Ohr, Beshalach 7, ¶15אז תתענג על הוי״ה שהוא אתעדל״ע שאינו תלוי באתעדל״ת

On Shabbos, “then you shall delight in Havayah”: an arousal from above that does not depend on the arousal from below, as in “Havayah will lift His face to you.”

Discussed by

  • The Rebbe · Toras Menachem, Hisvaaduyos 5725 vol. 3, p. 304

    Speaks of two Shabbosos, one that Israel ‘makes’ through the arousal from below and one that is an arousal from above; within the second, it separates the Shabbos that is holy of itself from a ‘gift’ above what the arousal from below draws.

    שבת הא׳ היא השבת שבבחי׳ אתערותא דלתתא, שזהו״ע שבנ״י ממשיכים ועושים את השבת (לעשות את השבת), ושבת הב׳ היא השבת שבבחי׳ אתערותא דלעילא

Further in Chassidus

  1. The Tzemach Tzedek · Derech Mitzvosecha (Shoresh Mitzvas HaTefillah ch. 16-17), p. 246

    Answers how a finite arousal from below can stir an infinite arousal from above: love ‘with all your might’ goes beyond the person’s own limit and so resembles the limitless, though there is no true comparison.וזהו שאמרנו שהאתעדל״ת היא מעין האתעדל״ע לא שיש ערך ביניהם ח״ו שהרי אין ערוך אפי׳ בין אהבת אברהם

  2. The Rebbe Rayatz · Sefer HaMaamarim 5697, p. 267

    Gives the rain/dew image for the two kinds: rain answers the arousal from below and can be withheld, dew is beyond its measure and is never withheld.דמטר הוא אתערותא דלעילא הבאה ע״י העבודה באתערותא דלתתא, וטל הוא בחי׳ אתערותא דלעילא שלא לפי ערך האתערותא דלתתא

  3. The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat vol. 6 (Kuntres Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5752), p. כד

    Lays out, from Likkutei Torah, the three kinds of arousal from above and the place each comes from: one no arousal from below reaches, one it reaches, and a gift revealed only after the work is complete.שבאתערותא דלעילא יש ג׳ בחינות. אתערותא דלעילא שמצד עצמה, אתערותא דלעילא שמתעוררת ונמשכת ע״י אתערותא דלתתא (עבודת האדם), ואתערותא דלעילא הבאה במתנה מלמעלה

Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 1, ¶12Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 3, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19, ¶24Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19, ¶32Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 26, ¶27Likkutei Torah, Nasso 6, ¶21Likkutei Torah, Shelach 13, ¶2Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6, ¶11

Where it appears

In 290 paragraphs of 133 maamarim.

Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.

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