Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Or Pnimi
אור פנימי
Inner light (Or Pnimi)
Light that enters a vessel and settles within it in graded order, limited to the vessel’s measure, as food enters the body. Its partner, or makif, surrounds the vessel without settling within.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1, ¶7Or pnimi enters and settles in the vessel in straight, graded order, from Chochmah-Binah-Daas down to Netzach-Hod-Yesod, and is drawn from the yosher; the ascents of the worlds all happen in the inner light, as refined vessels reveal higher lights.
א״פ היינו מה שנכנס ומתיישב בהכלי בבחי׳ יושר והדרגה מעלה ומטה חב״ד חג״ת נה״י
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3, ¶20Torah comes from Chochmah, the center point the circle turns around; in Chochmah the Or Ein Sof itself rests revealed as inner light, while the circle is makif and still hidden. The purpose intended is the inner light and the revelation.
ובחכמה שורה אור א״ס ממש בבחי׳ גילוי כמ״ש הוי׳ בחכמה דהיינו בבחי׳ אור פנימי
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶6Torah and mitzvos draw inner and encompassing lights: the Torah, rooted in the Mocha Stima’ah of Arich Anpin, is inner light; the mitzvos, from its Gulgalta, are makif.
אורייתא מחכמה נפקת ושרשה ממו״ס דא״א שהיא נק׳ בחי׳ אור פנימי
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 6, ¶9Torah is bread, inner light; a mitzvah can be done without touching the heart, like a makif that does not reach the inner. Yet the makif gives strength to the inner light: the covenant before Sinai led to the souls’ flight at the Giving of the Torah.
בתורה נאמר לכו לחמו כו׳ שהוא בחי׳ אור פנימי
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1, ¶21The mitzvos draw makifim, like the curtains of the Mishkan, with no revelation in the soul as inner light; the Torah draws inner light that enters the soul itself as food and life.
ע״י התורה נמשך בחינת אור פנימי שיכנס לנפש בפנימיותה ממש בבחי׳ מזון וחיות
Stated differently
Whether the mitzvos draw inner light or encompassing light
שע״י עצם המצוה נמשך בחי׳ האו״פ המתלבש בתוך הכלים ממשCiting Etz Chaim: the mitzvah itself draws the inner light, clothed in the vessels; the blessing over it draws the makif.
וע״י המצוה עצמה נמשך האור פנימיCiting Pri Etz Chaim: the blessing of a mitzvah draws the makif, and the mitzvah itself draws the inner light.
וכ״ז הוא בחי׳ מעשה המצות שהן המשכת בחי׳ מקיפיםThe performance of the mitzvos draws makifim, with no revelation in the soul as inner light; Torah draws the inner light.
ובמצות אנו אומרים אשר קדשנו בחי׳ קדושין הוא בחי׳ אור מקיףTorah is inner light; the mitzvos, of which we say “who has sanctified us” (kiddushin), are makif.
Discussed by
The Rebbe Rashab · Hemshech Yom Tov shel Rosh HaShanah 5666 (old edition), p. רנז (page unconfirmed)
Positive mitzvos ‘make vessels’, so the light they draw belongs to the vessels. The makif they also draw is only the near makif (‘garments’), while negative commandments draw the far makif.
ועם היות שע״י המצות נמשך בחי׳ אור מקיף ג״כ מ״מ מאחר שזהו ע״י עשיית הכלים הנה האו״מ הנמשך הוא בחי׳ מקיף הקרוב
The Rebbe Rayatz · HaYom Yom HaMevuar, 6 Tammuz, expansion (letter of the Rebbe Rayatz, Igros Kodesh vol. 4 p. קמב), p. 599
Answers a question about Likkutei Torah’s ‘Vezos HaMitzvah’ and ‘Az Yashir’: Torah and mitzvos each contain both inner and encompassing aspects, so Chassidus sometimes presents them one way and sometimes the other. He then separates near makif from far makif.
ולהיות אשר בתורה ומצות הנה בכל אחת מהן יש בחי׳ פנימי ובחי׳ מקיף, הנה בחסידות לפעמים נתבאר באופן כזה ולפעמים באופן כזה
Whether sovev, the encompassing light, can shine as inner light in a vessel now
מזה משמע שבחכמה מאיר בבחי׳ אור פנימי מה שהוא בחי׳ סוכ״ע ואור מקיףGiven as another explanation: the Ein Sof, who is sovev, can clothe itself as inner light only in Chochmah; so in Chochmah what is sovev and makif shines as inner light, and Torah from Chochmah is higher than the curtains that allude to sovev.
בחי׳ סוכ״ע א״א שיאיר בהכלי בהתגלות ממש בהשגה אפילו בג״ע עד תח״הSovev cannot shine in a vessel in actual revealed comprehension, even in Gan Eden, until the Resurrection; only its glow shines into the inner light, hidden.
Discussed by
The Rebbe Rashab · Hemshech Yom Tov shel Rosh HaShanah 5666 (Shabbos Vayechi), p. קעג (page unconfirmed)
Separates the makif being felt inwardly (Shabbos, a vessel refined to bittul) from the makif actually becoming inner light, which he says happens in Torah study.
וכמו בשבת שמאיר המקיף בבחי׳ פנימי, מ״מ, אין זה שנעשה כמו אור פנימי ממש, רק זאת שנרגש בפנימיות, אבל הוא בבחי׳ מקיף
Whether the inner light is drawn from the makif, or the makifim from the inner light
כי הפנימי הוא הארה קצת מבחי׳ המקיף הנמשך שנכנס להיות פנימיAt every step of hishtalshelus the makif is drawn first and then the inner light, which is a little of the makif’s light that entered; the inner light of a higher level first becomes the makif of the lower. This is circles first, then the straight form.
וכך מן פנימית עליון שהוא הקו וחוט נעשו כל המקיפיםThe kav drawn after the tzimtzum is inner light, and from it all the makifim were made; makifim cannot become inner.
Discussed by
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Bamidbar vol. 2 (Korach), p. תרסח
Holds both: the makifim are drawn from the kav (inner light), yet their root is the great circle that surrounds the kav, as every keser is rooted in Keser Elyon.
אף שהמקיפי׳ נמשכין מהקו שהוא בחי׳ א״פ מ״מ שרשן מהעיגול הגדול
Further in Chassidus
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shir HaShirim vol. 2, p. תקנג
Explains inner light as memalei, which clothes itself in each thing by its level (inanimate, plant, animal, speaker), and Torah as inner like bread that nourishes from within, unlike sovev that gives life to all equally.שבחי׳ התורה היא בבחי׳ פנימיות, וכמ״ש ותורתך בתוך מעי שכמו הלחם מחי׳ את האדם בפנימיות
The Rebbe Maharash · Toras Shmuel, Sefer HaMaamarim 5627, p. נ (page unconfirmed)
The Rebbe Maharash’s definition: inner light descends as lights clothed within vessels, measured by what each vessel can hold, as opposed to the encompassing kind of descent.הא׳ הוא בחי׳ השתלשלות אור פנימי שהוא בחי׳ השתלשלות האורות בכלים בבחי׳ פנימיות שהוא לפי ערך הכלי
The Rebbe Rayatz · Sefer HaMaamarim 5685, p. ו (page unconfirmed)
Gives the standard illustration: the soul’s life is inner light, so it needs a vessel prepared for it (a human body) to be revealed, while sunlight is encompassing light and shines equally everywhere.שחיות הנפש בכלל הוא בחי׳ אור פנימי, דזהו כללות ההפרש בין אור וזיו השמש לאור וחיות הנפש
Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.
Sefer HaErchim Chabad
אור פנימי הוא אור המתלבש בכלי המקבל בפנימיותו. תכונותיו וגדריו של אור זה — וההפרש שבינו ל״אור מקיף” — ע״ע מקיף.Or pnimi is light that clothes itself within the receiving vessel. For its properties and definitions, and how it differs from or makif, see the entry Makif. (our translation)
Sefer HaErchim Chabad, vol. ג, entry אור פנימי, col. תעט · © Kehot Publication Society, quoted
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Korach 1, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3, ¶20Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 6, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 2, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Tazria 6, ¶27Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1, ¶21Torah Ohr, Shemos 5, ¶9
Where it appears
In 78 paragraphs of 53 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 1 ¶33
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 7 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶7 ¶8 ¶9 ¶20 ¶21 ¶22 ¶23 ¶24 ¶37 ¶48
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶24 ¶38
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 15 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Tazria 6 ¶3 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 6 ¶4 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 3 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 9 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶15 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 2 ¶7 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4 ¶6 ¶13 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 13 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 6 ¶8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 4 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶36
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 2 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶11 ¶20 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 7 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 8 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 2 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 12 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 2 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶26 ¶48
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19 ¶8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 29 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 8 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 12 ¶11 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 3 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4 ¶13 ¶52
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 3 ¶13 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 5 ¶9 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 4 ¶5
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 2 ¶33
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 1 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 4 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 2 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 3 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 3 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 3 ¶24
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 3 ¶8
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.