עַיֵּין עֵץ חַיִּים שַׁעַר הַנְּקוּדּוֹת שַׁעַר ח׳ פֶּרֶק ו׳

See Etz Ḥayyim , Sha'ar HaNekudot , Sha'ar 8, chapter 6, where it explains that the turning of face-to-face is achieved exclusively by means of mitzvot performed with a physical action. The passage in Etz Ḥayyim deals with the relationship between the faces of the Emanation – Zeir Anpin (the Small Countenance) and Malkhut (Kingdom), which in the language of the Zohar is the relationship between the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhina. This relationship expresses the root of all the relationships between God and the worlds. Zeir Anpin expresses the face of God toward the world, the end point of the Divine from which He relates to the worlds. Malkhut expresses the Divine in the worlds, the Shekhina, the Divine Presence. The relationship between them is, therefore, the relationship between the Divine and the world as it is still in the Divine, in the world of Emanation. In this exceedingly important relationship, the ultimate end is that there be unification, a connection between them ("the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhina," mentioned everywhere), and furthermore, that this connection be "face-to-face," with desire and love on both sides, and not back-to-back, and with no back at all, for in that case the unification and the influence would not be complete. It is explained in that passage, and it will be further explained in this essay, that the turning of face-to-face is brought about by the practical mitzvot that man performs below in the physical world. "Face" refers to the relationship from one side, whereas "face-to-face" refers to the relationship from the two sides. Usually there is a correspondence between the two sides, as the wisest of men said: "As water reflects a face to the face, so does the heart of a person to a person" (Prov. 27:19). But such a correspondence does not always exist. For example, if there is a relationship between two people, one may want the inner relationship, while the other regards the association as only an external necessity that he does not really desire. Such a relationship would be "face-to-back," and there can also be relationships that can be described as "back-to-face" or "back-to-back." Only when both parties have an internal interest and desire for the relationship will it be "face-to-face." A relationship of "face-to-face" is a positive state of life and of a person, how he feels and lives and acts. This is a state of perfection that cannot be surpassed. It does not demand of the situation and of the person to be what he is not, but to continue what he is doing, to try harder, to ascend higher, because he feels that he can. This is not the perfection of repair like that in the time of the redemption, but it is the optimal initial state that can be realized at any time. The truth is that this situation depends less on what a person does and more on his inner intention. When a person identifies the road leading to his inner intention in everything, his entire life is internal. When, however, something goes wrong, when the roads seem interminably long, when there is no end is visible in the dense thicket, life and one's attitude toward everything is casual and imposed upon him, and this is life facing the back side. The assertion made in Etz Ḥayyim that "the turning of face-to-face is achieved exclusively by means of mitzvot performed with a physical action" requires explanation. What is the connection between performing the mitzvot and the emotional relationship of "face-to-face"?

וְטַעַם הַדָּבָר, כִּי עַל יְדֵי מַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים גּוֹרֵם זִיוּוּג הָעֶלְיוֹן וכו׳

The reason is that through good deeds one causes the supernal fusion…. As is explained there in Etz Ḥayyim, through the good deeds that a person performs, through the actions of the mitzvot and the repair of this world, he causes the "supernal fusion." "Supernal fusion" is the connection between the bestower and the recipient above in the world of Emanation. That is to say, it not only concerns the actual flow in the lower worlds, but higher up, as an influence upon the bestower within the sefirot themselves (from Zeir Anpin to Malkhut ) which creates the direction and the manner of the flow upon our world.

וּלְהָבִין אַמַּאי מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת דַּוְקָא

In order to comprehend why it is specifically mitzvot performed with a physical action – It is understandable why the face-to-face relationship is achieved exclusively through the performance of the mitzvot, for, as is mentioned in many places, the term "mitzva" is derived from the word tzavta, "togetherness," and it is specifically through a mitzva, which reflects the internal will of God above and is performed through the free and internal will and choice of man below, that this togetherness, the essential inner union between man and God, is created. However, this still does not explain why it is specifically mitzvot performed with a physical action that are necessary. Why is it so important that the supernal will reach all the way down? Why is it so important that the person fulfill the desire specifically with a physical act?

יוּבָן מִמַּה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בְּשַׁעַר מ״ן ומ״ד כִּי צָרִיךְ תְּחִלָּה לְהַעֲלוֹת מַיִין נוּקְבִין דְּנוּקְבָא דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין

this can be understood from that which is written in Etz Ḥayyim, Sha'ar Mayim Nukvin UMayim Dukhrin , that it is first necessary to raise the feminine waters of the feminine aspect [Nukva ] of Zeir Anpin , It is necessary, as preparation for the fusion and the flow of the "masculine waters," to elevate the feminine waters of the feminine aspect of Zeir Anpin. Zeir Anpin (the Small Countenance) is, as it were, the face of God that relates to and influences the worlds, which are small in relation to Him, and the feminine aspect is Malkhut, which receives that flow on behalf of the worlds. For the sake of the fusion, which involves drawing the "masculine waters" from above, the feminine aspect, that is, the lower reality, must rise up from below its own "feminine waters," its desire and craving, to the male bestower. The term "masculine waters" refers to the flow that comes down from above, from the bestower to the recipient. This is analogous to an idea that is channeled to the understanding and to its application in practice. The raising of "feminine waters" refers to the readiness of the lower side, both with respect to the desire and inner choice to receive from above, and with respect to the ability to receive, which includes the readiness of the utensil to receive the flow from above. This preparation involves not only the raising of information, but also the raising of the desire to receive, which awakens above the desire and craving to give.

וּמַיִם נוּקְבִין דְּנוּקְבָא הֵן בְּחִינַת עֲשִׂיָּה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר שָׁם (עץ חיים שער מ״ן ומ״ד) פֶּרֶק א׳

and the feminine waters are the aspect of action (Asiya), as explained there (Etz Ḥayyim, Sha'ar Mayim Nukvin UMayim Dukhrin ), chapter 1. The feminine aspect of Zeir Anpin is, as stated, the sefira of Malkhut, which is the faculty of action with respect to the whole of spiritual reality, and what it raises is itself, that is, the quality of action. The ultimate action is, of course, the physical act.

וְהִנֵּה הַמַּעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים נִקְרָאִים כִּסּוּחַ וְקִיצּוּץ הַקּוֹצִים הַנֶּאֱחָזִים בַּאֲחוֹרַיִים שֶׁהֵן בְּחִינַת עֲשִׂיָּה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּשַׁעַר מ״ז פֶּרֶק ה׳

Now, good deeds are termed "trimming and chopping the thorns" that are holding onto the "back side," which is the aspect of action (Asiya ), as written in Etz Ḥayyim, Sha'ar 47, chap. 5. "Good deeds," namely mitzvot performed with a physical action, in addition to their being the connection between man and God, also play a role in the world of action. In kabbalistic literature, this role is defined as trimming and chopping the thorns that are holding onto the back side. The back side of all the spiritual worlds is the world of physical action; the outer side that is the furthest from the inner light and divine revelation. In this back side, one does not see the inner intention and the source that gives it life and brings it into being. One sees only its outer outline, its action on the lowest plane of reality. The "thorns" hold onto such a view of action. Like the thorns in a vineyard, these thorns, which are the kelippot at their various different levels, are not the desired growth, and it was not for them that the vineyard was planted, but they too receive from the abundance of life, from the water and the light that is bestowed on the vineyard. This problem is exceedingly grave because not only do the thorns share the abundance of life with the vines, but when left undisturbed, they take over the vineyard, dry up its vines and become the main thing growing there. So too in the spiritual worlds, the "thorns" take hold of the world of action; not only do they conceal what is inside, which is the divine light, but, as it were, they work against it and against what reveals it. In this sense, "good deeds" resemble what gardeners do in a vineyard; they trim and chop the thorns that hold onto the back side, and thus they direct the bestower and the recipient to stand face-to-face, and turn the supernal flow to the good and the intentional, to the place and the manner that reveals the Divine even in this lower world. The gardener, that is, the tzaddik (or anyone who performs "good deeds"), does not turn the back side into interiority (because then it would no longer be part of the lower world), but only chops off the thorns, namely, the abnormal deviations of the back side, the evil drawing its nourishment from the back side. In this way the back side and the lower reality itself reveal the divine light.

וְהַיְינוּ עַל יְדֵי הַעֲלָאַת הַטּוֹב הַגָּנוּז בָּהֶם הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בְּמִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת לִמְקוֹרוֹ לִקְדוּשַּׁת הָאֲצִילוּת שֶׁכְּבָר הוּבְרְרָה

This is achieved through raising the good concealed within them – which is clothed in action-related commandments – to its source, to the sanctity of Atzilut that has already been distilled. Raising the good hidden within an action involves clarifying and raising the sparks of holiness from the kelippot. Good is hidden in everything, even in the back side and even in the kelippot; it is the spark of divine holiness that gives life and being to everything and every situation, for there is no existence and no life force without holiness. At times, however, the hidden good is not evident. This is the role of the person who performs good deeds, to reveal the good in that action and to raise it. Not every spark can be raised, but what can be raised and it is a mitzva to raise it is that which is "clothed in action-related commandments." The togetherness of the commandment expresses itself also in its role in chopping the thorns and distilling the sparks. The act of the commandment is connected to the Divine, and from this emanates its power to reveal and distill and raise the sparks from within the kelippa. This must be done through the performance of the commandment in actual practice, and it does not suffice to have the proper feeling or thought, since, as has been mentioned, the spark is trapped within the reality of action. It is true that there is also spiritual clarification, there are bad opinions and bad attributes in the soul, there are thoughts of madness and thoughts of impurity, but both the corruption and the repair of these things end up in action. And if the matter is not finished in action, it is not actually finished, and it does not reveal and raise up the feminine waters. The ascent is to the "Atzilut that has already been distilled," that is, that was already distilled from the very outset – not through human action, but because this is how God made the world, that a part of it was already distilled and repaired. The knowledge and the fact that not everything is corrupted, neither in the worlds nor in the soul, is the foundation that enables the general repair upon which the entire service of distillation rests. The rule is that only one who is himself repaired can repair others, only a reality of a part that is fully repaired lead to the whole in its entirety being repaired. In man this is the divine soul within him, in the sefirot this is wisdom, and in the worlds, this is the world of Atzilut.

וּמַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב שָׁם שֶׁאָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן תִּיקֵּן גַּם כֵּן עַל יְדֵי תְּפִלָּה הַיְינוּ עַל יְדֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת הַדִּבּוּר, דַּעֲקִימַת שְׂפָתָיו הָוֵי מַעֲשֶׂה

That which is written there, that Adam the first man also rectified through prayer, that means using the letters of speech, as the moving of one's lips is considered an action, Not only Adam, but every person raises feminine waters with his prayers. Ostensibly, this contradicts what has been stated here, that the raising up of the feminine waters for the sake of fusion and the restoration of the face-to-face relationship is only through action. A person speaks by way of moving his lips, which is considered a physical action performed by his body, no less so than an action performed with his hand, or with an object of mitzva, like an etrog.

כִּי הֵן מִנֶּפֶשׁ הַחִיּוּנִית שֶׁבַּגּוּף וְדָמוֹ אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְשָׁן מִנּוֹגַהּ

for they are from the vital, that is, animal, soul in the body and his blood, whose root is from noga . Expression through the letters, like any other action that a person performs in the world, cannot be performed directly by the divine soul. The holy, divine soul does not directly animate the body, but only through the animal, vital soul. Therefore, when the holy soul wishes to perform a mitzva, to relate a Torah teaching or to recite a prayer, it needs the animal soul that is clothed in the body. The animal soul is also in a person's blood, in accordance with that which is known that it is the blood that connects the spiritual, vital soul to the physical body, as it is stated: "For the blood is the soul" (Deut. 12:23). Man's vital soul and his body are from the kelippa of noga, like the material reality in which the action-related commandments are performed. As is explained in Likkutei Amarim (chaps. 6–7), kelippat noga is the kelippa that holds the sparks that we elevate as feminine waters. It turns out that through one's body and animal soul, through speech and action of holiness, man penetrates into the realm of kelippat noga and distills from there the holy spark that is hidden there.

וְהִנֵּה הַבֵּירוּרִים דַּעֲשִׂיָּה עוֹלִין לִיצִירָה עַל יְדֵי שֵׁם ב״ן

Now, the distillations of Asiya ascend to Yetzira by means of the name of Ban, The name of Ban is one of the fillings or expansions of the Tetragrammaton, where the letters of the name of Havaya are themselves spelled out to express the inner value and meaning of the name. This expansion is seen as representing the sefira of Malkhut, the feminine aspect and the world of Asiya from among the four worlds; of course, not the world itself, but the light, the divine name, that descends into the world of Asiya, for in the end the name of Ban is also the name of God. And this name, which is the divine life force in the world of Asiya, is what distills the sparks of the world of Asiya and raises them to the world of Yetzira, as feminine waters, by way of the act of a mitzva performed by man. According to the Kabbala, the clarification that is achieved through the name Ban is the initial clarification, the distillation of the good from the absolute evil, from the dark kelippa, the main part of which is in the world of Asiya. This is the distillation referred to here, the distillation that involves elevating the feminine waters for the sake of fusion, etc. Afterward, by way of the supernal fusion in the repaired world of Atzilut, another clarification is performed, the second distillation, as will be explained below.

וּמִיְּצִירָהּ לִבְרִיאָה וְלַאֲצִילוּת כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּשַׁעַר מ״ן דְּרוּשׁ י״א סִימָן ז׳

and from Yetzira to Beria and to Atzilut, as it is written in Etz Ḥayyim, Sha'ar Mayim Nukvin UMayim Dukhrin, Sermon 11:7. The ascent to the repaired world of Atzilut is a gradual ascent, since the mixture of good and evil and the reality of the shattered vessels exists to a certain extent in all the created worlds: in Asiya it is all evil, in Yetzira half is evil, and in Beria it is mostly good. Therefore, after the clarification of the name Ban from the world of Asiya, the clarification ascends to the world of Yetzira, and continues to Beria and Atzilut, as is explained in Etz Ḥayyim, according to the Kabbala. The name Ban in the world of Asiya together with the soul of the tzaddik (a person who performs good deeds) bring out and raise the sparks of chaos that fell into kelippat noga in the world of Asiya to the world that is above them, the world of Yetzira, and from there to the world of Beria, and from there to the world of Atzilut. In any case, the clarifications are fundamentally clarifications of the world of Asiya that ascend from the world of Asiya by way of the actions of man.

וּבָזֶה יוּבַן דְּהִרְהוּר לָא עָבֵיד מִידֵּי

Based on this, we can understand that contemplation does not perform anything, Now we can understand what was said at the beginning in the name of the Zohar that only actions can bring about the supernal unification and the restoration of the face-to-face relationship, whereas contemplation cannot achieve anything. Contemplation alone does not do the one thing that really brings about a change in this world, namely, the raising of the feminine waters. Contemplation (intention) is of course important, because it raises the things that were done below to be noticeable and influential above, in the worlds of Yetzira, Beria, and Atzilut. But if there is no action, if there is no distillation and removal of the sparks from the kelippa in the world of Asiya, there is nothing that will ascend, and thus there is nothing.

כִּי בְּלִי הַעֲלָאַת מַיִין נוּקְבִין מֵהַמְּלָכִים שֶׁבְּנוֹגַהּ אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהַמְשִׁיךְ טִיפִּין מִלְמַעְלָה לְזִוּוּג זו״נ

since without raising the feminine waters from the "kings in noga " it is impossible to draw down drops from above for the fusion of Zeir Anpin and Nukva. The "kings" mentioned here are the kings who died in the biblical metaphor for the shattering of the vessels (Gen. 36:31–39); they are the sparks of the lights of the chaos that fell into kelippat noga. Every king is a world, a vessel, and a kingdom, which in the reality of chaos cannot exist. The king dies, and the lights, the life and the culture, the intelligence and the beauty of the kingdom falls into what is kelippat noga in our reality. Without the raising of these great lights of the chaos from the noga it is impossible to draw down drops from above for the fusion of Zeir Anpin and Nukva. The idea is that the male, the bestower, must be aroused by the female, through her showing her desire and interest in him, so that he will turn to her and bestow upon her drops from above.

כִּי רוֹצֶה לִינַק מֵאִמּוֹ, וְלֹא לְהַשְׁפִּיעַ לְמַטָּה כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּּב בְּשַׁעַר מ״ן דְּרוּשׁ ב׳

For Zeir Anpin wants to suckle from his mother, not to bestow below, as it is written in Etz Ḥayyim, Sha'ar Mayim Nukvin UMayim Dukhrin, Sermon 2. Because the bestower, the Zeir Anpin, wants to suckle from his mother, Bina, understanding, and not give to below, to the female, namely, to Malkhut, kingdom, as is written in Etz Ḥayyim. What is described here are the four faces of Atzilut: father, mother, Zeir Anpin, and Malkhut. The relationship between them is likened to the relationship between people who impact upon and receive from each other. Malkhut wants to seclude himself with Zeir Anpin and receive from him, but Zeir Anpin prefers that he himself should receive from his father and mother above him, and not give to Malkhut below him. This is the primary nature of things, that the recipient does not give and the bestower does not receive, and that as long as the recipient receives, he does not bestow. As it is written: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife" (Gen. 2:24). For he cannot cleave to his wife, and give to her, if he does not first leave and separate himself from those who give to him, his father and his mother. In order for Zeir Anpin to face downward and give to Malkhut, something needs to happen, something that will make it do that. This is the role of the feminine waters. The feminine waters are, as stated, the refinements of the chaos, that is, the raising up of something that was indeed immersed below, at the bottom of the entire chain of emanations, captive and hidden within the kelippa, but at its root it is actually higher than anything above it. This chaos is a vast and powerful primal being, beyond what our world can contain, beyond everything we can achieve and appreciate with our own faculties. That is precisely why it is broken, why it does not exist in the limited dimensions and definitions of our world. However, through the service of man, his good deeds and the like, the sparks of chaos ascend and are repaired little by little. Every time something rises, it reveals an edge of the essence that is above it, something that even the Zeir Anpin, which is now above Asiya and above Malkhut, wants to be connected to and receive from. It will not receive from it as it had received from its mother, but it will awaken it to face downward, to give to what is below it, in order to awaken, reveal, and in the end receive its full greatness. This is similar to how every person discovers at some point in his life that his path no longer consists of receiving from his mother but rather he must give to another, to his wife and children, in order to receive from them what he lacks so that he can truly grow; not only as a child growing up with his mother, but to grow up like his mother and even more than her. In continuation of what he cited from Etz Ḥayyim, that there is a way of raising the feminine waters through prayer, by way of speech which is considered an action, the author the Tanya presents a statement from the Zohar that is even more far-reaching:

וְעַיֵּין זֹהַר פָּרָשַׁת פְּקוּדֵי דַּף רמ״ד עַמּוּד ב׳: דְּאִית סִדּוּרָא כו׳ לְאִסְתַּכְּלָא כו׳

See the Zohar in Parashat Pekudei (244b), that there is an order…to gaze upon…. The Zohar in Parashat Pekudei teaches that there is an order of prayer that is fulfilled through words and there is an order of prayer that is fulfilled through the desire and intention of the heart to know and to gaze, namely, to gaze higher and higher to Ein Sof. That is to say, there is a way to raise the feminine waters through prayer not only by way of speech, which is considered an action, but also by way of the gazing, contemplation, and intention of prayer. Ostensibly, this contradicts everything that has been said up until now, that the elevation of the feminine waters for the sake of unification and the restoration of the face-to-face relationship can only be achieved by way of an action. The author of the Tanya explains:

וְהֵן כַּוָּונוֹת הַתְּפִלָּה וְיִחוּדִים עֶלְיוֹנִים לַיּוֹדְעִים וּמַשִּׂיגִים לְאִסְתַּכְּלָא כו׳

These are prayer intentions, and supernal unifications, for those who know and comprehend how to gaze…. This is not a path that is equally suited for everybody, but for those who know and comprehend how to gaze upward there is in fact another path. There is prayer that relates to this world, to its difficulties, its illnesses, and also its beauty. In such prayer, holding onto this world, through speech which is considered an action, is essential, because the whole point of the prayer is that it elevates this world, in the sense of feminine waters, as has been explained above. But there is also prayer that is entirely "prayer intentions and supernal unions." In such prayer, the intention is the prayer itself, which the soul itself intends and adjusts itself to, in complete detachment (to the extent possible) from its connections to the affairs of this world. At that time, it is no longer concerned with raising the world, consecrating it, and uniting it with the Divine, but rather with the supernal unions in themselves. That is, with the unification of the different aspects of God Himself: right and left, the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Divine Presence; and further inward, with the holy names that are directed at His very essence. There are books of kabbalistic intentions which spell out these unifications in a detailed manner and lead the worshipper from letter to letter and from world to world. There are also ways that are less understood, that lead the worshipper in a more general way, in topics and paths of contemplation, and in different ways of bearing the soul on the words that are uttered with concentration and devotion and emerging out of the soul's liberation from everything else. This private journey is undertaken by the person alone, with his devotion to what is up above, according to his wisdom and his feeling at the time. In any event, such prayer and raising of the feminine waters belongs only to one who is truly found there up above; for whom at that time, at least, this is the actual reality of his life. When he engages in these supernal unions, that is the important thing, that is what touches his soul, that is his life, and that is what he raises up as feminine waters to arouse the supernal union and restore the illumination from above.

כִּי נר״ן שֶׁלָּהֶם עַצְמָן, הֵן מ״ן בִּמְסִירוּת נֶפֶשׁ עַל הַתּוֹרָה

For their own nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama are "feminine waters," by means of devotion to the Torah One who prays in this way does not elevate anything from this world; in fact, he does not relate to this world at all. What then does he raise? For as has been repeatedly noted, the raising of the feminine waters involves raising something that had been down below. The answer to this question is that the parts of the worshipper's soul themselves – his nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama – are what rise up from their place. In the first type of prayer, the soul raises reality through its own levels, relating to it at an increasingly higher level within itself: from the relationship of an action to an inner feeling and to recognition in itself; from the aspect of nefesh to the aspect of ruaḥ to the aspect of neshama. The soul itself does not move from its place; only the things, the clarifications, the feminine waters rise up through it from level to level. But in the prayer of which we speak here, of supernal unions – those very parts of the soul, the nefesh, the ruaḥ and the neshama – are the feminine waters that rise upward. In order for the soul itself to rise, it has to release itself. Just as when one hands something over to another person, he must stop holding it, and must remove it from his possession, the same is true about the delivering of one's soul. But who is the "I" who gives away the soul? As long as the "I" is found and identified in some corner together with the soul, it cannot give it away. Only when the soul's sense of "I" is completely eliminated, when the "I," to the extent that it exists, exists somewhere else – in the Divine Presence, in the Torah, in the Holy One, blessed be He – can there be a delivering of the soul.

וּבִנְפִילַת אַפַּיִם כַּנּוֹדָע

and through "falling on one's face" in the Taḥanun prayer, as is known. Falling on one's face in the Taḥanun prayer is like a fall, a descent from the high point of prayer, from the place of emanation and complete union with God, back into this world. This fall is an act of devotion, for it is not a fall resulting from an accident, nor is it a fall of the person's personality, a collapse of the structure of his soul, but rather it is as if the person was going to a different place. He himself, as he is, descends from the place where he was revealed in his full stature to a different place, where none of this is revealed; but he descends because he needs to, because of and for the sake of something beyond him. This is a delivery of the soul, the soul itself, from here to there. This is a fall, a fall from the person's level, which is like death. This is also devotion of the soul: first, his forsaking the level he had reached and his cleaving to God, all that he achieved through his prayer, and then his surrendering himself to God, "To You, O Lord, do I lift up my soul, and so forth."