Likkutei Torah · Parshas Bamidbar · Maamar 19
ביאור על הדברים הנ״ל
An explanation of the matters above, on “And G‑d spoke all these words”
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The big idea
The mitzvos are rooted higher than the Torah, in the karkafta, the outer dimension of Keser, yet they are revealed lower, in the outer limbs of Z’eir Anpin and in Malchus, like a seal whose impression is reversed. So the lower awe of the King’s yoke comes first and leads to wisdom and the higher awe; at Sinai the light of Keser came first, and “we will do” before “we will hear” made it lasting.
The maamar in brief
The fear at Sinai, which the people could not contain within, introduces mazal and makif: levels of the soul (chayah and yechidah) and of the Sefiros (Keser, rooted in Malchus of the Infinite One) that remain above and are not absorbed. A king’s command relates to his servants from above, and so the mitzvos, “the commands of the King,” are bound to the karkafta, the outer dimension of Keser. Sources place the mitzvos in Keser, in Z’eir Anpin and in Malchus, and the Torah sometimes above them and sometimes below. The maamar answers with the body: inner organs draw life from the brain, as the Torah, the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin, is bound to Chochmah; the outer limbs, those with bones, are joined to the skull, and these are the mitzvos, revealed in Malchus, “the tenth of all.” At the root the mitzvos are higher; below, the Torah is. Hence the lower awe must come first. At Sinai, after the seven weeks, Keser was revealed out of order, divided between Torah and mitzvos, and it lasts only through “we will do” first; the leavened loaves of Shavuos reflect that exaltation.
Outline
- Mazal and makif, in the soul and aboveThe fear at Sinai, Daniel’s vision and “their mazal saw” show levels of the soul (chayah and yechidah) that stay above its vessels. The essence of Chochmah is ayin, revealed as yesh in Binah, and Keser, whose core is Malchus of the Infinite One, is mazal and makif.¶1–4
- The King’s commands and the lower awe“If there is no awe, there is no wisdom” refers to the yoke of the mitzvos, the King’s commands, which relate to his servants as makif. Malchus of Atzilus is Atik for Beriah and Malchus of the Infinite One is Keser for Atzilus: Keser and Malchus are one matter, like a crown on the head.¶5–6
- The karkafta and three difficultiesMalchus is the karkafta, the outer dimension of Keser. Sources place the mitzvos in Keser, in Z’eir Anpin and in Malchus, raising three difficulties, and the distinction between inner organs, bound to the brain, and outer limbs, bound to the skull, begins the answer.¶7
- Torah within, mitzvos withoutThe Torah is the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin’s limbs, bound to Abba and Imma; the mitzvos are their outer dimension, rooted in the skull and revealed in Malchus, “the tenth of all,” reversed like a seal. Each Sefirah’s outflow into action is its Malchus.¶8–9
- The will and the purpose of a mitzvahThe 248 limbs and Malchus as the tenth of Z’eir Anpin are explained. The supernal will in a mitzvah is its root in Keser, and its purpose is to perfect the outer limbs of Z’eir Anpin; Kuntres Acharon and the Mishnah’s count of limbs with bones confirm it, and the three placements are all true.¶10–13
- Mishneh Torah and the ladder of aweMishneh Torah is Malchus, rooted in the karkafta. From below, the lower awe comes first, then wisdom, and then the higher awe of Keser and mazal.¶14
- Shavuos: Keser revealed out of orderAt Sinai Keser was revealed through the seven weeks’ transformation of the emotions, divided between Torah (Z’eir Anpin) and mitzvos (Nukva): “the freewill offering of your hand.” It lasts only through “we will do” first, and the leavened loaves show an exaltation in which kelipah has no hold.¶15–17
Key concepts
- mazalמזל
- The transcendent part of the soul, chayah and yechidah, which “sees” and receives what the conscious faculties cannot contain.
- makif (that which encompasses)מקיף
- Light or influence that acts from above without being absorbed within, like a crown on the head or a king’s command to his servants.
- karkafta / gulgalta (the skull)קרקפתא / גלגלתא
- The skull above the brain: the outer dimension of Keser, to which the outer limbs, and so the mitzvos, are bound.
- inner and outer limbsאברים הפנימיים והחיצונים
- Organs bound to the brain (the emotions, and above, the Torah) and limbs with bones bound to the skull (action, and above, the mitzvos).
- “the tenth of all”עשיראה דכולא
- Malchus, formed from the last, outer part of each Sefirah of Z’eir Anpin, which therefore has nothing of its own.
- the lower awe and the higher aweיראה תתאה / יראה עלאה
- Acceptance of the King’s yoke, which comes before wisdom, and the awe of Keser beyond wisdom, which comes after it.
- “like a seal that is reversed”כחותם המתהפך
- What is highest at the root appears lowest in revelation: the mitzvos, above the Torah at their root, are below it as they are revealed.
Mazal and makif, in the soul and above ¶1–4
The heading presents what follows as an explanation of the discourse just before it in Likkutei Torah, “And G‑d spoke all these words.” That discourse spoke of Daniel’s companions, whose “mazal saw,” of the lower and the higher awe in “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom,” of Mishneh Torah as “second to the king,” and of Shavuos as “the freewill offering of your hand,” with its leavened loaves; this maamar explains these matters through the root of the mitzvos.
A one-line heading: the maamar explains matters raised in the preceding discourse, “And G‑d spoke all these words.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ביאור על הדברים הנ״ל · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי נדפס בסה״מ תקס״ח ח״א ע׳ רלד. נו״א (ומתחיל: ועשית חג שבועות) במאמרי אדה״ז-פרשיות ע׳ תתה. תתט. תתטז. קיצור באוה״ת במדבר ע׳ רכ. ראה סה״מ תרל״ה-ב ע׳ שיב שמיוסד על מאמר זה. וראה גם סה״מ תרמ״ד ע׳ רל ואילך.
2להבין שרש המצות. הנה כתיב וירא העם וינועו1 ויעמדו מרחוק. הוא בחי׳ יראה ופחד גדול עד מאד שאין כלי הנפש יכולה להכיל בתוכה את היראה הגדולה הזאת ונשאר בבחי׳ מזל שהוא בחי׳ מקיף
To understand the root of the mitzvos. Now, it is written, “And the people saw, and they trembled, and they stood from afar.” This is the level of awe and exceedingly great fear, such that the vessel of the soul cannot contain this great awe within itself, and it remains at the level of mazal, which is the level of makif (that which encompasses).
The maamar sets out to explain where the mitzvos are rooted, and it begins with Sinai. The people’s fear was so great that the soul’s “vessel,” its conscious inner faculties, could not hold it, so it remained in the soul’s mazal (in the Talmud, a person’s heavenly “star”; here the soul’s own root above it), which is a makif: something that surrounds a person from above instead of entering within.
וכמ״ש בדניאל והאנשים אשר היו עמי לא ראו2 את המראה אבל חרדה גדולה נפלה עליהם.
And as is written in Daniel, “And the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them.”
Daniel’s vision shows the same pattern. Daniel alone saw it; the men with him did not see it, yet a great trembling fell upon them, the effect of something they could not perceive.
(לפי זה נ׳ דר״ל [דרוצה לומר] שאין כח בנפש להכיל המראה והגילוי ונשאר בבחי׳ מזל ומקיף אבל החרדה והיראה מתפשטת גם בפנימי׳ [בפנימיות / בפנימית] כדמוכח מחברי דניאל.
(According to this, it seems that the meaning is that the soul has no power to contain the vision and the revelation, and it remains at the level of mazal and makif; but the trembling and the awe spread also into the inner dimension (pnimiyus), as is evident from Daniel’s companions.
This parenthetical note sharpens the point. What the soul cannot take in is the vision and revelation itself, which remains above as mazal and makif; yet the trembling and the awe do spread inward, as Daniel’s companions show, since they felt fear although they saw nothing.
וכה״ג [וכהאי גוונא] מבואר במ״א דכשמתפללים בעשרה יתפעל האדם יותר מחמת דאכל בי עשרה שכינתא שרי׳3 וההשראה בבחי׳ מקיף על האדם רק מזלייהו חזי ומ״מ מתפשט עי״ז הארה בפנימית ג״כ שמתפעל יותר באהוי״ר [באהבה ויראה])
And something like this is explained elsewhere: that when one prays with ten, a person will be more stirred, because “upon every [gathering of] ten the Shechinah (Divine Presence) rests”; and the indwelling is at the level of makif upon the person — only “their mazal sees” — yet nevertheless, through this, an illumination spreads into the inner dimension as well, so that he is more stirred in love and awe.)
A parallel from prayer: when ten pray together the Shechinah rests upon them, but as a makif that only “their mazal sees,” not their conscious minds. Even so, some of that illumination reaches inward, and so a person is more stirred to love and awe when praying with a quorum.
וארז״ל [ואמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה]4 דאע״ג [דאף על גב] דאינהו לא חזי מזלייהו חזי פי׳ מזלייהו בחינת חי׳ ויחידה שבנפש. כי הנה בנפש יש נר״נ [נפש רוח נשמה] יחידה חיה5 (ברבות בראשית ס״פ י״ד).
And our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Even though they did not see, their mazal saw.” The meaning of “their mazal” is the level of chayah and yechidah that are in the soul. For in the soul there are nefesh, ruach and neshamah, yechidah [and] chayah (in Bereishis Rabbah, at the end of chapter 14).
The Talmud, explaining why Daniel’s companions were afraid, says that “their mazal saw.” The Alter Rebbe identifies this mazal with chayah and yechidah, the two highest of the five names of the soul listed in Bereishis Rabbah.
בחי׳ נר״נ [נפש רוח נשמה] הוא בחי׳ התלבשות אורות בכלים שהשכל שורה במוח כו׳. משא״כ בחי׳ חי׳ ויחידה אין להם בחי׳ כלי בנפש להשראתם ונק׳ בחי׳ מזל
The level of nefesh, ruach and neshamah is the level of the enclothement of lights in vessels, as the intellect rests in the brain, etc. Whereas the levels of chayah and yechidah have no vessel in the soul for their indwelling, and they are called the level of mazal.
Nefesh, ruach and neshamah are lights that settle into vessels, the way the intellect rests in the brain. Chayah and yechidah have no vessel in the soul; they remain above it, and that is why they are called mazal.
This answers an objection: Chochmah is called “the beginning of revelation,” so how can it belong to what stays hidden? What is revealed of Chochmah (Abba) is only its Yesod, its outermost channel, a mere glimmer, while the essence of Abba stays hidden; Etz Chaim (the Gate of Abba and Imma, chapter 2) says that Abba is “more hidden” than Imma because it is built of the Chasadim, which are less revealed than Imma’s Gevuros.
Through the fear at Sinai, Daniel’s vision and the Talmud’s “their mazal saw,” the paragraph introduces makif: a level of the soul (chayah and yechidah) that receives what the inner faculties cannot contain. It adds that even of Chochmah only an outer channel is revealed, while its essence stays hidden.
In the Arizal’s system Abba (Chochmah) is revealed through its Yesod, which is enclothed within Imma (Binah). The Etz Chaim passage the Kehot note points to explains that Abba, built from the Chasadim, which are less revealed than the Gevuros of Imma, is called “more hidden and concealed.”
Marei mekomos
- 1וירא העם וינועו · Exodus 20:15
- 2
- 3דאכל בי עשרה שכינתא שריא · Sanhedrin 39a:11
- 4וארז״ל · Megillah 3a:13–14
- 5נר״נ יחידה חיה · Bereshit Rabbah 14:9
- 6אבא טמיר ונעלם · Sefer Etz Chaim 14:2
- 7ביאור על הדברים הנ״ל · הנחת כ״ק אדמו״ר האמצעי נדפס בסה״מ תקס״ח ח״א ע׳ רלד. נו״א (ומתחיל: ועשית חג שבועות) במאמרי אדה״ז-פרשיות ע׳ תתה. תתט. תתטז. קיצור באוה״ת במדבר ע׳ רכ. ראה סה״מ תרל״ה-ב ע׳ שיב שמיוסד על מאמר זה. וראה גם סה״מ תרמ״ד ע׳ רל ואילך.
3וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] והחכמה מאין תמצא1 שעצמיות חכמה היא בחי׳ אין אלא שתמצא שיסוד אבא הוא מתלבש ביסוד אימא שנק׳ בחי׳ יש כמ״ש להנחיל אוהבי יש2 כו׳ דאו״א [דאבא ואימא] תרין ריעין3 דלא מתפרשין.
And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “And wisdom, from where (me’ayin) shall it be found?”: that the essence of Chochmah is the level of ayin (nothing); only that “it shall be found,” in that Yesod of Abba is enclothed in Yesod of Imma, which is called the level of yesh (something), as is written, “To cause those who love me to inherit yesh,” etc.; for Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah) are “two companions who never part.”
Job’s question, “from where (me’ayin) shall wisdom be found?”, is read as a statement: wisdom comes from ayin, “nothing,” for the essence of Chochmah is beyond grasp; it is “found” only as Yesod of Abba enters Yesod of Imma (Binah), which is called yesh, “something,” and since Abba and Imma never part, Chochmah is always found within Binah. In Likkutei Torah, Re’eh, the Alter Rebbe applies this pair to a person’s service: self-nullification beyond reason (Chochmah) and contemplation of G‑d’s greatness “in length and breadth” (Binah) must always go together, for they are “two companions who never part.”
ושם באימא הוא בחי׳ יש הבנת השכל בחי׳ אורך ורוחב כמ״ש קנה חכמה קנה בינה.4 ב״פ [ב׳ פעמים] קנה גימטרי׳ [גימטריא] י״ש567 והיינו בבינה ומשם לז״א בחי׳ הגילוי ביותר מדות אהוי״ר [אהבה ויראה].8
And there, in Imma, is the level of yesh: the comprehension of the intellect, the level of length and breadth, as is written, “Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding.” Twice kaneh (“acquire”) has the numerical value of yesh (יש); and this is in Binah (understanding). And from there [it comes] to Z’eir Anpin, the level of the greatest revelation: the emotive attributes (middos) of love and awe.
In Binah an insight becomes understanding with “length and breadth,” worked out in detail. The verse “acquire wisdom, acquire understanding” alludes to this, since kaneh twice (155 × 2 = 310) equals yesh; Pri Etz Chaim, which the Kehot note cites, explains that Keser holds 620 lights and gives half of them, yesh, to Abba and Imma, who divide them as “acquire wisdom, acquire understanding.” From Binah the revelation reaches further, into Z’eir Anpin, the emotions of love and awe.
The paragraph lays out a scale of revelation: Chochmah in itself is ayin, it becomes yesh in Binah, and it is most revealed in the emotions of Z’eir Anpin.
In the Gate of Yom Kippur, Pri Etz Chaim sets the day against the kaneh (the windpipe), which takes no food or drink, like the World to Come, and reads “acquire wisdom, acquire understanding,” kaneh twice, as yesh: “to cause those who love me to inherit yesh” in the World to Come.
Marei mekomos
- 1והחכמה מאין תמצא · Job 28:12
- 2להנחיל אוהבי יש · Proverbs 8:21
- 3דאו״א תרין ריעין · Zohar III, 4a
- 4קנה חכמה קנה בינה · Proverbs 4:5
- 5ב״פ קנה גימטרי׳ יש · פע״ח שער תפלת ר״ה פ״ג. שער יוהכ״פ פ״ה.
- 6ב״פ קנה גימטרי׳ י״ש · Pri Etz Chaim, Gate of the Prayers of Rosh Hashana 3:7
- 7ב״פ קנה גימטרי׳ י״ש · Pri Etz Chaim, Gate of Yom Kippur 5:6
- 8אבא טמיר ונעלם · ראה ע״ח שער או״א פ״ב.
4וע״פ הנ״ל יובן ג״כ למעלה שבחי׳ כתר נקרא אין לפי שבחי׳ הכתר פנימיותו הוא בחי׳ מל׳ דא״ס למעלה מבחי׳ גילוי בכלים המלך המרומם לבדו1 כו׳ אין ערוך כו׳ כחשיכה כאורה2 ונקרא ג״כ בחי׳ מזל ומקיף כו׳:
And according to the above, it will also be understood [how it is] above: that the level of Keser (the Crown) is called ayin, because the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the level of Keser is the level of Malchus of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), above the level of revelation in vessels — “the King Who alone is exalted,” etc., “there is none to compare,” etc., “darkness is as light” — and it is also called the level of mazal and makif, etc.
The same pattern holds above: Keser is called ayin because its inner core is Malchus of Ein Sof, G‑d’s sovereignty as it is in Himself, above any revelation in vessels. The phrase “the King Who alone is exalted” (from the blessing of Yotzer before the Shema), “there is none to compare” and the verse “darkness is as light” all describe this level beyond any relation to the worlds, and so Keser too is mazal and makif.
What was shown in the soul, a mazal above the vessels, is carried up to the Sefiros: Keser, whose core is Malchus of Ein Sof, is ayin and makif.
That the inner dimension of Keser is Malchus of Ein Sof reflects the rule that the Malchus of a higher level becomes the Keser of the level below it; the next paragraphs develop this from Malchus of Atzilus becoming Atik for Beriah.
Marei mekomos
- 1המלך המרומם לבדו · ברכת יוצר.
- 2כחשיכה כאורה · Psalms 139:12
The King’s commands and the lower awe ¶5–6
5ב והנה ארז״ל [אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] אם אין יראה1 אין חכמה2 פי׳ אם אין יראה הוא בחי׳ יראה תתאה עול מצות
2. Now, our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom.” The meaning: “if there is no awe” is the level of the lower awe (yirah tata’ah), the yoke of the mitzvos;
Section 2 opens with the Mishnah in Avos, “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom.” The awe meant here is the lower awe (yirah tata’ah), the acceptance of the yoke of the mitzvos, which must come before wisdom.
כי גילוי המצות הוא בחי׳ מצות המלך שהוא בחי׳ מקיף שבחי׳ מלך על עבדיו הוא בחי׳ התנשאות עליהם ואין ערוך אליו והוא ענין מל׳ דאצילות עתיק לבריאה3 כו׳ שהוא בחי׳ כתר ומקיף5
for the revelation of the mitzvos is the level of “the commands of the King,” which is the level of makif (that which encompasses); for the level of a king over his servants is the level of exaltation over them, and there is no comparison to him. And this is the matter of Malchus (sovereignty) of Atzilus [being] Atik for Beriah, etc., which is the level of Keser and makif.
The mitzvos are revealed as the King’s commands, and a king commands from his exaltation over servants who bear no comparison to him, so his command relates to them as a makif, from above. The same holds among the worlds: as Etz Chaim teaches, the end of a higher stage becomes the head of the one below, so Malchus of Atzilus becomes Atik (literally “the Ancient One,” the hidden root) of the World of Beriah, its Keser and makif.
ועי״ז מצד רוממותו והתנשאותו עליהם וכל צבא השמים לך משתחוים4 בבחי׳ ביטול
And through this, by reason of His loftiness and His exaltation over them, “and all the host of heaven bow down to You,” in a state of self-nullification (bittul).
Because of this exaltation, “the host of heaven bow down to You”: they nullify themselves before a King they cannot grasp.
ובחי׳ התנשאות זו הוא בבחי׳ מקיף עליהם ולא בבחי׳ א״פ [אור פנימי] כמו שאין קשר וחיבור למלך עם עבדיו וכמ״ש המלך המרומם כו׳.
And this level of exaltation is in the manner of makif over them, and not in the manner of inner light (or pnimi), just as a king has no bond and connection with his servants; and as is said, “the King Who alone is exalted,” etc.
That exaltation stays above them as a makif and does not enter them as inner light, just as a king has no inner bond with his servants. This is the meaning of “the King Who alone is exalted.”
The lower awe of accepting the yoke of the mitzvos is tied to the King’s commands, which relate to the servant as a makif from above; the same holds for Malchus of Atzilus, which becomes the transcendent root (Atik) of Beriah.
Etz Chaim (Gate of the Akudim, chapter 2) gives the rule that the last level of a higher stage is the head of the stage below it, “like Malchus of Atzilus, which becomes Malchus to Atzilus and Atik to Beriah.”
Marei mekomos
- 1אם אין יראה · אבות פ״ג, מי״ז.
- 2אם אין יראה אין חכמה · Pirkei Avot 3:17
- 3מל׳ דאצילות עתיק לבריאה · Sefer Etz Chaim 6:3
- 4וכל צבא השמים לך משתחוים · Nehemiah 9:6
- 5מל׳ דאצי׳ עתיק לבריאה · ראה ע״ח שער העקודים פ״ב.
6וכך למעלה מעלה בחי׳ מל׳ דא״ס כתר לנאצלים היא ג״כ בחי׳ מקיף לאצילות. וכמ״ש בתיקוני זהר כתר עליון איהו כתר מל׳ ואיהו קרקפתא1 שבחי׳ כתר ובחי׳ מל׳ הוא ענין א׳.
And so too, far higher above: the level of Malchus of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), [which is] Keser for the emanated [levels], is also the level of makif for Atzilus (Emanation). And as is written in the Tikkunei Zohar: “The supernal Keser is the crown of Malchus, and it is the karkafta (skull)”: that the level of Keser and the level of Malchus are one matter.
Higher still, Malchus of Ein Sof is the Keser of all the emanated levels and a makif for Atzilus. The Tikkunei Zohar (a book of the Zohar literature) calls the supernal Keser “the crown of Malchus” and “the karkafta (skull),” showing that Keser and Malchus are one idea; Iggeres HaKodesh 20, which the maamar quotes below, explains that Keser stands between the Emanator and the emanated and holds the last level of the Infinite, Malchus of Ein Sof, which is why it is called “the crown of Malchus.”
כי הנה הכתר היא על הראש ואין לה ערך ושייכות כלל לעצם הראש.2
For the crown is upon the head, and it has no comparison or relation at all to the head itself.
A crown sits on the head but is not part of it and has no share in its workings. So too Keser, and Malchus as exaltation, rest above what they rule without joining it.
The principle is carried up to Malchus of Ein Sof, the Keser and makif of Atzilus, and the identity of Keser and Malchus is grounded in the Tikkunei Zohar and in the image of a crown on the head.
In the Tikkunei Zohar (Eliyahu’s discourse, “Pasach Eliyahu”) the same sentence calls this Keser “the karkafta of the tefillin,” the skull on which the head-tefillin rest; the maamar goes on to use the karkafta to explain the root of the mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1כתר עליון איהו כתר מל׳ ואיהו קרקפתא · Tikkunei Zohar 17a:18–20
- 2בת״ז כ״ע איהו כתר מל׳ · בהקדמה (פתח אלי׳).
The karkafta and three difficulties ¶7
7וכמ״כ [וכמו כן] בחי׳ מל׳ הוא בחי׳ התנשאות ואין ערוך בחי׳ מקיף כו׳. ומה שלפעמים נקרא מל׳ בשם לבוש כמ״ש ה׳ מלך גאות לבש1 היינו ג״כ בבחי׳ לבוש ומקיף ולא בבחי׳ התלבשות פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית]
So too, the level of Malchus is the level of exaltation, and there is no comparison: the level of makif, etc. And as for Malchus sometimes being called by the name “garment,” as is written, “Havayah reigns; He is clothed in majesty”: this too is in the manner of a garment and makif, and not in the manner of inner enclothement.
Malchus too is exaltation beyond comparison, a makif. When Malchus is called a “garment,” as in “Havayah reigns; He is clothed in majesty,” the garment means something that surrounds, not something that enters within.
וזהו בחי׳ קרקפתא מקיף כו׳ וזהו בחי׳ קרקפתא עצם הגלגולת שהיא למעלה על הראש ואין לה קשר וחיבור עם המוחין
And this is the level of the karkafta: makif, etc. And this is the level of the karkafta, the bone of the skull, which is above, upon the head, and has no bond and connection with the brain (mochin);
This encompassing level is called the karkafta, the skull, which sits above on the head. It is not the brain and has no bond or connection with it.
שהמוחין מחי׳ את הגוף ע״י עורקים וגידים המסתעפים בכל הגוף אפי׳ [אפילו] ברגל שבחי׳ הקרקפתא היא בחי׳ כתר אלא שהיא בחי׳ חיצוני׳ הכתר.
for the brain gives life to the body through the veins and sinews that branch out through the whole body, even into the foot. For the level of the karkafta is the level of Keser, except that it is the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of Keser.
The brain gives life to the whole body through veins and sinews that reach even the foot, and the skull is not part of that system. The karkafta corresponds to Keser, but to its outer dimension.
ובזה יובן שלפעמים נקרא תורה ומצות ז״א ונוק׳ [ונוקבא] כמ״ש כי נר מצוה ותורה אור234 (ע׳ [עיין] זהר ח״ב [חלק ב׳] קס״ו ב׳) שהוא בחי׳ ו״ה שבשם הוי׳
And with this it will be understood [why] Torah and mitzvos are sometimes called Z’eir Anpin and Nukva (the feminine), as is written, “For a mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light” (see Zohar, Part II, 166b), which is the level of the vav and hei of the Name Havayah.
This will explain why Torah and mitzvos are sometimes linked with Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, the vav and the final hei of the Name Havayah: the mitzvah, the “lamp,” corresponds to Nukva, which receives, and the Torah, the “light,” to Z’eir Anpin. The Zohar on Terumah, to which the text refers, reads the “mitzvah” of this verse as the Mishnah, a lamp waiting to be lit, and the “Torah” as the Written Torah, the light that kindles it.
ומצינו ג״כ שהמצות הם בכתר תרי״ג ארחין567 תר״ך עמודים89 אותיות כת״ר וכן מצינו שהמצות הם בז״א רמ״ח פיקודין רמ״ח אברין10 דמלכא11 שהוא בחי׳ ז״א כו׳.
And we also find that the mitzvos are in Keser: “613 paths,” 620 (תר״ך) pillars, the letters of Keser (כתר). And likewise we find that the mitzvos are in Z’eir Anpin: “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King,” which is the level of Z’eir Anpin, etc.
Yet other sources place the mitzvos in Keser: in the Idra Rabba of the Zohar, a path in the parting of the hair on the skull of Arich Anpin (the outer level of Keser) divides into “613 paths” of the Torah, and Kabbalah speaks of 620 pillars of light in Keser, the number of the letters כתר. The Tikkunei Zohar, however, places the mitzvos in Z’eir Anpin as “the 248 limbs of the King.”
(נמצא יש כאן ג׳ קושיות. הא׳ דלפעמים משמע שהמצות גבוהים מהתורה והוא שהמצות הם בכתר ותורה מחכמה נפקת. ולפעמים משמע שהתורה גבוה ממצות שהתורה בז״א ומצות בנוק׳ [בנוקבא].
(It follows that there are three difficulties here. The first: that sometimes it implies that the mitzvos are higher than the Torah, namely that the mitzvos are in Keser while the Torah “comes forth from Chochmah”; and sometimes it implies that the Torah is higher than the mitzvos, that the Torah is in Z’eir Anpin and the mitzvos in Nukva.
The parenthesis sets out the problem as three difficulties. First, sometimes the mitzvos seem higher than the Torah (the mitzvos in Keser, the Torah only from Chochmah), and sometimes lower (the Torah in Z’eir Anpin, the mitzvos in Nukva).
הקושיא הב׳ דפעמים משמע שתו״מ [שתורה ומצות] שרשם בזו״נ [בזעיר אנפין ונוקבא] ולפעמים משמע ששרשם בכתר וחכמה כנ״ל. הג׳ קשה עוד דפעמים משמע שהמצות שרשם בז״א כנ״ל דרמ״ח פקודין כו׳. וזהו שלא כב׳ משמעות דלעיל ששרש המצות בכתר וג״כ במל׳ כנ״ל)
The second difficulty: that sometimes it implies that the root of Torah and mitzvos is in Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, and sometimes it implies that their root is in Keser and Chochmah, as mentioned above. The third: it is further difficult that sometimes it implies that the root of the mitzvos is in Z’eir Anpin, as mentioned above — “the 248 commandments,” etc. And this is unlike the two implications above, that the root of the mitzvos is in Keser and also in Malchus, as mentioned above.)
Second, sometimes Torah and mitzvos are rooted low, in Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, and sometimes high, in Keser and Chochmah. Third, “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs” places the mitzvos in Z’eir Anpin, which fits neither of the other placements, Keser or Malchus.
אך הענין שיש בחינת אברי׳ [אברים] הפנימי׳ [הפנימיות / הפנימית] ואברים החיצונים.
But the matter is that there is the level of the inner limbs and [that of] the outer limbs.
The resolution starts from the body, which has inner limbs (the internal organs) and outer limbs.
והנה אברים הפנימים מקבלים חיותם מן המוחין שבראש ע״י עורקים וגידי׳ [וגידים] כו׳. ולכן יש להם קשר וחיבור זה עם זה.
Now, the inner limbs receive their life-force (chayus) from the brain that is in the head, through veins and sinews, etc. Therefore they [and the brain] have a bond and connection with each other.
The internal organs receive their life from the brain through veins and sinews, and so they are bound up with the brain.
בחי׳ אברי׳ [אברים] הפנימי׳ [הפנימיות / הפנימית] הוא בחי׳ המדות שהם לפי ערך השכל וכמ״ש לפי שכלו יהולל איש.12 שההתפארות וניצוח וכן כל המדות הוא עפ״י [על פי] הוראת השכל
The level of the inner limbs is the level of the emotive attributes (middos), which are in proportion to the intellect, as is written, “A man is praised according to his intelligence”: for glorying and prevailing, and likewise all the emotive attributes, are according to the direction of the intellect.
In the soul the inner limbs correspond to the emotive attributes, which follow the intellect, as the verse says that a man is praised according to his intelligence. Glorying, the drive to prevail and every other emotion follow what the intellect directs.
משא״כ אברים החיצונים אין מתקשרים זה עם זה במוח שבראש. אבל מתקשרים עם עצם הגולגולת שיורד ונמשך ומתחבר בח״י חוליות שבשדרה ומשם לגיד הנשהושם מת פצל החוט ויורד לירכין וכמ״ש ויגע בכף ירכו13 שכל האברים החצונים מתחברים בעצם הגלגולת שבראש.
Whereas the outer limbs are not bound together with the brain that is in the head, but rather they are bound with the bone of the skull, which descends and extends and connects into the eighteen vertebrae of the spine, and from there to the sciatic nerve (gid hanasheh), and there the cord branches out and descends to the thighs; as is written, “And he touched the hollow of his thigh.” For all the outer limbs are connected to the bone of the skull that is in the head.
The outer limbs, however, are not bound to the brain but to the skull bone, which continues down through the eighteen vertebrae of the spine to the sciatic nerve (gid hanasheh) and into the thighs, the place the angel touched when he wrestled with Yaakov. So the outer limbs connect to the skull, the karkafta, and not to the brain.
The paragraph compares Malchus to the karkafta, the outer dimension of Keser, sets out three apparent contradictions about where Torah and mitzvos are rooted, and begins to resolve them with the distinction between inner organs, which draw on the brain, and outer limbs, which are joined to the skull.
The three placements will turn out to be three stages of one line: the skull (the outer dimension of Keser) as the root, the outer limbs of Z’eir Anpin as the place of the mitzvos, and Malchus, formed from those outer limbs, as their revelation. The coming paragraphs place the mitzvos on each in turn.
Marei mekomos
- 1ה׳ מלך גאות לבש · Psalms 93:1
- 2כי נר מצוה ותורה אור · Proverbs 10:23
- 3כי נר מצוה ותורה אור · Proverbs 6:23
- 4כי נר מצוה ותורה אור · Zohar, Terumah 74:734–76:742
- 5תרי״ג ארחין · ראה זהר נשא קכט, א. קלו, א.
- 6תרי״ג ארחין · Zohar, Idra Rabba 6:25–7:37
- 7תרי״ג ארחין · Zohar, Idra Rabba 25:188–28:199
- 8תר״ך עמודים · ראה פרדס ש״ח, פ״ג.
- 9תר״ך עמודים · Pardes Rimmonim 8:5–6
- 10רמ״ח פיקודין רמ״ח אברין · ראה ת״ז ת״ל.
- 11רמ״ח פיקודין רמ״ח אברין דמלכא · Tikkunei Zohar 74a:8
- 12לפי שכלו יהולל איש · Proverbs 12:8
- 13ויגע בכף ירכו · Genesis 32:26
Torah within, mitzvos without ¶8–9
8ועפ״י [ועל פי] הנ״ל יובן ענין המצות שהן מצות המלך היינו בחי׳ חיצוניות האברים ורמ״ח פקודין רמ״ח אברין היינו פנימיות האברים שהוא בחי׳ ז״א בחי׳ התורה.
And according to the above, the matter of the mitzvos will be understood: that they are “the commands of the King,” that is, the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the limbs; and “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs” — that is, the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the limbs, which is the level of Z’eir Anpin, the level of the Torah.
With the model of inner and outer limbs, the mitzvos as “the commands of the King” belong to the outer dimension of the limbs. The saying “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs” refers to the inner dimension of the limbs, which is Z’eir Anpin, the level of the Torah.
והגם שהמצות הן למטה במל׳ מצות המלך (ונמשך מחיצוניות האברים דז״א כדלקמן). למטה מבחי׳ תורה (שהוא פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית] האברים דז״א) עכ״ז [עם כל זה] בשרשן הן למעלה
And although the mitzvos are below, in Malchus — “the commands of the King” (and this is drawn from the outer dimension of the limbs of Z’eir Anpin, as [explained] below) — below the level of Torah (which is the inner dimension of the limbs of Z’eir Anpin), nevertheless, in their root they are above:
As the King’s commands, the mitzvos stand below, in Malchus, which is drawn from the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin’s limbs, and so they are lower than the Torah, the inner dimension of those limbs. Yet in their root the mitzvos are higher.
היינו מבחי׳ קרקפתא עצם הגלגולת למעלה מן המוחין שהוא בחי׳ התורה דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת ואו״א [ואבא ואימא] מוחין לז״א בבחי׳ השתלשלות א״פ [אור פנימי].
that is, from the level of the karkafta, the bone of the skull, above the mochin (the brain), which is the level of the Torah; for “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah,” and Abba and Imma are the mochin of Z’eir Anpin, by way of the step-by-step descent (hishtalshelus) of inner light (or pnimi).
Their root is the karkafta, the skull above the brain. The brain stands for the Torah, which “comes forth from Chochmah,” since Abba and Imma are the mind of Z’eir Anpin and pass into it step by step as inner light.
(וכנ״ל במשל דפנימי׳ [דפנימיות / דפנימית] האברים מתקשרים במוח כן פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית] האברים והכלים דז״א מתקשרים באו״א [באבא ואימא]. וזהו בחי׳ אורייתא דמחכמה נפקת ומתלבשת בפנימית ז״א. וחיצוני׳ האברים מתקשרים בגלגלתא וזהו שרש המצות ששרשן בגלגלתא.
(And as mentioned above in the analogy, that the inner dimension of the limbs is bound to the brain, so the inner dimension of the limbs and vessels of Z’eir Anpin is bound to Abba and Imma. And this is the level of the Torah, which “comes forth from Chochmah” and is enclothed in the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin. And the outer dimension of the limbs is bound to the gulgalta (skull); and this is the root of the mitzvos, whose root is in the gulgalta.
The parenthesis applies the bodily model. As the inner organs are bound to the brain, the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin is bound to Abba and Imma, and there the Torah is enclothed; as the outer limbs are bound to the skull, the mitzvos are rooted in the gulgalta (skull).
ובהתמשכותן למטה מתלבשים דוקא בחיצוני׳ האברי׳ [האברים] למטה מבחי׳ התורה שהוא פנימי׳ [פנימיות / פנימית]. שכל דבר הגבוה יותר יוכל להתלבש למטה יותר עמ״ש במ״א ע״פ וייצר את האדם עפר1 כו׳ וכן ממשל כח הראיה שמתלבש בעשי׳ [בעשיה] גשמיות משא״כ כח השמיעה.
And as they are drawn down below, they are enclothed specifically in the outer dimension of the limbs, below the level of the Torah, which is the inner dimension. For whatever is higher is able to be enclothed lower down; see what is written elsewhere on [the verse] “And He formed man [of] dust,” etc. And so too from the analogy of the power of sight, which is enclothed in the physical World of Asiyah (Action), whereas the power of hearing is not.
Drawn downward, the mitzvos come to rest in the outer limbs, lower than the Torah, because whatever is higher can descend lower. In Torah Ohr, Bereishis, on “And He formed man of dust,” the Alter Rebbe explains that man’s soul, the highest, has a body of “inanimate” dust while an animal’s soul has a body from the vegetative level, since a higher soul can be enclothed in a lower body; so too sight, a higher sense than hearing, is enclothed in the physical World of Asiyah, while hearing is not.
וז״ש [וזהו שכתוב] באגה״ק [באגרת הקודש] בד״ה איהו וחיוהי חד וז״ל [וזה לשונו] ובזה יובן היות המצות במל׳ והתורה בז״א הגם שלמעלה בא״א המצות הן בגלגלתא ושרש התורה מח״ס [מוחא סתימאה] אלא שהוא כחותם המתהפך ונעוץ תחלתן בסופן2 יעו״ש [יעויין שם])
And this is what is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the discourse beginning “He and His life-forces are one,” and these are its words: “And with this it will be understood how the mitzvos are in Malchus and the Torah in Z’eir Anpin, although above, in Arich Anpin, the mitzvos are in the gulgalta and the root of the Torah is from Mocha Stima’ah (the hidden brain); only that it is like a seal that is reversed, and ‘their beginning is wedged in their end.’” See there.)
The Alter Rebbe quotes his Iggeres HaKodesh (the “Holy Epistle,” the fourth part of Tanya), epistle 20: below, the mitzvos are in Malchus and the Torah in Z’eir Anpin, while above, in Arich Anpin (the outer level of Keser), the mitzvos are in the skull (gulgalta) and the Torah’s root is in the hidden brain. The order is reversed, like the impression of a seal, because “their beginning is wedged in their end.”
And as for our finding mitzvos at the level of Z’eir Anpin: this is because Malchus “has nothing of its own,” except that it is “the tenth of all.”
This answers the sources that place the mitzvos in Z’eir Anpin. Malchus “has nothing of its own”: all it has is “the tenth of all,” the last part of each of Z’eir Anpin’s Sefiros, so what is in Malchus comes from Z’eir Anpin.
כי ז״א הוא ט״ס [ט׳ ספירות] מכתר עד מל׳ או מחכמה עד מל׳ ועד בכלל. וכל א׳ כלולה מט׳ הרי פ״א.
For Z’eir Anpin is nine Sefiros: from Keser until Malchus, or from Chochmah until and including Malchus. And each one is comprised of nine; this makes eighty-one.
Z’eir Anpin has nine Sefiros, counted either from Keser up to Malchus or from Chochmah through Malchus. Each of the nine includes all nine, making eighty-one.
The paragraph resolves the difficulties with the bodily model: the Torah is the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin’s limbs, bound to Abba and Imma, while the mitzvos are its outer dimension, rooted in the skull above the brain, and reach Malchus as its “tenth of all.”
Etz Chaim, in the places the Kehot note lists, explains that Malchus “has nothing of its own” because its vessel receives only from what the Sefiros above it leave for it. The Iggeres HaKodesh quoted here adds that the mitzvos in Malchus are the final hei of the Name Havayah and the Torah in Z’eir Anpin is its vav.
Marei mekomos
- 1וייצר את האדם עפר · Genesis 2:7
- 2ונעוץ תחלתן בסופן · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
- 3מל׳ לית לה מגרמה כלום · Sefer Etz Chaim 6:6
- 4מל׳ לית לה מגרמה כלום · Sefer Etz Chaim 8:4
- 5מל׳ לית לה מגרמה כלום · Sefer Etz Chaim 36:2
- 6מל׳ לית לה מגרמה כלום · Sefer Etz Chaim 42:14
9ובכל א׳ יש ג׳ בחי׳ ראש תוך סוף שהוא חב״ד [חכמה בינה ודעת] חג״ת [חסד גבורה תפארת] נה״י [נצח הוד יסוד]
Each of these Sefiros has a head, a middle and an end: Chochmah, Binah and Daas; Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes; Netzach, Hod and Yesod.
כי בכל ספירה בפרט יש עצם המדה שהיא בחי׳ חג״ת [חסד גבורה תפארת]. ושכל וטעם המדה בחי׳ חב״ד [חכמה בינה ודעת]. ונה״י [ונצח הוד יסוד] שהוא השפעה עד״מ בחי׳ הניצוח טעם הניצוח ועצם הניצוח והשפעת הניצוח שמתלבשת בבחינת המעשה בבחינת גילוי והוא בחינת עשיראה דכולא.
For in each Sefirah in particular there is the attribute itself, which is the level of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes; and the intellect and reason of the attribute, the level of Chochmah, Binah and Daas; and Netzach, Hod and Yesod, which is the outflow. For example, the level of prevailing: the reason for prevailing, the prevailing itself, and the outflow of the prevailing, which is enclothed in the level of action, in the level of revelation; and this is the level of “the tenth of all.”
In each attribute the middle (Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes) is the attribute itself, the head (Chochmah, Binah and Daas) is its reason and intellect, and the end (Netzach, Hod and Yesod) is its outflow. With the drive to prevail as the example, there is the reason for prevailing, the prevailing itself and its outflow into deed and revelation; that outflow is “the tenth of all,” the Malchus of each attribute.
Each Sefirah is divided into intellect, emotion and outflow, and the outflow into action is the part that becomes Malchus, “the tenth of all.”
The will and the purpose of a mitzvah ¶10–13
10וטעם המספר רמ״ח אברים הוא בז״א ג״פ [ג׳ פעמים] פ״א עולה רמ״ג וה״ח [וה׳ חסדים] המגדילים רמ״ח. ובחי׳ המל׳ עשיראה דכולא שממל׳ דחסד נעשה חסד שבמל׳ וממל׳ שבגבורה גבורה שבמל׳ שהוא בחי׳ חיצוני׳.
And the reason for the number of 248 limbs in Z’eir Anpin: three times eighty-one comes to 243, and the five Chasadim that bring about growth [bring it to] 248. And the level of Malchus [is] “the tenth of all”: for from the Malchus of Chesed is made the Chesed in Malchus, and from the Malchus in Gevurah, the Gevurah in Malchus; which is the level of the outer dimension.
The 248 limbs of Z’eir Anpin are reckoned as three times eighty-one (243) plus the five Chasadim (“kindnesses”) that make Z’eir Anpin grow. Malchus is “the tenth of all” because it is built from the Malchus of each of Z’eir Anpin’s Sefiros, Chesed in Malchus from the Malchus of Chesed and so on, which is their outer dimension.
[ומתורצים כל הקושיות דלעיל בענין שרש התורה ומצות. אך ביאור ענין מהות שרש המצות בכתר ואיך אח״כ הם בזו״נ [בזעיר אנפין ונוקבא]. הענין כמו במצות שאנו עושים יש ב׳ בחי׳ מעשה המצוה.
[And all the difficulties above concerning the root of Torah and mitzvos are resolved. But the explanation of the essential nature of the root of the mitzvos in Keser, and how afterwards they are in Z’eir Anpin and Nukva: the matter is that, just as in the mitzvos that we do, there are two aspects: the deed of the mitzvah,
A bracketed section begins: the difficulties are now resolved, and the text turns to explain more deeply how the mitzvos are rooted in Keser and how they are later found in Z’eir Anpin and Nukva. It starts from the two aspects of every mitzvah we do, the first being the deed itself.
The paragraph explains the number 248 and how Malchus is formed from the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin, then opens a deeper discussion of the two aspects of a mitzvah.
11וענין רצון העליון שבה שהשי״ת [שהשם יתברך] רוצה שנעשה המצוה שנניח תפילין ונתעטף בציצית כמ״כ [כמו כן] יובן שרש המצות בכתר היינו בחי׳ רצון העליון שבמצות.
and the matter of the supernal will that is in it, that G‑d, may He be blessed, wants us to do the mitzvah: that we put on tefillin and wrap ourselves in tzitzis — so too the root of the mitzvos in Keser will be understood: that is, the level of the supernal will that is in the mitzvos.
The second aspect is the supernal will in the mitzvah: G‑d wants us to put on tefillin and wrap ourselves in tzitzis. That will is the mitzvah’s root in Keser, the level of will above intellect.
ושרשן בחיצוני׳ אברים דז״א הם תקון אברים דז״א שרצון העליון של המאציל ב״ה לתקנם ע״י רמ״ח מ״ע [מצות עשה] שאנו מקיימים כו׳ כמ״ש במ״א בענין פ׳ ציצית במ״ש ועשיתם את כל מצותי.1
And their root in the outer dimension of the limbs of Z’eir Anpin is the rectification (tikkun) of the limbs of Z’eir Anpin: for the supernal will of the Emanator, blessed be He, is to rectify them through the 248 positive commandments that we fulfill, etc.; as is written elsewhere on the subject of the section of tzitzis, on what is written, “And you shall do all My commandments.”
The mitzvos’ place in the outer limbs of Z’eir Anpin is their purpose: the Emanator wills to perfect those limbs through the 248 positive commandments we fulfill. In Likkutei Torah, Sh’lach, on “And you shall do all My commandments,” the Alter Rebbe explains that in doing the mitzvos Israel “make” them, drawing the Infinite Light into each mitzvah and through it into the 248 limbs of Z’eir Anpin.
The two aspects of a mitzvah match its two roots: the supernal will in it is its root in Keser, and the perfecting of the limbs of Z’eir Anpin is its place in their outer dimension.
Marei mekomos
- 1ועשיתם את כל מצותי · Numbers 15:40
12וכן מובן ממ״ש באגה״ק [באגרת הקודש] ד״ה להבין מ״ש בפע״ח [בפרי עץ חיים] דבזה״ז [דבזמן הזה] כו׳ שכל המצות לתקן רמ״ח אברים דז״א ע״י המשכת אור א״ס ב״ה כו׳
And so it is understood from what is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the discourse beginning “To understand what is written in Pri Etz Chaim, that in the present time,” etc.: that all the mitzvos are to rectify the 248 limbs of Z’eir Anpin through drawing down the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, etc.,
Further support comes from the discourse “To understand what is written in Pri Etz Chaim” (Pri Etz Chaim is R. Chaim Vital’s record of the Arizal’s meditations on prayer and the mitzvos; the discourse is printed today in Tanya’s Kuntres Acharon): all the mitzvos serve to perfect the 248 limbs of Z’eir Anpin by drawing down the Infinite Light. There the Alter Rebbe explains that Torah study draws that light into the inner dimension of the vessels of Atzilus and the mitzvos into their outer dimension.
וחפץ עליון להמשיך האור כו׳ כגון בצדקה וגמ״ח [וגמילות חסדים] נמשך הארת א״ס1 ב״ה לחיצוני׳ הכלי דחסד דז״א ובקיום הדינים בחיצוני׳ גבורה. וברחמים כו׳ יעו״ש [יעויין שם].
and the supernal desire is to draw down the light, etc.; for example, through charity and acts of kindness (gemilus chassadim), the illumination of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, is drawn down to the outer dimension of the vessel of Chesed of Z’eir Anpin; and through upholding the laws, into the outer dimension of Gevurah; and through compassion, etc. See there.
The supernal desire to draw the light down divides by mitzvah: charity and acts of kindness draw it into the outer dimension of the vessel of Chesed of Z’eir Anpin, upholding the laws into the outer dimension of Gevurah, and so with compassion and the rest.
ומשם משמע דענין רמ״ח פקודין רמ״ח אברים דז״א היינו חיצוני׳ הכלים ששם שרש המצות.
And from there it is implied that the matter of “248 commandments, 248 limbs” of Z’eir Anpin is the outer dimension of the vessels, where the root of the mitzvos is.
From that passage it follows that the “248 limbs” in which the mitzvos are rooted are the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin’s vessels.
וכן במעשה הרמ״ח אברים2 שנמנו שם במשנה (ספ״ק [סוף פרק קמא] דאהלות) הם הכל חיצונית האיברים ולא אברים הפנימיים
And so too in actual fact, the 248 limbs that are enumerated there in the Mishnah (at the end of the first chapter of Ohalos) are all the outer limbs, and not the inner limbs;
The Mishnah’s count agrees: the 248 limbs it lists are all outer limbs, not internal organs.
דדוקא אברים החיצונים שיש בהן עצמות נק׳ אברים3 שם, משא״כ האברים הפנימיים שאין בהם עצם אינן נקראים אברים לענין טומאה והם כשאר בשר שאינו אבר
for specifically the outer limbs, which have bones in them, are called limbs there; whereas the inner limbs, which have no bone in them, are not called limbs with regard to impurity, and they are like other flesh that is not a limb.
Only the outer limbs, which contain bones, are called limbs there; internal organs without bone are not counted as limbs for the laws of impurity and are treated like other flesh.
והיינו כי עצמות מלשון עצמיות שהוא בחי׳ עצם ומהות הדבר ועמ״ש במ״א ע״פ הרע״מ [הרעיא מהימנא] פ׳ שופטים4 (דער״ה ע״א) ואמאי בגרמין יתיר מבשרא5 כו׳
And this is because atzamos (bones) is from the expression atzmiyus (essence), which is the level of the essence and very being of the thing. And see what is written elsewhere on the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Shoftim (folio 275a): “And why more in the bones than in the flesh?” etc.
The first reason is that bones (atzamos) are named for essence (atzmiyus): they are the essential substance of a thing. The text points to its discussion of the Raaya Mehemna (the “Faithful Shepherd,” a part of the Zohar) on Shoftim, which teaches that a person’s deeds are engraved on his bones and asks why on the bones more than on the flesh.
וגם כי עיקר כח המעשה שבאדם הוא ע״י אברים החיצונים כח התנועה לעשות כל דבר ביד וכח ההילוך ברגל כו׳.
And also because the main power of action in a person is through the outer limbs: the power of movement, to do anything with the hand, and the power of walking with the foot, etc.
The second reason is that a person acts mainly through the outer limbs, moving the hand to do things and the foot to walk. The mitzvos, which are deeds, therefore belong to the outer limbs.
והא דמצות הן במל׳ מצות המלך לפי שהמל׳ נמשכת מחיצונית ז״א כנ״ל שהיא עשיראה דכולא והתורה שהיא בז״א6 היינו המוחין ופנימי׳ [ופנימיות / ופנימית] האברים
And [as for] the fact that the mitzvos are in Malchus — “the commands of the King” — [that is] because Malchus is drawn from the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin, as mentioned above, for it is “the tenth of all”; and the Torah, which is in Z’eir Anpin, is the mochin and the inner dimension of the limbs.
Malchus holds the mitzvos, “the commands of the King,” because it is drawn from Z’eir Anpin’s outer dimension as “the tenth of all,” while the Torah in Z’eir Anpin is its mind and inner limbs.
מיהו כאן משמע דרמ״ח פיקודין רמ״ח אברים היינו פנימית ז״א ולא קאי אמצות כ״א על התורה ועכ״פ [ועל כל פנים] הכוונה א׳ דהמצות הם בחיצונית ז״א ובמל׳ עשיראה דכולא ושרשן מגלגלתא.789101112
However, here it is implied that “248 commandments, 248 limbs” is the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin, and does not refer to the mitzvos but only to the Torah. In any case, the intent is one: that the mitzvos are in the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin and in Malchus, “the tenth of all,” and their root is from the gulgalta.
Here, though, the saying “248 commandments, 248 limbs” is taken as the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin, the Torah, and not the mitzvos, as Kuntres Acharon itself says that the Torah is Z’eir Anpin because the 248 commandments are divided among its ten vessels. Either way the conclusion is the same: the mitzvos are in the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin and in Malchus, and their root is in the gulgalta (skull).
Kuntres Acharon and the Mishnah’s count of limbs show that the mitzvos belong to the outer limbs of Z’eir Anpin, the limbs with bones, which stand for essence and action; Malchus receives them as the tenth part of Z’eir Anpin’s outer dimension.
Kuntres Acharon, to which the Kehot notes point, also says there that the Torah is in Z’eir Anpin because the 248 commandments are divided among the ten vessels of its Sefiros, and that charity draws the Infinite Light into the outer vessel of Chesed. The two readings of “248 commandments, 248 limbs” in this paragraph answer to these two statements. It also reconciles two statements in the Arizal’s writings: that the 248 positive commandments are in the five Chasadim and the 365 prohibitions in the five Gevuros, and that the 613 paths are drawn from the one path of the “whiteness” (lavnunis) above.
Marei mekomos
- 1נמשך הארת א״ס · בקו״א שם ”נמשך אור א״ס”.
- 2הרמ״ח אברים · Mishnah Oholot 1:8
- 3דדוקא אברים החיצונים . . נק׳ אברים · ראה ס׳ מאמרי אדה״ז — ענינים ע׳ רל.
- 4במ״א ע״פ הרע״מ פ׳ שופטים · ביאוה״ז לאדהאמ״צ קכב, ג. סה״מ תקס״ה ח״ב ע׳ תתיב ואילך. אוה״ת שופטים ע׳ תתנד.
- 5ואמאי בגרמין יתיר מבשרא · Zohar, Shoftim 3:11–4:20
- 6והתורה שהיא בז״א · ראה קו״א לתניא בד״ה להבין מ״ש בפע״ח דף קנה, ב.
- 7ע״פ וייצר את האדם עפר · תו״א ד, ג.
- 8היות המצות במל׳ · באגה״ק נוסף: ”ה׳ של שם הוי׳”.
- 9והתורה בז״א · באגה״ק נוסף: ”וא״ו של שם הוי׳”.
- 10ונעוץ תחלתן בסופן · ס״י פ״א, מ״ז.
- 11מל׳ לית לה מגרמה · בע״ח ש׳ עקודים (פ״ו). ובש׳ דרושי נקודות (ספ״ד). ובש׳ מיעוט הירח (רפ״א). וגם ש׳ דרושי אבי״ע (ספי״ג). [כ].
- 12בענין פ׳ ציצית במ״ש ועשיתם את כל מצותי · לקמן פ׳ שלח מו, ב.
13ובזה מתורץ ג׳ המקומות שבהן המצות פעם בגלגלתא ופעם בז״א ופעם במל׳ דהכל אמת.
And with this the three places are reconciled, in which the mitzvos are once in the gulgalta, once in Z’eir Anpin and once in Malchus: for all is true.
So the three placements of the mitzvos, in the gulgalta, in Z’eir Anpin and in Malchus, are all true. Each describes the same mitzvos at a different stage.
והתורה היא פנימית ז״א ושרשה מח״ע [מחכמה עילאה] ומתורץ ג״כ דבשרש התורה ומצות הרי מצות גבוהים גלגלתא למעלה ממוחא. ולמטה התורה גבוה כחותם המתהפך ונעוץ תחב״ס [תחלתן בסופן]]:1
And the Torah is the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin, and its root is from the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah). And it is also resolved that in the root of Torah and mitzvos, the mitzvos are higher — the gulgalta [being] above the brain — while below, the Torah is higher, like a seal that is reversed, and “their beginning is wedged in their end.”]
The Torah is the inner dimension of Z’eir Anpin, rooted in the higher Chochmah. This also resolves the first difficulty: at the root the mitzvos are higher, as the skull is above the brain, while below the Torah is higher, since the order reverses like a seal and “their beginning is wedged in their end.”
The bracketed discussion closes: each source’s placement of the mitzvos is true at its own level, and the reversal between root and branch explains why sometimes the mitzvos and sometimes the Torah appear higher.
“Their beginning is wedged in their end” is from Sefer Yetzirah, on the ten Sefiros. Iggeres HaKodesh 20 explains it as the power of the Infinite One to create something from nothing, so that He may be King over separate beings through their fulfilling His mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1ונעוץ תחב״ס · Sefer Yetzirah 1:7
Mishneh Torah and the ladder of awe ¶14
14ג וזהו מה שמצינו משנה תורה12 היא בחי׳ מל׳ מלשון משנה למלך34 בחי׳ גילוי כתר מל׳ וידבר משה כו׳ משא״כ בספרים הראשונים וידבר ה׳ כו׳ בז״א.
3. And this is [the meaning of] what we find, that Mishneh Torah [Deuteronomy] is the level of Malchus, from the expression “second (mishneh) to the king”: the level of the revelation of the crown of Malchus, “And Moshe spoke,” etc.; whereas in the first books, “And Havayah spoke,” etc., in Z’eir Anpin.
Section 3 applies this to Mishneh Torah (Deuteronomy): the name means “the repetition of the Torah,” and the maamar hears in mishneh also “second to the king,” as Mordechai was second to Achashverosh, so Deuteronomy is Malchus, the revelation of the crown of Malchus, where “Moshe spoke,” while in the first four books “Havayah spoke,” which is Z’eir Anpin. The discourse before this one explains that Deuteronomy is words Moshe spoke openly to all Israel, whereas in the first books “Havayah spoke to Moshe,” and Moshe alone heard the voice.
וגם במל׳ היינו בחי׳ חיצוני׳ ז״א עשיראה דכולא בחי׳ מל׳ שבז״א שמהם נעשה בנין הנוק׳ [הנוקבא] כו׳
And also in Malchus: that is, the level of the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin, “the tenth of all,” the level of the Malchus that is in Z’eir Anpin, from which the structure of Nukva is made, etc.;
The Malchus meant here is the outer dimension of Z’eir Anpin, its “tenth of all,” the Malchus within Z’eir Anpin from which the structure of Nukva is built.
ושרשן למעלה היא בחי׳ קרקפתא בחי׳ כתר (ע׳ [עיין] בזהר ח״ג [חלק ג׳] דרס״א ודף ז׳ א׳ בענין משנה תורה. וע׳ בח״א [בחלק א׳] פ״ז ב׳. ובמק״מ [ובמקדש מלך] שם בפי׳ אלא חד5 כו׳).
and their root above is the level of the karkafta, the level of Keser (see in the Zohar, Part III, folio 261, and folio 7a, on the subject of Mishneh Torah; and see Part I, 87b, and in the Mikdash Melech there, on the explanation of “but one,” etc.).
Above, their root is the karkafta, the level of Keser: like the mitzvos, Mishneh Torah is lowest in revelation and highest in its root. In the Zohar passages the text cites, Moshe spoke the curses of Mishneh Torah “from his own mouth,” that is, from the voice to which he was joined (III, 7a), and Torah and Mishneh Torah are the Written and the Oral Torah united in the Tree of Life (III, 261a); the Mikdash Melech is R. Shalom Buzaglo’s commentary on the Zohar.
וזהו אם אין יראה אין חכמה.6 שממטה למעלה צ״ל תחלה בחי׳ יראה תתאה. מצות המלך בחי׳ חיצונית.
And this is [the meaning of] “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom”: that from below upward there must first be the level of the lower awe (yirah tata’ah), “the commands of the King,” the level of the outer dimension.
This is the meaning of “If there is no awe, there is no wisdom”: going from below upward, the lower awe of accepting the King’s commands, the outer dimension, must come first.
ומזה יעלה ויבא לבחי׳ חכמה בחי׳ פנימיות ואח״כ אם אין חכמה אין יראה בחי׳ יראה עלאה שהוא כתר ומזל כנ״ל.
And from this one will rise and come to the level of Chochmah, the level of the inner dimension. And afterwards, “if there is no wisdom, there is no awe”: the level of the higher awe (yirah ila’ah), which is Keser and mazal, as mentioned above.
From there a person rises to Chochmah, the inner dimension, and then to “if there is no wisdom, there is no awe”: the higher awe of Keser and mazal described at the start of the maamar.
Mishneh Torah, as Malchus rooted in the karkafta, follows the same pattern as the mitzvos; and the Mishnah in Avos is read as a ladder: the lower awe, then wisdom, then the higher awe of Keser.
Marei mekomos
- 1משנה תורה · Zohar, Vaetchanan 4:17–5:27
- 2משנה תורה · Zohar, Vayikra 12:89–13:97
- 3משנה למלך · סוף אסתר.
- 4משנה למלך · Esther 10:3
- 5אלא חד · Zohar, Lech Lecha 24:248–259
- 6אם אין יראה אין חכמה · Pirkei Avot 3:17
Shavuos: Keser revealed out of order ¶15–17
15וכל זה הוא סדר ההשתלשלות אבל במ״ת [במתן תורה] שעדיין לא נצטוו על המצות הי׳ [היה] גילוי הארת הכתר שלא כסדר המדרגות ע״י יראה תתאה תחלה. אלא ע״י ספירת העומר.
And all this is the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus). But at the Giving of the Torah, when they had not yet been commanded concerning the mitzvos, there was a revelation of the illumination of Keser (the Crown) not in the order of the levels — through the lower awe first — but rather through the Counting of the Omer.
Everything said so far is the regular order of descent, in which the lower awe of the yoke of the mitzvos comes first. At the Giving of the Torah, before any mitzvos had been commanded, Keser was revealed out of that order, through the Counting of the Omer instead.
ואף שעדיין לא נצטוו על סה״ע [ספירת העומר] מ״מ ע״י השבעה שבועות עצמן שהן בחי׳ יצ״מ [יציאת מצרים] ממ״ט שערי טומאה למ״ט שערי קדושה שהוא בחי׳ אתכפייא ואתהפכא בבחי׳ פנימית המדות להפכן מן הקצה אל הקצה.
And although they had not yet been commanded concerning the Counting of the Omer, nevertheless [it was] through the seven weeks themselves, which are the level of the Exodus from Egypt: from the forty-nine gates of impurity to the forty-nine gates of holiness, which is the level of subjugation and transformation (iskafya and is’hapcha) in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the emotive attributes (middos), to turn them around from one extreme to the other.
Although the counting itself had not yet been commanded, the seven weeks themselves did the work: they were the Exodus, a passage from the forty-nine gates of impurity to the forty-nine gates of holiness. This was the subduing and transforming (iskafya and is’hapcha) of the emotions at their core, turning them from one extreme to the other.
At Sinai the revelation of Keser came out of the usual order: not through the yoke of the mitzvos first, but through the inner transformation of the emotions in the seven weeks from the Exodus.
Iskafya (subduing the animal soul’s emotions) and is’hapcha (transforming them) are the two stages of refining the emotions; here they reach the inner dimension of the emotive attributes and turn them about completely.
16וכמ״ש בכסף משנה פ״ז [פרק ז׳] מה׳ תמידין בשם הראשונים דבקמה1 קרי ביה בקומה2 בחי׳ קומה הוא מדות דקליפה
And as is written in the Kessef Mishneh, chapter 7 of the Laws of the Daily Offerings, in the name of the early authorities (Rishonim): that [in the word] bakamah (“in the standing grain”) read bakomah (“standing at full height”). The level of “stature” (komah) is the emotive attributes of kelipah (the husk),
The Kessef Mishneh (R. Yosef Karo’s commentary on the Rambam’s code, also called Mishneh Torah) brings from R. Yitzchak ibn Giat that the Omer is counted standing, reading the verse’s bakamah, “the standing grain,” as bakomah, “standing at full height.” The Alter Rebbe takes this “stature” (komah) as the emotive attributes of kelipah, which stand tall.
בחי׳ יש וקומה שלימה להפכן להיות נכללים במדות דקדושה ע״י ספירת העומר היום יום גימטרי׳ [גימטריא] ז״ן ע׳ [עיין] בכוונת בהמ״ז [ברכת המזון] גבי כי הוא אל ז״ן
the level of yesh (something) and a full stature; to transform them so that they become included in the emotive attributes of holiness through the Counting of the Omer, “Today is day …”: [the word] yom (“day”) has the numerical value of zan (ז״ן); see the intention (kavanah) of Grace after Meals concerning “for He is a G‑d (El) Who nourishes (zan)”;
Those attributes are yesh, self-assertion standing at “full stature,” and the Counting of the Omer turns them around so that they become part of the attributes of holiness. In the count “Today is day …,” the word yom (“day,” 56, and 57 with one added for the word as a whole) equals zan (ז״ן, 7 + 50), the word of Grace after Meals “for He is a G‑d (El) Who nourishes (zan).”
וגימטרי׳ [וגימטריא] אל3 הוי׳ ביצירה כי ביצירה הוא שרש ומקור המדות דקליפה
and [it is] the numerical value of El Havayah in Yetzirah, for in Yetzirah is the root and source of the emotive attributes of kelipah.
The same number, 57, is El (31) plus Havayah (26), and Pri Etz Chaim, in its meditation on these words of Grace after Meals, calls zan “El Havayah of Yetzirah.” Yetzirah, the world of the emotions, is where the emotions of kelipah have their root and source.
וע״י התהפכות מדות דקליפה במדות דקדושה בבחי׳ פנימית הנה עי״ז מאליו וממילא נתגלה שער החמשים בחי׳ כתר וכמ״ש וירד ה׳ על ה״ס [הר סיני]4 שנתגלה בחי׳ הכתר ממילא ומתחלק לשנים חצי לנוק׳ [לנוקבא] וחצי לז״א בחי׳ אין שבחכמה (דהיינו בחי׳ מו״ס [מוחא סתימאה] שבכתר שרש התורה זהו נמשך לז״א).
And through the transformation of the attributes of kelipah into the attributes of holiness, in the inner dimension (pnimiyus), then through this, of itself and as a matter of course, the fiftieth gate was revealed, the level of Keser; and as is written, “And Havayah descended upon Mount Sinai”: that the level of Keser was revealed as a matter of course, and it divides into two: half to Nukva and half to Z’eir Anpin, the level of ayin (nothing) that is in Chochmah (that is, the level of Mocha Stima’ah (the hidden brain) that is in Keser, the root of the Torah: this is drawn to Z’eir Anpin).
When the counting transforms the emotions of kelipah into holy ones at their inner core, the fiftieth gate, the level of Keser, is revealed of itself, as the verse says, “And Havayah descended upon Mount Sinai.” Keser divides in two, and the half that goes to Z’eir Anpin is the ayin within Chochmah, the hidden brain of Keser that is the root of the Torah.
וחיצונית כתר בחי׳ קרקפתא לנוקבא. וזהו ועשית חג שבועות מסת נדבת ידך אשר תתן5
And the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of Keser, the level of the karkafta (skull), [goes] to Nukva. And this is [the meaning of] “And you shall make the festival of Shavuos, the measure of the freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give.”
The other half, the outer dimension of Keser, the karkafta, goes to Nukva. This is why the Torah describes Shavuos with “the freewill offering of your hand,” the gift each person brings according to his blessing.
ולא כתיב נדבת לבך כי נדבת הלב היינו בחי׳ ז״א שנק׳ לב לפי שמקבל הארת ל״ב נתיבות החכמה6 בבחי׳ פנימית. אבל בשבועות הארת הכתר מתגלה גם בבחי׳ חיצוניות.
And it does not say “the freewill offering of your heart,” for the freewill offering of the heart is the level of Z’eir Anpin, which is called lev (heart) because it receives the illumination of the thirty-two (lamed-beis) paths of Chochmah in the manner of the inner dimension. But on Shavuos the illumination of Keser is revealed also in the manner of the outer dimension.
The verse does not say “of your heart,” for an offering of the heart would be Z’eir Anpin, which is called lev (heart; its letters lamed and beis are 32) because it receives the thirty-two paths of Chochmah inwardly. On Shavuos, however, the light of Keser is revealed in the outer dimension too.
וזהו נדבת ידך חיצוניות היד כאשר יברכך ה׳ אלקיך הארת הכתר
And this is “the freewill offering of your hand”: the outer dimension of the hand; “as Havayah your G‑d will bless you”: the illumination of Keser.
So “the freewill offering of your hand” is the outer dimension, the hand, and “as Havayah your G‑d will bless you” is the light of Keser that shines into it.
(וכדלעיל דדוקא חיצונית האברים מתקשרים בגלגלתא והוא בחי׳ מל׳ מצות המלך נדבת ידך כו׳. ומתן תורה כולל ב׳ בחי׳ תורה ומצות.
(And as [explained] above, that specifically the outer dimension of the limbs is bound to the gulgalta (skull); and this is the level of Malchus, “the commands of the King,” “the freewill offering of your hand,” etc. And the Giving of the Torah includes two aspects: Torah and mitzvos.
As shown above, the outer limbs are what connect to the skull, and this is Malchus, the King’s commands, “the freewill offering of your hand.” The Giving of the Torah included both Torah and mitzvos.
וזהו ב׳ הכתרים חצי לז״א בחי׳ תורה וחצי לנוק׳ [לנוקבא] בחי׳ מצות ולפי דשרש המצות גבוה בגלגלתא ע״כ הזכיר נדבת ידך).
And this is [the matter of] the two crowns: half to Z’eir Anpin, the level of Torah, and half to Nukva, the level of mitzvos. And because the root of the mitzvos is high, in the gulgalta, therefore it mentions “the freewill offering of your hand.”)
This is the meaning of the two crowns of Sinai (the Talmud tells that angels tied two crowns on each Jew, one for “we will do” and one for “we will hear”): one half of Keser goes to Z’eir Anpin as Torah, the other to Nukva as mitzvos. Since the root of the mitzvos is higher, in the skull, the verse speaks of the offering of the hand.
וזהו שארז״ל [שאמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה] בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע יצתה בת קול ואמרה מי גלה רז זה לבני7
And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “At the moment when Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’ a heavenly voice went forth and said, ‘Who revealed this secret to My children?’”
The Talmud relates that when Israel said “we will do” before “we will hear,” a heavenly voice asked, “Who revealed this secret to My children?”: the secret the ministering angels use, who do before they hear.
פי׳ שהבינו ישראל מעצמם שההארה שהיה אז במ״ת [במתן תורה] גילוי הכתר ממעלה למטה אינה קביעות הלכה לדורות בלתי ע״י קדימת עול המצות ת חלה נעשה ואח״כ נשמע כו׳.8
The meaning: that Israel understood of themselves that the illumination that there was then, at the Giving of the Torah — the revelation of Keser from above to below — is not fixed as a rule for the generations, except through the yoke of the mitzvos coming first: first “we will do,” and afterwards “we will hear,” etc.
The Alter Rebbe explains the secret: Israel understood on their own that the revelation of Keser from above at Sinai could not remain as a lasting rule for the generations. It could last only if the yoke of the mitzvos came first: “we will do” before “we will hear.”
The Omer count transforms the emotions of kelipah and so draws down the fiftieth gate, Keser, at Sinai, divided between Z’eir Anpin (Torah) and Nukva (mitzvos). Because the outer half, the mitzvos, is rooted higher, Shavuos is described as “the freewill offering of your hand,” and Israel’s “we will do” before “we will hear” made that revelation lasting.
In the Kessef Mishneh the reading of bakamah as bakomah comes from R. Yitzchak ibn Giat, as the source of counting the Omer standing; the Alter Rebbe reads the same wordplay inwardly, as the “stature” of the emotions of kelipah that the count transforms.
Marei mekomos
- 1דבקמה · Deuteronomy 16:9
- 2דבקמה קרי ביה בקומה · Kessef Mishneh on Mishneh Torah, Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings 7:23:1
- 3כי הוא אל ז״ן וגימטרי׳ אל הוי׳ ביצירה · Pri Etz Chaim, Gate of the Sabbath 24:47
- 4וירד ה׳ על ה״ס · Exodus 19:20
- 5ועשית חג שבועות מסת נדבת ידך אשר תתן · Deuteronomy 16:10
- 6ל״ב נתיבות החכמה · Sefer Yetzirah 1:1
- 7בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע יצתה בת קול ואמרה מי גלה רז זה לבני · Shabbat 88a:8
- 8פ״ז מהל׳ תמידין · הכ״ג.
And therefore it is written of the two loaves of Shavuos, “They shall be baked leavened”; for of all the offerings it is said, “For any leaven and any honey,” etc.,
This explains why the two loaves of Shavuos are baked leavened, although of every other offering it is said that no leaven and no honey may be burned.
לפי ששאור הוא בחי׳ התנשאות ויכול להיות אחיזה ויניקה לחיצונים
because leaven is the level of self-exaltation, and the external forces (chitzonim) can have a hold and draw nourishment [from it].
Leaven stands for self-exaltation, which gives the external forces (the chitzonim, the powers of kelipah) a hold and nourishment.
משא״כ בשבועות הארת הכתר בחי׳ התנשאות המתנשא כו׳ כתיב חמץ תאפינה שאין לחיצונים שם שום אחיזה ויניקה כלל (ע׳ [עיין] מענין וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳345678 בזהר ח״ג [חלק ג׳] קי״א ב׳ י״א סע״ב [סוף עמוד ב] ח״א [חלק א׳] פ״ז ב׳9 פ״ט סע״א [סוף עמוד א]10 ח״ב [חלק ב׳] פ״ג [דף פ״ג] ב׳ כ״ה ב׳ ו׳ א׳):11
Whereas on Shavuos — the illumination of Keser, the level of the exaltation of “He Who is exalted,” etc. — it is written, “They shall be baked leavened,” for there the external forces have no hold or nourishment at all (see on the subject of “And He spoke,” etc., “I am,” etc., in the Zohar, Part III, 111b; end of 11b; Part I, 87b; end of 89a; Part II, 83b; 25b; 6a).
On Shavuos, however, what shines is the light of Keser, the exaltation of G‑d Himself, “He Who is exalted,” and so of Shavuos it is written “they shall be baked leavened,” for in that exaltation the external forces have no hold at all. The text refers to Zohar passages on “And He spoke … I am,” the opening of the Ten Commandments.
The leavened loaves of Shavuos show that the exaltation revealed then is the exaltation of Keser, beyond any hold of kelipah, unlike ordinary leaven, which is the exaltation of self.
The Kehot notes quote two of these Zohar passages: one asks why the verse in Isaiah says “I, I (Anochi, Anochi) am He Who wipes away your transgressions” and answers that one is the Anochi of Sinai; the other says that Anochi is “the first level,” which the note identifies with Malchus, as explained there.
Marei mekomos
- 1חמץ תאפינה · Leviticus 23:17
- 2כי כל שאור וכל דבש · Leviticus 2:11
- 3וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳ · Zohar, Vayikra 24:170–25:179
- 4וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳ · Zohar, Lech Lecha 24:248–259
- 5וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳ · Zohar, Lech Lecha 26:272–29:319
- 6וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳ · Zohar, Yitro 20:343–355
- 7וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳ · Zohar, Vaera 6:65–7:71
- 8וידבר כו׳ אנכי כו׳ · Zohar, Shemot 10:67–11:77
- 9ח״א פ״ז ב׳ · ”אנכי אנכי הוא מוחה פשעיך מ״ט תרי זימני אנכי אלא חד בסיני”, — אוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתקטז ושם מעתיק בארוכה.
- 10פ״ט סע״א · ”לך לך דפ״ט סע״א אנכי הוא דרגא קדמאה היינו ג״כ בחי׳ מל׳ כן פי׳ בז״ח שם”, — אוה״ת יתרו ע׳ תתקטז.
- 11
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
Each Rosh Chodesh the names of those learning here are brought to the Ohel. Add your name, and mark what you learn so it is counted.
In one’s avodah
The way up begins with the lower awe, accepting the yoke of the King’s commands before understanding; from it a person rises to wisdom and then to the higher awe. The light of Sinai becomes lasting only through the yoke of the mitzvos coming first, “we will do” before “we will hear.”
Questions for discussion
- Why does the soul’s mazal perceive what its conscious faculties cannot, and how does this explain the greater feeling of prayer with ten?
- How can the mitzvos be both higher than the Torah and lower than it?
- Why are only the limbs with bones counted among the 248 limbs, and what does this teach about the mitzvos?
- What does it mean that the light of Keser at Sinai was revealed out of order, and why could it last only through “we will do” before “we will hear”?
- Why are the two loaves of Shavuos leavened, when leaven is barred from every other offering?
Key terms in this maamar
- The inner dimension (pnimiyus)פנימיות
- The innermost core of a level. ×2
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world.
- Love and aweאהבה ויראה
- The two 'wings' of divine service.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight. ×15
- Yesod (foundation)יסוד
- The channel that connects and transmits. ×3
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- The intellectual configurations.
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail. ×2
- Z'eir Anpin (the emotive attributes)ז״א
- The six emotive Sefiros as one configuration.
- The emotive attributes (middos)מדות
- Love, awe, compassion and the rest. ×9
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The level above intellect: divine will and delight. ×29
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds.
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- The World of Atzilus (Emanation)אצילות
- The highest world, still one with G‑d. ×2
- The World of Beriah (Creation)בריאה
- The first world of separate existence. ×1
- Self-nullification (bittul)ביטול
- Setting aside one's own sense of self before G‑d. ×1
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being.
- The intellect (mochin)מוחין
- Chochmah, Binah and Daas as a whole. ×6
- The outer dimension (chitzoniyus)חיצוניות
- The external, expressive aspect. ×4
- Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
- Malchus as the receiving configuration. ×1
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation.
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×2
- The World of Asiyah (Action)עשיה
- The lowest world, including our physical one.
- The Sefirosספירות
- The ten divine attributes through which G‑d relates to creation.
- Daas (knowledge)דעת
- Deep connection to an idea, bridging intellect and emotion.
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×3
- Gevurah (restraint)גבורה
- Measure, limitation and judgment. ×3
- Tiferes (beauty)תפארת
- Harmony of kindness and restraint; associated with compassion.
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- Perseverance, the drive to overcome.
- Hod (splendor)הוד
- Acknowledgment and yielding.
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×3
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Kelipah (the husk)קליפה
- The forces of concealment that oppose holiness. ×3
- The World of Yetzirah (Formation)יצירה
- The world of the angels and emotions. ×2