Torah Ohr · Parshas Mikeitz · Maamar 7
רני ושמחי בת ציון כו׳
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion”
Kept on this device only. Sign in to save it on every device
The big idea
The Midrash’s three names for Israel, daughter, sister and mother, are three ranks of divine service: the one who receives love from above, the master of Torah who refines the world, and the one whose self-sacrifice gives birth to the revelation of G‑dliness. In the Time to Come the “daughter,” the one refined, will be raised highest of all.
The maamar in brief
The maamar asks why Israel is called “daughter,” and why the soul is called “the lamp of Havayah” while G‑d is called the soul’s lamp. G‑d does not change through creation; His knowledge of the world is a “revealed and known” that does not enclose Him. The threefold “Holy” corresponds to the letters of the Name Havayah: the yud is the tzimtzum through which the worlds and the souls’ delight in the World to Come can exist. The soul “praises,” that is, illuminates, by drawing down this yud through the mitzvos. The neshamah breathes in running and returning: the running is self-sacrifice in the Shema, giving over one’s will; the returning is Torah and halachah, which make G‑d’s dwelling below. One who cannot reach this love by contemplation needs Torah and mitzvos, “You are my lamp,” and self-reckoning; this is the “daughter,” who receives truth and love from above. The “sister” is the master of Torah, whose halachic rulings separate good from evil and cast down kelipah. The “mother” is self-sacrifice at “One,” which draws Torah from its root. An appendix ties the three to the unifications hinted in the Chanukah lamp.
Outline
- Daughter, sister, motherThe Midrash’s three names for Israel are three ranks of service; and the puzzle of the two verses about the “lamp.”¶1–2
- G‑d unchanged by creation“Let every soul praise” means illuminate; G‑d is not affected by the worlds, and knows them as “revealed and known,” being thrice holy.¶3–6
- The letters of the Name and the tzimtzumThe two heis are thought and speech; the yud is tzimtzum, through which the worlds and the souls’ delight in the World to Come exist.¶7–9
- The mitzvos make the Garden of EdenThe reward of a mitzvah is the mitzvah: by mitzvos the soul draws down the yud into the higher hei and so shines as a lamp.¶10
- Breath: running and returningThe neshamah lives in running and returning; running is giving over the will in the Shema, returning is Torah and halachah; above, they bring contraction and drawing down.¶11–16
- “You are my lamp”: the daughterContemplation alone cannot produce this love; Torah, mitzvos and self-reckoning remove the darkness, and the “daughter” receives truth and love from above, as Yaakov.¶17–21
- The sister: masters of TorahTorah study separates good from evil and casts down kelipah; G‑d’s word speaks in the learner’s voice, and Israel become G‑d’s twins.¶22–25
- The mother: self-sacrifice at “One”Torah must be joined to self-sacrifice, which draws Torah from its root; this is “mother,” and in the future the “daughter” will rise highest.¶26–27
- Appendix: the Chanukah lampThe refined and the refiner; three unifications of Havayah adding up to ner; the future rise of the “daughter” as a crown.¶28–29
Key concepts
- Running and returning (ratzo vashov)רצוא ושוב
- The soul’s rhythm, like breathing and the heartbeat: the yearning to rise to G‑d and the return to serve Him below.
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Here, giving over one’s will entirely to G‑d, especially at the word “One” in the Shema.
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The concealment of the Infinite Light, symbolised by the yud, without which neither the worlds nor the souls’ delight could exist.
- Four cubits of halachahד׳ אמות של הלכה
- Torah law, through which the holy, separate G‑d comes to dwell in the world.
- Yaakov and Yisraelיעקב וישראל
- Two levels of soul: Yaakov is still struggling and receives truth from above; Yisrael has already prevailed.
- Refined and refinerמתברר ומברר
- The “daughter” is what is purified; the “sister,” the master of Torah, does the purifying.
Daughter, sister, mother ¶1–2
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion,” etc. [We need] to understand why the Congregation of Israel is called by the name “daughter,” as in “daughter of Zion,” “daughter of Jerusalem.”
The maamar opens with the verse from Zechariah read in the Haftorah of Shabbos Chanukah, which calls the Jewish people a “daughter.” The question is why the Congregation of Israel, the people as a whole in their bond with G‑d, is named a daughter of all things.
הנה איתא במדרש משל למלך4 כו׳ לא זז מחבבה עד שקראה בתי כמ״ש שמעי בת5 וראי והטי אזנך ושכחי עמך ובית אביך ויתאו המלך יפיך כו׳
Now, it is stated in the Midrash: “[A parable] of a king,” etc.: “He did not cease cherishing her until he called her ‘my daughter,’” as it is written, “Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty,” etc.
The Midrash compares G‑d’s love for Israel to a king whose affection for a young girl grew step by step, until he called her his daughter. The verse from Psalms that speaks to a “daughter” and promises that the king will desire her beauty is brought as the scriptural echo of that first name.
(ופי׳ יפיך הוא כמו בחי׳ רעיתי יפתי). לא זז מחבבה עד שקראה אחותי וכמ״ש אחותי רעיתי.6
(And the meaning of “your beauty” is like the level of “my beloved, my fair one.”) “He did not cease cherishing her until he called her ‘my sister,’” as it is written, “My sister, my beloved.”
A brief aside says that the “beauty” the king desires is the same quality the Song of Songs names “my beloved, my fair one.” The king’s love then grows further and he calls her “my sister,” as the Song of Songs says, “My sister, my beloved.”
לא זז מחבבה עד שקראה אמי וכמ״ש צאנה וראנה בנות ציון7 במלך שלמה בעטרה שעטרה8 לו אמו9 כו׳ וכתיב הקשיבו אלי עמי ולאומי אלי האזינו10 ולאמי כתיב:1112
“He did not cease cherishing her until he called her ‘my mother,’” as it is written, “Go forth and see, O daughters of Zion, King Shlomo, with the crown with which his mother crowned him,” etc.; and it is written, “Listen to Me, My people, and give ear to Me, My nation (le’umi)”: it is written [so that it can be read] le’imi, “My mother.”
At the height of his love the king calls her “my mother.” The Song of Songs speaks of the crown with which King Shlomo’s mother crowned him, and the verse in Isaiah writes the word “My nation” (le’umi) in a way that can be read le’imi, “My mother.” So there are three names, daughter, sister and mother, which the maamar will explain.
The paragraph sets the question of the maamar: why the Jewish people are called “daughter,” and, following the Midrash, how this name relates to the higher names “sister” and “mother.”
The Kehot notes record that some manuscripts add explicitly, “Do not read le’umi but le’imi,” a reading the notes trace to the Zohar and to the Midrash on the Song of Songs. The verse “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion” is the Haftorah of Shabbos Chanukah, which is why the maamar ends with the Chanukah lamp.
Marei mekomos
- 1רני ושמחי · הנחה אחרת בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קכד. ביאור שם ע׳ קל. עוד הנחה בתו״א לעמבערג יד, א. ראה לעיל בציונים לכ״ק אדמו״ר זי״ע. בארוכה במאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ שכט. אוה״ת חנוכה שיג, ב. הערה באוה״ת בראשית כרך ה תתקלא, א. ביאור באוה״ת נ״ך כרך ג ע׳ א׳רסט. ע׳ א׳רעז. סה״מ תרכ״ז (הוצאת תש״ס) ע׳ שכא המאמר עם הגהות, ובע׳ שכט קיצורים. ד״ה רני ושמחי תשמ״ה. בסה״מ תרכ״ז (הוצאת תש״ס) ע׳ קיג מציין לכאן.
- 2רני ושמחי בת ציון · Zechariah 2:14
- 3בת ירושלים · II Kings 19:21
- 4איתא במדרש משל למלך · Shemot Rabbah 52:5
- 5שמעי בת · Psalms 45:11
- 6אחותי רעייתי · Song of Songs 5:2
- 7צאינה וראינה בנות ציון · Song of Songs 3:11
- 8
- 9בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:11
- 10הקשיבו אלי עמי . . האזינו · Isaiah 51:4
- 11ולאמי כתיב · Zohar III, 262a
- 12(ופי׳ . . יפתי) · מוסגר זה גם בכת״י מאמרי אדה״ז, ובכמה כת״י בלי מוסגר.
2והנה להבין ענין ג׳ בחי׳ אלו בעבודת ה׳ שיש ג׳ מדרגות בישראל שע״ש כך נקראו בבחי׳ הללו.
Now, [we need] to understand the matter of these three levels in the service of G‑d: that there are three ranks among Israel, on account of which they are called by these names.
The three names, daughter, sister and mother, are now taken as three ranks of Jews in their service of G‑d. Each group is called by the name that fits its way of serving.
וצריך להבין מ״ש נר הוי״ה נשמת אדם1 שהנשמה קרויה נרה של שם הוי״ה.2 והרי פעם אמר הכתוב כי אתה נרי3 ה׳ שהוא ית׳ נק׳ נר של נש״י.
And we must understand what is written, “The soul of man is the lamp of Havayah”: the soul is called the lamp of the Name Havayah. Yet elsewhere Scripture says, “For You are my lamp, O G‑d”: He, may He be blessed, is called the lamp of the souls of Israel.
A second question opens: one verse calls the human soul “the lamp of Havayah,” as if the soul gives light to G‑d, while another verse says to G‑d, “You are my lamp,” as if G‑d gives light to the soul. The maamar will show how both are true.
The paragraph turns the Midrash’s three names into three levels of divine service, and sets up the puzzle of the two verses about the “lamp” that the coming paragraphs resolve.
A gloss quoted in the Kehot notes explains that the soul draws light into the Name Havayah, which is Z’eir Anpin, and that this drawing comes from the level of Atik, the source from which light flows to Z’eir Anpin. Manuscripts read “the lamp of G‑d” or “the lamps of Havayah” here.
Marei mekomos
- 1נר הוי׳ נשמת אדם · Proverbs 20:27
- 2נרה של שם הוי״ה · בבוך תניא-ברוק ובבוך אדה״ז הנ״ל הגי׳: נירו של ה׳. ובבוך באב׳ 17: נורות של הוי׳. בבוך מקול מחצצים גרוסמאן (נט, א) נמצא מאמר זה ורשום עליו: שבת פ׳ ויגש דשנת תרכ״ג לפ״ק, נמצאת שם הגהה זו: (ה׳ דהיינו שהיא ממשכת אור בשם הוי׳ שהוא ז״א וא״כ ההמשכה זו באה מע״ק דוגמת מ״ש במאו״א אות א׳ סעיף כ״ח וז״ל אור הוי׳ נק׳ עתיקא דמתמן נהורא לז״א הנק׳ הוי׳ ולפעמים גם הבינה נק׳ כן עכ״ל. והי״נ כתב וז״ל עיין באד״ר דק״ל ע״א בדרוש הפסוק בית יעקב לכו ונלכה באור ה׳ עכ״ל עכ״ה).
- 3כי אתה נרי ה׳ · II Samuel 22:29
G‑d unchanged by creation ¶3–6
The explanation is this. It is written, “Let every soul praise (tehallel) Yah.” Tehallel is from the expression “when His lamp shone (behilo),” etc., a term for illumination.
The verse “Let every soul praise Yah” is read not only as “praise” but as “make shine,” since tehallel shares a root with behilo, “when His lamp shone.” So the soul’s task is to bring light, which is how the soul can be called G‑d’s lamp.
And the elucidation of the matter: it is written, “I, G‑d, have not changed”; and “You are He before the world was created, and You are He,” etc.
To explain how anything could “give light” to G‑d, the maamar first states that G‑d does not change: “I, G‑d, have not changed,” and, as the morning prayers say, He is the same before and after creation. This prepares the ground for explaining what the soul’s light adds.
The paragraph interprets “Let every soul praise Yah” as the soul shining light, and begins the explanation with the principle that G‑d Himself is unchanged by creation.
The glosses of 5627 quoted in the notes explain why the Alter Rebbe chose this verse: the soul (neshamah) belongs to Binah, and the rise of Malchus to the level of “my mother” is a rise to Binah. Another transcript explains the root of tehallel as brightness and radiance, as in “yahel or.”
Marei mekomos
- 1כל הנשמה תהלל י״ה · Psalms 150:6
- 2שו״ה והענין — פי׳ תהלל · בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קכד ”וגם מהו לשון תהלל ולא אמר תשבח כו׳”.
- 3בהלו נרו · Job 29:3
- 4לשון הארה · במאמרי אדה״א שם ע׳ שלב ”לשון בהירות והבהקה וזהרורי׳ יתירה כמו יהל אור”. וכ״ה בתקס״ה ע׳ קכד.
- 5אני ה׳ לא שניתי · Malachi 3:6
- 6ואתה הוא קודם שנבה״ע · נוסח תפלת השחר. וראה גם לקמן לח, ב. ו, ד. ובמאמרי אדה״ז על מארז״ל ע׳ שלו.
- 7ואתה הוא קודם שנבה״ע ואתה הוא · Weekday Siddur Chabad, Shacharit, Morning Prayer 16
4ואינו כדמיון הנשמה שמתפעלת ומקבלת שינויים ממקרי הגוף לפי שמלובשת ממש בתוך לבושי הגוף בג׳ לבושיה
He is not like the soul, which is affected and undergoes changes from the happenings of the body, because it is truly vested within the garments of the body, in its three garments,
The human soul does change with what happens to the body, because it is enclosed in garments. Its three garments are its means of expression: thought, speech and action.
שהם מחדו״מ שמחשבתו של האדם מלבשת את הנשמה ומקיפה מכל צד וממשיכה להטותה אל כל אשר תחפוץ ששם תהא משכן הנשמה והשראתה וכן בדו״מ.1
which are thought, speech and action: a person’s thought vests the soul and surrounds it on every side, and draws it to turn wherever [the thought] desires, so that there the soul will dwell and rest; and so too with speech and action.
A person’s thought surrounds the soul and carries it wherever the thought goes, so the soul is “where” its thought is. Speech and action do the same.
משא״כ אצלו ית׳ כתיב כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם2 שאינו מקבל שום שינוי ח״ו מבריאת העולמות.
With Him, may He be blessed, however, it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts”: He undergoes no change at all, G‑d forbid, through the creation of the worlds.
G‑d is not like this: “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” Creating the worlds does not draw Him into them or change Him in any way.
The paragraph contrasts the soul, which is affected because it is clothed in thought, speech and action, with G‑d, who is not changed by creating the worlds.
The Mitteler Rebbe, in the notes, explains the analogy: when the mind is taken up with one thought it is truly caught in it, so that it cannot think another thing at that moment. That is exactly what does not apply to G‑d.
Marei mekomos
- 1וממשיכה להטותה אל כל אשר תחפוץ . . וכן בדו״מ · במאמרי אדה״א שם מבאר בארוכה הדוגמא כשהשכל נתפס בענין מחשבה זו נתפס בה ממש שבאותה שעה לא יוכל להשכיל שכל אחר ע״ש.
- 2כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם · Isaiah 55:8
5וכמו שהיה הוא לבדו קודם שנבה״ע. כך הוא לבדו אחר שנבה״ע. שאין העולמות תופסים מקום אצלו ית׳ כלל.
And just as He was alone before the world was created, so He is alone after the world was created, for the worlds take up no place at all in relation to Him, may He be blessed.
G‑d is as alone after creation as before it, since the worlds do not count as anything in relation to Him. They add nothing and take up no “room” beside Him.
והגם שהוא מחי׳ את כולם וצופה ומביט עד סוף כל הדורות בהשגחה פרטית על כל דרכי איש ועלילות מצעדי גבר.
And even though He gives life to them all, and looks and gazes to the end of all generations with individual providence over all the ways of man and the doings of a person’s steps,
Yet He gives life to everything and watches over every person’s path with individual providence. The sentence continues into the next paragraph, which explains how He can know all this without being changed.
The paragraph states that the worlds take up no place before G‑d, while acknowledging that He gives them life and watches over every detail, which raises the question of how His knowledge works.
as it is written, “Your eyes are open upon all the ways,” etc., this is only as in the saying, “Before You all hidden things are revealed”; “All is revealed and known before You.”
The verse says G‑d’s eyes are open to all human ways, and the prayers say everything hidden is “revealed and known” before Him. This phrase is the key to the answer.
פי׳ הכל גלוי וידוע.2 שהם נעשים בבחי׳ גילוי וידיעה3 לפניו אבל לא שייך עליו לומר שיודע בהם כידיעת האדם שידיעתו מלבשתו ומקפתו
The meaning of “all is revealed and known” is that they become revealed and known before Him; but it does not apply to say of Him that He knows them like the knowledge of a person, whose knowledge vests him and surrounds him.
“Revealed and known” means that things simply stand revealed before Him. It does not mean He knows them as a person knows, where the knowledge encloses the knower.
שהוא ית׳ רם ונשא מזה רבבות מדרגות עד אין קץ והוא קדוש ומובדל וג״פ קדוש ק״ק עד שהוי״ה צבאות4 להוות עולמות מלאכים ונשמות:
For He, may He be blessed, is high and exalted above this by myriads of levels without end; and He is holy and separate, and three times holy, “Holy, holy, holy,” until [He is] “Havayah of hosts,” to bring into being (lehavos) worlds, angels and souls.
G‑d is infinitely above that kind of knowing; this is the meaning of “holy,” separate. The threefold “Holy” of Isaiah marks the stages of descent until He is “Havayah of hosts,” the Name that brings the worlds, angels and souls into being.
The paragraph explains that G‑d’s knowledge of the world is a “revealed and known” that does not enclose Him, because He is holy, separate, and the threefold holiness leads down only to the level that creates.
The 5627 glosses quoted in the notes says that with “revealed and known” the Alter Rebbe answered the difficulty: it is not that His thought is clothed in the things, but that they are revealed before Him. The parallel in Torah Ohr, Vayera makes the same point, with an argument from the fact that G‑d gives life to things as the light that encompasses them, without being clothed in them.
Marei mekomos
- 1עיניך פקוחות על כל דרכי · Jeremiah 32:19
- 2פי׳ הכל גלוי וידוע · ראה לעיל יד, ד ובמ״מ שם. וראה בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קכד ואילך. אוה״ת ענינים ע׳ קטו. באוה״ת סידור ע׳ נ מציין לכאן. מאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ שלד.
- 3שו״ה שהם — בבחי׳ גילוי וידיעה · בסה״מ תרכ״ז ע׳ רחצ בסופו שבזה תירץ רבינו ז״ל שאין זו בחי׳ התלבשות המחשבה כלל כ״א שהוא בדרך גלוי וידוע ע״ש.
- 4ק״ק עד שהוי״ה צבאות · Isaiah 6:3
The letters of the Name and the tzimtzum ¶7–9
7וביאור ענין ג״פ קדוש.1 הוא כי הנה ב׳ ההי״ן שבשם2 הוי״ה. ה׳ הראשונה בחי׳ מחשבה. וה׳ השניה בחי׳ דבור.
And the explanation of the matter of “three times holy” is this. The two letters hei in the Name Havayah: the first hei is the level of thought, and the second hei is the level of speech.
The Name Havayah has two letters hei. The first stands for divine thought and the second for divine speech.
והנה בחי׳ דבור הוא מקור התהוות העולמות מלאכים ונשמות. וכמ״ש בדבר ה׳ שמים נעשו3 וברוח פיו כל צבאם.
Now, the level of speech is the source of the coming into being of the worlds, angels and souls, as it is written, “By the word of G‑d the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.”
Divine speech is what brings the worlds, angels and souls into being, as the verse says the heavens were made “by the word of G‑d.” So the last hei is the immediate source of creation.
The paragraph begins explaining the threefold “Holy” through the letters of the Name Havayah, identifying the two heis as thought and speech, with speech the source of creation.
The parallel in Likkutei Torah, Emor explains “holy” as “separate,” and the three groups of angels saying “holy” once, twice and three times, starting from “I, G‑d, have not changed.”
Marei mekomos
- 1וביאור ענין ג״פ קדוש · ראה לקו״ת אמור לא, א ואילך. נשא כח, ד. ראה כ, ד ואילך. מאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ שלה. תקא.
- 2ג״פ קדוש . . ב׳ ההי״ן שבשם ה׳ · מצויין באוה״ת נ״ך כרך א ע׳ קסח ושם מציין לכמה מקומות שמובא הענין ג״פ קדוש.
- 3בדבר ה׳ שמים נעשו · Psalms 33:6
And the first three letters are the “three times holy,” which is the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) from cause to cause, etc., until there comes to be the level of the last hei, the level of speech.
The first three letters of the Name, yud, hei and vav, correspond to the three “holies.” They are stages of descent, each level the cause of the next, down to the last hei, divine speech.
כי כדי להיות ה׳ ראשונה בחי׳ מחשבה והתפשטות החיות והתהוות איזו הארה צ״ל תחלה בחי׳ יו״ד
For in order for there to be the first hei, the level of thought, and the spreading forth of life-force and the coming into being of any illumination at all, there must first be the level of the yud,
Even the first hei, divine thought and the first spreading of life, cannot exist unless the yud comes first. The yud, the smallest letter, is a single point.
שהוא צמצום שמא״ס ב״ה בעצמו לא היו העולמות יכולים לקבל הארה כלל ולא הי׳ יכול להתהוות יש מאין כלל אלא ע״י צמצום וכמאמר מכלכל חיים בחסד.
which is tzimtzum (contraction). For from the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, Himself, the worlds could not receive any illumination at all, and nothing could come into being as something from nothing at all, except through tzimtzum, as the saying goes, “He sustains (mechalkel) life with kindness.”
The yud stands for tzimtzum, the contraction of the Infinite. Without it the worlds could not receive any light and nothing could exist as a separate “something”; this is why the prayer says G‑d “sustains life with kindness.”
ופי׳ מכלכל מלשון כלי תוך כלי שלהיות חיים להחיות העולמות צ״ל צמצום בבחי׳ כלי תוך כלי כי הוא ית׳ חיי החיים כו׳:
And the meaning of mechalkel is from the expression “a vessel (kli) within a vessel”: in order for there to be life to give life to the worlds, there must be tzimtzum in the manner of a vessel within a vessel, for He, may He be blessed, is the Life of all life, etc.
Mechalkel, “sustains,” is read as related to kli, a vessel: life reaches the worlds by being placed in vessel within vessel, layer after layer of contraction. This is needed because G‑d is the Life of all life, too great to be received directly.
The paragraph explains that the descent from G‑d to creation must begin with the yud, the tzimtzum, through which infinite life can be received in measured form.
Marei mekomos
- 1וג׳ אותיות הראשונות · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך ב ע׳ תשמב.
The Talmud reads the verse “with Yah” to mean that with the letter yud the World to Come was created. The World to Come is the souls’ delight in the radiance of the Shechinah.
והתגלות תענוג זה הוא ע״י צמצום אא״ס ב״ה שהוא בחי׳ יו״ד כי מאא״ס ב״ה בעצמו ובכבודו כביכול לא היו הנשמות יכולים לקבל4 מאחר שהם בבחי׳ נברא וגבול והעוה״ב עצמו הוא בחי׳ ה״א.
And the revelation of this delight is through the tzimtzum of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is the level of the yud. For from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself, and in its glory, as it were, the souls could not receive, since they are in the state of created and bounded beings. And the World to Come itself is the level of the hei.
Souls, being created and finite, could not receive the Infinite Light directly, so their delight is revealed only through the contraction that the yud represents. The World to Come itself corresponds to the letter hei.
וע״י יו״ד נברא שתענוג זה שמשיגים הוא בחי׳ יש. כמ״ש להנחיל אוהבי יש. ש״י5 עולמו׳. וכדי להתהוות יש מאין המוחלט צ״ל בחי׳ צמצום.
And through the yud it was created, [meaning] that this delight which [the souls] grasp is the level of yesh (something), as it is written, “to bequeath to those who love Me yesh”: [yesh is] three hundred and ten worlds. And to bring a yesh into being from absolute nothing, there must be the level of tzimtzum.
Because it comes through tzimtzum, the delight of the souls is a “something” (yesh) that can be grasped, which the Mishnah reads in the verse about the 310 (yesh) worlds the righteous inherit. To bring a “something” out of absolute nothing, there must be a contraction.
The paragraph applies the yud of tzimtzum to the World to Come: the souls’ delight in G‑d is possible only through contraction, which makes it a graspable “something.”
The Tzemach Tzedek, quoted in the notes, says that here the maamar turns from the contractions themselves to how they are drawn down through an arousal from below: “to work it and to guard it” correspond to the two heis. Another note links the contraction to the three things that preceded the world, water, wind and fire, as the three lines of the Sefiros.
Marei mekomos
- 1בי״ה ה׳ צור עולמים · Isaiah 26:4
- 2ביו״ד נברא העוה״ב · Menachot 29b:13–14
- 3שנהנין מזיו השכינה · Berakhot 17a:12
- 4מאא״ס ב״ה . . לקבל · ביהל אור ע׳ שפט: ואפ״ל שזהו ענין ג׳ בריות שקדמו לעולם מים רוח ואש, שהם ג׳ ספירות ג׳ קווין, כי מאוא״ס ב״ה א״א לבע״ג לקבל כ״א ע״י צמצומים דהיינו ע״י הספירות שבהן ועל ידם מאיר הא״ס באופן שיוכלו העולמות לקבל כו׳ עכ״ל.
- 5להנחיל אוהבי יש ש״י עולמות · Proverbs 8:21
The mitzvos make the Garden of Eden ¶10
10והנה שכר מצוה מצוה.12 פי׳ שהמצוה בעצמה ממשכת מתן שכרה וכמ״ש יגיע כפיך כי תאכל3 שע״י המצות שאדם עושה בעוה״ז הוא ממשיך להיות גילוי הג״ע שיומשך התגלות תענוג הנשמות.
Now, “the reward of a mitzvah is the mitzvah.” This means that the mitzvah itself draws down the giving of its reward, as it is written, “When you eat the toil of your hands”: through the mitzvos that a person does in this world he draws down the revelation of the Garden of Eden, so that the revelation of the delight of the souls will be drawn forth.
“The reward of a mitzvah is the mitzvah” means that the mitzvah itself brings down its reward. By doing mitzvos in this world a person draws down the revelation of the Garden of Eden, the delight of the souls.
וכמ״ש ויניחהו בג״ע לעבדה אלו רמ״ח מ״ע.4 שעי״ז הוא עושה את הג״ע. וזהו כל הנשמה תהלל יה.
As it is written, “He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it”: these are the 248 positive commandments, for through them he makes the Garden of Eden. And this is “Let every soul praise Yah.”
The Zohar reads “to work it” in the verse about Adam in Eden as the 248 positive commandments, so a person’s mitzvos “make” the Garden of Eden. This is the soul “praising,” that is, illuminating.
פי׳ תהלל ותאיר הארת והמשכת היו״ד שהיא בחי׳ הצמצום להיות בה׳ עלאה בחי׳ עוה״ב שהיא בחי׳ יש מאין להנחיל אוהבי יש כנ״ל:
It means: [let every soul] make shine and illuminate the illumination and drawing down of the yud, which is the level of tzimtzum, so that there will be in the higher hei the level of the World to Come, which is the level of something from nothing, “to bequeath to those who love Me yesh,” as mentioned above.
The soul shines by drawing down the yud, the contraction, into the higher hei, the World to Come. In this way it brings about the “something from nothing” that is the souls’ reward.
The paragraph explains how the soul is a lamp: through the mitzvos it draws down the contraction that reveals the delight of the World to Come, and so creates its own reward.
Marei mekomos
- 1שכר מצוה מצוה · אבות ד, ב.
- 2שכר מצוה מצוה · Pirkei Avot 4:2
- 3יגיע כפיך כי תאכל · Psalms 128:2
- 4ויניחהו בג״ע לעבדה אלו רמ״ח מ״ע · Genesis 2:15
Breath: running and returning ¶11–16
11אך היינו כל הנשמה דייקא. כי נשמה מלשון נשימה12 שבאדם שהיא בחי׳ רו״ש. כי הנשמה היא כמ״ש אשום ואשוף יחד.
But this is “every soul (neshamah)” specifically. For neshamah is from the word for the breathing (neshimah) in a person, which is the level of “running and returning.” For the soul is as it is written, “I will breathe out and draw in breath together”:
The verse says “every neshamah,” and neshamah comes from neshimah, breathing. Breathing in and out is the pattern of “running and returning,” as Isaiah’s words about breathing out and in suggest.
ששואף ההבל ונכנס ויוצא. וע״ש זה נק׳ נשמה שהיא מקור כל הנשימות וכללותן. ולכן הלב דופק תמיד ברו״ש.
one draws in the breath, and it enters and goes out. On account of this it is called neshamah, for it is the source of all breaths and their sum. Therefore the heart beats constantly in running and returning.
Breath goes in and goes out, and the soul is called neshamah because it is the source of all breathing. That is why the heart beats constantly in a rhythm of running and returning.
משא״כ שאר כל האברים שוקטים ונחים. ועל עמדם יעמודו כי רוח החיות של הנפש הוא בדם הלב דוקא.
This is not so with all the other limbs, which are quiet and at rest and stay standing in their place; for the spirit of life of the soul is in the blood of the heart specifically.
The other limbs can rest, but the heart cannot, because the life of the soul is in the blood of the heart. So the rhythm of running and returning is the very pulse of life.
The paragraph explains why the verse speaks of the neshamah: the soul, like breath and the heartbeat, lives in a constant rhythm of running toward G‑d and returning.
The glosses of 5627 quoted in the notes explain that to draw in breath, which is a person’s life, there must be running and returning. The notes also point to the Midrash on the five names of the soul and to Maimonides on the soul.
Marei mekomos
- 1נשמה מלשון נשימה . . אשם ואשאף יחד · Isaiah 42:14
- 2נשמה מלשון נשימה · Bereshit Rabbah 14:9
Now, the level of the “running” of the soul is the level of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in the reading of the Shema. That is, the giving over of the will, for nefesh is will,
The soul’s “running” is the self-sacrifice of the Shema, the readiness to give one’s whole self to G‑d. Self-sacrifice here means giving over one’s will, because nefesh, “soul,” also means will.
כמ״ש אין נפשי אל העם הזה2 כו׳. דהיינו שיעקור רצונו המלובש בהבלי עולם. ולהיות לו רק רצון א׳ לאביו שבשמים.
as it is written, “My soul (nafshi) is not toward this people,” etc. That is, that he uproot his will that is vested in the vanities of the world, and have only one will: for his Father in heaven.
Jeremiah’s words “My nefesh is not toward this people” show that nefesh means will. So self-sacrifice is uprooting one’s will from the vanities of the world and having one single will, for one’s Father in heaven.
The paragraph defines the soul’s “running” as self-sacrifice in the Shema, understood as surrendering one’s will entirely to G‑d.
The Rebbe asks, in a note quoted by Kehot, why Chassidus proves that nefesh means will from Jeremiah and not from the Torah’s “if it is your will (nafshechem)” said by Avraham to the children of Ches. He answers that that verse speaks of the other side, so it is no full proof for the holy “with all your soul.” He adds that this shows how exact the teachings of Chassidus are even in passing details.
Marei mekomos
- 1והיינו מסירת הרצון · מובא באוה״ת תרומה ע׳ א׳שסח, ושם מציין לעיין בלקו״ת פ׳ ראה כה, א. ראה מאמרי אדה״ז הקצרים ע׳ תקז. בונה ירושלים סי׳ עא. מאה שערים לז, א. וראה גם סד״ה עתידין צדיקים ה׳תש״ב.
- 2נפש הוא הרצון כמ״ש אין נפשי אל העם הזה · Jeremiah 15:1
As it is written, “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing on earth”: he has no other desire or will at all.
The Psalmist’s words, “Whom have I in heaven … I desire nothing on earth,” describe this single will. The person who gives over his will wants nothing at all apart from G‑d.
והיינו בשומו ללבו שאין עוד מלבדו2 והכל בטל אליו ית׳. וכל הדברים שבעוה״ז הנפרדים ליש ודבר בפ״ע הוא רק לפי שנפלו בשבה״כ.
That is, by setting it to his heart that there is nothing else besides Him, and everything is nullified to Him, may He be blessed. And all the things of this world that are separate, a yesh and a thing unto themselves, are so only because they fell in the breaking of the vessels.
He reaches this by taking to heart that there is nothing besides G‑d and that everything is nullified before Him. Things in this world seem separate and independent only because they come from the sparks that fell in the “breaking of the vessels,” the Kabbalistic account of how divine light came to be hidden in a world that seems separate.
The paragraph describes the inner content of giving over one’s will: wanting only G‑d, based on the recognition that nothing truly exists apart from Him.
Marei mekomos
- 1מי לי בשמים · Psalms 73:25
- 2שאין עוד מלבדו · Deuteronomy 4:35
14וכמ״ש לי הכסף ולי הזהב1 נאם ה׳ שהכסף והזהב הגשמיים הם נתגשמו בירידתם מטה מטה בהשתלשלות רבות ועצומות. אבל במקורם למעלה הם לי ובטלים אלי לפי ששרשם הוא מבחי׳ נאם ודבר2 ה׳.
As it is written, “Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold, says G‑d”: the physical silver and gold became physical in their descent lower and lower through many and immense stages of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus); but in their source above they are “Mine,” and nullified to Me, because their root is from the level of “says” (ne’um) and the word of G‑d.
Physical silver and gold became material only through a long descent through many levels. In their source they are still G‑d’s, “Mine,” and nullified before Him, because their root is G‑d’s word, which brings everything into being; so they are no reason to be drawn away from Him.
The paragraph uses the verse “Mine is the silver” to show that even the most desired material things are, at their root, nullified before G‑d.
Marei mekomos
- 1לי הכסף ולי הזהב · Haggai 2:8
- 2מבחי׳ נאם ודבר ה׳ · ראה אוה״ת כי תצא ע׳ תתרכ.
15וכל מה שיעמיק בזה ויותר מזה לבבו יבין שלא לנטות ולא לימשך בלתי לה׳ לבדו. ויהיה רצונו רק אליו ית׳ לדבקה בו עד מיצוי הנפש.
And the more he goes deeply into this, and his heart understands even more than this, he will understand not to incline and not to be drawn after anything other than G‑d alone. And his will shall be only toward Him, may He be blessed, to cleave to Him until the soul pours itself out.
The deeper one contemplates G‑d’s oneness, the clearer it becomes that nothing but G‑d is worth turning toward. The will then reaches out only to G‑d, to cleave to Him to the point of the soul’s “expiry,” the utmost longing.
ואחר שיהיה כך ברצוא יהיה כך בשוב להיות והיו הדברים האלה1 אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך ודברת בם בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך בדרך2 כו׳
And after he is thus in “running,” he shall be thus in “returning”: so that “these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way,” etc.
But “running” must be followed by “returning.” The return is to bring G‑d’s words into the heart and into daily life, at home and on the road, through Torah study.
כי אין לו להקב״ה בעולמו אלא ד״א של הלכה3 בלבד. פי׳ מאחר שהוא קדוש כו׳.
For “the Holy One, blessed be He, has in His world nothing but the four cubits of halachah alone.” This means: since He is holy, etc.,
The Talmud says G‑d has in His world only “the four cubits of halachah,” the laws of the Torah. Since G‑d is holy, separate from the world, there must be a special channel through which He enters it.
אין לו שייכות להיות שורה ומתלבש בעולם אלא ע״י ד״א של הלכה שעי״ז נעשה דירתו ממש בתחתונים
He has no connection to rest and be vested in the world except through the four cubits of halachah, through which His very dwelling place among the lower realms is made,
That channel is halachah: through the laws of the Torah, studied and kept in this world, G‑d comes to rest in it. This is how His “dwelling place among the lower realms” is made.
which is His wisdom and His will, etc. And this is the whole of man: to be [in the state of] “your heart runs, and return to the One,” etc., “for against your will you live,” etc.
Halachah is G‑d’s own wisdom and will, which is why it can make His dwelling place. The whole purpose of a person is to “run” and then “return to the One,” for, as the Mishnah says, “against your will you live”: the soul must stay in the body and fulfil its mission here.
The paragraph completes the picture of service: after the “running” of self-sacrifice comes the “returning” of Torah study and halachah, through which G‑d’s dwelling in this world is made.
The Tikkunei Zohar reads the phrase from Sefer Yetzirah, “if your heart runs, return,” as a law of the soul’s service: the longing to rise must turn back into drawing G‑dliness down. “Against your will you live” teaches that the soul’s yearning to leave the body is held back so that it fulfils G‑d’s will below.
Marei mekomos
- 1והיו הדברים האלה · Deuteronomy 6:6
- 2ודברת בם בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך בדרך · Deuteronomy 6:7
- 3אין לו להקב״ה בעולמו אלא ד״א של הלכה · Berakhot 8a:18–19
- 4רץ לבך ושוב · Sefer Yetzirah 1:8
- 5רץ לבך ושוב לאחד · Tikkunei Zohar 7a:3
- 6בע״כ אתה חי · אבות ד, כב.
- 7בע״כ אתה חי · Pirkei Avot 4:22
16ובזה תהיה כל הנשמה תהלל יה כי ע״י אתעדל״ת אתעדל״ע. שע״י בחי׳ רצוא שבעבודת האדם כך הוא למעלה בחי׳ הסתלקות וצמצום אוא״ס ב״ה.
And by this “every soul will praise Yah,” for through an arousal from below [there comes] an arousal from above. Through the level of “running” in a person’s service, so above there is the level of the withdrawal and tzimtzum of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.
What a person does below sets off a matching response above. His “running,” his yearning to rise, brings about above the withdrawal and contraction of the Infinite Light, the yud described earlier.
וע״י בחי׳ שוב כך הוא בחי׳ המשכת אוא״ס ב״ה בהשתלשלות המדרגות למטה מטה כדי להאיר התגלות התענוג של הנשמות להתענג על ה׳.
And through the level of “returning,” so there is the level of drawing down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, through the chain of descending levels lower and lower, in order to make shine the revelation of the delight of the souls, to delight in G‑d.
His “returning” brings about the drawing down of the Infinite Light through all the levels. This reveals the delight of the souls in G‑d, the World to Come.
וזהו ה׳ צלך כצל שהוא פונה אחרי האדם. כך הוא ית׳ כביכול צל שלך.1 והיינו על יד ימינך דהיינו ע״י אהבה במס״נ בבחי׳ רצוא כנ״ל.
And this is “G‑d is your shadow”: like a shadow, which turns after a person, so He, may He be blessed, is, as it were, your shadow. And that is “at your right hand,” meaning through love with self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), in the level of “running,” as mentioned above.
This is the meaning of “G‑d is your shadow”: as a shadow follows a person’s movements, G‑d’s response follows a person’s service. “At your right hand” refers to the right side, love, here the love of self-sacrifice in the state of “running.”
וזהו נר הוי״ה נשמת אדם שנשמת אדם שהוא בחי׳ נשימה ברו״ש היא בחי׳ נר להאיר ולהמשיך אוא״ס ב״ה בג״ע כו׳:2
And this is “The soul of man is the lamp of Havayah”: the soul of man, which is the level of breathing in running and returning, is the level of a lamp, to illuminate and draw down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the Garden of Eden, etc.
Now the first verse is explained: the soul, breathing in running and returning, is a “lamp” that draws the Infinite Light into the Garden of Eden. So the soul really is “the lamp of Havayah.”
The paragraph shows how a person’s running and returning bring about the contraction and the drawing down above, and so answers how the soul is “the lamp of Havayah.”
The Kehot notes record that the reading of “G‑d is your shadow” is the Baal Shem Tov’s and is also found in Midrash Shmuel. Or HaTorah adds that the soul draws added light into the Name Havayah, as in the explanation of “and bless Havayah.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ה׳ צלך . . כך הוא ית׳ כביכול צל שלך · Psalms 121:5
- 2להאיר ולהמשיך אוא״ס ב״ה בג״ע כו׳ · באוה״ת תצוה ע׳ א׳תקנג מוסיף ”כמ״ש בד״ה צאינה וראינה בפי׳ וברכו את הוי׳ שממשיכים ברכה ותוס׳ אור בשם הוי׳”.
“You are my lamp”: the daughter ¶17–21
17אך כדי לבא למדרגת בחי׳ רו״ש הנ״ל א״א לאדם להגיע ע״י התבוננות בה׳ אחד ברוח בינתו לבד שמשכלו ובינתו לא תוליד אהבה כזו.
But to come to the rank of the level of running and returning mentioned above, a person cannot reach it through contemplating that G‑d is One with the spirit of his understanding alone, for his intellect and understanding will not give birth to such a love.
Yet running and returning cannot be reached by intellectual contemplation alone. Understanding that G‑d is One does not by itself give birth to such a love.
הגם שע״פ שכלו ותבונתו יבין שכך יאתה מ״מ לא יגרום כח המושך בפו״מ אלא עז״נ
Even though by his intellect and understanding he will understand that this is fitting, nevertheless it will not produce the power that draws [him] in actual practice. Rather, of this it is said,
A person may fully understand that he ought to love G‑d this way, and still the understanding does not move him in practice. This is why David says, “You are my lamp.”
כי אתה נרי הוי״ה.1 אתה הוא בחי׳ תומ״צ. כי א״ת הם בחי׳ אותיות התורה מא׳ ועד תי״ו.
“For You (atah) are my lamp, Havayah.” Atah is the level of Torah and mitzvos: for alef and tav are the level of the letters of the Torah, from alef to tav.
Atah, “You,” is read as the letters alef to tav, all the letters of the Torah. So the verse means that Torah and mitzvos are the lamp that lights up the soul, the reverse of the first verse.
The paragraph explains why the second verse is needed: contemplation alone cannot produce the love of self-sacrifice, so the soul needs the light of Torah and mitzvos, the “You” that is its lamp.
Marei mekomos
- 1כי אתה נרי הוי״ה · II Samuel 22:29
18וה׳ הוא בחי׳ המצות. ועי״ז וה׳ יגיה חשכי שיש חשך המחשיך ומונע מלהאיר אור האהבה לה׳ הגם שיתבונן שכך יאתה. והוא חשך הגוף ונפש החיונית המלבישים את נפש האלקית.
And the hei is the level of the mitzvos. And through this, “and G‑d lights up my darkness”: for there is a darkness that darkens and prevents the light of love for G‑d from shining, even though he contemplates that this is fitting. And this is the darkness of the body and of the vital soul, which clothe the G‑dly soul.
The final hei of atah stands for the mitzvos, and through Torah and mitzvos “G‑d lights up my darkness.” The darkness is the body and the vital soul, which surround the G‑dly soul and keep the light of love from shining even when a person understands he should love G‑d.
וצ״ל תחלה סומוע״ט ע״י שיהי׳ ממארי דחושבנא1 ממעשים ודבורים ומחשבו׳ אשר לא לה׳ המה כל ימי חיי הבלו כל חד לפום מאי דידע בנפשו נגעי לבבו
And there must first be “turn away from evil and do good,” by his being one of the “masters of the reckoning,” [reckoning up] the deeds, words and thoughts that were not for G‑d all the days of his vain life, each one according to what he knows in his own soul, “the afflictions of his heart,”
First comes “turn away from evil and do good”: a person must be one of the “masters of the reckoning,” honestly accounting for every deed, word and thought not done for G‑d. Each person knows his own “afflictions of the heart.”
which are what prevent and hold back the light of love. For “any man who has a blemish shall not draw near to offer the bread of his G‑d; he shall not approach to offer,” etc.
These flaws are what hold back the light of love. The Torah says a priest with a blemish may not offer the bread of G‑d; so too a flawed soul cannot draw near.
The paragraph explains the darkness that blocks love for G‑d and the remedy: a careful accounting of one’s deeds, words and thoughts, since a “blemish” keeps the soul from drawing near.
The Tanya, chapter 29, gives the same remedy for a heart that stays dull: the coarseness of kelipah must be humbled by setting times to reflect on one’s failings. The Mitteler Rebbe, in the notes, explains a spiritual “blemish” as even the slightest flaw in the eye or the ear, in what one sees and hears.
Marei mekomos
- 1שו״ה וצ״ל — ממארי דחושבנא · Tanya, Likkutei Amarim 29:15
- 2כי כל איש אשר בו מום . . לחם אלקיו לא יגש להקריב · Leviticus 21:18
- 3לחם אלקיו לא יגש להקריב · Leviticus 21:21
As it is written, “And the perfect shall inherit good,” and “there is no good,” etc. This is not so with blemished ones, for blemished [animals] are disqualified for the altar.
The verse says “the perfect shall inherit good,” and the Mishnah says the only true good is Torah. An unblemished animal can be offered, but a blemished one is disqualified for the altar.
ואף אם עלו ע״ג מזבח מורידין אותן. וכשם שהוא בקרבנות כך הוא בכל אשר יקריב נפשו לה׳ כל איש אשר בו מום לא יוכל ליקרב בק״ש
And even if they were brought up onto the altar, they are taken down. And just as it is with the offerings, so it is with everyone who offers his soul to G‑d: any man who has a blemish cannot draw near in the reading of the Shema
A blemished offering that was placed on the altar is taken down again. The same holds for a person who tries to offer his soul to G‑d in the Shema: if he has a flaw, he cannot truly draw near.
להיות לו מס״נ באמת ומורידים אותו מלמעלה ומפילים אותו למטה3 עד אשר ישוב אל4 ה׳ וירחמהו כו׳. ואז נותנים לו סיוע מלמעלה להיות מעורר את האהבה לה׳ בק״ש.
to have true self-sacrifice, and he is brought down from above and cast down below until he returns to G‑d and He has mercy on him, etc. And then he is given help from above to arouse love for G‑d in the reading of the Shema.
Such a person cannot reach true self-sacrifice; he is pushed back down as he tries to rise, until he returns to G‑d in teshuvah and G‑d has mercy on him. Then he is given help from above to arouse his love in the Shema.
The paragraph applies the law of blemished offerings to prayer: a soul with flaws is held back from true self-sacrifice until teshuvah, after which it is helped from above.
The Mitteler Rebbe, in the notes, explains being “cast down” as the soul being pushed back as it rises in prayer, so that it can never come near to G‑d with the love and awe of running and returning until it does teshuvah.
Marei mekomos
- 1ותמימים ינחלו טוב, ואין טוב · Proverbs 28:10
- 2ואין טוב · Pirkei Avot 6:3
- 3שו״ה מס״נ — ומפילים אותו למטה · במאמרי אדה״א ע׳ שמב ”היינו שמפילים ומשפילי׳ את הנשמה בעלותה למעלה בתפלה לבלתי תוכל להתקרב לה׳ לעולם באוי״ר דרו״ש”.
- 4ישוב אל ה׳ וירחמהו · Isaiah 55:7
20והנה בחי׳ זו נק׳ בת בחי׳ מקבל שאין נפשו בטילה לה׳ במס״נ בטבע1 עד אשר יערה עלי׳ רוח ממרום2 ועז״נ שמעי בת וראי3 והטי אזנך ושכחי עמך ובית אביך.
Now, this level is called “daughter,” the level of a recipient: one whose soul is not by nature nullified to G‑d with self-sacrifice “until a spirit is poured upon [it] from on high.” Of this it is said, “Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house.”
This is the first rank, called “daughter”: one who receives. His soul is not by nature ready for self-sacrifice until a spirit is poured on him from above, and to him the verse says, “Hear, O daughter … forget your people and your father’s house.”
פי׳ עמך ובית אביך. היינו מה שהורגלת בו ונמשכת אחריהם בהבלי העולם. עכ״פ שכחי לפנות דעתך לקבל ע״ע עומ״ש שצריך להיות4 כלי לקבל את אור האהבה הבאה מלמעלה.
The meaning of “your people and your father’s house”: what you have been accustomed to and drawn after in the vanities of the world. At the least, forget [them], to clear your mind to accept upon yourself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, for one must be a vessel to receive the light of the love that comes from above.
“Your people and your father’s house” are the worldly habits a person has grown used to. At the very least he must forget them enough to accept the yoke of heaven, so that he becomes a vessel for the love that comes from above.
The paragraph identifies the “daughter” as the person who cannot reach self-sacrifice on his own, and whose task is to clear his mind and accept the yoke of heaven so as to receive love from above.
Marei mekomos
- 1שו״ה בחי׳ מקבל — בטבע · בבוך 633. בטבעה.
- 2עד אשר יערה עלי׳ רוח ממרום · Isaiah 32:15
- 3שמעי בת וראי · Psalms 45:11
- 4שו״ה להיות — והנה בחי׳ זו נק׳ בת · קטע מכאן ומהביאור מובא באוה״ת פ׳ בא ע׳ רנח.
And then “the king will desire your beauty”: the beauty of the illumination that will light up the love, which is the level of a lamp, as mentioned above. And of this it is said, “You will give truth to Yaakov.”
Once the receiver becomes a vessel, “the king will desire your beauty”: the beauty is the light that kindles his love, his “lamp.” Of him Micah says, “You will give truth to Yaakov,” truth given as a gift.
כי נש״י הם ב׳ בחי׳ יעקב וישראל. ישראל הוא בחי׳ כי שרית ותוכל2 שכבר גבר ונצח המלחמה
For the souls of Israel are of two levels, Yaakov and Yisrael. Yisrael is the level of “for you have striven and have prevailed”: he has already overcome and won the battle.
There are two kinds of Jewish souls, called Yaakov and Yisrael. Yisrael, named for “you have striven and prevailed,” has already won the inner battle.
משא״כ יעקב יו״ד עקב דהיינו שירד מטה3 בבחי׳ עקב אלא שיש לו בחי׳ יו״ד בראשו שאליו יומשך ממטה למעלה.
Yaakov, by contrast, is yud-akev (yud, heel): that is, he has gone down below to the level of the heel, except that he has the level of a yud at his head, toward which he will be drawn from below upward.
The name Yaakov is read as yud and akev, “heel”: he stands low, at the level of the heel, but has a yud, a point of G‑dliness, at his head that draws him upward.
ועדיין אין לו בחי׳ אמת בנפשו בטבע ממש. רק שה׳ יתן אמת ע״י סיוע מלמעלה.
And he does not yet have the level of truth in his soul by his very nature; it is only that G‑d will give truth, through help from above.
Yaakov does not yet have truth in his own nature. G‑d gives it to him as help from above.
וחסד לאברהם פי׳ שיהיה בחי׳ אברהם הוא בחי׳ האהבה שהיא באה בתורת חסד מלמעלה. וכ״ז הוא מימי קדם מבחי׳ תשובה שקדמה לעולם:4
“Kindness to Avraham”: this means that the level of Avraham is the level of the love that comes as a gift of kindness from above. And all this is “from the days of old,” from the level of teshuvah, which preceded the world.
“Kindness to Avraham” means that love, the trait of Avraham, also comes to him as a gift from above. All this flows “from the days of old,” from teshuvah, which preceded the world and can reach beyond a person’s present state.
The paragraph explains how the “daughter” receives: as Yaakov, who has not yet won the battle, he is given truth and love from above, through the power of teshuvah.
The Kehot note points to Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres, for a parallel treatment of “You will give truth to Yaakov.”
Marei mekomos
- 1תתן אמת ליעקב · Micah 7:20
- 2כי שרית ותוכל · Genesis 32:29
- 3שו״ה המלחמה — שירד מטה · בבוך 633: שירד מטה מטה.
- 4תשובה שקדמה לעולם · Pesachim 54a:8–9
The sister: masters of Torah ¶22–25
22וביאור ענין אחותי. הוא בחי׳ ומדרגת מארי תורה שתורתם אומנתם כי במעלת התורה איתא במדרש מצינו שויתר הקב״ה על ג״ע וש״ד.1
And the explanation of the matter of “my sister”: it is the level and rank of the masters of Torah, whose Torah is their occupation. For regarding the greatness of Torah, it is stated in the Midrash: “We find that the Holy One, blessed be He, overlooked forbidden relations and bloodshed,
The second name, “sister,” is the rank of those whose Torah is their occupation, who devote themselves wholly to study. The Midrash says G‑d overlooked even grave sins such as forbidden relations and bloodshed, but not the neglect of Torah.
ולא ויתר על בטול תורה. והענין כי הנה עסק התורה הוא המשכת דירתו ית׳ בתחתונים כי כל עניני התורה אסור ומותר. כשר ופסול.
but did not overlook the neglect of Torah.” The explanation is that occupation with Torah is the drawing down of His dwelling place, may He be blessed, among the lower realms. For all the matters of the Torah, forbidden and permitted, kosher and unfit,
Torah study is so central because it draws down G‑d’s dwelling in the lower realms. All of Torah law, forbidden and permitted, kosher and unfit, is about drawing distinctions.
טמא וטהור. הוא רק הבדלה בין טוב לרע. וכמ״ש להבדיל בין החיה2 הנאכלת ובין כו׳.
impure and pure, are only a separation between good and evil, as it is written, “to separate between the animal that may be eaten and between,” etc.
Impure and pure too are distinctions, and every such ruling separates good from evil. The verse “to separate between the animal that may be eaten and the one that may not” states this principle.
The paragraph introduces the “sister,” the masters of Torah, and explains the greatness of Torah: its rulings separate good from evil and so make G‑d’s dwelling below.
The Midrash cited is in the introductions (Pesichta) to Eichah Rabbah, and the Kehot note sends the reader to Or HaTorah, Vaeschanan for a long discussion of it.
Marei mekomos
- 1שויתר הקב״ה על ג״ע וש״ד · פתיחתא דאיכ״ר ב. ראה בארוכה באוה״ת פ׳ ואתחנן ע׳ רמו.
- 2להבדיל בין החי׳ · Leviticus 11:47
Now, it is written, “Through me kings reign,” and it was said, “The Mishnayos are queens,” for [halachah] is like a king who commands to do thus and thus, etc., as explained elsewhere.
The Torah says, “Through me kings reign,” and the Sages call the Mishnayos “queens.” Halachah has royal authority: like a king, it commands what must be done.
והנה כתיב אם תגביה כנשר3 כו׳. משם אורידך נאם ה׳ שנאם ה׳ ודבורו הוא המוריד ומשפיל הקליפות וס״א למטה ויתפרדו כל פועלי און.4 וכך האדם ע״י עסקו בתורה.
And it is written, “Though you soar aloft like the eagle,” etc., “from there I will bring you down, says G‑d”: the “saying” of G‑d and His speech is what brings down and lowers the kelipos and the sitra achra below, and “all the workers of iniquity will be scattered.” And so it is with a person, through his occupation in Torah.
G‑d says to the haughty, “Though you soar like the eagle … from there I will bring you down.” G‑d’s word is what casts down the kelipos and the sitra achra, the forces opposed to holiness; and a person who studies Torah does the same.
ומבדיל בין איסור והיתר.5 ובין כשר לפסול כנ״ל. הנה הוא מוריד האיסור והפסול ומדחהו למטה ע״י דבר ה׳ אשר בפיו זו דבר הלכה6 נתקיים בו
He distinguishes between forbidden and permitted, and between kosher and unfit, as mentioned above; he thereby brings down the forbidden and the unfit and pushes it away below through “the word of G‑d” that is in his mouth, “this is the word of halachah.” [Thus] it is fulfilled in him
When a person rules on what is forbidden and permitted, kosher and unfit, he pushes the forbidden and the unfit down and away. He does it with “the word of G‑d” in his mouth, which the Sages identify as halachah.
ועל ידו משם אורידך נאם ה׳ ולכן נק׳ ישראל אחים וריעים להקב״ה. וכמ״ש להנחיל אוהבי יש.7 למען אחי וריעי8 כו׳:
and through him: “from there I will bring you down, says G‑d.” Therefore Israel are called brothers and companions of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, “to bequeath to those who love Me yesh,” and “for the sake of my brothers and companions,” etc.
So the verse “from there I will bring you down, says G‑d” is fulfilled through the person himself. Because he does G‑d’s own work in this way, Israel are called G‑d’s “brothers and companions.”
The paragraph explains why the masters of Torah are called “sister”: through halachic rulings they do G‑d’s own work of casting down evil, and so become His brothers and companions.
Marei mekomos
- 1בי מלכים ימלכו · Proverbs 8:15
- 2מתניתין מלכתא · Beitzah 28b:14–15
- 3אם תגבי׳ כנשר · Obadiah 1:4
- 4ויתפרדו כל פועלי און · Psalms 92:10
- 5שו״ה בתורה — בין איסור והיתר · בבוך 633: בין היתר לאיסור.
- 6דבר ה׳ אשר בפיו זו דבר הלכה · Shabbat 138b:11–12
- 7להנחיל אוהבי יש · Proverbs 8:21
- 8למען אחי ורעי · Psalms 122:8
And this is “The voice is the voice of Yaakov, and the hands are the hands of Esav”: at the time that the voice is the voice of Yaakov, the hands of Esav do not rule over him.
Yitzchak’s words “The voice is the voice of Yaakov, and the hands are the hands of Esav” are read by the Sages to mean that when Yaakov’s voice is heard in Torah study, Esav’s hands have no power over him.
כי אין יניקה לחיצונים מאחר שמבדילים ומבררים. והיינו בזמן שהקל קול. פי׳ שהקול עליון הוא דבר ה׳ מתחבר בקול שלמטה להיות
For the external forces have no nurture, since [one] separates and refines. And that is “at the time that the voice is a voice”: meaning that the supernal voice, which is the word of G‑d, is joined with the voice below, so that it is
The reason is that Torah study separates and refines good from evil, so the “external forces” of kelipah have nothing to draw life from. In the verse, “voice” (kol) appears twice: the voice above, G‑d’s word, joins the voice below, the person’s study.
as it is written, “And I have put My words in your mouth,” and it is written, “And My words which I have placed in your mouth”: truly “My words.” For then it is the level of “the Mishnayos are queens.”
This is what Isaiah means by “My words which I have placed in your mouth”: the words a person speaks in Torah are truly G‑d’s words. Then halachah has its royal power, “the Mishnayos are queens.”
The paragraph shows how Torah study disempowers evil: when a person learns, G‑d’s own word speaks through his voice, separating good from evil.
The word hakol in the verse is written without a vav, which allows it to be read as a second voice; the maamar reads the doubled “voice” as the joining of the supernal voice with the voice below.
Marei mekomos
- 1הקל קול יעקב · Genesis 27:22
- 2ואשים דברי בפיך · Isaiah 51:16
- 3ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך · Isaiah 59:21
And this level is called “my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one (tamasi).” Do not read tamasi but te’omasi (my twin): they become, as it were, truly twin brothers.
This rank is called “my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one,” and the Midrash reads tamasi, “my perfect one,” as te’omasi, “my twin.” Through Torah, Israel and G‑d become, as it were, twins.
However, “whoever says, ‘I have nothing but Torah,’ does not have even Torah.” For the greatness of the Torah is because the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one.
Yet Torah alone is not enough: “whoever says, ‘I have nothing but Torah,’ does not have even Torah.” Torah is great because it is one with G‑d, so one must also connect to G‑d Himself, as the next paragraph explains.
The paragraph presents the closeness of the masters of Torah to G‑d as twins, and warns that Torah is not complete without a bond with G‑d Himself.
The parallel in Torah Ohr, Vaera explains “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one” as G‑d Himself, holy and separate from the worlds, being present in the Torah and its mitzvos.
Marei mekomos
- 1אחותי רעיתי יונתי תמתי · Song of Songs 5:2
- 2א״ת תמתי אלא תאומתי · שה״ש רבה ע״פ אני ישנה.
- 3א״ת תמתי אלא תאומתי · Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:3
- 4כל האומר אין לי אלא תורה · Yevamot 109b:4–5
- 5דאורייתא וקב״ה כולא חד · נסמן לקמן נז, ג.
The mother: self-sacrifice at “One” ¶26–27
And there must also be in the person self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in “One,” for from there is the source of the Torah, and [he must] have only one will, etc., as mentioned above.
So the person of Torah also needs the self-sacrifice of the Shema, giving himself over at the word “One” and having only one will. That is where Torah comes from.
שעי״ז הוא ממשיך גילוי התורה שמשם מקור חוצבה ושרשה דאורייתא מחכ׳ נפקת. וכתיב ויקם עדות ביעקב2 ותורה שם בישראל. פי׳ כי הנה יש ב׳ בחי׳ ישראל ויעקב.3
For through this he draws down the revelation of the Torah, since from there is the source from which it is hewn and its root: “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah.” And it is written, “He established a testimony in Yaakov and set a Torah in Yisrael.” The meaning: there are two levels, Yisrael and Yaakov.
Through this self-sacrifice he draws down the revelation of the Torah from its root, since “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah,” and Chochmah is where the soul’s self-nullification reaches. The verse “testimony in Yaakov … Torah in Yisrael” introduces two levels in the Torah, matching Yaakov and Yisrael.
The paragraph adds that Torah study must be joined to self-sacrifice in the Shema, through which the Torah is revealed from its root, and introduces the two levels of Yaakov and Yisrael in the Torah.
The Kehot notes trace the custom of self-sacrifice at the word “One” in the Shema to the responsa of the Rashba, the Bach on the Tur, and Pri Etz Chaim.
Marei mekomos
- 1למס״נ באחד · ראה שו״ת הרשב״א ח״ה תשובה נה. ב״ח טוא״ח רסס״א. פע״ח שער הק״ש פי״ב.
- 2ויקם עדות ביעקב · Psalms 78:5
- 3דאורייתא מחכמה נפקת · Zohar II, 121a
And corresponding to this there are two levels in the Torah, testimony and Torah. From the level of Yaakov the level of testimony is drawn forth, and from the level of Yisrael the level of Torah is drawn forth.
Torah has two levels, “testimony” and “Torah.” The lower, “testimony,” comes through Yaakov, and the higher, “Torah,” through Yisrael.
As it is written, “And you shall do them (osam)”: it is written [so that it can be read] atem, “you.” And it is written, “which a man shall do (osam).” For through man the level of Torah and mitzvos is drawn forth.
The Sages read “you shall do them (osam)” as “you shall make yourselves (atem),” and the verse about “a man” doing the mitzvos makes the same point. Through man the Torah and mitzvos are drawn into the world.
That is, through self-sacrifice in “One,” for then “every soul will praise Yah,” etc., as mentioned above. And this level is called “my mother,” which is the level of “the mother of the children.”
This happens through self-sacrifice at “One,” when the soul becomes a lamp, as explained above. This level is called “my mother,” as in “the mother of the children,” the highest of the three names.
שהיא היא המוליד הגילוי אלקות אוא״ס ב״ה בג״ע ותענוג הנשמות זו תורה ועבודה כו׳. ולע״ל כתיב רני ושמחי בת8 כו׳. שבחי׳ בת תעלה ביתר שאת910 כנ״ל. ולהיות אשת חיל עט״ב11 כו׳12 כמ״ש במ״א:13
For she is the one that gives birth to the revelation of G‑dliness, the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the Garden of Eden, and to the delight of the souls; this is Torah and service, etc. And of the Time to Come it is written, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter,” etc.: the level of “daughter” will rise “with surpassing dignity,” as mentioned above, and will be “a woman of valor, the crown of her husband,” etc., as explained elsewhere.
The “mother” gives birth to the revelation of G‑dliness in the Garden of Eden and to the delight of the souls, through Torah and divine service. In the Time to Come, the “daughter” will rise even higher, as the Haftorah promises, and will be “a woman of valor, the crown of her husband.”
The paragraph completes the three names: the self-sacrifice that draws down Torah and mitzvos is the level of “mother,” and in the Time to Come even the “daughter” will be raised above all.
Or HaTorah, quoted in the notes, explains that the “daughter” will herself become the crown of her husband, Z’eir Anpin, and higher than Binah, of which it is said “the crown with which his mother crowned him.”
Marei mekomos
- 1ומבחי׳ ישראל נמשך בחי׳ תורה · ראה אוה״ת לך לך עג, ב.
- 2ועשיתם אתם · Leviticus 26:3
- 3ועשיתם אתם אתם כתיב · Leviticus 22:31
- 4אשר יעשה אתם האדם · Leviticus 18:5
- 5כי ע״י האדם נמשך בחי׳ תומ״צ · ראה ד״ה רני ושמחי תשכ״ז (סה״מ מלוקט ח״ד) ע׳ רפג סעי׳ ב הערה 11.
- 6כל הנשמה תהלל י״ה · Psalms 150:6
- 7אם הבנים · Psalms 113:9
- 8רני ושמחי בת · Zechariah 2:14
- 9שבחי׳ בת תעלה ביתר שאת · ע׳ לקו״ת שלח לח, ג. ובביאורי הזהר להצ״צ כרך א פ׳ שלח ע׳ קעא. תל. ובאוה״ת פ׳ חיי שרה קכו, א. שמות כרך ז׳ ע׳ ב׳תקא. נ״ך ע׳ רסה.
- 10ביתר שאת · Genesis 49:3
- 11אשת חיל עט״ב · Proverbs 12:4
- 12ולהיות אשת חיל עט״ב כו׳ · מובא באוה״ת נ״ך כרך ב ע׳ תשסד ושם מציין לכאן ומוסיף ”שהיא עצמה נעשה עטרה וכתר לבעלה שהוא ז״א ולמעלה מבחי׳ בינה שעליה נאמר בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו ולא שהיא עצמה העטרה”.
- 13כמ״ש במ״א · ע׳ באוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תרעג ואילך.
Appendix: the Chanukah lamp ¶28–29
This heading opens a short appended explanation of the maamar, which adds the Kabbalistic background of the three levels.
A heading marks the start of a short explanatory appendix to the maamar.
Marei mekomos
- 1קצת ביאור על זה · הנחה אחרת בסה״מ תקס״ה ע׳ קל. מאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ שנג.
29הנה בת הוא בחי׳ המתברר. ואחותי שהוא בחי׳ מארי תורה הוא המברר. וכמ״ש בת״ז פקודא לאפרשא בין דכיא כו׳ (שהוא בחי׳ תורה להבדיל בין הטמא לטהור1 כו׳) ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך.2
Now, “daughter” is the level of what is refined, and “my sister,” which is the level of the masters of Torah, is the one who refines. As it is written in the Tikkunei Zohar, “The commandment to distinguish between the pure,” etc. (which is the level of Torah, “to separate between the impure and the pure,” etc.), and “My words which I have placed in your mouth.”
The “daughter” is what is refined, the one who is purified; the “sister,” the master of Torah, is the one who refines, separating good from evil. The Tikkunei Zohar calls this the commandment to distinguish pure from impure, and Torah is G‑d’s word in the person’s mouth.
And this is the matter of “like a minister before the king”; whereas “daughter” is the level of mitzvos, “like a servant before the king.” And all of this is alluded to in the Chanukah lamp.
The Talmud contrasts one who is “like a minister before the king,” at ease in the palace, with one who is “like a servant before the king.” The master of Torah is the minister; the “daughter,” whose service is the mitzvos, is the servant; and all this is hinted in the Chanukah lamp.
(עיין פע״ח שער חנוכה פ״ד וכן בשער השבת בתחלת פ״ד) ג׳ יחודים הוי׳ אהיה. הוי׳ אלקים.
(See Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Chanukah, chapter 4, and likewise in Sha’ar HaShabbos at the beginning of chapter 4.) Three unifications: Havayah and Ehe-yeh; Havayah and Elokim;
The Arizal, in Pri Etz Chaim, speaks of three unifications of the Name Havayah: with Ehe-yeh, with Elokim and with Ado-nai.
הוי׳ אדני. גימ׳ נר. יחוד הוי׳ אהיה שהוא יחוד או״א הוא ע״י מס״נ בק״ש הארת הכתר.5
Havayah and Ado-nai: [together] the numerical value of ner (lamp). The unification of Havayah and Ehe-yeh, which is the unification of Abba and Imma, comes through self-sacrifice in the reading of the Shema, the illumination of Keser.
Together these pairs of Names add up to 250, the numerical value of ner, “lamp.” The first, Havayah with Ehe-yeh, joins Abba and Imma, Chochmah and Binah, and is reached through self-sacrifice in the Shema, which draws light from Keser.
ויחוד זו״נ (היינו יחוד הוי״ה אלקים) הוא ע״י התורה ויחוד הג׳ (הוי׳ אדני) בחי׳ המצות הוא כשבאים כל האורות בבחי׳ חותם. והוא ענין תתן אמת ליעקב.6
And the unification of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva (that is, the unification of Havayah and Elokim) comes through the Torah; and the third unification (Havayah and Ado-nai), the level of the mitzvos, is when all the lights come in the manner of a seal. And this is the matter of “You will give truth to Yaakov.”
The second, Havayah with Elokim, joins Z’eir Anpin and Nukva and comes through Torah. The third, Havayah with Ado-nai, comes through the mitzvos, when the lights arrive like the impression of a seal, and this is “You will give truth to Yaakov.”
כי תורת אמת הוא בז״א ומלכות מקבלת בבחי׳ חותם. ולע״ל יתעלה בחי׳ בת כי יהיה גדול כח המתברר שהוא משם ס״ג כנודע
For the Torah of truth is in Z’eir Anpin, and Malchus receives in the manner of a seal. And in the Time to Come the level of “daughter” will be raised, for the power of what is refined will be greater, since it is from the Name Sag, as is known,
The Torah of truth is in Z’eir Anpin, and Malchus receives it as a seal’s imprint. In the Time to Come the “daughter” will be raised, because what is refined has a power rooted in the Name Sag, which is very high.
כי נעוץ סופן כו׳ וסוף מעשה כו׳ ויהי׳ בבחי׳ תגא על רישיה (כמ״ש ברע״מ פ׳ תרומה ד׳ קנ״ח א׳ ושאר דוכתי):
for “their end is embedded [in their beginning],” etc., and “last in deed,” etc. And it will be in the manner of “a crown on his head” (as stated in the Ra’aya Mehemna, Parshas Terumah, page 158a, and in other places).
“Their end is embedded in their beginning,” and what is last in deed was first in thought. So the receiving level will become “a crown on his head,” as the Zohar teaches.
The appendix maps the three names onto three Kabbalistic unifications hinted in the Chanukah lamp, and explains why the “daughter,” the refined, will be raised highest in the Time to Come.
The Mitteler Rebbe explains Ehe-yeh as “I am ready to be revealed”: the hidden essence of the Infinite Light that shines in the inner dimension of Keser. The parallel in Likkutei Torah, Tzav contrasts the minister, who serves with joy, with the servant, who serves with awe, when the King is revealed.
Marei mekomos
- 1להבדיל בין הטמא לטהור · Leviticus 11:47
- 2ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך · Isaiah 59:21
- 3מצות כעבד לפני המלך · ע׳ באוה״ת פ׳ ראה ע׳ תרסב. וראה לקו״ת צו טז, ב שכ׳ בהתגלות המלך אזי בחי׳ שר שעבודתו בשמחה . . ובחי׳ עבד שעבודתו ביראה, ע״ש.
- 4כשר לפני המלך . . כעבד לפני המלך · Berakhot 34b:28
- 5יחוד הוי׳ אהי׳ . . הארת הכתר · ”דפי׳ אהי׳ אנא זמין לאתגלאה מן ההעלם העצמות דאוא״ס שמאיר בפנימית הכתר” — מאמרי אדה״א בראשית ע׳ שנג.
- 6תתן אמת ליעקב · Micah 7:20
Finished the maamar?
Mark it as learned; it counts toward the week and the year’s siyum.
In one’s avodah
A person cannot reach true love of G‑d by understanding alone. He must first take honest account of his deeds, words and thoughts and clear away his worldly habits, accept the yoke of heaven, and give over his will in the Shema. Then he must return to Torah and mitzvos, through which G‑d dwells in the world.
Questions for discussion
- Why does the soul need Torah and mitzvos as its “lamp” if it can understand by itself that it should love G‑d?
- How does the rhythm of breathing and the heartbeat illustrate running and returning in divine service?
- Why is giving over one’s will the essence of self-sacrifice, according to the maamar?
- In what way does a halachic ruling “cast down” the forces of evil?
- Why will the “daughter,” the lowest of the three, be raised highest in the Time to Come?
Key terms in this maamar
- The Name Havayahהוי׳
- The Tetragrammaton: G‑d as transcending time and bringing all into being. ×5
- The chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus)השתלשלות
- The step-by-step descent of divine light from the highest level down to this world. ×3
- Life-forceחיות
- The divine vitality that sustains every creation. ×3
- Tzimtzum (contraction)צמצום
- The self-concealment of the Infinite Light that makes room for finite worlds. ×7
- The Infinite One (Ein Sof)אין סוף
- G‑d's own boundless essence.
- Delightתענוג
- Pleasure; the inner root of will. ×6
- The Shechinah (Divine Presence)שכינה
- G‑d's presence as it dwells in the world. ×1
- The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof)אור אין סוף
- G‑d's light as it is, beyond all limits, before any contraction.
- Self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh)מסירות נפש
- Giving oneself over entirely to G‑d.
- Willרצון
- Desire; in G‑d, the level above intellect. ×5
- The Holy One, blessed be Heקב״ה
- ×3
- An arousal from belowאתערותא דלתתא
- Human initiative that draws down a divine response.
- An arousal from aboveאתערותא דלעילא
- Divine initiative, unprompted by us.
- Binah (understanding)בינה
- Developing and grasping an insight in detail.
- The G‑dly soulנפש האלקית
- The soul that is 'a part of G‑d above'. ×1
- Teshuvah (return)תשובה
- Returning to G‑d; not only repentance. ×1
- Chesed (kindness)חסד
- Expansive giving. ×3
- The sitra achra (the other side)סטרא אחרא
- The realm opposed to holiness.
- Chochmah (wisdom)חכמה
- The first flash of insight.
- The Name Elokimאלקים
- G‑d as concealed within nature, measuring and limiting. ×2
- Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah)אבא ואמא
- The intellectual configurations.
- Keser (the Crown)כתר
- The level above intellect: divine will and delight. ×1
- Nukva (the feminine / Malchus)נוקבא
- Malchus as the receiving configuration.
- Malchus (sovereignty)מלכות
- Kingship: the level through which G‑d's word creates and rules the worlds. ×1
- Netzach (victory)נצח
- Perseverance, the drive to overcome. ×1
- Z'eir Anpin (the emotive attributes)ז״א
- The six emotive Sefiros as one configuration. ×1