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Malchus

מלכות

Malchus (sovereignty) · also: כח אדני

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”).

The word מלכות also has its plain sense: a kingdom or royalty (Esther’s “royal garment,” a human king’s reign), and עול מלכות שמים, accepting Heaven’s kingship. It names the Sefirah in מל׳ דאצילות, בחי׳ מלכות, מדת מלכותו, and when paired with Z’eir Anpin or called Nukva, Shechinah or ה׳ תתאה.

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 6, ¶3Malchus is the lowest level, which gives life and brings into being from nothing; it is the revealed world and the world of speech, since a king rules through his word. It is called “earth,” and the souls are drawn from it.והנה בחי׳ מלכותו ית׳ הוא בחינה ומדרגה התחתונה להחיות ולהוות מאין ליש
  2. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 32, ¶14All worlds are created only through Malchus, because they bear no relation to His essence; He is called King over them only through the contractions that make a “people.” Like a crown, Malchus is not part of the wearer, yet through it his kingship is seen.ואין מלך בלא עם ולכן נק׳ בחי׳ מלכות בשם כתר מלכות
  3. Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3, ¶4Because Malchus is exaltation, the worlds that receive from it (Malchus of Atzilus becoming Atik of Beriah) come into being as true “yesh” yet stay nullified under its awe. Kingship applies only to those who accept it willingly, so it was revealed with Adam’s creation on Rosh Hashanah.הנה נודע שבחי׳ המל׳ היא בחי׳ הרוממות וההתנשאות
  4. Likkutei Torah, Emor 1, ¶21Like a king’s exaltation over his country, His Malchus encompasses the worlds and only its radiance is enclothed in them. The large dalet of echad alludes to Malchus itself, above Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; “Baruch Shem kevod malchuso” is its radiance within them.אך הענין כי הד׳ רבתי דאחד הוא רומז על בחי׳ עצם מדת מלכותו ית׳ שהיא למעלה מההתלבשות בבי״ע
  5. Torah Ohr, Bereishis 11, ¶7Malchus is called the heart: life flows from it to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah as memalei kol almin, and the arousal from below rises back to it, as blood returns to the heart.שמדת מלכותו ית׳ נקראת לב שממנו נמשך החיות לכל האברים

Stated differently

Whether Malchus is memalei kol almin (enclothed within the worlds) or sovev kol almin (encompassing them)

Likkutei Torah, Reeh 11, ¶3ממדת מל׳ ית׳ שהוא הנק׳ ממכ״ע שמתלבש בתוך תוך העולמות ממש

The graded life-force of each world comes from His Malchus, called memalei kol almin, enclothed within the worlds; sovev kol almin is a separate influence that encompasses them equally.

Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 2, ¶8משא״כ בחי׳ מלכותך וההתנשאות זהו בחי׳ סוכ״ע

Malchus, His exaltation over the worlds, is sovev kol almin and gives life as an encompassing light; the life enclothed within them (memalei) is the word of G‑d, the letters, which the paragraph also calls a radiance from Malchus.

Discussed by

  • The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shemos vol. 6 (Vayakhel), p. ב׳קס

    Holds both: the essence of Malchus (exaltation) is sovev to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, while what is drawn from it (‘the word of the king’) is memalei, and the same two aspects hold in the Malchus of Ein Sof (sovev, and the kav as memalei).

    דבבחי׳ מלכות דאצי׳ יש ב׳ בחי׳ א׳ עצמות המלכות שהוא סובב לבי״ע וזהו רוממות והתנשאות, והב׳ בחינה הנמשך ממלכות להיות ממכ״ע לבי״ע

  • The Rebbe Rashab · Sefer HaMaamarim 5670 (Shabbos Teshuvah), p. כז

    Separates the exaltation of Malchus (sovev within memalei, the source of the souls’ life) from its outer aspect, which alone is enclothed in the worlds as ‘You give life to them all’.

    ובפרטיות בבחי׳ מל׳ זהו בחי׳ הרוממות וההתנשאות דמל׳, שאינו בבחי׳ התלבשות בעולמות כו׳, דמה שמתלבש בעולמות הוא רק בחי׳ חיצוניות המל׳

Further in Chassidus

  1. The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shir HaShirim vol. 2, p. תצג

    Explains why Malchus differs from the other middos, which all draw near: kingship is exaltation and distance, rules only over ‘strangers’, and only through it can the world come into being from nothing.מלכות הוא באופן הפכי לגמרי שהיא מדת ההתנשאות שהוא הריחוק מהעם שמתנשא ומתרומם עליהם והם כורעים ומשתחוים לפניה

  2. The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim 5729 (Padah Beshalom, 19 Kislev), p. פב

    Restates the rule ‘no king without a people’ (rule over the separate and distant), then separates this outer kingship from the inner, essential kingship that rules even over children, Israel on Rosh HaShanah.שענין המלוכה שייך רק על עבדים, שהם נפרדים, ועז״נ אין מלך בלא עם, פי׳ עם מלשון עוממות, שהם דברים זרים ורחוקים ממעלת המלך

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

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 6, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 32, ¶14Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Emor 1, ¶21Likkutei Torah, Reeh 11, ¶3Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 2, ¶8Torah Ohr, Bereishis 11, ¶7

Where it appears

In 818 paragraphs of 291 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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