Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Re’usa deliba
רעותא דלבא
The desire of the heart (re’usa deliba)
The heart’s desire (Aramaic for ratzon): the will revealed in the heart; in some places the will born of contemplation, in others the inner heart’s love “with all your might,” above reason, rooted in Keser.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 12, ¶5There are two kinds of will: the will that stays hidden in the mind, called ratzon, and the will drawn openly into the heart, called re’usa deliba, the Aramaic “translation” of ratzon, for the heart is closer to the body and so reveals it more. “Beautiful are you, my beloved (ra’yasi), as Tirtzah” is the joining of the two wills.
והב׳ כשהרצון נמשך בבחי׳ גילוי בלב ממש אזי נק׳ רעותא דליבא והוא תרגום של רצון שבלה״ק
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 11, ¶24Service by grasped intellect divides into many levels, but re’usa deliba is the will wholly above comprehension, the mesirus nefesh of the days of Haman’s decree; in it all are equal, as one will. Through it they merited the revelation of the Or Ein Sof, which no intellect grasps, only re’usa deliba.
אבל בחי׳ רעותא דלבא שהוא הרצון שלמעלה מהשגת השכל לגמרי
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶16Above the will roused by contemplating G‑d’s greatness (“with all your soul”) is a love “with all your might,” beyond the soul’s measure because its grasp is nullified: re’usa deliba, ahavah rabbah, above the worlds (“with You I desire nothing”). It comes from above through the Torah and mitzvos, the Supernal Will.
והוא בחי׳ רעותא דליבא דלית מחשבה תפיסא ביה והוא בחי׳ אהבה רבה שלמעלה מעלה מהעולמות
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2, ¶23The covenant (bris) is attachment, desire and ahavah rabbah from sovev, “with all your might”; it is re’usa deliba, which is Keser and binds the Emanator with what is emanated. The Torah is from Chochmah and is drawn into thought, speech and action.
אבל ברית ורעותא דליבא הוא בחי׳ כתר שהוא המקשר ומחבר המאציל א״ס ב״ה עם הנאצלים
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 1, ¶7Through higher teshuvah from the depth of the heart the soul cleaves to G‑d more wondrously in re’usa deliba; though it may lack the revealed natural love and awe of the outer heart, it gains in re’usa deliba, the inner point of the heart, as light excels when it comes out of darkness.
מ״מ יהיה לה יתרון בבחי׳ רעותא דלבא בנקודת פנימית הלב
Stated differently
Whether re’usa deliba is the will above reason (Keser, the inner heart) or the lower will of the heart, born of contemplation
כי בחי׳ רעותא דלבא זו זהו מבחי׳ כתר שהוא רצון שלמעלה מהשכלRe’usa deliba, “with all your might” without limit, is from Keser, the will above intellect and source of the Torah; it is above the Torah.
והוא בחי׳ רעותא דליבא דלית מחשבה תפיסא ביהThe will roused by contemplation is “with all your soul”; re’usa deliba is the will above it, a love beyond the soul’s grasp, which no thought grasps.
ונק׳ רצון התחתון שהוא בחי׳ רעותא דליבא הנולד ונמשך מבחי׳ התבוננות השכלThe outer heart is below the mind and its stirrings follow intellect; this is called the lower will, re’usa deliba, born of contemplation. The inner heart, the higher will, is above intellect (“ra’yasi,” re’usa deliba, the lower will, is to become “as Tirtzah,” the higher will).
כמ״כ הרעותא דליבא זהו הגילוי של הרצון שבמוחThe will is born in the mind when one contemplates the greatness of the Or Ein Sof and stays hidden there (ratzon, Tirtzah); re’usa deliba is that will revealed in the heart, its translation.
Discussed by
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shir HaShirim vol. 1, p. קו
The Tzemach Tzedek sets a will drawn from intellect (love of delights, as in Gan Eden) against re’usa deliba, while holding that even re’usa deliba needs contemplation, of the fact that He is beyond grasp.
כי אית רצון הנמשך מצד השכל וזהו אהבה בתענוגים דצדיקים שהתענוג מצד ההשגה וכן ג״ע משא״כ רעותא דלבא
The Rebbe · Hagahos VeHe’aros Ketzaros on Tanya (Likkutei Amarim ch. 39), p. רמט
In a letter quoted here (Igros Kodesh vol. 1 p. שיט), the Rebbe notes that most maamarim place re’usa deliba in the inner heart while Tanya ch. 17 applies it to love born of contemplation in the outer heart, and resolves this by distinguishing levels, citing Likkutei Torah Balak and Shir HaShirim.
כדי לתווך בין מ״ש במקומות שונים ביאור ענין רעו״ד, עכצ״ל שכמה מדריגות ישנן ברעו״ד
Further in Chassidus
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shir HaShirim vol. 1, p. קו
On the Shir HaShirim maamarim, the Tzemach Tzedek explains that re’usa deliba is the hidden love rooted in the soul’s source, which contemplation only brings out of concealment, and why it can be revealed only through refining the animal soul in this world.ונמצא ההתבוננות המביאה לבחי׳ רעותא דלבא הוא התבוננות מבחי׳ ביטול השגה והחכמה
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Shemos vol. 7, p. ב׳תקמא
The Tzemach Tzedek identifies re’usa deliba with the tip of the yud, the delight and will that precede and drive thought, speech and action, and shows how contemplation in prayer reveals it to leave the body’s sheath and cleave to G‑d.ולזה הוא מחשב ומדבר ועושה, וזהו נק׳ רעותא דלבא שהוא למעלה מבחי׳ מחשבה
The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim (bilti muga, old ed.), 5732–5733, p. 307
The Rebbe explains both the greatness and the limit of re’usa deliba: through it the Essence is grasped where thought cannot reach, yet as a will it is still a ratzo and a ‘something’, which is why it is placed at chasadim and not at emes.עכ״ז רעותא דלבא הוא רק בבחי׳ רצוא, ששייך רק בהארה מהעצם
Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 12, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶16Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2, ¶15Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2, ¶23Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 4, ¶5Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 11, ¶24Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 1, ¶7
Where it appears
In 105 paragraphs of 67 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 2 ¶23 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 2 ¶2 ¶5 ¶7 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 8 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 38 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 4 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 7 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 8 ¶5 ¶20 ¶22
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 1 ¶7 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11 ¶12 ¶13 ¶14 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1 ¶16 ¶17 ¶18 ¶23 ¶25 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 15 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 26 ¶9 ¶11 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 3 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 3 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 1 ¶2 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1 ¶17 ¶18 ¶34
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 10 ¶2 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 3 ¶2 ¶3 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 9 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 2 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 2 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 1 ¶12 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶20 ¶21 ¶23 ¶24 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 1 ¶5 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 2 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 7 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 2 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 1 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 10 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 11 ¶24 ¶27
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 4 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 4 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 3 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 9 ¶12 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 5 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 9 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 5 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 2 ¶15 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 7 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 12 ¶5 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 31 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini 2 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 7 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 8 ¶23
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 2 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 6 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 7 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 2 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 4 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 2 ¶3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 1 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 1 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶35
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.